Maundy Thursday

 

Spy Wednesday

Palm Sunday

 

random thoughts on a hot Friday afternoon

• Most Catholics have no idea how common Freemasonry is. In Europe it was an openly aggressive, violent force but was forced to be subtle and only show a benign face in public in Colonial America. Several of the  Founding Fathers were Masons. George Washington was a Master Mason. It's part of the American fabric. 
  
  Most American Masons have no idea that the brotherhood is anything but a civic, fraternal organization that will allow them to contribute to the community, get a job and provide for their families if anything should happen to them. I've read and heard that the guys don't get the full story unless they reach a high rank. 
  
  The Mason next door did not join after meeting a tall, dark figure at a crossroads one midnight. He probably walked into the lodge with his dad, his uncles or his boss. My grandfather and Rocky's grandfather's were Masons. Both were kind, gentle men who were active in their Baptist churches and among the first to step up if a community member needed help. When Masons' take their vows, probably most have no idea of what they are saying.  
  
  I read that Masonic vows curse the mason and his descendants to the fourth generation but I never thought much about it until I dug deeper into my genealogy hobby.  My uncle joined the Masons when he was 19 but in his twenties, something he's never discussed  caused him to stop attending meetings or take any active part. He told my mother that once a man joins he can't really leave and she didn't press him for more detail.
  
  My uncle's first born son was born with a serious defect and the poor baby did not live the whole day. My uncle and his wife tried again and my cousin was born and is fine. That cousin's first born was born without a brain and died quickly. His second child is fine. My mother's first born died immediately. Two years later she had me. I've never had a successful pregnancy. Looking at that I wondered if some sort of genetic defect runs in my maternal line. 
  
  The good news is that if you are a Catholic Mason or Eastern Star you can go to confession, repent and be done with it. If you are a Masonic descendant and have noticed that a particular tragedy keeps cropping up in your family tree, know this: your grandpa  may have messed up but you and your family don't have to live with it. See a good priest and ask his advice. 
  
  
  
  
• Lately I've been feeling not exactly nervous but aware that something really unpleasant is going on in my area. I live a small city that is older than the nation. We used to have one or two murders a year, car accidents, drunks and mostly white collar crimes. Now suddenly young men are roaming apartment parking lots stealing air bags or the whole car. We've had two car-jackings this year and several cars stolen at gas stations. Last week there was a robbery and abduction. This week a victim was robbed by four men while walking on the public street. What happened to my quiet, placid town? I think it has to do with the number of breadwinners who have lost their jobs as a result of the lockdowns. They or their sons are going slowly crazy. 
  
  
  
  
• Fr. Harrison Egwuenu, a kidnapped priest of the Catholic diocese of Warri in Nigeria has been released!

Christ, have mercy on me, a sinner. 

• Yesterday was the Feast of the Annunciation. On two different sites I saw someone in the comment section chime in to remind us all that March 25th was the day Frodo took the Ring to Mt. Doom. Both individuals reminded us that Lord of the Rings is an important Catholic book and you'll see the Gospel if you read it right. I just shook my head and thought, "Will you guys give it a rest?" People were talking about the Angel Gabriel coming to address the Virgin Mary and a fanboy harps about a work of fiction that most of us picked up once when we were kids and forgot about until the movies came out. Come on! 

You Cannot Have it All

 Years ago I read about a woman in her 30s who decided concentrate on her career and put off marrying and having children by using IVF.  At 45,  a suitable man hadn't come along and she decided to defrost her eggs and use a sperm donor. 

Out of the 11 eggs she had frozen only one survived the defrosting process and was not abnormal in some way. That egg was fertilized and implanted in her womb. The child didn't thrive and she lost the baby. So what does this woman have to show for her $19,000 and moment of fame? Nothing. If she isn't doing it now in a few years she will be standing in her kitchen at midnight and asking her herself, "Where is my man? Where are my children? What the Hell did I do?"

