Boycott the Basilica Block Party... Fizzle.

But let's put on a happy face and protest outside the gates instead.
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Was it a month or so ago some Minneapolis guy got the idea to set up on Facebook a campaign to Boycott the Basilica Block party in Minneapolis?  Anyway - for some reason he took the site down after a few weeks - though I'm told he got a good show of support.  A few local Catholics were outraged and countered with online protests and so on.  I actually thought the boycott was a smart tactic - after all, who's to stop off-site peaceful, unobtrusive, shallow protest in defense of gay marriage? 
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A Facebook page that drew 15,000 "yes" responders did call for a boycott of the party before its creator took it down two weeks ago. The page did not seem to affect ticket sales, which neared 13,000 on Friday. - Source
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The Block party is pretty much a straight mini-rock concert anyway - no Britney or Lady Gaga stuff there - hence there would most likely be no stopping the regular crowd from attending.  For those outside Minneapolis who may not be familiar with the controversy, the boycott was initiated by a gay man looking for ways to protest the Archdiocese's support of a State Constitutional amendment to block legislation which would permit gay marriage.  A very clever idea which seems to have had no consequence - which is why I tell people to choose their battles and don't expend their energy on trifles.  Last night the Basilica party was packed.
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I have to say however, I found it ironic that many of the Catholic voices protesting the boycott, in any other year would have been condemning the Basilica event as too liberal, too profane, insisting that the rock'n'roll party on the front steps was blasphemous and sacrilegious; desecrating sacred space with wild music and drinking, women rocking out in little tight t-tops and shirtless men waving arms in the air like they just don't care - not to mention the porta-poddies.  In normal years the tongues wag in condemnation of such church sanctioned revelry and debauchery.  Nevertheless, the Basilica successfully raises needed funds from the annual event to preserve and maintain the sacred edifice, while the profit from the one big party helps support their vast charitable outreach - which is significant considering the church is home to a vibrant urban parish.
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Whatever the moral questions and consequences of the type of entertainment (such criticism I think exaggerated to begin with) - the party is on, and outside the gates, as it were are the real activists - putting their usual positive spin on the gay marriage issue.  The unauthorized group which uses the name 'Catholic' as in, Catholics for Marriage Equality,  have placed themselves outside the church grounds on street corners to hand out "I support Marriage Equality" stickers to those attending the block party.  (Ironically, their politics more or less places them outside the Church as well.)  Participants in the propaganda effort practice the art of welcoming and encourage participants to have a good time, while dropping their bumper-stickers.  They also claim the majority of Catholics support 'marriage equality' - although such stats are always unreliable.  Their tactics are rather convincing however - friendly persuasion works better that vitriol.  From the Mpls/StarTribune article in this mornings paper:
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Things were also more heated than usual outside the gates. A small contingent of gay rights supporters handed out stickers and carried signs to protest the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis' support of a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.
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"Let's party as if we already have marriage equality," read one of the signs belonging to Catholics for Marriage Equality, whose stickers ("I support marriage equality") were plastered all over concertgoers. Co-founder Michael Bayly said his group did not want to discourage people from attending. "We want people to feel welcome and know that there are many, many Catholics who believe in equality," Bayly said. - Source
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Michael Bayly is a local gay activist and community organizer who occasionally comments here.  You can read his positive spin on the BBP activities here.  He's a clever fellow, he knows how to work the media, he's a very good organizer, deeply committed to his cause, and always puts on a happy face as he works in 'peace' quite literally to undermine Catholic Church teaching regarding homosexuality and marriage.   I think he's demonstrated a little impatience with this blog however - but no one reads me, so he can get away with it.  That said - I think faithful Catholics can learn something from the opposition's tactics.
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As they say, "Peace".  And remember - 'choose your battles' wisely.
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Photo:  Michael Bayly - taken from his website.
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H/T Ray @ Stella for the link to Michael's blog post.

Did Corapi comment on his own video post?

