Good riddance to 2014

I really don't have much positive to say about the vast majority of the year. So if you're expecting a positive post where I say wonderful things happened, I'm afraid this is not that post.

But I do wish for all of you to have a blessed New Year and continue to grow in your various paths to sanctity.

I will be going on a retreat the 9th-11th of Jan. I would like to bring your various intentions before our Lord...and so I'll leave a link to an e-mail box at the end of this post which I'll leave open until the 8th at midnight...for which you can send me your intentions. Then I will send a message back with the time (and date) that your intentions were prayed for (I don't think I'll have access to wifi, but we'll see)

However, for the new year, I do have somethings to say, for which you'll have to wait until tomorrow :)

Pax Vobis

Prayer Intentions you wish for me to pray for, mention here

Thought of the day

We should strive for perfection....it make take a while before we get there.

Thought of the day

It is necessary for things to not go so smoothly perhaps. It may well be that the smooth path is he wrong one.

Some thoughts on tomorrow's readings.

Tomorrow in Byzantium (though I'll be at Roman Church tomorrow due to the fact that I have no car) we will celebrate the Sunday after the Nativity...the readings during DL are Gal 1, 11-19, and Matt 2,  13-23

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit Amen.

Pride is the sin where exalt ourselves above God. It's the I can do anything without God attitude...It also takes the form when we think we know better than God.

In the 11th and 12th verses we read "Now I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel preached by me is not of human origin. For I did not receive it from a human being, nor was I taught it, but it came through a revelation of Jesus Christ."

Has it not been in the recent news about the Synod about those that are seeking to change the teachings of Christ Jesus for their own agendas. This is pride plain and simple to contradict the dogmas of Christ as given to us through the Holy Catholic Church.

Last time I checked we are not smarter than God, for it is God who gave us the faculties of reason to begin with. It's an exercise in futility to try and outsmart God. He knows what we need to be joyful in Him, why do we attempt to make things so complicated?

When one cooperates with the graces given to them, one is able to do great things. S Paul goes from a persecutor of the Church to one of her greatest defenders. As he's briefly telling of us of what he used to do to the Church, recall from a few days ago the Martyrdom of St Stephen...killed by Saul.

In today's Gospel, we hear of the plight to Egypt, the Holy Innocents, and the return to Egypt.

Perhaps there's a use of a sarcastic element when we read "Go and search diligently for the child. When you have found him, bring me word, that I too may go and do him homage."...Herod had zero intentions of paying homage to Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ as we'l find ou later in the massacre of the Holy Innocents (Today who's feast day in the Roman Church would be celebrated today) In the Byzantine tradition the number killed was 14 000. There's no exact number, for it wasn't revealed. 

Such a tragedy that we as a society commit another form of pride through abortion. The deliberate killing of a child. It is such a poverty that children must die so that we may live as we so choose. 

The virtue that kills pride is humility. It is first the recognition that our gifts, whatever ones we do have come from God, and not ourselves. Our children, our intelligence, our various talents are no of our own doing. We must recognize this. It is then the attitude of receiving or accepting what is given. . It is hard to accept compliments, or situations that oppose our own nature...yet we must do so. It is not humility to impose ourselves on situations where that is not called for.

Let us pray for the gift of humility, and more importantly practice humility to conquer our pride.

Christ is Born, Glorify Him

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Thought of the day

One can't dictate a vocation. To do so would violate the very meaning of the word.

Some personal news!

One thing that I've learned, it's to keep those things that are not definite, far, far, far away from he internet....but I suppose once in a while it's a good thing to open up about these things.

a. Alive and ticking

Last Sunday I was involved in a car accident. I'm a bit sore with my leg, but other that, nothing life threatening. My car, however; is totally screwed up in the front. So hopefully I'll be able to make deal with the rental for now. Thanks be to God I'm alive....

b. Some have asked, if you're open to being a priest again...

Yes, some of my friends, some of them rather famous in their writings have been nearly begging me to apply to seminary. As the old saying goes, I take notes on everything, then proceed to run them by my SD. I really do feel called to work with the Ruthenian Church in some capacity (I was planning to be bi-ritual from the second I entered)...Although I very much enjoyed my seminary education, there are some "complications". One thing that people have to know is that forgetting what happened, does not happen....everything is in the present tense to me. So a change of scenery would definitely be needed if I was to be open to such a thing again...can anyone say Russian College or Pittsburgh? (Hint, hint, nudge, nudge)

As I've said before, and I'll continue to say, my actions are a matter of justice, not me trying o be better than anyone else....I've received lots of comments, such as the cassock looks good on you, or you should really apply. (Multiple priests, multiple lay people)...me being the VERY reserve person that I am, shy away from any spotlight, or emphasis on me..I'm trying to take compliments well, bu not so much is it working.

Of course it's also hard when you're interested in someone, and have zero clue what's going on in their brains. We'll see if the invitation to sing vespers will work. :p

c. OCDS Formation

To this point, I'm really enjoying the things that I'm learning (much of it I already knew) There are many new insights to the things that I do know. Praying both books (Byzantine and Roman) is oddly working rather complimentary. I'll be going on retreat the 9th-11th of Jan. I'll be taking prayer requests starting at the beginning of Jan, and I will bring all of these intentions before Our Lord. .

d. Parish progress

I'll be shifting my parish to a different one that's a bit closer to me going towards the East of where I live. I have been assisting at the Greek-Melkite mission lately, but went to Midnight MAss a the local Roman parish which has had a dramatic improvement on Liturgy to make it bearable for daily Masses. (No more pouring the Blood of Christ after the consecration)

e. Prayer requests

If you can pray for some friends of mine that are going through some times right now, as well as keep me in your prayers, I'd really appreciate it.

Pax Vobis

Merry Christmas

The 15 insults...I mean diseases of the Roman Curia...and my thoughts

I know from my own experiences that blasting everyone doesn't work. I do know that addressing specific needs with those that you have issues with typically works better. Humans are complex creatures and should perhaps be treated as such...On that thought comes these gems from the Holy Father, probably enough to make a volume 2 of the book of insults

So let's go through these point by point.

1. The disease of feeling 'immortal' or 'essential'

Feelings are subjective, and it is true that this can be a form of pride in the sense that one could feel immovable or important. But it is also true that every piece of the puzzle is important, even the most minor of pieces. So as a result everyone should feel important because all jobs need to be done with care and dignity.

Applicable to us, sure, especially when we're young, we do tend to think that we're invincible. Our final end, sometimes we tend to not think about. Perhaps we should spend more time mediating upon these things, rather than thinking that we're invincible.

2. The disease of excessive activity

Well, yes, there are some that make themselves too busy and take on too much, surely...however, what about those that use busyness as an anti-dote to sloth? I know this is true for me, To avoid being slothful, I give myself things to do, even if they're not important. The struggle for holiness is real folks, and some of us have to battle it in very specific ways.

Of course we should try to reach a balance with these things, our activity and our rest. God rested, as such, we should rest too. It's good for the soul to relax, but 24/7 relaxing is bad, and 24/7 working is bad too, a balance must be found...but if one is given 1000's of things to do, one should either do them or delegate.

3. The diseases of mental and spiritual petrification

It is true that we're not robots, and we do have emotions, and we should probably use them. It is also true that a holy indifference is needed to be able to analyze things objectively. This does not mean that we don't empathize when called, or what not, but does mean in order to be able to help people that one can't be too invested in the situation. There's a reason I believe that everyone should have a spiritual director. To be able to look at ourselves with an objective eye, sometimes the outside looking in can see things that inside looking out can't.

I don't know if I can agree to it being a loss of internal peace, for peace is a state of being, not an emotion. I can be peaceful within the context of what I'm working on, even if I take on a machine like behaviour. Like I alluded to in the 2nd point, things do need to get done, and there can be times and places for everything that's needed. A laser like focus is sometimes needed to get work done. It's not that we "don't care".

4 and 5. The diseases of over- planning and bad coordination

Not necessarily every moment is that of the Holy Spirit, or necessarily of the Devil. Why do we plan to the greatest detail? Is to "avoid" promptings of the Spirit? No, of course not....Rather it's because being prepared for every situation makes things go smoother. To under- plan would lead to bad coordination. In order to run anything smoothly, everyone needs to be on the same page. This is why we plan, to keep everyone on the same page to work or get a job done. There's a heresy of formlessness because God is True Order itself. Now if plans don't go according to how they're written that's okay, it's not the end of the world, let's not make idols out of the schedule.

