Good Friday

 Dream of the Rood

What I wish to say of the best of dreams,

what came to me in the middle of the night

after the speech-bearers lie biding their rest! (1-3)

It seemed to me that I saw the greatest tree

brought into the sky, bewound in light,

the brightest of beams. That beacon was entirely

garnished with gold. Gemstones

prominent and proud at the corners of the earth—

five more as well blazoned across the span of its shoulders.

Every angel of the Lord warded it there,

a brilliant sight of a universe to come.

Surely it was no longer the gallows of vile crime

in that place—yet there they kept close watch,

holy spirits for all humanity across the earth,

and every part of this widely famous creation. (4-12)

Surpassing was this victory-tree, and me splattered with sins—

struck through with fault. I saw this tree of glory,

well-worthied in its dressing, shining in delights,

geared with gold. Gemstones had

nobly endowed the Sovereign’s tree.

Nevertheless I could perceive through all that gold

a wretched and ancient struggle, where it first started

to sweat blood on its right side. I was entirely perturbed with sorrows—

I was fearful for that lovely sight.

Then I saw that streaking beacon warp its hue, its hangings —

at times it was steamy with bloody wet, stained with coursing gore,

at other times it was glistening with treasure. (13-23)

Yet I, lying there for a long while,

beheld sorrow-chary the tree of the Savior

until I heard that it was speaking.

Then the best of wood said in words: (24-27)

“It happened long ago—I remember it still—

I was hewn down at the holt’s end

stirred from my stock. Strong foes seized me there,

worked in me an awful spectacle, ordered me to heave up their criminals.

Those warriors bore me on their shoulders

until they set me down upon a mountain.

Enemies enough fastened me there.

I saw then the Lord of Mankind

hasten with much courage, willing to mount up upon me. (28-34)

“There I dared not go beyond the Lord’s word

to bow or burst apart—then I saw the corners of the earth

tremor—I could have felled all those foemen,

nevertheless I stood fast. (35-38)

“The young warrior stripped himself then—that was God Almighty—

strong and firm of purpose—he climbed up onto the high gallows,

magnificent in the sight of many. Then he wished to redeem mankind.

I quaked when the warrior embraced me—

yet I dared not bow to the ground, collapse

to earthly regions, but I had to stand there firm.

The rood was reared. I heaved the mighty king,

the Lord of Heaven—I dared not topple or reel. (39-45)

“They skewered me with dark nails, wounds easily seen upon me,

treacherous strokes yawning open. I dared injure none of them.

They shamed us both together. I was besplattered with blood,

sluicing out from the man’s side, after launching forth his soul. (46-49)

“Many vicious deeds have I endured on that hill—

I saw the God of Hosts racked in agony.

Darkness had covered over with clouds

the corpse of the Sovereign, shadows oppressed

the brightest splendor, black under breakers.

All of creation wept, mourning the king’s fall—

Christ was upon the cross. (50-56)

“However people came hurrying from afar

there to that noble man. I witnessed it all.

I was sorely pained with sorrows—yet I sank down

to the hands of those men, humble-minded with much courage.

They took up there Almighty God, lifting up him up

from that ponderous torment. Those war-men left me

to stand, dripping with blood—I was entirely wounded with arrows.

They laid down the limb-weary there, standing at the head of his corpse,

beholding there the Lord of Heaven, and he rested there awhile,

exhausted after those mighty tortures. (57-65a)

“Then they wrought him an earthen hall,

the warriors within sight of his killer. They carved it from the brightest stone,

setting therein the Wielder of Victories. Then they began to sing a mournful song,

miserable in the eventide, after they wished to venture forth,

weary, from the famous Prince. He rested there with a meager host. (65b-69)

“However, weeping there, we lingered a good while in that place,

after the voices of war-men had departed.

The corpse cooled, the fair hall of the spirit.

Then someone felled us both, entirely to the earth.

That was a terrifying event! Someone buried us in a deep pit.

Nevertheless, allies, thanes of the Lord, found me there

and wrapped me up in gold and in silver. (70-77)

“Now you could hear, my dear man,

that I have outlasted the deeds of the baleful,

of painful sorrows. Now the time has come

that men across the earth, broad and wide,

and all this famous creation worthy me,

praying to this beacon. On me the Child of God

suffered awhile. Therefore I triumphant

now tower under the heavens, able to heal

any one of them, those who stand in terror of me.

