Latest / The Uncensored Catholic / Show 243: Prayer, part 3

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Show 243: Prayer, part 3 · The Uncensored Catholic

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Speaker 1: A b. Hey all, welcome this week's show. We will
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continue on the topic of prayer this week. This will
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be part three of our little mini series I Guess
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on Prayer, following along with Father Spiago and his classic
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work The Exhaustive Catechism, The Exhaustive Explanation of the Catechism
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of the Catholic Church, published in the eighteen nineties. And
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is it exhaustive? Well, we're on page six hundred and
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eighty one and I've been doing this for almost two years.
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I'd say it's exhaustive. But you know, the good thing
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is we've learned a ton, a ton, and it's been fun.
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I mean, I think it's certainly been enjoyable for me.
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I've got a lot of great feedback on this, and
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we're actually getting very close to the end of the
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book now. We'll definitely be finishing this up in the
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next couple of months. And then I got something pretty
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interesting plan for you. I've hinted at a little bit.
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It may be one of the most controversial Catholic books
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ever written. Very hard to find a copy in print.
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I found one somewhere around nineteen hundred. I was recommended
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by Saint Teresa Usseau. It is going to really I'm
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not gonna give it away just yet, but it's going
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to really probably change the way you view the world
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and when you talk with other people and debate with
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them about current events and religion and politics and all that.
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It's really quite remarkable. Actually, now let's get into We's
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start with a couple of questions and answers from the
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classic work radio replies in the nineteen twenties, when the
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priests had people sending questions and they'd answer them. And
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the person asks, what is the whole U Christ? And
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they answer, it is a sacrament in instituted by Christ,
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in which Christ himself is truly, really and substantially present.
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He may be offered in the Holy Mass as the
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sacrifice of the New Law, and also that He may
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be received by us in holy communion for the spiritual
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refreshment of our souls. And the person continues, are there
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any signs in the host proving that He is bily present?
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They say no, it is a mystery of faith. All
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external appearances remained as before being consecrated, but the substance
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of the bread and the substance of the wine are changed.
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In the substance of our Lord's body and blood. The
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reason why we believe this is not in the host
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as such, but in God. He has revealed this truth,
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and we believe it because He must know and could
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not tell an untruth. Person asked, did not the Jews
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think that they were asked to eat the very body
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of Christ? Yet he refuted them, saying his body would
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ascend to heaven and that the flesh profits nothing. And
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they answer, when Christ promised that he would give his
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very flesh to eat, the Jews protested because they imagine
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unnatural and cannibalistic eating of Christ's body. Christ refuted this
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notion of the manner in which his flesh was to
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be received by saying that he would have sent into Heaven,
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not leaving his body in human form upon earth. But
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he did not say that they were not to eat
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his actual body. He would thus contradict himself. For a
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little earlier he had said, my flesh is meat, indeed,
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and my blood is drink. Indeed, he meant, therefore, you
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will not be asked to eat my flesh in the
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horrible and natural way you think, for my body as
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you see it with your eyes will be gone from
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this earth. Yet I shall leave my flesh and blood
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in another and supernatural way, which your natural and carnal
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minds cannot understand. The carnal or fleshly judgment profits nothing.
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I ask you, therefore, to have faith in me and
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trust me. It is the spirit of faith which would
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able you to believe, not your natural judgment. Then the
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Gospel goes on to say that many would not believe
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and walk no more with him, just as today many
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would not believe and walk no more with the Catholic Church.
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According to the doctrine the Catholic Church, Christ's body is
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ascended into heaven, but by its substance, independently of all
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the walls of space which affect the substance through accrecident inequalities,
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this body is present everywhere in the consequarty host, the
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person says, weance believe that Christ's body is really present
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in the Eucharus, but not by transsubstantiation, And they answer
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the majority of process believe that his body is really absent.
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Those who do say that they believe in his real presence,
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yet deny transubs transubstantiation. That's all I want to say,
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illogically admit an effect, yet deny the only process through
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which it can occur if there be no transtrans substantiation
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or conversion of the substance of bread into the substance
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of Christ's body. The substance of bread remains after consecration,
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and in his bread, not the body of Christ. People
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make a kind of bogie old term. You've heard of
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the boogeyman. They used to say bogie as in a
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false argument. Anyway, People make a kind of bogie of
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transubstantiation as foolishment, as a man would do somewhat similarly
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if he admitted a railway from New York San Francisco,
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yet refused to admit that it could be called the
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trans Continental Railway. Now the person says, the Apostles creed,
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the as an Asen of the nice seen did not
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mentioned transubstantiation. There's no record of such a doctrine until
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fifteen sixty four, when Pious Is the Fourth put it
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into his creed. Are we to believe that the early
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Christians or the doctrine of a thousand years later and
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they mentioned the doctrine is not in the creed you mentioned,
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But they do not contain the whole of the Christian doctrine.
