Sunday Meditation: A Most Necessary Virtue in Times of Tribulation and Chaos

When the world seems to be falling into chaos and tribulation, that is exactly when we need to embrace the virtue of hope! When everything seems to be out of kilter and the earth under our feet seems more like quicksand, that is exactly when we need to turn up the volume on hope!

Want to Rebel? Go to Church!

How do you rebel in a culture that encourages every kind of evil and insanity on the planet? When tattoos and body piercing and weird haircuts and colors are the rage, when perversion is accepted and even honored as "pride" -- well...how do you rebel against that kind of freak show society? 

More Reasons for Hope! The Young are Standing up for the Faith!

Young voters and young Catholics are increasingly more "conservative". I use that word in the sense of conservation, upholding what in the past has made the secular culture and the Church strong. 

We've known for several years that seminarians and young priests are increasingly more orthodox, a great sign for the future. A major survey in 2023 by Catholic University of America indicated that "progressive" priests are going extinct. Alleluia for that! A bit from the article:

“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.

Are You on the Bridge or in the Tunnel?

[Take a trip across the 23 mile Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel as a metaphor of life's journey. Turn off the sound if you don't want to listen to the obnoxious music in the video.]

Some images are perfect metaphors for life's journey. Before Mass today, I was reading the morning devotion from Benedictus, Psalm 142, a pretty gloomy reflection:

For the enemy hath persecuted my soul: he hath brought down my life to the earth. He hath made me to dwell in darkness as those that have been dead of old: and my spirit is in anguish within me....

The image that popped into my head as I read this was the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. (I have a weird brain!)  If you've never driven that route, it's a 23-mile bridge/tunnel, mostly above water but with two mile-long tunnels taking you deep under the bay. I've been through it once years ago and don't really have any desire to repeat the experience, although it is an impressive engineering marvel. 

Monday Meandering Thoughts and Questions

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  Bartolome Esteban Murillo

  I'm currently reading The Life and Glories of Saint Joseph by Edward Healy Thompson, M.A. Despite the lack of information about St. Joseph in scripture, the Doctors of the Church, and many spiritual writers have written widely about this silent saint. We know he was the "son of Jacob" from St. Matthew's gospel which gives us Joseph's natural geneology. St. Luke gives us, on the other hand, his legal geneology as the "son of Heli." Both statements are true. He was the natural born son of Jacob, but the legal son of Heli, as his son-in-law. And who was Heli? According to a number of the spiritual writers who take this view, it was Joachim the father of Mary. The names Heli, Eliachim and Joachim are synonymous in scripture. If this view is correct, and the reasoning presented by the author is convincing, then Jacob and St. Ann, Mary's mother and Joachim's wife, were siblings, so Mary and Joseph were cousins. The author believes that the reason for St. Luke's genealogy was to emphasize Mary's genealogy. The book is fascinating and I recommend it for anyone who wants to know St. Joseph better. 

Never Lose Hope: A Letter from E.B. White

One of the reasons I remain on Facebook despite its censorship and bias is reflected in the beautiful article below that my sister posted on her wall today. In fact, I liked it so much I looked for the source and found the book it came from on Amazon, Letters of Note, compiled by Shaun Usher. Guess what? I ordered the book.

I've always loved Charlotte's Web and The Trumpet of the Swan. Both those children's classics are filled with hope. Charlotte gives Wilbur hope and saves his life. Louis the Swan, born without a voice, finds a way to woo and win Serena as his mate.

In the story of Pandora's Box, when all the evils are released into the world, one little thing remains -- hope. Let's never forget it!

In 1973, E.B. White wrote the following reply to a Mr. Nadeau, "who sought White's opinion on what he saw as a bleak future for the human race."

"Dear Mr. Nadeau:

God Has Not Abandoned Us by Fr. Bill Aitcheson

The wheat and the cockle will grow together until the harvest 

"For the time is, that judgment should begin at the house of God. But if first of us, what shall be the end of them that believe not in the gospel of God?" (1 Pt. 4:17)

Wait for It: Boots on the Ground in Ukraine are Coming! You Can Bet the Farm on It.

Let's face it. Not only is Joe Biden demented, but his puppet masters are determined to get us into an all-out war with Russia. To date, Uncle Joe has promised the American people that he will not send...(fill in the blank) to Ukraine...and then he proceeds to do it. The recent decision to arm Ukraine with cluster bombs is just the latest escalation in the dirty war, an escalation using particularly evil weapons banned in many countries.