Long ago I was made into the hardest of torments,

most hateful to men, until I made roomy

the righteous way of life for them,

for those bearing speech. Listen—

the Lord of Glory honored me then

over all forested trees, the Warden of Heaven’s Realm!

Likewise Almighty God exalted his own mother,

Mary herself, before all humanity,

over all the kindred of women. (78-94)

“Now I bid you, my dear man,

to speak of this vision to all men

unwrap it wordfully, that it is the Tree of Glory,

that the Almighty God suffered upon

for the sake of the manifold sins of mankind,

and the ancient deeds of Adam.

Death he tasted there, yet the Lord arose

amid his mighty power, as a help to men.

Then he mounted up into heaven. Hither he will come again,

into this middle-earth, seeking mankind

on the Day of Doom, the Lord himself,

Almighty God, and his angels with him,

wishing to judge them then—he that holds the right to judge

every one of them—upon their deserts

as they have earned previously here in this life. (95-109)

“Nor can any remain unafraid there

before that word that the Wielder will speak.

He will ask before the multitude where that man may be,

who wished to taste in the Lord’s name

the bitterness of death, as he did before on the Cross.

Yet they will fear him then, and few will think

what they should begin to say unto Christ.

There will be no need to be afraid there at that moment

for those who already bear in their breast the best of signs,

yet every soul ought to seek through the Rood

the holy realm from the ways of earth—

those who intend to dwell with their Sovereign.” (110-21)

I prayed to that tree with a blissful heart,

great courage, where I was alone,

with a meager host. My heart’s close was

eager for the forth-way, suffering many

moments of longing. Now my hope for life

is that I am allowed to seek that victorious tree,

more often lonely than all other men,

to worthy it well. The desire to do so

is strong in my heart, and my guardian

is righteous in the Rood. I am not wealthy

with many friends on this earth,

yet they departed from here from the joys of the world,

seeking the King of Glory—now they live

in heaven with the High-Father, dwelling in magnificence,

and I hope for myself upon each and every day

for that moment when the Rood of the Lord,

that I espied here upon the earth,

shall ferry me from this loaned life

and bring me then where there is great bliss,

joys in heaven, where there are the people of the Lord,

seated at the feast, where there is everlasting happiness

and seat me where I will be allowed afterwards

to dwell in glory, brooking joys well amid the sainted.

May the Lord be my friend, who suffered before

here on earth, on the gallows-tree for the sins of man. (122-46)

He redeemed us and gave us life,

a heavenly home. Hope was renewed

with buds and with bliss for those suffered the burning.

The Son was victory-fast upon his journey,

powerful and able, when he came with his multitudes,

the army of souls, into the realm of God,

the Almighty Ruler, as a bliss for the angels

and all of the holy, those who dwelt in glory

before in heaven, when their Sovereign came back,

Almighty God, to where his homeland was. (147-56)

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.

Something to remember

•  The next time someone starts going on about how evil the USA is, remind them that abortion was imposed on this country by the Supreme Court. Ireland voted on abortion and Argentinian women danced in the street because they were so happy about being able to slaughter their own children. America has her sins, in part because the Founders were overwhelmingly Protestant, Deists and Freemasons but the rest of the world aint looking so good in the sight of God either.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• The Jesuits should be suppressed. Unless we get a very strong and holy pope one day that is not going to happen but the laity can react by not sending the kids to Jesuit schools. Avoid Jesuit parishes and asking your bishop to limit Jesuit presence in the diocese. 

Really bad news

 My 93 year old cousin is in a nursing home. She and all the residents just got out of solitary confinement (no leaving their rooms, not even for meals), because a resident was exposed to Covid while being treated at the hospital for an unrelated ailment. Well, low and behold, a staff member got sick and infected several residents, included my cousin. My mother is terribly upset. She has been  afraid for most of  2020, that this would happen and now it has. All we can do is hope and pray that this thing is mild and our cousin beats it. 

Thy Almighty Word Leapt down from Heaven.... As a Fierce Conqueror

 

THY ALMIGHT WORD LEAPT DOWN FROM HEAVEN....

