Helen Smith but she should read more Tom Kratman.
TRIUMPHALIST--YOU GOT A PROBLEM WITH THAT?
Saturday, August 25, 2012
"Hello Darkness My Old Friend..."
I've never pretended that I am not a bleak minded fellow.
But sometimes the bleakness makes feel like it's May 27, 1453. Yes, it seems dark to me here.
The best selling book of the year seems to be an S&M Porno that is being scarfed up by women, who for two millennia have been the true guardians of the family and decency in the west. A book that has been noticed by therapists and those who work with victims of abuse, rape and child molestation as essentially recounting as "romantic" and "erotic" the very acts that have devastated those they work with.
At the same time, the self appointed "elite"-- those who styled themselves as "brights" until most of us jeered so loudly they stopped-- are trying to convince us that it's a loving act to euthanize our elders, our disabled, our unwanted.
I was on Netflix two days ago, looking at new offerings in drama. About 1 in 3 of them were gay or lesbian themed. Think about it. Between 1.5 and 3% of people are homosexual. Yet we're bombarded by messages about how normal it is. I've heard a young woman, the product of a state run school for gifted students and a major university sigh and say "I'm finally coming to terms with my heterosexuality", as if it were some sort of abnormality. People who object, calling sodomy, tribidism and similar practices immoral are labeled as haters, yet the violence, intimidation, threats, extortion, boycotts and government interference run overwhelmingly the other way.
We used to speak about tolerance in terms of "racial tolerance", "ethnic tolerance"," religious tolerance" and so forth. Then we began speaking about just "tolerance" and now it's moving to the point where we speak about acceptance. Well, there are many things that are unacceptable--yet we're told to accept them. That is in and of itself unacceptable. I'm sick of "accepting" or "tolerating' things that suck, like adultery, theft, fraudulent claims and practices and unjust laws that hurt those who actual contribute to our society. I'm sick of being told I should show solidarity with those who practice evil and deception. I think being intolerant is the most responsible thing we could do now, because when morality and responsibility are optional, (to paraphrase Chesteron) they become forbidden.
I am at this point unable to trust anything that operates above the level of the individual. The press? Please! We have a regime that ran guns to illegal drug cartels that are engaging in guerrilla warfare along our border, with one cartel member actually saying that the operation was part of a deal to support one cartel in order to put down the others, yet the press tries very hard to ignore it, because the mainstream media are in love with the president due to the fact he's not white. And they call those who object or question racist. What's more racist, to make a decision based on someones ethnicity or to look at facts?
Our government for the last 12 years has engaged in an ongoing process of rendering the basic law of the land--established by WE the People--inoperative, and to define our rights as something granted by the government, not reserved by the people from government interference. Our government no longer wishes to be bound by law, but to decide through regulation and executive order what the law is, and to force us into compliance. We're in our second year in a row of drought, and the Government is diverting a huge amount of grain to produce ethanol as a sop to the Pagan Earth Worshipers of the environmental movement, driving up food prices for human beings. Yet, at the same time, the government this spring gutted our ability fo fight wildfires, removing 50% of our ability to do so (while running up the largest, most rapidly expanding debt in our history, exceeding even that of the Civil War and WWII!) with the result that an area of our Republic larger than the State New Jersey has burned, and the fires continue. The press has reported on the gutting---well just read the above, they mostly haven't.
The Church? No, I don't trust the Church very much anymore, either. I have the example of the English bishops under Henry VIII to prevent me from thinking the USCCB is trust worthy. I have the example of pastoral letters like "Forever Our Children" to make me think they are not concerned with my soul, but their institution and political position. You can't trust what Father says, either. David Verhasselt was censored for indirectly violating the seal of the confessional, and is now facing excommunication for founding a break away parish under "The Evangelical Catholic Church"--and half of his parishioners are so deluded by his teaching they're on his side. That's extreme, but all of us are aware we have a presbyterate that covered for sodomites, pederasts, pedophiles and sexual predators among them for decades, as well as heretics (the priest who have tried to tell me that the Real Presence is a medieval doctrine, and who have tried to "correct be when I say "becomes the Body and Blood" and to say "signifies the Body and Blood".) The Episcopacy is no better, Verhasselt is the progeny of Rembert Weakland, a prelate who was fired because he used close to half a million dollars of church funds to buy the silence of his catamite--roughly 45 years of my income!--yet who was described to be, by a "priest in good standing", "a saint".
The "Nuns". Don't make me laugh. The sophistry of saying the Leadership Council of Women Religious are in trouble, not the congregations themselves is contemptible. The leadership is elected. The Sisters that get so highly praised for the "service" voted for the leaders that say it's time to get past Jesus, to embrace homosexuality, abortion, collectivism, new age spirituality, womyns power, womyns ordination and what have you. The LCWR wouldn't be the ecclesiastical freak show that it is, if the sisters didn't vote those women into leadership positions.
My parish has more than 750 families enrolled, over 2000 souls. Our pastor spends three days a week at the Chancery. that gives him three days a week to devote to the pastoral care of us, and one day a week to rest. This is the care taken of me by the Church. Before you say "priest shortage" read Farewell Good Men, and get a feel for why we have one. Try to get a sacramental blessed--odds are good you wont, or Father or Deacon will make a hurried sign of the cross over it, and never crack The Book of Blessings or the Rituale Romanum. Look at your Sunday Mass--is it really the Roman Rite? Or like me, did you have to drive half way across the state to get what you have, under Canon Law, a right to? I moved to get to a decently celebrated Mass! In the Ordinary Form! I have no trust that I will receive Unction. or Viaticum, when my time comes, or final absolution. For a sinner like me, that's terrifying. Heck, I've walked out of the confessional knowing I had to go elsewhere, and do it again, because the priest made up his own formula of absolution.
Schools? 80% of High School Graduates can't pass the eighth grade exams of 1940! Likewise most college graduates can't display the basic competencies expected of High School graduates in 1960. I'm sick of reading "and also" and "busted" in newspapers and national magazines. Geography assignments we had to do in 5th grade are now being done by high school sophomores, to a lower standard, in Louisville. (Seriously, the names and capital cities of the 50 states? Without locating them on a map?) We are becoming a nation of ignoramuses, descending into the murk and unreality of superstition. Don't believe me? Look at all the junk science, the ubiquity of occult and "new age" gnostic thought and practices
I'm running out of trust. At this point, I trust individuals, and only individuals. At the same time, part of the Church is telling me that's a sin. I often have no idea where to jump, but I feel like an Alien in my own land.
