I think people want to be deceived ...

That's why they resort to fortune tellers and mediums, as well as locutionists and seers and visionaries ... who tell them what they already thought they knew.

They hear what they want to hear... 'everything is really, really bad.  But it will get better.  Er ... after it gets worse ... maybe.'   And we say, 'I knew it!'

Just thinking out loud after visiting a few of the online mystics and reading the comments.

'Tiz the season to ask for donations too - so expect more prophecies and warnings and formal acts of correction, as well as add-on fund raising campaigns for travel expenses.

. . .

Oh! Oh!  I read someplace that people on Facebook are dropping out or just staying off the site because of all the stress caused by mean comments, fighting, and anger over the elections.  So that's what people do when they do not hear (or read) what they want to hear.  See how that works?

. . .

I hate pious platitudes - no one wants to read that stuff either.  Scroll through some sites - it's one after another - does anyone have an original thought? Ever?  It's like we can't think for ourselves, or can't speak for ourselves.  (I know - I use a lot of gifs.)

. . .

Is this a Quick Take post?  Look!  I'm like those famous bloggers!

The Narcissist's Credo - Something Meryl Streep never said ...

“I no longer have patience for certain things, not because I’ve become arrogant, but simply because I reached a point in my life where I do not want to waste more time with what displeases me or hurts me. I have no patience for cynicism, excessive criticism and demands of any nature. I lost the will to please those who do not like me, to love those who do not love me and to smile at those who do not want to smile at me... etcetera, etcetera, and so on and so forth ... 

Pretending to be an actress ...

I came across the quote online and almost immediately I became suspicious.  If Streep really said that, it had to be one of her characters, I thought, because it simply did not sound like something she would say.  Perhaps some of the sentiments expressed could be something she might think or say, but not with that sort of insistence, or finality.  I don't know her, but I've seen several interviews with her and it just didn't sound like something she would 'declare' to the entire world.  It's too self-centered and narcissistic for someone truly stable in their 'state in life'.  An accomplished, successful professional would hardly be so dismissive of others.

"The quote is actually from the pen of Portuguese self-help author/life coach José Micard Teixeira – not a woman, and not an elder, but a younger man who is suddenly becoming the “not Streep” Internet celebrity of the month." - Finish the story here.

The quote was attributed to Streep by a Romanian blogger.  The quote isn't all that bad in itself, but I think it says more about those who post it than what is intended by the author.  I may be wrong.  Perhaps the fact some embrace the quote as an affirmation of their determination to 'thrive' and inspires them to do better in dealing with fellow human beings - without allowing themselves to be manipulated by their negative behavior, but it still comes off as arrogant and pretentious.  It seems to me it is simply a facade to shelter behind.

It's also antithetical to the Beatitudes.

Due to a lack of interest ...

In the Catholic Church we have some – many – who believe they possess the absolute truth and they go on sullying others through slander and defamation and this is wrong. - Pope Francis

The Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy will conclude this Sunday, Solemnity of Jesus Christ, King of the Universe... But no Jubilee Year of Justice has been proclaimed.

Cardinal Agostino Vallini closes the 

Holy Door of the Basilica of St. John Lateran.

The mercy of God is not exhausted.

Already some of the Holy Doors in Rome's basilicas are closing, as is the custom at the conclusion of Holy Years, or Jubilee Years.

It never means that anyone is shut out or deprived of grace and mercy - it simply means the Jubilee Year and the special indulgences attached, as well as the particular celebrations, have concluded.  The mercy of God is not exhausted, the Church remains open - plenary indulgences are still available for the faithful.  Only the extraordinary Jubilee Year concludes, yet the mission of evangelization and mercy continues - the fruits of the Jubilee Year mature and ripen in and through the works of mercy.

I say this because some people have the mistaken notion that after the Year of Mercy, the day of justice will come.  Many seem to base their conclusions on the revelations to St. Faustina, specifically the following:

"Speak to the world about My mercy; let all mankind recognize My unfathomable mercy. It is a sign for the end times; after it will come the day of justice." - Jesus to St. Faustina

Others believe the Fatima Centenary, which we observe next year, is somehow going to signal a final chastisement of sorts, linking it to the Divine Mercy revelation cited above.  As intriguing as all of that may be, I think it is a mistake to read into the conclusion of the Holy Year such apocalyptic prophesies.  Even when it coincides nicely with the readings at the end of the Liturgical year.  It is providential, no doubt, but I'm pretty sure the Holy See will not declare next year to be the Year of Justice, and all hell is going to break loose.  (Which seems to have been happening all along, despite the Jubilee Year.)

