Pardon my impertinence ...

On February 11, 2013 ...

Signs?  Fr. Z seems to think so.

That didn't take long, did it.

Just when I try to be really good and shut up, I get online and read stuff I shouldn't.  And then I want to strike ...

I loved this one though: Pardon my impertinence ... but this reign of terror against the faithful must end.  And I laugh.  Not at the bloggist, but at the way he said it.  Such a BettyMae expression - BettyMae was my mother and that is exactly how she phrased things before letting loose - in other words, losing it.

Nevertheless, I really do understand the frustration.  Tourists in Lourdes always complain about the signage.  And I laugh.

So anyway.

Pardon my impertinence, but there is no reign of terror.  Is there someone or something keeping you from Mass and the sacraments?  Is someone or something keeping you from prayer and adoration?   Is Trump threatening to deport you?  Snap out of it - you should know better.

Tourists in Lourdes always complain about the signage, the commercialism, and how the town is so big and filled with hotels and religious shops and kitsch.  Yet if you arrive as a pilgrim, and walk in peace through the midst of all the worldliness; when you arrive at the basilica and make your way to the grotto, you encounter Christ in the Blessed Sacrament, in the sick, and finally Our Lady.  Then you are transported out of your self.

Signs? Lourdes was flooded in 2013 too.

I bet that means something, huh?

Our Lady of Lourdes

Que soy era Immaculada Concepciou

What do you want your last post to be?

I was thinking about that.

What if I never posted anywhere online again, and in the future, someone came across my blog or Facebook page and saw the last posts I did?

So I removed a post this morning.

Someone 'liked' a comment on FB and I felt satisfied, affirmed - because someone I don't know, who doesn't know me, liked something stupid I wrote.

How can you believe if you accept praise from one another? John 5: 31-47

Envy.

Envy goes hand in hand with that greed for approval and 'likes' or comments.

Envy is a big part of life online wherein our writing necessarily tends to put down someone or something else to make our opinion known.  Not always, but frequently.

Pride, self-opinion, self-love, spiritual sins ...

THE TENDENCY TO DERISION
.
Among the causes of tepidity in retarded souls, the tendency to derision should be particularly noted. St. Thomas speaks of the derider when he discusses the vices opposed to justice: insult, detraction, murmuring against the reputation of our neighbor. He points out (4) that to deride or to ridicule someone, is to show that we do not esteem him; and derision, says the saint, may become a mortal sin if it affects persons or things that deserve high esteem. It is a grievous sin to ridicule the things of God, or our parents, or superiors, or good persons who lead a virtuous life. Derision may even become very grievous by reason of its consequences, for it may turn weak souls forever away from the practice of good. Job replied to his friends: "He that is mocked by his friends as I, shall call upon God; and He will hear him. For the simplicity of the just man is laughed to scorn." (5) But it is also said of deriders: "He that dwelleth in heaven shall laugh at them." (6) The terrible irony of heaven will chastise that of earth.
.
The derider is himself a retarded soul, holding others back and becoming, often without being aware of it, the instrument of the spirit of evil. His cast of soul, which is the direct opposite of evangelical simplicity, is the one most opposed to supernatural contemplation. The derider, who wishes "to play the rogue," ridicules the just man who tends truly to perfection; he emphasizes the latter's defects and depreciates his good qualities. Why is this? Because he feels that he himself has little virtue, and he is unwilling to admit his inferiority. Then, out of spite, he lessens the real and fundamental value of his neighbor and the necessity of virtue itself. He may greatly harm weak souls which he intimidates, and, while working his own ruin, he may labor at their perdition. - Three Ages of the Interior Life; Part II, Ch 37

That's me.

There is nothing sound in what I post.  Nothing. 

A pilgrim at Lourdes

Rejoice, assurance of those who pray in silence!

Rejoice, laver that washest the conscience clean:

Rejoice, healing of my flesh:

Rejoice, salvation of my soul!

Rejoice, O Bride Unwedded!

Me and My Pope

I love these reports that suddenly find the light of day ...

