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.
 

Christopher Columbus---Invader and Slave Trader or Missionary?

     Yesterday, a friend on Facebook posted a fairly common and sarcastic comment about Christopher Columbus.  I expect such from most people, but this friend is a Catholic, and I was truly surprised.  I know the anti-Catholic drivel they teach in U.S. public schools, but do Catholics not know their own history?

     History in public schools is sorely lacking primarily because the truth can no longer be told.  In an effort not to proseltyze, the government run schools must eliminate entire chunks of history because so much of it is Christian, mostly Catholic, in nature.  As only one example, the discussion of early Americans and Thanksgiving is mostly defunct of the Protestants seeking religious refuge in the English colonies.  Such is the case with Christopher Columbus and the discovery of the New World.  When the government seeks to strip Catholicism and the truth from history, then the motives of the great men and women and events in the past become purely sadistic, twisted, and selfish.  What else can they be?  

     Our Lord Jesus Christ is the center of all history, both past and present.  Therefore, in order to begin the discussion of the discovery of the New World, looking to Him is the only place to start.  Our Lord Jesus Christ gave a command to the Apostles and also made a prophecy:  " But you shall receive the power of the Holy Ghost coming upon you, and you shall be witnesses unto me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and even to the uttermost part of the earth." (Acts 1:8)  Are we as Christians supposed to think that Our Lord meant that Christianity was only for the people localized in Jerusalem and the Middle East?  Are we to believe that Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Second Person of the Trinity, God Made Flesh didn't know about the people living in all the far regions of the world yet to be discovered?  Are we to think that Our Lord became Flesh only for the Semites?  Yet, if we believe Our Lord's command, how do we suppose that witnessing to Him, teaching the Truth, offering salvation, was going to happen unless someone traveled to the uttermost parts of the earth and taught the people living there?  

     In the 1400s, China had a huge command of the seas and a massive empire.  They had 7 epic naval expeditions all before 1433.  With so much power, knowledge, and experience, why did China not set sail across the ocean for the New World?  As I mentioned earlier this week, the Muslims were one of the greatest empires in the world during the 15th as well.  Why were they not the ones to discover the New World?    These islands certainly weren't floating around in the seas or in time just waiting for the right moment to be discovered.  Far from it.  Our Lord had a Divine Plan.  It was the True faith, the Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ, His offering of salvation that was to be spread across the entire earth and it was Christians, then, who would be charged with the responsibility of making that happen.

     For almost 800 years, the whole of Spain was ruled by the Moslems.  The only-goal of the Islamic Moors was to rid the influence of Christ from the minds of all the people under their rule.  The Mohammedans used whatever evil devices they could to ensure this would happen---torture, slavery, imprisonment, and death.  Yet, within Spain their remained small numbers of Christians who vociferously fought for the faith of Our Lord Jesus Christ.  Christians, in those days, had no choice but to be warriors.  War after war after war finally rid Spain of all Moslem influence in 1491.  It was during these last few years of Moslem power that Queen Isabella of Castile came to rule.  She was devoted to Our Lord Jesus Christ and His Church.  Her marriage to Ferdinand brought stability in Spain and allowed her religious zeal and piety to flourish.  She was determined that the True Faith would prevail in Spain and she set in place laws an practices ensuring that would happen.  (Yes, the Spanish Inquisition flourished during this time, however, that requires a separate discussion)  And it was her vision that helped her to recognize the same spirit in Christopher Columbus when he came to her seeking financing for his trip to the West Indies. 

   The conditions of the world into which both Christopher and Isabel were born are nothing that modern Christians could understand..  In Spain, the Moslems had oppressed Christians, Christianity, and all Christian thought from society.  In other parts of Europe, Christianity was facing challenges from humanism which laid the foundation for the Enlightenment and the Protestant heresies.  In many places of that time, it seemed that the True Faith would be all but lost.  It was out of these dark times, that Christopher Columbus emerged with a mission to fulfill Our Lord's Divine  Plan that had begun with the Apostles.

     The exact date of Christopher Columbus birth is unknown, but he was probably born about 1436 in Genoa, Italy.  It is clear from the extensive writings of Columbus that he was a deeply pious man.  It is also clear from his writings that his intended purpose for his trip to the Indies was not one of wealth-searching but of soul-saving.  In Columbus' time, the Moslems had sought to deny Christ as the Divinity.  They had done so with force, violence, and hatred.  Columbus, and many of the saints who were born in this time, sought only to spread through the whole world the Truth.  Columbus was filled with missionary zeal to bring the hope of salvation, the Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ, to the pagans in the Indies. 