Your career will not last, no matter how fantastic you are. Smart men already know this. About five years ago I watched an attorney start to physically decline. He'd fall asleep in his office from exhaustion and he just couldn't keep up with the rest of his team. He was forced out. It was humiliating for him. I observed another lawyer who was a big money maker for years. He put the R in rainmaker. He won multiple awards and accolades. He was quoted in local journals. He was a powerful person in the firm. And then he got sick. His sickness was progressive and he was in so much pain that he just wasn't able to work like he had for 40 years. Guess what? He was forced out. In previous years he would have been allowed the grace of semi retirement for a year or two and then he would have gotten a fabulous party and a farewell. In the years of the great plague firm's can't afford that and have to be lean and mean. 

In the end, you will be given a gold watch, a retirement bonus and a party if you're lucky and people will wave goodbye. If you aren't lucky you'll get a cold meeting and an embarrassed friend telling you that look, you just aren't able to pull the load anymore and you have to go. 

The Passion was ever before Our Lord's eyes

 The 17th century LeNain brothers of Paris, Antoine, Louis and Mathieu were all celebrated painters and worked together so closely that art historians aren't sure if one brother did this painting of the Child Jesus or if all the brothers had a part in it. The painting shows Our Lord at as a boy, just past His babyhood, contemplating the instruments of the Passion which are a long way off but always on His mind. The hidden years in Egypt and Nazareth were a countdown until He could begin His rescue mission.  

The Engel Report and some random thoughts on a Monday night

• I'm sorry. I am not ready to jump on the Milo bandwagon yet. Does this make me the Prodigal Son's older brother or one of the townsfolk who couldn't believe that St. Margaret of Cortona really was giving up her old life? I hope not. It's just that Milo  Yiannopoulos  is one of those people who really, really needs attention. It's flesh after fasting and water in drought lands to him.
  
   He gets a kick out of saying and doing things to stun and offend people. I don't think he even cares if he's loved or hated as long as he made you look.  I've read his last book and never mind his politics, that young man has some very dark  and moldy places in his soul's attic. I found parts of the book to be so gross that I had to get  rid of it. I didn't want it on my Kindle, in my house or in my search history. If I could've gotten my money back I would have done that. 
  
   Maybe this whole thing  is a miracle like St. Paul or Ratisbone and if so, time will tell. Maybe I'm gun shy. I think I've just seen too many big splashy converts disappoint  and too many Catholic celebrities turn out to be hot air. I am afraid that a year from now he'll give an interview or write a mocking  book about  Lifesite and his hilarious sojourn among the wacky, tacky, dumb as dirt Catholics. Pray for him. Be kind but don't give him any money. Wait and see, okay? 
  
  
  
  
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  St. Margaret, pray for us

  
  
•  The McCarrick Report was distasteful and depressing but it also skipped over or sugar coated some nasty details. Randy Engel points them out here. http://www.renewamerica.com/columns/engel/210310

• Whenever someone says "my truth," you can be certain that the next words you hear will be lies. 

Why does the retired Cardinal Wuerl need 2 million to live on and other random thoughts

•  I think the Wuerl money is highly suspect. How many of you gave him this money via the Bishop's Lenten Appeal? Restore DC Catholicism asks  very good questions.   
  
  
  
  
  
• The always vinegary Mundabor, opines that Pope Benedict was never the man that we thought he was and thinks that the off kilter comments purported to come from him probably really what he thinks. I agree that Benedict's image was largely wishful thinking and PR. He was one of the bright boys at Vatican II but I believe that he was appalled by the bad taste, the malice and heretical things that came out of it over the years.  He was a conservative and conservatives are largely useless in a  fight but he never would have led us to the Pachamama or the Peacock angel. Remember that.
  
  
  
  
• The windmills of God grind slow but they grind exceedingly fine. I'm still leaning toward expecting Andrew Cuomo getting off scott free in this life but the mill stone is moving. Women have said for years that he was....not a gentleman but they were ignored. If anyone were to speak to his wife or his former concubine, neither woman would say he was a prince among men. However, maybe, just maybe Cuomo's decisions concerning the nursing homes in New York led to the death of the wrong person's parent and maybe that person had enough gravitas to pull the timid, the craven and the pragmatic in the New York press and legislature into a coalition that for their own individual reasons can strike at the king of New York. If they can't get rid of him perhaps they can at least end his political ascent. 
  
