Friday Florilegia, Friday, November 30, 2012

From the Old Testament Reading for the Second Sunday of Advent.

 

Second Sunday of Advent
Lectionary: 6

Reading 1 Bar 5:1-9

Jerusalem, take off your robe of mourning and misery;
put on the splendor of glory from God forever:
wrapped in the cloak of justice from God,
bear on your head the mitre
that displays the glory of the eternal name.
For God will show all the earth your splendor:
you will be named by God forever
the peace of justice, the glory of God's worship.

Up, Jerusalem! stand upon the heights;
look to the east and see your children
gathered from the east and the west
at the word of the Holy One,
rejoicing that they are remembered by God.
Led away on foot by their enemies they left you:
but God will bring them back to you
borne aloft in glory as on royal thrones.
For God has commanded
that every lofty mountain be made low,
and that the age-old depths and gorges
be filled to level ground,
that Israel may advance secure in the glory of God.
The forests and every fragrant kind of tree
have overshadowed Israel at God's command;
for God is leading Israel in joy
by the light of his glory,
with his mercy and justice for company.

 

7 Quick Takes on Friday, Friday, November 30, 2012

 

 

-1-

 

Here it is, Thursday, and I haven't written one word on my Friday post.  Whoever happens to stop here to read this may be just as happy if I don't.  Oh well, the blog life goes on.

 

-2-

 

l'll have to say, it's been a quiet week.  It seems like a lull between Thanksgiving now over and Advent yet to come.  I don't remember, since I've been in the Church, that Advent came the week after Thanksgiving, rather than the Sunday after.  Seems to have thrown the entire holiday schedule off a bit.

 

-3-

 

This year, I decided to pick a book to read for Advent, as I've done every year for the last 5 or 6 years for Lent.  The Lenten reading is called for in the Rule of St. Benedict, and I think it's a wonderful habit to get into.  It encourages you to spend time with one author, and one work, and really get some meaning from the text.

 

This year's Advent reading is the first volume of the liturgical sermons of Guerric of Igny.  I realize it may have slipped your mind who old Guerric is, so I'll remind you.  Guerric is one of the founding fathers of the Cistercian order, roughly a contemporary of St Bernard of Clairvaux, who was encourage to the monastic life by St Bernard himself.  After about 10 years or so in the monastery, I think at Clairvaux, he became the second abbot of the Cistercian house at Igny, in the diocese of Rheims.  This monastery or the land therefore, anyway, was given to St Bernard by the bishop of Rheims for Bernard's efforts in settling a dispute between the bishop and the lay people in the diocese.  All of this happened nearly 900 years ago; my how time flies.

 

-4-

 

I just learned I didn't win the $560 mil Powerball drawing.  I don't understand, the clerk who sold me the ticket absolutely assured me that it was the winner.  Just can't trust anyone these days.

 

-5-

 

There was some excitement this week, involving my neighbor's driveway.  This being Colorado, everything is uphill, especially that driveway, it looks like a ski slope.  The neighbor has a Jeep which he usually drives, however, on Tuesday; his wife decided she should take the Jeep.  So, she backed it out of the garage, forgot to set the parking brake, and got out to fetch something she had forgotten.  Guess what happened?  Of course, the Jeep decided to roll down the driveway, coming dangerously close to rolling off and landing in my dining room.  It eventually turned the other way and ended in another neighbor's front yard.  In the process of making that turn, it knocked a rock off the retaining wall that supports the driveway, which ended up against the foundation of my house, about a foot from my gas meter.  I count myself very thankful that it didn't hit the gas meter and, therefore, blow my house to smithereens.  I would have been a crispy critter, which really would have ticked me off after going through the great wood floor project and seeing said project to completion.

 

-6-

 

I think bloggers often like to write more about their blog, and themselves writing the blog, than about useful topics that should properly be covered in their chosen area of interest.  I see this all the time and am hardly immune from the temptation.  For instance, I realize I must return the focus of this blog to Benedictine and Camaldolese topics.  I'm thinking of choosing an overall theme for next year of two or three Benedictine topics, most likely silence, stability, and obedience.  All of these practices are ones that I hope to enjoy more of once retirement begins.  Still haven't decided about that, and, since I have the attention span and memory of a gnat, may forget the idea by the time New Year's rolls around anyway.

