Francis is no longer in control

 I woke up this morning planning to write about the Easter Vigil Mass at some point today. That plan went out the proverbial window as soon as  I picked up my phone and saw a RIP Pope Francis notice on Instagram. I didn't believe it  because it was  from an up and coming Catholic "influencer," whom I consider to be sweet and enthusiastic but gullible. My first thought was, "Not this crap again. Cool it with the fake reports." Then I saw a post from EWTN  and realized the story was true. To my surprise,  I felt...nothing. Not sorrow, like when Pope John Paul II, died, not pity as I did when poor Benedict died and certainly not satisfaction.  There was simply nothing. Later I checked Twitter and was revolted by some of the gooey, sniveling posts, including a horrible AI rendering of Francis being held in the arms of Our Lady. I decided that in the the coming days since I have nothing nice to say I'd restrict my remarks to vague platitudes and that's what I'll do with the folks at work. 

 Jorge Bergoglio is dead. Many are sad. Many are relieved but none that is what matters now. What matters is eternity. We all die and have to face God and give account of ourselves. There's no weasel room. There's not arguing your case. They'll be no  appeals to a higher court. On the day of our particular judgment we get exactly what's coming to us.  That is a truly terrifying and awesome thought. 

One more thing,  Cardinal Kevin Joseph Farrell is the camerlego. Theodore McCarrick's roommate of five years is running the Church until there's a new pope. As I've said before, the death of one man is not the end for those left behind. Whoever is elected at the conclave just might be one of McCarrick's "nephews" or at least will be someone who was a friend of a close friend. 

Uncle Ted is dead

 Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, of infamous memory, is dead at 94. The horror is not over. His buddies who protected him and lied for him are still running the church in America. 

His victims remain mostly unacknowledged and didn't even get a half hearted heavily legalese apology.  I do not mean  the grown men who played along with his perversion for "career" advancement, but rather the young men who said no to him and were driven from the seminary. I also mean his minor aged victim(s). 

Having done research for multiple child sexual abuse cases I don't think people realize how much the victims suffer for the rest of their lives. Many live with depression, explosive anger, and the feeling that they are polluted and no matter how many drugs they take or alcoholic drinks they chug down, they'll never be clean again. None of this is going to disappear because McCarrick is finally dead. 

Think about the men sitting in various chanceries across the United States who owe everything to Uncle Ted. One of them may be your bishop, the rector of your cathedral or the head of your college.  

St. Peter Damian, pray for us.

May God have mercy on everyone who fell prey to McCarrick's unclean and unnatural appetite.

Do you shrink from hearing about the suffering of Our Lord? Blessed Anna has a few words for you and me

 

We ought, indeed, to be ashamed of that weakness and susceptibility which renders us unable to listen composedly to the descriptions, or speak without repugnance, of those sufferings which our Lord endured so calmly and patiently for our salvation. The horror we feel is as great as that of a murderer who is forced to place his hands upon the wounds he himself has inflicted on his victim. Jesus endured all without opening his mouth; and it was man, sinful man, who perpetrated all these outrages against one who was at once their Brother, their Redeemer, and their God. I, too, am a great sinner, and my sins caused these sufferings. 

                                                            ------From The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord, Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of blessed Anna Catherine Emmerich

Two Lent Ideas

 How's your Lent going? If you feel like you're not making progress here's two fantastic helps for your

 spiritual journey in these precious days. The Great Fast program from St. Michael's Abbey and Fr.

 Edward Looney's daily readings from The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord, Jesus Christ. 

A few truths that surprised me when I was younger

 

• Canadians aren't all that nicer than anybody else. In fact, after years of reading Canadian news articles and the comments responding to them  I was shocked many, many times. Americans are raised to revere and sympathize with Indians. Average guy and gal Canadians expressed criticism, annoyance and downright disgust about their tribal people. A whole lot Canadians aren't fond of Indians from India and have some downright aggressive things to say about Jamaicans as well. 
  
  
  
  
  
• The biggest racists I've ever come across were not Southerners.  Most of the time it's New Yorkers, Bostonians or folks from Chicago. The ones in my age range tend to be people who survived the bussing era and are still pissed about being forced to be social experiment victims. 
  