Pope Francis said that clerical sexual abuse is the work of the devil, there’s corruption in the Vatican, warned against new religious orders with a “restorationist” mentality, and even appeared to take a gentle shot at reputed Marian apparitions such as Medjugorje, saying the real Madonna is not “the head of a post office that every day sends a different letter.” - Crux

That's exactly what I think.

Seriously.  The 'restorationist' mentality?  I've seen it.  Some groups which began like that, evolve and find a real apostolate, if you will.  They are open to the Spirit - they do not hold tenaciously to a sort of prototype.  As in iconography - the iconographer cannot 'write outside the lines' as it were - he must strictly adhere to the prototype if it is to be 'Orthodox'.  Some religious communities are like that.  Latin, EF only.  Traditional greetings only: "Benedicite" - "Dominus".  Traditional titles and nunish customs for monks is often another big give-away of a 'restorationist rigidity.  It really is.  In established monasteries, you can spot it in novices who automatically 'ride the walls' as they go down the cloister, arms in sleeves, hood up, head down ... without ever being instructed to do so.  Some of my readers know exactly what I am talking about.  They often leave to found their own monastery which suits their ideal of religious decorum.  That's not always a bad thing - but ...

As for Our Lady on Twitter with constant locutions here or there, the Holy Father's good humor shines through, and I totally agree with him.  It is so reassuring to read his attitude on these matters.

A friend asked me what I would think if the Pope was wrong about this or that ... actually, he wrote:

And let's say for the sake of argument that the pope really is a bad guy - so we keep praying for him, and the Holy Spirit will STILL protect the Church?

I said yes - history demonstrates that. I don't think the Pope is a bad pope though.  However, I think there is a lot of corruption in the Vatican.

One has to cultivate a spirit of detachment, of confidence in God.  The Pope's custom of placing notes beneath the statue of St. Joseph is surely a prayer of abandonment of Divine Providence, wherein a spirit of freedom allows him to adopt a 'healthy-could-care-less' attitude.  If you grew up in an Italian working class neighborhood, you might get that.

Anyway - there's a great story from the desert fathers about a monk making baskets to burn while engaged in unceasing prayer ... someone asked the monk what he would do if the Lord was coming - would he go out to greet him?  The father said he would not, he would keep working and praying, repeating the scripture: "Blessed are those servants whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival."

Works for me.

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.

I always assist at Mass ad orientem ...

I have always assisted, participated at Mass in this way.

In the EF and the OF ... I always pray facing the altar, facing east, facing the Lord.

Trump said ...

Terrorism and terrorist attacks in the United States and Europe 

have “gotten to a point where it’s not even being reported.”

 — Donald Trump on Monday, February 6th, 2017

 

Really?  

I was surprised by that, since MSM exists to publicize things like terrorism, mass murder - except of course, for the massacre of Christians in the Middle East and Africa.  So what was Trump talking about?  The Bowling Green Massacre?  

Later in the day, I came across a comment on Charlotte Was Both that may answer my question.  The post is about narratives - the narrative we are told, and pretty much the narratives we invent and retell - kinda, sorta.  Within his comment, Bill Bannon mentioned that:

There’s been 145 terror murders in the US in 50 incidents since 9/11 and the media never reports the host of small ones in that figure…local papers probably do…two decapitations never reported in big media because it counters their pretty picture narrative. - BB

"That's it!" I thought.  That must be what Trump meant when he said,  it's  “gotten to a point where it’s not even being reported.”

"Narrative busted."

I think I feel better about Trump now.

Just kidding.

What?

Bannon!

Was Steve Bannon behind the campaign smear against Pope Francis?

It's all over Internet today.  I saw it first at the NYT.  So listen, I don't know how true everything about the Bannon-Burke friendship is - but the possibility that somehow Bannon is out to undermine Pope Francis makes sense.

I'm convinced papering Rome with anti-papist posters was financed by anti-Catholic entities.  Was it Bannon?  He is reportedly anti-Francis?  So maybe there is a connection?

More intrigue.  

