On the 15^th Anniversary of my first public Yes to God as an Augustinian sister. To you Theotokos, my dearest Mother, Sister and faithful Friend, the Woman I love, and the Woman I want to be.

Why I am against the priesthood of women

It seems totally out of place in 2013, for a woman in her thirties, to take such a position and totally weird to choose to express my opinion today – the anniversary of my first profession and the feast of the Nativity of Our Lady… Today I should be celebrating womanhood and voicing the rights of women!

Priesthood is not a right but a gift

Without being judgemental and without generalising, the feeling I get, is that women who want the priesthood for women, regard it as a right. If men have access to priesthood, then, on the grounds that men and women are equal, women should have access too. But priesthood is no one’s right, it is a gift. Perceiving it as a right to be grasped, already reveals, that the motivations behind this fight are not right at all. Yes, priesthood is indeed a great privilege, but it is one which is translated into everyday humble service and sacrifice.

The right for women to be women

But yes, women do have a right which is not being respected enough yet; that of being women in the Church. Sometimes I hear or read words of women who think that it is only if we are given the chance to be part of the hierarchy of the Church, that we will be listened to and respected. I think that what we really need is a space in the Church, simply to be women, to love as women do. Being part of the hierarchy does not guarantee this space. Men will still perceive us as weak and illogical if a real space is not opened for us to be able to express who we really are and to grow as integrated persons.

Femininity and masculinity – integrated

Unfortunately, as I see it, women today are reacting to the many abuses they had to suffer because of their womanhood. Men are also suffering, trying to cope with woman’s reactions, and striving to rediscover their male identity. Many things in today’s society point to this, but I will not discuss these here; it’s not the point. I believe that the suffering of woman is very much linked to what womanhood stands for. The feminine characteristics of love are receptivity, passivity, gentleness, tenderness… they are all characteristics which have to do with being vulnerable; with being wounded. The female body is an expression of this – it is woman who receives the “other” in her, who makes space for the other and it is the virgin who is wounded in her body, in the act of union between a man and a woman. Femininity stands for the vulnerable side of love. But a love without vulnerability is monstrous! Unfortunately women today are fed up of being vulnerable and being abused for it. They strive to strengthen what seems to them as being masculine characteristics, while not preserving feminine characteristics. Their war against receptivity has one of its worst expressions in the crime of abortion. They think that being masculine is to be violent, to be strong on the outside, to be an abuser. But masculine characteristics are everything but these. Masculinity is to be brave, courageous, and protective, to have a strong will, a strong sense of commitment – this is real masculine strength. This is the masculine side of love, without which, love cannot last, no matter how tender and gentle it may be.

Humanity in its fullness

If we really want to know what it means to be a real man and a real woman, we might want to look at the scene on Calvary. There we will see a “He” who is naked, wounded, vulnerable, and a “She” who stands erect like a strong warrior. Her will is one with his, and in her, the strength of his will finds the most beautiful expression. In him her woundedness finds its full expression. They are both naked, having poured out themselves completely, they are both wounded and at their most vulnerable moment. At the same time, the strength of their will, keeps him hanging on the Cross and her, standing upright beneath it. This is what it means to be human – this is love fully masculine, fully feminine. This is what I desire for every man and woman; every child of God.

St Joseph

My heart is listening

Love

Grazie Mille Papa Ratzinger!

“Luke the Evangelist, places particular attention on the fact that Jesus was transfigured as He prayed. His is a profound experience of relationship with the Father during a type of spiritual retreat that Jesus undergoes on a high mountain in the company of Peter, James, and John, the three disciples who are always present at the moments of the Master's divine manifestation. The Lord, who had foretold His death and resurrection shortly before, offers His disciples an anticipation of His glory. Again at the Transfiguration, as at His Baptism, we hear the voice of the Heavenly Father: 'This is my chosen Son; listen to Him.' The presence of Moses and Elijah, who represent the Law and the Prophets of the Old Covenant, is very important. The entire history of the Covenant is directed toward Him, the Christ, who brings about a new 'exodus', not to the promised land, as in the time of Moses, but to heaven. Peter's exclamation, 'Master, it is good that we are here', represents the impossible attempt to stop this mystical experience. St. Augustine comments: “Peter … on the mountain ... had Christ as the Bread of his soul. Should he then depart from there to return to struggles and sorrows, while up above he was full of the holy love for God that inspired him to saintly behaviour?”

