Some times I wonder

what has gotten into our bishops. They say we should welcome illegal immigrants with open arms because they are fellow Catholics and their faith is so much more strong and vibrant that ours. Because we Americans practice contraception we will be, the narrative goes, die out and the American church will joyously become Latinized as in Latin America. We should, we are told, embrace this and get with the program. The Whispers in the Loggia blog harps on this theme all the time.

Now, there is cause for concern about catechesis in America. Most Catholics don't seem to know or care about what the Church teaches. Many Catholics don't even go to Mass anymore except for Christmas, Easter and Ash Wenesday. But importing Latin American will not fill the pews or fix the problem. Do the bishops not read the newspaper or visit their own parishes? Gautemala, which like most of Latin America was once solidly Catholic; now it's half Catholic and half Evangelical. In Mexico, drug cartels have openly threatened priests and recently a priest and two seminarians were murdered there. All is not well.

The Charismatic movement seems to have gotten a toe hold in the Spanish speaking community here in Virginia and that is worrisome. Writhing on the floor to rock music doesn't have much to do with the faith of St. Juan Diego, St. Rose of Lima or the Holy Father. I know of a number of priests who find themselves in a dilemma. If they curb some excesses (I can't go into detail here because I don't want to get anyone in trouble) they'll be called a racist so they turn a blind eye and tell their American parishioners to hush the grumbling or to be patient.

Do the bishops not open their eyes when they travel? Little store front Spanish speaking only Protestant churches are everywhere. Not everyone from Latin America is a devout Catholic. That's a stereotype, baby. So far, I've seen two botanica (voodoo) shops in Alexandria and Arlington. The bishops are highly educated men, surely they know all this so why the constant happy talk?

Sure, welcome the legal immigrant who has skills that we can use and encourage him mightily. Welcome the legal immigrant to church and don't let him slip/or force him into a liturgical ghetto either. I realize how the liturgical ghetto thing happend. Catholics in Northern Virginia are not that friendly, period. If people are staring at Rocky and I when we show up for Mass what must it be like for someone from a different country?

But the current approach the bishops have taken isn't working and you don't need a degree in Theology to see it. The oxygen in the ivory tower must be too thin.

For the King of Friday

Jesus, sold for thirty pieces of silver, *
Jesus, prostrate on the ground in prayer,
Jesus, strengthened by an angel,
Jesus, in Thine agony bathed in a bloody sweat,
Jesus, betrayed by Judas with a kiss,
Jesus, bound by the soldiers,
Jesus, forsaken by Thy disciples,
Jesus, brought before Annas and Caiphas,
Jesus, struck in the face by a servant,
Jesus, accused by false witnesses,
Jesus, declared guilty of death,
Jesus, spat upon,
Jesus, blindfolded,
Jesus, smitten on the cheek,
Jesus, thrice denied by Peter,
Jesus, despised and mocked by Herod,
Jesus, clothed in a white garment,
Jesus, rejected for Barabbas,
Jesus, torn with scourges,
Jesus, bruised for our sins,
Jesus, esteemed a leper,
Jesus, covered with a purple robe,
Jesus, crowned with thorns,
Jesus, struck with a reed upon the Head,
Jesus, demanded for crucifixion by the Jews,
Jesus, condemned to an ignominious death,
Jesus, given up to the will of Thine enemies,
Jesus, loaded with the heavy weight of the Cross,
Jesus, led like a sheep to the slaughter,
Jesus, stripped of Thy garments,
Jesus, reviled by the malefactors,
Jesus, promising Paradise to the penitent thief,
Jesus, commending St. John to Thy Mother as her son,
Jesus, declaring Thyself forsaken by Thy Father, Jesus, in Thy thirst given gall and vinegar to drink,
Jesus, testifying that all things written concerning Thee were accomplished,
Jesus, commending Thy spirit into the hands of Thy Father,
Jesus, obedient even to the death of the cross,
Jesus, pierced with a lance,
Jesus, made a propitiation for us,
Jesus, taken down from the cross,
Jesus, laid in the sepulcher,
Have mercy on us.

