Hillary raising Kaine!

United.

Song for this post here.

Today's First Reading ...

Put not your trust in deceitful words ...

Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel:
Reform your ways and your deeds,
so that I may remain with you in this place.
Put not your trust in the deceitful words:
“This is the temple of the LORD!
The temple of the LORD! The temple of the LORD!”
Only if you thoroughly reform your ways and your deeds;
if each of you deals justly with his neighbor;
if you no longer oppress the resident alien,
the orphan, and the widow;
if you no longer shed innocent blood in this place,
or follow strange gods to your own harm,
will I remain with you in this place,
in the land I gave your fathers long ago and forever.

But here you are, putting your trust in deceitful words to your own loss. - Jeremiah 7:1-11

As for me ...

I had rather lie abject at the threshold of the house of my God
than dwell in the tents of the wicked. - Ps. 84

"...it is precisely our malady that becomes the locus of contact."

- Pope Francis

I wonder if people really believe God when He says: "Put no trust in princes-in mortal men-in whom there is no salvation."

Munich Terror Attack

-credit-

The 2nd attack in a week...

German police are engaged in a huge anti-terror manhunt in the city of Munich after nine people died in a shopping mall shooting.

German security forces have been on alert since a teenage migrant stabbed and injured five people on a train in Bavaria on Monday, in an attack claimed by so-called Islamic State.

The authorities had warned of the danger of further incidents.

More details have begun emerging about events at the shopping centre. - BBC

More photos and background information here. 

Ah ha!

Who cares? - Thiel on trans-bathrooms.

That's what she said.

Archbishop Nienstedt relieved to have his name cleared.

Turns out the Papal Nuncio squashed the investigation into allegations of impropriety ...

Placing Nienstedt's good name in jeopardy.

Former Twin Cities Archbishop John Nienstedt said Thursday he is “relieved” that the public now is aware of the fate of an investigation into alleged sexual improprieties by him.

A day after a 2014 memo from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis was made public stating that a Vatican emissary quashed the investigation, Nienstedt repeated that he has done nothing improper, despite allegations of misconduct revealed in documents released Wednesday by the Ramsey County attorney’s office.

“I am a heterosexual man who has been celibate my entire life,” Nienstedt wrote in an e-mail to the Star Tribune Thursday. “I am relieved that the public now knows the extent of the allegations and can hear my response.”

The fate of the Nienstedt investigation has been a question confronting Twin Cities Catholics for two years. The memo made public this week indicated that the Vatican emissary in Washington, D.C., put the brakes on the probe, which had been looking into allegations of sexual misconduct by Nienstedt in Michigan, Minnesota and Rome. - StarTribune

“I am a heterosexual man who has been celibate my entire life,” said Nienstedt.

I have no problem with that statement - except to point out this is another example of how and why Catholics, and many others, can be confused by how Catholic teaching is expressed.  The Pope and other bishops and priests refer to homosexual persons as 'gay' - others say 'ssa'.  But everyone is discouraged, and even rebuked for using the term 'gay' - especially 'gay-Catholics'.  Yet Nienstedt just made it clear he is a 'heterosexual man'.  Even though Catholic teaching insists:

The Church “refuses to consider the person as a ‘heterosexual’ or a ‘homosexual’ and insists that every person has a fundamental identity: the creature of God and, by grace, his child and heir to eternal life.” - CDF

Just saying.

Nienstedt is gone now.  I'm happy for him that his good name has been upheld.

The best commentary on The Trump RNC Victory ever ...

“To get a man’s soul and give him *nothing* in return: that is what gladdens the heart of Our Father Below.” – Uncle Screwtape

Trump has achieved what no Democrat could ever do: Get conservative Christians to enthusiastically, if not fanatically, back a candidate who supports both abortion and gay marriage and still feel as righteous about themselves and contemptuous of their culture war enemies as when they once opposed those things. He even got them to believe they were God’s Champions of Religious Liberty as they screamed off the stage a guy who called for people to vote their conscience. - Mark Shea

I wish I had said that.

Thank you Mark Shea.

Pieter Rabbinsky

The Orphaned Rabbit.

Earlier this week I encountered Peter, munching on a pot of petunias in my garden.  I watched him for a long time, wondering if he was one of the Rabbitowitz's kids - he seemed a bit ruddier than Mrs. R's offspring, although it was possible his coloring was simply a fluke of the gene pool.

"What's your name?" I asked quietly.

The rabbit stopped grazing, albeit still ruminating the blossoms in his exceptionally sweet little mouth, he starred ahead as if he were thinking.  Of course that's what rabbits do when they're discovered.  They pretend to be invisible, ready to spring upon any sudden movement from the potential predator standing above them.