If anything, I think the grace of the Holy Year is meant to spill over and renew the spiritual life of the Church; edifying and increasing the virtues of faith, hope and charity in the faithful.  Returning from pilgrimage to their towns and homes as it were, to proclaim what God has done in their lives, and showing the same generosity towards those they live among.  It seems to me the fruit of the Holy Year should lead to the spreading the message of Divine Mercy more fervently and with a sense of urgency, as a result of the Jubilee experience.

Just remember, if we are entering a period of Divine Justice, it is up to the Church, the Holy Father and the bishops in communion with him, to discern and guide the people of God through difficult times.  Watch out for false prophets and impostors making claims based upon their private interpretation of scripture and personal opinion.

Waiting for an answer ....

aeternus

Four Cardinals sent a letter to the Pope, and after two months they are still waiting for an answer.

I wrote to Pope John Paul and it took a long time to hear back, and then it was from a secretary - or so I was told.  I know - it's not the same.  I do think these guys would have had better luck if they sneaked into the Casa Santa Marta disguised as cleaners and talked to him face to face.  They maybe didn't want to dress down to do that though.

What?

Ping-pong Tournament

Bunny Bixler and I were in the semi-finals - the very semi-finals, mind you - of the ping-pong tournament at the club and this ghastly thing happened. We were both playing way over our heads and the score was 29-28. And we had this really terrific volley and I stepped back to get this really terrific shot. And I stepped on the ping-pong ball! 

I just squashed it to bits. 

And then Bunny and I ran to the closet of the game room to get another ping-pong ball and the closet was locked! Imagine? We had to call the whole thing off. 

Well, it was ghastly. 

Well, it was just ghastly. - Gloria Upson

The Trumps on 60 Minutes

It was like the Modern Family version of the Romanovs.

I thought it was rather telling ...

I can't remember how many times Trump mentioned 'power'.  He seemed humbled by the win, but his awakening to the power he holds wasn't so much about humility as it was awe.  He really was impressed by the power of the office.  The calls of congratulations from foreign leaders demonstrated for him the power of the Presidency.  He was just as impressed by the number of followers he picked up on social media, Twitter and Instagram.  That made me laugh - because followers on social media doesn't necessarily mean people like you, but he sees it as a popularity marker and a sort of approval rating.

He's too obsessed with power.

“Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority; still more when you superadd the tendency of the certainty of corruption by authority.” - Lord Acton

Leon Russell ...

+

Leon Russell 

1941-2016

+

Say hello to our friends ... 

I love you in a place where there's no space and time
I love you for my life, you are a friend of mine ...

“And I ask myself: Why so much rigidity?"

So here's the deal Papst.

This is probably the first time the Holy Father has me a bit nonplussed.

Perhaps there is more in the book that explains Pope Francis' reasoning in saying that about those young people who prefer the Extraordinary Form of Mass, as well as a more careful interpretation of Catholic teaching.

Pope Francis told Father Spadaro he wonders why some young people, who were not raised with the old Latin Mass, nevertheless prefer it. 

“And I ask myself: Why so much rigidity? Dig, dig, this rigidity always hides something, insecurity or even something else. Rigidity is defensive. True love is not rigid.” - Crux

There is nothing wrong with the Pope wondering about the attraction to the traditional Mass, but I sort of expected he would understand it more than he does.  The Holy Father expressed  suspicion over what motivates them.  Perhaps it stems from his experience in Argentina.  The 'old' Church was pretty much always linked to right wing politics and corruption, and perhaps that colors his perception.

Health Class for SSPX high school students.

It makes me wonder if the Holy Father thought of a special Year of Mercy outreach to young (and old) people attached to the Extraordinary Form - I realize the Holy See has granted Jurisdiction to SSPX Priests to hear Confessions during the Jubilee Year - but I haven't heard of any special celebration for Traditionalists.

