Vive la France,
Vive la Paris,
Vive la Liberté.
Saturday, 14 November 2015
"The Book of Exodus" - Chapter VIII (translated into English)
Chapter 8
1 The LORD then told Moses, "Say to Aaron:
Stretch out your hand and your staff over the streams and canals and pools, to
make frogs overrun the land of Egypt." 2 Aaron
stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and
covered the land of Egypt. 3 But the magicians
did the same by their magic arts. They, too, made frogs overrun the land of
Egypt.
4 Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said,
"Pray the LORD to remove the frogs from me and my subjects, and I will let
the people go to offer sacrifice to the LORD." 5 Moses
answered Pharaoh, "Do me the favor of appointing the time when I am to
pray for you and your servants and your subjects, that the frogs may be taken
away from you and your houses and be left only in the river." 6 "Tomorrow," said Pharaoh. Then Moses
replied, "It shall be as you have said, so that you may learn that there
is none like the LORD, our God. 7 The frogs
shall leave you and your houses, your servants and your subjects; only in the
river shall they be left." 8 After Moses
and Aaron left Pharaoh's presence, Moses implored the LORD to fulfill the
promise he had made to Pharaoh about the frogs; 9
and the LORD did as Moses had asked. The frogs in the houses and courtyards and
fields died off. 10 Heaps and heaps of them were
gathered up, and there was a stench in the land.
11 But when Pharaoh saw that there was a respite, he
became obdurate and would not listen to them, just as the LORD had foretold. 12 Thereupon the LORD said to Moses, "Tell Aaron
to stretch out his staff and strike the dust of the earth, that it may be
turned into gnats throughout the land of Egypt." 13
They did so. Aaron stretched out his hand, and with his staff he struck the
dust of the earth, and gnats came upon man and beast. The dust of the earth was
turned into gnats throughout the land of Egypt. 14
Though the magicians tried to bring forth gnats by their magic arts, they could
not do so. As the gnats infested man and beast, 15
the magicians said to Pharaoh, "This is the finger of God." Yet
Pharaoh remained obstinate and would not listen to them, just as the LORD had
foretold.
16 Again the LORD told Moses, "Early tomorrow
morning present yourself to Pharaoh when he goes forth to the water, and say to
him: Thus says the LORD: Let my people go to worship me. 17 If you will not let my people go, I warn you, I
will loose swarms of flies upon you and your servants and your subjects and
your houses. The houses of the Egyptians and the very ground on which they
stand shall be filled with swarms of flies. 18 But
on that day I will make an exception of the land of Goshen: there shall be no
flies where my people dwell, that you may know that I am the LORD in the midst
of the earth. 19 I will make this distinction
between my people and your people. This sign shall take place tomorrow." 20 This the LORD did. Thick swarms of flies entered
the house of Pharaoh and the houses of his servants; throughout Egypt the land
was infested with flies.
21 Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said to
them, "Go and offer sacrifice to your God in this land." 22 But Moses replied, "It is not right to do so,
for the sacrifices we offer to the LORD, our God, are an abomination to the
Egyptians. If before their very eyes we offer sacrifices which are an
abomination to them, will not the Egyptians stone us? 23
We must go a three days' journey in the desert to offer sacrifice to the LORD,
our God, as he commands us." 24 "Well,
then," said Pharaoh, "I will let you go to offer sacrifice to the
LORD, your God, in the desert, provided that you do not go too far away and
that you pray for me." 25 Moses answered,
"As soon as I leave your presence I will pray to the LORD that the flies
may depart tomorrow from Pharaoh and his servants and his subjects. Pharaoh,
however, must not play false again by refusing to let the people go to offer
sacrifice to the LORD." 26 When Moses left
Pharaoh's presence, he prayed to the LORD; 27and the LORD did as Moses had asked. He
removed the flies from Pharaoh and his servants and subjects. Not one remained.
28 But once more Pharaoh became obdurate and
would not let the people go.
