What a Glorious Monday Morning!

Praise God in His wonderful world!

Sunday Meditation: Lent is a time for Redemption

Return of the Prodigal Son by Master of the Annunciation, anonymous painter, 17th c.

And here's a very real story of a young man's redemption from Beyond These Stone Walls. There is no such thing as an unforgivable sin or a person lost to God's love. Check out The Prodigal Son: Alexander’s Long Lent Toward Easter Sunrise:

March 26, 2025 by Alexander

An Argentinian Bishop Speaks

Don't miss this article by Argentine bishop Archbishop Héctor Aguer, archbishop emeritus of LaPlata. Don't you wonder what he could tell us about Pope Francis if he chose to? Here's the beginning:

The twelfth anniversary of Francis’ pontificate was recently celebrated. Vatican press releases are usually full of self-praise. It is very difficult to adjudicate ecclesial reality, which is incredibly vast and characterized by differences between countries, but from a certain vantage point it is possible to contemplate the surroundings. I can do it then from this corner of the far south that is Argentina, a nation that is (or was?) mostly Catholic. As the saying goes, “one example is enough to prove it.”

Do the Bishops Really Emphasize "Using Proper Terms?" That Depends!

When I'm in a masochistic mood, I read the Arlington Catholic Herald. Usually, I just scan the headlines and put it in the paper recycling. Occasionally, though, I actually do read at least a few articles. Sometimes it even gives me a good laugh, an eye roll, and a rueful head shake.

Such was the case when I read an article yesterday explaining how the RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults) is getting a new name, OCIA (Order of Christian Initiation of Adults). Wow! Now that is an earth-shaking change. Well, perhaps not.

It's Not Just Thirty Pieces of Silver These Days, It's Billions for the Pharisee Bishops!

Are the U.S. Catholic Bishops Pharisees or Shepherds?

There's a story, perhaps apocryphal, about a conversation between Cardinal Ercole Consalvi, Secretary of State to Pius VII, and Napoleon Bonaparte which has the ring of truth. Apparently Napoleon told the cardinal he had the power to destroy the Church. The ironic answer from the prelate was, "If the bishops haven't been able to do it in the past 1800 years, how can you expect to succeed?"

Seventy-eight and still Fighting for the Faith!

It's my birthday -- 78 today! My parents named me Mary because of Our Lady's feast day. What a blessing to share our Blessed Mother's name!

"Charity Begins at Home." Just ask the Catholic CEOs with their exorbitant salaries!

The Catholic bishops are suing the government. Are we surprised? Isn't that what leftists always do when the gravy train is under threat. How many times has Planned Parenthood sued to keep their baby-killing machine at full speed ahead supported with billions from the taxpayers?

Of Puffery and Pulchritude: White-washing the Bad Bishops!

Have you ever noticed that diocesan "newspapers" are filled with puffery and pulchritude to make the diocese and the bishop look good? I usually glance at the headlines of The Arlington Catholic Herald and, every now and then, read an article, but for the most part, it's not worth the time. A standing joke with our previous bishop was to count how many of his photos graced the pages. Well, after all, the diocesan paper is the Catholic version of the celebrity fan magazine. Make the bishop look good.

Feeling Dizzy: Is it Motion Sickness, Diabolical Disorientation, or Both?

My husband and I should be in Florida. We left on Wednesday looking forward to five days at the Air B&B of friends who generously offered it for a get-away. (Thank you, dear friends.) The chickens were in good hands, the water was turned off. St. Joseph and St. Michael were on the security detail. We pulled out of the driveway with eager anticipation and began a rosary for our safe travels.

Sometimes the best laid plans go awry.

Is the Diocese of Wheeling/Charleston Planning to Oppose Parental Rights?

This morning I received an email from Michael Hichborn of the Lepanto Institute describing how the Diocese of Wheeling/Charleston plans to join a lawsuit against the state over a bill giving parents the freedom to choose vaccinations for their children. If true, it's a shocking position! 

Does a Catholic Diocese have more rights over children than their parents? Not according to canon law.

Kristallnacht in the USA

The attack on Tesla reminds me of Kristallnacht in Germany when the Nazis targeted Jewish businesses. The Democrats default position is to accuse Republicans of violence. Meanwhile they foment assassination attempts on the president, threaten Supreme Court judges, burn our cities, make sure rioters are bailed out so they can continue rioting and enjoy posting “funny” X and Facebook posts celebrating the violence. I think it’s safe to say that the Democrat party today makes the Bolshevists look moderate. I think we’ll buy some Tesla stock.

