#and the most we can hope for him is the same extraordinary salvation we hope a muslim has or an atheist?

[ave-immaculata]

fellas we're once again wrestling with imperfect vs. perfect contrition and why imperfect contrition with a firm resolution to not sin again and promptly receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation doesn't save

[hacked-by-jake]

Hey!

I've just got broken up with after 3 years because he cheated on me with multiple girls... (And blamed me for it)

Can I please request some Jake fluff? I leave it up to your artistic freedom, I just wanna feel better for a bit

Love your little stories, thank you for writing ❤️

The Truth

A/n: Hey dear, I hope you’re okay, I’m really sorry about what happened to you and thank you for telling me that. The words I will say are known from everywhere but they are true.You definitely deserve something much better than him. First of all, it is not your fault that he cannot control himself; it is not your fault that he cannot see your value. He doesn’t deserve you, and you don’t deserve to listen, it’s your fault. Even though it’s always easier said than done but you have to forget it. He's not worth your time, he's not worth your power, and he's not worth anything else. I wish you much strength and send you much love. Feel hugged and if you want to talk to someone you don’t know, feel free to write to me❤️❤️❤️

So, when I saw your message, I jumped right up to write this. I really hope you like it and that it will cheer you up a bit. I wish you a wonderful evening/ a wonderful night or a wonderful day. Take care of yourself. And thank you for the sweet compliments.❤️❤️

Summary: Jake tells you the truth.

Words: 2,1 k

Far away from you, you can hear the quiet bells of the church beating. It’s exactly 12 a.m. on a beautiful summer night.

The cloudless and pitch black sky offers a beautiful view of the sea of stars that sparkles above you and Jake and gives you the feeling that this is the eternity. On the edge of Duskwood town centre, on an abandoned high-rise, you sit cuddling with the Hacker and just watch the Quiet Night. Only occasionally cars drive through the streets of the small town, again and again lights go out in apartments and houses to end the day. The large windows of the shops and stores of the shopping street light up brightly and from up here the few people who are on their way home look like like little ants. You’re leaning your back against Jake’s upper body, and he’s got his arms wrapped around you. His head rests on your shoulder and your legs are knotted together.

You look up at the sky and watch the stars. Every now and then a plane flies by and you imagine yourself sitting up there with Jake on your way to your deserted island.

A beautiful holiday destination that you have traveled two times. A cute little wooden hut surrounded by white sand and crystal clear water. It is just perfect. You remember the moment when you were lying in a hammock with Jake in the middle of the night, under the starry sky and the moonlight, and he read you something from your favorite book. As beautiful as this moment was, as beautiful is this one too. In Jake’s arms, you feel like you own the world, like everything else is standing still and only you and Jake count. And it’s true, up here, it’s just you, him and the eternity.

Satisfied, you sigh, "It’s so lovely here, isn’t it?"

"You're right. It’s the most beautiful thing in the world," Jake whispers in your ear and breathes a tender kiss on your cheek, making you giggle. You turn your head a little to the side to see him, "I’m talking about the sky." He grins slightly, "And I’m talking about something even more beautiful."

Your cheeks turn slightly red and you are glad that it is not visible through the little light. Even after two years of relationship, he still manages to flatter and embarrass you, but the other way around it’s the same.

"You charmer" you joke and turn your head away from him again.

"No, I’m not a charmer. I am a man who only speaks the truth!" He whispers and draws you even closer to his body.

"Oh interesting, and what is the truth?"

He makes a superior sound, "Turn to me," he demands and lets you go so you can move. You do what he asks and turn to him. You sit between his outstretched legs and put your legs over his thighs and slide very close to him.

"Now, I am curious," you wink and look into his eyes that radiate so much love and security that you would like to cry the most, that you have the feeling that a whole zoo would rage in your belly, so tremendously tingles your whole body.

„The truth is that you are the most beautiful thing that could have happened to me. Before, I always felt like I didn’t belong anywhere. As if I were superfluous everywhere and nowhere would a person really understand me. I thought it was my destiny to be misunderstood by everyone and to be an outsider. But when I met you, with your extraordinary kind and your jokes. With your courage and your trust in me, I understood it wasn’t true. I realized that all I had to do was wait for the right person that I found in you. Since I know you, my world is colorful, I see the future and I don’t just live for myself. Or rather, I don’t just exist. Since I know you, my whole life has changed.

When I’m with you, there’s no place I’d rather be. You’re the last thing I think about before I fall asleep, even when you lie next to me every night. You’re the first thing I think about when I wake up, even if you’re half on top of me.

When I look into your beautiful eyes, I can see my future. I never looked for love until you came. I didn’t know that I longed for love and affection, I didn’t know how beautiful life can be. I didn’t know there was a person who made me feel what you made me feel. I had no idea that all I needed was you.

Before, it was just me and my computer. Trying to be anonymous and not letting anyone get too close to me even though that’s what I secretly wanted. All of a sudden, you made my world shine.

Everything I never thought possible became possible when I met you.

You know, MC, there’s flames, but you’re the fireworks, you’re the light that makes me see. Your eyes are my refuge, your touches are my salvation, your voice is my favorite music. Your smell is my healing, your lips my protection, and your love, my life. Your heartbeat is what keeps me alive, I don’t know what I would do without you. I don’t know how a life without you at my side was and is possible. When you enter the room, stops my heart for seconds and then beats twice as fast because you take my breath away.

Every time I look at you, I doubt whether this is the reality. Because I just can’t imagine how someone like you, so perfect, so beautiful, so sweet and tender, can be with me.

I know I talk a lot of messed up and confused stuff and I’m probably repeating myself, but if you could just feel what’s happening inside me while you’re sitting here with me, you’d think I’m crazy. And I am.. I am crazy about you.

I forget the simplest things around you. I forget how to talk and stutter all the time. Breathing is a hard thing too, because my emotions roll over when you’re there. I forget how to walk because I only have eyes for you and no longer look forward.

But I also forget all the bad, I forget all the pain, all the suffering, all the unhappiness. All thanks to you.

When I tell you something, you listen to me and you don’t just pretend. You’re interested in things I like, and even if I tell you boring computer stuff for hours, you listen to me carefully. If I’m not well, you leave everything behind to help me; if I’m happy, you’re happy with me. If someone treats me badly, you say something before I say something myself. You’re defending me from everyone and you’re defending me even if I’m not there.

MC, no one’s ever done this for me.

My heart is beating so fast I think it’s bursting. I feel drunk when you look into my eyes and confuse my mind, I feel so safe and loved. I feel like a human being since you’ve been at my side.

You showed me what happiness means, you showed me what love means. You showed me what life means and how beautiful life can be when you spend it with the right person.

I thank everyone out there that I can have you by my side. That I can be the person who is by your side, who may hold your hand, who may kiss you.

Who can sleep next to you, who can look at you all the time, who can protect you, and I always will. I will protect you from anything that could hurt you.

I would endure any pain in the world to stay by your side.

I would take any pain away from you so that it doesn’t hurt you, I would do anything to maintain your happiness and love. You are my God damn world! You are my angel, my heart, my one and all. You are my freedom and you are my prison, you are my happiness and my pain. You are everything, everything important in this world.

I wish I could describe to you how strong my love is for you but unfortunately there are not enough words to express it. And it drives me crazy that I can’t describe it to you, because I would love to.

I would like to express to you how damn much I love you because you deserve to see how I see you. Because you deserve to hear how perfect you are.

I love you so much that sometimes it scares me because I don’t know how to deal with it if you would to disappear from my life. I would never be happy again MC, I would never laugh again, I would never live again, it would break me, my dear.

We have too much in common. When you go, I go with you, when you cry, I weep with you, and when you live, I live. The truth is, all I am today and what I stand for is because of you, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. You are all that matters to me, I love you so much that my heart hurts. You gave me a life."

Like frozen you stare at him.

You’re not moving, any more than you were during his entire speech.

Silent tears run from your eyes like little streams. Laughing nervously, the hacker also wipes away some tears that he has lost while he poured out his heart and laid it at your feet.

"I also don’t know where that came from," he murmurs in embarrassment and clears his throat.

You don’t know how to react, should you fall into his arms and crush him? Should you kiss him until you can’t breathe? Should you just burst into tears? Or maybe all together?

Your head has trouble processing all its words and your associated feelings, you don’t know if this is really happening. Whether that’s real, whether you’re awake, whether you’re even alive.

It all seems like a dream, like a dream you never want to wake up from, but that’s the beauty. This moment is real, and it is yours.

"Please say something" his voice trembles slightly and he looks up into the sky, "I am afraid that you get up and run away after what I have said."

The worry in his voice finally lets you break out of your trance. Stormily, your arms wrap around his neck to pull him into a hug. From the momentum and the suddenness he has no chance to hold himself upright and tilts with you to himself, backwards. He groans painfully as he comes up on the ground and remains rigidly lying down. You’re hanging on him, clawing at him like someone’s trying to pull you away from him, hiding your head between his neck and his shoulder. Loudly you sob up and a tremble shakes your whole body.

"I love you," you croak weepy. Your voice sounds as if you have excruciating pain, but at this moment you are the happiest person in the world. "I love you so much Jake, so unbelievable that it hurts"

"I love you, too, my dear," he whispers and wraps his arms tightly around your upper body.

"I don’t know what to say. Or rather where to start" a little laugh leaves your lips, "I don’t know how to give it all back to you."

Jake grumbles, "You don’t have to answer or return anything. Please don’t say anything and take it like that," he asks, "Don’t say anything and just kiss me."

Of course you’ll grant him his wish right away. You straighten up and wipe the tears from your face. You put your hands on his cheeks and look deep into his eyes. He smiles as he wipes a few strands of hair from your face and pulls your head down to him and closes his lips with yours.

You stay there until the sun rises.

🌹🎭

[hieromonkcharbel]

Diverting a bit from my approach to the writings of the Philokalia, I wish to put forward a few thoughts about how we often think about illness in our lives and how the Holy Fathers offer us fresh insight into the mystery of evil, sin, illness and their place in our struggle for holiness.

Often, when we are young, we do not think much about physical illness and the spiritual life. Life passes quickly as we are fully engaged in our work, studies and ministry and many of us rarely struggle with ill health except for the occasional flu or cold. But when illness does strike, in one form or another, suddenly our busy and “productive” lives can be disrupted and we are forced, as it were, to reconsider a great deal of things; not merely the meaning of health, that we have perhaps taken for granted, but the nature of our relationship with God, the depth of our faith or lack thereof, the meaning of suffering and how to engage it and not to become discourage even when we have been completely humbled by the burden of our physical and emotional vulnerabilities. When such circumstances arise, we are often unprepared for the trial - never imagining or wanting to think about the possibility of such a cross - a cross the comes to most all of us at some point. When illness plunges us into unfamiliar territory, even to the point of death, what place does it have within our struggle toward holiness? How do we pray when prayer seems impossible and when it feels as though our heart has been turned to stone? Where do we find our hope and with what faith must we enter the mystery of illness and suffering in order to know the healing touch of Christ, the Physician of our souls and bodies?

I offer for your consideration today brief excerpts from “The Holy Fathers on Illness” compiled by Bishop Alexander Mileant; in particular those thoughts from the Fathers on “Illness and Work of Perfection”. Their words offer some perspective on sickness and redemptive suffering as a means of glorifying God. There is much to say certainly about the meaning and origins of illness well beyond the purview of a simple post, but the Fathers show us in word and deed that it can be and often is a privileged way of holiness. Through thankfulness, endurance, and patience one can realize the highest form of ascetic practice and follow a spiritual path to intimacy with God. At such moments, one may exhibit no extraordinary virtue other than to suffer illness and its poverty with patience and so have this as one’s path to salvation. Thus, the Fathers’ words are full of hope and challenge:

“The desert ascetic Father, St. Abba Dorotheus, exhorts his disciples to "take the trouble to find out where you are: whether you have left your own town but remain just outside the gates, by the garbage dump, or whether you have gone ahead little or much, or whether you are half way on your journey, or whether you have gone two miles, then come back two miles, or perhaps even five miles, or whether you have journeyed as far as the Holy City and entered into Jerusalem itself, or whether you have remained outside and are unable to enter" (On Vigilance and Sobriety).

Illness helps us to see "where we are" on life's road: "sickness is a lesson from God and serves to help us in our progress if we give thanks to Him" (Sts. Barsanuphius and John, Philokalia).

No one may use illness as an excuse for resting from the labor of spiritual living. "Perhaps some might think that illness and bodily weakness hinder the work of perfection since the works and accomplishments of one's hands cannot continue. But it is not a hindrance" (St. Ambrose, Jacob and the Happy Life).

In the life of Riassophore-monk John, latter-day disciple of St. Nilus of Sora, we see how bodily infirmity is not allowed to interrupt the struggle for salvation. Riassophore-monk John was a cripple; because of this he had been compelled to leave the Monastery of St. Cyril of New Lake. Feeling sorry for himself, he shortly afterwards was standing for an all-night vigil in the deep of winter. "Suddenly he saw an unknown Elder in schema come out of the altar to him and say: 'Well, apparently you do not wish to serve me. If so, return to St. Cyril.

"At these words, the Elder struck him with his right hand quite strongly on the shoulder. Noting that the Elder exactly resembled St. Nilus as he is depicted on the icon over his relics, John was filled with great joy, all his grief disappeared, and he firmly resolved to spend the rest of his life in the Saint's skete" (The Northern Thebaid).

Even if we are bedridden, we are to continue the struggle against the passions, producing fruits worthy of repentance. This work of perfection demands that we acquire patience and longsuffering. What better way to do this than when we lie on a bed of infirmity? St. Tikhon of Zadonsk says that in suffering we can find out whether our faith is living or just "theoretical." The test of true faith is patience in the midst of sufferings, for "patience is the Christian's coat of arms." "What is it to follow Christ?" he asks. It is "to endure all things, looking upon Christ Who suffered. Many wish to be glorified with Christ, but few seek to remain with the suffering Christ. Yet not merely by tribulation, but even in much tribulation does one enter the Kingdom of God."

To those who suppose that they can only progress in the spiritual life when all else is "well," St. John Cassian replies, "You should not think that you can find virtue when you are not irritated — for it is not in your power to prevent troubles from happening. Rather, you should look for patience as the result of your own humility and longsuffering, for patience does depend upon your own will" {Institutes). Towards the end of his life, St. Seraphim of Sarov suffered from open ulcers on his legs. "Yet," as his Life tells us, "in appearance he was always bright and cheerful, for in spirit he felt that heavenly peace and joy which are the riches of the glorious inheritance of the saints."

