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As we are on the eve of a classic TEOLAWKI week I thought we ought to take some time in contemplative reflection to prepare us for the turbulent times ahead. Like many of you I'm sure, I turn to Bishop Headley's Retreat, a classic tome from 1894.



Now let's turn to Chapter XX " Poverty", pages 229 and 230.

Consider, first of all, certain evil effects of affluence or possession.
First, it causes attachment - binding the heart and will as with fetters to the things of the earth.
Next, it causes anxiety; occupying the mind, filling the heart with trouble, taking up time and attention.
Thirdly, it causes pride and vanity; the man who is owner or proprietor feels a security, a sense of power, a flattering superiority, which lifts him up in self-satisfaction.

Hence the hearts of the well-to-do are generally hard; whilst a man's thorough conversion often results from his losing everything he has.

Next, reflect upon some of the advantages of Poverty. First, it removes many temptations....such as dishonesty, sensuality, impurity. The poor man, if he love his poverty, is sheltered from the troubled atmosphere where the devil has his own way; the occasions of sin pass him by.

Bishop Headley then moves to say (obviously getting going now):

..it makes a holocaust of our bodies. With its accompanying hardships, its manifold sting, its searching humiliation, it is a continuous and lifelong mortification of the flesh.

I hope this short lesson helps. I may post more as the week progresses.

In the meantime I wish upon the bankers, politicians and economists, the last paragraph above, courtesy of John Cuthbert Headley, OSB.

That's interesting. More please, that we may contemplate further.

I was wondering if Bishop Brennan* has written a similar book?

* From Wikipedia - Bishop Brennan is the reason that Ted, Dougal and Jack are imprisoned on the hellish Craggy Island. As their superior, he had the responsibility of punishing them for un-priest like crimes they have committed. He is strong-willed and strict, with a notorious phobia of rabbits and a rumoured son in America. He strikes fear into Father Ted Crilly, who constantly tries to avoid Bishop Brennan whenever possible. He dislikes being called 'Len', yet Dougal calls him this repeatedly.

Bishop Brennan can be seen as being hypocritical and decadent and in many ways just as bad as Ted in his vindictiveness. His lifestyle makes for a scathing criticism of the supposed "privilege" in the Catholic church, with numerous scenes wherein he calls Ted from obviously luxurious surroundings, once even settling into a bath with a naked woman while Ted and the others live comfortably in relative squalor.

Ha! Fantastic. According to Wikipedia this chap was educated at Ampleforth College, the "Catholic Eton"

You couldn't make it up!

Bishop Headley's Retreat sounds like an irish reel ...

Sarge wrote:Ha! Fantastic. According to Wikipedia this chap was educated at Ampleforth College, the "Catholic Eton"

You couldn't make it up!

Quite common for the rich to say how great it is to be poor.
They never normally bother to become poor, however.
Jarvis Cocker wrote a song about it...

Being lectured by the Pope and Archbishop of Cantebury from their palaces about poverty is a common occurrence.

Whoops, I've spelt the poor bloke's name incorrectly. Should read Hedley, not Headley.

Next, reflect upon some of the advantages of Poverty. First, it removes many temptations....such as dishonesty

Au contraire.

IMHO the levels of dishonesty, petty crime, burglary and social unrest are about to increase as the people of this fine nation are plunged headlong into a new age of grinding poverty.

Bedrock Barney wrote:Whoops, I've spelt the poor bloke's name incorrectly. Should read Hedley, not Headley.

A common mistake, but as long as you don't call him Len.