The Kids Are All Right

Our Lady kept her promise.

At the very first apparition of Our Lady at Fatima, she promised to bring the children to heaven, Jacinta and Francisco first, then Lucia ...  Pope Francis has officially recognized the miracle attributed to the intercession of two Fatima children - Blesseds Francisco and Jacinta Marto. - VR

The promise of Our Lady - at the very first apparition.

On Sunday May 13th 1917 the children were pasturing their flock as usual at the Cova da Iria, which was about a mile from their homes. They were playing when suddenly a bright shaft of light pierced the air. They described it as a flash of lightning. It was not really lightning, but rather the reflection of a light that approached little by little. Frightened by the flash, the children looked around at the sky that was clear and bright without the least spot of a cloud. No breeze stirred, the sun was strong, and there was no hint anywhere of a storm that might be responsible for a flash of lightning. The children, however, thought that they had better head home in case it might start raining. As they descended the hill. Another flash of lightning took them by surprise. Panicky with fear, they took a few steps and looked towards the right. There, standing over the foliage of a small holmoak, "a lady dressed all in white, more brilliant then the sun, shedding rays of light, clear and stronger than a crystal glass filled with the most sparkling water, pierced by the burning rays of the sun". The lady spoke to them and said: "Fear not! I will not harm you." "Where are you from?" the children asked. "I am from heaven" the beautiful lady replied, gently raising her hand towards the distant horizon. "What do you want of me?", Lucia asked. "I came to ask you to come here for six consecutive months, on the thirteenth day, at this same hour. I will tell you later who I am and what I want. And I shall return here again a seventh time." Lucia said : "Do you come from heaven...and will I go to heaven ?" " Yes, you'll go". "And Jacinta?" "As well" " And Francisco?" "Him too , but he will have to say many rosaries". In the end Our Lady asked : "Do you wish to offer yourselves to God, to endure all the suffering that He may please to send you, as an act of reparation for the sins by which He is offended, and to ask for the conversion of sinners?" "Yes, we do." said the children. "You will have to suffer a lot, but the grace of God will be your comfort. "Then she opened her hands with a loving gesture of a mother who offers her heart. From it an intense light departed that seemed to go through them. The vision vanished telling them : "Recite the rosary every day to obtain the peace for the world and the end of the war." And She disappeared.

Today it was announced that the Holy Father approved the miracle necessary for the canonization of Blessed Jacinta and Francisco, ahead of his visit to Fatima scheduled for May 13.  Perhaps he will canonize them at that time, and wouldn't it be great if he waived the requirements for Lucia, and canonized her with them?

I came across a rather sobering account of Sr. Lucia's conversation with Fr. Lombardi* (not the Vatican press secretary) regarding hell and the loss of souls.  Sr. Lucia wrote:

The existence of Hell arouses disputes. Sister Lucia wrote, a few years before her death on February 13, There is no shortage of unbelievers in the world who deny these truths, but they are no less true for being denied. Their disbelief does not save unbelievers from the horrors of Hell, should a life of sin lead them there. ... At Fatima, (God) sent us His Message as one more proof of these truths. This Message recalls them to us, so that we do not let ourselves be fooled by the false doctrines of unbelievers who deny them, or of deceivers who distort them. To this end, the Message assures us that Hell is a fact, and that the souls of poor sinners end up there." (Calls from the Message of Fatima, 2003, ch. 14)

Later Interview with Sr. Lucia on Hell

The following is a rare interview with Sister Lucia [the Fatima visionary who died in 2005], by Father Lombardi. It was recorded in the Vatican weekly "Osservatore della Domenica" February 7, 1954. 

Fr. Lombardi: "Tell me, is the 'Better World Movement' a response of the Church to the words spoken to Our Lady?" 

Lucia: "Father, there is certainly a great need for this renewal. If it is not done, and taking into account the present development of humanity, only a limited number of the human race will be saved." 

Fr. Lombardi: "Do you really believe that many will go to Hell? I hope that God will save the greater part of humanity." [He had just written a book entitled: Salvation for Those Without Faith] 

Lucia: "Father, many will be lost." 

Fr. Lombardi: "It is true that the world is full of evil, but there is always a hope of salvation." 

Lucia: "No Father, many will be lost." 

