REASON #1883 for Summorum Pontificum!

Posted on 3 October 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

We need a fuller, wider more dedicated implementation of Benedict XVI’s great gift to the Church, Summorum Pontificum.

Why?

Via CARA on Twitter:

Together with a shored up, cleaned up, and above all faithful use of the Novus Ordo, we can start a lasting revitalization of every sphere of the Church’s life. That MUST begin with a revitalization of her sacred liturgical worship.

If we all do our part, we can turn attrition around.

 

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, ACTION ITEM!, Hard-Identity Catholicism, Liturgy Science Theatre 3000, Our Catholic Identity, SUMMORUM PONTIFICUM, The Coming Storm, The future and our choices | Tagged
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Kwasniewski instructs @MassimoFaggioli about real “rupture”

Posted on 3 October 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Recently Massimo “Beans” Faggioli has attempted to stir up a pingle and, with it, attention for himself, by denigrating our Catholic Tradition – nay, rather – by denigrating the people who desire our Catholic Tradition.

His latest clickbait shtick, which may be more about his frustration, anger, and desire for traffic, involves judgmental and hurtful statements on Twitter about a whole group of people. For example:

And there’s this:

That’s just crazy talk, and it’s intentionally hurtful.  It is so patently contrary to the truth that it must be bubbling up from a place of anxiety and frustration.  He may not be thinking straight when he tweets that stuff.

Who, again, is creating the rupture?   Who is causing division?

In response, Peter Kwasniewski has already issued – in July 2017 – instruction for Beans at NLM.  Peter brough up a point which others have also made: when it comes to “liturgy” (read = Mass), libs sink into the deadly trap of “neoscholastic reductionism”.  In a beanpod, if the bare bones minimum is present for valid consecration of the Eucharist, then everything else in the rite is fair game for change or adaptation according to the whims of those present.  Peter, however, shows that to preserve our rites without rupture, we need to maintain precisely those things which Beans rejects. Beans is the rupturist, not traditional Catholics.

It is useful to review something that Tracey Rowland wrote in 2008 in Ratzinger’s Faith: The Theology of Pope Benedict XVI (US HERE – UK HERE).

The Lercaro—Bugnini inspired liturgical experiments of the last three decades have been based on an overemphasis on baroque sacramental theology and eighteenth-century philosophy, and an obsession with pedagogy. This in turn can be boiled down to a cocktail of scholasticism [NB] (the reduction of sacramental theology to considerations of matter and form) [Thus, Beans!], the Kantian obsession with pedagogical rationalism (the predominance of ethical values over strictly religious ones) [Thus, Beans!], moralism (a notion of Mass attendance as duty parade), [Thus, Beans!] and a Jansenist attitude to beauty (it is irrelevant: the only thing that matters is that the words are doctrinally sound and in the vernacular). [Thus, Beans!] In other words, one has a cocktail of theological and philosophical ingredients which Ratzinger has spent his entire ecclesial life trying to throw out of the pantry. [And that is a major component of his vision and action in implementing Summorum Pontificum.] Anyone wanting to escape the culture of modernity with its lowest-common-denominator mass culture will find it difficult to do so at many contemporary Catholic liturgies based on the Lercaro—Bugnini  [- Beans] principles. As Catherine Pickstock has argued, ‘a genuine liturgical reform would either have to overthrow our anti-ritual modernity, or, that being impossible, devise [or perhaps, develop] a liturgy that refused to be enculturated in our modern habits of thought and speech’.  [I think that we already have that, and it is what Beans pits against continuity.]

In any event, dear readers, I don’t think it is all that profitable to give Beans to much attention.  He is angry and, I suspect, sincerely afraid of what Summorum Pontificum is producing.  It must be awful for him.  This latest path of attack is more than likely his way of both maintaining attention and traffic in Twitter and expressing his frustration.  Hence, his bitter attacks on the people who want tradition, as he did in his hurtful remarks after the article in the NYT.  Stop and say a Memorare for him.

The moderation queue is ON.

Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thy intercession was left unaided. Inspired with this confidence, I fly to thee, O Virgin of virgins, my Mother; to thee do I come; before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy mercy hear and answer me. Amen.

 

Posted in Liberals, Liturgy Science Theatre 3000, The Drill | Tagged , , , , ,
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Re-reading Martimort on Deaconesses. Wherein Fr. Z rants.