The sins of the father and the mother are visited on the children

A little boy is dead because his father is a sadistic poor excuse for a man. His father did the unspeakable torture but I blame his mother who stupidly got pregnant by this man and stupidly did not defend her child and allowed him to be alone with such a brute.

Our Lady said souls fall into hell like snowflakes and that most people go to hell due to sins of the flesh. When she spoke to Sr. Mildred in America she asked that we cling to purity She did not ask that we be chaste because she wanted to ruin our "fun". She asked purity because fornication leads to misery. It leads to debts that have to be paid and it leads to innocent children suffering becuase their mothers were carried away with lust and realized their mistake too late.

For pity's sake young women, think! For just a second, think before you launch yourself into something that you can't undo.

Our Lady of America, pray for us.

i noticed an odd thing this week

Many Catholic bloggers weighed in on Michael Jackson's death, to plop loose green shit on his corpse mostly but very few bloggers had anything to say about the Caritas scandal in Boston. Perhaps it's because taking a shot at Jackson was easy and seeming to pick on good ole Cardinal Sean seemed hard. But the Caritas scandal was not about picking on Cardinal Sean.

The cardinal, in order to keep his health care operation going was apparently going to accept the state's requirement that abortion services be provided to patients who requested them, even if it was "just" referring them to abortionists off site.

The entity that was going to handle this was CeltiCare. 49% of CeltiCare was owned by Caritas. Although the archdiocese denied it repeatedly, Caritas was essentially going to be involved in the abortion business.

Let that roll around in your head for a minute. Let it boggle your noggin. Now think about the early martyrs who died horribly rather than offer incense to Caesar. Think about Sts. Agatha, Lucy, Anastasia, Perpetua and Felicity. Think about the martyrs whose names are now known only to God who were told, "Look, you are young and handsome. Why give your life over a technicality? Just whisper to me that Caesar is lord and I'll let you go. Cooperate with the system and you will live." The Caritas deal was an insult to the memory of the martyrs. It was an insult to every pro life worker in Boston. It was an insult to every slaughtered in the womb, baby.

Well now, the deal is off. A few bloggers have mentioned the story in the last two days to congratulate the cardinal on doing the right thing but they fail to mention that it was a bunch of inelegant, unsophisticated Joe and Jane in the back pew lay people who kept asking annoying questions and kept publicizing the story who are to be congratulated. They are the reason Caritas won't be involved in abortions, not the cardinal. I say this, not to pick on the cardinal but to give credit where it is due. Jane and Joe in the back pew, you rock. If I drank beer, I'd raise a Dos Equs in your honor.

Now every blogger writes about what means the most to them. That's the beauty of the blog. Sometimes you get stories about the blogger's cat and sometimes you get stories about Catholics in Siberia. It just struck me as weird that the big time professional, serious issue, serious Catholic bloggers took time to mock Jackson, which should've been beneath them (see footnote) and had nothing to say about a stunning Catholic scandal, that could've had national implications because if Caritas had gotten away with this don't think it couldn't happen in your diocese.

And the most puzzling comments came from ultra serious people who claim to know nothing about pop music or the national zeitgeist. You know, the folks who swear they haven't' watched TV or seen a movie in years, sew their own deliberately ugly dresses, and who grow heirloom tomatoes and for fun reenact the Battle of Hastings in the back yard with their perfectly perfect kids. And speaking of the kids, each one was conceived after grimly praying Tobit's prayer, consulting the chart and stoicly going into the marital embrace.

To each his own but for someone like that to talk about pop music is kind of like an Old Order Mennonite telling young Elvis how to shake a leg or a Mormon telling Sonny Boy Williamson how to play the harmonica. All in all, I would've preferred to have read about their cat, Benedictus.