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There are partial statements insisting on partial doctrines against special
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errors of those times. It is true that Pious the
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Fourth include the doctrine his profession of faith. But you're
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wrong when you say that there was no mention of
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the doctrineun till then in fifteen fifty one, thirteen years earlier,
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the Council of Trent taught the doctrine explicitly. In twelve
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seventy four, two hundred and ninety years earlier, the countil
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Leone insisted upon the admission of the transubstantiation by the
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Greeks as a condition of their return to the Catholic Church.
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In twelve fifteen, three hundred and forty nine years prior,
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the fourth Latteran Council consecrated the word trans transubstantiation as
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expressing correctly the Christian doctrine of Christ's presence by conversion
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of the substance of the bread into the substance of
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his body. In ten seventy nine, five hundred years earlier,
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Baron Garius declared in his retraction, I acknowledge that the
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bread is substantially changed in the substance of Christ's body.
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Everybody who possessed the true Christian faith into the year
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ten seventy nine, believed in the substantial change, and there
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was no need to insist upon the word, since no
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one denied the nature of the change. In the fourth century,
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all the great fathers and writers admitted by consecration, bread
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was changed into our Lord's very body. Ignacious Bishop of Antioch,
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who died about ten seventy a d. Wrote, heretics abstained
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from Jesus. Christ suffered for us, and that doctrine is
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all is all that is expressed by transubstantiation. At the
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Last Supper, Christ said, this is my body, which is
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given for you. Now he either gave his body or
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he did not, but he gave them his body. For
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we dare not say, Lord, although you say this is
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my body, as certainly is not your body. However, it
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was not his body according to appearance and visible qualities,
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and it could have been his body only according to substance. Therefore,
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our Lord taught this doctrine of substantial change, at least implicitly.
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Let's see, Shall I do another question answer? It's all
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on the same topic. You know what I'm going to
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hold off. I want to finish if I can this
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section of prayer. We'll get back into the Eucharus next week.
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It's going to go on, probably for quite a while. Obviously,
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people have a lot of questions about how bread and
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wine becomes the body and blood of Christ. We don't
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know how it happens to the power of God, it's
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beyond our understanding. But that it does is absolutely true
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because God said it. Anything God says is true. And
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we also have many eucharistic miracles in which the communion
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wafer has literally become flesh and blood in the hands
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of the priest in front thousands of people. It's been
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incredibly well documented. There's no explanation for that in human
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under human capability, but it did, and it has and
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it does. Sat Carlo cut has spent his brief life
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documenting those very eucharistic miracles. And I mean, if Protestants
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only knew about him, I don't think Protestantism would last
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very long. In the fact that is not lasting very
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long is quite evident. Within thirty years, mainline Protestantism, at
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the rate it's going probably be a thing of the past.
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It will be seen as an aberration in history. The
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Catholic Church is growing. The Anglican, Episcopal, Lutheran Presbyterian churches
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are all down over seventy percent since nineteen seventy in membership,
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in state of affiliation, and church attendance is even lower.
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The Methodist Church is down about fifty percent, the Baptist
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Church is down about thirty percent. And this rate, by
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the end of my lifetime, America will not only be
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a majority Catholic nation, which it basically is already. I mean,
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Catholism is certainly the largest denomination in the United States.
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It's I mean, almost ninety percent of all Christians in
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the world are Catholic. I mean, we've got I don't
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even know, like three point five billion Catholics or something.
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There's only like two million Orthodox and I mean like
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one hundred thousand Anglicans or something. It's crazy, probably a
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little higher than that. But we're talking worldwide. I mean,
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you got a factor in Canada and Australia and all that.
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But within probably within my lifetime, there will be more
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Catholics in the United States than all non Catholic denominations
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added together. And within one more generation, Protestantism will have
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run its course. It'll be gone, It'll be dead. I
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spent a lot of time this week. Boy, I put
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out a tweet. I guess you still call it an
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X an X. I put it out an X. I
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don't think so. I put out a tweet and it
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was just a little flare of frustration. I had spent
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several hours supposedly debating with a Protestant who challenged me
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over one of my daily gospel reflections and ended up
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cussing at me, railing, ranting, talking about the horror of
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Battylon and all kinds of crap like that. And I
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wouldn't understand. I mean, he said the Bible predated the Messiah.
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I'm like what he said. I said, you mean the
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Old Testament? Okay, No, he said, full and intact, from
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Genesis to Revelation predated Jesus. What the hell are you
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talking about, dude, said, I mean, I went back and forth.