Father Lombardi remembered that Lucia had seen Hell and added: "Her words disturbed me. I returned to Italy with that grave warning impressed on my heart." - Source

Detail: The Secret of Fatima - Vision of Hell

*Fr. Lombardi and the Better World Movement.

Preparation for the Solemnity of the Annunciation

An archangel was sent from heaven to say to the Theotokos: Rejoice! And beholding Thee, O Lord, taking bodily form, he was amazed and with his bodiless voice he stood crying to her such things as these: Rejoice, Thou through whom joy will shine forth: Rejoice, Thou through whom the curse will cease! Rejoice, recall of fallen Adam: Rejoice, redemption of the tears of Eve! Rejoice, height inaccessible to human thoughts: Rejoice, depth undiscernible even for the eyes of angels! Rejoice, for Thou art the throne of the King: Rejoice, for Thou bearest Him Who beareth all! Rejoice, star that causest the Sun to appear: Rejoice, womb of the Divine Incarnation! Rejoice, Thou through whom creation is renewed: Rejoice, Thou through whom we worship the Creator! Rejoice, O Bride Unwedded!

Prayer to the holy Archangel Gabriel 

Saint Gabriel the Archangel, I venerate you as the Angel of the Incarnation, because God specially appointed you to bear the messages concerning the God-Man to Daniel, Zechariah, and the Blessed Virgin Mary. Give me a very tender and devoted love for the Incarnate Word and his Blessed Mother, more like your own.

I venerate you also as the “Strength from God”, because you are the giver of God’s strength, consoler and comforter chosen to strengthen God’s faithful and teach them important truths. 

I ask for the grace of a special power of the will to strive for holiness of life. Steady my resolutions; renew my courage; comfort and console me in the problems, trials and sufferings of daily living, as you consoled our Savior in his agony and Mary in her sorrows and Joseph in his trials. I put my confidence in you.

Saint Gabriel, I ask you especially for this favor: (mention your request). Through your earnest love for the Son of God made man and for his Blessed Mother, I beg of you, intercede for me that my request may be granted, it it be God’s holy will.

Pray for us, Saint Gabriel the Archangel. That we may be worthy of the promises of Christ.

Limited Use: Social Media

I closed my Tumblr, privatized Facebook, will most likely close the Etsy shop, and cut back on this blog.

I'm amazed at the time wasted writing about stuff that is essentially none of my business.

How stupid to have written so much about myself, and worst of all - other people.

"How can you believe when you accept praise from one another?"

Many people who live online, writing their blogs, judging and condemning others - even going so far as to judge the Pope, have lost their faith.  Some may be mentally ill or terribly deluded, but they are all endangering their salvation and leading others astray, even to the loss of faith.  Others who oppose these people do the same thing - responding with hostility, daily criticizing the bigotry of conservatives - political or religious - they are obsessed with being 'right'.  Perhaps this Scripture can be applied to them - to all of us: "You traverse sea and land to make one convert, and when that happens you make him a child of Gehenna twice as much as yourselves." [Matt. 23:15]

People online look for affirmation, praise, agreement and esteem - and some expect to be financially compensated for that - like money-changers in the Temple.

John of the Cross, quoting Isaiah wrote, "He who praises you deceives you."

“Today, let us ask the Lord for the grace to understand this, seventy times seven. Let us ask for the grace to be ashamed before God. It is a huge grace. To feel ashamed of our sins and then receive forgiveness and the grace of generosity to give it to others, because the Lord has forgiven all, so who am I to not forgive?” - Pope Francis

 

Remembering Blessed Alberto Marvelli

Blessed Alberto, pray for us.

He reminded me that today is his birthday.

I did a drawing of him once.

St. Joseph, A Righteous Man

St. Joseph does not want to expose us to shame ...

He quietly arranges things for us
   which otherwise seem impossible.
He removes our fears
   with the assurance of his protection.

“He is the man who doesn’t speak but obeys, the man of tenderness, the man capable of carrying forward the promises so that they might become solid, certain; the man who guarantees the stability of the Kingdom of God, the paternity of God, our sonship as children of God. I like to think of Joseph as the guardian of weaknesses, of our weaknesses too: he is able to give birth to so many beautiful things from our weaknesses, even from our sins.” - Pope Francis

Solemnity of St. Joseph

O St. Joseph whose protection is so great, so strong,
so prompt before the Throne of God,
I place in you all my interests and desires.
O St. Joseph do assist me by your powerful intercession
and obtain for me from your Divine Son
all spiritual blessings through Jesus Christ, Our Lord;
so that having engaged here below your Heavenly power
I may offer my Thanksgiving and Homage
to the most Loving of Fathers.
O St. Joseph, I never weary contemplating you
and Jesus asleep in your arms.
I dare not approach while He reposes near your heart.
Press him in my name and kiss His fine Head for me,
and ask Him to return the Kiss when I draw my dying breath.
St. Joseph, Patron of departing souls,
pray for us.
Amen 

Keep going to St. Joseph ...

