Yes, sometimes funerals need to be used opportunistically.
The funeral of Justice Antonin Scalia was an opportunity to put the Traditional Latin Requiem Mass in front the broadest audience since 25 Nov 1963.  The opportunity was missed, or rather more likely, forbidden by +Wuerl as a condition of the site.  Impossible, you see, just so complex, we could never pull it off, we don’t have the staff, how would the bishops even know what to do?  All that Latin, all that silence, how could we expect people to sit (kneel) through all that?
Thanks be to God, this miss was brilliantly remediated by Father Paul Scalia. He was absolutely masterful in his execution of the entire Mass, and the homily was exactly what you expected it to be, in a most excellent way. Bravo, faithful son.
Which brings us to Mother Angelica’s funeral yesterday. It was viewed by a mere fraction of the numbers garnered by Scalia, only on EWTN, and likely by not a single non-Catholic.  It was nonetheless a beautiful Mass, ad orientem, incredible music, plenty of Latin, with Archbishop Chaput as the main celebrant and Father Wolfe on the homily.  Father Wolfe has had a busy week, and he’s pulled it off with grace and tranquility. Nothing was spared in sending Mother home, a fact mentioned in the homily as Father Wolfe contrasted the events of the day with that of Mother’s description of the paucity of precision at her own Solemn Profession 65 years ago.
Speaking of paucity, did anyone else notice what I did yesterday?  With all of the abounding beauty, maybe you missed it.  But to me, it was very telling.
There was a paucity of prelates.
Let’s break down the roll call:
+Chaput, Philadelphia, on the board of EWTN, his presence wasn’t announced until Wednesday (maybe late Tuesday), yet there was little doubt he had to be there, given his board status.
+Viganò, Apostolic Nuncio, given no one else from Rome attended, he had to be there.
+Rodi, Mobile, Metropolitan Archbishop, had to be there.
+Baker, Birmingham, Diocesan Ordinary, had to be there.
+Foley, Birmingham Emeritus, see previous post.
+Stika, Knoxville; and +Olmstead, Phoenix. Thank you, good men, your presence was noted.
That’s it.  That’s the extent of support for a woman who arguably did more good for the Church in North America in the last half century than any other person.  A woman who withstood countless attacks from the modernists in her tireless effort of evangelization. This was an opportunity not only for a show of force in support of Mother’s insistence on orthodoxy (otherwise known as Truth), and therefore a show of force for Truth itself, but it was also an opportunity for the bishops on the right side of things, so to say, to give a huge middle finger to the devious bishops who tried to crush her and her apostolate. It was an opportunity to show, for all the world to see, which side you will take in the coming war. It was a missed opportunity.
And the timing was perfect, because war is at hand.  The dreaded Apostolic Exhortation on the family is due to be released in less than one week HERE.  We are going to find out really soon which side everyone is on. It will be just like the pub scene from Inglourious Basterds.
 

