Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in You.
"God is the God of patience, and waits and waits for the child who keeps him waiting and will not open the door."
The novel is a fascinating study of family life, unhappy marriage, sacrificial love, friendship, rejection, regret.... If you want a thought-provoking story about life and character, read it. Take it on vacation. Let the sound of the waves, like the heartbeat of the earth, be the background music for your thoughts. Seeing the quote reminded me of the novel which can be read or downloaded online. (Go here.)
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| A hero in a roman collar! |
One of the things I mentioned briefly during my talk was the reality that there are traitors in roman collars. In the early days of the pro-life movement there was a real chance of passing a human life amendment to protect all lives from the moment of conception until natural death. That amendment wasn't deep-sixed by the feminists but principally by one priest -- Monsignor (later Bishop) James McHugh. As head of the USCCB's pro-life office, he had many contacts with laity fighting for life. It is an understatement to say he was not helpful, but actually threw roadblocks in the path to saving the unborn.
My friend Dexter Duggan who writes for The Wanderer has an excellent piece on his substack site relating to the attack on Iran.
Another Undeclared War Drops on Our Doorstep
Reading up on professional, paid trolling I wondered if there are paid trolls out there who go after the websites, blogs, social media pages, etc. of orthodox/traditional Catholics. I have no illusions about the influence of my blog. I generally have 300-400 visitors a day. If something I write strikes a chord, I can get as many as 700-1,000 visitors, but that's rare.
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| Mary Magdalene embracing the cross. |
How great are the trials that beset the Christian, from the cradle to the gave! Sometimes those who are least deserving of pain suffer the most. Te nearer they approach God, the more thoroughly they are purified by the fire of suffering. The more earnestly they strive to serve God, the more they are misunderstood, despised, repudiated, and persecuted by the world. Sometimes they receive like treatment even from their friends."Because...I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you" (John 15:19). Even those who are nearest to us and whom we justly hold in high esteem desert us. Even those in whom we trusted consider themselves justified in deserting d rejecting us. These sufferings are certainly the deepest and most bitter.
Sometimes God Himself seems to have taken the side of our enemies.
I've always been fascinated by the Big Bang Theory of the origin of the universe and life itself. Can you imagine anything more fitting than the Word saying "Light" and the incredible explosion of creation? My brother was a physicist and he got hung up on the fact that the sun wasn't created until the fourth day. But really, the universe is filled with light; the sun wasn't the only heavenly body of fire.
You can't make this stuff up! Democrats virtue signal about how much they care, but the only thing we see evidence of is that they care about power, money, and their personal elitist lifestyles. And this guy thinks he should be president?
When you get stirred up over something someone posted on social media or a blog comment or an in-person confrontation, what do you do? I think the sensible first response is to hit the pause button. Step 2 is to ask yourself these questions: "What's going on here? Why am I upset? What is this person's motivation? What's the best way to respond?"
There are a number of answers to the question, What's going on here? It's an important place to begin in order to prevent being pinned to a board like an insect, which is exactly what some people seem to want. So what's going on? Here are some possibilities:
Jesus gave us the roadmap to happiness. Love God with your whole heart, mind, soul, and strength and love your neighbor as yourself. That's the highway to heaven? And once we get to the finish line Peter and his successors hold the keys to heaven's gates.
The Church tells us, "Extra ecclesiam nulla salus," Outside the Church there is no salvation. But what exactly does that mean? Can only baptized Catholics go to heaven?
You can fool all of the people some of the time and some of the people all of the time, but you can't fool all of the people all of the time.
It's tie to never be confounded and fooled again by liars and deceivers working for the enemy. Some people become deceivers out of ignorance. We saw a lot of that during COVID. Low information folks trying to convince those of us doing the research that all the scientists and doctors questioning Fauci et al were quacks and we needed to get with the program. Most of them were just foolish not malicious. But others among the doctors, pharmacists, those profiteering, the mainstream media, etc. were not innocent. They deliberately lied and withheld the truth. And many people died because of it.
