Here's a thought on that ...

Cardinal Burke is not afraid to lose his title.

Apparently the other three cardinals aren't either.  Although the other thirty cardinals claimed to be with them might be, since they remain anonymous.  I'm just guessing of course.

Since the Four Cardinals with the Five Dubia want answers, and feel they haven't received them, and contradict Cardinal Mueller who says the Faith is not in danger, why don't they say something directly and in person to the Holy Father himself?  They were face to face with him at Christmas, which everyone seems to think was another mean-spirited Christmas address to the curia.  It wouldn't be like casting a pall over the reception afterward, if they would have broken protocol and spoke directly to the Pope, since they felt insulted already.

Nevertheless, they continue to give interviews and talk around the Pope without ever confronting him face to face.

The Pope lives in a hotel - he's not living in the Apostolic Palace, tucked safe away by miles of corridors and endless doors.  Even if he was, these guys have the opportunity to break protocol and speak to the Pope man to man.

Remember Henry IV?  How he stood penitent in the snow outside the Papal residence, for three days at Canossa?  You'll say the Cardinals have nothing to repent for.  Fine.  But they need to get off their high horse, take off the cappas magna and maybe even put on penitent's garb - a Franciscan of the Immaculate habit would be awesome, and stand outside in the piazza and wait for the Pope to come out - or better yet - stand outside the dining room of Santa Marta and force the issue face to face.  Dispense with protocol and the niceties of office they are so attached to, get offline, stop the phone calls and interviews, and talk to the Pope.  I just read the outcries about the Bishops of Malta, and a post about an interview Cardinal Caffarra gave, again 'reportedly' contradicting Mueller, and discussing how confused and therefore unhappy, many priests are, and so on.  Do something about it.

Speaking of unhappy priests, unfortunately it was Fr. Z who may have misinterpreted the interview - or at least the circumstance.  (Here.)  It may be that Caffarra was not contradicting Mueller's recent statements at all.  Nevertheless, Fr. Z jumped on the story, which I found disturbing combined with the reports concerning the Maltese Bishops Conference letter.  How often does this happen?  How often are interviews taken out of context?  How often is a sound bite enough to cause great confusion and argument?  How often does a Catholic online scandalize readers?

Double talk, whispers in the loggia, gossip, back-stabbing complaints to save your soul without action to stop the spread of more gossip and attacks upon the Papacy, does nothing to quell the confusion and strengthen the faith or ordinary Catholics.  Burke giving interviews to The Remnant doesn't help matters.  He has plenty of opportunities to speak directly to the Pope.  Since he's not worried about his title - drop the princely protocol and go to him disguised as a beggar.  Perhaps he forgot his own admonition to Mary Therese Helmueller when she called him out?

I'm not scandalized by the Pope, but I am deeply scandalized by the controversies generated from interviews given by the Four Cardinals.  Interviews given to news sources which are anti-Francis, anti-Vatican II, and anti-Novus Ordo.

In the meantime, I have my own repenting to do for stuff I've written and said.  But I'm not selling out the Holy Father.

People who want a vision or

private revelation to apply 

to our times maybe should

ponder this one.

I recently discovered the identity of a longtime negative commenter ... aka troll.

The sad thing about it is that over the years I thought it was a couple of different people doing it, and I made some uncharitable statements about them, and to them - that's rash judgement.

Anonymous comments can be a sort of scourge.

Unnamed sources can create a lot of problems for many people.

But God knows who you are.

I think so too ...

The best ad ever ...

I need to clean my place up too.

So sweet ...

I've always had a soft spot for Biden.  Love these guys.

Song for this post here.  And here.

What?

Some days ...

Looks like the Church militia men 

want the 'church of nice' after all.

The gossip online passed off as news because they are reported in Catholic publications is very disturbing, very soul-destroying.

Damien Thompson.  Edward Pentin.  'Journalists' and bloggers alike report allegations made by 'sources close to the Pope', unnamed Vatican sources.  Cardinals claim 30 or more anonymous Cardinals are with them in their doubt... waiting for the Pope to say something.  Social-media clerical-wanna-be's condemn 'ordinary Catholics' as 'too stupid to understand' what all of this means.

