Seven Sorrows

The Seven Sorrows of Mary.

Hat tip to Recto Ratio

Oh gee, not this crap again.

Oh gee, not this crap again. If this woman dislikes traditionalists so much why doesn't she just ignore them? And I think she's wrong on point in particular. If things are not right at your parish you have a perfect right to leave, especially if you have kids at home.


I wish this endless bashing could stop or at least calm down a little. The church is in a heap of hurt right now and needs all of us to get our acts together.

Lenten Reading

I'm reading Saints and Sinners at Calvary this week. It's perfect for Lent and check out the chapter on Judas. It reminds readers that scandals will come. Don't let Judas lead you away from Peter.

13 Days

Terri Schiavo was legally murdered last year. It took 13 days for her to die. If you've ever felt the mild discomfort of being thirsty for a few minutes or if you've ever been hungry then you know doggone well that she died horribly. May God forgive those who did this evil thing, those who approved of it and those who looked the other way. And say a prayer tonight because it was Terri this time but tommorow it could be you. .

How can you refuse Him now?

How Can You Refuse Him Now

How can you refuse him now how can you refuse him now

How can you turn away from his side

With tears in his eyes on the cross there he died

How can you refuse Jesus now

There's a story old that has often been told of how our Saviour died

As they nailed his hands he cried they don't understand

As the blood flowed from his side

How can you refuse him now

How can you refuse Jesus now

As he hung there on the tree he prayed for you and me

There was no one his pain to ease

Before he died he faintly cried oh father forgive them please

How can you refuse him now...

How can you refuse Jesus now

------Hank Williams

The B team

Isn't that a nice logo?

random thoughts for a Friday morning.

1. Beware of anyone who thinks they're more Catholic than the pope. That prideful way is the road to kookdom. I was reading one blog which I shall not name and the blogger was freaking out over something that some obscure web site was claiming that the pope is going to do. If you're going to go frothing at the mouth at least find out if the information is true. This person came off as so angry and so out of control my impulse was to leave his/her blog and never come back. This person claims to be a traditionalist but his/her ranting does the cause no service.
   
   
2. You may have heard that Mass attendance is up in Boston. Blogger Carol McKinnley says it's all hooey.
   
   
3. I rarely read The Remnant anymore but this article is correct when it calls St. Lawrence Church ugly. However, it is not the ugliest church in the Arlington diocese. There are at least three other churches in the diocese that make it look like Notre Dame Cathedral.
   
   
4. Seeing all those Mexican flags at the protests in California reminded me of the old story about the camel and the tent.
   
   
5. I wish I could buy the Archbishop Sheen waltz. It's that theme music that plays when Life is Worth Living comes on EWTN.
   
   
6. Speaking of EWTN, doesn't Raymond Arroyo look just like Pinnochio once he became a real boy?
   
   
7. Does anybody know when St. Thomas Moore Cathedral in Arlington is open? Every time I've tried to go pray there after work it's always been locked down.
   
   
8. Do you ever get the feeling that some church critics are actually enjoying the scandals that have taken place?
   

Sad story out of New Orleans

This is wrong. As a black Catholic I hate to see this church close but protests during the Holy Mass are a sin against Jesus.

Top of the World, Mom!

The B team is going to let me hang out with them. Now if I can just figure out who to show their link in my sidebar. When I said I was a rank amateur at this I wasn't kidding.

Dirty deeds done in the dark.....

...get dragged out into the light and exposed eventually. Although, I must say that the alleged victim sounds shady himself.

Sunday vigil

For the Sunday vigil we went to our backup church. I was agitated because we were running late and it was my fault. My hair appointment ran longer than I was expecting. Both my husband and I wanted to go to confession and at this church they shut the confessions down promply at 4:30 whether you're in line or not. We made it and while we were in line I feasted on the beauty of the church.

The light shining in through the stained glass over the altar made the santuary look like it was draped in gauze. Two old ladies were gossiping up front and they sounded remarkably like clucking guinea hens. Two huge altar boys loped by looking very serious. We ended up having four altar boys and they were all fantastic. Somebody at that church does a great job training them. The hard-eyed lady sacristan who doesn't like anyone who hasn't gone to that church for less than a year seemed cheerful for a change. In the back somebody was whispering the Hail Mary and a baby was sneezing. There were two priests hearing confessions and the lines were long. It's been a frazzled week but thanks to Jesus I finally found peace.

Big doings in the Arlington Diocese

This morning when I woke up the chirpy news gal on WGMS sang out that there was going to be something NEW at Mass in the Arlington diocese. My stomach clenched. What on earth….? Bishop Loverde (she mispronounced it to sound like LOW-VER-DEE) is going to allow altar girls and women servers. She was so happy I guess she's been itching to prance around on the altar for awhile now. I'm not thrilled about this but heck, it could be worse.


Something else has happened that wasn't given a big announcement. The bishop has decided to allow the Tridentine Mass at two churches. I'm delighted--- this is something I've hoped for and prayed for for a long time but Bishop Loverde hasn't impressed me much in the past (I still remember Fr. Haley ) and I feel a bit uneasy. Are these parishes in good financial shape? Are the pastors on the bishop's S list? I don’t want to get attached to the Mass and then have it pulled out from under me in a year's time.

Miracles

I saw 3 miracles at Mass last night. First, bread and wine became the body and blood of our Lord. Second, we came face to face with Jesus in the Eucharist and finally after Mass we got to meet Jesus in the precious gift of Confession. And then as an extra bonus there was a fourth miracle. I saw a lot of young people at Mass. College kids mostly. They weren't in a group. They didn't appear to even know one another. They all simply decided to come to Mass on their own. When I get cranky about the state of the church in America I will try to remember those kids.

The Bishops blow it again

I am SO disappointed (again) in the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops for their opposition to the HR 4437 bill. Americans are getting screwed but the bishops don't care, no pun intended. A few years ago a young man I know had an accident and ended up in a 3 week coma. He was 19 and had no insurance so the hospital kicked him out as soon as he was fully awake and was able to walk. He got no rehab and no follow up. His family read books and came up with a makeshift physical rehab program for him with their own exercise equipment. Contrast this to the care immigrants receive. A relative of mine came home from work scandalized because a co-worker from another country (illegal) was bragging about her sweet healthcare deal. Not only is this woman and her American born children fully covered (thanks to you and me) but her husband who just arrived in the States and who has never worked one damn day here got a social worker to help him and he is getting free care for his kidney condition. U.S. is supposed to stand for United States or Uncle Sam if you're feeling whimsical not Uncle Sucker.

Lent parties?