"You are stricken by this sickness," the Holy Fathers say, "so that you will not depart barren to God. If you can endure, and give thanks to God, this sickness will be accounted to you as a spiritual work" (Sts. Barsanouphius and John, Philokalia).

Bishop Theophan the Recluse explains: "Enduring unpleasant things cheerfully, you approach a little to the martyrs. But if you complain, you will not only lose your share with the martyrs, but will be responsible for complaining besides. Therefore, be cheerful!"

In order not to lose heart when we fall sick we are to think about and mentally "kiss the sufferings of our Savior just as though we were with Him while He suffers abuses, wounds, humiliations...shame, the pain of the nails, the piercing with the lance, the flow of water and blood. From this we will receive consolation in our sickness. Our Lord will not let these efforts go unrewarded " (St. Tikhon of Zadonsk).

The patience we can learn on a sickbed cannot be overemphasized. Elder Macarius of Optina wrote about this to one who was ill:

"I was much pleased to hear from your relation how bravely you are bearing the cruel scourge of your heavy sickness. Verily, as the man of the flesh perishes, so is the spiritual man renewed."

And to another he wrote: "Praised be the Lord that you accept your illness so meekly! The bearing of sickness with patience and gratitude is reckoned highly by Him Who often rewards sufferers with His imperishable gifts.

"Ponder these words: Though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed."

St. Ambrose of Milan compared an infirm body to a broken musical instrument. He explained how the "musician" can still produce God-pleasing "music" without his instrument:

"If a man used to singing to the accompaniment of a harp finds the harp broken, and its strings undone...he puts it aside and instead of calling for its notes he delights himself with his own voice.

"In the same way, a sick man allows the harp of his body to lie unused. He finds delight within his heart and comfort in the knowledge that his conscience is clear. He sustains himself with God's words and the prophetic writings and, holding these sweet and pleasant in his soul, he embraces them with his mind. Nothing can happen to him because God's graceful presence breathes favor upon him....He is filled with spiritual tranquility" (Jacob and the Happy Life).

Quite often the most God-pleasing spiritual "music" of all is produced in anonymity, by unknown or nearly-unknown saints. But such holy "melodies" are all the more sweet because they are heard by God alone. One such modern sufferer who lived an angel-like life in spite of advanced and terrible sickness was the holy New Russian Martyr, Mother Maria of Gatchina. Her story is known to us only because it pleased God to providentially arrange for one of her visitors, Professor I. M. Andreyev, to record his memories of her.

Mother Maria suffered from encephalitis (inflammation of the brain) and Parkinson's disease. "Her whole body became as it were chained and immovable, her face anemic and like a mask; she could speak, but she began to talk with half-closed mouth, through her teeth, pronouncing slowly and in a monotone. She was a total invalid and was in constant need of help and careful looking after. Usually this disease proceeds with sharp psychological changes, as a result of which such patients often ended up in psychiatric hospitals. But Mother Maria, being a total physical invalid, not only did not degenerate psychically, but revealed completely extraordinary features of personality and character not characteristic of such patients: she became extremely meek, humble, submissive, undemanding, concentrated in herself; she became engrossed in constant prayer, bearing her difficult condition without the least murmuring.

"As if as a reward for this humility and patience, the Lord sent her a gift: consolation of the sorrowing. Completely strange and unknown people, finding themselves in sorrows, grief, depression, and despondency, began to visit her and converse with her. And everyone who came to her left consoled, feeling an illumination of their grief, a pacifying of sorrow, a calming of fears, a taking away of depression and despondency" (The Orthodox Word, vol. 13, no. 3).

"Thus God has acted. Like a provident Father and not like a kidnapper has He first involved us in grievous things, giving us over to tribulation as it were to schoolmasters and teachers, so that being chastened and sobered by these things we may, after showing forth all patience and learning, all right discipline, inherit the Kingdom of Heaven" (St. John Chrysostom, Homily 18, On the Statues).”

Excerpts taken from:

Missionary Leaflet # EA30

466 Foothill Blvd, Box 397, La Canada, Ca 91011

Editor: Bishop Alexander (Mileant)

[josefavomjaaga]

Helfert, "Joachim Murat", Chapter 3, Part 1

Let's get back to Helfert's text about Joachim Murat. Because, spoiler alert: so does Napoleon.

3. Napoleon's escape from Elba

The thing that harmed King Joachim most in the eyes of his opponents, or, more correctly, the thing that worked most to Murat's disadvantage, was, in addition to his own fickleness, Napoleon's stay on the island of Elba; for thus all rumours, all suspicions and secret announcements, which pointed to a hidden agreement between the two, to a plot by Murat to complete the conquest of Italy with the help of his brother-in-law, gained a higher degree of probability and were circulated among the Congress powers with the greatest zeal. Murat was going to remain on good terms with the allies, Napoleon had counseled him, as long as the latter did not allow the main force of their soldiers to disperse; he was going to draw into his alliance the power that led the scepter in Italy, but in the meantime he would prepare everything to drive it out of the peninsula at the appropriate time, either by cunning or by force; he would seek above all to gain control of the most important seaports in order to be able to dictate the terms of peace to the English [Footnote 1]. From Paris, Monsieur de Blacas, Louis XVIII's minister, stirred up suspicion by bringing to the Congress evidence of a secret correspondence between Napoleon and Murat dating from the time of the last campaign; even now, Bourbon circles maintained, there was unceasing confidential communication between Naples and Elba.

At the Congress itself, Joachim's affairs took a turn for the worst. In the second half of February, Duchess Amélie wrote to her father that the King of France, in conjunction with the other powers, had decided to return the throne of Naples to him as soon as a substitute had been found for Murat. Even Metternich took up the idea of a compensation that could be procured for King Joachim, not for Sicily, which he had never possessed, but for the continental territory that would revert to Ferdinand. Castlereagh declared that Murat had not complied with the terms of his treaty with Austria, and that England therefore considered itself relieved of all further considerations against him.

Then, in the last days of February, what had hitherto been suspected, perhaps without any real reason, came to pass. Simone Colonna, former intendant of Aquila, was sent by Napoleon to Joachim with orders, the contents of which we do not know in detail; it is only certain that the King immediately sent his aide-de-camp Franceschetti with a letter to his brother-in-law, whom the General, however, despite having hastened his journey, did not meet in Porto-Ferrajo anymore [Footnote 2]. Napoleon had left the port on the 26th.

On the evening of March 4, the King, who had just been in a small circle with his spouse, received the first confidential news of this; the 5th brought confirmation from two sides: from Zuccari to the Royal Cabinet and at the same time from Lebzeltern to the Austrian legation. The King summoned Count Mier to his chambers without delay. He was in a state of immense excitement, his wife was with him. "When the Emperor lands in France," he exclaimed, "he will have the whole army behind him and nothing will resist him. What will Austria, what will the other powers say? For me the event is particularly bad, because it can delay the conclusion of my affairs and in the long run I will not endure this in my present position". He entered the antechamber every moment to inquire whether no vessel had arrived in the harbour with news from Elba; when such was reported to him, he went away altogether, leaving Mier alone with the Queen. Caroline was no less agitated than her husband, but she did not lose her prudence. She was extremely worried about the fate of her brother, who was hastening towards his inevitable downfall. She also thought differently from Joachim about the consequences of a possible victory by Napoleon: while the latter saw his own star shining anew with the Emperor's lucky star, she thought that if her brother ever succeeded in re-establishing himself on the throne of France, he would begin by chasing her and her husband out of Naples; unwavering adherence to Austria alone could bring them salvation.

On the 10th, it was learned at court that Napoleon had entered the Gulf of Juan, and now one piece of favourable news followed another: of the emperor's happy landing, of the enthusiastic mood of the population, of the royal troops' defection to him, of his progress towards the heart of France. The king's head was on fire. He would not tolerate any objection, he flew into a rage if the slightest doubt was allowed as to whether Napoleon would ultimately retain the upper hand. His condition, and what might result from it, was all the more alarming when Caroline, exhausted by the excitement of the last few days, had to lie in bed and leave her exuberant husband to himself and to the dangerous influences by which she saw him surrounded. For even Gallo could no longer be relied upon; the selfish man was planning the marriage of his sister-in-law to General Bonafou, a nephew of Joachim's, and therefore carefully avoided anything that might irritate the king or disturb his favourite ideas. At the head of those who urged the king forward instead of restraining his impatience was the Princess of Wales, who never tired of speaking to him of his glory, of his martial exploits, of the splendid lot that awaited him: " he could not remain an idle spectator of the events that were unfolding; he must not leave without hope his numerous followers, who in all parts of the peninsula were only waiting for the cue that he would give them; he should take an example from Napoleon, who had set out with a handful of men to regain his throne, while he, Joachim, commanded a fine army of 80,000 men". Finally, she offered that she in person would precede him through Italy, announce his intentions, call the people to arms ...

The messages the king received from Congress during this time - and this largely serves to explain his behaviour and at the same time to excuse it - were extremely unfavourable for him. On February 28, de Guidourd, the Queen's secretary, in the first days of March General d'Ambrosio had returned from Vienna: the question of recognition had still not been decided, indeed, it seemed as if Austria, despite the prestige and confidence it enjoyed, would not be able to enforce it.

As uneasy, discontented and dismayed as this news made Joachim, he saw too well how advisable it was not to break prematurely with the Congress powers, above all with Austria and England. Immediately after receiving the news from Elba and the Gulf of Juan, he instructed the Duke of Campochiaro to declare in Vienna that this event would in no way affect his policy, that he would arrange it solely according to the example of Austria, and that he would ask to be informed of how Vienna intended to act. He repeatedly assured Count Mier of this, both through Gallo and in person [Footnote 3]. In London, too, he had Castelcicala make all the best assurances, and made a statement to the same effect in the Council of State, which he had summoned to an extraordinary session; for he knew very well that he would have the whole country against himself if he sided with the French. But he sometimes forgot himself, and then carelessly prattled it out, as at a cercle on March 12, where several Englishmen took leave of the court: "The Emperor Napoleon will achieve his aim; no one could wish that more ardently than he, since the Bourbons have openly declared themselves against him. I am their enemy," he exclaimed, "as they are mine! Incidentally, my policy will always remain the same, unalterably linked to that of England".

Footnote 1: See the letter of Chevalier T. "Quand vous verrez mes affaires désesperées", Napoleon reportedly wrote to his brother-in-law, "arrangez-vous comme vous pourrez, seulement tâchez de conserver le Royaume que vous tenez de moi; car quelque jour vous pourrez m'aider à chasser les Autrichiens et me résaisir de la couronne d'Italie". T. speaks of the secret treaty, the three points of which I have quoted in the text, with great confidence: 'J'en ai la certitude' ... On the other hand, Napoleon, during the hundred days when it was important for him to give the powers proof of his love of peace, most decisively denied having secretly communicated with his brother-in-law from Elba: "L'Empereur n'a reçu de lui aucune marque d'intérêt et pas même de souvenir à l'ile d'Elbe. Il n'était pas de la dignité de l'Empereur malheureux d'aller au devant de lui". Corr. Nap. XXVIII No. 21809 p. 98.

Footnote 2: Franceschetti, "Mémoires sur les événemens etc. de Joachim I., p. 22". There can be no doubt about this fact, which the author certainly did not invent, but there can be no doubt that Colonna's mission was to prepare the king for Napoleon's imminent escape from Elba; the content of Colonna's orders must have been of a very general nature, because otherwise Murat's conspicuous behaviour on March 5 could hardly be explained. See also the passage from Corr. Nap: "La seule communication que l'Empereur ait eue avec le Roi de Naples a été, en partant de l'ile d'Elbe, pour le prier de recevoir Mme Mère".

Footnote 3: When Mier visited Gallo on March 11 to obtain information about the troop movements and war armaments, the latter assured him that the King had nothing else in mind "than to be ready for all events, to wait in this position for the responses from Vienna to the latest overtures which Campochiaro has been charged with, and to follow the march which Austria is undertaking in these circumstances". The noble duke seemed to want to adjust himself in good time to all sides, complained to our envoy about his difficult position: "the king does not want to listen to his advice, gives us orders indirectly to officials of the Foreign Office or diplomatic agents without even informing the minister", etc. PS. 1 ad no. 24 on March 12.

There's so much I want to add to this. First of all, Caroline's lucid judgement that this could only go badly for Napoleon. Eugène - who learned at the Congress of Vienna about Napoleon having left Elba - immediately came to a similar conclusion ("je resterai neutre", he wrote to his wife, "archi-neutre!"), and also understood that by breaking the conditions of the treaty of Fontainebleau, Napoleon had destroyed all hope for the "Napoleonides" to keep some level of acceptance among the allied powers. ("I fear they will take this as an excuse to not do anything for us anymore.") Eugène and his small entourage promptly were suspected of being in contact with Napoleon and of having spied for him all along; there was even talk about imprisoning him in a fortress in Hungary. Letters sent to him by Hortense (who else...) were intercepted and brought to the tsar who then withdrew his support for Eugène's cause.

And how much do I love the image of Caroline Princess of Wales going ahead of Joachim's Neapolitan army in an open carriage like some oversized and ridiculously clad valkyrie?

[linklethehistorian]

Randou and the Sins of Season 3's Fifteen Adaption (Part 47/???)

Bones' Biggest Changes & Greatest Failures — The Tragedy of Arthur Rimbaud (26/?)

Given the storyline’s reliance on this specific facet of his personality in the novel, there can be no doubt that, in what can be considered equal parts a precious blessing and a tragic curse to his own existence, one of the most powerful elements of Randou’s character, besides his extraordinary compassion and gentiliy, is the gift he has of possessing a heart and mind that can see the potential for good and for change in all beings, if only they would put forth the effort to try — no matter how small the chance of that happening might actually be.

Whereas the rest of the world may look upon beings and ability users like Chuuya Nakahara and Paul Verlaine — whom are, respectively, the human vessel of Arahabaki, and Rimbaud’s own beloved Transcendent partner and ‘friend’, known for his unrivaled title as King of Assassins — and view them as dangerous monsters, Rimbaud himself sees beyond all of this, glimpsing the humanity in those whom everyone else would call inhuman, and seeing the rays of hope for salvation in those whom all others would gladly condemn.

In this way, it can certainly be said that the ebony-haired mafioso is quite optimistic and idealistic in his outlook — even fatally so, truthfully.

