Monday, May 2, 2016

Faith Resources Newsletter - Number 61 - April 2016



We must suffer...to keep souls from going to hell. People don't understand what it means to go hell
Mother Angelica


Message from the Manager
This month has been blessed with unusually warm weather which makes the Easter season even more joyful. Due to the current political and economic trouble in which our country finds itself and indeed the world, we must not become complacent. Our Catholic Faith is under attack from Satan through an abnormally large number of atheistic politicians and journalists who are trying to reshape our society and eliminate the family. Extra prayers, fasting and almsgiving will bring peace to the world so we should make an extra special effort to say extra Rosaries, receive the Sacraments more frequently and attend Eucharistic Adoration whenever possible. Being able to stand up for our Faith, and for the truth requires great courage and thus many graces are needed. We have stocked up on many books that will help us grow spiritually and some that will enlighten us about the background underlying many of today’s disturbing political agendas. Thank you for your prayers and for any financial contributions you are able to send us; both are invaluable in helping us further the cause of strengthening and spreading our Catholic Faith. May God bless you and all your families.

Gai Smith
Manager

Featured items

The Three Conversions in the Spiritual Life by Fr Garrigou-Lagrange OP
This book provides a magnificent doctrinal map of our spiritual life and how we can come closer to God and understand the central purpose of our life on earth.
Amoris Laetita The Joy of Love
Pope Francis’ Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation on Love in the family is now available for sale in book form.

Thirsting for Prayer by Jacques Philippe
Jacques Philippe’s insights on prayer are both profound and practical. These reflections guide us with simplicity on the path to intimacy with God, helping us develop an actual taste for personal prayer. He is a member of the Community of the Beatitudes and is well known for his retreats throughout the world. Also available by Jacques Philippe:
Real Mercy by Jacques Philippe
In this new title which has been recently released Father Jacques Philippe turns his focus to God’s boundless mercy that developed from talks given on the first three days of the Year of Mercy beginning Dec. 8, 2015.

The Father of the Family by Clayton C Barbeau
Clayton Barbeau encourages husbands to realise they are co-creators with God, imitators of Christ’s love for His people, teachers of their children, witnesses to society, providers of spiritual and material goods, leaders of their home and models of holiness. He shows that good fathers make happy homes.
Another highly recommended book on fatherhood is Father, the Family Protector by James Stenson. Joseph’s Way by Devin Schadt is back in stock, also 7 Secrets of St Joseph for Dads CD by Devin Schadt
A Book of Saints for Catholic Mums by Lisa M Hendy
This spiritually rich book for Catholic mothers introduces fifty-two holy companions as guides for the vocation of Catholic motherhood. Lisa Hendey eloquently links personal stories, scripture, prayer and soul-searching exercises to help Catholic women become fulfill their wondrous vocation.
Also Available is The Handbook for Catholic Mothers which offers mothers practical advice about their role in the home.

Amazing Grace for Mothers by Emily Cavins & Patti Armstrong
These 101 stories of Faith, Hope, Inspiration and Humour will lift your heart and refresh your mind. Also available is Amazing Grace for Fathers by Jeff Cavins, Matthew Pinto & Mark and Patti Armstrong
Our Lady of Good Success DVD by Matthew Arnold
This remarkable presentation of the amazing devotion to Our Lady of Good Success which was approved by the Church in 1611 was not widely known until our time. Our Lady’s predictions about the Church’s serious problems in the 20th and 21st Centuries have come true. Her further predictions if we remain faithful to the Church gives us hope in the future. Also available also to give us great hope in the future are  Saint John Paul the Great CD by Jason Evert.

Absolute Relativism by Chris Stefanic
Every member of every family should read this book. Relativism is based on self and our opinions: “what feels good”. It seduces humanity into a false sense of freedom. Real tolerance, real truth in the world is being abolished. Chris Stefanic shows the falsehoods of relativism and how we can counteract it. Also available: Relativism CD by Chris Stefanic and Relativism and Her Three Ugly Sisters CD by Fr Mitch Pacwa

Why Catholics Cannot be Masons by John Salza
Many Catholics have been misled into believing they can join this secret society which is anti-Catholic. John Salza leaves no doubt as to why Catholics cannot be members of a Masonic Lodge and how it will compromise their Faith and lose them Heaven. Also available St Maximilian Kolbe and the Problem of Freemasonry CD by Mark Miravalle
16 Marriages that Made History by Gerard Castillo
This new book from Scepter Publishers explains a variety of relationships and that many famous marriages were not fairy tale romances but had great trials and struggles. It shows how marriage can provide tremendous strength for facing life’s difficulties.
Another new book from the same company is The Meaning of Marriage edited by Robert George & Jean Bethke Elshtain. It exams the world at large and the cultural trends and policies that are working to undermine marriage. Paul Kengor’s book, Takedown, has the same themes.
Other books available on marriage that are invaluable resources for those already married and those about to become engaged are Marriage The Rock on Which the Family is Built by William May, Three to Get Married by Fulton J Sheen, Defending Marriage: Twelve Arguments for Sanity  by Anthony Esolen, and back in print Dear Newlyweds by Pope Pius XII, Marriage a Path to Sanctity by Javier Abad & Eugenio Fenoy and Covenanted Happiness by Cormac Burke