For while all things were in quiet silence, and the night was in the midst of her course,  Thy almighty word leapt down from heaven from thy royal throne, as a fierce conqueror into the midst of the land of destruction.
The Book of Wisdom, Chapter 18, verse 11

Three treats in one day

On December 31, Rocky and I went to a convent's chapel  to look at their wonderful decorations and he saw the extern  sister step outside the cloister to pick up the UPS delivery. It was the first time he's ever seen a  Carmelite nun in person and he was delighted to see that she looked like any painting he's ever seen of St. Teresa of Avila.  After that  we went outside and were going to peep at the original, historic convent when we were surprised and delighted to see a Sister Servant nun along with young several novices in the courtyard. They were taking a field trip and decided to visit the oldest convent in the English colonies.  We  waved at them and they returned our greeting. Next we took took a drive on the windy back country roads and had lunch and then went to Mass at a mid sized church. It was the best Mass I've been to all year.  It's been so long since I've heard the Confiteor and the Canon and the Angus Dei at Mass that I cried cried from almost the beginning until Communion. It was a wonderful day. 

Exodus 90 and other random thoughts

• St. Thomas Beckett, pray for us. 

Saint Thomas Becket, Bishop and Martyr - 29 December, from the Raccolta

• St Thomas of Canterbury, son of Gilbert Becket, was born in Southwark, England, in 1117. When a youth he was attached to the household of Theobald, Archbishop of Canterbury, who sent him to Paris and Bologna to study law. He became Archdeacon of Canterbury, then Lord High Chancellor of England; and in 1160, when Archbishop Theobald died, the king insisted on the consecration of St. Thomas in his stead. St. Thomas refused, warning the king that from that hour their friendship would be broken. In the end he yielded, and was consecrated. The conflict at once broke out; St. Thomas resisted the royal customs, which violated the liberties of the Church and the laws of the realm. After six years of contention, partly spent in. exile, St. Thomas, with full foresight of martyrdom before him, returned as a good shepherd to his Church. On the 29th of December, 1170, just as vespers were beginning, four knights broke into the cathedral, crying: “Where is the archbishop? where is the traitor?” The monks fled, and St. Thomas might easily have escaped. But he advanced, saying: “Here I am—no traitor, but archbishop. What seek you?” “Your life,” they cried. “Gladly do I give it,” was the reply; and bowing his head, the invincible martyr was hacked and hewn till his soul went to God. Six months later Henry II. submitted to be publicly scourged at the Saint’s shrine, and restored to the Church her full rights.

  Reflection.—"Learn from St. Thomas,“ says Father Faber, “to fight the good fight even to the shedding of blood, or, to what men find harder, the shedding of their good name by pouring it out to waste on the earth.”

  
  
  
  
• Hey married guys. If you decide to do Exodus 90 remember that it is your spiritual mortification and not your family's. So no snarling at the kids for listening to music while you have a caffeine withdrawal headache and no glaring at your wife because she's having pie. If you are so grumpy that you make your wife and family miserable then what have you really done for yourself or the Church? 

• Do you remember how Cardinal Bernadin asked that the Gay Men's Chorus sing at his funeral? Many of the people who questioned what that meant were told to shut up. I imagine that when Cardinal Newman requested that the grave of  Fr. Ambrose St. John, whom he called his "earthly light" be opened up so that he could be buried in the same grave with him, some people were shocked and there may have been whispers. Those people were probably told to hush and not give any scandal in front of the Protestants. Cardinal Newman's request is still giving ammunition to the Church's snickering enemies. He never should have been canonized. 
  
  
  
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• Beware priests who have female fan clubs. Beware of priests who Tweet or blog endlessly about video games, movies, food, or anything and everything BUT the Faith.
  
  
  
  
  

Merry Christmas

 My husband is home from work. I've finally heard from my Tennessee relatives and now Rocky and I are happily eating bacon sandwiches and listening to the greatest Christmas album of all time, 

Pavarotti at Notre Dame, Montreal.

 

Merry Christmas

 

Hollywood was never our friend

 We watch old movies and TV shows almost exclusively. I've known that Hollywood kept pushing perversion for decades and were only kept in check by the Church but I'm seeing how Hollywood executives managed to subtly manipulate the public even in the so called Golden Age of entertainment. It was often done with such a delicate touch that it must have taken a huge amount of rewriting and meetings to pull it off. 

Rocky was watching a nearly 60 year old Western TV show a few weeks ago  and suddenly I saw something that I never would have noticed as a child. The heroine owns a saloon (No, it's not Gunsmoke), but to my adult eyes it seemed more like a brothel with scantily clad "girls" living upstairs. The hero is the local sheriff and he and lady saloon owner have a relationship that will not end in marriage,  because the heroine likes her freedom and the sheriff doesn't want to be tied down or leave a widow in case he gets killed trying to clean up his very rough town. 

