PARADOXICAL

there is wisdom
when the heart dictates to the mind
there is folly
when the mind dictates to the heart

the heart discerns mysteries by intuition
the mind is blinded by intricate logic
the wisdom of the mind is full of folly
the wisdom of the heart is flawless

faith in the Lord
is based on wisdom of the heart
faith is the experience of the Lord
theology and philosophy are mere studies

be not the scholar who studies the bible
rather be the rover who lives the bible

eastwind [x6/pp49]

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the Christ of love and mercy
is the Christ of wrath and punishment
He is the gentle storm
and the violent breeze

He jolts us in our indifference
soothes us in our despair
He is the lull and the storm
He greens our pastures that He will burn

He makes us see in our blindness
He blinds us to make us see
He imparts His wisdom thru anguish
He strengthens faith thru ailment

the greatest wisdom is
to see that His ways are not our ways
to surrender to His will
in our darkness and despair

eastwind [x13 pp49]

================
when will the body learn
that comfort and luxury numbs the spirit
fame and power consumes the soul
pity the many wealthy and powerful
who fall by the way side
they often need help
more than mendicants and hermits

eastwind [x1853]

posted by Resty Odon  # 9:42 PM 0 Comments

I'm not sure where M. got this, but I like it very much anyway:

"The meaning of prayer is 'elevation to God.'"

posted by Resty Odon  # 7:29 PM 0 Comments

It's funny how the Lord is so fond of transforming 'weaklings' into warriors. M. texts me a nice summary of great Biblical stories with this theme: The boy David defeating the giant Goliath with only his slingshot as weapon. King Solomon and his choosing wise judgment over power and riches. Gideon dancing as the walls of Jericho falls. And Moses leading his people out of Egypt.

posted by Resty Odon  # 7:23 PM 0 Comments

A lot of people say that if you haven't forgotten, then you haven't really forgiven. I remember being uneasy when I heard that. I've always held that forgiveness doesn't mean forgetting. The wound ma heal, but the scar is there. Thank God a priest (over Dr Love's DZMM radio show) articulated it for me:

"Forgiving something doesn't mean forgetting, but changing the way we remember it."

posted by Resty Odon  # 10:48 PM 0 Comments

"The purpose of education is to continue the mission of Christ."

- St. Marie Eugenie _____ (founder of Assumption School)

posted by Resty Odon  # 10:43 PM 0 Comments

I chanced upon a mass presided over by Bishop Soc today. I went to a funeral for Lyn A. today, and it turned out she was the bishop's first cousin and they were very close. This is the gem I gathered from that mass:

"When a Christian is born, he cries, and the people around him are glad. When he dies, the people around him cry, while he rejoices that he's now in heaven with God. A Christian's earthly death is his real birthday as a Christian, when he is born into the womb of heaven."

posted by Resty Odon  # 11:18 PM 0 Comments

asked what he thought
of the nobel peace prize given to him
the tibetan buddhist lama said, ‘not much’
asked what he wants to be remembered for
he said ‘what i have given to others’
asked who was his idol
he said ‘mother teresa because she was a giver’
asked a lot of questions about his fame
he said ‘popularity is an attachment
you must get rid of it as your arch enemy
it inhibits what and how you can give’

eastwind [1791]

================
SIMPLICITY IS THE WAY TO
WEALTH AND WISDOM

warren buffet, second richest man in the world
who donated $31 billion to charity
still lives in a 3-bedroom house in mid-town omaha
that he bought after marriage 50 years ago
he says that he has everything he needs in that house
he drives his own car everywhere
and does not have a driver or security people around him
he never travels by private jet
although he owns the world's largest private jet company
his company, berkshire hathaway, owns 63 companies
he writes only one letter each year to his CEOs
giving them goals for the year
he never holds meetings or calls them on a regular basis
he has given his CEOs two rules
1 do not lose any of your share holder's money
2 do not forget rule number 1
he does not socialize with the high society crowd
his past time after he gets home
is to make himself some pop corn and watch TV.
bill gates, the world's richest man
met him for the first time only 5 years ago
he had scheduled his meeting for half hour
but the meeting lasted for ten hours
bill gates became a devotee of warren buffet
warren buffet does not carry a cell phone
nor has a computer on his desk

eastwind [1790]

posted by Resty Odon  # 8:34 PM 0 Comments

In Rome Sweet Home: Our Journey to Catholicism (1993, Ignatius Press), the author, Scott Hahn (p. 161) beautifully notes that "...the Catholic Faith unites what other religions tend to separate," although he duly implies a few words later that that's partly thanks to evengelical Christians' (or "Bible Christians'") influence as well. These elements are:

- personal piety and liturgical ritual
- evangelistic outreach and social action
- spiritual fervor and intellectural rigor
- academic freedom and dynamic orthodoxy
- enthusiastic worship and reverent contremplation
- powerful preaching and sacramental devotion
- Scripture and Tradition
- body and soul
- the individual and the corporate

posted by Resty Odon  # 9:49 PM 0 Comments

Protestants: The word of God

Catholics: The word of God and the Church

1Tim3:15 - St. Paul mentions the Church

Sola fide (faith alone saves us) - Luther and Calvin's heresy, the foundation of the Reformation; throws away the book of James (2:24) out of the window

Sola scriptola (the word of God as the sole authority) - another related Protestant error; not to be confused with the Catholics' sola Dei verbum (the word of God alone (which is not confined to the biblical))

posted by Resty Odon  # 9:42 PM 0 Comments

(From Scott Hahn's book about his conversion to Cathollicism)

"God reveals himself in fire to his people to renew his covenant with them."

Gen 15 - "fire pot and flaming torch"
Ex 3 - burning bush with Moses
Num 9 - pillar of fire
1Kings 8 & 18 - heavenly fire which consumed the altar sacrifices with Solomon and Elijah
Acts 2 - tongues of fire with the apostles at Pentecost

**

Heb 12:29 - God as a consuming fire
1Cor 3:13 - fiery judgment; v.15 - purgatory

posted by Resty Odon  # 9:36 PM 0 Comments

Revelational

1. Wisdom - discerning divine mind
2. Knowledge
3. Discernment of spirits

Utterance

4. Prophecy
5. Tongues
6. Discernment of tongues

Power

7. Faith
8. Healing
9. Miracles

posted by Resty Odon  # 9:32 PM 0 Comments

your first suspicion is often wrong
so do not react immediately
wait for your inner self that discerns
to correct your outer self that suspects
for the wisdom of your heart
exceeds the wisdom of your mind

eastwind [1794]

posted by Resty Odon  # 10:40 PM 0 Comments