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I mean, I asked him my simple questions, just trying
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to lead him with some sense of logic. I said,
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when was the Book of Revelations written by Saint John?
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I'm patmos about eighty A? D Yeah, that's right. And
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when was Jesus crucified? So you're telling me somehow revelations
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existed before the Tell me how this happened again? When
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were the actually the apostles written? When were the epistles
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of Saint Paul written? And he kept coming. He was
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he was googling him, you know, I mean, I'll give
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me credit. He was. He was doing to Wikipedia, and
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he was finding that out. But he could not understand
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that the Bible was essentially published almost four hundred years later.
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I mean the Bible was the books chosen to be
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in the Bible were essentially I guess Council of Nicea
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right around three fifty. I mean, look it up. I
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don't have the dates in front of me. Saint Jerome
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got everything translated, and the official Bible was published in
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the late three hundreds, right around four hundred e d.
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So nearly twice as long as America's been a nation.
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Christians had no Bible. What they had was the oral
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teaching of the church. He could not admit it. He
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would not admit it. He told me we were worshiping
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Satan and all that. And I'm like, okay, well, there's
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a waste of three or four hours of my life
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talking with an idiot. I mean, I've literally just been
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talking with someone who is by definition insane because he can,
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by logic, say that Revelations was written about eighty a d.
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But still maintains that the entire Bible, from Genesis to Revelation,
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was full and intact and available to all people before
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the coming of Christ, so nearly one hundred years earlier.
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That those are two conflicting positions. That is actually like
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one of the very definitions of sanity. When you say
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it's both day and night at the same time. All right,
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maybe you could, you could be fooled into thinking that
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if it was an eclipse, but you know, still it's
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neither here nor there. But I mean when someone says
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down and up or the same thing, when someone says
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right and left are the same thing, that is truly
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a definition of insanity. And so I put out just
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a brief statement, I mean, like two sentences on Twitter,
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and I was frustrated. It was late at night, it
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was like eleven o'clock. I went to bed. I woke
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up and thirty five thousand people had read it and
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shared it and commented on it, and among them like
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a thousands of people even loonier than he was, even lunier,
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And I mean, it gets to the point. I mean,
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you just have to You can't answer every one of them.
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You can't argue with insanity. And so many of them
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wanted to say, well, let me challenge you on this,
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and then they would frame an argument that was utterly
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historically inaccurate, but insists that I accept their premise and
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then provide historical points telling them why their conclusion was wrong.
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And I'm just like, I'm not going to play by
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your rules. You could you ordered me to do something
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I refuse, end of conversation. I Am not going to
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play this game with you. You say something is historically
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false and then asked me to answer for it. You know,
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like would say the Inquisition or something Catholic Church killed
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six million people. Well, actually, you know it was really
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more the government of Spain. But yes they could. People
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accused of witchcraft or refusing you know, apostlesy whatever could
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appeal to a Catholic court, and maybe one to two hundred,
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like maybe one hundred and thirty five people actually did
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because the Catholic Church was actually more merciful, and when
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such evidence was found, people were admitting to it, and
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you know, they had kind of signed on but six million.
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I mean, I always go back and just say where
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they buried, which has show me these six million grades. Okay,
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so you're telling me more people were killed than the
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entire population of Europe at the time. I mean, the
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entire population of Spain was only about like one hundred
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and twenty thousand people at this point in time, and
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you're telling me six million were killed. Who killed them
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and who buried them, and where they buried and where
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the records? I mean, you don't have to. I mean
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people want to talk about Constantine and all that. I'm like, yeah,
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I don't care about Constantine. I lived my entire life
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without giving a crap about Constantine. Why would I want
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to talk with you about Constantine. Well, Constantine did this
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and constantly. I'm like, I don't care. Maybe somebody else
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wants to argue with you, but I got a life
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to live. I mean, maybe you should be wondering why
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your denomination except divorce when Jesus condimned it in all
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four Bibles, and wondering what Constantine did in the three hundreds.
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I mean, maybe you should really worry about mar Luther
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admitting and bragging about changing the words of Jesus to
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fit his false doctrine if you want to look at
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something in history. I mean, it just got to the
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point of absurdity and I just had to say, you know,
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you demand I refuse, end of conversation. You don't get
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to dictate my life. I don't have to agree to
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your terms of debate. I don't have to share in
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your insanity, which is really what it is. But anyway,
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imagine that in another thirty years they could pretty much
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be gone. The institutions that continue to foster these anti Catholic,
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bigoted myths could be gone. No more Baptist Church, no
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more Methodist Church, no more Presbyterian Church, no more in
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Lutheran Church. Yeah, there'll probably be some of these, you know,
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non denomination and evangelical whatever. But lass I always said
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they maybe a mile while wide, they're an inch deep.