  Remember, O most chaste spouse of the Virgin Mary, 

that never was it known 

that anyone who implored your help 

and sought your intercession were left unassisted.
 Full of confidence in your power 

I fly unto you and beg your protection.
 Despise not O Guardian of the Redeemer

 my humble supplication in my powerlessness, 

but in your bounty, 

hear and answer me. Amen.

    O dearest St. Joseph, 

I consecrate myself to your honor and give myself to you, 

that you may always be my father, 

my protector and my guide in the way of salvation.

Take all my concerns 

into your most pure heart.

Forgive me for squandering

the graces you have obtained for me.

You see well how unfaithful

and inconstant I am.

Forgive me.

Help me once again, 

grasp me,

and do not let me go.

Be with me living,

be with me dying,

obtain for me a favorable

judgment from Jesus,

my merciful savior.

Amen.

Go to Joseph.

   Remember, O most chaste spouse of the Virgin Mary, 

that never was it known 

that anyone who implored your help 

and sought your intercession were left unassisted.
 Full of confidence in your power 

I fly unto you and beg your protection.
 Despise not O Guardian of the Redeemer

 my humble supplication, but in your bounty, 

hear and answer me. Amen.

    O dearest St. Joseph, 

I consecrate myself to your honor and give myself to you, 

that you may always be my father, 

my protector and my guide in the way of salvation.

Take all my concerns 

into your most pure heart.

Be with me living,

be with me dying,

obtain for me a favorable

judgment from Jesus,

my merciful savior.

Amen.

Thank you.

S. Salvador de Horta

San Salvador, pray for us.

In a week ...

God knows all about you ...

“Do not be surprised if you fall every day and do not surrender. Stand your ground bravely and you may be sure that your guardian angel will respect your endurance. A fresh, warm wound is easier to heal than those that are old, neglected, and festering, and that need extensive treatment, surgery, bandaging and cauterization. Long neglect can render many of them incurable. However, all things are possible with God (cf. Mt. 19:26).” St. John Climacus

Was Kellyanne Conway's toaster bugged?

Kellyanne Conway's housekeeper demonstrates how a toaster can be bugged.

In this exclusive video, Mrs. Piedad Figueroa, Kellyanne Conway’s housekeeper, demonstrates why this toaster will not work properly, due to the hidden bugging device inside. A device which self destructs upon discovery to escape detection and/or to destroy forensic evidence of surveillance.

The name of the rose and other religious dubia ... curiositas.

It's a fun past time, maybe a cool hobby, it could even be the beginning of a great career in writing and film making - if your're good at it, but it's just intrigue and conspiracy theories, leading to speculation and even gossip, while the pursuit of such knowledge may even involve the vice of curiositas ... Although I may be wrong.

Rather than some outdated holdover from the Middle Ages, the vice of curiositas is alive and well. Indeed, one might go so far as to say the Internet made it again a defining vice of our time.

For the medieval schoolmen, curiositas (let us stick to the Latin to avoid contemporary connotations) did not concern knowledge in and of itself, but rather the pursuit of knowledge. Thomas Aquinas thought that knowledge is in and of itself always good, since any act of knowing “feeds” truth to the intellect, which brings the intellect, and hence the soul, ever closer to perfection. Yet Aquinas thought the pursuit of knowledge could sometimes be wrongful, much in the same way as bread retains its nourishing value even if wrongfully pursued by a gluttonous eater on a full stomach. The analogy is apt—Aquinas believed in such a thing as an intellectual appetite—but a limited one. After all, the glutton sins because he eats beyond satiety. But we do not usually acknowledge the existence of a point of intellectual satiety beyond which we must not go. How can knowledge be pursued wrongfully, indeed sinfully?

