random thoughts on a Saturday afternoon

1. Is the proposed by certain Cardinals attitude of "mercy" toward adulterers  a Trojan Horse? Is it really a way to introduce homosexual "marriage" in the Church?
   
2. Have you noticed that the people who used to say that Hispanics were the future of the Church in the US have fallen quiet? Is it because Evangelicalism and Pentecostalism are racing through Latin America?
   
3. I read that there are going to be showers set up at the Vatican for the homeless. That sounds nice but I hope there is a plan for the problems that will come with the showers. Homeless men and women present a huge challenge. Why are they homeless? Because, in most cases,  the mental or drug and/or  drink induced  behavior or the plain criminal behavior that binds them is so bad that their own relatives and old friends can't deal with them. There will be drugs in the shower area. There will be crime.  Some of the homeless will become prey. Other will be agent of chaos themselves. Women tourists would be best served if they are told to stay away or only walk in groups near the showers. Volunteers  of both sexes will need a full course of safety training.
   
   At my old parish I had a number of homeless pals that I chatted with, donated to and tried to comfort but I knew, and the folks in charge of the homeless ministry said straight out that females should not be alone in a room with the clients. My husband Rocky used to check the restrooms and unused conference rooms before and after the bible study he attended at our old parish. After bible study he also escorted the usually young women who attended, to the door lest any of them be cornered by a client.   I am not saying fear the homeless. Many of them are pitiful victims who are afraid of you but you need to be realistic. No matter how many years you've been a lion tamer, you don't casually stroll into the den. I hope nobody gets hurt in and around the shower area and if they do, I hope it's not covered up.
   
4. Yesterday I read part of an article about a spate of snatch and run attacks on women in NYC. I stopped reading when one of the victims was quoted as asking where the men were? Since each attack happened in the middle of busy sidewalks why didn't any man step in to help? I thought, "My sister, you can't have it both ways". Today's young man has probably seen his mother, his aunt or his sisters trade Dad  in for a check from the government or a support check and has grown up seeing the women in his life go from man to man.  Even if the women in his life were chaste while he was growing up he's seen that a single woman can take care of herself . All of his life he's been told that  womankind's biggest hindrance is man. One example of the the toxic atmosphere in this country between the sexes is a  t-shirt that was sold in  major clothing store chains. It  bore the words, "Boys are stupid. Throw rocks at them." Many people thought this was cute and ridiculed the people who found these shirts offensive. With all the poison  let loose in our society, why, my sister do you expect a man to step forward  to save  you? There are good men who would come to the rescue but they are thin on the ground and won't be around when you need one. Our feminists sisters think that's just great. I'm going to cheerfully use a cliche  here:  we can not put the genie back in the bottle.
   
   
5. In your charity please pray for my uncle in the nursing home.  They found blood in a stool sample and he's scheduled for an ulcer test and a colonoscopy. I'm not sure how we are going to be able to get the Golightly prep formula into him because it doesn't taste good and he is not going to understand why he's being forced to fast. Fortunately both tests will be done at 6AM so he'll be able to eat as soon as possible.
   
   
6. Every time you go to Mass the most glorious thing in the world happens. Bread and wine turns to the Flesh and Blood of Christ. We don't see it like St. Gregory did, but it happens just the same. 

Mass of St. Gregory