WOW! President Trump! The World Is In Shock!

I never thought it could happen.

It's going to be a big let down after tomorrow ...

I'm already feeling withdrawal symptoms.

I wish the Presidential campaign would never end ... oh wait - it doesn't - the new campaign begins Wednesday.  In this country the campaigns never end any longer.

So anyway.

What did Charlie Johnston predict?  Obama will not finish his term?  No election either?  No inauguration?  Well, that's something to wait and see, huh?

"I have often said there will be no presidential election this year. Actually, there are some narrow circumstances in which there could be, but the results would be irrelevant. What I was told was that President Obama would not finish his term and that our next stable national leader will not come from the election process. You could have an explosion of events after an election and before an inauguration. You could have Obama declare a national emergency, cancel elections, extend his term and then depart before the extension was up. The most likely scenario is that everything will be up in the air before election, but there are narrow circumstances where that may not be." - Charlie Johnston, Source

Lacking that, we'll have all the online Catholic pundits to follow if we miss the controversy and mudslinging of the constant campaign and politics.


Here's a thought.

Maybe try living in the present moment.

"Look at every suffering and every joy as coming directly from Him, and then your life will be a continual communion, since everything will be like a sacrament that will give you God." - St. Elizabeth of the Trinity 

Late term abortion ...

I thought this was funny.

Archbishop Chaput: Smarter Than A Jesuit ...

We need to speak plainly and honestly. - Archbishop Chaput


I think the Archbishop is smarter than most everyone I've been reading lately.  He certainly knows what's going on in American politics, and what has been going on in the "American" Catholic Church.  At least what he has to say really resonates with me.

I want to speak first about the people we’ve become as American Catholics. Then I’ll turn to how and why we got where we are. Finally I’ll suggest what we need to do about it, not merely as individuals, but more importantly as a Church. We need to recover our identity as a believing community. And I think a good way to begin doing that is with the “catechetical content” of our current political moment.

My focus today isn’t politics. And I won’t waste our time weighing one presidential candidate against the other. I’ve already said elsewhere that each is a national embarrassment, though for different reasons. But politics involves the application of power, and power always has a moral dimension. So we can’t avoid dealing with this election at least briefly.

The 2016 election is one of those rare moments when the repellent nature of both presidential candidates allows the rest of us to see our nation’s pastoral terrain as it really is. And the view is unpleasant. America’s cultural and political elites talk a lot about equality, opportunity and justice. But they behave like a privileged class with an authority based on their connections and skills. And supported by sympathetic media, they’re remaking the country into something very different from anything most of us remember or the Founders imagined.

The WikiLeaks email release last week from the Clinton entourage says a lot about how the merit-class elite views people like those in this room. It’s not friendly.

But what does any of this have to do with our theme? Actually quite a lot. G.K. Chesterton once quipped that America is a nation that thinks it’s a Church. And he was right. In fact, he was more accurate than he could have guessed. Catholics came to this country to build a new life. They did exceptionally well here. They’ve done so well that by now many of us Catholics are largely assimilated to, and digested by, a culture that bleaches out strong religious convictions in the name of liberal tolerance and dulls our longings for the supernatural with a river of practical atheism in the form of consumer goods.

To put it another way, quite a few of us American Catholics have worked our way into a leadership class that the rest of the country both envies and resents. And the price of our entry has been the transfer of our real loyalties and convictions from the old Church of our baptism to the new “Church” of our ambitions and appetites. People like Nancy Pelosi, Anthony Kennedy, Joe Biden and Tim Kaine are not anomalies. They’re part of a very large crowd that cuts across all professions and both major political parties. - Chaput at Notre Dame

That's a lot to quote - but it's important - the entire address is very important for Catholics to read and ponder.  I was especially struck by Chaput's notion of a smaller, more faithful Church - which echoes what Pope Benedict XVI said.  I don't hear Chaput condemning anyone - but simply pointing out some very serious differences.

During his years as bishop of Rome, Benedict XVI had the talent of being very frank about naming sin and calling people back to fidelity. Yet at the same time he modeled that fidelity with a kind of personal warmth that revealed its beauty and disarmed the people who heard him. He spoke several times about the “silent apostasy” of so many Catholic laypeople today and even many priests; and his words have stayed with me over the years because he said them in a spirit of compassion and love, not rebuke.

Catholics today—and I’m one of them—feel a lot of unease about declining numbers and sacramental statistics. Obviously we need to do everything we can to bring tepid Catholics back to active life in the Church. But we should never be afraid of a smaller, lighter Church if her members are also more faithful, more zealous, more missionary and more committed to holiness. Making sure that happens is the job of those of us who are bishops.

