Part 1 of Traditio, the three part series on the SSPX -- What is a Priest?

How many of our U.S. clergy believe what is presented in this video? Pray for priests! Pray even harder for bishops...and even harder for the pope. Some demons are only driven out by prayer AND FASTING! Does your bishop "accompany you in the spiritual life?" Is your local Church building the faith or undermining it? SSPX priests are well formed and they preach and teach the faith with zeal. No showmanship, no clapping, no novelties — just the pure, unadulterated faith. Let us all keep praying and trust in God.

Sunday Meditation: Did the Bishops Really Consecrate the Nation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus?

On June 11th the bishops ostensibly consecrated the U.S. to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. But did they? What is a consecration? Here's the prayer they offered. As you read it find, if you can, the point where they consecrated the nation to the Sacred Heart:

O Most Sacred Heart of Jesus: You know the longings of our hearts, and you desire that we enjoy friendship with you. From your pierced side, you have poured out the wellspring of life, for which we thirst. Your heart burns with a love for all people to return to a right relationship with you.

In this month of the Sacred Heart, Let us read the Visions of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque.

What better time to read the visions of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque than the month dedicated to the Sacred Heart. She can appropriately be described as the apostle of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. How united she was to his passion and death to the point of receiving the stigmata. How united she was to the sufferings of her Lord.

Suffering? Join It To the Cross of Christ

Today is the feast of the Sacred Heart. It offers an invitation to each of us to look on our sufferings as fuel. The heart of Christ is a burning furnace of charity. We can place the logs of our sufferings in that furnace and watch them burst into flame creating embers mixed with the glowing embers of Christ's love. 

Remember St. Paul's admonition in Romans 12:20 to heap burning coals on the heads of our enemies, the burning coals of conversion. Let us never miss an opportunity to love our neighbor with both the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. 

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.

O Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make my heart like unto thine.

As a companion to my previous post about St. Alphonsus

In this month dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, I offer this reflection from St.  Alphonsus Liguori as a companion piece to my previous post. How often have we despised love and returned ingratitude for the suffering and sacrifices, not only of our Savior Jesus Christ, but of others. How often have we taken for granted the love of Christ and failed to thank Him? Let us get up every morning thanking God for the new day, for everything that will take place in it, for all our blessings and benefits. And let us remember our duty to "love your neighbor as yourself."

Today, the bishops of the United States consecrate our country to the most Sacred Heart of Jesus. May that heart strengthen all our faithful bishops, our good shepherds for whom we are so grateful and convert the hearts of all our unfaithful bishops, the wolves and hirelings, for whose conversion we sacrifice and pray.

A Poem in Honor of St. Alphonsus Liguori

Every now and then I write poetry, not especially good poetry, mind you, just flights of fancy. It happens a lot when I'm on five-day silent retreats. Perhaps I'm a bit stir crazy by the fourth day, but I have lots of poems in the back of my retreat journals.

How many shepherds have lost the faith?

 

What happens when the shepherds who are supposed to protect the flock and lead them in safety, abandon the field to the wolves? How safe are the sheep?

A Sad Farewell to a Holy Friend, Fr. Tom Collins

Dear Friends, 

I call you friends because you've touched my life. Some of you with kind comments and promises of prayers I hardly deserve, others with nasty comments that invite me to humility and patience. And then there are the invisible readers some of whom I think also probably pray for me. How much I appreciate you all.

Those who are long-time readers of the blog have seen many articles from my dear friend, Fr. Tom Collins. He contributed numerous guest articles filled with wisdom and Catholic truth. What a gift!

 Father had a stroke recently and died of complications on Monday. How much he will be missed. 

Sleepless in Woodstock with St. Hildegard of Bingen

Sleep has been elusive this week. Oh, I have no trouble falling asleep, but after a few hours I'm wide awake with a racing mind (and sometimes heart). My go-to habit when I can't sleep is to pray the seven sorrows of Mary. But sometimes I just give up and get up. 