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They'll they'll dry up faster. They're not going to make
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it five hundred years. I guarantee that Joe Ostein's Church
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is not going to be around in another century, much
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less five hundred years from now. It's taken since the
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fifteen hundreds for Protestantism to run its course, and it's
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always the greatest irony to me, what has been the
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rise and fall of the Protestant denominations. It's not their doctor,
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their doctrine's faults. Their doctrine is heresy in many ways.
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It was political and cultural, you know, influences of the time,
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a lot of poor trying to compete against the rich
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kind of thing, you know, the same things that fostered
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socialism and Marxism, communism that arose at the same time.
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I mean, it's very clear that Protestantism inspired the French Revolution,
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the Nazis, the Communists, et c. The whole books have
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been written about that in fact, but you know what
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really did it was divorce. When King Henry demanded a
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divorce and founded the Anglican Church and called himself the
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head of the Church, all Protestants had to say, well,
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our doctrines are equally valid because the Holy Spirit leads us.
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We don't listen to the pope. We listened to the
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Holy Spirit. Right. So, within a couple of generations, the
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Lutherans started accepting divorce, the Presbyterians started accepting divorce, the
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Methodists started accepting divorce. The Baptists dragged their heels for
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a while, but they are now one hundred percent. I mean,
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you will rarely meet a Baptist minister who hasn't been
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married three times. And that promissiveness of Protestantism saying, well,
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we know Jesus said one thing, but we believe otherwise,
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and we believe our doctrine is superior to what the
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words of God say, and he probably didn't mean that anyway,
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because we interpret what God actually meant. Right. Yeah, that's
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the downfall of the Protestism. The family. The family broke up.
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I mean, even when I was a kid, you'd go
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to a Presbyterian church, there'd be three generations on one pew.
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You won't find that anymore. Everybody went to college and
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got a job and moved away, and they'd been divorced
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two or three times. There's nobody on that pew. It'scept
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the grandparents and maybe the kids come in and see
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them on Easter or something. You know, when in thirty
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years those Presbyterian churches doors will be permanently closed, never
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to open again. And so with the Methodists, and so
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with the Lutherans, and soul with the Anglicans, and the
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Baptists will follow. Soon after. You'll have some French groups
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you know, like you're Reformed Lutherans and such that they're
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a little more like Evangelical, they'll hold on a little
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bit longer. But as long as is they can't condemn divorce,
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they're destroying the family. And the family is the foundation
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of the church. The church is not a building. We
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need a priest for the sacraments. But the Catechism of
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Catholic Church will tell you the family is the first church.
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It is the foundation of the faith. You destroy the
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family and you've destroyed your church, and that's that. And
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you know, we just have to keep playing for the
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unity of all Christians. We have to get these people
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to convert to Catholicism. Frankly, most of those I deal
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with online are just playing too dumb to understand that
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they're wrong. So all we can do is say prayer
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is that the Holy Spirit will convict them, because when
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you can't, I mean, what is the same proverbs do
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not argue with a fool. I'm sorry, you know, yeah,
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Jesus said call no man a fool. Then, like you know,
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three chapters later he says, God said to the man,
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thou fool, your life will be required this night. Okay,
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there's a little celerity in that right when Proverbs just says,
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pray flatly, flat out, do not argue with a fool,
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and essentially, do not argue with him on his own terms,
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because you'll make him think he's wise in his own eyes.
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So yeah, But anyway, now, what does Father's barago tell us?
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When ought we pray? As a matter of fact, we
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ought to pray continually, for our Lord requires it of
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us always, and to pray and not to faint. And
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there was always to pray and not to faint. They've
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got an extra end of there. The Apostle bids us
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prey without ceasing. Thessalonians verses from Luke. By the way,
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we may approach God at any moment. There is no
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century before his door to turn us back. But we
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have to call upon his name, upon him, by his
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name of our father, and his ear has opened us
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at once. He who seeks God, says Saint Alfonsis, will
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find him at all times in every place. If our
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heart is continually raised to him in prayer, we should
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be like the angels who continually behold his countenance. If
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we are un ceasing him prayer, we shall obtain a
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request from God without difficulty, and we shall be preserved
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from many temptations. Our Lord says, watch ye and pray
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that ye may not enter into temptation. Matthew twenty six,
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forty one. The habit of constant prayer may be compared,
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Oh I just lost my place there were Oh there
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we go. Well, it's jumping around on me. Give me
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one secon all right, where was I? The habit of
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constant prayer may be compared to a rampart against the
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malign foe, to a breastplate from which his arrows are bound,
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to a harbor in which the rough waves cannot reach us.
