Those who visit here regularly know that I'm a big fan of the Epoch Times. I especially appreciate their Life and Tradition section and always read it carefully. I often clip articles for a grandchild or a friend to tuck into a letter. So much joy overflows those pages and I learn a lot as well.A few days ago I was catching up on back issues and found a wonderful quote from an article by Jeff Minick who lives in my own neck of the woods. One day I'd love to meet him. The article was titled The Boons and Blessings of Eucatastrophe.
If you're like me, you've never heard that word before. It was invented by J.R.R. Tolkien and described in his essay On Fairy Stories. Tolkien defined eucatastrophe as "the joy of the happy ending: or more correctly of the good catastrophe, the sudden joyous 'turn.'" He called the Resurrection the greatest eucatastrophe possible!
I'm always fascinated to discover the origins of expressions. Where did the expression, for example, mind your Ps and Qs come from? Some are obvious and based on common sense. How much thinking does it take to realize the meaning of "A stitch in time saves nine." Every seamstress knows that. And then there are those relating to the company we keep. "One bad apple can spoil the whole barrel." or "Birds of a feather flock together." My mom used those expressions warning about the importance of choosing friends wisely.
This post continues my reflection on the virtue of patience which I've discussed here, here, and here. It may take me a long time to plumb the depths of this difficult virtue.
I was reminded of patience in a recent conversation with a soccer coach I know. He described one of his young players as being very hard on himself. Whenever the lad makes a mistake on the field he berates himself with self condemning statements. I don't know exactly what he says, but I can imagine, since many of us are also quick to condemn ourselves for our mistakes. Can you hear the refrain in your head?
The latest would be Trump assassin, Ryan Wesley Routh, sounds like a man who is mentally unbalanced, like the Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski, who terrorized the nation for almost two decades before his deranged 35,000-word manifesto led to his identification and arrest. A psychiatrist diagnosed Kaczynski as a paranoid schizophrenic. He pleaded guilty to prevent his lawyers from entering an insanity plea. Here's an excerpt from a 2023 NPR article written after Kaczynski died in prison at the age of 81:
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| Lila Rose vs. Donald Trump -- How does telling voters not to vote for Donald Trump help babies in the womb? It doesn't! It will help elect pro-abort radicals Harris/Walz! |
I'm shocked by some of the pro-lifers who would rather feel self-righteous in their moral purity than vote for Donald Trump. Politics is not and never will be our salvation. There is one Savior, Jesus Christ. Nevertheless, engaging in politics is a moral duty for Catholics. And, like the doctors' motto, First Do No Harm, that should be our motto as well. And putting Harris/Walz in office is to inflict a grave harm to babies in the womb.-
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| Does anyone else find this creepy? Are all those folks going up to St. Peter's to knock on the door and say, "Trick or Treat?" |
The Synod on Synodality seems to have gone low key over the past few months. Some of the most controversial issues were taken off the table and designated to study groups. Does that make you feel relieved? Not me. It takes them away from the public spotlight and lets the assigned committee members, dare I say change agents, work in the dark. The enemy sneaking up on you from behind is always more dangerous than the enemy you face directly. And there are many enemies within the walls of Holy Mother Church!
What's at stake? Plenty! As Jonathan Liedl wrote at the National Catholic Register:
For a few weeks I've thought about choosing an extended Bible focus on 1 Corinthians 13. What a wealth of thoughts for meditation! The vocation of a Christian is love. Love God first; and then, out of love for God, love for yourself and for your neighbor. St. Paul give a pretty complete list of the attributes of love. Some are positive describing what love IS; and some are negative describing what love IS NOT. According to St. Paul, these attributes
Do you ever think about how your are being twisted and turned by experts in language manipulation, semantic gymnastics, and propaganda? I first encountered the term, "semantic gymnastics," in a 1970 editorial in a medical journal, California Medicine. It was titled A New Ethic for Medicine And Society. The unidentified author wrote:
"Yes, Virginia, a Venezuelan gangs has taken over at least one apartment building in Aurora, CO." In fact, a Denver law firm investigating the situation at Whispering Pines for Wells Fargo Bank confirmed it in a ten-page letter to the city. Here's the Epoch Times article reporting on the gang banger activity:
DENVER—As early as November 2023, armed Venezuelan gang members began to terrorize residents of an Aurora, Colorado, apartment building, according to a Denver law firm hired to investigate.
Law firm Perkins Coie’s 10-page letter to city officials details how the Tren de Aragua (TdA) gang took over the Whispering Pines apartments using threats of murder, intimidation, and beatings.
How many parents are still supporting adult children? Are you nodding and saying, "Been there; done that?" How many sons and daughters earned diplomas you paid tens of thousands for and then end up living at home letting Mom and Dad foot their rent, utilities, food, and even babysitting expenses?
At the same time, how many of those college-educated freeloaders think Mom and Dad are dinosaurs who know nothing about how to make the world a better place, in fact, by creating the liberal Utopia promised by the Democrats?