Posted on 3 October 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

7Deacons4In once wonderfully Catholic Austria, the silly season is in swing.  The new bishop of Innsbruck, Most Rev. Hermann Glettler, said that he supports the ordination of women to the diaconate (which is impossible) and Holy Communion for the divorce and remarried (which in 99.99% of cases would be sacrilege).  There is a story in this bishop’s notions at the UK’s best Catholic weekly the Catholic Herald (which sports my weekly column in the print and online digital editions – subscribe HERE).

This business of the ordination of women to the diaconate is swirling around, more than it should be, because a while back His Holiness of Our Lord Pope Francis appointed a study group to look at the historical data about female deacons in the early Church.  I suspect that they won’t turn up much more than has already been turned up.  The historical studies made will inevitably result in dead ends: there isn’t much available and what there is is sketchy.  Furthermore, the question does not rest on some ancient practice of a perhaps heretical sect or on variations of practices in the East, etc. It now rests on Vatican II’s Lumen gentium, which says that the diaconate, priesthood and episcopate are three grades of one sacrament of Holy Orders, even though only priests and bishops are sacerdotes in the strict sense.  The Catechism of the Catholic Church puts it succinctly:

1554 “The divinely instituted ecclesiastical ministry is exercised in different degrees by those who even from ancient times have been called bishops, priests, and deacons.”32 Catholic doctrine, expressed in the liturgy, the Magisterium, and the constant practice of the Church, recognizes that there are two degrees of ministerial participation in the priesthood of Christ: the episcopacy and the presbyterate . The diaconate is intended to help and serve them. For this reason the term sacerdos in current usage denotes bishops and priests but not deacons. Yet Catholic doctrine teaches that the degrees of priestly participation (episcopate and presbyterate) and the degree of service (diaconate) are all three conferred by a sacramental act called “ordination,” that is, by the sacrament of Holy Orders….

This, by itself, pretty much closes the discussion.  The Sacrament of Orders is one sacrament in three grades.  Only men can be ordained to Holy Orders.  Ergo, women cannot be ordained to the diaconate, even though there is a distinction between diaconate and priesthood.  It’s not hard.

When the Pope appointed that study group, I dusted off my copy of the best thing written to date about women and the diaconate, Deaconesses: An Historical Study by Aime G. Martimort (French 1982 & English – Ignatius Press, 1986).  This is this most important, easily obtainable book on the topic in English.  I’ve occasionally picked it up and spot read in it, bit by bit, ever since.

US HERE – UK HERE

 

Martimort goes through just about everything.  Of course his scholarship is limited to his date of 1982.  However, there isn’t all that much more to explore.  Even if research has turned up more, I am left deeply impressed by Martimort’s conclusion… his literal conclusion on the last page of the text.  Here it is, with my usual emphases and comments:

In the end, in my opinion, the conclusion that must impose itself at the termination of a historical study such as ours, conducted in accordance with the requirements of modern scholarship, is that theologians must strictly guard against trying to prove hypotheses dependent upon only a part of the documentation available, a part taken out of context at that. The complexity of the facts about deaconesses and the proper context of these facts prove to be quite extraordinary. There exists a significant danger of distorting both the facts and the texts whenever one is dealing with them secondhand. It is also very difficult to avoid falling into anachronisms when trying to resolve the problems of the present by reference to the solutions appropriate to a past that is long gone.  [An example of anachronism would be to assume that deaconettes did in ancient times what permanent deacons do now.]

For the fact is that the ancient institution of deaconesses, even in its own time, was encumbered with not a few ambiguities, as we have seen. In my opinion, if the restoration of the institution of deaconesses were indeed to be sought after so many centuries, such a restoration itself could only be fraught with ambiguity.  [NOTA BENE!] The real importance and efficaciousness of the role of women in the Church has always been vividly perceived in the consciousness of the hierarchy and of the faithful as much more broad than the historical role that deaconesses in fact played. [BOOM! Did you get that?] And perhaps a proposal based on an “archeological” institution might even obscure the fact that the call to serve the Church is urgently addressed today to all women, especially in the area of the transmission of Faith and works of charity.  [Teaching, nursing, etc.  We could come up with other important ways to serve the Church, traditionally carried out by women in an exemplary and edifying way.]

What has Martimort done in this conclusion?  He says that

1) we really don’t know enough about deaconesses, and
2) what we do know is ambiguous, and
3) that focusing with such attention on something so elusive and fraught with problems is detrimental to recognition of the terrific contributions which we know for a certainty women can and do offer to the Church and the world.

Bottom line: Promoting ordained diaconate for women, as that Austrian bishop and others do, does women and the whole Church a disservice.  It distracts from and even denigrates the tremendous and urgently needed service which women have historically perfected and lovingly contributed.

