The Feast of the Holy Family: I hope you and yours are celebrating a family day!

We are!

I love this portrait of the Holy Family because it shows Joseph as a young man instead of a doddering old codger. Have a blessed final day of 2017! And may the Holy Family pray for us and our needs.

Claudio Coello, Spanish painter of the baroque period
c. 1642 - 1693

Europe...listen to the wisdom of Calvin Coolidge

I assimilated.

Europe, as well as the American Left, would do well to heed Calvin Coolidge's wisdom. Just insert "Europe or Europeans" in place of "America or Americans". 

“We are all agreed, whether we be Americans [Europeans] of the first or of the seventh generation on this soil, that it is not desirable to receive more immigrants than can reasonably be assured of bettering their condition by coming here. For the sake both of those who would come and more especially of those already here, it has been thought wise to avoid the danger of increasing our numbers too fast. It is not a reflection on any race or creed. We might not be able to support them if their numbers were too great. In such event, the first sufferers would be the most recent immigrants, unaccustomed to our life and language and industrial methods. We want to keep wages and living conditions good for everyone who is now here or 
who may come here."

"The Family that Prays Together Stays Together and a World at Prayer Will Be a World at Peace.": Fr. Patrick Peyton

Fr. Peyton addresses
one of his rosary crusades.

Sleep and I are not on good terms many nights. Last night was one of them. I woke about 3:45 this morning and got up at 4:15. Because of the mass visitation of family the past eight days, I haven't watched any Christmas movies (We play games more than we watch movies.) so I snuggled up under a blanket with my coffee and put on a silly black and white that isn't worth mentioning. Then, browsing through a list of "classic Christmas shows," I stumbled upon A Star is Rising from "rosary priest" Fr. Patrick Peyton about the coming of the three kings to Bethlehem. I've always loved Fr. Peyton so it was an easy choice.

Fr. Peyton was an Irish immigrant from a poor family who came to the United States as a young man in 1928 and worked in the coal mines. After being cured of tuberculosis through the intercession of the Blessed Mother, he decided to become a priest and spend his life working to spread the rosary. After organizing many rosary crusades in the U.S. and around the world, he decided to expand his reach through modern means of communication.

That Wicked Lying Lucifer - See, I Told You So.

The wallpaper of Islam's mind

It's getting to be a thing with me now - saying, I told you so. But I did, and no one listened. So when a world renowned esteemed author, blogger and all around super intelligent genius says the same thing, I think, I told them so! See! I was right but no one believed me because I'm just me and not in any way famous. But I DID SAY SO. I figured it out and told everyone but no one wanted to listen!

So here it is: Allah is Lucifer. Islam is the established religion of Lucifer where he sets himself up to be worshiped as God in place of the Holy Trinity. And Muhammad is Lucifer's prophet. Muhammad's "Gabriel" ("St Gabriel the Archangel")  was Lucifer making himself appear as St Gabriel.Yep, that same Lucifer who as Gabriel beat Muhammad into submission in the cave on Hira...literally beat the Quran into him! That's where the word Islam comes from - it means submission. Submission to Lucifer.

A Stable is the Perfect Place for a Child to be Born

This is a stable

Every Christmas we're inundated with comments from the pulpit (and websites and blogs) about how Baby Jesus was "born in a smelly stable", "born among filth", "born in a filthy stable", "born in a really cold dank smelly stable". I just want to jump up and cry, "WHAT are you talking about?! Obviously you have never even BEEN in a stable!"

It's evident that many of these priests/people never experienced the sweetness of a clean stable so how do they know what a stable is like? Several decades of my life were spent in barns—hunter/show barns, Thoroughbred race-horse barns, racetrack barns, sales barns, horse farms, cattle farms, sheep farms - and throw a few chicken sheds in there too. 

Guest Post: Pope Francis - The Our Father "Induces Temptation"

By David Martin

Pope Francis has said that the Lord's Prayer should be changed, arguing that the translation used in many parts of the world, including the Italian and English versions, go against the teachings of the Church and Bible.

In the centuries-old recited prayer, followers of the Christian Faith call on God to "lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil."

Speaking to Italian broadcasters on December 7, Francis argued this was incorrect, saying, "It is not a good translation because it speaks of a God who induces temptation."

A Christmas Message from Bishop Rene Gracida

Thank God for faithful Catholic bishops. And pray for all those who are not.

Go here to see the Christmas message from one dear bishop who is a fearless truth-teller.

Nativity Hymn in Arabic

...dedicated to all Arabic Christians murdered by Islam over the centuries

Rejoice and Be Glad: Our Savior is Born!