  
  
  
• I just watched an incredible interview on You Tube. It was a meaty discussion on one of my favorite subjects: Catholic history. 
  
  
  
  

• Ted McCarrick's old pals and protégés are in charge. 

Don't fall in the post under your own name or you're opinion is unworthy trap

 A smug  Catholic "influencer" and  writer frequently attacks people who use Twitter anonymously as mentally or morally defective cowards. Don't fall for that. Many people who Tweet under their own names are promoting their product; be it an apostolate in service to the Church, a decent Catholic business or  in some cases, their own grift.  They're in a position where they need to use their own names to stand by the soundness of the product. However, YOU, regular person with a job, kids and a spouse, don't have a product. You may not make a dime from Tweeting,  or posting on your blog, Facebook, etc... but you have a lot of dimes to lose.  Let's be honest. This aint your Dad's America, heck this isn't even your older Boomer aged sibling's America. You, regular person, can lose your job for simply saying something that certain groups don't like. Your spouse can lose his or her job. Your kids can be harassed at school or in public because of your opinion. 

Protecting your seed corn and your people is not cowardice. It's prudence. If your eight year old comes home crying because her teacher told her and the whole class that you said X and therefore are an evil person then you blew it. Shield your family and if someone who Tweets under their own name mocks you remember that this person probably is running a business and doesn't have a job at the plant, the office or the shop to lose. Don't fall into these people's trap. They are using you. They just fling the "coward" insult around to wrap themselves in a veneer of faux toughness and to create "buzz" that will drive more viewers to them. 

Batter my heart

Holy Sonnets: Batter my heart, three-person'd God

BY JOHN DONNE

Batter my heart, three-person'd God, for you

As yet but knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend;

That I may rise and stand, o'erthrow me, and bend

Your force to break, blow, burn, and make me new.

I, like an usurp'd town to another due,

Labor to admit you, but oh, to no end;

Reason, your viceroy in me, me should defend,

But is captiv'd, and proves weak or untrue.

Yet dearly I love you, and would be lov'd fain,

But am betroth'd unto your enemy;

Divorce me, untie or break that knot again,

Take me to you, imprison me, for I,

Except you enthrall me, never shall be free,

Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me.

 

What becomes of the broken-hearted?

Just by looking at these men - you know they would never tolerate the likes of James Martin and the Jesuits. pic.twitter.com/ziBxS6mFsB

— Joseph Sciambra @ The Sons of St. Joseph (@sonsofstjoseph) February 19, 2021

Been interviewing Orthodox priests - they will speak with me about issues that are important to me; while I have interviewed some brave Catholic priests - most will say: I support what you are doing, but I can't speak to you, I am afraid of my bishop. https://t.co/qWNTwWlo20

— Joseph Sciambra @ The Sons of St. Joseph (@sonsofstjoseph) February 11, 2021

 

Catholics waste countless hours commenting about abusers & enablers like PF, Cupich & various leftist nuns; none of you are red-pilled; you're still in the matrix;  the attention you pay lends credence to their positions, solidifies their power, & enables continued abuse. Wake-up.

— Joseph Sciambra @ The Sons of St. Joseph (@sonsofstjoseph) February 6, 2021

 

Lately, I've begun to find Joseph Sciambra annoying but then I catch myself and remember that he's been through Hell for most of his life. His body was so abused that he now has to wear adult diapers and the abuse to his soul would break most people. So, this recent kick that he's on about the manliness of the Orthodox and how impressive Orthodoxy is, probably comes from the rage over what he has lived through and his disappointment that Catholic priests aren't fulfilling his father/hero hunger. 

I think that Joseph has done some good but perhaps he needs to go be silent and work on his bitterness. It's poisoning him and will drive him right out of the Church. And then what? What will the poor man do when he realizes that there are sinners among the Orthodox too? What will he do when he discovers that even a man with a beard and a basso profundo voice and a comely wife with kids can be stealing from the collection plate, fornicating with males and or females or preying on the innocent young? What will happen to this man's psyche when he realizes that  not only will he never really fit in whatever Orthodox church he runs to, but he's also left the one true Church for a counterfeit? 

