Today begins the traditional Christmas novena to St. Andrew. Rather than the usual nine days, it lasts for 25, but what a blessed opportunity to get to know St. Andrew better. I hope you'll join me in praying it until Christmas. St. Andrew is one of my favorite saints. I want him to bring me to Jesus like he did with his brother, St. Peter. Benedictus has a wonderful meditation in this month's issue. I'll share just a bit:
Fr. Gordon MacRae's website, Beyond These Stone Walls, is a treasure. And his post on the First Thanksgiving, linked below, is fascinating. I thought I knew "the rest of the story" from years of celebrating Thanksgiving and reading about its beginning. But Fr. MacRae's article cast new light that set me reflecting on God's amazing and often bewildering Providence.
It is little wonder that Catholics struggled to be accepted in the New World often in colonies forged by anti-Catholic Englishmen. The Pilgrims were among the worst. And yet, a Catholic Indian, prepared by God, saved their little colony from extinction.
Read the article. It doesn't disappoint. And pray for Fr. MacRae, unjustly imprisoned for thirty years in a modern witch hunt that brings to mind the Salem Witch Trials.
Give us the grace, Lord, to be thankful tomorrow and every day, especially for the crosses in our lives and the angels you send to help us in our times of greatest need.
As a member of the Church Militant (not the Church Milquetoast), I believe in studying warriors' manuals. One of them is The Spiritual Combat by Dom Lorenzo Scupoli, a 16th century priest. The book was a favorite of St. Francis de Sales, master of the spiritual life, who carried it in his pocket and read from it every day. He also recommended it to his spiritual sons and daughters. One can't go wrong with such an effective manual for fighting the world, the flesh, and the devil.
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| Escape the screen. Take a walk in the woods! |
The Gab CEO sent out an interesting article a few days ago: JOMO, The Joy of Missing Out. The article was a reflection on the amount of time and attention we give to our computers, phones, and other digital devices. The joy comes from "missing out" on the digital viral slop that consumes so much of our time and energy. Here's a bit from the article which has convinced me to stop playing any internet games during Advent and to limit my exposure to the ubiquitous screen:
Research shows that excessive information consumption can lead to psychological stress, anxiety, and mental fatigue. This constant bombardment of information through various digital channels can overwhelm our cognitive capacities, making it difficult to process and evaluate the information effectively. The inability to filter and process the overwhelming amount of data can result in difficulty making decisions, decreased productivity, and a general sense of being overwhelmed.
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| Don't Let Thanksgiving be Lost in the Rush to Christmas! |
When I was growing up, Christmas arrived in the secular world the day after Thanksgiving. The turkey was hardly off the table before Santa came riding in on his sleigh behind the reindeer. The worldly holiday fuss obliterated Advent completely. Despite the world's mad rush to Christmas, many Catholic families waited in the quiet for Emmanuel, God with us. They lit the Advent Wreath every evening, sang Come, O Come, Emmanuel and prayed together.
I was once chided by a psychiatrist friend for saying, "I'm not smart enough to be a parent."
He responded saying, "I've heard you denigrate your intellect more than once."
I replied, "You're not smart enough to do what you do either. It's only by the grace of God." I could have added, "And what you do has the potential to damage a lot more people. [He had a large practice.] I only have five children."
We had visiting priest from India today who gave the homily on gratitude. He told an amusing story about a man who lived with nine other men in a crowded little hovel. He was miserable because the house was so crowded and noisy. He couldn't get any sleep and hated his life. So he went to see a wise man about his miserable existence hoping to get some relief. The wise man told him to get a goat and take it into the house to live with them and come back to see him in a week. The man expressed doubt, but was told to just do it. So he brought the goat to live with himself and the other nine men. It was not a match made in heaven.
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| Will you miss this Biden cabinet pick? |
Earthquake-like waves of Trump's win shake up LA Times, too
Here's how the article begins:
I occasionally watch Jesse Waters and have heard him talk about his ultra liberal mom. Not sure talking about disagreements with your mom on national TV is a wise move. Maybe it's a guy thing.
At any rate....
