Karen Carpenter sings Ray Charles' 'Christ is Born'!!!!!!!!!

Sad Aftermath of Pope Francis' Lampadusa Sermon:

Let me give you a hypothetical.  A millionaire advertises a contest where he pays 10,000 $ to anyone who will dare to cross the English channel in a homemade raft.  The millionaire makes it clear he doesn’t have infinite resources with which to rescue unfortunates, i.e. there is some risk involved.  The event is scheduled with hundreds of entrants and successfully proceeds with many winners and many losers who are fished out of the sea by the millionaire’s rescue boats.  NTL at sunset that day a handful of rafts still remain unaccounted for.  Who would bear the blame for these tragedies in such a scenario?

Or how about this? A taco stand owner across from an elementary school is asked by the school’s principal to deny service to any children who do not use the crosswalk.  The owner wants to be cool with the kids-not to mention not lose customers- so he ignores the school’s request, opening his generosity to all comers – and even gives free goodies to the first children to arrive during lunch hour.  The lunchtime chaos continues until one day a very speedy ten-year-old girl, outrunning her classmates, charges out in front of a cement truck, sadly thinking it can brake on a dime…   Who would bear the blame for this tragedy?

OK, enough with the hypotheticals already! My point is that well-off people who encourage less-fortunates to do lame-brained things, do share some responsibility for what happens when the less-fortunates actually take them at their word.

I recently found an article which summarizes Mediterranean boat people death statistics since 2001. (http://mapreport.com/subtopics/d/migrant.boat.accident.html  )  The authors do not insert Francis’ July 2013 visit to Lampadusa where his Holiness railed against restrictive immigration policies in order to show his solidarity with the cause of Muslim boat people immigration, and where he called for Catholic churches around Italy to open their doors to refugees, but they should have.   The article’s grim statistics indicate that drownings in the Mediterranean after His Holiness’ invitation to boat people dwarf the earlier tragedies. In another article the authors wonder why deaths have 'soared' over the past two years.  The total number of drownings from 2001 to July 2013 was less than 1000, averaging about 100 per year.  Since that time the number has ‘soared’ to about 2500 per year— a 25 fold, 2500% increase.   All this has occurred despite the Italian coast guard stepping up vigorous rescue operations.

I know the post- hoc -ergo -proper -hoc fallacy certainly haunts my inkling that Pope Francis’ well-intentioned words have cost thousands of desperate people, to include women and children, their lives. Please feel free to challenge me and let me know what has happened since July 2013, besides Francis’ open invitation, which might have caused so many more people to risk not only theirs but also their childrens’ lives.  Couldn't he have also cautioned Muslims not to risk their lives on the high seas?

Pope Francis’ venture onto the world political stage, in July 2013 at Lampadusa, Italy, would not be the first well-meaning papal initiative to have had tragic consequences.  I believe it was Pius XI who convinced the Cristeros of the Mexican government’s good faith and the need for the Cristeros’ theretofore invincible army to lay down its arms and go home.  Distinguished French-Mexican Historian Jean Meyer has chronicled how 5,000 Cristero leaders were then hunted down and murdered.  There are probably many better examples of popes whose good faith actions have lead to tragic unintended consequences. 

   

While we are discussing Pius’, let me bring up Pius XII discretion during WWII.  Most of us are familiar with the accusations thrown at Pius XII for not being more vocal against and more provocative with the Nazis.  The other day I read that Pius XII actually was convinced that additional public haranguing – e.g. excommunicating Catholic Nazis who hadn’t been to Mass in decades – would likely only lead to invigorated crackdowns and hundreds of thousands more victims being rounded up.  Pius XII’s course of action was the opposite of grandstanding and was geared to saving as many lives as he possibly could.  His course of action turned out to be right. 

Huffington Post's Jennifer Bendery tries to blame San Bernardino shootings on pro-lifers

While trying to figure out what was going on in San Bernardino yesterday (A Muslim man with his mail-order bride from Saudi Arabia shot up his MHMR work-place), I stumbled on MSNBC's twitter feed.  At the time the report was that three white men had carried it out and escaped in a dark SUV.

Perhaps, in the hope that the 'three' would not be caught soon and thus leave the Media a huge blank slate to paint the attack any way they wanted, Jennifer Bendery tried to get the disgruntled-prolifers-again-narrative rolling. twitchy website documents this .

Billionaires and Big Business prove that America has become a PLUTOCRACY

 (Goldman Sachs Tower)
Sisters and Brothers!

