A Visit to a Catholic Bookstore

Visiting a Catholic bookstore to buy a few appropriate items might usually be thought of as a pretty safe, non-confrontational exercise.  Logically, where else would you go if you wanted to purchase something "Catholic" as a gift for a friend or family member?  That's a fairly non-controversial activity.

Or so one would think.  I visited a local Catholic shop the other day and upon entering I was greeted by a slew of statues, literature and other paraphernalia related to the Medjugorje phenomenon, all artfully laid out for the consumer who wanted to indulge in this "dicey" story. Interestingly, the store, and by implication its Medjugorje fixation, is wholeheartedly endorsed by the rather clueless Archdiocese of Milwaukee which apparently find nothing untoward about the promotion of this alleged Marian apparition, which has been soundly debunked not only by perceptive writers such as Frere Michael, Hamish Fraser and the late Brother Francis, MICM but by two local Bishops of the diocese of Mostar where these events are said to have occurred. That's the Milwaukee Archdiocese for you.  They are well aware that the store promotes these so-called apparitions but is unwilling to apply fraternal correction.  Of course there is the possibility that the Milwaukee Ordinary believes in it himself.

This all led me to believe that I was off to a bad start in the store.  But I decided to move on to another room only to be confronted by a life size photo cutout of Pope Francis glowering at me (a disconcerting sight at any time).

If I had had calm-down pills with me I might have taken a few at that moment.  However, we trudged on to locate and buy the items we wanted.  The store was filled with a combination of some lovely Catholic items and books sharing space with some of the more revolting pietistic junk which has become a commonplace in places like this: badly drawn pictures of Christ playing baseball with a "little leaguer" or chatting amiably with Santa Claus, pasty-faced Catholic writers whose books are nothing but the most puerile drivel adorn their book covers delighting in forcing us to read about their "encounters" with Christ, whatever  that is supposed to mean (I don't really want to know).  Atrociously designed and painted statues shared shelf space with one or two pleasing ones.  A few copies of the traditional missal were buried beneath a pile of current missals which one should never spend money on because a) they go out of date the minute some new update occurs to the liturgy specialists in Rome and, b) because most priests today don't follow even those restless rubrics anyway.  In a word the store was...depressing.

When taking the items we wanted to the checkout counter another and worse jolt was waiting for us. Prominently displayed on their "must buy" book shelf was a copy of a little horror titled "Gay and Catholic".  The author informs us on the book's cover that she is now at peace after having "accepted her sexuality" and continues to masquerade as a practicing Catholic.  This, one supposes, is what passes for uplifting Catholic witness today.

Having to be cast as the fly in the ointment yet again it is necessary to point out here that this poor woman who authored said book is living in a state of mortal sin and receiving Holy Communion in that state, and, if we are to take her at her word as noted in the book, no priest has bothered to have a chat with her about her disordered life or the sacrilege she commits every time she approaches the Communion rail.

As the store was becoming busy at that moment it did not seem like a good idea to start a discussion with the hapless clerk over the appropriateness of such a book available at an ostensibly Catholic bookstore.  A calmly written and friendly note to the proprietors would seem the prudent thing to do and certainly it will be an interesting exchange of letters when one considers how many endorsements of the book from various Catholic personalities appear on the book's cover.  Logistics permitting a personal chat would be even better.  How tragic it is that Catholics have to correct other Catholics on something so basic as the mortal sin of sodomy.

But the fact that a Catholic bookstore, and a conservative-oriented one at that, feels no qualms about presenting such a book for sale is a telling description of the state of the Faith today, a state made worse by a Pontificate that prefers to speak in banal generalities, without clarity and without a firm grasp of the needs of the Faithful to have the unchanging message of the Gospel presented to them in a solid and unambiguous manner. A Church incapable of spreading the teachings of its Divine Founder is a Church that will soon become an irrelevancy.  Our recent Popes indeed have much to answer for.

