Rosary Secrets- A look at the dedication of Our Lord and Saviour, Illustrious, and Divine- Jesus, our Lord, Son of Mary, child in Jerusalem

(Journey in a Broken World)

Article by Marc Aupiais

It is not a sad event when Jesus, our Christ, chooses to comply with his culture, and its rules, in fact- it is as glorious as the light shining on the girl's extravagant dresses, and the shadows falling over the boys suits, for their first Holy Communion.

It is no sad event when Jesus is circumcised, and no sad event when he becomes a man in Jewish culture, and is presented to God, as the firstborn child.

When Jesus fought his culture like a suffering crocodile in drought- he was not fighting its foundation, but something foreign to it. When he called the Pharisees, and Suddacees snakes- Vipers even, he was apposing something which was fighting for the very soul of his culture, and from within the very positions designed by men, even Holy men- to safeguard the essence of the powerful Jewish culture.

Anything bad within a culture, is surely not distinctive- sin is banal- and sin is everywhere- simply because it is the done thing does not mean we should set it high on clouds as culture. Culture is distinctive. Culture is that which separates the life and truth of one society from all others. A culture is something beautiful and to be preserved, it lies in nuance, it lies in language, it lies in the ways in which people manifest God. The parts of a culture, which are sinful- are just as evil as any disease, these must never be preserved, because in the end they will destroy utterly the cultures which harbor them.

In essence, every culture is now undergoing the fight between the True culture, and the Culture which does not exist, which fights to destroy true culture, though pretending to be something at all, except plain and simple depraved perversity.

As the war for truth is so powerfully fought in the valleys and mountains and waves, and dunes, and winds and hurricanes- of what is culture, let us always most strongly represent the Catholic Culture, the simple and kind righteousness, the devotion to the Rosary, to Prayer, Mass, Sacraments, Mary, Saints, and actions. Let us not Hide it- let us be firstly Catholic and then whatever culture we represent so far as this benefits God.

Attacks on the Catholic Idea of naming saints after where they come from also are evil, and sinful- in as much as they are illogical. Saints reflect not only their Catholicism, but it is in such a way as to affect their own culture, and often- will a saint manifest all or many of the best traits of their area of residence, while holding none of the bad. Our culture is our heritage, and must be respected, but the part of culture to be respected is the part which saves us from sin and sinful perversity.

Ultimately, every culture finds its hight and summit in respect of truth, in not supremacist hatred of foreigners, but rather in defending its own territory, which also allows respecting what is just in others cultures, even helping these cultures to refine their good over their evil, and sometimes allowing this within themselves, by letting some traits of cultures be lessened or made greater. This is why, ultimately, every culture is united in the Catholic Church, it is the hight and salvation of all. Only through Catholicism, do we find the universal culture which united and unites all people in Christ. It is through realization of what man is, by truly understanding what his source- God is, and how exactly man's status, and dignity was raised by Jesus' incarnation, that we truly are able to manifest the true elements- instilled by God, in every nation's culture.

As Catholics, we are universal, but we are also local- let us firstly be universal, and where necessary- local. Let us firstly gain great respect for our Catholic heritage, and history, and then also for what is good in our own cultures. By what is good in a culture, let us destroy what is bad in it, let us not falsely glorify the goodness in our national cultures, as the cultures of small groups often have flaws, and it is by highlighting both the strengths and the weaknesses of our culture, in a positively true portrait of events, that we are both prevented from despising utterly our people, and from supremacism.

Let us therefor anchor our cultures in their purpose for having good, and purpose, Christ, through the church, the pillar and foundation of truth (I Timothy chapter 3 verse 15)- which always, if its own integrity is preserved, should preserve what is good in culture, and destroy if not utterly what is evil. It is not Catholicism that needs changing by culture, but cultures, who need refining by the mysteries of faith. These cultures include Catholic cultures, these cultures include the cultures within the church in various countries. The culture of those who claim to be Catholic, so often is not Catholic at all. The true hope of every Catholic is Christ, and for this- we do not need to too much be part of our culture, rather- a culture is most richly enlivened, by righteous diversity- so far as its soul is to be preserved.

I am firstly Catholic, and then I am whatever else I am, for in Catholicism, my goodness is sucked from the depths of reality, and made to be- a masterpiece it ever will shine- of true beauty, of that which is made real through faith.

Culture also- can be utterly local, or result in organizations, or in heritage of ancestors, or so much else, yet culture which is good- is what is good and proportionate in culture. It is through truth that we conquer evil, through truth, love, respect, justice, and sometimes through the utter destruction of structure of evil, even to the extent that sometimes the church has sought to rid society of some persons, and seldom governments also do. Let us never respect what is evil in a culture, rather, let us learn from the good in cultures, and in Christ, by truly making them good, by calling out and obeying their counterparts from within the Faith.