That said, I hope those close to the Holy Father can help him understand this better.

I have doubts.

The young people are not the ones hiding something.

The younger people, and many of the older ones who prefer the Extraordinary Form of Mass are far better Catholics than myself.  I have known a few over the years who maybe had some issues, but the majority of those I know are wonderful people.  Deeply religious yet well integrated in contemporary society.  Some may 'fear' the signs of the times, yet their concerns/fears are not at all irrational.  In fact, many of the much younger EF traditional Catholics I know exude charity and love.  They are far from being paranoid/fear-full or insecure in their state in life.

I know families who are model Catholics, healthy, devout, successful, providing for their children, contributing to the Church and charity - faithful and filled with joy.  Solid in their faith, they know the faith, they know Catholic teaching - some are highly educated in theology and philosophy which informs their life and work in ordinary life.  If there is any 'defensiveness' on their part, it is their willingness to defend the faith and witness to the Gospel.

They are hiding nothing - their life, their faith, their devotion is held up for all to see.  I sincerely believe they may indeed be the "Heart of the Church" in our times.

Some may have issues, as I've noted, but so do many mainstream Catholics and so-called 'progressives'.  Ironically, it is probably  safe to assume that those who prefer the Traditional Rite do so because they were tired of the novelty and circus atmosphere present in the Ordinary Form of things in the Church.

I'm not criticizing the Holy Father, but I hope someone will help him understand and appreciate the faithful witness of Traditionalist Roman Catholics, especially the youth and young families who are faithful to the Church and the Holy Father and the bishops and priests in communion with him.

So Georg - Archbishop Gänswein - could you and Pope Benedict help the Holy Father understand that these people aren't hiding anything - and that some can't be that rigid if they accept me as their friend.

Big hug to Pope Francis and Georg and Benedict.  Beers for everyone.

Trads rock!

The Benedict Option ...

Say what you will - but this is what I think that option be like ...

Trident Lakes ... Underground doomsday neighborhood for the well-to-do ...

“People are getting fearful of this world — there’s ISIS, there are things like Zika virus to race relations and the police brutality they see on TV — people are nervous. People want a place they can have safety for themselves and for the future of their families,” Whitt added. “If need be, it’s going to be one of the safest places on Earth.” - Source

Him likes ...

The Omen ... remember that story?

Song for this post here.

The Pope is just like my mother: "What are you trying to hide?!"

What's under that cappa?

I laughed out loud when I read what Pope Francis had to say about young people, who were not raised with the traditional Latin Mass, yet prefer it to the Ordinary Form of Mass and said:

“And I ask myself: Why so much rigidity? Dig, dig, this rigidity always hides something, insecurity or even something else. Rigidity is defensive. True love is not rigid.” - Source

I bet they're homosexuals - and I'll explain why.

When my mother said, "What are you trying to hide?!"  She followed that up with a seething, "You little homosexual" - before I even knew what the word meant.  She was very suspicious, just like the pope.

So it just follows ... right?  I mean all that satin and lace, matching gloves and bushkins.

What?

I'm so just kidding.

No, really.

Get down to the 'lobby' right away,

they're hiding something!

What?

Cher is leaving the planet!

Cher didn't hold back her feelings about Donald Trump ... According to Page Six, the singer said that if Donald Trump wins the presidential election, "I’m gonna have to leave the planet." - Source

Song for this post here.

I like these icons a lot ... I believe they are painted - not written. What?

What?  So anyway, I didn't paint them - and I don't know who did ... just enjoy them.

Second runners up:

In this year’s election, voters went against nearly all of the ballot initiatives backed by Catholic leaders and advocates, except the referendums on minimum wage increases and gun control measures.

Putting people first, huh?

Huh?  Really?

Catholic Spirit printed an article lamenting that voters went against nearly all the initiatives backed by Catholic leaders.  WTH?  

It's never good enough for these people. 

Fr. James Martin, the day after the election posted about anger over the Trump win.  That was essentially his focus.  Where was the expression of gratitude, or at least hope, that now maybe SCOTUS may swing more pro-life?  Or that a solidly pro-life platform finally won the presidency and both houses?  Instead it is anger and rejection of the democratic process.  I don't get it.  I don't get Catholics.  I don't get Catholic leaders.  I don't get Catholic pundits.  It's never good enough.  Ever.