In may 1453, on the 28th and 29th day, Constantinople fell, and with it, the last political entity that could display organic, institutional unity with the classical Greco-Roman Civilization that underpins Western Culture. I think I know how the people of that city felt, as they underwent the first massed artillery bombardment in history, and watched the inexorable progress of the massed Ottoman Empire as it systematically destroyed their fortifications, their polity and their way of life.
Welcome to the Fall of the West.
But sometimes the bleakness makes feel like it's May 27, 1453. Yes, it seems dark to me here.
The best selling book of the year seems to be an S&M Porno that is being scarfed up by women, who for two millennia have been the true guardians of the family and decency in the west. A book that has been noticed by therapists and those who work with victims of abuse, rape and child molestation as essentially recounting as "romantic" and "erotic" the very acts that have devastated those they work with.
At the same time, the self appointed "elite"-- those who styled themselves as "brights" until most of us jeered so loudly they stopped-- are trying to convince us that it's a loving act to euthanize our elders, our disabled, our unwanted.
I was on Netflix two days ago, looking at new offerings in drama. About 1 in 3 of them were gay or lesbian themed. Think about it. Between 1.5 and 3% of people are homosexual. Yet we're bombarded by messages about how normal it is. I've heard a young woman, the product of a state run school for gifted students and a major university sigh and say "I'm finally coming to terms with my heterosexuality", as if it were some sort of abnormality. People who object, calling sodomy, tribidism and similar practices immoral are labeled as haters, yet the violence, intimidation, threats, extortion, boycotts and government interference run overwhelmingly the other way.
We used to speak about tolerance in terms of "racial tolerance", "ethnic tolerance"," religious tolerance" and so forth. Then we began speaking about just "tolerance" and now it's moving to the point where we speak about acceptance. Well, there are many things that are unacceptable--yet we're told to accept them. That is in and of itself unacceptable. I'm sick of "accepting" or "tolerating' things that suck, like adultery, theft, fraudulent claims and practices and unjust laws that hurt those who actual contribute to our society. I'm sick of being told I should show solidarity with those who practice evil and deception. I think being intolerant is the most responsible thing we could do now, because when morality and responsibility are optional, (to paraphrase Chesteron) they become forbidden.
I am at this point unable to trust anything that operates above the level of the individual. The press? Please! We have a regime that ran guns to illegal drug cartels that are engaging in guerrilla warfare along our border, with one cartel member actually saying that the operation was part of a deal to support one cartel in order to put down the others, yet the press tries very hard to ignore it, because the mainstream media are in love with the president due to the fact he's not white. And they call those who object or question racist. What's more racist, to make a decision based on someones ethnicity or to look at facts?
Our government for the last 12 years has engaged in an ongoing process of rendering the basic law of the land--established by WE the People--inoperative, and to define our rights as something granted by the government, not reserved by the people from government interference. Our government no longer wishes to be bound by law, but to decide through regulation and executive order what the law is, and to force us into compliance. We're in our second year in a row of drought, and the Government is diverting a huge amount of grain to produce ethanol as a sop to the Pagan Earth Worshipers of the environmental movement, driving up food prices for human beings. Yet, at the same time, the government this spring gutted our ability fo fight wildfires, removing 50% of our ability to do so (while running up the largest, most rapidly expanding debt in our history, exceeding even that of the Civil War and WWII!) with the result that an area of our Republic larger than the State New Jersey has burned, and the fires continue. The press has reported on the gutting---well just read the above, they mostly haven't.
The Church? No, I don't trust the Church very much anymore, either. I have the example of the English bishops under Henry VIII to prevent me from thinking the USCCB is trust worthy. I have the example of pastoral letters like "Forever Our Children" to make me think they are not concerned with my soul, but their institution and political position. You can't trust what Father says, either. David Verhasselt was censored for indirectly violating the seal of the confessional, and is now facing excommunication for founding a break away parish under "The Evangelical Catholic Church"--and half of his parishioners are so deluded by his teaching they're on his side. That's extreme, but all of us are aware we have a presbyterate that covered for sodomites, pederasts, pedophiles and sexual predators among them for decades, as well as heretics (the priest who have tried to tell me that the Real Presence is a medieval doctrine, and who have tried to "correct be when I say "becomes the Body and Blood" and to say "signifies the Body and Blood".) The Episcopacy is no better, Verhasselt is the progeny of Rembert Weakland, a prelate who was fired because he used close to half a million dollars of church funds to buy the silence of his catamite--roughly 45 years of my income!--yet who was described to be, by a "priest in good standing", "a saint".
The "Nuns". Don't make me laugh. The sophistry of saying the Leadership Council of Women Religious are in trouble, not the congregations themselves is contemptible. The leadership is elected. The Sisters that get so highly praised for the "service" voted for the leaders that say it's time to get past Jesus, to embrace homosexuality, abortion, collectivism, new age spirituality, womyns power, womyns ordination and what have you. The LCWR wouldn't be the ecclesiastical freak show that it is, if the sisters didn't vote those women into leadership positions.
My parish has more than 750 families enrolled, over 2000 souls. Our pastor spends three days a week at the Chancery. that gives him three days a week to devote to the pastoral care of us, and one day a week to rest. This is the care taken of me by the Church. Before you say "priest shortage" read Farewell Good Men, and get a feel for why we have one. Try to get a sacramental blessed--odds are good you wont, or Father or Deacon will make a hurried sign of the cross over it, and never crack The Book of Blessings or the Rituale Romanum. Look at your Sunday Mass--is it really the Roman Rite? Or like me, did you have to drive half way across the state to get what you have, under Canon Law, a right to? I moved to get to a decently celebrated Mass! In the Ordinary Form! I have no trust that I will receive Unction. or Viaticum, when my time comes, or final absolution. For a sinner like me, that's terrifying. Heck, I've walked out of the confessional knowing I had to go elsewhere, and do it again, because the priest made up his own formula of absolution.