Yes, although this way of thinking absolutely paved the way for him to positively change the lives of many people who desperately needed such help and encouragement, that very same strength, when combined with all of the other beautiful traits that made him such a unique and wonderful soul who was capable of these amazing things — his intense loyalty and obvious transparency, his softspoken and gentle yet deeply loving heart, and his desire to never be a disappointment or inconvenience to others — also proved to be his greatest weakness in his own daily life, until it ultimately led to his highly lamentable death.

Truly, Arthur was simply not suited for this life that he had been so cruelly dealt; even if we were to temporarily set aside all of the physical and emotional suffering he endured at the hands of the cold-hearted, abusive, and traitorous Verlaine — the PTSD from which essentially ensured his premature demise years before it came to pass — for later discussion in a more appropriate area, and focus for the moment only on his time as an associate executive, it nonetheless remains something of a miracle that he managed to survive within the Mafia even for as long as he did.

Most assuredly, Illuminations, as an ability, is a terribly handy and useful asset for any organization to have, and it went a long way in protecting its master’s life until it had the chance to be recognized as just that by Mori, but even so, Transcendental with an exceptionally powerful gift or not, it is also no wonder why he was cast out to the frontlines like yesterday’s trash by the old boss with no concern for whether he lived or died in lieu of being promoted, either.

[Next]

[Previous]

[Beginning]

[view the masterlist]

[twoidiotwriters1]

Pure Blood 29 (Sirius Black x F!Oc)

A/N:  I'll put this here and go slowly  *sorry for the delay, lol *

also,I cast Josh Brolin as Ares.

Words: 2,666

Masterlist:

Chapter 28: Chapter 30

“You’ll see them in a moment,” says a woman towards our parents and then returns to her desk.

My father takes out his pocket watch, grunts and puts it away.

"I have a meeting, this cannot be prolonged…”

"Easy, honey,” my mother reassures him.

“It's common for that man to be late, Ares," Orion complains.

As adults keep talking Sirius and I are very close to panicking. We're both sitting in a couple of chairs a bit away from them. His hand holds mine as if it were his only salvation.

"What can we do now?" He says hoarsely.

"Cry?"

"Don't think that works."

My mind’s completely blank. We can’t run away, we can’t use magic, none of our friends are here to help us, not even our siblings.

"This can't end like this, Sirius,” I say with a lump in my throat.

The boy sighs and shakes his long hair with his free hand. "I don’t know…”

“Persephone," we both jumped at Walburga's voice. "Come with me…”

I turn to Sirius, but he follows his mother with his jaw clenched. I get up slowly and follow what, I suppose, will be my mother-in-law.

“I just wanted to talk to you before the ceremony,” She says coldly. “I'm aware of the behavior of both of you, but I also know that my son, since he entered school, has been unleashed against us. I can no longer expect something extraordinary from him, his only salvation is this union,” She sighs as if her own son were an unnecessary burden. “But with you it’s different, most of us have been forced into marriage right after school,” Her features relax a little." It's not easy, but you've at least had the privilege of having met your fiancé before.”

"Mrs. Black, I-I can't do it, it's not because of Sirius, they just can't tell us who to be with and when to get married, it's not fair. I'm sorry you went through that, but that doesn't mean that I should do too."

Any sign of empathy is gone from her face.

“You have a responsibility to your family, in a few minutes you’ll have it to the Black family. I won’t allow you to break with the traditions.”

“But–"

“No. No one will listen to you. Better get used to not having an opinion anymore, now you’ll only worry about your husband and your future family. If we are lucky, our family will be more accepted and you’ll be the face of that support.”

"What do you mean?"

"You'll know. Oh and another advice,” She says pointing to me. “You better stay away from any Mudblood, I don't want to hear another rumor about your disgusting friends, Toujours Pur, fille.”

Before I can answer, a rumble is heard inside the office where Avery should be. Walburga meets with my parents.

"Fuck!" yells a manly voice from within the office.

The secretary looks nervously at the door, gets up, reaches out to take the doorknob, but the door opens with a bang and a red-haired man comes out of the room.

I move a little closer to see better. His features are hard, cold eyes, large nose, and has a huge scar at the end of his eyebrow. His chest swells,  looks around and from my place I can see his jaw clench when he sees us.

"About time, Avery!" My father complains approaching the redhead "What happened in there?"

Avery doesn't answer him. For a few seconds everything is silent, until he smiles coldly.

"It's none of your business,” He licks his lips and looks down to see my father. “Ares."

If I had little hope of getting out of this before, now I'm sure we can't do it, not with someone like Avery around. My father wants to reply, but Walburga steps forward and faces the redhead.

"No time for this,” she says. “We have a wedding to plan.”

Now Avery stares at Mrs. Black, who’s waiting for her to move from the door frame. The man seems to hesitate, but he decides to step aside and lets us pass,  when Sirius enters, he closes the door. I'm not surprised to see a dingy office with everything neatly arranged, this just gives me the creeps.

Avery glides past each person along the way until he reaches the other side of the desk, sits in a reclining chair, and watches us intently. My father and Orion walk through the office, our mothers sit in the chairs in front of the desk, Sirius and I stay near the door.

"And well?" says Avery.

"Stop playing games, you know very well why we’re here," My father barks.

“Honey," my mother scolds him.

Walburga clears her throat, drawing attention.

"We sent you the papers to start the process. The marriage between my eldest son and the youngest daughter of the Singhs must be approved immediately as soon as they both finish their studies. You know very well that, by then, things will be agitated, so we must hasten the commitment. We want the union between the two families.”

Avery listens carefully, clasping his hands.

"You all tell me this because…"

The adults look at him again, confused.

"I don't understand what's going on," Sirius whispers to me.

"This is some kind of joke?" Orion asks.

"Of course not," Avery answers.

“Are you okay?" My mother asks.

Avery sinisterly and nods.

"Better than never,” He shifts in the chair.

My father tries to control himself, his face begins to turn red.

"Do you think that if we run away now they’ll notice?" Sirius adds.

“I'm afraid to breathe, Sirius. I don't think this is the moment…”

"And well?" My father barks. "Will you?"

Avery watches him.

"Do what, exactly?"

My mother knows what can happen now, so she gets up and stops her husband.

"The commitment,” says Orion. "You must officiate.”

My father turns away from his wife and walks towards us. I take Sirius's hand in reflex, but the man turns to the redhead.

"Oh, so these two want to get married so soon?" He says, mockingly looking at us.

"Actually-" Sirius starts, but his mother cuts him off.

“Yes."

"But they’re truly young,” He replies.

"It doesn’t matter.”

My parents quickly lose their patience.

"I'll tell you something," Avery gets up from the chair. “I'm not interested in your private life, but I’ve seen this many times–”

"What do you mean?"

He smiles.

"Parents always believe they’re right when it comes to their children, but money is often the biggest concern,” He rolls his eyes. "And from what I see, this is a bit of that situation.”

"I'm very close to breaking your face,” threatens Ares.

Avery takes out his wand and smiles.

"Yes, that also happens.”

"We don't want problems, we only come for the wedding,” my mother tries to fix things without success.

"You come to me, threaten me, yell at me… the only thing you’re achieving is to bother me.”

“Avery…”

“I’m not going to officiate this circus. Even an idiot can see that you’re just a group of useless people trying to gain power. I'll tell my colleagues not to bother to officiate their engagement, you’re not worth it. I don’t give status to such rats,” He waves his hand and sit back on his chair.

"What?" Sirius and I say at the same time.

The door opens again and two men in suits enter the room.

"Is there a problem, sir?"

"Guide these families to the exit.”

“You can't do this! You don't know what we can do to you, Avery!” shouts Walburga.

"Oh, believe me. I know. And I’m not scared in the least.” Answers the redhead.

Security escorts us to a wide corridor, before reaching the exit doors.

"I can't believe it, I've never felt so humiliated. Who does he think he is?” My mother, Walburga, and Orion are talking, my father walks away to calm down, and I move closer to Sirius.

"What the fuck happened?"

"I have no idea.”

I thought he’d be on my parents' side, after all, he’s always been friends with them, at what point did he change his mind?

"Is it a joke or something?" Sirius asks. "I don't like it when I'm the victim of a prank…”

"You two!" shouts Walburga. “You did something to prevent the wedding. What did you do!? You’ve ruined our reputation!”

“That’s not it, Walburga. They were with us at all times, it’s not possible,”adds Orion. “There must be something… someone is sabotaging our name…”

The woman crosses her arms and goes back to arguing with her husband.

"Now what do we do?" asks my mother.

"The wedding is canceled,” says Ares dryly.

"What?"

My father stares at me and for the first time. His eyes turn cold. There’s no anger, nothing... absolutely nothing.

"The wedding is canceled,” He repeats. "I want them home as soon as possible,” he says before disapparating.

Walburga is scandalized again.

"Will there be no wedding?" I ask in shock.

"There will be no wedding.” Sirius repeats.

For a few seconds nobody says anything, but then it’s as if we realize everything at the same time.

"NO WAY!"

I let out a cry of excitement. We’re both smiling and celebrating the great achievement that by divine grace was made.

"Enough!" Walburga interrupts and takes Sirius by the arm. "I'm not going to let you humiliate us even more.”

She doesn't even let us say goodbye, and together with Orion they disapparate, leaving me alone with my mother. I turn to see her and my heart skips when I see tears wetting her cheeks.

“Mum…”

She raises a hand.

"Let's go.”

***

The days spent in my house were quite gloomy and lonely.

Since the ‘accident’ everything has been very strange, but nothing like I have been through until now.

My father lives it in his office all day. He does not have breakfast, lunch or dinner with us. The house elf or my mother take food to his office, at night he returns to his room, sometimes I hear my mother yelling at him, I know she ends up crying or sleeping in another room.

The only thing my father did is put a spell on the house: I can't open any windows or the front door. I’ve not been able to send any letter or sign of life to my friends, not even Jenna, any letter that comes to me is burned.

Juno blames me for everything, that's not new, but now they just ignore me, they don't take me into account at all. The silence is different, and the tension is palpable. Although at first I thought that everything would be better, now I feel that at any moment something might explode.

 I don't know what the next step is, I don't know what happened to Avery to make him refuse my parents’ petition, I don't know what happened to Sirius or his family, I don't know what's going on outside. Everything’s confusing, but I have to get up every morning. A routine that is slowly killing me.

The only thing that’s comforting is being able to return to Hogwarts for my last year.

***

Just a few days before going back to school, my mother takes us to Diagon Alley to buy what we need. Something strange, but later I found out that some rumors were spreading among the other families and my mother had to stand up and make up some excuse to silence others.

We're outside a book store, my mother talks to other women and clarifies the situation. Truth be told, I don't understand, but I don't think I can do anything.

The daughters of those women talk to Juno, completely ignoring me, until one of them looks at me, and raises an eyebrow when my eyes connect with hers.

"How would someone in their right mind waste a golden opportunity like marrying a Black?"

I clench my teeth, avoiding any problems.

"Especially Sirius. I don't care if he's younger than me. I would gladly be his wife,” that makes them laugh and I feel my blood boil.

"At least he’s single now…”

He's not!

"Oh dear Amelia, I’m glad to see you!” A man's voice interrupts both conversations. My mother smiles at him tightly.

"Alphard, good to see you too,” She tries to hide the annoyance of seeing another Black.

“Do you mind if I take Persephone for a moment?”

I frown at the request.

"Sure, dear. After all we are almost family.”

That confuses me more.

Alphard smiles, apologizes to the other women, and guides me to a small, almost empty restaurant. We both sat at a far table.

When I can finally see him better, I notice dark circles under his eyes, it is as if he’d aged in a short time.

“Don't say anything, girl. Stop looking at me as if you were in front of a ghost,” He doesn't say it as a scolding, he tries to smile.

"What happened?"

He shakes his head.

“That’s not important now, I don’t think we have much time. Your friends have told me that they have not received any letters from you.”

"I can't leave the house, and I’m not allowed to write.”

“Yes, I assumed as much, it doesn't matter. You must know the truth of what happened to Avery.”

"How can you know? You weren't there.”

He frowned.

“Actually… I was,” He laughs a little.

"What?"

He hushes me nervously.

"We don't have time for this!” He sighs. "While you guys were planning to turn Avery into a cake–”

"James idea,” I roll my eyes.

"Your friend Remus and I came up with something better: He contacted me and soon we made a polyjuice potion and replaced Avery to cancel everything."

“Wha- How?” I ask in disbelief.

"Many details, but I was in charge of watching Avery's every movement, everything, on the day of the meeting, I barely succeeded, your parents and my sister decided to do it at the last minute, I had to act fast.”

"You were the one who made the noise… you were Avery.”

"Yeah, believe it or not, people don’t enjoy getting knocked out for someone else to take their place. Remus idea, Lily Evans made the potion.”

"What? How come I didn't find out? Who else knew?"

"Don’t give me that face, it was quite obvious that we would not tell you,” He rolls his eyes. "The three of us agreed that it would be a bad idea, anything could go wrong if someone else knew about it, this was a very sensitive issue that could bring a lot of problems and I didn't want any of you to get hurt. Also, your parents and my sister had you more closely watched than you think.”

"Alphard I-I don't know what to say, it's a lot to process…”

"I know, honey," He says, returning to his usual sweet tone.

My eyes fill with tears, I see him again.

“But why do you look like this? Does it have to do with what you did to Avery? Are you in trouble?"

He smiles and leans in, stroking my cheek gently.

“Don't worry about me, my girl. I'll be fine.”

I know there are more things he doesn't want to tell me, but I can't push him either. He sighs again.

"I have to go, love. But first,” He gets up. “If you have any chance to contact Sirius…” He licked his lips. “Do it, he's fine now, but I think you both need each other more than ever,” He smiles sadly. "You don't know how happy it makes me know that you’re together. I’m sure that you’ll be happy despite what is to come.”

I want to ask him a lot of things, but before I can say anything, he leans in, kisses my forehead, and leaves the restaurant.

Taglist:

If your username is like this, it's because Tumblr hasn't let me tag you :(

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[pamphletstoinspire]

BEATIFICATION OF PADRE PIO OF PIETRELCINA HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS JOHN PAUL II 2 May 1999

“Sing a new song to the Lord!”.

1. The summons of the entrance antiphon captures well the joy of so many of the faithful who have long awaited the beatification of Padre Pio of Pietrelcina. By his life given wholly to prayer and to listening to his brothers and sisters, this humble Capuchin friar astonished the world. Countless people came to meet him in the friary of San Giovanni Rotondo and, since his death, the flow of pilgrims has not ceased. When I was a student here in Rome, I myself had the chance to meet him personally, and I thank God for allowing me today to enter Padre Pio's name in the book of the blessed. Guided by the texts of this Fifth Sunday of Easter, which provides the context for the beatification, let us this morning trace the main features of his spiritual experience.