I don't know?
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Perhaps not, but the following comment I copied from his site kind of sounds like something he might write after a couple of - well, hits.  Read it for yourself.   Creepy.  Notice the word 'poodled'?  Scary - he's reading my blog.  Just kidding.  Seriously - I know I may be over-reaching, but I will hi-light words and phrases I think sound like something he might say.
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Johnny's in the basement, mixing up the medicine... | July 9, 2011 at 1:14 am

Good People, it’s time to roll the stone and gather no moss. And grow up.
What did Christ say to the Apostles upon His Resurrection when they were all bamboozled, fadoodled and outright poodled? “Peace! My Peace be with you!”
Then buy, borrow, steal or mortgage a bit of Peace if you can, cuz it’s time move on and leave the funeral parlor and bury old Father John and baptize and circumsize Hot Rod Johnny Corapi.
Get used to it. The old Padre is gone and Harley John Corapi is rumbling out of your towne for good.
The Wild Ones, Part II. You don’t like it? You get a new messiah and he’ll get new groupies. We’ll call it even and call it a day.
It’s over. It’s past over. Father Corapi is Dead! Long Live The Black Sheep Dog Corapi.
What? You don’t like it? Too bad. Get over it and get over yourself. John Corapi’s patiently laid the storyline and the plot about his big changes in life, and he’s given you every chance to get it.
Do you get it yet?
No?
Let me explain it to you so that you’ll understand it.
He ain’t working on Maggie’s Farm no more.
You can guess, surmise, assume and presume all day long about why he ain’t working on Maggie’s Farm no more, but the bottom line is that he ain’t.
Did he sin? Did he do “it” or all that other stuff that’s bandied about here, there and everywhere in your mind and hearts? Probably, maybe, could be, who knows? Who cares?
Maybe even more than you could guess. Maybe none of it.
It’s over.
He ain’t a priest no more.
You can live in Yesterdayville all you want and wish him back as hard as your little soul can until your heart breaks and your eyes burst with tears of pain and sorrow and confusion.
Be his guest.
But it’s over.
Move along now, there ain’t nothing to see here no more.
He ain’t working on Maggie’s Farm no more.
“He’s got a head full of ideas that are drivin’ him insane.
Well, he tries his best
To be just like he is
But everybody wants you
To be just like them
They say sing while you slave and he just get bored
He ain’t gonna work on Maggie’s farm no more.”
He’s told you now, for the last time. He ain’t working on Maggie’s Farm no more. Either come along for the ride or move along. If you’re looking for him to save you, forget it. Ain’t gonna happen. No more. He’s mixed his last magic potion and heard his last confession and you can go away mad or go away empty. Just go away.
You want a suggestion on how to deal with all your broken dreams?
Don’t follow leaders…watch the parking meters.
You want Jesus? Then go get Jesus. But leave Corapi out of it.
He ain’t working on Maggie’s Farm no more. - Black SheepDog
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I'm actually serious about this.  I really think he or one of his own might have posted this as a response to the largely negative comments he's been getting.  Just a hunch of course.

Corapi video...

In transition.
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Sporting a Harley Davidson leather jacket, but no spray tan.  The bush is still dyed.  I really was interested in seeing how he looked after all the changes. 
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Now I'm thinking Jesse Ventura more than Charlie Sheen.

How we got where we are today.