What's up with all the parties being given by parishes during Lent? When did this start? Looking at my diocese's newspaper I read that the Knights of Columbus are holding a banquet to raise money for some worthy cause. Champagne and dancing in the church hall. Gee. Did Vatican II change the nature of Lent? Is it no longer a season of penance and preparation?

Another church in the diocese is having a Beef and Brew. The folks are going to gather round, listen to music, dance, drink beer and chow down to barbecue. Last week Catholic Charities had its black tie gala (Around here it's the biggest Catholic party of the year outside of a Kennedy wedding) All this during Lent. Sheesh!

What I'm reading

Why Catholics Can't Sing

The Lamb's Supper by good ole Scott Hahn (it's the greatest book on the Mass I've ever read)

God is Love by Pope B16


The Passion by Paul Thigpen

Blackmail

I fully agree with the aims of the Dan O'Donnel society. We need to get rid of bad priests but the way they're going about it is black mail and threatening to expose the baddies in the middle of Lent seems like a half assed sutnt.

If you've proof of behavior unbecoming of a priest expose it and be done with it but don't play games like this. Besides if a priest in this diocese suddenly leaves every one will know he's one of the guys the O'Donnel society was talking about so he might as well stay put and try to bluff his way through.

Fr. William Casey for Lent

EWTN is showing Fr. William Casey's Lenten retreat series on Sundays. If you haven't seen him tune in. Wow! That man can really preach.

The Fr. Tim essay.

I don't know how it happened but I seem to read this essay about once a year. Each time I read it I just about bust a gut but all humor aside it's obvious that this is a very bitter man. He's so mean that I wouldn't want to go to any church that he reccomended to me.

Oh for crying out loud...

I'm sorry but this story is freaking nuts. This woman claims that she was abused 40 years ago? How is she to prove this? How is the bishop to disprove it? If this woman gets one red cent then we'll all know that the rule of law in this country is completely dead when Catholics are involved.

A prayer for my friend

The mother of one of my friends used to be a witch back in the late 80s. She was into some really bad stuff, to put it mildly. One day she abruptly quit but without going into detail it's obviously that the sins of the mother have deeply affected the whole family. My friend's childhood and teen years were simply tragic. There are some things you shouldn't mess with. Her mother opened a door and years later it's still not completely closed...........

OCCULT CURSE BREAKING PRAYER

Eternal Father, in the Name of our Lord, Jesus Christ, I ask you to send the sword of Your Spirit to sever and break all evil curses, pacts, spells, seals, hexes, vexes, triggers, trances, vows, demonic blessings, or any other demonic bondages sent against me or N., or any of our loved ones or any of our possessions. (Say 3 times)
Lord, Jesus Christ, I ask you to bind, command to silence, and separate all evil spirits attached to any evil curses, pacts, spells, seals, hexes, vexes, triggers, trances, vows, demonic blessings, or any other demonic bondages sent against me or N., or any of our loved ones or any of our possessions, and in Your Name Lord, Jesus Christ, I ask you to command them to depart from us and go directly to the foot of Your Cross, never to return to us again. Lord Jesus, cover us with Your Precious Blood and send angels to protect us. Fill us with Your Holy Spirit. I praise and thank You. Amen.

some people live to complain

Some Catholics simply refuse to see the bright side of anything. Over 1000 people came to the Rite Election at the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception this Sunday (last year my husband was one of them) in order to celebrate the first rite which will lead to baptism or confirmation for the catechumens and candidates at Easter. This is a happy occasion but the people on one forum which I will not name couldn't say one nice thing. They said these dear people weren't really going to be Catholic because most probably attend the Novus Ordo Mass. For goodness sake...........

Dana Reeves

Dana Reeves, the widow of Christopher Reeves died at the age of 44. Her views on killing babies in order to harvest their body parts to help seriously ill people like her late husband were revolting however; she was a good wife to Reeves and there was never even a whiff of scandal about her conduct while he was trapped in that wheelchair and she leaves a teenaged son. He will probably go to live with relatives but nobody else can be like your own mama. Poor kid.

How could I have forgotten?

It was Saint Katherine Drexel's feast day this week. Thank you dear Saint Katherine for your work among blacks and Indians. Whenever I'm in Old Town, Alexandria I go past St. Joseph's, a very pretty little church that St. Katherine helped start. Up until the early 70s, black people weren't welcome at most Northern Virginia parishes. Folks had to drive or take a bus to Washington DC. When Saint Katherine gave the money to build St. Josephs it was a haven for black Catholics. Later, another black parish, Our Lady Queen of Peace was established in Arlington, Virginia. We've come a long way and St. Katherine helped us get there.

Stomach turning

Someone once said "first comes the tragedy, then comes the farce." Well the Cafeteria is Closed Blog has a post on a Gospel procession that is actually both with a huge dollop of insanity thrown in. Pray for this priest. Pray for these poor people.






St. Dymphna, my dear patron pray for us.
St. Pio, you had a special affection for Americans, pray for us.

Whatcha doing for Lent?

If you've been bragging about what you are planning to do for Lent the New Oxford Review folks are not amused.

Ash Wednesday

Last night I went to the 5:30 Mass at St. Matthews Cathedral in DC. It was wonderful. The cantor sang beautifully but wasn't trying to highjack the Mass. The organist was in a zone. He really made that old organ strut. The homily was excellent. We had four priests, two deacons and a horde of eager Eucharistic ministers.(Grrrr!) The cathedral was packed. People who came late had to stand and there was a crowd of folks who attended Mass on the steps and sidewalk.

We had one weird moment before Mass started. I glanced at my husband and almost screamed. There was a young man kneeling behind us and he was leaning so far forward that his head was actually between my husband and me. For a second it looked like a disembodied head was resting on my shoulder.

And then the dude let out a couple of small belches. Under any other circumstances a man who belched in my face would get a nasty reaction from me but since we were in church we just moved. Actually, we hopped up and ran to a different pew. And later that night we watched the pope's Ash Wednesday Mass on EWTN.

A prayer for priests

Almighty God, look upon the face of Him who is the eternal HighPriest, and have compassion on Your priests in today's world. Remember that they are but weak and frail human beings. Stir up in them the grace of their vocation. Keep them close to You lest the enemy prevail against them, so that they may never do anything in the slightest degree unworthy of of their sublime vocation.

Amen

Mary, Queen of the clergy, pray for us.
St. Pio, pray for us.
St. John Vianney, pray for us.
Archbishop Sheen, servant of God, pray for us.

It's not over.

