Shut Up, You Freak! You Are Not In Command Here!

     What an outright mess of a country we live in!  The monkeys media are running the zoo.  And in cases like this recent statement by Missouri Congressman Todd Akin, the "experts" also get a big hat and a name tag.  What are they doing, really?  They are having a very good run of making Christians appear to be uneducated, backwards, unsympathetic, ignorant, rigid, and cold.  Why are they doing it?  There are two reasons, both closely related.  First and foremost, there is a call for an ever increasing secular society--a society that is not governed by religious principles or moral values.  In order to achieve that goal (and it is a real goal), the powers-that-be--the media, the elite, the political parties--must silence any meaningful discussion about moral issues as quickly as possible.  The second reason is something like that.  The political parties, fundamentally,  want to eject social issues from their platforms.  When this happens, they argue, our leaders can focus on the things that really matter, like jobs and the economy.  It's a twisted little game they are playing--and winning.  And Congressman Akin just happens to be a token to use on their playing board.
     I feel really very sorry for Congressman Akin.  Even though he was confused about the biology of how pregnancy works, I understood exactly what Congressman Akin was saying.  He was saying that it is very, very rare for a rape victim to fall pregnant.  And, in the case, that she did, it is morally unjust to murder the child for the crime of his father.  Mr. Akin is right, of course, and the media is using him to hammer into everyone's head the radical feminist agenda.  His own political party, the Republicans, are using him to pander to the secular, modernist voting bloc, because that is who they believe they need to win elections.  Personally, I think it's incredibly important to look at the issues, because many Catholics will be voting in this election.
   We have some real problems in this country and some of them stem primarily from the use or misuse of terms and language.  Mr. Akin used the term "legitimate rape."  Now any reasonable person knows perfectly well what that means.  In spite of what the media is telling you or what the law defines, there ARE different kinds of rape.  Rape is a crime, but so are theft, robbery, and murder.  There are several different types of theft all carrying penalties related to how this crime is committed and under what circumstances:  extortion, theft by deception, shoplifting, carjacking, theft of service, receiving stolen property, identity theft, etc.  Robbery, of course, is a form of theft but is more egregious because the theft happens in the owner's presence, willfully, and with violence.  There are different types of robbery, also, like armed robbery, home invasion, breaking and entering, aggravated robbery, etc.  These offenses, too, come with varying penalties and punishments regarding the circumstances.  Murder, yet again, has various classifications and punishments.  There's capital murder, manslaughter, involuntary manslaughter, vehicular homicide, felony murder, etc.  And while all of these crimes are terrible and horrible trespasses on our citizens, they do have varying degrees of seriousness.
     Rape, as horrible as it is, is this way as well.  There is rape by force, rape by coercion, marital rape, acquaintance rape, drug induced rape, etc.  They are all crimes, yes, but they carry with them different penalties regarding the circumstances.  Yes, all rape is horrible, but some rapes are worse than others.  But what's worse about rape than the above mentioned crimes, is that it is often difficult to prove, and often places the victim's behavior under the spotlight.  For this reason, many, many women never report that they have been raped and many rapists never are arrested or convicted.  And precisely because rape is so hard to prove, it can be hard to disprove as well.  That's the reason many women have claimed rape or faked rape out of revenge, guilt, or to cover their own sexual misadventures.  The plot of Nell Harper's To Kill a Mockingbird centers around just such an injustice.  Think my statement is unfair to women?  Here's a bit of news that the media doesn't want to bring to anyone's attention.
   Women fake rape all the time.  In 2002, a young 17 year-old football player had a bright future.  A class-mate charged him with kidnapping and rape.  He plead non-contest at the advice of his lawyer, served 6 years in jail, and the school system paid the girl $1.5 million.  10 years later, she admitted she lied.  In the spring of this year, a woman in California claimed she had been attacked from behind and sexually assaulted.  She later came forth to tell the police that she had lied about the assault.  Two women in Fort Collins, Colorado accused three men of drugging and raping them in January of this year.  Those two women have since been arrested for lying and extortion.   There is also the story of the young teenager who was charged with raping a friend.  He plead guilty on the advice of his lawyer.  After the young man went to prison, his accuser recanted.  It took the Virginia Supreme Court to finally determine that he was falsely accused and improperly counseled, allowing his name to be removed from the sex offender registry. 
      These are just a few cases that I could find easily with a Google search.  Who knows how many cases of fake rape women report each year.  The point is, it is not unheard of.  And who knows how many women, past and present, who discover they are pregnant and claim they were raped or coerced.  In fact, sometimes women get drunk, go home with men, regret it the next day and charge that they were raped.  Often, these men, who freely admit the events that happened, are found guilty and spend long periods of time behind bars.  It's a mess!  So in Mr. Akin's defense, his term "legitimate rape" makes a whole lotta sense to me.
