Unite the Clans and other random thoughts on a Thursday afternoon

• You may have read that Illinois is going start teaching children in public school that same sex fornication is a good thing and were relieved that you don't live there. Perhaps you shook your head and although you do live in Illinois you were comforted by the fact that your kid goes to private school or is home schooled. That may not be enough to save your children from potential tragedy. What are you going to do when your sister and her family come to visit next Christmas and her son who can barely read at his grade level but got high marks on  how use a condom shows your 8 year old what he's been learning all year?  How will you react when your 6 year old tells you about anal lubricants because the neighbor kid who moved from Illinois told him and offered to show him all about them? Your daughter may be going to dance camp in the waning days of Summer and might make the acquaintance of another girl whose been taught stuff you never even heard about until you were an adult.  The curriculum of Illinois public schools may strike you as distasteful today but may break your heart tomorrow. It's a small world after all.

• Michael Matt, Fr. Z. and Taylor Marshall all say ,"Unite the clans!" That means all the groups who love the traditional Mass should ignore the at times, deep differences and come together. Their argument is that it is relatively little stuff that divides  and that it is nothing compared to the one thing that we all love. That's  lovely but in a practical sense how is this uniting to come about? The diocesan Trads don't want to rock the boat. The Fraternity and Institute of Christ the King are none too friendly to the SSPX; the SSPX people have been insulted by everyone for so long that I think they're shell shocked and some lay people are pretty frank about just wanting to be left in peace and the sedevacantists think all the rest of us are a bunch of fools. Finally there's the  Resistance clan who trust no-one outside of their chapels and the Home Aloners who don't trust anyone-- period-- and have such bad PTSD that they'll spook with the first raised eyebrow.  Who is our Wallace or our Bruce? It can't be Cardinal Burke. There are those who love him but I've seen pretty harsh dismissal of him as being a "banquet bishop" and too timid. It can't be Vigano. He's in hiding and looking forward to leaving this world in peace now that he's blown the whistle. Bishop Schneider and Cardinal Muller  have also been scorned as being too timid to trust in and they are not well known by many traditional Catholics.  Who is there in the entire Trad world whom the majority of the clans are willing to follow? You don't have to love the man who but who is there that the majority of us even respect?
  
  
  
  
• Please pray for Julie at Connecticut Catholic. She's taken dangerous ill.

Hey Honey let's NOT go to the Ren Faire...

I read Ann Barnhardt's post on the Society for Creative Anachronism and remembered the stories a friend used to tell about her Renaissance Fair days. She'd stay for a weekend or more  and only stopped because she couldn't afford to do it anymore and she got  married to a man who didn't care for those people. What goes on at camp at night when the tourists go home is distasteful and the  friends that she made were horribly immoral sorts who played musical beds within the group.
If you are invited to stay overnight at a gathering you may not be asked to participate in the sexual goings on -- my friend was not, largely because of her age and because the older person who first invited her warned everyone off from messing with her --- but you will see and hear raunchy, filthy stuff that is better left alone for the safety of your soul.

The Buffalo diocese got hit with RICO and Saturday afternoon random thoughts

• The leadership brought this on themselves and nobody else to blame. 

"The Mass is not about adoring Jesus or even praying to Jesus." Fr. Thomas Reese S.J.

•  If Saint Ignatius walked into Fr. Reese's office today I don't think he'd be smiling and I think he'd be carrying a whip.
  
  
  
• Shirley Jackson once wrote a short story about self righteous woman who was happy to accuse others of being racist but ended up being upset and offended because the little black boy who she so happy to have her son play with was not poor and did not need the charity she offered. At the end of the story her embarrassed son walks outside with his buddy and asks him to excuse her. I was reminded of this when I read about the people in Portland who are protesting their new Nigerian priest because he says "He" when referring to God and Jesus among other things. This parish has been out in the moonbeams worshiping their own navels and Fr. Kuforjii is not having it. Hopefully if Father can't tame his wild parish the bishop will shut it down because judging from what I've seen from their behavior on camera these people are essentially Unitarians.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Mass at the Monastery

Rocky and I went to the Vigil of the Assumption at the DC Franciscan Monastery. It was packed. The friars looked surprised and delighted. A huge number of Catholic University students were there. Originally, the Mass was supposed to be in the grotto but the threat of thunderstorms made the abbot decide to move it indoors. I'm glad of that because the mosquitoes in the grotto are fierce. Archbishop Wilton Gregory came. He's shorter than he looks on TV. He did not say anything offensive in his homily and did not talk politics. After Mass Rocky and I accidentally walked close to him in the garden and he waved at us. The guest choir was astonishing and I don't mean that in a good way. Their version of the Magnificat was blues style and sounded like  Vera Hall singing the   Death Have Mercy song. Rocky looked at me out of the corner of his eye. When they sang the Alleluia and it went on so long and the tambourines were so loud I was almost surprised when the priest finally began reading the Gospel. One man couldn't take it and quietly left during the singing. The Gloria went on so long I wondered if I could do a whole decade of the rosary before it ended.

