Te Deum

The Te Deum

You are God: we praise you;

You are God: we acclaim you;

You are the eternal Father:

All creation worships you.

To you all angels, all the powers of heaven,

Cherubim and Seraphim, sing in endless praise:

Holy, holy, holy, Lord, God of power and might,

Heaven and earth are full of your glory.

The glorious company of apostles praise you.

The noble fellowship of prophets praise you.

The white-robed army of martyrs praise you.

Throughout the world the holy Church acclaims you:

Father, of majesty unbounded,

Your true and only Son, worthy of all worship,

And the Holy Spirit, advocate and guide.

You, Christ, are the king of glory,

The eternal Son of the Father.

When you became man to set us free

You did not spurn the Virgin’s womb.

You overcame the sting of death,

And opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers.

You are seated at God’s right hand in glory.

We believe that you will come, and be our judge.

Come then, Lord, and help your people,

Bought with the price of your own blood,

And bring us with your saints

To glory everlasting.

Save your people, Lord, and bless your inheritance.

Govern and uphold them now and always.

Day by day we bless you.

We praise your name forever.

Keep us today, Lord, from all sin.

Have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy.

Lord, show us your love and mercy;

For we put our trust in you.

In you, Lord, is our hope:

And we shall never hope in vain

Rest in peace

 Pope Benedict is dead.  For his sake I wish that he'd refused the papacy to begin with. Was he a good pope? No, he fled from the wolves, just as he feared he would. That being said, I think it should  be clear to everyone by now that in order to clean and restore the Church it would require a fearless pope saint willing to embrace a white and possibly red martyrdom. Benedict was not that guy but  he was not just as bad as Francis as some people have been gleefully saying. He has gone to his judgement. May God have mercy on him and in us. 

Oh Holy Night

https://texasnuns.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/2006af4448_bourdichon_nativity.jpg 

Merry Christmas

 

CHRISTMAS EVE THOUGHTS

In the drab Nativity movie Mary is presented as a sullen teen who complains about being betrothed to man she doesn't know or love. This is silly. Nazareth was an itty bitty little town. Everybody knew everybody. It was in the eyes of the other Galileans, a crummy little backwoods place.

To this insignificant hamlet the angel of God, Gabriel came. An old hymn describes him as having wings of snow drift white and eyes like flame. I like that description it sounds like he was an awesome sight. And who did he come to? A young girl. Mary, just 14 or 15 and this angel asked her to be the mother of the messiah. Imagine that for minute. And Mary said yes. She said, "I am the Handmaid of the Lord." Archbishop Sheen once noted that in Aramaic she actually said, "I am the slave of the Lord." What perfect trust. What perfect acceptance. Oh thank you, dear Mother!


And think for a moment of Joseph. A good man, probably a young man ( the Jews of that day didn't like May-December marriages) already on his way to being a saint even then. When friends or neighbors approached him remarked rudely on Mary's pregnancy he had the presence of mind to say nothing. He knew the Child in her womb was not his but knowing Mary he surely couldn't have imagined that she did anything wrong. He would not denounce her to the world. He would not expose her to a death sentence. He decided to divorce her quietly. Divorce, not break off an engagement but actual divorce. Mary was not an unwed mother. It makes me sick when people say that, especially if it's a priest. I can't take the St. Louis, King of France option of dealing with blasphemy but when someone does I mentally check out from anything else they have to say regarding holy matters. Our Lord was spoken of by the prophets and the Angel Gabriel.  Many in Israel lived and died longing to see His coming. His birth was not unplanned. Do not allow the Holy Family to be insulted in your presence. 

 A betrothed couple were married under the law. They weren't living together yet but they were married. It was the opposite of what we do in the modern West. A man was expected to have his home in order before his wife entered after the wedding , not have the wedding, go into debt to pay for it and setting up the household. 

And then the angel spoke to Joseph and he believed. He did not argue like the educated priest Zachariah did. He didn't complain that this Event was going to change his life forever. He simply believed and quickly had the wedding ceremony performed and moved Mary into his home. Thank you dear Saint Joseph. You did not care what the neighbors and your buddies said, you rushed to obey the Lord and to protect your little bride.


And then the day came to go to Bethlehem. St. Joseph was not a starry eyed  improvident drifter. He was going to take part in the census and pay his taxes. It couldn't have been an easy trip. The pictures of Mary on a donkey look sweet but that's no luxury ride. But she and Joseph knew their scripture. The Messiah was foretold as coming out of Bethlehem, David's city. So she went. Bethlehem is a small town. Once Rocky and I were in Blacksburg and were trying to find a hotel for the night. Alas there was a football game that night and there were no rooms to be had as far as West Virginia. When Mary and Joseph arrived every inn was full of people come to pay their taxes. Inns in a tiny place like Bethlehem were simple affairs. One might have two or three private rooms and a courtyard where poorer guests could bed down with their animals and other people. No woman would want to have a baby under those circumstances. Commentators have guessed that Mary asked for privacy and Joseph wanted her to have it. They couldn't get a room and for some reason didn't want to join the swarm in the open courtyard or just staying with one of the caravans that surely must have been surrounded Bethlehem that night. Some inn keeper offered them his stable. I hope he didn't charge them too much for it.

The Child was born. Thank you, God for sending Your only Son. Thank you Jesus for leaving Heaven and coming to the world as a tiny Babe. You came not to live a pleasant life but to die. The Cross loomed over Your cradle. You came on a rescue mission to reclaim hopeless sinners. Thank you Lord!

Music from Clamavi De Profundis

I really like this group.

 

My Monday fight song,...

Random thoughts on a cold wet weekend

•  I'm a law librarian. One of my patrons is working on a case that involves young victims. My research required me to read some court documents on Friday that made tears fall from my eyes. No matter how tough you may think you are, or that you've heard it all,  there are dark things in this world that normal, decent people shouldn't even know about.  Lord, have mercy!
  
  
  
  
  
• I need something quiet and lovely this weekend. 
  
  
  
  
  
• I don't like Taylor Marshall but of late, I've noticed that  a lot  of the sniping at him from is coming off as silly and most especially to people who haven't followed his career it appears more like envy than serious, worthwhile criticism. If you're uneasy about him because of the Opus Dei connection or the Fisher Moore episode or his "Stop eating products with seed oils and lift weights or you aren't a man," kick, or you've been calling him Dr. Cut and Paste for ages then okay that all makes sense but if you think Pope Francis is anti traditional because of Marshall then you haven't been paying attention to what' Francis has been doing from day one. Cardinal Bergoglio's probably was a modernist before Marshall was even born. 
  