Schools? 80% of High School Graduates can't pass the eighth grade exams of 1940! Likewise most college graduates can't display the basic competencies expected of High School graduates in 1960. I'm sick of reading "and also" and "busted" in newspapers and national magazines. Geography assignments we had to do in 5th grade are now being done by high school sophomores, to a lower standard, in Louisville. (Seriously, the names and capital cities of the 50 states? Without locating them on a map?) We are becoming a nation of ignoramuses, descending into the murk and unreality of superstition. Don't believe me? Look at all the junk science, the ubiquity of occult and "new age" gnostic thought and practices
I'm running out of trust. At this point, I trust individuals, and only individuals. At the same time, part of the Church is telling me that's a sin. I often have no idea where to jump, but I feel like an Alien in my own land.
In may 1453, on the 28th and 29th day, Constantinople fell, and with it, the last political entity that could display organic, institutional unity with the classical Greco-Roman Civilization that underpins Western Culture. I think I know how the people of that city felt, as they underwent the first massed artillery bombardment in history, and watched the inexorable progress of the massed Ottoman Empire as it systematically destroyed their fortifications, their polity and their way of life.
Welcome to the Fall of the West.
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Today's Freezer Bean Soup
So, I took a pound of Navy Beans, added about 4 quarts of water and set them to boil. After about 5 minutes of hard boiling, I turned them off.
While that was happening, I put 2 TBS of butter in a big pot, helted it and got it hot, and browned six strips of bacon in it. While that was browning, I diced up one large white onion, and then pulled out the bacon.and browned the onion. I added 3 medium bay leaves, a tsp of Thyme, a tsp of salt, a TBS of fresh cracked pepper and a TBS of Garlic Powder. As that all sauteed together, I got into the freezer and pulled about two quarts of frozen broth from other meals out and put it in. I added some water. (not much). After that thawed into the broth, I diced in to 1" chinck 1 large boneless skinless chicken breast, and then I added about 1 pound of smoked pork saved from our last smokey grill. After that was all thawed and boiling well, I added the beans. I will simmer them until they are done, adding water as needed to keep it from getting too thick or scorching.
Daughter is going to make corn meal muffins.
Everything except the beans is stuff that got frozen for later, from other meals.
Freezer bean soup--it's what's for dinner, tonight.
While that was happening, I put 2 TBS of butter in a big pot, helted it and got it hot, and browned six strips of bacon in it. While that was browning, I diced up one large white onion, and then pulled out the bacon.and browned the onion. I added 3 medium bay leaves, a tsp of Thyme, a tsp of salt, a TBS of fresh cracked pepper and a TBS of Garlic Powder. As that all sauteed together, I got into the freezer and pulled about two quarts of frozen broth from other meals out and put it in. I added some water. (not much). After that thawed into the broth, I diced in to 1" chinck 1 large boneless skinless chicken breast, and then I added about 1 pound of smoked pork saved from our last smokey grill. After that was all thawed and boiling well, I added the beans. I will simmer them until they are done, adding water as needed to keep it from getting too thick or scorching.
Daughter is going to make corn meal muffins.
Everything except the beans is stuff that got frozen for later, from other meals.
Freezer bean soup--it's what's for dinner, tonight.
Thanks!
I found out this morning that my post on "Housecleaning" was pickup up and linked to at least two other blogs--
One is Orwell's Picnic and the other is Left Footer . Go give 'em a look!
One is Orwell's Picnic and the other is Left Footer . Go give 'em a look!
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Housecleaning
Housecleaning. It needs done, from time to time. Even the nicest house, with the most fastidious family needs to cleaned thoroughly on occasion. And the Church is no exception. It's time we cleaned house.
The US provides about 60% of the Church's Global Finances. That's something we can be proud of, and give thanks for the affluence that makes it possible. But there are also problems with how we spend that money.
I've written before about the Catholic Campaign for Human Development. The monies collected from the faithful, often with advertising and marketing moves that imply that they are for direct relief of suffering, go not to the poor, but to political organizations that are supposed to "empower" the poor. Too often these funds went to organizations that were working towards goals inimical to the Faith.
Now we see that the Catholic Relief Services is also involved in undermining the Faith in the name of "charity" and "relief of suffering". The rots is widespread, and it's systemic. Catholic Relief Services (I don't like typing, so from here on out they're going to be referred to as CRS!) is, among other things, a dues paying member of a pro-abortion group called MEDICAM . This sorry group has, as one of it's priorities, the expansion of abortion services into the "third world". In other words, it extends the old and constant practice of Euro-American do-gooderism of killing off brown people, for their own good. Not to mention solving poverty by killing the poor. CRS is also a dues paying member of the CORE Group , which also promotes abortion and contraception. They. Pay. Dues. They are not just cooperating on occasional projects that do not conflict with the Teaching and mission of the Church, they pay dues--with money collected from the faithful, under the guise of poor relief.
The dues to these two groups are not restricted--they can use money, donated by the faithful for the relief of suffering, to expedite and further the murder of poor people before they even draw a breath.
The rot and stench of pro-baby killing sentiment at CRS is deep enough that they have been hiring people from organizations dedicated to spreading abortion and contraception in the emerging nations in significant numbers--some of who work for both CRS and the racist promoters of death in the emerging world at the same time. One of whom, Charisse Espy Glassman,was convicted of ramming her car into a March-For-Life in January of 2011. She remained in the employ of CRS until her conviction on 4 August 2011. Witnesses said she was laughing as she committed the vehicular assault. Another CRS employee, Dr. Amy Ellis went to work from Population Services International, a pro-death for non-Caucasians group, and worked for them at the same time--giving an address on "global contraceptive needs". She also represented CRS at a pro-abortion group conference in Bangladesh--one of the topics was 're-vitalizing family planning"
We just got an envelope from CRS today--on the back it says "Catholic Relief Services is the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States." CRS was founded by the US Bishops, to relieve suffering in World War II. It's an official outreach of the Catholic CHURCH in the United States. In my experience, when a group says "Catholic Community" instead of "Catholic Church", it has long since left Catholicism in any meaningful sense behind. CRS seems to validate this opinion.