I was playing on Facebook yesterday, writing really stupid stuff - as usual - and I was amazed how frequently people update their timeline with trivia.  So that's what people do when their faces are always buried in their phones.  That's what they do in between projects at work.  (I'm not exempting myself in this - since that's also how I see all the gossip and slanderous comments in comboxes.)  Trivia is fine - having fun is fine - but slandering the Pope is evil.

Delusion on a massive scale.

Those so scandalized by the coprophilia statement by Pope Francis really ought to consider the shit they are saying and repeating to understand the profundity of that expression.  In Scripture the Holy Spirit gives the Word to the prophet* and the apostle to eat and consume ... the Word of God gives joy to the soul.  On the other hand, the devil gives the excrement of gossip and derision and scandal to consume and spew - and this is what is repeated in the gossip columns of social media. The effects of this is sadness - faith destroying sadness.

The Holy Spirit says:

Oh, that today you would hear his voice,"Harden not your hearts as at the rebellion ...

Take care, brothers and sisters,
that none of you may have an evil and unfaithful heart, so as to forsake the living God.
Encourage yourselves daily while it is still "today," so that none of you may grow hardened by the deceit of sin.  - Hebrews 3: 7-14

*When I found your words, I devoured them;
your words were my joy, the happiness of my heart,
Because I bear your name,
LORD, God of hosts. - Jeremiah 15:16

Snap out of it!

Two Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate slashed in Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore

Unrelated photo showing Friars with Pope.

Father Angelo Gaeta, and Father Adolfo Ralf were attacked by a man, their faces slashed by a broken bottle.  The man is described as deranged and reported to have said "The Church doesn't understand me."

Nothing was reported on whether or not he suffered from the same “crypto-lefebvrian and definitely traditionalist drift” which afflicted a segment of the Franciscan Friars under the direction Fr. Stefano Manelli.  The two friars who were attacked were among those who filed the original complaint against Fr. Manelli. 

The friars are recovering from the attack.

Full story here.

Ferocious tiger cat ...

What if you went to work and found a ferocious tiger in your inbox?

Snow in Minneapolis ... and a Trump television special! LIVE from New York!

Him like!

UPDATE:

Press Conference over ...

He did good.

I love the way he called out the press.

Don't hate me for this - but I think he's got it together.

We have to go forward and hopefully get behind the President-elect.

My apologies to Charlie Johnston

As I say on Facebook, 

I'm a man who paints pictures and writes nonsense.

A friend alerted me that I've taken things out of context to make Charlie look stupid.

That wasn't my intention - I wasn't trying to make Charlie look stupid, much less his followers or commenters.  I apologize if I gave that impression.  When I've written about him, I use quotes with a source link for the reader to click on to read the quote in context.  It's a standard practice with blogs.

Let me first say, Charlie Johnston is a very intelligent man with a great deal of experience and knowledge of political and financial systems.  He definitely appears to be a devout and faithful Catholic.  I have no doubt that he is.  He believes he has a call and a message from God for the world.  He has priests who direct and guide and approve of his spirit.  I can never contradict or condemn Johnston or his message.  I have never said he is a liar.  I'm not qualified nor allowed to judge another persons soul

I do not have to accept literally what he says, nor do I have to believe him.  At times I've said I don't want him to be right - for various reasons, but mostly because I would prefer to look to the Church to teach, guide, and form my faith - or to explain the meaning of private revelations such as they have done for Fatima.  I also do not like to look outside ordinary circumstances to project or interpret the signs of the times as the fulfillment of this or that private revelation, or the combination of several revelations.  (Some Catholic sites attempt that, connecting a series of approved and unapproved revelations to explain what the global unrest we are experiencing today means or signifies.)  It is also worth noting that no saint was ever canonized for mystical-charismatic gifts such as prophecy or stigmata, and so on - but for heroic virtue and holiness of life.

Charlie Johnston offers practical advice and that is good.  He's forecast certain events which may or may not happen as predicted.  That's how prophecy goes.  John of the Cross writes all about it, so I do not need to repeat it here.  Many things, such as the Storm or some form of chastisement can be known naturally.  If people do not know that by now, then they must be anesthetized as Pope Francis uses that term.  Charlie seems to want to be correct and makes it known when people approve or seek his advice.  He seems to want to be his own witness - a concern he would be more credible without.

That said, in general, the amazing thing to me about private revelations and their attraction is this:  We have the Church, the Pope, the bishops in communion with him, the Scriptures, the Catechism, yet so many today will believe prophecies by old and new mystics regarding fearful events that more or less coordinate with contemporary experience.  They prophecy doom and gloom when we have a Pope indicating - actually demonstrating - how to live the Gospel in modern times - how to follow Christ in today's world - how to associate with the lowly and suffering.  He lives the Gospel - without anxiety over politics and finance - without seeking human respect and approval.  God is his witness.

So many appear to reject the Pope these days - not Charlie of course, he seems to me to be supportive of the Holy Father - but many other good Catholics do condemn and reject the Holy Father.  They prefer their private interpretation of Fatima and dubious mystics, like the Locutions to the World seer, Vassula Ryden, Christina Gallagher, and other Remnant types to what the Church teaches, accusing the Pope of heresy and apostasy when in fact the rejection of Peter is the bridge to at least schism, if not apostasy.

If it helps your faith - do it, I guess.  It's your choice.

I've encountered mystical phenomenon all my life.  I've met true and false mystics - some I felt were false, others proved to be.  Fr. Gino Burresi, alleged stigmatist is one.  Mama Rosa of San Damiano, Italy is another, and the most theatrical of them all was of course, Veronica Luekin.  I know and have known people who claim locutions - true or false?  I don't know - mys sense is that much of it is personal meditation - which is not to say the Holy Spirit is absent.  I just know I wasted a lot of time with this stuff.  It can make you 'feel holy' to be around these people and fervently respond to their 'call', but it can also feed your curiosity for more experiences.  It's a false spirit that leads you when you do that.

Faith is a supernatural gift - not a feeling or an experience.

So I hope this explains my skepticism and why I treat these things lightly.  I'll be more careful in the future to avoid giving the impression I'm making fun of people of good will - silly things they do or say is another matter all together.

Remember, it doesn't matter what I think or say, I'm just a layman with an opinion.  If you disagree with me and dislike what I share here, by all means, unfriend me, delete your follower app, and shake the dust from your sandals.

If no one read me or commented I would probably stay offline - and be just fine.  The blog is vain and superficial and quite a waste of time.

Yup! That's me.

I'm working on a project...

Hail, thou Star of ocean,
Portal of the sky !
Ever Virgin Mother
Of the Lord most high !

Oh ! by Gabriel's Ave,
Uttered long ago,
Eva's name reversing,
Stablish peace below.

Break the captive's fetters ;
Light on blindness pour ;
All our ills expelling,
Every bliss implore.

Show thyself a Mother ;
Offer Him our sighs,
Who for us Incarnate
Did not thee despise.

Virgin of all virgins !
To thy shelter take us :
Gentlest of the gentle !
Chaste and gentle make us.

Still, as on we journey,
Help our weak endeavor ;
Till with thee and Jesus
We rejoice forever.

Through the highest heaven,
To the Almighty Three,
Father, Son, and Spirit,
One same glory be. Amen.

This just seems dumb.

The Presidential Prophecy.

No one cares, but it was interesting.  Charlie Johnston's prophecy may be turning out to be not all that important - although he says the other eight public prophecies are.  Don't know what I'm talking about?  I think you do.

"What I was told in the Spring of 2008 was that Barack Obama would win that year's election, that he would not finish his full term, and that the next stable national leader would not come from the political system." - Charlie Johnston

So, time is running out for all of this to work out, come true, and then, and then ... if it doesn't, it might be true in a spiritual way that we were too sinful to see, or it was mitigated, or ...

What difference does it make?

Some readers hate it when I say this, but I will repeat what Our Lord told the disciples, something I try to take to heart: "You do not know what spirit you are."