On the Feast of St. Joseph, Let Us Thank Him for All His Assistance!

I have to smile when I think that Joe the Plumber has St. Joseph the worker as his special friend and patron saint. But St. Joseph belongs to all the regular Joes who are fathers as well -- and all foster fathers -- named Tom, Dick, or Harry. They can all claim him for a friend and mentor. St. Joseph has a carpenter's tent big enough for every man no matter who his other patrons are. And what a model he is - real man's man: strong, patient, courageous enough to leave town with his family at night on a road commonly traveled by robbers. No arguments with God, just a hasty response to God's will. Scripture tells us he's a "just man," no small feat in any age. He says not one word in Scripture, but his faithful presence and his prompt obedience to God's will speak volumes.

Remembering the Bishops' Safe Touch Programs! Do bishops learn from their mistakes?

Cardinal Bernard Law of Boston, one of the cover-up bishops who ended up with an assignment in Rome avoiding prosecution in the U.S. (photo from a news conference in 2002)

With the bishops going after the Trump administration for its policies on the illegal invasion at the border, it might be useful to remember some other policies introduced by the U.S. Catholic bishops. Their motives often seem to be more about protecting themselves than concern for the flock. That's exactly what happened with the bishops" Charter on Protecting Children developed after the bishops' meeting in Dallas in 2002 where they addressed the sex abuse crisis. The bishops focused attention on the priests in the parishes and laity instructing children in CCD classes. I spent about 25 years in religious education and quit when the new policies were instituted, because they were more about protecting the bishops than protecting the children. The bishops exempted themselves from oversight and some continued covering up abuse and bullying parents to remain silent. Full transparency is needed at every level in the Church. Take a walk back through the history and pray that the bishops will learn from past mistakes. They seem a little obtuse when it comes to self examination. Check out Janet Smith's 2022 analysis of the charter after 20 years. 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 12, 2004

Open Letter to the United States Catholic Bishops:
Keep “Touching” Programs Off Our Children

http://www.catholicmediacoalition.org/touching.htm

Your Excellencies,

Remember the Springtime in the Church: Reality is Demographic Winter!

It's bad news for Catholics from a PEW Survey on Religion in America, the first since 2014.  For every 100 new Catholics entering the Church, 800 leave. This from Eric Sammons at Crisis Magazine:

No other religion has nearly as bad of a join/leave ratio. For every 100 people that become Protestant, 180 leave. That’s bad, but it’s not Catholic bad. Conversely, for every 100 people who leave the religious “nones” (i.e., they join a religion), a full 590 become part of that irreligious cohort. 

Where are the former Catholics going? Of all the former Catholics, 56% become religious “nones” and 32% become Protestant. I think we all know from personal experience that these numbers ring true. What Catholic doesn’t have family members who have become Protestant or have stopped practicing any religion? It’s just part of being an American Catholic these days.

Sunday Meditation: Wild Winds Today. Does that make you think of the Holy Spirit?

We are under a wind advisory with a tornado watch. Our situation down in a little dip makes the likelihood of a tornado touchdown at Camp Kreitzer pretty remote. But the wild wind is dropping branches and pinecones everywhere. Since I just spent several hours cleaning them up on Friday with two little brownies helping, I'm rolling my eyes. 

Unending tasks, like weeding and yard cleanup, always make me think of the perennial fight against my faults. No matter how much I work on them, they never seem to be eradicated completely. 

Death and Its Temptations: Praying for Pope Francis!

illustration painting of the Death as know as Grim Reaper holding the scythe against the eclipse
on the background, digital art style, Generate Ai Free Photo

I was praying for the pope this morning after reading the section in The Spiritual Combat on the temptations that precede death. What a frightening time that must be as we all will learn unless we die suddenly.

Random Thoughts on a Lenten Friday

• 

  Checked the bees this week. Hard at work!