In his Summa Theologiae, Aquinas points to several ways. Gossiping, or endeavoring to know about another’s private affairs. The man who seeks knowledge just so he can take pride in what he knows also engages in curiositas. Then Aquinas borrows Jerome’s harsh words against those who pursue frivolous knowledge, thereby neglecting their duties: “We see priests forsaking the gospels and the prophets, reading stage-plays, and singing the love songs of pastoral idylls.” There is also the man who pursues what far exceeds his understanding, falling into systematic error and hence no knowledge at all. Finally, there is the man who loses sight of the ultimate end of pursuing knowledge, indeed of any pursuit, God.

The virtue Aquinas opposes to curiositas is not humility, but studiousness, that is, knowledge pursued well. Neither does Aquinas condemn empirical observation or even the pursuit of difficult subjects, so long as one possesses genuine ability. - Luis Pinto de Sa

Q. Where's the basement?

A. Downstairs.

H/T to DB for the inspiration of this post. 

3/13/13

Fatima Pope

Where are all the Fatimist soothsayers?  Sacred numerologists, where art thou?

Pope Francis is still Pope.  He became Pope on March 13, 2013.  3/13/13: and he dedicated his papacy to Our Lady of Fatima, and, and, and, and?

So anyway, happy anniversary Holy Father Pope Francis!

Oh.  And Pope Benedict really resigned willingly, he made up his own mind all on his own.

I told you stop calling here

and don't ask me again - and

quit making things up about

Fatima as well.

The man that got away ...

Pier Vittorio Tondelli called chastity 

“a mystic virtue for those who have chosen it 

and perhaps the most superhuman use of sexuality."

A man can do it. 

God was graciously was putting Christians in my life who weren’t mean-spirited. They were very loving, but there was still a question that tortured Carneal: could he really be a Christian and a practicing homosexual? 

“What really kept me in turmoil is I would listen to the conservative Christian side and the liberal Christian side and both spoke with such authority. So many times I would sit in my car and beat on the steering wheel and cry, and sob, and beg God for answers,” said Carneal. 

“It was really taking a toll on my mental and emotional state. I finally just walked away from that life. I walked out of the bars. I stopped hanging around a lot of my gay friends. I stopped hanging around liberal Christians. I just started immersing myself in God’s word. That’s really where I started to get answers and peace about where God really stands on this issue,” said Carneal. 

Carneal then embraced celibacy and says he has been at peace ever since.
“I didn’t know that celibacy was an option. When I found out there were a lot of LGBT individuals who were walking away from that life and were giving their lives to Christ and choosing the path of celibacy because they wanted to please God, that really gave me hope,” said Carneal. - Source

A time comes, and a man can do it.  He might fall, but he gets up and keeps going.  He can get back up.

-source-

Time after time.

If you fall I will catch you - I'll be waiting 

Time after time.

“If a Christian wants to move forward on the road of Christian life he must fall, just as Jesus fell. It is the way of humility, yes, it also means he must take humiliation upon himself just as Jesus did”. - Pope Francis

Cicero uses the word “virility” to express character and vigor of soul... some thoughts about virility.

How can a man combat effeminacy in a genderless culture?  

"St Augustine, with extraordinary perceptiveness, described the nature of sin as follows: 'self-love to the point of contempt for God'. It was self love which drove our first parents toward the initial rebellion and then gave rise to the spread of sin throughout human history. The book of Genesis speaks of this: 'You will be like God, knowing good and evil', in other words, you yourselves will decide what is good and evil.

The only way to overcome this dimension of original sin is through a corresponding 'love for God to the point of contempt for self'. This brings us face to face with the mystery of man's redemption, and here the Holy Spirit is our guide. It is he who allows us to penetrate deeply into the 'mystery of the Cross' and at the same time to plumb the depths of evil perpetrated by man and suffered from the very beginning of history. That is what the expression 'convince the world about sin' means, and the purpose of this 'convincing' is not to condemn the world. 

If the Church, through the power of the Holy Spirit, can call evil by its name, it does so only in order to demonstrate that evil can be overcome if we open ourselves to 'love for God to the point of contempt for self. This is the fruit of Divine Mercy..." - John Paul II, Memory and Identity

And so this makes you sad, you say?

Sadness, or self-pity, is the twin sister of acedia. They are similar in some respects, but not identical. The sad person finds relief more easily, whereas the one besieged by acedia is trapped. Sadness is a temporary, part-time experience, but acedia is global and permanent. In this sense it is opposed to human nature. 

