" In light of Ignatius' 'Two Standards' and 'The Mystries Done From The Garden To The House Of Annas', at any moment we can be Judas or Peter, a Christian life can be a fine line."
Georgetown's second great Halloween tradition is the screening of The Exorcist in Gaston Hall. Scripted by Georgetown alumnus William Peter Blatty and shot on and around the university campus,
The Exorcist is the Georgetown movie
- much more so than the bland and forgettable Brat Pack flick St. Elmo's Fire, which is ostensibly about a group of young GU alumni but makes only generic references to the university and wasn't even filmed there. Thanks Joe! From the blog City and the World, read the full post (here)
SeaFrance Holidays offer three nights at the Hotel de l'Univere, a former Jesuit monastery dating back to the 16th century in the heart of the town, from £166 with Dover to Calais ferry travel with a car. Fares for return ferry journeys within three days of departure start from £25 each way. Link (here)
Catholic writerPaul Likoudis in an article discusses the many faces of Liberation Theology. The piece is uncomfortable to read, but necessary. I have pulled out a short excerpt. In the full article watch for the references to the small church movement and its links to Liberation Theology.
In his heavily annotated book, former Jesuit Robert Goss, who holds advanced degrees in Scripture studies from the Jesuit Weston School of Theology and Harvard University, shows how such contemporary Catholic scholars as Hans Kung, Raymond Brown, Andre Guindon, John Dominic Crossan, John Meier, James Drane, Paul Hollenbach, Xavier John Seubert, Mary Hunt, Rosemary Radford Ruether, Leonardo Boff, Jon Sobrino, and dozens of others-many of whom remain "in good standing" with the American hierarchy-are dismantling orthodox theology while reconstructing a new "qu.er theology" that affirms the s.xual experiences of homosexuals, l.sbians, and bis.xuals. Though all of these scholars write from different perspectives and have different agendas,
Dr. Goss shows how each in his own way is demolishing Catholic teaching on Jesus and His Church in order to rework Catholic moral teaching into an "inclusive," "non-patriarchal, " " non-sexist, " "liberating" form of Christianity
which can celebrate g.y and l.sbian s.xuality-indeed, which affirms it as superior to heteros.xuality which is said to have been culturally imposed.
At a weekend meeting with Father James Hug, a Jesuit priest out of Washington, who is president of the Center of Concern. The center is described as a “a faith-based organization working in collaboration with ecumenical and interfaith networks to bring a prophetic voice for social and economic justice to a global context.”
Of course, some might say his Jesuit status makes his Catholicism questionable. Hug talked about the need to think critically about issues ranging from education to health care to housing. He talked about the evils of torture, racism and genocide.
While he said that Catholics are not single-issue voters, he did affirm the values of compassion, fairness and, yes, life. He said Catholic could disagree on the best way to achieve that culture of life. If the end is protecting life and reducing the number of abortions, the means could be to vote for someone who supports services that enable families to keep their children.
Both the bishops’ letter and Hug send Catholics to www.faithfulcitizenship.org, where all sides can find quotes to support their views.
Heisman hero Doug Flutie is about to be immortalized by Boston College. A life-size likeness of the pigskin paladin will be dedicated Nov. 7, the day before Doug's old team tackles Notre Dame at the Heights. Flutie, who was awarded college football's highest honor in 1984, will join some pretty impressive company on the BC campus: There are also statues of the Virgin Maryand St. Ignatius on the grounds of the Jesuit college. The sculpture was designed by Harry Weber, who's famous for his statues of Hall of Fame baseball player Stan Musial and explorers Lewis and Clark. Word is the piece depicts the 5-foot-10 Flutie hoisting the famous Hail Mary pass that beat Miami in the fall of '84. Why a statue? Well, New York's Downtown Athletic Club, which awards the Heisman, requires universities to give "proper recognition" to trophy winners, and BC settled on a statue. Said school spokesman Jack Dunn: "The Flutie statue will serve as a fitting tribute to our only Heisman winner and our most distinguished student-athlete."