A few years ago a bishop stated that the scandal was over. His statement was either wishful thinking or a horrible joke. The scandal is not over done with. As long as some leech-- I mean lawyer can see a way to make a buck this will go on and on. As long as juries give millions of dollars to people who claim to have been abused more than a decade ago and who offer not a shred of physical proof, the nightmare will go on. As long as the wrong type of man is allowed to persevere in the seminary the scandal will go on.


“For God’s sake, why do you damnable sodomites pursue the heights of ecclesiastical dignity with such fiery ambition?”
---- St. Peter Damian


Pray for us St. Peter.
Our Lady of LaSallete, pray for us.

random thoughts for a Saturday night

1. I think Peggy Noonan (whom I respect as a writer) is secretly pissed that George Bush didn't hire her to write his speeches like his dad did.
   
   
2. New Oxford Review doesn't seem to like Amy Welborn very much.
   
   
3. John Derbyshire is a terrible grouch and he doesn't seem to like Catholics much but everytime I see this I can't help but laugh.
   
   
4. I love the new dragonslayer United Airlines commercial.
   
   
5. Pray for your parish priest. It's not easy counseling the doubtful, correcting the wicked and loving the manifestly unlovable. Father listens to people whine about their gouty toes. He gently tells prodigal daughters to wear a longer skirt to Mass next time. He prepares the dying for their big moment before Judgement. He has to put up with eucharistic ministers, musicians who think they're rock stars, and the crazy lady who does the flower arrangements. He deals with the bishop so you don't have to and he stands before the altar of God and offers Him the body, blood, soul and divinity of His dearly beloved son in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world. Awesome vocation, that.
   
   
6. The pope is taking a good look at some well known but suspect private revlations and is of a mind to smack them down. Excuse while do this backflip for joy.
   
   
7. I still can't figure him out but Fr. Jim Tucker of Dappled Things has a terrific blog and a fascinating collection of church pictures.
   
   
8. If you've been discerning your vocation so long that everyone around you wishes you'd just s--- or get off the pot then read this book. It's published by Tan Books so you know it's good.
   
   
9. Go out and buy the newly released Therese movie DVD. Most of the big time blogs either panned it or ignored it completely but they were wrong.
   
   
10. I think people ought to lay off Mel Gibson's old man. Faced with freak shows like this it's no surprise when some people lose heart and leave the church.
    
    
11. Americorps is a worthless program. I came to this conclusion shortly after I started reading A Little Flower Garden a blog by a very sweet young thing who's been sent to the crummiest part of Washington DC to help out.
    
12. Gospel music died with the late, great Mahalia Jackson. The stuff they put out now isn't worthy of the name.
    
    
13. Everytime someone says "This is in the spirit of Vatican II," I want to snarl, "The 60s are over, dude. Give IT UP!"
    
14. Has poor old Willie Nelson lost his mind?

Moved to tears

I watched Bernadette on EWTN and I was moved to tears. I had no idea how much the little saint suffered. Imagine being a 14 year old sickly girl and having to tell priests, bishops and cardinals that yes, you saw the Blessed Virgin and having to tell it to them over and over again. Imagine going to spend the rest of your life at the one convent in France where the novice mistress was determined to be mean to you. You can go here to see a photo of St. Bernadette's incorrupt body.



Saint Bernadette, pray for us.


Especially those among us who have fallen victim to that false apparition over in the former Yugoslavia.

2006 Catholic blog awards

I'm somewhat disappointed. Most of the people nominated are the same group folks from last year and some of the blogs aren't even active anymore. Come on! The Catholic blogosphere is a heck of a lot bigger than that. And when did the nomination feature ever work? I tried to nominate my favorite blogs for days and couldn't do anything except vote today.

Good nuns

Like many Catholic girls I wanted to be a nun when I was young. We fret and scream about the problems facing the priesthood (we ought to pray more) but many of us have forgotten the awesome power to do good or to do evil that is in the hands of every nun, especially those who teach. Whenever the latest Catholic news gets too grim I refresh myself by checking out the web site of one of the tradional orders. Pray for these sisters and drop a donation in the mail to them if you can.

Fr. Hoatson's lawsuit

A priest has accused three bishops of being gay and is suing because he feels that he's been persecuted. I've said on other blogs that if this turns out to be true I won't blink an eye. However, something about the priest who's making the accusation doesn't seem right to me and after reading what Carol at Magisterial Fidelity has to say about the case I think this whole suit might be hogwash.

Rosary Lecture at St. Matthews Cathedral

Last night I went to a lecture on the rosary given by a Dominican priest. I love Dominicans in general and this one was a very good speaker. The lecutre was held in the basement of St. Matthew's Cathedral in Washington, DC. It was sponsored by the young adults group. These are a terrific bunch of people and they put on good programs. If you're ever in DC stop by and see what's going on.

Saint Josephine Bakhita

Saint Josephine Bakhita, flower of Africa was born in Sudan and captured by slavers when she was just a child. She suffered horribly and finally was bought by some people who took her to Italy. Slavery was illegal in Italy and as a free woman she learned the Faith and became a nun. Saint Bakhita died in 1947. Pray for us dear saint. Slavery is still going on in Sudan and the world is still looking the other way.

Betcha Prez Bush wishes he'd stayed home

I knew that Coretta Scott King's funeral was going to be a long, (it ran for 6 hours!), tedious and tacky affair and I pitied George Bush for having to go but I never expected that the man would be insulted repeatedly while sitting on the stage behind Mrs. King's casket. Turning a funeral into a political rally is beyond the pale. Somebody ought to tell Jimmy Carter that Dr. King was secretly taped during the Kennedy and Johnson administrations. JFK and LBJ were Democrats. Eisenhower and Nixon and Reagan had nothing to do with it.

Coretta Scott King suffered greatly in her last illness and in her life. It wasn't easy being married to the symbol of the Civil Rights Movement. It wasn't easy raising four kids alone and being a widow for nearly 40 years either.

May she rest in peace.

Not a parody

Aw shucks. This is not a parody. He's a real priest.





St. Martin de Porres, patron saint of barbers, pray for us.
St. Luke, patron saint of tailors, pray for us.

Another Catholic University falls

DePaul University, the largest "Catholic" school in the US is offering a degree in homosexual studies. Isn't that just precious.


Note to my non-Southern friends, when a Southern woman says something or someone is precious unless she's talking about baby clothes or a person who is under the age of 10, it's an insult.

By the way, here is a list of colleges/universities that have pledged that they will continue to teach in communion with the magisterium. In other words they aren't' t backing away from church teachings are aren't trying to make heretics and atheists happy. I can't speak for any of the others but I know that Christendom College, is a very fine school.

