jealousy

I think most of what's wrong with America stems from plain old jealousy. We are like the Russian peasant who prayed not that he have a goat of his own but that his neighbor's goat should die. This whole two minute hate on the AIG executives is an example. Instead of worrying about what someone at AIG makes you ought to be upset about the national service bill that passed in the Senate. We're so busy hating on the accomplished, the smart and the people who did what was nessacary to get ahead that we're not even noticing what the hell is happening to our country.

arthritis

Rocky's right knee has hurt on and off for years. He just gutted it out until it felt better and life went on. Well, last Sunday, he could barley stand. I said "we're going to the hospital," and he said, "okay." Since he didn't pooh pooh me or downplay the pain I knew he must've felt terrible. The x-rays say arthritis. On top of that most of the cartilage in his knee is gone. When he stands and walk he has bone on bone contact. Some of the cartilage that is left has calcified and is like rocks wedged into his knee and he has a bone spur. On April 1, he has knee surgery. He'll never have a normal knee but with this surgery he should get years of use out of this knee before having a replacement somewhere down the road.

St. Alphonsus, patron of arthritis, pray for us.

some Christians are so heavenly minded ....

that they are of no earthly use to anybody.


I was reminded of this saying while reading comments on the WDTPRS blog. I suspect that most of Fr. Z's readers have never been poor and don't really know what they're talking about.

condoms, death and the maiden

To all of you Catholics who dared to criticize the pope because of the Church's stance on condoms please picture the following scenario :

Your daughter, your only child announces that she's in white heat lust and is going to have sex with the man she's involved with. He has full blown AIDS and a couple of sores you really don't want to hear about but it's okay because they're going to use protection. The condom, a thin sheath of latex, will protect her, right? Right????

the angel of the Lord declared unto Mary

A palate cleanser

I saw this charming video of a trip to St. Therese's convent on Gloria TV and this wonderful photo on New Liturgical Movement.

Notre Dame---again

I'm not at all upset by the decision to invite Barak Obama to be the graduation speaker at Notre Dame. Before you cast me into the outer darkness, let me explain.

Notre Dame is Catholic in Name Only and has been for a long time. It's like the Episcopalians. It looks good on the surface. You see chapels, and statues and priests and even the occasional habited nun wandering around but the heart is not there at all. All of the big old Catholic schools are like that. If you want your kid to stay Catholic sending him to Notre Dame, Georgetown or Boston College probably won't help. You'd be much better off trying Christendom, Franciscan, Belmont Abbey, Thomas Aquinas or Univ. of Dallas. Heck, the flowering of genuine Catholic faith migt find better ground at Baylor or (ugh!)Bob Jones.

Notre Dame is so far gone that if St. Thomas Aquinas or St. Theresa Benedicta were to suddenly appear and teach a class for a semester both the students and the faculty would complain that they were to "rigid" which we all know means "too Catholic."

What's the answer? Stop sending your kids to Notre Dame. Stop having conferences there. Stop giving speeches there. Stop sending kids there on college field trips. Just stop feeding the monster. We pew potatoes have to take a stand. We dull, dumb, unsexy, unsophisticated folks can change things if we want to. The president of Notre Dame doesn't give a rat's ass about your cards, letters, or op/eds. He will ONLY notice the financial bottom line. So, it's time to go completely Klingon on their asses.

Priests come from families

So let's pray for vocations and remember, there is no secret Vatican nursery. If you want plenty of these:
We need plenty of these:

Pope Benedict in Cameroon

I used to wear my hair like the First Lady of Cameroon back in high school. I miss the 80's, I really do.

The Pope's visit to Africa and the Western media

On the WDTPS blog, Father asks the question as to why the media is ignoring the Pope's trip to Africa. Well, I think I can answer that. One, becuase they hate Benedict. And that's okay. When the main stream media of America, lionizes a churchman, you can be sure that something is wrong. If they hate him, he must be following the road of Christ.