     But, for the sake of argument, let's consider that a woman is raped and she does fall pregnant.  What in the world to do about that?  First of all, no one is certain how many actual rape victims fall pregnant at the hands of their rapist.  It is estimated that the number is between 1-5%.  Of that number, no one is certain how many of those women have abortions, how many keep their children, and how many are put up for adoption.  What is clear, though, is that induced abortions as the result of rape makes up only a small percentage of the abortions performed in this country.  In fact, the Guttmacher Institute reports that only 1% of women seeking abortion have been forced to have sex against their will.    Because facilities are not required by law to report how many abortions they perform, abortion statistics in the U.S are only estimates gathered from the CDC and Planned Parenthood.  The estimate is that 1.2 million babies died from abortion last year.  If the statistics are correct, then that means over 100,000 of those babies were babies of rape victims.  In some people's view, that is 100,000 women did not have to suffer unnecessarily at the hands of her rapist by carrying the child, the reminder of such trama, to term.  Compassionate, right?
    The fundamental issue that really lies beneath abortion and abortion laws in this country is primarily one of language and technicality.  You see, in terms of the law, unborn babies in their mother's wombs, are not people and they are not citizens of the United States.  This is a very important distinction, legally, because under the Constitution then, they are not guaranteed any rights at all.  It's called Due Process.  It's a pretty ambiguous legal term but it is that clause that permits all woman to have an abortion in this country.  Under Due Process, everyone has a right to privacy, including when it involves a pregnancy.  In other words, a woman's pregnancy is purely a medical condition and a woman has the right to seek whatever treatment she chooses to treat that condition.  It is the liberal, feminist, ace-in-the-hole, if you will.  Under these terms, already defined by Roe v. Wade, pregnancy is a health condition, the "fetus" is a blob of tissue, and the woman can "choose" to do with it what she wants.  Induced abortion, the intentional expulsion of the products of conception through medicine or instrumentation, is THE cornerstone of feminism.  In real terms, it is perfectly legal to kill an unborn child by poison, stabbing with a sharp object, burning with acid, and dismemberment to remove it from its mother's womb as long as the mother chooses to do so.  And as long as we continue to consider pregnancy as a health condition and not a process by which new human beings come into existence, we will continue to face the wrath of Our Lord over the direct bloodshed of 1.2 million innocent children.
     Personally, I think Congressman Akin is a lot braver than most politicians.  He approached the abortion issue from the only completely logical avenue can be taken.  If it is true that unborn babies are people, then there can never be one single reason to allow for their execution.  Since they are not capable of acting in any capacity, they cannot be found guilty of any crimes committed.  They are 100% innocent.  Since that is true, they cannot be convicted and found worthy of death.  They have a right, as persons, to live.  Ending their innocent lives would be willful murder, a sin most grievous that it cries out to Heaven for vengeance.  As such, no God-fearing Christian could ever in good conscience claim that abortion can and should be permitted in certain cases, particularly in the case of rape, incest, or the life of the mother.  This would in essence be saying that it is okay to willfully murder people under whatever circumstances we deem appropriate.
     I recently read in the combox of someone's blog regarding this issue.  This was a Catholic blog, I can't really remember which one now, and the author was discussing what the Catholic Church teaches regarding abortion.  Quite a few people chimed in, but one person's comment was particularly disturbing.  She was a Catholic around the age of 65 or so.  She is a cradle-Catholic, educated her entire life in Catholic institutions.  She was college-educated by the Jesuits in the 1960s and was clearly outraged to discover that the Church had changed Her teaching regarding abortion.  You see, she had been taught, as did all of her peers, that abortion was perfectly acceptable in three cases--rape, incest, and the life of the mother.  She absolutely could not believe that, suddenly, the Church changed her position.  I am not certain that the author ever corrected her there.  So I will clarify her.  The Catholic Church has never taught, nor ever will teach, that abortion, the willful murder of an innocent child, is morally acceptable in any case.  It can not teach this because our Lord did not teach this to be so.  Any Catholic who believes otherwise will suffer under pain of mortal sin.  It would be best to educate yourself and get to confession.
     I believe that the devil is at work over time in this country and particularly with Catholics.  The Catholic Church is the One True Church left to us by Our Lord Jesus Christ.  Nothing that she teaches within the Magisterium is false.  Nothing.  It cannot be.  If it were, then Our Lord would be a liar.  And He cannot be.  But the devil can.  The devil is having his hey-day with the general population at large, including many priests, bishops, cardinals, nuns, and Popes.  Not one of us is immune.  Not one.  The only thing we can trust or depend on is the One True Church, Our Lord, and Our Blessed Mother.
     I applaud Mr. Akin.  He may have missed biology class when the professor was talking about how the female reproductive system works, but at least he has back-bone.  He is right.  Rape is not as clear cut as people would like you to believe.  Some rapes are not "legitimate."  Induced abortion is always morally reprehensible.  There is never an excuse to murder an innocent child, particularly in the case where its execution is for a crime committed by its father.
     On this Feast Day of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, let us ask her to end this scourge of humanity.  Because of Her place as Queen of Heaven and Earth, Our Blessed Mother can end this today, if we devote ourselves to Her Heart and ask her to take their unheard cries and buckets of shed blood and sorrowfully place them at the feet of Our Lord.  Otherwise, the United States is soon merit Our Lord's Justice.

Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us!

Holy Innocents, pray for us!

St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle!
   

Pearls of Wisdom

     But where is wisdom to be found, and where is the place of understanding?  Man knoweth not the price thereof, neither is it found in the land of them that live in delights....The finest gold shall not purchase it...Gold or crystal can not equal it....High and eminent things shall not be mentioned in comparison to it...Whence then cometh wisdom? and where is the place of understanding?...Behold the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom: and to depart from evil, that is understanding.  ~Job 28:12-28


Last night my brother called to speak to my mother.  Normally, there's a lot of small talk about how people are doing and what books they are reading.  But sometimes their conversation gets around to our family, especially our 7 children.  You see, we are something of a freak show with my Protestant extended family.  For some reason, they say what disrespectful thing they are thinking, right in front of our faces, and pretend that we don't hear it.  It's sorta like going to the circus and talking about the bearded lady while you are staring at her through the glass.  It's almost inhuman.  And last night was no exception.
     What's so freakish about us?  Well, we are real Catholics.  We are poor.  We have 7 children.  We obviously do not use birth control.  I do not work outside the home.  Our family is devoted to Our Blessed Mother.  We have icons all over our house.  We pray the Rosary and make the sign of the Cross often.  We go to confession and we believe that it's possible to control one's sinful behavior.  For my Southern Protestant family, we are not to be taken seriously.  We are out of touch with reality.  We are silly.  We are wicked and we need to be saved.  So every little chance my Southern Baptist brother gets, he offers some practical Protestant "wisdom" and "truth."
     The little pearl of wisdom he offered last night was in regard to our 17 year-old son.  Truth be told, we've had a difficult go with him.  He's grown up in the Northeast where religious belief of whatever sort is personal and marginal.  He came of age in the public school system where social activities are overly encouraged along with the idea of teenage personal sovereignty.  As such, our transition from a modern Catholic family to a traditional Catholic family has been especially difficult for him.  He openly questions God and, thus, morality.  And as frightening as that seems, somewhere underneath is a little seed; a seed of Truth that Our Lord will allow to blossom in His own time.  I have often been reminded, when I go to the confessional confessing my own doubts and fears about him, that St. Monica prayed for 30 years over St. Augustine.  So I know from the lives of the Saints that it only takes a seed.  Eventually, it will grow.
     Unfortunately, Protestants don't have the beautiful treasury of the Saints.  They don't have the inexhaustible collection of men, women, and children who overcame the snares of the devil and lived their lives with eyes solely on heaven.  They don't have the beautiful gift of the Sacraments, especially of Penance and the Eucharist.  They have no understanding really of God's grace in our lives.  They are, sadly, facing a broken world, a sinful world, with only their intellect and will to guide.  So it was no surprise to me when my brother threw in his unsolicited 2 cents in regard to our son.
    You see, our son has a girl-friend.  These two have been sweet on each other since they were 14.  Back in those days, we knew about their fondness for each other, and we chose not to over emphasize it.  Yet, every chance we got, we talked about chastity, respect for each other, and the necessity to protect each other's reputation.  We've insisted on that.  As they approached 16, a quite vulnerable age in this modern world, we upped our conversations about chastity and respect.  Not once, in any conversation that we have had with our son, have we mentioned or encouraged he and his young girl to sin.  In fact, we have reminded him that he can control himself-he must control himself-until they marry, if that is the Lord's will.  And yet, we realize, completely, that this modern world is fallen. And we've also recognized that, as their feelings grow, there might be occasion to sin.  And with a young son whose grown up in a modern Catholic, Protestant, and secular world this is a frightening situation.  Yet, we have peace, hope, and faith in Our Lord and our young son.
     But as the case with most Protestants, they don't see sin in this way.  For them, we are all totally depraved.  The spirit might be willing, as my brother thinks, but the flesh is weak.  So his advice, freely given to the trad Catholic freaks, is to "hope and pray they are using birth-control."  Now isn't that special?  Not that I am surprised at his suggestion.  He has offered his practical Protestant position on many occasions.  And in an effort not to seem "preachy", he disguises the "birth-control is beautiful" ideology within almost every conversation.  "It's hard enough to pay for one child to go to college.  It's impossible to pay for 4."  "Groceries are high."  "You've got to drive a big ole' gas guzzler 'cause you can't put 6 kids in Ford Focus."  "You've only got three bedrooms?" And the one that I love--"You're pregnant again?  Aren't you 43?"  He feels justified in his tid-bits of advice, though, because they are practical.  And even when counseling unmarried teens, the practicality of not having babies always trumps the sinfulness of one's actions.  So us pesky Catholics, always focused on our personal sins, are just stupid and silly because we just can't embrace the practicality of living.
     So how do I respond to my pompous, Protestant brother?  "Oh boy.  You'd encourage them to pile one sin on top of another?  How Christian of you."  And there in lies the rub, doesn't it?  And here is where our Protestant friends are let loose running in the corral.  They have lost the concept of actual sin, how we participate in it, and that we can doing anything about it.  And because we Catholics still believe in sin, still believe that Our Lord hates sin, still believe that Hell is a real place and that we can merit it by committing mortal sin, we are freaky, impractical, illogical individuals.  And, in their opinion, we aren't doing ourselves or our children any favors.
    Protestant theology and ideology has brought the United States to complete moral decay and economic collapse.  In practice, it is a Godless faith.  It is a faith where men and women make their own rules, decide who God is and what He wants, and determine for themselves how to merit heaven.  Protestant theology causes one to eventually embrace evil because they believe it to be practical or morally acceptable.  It also causes one to look upon certain people through judgmental eyes.  It is grave danger to the soul because, the ultimate outcome is a belief sin is not real, that morals are relative to circumstance, and that material possessions are a reflection of God's grace.
   I love my brother dearly.  I believe that he is sincere in his Southern Baptist beliefs.  I know, without doubt, that he loves Our Lord with his whole heart and soul.  I don't doubt his sincerity or his piety.  I don't doubt that most Protestants are this way.  I was one.  I know many.  They are good, hard working people, without question.  But Protestantism is diseased.  It is a lie from the devil and, if one is not careful to recognize the dangers, leads to hard-heartedness, selfishness, sinfulness, and loss of faith.
     I am absolutely never going to tell my sons or daughters that sin, in any form, is acceptable.  I am especially not going to tell them, when they are older, that sexual relations outside of marriage is okay or acceptable.  Sin is a horrible thing.  It damages our relationship to Our Lord.  It hurts him.  Sometimes, in the case of mortal sin, it separates us completely from Him.  And although we have a human nature, a desire for the things of this world, the things of the flesh, we also have a free will and God's grace.  Through the reception of the Sacraments we can  have a continuous flow of Our Lord's graces.  And with that, we can have the will to never offend God again, the desire to avoid sin, the ability to reject Satan and all his vices.  And that is the pearl of wisdom I am going to give my son.

More souls go to Hell because of sins of the flesh than for any other reason.  ~Our Lady of Fatima
   

Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us!

St. Monica, pray for us!

St. Augustine, pray for us!
   