From Garrigou-Lagrange.
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Just trying to figure things out here.  Garrigou-Lagrange is an old timer but his brief history/analysis printed below remains true today - in fact we're living it.
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Analysis of modern errors
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The dangers of modern times are great, and the remedies to which we often have recourse are insufficient. We shall begin, therefore, by saying a few words about the need for greater faith.
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The poisonous errors in modern life are tending toward a complete dechristianization of society, a dechristianization which began in the sixteenth century with the rebirth of paganism and the reappearance of pagan pride and sensuality among Christians. This turning from Christ advanced another stage under Protestantism, which rejected the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the value of sacramental absolution and confession, the infallibility of the Church and Tradition, her teaching power, and finally, the need for observing the precepts which lead to salvation four denials which strike at the root of the Christian life. Then the French Revolution with its deism and naturalism lent a hand in the dechristianization of society: God, if He exists, is interested only in a universal ordering of things and not in individual people. Sin, therefore, is not an offense against God, but only an offense against reason which is constantly evolving. Stealing, for example, was a sin so long as the right of private property was admitted; but if, as communists hold, private property is an injustice against the community, then private property itself becomes a theft.
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Materialism...
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This spirit of revolution led naturally to liberalism, which tried to steer a middle course between the teaching of the Church and modern errors. But liberalism could reach no definite conclusions: it neither affirmed nor denied, but always made distinctions; and discussions dragged on because it could not solve difficulties which were springing from a denial of the principles of Christianity. Liberalism failed to provide a norm of conduct and it gave way to radicalism, which was even more opposed to the Church. Because it did not like the word "anti-Christian" it called itself " anticlerical." That is typical of freemasonry. But radicalism led to socialism and socialism to atheistic and materialistic communism, as found in Russia today. Attempts were made to spread communism in Spain and other countries also, and to reject religion, private property, the family, the idea of a fatherland, and reduce human life to economics, as if we had no soul, and as if religion, science, art, and rights were the invention of those who wished to keep others in subjection and, in the name of private property, possess everything themselves.
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The only effective opponent of materialistic communism is the Catholic Church.
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Nationalism cannot withstand communism. Equally powerless in the religious sphere, because it contains serious error, is Protestantism as practiced in Germany or England; for error, like a virulent disease which kills a living organism, kills any society built upon it as a foundation. Protestantism is like consumption or cancer; it slowly destroys life, because it denies the sacrifice of the Mass, confession, the infallibility of the Church, and the necessity of keeping the commandments.
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2. Their effects on everyday life
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What effect have all these errors on civil legislation? It gradually becomes atheistic. Not only does it forget the existence of God and divinely revealed law, both positive and natural, but it even enacts legislation opposed to the divine revealed law laws permitting divorce, for example, and laws establishing neutral schools, which eventually become atheistic in all three divisions: primary, secondary, and university. In these schools religion is often reduced to a more or less rationalistic history of religions in which Christianity wears the garb with which the modernist heresy dressed it, a new though higher product of the evolution of the "religious sense" which changes continually so that no dogma and no law are immutable.
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Contrary to popular opinion, divorce was always condemned and cited as an effect of the downfall of society. 
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Finally there is complete freedom of cults and religions; even impiety and irreligion have their freedom. But the repercussions of these laws on society are immeasurable laws permitting divorce, for example, which in every nation ruin thousands of families each year and leave children without real education and guidance. And so, year after year, young people who are the country's future citizens leave these atheistic schools without a grasp of any religious principles. Disordered reason, the concupiscence of the flesh, the concupiscence of the eyes, the desire for money and the pride of life take the place of Christian faith, hope, and charity. All these things form a special naturalistic system under the name of a lay or independent ethic, without any obligation or sanction. Sometimes, it is true, a small vestige of the ten commandments remains, but a vestige always liable to change. - Introduction to The Priesthood and Perfection 
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Eyes wide shut.
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Contrast what Garrigou-Lagrange wrote with this arrogant editorial in the NCR titled: Gay marriage, bishops and the crisis of leadership - mocking Archbishop Dolan: 

In reaction to the marriage vote, Dolan stretched to call up the specter of what remains of the Red menace. On his blog he wrote that in China and North Korea “government presumes daily to ‘redefine’ rights, relationships, values and natural law.” In those countries, he says, government dictates the size of families, who can live and die, and what defines marriage. “Please, not here!” he begs. The comparison, of course, is absurd on its face, a kind of hysteria that demands that someone listen when so few are.
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The vote in New York sends a strong message to Catholic leadership. The danger is not in the vote itself. The danger they face is far deeper -- a crisis of leadership and authority for which they have only themselves to blame. - NCR
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The so-called Red menance has a new image these days - hidden in plain sight.  "Radicalism led to socialism and socialism to atheistic and materialistic communism..."  It is just not cool to call it that these days.  Hence the new anti-clericalism, masquerading as anti-patriarchy and anti-hierarchy - both inside the Church and out - is at work attempting to de-Christianize society and prove "no dogma and no law are immutable."
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"The real forces of “intolerance” were unmasked here. The caricature, of course, is that those defending traditional marriage were the right-wing bigots and bullies …As one respected columnist has observed, the problem is not homophobia but theophobia — a hatred by some of God, faith, religion, and the Church …" - Archbishop Dolan 

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Image:  'Obama 2012 Election Poster' - H/T PML

Libera coming to the Twin Cities.