  Two of my grandsons are coming today to help do Camp Kreitzer cleanup. The yard is littered with hundreds of pine cones and sticks, even thick branches that winter winds have dislodged from our numerous pine trees. And oh-my-goodness the pine needles! I rake them up occasionally and put heaps of them in the chicken yard and the coop and on the garden. It cuts down on the cost of pine chips for the coop and mulch for the garden. But no matter how much yard work I do, it always seems like drop in the bucket...or in the pool...or in the ocean. To put a spiritual outlook on it, working on my sins and faults is just like that. No matter how much I try to cultivate the garden of my soul, there is always more to do. And so often it seems I am raking up the same old same old. As I work with the boys today putting yard litter on the fire pit, I will beg God to help me make real progress this Lent placing all my sins and faults on the altar of reconciliation and begging that they be "burned and consumed in the fire of [God's] love." [Imitation of Christ]

Required Reading for an Informed Citizen! Eliminate the "Ugly American" Bureaucrats

I have a bookshelf in my bedroom that holds a number of books I consider required reading for informed citizens. They include (but are not limited to) George Orwell's 1984 and Animal Farm, Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, James Clavell's The Children's Story, and The Ugly American by William Lederer and Eugene Burdick. Today I want to shine the spotlight on The Ugly American. 

If you want to understand the foreign policy of the Biden Administration and, for that matter, the policy of many previous administrations both Democrat and Republican, The Ugly American is mandatory! It was published in 1958, but the information is as current today as it was then. The New York Times described the best-selling novel saying, "If this were not a free country this book would be banned.... Devastating!"

Are you praying for the pope?

You should be. 

The Italians call him "Il Papa." He is our spiritual father. Does a child have the right to disrespect his natural father? Does the 4th Commandment say, "Honor your mother and father unless they offend you, sin against you, or make mistakes that hurt you?"

We have an obligation to pray for the pope just as we have an obligation to pray for our natural fathers, especially as they approach death.

That thought struck me today as I read about Pope St. Gregory the Great who's feast is today in the traditional calendar. I read this in Butler's Lives of the Saints:

Are Some Catholics Fomenting Schism?

Some commenters on my blog insist that I take a position on whether Francis is or is not the pope. I've always replied that to make that decision is definitely "above my pay grade." In fact, it's above the pay grade of almost every Catholic on earth. And if it isn't, if someone is truly competent to come to that determination because of his ecclesial or scholarly position, he should bring his argument privately to those with the competence to act; that is, the college of cardinals. 

Whether Francis is a valid pope will soon be a moot point. He is clearly not going to live much longer. Then we will see the next conclave and, since Francis has nominated a majority of the current voting bishops, 78% in fact (Source), it is likely that the next pope will be cut from the same cloth. Hopefully, the cardinals are sick of the confusion and chaos of the past decade and will make a better choice. We need a holy, faithful pope. Will we get one? Let's pray for him and those with the electoral duty to protect the Church.

Sunday Meditation: Love Your Neighbor as Yourself! Do You Keep a Record of Your Past Wrongs?

At Mass this morning I was thinking about 1 Corinthians 13. One of St. Paul's admonitions about love emphasizes that it doesn't keep a record of wrongs. Obviously, if we keep a record of wrongs about our neighbors, we are likely to build walls against them and even stud the walls with the barbed wire of grudges and desire for revenge. To not keep a record of wrongs, we need to foster the virtue of forgiveness.

Is your Lent off to a good start?

Lent will be five days old tomorrow. Have you made a plan yet? When will you go to Confession? Have you already? Do you plan to go every two weeks as part of your Lenten journey? Or even every week? If you do, you will have one of the requirements for gaining a plenary indulgence every day. Do you know what the requirements are?

Develping a Rule of Life: Rooting Out Defects and Growing in Virtue

This is my third post on Fr. Ripperger's video about developing a rule of life. (You can see part one here and part two here.) Making a rule of life is all about establishing a regimen of discipline that can help in all areas of life. Fr. Ripperger talks about taking a systematic approach to rooting out our defects. He echoes St. Ignatius when he encourages identifying our predominant fault and working on that one thing until we eliminate it or at least make considerable progress. For example, if you have a problem with gluttony, begin by giving up between meal snacks and desserts. Make a good beginning and stick with it. That approach follows Ignatian spirituality which advises working on one defect before moving on to another. With regard to the regimen, the examen is recommended at least twice a day - at midday and bedtime. How did I do this morning? How did I do later? Part of the evening examen is reflecting on the next day and its responsibilities so that you can hit the ground running in the morning. Ignatian spirituality gives the structure for overcoming the sin or fault. 

You've been bought and at what a price!