The chief symptoms of this devilish “scourge that lays waste at noon” are inner instability and the need for change (with wandering fantasies of a better place), excessive care of one’s own health (with special emphasis on one’s food), escape from manual work (with laziness and inactivity), uncontrolled activism (under the appearance of charity), neglect of the monastic practices (reducing observance to a minimum), indiscreet zeal in a few ascetic exercises (with extreme criticism of one’s neighbor), generalized discouragement (with the beginnings of a depression). - Dom Bernardo Olivera, OCSO

Effeminacy

St. Thomas includes effeminacy under the vices opposed to perseverance. It is from the Latin mollities*, which literally means “softness.” Mollities is the verb used in 1 Corinthians 6:9 which deals with the sexual sin of sodomy. It involves being inordinately passive or receptive. What St. Thomas means by persevering is when “a man does not forsake a good on account of long endurance or difficulties and toils.” An “effeminate man is one who withdraws from good on account of sorrows caused by lack of pleasures, yielding as it were to a weak motion.” Thomas states that this effeminacy is caused in two ways. First, by custom, where a man is accustomed to enjoy pleasures and it is, therefore, more difficult for him to endure the lack of them. Second, by natural disposition, less persevering through frailty of temperament, and this is where Thomas compares men with women, and also mentions the homosexual act of sodomy, and the receiver in this act as being effeminate or like a woman. 

The vice of delicacy for Thomas considers those who cannot endure toils, or anything that diminishes pleasure, and thus delicacy is a kind of effeminacy. Thomas quotes from Deuteronomy 28:56, “The tender and delicate woman, that could not go upon the ground, nor set down her foot for softness.” It may be true that some cultural prejudices are being revealed here with this comparison because a vice is a vice, whether it is found in a man or a woman, but it is also true that some vices are more perverse or disordered when found specifically in men or women. Effeminacy is more pronounced in a man than a woman because women are more susceptible to this vice. Just as the vice of drunkenness is more pronounced or perverse when found in a woman than a man. - Homiletic and Pastoral Review 

*A bit of trivia on mollities ...

18th-19th century male brothels were known as 'Molly-houses' - molly derives from mollities. Curiously, Miss Molly referred to an effeminate or homosexual male.  Which begs the question, what did Little Richard know and when did he know it?  What?

Molly-houses were often considered 

as brothels in legal proceedings.

 A male brothel, illustration by Léon Choubrac,

 included in Léo Taxil's book 

La prostitution contemporaine, 

1884, pg. 384, Plate VII.

(Friends of St. Therese

will remember Leo Taxil 

as the fraud who deceived

the Carmel of Lisieux.)

Reassessing recent posts and thinking out loud ... 

So anyway.  Recently I received a link to an article on Camille Paglia's assertion that androgyny signals the demise, and/or collapse of Western civilization - or at least that was the impression I received from the Rod Dreher article.  Interestingly enough, I came across a comment on the post which reminded readers of a sort of history of effeminacy throughout European culture, citing tights and powdered wigs, and so on.  I'm making a gloss on the whole conversation to save time, but it certainly is not a new vice - the problem in our day is convincing the amoral that it is indeed a vice - even for the 'genderless' if you will.  

The game changer in our day is that gender theory-ideology has become pervasive and widespread, and the 'prophets of doom' are correct in recognizing the threat to culture.  As the Polish Bishop Pieronek noted a few years ago, “The ideology of gender presents a threat worse than Nazism and Communism combined.”  Even Camille Paglia is right when she asserts that "androgyny becomes prevalent 'as a civilization is starting to unravel. You find it again and again and again in history.'”  It's not the apocalypse however.  We do not need to panic or run for the hills, as it were.

It seems these reports, lectures, blog posts, and so on, excite fear and dread in many people, creating a sort of 'the sky is falling' mentality - leading to despair, or at least discouragement - and a whole lot of mistrust and confusion.  People freak out.

What is lacking is faith, conversion, repentance, prayer, and confidence.  The world revolves and the cross remains the same.  The Church stands and has lived through tremendous persecutions, cultural changes, era changes, societal revolutions and evolutions, and so on. God is in charge.  Today in the Gospel, after the Transfiguration, Jesus tell the disciples, "Rise and do not be afraid."  What lay before them after that miraculous event was the Passion of Christ.  His disciples will not be cheated out of their participation in it.  That must be our attitude I think.  We need to cultivate virility and virtue in ourselves.  We need to believe God, to trust Him, to listen to Him, to follow Him.