From Daniel Cassidy:

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The London-based choral group Libera has announced a summer tour of five American cities.   Those who are able to attend will not be disappointed.  Sample their music here.

Minneapolis is the group's first stop.  The group will appear as follows:

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Minneapolis - July 27th

Basilica of St. Mary.  Concert at 7.30 pm

Tickets: $40,25,15,10 (Premium, General, Student with ID, Children 16 and under)

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St Paul - July 29th

Cathedral of Saint Paul | National Shrine of the Apostle Paul.  Concert at 7.30 pm

Tickets: $40,25,15,10 (Premium, General, Student with ID, Children 16 and under)

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Other destinations:

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Chicago - July 31st

Rockefeller Chapel, University of Chicago.  Concert at 7.30 pm

Tickets: $40,25,15,10 (Premium, General, Student with ID, Children 16 and under)

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Frisco - August 7th

Stonebriar Community Church  Concert at 7.00 pm

Tickets: $25,15,10 (Premium, General, Children 16 and under)

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Houston - August 9th

Tallowood Baptist Church  Concert at 7.30 pm

Tickets: $25,15,10 (Premium, General, Children 16 and under)

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Photo credit:  Dear Libera

Continually making excuses for priests.

I don't know about you...
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But I'm getting tired of hearing everyone repeat: pray for priests! pray for priests! pray for priests! every time one of them takes off with the collection plate or runs off with his personal trainer.  And if anyone dares discuss the guy's misbehavior, or tries to figure out how the jerk got away with what he did for so long,  they are condemned as if they committed a crime.
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Hey - does anyone remember what Corapi said during the peak of the priest scandal?  I can't remember the exact words, but he said something like, "Catholics" (presumably CINO ones - not his paying audience) "get the priests they deserve."  I heard it on EWTN.  But of course he always urged people to "Pray for priests."  It makes you look good when you say that.  I can say "Fr. So and So is a big fat manipulative lay-about, so we need to pray very much for him and pray for all priests."  It works.  It's a 'little bit of hypocrisy repeating'.
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But isn't 'pray for priests' covered by the 'pray for the conversion of sinners' intention? 
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I'm probably wrong, huh?  Although I'm pretty sure they - like ourselves - will be held accountable for their actions in the end - right? 
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Okay fine.  I'll keep praying for priests then.
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PRAY FOR PRIESTS! 
PRAY FOR PRIESTS!
PRAY FOR PRIESTS!
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There.

Corapi fires back.

In a let sleeping dogs lie* sort of way ...

Regarding the charge of sexual impropriety—This song of greed has been sung many times before. I have never had any promiscuous or even inappropriate relations with her. Never. - Read more of the 'announcement' here.
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He makes a strong case... for what I'm not sure?
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"Onward!"  I keep thinking Charlie Sheen: 'Winning!'

*it's just an idiom.

Novena to Our Lady of Mt. Carmel begins today.

Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, help and model in the dark night of faith, pray for us.
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In October of 1917 at Fatima, during the miracle of the sun, Our Lady showed herself as the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mt. Carmel.  Mt. Carmel is in Israel of course, the site of the great Old Testament miracle which took place through the prayer of the prophet Elijah, defeating the false prophets of Baal.  It is also the place where Elijah observed the prophetic sign of a little cloud rising from the sea, which some Fathers have interpretted to prefigure the coming era of grace - the birth of the Messiah.  (Trivia: Today the Carmelite monastery at Mt. Carmel is called Stella Maris, or Star of the Sea.)  Traditionally, the little cloud, much like the Burning Bush which Moses beheld, images the Blessed 'Virgin who would be with child' foretold in the Isaiah prophecy. 
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At any rate, for a long time now, I have considered Our Lady of Mt. Carmel to be the primary help and model, indeed our refuge in the troubles that afflict the world and the Church, especially as they concern the persecutions of Christians in the Middle East and Muslim countries, as well as the heresy, apostacy and corruption which seems to infect Catholic culture in many places across the globe.