"I know what you're doing there Peter - but I'm not going to hurt you or try to catch you - you are safe here."  Trying gently to encourage him to stay and even speak to me.

Surprised, the bunny turned to me, still chewing his salad, and asked incredulously, "How did you know my name?"  Suspiciously adding, "Why would you ask my name if you knew it already?"

I laughed realizing he was too young to understand that people always call bunnies Peter before they get to know them, because of the Peter Rabbit tales.  I didn't want him to know I was just being facetiously polite and really did not know his name, so I explained, "It was just a good guess! Now little fella, I suppose your last name has to be Rabbitowitz then?"

He looked at me quizzically, his ears bending every which way, apparently spelling the name back to himself ... 'R' .. 'a' .. 'b-b' .. 'i' .. 't'? ......'o'?!"  He stopped suddenly, stood on his haunches and proudly declared, "Oh no sir - I'm Pieter Rabbinsky!  My great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great=great-great grandfather was the famous Russian composer Igor Rabbinsky!"

Little Pieter abruptly turned and hopped away in a huff.

"Another Russian rabbit?" I thought to myself.

Taken from "L'histoire du Lapin Russie"

Mr. Haney booed off RNC stage last night ....

Cruz (Haney) refused to endorse Trump (Mr. Douglas).

Trump stole the show by walking in while Cruz was whining onstage.

Seriously - Ted Cruz seemed to me to represent a dying political culture of the old guard of the GOP - politics as usual.  Say what you will about Trump - I think he's over-turned the tables of the Grand Old Party - Pence's prepackaged political rhetoric is the only homage to the old guard.

Tonight Ivanka (Lisa) will be speaking.  (She makes Tiffany look like trailer trash.  What?)

Leaving Manhattan for life in the country ...

It's so Green Acres ... Trump and 'his glamorous Slovenian wife, dragged unwillingly from an upscale Manhattan penthouse apartment and the city life she adores to a ramshackle Washington White House.'

I saw something very strange last night ...

Rear French Doors

It's extremely hot and humid in Minneapolis.  (85+ with humidity to match at 10 PM.)

Last night I looked out my Marvin designer custom-french-doors with the hand-painted periwinkles, onto my elegant gardens and noticed my neighbor, dressed in a windbreaker with a hood and long ankle pants of the same rip-stop-nylon fabric - wearing what appeared to be asbestos gloves, burning unidentifiable objects in his Walmart portable fire pit in his backyard on his bricked crop-circle-style mini-patio not far from his wife's miniature fairie-village situated under their luscious, honeysuckle-laden, white-patinated picket fence.

He must have seen me because he immediately dashed back into the house, only to emerge moments later, looking very cool in a t-shirt and plaid shorts.  I poked my head outside while he had disappeared and could smell what seemed to be a strong acrid chemical odor.  Something is going on.



To be continued...

Bishop Morlino: NOT 'ad orientem' ... but 'versus populum' ... and wearing Novus Ordo vestments.

I couldn't help but notice that in this photo at least,

Bishop Morlino is facing the congregation,

and NOT talking to the wall.*

h/t Badger Cat.

"Life comes from the recognition that you can't do it on your own'" - Jean Vanier

Jean Vanier and companion.

"Let us never seek what appears to be great in the eyes of creatures... The only thing that is not envied is the last place." - S. Therese

Fr. Martin posted about a new video from Jean Vanier 'about the need to embrace human weakness, our own and others.'  

In my opinion, Jean Vanier is a little soul - in the Theresian sense - much like Bl. Mother Teresa and her Missionaries of Charity, as well as Madeleine Delbrel and many other hidden souls.  Vanier expands the definition of ordinary life, to include the simple, the weakest of us.  The imperfect, those some regard as defective.

I haven't watched the latest video as yet, but I read a wonderful interview in America from last year, and I'll share some thoughts Vanier shared during his interview with  Sean Salai, S.J..

What gifts do mentally handicapped persons bring to society? 

They have beautiful hearts, they don’t have big heads, they’re not people who want to know things. What they want to know is: “Do you love me?” Maybe that is what we all want to know: “Do you love me?” Maybe that is the heart of the Christian message: that Jesus loves us and therein is our joy. That is what people with disabilities reveal to us. That is the only one important thing; that it be revealed that Jesus loves me.

What is the philosophy of L’Arche?

The philosophy of L’Arche is very simple. The important thing is that people who have been pushed aside and humiliated, need to be shown that they are precious. So it’s living together in community that we reveal to each other that “you’re precious.” The wonderful thing is that when we live with people with disabilities, not only are they transformed because they discover they’re loved, but we also are transformed. That is the secret of the philosophy of L’Arche: that we transform each other in helping each other to become more human and more like Jesus.

