undisciplined mind not only breaks the rules it cannot even see rules thus it is free

To me a truly great mind is one that is not structured. Educators would call it an “undisciplined mind”  … medicine might call it a “damaged mind” … psychologists might called it a mentally unbalanced mind … I call it the mind of a child… a young child… who stills believes all things are possible … I love children and I see time and time again how our educational system, and our society rapes children of true creative thoughts … The child is forced into conformity of thinking … told this “all things possible thinking” is magically thinking … not reality … to take that a step further logically  ... faith then can only be "magically thinking"... 

Meditation when done well and often, allows the person to dismiss core believes … This takes years of repeated meditation   … as a Catholic… it is labeled “prayer and contemplation” … On this note … repeated prayer … such as the Hail Mary is nothing more than a “mantra”, given to mankind in the form of words (the rosary)  … the power of that prayer is the meditation... not the words  

Mantra’s by definition are “repeated words” said over and over again, to shut down the “thinking mind”… you say the Hail Mary long enough … you get bored with it … your thinking mind will get bored with it … and it will drift away … that is when a person can really get into the “zone” …

 If you “use the Hail Mary” correctly it is a very effective tool to reach high levels of spirituality … if you use wrongly it locks you into “human thought” … Most “Mary cults” … use the Hail Mary as a means to label the Virgin Mary as being as  powerful as her Son … she is no more powerful than you or I …she just has "absolute faith"... there is not doubt in her ... her faith is not just faith it is her "truth" ... Is faith "truth to you"... 

 (And Jesus said this in Scripture… in his words… “Who is my mother”) …. The Hail Mary if used as “background music” to lure the conscious mind to sleep is most effective …  I see the Divine Mercy Chaplet in much the same way … it is word cue … a repeated word cue (a mantra) to still the conscious mind … Chanting does the same… reading prayers or a book, even the Bible… I think is  counter productive … to still the mind… such things make the mind think more (the human mind that is) … and to get to the “zone” … the human mind/ conscious thinking and thoughts are the “enemy” …

   

Must haves in deep spirituality and mystical experiences

1)      dismissal of all human core believes

2)      dismissal of any laws of nature/science/ physics you have been taught

3)      Dismissal of any religions you have been taught … if they involve “laws attached to them” … to me the saying giving to St. Peter…. “what you bind on earth will be bound in heaven” was a warning to Peter, by Jesus … such as “beware, if you say it cannot be done, and your thinking binds it to human thought, on earth  it will not be honored in heaven and hence it will not be done”… the use of the word “bound” by Jesus when saying this to Peter… once you bind something there is a limitation placed upon it  …

The other warning to us all in regards to “binding” is within the “Our Father”… with the words “forgive us our sins as we forgive others”… Hence I absolutely believe that Peter was the “prefect Pope” none like him since … he was “normal and a family man”… and although he was pushy … I do not think he “bound anything on earth”… Peter was grounded in truth, his family/wife in poverty and in struggle

…When a man is grounded in such … they do not seek to bind anyone … clearly he came across as a man who was struggling with his own crap in life … literally called himself a sinner, remembered that he betrayed Christ and was not worthy … so he did not cloth himself with rules and dogmas which would define what worthy was …

4)      Love … must have … not as we as human beings define love …it is not emotional, touchy feeling and in self …. As in your needs … it is in the presence of the greater among us … who is God … love God first… he will teach you to love self and your “self” will teach you to love others … that is the order … 

Do you hear what I hear?

I know someone that when they hear a crow… they say it sounds like the crow is saying “F- you”… “F- you”… so I listened to the crows one day … I mean,  I really listened and this is what I “heard”… “Thank-you, thank-you”…  

 I thought about the person who said the sound of a crow … sounds like “F-you” and I know this person is a negative type of individual, does not believe in God … and basically criticizes everything in life, one would say they are the “negative Nancy's' in life” …

How sad that even the call of a crow sounds negative to them … sad mind frame, which condemns nature itself, yet actually reflects their own thinking about the world …

 

Faith and the presence of God in the "real" world

Pictured above with my daughter is a young Dolores Catania (one of the NJ housewives) … Dolores is holding a lighted candle in her hand… we were all attending a procession in Paterson, in honor of the Virgin Mary, when this photo was taken (by me, around 1992) …

Dolores was also present during the events of 1/8/92 and witnessed firsthand hundreds of people praying before the Tabernacle at Our Lady of Pompeii Church in Paterson and many claiming miracles … Dolores and her family have deep faith and I watched her grown up … get married.. Have children… I have seen her struggles in life and saw how her faith got her through them all … Her children are delights, the eldest in Veterinary school and the youngest in college…  I remember when Dolores brought them home from the hospital, after they were born … such cute kids!

Frankie the youngest when I would see him growing up, he would tell me he prayed the rosary … a practice he still does… I saw him this past Easter and he told me he will never forget “the miracle of the small statue in Our Lady of Pompeii” and with those words Frankie took his thumb and traced a Cross on my forehead and said “Thank you Mary Jo, you are a big part of my growing up” … sweet young man filled with grace …

Frankie is considered a “dream boat” a hottie by many girls and teens… he has made movies and commercials and has his photo on book jackets … but to me he will always be that little boy… Who loved to be with his “nanna”… who loved to pray the rosary, whose heart is very kind, like his mother’s heart …

People see the glamour the actor or actress has, but not the faith … many celebrities have deep faith … one that comes to mind as I type now is Bob Hope and his wife, great talent, great love of those in the military and great faith, they always contributed to religious causes … some in my own diocese …     

Frankie  

Frankie and his mom Dolores 

Black hats and shelve babies

A couple of years ago I took an online hacking course… yes,  you can get anything on the internet! 

