St. John Bosco's Dreams

I picked up a book of the dreams of St. John Bosco recently, looking for something light I could read before bed.  I haven't been disappointed, it's a easily readable but very substantial book.  I bought the Tan edition of Forty Dreams of St. John Bosco after reading his dream of the two pillars.  It was at once a comforting dream as a sobering one.   I won't spoil it, it's worth reading.

I was mostly ignorant of St. John before reading this book; I only knew of him as the patron of youth. After reading this, I see him as a spiritual master, an expert in spiritual warfare, and a mystic.  The book of St. John's dreams is worth reading.  Each of the forty dreams has its own chapter; they're pulled from his memoirs and the memoirs of his confrers.  The anecdotal style make them an easy read--but don't mistake 'easy' for 'fluffy.'

St. John frequently had dreams that identified the boys in his Oratory.  One of those, "A Dream About St. Dominic Savio," featured St. John being reunited with one of his pupils, St. Dominic.  At the end of their conversation in the dream, St. John asks about how he can help the boys at the Oratory.  St. Dominic hands him three lists: unconquered, casualties, and overcome by evil.  The first list was small, noting the names of the boys who had not been conquered by evil.  The second group, casualties, was comprised of boys who had previous run-ins with evil, but had been healed through Confession and the Eucharist.  The final group is a fairly obvious one, with a twist.  When St. Dominic handed St. John the list, he forbade him to open it in his presence.  It gave off an unbearable smell that, in his dream, forced St. John to vomit uncontrollably.

On one hand, we're curious creatures and want to know the future, our fate, and so on.  On the other hand, there are things that--even if only subconsciously--we would rather not know.  Reading this particular dream, two questions raised in my mind.

First, which list would I be on?  It isn't a question of which list I think I should be on.  The lists came from the Lord, Who sees and knows our hearts; He Who created us; He Who will be our judge.  What list would the Lord put me on right now?  There were many names on the final, stinky list that surprised St. John.  Who's to say that I'm any different?

Second, can you imagine the effect on the boys of the Oratory?  St. John related his dreams to the boys, and used them as teaching tools to effect further conversion of heart.  When he read the lists in his dream, he knew many of the boys on them.  Even further, he talked to the boys on the stinky list individually.  "Hey bro, can we talk?  That dream I told all you guys about... you're on the wrong list and on the path to hell."  Not that I'm disparaging St. John; better that the boys would know, and hopefully they turned their hears back to God.

Our Lady also figured prominently in some of St. John's dreams.  In "A Fiendish Elephant," the large beast (=Satan) starts attacking boys on the playground.  Our Lady's mantle became enormous and she threw it around the boys to protect them; all their wounds are healed when they're taken in by her.  She cries out, "Venite ad me omnes!" Come all to me!

It made me smile.  Here is Our Heavenly Mother, loving us, fighting for us, protecting us.  From that dream, St. John gave advice to his boys that we can all take to heart: "Turn to her; call on her in any danger.  I can assure you that your prayers will be heard."

St. John Bosco, pray for us!

E-Book Club - "The Lord" ch. 4

One of the good lines in this chapter helps me understand a passage that I've never fully understood.  When Jesus descends into the Jordan to get baptized by John, and John initially refuses--Jesus responds, "Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfil all righteousness" (Matt 4:15).  It obviously made sense to John at the time, since he proceeded to baptize the Lord of Lords.  

Guardini had a brief line to describe this scene: "But Jesus insists on placing Himself completely within human law." (pg. 20-21)

Also, it's good to be reminded how intricately woven Jesus & John's lives were.  Since John was killed in the early part of Jesus' public ministry, we don't hear about him as much as the other disciples.  Guardini's narrative puts a few things together: John's disciples questioning about fasting, Jesus' disciples' jealousy at John's baptizing, and Jesus' disciples request for prayer lessons.  I didn't think about it before, but those two circles probably interacted more than we're told in the gospels.  That makes sense, as 1st century Palestine was only so big... 

On pg. 22, the difficulties of the prophetic life are described, and this, too, didn't occur to me before.  I'll have to read 1 Kings 17-19 like Guardini recommended.  

E-Book Club: Romano Guardini's "The Lord"... Chapter 3

Ch. 3: The Incarnation

The major line that stood out to me was: "But love does such things!"  The Incarnation is a deep mystery, not only because all divinely-rooted mysteries have infinite depth.  The heart of this mystery is the very heart of God.  Out of all the ways that the Father could've offered salvation to humanity... why this?  Love!

