Random thoughts before the hurricane

This has been the weirdest week. We have an earthquake and a what's looking like a category one hurricane within a few days of each other. My trusty Dell laptop died without warning on Tuesday and we are stuck using our old, sloooooow and sickly desktop until we get a new one.  My boss was close to hysteria all day  Friday and I was not mentally charitable towards her at all.

Rocky and I went to the grocery store last night and my mother has enough goodies to keep her inside for days. This morning I woke up and my right hand was smeared with blood. There were even blood spots on my nightgown. Yesterday I had an annoying skin tag near my nose that I was going have my dermatologist remove but it's gone now. I must have tore the whole thing  off in my sleep.  Today I'm just going to drape myself across the recliner,eat Oreos, catch up on my reading and watch the rain. I think this hurricane is going to be a dud, thank the Lord. So far all we have is heavy rain.

• I found some really worthy blogs to look at. 

The Apostolate of Hannah's Tears  

  The Ram in the Thicket blog is not pleasant reading but it is something to think about.  

 Asysus Abyssum Invocat is written by an unusual bishop.

Orbis Catholicus Secundus has beautiful Catholic pictures.

• A quote to remember:
   People say that there is a scarcity of priests. In truth, what an adorable mystery it is that there still are priests. They no longer have any human advantage. Celibacy, solitude, hatred very often, derision and, above all the indifference of a world in which there seems to be no longer room for them—such is the portion they have chosen. They have no apparent power; their task sometimes seems to be centered about material things, identifying them, in the eyes of the masses, with the staffs of town halls and of funeral parlors. A pagan atmosphere prevails all around them. The people would laugh at their virtue if they believed in it, but they do not. They are spied upon. A thousand voices accuse those who fall. As for the others, the great number, no one is surprised to see them toiling without any sort of recognition, without appreciable salary, bending over the bodies of the dying, or ambling about the parish…Francois Mauriac

A couple of years ago I read about a self-appointed …what?--- avenger?, amateur detective?, busybody?... person made a rather crude, almost comical attempt to spy on a parish priest.  Some people were for this individual's decision and thought that if the priest was innocent no harm was done, others scorned the person as a troublemaker and tale teller. Nobody seemed startled by this action at all. I guess that' what we've come to.

• Archbishop Gomez insults American Catholics repeatedly. I'm sure he doesn't mean it that way and I like to hope that he'd be appalled if someone pointed it out to him, but he keeps saying that we need illegal immigrants from Latin America to renew and reChristianize this country and to save it. In other words, American Catholics are so worthless that they really need to be replaced. That's a smack in the face. It also ignores the vast problems that come with massive and constant illegal immigration from countries whose cultures are different from ours.  Again, I'll say that I'm sure that Archbishop Gomez intends no harm but I guess he just doesn't think about what he's saying means and pulling the "you are a bad Catholic if you disagree with me" card doesn't help.
  
• Pray for Father Wang. Joe Biden may be cool with China's policies but people like Fr. Wang have to live with them.

• If you are ever in Alexandria on a Thursday night remember that Fr. Eagle says the Tridentine Mass at 7:30 at St. Rita's. He's a really good young priest and is as full of energy as a nuclear power plant.