  
  
  
  
• Never mind what the travel gurus tell you, stay in the tourist areas when in foreign countries and seriously rethink that Third World trip.   

• One of the easiest ways to irritate the boss ladies at your parish is to volunteer for whatever group the ladies run and make a suggestion. At my old parish it took death, retirement , relocation and a strong pastor to  tame the hostiles and make them  be civil towards new people joining. 

• Accepting and obeying your doctor's every word could get you killed or at least affect your health. I've met  doctors who disliked and evaded questions about treatment. It is so common that I now assume medical students are given a class on gaslighting before graduating.  Once I asked  a former primary care physician   whether it was worth taking a low dose aspirin each day, something that the medical profession has been pushing for decades. The doctor looked uncomfortable and told me no, and that doctors never recommended this. It was just a thing popular culture came up with. That was the problem of Googling and doing your own research, she said condescendingly. Well research is my business.  Being a librarian, I checked Mayo, Johns Hopkins, JAMA, NEJM, and the separate American Medical Association site. All spoke of daily aspirin therapy and the pros and cons, confirming what I'd seen and heard for as long I could remember.  I never went back to that doctor's office.  

random thoughts on Sunday afternoon

•  Thousands of people died yesterday, over 3000 in the US alone. Obviously, none of these people was Jorge Bergoglio. He's 88, has one lung and mathematically he's closer to the grave than the cradle but never measure a man for his shroud until he starts actively dying. That sounds grim but Pope Francis may outlive some of the people who are anticipating his death. This is in God's hands and God's will be done. I don't feel the same way about Francis that I did about JPII so until I see that he's recovered and going home or he's dead I'm not fixating on the medical updates and rumors. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
• I read something extremely sad last night. A woman was complaining that she can't get close to her pastor because the rectory staff gatekeeps his schedule and after Mass, he's always swarmed by families who want to talk to him. She's been trying for months. The poor woman doesn't realize that she sounds like a stalker. If I was a parish secretary and a woman kept coming in demanding an appointment with Father for several months because she wants to invite him to dinner I'd be a bit unnerved by her. Folks, you don't own your priest. You don't have the right to demand that he be your buddy. Frankly, if you're a single woman or an unhappily married woman you really need to restrict your interactions with a handsome young priest to the sacraments.
  
  Rocky and I were blessed to have a wonderful relationship with our former pastor and parochial vicar. We didn't just respect them, we loved them. We don't have that with the pastor and parochial vicar we have now. I like them and they always smile and chat with us when they see us but it's not the same. I didn't expect it to be. Personal relationships have to develop naturally. They aren't owed and can't be forced. 
  
  
  
  
  
• IVF is an obscene and anti-human practice. Your husband is treated like a stud boar except instead of being tricked into doing what comes naturally, he's given porn, told to masturbate and then ejaculate into a cup, which the staff will collect. In order to get one "perfect" baby you will need to create multiple tiny lives and most of them will be destroyed or frozen indefinitely.
  
   I fully understand women who say they are suffering because they cannot have a longed for baby. Infertility and pregnancy loss is...painful. Time dulls it and you will think that you have overcome it but  this love that cannot live, yet never dies will surprise you from time to time.  You will look at your relatives who are doing a terrible job with their kids and you will burn with sudden anger. You will, as I did a few months ago,  be going along, minding your own business and having a good day when   you  glance over at a nursery school and the thought pops into your head that it would have been so beautiful to see your son's wonder and imagination grow each day and that thought will  cause a physical hurt so bad you have restrain yourself from screaming. 
  
   One day the Good Lord will tell us  childless women why we, out of all the women in the world have this particular cross to bear  but until then we have to deal with it. I was not owed a child. None of us is.  God permits IVF to exist for now, but He does not approve of it. Every child is a gift from God but if you used IVF to get him or her here, you committed a sin and will  have to answer for it. Every one of those children that were created in the lab and then killed will be witnesses against you on the day of your particular judgment.  
  
  
  
  
  
• At the end of Mass, Fr. announced that the Bishop's Lenten Appeal will start next week. When we were in the parking lot Rocky, commented that he's glad we'll miss it because we will be out of town next Sunday. We both giggled like bad children. I'm sorry for Fr. and all the priests of the diocese because I don't think the BLA is going to go smoothly this year at all.