A gun-wielding man walked onto the Gonzaga University campus one night in 1950 threatening to kill a Jesuit priest named Michael Toulouse. The university president and another priest stopped him before he could fire a shot at Toulouse. Read more on the subject (here)
“Catholics often face difficult choices about how to vote. This is why it is so important to vote according to a well-formed conscience that perceives the proper relationship among moral goods. A Catholic cannot vote for a candidate who takes a position in favor of an intrinsic evil, such as abortion or racism, if the voter’s intent is to support that position. In such cases a Catholic would be guilty of formal cooperation in grave evil. At the same time, a voter should not use a candidate’s opposition to an intrinsic evil to justify indifference or inattentiveness to other’s important moral issues involving human life and dignity.”
"That ‘if’ clause is extremely important,”Thomas Reese, a Jesuit priest and senior fellow at the Woodstock Theological Center in Washington, said in an interview last month. “Because what it says is you can vote for a candidate who is pro-choice if it is not your intent to support that position. That means you can vote for a pro-choice candidate, period.
The document also states clearly, he noted, that Catholics are not “single-issue voters.” “You may want to argue that [the bishops] are not consistent in what they say, but that is also there.”
The 19 Ulitsa Petrovka building where the bodies of two priests were found.
2 Jesuit Priests Beaten to Death
30 October 2008By Anna Malpas / Staff WriterTwo Jesuit priests were found beaten to death in an apartment just meters away from Moscow police headquarters, investigators said Wednesday.
Otto Messmer, 47, a Russian citizen and top Jesuit figure in Russia, and Victor Betancourt, a 42-year-old Ecuadorian citizen, were found dead with battered skulls at 10 p.m. Tuesday in an apartment at 19 Ulitsa Petrovka, investigators and Catholic officials said. Police headquarters is located at 38 Ulitsa Petrovka.
"They didn't answer phone calls, so their fellow brothers in the order went to the apartment, where they found them dead," said Igor Kovalevsky, general secretary of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Russia, RIA-Novosti reported.
The priests were believed to have been dead for about 24 hours before they were found, the Investigative Committee said in a statement.
Investigators are exploring all possible motives for the killings, including the possibility of a quarrel, since "there were traces of a party in the room," the statement said.
AP
Betancourt
Investigator Yury Sukharev told Gazeta.ru that there were glasses and open bottles of wine and absinthe in the kitchen.
The door of the apartment was open when the bodies were found, but it was unclear whether any valuables had been stolen. The five-room apartment belongs to the Jesuits, the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Russia said.
A spokeswoman for the prosecutor's office said she could give no more information than was in the Investigative Committee's statement.
Early media reports said police were called to the apartment after a fight and that they were looking for a Latin American man who had fled the scene.
A police spokesman could not confirm the reports Wednesday.
The Catholic Church expressed hope that the perpetrators would be brought to justice. "The church hopes that the Russian law enforcement organs will be able to find the criminals and the court and society will give an objective legal and moral judgment of their misdeeds," the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Russia said in the statement.
Messmer, whose title was Superior of the Russian Independent Region of the Society of Jesus, was born to an ethnic German family in Kazakhstan that kept its Catholic faith alive despite Soviet repression, the statement said. His brother, Bishop Nikolaus Messmer, is the Apostolic Administrator of Kyrgyzstan.
29/10/2008 10:58 MOSCOW, October 29 (RIA Novosti) - Two Jesuit priests were found murdered in their flat in central Moscow on Tuesday evening, a Russian Catholic Church official said on Wednesday.
Otto Messmer, who heads the Russian Independent Region of the Society of Jesus, and Colombian priest Victor Betancourt (Ruiz), were found dead in their apartment on Petrovka Street, with severe bodily injuries.
"They did not answer telephone calls, so their brothers in the order went to their apartment, where they found them already dead," Igor Kovalevsky, the general secretary of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Russia, told reporters.
The motive for the killing is not known, he said.
Earlier reports said the priests were injured in a fight near their house involving two other individuals. A local police source said the clerics died from injuries sustained in the fighting.
