Grandchildren and Getting Up Close and Personal to God's World

And what a blessing to combine them both. Anybody who's been reading my blogs for long knows that Larry and I are novice beekeepers and loving it! So if you want to see what Springtime is bringing in the way of our love of our grandkids and our love for nature, check it out here. You can admire our girls -- we have a cast of thousands!

Two Thumbs Up for Fr. Roos in the Diocese of Arlington

US: Catholic church fires ‘gifted’ gay musician for marrying his partner

Someone in a position of prominence in a Catholic parish cannot be publicly thumbing his nose at the Church without causing serious scandal. No matter how gifted a musician is, if he is living a disordered life that causes scandal he (or she) must be removed. It would be the same for a teacher in a Catholic school living in fornication with her boyfriend. We're all sinners, but you cannot profess to be living an authentic Catholic life while flaunting Church teaching.

Good for Fr. Roos. He deserves our public thanks. Pray for Mike McMahon. There is no such thing as same-sex "marriage." No matter how much you want to play let's pretend, two men do not have the body parts to unite and pro-create. They can only play in each feces which most of us outgrew when we shed our diapers. It is a sad day that our world has accepted as normal something so diseased and distorted. God, our Father, have mercy on us and on the whole world.

Liturgical Aberrations Teach...And What They Teach is Wrong!

I recently had a phone conversation with a fellow parishioners who is going to Germany to visit with her daughter and family. In the course of our exchange she said, "It's interesting. They do things so differently at the Church there," and went on to mention a few innocuous items. Then she said, "At Communion the priest invites everyone up to make a semicircle around him and then distributes the hosts and they all take Communion together." I almost dropped the phone.

The first thing I thought of when she told me this was, "Who receives Communion that way?"

Here's the answer:

Concelebrating priests receive the Eucharist from the main celebrant BEFORE he receives and they all Communicate together. 

So what does it say when a priest does what my friend described? It treats the laity as concelebrating ministers of the Eucharist which is fundamentally dishonest and confusing. It also removes their right to receive on the tongue which is the preferred form of reception. 

Pray for shepherds who scandalize the flock. The German Church is a mess as the divorced/Communion debate is illustrating.

Jesus said clearly that those who are faithful in small things will be faithful in greater. I'm not sure how small the liturgical abuse described is frankly. It sounds pretty serious to me. But, isn't it interesting that priests are often telling Catholics to conform to their own particular idiosyncrasies, like standing after Communion until everyone returns to the pew (real consideration for the elderly, eh?), while laity who refuse to conform to priestly browbeathing are anathemized and called lacking in humility. My take on it? Shepherd, heal thyself!

Not Again! This Is Too Close for Comfort!

20 Injured in Stabbings at Pittsburgh Area High School

Since we have a granddaughter at Pittsburgh area high school, my heart skipped a beat when I saw this headline. Thank God it wasn't her school, but that's no relief for all the kids and parents whose children do attend that school. Will we now hear demands for "knife control?"

Let's face it, the problem is interior. We live in a country where God is publicly ridiculed and excluded from our schools and other institutions. We elevate the worship of false Gods in the military and everywhere else, for that matter. Christians are accused of being domestic terrorists while Islam that calls for murder of infidels is described as a "religion of peace." 

It's enough to make anybody insane!  So is it really surprising to see muggings, bombings, shootings, knifings, flash mob robberies, police brutality, etc., etc. on a daily basis? After all, when God is ousted, every man becomes his own god. And gods have a right to do what they want, capisce?

Isn't it time to declare a national day of prayer and atonement? We'll never get it from this godless administration, but that can't keep us from making it personally. Let Good Friday be our personal day of prayer and atonement for our poor country. My growing up years were certainly not problem free (A pervert exposed himself to me when I was eleven or twelve.), but compared to today I was living in the era of innocence and peace.

Home schooling just looks better and better!

When Will Rogue Priests Be Disciplined? Not Likely in San Bernardino!

LGBT retreat not about changing

From the article:

[Fr.] Kavcak, a priest of Missionaries of the Sacred Heart. was once the pastor at Our Lady of Solitude in Palm Springs and is now pastor at neighboring Saint Theresa Church where the retreat will be held. Father Kavcak rented Our Lady of Solitude Church for at least two full days to Hollywood producer, Jerry Weintraub, so that church scenes could be filmed in the movie Behind the Candelabra, a gay men’s sordid love story involving Liberace in his late 50s and a young teenage guy.

