Good news

An English translation of the Vatican instruction on gays in the seminary is online at Catholic World News and other places. It looks like good news. If a young man is prancing around the seminary acting like Truman Capote he's not supposed to be ordained. Of course how many bad bishops are going to obey? How many seminarians are just going to go the Rock Hudson route? Oh well, it's a start. The road to Heaven begins with one faltering step.

In other news, the pope put the smackdown on the monks at Assisi. Years ago there was a meeting of world religions at the St. Francis shrine. The buddists were allowed to put an idol on the altar and animists slaughtered a chicken. That was an appalling episode that set the rad trads on fire and frankly, us conservative semi traditionalists couldn't really answer back.


Oh, I saw Harry Potter last night. The trailers before the movie got a mostly tepid response. Nobody seemed to be moved by King Kong, a few people laughed at Cheaper by the Dozen II and there were approving murmurs for the the Lady in the Water trailer.

The Goblet of Fire movie is MUCH better than Azkhaban. The theater was so packed it was actually too warm. The audience reaction was good. I thought the girl playing Fleur was horribly miscast....c'mon Fleur is part Veela. She should be a stunner. This actress was plain as a pancake. The boy playing Victor was perfect. I wasn't impressed by Voldie's makeup but I did like how Hogwarts looked this time out. Next up, Order of Phoenix in 2007?

Neat blogs and a confrontation at the confessional

I found a blog by a young man that is very neat. It's called St. Joseph's Vanguard.

And another one was Catholic Fire.

I went to the Catholic Answers forum and was kind of sad. It was 100% better than Angelqueen. The people at CAF are normal but judging by the posts the church in America has a long, LONG way to go in improving catechesis.


Mass tonight was interesting. I didn't get to confession. Just as I was about to go into the confessional and old man waved me off. "He's done." the old fellow grunted. Confession is from 4 to 5. It was 4:45. I felt like telling him to step off, mind his own cotton picking business, and that preventing somone from going to confession has got to be some kind of mortal sin but I didn't. Actually, in just a split second I went from being annoyed to amused. Bless the old guy's heart. I guess he was just trying to look out for Fr. Gandalf, in his own way.

Father Aragorn preached a smoking homily. There was a large group of elderly people there so I guess they were having something for them after Mass. There was a second collection but we weren't told what it was for.

things that make me happy

Fr. Corapi's preaching.

Fr. Pablo Struab's preaching. Love that accent.

The Franciscans of the Eternal Word.

Weep

The LA Times ran a story about a seminary in California that apparently was the original Pink Palace. It looks like any freak with a yen to hide his pervesion behind a white collar was welcome there.

In Virginia a brave priest went up against the lavender mafia and lost. His incredibly painful story is here The disgusting way Father Haley was treated is one of the reasons I left the Arlington diocese.



St. Charles Borromeo, patron of seminarians, pray for us.

St. John, the Cure d' Ars pray for us.

St. Pio, pray for us.

St. Peter and St. Paul, pray for us.

St. Athanasius, who had to hang tough for God when almost all the other clergy failed, pray for us.

St. John Fisher, who stood up to Henry the VIII, when all the other bishops turned coward, pray for us.

it's a mystery

Why is Mark Shea the king of Catholic blogdom? His blog is not funny. He's often mean and is always picking fights with people. I don't get it.

My search for a good Catholic newsy blog goes on. I checked out Angelqueen.org awhile back and didn't like it. Those folks are too bitter for my taste.

Mass

Father Gandalf did the confessions today. He is so kind and gives such good counsel. I felt so light and free when I left the confessional. Young Fr. Aragorn celebrated the Mass and his homily on the lazy, timid servant and his one talent was a knock out. For a young priest he speaks very well and really stirs the heart.

One funny thing-- okay most normal folks wouldn't find it funny but I have this weird sense of humor, okay? One funny thing happened. There were three or four babies of various ages at Mass tonight. One began to make a sound like yodeling. The others joined in. It was like a baby choir. Fr. began to pray and the tots got louder so he got louder. One began to shriek and Fr. just prayed a litlte louder. Finally he came to the consecration and they all quieted down. I immediately thought about the power of Christ compels you scene from the Exorcist and began to grin. At one point Fr. looked up and had this perplexed look on his face as if he couldn't figure out what the heck was wrong with me. Oh well....

