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Dark Night

3/19/2014

3 Comments

 
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From a letter to a lapsed Catholic agnostic:
Picture
Little boy
Hand gripped by old granny
Making the Stations of the Cross
Before he knew the word tawdry
He knew the feel as he tried
Not to look at the ugly plaster figures
On the church wall.
Now in his forties
He only wishes
He could believe
That the fifteenth station,
The resurrection, was real!

Picture
Picture
To which the agonized sceptic might reply: If your f_____ing God was real he wouldn’t let all this pain go on and on, century after century.

A sage once said: On a scale, the only thing that could outweigh the sufferings in the world would be the crucifixion, resurrection and eternal life.

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The report isn't back yet on what stage my daughter’s lymphoma is, but I talked to her on the phone and she made this amazing statement:

Jesus is with me sharing my pain.


I asked: Do you feel His presence or also see Him?

She replied: Both. I see his face in the window and I see him next to me and also feel him. And I feel all this love coming toward me from everyone around and of all those praying for me.

I said: That, in itself, is a miracle.

She replied: Everything is a miracle.



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Alice Von Hildebrand is my oldest friend in the world.  She played a large role in my conversion when I was 21 years old.  Her husband, Dietrich Von Hildebrand, was my intellectual mentor, all of whose philosophy courses I took at Fordham University.

Most of you are familiar with her from her wonderful appearances on EWTN. She is also known for wonderful books, many about the Catholic philosophy of woman. Now that she is over 90, I was not expecting any more books to come forth. But she just gave me her latest. It is a compilation of articles written recently.  The major attraction of The Dark Night of the Body is her response to certain errors she has found in the writings and talks of Christopher West.  Not denying West’s good motives for his work, she pinpoints, for particular criticism,  a lack of understanding of the reverence due to the sexual sphere, created to be experienced in a loving marriage. Especially effective is the way she critiques West’s analysis of the so-called puritanism and dualism of Catholics in the past.  She writes that in an age where pornography has captivated 60% of males, puritanism is surely not our main problem.
Written with wit and wisdom, I highly recommend this book to readers of our web with the caveat that I do not agree with one of the articles where she criticizes certain ideas of some Thomists without doing justice to all the greatness in that school of philosophy.
The Dark Night of the Body: Why Reverence comes first in Intimate Relations by Alice Von Hildebrand (Fort Collins, CO 80522, Roman Catholic Books)   BOOKSforCATHOLICS.com.  $14.50

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3 Comments
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9/24/2015 11:30:10 pm

Thank you for the book recommendation! I am reading it now and it is worth it!

Reply
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7/28/2017 02:11:16 am

We don't need to see God for us to believe in Him. As a parent, it is our job to teach our children about faith. We have to tell them that we do not need to see God to start believing. Personally, I was raised by my parents believing that God has been with me since I was born. For that, I feel so blessed and privileged to have Him by my side all the time!

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2/18/2020 08:06:32 pm

I am happy that you are still sharing this kind of story to us. You may not know it, but there are things that I learn from you without me knowing it. Perhaps, it was your spiritual influence that gives me hope somehow. Every time I feel weak inside, I just go to your website and read some words you have to say. I love the fact that you are trying to help us with our faith. I hope that you will never get tired of doing that because it is indeed helpful to me!

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    Author

    Ronda Chervin received a Ph.D. in Philosophy from Fordham University and an MA in Religious Studies from Notre Dame Apostolic Institute. She is a dedicated widow, mother, and grandmother.
    Ronda converted to the Catholic Faith from a Jewish, though atheistic, background and has been a Professor of Philosophy and Theology at Loyola Marymount University, the Seminary of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, and Franciscan University of Steubenville. She is an international speaker and author of some fifty books about Catholic thought, practice and spirituality. One of her latest is LAST CALL, published by Goodbooks Media.
    Dr. Ronda is currently retired and living in Corpus Christi, Texas after her years of teaching philosophy at Holy Apostles College and Seminary in Cromwell, Connecticut.
    You can contact her via e-mail by clicking here or by emailing [email protected] directly.

    Visit her websites:
    here and here.

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