Friday, 13 November 2015
Catechesis About the Family (5): "Siblings" by Pope Francis I (translated into English)
General
Audience at Saint Peter's Square on Wednesday, 18 February 2015.
Dear Brothers and
Sisters, Good morning,
In our continuing catechesis on the family, after having considered
the roles of the mother, the father, the children, today we shall reflect on
siblings. “Brother” and “sister” are words that Christianity really loves. And,
thanks to the family experience, they are words that all cultures and all times
comprehend.
The fraternal bond holds a special
place in the history of the People of God, who received his revelation at the
core of the human experience. The Psalmist sings of the beauty of the fraternal
bond: “Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!” (Ps
133[132]:1). And this is true, brotherhood is beautiful! Jesus Christ also
brought to its fullness this human experience of being brothers and sisters,
embracing it in Trinitarian love and thereby empowering it to go well beyond
the ties of kinship and enabling it to surmount every barrier of
extraneousness.
We know that when the fraternal
relationship is destroyed, when the relationship between siblings is destroyed,
the road is open to painful experiences of conflict, of betrayal, of hate. The
biblical account of Cain and Abel is an example of this negative outcome. After
the killing of Abel, God asks Cain: “Where is Abel your brother?” (Gen 4:9a).
It is a question that the Lord continues to repeat to every generation. And
unfortunately, in every generation, Cain’s dramatic answer never fails to be
repeated: “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?” (ibid., 4:9b). The rupture
of the bond between siblings is a nasty, bad thing for humanity. In the family
too, how many siblings quarrel over little things, or over an inheritance, and
then they no longer speak to each other, they no longer greet one another. This
is terrible! Brotherhood is a great thing, when we consider that all our
brothers and sisters lived in the womb of the same mother for nine months, came
from the mother’s flesh! Brotherhood cannot be broken. Let us consider: we all
know families that have divided siblings, who have quarrelled; let us ask the
Lord — perhaps in our family there are a few cases — to help these families to
reunite their siblings, to rebuild the family. Brotherhood must not be broken
and when it breaks, what happened to Cain and Abel occurs. When the Lord asks
Cain where his brother is, he replies: “I do not know, my brother does not matter
to me”. This is terrible, it is a very, very painful thing to hear. In our
prayers let us always pray for siblings who are at odds.
Should the bond of fraternity which
forms in the family between children arise in an educational atmosphere of
openness to others, it is the great school of freedom and peace. In the family,
among siblings, human coexistence is learned, how one must live in society.
Perhaps we are not always aware of it, but the family itself introduces
fraternity into the world! Beginning with this first experience of fraternity,
nourished by affection and education at home, the style of fraternity radiates
like a promise upon the whole of society and on its relations among peoples.
The blessing that God, in Jesus
Christ, pours out on this bond of fraternity, expands in an unimaginable way.
He renders it capable of overcoming all differences of nationality, language,
culture and even religion.
Consider what becomes of the bond
between men and women, even when completely different from each other, when
they are able to say of another: “He is truly like a brother, she is just like
a sister to me!”. This is beautiful! History has shown well enough, after all,
that even freedom and equality, without brotherhood, can be full of
individualism and conformism, and even personal interests.
Familial fraternity shines in a
special way when we see the care, the patience, the affection that envelop the
weakest little brother or sister, sick or physically challenged. There are
countless brothers and sisters who do this, throughout the world, and perhaps
we do not appreciate their generosity enough. And when there are many siblings
in a family — today, I greeted a family that has nine children? — the eldest
boy or girl helps the dad, the mom, to take care of the younger children. This
work of helping among siblings is beautiful.
Having a brother, a sister, who
loves you is a deep, precious, irreplaceable experience. Christian fraternity
happens in the same way. The smallest, the weakest, the poorest soften us: they
have the “right” to take our heart and soul. Yes, they are our brothers and
sisters and as such we must love and care for them. When this happens, when the
poor are like family members, our own Christian fraternity comes to life again.
