Sunday, October 30, 2005
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.
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.
These young ladies are martyrs. You can see for yourself (upsetting photos) what happens when the ROP is taken to its logical conclusion.
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
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
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.
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.
Sunday, October 23, 2005
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.
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.
Friday, October 07, 2005
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.
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.
Sunday, September 25, 2005
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.
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.
Sunday, August 28, 2005
St. Fidelis
Woe to me if I should prove myself but a halfhearted soldier in the service of my thorn-crowned Captain. -Saint Fidelis
Saint Fidelis, pray for us.
Saint Fidelis, pray for us.
What have you done for Him lately?
American Catholics bitch a lot. We try to manipulate the church to please ourselves and we stamp our feet and complain when we don't get our precious way but what have we done FOR Holy Mother Church lately? What have we done FOR Christ lately?
Do you fulfil the Sunday obligation?
Do you pray the rosary?
Do you thank God when you wake up in the morning?
Do you thank God for getting you through another day at night?
Have you ever said a novena?
If your only son wanted to be a priest would you try to stop him?
If your daughter wanted to be a Carmelite would you cry and carry on like a hysteric?
Do you ever say the Stations of the Cross in private or at church?
Have you ever prayed the Divine Mercy chaplet?
Are you making sure that your kids know their faith?
Have you ever spoken to the CCD teachers or looked at the material they are teaching?
Have you volunteered to help the RCIA director?
Would you be willing to drive 50 miles to go to go to a church where the Mass is celebrated in a devout and reverant manner or are you too busy?
Do you go to visit Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament? Outside of Mass this is the greatest thing in the world, do you know that?
Have you joined the Legion of Mary, the Blue Army, the local Sodality or the Ladies of Charity chapter in your parish?
Have you visited the sick? Have you spent one hour helping the homeless ministry at your church? Have you ever voluntered to help clean the church? Have you offered to wash the altar linnens? Have you offered to do the flower arrangement? Have you volunteered to be an usher or be a hospitality minister?
When new people come to your church do you smile at them or do you stare at them becuase they are another race or obviously poorer than you? Do you distribute Catholic literature for the literature rack at church?
If a heathen were to study you would he or she be impressed by the Catholic faith by looking at you or would that person decide that if you are Catholic it would be better to be a pagan?
Seriously, what have you done for Jesus lately? You don't need to be a msytic to see that chastisement is coming. The United States produces and consumes more pornography than any other country. We allow TV and movies, and music to seduce kids and laugh at people who try to prevent it. We give Planned Parenthood our tax dollars. We abort millions of children for no good reason except that it's convenient. We have more stuff than any other people in the world and yet millions of us are miserable. American Catholics have not done a good job evangelizing. We've not only failed in that, many of us have in various ways, joined the orgy.
Pope John Paul II and Sister Lucia have passed on. Like Saint Faustina, I think they were spared the sadness of seeing many of the things and people they loved suffer and fall into ruin. I personally think the American church is in for a sifting. It will be interesting to see who's left after it's done.
Do you fulfil the Sunday obligation?
Do you pray the rosary?
Do you thank God when you wake up in the morning?
Do you thank God for getting you through another day at night?
Have you ever said a novena?
If your only son wanted to be a priest would you try to stop him?
If your daughter wanted to be a Carmelite would you cry and carry on like a hysteric?
Do you ever say the Stations of the Cross in private or at church?
Have you ever prayed the Divine Mercy chaplet?
Are you making sure that your kids know their faith?
Have you ever spoken to the CCD teachers or looked at the material they are teaching?
Have you volunteered to help the RCIA director?
Would you be willing to drive 50 miles to go to go to a church where the Mass is celebrated in a devout and reverant manner or are you too busy?
Do you go to visit Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament? Outside of Mass this is the greatest thing in the world, do you know that?
Have you joined the Legion of Mary, the Blue Army, the local Sodality or the Ladies of Charity chapter in your parish?
Have you visited the sick? Have you spent one hour helping the homeless ministry at your church? Have you ever voluntered to help clean the church? Have you offered to wash the altar linnens? Have you offered to do the flower arrangement? Have you volunteered to be an usher or be a hospitality minister?
When new people come to your church do you smile at them or do you stare at them becuase they are another race or obviously poorer than you? Do you distribute Catholic literature for the literature rack at church?
If a heathen were to study you would he or she be impressed by the Catholic faith by looking at you or would that person decide that if you are Catholic it would be better to be a pagan?
Seriously, what have you done for Jesus lately? You don't need to be a msytic to see that chastisement is coming. The United States produces and consumes more pornography than any other country. We allow TV and movies, and music to seduce kids and laugh at people who try to prevent it. We give Planned Parenthood our tax dollars. We abort millions of children for no good reason except that it's convenient. We have more stuff than any other people in the world and yet millions of us are miserable. American Catholics have not done a good job evangelizing. We've not only failed in that, many of us have in various ways, joined the orgy.
Pope John Paul II and Sister Lucia have passed on. Like Saint Faustina, I think they were spared the sadness of seeing many of the things and people they loved suffer and fall into ruin. I personally think the American church is in for a sifting. It will be interesting to see who's left after it's done.