Eyewitness said a man of Hispanic appearance, aged around 40, killed the priests.
This is tragic news. I knew Victor Betencourt Ruiz on the first European Tertianship in Dublin two years ago. He was good, solid and dependable, a typical Ecuadorean with a Conquistador background. What makes his death even more difficult for his family is that he had to return to Ecuador on two occasions to minister to his dying grandfather and father and to a nephew who almost died in a car accident. This will be hard for his mother and I hope many will pray for her as well as for the souls of him and his companion. The Jesuits in Russia have a particularly hard and demanding apostolate and both were indispensable to the mission. They too need Masses, prayers and financial support.
Moscow, October 29, Interfax - Two members of the Jesuit Order have been killed in central Moscow, sources in the law enforcement agencies told Interfax.
"At 9:20 p.m. on October 28, the chief accountant of the religious organization Society of Jesus called on the police. He said he had found the bodies of two members of the organization - a 42 year-old Ecuadorian and a 46 year-old Russian in an apartment located at Petrovka, 19, building 5, which is owned by the religious organization," a source told Interfax.
The law enforcement officers and experts who came to the scene found that the two men had died of head injuries. A criminal case has been opened. The Russian Orthodox Church has extended its condolences in connection with the killing. "I would like to extend my condolences to the administration of Russian Catholics and the Russian office of the Jesuit Order," the Priest Igor Vyzhanov, secretary of the Moscow Patriarchate Department for External Church Relations, told Interfax-Religion on Wednesday. Fr. Igor said he is hoping this case will be duly investigated by the public bodies
Nine Catholic colleges and universities were listed in a study of 139 schools in the 2008 Trojan S.xual Health Report Card. The institutions were judged on whether HIV and STD testings are available on campus, whether contraceptives and condoms are free on campus, and whether or not they provide various “s.xual health” services on campus. DePaul University, which is America’s largest Catholic university, came in last. St. John’s University (NY), Providence College, University of Notre Dame, and Marquette University also finished in the bottom ten spots on the report card. Villanova University, Boston College, Seton Hall University and Georgetown University received higher rankings. Sources: Trojan Condoms and BC Heights
Fordham University Law School’s plan to give an award to the Supreme Court justice Stephen G. Breyer on Wednesday night has drawn criticism from Cardinal Edward M. Egan and some students and alumni, because of the justice’s support for abortion rights Cardinal Egan rebuked administrators of the Jesuit-run university after learning last month that Justice Breyer would receive this year’s Fordham-Stein Ethics Prize, said Joseph Zwilling, spokesman for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York.
“As a result of these discussions, the cardinal is confident that a mistake of this sort will not happen again,” he said.
Patrick J. Reilly, a Fordham graduate and president of the Cardinal Newman Society, a Virginia-based group dedicated to policing the borders of Catholic orthodoxy within Catholic colleges and universities, said Tuesday that the society had helped gather signatures from 1,100 alumni, students and others demanding that the award be rescinded. He called the decision to honor Justice Breyer “an affront” to church teachings against abortion.
The word "quarantine" comes from the Latin quaranti giorni, "forty days." Some of the Italian city-states from the late 1340s during the Black Death isolated ships for a limited time period in an attempt to contain the spread of disease. Originally the period was one month, but this was later extended to forty days. This system was eventually adopted by other Europeans.
As scholar M. N. Pearson writes in his book The World Of The Indian Ocean, 1500-1800:
As early as the fourteenth century Italian cities had introduced quarantine to keep out ship-borne bubonic plague from the Middle East. Once the disease appeared, affected areas were cordoned off; in the sixteenth century national policies evolved to achieve this. In 1663 the Jesuit overland traveller, Manuel Godinho, arrived in Malta but was not allowed ashore 'despite our carrying health certificates, for having come from the East, because it is always presumed there is plague there.' He was more lucky in Marseilles: 'The lazaretto, or quarantine, at this port is not as strict as at Lyons and Venice and the health officers discharged me from it in seven days.'
