Catholic Writing, Articles, Blogs, Gifts, Personals & Family

Last week’s post featured a page from our partner
web site that gives a list of selected major writings
of John Paul II.  Two lectionary readings were also
given in last week’s post: one on the feast of the
Transfiguration and the other for the 19th Sunday of
the Year, Year C.  There were also two other articles
which speak on how to build a Catholic presence on
the Net as a Catholic family with an objective to
be a supportive and stabilizing influence to other
Catholic families.  To review the information from
last week’s post, you can click here

This week’s post is special because it includes a
page in honor of the feast of Mary’s Assumption into
heaven. That feast is celebrated annually every August
15th. Aside from that page, there are also links to
articles on Catholic saints, history, and prayer.
Six saints are featured in this post: the six great
patrons of Europe.  There is also a historical sketch
of the four mendicant orders that helped solve a
crisis in the Church starting the 11th century. Then
there is a special article on the origins of Carmelite
spirituality - teaching us the important symbols of
the spirituality: the “hermit-pilgrim-mendicant”, the
mountain, and the spring.  Lastly, there are two
posts for web loggers and web site owners who wish
to improve and progress their Catholic web site or
blog.

This post features:

• The Value of Small Things -
  Little Things Can Make a Big Difference
• Learning From One’s
  Mistakes in Web Site Development
• Books, Films, and Music
  in Honor of Mary’s Assumption
• Mount Carmel in Palestine:
  An Origin of Carmelite Spirituality
• Six Great Patrons of the
  Continent of Europe
• Four Great Mendicant Orders
  in the Church of the Middle Ages
• Lectionary Reading for the
  20th Sunday of the Year in Ordinary Time, Year C

The Value of Small Things

In life, we often take some things for granted - especially
small things. And this is because we rate the value of small
things according to its size. However, the great doctor of
the Church, St. Therese of Lisieux made us see small things
done with great love in a new light.  One small thing may
spell the big difference if added to others. It could change
your way of looking at life; it could transform what is
negative to positive; and it could be that one little
solution that will solve a big problem.  This web log post
that speaks of the value of small things writes about it
from the point of view of building a Catholic articles
web site.  Even though a Catholic articles web site may
just be a “penny” in the eyes of many; the world might be
surprised that just one of those “penny” web sites just might
be the “penny” that will make the world a world of peace -
the very mission by which John Paul II wanted to fulfill
during his entire pontificate.

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Learning From Web Site Errors

Building a Catholic Web Site or Web Log is a trial-and-error
project with gains that are more than you expect upon learning the right techniques to use. SEO-wise and through other techniques one will discover on one’s own, we are assured that we are on the right track to success if we open ourselves to learning the right and ethical ways in building a web site.  What is important is not to make the web site perfect, but that it may be a good web site that serves a need in the information market.  We will learn that certain decisions are vital and important in the building of the web site - decisions that are based on considerations and much thinking done many, many times before its application.  If ever we encounter a problem or an error in what we do, what is
important is to see the opportunity to learn from that error or
mistake.  Sometimes what we learn broadens our understanding and helps us profit from the experience.

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Books, Films and Music: the Assumption

August 15 is a special day in honor of Mary: the feast of her
Assumption into heaven.  This page features books, films and music in honor of the feast of her Assumption.  Two saints who are devoted to the Blessed Virgin Mary are also featured here: St. Maximillian Kolbe (the martyr of charity during World War II), and St. Bernadette Soubirous (the visionary who saw Mary appear at a grotto in Lourdes, France).  There is also a book featured on the writings of the Fathers of the Church (patristic writing) on the person of the Blessed Virgin Mary and on devotion and the cult surrounding her.  All these items are
on discount courtesy of our affiliate program with Ignatius Press.com

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Mount Carmel in Palestine

The origins of the Carmelite Order is interesting.  Their roots go back to a group of Latin hermits who lived in Mt. Carmel in Palestine near the Spring of Elijah.  These group of hermits were then organized by the Patriarch of Jerusalem, St. Albert, through a rule that is unique and quite distinct from the classic monastic rules like that from St. Benedict, St. Basil and St. Augustine.  Mt. Carmel is a very important symbol in Carmelite spirituality.  It signifies the spiritual journey of the “hermit-pilgrim-mendicant” towards the top of the mountain so
as to be closer to God and listen to Him in prayer and solitude.  This image is aptly exemplified by the title given by popular Carmelite St. John of the Cross to one of his writings: “The Ascent of Mount Carmel”.

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Six Great Patrons of Europe

In 1999, Pope John Paul II declared as patrons saints of Europe, six great men and women who influenced the spiritual and political life of many European peoples in their time.  These six men and women are: St. Benedict of Nursia, St. Catherine of Siena, St. Bridget of Sweden, Sts. Cyril and Methodius, and St. Edith Stein.  These spiritual lighthouses acted as instruments of Christ to light the nations of Europe with the
spirit of the gospel concretely expressed in Christian prayer and work, Church unity and peace, prophetic witness and love of the poor, Christian mission and monastic spirituality, and the Christian witness of martyrdom.  This article outlines these six saints’ involvement in the building of the Church in their particular eras.

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Four Great Mendicant Orders

Starting the 11th century and then developing onto the 12th and 13th centuries, four great mendicant orders responded to a crisis in the Church: the big divide between a wealthy clergy and lay people versus the poor people and a marginalized populace. The response of these mendicant orders was to follow the spirit of Christ’s poverty in the gospel and to address their time without necessarily condemning those
who are wealthy or powerful.  The prophetic witness of their poverty increased all the more when members of these mendicant orders took to preaching prophetically the ideal of Christ’s detachment to material possessions and then influencing also the intellectual and wealthy elite with this ideal through their theological training in the school of “high scholasticism”.  Although there were certainly many religious
communities who followed the ideal of evangelical poverty, four mendicant orders who led during this era were: the Franciscans, the Dominicans, the Hermits of St. Augustine, and the Carmelites.

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Lectionary: 20th Sunday Year C

The lectionary readings for the 20th Sunday of the Year, Year C, are taken from: the book of the prophet Jeremiah, the letter to the Hebrews, and the gospel of Luke.  The passage from the book of Jeremiah lets us see the prophet as a kind of prefigurement of the person of Christ, the Suffering Servant.  The letter to the Hebrews then speaks to us with an encouraging tone - telling us that we are surrounded by a cloud of witnesses who have been faithful in sharing in the cross and glory of Christ.  Finally, in the gospel, we see how Jesus also came to call people to commit themselves to Him, to the extent that it may divide a household and its members [father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, etc.]

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