You Didn't Build That...Really You Didn't

    I never really wanted to write about politics.  I am of the belief that both political parties in America--the Democrats and the Republicans--have the same goal in mind.  And in effect, it doesn't really matter who you vote for, the outcome is going to be the same.  The only difference is one party will wreck the boat faster than the other.  So, as a Catholic, I don't really see where it's an absolute imperative that Catholics vote in elections.  In fact, it may be an imperative not to participate in any capacity in electing morally questionable people to public office.  Perhaps it's a better option, regarding the salvation of one's soul, to just sit it out.  But that's just my opinion.  What I think is a better use of time, is to examine exactly what these politicians are saying and weigh them carefully with facts and examination.  That's what I try to do, and I often find myself recognizing some important things.
     Now let me make it absolutely clear--All politicians lie.  I am not a supporter of either Republicans nor Democrats.  There are numerous ideologies in both parties that are absolutely in direct opposition to both parties.  A good Catholic cannot support abortion in any circumstance nor homosexual marriage.  However, they surely cannot support the assault on poor people in this country or the lower middle class workers, especially those who work in factories and our roads and highways.  As a society, we by definition do not live in a vacuum or independent of all other human beings.  When we live and think individually we get a nation like we have today--everybody looking out for themselves and their bottom line. A nation of individuals trying to get ahead without consideration of what is right or wrong, or how personal choices effect the whole of society.
     If you will permit, I will use the so-called gaffe of the Presidents latest speech.  You know the one.  The one where he said, "You didn't build that."  The liberals are applauding the whole thing and the Republicans are attacking the President's "anti-business" rhetoric.  Both sides are pandering.  And while I am NOT a Democrat and think almost all Democratic policies are an abomination, the President is right about this and the Republicans are hypocrites.
     You see the truth is---individually we are nothing and we can accomplish nothing.  Left alone, very few us ever find the truth, discover something important, or learn anything meaningful.  And socially, if we are left alone to figure things out for ourselves, to build things for ourselves, we might be successful at building our own tree house, but how did we get our materials and who will enjoy our accomplishments?
     I was recently watching a YouTube video of the Venerable Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen.  He was giving a speech to young people a few years before he died.  In his speech, he referenced how our society, our culture, has changed so rapidly in just a short period of time.  Once, not so long ago, people didn't lock their car doors or houses at night.  They weren't afraid to walk down the city streets at night.  They weren't worried that someone would mug them or attack them.  We were a moral people, constantly thinking of other people, and how our actions or lack thereof, affected us all.  He mentioned a story a business owner told him about a law suit he was involved in, in which a young woman, a union worker, was caught stealing cash from the the cash register.  The business owner fired the young woman, but the union returned with a law suit based on the grounds that the business owner had wrongfully fired the woman because he had not told this particular worker that stealing money from the register was wrong.  The good Bishop went on to explain the inconsistency and the danger of this attitude.  And this attitude seems to be quite prevalent in our society today, on both ends of the political spectrum.
     From an economic perspective, if we examine things honestly we might be surprised what the reality is.  Aside from a very small group of individuals, most people have many of the things they have, precisely because someone helped them get it.  How many people actually got their education, completely on their own?  In times past, many young people lived at home with their parents.  Their parents fed them and clothed them while they went to school.  Sometimes they had jobs to pay for their educational advancements, but they often stayed home living off their parents success.  How many people are gifted cars, houses, and cash from their parents or other relatives?  What about start-up money for that business?  Or the apprentice job at the butcher shop?  What about the sheer numbers of companies in this country that are FAMILY businesses, built on the shoulders of fathers and grandfathers?  There was a time, not so long ago, where this type of economy was both normal and expected.  A son took over his father's business, whether that was the family farm or the grist-mill.  This is how our nation was built.  Wealth was built over generations of hard work, determination, and family cohesion.
     From a spiritual perspective, is it any wonder how this attitude has led our nation to the precipice of complete moral decay?  All of Christendom was brought to Christ and His Church through the passing on and teaching of the Catholic faith.  Men and women risked their lives to convert whole nations of people to Christ.  They replaced superstition with tradition.  They challenged pagan belief systems and ideas with Truth and piety.  Some of the greatest nations grew up out of Christ's Commission to bring all souls to salvation.  Whole families were converted and Christianity, Catholicism, was passed from father to son, mother to daughter for generations upon generations.  It was our parents who taught us the Our Father.  Our parents who told us about the angels, the saints, Our Lord's commandments.  Our parents who taught us to care for our grandparents and elderly neighbors.  Our parents who taught us how to love.  And where did they learn it?  From their parents before them.  Whole communities built up around this dissemination of the faith.  Catholicism thrived, and culture sprung up with clear demarcations between right and wrong, goodness and evil, mercy and justice, faith and superstition.  Neighborhoods grew.  Families worshiped Our Lord and shared their blessings with each other, especially the poor and disadvantaged.
    This model of wealth and education from our families on down is Our Lord's plan.  It has always been His plan.  His own Divine Family is an example for us.  When Our Blessed Mother heard of her cousin Elizabeth's pregnancy, in loving kindness and perfect goodness, She went to her to help her in time.  St. Joseph lovingly and patiently taught Our Lord how to be a carpenter, not that Our Lord needed that, really, but because Our Lord was a Perfect Son, he allowed St. Joseph to teach him and guide him.  And Our Lord, by the nature of His Divinity, taught His Mother and St. Joseph about God and His law.  They lived, loved, and worked together.  They gave themselves to each other. And it is by following this example that families thrive and grow strong.
     Unfortunately, what has been popular in modern times, is to see ourselves as individuals, disconnected from our families, disconnected from our communities, disconnected from God.  This philosophy has destroyed and decimated my own family and countless numbers of others.  It began with the so-called Greatest Generation and it adopted by the Silent Generation, my parent's generation.  They openly questioned their futures, their pasts, their morals, their religions, and their stations in life.  They were willing to leave behind the people and places that "held them back."  There were no limits, no boundaries, nothing to stop them from achieving their dreams or their financial successes.  They were willing to share it with us, but not give to us, not bequeath it to us.  They expected us to do what they had done.  In fact, they encouraged us to do so.  They told us to leave home, make our own way in the world, to make personal sacrifices, to let nothing get in the way.  They reminded us that our success was our own doing and our failures were not their fault.  In essence, they loaded us in the Winnebago, took us on a tour, and threw us out to make find our own way.  And it is destructive, devastating, and ungodly.  It is unnatural.  And this is the Republican ideal.
     But the Democratic ideal, the one that President Obama touts, is no better.  It is only a consolation, a counterfeit, that has to fill the void left behind in the wake of the destruction of the family.  It is the federal government.  When the family, natural single cell of society, is destroyed and lying in waste, something or someone has to take it's place.  And the government has.  On the local level, it educates our children in the public schools.  It takes care of the sick, the aged, and the poor.  It gives young people financial resources to go to college and start businesses.  It's given us science, atheism, and political correctness.  And we are dependent on it to feed us and take care of us when we cannot work.  Our government has replaced our families.  And whether anyone wants to admit, or will believe it, President Obama is right---"You didn't build that."  No, you inherited it from your parents and your grandparents.  It is their legacy, and unwittingly, we are passing that legacy right on along to our children.
     Personally, I have carried around a bitter pill for just shy of 4 decades.  My father abandoned his religious beliefs, his heritage, for a few years of marriage.  My parents divorced when I was 9 because they couldn't solve their problems.  My mother signed away her inheritance for a few jewels, without considering the consequences.  My parents remarried and started new families, leaving behind the fragments of the old.  My father died, leaving nothing to his children for fear someone else might benefit from what was given to him.  Ironically, the future my parents created for themselves when they disconnected from their own pasts, is the past that I long for.  The family, the traditions, the unity, the wealth, the love, the knowledge; all the things that Our Lord showed us were important in His example within His Holy Family.  And yet, I didn't know it, I couldn't know, until I became a traditional Catholic.
     This disconnected, disjointed, individualism is the norm in modern society.  If you live in it, it's hard to escape it.  In fact, most probably don't know they are being shaped, formed, or infected by it.  We educated our 2 oldest children in public schools where the indoctrination begins.  Children are systematically taught to be independent of their parents' philosophies, values, and tutelage.  They are thrust into social groups based on individual ideas or interests.  They pair off and peer up.  Parents and siblings, if they are lucky enough to have any, are secondary.  They seek advice from peers or academic counselors rather than parents and relatives.  And we, their parents, hock off our houses and exhaust our savings to pay for them to pursue their individual educational interests.  We willingly stretch our budgets to the limits and fill up all of our free time encouraging our children to be independent, willful, and self-centered.
     The legacy the Greatest Generation burdened us with has destroyed our society and leaves in its wake economic upheaval.  It's this same legacy, because we refuse to open our eyes and follow Our Lord's example,  the very same devastation we are certain to leave our children. So the next time we are lamenting how we are worried that our children have lost their faith, the next time we are spending 4 nights a week at soccer practice with Jimmy, racing to get Sarah to karate after basketball practice, the next time the college tuition sucks up the rainy-day fund, remember how we got here and where our children are going.
   
