Common in the Pedestrian Sense

Pioneer Institute is a Massachusetts research organization that turned its attention to Common Core to analyze the impact that program has on the quality of education for K-12.

See the 60-page write-up at http://pioneerinstitute.org/common_core/study-finds-common-core-incompatible-catholic-education/

The findings are not flattering. And the insights are equally application for all students, not just Bay Staters.

Literature
 * Study of literature, drama, and poetry are quantitatively reduced by more than half.
* Great literature, when it is included, is merely excerpted.

Math
* The math standards don't prepare students for college-level coursework in science, engineering, and math.
* Good for community-college-level work.

The focus of Common Core is on elementary workforce preparation. Instead of reading about humans to learn about life, students now read a user manual. The curriculum's "informational texts" are a vocational ed formula for producing not just trained workers, but androids - or cyborgs, depending on your genre. The approach is "common" in the pedestrian sense.

Instaurare Omnia in Christo

Instaurare omnia in Christo - "To restore all things in Christ." This was the motto of the pontificate of Pope St. Pius X.

What does it mean to "restore all things in Christ"?

From the encyclical E Supremi Apostolatu of Pope St. Pius X:

"When in every city and village the law of the Lord is faithfully observed, when respect is shown for sacred things, when the Sacraments are frequented, and the ordinances of the Christian life are fulfilled, there will certainly be no more need for us to labor further to see all things restored in Christ."

Truth and Consequence

Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary

“Religion, with us, is not simply a matter of sentiment, to be carried out by each individual according to his own private taste or preference. It is in our view and belief, a system of truths and consequent practical duties coming to us as a revelation from God, through Christ and His Apostles, and committed to an organization founded by Divine authority, and known to us as the Church. We do not regard the Church as simply a society like others in general, based on mutual consent and for mutual convenience.

“No; we look upon it as a Divine association, unto which Almighty God requires that all should enter…”

- By George M. Searle, C.S.P., in the July edition of The Catholic World

Jeanne d'Arc, 1429

On this date, April 29th, 1429, St. Joan of Arc (1412-1431) led the French force in relieving the city of Orléans, which had been under siege from the English since the previous October.

Having been counseled by St. Michael and other angels, as well as St. Margaret (a 4th century martyr), St. Catherine of Alexandria, and others, the Maid of Domremy acted out of an abundance of patriotic love to help her fellow Frenchmen. At first she balked - "I am a poor girl; I do not know how to ride or fight," she protested. Her Heavenly counselors told her, however, "It is God who commands it.”

Joan's divine mission was miraculously confirmed in the court of the Dauphine, after which she prophesied how Orléans would be delivered. The details of her remarks are recorded in a letter written by Sire de Rotslaer, in which he wrote that the Maid "would save Orléans and would compel the English to raise the siege, that she herself in a battle before Orléans would be wounded by a shaft but would not die of it, and that the King, in the course of the coming summer, would be crowned at Reims..."

Before entering upon her campaign, Joan summoned the King of England to withdraw his troops from French soil. The English commanders were furious at the audacity of the demand, but Joan by a rapid movement entered Orléans on April 30th. Her presence there at once worked wonders. By May 8th the English forts which encircled the city had all been captured, and the siege raised, though on the 7th the Last Crusader was wounded in the breast by an arrow.

End of Lent Novena

Good Friday next week marks the 25^th anniversary of the death of Abp. Marcel Lefebvre.

Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre
* Born: November 29, 1905
* Ordained: September 21, 1929
* Consecrated: September 18, 1947
* Founded the Society: November 1, 1970
* Died: March 25, 1991

Today begins a novena, for private use, ending on the anniversary of the Archbishop's death, asking:
* The triumph of Holy Mother the Church
* The preservation and flourishing of the Society of St. Pius X
* The holiness of his priestly sons and religious

Novena
O Jesus, Eternal High Priest, who deigned to elevate Thy faithful servant Marcel Lefebvre to the episcopal dignity and to grant him the grace of being a fearless defender of the Holy Mass, of the Catholic Priesthood, of Thy Holy Church, and of the Holy See, of being a courageous apostle of Thy Kingdom on earth, of being a devoted servant of Thy holy Mother, and of being a shining example of charity, of humility and of all virtues; bestow upon us now, by his merits, the graces we beseech of Thee, so that, assured of his powerful intercession to Thee, we may one day see him elevated to the glory of the altar. Amen.

Triangulating on the Facts

After His Resurrection, Christ appeared repeatedly to His followers, in a variety of settings, at diverse times, in different circumstances.

Had He appeared only a single time, perhaps once in front of the whole lot of the Apostles and the other disciples, there might have been a tendency later for them to think, “Did it really happen? Did He really come back from the dead, or did we imagine it, convince ourselves of it?”

So no, He appeared to His followers after His Resurrection, again and again, time after time, first over here, then over there, repeating and reinforcing and reiterating that the source of their joy was real and tangible and true.

The chief sources which directly attest the fact of Christ’s Resurrection are the four Gospels and the Epistles of St. Paul.

St. Matthew’s Gospel records that He appeared to the holy women, and again on a mountain in Galilee.

St. Mark’ Gospel records that He was seen by Mary Magdalene, by the two disciples at Emmaus, and the Eleven before His Ascension into Heaven.

St. Luke’s Gospel records that He walked with His disciples to Emmaus, appeared to Peter and to the assembled disciples in Jerusalem.

St. John’s Gospel records that Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene, to the ten Apostles on the first Easter Sunday, to the Eleven a week later, and to the seven disciples at the Sea of Tiberias.

St. Paul records (I Corinthians 15:3-8) that He was seen by Cephas, by the Eleven, by more than 500 brethren, by James, by all the Apostles, and lastly by Paul himself.

- Excerpted from The Angelus, March-April 2016 issue

The Man Who Lies

“The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to such a pass that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself and for others. And having no respect he ceases to love, and in order to occupy and distract himself without love he gives way to passions and coarse pleasures, and sinks to bestiality in his vices, all from continual lying to other men and to himself. The man who lies to himself can be more easily offended than anyone. You know it is sometimes very pleasant to take offense, isn’t it? A man may know that nobody has insulted him, but that he has invented the insult for himself, has lied and exaggerated to make it picturesque, has caught at a word and made a mountain out of a molehill - he knows that himself, yet he will be the first to take offense, and will revel in his resentment till he feels great pleasure in it, and so pass to genuine vindictiveness...”
- Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Brothers Karamazov