Having Said That....

This is pretty awesome as well! Go on Velazquez my son!

El Greco

I am currently looking up El Greco's wonderful works on Google. There is something majestic and awesome about nearly all of his paintings. An art historian friend of mine said that the look of the paintings had something to do with an eye problem he had, so spatially many of his characters are very, well, long!

Apparently Toledo has a number of El Greco paintings. What a great excuse to go to Toledo. I love Spain anyway. What he manages to capture so well is drama! St Dominic's face is serene in this painting. He is praying fervently and lovingly meditating on Our Lord. Yet, look at the drama that seems to be going on all around him. The stormy, dark clouds and the rocky wilderness of his situation.

Our lives are not without drama and storms and the feeling we are alone in a rocky wilderness. The mystics seemed to suggest that aside from the tempestuous nature of the human condition, prayer itself is a drama, often a struggle, often stormy, dark and even frightening. The closer they came to God, the more they learned of themselves and their dependence on Him.

El Greco captures this really well! Yet still manages to convey St Dominic's love and devotion his face radiating, as if saying to Jesus, "You are all I need, all that I have and all that I want." Love it, love El Greco and if there were a fight between him and Velazquez, he'd probably win.

The Hand That Rocks The Cradle

Lovely Smith's song. Beautiful lyricist.

....So rattle my bones all over the stones
I'm only a beggar-man whom nobody owns
Oh, see how words as old as sin
Fit me like a glove
I'm here and here I'll stay
Together we lie, together we pray
There never need be longing in your eyes
As long as the hand that rocks the cradle is mine....

Pope Benedict XVI to visit St Padre Pio's Tomb

From Zenit:

Pope to Visit Padre Pio's Tomb in '09
Cardinal Bertone Says Trip Is Prepared

SAN GIOVANNI ROTONDO, Italy, SEPT. 23, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI's secretary of state says everything is prepared for a papal trip to the tomb of Padre Pio in 2009.

Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone affirmed this today in San Giovanni Rotondo during a Mass that marked the 40th anniversary of the saint's death, as well as his liturgical feast day.

"Benedict XVI asked me to announce that everything is prepared. The Pope will come to San Giovanni Rotondo in 2009," said the cardinal to the thousands of faithful gathered for the celebration.

During the homily, Cardinal Bertone recalled the figure of Padre Pio, describing him as "a disciple of Christ who sought no other glory than to love and suffer for him. He was a priest who wanted nothing other than to be consumed in love for God and his brethren."

"He was a sincere son of the Church, and preferred not to defend himself, even on the most painful occasions, dying to himself in the docile silence of difficult but fruitful obedience," he added.

Forty years after his death, "Saint Pio is like a channel of water that gushes richly, and at whose source all can drink the fresh water of truth and love that the Lord offers in abundance to all," added the cardinal.

St. Pio of Pietrelcina is one of the most venerated saints of Italy. A Capuchin friar, he received the stigmata in 1918 and died in 1968. Pope John Paul II canonized him on June 16, 2002.

Vatican Laments Treatment of Gypsy Communities of Europe

From Zenit:
Vatican Calls for Better Education for Gypsies
Also Decries Their Forced Sterilizations

VATICAN CITY, OCT. 2, 2008 (Zenit.org).- The Vatican is urging better treatment for Gypsies, particularly the end to "special schools" for the ethnic group and the forced sterilization of their women.

These are two of the exhortations found in the final document of 6th World Congress for the Pastoral Care of Gypsies. The conference was held Sept. 1-4 in Freising, Germany. The document was released today by the Pontifical Council for Migrants and Travelers, which cosponsored the event with the German bishops' conference.

One hundred and fifty delegates participated in the conference, which was focused on "Gypsy Youth in the Church and Society."

The final document proposes that one of the key elements in ministry to Gypsies is the theme of education.

"Education is the fundamental process for the fulfillment of personal potential, and it is necessary for integration in society," a statement from the pontifical council affirmed. "It is necessary to prohibit the registration of Gypsies in 'special schools,' which generates humiliation.

"Education is a condition for participation in political, social and economic life, based on a position of equality with the others. It should, therefore, motivate rightly critical reflection and responsibility, which in turn, are needed to build up an ever more human society, based on the principles of justice, equality and fraternity."

Education for a career was one of the principal concerns expressed at the conference, given that "youth should overcome walls, created also because of weaknesses in the educational system, which are an obstacle to their access to the world of work."

Family life

The conference also decried "forced sterilizations and those campaigns that tend to destabilize the concept of family among the Gypsies."

"The education of women must be guaranteed among fundamental rights," the statement affirmed, "along with intercultural dialogue, the participation of the youth in democratic citizenship, social cohesion and the development of youth policies."

The document proposed that "it would be useful to ask humanitarian organizations and Caritas for the distribution of microcredits […] allotted to those families and communities that show greatest capacity to use them in favor of their ethnic group."

The conference participants called for support from the Church for gypsies, though it recognized the inherent difficulties in ministering to the group.

In ministry to Gypsies, the text affirmed, "ecclesial movements and the new communities that the Holy Spirit draws forth in the Church could carry out an important role."

"Excluded, confined to the margins of humanity, humiliated, the Gypsies need a living Church, a Church-communion, capable of forming and helping them to overcome difficulties that great policies do not manage to overcome," the document said. Nevertheless, "the act of presenting oneself lovingly and with the desire to proclaim the good news is not sufficient to create a trusting relationship among Gypsies […] given the weight of history and all of the wrongs they have suffered.

"The Gypsy population, therefore, is suspicious of the initiatives of all those who try to enter into their world. It is possible to rise above this initial attitude only with concrete gestures of solidarity, with life in common and with projects […] that favor the participation and acceptance of Gypsy youth."

Works of Mercy

I watched Walk The Line recently about the life of Johnny Cash. I've never been that much into his music but his songs were very good. I was impressed by his band's decision to play County Prisons in the US. Having spent time inside himself he knew what it was like to live like the prisoners. In the film the joy of the prisoners is infectious and I couldn't help thinking of Our Lord's words, "When you did it to the least of these, you did it unto Me."

Happy St Francis' Day

Top ten tips on celebrating St Francis Day:

1. Pour ash on your head and go around saying, "I, a breviary."

2. Sell your possessions and give the money to the poor.

3. Greet everyone you meet with a profound sense of fraternal love.

4. Deliberately get injured by someone and then forgive them in all holy charity.

5. Preach the Gospel everywhere you go, if necessary use words.

6. Go into the wilderness and befriend packs of wolves.

7. Go up to your Bishop and present yourself naked and allow him to clothe you in some bed linen.

8. Weep heartily on account of your sins.

9. Walk barefoot.

10. Ask one of your friends to stand on your face in mud out of the pure motivation of humbling yourself in the sight of God and Man.

St Francis, the giant Saint of the Church, the Church honours you today because you were wonderful and God made you very, very holy!