A local farm girl leaves her dreary, puritanical father and finds work and happiness in the saloon. Her widower father is broken hearted and shows up at the saloon demanding that his daughter return home. He is shocked to see that a cowboy is apparently sleeping in his daughter's room and he angrily tells the woman owner of the saloon that she is a sinner who has debauched his child. He comes back late that night with his shot gun and is prevented from killing the cowboy by the sheriff.

 It turns out that the girl is not a prostitute and she and the cowboy are married. The saloon is really just a saloon, (probably for the sake of the censors), and the scantily clad girls who work there just serve food and drinks and flirt but really don't do anything upstairs but sleep alone. The father is made a fool of and everyone laughs at him while he stands there looking embarrassed but relieved. That show very cleverly made the church going father look bad.  That was a poison in the subconscious of the young viewers. 

Another movie that I watched was even more overt. In this one a local woman is an adulteress who sees a murder as she returns from her off screen assignation with her lover. An innocent man is accused and is going to hang. He has one witness, a girl from the saloon who says she saw him going about his own business at the time of the murder and he had nothing to do with it. The innocent man's lawyer, who is the hero of the movie somehow finds out about the local wife and questions her in court. Desperate to save her marriage and not be humiliated in public, she perjures herself. The prosecutor jumps up and demands that the court can't possibly take the word of a harlot over that of  a respectable married woman. The innocent man's lawyer gets the married woman to confess and the innocent man is saved from the gallows. This movie was made in the late 40s or early 50s but it deliberately made the prostitute the truly good woman and denigrates the married lady. Hollywood was never our friend. 

We certainly do live in interesting times.

 As horrible as 2020 is and has been, there may come a day when we all look back on it as the calm before the storm and may even call it the good ole days. St. Januarius's blood did not liquefy today. The last three times it did not liquefy were in 1939, 1944, 1973, and 1980. Sooooo, yeah. Things can always get worse.

 

Life amongst the ruins and other random thoughts.

• If you still have a job, stock up now.  I'm not saying run around like your backside's on fire and  get 100 pounds of rice but there is no excuse for your children to go hungry because you didn't get an extra case of water or can of ravioli every time you go to the store now. Three million people claimed that they went hungry during the UK lockdowns. That's incredible. Come on folks, get some Spam. Get some Vienna sausages. Get a box of  macaroni or spaghetti and stick it in a big ole glass jar. Pick up a couple of packs of the cheapest ground beef and stick it in the freezer. Get some powdered milk. I know it's nasty but fresh milk won't last so unless you can find shelf stable milk, one can or box of powered milk  could really come in handy. You should be able to get through a month at least. 
  
  
  
  
• Child sex abuse and rape reports have doubled in Ireland since the lockdowns. Ireland, what the Hell is wrong with you? One study has shown that head trauma abuse of children in the UK has gone up by 1493%. Brits, what the Hell is wrong with you? I can't even fathom that number. It's also been reported that the number one cause of death of men there, age 50 and younger is suicide.  I haven't seen a study for this horror in the USA but police departments around the country say that child and woman beating and suicide among teens and young adults is up. We are being sorely pressed but violence and self destruction as answers to the crisis are not the right ones.  
  
  
  
  
• The governor of my state, during his press conference made a hostile remark to Christians who want to go to Church and he was not shouted down. To my knowledge  bishops of Virginia said nothing in response. 

• If you have someone in a nursing home read this. 

• Could somebody please go to Rome and knock over that foul Vatican nativity set?
  
  
  
  
• Every time I meet a young Latin American priest I find myself wondering what seminary he came from and if he was one of the seminarians who were brought in the USA via the McCarrick pipeline to be um....entertainment for Uncle Ted and his  brothers. 

random thoughts on a Saturday afternoon

• Please stop naming and posting photos of your parish or chapel with chirpy remarks that the Mass is conducted normally. You are just making it easy for busybodies to go there and make a complaint to law enforcement if they see someone without a mask. Protect your priest.
  
  
  
  
•  Rocky and I went to Richmond yesterday. It was incredibly depressing. Monument Avenue is hideously deformed with graffiti. The residents almost all have BLM signs in their windows in an attempt to protect themselves. The streets downtown are quiet. We could not enter our favorite Richmond restaurant but had to place our order over the phone and wait for them to bring it out to us. We ate at Belle Island park and watched college kids and birds.
  