Even if the secular reports are skewed against Bannon and Trump - it demonstrates that the anti-papist propaganda probably has a secular component, and is most likely financed by anti-Catholic/anti-Papist principals.  The smear campaign against the Pope, signed by the poster campaign in Rome, reminds me of the Masonic picketing and leaflet drop St. Maximilian Kolbe witnessed while studying in Rome - which moved him to form the MMI.  It is not something faithful Catholics would support.

If there is a perception that Cardinal Burke is allied with political ideologues such as Steve Bannon and other political persons or entities, it is no wonder that the Pope would lighten the duties of Cardinal Burke to protect him from being manipulated by enemies of the Church.  No doubt Cardinal Burke is a holy man, but even holy men can be deceived and manipulated.  St. John Paul II is a great example of that - considering his endorsement of Marcial Maciel Degollado.

The Bannon connection might be propaganda as well.

Of course, these stories that are circulating in secular media and may simply be part of the 'Never Trump' campaign as well as some other offensive against the Church; albeit taking advantage of Cardinal Burke's high profile and criticism of Pope Francis to give the impression their opposition remains loyal to the Papal office.

That said, it's definitely gossip, innuendo and speculation pretty much intended to discredit the Holy Father and divide Catholics even more.  It's unfortunate that such eminent Churchmen should be involved - wittingly or unwittingly.  It's difficult to know for sure, therefore it's important to avoid giving much credence to reports against the Church, the Pope, and the hierarchy - especially from secular and social media.

Priests and bishops: Avoid politics in and outside the Church - and definitely, refuse all honors, titles, and awards.  Those who flatter you deceive you.

[Oh.  I may be wrong.]

The cancer of anti-Catholic propaganda ... has seeped into the Church.

O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to you
 and for those who do not,
especially the enemies of the Church
and those recommended to you. 

Has seeped into the Church.

I think many of us in the Church, fail to recognize that fact.  It's what is happening right now.  Online and elsewhere... even on Catholic social media.  The posters in Rome this past weekend are part of it - must be part of it. An acceleration of an ongoing attack.

The real issue is that the cancer of anti-Catholic propaganda has seeped into the Church, whose members are often unable to look at the past with a detached viewpoint in order to distinguish human errors from the Church itself, and to understand how propaganda has created such a false image of the Church. - Gagliarducci, MondayVatican

Something about those anti-Francis posters this past weekend in Rome seemed off, way off to me.  A faithful Catholic would never, ever, post propaganda like that.  Never.

This is anti-Catholic

propaganda.

The Pope speaks about avoiding the rigidity of the Commandments.

Freedom of spirit.

It's a gift.  I think an 'ordinary mystical' experience of it is common after making a good confession.  That peace and joy one experiences after absolution, the grace which expands the heart in charity and gratitude.  When the Holy Father talks about these things, I think he echoes the Psalmist:

I will run the way of your commands;
you give freedom to my heart. - Ps. 119: 32

 I wonder if this is what the Holy Father means when he speaks against rigidity?

33 Teach me the demands of your statutes
and I will keep them to the end.
34 Train me to observe your law,
to keep it with my heart.
35 Guide me in the path of your commands;
for there is my delight.
36 Bend my heart to your will
and not to love of gain.
37 Keep my eyes from what is false;
by your word, give me life.
38 Keep the promise you have made
to the servant who fears you.
39 Keep me from the scorn I dread,
for your decrees are good.
40 See, I long for your precepts;
then in your justice, give me life.
41 Lord, let your love come upon me,
the saving help of your promise.
42 And I shall answer those who taunt me
for I trust in your word.

Sometimes the Holy Father reminds me of Meister Eckhart ...