You are always, always - damned if you do, or damned if you don't.

Where are their priorities?  

The following is my comment on the Catholic Spirit article - I would never have seen it if a friend hadn't sent it to me.  It's an innocent enough column - but it hit me the wrong way:

So voters reject ballot measures of Catholic concern? Really?

Many people voted for Trump and a Republican platform out of a major sense of urgency and concern for preeminent pro-life issues related to Supreme Court judges and major religious freedom issues, such as those which affected the Little Sisters of the Poor. Do you even realize what kind of sacrifice many voters - including Catholics - made in voting for Trump? - Me

Seriously.  What do they want from people?

Do these diocesan functionaries even know the turmoil Catholic leaders put ordinary people through?  Do Catholic leaders even know the confusion they sow?

One tells you you can do this or that, and the other tells you you are going to hell if you don't do this or that.  You can't be pro-life if you don't do this or you're in favor of the death penalty or gun ownership.  And besides, it's charity to be pro-choice - you know, on account of those women without college degrees who don't accept the notion abortion is sinful - as Catholics teach - but that it is her choice, no matter what.  What an elitist bunch, if there ever was one.

What?

The Little Pope ...

"Guard it with patience."

Today's papal homily made me think of Saint-Exupéry's The Little Prince ...

"One sees clearly only with the heart. The essential is invisible to the eye." - Saint-Exupéry

“The Kingdom of God is not a ‘show’ religion: one that is always seeking new things, revelations, messages … God spoke through Jesus Christ: this is the last Word of God..." - Pope Francis

The Pope was reflecting upon Today's Gospel - admonishing against running off to here or there, following sensational claims of supernatural significance, and so on.

Then he said to his disciples,
“The days will come when you will long to see
one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it.
There will be those who will say to you,
‘Look, there he is,’ or ‘Look, here he is.’
Do not go off, do not run in pursuit. - Luke 17:20

I like it when the Holy Father talks about these very human tendencies - he reminds me of Bl. Jacinta when she told Lucia not to go 'run and hide' when it came time for her to spread devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.  It seems to me the pope's message today is a bit like telling those 'TNRSteppers-Storm-chasers-after-the-Rescue people', as well as those who expect to take the 'Benedictine option' to get a grip.

Asking what we should do whilst awaiting the fullness of the Kingdom of God, Pope Francis explained that we must guard and take care of our hope.

“Guard it with patience. Patience in our work, in our sufferings… Guarding it like the man who has planted a seed and who takes care of the plant, ensuring there are no weeds close to it, so it will grow. Guard our hope. And here is the question that I put to you: if the Kingdom of God is among us today, if all of us have this seed inside us, if we have the Holy Spirit there, how do I guard it? How do I discern this, how can I discern the good plant from the seed of the darnel? The Kingdom of God grows and what must we do? Guard it. Grow through hope and guard that hope. Because we have been saved through hope. And this is the thread: hope is the thread in the history of salvation. Our hope of meeting the Lord for sure.

“Let us ask ourselves: Do I have hope? Or do I go ahead as best I can without knowing how to tell the good from the bad, the darnel seed, the light, the meek light of the Holy Spirit from the brightness of this artificial thing?" - Pope Francis

“The coming of the Kingdom of God cannot be observed, and no one will announce, ‘Look, here it is,’ or, ‘There it is.’For behold, the Kingdom of God is among you.” - Luke 17

"And no grown-up will ever understand that this is a matter of so much importance!" - Saint-Exupéry

“People have forgotten this truth," the fox said. 

"But you mustn’t forget it. 

You become responsible forever for what you’ve tamed. 

You’re responsible for your rose.” 

I think I know why he never made it as a gay man ...

No one would dance with him.

Song for this post here.

[Just having fun with Michael.]

Thanks for the laugh dxv515

Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica ... A memorial to religious freedom for Christians ...

... and a reminder that each of the baptized are the Temple of God.

Behold God's dwelling with the human race!

The Edict of Milan (313) secured religious freedom and legal recognition of Christians. By imperial edicts, Constantine restored Christians' property and strengthened the Church hierarchy. He donated his personal property, received in dowry from his wife, for the first papal cathedral and residence in Christian history. So begins the story of St. John Lateran. - Read more here.