The USCCB withdrew from the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights in 2010--after the Bishops were taken to task by the Faithful for belonging to a group that promoted abortion, gay marriage, etc. I have to wonder about that one. I think--think mind you, not know--that what hapened was some lay functionary within the USCCB bureaucracy said "We need to be involved in this group" and a bishop signed off on it. The Bishops all have jobs that are more than full time, and there are not enough priests and deacons to staff the positions in our offices, so they have to rely on laity to do so. And that's the problem.
Like CCHD, and CRS, and even Catholic Charities, a certain faction has gained control of the lay positions in these groups, and are using the power that accrues from them to promote their own agendas. Agendas that are inimical to the teachings of the faith, and to the Church itself. These psuedo-catholic people are using the Chruch as a cash cow to promote the activities of the antichrists of modernism, immorality, death-promotion and secularism. They are robbing the faithful of their cash, and more importantly of their trust. What's worse, with 60% (See! I did get back to that!) of the money used globally by the Catholic Church coming from the United States, they weaken all attempts at true evangelization, and promote a distorted Gospel that serve their ends, not the Lord's. They are doing untold damage to the Church, not just in the United States, but world wide.
The CCHD has supposedly cleaned up it's act. I don't believe it. Not for one minute do I believe it. I don't believe Catholic Charities will clean up it's act, either. They got caught, and they will rewrite their rules and guidelines, but the basic problem will still be there. The basic problem being the people involved. The only meaningful way this can be fixed is a wholesale dismissal of lay staff, and a reshuffling of the bishops charged with oversight of these groups, done in such a way that the bishops so charged will come from the ranks of the Catholic Zealots, the Pro-Life Zealots, the ones who support Magisterial Teaching even when it causes controversy, not from the ranks of the Social Justice advocates. The new Guidelines should include language and strong, strong measures to prevent the hiring of persons who have worked for pro-abortion, pro-contraception, pro-gay or collectivist organizations.
Some one will now object that I'm calling for a purge of the ideologically unsound, a requirement that those charged with administering the relief and social justice programs of the Church in the United States be free of dissent from the Church's disciplines and teaching, that those involved be vetted for orthodoxy and compliance to the strict interpretation of the norms of Catholic morality. Very Good! That's exactly what I'm saying. And I will say more--as long as these kinds of activities that are inimical to Catholic teaching and morality are funded, condoned or even glossed over by the Laity employed by the bishops, we will find it very, very difficult to resist things like the HHS Mandate, or state interference in our internal affairs. We will be subjected to ever greater restrictions on our activities in the public sphere, and we will see, as Cardinal George said, our leaders subjected to criminal penalties for trying to stand up for the truth, and the Faith. So yes, we need a purge. A purge and a reformation, a reformation in detail. Because otherwise we will be skewered by our own hypocrisy before the Civil Authorities, and we will be subject to their control. That, I'm afraid, will be our chastisement from the lord.
Remember the Second Chapter of John's Gospel: And making a whip of cords he drove them all, with the sheep and the oxen, out of the temple; and he poured out the coins of the moneychangers and overturned their tables. Sometimes, the Christian thing to do is kick some ass and take some names.
The US provides about 60% of the Church's Global Finances. That's something we can be proud of, and give thanks for the affluence that makes it possible. But there are also problems with how we spend that money.
I've written before about the Catholic Campaign for Human Development. The monies collected from the faithful, often with advertising and marketing moves that imply that they are for direct relief of suffering, go not to the poor, but to political organizations that are supposed to "empower" the poor. Too often these funds went to organizations that were working towards goals inimical to the Faith.
Now we see that the Catholic Relief Services is also involved in undermining the Faith in the name of "charity" and "relief of suffering". The rots is widespread, and it's systemic. Catholic Relief Services (I don't like typing, so from here on out they're going to be referred to as CRS!) is, among other things, a dues paying member of a pro-abortion group called MEDICAM . This sorry group has, as one of it's priorities, the expansion of abortion services into the "third world". In other words, it extends the old and constant practice of Euro-American do-gooderism of killing off brown people, for their own good. Not to mention solving poverty by killing the poor. CRS is also a dues paying member of the CORE Group , which also promotes abortion and contraception. They. Pay. Dues. They are not just cooperating on occasional projects that do not conflict with the Teaching and mission of the Church, they pay dues--with money collected from the faithful, under the guise of poor relief.
The dues to these two groups are not restricted--they can use money, donated by the faithful for the relief of suffering, to expedite and further the murder of poor people before they even draw a breath.
The rot and stench of pro-baby killing sentiment at CRS is deep enough that they have been hiring people from organizations dedicated to spreading abortion and contraception in the emerging nations in significant numbers--some of who work for both CRS and the racist promoters of death in the emerging world at the same time. One of whom, Charisse Espy Glassman,was convicted of ramming her car into a March-For-Life in January of 2011. She remained in the employ of CRS until her conviction on 4 August 2011. Witnesses said she was laughing as she committed the vehicular assault. Another CRS employee, Dr. Amy Ellis went to work from Population Services International, a pro-death for non-Caucasians group, and worked for them at the same time--giving an address on "global contraceptive needs". She also represented CRS at a pro-abortion group conference in Bangladesh--one of the topics was 're-vitalizing family planning"
We just got an envelope from CRS today--on the back it says "Catholic Relief Services is the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States." CRS was founded by the US Bishops, to relieve suffering in World War II. It's an official outreach of the Catholic CHURCH in the United States. In my experience, when a group says "Catholic Community" instead of "Catholic Church", it has long since left Catholicism in any meaningful sense behind. CRS seems to validate this opinion.
The USCCB withdrew from the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights in 2010--after the Bishops were taken to task by the Faithful for belonging to a group that promoted abortion, gay marriage, etc. I have to wonder about that one. I think--think mind you, not know--that what hapened was some lay functionary within the USCCB bureaucracy said "We need to be involved in this group" and a bishop signed off on it. The Bishops all have jobs that are more than full time, and there are not enough priests and deacons to staff the positions in our offices, so they have to rely on laity to do so. And that's the problem.