The latest hoax being pushed by the Democrats was sparked by the removal of Senator Padilla from Christi Noem's press conference after loudly interrupting her opening statement and moving toward the podium as he shouted. He identified himself as a U.S. senator. Even if he did, how could security personnel be sure it was true? Do you recognize him as a U.S. senator? Was that a ploy to get close to the Secretary? Did he have a weapon? Padillo was acting like the proverbial bull in a china shop moving aggressively toward the podium and resisting any efforts by security to stop him.
I have a friend who says she never reads fiction. She considers it a waste of time. That's unfathomable to me! My response is to recall a fictional conversation between Anne Shirley and Marilla in the novel Anne of Green Gables beautifully depicted in the movie where Anne is played by Megan Follows and Marilla by Colleen Dewhurst. Anne asks Marilla if she can call her Aunt Marilla. Marilla says no, just call her Marilla since she doesn't believe in people using names that are not their own. "You could imagine you're my aunt," Ann suggests. Marilla replies, "No I could not." "Don't you ever imagine things differently from what they are?" Ann asks. "No!" is Marilla's short reply. With a sigh and a little headshake Ann takes Marilla's hand lamenting, "Oh Marilla, how much you miss."
My dear friend Jack Ames of Defend Life organizes a Maryland Face the Truth Tour every summer. It's a week of multiple stops each day using huge pro-life/abortion signs to expose communities to the truth about child-killing in the womb. Jack asked me to give a talk on the preliminary prep/training day about the early history of the pro-life movement. My qualifications? I'm old and started working in the pro-life movement in 1972 before Roe v. Wade. Some of the early heroes I'll be talking about directly impacted my own involvement in pro-life activism through their witness and inspiration. How much I thank God for all of them!
Sitting at my computer this morning I experienced an interesting optical illusion. Looking across the field through the "frame" of two tree trunks, I saw the head of a roman wearing a laurel wreath in profile. He looked very much like this:
As the wind blew his mouth opened and closed as if he were speaking. Of course, I knew it was just an illusion created by my brain, but it fascinated me and got me thinking about illusions and truth.
When our children were young we had a car with no radio. So we entertained the kids by telling stories. Larry told fairy tales and I told Bible stories. A favorite from Daddy was The Three Little Pigs. Mom and Dad filled up their napsacks with all kinds of goodies and sent them off to make their way in the world, build their own houses, and outsmart wolves.
I've always loved the scene in Bambi about Spring arriving and all the creatures being "twitterpated!" I couldn't help thinking of that this morning as I watched a mama doe amble through the yard followed by a newborn, the littlest I've seen this Spring. We have deer in the yard every day and the does know Camp Kreitzer is a safe haven. They often leave their babies here while they go off to forage. Last year we had twins settled down on the side of the driveway just lolling in the sun. What a delight to go out and see them every morning.
It's hard to believe what Bishop Michael Martin is doing in Charlotte. Under Bishop Jugis the diocese thrived. Under this new bishop, the wreckovation is in process bigtime. The four pastors at the parishes where the TLM is being eliminated begged him not to do it. They pointed out there was no disunity in their parishes. The bishop didn't bother to visit any of the four parishes; he simply stomped on the flock with hobnailed boots. As of yesterday, the bishop has delayed his orders because of a significant backlash not only in his diocese, but across the country. The planned date of implementation is now October 2nd. [Source]
Today is my oldest sibling's birthday, my brother Ray. The first of ten living children he began his life in Hawaii when my dad, a recent Naval Academy grad, was stationed at Pearl Harbor. Ray always called himself the youngest Pearl Harbor survivor since my mom was only a few weeks pregnant when evacuated to the mainland. Ray ended his life here in Woodstock and continues to be loved and missed.
The pope sent a strong message against cohabitation and in favor of Christian marriage during the Jubilee of Families. What a needed message for our modern world! And what a repudiation of Francis' scandalous remarks that cohabitation is true marriage. It isn't!
I recently had a conversation with a handyman doing some work for us. He and his live in partner both came from sad family situations. His mother was divorced several times. Her parents were divorced as well. They've been together for sixteen years, but have no intention of marrying. Compounding the tragedy is the fact that he's a lapsed Catholic.
My husband checked the bees today. Two of our three hives were overrun with ants. Ants are interesting creatures. Not as interesting to me as the bees, and a nuisance for beekeepers, but still amazing little bugs. The first thing they do when the nest is threatened is to rescue the babies. You can see the grown up ants scurrying to carry off the eggs to safety.