We've seen enough of the horrifying Nativity in St. Peter's Square. Let's look at some depictions of the Savior's birth that are beautiful and awe-inspiring. When I look at each of these pictures it makes me think of a Christmas carol. Don't you want to sing to the glory of God when you look at this? The only thing I think of when I look at the Vatican Nativity is the Nightmare Before Christmas!

Have a blessed and Merry Christmas. 

Rembrandt - O Holy Night!

The Grotto of the Nativity where Jesus Christ was Born

See, I told you so. Terrified Angels with Cleavage at Vatican Nativity

Re: Vatican's 2017 Nativity - Here's a close up of two of the, what are now being described as gay angels, at Mary's feet. The third terrified cherub with cleavage is to Mary's right. I never knew cherubs had cleavage. I thought they were sort of little children. Literally my first thought a few days ago when I saw them was, They look like madames dressed in low cut dresses at a New Orleans brothel. 

Furthermore, the nude man with his six-pack abs lying in a manger of hay would have had money to buy clothes if he had not spent it on gym membership and a personal trainer to tone his physique. The subliminal message with that eye candy for homosexuals is "homosexuality lying in a manger".  

When Lying Becomes History: Was the Noble Savage Really Noble?

Will the real Chief Seattle
please stand up.

I recently read an article in Chronicles, my favorite magazine of cultural commentary, that got me thinking about the idea of the "noble savage." Roger McGrath penned an article titled The Indians Who Never Were about Chief Seattle and the myth surrounding him. The chief supposedly delivered an inspiring speech in 1854 questioning government purchase of Indian lands during negotiations of a treaty. Here's a bit of what he supposedly said:

How can you buy or sell the sky, the warmth of the land? The idea is strange to us. If we do not own the freshness of the air and the sparkle of the water, how can you buy them? Every part of this earth is sacred to my people. Every shining pine needle, every sandy shore, every mist in the dark woods, every clearing and humming insect is holy in the memory and experience of my people. The sap which courses through the trees carries memories of the red man. The white man’s dead forget the country of their birth when they go to walk among the stars. Our dead never forget this beautiful earth, for it is the mother of the red man . . .

Tour of Old City of Jerusalem with Maha Yakoub

Maha Yakoub, an Arabic Christian, is a language teacher widely known for her LearnArabicwithMaha channel. She has accumulated more than 55 million views with her Arabic, Hebrew and Italian language lessons as well as cooking tutorials. She teaches how to write Arabic in 6 easy lessons as well as how to speak it. Find her on YouTube and learn to read and write Arabic. It might come in handy one day.

The Difference One Person Can Make: Mary Wagner for Good, Henry Morgentaler for Evil

Henry Morgentaler, mass murderer
of infants in the womb, icon of  death.

The Catholic Association of Polish Doctors sent a letter to Mary Wagner on the Second Sunday of Advent praising her efforts to save babies from death and their mothers from a lifetime of regret. The letter also provided some abortion history describing the Polish link to Canada's abortion law in the person of Henry Morgentaler.

You've never heard of Morgentaler? Here's a bit from his obituary in the New York Times in 2013:

Pope Francis, the Pope of Islam

Jerusalem Explained

Photo of Vatican Crib Scene Rejected by Facebook!

Does anyone in this scene look happy? 

Sometimes you just gotta laugh! It's not a mirthful laugh, but a head-shaking laugh. And those seem to be growing in number when you see what's happening at the Vatican.

"Take a break!" you say. It's Christmas after all.

But what is the Vatican giving us for Christmas? A nativity scene with a manly Mary and a naked guy who looks like he just got off his treadmill after exercising his abs. And those arm muscles! He clearly lifts weights as well. All I can say is this naked guy must have a benefactor feeding him well. But, get this you defenders of the indefensible, Facebook nixed the image as too offensive for an ad on its pages. Would that the Vatican had done the same!

Then there are the ugly and frightening depictions like the dead body and the prison scene.

Robert Spencer on Opposition to Tesco Christmas Ad Featuring Muslims

Here's the ad...

Here's Robert Spencer: Is opposition to UK supermarket putting Muslims in Christmas ad "racism"?

Questions at 4:00 a.m. or Why Am I Thinking about This Stuff Instead of Sleeping?

Has our culture buried the truth?

