VisitationSr (Guest): Questions to Ponder: Why do you think we are so prone to falling into the behavior as described above? Do you ever find yourself guilty of seeking a benefit for yourself that are quick to deny another person? Think about the opening sentence of this reflection: “Reason is the special characteristic of man, and yet it is a rare thing to find really reasonable men…” Do you find this ironic? Why is it that as the only creatures embued with the ability to reason, we often do not make good use of our reasoning power?
May 21, 7:26 PM
Guest8945 (Guest): Hello All! It’s Judy.
Guest8945 (Guest): (Judy) For question 1: I can think of two reasons for falling into the behavior mentioned: weakness and greed.
May 21, 7:37 PM
VisitationSiste: So forall of the modern world’s disdain, faith lives
May 21, 7:37 PM
Guest8077 (Guest): Graduation was wonderful thank you all for your prayers ! Candlelight ceremony Friday night ! Awards ceremony Sat morning followed by reception . Beautiful Mass at 430 for entire Graduating Class at St Bonaventure . Graduation was beautiful Sunday Morning and we had beautiful Graduation dinner and Mothers Day Celebration in the afternoon . Janet’s Mom and Dad were able to make the whole weekend with us . Beautiful ! Soo happy for Lian ! Praise God !!!
May 21, 7:37 PM
Dawn (Guest): Amen
May 21, 7:37 PM
VisitationSiste: Weakness- yes and one form of that weakness is the greed you mention
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Guest8945 (Guest): (Judy) Congratulations to the happy graduate. May she find much success and happiness as she continued on her journey of life.
May 21, 7:39 PM
VisitationSiste: It was interesting about benefits that one mite deny to another but accept oneself- a real possibility for those in authority
May 21, 7:40 PM
VisitationSiste: sometimes leaders do what they tell others not to do!
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VisitationSiste: so maybe power is another reason for the behavior
May 21, 7:41 PM
Guest8077 (Guest): Thank You Judy I have heard Paris is wonderful . While we were in Olean I visited newly named Basilica St Marys in Olean . Lian had helped out there and I was overwelmed by the beauty of this church . Incredible !
May 21, 7:41 PM
Guest8945 (Guest): (Judy) In response to question 2, I cannot recall an occasion when I have sought benefits and denied them to others.
:41 PM
Lisa C: Reason should seek truth and that requires logic and premises which are true. In this society so many people think that truth is a personal thing and not an absolute. If they cannot work with truth reason is useless. 42 PM
Dawn (Guest): #3 the beam in our own eye. scapegoating using others, instead of learning to see our own dysfunction.
May 21, 7:42 PM
VisitationSiste: Good insight Lisa
May 21, 7:42 PM
VisitationSiste: and Dawn!
May 21, 7:42 PM
Lisa C: If someone decides what truth is rather than what God has given us as truth they will always be misled.
VisitationSiste: Relativism is the heresy of our era
May 21, 7:43 PM
VisitationSiste: and in some ways, individualism
May 21, 7:43 PM
Lisa C: Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth; and God has placed in the human heart a desire to know the truth—in a word, to know himself—so that, by knowing and loving God, men and women may also come to the fullness of truth about themselves. St. J-P II
May 21, 7:43 PM
Guest8945 (Guest): (Judy) I wonder if reason and common sense go together. There are many people today who are very smart but they seem to have no common sense. They don’t seem to reason things out,
1, 7:44 PM
VisitationSiste: Like Pilate said to Jesus, What is truth? PM
Lisa C: Judy, logic probably has to be taught, but knowing truth can come from closeness to God. Children know what is true without logic.
May 21, 7:44 PM
Dawn (Guest): relativism is all around!
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VisitationSiste: selfishness too which I think is related7:45 PM
Lisa C: We need Popes like J-P II and Benedict
May 21, 7:46 PM
VisitationSiste: I loved St John Paul 11 but actually understood Pope Benedict’s writngs better
May 21, 7:47 PM
Dawn (Guest): and Pope Francis who preaches the Gospel of Jesus Christ .
May 21, 7:47 PM
Guest8945 (Guest): (Judy) Do children know truth instinctively or do they need to be told what is true by others
Lisa C: Interesting, Mother, they say Pope Benedict wrote a lot of J-PIIs work.
May 21, 7:47 PM
VisitationSiste: Really? The style was different
May 21, 7:48 PM
Dawn (Guest): all the Popes, these three, have much to teach us in different ways their gifts.
May 21, 7:48 PM
Lisa C: Maybe he researched for him
May 21, 7:48 PM
VisitationSiste: I think children know love instinctively
May 21, 7:48 PM
Guest8945 (Guest): (Judy) I had such a hard time understanding Benedict’s writings that I gave up.