Read in these pages and many other fine blogs regarding the nature of the spiritual battle in which we are engaged.  It is a battle in which the act of non serviam by satan and his angels which precipitated their fall, from which Original Sin and our own concupiscence are directly descended, interacts and engages with the redemptive act of Calvary and the outpouring of supernatural grace at Pentecost. This engagement is happening in every soul 24/7/365, and the ultimate outcome will be the permanent residency of each of these souls in one of two places.
Now think about the majority of the world we live in.  What percentage of people even know this battle is raging, and that they are a part of it whether they like it or not?  Low percentage, right?  Think about the demonic irony of it.  We’ve arrived at a point in history where the sum of all human knowledge is available instantaneously to anyone with a computer.  But instead they choose porn. And boy, will that be the topic of an epic future post.  But for those of us “in the know”, if we truly believe what we believe, and we know that care for souls is more important than anything else we could possibly be spending our time on, isn’t it foundational to the cause to firstly get people to WAKE THE HELL UP?
Now let’s talk about shock and awe, and let’s apply the logic of shock and awe to the only weapon we have at our disposal in the blogosphere:  Language.
In the supernatural realm we have other weapons, prayer and the sacraments foremost among them.  But in the daily battle for hearts and minds in the natural world, we have only language, and when it comes to language, the human intellect craves clarity, specificity, black and white.  This is achievable to a greater or lesser degree depending on the topic.  Some concepts do have an intrinsic irreducible complexity that require the dreaded tool of nuance to be employed.  It’s a tool best kept in the shed unless it’s really needed, because it is also the tool most abused by modernists, who aim to undermine truth by injecting nuance into areas where none exists.
But let’s get back to shock and awe, and the real topic of this post, which is words that shock and offend the oh so offendable enlightened western society, a society locked in a whore’s embrace with all that is filthy, except when it might gain an advantage by feigning Victorian prim.
You see, most of our English “curse” words aren’t curse words at all. They are words that offend Man, not God.  They don’t break the Second Commandment.  And as is so often the case when dealing with sinful things, the converse is also true; the words which do offend God do not offend Man.  Here’s a general rule of thumb:  If you CAN say it on TV, then watch out (i.e. JC, GD, JMJ, etc).  If you CAN’T say it on TV, then you’re probably okay.  It’s like so many other things; the more the culture deems something acceptable, the more you should beware.  I should also point out, this doesn’t hold true across languages.  Ask a Francophone.  But in English, we have an advantage, and we should use it.
Early in my conversion, I swore off allthebadwords.  I was oh so pious, and this was part of the piety, and this had to be the way.  This went on for years, until a good priest explained to me my error.  Actually he not so much explained it as he demolished it.
He demolished it to the point of me realizing that honoring these non-curse words with the same or more ‘esteem’ as the real offenses was actually a sinful act in itself.  Elevating man-made structures to the level of God.  A violation of not the Second Commandment but the First. Oh shit.
Is it starting to sink in now?
Your duty is to evangelise.  How did polite society receive Jesus?  They thought he was offensive, embarrassing, blasphemous.  Yet all the while, he spoke nothing but the truth.  Your duty is to be a seeker and saver of souls.  Wake people up. By all means. Use the tools.  Hagan lio.  One of the best examples I’ve ever seen is HERE
I got in trouble with some readers with my post yesterday on the last days of Mother Angelica.  I called her a BAMF, as a term of endearment.  People thought it was over the line.  I took down the “MF” so as to not distract from the rest of the post.  But seriously.  You’re offended by THAT?  You think Mother is offended by that?  R E A L L Y………. because I think Mother was rather busy her entire life waking people up, by all means, and is now rather busy with her Bridegroom, focusing on things like 50 million slaughtered babies and whatnot.  But that’s just me.
I certainly don’t regret typing what I did, but maybe it would have been better had this post come before that one.

Saint Peter responds to his accusers, from the Epistle for Friday within the Octave of Easter, OF (Acts 4:8-12):
“Leaders of the people and elders:
If we are being examined today
about a good deed done to a cripple,
namely, by what means he was saved,
then all of you and all the people of Israel should know
that it was in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazorean
whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead;
in his name this man stands before you healed.
He is the stone rejected by you, the builders,
which has become the cornerstone.
There is no salvation through anyone else,
nor is there any other name under heaven
given to the human race by which we are to be saved.”
The context is that Peter and John are healing, and preaching the Word.  Preaching Objective Truth.  They are arrested.  The next day they are brought in front of the authorities.  Instead of trying to get along to get along, Peter gives them a huge FU.
Pray that you and I will give similar testimony when on trial for proclaiming the Truth in the not too distant future.  The stone which has been utterly rejected, is in fact the cornerstone.  This is the ultimate Objective Truth of the universe for which we will be oppressed.
Because, if you know that participating in an immoral ceremony is objectively wrong, you will be prosecuted, and then fined into bankruptcy HERE
Because, if you know that men with manparts are actually men, and that allowing men with manparts into the ladies room poses a needless risk to ladies, you are a bigot and a hater HERE
Because, in enlightened western society, if your adulterous husband has ways and means, the state will mandate your torturous starvation and death HERE
The Way of the Cross isn’t pretty, but the outcome is pretty glorious.  Just be clear about one thing:  If you hold fast during your time of trial, your glory is not of this world.  In this world, your name will be utterly disgraced.  Those you leave behind, even those closest to you, will despise you.  “Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.” James 1:12

