Travel Tips for Catholics (and Others)
Obviously, there are a million websites telling you how to travel. But this "Pilgrim Priest" is going to give you a few new tips you may not have known: Ahead of Time: Find out which countries require vaccines and masks not only to tour, but also to land in their country. Also, your passport may not be enough. Make sure to get travel-visas ahead of time. (Just before my very first flight to Brazil in seminary, I got stopped on the way from Denver to Rio De Janeiro in Atlanta, not knowing I needed a visa to enter Brazil. I had to fly back to Denver and re-book everything. Since [...]
Are Trads Mean?
I recently stayed with traditional priest who, although Western and a bit older than me, reminded me of a Holy Fool of the East. A Holy Fool in Russian is called юродивый or a yurodivy and it's its own class of saint. The Holy Fool makes you think he is stupid, but in fact—it's you he reveals as stupid. The Eastern Church's holy fool is not insane as the name implies to Western eyes, but is rather an indomitable lover of God who makes you re-think your own arrogance through his prophetic actions in your life. (The older Latin priest I stayed with had little idea he was like the [...]
Ex Opere Operato vs. Ex Opere Operantis
Fr. John Hardon SJ is quoted at The Fatima Center defining these two sacramental terms: Ex opere operantis is a term mainly applied to the good dispositions with which a sacrament is received, to distinguish it from the ex opere operato which is the built-in efficacy of a sacrament properly conferred. The above is an excellent definition of those two sacramental terms that always must be considered in a balance. Most amateur theologians today are pretty good at knowing the principle of ex opere operato, namely, that a priest in mortal sin still validly confects the sacraments (provided he say the correct words.) This is good that amateur theologians know this. But most amateur [...]
The Book of Jude for Today
Jude is one of two books in the Bible that is so short that it is numbered not according to chapter and verse, but rather verse only. It seems Jude is particularly applicable to today. We'll look at a few verses with St. Jude's words in Scripture in italics and my commentary in bold: Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.—Jude 3 The shortest distance between two points is a straight line. So, if 1920s Catholicism looked like medieval Catholicism, [...]
Mary: The Missing Key to Courage
Then He said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.—Jn 19:27 Even though Sacred Tradition outside Scripture proposes some accounts of Apostles having wavering courage after Pentecost (for example, the famous story of St. Peter fleeing Rome under persecution as Christ appears to him to say Quo Vadis? at which point Peter returns to Rome to be crucified) we know that for the most part, the pre-Pentecost Apostles have numerous failures in courage whereas the post-Pentecost Apostles have nearly unchecked success in their cooperation with the Holy Spirit's gift of fortitude as 11 of the 12 of them approach [...]
Is Water Baptism Necessary for Salvation?
Is water baptism necessary for salvation? The first Pope (St. Peter) wrote under inspiration the following: Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, Who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to Him.—1 Peter 3:21-22. The Catholic Church has interpreted this as water baptism being ordinarily necessary for salvation. However, there are some extraordinary circumstances to consider. The Church also teaches officially that baptism by blood (martyrdom) is sufficient for salvation [...]
Clone Protocol 66
This is going to be my nerdiest blog-post to-date, but it gets to the priesthood and the current Church crisis. Despite the abysmal acting, I have to admit that I really like the Star Wars prequels (released 1999-2005.) In the third of those three, Revenge of the Sith, Chancellor Palpatine orders "Clone Protocol 66" or "Order 66" (see above picture) and Wookieepedia describes it: "Order 66, also known as Clone Protocol 66, was a top-secret order identifying all Jedi as traitors to the Galactic Republic and, therefore, subject to summary execution by the Grand Army of the Republic. The order was programmed into the Grand Army clone troopers through behavioral modification [...]
Misunderstandings of Diabolical Activity
As you know, I am not an exorcist. But I do know enough about the supernatural (God and the angels) and the preternatural (demons) to correct some common misperceptions that I am hearing from even good Catholics these days. For example: 1) This group is so evil—do you think they're possessed? and 2) Can you do an exorcism on this misled family member of mine? Question #1: This group is so evil—do you think they're possessed? Answer: Many people seem to forget that mortal sin is worse than diabolical possession. While it is true that many traditional Catholics are right to be shocked at the level of evil living [...]
How To Assist Someone in Making an Act of Perfect Contrition
Under all these continued lockdowns, I believe the below video might be the most underrated thing on YouTube. It's Fr. Philip Wolfe FSSP describing how to assist someone in making an act of perfect contrition. Most people would find it quite a show-stopper to learn that the Catholic Church teaches that a person dying in original sin (like a Muslim or Jew) or a person in mortal sin (like a Catholic who has not been to confession in a decade) can still be saved by God with only a layman at his deathbed! It is so important as more priests and sacraments are cancelled and as hospitals double-down on [...]
If Evolution is True, We’re Just Walking Meat-Sacks
If evolution is true (directed by God or not) then why do modernist Catholics speak so much of "human dignity"? Human dignity shouldn't be "a thing" if we're descended from apes. Yet most of the modern Popes and Cardinals and bishops for the past 50 years have promoted a directed evolution (an evolution directed by God) while paradoxically pushing "human dignity" with barely any references to Divine Revelation. I think modernists truly believe both in evolution and "human-dignity," but they also seem to think this is a strategic approach to evangelization: If we talk about science and humans, we'll win the smart, young people. Unfortunately, the stats show the opposite: Countless [...]