  
  
  
• At Mass, the priest said that St. John the Baptist thought that Jesus was going to bring immediate judgement and  became disappointed in Him while sitting in Herod's prison. This particular priest is a nice  man but I can't stand his homilies.  I sat in the pew and sighed internally.  Later I  read Chapter eleven from the St. Matthew section of the Catena Aurea by St. Thomas Aquinas as a restorative.   St. John the Baptist, the greatest of all the prophets did not lose hope in Our Lord. He wasn't offended because he was facing martyrdom and he did not think he knew better than the Lamb of God.
• 
  
  
   
  
  

Sciambra Apostatizes : Can we please stop running after Catholic celebrities?

• I can't say that I'm surprised by this. Joseph Sciambra came on to the scene like a meteor. He was treated like a celebrity and his past tragedy and personal decisions made in reaction to the monstrous violence that was visited upon him was seen as credentials to make him an expert on Catholicism.  When he started going on and on about the manly Orthodox someone-some wise layman or a stern and holy priest should have grabbed him and counseled him to get off social media and work on his salvation in private. There were people who cried a warning online but they obviously ignored. Now he's gone Orthodox and Fr. Kalchik who should know better is cheering him on.  What will Sciambra do when he realizes that Orthodox people sin just like everyone else and yes that includes sexual sin as well? For the love of  our Holy Faith can we finally stop creating these mini celebrities? This never ends well. Either they turn into grifters or they implode. 
  
  
  
  

The "approved" easy to get to diocesan TLM is a thing of the past

 For years I've felt that the TLMs in my diocese probably wouldn't survive after Pope Benedict's death. After his abdication and  this weird twilight existence where they drag him out for photo ops and then hide him away again, that hunch came true. Joshua May used to go to St. Mary's in  Chinatown in DC and he has an observation that lines up with what I've been thinking. I couldn't embed the link so it is below.

 https://sspx.org/en/news-events/news/looking-beyond-dioceses-tradition-76674

Random thoughts now that the Mid terms are finally mostly over

•  Last night Rocky and I drove to a parish in the DC diocese for Adoration. We used to go for Adoration, Confession and the traditional Mass but Cardinal Gregory ended the TLM. The church was dark. We made the sign of the cross and drove away. I can't put into words how painful the sight of that darkened church was to me. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
• There's a guy on Twitter who has been braying like a jackass for weeks that "You can't vote your way out this...." He's right but I can't bring myself to like him because he's also a raging snob, a  distributism fan, a monarchist, (Look both options are pie in the sky fantasies for the American situation), and he seems to long for the life of a patron in Old Mexico or a minor lord in England. However, even a LARPing fantasist can be right about one or two things. This country is in bad shape morally. The people have been corrupted and degraded and things are going to get worse.
  
  
  
  

• We can't have the TLM but this is fine?
  
  
  
  

Paulie Pelosi probably isn't the only restless drone to a queen bee

Being a politician's husband is not easy or normal. Even if he's a successful, mature man it's faintly emasculating. Sometimes the husband files for divorce but usually he sticks around  with either a frozen smile or a sullen expression and an ever present full shot glass. At best he finds something else to fill his hours. If the woman politician is lucky the something else is running the family business back home or hanging with his buddies. If she isn't lucky  the something  else makes the local rumor mill and occasionally, the news. It's actually almost impressive that Nancy Pelosi's husband hasn't embarrassed her before this year.

On Fr. Jackson

I just listened to Ann Barnhardt discussing Fr. James Jackson on her podcast.  It's disturbing and I think at a few points she said things that should not have been said. I've largely ignored most of the commentary and gossip about the case because I just went straight to the docket, USA v. Jackson, docket number, 1:21-mj-00109, in the District of Rhode Island and read the indictment for myself. To the people who still think Fr. Jackson was set up I can only tell you that after reading what his parole officer had to say I'm thankful I didn't even consider donating to any fundraiser on his behalf. 

Fr. Jackson was staying in Kansas with a relative while awaiting trial when he was re-arrested for violating the terms of his parole. While it is possible that something could have been planted in the rectory back in Rhode Island, he did not live and work there alone after all; I don't see that happening in his safe harbor in Kansas. People's hearts will be broken by this when it goes to trial but don't lose your Faith over this. Judas will lead you away from Our Lord and straight to the company of those who scourged and mocked Him. Don't join them.
  

Random thoughts on a Friday night

•  I did not know this but I was aware that with the exception of the SSPX most of Catholicism's bishops failed during the Great Sick aka The Rona. It was mostly Protestants who fought in court. That is our shame. 
  
  
  
  
• I've been seeing some well-meaning and hopeful folks say to the DC attendees of the TLM that they should come to Virginia. When I remind people that the Diocese of Arlington is only permitting the traditional Mass for two years I'm told that a lot of things could happen in two years. True. When I press the person responds with a version of  "You know, Francis could die,". Well, unless a person is  on his deathbed it's not a good idea to count the sands in their  hourglass.   
  
  I remember my  family's insurance agent who gently chided fat customers and pointed to his own athletic lifestyle. When he died suddenly in the prime of his life I saw many of his fat and elderly customers, who all obviously outlived him at his wake. Francis could live another ten years and even then, unless we get a miracle, the next man up could be even worse. So, for all practical purposes the Arlington Diocese TLM is on borrowed time. People need to face that and start making contingency plans.
  
  
  
• Maureen Mullarkey is a smart woman.  I hope she's wrong about Shia LeBeouf. I hope I'm wrong but I think a lot of people are going to end up with egg on their faces. 
  
  
  
• We don't want to go to war. God have mercy. We are ruled by Orcs.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Our Lady of Good Help, pray for us. 
  
  
  

Youth Mass

Mass at the Arlington Cathedral was ....not great this week. Rocky and I knew something was up as soon as we hit the door. Most of the regulars who are seated when we usually arrive weren't there. The flower arrangement was noticeably restrained and more tasteful than usual and there were three extra chairs for priests. The tall microphone was at the bishop's chair so we guessed he was going to be the celebrant.  There were more candles than we normally have and the nicer Christmas and Easter tall candlesticks were out. The sacristans had on suits. The Youth Minister was flying around with a look of intense concentration and then I understood why when  I noticed the little red programs. "It's the youth Mass, " I whispered to Rocky. "How'd we miss it?" Was the answer.

 I sighed. The one week I didn't read the bulletin is the week with the Mass we try to avoid. The youth choir came in.  They were happy to see each other and their chatter and laughter was so loud  that a priest had to shush them. Instead of the scheduled  elderly lector, who apparently wasn't told this until she arrived;  a teenager did the readings. Instead of the usual cantor who is in his twenties, we got one who was younger and had  bright Joker green hair. 