2. “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God and believe also in me” (Jn 14:1). In the Gospel just proclaimed, we heard these words of Jesus to his disciples who were in need of encouragement. In fact, his allusion to his imminent departure had thrown them into turmoil. They were afraid of being abandoned, of being alone, and the Lord consoled them with a very specific promise: “I am going to prepare a place for you”, and then, “I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also” (Jn 14:2-3).

Through Thomas, the Apostles reply to this reassurance: “Lord, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?”(Jn 14:5). The remark is apt, and Jesus does not avoid the question which it implies. The answer he gives will remain for ever a light shining for generations still to come: “I am the way and the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father but by me” (Jn 14:6).

The “place” that Jesus goes to prepare is in “the house of the Father”; there the disciple will be able to be with the Master for all eternity and share in his joy. Yet there is only one path that leads there: Christ, to whom the disciple must be conformed more and more. Holiness consists precisely in this: that it is no longer the Christian who lives, but Christ himself who lives in him (cf. Gal 2:20). An exhilarating goal, accompanied by a promise which is no less consoling: “Whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do, and greater works than I will they do, because I am going to the Father” (Jn 14:12).

3. We hear these words of Christ and think of the humble friar of Gargano. How clearly were they fulfilled in Bl. Pio of Pietrelcina!

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe ...”. What was the life of this humble son of St Francis if not a constant act of faith, strengthened by the hope of heaven, where he could be with Christ?

“I am going to prepare a place for you ... that where I am you may be also”. What other purpose was there for the demanding ascetical practices which Padre Pio undertook from his early youth, if not gradually to identify himself with the Divine Master, so that he could be “where he was”?

Those who went to San Giovanni Rotondo to attend his Mass, to seek his counsel or to confess to him, saw in him a living image of Christ suffering and risen. The face of Padre Pio reflected the light of the Resurrection. His body, marked by the “stigmata”, showed forth the intimate bond between death and resurrection which characterizes the paschal mystery. Bl. Pio of Pietrelcina shared in the Passion with a special intensity: the unique gifts which were given to him, and the interior and mystical sufferings which accompanied them, allowed him constantly to participate in the Lord's agonies, never wavering in his sense that “Calvary is the hill of the saints”.

4. No less painful, and perhaps even more distressing from a human point of view, were the trials which he had to endure as a result, it might be said, of his incomparable charisms. It happens at times in the history of holiness that, by God's special permission, the one chosen is misunderstood. In that case, obedience becomes for him a crucible of purification, a path of gradual assimilation to Christ, a strengthening of true holiness. In this regard, Bl. Pio wrote to one of his superiors: “I strive only to obey you, the good God having made known to me the one thing most acceptable to him and the one way for me to hope for salvation and to sing of victory” (Letter I, p. 807).

When the “storm” broke upon him, he took as his rule of life the exhortation of the First Letter of Peter, that we have just heard: Come to Christ, a living stone (cf. 1 Pt 2:4). He himself thus became a “living stone” for the building of that spiritual house which is the Church. For this we today give thanks to the Lord.

5. “You too are living stones, built into a spiritual house” (1 Pt 2:5). How fitting are these words if we apply them to the extraordinary ecclesial experience which grew up around the new blessed! So many people, meeting him directly or indirectly, rediscovered their faith; inspired by his example, “prayer groups” sprang up in every corner of the world. To all who flocked to him he held up the ideal of holiness, repeating to them: “It seems that Jesus has no interest outside of sanctifying your soul” (Letter II, p. 155).

If God's Providence willed that he should be active without ever leaving his convent, as though he were “planted” at the foot of the Cross, this is not without significance. One day the Divine Master had to console him, at a moment of particular trial, by telling him that “it is under the Cross that one learns to love” (Letter I, p. 339). The Cross of Christ is truly the outstanding school of love; indeed, the very “wellspring” of love. Purified by suffering, the love of this faithful disciple drew hearts to Christ and to his demanding Gospel of salvation.

6. At the same time, his charity was poured out like balm on the weaknesses and the sufferings of his brothers and sisters. Padre Pio thus united zeal for souls with a concern for human suffering, working to build at San Giovanni Rotondo a hospital complex which he called the “House for the Relief of Suffering”. He wanted it to be a first-class hospital, but above all he was concerned that the medicine practiced there would be truly “human”, treating patients with warm concern and sincere attention. He was quite aware that people who are ill and suffering need not only competent therapeutic care but also, and more importantly, a human and spiritual climate to help them rediscover themselves in an encounter with the love of God and with the kindness of their brothers and sisters.

With the “House for the Relief of Suffering”, he wished to show that God's “ordinary miracles” take place in and through our charity. We need to be open to compassion and to the generous service of our brothers and sisters, using every resource of medical science and technology at our disposal.

7. The echo stirred by this beatification in Italy and throughout the world shows that the fame of Padre Pio, a son of Italy and of Francis of Assisi, has gone forth to embrace all the continents. And I gladly greet those who have gathered here — in the first place the Italian authorities who have chosen to be present: the President of the Republic, the President of the Senate, the Prime Minister, who leads the official delegation, and the many other ministers and distinguished guests. Italy is represented most worthily! But also the many faithful from other nations have gathered here to pay homage to Padre Pio.

My affectionate greeting goes to all who have come from near and far, with a special thought for the Capuchin Fathers. To everyone I offer heartfelt thanks.

8. Let me conclude with the words of the Gospel of this Mass: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Have faith in God”. There is a reference to this exhortation of Christ in the advice which the new blessed never tired of giving to the faithful: “Abandon yourselves fully to the divine heart of Jesus, like a child in the arms of his mother”. May these words of encouragement fill our hearts too and become a source of peace, serenity and joy. Why should we fear, if Christ for us is the Way, and the Truth and the Life? Why should we not trust in God who is the Father, our Father?

May “Our Lady of Graces”, whom the humble Capuchin of Pietrelcina invoked with constant and tender devotion, help us to keep our gaze fixed on God. May she take us by the hand and lead us to seek wholeheartedly that supernatural charity flowing forth from the wounded side of the Crucified One.

And you, Bl. Padre Pio, look down from heaven upon us assembled in this square and upon all gathered in prayer before the Basilica of St John Lateran and in San Giovanni Rotondo. Intercede for all those who, in every part of the world, are spiritually united with this event and raise their prayers to you. Come to the help of everyone; give peace and consolation to every heart. Amen!

[basicsofislam]

ISLAM 101: Muslim Beliefs: Existence and Oneness of God Almighty: TAWHID (GOD’S ONENESS)

All religions revealed to the Prophets have the same essence. Over time, however, the original message was misinterpreted, mixed with superstition, and degenerated into magical practices and meaningless rituals. The conception of God, the very core of religion, was debased by anthropomorphism, deifying angels, associating others with God, considering Prophets or godly people as incarnations of God (Jesus Christ, Buddha, Krishna, and Rama), and personifying His Attributes through separate deities.

The Prophet rejected such theological trends and restored the conception of God as the only Creator, Sustainer, and Master of all creation to its pristine purity. Thus, as John Davenport puts it:

Among many excellencies of which the Quran may justly boast are two eminently conspicuous: the one being the tone of awe and reverence which it always observes when speaking of, or referring to, the Deity, to Whom it never attributes human frailties and passions; the other the total absence throughout it of all impure, immoral and indecent ideas, expressions, narratives, etc., blemishes, which, it is much to be regretted, of too frequent occurrence in the Jewish scriptures.

Tawhid, Divine Unity and Oneness, is clearly observed throughout the universe. If we look at ourselves and our environment, we easily discern that everything depends upon this principle. For example, our bodily parts cooperate with each other. Each cell is so connected with the whole body that the One Who created it must be He Who created the body. Likewise, each element comprising the universe is interrelated and in harmony with each other element and the universe as a whole.

Given this, the only logical conclusion is that the same Creator Who created the particles created the universe, and that the motion of subatomic particles is the same as that observed in the solar system. Everything originates from “one” and returns to “one”: We originated the first creation, so We shall bring it back (to its former state) again (21:104). A tree, for instance, grows out of a seed or a stone and finally results in a seed or a stone. This strict obedience to the One Who established that order explains why the universe is so orderly and harmonious. As the Creator, One, All-Omnipotent and All-Knowing, operates it directly, how could it be otherwise? As the Qur’an reminds us:

Each god would have taken off what he created, and some of them would have risen up over others. Had there been gods in Earth and heaven other than God, they both would have been in disorder. (21:22)

Tawhid is the highest conception of deity that God revealed to us through His Prophets, among whom were Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad. Over time, people deviated from the pure teachings after their Prophets died. Turning to polytheism or idolatry, they relied upon their own faulty reasoning, false perceptions, and biased interpretations to satisfy their lusts. Such a course is impossible with a tawhid-based system, for this requires that they obey only the One Supreme God’s commandments.

‘Ali Ibn Abi Talib is reported to have said:

The foremost in religion is God’s knowledge, the perfection of His knowledge is to testify to Him, the perfection of testifying to Him is to believe in His Oneness, the perfection of believing in His Oneness is to regard Him as pure, and the perfection of His purity is to deny all kinds of negative attributes about Him.

He is infinite and eternal, self-existent and self-sufficient. As stated in the Qur’an:

He is God, One, needy of nothing and Everlasting Refuge; He begets not, nor is He begotten; and there is none like unto Him. (112:1-4)

There is nothing like or compared unto Him. (42:11)

Vision perceives Him not, and He perceives all vision; and He (alone) is the All-Hearing and All-Seeing. (6:103)

In the words of ‘Ali:

He is Being but not through the phenomenon of coming into being. He exists but not from non-existence. He is with everything but not by physical nearness. He is different from everything but not by physical separation. He acts but without the accompaniment of movements and instruments. He is the One, only such that there is none with whom He keeps company or whom He misses in his absence.

God’s Attributes cannot be transferred or present in another, since they are infinite. One who cannot keep himself alive cannot give life to others. One who cannot protect his own power cannot govern the vast universe. The more one reflects, the clearer it becomes that all divine powers and attributes must exist in only in that one particular being.

Implications of Tawhid

Monotheists, those who believe in Tawhid, cannot be narrow-minded. Their belief in One God, Creator of the heavens and Earth, Master of the east and the west, and Sustainer of the universe, leads them to view everything as belonging to the same Lord, to Whom they belong as well. Thus they consider nothing as alien. Their sympathy, love, and service are not confined to any particular race, color, or group, and they come to understand the Prophetic saying: “O servants of God, be brethren!”

Monotheism produces the highest degree of self-respect and self-esteem in people. Monotheists know that only God has true power, can benefit or harm them, fulfill their needs, cause them to die, or wield authority and influence. This conviction makes them indifferent to and independent and fearless of all powers other than those of God. They never bow in homage to any of God’s creatures.

Monotheists, although humble and mild, never abase themselves by bowing before anyone or anything except God. They never aim at any advantage by their worship, even if that advange is Paradise. They seek only to please God and obtain His approval.

Monotheists, although naturally weak and powerless as human beings, become powerful enough through their Lord’s Power to resist the whole world. They are virtuous and altruistic, for their purpose is to gain God’s approval by working for His good pleasure. Boisterous pride of power and wealth can have no room in their hearts, for they know that whatever they possess is bestowed by God, and that God can take away as easily as He can give.

Monotheists know that the only way to success and salvation is to acquire a pure soul and righteous behavior. They have perfect faith in God, Who is above all need, related to none, absolutely just, and without partner in His exercise of Divine Power. Given this belief, they understand that they can succeed only through right living and just action, for no influence or underhanded activity can save them from ruin. However, some believe that someone has atoned for their sins; and others assert that they are God’s favorites and thus immune to punishment. Still others believe that their idols or saints will intercede with God on their behalf, and so make offerings to their deities in the belief that such bribes give them a license to do whatever they want. Such false beliefs keep them entangled in sin and evil, and their dependence on such deities cause them to neglect their need for spiritual purification and for living pure and good lives.

Monotheists do not become hopeless and disappointed. Their firm faith in God, Master of all treasures of Earth and the heavens, and Possessor of limitless grace and bounty and infinite power, imparts to their hearts extraordinary consolation, fills it with satisfaction, and keeps it filled with hope. In this world they might meet with rejection at all doors, nothing might serve their ends, and all means might desert them. But faith in and dependence on God, which never leave them, give them the strength to go on struggling. Such a profound confidence can come only from belief in the One God. Such a belief produces great determination, patient perseverance, and trust in God. When they decide to devote their resources to fulfilling the Divine Commands to secure God’s good pleasure and approval, they are sure that they have the Lord of the Universe’s support and backing.

Many polytheists and atheists, on the other hand, usually have small hearts and depend on limited powers. Thus their troubles and the resulting despair soon overwhelm them and, frequently, they commit suicide. Professor Joad’s testimony is explicit on this point:

For the first time in history there is coming to maturity a generation of men and women [in the West of the 1950s] who have no religion, and feel no need for one. They are content to ignore it. Also they are very unhappy, the suicide rate is abnormally high. (Phillip K. Hitti, History of the Arabs, 6th ed. (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1956), 129.)

As opposed to this, a non-Muslim historian who is not sympathetic to Islam, writes the following about Tawhid:

In this uncompromising monotheism, with its simple, enthusiastic faith in the supreme rule of a transcendental being, lies the chief strength of Islam. Its adherents enjoy a consciousness of contentment and resignation unknown among followers of most creeds. Suicide is rare in Muslim lands. (The Present and Future of Religion, quoted by Sir Arnold Lunn, And Yet So New (London: Sheed and Ward, 1958), 228).

Monotheism inspires bravery, for it defeats the two factors that make people cowards: fear of death and love of safety, and the belief that someone other than God can somehow be bribed into postponing one’s death. Belief in the Islamic creedal statement that “there is no deity but God” purges the mind of these ideas. The first idea loses its influence when people realize that their lives, property, and everything else really belong to God, for this makes them willing to sacrifice whatever they have for God’s approval. The second idea is defeated when people realize that no weapon, person, or power can kill them, for only God has this power. No one can die before his or her appointed time, even if all of the world’s forces combined to do so. Nothing can bring death forward or push it backward even one instant. This firm belief in One God and dependence upon Him makes monotheists the bravest of people.