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We are liable at any moment to the assaults of
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the devil. Wherefore, let us be ever ready armed with prayer,
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as those who are exposed to the danger of fire,
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always have water at hand in case a conflagration should
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break out That means a fire, by the way old
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term I like it, conflagration. By continuing in prayer, we
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shall have a sure hope of maintaining ourselves in the
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grace of God and to our life's end. It is, however,
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by no means required to us, Nay, it would be
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impossible for us to remain constantly upon our knees. What
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we are to do is to pray while we work.
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Martha's vocation, that of active work for one's neighbor, ought
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to be united with Mary's vocation, that of contemplation and prayer.
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Saint Bernard says that Martha's employment was good, Mary's was better.
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But a combination of the two is best of all
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Christ who us in all things our model united a
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life of activity to a life of prayer. While we
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are in this world, we must oftentimes our work must
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ofttimes be our prayer. Hereafter, when there is no more
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occasion for work, the contemplation of the Divine Majesty will
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be our only occupation. He who gives up work for
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the sake of prayer deserves not, according to the dictum
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of the Apostle, to have bread to eat. Second Thessalonians
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three ten, if a man will not work, let him
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not eat. While engaged in our work, we can utter
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ejaculatory prayers. And we ought on commencing our work to
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direct our intention, so as to do all to the
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glory of God. Saint Teresa had in her cell a
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picture of our Lord at Jacob's will. When our eyes
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were upon it, she said, Lord, give me that living water.
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Saint Ignatius frequently exclaimed all for the greater glory of God.
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Let us accustom ourselves to say, from time to time, Lord,
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remember me in thy kingdom, he who raises the heart
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to God. Ever and anon by ejaculatory prayers will keep
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calm and recollected amid the turmoil and distractions of life.
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Ejaculatory prayers are, you know, maybe not spontaneous, but vocal
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or mental prayers, petitions to God. These prayers are no
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weak weapons for defense. Their brevity, too, enables them to
27:05
be said with greater fervor than longer prayers. Saint Francis
27:09
desal recommended the frequent and fervent repetition of the same
27:12
ejaculations Our Lord. On the amount of Allah's prayed using
27:17
the same words. Saint Francis of a CC spent the
27:20
whole night repeating the words my God and my All.
27:24
Saint Paul business, whether you eat or drink, or whatsoever
27:27
else you do, do all to the glory of God.
27:29
First Corinthians two ten thirty one. It is well to
27:33
direct one's intention in the morning and renew it before
27:36
undertaking anything of importance. We should do well to employ
27:43
our leisure time in prayer, bless, said Clement Hoffbauer answered,
27:47
a man there we go who'll complain that his time
27:51
hung heavy on his hands with the words, well, then
27:54
you can pray. Saints spent as much time as they
27:58
could in prayer. Is the court of Saint James, that,
28:01
through being constantly on his knees callouses warmed on them.
28:06
How does he word does he callosities callouses? We'll go
28:11
with that. The Christian need not pray in a manner
28:14
to be observed by others, but he can always pray
28:16
in spirit, whatever his occupation may be. The saints choose
28:20
to make use of visible things to raise their thoughts
28:22
to what is unseen. Natural objects suggest to them the
28:26
thoughts of supernatural. Saint Gregory Nauseanzen, seeing the shells washed
28:30
up from the seashore and the immovable rocks that resisted
28:33
the shock of the waves, compared the former to men
28:35
that had no mastery of themselves, and the latter to
28:38
those whom no temptation could seduce the sight of a
28:42
lamb led Saint Francis of ASSISI to speak to the
28:44
meekness of the Redeemer. To other saints. The sight of
28:47
a flower a picture of church was enough to inspire
28:50
holy thoughts and practical reflections. This is no wonder for
28:55
all visible objects should recall to our mind the omnipotence
28:58
and bounty of the Creator and invite us to pray.
29:01
Invite us to pay him homage through prayer. Our life
29:04
ought to be one of uninterrupted, uninterrupted prayer, for our
29:09
mind ought to be detached merthly things and our conversation
29:12
in heaven. We ought to pray more, especially every morning
29:17
and evening, before and after el meals and when we
29:21
hear the Angelus in the morning. We ought to give
29:24
thanks to God for having preserves us during the night,
29:26
and beseech him to protect us during the day from
29:28
misfortune and from sin, and to give us what is
29:31
needful for our bodily sustenance. The morning prayer should be
29:35
said and kneeling, and before we take our breakfast. The
29:38
birds set us an example in this respect. They warble
29:41
their morning song before they seek to satisfy their hunger. Now,
29:45
as I mentioned last week, don't think you have to kneel.
29:47
You can stand, you can walk around. I have a
29:51
very bad knee. If I can only pray one kneeling.
