Do you shrink from hearing about the suffering of Our Lord? Blessed Anna has a few words for you and me

 

We ought, indeed, to be ashamed of that weakness and susceptibility which renders us unable to listen composedly to the descriptions, or speak without repugnance, of those sufferings which our Lord endured so calmly and patiently for our salvation. The horror we feel is as great as that of a murderer who is forced to place his hands upon the wounds he himself has inflicted on his victim. Jesus endured all without opening his mouth; and it was man, sinful man, who perpetrated all these outrages against one who was at once their Brother, their Redeemer, and their God. I, too, am a great sinner, and my sins caused these sufferings. 

                                                            ------From The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord, Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of blessed Anna Catherine Emmerich

Two Lent Ideas

 How's your Lent going? If you feel like you're not making progress here's two fantastic helps for your

 spiritual journey in these precious days. The Great Fast program from St. Michael's Abbey and Fr.

 Edward Looney's daily readings from The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord, Jesus Christ. 

A few truths that surprised me when I was younger

 

• Canadians aren't all that nicer than anybody else. In fact, after years of reading Canadian news articles and the comments responding to them  I was shocked many, many times. Americans are raised to revere and sympathize with Indians. Average guy and gal Canadians expressed criticism, annoyance and downright disgust about their tribal people. A whole lot Canadians aren't fond of Indians from India have some downright aggressive things to say about Jamaicans as well. 
  
  
  
  
  
• The biggest racists I've ever come across were not Southerners.  Most of the time it's New Yorkers, Bostonians or folks from Chicago. The ones in my age range tend to be people who survived the bussing era and are still pissed about being forced to be social experiment victims. 
  
  
  
  
  
• Never mind what the travel gurus tell you, stay in the tourist areas when in foreign countries and seriously rethink that Third World trip.   

• One of the easiest ways to irritate the boss ladies at your parish is to volunteer for whatever group the ladies run and make a suggestion. At my old parish it took death, retirement and relocation and a strong pastor to  tame the hostiles and make them to be civil towards new people joining. 

• Accepting and obeying your doctor's every word could get you killed or at least affect your health. I've met  doctors who disliked and evaded questions about treatment. It is common that I assume medical students are given a class on gaslighting before graduating.  Once I asked  a former primary care physician   whether it was worth taking a low dose aspirin each day, something that the medical profession has been pushing for decades. The doctor looked uncomfortable and told me no, and that doctors never recommended this. It was just a thing popular culture came up with. That was the problem of Googling and doing your own research, she said condescendingly. Well research is my business.  Being a librarian, I checked Mayo, Johns Hopkins, JAMA and the American Medical Association who all spoke of daily aspirin therapy and the pros and cons, confirming what I'd seen and heard for as long I could remember  and  I never went back to that doctor's office.  

random thoughts on Sunday afternoon

•  Thousands of people died yesterday, over 3000 in the US alone. Obviously, none of these people was Jorge Bergoglio. He's 88, has one lung and mathematically he's closer to the grave than the cradle but never measure a man for his shroud until he starts actively dying. That sounds grim but Pope Francis may outlive some of the people who are anticipating his death. This is in God's hands and God's will be done. I don't feel the same way about Francis that I did about JPII so until I see that he's recovered and going home or he's dead I'm not fixating on the medical updates and rumors. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
• I read something extremely sad last night. A woman was complaining that she can't get close to her pastor because the rectory staff gatekeeps his schedule and after Mass, he's always swarmed by families who want to talk to him. She's been trying for months. The poor woman doesn't realize that she sounds like a stalker. If I was a parish secretary and a woman kept coming in demanding an appointment with Father for several months because she wants to invite him to dinner I'd be a bit unnerved by her. Folks, you don't own your priest. You don't have the right to demand that he be your buddy. Frankly, if you're a single woman or an unhappily married woman you really need to restrict your interactions with a handsome young priest to the sacraments.
  
  Rocky and I were blessed to have a wonderful relationship with our former pastor and parochial vicar. We didn't just respect them, we loved them. We don't have that with the pastor and parochial vicar we have now. I like them and they always smile and chat with us when they see us but it's not the same. I didn't expect it to be. Personal relationships have to develop naturally. They aren't owed and can't be forced. 
  
  
  
  
  
• IVF is an obscene and anti-human practice. Your husband is treated like a stud boar except instead of being tricked into doing what comes naturally, he's given porn, told to masturbate and then ejaculate into a cup, which the staff will collect. In order to get one "perfect" baby you will need to create multiple tiny lives and most of them will be destroyed or frozen indefinitely.
  
   I fully understand women who say they are suffering because they cannot have a longed for baby. Infertility and pregnancy loss is...painful. Time dulls it and you will think that you have overcome it but  this love that cannot live, yet never dies will surprise you from time to time.  You will look at your relatives who are doing a terrible job with their kids and you will burn with sudden anger. You will, as I did a few months ago,  be going along, minding your own business and having a good day when   you  glance over at a nursery school and the thought pops into your head that it would have so beautiful to see your son's wonder and imagination grow each day and that thought will  cause a physical hurt so bad you have restrain yourself from screaming. 
  