Good grief! I started looking at the clock at 4:10 this morning and finally got up about 40 minutes later after praying the Seven Sorrows of Mary. Usually that puts me back to sleep before I get to the third meditation. The devil hates Our Lady and sure doesn't want to disturb anyone's sleep for that! (On the other hand, maybe it was the chocolate cherries.) But after I finished praying the Seven Sorrows, I was still wide awake, so here I am (after a cup of coffee and a few magazine articles) reflecting on the important questions of life (or not-so-important, take your pick):

Iraqi Christian Fighters Raise Cross on the Church of the Virgin Mary in Bartella, Iraq

Alumni Lawyers Challenge Disgraceful Dishonesty of Notre Dame in Open Letter to Fr. John Jenkins

Our Lady must be weeping over the
duplicity of Notre Dame's administration!

Anyone following this blog has read some of the disgraceful actions of Fr. John Jenkins as president
of Notre Dame University. From honoring the most pro-abortion president in history to persecuting the pro-lifers who protested, Fr. Jenkins has shown himself to be more concerned with the almighty dollar and worldly honors than in the will of Almighty God and honoring our most Blessed Mother.

But the latest scandal really emphasizes that Fr. Jenkins is a man of the lie. After going to court to avoid the Obamacare mandate to provide abortion and contraception as a serious violation of religious liberty, the university now voluntarily offers both employees and students these moral evils.

What gives?

The representations to the court were apparently lies. Notre Dame has no problem with the moral evils after all. Here's a bit from the lawyers of the Sycamore Trust, alumni of Notre Dame, who penned the Open Letter to Fr. Jenkins:

Entering Into the Mystery of Christmas

"Do not fear, Joseph, to take Mary
your wife into your home. That
which is conceived in her is
by the Holy Spirit."

We spent the weekend visiting our daughter and her family in the Pittsburgh area so we could attend the Christmas play in which her children were performing, The Promise: A Christmas Musical written and directed by Bernadette Calvino

My expectations were low. I've been to a lot of children's productions and, well, usually the best I can say is that you just gotta love your children and grandchildren. This production was different. There were some rough edges, especially with the stage crew, but the performance was splendid! The play, an original piece written by the DRE of All Saints, one of the area churches, told the Christmas story through the eyes of a maggid, an itinerant Jewish preacher and storyteller played by one of our granddaughters. She sang beautifully as she linked the different events of the Christmas story often setting the scene and then being a silent watcher. The play was a musical with short scenes of dialogue connecting the various songs most of which were written by Michael Card.

The youngsters playing Mary and Joseph projected a tender respect and affection for each other that was touching. Joseph was much taller than Mary so there was always a sense of his gentle protection over her and later Jesus. Joseph's Song expressing his trepidation about rearing the Son of God was tone-perfect. Joseph didn't have a strong voice, but he so captured Joseph's strength and humility that it diminished his performance very little. Mary on the other hand had a beautiful, almost ethereal, soprano that made every song she sang a delight. (See more here....)

Finally! The Most Honest Arab Muslim on Planet Earth!

Finally the TRUTH from Egyptian TV host Youssef Al-Husseni

I hope he has body guards...if he's still alive, that is. 

Please pray for this man for being brave enough to see reality and speak it to his fellow Muslims.

Muslim Meltdown in Munich

Munich, Germany

October, 2017

This is Islam. Ah, yes. The religion of peace. Multiply this peaceful member of the religion of peace by several million peaceful Muslims and we see what Europe is up against. Thanks elitist globalist liberals!

"Jesus Christ was a Muslim! This land (Germany) belongs to Allah! The entire world belongs to Allah! We want an Islamic world! Allahu akhbar!"

Then this humble peaceful Muslim segues into deep Islamic theology of killing the guy with the microphone because he - the guy with the microphone - has a devil in him that invades his body ... which is a brilliant example of the pot calling the kettle black. But now I have to defend the use of a perfectly good idiom and say it is not an Islamophobic statement nor is it racist because Islam is NOT a race; it's a religion and pots and kettles are KITCHEN utensils. Cookware! 

Hitler's favorite religion was Islam

A Letter from Jail: Mary Wagner, Canadian Rescuer Whose Goal is to "Bring Love Where There is No Love."

Have you heard of Mary Wagner? You should. Mary is a heroine of unborn babies many of whom are alive today because of her witness. Mary began the Red Rose Rescues. She goes into abortion mills with red roses, fetal baby models, and notes to the moms that include places they can receive help to continue their pregnancies. Her example, which includes several years spent in prison, is inspiring rescues here in the United States.

Austria says "NO MORE!" to Islamisation

Hope - Christians in Syrian Refugee Camp

Stop Feeding the Bishops' Evil Bureaucracy

Why didn't we just eat the pork?