29:54
I wouldn't pray very much. We ought to prevent the sun.
29:58
We ought to prevent the sun to bless thee and
30:00
adore thee at the dawning of light. It's a quote
30:05
from wisdom. I quite know what it means. We ought
30:07
to prevent the sun to bless thee and adore thee
30:11
at the dawning of the light. I guess it means
30:14
get up before the sun. Always a good thing if
30:16
you can do it. I'm not really wired in that direction.
30:19
I'm more of a Most of my best work done
30:23
at night. I'm not very good in the morning. I'm
30:26
pretty like dull headed. You know, it's not my best time.
30:30
A particular blessing rests upon our morning prayer, as the
30:35
Israelites could only gather manna before the sun was up,
30:39
so we cannot expect God's blessing on the day if
30:41
we do not consecrate it in its earliest hours to
30:44
him by prayer. Well, I'll do my best, but I
30:49
mean I'm basically like a mannequin. I mean, seriously, you
30:53
could hit me in the head and I wouldn't even
30:55
know it. I'm just morning, not a morning person I
30:58
got to get two or three cups of cart I
31:00
forgive me. I mean seriously, about ten am, I could
31:03
start making sense. And it doesn't matter if I get
31:05
up at five am if I have to, you know,
31:09
it's noting a fishing season. I still don't do very well.
31:13
I cannot tell you how many times it's just been
31:16
wasted time. And even with less opportunity at sunset, I
31:21
do better anyway. And it was not that I wasn't
31:26
raised to get up early. I had to get up
31:27
early before dawn many many times in my childhood and
31:31
my teens more often than not. But I was a zombie.
31:38
I mean it was just no. I mean my morning
31:41
classes in school, like from eight nine nine o'clock classes,
31:45
I may as well have not even been there. I
31:47
mean I just kept failing them. I mean, it wasn't
31:49
a matter of not being able to understand the material
31:52
or being smart enough. I was not awake. You know,
31:57
some people are wired different wh else. Youth influences a
32:01
man's whole life. So a manner in which the day
32:04
has begun influences all its latter hours. In the morning,
32:08
God is more easily found. They that in the morning
32:11
watch for me shall find me Proverbs eight seventeen. The
32:16
early Christians used to meet together at daybreak for divine worship.
32:19
He who, on rising neglects to pray and gives his
32:22
attention at wants to temporal concerns, cannot expect God's blessing
32:26
on his day's work. At the foundation of a house
32:28
is unsound, the superstructure will soon fall in. And I
32:31
do pray for a thing in the morning when I
32:33
wake up, it's just I have I'm worthless. At seven am,
32:39
it's just am, you know, always have been. You do
32:42
not want to be on the road with me at
32:44
seven am. I mean, I'm just like a zombie. I'm
32:48
just going through the motions. I mean, that's life and death.
32:52
You know, one mistake? Can you die still? I can't
32:56
pull it together for anything. I mean, I'll slap myself
32:58
in the face. I'll drink hot coffe. It doesn't matter.
33:02
It just doesn't matter. At night, we ought to give
33:06
thanks to God for the benefits we have received during
33:08
the day, and beseech him to pardon the sins we've
33:10
committed in its course, and to protect us during the
33:13
coming night. Our night prayers ought to make an examination
33:16
of the conscience. Every merchant at the close of the
33:19
day reckons up his gain or loss. Although only temporal
33:22
prophets are in question, how much more ought the Christian
33:25
to make a careful scrutiny of the sanctions of the transactions, sorry,
33:30
the transactions that affect his spiritual interests. Priests and religious
33:37
have to recite the Breviary at seven different times in
33:41
the day. Excuse me, David says, seven times a day?
33:46
Have I given praise to thee Psalms something or other?
33:49
The early Christians you spread at midnight, and that I
33:52
can do no problem acts of sixteen twenty six at
33:59
and at the hours of the Passion, when our Lord
34:01
was condemned nine o'clock, crucified at noon, he died at
34:04
three o'clock, and I do say three o'clock prayers. Certainly,
34:08
these are the fixed hours for reciting the Divine office,
34:10
but priests are not obliged to adhere to them strictly.
34:15
Before and after meals, we ought to give thanks to
34:17
God for our nourishment, and to imply implore His grace
34:21
to avoid such sins as they're committed at the table.
34:24
When thou shalt have eaten and art full, take heed
34:27
digital diligently, lest thou forget the Lord Deuteronomy six twelve
34:33
and thirteen. I think Daniel and the lions didn't thank
34:36
God for the dinner that he sent him Daniel, fourteen
34:39
thirty seven. Those who do not give thanks before and
34:41
after their meals are like the beasts of the field.