Send a message to Bishop Gerald Barnes. Don't expect much since he approved the lewd movie event. But, hey, people can change, even bishops, and they sure don't like bad publicity. So make sure to advertise this far and wide! Unfortunately, Bishop Barnes has a history of homosexual promotion. Check it out here. Pray for bishops. In large part, they are a big part of what's wrong with the Church in the U.S. They sleep with the Democrats who hate God and the Church. Many endorse all things Democrat. They tell Catholics to obey the law (like Barnes endorsing Obamacare) while they champion illegal aliens breaking our laws. They endorse injustice against citizens demanding that those who invade our borders aren't really guilty of crimes. They call government theft "charity" while our country is being undermined and our values destroyed.

God save us from bishops who often live in luxury (go here, and here, and here) on the donations of the middle class in the pews while their flocks grow increasingly poorer because of big government liberalism. Shame on them and their hypocrisy!

e-mail: bishopsoffice@sbdiocese.org

Telephone: 909.475.5300

Fax: 909.475.5109

Diocese of Charlotte Stands Behind Sister Laure!

According to a report in LifeSiteNews:

“Nothing in Sister’s talk opposed Church teaching,” says Bishop Peter Jugis' spokesman. “Sister would be welcomed to speak in the diocese in the future.”

LifeSite also reported a comment by a doctor who heard the same talk recently on Long Island:

Charlotte Catholic High School: How Many of the Families are Really Catholic?

The situation at Charlotte Catholic High School with the politically incorrect Dominican nun is still in the news. I have no idea whether Sister said anything imprudent. Which of us doesn't occasionally? But regardless, Fr. Kauth, the chaplain, made it clear that she said nothing contrary to Catholic teaching. She apparently quoted unpopular statistics from reputable sources that point out the serious ramifications of a number of family issues. And with children whose faith is often dry and parched, the spark exploded into the wildfire that has engulfed Sister and others who offend the zeitgeist.

Fr. Z has a great post on this that I hope you'll read. Here's the beginning:

I Watched The Robe Last Night...

...with Richard Burton and Victor Mature. (Go here.)  By today's standards I suppose many folks would find it boring, although there was one good chariot chase scene with Roman legions pursuing a coach driven by four beautiful white horses. But how respectful the filmmakers were toward Christian beliefs! Oh for those days when Christians were portrayed as courageous, kind, tolerant...all the adjectives Paul used to describe love in 1 Corinthinans 13. 

Instead, today Christians are portrayed as ignorant fanatics, "domestic terrorists" who want to string up every sinner on the planet, which would, of course, include ourselves. 

But the cardinal sin today is not to embrace and celebrate the sins of the culture. We must say all that is evil is good or be fired from our jobs, jammed as "phobes," ridiculed, and endure a barrage of character assassination. 

I thank God for my grandchildren who remind me that God must want the world to go on because He continues to send us little ones. Thank you, Lord, for another day and for our new grandbaby born on April 4th. He still carries heaven's perfume!

Good-Bye, Mickey, We'll Miss You!

Actor Mickey Rooney died on Sunday at 93. What a long life!

I loved him in National Velvet and years later in The Black Stallion. He was a staple of my childhood and I watched many of his old movies on the 5 0'Clock Show in Philadelphia when I was in high school. It makes me smile just to think of his brash, boyish, enthusiastic performances in every movie he ever made. I think I'll have to schedule a Mickey Rooney marathon after Lent.

But the best news about Mickey was his conversion. After a much-troubled life that included many marriages, alcoholism, a gambling addiction, and a bad attitude he described as "cocky" and "selfish" he chose Jesus as his Savior. And a quote going around Facebook is this: "All the muddy waters of my life cleared up when I gave myself to Christ." Can anyone find the source of the quote? I haven't but I'm still looking. Please pray for the repose of the soul of Mickey Rooney today. He made good and decent films that uplifted people and showed family, friendship, and love as wholesome. Not such a bad history, especially compared to today's depravity. Thanks, Mickey, rest in peace!



Obituary from the The Telegraph

Obituary from the Washington Post

Think About It!

Who are fed by others? Those who are dependent and those who are in love. Babies and the elderly often need assistance from those who love them. Lovers feed one another -- think of the tradition of sweetly feeding each other the wedding cake (and not smashing it disrespectfully in each other's faces).

We are dependent on God and we want to be in a relationship of deep and intimate love with Him. That is what receiving on the tongue is all about. It is a humble, loving, and reverent gesture of our love for God and dependence on Him. Think about it....