Bonnie Pierce vs. Lindsay Clancy: The Solomon Story in Real Time

Will the real mother please stand up. Neither can, Bonnie Pierce because she died saving her toddler from a devastating fire, Lindsay Clancy because of a self inflicted injury dropping from a second story window leaving her paralyzed from the waist down. 

Will the prosecutors go for a new trial for Lindsay Clancy or will she receive a get-out-of-jail free card, spend a few years (if that) in a mental facility, and then be declared "cured" and released. Would you trust her to babysit for your kids?

The discrepancy between the two Go-Fund-Me pages for Pierce vs. Clancy is shocking. Clancy's is over a million. The fund for the Pierce family just over $219,000. 

The Issue isn't the SSPX Consecrations; It's the Revolution in the Church!

 

I don't always agree with Michael Matt, but the video below is excellent. Matt discusses Bishop Thomas Paprocki's recent  statement that the SSPX have become Protestants. Bishop Paprocki is wrong.Without being disrespectful, Matt questions the bishop's opinion and raises profoundly troubling issues about the crisis in the Church. Central to his talk is the fact that the fight is not really about the SSPX consecrations, but rather the revolution in the Catholic Church. We need to pray for good bishops like Paprocki who, I sincerely believe, will, at some point, recognize and respect the actions of the Society and the emergency that necessitated it. With regard to Matt's video, if you don't want to commit to the entire 50 minutes, there's an abridged version that's twenty minutes shorter which I also posted below.

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:

So...Is Catholic Doctrine Immutable or Relative?

Some questions require either a yes or a no answer. Like Scripture says, "Let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No’ mean ‘No.’ Anything more is from the evil one." [Matt 5:37] Jesus was no prevaricator. When he spoke, his message was clear. Even his parables, when explained, made perfect sense. If the seed of truth is strewn on soil filled with lies, excuses, rationalizations, etc. it will be choked and rootless, will not thrive, and will not produce a harvest.

Sola Scriptura Protestants Don't Really Believe In Sola Scriptura!

I've had a lot of interactions with Protestants on social media over the years, anonymous Protestants usually. They often have no interest in an honest discussion about faith and the differences between Catholic belief and Protestant belief. Often they tell you what Catholics believe which is almost always wrong and, when you correct them, they just repeat their errors insisting they're right. It's actually pretty funny. They know more about what Catholics believe than a life-long Catholic does. They often aren't interested in a good-faith exchange; they just repeat their bigot points. Catholics worship Mary. The Catholic Church is the whore of Babylon and the pope is the anti-Christ. Catholics aren't allowed to read the Bible. Yadda Yadda. Many Protestants are rabidly anti-Catholic bigots who are just trolling and lobbing insults -- not exactly a model of Christian charity.

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

Do We Defy the Authority of the Church if We Disobey the Pope's Demands?

I'll answer a question with a question, two questions in fact. Was it wrong for Catholics to disobey the pope when he said everyone should get the COVID jab? Were Catholics who refused to obey the pope challenging the authority of Holy Mother Church?

Simple answer to both questions: NO! NO! HELL NO!

Infallibility 101: The Pope Can't Tell You What to Eat for Breakfast!

Oatmeal is good for you!
Just eat it already!

Supposing the pope decided that every Catholic should eat oatmeal for breakfast. It's good for you and gluten free. Suppose he wrote an Apostolic Exhortation about it and the Bishops of the United States asked if they should interpret it to mean that every Catholic should order oatmeal when they breakfast at a restaurant, that ordering bacon and eggs is a gross violation of the pope's will and an act of disobedience. Suppose the pope responded that their interpretation was the only possible interpretation.

Ridiculous right?

But there are some Catholics who believe that every word and every opinion of the pope is infallible. That is a mistaken notion and the first Vatican Council, which declared infallibility, expressed exactly how limited that gift of the holy Spirit is:

Is the Pope Catholic?: The Ambiguous World of Pope Francis

Remember the cliche response to questions with an obvious answer? Someone asks a football nut if he's going to watch the Super Bowl and he responds, "Is the pope Catholic?" 

