Charity Towards Self.

This being Lent, us traddy and neo-traddy Catholics minds turn towards the idea of penance. And brings up an interesting set of reflections.

Penance is Charity directed to one self. In a way.

The idea that our minor mortifications, or our major mortifications, are expressions of guilt or self hatred is wrong. It's a sin, I think, to do penitential acts out of self hatred or guilt, simply because we have no right to hate ourselves, or to decide who is guilty of what, in the spiritual sense.

Likewise, there is a risk of succumbing to a sort of Practical Pelagianism. We don't do fasting or other mortifications to make ourselves worthy of heaven--we in fact cannot make ourselves worthy of heaven. The sort of penitence that leads us to fast, use the cilice, the discipline, to embrace vegetarianism as an act of abstinence or any other penitential practice to "earn" our way to sanctity is rooted in pride, and ultimately the Pelagian Heresy that says we can earn grace in some sort of cosmic commerce.

No, our acts of penance must be ultimately rooted, as far as humanly possible, in Charity towards our own self. Now Charity, the theological virtue, is defined as disinterested love for the good of another, so it's patently obviously that we cannot practice perfect Charity towards our selves. But we have no right to hate ourselves, because our Lord has done so much to save us. He saves us from death. He saves us from Hell. And he saves us from ourselves and our faults in order to do so.

Our penances and mortifications are a means to an end, that end being Heaven. Heaven being the highest good to which man can aspire, acts of penance become acts of love--true love, not a sinful self love--intended to help us get to Heaven. These acts should be motivated from much the same place as praying or fasting for a sick friend.

If we have some fault that leads us to sin, (say an innate anger that can tempt us to cruelty), and that fault makes us prey to temptation, and we succumb to temptation (say, poking Badgers with spoons to watch them jump) we aren't really in any position to judge ourselves, only to acknowledge to God our Father as flawed and sinful, to beg his mercy through our Lord Jesus Christ, and to perform acts of penance and reparation.

Let's say that my penance was drinking black coffee--that would require that I cultivate the practice of not sweetening my coffee, even when sleepy in the morning. It would also require that as I tasted the bitterness of unsweetened coffee that I would think, just a little briefly, on how bitter the separation, the loss of fellowship with God, that sin entails is.

Mortification isn't self punishment--it's more like the stretching exercises and resistance training athletes do. It's designed to help us be a more supple instrument, a stronger tool, in the hands of the Lord.

If you think that your fasting is "earning" you grace, if you think you're one of God's elect because you say twenty decades of the Rosary every day, you're succumbing to Pelagianism (most people don't realize that Pelagius was quite puritanical!) by trying to earn your way to Heaven. We get to heaven on Grace, and our works of penance are simply help us become more open to receiving Grace. Likewise, our works of Mercy and Alms deeds are expressions of Grace.

Otherwise, it's all just an exercise in Pride, Pelagianism or Psychological Perversity.

Those Vindictive Canadians...

...have done it again. Sent another one of their "cold air masses" down upon us, reducing temps once again to 10-15 degrees below average, and more snow. All because we beat them in a hockey game.

Not that I blame them. It seems somehow unnatural, an inversion of the nature order, that a US team should beat a Canadian team in Hockey, especially on their own ground. But I wonder if they have considered some possible unintended consequences of this blatant act of aggressive frigidaria? Consider the following equation: USp/Cp x Id+c? that is to say, the relationship between the populations ratios of the US and Canada, multiplied by the sum of total ice days plus the constant of the % of talented people playing hockey. If they get it too cold here, they may never win again.

But another consequence is this--and this frightens me--what if it isn't linked to population and weather and climate? What if it is an inversion, of a permanent nature, in the universe, and next fall Toronto takes the Series!

We could pay a high price for our hockey hubris.

OK--Go Watch Oprah!

If you go to http://myown.oprah.com/search/index.html?=nuns+dominican+sisters , You'll get to see the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist suprise and impress the audience of the Oprah Show, and Opray as well.

Worth it, for certain!

You can also find the show on U-tube.

Good News

Well the pontifical year book is out. It has the usual mixed bag of statistics that one receives when one looks at a statistical picture of the Church as we approach what I am convinced are the end times.

One good thing to think on is this: While clergy numbers are declining in Europe, they are holding steady in the Americas. Although I'd like to see an increase, holding your ground is no bad thing these days.

Also, there has been an increase in the global number of Seminarians. With a lesser increase when the Americas are looked at. Europe has seen a decrease of almost 5%. But I have to say this--an increase of seminarians is followed by an increase in priests. An increase in priests results in an increase of the times the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is offered. And since that is the single most important human activity, and benefits the whole world, it's a good thing.

Just Abolish the CCHD!

There is an interesting article up at Catholic Advocate.

It shows us something: that about 2.3 million dollars have been distributed to groups that are actively working or advocating for pro-abortion causes or for gay rights/marriage. That's about 1/3 of all funds granted under the CCHD!

The article also points out that some grant recipients are receiving money in violation of the USCCBs policies regarding the CCHD.

It's time for transparency in this matter, and for something else as well, as pointed out in the article: Many of the lay staffers working for the CCHD are members of groups that are antithetical to Catholic Teaching. These folks are taking the Church's dime, and then using the Church's money to oppose the Church. There needs to screening for staffers, to avoid conflict of interest and a sort of--legal--malfeasance that allows them to channel catholic money into their un-catholic causes.

read the article and the links to other data at www.catholicadvocate.com/?p=1338 .

Good Times

My Friends, Sophia and Tony came to visit Saturday. It was a great and entertaining time.

My daughter made Beef Stew for supper, and we drank beer and talked far into the night. Well, actually until about 2:00 AM sunday Morning. I have wanted to get Tony to come down and see where and how we live, and make sure he knew that he was always welcome--after all, he's good enough a friend to be part of the family, as far as I'm concerned!

The entertainment portion of the evening was provided by the failure of the bathroom door knob, while Tony was inside the bathroom. The resolution was to pass tools through the window from outside so that he could take the hinges off and get out.

Other than that it was great.

Oh--the new door knob and strike plates etc. have been installed, and as soon as the label is applied it shall be know as "The Tony P******* Comemorative Door Knob".