So many people are angry, hurt and completely knocked off their feet by the failures, abuses, and rank  abominations  of Francis, the bishops and individual priests. Broken-hearted sheep are being scattered and I've yet to see anyone, not one of the celebrity priests, the e-priests, or any of the fatheads in Catholic media talk about how many people are going Orthodox.

So Cardinal Dolan has been sued.....

Fr. Issac Relyea once gave a talk about the time then Cardinal Mccarrick came to his seminary. He'd heard the stories but wasn't alarmed because he was definitely not Uncle Ted's type. A priest who came with Mccarrick on the visit made advances and Fr. Issac told him in colorful language to cut that crap out. 

For years now I've been waiting for a seminarian to say no and name names in public. Finally a young man named  Anthony Gorgia is suing instead of just whispering his story ten or twenty years after the fact. When I read that Cardinal Dolan was in quarantine for Covid exposure I was skeptical. Then news about the Gorgia suit dropped and it made sense that he'd want to be out of sight for a few days. 

Ann Barnhardt says it much better than I but there's been rumors about the North American College in Rome for some time. When I was a young married woman when people heard that the new priest at the parish studied at the NAC they were impressed because this was where the smartest  seminarians -- the stars of their dioceses, were sent. These were the priests who would surely give sound counsel in the confessional and brilliant preaching with their homilies. Most people still feel this way but now when I hear that the new priest at the parish went to NAC I take a wait and see attitude. Young Fr. is either brilliant and tough as nails to have survived the goings on in Rome or....

Well they got Fr. Z.

 Father Z. is being kicked out of Madison Wisconsin. Although this was done with malice it may turn out to be a good thing in the end. When you go to Fr. Z's site what do you see? Eat, drink, buy stuff, travel to Rome, NYC, or DC. You can stop reading him for years and if you drop in what will you see? You'll see what he ate, what he drank, what he bought and travelogues. 

Not every priest is meant for parish life. Not every priest is meant for teaching and I don't think Fr. Z. would be happy in either situation. Hopefully he can bounce back and do something better for the glory and service of God. 

In your charity could you say a little prayer?

 My 93 year old Cousin Pearl had a birthday yesterday. Her pastor, family and church members went to the nursing home and waved to her from the window. They posted the visit on Facebook and when I saw her a wail leapt out of me I and started crying. It's been hours since I saw the video and I still feel unwell.

Another cousin saw the Facebook post  last night and later told my mother that she was so appalled that she too, wept at the sight what she saw. Cousin Pearl was a stylish, plump, always smiling, and spunky woman in the beginning of 2020, now she's skin and bones and it took her a great effort to drink from a glass and raise her head. She looks like she's almost gone. I'm so glad my mother doesn't have Internet and was not able to see this. 

Update 1/27/21. Cousin Pearl died this morning. 

random thoughts on a Thursday afternoon

•  I just read about the death of a homeless man in Quebec. They are under curfew. A local homeless shelter was forced to kick out the homeless at 8 PM. It's cold in Canada and one of the residents went to a porta potty to take shelter. He died. Think about that. A man died in an freezing, stinking disgusting public outhouse because the shelter wasn't allowed to keep him.  
  
  
  

•  I've long believed that most of the Catholic media leaders are just full of it. They enjoy their little cocktail parties, cruises, conferences and vacations in Rome and making quips on Twitter or their own media outlets but they really don't want to work. They may be anti-abortion on an abstract level but they don't really believe it could ever be ended legally and they probably don't want that because it would take money out of their pockets.
  
  I've had my doubts about the worthwhileness of the March for Life. I definitely think the at-times sacrilegious youth Mass in the arena should be scrapped but I also know that half the Catholic "thought leaders" who criticize the March for Life every year were probably just too lazy to march anywhere but to the refrigerator for another beer or pose for a selfie with cigar.
  