  Later we went to Shockhoe Slip and that was just stunningly sad. Normally that area of Richmond is bustling with people but in the time of the Great Sickness we only saw a handful of folks walking with purpose and more homeless people than I've ever seen in Richmond before. On top of that, these homeless didn't have that drug addict look, nor did they look like con artists. They all looked seriously mentally ill. We only saw two men who were actively begging. The rest of the homeless were just sitting or walking seemingly unaware of the world around them. 
  
   At the end of the trip we went  through the drive through at Lees Chicken for dinner and it was such a relief to see lots of happy almost normal people in their cars. I thought about going to the FSSP church in Richmond but the last time we visited the people weren't friendly at all and since most folks are extra jittery right now I decided not to. 
  
  
  
  
• In order to comply with Virginia's rules my parish is requiring people to RSVP for Christmas Mass. I imagine that there will be some angry people who end up being turned away because the church won't be allowed to take walk-ins. Pray for everyone who will be involved. 
  
  
• This product is going to get somebody killed.  People are so freaked out and  many have lost their minds. One example of this  happened  last week when Rocky and I were going to get on an elevator but the woman who was on it panicked and backed up against the wall and yelled at us. 
  
  
  
• While you're donating to some lay apologist or instead of  doing that, why not help traditional nuns, monks and priests? Fr. Maximilian Mary of Jesus Crucified is a hermit in Pennsylvania. You can read his booklets and donate to him here.  
  
  
  
  
  
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• I listened to this podcast twice. 

Rethink Archbishop Sheen

 You know, I really don't think Archbishop Sheen should ever be canonized. He was a great showman before Vatican II but in his old age he either really lost the plot or maybe he was just a company man all along and he moved with whatever the company said at any given time. His canonization process was probably disrupted due to spite and other bad reasons but we may have dodged a bullet here. Saint Fulton might have  been as embarrassing as Saint John Paul II, Saint Paul VI and Saint John Newman may turn out to be. Let's wait a few more decades and let a future pope and committee who aren't star struck, coolly examine the evidence for or against a canonization. 

an apology

 Years ago there was a blogger whom I thought of as the prophet of doom and overly dramatic on top of that.  I made it a point to avoid reading her because I found her to be so depressing. Well, 2020, happened and you know what? Everything that blogger predicted has come horribly true. Our courts, our governors, our universities, media and public intellectuals-- everything about them that Etherelda said would come to pass; has. Rest in peace, ma'am. You were right. 

The McCarrick Report has been released. Does anybody smell sulfur?

 I thought making JPII a saint was a mistake. I thought it was too soon and that it, like the canonization of Cardinal John Newman would come back to bite us all one day. Well, now I think the canonization was sabotage and the bite has officially started. The McCarrick Report is out today. People who have read it say that it  blames JPII and his right hand man, Cardinal Dziwisz.

The report is said to be somewhere between 400 to 600 pages which will be grim reading I'm sure.  Blaming the dead rock star pope and an 81 year old man, who let's face it, is closer to the grave than the cradle, is a masterstroke. 

You see, if Saint John Paul II, who apparently never listened to anybody who tried to tell him that Bishop So-and-So was bad news, gave McCarrick his power then it calls into question JPII's sanctity or at least, his wisdom. A seed of doubt has been sowed. Since JPII was wrong about McCarrick, what else was he wrong about? Many people see JPII as their linchpin. Catholics of my generation looked up to him as the holiest pope since Pope St. Pius X.  Discredit JPII and those people are going to be shaken. If you've ever been exasperated after reading Hilary White's rage against JPII and Benedict XVI for not satisfying her father hunger then get ready for more of the same but from all kinds of people including some of your friends and family members. 

The McCarrick Report allows Francis to say, "Hey it wasn't me. My holy predecessor trusted McCarrick so why shouldn't I have? I was misled." I think most people are going to react to the McCarrick Report the same way their parents and grandparents did when the Novus Ordo was forced on them in 1968-1970. They will sit in the pews for an hour on Sunday and that's it or they'll stop coming to Mass or they will conclude that we've all been misled and they will apostatize. 

Salve Regina

 

Random thoughts--warning I'm grouchy today

•  Well, the kidney stone has passed...… I feel humble, sore and tired. 
  
  
  
  
• So, is our republic mortally wounded? If it is, how long before most people notice?  
  
