Random thoughts on Christmas Eve

 

• It's Christmas Eve and after holding back all Advent my tree is up, the presents are under it and thanks to the cleaning lady it's looking respectable in here. Secular Christmas is always hard on Rocky because his parents are dead and his brother is estranged. The family was Baptist and in their denomination it was perfectly fine to come to church two or three times a year as long as you tithed, so it's only the secular stuff that he has to fill his memories. He concentrates and finds joy in the purely Catholic feast and it's not really Christmas for him until Midnight Mass. I'm doing Prime Rib for dinner for the first time and I really hope I don't mess it up.

• Please don't show the film of that poor woman on the New York subway. It just adds to her family's suffering. To those who ask why nobody helped her I'll just say this. In New York City the people claim to be tough but really they're just terrified and a bit apathetic.  When the lion attacks; what do the antelope do? They run. They may feel some sympathy for Fred, the antelope who was next to them a few minutes ago but they are mainly concerned with the fact that while the lion is satisfied with Fred, they are free to go on with their day. The NYC subway is a dangerous place. Crime including rape, assault, robbery, and murder happen there on a regular basis and if you are a tourist and still want to go to NYC, stay off the subway. 
  
  

        May God have mercy on that woman's soul.  May her family find a way to go on and find peace of             mind. 

*The Prime Rib turned out great. I was so relieved. In addition, we witnessed a Christmas miracle. My brother-in-law called Rocky during dessert and neither ranted nor raved. He spoke like a normal person, which is huge for a narcissist. 

Scrooge--- I mean, my brother-in-law, has been fighting a virus and I guess he had a fever dream about three Christmas  ghosts. Rocky was surprised and cautiously happy. God is good.

Random thoughts on a Saturday morning

•  Thanksgiving was great but once again I was reminded how much harm the Covid era did to my mother. We went to Muggiano's Little Italy for the Italian Thanksgiving dinner and Rocky and I were thrilled at how packed the restaurant was.  It was so good to  see people enjoying themselves and living.  My mother enjoyed the food and enjoyed being with us but  she really doesn't like being around large numbers of people anymore and she still wears a mask in public places. I don't bother her about it because it would upset her and be a waste of breath. She's 82 and grew up believing what the man on the news says as gospel truth. I feel nothing but the deepest contempt for the politicians, scientists, doctors and the nasty snitches  that reveled in and perpetuated the entire Covid scenario. The amount of damage done to people's minds was so bad we will be dealing with it for years. My mother has PTSD essentially and I can't fix it or avenge her. 

• It's that time again.... for the St. Andrew Christmas Novena
  
  
  
  
  
  

• Something interesting happened at church. For the first time in over a  year, the parish bulletin acknowledged the sufferings of Christians in Gaza and in Israel. A collection is being taken up for the children's hospital in Bethlehem. The bulletin still reminds us to pray for Ukraine, but it's no longer mentioned in the prayers of the Faithful. I do believe there's been a shift in thinking.

• Ireland voted for abortion and women danced in the streets. Now many Irish are complaining about the large numbers of foreigners that are being dumped in the country.   England has long been a eugenicist's playground and now their leaders are hell bent on killing the sick.  Both countries have rejected God and embraced both hedonism, and death for the inconvenient. They are being replaced by a young, confident  aggressive Muslim population.  Perhaps this is God's permissive Will and a chastisement. Europe has been suicidal for a long time. 

Things that make you wonder?

 Catholic Charities Alexandria Food Pantry gave away 180 halal Thanksgiving meals. It was probably to to accommodate the Afghan refugees that Catholic Charities works with.  Does that mean they had someone from the Halal Chamber of Commerce to certify the food or did they just specifically purchase halal food? 

random thoughts on the Eve of All Saints

 

• I pretty much try to tune Vatican news out these days. It's painful to see the officers in the Church Militant behaving like fools and provocateurs. Watching Francis and his posse is like seeing your stepfather abuse your mom and as a result she's turned into a drunk who shames you in front of the neighbors while the stepfather gloats and gaslights. This Luce doll is weird. Blue hair, a Pride rosary around her/his neck and a wizard's stang. What "genius" thought this was a good idea? I'll be blunt. With all the pedophilia and homosexual scandals, this kiddie mascot is not a good look. It is not wise.  To those who think it's cute I'll ask this question. Does this doll or whatever the heck it is, inspire you to live and die if need be for the Catholic Faith? Does this doll make you love Jesus more? Do you look at this thing and feel awe at the very thought of our crucified Lord?  No? Then why the Hell, is this the mascot for the  2025 Jubilee?

 

• When even Liz Lev wrinkles her nose.....

