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.

So the commander – William Barrett Travis – gathered his men – not to inspire them, not to give a pep talk, but to tell them the truth. He drew a line in the dirt. On one side of that line was safety – at least for the moment. On the other side was almost certain death. And he said, in effect: “Choose.” Only one man stepped back. The rest stepped forward.

That line in the sand was not drawn to start a rebellion. It was drawn to end illusions. Crossing it did not guarantee victory – it guaranteed fidelity. And whether we like it or not, that is where the Church stands right now.

The Church is in an emergency. Not an emergency invented by commentators, not a mood manufactured by social media, not hysteria.

A real emergency – measured not in feelings, but in facts. An emergency measured by silence where there must be answers. In tolerance where there must be correction. In shepherds who refuse to name wolves, while those who simply want to guard the flock are treated as a problem.

Let me be very clear: this is not about personalities. It is not about preferences. It is not about clinging to the past. It is about survival – not of an institution, but of the priesthood, the sacraments, and the Catholic Faith as it has been received, handed down, and guarded for centuries.

When men who openly contradict Catholic teaching are tolerated, promoted, even celebrated – while those who hold fast to tradition are restricted, sidelined, or ignored – something is upside down.

When confusion is indulged and fidelity must beg to survive, authority has stopped doing what authority exists to do....

[And here's the central point of the article]

I am speaking here of the Society of St. Pius X.

They are not asking for novelty. They are not asking for power. They are asking for bishops – because without bishops there are no priests, and without priests there are no sacraments, and without sacraments the Church does not survive in any meaningful way.

[Read the rest at Pillars of Faith]

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.

Another Confusing Head Scratcher: Pope Leo Tells Material Heretics "We are One! We Already are!"

If anyone wondered whether Pope Leo XIV is Francis II, he only had to listen to the pope's address to the band of material heretics joining him for the week of Christian unity. Don't get me wrong. I love my Protestant friends, but I would never (and neither would they) agree that we are "already one". But that's what the pope said:

Septuagesima Sunday Means the Final Goodbye to Christmas and Turns Our Faces To Lent

Yesterday was Septuagesima Sunday when we fully turn our faces from the celebration of Christmas to the Suffering of Lent. Over the weekend I finally took down the creche and the Christmas tree -- reluctantly. With all the frigid weather, the lights spread a cheery glow in our dining room at every meal spreading warmth, if not to the body to the soul. 

When I use the term liberalism and liberal, this is what I mean.

Since I often discuss liberalism which undergirds the nature of liberals, I think it might be helpful to define terms and explain exactly what liberalism is. Socrates often began his dialogues by defining terms. How can people have an intelligent discussion if they aren't using words in the same way? They can end up arguing with Humpty Dumpty who says, "When I use a word, it means just what I choose it to mean- neither more nor less." Unfortunately, many liberals follow Humpty Dumpty's rules of engagement which is a ticket to the Tower of Babel. To use a silly example, suppose an alien landed in Washington, D.C. and someone told him that the first Catholic president, JFK, was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. Imagine the confusion going forward. But that's often true when people use language in contrary ways. 

Are Liberals Ever Held Accountable? Judge Lets Don Go with No Bond, No Restrictions, No Problem!

Don Lemon Walks Free

The fix is in. Don will get the same treatment that all liberals get: the freedom to lie, cheat, steal, and commit crimes without ever paying a price or being held accountable. His own videos show that he was a co-conspirator with those who invaded the church in St. Paul. He wasn't acting as a journalist; he was aiding and abetting.