A Scandal for Justice

Mercy is no fleeting sentiment, but rather the synthesis of the joyful Good News, a choice and decision on the part of all who desire to put on the “Heart of Jesus” and to be serious followers of the Lord who has asked us to “be merciful even as your heavenly Father is merciful” (Mt 5:48; Lk 6:36). In the words of Father Ermes Ronchi, “Mercy is a scandal for justice, a folly for intelligence, a consolation for us who are debtors. The debt for being alive, the debt for being loved is only repayable by mercy”. --Pope Francis' Christmas Greeting to the Roman Curia

By shadows they fed, below the wood's hood,
noses out of eaves, never straying from them.

Aware to the watcher, tranquility arrested;
they fled within, as disclosed fish strike for the depths.

Yet one walked out to watch the watcher.
Saplings from his head upon a raised neck.

The family now ensconced in the dark matter
he levelly stared like one not satisfied

until fully amending his unawares,
by reciprocating your eye for eye.

Mercy before Justice

"By experiencing the tenderness and pardon of the Lord, the penitent is more easily led to acknowledge the gravity of sin, is more resolved to avoid it in order to remain and grow in renewed friendship with him." --Pope Benedict XVI,  To The Confessors Who Serve In The Four Papal Basilicas Of Rome

Mark Mallett writes in a meditation entitled Just Enough:

"The same Jesus whose apologetics could silence the Pharisees suddenly became silent Himself. The Jesus who could pass through angry mobs now stood condemned before Pilate. The Jesus who raised the dead could now barely pick Himself up to carry His Cross. The Jesus whose hands healed the sick were now helplessly fastened to the wood. The Jesus whose tongue cast out demons was now soundly mocked by them. And the Jesus who calmed the roaring waves now lay lifeless in a tomb." ...

..."You, my dear brothers and sisters, are being called into this 'little flock of believers'. But if you are looking to the nostalgia of yesterday, the glorious Church of the past, the strength of yore, then you will not find it, for the glory of tomorrow will be as different as the wounds of Christ’s resurrected body were from His crucified flesh." --Mark Mallett, Just Enough

Sing to the Lord a new song for He has done marvelous things

"...We have to put mercy before judgment, and in any event God’s judgement will always be in the light of his mercy. In passing through the Holy Door, then, may we feel that we ourselves are part of this mystery of love, of tenderness. Let us set aside all fear and dread, for these do not befit men and women who are loved. Instead, let us experience the joy of encountering that grace which transforms all things. ..."

"...as we pass through the Holy Door, we also want to remember another door, which fifty years ago the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council opened to the world. This anniversary cannot be remembered only for the legacy of the Council’s documents, which testify to a great advance in faith. Before all else, the Council was an encounter. A genuine encounter between the Church and the men and women of our time. An encounter marked by the power of the Spirit, who impelled the Church to emerge from the shoals which for years had kept her self-enclosed so as to set out once again, with enthusiasm, on her missionary journey. It was the resumption of a journey of encountering people where they live: in their cities and homes, in their workplaces. Wherever there are people, the Church is called to reach out to them and to bring the joy of the Gospel, and the mercy and forgiveness of God. After these decades, we again take up this missionary drive with the same power and enthusiasm. ..." --From Pope Francis' homily on the inauguration of the Year of Mercy

Photo source

Setsuko Hara - RIP

Her family only released the news of her death recently. She died on September 5, 2015. She was 94.

It's not a "film crush". Her presence on screen was remarkable beyond that sort of thing. To use the words "pure" and the like would be useless cliche. There was just this amazing aura of quiet virtue and beaming joy she manifested. In Ozu's films it's both radiant and down to earth.

Two of Ozu's films that she was in are on my top ten favourite films list (yes, I'm compiling a 100 favourite films list, and being an actual rated list, 1 to 100, and not just randomly placed, it's a difficult task).

Those two films are Tokyo Story and Late Spring.

To talk about Yasujirō Ozu's films...right now I can only silently point to their place in my faves' list as the best articulation of praise.

Tokyo Story is number three and Late Spring is number 6. Their respective positions will not change.

Oh, what the heck, since I know that at least the first ten aren't going to change, here they are:

1. Stalker
2. Au Hasard Balthasar
3. Tokyo Story
4. Andrei Rublev
5. Diary of a Country Priest
6. Late Spring
7. Seven Samurai
8. Mirror
9. Rear Window
10. Ugetsu


If you wish to to see both Tokyo Story and Late Spring, you can watch them right now on youtube, while you have the chance:

Tokyo Story

Late Spring

I won't even bother raving about them.

And pray for the departed, yes?