Christians, in fact, go to meet the poor and the weak not to obey an
ideological programme, but because the word and the example of the Lord tell us
that we are all brothers and sisters. This is the principle of God’s love and
of all justice among men. I should like to suggest something: before
concluding, just a few words, in silence each of us, let us think of our
brothers, our sisters, and from our heart let us pray in silence for them. A
moment of silence.
Here then, with this prayer we have
brought all, brothers and sisters, with our thoughts, with our hearts, here to
the Square to receive the blessing.
Today more than ever it is necessary
to place fraternity back at the centre of our technocratic and bureaucratic
society: then even freedom and equality will find the correct balance.
Therefore, let us not thoughtlessly deprive our families, out of criticism or
fear, of the beauty of a bountiful fraternal experience of sons and daughters.
And let us not lose our trust in the broad horizon faith is able to draw from
this experience, enlightened by God’s blessing.
Special Greetings
I would like once again to invite
you to pray for our Egyptian brothers who three days ago were killed in Libya
for the sole fact of being Christians. May the Lord welcome them to his house
and give comfort to their families and their communities.
Let us also pray for peace in the
Middle East and in North Africa, remembering all the victims, the wounded and
the refugees. May the international community find peaceful solutions to the
difficult situation in Libya.
I greet the English-speaking
pilgrims and visitors taking part in today’s Audience, including those from England,
Japan and the United States of America. Upon you and your families I cordially
invoke joy and peace in the Lord Jesus. God bless you all!
I cordially greet the Bishops of
Ukraine — Praise be to Jesus Christ! —, who have come on their “ad limina” visit,
as well as the pilgrims from the dioceses who have accompanied them. Brothers
and sisters, I know that among the many other intentions that you bring to the
Tombs of the Apostles, there is the request for peace in Ukraine. I bear the
same wish in my heart and I join in your prayer, that a lasting peace may come
to your homeland as soon as possible. God bless you!
I address a warm welcome to the
Italian-speaking pilgrims. I greet in particular the Rural Catechist Sisters of
the Sacred Heart with the “Zambia for Life” Association and the “Villa Maria”
rehabilitation home in Monticello Conte Otto. My thoughts go to the young
people of International Catholic Charismatic Renewal who, in various parts of
the world today, are gathering in prayer for an hour of Eucharistic adoration.
I spiritually join them in expressing appreciation for this initiative and I
hope the new generations may increasingly meet Christ.
I greet the young people, the sick
and newlyweds. Lent is a favourable time to intensify your spiritual life: may
the practice of fasting be of help to you, dear young people, to acquire
mastery over yourselves; may prayer be for you, dear sick people, the means to
entrust your suffering to God and to feel in it his loving presence; lastly,
may works of mercy help you, dear newlyweds, to live your marital life by
opening it to the needs of your brothers and sisters.
Happy Lent to all!
Thursday, 12 November 2015
Sonnet XXX by William Shakespeare (in English)
When to the sessions of sweet silent thought
I summon up remembrance of things past,
I sigh the lack of many a thing I sought,
And with old woes new wail my dear time's waste:
Then can I drown an eye, unused to flow,
For precious friends hid in death's dateless night,
And weep afresh love's long since cancelled woe,
And moan the expense of many a vanished sight:
Then can I grieve at grievances foregone,
And heavily from woe to woe tell o'er
The sad account of fore-bemoaned moan,
Which I new pay as if not paid before.
But if the while I think on thee, dear friend,
All losses are restor'd and sorrows end.
I summon up remembrance of things past,
I sigh the lack of many a thing I sought,
And with old woes new wail my dear time's waste:
Then can I drown an eye, unused to flow,
For precious friends hid in death's dateless night,
And weep afresh love's long since cancelled woe,
And moan the expense of many a vanished sight:
Then can I grieve at grievances foregone,
And heavily from woe to woe tell o'er
The sad account of fore-bemoaned moan,
Which I new pay as if not paid before.
But if the while I think on thee, dear friend,
All losses are restor'd and sorrows end.
Wednesday, 11 November 2015
“Dalila” by Castro Alves (in Portuguese)
Fair defect of nature.
