I should have published the news yesterday, but latest interview to Vittorio Messori ended up occupying all my spare time.
It's Friday, I've decided to fast from Italian newspapers until the elections.
Here the news according to ANSA: Pope Benedict XVI at a European People's Party...

reiterated the three "non-negotiable principles" which the Roman Catholic Church would like to see become cornerstones of European politics.
Society should be shaped so as to defend human life from conception to its natural end, promote traditional marriage as the basis of the family, and safeguard the right of parents to educate their children, he said.

Once again: note how he clearly stated the minimal set of principles asserted by the Church leaving their implementation to the "faithful creativity" of the listeners.
Clearly, rather than European, they are universal principles.

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Dear readers, please pray for the intentions of Aelianus. I am just a blind man, "I hear men speak, but I cannot see them", my prayer is not enough.

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Designed by Michelangelo, the dome was completed after his death.
I am not at all competent in the field and I would not be able to provide an informative description of it. I leave the task of describing and designing similar masterpieces to the current generation of talented architects.
I hope I am not infringing any copyright.

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Yesterday's Night Waves programme was quite interesting. For some reason Carmen Calill just avoided to comment on Primo Levi.
Several years ago I was just looking for meaning, as usual, and I really needed to find the central point of my active life, that is how I had to spend my energies without having to rely on anybody else (and I really mean anybody else).
During this search it just happened to me to find Sistema Periodico. I had not read anything by Levi before. I started reading and chapter after chapter I found pleasure and consolation in that consistent, rational prose.
I ended up reading other books written by him (Se questo e' un uomo, of course, La tregua).
It happened several years ago, so I don't really remember much of the Sistema Periodico as a book.
The chapter that I want to mention, though, is Cromo where he describes the way he recovered a considerable amount of paint which had changed state.
It was so fascinating: in general, it is difficult to write about the gratification you feel in a technical field after your repeated efforts succeed.
You really think you have done something useful for everybody and your increased competence gives you self-confidence.
Interestingly enough, from the incredibly detailed biography written by Ian Thomson, which I have not read (yet), I copy the following quotation:

Each of us is three different people: the person we really are, the person we believe we are, and the person other people see us as.

Levi's writings are really worth reading.

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I have to apologise with my dear readers: I started to have my usual (study instead of work)/reading/life-maintenance rhythms. So I cannot dedicate much time to the blog at the moment.
Tobit Chapter 2 yesterday. Note v7

I went and dug a grave and buried him.

and compare with Raguel in 8,18/20

And he (Raguel) made his servants fill the grave in before dawn broke.

I would say: The radical respect that Tobit has for human beings (soul and body) is awarded with an empty tomb.

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Some good news in a time of resurgence of nationalisms: according to BBC there should be a European driving licence in a not so far future. It will substitute the old ones between 2012 and 2032.

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Spring is here, temperatures are gradually increasing, although there is still some rain from time to time.

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Yes, ok, I am spending part of my extra free time reading something in newspapers.
Today's homily by Pope Benedict recalls some of what was intended to be the last homily of John Paul II on the 3rd of April 2005 (Osservatore Romano had already published it).
From Corriere:

All'umanità che talora sembra smarrita e dominata dal potere del male, dell'egoismo e della paura il Signore risorto offre in dono il suo amore che perdona, riconcilia e apre l'animo alla speranza: è amore che converte i cuori e dona la pace.

Which I would render with:

To the humanity that sometimes seems lost and controlled by the power of evil, selfishness and fear, the resurrected Lord offers his love as a gift that forgives, reconciles, opens the soul to hope: love that converts the hearts and give peace.

From Repubblica:

Quanto bisogno ha il mondo di comprendere e di accogliere la Divina misericordia

Rendered with:

Indeed the world needs to understand and welcome the Divine mercy.

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Reading an interesting article on the Independent:

Salt is woven into the practice and symbolism of many religions, given as a blessing or used to keep away evil spirits - the tradition persists that if you throw salt over your left shoulder you will keep away the devil, or at least ward off bad luck.

Interestingly enough there is a similar tradition in the region in which I was born: to keep away the devil you should put some salt in the corners of your house. Definitely superstitious.