I discovered something tonight. You can't wear a chapel cap on top of curly hair. It works fine when my hair is straight but tonight even with a hair comb it just wouldn't stay on.
I guess I'll buy a for real veil for the curly days. Now where to get one? I don't like the ones at Immaculata. The ones at Halo-works are nice but too long and the ones at the online Aquinas store are way too big. I might just get a chiffon scarf and carry it with me in my bottomless pit of a handbag.

and here we are, in heaven

"...and here we are in heaven, 'cause you are mine...at last. "

That line is from the great Etta James song, "At Last." I was reminded of it tonight while thinking about the Mass my husband I attended this evening. Our backup church (when my husband works late on Saturday and is just too tired to go 30 miles to our parish church we go to the back up church which is just 4 miles away.) is a little old church in a semi okay neighborhood. It's a beautiful thing. I guess the parish was too poor to renovate back in the 70s and 80s when that was the big church fad and thankfully the church looks much the same as it probably did 90 years ago. The Mass there is always beautiful, always reverant, always about God and not some experimental mess. The priests there are fantastic.

Tonight Father Gandalf (no, that's not his name but it's what I've nicknamed him because he's a lot like Gandalf the Gray) gave a long homily on the parable of the foolish virgins who let their oil run out. He really explained that parable and I was inspired. Mass is heaven on earth because Jesus, Himself comes to us and gives Himself, body, blood, soul and divinity to us in the form of the Eucharist but tonight I felt it more strongly than I have in a while.

God makes it plain

At confession tonight the priest suggested that I refrain from profanity. When I got home I was surfing the net and found this quote from St. John Chrysostomos "Above all the other members, then, let us control this; let us bridle it; and let us expel from the mouth railings, and contumelies, and foul and slanderous language, and the evil habit of oaths." Okay, Lord. I promise to try.

Goodnight Harriet

Corporal Miers, having taken a gut shot for the big guy was finally allowed to withdraw to the rear. I don't know if she would've made a good Supreme Court justice. I don't know if she would've done well in the Senate hearings, in fact I doubt it, but I am very sad at how this woman was treated by her fellow republicans. She was called Caligula's horse, Barney the dog, the cleaning lady, and was sarcasticly referred to as a 60 year old virgin. There was also ugly talk of lesbianism. Her supporters were called crude and kool-aid drinkers. The smartie pants at National Review Online are still doing the Snoopy Dance because Miers withdrew her name from consideration but I think this is a phyrric victory. Don't expect the Miers supporters to forgive and forget. There are a lot of bitter people out there right now.

Saturday in Old Town

I went to the Daughters of St. Paul bookstore in Old Town, Alexandria. It's very nice. The nuns are kind and patient but I always felt it lacked something. Today I finally was able to figure out what that is: Tradition. You can buy new Catholic books thre. You can buy all kinds of bibles except the Duay Rheims. You can buy stuff on Medjugorje and the charismatics but they only have one book on purgatory and it's a poor book at that. The store is geared towards people who practice Catholicism lite. If you want serious works, or great classics the only option is Tan Books online or Roman Catholic Books.

Later I went to confession at St. Mary's a few blocks away. The line was long but it moved lightning fast. People were going in and coming out like pinballs. Some of them looked perplexed. When I got into the confessional I understood why. The priest didn't speak to me at all except to give me my pennace. The whole thing took less than five minutes and that was mostly me confessing.

I was shocked but God works things out in ways we can't understand. I had some painful things to confess and perhaps it's best that the priest obviously wasn't paying me any attention. The sacrament was still valid and all that stuff is wiped away and off my soul. That's all that really counts.

Religion of Peace?

Yeah, right.


These young ladies are martyrs. You can see for yourself (upsetting photos) what happens when the ROP is taken to its logical conclusion.

He Saved Me

Some times when I go to adore the Blessed Sacrament I have to fight the urge to fall to the floor and to weep for sorrow at my past sins and in thanksgiving for the rescue mission Jesus went on to save me.

You can make an online visit to an adoration chapel here : Savior

Bible pictures

When I was a kid I had a picture Bible and today I found out who the artist was and that there's a whole site dedicated to his work. Neat.

Anne Rice's Jesus Book

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9785289/site/newsweek/ Anne Rice has written a book about the Christ's life in Egypt from his baby days until he's about 7.Somehow I don't think this is going to be like anything that Archbishop Fulton Sheen would've written.
Anne Rice is famous for her vampire stories and she used to write super nasty porn. She's apparently come back to the church. Thank God for that but I'm not rushing out to buy the book until I've read several reviews by solid conservative Catholics.

chapel veil

I wore my chapel veil (It's a bitty thing made of black acrylic lace. In order to notice it on my dark hair you'd have to be staring at me) to Mass yesterday and noticed an odd thing. Nobody paid me any attention except for a few old women of baby boomer age who gave sour looks. Isn't this the if it feels good do it generation? I thought they believed in living and letting live?

