Where is Your "Third Space?"

I'm sure many of my regular readers know I like the Epoch Times. I almost never read an issue without clipping an article to send to someone. Today it was this:

 Reclaiming the Third Space

The Games Have Begun! How Long Can the Vatican Stall the Consecrations with their Fake Dialogue?

BREAKING: Cdl. Fernandez urges SSPX to drop plan to consecrate bishops

OR ELSE!

Cognitive Dissonance Is Engulfing our Beloved Church

We are becoming the Church of cognitive dissonance. Let's begin by defining that psychological term:

Cognitive dissonance is the mental discomfort that occurs when a person holds two or more contradictory beliefs, values, or attitudes, or when their behavior conflicts with their beliefs. This discomfort motivates people to change their beliefs, justify their actions, or avoid new information to reduce the inconsistency.

Think about that. What happens when the actions of our pope and bishops show diametrically opposed philosophies. How do you reconcile two mutually exclusive propositions? You can't! Jesus called Himself "The way, the truth and the life."  Embracing truth means one has to choose. Which of two things is true, or are both untrue and is the truth elsewhere altogether.

St. Cyril of Alexandria Reminds Me of Archbishop Lefebvre

Today is the feast of St. Cyril of Alexandria, bishop and Doctor of the Church from the 5th 
century. As I read the entry in Butler's Lives of the Saints this morning I came across this statement which immediately put me in mind of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre:

Throughout his life, he made a rule never to advance any doctrine which he had not learnt from the ancient fathers. 

Would that those bishops who love introducing novelties and errors adulterating the faith were followers of St. Cyril. And what did Archbishop Lefebvre say? Unlike our dissenting and scandalous bishops, the archbishop wanted to pass on faithfully what he had been given. I think he and St. Cyril have much in common, both Catholic in the fullest sense, both lovers and defenders of the Blessed Virgin Mary and enemies of heresy. Archbishop Lefebvre was never looking for a fight. He simply wanted to pass on the faith as he had received it, protecting Sacred Tradition:

Thank God for Bishop Strickland and His Defense of the SSPX!

Bishop Strickland: The Church is facing a ‘real emergency’

Every Texan knows this story:

Long before we knew about politics, before we knew the arguments, before we knew how to quibble over details, we were taught something in school that shaped our bones. At the Alamo, there came a moment when there were no more letters to send, no reinforcements coming, no negotiations left to try. The enemy was at the gates. Surrender had been demanded. And everyone knew what surrender would mean.

Repairing the Ruins; the Challenge of Life!

When I visited Ireland about 35 years ago, I remember seeing ruin after ruin. Ruined round towers, ruins of ancient monasteries, castles, and abbeys. Everywhere there were reminders of ancient Ireland and her long connection to the Catholic faith. Those ruins are a metaphor, I think, for what's happening in that poor country today. The faith is in ruins for many Catholics whose relationship with the Church is fractured and broken.

Sunday Meditation a Day Early: When God Sends you three feet of snow.....

We all know the saying, "When life gives you lemons make lemonade." Well...two students at Notre Dame decided that three feet of snow from the heavens was an invitation. They accepted and created something beautiful for God, an ice chapel. 

So...Shall We Talk About Schism and the SSPX?

With the announcement of the SSPX plans to ordain new bishops this summer, we return to the question of schism. That question has to begin with whether Archbishop Lefebvre, Bishop de Castro Mayer, and the four bishops consecrated by Archbishop Lefebvre without pontifical mandate in 1988 actually committed a schismatic act. If they did, they were excommunicated automatically (Latae sententiae). If they did not, they committed an act of disobedience not an act of schism. There's a world of difference.

Who cares about What's Her Name?

Everyone in the United States at this point probably recognizes and knows these names:

George Floyd - career criminal involved in numerous violent actions

Michael Brown, the "gentle giant" who was an upstanding citizen except when he was robbing convenience stores and attacking cops

Renee Good - just your average lesbian mom minding her own business

Alex Pretti - kind, caring nurse who loved everyone except when he was spitting on ICE and breaking the tail light on their van.

Is Your Novus Ordo Mass the One Described by Bishop Schneider? I'm Betting Not!

I don't go to daily Mass these days. One of the things that impacted my decision was a description of a wedding a priest friend attended at a very conservative Lutheran parish. The groom, a widower and a Catholic was marrying a Lutheran woman whose branch of Lutheranism is the most conservative, even more than the Missouri Synod Lutherans. She wanted to be married in her church by her minister. They got permission from the bishop so all was in order.