The noise from the boisterous choir got bad again and I gave up trying to pray because even with closing my eyes and  whispering my prayers I couldn't concentrate. I wasn't the only one and I noticed that the few regulars who did come  were looking up at the choir loft with displeasure. This has nothing to  do with the age of the choir members. The children's choir are obviously much younger and somehow manage to behave far better. 

The bishop gave us a homily where he mentioned  the new immigration center in Woodbridge, Virginia and the lovely chat he had with two Afghan men who are being helped there. The choir was mostly very good but when they tried to pull off "Most Beautiful" as the Communion song it was embarrassing. 

The young attendees were invited to a reception downstairs  and I found it mildly amusing looking at the regulars with their puzzled or downright grim expressions as they went to their cars. As for me, I had a headache after Mass but Goody's headache powder, coke from McDonalds and a weiner schnitzel dinner at a new restaurant took care of it. 

Are we ruled by livin' men or monsters?

 

Life is so very beautiful. Last night Rocky and I sat and listened to the cicadas and looked up at the moon. Beautiful.  Last week I stood by a river in Southern Maryland admiring the birds and loving the smell of rain. Beautiful. How perverse that our leaders, who already have everything money can but still can't find joy in that;  seem determined to ruin and kill innocent people because they think it's worth it to create the world they want. Whether you trust Fr. Malachy Martin or not, I think his term "perfectly possessed," describes a lot of the men and women who are in charge. 

The song in this video is from the Twilight Zone episode "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge". Peyton Farquhar, has escaped from a hanging and near drowning and the stunned, exhausted man revels in the joy of being alive. His fierce love of life and his family gives him the strength to stagger 30 miles back to his home. He doesn't make it.

Two thoughts on a Saturday night

•  Actor Shia LeBeouf has converted. I'm not running around shouting hosanna because let's face it people, the man is an actor, and one who is promoting his new movie. He's also been a major flake in the past and this could be a phase or he could be harassed out of it.  Actor, Chris Pratt used to thrill the Evangelicals by claiming to be a devout Christian but he faced a lot of nastiness about it in Hollywood. In a recent statement he now claims that he's really not all that religious. Lionizing celebrity converts is not good for them or the foolish lionizers. If the fact that such and such notable person is Catholic is the thing that really makes you proud to be Catholic then you have a problem that could make you lose your Faith one terrible day. I hope that LeBeouf is genuine and remains in the Faith but it doesn't affect mine in any way, shape or form.  St. Genesius, patron saint of actors, please pray for Shia.
  
  
  
  
  
• On September 17th there is going to be a walking pilgrimage from the cathedral in Arlington, Virginia to the cathedral in DC. The pilgrims will be praying for a restoration of the traditional Mass. That's wonderful and I commend those who will be walking and praying but I really hope that plans are being made for helping people who don't drive get to Mass once the restrictions go into place.  I was born and raised in DC and there's no way I'd take a bus or the train to get the Franciscan monastery. The area you will need to travel through  gets rough and I'm putting that mildly. Things are better now but you can still get mugged or see some drug deals going down as you pass by. St. John the Evangelist is in Silver Spring and a lot of Silver Spring isn't all that nice. St. Dominic's mission is too far for most folks.  People who can't drive will need rides. 
  
  The situation in Virginia is better as far as the number of places that will be allowed to offer the TLM but in the long term it's all supposed to end in two years. Logistical and financial back-up plans need to be ironed out now. I hope somebody is thinking about this and I hope people are talking about getting together to pay for renting spaces for Mass which is what most folks had to do in the 70s and 80s to attend the TLM.

Random thoughts on a Saturday afternoon

 I read a Twitter comment from someone who wrote that traditional Catholics have nothing to fear as far losing the ability to go the traditional Mass in their own parishes if they are docile to their bishops and don't cause any trouble. After Chicago, Savannah, Fargo, DC and the Arlington diocese stories I had to laugh at that comment. I was tempted to  ask the guy if he was a Pod person or if he'd been born yesterday.  Either he was being a jerk or he really is that foolish. 

"The most evident mark of God’s anger and the most terrible castigation He can inflict upon the world are manifested when He permits His people to fall into the hands of clerics who are priests more in name than in deed, priests who practice the cruelty of ravening wolves rather than the charity and affection of devoted shepherds. Instead of nourishing those committed to their care, they rend and devour them brutally. Instead of leading their people to God, they drag Christian souls into hell in their train. Instead of being the salt of the earth and the light of the world, they are its innocuous poison and its murky darkness. St. Gregory the Great says that priests and pastors will stand condemned before God as the murderers of any souls lost through neglect or silence"…. Saint John Eudes 

Pray for us, St. John. 

• Don't send any nasty e-mail or angry letters to Bishop  Burbidge.   It probably just makes him feel righteous with pretentions of being a martyr. Instead wash your hands of the diocese and start thinking about where you are going to put your money and where and how you are going get to Mass. 
  
  
  
•  A few years ago I was listening to a podcast and the speaker presented a theory that was startling. What if the many of the German scientists who were rescued by the US at the end of WWII were lying about their research? That seemed farfetched and I almost dismissed it  until I actually gave it some thought.
  
  Imagine you're a German scientist in the last days of the war. You joined  the Nazi party because you truly believed or you just wanted to keep your job. Neither reason matters now because in a matter of weeks or days the Red Army is going to arrive and you don't want yourself or or any female you love to be around when that happens.
  
  Your best friend at the lab, Wilhelm has quietly told you that he's made contact with the OSS and tomorrow he and his family are going for an after dinner walk. They aren't coming back but will be picked up and flown to England. Wilhem has told his Allied contact about you and the Americans are interested enough to arrange a meeting. You have a chance to get yourself, your wife and her elderly parents out of Germany and to a new safe life, so what do you do? You tell that American the tallest, wildest tale you can possibly think of about your run-of-the-mill work.
  
  Some disgusting things happened in the 50s to the 70s because our leaders believed that the German scientists had made advances in things that mankind would have been better off not knowing about  and if we didn't get "there" first the Soviets would, based on what they were getting from the German scientist they snatched. This does not excuse America's leaders at the time but the idea that those terrible things may have been based in part on the lies told by  desperate men is almost too much too terrible think about because it sounds exactly like the sort of sly, vicious joke that the Devil would make. 
  
  
  
  
• Despite the horrors being visited on Nigerian Catholics  Francis, whom we know likes to talk, has nothing to say. 
  
  
  
  
  
• Psst. Don't let your daughter participate in gymnastics beyond the local level and never let them move to a gym. 

Vacation

 Rocky and I went to Pennsylvania for our vacation and took my mother with us. It was wonderful and I noticed something. The people were so normal. When I got back to Northern Virginia it was startling how many people walk about looking like they're attending a mad costume party. People deliberately pay a lot of money to look ugly and weird. And so many people seem angry or half a step from getting really nasty. It's so omnipresent that you don't notice it until you get away for  a few days. Once again, Rocky and I were reminded that when he retires we have to get out of here. 

