Most Americans have less than $1000 in savings

62%, actually. Market Watch has it all, go read the details over there.
Read the headline again, and ponder the SHTF scenarios.  200MM people without the means to buy FOOD for more than a few weeks following said SHTF event.  That’s IF they can even access those funds; we all know the ATMs won’t work, because the money isn’t really there at all.  Many of these same people are living day to day on EBT cards, and those won’t work either.
Is there really any doubt that we will soon face massive domestic terror trigger events?  Do you understand how quickly terror devolves into mass panic?
Close your eyes, and actually VISUALIZE what this will look like.  In your state. In your city.  In your neighborhood.  On your street.  At your door.
You don’t have enough ammo.
 

The Republic is Dead

As of 18 December 2015, no one in the United States with at least a sixth grade education can claim ignorance on this point.
The central doctrine of a just republic is The Rule of Law, which has several components (even wiki gets this right):

  1. The republic is governed by laws, not by the will of its leaders
  2. All citizens are subject to the law, including the law makers
  3. Equal protection under the law

Without getting into the dozens of examples I could cite, let’s just say the Rule of Law has been dead or badly broken since at least 2010.  So everyone with a functioning brain should have been able to glean, for quite some time now, that we were careening seriously off the rails. But what happened on 18 December 2015?   Here’s what happened:  The “republicans” in congress assraped the American Republic on national television.
This budget deal is absolutely hideous.  Unthinkable, really. Remember way back in November 2014, when the people were so fed up with Washington that they handed sweeping victories to the GOP in the House and Senate?  Remember how this was going to be, finally, the game changer to stop/repeal the madness?  Have you noticed how nothing, absolutely nothing, happened?
Because the elites care about no one but themselves, and staying in power.  Paul Ryan?  Yeah, knight on white horse gonna come riding in and save us.  Lindsey Graham?  Voted Yea.  Rubio?  DIDN’T SHOW UP FOR THE VOTE.
The only sane, serious, responsible one of the lot is Cruz, it appears to me.  Unfortunately, it’s too late.  The evil has infiltrated to such an extent, no one man can fix it.  Not with both parties in the tank with each other.
Silver lining:  Read the first paragraph again.  No one can now deny what is going on.  Thank you, Paul Ryan, for exposing your flank.  You’re in the open now.
There is no political solution.
 

Year of (False) Mercy, Hell, and you

Fr. Z has a great post on Conscience, Communion, and so-called “mercy”.  I’m calling it the Year of False Mercy (actually I stole that), because the mercy offered is done so seemingly without any need for contrition.  No worries, you are just fine remaining in your sin, stay right where you are, the Church will come out to the “margins” and meet you there.  Then, we will accompany you back and feed you the Lamb of God, because you’ll be hungry from the journey.
That’s not mercy.  That’s a diabolical inversion of Luke 15:21. It’s as if the father saw the prodigal son in the distance, copulating with a harlot, and killed the fatted calf anyway.
This is what happens when you have vast numbers of clergy, many with red hats (or white), who don’t actually believe in the Real Presence. If they did, there is no way we get to this point. In fact some would say there are vast numbers who don’t believe ANY OF IT, and they say it pretty convincingly — Ann Barnhardt has a great piece here.
Not only do they not believe the harder truths, they are EMBARRASSED by all of it.  So out of touch, you know. How in the world do you expect us to move about in polite society with all this talk of Body, Blood, Soul, Divinity, SIN, contrition, penance, mortification, firm purpose of amendment, CONVERSION? Are you out of your mind? Here, wrap all that nonsense up in this nice felt banner of Mercy, you’ll feel better.
Here’s the thing. At the end of the day, having the faith means believing ALL OF IT. Until your conscience is formed, molded, fired and cured around this concept, you are lost. Most of us have been on the other side at some point, so we understand how they think, and why they believe what they believe (or don’t). Our culture is so drenched in the errors of modernism, it all should be so obvious to anyone with a brain. But they can’t see what we see, because they refuse the graces being offered to them. They refuse to be converted, choosing narcissism instead. It’s like being on the wrong side of a two-way mirror.
What about the heathen masses drowning in abortion, contraception, porn, Caitlyn, Miley and Khloe? How do the masses even stand a chance, with bishops like this? We can’t possibly expect these poor souls to actually consider turning away from sin; that would mean somehow getting them to understand SIN EXISTS.  Is it possible that Invincible Ignorance plays a greater role in the salvation of souls than does the Catholic Church?
Don’t dwell too long on that question, it’s rhetorical.  The answer is NO.  In an age where the sum total of all human knowledge is available from the phone in your hand, Invincible Ignorance most certainly does NOT apply to you, unless you are part of an undiscovered tribe in the Amazon.  So if you were planning to drape yourself in that mantle at your Particular Judgement, well, let’s just say you’ll be naked as said tribesman, and it’s about to get very warm.
So do yourself a favor.  Give a wide berth to the current captain of the Barque.  Ignore the diabolical inversion of John 18:38 where instead of Pilate speaking, it’s the Church, going out to all those boldly sinning, proclaiming “What is Truth?  I find no guilt in them.”
Back to the question of sacrilegious Communion.  With the world growing stranger by the day, I find myself distracted in prayer, with thoughts of tactical measures and wondering how it all ends. I mean, I know it all ends in total victory, which is great sustenance. But I’m talking about the actual “how”. If we wind up with the vast majority of Masses ending in sacrilege, not only with the communicants in mortal sin but also the priests themselves intentionally committing sacrilege, then I’m pretty sure that will be the Abomination of Desolation we’ve all been wondering about. And no faithful Catholic can be a part of that.
The question then becomes: Where do the faithful go to find an undefiled Mass? I’ve got a place I’m pretty sure will be safe, but does everyone? How many more will question “the gates of Hell will not prevail” and flee the Church of Rome?
 
I don’t have all the answers.
Stay confessed.