The Lepanto Institute headed by Michael Hichborn recently revealed how the bureaucrats at the USCCB (United States Conference of Catholic Bishops) attempted to bribe them with a grant from the CCHD (Catholic Campaign for Human Development) if they would stop exposing the evil groups the bishops' "charity" funds.

Really? That's what Jesus would do?

Lepanto refused, of course, so they have been the target of a relentless attack to discredit their attempts to get the CCHD, Catholic Relief Services, and Catholic Charities to stop funding evil organizations and programs that promote intrinsically immoral actions like homosexual behavior, abortion, contraception, and other moral evils opposed by Catholic doctrine.

It's more than shocking and it demonstrates the reality that love of money is the root of all evils. Check it out here. The USCCB is a conduit for your tax dollars as well as contributions you put in the collection basket, and if it means they have to commit a little evil to get the dough -- well, the new reality is "Hey, you patsies in the pew, we cooperate with just a little moral evil because we're doing oh-so-much good."

Dangers of Transgender Ideology

Exodus of French Jews to Israel Due to Islamic Anti-Semitism

Raymond Ibrahim: The World's Most Persecuted Minority - Christians

This video has over a million views and 11,096 comments. 

Please read a few of the eye-opening comments. 

Time Out for Christmas Cookie Baking: Make Them Tasty Teaching Tools!

Remember those empty tomb cookies moms make at Easter? (I never have; maybe this Easter I will.) But what better season for baking Scripture lessons in a cookie than Christmas. Check out "Follow the Star" cookies at my Gramma blog. 

They are little wise men crowns in the center of a spice cookie with the Star of Bethlehem piped around the "hat". I am using them to tell my grandchildren about the three kings and then sing them We Three Kings of Orient Are. Then there are all the other Christmas treats that speak of the Scripture: candy canes like the shepherds crooks (bishops' crozier) colored red for suffering and white for purity, etc. Celebrate the season with symbols of the faith to enrich your children's understanding and create memories and traditions.

Who is Jesus to Israelis today - Is Jesus God born in the flesh?

"The Quality of Mercy is not Strained:" The Butler Case & Fr. William Aitcheson

The Reagans visited the Butlers in 1982
after reading about their ordeal.

After months of silence, there is finally word about my former pastor Fr. William Aitcheson who stepped down from his position at St. Leo's after being publicly exposed for his KKK activities 40 years ago.  Crux News reported today that Father sent a handwritten letter of apology dated September 8th (Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Mother) including financial restitution to Barbara and Phillip Butler. He expressed his heartfelt regret for the harm he caused the couple by burning a cross on their lawn in 1977. [Read previous posts about Fr. Aitcheson here and here]

The diocese issued a statement following a press conference the Butlers and their attorney held on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, December 8th. The Butlers refused to meet personally with Fr. Aitcheson and initially refused even to accept Fr. Aitcheson's letter of apology and his check for restitution.  The Butlers later reconsidered and took the money ($23,000 in restitution and $9600 in lawyers' fees which Father is paying from his personal funds and through a loan), but the couple have publicly stated they don't know what it will take before they can forgive him.

Sunday Meditation: How Do You Pray?

The stable is a humble chapel and the manger an even humbler tabernacle. Let us reflect on the Little Lord Jesus as we move closer to His Christmas coming.

Why Jerusalem is so important

The Kingdom of God is within us, and there are Gay Pride parades in Jerusalem, but...

Latest on the Roy Moore Smear Campaign: More Corrupt by the Minute!

Trump says, "Vote for Roy Moore....We can't
afford...a liberal Democrat completely controlled
by Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer. 

While the mainstream media continues to aid and abet the smear against Judge Roy Moore in Alabama, more signs of corruption from his enemies is exposed. Here are a few of the latest:

• Report: Never Trump Ex-Jeb Bush Staffer Admits Planting Anti-Roy Moore Story in Washington Post   Summary - Tim Miller, a "never Trump" Republican activist, appears to have pitched the story to WAPO and to have "worked with" one of the feminists on the story, Beth Reinhard. Text messages between Miller and Charles Johnson of GotNews.com congratulating Miller on his successful attack on Moore testify against Miller's insistence that he had no role in pitching the story.... (Interesting that we are expected to accept his denial, but Roy Moore's denials just prove he's the bad guy he's accused of being.) Miller has consistently opposed any Republican who either supports Trump or is a populist fighting against the "swamp" in Washington. Read the full article. This type of corrupt smear is the modus operandi for these Machiavellian politicians and their cronies. In other words, according to Webster, their "principles and conduct" are "marked by cunning, duplicity, or bad faith." 

Parents, Your Role in Catholic Education is Critical!

The home is the first school!