Like CCHD, and CRS, and even Catholic Charities, a certain faction has gained control of the lay positions in these groups, and are using the power that accrues from them to promote their own agendas. Agendas that are inimical to the teachings of the faith, and to the Church itself. These psuedo-catholic people are using the Chruch as a cash cow to promote the activities of the antichrists of modernism, immorality, death-promotion and secularism. They are robbing the faithful of their cash, and more importantly of their trust. What's worse, with 60% (See! I did get back to that!) of the money used globally by the Catholic Church coming from the United States, they weaken all attempts at true evangelization, and promote a distorted Gospel that serve their ends, not the Lord's. They are doing untold damage to the Church, not just in the United States, but world wide.
The CCHD has supposedly cleaned up it's act. I don't believe it. Not for one minute do I believe it. I don't believe Catholic Charities will clean up it's act, either. They got caught, and they will rewrite their rules and guidelines, but the basic problem will still be there. The basic problem being the people involved. The only meaningful way this can be fixed is a wholesale dismissal of lay staff, and a reshuffling of the bishops charged with oversight of these groups, done in such a way that the bishops so charged will come from the ranks of the Catholic Zealots, the Pro-Life Zealots, the ones who support Magisterial Teaching even when it causes controversy, not from the ranks of the Social Justice advocates. The new Guidelines should include language and strong, strong measures to prevent the hiring of persons who have worked for pro-abortion, pro-contraception, pro-gay or collectivist organizations.
Some one will now object that I'm calling for a purge of the ideologically unsound, a requirement that those charged with administering the relief and social justice programs of the Church in the United States be free of dissent from the Church's disciplines and teaching, that those involved be vetted for orthodoxy and compliance to the strict interpretation of the norms of Catholic morality. Very Good! That's exactly what I'm saying. And I will say more--as long as these kinds of activities that are inimical to Catholic teaching and morality are funded, condoned or even glossed over by the Laity employed by the bishops, we will find it very, very difficult to resist things like the HHS Mandate, or state interference in our internal affairs. We will be subjected to ever greater restrictions on our activities in the public sphere, and we will see, as Cardinal George said, our leaders subjected to criminal penalties for trying to stand up for the truth, and the Faith. So yes, we need a purge. A purge and a reformation, a reformation in detail. Because otherwise we will be skewered by our own hypocrisy before the Civil Authorities, and we will be subject to their control. That, I'm afraid, will be our chastisement from the lord.
Remember the Second Chapter of John's Gospel: And making a whip of cords he drove them all, with the sheep and the oxen, out of the temple; and he poured out the coins of the moneychangers and overturned their tables. Sometimes, the Christian thing to do is kick some ass and take some names.
Monday, August 20, 2012
I can't think of a catchy title
I am the sort of guy who wishes he were a saint, but actually, is a very mediocre Catholic and a habitual sinner, through Commission and Omission
I go to Confession several times a year, but I have realized that I need to go more often, perhaps as often as weekly, certainly no less often than monthly.
I know that according to the 3d precept of the Church, we need to confess our sins once a year, often called 'The Easter Duty", but I don't think that's enough really. Certainly not for me, and probably not for the rest of us either. We live in an age that not so much Godless (Actually given the amount of ink and pixels spilled, I think we're God Haunted! It's just that there is a significant portion of us that are hostile to God) as indifferent to the morality that God has taught us through Scripture, Tradition and the Ministry of his Church. We all have to earn our living, function and move in a society that has a large number of people who believe in God, and live as if there were no commandments. Well, when you walk through the mud you get dirty. Even the best of us get dirty and need the spiritual cleansing of Confession.
It's easy to get yourself into a near occasion of sin, without even meaning to. And example: I like to read fairly mindless novels as my "brain candy", and was reading one that morphed into S&M porn. (No, it wasn't 50 Shades of Gray!) I put it down when the narrative turned into porn, and I haven't picked up a book by the same author since. Fortunately for me, my own inclinations don't run to that direction, but if they did, that book would most certainly have been a near occasion of sin for me. These things can sneak up on you. Watching TV is a risk in and of itself, with occasions of titillation, provocations to wrath, assaults on Christian values systems that masquerade as plot twists and character development and advertising that is a deliberate attempt to provoke covetousness and consumerist materialism. An example in my life would be the TV series Two Broke Girls. It often skewers modern customs and mores, and i find it very funny. But the humor is often off color, and to misquote Shakespeare, "Custom hath made of it property of easiness within him." Add to that the fact that I find one of the characters, played by Kat Dennings, to be hot enough that watching can easily become a near, or outright, occasion of sin for me, I don't watch this program. Another type of programing I avoid is broadcast and cable news. I'm a news junky, but I avoid these sources because the sense of immediacy created by the visual format and the cursory coverage can lead me into the sin of wrath, as well as lead me to errors of judgment for not having all of the information. I read news now, not watch it. Staying out of low dives, avoiding immoral companions, etc isn't enough. Even the best of us are now exposed daily to temptations and stimuli that would have been unthinkable even as late as the 1980s. It's rough!
Too, if you are of a certain age, your intellectual ability to discern sin has been impaired by bad catechesis. I remember being specifically told that there were no such things any more as the categories of Mortal and Venial sin. There are (CCC 1855!). And Mortal sin attacks the "vital principle within us" (CCC1856) and sunders us from God. Since, in our culture, we are constantly under the gun of temptation to an appalling degree we can slip unknowingly into a state of mortal sin, by degrees. You are severed from Christ...you have fallen away from Grace (Gal5:4) The day to day abrasion of living in a world, that we are not be of can take it's toll. Even Venial sin can take it's toll But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember then from what you have fallen, repent and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lamp stand from it's place, unless you repent. (Rev 2: 4,5). By the Way, if you're wondering about all these bible quotes, remember this--life does come with instructions and an operators manual, and you should use it.