Like Europeans, Indians knew that plague was somehow infectious, although the exact nature of its transmission was not understood in the pre-microscopic era, and that rodents had something to do with its spread.
Although flavor reportedly isn't an issue at Jesuit High School, in Sacramento keeping a large group of boys full can be quite a challenge. Student Sam Hilder commented on how much it takes to keep him satisfied. He usually eats two sandwiches, two bags of chips, two granola bars, cookies, fruit, a sports drink and the occasional candy, all thrown together by his Dad. Buying all that food would get pricy. And as much as teens love to spend their parents' money, the lunch line isn't the place to do it. Even though Jesuit students are prohibited from leaving campus to treat themselves to other foods, they have the next best thing: clubs. Whenever a club needs a little extra money, they know where to target their advertisements: the appetite of the all-male student body. By selling burritos and sausages, clubs at Jesuit collect most of the funds they need for their activities.
"Catholics actually score pretty high on paranormal beliefs, which if you look at Catholic theology, that kind of makes sense," said Mencken, citing the role of apparitions, such as those of the Virgin Mary in Medjugorje.
"Most religion, traditionally, approaches faith or approaches God and the divine as something which is a realm that is greater than what we understand or can deal with and is filled with surprises," said the Rev. Christopher J. Viscardi, chairman of the division of philosophy and theology at the Jesuit-founded Spring Hill College in Mobile "There is a broad range, including the paranormal, including the supernatural."
St. Ignatius of Loyola tells us in the process of discernment, that the confirmation of the Lord is experienced as peace. It is when our hearts are aligned with the heart of the Lord. It is when our decisions jibe with the will of God. If we work for peace, we definitely are working for the Kingdom of God. Blessed are the peacemakers, the Lord said.
Requiescat in pace. At the early age of thirty-seven the Rev. Philip Rappagliosi, S. J., has been called to his reward. For the last five years he had Church soon after, been laboring among the Flathead and Blackfeet Indians of the Far West. On Thursday, February 7th, 1878 he died in a rude hut in a camp of half-breeds on Milk River, Montana. Father Decorby, O. M. J., attended his last moments and administered the last sacraments to him. May he rest in peace. Link (here) Painting is of a Flathead Indian Hat Tip to the Scat Cat "Viator Catholicus"
Lady bloggers Kate and Jen discovers the Jesuits through Sister Julie read the Canadian lady bloggers at,From the Pews in the Back.
An excerpt from Sister Julie.
When I was studying theology at Regis College in Toronto with the Jesuits, I discovered a whole new set of heroes: the Jesuit martyrs and saints.
These guys are in a class all their own in some respects because they are so filled with the zeal and mission characteristic of the Jesuits.
My interest and devotion to the Jesuit martyrs was peaked when I visited the North American Jesuit Martyr’s Shrine in Midland, Ontario. Right next door to the shrine is a re-creation of one of the French Jesuit missions from the 1600s, Sainte-Marie Among the Hurons, which helped give me a context to the kind of life the missionary Jesuits lived. I was overwhelmed with the stories of Jean de Brébeuf, Isaac Jogues and the other Jesuit martyrs and how they had given their lives and their deaths for the faith. Experiencing the mission helped me to get to know these martyrs
Sister Julie Vieira, IHM, is a member of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary of Monroe Michigan. She is author of the popular blog www.ANunsLife.org in which she writes about being a young, Catholic nun and answers readers' questions. Sister Julie also ministers at Loyola Press, a Jesuit publishing company in Chicago.
Recorded history of Catholicism in Vietnam was as the followings: According to the Royal Vietnamese Annals: “in the year of Nguyên Hòa (1533), under the reign of King Lê Trang Tông, there was a decree already in existence that banned Christianity. The decree mentioned the name of an European individual, Ignatio, who by seaway had landed and preached the religion at Ninh Cường and Quỳnh Anh Villages, district Nam Chân” (present Nam Định). The document did not mention his congregation, but probably Ignatio belonged to a religious order. Based on the fact that the above decree had been issued before 1533 it is understandable to presume that the Good News of Jesus Christ had been preached before that year of 1533 on the soil of Vietnam. Therefore, it was a very important year in the history of the Vietnamese Catholic Church.