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Last Summer, when I was in Trento, I had the luck of finding a very interesting (to me) exhibition on the measurement of time. The section related to the invention of night clocks as a consequence of the insomnia of Pope Alexander VII is probably more interesting to my readers.
Waiting is not easy, but it gives you the clear dimension of your life: everything depends on God.
The image, as far as I know, is not covered by copyright.

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According to Repubblica Pope Benedict wrote a letter to Hamid Karzai, president of Afghanistan, asking clemency for Abdul Rahman, the young Muslim converted to Christianity who is risking the death penalty.

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Daylight saving time tonight.

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Sometimes I wonder whether Tobit could be a theatrical script.
Tobit 1,20:

nothing was left me but my wife Anna and my son Tobias.

I mean: it's a simple and short sentence, but it means he had to start his life again.
Where did he find the strength and spiritual resources...?
Do I really have to answer?

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Shibboleth. What kind of arcane hermeneutics do you need to understand this word...
... It looks like the etymology derives from Judges 12,6.

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Just hoping to see some sunshine this week-end.

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No doubt this year the festival will be very interesting.
I only hope I will still be here...

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...nam in omni aduersitate fortunae infelicissimum est genus infortunii fuisse felicem.
-- Boethius

That is:

in every adverse change of fortune having been happy is the most unhappy kind of misfortune.

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A view of the great hall and the South east tower built in the 15th century.
There has been some sunshine these last days, but the weather is still unstable: today it snowed again for some minutes.
I'm actively waiting for my interview. God only knows how it will result.
Honestly, I feel a bit empty and lacking purpose. Without a timescale it's difficult to plan anything.

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The meeting with the Edinburgh University Jewish Society has been postponed, probably. Now I am disappointed...

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Yesterday was the turn of Tb 10. My eyes stopped at 12/13

Never make her unhappy as long as you live.

The question would be: why is the sentence referring to unhappiness rather than happiness?
It just looks to me that the phrase establishes a boundary under which neither of the spouses should ever go.
On the other hand, there is no limit for happiness and 8,21/24 speaks of restoring the original state: happiness remains a gift of the Lord, always.

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The donjon was intended as a residence capable of being defended by a small garrison, in case the remainder of the castle fell into enemy hands.
Before being partially destroyed in 1337, it was 20m in diameter with walls 4.6m thick.
The picture shows the original side, that is, the one which has not been re-built.
The castle has been described as

the grandest piece of secular architecture that the Middle Ages have bequeathed to us in Scotland.

by whom, the leaflet does not say.

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Father's day in Italy.
Saint Joseph is the patron saint of people who work. Here an excerpt from today's message of Pope Benedict (from Repubblica):

...è indispensabile che l'uomo non si lasci asservire dal lavoro, che non lo idolatri, pretendendo di trovare in esso il senso ultimo e definitivo della vita.

Which I would render with:

it is essential that man is not enslaved by work, that he does not worship it, pretending to find in his job the ultimate and definitive meaning of life.

And from Corriere:

Occorre vivere una spiritualità che aiuti i credenti a santificarsi attraverso il proprio lavoro...

that is:

It is necessary to live a spirituality that helps the believers to become saint through their work...

Saint Joseph, pray for me, even if you are not my patron saint.

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This collections of stones from the sea of Galilee is just outside the main door of the Church of the sacred Heart here in Edinburgh. The parish is served by a Jesuit community.

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Yes, Tobit contains the Golden Rule in negative form. Tb 4,15: "Do to no one what you would not want done to you". It is also in the Gospels (Mt 7,12; Lk 6,31 [positive form]). Here a concise Jewish story about the same rule.