May 21, 7:48 PM
May 21, 7:48 PM
Guest8077 (Guest): Just was reading a portion of book where writer was challenged by friend to read Bible . He said that after 4 years of college he did not even know what the Bible was . She encouraged him to start with book of John . He said that like many agnostiics and atheists , he had rejecteda book he had never read . He read over next few months and staed that “i began to see the order and beauty and credibility of God’s intricate Truth ” .
May 21, 7:48 PM
Lisa C: Pope St. J-P II on faith and reason
7:49 PM
Dawn (Guest): Gospel of John beautiful, deeply spiritual
May 21, 7:50 PM
VisitationSiste: Thank you- probably read it in the past- would be good to compare with St Francis
May 21, 7:50 PM
Guest8945 (Guest): (Judy) I think that I have Fides et Ratio. I must pull it out and try
51 PM
VisitationSiste: Common sense- what is that really? sense for the group rather than just oneselfy 21, 7:51 PM
Guest8945 (Guest): (Judy) John’s Gospel is my favorite. John has the heart of a poet and I resonate. I have written a good deal of poetry in my lifetime. 1 PM
VisitationSiste: you understand beauty
May 21, 7:52 PM
Guest8077 (Guest): Wonderful Judy ! Please share your poetry with us sometime !
May 21, 7:52 PM
Guest8945 (Guest): (Judy) Common sense must be for the group and individual.
May 21, 7:52 PM
Dawn (Guest): I’ve not read Fides, I did read Jesus of Nazareth by Benedict. has anyone read it? think their are three in series, Ive only read the one
May 21, 7:54 PM
Lisa C: Dawn, I have it, but have not read it yet
May 21, 7:54 PM
Guest8945 (Guest): (Judy) I tried to read it but gave up.
May 21, 7:54 PM
Guest8077 (Guest): I think we gain common sense within a group or community . Others see what we don’t see on our own . God wants us to live within community !
Dawn (Guest): a community would be wonderful, a close community
May 21, 7:55 PM
VisitationSiste: I read one of the volumes just recently and gained new insight
55 PM
Guest8945 (Guest): (Judy) It is common sense to use some type of covering when it is raining. Is that learned from a community or is it discovered on one’s own?
VisitationSiste: I think it could happen either way
May 21, 7:57 PM
Guest8077 (Guest): Sometimes we need somebody to tell us to put the coat on or to see them put it on it encourages us to put one on . This happens all the time . We can be to stuborn to do what makes perfect sense !
May 21, 7:59 PM
Guest8945 (Guest): (Judy) But I think that most people would instinctively seek cover in a downpour.
0 PM
VisitationSiste: So reason is operative there but if you had no umbrella faith that God would provide one would combine the reason and the faith? PM
Dawn (Guest): a community could be two or three. a dear friend, 98 yrs old. Italian, always Catholic. yes…she does tell me when to put a coat on!among other things
May 21, 8:00 PM
Lisa C: …or faith that God is taking care of the plants
:02 PM
Guest8077 (Guest): Sister Susan couple weeks ago I had said that you are a Lantern for the Lord . You and all the Sisters are a gentle light that directs all of us to your Spouse Jesus’s House through the darkness of this life to His beautiful eternal House ! Thank You !
May 21, 8:03 PM
Guest8945 (Guest): (Judy) I don’t know about God providing an umbrella specifically. But He surely provides different types of shelter to seek in a downpour–a doorway, a bus shelter,share an umbrella with someone else, a plastic trash bag, etc.
May 21, 8:03 PM
VisitationSiste: You are welcome as He has blessed me too with each of you and others thru whom I came to know my vocation
May 21, 8:03 PM
Dawn (Guest): yes, a light on a hill. thank you sisters PM
VisitationSiste: so that last question Why is it that as the only creatures embued with the ability to reason, we often do not make good use of our reasoning power?
May 21, 8:04 PM
Guest8945 (Guest): (Judy) Sisters always challenge me to live my own vocation more devotedly.
May 21, 8:05 PM
Dawn (Guest): maybe ego gets in the way? just considering…
May 21, 8:05 PM
Lisa C: Mother, I think, because people are not dealing with truth and are only dealing with what they want to say is true
May 21, 8:06 PM
Lisa C: relativism
May 21, 8:06 PM
Dawn (Guest): that Lisa
May 21, 8:06 PM
Guest8945 (Guest): (Judy) We do not make good use of our reasoning power because we may be acting from our emotions rather than on reason. And the emotions can be very powerful and roadblocks to our reasoning capabilities.