Second, because they don't give a genuine damn about Africans. And that's okay too in a round about way. When the West tries to fix Africa or black people anywhere it usually makes things worse, much worse. I ask for Africans and black Americans the same thing Frederick Douglas asked. Stop treating people of color like victims, children or as if our collective IQs are all somewhere around 64. Frederick says it better than I:


" Everybody has asked the question..., "What shall we do with the Negro?" I have had but one answer from the beginning. Do nothing with us! Your doing with us has already played the mischief with us. Do nothing with us! If the apples will not remain on the tree of their own strength, if they are wormeaten at the core, if they are early ripe and disposed to fall, let them fall! I am not for tying or fastening them on the tree in any way, except by nature's plan, and if they will not stay there, let them fall. And if the Negro cannot stand on his own legs, let him fall also. All I ask is, give him a chance to stand on his own legs! Let him alone! If you see him on his way to school, let him alone, don't disturb him! If you see him going to the dinner table at a hotel, let him go! If you see him going to the ballot- box, let him alone, don't disturb him! [Applause.] If you see him going into a work-shop, just let him alone,--your interference is doing him a positive injury."

Our Ladyof Africa, pray for us.

Beautiful photo of Papa in Africa

I was reading the American Papist blog and found this lovely, lovely shot.

Sr. Joseph

Tonight Rocky and I went to Queen of Apostles Church in Alexandria to see Sr. Jospeh Andrew of the Domican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eurcharist speak during the parish mission. She's fantastic, just a darling woman. While she talked the whole room was hushed.

so how's your Lent going?

I decided to only read religious works during Lent. So far I've been delighted with This is the Faith, by Fr.Rippey, The 33 Doctors of the Church, and now I'm reading Imitation of Mary by Thomas a Kempis and How Christ Said the First Mass by Fr. Meagher. Fr. Meagher mentions off hand that Jesus was a Nazarite. I hadn't heard that before. Some people claim that He was an Essene. Perhaps I'll ask Fr. Theoden or Fr. Gollum.

I saw on the Deacon's Bench blog, that Elizabeth Scalia, The Anchoress made a TV appearance. She wrote on her blog that she feared she was too fat but I think she looks great. She's very cozy and cuddly like a mama should look. And if you read her blog you already know that she's smart as all get out so I was interested in hearing what she had to say.

At Mass last night Fr. and I had a small mishap with the Host. He overestimated the distance between us and I found myself choking. Being me, as I walked back to my pew I wondered if this was a sign. Was the Lord displeased? Did I need to go to confession? I prayed and when I was calm I was able to discretely dislodge the Host from where It was stuck in my throat and swallowed. I felt a bit silly----some of the most offbeat things happen to me---, and relieved and very thankful. I've had my fill of passing out in public.

I wasn't expecting Connecticut

As you've all probably read by now, there was an attempted legislative attack on the Church in Connecticut.

Satan never sleeps. He's been fighting the Church from the begining. He tried to shake the Faith with the persecutions and martyrdom of the Apostles and then the early saints. He belched up the Arians and all the later heresies. Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, the Taliban, the Lord's Resistance Army and the other little antichrists are his work.

I know all this but still this little piece of nastiness surprised me. The bill has been dropped but the war is not over. Not by a long shot. The slow, rough beast is still slouching towards Bethlehem. One day a remnant of Catholics will be forced into new catacombs. But in the end, Our Lord will come and the smaller, purer Church will triumph.

I'm reminded of Hellaire Belloc's famous quote:

... we laugh. But as we laugh we are watched by large and awful faces from beyond: and on these faces there is no smile.

This thing that can not live, yet never dies

I was watching college basketball cause it's March and saw Blake Griffin, a delightful boy who plays for Oklahoma. He was born in 1989. While reading that bit of trivia it dawned on me that he's old enough to be my son. Rocky and I could have a big boy like that........ I felt sick for a minute and then it passed. A few years ago I would've been horribly depressed for a week or more. That's progress I guess.