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Prayer

O most beautiful flower of Mt. Carmel, fruitful vine, splendor of heaven, blessed mother of the Son of God, immaculate virgin, assist us in our necessity. O star of the sea, help us and show us the way. Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who turn to you.


Holy Spirit, you who solve all problems, light all roads, so that we can attain our goal. You who gave us the diving gift to forgive and forget all evil against us, and who are with us in all instances in our lives, thank you for all things, as you confirm once again that we are never to be separated from you in eternal glory. AMEN - Source

Therianthropy - Shapeshifting and Cynocephaly... what if?

Amy Farrah Fowler Factoids.
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Therianthropy refers to the metamorphosis of humans into other animals. Therianthropes are said to change forms via shapeshifting. Therianthropes have long existed in mythology, appearing in ancient cave drawings such as the Sorcerer at Les Trois Frères. - Wiki
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Cynocephaly: The condition of cynocephaly, having the head of a dog — or of a jackal— is a widely attested legendary phenomenon existing in many different forms and contexts. - Wiki
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Editor's note:  I worked with a woman - a fervent convert to the Church now returned to paganism - who was convinced she was a dragon and could feel her tail swing as she walked.  People like her refer to themselves as Therians.  And they claim they have no mental illness.  Some even go through extensive cosmetic surgery or tattoo work to look like the animal spirit they imagine themselves to be.  I suppose the phenomenon is analogous to the transsexual experience; women trapped in male bodies and men trapped in female bodies.  I was thinking about wolves in sheep's clothing and then I thought of ...  Never mind.

St. Christopher

Top photo:  Black Sheep-Poodle

Saint Maria Goretti, virgin martyr

"The value of Christian virtue is so great, so overwhelming, so imperative, that it is worth more than life. Purity is not just a separate part of our being. It belongs to our existence as a whole, it is essential for our life. Purity brings us in harmony of body and soul." - Servant of God, Pope Paul VI

A martyr for purity at the beginning of the 20th century.  St. Maria Goretti is a lamp lighted for generations after her to find hope and help to follow Christ amidst a polluted world of impurity and hedonism.  For details on her life click here.
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Art:  Source.  For me the icon expresses the spiritual maturity, nobility and sobriety of the martyr-saint much better than most holy card images.

Mark Shea has something to say.

And he get's it right.
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Mercy and Forgiveness for Fr. Corapi and His Fans
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So the craziness from last week had died down as the True Believers moved on from assailing my emailbox with denunciations and demands that I stop questioning the veracity of a Living Saint. - Finish reading here.

"For it is time for the judgment to begin with the household of God; if it begins with us, how will it end for those who fail to obey the gospel of God?"