Monotheism creates an attitude of peace and contentment, purges the mind of subtle passions and jealousy, envy and greed, and prevents one from resorting to base and unfair means for achieving success. Monotheists understand that God holds their wealth; that He bestows honor, power, reputation, and authority as He wills and subjects them to His Will; and that their duty is only to endeavor and struggle fairly. They know that success and failure depend upon His Grace, for no power can block His Will to give or not to give. They also know that they must strive to deserve His Grace. But many of those who do not believe in God consider success and failure to be the result of their own efforts or by the help of earthly powers, and do not take God’s Grace and Will into consideration. Therefore they remain slaves to cupidity and envy, and use bribery, flattery, conspiracy, and other base and unfair means to achieve success.

Monotheism makes people obey and observe the Divine Law. Monotheists know that God is aware of everything, whether hidden or open, and is nearer to them than their jugular vein. If they sin in secret even under the cover of night, God knows it. He knows our unformed thoughts and intentions, even those of which we ourselves are unaware. We can hide things from people, but not from God. We can evade everyone, but not God’s grasp. The firmer our belief in this respect, the more observant we will be of His Commands. This is why the first and most important condition for being a Muslim is to have firm and sincere faith in God’s Oneness.

This is also the most important and fundamental principle of the Prophet’s teachings, as well as Islam’s bedrock and the mainspring of its power. All other beliefs, commands, and laws of Islam stand firm on this foundation. Lastly, we quote the remarks of Dr. Laura Veccia Vaglieri, a famous Italian Orientalist, concerning the universal spirit of Islamic monotheism:

The Prophet, with a voice which was inspired by a deep communion with his Maker, preached the purest monotheism to the worshippers of fetish and the followers of a corrupted Christianity and Judaism. He put himself in open conflict with those regressive tendencies of mankind which lead to the association of other beings with the Creator.

In order to lead men to a belief in one God, he did not delude them with happenings which deviate from the normal course of nature. Rather, he simply invited them, without asking them to leave the realm of reality, to consider the Universe and its laws. Being confident of the resultant belief in the one and indispensable God, he simply let men read in the book of life.

Thanks to Islam, paganism in its various forms was defeated. The concept of the Universe, the practices of religion, and the customs of social life were each liberated from all the monstrosities which had degraded them, and human minds were made free of prejudice. Man finally realized his dignity. (Vaglieri, Laura Veccia, Apologia dell Islamismo. Washington: American Fazl Mosque [1957]; trans.

Aldo Caselli, An Interpretation of Islam. Beirut: Laila Khalidy Memorial Foundation [1957?], 30-33.)

[lawrenceop]

HOMILY for Passion Sunday (Dominican rite)

Heb 9:11-15; John 8:46-59

From Septuagesimatide, to Lent, and now to Passiontide: we have entered the third and final phase of our preparation for the Easter festival. The Crosses and sacred images have now been veiled in church, a further deprivation of the senses in this holy time of fasting and abstinence. But this year, Passiontide is truly, for all of us, as the name indicates, the time of suffering, and deprivations and the strangest of abstinences have been forced upon us: we have been deprived of access to our churches, deprived of the sacraments in some cases, and a prolonged Eucharistic fast, an abstinence from sacramental communion is the yoke placed upon us. This is the passion, the spiritual suffering, that many Catholics now undergo. And, moreover, there are the temporal sufferings of the whole world from sickness and death and the far-reaching effects of this pandemic that strike at us physically, socially, materially, and psychologically. Truly, this is a Passiontide, a time of suffering for all of humanity, that will extend beyond this fortnight of liturgical veiling. 

How shall we respond, as Christians? “Stat crux dum volvitur orbis” say the Carthusians. “The Cross stands steady while the world spins”. Hence this liturgical time of Passiontide directs our attention to the Cross. The readings of this Passion Sunday Mass focusses us on the suffering and perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ. The Liturgy today points us to the Sacrifice of the Mass itself, whereby Christ’s Cross is once again exalted in triumph over a world broken by sin and sickness and selfishness. As the preface says: “you placed the salvation of the human race on the wood of the Cross, so that, where death arose, life might again spring forth”. 

Therefore, throughout this extended passiontide of the pandemic season, the Sacrifice of the Mass continues to be offered every single day in countless churches throughout the world by Christ’s priests. This is most necessary because the Mass proclaims the victory of Christ over sin and all its effects such as sickness. The Cross, that is to say, the Mass, stands steady while the world is in tailspin. And at the same time, the Mass objectively calls down upon the world, and upon the Church, the blessings that flow from Christ Crucified,  namely, life and health, and, above all, the graces of salvation, eternal life. 

Our forebears knew this well, and they would often go to church to “hear Mass”, even though they seldom partook of Holy Communion itself. This practice, at least since the time of Pope St Pius X, is now rather alien to our Ecclesial experience. But in the current circumstances, you now find yourself, in an odd way, through the medium of audio-visual technology, able to see and hear Mass but not partaking in sacramental Communion. You find yourselves, in a certain sense, united to this part of our liturgical tradition whereby Holy Communion was infrequent, and maybe even just an annual event. Hence, the current canon law of the Church still only obliges us to receive Communion once a year, a remnant of this (often pious) approach to infrequent Communion. But nobody doubted, thereby, that the blessings of the Mass did not continue to benefit the world and its inhabitants for their salvation and for their true good. For while the world continues to revolve, so the Cross must stand steady – the Mass, therefore is necessary for the very life and health of the world. This is the sense in which Saint Padre Pio said: “It is easier for the earth to exist without the sun than without the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass!”

But what about you as an individual? How are these blessings of the Sacrifice of Christ – his redemption and new life of grace – to be received then by you? My favourite Catechism, the St Joseph Baltimore Catechism, which was prepared for teenagers in school, puts it simply: “Those who cannot go to daily Communion, but would if they could, can make a spiritual communion. This means a real desire to go to Communion when it is impossible to receive sacramentally. This desire obtains for us from Our Lord the graces of Communion in proportion to the strength of the desire.” 

There is something mysterious and providential, then, in this current situation. For when we receive Communion every day, as a matter of course, is it not possible for our desire to become less focussed on an intimate union with God through love, and more focussed on myself, my needs, and my desire to have an unbroken track record of daily Communions? Sometimes self-will and pride can be disguised by objectively good external routines. But in this period, when we cannot receive Communion – which, incidentally, has put an end to the scandal of sacrilegious and unworthy Communions – behold the wonderful work of God’s grace in this time of suffering. For to those souls who love him and know what the Mass is, is it not true that their desire for union with God has also increased? Therefore, in proportion to the strength of this desire, as the Baltimore Catechism says, know that the graces of Holy Communion are being given to you today by the good and loving and merciful Lord Jesus. In other words, nobody should despair of receiving the graces that are necessary for our salvation because God, who is not restricted by the Sacraments, can and does act without them, in an extraordinary manner, to confer graces on those souls who truly love him.   

However, because you cannot see, touch, and taste the Eucharistic Lord with your own bodies, something greater is now demanded of you, namely Faith. In his hymn, Adoro Te devote, St Thomas Aquinas thus says: “Sight, touch, taste are all deceived in their judgment of you, but hearing suffices firmly to believe. I believe all that the Son of God has spoken; there is nothing truer than this word of Truth.” Therefore, in this time, as Cardinal Nichols put it, “dig deep” and believe that which the Word of God has promised. Jesus says in John 14: “I will not leave you desolate; I will come to you. Yet a little while, and the world will see me no more, but you will see me; because I live, you will live also. In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you… If a man loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.” (John 14:18-20, 23) Or, again, as the Lord says in today’s Gospel: “If any one keeps my word, he will never see death.” (Jn 8:51)

So, the Lord, right now and throughout this time of our sufferings is present and alive in your life, and he comes to you where you are, and he gives himself to you if you open yourself to him in love, and prepare a home for him in your heart, if you treasure his Word and keep his commandment of charity. Indeed the Rededication of England to Our Lady today is precisely about this kind of faith. For just as the Lord sought out Mary in her humble abode in Nazareth, and the Word became flesh in her life, and dwelt within her, so the Lord shall also come to our homes, and, if we keep his Word because we love him, he wills to give us himself through grace and so to remain with us, dwelling within us. 

Likewise, during this liturgical time of Passiontide, the sight of the crosses and saints in our churches is removed from us. Why? Because we are called to rely not on what we see and touch, but on what we know by faith. Firstly, we know that the Cross stands steady no matter how shaken the world becomes. It is our anchor and our one hope. And secondly, we recall that the Cross, although removed from our sight, is not removed from our lives. Rather, the Cross is to become part of our lives, through the different kinds of sufferings that we each carry day after day, and because we are united to Christ by grace, so the Lord is with us to carry that Cross with us, and to suffer alongside us, and therefore to sanctify us and give us a greater share in his final victory. 

This time of Passiontide, therefore, although it is focussed on the sufferings of Our Lord, and the bitter pains he endured because of our sins, is not principally a time to wallow in self-reproach and shame. The Benedictine monk, Dom Pius Parsch, in his classic commentary on the traditional Liturgy, states that the Liturgy does not focus attention upon the human side of the passion as much as upon its goal, our salvation.” So, too, in this time of suffering that is the pandemic, let us remain focussed on the goal of salvation, and, with a living faith, know that in this time of suffering and death, God’s grace is poured out with even greater intensity to sanctify us. Therefore, look steadily ahead at the Cross. As our Holy Father Pope Francis said last Friday: “We have an anchor: by his cross we have been saved. We have a rudder: by his cross we have been redeemed. We have a hope: by his cross we have been healed and embraced so that nothing and no one can separate us from his redeeming love.”

[pope-francis-quotes]

27th March >> (@RomeReports) #PopeFrancis #Pope Francis’ full homily from extraordinary Urbi et Orbi blessing

“When evening had come” (Mk 4:35). The Gospel passage we have just heard begins like this. For weeks now it has been evening. Thick darkness has gathered over our squares, our streets and our cities; it has taken over our lives, filling everything with a deafening silence and a distressing void, that stops everything as it passes by; we feel it in the air, we notice in people’s gestures, their glances give them away. We find ourselves afraid and lost. Like the disciples in the Gospel we were caught off guard by an unexpected, turbulent storm. We have realized that we are on the same boat, all of us fragile and disoriented, but at the same time important and needed, all of us called to row together, each of us in need of comforting the other. On this boat... are all of us. Just like those disciples, who spoke anxiously with one voice, saying “We are perishing” (v. 38), so we too have realized that we cannot go on thinking of ourselves, but only together can we do this.

It is easy to recognize ourselves in this story. What is harder to understand is Jesus’ attitude. While his disciples are quite naturally alarmed and desperate, he stands in the stern, in the part of the boat that sinks first. And what does he do? In spite of the tempest, he sleeps on soundly, trusting in the Father; this is the only time in the Gospels we see Jesus sleeping. When he wakes up, after calming the wind and the waters, he turns to the disciples in a reproaching voice: “Why are you afraid? Have you no faith?” (v. 40).

Let us try to understand. In what does the lack of the disciples’ faith consist, as contrasted with Jesus’ trust? They had not stopped believing in him; in fact, they called on him. But we see how they call on him: “Teacher, do you not care if we perish?” (v. 38). Do you not care: they think that Jesus is not interested in them, does not care about them. One of the things that hurts us and our families most when we hear it said is: “Do you not care about me?” It is a phrase that wounds and unleashes storms in our hearts. It would have shaken Jesus too. Because he, more than anyone, cares about us. Indeed, once they have called on him, he saves his disciples from their discouragement.

The storm exposes our vulnerability and uncovers those false and superfluous certainties around which we have constructed our daily schedules, our projects, our habits and priorities. It shows us how we have allowed to become dull and feeble the very things that nourish, sustain and strengthen our lives and our communities. The tempest lays bare all our prepackaged ideas and forgetfulness of what nourishes our people’s souls; all those attempts that anesthetize us with ways of thinking and acting that supposedly “save” us, but instead prove incapable of putting us in touch with our roots and keeping alive the memory of those who have gone before us. We deprive ourselves of the antibodies we need to confront adversity.

In this storm, the façade of those stereotypes with which we camouflaged our egos, always worrying about our image, has fallen away, uncovering once more that (blessed) common belonging, of which we cannot be deprived: our belonging as brothers and sisters.

“Why are you afraid? Have you no faith?” Lord, your word this evening strikes us and regards us, all of us. In this world, that you love more than we do, we have gone ahead at breakneck speed, feeling powerful and able to do anything. Greedy for profit, we let ourselves get caught up in things, and lured away by haste. We did not stop at your reproach to us, we were not shaken awake by wars or injustice across the world, nor did we listen to the cry of the poor or of our ailing planet. We carried on regardless, thinking we would stay healthy in a world that was sick. Now that we are in a stormy sea, we implore you: “Wake up, Lord!”.

“Why are you afraid? Have you no faith?” Lord, you are calling to us, calling us to faith. Which is not so much believing that you exist, but coming to you and trusting in you. This Lent your call reverberates urgently: “Be converted!”, “Return to me with all your heart” (Joel 2:12). You are calling on us to seize this time of trial as a time of choosing. It is not the time of your judgement, but of our judgement: a time to choose what matters and what passes away, a time to separate what is necessary from what is not. It is a time to get our lives back on track with regard to you, Lord, and to others. We can look to so many exemplary companions for the journey, who, even though fearful, have reacted by giving their lives. This is the force of the Spirit poured out and fashioned in courageous and generous self-denial. It is the life in the Spirit that can redeem, value and demonstrate how our lives are woven together and sustained by ordinary people – often forgotten people – who do not appear in newspaper and magazine headlines nor on the grand catwalks of the latest show, but who without any doubt are in these very days writing the decisive events of our time: doctors, nurses, supermarket employees, cleaners, caregivers, providers of transport, law and order forces, volunteers, priests, religious men and women and so very many others who have understood that no one reaches salvation by themselves. In the face of so much suffering, where the authentic development of our peoples is assessed, we experience the priestly prayer of Jesus: “That they may all be one” (Jn 17:21). How many people every day are exercising patience and offering hope, taking care to sow not panic but a shared responsibility. How many fathers, mothers, grandparents and teachers are showing our children, in small everyday gestures, how to face up to and navigate a crisis by adjusting their routines, lifting their gaze and fostering prayer. How many are praying, offering and interceding for the good of all. Prayer and quiet service: these are our victorious weapons.