I came across something this morning from Jeremiah.  It seemed to me a warning against fear and cowardice in the face of change, in times of upheaval, and in that fear of alienation and annihilation:   "... but of you I will not make an end.  I will chastise you as you deserve, I will not let you go unpunished.  [...]  I will restore you to health; of your wounds I will heal you, says the Lord." - Jeremiah 30: 11-17  For me at least, that passage is helpful in these days of misunderstanding and discouragement, when so many clamor and protest the evils they perceive without recognizing that even in chastisement, the Lord is full of mercy and love.   

I may not have expressed that very well, so pay no attention to me and my personal meditations and thinking out loud.

The Mystery of Light ...

Chaste, purifying light.

Silent awe.

Daylight Saving Time ....

Set your clocks ahead and save the world.  

Oh, wait.

Dr. Joseph Nicolosi RIP

Joseph Nicolosi

+Prayers for the repose of his soul and prayers for the consolation of the Nicolosi family.+

Linda Nicolosi, Joe's lifelong collaborator and also his wife of 39 years, is grateful for everyone's prayers and words of appreciation and has shared these words: 

"Joe was certainly a larger-than-life, one-of-a-kind guy. Never worried about political correctness, he was happy to swim against the cultural tide when he was sure the culture was going in the wrong direction. That got him into trouble quite a few times. Gay-activist web sites, for example, are still fond of quoting the occasional risqué jokes he made during his life in the public eye, and of showing and re-showing him tossing a mic back at a rude TV interviewer. But Joe had ardent convictions about the truth of male and female design, and because of his conviction and courage, his awareness that he would face biased reporters didn't stop him from appearing on Oprah Winfrey, Larry King Live, Hannity and Colmes, O'Reilly Factor, 20/20, Dr. Phil, BBC News, etc. 

Dr. Nicolosi had always hoped for his legacy as the creator of Reparative Therapy to go on. His career was dedicated to helping people align their lives with their deeply held convictions. Anyone, he stressed, is free to live his life as gay; but we are inevitably gendered beings, and our fullest humanity calls us to live out our biological design." - Facebook

What a shock for his wife Linda and their son.  My deepest sympathy.

I was surprised by the mean spirited comments left on the Facebook page.

There were aspects of Nicolosi's thought I would have to disagree with, but generally his research into the nature and causes of male homosexuality has been helpful for many, including myself.  LGBT activists are vehemently against any type of Reparative Therapy, pretty much based upon horrible attempts to eradicate homosexual inclination in the past - and in the present, as evidenced by ABC Brian Ross's report on Conversion Therapy, part of which I caught on Night Line last night.  I also understand families do send unwilling individuals into such therapy, perhaps causing even more psychological damage.  

I may be wrong, but I was always under the impression that Nicolosi accepted the fact that many are neither interested in, nor willing to change, while some may not be able to do so, especially adults who have lived or identified with gay culture most of their lives.  Nevertheless, I believe his research has helped such individuals who were unhappy with their sexual orientation, to understand themselves better, and to help them recognize the psychological motivations of their individual homosexual experience.  Such self-knowledge helped many to integrate themselves into the Church, especially withing the context of a Catholic community (parish).  I believe his work has been helpful in pastoral care as well - with the understanding his work should not be taken as the sole authority when it comes to ministering to gay people.  The response to the news of his death should make that very clear.  

I will admit I know little about NARTH, but most everything I've read by Dr. Nicolosi is certainly worthy of consideration in how Catholics respond to the issues related to homosexuality - especially those who wish to live faithful, chaste lives in accord with Catholic teaching.  Catholic teaching does not insist that a person go into therapy, or seek Reparative Therapy to change what he perceives to be his sexual orientation, but rather to live a chaste and holy life according to his station in life.  It's the same for unmarried men and women.  I believe it is the wrong focus to attempt to 'pray away the gay' or throw all of one's energies into changing so-called sexual orientation.

I personally believe that unless an individual is highly motivated to change, any form of Reparative Therapy with an expectation to suddenly be straight or free of homosexual temptation, can drive gay people away from the Church, and more specifically the Sacraments, not to mention cause greater psychological and moral harm.  I am also opposed to recommending gay people require therapy, especially that type which they may not want, and/or may not be able to afford, much less have the insurance to cover the expenses of such treatment.  I believe a devout life and the Sacraments are enough for salvation. 