"And if the righteous one is barely saved, where will the godless and the sinner appear?" - 1 Peter 4:17 - 18
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The Corapi fall is a big one.  Somehow I doubt it is THE big one however.  It could happen that one of these days there may be breaking news about a very high placed churchman - and maybe not a liberal one either.  If that happened, it will be THE big one.  There are actually some people wishing and hoping for such a drama - and these folks are not the so-called 'professional Catholics' who so many have been accusing of rushing to judgement on the Corapi case.  There exist people who claim to be more Catholic than the pope and the post-counciliar Church who are just waiting for what they call the "Novus Ordo" Church to fall.  For instance, I know of at least one Trad/Sede site which has had a sort of bounty out on a certain Cardinal in Los Angeles for years - 'anyone with incriminating evidence of whatever kind on Cardinal Mahony email us'.  I'm not sure, but I think there was some sort of monetary reward as well.  Every one likes the money.
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Yet this is what happens and has happened in the Church since the beginning - since Judas, since Simon Magus - right up to our own day.  In modern times we have come to know the infamous Rasputin, the Russian monk who deceived the Czar and Czarina.  We have seen Evangelical Protestant preachers and healers fall with great regularity throughout the 20th century, from Aimee Semple McPherson to Jim & Tammy Bakker and Jimmy Swaggart, to Ted Haggard and Albert Odulele.  And that's just the Protestants.
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Not too many years ago during the priest scandals, the boy's club of Sebastian's Angels made the headlines - an organization of gay playboy priests.  And while the Bishop's scandal unfolded - the biggest, worst case scenario seemed to be the Fr. Maciel and the Legion of Christ scandal - though at first vehemently assailed as lies by supporters of the Legion and devotees of Maciel.  Indeed, Maciel was a favorite of Bl. John Paul II.  Amazing.  Then came Fr. Cutie - the famous 'Fr. Oprah' priest, as well as the other EWTN priest defectors.  In the past eleven years there have been dozens of cases of priests living double lives - priests in important positions and ordinary parish priests. Gay and straight.  And now of course, there is Fr. Corapi, whose case demonstrates it is not always just about sex either. 
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People we have to wake up however - we have to quit putting men on pedestals.  Respect and reverence their priesthood, and their status in the hierarchy, in so far as they represent Christ and His Church - but just remember they are flesh and blood - men tempted in the same way we are.  Just because someone wears a habit or a cassock, or sports a a tonsure or a biretta, or says Mass like Padre Pio, and preaches like St. Paul, or whatever your criteria is for holiness - don't attach too much importance to the man.  Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus.  "Do what they say, not what they do."
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It's amazing how easily we canonize our priests and religious and expect perfection from them.  I've read it on blogs numerous times - 'Cardinal so and so is a saint because he wears all the regalia and celebrates the Extraordinary Form of Mass.'  Or,  'Fr. so and so is a saint because he promotes the reform of the reform, or the TLM, or he wears the cassock to bed'.  Or, 'This monastery is the true monastery - the holiest monastery - because they celebrate the Liturgy in Latin and wear the habit and tonsure'.  Really?  Check the guest cabins.  And don't forget the people who attach the title "great" to everyone they admire.  (Nope - I'm not referring to JPII either.)
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I know a novice who slept with her spiritual director and was amazed when he got up in the night to go keep his hour of adoration.  (Although that is not bad - even if you are steeped in sin - do not stop praying: 'prayer is the trap door out of sin'.)  A friar once told me a story of two other friars engaging in mutual something right in from of the monstrance during their hour of adoration - when they thought the chapel was empty.  There are so many stories of holy people sinning it would make your head swim.  But I digress. 
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There for but the grace of God...  O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.  Amen.
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"Never take a man for your example in the tasks you have to perform, how ever holy he may be, for the devil will set his imperfection before you.  Imitate Christ, who is supremely perfect and supremely holy, and you will never err." - St. John of the Cross
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"Reflect that many are called and few are chosen and that, if you are not careful, your perdition is more certain than your salvation, especially since the path to eternal life is so narrow." - Ibid
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"Anyone who trusts in himself is worse than the devil" - Ibid

Corapi Update: From: Rev. Gerard Sheehan, SOLT Regional Priest Servant Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity Robstown, Texas