It seems to me that this mascot apes rather than leads. A few Christian symbols imposed on an anime doll may be charming, and perhaps even marketable, but is pilgrimage a game? Is reconciliation?Michelangelo once said “if you follow others, you will never get ahead of them” https://t.co/C6HGR3Dj5p

— Elizabeth Lev (@lizlevrome) October 30, 2024

• Around 2021, I started noticing something odd. When I'd see wedding photos of Catholic "influencers," the grooms didn't seem right. It was like the young women were posing with living Ken dolls. They reminded me of girls playing wedding with a little brother being dragooned into playing the groom part. Other people noticed how odd the couples looked together and quite a few made crude comments about the possible sexual nature of the grooms. Strangely enough, the phenomenon seems to have calmed down. This year the couples look normal again. The men appear to be functioning men. What was that all about? Many people were psychologically  damaged by the Covid epoch. Perhaps it was caused by that. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Rocky and I don't do Halloween. Why? Because we're adults. We live in an apartment and Rocky's mother died on October 31. All that being said, if you're one of those people who give kids toothbrushes as Halloween treats or who preaches Hellfire at the toddler in a Batman costume you aren't helping. 

A ghostly tale for Halloween

Years ago when I was still in high school I read a collection of ghost stories called "Haunted Heartland." Most of them weren't a bit scary and were presented in  the dry  businesslike fashion of a folklorist who is merely collecting materials for a dissertation, but one tale stuck with me. It was the story of Fr. Louis Lesches, a priest assigned to St. Mary's College in Minnesota, who tried to kill his superior, Bishop Patrick Hefron. The bishop was saying Mass in the seminary chapel one morning when he turned around and saw Fr. Lesches standing behind him. To the bishop's surprise, the priest was wearing a Prince Albert suit instead of his cassock or clericals. To add to this surprise the bishop quickly realized that  the priest was packing heat. Fr. Lesches fired a gun three times, hitting the bishop twice.

At that time Fr. Lesches was already the number one problem child of the diocese. Although he was said to be brilliant and had done well in the academic part of his seminary studies, he was judged to be overly emotional, and  insubordinate. He'd failed at all of his parish assignments and now the concerned and probably a bit exasperated bishop had recalled him to St. Mary's to keep a close eye on him.  Fr. Lesches became convinced that the bishop was persecuting him. 

 Bishop Heffron's  great physical and mental toughness probably saved his life.  Instead of dropping dead, hiding in the pews, or swooning, he yelled at his now panicked attacker and chased him out of the chapel. Fr. Lesches was later captured by the police and spent the rest of his life in a mental hospital.

 Students have been claiming to see the ghost of Fr. Lesches on campus for decades. It's a spooky tale but I hope everyone who hears or reads it will stop and say a prayer for this poor, strange, unstable man who never should've been ordained but is a priest forever and one who probably really needs our help now. 

How Bishops Kill--- You should read this

 The wonderful An Archdiocese of Washington blog has a post that you should read, especially if you live in the DC, MD, Northern Virginia area. It's taken from a brave priest's newsletter. 

Back from vacation and other random thoughts

•  Rocky and I just got back from vacation and it was wonderful. We took my mother with us as usual and we all needed the break from DC and Northern Virginia. For Mass we went to a little church about 16 miles from our vacation cottage. It was like stepping back into 1980. The music was Eagles Wings and other stuff I haven't heard since elementary school. The people were very sweet to tourists. The cantor reminded me of a high school football coach but instead of making us run laps for practice he produced a lovely voice.
  The only real fly in the ointment was the homily. The priest was a friendly, kind man who obviously cares about his people but he tried to justify the pope's latest airplane interview. Fr. assured us that Gandhi, and Billy Graham were saints. They weren't with us (I guess he meant Catholics) but they did the Lord's work. I sat there and thought, "Father, Gandhi let his wife die because he didn't want to use British medicine and he later slept in the same bed as his nieces to test  his chastity."
  
  After Mass Rocky asked, "What did you think of Father's homily?"
  "I didn't like it. " 
  
  "Didn't think you would." We laughed and drove off along the tiny country roads to find dinner. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
• My uncle Junior was without power for four days in South Carolina. My cousin came and brought him back to Tennessee but it was rough trip. My uncle says he's never seen devastation like Helene before. It was worse than a tornado. I finally heard from another cousin, Shirley, who lives in the next county over from Uncle Junior. She still has no power and cell phone service is spotty. A tree fell on her truck and another one fell on the fence. She also stated that the damage is incredible.
  
    I just donated to The Martyrs Walk hurricane relief effort.  Please don't donate to Red Cross. Send your money to local charities that are on the ground. 
  
  
  
  
  
• I've never felt much enthusiasm for the FSSP because it's only in two places in the Richmond diocese and I don't see it ever being allowed in Arlington. The order seems pretty rimrocked to me and the latest news of an Apostolic Visitation from Rome doesn't bode well.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Out of all the wonderful charities and volunteer groups who are helping in Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee and Florida, you know whose name I haven't heard about? Catholic Charities. 
  
  
  
  
  
• Speaking of Catholic Charities, you should read this by Fr. Nix.