VLX 142: Mt 24:15-28. “The Abomination of Desolation.”
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Thanks to Benefactors This Year
Merry Christmas Octave to all readers, listeners, friends and family! The top-left pic is the tiny Christmas tree of my hermitage. The top-right is the Roman Breviary on my altar into which I have written the perpetual-petition to pray for "all benefactors, spiritual and material" in the Roman Canon of the Traditional Latin Mass. As you know, my blog and channel has no ads or patreon. This approach is very unique in the Catholic world, but it means my teaching can be free and modest for everyone. Of course, I never charge for any sacraments or blessings. That is why I am thankful to all you who support me, as you are my only income (besides health insurance). For those of you who want to support me in the future, there are three main ways on my Donate Page: [...]
“To End Abortion, the Church Must Awaken.”
Today is the Feast of the Holy Innocents, and many American Catholics link this Feast day to ending abortion. They are right to do so, but most are missing the underlying problems and solutions. First of all, 89% of Novus Ordo Mass (NOM) Catholics believe there is no problem in using contraception. This means most American Catholic couples are on the Pill. This is a huge problem considering "The Pill" Kills More Than Surgicals. Even most NOM priests who preach two or three pro-life sermons a year will not preach against the widespread contraception-use among their flock. This means: 1) Surgical abortions in this country will not end until NOM Catholics get off the Pill, as we can't expect the general population of a post-Christian country to have higher morals than Catholics. AND 2) Catholic priests could stop millions [...]
Overturning Envy at Christmas
p/c St. Mary's of Pine Bluff, WI. There's an English gentleman named Tom Holland (who I don't think considers himself a Christian) who recently wrote a book called Dominion about what is unique about Christianity. He wrote about how Christianity conquered the West not through violence but through the enduring of the cross. One reason he did this is because he saw with his own eyes crucifixions done by ISIS several years ago. Holland realized the inverted power-structures that we still value in even the post-Christian West essentially come from early Christianity. Holland compared Medieval Christian monarchs to pre-Christian Roman monarchs in the introduction to his book: "That the Son of God, born of a woman, and sentenced to the death of a slave, had perished unrecognised by his judges, was a reflection fit to give pause to even the [...]
What Are We Waiting For?
p/c St. Alphonsus parish, Baltimore. In Advent, you already know that we are waiting for the first coming of Jesus as He comes in gentleness and the Second Coming of Jesus in justice. But I want to admit some misunderstandings I had of world history—specifically the state of the world in waiting for the First Coming of Jesus.—that may shed some light in how we look for the Second Coming of Jesus. For my thanksgiving after Mass, I am now using a 19th century book of Jesuit Meditations from Angelus Press called "Practical Meditations For Every Day of the Year." It is old-school Jesuit, not new. Every day of the year has an Ignatian meditation that usually pertains to the liturgical season. But like all good Jesuit meditations, you use your imagination to picture Jesus or Mary or a Saint [...]
Pharisaical Word-Games from the US Bishops
The Catholic Church has always had blessings for people and items. Blessings for people are usually for individuals, but occasionally a priest may bless groups living in a vocation designed by God (like a family.) Blessings for items can be anything from a vehicle to a crucifix. But there is a new heretical document from Cdl. Fernandez that reads: "III. Blessings of Couples in Irregular Situations and of Couples of the Same Sex. 31. Within the horizon outlined here appears the possibility of blessings for couples in irregular situations and for couples of the same sex, the form of which should not be fixed ritually by ecclesial authorities to avoid producing confusion with the blessing proper to the Sacrament of Marriage." (emphasis mine.) Catholic News Agency has an article titled "U.S diocese respond to Vatican declaration on same-sex couple blessings." [...]
The Holy Fools of Christ
Matins for the Feast of St. Thomas the Apostle in the old Rite Roman Breviary includes this reading today: For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute. To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless, and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things.—1 Cor 4:9-13. The first "fool for Christ" was [...]
RCT 31: The Two Judgments.
The Roman Catechism of Trent (RCT) p. 83-87. The Creed, Article VII, Section A. Donate: https://padreperegrino.org/donate/
“They Will Put You Out of the Synagogues.”—John 16:2
Jesus said, I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor Me.—John 16:1-3. What is interesting about Our Lord's above prediction for the coming persecution against His Apostles in Acts of the Apostles is that the Jewish leaders who would kick them out of "the synagogues" would do so because they would believe "they are offering service to God." In other words, the religious leaders who happen to have the power over buildings will kick out the true religious who are preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all nations (that is, the newly ordained Apostles.) [...]
Telling the Truth Will Set You Free
p/c Catholic Arena, Dublin. Recently, Tucker Carlson gave a talk in Las Vegas, found in-part here. Below in italics are my favorite quotes from his talk. Following each quote, I apply it to the current situation in the Catholic Church, especially in relation to the clergy. Tucker Carlson: I can't think of a single case where someone was destroyed for lying. There's no penalty for lying...What they did was tell the truth. And that is the case everywhere...But go through the last fifteen famous people who were canceled for "saying the wrong thing" and ask yourself: "Is the thing they said wrong?" Me: Do a little experiment on paper with me here. On the left side of a piece of paper, write the names of the ten most infamously corrupt heretical priests, bishops and Cardinals. On the right side of [...]