May 21, 8:07 PM
Dawn (Guest): insightful , Judy. our emotions do get in there
21, 8:08 PM
Lisa C: It is not by accident that JP II ties faith to reason. Faith attaches us to God who gives us the truth to reason with. 08 PM
VisitationSiste: If we are humble enought o want to listen to God 8 PM
Guest8077 (Guest): I think our reasoning really comes out within community . I visited the Holy Hour for our Albion Correctional Kairos Group that serves Ladies Prison . At that Holy hour the sharing that took place helped me to understand more fully several situations in my life and the lives of those around me . Had I not taken time to attend i would have missed out on help God was providing me and others . 0 PM
Lisa C: Maybe as faith grows humility will
May 21, 8:11 PM
Lisa C: Or maybe with grace
May 21, 8:11 PM
Guest8077 (Guest): An isolated Christian is a paralysed Christian ! We lose our ability to reason when we isolate ! And we lose opportunity to serve someone else !
May 21, 8:12 PM
Guest8945 (Guest): (Judy) I think that love plays a role in the development of humility. We are attracted to people who are humble and grow to love them. As we grow in love for them, we seek to imitate them and seek humility ourselves.
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Guest8077 (Guest): Amen Judy !
May 21, 8:14 PM
Lisa C: Blessed Mother plays a huge role in allowing Grace to take hold in us
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VisitationSiste: Very much so!
May 21, 8:15 PM
Dawn (Guest): she is one to imitate!
May 21, 8:15 PM
Lisa C: We can try and try on our own, but with her it becomes much easier
May 21, 8:15 PM
Guest8945 (Guest): (Judy) Surely, after Jesus Himself, Mary is most worthy of our love for her deep humility, and we should seek to imitate her in this virtue.
May 21, 8:16 PM
Lisa C: Blessed Mother is devoted to our salvation and if we put ourselves in her care we will succeed
16 PM
Guest8077 (Guest): Also a perceived enemy is a potential friend ! Sometimes those people who aggravate us the most could become our greatest friend ! That why Jesus asks us to Love our enemies .If you have ever received agift from a perceived enemy . Totaly disarming . Your view changes instantly !
May 21, 8:17 PM
Lisa C: She guides us to Jesus
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Dawn (Guest): thank you for these words tonight, speaking of Mary
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Guest8077 (Guest): Nothing compares to a Mother’s Love ! Mary is always guiding us to her beloved Son Jesus PM
VisitationSiste: So many love her. We had a almost full chapel on the centennial of Our Lady’s appearance at Fatima for the Mass and devotions
May 21, 8:20 PM
Guest8945 (Guest): (Judy) And the final question–how to discover the “beam” in our own eye is to examine our conscience in light of the Commandments, the
Guest8945 (Guest): (Judy) And the final question–how to discover the “beam” in our own eye is to examine our conscience in light of the Commandments, the Beatitudes and the life of Jesu.
May 21, 8:20 PM the Beatitudes and the life of Jesu.
Lisa C: Mother, it was wonderful.
May 21, 8:21 PM
Lisa C: I wonder why so few students came
May 21, 8:22 PM
VisitationSiste: I think they forgot to put my letter in the Tuesday folder
:22 PM
Lisa C: I would make those things mandatory 3 PM
VisitationSiste: I have lots of beams in my eyes!
May 21, 8:24 PM
Dawn (Guest): Me too sister!
May 21, 8:24 PM
Lisa C: Maybe you could have a special year for the students and talk about Fatima, Lourdes, etc.
May 21, 8:24 PM
Lisa C: Show the movies
May 21, 8:25 PM
Guest8077 (Guest): Me too Sister ! God seems to be helping me remove one at a time carefully ! With the help of soo many others !
May 21, 8:26 PM
Lisa C: The Introduction to the Devout Life may be the guide to beam removal
May 21, 8:26 PM
Dawn (Guest):
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VisitationSiste: Yes Lisa espas the children of Fatima are now saints
May 21, 8:27 PM
Lisa C: The story of the children is so wonderful, because they are children. The message that God can work through the tiny
May 21, 8:28 PM
Lisa C: We have to be like children to go to heaven
May 21, 8:28 PM
Lisa C: This little children were entrusted with a huge mission
May 21, 8:29 PM
Lisa C: They accepted it and did not fail, because Blessed Mother directed them
May 21, 8:29 PM
Guest8077 (Guest): A powerful movie that young people really like is very gripping is called Encounter . People get stuck at diner during storm . Jesus is the waiter and He helps each person to see where they are in life and what He is offering them ! Really powerful !
May 21, 8:30 PM
Guest8945 (Guest): (Judy) As we are preparing for the great Feast of the Ascension, let us ask the Lord to allow us to soar to Heaven with Him when our time comes and to allow us to be totally lost in Him for the remainder of our lives. And may we prepare well for the Great Feast of Pentecost, seeking a new outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon and within us. God bless all of you!