I think I've finally figured this same-sex marriage thing out!
There are many, many articles now available which track America's amazing opinion shift with regards to same sex marriage.  Some even mention the salient point that, during the shift, America's 's biggest same sex marriage boosters have been  its billionaires and their big businesses Pundits are 'shocked' that the public opinion follows the big money so closely!  Although most claim that it is vice versa.

Friends, we are now in an atmosphere where if a state, like Indiana or Arkansas, tries to protect the rights of small mom-and-pop businesses to continue business as they always have, then billionaires  and their big businesses rush in to threaten lawmakers with economic sanctions. As they say, threats of little people's livelihoods,  threatening them with living outdoors and starvation, these are all  great incentives to enlightenment! AND it is  Godzilla versus Bambi when Walmart and Microsoft gang up against mom-and-pop!

As a 'right-winger'  it pains me to state what my left wing friends have been warning me about for years.  'follow the money'!!!!   I fear we are in the grips of a
PLUTOCRACY:  a country or society governed by the wealthy. 

If no presidential candidate can address this, nor offer a solution--like perhaps taxing the billions of dollars of accumulated wealth these people and their endowments have sitting around that they use to  threaten us with,--- then I'm just not interested!  I don't want the zillionaires' money, I just don't want it used against me! It is possible to have too much  money!!!

                                       

Corpus Christi Bishop Michael Mulvey Reacted within hours of Same Sex Marriage Ruling

His Excellency..................................

Today, the Supreme Court of the United States of America sadly disregarded the natural moral law and the nature of marriage. By enshrining in our nation's laws a redefinition of marriage to include so-called same-sex "marriage", our Supreme Court has ignored the reality that marriage is a union of one man and one woman in a permanent loving relationship. The profound wonder of this natural structure is most especially seen in the sexual complementarity of husband and wife that, in its nature, brings forth new human life.

This redefinition affects us all since marriage is the bedrock of the family and the family, in turn, is the foundation of society. While marriage is indeed an intimate union between a man and a woman, it is a relationship that has profound public importance as well. From families come the future members of society. As St. John Paul II profoundly reminded us, "As the family goes, so goes the nation and so goes the whole world in which we live."

Our concern about this decision by the Supreme Court is not based on prejudice or discrimination. In fact, we believe and hold that every human person has an innate dignity that must be respected. Motivated by a love for all and for our society, we affirm the truth that marriage is based on nature and cannot be redefined by politicians, the legislature, or even the courts under pressure from changing societal attitudes or popular opinion polls.

The role of legitimate authority, instead, is to recognize, strengthen, and most importantly protect the reality about marriage.

It will be necessary for us to pray more intensely for our country and its citizens. We in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Corpus Christi are committed to strengthening our pastoral care of marriage and family life, while respecting the dignity of those with same-sex attraction. By uniting and not dividing, we can better assist each other on the road to salvation with truth, compassion and love............

Hank Williams tells it like it is!!!

There's something about the American South that makes it a natural ally to Catholicism.  This is even though it is overwhelmingly Protestant.  I think Pius IX sensed this when he wrote  Jefferson Davis after the South had resoundingly lost the  Civil War.  Why is this?

I think the South holds dear and maintains a handful of virtues to which more secular, sophisticated east/west coast and 'northern' people have long since turned up their noses.  Things like patriotism and personal honor.  It's hero's, men like Tom Landry and Robert E. Lee, have been above all devout Christians who knew how to keep their lives centered on one thing

Pope Francis goes all in for Malthus and Zero Population Growth

Pontifical Academy statement

(Quotes in italics)


Unsustainable consumption coupled with a record human population and the uses of inappropriate technologies are causally linked with the destruction of the world’s sustainability and resilience.......To save as much of the sustainable fabric of the world as possible, we need to take many steps, among them reaching a level and sustainable population; .......

[[the Pope's document even goes onto claim]].............BLUE WHALE POPULATION NINETY NINE PERCENT DECREASE...... [[[ this seems to be contradicted here..]]]..california blue whales at 97 percent of historic levels

Regardless of the current number of blue whales, the Pope's chart seeks to link human population and  carbon emissions with their demise.  That is total horse manure!  Whales have been recovering and multiplying since the 1960's after restrictions were imposed on their hunting.  It is indisputable that whale population has greatly increased along with our carbon emissions and our own human population explosion since the 1960's!!

Photos from Chilean Abuser-Priest Karadima's Church

With all the talk about Pope Francis' refusal to listen to Father Karadima's sexual abuse victims...
ABC news article about Francis' Karadima/Barros/Errazuriz problem...

 AND with the hinting around that Karadima was/ is some kind of traditionalist.  I thought it might be enlightening to look at the Church which was his center of operations for so many decades.