  
  
  
  
• Everyday I'm seeing a LOT of Catholics talking about going Orthodox. For various and erroneous  reasons people are saying that if Francis is a valid pope then the whole Catholic Faith must be wrong. They can't bring themselves to go full on Protestant and don't see any point in going to the Episcopalian play house so the Orthodox seem like a lifeboat. The Orthodox have beautiful churches that look like a peek into Heaven. They have priests who consistently look like men in public. They do not mock the pious. It all looks good from a distance.  Well, I can only say that you can go to an Orthodox church but you will never be Greek, Russian, Armenian, etc. To most of the parishioners you will  always that Catholic who showed up late and Heaven help you if you open your mouth to make a suggestion about parish life.  Check out Orthodox Twitter or forums or blogs and see what the folks in the pews really think about you. It's not sweetness and light. 
  
  
  
  
• Louie Verrechio at AKA Catholic is on fire lately. If you've ever distrusted Taylor Marshall because the man's positions have changed so many times or you suspect that he's Opus Dei or if you have not forgotten the Fisher Moore episode then you should read this new series.

Fear Nothing

 

Go to Confession

You might want to make that General Confession as soon as possible. 

The grocery situation and other random thoughts

•  The pope said nary a word on camera about the three people being murdered in the basilica in Nice, France. We not only have a bad pope, we have one who doesn't care one jot or tittle about his flock. I expected no better from him but it would have been a nice surprise if he could have managed to say something about that or if he refuses to comment on Europe he could have a least sent a polite, diplomatic word of condolence to the Catholics in Chile who have seen their churches desecrated. 
  
  
  
  
  
• Costco is not  allowing delivery in my area today because they're just overwhelmed with shoppers right now. I know it's the first of the month but this is not even the normal crush of people. All the folks who didn't stock up in the last few months have just realized that there will probably be riots after the Election and trying to pick up some eggs downtown might be more of an adventure that most folks are prepared for. At my mother's Costco the toilet paper and  paper towels are sold out. I wanted to get her some shelf stable milk but her brand is running low. I'll try tomorrow but I think I'll  also zip by the Spanish grocery and see if I can find some Nido Fortificado milk or cans of Media Crema. 

Holy Face

 

LITANY OF THE HOLY FACE OF JESUS     I salute Thee, I adore Thee and I love Thee, O adorable Face of Jesus, my Beloved, noble Seal of the Divinity! Outraged anew by blasphemers. I offer Thee, through the heart of Thy blessed Mother, the worship of all the Angels and Saints, most humbly beseeching Thee to repair and renew in me and in all men Thy Image disfigured by sin.     O adorable Face which was adored, with profound respect, by Mary and Joseph when they saw Thee for the first time, have mercy on us.     O adorable Face which did ravish with joy, in the stable of Bethlehem, the Angels, the shepherds and the magi, have mercy on us.     O adorable Face which did transpierce with a dart of love in the Temple, the saintly old man Simeon and the prophetess Anna, have mercy on us.     O adorable Face which filled with admiration the Doctors of the law when Thou didst appear in the Temple at the age of twelve years, have mercy on us.     O adorable Face which possesses beauty always ancient and always new, have mercy...     O adorable Face which is the masterpiece of the Holy Ghost, in which the Eternal Father is well pleased, have mercy on us.     O adorable Face which is the ineffable mirror of the divine perfection, have mercy on us.     Adorable Face of Jesus which was so mercifully bowed down on the Cross, on the day of Thy Passion, for the salvation of the world! Once more today in pity bend down towards us poor sinners. Cast upon us a glance of compassion and give us Thy peace.

Halloween thoughts

Halloween isn't what it was when you and I were kids. It's become sleazy on one level and dangerous on another. Have you noticed the explosion of demonic activity in this country and around the world in the past few years alone? And isn't there something schizophrenic about dressing your child up as a demon  and sending him out to the neighbors and demanding candy? I know of people who turn their lights out and pretend to be out on Halloween because they don't want to participate but are afraid of "pranks" and becoming  unpopular in the neighborhood. 

 Why do grown people downplay it when  a "grouchy,", "humorless" neighbor's house is attacked with eggs or his yard is strewn with toilet paper on Halloween when these same people would scream and carry on if someone did that to them on any other night of the year? What kind of Catholic says something like, "Well I don't approve but Old Jim or Old Lady Jones  is so cantankerous and never does anything in the community so no wonder the kids did the kids pulled a prank,"? It's talk like that that made me seriously rethink modern Halloween.