 Not that I want to become a hacker, first of all it is illegal and second I do not have the skill set, and hacking is a skill, a mad skill of sorts.

I took the course to understand the lingo of a hacker and learn how easy it is for those with a skill set and desire to hack into a data base … it is the wild west on the internet… Black hats versus the White Hats …

Now since I am a bit rogue myself at times or a Don Quixote always fighting windmills in life … I have to say ... I secretly admire many of the hackers … and I admire the network that brought to the public Wiki leaks … The Pentagon Papers and "Anonymous" … I do not believe the world is made safer by a select group of elitists within any government, corporation or a religion hiding things from the public ... I also admire the courage of whistle blowers, they are the modern day martyrs . 

AH … but I learned to hack spiritual graces years ago … I use the term “hack liberally” … and I am trying to teach you all how to hack into God’s grace … and it is all “virtual”… no need for a man made computer or a lot of bandwidth  … the Master computer was already given to you … your brain and the software is located in your heart … turn on this internal device by sitting down (like you would sit at your desk, when doing work on a computer) .. Sit in a pew before the tabernacle … or hey if you are bohemian like me … just sit on the floor next to the tabernacle … log onto to Jesus Christ Truly Present and you are good to go!  This conversation, with Jesus is also encrypted, just for you and you will learn valuable information from "the source", which can be applied to your life.    

No need to wear a Black hat or a White hat the God/man before you already wore this type of head gear for you …  

Video games and the brain

 the brain cannot distinguish “virtual reality from real time” … 

the brain is interrupting what is being input into it as “real” … a “pattern of neurons are formed” and the brain is slowly rewired to see “violence” as a game or even fun …

 This constant input of violence via video games is changing the thinking and reactive brain, it is normalizing asocial behavior… hopefully for most the rational brain and the frontal lobes can stop this process …

Virtual reality is used to train athletics / airline pilots/ the military / brain damaged individuals….   why just about everywhere it is used and has been proved to be just as successful as or more so than actual real time training …

So these violent video games “are not just fun” for the ones who play them … these games are changing their brain and releasing endorphins … making “death and violence pleasurable” … is it then a leap to take such behavior into the “real world” and harm society … no it is not …

Yet most modern day families allow their very young children to play these violent video games for hours’ everyday … it is prevalent in adults as well …

..... why just last week I learned of a Catholic priest who spends his “off time” playing video games … hmmm you would think a priest would spend his “off time in prayer” and try to wire his brain for grace …    

They weaponized the Eucharist

I hear many Catholics saying … so and so should not be allowed the Eucharist, they do not believe in the teachings of the church, or they do not agree with their politics …    meanwhile a pedophile priest, or a bishop that covered up such deeds just consecrated the Host … how to do you think that is sitting with God? 

Below is a photo of Michele Obama (many fundamentalist Catholics dislike her, yet these same Catholics will say “the church abuses are not so bad, it is just Satan attacking the church)…. No it is evil priests attacking / raping children, women, and seminarians, and the hierarchy covering up such deeds that is evil …

  

I am posting, the photo below to thank Michele Obama, for she was very kind to my granddaughter who is standing in front of her … Mrs. Obama knelt down to give my granddaughter a hug and a warm greeting, something my granddaughter will never forget … nor will I …. That is a kind heart of which,  we are all called to have …

And the Eucharist is not a dog treat given for good behavior or for those who think like us … the Eucharist is the True Presence of Jesus Christ and when you step between Christ and soul he seeks to save … good luck on that one when you meet Him face to face one day!   

How are you representing the household you came from

When my eldest daughter was in the Oval Office of the White House meeting President George W. Bush of the United States (which she did many years ago)  or in a foreign embassy speaking to leaders of other Nations, she is on some level  a representation of the “household she came out of”, the person who “raised her”, which is me ... 

When my children were growing up I was a strict parent on many levels .. I also insisted on such things as table manners, how to properly greet someone, always remember your please and thank you... I actually sent my daughters to a course in a "finishing school" on how to stand, sit and walk properly if you were in a reception line (proper manners a must for me) ... also they were taught what forks , knives, spoons and glasses to use when eating at formal dinners ... I wanted my daughters to be well educated, well mannered and "polished"... and I remember telling them "I do not want you to embarrass me one day,  when you are sitting with the President of the United States or with a foreign leader"... I did not know back then those words would turn out be a prophecy,  for indeed that is just what they did in life ... 

We  all on some level representing the household we come out of  ... be it a good or bad home life (I marvel at those who come from a negative background and become successful) ... we are product of nature and nurture ... but some just have such inner grit to make it ... I salute you ...  

But let me speak to our "common household" from which we all stem, as children of God ...

You know you are "representing our Dad in heaven", everyday of your life ... so get out there in life and make daddy God proud of you ... if you need extra help just ask him , he will send a few of his angels to assist you ... he even sent his only begotten son to do the same ...   

My daughter shaking the hand of President George W Bush in the oval office.  This daughter was also the youngest female member of the National Security Council, under Condoleezza Rice and my daughter was also a fellow with the prestigious Brookings Institute, the think tank in Washington, DC… Thus dispelling the common notion and stigmata placed on many single parent households that you are doing your child a disservice raising them as such. It is your value system and who you are as a parent (single or married) that produces successful adult children …