6. The disease of Spiritual Alzheimer's

The Spirit is strong, but the flesh is weak. I really have nothing to say on this one. Sometimes we do tend to forget that sin is a bad thing, and we should avoid it at all costs. Speaking in this subjective encounter with the Lord, we receive Him in Holy Communion, what greater encounter is there than this? That said, is always one of those happy joy joy, feel good moments? Of course not! I don't necessarily "feel" anything. To those that are given the gift of consolation great! But for most of us, that gift is not given...so it can definitely be easy to forget these things.

7. The disease of rivalry and vainglory

It is a good to be competitive and to try and do things well. However for maters within the Church, we don't do things for worldly accolades and vanity, we do them for the love of God, so again, I have nothing really to say on this point

8, 11, 12, and 14. The diseases of external schizophrenia, indifference to others, funeral face and closed circles.

These are the insults to introverts and to those of us that are reserve in our nature by not expressing our emotions one way or another (as a normal exercise)

Not everyone is called to "work with the people" or "walk a mile in their shoes" There are some that are called to the cloister or to be away from the daily struggle. Sometimes these people are dragged from where they're called for *insert reason here* and somehow have to make the best of the situation that they find themselves in. Some people are flat out reserve, and it's not that they're indifferent to other people, maybe the total opposite is true, they do actually care, but they show that care privately versus publicly. We can't smile in all situations, I think it'd be rather inappropriate if a person is getting shot to be smiling...If people are showing sad face, or a funeral face, one should probably ask what's going on...but perhaps it's just how they wish to express themselves. I know for myself, I'm reserve and I don't show my emotion always, I didn't realize being so would be condemned :p. The introverted or reserve person sometimes do tend to keep their circles close. It's no because we hate people, but giving trust is difficult for us, so as a result, yes, the circle is closed. There's no such thing as an open circle ;)

9 and 10. The diseases of "gossip and chatter" and defying the leaders

Well, here's a strange idea...watch what you say. If you don't wish to be spoken of, don't say anything in such a way that will be used against you. Don't pursue agendas that are contrary to the Truth, then you won't be defied. It's really simple, but no, people have to make things complicated don't they? Think twice, speak once....limit off the cuff comments when possible.

13 and 15. The diseases of hoarding and worldly profit and exhibitionism

Yes, having too much stuff is a bad thing (except for kittens and books)...it's true one should not be a materialist....or even do things for money, but rather for the love of God.

Exhibitionism, however, is a bit much. Yes, there are some that do wear the cuppa magna (Read Cardinal Burke, Bp Schneider, Cardinal Ranjith)...yes, these things do represent the world....they should. Then one strips off the world, and puts on a new creation in Christ. (the symbolism of the vestments by the way)...the cassock is street clothing...one puts on the armor of God. It's not exhibitionism to know this theology and to live it. It is not a form of pride to wear what was donated. If anything it's an exhibitionism to NOT wear these things because one is showing one's own tastes are greater than what is given to oneself.


Pax Vobis

Everyone's lives matter...

Lately, no thanks to the various events that have happened, there's been this move for different hashtags such as #Blacklivesmatter #Policelivesmatter #Whitelivesmatter, etc.

I'm sorry, but all of these are wrong!. Everyone's lives matter. From the kid with down syndrome, to the elderly person who can barely walk and on their last breath. Everyone's lives matter. Every single person that exists on the face of the planet has a dignity that is equal.

It is perhaps a symptom of the culture at large that seems to place agenda and politics above humanity.

The thing is that NONE of the events should have happened in the first place. None of the events surrounding the events should have happened either...

Forgive me for being a bit angry, but when we're treating mere symptoms of a deeper problem, there's no way in heck a simple so called social media event is really going to do anything. And then on top of this we have athletes using activities of recreation trying to get into the agenda war too.

A little course in common sense is what I have to offer today...here's how it goes.

1) Follow legitimate orders and instructions....That is to say, if someone's telling you to get out the street, it's probably a good idea to listen. This does not mean allowing people to abuse their authority, this is why I qualified this statement. Clearly for example someone is trying to rape you, or steal something that is rightfully yours, by all means do not listen to this.

2) Don't act like complete idiots when things don't go your way: Rioting drives up the costs of items in the local area and makes problems even worse than they already are because now more resources must be used. If you're one to not trust cops, guess what, there's going to be MORE of them when you riot. So now you've made your problem worse. If you disagree with something, go through the proper channels for recourse...Make an appeal, file a new suit, but don't vandalize property like baboons.

3) Don't expect others to uphold the law, if you don't uphold it yourself. If you want people to not suspect an uneven playing field, apply the law equally, to those rich, and to those that are poor.  Do not let people buy off the justice system....

4) Don't act in a way that will make others suspicious, or lead to stereotyping...here's a strange idea, instead of robbing a store, selling cigarettes, acting like a gangster...umm, don't. If you don't break the law, you won't be bothered. A friendly reminder to those enforcing the various laws, all people are innocent until proven guilty, not guilty until proven innocent...Now if it happens that a person of *insert race here* does a crime, and the cops make their search more specific based upon this information, it is profiling, don't get me wrong, but if *insert race here* did not commit this particular crime, why should they even be looked at?

Everyone's lives matter, period. Everyone's lives matter, no person should die so that you might live as you wish. And no, just because an injustice was done does not give you a right to take justice into your own hands. Killing cops is just as wrong as killing innocent people....Enough with the stupidity, enough!

Pax Vobis

Thought of the day

If you boil a pot of water long enough it will boil over, if you poke a bear enough times it will attack. There is only so much tolerance that a person can take before it really destroys them.

Thought of the day

I really don't think recreation should be used as a means for *insert liberal pet cause here*...if one seeks to transform society, so be it, alright, but do so by getting involved in the law making process.

Thought of the day

It's interesting once one realizes that all sides of the MSM have been bought and paid for, it tends to put certain events in perspective.

Thought of the day

Sometimes it's necessary to walk away from a situation, to avoid an escalation

Thought of the day

There is a tendency to despair, avoid this....the Church shall never fail, in spite of her leaders.

Some emergency prayer requests:

For my uncle who is still having symptoms from car accident and a stroke, and for my cousin who recently suffered a heart attack, as well as for another uncle who is trying to get his life back together. Thank you and God bless all of you. I hope that all of you have had a blessed Thanksgiving weekend (for my American readers) and for my non-American readers a blessed weekend.

Pax Vobis.

The Liturgy

Q 218: What is Liturgy?

The Liturgy is the celebration of the mystery of Christ and in particular His Paschal Mystery. Through the exercise of the priestly office of Jesus Christ the liturgy manifests in signs and brigs about the sanctification of humankind. The public worship which is due to God is offered by the Mystical Body of Christ, that is, by its head and its ministers.

Q 219: What place does the liturgy occupy in the life of the Church?

The liturgy as the sacred action par excellence is the summit toward which the activity of the Church is directed and it is likewise he font from which all her power flows. Through the liturgy Christ continues the work of our redemption in, with, and through His Church.

I know many people ask me, why I'm such a Liturgical "snob" (for lack of a better word). The Eucharist is the Source and Summit of our Faith, and the Eucharist can't happen outside of the Liturgical context. That is to say a priest can't consecrate Jesus outside of Mass/Divine Liturgy.

It is a matter of justice that we have good Liturgy. It is the public worship of God. It should reflect His Majesty, His Grandeur, His Glory. Hence all of the beauty is ordered for His Glory, not for our own.

Every detail should reflect Him, and not us. This is why I'm so particular about the Liturgy and continue to fight for good liturgy, in spite of the present happenings.

I am starting formation for the OCDS, if you can keep me in prayer, I'd really appreciate it :). Writing gives me an excuse to do my homework :p

Pax Vobis

Thought of the day

Some people have this strange idea that using Eastern Catholic customs on the West will improve matters. Umm, not so much.

Thought of the day

Three sources, God, devil, ourselves, and often dealing with ourselves is the hardest of the 3.

Prayer requests

Apparently some kind of invader decided that it's okay to enter and cause coughing and runny noses...pray that I get better soon :)...

A little help for my non scientist friends

I'm sure everyone was waiting for me to weigh in on the Pope's comments on the Big Bang Theory and Evolution.

The Holy Father is a trained chemist, so he gets a little bit of a slide on his comments. But of course as everyone knows the order or hierarchy in science is: physicist = mathematician > chemist > biologist > everyone else :p (And if you don't, this IS how we view the universe of science...(yes, it's tongue in cheek, but there's an element of truth to this, physics is HARD) But there are some important principles which are often forgotten which one needs to be reminded of.

a. Something can't come from nothing.

I feel that physics students would do better with either a semester or a year of philosophy under their belts because of the language of philosophy that penetrates physics often enough. Basic philosophy teaches that something can't come from nothing. This principle extends into physics. There can't be something without an atia (a cause)....Things do not appear out of thin air. In this sense, yes, God is not a magician...it's not a slight of hand or optical illusion, but His creation is real and True.