People driving you crazy?

Ecce Homo ... Homo homini lupus est

Embrace your homophobia.

It's the counter-cultural thing to do.

It seems I've gone for weeks without writing about homosexual stuff - LGBTQ topics are all over Catholic social media today - why?  Like I always say, I hate writing about this stuff - if you leave something behind you, why keep looking back?  Remember Lot's wife, and all of that.  Unlike the Israelites in the desert, I don't look back with longing, quite the contrary.  Internalized homophobia?  That's what 'they' call it - yet I call it repentance, contrition, and conversion.  If that's homophobia, I gladly embrace it.

What I'm not phobic about is murals in Cathedrals, or gay bishops suggesting the Church change her teachings, or crazy bloggers screaming "FAGGOTS" as some sort of doomsday threat against the papacy, and I'm not even scared by people like feminist Camille Paglia citing the collapse of Western Civilization because LGB's embraced the T's and G's as part of their social-reconstruction-equality program.  I'm so scared!  Not.

What I do hate is what Austin Ruse revealed today ... I haven't vetted it, but I trust Ruse and his professional reputation.  He knows what he talking about.  Sometimes I disagree with his tone or repeated criticism of those who criticize him - that's not important.  Today just one thing in his essay at Crisis struck me as revolting and on some level - criminal - as it applies to grooming youth to embrace homosexuality, or to be more exact, sodomy.  It is, in my opinion a sexual  behavior or practice to fear and hate - or more precisely, to be phobic about.

The quite remarkable thing that has happened is they are now willing to talk openly about their way of life. The execrable but nonetheless mainstream gay publication Advocate published a story—by a doctor no less—teaching youngsters how to train their bodies for sodomy. It makes for truly gruesome reading.

He writes, “I often tell patients that great bottoms have been doing it for quite some time, with many first experiencing it in their youth. Unfortunately, no one showed us the right way to bottom in our high school sexual education class. Still, it’s never too late to learn, and we all enjoy new and positive sexual experiences. Here’s my 101 guide to bottoming…”

The publication also ran a piece on how gay men should have regular pap smears for their backsides. Now, these pieces will not be seen outside the homosexual bubble, but even more out in the open are two shocking and revealing pieces just published in the more mainstream Huffington Post. - Crisis

There is nothing generative, nurturing, or loving about sodomy.  Call me homophobic - I'm fine with that.

Transgender issues are not new - the Church has simply ignored the complexities of the phenomena for decades.

Whenever I paint the Holy Face ...

Holy Face 

T. Nelson

I mix a tiny bit of my blood in the paint ...

I always tend to cut myself when I do art and craft projects, and when I do, I drip a bit of blood on images of the passion of Christ.  Just a little.  It dries brown.  One painting even has some hairs from my beard embedded. Once, doing a wood cut and printing it on linen and silk, I cut myself really bad and most of the pigment is my blood.    I still have the block and perhaps on a very hot day, I can use my sweat to do a print - just to see if aging in the sun would cause it to discolor and leave an imprint?

So anyway.  Must get busy painting the icon I'm working on. 

LifeSiteNews offers a correction ...

For the fake news report:

March 6, 2017 (LifeSiteNews) – On March 3, LifeSite published an article originally titled: “'Pope Francis has urged us to have fewer children,' claims Vatican academy member.” That article misquoted botanist and environmentalist Peter Raven, who was reported to have said at a Vatican press conference that, “Pope Francis has urged us to have fewer children to make the world more sustainable.” After reviewing audio recordings of the press conference, LifeSite has amended the story to accurately reflect Raven’s words.

What he actually said was, "We need at some point to have a limited number of people which is why Pope Francis and his three most recent predecessors have always argued that you should not have more children than you can bring up properly."

LifeSite sincerely regrets the error and has taken steps to ensure that similar errors do not occur in future. LifeSite places a very high priority on accuracy in reporting and this error violated that constant standard.

Now, will everyone else offer their corrections and make amends?  Canon 212?  Pewsitters?  Rorate?  One Peter Five?  Vox Cantoris?  LarryD? Kellyanne Conway? President Trump?

CIA uses techniques to make cyber attacks

look like they originated from enemy state.

Lent with style ...

Stylite style...