34:44
King Alfonso of Aragon observed that his courtiers did not
34:47
give thanks, either before or after they repass, and gave
34:50
them a practical lesson in this respect. He invited a
34:54
beggar to his royal table forbidding him most strictly, either
34:57
to make an obsessence or on entering the dne, or
35:00
to express his gratitude to the king win departing, the
35:03
man obated his orders and went away without a orders sigh.
35:06
The courtiers were highly incensed, but the King checked therebys, saying,
35:11
is this not exactly how you act toward your heavenly King?
35:14
You neither ask a blessing nor return thanks? Has he
35:18
not as much reason to be indignant with you as
35:20
you have with this ignorant mendicant. The courtiers acknowledged the
35:24
justice of rebuke, and never after omitted to say grace
35:27
before and after meals. The sins committed at table usually
35:31
are sins of temperance and anger. It falls not to
35:34
our liking, especially and attraction, and when the appetite is satisfied,
35:39
there comes to temptations, sloth, and self indulgence. That's a
35:44
hard one for me as well. I like a good meal.
35:49
I don't complain about the quality of food generally, if
35:54
someone feeds me, I'm grateful. Now if I go to
35:57
a restaurant and I'm paying for a meal and it's
36:01
poorly cooked and it's poor quality, and I can get
36:06
a little annoyed, honestly because I've worked in commercial kitchens
36:09
I know. I mean basically, instead of taking the time
36:14
to use fresh, local ingredients, so go through you know,
36:18
Cisco and other and it's just basically microwave frozen food.
36:21
And I'm like, you paid like five bucks for this,
36:24
and you charge me twenty five and you put this
36:27
garbage on the table in front of me. I can
36:29
get pretty upset, But we shouldn't do that. Instead, in
36:34
order to avoid that sin, I just stopped eating out.
36:37
I will only eat a restaurant if I find out
36:39
it is locally owned by people I can go shake
36:43
their hands and speak to who buy local seasonal food.
36:48
If not, forget it, you're just not gonna get a
36:51
good meal. You can cook for yourself, and if you
36:53
screw it up, be mad at yourself. I mean, seriously,
36:59
you should put time and effort into any meal that
37:02
you're going to serve someone else, because that's an act
37:05
of love toward that person, to feed them. That's an
37:08
active fellowship, It's an act of I mean, yeah, it's
37:12
like food is really the human beings love language. Just
37:17
say call it. These days, I don't like terms like that,
37:21
but when you are slopped like a hog, you're just
37:26
being shown that nobody cares about you at all, and
37:30
you really shouldn't spend any money with those people. So yeah,
37:33
allive gardens off the list for me. Let me just
37:35
put it that way. When these McDonald's are way off
37:38
the list for me, it's not that i'm you know,
37:43
I don't put too much. I try not to put
37:45
too much emphasis on food. I try not to be
37:47
arrogant or anything like that. But I want someone to
37:50
cook for me the same as I would cook for
37:52
someone else, and even if I don't know them, I'm
37:55
going to treat them with their respect and gratitude if
37:58
they spend money with me. I think we should at
38:01
least insist on that. And if it's going to be
38:07
an occasion to send the anger you're going to experience,
38:10
don't eat there. So that's that's the point I've gotten too.
38:14
I just don't eat there anymore. And I could list
38:17
twenty five restaurants within you know, a thirty minute drive
38:23
that I will not eat at unless I am starving.
38:26
So anyway, we ought also to pray. When the Angelus rings.
38:31
Used to be people who live near churches, they could
38:33
hear the church bells ringing. That was the Angelus calling
38:37
us three times a day, morning, noon, and evening to
38:39
say the angelic salutation, Hell Mary, full of grace. You know,
38:44
the angel of the Lord declaring the marry. She could
38:46
see the Holy Spirit. That's the Angelus. How many of
38:50
us live close enough to a church now for that,
38:52
So a good thing to do if you can, maybe,
38:55
like you know, set a chime on a clock in
38:58
your house. I don't like to wear a watch, but
39:00
you know, if you got an old if you got
39:02
a clock, an old fashioned clock, or even if you
39:04
have to use your phone. Oh I hate to think
39:06
about a degrading the Angelus by using a cell phone.
39:12
Oh my word. But if you could usually have it
39:15
to set an alarm three times a day, morning, noon,
39:18
evening to say the angelist, that would be a good thing,
39:22
he says. And if we are near a church when
39:24
we hear a bell for the consecration or benediction of
39:27
the blessed sacrament. Furthermore, we ought to pray in the
39:30
hour of affliction, distress, or temptation, when entering upon an
39:34
important undertaking, and when we feel an inspiration to desire
39:38
to pray. We ought to pray in times of distress
39:42
for God and joins upon us. Call upon me in
39:45
the day of trouble, and I would deliver thee And
39:47
thou shalt glorify me psalms again, how did the apostles
39:51
act with these storms and rows in the lake? Too
39:53
often in their troubles men seek after human aid and temptation.