Who are your role models in the Catholic faith, either living or dead?

The real role model is Jesus and he is revealed to us in the Gospels. We see how he lived, and the parables he told. For example, take the parable of the Good Samaritan where Jesus says: “do what he did,” that’s to say be compassionate. Jesus is an incredible role model and he teaches us to love each other as he loves. We only have to look at Jesus through the Gospel message to see how we are called to live.

What have you learned from living with the intellectually handicapped?

I have learned that the message of Jesus is really a question of humility. The incredible thing about Jesus is that he was with God, he was God, and he descended and became a human being. Not only did he become a human being, but he accepted to be rejected and crucified. The incredible thing is that these little people teach us how to grow in humility, and humility is to enter into a relationship with people who have been humiliated. It’s a beautiful way to learn how to live the Gospel message. - America

How to follow the little way ... 

 "It is to recognize our nothingness, to expect everything from God as a little child expects everything from its father; it is to be disquieted about nothing, and not to be set on gaming our living. ... To be little is not attributing to oneself the virtues that one practices. ... It is not to become discouraged over one's faults, for children stumble and fall often, but they are too little to hurt themselves very much."  - St. Therese

"Therese believed that God frequently allows us to experience in ourselves the same weaknesses which we deplore in others,,,  [Thus] when we see ourselves fallen into those faults we are then more prompt to excuse them in others." - My Sister St. Therese, Sister Genevieve of the Holy Face

"'Sometimes it happens,' she went on, 'that despite their best efforts, some souls remain imperfect because it would be to their spiritual detriment to believe they are virtuous or to have others agree that they are.'" - ibid

Donald Trump Jr. would make a better president.

I was impressed by his speech.

I was also impressed with Ben Carson's speech.

Hillary is the devil!

Where are all of the mystics, the locutionists and visionaries?

The Extraordinary Year of Mercy ...

It seems to me very few promote the Holy Year, one would imagine that all those who claim a direct line to heavenly voices would be proclaiming the Year of Mercy - but few seem to be doing so.  (I may be wrong - but I just don't see a lot of encouragement on Catholic news portal-aggregator sites linking to anyone promoting the Year of Mercy.  Neither have I seen much said about the extraordinary aspect of the Holy Year on contemplative-mystic-seer sites.)

Just saying.

Not a few people online have bent over backwards trying to explain what real mercy is and what it is not - but few seem to press the invitation: "Come to me, all you who are weary and heavily burdened ..." loaded down with guilt and misery because of your sins.  "All you who thirst, come!" Come drink by the stream from the side, lift up your head to gaze upon the Holy Face.

It is an Extraordinary Year of Mercy - officially proclaimed - the invitation extended.  It is like the Great Pardon of Assisi - yet extended and available every day throughout an extraordinary year of mercy.  Whether one likes the Pope or not, the Bull of Indiction of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy is licit, valid, and authoritative.  Mystics and saints have longed to see and celebrate what we have been given in our time.  St. Faustina, St. Therese of Lisieux and indeed, all the Carmelite saints, Josefa Menedez, Mary of the Trinity, Consolata Betrone ... and so many contemplatives of the 19th and 20th century have longed to see this day, this year.  Centuries ago St. Francis prayed for the Great Pardon and obtained the Porziuncola Indulgence, and yet we have a much greater indulgence here and now.

Instead of proclaiming mercy, we fight and argue over Church politics, ecclesial appointments, liturgical celebrations, vestments and decorum, and secular politics.  We need to proclaim that the Mass is the ordinary form of dispensing grace, each Mass - no matter the ordo - is extraordinary and holy - it is the source and summit of our faith - the life-spring of the Church.  The blood flowing from the side of Christ washes us clean in the sacrament of penance - we drink by the wayside, lifting up our heads, lifting up our hearts to receive the merciful Christ in the Eucharist ...

At your right hand is the Lord,
who crushes kings on the day of his wrath.
Who judges nations, heaps up corpses,
crushes heads across the wide earth ...

What do we have to fear?  Who can be against us when God, in his mercy, is for us, and has given his only Son as our Redeemer?  Why do we waste our time on rumors and calumnies and detraction which we have no control over in the first place?  Why do we withhold forgiveness and mercy from one another?  Why do we strain the gnat and over analyze every little saying, and miss the greatness of God's mercy?

Where are the prophets?  The mystics?  The holy ones with all of their battle plans and tactics?  Why aren't they proclaiming the Divine Mercy?  The Great Pardon?  The Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy?

