Oh how happy are they who keep their hearts open to holy inspirations! For these are never wanting to any, in so far as they are necessary for living well and devoutly, according to each one’s condition of life, or for fulfilling holily the duties of his profession. For as God, by the ministry of nature, furnishes every animal with the instincts which are necessary for its preservation and the exercise of its natural powers, so if we resist not God’s grace, he bestows on every one of us the inspirations necessary to live, to work, and to preserve our spiritual life…When we are at a loss, and human help fails us in our perplexities, God then inspires us, nor will he permit us to err, as long as we are humbly obedient.

— St. Frances de Sales, Treatise on the Love of God

My spiritual director steered me towards St. Frances de Sales and I’ve come to love his writings very much. His most approachable (and probably most well-known) book is Introduction to the Devout Life, which is very much like it sounds: a practical how-to on cultivating holiness regardless of your station in life. How, someone wrote him, can someone who is not a cleric or part of a religious order hope to become holy? Can a soldier, merchant, or housewife aspire to saintliness?

Of course, wrote St. Frances. We take that sort of thing - the universal call to holiness - almost for granted these days, but it wasn’t necessarily the case for a lot of people who tended to see The Church as the place where holy people went, and The World for the rest, sort of schlepping along as best as can.

St. Frances responded to this letter with the Introduction, which lays out the case for attaining holiness wherever you happen to be, and more importantly, lays out the ways to do it. It is a very practical little book, though obviously bits and pieces are very much a product of it’s early 17th century setting. It is a gentle little book, and it served me very well for spiritual reading. I finished it quickly, but returned to it a second time. Ordination was drawing closer and I was preparing to make a general confession beforehand; St. Frances de Sales was an enormous help.

His other major work, Treatise on the Love of God is full of the same sorts of insights, but is a pretty dense work. I’ve been consuming it one chapter at a time as part of my morning holy hour and am about two-thirds of the way through it now. If you only read one thing from the spiritual father of the Salesians, make it the Introduction, but if you want to spend time studying the love of God from a spiritual master, take a run at the the Treatise, but festina lente. Make haste slowly.

Brothers and sisters: as we watch the approaching weekend weather, just a reminder that severe weather or road conditions are a prudent and just reason to stay home on Sunday. If you cannot get to Mass safely, there is no obligation to attend. Make a spiritual communion and spend some time with the Lord in the Mass readings.

Hermanos y hermanas: mientras observamos el clima que se aproxima para el fin de semana, les recuerdo que las condiciones climáticas severas o las condiciones peligrosas de las carreteras son una razón prudente y justa para quedarse en casa el domingo. Si no pueden llegar a misa de manera segura, no hay obligación de asistir. Hagan una comunión espiritual y pasen un tiempo con el Señor en las lecturas de la misa.

Rules and relations

Tuesday of the 2nd Week of Ordinary Time

Samuel 16:1-13 Ps. 89:20, 21-22, 27-28 Mark 2:23-28

I was a catechist in our parish’s OCIA program for a number of years. People come to the church for all sorts of reasons, from all sorts of places, and they have all kinds of questions. We encourage them to come to mass frequently, and then they come back to class with even more questions: Why do you do - ? Why did I see someone do - What does it mean when - Once I sat down but everyone else knelt was this wrong? Is it OK if I - I accidentally forgot to and is this OK and so forth. For a little while, all they can do is sit, confused, confronted by an utterly baffling set of rules and rituals and none of it makes sense.

Of course none of it makes sense. Not at first. The rules are important, but only because they refer to something else. They flow from somewhere, and that’s where we should be spending our time.

If you studied a couple who have been married for a really long time, you could probably put together a decently-sized book that listed out all the little things they do for one another. The things that they say, or don’t say. The many little gestures that demonstrate the deep and abiding love they have for one another. The inside jokes that sprout from share memories, and so on. You’d have that book, but if you just had that book and read it cover to cover, you’d no more understand their marriage than the Man in the Moon.