The moderation queue is ON.

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, Deaconettes, The Drill | Tagged , , ,
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PODCAzT 155: Latin Forms of Absolution, Vetus and Novus Ordo

Posted on 3 October 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

confession-731x1024From a priest….

QUAERITUR:

Fr. Z,

Grace and peace.

Do you have an audio pronunciation of the absolution prayer (1962) or know of a link?

Thanks for the question.

Here is a brief PODCAzT, which can also be a PRAYERCAzT, about the forms of absolution, in Latin.  I hope this is helpful.

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Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, ASK FATHER Question Box, Liturgy Science Theatre 3000, Mail from priests, PODCAzT, PRAYERCAzT: What Does The (Latin) Prayer Really Sound L | Tagged ,
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The young DO embrace Tradition: a new VIDEO from Los Angeles

Posted on 2 October 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

There are those who right now are running down the Traditional Roman Rite, the intentions of Pope Benedict, and, worst of all, the people who desire them.  These poor negative complainers are stuck in their own ideology.  They seem genuinely afraid of the fact that young people are embracing the traditional forms.

They are afraid, so they are lashing out.  It’s all very sad and a great waste of time and energy.

It would be wonderful if some of these people could experience also the fruits of what Pope St. John Paul II called “legitimate aspirations”.

Here is a new video from the FSSP chapel in Los Angeles, where good things are happening.  I would love to visit there sometime!

YouTube thumbnailYouTube icon
5672 views

How encouraging was that?

Don’t let the angry, frightened naysayers get you down. They need our compassion and the accompaniment of our prayers.

Also, you should reach out to them and be inviting! Cheerfully help them in concrete ways to shake those scales from their eyes and stop being so angry.

Never underestimate the power of an invitation.

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, Just Too Cool, Our Catholic Identity | Tagged ,
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#LasVegasShooting – Wherein Fr. Z rants.

Posted on 2 October 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

fourlastthings1For some days now I have been avoiding watching news and news commentary shows, etc.  So, through a look at my Twitter feed earlier today, I learned of the horrifying events in Las Vegas.

The usual hysteria is now pouring forth from the opportunistic Left on the topic of gun control.  I’d be more inclined to pay attention to Catholics who do that were they even merely equally vocal about ending abortion, which kills a lot more innocent people in our nation than guns.   But they just won’t do it, will they.  And we know why.

I, however, want to move the discussion away from the relatively unimportant issue of attacks on the 2nd Amendment in order to stress a type of control over something lethal that is far more important.

Mortal sins kill the life of grace in the soul.

Physical death is going to happen to you.  You don’t have any control over that.  However, you do have control over confession of your mortal sins in kind and number to a priest who can give you absolution!

I call for SIN CONTROL!

GO TO CONFESSION.

We don’t know the day or the minute when we will go before our Judge.  Whether it is a natural event like a storm or meteor, or a man-made event like a drunk driver or a nutjob with a rifle, we just don’t know.

Avoid the trap of thinking that these things only happen to other people.  YOU are other people.  It’s always someone else… until it’s you.

So, examine your consciences and …

GO TO CONFESSION.

I would also add as a regular feature of your daily prayers that important petition in the Litany of Saints:

“A subitanea et improvisa morte… From a sudden and unprovided death, spare us O Lord.”

Sudden is one thing.  Unprovided is another.  An “unprovided” death is a death without access to the last sacraments, especially absolution from a priest.

That’s a scary thought…. especially if you haven’t been to confession for a  long time.

When did you last go to confession?

Moreover, consider well your living conditions and security.

If you haven’t done so yet, begin to develop a physical situational awareness. Seek advice and training from professionals.

If you haven’t done so yet, begin to develop a spiritual situational awareness.  Seek advice and training from priests.

 

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, Four Last Things, Global Killer Asteroid Questions, GO TO CONFESSION, Semper Paratus, Si vis pacem para bellum!, The Coming Storm, The future and our choices, Wherein Fr. Z Rants | Tagged , ,
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The unstated racism of the ‘c’atholic Left

Posted on 2 October 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

There was an article in, of all places, Hell’s Bible (aka The New York Times) about the influence of the traditional Roman Rite in Africa.

This article prompted a spittle-flecked nutty from the usual suspects, such as Beans and Ruff. Beans tweeted in reaction:

Read that again…. “they cannot really comprehend”.

What a racist remark.

This reminds me of Card. Kasper’s Africa Gaffe.