"Run through the whole world and lead souls that fainted away to the source of My Mercy. I will lead and strengthen them." - Jesus to St. Faustina

"He who refuses to pass through the door of My mercy must pass through the door of My justice." - Jesus to St. Faustina 

"Write that I am speaking to them through their remorse of conscience, through their failures and sufferings, through thunderstorms, through the voice of the Church." - Jesus to St. Faustina

...drink from the stream by the wayside

and thus hold high your head.

Trump's Spokesmodel ...

Scripted.

Song for this post here.  (Hey!  That's what Michelle said.)

Melania Trump's address was warmly received by the rowdy Republican crowd at the RNC in Cleveland ... it was a triumph!

The Monster Who Devoured Cleveland

Major gas leak threatens GOP Convention.

Song for this post here.  What?

Using Steve Skojec's name to attract readers and hits to ... up your hits and stats.

Because "Blogs without many readers ... might garner some interest in their blogs."

I've done posts using Skojec's name - but not for the reasons he thinks some people do.  I really think people may use his name because he or his website or what he wrote is simply the subject of their post.

... do not be wise in your own estimation. - Romans 12:16

It's too bad we get so carried away by our own self-importance - believing ourselves to be so important. There is a certain quarter of the Catholic Internet, however, that has apparently become obsessed with Steve Skojec and his work at 1P5.

I noticed Steve thinks that too.

Oh Steve! Steve Skojec!

This is my favorite photo

of Steve.  He looks like he has

a great sense of humor.

More seriously, blogs are pretty much an old person's craft, or hobby - old people blog - younger people tweet, do Facebook or some other app on social media.  Websites, news aggregator sites are pretty much convenience sites - headlines.  What is online now is like talk radio.  Informative, but contentious, playing up controversy and ripping apart opponents.  Skojec engages Catholics online, he's a good writer, no doubt about that - but he needs to rile up controversy and engage the crazies to supplement his income.  Just like the other writers and sites he criticizes - he does the same thing.  It's like politics.  It works for him to usurp other sites, other writers, who he cleverly dismisses with this type of statement: "There is a certain quarter of the Catholic Internet, however, that has apparently become obsessed with me and our work here." 

Song for this post here.

The power of the holy name.

Obviously the criticism and rivalry he appears to attract bothers him, and he feels the need to defend himself, by denigrating others.  That's just dumb.  Skojec applauds himself:

The fact is, the more openly I became concerned with the actions of the Francis pontificate, the more vilified I (and by extension, this publication) became by the likes of those mentioned – particularly the “luminaries” of the Patheos crowd, which later became the Aleteia crowd when Elizabeth Scalia brought her particular brand of smug, virtue signalling, quasi-heterodox Catholicism to their pages as Editor-in-Chief after leaving Patheos. (I previously revealed what happened to the already waning Catholic channel there after Scalia ended her tenure. It seems the best they can find are angsty, self-loathing Z-list “Catholic” bloggers to fill their roster these days.) Picking fights with and/or mocking websites like ours — rather than addressing the real problems we all face as Catholics — has become quite the club sport with this particular genre of Catholic writer. - 1P5

Writers for online magazines, blogomerates - including some real journalists pretty much engage in this 'club sport' all the time.  It's their raison d'être for being online.  Nevertheless, they are all Catholics -  snipping at one another because they disagree on this or that: "Picking fights with and/or mocking websites" whose writers disagree or whose writers are obsessed with Steve.  

(I used Steve's name here but I don't make any money for hits or stats - and rarely do I check stats.  But I will tomorrow to see if Skojec's name increases traffic here. What?)

"Mr Nelson!  You will never amount to anything!"

"Yes Sister.  Thank you Sister."

Several Officers Shot in Baton Rouge This Morning ...

It's literally a breaking news story here and here.

Notre Dame de la Bonne Delivrance

In the meantime ...

In the wake of the terror attack in Nice, news of torture, dismemberment and mutilation of the victims at the Bataclan in the Paris attack surfaced - although subsequently debunked.  Nevertheless, the very thought of such torture, which we know has happened to other ISIS victims, is shocking to me.  The hatred and contempt for human life demonstrated by such violence is truly diabolic.

I keep praying for the victims - today's, yesterday's and tomorrow's.

As Christians - as Catholics - we know what is happening, and why.

We also know the remedy...

 "Tell everybody that God grants graces

through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, 

and that they must ask them from her. 

Tell them that the Heart of Jesus wishes that 

by His side should be venerated the Immaculate Heart of Mary. 

Tell them to ask peace through the Immaculate Heart of Mary;

 God has placed it in her hands."

-Blessed Jacinta Marto

St. Alexis

St. Alexis, Man of God

He could never be married ...

"Every year his story becomes more meaningful for me,"

said the wretch under the staircase.