Cardinal Newman Catechist Consultants — 7th April, 2016 — HANDOUTS n. 132
“Clear, brief and easily assimilated by all”
Growing-up — the Great Adventure
Download as a PDF
 
GROWING-UP is “A work in progress.” As for the critics, “Fools and children should not be shown unfinished work.”
Parents are often discouraged or annoyed by criticisms of bystanders — especially by the armchair critics who have never done it themselves and don’t really know what they’re talking about.
Even the Lord Jesus failed to make His apostles perfect. But just look at the final successful outcome!
GROWING-UP progresses, at least as an ideal, through three stages:
Secure child
Eager adolescent
Mature adult.
These stages are not like changing gears on an old three-speed gear box. Rather, this is a case of fluid-drive. One stage merges into the next, as infancy does into early childhood.
THE SECURE CHILD
The secure child depends on a faithful marriage. Father and mother build on their own experiences when they were children and adolescents. They modify ideas and ideals in the light of new experience. Thus they lead, guide and educate their children through the varied facets of fallen nature, despite all its instinctual impulses, for better or for worse.
‘Education’ comes from two Latin verbs: eduedre, to bring up;
educere, to draw out, with a specialized meaning of piloting a ship from the harbour to the open sea.
Vatican II favours the idea that parents are the educators, while schools offer specialist teachers for intellectual formation:
Among the various organs of education, the school is of outstanding importance. In nurturing the intellectual faculties which is its special mission... Christian Education, GE n. 5(a)
This was before Catholic home-education. In it, parents are also give a schooling, which is not the same as classroom teaching done by school teachers.
Various aspects of the secure childhood involve:
“Civilizing the savage”;
“Discipling the child”.
FOUNDATIONS for civilizing
* Children saying YES to parents (= co-operation).
* Helping them say NO to self (=obedience).
* Dressing, washing and knowing where their shoes are.
* Not getting everything they ask for.
* Not having too many toys, books, clothes, gadgets.
* Stopping instantly when told.
* Obeying at once.
* Answering respectfully when called or spoken to.
* Coming at once when called.
* Consideration for others through punctuality.
* Becoming increasingly worth of trust.
* Rendering an honest account of their duties.
FOUNDATIONS FOR DISCIPLING
Civilizing is foundational for character, which itself is the foundation for a growing measure of freedom.
Discipling to the Lord requires spiritual growth. Freedom is essential for that growth, for responding personally to His whisperings in the conscience.
A failure in civilizing or discipling leaves the soul open to the persuasions of the Devil.
Inevitably children will make mistakes. They should learn from them. Henry Lawson said, “The young fool must learn what he won’t be taught.” Freedom is a challenge to do something difficult:
* Tom Sawyer painting the fence (cf. HO n. 52).
* Shackleton recruiting for the Antarctic (ibid.).
* Naarnan bathing in the Jordan (2 Kings 5:13).
ADULT CHILDHOOD
‘Adult childhood’ has nothing to do with childish adults. Rather it is a highly desirable rounding-off a secure childhood. In our time, if it happens at all, it mostly passes unnoticed and without comment.
Girls of about 8 to 13 well brought-up in a family, especially a large family, or a small family with relatives and friends, can often be, and often are, entrusted with adult duties. Without any supportive adult present, they adopt the motherly role:
1.    minding little children, baths, nappies and all;
2.    occupying them (without using plug-in-drugs);
3.    cooking meals, cleaning a room or a whole house;
4.    and all without discord, raised voices or fights.
Boys of about 10-14, even when well brought-up, seem less capable of taking on a fatherly role and adult responsibilities. Without adult intervention, they tend to
1.    fail in ‘constant vigilance, eternal suspicion’;
2.    neglect essential details in prescribed tasks;
3.    or cover their uncertainty with blustering egotism.
Some boys do achieve adult childhood: Children of the Oregon Trail 1844 by A. Rutgers van der Loeff is a history of a recently orphaned boy of 13 (growth-spurt then was at 14). He led his six siblings on foot across half of North America. Try to see one of the film versions of his real-life saga.
Moreover, in traditional fiction, boys do. reach adult childhood, as once they really did in bush expeditions — look after each other, find their way, camp, cook, observe hygiene, and cope with mishaps better than in present suburban hot house upbringings. See Bush. Boys on the Move Appendix 3 or New Boys Go Bush Again Appendix 6. (A hint for budding authors: you need a plausible reason for getting rid of the adults.)
THE EAGER ADOLESCENT
An adolescent is moving upward through a stage, progressing towards adulthood: the word ‘adult’ is from adultus, past participle of adolescere, an incipient, meaning “to grow up” (nothing to do with adultery, adulerdre, to make impure, spurious).
That desirable eagerness in a maturing adolescent is in an eagerness to please, an eagerness to help, and without getting the grumps or resentment at being asked or ordered to help.
By contrast, a teenager is an adolescent who is stuck in a state, often plodding aimlessly, rather than moving upward through a stage.. The ‘-teen’ numbers for ages 13 to 19 are simply 10 (teen) plus 3 to 9, which more than embrace the years of adolescence.
Is it possible to skip a prolonged state of teenage grumps, gloom and rebellion, and move into the stage of an eager adolescent?
There were no teenagers in Australia before the 1950s, according to a priest long involved in social work and psychology. He quoted an anthropologist from USA who, in the late 1940s, came to study our aborigines, until he found our adolescence far more interesting. There was nothing like it in USA.
He found our ‘rite of passage’, the ritual for entering adulthood, was the easiest in the world.
Children simply left school, went to work and earned money in adult company, in NSW at age 15 (only 14 until 1943). They were adolescents, of course, with their internal confusions, doubts about themselves and embarrassments, though usually concealed, with the uncertainly about their capacity to meet expectations in a world of husbands and fathers, wives and mothers, or priests and Religious.
They were ‘adulted’ (nothing to do with adultery) as junior adults. There were expectations on their conduct as an inducement to live up to their status.
By contrast, some teenagers today suffer from teenagitis (rhyming with tonsillitis and appendicitis). It is an aberration characterized by too much money, the wrong sort of freedom, no responsibilities, few duties, scanty manners. This phenomenon is the scourge of parents and often of the police.
The eager adolescent sublimates (a Freudian term) his rebellious natural instincts from sinful Adam. This lifts him out of himself towards co-operating with parents and family, or a boss at work, workmates, and the wider community. It is a matter of character, virtues and spirituality.
He tends not to learn this in school, rather the contrary. School is a less suitable environment.
TOO LONG AT SCHOOL
Lengthy years of schooling hinder maturity by alienating adolescents from parents and siblings and making them peer dependent.
Today’s society imposes snares and traps at every turn. It lacks many of the former situations that might have matured the adolescent.
DIFFICULTIES for FATHERS with SONS
Compared to girls, boys are ill-served. Girls at home have mother role-models on the spot, but it is rarer for boys at home to have father role-models for so much of the daily activites.
Thus unless they live on a farm, few boys can achieve adult childhood compared to girls.
A Catholic world-view upbringing includes catechism and Biblical literacy, vocation discernment and obedience to God and His representatives. ....
With these rudiments, an adolescent boy will learn how to conduct himself and radiate a good example. Also, he will have been told:-
·         what to look for in a fiancee;
·         and how to court her honorably;
·         how and why to develop business instincts;
·         and to avoid dead-end employment;
·         how to budget, plan and save earnings;
·         how to uphold the benefits of Christendom;
·         how to promote the health of the community;
·         how to disciple others;
·         how to provide for wife and children in ♥ and $;
·         how to observe the legitimate demands of the state;
·         how to handle the illegitimate demands of the state;
·         how to understand and beat corruption in churchmen;
·         how to serve God without playing religious games;
·         how to leave a substantial estate to his descendants;
·         how to honour his parents and his Catholic heritage.
 
THE MATURE ADULT
This third part is too vast for the space available. Hence this conclusion is simply a further spur to action.
WE KNOW that the world is full of people who are unhappy and confused. Yet we so often miss the priceless chance of teaching our own children something sure and reliable. The commonest answer is that we don’t know ourselves what is sure and reliable. But that is not true. By the time we have reached the age of thirty-five or forty, and our children are becoming old enough to be taught the difficult questions, we have found answers which satisfy us as a working basis. Good. Let us teach them to our children.
They will criticize them, attack them, and discard them, for a time at least. Good. We have done our duty. We have given them a basis to work on for themselves. They can come back to it, or find something better. They can accuse us of teaching them wrongly (although usually not of deliberately cheating them) and of trying to thrust our opinions down their throats (however gently we teach them, they will say that); but they cannot say we neglected them, wasting forty years of our own experience and fifteen year's of their young lives.
Juvenile courts and mental homes are full of youngsters who were taught nothing useful by their fathers and mothers. It is not that they were badly brought up. They were not really brought up at all. They were never told how to behave.
School meant practically nothing to them. The older children whom they knew were equally ignorant. The films taught them that life meant excitement and daring.
Their fathers never told the boys how to control their powers and arrange their lives. Their mothers told the girls nothing about the real pleasures of life. Nothing.
When we look at the pouched and bestial face of such a boy or girl, ruined at seventeen, and instinctively feel that he or she looks worse than a savage, we are right. A Sudanese tribesman, a Jivaro Indian, a Borneo highlander trains his children far more purposefully and far more successfully than many fathers in the mightiest cities of the world.
The Art. of Teaching, Gilbert Highet, in England, in 1951.
On the advantages of homeschooling for maturation see HO nn. 102, 115, and especially 112.
Father James Tierney

© The Rev. B.J.H. Tierney. Handouts are free and may be copied for any non-profit teaching purpose. However, donations to defray costs are welcome and should be made to the publisher and distributor, the Cardinal Newman Faith Resources Inc. PO Box 359, St Marys NSW 1790; phone 02 9673 2235; fax 02 9623 3181 email <fr@eardinalnewman.com.au>



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