St. Alypius, Stylite

St. David and Simeon

Stylite tower in Jordan.

The reason this type of extreme asceticism died out is that monks didn't want be put on a pedestal.

ba-da-bing!

Ricardo Cinalli's Cathedral Fresco.

-source-

The 'Heavenly Jerusalem' detail just may be a bigger problem than the nudity and homoerotic subtext.

Someone on Facebook pointed out to me the inclusion of minarets in the scene.  Not that Muslims can't go to heaven ...  but the ecclesiology seems to be a bit off here.  At least something about it is hetero - albeit heterodox.  What?

I wish someone like Elizabeth Lev would critique the mural.  I'm not satisfied with the artist's narrative.  It would be nice if Archbishop Paglia would offer some catechesis on the composition as well.

As a work of art - I like it.

Looks okay to me.

Devout Catholics want to get rid of the Pope? Really?

Some say.

Some say some Cardinals do...

The report is considered valid, having been first reported by prominent Catholic journalist and Vatican expert Antonio Socci for the Italian newspaper Liberio. His report was quoted as saying that about a dozen of the cardinals who voted for Pope Francis are convincing him to retire. - Source

Some say, "It is time to stop pretending that everything is alright and to choose which side you are on."

Works for me.

I'm Catholic and Francis is my pope.

Mass Chat: First Sunday in Lent

Saturday Detention: Erotic Art in the Cathedral.

Fresco in Cathedral church of the Diocese of Terni-Narni-Amelia

depicts Jesus lifting nets full of prostitutes, 

homosexuals, and other lascivious characters, into heaven.

Theology of the Body Studies.

The work is incredible - I like it very much - but of course, I paint, and I'm a bit more open to such things.  That said, it's pretty gay, and I expect many will be disturbed by the content.  "Erotic" content, as the artist pointed out: “In this case, there was not – in this sense – a sexual intention, but erotic, yes,” said Cinalli. “I think that the erotic aspect is the most notable among the people inside the nets.”

The Lifesite article pretty much emphasizes the homosexuality of the Argentine artist Ricardo Cinalli commissioned by Bishop Paglia and Fr. Fabio Leonardis to do the mural.  Cinalli explains that he was guided at every step by the two priests, saying: “There was no detail that was done freely, at random. Everything was analyzed. Everything was discussed. They never allowed me to work on my own.”

That would drive me nuts.  The artist deserves time off purgatory for having endured that.

Detail

The angels are kind of skinhead looking.

Lifesite also seems to suggest something queer about Paglia and Leonardis.  I can see why, yet the composition is nonetheless very compelling - Christ rescuing sinners - as Today's Gospel of the call of Matthew reminds us, "I have not come to call the righteous to repentance, but sinners."  The fresco is on the inner wall of the Cathedral's facade, so in some sense, one is leaving that sinful life behind as one approaches the sacraments.  Christ, the fisher of men, pulls in the nets of salvation - filled with sinners, including the bishop and the priest.  It's a stunning allegory, very much in accord with the concept of mercy, going out to the peripheries, as proclaimed by the Franciscan papacy.

I don't see it as something scandalous, though I can understand while some who believe the Church is being undermined by homosexuals, modernists, and liberals would be.  I think of the scandal the Sistine Chapel caused when it was first completed, because of the nudity and the churchmen depicted in hell, and so on.  I'm not sure that there is anything ideologically subversive in the Terni fresco, albeit disturbing for the 'erotic' content - not explicit of course - more at intent.  In Italian art there is a great deal of nudity, much of it in churches.  It too can be considered erotic.

Knowing a bit about art history might quell the fears of some who appear to be scandalized by the work.  The nudity in the work of Luca Signorelli's Orvieto frescoes comes to mind.  Critics point out that the model for Christ in the Terni fresco was a gay hairdresser.  So what?  Throughout history artists have used models of 'ill repute', therefore I don't understand the problem.  And who knows, maybe the gay hairdresser is a former homo - living a chaste and celibate life now?  The critics are also scandalized that 'Christ's private parts' can be seen through his clothing.  It's not as if we've never seen it before.  Fra Angelico did that too, along with many other painters throughout history.  In art, on one level at least, it demonstrates that Christ was truly man and truly God.

So anyway - I like the work - but it is a bit queer... not that there is anything wrong with that.

The only Catholic thing lacking is any reference to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

That's Fr. Fabio with the heart on.

H/T Dad29