How To Be Miserable

Bold emphasis is mine.

How To Be Miserable
by Fr. Pius Sammut, OCD.

The smallest package in the world is a person wrapped up in himself! "I gave a small party this afternoon. It was very small, just three guests - that's all. Me, myself, and I. Myself ate all the cookies while me drank all the soda. It was also I who ate the pie and passed the cake to me."

Narcissism is repulsive. The Russian born Vladimir Nabokov, well known author of rather notorious novels, was a collector of butterflies and moths. One evening he returned from his day's excursion announcing that during a hot pursuit of butterflies near Bear Gulch he had heard someone groaning distressingly down by the stream. When asked the obvious question "Did you stop?" he answered "No, I had to get the butterfly!" The next day the corpse of an aged surveyor was discovered in what has been renamed, in Nabokov's (dis)honor, "Dead Man's Gulch."

And arrogant. Upon losing a game at the 1925 Baden-Baden tournament, Aaron Nimzowitsch, the great chess theoretician, knocked the pieces off the board, jumped on the table and screamed, "How can I lose to this idiot?" Another chess player had the nerve to say, "When I am white, I win because I am white - white moves first and so has a distinct advantage - when I am black, I win because I am Bogoljubov.".

The truth is that all of us are infected by this sickness. As someone put it, "There are two kinds of egotists: Those who admit it, and the rest of us." The Irish dramatist Oscar Wilde was expressing a feeling we all have, when he uttered, "Come over here and sit next to me, I'm dying to tell you all about myself". It is always about me!

At a social gathering, a woman was rather frank stating, "My husband and I have managed to be happy together for 20 years. I guess this is because we're both in love with the same man."

When British actor Michael Wilding was once asked if actors had any traits which set them apart from others, his answer was revealing, "Without a doubt," he replied. "You can pick out actors by the glazed look that comes into their eyes when the conversation wanders away from themselves." This happens not only to actors!

Going through a sports magazine, once I read an observation that a football player once made on his coach, the legendary Vince Lombardi winner of the NFL championships many times! "When you entered Vince's office, you could not help noticing a huge mahogany desk with an impressive organization chart behind it on the wall. The chart had a small block at the top in which was printed: "Vince Lombardi, Head Coach and General Manager." A line came down from it to a very large block in which was printed: "Everybody Else!"

If you want to be miserable, this article claims, just "Think about yourself. Talk about yourself. Use 'I' as often as possible. Mirror yourself continually in the opinion of others. Listen greedily to what people say about you. Expect to be appreciated. Be suspicious. Be jealous and envious. Be sensitive to slights. Never forgive a criticism. Trust nobody but yourself. Insist on consideration and respect. Demand agreement with your own views on everything. Sulk if people are not grateful to you for favors shown them. Never forget a service you have rendered. Shirk your duties if you can. Do as little as possible for others."

English author, C. S. Lewis, pointed out once that when people become Christians, if they are not careful, their sinning often shifts from the overt, outward, visible sins of lying, cheating, stealing, cursing and swearing, to the more inward, hidden, non-apparent invisible ones ... and among them he lists "a critical spirit" ... a spirit of being judgmental, a censorious attitude. So prevalent is it in churchly circles, that it is sometimes labeled "Christian cruelty". All this comes from this me-attitude, this persistent self-absorption.

This is why Jesus Christ therapy is so healthy. "For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it." And again, "What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?"

When Mother Teresa was passing through a crowd in Detroit a woman remarked, "Her secret is that she is free to be nothing. Therefore God can use her for anything." Gosh, what an insight!


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(c) Fr. Pius Sammut, OCD. Permission is hereby granted for any non-commercial use, provided that the content is unaltered from its original state, if this copyright notice is included.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cincarm/message/12326

Question on Modesty for My Readers

Reader Elizabeth had a question regarding the The Forgotten Virtue - Modesty in Dress and in particularly another article she read Skirting the Difference: What's Wrong with Women Wearing Trousers

...This is the location of an article that I read and it interested me. I also read your article and comments on the "The Forgotten Virtue: Modesty of Dress" article.

I was hoping you could help me with I question I gained from reading the first article.

"Women often say they wear slacks because they are more comfortable or convenient for getting in and out of cars, warmer in winter etc., and shorts because the weather is hot (but it is even hotter in Purgatory!). But with a little of the ingenuity and resourcefulness for which women are famed, a judicious combination of articles of apparel can be chosen from among the contents of a woman’s wardrobe to enable her to wear skirts for many occasions – windy days and sub-zero temperatures, cycling, hiking and riding side-saddle, for instance – all without the need to wear trousers. There are some sporting activities which cannot be done in a skirt and so must be out of bounds for women. Sacrificing convenience and freedom is not easily done, but if a more restricted life-style for the sake of modesty and propriety is the path of greater holiness, it is also potentially one of greater sacrifice and will bring its rewards in increased graces."

The whole idea of feminine modesty is very enthralling to me and this paragraph in particular sparked my interest. The only thing is that the author did not go into detail about how these "judicious combinations" can be created. I was hoping that you could help me use my "ingenuity and resourcefulness" so I may become a better example to others.

I have replied to Elizabeth but I want to see what my readers have to say on this topic. I offered to pose her question here. Please feel free to comment.

Thank you.

