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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
“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 [...]
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 [...]
“Mortal” Only If Done With Full-Knowledge?
Probably daily across this country a few conversation go like this between young Catholics: -Catholic 1: Did you know pre-marital sex is a mortal sin? -Catholic 2: Well, did you know for a sin to be mortal you have to have full-knowledge and full-consent? -Catholic 1: I guess so, but does that mean it's not a mortal sin to have pre-marital sex? -Catholic 2: Not if you didn't know it. Catholic 2 is a smarty-pants who takes St. Thomas out of context, but is still morally wrong. Here's why: Even the new Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) admits that you don't get a "pass" from God (so to speak) [...]
Immaculate Conception: The Temporal and Eternal One
Here's a text I got from a friend yesterday: "Okay, also, how is the Holy Spirit the uncreated Immaculate Conception, as Maximilian Kolbe says? Any good ideas on explaining it?" My reply: "Yes it's because the Holy Spirit proceeds in eternity (not time) from the Father and the Son that one can even use the term 'ETERNAL Immaculate Conception' but one has to be very careful to extricate any sense of sex or time from it, since it's spiritual, there's no genders involved and the spiration of the Holy Spirit is in eternity ('Spiration' is the old school way to describe how the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father [...]
Levate Capita Vestra Ad Redemptio Vestra
What did it mean to pray for the Jews to pray for the First Coming of the Messiah? What does it mean for Christians to pray for the Second Coming of the Messiah? Notice that for the former, it was not a matter of despair, but rather of hope, to pray for the first coming of the Christ. This is revealed in the life of St. Anne as seen in a vision by Ven. Mary of Agreda in the Mystical City of God: The most fortunate Anne had a house in Bethlehem and was a most chaste, humble and beautiful maiden. From her childhood she led a most virtuous, holy [...]
A “Springtime” of Vocations
I found a website called Christendom Restoration that graphed vocations before and after the Council, as seen above. It used very advanced calculus on the growth of American seminarians versus years, such as S(t)=47247.8e -0.0846t and S(year) = 47247.8e -0.0846(year-1965) in order to reveal only significant statistics. The above chart shows the Pre-Conciliar and Post-Conciliar Growth functions of seminarians in the United States. As you can see, it uses "Springtime" in a sarcastic sense for what has happened since 1965. Earlier this year. Fr. Z posted the above graph. Notice again that American priests were on the rise until Vatican II. After that, it tanked... ...not so for tradition in [...]