“Why are you afraid? Have you no faith”? Faith begins when we realise we are in need of salvation. We are not self-sufficient; by ourselves we founder: we need the Lord, like ancient navigators needed the stars. Let us invite Jesus into the boats of our lives. Let us hand over our fears to him so that he can conquer them. Like the disciples, we will experience that with him on board there will be no shipwreck. Because this is God’s strength: turning to the good everything that happens to us, even the bad things. He brings serenity into our storms, because with God life never dies.

The Lord asks us and, in the midst of our tempest, invites us to reawaken and put into practice that solidarity and hope capable of giving strength, support and meaning to these hours when everything seems to be floundering. The Lord awakens so as to reawaken and revive our Easter faith. We have an anchor: by his cross we have been saved. We have a rudder: by his cross we have been redeemed. We have a hope: by his cross we have been healed and embraced so that nothing and no one can separate us from his redeeming love. In the midst of isolation when we are suffering from a lack of tenderness and chances to meet up, and we experience the loss of so many things, let us once again listen to the proclamation that saves us: he is risen and is living by our side. The Lord asks us from his cross to rediscover the life that awaits us, to look towards those who look to us, to strengthen, recognize and foster the grace that lives within us. Let us not quench the wavering flame (cf. Is 42:3) that never falters, and let us allow hope to be rekindled.

Embracing his cross means finding the courage to embrace all the hardships of the present time, abandoning for a moment our eagerness for power and possessions in order to make room for the creativity that only the Spirit is capable of inspiring. It means finding the courage to create spaces where everyone can recognize that they are called, and to allow new forms of hospitality, fraternity and solidarity. By his cross we have been saved in order to embrace hope and let it strengthen and sustain all measures and all possible avenues for helping us protect ourselves and others. Embracing the Lord in order to embrace hope: that is the strength of faith, which frees us from fear and gives us hope.

“Why are you afraid? Have you no faith”? Dear brothers and sisters, from this place that tells of Peter’s rock-solid faith, I would like this evening to entrust all of you to the Lord, through the intercession of Mary, Health of the People and Star of the stormy Sea. From this colonnade that embraces Rome and the whole world, may God’s blessing come down upon you as a consoling embrace. Lord, may you bless the world, give health to our bodies and comfort our hearts. You ask us not to be afraid. Yet our faith is weak and we are fearful. But you, Lord, will not leave us at the mercy of the storm. Tell us again: “Do not be afraid” (Mt 28:5). And we, together with Peter, “cast all our anxieties onto you, for you care about us” (cf. 1 Pet 5:7).

[journalofeveryday]

Over the weekend I attended a conference and while I was in one of the night sessions I received a word from God at the beginning of the alter call; this word reminded me of things I have felt God speak over my life since I became a Christian; but somewhere along the way I also discounted myself from being worthy of these declarations and promises I so clearly know he has for me; as I felt this in my own heart I also knew I probably wasn’t the only one who felt this way; I knew so many people in the room have felt the same and that this was most likely a SHIFTING moment for them as it was for me.

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I wanted to share this because I also believe this message is a life changing one for anyone listening that finds themselves where I was in that moment and it might just be a message from God for you to.

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May we refuse to except an ordinary life. When God is calling us into an extraordinary one. Have you settled for the ordinary or less then what God has for you; because of words spoken over you or circumstances that have happened to you or because of the way people have treated you.

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There’s a beautiful story in the book of Luke in the Bible; you’ll find it in Luke 5:1-11, it’s called The Miracle Catch of Fish; in this story Jesus was preaching to crowds on the shore of Lake Galilee when he saw two fishing boats at the waters edge and the fisherman were near by cleaning their nets. In verse three of this story it says “Jesus climbed into the boat belonging to Simon Peter and asked him, “Let me use your boat. Push it off a short distance away from the shore so I can speak to the crowds.” Luke‬ ‭5:3‬ ‭TPT‬‬.

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I wonder if through this story in the Bible you can remember a time in your life like Simon Peter God has asked to use your boat ! Think back to that time; maybe he showed you a vision or gave you a word; but without a doubt you know it was God calling out of you the extraordinary.

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The story then continues on in verse 4 like this “Jesus sat down and taught the people from the boat. When he had finished, he said to Peter, “Now row out to deep water to cast your nets and you will have a great catch.” Luke‬ ‭5:4‬ ‭TPT‬‬. Here in verse 4 we hear Jesus speaking into the promise and call God had over Simon Peters life. But something happens after the statement when Jesus says “Now row out to deep water to cast your nets and you will have a GREAT catch... Jesus doesn’t say you might or maybe you will have a great catch he says YOU WILL.

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So that leads to my question about what Simon Peter says in the next verse. “Master,” Peter replied, “we’ve just come back from fishing all night and didn’t catch a thing”. My question is what has caused you today to doubt what God first spoke to you. What has caused this doubt that had you settling for the ordinary ... you were quite happy in your comfort and safety rather than the chasing down and pursuing the GREAT catch he has destined through you.

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Maybe like I said earlier the words spoken over you in your life have led you to speak disqualified words over yourself and over the greatness god is calling out of you.

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Maybe it’s a circumstance that stopped you in your tracks and still has you denying what you know God has ahead for you. Maybe it was the way you were treated that had you retreating as far away from those words you once heard God speak to you and you retreated out of fear.

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But I want you to hear this statement in Verse 5 ! Peter says “But if you insist, we’ll go out again and let down our nets because of your word.”Luke‬ ‭5:5‬ ‭TPT. ‬‬ I truely believe this was a message that was timely for me but I also believe it’s one timely for others to ! I know you’ve been letting your nets down for a long time and I know there’s past circumstances, past words and fears holding you back.

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But the time is right now to respond as Peter did “But if you insist we’ll go out again and let down our nets, because of your word” that WORD he spoke to you before you were ever let down, ever spoken down to, before you ever felt betrayed and hurt. It’s time now to let your net down again. Because you know God is who he says he is and he will do what he says he will do.

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I don’t know what that word from him was specifically for you. Whether he was calling you to ministry, a position of influence or to the mission fields or to something else entirely; only you know what it is !.

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This is what happens in verse 6-11 when they made the decision to let down their nets once more “When they pulled up their nets, they were shocked to see a huge catch of fish, so much that their nets were ready to burst! They waved to their business partners in the other boat for help. They ended up completely filling both boats with fish until their boats began to sink! When Simon Peter saw this astonishing miracle, he knelt at Jesus’ feet and begged him, “Go away from me, Master, for I am a sinful man!” Simon Peter and the other fishermen—including his fishing partners, Jacob and John, the sons of Zebedee—were awestruck over the miracle catch of fish. Jesus answered, “Do not yield to your fear, Simon Peter. From now on you will catch men for salvation!” After pulling their boats to the shore, they left everything behind and followed Jesus. Luke‬ ‭5:6-11‬ ‭TPT‬‬.

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I am just in awe of how amazing this story is and I believe it’s a word for anyone who feels this season upon them right now. Maybe you were reminded of something god spoke to you or showed you in a vision and you wondered why you settled, gave up, bowed out of what you know was god calling you towards something. God is convicting your heart right now not to yield to fear ; he says from now on you will catch men for salvation. What a declaration! What a word for right now if you have felt disqualified or unworthy; God is re commissioning you and reconnecting you to his call. God spoke such a shifting, transforming and powerful word through this scripture and into my heart I hope if you needed this it does the same for you to.

[hieromonkcharbel]

The Holy Fathers on Illness and Perfection:

Diverting a bit from my approach to the writings of the Philokalia, I wish to put forward a few thoughts about how we often think about illness in our lives and how the Holy Fathers offer us fresh insight into the mystery of evil, sin, illness and their place in our struggle for holiness.

Often, when we are young, we do not think much about physical illness and the spiritual life. Life passes quickly as we are fully engaged in our work, studies and ministry and many of us rarely struggle with ill health except for the occasional flu or cold. But when illness does strike, in one form or another, suddenly our busy and “productive” lives can be disrupted and we are forced, as it were, to reconsider a great deal of things; not merely the meaning of health, that we have perhaps taken for granted, but the nature of our relationship with God, the depth of our faith or lack thereof, the meaning of suffering and how to engage it and not to become discourage even when we have been completely humbled by the burden of our physical and emotional vulnerabilities. When such circumstances arise, we are often unprepared for the trial - never imagining or wanting to think about the possibility of such a cross - a cross the comes to most all of us at some point. When illness plunges us into unfamiliar territory, even to the point of death, what place does it have within our struggle toward holiness? How do we pray when prayer seems impossible and when it feels as though our heart has been turned to stone? Where do we find our hope and with what faith must we enter the mystery of illness and suffering in order to know the healing touch of Christ, the Physician of our souls and bodies?

I offer for your consideration today brief excerpts from “The Holy Fathers on Illness” compiled by Bishop Alexander Mileant; in particular those thoughts from the Fathers on “Illness and Work of Perfection”. Their words offer some perspective on sickness and redemptive suffering as a means of glorifying God. There is much to say certainly about the meaning and origins of illness well beyond the purview of a simple post, but the Fathers show us in word and deed that it can be and often is a privileged way of holiness. Through thankfulness, endurance, and patience one can realize the highest form of ascetic practice and follow a spiritual path to intimacy with God. At such moments, one may exhibit no extraordinary virtue other than to suffer illness and its poverty with patience and so have this as one’s path to salvation. Thus, the Fathers’ words are full of hope and challenge:

“The desert ascetic Father, St. Abba Dorotheus, exhorts his disciples to "take the trouble to find out where you are: whether you have left your own town but remain just outside the gates, by the garbage dump, or whether you have gone ahead little or much, or whether you are half way on your journey, or whether you have gone two miles, then come back two miles, or perhaps even five miles, or whether you have journeyed as far as the Holy City and entered into Jerusalem itself, or whether you have remained outside and are unable to enter" (On Vigilance and Sobriety).

Illness helps us to see "where we are" on life's road: "sickness is a lesson from God and serves to help us in our progress if we give thanks to Him" (Sts. Barsanuphius and John, Philokalia).

No one may use illness as an excuse for resting from the labor of spiritual living. "Perhaps some might think that illness and bodily weakness hinder the work of perfection since the works and accomplishments of one's hands cannot continue. But it is not a hindrance" (St. Ambrose, Jacob and the Happy Life).

In the life of Riassophore-monk John, latter-day disciple of St. Nilus of Sora, we see how bodily infirmity is not allowed to interrupt the struggle for salvation. Riassophore-monk John was a cripple; because of this he had been compelled to leave the Monastery of St. Cyril of New Lake. Feeling sorry for himself, he shortly afterwards was standing for an all-night vigil in the deep of winter. "Suddenly he saw an unknown Elder in schema come out of the altar to him and say: 'Well, apparently you do not wish to serve me. If so, return to St. Cyril.

"At these words, the Elder struck him with his right hand quite strongly on the shoulder. Noting that the Elder exactly resembled St. Nilus as he is depicted on the icon over his relics, John was filled with great joy, all his grief disappeared, and he firmly resolved to spend the rest of his life in the Saint's skete" (The Northern Thebaid).

Even if we are bedridden, we are to continue the struggle against the passions, producing fruits worthy of repentance. This work of perfection demands that we acquire patience and longsuffering. What better way to do this than when we lie on a bed of infirmity? St. Tikhon of Zadonsk says that in suffering we can find out whether our faith is living or just "theoretical." The test of true faith is patience in the midst of sufferings, for "patience is the Christian's coat of arms." "What is it to follow Christ?" he asks. It is "to endure all things, looking upon Christ Who suffered. Many wish to be glorified with Christ, but few seek to remain with the suffering Christ. Yet not merely by tribulation, but even in much tribulation does one enter the Kingdom of God."

To those who suppose that they can only progress in the spiritual life when all else is "well," St. John Cassian replies, "You should not think that you can find virtue when you are not irritated — for it is not in your power to prevent troubles from happening. Rather, you should look for patience as the result of your own humility and longsuffering, for patience does depend upon your own will" {Institutes). Towards the end of his life, St. Seraphim of Sarov suffered from open ulcers on his legs. "Yet," as his Life tells us, "in appearance he was always bright and cheerful, for in spirit he felt that heavenly peace and joy which are the riches of the glorious inheritance of the saints."

"You are stricken by this sickness," the Holy Fathers say, "so that you will not depart barren to God. If you can endure, and give thanks to God, this sickness will be accounted to you as a spiritual work" (Sts. Barsanouphius and John, Philokalia).

Bishop Theophan the Recluse explains: "Enduring unpleasant things cheerfully, you approach a little to the martyrs. But if you complain, you will not only lose your share with the martyrs, but will be responsible for complaining besides. Therefore, be cheerful!"

In order not to lose heart when we fall sick we are to think about and mentally "kiss the sufferings of our Savior just as though we were with Him while He suffers abuses, wounds, humiliations...shame, the pain of the nails, the piercing with the lance, the flow of water and blood. From this we will receive consolation in our sickness. Our Lord will not let these efforts go unrewarded " (St. Tikhon of Zadonsk).

The patience we can learn on a sickbed cannot be overemphasized. Elder Macarius of Optina wrote about this to one who was ill:

"I was much pleased to hear from your relation how bravely you are bearing the cruel scourge of your heavy sickness. Verily, as the man of the flesh perishes, so is the spiritual man renewed."

And to another he wrote: "Praised be the Lord that you accept your illness so meekly! The bearing of sickness with patience and gratitude is reckoned highly by Him Who often rewards sufferers with His imperishable gifts.

"Ponder these words: Though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed."

St. Ambrose of Milan compared an infirm body to a broken musical instrument. He explained how the "musician" can still produce God-pleasing "music" without his instrument:

"If a man used to singing to the accompaniment of a harp finds the harp broken, and its strings undone...he puts it aside and instead of calling for its notes he delights himself with his own voice.

"In the same way, a sick man allows the harp of his body to lie unused. He finds delight within his heart and comfort in the knowledge that his conscience is clear. He sustains himself with God's words and the prophetic writings and, holding these sweet and pleasant in his soul, he embraces them with his mind. Nothing can happen to him because God's graceful presence breathes favor upon him....He is filled with spiritual tranquility" (Jacob and the Happy Life).

Quite often the most God-pleasing spiritual "music" of all is produced in anonymity, by unknown or nearly-unknown saints. But such holy "melodies" are all the more sweet because they are heard by God alone. One such modern sufferer who lived an angel-like life in spite of advanced and terrible sickness was the holy New Russian Martyr, Mother Maria of Gatchina. Her story is known to us only because it pleased God to providentially arrange for one of her visitors, Professor I. M. Andreyev, to record his memories of her.

