6 07, 2022

How Conservative Family Lines Went Woke

By |2022-07-06T01:39:52+00:00July 6th, 2022|Theology|

Really, the full title of this blog should be How Conservative Family Lines Went Woke In Just a Few Generations.  It didn't happen overnight.  This is not a blog post to cheer on the right and condemn the leftists.  It's to ask how our every country in the West went from being civilized to uncivilized in less than 100 years.  You all know my theological answers on this, on how "politics is downstream of politics" and how "every grace and error flows from the altar."  I also now admit that Vatican II was not the root of modernism, but was just the "coming out" party for modernism. But at the [...]

28 06, 2022

Advice to Young Courting Catholics, Part II

By |2022-10-07T04:51:33+00:00June 28th, 2022|Theology|

N.B This blog post is from a lay guest writer. NOTES FROM A BATTLEFIELD OBSERVER I write this from the perspective of a fifty-something Catholic father with three grown children. Watching my children become young adults has given me a ringside seat from which to view many of the follies and customs of today’s young people, around dating, courtship, and views on marriage. What follows is practical advice. It seems obvious to me that “love” is almost wholly misunderstood, and because it’s misunderstood, it’s highly overrated. That tingle you feel – it’s most likely just a touch of eros. This is not enough on which to base a permanent relationship. [...]

30 03, 2021

Home Chapels

By |2021-11-09T01:33:22+00:00March 30th, 2021|Theology|

I snapped the above pic in the home of some former parishioners of mine who had purchased a new home a few years ago and decided to turn a little circular hallway into a beautiful chapel.  Because I had my Mass kit on me while passing through their town recently, I was able to offer Holy Mass on one of the little ledges (less than 11" deep.) The above example is what one can do with a little paint and elbow grease.  The father of the family has many children and is a train mechanic, so I don't buy the argument that only the rich can establish a little sanctuary [...]

6 02, 2021

How Good Catholic Teens Are Getting Groomed by Online Predators (It’s Not How You Think.)

By |2021-02-08T15:11:00+00:00February 6th, 2021|Theology|

All parents should watch the below 7-minute video to see not so much how bad girls get trafficked but rather how good girls get trafficked. It is called The Dangers of Social Media (Child Predator Experiment) and it has over 61M views. This channel belongs to Coby Persin who is not a trafficker himself, but is fronting as a trafficker fronting as good teen-boy to meet a good teen girl: https://youtu.be/6jMhMVEjEQg However, unlike the above video, the person on the other end of your kid's FB app is usually not a good-man fronting as a trafficker.  Rather, he is a real trafficker.  It was brought to my attention twice this past week that Catholic families [...]

19 01, 2021

Family Life Reflects Religious Life

By |2021-03-04T00:36:07+00:00January 19th, 2021|Theology|

While it is true that religious congregations are rightly called "families" (and indeed, are built on the family structure, hence, "father" and "mother" and "brother" and "sister") most people today realize in their hunger for good (and sadly, missing) family life that religious life should reflect family life.  But few people remember that family life should also reflect religious life. When I was a neo-conservative (not yet a traditional priest) I noticed that most priestly discussions on the liturgy revolved around what would be most accessible and most pious for most of the laity. Similarly, during the first year of my priesthood, when I was pushing "Theology of the Body," [...]

11 01, 2021

When Conspiracy Theory Becomes Conspiracy Fact

By |2021-01-11T16:37:34+00:00January 11th, 2021|Theology|

Conservatives need to prepare for suspended or monitored communications. For anyone tempted to call this blog post a "conspiracy theory," remember that here's how numerous conversations went down in 2020 between conservatives and liberals where the below set {a, b, c, d...} could easily be {extended lockdowns, a dishonest election, unending-orders for masks in Churches, arrests in private-residences for lack of social-distancing, suspended civil-liberties} and set {p, q, r, s...} could easily be {medically-dangerous, bigoted, false-information spreading, racist}.  So here's how it goes if you want to plug those in: Conservative: "I'm afraid they're going to {a, b, c, d...} to us." Liberal: "That's just a conspiracy theory for you to [...]

28 12, 2020

Is Catholicism Really Threatened by Communism in the USA?

By |2020-12-28T19:25:12+00:00December 28th, 2020|Theology|

I received the below description from a Catholic family moving out of Portland, Oregon to go to another part of the country.  Their move is due to what they call "communism." Before publication, I forwarded it to another friend (who also recently moved away from Portland) asking her if the below is an exaggeration.  She said no.  I post it with the family's permission; I changed their names for safety. === We turn off phones before leaving the house if attending a larger gathering.  Not airplane mode… really off.  Andy says they track clusters.  They can also tell if you are social distancing with your phone.  Airplane mode still pings. [...]

20 03, 2020

Is It Ever Permitted to Lie to Your Children?

By |2020-03-20T20:00:17+00:00March 20th, 2020|Theology|

What is the cost of lies? It's not that we'll mistake them for the truth. The real danger is that if we hear enough lies, then we no longer recognize the truth at all.—Chernobyl, TV series. Most people today will lie if necessary. If you ask them why they lie, it seems that most people believe that all will be forgiven at the end of time, especially if they are lying "for a good reason." Now, most of these people remember their Ethics 101 that teaches, The end does not justify the means. "This is a nice philosophy," they say, "but when the rubber meets the road of my life, I [...]

19 03, 2020

A Catholic Rule-of-Life For COVID-19

By |2020-08-24T02:25:13+00:00March 19th, 2020|Podcasts, Sermons, Talks|

Whether you think COVID is media hype or a real danger, you'll gain some real practical advice on how to slow down as a Catholic living for Christ in 2020 on this podcast.  Please keep praying for Huma. “The remarkable thing about God is that when you fear God, you fear nothing else, whereas if you do not fear God, you fear everything else.”—Oswald Chambers.

3 10, 2019

“Catholic Feminism” and Divorce

By |2019-09-27T11:54:05+00:00October 3rd, 2019|Podcasts, Sermons, Talks|

Today's podcast is with two young grandmothers, one of whom's parents are divorced. We discuss if "Catholic feminism" is possible, as well as what it means to carry the cross in a Catholic culture full of easy annulments. The closed Facebook groups for adult children of divorce mentioned by my guests are found here.

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