   

In Regione Caecorum Rex Est Luscus---Erasmus of Rotterdam

     I don't quite know how to say this without sounding rude and "uncharitable."  But it really needs to be said.  So, I am going to say it.  The hierarchy of the Catholic Church are completely clueless, bordering on ignorant.  I can easily back that statement up, if given the time.  But here is just one example to prove my point:  These people are dumb and if you are listening to them, you are probably going to end up dumb, too, and definitely clueless, and perhaps faithless.

     His Eminence, Cardinal Dolan, has a blog on the Archdiocese of New York website.  And this week's post titled "Keeping the Faith" is about as ridiculous and out-of touch as they come. To show you what I mean, let's have a look at some of his utter confusion.

     Without going into a commentary about the Jews, I sincerely doubt Cardinal Dolan needed to reference the crisis of faith in the Jewish community to open up a discussion about the loss of faith of Catholics.  In the Diocese of New York, Catholic school enrollment has declined by half since the 1960s.  Schools have been shuddered, churches have been closed and sold, parishes have been consolidated.  The good Archbishop knows that most of his Catholics don't adhere to Church doctrine, few are getting married in the Church, a few are being baptized.  In other words, in ain't no secret what is happening, and we ain't stupid.  But check this out from Cardinal Dolan's blog:

     We Catholics  have known this for years:  there is no more tried-and-true way of passing on our Catholic faith to our kids than by sacrificing to put them in a Catholic school. Data proves they persevere in the faith at higher rates, pray better, are more faithful to Sunday Mass, live gospel values, are more generous to their parish, even have happier marriages, volunteer more, and transmit the faith to their own children, than those not in a Catholic school.

     But what about this statement from the Cardus Education Survey on North American Religious Education and their actual research into this matter.

      Catholic schools provide superior academic outcomes, an experience that translates into graduates’ enrollment in more prestigious colleges and universities, more advanced degrees, and higher household income. In Catholic schools, administrators put a higher value on university than their Protestant Christian peers, and Catholic schools’ academic programs consist of more rigorous course offerings across the board...  At the same time, however, our research finds that the moral, social, and religious dispositions of Catholic school graduates seem to run counter to the values and teachings of the Catholic church. For example, students graduating from Catholic schools divorce no less than their public school counterparts, and significantly more than their Protestant Christian and non-religious private school peers. Similarly, having attended Catholic school has no impact on the frequency with which those graduates will attend church services, and Catholic school graduates are less likely to serve as leaders in their churches.

     And what about this bit of data from the Pew Forum:

     Catholicism has experienced the greatest net losses as a result of affiliation changes. While nearly one-in-three Americans (31%) were raised in the Catholic faith, today fewer than one-in-four (24%) describe themselves as Catholic. These losses would have been even more pronounced were it not for the offsetting impact of immigration.

   
     Cardinal Dolan goes on to explain that he has actually met with some of his educators in the Catholic school system.  This is what he tells us.

     I recently had the pleasure of meeting with leaders in our Catholic high schools.  They observed that, in some of their areas, the public schools were, thank God, offering a good education......
 They asserted, there was only one reason for a parent to sacrifice financially to send his/her son/daughter to the Catholic high school:  formation in faith, values, character, discipline, and religion . . . along with a first class education.

     IF the public schools in New York are actually offering a good education, then why did the New York Daily News report last summer that although graduation rates are up, 75% of students are not ready for college?

     Unfortunately, I have no good data suggesting that private schools currently are better or worse than public schools academically, but there is evidence that SAT scores are higher for those students.  How ready are they for college?  It's hard to say.  But I digress.....

     If the only one reason for a parent to sacrifice financially to send their children to Catholic school is faith formation, then we have a serious problem that Cardinal Dolan wants to be ambiguous about.  But what's worse, doesn't seem to really want to do anything about it anyway.

     If our schools are not visibly and robustly Catholic, let’s save a lot of money and close them in areas where our children can get a decent academic education free of charge.

     This is the solution Cardinal Dolan advances.  Our schools are not really Catholic in identity, so let's just close them and send our children to public school where it is free.  Yes, that is really what he said.

     In other words, Catholics, the Catholic hierarchy doesn't really care if the teachers are Catholic and adhere to Catholic doctrine.  They don't care if Catholic students are actually losing their faith when they become adults.  They don't seem concerned that the public schools are a hotbed of immorality, liberalism, and modernism where your children are certain to lose their faith.  

     This is the main reason we decided to home school our children.  We want to put forth every effort and make as many sacrifices necessary to pass on our Catholic faith to our children.  At home, every single subject is infused with Catholic thought and teaching.  There is no ambiguity here.  We use a Catholic curriculum and traditional Catholic catechisms.  Along with the math, science, reading, grammar, and history, our children will know what it means to be a Catholic--visibly and robustly.  

     Our two oldest children were educated in the public school system.  We could have sacrificed to send them to Catholic school, but what would have been the point?  We would have gone without and our children would have lost their faith anyway.  Today, we are struggling with faith issues with these two.  One believes what he wants to believe about his Catholic faith, the other has rejected it mostly.  While one is doing fairly well at a private non-Catholic college, the other is struggling with reading, writing, and critical thinking---the product of a "good public school education."  

     I suffer greatly over the loss of faith of my oldest children.  I, daily, unite my sufferings to those of Our Most Sorrowful Mother.  How much sorrow must she feel that almost all of Her children have left the Church, don't know what Our Lord has taught us, don't know what the Catholic Church teaches, nor do they care.  I pray daily that the Our Lord will have mercy on my children and bring them home.  

     I also pray daily that the Catholic hierarchy, like the priests, bishops, cardinals, and even the Pope, have the courage to take action.  Because that is the only thing that is going to save our souls and the souls of our children.

     My priest reminded us of this:  "For what shall it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and suffer the loss of his soul?  For he that shall be ashamed of Me, and of My words, in this adulterous and sinful generation: the Son of man also will be ashamed of him, when He shall come in the glory of His Father with the holy angels."  Mark 8:36-38

     It has become quite clear to me, as from Cardinal Dolan's blog, that these men who are responsible for huge flocks of Christ's children are leading them down the road to Perdition.  And it is these very men, these favorite sons, that the Catholic faithful are clinging to for some direction and hope.

     And thus the words of Erasmus ring ever loud and clear:

In the Land of the Blind, the one-eyed man is King

Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.

Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us.

Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us.

Living in Wonderland

Everything has a got a moral if you can only find it.  Lewis Caroll

     I don't remember my fall through the rabbit hole, but surely there was one.  The only other explanation is that I have actually gone mad.  Things are not what they seem and every thing is topsy-turvy.  On the surface, it just seems that our society keeps progressing in such fashion that demarcation lines are blurred and all things are tolerated.  My traditional Catholic sensibilities, however, assure me eventually our stay in Wonderland will come to a terrible, yet glorious, end.  Nonsense, you may say.  Well let's have a look.

As for the Sacrament of Matrimony, which symbolizes the Union of Christ with His Church, it will be attacked and profaned in the fullest sense of the word.  Our Lady of Good Success

Not so long ago, weddings were joyous events where the wedding party and guests wore dresses like the rainbow or in jewel tones.  Today, weddings seem like funerals.  Perhaps since so many marriages end end divorce, this fashion statement is appropriate.

Coming to a state near you is state-sanctioned "marriage" of homosexuals, as if anyone other than Christ has a say in the matter.  But in these times when men and women are interchangeable, are we surprised?











Masonry, which will then be in power, will enact iniquitous laws with the objection of doing away with this Sacrament (Matrimony), making it easy for everyone to live in sin, encouraging the procreation of illegitimate children born without the blessing of the Church.  Our Lady of Good Success

 UNS--Unmarried, Not Single--that's the new status of a growing population in the United States.  And who knows how many of them have children.  In 2010, the number of babies born to out-of-wedlock mothers reached higher than 40%.  When this number is broken down into racial categories, the implications are startling.  72% of black children, 53% of Hispanic children, and 29% of white children are growing up in homes where their parents are not married.  Some of these poor children will never even meet their father.  Considering that we know these children grow up into adults with poor social skills and live in poverty, why would a society attempt to make it easier and more convenient to live in these conditions?





The Sacrament of Holy Orders will be ridiculed, oppressed, and despised.  The demon will try to persecute the Ministers of the Lord in every possible way...., corrupting many of them.  These corrupted priests will scandalize the Christian people, will incite the hatred of the bad Christians, and the enemies of the Roman, Catholic, and Apostolic Church to fall upon the priests.  Our Lady of Good Success

     What a horrible tragedy the priestly sex abuse scandal has been.  Who knows how many young boys these perverts molested.  Instead of running these priests out, removing their faculties, and prosecuting them, the hierarchy has hid these vile actions.  Most of this happened  under the watch of the "Great Scandalizer" Pope John Paul II.  In the wake of it, many Catholics have left the Church and it has given fodder for anti-Catholics to continue to persecute her.  For those who have remained, there is constant mistrust and doubt.  And this is the Church that is entrusted with saving souls?

  While the sex abuse scandal is stirring up the angst of the Catholic haters, there is something more happening to the priesthood that only Catholics really know about or care about.  This issue is a crisis of tremendous magnitude and importance.  There is a level of corruption and scandal that hits at the heart of all the Sacraments.  Destroy the priesthood and destroy the Church.  Martin Luther knew it and these so-called priests no it too.  John Corapi is just one example of the gravity of this situation.  Here is a man who had a horribly sinful past.  He amended his ways and found a "calling" to the priesthood.  Prison ministry or a drug and alcohol counselor just wouldn't do.  This one had to go for the gold medal---priest.  In a  past time, his deeds would have automatically eliminated him from Holy Orders.  Not today.  For the New Church, any old man will do, whether he's a businessman, womanizer, or truck driver at heart.  In the 15 years since I have been a Catholic, I have known 3 priests to leave the priesthood for other "callings.'  One of these priests so scandalized me that I was confused and lost for over 3 years.  How many faithful Catholics are confessing to their priests to find out they are now chefs or hairdressers?  What a joke the priesthood  has become.


Civil governments will all have the same objective, which will be to abolish and make every religious principle disappear, to make way for materialism, atheism, spiritism, and vices of all kinds.  Our Lady of La Salette

      When I was a young girl, you had to make sure you had eggs and milk on Saturday because running out on Sunday morning just couldn't be done.  There was no where to go.  Everything in town, except for one lone gas station, was closed tight as a drum.  The Lord's Day was for worshiping not for shopping.  Sunday mornings in 2011 is just another business day as usual.  There are more people at the malls than at Mass.  And not to be hindered our materialistic society, the modern Catholic Church makes it really easy for her parishioners--there's a Mass on Saturday evening so all the faithful can go about there business shopping and hopping on Sunday.  After all, there is lots of money to be made on Sundays since church attendance is down and youth soccer games are up.

     There is an unrelenting, ongoing attack on Catholicism in the country and around the world.  It was first seen in the 50s and 60s when there were campaigns to rid prayer from the public schools.  Every so often there is an article about removing the Crucifix from Catholic universities and hospitals because they "offend" non-Christians.  Americans spend more money celebrating the macabre of Halloween than decorating for Christmas.  Each year there is increasing effort to secularize Christmas even more, placing more emphasis on Santa Claus, "Holiday" shopping, and winter vacations.  Our public school system has gone from worshiping Our Lord by closing on Good Friday to worshiping Martin Luther King, Jr., a man of questionable moral character and motives.  The atheists and non-Christians love a party but hate the One True Faith, so they have replaced St. Valentine's Day with Happy Hearts Day and St. Patrick's Day with Shamrock Day.  What in the world will they do when they realize that shamrock represents The Blessed Trinity?


Rome will lose the Faith and become the seat of the Antichrist.  Our Lady of La Salette

     What a circus the Vatican has become---really.  Modernism began creeping into the Church along time ago, but no secrets were kept after Vatican II.  During the process 6 Protestant ministers and a Jew helped to rewrite the Mass and took it upon themselves to attempt to altar the 1,960 years of Catholic tradition and theology.  The more I study about the popes since Vatican II, the more I read papal encyclicals before Vatican II, the more the veil is lifted from my eyes.  It would take several blog posts to address how the Catholic Church has changed over the last 45 years.  When these changes were first put into place in the 1960s many faithful Catholics left the Church, never to return.  They went to their deaths, many of them, without ever receiving Extreme Unction or Penance.  These poor souls suffered in life and in death, grieving over the loss of the Church.  Those that did remain helped to usher in some of the most ridiculous and egregious practices that have led to a massive loss of faith, hemorrhaging of the faithful, an aging clergy, and closings of churches and schools.  The churches that remain are devoid of beauty and stripped of all Catholic images and icons.  Our Blessed Lord in the Sacrament has been pushed aside or moved to a private chapel.  Images of Our Most Beautiful Mother have been removed or hidden.  Catholics of a prior time were remarkable.  They lived very different lives from their Protestant neighbors.  Sadly, now Catholics are virtually indistinguishable from any one else.  For many Catholics, the Church and the Pope are irrelevant.  Many others adore the Pope but are unable to determine what is True Catholicism and what is pure conjecture.  If Catholics are so divided among themselves, how is the Church to recover from whatever crisis she faces?

     And lest anyone be confused, there are abuses that go one at Catholic Masses around the globe.  There are Clown Masses, Polka Masses, "Gay" Masses, and Puppet Masses.  Masses with native dancers, modern dancers, mariachi bands, and trapeze artists.  It is a complete and total mockery of Our Lord Jesus Christ and very little, if anything, is done to stop this problem.  Rather, when traditional Catholics complain or demand due reverence, they are ostracized, ridiculed, and made to feel like outcasts.


We are living in very difficult times, indeed.  In words taken from my mother, the whole world has gone crazy.  It  has indeed.  The devil is running loose and wreaking havoc---but only for a time.  Our Blessed Mother has continued to warn us that if we do not return to Our Lord, we will be punished.  But She also has promised us that, in the end, Her Immaculate Heart will triumph.

Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us.

Destroying the Family, one ideology at at time....

     I have been away from this blog for a long time.  As yesterday was the Feast of the Holy Family, I thought this would be a great day to start a new blog.  It's especially fitting since many of the thoughts I have had lately have revolved around marriage and family.
     St. Joseph, Our Blessed Mother, and Our Lord were the model family.  They lived quiet and humble lives before, during, and after Jesus' Nativity and Crucifixion.  The Holy Scripture is mostly silent about them until Jesus' ministry became a public one.  As Holy and magnificent as they were, they went about their lives doing God's will.  They lived quietly, simply, honestly, and purely not completely understanding the outcome but living in obedience to the One True God.  As such, they are the best example for family life that any of us can  have---a father whose goal is to protect and care for his Wife and Child, a Mother who's pure, prudent, obedient, merciful, sorrowful, and a Son who's Holy, obedient, and patient.  This was not a family seeking financial security, self-actualization, or fame.  They only wanted to do God's will.  
     It seems to me, then, that this would be the example that Catholic families would follow.  I suspect this was mostly the case before WWII in America.  Catholic families came to this country from homelands suffering famine, desolation, and war.  They came here, mostly into the cities, found jobs or opened up small businesses.  Priests were sent, pennies were offered, and churches were built.  Children were born, families and neighborhoods grew, communities thrived, and most lived simple lives following the example of the Most Holy Family.
     Over the last century though, family life, and ultimately Catholicism, has been under attack and slowly the fabric of our society has begun to unravel.  The threads are laid bare now and we are hanging on by a few strings.  Slowly modernism has crept into the thoughts and minds of educators, business owners, and law-makers until it has stretched its ugly roots all under the ground of our society.  One can't escape it, really, without much suffering and sorrow.  While modernism and the destruction of society and the Church arguably began with the Enlightenment, there are some ideas that have taken root so deeply that it may be difficult, if not impossible to get rid of.
     1)  The Protestant Work Ethic.  When the Protestants rejected the Sacraments as the necessary means for salvation and opened the pearly gates to "all believers in Jesus," they had to develop a means to fight off the devil and determine who had received God's graces.  These outward indications of grace have subsequently evolved into working 10 or 12 hours a day and accumulating material possessions.  The discussion of the Protestant Work Ethic is worthy of an entire blog post.  But since space and time limit many of the details, I can say that this concept has led to an immediate breakdown in families, the rejection of good works and true charity, and the U.S's attraction to entertainment.  Americans spend all their time working and spend all their money on things they can't do because they are working.  What sort of toll does this have on the families?
     2)   Egalitarianism.   This concept has quietly and systematically stripped our society and institutions of all structure and sanity.   I am not talking here about human dignity.  Yes, all people are created in the image of God.  I am also not talking about the missions and abilities that God has given to people over the course of history.  Some of the greatest monarchs and saints have been women.  Rather I am talking about the idea of egalitarianism that attempts to erase the desire or need for social class, status, or role.  The French Revolution, The Protestant Revolt, The American Revolution, Marxism, Socialism, Feminism, Occupy Wall Street---all of these "revolts" hold as one central idea to completely eradicate the classes.   Titles which used to foster respect and due reverence have been rejected for fear of creating class-warfare.  Everyone is on a first name basis and everyone looks the same.  As a result, children have little respect for their parent's authority, bosses hang out with their employees, and the Catholic priesthood  has been reduced to just another career option.
     3)  Feminism.  I could spend a lifetime refuting feminism.  This ideology has probably done more damage to our society and families than anyone could care to imagine.  No organization or institution is exempt from the effects of feminism.  Women, in droves, have abandoned their children to day care providers, so they can become self-actualized by joining the work-force.  Feminism, without dispute, has been a major catalyst in the sky-rocketing of divorce rates.  Feminism, without dispute, has led to the plummet in birthrates across the globe and the death of millions of unborn Americans through abortion.  It has led to the attitude that unless women are working outside their homes, they are worthless, ignorant, oppressed, or a combination of the three.  Feminism is an insidious disease that has infected countless numbers of homes, individuals, and children.  Divorce among married women with children is common place.  Pregnancy is inconvenient and birth control is considered responsible parenting.  Some may believe that the Catholic Church has held her own against feminism, but that is simply not true.  Altar girls are standard fare on any given Sunday and in many parishes more women take on liturgical roles than do men. 
     The family is the basic unit of society.  When families are healthy, the society that grows around them is robust.  But when the families begin to break down, society begins to fall into an abyss.  Modern people, who are invested in the ideologies mentioned above, would like you to believe that there are all "kinds" of families and that these families are all equal and good for society. To hear them tell it, it doesn't really matter what kind of family children are raised in as long as there is love.  They believe this because if they didn't, they would have to take a long hard look at their work ethic and their value system.  
     It has long been reported by anyone with a voice that our society is in a downward spiral.  There is also no shortage of opinions on what the cause is and what to do about it.  But the answer is simple.  Families are falling apart---and our society encourages it.  As long as we buy into feminist ideology, egalitarianism, and the Protestant work ethic our families are going to continue to suffer and fail.  Those families who recognize the problems and are determined to make a difference in their own lives through God's graces may well find themselves facing suffering and hardships they cannot imagine.  When times seem particularly difficult, though, we always have the example of the Holy Family to guide us.