Life can be a real challenge at times. I ended up at the ER Saturday the 24th with a high fever. They thought it was one thing which is turned out not to be and sent me home with a prescription for antibiotics. Things went from bad to worse. I was so sick by Tuesday I could hardly walk and my husband called an ambulance. I was admitted back to the ER with a temperature of 102.6 and a mystery disease. Lab tests were normal. I mentioned I'd had a tick bite so they started testing for various tick borne diseases.
One of Francis's worst moves was appointing a woman, a nun, to oversee all the religious congregations in the Church, both men and women. That was just one of his innovations, essentially changing canon law.
It is the responsibility of the clergy, not women religious or laity (neither men or women) to teach, GOVERN, and sanctify. Religious sisters and laity can cooperate in the work, but canon law prohibits their playing a juridical role. Check out this article:
Joseph Ratzinger in his book, Democracy in the Church: Possibilities and Limits, spoke of the "absolutely inadmissible de facto separation between the power of order and that of government" which relegates the sacraments to the "magical" and ecclesiastical jurisdiction "to the profane."
Archbishop Vigano also weighed in with a reality check about Pope Leo's early days.
It is normal and humanly understandable that more than a decade of open persecution of Catholics by the one who presented himself as their Pope would lead many of us to desire a truce, hoping that Our Lord would give His Church - if not a new Pius X - at least another Benedict XVI.
But this legitimate desire - certainly animated by good feelings and love for the Church - cannot transform itself into a virtual reality in which, even against all evidence, everything must necessarily be read as a confirmation of what we would like, and not of what is really happening. We cannot build for ourselves a "virtual church" with a "virtual papacy" that we love and serve in a consoling but unreal fiction.
The confirmation of a notorious heretic to the Cathedra of Saint Gallen in Switzerland; the appointment of a nun as Secretary of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, in line with the appointment of a Prefectess by Bergoglio; the repeated references to the heretical documents of his predecessor and to Vatican II; the declarations on ecumenism and synodality, and finally the acceptance of climate fraud; all place Robert Francis Prevost in evident and disturbing continuity with his predecessor, and it will certainly not be the stole and mozzetta that will change reality.
Along with this, we have evidence of a new crackdown on the TLM (Traditional Latin Mass). In Charlotte, the bishop has banned the Mass of the Ages from all diocesan churches. He's relegated it to a Protestant church in Moorefields only two Sundays a month.
Steve Bannon interviewed Liz Yore about what's happening. Check out the interview here.
I couldn't help thinking of Antonio Gramsci as I listened to the interview. Gramsci developed a theory of Communism that replaced violent overthrow of western cultures with infiltration and the slow march through the institutions. If you're interested read more about Gramsci here.
It looks like enthusiasm over Pope Leo was premature. Let us pray for him, but have no illusions.
“Simply put, the portion of new priests who see themselves as politically ‘liberal’ or theologically ‘progressive’ has been steadily declining since the Second Vatican Council and has now all but vanished,” the report asserts.
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| Latest target of SNAP, a crime syndicate masquerading as a victim advocacy group! |
SNAP [Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests] claims to be a victim advocacy group. What they really are is a corrupt organization best personified by an octopus. Their tentacles reach out to attach sticky pads to often innocent victims and suck them dry to fill up the SNAP treasure chests. Groups like this do not help real victims. In fact, they use victims as cover to gird themselves in a faux legitimacy, using the faces and stories of victims to fill their coffers. Perhaps we need a network for those abused by SNAP!
...and how many villains were really heroes? These are serious questions. As they say, the winners write the history. So always look at the reports from biased contemporaries with a jaundiced eye. Politicians who win don't make trustworthy critics of their political enemies. Neither do the losers for that matter. A little time is necessary to evaluate the real impact of movers and shakers.
I love to bring in my spring flowers to honor Mary. It reminds me of all the May processions of my childhood. Mary please inspire us with a great appreciation for the beauty of the created world that we might express deep gratitude to your Son.