What's a cluster bomb? Here's a brief definition from INews:

Sunday Meditation: When the Days are Dark, Don't Lose Hope!

Listen to the saints, have courage, and persevere:

The Pope Made a True Statement! No kids, no hope!

Earlier this month at a conference on the Italian birth rate, Pope Francis said, “The birth of children, in fact, is the main indicator for measuring the hope of a people. If few are born it means there is little hope. And this not only has repercussions from an economic and social point of view but also undermines confidence in the future.”

Sunday Meditation: Never Be Discouraged at the State of the World or the Church!

Let us rejoice during this Christmas season and never ever lose hope!

Take courage and hear these words of advice from Dom Benedict Baur, German theologian and spiritual writer:

God does indeed give Satan and evil men a certain power over the Church and her virtuous children. The evil they inflict on the Church is taken into account in the plans of God's providence. Godless men and their leader, Satan are made to serve the ends of almighty God. We are at all times under the powerful protection of God, even though it may appear that we have been delivered into the hands of our enemies.

Thought for the Day: Hope Rules!

 “Nowadays, the whole power of hell seems more than ever bent upon fighting the moral power of the Church and suffocating the divine life in souls….No doubt the abandonment of the liturgical life and the cessation of its influence upon the faithful have contributed to this impotence. Our spirituality has become narrow, dry, superficial, external, or altogether sentimental; it down not have the penetration and soul-stirring power that only the liturgy, that great source of Christian vitality can give.”

Dom Chautard wrote that in Soul of the Apostolate published in 1946. It explains in a nutshell the attack on the traditional Latin Mass. In order to advance the great reset or globalism or one world government, whatever you want to call it, the Holy Mass had to be gutted. And so the attempted suppression of the Mass of the ages will continue. It will not be successful. God wills it and those attacking it are attacking God Himself. That never works. They may seem to win for a while as they persecute the believers, especially our priests, but in the end, no matter how hard Satan and his minions rage, they lose.

Hold your ground, faithful people of God. Pray and do penance and cling to the rosary in this month dedicated to Mary’s holy rosary. Her Son is Christ the King and the king rules in the hearts of His people! Hope rules!

Dei Gratias!

With Young People Like This, the Future Looks Bright!

Mia in 2014, already in love with the faith!

Editor's Comment: Gratitude is the parent of many virtues and the letter below is a thank you message from my granddaughter, Mia, to all those who financially supported her mission trip to New Mexicoin May. I was edified and asked her if I could share it with my blog family. So here it is. With young people like Mia, the future does, indeed, look bright. Please pray for Mia and all young people today who face challenges that many of us have only read about in dystopian novels! I hope she will write for the blog again. As a busy college student who will be working as a dorm hall director this school year she probably won't have time, but the world will be hearing more from this devout and talented young woman. 

Dear Grandma and Paka,

Well, I finally went on mission! After plans were postponed and changed multiple times (I’m sure you can guess why), my team and I arrived in New Mexico ready to serve the community of Gallup. I wanted to write this letter to tell you about what we did in New Mexico and to thank you again for supporting the team and our mission.

Watch a Traditional Latin Mass Altar Boy in Training

This video was created by two brothers who are among eight youth running a website called Deus Vult (God Wills), a "blog by and for young Catholics." The cameraman is eighteen and the "acolyte in training" is his 15-year-old brother. They live on a farm as you no doubt figured out when the cow came over to check out the visitor to his field. They attend an FSSP parish. Spend five minutes on the website and you will experience great hope for the future and a sense of absolute delight.

Sunday Meditation: Do You Feel Like Everything is Falling Apart? Embrace Hope!

What's new?

When Charles Dickens opened his Tale of Two Cities with, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times," he was talking about the French Revolution, but also his own age...and ours!

Every age is the "best of times;" every age is the "worst of times."

Think about it. We live in an age of incredible medical advances. We can live longer and healthier lives if we choose to be sensible in our choices and habits. Debilitating infirmities like serious joint problems that left one nearly crippled only a few decades ago, can now be repaired with knee, hip, and shoulder replacements. If we lose teeth we can get implants and continue to eat our favorite foods. Diseases, incurable and a death sentence only a generation ago, are treatable and even curable today. Cancer patients live longer. Seventy is the new fifty.