   If this is the case, that Columbus only sought to convert the peoples of the West Indies, why did he not take the normal route that had been used so many times before?  Simple.  In his Book of Prophecies, Columbus explains that the normal trade routes through the Orient had been closed by the Mohammedans and another route had to be found if he was to complete his mission.  While some historians declare this was merely an excuse for him to seek riches through another path, Columbus saw it as God's Providence.  Each entry in Columbus log recounts his love of Our Lord Jesus Christ.  In fact, when he first reached land on October 12, 1492, Columbus wrote these words:  "At dawn we saw naked people, and I went ashore in the ship's boat …I unfurled the royal banner and the captains brought the flags which displayed a large green cross with the letters "F" [Ferdinand] and "Y" [Isabella] at the left and right side of the cross …To this land I gave the name San Salvador, in honor of our Blessed Lord."   He found the people of this New World both friendly and interesting.  When he wrote about them he said: "I want the natives to develop a friendly attitude towards us because I know they are a people who can be made free and converted to our Holy Catholic Faith more by love than by force." Columbus brought with him on his journey and incredibly piety and a mission to convert the world.  

   Christopher Columbus' discovery and mission laid the foundation for other explorers and missionaries to bring the True Faith to the America's.  In Europe, Catholicism had been lost to Protestantism, humanism, and the Enlightenment.  Yet, God's manifest destiny made a way for the True Faith to take root and blossom in a New World.  In the 1500s, one Spanish explorer after another came to the New World.  Not all of them held Columbus' philosophy.  Some conquered and converted by the sword.  But in spite of the warriors who came, the seeds were sown for the Gospel.  The growth of Catholicism in such a short period of time is unparalleled in history.

     In 1531, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to the pagan Aztec convert, St. Juan Diego at Guadalupe, Mexico.  Missionaries from Spain came to settle in the area, and by 1540 over 8 million Aztecs converted to Christianity.  From there, Catholicism spread throughout all of Latin America and up into the what is now the Southern and Western parts of the United States.   The Latin American nations today are truly some of the only remaining Catholic nations in the world.

     But what of the accusations that Christopher Columbus was an invader and slave trader?  What about the destruction of the entire race of indigenous people due to Old World diseases of which they had no immunity?    As to the former, Columbus' own pen clarifies his purpose.  He was looking, not to invade but to convert.  Slave trading was a common practice among many native tribes and many countries.  While it is certainly clear that many Europeans were involved in the slave trading industry, the first countries to condemn the practice were Catholic ones.  By the mid 1500s, the practice was forbidden and condemned throughout the New World.  As to the latter, a research study in 1999 by the University of Puerto Rico indicates that over 60% of island inhabitants contain DNA from the Taino tribe--the "Indians" that Columbus' first encountered way back in 1492. If the entire indigenous population was wiped out by disease, why is over half the population indigenous?  Hmmm. 

     The history of the Americas is amazingly beautiful, inspiring, and mostly Catholic.  However, when the Protestants came to America in the 1600s, they brought with them their anti-Catholic propaganda.  Christopher Columbus, of course, was their prime target.  If they could discredit the man, call into question his character and motives, then they could discredit Catholicism.   Why?  Christopher Columbus and Queen Isabella of Spain, in accord with God's Divine Providence, saved Catholicism from the Muslims, the humanists, and the Protestants by bringing the True Faith to America.  It was Queen Isabella's daughter, Catherine of Aragon, who was met with scorn and discarded by her husband King Henry VIII.  He started his own religion because he had become frustrated with his wife and lusted after another woman.  His "revolt" set the stage for the multitude of Protestant religious beliefs that erupted in Europe.  These were the first people who came to the U.S. American colonies.  Yet, the oldest city in the U.S. is St. Augustine, Florida which was settled in 1565 by the Spanish settlers who were attempting to follow in Columbus' footsteps---all Catholics, all with missionaries, and priests, hoping to bring the True faith to the New World.
     Christopher Columbus, when he landed in what he called San Salvador, brought to the pagan people there freedom.  He and the Spanish settlers brought them the Gospel.  They rescued them from polygamy and idolatry.  The freed them from superstition and strife.  They left in its place the Sacraments and a love for Our Lord Jesus Christ and His Blessed Mother.  And as the Lord commanded, the Gospel was carried "even to the ends of the earth."  
   Sadly, U.S. school students won't learn about much of this in history class.  Instead of learning that the history of the entire world rests on the Revelation of Jesus Christ, they learn the propaganda put forth by the Protestants, the humanists, and the secularists.  The truth is God's Divine plan required Christopher Columbus to bring Catholicism to a New World where it could take root and manifest.  Without Catholicism, the True Faith, there is no Christ.  Without Christ, there is no salvation.  Christopher Columbus and Queen Isabella knew this.  Why don't we?
     