Today is the feast day (in the traditional calendar) of St. Jean Baptiste De La Salle, founder of the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools and patron saint of teachers. He founded free schools for the poor and teachers institutes to train those who would form the minds and hearts of little ones. His apostolate, like that of St. John Bosco later, was often attacked, especially by those who thought the poor should be raised only in trades and manual labor. His congregation focused on "lay" brothers who were not going to be priests, but whose work was to be in the classroom.
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| Not Scooby! |
It's been a few years since we had a dog, and probably wouldn't have one now except for
the fact that one of our daughter's four dogs is jealous of her baby. Scooby, a little yorkie poo, doesn't like the little one to sit on Mom's lap. He also gets into it with the other three dogs, especially Rocket, a male miniature dachshund. So Scooby has moved in with the two old folks whose quiet life seems to be good for him -- except for one thing -- he doesn't get enough exercise. Five or six calm walks a day don't make the grade and Scooby is an escape artist.
If you open the door even a little, he's out and gone down the road. It's amazing how fast those little legs can go. We were doing fairly well avoiding the escapes until the past few days when he darted by me twice rejoicing in freedom. I certainly was not rejoicing as I took off after him thinking, "Old age and road races don't go together." On the other hand, I had a chance to visit with several neighbors who participated in the rescue.
I often check LifeSiteNews in the morning. Today I read John Henry Weston's commentary. I love the phrase he used, "anchored in charity." Imagine a world where all of us anchor our little boats with charity! Check out the article. It's short but pithy.:
Toward a more excellent way: speaking the truth in charity
One of my readers left a link to a good sermon that outlines how we should respond to the pope. I found it personally challenging and a bit of a reprimand. The unnamed priest talks about "real Catholicism." He begins by making the distinction between the two ways the pope speaks, the first as the authoritative head of the Church expressing Catholic truth that is binding on the flock.
It’s not an uncommon occurrence for pilots, especially in poor visibility, and it’s incredibly dangerous. According to the Federal Aviation Administration, between 5 percent and 10 percent of all aviation accidents are caused by spatial disorientation, and of those crashes, 90 percent are fatal.
White smoke this evening heralded the election of the first American pope, Cardinal Robert Prevost. He is the least American of all the U.S. cardinals having spent years in Peru as a missionary bishop. As head of the Dicastery for Bishops for the past two years, he is probably better known by more of the cardinals. Perhaps that played a role in his election. At any rate we have a pope, Leo XIV.
This morning at 4:00 a.m. eastern time (10:00 a.m. in Rome) the cardinals gathered for Mass. They are now in the Sistine Chapel. All those not involved in the procedure have left and the cardinals are locked in. The first vote will take place this evening. Then there will be four votes daily, two in the morning and two in the evening, until a new pope is chosen heralded by the white smoke.
We are on the cusp of a new day of faith or a new day of disaster. Will the successors of the St. Gallen Mafia succeed in placing a clone of Francis in Peter's chair? Or will we see a true shepherd with zeal for the faith and for the salvation of the flock be chosen?
There is something providential about the week of the conclave beginning with the feast of St. Pope Pius V, one of the greatest reformer popes in the history of the Church. Catholic Online describes his papacy, both the accomplishments and mistakes:
I was cleaning off a hot spot in my kitchen this afternoon; (There are hot spots everywhere in my house!) and came across a poem I started about books. I can't remember doing it, but it's my handwriting, so I must have. Maybe I wrote it in my sleep. I've always been absent-minded but this is ridiculous!
What triggered the creation? I have no idea -- perhaps my granddaughter's book bingo. Anyway, life is so serious these days, taking a few minutes of respite from all the craziness of the culture and the concern about the conclave appeals to me. If you feel the same way about books that I do, perhaps you'll enjoy this. And when you're done, Silly Songs with Larry is fun too.
If you are like me, you never heard of sourdough discard and perhaps have never experimented with making sourdough bread, so let me explain. When you first make the starter, you simply combine unbleached flour and filtered water in equal parts. You add the same amount every twelve hours for seven days leaving the mixture covered with a napkin or towel in a warm place. (I put it in the oven with the light on.) Each time you add the flour and water, you mix vigorously to add air. The starter picks up natural yeast from the air and ferments. On day seven your starter should be bubbly, doubled in bulk, with a sour smell. You "discard" all but half a cup and continue adding more flour and water once a day.