Read the account of the last days of Mother Angelica HERE
Wherever she may be now, I wonder if she is a bit uncomfortable with everyone remarking how appropriate was the course of her final passing, commencing as it did on Good Friday and ending on Easter Sunday.  As much as she united all her suffering to Christ and His sacrifice, she still wouldn’t feel worthy of the “comparison”.  She suffered nearly all her life, and most especially the last 15 years.  She suffered physical pain and she suffered oppression from wicked bishops.  She was at her best when she was utterly pissed off.
This woman did more to restore authentic Catholicism in the American post-conciliar Church than anyone else I can think of.  Not to say an authentic restoration has actually taken place, but rather, that she was a beacon of Truth to anyone serious enough to want to hear it.  Mother and her network were essential to my true conversion in the late 90s, in a way that I knew was irreversible even then.  Because once you know the Truth, there is no going back.
A few weeks ago, I had the happy occasion of being with my oldest son and his family for a few days.  He is slowing returning to the faith, and his heart seems sincere.  A program came on TV, I think it was 60 Minutes, with the story of Brittany Maynard, the young woman from Oregon who took her own life in order to avoid the suffering of brain cancer and wanting to spare her family the sight of it.
Of course the story was presented in the most slanted way possible, i.e. how barbaric and medieval of the other 49 states to not be encouraging assisted suicide.  My son innocently asked the Church’s position on all this, and I explained it to him.  I also explained how, so often, the father of lies manages to convince the world of a lie that is the polar opposite of the truth.  How suffering is meant to be a tool; a tool that when properly wielded, united to the Cross, is like a battle ax cutting to the marrow of darkness.  How suffering is actually a gift, and that we choose with our own free will what to do with it, just like we all choose with our own free will what to do with the gift of redemption we’ve been offered.  And finally, how this woman’s wretched diabolic selfishness robbed her of that which she needed most in her last days, and robbed her family of the fruits of witness.  Ouch, the truth hurts.
As much as my answer stunned him, its clarity resonated in such a way that I knew immediately there would be no follow up questions.
When the linked article was published a few days ago, I emailed it to my son with the commentary, “This is how you go out like a warrior bad ass instead of as a coward.”
Mother was an example to all of us, to her last.  May God grant her eternal rest.

You may not be interested in jihad, but jihad is interested in you. Failure to educate yourself in the era of internet, google, and Amazon is laziness.  Sloth. Mortal Sin.
If you have time to read a book, it should be The Looming Tower by Lawrence Wright. It goes back to the 14th century to explain the Hanbali school of Sunni Islam, and the Wahhabi/Salafi strains of this school. You will gain tremendous insight into what’s going on in the world.
If you don’t have time for that, do you have 15 minutes to read this article? It explains things in a very basic manner. The Wahhabi/Salafi sects reject everything that came after the very earliest times of the movement as satanic blasphemy, such that they are the only “true” Muslims.  That’s why you see them killing other Muslims in addition to everyone else.  So as the Muslim moves “deeper” into his faith, and the linear progression towards orthodoxy accelerates, he becomes weaponized (yes, weapons are part of the actual spiritual training). The west has coined a term for this process:  Radicalization.
However, “Radical Islam” is a misnomer.  While it does describe the extreme nature of the movement, it wrongly implies a periphery, a newness, a break with tradition, a revolution.  Wouldn’t it be more accurate to call it Orthodox Islam, or Conservative Islam, or Traditional Islam?  I suppose that wouldn’t sit too well with the other schools of Islam, even if it’s the truth.
Every politician on the national stage in every western country understands these facts.  Anyone who tells you Muslims have nothing whatsoever to do with terrorism is a liar, and is a part of the problem. Anyone who leans on the fact that the majority of Muslims are peaceful, family people, obscures the facts at hand and is a part of the problem.
Oh, and changing the flag on your fb profile doesn’t mean shit, ever. Educate yourself, help to educate others, and start being part of the solution.

