Wednesday, September 7, 2005

Last week I asked PC if she would read at today’s noon Mass, since I had a meeting work. She did read, but I skipped the meeting and attended Mass. We frequently hear about the Beatitudes, rarely about the Anathemas:

But woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation.

Woe unto you that are full! for ye shall hunger.

Woe unto you that laugh now! for ye shall mourn and weep.

Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets.

—Luke 6:24–26

The curses apply to us.

Till they draw their clear and reasonable distinctions between the first and the nineteenth century, the denunciation hangs over the world. . . .
— Newman, Parochial & Plain Sermons “28. The Danger of Riches”

Giving to the poor does not mean giving them a greater share of what keeps us from God.

Before daring to speak of social justice, oh you fools, begin to remake society!
—The Last Essays of Georges Bernanos, p. 155

To do this, follow Paul’s advice:

. . . seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. . . . put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him.
—Colossians 3:1-3, 10

In this Simone Weil may have been mistaken. The kingdom of heaven comes in everyone’s lifetime.

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“Phil” is posting again in Shades of Gray (Umbrae Canarum).