Overcome the Darkness with the Light of Hope!

When you think the world's in twilight before dark
consider you may be seeing the coming dawn!

There is much these days to rob the most optimistic Catholic of hope. The dark clouds gather not only over our world and our country, but over the Church as well. When oppressive gloom begins to depress us, we would do well to remember the slogan of the Christophers: “It’s better to light one candle than to curse the darkness.” And if we have eyes to see, that single candle illuminates signs of hope everywhere, because hope is higher and wider than despair. Let me share a few examples.

Anthony Esolen, the persecuted English professor who got into hot water with the diversity barbarians at purportedly Catholic Providence College, recently described an experience at his new academic home, St. Thomas More College in Merrimack, NH:

Hope - Christians in Syrian Refugee Camp

Our Help and Our Hope is in the Name of the Lord!

"Hope is the power of being cheerful in circumstances which we know to be desperate."
                                                                                                   G.K. Chesterton

My husband and I recently spent about two weeks on a car trip and visit to Austin to see one of our sons and his family. We generally listen to books on tape when we drive and one choice this trip was Ten Prayers God Always Says Yes To! Great book with many sound insights. One of the prayers seemed to me to be the quintessential prayer of hope. "God get me through this!" You can only pray that prayer if you expect God to do exactly that!

We all have terrible times that grind us down and challenge us with nagging doubts. Does God really love me to allow this disaster in my life? Why is He so silent while I'm suffering? Where are you, God? Are you listening?

The grim reality is that life is, as the prayer says, a "vale of tears. " And sometimes we can feel overwhelmed as if those tears have created an ocean and we are drowning in it. Keeping our head above water for five more minutes seems impossible.

Beauty in the Midst of Horror: Hope Overcoming Despair

When I watched this video I thought of the Advent quote from Isaiah. "The people in darkness have seen a great light." Could there be many times in history darker than the Nazi holocaust? And yet people found beauty and light there. The darkness can never overcome the light.



If you subscribe to Magnificat, don't miss the testimony of the Sandy Hook mother writing about her daughter Catherine who was killed in the massacre. Her faith shines like a beacon of hope. Evil and darkness can never overcome those who live with their arms embracing the cross of Christ.

From the Trenches of the Church Militant

A friend of mine who shall remain anonymous for reasons known to both of us sent me the following e-mail about my blog post on Mike Voris' talk about the end of western civilization. I thought her comments were worth sharing. We should never despair but we need to live in the real world as Fr. John Hardon often urged. We need to raise our children not to be soft little marshmallows used to comfort and ease, but to be little warriors for good. 

I’ve been thinking a great deal about your comments [about the Mike Voris talk] and your recent blog posting on the topic of the clear end of our civilization. I have seen the writing on the wall for the last couple of years, or rather, since Obama was elected. I see no way out of our current, depressing situation. I believe that my generation was so poorly catechized and educated that we ourselves have raised the Barbarians (meaning, I don’t think the Barbarians have to come from outside our borders, they are among us…and they number more than we can count). In addition, it appears that none of the current Republican candidates are capable of beating Obama. With Obama’s total lack of respect for the laws of our nation, I can’t even begin to imagine what he will do as a lame duck president.

Still, God is Mercy. I know there is a remnant among us…an imperfect remnant, but one that seeks Truth, has a desire to grow in Faith and seeks God’s Will.

I don’t mean to pontificate, but I did want to communicate to you that I am not ready to throw up my hands and admit that defeat is inevitable. While I agree that the moral and economic future of this nation is clearly doomed, I wonder if there is any other possibility for hope. The number of alternatives are slim: hunker down here or find another place that might not collapse, or at least a place in which our children might have true liberty in the years to come.

It seems to me that while we still have the liberty to do so, we, the remnant should develop a cohesive, prayerful plan for our future, a plan to do exactly what you said: to enable us and our Catholic Faith to survive during the dark ages to come. I don’t have any more than that, but I think it worthwhile for us and those of like mind to begin to prayerfully beg for Divine guidance on the subject…and beg for HOPE for our children. And, if our prayers so lead us, perhaps some of the remnant could come together now to begin to execute a plan for the future.

Feel no need to respond…but let me know if ever hear about a planning meeting for members of “The Remnant.”

Our Lady of Hope, Pray for us.