Queenship of Mary

Prayer to Mary, Queen of the Home

O Blessed Virgin Mary,
you are the Mother and Queen of every Christian family.
When you conceived and gave birth to Jesus,
human motherhood reached its greatest achievement.
From the time of the Annunciation
you were the living chalice
of the Son of God made Man.
You are the Queen of the home.
As a woman of faith,
you inspire all mothers to transmit faith
to their children.

Watch over our families.
Let the Children learn free and loving obedience
inspired by your obedience to God.
Let the parents learn dedication and selflessness
based on your unselfish attitude.
Let all families honor you
and remain devoted to you
so that they may be held together by your example and your intercession.

Amen.

New Saint Joseph People's Prayer Book, Catholic Book Publishing.


EWTN's Queenship of Mary

If a Priest

If a priest is a saint, his people will be holy.
If a priest is holy, his people will be good.
If a priest is good, his people will be decent.
If a priest is decent, his people will be godless.

-Dom Jean-Baptiste Chautard

Thank you Fr. Daren

Feast of St. Pius X

Litany of Pope Saint Pius X

For private use only.

Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.
God the Father of Heaven,
Have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world,
Have mercy on us.
God the Holy Spirit,
Have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, One God,
Have mercy on us.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
Pray for us.
Saint Joseph, Patron of the Universal Church,
Pray for us.
Saint Pius X, model for priests, etc.
Saint Pius X, wise bishop,
Saint Pius X, humble cardinal and patriarch,
Saint Pius X, zealous Pope for his flock,
Saint Pius X, pious teacher,
Saint Pius X, devoted to the poor,
Saint Pius X, consoler of the sick,
Saint Pius X, lover of poverty,
Saint Pius X, humble of heart,
Saint Pius X, faithful to duty,
Saint Pius X, heroic in the practice of all virtues,
Saint Pius X, filled with the spirit of self-sacrifice,
Saint Pius X, who didst aim to restore all things in Christ,
Saint Pius X, who didst bring little children to the the Altar rail,
Saint Pius X, who didst counsel daily and frequent Communion for all,
Saint Pius X, who didst urge us to know and to love the Holy Mass,
Saint Pius X, who didst seek everywhere the diffusion of Christian teaching,
Saint Pius X, who didst withstand and reprove all heresies,
Saint Pius X, who didst teach us righteous Catholic Action,
Saint Pius X, who didst consecrate the faithful to the lay apostolate,
Saint Pius X, who didst wish to be known as a poor pastor of souls,
Saint Pius X, who answereth the prayers of those who cry to thee,
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world,
Spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world,
Graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world,
Have mercy on us.
V. Pray for us, Saint Pius X,
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Let Us Pray.
O God, who didst fill the soul of Saint Pius X with a burning charity and
called him to be the Vicar of Christ, grant that through his intercession
we may follow in the footsteps of Jesus, Our Divine Master; and may
our prayers to this saintly Pope be fruitful for life both here and hereafter,
through the same Christ Our Lord. R. Amen.

Source

Admissions Day - Happy Birthday Hawaii!

Governor Linda Lingle's Opening Remarks by Gov. Linda Lingle at today's statehood conference at the Convention Center

The family is important for life and society

World Apostolate of Fatima - Hawaii Division

We are happy to announce that the Diocese of Honolulu has authorized a division of the World Apostolate of Fatima in Hawaii.

I wanted to wait until my co-coordinator Josephine Yu and I could do this together, however, her beloved son Michael died recently. Please pray for the repose of his soul and for his family.

Please visit our new blog to read more about this beautiful apostolate where we join the blue army of our Blessed Mother Mary.

World Apostolate of Fatima - Hawaii Division

If you would like to become a member, please email me and I will send you send you a membership form to fill out.

One thing we plan on doing is to bring the pilgrim statue of Mary to Hawaii.

More details will follow as soon as Josephine is back.

The Pope: To Evangelise There Needs to be Good Priestly Form

New Book Release - When Mike Kissed Emma

The book written by fellow Catholic blogger Chris from New Jersey, was released today.

Christine Marciniak

I received my copy directly from the author herself last week and I finished it a few days ago. I must say I really enjoyed this book. It reminded me of the books I read when I was a teenager by authors such as Rosamond du Jardin and a few others whose names escape me at the moment, who wrote specifically for teen age girls. They wrote innocent books of young love and so does Chris.

The story was clever, clean and actually brought out emotions I was not expecting. There are characters I liked a great deal and some I really did not like at all. I attribute those emotions to charactistics of a good writer.

Another thing I liked about the book is that it takes place in one of my favorite states...New Jersey and it has a Catholic theme running throughout the story line.

Well done Chris. Will there be a sequel :-)

Feast of St. John Eudes

Let us therefore give ourselves to God with a great desire to begin to live thus, and beg Him to destroy in us the life of the world of sin, and to establish His life within us. - St. John Eudes

PRIEST EMPHASIZES POWER OF FORGIVENESS NOT JUST OF THOSE ALIVE BUT ALSO DEAD

Article

"Forgiveness breaks the connection with the unlove of the past. It is a pathway of healing. It's a lifelong practice. There's always something we have to forgive. It's a moment by moment grace. When we simply allow the Lord to empower our choice to forgive, then the transformation process begins. Then we begin to change." - Father Lou Cerulli

Tribute to the 9/11 Victims Participation

In 2006, I participated in a tribute to the 9/11 victims. Remembering Robert Scandole

If you would like to participate this year, please visit Project 2996 Remembering the Victims of 9/11

Go to the sign up page and leave a comment if you would like a victim's name assigned to you.