What's In a Name? or A Rose By Any Other Name . . .

When in the course of formation a Secular Discalced Carmelite makes temporary promises, the individual adds to his/her name a devotional name usually a mystery or attribute for example Gertrude of the Holy Rosary or Ralph of the Resurrection or even Blanche of Theresa of the Child Jesus.

For some reason I find this very exciting and I'm pretty sure I'm not alone. You want to find the perfect name, a name that you can live with for the rest of your life, but even more a name that you can meditate on and strive for and plummet the depths of its meaning for the rest of your life and perhaps even into all eternity.

Back in May of 2012, the first name that suggested itself to me was Marsha of the Ineffable Flame of God's Love. It was a good name a deep name, a name worthy of holding in your heart and pondering. Irene Groot is writing a book on Catholic symbolism and had wonderful things to say about the symbol of flame and fire as a symbol of the Divine Indwelling.

Then I considered Marsha of the Most Precious Blood. The Precious Blood for me unites all the greatest deepest most profound Devotions of the Church. It ties the Eucharist to the Sacred Heart to the Divine Mercy. One could meditate on the Most Precious Blood night and day for all eternity and never grasp its full meaning.

Now I am holding to my heart Marsha of the Crucified Christ. St. Teresa of Jesus writes in her book The Way of Perfection that the foundation of prayer is the virtues of humility, detachment and unconditional love. When I look at the crucifix that is what I see humility, detachment and unconditional love.

In Carmel unceasing prayer is the Rule of Life it is the path to all other goals and aspirations. The Crucified Christ, is the personification of unceasing prayer. He is the perfection of the those virtues which are prayer's foundation. He is the exampler of what unceasing prayer looks like. He is the beloved to which we attach ourselves and with whom we seek perfect union.

I have roughly ten months before I will make my temporary promises, perhaps longer. I've considered three names in the last six months. How many more will I consider? I don't know, right now I am content with Marsha of the Crucified Christ. It has dimenstions I have not yet pierced. If one takes a name of suffering, might that not require a willingness to suffer also? A willingness that right now today I do not have? But however many names I consider, each is an opportunity to know my beloved better.

It may be time to change our motto. We may have to give up "God bless America" It may be time to write a new song. My recommendation is that we trade it in for "God Help America" or better yet "God have mercy on us all." The Guttmacher Institute is a division of Planned Parenthood. In January 2011, the Guttmacher Institute reported: a.) 1.21 million abortions in the US in 2008. The number of abortions from 2005 - 2008 has remained the same; b.) 5.3% of abortions in the US occurred from week 16 of pregnancy to week 32; c.) From 1973 to 2008, more than 50 million legal abortions occurred in the US; and d.) Medication abortion (mifepristone) accounted for one quarter of all abortions before 9 weeks gestation in the US in 2008. US STUDY on abortions: http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/fb_induced_abortion.pdf Can we really expect God to bless a nation that murders its unborn? Another recent study has shown that abortions were up for the first time in years because when the economy is good the number of abortions goes down. Is this country so debauched, so degenerate, so perverse that the strength of the dollar is sufficient reason to kill babies? We need to change our motto. I vote for "God have mercy on America," because the alternative is "May God reward America according to its works." and I don't think any of us could survive that.

Justice

I once heard someone say, justice is getting exactly what you asked for. For years I've mulled this idea over in my mind and have pretty much decided that most of the time that definition is dead on right. Oh nobody ever says, "I want to go to hell and burn for all eternity," but as another old saying goes, actions speak louder than words. Yesterday, the American people elected Obama for another four years. Justice has struck again. We have gotten what we asked for. Worse, I fear we may have gotten what we deserve. Oh well, with any luck maybe the Mayans were right.