The readings for Today are beautiful ...

Responsorial Psalm

R. The waters of the river gladden the city of God, the holy dwelling of the Most High!

God is our refuge and our strength,
an ever-present help in distress.
Therefore, we fear not, though the earth be shaken
and mountains plunge into the depths of the sea.

R. The waters of the river gladden the city of God, the holy dwelling of the Most High!

There is a stream whose runlets gladden the city of God,
the holy dwelling of the Most High.
God is in its midst; it shall not be disturbed;
God will help it at the break of dawn.

R. The waters of the river gladden the city of God, the holy dwelling of the Most High!

The LORD of hosts is with us;
our stronghold is the God of Jacob.
Come! behold the deeds of the LORD,
the astounding things he has wrought on earth.

R. The waters of the river gladden the city of God, the holy dwelling of the Most High!

Do you not know that you are the temple of God,

and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?

If anyone destroys God’s temple,

God will destroy that person;

for the temple of God, which you are, is holy.

+ + +

God is in its midst; it shall not be disturbed;

God will help it at the break of dawn.

Our Lady of Victories

Who is she that comes forth as the morning rising, 

fair as the moon, bright as the sun,

 terrible as an army set in battle array?

 - Little Office BVM

O Blessed Virgin Mary, who can worthily give you the just dues of praise and thanksgiving, you who by the wondrous assent of your will rescued a fallen world? What songs of praise can our weak human nature recite in your honor, since it is by your intervention alone that it has found the way to restoration?

Accept, then, such poor thanks as we have to offer here, though they be unequal to your merit; and, receiving our vows, obtain by your prayers the remission of our offenses. Carry our prayers within the sanctuary of the heavenly audience and bring forth the gift of our reconciliation. 

Take our offering, grant us our requests, obtain pardon for what we fear, for you are the sole hope of sinners. Holy Mary, help the miserable, strengthen the fainthearted, comfort the sorrowful, pray for your people, plead for the clergy, intercede for all women consecrated to God.

Be ever ready to assist us when we pray and bring back to us the answers to our prayers. Make it your continual care to pray for the people of God, you who, blessed by God, merited to bear the Redeemer of the world who lives and reigns, world without end. Amen. - St. Augustine

In Thanksgiving for the Victories of Our Lady of the Rosary ...

O God, we praise Thee, and acknowledge Thee to be the supreme Lord.
Everlasting Father, all the earth worships Thee.
All the Angels, the heavens and all angelic powers,
All the Cherubim and Seraphim, continuously cry to Thee:
Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Hosts!
Heaven and earth are full of the Majesty of Thy glory.
The glorious choir of the Apostles,
The wonderful company of Prophets,
The white-robed army of Martyrs, praise Thee.
Holy Church throughout the world acknowledges Thee:
The Father of infinite Majesty;
Thy adorable, true and only Son;
Also the Holy Spirit, the Comforter.
O Christ, Thou art the King of glory!
Thou art the everlasting Son of the Father.
When Thou took it upon Thyself to deliver man,
Thou didst not disdain the Virgin's womb.
Having overcome the sting of death, Thou opened the Kingdom of Heaven to all
believers.
Thou sits at the right hand of God in the glory of the Father.
We believe that Thou will come to be our Judge.
We, therefore, beg Thee to help Thy servants whom Thou hast redeemed with Thy
Precious Blood.
Let them be numbered with Thy Saints in everlasting glory.

V. Save Thy people, O Lord, and bless Thy inheritance!
R. Govern them, and raise them up forever.

V. Every day we thank Thee.
R. And we praise Thy Name forever, yes, forever and ever.

V. O Lord, deign to keep us from sin this day.
R. Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us.

V. Let Thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us, for we have hoped in Thee.
R. O Lord, in Thee I have put my trust; let me never be put to shame.

WOW! President Trump! The World Is In Shock!

I never thought it could happen.

Together again ...

President Trump will attempt to reconcile with his friends the Clintons, and go ahead and appoint Mr. and Mrs. Clinton as ambassadors to Iraq and Libya, respectively ...

Get out and vote ... and keep voting ... as often as you can.

I voted...