   One day the Good Lord will tell us  childless women why we, out of all the women in the world have this particular cross to bear  but until then we have to deal with it. I was not owed a child. None of us is.  God permits IVF to exist for now, but He does not approve of it. Every child is a gift from God but if you used IVF to get him or her here, you committed a sin and will  have to answer for it. Every one of those children that were created in the lab and then killed will be witnesses against you on the day of your particular judgment.  
  
  
  
  
  
• At the end of Mass, Fr. announced that the Bishop's Lenten Appeal will start next week. When we were in the parking lot Rocky, commented that he's glad we'll miss it because we will be out of town next Sunday. We both giggled like bad children. I'm sorry for Fr. and all the priests of the diocese because I don't the BLA is going to go smoothly this year at all.

Let me tell you what Catholic Charities Did For Me and My Old Neighbors

 I've written about this several times but Catholic Charities and the Episcopalians brought a lot of Somalis to my complex seemingly overnight back in 2005. It was Hell. The smell of stewing goat tripe in the hallway, the women who had never seen a modern stove accidentally setting fires at least once and sometimes twice a week, families who had never seen modern plumbing before and kept flooding the bathroom and damaging the washing machines was all an experience you wouldn't want to live with.  I once got on an elevator and the man already on it retreated to a corner and looked like a Vulcan going through Pon Farr. I was on my way to work. I am a librarian. My hair, hands and legs should not have reduced anyone in the Western world to a quivering mass.

Stuff like this ruined the quiet enjoyment that tenants in any building, much less an expensive one,  have a right to and drove many of my long time neighbors out.  One neighbor couldn't take it anymore and went back to West Virginia. Another loaded up his moving truck and made the trek to Florida. Still another neighbor retired and bought himself  an RV. He went to the Eastern Shore of Virginia and was so happy to be leaving. This wasn't just snooty white people if anyone is thinking that.  The Ethiopian family that lived next door to me and the cool Ghanaian couple  down the hall, wished me well and moved out at the end of the first month. There were so many complaints that  most of the immigrants/refugees were resettled elsewhere but it took so long that many people couldn't wait.

Things settled down but damage was done to the complex and to the residents who toughed it out and refused to leave our home. It all came back me with memories as strong as carrion on a Summer day, when I read the most recent item on Complicit Clergy.     The good folks at that site wrote about a self righteous post on Twitter made by some PR person at Catholic Charities  and the furious responses to it.  One woman woman commented thusly and boy oh boy, do I understand what she's talking about  : 

@americancatass: Your human trafficking operation ruined our lives for 2 years. We had to spend $2500 to break our lease to flee from our apartment of 6 years because you filled it with illegals. You are traitors to the American people and I hope your “charity” is bankrupted.

  

Say no to Catholic Charities

 

• "Catholic Charities" video tells illegal immigrants: "You do not need to speak to the immigration authorities or answer any questions." pic.twitter.com/kZ9QgzAE2e

— Fr. Dave Nix (@FrDaveNix) January 27, 2025

• I don't give to Catholic Charities and I think when Catholics start waking up and realizing how much of a cash cow immigration services is, more people will keep their wallets closed when the second collection basket is passed around. 

 

Inauguration Day

 I'm watching the Inauguration. I'm amazed by young Barron Trump's poise and when did Cardinal Dolan lose some weight? I'm almost afraid to go to work tomorrow because the wailing and gnashing of my deeply Democrat workplace is going to be epic and keeping a neutral expression as I make comforting sounds to the hysterics is going be a challenge. 

Random thoughts on Christmas Eve

 

• It's Christmas Eve and after holding back all Advent my tree is up, the presents are under it and thanks to the cleaning lady it's looking respectable in here. Secular Christmas is always hard on Rocky because his parents are dead and his brother is estranged. The family was Baptist and in their denomination it was perfectly fine to come to church two or three times a year as long as you tithed, so it's only the secular stuff that he has to fill his memories. He concentrates and finds joy in the purely Catholic feast and it's not really Christmas for him until Midnight Mass. I'm doing Prime Rib for dinner for the first time and I really hope I don't mess it up.

• Please don't show the film of that poor woman on the New York subway. It just adds to her family's suffering. To those who ask why nobody helped her I'll just say this. In New York City the people claim to be tough but really they're just terrified and a bit apathetic.  When the lion attacks; what do the antelope do? They run. They may feel some sympathy for Fred, the antelope who was next to them a few minutes ago but they are mainly concerned with the fact that while the lion is satisfied with Fred, they are free to go on with their day. The NYC subway is a dangerous place. Crime including rape, assault, robbery, and murder happen there on a regular basis and if you are a tourist and still want to go to NYC, stay off the subway. 
  
  

        May God have mercy on that woman's soul.  May her family find a way to go on and find peace of             mind. 

*The Prime Rib turned out great. I was so relieved. In addition, we witnessed a Christmas miracle. My brother-in-law called Rocky during dessert and neither ranted nor raved. He spoke like a normal person, which is huge for a narcissist. 

Scrooge--- I mean, my brother-in-law, has been fighting a virus and I guess he had a fever dream about three Christmas  ghosts. Rocky was surprised and cautiously happy. God is good.