..."Tell it slant'... ~Emily Dickinson
"And the day came when the risk it took to remain tight in the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom."~Anais Nin
Now you know. The next time you go into the basement wear a helmet. ~Eve
"In extremity, states of mind become objective, metaphors tend to actualize, the word becomes flesh.(1977,205) -Terence Des Pres, 'The Survivor'
“I decided to go in search of the shaking woman.” Siri Hustvedt
A hundred times a day I remind myself that my inner and outer life are based on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving. ~Albert Einstein
As Christians and Jews, following the example of the faith of Abraham, we are called to be a blessing to the world. (cf. Gen. 12:2ff). This is the common task awaiting us. It is therefore necessary for us Christians and Jews, to be first a blessing to one another. (L'Osservatore Romano, Aug. 17, 1993) ~John Paul II
"...there is need for acknowledgment of the common roots linking Christianity and the Jewish people, who are called by God to a covenant which remains irrevocable (cf. Rom.11:29) and has attained definitive fullness in Jesus Christ." ~John Paul II
...a consistent contempt for Nazism(condemning it as early as 1930...as 'demonic' and 'wedded to Satan') and Communism as virulent atheism...he referred to them as "Gog and Magog"... ~on Claudel

Today, it seems, most were born ‘left-handed.’ Every one I see walking is ‘hinged at the hips’, in-sync’ and glued to metallic boxes. ~Chelé
"A true opium of the people is a belief in nothingness after death - the huge[illusory] solace of thinking that for our betrayals, greed, cowardice, murders we are not going to be judged." - Czeslaw Milosz
*A writer is dear and necessary for us only in the measure of which he reveals to us the inner workings of his very soul*. Tolstoy
I will not let thee go except thou be blessed. Now wouldn’t it be a magnificent world if we all lived that way with each other or even with ourselves?
"I, Sister Faustina, by the order of God, have visited the abysses of hell so that I might tell souls about it and testify to its existence...But I noticed one thing: that most of the souls there are those who disbelieved that there is a hell." -Saint Faustina
Do you hear what I hear? A child, a child crying in the night.

"Every time you dance, what you do must be sprayed with your blood. ~Rudolf Nureyev
Why would someone who looked God in the face ever suppose that there could be something better? ~Matthew Likona

We cannot know what we would do in order to survive unless we are tested. For those of us tested to the extremes the answer is succinct: anything

…”The Stoics throned Fate, the Epicureans Chance, while the Skeptics left a vacant space where the gods had been –[nihilism]—but all agreed in the confession of despair;...and...Oriental schemes of thought contributed a share to the deepening gloom..." ~Gwatkin

"...notes to the committee...why do you invite cows to analyze the milk?" -Peter de Vries

"I run because it gives Him pleasure." ~Eric, Chariots of Fire

“God’s truth is life,” as Patrick Kavanagh says, “even the grotesque shapes of its foulest fire.” What is the difference between a cry of pain that is also a cry of praise and a cry of pain that is merely an articulation of despair? Faith? The cry of a believer, even if it is a cry against God, moves toward God, has its meaning in God, as in the cries of Job. ~Christian Wiman

"Insanity is relative. It depends on who has who locked in what cage." - Ray Bradbury

As for what concerns our relations with our fellow men, the anguish in our neighbor's soul must break all precept. All that we do is an end in itself, because God is Love. ~Edith Stein, St. Benedicta of the Cross.

“Lastly, and most of all. Who turns his back upon the fallen and disfigured of his kind; abandons them as vile…; does wrong to Heaven and man, to time and to eternity. And you have done that wrong!” ~Dickens, The Chimes, 1844

Dieu me pardonnera. C'est son métier . ~Heinrich Heine.

Remember the 'toe-pick' and you won't get swallowed by the whale or eaten by the polar bear.

Someone else needs to become the bad example in our group
But you wear shame so well ~James Goldman, Eve [Or, tired of being the scapegoat yet? ~Sue]

There is a point where the unfortunate and the infamous unite and are confounded in a single word, miserable; whose fault is this? And then should not the charity be all the more profound, in proportion as the fall is great? -[Jesus Christ said so.] -- Br. Humbert Kilanowski, O.P.

The lamps are going out all over Europe; we shall not see them lit again in our lifetime. -Sir Edward Grey

We are still fighting to use the tools we have to grapple with the unknown.