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| Getty images |
There are few human controversies: wars, feuds, marital strife, personal disagreements between friends, etc. where one side represents the angels and the other side the devils. Of course, sometimes individuals and groups deliberately align themselves with evil, a more serious situation. Terrorist and satanic groups (including freemasons), drug and sex trafficking cartels, etc. enthusiastically embrace evil. But even in those cases, the members often are a mixed bag. Only God knows the percentages of good and evil in a person's heart. Is there anyone on earth who has never done a good deed? I think that would be a hard case to prove in court. Jesus Himself made that clear through the words of St. Matthew:
Thinking of and praying for St. Joseph's assistance is a great way to start the month of May, especially with the upcoming conclave to elect a new pope beginning on May 7th. St. Joseph served the little domestic Church of the Holy Family as its head. He guards the universal Church.
President Donald Trump’s In Vitro Executive Order (2/18/2025), directing the federal government to expand access to IVF conception techniques, is the policy that most conservatives voted for Donald Trump “in spite of” rather than “because of”. Yes, his IVF EO supports social conservative goals, affirming “the importance of family formation and that our Nation’s public policy must make it easier for loving and longing mothers and fathers to have children.” And he also states, “As many as one in seven couples trying to have a baby are unable to conceive.”
But then President Trump wants an alliance between social conservative values and greater public access to current IVF practices which, in part, end up by consigning the “surplus population” of redundant IVF derived embryonic human beings to be used for human experimentation, frozen for possible future “implantation,” or unceremoniously discarded. [Read full article here...]
The mainstream media has been gushing over Pope Francis making him their latest secular saint along with Margaret Sanger, George Floyd, Michael Brown, Trayvon Martin, and a host of other folks with, let's say, questionable histories. It doesn't take much to merit sainthood from that quarter.
If you're pro-abortion, LGBTQ, black and killed by a white man, or fit into any other woke categories, the halo goes on immediately after death. Some get the halo earlier though, Barack Obama for example.
The start of another week, one that will be stressful to say the least because of some medical interventions for my husband and myself. But I experienced a light-hearted moment of amusement this morning as I was praying. Thinking about what the Lord wants from me, the thought came: "Patience and perseverance." Well...Larry and I both certainly have challenges to both patience and perseverance, so working on those virtues is definitely good advice! I'll ask my guardian angel to keep me on target. Then I read the Mass for the day which honored St. Paul of the Cross who founded the Passionists.
Some Catholics erroneously believe that the Holy Ghost chooses the pope. If that were true, one would have to wonder how competent He is in view of the number of corrupt, licentious and just plain bad popes that have filled the chair of Peter over the centuries. NO! The cardinals don't lose their free well when the doors of the conclave are locked. And anyone with open eyes saw the machinations behind the election of Jorge Bergoglio. The St. Gallen Mafia certainly didn't gather to pray the novena to the Holy Ghost for the next pope. They gathered as liberal church politicians intent on electing their man to turn the Catholic faith into one more modernist Protestant sect.
The Arlington Catholic Herald's front page article on Pope Francis in the current issue (April 24 - May7) made me shake my head. Ridiculously one-sided and it totally ignored anything that might upset the instant canonization applecart. From headline to last sentence it turned the Francis papacy into the equivalent of a snake oil salesman's pitch for his magic elixir. It is typical since Vatican II to turn every funeral into an instant canonization process, so why shouldn't we expect that for the death of a pope? After all, every pope since Vatican II except Benedict was rushed through to instant sainthood. One is tempted to say it is all about canonizing the council.
Joy, fear and suffering represent the trilogy of the Christian life. We would all love it, wouldn't we, if every moment of our lives found us bubbling over with joy? Maybe some people have that expectation about the Christian life. Surely the prosperity gospel reeks of it; but it's a fairytale! There is no happily ever after this side of the veil at least as the world defines it. Everlasting joy will come only for those who love the Lord and persevere until the end. But to expect Easter joy without the passion and cross here on earth in our daily life is a pipe dream. Unless, of course, we embrace God's will in all its fullness and come to recognize joy in fear and suffering. Some of the saints surely did that; but how many of us even come close?
