My open letter to trad Caths...and of their like

Chances are you'll never read this letter as it's on the most unimportant blog on the internet. Off the chance that you happen to come across this letter, here are a few thoughts for consideration. 

a. The same arguments and the same debates get quite annoying. Whether you're talking about the mistakes of Bl. JP II, validity of the NO, or how the Church was supposedly pre-Vatican II, hearing the same message becomes very bland after a while....lest you get on my nerves again, here's a reality check.

1. There are 2 that are perfect: Jesus and the Blessed Mother. Every other Saint screwed up at some point. No Saint has the charism of infalibility. Lest you be confused, St Augustine was a Manacheist before his conversion to the True Faith. Yes, JP II did some questionable things the litany could go on for a while. He was a sagnuine and an extrovert. (To translate that for you traddies, it means he was a huge people person and tried to please people to a fault). None of us are in the condition to judge his heart. Observing from the outside of his personality type, I'm quite sure that he did not intend to offend anyone. It doesn't make sense to most people...especially to myself as a heavy introvert and meloncholic. The Church has spoken of him as Blessed. This is not an infallible decison as has been made clear by the Pope cutting down majorly on his celebration of beatifications, yet if you're going to sit and complain about this, you're wasting your time. If you don't like it, don't pray to him, plain and simple...there are plenty of Saints to pray to, pick one. 

2. All the conspiracy theories about the NO are quite annoying as well. Newsflash, if it was a protestant Missal,  the Missal wouldn't be valid. The Church has no ability to proclaim invalid Sacraments. Something to think about, The Sacrifice of the Mass is still there IN SPITE of what Bugnini and crew tried to do. The NO is seldom done to the highest degree of solemnity it should be. The Scriptual Propers are unfortunately not used in 99.99% of NO Masses, hence by de facto anthrocentric Mass. I'd love to tell you that the NO is going to disappear, but at this moment in time it isn't. Instead of complaining, do something about it. Bring what the Holy Father is doing to your parish. Get to kneeling, praying, and gradually get things to this point. You don't boil a frog by immediately placing him in hot water don't you? See what our Holy Father has done, gradually changing things from 2005-to now. Things don't change overnight...get some patience, or buy some on e-bay.

3. If you think there was 100% obedience before Vatican II, newsflash you're wrong about that too. There's this thing called media and modern technology which makes it seem like disobedience is running rampant. People didn't listen then either. Remember Judas Iscariot was a validly ordained Bishop, and we do suffer from concupiscene. There will always be those that try to thwart the Church. Just look at the sex-abuse scandal to see that things weren't perfect pre-Vatican II. The 15th century ended a long time ago. It's the 21st century now. The Church need not change, and I do agree she does need to get back to the things that worked, modern gimmicks aren't really cutting it. Things will be perfect if we God willing reach heaven. Now in the mean time, pray, hope, and shut up. The TLM didn't solve all of our problems then, and it won't solve all of our problems now. 

b. Quit trying to be a jack of all trades...stick to what you're good (or not so good) at

1. As a physicist, my curiosity with the natural order of the world, I'm always listening to various things. I must say it makes me laugh when I hear people (in particular certain trads) say that the sun revolves around the earth. (Yes, there are people that still believe that)...a. The Church Fathers are NOT infallible on this issue. b. The laws of physics are the same regardless of reference frames. c. and most important of all. Fr. Coparnicus was never condemned as a heretic. The problem wasn't that Gallileo was wrong, but that he crossed the line between science and theology and didn't have proof for his arguments. Now, that said, the earth was created before the Sun, but what is not stated is where the earth is placed on a system of axis. The sun being center of the universe, or not, is irrelevant to our salvation. Don't argue over it. 

2. While I promote modesty in dress, I will not go to the extreme position and say that pants are intrinsically evil and should never be worn by females. Fashion evolves and changes. The important thing is modesty, both interior and exterior. I've seen dresses worn immodestly, as well as pants done modestly. 

All that said, pray for me, I'll pray for you...we all need it. 

Well...

I have a job interview on Monday...prayers would be appreciated

Simply put

accepting and liking are 2 different things. There are many situations I accept. Chances are I don't like those situations that have been accepted.

Sometimes it's a good idea to shut up...

To the overly critical:

Appreciate what is good, not everyone has the chance to freely go to Mass...now shut up
Bl JP II made mistakes...now shut up
Your life isn't perfect...now shut up
You're not the Pope...now shut up

The world would appreciate it

Well, it could be

...that I'll be heading to Minnesota...we'll see. Pray God's will be done

A different take on Fr Corapi

In my own experience of living religious life, I can tell you that living in community is draining. (It's no wonder religious life is purgatory on earth). Now this doesn't at all mean anything bad about the community I lived with, I loved them, if anything it's a reflection of my personality. I don't like hanging around large groups of people, I tend to be easily drained by large groups of people. To counteract that, I'll withdraw from people to get my isolation time in. That was something that was difficult for me to really live, though I can get along with anyone who I talk with (in general).

