Communication with Visitors Spirit of the Living God, fall afresh on us! March 1 (P.S. March 8, 12, 13, 14, 16, 20, 21) Dear sisters and brothers in Christ, It is nice communicating with you again. From the bottom of his heart, the editor would like to thank you all for the many holy prayers and Masses for his father. Indeed, since his father passed away about a month ago, the editor has been spending a lot of time keeping his mother company. At least for the near future, he can no longer partake in many things which he used to. However, he has come to understand a lot more about senior people and their needs. He has also been dealing first-hand with the fact that a human being is fundamentally an imperishable human soul carrying a perishable human body, although the latter will be resurrected in due time. It is true that there can be two other schools of thought regarding a human being: a) a human being is substantially a human body carrying some kind of a soul; b) he or she is simply a human body who will one day be reduced to ashes and disappears from the universe. Apparently, these two definitions have been espoused by many non-believers today. We Christians gifted with God's faith, hope and love know that they are not completely true. Coincidentally, we have a really good news to share here. Blessed Sister M. Faustina Kowsalska whose diary (entitled Divine Mercy in My Soul. Stockbridge, MA: Marian Press, 1987) we have been promoting for years will be officially a canonized saint of the Church on Divine Mercy Sunday, April 30, 2000. Alleluia! As we know, there are three great saints originating from Poleland, namely, St. Maximillian de Kolbe, Bl. Sr. Faustina and the present Pope John-Paul II (who has been called the Pope according to the Immaculate Heart of Mary). Praise God! May the whole Divine Heavenly Family continue to be with us all! Yours very sincerely in Christ and Our Heavenly Mother, Editor P.S. (March 8) Today is Ash Wednesday. It is a day when Christians should think more about the soul than the body. Previously we thought Ash Wednesday was on March 1. We are sorry for the mistake. The very concept "soul", however, appears somewhat strange, vague and even meaningless to many today. In fact, this area of study remains quite underdeveloped in current philosophy, psychology and theology. A main reason is that since the time of René Descartes (1596-1650), the beginning of the modern scientific age, the study of our soul has been increasingly replaced by the study of our mind, brain, consciousness, personality, behaviour, personhood, and psychology, etc. Consequently, many scholars and lay alike rarely look at a human being nowadays in terms of his or her everlasting soul. Without knowing , they have become a stranger to their own soul, a precious image of God. Many have forgotten or neglected the ultimate reality and meaning of the soul, concerning the salvation of their own and that of many others. It has further led the world at large to a certain identity crisis of the human being, i.e., understanding what a human being truly is from perspective of the Creator. It certainly helps, as a remedy, for us to delve into the writings of canonized mystics regarding the subject matter. We praise God that the following excerpt from the Zenit News seems to confirm in a real way our observation which we made a few days ago for Ash Wednesday: PSYCHOLOGY AND PSYCHIATRY BEFORE GOD Conclusions of Congress Sponsored by Vatican Institutions ROME, MAR 6 (ZENIT.org).- The objective of the first Congress of the Association of Italian Psychologists and Psychiatrists, which was held this past weekend in Rome, sponsored by the Vatican Congregation for Catholic Education, the Italian Episcopal Conference, and the Italian Ministry of Health, was to help man rediscover the horizon of hope and his relation with God. The title of the Congress, held in the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome, which is administered directly by the Vatican, recalled a phrase of Carl Gustav Jung: "Dead Gods Have Become Illnesses." Albert Scicchitano, psychiatrist and member of the Congress' executive committee, explained: "'The dead gods have become illnesses,' because the process of de-sacralization, the loss of meaning to which our daily life is subjected, has made of a whole series of experiences that have meaning and dignity within the religious experience, be interpreted today almost exclusively in psychiatric or psycho-pathological terms. For example, both the life of St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus as well as that of Padre Pio, have been read by eminent psychiatric personalities in exclusively clinical and psycho-pathological terms. The analysis cannot be reduced to this level, because this would mean to misunderstand the phenomenon." The origin of this misunderstanding, according to Dr. Scicchitano, is in the fact that "in our society, the term 'soul' indicates either the spiritual dimension, or the psychic dimension of the person. We know, however, that it is not like this, in spite of the fact that the person in himself, is a unity. This was also expressed by Jesus Christ in the Garden of Olives when he said: 'the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.' " The Congress emphasized that it is evident that many neuroses have their origin in the inability to perceive the religious and spiritual needs of the soul. If the horizon of hope is closed to modern man, all he has left are aggressive and depressive responses in face of the problems around him. With this Congress and organization, "we hope to open to man the doors of a relationship with God, to the spiritual dimension, which is eternal, so that he can live his life better," Dr. Scicchitano said. ZE00030609 Praise God! P.S. (March 12) How we define a human being is how our behaviour, world view, priority, lifestyle, life goals, ministry, and policy, etc., being shaped. The other day, on March 9, the editor was going quickly over some newspapers. He discovered the following brief report from Sing Tao Daily, a major local newspaper owned by The Toronto Star. Someone in Ontario was auctioning his own "soul" on