St. Joseph, protect us.
Most Beautiful Mother, pray for us.
Divine Infant, have mercy on us.

Come One, Come All!!! The Circus is Coming!!

     A week from today, on October 27, the Big Top will set up shop in Assisi, Italy.  The thought of it saddens me to the depths of my soul.  What in the world the Pope hopes to accomplish or portray is truly a great mystery to me and it is to many others.  Of course, this is not the first time the Circus has come to town.  This year's circus, in fact, is in commemoration of the original Big Top hosted by Pope John Paul II in 1986.  What a shame and what a scandal.
    The Master of Ceremonies at this year's Three Ring Circus is, of course, Pope Benedict XVI.  No.  I am not mocking the Pope.  On the contrary, I am faithful to the Pope but he is about to embark on a mockery of Our Precious Lord just as his predecessor did in previous years.  That, too, is a shame and a scandal.  My purpose of this blog, and probably another one, is to bring attention this mockery called Assisi III.
      Two days ago, the Vatican issued this press release.   Just like any good circus, this one looks to be great fun!  There seem to be quite a few animals and acts that are scheduled for this fine fall day.  The highlight of this event is the elephant  elephant in the room.  She's a big ole' thing and her name is Syncretism.  Synni, like other elephants in the circus, is slow and systematic.  She is sweet and does her tricks most of the time.  Everybody likes her, and everybody is willing to pay their dollar to take a ride.  Synni's job is to make sure everyone has a good time at the circus.  She wants to make sure that nobody feels left out.  And in case you don't like the other side-shows, you can always take a ride on Synni.
     And what are the side shows you might find upsetting at this Circus?  In the first ring, there are the various beautiful ladies all contorted in the various Yoga positions.  Sitting in the midst is a young man, cross-legged, meditating peacefully.  There are men and women carrying colorful banners with the words Peace, Equality, Kindness!  Oh, yes.  But when the blue Krishna comes by playing his flute, look away!  Laugh when the table comes by with Buddha so you can rub his belly!
     Get in line by the second ring so you can hear words of wisdom from the Confucius, attempt to get in harmony with the Tao, and learn to practice some Shinto rituals.  Don't forget to pick up some peanuts before you step in the "New Religions" booth!  Don't panic if you begin to feel a pit in the bottom of your stomach.  It's all good fun!  Oh, do you see that lovely elephant?
     Before you go, though, check out ring number 3, folks!  Get a really good look as the world's Imams and Rabbis gather together and offer you passages from their "sacred" texts.  No need to turn away if they read some passage that is offensive!  Eat some cotton candy!
     As you make your way back up to Synni, the big, beautiful elephant, don't forget to check out the lion tamers and the puppies on parade.  They'll be in the box to the side within the circle of hand-holding, cross-carrying clerics with big hats and bigger beards.
     And of course, no good circus would be complete with a little car packed full of clowns!  Laugh as the silly clown with big eyebrows gets hit on the head with Little Bo Peep Clown's staff!  Count how many little clowns can stuff themselves into shoe box!
     Before you leave the Big Top Circus, tip your hat to the Master of Ceremonies, Pope Benedict XVI.  Look closely.  You might not actually find him wandering through the rings.  He'll probably being talking sweetly to Synni, telling her how kind and peaceful she is.
     But while you are feeding Synni peanuts with the Pope, take you iPod out of your ears.  When you hear the thunder clapping, when you hear the wind howling, when you see the lightning strike, RUN!!!!  Run past the salt pillar of Lot's wife.  Run as fast as you can and get out of the Big Tent before it all comes crashing down.
     God will not be mocked.  Has the Pope forgotten the Holy Scripture, the words of God Himself when he gave the Commandments to Moses?  "I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.  Thou shalt not have strange gods before me.  Thou shalt not adore them, nor serve them; I am the Lord thy God, mighty, jealous, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, unto the third and the fourth generation of them that hate me." 
    What good can come out of this "pilgrimage?"  Peace?  Perhaps the Pope has forgotten the words Our Lord spoke to the Apostles.  "Do not think that I came to send peace upon earth: I came not to send peace, but the sword."  How can there any peace, anywhere, without the One True God?
     Before He ascended into Heaven to be with the Father, our Lord Jesus Christ told his Apostles, "I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No man cometh to the Father, but by me."  His words were simple and explicit.  There is only one Truth.  There is only one God.  No man, not a single one, can know the Father, except through Our Lord Jesus Christ.  No matter how much good will any person has in their heart, it will merit him not one thing if he does not know Our Lord.  Period.
     So if you happen to drop into the Big Top Circus next week.  Don't forget your peanuts.  The elephant is hungry.