Perhaps you all can correct me if I am in error here, but I believe these are a couple of photos from the Church 'De El Bosque' in Santiago. Yes, at least there are vaulted ceilings.......but

1. Where is the Tabernacle?  AND

2. (most importantly for the purpose of this blog) Where is the ALTAR RAILING?

It seems to me that such a sanctuary layout --typical of post conciliar, versus-populum, priest-centered worship--is designed to eradicate kneeling during Holy Communion.

Pope Francis Drives the Vatican II Choo Choo Train Forward and Never Backward!!

from Pray Tell Blog

Scholars Dissect Ridley Scott's 2005 Crusader Film for Historical Accuracy

For the past two Monday's, Jay Steven Robert's 'Real Crusades History' youtube channel has been painstakingly treating 'Kingdom of Heaven'.

The verdict, so far is

1) The film is well shot and the costumes/clothing and ambience are accurate.

2) The theme of the movie, its blaring message, is demonstrably wrong, i.e. that the only noble Crusaders there were, were ones who shared modern-day agnosticism and cynicism and religious pluralism, (in other words, the 'good guys' believed and disbelieved whatever it was Ridley Scott believed and disbelieved at the time he directed the film).

3) btw, beheading the corpses of suicides as punishment for the next world unforgivable sin was not practiced.  This desecration of the hero's wife's corpse--by a Catholic priest-- at the beginning of the film features highly in the film's story line.

Lavender Wrath

Some of  positions taken lately by outspoken lesbians and homosexuals against same-sex marriage/adoption/IVF,etc, robertlopez and dolce+gabanna and salopards, are very brave!!!--I say brave because Lopez and Dolce /Gabanna have and will most definitely suffer withering economic and emotional attacks from the 'lavender community'.

And, speaking of withering attacks, I recently spoke with a woman whose story would fit right in with the stories that Robert Lopez has been documenting on his website.  The story of the dark, flip-side of coming-out-of -the-closet

the story goes....

She and her husband were married in the Church, had two boys and were active in the Church and even themselves trained altar servers.  Then, after twenty some years together, with boys in jr high and high school, the husband announced that he was leaving her for a man.  The husband and his boyfriend both have highly paid civil service jobs, but nevertheless that affluence did not cause him to give his wife a generous split.... he instead implemented a bridge-burning tactic and, among other things....

1. accused her of having sexual relations with their sons
2. accused their former marriage counselor of having sexual relations with his daughters

The above did cost the parties involved considerable legal fees, not to mention permanent bruising to their reputations and their psyches.

It is all quite wild!  Elton John's screaming threats against Dolce and Gabanna, the group-think-Mafia's trashing of Robert Lopez, this husband's character assassination of both his wife and someone who was trying to help him....

With the 'lavender community's' demonstrated penchant for organization and group-think and calumny and take-no-prisoners tactics, it all makes me wonder about  our large population of homosexual Catholic clergy and really if they had nothing to do with Pope Benedict's abdication and Pope Francis' elevation.

Crescat Blog's Katrina Fernandez denied Communion on the tongue at her Gramma's funeral

Friends :-(  you can read about it here....abbey-roads version  .  She and Terry Nelson, of Abbey-roads blog, are doing a great job of exposing this incident, along with this same parish's denial of last rites to her grandmother---because the same priest had farmed out this duty to lay people.

I'm afraid cases of clericalism, pastors who like to lord it over their  ignorant sheep, are on the rise


Voris' cases and mine 

I don't think either Katrina nor Terry would chalk this up to one more manifestation of the 'Francis effect', but I am kind of feeling that it is.  

The Francis Effect in Argentina

Friends, as a follow-up to my Sunday post regarding the 'Morlino' effect in the Madison Wisconsin Diocese, I did a little research to see what kind of statistical effects Pope Francis had on his native Argentina during his tenure as its chief prelate there. He was selected by Pope St. John Paul II to be Archbishop of Buenos Aires beginning in 1998, and picked as Cardinal in 2001.  I use the term 'Argentina's chief prelate' because there are currently only three voting cardinals in Argentina and as the Archbishop and Cardinal of Buenos Aires, Francis was head of the Capital's diocese.

To be fair, I did first  find the Church's official statistics
http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/diocese/dbuea.html#stats
which say that from 1950 to the present the percentage of Catholics in the Buenos Aires diocese has increased from 89.5% to 91.6%.   Indeed it does claim 91.6% for 8 of the 9 years prior to 2013. Such exact, level numbers do look and smell like fudge!  The CIA factbook reports similar stats, but adds that only 20% of Argentinians are practicing Catholics.  Again, how and where did this come from?