       

     

     

    

The Commemoration of Our Lady of Ransom---September 24

  The Blessed Virgin Mary by repeated visions inspired St. Peter Nolasco and St. Raymond of Penafort to found with the aid of King James of Aragon the Order of Our Lady of Ransom for the redemption of Christian captives from the infidels.  The Church commemorates today this incomparable work of charity.


 Last night before I went to bed, I was checking some of my usual blogs. One blog I like to check about once a day contains all the highlights of mostly Catholic news, Pewsitter.com.  One of the headlines was something like this: "Georgia school district teaches how the Prophet Mohammed elevates women through Sharia law."  The claim that a school district in the United States was promoting Islam, naturally, led me to checking it out.  I was, indeed, shocked to find this is mostly true.  The public school district in Henry County, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta, has a reading curriculum enlightening the students to the benefits of Islam.  This handout titled, "My Name is Ahlima." is easily accessible through the county school district's website. Shocking.  But certainly not surprising.
  The government run schools, for going on 40 or 50 years now, have become purely a hub of social activity, propaganda, and experimentation.  10 years ago, they completely lost all credibility.  So the re-writing and de-Catholiciszing history is nothing new.  Fortunately for me, out of mere circumstance, I was allowed to attend private school in my youth.  It was there that I learned a great deal about history, not just social studies, and I developed a true love for it.  Since many of the contributors of the teacher's salaries at that school were Catholics, my history classes were never devoid of Christianity.  As such, I learned that those awful, horrible, torturous Catholic Crusades actually had a purpose.  And that purpose was to retrieve the Holy Sites from the Mohammedans and rid the Empire of their evil influence.
     Now, I know that this is certainly not what is taught in public schools.  I was informed a few years ago by a fellow student of our oldest son that the Catholics started the Crusades and the Moslems were only attempting to defend themselves.  After all, their religion is not one of violence, but peace.  This young person, to my sorrow, was a Catholic.  The public school system is quietly leading the way for the Mohammedans to do what they have done to every single country they have taken a strong-hold in---convert them to Islam.
   This alone should be very frightening to Christians, especially Catholics.  Scarier, yet, is the fact that each of the countries the Mohammedans has conquered are still Moslem, except for one--Spain.  If U.S. students had actually been taught the true history of the spread of the Mohammedans, Christians might actually know that their successes in converting all people to Islam was quite simple.  Perhaps, the story of St Peter Nolasco and Our Blessed Mother can shed some light on these very dark times.
   When Mohammed died in 632, his religion might possibly have died with him.  Most of his followers weren't really all that interested in Islam to begin with and they had adopted it only to avoid attacks by Mohammed and his raiders.  But Mohammed's successor, the Caliph Abu Bakr, adopted the heinous policy of killing anyone who rejected Islam.  Heinous as it was, it was highly effective.  This policy was enforced for centuries, though it is used today only by the most radical Islamists.  (In modern times, individuals who leave Islam for other faiths are often shunned by their family and friends.  This treatment is very difficult and, as such, makes apostasy quite rare.)  If Abu Bakr's policies weren't vicious enough, Caliph Omar would set in place the philosophy behind the driving force of all the Arab conquests in the years and centuries that followed.  His orders to his armies were based on this principle:  "It behooves us to devour the Christians and our sons to devour their descendants, so long as any of them remain on the earth."  With this order to follow, the Moslems took over the northern half of India, the old Harappan civilization which is modern-day Pakistan, Afghanistan, parts of Russia, North Africa, and Spain.  Only 100 years after Mohammed's death, the Arabs controlled most of the civilized world and were the strongest power in the world.  These conquered people converted to the religion of Islam, firmly entrenching the Moslems where they remain to this day.