"A FEMA supervisor told workers in a message to “avoid homes advertising Trump” as they canvassed Lake Placid, Florida to identify residents who could qualify for federal aid, internal messages viewed by The Daily Wire reveal. The supervisor, Marn’i Washington, relayed this message both verbally and in a group chat used by the relief team, multiple government employees told The Daily Wire.
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| Fr. James Buckley, FSSP 1937 - 2023 Rest in peace, dear and holy priest of God! |
Think of all the speeches you heard during the campaign by Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Barrack Obama, or any other Democrat. Ask yourself whether any of them gave a speech like the one Trump gave in Poland on July, 6 2017. Consider some of the things he said at the site of the Warsaw uprising against the Nazis in World War II. He honored the courage of the Polish people and made a number of points that in retrospect should make every American reflect on how different things might be today, had Trump remained president in 2020. On the other hand, maybe the four disastrous years under Leftist tyrants was the wake-up call we needed. God granted us a reprieve from the annihilation promised by Kamala Harris. How will we use it? Have you prayed the rosary today? Here are some of the takeaways from Trump's extraordinary speech:
I'm less disturbed by the fulminations of the Left over Trump's win than by the statements of pro-lifers who continue to express their TDS (Trump Derangement Syndrome). Is Trump our savior? Absolutely not! All he offers us is a temporary reprieve. But he is unlikely to do what Harris promised to do: nationalize abortion once again and force doctors, nurses, and other medical care givers, druggists, insurance companies, Catholic hospitals and schools, etc. to face criminal penalties if they refuse to participate in abortion. She promised to force taxpayers to pay the bill for trans surgeries for military and even illegal aliens. She is an enemy of free speech. We dodged the bullet of Democrat extremism temporarily, but the writing is on the wall. America is in a death spiral and Trump may slow the fall, but it's inevitable unless we repent.
Never let it be said that facts interfere with the bias and foaming-at-the-mouth lunacy of the mainstream media. I've been watching some of the reactions on CNN, MSNBC, The View, and the networks. They are all in excuse mode for their heroine, Kamala.
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| Mother of the innocent babies in the womb, pray for us. |
I read two articles recently that illustrated how corrupt government is from the smallest local community at the town, village, and county setting to the Leviathan monster at the federal level. Citizens have little say and are often deliberately kept out of the discussion. The articles actually offered no revelation to me. Let's face it, money and power rule the world under the world's prince, Satan. Those useful tools, money and power, pervert many a soul, especially those in politics who seem to have god-complexes.
My husband and I belong to a Chesterton book club that meets monthly. Yesterday's topic was Chesterton and politics with a lively debate about the morality of voting: Trump vs. Harris, whether voting for a third party candidate like Randall Terry is justified, whether canvassing voters is disappearing in favor of social media, etc. I'm happy to say that the group always argues in the classical, Socratic sense and everyone treats everyone else respectfully even when we disagree (well, for the most part).
After the meeting I got to pondering how Chesterton would have viewed our discussion and what decision he would make if he were voting in Tuesday's election. I confess, while I've read a lot of Chesterton, I'm unsure. In What's Wrong with the World, he excoriated both Hudge and Gudge who represent political positions of the governing class. Hudge is the plutocrat, someone who rules by reason of his class and wealth. Gudge represent the socialist Marxist do-gooder. There is a third character Chesterton presents, however. His name is Jones and he represents the common man or, in today's lexicon, a piece of garbage or a deplorable. All Jones wants is a humble home where he can raise his family and dandle his grandchildren on his lap. That dream is denied him by both Hudge and Gudge as they pursue their approach to the world.
I'm still working my way through 1 Corinthians 13, St. Paul's description of love. In previous posts I addressed Love is Patient:
Indulgence Requirements:
Every week when The Epoch Times arrives, I immediately go to the puzzle page to work on the big sudoku puzzle and the cryptic quote. Often the quote sets my mind thinking about what it means. Spoiler alert: If you get the Epoch Times and haven't done the cryptic quote but intend to -- STOP! Work on the cipher first and come back later to read the rest.