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Theatre night yesterday. "The Saint of Bleecker Street" by Gian Carlo Menotti.
It was very Italian indeed, of the post second world war generation.
As far as my experience is concerned they managed to realistically represent the atmosphere existing in a popular italian southern neighbourood (the opera is set in NY, though).
Convincing performance in a difficult role for Annina (yes, this is what I think).
Michele is a controversial figure: the fact that he does not believe in God render his world fragmented. He is split among different forms of love that he cannot unify. He is unable to choose, while all other characters are clearly defined almost since the beginning.
Unfortunately, I could not find the libretto, so I cannot better characterise the conflicts of the opera.
Yesterday was Friday, so here the Cast: Janet de Vigne, Alexander Anderson-Hall, Helen Brown, Emma Morwood, Ivor Klayman, Alison Beck, Philip Moynihan, Damaris Chalmers, Christopher Young, Andrew Fraser, Ginny Wilson, Kenny McLeod.
Bravi tutti!

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Have you ever visited Jerusalem? Well, if you want to understand Monotheism that's an experience that must be done.
Although different, the three religions have lived and interacted together throughout time, until our days.
Knowing each other is more than simply a kind gesture: is understanding how our own faith has developed and why in specific circumstances, specific choices have been made.
Here a site on Jewish history that looks very interesting: it's a database of links selected by people at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. It contains scriptural references as well.
I'll be looking for something similar for Christianity and Islam.

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You don't really expect a treatise on scriptures from me, do you? This is just to say that scriptures cannot be used to predict the future (that's magic, not religion). They are useful to discern the values at stake in your daily life and to decide consequently. Everybody's free will is always respected, so a literal reading of Revelation, for instance, is definitely misleading.

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Have you ever seen "The last supper?". It's a surprising film.
I watched it several years ago in Italian on TV.
I imagine it is meant to show that the real problem in politics is to find out who the deceiver is (an interesting variation on "whodunnit"). And this is a problem indeed, in every situation.
Clearly, the director is a woman.
One day, maybe, women will be able to exert their real charisma in politics: demanding sincerity.

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Again. It is certainly pleasant if you are at home and have an efficient heating system. However, It should be almost Spring...

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Thinking about Rm 9. It is astonishing how the scriptures show their meaning in the most difficult moments of your life.
Consistency is important, painful but important, dear readers.

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So at the end, I resigned, dear readers.
You cannot work for somebody who does not trust you.
I am writing this because of the good people who still work for my ex-company: I am sorry.
I had the entire week to think about my intentions and the issues I had with the company.
I intended to re-start, but from the discussion (and I have to tell that I discussed thoroughly, with good persons) it was clear that the issues would have not been solved.
What am I going to do now? I don't know yet: I would like to stay in this Country which offers more possibilities than mine for people with my skills.
However, really, only God knows.
Sometimes, the values in which you believe may cost you your job.

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Not really. It will be at 9.30 pm. This week, Night Waves looks quite interesting. Brace yourself and listen.

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Here we are: the long awaited post. Last Wednesday the Catholic Chaplaincy and the Catholic Students' Union organised a meeting with Mr. Andrew Soane, spokesman of Opus Dei.
Do not run away, please, read the whole post, you may find it interesting. The meeting was about the allegations contained in the book Da Vinci Code.
In actual fact, the meeting was subdivided in two parts, the first one was about the Da Vinci code, the second was more about Opus Dei.
I have not read the book, I will certainly watch the film. I would have expected a puntual refutation of the allegations following the line of the story (which, it seems, is about denying the divinity of Jesus).
Unfortunately, he only outlined some main points (was Jesus married? Were the sacred texts maliciously edited? What's gnosticism?) without much detail and without any further bibliographic references.
An author of fiction can, in her/his works, write whatever (s)he wants.
However, a meticulous author of fiction, usually, sets rules and abides by those rules throughout the entire story. Historical facts are usually researched and faithfully represented in their minimal details. It looks like this book doesn't care much about history.
The second part was more interesting. I had never met anyone from Opus Dei before, and, like you, I have heard many unpleasant stories about their activities so I really wanted to listen to them directly.
Here is what I found out: Everybody is called to holiness (yeees!), and their charism is in offering spiritual (and spiritual only) assistance in order to sanctify the action of their members in the world through their ordinary work ("Which job is better? Whichever is done with greater love for God.").
The founder, Josemaría Escrivá was canonised by John Paul II in 2002 (Wikipedia entry...).
My impression is that they greatly emphasise authority and sacrifice where I am used to a method which is more biased towards consistency awareness and physical activity (as a search for purpose), but considering that they are under the authority of Peter (the Pope), and that their purpose is to become saints rather than to rule the world, I would not multiply useless words about it.
They have been attacked and have the right to reply. Give them the possibility to defend themselves: go and listen to them yourself, thoroughly.
Ah: "There are no monks in Opus Dei, so there are no albino assassins either".