In the very early stage of the Vietnamese Church, the missionaries traveled all over the country. They came from different European countries via neighboring countries such as the Philippine Islands, Malacca, Macao, Japan,... They were accompanied by European merchants and belonged to a variety of congregations:Society of Jesus (SJ)
Dominican Fathers (OP), Order of the Minor Friars of St. Francis (Franciscans, ofm) and the Foreign Mission of Paris (MEP). Link (here) to great link on the history of the Catholic Church In Vietnam Link (here) to an article about recent Jesuit history in Vietnam.
Photo: Catholic Cathedral Notre Dame, Ho Chi Minh City, Saigon,
One Saturday night years ago Peter Larratt, a year 12 student at Melbourne's Xavier College, led a horse up the stairs to the first-floor verandah where boarders lay asleep. Boys from farms in north-east Victoria and the Riverina, the boarders apparently thought little of waking up to a horse - but it was different for the Jesuits.
The animal, rustled by Larratt while grazing innocently in a nearby paddock beside the Yarra River, was no mountain pony and couldn't walk down the stairs, so the priests had to hire a crane to hoist the horse off the verandah before celebrating Sunday Mass in the chapel.
In a week that Xavier boys behaving badly attracted national headlines of the "Elite school scandal" variety, Larratt's horseplay seems a distant echo from an innocent time. When Larratt was at his prankster peak in 1966, Jesuits lay about the school like autumn leaves.
The trouble is, you can't find a good Jesuit anywhere these days;
maybe the paucity of priests is the root cause of Xavier's problems with "muck-up" day, bullying and drinking.
How does a conversation of the Chinese Olympic Games turn to Canadian Sauvages?
This is an excerpt from an article in the Globe and Mail.
"We must not forget that 400 years ago, Canada was a land of savages, with scarcely 10,000 inhabitants of European descent, while in China, we're talking about a 5,000-year-old civilization," he said. In interviews with The Globe and Mail, Mr. Pound insisted the term sauvages carries a different meaning in French and English, and that he was using language of the era he was describing.
"I thought that in doing a 400-year-old picture, you use 400-year-old words," he said. "If that hurts somebody today, I had no intention of doing that." "I used the term that was regularly used there by the Jesuits, in the Relations and all the other published material, 'les sauvages,' "
he said. "There was no intention of making any racist comments. But you know, as well as I know, what was going on here 400 years ago." He said he hoped to move forward. "The first nations people are trying to regroup from a long period of what has been decline," he said. Mr. Dudemaine, of the aboriginal group LandInSights, said yesterday he considered Mr. Pound's apology insincere.
"There isn't a Jesuit today who would use such terms, or give him absolution either." The term sauvages, while once used to refer to natives, has fallen into disuse in Quebec for several decades.
The province still has more than a dozen rivers, streams, routes and mountains with names such as Lac aux Sauvages, but several have been changed in recent years.
Saint Anthony Mary Claret's description on entering the Jesuit Novitiate. You have to read his autobiography it is absolutely amazing. Read it (here)
An excerpt.
As I had just finished making the Exercises, I was full of fervor. With all eagerness I was bent on aspiring to perfection.
And since I saw so many good things in the novitiate, everything attracted my attention. I liked everything and it was engraved on my heart.
I had something to learn from everyone, and in truth I learned it, with the help of God's grace. I was deeply embarrassed at seeing everyone else so advanced in virtue and myself so backward. I was most embarrassed and ashamed on the Vigil of the Immaculate Conception, during the reading of the list of good works performed in preparation for the feast, as a homage to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Whenever a feast of our Lord, the Blessed Virgin, or a special saint was drawing near, the novitiate followed this custom: Each of the novices, with the permission of his spiritual director, proposed to practice a virtue which he was inclined toward or needed.