The relationship comes first, then the rules. The relationship is source of all the little things, and without it, that entire book is just a list of interesting trivia. This doesn’t mean the rules aren’t important, but they’re not the point. They’re the means to a much more glorious end, and it’s the same end which, paradoxically, causes all of the little things to grow.

There’s a reason why the scriptures are filled from one end to the other with nuptial imagery. Our faith isn’t a matter of rules, but a relationship - an encounter - with a Person, and when our relationship with that person is rightly ordered, the rules aren’t just rules, they’re the little things that adorn something that’s already beautiful.

St. William, pray for us. St. Sebastian the Martyr, pray for us. St. Fabian, pray for us.

Reflexión en las lecturas de hoy

Lunes del la II semana del Tiempo ordinario

1 Samuel 15, 16-23
Salmo 49, 8-9. 16bc-17. 21 y 23
Marcos 2, 18-22

Hay dos tipos de personas - los que dicen al Señor “hágase tu voluntad,” y los a que el Señor dice lo mismo. En las lecturas de hoy, seguimos con la tema de obediencia. Aquí hay el rey de Israel - Saúl - que recibió un mandato de Dios. Anda a ese ciudad, y destruirlo todo. Completamente. No quiten nada, no llevan nada. Y que pasó? Saúl vuelve con animales y tesoro, y dice ‘por queremos ofrecer sacrificios a Dios.’ Y respondió el profeta Samuel - ¿Que hiciste? La obediencia vale más que el sacrificio. Como Saúl se apartó del Señor, el Señor lo permitió.

Cuando ponemos nuestros voluntad en lugar de Dios, es como idolatría. Salvación, como dijo Padre ayer, es sencillo pero no es fácil. Tenemos que mantener nuestra voluntad en el Señor - ‘aquí estoy para hacer tu voluntad.’

Y si hacemos esto, por la gracia de Jesucristo, podemos ser más. Podemos crecer, como los odres nuevos llenos de vino nuevo. Porque el vino nuevo no es completa. Sigue el proceso de ser vino mas fino. Exactamente como nosotros - obras en progreso de ser santos.

extra Missam

Our pastor is heading out of town for a few weeks on some well-earned vacation and has asked me to lead communion services in place of the daily masses. I don’t think I’ve ever actually been to a communion service before. Maybe once years ago; I honestly can’t recall. I had the ritual book in English, picked up a copy in Spanish, and have been studying them for a bit. It looks pretty straightforward, which is good, since the both of us are Strictly-By-The-Book types. I also went last night to watch him do Exposition so I could get a sense of any local customs and…they weren’t any. Also very strictly by the numbers, which is how I intend to do it as well.

Nerdwatch: the ancient laptop that I was using for Home Assistant finally croaked for good, so I purchased one of their turnkey ODroid boxes and it’s been working great. Because I am lazy, I wasn’t bothering to back up the old config so I had to start from scratch. I’m a little bummed at losing all of the historical data, but whatever. Much of the old config was busted and things needed a good clean-out anyway. I’m not much for all of the home automation stuff; there’s not much I need automating except for making sure the lights all get turned off at night and Hue is already doing that. What I’m mainly after is a single place to look at all the various “smart” things instead of having to keep a half-dozen individual apps.

Nothing changed book-wise. Business travel earlier in this week had me catching up on magazines, all of which I read on the iPad these days. I’ve been making the most progress in Congar’s book of late. Hope to get some more done this weekend. Very excited to hear of a second season for The Night Manager.

I preached all four masses this past weekend, and for the first time in Spanish. I worked very closely from the text below and have decided to post the Spanish version.

Homilía para la Solemnidad del Bautismo del Señor

Nuestro Señor viene a Juan para ser bautizado. Pero, ¿por qué? La respuesta de Juan es perfectamente razonable, porque él sabe quién es Jesús. Sin embargo, nuestro Señor insiste en su petición: “Déjalo ahora, porque así nos conviene cumplir toda justicia.”

Y cuando Juan termina de bautizar, toda la Trinidad se manifiesta: Padre, Hijo y Espíritu Santo.