Well...you don't hear that much these days for obvious reasons, but it really came home to me with two articles I happened to read this week. One was from the October 27th issue of The Wanderer by Raymond De Souza titled When Ambiguity Holds Sway in the Church. If anything marks this pontificate, ambiguity takes the premier position. And that reminds me of a comedy routine by Emo Philips when he ends a joke saying, "Ambiguity... the devil's volleyball."

Archbishop Lefebvre Speaks about his Suspension "A Divinas" in 1976 Homily at Lille, France

Have you listened and embraced all the slanders against Archbishop Lefebvre? Maybe it's time to listen to the man himself. I recently came across a video with the archbishop's own voice with English subtitles. It was the famous Mass and homily at Lille, France, after his suspension. The enemies of the archbishop called it an act of defiance, but it wasn't. It was a crie de coeur. The archbishop meant the August 29th Mass to be a private event for a few hundred people at most. But when the press got word of it, they portrayed it as an act of defiance and tens of thousands of faithful Catholics attended. I found the archbishop's words so poignant and so relevant to the disaster we are facing in the Church that I want to share it. [NB: I am not endorsing Fr. Hewko whose commentary begins the video.]

Nabi Sayeth: Let the Climbers Learn from the Humble African Bishops!

Nigerian bishops speak with a prophetic voice.
"Protect Life!"

Nabi Sayeth: The very foundation of the Christian family is under severe threat from the promoters of
the LGBTQ movement. Under the guise of promoting tolerance for alternative views of human sexuality and family life, LGBTQ activists use every means at their disposal to get their agenda enshrined in our national and global laws.

WASHINGTON, D.C., July 31, 2018 (LifeSiteNews) — Pro-homosexual voices are up in arms over remarks by a Trump administration official pledging to end the Obama-era practice of using aid to influence foreign nation’s policies on abortion and homosexuality.

The Diabolical Machinations of Pope Francis

Evil Counsel

Good Counsel

*Below are three observations on the Synod on Youth.

1) COMMENT by Pope Francis at the Synod:
"I would like to say to the young people: forgive us if often we have not listened to you. If instead of opening our hearts, we have filled your ears."

TRANSLATION: 
We will not guide you, nor educate you in authentic Catholic doctrine, but only accompany you in doing whatever it is you personally want to do, no matter what sexual practices you wish to adopt

When Ambiguity is Used to Undermine Doctrine

To my Argentine brothers, thanks for the help on AL.
Way to go, boys!

Comedian Emo Phillips has a funny routine that ends this way, "Ambiguity...the devil's volleyball." And it seems that many of today's bishops and even the pope himself belong to the Emo Phillips school of doctrine. But I'll let someone else a lot smarter than I am discuss the ambiguities in Amoris Laetitia and the devastating impact on the faith.

Some (Not Entirely Random) Thoughts on “Amoris Laetitia”

Robert Royal pegs it and illustrates that not only are we in cultural meltdown, but doctrinal meltdown as well. I lament with Jesus, "When I return will I find any faith on the earth?" Oh, and now Pope Francis is setting to work on the liturgy. Can we expect a return of butterfly vestments?

Read the article and watch for the program coming out soon on EWTN.

The Pope Confirms New Possibilities for the Divorced and Remarried

Somebody take away his mike....PLEASE!

On the plane from Greece returning to Rome, the pope was asked:

Some maintain that nothing has changed with respect to the discipline that governs the access to the Sacraments for the divorced and remarried, and that the law and the pastoral practice and obviously the doctrine remains the same; others maintain instead that much has changed and that there are many new openings and possibilities. The question is for one person, a Catholic, that wants to know: Are there new concrete possibilities, that did not exist before the publication of the Exhortation or not.

The pope's answer? “Io posso dire sì. Punto.” In English: “I can say yes. Period.” (Source)

Lutherans First, Divorced and Remarried and Active Homosexuals Next?