So here I am since 2:30 a.m. wide awake and wishing I weren't. And yet, so many of the saints spent their nights in prayer. Sad to say, I'm more likely to be doing the cryptogram or sudoku puzzles in the Epoch Times in the middle of the night. And sometimes, I do the worst thing for sleep. I turn on the computer.

This morning my computer search took me to a saint whom I've never studied, Hildegard of Bingen. This 12th century saint, abbess and doctor of the church, intrigues me. Not only that, but I had to laugh when I came across this snippet of information:

Sunday Meditation: Sacred Heart of Jesus Month

While the secular world celebrates June as sodomy month, a sin that cries to heaven for vengeance; Catholics celebrate the Sacred Heart of Jesus. So here are a few quotes from the saints on which to meditate. The Sacred Heart graphically reveals to us the tremendous love of Jesus Christ for sinful men. May we express our gratitude by offering all our wounds to Him in atonement for our sins.

Going to a Grandson's Wedding

Our oldest grandchildren have reached the age where wedding bells are in the air. Today we will joyfully attend the marriage ceremony and feast of a grandson, the fourth celebration of its kind for us. I've been thinking about the three previous weddings: the first in Texas during COVID, the second in Virginia with a raging thunderstorm that knocked out the electricity at the reception, the third in Ohio on a beautiful fall day, and now this fourth event which will leave its own lovely and unique memories.

Every wedding we attend reminds me of our own wedding back in 1969, but family weddings are special. What struck me today during my morning prayer was the memory of the nuptual blessing -- that you might see your children and your children's children. 

Thought for the day: The challenge of imitating the saints.

Love isn't easy, certainly not as easy as hate. Someone injures us and we want justice; someone slanders us and we want revenge; someone lies about us and we want to take them down. Isn't that true? 

Don't we want to give back the blows we get from others and add a kick as well? Forgiving those who don't ask for forgiveness or even acknowledge the wrong they did is especially hard. When I read about a mother who forgives the person who murdered her child, I'm amazed, more than amazed, shocked. How do you do that? The martyrs did it, of course, but it's easier to pay lip service to our Christian beliefs than to act on them.

Accused Priests? Many Are Not Guilty!

I've been reflecting for the past few days on the accusations against the rector of the diocesan cathedral, Fr. Patrick Posey. An accuser has come forth claiming abuse over thirty years ago. I don't know Fr. Posey personally, but his reputation from friends who do know him is praiseworthy. So here we have someone come forth with thirty-year-old accusations. No matter how this resolves, Fr. Posey will always be under a cloud. How do you disprove something that supposedly happened thirty years ago, especially in an era of the lie?  And what's the quote about a lie traveling around the world before the truth gets out of bed?

Is Islam a Religion of Peace?

 

I've been receiving a number of comments from "unknown" who says he's a Muslim and claiming this:

Our religion commands us to love those who hate us and to do good to our enemies, but how do you want people to treat Muslims because of the 'truth' you tell about Islam? Do you even see Muslims as individual souls, the way God sees them, or as a monolith you fear even though as I pointed out in my comment you didn't publish, Jesus tells us constantly not to be afraid. He is with us always and He thirsts for souls. It's one thing to try to get the speck out of your brother's eye when you have a log in your own (and I'm sure I have one in mine or you would publish my comments), but what happens when you don't even think of the other person as a person you would even try to help but just take your big log and bash them to death?

Love Does Not Keep a Record of Wrongs

I often read St. Paul's description of love from 1 Corinthians 13 and ask the question, "How 
am I doing, Lord?" Sometimes well; too often not so well:

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

The Truth and the Lie: Where Do We Stand?

Has anything changed in the decade since Cardinal Caffarra gave the address below? The truth and the lie are in constant confrontation. If we are people of the truth, where do we stand in this battle? Truth is not relative; it’s a rock! The lie is shifting sand. When we evaluate the things around us, we need to discern where truth stands like a rock. And then we need to chain ourselves to that rock so we can withstand the tsunami of lies constantly washing over us to separate us from the truth.