Each would perform acts of the virtue in question and note down carefully what he did and how he did it. This continued until the eve of the feast, when the list was closed and the virtues practiced were written in the form of a letter and posted in the box on the rector's door. Then one of the rector's assistants collected the lists and made a master list of them, like a litany, and this was read at night when all were gathered in chapel.
Link (here) to Saint Anthony Mary Claret's autobiography and his chapter (page 31) on on entering the Jesuit Novitiate
On the Feast of Saints Simon and Jude, the readings rightly reflect on discipleship. In the gospel Jesus selects and commissions the twelve chosen as Apostles from his many followers. From that band of twelve hearty Apostles the good news of salvation spread across the globe, the church took root and the history of human kind was changed when the force called “Christianity” was loosed upon the world. As Paul tells us in his letter to the Ephesians: “…we are members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the Apostles and prophets, with Christ as the capstone.”
Loyal Boxer Lady Patch was 14 when she died. Her epitaph records that "She Met the Mayor of Hamilton," Lloyd D. Jackson then. Dandylion is a rabbit remembered as "the greatest bun ever." There's Sarah, gone 18 years, a Saint Bernard who was the "Beloved Ambassador of the Hamilton SPCA." And Baby, "Poetry in Motion."
Sometimes Tom Chire officiates. The ex-Jesuit priest follows his own order of service, which includes a blessing, a eulogy and thanks to God for the life of the deceased. The essence of it is "We loved you in life, we will always remember you in death, and now we return you to your creator." It's a universal message, not dissimilar to those he delivers at services for humans, including last month's family farewell to former Ticat coach Ron Lancaster.
Back in the day, before pet weddings and dog yoga and diamond collars, a lot of people thought the whole thing was creepy. "A lot of people still think it's nuts," Collins says with a shrug.
I found a new blog entitled,we all, with unveiled faces it is written by Brian a theology student at Aquinas College. Brian is from Grand Rapids Michigan. He is currently finishing his B.A. in Theology and Philosophy, and he writes for both The Saint, Aquinas College's newspaper, and StayGreat.com, a spirituality source created and maintained by Mark Link S.J..
An excerpt from his post.
The statistics show that from 1970 to 2007 the number of diocesan priests fell from 36,005 to 27,971. Including religious priest the numbers fall from 59,000 in 1975 to about 41,500 last year. Listed as causes for the drop are: trends of smaller family sizes; a sexualized culture where celibacy seems like an impossibility; negative views of the priestly ministry following the sexual abuse scandal; a culture that overvalues wealth; the audacity of a lifelong commitment to a single occupation. The one, however, most considered is celibacy.
Link (here) to Brian's post entitled, Answers and Equations
This excerpt from a letter by Père Jacques Nau, S.J. shows:
Père Jean-Joseph Surin S.J., [ and (here) ]whom I myself knew for twenty years or more, led so deranged and shameful a life that one hardly dares speak of it. In the end it reached the point where the most wise attributed it all, quite correctly I believe, to madness … I have often seen [him] blaspheme the name of God and walk about naked in the College, soiled with excrement - I would then take him by the hand into the infirmary.
I have seen him lashing out with his fists and for years perform a hundred other insanities
, even to the point of trying to trample on the Sacrament of the Eucharist - I did not see this myself but learnt it the next day from witnesses. He lived like this for several years. For the rest of his life, he never fulfilled any function within the Society.
When he recovered self-control, he wrote books and letters, visited his neighbor and spoke very well about God, but he never said his prayers, or read his Breviary,
said Mass rarely and to his dying day mumped about and gesticulated in a ridiculous and absurd fashion. Link (here) More on exorcism (here)
New York Governor's Top Aide Resigns, Associated Press Says By Michael Quint
Oct. 24 (Bloomberg) -- New York Governor David Paterson's top aide, Charles O'Byrne, resigned amid criticism of his failure to pay $300,000 in taxes on time, the Associated Press reported. Paterson, a close friend of O'Byrne, accepted the resignation, the AP said, citing an unnamed state official close to the decision. O'Byrne, a former Jesuit priest and friend of the Kennedy family, said clinical depression kept him from filing tax returns and paying taxes from 2001 to 2005.
