Saturday, July 21, 2018

This changes everything.



Or at least it should.

The McCarrick problem exposes what far-right, conservative Catholics have been saying since the publication of The Homosexual Network, by Fr. Enrique Tomas Rueda.  There has been a serious problem of decadence and corruption in the clergy, who are to be sure those who are responsible for 'the filth in the Church' as Pope Benedict called it.  St. Paul VI could well have referred to it in his comment on 'the smoke of Satan'.  In our day, Pope Francis calls it corruption.  Now he must act.

Fraternal solidarity is common among clerics, but some observers point to it as possible evidence of the so-called "gay lobby" or "lavender mafia" at work. These euphemisms — frequently denounced as politically incorrect displays of homophobia in the church — are used by some to describe a perceived protection and promotion network of gay Catholic clergy. 
"There is going to be so much clamor for the Holy Father to remove the red hat, to formally un-cardinalize him," said the Rev. Thomas Berg, vice rector and director of admissions at St. Joseph's Seminary in Yonkers, the seminary of the archdiocese of New York. 
Berg said the church needs to ensure that men with deep-seated same-sex attraction simply don't enter seminaries — a position recently reinforced by the Vatican at large and by Francis in comments to Chilean and Italian bishops. 
Berg said the church also needs to take action when celibacy vows are violated.
"We can't effectively prevent the sexual abuse of minors or vulnerable adults by clergy while habitual and widespread failures in celibacy are quietly tolerated," he said. - ABC News

Looks like I owe apologies to Michael Voris, Randy Engel, and many others who have tried to expose this corruption for so many years.  I truly did not want to believe things could be so bad.  How often when I'd write about so many cases of decadent clergy and religious I would get notes scolding me for having dones so, and frequently I would remove the posts, for fear of slander and detraction.  I'm fine with that - but it suggests to me that sort of censorship is exactly what perpetuates and even constitutes the cover-up.   'Fraternal solidarity is common among clerics' and accounts for the pervasive denial among Catholics, as well as the schizoid perception of Catholic teaching by Catholics and non-Catholics alike.  The confusion in the Church is no accident.

One of the reasons this bothers me so much is because I was not only 'abused' as a kid, I was also 'compromised' or used by religious friends as an adult.  Because of my sexual history, I think guys who tend to be more sexually aggressive, or predatory, really pushed themselves upon me at times.  I have never written about it before, and I don't want to get into it here.

Anyway, I think McCarrick was like that - a little closet queen, more often encountered in bars or public restrooms.  Guys like him were usually kicked out of seminaries, but somehow he got through - maybe he was someone's boy-toy?  I almost think they are men without consciences.  Something is especially perverted, corrupted in them.  It really is such as these Christ referred to when he said they travel to the ends of the world to make one convert who in turn end up more wicked than themselves.

That is scary.  

Friday, July 20, 2018

So ...

The new laptop gets picked up tonight.

I’ve been able to post here and on FB but I haven’t used email - or set it up on iPad yet.

That said, oh, never mind.

Please keep me in your prayers.

Thanks.

Wednesday, July 18, 2018

Checking in...

My laptop died.

I haven’t been online while a new laptop is getting installed with data transfer and all.  I got an iPad in the meantime, hopefully I can learn to use this.

I had buyer’s regret,wondering why I thought I needed this, but told myself this could be helpful when the power goes out.  I think I delude myself however.  I wrote something on FB about it.  For sure I get my news online, I don’t have cable, so all I get is network news otherwise.  The more we learn seems to me to mean the less we know.


I’m completely mystified by Trump and the latest exposure of the McCarrick story.  I just don’t understand why nothing is being done - the lies and deception seems so obvious, yet no one seems able to do anything about it.

Anyway, it seems to me being online can be more isolating and frequently leads to error, especially in judgement.  It often can distort reality and leads to delusion I think.  I went to Mass at the Cathedral for the feast of Mt. Carmel and I felt convicted regarding the delusions one can easily subscribe to online.  The so-called problems with the liturgy and ordinary form of things and all of that, causes or at least contributes to our doubt and confusion.  Feeding on the negativity generated by online pundits can compromise one’s faith, as evidenced by those who have left the Church, or abandoned the practice of prayer, and so on.  Their crisis of faith may be their own fault.

Having said that, despite my own confusion regarding the silence of authorities regarding Trump and the cover-up in the case of McCarrick, I continue to trust God.  He knows what he is doing.  As the responsorial psalm informs us today:

For the Lord will not cast off his people,
Nor abandon his inheritance;
But judgment shall again be with justice,
And all the upright of heart shall follow it.

Monday, July 16, 2018

Solemnity of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel


Who is she that comes forth
as the morning rising,
beautiful like the moon,
bright as the sun,
formidable as an army
in battle array?

Thanks be to God.


What do you possess that you have not received? - 1 Corinthians 4:7

Thanks be to God.