Rest in peace Fr. Santoro

A priest was murdered in Turkey. The killer was heard shouting "God is great," as he ran from the church. Yes, God is great. However, I do not believe that what this young man worships is God. Please don't tell me that Allah is another name for God. Read the Koran (something I did way back in college) and read that sucker from cover to cover and then try to go on believing that.

There is something in the air. If you turn the TV off for a minute, shut down the CD player and step away from the video games you can feel it. Something is about to happen. It's like we're in 1935 and half the world still wants to pretend that by looking the other way everything will be okay. It's not going to be okay. A clash of civilizations is taking place. I just hope mine, with all it's flaws wins because the alternative is hell.

Two Books you must read

If you've ever wondered, seriously what the heck has happened to the Church then you must read these two books: Memoirs of an Anti-apostle and Goodbye Good Men. Our of Lady of Good Help, pray for us.

NBC spits in our faces again.

NBC is planning to mock the crucifixion of our Lord during Holy Week this year. Crap like this is a perfect example of why I don’t watch network television anymore. When the TV is on we are usually watching EWTN, the Food Channel, Discovery, Science, Court TV, the classic movie channel or Animal Planet.

St. Blaise

Today is the Feast of St. Blaise. Catholic Fire has a very good post on the saint, his martyrdom and the feast. My husband went to early morning Mass in a small church near his job and was delighted to see that all the priests in the parish were there for the blessing after Mass. I went to St. Matthews Cathedral in DC for the 12:10 Mass. St. Matt's has been blessed with a fine group of men for its clergy. Young Fr. Caulfield gave a lovely homily and after Mass he and a deacon blessed throats. The cathedral looked particularly beautiful today. I hope St. Blaise was pleased.

SSPX Reunion?

Bishop Loverde of the Arlington Diocese refuses to allow the Tridentine Mass in his territory so many people just go to St. Mary's in Washington DC, which has the Mass at 9AM. The church is located in China town and it used to be a bad area. Thanks to massive urban renewal things are looking much better but it's still not Mayberry.

Other people go to St. Athanasius in Vienna, Virginia. St. Athanasius is independent-- that is they decided to do their own thing until the bishop changes his mind. I pray that one day, those who want to go the Tridentine Mass will be able to do so in peace and without spneding their whole day on the road because they have to drive 60 miles or more to get to church.

There are rumors that the Society of St. Pius X is meeting with the Vatican about a full reunion. That would be a wonderful thing for the whole church.

Bishop Lynch

Bishop Lynch, do you care about your sheep at all? This story makes me wonder.

http://www.northcountrygazette.org/articles/012906MarriageAtRisk.html

John Paull II

I have a picture of John Paul, the Great above my computer. It shows him on his first day as pope. He looks so young and healthy. There's no hint of how much he was later going to suffer. I love Pope Benedict but I really miss John Paul II.



Rest in peace, Papa and pray for us.

Guilty pleasures

I finally get to play tag. Catholic Cavemen…has come up with the Guilty Pleasures Meme.

I confess to the following guilty pleasures….

Music: Guns & Roses. November Rain still gives me chills and I love Eminem.

Movies: The original Walking Tall movies and Kill Bill. The fight scene with the Crazy 88s is the stuff of legend.

Politics: Watching Teddy Kennedy make a bigger and bigger ass of himself.

Church-related: I love the look of sour surprise on the faces of eucharistic ministers when I leave their line and head for the priest at communion.

Chow: London Town Cheese waffles .

Clothing: Leg warmers. I do love them….still.

Hygienic: I confess. Under stress I'm a hair twirler and compulsively attack pimples, mine or anyone else's.

Kanye West shows that money can't buy class

Kanye West has posed for the cover of Rolling Stone magazine dressed up like Jesus. Whether he thought of this on his own or his managers talked him into it, he's a doofus. When his 15 minutes of fame are up I'll be happy. Even that jerk, 50 Cent never presumed to mock Jesus like this.

By the way, Tupac and Biggie Smalls both compared themselves to the Christ and look where they both are now.

The Cell

I just read Stephen King's new book and it's a rip off. How many times is Stephen King going tell this same story? You have a hero, Clayton Riddell, and his friends struggling to get back to his son in Maine and to survive in a world full of zombies after Captain Tripps gets loose... oh wait a minute, I mean after the Arrowhead Project goes sour...no, I mean after the mysterious Pulse transmitted via cell phones takes place. If you've already read "The Stand", "The Mist", "Home Delivery" , and "Night Surf" then Cell is just going to more of the same.

Bishop Gumbleton retired!

Thanks be to God.

NFP thoughts

If you're offended by blunt talk about sex then skip this post
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Still with me? Okay. A few days ago I was part of a discussion about natural family planning (NFP). One young bride was upset because her husband was not cooperating and the tension in the house was terrible. An older woman responded that the young bride needed to get more forceful about making her husband grow up and in making NFP work for them both. She explained that when she is in her fertile period she avoids her husband and sleeps on the couch if he gets too frisky. I thought that telling the newlywed to go sleep on the couch was a terrible thing.

A young and not so young man wants to have sex with his wife. That is normal, good and holy. Telling him to "grow up" and behave doesn't help your marriage, in fact you might be asking for trouble. If you want to have a happy marriage you should want your husband to want you. Sex should equal you in his mind. Pushing him off and making him feel guilty about the whole thing is damned foolery. Unless your man is a saint, (If he is, kiss his feet and praise the Lord!) he will have sex. If not with you then with some willing woman or he'll withdraw to fantasy (porn) or masturbation. Is that what you want? St. Elizabeth of Hungary wisely noted that she did not wish to cause her husband to sin by turning him off her. No, that's not exactly what she said but you get the drift, eh?

Some women are super fertile. Some of us are not. I've been married 17 years and only got pregnant twice. Both ended in miscarriage. In case, you haven't noticed there is a huge industry catering to the miseries of infertile women. A lot of us have no hope of ever getting pregnant at all. Don't fear pregnancy. God already knows what you can handle and He already knows what's best. If you let Him decide how many children you should have you might be amazed.

revolting

If I lived in Florida and this was my church I'd leave and never return.

LA Catholic

I love this blog. The person who runs it is smart, funny and has enough sense to call a spade a spade.

What's up with Vermont's judges?

Mama's don't let your babies grow up in Vermont.

Worst Mass Ever....

I went to vigil mass at a church in Falls Church, Virginia last night. It was horrible. A layman strutted up to the ambo and announced what the music would be, which readings would be used and explained how they all tied together. In short, he gave us a mini homily. I looked at my husband and he looked at me. Why on earth was this elderly man doing the priest's job? Then the old fellow told us to greet our neighbors. Well, gosh! A pre-Mass sign of peace. Then he announced that the celebrant would be Fr. X. Father X and the altar boys came in and right away we were astonished by his chasuble. It was green of course but it had a LEOPARD SKIN print running down the front. His homily was adequate. The old layman's was better.