After Mass Rocky as we walked to our car told me that he didn't feel like he'd been to Mass at all. It was like a concert with Mass added as an afterthought.

The end of a tubal pregnancy

There is a discussion going on about ectopic pregnancy on  the Eponynmous Flower blog. The author says he knows nothing about the topic but he's done some reading on it.  Well I lived through it and know a bit more than he does. As some of my old readers may recall, I had an ectoptic rupture in 2007. I can not bear to read the blog post I wrote about it or post it again but I feel that I should say something. If you  have been told that your child has not implanted in the uterus or even stomach but is in your fallopian tube you will be offered the choice of surgery, the methotrexate drug or you could reject both choices and wait for the rupture to happen.  If you decide to  let nature take it's course you should have an idea of what to expect.  I don't know if you can be forced into treatment but I do not think that any US doctor will accept admitting you to the hospital until the rupture happens. Unless you have someone watching you 24 hours a day you might be alone when it happens and when It does it will not be pretty. I've written this not to frighten anyone but because you need an honest description from someone who survived.

 I didn't know that I was pregnant so Rocky and I didn't have to make a decision. Having fought infertility for years I'd given up hope of ever having a successful pregnancy and I had no morning sickness or any other physical sign. I looked and felt the same as always.  I was standing in my bedroom closet  when it happened. It felt like a giant rubber band snapped inside me. I staggered backwards and ended up on the bed. I lay there curled up in a fetal position for I don't know how long. My pain level was excruciating. It was as if I'd been swallowed up and was being  gnawed on and consumed by pain. I could not speak. My eyes were wide open but the sight of my quilt meant nothing to me. I could not form a rational thought. I just existed, plunged as I was into that abyss  of agony minute by minute and until it stopped. Dazed, I got up and walked out of my home. Instinct or muscle memory or  most likely, my guardian angel took me to work. I walked in and spoke to my boss. She was stunned by how pale and gray I looked and suggested that I call Rocky.  I sat at my desk  and tried to make a plan.   Then came tunnel vision and muffled hearing, pain and the realization that this, whatever it was; was altogether beyond my control. Next came a thick, curtain of blackness before my eyes and ..... nothing.


I woke up on the floor under my desk and next to my own vomit.  Co-workers had called ambulance and I was whisked away. My family arrived.  After tests the surgeon told me what had happened and that there was no hope for my child because he was already dead. The Georgetown hospital staff called for the priest on duty.  He gave me  the sacrament and the apostolic pardon. He told me not to fear for I was loved by my Heavenly Father and whatever happened would be His will.  After that  I went to surgery.   My stomach was full of blood and I was in shock. Had I not collapsed at work my husband would've come home and found me dead or dying.  I urge any woman who needs to figure out what to do about a tubal pregnancy to go with her husband to seek the counsel of a learned, devout priest.

  Thanks to Fr. "Angel", Fr. "Wise" and Fr. "Youngblood" who comforted Rocky and I during that terrible time. 

Due Diligence --before you right that check or click that Paypal button....

• I posted this last week but I think it needs to be said again.
  
  Before you give to any Catholic non-profit check their Form 990. This is the form that non-profits must file with the IRS. I have used Foundation Center, Guidestar   and  Charity Navigator . If they don't have one think long and hard before you proceed. Think about the longevity of the organization, pay attention to outside news about the organization and demand to know how the head of the organization lives, especially if they talk about living modestly but post photos of themselves traveling all over the US and Europe. Last year I received an anonymous letter from someone warning me not to donate to Opus Bono Sacredotti. The letter alleged that the founders were living rather high on the hog instead of helping elderly conservative or traditional-minded priests who had been cast out of their dioceses by liberal bishops. I called the Michigan Attorney General's office and  asked them about OBS and if an investigation was going on and I also called the organization. I wasn't happy with the answers I heard and Opus Bono was off my list, forever.  Considering what I've been seeing online and the what's going on with co-founder, Fr. Perrone  I'm relieved.  