Foot note
(I once was in a car pool with a Jehovah's Witness. She was a bore but no hypocrite. When she turned on the car radio and heard Boys to Men singing a sweet love song she cried out, "The devil's music!," turned off the radio. She neither knew nor gave a damn who was on the music Top 40 list. Ole Bessie said pop music was beneath her and refused to talk about it. Anyone fool enough to mention Prince, Cameo or even Earth Wind and Fire to her would've gotten a basilisk stare and an offer to conduct a Bible study. As I said, ole Bessie was a crashing bore but she walked her talk)

Hideous Mass

I just watched an incredibly hideous Mass on EWTN. It took place at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel in Melrose Park, IL. I was astonished at the ugliness of the church and the poor dress of the people. Every other woman was wearing the fat lady's cop out outfit: big flowered, sleeveless blouses and polyester shorts or shapeless skirt. The men, even the skinny guys had the fat guy's cop out outfit: the Hawaian or bowling shirt over sweat pants or the sansabelt pants. The poor Knights of Columbus who were present looked like they were doing a penance.

The music was appalling. At one point a man and woman got up and sang "The Prayer", a sticky sweet pop song by Josh Groban. Ewwww! Judging by the sour expressions on the faces of the people in the pews when the camera panned over them, a lot of people didn't like it. At one point the priest was providing commentary jokingly asked how long this was going to go on. The Mass was poorly filmed--- but I'll give them a break on this, maybe they are not used to broadcasting. This was all to dedicate a new statue of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. The statue is gorgeous but looks strange in such an ugly, stuck in the 1970s place.

Yip, yip, yip! I gotta an award.

The rules are to say thanks to the presenter. That's easy.

Thanks Joe! I hope you find the right seminary.

Second, I have to say ten honest things about myself. Hmmm.

1. I don't give a damn about the Iranians. The lesser of two evils, (the Mousavi (sp.) guy was involved in the Lebanon bombing that killed over 200 of our Marines)) is still evil. If they are fighting each other hopefully they'll be too busy to use their nukes on Israel. The protestors may wear jeans but I'll bet you they'd spit on Jewish Levi Strauss if he came back to life and were to walk into one of their mosques.
2. I loathe feminists.
3. Unless there is no other Mass to go to within a 20 mile radius, if the cantor whips out a guitar and/drums I'm out of there.
4. I think George Lucas completely botched Padme's death and her relationship with Anakin in Revenge of the Sith.
5. Otis Redding makes me cry.
6. I want a basso profundo to sing Dies Irae at my funeral.
7. I don't like holding newborn babies. When they can hold their own heads up it's fine but I worry that I'm doing it wrong with the brand new ones.
8. I love the smell of a river or creek.
9. One of the happiest days of my life was when Rocky and I walked the sky trail to Belle Island in Richmond, VA.
10. I love Bear Grylls. I could adopt him.
11. Bonus. I really wish the Anchoress hadn't moved her blog to First Things.

1. I pass this on to everyone who's in my links list.

Why Jesus did not establish a female priesthood...

Have you ever noticed that women preachers never talk about humility, service or obedience? They are however, very big on feelings, power, expressing themselves, rights, and "dignity".

An Episcopalian (Church of Anything Goes) priestess has publicly claimed that God rejoices in abortion.

Somewhere in a fetid corner of hell, Queens Jezebel and Athaliah are nodding in recognition of a sister in spirit.

It's a strange feeling when a piece of your childhood dies

Fr. Aragorn

Father Aragorn, our old parochial vicar will be saying a Solemn High Mass at Our Lady of Hope
in Potomac Falls, Virginia on July 1 at 7PM. I'm temted to go but the last time I visited OLoH I was not comfortable--- the church is gorgeous, the priest is very good but the people are coldfish, rich Northern Virginians with all that entails and I'm not sure I want to put up with that again. Potomac Falls is one of those stuffy, artificial places that I loathe. No history, no real center, just a bunch of mini mansions squating on the manicured hills.

On the other hand, it would be lovely to be at a Solemn High Mass and Fr. Aragorn's Latin is exquisite.