One more reminder from St. John:

"[...] Souls are misled by imparting to God's locutions and revelations a literal interpretation, and interpretation according to the outer rind.  As has been explained, God's chief objective in conferring these revelations is to express and impart the elusive, spiritual meaning contained in the words.  This spiritual meaning is richer and more plentiful than the literal meaning and transcends those limits."
[...] "Anyone bound to the letter, locution, form, or apprehensible figure cannot avoid serious error and will later become confused for having been led by the literal sense and not having allowed for the spiritual meaning which is divested of the literal sense.  ('The letter kills, the spirit gives life' - 2 Cor. 3:6)" - Read St. John of the Cross, The Ascent, Bk II, Chapter 18 and 19

 Another very clear warning regarding Charlie's prophecies and messages was issued by the local ordinary of his diocese, Archbishop Aquila:

Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila of Denver has decided to strongly advise the faithful to exercise prudence and caution in regards to Mr. Charlie Johnston’s alleged divine visions and messages. 

"Mr. Johnston will also not be approved as a speaker in the Archdiocese of Denver." - Source

It is clearly stated - yet even after that precaution, followers argue that Charlie can still do and say as he wishes elsewhere - and of course, he is free to do so.  Just without Church approval.  Therefore, Catholics disregarding the Bishop's statements should not be surprised when life goes on and things don't turn out as predicted.  "Anyone bound to the letter, locution, form, or apprehensible figure cannot avoid serious error and will later become confused for having been led by the literal sense..."

This is reasonable.

A characteristic of the Catholic Church: to be subject to the pope.

In a recent interview, Bishop Schneider explained the importance of not losing a characteristic of the Catholic Church, which is being subject to the Pope. 

“If you remain canonically autonomous for too long, you run the risk of losing a characteristic of the Catholic Church, that is, to be subject to the pope. We cannot make our subjection to the Vicar of Christ dependent upon the person of the pope; this would not be faith. You cannot say that “I don’t believe in this pope, I don’t submit, I am going to wait until one comes along that I like.” This is not Catholic, it is not supernatural; it is human. It is a lack of supernaturality and trust in Divine Providence, that God is the one who guides the Church. This is a danger for the SSPX” - Source

Works for me.

This does too:

Cardinal Müller said Pope Francis’ document on the family, Amoris Laetitia, was “very clear” in its teaching.

“Everyone, above all Cardinals, has the right to write a letter to the Pope. However, I am amazed that this became public, essentially constraining the Pope to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’. I don’t like this. Also, a possible fraternal correction of the Pope seems to me to be very remote, it’s not possible in this moment because it doesn’t concern a danger for the faith as St. Thomas said.”

“We are very distant from a correction and I say that is a loss to the Church to discuss these things publicly. ‘Amoris laetitia’ is very clear in its doctrine and we can interpret the whole teaching of Jesus on matrimony, the whole teaching of the Church in 2000 years of history.” He concluded, Pope Francis, “asks to discern the situation of these people who are living in unions that are not regular, that is, not in accord with the teaching of the Church on matrimony, and asks to help these persons to find a path for a new integration in the Church according to the conditions of the sacraments, of the Christian message on matrimony. But I don’t see any conflict (contrapposizione): on the one hand we have the clear teaching on matrimony, and on the other hand the obligation of the Church to concern itself with these people in difficulties.” - (Fr. Z translation) Story here.

So.

Snap out of it!

Even cats know this stuff.

The dog started it ....

You can clearly see the dog started it.

The Pope's response to the 4 Cardinals and the 5 dubia: "When hell freezes over."

Oops!  I meant when the fountains freeze over.

Looks like we may hear something this week.

Yeah.  That's right, I'm predicting.

You know - because of the 'signs'.

What?

Fr. Michael Scanlan, TOR

I'm sure he is a saint.

For me, he grounded the Charismatic Renewal - he gave it theological substance and kept it Catholic, and deeply Marian.

May he rest in peace, may God be glorified!  May he pray for us in these confusing times, let the fire fall and ignite our hearts in burning charity and love.

In thanksgiving for the life and priesthood of Fr. Michael Scanlan.

+1931-2017+

So this is the epitome of 'Fake News': British man is four months pregnant.

Expecting . . . dad-to-be 

Hayden Cross reveals baby bump.

No he's not - she is.

The story is that a British man says he's pregnant by an anonymous sperm donor guy she found online.  The British man was born a woman and has not completely transitioned as of yet - but she's legally a man - so they published his story as the first British man to become pregnant.  Read about it here.