The cantor was a teenaged girl and she was a Mariah Carey wannabe. We were "treated" to a concert performance every time she opened her mouth. Nobody in the pews sang along. Most of the people I saw seemed perplexed or pained.

There were 12 eucharistic ministers. The whole Mass seemed like a Protestant service. I couldn't wait to leave. This church won an award for being an excellent parish last year. If this was excellence....

Our Lady of Akita, pray for us.

New high school for DC

The DC diocese is going to open a new high school in 2007. Twenty years ago Archbishop Hickey shut down Notre Dame, St. Patricks, St. Anthony's, Mackin, Immaculate Conception, All Saints and St. Cecilia. God only knows what the diocese did with the money. Except for Georgetown Visitiation, which is not owned by the diocese there are no all-girl schools left in DC. We still have St. John's, St. Anselms, (All male and unless you are handling some major cash or your kid is very smart, forget about them) DeMatha, Gonzaga and Archbishop Carroll (Co-ed or all male). At the time, many black Catholics felt that we got screwed.
Now, Cardinal McCarrick is going to open this Cristo Rey school. Good for him. I don't know how many actual inner city, (code word for black) kids will be going to it--- the school is in the Tacoma Park section which is not a black area and if it gets the reputation of being the "poor kids school", I'm not sure how many kids woud want to go.
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New doings in VA

This is nice. When I first read this I wondered if Potomac Falls was one of those ticky tacky made up new developments but no, it's an actual place in Loudon County which is way, way down the highway from me

Rowdy times at Queen of Peace

I grew up in the St. Augustine parish in Washington DC. In the mid 80s our pastor was transferred to Our Lady Queen of Peace in SE, DC. We were sad for ourselves (With good reason. St. Aug's is so messed up now that I told my mother that it would take a wedding or a furneal for me to ever go back. ) and sad for him because Queen of Peace was not a desirable post. Well, that priest has since moved on and after reading this in the Washington Post he's probably very glad that he's not still at the Queen. As a black Catholic I find this whole story which the the Post lovingly splashed on the front page, to be embarrassing. I hate how the Post always portrays black people as poor, and ineffectually bitching about something.

I'd love to know the reason

Father? Uh, can you … um, explain this?

WTH?

What the hell is this? And why is it in a Catholic Church? Hat tip to the Catholic Caveman.

Failure

Victory has a thousand fathers. Defeat is an unclaimed bastard. The Skins lost. Aargh! Bless Joe Gibb's heart. I didn't think the Skins would get this far.

Lair of the Catholic Caveman

I love this guy.

strange bishop

Bishop Gumbleton of Detroit waited until he was 75 to claim that he was once molested by a priest when he was a seminarian. A seminarian? Wasn't he a wee bit too old for that ….? Unless it happened at the minor seminary and he was a small sized 13 year old this doesn't make a whole bit of sense. The priest in question is obviously dead now and can't confess or deny this story. We have no witnesses. No evidence. There is only the word of one man and the bishop did not name the priest. Gumbleton wants the statute of limitations on molestation cases to be lifted so someone who claims to have been molested a jillion years ago could, if the bishop gets his way , sue the church. The trouble with these old cases is that there is just no proof. I'm not comfortable with changing the law for such emotional reasons. Bad (highly emotional) cases make bad law.

A million little pieces

I know some wildly talented authors who just can't get a book deal and I know plenty of people who went with small pubishers and watched as their books faded into quick obscurity. Getting published is like gambling and once you get published the odds of success are far against you. So what does it take to make it big? Mostly, you need connections, a charming personality and a book that fits the times. Right now Americans are in a wimpy phase and we scarf down victim stories a like fat kid who finds himself unexpectedly alone with a cake. A Million Little Pieces has made it in a huge way. It's the story of how a young man took his life and darn near threw it away. He did drugs, alcohol, and became a criminal. Then one day he went to rehab and everything is okay now. Well, guess what? According to The Smoking Gun whole chunks of this book & the sequel are lies. It's like the themes of The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance or From Noon Til Three: the fictionalized account is a lot more exciting that what really went down.

Why do writers do things like this? In the aftermath of Jayson Blair surely they ought to know that they won't get away with it for long?

I saw a dying man yesterday

Yesterday I went to Mass at St. Matthews Cathedral in DC. Right after I sat down I smelled urine. My first thought was that one of the local street people had urinated in the pew and that I was now sitting in it. I looked down and saw nothing. The priest said "let us pray" and I hopped up and looked around. In the pew behind me sat one of the most wretched sights I've ever seen. A man, or at least I think it was a man sat hunched over. I couldn't see the face and the smell was such that I had to turn away or gag. He let out a sigh and fell forward. His head rested on the back of my pew and I saw an emaciated hand reach up and then fall next to his head.

Mass went on and later when it was over and after visiting the Blessed Sacrament I walked back to where I had been sitting earlier. Now the poor creature was slumped completely over with his head touching his knees.

There was nothing glamorous or fascinating about this man. He was hideous to look at, disgusting to smell and when I thought that even he must have been somebody's baby once, I was incedibly sad.

This guy is killing himself with drugs or drink or both and by the looks up him yesterday it won't be long before the end comes.

Tell Me It's Not True....

When I read this all I could think of was a few lines from a song called "Tell Me It's Not True"

Tell me it's not true,
Say it's just a story,
Something on the news.

Tell me it's not true,
Though it's here before me,
Say it's just a dream,
Say it's just a scene,
From an old movie of years ago....

Interesting discussion

Over at the Apologia forum they are having an interesting discussion about angry traditionalists and whether that anger hurts the traditionalist movement or not. I'm impressed that they're having this discussion. I sympathize greatly with the traditionalists and I know that they got screwed in the 70s and 80s, but some of them are really blowing it. A visibly righteous attitude or unfriendliness when strangers show up at church is not endearing. Telling Novus Ordo folks that they are damned, dumb and halfway to being Protestants isn't helpful either. When you argue and beat someone down it doesn't attract them---unless they're masochists.

After 40 years of dumbness-- pizza masses, hosts made out of Ritz crackers, dancing girls, and commercial jingles for music--- people are hungry for a change. However, they won't look into traditional Catholicism if they think it means hanging out with sour meanies.

Two Johns

In America we had St. John Neuman and in England they had Cardinal John Newman. They're often confused but they are not the same guy. Today is the feast day of the "little bishop" St. John Neuman.