“Meditating on this Gospel passage, we can draw a very important teaching from it. First of all, the primacy of prayer, without which the entire commitment of ministry and charity is reduced to activism. During Lent we learn to give the proper time to the prayer, both personal and communal, which gives breath to our spiritual life. In addition, prayer is not an isolation from the world and its contradictions, as Peter would have wanted on Mt. Tabor. Instead, prayer leads to a path of action. 'The Christian life—I wrote in this year's Lenten Message—consists in continuously scaling the mountain to meet God and then coming back down, bearing the love and strength drawn from Him, so as to serve our brothers and sisters with God’s own love.'”

“I hear this Word of God addressed to me in a special way at this moment of my life. The Lord has called me to 'scale the mountain', to dedicate myself still more to prayer and meditation. But this does not mean abandoning the Church. If God asks me this it is precisely so that I might continue to serve her with the same dedication and the same love with which I have tried to give up to now, but in a way more suitable to my age and my strength. Let us call upon the intercession of the Virgin Mary: May she help all of us to always follow the Lord Jesus, in prayer and in works of charity.”

Pope Benedict XVI last Angelus

misericordias domini in aeternum cantabo

PSALMUS 121 (120)

1 Canticum ascensionum.
Levabo oculos meos in montes:
unde veniet auxilium mihi?
2 Auxilium meum a Domino,
qui fecit caelum et terram.
3 Non dabit in commotionem pedem tuum
neque dormitabit, qui custodit te.
4 Ecce non dormitabit neque dormiet,
qui custodit Israel.
5 Dominus custodit te,
Dominus umbraculum tuum
ad manum dexteram tuam.
6 Per diem sol non percutiet te,
neque luna per noctem.
7 Dominus custodiet te ab omni malo;
custodiet animam tuam Dominus.
8 Dominus custodiet introitum tuum et exitum tuum
ex hoc nunc et usque in saeculum.


Et Iesus dicebat: “ Sic est regnum Dei, quemadmodum si homo iaciat sementem in terram
27 et dormiat et exsurgat nocte ac die, et semen germinet et increscat, dum nescit ille.
28 Ultro terra fructificat primum herbam, deinde spicam, deinde plenum frumentum in spica.
29 Et cum se produxerit fructus, statim mittit falcem, quoniam adest messis ”. (Mk 4, 27)

Solo la volontà di Dio... questa è libertà

San Rafael Arnaiz Baron (1911-1938), monaco trappista spagnolo
Scritti spirituali, 15/12/1936

Il Figlio di Dio rifiuta la tentazione di altre strade e obbedisce alla volontà del Padre.
    Anch'io, quando ero nel mondo, correvo a volte sulle strade della Spagna, felice di far salire la velocità dell'automobile fino a 90 km all'ora: che sciocchezza! Quando mi sono accorto che non c'erano altri orizzonti, ho provato la delusione di chi possiede la libertà di questo mondo, perché la terra è piccina e se ne fa presto il giro. Sono piccoli e limitati gli orizzonti intorno all'uomo. Per chi ha l'anima assetata di orizzonti infiniti,  quelli della terra non gli bastano: lo soffocano, non c'è un mondo abbastanza grande per lui, e trova ciò che cerca solo nella grandezza e immensità di Dio. Uomini liberi che andate girando tutto il pianeta, non invidio la vostra vita in questo mondo; chiuso in convento e ai piedi del crocifisso, ho una libertà infinita, ho un cielo, ho Dio. Non c'è più grande fortuna di avere un cuore innamorato di lui!...

    Povero fratello Rafael!... Continua ad attendere, continua a sperare con la dolce serenità che viene dalla sicura speranza; resta immobile, inchiodato, prigioniero del tuo Dio ai piedi del suo tabernacolo. Ascolta da lontano il chiasso degli uomini che godono i brevi giorni della loro libertà nel mondo; ascolta di lontano le loro voci, le risa, i pianti, le guerre. Ascolta e medita un momento; medita un Dio infinito, Dio che ha fatto il cielo e la terra e gli uomini, il Signore assoluto dei cieli e della terra, dei fiumi e dei mari; colui che in un attimo, solo perché l'ha voluto, ha fatto venire dal nulla tutto ciò che esiste.

    Medita un momento la vita di Cristo, e vedrai che non ci sono in essa libertà, né rumore, né fragore di voci; vedrai il Figlio dell'uomo sottomesso all'uomo; vedrai Gesù obbediente, sottomesso e che ha come legge della sua vita, in una pace serena, solo quella di compiere la volontà del Padre. E infine, contempla Cristo inchiodato sulla croce. A che serve parlare di libertà?

Very Beautiful reflection about Pope's resignation

http://laikos.org/BXVI-Sejha-Gdida.htm

Beautiful

Emotional Cardinal Bertone to Pope: you brought God to man and man to God

Emotional Cardinal Bertone to Pope: you brought God to man and man to God

O noche amada mas que el alborada!