Catholic blogs
I used to read Open Book quite a lot but lately it's become very tedious. All the posters do on the comments section is complain about something or make fun of traditionalist Catholics. They are also shockingly insular and seem to have no understanding that there are Catholics from other races and cultures. If the blogger, Amy Welborn, posts a nice story about little African orphans being helped by traditional, happy devout nuns no-one responds. If she posts a story abut SSPX or about a sex scandal there will be at least 50 or more comments. It's quite depressing.
Bettnet is much better especially since the guy who runs it got married. Marriage to a nice lady seems to have taken some of the piss and vinegar out of his posts. However, it's very Boston-centric. My parish isn't perfect by a long shot but it could be worse. It could be Boston. After reading Bettnet and the fiery blog, Magesterial Fidelity I've come to the conlusion that the Boston diocese should be restructured completely. I've had people tell me that things haven't been right since the 70s. Others laugh at that and say that Boston has been a mess for at least 50 years. And if Boston is sad enough for you read LA Catholic which chronicles the misery that is the LA diocese under Cardinal Hollywood. Yow!
Whispers in the Logia is mean. The guy who runs it seems to hate traditionalists, conservatives and anybody else who doesn't agree with him. I read it a couple of times and realized that I needed to hightail it to greener pastures.
The Vaticanisti bloggers claim to be church insiders and they do occasionally have gossip about who's going to be made a bishop and who's going to be sent into retirement but their stories tend to be mean and sarcastic. They hint about the private lives of certain people but don't come out and plainly say what they mean. Where I come from calumny and detraction are sins so I don't go there anymore.
Curt Jester is great. It's funny and has a huge list of blog links. Extreme Catholic, The Anchoress, Angry Twins and sometimes Happy Catholic, when she's not telling boring and sickeningly sweet stories about her kid, is very good. The Penitent Blogger is the best Catholic blog on the web. Catholic Apologetics of America's content is excellent. It's execution and design however, is terrible. I adored Father Bryce Sibley's Saintly Salmagundi but alas, he shut it down.
Bettnet is much better especially since the guy who runs it got married. Marriage to a nice lady seems to have taken some of the piss and vinegar out of his posts. However, it's very Boston-centric. My parish isn't perfect by a long shot but it could be worse. It could be Boston. After reading Bettnet and the fiery blog, Magesterial Fidelity I've come to the conlusion that the Boston diocese should be restructured completely. I've had people tell me that things haven't been right since the 70s. Others laugh at that and say that Boston has been a mess for at least 50 years. And if Boston is sad enough for you read LA Catholic which chronicles the misery that is the LA diocese under Cardinal Hollywood. Yow!
Whispers in the Logia is mean. The guy who runs it seems to hate traditionalists, conservatives and anybody else who doesn't agree with him. I read it a couple of times and realized that I needed to hightail it to greener pastures.
The Vaticanisti bloggers claim to be church insiders and they do occasionally have gossip about who's going to be made a bishop and who's going to be sent into retirement but their stories tend to be mean and sarcastic. They hint about the private lives of certain people but don't come out and plainly say what they mean. Where I come from calumny and detraction are sins so I don't go there anymore.
Curt Jester is great. It's funny and has a huge list of blog links. Extreme Catholic, The Anchoress, Angry Twins and sometimes Happy Catholic, when she's not telling boring and sickeningly sweet stories about her kid, is very good. The Penitent Blogger is the best Catholic blog on the web. Catholic Apologetics of America's content is excellent. It's execution and design however, is terrible. I adored Father Bryce Sibley's Saintly Salmagundi but alas, he shut it down.
Friday, August 12, 2005
The Universal church
Last Sunday I went Mass at church that has mostly Mexican and Salvadoran parishioners. My husband and I went to the English Mass and it was awesome. The choir wasn't great but it didn't matter because they were sincerely trying to honor God. The cantor was blessedly free from the usual bossiness. The homily was given by a Kenyan priest. The main celebrant was Mexican. The pews were filled with white, Latino, Filipino and a sprinkling of black people. This is one of the things I so love about my religion. We were all from different cultures but we were all one in one act of worship and part of one universal church.
I saw a lot of young people and happily, a lot of them were young men who had come by themselves. This tell me that something good is happening at this church. After Mass about 30 people stayed to pray and to visit the Blessed Sacrement. I was impressed by how much reverence and beauty was shown in this Mass. My husband and I may make it our backup when the weather or traffic is too bad to get to our regular church.
I saw a lot of young people and happily, a lot of them were young men who had come by themselves. This tell me that something good is happening at this church. After Mass about 30 people stayed to pray and to visit the Blessed Sacrement. I was impressed by how much reverence and beauty was shown in this Mass. My husband and I may make it our backup when the weather or traffic is too bad to get to our regular church.
Cindy Sheehan.
This wretched woman is a perfect example of what's wrong with main stream media. Why, out of all the things going on in the world is this woman on the front page of all the newspapers? Who decided that she's more newsworthy than the famine in Niger? I can't imagine what it must be like to lose a son so I don’t want to be too harsh but damn-- this woman is standing on her son's corpse and shouting "Look at me! Look at me!"
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