When in doubt

Check it out. Catholic Culture is a very useful web site. It has documents and discussions but I use it for its site reivews. Catholic Culture lets you know which sites are within the mainstream of the church, which have some iffy bits and which are so far away from the church that your brain, if not your faith will curdle if you waste time on them.

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

Today is the feast day of Mother Seton. She is the first American born cannonized saint and the foundress of the Daughters of Charity and parochial schools in America. I went to Immaculate Conception Academy (It doesn't exist anymore. Cardinal Hickey sold the school in the middle of the school year and we were forced to merge with St. Anthony's.) which was run by nuns of St. Elizabeth's order. I've spent many happy hours at the St. Elizabeth shrine, and the Grotto of Lourdes shrine which is right next to the saint's shrine. I'm proud to be one of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton's daughters and I keep an icon of her on my desk.

Nightmare surprise

I really don't handle shock well and I don't handle dread at all. Some situations send me shooting into an anxiety attack like an exploding rocket. This morning when I was waking up I heard on the news that the miners in West Virginia who were supposed to have been rescued are actually dead. Only one guy is alive.

I thought about the families and the nightmare they must have gone through. Imagine you've spent hours celebrating because the governor of your state told you that your man is alive. You have a second chance. As soon as you see your husband, dad, son or brother, you're going to hug him and kiss him and tell him that you love him. Imagine being a wife who had a fight with her husband before he went off to work and now thinking that "As soon as I see him, I'll tell him he was right and I was wrong."

Imagine standing surrounded by your relatives and rejoicing and then seeing a woman crying in the back of the room. She is a relative of the man who was found dead yesterday. You catch your breath. Sure you're happy but this poor woman..... You go over to her to comfort her. Afterall, you're man is alive and you can afford to be magnanimous. Besides, this is a small town. You probably know this woman. You probably went to school with her or her kin. Her son might play football with one of yours. You try to say the right things and you might think about donating some money to help her with the expenses that will surely come. And then it happens.

A man or men in suits come into the room. They announce that there's been a mistake, a miscommunication. There is only one survivor and it's not your loved one. Your man is dead. He's been dead for hours. All the time you've been celebrating he's been lying dead. That woman who you were comforting a second ago is now your sister in grief. You do not have a second chance. You have no husband, no brother, no father, no son. The exquisite joy that was in your heart just a second ago has died and is choking you. Your stomach is tight and feels like you've swallowed wet dust and the anxiety pains feel like you're being stabbed.

This is not a bad dream. It's real and all anyone from the mine and the authorities can say to you is "accident", "mistake" and "miscommunication" . Now that's a nightmare. Those poor women. Those poor families.

Eternal rest, give to them oh Lord.
And let perpetual light shine upon them.

My Patron Saint for 2006

There is an old custom of drawing saints names on New Years Eve and asking that saint to be your speacial protector for the year. Moneybags at the A Catholic Life blog graciously offered to draw names for anyone who asked. The saint who picked me for 2006 is St. Juliana. She was a nun who had a vision when she was just a teenager. Thanks to her obedience to that Heaven sent vision we now have the Feast of Corpus Christi. Other than a love of the Blessed Sacrament we don't seem to share much in common but I have a feeling that she'll show me why she picked me. Thanks to Moneybags at A Catholic Life!


Pray for me this year, St. Juliana.

Random thoughts on the first day of 2006

1. The uncrowned queen of Catholic blogging is The Anchoress This lady has the finest Catholic blog I've seen this year. It has serious reflections, a twinkly, downright Irish wit and fine writing.
2. I need a spiritual director. Everyone in DC that I've contacted is too busy and I've been advised not to bother with anyone in the Arlington diocese so I've left a message with Opus Dei.
3. The spot for my second favorite blog is a tie between the tough minded Relasped Catholic and the priest who writes under the nom de plume of Diogenes for Catholic World News. He's clever and refuses to sugar coat anything.
4. I still like New Oxford Review. Nobody swings biggger you-know-what in Catholic bloggerville. They are fearless. No, I don't agree with everything they write. For one thing, I believe they're totally wrong about Scott Hahn but they have been saying things about the state of the church in America that need to be said and they've fought the good fight when the majority of us were just oblivious pew potatoes. For example, NOR was talking about the lavender mafia problem long before anybody else outside of ultra trad circles.
5. Prayers for this guy and for Father Haley in Virginia.
6. If I ever walk into a church where they think celebrating Kwaanza is the way to comfort black Catholics I'll spin on my heels and leave. Black Catholics have been around for a long time. We don't need some neo pagan crap to make us feel good.
7. The people at Angelqueen sadden me. The Novus Ordo Watch folks scare me.
8. My tough Catholic lady award goes to Carole Mckinley at Magisterial Fidelity.
9. The priest who runs Dappled Things is fascinating. I can't figure him out but I enjoy reading his blog.
10. Happy New Year, Y'all!

Try something new this year

This year make a Eucharistic adoration visit to Jesus. If you do it on a regular basis it will change your life. Seriously. Check this site out.

Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God

Today is a great Marian feast and an obligation day. The young father at my main parish looked splendid in his gold vestments (he had on the fiddleback!) and gave an oustanding homily. It was so good people lined up to thank him after the Mass and the old women kissed him. He had that bemused look on his face that little boys sometimes get when their old aunts smother them with kisses.

The Cathedral was magnificently decorated. The creche was surrounded by live trees, poinsettias and straw. The staute of Baby Jesus looked like He was about six months old instead of a new born but I figure that the artist who carved it knew that newborn babes usually look terrible and that babies are at their cutest once they hit five or six months and plump out. I heard that the creche at St. Patrick's in DC has 250 pieces to it. They must have duplicated the whole of Bethlehem. I'm going to try to go and see it on Monday.

Meanwhile in the Arlington Diocese where my back up parish is, Bishop Loverde and his boys continue to disappoint.

Lord, have mercy.
Chirst have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.

Little Jesus

Little Jesus, was Thou shy Once, and just so small as I?

And what did it feel like to be Out of Heaven, and just like me?

Didst Thou sometimes think of there, And ask where all the angels were? I should think that I would cry For my house all made of sky;

I would look about the air, And wonder where my angels were; And at waking twould distress me Not an angel there to dress me!

Hadst Thou ever any toys, Like us little girls and boys?And didst Thou play in Heaven with allThe angels that were not too tall,With stars for marbles?

Did the things Play Can you see me? through their wings?And did Thy Mother let Thee spoilThy robes, with playing on our soil?How nice to have them always new In Heaven, because twas quite clean blue! Didst Thou kneel at night to pray, And didst Thou join Thy hands, this way?And did they tire sometimes, being young,And make the prayer seem very long?And dost Thou like it best, that weShould join our hands to pray to Thee?