We need to confess. This need is testified to repeatedly in both the Old and New Testaments. Seriously, even in Leviticus, it says When a man is guilty in any of these, he shall confess the sin he has committed, and he shall bring his guilt offering to the lord for the sin he has committed...and the priest shall make atonement for him for his sin. (Lev 5: 5,6). Remember, Jesus told us that none of the law shall pass away--and he meant it. Moreover Jesus himself is our High Priest, Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God... (Heb 4: 14) and we confess to an Earthly priest who functions,not on his own, but as an extension of the ministry of the Church, given to it by Christ, ( Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on Earth shall be bound in Heaven, and whatever you loose on Earth shall be loosed in Heaven Matt 18:18 and If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven, and if you retain the sins of any they are retained Jn 20:23) It is christ who forgives our sins as the high priest, and the sin offering he requires is not an animal, for the Precious Blood has been spilled for our atonement, rather ...you take no delight in sacrifice; were I to give a burnt offering, you would not be pleased. The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise (Ps 51:16,17). In the book of Nehemiah it says And the Israelites seperated themselves from all foreigners, and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. (Neh 9: 2) Well, we're not the Twelve Tribes any longer, and there is no Roman nor Greek in Christ, so perhaps we need to look at this verse , and it's separation, as separating ourselves from those things that lead us into sin, as foreign to our calling and nature as Christians. But in this story, there was confession of sin. In the book of Acts, in Ephesus, the message of Jesus, preached by Paul was affirmed And this became known to all the residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks and fear fell upon them all; and the name of the Lord Jesus was extolled. Many also of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices (Acts 19: 17,18) But confessing sins isn't just for ancients who left the path of their forefathers, or a sorcerous people given to idolatry who see first hand the delivering power of Jesus' name: it's for us too.
After all, in the First letter of John, we are explicitly told If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1Jn 1:9)
But least we worm our way out of the rather humiliating necessity of telling our confessor that we did X,Y and C, let's notice that in each case, these people confessed out loud! And let's give thanks that the earliest practice--still held by some sects and denominations--of standing up in church to do so is no longer required of us. What is required of us is that we confess our sins, with a humble heart and a firm purpose of amendment "Penance requires the sinner to endure all things willingly,be contrite of heart, confess with the lips, and practice complete humility and fruitful satisfaction" (CCC1450). We need to be contrite, "Among the penitent's acts contrition occupies first place. Contrition is sorrow of the soul and detestation for the din committed together with the resolution not to sin again" (CCC1451). We also need to be very very mindful of God's infinite mercy, and the fact that imperfect contrition--'Oh God please forgive me because I don't want to go to hell"is in fact, good enough for Sacramental confession, and this Sacrament can open our hearts and minds enough so that we can become perfectly contrite, detesting our sins, not because of the effects of them, but because they offend Our Lord.
Thanks for reading this--it's longer than I had planned, and I wrote it to exhort myself to more frequent confession and more perfect contrition, as well as better examinations of conscience. If you think of it, say a quick prayer for me, because i struggle an awful lot.
I go to Confession several times a year, but I have realized that I need to go more often, perhaps as often as weekly, certainly no less often than monthly.
I know that according to the 3d precept of the Church, we need to confess our sins once a year, often called 'The Easter Duty", but I don't think that's enough really. Certainly not for me, and probably not for the rest of us either. We live in an age that not so much Godless (Actually given the amount of ink and pixels spilled, I think we're God Haunted! It's just that there is a significant portion of us that are hostile to God) as indifferent to the morality that God has taught us through Scripture, Tradition and the Ministry of his Church. We all have to earn our living, function and move in a society that has a large number of people who believe in God, and live as if there were no commandments. Well, when you walk through the mud you get dirty. Even the best of us get dirty and need the spiritual cleansing of Confession.
It's easy to get yourself into a near occasion of sin, without even meaning to. And example: I like to read fairly mindless novels as my "brain candy", and was reading one that morphed into S&M porn. (No, it wasn't 50 Shades of Gray!) I put it down when the narrative turned into porn, and I haven't picked up a book by the same author since. Fortunately for me, my own inclinations don't run to that direction, but if they did, that book would most certainly have been a near occasion of sin for me. These things can sneak up on you. Watching TV is a risk in and of itself, with occasions of titillation, provocations to wrath, assaults on Christian values systems that masquerade as plot twists and character development and advertising that is a deliberate attempt to provoke covetousness and consumerist materialism. An example in my life would be the TV series Two Broke Girls. It often skewers modern customs and mores, and i find it very funny. But the humor is often off color, and to misquote Shakespeare, "Custom hath made of it property of easiness within him." Add to that the fact that I find one of the characters, played by Kat Dennings, to be hot enough that watching can easily become a near, or outright, occasion of sin for me, I don't watch this program. Another type of programing I avoid is broadcast and cable news. I'm a news junky, but I avoid these sources because the sense of immediacy created by the visual format and the cursory coverage can lead me into the sin of wrath, as well as lead me to errors of judgment for not having all of the information. I read news now, not watch it. Staying out of low dives, avoiding immoral companions, etc isn't enough. Even the best of us are now exposed daily to temptations and stimuli that would have been unthinkable even as late as the 1980s. It's rough!
Too, if you are of a certain age, your intellectual ability to discern sin has been impaired by bad catechesis. I remember being specifically told that there were no such things any more as the categories of Mortal and Venial sin. There are (CCC 1855!). And Mortal sin attacks the "vital principle within us" (CCC1856) and sunders us from God. Since, in our culture, we are constantly under the gun of temptation to an appalling degree we can slip unknowingly into a state of mortal sin, by degrees. You are severed from Christ...you have fallen away from Grace (Gal5:4) The day to day abrasion of living in a world, that we are not be of can take it's toll. Even Venial sin can take it's toll But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember then from what you have fallen, repent and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lamp stand from it's place, unless you repent. (Rev 2: 4,5). By the Way, if you're wondering about all these bible quotes, remember this--life does come with instructions and an operators manual, and you should use it.
We need to confess. This need is testified to repeatedly in both the Old and New Testaments. Seriously, even in Leviticus, it says When a man is guilty in any of these, he shall confess the sin he has committed, and he shall bring his guilt offering to the lord for the sin he has committed...and the priest shall make atonement for him for his sin. (Lev 5: 5,6). Remember, Jesus told us that none of the law shall pass away--and he meant it. Moreover Jesus himself is our High Priest, Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God... (Heb 4: 14) and we confess to an Earthly priest who functions,not on his own, but as an extension of the ministry of the Church, given to it by Christ, ( Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on Earth shall be bound in Heaven, and whatever you loose on Earth shall be loosed in Heaven Matt 18:18 and If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven, and if you retain the sins of any they are retained Jn 20:23) It is christ who forgives our sins as the high priest, and the sin offering he requires is not an animal, for the Precious Blood has been spilled for our atonement, rather ...you take no delight in sacrifice; were I to give a burnt offering, you would not be pleased. The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise (Ps 51:16,17). In the book of Nehemiah it says And the Israelites seperated themselves from all foreigners, and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. (Neh 9: 2) Well, we're not the Twelve Tribes any longer, and there is no Roman nor Greek in Christ, so perhaps we need to look at this verse , and it's separation, as separating ourselves from those things that lead us into sin, as foreign to our calling and nature as Christians. But in this story, there was confession of sin. In the book of Acts, in Ephesus, the message of Jesus, preached by Paul was affirmed And this became known to all the residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks and fear fell upon them all; and the name of the Lord Jesus was extolled. Many also of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices (Acts 19: 17,18) But confessing sins isn't just for ancients who left the path of their forefathers, or a sorcerous people given to idolatry who see first hand the delivering power of Jesus' name: it's for us too.