We all need to be loved and we need to know we're loved! Remember the scene in Les Mis when the gendarmes bring Jean Valjean back to the bishop's house after they find him with the silver he's stolen? Instead of condemning him, the holy bishop dismisses the gendarmes telling Valjean in their presence that he forgot to take the candlesticks which he puts into his knapsack. When the gendarmes leave, the bishop tells the wounded and bitter man, "I've bought your soul for God." That single event transforms Valjean from an angry soul alienated from both God and his fellow man, to an icon of love and charity. 

Praising God that COVID and all the Nonsense of Closed Churches is Behind Us!

Sometimes it's a good thing to remember the lunacy of previous days so that we can do all we can not to repeat them. I was in Florida visiting my friend Susan in 2021 during what I can only think of as the Lunacy COVID Twilight Zone Time. Fortunately, things were normal at the SSPX chapel in Sanford where we went for Ash Wednesday, but lunacy reigned in many other places. Priests really were using Q-tips to distribute ashes. Have you forgotten? I thought it was worth looking back on the insanity and promising ourselves never to let the hoaxsters and hucksters delude us again. So I repeat the blog post Susan and I wrote together using our alter egos Topsy and Tuptim. Don't fast from laughter this Lent. Smile and spread cheer as an alms that's good for both the mind and the heart.

Remember, Alligator, That Thou Art Dust...

Really!? A Q-tip?

Topsy and Tuptim have escaped snow and ice in the north to enjoy a Winter holiday at a Florida wildlife preserve. Neither of them sleeps very well in a hotel and are bemoaning the bad dreams they had last night.

Topsy: I had such bad dreams last night and got so little sleep and had a terrible nightmare. I kept waking up screaming, "No God! No!! No-o-o. Pleeeease!" ...Didn't you hear me?

Tuptim: That was you? I thought it was me. I had nightmares too. What was your dream?

Topsy: I was following an alligator into his underwater den. Then everything got really crazy. It looked like an ugly modernist chapel.

Tuptim: Oh my gosh! That was my dream too except I was being chased by the alligator!

Topsy: Did you end up in a chapel? 

The First Consideration for the Rule of Life

Even little ones can start practicing a rule of life. 
See The Beginner's Rule of Life

I'm going to do a little series on the Rule of Life as Lent begins. Yesterday was part 1, Crafting a Rule of Life.  Today I'm going to begin going through the conference by Fr. Ripperger, essentially the How-to-do-it guidelines for developing a rule of life.

Crafting a Rule of Life: an Invitation to Grow in Holiness this Lent

I'm asking Mary to be 
my Lenten companion and guide.

I've had a loose rule of life for decades. What do I mean?  Priests have a rule of life that includes saying daily Mass and praying their office. Religious have a "rule" defined by their religious order. But what about the laity? 

Of course we have duties of our state in life, but these change depending on the "season." My duties as a grandmother and great grandmother no longer include the daily care and nurturing of children who live under my roof. I don't have the same obligations of daily rearing and teaching the faith as I did several decades ago. I can certainly be a help and support in the rearing of my grandchildren, but I have few obligations in that department. in fact it would be an abuse for me to try to "take over" and become a source of division between my grandchildren and their parents. 

Sunday Meditation: The Purpose of Literature is to Please and Instruct

Philosopher Peter Kreeft, a man on a mission -- to teach the truth!

I'm always a little puzzled by those who say they never read fiction and consider it a waste of time. I think I've found just as much (or more) food for meditation in a great novel than many books of non-fiction and their didactic manner of teaching the same thing. Am I more likely to remember the lessons about good and evil, friendship and treachery, courage and cowardice from a book of psychology or from Tolkien's Lord of the Rings or Shakespeare's Macbeth? 

Philosopher Peter Kreeft describes the purpose of literature as to please and to instruct. His presentation on Lost in the Cosmos, Abolition of Man and several other books is tremendous and well worth a listen -- or two -- or even three. He demonstrates how literature can be either direct or indirect to make a point and teach a lesson. Abolition is an example of direct literature, Lost indirect. Lewis uses logic and reasoning; Percy uses satire, irony, and humor. But both works explain the crisis of modern man, men without chests, that is men who have lost the heart of things.

Free Fr. Gordon MacRae: Justice is Long Overdue!

I've written about Fr. Gordon MacRae's bizarre sex abuse case a number of times on the blog. The injustice toward him shows the absolute corruption of a deep state when those in charge lack honesty and integrity and are willing to railroad the innocent to advance their careers or advance an agenda.