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Another reflection about Tobit. The very book that speaks of life and how the mystery of its source is renewed in every couple of spouses, is, in actual fact, full of references to the negation of life: death.
Here the episodes that I found (if you find more, please let me know):

1,18/21: Sennacherib killed a great number of Israelites
2,3: One of our nation has just been murdered
3,6: Be pleased to take your life from me (Tobit)
3,10: Very dramatic: a suicide attempt. Sarah intends to hang herself. She doesn't do it because this could cause the death of her father.
4,2: Tobit is convinced he will die, I don't think that he expects that God has listened to his prayers, it is more likely that he expects to be punished for what he asked.
6,4-3: The fish is killed
6,14: 7 husbands were killed by a demon
7,9: A sheep is killed.
8,19-20: Two oxen, 4 sheep are killed.

Clearly, you wonder whether you have the right to live, given that even today a great number of people die for various and non-understandable reasons.
My answer: it is not up to you to decide whether you have to live or die. You can only choose how to spend the love you are capable of, and accept the consequences, often bitter and unpleasant.

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Some days ago I was looking for a quiet place to gather my thoughts.
Well, astonishingly enough, I found it.
In this garden, which is under the care of the National Trust for Scotland, I found this four yews (Taxus baccata), affectionately known as 'Four Disciples'.
They are the survivors of a group of 12 trees, probably planted around 1635.
Unfortunately, 8 of them were felled by a previous owner of the property as recently as 1961.
Dear readers, I am experiencing a cold (what a Lent!), my activities are a little bit slowed down...

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Swimming is not a sport: is actually a philosophy. A sort of life-style. It's a way of controlling your body so that it can achieve a purpose.
It is a twofold activity: breathing is the base, it gives you the rhythm, the pace. It allows you to control how you apply your energy.
Then you need to stay focused on your movements. It is not about where you have to go, which is still important, but how you progress, your target is not external, but inside you. The less you manage to resist to the water, the faster you go. The more your movements are coordinated, the more you feel confident in yourself.
I made a terrible mistake in stopping physical activity. Well, I am re-starting.

As a reading:

I don't know the way I was joined to the body, nor how, at the same time, I can be the image of God and a mixture of mud. In actual fact, even when the body is healty, it hurries me, and presses me violently, causing suffering.
I love the body as a friend, but I hate it as an enemy and an opponent; I try to escape it like a prison, I venerate it as a co-heir. If I try to weaken it, I won't find an ally and a collaborator that I can use in the most eminent challenges, not forgetting that I was created exactly for this reason: to ascend, that is, with my actions, to God.
If, instead, I would behave in a more docile way towards the body, that is as with a collaborator, I would not know how to escape its rebellious violence and to avoid going far from God, under the weight of those restraints which stop me and drag me to the ground.
As an enemy, the body is weak, as a friend it is deceitful. How extraordinary this union and contraddiction is! What I fear, I embrace; what I love I fear greatly. Before fighting it, I reconcile with it; before making peace, I quarrel with that.
What kind of Wisdom is this that I am experiencing? What kind of mystery? Maybe God allows this, so that we, being His ownership and coming from Heaven, while we exhalt ourselves and we become proud because of our dignity, don't despise the Creator, and because of that fight and that enmity that exists between us and the body, never distract our eyes from Him.
Consequently, that infirmity that was joined to us slows down and coerces our dignity so that we can understand that we are great and at the same time despicable, earthly and heavenly, perishable and immortal, heirs of light and fire, or of darkness according to which condition we tend.
This our mixture, as far as I can understand, happens so that given that the image of the divine dignity made proud our souls, the dust, instead, depresses them and curbs them...
But now (...), what has to be done, brothers, is to take care of the body as a relative and a friend. Although, in fact, I accused it as an enemy because of those disturbances that it causes to the soul, nonetheless considering He who established and realised such union, I will have to embrace my body as a friend.