  
  
  
• Rest in peace, sir. 
  
  
  
  

That was weird

 Rocky took a day off and we took a road trip to Orange County, Virginia. We found the local church and stopped in to pray the Rosary. It  was an odd little church. We couldn't find the Blessed Sacrament and they didn't have a crucifix over the altar. They do have a lovely piece of stained glass behind the altar. I wonder if they bought the building from a Baptist congregation because the windows, floor, carpet and design of the building looked very much like the little Baptist church that my great grandfather helped found.

Whoever is in charge of cleaning there needed to get to it. I noticed a strong body odor while we were praying but there was only one other person in the church and that person was sitting in the last pew quite away from us. It was stuffy and stale but could one normal person smell as strong as a large locker room?

 The front of the building was glass and Rocky and I were startled to see a man peeking at us through the  main door.  We walked to another door and he followed along outside to stare at us through that door. He pressed himself against the glass and cupped his hands over eyes to get a good look.  We retreated to another door but that led to a long stairwell. After a fruitless search for another way out, Rocky said "Enough of this. I'm going ask this guy what his malfunction is." 

We went back to the front door and stepped out. The creepy guy was gone. We got back to our car with no issues. I have no idea what that was all about. 

The Vision in the Coliseum

 This painting by Jose Belliure y Gil is massive and photos on the Web just don't do it justice. It depicts St. Telemachus, the last martyr of the Coliseum. Telemachus was a hermit who was moved to leave his hermitage and go to Rome. He followed the crowds into the arena and was horrified to see the gladiatorial games and the old man leapt in the Coliseum floor to beg the gladiators not to kill. He was put to death for interrupting the games but something incredible happened. This poor hermit's death became the talk of Rome and people were shamed. The emperor's heart was so touched that he ended combat to the death as entertainment once and for all.

 The painting shows the vision that St. Telemachus was strengthened by in the last moments of his earthly life. He sees a huge crowd of martyrs, and virgins, nuns, monks, and priests. He sees that the seeds of his martyrdom will bear much fruit. The Church militant and triumphant are joined for one moment before Telemachus's and the viewer's eyes. It's a comfort. 

Weep

 *I read this and just said, "My God!" I had to stop reading and hold my head for a few minutes.   

 

A most interesting essay

 I just read an interesting and disturbing essay.  The author, Alistair McFadden is a layman who got a funny feeling about a book that has been wildly praised by some semi famous people in traditional Catholic publishing. The book is Cor Jesu Sacratissimum: From Secularism and the New Age to Christendom Renewed and that book's author said he owes much to  another book called Meditations on the Tarot.  He was so taken with it  that he even had a portion of it read during his wedding.  Tarot? What would a Catholic have to do with the Tarot?  

Cor Jesu Sacratissimum: From Secularism and the New Age to Christendom Renewed  is published by Angelico Press. To be honest I've never heard of Angelico but it's supposed to be a  serious, high tone  publishing house. Apparently many traditional and conservative Catholics consider Angelico to be safe.  Alistair McFadden says that Angelico also publishes  Meditations on the Tarot.  This is  bewildering. I read the names of public Catholics connected to Angelico either in it's offices, it's admirers,  or its published authors and I was  even more confused. 

What is Jane Ordinary Catholic to do? A lot of people look up some of the names mentioned in this essay. How many times have you been in a discussion online and someone said, "Well Dr. X says or Fr. X says..." or "It's published by X so it must be okay." ? 

These days when I hear of a new Catholic organization or "apostolate" who want my money I look at who is on its board and who its "stars" are. I search the IRS to see their Form 990 and I look at the Secretary of State  filings in the state they do business in. If an organization doesn't seem to have any background and no way of finding out who runs it then I assume something is wrong and avoid them. But most people don't have the needed skills or time to do that. They trust. I just look at some of the names mentioned in this essay and I wonder.

 

No comment here. No comment at all.

 

Twilight Zone : Third From the Sun 

CARLING:  That's dangerous thinking. You better mind what you say!

STURKA: And what I think, too.

CARLING: Yeah, and what you think.