the internet. Within a short time, there were nine respondents. The final bargain was $22.50, a price less than an ordinary ticket for a normal hockey game. What this young person may not understand is that our souls, including our bodies, are not only created by God in His image, but also purchased by Christ, the God-Man, with His immeasurable Passion, Blood and Death. Whether we like it or not, our whole being, soul and body, belong completely to God. Here on earth we are only given a stewardship by God over these absolutely priceless gifts. The horrendous act of this person reflects the typical ignorance, attitude and behaviour of many people in our society today regarding our very own souls. Lord, have mercy on us, especially during Lent, a great time for souls to turn back to You! P.S. (March 13) So how much is a human soul worth? Apparently, it is worth the infinite Passion, Blood and Death of Our Lord Jesus Christ, who is truly God and truly man. According to various canonized mystics, Christ would have come to suffer and die for just one human soul. Without the human soul, there is no difference between the human body (including the fetus) and the body of an animal. According to St. Bonaventure, etc., animals and all other creatures are created also after God's image. There is obviously an immense difference between an animal and a human soul. Counting its chemicals, the human body is worth perhaps a dollar or so. An animal's body is usually worth more than that in the supermarket. Let us praise and thank God for the creation and salvation, then, of our priceless human soul! P.S. (March 14) Left to itself, our human body is not worth much. However, united with our human soul, our body becomes priceless also. Hence, it is our soul which makes the infinite difference. Indeed, Christ comes to redeem our whole human being, soul and body. It is in their union with one another that our soul gives immeasurable value to our body. Praise God! P.S. (March 16) In association with our soul, our separated body is also given immense value according to various religious and cultural traditions, such as reverence for our saints and ancestors' relics, organs to be transplanted, etc. Consciously and unconsciously, directly and indirectly, it is really our invaluable soul per se which has given inconceivable worth to our body. Glory be to God! Anyway, have a nice March break! P.S. (March 20) Today is the feast day of St. Joseph, transferred from yesterday this year. Please kindly pray for us, dearest St. Joseph, Patron Saint of the whole Universal Church, Patron Saint of all Canada, as well as Patron Saint of Happy Death or Happy Living for all eternity! P.S. (March 21) Over the next few days, let us most sincerely ask our beloved Invisible Head of the Church and of the whole Universe for special protection and blessings over our beloved Visible Head of the Church in his pilgrimage to the Holy Land! Indeed, if the Head is protected and blessed, the rest of the Body will be also.
March 1 (P.S. March 8, 12, 13, 14, 16, 20, 21)
Dear sisters and brothers in Christ,
It is nice communicating with you again. From the bottom of his heart, the editor would like to thank you all for the many holy prayers and Masses for his father. Indeed, since his father passed away about a month ago, the editor has been spending a lot of time keeping his mother company. At least for the near future, he can no longer partake in many things which he used to. However, he has come to understand a lot more about senior people and their needs. He has also been dealing first-hand with the fact that a human being is fundamentally an imperishable human soul carrying a perishable human body, although the latter will be resurrected in due time.
It is true that there can be two other schools of thought regarding a human being: a) a human being is substantially a human body carrying some kind of a soul; b) he or she is simply a human body who will one day be reduced to ashes and disappears from the universe. Apparently, these two definitions have been espoused by many non-believers today. We Christians gifted with God's faith, hope and love know that they are not completely true.
Coincidentally, we have a really good news to share here. Blessed Sister M. Faustina Kowsalska whose diary (entitled Divine Mercy in My Soul. Stockbridge, MA: Marian Press, 1987) we have been promoting for years will be officially a canonized saint of the Church on Divine Mercy Sunday, April 30, 2000. Alleluia! As we know, there are three great saints originating from Poleland, namely, St. Maximillian de Kolbe, Bl. Sr. Faustina and the present Pope John-Paul II (who has been called the Pope according to the Immaculate Heart of Mary). Praise God!
May the whole Divine Heavenly Family continue to be with us all!
Yours very sincerely in Christ and Our Heavenly Mother,
Editor
P.S. (March 8)
Today is Ash Wednesday. It is a day when Christians should think more about the soul than the body. Previously we thought Ash Wednesday was on March 1. We are sorry for the mistake.
The very concept "soul", however, appears somewhat strange, vague and even meaningless to many today. In fact, this area of study remains quite underdeveloped in current philosophy, psychology and theology. A main reason is that since the time of René Descartes (1596-1650), the beginning of the modern scientific age, the study of our soul has been increasingly replaced by the study of our mind, brain, consciousness, personality, behaviour, personhood, and psychology, etc.
Consequently, many scholars and lay alike rarely look at a human being nowadays in terms of his or her everlasting soul. Without knowing , they have become a stranger to their own soul, a precious image of God. Many have forgotten or neglected the ultimate reality and meaning of the soul, concerning the salvation of their own and that of many others. It has further led the world at large to a certain identity crisis of the human being, i.e., understanding what a human being truly is from perspective of the Creator.
It certainly helps, as a remedy, for us to delve into the writings of canonized mystics regarding the subject matter.