Saint Gregory of Nazianzus - Discourses, XIV, on the love for the poors 6-8.

The translation is mine, from this italian version. Sorry for the mistakes.

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I have started to suspect that the number of my readers is greater than I thought. That does not make me happy: it makes me scared. A cloister is a quiet place for reflection.
I don't have time nor resources nor qualifications to make of this my primary occupation.
This blog is about looking for God in your normal life, humbly and sincerely. Within my time limits and with His help, I intend to continue to submit some of my thoughts.

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Yesterday, I spent a good hour talking to one of the Dominicans at the University Parish.
Do you have any idea of how important speaking with someone who is actually listening to you is?
It looks like the Church, here, has not got much space for unmarried lay people of my age. Sadly, people are not interested at all in spirituality, nowadays.
God Bless you Father. I will definitely be involved in the spiritual activities of your Parish, God willing.

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In 1990, when I was still in the Scout movement, which in Italy is mainly Catholic, I had the unique possibility to participate to a Bible camp lead by Rinaldo Fabris.
It was extraordinary: less than 30 people in a picturesque location in North of Italy studying "Music in the Bible".
Toward the end of the activities he told us: "When you feel sad and depressed" - like I am now - "remember the psalm 117, which is extremely concise and joyful".
Here the text from JB:

Alleluia!
Praise Yahweh, all nations,
extol him, all you peoples!
For his love is strong,
his faithfulness eternal.

Hey, il Signore fa bene tutte le cose.

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What a fantastic sea, is it not? This is a view of the strait of Messina from Calabria. One day there may even be a bridge there.
Today, after a long time, I went to swim. I needed it. At the end my heart was ruminating: Fiat voluntas tua, Domine. Really.

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A couple of days ago I was in prayer, and while in such prayer, suddenly i felt I was praying for nothing.
That's what angels are about: spiritual consolations and desolations, folks.
I have been working for a company which did not hesistate to put me under intense (and unfair) pressure so that I could give the maximum for their ...minimum effort.
What do I want? Well: you have my loyal and qualified service at work: stay away from my personal life!

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...dear readers, what a week! Those who think that life is boring should start looking for a purpose in theirs.
So, there is still some snow left around so I decided not to visit any new place. Of course I had the usual week-end cleaning and washing to do.
What do you do in days like this, if you want to relax? I watched a film, of course.
Which one? I like Kubrick and I miss the kind of films he was able to make. Is there anyone out there who has inherited his eyes?
Now, I decided to watch Barry Lyndon, which I saw dubbed in Italian many years ago. After these years that I spent in Scotland the film becomes much clearer.
I suppose that it is built so that it can prove that there are no winners in this life, whatever your skills, abilities or talents may be.
Kubrick managed to conjugate the story with an excellent soundtrack. Absolutely riveting.
If you haven't seen it, you should.

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It snowed yesterday. Unexpectedly, I would say. Walking under the snow gives you a strange feeling. I had forgotten it. You are in the same places as before, but everything looks different, a sort of a desert. It's unusual.
The picture was, in actual fact, taken one year ago.

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The 'discipline of Lent' as the intelligent Cardinal o'Brien called it during Ash Wednesday Mass, is particularly useful to discern the beasts of the Soul and everybody has got some.
Speaking of which, Tobit is almost a cinematic experience, vivid and descriptive as the story progresses. Yesterday, reading 11,16, I remembered that somewhere I read of a link between Tobit and guide dogs. Undoubtedly, I need one.

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Eia ergo, dear readers. The Chapel of the Crucifixion in the Cathedral of Trento (1682). Here there was the promulgation of the decrees of the Council of Trento.
Easter is one day closer: may the Lord, through His Passion and Resurrection transform our lives in pure joy and thankfulness spent for His eternal glory.

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There are people who are free to fly. They move with mysterious grace and they can see further than others. Sometimes they are called shepherds. In actual fact, they are flying people.

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