We went to Mass at a Redemptorist parish.  The Mass was about as nice as the Novus Ordo can be and while the cantor got a little out of control and even cut the priest off, the people were very friendly. We needed to fulfill our Sunday obligation and it was okay.

Giving credit where it's due

 A few weeks ago, Fr. Z. said that something terrible was about to happen. Most people who commented on it seemed to think he sounded hysterical. I figured it was about the diocese of Chicago and didn't see how that was going to affect everyone and because I've been terribly disappointed in his judgment before,  I dismissed it as Fr. being overly dramatic again. Well, right after that warning, the DC Cardinal struck down the TLM to three places, the bishop of Savannah made his move and now my bishop has taken 21, traditional Masses and reduced them to 8, with only 3, being in an actual consecrated church. Who's next? I guess this is all part of a plan. It looks like Fr. Z. was on to something after all. 

My old parish is one of the 8, that has had a temporary stay but St. Francis DeSales in Benedict, Maryland will not be able to continue. Rocky and I drive from Virginia to Benedict every week because Mass there is so beautiful and the preaching is so sterling and unlike Northern Virginia, the people are not snooty.  We also enjoy the ride in the country. What a sad, cruel blow to the fine people who have worked and sacrificed to make that parish so dear. 

The hirlings care not for the sheep

 Cardinal Gregory has finally released his Traditional Latin Mass decree. The Mass will be reduced to only three places: the Franciscan Monastery, (I've read some statements from people saying the Mass won't be in the main church but only in the Blessed Sacrament chapel) , St. John the Evangelist in  Silver Spring, Maryland and St. Dominic's Mission in Baden, Maryland. 

Random thoughts on a Tuesday afternoon

• LARPing Catholics who pretend to be English lords and post ridiculous photos of themselves and their Disneyfied version of a castle home probably repel untold numbers of people who might have discovered a love for the traditional Mass.
  
  
  
  
  
• Before Rocky and I got married we were miserable when we were apart. Rocky's mother once told me that he  was so grouchy when he wasn't out with me that although she was not happy about our marriage she had to admit that once we were married he was all smiles again. I cannot imagine being forced to wait and take expensive marriage prep classes for a year before we could have been  married.
  
  
  
  
  
• I've always been somewhat lukewarm about FSSP and ICKSP because neither order has a parish or chapel near me and both serve at the whim of the local bishop. It looks like ICKSP will be effectively destroyed in Chicago starting August 1. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  My Jesus, mercy!
• 
  
  
  
  

random thoughts on a Sunday afternoon

• The Good Samaritan
  
  
  When Jesus told the story of the Good Samaritan it must have been stunning to His listeners. The Samaritans were a despised people.  They were descended from the country folk who were left behind during the Babylonian captivity and because they had intermarried with pagans the Jews considered them to be apostates and worse. The Samaritans for their part, thought that their Jewish cousins had ingested too many Babylonian religious ways and weren't true Israelites anymore. The Jewish temple was in Jerusalem and the oft attacked Samaritan temple was on Mt.  Gerizim. 
  
  The road to Jericho was very dangerous. Robbery and murder was common and people didn't travel it alone. The priest and the Levite, the tribe from which priests came and who were charged with special temple duties passed the robbery victim by but a disgusting Samaritan   stopped, provided aid and spent a large sum of money to take care of him. Traditionally the Church teaches that the victim is mankind, foolishly going our own way and falling into sin which brutalizes our souls. The priest and Levite are the Old Law. The Good Samaritan is Our Lord and great cost of the rescue is Our Lord's Passion and Death. 
  
  
  
  
  
•  “Our Country won’t go on forever if we stay soft as we are now. There won’t be any AMERICA because some foreign soldiery will invade us and take our women and breed a hardier race!” – Chesty Puller

After WWII, German mystic, Therese Neuman was visited by many American soldiers. There is a story, and I'm not sure if it's true or not-- that one man asked her if America would ever be conquered  by an invading force. She responded for the sake of the kindness of the American people, this would never happen but America's fall would come from inside decay. Frankly, the decay has gotten so bad in certain places that millions of the very people who are cheering for it might be secretly relieved and would turn on a dime if  Puller's prediction were to come to pass. 

 God help us. 

• Americans have been taught for two hundred years to revere college professors and to see college graduates as superior--the best and  the brightest. That conditioning turned out to be disastrous. Some time around WWII, the universities were conquered. Academic rigor has been falling for decades and even the standards of the last fortress, STEM is falling. Now, every time some whack job with a PHD spouts off the media reports his or her comments with respect. For as long as I can remember, most folks seem to laugh and say that what goes on at the campuses has no bearing on real life but it does, like arsenic in the well water we all drink.
  
  Why do politicians and activists go to campuses to speak? Why do we simultaneously treat college students like kindergarteners while encouraging  them to enjoy four years of hedonism as long as they don't have any permanent damage? I've known parents who worked two jobs, mortgaged their homes, never went on vacation or bought a new vehicle until the old one couldn't be repaired anymore because they believed that Water Color Fine Arts degree was going to be their kid's golden ticket. Of course they made those sacrifices for love but have we all been sold a bill of doubtful quality goods? It's probably too late to reform higher education especially Catholic higher education which is hollowed out of any Faith and is just as faddish as secular schools but there are tiny spots of hope here and there. A few people are realizing that the student loan/obscene tuition game is rigged.
  
  
  
  
  
• Have you noticed that except for the Vegas man, mass shooters all seem to be disturbing to look at? The eyes are wrong somehow as if they're victims of fetal alcohol syndrome or terrible early childhood trauma. The expression either seems dead or final stage rabid. The bodies seem to be skinny to the point of emaciation. They are weirdly dressed in photos as if they desperately want to be gawked at or they appear to have slept in a dumpster. All of them seem to be displaying a warning in their appearance like poison frogs that they're dangerous and you'd best leave them alone. 
  
  
  
  
  
• Truth is beautiful. Even if it's hard to face. 
  
  
  
  
  

Love, loss, and forgiveness : Uncle Junior's Tale

 About 50 years ago my uncle Junior had a short but at the time, life-threatening illness. While he was recuperating  he learned that the teenager who lived a few houses over, frequently babysat his son while his wife worked her night job.  This was an unpleasant surprise to him. My uncle worked the night shift. His wife, a bank teller, most certainly did not. Junior remained calm but searched his home. He found love letters to his wife that were not from him. After his divorce, he and my grandmother did a fine job raising my cousin. 