Milkshake VI

Nothing like it

That "chest whistling" sounds awesome.


Time stamped:



I wonder if it employs the same "recycled breathing" that one does for the didgeridoo?







The piece is called Good Horses - for all you Herzog fans. LOL.

The Inuit do it too, but differently:

Ballpoint waiting in car - series 4

 

This is so true

Time-stamped:

"The only way they can support their gold theories is they just treat it as religion and say we don't have to understand it; we just know that's God's money and it'll work." --Byron Dale

The world's oldest peach pits (to date) have been found

This is most excellent news.

2.5 million years old.

"We found these peach endocarp fossils just exposed in the strata," Su said. "It's really a fantastic finding." --Tao Su, associate professor at Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden

H/T: Ben Greenman

Superb article on Chesterton moving towards sainthood

James Parker has this article in The Atlantic: A Most Unlikely Saint.

His piece reminded me of why I love Chesterton so much.

H/T: Joseph Pearce at The Ink Desk.

That was kind of the park ranger

Why, you're most welcome! Next time if you could just leave me a key for the lock so that I can come and go as I please, if you don't mind, that would be swell. A ham and swiss cheese sandwich would be nice too. Thanks!

I would like to state that I was tardy back to my vehicle because I was occupied - under a Canadian sky miraculously clear - with a woman, K-I-S-S-I-N-G. I would like to say so, because when you're in the sharp winter dusk (even though it's technically not winter yet) and the forest trees at the field's edge are strangely luminous in the dimming light and the geese are making their silly honking noises in the sky, that's exactly what you want to be doing - to be with a woman, K-I-S-S-I-N-G.

I would like to say that, but alas, it is untrue. Woe! I was drawing! And all alone! I don't even have a girlfriend! How tragic! Drawing, drawing, drawing! The chickadees were dancing around - now this is true - saying to me that the after-light does not stay for long this time of year. Your fingers are numb! They can barely hold the pencil anymore! Your toes are numb! Frost is on the grass! Time for you to go, go, go! You still have a long walk!

But I did not obey.

Came across this booklet

My bookshelf always has surprises in store for me. A good deal of it was inherited and lots of it I've barely skimmed over. I was pleased to find this booklet the other night:

LOL! That's Pierre, by the way. What a horrible Prime Minister he was. He made abortion "legal", before the States did, and it was done in that Canadian law way in which it was declared simply that there was no law. Under Pierre Trudeau the legalization of abortion was worse, if you can imagine, than the legalization that took place in the US. After the initial legalization in 69, he made it open season on the baby in the womb in every sense, later on, in the eighties.

The booklet is from the early eighties. I haven't read it yet, but I will.

Here are pages of just the introduction:

I like this

Medjugorje Message - Dec. 2

"Dear children. I am always with you because my Son entrusted you to me. And you, my children, you need me, you are seeking me, you are coming to me and you are bringing joy to my motherly heart. I have, and always will have, love for you; for you who suffer and who offer your pains and sufferings to my Son and to me. My love seeks the love of all of my children, and my children seek my love. Through love, Jesus seeks unity between Heaven and earth; between the Heavenly Father and you, my children - His Church. Therefore, it is necessary to pray much, to pray and love the Church to which you belong. Now, the Church is suffering and needs apostles who by loving unity, by witnessing and giving, show the ways of God. The Church needs apostles who by living the Eucharist with the heart do great works; it needs you, my apostles of love. My children, from the very beginning the Church was persecuted and betrayed, but day by day it grew. It is indestructible because my Son gave it a heart - the Eucharist, and the light of His resurrection shone and will continue to shine upon it. Therefore, do not be afraid. Pray for your shepherds that they may have the strength and the love to be bridges of salvation. Thank you."

Iceland watch: why aren't other countries jailing bankers?

"We were wise enough not to follow the traditional prevailing orthodoxies of the Western financial world in the last 30 years. We introduced currency controls, we let the banks fail, we provided support for the people and didn't introduce austerity measures like you're seeing in Europe." --Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, President of Iceland (emphasis mine)

"In the US, not a single banking executive was charged with crimes related to the 2008 financial crisis." --Bill Still

St. Thomas Aquinas

"Sorrow can be alleviated by good sleep, a bath and a glass of wine." --St. Thomas Aquinas

Did you know that St. Thomas Aquinas was the inventor of dandelion-burdock beer? Yep. While he was writing the Summa and becoming very tired, the Spirit told him to go for a walk outside and take the roots of the first two plants he came across, then make a brew from them: they were the dandelion and the burdock.

Bresson on how certain things should not be shown in film

"If you show it, it's finished. The same thing goes for love. You don't feel love if you see two people making love." --Robert Bresson