To keep our religion from becoming engulfed by the fuzzy thinking of the world it would seem that one of our (the laity's) tasks would be to find a way to sit down with our fellow Catholics who operate bookstores like the one described and engage in a tactful tete-a-tete, encouraging them to be courageous and to avoid a conformist attitude that would transform Catholicism into just another debating society.  A good place to begin would be to take this homosexual bull by the horns for once and not sit quietly while the world tries to warp us on this issue.

Catholic book stores or some websites or newspapers and magazines, and even Churches, have become a sort of vast wasteland where confusion and imprecision rule, a definite sign that the ship of Faith is, as one Cardinal hinted at, rudderless.  With no clear instructions from the Captain I don't see how it could have been otherwise.

Yes, Obama really said this

Self-Delusion Dept.

For sheer breathtaking, incredible arrogance, mendacity, self-delusion and, I'm afraid, lunacy, Mr Obama actually publicly said this in reference to Russia:

"America has never been in the business of colonizing other countries and grabbing their resources...we've never been in the business of bullying folks into doing things that we can't do for ourselves,"

Ahhh.....yeah.

This man needs serious psychiatric treatment, or some memory help, since he must have forgotten about Iraq, Afghanistan, Mexico, the Spanish-American War, etc., etc., etc., etc., etc............

And this doesn't include US-backed coups in Iran in 1953, Ukraine in 2014, Serbia, Georgia, etc., etc., etc.........

This is the dangerous individual that imagines himself "the leader of the free world".

Read the whole amazing story at RT Today. The only honest thing he said in the whole interview is his frank admission that it is the US behind the collapse of the oil price so as to weaken Russia (and Iran).  The whole world has been aware of that for months but it is good to know that he has come out and frankly admitted it.

Christmas Tid-bits

A few little bits of interest regarding the Great Holy Day and the various peoples who celebrate it:



A nice series of photos from Russia Today

http://rt.com/in-vision/catholics-world-celebrate-christmas/

And from Bethlehem:

                                                    "Christ is Born, Glorify Him!"


[Calligraphy by Adel Nasser, Bethlehem resident, courtesy of the Washington Report on the Middle East.]


And two Presidents weigh in on the Holy Day:

In his Christmas "tweet", Our Glorious Emperor in Washington failed to mention the Birth of Jesus Christ. Hardly surprising for a cut-rate Herod like Mr Obama, and normally would have been unworthy of notice, except that it came into stark relief when compared to the comments of Hassan Rouhani, President of Iran.

The President of Iran said this:

“May Jesus Christ, Prophet of peace & love, bless us all on this day. Wishing Merry #Christmas to those celebrating, esp #Iranian Christians.”


[With thanks to LewRockwell.com]

Рождество - это так прекрасно!: Christmas is so beautiful

Because the Child is born.

Nativity by Rembrandt

Our Lady of Kazan, pray for those who defend the Kingship of Your Son

A Blessed Christmas to all those who have so kindly visited this place on the internet and by their comments have shown this soul that the Faith is not dead.

The Christmas of those who mourn

I know, and am happy to know, that most Catholic bloggers and websites pray for their fellow Christians suffering in the world.  As Christians we lament when they lament; we mourn when they mourn.  It is therefore most encouraging for this writer to note an awakening in the Catholic mind to the results of the evil that has been engineered by forces from the Darkness.  The hatred of Christianity by the powers that be - financial, governmental, media - is especially virulent on the High Feast Days and whether it is bullets firing at them, or having them watch as their lands are stolen from them or having their beliefs ridiculed by the mass media the ultimate target is always Christ, His Kingship and His Order.

With that in mind I encourage you to read the following piece by Daniel McAdams, an astute judge of the ways of the powerful and their relentless, satanic pursuit of self-interest.

http://www.lewrockwell.com/2014/12/daniel-mcadams/million-of-christians-are-in-mourning-this-christmas/

A quote:

"Many Americans, particularly those who rely on the mainstream media for information, will believe that the rise of Christian-killing ISIS and al-Qaeda in Iraq is the result of the US military’s departure from Iraq rather than from the US invasion of Iraq. Simple logic argues the opposite: if even the Washington Post admits that Christians thrived in Iraq until the 2003 invasion, how can it be argued that the invasion was not responsible for the decimation of Christianity in Iraq?"

