Tea at Trianon: Busyness and Christian Living

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

Tuesday, January 2, 2024

Busyness and Christian Living

From The Catholic Thing:

Let’s first look at our list of quotidian things to do: Rise, tidy, prepare what we need for the day (lunch, briefings, tools, homework), go to work or school, return home to child and adult activities that require shuttling around, making dinner, eating, cleaning up, paying bills, perhaps exercise or watching television, catching up on the news and websites we follow, checking emails, sending texts, checking in with family and friends, preparing what is necessary for the next day, sleep. Then rise the next day and repeat.

Within this list lies a hierarchy of tasks: some things are more important than others. Importance follows from the value we put on the item. Exercise, for example, may be a necessity for one person, an occasional pleasantry for a second, or completely irrelevant for a third. Eating is a necessity, but how one eats, whether at table with one’s family or on the go to save time, reflects the importance we assign to other tasks and obligations.

“I’m too busy for God,” then, really means that God – and we can include Mass and prayer here – is not important enough for me: I value these other worldly things more than Him.

If God really mattered to me, the way work and health and family do, I would find time to spend with Him, no matter how difficult it may be to do so. In fact, where I place God and prayer time on my daily “to do” list plainly indicates how vibrant – or not – my faith is.

When it comes to ranking our priorities, Jesus did not mince words: He must be at the top of the list:

“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:26)
“If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” (Matt 19:21)
“I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6)
(Read more.)