Let me tell you what Catholic Charities Did For Me and My Old Neighbors

 I've written about this several times but  I will tell this story again. Catholic Charities and the Episcopalians brought a lot of Somalis to my complex seemingly overnight back in 2005. It was Hell. The smell of stewing goat tripe in the hallway, the women who had never seen a modern stove accidentally setting fires at least once and sometimes twice a week, families who had never seen modern plumbing before and kept flooding the bathroom and damaging the washing machines was all an experience you wouldn't want to live with. 

Stuff like this ruined the quiet enjoyment that tenants in any building, much less an expensive one,  have a right to and drove many of my long time neighbors out.  One neighbor couldn't take it anymore and went back to West Virginia. Another loaded up his moving truck and made the trek to Florida. Still another neighbor retired and bought himself  an RV. He went to the Eastern Shore of Virginia and was so happy to be leaving. This wasn't just snooty white people if anyone is thinking that.  The Ethiopian family that lived next door to me and the cool Ghanaian couple  down the hall, wished me well and moved out at the end of the first month. There were so many complaints that  most of the immigrants/refugees were resettled elsewhere but it took so long that many people couldn't wait.

Things settled down but damage was done to the complex and to the residents who toughed it out and refused to leave our home. It all came back me with memories as strong as carrion on a Summer day, when I read the most recent item on Complicit Clergy.     The good folks at that site wrote about a self righteous post on Twitter made by some PR person at Catholic Charities  and the furious responses to it.  One  woman commented thusly and boy oh boy, do I understand what she's talking about  : 

@americancatass: Your human trafficking operation ruined our lives for 2 years. We had to spend $2500 to break our lease to flee from our apartment of 6 years because you filled it with illegals. You are traitors to the American people and I hope your “charity” is bankrupted.

  

Say no to Catholic Charities

 

• "Catholic Charities" video tells illegal immigrants: "You do not need to speak to the immigration authorities or answer any questions." pic.twitter.com/kZ9QgzAE2e

— Fr. Dave Nix (@FrDaveNix) January 27, 2025

• I don't give to Catholic Charities and I think when Catholics start waking up and realizing how much of a cash cow immigration services is, more people will keep their wallets closed when the second collection basket is passed around. 

 

Inauguration Day

 I'm watching the Inauguration. I'm amazed by young Barron Trump's poise and when did Cardinal Dolan lose some weight? I'm almost afraid to go to work tomorrow because the wailing and gnashing of my deeply Democrat workplace is going to be epic and keeping a neutral expression as I make comforting sounds to the hysterics is going be a challenge. 

Random thoughts on Christmas Eve

 

• It's Christmas Eve and after holding back all Advent my tree is up, the presents are under it and thanks to the cleaning lady it's looking respectable in here. Secular Christmas is always hard on Rocky because his parents are dead and his brother is estranged. The family was Baptist and in their denomination it was perfectly fine to come to church two or three times a year as long as you tithed, so it's only the secular stuff that he has to fill his memories. He concentrates and finds joy in the purely Catholic feast and it's not really Christmas for him until Midnight Mass. I'm doing Prime Rib for dinner for the first time and I really hope I don't mess it up.

• Please don't show the film of that poor woman on the New York subway. It just adds to her family's suffering. To those who ask why nobody helped her I'll just say this. In New York City the people claim to be tough but really they're just terrified and a bit apathetic.  When the lion attacks; what do the antelope do? They run. They may feel some sympathy for Fred, the antelope who was next to them a few minutes ago but they are mainly concerned with the fact that while the lion is satisfied with Fred, they are free to go on with their day. The NYC subway is a dangerous place. Crime including rape, assault, robbery, and murder happen there on a regular basis and if you are a tourist and still want to go to NYC, stay off the subway. 
  
  

        May God have mercy on that woman's soul.  May her family find a way to go on and find peace of             mind. 

*The Prime Rib turned out great. I was so relieved. In addition, we witnessed a Christmas miracle. My brother-in-law called Rocky during dessert and neither ranted nor raved. He spoke like a normal person, which is huge for a narcissist. 