Sabemos como católicos que el Bautismo hace varias cosas: quita el pecado original. Nos hace parte de la Iglesia y abre el camino a los demás sacramentos. Se nos manda hacerlo para que podamos ir al cielo. Por eso es el sacramento más importante - tan importante que, en peligro de muerte, cualquier persona puede bautizar a otra. Así de importante es.

Sin embargo, nuestro Señor no necesitaba un sacramento. No tenía pecado original. No le falta nada. Él vino del Cielo, y ciertamente no necesita nada de nosotros para regresar allá. Él mismo no está atado a los sacramentos o reglas que nos da a nosotros.

Entonces, ¿por qué pasa por esto?

Lo hace para mostrarnos cómo nosotros también podemos nacer de nuevo del agua y del espíritu. Como discípulos, como dice un antiguo dicho judio - nos toca seguir a nuestro maestro - seguirlo tan de cerca que el polvo de sus sandalias caiga sobre nuestras ropas.

Primero - nos está mostrando lo que nosotros también debemos hacer, y al santificar las aguas del Jordán, hace posible bautizar con cualquier agua en cualquier lugar. Este sacramento no está atado a un lugar en particular - el agua cubre la mayor parte de la tierra, y también la invitación de Dios a la vida divina. Este momento es uno de los pocos que muestran a Jesús como verdaderamente es—en este caso, la segunda persona de la Santísima Trinidad. La misma Trinidad en cuyo nombre se nos manda bautizar después.

Segundo - aunque sin pecado, asume la figura del pecador. Esto anticipa su muerte en el Calvario.

Tercero - como escribió San Gregorio Nacianceno (Oratio 39.15), Él desciende al agua como descendió del Cielo. Cuando sale del agua, lleva consigo al mundo pecador - de la muerte a la vida.

Esta revelación de Jesús encaja bien y con propósito al final de la Epifanía. Primero vino en la carne - la Navidad. Luego se mostró con los dones de oro y incienso, que era Rey y Sumo Sacerdote. También se nos mostró que moriría con el don de la mirra.

Ahora nos muestra el comienzo de la vida sacramental por la cual recibimos las gracias de Dios, y este sacramento primero que todos. Es apropiado - muy apropiado - que celebremos este momento ahora, en uno de los puntos importantes del calendario.

Pueden pensar en el año litúrgico como un mapa que muestra toda la historia de la salvación. En este mapa hay dos montañas. Subimos una lado de la primera montaña el Adviento y llegamos a su cumbre en la Navidad. Hemos estado bajando por el otro lado durante algunas semanas - la Sagrada Familia, la Epifanía, y ahora estamos aquí, casi en terreno llano, a punto de entrar en nuestro primer período del Tiempo Ordinario.

Es posible pensar que Este período corresponde, de cierta manera, con el tiempo del ministerio de nuestro Señor en la tierra. Él ha nacido, ha sido bautizado, y nosotros los fieles bautizados caminaremos con él hacia la próxima montaña, que es aún más grande. Nos tomará toda la Cuaresma subirla, y cuando lleguemos a la cima, seguiremos hacia Pentecostés, y todo lo necesario para nuestra salvación estará completo - la Pasión de nuestro Señor y el nacimiento de la Iglesia. Luego volveremos a esperar con la Iglesia a que él venga de nuevo al fin de los tiempos. Y esa espera se convertirá en un Adviento, y sigue y sigue.

Pero por ahora - el camino está comenzando. Nuestro Señor ha sido bautizado. Ustedes también lo han sido, o espero que si. Si no han sido bautizados, por favor hablen conmigo o con el Padre después de la Misa. ¡De verdad queremos hablar con ustedes!

Como bautizados, se hicieron ciertas promesas por nosotros. Las afirmamos con más fuerza en nuestra Confirmación. Si no han sido confirmados…por favor hablen conmigo o con el Padre después de la Misa. ¡También queremos hablar con ustedes!

Renunciamos a Satanás y a todas sus obras. Profesamos nuestra fe en Dios: Padre, Hijo y Espíritu Santo. De nuevo la Trinidad. Profesamos fe en la Iglesia, el perdón de los pecados y la resurrección del cuerpo. Nos unimos al Pueblo de Dios, ungidos como sacerdotes, profetas y reyes.