But Father!  But Father!  Misleading the public?
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So anyway - I just got back from doing many, many very important errands and I'm all sweaty and over heated.  While pouring a glass of delicious tap water, I was just going to put on the recording of Penny singing "Soft Kitty" and for some reason I thought, "Maybe I should check my email."  And so I did...
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Breaking News:  From: Rev. Gerard Sheehan, SOLT Regional Priest Servant Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity Robstown, Texas.
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Fr. John A. Corapi submitted his resignation from the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity ("SOLT") early in June. SOLT is a Society of Apostolic Life of Diocesan Right with its regional office in Robstown, Texas.
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While SOLT does not typically comment publicly on personnel matters, it recognizes that Fr. John Corapi, through his ministry, has inspired thousands of faithful Catholics, many of whom continue to express their support of him. SOLT also recognizes that Fr. Corapi is now misleading these individuals through his false statements and characterizations. It is for these Catholics that SOLT, by means of this announcement, seeks to set the record straight.
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A woman, well known to Fr. John Corapi, mailed SOLT a signed letter detailing allegations of Fr. Corapi's sexual activity with adult women, abuse of alcohol and drugs, improper sacramental practices, violation of his promise of poverty, and other wrongdoing.
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After receiving the allegation, SOLT formed a three person fact-finding team to ensure that it handled this matter in accordance with canonical norms. The team included a priest-canonist, a psychiatrist, and a lawyer. Two were members of religious orders, and one was a lay Catholic. Two were men, and one was a woman. All three have national reputations and substantial experience in ecclesiastical processes related to priest disciplinary issues.
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As the Society was engaging this team, Fr. Corapi filed a civil lawsuit against his principal accuser. He contended that she had defamed him and breached her contract. The contract, according to Corapi's lawsuit, contained a provision binding the woman to silence about him. He offered the woman $100,000 to enter this agreement.
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SOLT's fact-finding team subsequently learned that Fr. Corapi may have negotiated contracts with other key witnesses that precluded them from speaking with SOLT's fact-finding team. Many of these witnesses likely had key information about the accusations being investigated and declined to answer questions and provide documents. - Read the rest of the sordid mess here.
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SOLT's prior direction to Fr. John Corapi not to engage in any preaching or teaching, the celebration of the sacraments or other public ministry continues. Catholics should understand that SOLT does not consider Fr. John Corapi as fit for ministry. - Fr. Sheehan 

H/T Jimmy Akin for the SOLT link.  And DB Cooper for the tip.

Links:
National Catholic Register
Spirit Daily

The little Cristero: Blessed Jose Luis Sanchez del Rio

A good example for boys and men.

Blessed José Luis Sánchez del Río (March 28, 1913 – February 10, 1928) was a young Mexican Cristero who was put to death by government officials because he refused to renounce his Catholic faith. He has been declared a martyr and was beatified by Pope Benedict XVI on November 20, 2005. - More.
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I love this kid, because like St. Peter Martyr who wrote "Credo" ("I believe") in his own blood as he was martyred, young Bl. Jose Luis took his finger, dipped in his own blood, to make the sign of the cross as he lay dying.
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An account of his martyrdom.
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"To break his resolve, he was made to watch the hanging of another Cristero that they had in custody, but instead José encouraged the man, saying that they would soon meet again in Heaven. In prison, José prayed the rosary daily and wrote an emotional letter to his mother, saying that he was ready to fulfill the will of God. His father attempted to raise a ransom to save him, but was not able to appease the government in time.
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Consequently they cut the bottom of his feet and obliged him to walk around the town toward the cemetery. They also at times cut him with a machete until he was bleeding from several wounds. He cried and moaned with pain, but he did not give in. At times they stopped him and said, ‘If you shout ‘Death to Christ the King’ we will spare your life.’ José would only shout, "I will never give in. Viva Cristo Rey!" When they reached the place of execution, they stabbed him numerous times with bayonets. He only shouted louder, "Viva Cristo Rey!" The commander was so furious that he pulled out his pistol and shot Blessed Jose Sanchez del Rio in the head. After being shot in the head, he drew in the ground a cross with his blood and kissed it as his time expired." - Sanchez del Rio died on the vigil of Our Lady of Lourdes, February 10, 1928

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Prayer

O Blessed José, littlest soldier of Christ, whose last bloody steps brought you to the arms of our Lady and our Lord, keep healthy and strong the steps of our Lord's soldiers who remain here on earth, such that they may have your strength to endure and persevere to the end. Amen

Viva Cristo Rey!

Blessed Jose Luis, watch over, defend and protect all of the children whose innocence is threatened from all sides by evil, direct their hearts to all that is good and holy, and instill in their hearts a living faith and confidence in the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ our King and Lord.  Amen.

Conversation with God.

Kat has a wonderful anecdote on the 'prayer of quiet' - well kind of...  I think it's a treasure.
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Art:  "Christ and the Canaanite Woman" - after Annibale Carracci

Frame Fillers: A little art show...

St. Peter Martyr - T. Nelson 2011

Acrylic/tempera technique on panel for antique frame.

Click on image to enlarge.  See more at my art blog, Up Your Street.

"Alcoholics and addicts are liars."