Scrooge--- I mean, my brother-in-law, has been fighting a virus and I guess he had a fever dream about three Christmas  ghosts. Rocky was surprised and cautiously happy. God is good.

Random thoughts on a Saturday morning

•  Thanksgiving was great but once again I was reminded how much harm the Covid era did to my mother. We went to Muggiano's Little Italy for the Italian Thanksgiving dinner and Rocky and I were thrilled at how packed the restaurant was.  It was so good to  see people enjoying themselves and living.  My mother enjoyed the food and enjoyed being with us but  she really doesn't like being around large numbers of people anymore and she still wears a mask in public places. I don't bother her about it because it would upset her and be a waste of breath. She's 82 and grew up believing what the man on the news says as gospel truth. I feel nothing but the deepest contempt for the politicians, scientists, doctors and the nasty snitches  that reveled in and perpetuated the entire Covid scenario. The amount of damage done to people's minds was so bad we will be dealing with it for years. My mother has PTSD essentially and I can't fix it or avenge her. 

• It's that time again.... for the St. Andrew Christmas Novena
  
  
  
  
  
  

• Something interesting happened at church. For the first time in over a  year, the parish bulletin acknowledged the sufferings of Christians in Gaza and in Israel. A collection is being taken up for the children's hospital in Bethlehem. The bulletin still reminds us to pray for Ukraine, but it's no longer mentioned in the prayers of the Faithful. I do believe there's been a shift in thinking.

• Ireland voted for abortion and women danced in the streets. Now many Irish are complaining about the large numbers of foreigners that are being dumped in the country.   England has long been a eugenicist's playground and now their leaders are hell bent on killing the sick.  Both countries have rejected God and embraced both hedonism, and death for the inconvenient. They are being replaced by a young, confident and aggressive Muslim population.  Perhaps this is God's permissive Will or a chastisement. Europe has been suicidal for a long time. 

Things that make you wonder?

 Catholic Charities Alexandria Food Pantry gave away 180 halal Thanksgiving meals. It was probably to to accommodate the Afghan refugees that Catholic Charities works with.  Does that mean they had someone from the Halal Chamber of Commerce to certify the food or did they just specifically purchase halal food? 

random thoughts on the Eve of All Saints

 

• I pretty much try to tune Vatican news out these days. It's painful to see the officers in the Church Militant behaving like fools and provocateurs. Watching Francis and his posse is like seeing your stepfather abuse your mom and as a result she's turned into a drunk who shames you in front of the neighbors while the stepfather gloats and gaslights. This Luce doll is weird. Blue hair, a Pride rosary around her/his neck and a wizard's stang. What "genius" thought this was a good idea? I'll be blunt. With all the pedophilia and homosexual scandals, this kiddie mascot is not a good look. It is not wise.  To those who think it's cute I'll ask this question. Does this doll or whatever the heck it is, inspire you to live and die if need be for the Catholic Faith? Does this doll make you love Jesus more? Do you look at this thing and feel awe at the very thought of our crucified Lord?  No? Then why the Hell, is this the mascot for the  2025 Jubilee?

 

• When even Liz Lev wrinkles her nose.....

It seems to me that this mascot apes rather than leads. A few Christian symbols imposed on an anime doll may be charming, and perhaps even marketable, but is pilgrimage a game? Is reconciliation?Michelangelo once said “if you follow others, you will never get ahead of them” https://t.co/C6HGR3Dj5p

— Elizabeth Lev (@lizlevrome) October 30, 2024

• Around 2021, I started noticing something odd. When I'd see wedding photos of Catholic "influencers," the grooms didn't seem right. It was like the young women were posing with living Ken dolls. They reminded me of girls playing wedding with a little brother being dragooned into playing the groom part. Other people noticed how odd the couples looked together and quite a few made crude comments about the possible sexual nature of the grooms. Strangely enough, the phenomenon seems to have calmed down. This year the couples look normal again. The men appear to be functioning men. What was that all about? Many people were psychologically  damaged by the Covid epoch. Perhaps it was caused by that. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Rocky and I don't do Halloween. Why? Because we're adults. We live in an apartment and Rocky's mother died on October 31. All that being said, if you're one of those people who give kids toothbrushes as Halloween treats or who preaches Hellfire at the toddler in a Batman costume you aren't helping. 