As I already declared in December 2015, the republic is dead.
What you have seen in the last few months, with dark horse candidates dominating the GOP field, is the dead cat bounce:  The notion that an outside candidate such as Trump or Cruz could win the nomination.  The possibility of real reform.  The possibility of curtailing, even a little, the massive corruption of the oligarchy.
Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.
The events of the last week now prove that the GOPe will use any means necessary to nominate a candidate whom they own.  No matter Jeb’s failure to launch, Rubio’s robotics, nor Romney’s three strikes and you’re out.  The nominee must be someone who will not rock the boat, because the establishment (on both sides) is totally immoral and corrupt.  It is status quo either way.
This is no screed for Trump, by the way.  He’s certainly no conservative, and his behavior demonstrates he would be even more authoritarian than Obama.  Just imagine him on the international stage.  Countries are laughing at us.
Let’s face it, the GOPe would rather see Hillary win.  Yes, really.  They are closer to Hillary on policy. Hillary is safe. Hillary won’t take away their toys.  Hillary is, in objective reality, one of their own.
Think about the scenarios of how this plays out from here.  Visualize for thirty seconds how the general election campaigns play out post-conventions.  Can you come up with one scenario where she doesn’t win?  Unless she is in jail, I don’t see one.
Silver lining: This event may finally be the tipping point where a large number of sheep wake the hell up and decide not to be sheep anymore.  But choosing the red pill isn’t easy.

Confession.  Who needs that silly old thing anymore?

Confession is the only earthly means of regaining sanctifying grace after committing mortal sin.  I say earthly means, because God is not bound by the sacraments, and He can grant pardon if your contrition is perfect; that is, repentance out of sheer love for God, and not just fear of eternal punishment.  Since you can never really know how perfect your contrition is, it’s a lot more comforting to get your sorry ass in the confessional, often. It’s the only way to be sure.
The council opened amid a rapid escalation of the Loss of the Sense of Sin, and the continued secularization of western society.  The Modernists had been kept at bay for over 50 years, but they were only in hiding, and they saw this was their chance. Aggiornamento!
The Smoke of Satan entering the Church took many forms.  Marxist and sodomite infiltrators, moral destruction of seminaries, the Novus Ordo and its immediate openness to abuses, etc, etc. But Satan’s central point of attack was on Sacramental Confession. Why?  Go back and read the first paragraph.
The CARA Survey (this one is 2008) shows that 75% of Catholics go to confession less than once a year or never at all, and that 54% of Catholics who attend Mass every week think there is no need for confession at least once a year.  Follow the link for tons more data.
So OF COURSE this is the most diabolical success story of the last 50 years.  Can you tell me a more effective way to ensure the eternal damnation of millions of souls WHO ACTUALLY THINK THEY ARE GOOD CATHOLICS?
Oh, wait.

If someone comes to you and feels something must be removed from him, but perhaps he is unable to say it, but you understand … it’s all right, he says it this way, with the gesture of coming. First condition. Second, he is repentant. If someone comes to you it is because he doesn’t want to fall into these situations, but he doesn’t dare say it, he is afraid to say it and then not be able to do it. But if he cannot do it, ad impossibila nemo tenetur. And the Lord understands these things, the language of gestures. Have open arms, to understand what is inside that heart that cannot be said or said this way … somewhat because of shame … you understand me. You must receive everyone with the language with which they can speak.

No. No. No.  Go read the article linked above to 1P5.  This is explicitly forbidden, for reasons which should be obvious, and results in INVALID confession, i.e. your sins are not forgiven, unless your Indian name is Cat Got Tongue.
Does everyone remember that all the sacraments have Matter and Form to be valid?  Do you know the Matter for Sacramental Confession?  It’s the sins themselves, and the act of confession itself, which consists of contrition, actually confessing the sins, and satisfaction.  Did you get that?  Without the sins and the confession, there’s no sacrament.
So once again we are left wondering: is the Holy Father intentionally undermining the faith, resulting in a multitude of damned souls, or is he simply ignorant of Church teaching, resulting in a multitude of damned souls?
Doesn’t this mean that all the invalid “general absolution services” are okey dokey too? Why do we even need confessionals? “Everyone needing reconciliation, please don’t queue up. Sit in the pews and remain mute. Father Jazz Hands will absolve from the pulpit shortly.”
Please, God, make it stop.  For the sake of His sorrowful Passion.