Fr. Hardon used to say that Catholic home schooling families were the monasteries of modern times. Why did he say that? Because education in the secular world is so corrupted that if real learning is to be kept alive the "schools" must be found elsewhere.

The Church teaches that parents are the primary educators of their children, and this is nowhere more true than in the parents' responsibility for the religious education in the home. As a long-time catechist, I can testify to the absolute truth that a CCD teacher cannot in one hour a week effectively instruct children in the faith. If the children's primary exposure to doctrine is in the after-school program that is continuously interrupted by weather, use of the building for other purposes, holiday performances, etc. the child will be a donkey in Catholic truth. The voice in the Church classroom will be drowned out by the much louder voices in the culture: TV, YouTube, sports and other activities, social media, etc. There's no contest. The world wins!

Dr Mordechai Kedar - Why Islam's claim to Jerusalem is false

Happy Feast Day, Blessed Mother!

The Feast of the Immaculate Conception is the perfect day to remember and celebrate Humanae Vitae which will be 50 years old next summer. Most readers probably know I'm referring to Pope Paul's encyclical on the sanctity of human life and marriage that reiterated the Catholic doctrine that a couple, in exercising their marital privilege, must never attack the act by deliberately rendering it sterile. The gift God gave married couples in "knowing" each other and becoming almost literally "one flesh" must respect both of God's purposes -- to unite the couple in love and to be open to the blessing of a child to the union if it be God's will.

In Humanae Vitae Pope Paul VI warned of the dangers of setting aside God's purpose for married love and all the horrors he described have come to pass: abortion, loss of respect for women, government coercion, etc.

As we honor Mary today, I want to share a bit from a talk by Malcolm Muggeridge on Humane Vitae which he gave in 1979. Even then, the disasters of contraception already loomed clearly on the horizon:

Arabian Advent of the Noble Islamic Civilization of European Nations

or the European Union of Islamic States

On Nihilism, the Press, and President Trump

The very hirelings of the press, whose trade it is to buoy up the spirits of the people. have uttered falsehoods so long, they have played off so many tricks, that their budget seems, at last, to be quite empty.  
                                                                                                    William Cobbett, 
                                                            English Journalist and Member of Parliament 1763-1835

The white horse is a prehistoric creation in Uffington.

At the last Chesterton book club meeting we were discussing The Ballad of the White Horse, G.K.'s epic poem about King Alfred the Great, a champion of Christendom who fought bravely to establish Christianity in England and built a bulwark against the nihilistic paganism of the Danish invaders.

After an interesting digression on nihilism and other Catholic writers who address it, like Flannery O'Connor, I came home with a bee in my bonnet to learn a little more about nihilism. There is no doubt in my mind that it is very much alive and apparently growing in the U.S. today, especially among the young, which is sad.

Eagle's Nest and Eagle's Nest - Assassins & Terrorists

al-Hashashin
Arabic for Assassin

At the beginning of the Second Millennium there lived another kind of Millennial than those of today, one in particular whose name was Hassan ibn Sabah, "a free-thinker, an Ismailite and a man of consummate ambition "who said that with half-dozen faithful servants 
he could make himself master of the world."

Alas, he died before becoming the world's master because I never heard of him before and if he had been master we all would have known it. However, he did leave the world his legacy which was that of the Assassins of Islam, the fedayeen, those who sacrifice themselves for the glory of Islam and who believe that in doing so will go to the Islamic brothel-paradise, straight into the arms of 72 virgins. That's right. Hassan left us today's Islamic terrorists who still carry out their master's vision of world domination through his personal 

creed, "Nothing is true, and all is permitted."

The Arab occupied Temple Mount

Eccles Proves that Satire Can Survive Even in an Age Where Reality Seems Like Satire!

There's a new book out about Pope Francis. It's called The Dictator Pope and if you click on the title you'll go to a satire on its contents.

"Call me Generalissimo Franco".

OnePeter5, on the other hand, has a serious article about the actual book.. It sounds interesting and worth reading to get a fuller picture of what's going on at the Vatican with our "jolly, smiling" pope. According to an article in the UK's Catholic Herald, the book has "sparked a frantic witch hunt" in Rome trying to find the author who wrote under a pseudonym. What will they do if they find him? Burn him at the stake?

President Trump Gives Statement on Jerusalem

"Choose for Yourselves Today Whom You Will Serve" - The Ear-Ticklers or the Truth-Tellers

"Choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served...or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”

So whom will you serve?

Masterpiece Cake Artist Jack Phillips Went to the Supreme Court Yesterday

And now what?