I have a baby shower to go next Thursday. I usually

avoid these things but the mother is a friend and it would

be awkward if I don't show.

Sr. Sandra's in a snit.

Seriously, when an order no longer functions to the glory of God it is useless. It should be reformed, supressed or allowed to go into that good night. Sr. Sandra M. Schneiders IHM, is upset because there is going to be an apostolic visit of American orders.

I don't know how many vocations the IHM nuns get these days but I'll bet it's nothing to write home about. A few years ago a nun who was dressed in a nice suit with tasteful jewelry came to my parish and spoke after Mass. She mentioned that vocations had dwindled and asked for donations. Rocky was inclined to reach into his wallet. I refused and was so adamant that he decided to leave well enough alone. A year later a little nun from the Philippines spoke at my parish and asked for help for her orphanage. She was wearing her habit and was delightful. We gave and so did many of the people at Mass. I support nuns who look like they've rejected the world the flesh and the devil, act like nuns, and would never advocate rudeness and childish behavior towareds visitors from the Vatican.

Sr. Sandra sounds like she wouldn't get on with nuns like these:

And I think I'm safe in guessing that she wouldn't even begin to understand nuns like this or this and certainly not this.

Let the apostolic visitors come. I'm sure they're smart people and they won't be able to miss who has vocations and who's drying up in sour feminist spite. Young ladies like the ones shown below aren't flocking to hang out with Sr. Sandra.

happy anniversary, dear

Like Anakin and Pademe, we got married 21 years ago without parents or most of our friends knowing anything about it. Unlike the Skywalkers, Rocky hasn't forced choked me lately and I haven't gotten mad at him for killing padawans.

things that make you go huh?

• Tom Brady, (the Patriots quarterback) married the bra and panty model, Giselle (eh, find your own pictures) in a Catholic church. What do you think will last longer, his career or the marriage? And do you think they had to sit through pre-Cana classes?

• Have you ever gone to church and found rocks in the holy water font during Lent. Where the heck did that come from?
  

• Isn't it odd that more people seem to be upset by the idea of Fr. Marciel having sinful, yet natural sex with a female than were bothered by the gay rumors?

• I've noticed that more and more elderly people at Mass leave right after Communion. They do it because they don't like being pushed and jostled after Mass. What happened to Catholics? Why are we rushing/fleeing from Mass like the legion of demons going after the pigs? Where did our manners go?
  
  
• Do you ever get the feeling that this economic crisis is somehow not completely real? The prez says we're all doomed but he's flying to Chi-town to have dinner. Mrs. Obama is redecorating the White House despite the fact that it was already done a few years ago and still looks fine. Supposedly we're all just half a step from selling apples on the street and prostituting our daughthers for food but the stores all look pretty full to me. People seem to be going about their business and the restaurants are full on Friday night. So what's up?
  
  
• Does it seem like anti-Catholicism is more open these days? On Friday I sat behind a loud mouthed dude on the bus who mocked Catholic dogma. Everybody on the bus had to hear him. His friend looked ashamed but didn't tell Mr. Loud Mouth to shut up. I've never run into this before. Yes, I've heard nasty little comments and jokes in private but never out in the open like this.
  
  
• How can anyone claim that the Church is anti woman? Our parishes are run by fierce women. The sacristan is usually female. The cantor is a woman. Half of the time the organist is female. The choir is mostly female. The eucharistic ministers are mostly female. The church secretary is female and she's a tougher gatekeeper than the three headed dog of Hades. Rocky once tried to make an appointment to go to confession. The secretary grilled him on why he wanted to talk to the priest. Finally he snapped (it takes a LOT to make Rocky mad) that he was a sinner and need to be absolved and unless she could do that herself she should write his name down in the Father's schedule. She grudgingly put him down on the schedule.
• Have you ever noticed that most professional Catholics---lay people who make their living off of books and speeches about their version of Catholicism are like the Protestant pop singers who weren't sexy or talented enough to make it in secular music?