Three Days in May? Spe Salvi
J.M.J. + O.B.T. + M.G.R.*
FICTION
LORD OF THE WORLD, Msgr Robert Hugh Benson (1908)
This first of the great dystopias offers a haunting glimpse of the early 21st Century, complete with triumphant secular humanism and a world president (Julian Felsenburgh) who promises peace and initiates the final persecution against the Church.
Prelude to the end:
The high explosive destruction of Rome—seat of the remnant Catholic Church (LOTW was written 21 years before Vatican City was established)
Final scene:
Final scene:
Newly elected Pope Silvester during his first (and only) pilgrimage to the Holy Land offers the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in Nazareth in the open air overlooking the plain of Megiddo.
FACT
Thursday, May 14, 2009
UNIVERSAL MASS
Pope Benedict XVI during his first pilgrimage to the Holy Land, as successor to Peter, offers the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in Nazareth in the open air overlooking the plain of Megiddo.
Friday, May 15, 2009
Friday, May 15, 2009
ANGELS AND DEMONS
The film is set to open worldwide. This Dan Brown prequel to The DaVinci Code features the tangible proof of E=mc2, the production and containment of anti-matter. Suspense builds as this powerful force created at CERN is smuggled into the Vatican by shady characters to threaten the world with mass destruction. Professor Langdon saves the day, so one would presume the good angels win this campaign.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Sunday, May 17, 2009
THE GRAND INSULT
President Barack Hussein Obama (whose persona invites comparisons to the fictitious Julian Felsenburgh) is set to deliver the commencement address at Notre Dame and receive an honorary degree from Our Lady's institution of lore whose is motto: Vita, Dulcedo, Spes
President Obama's Audacity of Hope (2006) aims to redefine the Second Theological Virtue, making it subjective, Obamacentric, and audacious.
Our Life, Sweetness, and Hope
President Obama's Audacity of Hope (2006) aims to redefine the Second Theological Virtue, making it subjective, Obamacentric, and audacious.
"the hope of a skinny kid with a funny name who believes that America has a place for him, too. Hope in the face of difficulty. Hope in the face of uncertainty. The audacity of hope!"
You can compare his message to that of Pope Benedict XVI's Encyclical Spe Salvi (2007) which has a Christocentric appreciation of the same virtue as lived out in Mary's life witness of humility.
Mary, Star of Hope
49. With a hymn composed in the eighth or ninth century, thus for over a thousand years, the Church has greeted Mary, the Mother of God, as “Star of the Sea”: Ave maris stella. Human life is a journey. Towards what destination? How do we find the way? Life is like a voyage on the sea of history, often dark and stormy, a voyage in which we watch for the stars that indicate the route. The true stars of our life are the people who have lived good lives. They are lights of hope. Certainly, Jesus Christ is the true light, the sun that has risen above all the shadows of history. But to reach him we also need lights close by—people who shine with his light and so guide us along our way. Who more than Mary could be a star of hope for us? With her “yes” she opened the door of our world to God himself; she became the living Ark of the Covenant, in whom God took flesh, became one of us, and pitched his tent among us (cf. Jn 1:14).
50. So we cry to her: Holy Mary, you belonged to the humble and great souls of Israel who, like Simeon, were “looking for the consolation of Israel” (Lk 2:25) and hoping, like Anna, “for the redemption of Jerusalem” (Lk 2:38). Your life was thoroughly imbued with the sacred scriptures of Israel which spoke of hope, of the promise made to Abraham and his descendants (cf. Lk 1:55). In this way we can appreciate the holy fear that overcame you when the angel of the Lord appeared to you and told you that you would give birth to the One who was the hope of Israel, the One awaited by the world. Through you, through your “yes”, the hope of the ages became reality, entering this world and its history. You bowed low before the greatness of this task and gave your consent: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word” (Lk 1:38). When you hastened with holy joy across the mountains of Judea to see your cousin Elizabeth, you became the image of the Church to come, which carries the hope of the world in her womb across the mountains of history. But alongside the joy which, with your Magnificat, you proclaimed in word and song for all the centuries to hear, you also knew the dark sayings of the prophets about the suffering of the servant of God in this world. Shining over his birth in the stable at Bethlehem, there were angels in splendour who brought the good news to the shepherds, but at the same time the lowliness of God in this world was all too palpable. The old man Simeon spoke to you of the sword which would pierce your soul (cf. Lk 2:35), of the sign of contradiction that your Son would be in this world. Then, when Jesus began his public ministry, you had to step aside, so that a new family could grow, the family which it was his mission to establish and which would be made up of those who heard his word and kept it (cf. Lk 11:27f). Notwithstanding the great joy that marked the beginning of Jesus's ministry, in the synagogue of Nazareth you must already have experienced the truth of the saying about the “sign of contradiction” (cf. Lk 4:28ff). In this way you saw the growing power of hostility and rejection which built up around Jesus until the hour of the Cross, when you had to look upon the Saviour of the world, the heir of David, the Son of God dying like a failure, exposed to mockery, between criminals. Then you received the word of Jesus: “Woman, behold, your Son!” (Jn 19:26). From the Cross you received a new mission. From the Cross you became a mother in a new way: the mother of all those who believe in your Son Jesus and wish to follow him. The sword of sorrow pierced your heart. Did hope die? Did the world remain definitively without light, and life without purpose? At that moment, deep down, you probably listened again to the word spoken by the angel in answer to your fear at the time of the Annunciation: “Do not be afraid, Mary!” (Lk 1:30). How many times had the Lord, your Son, said the same thing to his disciples: do not be afraid! In your heart, you heard this word again during the night of Golgotha. Before the hour of his betrayal he had said to his disciples: “Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (Jn 16:33). “Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid” (Jn 14:27). “Do not be afraid, Mary!” In that hour at Nazareth the angel had also said to you: “Of his kingdom there will be no end” (Lk 1:33). Could it have ended before it began? No, at the foot of the Cross, on the strength of Jesus's own word, you became the mother of believers. In this faith, which even in the darkness of Holy Saturday bore the certitude of hope, you made your way towards Easter morning. The joy of the Resurrection touched your heart and united you in a new way to the disciples, destined to become the family of Jesus through faith. In this way you were in the midst of the community of believers, who in the days following the Ascension prayed with one voice for the gift of the Holy Spirit (cf. Acts 1:14) and then received that gift on the day of Pentecost. The “Kingdom” of Jesus was not as might have been imagined. It began in that hour, and of this “Kingdom” there will be no end. Thus you remain in the midst of the disciples as their Mother, as the Mother of hope. Holy Mary, Mother of God, our Mother, teach us to believe, to hope, to love with you. Show us the way to his Kingdom! Star of the Sea, shine upon us and guide us on our way!
+ + +
Knowing that Pope Benedict XVI has read and pondered the message of the novel Lord of the World (http://www.newswithviews.com/Cuddy/dennis29.htm) one has to ask the critical question, is fiction mirroring fact? and/or vice versa?
We should encourage Catholics and all people of good will to read, discuss and internalize the lessons of this important book. There are now articles circulating the web that find this connection very significant:
We should encourage Catholics and all people of good will to read, discuss and internalize the lessons of this important book. There are now articles circulating the web that find this connection very significant:
Sincerely yours in Jesus and Mary,
Mike Rizzio, SOLT
Imitate Mary
Become like Jesus
Live for the Triune God
Seek the Light of Our Lord Jesus Christ
See you on the High Ground!
* - J.M.J. + O.B.T. + M.G.R. stands for: Jesus, Mary and Joseph;
O Beata Trinitas; St. Michael, St. Gabriel and St. Raphael
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