In your charity could you say a prayer for my Cousin Pearl? Plus other random thoughts.

• My cousin Pearl just got out of lock down. She lives in a nursing home and one of the residents got sick. The other resident was taken to the hospital and was exposed to Covid. Upon returning to the nursing home some authority decided that all the residents had to be restricted to their rooms for 14 days. Family members normally go to the porch of the nursing home and wave to her and talk to her on the cell phone. For 14 days she couldn't even do that. She and all the residents were not allowed to walk around the nursing home.
  
  Another cousin went to see Pearl yesterday on the first day when the residents were let out of their rooms.  Pearl has lost weight and looks very unhappy to me. She's 93. Folks we don't treat murderers like this. 
  
  
  
  
• Thank the Lord. My next door neighbors have finally moved. They were so nasty that I used to see roaches walking in and out under their front door. I suspect that the children in the family were the ones who were drawing on the walls of the apartment building hallways. 
  
  
  
• Archbishop Wilton Gregory is going to be made a cardinal. Some people are shocked but really folks, it was already set in stone. Traditionally the head of DC will be made a cardinal eventually whether he was a good bishop, a good priest, or even a good man. Heck look at McCarrick and Wuerl. The DC diocese is polluted. 
  
  
  
  

If your cause leads you to threaten nuns then you have a cause that I'm pretty sure is demonic

So this is where we're at, America. A male, (he's not fit to be called a man), posted photos of nuns on Twitter and  is deliberately trying to cause harm to them and their order  because they went to the Trump rally. The whole point of "doxing" is to put people's personal information on the Web in order that other evil people will harass or perhaps even harm your victim.  This  individual would have been right at home with the kind of males who went after good women in Paris, the Vendee, Poland and Spain. 

Jordan Peterson is back and Louie Verrechio speaks plainly

 I just watched a video by a priest cheering because Dr. Jordan Peterson is back from his near death experience. I have a few questions but the main one is this:  Considering that Peterson did not practice what he preached and his personal life seems to have been a train wreck what advice can he give a young man? 

Oh rank and file Knights what to do now? Have Knight families been fooled? Is the KoC running a managed opposition campaign? Does anyone think that Fr. McGiveny would approve?

Louie Makes Himself Clear

 Louie Verrechio used to annoy me when he'd carp about the March for Life or the Knights of Columbus's involvement because he'd always allude to what he thought was wrong but was  vague on details. Now,  he and the magnificent Randy Engel have spelled out their argument.  It's a thorough and disturbing one. 

It looks like Nellie Gray was betrayed either on her deathbed or after her death by the people running the March now. It also looks like the heads of the organization aren't fighting for the outright abolition of abortion but rather, a slow nibbling away at it. Essentially, the consensus idea seems to be to pragmatically ignore  babies in the first trimester for now in order to convince people that abortion in the latter trimesters is evil and should done away with. Supposedly after years of that people will come to realize that protection should be extended for all babies. 

The March leadership, Randy Engel writes, has also  made an effort to water down the Catholicism that led Nellie Gray to start the March in the first place because the current president of March for Life feels that "Nellie Gray's leadership was "too Catholic," " and continuing in Nellie's path might offend the kindly Protestants, Jews and even pagans who might be pro-life but would hold their noses and let babies die rather than rally with Catholics to stop it. 

I'm going to have to read the whole thing a few times to fully digest it but I don't like what I've read and as the wife of Knight of Columbus I really am disgusted with Carl Anderson. 

This is wrong

 Jesuit Tampa High School had the Stanley Cup on display before the Blessed Sacrament. You don't have to be a theologian or a saint to know that this is wrong. Whoever allowed this needs to step down or be removed. 

Pope St. Pius

 Dear Pope St. Pius, please pray for the Church. 

Doubtful saints

•  This book argues that French mystic Marthe Robin was a cheap fraud.

 

• Carlo Acutis was by all accounts, a sweet, pious boy and the people promoting his cause say that he was a second St. Dominic Savio but should he canonized? Have his promoters really made a good case for his sanctity?
  
   Being incorrupt is not required to be canonized but it is accepted as the great sign from God that a person was especially favored. Bishop Sorrentino says that young Carlo was not, despite what has been claimed. 
  
  His body is also clothed in branded clothing. I can't tell for certain what his jacket says but it looks like there is a Nike swoosh on his shoes. Did Nike approve of this? Does the Church now have a  named Venerable as product placement for a sports wear corporation? 
  
