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 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. 

Random thoughts on a Sunday afternoon

•  Rocky and I went to Mass at the newly renovated Arlington Cathedral and it's actually beautiful. The garish colors and mish mash of styles are gone. The Blessed Sacrament is in the middle of the sanctuary now instead of the side and the bishops chair is no longer in the middle.
  
  Is it as stunning as the cathedral in Baltimore, or DC? No, of course not but it is a huge improvement over what it was. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• The Pro Life movement has to get its act together. Right now people are talking about a woman who was a pro life activist who was looked up to and admired by a number of young women. She just announced that she had an abortion in June. So, you have a pro-life activist who despite everything she's said and argued and all the resources she could have access to, who had an abortion. Did nobody check this woman's background before promoting her as a face of the movement? 

Well that was a dud

 I ordered a veil from Maria Veils and am not happy with the non existent customer service, the undeliverable company emails, and with what I received. The veil in my hands does not look as long or ornate as the one in the photo. Oh well, lesson learned. From now on I'll stick to Veiled by Tradition or order from nuns. 

Random thoughts on Tuesday evening

•  I've been reading a lot of Twitter  and I've come to the conclusion that a lot of people need to understand something: When you grow up and leave home your parents don't owe you anything anymore. You have no right to be angry that your parents sold the house and moved to North Carolina. You have no right to expect that your mother will babysit your child everyday. You have no right to be bitter about your inheritance being "wasted", because your parents decided to go on a cruise and you have no right to rage because your widowed parent decided to get married again.
  
  I am not talking about being angry over childhood abuse or the horror of growing up with Boomer parents who spent your whole youth finding themselves in sex, drugs and various cults and isms. I'm talking about expecting your elderly parents to keep standing between you and the world.
  
  Consider our ancestors for a moment. Do you think Pioneer women living in sod houses on the prairie had anyone to watch the baby while they went to town? Their mothers were either back East or in Colonial days, back in England. And yet those women survived and made a nation out of nothing.
  
  The only thing my father's father left him was his name. And you know what? My father got up, lived his own life and went to work. At some point you have to stop pouting and get to living. 

• I think the people who are sharing that AI created image of Our Lord based on the Shroud mean well but it looks too much like Charles Manson to me. I much prefer real art. 
  
  
  
  
  

• In the UK, your doctors can kill you if they think your case is hopeless and they won't let you leave the country to seek treatment elsewhere. In exchange for setting your broken arm or draining your pimples for "free", Brits become property of the State health service. No, thank you!
  
  
  
  
  
  
• It's happened again. My neighbor took a shower and my toilet began bubbling like a geyser. I watched in horror as my tub filled with sewage.  Maintenance took care of it but  I followed up with vast quantities of bleach. It's time to move. I refuse  to deal with this ever again. In your charity, please pray that Rocky and I find a new home and don't have too much trouble getting out of our lease. 

July has been a Hell of a month...no humor intended

 This July has been wild. Trump is almost killed, the Democrats stop lying and turn on old Joe, and the French commit blasphemy at the opening ceremony of the Olympics... August isn't looking too good either.  

The people at my job are serious, fervent Democrats. They  would  vote for a live guinea pig or a dead man as long as the rodent and the cadaver are Dems but there were no jokes about the assassination attempt in the office. One person told me that she was in despair because it was obvious that Biden couldn't keep up even the pretense of being in full control of his faculties. Another whispered that she really wishes she had a place for her family to go hide in. Nobody is excited about the Vice President. Everyone, even the office loud mouth joker, is being impressively careful with what they say.

As for the Olympics, I guess the organizers decided that they wanted to be weirder than the London Olympics opening ceremony and they succeeded.  Emperor Theodosius banned the games in 393 because he thought it promoted paganism. I think he deserves a nod of acknowledgement for that. The blasphemy against Our Lord made me think of the warnings given by Our Lady of LaSallete.

Frank Walker has a few things to say about the Eucharistic Congress and Michael Matt's quixotic trip to Mt. Kilimanjaro. 

Lost Girl

Last weekend, my husband, Rocky and I saw something we've never seen before. A young girl, was posed suggestively on the curb at the shopping strip we always go to for Japanese food. She was scantily clad and it was hard to be sure how old she was under the makeup. She had a cut open knee and  looked, frankly, like she was for sale. She still appeared healthy but her eyes-- her eyes looked like she was already dead. Seeing a thousand yard stare on someone so young is deeply unsettling. 

We've noticed prostitutes walking by the motels in the rough section of town but this is the first time I've ever come across one on our end. This strip mall isn't located away from everything or in an industrial area. It's surrounded by apartment buildings and homes. People walk to the grocery store. Old men sit in and around the Starbucks chatting and sipping coffee all day. This is a residential area. Don't tell me that the economy is fine and crime isn't all that bad. Things are getting noticeably ugly at a rapid pace. After we picked up our food we looked for the girl but she was gone. St. Mary of Egypt, St. Margaret of Cortona, St. Philomena, St. Agnes, St. Maria Goretti, please pray for this lost girl.