A much more believable article, believable because it states how and where it got its information, is a 2014 Pew research survey....

http://buenosairesherald.com/article/174694/the-changing-face-of-catholic-argentina-

If Pew is reliable, then the Francis effect is hardly something even Francis would want for the entire Catholic Church.

1. from 1970 to 2014 the percentage of self-identified Argentinian Catholics fell from 91% to 71%

2. of those that still identify as Catholic, Argentinian Catholics are among the most likely Latin American Catholics to favor abortion and same-sex marriage.  e.g. the article found an overwhelming majority favor the latter by 52% to 40% opposed.

3. "Argentines ranked toward the bottom of the regional charts in terms of how important religion is in their lives, with only 43 percent saying it was very important."

4.   "In terms of “religious commitment,” only 13 percent in Argentina said they had a “high” commitment, compared to 72 percent that qualified it as “medium.”

Only Uruguay (35 percent) and Chile (15 percent) had a higher proportion of its population that had low religious commitment."

We must pray for the Holy Father that his past performance and his mindset and the mindset of his fellow Argentinian clerics that begat such a decline in his flock's Faith are not locked into the future of his pontificate.  

Vocations up 550% in Kneeling Communion Diocese

Madison Wisconsin Bishop  Morlino gave the message below a few years back, 2010 I think.

Father Z is reporting that under his Excellency's direction the number seminarians has exploded from 6 to 33!! (http://wdtprs.com/blog/2015/03/d-madison-bp-morlino-and-the-surge-of-priestly-vocations/)


Perhaps  there are several factors at work here.....but, if the Holy Father, Pope Francis, is serious about re-invigorating the Church, then I think it is time for his 'Mount Carmel' moment.  I am referring  to the famous contest where the Prophet Elijah invited King Ahab and everyone to witness a contest between him and his enemy clerics.(Who happen to be prophets for the false god, Ba'al).

It is time to reach a final judgement on the experiments of the past 50 years.  Let him look hard at --what  practices have promoted holiness and growth and evangelization and reverence and worship of Jesus Christ and SALVATION --- and what practices have not, and have even strangled faith and led little ones to have a lackadaisical attitude towards our Lord and have corrupted Christ's Teachings and driven the poor to leave the Catholic Church for other faiths. (as has happened undeniably in his Holiness' own native land)

Pope Francis must eventually decide what he hates  less:

a) tradition minded Catholics, his so-called 'museum mummies'
or
b) empty Seminaries coupled with emptying churches

Time is short.  He must overcome whatever prejudices he might have brought with him from Argentina and promote either option a or option b as his program for the Church

Katrina Fernandez of Crescat and quiet Diane of Te Deum Blog Condemn Irresponsible Eucharistic Ministers at Papal Mass

Katrina really cuts right to the heart in this post......






(http://www.patheos.com/blogs/thecrescat/2015/01/you-get-the-eucharist-and-you-get-the-eucharist-everybody-gets-the-eucharist.html)

And Diane of Te Deum, who normally refrains from harsh criticisms, jumps into the fray!

http://te-deum.blogspot.com/2015/01/why-not-spiritual-communion-for-most-at.html

Diane gives a treatise and of course pays homage to the number one (living) hero of all who want to restore WORSHIP of Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist,

Bishop Athanasius Schneider of Kazakhstan, a prophet, whose career path -- in today's church of smiling crowd-pleasers and careerists and  and modernists -- points towards Golgotha.

Holy Father walks back big-families-have-rabbits-for-parents remark. Leaves Jesus out of it

(I copied the His Holiness' quote from Rorate Caeli)

It disturbs me that if I search this explanation for mention of Jesus or Christ, I come up empty.
'Santo Ninyo' finally gets mentioned, but only as prop for St. Joseph. OTOH I can find Francis' constant theme of putting the 'person' in the center of our considerations.   I can understand him soft-pedaling Jesus Christ in front of the United Nations (did not our first Peter do the same at a campfire?), but this address was made at the Vatican!!

His economic harangue against capitalism here rings much louder that any appeal to Christian faith or even just plain logic.  One gets the feeling that humanity's problems could be solved if we would simply make 'the person' the center and measure of everything (and join hands with the other 'isms' which claim to do just that)


FRANCIS>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>;

he meetings with families and young people, in Manila, were significant moments of the visit to the Philippines. Healthy families are essential to the life of society. It gives comfort and hope to see many families that welcome children as a true gift of God. They know that every child is a blessing. I've heard - some people say - that families with many children and the birth of so many children are among the causes of poverty. I think this is a rather simplistic opinion. I can say, all we can say, that the main cause of poverty is an economic system that has removed the person from its center, replacing him with the god of money, an economic system that excludes, always excludes: That excludes children, the elderly, the young, the jobless ... - and that creates the throw-away culture in which we live. We have grown used to seeing people being discarded. This is the main cause of poverty, not families. Evoking the figure of St Joseph, who protected the life of the "Santo Niño", so revered in that country, I mentioned that we need to protect families, which face various threats, so that they can witness the beauty of the family in God's plan. Families need to be defended from new ideological colonization, that seek to threaten their identity and mission.

