The O Antiiphons Begins. Don't Miss the Richness of these Final Days of Advent!

 

Fill Your Stocking with Solutions to Our Problems...

 ...but will anyone listen?

Kevin Roberts, president of The Heritage Foundation, gave a talk at Hillsdale College in October that was featured in the October Imprimis titled "Populist Conservatism and Constitutional Order." What I particularly appreciated about the piece, was the fact that it wasn't simply a long lament about our problems. Roberts offered practical solutions that could set the United States back on a constitutional path.

Before you read Roberts' article, meet him. He's a Catholic and former president of Wyoming Catholic College where he led the school to reject the federal dollar. You can learn more about him at the Kevin Roberts Show podcast.

From the "It's About Time" and "Ya Just Gotta Laugh" files!

Get out the shredder!

Gaudete Sunday yesterday reminds us to rejoice that our salvation is near. That's the big news and a source of spiritual joy beyond compare. But what a double helping of joy also to see the headlines below in the secular media. 

So many in the mainstream media are godless cheerleaders for horrendous moral evils. They work for the murder of the innocent little ones in the womb and justify the murder and suicide of the sick and elderly. They enable the mutilation of gender confused minors and embrace sodomy as "marriage". They promote adoption of innocent children by those engaged in perversion. It is, indeed, a source of joy to see people turning them off, whatever their reasons. One can only hope and pray those who opted out will stay away, especially the youthful demographic. Really! Don't these headlines make you smile?

Gaudete Sunday: Rejoice and Be Glad...

 ....Your salvation is at hand!

The Dangers of Sending More Arms to Ukraine (Part 2)

I ran the first part of Bob Marshall's article on the situation in Ukraine yesterday. This is the second installment. When you consider the Biden administration's refusal to protect our borders, it's incomprehensible that they have funneled billions into a country most Americans couldn't find on the map. This is a Biden-instigated war as Marshall points out, one that has resulted in decimating the young, male population of Ukraine while the p***s-piano-playing Zelensky rakes in the dollars to go who knows where -- offshore accounts perhaps? 

The Majority of Americans and Ukrainians Want a Negotiated Peace

Biden, Harris, and the war machine don't! 

Bob Marshall has two excellent articles on this that are well worth reading. I'm posting the beginning of part 1 and a link and will post the beginning and a link to part 2 tomorrow. If you're impatient you can read them both now. When you consider how much money has been funneled to Ukraine with almost no accountability for where it's gone and that we have U.S. military now actively engaged in the attacks on Russia, it's horrifying. Biden seems to desire his legacy to be a hot war with Russia and her allies. Can we even win such a war? We all better be praying the rosary for peace because if there is a World War III and some say we are already in it, the U.S. will no doubt see missile attacks on our shores. 

By Electing Trump, American Voters Say They Want a Ukraine Peace Deal (Part 1)

by Bob Marshall

The Queen of Advent, Our Lady of Guadalupe

What does Holy Mother Church give us halfway through Advent? The feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, patroness of America. What a gift! 

Do you know the story? 

On December 9, 1531 which was then the feast day of the Immaculate Conception, Mary appeared to Juan Diego in Mexico City and asked him to take a message to the bishop to build her a shrine there. The bishop asked for sign. In response, Mary gathered roses and arranged them in Juan Diego's tilma and told him to take them to the bishop.

When Juan Diego opened it before the bishops, the roses fell to the floor revealing the miraculous image imprinted there by heaven's power. 

What a gift and reminder Mary's feast is in the middle of Advent. She calls us in this holy season to prayer and penance. "Am I not here?" Mary asks us and "Am I not your mother?" 

Who are the real domestic terrorists and radical hate groups?

Is this the face of domestic terrorism?

Sometimes Satan is exposed as the liar and murderer he is. Sadly, that exposure often comes from those whom he uses to do his dirty work.

After the murder of United Healthcare CEO, Brian Thompson tens of thousands of Satan's sidekicks began dancing on Thompson's dead body and rejoicing over the evil done to him.  

"Within seconds of the news breaking, people online began celebrating. A Facebook post by UnitedHealthcare about the CEO's passing was met with over 23,000 laughing emojis before it was taken down. "Health insurance companies are parasites siphoning blood money from the sick, dying and injured,” one user posted. “I'm only surprised it hasn't happened sooner.” [Source from one who was among those celebrating]

 What kind of people do that? And why?

Fr. Collins: Sloppy Morality Results when the Hierarchy Fails to Teach Clearly!