Behold, the true attitude of the Left.

Posted in Liberals, Liturgy Science Theatre 3000, What are they REALLY saying? |
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Is homosexualist activist Jesuit Fr. @JamesMartinSJ a heretic? Canon Law with Ed Peters.

Posted on 2 October 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

MSS Creation of Eve Stammheim Missal c 1170 MS 64 smCanonist Ed Peters posted at his excellent site In The Light Of The Law, an illuminating post bringing greater clarity to what heresy is and what Jesuit homosexualist activist Fr. James Martin thinks.

Peters doesn’t have a combox, but I do.

Be sure to visit Peters’ site often.

My emphases and comments.

Further remarks re Fr. Martin

Two important essays, one by Janet Smith at Catholic World Report (29 sep 2017) and the other by Dan Hitchens at First Things (2 oct 2017), along with their links to and quotes from Fr James Martin’s own words (and sometimes, as Smith and Hitchens note, to Martin’s refusal to say certain words), occasion these comments on Martin’s recent complaints (21 sep 2017) that he has “been accused of heresy, ridiculously, by some critics (I’m not contradicting any revealed truths).” There are several issues to sort out here.

First, yes, I am very sure that some [but not all] of the accusations of heresy made against Martin are, indeed, ridiculous. As are some of Martin’s accusations that, for example, among his critics: “Heresy” is a word they use as frequently as [pace Mary McCarthy] “and” and “the.” Apparently there is plenty of ridiculousness floating around out there. All purveyors of the ridiculous should cease spouting it. [What are the odds?]

To my canonical observations.

Martin’s rebuff of heresy accusations above (“I’m not contradicting any revealed truths”) suggests that either he does not know or does not wish to acknowledge that [NB] “heresy” is not limited to the actual contradiction of revealed truths. Canon 751 defines heresy as “the obstinate denial or obstinate doubt” of certain truths (my emphasis [and mine!]). Thus one’s “obstinate doubt” concerning revealed truths, and not just one’s outright contradiction of such truths, can, upon proof, result in a finding of heresy.  [Did you get that?  “upon proof”.  Note well that Dr. Peters has already pointed to Martin’s “own words”. If a person repeats some position, publicly, does that constitute a “proof”? If it doesn’t, I don’t know what does.  However, in the case of a formal charge of heresy, Fr. Martin should be given every opportunity to make a clear, formal statement.]

Next, when speaking to a male questioner recently, Martin expressed the “hope [that] in 10 years you will be able to kiss your partner or, you know, soon to be your husband”. [Blech.] Any reasonable listener will conclude that Martin not only hopes that a man may someday marry a man with the Church’s blessing, but that Martin believes “same-sex marriage” to be radically possible under Church teaching and that it is a matter of regret that such Church recognition is not yet available.  [I believe he truly holds that position.  He talks about this publicly.  That said, I hope that this sobering canonical presentation by Ed Peters will help Fr. Martin take a time out and then make a clear statement in public affirming the Church’s teaching.]

Here, I suggest, Martin effectively denies infallible Church doctrine that marriage can exist only between a man and a woman. I see only two canonical issues in the wake of his statement:

[So… it’s infallible. However… is it revealed truth? An important distinction follows…] (A) Whether the infallible Church teaching on the absolute impossibility of marriage between two persons of the same sex is itself a “revealed truth” (in which case the issue is indeed one of heresy) or whether it is a “proposition to be held definitely” (in which case the issue is “opposition to the doctrine of the Catholic Church”, but not heresy strictly speaking), with the weight of scholarly opinion, however, favoring the view that Church teaching on the male-female aspect of marriage is divinely revealed, meaning that one’s “obstinate denial or obstinate doubt” concerning that teaching would be heresy; and,

(B) Whether Martin’s comment, coming as it did during a public Q-and-A session, accurately reflects his actual position on marriage—an important point because both heresy (per cc. 751, 1364, etc.) and opposition to definitive Church teaching (per c. 1371, etc.) require a demonstration of one’s deliberateness in so holding before any penal consequences could be levied.  [Martin’s response seems to be his actual position.  If it isn’t, then he would have been prevaricating in so answering, which is unlikely, given everything he has said and written on the topic.  Did he just “blurt” his response without thinking?  I suspect that he has, indeed, thought this through.]

Either way, Martin’s shocking (as coming from a priest) comment, uttered against the backdrop of his frequent refusal to state his own positions directly (as opposed to his practice of characterizing his positions as sound, etc.) make the pursuit of clarity here very important.