 

-7-

 

I see Jennifer, our very kind hostess, is hoping to live in a way that allows more monastic influence in her life.  That, in the end, is what the life of a Benedictine oblate is all about.    It is, sadly, much more difficult for the oblate than for a professed monk living in a monastery.  Still, I think it would greatly benefit the world we live in if more people followed her example; it would be much more peaceful and serene.

 

A Word on Wednesday, Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Charity is neither weak nor blind. It is essentially prudent, just, temperate, and strong. Unless all the other virtues blend together in charity, our love is not genuine. No one who really wants to love another will consent to love him falsely. If we are going to love others at all, we must make up our minds to love them well. Otherwise our love is a delusion.

 

Thomas Merton, No Man Is An Island

The Early Church Fathers, Sunday, November 25, 2012

“As for certain lesser faults, we must believe that, before the Final Judgment, there is a purifying fire. He who is truth says that whoever utters blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will be pardoned neither in this age nor in the age to come. From this sentence, we understand that certain offenses can be forgiven in this age, but certain others in the age to come.”

Pope St. Gregory the Great

 

Friday Florilegia, Friday, November 23, 2012

First Sunday of Advent

Gospel Lk 21:25-28, 34-36

Jesus said to his disciples:
"There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars,
and on earth nations will be in dismay,
perplexed by the roaring of the sea and the waves.
People will die of fright
in anticipation of what is coming upon the world,
for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
And then they will see the Son of Man
coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
But when these signs begin to happen,
stand erect and raise your heads
because your redemption is at hand.

"Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy
from carousing and drunkenness
and the anxieties of daily life,
and that day catch you by surprise like a trap.
For that day will assault everyone
who lives on the face of the earth.
Be vigilant at all times
and pray that you have the strength
to escape the tribulations that are imminent
and to stand before the Son of Man."

 

7 Quick Takes on Friday, Friday, November 23, 2012

 

 

-1-

 

Much of what I post consists of quotations from the saints, the Church Fathers, or some Catholic writers such as Chesterton, or Merton, or Newman, and almost always I do so without comment.  It may seem an easy way to come up with material for blog posts, a cop out, but it isn't.  The reason I do this is that the Tradition of the Church is so rich, and so in danger of being forgotten (it will never be lost), that I think it worthwhile to call attention to what is there and let those who helped build that Tradition speak for themselves; there's little of value I can add to that by way of improvement.

 

-2-

 

One thing I notice about reading a book by Chesterton is that I have a hard time getting into it and, once into it, have an even harder time putting it down.

 

-3-

 

The wood floor project, I should say, the great wood floor project is done and things begin to return to normal.  As stressful and the upset way, I think the end result worth it.  It's a huge improvement in terms of appearance, and should be an improvement in ease of upkeep.  On top of that, our cat Ariel, one who suffers greatly from allergies with stuffy nose and runny eyes, as I do, seems to be having some measure of relief.

 

-4-

 

I have to admit that when I started doing these 7 Quick Takes on Friday posts it was mostly to promote the blog through Jennifer Fulwiler’s kind gesture to very obscure writers like me.  However, I’ve come to see this exercise in a different light, one of promoting a little greater discipline and even attentiveness in my life.  It takes some effort in these directions to come up with seven short topics to include in one post.  I think this is a good thing, better even, than getting publicized on Jennifer’s blog, nice as that is.

 

-5-

 

We’re having warm temps, clear skies all week this week.  It’s really nice and I wish that I could get out much more than I do.  I think I desire to get out more due to the short days we have at this time of year.  Don’t worry, though, the cycle turns around again on December 21^st when we have the first day of (officially) winter.  With the warm, clear weather

 

-6-

 

Sonny Eliot died this week, he was 91.  For those of you not from Detroit, he was a legendary TV weatherman, beginning in the '50s, and all round broadcaster who could make even the most routine weather forecast a joy to watch.  He was famous, at least with me, for his abbreviations describing the next day’s expected weather which he wrote in chalk on a green “blackboard” during his show, see below.  For example, on a clear cool day, the word was “clool.”  It was camp, but everybody loved it.  He had a serious side, though.  He served on a B-24 in WWII and was shot down and captured.  He provided entertainment for his fellow prisoners until they were finally liberated.  RIP, Sonny.

 

 

-7-

 

It’s a short week and I’m flat out of ideas, I hope you all enjoyed a very Blessed Thanksgiving.

 

A Word on Wednesday, Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Never be in a hurry; do everything quietly and in a calm spirit. Do not lose your inner peace for anything whatsoever, even if your whole world seems upset.

Saint Francis de Sales