Masterpiece Theater: SCOTUS Debates Cake Baker's Rights

Here's what Jack said outside the courthouse following the 90 minute hearing:

I know it's Advent, but don't forget Christ's adversary was born 570 years later

National Anthem of...oops

Sharing Advent Traditions: The Jesse Tree

I'll be doing some posts about Advent traditions and Christmas decorating on my Grandma blog. So if you're interested in reading about the Jesse Tree, check out.

The Jesse Tree and the First week of Advent

Does This Make Heresy Official? Pope Francis Raises Buenos Aires Affirmation of Adultery to Status of "Authentic Magisterium"

You too can be Henry VIII and
annul your own marriage!

Pope Francis has raised his letter to the Buenos Aires bishops affirming their interpretation of the Amoris Laetitia, along with their original letter, to the status of an Apostolic Letter. He also stated this is part of the "authentic Magisterium" of the Church. The pope did this in the form of a papal rescript. Rorate Caeli explained what that is and followed with a question:
troubling document

"Rescripts are responses of the pope or a Sacred Congregation, in writing, to queries or petitions of individuals. Some rescripts concern the granting of favours; others the administration of justice, e.g. the interpretation of a law, the appointment of a judge." Rescipts generally have the force of particular law, however, as in this case, only "when they interpret or promulgate a general law, are they of universal application." Since papal rescripts answer an inquiry - could this rescript be a direct reply to the dubia of the Four Cardinals?

Rorate goes on:

The EU Spitfire

First Sunday of Advent: The Blessing of the Advent Wreath

Blessing of an Advent Wreath (from the USCCB Website)

The use of the Advent Wreath is a traditional practice which has found its place in the Church as well as in the home. The blessing of an Advent Wreath takes place on the First Sunday of Advent or on the evening before the First Sunday of Advent.

When the blessing of the Advent Wreath is celebrated in the home, it is appropriate that it be blessed by a parent or another member of the family.

All make the sign of the cross as the leader says:

Our help is in the name of the Lord.
Response (R/.) Who made heaven and earth.

Then the Scripture, Isaiah 9: (lines 1-2 and 5-6) or Isaiah 63 (lines 16-17 & 19) or Isaiah 64  (lines 2-7) is read:

Reader: The Word of the Lord.
R/. Thanks be to God.

With hands joined, the leader says:

Lord our God,
we praise you for your Son, Jesus Christ:
he is Emmanuel, the hope of the peoples,
he is the wisdom that teaches and guides us,
he is the Savior of every nation.
Lord God,
let your blessing come upon us
as we light the candles of this wreath.
May the wreath and its light
be a sign of Christ’s promise to bring us salvation.
May he come quickly and not delay.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
R/. Amen.

The blessing may conclude with a verse from
“O Come, O Come, Emmanuel”:

O come, desire of nations, bind
in one the hearts of humankind;
bid ev’ry sad division cease
and be thyself our Prince of peace.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
shall come to thee, O Israel.

—From Catholic Household Blessings & Prayers

There was once a place.....

What Timing! Hollywood's Goal: To Make Pederasty Great Again.

Hollywood is at it again with a new film normalizing adult-child sex. It's the latest Brokeback Mountain. Only it's not two adult men now, but a man and a boy. And so we have the "gay" film, Call Me By Your Name  released Thanksgiving weekend just in time for Christmas viewing. What a gift, eh? Really, they assure us, it's a romance.

Who doesn't love a romance??

No surprise really to see the studios promoting this. They're starting with an older teen, but that's just a desensitization tactic. The younger kids will come later. Man-boy love is the next barrier to fall in their evil playbook. Let's face it! Hollywood is Sodom and Gomorrah where no sex is too kinky or depraved or too out of bounds for the movers and shakers to promote it.

Hate Has No Home Here Follow-up

Living in a dream, longing for Utopia

In case you are wondering whatever happened about the signs in my neighborhood, here is an update on the situation.  My cluster president asked our town homeowner’s association counselor about them and he said, “Reston Association has decided they are not political and would be allowed, IF they are kept to the size requirements of all signs that are permitted by RA rules, in other words, if they are no taller nor wider than one foot. 

My cluster president said he would inform the homeowners that they need to remove their signs, but that they can apply to have them approved by the Design and Review Board which has jurisdiction over these things.

Time for New (Liturgical) Year Resolutions

It's the last day of the liturgical year. Advent begins with the vigil tomorrow for the First Sunday of Advent and we trade the green of ordinary time for the purple of the penitential Advent season.