Rudyard Kipling wrote a poem called "The Vampire" about a man who falls in love with the wrong woman. It includes the line," So some of him lived but the most of him died," and that describes Uncle Junior after his divorce. I do not  remember him ever smiling when I was young. I never even heard him speak his ex-wife's name until I was in my 30s. Hearing him laugh, joke and show zest for living is normal now but I'd say he didn't start coming back to life until my cousin was in college.

Junior's ex-wife went on to lead a tragic life. Her lover didn't  marry her. I guess he was just fooling around. Since she didn't have custody of her son, she was free to do as she pleased. She left town, traveled, had a career, "had it all" as the feminist's say but nothing ever seemed to satisfy.  She returned to her parents' home in her 50s seeking peace and rest. She became active in her family's church and even taught Bible Study. Now, her body is shutting down and the doctors say her next move  will be to hospice care. When my cousin told my uncle this he did something astounding. Junior went to the hospital to see her. He promised that when the time came he would sit by their son at her funeral and that is just what he did yesterday. I am in awe.

Sursam Corda

 

random thoughts on a Sunday afternoon.

•  Every week at the prayers of the Faithful  I hear "For the people of Ukraine facing tyranny..." but so far the liturgical committee has not noticed what's been going on in Nigeria where people are being slaughtered and kidnapped at Mass and priests have been murdered. Considering that this diocese has a large number of Nigerians this is odd and disappointing. 

• I've said it before and I will say it again. Have you noticed that nobody, not one rabbi, or Protestant preacher  has publicly offered to stand by Catholics as our churches are being attacked? The Mass was changed in part, to appeal to Protestants and there are Catholics who have spent their entire church careers for lack of a better term, working feverishly on Interfaith causes. We certainly are seeing the worthlessness of those efforts.  
  
  
  
• 
  
  
  
  

Spot the quisling

 A lot of people who we thought were pro-life actually aren't and were just giving lip service to the cause. They enjoyed getting paid for speeches and essays but in their hearts they were perfectly fine with Roe and the money it brought them. I've been very surprised by the tepid response from a number of priests and bishops. One professional Catholic hates President Trump so much that he can't bring himself to be happy. He's the worst of the bunch but most of the professional Catholics have not responded with joy. I hope people are taking note. 

Dobbs

 I am a  GenX baby, the last generation to be born before Roe v. Wade and I have lived to see Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization. God be praised. All glory and honor to God. 

random thoughts on a Thursday morning

• This piece on Old St. Mary's in DC is interesting but left me a bit unsettled. My godmother, was one of those little old ladies who attended the Monday novena and one of my earliest memories is going to St. Mary's with her and looking up at the Pieta statue with awe. The author of the essay says everything was gray and depressing. I thought that old church was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. Old women like my godmother and the Chinese parishioners who kept the parish going deserved more respect than the essay gives. They weren't famous or rich but they had souls to save and they faithfully attended back when walking alone in Chinatown in the morning or night was dangerous. Cardinal Gregory, it's been whispered has turned a jaundiced eye towards the parish and in the end, it must might be those frumpy, uninteresting, old nobodies who save the parish again.
  
  
  
  
  
  

•  If you are a prepper it's time to go dark about it. If your family and friends haven't learned to plan for emergencies by now, they won't. 
  
  
  
  
  
• I have found that it's best to skip reading Fr. Z.  unless I want a pasta recipe because I just end up irritated and a little sad but I noticed on  Canon 212 that Fr. blasted Gloria TV for  reporting  a story about a confraternity that turned a  church in Rome into a dinning hall for a few hours in order to feed the needy. Father Z is in Rome eating and drinking and posting cute travel videos. Why he got upset with Gloria TV, which is not a minor Trad site , by the way, for noting while yes, we should and are commanded to care for the poor, reducing the house of God, which should be for His worship, to a feeding station is a mystery to me. My only guess is that Fr. feels this way  because the confraternity is affiliated with the FSSP and you're a bad Trad if you don't cheer for absolutely everything any FSSP priest does. I think that's baloney.  Also Rome apparently doesn't have any parish halls or civic centers the confraternity could have used to do this. Sure..... 
  I hope the Blessed Sacrament was removed for the event but neither Gloria TV nor Fr. Z. said so. 
  
  
  

Pentecost

 

Random thoughts on a Saturday afternoon

• Nigerian Christians are being terrorized and nobody seems to care. Priests and seminarians have been kidnapped and murdered. A church was attacked on Pentecost Sunday and the estimates are 50 or more people were slaughtered. Villages have been burnt, a young woman was lynched...Where is the Catholic media? 
  
  
  
• Is the new Obi Wan show so bad that Disney/Lucas Film is ginning up a faux controversy to fool people into watching it?
  
  
  
  
• Why are people so gleefully evil towards sedevaticantists? Is it the group-think need  to have someone on the outside to hate? I don't agree with them but they are Catholic and deserve civility. If you can plop yourself down to a seder at your parish or  say not a word of protest when your priest hands over your parish hall  to Muslims, while they build their mosque down the street then why NOT do the brotherhood of man song and dance in regards  to a Sede?
  
  Your archbishop has a woman's nick-name. There haven't been ten men ordained in one year for decades in your diocese.  You can't recall the last time you saw a real nun on the parish grounds, much less at Mass. The "Catholic" high school is celebrating sexual sin  and Confession is about 30 minutes once a week at your parish--if Fr. isn't busy Tweeting or doing his You Tube videogame review.  There's less than 50 people at Mass but you have two Eucharist Ministers.  The head of your RCIA program is loudly pro-abortion and not one thing will be done about it... Are things so wonderful that you can cheerfully damn a Sede on the Internet, whom you don't even know, to Hell for looking at all this and trying to find an answer? Would you ever even dream of treating  a Lutheran or Mormon the way I've seen Sedes talked to in Catholic social media?
  
  Are there annoying Sedes? Yes, but of course.  Some are downright obnoxious. Some have been driven mad and you just can't talk to them. There are also calm, erudite sedevaticantists who are able to make their argument with dignity and clarity. Again, I don't agree with them. If there hasn't been a pope since 1958, I don't see how we can ever have one again. The last cardinals made by Pius XII must be over 100 by now and may be in their dotage.  I can make that point without going, "Shut up you stupid, sub-human Sede and go to Hell." 
  
  
  
  
  
  St. Charles Lwanga, pray for us.

The insane walk among us.

In the late 60s and 70s the idea spread that with all the psychotropic medications available  even the seriously, dangerously mentally ill could live at home as long as they had a strong support system. In 1961, Professor Thomas Szasz published his thunderbolt of a book, The Myth of Mental Illness and founded the  American Association for the Abolition of Involuntary Mental Hospitalization.  He testified before Congress and his theories caught on. He was also a proponent of suicide and did so in 2012. I've heard people mutter, "Oh, Ronald Reagan closed the asylums in California and that's what started homelessness." No. The movement for closing mental institutions was a popular one that had been building long before that. Politicians responded to the people and the people had been told by movies, novels, the news, and academics that mental institutions were all bad. 