Charles J. O’Byrne has had many roles in life, including that of lawyer, Jesuit priest, friend of the Kennedys and, currently, the most powerful non-elected public official in the state of New York Link (here) to a map of his many Jesuit and governmental connections.
The Jesuit Church and Monastery: built between 1693 and 1724, the church is today characterised by its dour and intimidating - yet nonetheless attractive - facade. Two towers at each end of the front jut above the street to give Skalica one of its signature features. Jesuits first came to Skalica in 1660 and two years later opened a secondary school. In 1773, however, they had their order annulled and left, clearing the way for the Paulist order to move in. Today the church is owned by the state. Link (here)
“As a Catholic, I have accepted certain answers as the right ones for myself and my family and, because I have, they have influenced me in special ways. However, as U.S. Congressman, I am involved in defining policies that determine other people's rights in these same areas of life, death, and morality.
Perhaps Rev. Austin J. Fagothey, a Jesuit Priest, who taught me at Santa Clara University and renowned for his scholarship in ethics and morality, stated it most clearly in responding to the abortion question: ‘A state, especially the pluralistic state of today, must operate within the framework of popular consensus. The argument for the immorality of abortion, the theory of rights on which it rests, and the philosophy underlying the ethics there outlined is not accepted by a large part of the population.
I can be convinced of it beyond the shadow of a doubt and steer my own life by it, yet be unable to convince my fellow citizens of my views. Do I then have the right to impose my philosophical convictions any more than my religious convictions on others who disagree with me? I think not, and this is the reason why I think there should be no laws on abortion. I believe the best way to cope with abortion is not by punitive legislation but by a persuasive program of moral education aimed at building up a respect for life.’”
The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, on the Capital Sins
Method.
With regard to the Seven Capital Sins, after Additional Direction,
the preparatory prayer should be made in the way prescribed,
but with the modification that the object is the sins to be avoided,
whereas before, it was the Commandments to be observed.
In like manner the method prescribed, the regulation of the time,
and the colloquy observed.
Note.
In order to understand better the faults committed that come under the Seven Capital Sins,
let the contrary virtues be considered. See also, the better to avoid these sins,
one should resolve to endeavor by devout exercises to acquire and
retain the seven virtues contrary to them
How many are my inequities and sins? Make me know my crimes and offences.
Job xiii, 23
Pride conquered by humility.
For your power, O Lord, is not in a multitude, nor is your pleasure in the strength of horses, nor from the beginning have the proud been acceptable to you: but the prayer of the humble and meek have always pleased you.Judith ix, 16
For thou lightest my lamp, O Lord: O my God, enlighten my darknessPsalm xvii. 29
O God of the Heavens, creator of the waters, and lord of the whole creation, hear me a poor wretch, making supplications to you, and presuming of your mercy.Judith ix, 17
Greed conquered by generosity
A covetous man shall not be satisfied with money: and he that loves riches shall reap no fruit from them: so this also is vanity.Eccles v, 9
Show, O Lord, thy ways to me, teach me thy paths. Direct me in thy truth, and teach me; for thou art God, my Savior; and on thee have I waited all the day long.Psalms xxiv. 4, 5
Now this I say: He who soweth sparingly shall also reap sparingly: And he who soweth in blessings. Every one as he has determined in his heart, not with sadness, or of necessity: or God loveth a cheerful giver.
2 Corinthians ix, 6, 7
Envy conquered by love
For God created man incorruptible and to the image of his own likeness he made him. But by the envy of the devil, death came into this world: and they who follow him are of his side.Wisdom ii, 23 – 25
Send forth thy light and thy truth, they have conducted me, and brought me unto the holy hill, and into thy tabernacles.