Mother Maria suffered from encephalitis (inflammation of the brain) and Parkinson's disease. "Her whole body became as it were chained and immovable, her face anemic and like a mask; she could speak, but she began to talk with half-closed mouth, through her teeth, pronouncing slowly and in a monotone. She was a total invalid and was in constant need of help and careful looking after. Usually this disease proceeds with sharp psychological changes, as a result of which such patients often ended up in psychiatric hospitals. But Mother Maria, being a total physical invalid, not only did not degenerate psychically, but revealed completely extraordinary features of personality and character not characteristic of such patients: she became extremely meek, humble, submissive, undemanding, concentrated in herself; she became engrossed in constant prayer, bearing her difficult condition without the least murmuring.

"As if as a reward for this humility and patience, the Lord sent her a gift: consolation of the sorrowing. Completely strange and unknown people, finding themselves in sorrows, grief, depression, and despondency, began to visit her and converse with her. And everyone who came to her left consoled, feeling an illumination of their grief, a pacifying of sorrow, a calming of fears, a taking away of depression and despondency" (The Orthodox Word, vol. 13, no. 3).

"Thus God has acted. Like a provident Father and not like a kidnapper has He first involved us in grievous things, giving us over to tribulation as it were to schoolmasters and teachers, so that being chastened and sobered by these things we may, after showing forth all patience and learning, all right discipline, inherit the Kingdom of Heaven" (St. John Chrysostom, Homily 18, On the Statues).”

Excerpts taken from:

Missionary Leaflet # EA30

466 Foothill Blvd, Box 397, La Canada, Ca 91011

Editor: Bishop Alexander (Mileant)

[magnetoeisenhardt]

Top ten most powerful members of the Batfam

1) Bat-mite

A fifth-dimensional entity, Batmite possesses near unlimited reality warping powers. His name isn't actually Bat-mite; he's just a giant Batman fan.

2) Claire Clover (Gotham Girl)

Claire can use her own life force to gain powers. She could maintain Superman level powers for two years, or God-like powers for two hours. However, she can not gain back the life she spends to power herself, and every expenditure of her abilities push her closer to death.

3) Charlie Gage-Radcliffe (Misfit)

Charlie's powers are strange, even by comic standards. Her character arc was cut short due to Flashpoint, but she was originally supposed to be the lost princess Ruby of Gemworld. She hails from an intensely powerful magical bloodline, but is complete unaware of her origins. As far as she knows, her powers manifest as minorly enhanced strength, and "Bouncing". Charlie can teleport an unlimited amount of distance, carrying an unlimited amount of weight. Any wounds she sustained will instantly heal, and it costs her no energy to do so. More interesting, however, is the fact that anything living she brings with her will instantly die.

This means that she can only be defeated by projectile weapons, as anything that makes contact with her could be teleported away, along with anything connected to it.

Interesting note: I believe Charlie, as a homo-magi, has powers she hasn't yet used. I hypothesize her teleportation is similar to Kurt Wagner's (Marvel's Nightcrawler), and she travels through a parallel dimension. She may be able to tap into and channel this energy for greater use.

4) Basil Karlo (Clayface)

Basil started off as a villain, but was made a member of the Gotham Knights in Detective Comics 2016. He is nearly unkillable, as his body is made entirely of animated clay. There is no organic material to injure. He can manipulate his form to mimic shapeshifting, but his composition will always remain the same. He is an extraordinary actor, and can combine this with his powers to fool almost anyone. He has super strength, and can split himself into multiple forms. However, he has an easily exploitable weakness in temperature. Extreme cold or extreme heat will nullify his powers, and make him brittle, and easy to subdue. Disintegration is the easiest way to kill him, and frost or heat based powers and weapons are fairly common.

Interesting note: The Martian Manhunter is incapable of reading the mind of Eel O'Brian (Plastic Man), as he is made of inorganic material. I believe that Basil has a similar resistance, as well as perhaps an interesting interaction with Charlie. As Basil's body is chemically almost identical to clay, I believe he's one of the few people Charlie could teleport.

However, it is unclear exactly how Charlie's "bouncing" kills. The only time this effect occurs is when we see Lori Zechlin (Black Alice) accidently kill someone while stealing Charlie's powers. The body of her victim exploded. It is never given whether the mind can survive, and, given Charlie's powers are magical in origin, it may not even matter.

5) Cassandra Cain (Batgirl/Orphan

Cass is completely human. However, her unique brain structure gives her the ability to interpret body language as an actual language, granting her a form of precognition. She is able to tell exactly what someone will do, before they do it, making her unbeatable in combat.

She's also the physically strongest and fastest human member of the batfamily, strong enough to punch through steel, and fast enough to dodge bullets after they've been fired. Her strength is only surpassed by Claire and Clayface, and only a Superman level Claire is faster. She ties with Dick Grayson for most gymnastic skill, as she can copy any of his moves. She has complete control over every function of her body. She can stop her heartbeat, speed her healing, and completely deaden pain.

She can perfectly copy any movement, provided the original user has anatomy close to a humans. She has no skill ceiling, and will be able to break her previous records every time. The limits to her strength, speed and skill don't exist.

Interesting note: Her body reading completely negates any form of disguise, including shape shifting. She can read non humanoids to a lesser extent, but not robots. Cass feels extreme empathy towards anybody she's reading, to the point where she will feel their pain as her own. She can read animals, but does not experience any empathy for them.

With her abilities, she can defeat everyone lower on this list combined.

Cass would be able to defeat Charlie in a fight, as the surprise and stealth factor from teleportation would be completely negated. Cass would know where Charlie would teleport before she does it, and could throw a projectile into that area as Charlie bounces into it.

Her abilities do work on Clayface, but she would require either cryo or thermal technology to beat him, giving her no real advantage. While Cass could predict a powered Claire, it doesn't help her defeat someone faster than light and strong enough to bench the earth.

6) Barbara Gordon (Oracle)

If everyone on this list was given access to maximum equipment, Barbara would rank number three. With unlimited access to every piece of technology on earth, she could very easily take over the world, or destroy it. Her photographic memory and extreme intelligence means that she has a plan for every situation, and, unlike Bruce, doesn't need to keep files. There is no opponent she can't outsmart.

However, her ranking falls due to her maximum strength being extremely conditional. Remove her from computers and she is a formidable opponent given light gear, but her paralysis makes her a sitting duck without her wheelchair. She is the fourth strongest on the list, but her fighting style is completely defensive, as Barbara lacks any way to engage a fight, and has to wait for opponent to come to her. She cannot dodge fast moving projectiles, like bullets, or move out of the way of powerful AOE attacks, like explosions, fire, electricity, sonic waves, chemical splashes or falling objects. Her extreme strength is somewhat neutralized by her extreme weakness.

Interesting note: Barbara's wheelchair changes from writer to writer, but at one point it contained a machine gun full of rubber bullets, a mechanical lift platform to go up stairs, grappling hooks, and a portable computer.

Post flashpoint, Barbara has a device in her brain that allows her to walk. However, this version is significantly less powerful, and shares very little with her pre-flashpoint counterpart.

7) Jean-Paul Valley (Azrael)

Azrael is the combined entities of Jean-Paul Valley, his suit's AI, and an actual angel. Jean-Paul himself is not entirely human, as he was created by the Order of Saint Dumas artificially, and had his genome spliced with the DNA of other animals. He has enhanced speed, strength, stamina, metabolism and intelligence.

His abilities are vastly enhanced with the Suit of Sorrows, capable of exceeding Bane. The Suit of Sorrows contains an angel, one who attempts to use the wearer as a host. The longer the suit is worn, the greater the enhancement, and the greater the loss of control. The suit is equipped with two bladed gauntlets; The Sword of Sin, and the Sword of Salvation. The first forces you to relive every bad thing you've done, and the second forces you to relive every bad thing that happened to you.

With suit enhanced strength, he's the third strongest. Without it, he falls behind to sixth. With or without his suit's speed, he comes in third.

Interesting note: With or without his suit, he is the second best fighter on this list. His blades defeat an enemy in a single touch, allowing him to defeat Basil. His superior skill would most likely allow him to get a hit off on Charlie, and his blades would incapacitate her before she could teleport him. Barbara would likely be able to hack and disable his suit, but, in straight combat, she stands no chance. As his blades are magical, there is a high probability they could harm Claire. However, she can power up to a point where she can take him down from range, and eliminate that threat. I have no idea whether they would work on Bat-mite, but Jean-Paul would have little difficulty tricking it and finding out.

8) Helena Wayne (Batman)

The Bat of a world ruled by Darksied, her rogue's gallery is composed entire of alien powerhouses. She faces threats so dangerous, Batman's rouges of Prime Earth are either irrelevant, dead, or her allies. In order to survive on Apokalypse, Bruce Wayne required the Hell Bat suit, a suit so powerful, wearing it kills him. Helena just uses her two fists.

9) Dick Grayson (Nightwing)

Dick's advantage comes from his circus background. He clocks in at the fifth fastest, and ties for most gymnastic skill. He is an extremely skilled fighter, detective and spy. He falls below Helena Wayne, however, because of lack of want. Dick has no desire to pursue his crime fighting career, and hopes to retire. Although he served as Batman as a time, it was out of necessity, and he resented the role he played.

10) Bruce Wayne (Batman)

The first person to wear the mantle of the Bat, Bruce is the third most popular comic book character to ever exist. He has the most years of training under his (utility) belt, and is a highly skilled fighter. He has almost unlimited resources to build gadgets and vehicles, which he utilizes to extreme efficiency.

However, his stats are nothing extraordinary. He manages to scrape ninth strongest member of the batfamily, but is one of the slowest.

Interesting note: Most would grade him higher due to his crippling paranoia. Bruce is famous for coming up with a inane amount of contingency plans, to defeat any opponent. However, these plans are really stupid, and would never work.

His plan to defeat the Flash (Wally West) involves shooting him with a bullet, and having Wally attempt to phase through it instead of dodging. Wally can run seventeen trillion times the speed of light, and is famously terrible at phasing. This plan would fail epically. His plan to defeat Wonder Woman (Diana) also involves shooting her. Even in iterations where Diana isn't bullet proof, it's still impossible to shoot her. Her signature thing is blocking bullets. She can do it blindfolded, and against hundreds of bullets at a time. This is just a bad plan. To defeat Martian Manhunter, he plans to set him on fire. J'onn isn't actually weak to fire, he just suffers from sever psychosomatic pyrophobia. So assuming Batman could somehow ambush a psychic so powerful he's developed precognition, he would still fail.

[mittensmorgul]

Has Chuck ever talked about why he brought Cas back? I'm watching The Man Who Would Be King and it's a massive point of contingency. Cas is clearly important to God, has that ever been brought back up?

Hi there... I don’t really get what the second message has to do with the first, but I’m gonna try to reply to both of these things, because these are two fundamentally unrelated issues. At least, I believe this is also a message from you, but please correct me if I’m wrong. Sometimes it’s really hard to tell if two messages are supposed to go together in the inbox when they’re both from anons:

In that same season Let It Bleed shows Dean asking Cas to erase the memories of Lisa and Ben and that's like Cas' ultimate skill as an angel Stripping Memory and he did for Dean Just Like That. My Chuck has anything been addressed for Cas since season 6?

I think this is the only thing that Chuck has canonically said about the fact he kept bringing Cas back, and it was uttered during one of his lil tantrums in 11.20, while Metatron was prodding him into Doing The Right Thing for all of creation:

Chuck: You know I love those guys, but the world would still be spinning with demon Dean in it. But Sam couldn't have that, though, could he? And so how is Amara being out on me?Metatron: It's not. But you helped the Winchesters before.Chuck: Helped them? I've saved them! I've rebuilt Castiel more times than I can remember. Look where that got me.Metatron: So you're just gonna let Amara win?Chuck: Eh, it's her time to shine.

Chuck was still actively deflecting any responsibility for the Darkness. As if this ENTIRE problem didn’t directly spring from his initial act of locking her away in the first place. Granted, we wouldn’t have had Creation at all if he hadn’t, but he’d been willing to just sequester himself off in his little private bar at the end of all things while the rest of the universe crumbled around him rather than confront any of that. It was easier for him to just blame everyone else for... everything else... as if the problem hadn’t been his own refusal to deal with the fact that he was only one side of this Creation Coin, you know? It took the catalyst of Dean Winchester to bring those two sides together eventually in 11.23.

But getting back to your point... No, Chuck has never said directly, “I specifically and factually continued to resurrect Cas for these explicit purposes,” and then given us a bullet-pointed list.

Because your second question (and I think it’s yours, again) refers to something in 6.21 as being in “the same season” that Chuck resurrected Cas... but he first resurrected Cas in 5.01, after Raphael had exploded him in 4.22 (which happened offscreen, but we were TOLD it happened, by Chuck in 5.01.

Given what we know about the Empty, and the fact it’s where angels go when they die, and the fact that we know now that Jimmy died in 4.22 and went to Heaven and has been there ever since despite Cas having been resurrected in a replacement Jimmy Suit in 5.01... I think it’s safe to assume that Chuck (since he’d been literally standing RIGHT THERE when Cas went kablooie) held Cas in some sort of stasis, waiting to see what happened next. Remember, they’d been making it up as they went. NONE of what happened at the end of 4.22 and after that had been part of Chuck’s Grand Plan. It wasn’t in the script. It was something he hadn’t expected, and yet... it happened.

I don’t think he initially had a definite plan to resurrect Cas, but it had been one of the options he’d held open for himself. Cas had done something INTERESTING to him. He was an angel who demonstrated an act of rebellion and free will-- not the way Lucifer had by wanting to destroy and corrupt humanity, but out of love for Humanity and creation itself. Cas wanted to save the world from Chuck’s destined apocalypse. And Chuck being a shrewd creator, he plucked Cas out of the air before he could be zapped off to the Empty, knowing that such an Angel was an anomaly, and that he might just have a bigger part to play in the salvation of Creation.