   The reasons for Moslem success was not necessarily related to violence, and this is what makes this little history lesson so important for today's Christians.  Many of the people conquered by Islam were highly dissatisfied with their governments and rulers.  Most were Semites and considered the Moslems to be liberating them.  More importantly, though, Islam offered incentives for people to convert.  Non-Moslems did not have rights as citizens and had to pay heavy taxes.  Also, these regions will filled with pagans and their multiple religious beliefs.  There were confusing heresies and most people found it difficult to sort through.  Islam, on the contrary, was a simple religious belief and it was easy to convert.  But what of the Christians who didn't convert, who refused to deny Our Lord Jesus Christ?  Those people, particularly in Spain, were often murdered but many were captured, taken to Africa, imprisoned, and tortured until they denied their faith.  To be sure, Christians in a Moslem land were never shown mercy or allowed to practice their religious beliefs in peace.
   The Moslems occupied Spain for about 800 years.  Yet, throughout the reign of the Mohammedans, Catholic kings and leaders never gave up hope.  There somehow remained a remnant of leaders and saints determined to take back their lands and rid themselves of the usurpers.  It was during these dark times, when Christianity seemed defeated, that God sent St. Peter Nolasco.
   St. Peter Nolasco was born in Lanquedoc, France about 1189.  His parents died when he was still a young boy and left to him a considerable fortune.  Our Lord had instilled in him an incredible sense of piety and a great love for the poor.  At an early age, he decided to become a monk.  He found, however, that the Church into which he had been baptized was riddled with heresies.  In an effort to escape them, St. Peter Nolasco made a pilgrimage to Barcelona in Spain to offer works of charity.  It was there that he saw the violence and horror afflicted upon the Christians in Spain.  He was so moved by their plight that St. Peter Nolasco spent his entire fortune ransoming Christians from the Moors (the Moslems), who had taken them slaves into Grenada and the African coast.  The tortures and abuses they faced to get them to renounce their faith incensed the dear Saint.  He spoke often of their plight to his confessor, St. Raymond of Penafort.  He desired only to start a religious order with it's purpose to ransom Christian slaves from the Moslems.
    St. Raymond was so moved by St. Peter's desires that he spoke to King James I, King of Aragon who was already fully involved in the Reconquista, the re-conquering of Spain from its Moslem invaders.  Of course, King James was sympathetic to the cause, as was the whole of Europe.  The entire Christian world was in constant prayer to Our Lord and the Blessed Mother to remedy the evil under which the nation had been captive for so many centuries.
     Because God is true to his promises, on August 1, 1218, the Divine Will manifested.  On that night, the entire Christian world was celebrating the Feast of St. Peter in Chains.  (This feast was removed from the liturgical calendar by Pope John XXIII in 1960 and is only celebrated by traditional Catholics who use the 1954 Calendar.)  This feast commemorated the day St. Peter was freed from Herod's prison by an angel and is recounted in Acts 12:6.  But also on that night, the Blessed Virgin appeared to St. Peter Nolasco, St. Raymond of Penafort, and King James I at the same time and through these three humble servants, God established a work of the perfect charity---the redemption of captives.  Our Lady asked St. Peter Nolasco to establish a religious order with the sole purpose of delivering the captives, even offering themselves as ransom pledges if necessary.
   On August 10, 1218, King James I of Aragon established the royal, military, and religious Order of Our Lady of Ransom.  Some of the members were knights, others were clerics.  But there mission was the same--to free the captive Christians from the oppression and torture of the Mohammedans.  The Order grew rapidly across Spain and was solidly approved by Pope Gregory IX in 1230.  Peter and his companions traveled through Spain, recruited new members, and collected funds to purchase captives.  They sailed across the ocean into Moslem lands and negotiated with the slave owners.  The brought home boat-load after boat-load of Christians, each one paid for by ransom.
     Eventually a feast day was established in the Order on September 24.  In 1696, Pope Innocent XII extended the feast day for the entire Church.  In 1891, Pope Leo XII encouraged the devotion, with the focus on how Our Lady ransoms us from the slavery of our sins, and brings us the grace of our conversion.
     This story is especially relevant today as Christians in this country face an onslaught of attacks from all directions.  Many Christians are marginal Christians, some have lost their faith entirely.  Many Catholics have received poor catechesis and couldn't begin to explain their faith, much less defend it.  These circumstances are exactly the conditions needed for large numbers of people to convert to Islam.  When there is a spiritual vacuum, something must fill it's place.  As our great nation gradually converts to Islam, what will happen to those Christians who refuse to deny Our Lord Jesus?
     We must never cease to pray.  Spain remained under bondage to the Moslems for 800 years.  Perhaps the Lord will show his Mercy for us long before that.

Our Lady of Ransom, pray for us.