I used to think, before I knew,The prayer not said unless we do. And did Thy Mother at the night Kiss Thee, and fold the clothes in right?And didst Thou feel quite good in bed, Kissed, and sweet, and Thy prayers said?

Thou canst not have forgotten allThat it feels like to be small: And Thou knowst I cannot prayTo Thee in my fathers way.

When Thou was so little, say,Couldst Thou talk Thy Fathers way?

So, a little Child, come down And hear a childs tongue like Thy own;Take me by the hand and walk, And listen to my baby-talk.To Thy Father show my prayer(He will look, Thou art so fair), And say: O Father, I, Thy Son,Bring the prayer of a little one.And He will smile, that childrens tongue Has not changed since Thou wast young!

random thoughts

1. Why does anybody pay any attention to Andrew Sullivan?

2. Why was so much attention paid to the Indian Ocean tidal wave last year? Not that it wasn't a tragedy but people are being slaughtered, raped, and enslaved in the Sudan every day. The victims are screaming for help but they get only sporadic attention.

You want human misery? Heck, come take a walk with me in inner city Baltimore. You want shocking sights? Go visit the projects in Philly. You want to gawk at a genuine nightmare? Step inside your local crack house. I guess you need a beach, open prostitution, and a luxury hotel that none of your people can afford to got to for the West to care about your plight.

3. Why is everybody so down on the parishioners of St. Stanislaus? I'm not saying they're right but they aren't the worst out there by a long shot. There are many churches around this country that are openly heretical. How come their boards don't get excomunicated? How come the pederast priests weren't all instantly excomunicated?

4. We are supposedly living in the Age of the Laity. How come no-one will admit that so far it's been a bust?

5. How come dissident Catholics don't just leave? Take a page from Martin Luther's book. Start your own church and leave the rest of us in peace.

6. The women of America abort more children in a week than King Herod ever dreamed of killing. How long do we think God will stay His hand?

7. When it comes to New Orleans my give a damn is busted. Yes, I know.... I know....

8. We pray for priests and nuns but when our relatives express the feeling that they have a vocation many of us try to talk them out of it.

9. When did it become fashionable to bring food and water to Mass? I can't count the number of water bottles I've seen in the pews.

10. Ever notice that the media loves it when black people behave badly? At the LA Lakers/ Miami Heat basketball game all the announcers could talk about was that this was a chance for Kobe and Shaq to mix it up. They seemed disappointed that not only did Shaq and Kobe not get into a fight on the court but they both concentrated on the game and not each other. The reporterette who spoke to Shaq at the end of the game didn't ask him about basketball but had to bring up his feelings about Kobe. I was very pleased that Shaq didn't even answer her. It reminded me of how shocked media talking heads were that there was no riot over Tookie Williams. I always find it interesting that the people who claim to care about black folks seem to think that that we are all children or untrained pets.

Footprints of God

This Christmas my husband and I watched Steve Ray's DVD on the life of Jesus. It's pretty good. Ray's voice is very, very annoying but what he's presenting is so interesting that after a while I didn't notice it anymore. Seeing the church that's built over Golgotha, and site of Christ's tomb was very moving. This DVD is great for kids and teens. Adults might find it too simple. I liked the series that Raymond Arroyo did for EWTN better.

Happy Birthday Jesus

At the 10:30 Christmas Mass at the Basilica of the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in DC, the celebrating priest led the worshippers in a chourus of Happy Birthday Dear Jesus. How lame. Mnsgr. Bansfield hasn't even been gone a year yet and the fruit loops are blooming already.

Scrooge

I've been listening to a CD ofA Christmas Carol performed by Basil Rathbone and a couple of weird thoughts came to me. Is it really poor old Scrooge's fault that Tiny Tim is sickly? Perhaps Bob Cratchit should get another job. Scrooge can't be too bad, Cratchit has been in his employ for years. And what about Fred? He looks sympathetically at poor old Bob but he never once makes a move to help. Instead of preaching at Scrooge why doesn't Fred drop a few coins in the Cratchit palm. And why is it required that Scrooge be nice to Fred? We all have relatives that we could really do without.

Weird thoughts aside. I do love A Christmas Carol.

On Christmas Eve we went to Mass at midnight. It was very good. I would've preferred to go to the Cathedral in DC but my husband was tired and so was I. Father Gandalf (I think I'll call him Father Theoden from now on. That's who he really reminds me of now) gave a fine homily and Father Aragorn co celebrated. We had one jolly looking seminarian and one scrubbed clean altar boy. The cantor kept her showgirl tendencies under controll and the people, except for one loud old man in the back were well behaved.

Thank you, Jesus for coming to us. Thank you for starting out on Your rescue mission in that stable in Bethlehem. Thank you for completing in on the cross in Jerusalem.

Being the preacher's wife aint easy

Being the wife of the preacher man is not easy. Some preacher's wives become depressed. Some take comfort in being co-leaders of the church or in the unofficial but powerful role as First Lady/Queen of the church. Others snap and embarrass their husbands.

Thank you Lord!

My in-laws gave me a large statue of Pope John Paul II for Christmas. It looks a bit like this one. I was so happy. It's a nice statue but even if it had been cheap plastic and hideous it would still be one of the greatest things to happen this year. My in-laws are Baptists. They weren't happy about their son marrying a Catholic. They weren't at our wedding. When my husband converted they were not at church. My father in law used to make slightly offensive Catholic jokes. Giving me this statue shows that they may not be happy that my husband and I are both Catholic but they are going to accept it. That's what I wanted for 17 years. Thank you, Lord Jesus. Years of bitterness have been washed away.

I feel like that scene from Kill Bill 2 when Uma Thurman was lying on the bathroom floor saying "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

visit to a church

Yesterday I was in Vienna Virginia and made a quick stop to a church that I'd driven past for years but never visited. It's a traditional Latin rite church and the parish is independent of the diocese. The door was locked when my husband and I stopped by but the sacristan let us in to pray. It was the most beautiful little church I've ever seen in Virginia, period. The altar and altar rails were oak. The place smelled of sweet pine from the wreaths and garland. They had traditional pews and kneelers and there were viels available for visitors. There were lovely stations of the cross on the walls and wooden ones along the walkway outside. It was silent except for our voices saying the Hail Mary. I was really moved. I haven't felt such precious peace in a long time.

