Can We Hope for Holy Bishops?

I'm a regular reader of Fr. Gordon MacRae's website, Beyond These Stone Walls. For those
unfamiliar with Fr. MacRae, he was caught up in the sex abuse frenzy, was falsely accused, refused to plea deal down to a two-year sentence by admitting guilt for what he did not do, and has spent decades falsely imprisoned. Today, Father posted the forward to a book, Hope Springs Eternal in the Priestly Breast, by Australian priest, Fr. James Valladeres. The book includes many details of Fr. MacRae's Gethsemane experience. The plan is to publish the book chapter by chapter as occasional posts on Father MacRae's website.

The Issue isn't the SSPX Consecrations; It's the Revolution in the Church!

 

I don't always agree with Michael Matt, but the video below is excellent. Matt discusses Bishop Thomas Paprocki's recent  statement that the SSPX have become Protestants. Bishop Paprocki is wrong.Without being disrespectful, Matt questions the bishop's opinion and raises profoundly troubling issues about the crisis in the Church. Central to his talk is the fact that the fight is not really about the SSPX consecrations, but rather the revolution in the Catholic Church. We need to pray for good bishops like Paprocki who, I sincerely believe, will, at some point, recognize and respect the actions of the Society and the emergency that necessitated it. With regard to Matt's video, if you don't want to commit to the entire 50 minutes, there's an abridged version that's twenty minutes shorter which I also posted below.

Great News From Steubenville! St. Joseph the Worker College Plans to buy the Masonic Temple.

I was so happy to see the announcement that St. Joseph the Worker College plans to purchase the Masonic temple in Steubenville, OH. Our granddaughter lives in Steubenville, with her husband and infant son. When we head back to Wheeling, WV to visit my husband's siblings and their families we always have the double joy of visiting our granddaughter as well. She and her little family are precious to our hearts.

On the FSSP Chaplaincy in Front Royal and the SSPX

St. Francis de Sales advises the faithful to always put the best construction on other people's actions and the most critical on your own. So I will do that with Bishop Burbidge's decision to invite the FSSP to start a chaplaincy here in Virginia. Since it is being formed "to serve primarily in Front Royal," it doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that a primary purpose is to close (by attrition) the SSPX chapel currently in Linden "which remains in a state of irregular communion."

I can't read the bishop's mind but I will presume that he really does care about his diocesan flock and not just the money the diocese is losing which, in view of the on-going SSPX building fund donations, is approaching two million dollars.

The Post Retreat Culture Shock

Is it too soon to go on another retreat? Returning to the world after a retreat is always a bit of a culture shock. For almost a week I:

• didn't have a single phone call
• didn't see a single newscast
• didn't hear or read a single bit of bad news 
• didn't read a single e-mail

Back From Retreat and I'm Exhausted!

Not complaining, just explaining. Five days of silence was a real gift, but not, by any means,  a restful silence. One can be silent and working. Think of a Trappist monastery where the monks all pray (ora) and then go to their work in silence (labora). Some monks garden raising a crop to make jellies and jams. Some might suit up to work the apiary, checking the bees while praying for a sweet golden harvest. Some make fruit cake or roast and pack coffee beans. I once saw two monks up on ladders picking pecans at Clear Creek Abbey in Oklahoma. But all their work is wrapped in silence. 

Some things are worth repeating. May we all love the truth and always speak it in charity!

I'm on a silent, Ignatian retreat this week and scheduled a few posts before I left since I will be completely off the internet and my phone: nothing but silence, the conferences of the priest, the rosary and hours, Confession, and sitting with Jesus in the chapel. What a blessing to have that quiet time. I thought this post from 2023 is timely since many are suffering for the truth today. So I'm resurrecting it and hope you find it helpful. Please pray for the happy repose of the soul of Fr. Hardon. He was a tremendous warrior for the Lord. I heard him speak a number of times and had the blessing of attending the last retreat he offered before his death in 2000. Please pray for me as I will for you during my retreat.

Our Duty: To Suffer for the Truth!

Every now and then a theme crops up everywhere I look and demands attention. Over and over the echoes roll over me like a tidal wave: on social media, in news feeds I follow, in magazines I read, etc. Often it has a lot to do with what's happening in my life at the moment. "Pay attention!" my guardian angel reminds me, "This is important!"

Are You the Fourth Monkey? Are You Deaf, Dumb, Blind, and Lost Your Mind?

I get some silly comments on my blog but one of the silliest and most patently absurd is this:

"[T]he Pope, no matter how sinful he might personally be, can never mislead you spiritually."

A Lovely Memory of a Past Retreat with a Holy Priest Now Gone to His Reward. Fr. Buckley, Please pray for us.

I wrote this post in 2019 as I prepared to head off for my annual Ignatian retreat. If you've never made a silent, Ignatian retreat I heartily recommend it. Remember, the posts this week were pre-set. I am not on the internet or my phone and will not be moderating comments. Please pray for the happy repose of Fr. James Buckley, FSSP, who died in 2023. A priest once told me that there's no one deader than a dead priest because he has no biological family to remember and pray for him. But a good and holy priest has hundreds, perhaps thousands of spiritual sons and daughters and so I pray daily for Fr. Buckley and all the priests who have touched my life, especially those in danger of hell fire.

Praying for You While I'm on Retreat; In Your Kindness, Please Pray for All the Ladies on the Retreat! 

The Decline of Gravitas in a Culture of Whiny Child Adults

This morning at Mass, our pastor read a letter from Fr. Davide Pagliarani to the lay faithful about the current situation between the SSPX and the Vatican. It offered consolation and encouragement, something the laity certainly haven't received from our father in Rome sad to say. It also manifested a virtue that one seldom hears about today -- gravitas, a seriousness and dignity, not to mention respect and concern for the laity. It was inspiring to listen to it. It's not published online yet, but no doubt will be by the time I return from my retreat. I'll post it then.