39:57
We also ought to have recourse to prayer. Watch ye
40:00
and pray that ye enter not into temptation. Matthew twenty
40:04
six forty one. Saint Francis de South says that when
40:08
we are assailed by temptation. We should do as little
40:11
children do if they are frightened by the approach of
40:13
some animal, they run to their father or mother. On
40:16
convincing any important undertaking, we ought to pray to Bias,
40:20
exhorted his son, desire of God to direct thy ways.
40:24
Tobat for twenty Our Lord passed the whole night in
40:28
prayer to God before he chose the Twelve Apostles Luke
40:32
six twelve. He prayed before the raising of Lazareth John
40:36
eleven forty one, and before he went to his passion
40:38
Luke twenty two forty one. The Apostles prayed before they
40:42
chose Matthias by Lot Acts one twenty three. Saint Peter
40:46
prayed before he recalled Tabithat Life Acts nine forty. Saint
40:50
Jerome It monishors us to arm ourselves by prayer at
40:53
our outgoing and our incoming. To let prayer be our
40:57
first action. We should also make use of those moments
41:01
when we feel moved to pray. The mariner hastens to
41:04
put to sea when he finds the wind favorable. So we,
41:07
when we perceive the impulse of the Holy Spirit, must
41:10
follow his gracious inspirations. Unhappily, those moments are too often
41:15
followed to slip by or distraction is sought in worldly amusements.
41:20
Of this the entertainment's held after weddings and on great
41:23
vessvals of the church, the feasts made after funerals, etc.
41:27
Afford abundant evidence. So how much those who act, who
41:34
thus act, will have one day to answer for such
41:37
solemn times should be times of greater devotion. Ummah, I'll
41:43
get one more little subsection here. Where ought we to pray?
41:47
We can? And ought pray in every place, because God
41:50
is everywhere. Our Lord himself prayed not only in the
41:53
temple at Jerusalem and in synagogues, but also the desert,
41:57
on the mountains and the cynical as way you pronounced it,
42:00
in the garden of Olives, and on the cross, Jacob's prayed.
42:03
Jacob prayed in the open country. Jonas and the belly
42:07
of well Job, on the dunghill, Daniel in the lions den,
42:10
Manassas in prison, Paul and Silas lying bound in a
42:13
dungeon prayed and praise God so that the foundations of
42:17
the prison were shaken. We can only speak with God
42:20
when He is present, and he is present everywhere Acts
42:24
seventeen twenty four. Remember our Lord's words A Lord's words
42:28
to the woman of Samaria in John four twenty three.
42:31
God does not regard the place in which we pray,
42:35
but the disposition with which we pray. The House of
42:38
God is the place specifically set apart for prayer. The
42:42
House of God is the house of prayer Matthew twenty
42:44
one thirteen. Some say there is no need to go
42:47
to church because the whole earth is the temple of God.
42:49
This is false. God enjoins upon us by the mouth
42:53
of the church to go to his house on Sundays
42:55
and festivals. Our Lord himself set us an example in
42:59
respect of this, for he was often to be found
43:02
in the temple at Jerusalem. Petitions offered in a church
43:04
have greater efficacy because the place is consecrated, and we
43:08
can also pray with more devotion because of our surroundings.
43:11
They're in aid to recollection, and we can put aside
43:14
our daily cares. Besides, the prayers we offer in church
43:17
are heard more quickly because Our Lord is present there
43:20
under the eucharistic veil. He has promised that where there
43:23
are two or three gathered together in my name. There
43:26
I am I in midst of them, and he will
43:28
help us to pray. Aright. However, it must not be
43:31
thought that true pride, because piety consists in spending long
43:35
hours in church. A solitary place is also suitable for prayer.
43:41
Our Lord was accustomed to withdraw in solitude for prayer.
43:45
He prayed in the desert Luke five sixteen, on mountains,
43:49
in the garden of Olives Luke twenty two thirty nine.
43:52
He busin us retire into our chamber and shut the
43:54
door Matthew six six For in solitude, one is less
43:59
likely to be tracted, and one can pray more fervently.
44:03
And hmm, well, all right, there's one more sub chapter.
44:13
Oh golly, should I wait? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I'll
44:17
get this one next week. All right. I don't want
44:19
to overwhelm you. We've gone on a little bit far.
44:23
I think we covered a lot of ground today. All Right,
44:26
y'all have a good one, and I will talk to
44:29
you next week.