I'm going back out.

Just under 4 hours before the polls close.

This is really strange though ...

Bob Schieffer said he had never seen a campaign like the one this year ...

“I have seen a few, but I’ve run out of ways to say I’ve never seen one like this. It’s as if the nation is enduring some kind of curse.  What should we expect next – that it will rain frogs? I wouldn’t bet against it.” - Source

What?

Another saint for today ...

Blessed John Duns Scotis

Humility, like charity is always capable of increasing ... - St. Elizabeth of the Trinity

If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me.

Humility ...

A friend asked me how and why a person can keep falling into mortal sin.  I answered, fallen human nature. 

Years ago I found what Pope John Paul I had to say about the phenomenon deeply edifying and encouraging - especially after numerous failures, repeated confessions, and so on.  I like to repeat the quote today ...  It goes something like this: God loves humility so much he sometimes allows us to fall - even into mortal sin - why? - so that in repenting we become more humble.

As Betsy Ten Boom stated in the horrors of the Nazi camps: 'there is no pit so deep that his love is not deeper still.'  I think of that often.

Providentially, today, I found these intuitions affirmed again in the writings of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity, who wrote: "To be plunged into humility is to be plunged into God, for God is at the bottom of the abyss."

God is at the bottom of the pit.

even there your hand shall lead me...

Over the years, I have come to understand God never forsakes us when we turn to him - he is there.  He is always there.  That is why, in every fall, sometimes still on the ground, as it were, I looked to see who was with me in my fall.  At first sight - no one.  I am all alone.  Until I eventually understood that Christ was there ...  Be it Christ who had fallen carrying the cross for me, or Christ, just as he was there for the woman caught in adultery, when he stooped down to her level - not condemning - but pardoning.  Even when my guilt and shame plunged me into hell itself, I remembered that Christ descended even there.  He descended to the dead.

God is at the bottom of the abyss ... the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Where shall I go from your Spirit?
Or where shall I flee from your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! 

If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me. 

If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
and the light about me be night,”
even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is bright as the day,
for darkness is as light with you.

for darkness is as light with you.

St. Elizabeth of the Trinity

“O my God, Trinity whom I adore, help me to forget myself entirely so to establish myself in you, unmovable and peaceful as if my soul were already in eternity.”

Today is the feast of Saint Elisabeth of the Trinity. She lived out this truth to her last anguished heartbeat, bedridden with an incurable disease even as the political powers of her day threatened those she loved the most, and the Church was rocked by all kinds of scandal. This Carmelite Mystic, the Mystic of Dijon, believed her mission was to help souls enter to a transforming encounter with Christ, one that requires a journey out of ourselves where we are vulnerable enough to be touched by Him. Her words encourage us to call out to the Word, and to let His great Canticle of love resound in our hearts with all its fulness — for to know this saving truth is to live as if already in eternity. - Dr. Anthony Lilles

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 

Signs in the sky and that strange trumpet sound ...

An alleged trumpet sound in Israel. We know what biblical trumpets (and shofars) signify. - Read more here.

Shofar experts have been unable to explain the phenomenon of the trumpet sound.

What?

St. Didacus de Alcala

St. Diego

I love Franciscan lay-brother saints.

He could be my Baptismal patron, since the name Diego is a derivative of Santiago, for St. James.

So humble, so little, a porter and I think questor for the community of Observant Friars, he was nonetheless appointed Guardian, something unusual for a lay-brother.  Called back to Spain at the end of his life, he returned to his humble, penitential life.  He was the first saint to be canonized after the Reformation, and the first lay-brother of the Friars Minor.

St. Diego, pray for us, and for my friends in the Philippines Diego and his sister 'Tina'.  ;)

Happy feast day San Diego, California!

Cats like Franciscans.

Hillary directed her maid to print off classified documents ...

But the maid lacked security clearance to handle such material.

Story here.

Preppers - are you ready? I mean, really, really ready?

Public execution of Polish priests and civilians by Nazis 

in Bydgoszcz's Old Market Square on 9 September 1939.

Ready for the storm?  Expecting a big rescue ASAP right after that storm?  How about a Rapture instead?