And what a great sermon we got at Mass this morning from Fr. Ley. He urged us to look back and thank God for the blessings of the old year, ask forgiveness for our failures and make a firm purpose of amendment, and make some resolutions for the new year. He gave a few examples: being on time for Mass (He always pauses when late comers walk in until they're seated.), examining our prayer life to make sure we are giving time to Our Blessed Lord, and he especially recommended beginning the new liturgical year with a clean slate by going to Confession. Sounds like a great suggestion to me. But we are out and about all weekend so Confession is on my schedule for the 9th. I think that's a good way to celebrate the feast of St. Juan Diego.

The White House Christmas Decorations are Absolutely Stunning

What's Your Advent Plan? Mine is to "go and see."

Heinrich Hoffman  1824-1911

Mine is to read St. Francis de Sales' Sermons for Advent and Christmas. The first sermon is about the witness of St. John the Baptist, the herald of Advent. I began the book at adoration this morning. Wow! Talk about food for thought.

Have you ever wondered why St. John sent his disciples to Christ to ask if He was the Messiah? John knew exactly Who Jesus was. They were cousins, after all, and John knew Jesus from the womb. He also must have met him at least occasionally during their growing-up years, particularly when Mary and Jesus journeyed to Jerusalem, "every year" as St. Luke tells, for the Passover.

The Matt Lauer Horror Show

This is why I could never watch TODAY!

Matt Lauer really takes the cake or maybe more accurately the cow pie.  My first thought when the story broke was "his poor wife and kids!" He should get the Academy Award for sleaze and hypocrisy in a morning media circus show!

 I've never really watched TODAY because I hate all the simpering and snickering on the couch. That's news? But then I don't watch TV much in general and get most of my news off the internet. I read Chronicles which keeps me up-to-date on most of the real news vs entertainment. (Hey, did you hear that Prince Harry is engaged?)

More Whine and Excuses from Hillary!

I'm tempted to send her a T-shirt that reads: Have a little cheese with that whine. Although she's already got the cheesy part of her shtick down. It's full of holes!

Do You Know a Millennial Like This?

A Millennial job interview from @TheDanielBrea on Vimeo.

The sad thing about this video is that so much of it is true.

Planned Parenthood Tells Client They Will "Break the Baby's Neck" if Born Alive

What kind of people work for this demonic organization? Pro-aborts used to lie and say the baby was "just a blob." Now, they freely admit it's a baby and  have no compunctions over murdering the little one after birth. Remember when Barack Obama voted against a bill in Illinois to protect babies born alive following abortion? Planned Parenthood and the Democrats are of one mind on this. They are part of the death culture's killing machine.

Thank God, this patient changed her mind. Fortunately, the shot meant to kill the baby (digoxin) apparently missed the target and the baby was still alive and active. Happy ending: Mom continued her pregnancy, the baby was born and is healthy and safe. God be praised!  Visit Pro-Life Action Ministries for more stories of saved babies.

DEFUND PLANNED PARENTHOOD!

The Wisdom of G. K. Chesterton and St. Francis de Sales

"Live in such a manner that one will
recognize clearly in you a person who
loves God with his whole heart."
St. Francis de Sales

I read this Chesterton quote on Mundabor's blog and found it interesting and thought provoking:

"If a critic tells a particular lie, that particular lie can be pointed out. If he misses a specific point, that point can be explained. If he is really wrong in this or that, it will be on this or that that the insulted person will eagerly pounce. But “malice and spite” are vague words which will never be used except when there is really nothing to pounce on. If a man says that I am a dwarf, I can invite him to measure me. If he says I am a cannibal, I can invite him to dinner. If he says I am a coward, I can hit him. If he says I am a miser, I can give him half-a-sovereign. But if he says I am fat and lazy (which is true), the best I can answer is that he speaks out of malice and spite. Whenever we see that phrase, we may be almost certain that somebody has told the truth about somebody else." 

  The Illustrated London News, 13 November 1909.

Monday Morning and My Meandering Mind

• I had a weird dream the other night. My dad who died in 1985 was in it -- very real -- so real in fact that my dreaming self said, "He really looks like he's here; this is the most real dream I've ever had." He didn't say anything, but I've been praying for him and the other folks I recognized in the dream: a deceased brother-in-law, my oldest godchild, and a friend who lives on the West Coast. Very strange dream. 

• Thinking about Advent, I'm starting to get out the Christmas decorations little by little. We'll put up the tree next Sunday and each night when we light the Advent wreath we'll put on a Jesse tree ornament and read a corresponding Bible passage: the sun, flowers, and a few little stuffed animals for creation; apples for Adam and Eve; a Noah's ark ornament; a little baby in a basket (from my doll collection) for Moses, a bundle of sticks and a (butter) knife for Abraham and Isaac, a ladder (from the mouse house) for Jacob, etc. When our local grandchildren visit we'll let them add the Jesse tree ornaments. But we won't turn on the lights until we finish decorating the tree with our Texas grandchildren when they come a few days before Christmas. What a lovely season this is for celebrating the gift of family. 