Scholion on Pio-Benedictine law and the Eastern Code.

Martin’s frequent, often seemingly studied, ambiguities regarding Church teaching on various doctrinal and moral issues would have been more directly cognizable [Fr. Z kudos for the great word “cognizable”.] under the Pio-Benedictine Code of 1917 than they are under the Johanno-Pauline Code of 1983, notwithstanding 1983 CIC 209. The old Code squarely stated: “The faithful of Christ are bound to profess their faith whenever their silence, evasiveness, or manner of acting encompasses an implied denial of the faith, contempt for religion, injury to God, or scandal for a neighbor.” 1917 CIC 1325 § 1. Of course, giving scandal (CCC 2284-2287) to one’s neighbor, even if not directly scored in the new Code, is still a grave evil against [which] all should be on guard. Similarly, Canon 10 of the Code of Canon Law of the Eastern Churches (1990) makes ‘adherence to the authentic living magisterium of the Church’ and the ‘open profession of the Faith’ matters of law. Interesting, eh? [Very.]

This was a useful post, as virtually all of Prof. Peters posts on law are.

I think that if Fr. James Martin wants to continue to preach or to speak publicly on any Church property, he should be asked directly to affirm the Church’s teaching concerning marriage.  It is sad to have to say that, but he has brought this on himself by his own words and his own silences.

The comment moderation queue is ON.

 

Posted in Canon Law, One Man & One Woman, Sin That Cries To Heaven | Tagged , , , ,
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A hellish enemy is at work in the Church

Posted on 2 October 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Domenichino_GuardianAngelOn this beautiful Feast of our Guardian angels, we must remember the invisible role they inevitably play in our lives.  On a plane of being that we humans cannot sense, the holy angels thwart the attacks of hellish fallen angels, bent on our everlasting perdition.  We should express gratitude to God and to our angels often, and we should call upon our angels in good times and in bad.  Even as they work with us, they know God’s will for us and they behold His face (Matthew 18:10).

Now, turn your mind to the fallen angelic agents of Hell, the Enemy of your soul.

Consider not only the unrelenting the malice of the Enemy of the soul, but also the  Enemy’s, literal, diabolical genius.

First, the fallen angels never sleep, never tire, are never distracted, have no need to travel from point a to b, and they never miss what you are up to.  If a government agency can build a profile of you based on bits and pieces of metadata, try to imagine how a fallen angel sees you.  They know precisely where to hit with a suggestion, a tug on an appetite, a prod of perfectly timed deception.

Next, their long term goal (keeping you from heaven) depends on your not paying attention to them.  Hence, it serves them and their scheme well to diminish both belief in them as well as understanding what they are.  Today we even see TV shows – one is even called “Lucifer” – which will surely twist people’s understanding away from their true nature and motives.

We all face, every day, three great obstacles to our present and authentic and our future and eternal happiness: the world, the flesh and the Devil.  Of the three, one is a person, the active subject of its own actions.  We ignore the Enemy at our deepest peril.

At Crisis be sure to read today about the crisis we face. Sober and true.  My emphases and comments.

A Dark-Forces Assault on the Church?
WILLIAM KILPATRICK

For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities and powers … against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. (Eph. 6:12)

It’s not easy to discern the role played by the spiritual hosts of wickedness in world affairs. No one knows with any certainty what is going on in that realm, or what part the principalities and powers play in shaping events. But these are exceedingly strange times—so strange that it is difficult to make sense of some of what is happening from a this-worldly perspective. So it seems worthwhile to try to understand some war-in_heaven_archangel-michaelphenomena from an other-worldly viewpoint. [While we cannot detect with our human senses what goes on in the angel “metaphysical” plane, can we doubt for an instant that there’s a lot going on?  And are we so naive as to imagine that it doesn’t affect us?  Remember: the fallen angels have already received their irrevocable fate in their rejection of God and His plan.  The only thing left for them is to try to prevent God’s glory from being magnified in His creature, us.  Each time a soul is lost to Hell, the Enemy crows, “That’s one more You don’t have!”]

One of the strangest developments of our times is the Church’s response to Islam and Islamic migration. Since the response runs entirely counter to the Church’s historical response, it seems legitimate to wonder if other-worldly forces are at play. If that’s the case, it should not be unexpected. Christ promised that the gates of hell would not prevail against his Church, but the implication of his words is that hell would surely try.  [Not only try, but also succeed in this place and that.  There is no guarantee that Hell won’t win in Europe.  The Church once flourished in places like North Africa and Asia Minor.  Now?]