Esas promesas y responsabilidades vale la pena revisarlas y renovarlas, porque nos marcan como hermanos y hermanas de Cristo. Esta es la alegría más grande que existe, y es nuestra tarea llevar esa alegría a nuestro campo de misión, que está fuera de este edificio y por toda nuestra parroquia: nuestros hogares, nuestro trabajo, en todas partes. Sé que se siente como si las fiestas hubieran terminado, y seguro, esta parte del año litúrgico está terminando, pero el trabajo apenas comienza. De Belén al Calvario — caminemos juntos con alegría con el Senor, proclamando el evangelio a todos. A todos personas, a todos partes de nuestra campo de misión.

Back at it

Not so bleak indeed. The highs may reach 70 here by the weekend. I can’t say that I hate it, but am also sort of bracing for the inevitable cold spells to come. Feels like we’ll need to pay for this mildness at some point. Or maybe not. We’ll see.

We finished up Stranger Things. Sure there were plot holes, but whatever. A decent enough homage to 80’s era pulp sci-fi/fantasy, though they went a little lighter on the nostalgia that was more evident in the first couple of seasons. We also finished up Down Cemetery Road which we also liked. Not surprising, we very much like Slow Horses too. Enjoying Elric and Slay the Spire. I was delighted to see that it’s available as a standalone iPad game, but have opted (for now) to keep it restricted to my workstation. I like it too much right now to grant myself even easier access to it.

So everyone’s back to work and school today and trying to get back into the normal routine. I have homilies to prepare for this weekend and some business travel set for the week after. Then it will be cold again, but we’ll be a couple of weeks closer to spring.

Oramos también por nuestras hermanos y hermans Venezolanos, que la verdadera paz de Cristo esté con ellos, dondequeria que estén.

Currently reading: Elric of Melniboné by Michael Moorcock 📚

Currently reading: The Diary of a Country Priest by Georges Bernanos 📚

The not-so-bleak midwinter

Only 3 more masses at my home parish: 7PM on the Solemnity, and two Vigils (English and Spanish) of this upcoming Sunday. After that it’s full-tilt at St. William; the pastor and I have already been hammering out the next month or two, which will include covering for him while he’s out of the country for a couple of weeks. Practically speaking, this means communion services - Word and Eucharist, but the Eucharist will be distributed from what’s reserved in the tabernacle. A priest will be in for the Sunday masses, so we should be in good shape to keep things going. I’ll do at least one Exposition/Benediction while he’s out and…I guess be on-hand as much as my job allows.

Fortunately for me I’ll have a couple of weeks to settle in there before flying solo. I’ll need them to get a sense of How Things Are Done, which is to say What The People Expect. Fun stuff. I’m excited and (of course) a little nervous. God will supply what I am certainly lacking.

Absolutely unrelated: I’ve put Factorio aside for now. The truth is that I haven’t played since about this time last year, so first I needed to apply a year’s worth of updates. Then I opened my last save and stared at it, trying to remember the keyboard mappings, the new things added by the Space Age expansion, and my general state of mind as regards belts and defenses. Then I gauged how much I’d have to grind to launch the rocket and actually see the new Space Age stuff, and I compared that to the amount of time I actually have and, Reader, the news was not good.

So: off to peruse Steam’s winter sale, and I came away with Megabonk, which is very similar to Vampire Survivors in game-play. I also grabbed Slay the Spire, another rogue-like with deck-building which seemed crazy popular a little while back. Both of these look to fit the bill perfectly. And for, what, a combined total of $11? That’s crazy cheap, even for me.

I’m going to hang up The Book of Disquiet. I’m nearly at the end. The little texts are beautifully written, but the speaker is something of a nudge, and it’s getting a little old. I’ve got other things in the stack to get through and have been eyeballing a revisit to Michael Moorcock, who I haven’t read since…gosh, high school, probably. I don’t know if I ever actually finished the Elric books, but all of them are available in a three-volume set, so really, what’s my excuse?