“We are well advised to keep on nodding terms with the people we used to be, whether we find them attractive company or not.” ~Joan Didion"

When I fall into the abyss, I go straight into it, head down and heels up, and I'm even pleased that I'm falling in just such a humiliating position, and for me I find it beautiful. And so in that very shame I suddenly begin a hymn.
—Fyodor Dostoevsky

" ...wie geht es zu, daß ich alles so anders sehe ...?"

“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”― Maya Angelou

'Have you ever noticed that the meanest, most misogynist, and dangerous people tend to be activists who claim to be for freedom and love?'

"For others of us, the most loving thing we can do for our abusers is to keep them from having opportunity to abuse ever again." (Dawn Eden) My Peace I Give You, Ch. 1)

No child is ever responsible for abuse perpetrated on them by ANYONE. I understand that others may not "get it" and that's fine. Blaming the victim is never right or just under any circumstances.

Stay In Touch -Have I not proven to you that I Am in the saving sinners business? -Jesus


HOPE: Hold on to the great truths of the Faith...Own your challenging affliction...Persevere...Expect God's providence and intervention... ~Johnette Benkovich, Woman of Grace
O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, lead all souls to heaven, help those especially in need of thy mercy. - OL of Fatima
Prescription #1: Give God the greatest possible glory and honor Him with your whole soul. If you have a sin on your conscience, remove it as soon as possible by means of a good Confession. ~St. John Bosco
Prescription #2: In thankful tenderness offer Reparation for the horrible mockery and blasphemies constantly uttered against the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; against the Blessed Virgin Mary; the saints and angels; His Church; His priests and religious; His children; and His loving Heart by reciting the Golden Arrow which delightfully wounds Him:
'May the most holy, most sacred, most adorable and ineffable Name of God be forever praised, blessed, loved, and honored by all the creatures of God in heaven, on earth and in the hells through the Sacred Heart of Jesus in the most Blessed Sacrament of the altar. Amen.
Prescription #3: So, let us go out to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach. ~Heb.13:13
Prescription #4: "Do whatever He tells you." ~John 2:5
Prescription #5: Sometimes when I am in such a state of spiritual dryness that not a single good thought occurs to me, I say very slowly the "Our Father" or the "Hail Mary"and these prayers suffice to take me out of myself. ~St. Therese of Lisieux
Prescription #6: Have confidence in God's Love, Justice, and Mercy: ...as for me, O my God, in my very confidence lies all my HOPE. For Thou, O Lord, singularly has settled me in hope." -St. Claude de la Colombiere SJ

Pages

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Hannah Senesh: Why I Am Catholic: Quote of the Week

Why I Am Catholic: Quote of the Week
Excerpt:
There are stars whose radiance is visible on Earth though they have long been extinct. There are people whose brilliance continues to light the world though they are no longer among the living. These lights are particularly bright when the night is dark. They light the way for humankind. -Hannah Senesh, poet, playwright, and paratrooper (1921-1944)
Dear Hannah:

Hannah Senesh: Her Life and Diary, the First Complete Edition
 By Hannah Senesh, Marge Piercy, Roberta Grossman Lajos Jekely…Lajos Aprily
p. 169, ‘Letters’…
I slept quite well last night, and this morning after breakfast I went by bus to the Carmel.  On the way up we passed beautiful modern shops,…
The Mission
The Last Border
I had the privilege of serving with Hannah during WWII, slogging through the land of the Ygoslav partisans for months until the terrible day she crossed the Hungarian border and fell into Nazi hands. 
…in Cairo…She was happy, cheerful, joked…Her changes of mood astounded me.  One moment she would be rolling with laughter, the next aflame with fervor.  I felt that a kind of divine spark must be burning in the depths of her being…I’ll never forget the way she helped me overcome my enormous psychological tension during our training.  Hannah seemed utterly fearless.  …on the night of March 13, 1944, we were told to get ready to leave, she was overjoyed.  She sang the whole way…That song…became our group’s theme song.
….Hannah was to continue on into neighboring Hungary, but we encountered a wall of reality at the very outset.  We had to reach the Hungarian border on foot, and the partisans informed us that there was no possibility of crossing, because the Germans had recaptured the border region.  “You’ll just have to wait,”…A few days later we learned that the Germans had occupied Hungary as well.  It was catastrophic news for all of us---and it was the first time I saw Hannah cry…amidst her sobs she exclaimed, “What will happen to all of them…to the million Jews in Hungary?  They’re in German hands now---and we’re sitting here…just sitting.”
   Her conscience knew no rest.  It was as if the earth beneath her were on fire.  She constantly sought ways to cross the border, but we were entirely dependent upon the partisans, and our objective was foreign to them.  Meanwhile we roamed that beautiful land of mountains and forests beset by rebellion and battle, awed by the magnificent landscape.  We lived through amazing experiences---some disillusioning and depressing, others encouraging and inspiring.  Our emotional fare was certainly varied.  …exciting as the beat of the music…it was exhilarating to watch the men and women dancing, rifles strapped to their soldiers, hand grenades swinging from their belts.  Hannah slipped into the main circle, quickly adapted to the beat, and danced for hours.  We also endured fearsome, endless days under fire….We were completely alone, cut off, surrounded by the enemy.  …continued running in an open valley, entirely exposed to the firing from the encircling hills.  We tried desperately to catch up with the retreating partisans.  All around we heard cries of fear from clusters of bewildered civilians who stumbled along, clutching pathetic belongings, their children, driving their thinning herds of cattle.  The cries of the wounded and the groans of the dying filled the stillness; people dropped like wounded birds.  All about us there was horrible panic.  In the mad race to save my own life I forgot everything.  Suddenly I stopped, horrified at the thought that I had been cut off from Hannah, I turned, saw her running behind me, breathing wildly, gasping for breath.  Her instinct for self-preservation, goaded by the firing and sounds of battle, spurred her on. With our last ounce of strength we reached the forest and, we hoped, protection from enemy fire.  We fell to the ground, exhausted but safe.  For a short while we lay silently in the bushes,, clutching our rifles, listening to the incessant tattoo of bullets, the moaning of the wounded.  …Our nerves were at breaking point.  At the edge of the forest the Germans, shooting wildly in all directions, were so close they could have stepped on us. 
…..
   One evening we found ourselves in a village under the command of a woman partisan.  When she stepped into the room where we were seated, I was astounded.  I knew her!  We had been childhood friends, had lived in the same district, had played together in the streets of the capital.  The years of terror had left their mark on her face, and…her hair was streaked with gray.  …it turned out that all of us in the room were Jews.  We became very excited by this discovery and felt united by an almost sacred bond.  She revealed the horrible suffering of the Jews in the Diaspora to us, who had been so protected in Palestine, ….
…later she handed me the four-line poem, “Blessed Is the Match,”…
…June 9, 1944…the day for her to cross into Hungary….dreams for the future…”We’ll arrange celebrations…and we’ll tell them everything that happened to us, and spin tall tales.  …we’ll visit the entire country…We left the house together but walked in the opposite direction from the border…”Till we meet again---soon, I hope, in enemy territory.”…she turned and waved farewell.  I didn’t know I would never see her again.  Reuven Dafne
p.239  The Mission: How She Fell
May 13, 1944, the very day---….that the expulsion of the Jews from most of Hungary’s cities had begun….we were unaware…agreed to meet after the Sabbath service at the Great Synagogue in Budapest.  And if Jewish services were no longer being held there, we would meet on the same day, at the same time, at the Cathedral.
   I waited in vain for her…When I was thrown into jail, battered and broken in body and spirit, I kept thinking, it’s a good thing she doesn’t have to suffer all this.  Who knows whether she could have stood it…it’s a good thing she isn’t here….
…arrested…in same prison…solitary cell…Her window became an information and education center, and from morning till evening prisoners looked toward it for news…She gave them new heart.
   Her behavior before members of the Gestapo and SS was quite remarkable.  She always stood up to them, warning them plainly of the bitter fate they would suffer after their defeat.  Curiously, these wild animals, in whom every spark of humanity had been extinguished, felt awed in the presence of this fearless young girl.  …We were moved to the Hungarian prison together…I heard how they had tied her…whipped her palms and the soles of her feet, bound her and forced her to sit motionless for hours on end, beaten her all over the body until she was black and blue.  …only one thing, “What is your code?”…”You are state property; we’ll do away with you when we no longer need you, not before.”…They brought her to Budapest…there, to her horror, she found her beloved mother.  …They threatened to torture her mother…and kill her.  Still Hannah would not yield….Hannah’s fortitude saved her mother. …Sept 11 we parted..
Oct 28, 1944 the day of her trial…she explained boldly what had brought her to Hungary, analyzing in a penetrating way the political-moral decline of Hungary during the preceding years.  And she stressed---in the very midst of Fascist rule---the great crime in which the Hungarians had participated…then the dark moment of execution in the gray courtyard beneath our cell window.
…her cell…Cell 13, the Condemned Cell…the letters she wrote were never delivered.
…
Senesh returned to her native Hungary in 1943 to help rescue Jews. She was captured by the Nazi's and executed at the age of 23.
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