Lutherans receive Communion at the Vatican

I am grieving for Holy Mother Church. Somebody posted two quotes on Facebook yesterday comparing a statement from Pope Pius XII about the unchanging Church and a quote from Pope Francis. The difference was amazing. I tried to find them but couldn't. If anybody else sees them, please post them in the comments.

The wisdom of Pope Pius compared to the banality and silliness of Pope Francis' statement was staggering. Sometimes I think our Holy Father is Barack Obama's twin brother. He makes things up as he goes along and attacks anybody who disagrees with him.

How I long to see Pope Pius XII canonized instead of all these modern popes who have ruled over our dwindling Church and created so much confusion.

Enjoy Atheist Penn Jillette...

...as he puts heretical Catholic, Piers Morgan, to shame.

An atheist can be a truth seeker and this man obviously is one. He respects the internal consistency of Catholic orthodoxy. His logic is impeccable. If we believe that the Holy Spirit speaks through the Church, then Catholics (Take note, Piers!) MUST accept what is defined as doctrine. To do otherwise is, as Jillette points out, the position of Martin Luther. So be consistent, Piers. Either stop dissenting and be a real Catholic or go join a Protestant sect. ECUSA (Episcopal Church USA) would fit you nicely and it's strongly linked to the Brits' collapsing Anglican Church. 

Pray for Penn Jillette! His defense of the Church in the video deserves our thanks!

Will Pope Francis be the Mouse that Roars?

The blogs are a-twitter with posts about the humble style of our new pope. The photo says it all.

But as I look at our new pope's bold acts condemning abortion and euthanasia, homosexual marriage and adoption, liberation theology, etc. I think perhaps the cardinals have elected the mouse that roars.

I am particularly impressed with his simple lifestyle, something his brothers would do well to imitate.

So let's all pray for Pope Francis. He cares deeply about evangelization and, let's face it, we certainly need that with the sorry state of education among Catholics, many of whom reject fundamental doctrines.

As for the conclave watchers who wanted a new type of pope who would reject everything the Church teaches by approving contraception and abortion, blessing divorce, advancing the homosexual lifestyle, approving women's ordination, and generally turning the Catholic Church into ECUSA (Episcopal Church USA), eat your heart out. This man loves the Church. It ain't gonna happen.

Mary, Mother of the Church and Queen of the Clergy, pray for our new Holy Father and for the flock he shepherds.

Pew Survey is Bad News for Catholics

A recent Pew Survey shows Catholics favoring Obama by 15% in the upcoming election. Jeff Mirus at Catholic Culture points out the most shocking result of the poll:

The most damning result of the poll is that Catholics who attend Mass at least weekly favor Mitt Romney by only nine percent (51 to 42). This compares with nearly a 30 point gap the other way for those who attend Mass very rarely or not at all. Why isn’t there a comparable gap against Obama by regularly practicing Catholics? This represents a colossal Catholic failure.

Absolutely! A colossal failure in teaching Catholics the faith. The only reason people sitting in the pew week after week listening to scripture readings and hearing homilies can hold this position is that they have not been taught the faith. Pabulum from the pulpit cannot form correct consciences. Most Catholics believe their feelings and opinions are "conscience" and they can legitimately follow them without sin. Far from the truth!

Conscience is an act of the intellect. It is conscience that should inform and direct feelings and opinions instead of the other way around. Conscience is the "voice of truth" that must be properly formed so it conforms to the natural law and the doctrines of the Church. A sound conscience will feel guilty when guilt is appropriate for evil acts and feel morally upright when decisions are morally sound. A person who feels no guilt over committing an atrocity is a sociopath whose conscience is dead.

There is an excellent booklet put out by Leaflet Missal Company that should be read by every Catholic before the election. It's called A Brief Catechism for Catholic Voters by Fr. Stephen Torraco. I recommend it and urge you to order and read it and share it with your Catholic and Christian friends. Friends don't let friends make decisions that send them headlong down the road to hell without trying to put the brakes on. Pray the rosary for Obama Catholics (an oxymoron) and give them the booklet. That's a recipe for soul-saving.