 What most of the well-meaning, nice people didn't realize was that eventually the strong 50 year old who can make his 20 year old son take his medicine, grows old and dies. The nice folks didn't take into account the number of people could not handle their sick relative and those who did not want to and felt that they'd been forced and shamed into the position of caretaker that they weren't equipped for. I can think of at least three examples of this:

• A old college  friend of mine had a cousin who was homeless. She explained, when noticing my surprise --the family was well off-- that when he was a freshman at college his mind broke,  either by nature or by drug use. His parents brought him home from school and took care of him until they died. They left money. They left a house. They left siblings who by that time were senior citizens and unable and unwilling to sacrifice their lives to take on a 30 year old who could get violent if his dosage schedule varied. So he's on the street. 

• One of my mother's neighbors took care of her mentally ill son  until her common-law husband died. She couldn't stay on the property as the husband never made any provisions for her legally. She decided to move a senior building but of course the building's management  would not allow her to bring her son with her so she left him. He lives in the alley nearby his old home and sometimes sleeps in the parking lot next door. His mother brings him food and laundry but he's on the street and sometimes he scares people rather badly when he's angry and  he gets arrested.  People who knew him when he was young look a bit shamefaced about it but  everyone, even the ones who are sympathetic to him are relieved when he's in jail. The last time I ran into him, I recoiled from his stench and then froze like a cornered rabbit until he passed me by. Living as he does, spending the Winters outdoors has turned his health. He's lost a good deal of weight and looks to be a shadow of himself. My mother is convinced that his body can't go on like this and it's only a matter of time before he's found dead somewhere.
  
  
  

• I have a cousin who was hit in the head with a baseball when he was eight which some family members believe caused brain damage. If he's not medicated he has no impulse control, is quick to panic  and has gotten violent with females. He's been to jail and prison. Thankfully he has four brothers who keep him at home and  step up time and again to protect him and clean up any mess he gets into. That's  obviously not what most families  in this situation are doing or can do. 

It should be obvious by now, that public mental hospitals are needed and desperately so. There are poor, sick  in soul and body people wandering the streets who ought to be in a humane institution with food, drink, medical care  and shelter.  The insane walk among us. For their sakes and the sakes of innocents who may be harmed by them, it has to stop. 

St. Dymphna, pray for us. 

St. John and the boiling oil

 I love the look of mild annoyance on St. John's face. 

random thoughts on a Sunday afternoon

•  The US Conference of Catholic Bishops is shutting down it's news arm, CNA at the end of the year.  Most of the comments I've seen about it bemoan the fate of the 21employees  in New York and DC and there were the usual complaints that the Church needs to pay staff better. Well, I'm glad that CNA is shutting down. I wish the USCCB would do the same and I think things would be better if lay people were no longer making their living off the Church. 

• I had two really bad teachers in elementary and high school. Both were young laywomen who had just graduated from college. The elementary teacher was moved from the classroom to the office some time after I graduated and the high school teacher was fired or just not rehired at the end of the school year.  Communities used to be very zealous about the schoolmarm's character. Parents knew and seem to have forgotten that the nanny, the governess and the teacher all have the kids for most of the day and are forming their minds so these people should be absolutely mentally sound and have sterling morals. 
  Mary Kay  Letourneau is the most infamous example, but young teachers and coaches flirting and having sexual contact with students happens much more that most people want to think. New teachers fresh out of school should either be assistants to an experienced teacher in the classroom for a few years or every classroom needs to be live streamed for parents every day. 
  
  
  
  
• I've noticed that there seem to be less Ukrainian flags in the windows of the mansions in Northern Virginia. Is it because the frivolous folks are moving on to a new cause du jour or is it because the owners of those houses have been ridiculed and challenged by their neighbors? Depending on who your employer is, a lot of money is being made from Ukraine and perhaps, just perhaps it's dawning on people how their neighbors bought that new "cottage" on the Eastern Shore....
  
  
  
  
  
• Rocky and I watched the IDF beating the pallbearers at Shireen Abu Aqleh's funeral and were disgusted. Sure, I'd like to go visit the Holy Land but there is no way in the world I would willingly give my tourist dollars to the modern state that controls it.
  
  
  
  
• Maureen Mullarkey's lastest post is on a scene that all to many of us have seen variation of. 

This is bad and it's not going to blow over

 Something very bad just happened this week. People, not all of whom are demon possessed went to Catholic churches and tried to terrorize people and commit sacrilege. In Katy, Texas they stole the Blessed Sacrament. All these people got away with it. If any of them get  arrested we will watch them skip out of court with a triumphant leer on their ugly faces.  Catholics became second class citizens this week and there is nary a peep from the US bishops. There's not a Bishop "Dagger" John Hughes among them.

 If you believe the Kennedy presidency was the Catholic high water mark (Really? The Kennedy's always put their Faith second place to politics) then the Biden term in office has got to be a decline not seen since the Klan and No Nothings before them were attacking Irish Catholics. What's been happening would have been unthinkable 50 years ago. And for all you interfaith folks, have you seen any of the separated brethren standing arm in arm with Catholics at the Church door? No, in fact, if you go visit the interfaith salons you  may notice that they're strangely quiet right now. 

Does this sound familiar to you? Do you recall reading about  times in history when goons were allowed and encouraged to do things like this? It didn't blow over then did it? I don't think it's going to blow over now.

Random thoughts on a Thursday afternoon

•  There is no more fiercer critic of the Church than one who has left her due to scandal. Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene used to be Catholic but now attends some Protestant group's services.  The sex scandals are apparently her main reason for that and she certainly is not the only one. The toothless, worthless Catholic League got upset with her recent comments but conveniently ignore why Greene said what she said.  
  
  
  
  
  
• I don't believe Roe will fall this year. I think one or two of the Justices will be be intimidated into changing their votes which is what the leak of the draft was intended to do. Frankly my main concern right now is the threats of violence against Catholic churches. Notice that nobody is calling for bothering non-denominational soft rock bank churches or any other blend of Protestant worship hall. I guess that's the devil admitting that only the Catholic Church is true.
  