I was excited to read about a new college in Steubenville, OH that opened this fall. The first class at the College of St. Joseph the Worker is now learning more about their Catholic faith and also learning a trade. Let's face it, the typical college experience these days is too expensive and many graduates end up driving trucks and working as wait staff in local restaurants. We have some of those in my own extended family.
Don't get me wrong, there's no shame in working those jobs; but do they take a $60,000 to $100,000 diploma to do them?
I have several granddaughters who are Taylor Swift fans. One, in fact, traveled with friends to Vienna to attend the show cancelled because of terrorist threats. So I found the X message from Swifties for Trump interesting. (See below) If you search Swifties for Trump, you find numerous articles claiming the group doesn't exist. Everything is AI-generated. Maybe, maybe not. The group claims over 800 members. The message on X generated almost 700 replies. Half of them, however, are from Swifties for Trump so it's certainly possible that the "group" is only one person with plenty of time and 800 ghost members.
As someone texted me after the debate, "It was a clown show." The question is, do debates win or lose elections? Watching the Reagan movie last night, it was interesting to be reminded of the Reagan/Mondale moment during the second debate when Ronald Reagan eviscerated the question and doubts about his age. It also validated Nancy Reagan's advice to the staff, "Let Ronnie be Ronnie."
I had the great privilege of attending two retreats with Fr. John Hardon. The second in Windsor, Canada during the Fall of, I think 1999, was probably his last. Cardinal Raymond Burke (a bishop at the time) participated and Fr. Hardon passed the torch of the Marian Catechists to him. Those retreats were two of the greatest blessings of my life along with the two decades of the Spiritual Exercises retreats with Fr. James Buckley. God has blessed me abundantly with such great priest guides and continues to do so. The revival of the Church begins in the cradle and is magnified in the seminary. May God give us many holy priests to lead His Church.
Fr. Hardon, Servant of God, please pray for us.
For Our Lady's birthday, I'm reading Pope St. Pius X's encyclical Ad Diem Illum. He wrote it in honor of the 50 year jubilee of the dogmatic declaration in 1854 of her Immaculate Conception. That dogma was declared by Pope Pius IX in his own encyclical, Ineffabilis Deus. If I finish reading the encylical by Pope Pius X, I will read the original declaration.
It's insanity on steroids!
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| Baby dolls for sale through IVF |
In vitro fertilization is grievously wrong, a mortal sin in fact. It treats babies like doll objects. It is the flip side of abortion. If you don't want a baby doll, get rid of it any way you can including infanticide. If you want a baby doll, do anything you can to get one including creating life in a petrie dish and hiring a poor third world woman to bear the little one with spares sent to the freezer orphanage.
It's wrong -- plain and simple -- grievously wrong!
God is the Creator! We are called to be cooperators in creation, but He wrote the manual and the rule book. Scientists and lab workers have no right to co-opt and usurp God's rights. Men and women have no right to demand that God fulfill their desires.
A wise philosopher once said, "Stupid is as stupid does." Read this article and take heart. When things seem dark, they are often closest to the light. You can only eclipse the sun for so long! Pray, hope, and don't worry. Deus Vult! God wills it!
Remember when everybody was sure that there was a new Latin Mass suppression coming down the pike from The Dictator Pope and his mercy for the margins?
That came from a credible rumour published by our friends at Rorate back on June 17th. While that was brewing, Viganò got the axe from the Vatican, and a different report denied any existence of a new TLM suppression.
Meanwhile, the “Agatha Christie Petition 2.0” was released, along with a second petition by the same authors for the faithful to sign. A third petition was also put out (“An Open Letter from the Americas to Pope Francis”), signed by people like Trad critic Larry Chapp and endorsed by Archbishop Cordileone. [Continue....]
Election 2024 just keeps on giving with the latest entertainment being a real life Family Feud game. Yup, the election feuds could give the Family Feud TV show a run for the ratings. Let's consider a few of the contestants.
Hunter Biden reportedly hates stepmom Jill and called her a "vindictive moron" and an "entitled c**t." [Source] Sometimes ya just gotta laugh. Think about it. An entitled, vindictive, druggie moron saying those things about his stepmom. Tut tut, Hunter, that's the pot calling the kettle black.
In the old calendar, today is the feast of Pope St. Pius X (pope from 1903-1914). In honor of his feast day, I am reading selections from My Words Will Not Pass Away: doctrinal writings of St. Pius X. I am personally grateful to this pope for encouraging the frequent, even daily, reception of Holy Communion and reducing the age for reception to the age of reason around seven years old. [This is what the Church means when it talks about "development of doctrine". It doesn't mean playing fast and loose with the perennial teachings of Holy Mother Church.] We have a lot to learn from this great saint!
During my prayer time this morning, I was thinking about St. Joseph and what an appropriate day this is to thank him. He prayed, worked, suffered, and protected his precious family entrusted to him by God. What a model for all fathers who pray and work, suffer and protect their families. My husband's confirmation name is Joseph. He has three great saints watching over him. St. Lawrence, who suffered an agonizing torture for the faith who considered the poor his family. When the tyrannical authorities demanded he bring the treasures of the church, he presented the poor, God's little ones.