“The price of inaction is far greater than the cost of making a mistake.” - Meister Eckhart

“God, who is faithful, allows his friends to fall frequently into weakness only in order to remove from them any prop on which they might lean. For a loving person it would be a great joy to be able to achieve many great feats, whether keeping vigils, fasting, performing other ascetical practices or doing major, difficult and unusual works. For them this is a great joy, support and source of hope so that their works become a product and a support upon which they can lean. But it is precisely this which our Lord wishes to take from them so that he alone will be their help and support . . . in no way do our works serve to make God give us anything or do anything for us. Our Lord wishes his friends to be freed from such an attitude, and thus he removes their support from them so that they must henceforth find their support only in him.” - Meister Eckhart

“Theologians may quarrel, but the mystics of the world speak the same language.” - Meister Eckhart


This just in ... Overnight Rome has been papered with anti-papist posters.

"Oi Frankie, you have emasculated Congregations, 

suspended priests, decapitated the Order of Malta 

and the Franciscans of the Immaculate, ignored Cardinals...

But where is your mercy?" - Source

Somehow, this isn't such a bad thing - for me.  It's kind of exciting - very medieval and intriguing on some level - and so much like a Dan Brown novel I could spit!  It's not the end of the world, and it will never be the end of the Church - but it is an extremely exciting development and period in Church history.  Sorry, I just love drama.  I grew up with alcoholics and dysfunctional family was my normal.

Carnival appears to be in full swing in Roma!

Something for Fanatic Friday fans ...

I almost forgot it's Black History Month.

I'll have to post about black saints or something.

The world is getting scarier ...

Are these people even Catholic?

I was skimming some of the Catholic news aggregator sites and was pretty much stunned - once again - by the editorialized headline copy for some of the articles.  The articles themselves shouldn't be printed or linked to.  They are essentially anarchist and scandalous - aptly regarded as crackpot, they still do damage to the Church.  To call themselves Catholic is one thing, but their fidelity strikes me as dubious, at best.

Here's a sampling of editorialized headlines:

• Oily, Slimy Bishop Barron Ready For A FrancisChurch Red Hat

• Herald’s Fr. Lucie Smith lumps popular Trump in with ruthless, anti-Catholic Pope Francis because immigration enforcement.

• Vatican Fr. Czerny to new ThugCardinal Tobin: Pope says to tell you the US bishops are doing a great job giving Trump my FrancisGospel!

• Cardinal Wuerl particularly touchy, hopelessly snake-like about the ‘very small group of people and their media’ liars who care about Christ’s Church.

"FrancisChurch"?

"Oily, Slimy Bishop"?

"anti-Catholic Pope Francis"?

"ThugCardinal"?

"FrancisGospel"?

"Cardinal ... hopelessly snake-like"?

These expressions are not even Christian.

[Years ago when I used to be more critical of fellow Catholics and sometimes fallen priests ... I got a lot of people, former friends, condemning me, dropping their links, and so on, all for a lot less than what these people post today.  Amazingly, a few of these same people continue to link to those pundits online who post gossip, detraction, and 'scathing criticism' of Pope Francis and the bishops he appoints, as well as pass rash judgement and condemn ordinary Catholics faithful to the the Church as Novus Ordo Catholics, liberals, and fools.]

The source of detraction, calumny and slander.

Fr. Z's formal, public correction ...

Err ... clarification or an apology and explanation.

I did not say "that it is okay to pray that the Pope should die (without any further qualification) or that they ought to pray that the Pope should die." - Details here.

He apologizes that he gave the impression he said that - or meant that.

A clarification - it's a good thing.

Remember - don't just say the black and do the red - PRAY the black ...

V. Let us pray for our Pontiff Francis.
R. May the Lord preserve him, and give him life, and make him blessed upon the earth, and deliver him not up to the will of his enemies.

Let us pray. O God, Shepherd and Ruler of all Thy faithful, look mercifully upon Thy servant Francis, whom Thou hast chosen as shepherd to preside over Thy Church: grant him, we beseech Thee, that, by word and example, he may edify those over whom he hath charge, so that together with the flock committed to him, he may attain everlasting life. Through Christ, our Lord. Amen. - Z's

Whatever happened to

'Thy will be done ...'?

The Class of 1967

Reunion planning in process.

Thoughts after reading Facebook profiles ...

Somehow, I think they - we - were among the most clueless of all the Baby-boomers.  Although, maybe it was just me.