It never fails, I can't get into the prophecies of doom and gloom.  I can listen to reasoned observation on what is happening in the world, the things we all can see if we look honestly, and by that I mean humbly.  No doubt we live in perilous times, but as one Protestant minister I just happened to come across on television said, "We must repent!"  His Bible study - sermon was practical, and deeply moving.  It was exactly what Christians need to do - because 'faith' - or rather 'Truth has dwindled among the sons of men, falsehood they speak one to another, with lying lips, with a false heart.'  We know and need to acknowledge these things - to stand firm.

I've been thinking of the attitude Catholics maybe should strive for today ... it's the opposite of what, 'the false prophets who exploit the fear and hopelessness' are saying.

First and foremost - I think it is a mistake to run and hide - although some may want to do that, and even need to do that - to do what is best for their families and so on.  Yet, not everyone can do that, therefore, staying 'in place' seems to me to be the more Christian thing to do, for those who are able and have no other choice.  The so-called 'Benedictine option' leaves a lot of people out in the cold.  (If there is any lesson to be learned from Norcia - it just may be that.  The perfect monastery, the perfect liturgy, the perfect life ... and now everyone is out in the cold, so to speak.)

Staying in place ...

The 'ordinary people of the streets' have always done that.  They remained faithful through Vatican Councils, liturgical changes, societal changes, through scandal and sometimes doing so with social acceptance.  Today, they continue to persevere amid dominate secularization and even apostasy.  They are ordinary people in ordinary time worshiping God in ordinary form - they do not need to flee to extraordinary forms of life, living aloof from the riff-raff.

Recent history offers numerous examples of ordinary Christians staying in place.

The Catholics in the Middle East have stayed in place - amid bloody persecution.  The Catholics in China have done that.  The Catholics in the Soviet Union did that.  Just think, Pope St. John Paul II came from Poland, a Communist country.  The Polish Church lived through Nazi brutality and persecution, as well as Soviet repression.  Vocations flowered under oppression, the faith grew strong and fervent under such anti-Christ-anti-Catholic propaganda and persecution.

So what is wrong with Catholics in the United States that everyone is so bent out of shape with the prospect of looming religious discrimination and persecution on the horizon?  Prophecies claiming disaster upon disaster, signs and portents, financial collapse ... gossip and fear mongering.  I appreciate what the Holy Father said yesterday:

"No tyranny finds support without tapping into our fears," Francis said. "This is key. Hence, all tyranny is terrorist. And when this terror -- which was sown in the peripheries, with the massacres, looting, oppression and injustice -- explodes in centers with different forms of violence, even hateful and cowardly attacks, citizens who still retain some rights are tempted to the false security of physical or social walls.

"Walls that enclose some and banish others. Walled citizens, terrified on one side, excluded, exiled, and still more terrified on the other. Is that the life that our Father God wants for their children? 

"Dear brothers and sisters -- all walls fall. All of them. Do not be fooled." - Source

Do not be fooled.

This is what I think may be a better option, or something ordinary people might aspire to, and even prepare themselves for ...

Repent, every day.  Seek God and his will. 'Put no trust in princes, in mortal men in whom there is no help.'  

What if real religious oppression comes, what if real persecution comes?

The Gospel says:  "Bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you ..."

"To the person who strikes you on one cheek, offer the other one as well, and from the person who takes your cloak, do not withhold even your tunic.  

Give to everyone who asks of you, and from the one who takes what is yours do not demand it back."

"Should anyone press you into service for one mile, go with him for two miles"  Go with them, one, two miles, or as far as they want you to go - as far as you can - without compromising your faith.

"If anyone wants to go to law with you over" your business, or your house, or your possessions, or your income - let them take your life as well - and give thanks.  Forgive them, thank them and promise to pray for them.

Bless them.

Do not curse them.

I think I want to pray for that grace, that generosity, to live in such a way now, that I might obtain that grace, rather than heaping insults and condemnations upon those who harbor hatred for the faith.

As Pope Francis said, to give one's life doesn't only consist in being killed, but rather, “to give one's life, to have the spirit of a martyrdom, is to surrender it in duty, in silence, in prayer, in the fulfillment of duty; in this silence of everyday life; to give one's life little by little.”

It seems to me that is the correct preparation for martyrdom 'in place'.

Blessed Jerzy Popieluszko