We praise God that the following excerpt from the Zenit News seems to confirm in a real way our observation which we made a few days ago for Ash Wednesday:
PSYCHOLOGY AND PSYCHIATRY BEFORE GOD
Conclusions of Congress Sponsored by Vatican Institutions
ROME, MAR 6 (ZENIT.org).- The objective of the first Congress of the
Association of Italian Psychologists and Psychiatrists, which was held
this past weekend in Rome, sponsored by the Vatican Congregation for
Catholic Education, the Italian Episcopal Conference, and the Italian
Ministry of Health, was to help man rediscover the horizon of hope and
his relation with God.
The title of the Congress, held in the Pontifical Lateran University in
Rome, which is administered directly by the Vatican, recalled a phrase
of Carl Gustav Jung: "Dead Gods Have Become Illnesses." Albert
Scicchitano, psychiatrist and member of the Congress' executive
committee, explained: "'The dead gods have become illnesses,' because
the process of de-sacralization, the loss of meaning to which our daily
life is subjected, has made of a whole series of experiences that have
meaning and dignity within the religious experience, be interpreted
today almost exclusively in psychiatric or psycho-pathological terms.
For example, both the life of St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus as well as
that of Padre Pio, have been read by eminent psychiatric personalities
in exclusively clinical and psycho-pathological terms. The analysis
cannot be reduced to this level, because this would mean to
misunderstand the phenomenon."
The origin of this misunderstanding, according to Dr. Scicchitano, is in
the fact that "in our society, the term 'soul' indicates either the
spiritual dimension, or the psychic dimension of the person. We know,
however, that it is not like this, in spite of the fact that the person
in himself, is a unity. This was also expressed by Jesus Christ in the
Garden of Olives when he said: 'the spirit is willing but the flesh is
weak.' "
The Congress emphasized that it is evident that many neuroses have
their origin in the inability to perceive the religious and spiritual needs
of the soul. If the horizon of hope is closed to modern man, all he has
left are aggressive and depressive responses in face of the problems
around him.
With this Congress and organization, "we hope to open to man the doors
of a relationship with God, to the spiritual dimension, which is
eternal, so that he can live his life better," Dr. Scicchitano said.
ZE00030609
Praise God!
P.S. (March 12) How we define a human being is how our behaviour, world view, priority, lifestyle, life goals, ministry, and policy, etc., being shaped.
The other day, on March 9, the editor was going quickly over some newspapers. He discovered the following brief report from Sing Tao Daily, a major local newspaper owned by The Toronto Star. Someone in Ontario was auctioning his own "soul" on the internet. Within a short time, there were nine respondents. The final bargain was $22.50, a price less than an ordinary ticket for a normal hockey game.
What this young person may not understand is that our souls, including our bodies, are not only created by God in His image, but also purchased by Christ, the God-Man, with His immeasurable Passion, Blood and Death. Whether we like it or not, our whole being, soul and body, belong completely to God. Here on earth we are only given a stewardship by God over these absolutely priceless gifts.
The horrendous act of this person reflects the typical ignorance, attitude and behaviour of many people in our society today regarding our very own souls.
Lord, have mercy on us, especially during Lent, a great time for souls to turn back to You!
P.S. (March 13)
So how much is a human soul worth? Apparently, it is worth the infinite Passion, Blood and Death of Our Lord Jesus Christ, who is truly God and truly man. According to various canonized mystics, Christ would have come to suffer and die for just one human soul.
Without the human soul, there is no difference between the human body (including the fetus) and the body of an animal. According to St. Bonaventure, etc., animals and all other creatures are created also after God's image. There is obviously an immense difference between an animal and a human soul. Counting its chemicals, the human body is worth perhaps a dollar or so. An animal's body is usually worth more than that in the supermarket.
Let us praise and thank God for the creation and salvation, then, of our priceless human soul!
P.S. (March 14) Left to itself, our human body is not worth much. However, united with our human soul, our body becomes priceless also. Hence, it is our soul which makes the infinite difference. Indeed, Christ comes to redeem our whole human being, soul and body. It is in their union with one another that our soul gives immeasurable value to our body. Praise God!
P.S. (March 16) In association with our soul, our separated body is also given immense value according to various religious and cultural traditions, such as reverence for our saints and ancestors' relics, organs to be transplanted, etc. Consciously and unconsciously, directly and indirectly, it is really our invaluable soul per se which has given inconceivable worth to our body. Glory be to God!
Anyway, have a nice March break!
P.S. (March 20) Today is the feast day of St. Joseph, transferred from yesterday this year. Please kindly pray for us, dearest St. Joseph, Patron Saint of the whole Universal Church, Patron Saint of all Canada, as well as Patron Saint of Happy Death or Happy Living for all eternity!
P.S. (March 21) Over the next few days, let us most sincerely ask our beloved Invisible Head of the Church and of the whole Universe for special protection and blessings over our beloved Visible Head of the Church in his pilgrimage to the Holy Land! Indeed, if the Head is protected and blessed, the rest of the Body will be also.