Psalms xlii. 3
For God so loved the world, as to give His only begotten Son; that who so ever believes in him, may not parish, but have life everlasting.John iii, 16
Anger conquered by kindness
Be angry, and sin not. Let not the sun go down upon your anger…
Let all bitterness, and anger, and indignation, and clamor, and blasphemy, be put away from you, with all malice.
Ephesians iv,26, 31
Consider, and hear me, O Lord my God. Enlighten my eyes, that I never sleep in death: Lest at any time my enemy say: I have prevailed against him.Psalm xii. 29
And be kind to one another; merciful, forgiving of one another, even as God hath forgiven you in Christ.
Ephesians iv, 32
Lust conquered by self - control
Let us walk honestly in the day: not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and impurities, not in contention and envy: But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh in its concupiscence’s.
Romans xiii. 13, 14
Make the way known to me wherein I should walk: for I have lifted up my soul to thee… Teach me to do thy will, for thou art my God.Psalms cxlii 8, 10
For you have done manfully, and your heart has been strengthened, because you have loved chastity…: Therefore also the hand of the Lord hath strengthened you, and therefore you shall be blessed for ever.Judith xv, 11
Gluttony conquered by temperance
Are you set at a great table? Be not first to open your mouth upon it. Say not: There are many things which are upon it…. Stretch not out your hand first, lest being disgraced with envy, you be put into confusion. Be not hasty at a feast… Use as a frugal man the things that are set before you: lest if thou eat too much, you will be hated. Leave off first, for manners sake and exceed not, lest you offend. And if you are seated among many, reach not your hand out first of all: and be not the first to ask for drink.Ecclus xxxi, 12, 13, 16, 17, 19-21
And Jesus standing, commanded him to be brought unto him. And when he was come near, he asked him, Saying: What wilt thou that I do to thee?But he said: Lord, that I may see.Luke xviii 40, 41
The meadows are open and the green herbs have appeared, and the hay is gathered out of the mountains. Lambs are from your clothing: and kids for the price of the field.
Let the milk of the goats be enough for your food, and for the necessities of your house, and for maintence for your handmaids.Proverbs xxvii 25, 26, 27
Sloth conquered by zeal
I passed by the field of the slothful man, and by the vineyard of the foolish man: and behold it was all filled with nettles, and thorns had covered the face there of, and the stone wall was broken down. Which when I had seen, I laid it up in my heart, and by example, I received instruction. You will sleep a little, said I, you will slumber a little, said I, you will fold your hands to rest: and poverty shall over come to your as a runner, and beggary as an armed man.Proverbs xxiv. 30-34
May God have mercy on us, and bless us: may he cause the light of his countance to shine upon us, and may he have mercy on us. That we may know thy ways upon earth; thy salvation in all nations.Psalm lxxvi 2, 3
But I most gladly will spend and be spent myself for your souls; although loving you more, I be loved less.
I am not a Jesuit, nor am I a cleric. I spent about 5 years under the spiritual direction of a Jesuit, 3 of those years in a weekly directed retreat in everyday life. The profound impact that the Society and the Excercises had upon my life, resulted in me, trying to deal with that impact in some way by sharing my view of Jesus Christ with others. My intention is to pull together Jesuitical and Catholic subjects that interest me. I was born on the feast day of St. Paul Miki, S.J.. I am the father of three small children and an infant, I am married to a great wife.
Georgetown's second great Halloween tradition is the screening of The Exorcist in Gaston Hall. Scripted by Georgetown alumnus William Peter Blatty and shot on and around the university campus, 
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This is tragic news. I knew Victor Betencourt Ruiz on the first European Tertianship in Dublin two years ago. He was good, solid and dependable, a typical Ecuadorean with a Conquistador background. What makes his death even more difficult for his family is that he had to return to Ecuador on two occasions to minister to his dying grandfather and father and to a nephew who almost died in a car accident. This will be hard for his mother and I hope many will pray for her as well as for the souls of him and his companion. The Jesuits in Russia have a particularly hard and demanding apostolate and both were indispensable to the mission. They too need Masses, prayers and financial support.
October 29, 2008 11:10 AM