I haven't really thought about high school or the people I knew, but the reunion thing has really kind of fascinated me.  I knew some of the women organizing the event - not all of them well - but I seem to recall being friendly with them.  I'm not surprised they would be into this stuff, because that is what they did and they did it well.

I had some philosophical musings about the reunion and the people involved and who is coming so far and all of that, but it doesn't seem important right now.  I was never involved in earlier reunions or get-togethers, so I would have little reason to get involved now.  But with me, you never know.

Over the years, I occasionally ran into 'outsiders' from my class - we recognized one another but did little more than acknowledge one another.  I recall one woman who lived in the apartment building next door to mine in Minneapolis.  She was an attorney and doing quite well.  In school she kept to herself and was very studious.  She wasn't snubbed, but if I remember correctly, she kept to herself - some thought she was a snob, but I think she was just shy.  I wondered if people like her would even give consideration to such a thing as a high school reunion?  Then I thought of the poor students people used to make fun of or simply shun.   Would they come to a reunion?

Personally, I have good memories of high school, but I was just passing through at the time and moved on.  Although I genuinely admired the high achievers, those who made the honor-role, the athletes, and many who were allegedly part of 'the clique'.  (I didn't really see it that way.  They were all nice to me, so I had nothing against them.)  Today these people are very successful, and they deserve it - they worked for it.

One last thought, my closest friends, the people I hung out with went to Catholic high school, so I wasn't all that close to the students in my class - which may account for my outsider status.  Senior year my life changed completely and I moved on almost immediately after graduation.

Song for this post here.

  

High School Reunion

I wonder if Amber will be there?

This has me a bit freaked out.

High School was a really, really long time ago.  A friend was supposed to let me know about the plans, but I had to find out from a stranger.  Typical.  What?

So anyway - now that I'm on Facebook, I was looking up schoolmates - some even post photos of themselves how they look today.  (Of course, I've always posted current photos of myself as well.)  What?

I'm torn.  Should I go?  Will I go?  That is the question, isn't it, Omelet?  What?

Song for this post here.

The Argentine Way

After the Grand Master, Another Head Is About To Fall: That of Cardinal Burke - Sandro Magister

Really?  I just think it's strange.  First when he was appointed Patron of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta it was said this move was a demotion in retaliation and as some sort of punishment from Pope Francis.  Oddly enough, his removal from the Archdiocese of St. Louis was seen by some as a 'demotion by promotion' - to use Francis' terminology - by Pope Benedict because he may have been too conservative-strict about implementing Canon 915?  (I may have the details wrong but Burke people know what I'm talking about.)  So now, Magister seems to be suggesting Burke may be kicked out of college?

The stories are sounding more like a Dan Brown novel.

Someone needs to write a book, "Debunking the Burke Code"... or, "The Maltese Cardinal Code".

Monday Vatican has a more focused analysis on what's going on - and it is much more credible than Magister's take - without skimping on the intrigue which makes the affair so melodramatic.

I thought this was good ...

Pride of mind “is a very dangerous thing and not easily cured; it is much worse than pride of will. For pride of will, being visible to the mind, can sometimes be easily cured by forcing it to submit to the yoke of what is good. But when the mind is firmly grounded in the self-relying thought that its own judgments are better than all others, who can cure it in the end? Can it ever obey anyone, if it feels certain that the judgments of others are not as good as its own? When this eye of the soul — mind — with whose help man could see and correct pride of will, is itself blinded by pride and remains uncured, who will cure the will? Then everything within is so disorganized that there is neither place nor person for applying a healing poultice. This is why you must hasten to oppose this pernicious pride of mind, before it penetrates into the marrow of your bones. Resist it, curb the quickness of your mind and humbly subject your opinion to the opinions of others. Be a fool for the love of God…

- John of Kronstadt

[John of Kronstadt is a Russian Orthodox saint.  He was a married priest and knew Rasputin and may have 'sponsored' his introduction to the Royal Family.  He is also accused of anti-Semitism.  Nevertheless, his spiritual counsels are very good.]