  
  
  
• There is talk that the traditional Mass at Old St. Mary's in Chinatown in DC is going to be cancelled and moved to the widely criticized JPII Center near Catholic U. That would a be a shock. For many years the only place in DC to find a traditional Mass was St. Mary's. However, parking over at JPII would be much, much better. One reason why Rocky and I never go to St. Mary's anymore is that unless you get there two hours early parking is impossible and while it's not as bad as it used to be, it is not in a neighborhood where you can afford to daydream in while walking to Mass. Cardinal Gregory, if he does force a move, may not intend it as a kindly gesture but it might work out for the good in the long run. 

random thoughts on a Sunday night

• So  how was your Divine Mercy Mass?  Father preached at some considerable length about the very great sufferings of Pope John Paul II and Sr. Faustina  but  he also mentioned  the Gospel reading. Poor Rocky was so tired from work that he dozed off a few times. I only nudged him awake because if he'd started snoring everybody would have heard it. The Divine Mercy image was not brought out this year, nor  was the chaplet prayed before or during Mass. Compared to  Divine Mercy masses of yesteryear this was pretty toned down. I think the devotion is quietly fading in the United States. 
  
  
  
•  My brother-in-law loves Disney so much that he used to go once or twice a year. To each his own... and it was his money to do as he pleased and none of my business  but I couldn't fathom it. I still can't. The You Tube videos of squealing adults gong to Disney as if it's a pilgrimage site used to be strike me as weird but harmless now they seem decidedly unhealthy. 
  
  
  
• I have no desire to watch "The Chosen".  The trailers and still photos just had a strong Protestant/Mormon vibe to me and as it turns out it's blasphemous.  It also makes the Lord a sweet, lovable goofball. I despise that as much as I loathe the girly pink-cheeked and doe eyed images of Our Lord. 
  
  
  
• I've noticed something rather interesting. When Rocky and I drive through the wealthy parts of Northern Virginia we see Ukrainian flags in front of the mansions. There are a few in the middle class neighborhoods and none to be seen the working class or poor neighborhoods. 
  
  
  
• St. John the Evangelist was special among the Apostles. Perhaps it was due to his youth and innocence. He was the one out of all the Apostles who was entrusted with protecting Our Lady after the Crucifixion. When he had his vision of Our Lord on the isle of Patmos, he, a very old man did not greet Jesus familiarly. He threw himself to the ground and prostrated himself before God. I try to think about that when I pass by the Blessed Sacrament or when faced with a priest or deacon who wants to give me Communion in the hand.

Rejoice

 

Happy Easter

 

Holy Saturday

 

What is happening? Today there is a great silence over the earth, a great silence, and stillness, a great silence because the King sleeps; the earth was in terror and was still, because God slept in the flesh and raised up those who were sleeping from the ages. God has died in the flesh, and the underworld has trembled. from an ancient Holy Saturday Homily

O KING OF THE FRIDAY

 

O KING OF THE FRIDAY

O King of the Friday

Whose limbs were stretched on the Cross,

O Lord who did suffer The bruises, the wounds, the loss,

We stretch ourselves

Beneath the shield of thy might,

Some fruit from the tree of thy passion

Fall on us this night!

He Has Trodden the Winepress Alone

Isaiah 63:1

Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bosra, this beautiful one in his robe, walking in the greatness of his strength. I, that speak justice, and am a defender to save. Why then, is thy apparel red, and they garments like theirs that tread in the winepress?

 

Palm Sunday

 

Uncle Luke and the Angel

 If someone claims that Our Lord, Our Lady, saints or angels are stopping by to chat with them regularly you should avoid them. If you think that the King of Kings is popping into your kitchen every day and saying you're  the most wonderful person in the world and that He is more united with you than any other creature you need to run to your priest and possibly a physician. That may very well be a demon or a brain tumor talking.

Chasing after unapproved apparitions is bad news but that doesn't mean that God doesn't step in when we need Him. I suspect that most true apparitions are not intended for the world to know about and are a one time event for most people who are so visited. Here's a family story about a relative who needed a miracle and may have gotten one.

My Great Uncle Luke was a wonderful person but he was an alcoholic. My mother isn't sure if his drinking started when he was a teenager or if it's something that began after he came home from the Korean War. Whenever it started it was very bad and was destroying him. His sisters, Grandma and Great Aunt Violet decided that something had to be done. Grandma befriended Luke's young wife and his young children spent pretty much every day at her home. Aunt Vi came home and spent her vacation talking to Luke's supervisor at work, his banker, and a lawyer. She took control of his money, made sure his bills were paid, bought clothes for his children and saved the home that Luke's grandchildren live in today. 

Luke's drinking finally landed him in the hospital. While he was there he had an experience that changed his life forever. He later told my grandmother and no-one else that an angel walked into his room. What the angel looked like or said, he did not tell her but from that night on he didn't need to drink anymore. He died when I was five and he was known as a wise and well beloved member of the family and community. He was also considered to be one of the most charitable men in the town. So many people came to his funeral that they had stand in the back and overflowed into the churchyard. It was such a spectacular turnaround that anyone who hadn't known him when he was a young man wouldn't have believed that he ever had an alcohol problem. God acts in our lives. 

Ask Your Husband--- and other random thoughts

• 
  
  
  
  
•  Although I do NOT want to give my money to either of  the Gordon brothers I have become increasingly curious about Stephanie Gordon's book, Ask Your Husband, to see what the fuss (from people I respect and a few that I don't), is all about. I'm too late. Tan publishing has pulled the book due to a plagiarism accusation from a surprising source and it's not available for immediate purchase on Amazon. The next Gordon family reunion is going to be bit strained, I'm guessing. If I can find a used copy I may still try to get it. The sad thing is; a good, non-stuffy, highly readable  book on Christian feminism and why it's evil is needed. Hopefully one day, we'll get one. 
  
  
  
  
• If I hear that "But the rank and file are still decent men and women and on our side," idiotic line one more time.....
  
  
  
  
  
• Y'all know that Oscar's slap was fake as pro wrassling, right? 
  
  
  
  
• Hey Maryland.   Joe at the Washington DC Catholic blog has posted a Tweet a Maryland legislature bill that should disturb you. Have your bishops or your parish priest said anything about this? You can also read about this on the Restore DC Catholicism blog. 
  
  
  
  

Another squishy consecration

 God knocked Saul off his high horse and adjusted Balaam's attitude so anything is possible. With that in mind,  I had planned to wait until Francis did his version of consecrating Russia before writing anything but the text of the consecration has been released and it's going to be another half assed one like all the others before it. 

As The Stomach Turns----The 2022 Appeal Has Officially Begun

When we arrived for Mass we saw that the children's choir was going to be singing and the cantor was better dressed than usual. When the kids sing at anything other than the Family Mass, it's a sign that something is up. 

This time it was because of the bishop's Lenten appeal. The financial take was way down for the last two years, the solicitation has been more aggressive than I've seen in my entire life. I've been getting emails every week reminding me to contribute and we have speakers from different groups come to Mass to talk about the Appeal. Fr. also spoke about Catholic Charities' immigration resettlement services and mentioned the 800 Afghan families that my diocese has taken in. Fr. assured us that all 800 worked for the US military in some capacity. 

