Alexandre Kawakami

Confitemini Domino, quoniam bonus, quoniam in saeculum misericordia ejus.

Appreciating Christian thought as a pilgrim looking at old cathedrals.

[Alexandre Kawakami @AlexCKawakami]

When I got news from the priest that he had given my brother the rites and the scapular, a rush of tranquility passed through my heart along with a certainty that my prayers were heard. I was literally on the opposite side of the world from my dying brother. There was nothing I could have done but to call the priest and ask for his help. And he did help. I had not asked the priest for the scapular. He placed it on his own.

Certainly, my feelings have nothing to do with Church doctrine. But so it happens that your certain and definitive affirmation, that "this is not a promise of the scapular" and that "NOTHING in the Church" has defined it is not actually true. First of all, we have tradition, and tradition does not demand a written form.

And even still, there are at least four papal documents confirming the carmelite privileges, namely, "the Carmelite Fathers are permitted to preach that the Christian people may piously believe in the assistance given to the souls of the brothers and members of the confraternity of the Most Blessed Virgin of Mount Carmel; namely, that the Most Blessed Virgin will assist, by her continual intercessions, pious suffrages and merits, and special protection after their passing—especially on Saturday, the day dedicated to her by the Church." Oh, it doesn't say Our Lady will save them from purgatory... Well, you may interpret it as you want. I will side with the priests I know, and you are not included in that subset.

But this is not my point. My point is to say that it baffles me and awes me how much charity a person needs to lack to state, before a testimony of hope and relief granted through an act of immense care, that it was groundless and unmerited.

You, sir, in the name of starting an internet debate, has questioned a moment in my life that was defining and filled with grace: what for? What could you possibly have gained with your sad (and wrong) intervention? And how irresponsible one needs to be to do in such a nonchalant, ungrounded manner?

So yesterday, on the day of Our Lady of the Carmel, after serving Mass, I prayed to Our Lord that he could grant you two graces:

1. That you are young enough so that your unbarred need for superlatives ("nothing", "never", "most") is cured by experience;

2. That when it comes your day, may Our Lord judge you with all the charity that you yourself did not possess.

This is all I have to say to you, and any offer of further discussion is, beforehand, and by the nature of your previous contributions, thanked for but passed.

Have a good day, sir.

[Donald Jacob Uitvlugt @HaikuFictionDJU]

@TheChurchInAsia There seems to be a trend in Jesuit missionary schools at the time of creating visual catechisms of this sort.

Here is one used among the Native North Americans:

(From https://t.co/Je1VWjfA6i)

[Catholicism in East Asia @TheChurchInAsia]

A scroll that was used to teach Chinese catechumens the history of salvation, traced from Eden to the Last Judgment. This is a black and white reproduction, and the source is the records of the Société des Auxiliaires des Missions.

[Alexandre Kawakami @AlexCKawakami]

@PapistMountains @SergeMot7 @DermotQuigley12 You are not a promise of the brown scapular.

[Alexandre Kawakami @AlexCKawakami]

@Octomom1011493 I am glad it served some purpose. Most of all I will be glad if it took you off the spirit of meaningless antagonism.

[Alexandre Kawakami @AlexCKawakami]

The violent responses that I have observed on this and other platforms against the consecration of bishops and their supporters have been puzzling.

We all know good Catholics who are not necessarily traditionalists. We also know Catholics who wear Catholicism as another badge, adding to whatever "-ism" may be fashionable at the time. The former are unlikely to condemn anyone to hell as they will be the first to recognize that hell is too terrible a place to wish for anyone to be there.

The latter... as with any kind of politically-centered person, those are quick to condemn, regardless of the fact that they do not believe in hell, at all. Or perhaps they do: for them, "hell" is what enemies deserve, in this life or the other.

For these "Power Catholics", that is, people who see Catholicism only as another expression of earthly power, questions of doctrine and dogma have the same importance as the salvation of souls: none. The "soul", for them, is nothing but a psychological phenomenon, an impression on the brain of a sense of self fostered by nature and society, molded by the tides of history. And salvation, for them, is purely economical: earthly comfort granted by a government representative of their ideals. All else is medieval, in the bad sense of the word.