A ghostly tale for Halloween

Years ago when I was still in high school I read a collection of ghost stories called "Haunted Heartland." Most of them weren't a bit scary and were presented in  the dry  businesslike fashion of a folklorist who is merely collecting materials for a dissertation, but one tale stuck with me. It was the story of Fr. Louis Lesches, a priest assigned to St. Mary's College in Minnesota, who tried to kill his superior, Bishop Patrick Hefron. The bishop was saying Mass in the seminary chapel one morning when he turned around and saw Fr. Lesches standing behind him. To the bishop's surprise, the priest was wearing a Prince Albert suit instead of his cassock or clericals. To add to this surprise the bishop quickly realized that  the priest was packing heat. Fr. Lesches fired a gun three times, hitting the bishop twice.

At that time Fr. Lesches was already the number one problem child of the diocese. Although he was said to be brilliant and had done well in the academic part of his seminary studies, he was judged to be overly emotional, and  insubordinate. He'd failed at all of his parish assignments and now the concerned and probably a bit exasperated bishop had recalled him to St. Mary's to keep a close eye on him.  Fr. Lesches became convinced that the bishop was persecuting him. 

 Bishop Heffron's  great physical and mental toughness probably saved his life.  Instead of dropping dead, hiding in the pews, or swooning, he yelled at his now panicked attacker and chased him out of the chapel. Fr. Lesches was later captured by the police and spent the rest of his life in a mental hospital.

 Students have been claiming to see the ghost of Fr. Lesches on campus for decades. It's a spooky tale but I hope everyone who hears or reads it will stop and say a prayer for this poor, strange, unstable man who never should've been ordained but is a priest forever and one who probably really needs our help now. 

How Bishops Kill--- You should read this

 The wonderful An Archdiocese of Washington blog has a post that you should read, especially if you live in the DC, MD, Northern Virginia area. It's taken from a brave priest's newsletter. 

Back from vacation and other random thoughts

•  Rocky and I just got back from vacation and it was wonderful. We took my mother with us as usual and we all needed the break from DC and Northern Virginia. For Mass we went to a little church about 16 miles from our vacation cottage. It was like stepping back into 1980. The music was Eagles Wings and other stuff I haven't heard since elementary school. The people were very sweet to tourists. The cantor reminded me of a high school football coach but instead of making us run laps for practice he produced a lovely voice.
  The only real fly in the ointment was the homily. The priest was a friendly, kind man who obviously cares about his people but he tried to justify the pope's latest airplane interview. Fr. assured us that Gandhi, and Billy Graham were saints. They weren't with us (I guess he meant Catholics) but they did the Lord's work. I sat there and thought, "Father, Gandhi let his wife die because he didn't want to use British medicine and he later slept in the same bed as his nieces to test  his chastity."
  
  After Mass Rocky asked, "What did you think of Father's homily?"
  "I didn't like it. " 
  
  "Didn't think you would." We laughed and drove off along the tiny country roads to find dinner. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
• My uncle Junior was without power for four days in South Carolina. My cousin came and brought him back to Tennessee but it was rough trip. My uncle says he's never seen devastation like Helene before. It was worse than a tornado. I finally heard from another cousin, Shirley, who lives in the next county over from Uncle Junior. She still has no power and cell phone service is spotty. A tree fell on her truck and another one fell on the fence. She also stated that the damage is incredible.
  
    I just donated to The Martyrs Walk hurricane relief effort.  Please don't donate to Red Cross. Send your money to local charities that are on the ground. 
  
  
  
  
  
• I've never felt much enthusiasm for the FSSP because it's only in two places in the Richmond diocese and I don't see it ever being allowed in Arlington. The order seems pretty rimrocked to me and the latest news of an Apostolic Visitation from Rome doesn't bode well.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Out of all the wonderful charities and volunteer groups who are helping in Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee and Florida, you know whose name I haven't heard about? Catholic Charities. 
  
  
  
  
  
• Speaking of Catholic Charities, you should read this by Fr. Nix. 

Random thoughts on a Sunday afternoon

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

Well that was a dud

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

Random thoughts on Tuesday evening

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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