After all, in the First letter of John, we are explicitly told If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1Jn 1:9)
But least we worm our way out of the rather humiliating necessity of telling our confessor that we did X,Y and C, let's notice that in each case, these people confessed out loud! And let's give thanks that the earliest practice--still held by some sects and denominations--of standing up in church to do so is no longer required of us. What is required of us is that we confess our sins, with a humble heart and a firm purpose of amendment "Penance requires the sinner to endure all things willingly,be contrite of heart, confess with the lips, and practice complete humility and fruitful satisfaction" (CCC1450). We need to be contrite, "Among the penitent's acts contrition occupies first place. Contrition is sorrow of the soul and detestation for the din committed together with the resolution not to sin again" (CCC1451). We also need to be very very mindful of God's infinite mercy, and the fact that imperfect contrition--'Oh God please forgive me because I don't want to go to hell"is in fact, good enough for Sacramental confession, and this Sacrament can open our hearts and minds enough so that we can become perfectly contrite, detesting our sins, not because of the effects of them, but because they offend Our Lord.
Thanks for reading this--it's longer than I had planned, and I wrote it to exhort myself to more frequent confession and more perfect contrition, as well as better examinations of conscience. If you think of it, say a quick prayer for me, because i struggle an awful lot.
My Favorite Kind of Hot Redneck Chick!
This Blog don't do smut, and your Mom wouldn't like the fact y'all are looking for pics of hot girls. Treat women with respect, not as visual aids to your one handed gratification!
Sunday, August 19, 2012
Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time: Penance! Penance! Penance!
What a wonderful Mass this morning! The congregation sang "All Creatures of Our God and King" for the entrance, with the proper introit "Protector noster aspice.." chanted (while the Celebrant censed the altar) by the choir. The liturgy was sung, With the Kyrie in Greek and the Gloria in Latin, chanted by both the congregation and the choir. The Preparation of the Altar and gifts was accompanied by the proper verse, "Immitet angelus Domini..." chanted, and the anthem "Not Unto Us, O Lord". We had the Sanctus in Latin, chanted by the congregation, likewise the Agnus Dei. At the Communion the proper verse "Qui manducat carnem meam...", congregational singing of "Humbly I Adore Thee (Adoro Te Devote) followed by "O Sacrum Convivium" by the choir. We finished up by singing "From all the Dwell Below the Skies". The liturgy was sung, with smells, bells, and whole none yards. Pretty much what we get every Sunday. (I am so blessed to have been led to this parish!)
So what made this mass so Special? Probably the fact that I went to confession yesterday. I'm beginning to notice that after confession, Mass comes alive, interactive, in a way that it just doesn't when I neglect to avail myself of the Sacrament of Penance. Truly, it is a great help in having full, active participation in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass for me. I need to resolve to go much more frequently than I do.
Speaking of Penance, if you went to Mass in the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite today, you heard the first reading, from the Book of proverbs, chapter 9:1-6. It describes Wisdom as having prepared a banquet, and inviting everyone who is simple, who lacks understanding to dine at her table. The last line in the reading says "Forsake foolishness that you may live; advance in the way of understanding". Think about it--the words penance, and repentance, come ultimately from the Hebrew word "shub", which was rendered in Greek--the language of the early Christians well into the 3rd century!--as Metanoia, the transformation of the mind. (I know I have said that before, and I will say it again. I will say it until I am blue in the face and you're as sick of hearing it as I am of saying it!) This word doesn't mean "mortification", and it doesn't mean "punishment"; it means "turning aside", "turning away" or "turning towards". "Forsaking foolishness" is turning away from mistake and errors, from things that are bad for us, spiritually and physically.
I need here to address the word "wisdom". Wisdom is often personified in the Book of Proverbs, and in the Book of Wisdom. Because of that--and I have no linguistic, philosophical or theological learning or data to base this on, so I can be really wrong about this-- The personified Wisdom of the Old Testament wisdom literature has become identified in my mind with the Divine Logos. The Divine Logos as in John: 1,1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Of course, Wisdom is also identified, by many, with the Holy Spirit.
Our Psalm today was Ps 34:2-3,4-5,6-7. The response was "Taste and see the goodness of the Lord."
Somehow, once again, the Logos, and the Spirit are related to the experience of tasting and eating.
Our second reading was from Ephesians, Eph 5: 15-20. And again, the whole idea of turning aside from foolishness is presented. Paul tells us to Watch carefully how you live, not as foolish persons but as wise.... He exhorts us to learn the will of the Lord, to always give thanks, to be filled with the spirit. he also exhorts us to be singing and playing in our hearts. In a word, to turn away from foolishness and toward joy, and wisdom.
The Gospel, ties much of this together in a startling way--a way so radical it was rejected by many, then, and now. our reading came from John 6:51-58. In it Jesus says i am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats of this bread will live forever and the bread that i will give is my flesh for the life of the world. He went on to say that if someone eats this bread ...I will raise him on the last day. !!!!!
It seems pretty clear to me, then, that if we turn away from foolishness, from man-made wisdom, from the opinions of this world and fill ourselves with the banquet of Wisdom. of the Divine Logos (and to be sure it is in the same Gospel that Jesus is revealed as the Divine Logos!) we shall have life within us.
But what of reception with out penance--with the conversion of our minds to be in conformity with Christ?
Well Paul speaks of this, too. For one thing, Paul tells us in 1Cor 11:27-31, Therefore, whoever eats the breead or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will have to answer for the body and blood of the Lord....For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself. (You might want to look up and read the whole passage, it's sobering!)