After the Appeal talk, Father gave us a rousing pro-Ukraine speech and told us about the 13 soldiers on Snake Island who were all massacred by Russian forces. The same 13 soldiers who reports now say, surrendered and are all alive. Fr. also made a joke about his fat doctor. So that was it, propaganda and fat jokes. By the time Fr. was done I had an upset stomach. 

Umm, Fr. Keehan? Do You Know What Rock & Roll Actually Refers To?

 

One thing that we need to face is that the Novus Ordo is essentially whatever the bishop allows. A priest can follow the  GIRM  or he may not. You can have a Mass that is as well done and reverent as a Novus Ordo can be done or you have absolute buffoonery. It's valid. It's in communion, the priest is in good standing  and unless the bishop has a problem with it all your letters of complaint will be sent to the delete folder. 

Fr. Terrence M. Keehan, the pastor of Holy Family Catholic Church in Inverness, Illinois recently had a televised Mass where for the final blessing he held up a guitar and prayed, "Loving God, rock with us as we roll with you. Affirm us, so that we may affirm others. Sing your song in us, that we may sing it with others,” and then he used the guitar like a monstrance and blessed everyone.

There has been a lot of commentary about this.   I saw the photo and watched the video clip and felt like my cheeks tingle. That unusually happens when I'm shocked. I don't know how old Fr. Keehan is but he looks like he ought to be old enough to know that  the phrase "rock and roll" is  euphemism for sexual intercourse and has been at least since the 1930s. For a very small example, "Roll With Me, Henry", the original "Shake, Rattle and Roll", "Rock With U" and "Rock Me, Daddy," are not about dancing. Fr. Keehan may not have a musical, or anthropological background but come on, we all know on some level that the heart of Rock and Roll is shamanistic. It appeals to the lower passions. I think Fr. either meant well, although the road to Hell is paved with good intentions, or he was trying to cute but he did something appalling.  Would you simulate intercourse, howl, moan or jump around ecstatically before the Cross on Mt. Calvary? No, of course not so why is poor Father asking God Almighty to....I can't write it. 

 

You need to read this

 Non Veni Pacem  has just posted something chilling. 

random thoughts on a Wednesday

 

• I am not a Taylor Marshall fan but I must say that the idea of him or any adult  debating Michael Voris seems ridiculous. 
  
  
  
  
  
• A lot of people seem to want war with Russia over Ukraine. I wish these people would get on a plane with their sons, grandsons and nephews and leave the rest of the country out of it. 
  
  
  
  
• It started before the Obama years but became insane in his era, but when will people realize that this cult of personality; this worship of the president is unhealthy? I've seen people react to others with a different political view point as if they've committed blasphemy. Because they worship their guy or gal, anyone who doesn't' is an enemy, an apostate and an evildoer. This is sick, pathetic and dangerous. I've seen this on the Left AND the Right.  The president is suppose to be the chief executive, not your god emperor. 

• A lot of people need to hear what Father is saying. He doesn't mention it and probably didn't have time to get into it in a homily  but one terrible case of the public being lied to was the Mississippi Appendectomy. It wasn't an appendectomy and it wasn't just Mississippi. It happened all over the South with the approval, financial support and propaganda from government officials, Northeastern philanthropists and organizations like Planned Parenthood. Women, who were considered stupid, incorrigible, or mentally sub-normal or suffering from depression went in a surgery they were told was needed and were actually sterilized. Eugenics was practiced in the USA long before WWII and in a less heavy handed public way, it still is. 
  
  
  
  

• Col. Allen West is running for governor of Texas. He says he'll revoke the
  
  charity license of Catholic Charities if he wins. It needs to happen.

Our Lady seat of Wisdom, pray for us

 

Random thoughts on a cold Monday morning

•   I refuse to give a dime to Catholic Charities. The organization takes government money to do works that do not benefit our  fellow citizens. People see the vans and planes full of illegal immigrants arriving in their little towns and they see the Catholic Charities logo on the volunteers escorting them and of course they're coming to the conclusion that the Catholics aren't on their side. This won't end well. 
  
  
  
• Why is everyone so snotty towards old women? Why is "This is not your mother's or grandmother's …. a perennial advertising catch line? Why do so many Catholics act like the elderly don't have souls to save? I know a parish needs young families but heaping contempt on the elderly who survived the 70s and 80 and still come to Mass doesn't build up families. It just sets a bad example for your children who will one day turn a jaundiced eye towards you. 
  
  
  
  
• When I saw the photo of the Australian policeman walking up and down the aisle of a church during Mass and demanding to see people's vaccination status I immediately was reminded of a movie that I saw as a child. I think it was filmed the end of the '30s or the  1940s about English pilots whose plane is shot down  in what I think was the Netherlands. The pilots are saved by a gallant local family and arrangements are made to get them safely out.
  
  On the day of their escape the pilots, dressed as locals go to Mass with the family and will discreetly blend in with the Sunday crowds filling the square and roads to the rendezvous point afterwards. An SS officer and soldiers come in. The armed soldiers stand  at the back of the church but the officer walks up and down the aisle intimidating people. The camera shows the priest, and a few of the appalled parishioners. The pilots sitting with the family are  nervous and although they don't appear to be Catholic, the close ups of their faces show that they are disgusted at this strutting SS officer and the desecration. 

• People keep saying that Francis is dying of colon or pancreatic cancer but I don't buy it. My grandmother died of colon cancer. I don't think she weighed as much as 100 pounds at the end and Francis appears to weigh quite bit more than that. I've never seen a fat colon cancer end-stage patient.
  
  As for pancreatic cancer, my father-in-law, Big Daddy had it and when I saw him after his Whipple surgery I found that I had to struggle  to maintain my composure. He started out as a hugely fat man and was still large at the time of his death but he was visibly sick  and shockingly half the size he had been a few months earlier. He looked like the cancer was gobbling the fat right off him.
  
   Both my grandmother and my father-in-law were no longer interested in the world towards the end. Big Daddy had enormous charisma and normally commanded attention wherever he went.  On the last day I saw him alive, that spark was gone. He just didn't have the will or strength to dominate anymore. When you are seriously ill life gets very basic.  Francis is still active and obviously cares very much about worldly affairs. 
  
  He may have a serious, chronic condition.  At his age, that's highly probable but I don't think he's actively dying. Even if he were to die tonight it would not matter. Unless there is a miracle the next man to be elected pope will be no better than him. Look at the crop of cardinals we have. The good ones are weak and timid and the bad ones are riding high. 
  
  I don't want to come off as Negative Nelly but there is deep to the bone infection in the Vatican and is not just about Francis. He is the visible crown of the cyst, but there is so much more beneath the surface.