Memorial Day

( Arlington National Cemetery)

"We sleep soundly in our beds because rough men stand ready to visit violence on those who would do us harm." ~ Sir Winston Churchill

I love this holiday; I guess being a veteran myself makes it all the more poignant and meaningful. I saw this Churchill quote on another blog and decided to swipe it because it so completely sums up the gratitude I have for my brothers-in-arms who have paid the ultimate sacrifice for freedom and patriotism.

That reminds me of another great quotation, from Tom Jefferson :

"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants." God grant that, always, more tyrants will bleed than patriots.

And yet another great one, by Gen. Patton :

"You don't go into battle to die for your country, you go into battle to make the other bastard die for his country." That is the optimum plan, but sometimes it doesn't work out that way.

Thank God for the men and women who have died, and will continue to die, in the defense of America and liberty.

"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."

The best quote of all: Jesus Christ the Righteous. (St. John 15:13)

Meménto étiam, Dómine, famulórum famularúmque tuárum qui nos præcessérunt cum signo fídei, et dórmiunt in somno pacis.

(Be mindful, O Lord, of thy servants and handmaids, who are gone before us, with the sign of faith, and who sleep the sleep of peace.)

Ipsis, Dómine, et ómnibus in Christo quiescéntibus, locum refrigérii, lucis et pacis, ut indúlgeas, deprecámur.
(To these, O Lord, and to all that rest in Christ, we beseech thee, grant a place of refreshment, light, and peace.)

Thank you, my fallen brothers and sisters. Requiescant in pace.

The Feast of Pentecost (Whitsunday).

One of my favorite prayers, which my old Episcopalian rector, Ben Duffey, would say before every sermon :

Come, Holy Spirit, come :
Come as a Fire and burn,
Come as a Wind and cleanse.
Convert, convict, consecrate our lives
To our great good
And Your great glory. Amen.

BTW, can anyone tell me who wrote that ? I've never been able to find out.


Also, one of the holy sonnets from the awesome Rev. Mr. Donne, especially appropriate to the day :

XV.

Wilt thou love God as he thee ? then digest,
My soul, this wholesome meditation,
How God the Spirit, by angels waited on
In heaven, doth make His temple in thy breast.
The Father having begot a Son most blest,
And still begetting—for he ne'er begun—
Hath deign'd to choose thee by adoption,
Co-heir to His glory, and Sabbath' endless rest.
And as a robb'd man, which by search doth find
His stolen stuff sold, must lose or buy it again,
The Sun of glory came down, and was slain,
Us whom He had made, and Satan stole, to unbind.
'Twas much, that man was made like God before,
But, that God should be made like man, much more.


I served as extraordinary minister today for the first time, at the noon Mass --and didn't mess up too much.
Thank you, God !

And last, but certainly not least, from St. Irenaeus :

A reading from the treatise Against the Heresies, 2nd century -- The Sending of the Holy Spirit


When the Lord gave to the disciples power to confer rebirth into the life of God, he said: "Go, make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit".

He promised through his prophets that he would pour out this spirit in the last times on his servants and handmaidens so that they would prophesy. And so the Spirit came down on the Son of God, who became the Son of man, and with him became accustomed to dwell in the human race and to abide in God's creation, within men, working the Father's will among them and making their old natures new with the newness of Christ.

Luke says that at Pentecost, after the ascension of the Lord, the Spirit came down on the disciples with power to grant all nations entry into life, and to open the new testament. And so in every language they sang a hymn to God in unison; for the Spirit brought the scattered races together into a unity, and offered to the Father the first-fruits of all the nations.

Therefore the Lord promised to send us the Holy Spirit to make us fit for God's purposes. Just as dry flour cannot coalesce into a lump of dough, still less a loaf, without moisture, so we, who to begin with are dry wood, can never bear the fruit of life unless the rain from heaven falls upon our wills.

For our bodies through the water of baptism have received the unity which leads to freedom from corruption; but our souls have received it through the Spirit.

The Spirit of God came down on the Lord, "the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and devotion, the Spirit of fear of the Lord". He gave the same Spirit again to the Church, sending the Counselor to every nation from heaven, from which the Lord said "the devil was cast down like lightning". Accordingly we need God 's dew, so as not to be burnt up and made unfruitful but rather to have a Counselor when we have an accuser. For the Lord entrusts to the Holy Spirit his man who had fallen among thieves. Taking pity on him he has bound up his wounds, and given two imperial coins, stamped with the image of the Spirit and the inscription of the Father and the Son. We are to accept them, and make the coin entrusted to us bear fruit and multiply for the Lord.


Good St. Irenaeus, ora pro nobis !

The death of liberal Catholicism ?!?

Ascension Sunday.

Thanks again to Fr. Z at WDTPRS? for pointing out this piece in Time, and his excellent commentary.

And, yes, I know I've been swiping a lot from Fr. Z lately. He's so good, I can't help it. Luckily, hardly anyone reads this blog, so I don't have to worry too much about criticism. But for now on I'll try to be more original. = )