Understanding the laws of motion, there's a point that often gets confused about the first law. The first law deals with the absence of external (outside) forces. In this situation, a body is at rest or at constant velocity (but not both at the same time)...(The situation of the sum of outside forces being zero is not dealt with in the first law)

Likewise, any change in movement (whether it be a big bang, or even evolution) can't happen without a cause. To say that it happens by itself would be a heretical physics idea. More or less this is what I think the Holy Father was attempting to convey, but could have done so better (It's been a while since he's seen all this stuff, so I'm sure he's a bit rusty...I'm not allowed to get rusty, I have someone that's on my back for it)

b. Getting some things out the way

God is not the author of confusion or deception....that must be kept in mind when he is referring to God not being a magician. But there also things that we need to keep in mind.

Scripture reveals a few things about the order of the universe, that the earth was created first, light came before the stars and the sun, and man was formed from dirt, woman from the rib of Adam...

What it does not say is whether a model was used, where the earth was placed in the order of the universe. (It is not directly implicit that the earth would be in the center of the universe, many of the Church Fathers believed that the earth was at the center of the universe)....For God does not have to do so, but he could very well do so. God is all knowing and all present, and while not bound to our human limitations and our language, God is a God of order and reason, so He would not do things that'd violate order and reason.

A point I ought to mention about physics is that mathematics is a tool to assist us in the understanding of the universe. It is not, never has been, and never will be the end all be all of physics. There are times when math goes beyond physics and vise versa. So, I must say that this particular quote from Pat Archibald is not true at all. (Will  not let me link to the quote)

"Physics is the only profession where you can say stupid stuff like "Ummm, I think that 90% of the universe must be made up of unobserved and invisible stuff because otherwise my equations don't work" and people still think you are good at your job."

The vast majority of concepts in physics are NOT defined mathematically, but rather described mathematically. Y'all might think I'm being a nit picky person, but, it is a HUGE distinction which must be made. A great example is the equation for Gravitational Energy. We do not define force as a mathematical concept, but rather this is an approximation, what we've observed and shown through experiment to happen. To define something in stone, means that it can't be changed. And if you've noticed anything there have been lots of various discoveries, whether it be the Higgs Bosom, and pretty much everything post 1870. What beauty this universe is to be able to find out new things as we pursue the Order of Truth. Yes, I'm being picky, but it's because we do not wish to be limited by things we're not limited by.

But all my words being said, bear in mind that this is a weekday homily and has zero bearing on the Magisterium....but golly, it'd be nice if we at least can get some of these things right....I'm probably going to have to become the pontifical lecturer of physics just to keep his head on straight :p. Hopefully this relatively short post will help clear some things.

Pax Vobis

Thought of the day

It's often hard to forgive those that have wronged us. For often we tend to take things rather personally and let things get to our inner most being. And it really does not help when those that do hurt us pour cubic meters of salt on top of open wounds that we're trying to heal. Yet in spite of this we must forgive...forgetting may very well not be in the nature of some...especially for those of a particular temperament...but we must do so, even if this process takes multiple decades, even if they do not acknowledge their wrong, even if they reach for the extra strength salt to pour into those open wounds, especially if they grab a knife and make more wounds and then grab that salt again.

Thought of the day

The mental gymnastics that one uses to attempt to explain the obvious....maybe should be stopped to let the obvious show

Thought of the day

Praying for your enemies is often a difficult task. It is so tempting to want to rub something in their faces when they have wronged you. Yet we should avoid such things...easier said than done of course.

Thought of the day

No matter how good the intention, one can't do an evil to promote a good, the ends do not justify the means.

Thought of the day

The Theory of Relativity is not about what's relative oddly, so it should probably be named something completely different.

Thought of the day

What gift is the peace of Christ, when it is He who penetrates the soul and consoles you with His consolation.

Closing thoughts on the Synod

The Pope's closing thoughts here...I'll add the official closing report when it becomes available (UPDATE here's the report in Italian)

I'm sorry to say this, but the Pope HAD to say these words. That's right, he was backed into a corner. His hands were caught in the cookie jar, trying to take the cookies out.

This synod exposed Pope Francis as a member of team liberal (through his appointments) (this does not make him the false prophet, an anti-pope, or even a heretic) and no one can now dismiss that. point. Now some of us have been saying that for quite a while...effectively here's what happened. Pope (through the person of Cardinal B) tried to bypass the teachings of the Church (as I've stated, teachings of the Church can't change)...Bishops blew back and said, no this is not happening. (Keep praying though, this doesn't mean team liberal won't try again and with different tactics)

The human misuse of certain faculties can make it appear as if there's a dichotomy between the letter and the spirit of the law. But we know through our reason that the letter and spirit can't be opposed because they come from the same source, and God does not contradict Himself.

I'm happy to be rather "inflexible"...I take it is a compliment. I don't bend because I love souls. We don't bend because we seek the highest bar and we think that all are capable of reaching this bar with the Grace of God. So it is with all of us that are conservative...it's because we believe that people are called to be greater, not to be reduced to the lowest common denominator!

God is constant, God is order, unfortunately, emotions and the subjective experience are far from constant or even orderly. (There's a reason we can't rely on our emotions to lead us you know)...God can fill our lives with surprises, but He himself is not a surprise. God is consistent.

But as you know at this blog, we don't merely complain and not do something about it. Let us continue to pray even harder for the Church, and the vicar Francis, let us pray that he (Francis) does not get swallowed by the enemies who seek to destroy the Church, and better we pray that he not misuse faculties to do the same.

Pax Vobis

Thought of the day

Maybe, just maybe it's easier to not screw up the first time. Then damage control is not necessary.

Happy Birthday to meeeeeeee :D

Welcome to 8 day stretch that totally revolves around me :D (Well, not quite, but hey, we can pretend)

In thanksgiving to God for allowing me to exist for another day, in particular for this my 29th year of existence....May God in His mercy continue to put up with me :p

In thanksgiving to my mom (RIP) for giving birth to me, I'm still fighting, just like I was as a litle one.

In thanksgiving to my dad, my sister, and all of my family and of course to all of my friends.

And now let the celebration commence.

Thought of the day

The Church if she can't look at herself and understand who she is, and why she does what she does, will be unable to transform the world, or convert the world back to Christ. She is unable to do anything without He who founded Her, when she is not faithful to her Liturgy, to her doctrine, her traditions, her formulations, it is a recipe for disaster.

Oh dear, what are they thinking?

Here's the unofficial translation of the official report at Synod 2014

Now, yes, I know this is merely a report and not a final document, but let's be real here, tone speaks to everything. As we've seen from recent history, even though nothing official changed in Church teaching, the mere change in praxis/tone really messes with the psychology of the faithful.

Giving a full paragraph by paragraph analysis would make me nauseous and probably resulting in a rearrangement of box time, but since I'm known for not mincing words, I'm happy to point out some of the text and not spin it. (My comments in red)

Paragraph 17:    In considering the principle of gradualness in the divine salvific plan, one asks what possibilities are given to married couples who experience the failure of their marriage, or rather how it is possible to offer them Christ’s help through the ministry of the Church. In this respect, a significant hermeneutic key comes from the teaching of Vatican Council II, which, while it affirms that “although many elements of sanctification and of truth are found outside of its visible structure ... these elements, as gifts belonging to the Church of Christ, are forces impelling toward Catholic unity” (Lumen Gentium, 8).

So many things wrong with this paragraph, but let's start with the obvious. The means for assistance in every irregular situation is already there. Something I truly believe is that all couples should have is a spiritual director. A spiritual director can look at their particular situation from the outside and see where things can be fixed. I also believe individuals need spiritual directors for their own individual growth. 

The fact that there are elements of good found in other religions/philosophy, does not make them a True Good, towards Goodness Himself Christ Jesus. As an extension of this point, just because good can be found within an irregular situation does not make the irregular situation ideal or even a good. 

And as the last 50 years has shown us, the emphasis of the positive at the expense of everything else is a recipe for disaster. It's almost as if there's some kind of insane disease infecting the synod which makes them want to repeat the 70's all over again. I'd laugh at this, but I'm afraid this is reality. 

If this is the tone that is wished to be taken, God help us, they might as well say "we surrender" and put a white flag up...but wait, there's more. 

Paragraph 20:   Realizing the need, therefore, for spiritual discernment with regard to cohabitation, civil marriages and divorced and remarried persons, it is the task of the Church to recognize those seeds of the Word that have spread beyond its visible and sacramental boundaries. Following the expansive gaze of Christ, whose light illuminates every man (cf. Jn 1,9; cf. Gaudium et Spes, 22), the Church turns respectfully to those who participate in her life in an incomplete and imperfect way, appreciating the positive values they contain rather than their limitations and shortcomings.