At your Masses and at your manger scenes, mourn for them, please, and pray for them.

[An Arabic Christmas hymn, which Saint Benedict Center put on their website:


                    

Dear Holy Father, If I were a priest....

....and a same-sex couple came to me with a child to be baptized, I would have to deal with them in a very specific way.

You have said, Pope Francis, through the verbiage produced by your recent Synod, that we would need to find a way to be pastoral to these people.  I am not a little perplexed by these words from the Synod fathers, approved by you.  You and I wish these people to lead good lives so that they will enter Heaven after they die, not Hell.  So the way to deal with this situation seems to me quite simple, even though it is delicate.

We must first take this couple aside and tell them the plain truth about their unnatural situation, that they cannot claim to be Catholics in good standing while living in a state of grievous mortal sin, that they cannot mock God by calling an unnatural relationship a "marriage" without fear of condemning themselves, that for the good of their souls and the souls of the innocent child they are presenting to me they must cease committing this sin of sodomy and try to live a life as befits a Christian.  I would tell them quite bluntly that I would be unable to give them the Body and Blood of Christ until they confessed their sins in the confessional and amended their life.  I would tell them not to attend Mass together, so as not to scandalize the Faithful.  I would offer them every possible help I could to wean them away from this destructive manner of living and try my best to help them become better Catholics.

And what about the innocent child?

I, being a lowly priest of average intelligence would have to consult with the best moral theologian I could find to get his opinion on whether or not I would be able to baptize that child.  Surely in the case of danger of death there would be no question; I would have to baptize him.  But if the same-sex couple refuses to abandon their sin, how must I decide on what to do with this totally innocent infant who presumably is not in danger of physical death but is most definitely in danger of spiritual death, if it is to be brought up in such a perverse household?  On my own unless I was a brilliantly-trained moral theologian I am not sure what I would do.

You, dear Pope Francis, via your Synod, seems to be suggesting something other than what I have proposed above regarding unnatural unions.  If that is true then all I can honestly say is that if the Church were to just go along with the situation as it is then these two sinners would be on a straight road to Hell, and very possibly, so would the child when it is grown up after living in such a warped, dehumanizing situation.

The destruction of  child by forcing him to live in such a nightmare world is too terrible to contemplate.

You also say in a recent interview that if parents are suddenly confronted with the news that one of their children has fallen into the sin of sodomy that the Church has "to find a way to stand by their son or daughter".  I must confess I had to read that several times before it sank in.

What does Your Holiness mean, exactly, by "standing by them"?

You didn't mention Confession at all, Your Holiness.  How does a parent "stand by" a person in such a state of rebellion against God?  Surely you are not implying by this statement that this mortal sin is a permanent, unchangeable way of life for them.  You surely don't believe in that pseudo-scientific rubbish that suggests homosexuals are somehow born that way.  If so, what does your statement mean?

If I were a priest and two saddened parents came to me asking what they should do in such a tragic situation I would encourage them first to begin a serious effort at constant, daily prayer, especially the rosary.  I would tell them to love their child - but not in a sentimental, non-judgmental way.  Rather I would tell them to be very judgmental: firm in stating the truth, yet loving in as only a parent can be with their child.  If it was a girl in this state I would advise the mother to carry most of the heavy load but I would also tell the father that a strong talk with his daughter would also be in order.  With a boy it must be the father who takes command and who, along with the mother, works to bring the boy to his Catholic senses.  It must be assumed that if a child brought this up to his or her parents boldly, and dare I say proudly, then that would be a sign that the rot has already gone quite deep and that this will be a horribly tough battle.  On the other hand if it is a secret sin that the parents have found out about then that calls for a slightly different strategy.

In either scenario the child must come to me, as a priest, for help.  It will be harder for the proud, out-in-the-open sinner to come but ways can be devised to bring us together.  Then it will be up to me to be a true priest and work with all my might to lead the child away from their own self-destruction.