Milton (Paradise
Lost)
Foi desgraça, meu
Deus!... Não!... Foi loucura
Pedir seiba de
vida — à sepultura,
Em gelo — me
abrasar,
Pedir amores — a
Marco sem brio,
E a rebolcar-me
em leito imundo e frio
— Aventura
buscar.
Errado viajor —
sentei-me à alfombra
E adormeci da
mancenilha à sombra
Em berço de
cetim...
Embalava-me a
brisa no meu leito...
Tinha o veneno a
lacerar-me o peito
— A morte dentro
em mim...
Foi loucura!...
No ocaso — tomba o astro;
A estátua branca
e pura de alabastro
— Se mancha em
lodo vil...
Quem rouba a
estrela — à tumba do ocidente?
Que Jordão lava
na lustral corrente
O marmóreo
perfil?...
.......................................................................
Talvez!... Foi
sonho!... Em noite nevoenta
Ela passou
sozinha, macilenta,
Tremendo a
soluçar...
Chorava — nenhum
eco respondia...
Sorria — a
tempestade além bramia...
E ela sempre a
marchar.
E eu disse-lhe:
Tens frio? — arde minha alma.
Tens os pés a
sangrar? — podes em calma
Dormir no peito
meu.
Pomba errante — é
meu peito um ninho vago!
Estrela — tens
minha alma — imenso lago —
Reflete o rosto
teu!. . .
E amamos — Este
amor foi um delírio...
Foi ela minha
crença, foi meu lírio,
Minha estrela sem
véu...
Seu nome era o
meu canto de poesia,
Que com o sol —
pena de ouro — eu escrevia
Nas lâminas do
céu.
Em seu seio
escondi-me... como à noite
Incauto colibri,
temendo o açoite
Das iras do
tufão,
A cabecinha
esconde sob as asas,
Faz seu leito
gentil por entre as gazas
Da rosa do Japão.
E depois...
embalei-a com meus cantos
Seu passado
esqueci... lavei com prantos
Seu lodo e
maldição...
... Mas um dia
acordei... E mal desperto
Olhei em torno a
mim. . . — Tudo deserto...
Deserto o
coração...
Ao vento, que
gemia pelas franças
Por ela
perguntei... de suas tranças
À flor que ela
deixou...
Debalde... Seu
lugar era vazio...
E meu lábio
queimado e o peito frio,
Foi ela que o
queimou...
Minha alma nodoou
no ósculo imundo,
Bem como Satanás
— beijando o mundo —
Manchou a
criação,
Simum —
crestou-me da esperança as flores...
Tormenta — ela
afogou nos seus negrores
A luz da
inspiração ...
Vai, Dalila!... É
bem longa tua estrada...
É suave a descida — terminada
Em báratro cruel.
Tua vida — é um
banho de ambrosia...
Mais tarde a
morte e a lâmpada sombria
Pendente do
bordel.
Hoje flores... A
música soando...
As perlas do
Champagne gotejando
Em taças de
cristal.
A volúpia a
escaldar na louca insônia...
Mas sufoca os
festins de Babilônia
A legenda fatal.
Tens o seio de
fogo e a alma fria.
O cetro empunhas
lúbrico da orgia
Em que reinas tu
só!...
Mas que finda o
ranger de uma mortalha,
A enxada do
coveiro que trabalha
A revolver o pó.
Não te maldigo,
não!... Em vasto campo
Julguei-te —
estrela, — e eras — pirilampo
Em meio à
cerração...
Prometeu — quis
dar luz à fria argila...
Não pude... Pede
a Deus, louca Dalila,
A luz da redenção!! ...
Tuesday, 10 November 2015
Two Untitled Poems by José Thiesen
Triste causa de meus ais,
Tua partida sem retorno.
***
O lago reflete a lua;
Choro a tua ausência.
Tua partida sem retorno.
***
O lago reflete a lua;
Choro a tua ausência.
Monday, 9 November 2015
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