Discernment for what?...Oh dear, let's make exemptions because the law is soooooo hard to follow, yay, let's just throw away the Words of Christ why don't we? God help us...Okay, let's solve this

a. Co-habitation in of itself is more or less a cause for scandal. Precisely because one does NOT know what is going on behind closed doors. (The couple could very well be living as brother and sister prior to their marriage, there could be financial difficulties for one of them, but neither of these are the point...and let's face it, most modern couples do not exercise this option) And I do understand the tendency to "not assume" but again, would it not be better just for the whole thing o not occur in the first place? To live with another person in of itself does not exclude one from Communion, but as the old saying goes, give the people an inch to choke you with, they'll take a mile. If it hasn't been obvious with the lack of discipline in the Church, what in the world makes these people think it's a good idea to give even more slack than we already have? God help us!

Paragraph 42: Such discernment is indispensable for the separated and divorced. What needs to be respected above all is the suffering of those who have endured separation and divorce unjustly. The forgiveness for the injustice endured is not easy, but it is a journey that grace makes possible. In the same way it needs to be always underlined that it is indispensable to assume in a faithful and constructive way the consequences of separation or divorce on the children: they must not become an “object” to be fought over and the most suitable means need to be sought so that they can get over the trauma of the family break-up and grow up in the most serene way possible.

What needs to be made clear here:

a. A separation is not in of itself an evil act. As is usual in our theology, the ends do not justify the means. But it's converse statement: The means do not justify the ends is not so. The Church in her infinite wisdom has already considered these points through. 

Recall that an annulment is NOT a get out of marriage free card, but rather the exact opposite, it's a declaration that a marriage never happened because it was able to be proven there was a defect in form, matter or intention. 

One could possibly say that abuse would fit under intention and one could say if there was an intent to abuse from the very beginning that a marriage should be declared null (that'd violate the vows)...one could also say a few other things, but here's really what I want to focus on

b. How about we just avoid the break up of the family all together? See my previous comment about assisting every couple with spiritual direction. In order for us to really get to the crisis, we can't merely treat the symptoms of the problem, we have to get to the root cause. Divorce, re-marriage are merely symptoms of the core problem, and NOT the things we really need to be treating. 

There's a lot more things to say besides these paragraphs, we need to pray harder for the Church, if this is just merely the record of the discussions. God help us.

Pax Vobis.

Thought of the day

A time will come where we need to stop blaming internal problems on the media, and recognize the problems for what they actually are. That time may very well be now. Is it too much to ask to uphold and not give the enemy anything to use against us?

Thought of the day

If your heart skips, either a. there's an irregular heartbeat, or b. you're starting to fall for someone. The latter is rather nice, the former involves icky hospitals.

Thought of the day

An immovable body and an unstoppable body would pass right through each other via the 1st and 2nd laws of motion. Those that seek to change the dogmas of the Church will fail because there is no way for this to happen. This does not mean that people won't try the end around though.

Why are we so darn afraid? and a solution to the proposed problems

I must confess to you, I've been trying to tune out the whole Synod on the Family (though I have been praying for them) because I know exactly what's going to happen. The media will manipulate it. The language of the documents will be completely ambiguous as to interpret in any direction. The Pope will sign it, and then everything will be ignored and the Bishops' will do whatever they want. It's a completely predictable pattern if we've been following Church matters in the past few decades.

Over at Fr McDonald's blog a rather interesting post and discussion on the tone of the synod...and my eyes lit up and figured there's no way I could justify writing an entire essay on this topic, so here we go.

The language of ambiguity, the sugarcoating of virtually everything has been (if not still is) a major problem within the Church, and it can certainly be extended to society and even our interactions on a daily basis.

Apparently the words "sin" and "disordered" are uncomfortable and not welcoming enough.

Is it possible that we're NOT supposed to be comfortable? That we're supposed to be called to conversion and painting with pink unicorns and fluffy rainbows just won't do that. Certainly I can agree in the need to be charitable, but I can't agree to the premise that we need to be nice and inclusive about every little thing.

In the attempt to "dumb down" language, we're repeating the same mistakes that happened at Vatican II, and the same problems that got the ball rolling in the first place. We cannot change the language without losing its meaning. Even something as simple as changing the tone, changes things psychologically with our minds. How many of us know that Latin is still a requirement for the Liturgy? How many of us even know that the clergy are supposed to be trained in Latin well?  (Granted if you read my blog or did some research, you probably DO know these things, but that's not the point.)

Situations, need to be called as they are and not for what they're not, I'm sick of attempting to please everyone. We can't, so let's stop trying and start teaching the Truth. Are people going to leave or be scared off? Surely, but it is not a game of numbers, or "how many". The Truth generally divides people and forces people to take a stand for something or nothing. It is certainly up to us to present the Truth in the most charitable manner, but it is NOT our job to per se convince people of said Truth. (Conversion is a grace from the Holy Spirit which we can't do alone, Faith is indeed a gift)...but being nice and pretending that things are okay, when they're not is absolutely ridiculous!

So there will be no pillow when a rock is needed to get through the window.

So while they spend an entire year trying to come up with "solutions" I'm going to go ahead and solve this right now...(someone can translate this to Italian and get it to them)

a. What do we do about the divorced?

You'll noticed I did not put remarried, because that's a separate situation. It needs to be made clear that a separation does NOT exclude one from Communion, as long as one does not enter into another relationship. The 2nd part of the statement being actually more important than the first.

Why can't one enter another relationship? The answer's rather simple, one would be committing adultery and be in two relationships at once. It's hard enough to handle one woman/man, why in the world would anyone want two or more? The Church in her wisdom knows our nature and how crazy we'd get if we placed ourselves in that kind of situation where we'd be worn out emotionally, physically and spiritually, and She does not wish this for us.

The local parishes should offer mediation (I'm of the opinion that all couples and individuals need spiritual directors) for the couples that are about to enter these situations. Why? Again, simple reasoning a marriage is for life, and our emotions come and go. An outsider can look at these situations and solve them without the emotions of being invested.

....I have a bit more to add to this post...but for now I'll stop here

Pax Vobis

Thought of the day

Are you prepared to stand up for Truth?

Prayer requests

I must confess it's been a relatively rough week...so somethings I'd like for you to pray for...

a. For the repose of the soul of Fr Benedict Groeschel CFR, I met him once, left a good impression on me, although I was not called to that particular order.

b. For the Synod on the Family. God help us if Kasper and his cronies are left in charge.

c. My personal requests for the daughter of Lisa and for a woman with code name C.

Thought of the day

Every time I hear applause at church, I always think of Pope Benedict's quote on applause in the Liturgy for human achievements. It's better when a member of the choir agrees with you.

Thought of the day

Like it was yesterday, that's often how things still feel, regardless of how long ago they've been.

On the feast of the ever wonderful St Therese

A most blessed feast day to all of you! Through her intercession may you all be provided the graces you need to get through whatever you need.

"How sweet is the way of Love! True, one may fall, one may not be always faithful, but Love, knowing how to draw profit from all, very quickly consumes whatsoever may displease Jesus, leaving naught but humble and profound peace in the innermost soul."


It's certainly not easy to be faithful, with so much discouragement coming from the top. For someone like myself I have to try and avoid being too cynical and pessimistic towards everything that goes on. Whether it's towards people, or towards matters in the Church. I think collectively we need to realize (in particular for me) people let us down and sometimes we're our own obstacle to doing great things. 


But really our love for God will get us through, if we allow it to be so. To open our hearts to His love can sometimes be a rather difficult thing due to various reasons. I know for myself it's quite, quite difficult given the various crosses that I've had (and to some degree continue) to have in my life. I do my best, but so often I am weak and still fail.


I'm ever thankful to St Therese who has gotten me through virtually everything, points at my lowest, and points at my highest. She's a friend who I can always count on to put up with my perpetual complaining. Her stubbornness (just like mine), her sometimes cynicalness all I can relate to...If it isn't obvious, I love St Therese everything she stood for and everything she did...and I pray that once again she'll come to my aid for the various intentions that I have....Sorry for the rather semi-personal love letter to St Therese, but this glorious saint brings my soft side out...speaking of which.
I'd much appreciate it if you'd pray for a very special intention. It's been quite a while since I've allowed what I may allow to happen, to happen, I can't be specific about it now, but please do pray for this intention.


I leave with another quote from my dear Therese





"Love attracts love, mine rushes forth unto Thee, it would fain fill up the abyss which attracts it; but alas! it is not even as one drop of dew lost in the Ocean. To love Thee as Thou lovest me I must borrow Thy very Love - then only, can I find rest."