So, for these Catholics, it makes no sense to speak of Real Presence, Church and Tradition, Santification, etc. They don't believe any of that exists. For them, as long as the holy father is on their side, obedience to him must be absolute; and if he is not on their side, obedience must be a sin.

Then there are the bots. We should be mindful of them. We can recognize their voice: they are brief, groundless and scandalous. They come to torn us apart. May they teach us how to ask for the Holy Ghost before we speak, and to love our debaters as well as we choose them.

Which brings me to the confused ones. Good Catholics that have opinions before judgment.

I feel these are the only ones who are worthwhile to debate, as long as they are sincere. Sadly, sincerity is a rare commodity these days, almost as rare as humility.

[Jan 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 @RosaryMum]

Saints Louis and Zélie Martin parents of St. Thérèse of Lisieux, pray for us.

"The loveliest masterpiece of the heart of God is the heart of a mother."

"What an incomparable gift of God is a good father!”

St. Thérèse of Lisieux

[Catholic Arena @CatholicArena]

The map showing all of the monasteries dissolved in England and Wales by Henry VIII

Hundreds were also dissolved in Ireland

[Alexandre Kawakami @AlexCKawakami]

@PaulinusOfTrier @garylfrancione

[ドラ課長二世 @dorachan2se]

戦わなければ得られないのである。

「世の中の全ての悪は生ぬるいカトリック信者のせいである。」
教皇聖ピオ5世

「善良な人の勇気の無さほど悪人を増長させるものはない。」
教皇レオ13世

「教会の使徒職における最大の障害は信者の臆病さである。」
教皇聖ピオ10世

[Alexandre Kawakami @AlexCKawakami]

https://t.co/lWrRFRLeWj

[Catholicism in East Asia @TheChurchInAsia]

400 years ago on this day, a number of Japanese martyrs were put to death: Blesseds John Naizen, his wife Monica, his son Louis. Blesseds John and Catherine Tanaka. Blesseds Matthew, Peter, and Zuzanna Araki. All members of the 205 Martyrs of Japan, today is their feast day.

[A Santa Católica ✝️🇻🇦⚜️🔰🇧🇷🇱🇧 @ASantaCatolica]

Tudo que o mundo almeja hoje, um dia o mundo teve na Monarquia Católica.
Mas, o homem que agora chora, rejeitou a presença do Céu na terra.

Imagem de St Luis IX
Rogai por nós ✝️🇻🇦👑

[Catholic Arena @CatholicArena]

IRELAND 🇮🇪

On the last Sunday of July each year, thousands of Catholics walk 2,500 feet up Croagh Patrick. Many do it BAREFOOT.

You can see the church at the top where pilgrims attend Mass. Saint Patrick fasted at the summit for 40 days and nights.

[Catholicism in East Asia @TheChurchInAsia]

Exterior façade of the Catholic chapel in Rongxian, China, 1942. Taken by Father Schultz of the Maryknoll Mission.

[Alexandre Kawakami @AlexCKawakami]

@Bearcingetorix1 @DermotQuigley12 You said it, you got it.

[Alexandre Kawakami @AlexCKawakami]

Because, you see, the liturgy is energy that needs to be replenished, not by the Real Presence of Our Lord in the Eucharist, but by the fullness of truth, which we did not have until now... anyway, don't think too much about it, there is no hell and everyone goes to heaven, and this should really pump your thirst for sanctity.

[Randall Murray @iotaunam]

"All whatsoever you do in word or in work, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God and the Father by Jesus Christ our Lord." From the Epistle reading from the Feast of the Holy Family (Cor. 3:12-17)

[Alexandre Kawakami @AlexCKawakami]

@PaulinusOfTrier We find your demands for temporal and definitional absolutes highly deficient in pastoral nurturing.

[ドラ課��二世 @dorachan2se]

聖伝のラテン語ミサは毎週主日にさいたま市大宮で捧げられています
毎週日曜日
読誦ミサ 8:30
歌ミサ 10:30
毎週金曜日 18:00
毎週土曜日 11:00
場所:さいたま市大宮区東町2-256-8 林ビル2階
JR大宮駅東口から約1km
予約は一切不要です
#カトリック #グレゴリオ聖歌 #伝統
https://t.co/xrGqa92iFL