Sunday Meditation: On Hate and Liberalism

"Liberalism is the root of heresy, the tree of evil in whose branches all the harpies of infidelity find ample shelter; it is today the evil of all evils." 
                        from Liberalism is a Sin  
                  by Don Felix Sarda Y Salvany, 

Chilton Williamason had an interesting editorial in the October issue of Chronicles titled Who's the Most Hateful of Them All? He, I believe accurately, lays the mounting hatred and divisions in our country at the feet of white liberals who created the "condemnatory category of 'dead white males'" and labeled the white race "the cancer of history."

Sex Traficking: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Modern slavery -- where most
of the victims end up dead.

The Good:

• Trucker Saves Girl From Abduction, Now Teaches Other Truckers How to Help Too

The Bad:

• Sex Sting Leads to 277 Arrests in Florida

And the ugly:

• Ugliness of human trafficking is coming out of the shadows

In 2015, Virginia made sex trafficking a felongy. Pray for and support the victims of this evil industry which brings in billions of dollars, second only to drug trafficking.

Canada's Looking More Like Pagan Rome These Days: But Remember, Christ is King

Sorry, babies, you didn't pass the test.

Canada Legalizes Euthanasia So Parents Can Kill Disabled Children

The law of pater familias in ancient Rome allowed the male head of the family to make all the decisions, even life or death, over the members of the family. Under that law, many babies were exposed on the hills around Rome if they were sick or the "wrong" sex (i.e. girls) or Daddy just didn't want 'em. Today, it's pater or mater familias and the death culture is growing and expanding exponentially to include the already born for any reason or no reason.

The First "Ultrasound" Image of the Baby in the Womb -- circa 1510

Courtesy of Leonardo da Vinci. 

Funny, isn't it? An artist/scientist in 1510 showed very clearly the humanity of the baby in the womb, but many of our modern "experts" in science and philosophy can't even see humanity in the newborn, the sick, or the suffering.

Pope Francis Said We Should All "Make a Mess!"...

...And Meddling Catholic took him literally.

When things get really bad, you just gotta laugh! Pray for Pope Francis and for Holy Mother Church (and especially for Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI).

The Roy Moore Pile-On Continues: Neo-Cons Peggy Noonan and George Weigel Join the Pack

We don't need any facts. If we just keep howling
louder they'll all believe we're telling the truth!

And the braying goes on. Neo-conservatives Peggy Noonan and George Weigel, both Catholics, have accepted as fact the media's biased and distorted reporting against Judge Roy Moore calling the accusations "credible." To me, that's incredible! One would think as Catholics, considering the 8th Commandment admonition against gossip, calumny, slander, and detraction they would withhold judgment since there is no solid proof, just "he said - she said" allegations. But, no, they're running with the pack and braying with the loudest of the howling monkeys calling for Moore's political execution.

George Washington Makes Thanksgiving a National Holiday in 1789

America, America, God shed His grace on thee,
and crown thy good with brotherhood
from sea to shining sea.

Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor, and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me "to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness."

Thank God on Thanksgiving for all Your Blessings, Especially Your Family!

Corfman's Story about Judge Roy Moore & the Post's "Investigation" Continue to Unravel

The Washington Post & Its Reporters

Court Documents Raise Significant Questions About Leigh Corfman’s Accusations Against Roy Moore

The article above reveals exactly how mendacious the "reporters" at the Washington Post really are. Let's presume for a second that they at least thought Leigh Corfman was credible. They accept her 40-year-old story at face value. Did they investigate before they went public? Doesn't seem so. They knew the mom was in court in the time period because they researched the court records. But didn't they read them? Breitbart apparently did which makes the Post investigation either shoddy or deliberately dishonest:

It's the Democrats Trash Politics of Character Assassination!

Me too!

The Trashing of Judge Roy Moore

I really urge you to read the article. Roy Moore is a victim of a concerted effort to use any lie or innuendo to prevent him from becoming a U.S. Senator. The Democrats foam at the mouth over him because of his Christianity and support for traditional values, and the establishment Republicans hate him almost as much. In Virginia the establishment helped deep-six both Ken Cuccinelli when he ran for governor and Bob Marshall in the recent election for state delegate against transgender Dan(ica) Roem. They hate anyone, particularly Christians, whom they can't control.