That is what I would do, Pope Francis, if I were a priest.

THE FOURTH OF ADVENT

                         

                      The central event in the history of the world is about to take place.

(courtesy forumeuropa.net

(In this lovely recording by Andrew Parrott and the Taverner Consort, the music starts in breathless silence until it builds and builds, in its begging Emmanuel to come.)

Fascinating History: a Stuart on the Papal Throne?

You might enjoy reading this fascinating historical tid-bit by Brian Kelly over at Saint Benedict Center:

http://catholicism.org/his-highness-was-almost-his-holiness.html

Imagine how the history of the world may have been changed had this man become Pope. Imagine how the history of Scotland might have changed, too.  As an old admirer of Scotland and its people I can only dream of the glories that could have been.

Enjoy!

American Farms: Time to regain what was lost

It was a long time coming.  Gigantic Business conglomerates from Rockefeller to Cargill to Monsanto all but destroyed the family farm during the years from the mid-1940s to the mid-1990s, building their obscene profits while decimating the quality of the food we eat.  But slowly, very slowly, the tide is shifting.  True, small family farms are still in a holding pattern, trying to hang on during these times of economic disaster and occasional bad weather.  But there is visible on the horizon a slow shift back to sanity in the heartland.

The catalyst for this shift is the forced emergence of GMOs.  A boon to giant multinational corporations but a detriment to our health, GMOs have finally been noticed on the radar so much so that consumers are now beginning to show a preference for real food, grown locally, free of chemical and genetic contamination.  Those small farms still in that holding pattern are beginning to see a small but encouraging upswing in their business.  Even the Public Broadcasting System has begun to take note of the trend and has been producing television programs about local, small farming concerns.

And more encouraging, there are now some families who have decided that going back to the land like their forefathers is a good idea.  Farms, small farms, are beginning to dot the land once again.  It is beginning in a small way but the trend is clear: people are fed up (pun intended) with eating junk food and are looking into the risky but potentially rewarding enterprise of owning and operating a small farm.  A culture shock for former city dwellers to be sure but those who have tried it are learning from their neighbors.  And they are not giving up.

Belloc and Chesterton and McNabb would be proud of them.

Not all of us are cut out to be farmers but that doesn't mean we cannot support them.  There are undoubtedly local farmer's co-ops in your area that can be patronized.  Do this, for them and for yourselves.  Be cautious in your food-buying.  If it is non-GMO then buy it.  True, this requires a little research occasionally but that is what the internet is for.

If you need a little background on what has become of our food production you will find this excellent piece by F William Engdahl most helpful.  It might make you mad.  It should.

http://journal-neo.org/2014/12/11/why-rockefellers-aim-at-destroying-farmers-worldwide/

A quote:

The raising of hogs, dairy cows, beef cattle, chicken all became industrialized gradually after the 1950’s in the USA. The baby chicks were confined to spaces so tiny they could barely stand. To make them get fat faster, the owners would pump them full of antibiotics and feed them a diet of GMO corn and soya meal. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, 80 percent of all antibiotics sold in the United States are for use on livestock and poultry, not humans. The majority are given to animals mixed in their food or water to speed growth. After all, time is money.

"
First appeared:http://journal-neo.org/2014/12/11/why-rockefellers-aim-at-destroying-farmers-worldwide/
There is definite evidence that the US economy may be entering a time of great decline, a decline far more severe than what we are now witnessing.  Catastrophically arrogant and stupid (and evil) decisions of our Emperors in Washington, and their handlers, are lurching us toward a time of great wealth for them and destitution for us.  But that kind of trajectory will not have a happy ending...for them.  Being prudent and preparing for some rough times ahead should be enough reason to make us take a second look at the value of farmers and farming.

Even city dwellers can have a garden...and some municipalities are now even allowing bee-keeping and chicken-raising in residential back yards.  This is the kind of thing that could be built on the ruins of America's misguided adventures.

The Catholic "back to the land movement" was a good idea in the past and it is even a better idea today.  Our health and survival may depend on it.