Again, a blessed feast day to all of you!

Pax Vobis

Thought of the day

Charity gave me the key to my vocation. I understood that the Church being a body composed of different members, the most essential, the most noble of all the organs would not be wanting to her; I understood that the Church has a heart and that this heart is burning with love; that it is love alone which makes the members work, that if love were to die away apostles would no longer preach the Gospel, martyrs would refuse to shed their blood. I understood that love comprises all vocations, that love is everything, that it embraces all times and all places because it is eternal!

St Therese of the Child Jesus :D

St Therese Novena Day 9

O Heavenly Father, Who hast prepared for us a glorious reward after the labors of this life, and hast promised to crown with honor and glory those who are faithful to the end in Thy love, we beseech Thee to grant us through the intercession of St Therese of the Child Jesus the grace to be faithful to Thy commandments, to those of the Holy Church, and to Thy holy inspirations until the hour of our death.

Father, grant that, after the example of St Therese of the Child Jesus, we may not recoil from labors, that temptations may not keep us from Thee, that trials may not cause us to lose courage. May neither the world, nor the devil, nor our own inclinations separate us from Thee to Whom we desire to belong forever, as we promised Thee on the day of our Baptism and on the day of our First communion.

Perseverance in grace is a grace, we beseech Thee to grant it to us, and in Thy merciful love not to refuse us the grace of graces, that of final perseverance which will unite us to Thee forevermore and will give us to contemplate during all Eternity Thine adorable Fae.

Father, uphold us in the midst of our combats until the day when we shall gain the victory, when Thou Thyself wilt triumph in us.

St Therese of the Child JEsus who persevered throughout your life in exact fidelity o God's grace, you who saw perseverance crowned on the glorious day of your death, obtain for us to be fully faithful to God's law and never to separate ourselves from His holy love. Obtain for us the favors we crave and implore through your powerful intercession Amen.

St Therese Novena day 8

O Heavenly Father, Who hast created all the good things of earth for the use of man and dost measure them out to him with marvelous bounty, we beg Thee through the intercession of St Therese of the Child Jesus to give us all those things of which we have need for the perseveration of our life here below.

Teach us to use these things with the moderation befitting Christians, let us not attach our heart to them; may they serve not to keep us from Tee, the Only True Good to be desired and the Giver of all that is good in this world. Give us, as Thou gavest to Thy faithful handmaiden St These of the Child Jesus, to make a holy use of earthly things and to make them serve on for Thy Glory.

Father, Who doest feed the birds of the air and clothe the lilies of the valley, forsake not the souls of those who trust in Thee.

St Therese of the Child Jesus who ever used the things of this world according to the order willed by God, you made earthly gifts serve to merit those that are heavenly, we ask you to obtain for us all that is necessary for us during our life upon earth. Obtain for us the favors we crave and implore thorugh your powerful intercession. Amen.

Why do we implore Mercy?

In the glossary of the CCC 2nd Edition, there is given a definition of mercy, which is as follows:

The loving kindness, compassion, or forbearance shown to one who offends.

In the Byzantine Church, the priest says "Let us pray to the Lord" (Господу помолимся) and we reply "Lord have mercy" (Господи помилуй, Κυριε ελεισον)

I find it rather interesting during the present pontificate we're speaking of Mercy. But in order for us to speak of it, we need to know what in the world that we're talking about, and whether an action in of itself is merciful.

The one thing I'd like to add to the definition of mercy that I've provided you is that mercy does not always imply kindness. In some situations we have to justly "be mean" in order to be merciful...

It is rather merciful to not allow a person to commit a mortal sin when receiving Communion in particular when this situation has gone public for everyone to know, and to receive would cause scandal amongst the Faithful. This is why the Church has CIC 915, not as a weapon, but rather as the greatest mercy she can provide to the Faithful, to help them not drown themselves further into the abyss. The same goes for the public knowledge of those that have re-married (Separation or Divorce does not exclude one from Communion per se)

At the same token it is merciful to allow people to present their case when they've been accused of a wrong doing. So of course it is positive as well. But Mercy can never be at the exemption of Truth.

Lord have mercy, we beg of Him to have compassion for our weakness...in His compassion for His creation, he gives us free will to serve Him...and so often we fail, and yet He still loves us...and in His mercy allows us another day.

Let us thank the Lord for His mercy, for without it, we're screwed.

Pax Vobis

St Therese Novena Day 7

O Heavenly Father, Who has bestowed upon us so many benefits through the intercession of St Therese of the Child Jesus, and willest that we should honour this lovable saint with a special devotion, we earnestly implore Thee of Thy fatherly loving-kindness the grace o be ever faithful in veneration of her, invoking and imitating her virtues.

It is good for us to pay honor to the Saints. Thou has placed these blessed Saints as powerful mediators between ourselves and Thee, that so Thou mayest bestow upon us more ready and more abundant aids. That which our prayer cannot obtain, theirs will obtain for us.

Thou has willed that the Saints should be our models. They once were what we are; we can with Thy grace become what they are, what they have done, we can do in our turn, Father, give us a true and lasting devotion towards St Therese of the Child Jesus, a devotion well ordered, constant, a devotion that will sanctify us an lead us to Thee o Whom all he homage we pay o the Saints returns.

St Therese of the Child Jesus, placed by the Church upon our altars to be our protectress with God and model in Christian life, obtain for us, we ask of you, ever to have you in honor, to venerate you, to invoke you, to imitate you for the greater glory of God and the greater good of our souls. Obtain for us the favors we crave and implore through your powerful intercession Amen.

St Therese Novena Day 6

O Heavenly Father, Who bestowed upon the Blessed Virgin Mary the greatest and most precious graces and privileges and called her to become the Mother of Thy Son Jesus also giving her to be our Mother, we beseech thee through the intercession of St Therese of the Child Jesus ever so faithful to honor this beloved Virgin, whose radiant countenance and gracious smile she one day beheld to grant us too the inestimable favor of being the very loving children of this Holy Mother.

We need her maternal mediation, for this good Mother is the way that leads to Jesus, and she is the treasurer of all the graces that our Saviour acquired for us by the shedding of His Precious Blood
.
We thank Thee, O Father, for having given us the Blessed Virgin to be our Mother; and our guide along our life's path, and we beseech Thee that, like St Therese of the Child Jesus, we may be true imitators of her virtues of her perfect humanity, her immaculate purity, and her ardent love. We look to her for he greatest succor now and at the hour of hour death.

St Therese of the Child Jesus who ever manifested a great love for the One you named the Immaculate Virgin, and from whom you received so many benefits, we ask you to obtain for us the grace to imitate your tender devotion towards her and help us to reproduce her beautiful and admirable virtues even as you yourself did. Obtain for us the favors we crave and implore through your powerful intercession. Amen.

Thought of the day

Sometimes the biggest obstacle to holiness, is the person staring you in the mirror

St Therese Novena Day 5

O Heavenly Father, Who so loved men that Thou didst give them Thine Only begotten Son to be their Redeemer upon the Cross and Food in the Divine Sacrament of the Altar, we beseech Thee to grant us through the prayers of S therese of the Child Jesus so inflamed with love of this Adorable Sacrament and so eager to receive It, the grace for our part to draw near very often to the Holy Table.

Following the example of St Therese of he Child Jesus, may we bring it to the best dispositions, a right intention, hearts filled with lively faith, a sincere humility, deep confidence, ardent charity.

Father, make us truly understand that this Divine Bread is no less needful to our soul than material bread is to our body and ha we cannot abstain from It without hurt to our soul.

St Therese of the Child Jesus who so much loved the Divine Sacrament of the Alar and so greatly longed to unite yourself to It through Holy Communion, obtain for us from God a love, like to yours for this Adorable Sacrament and a fervent longing often to receive It in our hearts. Obtain for us the favors we crave and implore through your powerful intercession Amen.

St Therese Novena Day 4

O Heavenly Father, Who in Thine infinite wisdom dost permit the just to be tried upon earth, like gold in the furnace, hereafter to crown them gloriously in Heaven, we beseech Thee to grant us through the intercession of St Therese of the Child Jesus, all the graces of fortitude and consolation which we urgently need in he difficulties we encounter here below.

Thou dost order all things for the good of those who love Thee, nothing befalls without Thy permission, Thou knowest how to draw good out of evil. May these consoling truths be our support in the midst of our sorrows. Sweeten for us all that is bitter by the unction of Thy grace.

Permit not, O Father, that impatience shall possess our heart or murmurs rise to our lips. Make us understand the providential use of sorrow, as it was undertook by St Therese who owned to finding happiness in the midst of suffering.