Something to perhaps consider is that Fr Corapi lived outside of his community, and perhaps didn't want to be in community because maybe living with that many people would be draining towards him. From what it would seem, at least from watching him on EWTN all these years, he seemed to like the attention and the spotlight on him. From the outside looking in he seemed very extroverted in his interaction with people. (Bear in mind that extroversion does not necessarily mean that one needs to like people, it's how one deals with thoughts and processes, it is completely possible to be an extrovert and completely shy). Perhaps the starting of the media company was a cover for the actual reason Fr Corapi did not want to live in community, I don't know, I'm just speculating with my own thoughts.

I really do believe that there is a solution for just about every problem. (Even no solution is a solution, technically, the proper mathematical term would be no answer, solution is all of the work involved).

It definitely was not a smart idea for Fr Corapi to live alone considering his past, and conversion does not eliminate temptation. It would have been a good idea for a brother priest or a non-clerical brother to live with Fr Corapi, just so that he wasn't alone and succumbing to temptation would be a bit more difficult. Now would this have eliminated the succumbing to temptation, absolutely not!

My friend Fr Erik of Orthometer on his bog states a few thoughts, well worth reading
Also the Bp Emeritus of his diocese has thoughts here

I agree with both of the posts that I've linked here...but back to my point that I was making. There are some that would think that living in community would be a solution, perhaps not. What I do think was missing was accountability. He should never have been allowed to live alone. (Notice I did not say away from the community).

I can only say that this could have been handled internally much better. Especially for a figure with the cult of personality attatched to him, there's a hard line which should be avoided, it puts a black eye for everyone involved.

Prayers for everyone involved, and also while you're at it, pray that I don't fall into the temptation as well.

Casey Anthony...

if she were smart she's slip out the country and live a life quietly for effectively getting away with murder. However; I don't anticipate such a thing happening. She'll probably find a way to mess this up, end up in jail and then finally be convicted. It's also further proof what a joke the American Justice system is, but that's not the point.

Of course 3 pm is known as the hour of mercy.

How in the world...

are our words better than God's? I've still yet to figure out why we replace the Word of God with our own at every Mass. (Yes, it's a licit practice allowed by the GIRM), but why would you replace God's word with our own? It's not nearly as effective or efficacious. I'll take introit proper over Gather us in, any day of the week.

Things I thought were obvious

a. Since it's not guaranteed that a person will say yes, a person does not have a right to be married. Since there are conditions to be met, a person does not have a right to be married. Something that has conditions or that is not directly deigned by God Himself, is not a right. Though Marriage is deigned by God, it's not a guarantee, it's a vocation. And the party is not obligated to say yes. Therefore a right it is not.

b. The Truth in of itself is attractive. Nothing needs to be altered. When the Church tries to make itself relevant, the opposite effect of what it intends always ends up happening. This goes for Teen Masses, or any modern attempts at fixing something that isn't broken. Why don't we try using God's words at Mass instead of ours (aka the actual propers of the Mass vs. hymns), why don't we try NOT Pouring the Precious Blood after the consecration, heck, why don't we just try being Catholic, it's so much easier.

c. The original song is 95% of the time better than the cover or the re-mix. It should be illegal to re-do songs that are currently out. (aka < 2 years or less). Trying to out do the original, not a good idea. Just give up :)

d. The Holy Father is showing us by example what to do, why don't we follow? It just makes sense. Nothing that he's doing is contrary to the Liturgical mind of Holy Roman Church, just do it. Crucifix on the altar, communion kneeling and on the tongue, the actual propers for Mass, Gregorian Chant, Latin, you know all the things the 2nd Vatican Council called for.

But since all these things make way too much sense, they're not going to happen, alas, time to watch the world destroy itself *sits and gets popcorn*

The decision to blog again.

I'll be perfectly honest ever sine St. Valentine's day I've been lost. At that point I was asked to leave the order for whatever reason. I'm not going to sit and dwell on it. My emotions have been completely sinusodal going up and down between both extremes of anger, and dispair.

I've been quite quiet about what has been going on in my life and for that matter blogging. So I've thus decided to re-brand myself. I've started this blog fresh to put everything that has happened in the past somewhat behind me. (You have to know me in real life to understand why I said it the way I said it.)

a. The title: My blog doesn't matter

In reality my blog doesn't matter, I'm just a person with a pulpit who is not afraid to use it. If someone complains about something that I have to say, clearly that person needs to find a life, or start their own. I will keep comments open, but understand this is my blog and I control it and what you can (or can't say)

b. What I'll talk about

Anything, this ought to be interesting.