If we continue to read the Gospel of John, beyond today's Gospel passage, we find that a large number of people left then, and the number of followers of Jesus were greatly reduced. Greatly reduced. Those who could not expand their mind, who could not overcome the basic human pride of thinking that we can know all of the truth through our own observations, left. Those who stayed, stayed because their exposure to Jesus, (all except one of the 12) had in fact transformed their mind--an instance of Metanoia--so that they could see that He was ...the Holy One of God. (Jn 6: 69). They were able, with their minds so transformed, to see that the gulf between God and Man was bridged in the person of Jesus Christ. This transformation of the mind, spoken of and hinted at throughout scripture can alow us to see as well, that in the Holy Sacrafice of the Mass, the Gulf between Heaven and Earth is bridged, we are participating in the One Sacrifice, offered by our High priest, that we are participating in the Heavenly Liturgy, enabled by the Person of Jesus Christ, who is indeed present at the very Mass we are attending, body and blood, soul and divinity. It is this transformation of the mind, this repentance of the common 'wisdom" (which is foolishness in itself) this turning to the mystery of mysteries, that allow us to discern the Body, and to enter into eternal life.
O Sacram Convivium!
So what made this mass so Special? Probably the fact that I went to confession yesterday. I'm beginning to notice that after confession, Mass comes alive, interactive, in a way that it just doesn't when I neglect to avail myself of the Sacrament of Penance. Truly, it is a great help in having full, active participation in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass for me. I need to resolve to go much more frequently than I do.
Speaking of Penance, if you went to Mass in the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite today, you heard the first reading, from the Book of proverbs, chapter 9:1-6. It describes Wisdom as having prepared a banquet, and inviting everyone who is simple, who lacks understanding to dine at her table. The last line in the reading says "Forsake foolishness that you may live; advance in the way of understanding". Think about it--the words penance, and repentance, come ultimately from the Hebrew word "shub", which was rendered in Greek--the language of the early Christians well into the 3rd century!--as Metanoia, the transformation of the mind. (I know I have said that before, and I will say it again. I will say it until I am blue in the face and you're as sick of hearing it as I am of saying it!) This word doesn't mean "mortification", and it doesn't mean "punishment"; it means "turning aside", "turning away" or "turning towards". "Forsaking foolishness" is turning away from mistake and errors, from things that are bad for us, spiritually and physically.
I need here to address the word "wisdom". Wisdom is often personified in the Book of Proverbs, and in the Book of Wisdom. Because of that--and I have no linguistic, philosophical or theological learning or data to base this on, so I can be really wrong about this-- The personified Wisdom of the Old Testament wisdom literature has become identified in my mind with the Divine Logos. The Divine Logos as in John: 1,1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Of course, Wisdom is also identified, by many, with the Holy Spirit.
Our Psalm today was Ps 34:2-3,4-5,6-7. The response was "Taste and see the goodness of the Lord."
Somehow, once again, the Logos, and the Spirit are related to the experience of tasting and eating.
Our second reading was from Ephesians, Eph 5: 15-20. And again, the whole idea of turning aside from foolishness is presented. Paul tells us to Watch carefully how you live, not as foolish persons but as wise.... He exhorts us to learn the will of the Lord, to always give thanks, to be filled with the spirit. he also exhorts us to be singing and playing in our hearts. In a word, to turn away from foolishness and toward joy, and wisdom.
The Gospel, ties much of this together in a startling way--a way so radical it was rejected by many, then, and now. our reading came from John 6:51-58. In it Jesus says i am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats of this bread will live forever and the bread that i will give is my flesh for the life of the world. He went on to say that if someone eats this bread ...I will raise him on the last day. !!!!!
It seems pretty clear to me, then, that if we turn away from foolishness, from man-made wisdom, from the opinions of this world and fill ourselves with the banquet of Wisdom. of the Divine Logos (and to be sure it is in the same Gospel that Jesus is revealed as the Divine Logos!) we shall have life within us.
But what of reception with out penance--with the conversion of our minds to be in conformity with Christ?
Well Paul speaks of this, too. For one thing, Paul tells us in 1Cor 11:27-31, Therefore, whoever eats the breead or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will have to answer for the body and blood of the Lord....For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself. (You might want to look up and read the whole passage, it's sobering!)
If we continue to read the Gospel of John, beyond today's Gospel passage, we find that a large number of people left then, and the number of followers of Jesus were greatly reduced. Greatly reduced. Those who could not expand their mind, who could not overcome the basic human pride of thinking that we can know all of the truth through our own observations, left. Those who stayed, stayed because their exposure to Jesus, (all except one of the 12) had in fact transformed their mind--an instance of Metanoia--so that they could see that He was ...the Holy One of God. (Jn 6: 69). They were able, with their minds so transformed, to see that the gulf between God and Man was bridged in the person of Jesus Christ. This transformation of the mind, spoken of and hinted at throughout scripture can alow us to see as well, that in the Holy Sacrafice of the Mass, the Gulf between Heaven and Earth is bridged, we are participating in the One Sacrifice, offered by our High priest, that we are participating in the Heavenly Liturgy, enabled by the Person of Jesus Christ, who is indeed present at the very Mass we are attending, body and blood, soul and divinity. It is this transformation of the mind, this repentance of the common 'wisdom" (which is foolishness in itself) this turning to the mystery of mysteries, that allow us to discern the Body, and to enter into eternal life.
O Sacram Convivium!
uuuhhhhhgggggg
Woke up this morning with a headache--sinus, I think. Being upright and drinking coffee is helping.
There might be some sort of metaphor in there about being upright.
I'll try to put up a post later today, after Mass.
Oh BTW--the girl who put the 'sheiscatholic' videos on You Tube is going to enter the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist in a couple of weeks. There is a link to some of her videos on an earlier post. I'l miss them, because they just cheer me up.
There might be some sort of metaphor in there about being upright.
I'll try to put up a post later today, after Mass.
Oh BTW--the girl who put the 'sheiscatholic' videos on You Tube is going to enter the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist in a couple of weeks. There is a link to some of her videos on an earlier post. I'l miss them, because they just cheer me up.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)