Dove andare lontano dal tuo spirito,
    dove fuggire dalla tua presenza?
Se salgo in cielo, là tu sei,
    se scendo negli inferi, eccoti.

Se prendo le ali dell'aurora
    per abitare al'estremità del mare,
anche là mi guida la tua mano
    e mi afferra la tua destra.

Se dico: «Almeno l'oscurità mi copra
    e intorno a me sia la notte»;

nemmeno le tenebre per te sono oscure,
    e la notte è chiara come il giorno;
    per te le tenebre sono come luce.

   ...Tu mi conosci fino in fondo.

Non ti erano nascoste le mie ossa 
    quando venivo formato nel segreto, 
    intessuto nelle profondità della terra.

Ancora informe mi hanno visto i tuoi occhi...

Quanto profondi per me i tuoi pensieri,
    quanto grande il loro numero, o Dio;
Se li conto sono più della sabbia,
    se li credo finiti, con te sono ancora.

Scrutami, Dio, e conosci il mio cuore, 
    provami e conosci i miei pensieri:
vedi se percorro una via di menzogna 
    e guidami sulla via della vita.

Archbishop Nichols on Pope's "courage, humility, integrity"

2013-02-12 Vatican Radio
(Vatican Radio) The head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales has paid tribute to Pope Benedict’s courage, humility and integrity in deciding to step down from the papacy at the end of this month. Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Westminster says he’s asked Catholics and all people of faith in Britain to pray for the Pope and for the guidance of the Holy Spirit within the Holy See over the coming weeks.
Speaking to Philippa Hitchen, the president of the bishops conference of England and Wales also shared his favourite moments of this past papacy and spoke of the challenges ahead for the man who will take over from Benedict XVI

“Well my first reaction was to seek clarification because it was startling and really quite surprising….but reflecting on it, you could see it was a very courageous decision which bears the characteristics of Pope Benedict XVI, courage, humility and great integrity……
I’ve asked people of all faiths to pray for Pope Benedict as he faces an exceptional course of action and secondly to pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit on all that has to take place within the Holy See now to ensure continuity on ministry in the See of Peter….
I think the Holy Father understood the needs of the church very clearly and I personally would go back to two of his recent statements, his address to the Curia in December and that to the diplomatic corps in January, in which he sketches quite clearly the challenges facing the Church. They don’t change, so I think he’s given, in those two speeches, a kind of sketch of what he sees as necessary for the next phase in the life of the church…
Clearly, most importantly for me was the visit of the Holy Father here in September 2010. I had the privilege of travelling with him in the pope mobile throughout his journeys across London and entering Westminster Hall when he received that quite astonishing and profoundly respectful acclamation from the leading people of Britain. I will never every forget those moments and I will never forget the grace and the clarity with which he spoke to the heart of British society, both acknowledging the achievements of Britain, but also challenging us to engage substantially in the dialogue between the world of religious faith and the world of secularism. That remains our challenge, but it was his astonishing witness and confidence in faith that the leaders of this country responded to so well… So his visit to Britain, his speech in Westminster Hall, his mass in Westminster Cathedral, the beatification of Cardinal Newman… they are the warmest memories that I will never ever relinquish of Pope Benedict XVI.”

Truth over security

The soul is torn apart in a painful condition as long as it prefers the eternal because of its Truth but does not discard the temporal because of familiarity.

St Augustine, Confessions

I am your salvation!

O Lord my God, tell me what you are to me. Say to my soul, I am your salvation. Say it so that I can hear it. My heart is listening, Lord; open the ears of my heart and say to my soul, I am your salvation. Let me run toward this voice and seize hold of you. Do not hide your face from me: let me die so that I may see it, for not to see it would be death to me indeed.

St Augustine, Confessions

One with You

I am divided between time gone by and time to come, and its course is a mystery to me. My thoughts, the intimate life of my soul, are torn this way and that in the havoc of change. And so it will be until I am purified and melted by the fire of Your love and fused into one with You.

St Augustine, Confessions

Only those whose hearts are crushed do you draw close

For great are you, Lord, and you look kindly on what is humble, but the lofty-minded you regard from afar. Only to those whose hearts are crushed do you draw close. You will not let yourself be found by the proud, nor even by those who in their inquisitive skill count stars or grains of sand, or measure the expanses of heaven, or trace the paths of the planets.

St Augustine, Confessions

I love you

Give me yourself, O my God, give yourself to me. Behold I love you, and if my love is too weak a thing, grant me to love you more strongly. I cannot measure my love to know how much it falls short of being sufficient, but let my soul hasten to your embrace and never be turned away until it is hidden in the secret shelter of your presence. This only do I know, that it is not good for me when you are not with me, when you are only outside me. I want you in my very self. All the plenty in the world which is not my God is utter want.