I never want to hear this song sung in a church again

This spectacle took place in Saint Peter Apostle Church in Montreal. I cannot imagine that the pastor was unaware of it. The bishop must be okay with it as well because the priest has not been removed from his duties, nor has an exorcism been done at the church that we know of. I know a lot of people love this maudlin song and consider it to be some sort of modern hymn. I remember one Catholic writer getting teary about it and writing that it was bringing people back to Mass. It's not a hymn and I dismissed that once very popular writer as a flake. Hallelujah if used on a church context is a blasphemous song about hopeless lust and unhealthy relationships. Samson had no business being with Delilah. David had no business being with Bathsheba. Both men reaped suffering for rest of lives due to their choice of woman. 

Samson and Delilah by James Tissot

David and Bathsheba by James Tissot

Kyrie Elieson

Random thoughts on a hot and humid Thursday

• Rocky has a friend who works at the DC Basilica. He says that the morale among the staff is terrible.  He was so happy when he got that job and now he's thinking about quitting. 

• I've said this before but it should be obvious to everyone by now that lionizing new converts is not a good thing. Protestant preachers who convert should get a job and grow in the Faith before becoming insta-Catholic apologists, if ever.  

• Rocky is a Third Degree Knight of Columbus. He was listening to Supreme Knight, Carl Anderson's  speech at the KoC annual meeting which was broadcast on EWTN and he was not happy. The Knights are going to give money for relief of migrants at the border. Rocky just sighed and asked why that money couldn't rain down on US homeless shelters or to the Little Sisters of the Poor nursing homes instead. 

• Before you give to any Catholic non-profit check their Form 990. This is the form that non-profits must file with the IRS. I have used Foundation Center, Guidestar   and  Charity Navigator . If they don't have one think long and hard before you proceed. Think about the longevity of the organization, pay attention to outside news about the organization and demand to know how the head of the organization lives, especially if they talk about living modestly but post photos of themselves traveling all over the US and Europe. Last year I received an anonymous letter from someone warning me not to donate to Opus Bono Sacredotti. The letter alleged that the founders were living rather high on the hog instead of helping elderly conservative or traditional-minded priests who had been cast out of their dioceses by liberal bishops. I called the Michigan Attorney General's office and  asked them about OBS and if an investigation was going on and I also called the organization. I wasn't happy with the answers I heard and Opus Bono was off my list, forever. Considering what's been in the news and the what's going on with co-founder, Fr. Perrone  I'm relieved.  

• The word "awesome" is too often used but this was an awesome moment of serendipity. 

Let's be honest for a moment?

Star Trek: Beyond was a terrible movie.

— Fr. Ryan Hilderbrand (@FrHilderbrand) August 7, 2019

💀: try to acknowledge the unimportance of amusement and the importance of charity

— dust to dust (@mementomorial) August 8, 2019

Dust to Dust was not responding to Fr. Hilderbrand. This just happened to the next thing on my timeline.

A PRAYER FOR THE REDEMPTION OF BAD PRIESTS

Divine Savior Jesus Christ, Thou are the Good Shepherd who gives His life for His sheep. Oh, be in a very special way the Good Shepherd of those poor lost priests who are also appointed by Thee to be leaders of Thy people, but who have broken the oath of their holy ordination and have become unfaithful to their exalted calling. Bestow upon these poorest of the poor the very fullness of that pastoral solicitude with which Thou dost so faithfully seek the sheep that are lost! Touch their hearts with the irresistible ray of grace which emanates from Thine all-merciful love! Enlighten their minds and strengthen their wills, that they may turn away from all sin and error and come back to Thy holy altar and to Thy people. O most compassionate Savior! Remember that Thou didst once redeem the souls of Thine erring priests with Thy Precious Blood and in infinite preferential love didst impress upon them the indelible character of the priesthood. Put wholly to shame those miserable helpers of Satan who lay snares for the virtue of priests and endanger the holy ideal of the priesthood. Most graciously accept our prayers and sacrifices for poor priests who have gone astray and hear our earnest petition.

 Amen 

Imprimatur - Bishop John F. Noll (April 18, 1948)

St. Anthony of Padua, defender of the Holy Eucharist, obtain for us holy priests

St. John-Mary Vianney, model of sacerdotal holiness, obtain for us holy priests

St. Francis Xavier, patron of missionary priests, obtain for us holy priests

St. Therese of the Child-Jesus and of the Holy Face, victim offered for the sanctification of priests, obtain for us holy priests

Saints and Servants of God, obtain for us holy priests.