Rest in peace Richard

Richard Pryor died. He'd been sick for years with MS and it was a release. Yes, it's true that he had a drug problem once and that his humor was on the blue side but his humor was REAL. Every black person who saw him on stage, TV or in the movies understood what Richard was talking about.

I loved Richard because in his prime he was the funniest man alive and because he reminded me very much of my father. They looked alike, sounded a bit alike and both were funny. My dad used to say that since he was the oldest Richard Pryor really looked like him and not the other way around. My father has been dead for more than 20 years now and it still seems so strange and now with Richard gone it seems like another link to him is gone forever.

Eternal rest, give to him, Oh Lord.

Let prepetual light shine upon him.

Father Neo

Hooray! You can buy the Father Neo poster now.

Tookie Williams

Tookie Williams is going to be given a rousing funeral at an AME church in LA. What a shameful moment for AME. Tookie was a thug, a killer, a man who was proud to call himself the founder of the Crips. Most of Tookie's supporters were either old thugs like him, camera hogs like Je$$e Jackson and Louis Farakhan or upper class twits.

In order to join the Crips a kid had to go through an initiation period. What was the initiation? Hurting somebody. Someone had to be beat up or maimed (cripped). In other words ever Crip has done something really bad just to be a member. Think of all the black women in the hood who have no son becuase their kid got shot or beat to death by the Crips. Think of all the girls who were raped, of all the people who were robbed and terrorized. Think of Albert Owens lying on the floor and being shot in the back by Tookie. Think of the Yang family being blasted to bits and him and then think of Tookie laughing and bragging about it later. It boggles the mind that anybody would shed a tear for Tookie.

I wasn't suprised that Snoop Dogg came out in support of him because Snoop was an old gangsta himself but what the heck was Jamie Foxx doing? Jamie you were great in "Ray" but you won't see one damn dime of my money for your movies or music, period.

It would be bad enough if the Crips had staid in LA but they spread out and inspired other punks. When I was a kid growing up in DC the gangs were fighting the crack wars and it was common to hear gunshots at night. Women did not leave their homes after 7 PM unless they went out in a group. In the 80s a local woman was raped and murdered by a gang out on spree. She was a middle aged woman who just going about her own business when she was dragged into an alley. There is no glamour in gang life. There is no glory. These aren't poor, misunderstood lads. They're just a pack of damn domestic terrorists. Shed tears for Tookie if you want but all you'll get from me is scorn.

confession at St. Matts & misery at St. Burbs

On December 15, St. Matthews Cathedral in DC had its annual pennance service. There were 20 priests there and they spoke several languages including sign language. I went to an older priest and found him to be very kind and understanding. While I was confessing a drunk man wandered in and began talking to us. Father shooed him away and continued giving me counsel. That's one thing you don't run into in the burbs but I love Saint Matts. I love the beauty of the mosaics, the biggness of the space, the silence, the large aisles and the privacy of the chapels.

At Saturday Mass at my suburban back up church I had a slight anxiety attack. All of a sudden I began feeling hemmed in. For some reason, all though the church was not packed a lot of people decided to sit close to me and my husband. I need a certain amount of personal space or I become nervous. There was a loud woman behind me with two bratty kids. She never shut up all through Mass. She constantly had to chide the children or hush them. She does this every time she comes. Her children are not small. Discipline is one thing Catholics don't do well. Baptists (my family is either Baptist or AME Zion) don't put up with that mess. When Baptist kids act up in church they get corrected, immediately.


Anyway, Father Gandalf gave a sterling homily and that saved the day. He looks like he's been sick lately but his whole countenance seems to light up when he ascends to the altar. I was so busy concentrating on him that I was almost able to ignore the noise and eating, yes I said eating. At some point in 2005, it became popular for young parents to bring snacks to church to quiet their kids. When Mass was over I couldn't even make a thanksgiving because a gaggle of women decided to come up to the altar to gossip.

One more thing. If the Vatican is going to make any changes in the Mass I suggest doing away with the cantors or getting them off the altar. At least get them to sing in a register most of the people can follow. I sing soprano and even I can't follow the cantor at St. Burbs.

silly Christians

Some of my fellow Christians embarrass me. They whine and complain that there is nothing to watch at the theater and when a movie like Narnia comes along they whine and complain that it's not Christian enough. Look people. Disney-- gay loving, fart joke making, kill daddy before the first reel --- Disney made this movie. You're lucky that Aslan is still in it and doesn't sing or dance. Go to the movie or don't but I can gaurantee that if Narnia doesn't a blockbuster (AndI don't think it will. It doesn't seem to be a "must see" like the LOTR movies were. When the trailers for the Star Wars movies hit the theaters people cheered. People cheered for the LOTR trailers. The LWW trailer was met by silence at the theaters I went to) Hollywood will take it as a sign that Christians just want to complain and will never show up with cash.

As for me and mine. We won't see Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe because it just doesn't interest us. I loved the book and wept when Aslan died, and cheered when he rose from the dead but the BBC version and the really very good cartoon versions were enough for me.

It's the Feast of the Immaculate Conception

The Angel Gabriel from Heaven Came :

The angel Gabriel from heaven came,With wings as drifted snow, with eyes as flame:"All hail to thee, O lowly maiden Mary,Most highly favored lady."

Gloria!
"For know a blessed mother thou shalt be,All generations laud and honor thee;Thy son shall be Emmanuel, by seers foretold,Most highly favored lady."

Gloria!
Then gentle Mary meekly bowed her head;"To me be as it pleaseth God," she said."My soul shall laud and magnify God’s holy name."Most highly favored lady."

Gloria!
Of her, Emmanuel, the Christ, was bornIn Bethlehem all on a Christmas morn,And Christian folk through-out the world will ever say:"Most highly favored lady."

Gloria!

well that's kinda interesting

In the What Kind of Hero Would You Be quizz I scored as Batman

more harm than good?

Do Catholic message boards/chat forums do more harm than good? After reading Angelqueen and a number of blogs I'm really wondering if these sites are helping the Faith. Would you want to join a church where the people seem to be split into factions and hate each other? The people on one site hate traditionalists. One blogger was crowing with delight because there was a scandal in an ultraconservative but schismatic group. His joy over someone else's pain was embarrassing.

Another site is filled with people who would damn those of us who go to Novus Ordo masses to hell. How loving and kind--- not! I'm not saying that Catholics should be mealey mouthed with each other, I hate that myself but why must we be so quick to go to war with each other?

book roundup

I just got through reading Inside Mormonism by Isaiah Bennet. It is very sad. The further you get away from orthodox Christianity the crazier you get, I guess. I also read Creation Rediscovered and I have to say that the writing is so stolid that I fell asleep every time I picked the darn thing up.

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.