Editor's Note: I had to look up the definition of "lacunae." It is certainly not a word one hears or uses every day. Lacunae indicate deficiencies or gaps in something. There are certainly many deficiencies these days in the teaching (or non-teaching) the faithful receive about Eucharistic devotion. Fr. Collins points out many of them and his article invites serious reflection on our own treatment of the Holy Eucharist. Every one of us can contribute to the Eucharistic revival by the way we treat Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist. Are we among those chatting in Church or do we come dressed like we're going to the beach? Let us all examine our consciences and consider how we can give a more reverent example and witness when we are in the real presence of Jesus, our King and Lord! And a big thank you to Fr. Collins for another wonderful article. You can check out others by going to his page linked on the side bar.

LACUNAE IN THE EUCHARISTIC YEAR

by Fr. Tom Collins

During Challenging Times, "Manage Your Mindset."

May we never listen to the voices in our head that urge us to "Despair and die!"

I can never get through The Epoch Times without finding articles I want to clip and save or send to friends or just re-read and meditate on. Yesterday an article from an early November issue (I'm always behind!) caught my eye. Titled Managing Your Mindset, it reminded me that "No matter what life brings to your doorstep, you can choose your attitude and reactions." Spot on and a lesson that's good for me. 

Being a melancholic, I tend to get caught up in negative feelings and can easily begin hanging black crepe in the home of mind for a major pity party. I've been fighting that temptation most of my life and still have to flee the uninvited gloom and doom guests who invade my mental space and urge me to "Despair and die."

Sunday Meditation: We're Making the Total Consecration to Mary Today!

My husband and I have been preparing to make the total consecration to Mary according to the method of St. Louis de Montfort. I made it years ago, so this is a reconsecration for me. 

During the past 33 days leading up to the consecration we read the method, wrote out the consecration, and will make it today after Mass. 

The fastest way to Jesus is through Mary. Aren't we called to imitate Jesus? Didn't He come to us through Mary? To deny Mary's role in salvation is an act of hubris.

 Protestants will tell you they don't need Mary because they go directly to Jesus. But what if Jesus wants them to come to Him like little infants in the arms of His mother?Didn't He come to us that way, carried in the womb and then in the arms of Mary? How can anyone think that ignoring and disrespecting His mother pleases Jesus?

Of History and Record Keeping!

One of my readers took issue with my post about COVID following the one about 1 Corinthians 13: "Love does not keep a record of wrongs." He claimed they were contradictory. I didn't post his comment which was a dissertation that included a few insults which isn't untypical. (Thanks be to God, he's good for my humility and often gives me a laugh). At any rate, he obviously felt like he was scoring a big hit. Gotcha! You're keeping a record of wrongs against Fauci and company. (And Trump whom he always calls President Warp-Speed. We happen to agree on that particular criticism of Trump.) At any rate I shook my head and laughed over his latest nonsense. 

Time Out from Blogging for Family Visiting!

What a busy week! We left Monday morning to visit family in Wheeling. What a whirlwind! We stayed with my husband's brother and his wife and visited there Monday evening. (My sister-in-law and I got creamed at euchre by our gloating husbands.) We saw the lovely Christmas decorations at Ogleby Park's lodge on Tuesday midday. The ballroom was set up like a wedding reception for an employee luncheon, a practice they repeat every month!

Never Forget what the COVID Liars Did to Us!

One of my favorite bloggers is Dympna at Dymphna's Road. She is filled with common sense which isn't so common these days. Her Thanksgiving Day post described a dinner out with her mom who suffered the brainwashing of the COVID liars and still wears a mask in public. 

It made me think of the lady I saw at Costco on Tuesday in a mask. I shake my head thinking of people breathing in and recycling their own germs while they deprive themselves of fresh air. Really? Those masks are useless! I still have the mask I bought that said exactly that. Whenever I was forced to wear a mask, e.g. at the hospital, I wore it. And I never got anything but a thumbs up.

Sunday Meditation: Love Does Not Keep a Record of Wrongs!

I'm still meditating on 1 Corinthians 13. One of the elements that especially challenges me is, "Love does not keep a record of wrongs." It's easier to forgive than to forget.  And how often past memories invade the present and tempt one to rehash a wrong, fan it into flames, and form it into a grudge as weighty as the Washington Monument. 

I recently read an article in The Epoch Times, The Garden of Eden and Our Regression by James Sale. What a powerful piece! Sale begins with this: