Tea at Trianon: The Secret of Every Happy Family

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Thursday, January 17, 2019

The Secret of Every Happy Family

From In Psalmus Spiritus:

Last week, we launched our new homily series for the New Year called, "Secrets of Every Happy Family." We all share, in common, the experience of a family because we've all come from a family and we have emotional attachment to family members. Words like mother, father, brother, sister are not emotionally neutral words. They bring a flood of memories and feelings. We talked about three principles of a happy family that form the basis for this series. They're by no means meant to be a comprehensive, exhaustive list, just some of the principles on which we're focusing.

The first principle of a happy family is that they accept the messiness of family life with grace and flexibility. As we all know there are no perfect people, and as a result, there are no perfect families. When confronted with flaws and failures of family life in a family member, happy families choose consistently to accept their loved ones with all of their imperfections, and to forgive them.

The Second secret of a happy family is mutual respect. This respect begins with respect and appreciation of God's authority over family life. But then it's about each spouse's mutual respect for one another, creating an environment, an atmosphere of respect in which children learn and grow, and ultimately practice in their families.

The third secret of a happy family is a commitment to a larger purpose beyond themselves. The family is the basic building block of society. And as family relationships grow in health, so grows the culture. And as family relationships are weakened, so is society. A family that exists only for itself will never be happy.

Well, today, we're going to look at a unique role in the family. It is the role of a father or a father figure. And in order to do it, we're going to take a look at Jesus’ relationship with his father, based upon a key moment in Jesus’ life.

This moment is described in the third chapter of Luke's Gospel, where Luke is telling us about John the Baptist, a great prophet, who prepared the way for the coming of Jesus. His preaching called people to fundamental change. And along with his preaching, he also baptized people as a sign or a symbol of that change. (Read more.)