In 6.20, I believe the scene you’re referring to is this one:

CASTIEL I was...done. I was over. And then the most extraordinary thing happened. I was put back. (Castiel stands behind Dean, beaten bloody by Lucifer) And we had won. We stopped Armageddon. (Castiel heals Dean) But at a terrible cost. (Castiel heals Bobby)(flashback to very end of 'Swan Song')EXT. OUTSIDE OF LISA BRAEDEN'S HOUSE - NIGHT(Sam stands under the streetlight, which flickers and dies, watching Dean inside Lisa's house. Castiel watches Sam.)CASTIEL And so I knew what I had to do next. Once again, I went to Harrow Hell, to free Sam from Lucifer's cage. It was nearly impossible, but I was so full of confidence, of mission. I see now that was arrogance...Hubris...Because, of course, I hadn't truly raised Sam -- not all of him.(flashback to 'Unforgiven': Sam is beating a cop unconscious; flashback to 'Live Free or Twi-Hard': Sam watches Dean being turned; flashback to 'Appointment in Samarra': Sam raises his dagger to stab Bobby) Sometimes we're lucky enough to be given a warning. (back in front of Lisa's house, Sam turns and walks away- directly past Castiel) This should have been mine.

But this was actually his SECOND resurrection. He was also speaking from a place of desperation, at his lowest point to date, knowing he was about to make A Huge Choice and desperately looking for ANY sort of guidance. It’s like he KNEW he’d already made a mistake, and couldn’t see any way out of this dire, horrific circumstance other than to just... keep pushing through and hope everything worked out in the end. He was trying to save the universe, again, single-handedly. And EVERYTHING was failing. He’d failed to protect Dean, he’d failed to resurrect Sam properly, he’d failed and failed and failed.

Like he said in 12.19, he NEEDED a win, he needed to return to Dean already having secured a win, to prove his own worth. He’s been dealing with this issue, this personal struggle, since he first discovered those Doorways To Doubt way back in s4.

In 7.23, also at a place of Lowest Depression, he had this to say about his continued resurrections:

CASTIEL: If we attack Dick and fail, then you and Sam die heroically, correct?DEAN: I don't know. I guess.CASTIEL: And at best, I die trying to fix my own stupid mistake. Or... I don't die – I'm brought back again. I see now. It's a punishment resurrection. It's worse every time.DEAN: I'm sorry. Uh, we're talking about God crap, right?CASTIEL: I'm not good luck, Dean.DEAN: Yeah, but you know what? Bottom of the ninth, and you're the only guy left on the bench... Sorry, but I'd rather have you, cursed or not. And anyway, nut up, all right? We're all cursed. I seem like good luck to you? [CASTIEL stares at DEAN.] What?CASTIEL: Well, I don't want to make you uncomfortable, but I detect a note of forgiveness.DEAN: Yeah, well, I'm probably gonna die tomorrow, so...CASTIEL: Well, I'll go with you. And I'll do my best.

He was in such a low place that he sincerely believed he’d been repeatedly resurrected as a “punishment,” because he couldn’t see past his own guilt and trauma. But again, Dean held out a hand and offered him a different viewpoint. It was the first step toward Cas being able to forgive himself and move forward. He could finally begin “redeeming himself” in Dean’s eyes, which he’d promised back in 7.01. And that’s sort of the journey he’s been on ever since.

He’s been through a number of rough patches along the way, leading him to say Yes to Lucifer in 11.10, leading him to try to spare Sam and Dean from having to kill Kelly in 12.15-12.19, ultimately leading to his death (again! but the first death that Chuck hadn’t been standing by to catch him from and stop him from ever reaching the Empty) in 12.23.

For the first time, it was Cas HIMSELF that fought for his own resurrection, in which his own agency is what brought him back. He fought for HIMSELF.

*scrolls back up because I can’t even remember the question at this point...*

Aah, right... “Has anything been addressed for Cas since s6?” Um.. yes? Loads and loads? Which is why I have no idea how the second half of your question relates to the first...

I’ve barely scraped the tip of the iceberg here on that ONE issue, so short of writing a thesis on the narrative evolution of Castiel as a character that could probably span at least a trilogy of scholarly tomes, I don’t really know what else to say here... I’m honestly baffled that anyone could suggest that they’ve just not addressed Cas’s issues since s6, and wondering if we’re watching the same show.

[princess-of-france]

Okay I am having MASSIVE FEELS over this paper I'm writing, about H5.4.1 and R2.4.1 and Henry's understanding that he's just a man under all the ceremony and titles and robes and it reminded me of the line in "Superman" by Five For Fighting-- "I'm only a man in a funny red sheet." I can't put that in my paper so I'll just cry about it here.

Please, cry! And I will cry with you. And we will flood the angels out of heaven itself with our tears, because the man who wears the crown is still a man. 

It is the most awful truth in the entire Henriad and it becomes the loneliest realization for Richard, for Henry, and finally for Hal. The balm, the crown, the duty’s rights, the sceptre and the ball, the sword, the mace, the crown imperial, the intertissued robes of gold and pearl…all of them, altogether, all those pieces combined, amount to nothing more than a funny red sheet, in the end. As David Tennant so poignantly put it during an interview for the RSC’s Richard II: “It is the most devastating thing in the world, to finally understand that the angels aren’t coming.”

But this fact — that wearing the king’s crown doesn’t sap the humanity from a man’s soul — is also, I think, the only true source of redemption in the entire tetralogy, because the great hope of humankind lies in our ability and willingness to improve ourselves and the world around us. And we will not, we cannot, strive to make ourselves wiser, kinder, or more just if we see ourselves as inherently infallible, divine, or exempt from the laws of man. Richard’s bitter, fourth-act recognition that sitting on a throne doesn’t turn a man’s blood to ichor is balanced so beautifully in the play by the gossamer connections he is then able to forge in Act 5 with his queen (whom he sends away to safety) and his old groom (whom he thanks and then sends away to safety). God’s angels may not have come to save him, but the angels of his better nature win the battle against his own vanity and he dies so bravely, with his humanity intact.

Fifteen short years later, Hal’s late-night, rain-soaked epiphany that a king is nothing more than a man is precisely what enables him to fight like he has nothing to lose. He doesn’t carry one shred of complacency onto the field of battle on the morning of St. Crispin’s Day; in fact, he’s pretty much resigned himself to his own death. And that’s a huge factor in the English victory. 

Then, when he survives, and the fatalities of the battle are read off a scrap of parchment, I think Henry is forced to confront the reality of what ordinary men are capable of. Does the mass slaughter of Agincourt imply that he is something even LESS than a man? Is there any humanity left in him at all, or is he just a man-shaped shell, a husk? I would argue it’s not until he meets Catherine that Hal finally discovers the salvation of his maxim that a king is just a man. Because if ordinary men are capable of extraordinary destruction, then that means they must also be capable of extraordinary love. And every time he makes this French princess laugh, whether intentionally or not, he gets closer and closer to reclaiming his humanity. His courtship succeeds not because he wows her with his godlike glory, but because he lets himself be a messy human in front of her. The fact that all the gilded objects on earth cannot protect a king from mortality is precisely what enables Hal to be vulnerable in front of the one person who can make him happy. 

Perhaps my favorite motif in the Henriad is the constant textual conflation of humanity and music. Songs are often wrapped up with elements of the human condition: souls, madness, wisdom, friendship, grief, spousal love. Music is a shared language in these plays; one might even call it a universal language, in the same way that the soul is a universal human feature. Falstaff & Friends carouse to the tune of drinking ditties on their way to, from, and around the edge of battle. Lady Mortimer sings in Welsh to her English-speaking husband who can’t understand a word, but treasures the love she pours into every note. Catherine’s broken English sounds to Hal like the sweetest song on earth, and he begs her to keep speaking. It’s almost like Shakespeare is trying to say something about the inherent beauty of humans — that even though we are earthbound creatures, we are capable of creating gorgeous noise and melodies that resonate across language barriers, class divides, and ideological differences. 

Never is this link between personhood and music clearer or more heartrending than in the parallel Shakespeare draws between Richard’s final moments alive and Hal’s chosen penance for Richard’s death:

“This music mads me; let it sound no more,For though it have holp madmen to their wits, In me it seems it will make wise men mad. Yet blessing on his heart that gives it me! For ‘tis a sign of love; and love to Richard Is a strange brooch in this all-hating world…”

(Richard of Bordeaux, Richard II; Act V, scene v)

“…and I have built Two chantries, where the sad and solemn priests Sing still for Richard’s soul…”

(King Henry V, Henry V; Act IV, scene i)

Yes, a king is just a man. But to be a man is to have a soul. And to have a soul is to be worth singing about. 

[pamphletstoinspire]

Jesus Chose Mary For Himself

If there is nothing more touching in the Gospel than the way God treats his reconciled enemies — that is, converted sinners. He is not content to wipe away the stain of their sins. It is easy for his infinite goodness to prevent our sins from hurting us; he also wants them to profit us. He bring forth so much good from them that we are constrained to bless our faults and to cry out with the Church, “O happy fault! O felix culpa!” His graces struggle against our sins for the mastery, and it pleases him, as St. Paul said, that his “grace abound” in excess of our malice (cf. Rom. 5:20).

Moreover, he receives reconciled sinners with so much love that the most perfect innocence would seem to have grounds for complaint, or at least for jealousy. One of his sheep wanders off, and all those who remain seem much less dear to him than the one gone astray; his mercy is more tender toward the prodigal son than toward the elder brother who had always been faithful.

If this is the case, then should we say that repentant sinners are more worthy than those who have not sinned, or justice reestablished is preferable to innocence preserved? No, we must not doubt that innocence is always best.

Although we appreciate health more when it is newly restored, we do not fail to value a strong constitution over the benefit of returning health. And although it is true that our hearts are moved by the unlooked-for gift of a fine day in winter, we do not fail to prefer the constant clemency of a milder season. So, if we may regard the Savior’s sentiments through a human lens, he may more tenderly caress newly converted sinners — his new conquests — but he loves the just with greater ardor, for they are his old friends.

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is holiness itself, and although he is pleased to see at his feet the sinner who has returned to the path of righteousness, he nevertheless loves with a stronger love the innocent one who has never strayed. The innocent one approaches nearer to him and imitates him more perfectly, and so he honors him with a closer familiarity. However much beauty his eyes may see in the tears of a penitent, it can never equal the chaste attraction of an ever-faithful holiness. These are the sentiments of Jesus according to his divine nature, but he took on other ones for the love of us when he became our Savior. God prefers the innocent, but, let us rejoice: the merciful Savior came to seek out the guilty. He lives only for sinners, because it is to sinners that he was sent.

Listen to how he explains his mission: “I came not to call the righteous” (Matt. 9:13), because, even though they may be the most worthy of my affection, my commission does not extend to them. As Savior, I must seek those who are lost; as Physician, those who are ill; as Redeemer, those who are captives. In this, he is like a physician: as a man, he is more pleased to live among the healthy, but as a physician he prefers to care for the sick. And so this good Doctor, as Son of God prefers the innocent, but as Savior seeks out the guilty. Here is the mystery illuminated by a holy and evangelical doctrine. It is full of consolation for sinners such as we are, but it also honors the holy and perpetual innocence of Mary.

For if it is true that the Son of God loves innocence so well, could it be that he would find none at all upon the earth? Shall he not have the satisfaction of seeing someone like unto himself, or who at least approaches his purity from afar? Must Jesus, the Innocent One, be always among sinners, without ever having the consolation of meeting an unstained soul? And who would that be, if not his holy Mother? Yes, let this merciful Savior, who has taken upon himself all of our guilt, spend his life running after sinners; let him go and seek them in every corner of Palestine; but let him find in his own home and under his own roof what will satisfy his eyes with the steady and lasting beauty of incorruptible holiness!

It is true that this charitable Savior does not cast off sinners, and far from sending them away from his presence, he does not disdain to call them the most honored members of his kingdom. He set the leadership of his flock in the hands of Peter, who denied him; he placed at the head of his Evangelists Matthew, who was a tax collector; he made the first of his preachers Paul, who had persecuted him. These are not innocent men; these are converted sinners whom he raised to the highest ranks. Yet you should not therefore believe that he would choose his holy Mother from the same lot. There must be a great difference between her and the others. What will that difference be?

He chose Peter, Matthew, and Paul for us, but he chose Mary for himself. For us: “whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas . . . all are yours” (cf. 1 Cor. 3:22); for himself: “My beloved is mine,” and I am hers (cf. Song of Sol. 2:16). Those whom he called for others, he drew forth from sin, so that they might the better proclaim his mercy. His plan was to give hope to those souls beaten down by sin. Who could more effectively preach divine mercy than those who were themselves its illustrious examples? Who else could have said with greater effect, “The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners,” than a St. Paul, who was able to add, “[a]nd I am the foremost of sinners” (1 Tim. 1:15)?

Yet if he treated in this way those whom he called for the sake of us sinners, we must not think that he did the same for the dear creature, the extraordinary creature, the unique and privileged creature whom he made for himself, whom he chose to be his Mother. In his apostles and ministers, he brought about what would be most useful for the salvation of all, but in his holy Mother, he did what was sweetest, most glorious, and most satisfying for himself, and, consequently, he made Mary to be innocent. “My beloved is mine,” and I am hers. The gift of innocence could not be distributed with prodigality among fallen men, but it is no excess for him to give it to his Mother, and it would have been ungenerous to have withheld it.

No, my Savior will not do that. We see already shining forth from the newborn Mary the innocence of Jesus Christ, as a crown upon her head. Let us honor this new ray that her Son has caused to break forth upon her. “[T]he night is far gone, the day is at hand” (Rom. 13:12). Jesus will soon bring about that day by his blessed presence. O happy day, O cloudless day, O day that the innocence of the divine Jesus will make so serene and pure: when will you come to light up the world? He comes; let us rejoice. You already see the dawn breaking in the birth of the holy Virgin. Let us run with joy to see the first light of this new day. We will see shining the sweet light of an unstained purity.

We must not persuade ourselves that to distinguish Mary from Jesus we must take away her innocence and leave it to her Son alone. To tell the morning from midday, there is no need to fill the air with storms or cover the sky with clouds: it suffices that the rays of the morn­ing sun should be weaker and their light less brilliant. To distinguish Mary from Jesus, there is no need to put sin into the mix. It suffices that her innocence be a weaker light. That light belongs to Jesus by right, but to Mary by privilege; to Jesus by nature, to Mary by grace and fa­vor. We honor the source in Jesus, and in Mary a flowing forth from the source. What should console us is that this flowing forth of innocence shines for the benefit of us poor sinners. Innocence normally reproaches the guilty for their evil lives and seems to pronounce condemnation upon them. Yet it is not so with Mary. Her innocence is favorable to us. And why? Because it is only a flowing forth of the innocence of the Savior Jesus. The innocence of Jesus is the life and salvation of sinners, and so the innocence of the Blessed Virgin serves to obtain pardon for sinners. Let us look upon this holy and innocent creature as the sure support for our misery and go and wash our sins in the bright light of her incorruptible purity.