Over the years, various popes have testified to this effort. In the late nineteenth century, Pope Leo XIII reportedly had a vision of demonic spirits during the celebration of Mass. This led him to institute the Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel (“be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil”), which is said at the end of a Low Mass in the Extraordinary Form. In more recent times, on the feast of Saints Peter and Paul in 1972, Pope Paul VI delivered a sermon warning that “from some fissure the smoke of Satan has entered the temple of God.”  [Frankly, if far and wide we don’t get down on our knees and start praying those Leonine Prayers again we are veering towards insanity.]

What may come as a surprise to those who worry about Pope Francis’s liberal tendencies is that he also has frequently warned of Satan’s influence. A few months after his election, he consecrated Vatican City State to St. Michael the Archangel who “defends the people of God from the arch-enemy par excellence, the devil.” When he was a cardinal in Argentina, he described a legislative proposal to redefine marriage as “a ‘move’ of the father of lies who seeks to confuse and deceive the children of God.”  [He seems genuinely to believe in the Devil.]

If the smoke of Satan can enter the Catholic Church, [“can”?  HAS!] there is no reason to suppose it cannot enter other religions as well. [Not only enter them… START them.] Without getting into the question of whether Muhammad was deceived by Satan, as some maintain, it is probable that Satan seeks to influence the direction of Islam just as he strives to have a malign influence on the Catholic Church. [At least.  I’d go a lot farther than that.]

It may be, then, that the current situation of the Church vis-à-vis Islam is due in part to a dual assault—one aimed at heightening Islam’s traditional aggressiveness, [NB:] and the other aimed at weakening the Church’s traditional defenses. The result is a kind of dance of death: a ramping up of Islamic militancy matched by an exaggerated emphasis on tolerance, openness, and welcoming on the part of Catholics.  [This is undoubtedly true!]

If this is the case, then one manifestation of the Catholic folly might be the Church’s attitude toward mass Muslim migration. Many Catholic leaders think of Muslim migration as no different from other migrations. For them it is simply a question of being welcoming or unwelcoming, of being charitable or uncharitable. But many Muslim leaders view migrations in a different light. For them it is not a question of loving one’s neighbor, it is a question of who is to be master.

[…]

Read the rest there.

May I recommend some reading?  Check this out.  HERE

Also, get these books and get them also for your family and friends.

Defeating Jihad: The Winnable War by Sebastian Gorka.

US HERE – UK HERE

Do you know the word “dawa”? More on this HERE.

And get a Kindle!  US HERE – UK HERE

I also recommend The Grand Jihad by Andrew McCarthy.  He explains how and why the liberal left coddles and cooperates with Islam in the destruction of Western culture.

US HERE – UK HERE

 

Posted in Four Last Things, Hard-Identity Catholicism, Semper Paratus, The Coming Storm, The future and our choices, The Religion of Peace | Tagged , ,
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Devastated Puerto Rico makes you ponder. PREPARE and GO TO CONFESSION!

Posted on 30 September 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

hurricane-maria-porto_ricoRecent storms devastated the electrical grid of Puerto Rico.  Virtually the entire island is without power.  That’s over 3 million people without electricity, water, etc…. for months to come.

Consider what life would be like for you were that to happen where you are.  How long would your life be?  How long would the lives of your loved ones be?  What kind of life would you be living if you survive?

The electrical grid of all our nations are vulnerable to the impact of a CME or an EMP.

It is not unreasonable or melodramatic to make preparations against the day that something life changing happens to you.

It doesn’t have to be on the level of a CME or EMP.  It could be a storm, earthquake, fire, etc.

It’s always someone else… until it’s your turn.

Think about what you can do so that you can stay on your feet and move, so that you won’t be a burden to others, so that you can even be an aid to someone else.

NB: If material preparations are important, spiritual preparations are even more important.

Examine your consciences and…

GO TO CONFESSION!

You don’t know the day, hour, minute when you will be before the Just Judge, the King of Fearful Majesty and your soul is laid bare. Your every deed, every word, every thought, every omission will be exposed to perfect view and judgment.  Nothing will remain hidden and God cannot be deceived.

The Judge will give us justice whether we want it or not.  But His saving mercy is always there for the asking, provided that we ask for it… while we still can.

Once you die, that’s it.  You go before your God and your eternal fate is sealed.

GO TO CONFESSION!

penance_confession_steps

 

Posted in GO TO CONFESSION, Semper Paratus | Tagged
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