A priest once told me that a few years ago, adding, "I should know, I'm a recovering alcoholic - I lied my way through a good part of my priesthood."  Today the priest is retired, an old Franciscan who was once vocation director for an American province when I was in 5th grade.  It's amazing how people resurface in one's life - often just to help you understand something you couldn't figure out on your own. 
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That's all.

Memorial of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati

How can the young man remain sinless?
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A coworker once asked me - with a slight hint of disdain in his voice, "Well what did this Frassati guy do to deserve to get beatified?"  The man was somewhat critical of all the men and women beatified and canonized during the busy reign of Blessed Pope John Paul II.  He also happened to be a guy who thought the Church was infiltrated with all sorts of demon-controlled beings and that the chastisement was going to happen on such and such a Thursday, but only between March and May of whatever year we happened to be in at the time.
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Plain and simple, Pier Giorgio lived the Beatitudes with heroic charity.  Ordinary is good.
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Pier Giorgio died on 4 July 1925.    

First fireworks for the 4th tonite...

Lectors and readers at Mass.

Someone had to say something.
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Adoro has a very good post on the subject:  The Word can speak for Himself - stop being so dramatic.
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Photo credit.

Mass chat: More nuts?

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Read Fr. Corapi's most recent post and the comments attached, evidently it's his 4th of July post entitled, Thoughts on Sheepdogs, Sheep and Independence. 
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Every once in a while I've surfed the web to read some of the comments left on the blogs that are willing to point out what's off with the entire Corapi makeover-reinvention campaign launch.  Surprisingly, there are some very sane posts and comments amongst the crazy ones.  I'll post just a few below.
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In response to Fr. Corapi's most recent post, a man identifying as a priest writes:

• From Father Edmund | July 1,
• Colonel Grossman’s commentary is deeply offensive and unAmerican. And Corapi further shows his lack of common sense and good taste by promoting it. So, I am a gooey egg yolk who needs the Hard Blue Shell in order to develop into something? I’m a sheepish sheep? I need to evolve into being a sheepdog? Garbage. Grossman’s rant is fascist to the core, and Corapi’s endorsement of it the same.
• Who cares if Grossman is a full-bird with a PhD (not PHD, Corapi)? His current musings are arrogant, elitist, and again: FASCIST. There is NOTHING in that article that a 1930′s-era Nazi would disagree with.
• These guys aren’t sheepdogs, they’re wolves. This is just like the schoolyard bully saying he’s a “born leader.” Both of them should have their posteriors kicked around the block.
• I’ll repeat what I’ve said here before. Corapi had two things going for him: unswerving loyalty to the Church and a trick voice. Now he stands revealed as a shallow, tasteless man. Take away the priest, and all you have left is a basket case. He still has his trick voice. That, alone, will not propel him to secular stardom. 

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From Caelum et terra a comment by a priest:

• Fr.GregACCA
• But seriously, y’all: very, very, very seriously. Pray, pray, pray, and pray some more. Over the last few years, his behavior has taken on a depressingly familiar pattern, and this may well turn out to be a situation that somebody like Fr. Amorth will need to handle, if Corapi ever comes to his senses enough to realize this.

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A response from Elizabeth:

• Elizabeth
• Thank you Father, for your insight. In “Exorcism and the Church Militant,” Fr. Euteneuer took lightly at times the expelling of demons, and it was of concern to read his nonchalance in this regard. Of course, during the time period of penning the book, he was sexually abusing women in graveyards and/or locked rooms, etc., as he sought to release their demons through exorcisms.
• Then we find out that Corapi was Euteneuer’s spiritual director, and Euteneuer even told the “gravely harmed” woman (in the FTE case) that it was Corapi that told him to burn her diary (which held an enormous amount of damning info against Euteneuer) because it would cause Church scandal. Whether or not Euteneuer was telling the truth or not, who knows? But, I agree, Fr. Amorth should be brought in, and possibly sooner rather than later. Weak (but otherwise intelligent) Catholics are falling for this “dog’s” BS left and right.

Tom O'Toole has a good post on the court case:  Corapi Corrupted: part II