Losing people who are members of the Church in name only is an imaginary loss. It may in fact be more honest for those who leave and healthier for those who stay. We should be focused on commitment, not numbers or institutional throw-weight. We have nothing to be afraid of as long as we act with faith and courage.

We need to speak plainly and honestly. Modern bureaucratic life, even in the Church, is the enemy of candor and truth. We live in an age that thrives on the subversion of language. - Read the entire address here.

The Archbishop discusses inclusivity at the end of the address.  I apologize for such a long post, but what he has to say is especially important to ponder and come to terms with ...

If by “inclusive” we mean patiently and sensitively inviting all people to a relationship with Jesus Christ, then yes, we do very much need to be inclusive. But if “inclusive” means including people who do not believe what the Catholic faith teaches and will not reform their lives according to what the Church holds to be true, then inclusion is a form of lying. And it’s not just lying but an act of betrayal and violence against the rights of those who do believe and do seek to live according to God’s Word. Inclusion requires conversion and a change of life; or at least the sincere desire to change. 

Saying this isn’t a form of legalism or a lack of charity. It’s simple honesty. And there can be no real charity without honesty. We need to be very careful not to hypnotize ourselves with our words and dreams. The “new evangelization” is fundamentally not so different from the “old evangelization.” It begins with personal witness and action, and with sincere friendships among committed Catholics—not with bureaucratic programs or elegant sounding plans. These latter things can be important. But they’re never the heart of the matter. - Finish reading here.

Don't read too much into the title of this post.  Remember Tim Kaine is very proud of his Jesuit education - and rightly so.  Archbishop Chaput is smarter though. More credible as well.

h/t Ray

So here we go ...

God bless Mark Shea but the guy who tells everyone it's okay to vote for Hillary is already jumping in and starting the opposition ...

Now that it is becoming obvious Hillary will win, it is time to turn our thoughts toward opposing the still very serious danger she poses. - Mark Shea

This crap is going to go on for the next four years!

Gimme a break.

What I thought of the final debate ...

Not much.

Although I think she won.

Tonight is the final debate between Clinton and Trump! Don't miss it!

It's going to be good.

Call security.

Archbishop Chaput quotes a friend of his.

The choice facing voters.

In the meantime, a friend describes the choice facing voters in November this way: A vulgar, boorish lout and disrespecter of women, with a serious impulse control problem; or a scheming, robotic liar with a lifelong appetite for power and an entourage riddled with anti-Catholic bigots. - Chaput, Weekly Column

That pretty much sums it up alright.

I couldn't have said it better.

Debate Control

Pawel Kuczynski 

Last night's debate ...

It was annoying.  Pence certainly did very well - too bad he is not running for President.  As for Kaine, not so good.  I wish his policy towards abortion was at least the same as Pence.  

Monsignor Pope discusses voting as a Catholic with a Catholic moral vision...

Monsignor Pope 

He's the best priest online - the best advisor for mixed up Catholics - in my opinion.  I don't care what anyone says about that - he preaches the truth.  However, he just made me even more depressed - because I keep looking for a loophole to vote for Clinton.  In my heart I know what he presents regarding a Catholic vote is true, and I accept and agree, and most of all believe in all the truths the Catholic Church teaches.

Which means ... I can't vote for Hillary.  Even if I did not believe all that the Catholic Church teaches, I couldn't vote for Hillary after reading about the abortion process and leaving abortion survivors on the counter to cry themselves to death.  I can't embrace that hypocrisy.

I can't vote for Trump either.  Did you watch the debate?  Did you watch the Frontline report, "The Choice" on PBS last night?  How could anyone possibly support Donald Trump?  Don't answer, because I won't believe you.  The Republican Party Platform - he represents that?  Really?  I don't believe it.

Now I'm back to square one - I can't vote.  If I could, I would vote for Clinton.  But I can't.  I can't vote for anyone who supports abortion and considers it necessary to maintain the status quo and equal rights for women.  I cannot support evil, much less the less of two evils.

Read Monsignor Pope's good advice:

Among the moral issues that have been most politicized are non-negotiable issues for any Catholic: abortion, euthanasia, embryonic stem cell research, and same sex “marriage.”  These are non-negotiable issues because there is no room for nuance or degree of support. You are either for them or against them. There is no middle ground. They are outright forbidden by Church teaching and no Catholic may agree with or support abortion, euthanasia, embryonic stem cell research or same-sex “marriage” in any degree whatsoever. This goes for every Catholic from the highest political officials to the lowliest and most unknown Catholic in the pew. This precedes politics, party loyalties, political leanings or any such thing. 