St Augustine, Confessions

What do I love when I love God?

 ‘But what do I love when I love you? Not the beauty of any body or the rhythm of time in its movement; not the radiance of light, so dear to our eyes; not the sweet melodies in the world of manifold sounds; not the perfume of flowers, ointments and spices; not manna and not honey; not the limbs so delightful to the body’s embrace: it is none of these things that I love when I love my God. And yet when I love my God I do indeed love a light and a sound and a perfume and a food and an embrace – a light and sound and perfume and food and embrace in my inward self. There my soul is flooded with a radiance which no space can contain; there a music sounds which time never bears away; there I smell a perfume which no wind disperses; there I taste a food that no surfeit embitters; there is an embrace which no satiety severs. It is this that I love when I love my God.’ 

St Augustine, Confessions X.6.8

Real Happiness

Llama de Amor Viva

  ¡Oh llama de amor viva
que tiernamente hieres
de mi alma en el más profundo centro!
Pues ya no eres esquiva
acaba ya si quieres,                           5
¡rompe la tela de este dulce encuentro!

   ¡Oh cauterio süave!
¡Oh regalada llaga!
¡Oh mano blanda! ¡Oh toque delicado
que a vida eterna sabe                         10
y toda deuda paga!
Matando, muerte en vida has trocado.

   ¡Oh lámparas de fuego
en cuyos resplandores
las profundas cavernas del sentido,            15
que estaba oscuro y ciego,
con estraños primores
calor y luz dan junto a su querido!

   ¡Cuán manso y amoroso
recuerdas en mi seno                           20
donde secretamente solo moras,
y en tu aspirar sabroso
de bien y gloria lleno,
cuán delicadamente me enamoras!

Desidero e temo

Come fa soffrire il bisogno di Dio, la santità di Dio! Io mi avvicino alla Luce, alla Verità, all'Amore e sento in maniera fortissima che questa stessa Luce mi attira e mi respinge. Vorrei lasciare completamente me stessa per incontrarmi con Dio, ma mi ritrovo prigioniera, impastata di tenebre, di complicazioni, di menzogna, di tiepidezza. Mio Dio, abbi pietà di me! Fa' piovere la tua luce su ogni ferita aperta in me dal peccato e risanami fino alle radici... trattienimi fortemente sotto la tua azione purificatrice, perché non sfugga... Sento che desidero e temo la tua santità; quella che brucia tutti gli idoli e ci lascia nudi e chiede e fa il deserto, perché solo allora la Sua purezza può splendere.

M. Evangelista della SS. Trinità

La fede di Maria

La fede di Maria ha la forza e la sicurezza della visione, mentre la nostra affonda gli occhi nel silenzio e nel buio. ma la nostra fede trova nella fede della Vergine la sicurezza di un'alba che sicuramente verrà... Essa ci sostiene nella notte e ci inizia alla visione...

Maria Evangelista della SS. Trinità

Dio è anche Solitudine

Dio è anche una profonda e misteriosa solitudine e l'anima deve acconsentire ad ogni spogliamento, ad ogni distacco, ad ogni povertà per entrare un poco in questa sua solitudine che è santità infinita e incontaminata....

Dio è amore ed esigenza totalitaria di amore e la nostra povertà umana fatica ad adattarsi, fatica a gettarsi come nel vuoto senza sentire il sostegno di qualche appoggio umano... Sì, Dio è anche inesprimibile solitudine e richiamo continuo a lasciare, a fare a meno di tutto, ad allontanarci da noi stessi e da tutto per andare incontro a Lui. Così non trovo nessuna creatura a cui confidare questo richiamo, per condividerlo, nessuno su cui possa poggiarmi per fare insieme il cammino. Così vuole il Signore. Dio solo! Ma la mia luce è sentirmi ancorata ad una Verità infinitamente fedele: il Suo Amore.

Maria Evangelista della SS. Trinità

Il Carmelo

La Bellezza del Carmelo sarà data all'anima 

che assomiglia il deserto.

Fear

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

The free bird leaps
on the back of the wind
and floats downstream
till the current ends
and dips his wings
in the orange sun rays
and dares to claim the sky.

But a bird that stalks
down his narrow cage
can seldom see through
his bars of rage
his wings are clipped and
his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings
with fearful trill
of the things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill for the caged bird
sings of freedom

The free bird thinks of another breeze
an the trade winds soft through the sighing trees
and the fat worms waiting on a dawn-bright lawn
and he names the sky his own.

But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams
his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream
his wings are clipped and his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing

The caged bird sings
with a fearful trill
of things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom.

Maya Angelou

A tutte le belle persone nella mia vita! Buon Anno!