  
  
  
  
  

Pray for our country and other random thoughts on a Saturday night

St. Michael, pray for us. Our country is in danger. 

• Just because Judge Amy Coney Barrett is Catholic doesn't automatically make her a good Supreme Court Justice pick. Remember what a disappointment John Roberts turned out to be? And if being Catholic is your only qualifier, is she still really Catholic? She belongs to a Charismatic group. The Charismatics sprang from some pretty weird and frankly terrifying ground. The sober and careful, YouTube Ascent of Mt. Carmel channel has a lot to say about the Charismatic Movement. You might want to read up on the subject. 

• The canonization process has been so watered down that I don't trust this.  I don't trust this at all.  
  
  
  
  
• Have you noticed that the professional Catholic talkers don't seem to have anything to say about the vandalism and desecrations going on at Catholic churches in the US? Why is that?

• Peter's Pence is this weekend. I expect the poor ushers all over the country will report that they got a lot of sour looks. 

Catechesis of the Good Shepherd Exposed

 Do they have the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd at your parish? Before you enroll your tot you might want to read this. 

I don't want to be cool

 The same people who told your parents that they were unsophisticated rubes when they objected to Brooke Shields being a sex symbol at 10 are now telling you that you are not smart or cool enough to realize how wonderful "Cuties" is. 

Stop adding to the lay apologist's bankroll and other random thoughts on a Saturday afternoon

•  Like the swallows returning to Capistrano and the cicadas  of Summer singing their lieberstodt, Steven Skojec  is doing his big "crisis" of Faith production for 2020. I'm being sarcastic but really, haven't we seen this before? That man would have probably been much happier --  if his struggle's with doubt really are true-- if he'd gotten a real job instead of making his money off the Faith. 
  
  If any Catholic college student is reading this then here's one piece of advice: If you are majoring in Theology and intend to make your money as an apologist, stop now. By all means study theology but use your time at college as training for an honest job that will actually support you and your future family.  Our Church does not need anymore lay people using the Church Militant- the living laity as opposed to the Church Triumphant in Heaven and the Church Suffering in Purgatory-- as a cash cow.  This comment from a wise reader of the Noni Veni Pacem blog says it better than I do.  

• "I had thought that at the time Roe was decided, there was concern about population growth and particularly growth in populations that we don’t want to have too many of." Ruth Bader Ginsberg
  
  Ruth Ginsberg is dead on Rosh Hashanah. Pray for her soul but let's not sugar coat this. She had 87 years of life; far more than most people get and she was resolute in her evil beliefs. Millions of babies are dead. Millions of women ruined their own lives.  Ruth thought that was just great. 

• I bought a mask that says "Memento Mori" on it. Two priests looked at me and I think the deacon's eyes lit up. 

• St. Januarius, pray for us. 

What would make you cancel your Netflix?

Seriously, what would make you cancel Netflix? They make a filthy blasphemous movie about Our Lord and Catholics went "Oh that's terrible but boycotts don't work. I only watch decent things on it." Now Netflix is peddling "artistic" porn with pre-teen actresses. Thousands of people have canceled, even one Catholic blog owner who previously made excuses as to why he was keeping Netflix after the blasphemous film. If you still have Netflix, why? The company obviously gets a kick out of producing filth and giving offense so no, they won't miss your money. Still, why do you still have it and what would make you walk away?

O Jesus, my Savior and Redeemer, Son of the living God, behold, we kneel before Thee and offer Thee our reparation; we would make amends for all the blasphemies uttered against Thy holy name, for all the injuries done to Thee in the Blessed Sacrament, for all the irreverence shown toward Thine Immaculate Virgin Mother, for all the calumnies and slanders spoken against Thy spouse, the holy Catholic and Roman Church. O Jesus, who hast said: "If you ask the Father anything in My name, He will give it to you", we pray and beseech Thee for all our brethren who are in danger of sin; shield them from every temptation to fall away from the true faith; save those who are even now standing on the brink of the abyss; to all of them give light and knowledge of the truth, courage and strength for the conflict with evil, perseverance in faith and active charity! For this do we pray, most merciful Jesus, in Thy name, unto God the Father, with whom Thou livest and reignest in the unity of the Holy Spirit world without end. Amen

*Oh, one more thing. If you have a friend who says that he watched "Cuties" and enjoyed it and thought the sight of young girls simulating sex acts was just great you have been given a gift. You now know what that friend really is and you should know what to do.