The Catholic Net

I've been looking for a place other than Open Book to read about Catholic news and such . I still havent' found it but it my search I've come across soem really good things.


Father McCloskey This Opus Dei priest used to be at the DC Catholic Information Center. He's still in DC and writes beautifully.

Catholicity. These folks have wonderful apologetics and evangelism CDs for just a $1 donation.


Tan Books. I owe the Tan people a lot. Like most kids who came up in the 80s I was badly catechized. I didn't really learn about the Faith until I picked up a Tan books catalog and began ordering.

Roman Catholic Books. They are a publisher of some of the finest Catholic books I've ever read. Including The Life of Christ, the greatest book on our Lord ever written.

Father John Corapi. Wow! He preaches "real mighty!"

EWTN. Of course.

Cardinal McCarrick

I live in VA but I joined a parish in DC because the Arlington Diocese ( It's a big ole diocese ; it covers from Alexandria to the Shennandoah Valley. The rest of Virginia belongs to the Richmond diocese.) is too messed up and has too much funky weirdness going unchecked. Cardinal McCarrick, whom I like (he reminds me of a happy elf and he is very kind) sucked up to King Abdullah at a Catholic Univeristy lunch by invoking the name of allah. I was sad about that. Magesterial Fidelity and American Prower has the story.

Harriet Miers

To be honest, I'm ambivalent. When Americans start worrying about what's going on in their own homes as opposed to the White House we'll all be a lot better off. A judge is just a lawyer and a lawyer is just a guy or girl who passed all the tests in law school. I've spent most of my life working in law firms and some of the people I've met are so messed up and so miserable that I wouldn't want to be them for anything. Some people are against Harriet Miers because she didn't go to Harvard or Yale. I've known several people from those schools. A few were brilliant. Others were nothing special. Two were darn near insane. Who cares what college a person went to? How precious and elitist. I thought we left that crap in England.

Besides it hardly matters who'se on the court bench anyway. Roe v. Wade is the law of the land. It will not change. It will not change because we Christians failed. If we can change people's hearts then and only then will the majority of the nation will want the law changed.

Saint John Eudes

"The most evident mark of God's anger, and the most terrible castigation He can inflict upon the world, is manifest when He permits His people to fall into the hands of a clergy who are more in name than in deed, priests who practice the cruelty of ravening wolves rather than the charity and affection of devoted shepherds. They abandon the things of God to devote themselves to the things of the world and, in their saintly calling of holiness, they spend their time in profane and worldly pursuits. When God permits such things, it is a very positive proof that He is thoroughly angry with His people and is visiting His most dreadful wrath upon them." ----Saint John Eudes

Seminary visit

I have a friend who wanted to be a priest. He went to a seminary on the East Coast that had a reputation for being a good place. He discovered that homosexual activity was going on in the open. One of the VIPs at the seminary was openly gay and flirted with the students. You could "play" with Father X, or you could tell him that you didn't swing that way and ignore him as best you could, but if you complained your vocation was put in danger. My friend left, brokenhearted. He's a deacon today but he remembers his time at the seminary with sadness. Crap like this needs to stop.

Judging by the comments floating around in the Catholic blogosphere most folks are against the molestation of boys but want to keep their gay priests and seminarians provided that they are chaste. Well shucks and thanks for nothing. How do you KNOW Father Light in the Loafers is maintaining chastity? If he can't hide the fact that he's gay from his parishioners what do you think he's doing in private? Do you want somebody like this in the priesthood? I don't.

In the 1950s version of Three Musketeers, Van Hefflin, playing Athos says to his wife, Milady, played by Lana Turner that he loves her still but he doesn't dare trust her (she's confessed to killing a number of people) and he can't send her on her merry way. For the sake of the innocent he can't just ignore what she is so he hands her over to the authorities to be executed.

We don't dare go back to the way things were. You must love the sinner but you don't give him access to your kids. We can't afford to let another kid be molested, we can't afford to let another person lose their Faith becasuse they broken hearted over the scandals.

Most of the pedophoile cases have involved a man and a little boy or a teenaged boy. How do we prevent this? One way to start is to make it plain that the man who has SSA is to be pitied and prayed for but he is also not to be put in a position where he's tempted constantly.

The buck has got to stop somewhere. Clean up the seminaries.