St Therese of the Child Jesus who suffered much here below, and knew how to find joy in every bitterness, intercede for us with God that so He may help us to bear patiently all our crosses, and console our hearts saddened by the trials of earth's exile. Obtain for us the favors we crave and implore through your powerful intercession. Amen.

Thought of the day

Some people are truly easier to forgive than others. Some take the core of one's being...others can be dropped at a hat.

St Therese Novena Day 3

O Heavenly Father, Who did dispose the soul of St Theres of the Child Jesus to ascend by such wonderful steps and didst make this lovable saint to rise from virtue to virtue aiding her so admirably to practice humility, simplicity, patience, confidence, zeal and love, we beseech Thee to place in our hearts dispositions like to hers and to grant us to resemble her, that we may hence become conformable to Thy Son Jesus, our Model and the Divine Example of Thine adorable perfections.

These virtues are so needful for us, for without them we cannot be happy here below; without them we cannot gain for Thee the glory that Thou dost look for from us.

Vouchsafe, O Father, to help us make these virtues ours. May Thy numerous graces joined to our generous efforts, bring forth, as in St Therese. true and lasting virtue.

St Therese of the Child Jesus who to please God ever Wonderfully grew in virtue each day of your life, obtain for us to resemble you and generously to practice those virtues of which you have left us such a beautiful example. Obtain for us the favors we crave and implore through hyour powerful intercession. Amen.

Thought of the day

It's almost as if sometimes, people wish to destroy something that is good, just to say they did it.

St Therese Novena Day 2

O Heavenly Father, Who to assure our advancement in the right path dost never cease to multiply the supernatural means of help which we need, and which Thou has divinely poured out upon St Therese of the Child Jesus, we beg of Thee, through this Saint so dear to Thy Heart, all the graces of light and of fortitude necessary or helpful to fulfill Thine adorable will.

Thy grace ever went before St Therese and Thou didst uphold her at each moment for Thou didst give to her both to will and to do, and without Thee none can ever utter the name of Jesus whereby we may be saved.

Father, shed abroad in our minds and hearts those graces won by the merits of our Savior and which St Therese asks for us.

St Therese of the Child Jesus upon whom so many divine graces were showered, we pray to you to intercede with our Heavenly Father, so that through the merits of our Savior and your merits, He may vouchsafe to give to our souls all the graces needful for the perfect fulfillment of our duty. Obtain for us the favors we crave and implore through your powerful intercession. Amen.

St Therese Novena day 1

O Heavenly Father, Who in Thine ineffable goodness didst place in the soul of St Therese of the Child Jesus the precious treasure of sanctifying grace, and didst grant her ever to keep it in the midst of earthly dangers, we pray Thee to grant to us for our part the happiness of never losing this inestimable gift whereby we become Thine adopted children, the brothers and sisters of Thy Son Jesus, the temples of the Holy Spirit and the heirs of Heaven.

Enable us, to this end, carefully to avoid mortal sin which would rob us of this grace more to be desired than all the wealth of the world, to fly the occasions of sin, and to resist temptation.

We implore these graces through the intercession of the one who was ever Thy faithful child and whose memory we venerate St Therese of the Child Jesus who would have preferred to die than lose God's grace, vouchsafe to obtain for us all the help necessary to avoid the misfortune of committing mortal sin, incompatible with this divine grace. Obtain for us the favors we crave ad implore through your powerful intercession. Amen.

Pax Vobis

Meanwhile in the land of pink and fluffy unicorns and rainbows...

We've all heard about the Cardinal Dolan Fiascoes, one of which he attempts to defend here, the other here and the salt on top of a wound of Abp elect Cupich to Chicago, up to the potential exile of Cardinal Burke, and the upcoming Synod...trying to organize thoughts has been rather painful, but I think now I've done so, hopefully rather charitably....and then the real salt on the wound if this is true

a. The St Patrick's Parade...

Let us start with a simple question: Why do we tell people information? It's because we WANT people to know what we're conveying. What we do NOT want people to know, we simply do not tell people...is this not true? For example, if I decide to tell you that I have a cat...it's because I want you to know that I have a cat, or know that you love kitties.

Likewise, if a person decides to "come out the closet" about who they choose to sleep with, it's because they WANT this knowledge to become public. If it wasn't to be public knowledge, then it simply would not be spoken in such a way that this information comes to the public.

As such, a group declaring on a banner that they freely choose to sleep with members of the same sex now makes this knowledge for public judgement and consideration. While it is true that one can't directly make the connection as to whether sodomy is taking place, it tends to be such a matter that those that are not seeking the attentions for these types of actions would not put themselves in the situations for that to happen. It is those that wish for the attention that make the public declaration....and there is no attempt to hide the activity that is going on. Let's not kid ourselves hee, those that are under the OUT NBC banner are more than likely not living lives according to he Church's teaching...

To the point of Cardinal Dolan being reassured that active promotion will not take place...You mean the same that he was "reassured" that Abortion wouldn't take place in Obamacare? How'd that turn out? The same one that trusts the criminal administration to work on illegal immigration, when it can't get abortion right? The same guy who Bravo'ed Michael Sam? I'd love to say he's being naive, but I can't agree, seeing that His Eminence has been fooled before....You really think that these people will not seek the opportunity to embarrass the Church and the Archbishop? There's a good reason his predecessors took the sand of no banners in the parade for St Patrick.

My friend Stephanie has a few points on her blog that are definitely worth considering, which although I do disagree with her, this blogger is all about giving equal time to the discussion.

To let oneself be manipulated in situations where there is clear opposition to what you believe is something that can't be allowed. It boggles me that the same approach (that failed back in the 70's) is being tried again, and somehow they're expecting to get different results? Insanity is probably being charitable, diabolical, may very well be more accurate.

But of course, it'd be crazy to not suggest a solution for this...whenever the parade will be next year...a Holy Hour to be done in reparation. Cardinal Dolan needs our prayers...big time...put your prayers on steroids for this Cardinal, that he may convert and really use the gift of fortitude to speak the truth, rather than capitulate to the culture....

b. Bp Cupich to Chicago

Now, I did live in Spokane for a short time and know of various orthodox priests that were placed in "interesting" positions...and also remember when the Bishop forbade his priests (later amended (don't fall for the amended piece being the original, it wasn't) (When I lived there, I was attending the Byzantine Catholic parish, his rule didn't apply)...made for some interesting times.

I find it interesting, we have a culture that will run us over if we don't stand up, and this appointment, is basically buzz kill for the culture warrior movement. There's an interesting defense here....but I must say, it's very true that one can tell a lot about a person by who their friends, and who their enemies are. It is also true that one can't directly implicate a person based upon their friends and enemies, but we can know about how a person interacts through their relationships....so when the liberal establishment is rejoicing....God help us...and yes, that does mean we need to pray for him, that he may use the gifts of fortitude for the Church. Apparently this is a Pope Francis personal pick....so much for continuity (but to be fair, he cleans up sex abuse scandals pretty quickly)...As I've said before, this pontificate may prove to be the Anti-Benedict XVI pontificate, and the last liberal hurrah before they hopefully go away and disappear.

c. The synod

I'll keep my thoughts simple, if this is a test to see whether God will allow this (Communion for Divorced/Remarried)....It's not a position that the Church wants to put themselves in....and if it does happen, the Pontiff will have publicly proclaimed error in solemn manner...and this would result in some very ugly things happening (Francis being anti-Pope Francis), schism, ugly things that we don't wish to happen. Pray for the synod, let us pray for them that they do uphold the teaching of the Church...let us not be presumptuous and assume it can't happen....there are humans involved, and schisms have happened.

d. Oh boy

If Piero Marini is appointed, that is salt on the open wound, and probably come to prove that the hypothesis about the anti-Benedict XVI pontificate to be true. We should pray that this does not happen, yes, I know God can write straight with crooked lines, but really...let us not be crazy.

Let us pray, pray, pray pray

Pax Vobis

Thought of the day

The synod on the family...seems as if it's going to do some testing...God help us

Thought of the day

Dialogue is the noose by which the west will hang its neck if it does not realize that dialogue can't be an end in of itself, but merely a means towards an end.

Distraction time...

Thought of the day

Celebrity: A person who gets paid lots of money to play pretend, A person who gets paid a lot of money to play a game, A person who gets paid a lot of money to connect notes together. A few seem rather strange.

Thought of the day

Poison coated in sugar is still poison

Thought of the day

It is important to keep practicing, one never knows when one is needed.

Thought of the day

To be silent in the face of error is wrong, the ends do not justify the means. It's not merely a duty but a sincere obligation that we must call things as we see them. The objective actions warrant objective responses.

Post number 600....

