What Can We Do to Respond the Crisis in the Church?

The Crisis in the Church series is well worth watching. This is one of my favorite episodes.

 

Digital Viral Slop!

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.

The Lame Duck Legacy of Joe Biden: Will it be World War iII?

Joe Biden's dementia is downright dangerous. Throughout the Ukraine/Russia conflict, he has stated over and over what the U.S. won't do to escalate the war. Then he does it. His line in the sand is a straw blown about by the wind. Joe's latest act of aggression is to allow what he said he never would allow -- for Ukraine to use long-range U.S. missiles to strike deep into Russia. Their use of these missiles involves the U.S. directly because Ukraine doesn't have the guidance capability. So we can't claim non-involvement anymore than a person helping a kid aim a gun and helps pull the trigger! Really, Joe, how is that not an act of war by the U.S., i.e., one more unauthorized aggressive act of war unilaterally determined by the executive branch in violation of the U.S. Constitution.

The Mad Rush to Christmas!

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.

All Is Grace! Love is not Boastful!

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."

Sunday Meditation: The Gratitude Perspective

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.

Will the Mainstream Media Change? Is It Even Possible?

Will you miss this Biden cabinet pick?

My friend, Dexter Duggan who writes for The Wanderer and his Substack page, Sunrise Sunset, posted an interesting article about the LA Times. Check it out!

Earthquake-like waves of Trump's win shake up LA Times, too

Here's how the article begins:

La Leche League Goes Woke!

La Leche League has lost their everlovin' mind! It was bad enough when men invaded the ladies' rooms and exhibited their junk to little girls in the swimming pool locker rooms. But really, now they will feed hormone laden milk to infants by making their fake women's bodies lactate? And La Leche League thinks this is a good thing? Who knows what damage these "chest-feeding" men will do to babies? And how comfortable will the real moms be who will be forced to engage with men pretending to be women who join their La Leche support groups.

Are women safe anywhere these days?

Laughter is the Best Medicine for Liberal Post Election Hysteria!

The hysteria from liberals expressing terror and despair because of Trump's win are baffling. He was already president for four years, folks, and the world did not end! What's with all the Chicken Littles running around screaming, "The sky is falling; the sky is falling!" I get it with the drive-by media and the liberal elite. They thrive on fear. Look what they did to us during COVID. But, really, parents saying their children are terrified? College students needing coloring books and teddy bears to alleviate their panic? Average Janes and Joes in tears and going into total, unhinged meltdown mode?

Sometimes Ya Just Gotta Laugh: Will Trump Derangement Syndrome Affect Your Thanksgiving?

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....

Now Who Exactly Are the Enemies of Democracy?

EXCLUSIVE: FEMA Official Ordered Relief Workers To Skip Houses With Trump Signs

"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.  

Sunday Meditation: Let Us Worship Jesus as the Sacred Heart!

Fr. James Buckley, FSSP 1937 - 2023 Rest in peace, dear and holy priest of God!

In this month of the holy souls, I want to remember with love and gratitude Fr. James Buckley, FSSP who had such an impact on my life. I attended a 5-day silent, Ignatian retreat every summer with Fr. Buckley for almost 20 years. The last one, in 2022, showered me with incredible memories and blessings that I treasure. God obviously knew it was Father's last meeting with us. He died in 2023.

Remember this great speech by President Trump in 2017

 

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:

Sometimes Facebook Memes Hit a Bullseye!

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. 

Mainstream Media Unhinged Over Trump Win!

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. 

The Mass that Made So Many Saints! We need it today more than ever!

Mother of the innocent babies in the womb, pray for us.

As a preamble to this post, let me say that the election of Donald Trump is not a cause for 

dancing in the streets. At the same time he won big in Montana with a 60-40% victory, a constitutional amendment (initiative 128) to allow abortion passed by the same margin. While the right is unlimited before viability, it appears to be restricted after. It isn’t! The amendment used the same wording as Roe v. Wade and its companion decision Doe v. Bolton which essentially allowed abortion up to birth. There is little to celebrate today. I voted for Donald Trump because I believe a Harris administration would be so much worse, but I see his election as a temporary reprieve giving us time to repent and convert. A country that kills it's own children has no future. Our imperative now is to pray for God's grace of conversion and to beg His mercy through the intercession of the Blessed Mother.

Sad to Say "Corrupt Government" is Not an Oxymoron but a Redundancy

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. 

How the D.C. Cabal Gave Us War Forever... Vote Tomorrow to Defeat the War Party!

How Biden-Harris Blocked a Russia-Ukraine Peace Agreement (Part 3)

Bob Marshall

October 30, 2024

Read Part 1 and Part 2

Tuesday's Election Day; How Would Chesterton Vote?

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.

1 Corinthians 13: Love is Not Jealous!

I'm still working my way through 1 Corinthians 13, St. Paul's description of love. In previous posts I addressed Love is Patient:

Patience

Planting the Seeds of Patience

Be Patient with Others but First with Yourself

Visit a Cemetery Today to Pray and Send a Poor Soul to Heaven

Indulgence Requirements:

• To gain a plenary indulgence, in addition to excluding all attachment to sin, even venial sin, it is necessary to perform the indulgent work and fulfill the following three conditions: sacramental Confession, Eucharistic Communion, and prayer for the intention of the Sovereign Pontiff.

Of Puzzles that Spark the Imagination...

I like puzzles. Last night my granddaughter was saying she didn't like Geometry, but it was my favorite math class for two reasons. It was like a puzzle and it involved logic. They both intrigue me and put my brain to work.

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.