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Friday, April 26, 2024
Thursday, April 25, 2024
Words, words, words!
King Haakon VII |
We were watching a film the other day about the Nazi invasion of Norway, The King's Choice. Fascinating movie with plenty of historical information. (Prepare for a digression.) I never knew, for example, that the king of Norway was elected by the people. He was actually a prince of Denmark, Prince Carl, but when Norway separated from Sweden and the king of Sweden voluntarily abdicated, Norway asked him to become king. He only agreed if the people wanted to continue the monarchy rather than choose a republic. They voted to keep the monarchy and he ascended the throne in 1905 choosing a historic Norwegian name, King Haakon VII.
Wednesday, April 24, 2024
A good quote to meditate on. Keep the faith!
“The Magisterium of the Pope and of the bishops has no authority over the substance of the Sacraments. Therefore, no synod – with or without the Pope – and also no ecumenical council, or the Pope alone, if he spoke ex cathedra, could make possible the ordination of women as bishop, priest, or deacon. They would stand in contradiction to the defined doctrine of the Church. “It would be invalid,” - Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Mueller
Think about that when the synod starts spouting heresy and taking the local churches in various places into schism.
Tuesday, April 23, 2024
Propaganda Isn't Necessarily a Dirty Word! Truth vs. Deception!
John Steinbeck wrote The Moon Is Down as a propaganda novel during World War II. (See my original post about it here.) The book was almost immediately made into a film which was released in 1943. I watched the movie last night and in the credits was a note that war bonds could be purchased in the theater. Interesting bit of trivia.
Monday, April 22, 2024
Monday Meandering Thoughts and Questions
I'm currently reading The Life and Glories of Saint Joseph by Edward Healy Thompson, M.A. Despite the lack of information about St. Joseph in scripture, the Doctors of the Church, and many spiritual writers have written widely about this silent saint. We know he was the "son of Jacob" from St. Matthew's gospel which gives us Joseph's natural geneology. St. Luke gives us, on the other hand, his legal geneology as the "son of Heli." Both statements are true. He was the natural born son of Jacob, but the legal son of Heli, as his son-in-law. And who was Heli? According to a number of the spiritual writers who take this view, it was Joachim the father of Mary. The names Heli, Eliachim and Joachim are synonymous in scripture. If this view is correct, and the reasoning presented by the author is convincing, then Jacob and St. Ann, Mary's mother and Joachim's wife, were siblings, so Mary and Joseph were cousins. The author believes that the reason for St. Luke's genealogy was to emphasize Mary's genealogy. The book is fascinating and I recommend it for anyone who wants to know St. Joseph better.Bartolome Esteban Murillo
Saturday, April 20, 2024
Did the SSPX Really "Cover Up" the Fr. Rostand Case?
We're often given one-sided salacious stories framed in the worst possible light. This is especially true when the source has something to gain from putting the worst construction on the events and then magnifies them. The scandal of SSPX child abuser Fr. Arnaud Rostand is being used, once again, to bludgeon the SSPX. Every reader of the scandal is being led to presume that the leadership of the SSPX covered up Rostand's abuse and moved him around like the McCarrick crowd. After all, that's Fr. Rostand's claim and, of course, this priest abuser couldn't possibly be lying. Remember when McCarrick claimed he was really a good guy and didn't understand why he was being treated so badly? Narcissism is common among both homo and hetero sex abusers. Why would anyone believe anything they said?
Friday, April 19, 2024
God Ordained Science! The "Signs in the Heavens" Lead Us Straight to God!
Thursday, April 18, 2024
Never Lose Hope: A Letter from E.B. White
Wednesday, April 17, 2024
"The Flies Have Conquered the Flypaper!" The Human Spirit Can Never Be Defeated by Evil!
One of my favorite books is The Moon is Down by John Steinbeck, a novel he wrote as propaganda for the allies during World War II. It tells the story of a little unnamed coastal coal-mining town conquered by an invading force. The enemy have taken over most of an unnamed country across the water from England. I've always thought of it as a village in France, but it could be one of the Scandinavian countries, Norway, Denmark, or Sweden. Steinbeck interviewed many refugees from those countries and used their stories to develop his plot. And the book is a masterpiece in my opinion in both effective propaganda and literary merit. I've listened to the audio book at least half a dozen times and read it as well.
Despite its popularity in the occupied countries of Europe (It was translated, copied, and reprinted in the tens, perhaps hundreds, of thousands.), Steinbeck was shocked at the criticism at home. He treated the enemy like human beings rather than cartoon villains. Some thought he was "naive" and the book was too sympathetic to the enemy. On the contrary, it shows how people who are basically decent get caught up in evil, often maneuvered like pieces on a chessboard by godless politicians. Haven't we seen that often enough with the treatment of our own children and grandchildren sent off to fight and die in useless foreign wars? Have you read the book or watched the film, 13 Hours, about the Benghazi debacle? Some things never change!
Saturday, April 13, 2024
Murdered by Hospice and Hospitals: It's Happening Before Your Eyes!
Sr. Philip Burle, murdered! |
The Bioethics Observatory of the Catholic University of Valencia has a number of alarming articles exposing the increasing incidence of deliberate euthanasia of patients. You can read some of them here. While the high profile cases make the news, most of those hastened to the morgue are invisible.
Sr. Dede Byrne saw her close friend, Sr. Philip Marie Burle, medically murdered. She vowed to expose what happened and worked with others to create a film outlining the last days of Sr. Philip Marie. Watch the trailer No Mercy: The Catholic Culture of Death. You can also request to join the group, Murdered by Hospice. More and more families are experiencing the government-incentivized murder of their loved ones by stealth euthanasia. Please share information about this documentary with others, especially those with loved ones in nursing homes or hospice.