I really wanted to write this yesterday, but considering it was the Nativity of Our Lady, I couldn't justify ranting, but today; however, different story entirely...The news has given me a lot to say, so here we go...

a. Cardinal Dolan, no people are not condemning him, but yes, those that are calling him out are right.

Over at Restore DC Catholicism, there's a video on the Vortex on wicked Bishops with not much commentary...but I have plenty of them, few of them nice...but all of them charitable...

It would be one thing if this was the first time Cardinal Dolan capitulated to the culture....everyone's allowed to "make mistakes" so to speak, however; from the Al Smith Dinner, call God him, her, whoever you want, Bravo for Michael Sam, Ss Francis of Assisi and Francis Xavier parish, to the cheesehead, denying the Faith in front of Muslims, the list goes on and on, but you get the point, it's not the first time that something like this has happened.

So as such, this not being a first time offense, something has to be done. Now this is where it gets kind of confusing, while the Pope does appoint Bishops (and this one is on Pope Benedict XVI, one of his worst appointments in my opinion), the Bishops are not agents of the Pope, they do have authority in their own diocese...so while the Pope can be blamed for the appointment itself (though there might be more blame to go on the advisors), he can't be blamed for the misuse of said authority by the local ordinary...(One of the reasons Rome is very often slow to get rid of heretical Bishops, or those that misuse their authority)...seems a bit contradictory, I'm sure, but the whole jurisdiction and authority thing is rather complicated.

If the homosexual people marching in the parade had no banner whatsoever, it wouldn't be a problem, why? Because their sin is being kept private, so because it's internal, we can't judge (TM) we don't know of their attitude, how the incident occurred, etc.

But with the banner, there is an announcement that this is the particular sin that they are doing. Through their own words, they are saying that this particular action is occurring, we're not repenting, we're not changing...We want you to know this is what we're doing. As such this is now an external situation, so actions can indeed be judged. So when a Cardinal Archbishop becomes the marshall of the event, indirectly, he's giving confirmation to what's going on (For better or for worse) by his presence.

Let's say two people are standing outside a porn store. One obviously can't say anything in this situation, why? One doesn't know whether they're a. going inside. b. walking past or c. protesting. Any of the three options could be done, and one wouldn't know. Now let's add to the situation..let's say these two people have banners saying I love porn, and watch it daily. What is one to do now? In this situation, two people are publicly proclaiming their sin for everyone to know. Similarly in our situation with the parade if people are walking, we don't know what's going on in their private lives. Insert the banners, now we know, so it means by definition we must take a stand.

And as such, while I may not know the personal state of a particular soul (and I really don't want to), actions can be seen, and since public approval was de facto given, it is right to call Cardinal Dolan (or anyone else) for the actions that are going on, and to ask the question, what's up with this?

Surely, I don't think anyone's happy to say these words, and would much rather have repentance...but as we've seen, this is a continuation of behavior, and so the only just thing to happen here would be for a "Cardinal Abdication" or resignation as is called for in the video. Quite frankly, yes we're not supposed to place our trust in princes indeed, but it is difficult to follow, or to even care when those above us don't care or place themselves in front to protect us from the evil wolves. I can't begin to tell you how many times I get discouraged, when I see the Bishops' repeating the same failed policies from before. It's like why bother fighting, if we're not going to be helped in our battle against the culture?

And then the even worse crime of having the suppression of truth....Although yes Msgr Pope is a priest and does have an obedience to which we do not have as laity, eventually one needs to stand up...Don't kid yourself and think it was voluntarily taken down, in the world where the altar of political correctness rules, everyone knows there was "nudging" from the top. Enough! Let the truth be spoken, and if one doesn't want to be called out....here's a strange but rather intuitive idea...DON'T CAUSE SCANDAL by one's actions.

That said, I want everyone who reads this little excuse of a blog to do a Holy Hour on Sunday Sept 14th (Exaltation of the Holy Cross) for Cardinal Dolan, for priests, in particular for the virtue of fortitude in the Faith.

b. The job application process

Is rather annoying, okay, so annoying is being rather polite...It's even more frustrating when people do not update their websites as to fool people into thinking of something is available. You can't tell me with technology as proficient as it is now, that one can't keep sites updated nearly instantaneously as to let people know what is open, and what isn't. But wait, that'd make sense, no, no, no, that can't be, I forgot things need to be more complicated than they're supposed to be.

c. It's probably better

For Obama to spend his time on holes 1-18 than actually doing his job. The problems that are created already suck, let's not let the worse solutions get even more time than they already do. But then again, we should probably be careful of accusing the puppet of doing everything wrong, when we should e looking at those controlling the strings.

d. On a slightly positive note

My car is fixed, so now I don't have to do to mediocre Liturgies....(bear in mind where I am)...and I can go back to my places of refuge and for growth. This weekend, I'll be out of town on a retreat and a few other things...as well as meeting with my SD...

Anyways, I should stop yapping for now...

Pax Vobis.

Thought of the day

If one wishes to play games with my heart, alright, I can play too, only, don't expect mercy, I have none when that line is crossed.

Thought of the day

The altar of political correctness very tempting to give incense to....don't do that.

Some thoughts on sport and social engineering

The engineering of society to go along with agendas has certainly been done throughout time, but it's been really amped up in todays world.

Take the NFL with two particular issues of the day...the nickname of the Washington Redskins, and Michael Sam

We have everyone and their neighbor trying to get the Redskins to change their nickname, for the sake of political correctness/social engineering. Here's my question: If the name was so darn offensive, why didn't the Native American community say something AT THE TIME OF THE DEVELOPMENT? As with anything before a project goes forward, objections are raised, different scenarios are looked at before choosing something.

Now it looks like you're crying wolf because it's popular in todays culture to not be offensive, so take advantage of the tendency to social engineer and promote change. They have gotten a few to change their names (or logos to a more neutral concept)...I'm sorry, I never read anywhere where there's a situation where people have a right to not be offended by something? Should we ask birds if they're offended? How about the Catholics? It's rather simple, if you have a problem, address it at the time f the incident....if you're at an impasse, too bad...there is no right to not be offended, deal with it.

As one may have heard, Michael Sam is an openly homosexual football player who was a 7th round draft pick, who got cut and just signed with the Dallas Cowboys. What's so important about telling everyone who one sleeps with? Did anyone ask? Really, the vast majority of people are likely indifferent one way or the other and don't care, as long as what one does is not imposed on them.

As we know it's not being homosexual that is the sin, it's the activity that is the sin...And openly declaring that one is doing this kind of activity is now placing oneself in the course to be judged...(as they are the ones that put it out there)

It's not judging when people place themselves out their precisely for public approval. I'm doing this, please, please approve what I'm doing, or else. As I've said before, it is not necessary for public approval to get things done. There is no need to tell me, or the entire public who you sleep with, for doing so places us in the awkward position of having to tell you...hey, maybe you shouldn't not be doing that.

Since they're trying to social engineer us, we need to be resistant towards these movements. It certainly doesn't mean that we can't enjoy recreation, or even try in our own personal lives to be charitable in our language....but sports are for recreation, not for social engineering.

Thought of the day

There are somethings which are engraved into our memories...and if these things are great, it is quite possible something beautiful can be created.

Thought of the day

Just because one has the power to do something does not mean that one should exercise it. Conversely, just because one exercises power does not mean they have the authority to do so.

Prayer requests

Please pray for the blogger Richard who is battling cancer! Thank you! God bless you!

Thought of the day

It's rather amazing the things that we're desensitized to...whether on purpose or by accident.

Thought of the day

Love of money is the root of all evil. If we were serious about stopping terrorism, we'd cut the money supply. No money, no network, yes, it really is that simple

Some thoughts on Israel-Palestine

**Warning, this will rub you the wrong way...no apologies will be made**

To be rather honest, I think both sides are wrong and here's how I got there. My thoughts are at the end..

a. Theological Perspective

Firstly, we need to understand the Church's theology. The Church is the new Israel...For the new covanent in Christ's Blood fulfills the old one. So strictly speaking "Israel" are those that are members of the Church under the headship of Peter...From a theological perspective the Church and Israel are the SAME...this blog has some good detail which should prayerfully be taken into consideration.

There's another question as to whether modern Judaism is the same as OT Judaism...This post here gives a good explanation as to why it's not. And that is something VERY important to consider...which we'll talk more about later. 

b. The political perspective

Palestine was never a sovergin country, so to say never ruled themselves, whether it was via the Ottoman empire, or the British fact of the matter is there was never a country called Palestine (although it was labeled as such on maps)...So as such, as it's know "Israel" did not exist as such prior to 1947...There are various debates as to what happened, and the legality of the founding of Israel, but that's not the point of this really, it's been quite volatile for quite a while. Those that defend Israel look to WWII and the Holocaust to justify Israel, look at how they were treated, Israel is an act of justice for them...