"See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God" (1 John 3:1)
"God so loved the world that He gave His only Son..." (John 3:16)
"Who shall separate us from the love of God?" (Rom 8:35) (answer: NOBODY!)
"And above all these, put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony." (Col 3:12-15)

I liked Guardini's line, "When it is the depth and power of God that stirs, is there anything of which love is capable?" (pg. 15)  I think of Paul's conversion.  A Pharisee who was so convinced of the truth of his own faith and of how false Christianity was!   Another example is how the Church began with some scared disciples in Jerusalem.  Add the Holy Spirit, stir, and a missionary explosion.  Countless saved souls, martyrs, saints!

Love just does those things.

Our Lady of the Rosary, 10/7/14

Today is the great feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, and I had the opportunity to go to Mass on my lunch hour.  The readings felt out of place at first, but the Holy Spirit had some remarkable subtlety when those passages were chosen.

The first reading, from Galatians 1, had me confused.  Paul speaks of his "former way of life" as a Pharisee who persecuted the earliest Christians.  That's fine, but for a feast day of Our Lady?  Then came:

"But when he, who from my mother’s womb had set me apart
and called me through his grace,
was pleased to reveal his Son to me..."

The Immaculate Conception hit me right in the face.  Mary, too, was set apart from her mother's womb, destined to be the mother of the Redeemer.  The Lord accomplished it through His grace; in Mary's case, being full of grace.  Although their vocations differed, Paul, like Mary, was the bearer of Christ to the world.  

The Psalm for today was a selection from Psalm 139.  I could hear the Blessed Mother praying these words, with the tender heart of a handmaiden of the Lord.  Here again, I heard the Immaculate Conception: 

"Truly you have formed my inmost being;
you knit me in my mother’s womb.
I give you thanks that I am fearfully, wonderfully made;
wonderful are your works."

An important theological point that non-Catholics often miss is that the veneration we hold/display for Our Lady is dependent entirely upon Christ.  Her role is there because of Him; she was preserved from original sin because of Him; we call her Our Mother rather than His Mother because of His gesture on the cross.  This point could not have been lost on her, either.  These lines don't offer thanks to God for this or that thing.  The Psalmist prays a beautifully humble prayer: thanks to God goes back to the beginning, for our very being was sculpted by His hands.  If the Psalmist hadn't written this, I could picture Mary writing it.

Finally, the Gospel reading: the well-known story of Martha & Mary in Luke 10.  Just like its predecessors, this reading seems an unusual pick.  However, praying the rosary brings us into an encounter with Jesus.  After all, Mary knows it's not all about her; everything she does, every heavenly effort she makes on our behalf is to lead souls to Her Son.  (see John 2:5)  The lesson that the Gospel reading is trying to teach us is clear: sit at the feet of Christ, as Mary did; recognize the "one thing" that should be our first priority.  In the rosary, we have such a wonderful avenue to contemplate Christ.  

Mary, beloved Mother, pray for us who have recourse to Thee!

7QT: Lazy blogger edition, 10/4/14

--- 1 ---
Onto a new book!  Romano Guardini's The Lord.  I'll be putting up discussion posts if anyone has the book and is interested.  We're only on ch. 2 so far!  I remember reading bits and pieces of this book for one of my classes.  I was amazed at the depth of it... so much so that I bought copies as presents for a couple people.  And now, 10 years after I read those bits and pieces, I'm finally getting around to reading the whole thing (hopefully).  

--- 2 ---
I've also finally finished reading through the Gospel of Matthew, chapter by chapter.  I'd really recommend the commentary that I used: The Better Part by Fr. John Bartunek.  It's meant to assist in lectio divina but I mainly used it as a commentary.    

--- 3 ---
Speaking of great resources, did you know Scott Hahn has a website that has free Bible study resources?  Check out www.salvationhistory.com.  I just started listening to the one on Matthew's gospel.  Very cool so far!

--- 4 ---

Fall is here, and the cooler weather is a welcome reprieve from the hot sun.  Hot sun by Oregonian standards is anything over 80, I believe.  I love fall weather but I'm not looking forward to months and months of rain.    

--- 5 ---
New special saint in our lives: St. Leo the Great.  Pope in the 400s and a major influence on the Council of Chalcedon.  Pretty awesome pastor in a turbulent time: heresies like monophysitism and manichaeism.  Check out his famous Tome on the person of Christ.  In a related note, our baby Leo is due in three short months!  Can't wait!

--- 6 ---

The Dodgers have no postseason gear, unlike their new nemesis, the Cardinals.  Makes me very sad... and wishing they'd start chopping the payroll down.  

--- 7 ---
I can never think of a final QT.  Consistency, right? 

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!