I agree.

I say to every American, that we must come to our senses and stop peddling death through abortion, euthanasia and embryonic stem cell research. The culture of death must end. Stop redefining sexuality and marriage and all other sins against the family and the body such as fornication, adultery, contraception, and homosexual acts. No candidate for office should be thought fit or deserve our vote who supports such deadly and confused practices. It is also true that we must find ways to welcome the immigrant, ensure economic fairness, and care for our poor more effectively. But in these matters there will be legitimate differences as to how best to accomplish such goals.

 I agree.

Mons. Pope urges Catholics to vote, but at this point, I still do not think I can - I've gone back and forth on this - but I can't vote for Trump in good conscience, and I can't vote for Clinton either.  Monsignor wrote: To all Catholics I say, be Catholic. Vote as a Catholic with a Catholic moral vision. Advance the Kingdom of God.  I do not believe for a minute that either party intends to advance the Kingdom of God, much less either candidate.

And I believe what the Catholic Church teaches.

Act of Faith 

O my God, I firmly believe that you are one God in three divine Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I believe that your divine Son became man and died for our sins and that he will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe these and all the truths which the Holy Catholic Church teaches because you have revealed them who are eternal truth and wisdom, who can neither deceive nor be deceived. In this faith I intend to live and die. Amen.

My thanks to Monsignor Pope for teaching sound doctrine, with persistence, 'whether it is convenient or inconvenient;' he is faithful to the call to 'convince, reprimand, encourage through all patience and teaching.'

My Lord God I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end.
Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.
But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you.
And I hope that I have that desire in all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.
And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road
though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore I will trust you always
though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.
I will not fear, for you are ever with me,
and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.

- Thoughts in Solitude. Thomas Merton

"Hillary is poison" is maybe what Dr. Omalu meant to say ... but just like Lochte, he's sticking to his original Tweet.

I'll have what she's having.

Or did she just drink the water from Flint, MI?

Blaming the Russians - works for me.

[I pray for Hillary too - to get better and that God's will be done in her life.]

Not exactly what the other Scalia said:

'Rest. Weigh your options. Consider what matters. 

Pray for guidance, and wisdom in discernment...'

but maybe look for another job?

No way in hell is Hill gonna listen to that crap. She will never voluntarily drop out or quit ...

How old is Hillary Clinton?

Grandma thank she's gots entitlement.

Why are these old people running the country?

Hillary will be 69 in October.

Next year she will be 70.  Trump will be 71.  What is wrong with that?

I'm not sure.  As Catholics we have always had an old Pope - we pretty much esteem the holiness and wisdom of the aged, but things should be different with politicians - one would think.

Especially when there's all this blame the Boomers for all that is wrong in this country and the world - which now rings kind of hollow when the only two candidates running for President are Boomers - with a lot of Boomer baggage.

Hilly and Billy Boomer.

Just look at Hillary.  It's Grandma in a pantsuit.  Trump is Grandpa with yellow hair that looks like a wig.  Clinton is supposedly the 'best prepared and qualified' while Trump is the 'least prepared and qualified.'  Grandma needs help going up the stairs, getting in and out of chairs and vans, while Grandpa - in her case Bill - is still looking down women's blouses.  Grandpa Trump has to be told what to say and contradicted when he mis-speaks and insults anyone he thinks is against him.  Grumpy old man.

Why are these the only two 'viable' candidates?    How do they fit in with the whole idea of democracy, when every vote is supposed to count, and they are almost universally disliked - by wide margins.  No one likes them.  Yet they are the nominees. (Hillary believes she is entitled to it - she's worked so hard to keep abortion legal.)

We believe we are a free people, self determining, and all of that 'greatest nation in the world' stuff.  Really?  But party delegates and super delegates determined who got the nomination.  Yes, that's how the system works - but come on.  These two are the best we got?  What was wrong with someone younger like Rubio?  Remember when all the conservatives and other republicans complained he was too young? Not pro-life enough?  Not conservative enough?  The alternatives to Clinton were mostly all seniors - Sanders is really, really old, but way back at the outset there was Martin O'Malley - he's 53 - what was wrong with him?  Obama had little to no experience when he got in.

I have another question.  Why did we get abortion on demand?  Did the people of the United States vote it in?  No.  It was imposed upon us by the Judicial system.  It is now the law of the land - and these old people in office take an oath to uphold the laws of the land.  How many years has abortion been legal?  How many administrations have promised pro-life judges?

Just saying.

Reminds me of the old Politburo before the collapse of the U.S.S.R. ...

Song for this post here.