While not discrediting what happened, do people think to ask questions such as how did this come to be? Were there practices that allowed this situation to happen? While we don't blame victims most certainly, is it possible that a behavior could have had something to do with what happened? (Again, I'm NOT justifying anything, it's as simple as proposing the question...

If we look throughout history, there were times that the Jews most certainly were being discriminated against BECAUSE of their religion. There were also situations where their religion had NOTHING to do with why they weren't allowed to do somethings. The former is never justified (While error does not have rights, every person does have an inalienable right to dignified treatment)...The latter is something entirely different. Let's say for example that a Jewish bank practices usury. Someone not wanting to practice usury does not allow these banks to exist...this is NOT persecution against a religion...it's a persecution against a particular behaviour (which this was happening before the Bolshivek revolution...this was the practice of Tsar Alexander)...it was not the Jewish religion that was being outlawed....usury however was. As I have stated before, the fact that many in Congress, and many of the bankers are such, I don't think the practice of religion is important to these people. I'd say it's more of a cultural item and as such condemning people for being Jewish is absolutely wrong and holding anti-semitic views (hating people because of their Jewish roots) is wrong. There is a major difference between those that practice Zionism and those that don't. Those that have read the Talmud in full know of the different blasphemies of Our Lord. The varying degrees to which this is practiced is an entirely different thing.

I must say there's something rather creepy about the almost absolute dogmatic treatment conservatives give Israel. Why this attitude? What is it that makes the state of Israel an unquestioned dogma?

What I want to know is what do our Christian brethren in the Middle East think of the state of Israel? I don't care what people in "the west" think, I want to know those that are right in the middle of the ground think. If they do NOT support Israel, why not? What are the reasons? Is there a reason why they might stand by Hamas? (The same ones we fund by the way)...those are the only opinions that really matter in the case of Israel vs Palestine. Not yours, not mine (which you'll find out at the end of this rant piece), not anyone else's.

There has been this graphic going around facebook showing that Hamas has rejected peace deals...does anyone ask the question...why? does anyone ask, what was in the peace deal? We're there terms that could not be accepted? What exact language was used? (Again, not justifying terrorist acts...but things need to be considered in their totality) Of course I feel this way about anything, what exactly I'm agreeing to? I'd want to know the exact terms of what I'm agreeing to, just to make sure there aren't tricks that are being played.

c. What each side has done wrong

There was an agreed to boundary in 1947 after WWII ended. This boundary should have been respected, and there should not have been settlements into the territories that belonged to the Palestinians. This effectively was theft (even if not called such). That said of course siding with  a US funded terrorist organization doesn't exactly show the best of character...Nor does using civilians as human shields during bombing attacks to increase the number of casualties. It's rather one side, but do we ask why this is the case? Is it really as simple as Hamas using human shields vs strict targeting? I tend to think that we're being lied to about the whole situation.

d. My actual opinion

I'm of course of the opinion that both sides have a right to exist...I'm not of the opinion though that granting land because of loss of a war is a good justification for such a right to exist. It is perhaps better to consider a different situation where we have two different people living in this area and for the sake politics, it's best to give each their own place. (The two state solution as Pope Benedict advocated for)...It certainly has draw backs. Now I don't have knowledge of the Arabic language....(oddly, I have a friend who wishes to teach me)...but I do know that statement to wipe Israel off the face of the map was NOT said by the former president Ackmuhoweveryouspellhisname.

Given the fact that the media is all owned by the same people and there's an agenda out, I don't know if it can be trusted in this whole situation. In the link that I mentioned earlier, you can see the clear theological basis as to why we must condemn Zionism as practiced. But that said, that doesn't mean I don't believe that a state should not exist. Now, I don't agree with founding a state on a false religion, nor for that matter do I agree with a secular state (as we've seen the disasterous consequences of such)...The governments should be ordered towards the True Faith (Catholicism) with false religions being treated with dignity, but distinction. I would also say that Israel should be re-named to Judah, because the Church is the New Israel and as such it makes no sense to have a political state with the name of Israel.

The funny thing about this whole situation, there are Israeli Christians and Palestinian Christians in this whole debate, and no one speaks about them, no one speaks up for them. There is a presumption that everyone there is of the same opinion. I liken it similar to how the black community is assumed to be liberal, left wing, de facto reverse racists, when it's absolutely not true that all think alike in this situation.

We need to stop with the collective dogma that to question the political situation of Israel equates to being anti-Semitic, just as opposing gay marriage does not mean that one is "anti-gay"…Again, it is important to have the free exchange of ideas, even if they end up being wrong, or if people get labeled one way or another.

I love all of my friends regardless of the positions that one takes in this whole situation…but let there be open debate and discussion for both sides of the issue.

But now that I've come out and question (but not oppose) the status quo, trouble will probably brew.

Pax Vobis

Thought of the day

The ends do not justify the means to get there. So, yes, that means if you're looting just to make a point, you're wrong. Yes, that also means if you're stupid enough to put ice water, or boiling water on you to AVOID works of charity, you're just as guilty.

Thought of the day

If light bends through a particular medium and has no mass, ultimately energy and momentum have more to do with gravity rather than the mass of a body. So while it is true that the gravitational force is the measure of attraction between two different bodies, it is not implied that mass is the cause of this, further leading to the orthodox understanding that force is not defined by a mathematical equation, rather than the unorthodox understanding that we can define forces mathematically.

Some thoughts on Furgeson, Police, and such matters

There's a saying that the person who cries wolf one too many times, is ignored when the actual wolf shows up.

Crying victim, when one is not a victim leaves absolutely no sympathy when one ends up truly being a victim of whatever it happens to be. I'm afraid this is something that happens far too much in the African American community. Are their situations of race relations that happen? Absolutely! Are their situations where police abuse their power? Absolutely! But just because something happens does not automatically mean that one is victim of racism or a form of abuse.

Rioting and looting makes you (and everyone else) look horrible, what change does that cause? Other than giving the police and authorities more reason to use power, I can't think of any justice that happens.

Look, it's a tragedy when anyone dies...regardless of whether they were guilty or innocent...it's not within our nature to rejoice at the death of an innocent person. (Unless by some way there's a type of mental problem)...in particular if the person is young....we imagine that person to be our kids, or someone that we know, and we wonder, what if it was them.

Just like in the Trayvon situation, there's a media that puts agenda over substance. Nobody waits for the facts and reports on speculation...(which this isn't to say that speculation isn't a good thing)...but the speculation needs to be corrected when the facts come out for the case. And I blame BOTH the conservative and liberal media sources.

I can't say it's justified to shoot a person 6 times to stop an aggressor...but the need for a person to be able to defend themselves is always justified. Did the officer act in disproportion to what was necessary? I'd say so...(the two shots in the head were probably too much)...Did the officer have a right to defend himself from being attacked? Absolutely!

People are showing somethings about Michael with distasteful things...what that has to do with the particular date of interest, we don't know...and it should NOT be assumed that these issues had anything to do with the events of that day. What was known is that he was involved with a robbery...he was illegally walking on the street for which he was stopped.

The man broke the law....I can most certainly agree that he didn't deserve to die, but I'm not out to absolve anyone from anything in this situation. Both sides could have acted differently and this would not have happened.

The rioting is flat out ridiculous. Since when does destroying your own community make things better? It would not surprise me if the rioters were planted as to create a situation of unrest. It seems there were peaceful protesters until a few nutjobs showed up. But it's interesting that at the conservative rallies you don't see this type of unrest....why is it that unrest happens at those places of liberal persuasion more often than not?

But I must say there is something that does concern me big time....the militarization of our police....It's not that I don't believe that there should be access for extreme situations (I do) or even that the police need to be armed (most certainly they do)...the issue is that police do not need to be handling things like military operations. Recall, didn't we have a separation for this and many other reasons, when military were openly going into homes. (Fortunately it's against the law without proper warrants (but hey, since when did THAT stop the government?))

As I've said, there are situations that very well require the police to have this kind o gear, but those in general are few and far between with respect to the whole. Just like any other people or organization there are temptations for corruption and abuse of power, and these should be minimized.

If someone is unarmed, there should not be a need to shoot them a ton of times to get them to stop doing what they are doing...(key word should) now, someone being 6'4 290...obviously it is going to take a greater deal of force to stop the massive object. (a = F/m), so while I do not justify the death of a person, or even the measure taken to stop him, I see why a ton of effort was made. Now I don't know the height and weight of the officer in question either...so it makes for interesting situatio.

Julie at her blog Connecticut Catholic Corner has some good thoughts on why we should keep our police well armed, and I tend to agree, but I also believe that it's important that power not be used corruptly.

Pax Vobis