Franciscus

General Audience - Rome

January 21, 2015

People pass Holy Eucharist hand to hand at Papal Mass in Manilla

why is this  allowed!?  (at 1h:37m:30sec)

Is there a fear that the parishioners will stampede or riot unless the Holy Eucharist is distributed in the most laissez faire, haphazard manner possible?  

If that is sort of crowd we think are dealing with, why would we be subjecting our Lord to such a crowd?   If communicants think it is too high a requirement or too much trouble to receive reverently then one does them favor by removing the opportunity for them to commit sacrilege.  No? (Frankism) Truly!

Where is the  basic care taken to prevent souvenir hunters? (http://www.newliturgicalmovement.org/2014/03/truth-about-communion-in-hand-while.html#.VLwHrSvF9qU)

If this is the only case of Our Lord being treated with supreme indifference by His minister-distributors, (and the camera just happened to catch it), then I apologize for nitpicking.  If this was widespread, the blame for such abuses, abscondments and further desecrations lies directly on the event's cowardly organizers.

National Champ Coach Urban Meyer's Boyhood Parish Closed

"Oftentimes, I would sneak into the church on a Saturday, or after school, with my cheap camera and snap away at the windows, arches, statues, etc. For me, the building was creative inspiration. For me, looking at and studying the building was as much of a prayer to god as would be if I had knelt in a pew to pray. It was a connection without words."  (Chip Valeriano )



I found the poignant article posted below about Urban Meyer's native parish, Mother of Sorrows in Ashtabula, Ohio.  It's written by blogger Chip Valeriano.  His article says it all  :-( ,  :-(, :-( ...

More Than a Building

It took this line in today's newspaper (The Plain Dealer, Cleveland, OH) to get me to start my own blog. I've read it a million of times before when a church closes ... it goes like this ... "This building is a beautiful building. A magnificent building. But the bottom line is, it isn't the church. We are." The article quotes the well-intentioned Rev. John Weigand pastor at the eventually closing century-old St. James Church on Cleveland's west side suburb of Lakewood, OH. 

I have to admit, I am a more devout church architecture student(catholic churches to be exact) than I am a church goer.

As a kid growing up in Ashtabula, OH (think small town Ohio), I attended both a Catholic grade school (Mother of Sorrows) and high school. So, needless to say, I was in Church --- a lot. Add to that, I was an altar boy -- a very devout one. In fact, the pastor of my parish told me he would be the altar boy at my first mass. I didn't become a priest, but my experience as a altar boy was amazing. Why, because I got to spend a lot of time in this stunning structure -- a building -- a church. (See vintage postcard of the interior of Mother of Sorrows from the early 1900s above.)

Oftentimes, I would sneak into the church on a Saturday, or after school, with my cheap camera and snap away at the windows, arches, statues, etc. For me, the building was creative inspiration. For me, looking at and studying the building was as much of a prayer to god as would be if I had knelt in a pew to pray. It was a connection without words.

So, I will end my first post with that. Sure, buildings are buildings. But churches -- especially OLD churches -- are more than that ... just ask any 8 year old.

Mother of Sorrows Church | 1464 W. 6th Street | Ashtabula, OH 44004

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Hooray!!! (from Father McDonald of Southern Orders Blog)

ON BLESSING ALTAR RAILINGS; HOLY COMMUNION PROCESSIONS AND THE COMMUNAL ACTION OF RECEIVING HOLY COMMUNION

On Sunday's Extraordinary Form High Mass for the Feast of the Holy Name of JESUS, we blessed our newly restored altar railing for Saint Joseph Church in Macon, Georgia.

The Mass, as usual, was exquisite. I have come to appreciate this Mass more and more for it touches the heart in ways that even a child perceives. We are not bombarded with words, idiosyncrasies, or contrived horizontal, banal signs and symbols. That doesn't mean that the horizontal is not at work in this Mass. Oh yes it is!

The most powerful sign of the horizontal at the EF Mass is the traditional way in which Holy Communion is distributed when the communicant kneels at the communion rail. As a child and teenager I received Holy Communion at an altar railing from the time I was 7 until I was about 18 as my home parish in Augusta was late in changing this time honored and most reverent means of receiving Holy Communion kneeling to the now more banal standing method.