Lies are ugly, while Truth is so simple and so beautiful. God made it this way.

Ah, yes.  We come to the central dogma of the new religion: Inculpability. The idea that while mortal sin remains, objectively, mortal sin, God’s mercy demands we view these sins through the lens of their “concrete situations”, so we can see that the guilt has been expunged by the weight of the circumstances, always and everywhere.
Such a wonderful evolution of discipline, eh? How did it ever take us 2000 years to properly apply God’s boundless mercy? Such a mystery how He let us languish through the centuries under such rigid justice.  That wasn’t very nice of Him.
Nope nope nopey nope. Not only does God never cause you to sin, God never even permits you to be put into a situation where you are incapable of resisting sin. In ages past, a third grader could teach you this.  When you sin, it is ALWAYS because you make a conscience choice to do so. Yes, it’s true that culpability can be reduced by mitigating factors, but how Francis twists it here is to literally make it a different religion. Once again, the devil is in the footnotes. If you read the whole post, I lay out the Catholic teaching at the end.  Truth is so simple and so beautiful, it speaks for itself.

Part Two: Fancy Footnotes and the Diabolical Inversion of Truth

Posted onAPRIL 11, 2016
#AmorisLaetitia

300. If we consider the immense variety of concrete situations such as those I have mentioned, it is understandable that neither the Synod nor this Exhortation could be expected to provide a new set of general rules, canonical in nature and applicable to all cases. What is possible is simply a renewed encouragement to undertake a responsible personal and pastoral discernment of particular cases, one which would recognize that, since “the degree of responsibility is not equal in all cases”, the consequences or effects of a rule need not necessarily always be the same.336
Footnote 336 This is also the case with regard to sacramental discipline, since discernment can recognize that in a particular situation no grave fault exists. In such cases, what is found in another document applies: cf. Evangelii Gaudium (24 November 2013), 44 and 47: AAS 105 (2013), 1038-1040.

The footnote is footnoted.  +Francis references EG 44, 47 (which isn’t a reference at all, since he wrote it himself). So what do these two paragraphs say?  Before your read them, you should know something.  He is so in love with these two paragraphs, he comes back to them multiple times, with direct quotes and more footnotes, in subsequent sections of AL.  This is really the heart of the matter; the battlefield before us.

44. Moreover, pastors and the lay faithful who accompany their brothers and sisters in faith or on a journey of openness to God must always remember what the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches quite clearly: “Imputability and responsibility for an action can be diminished or even nullified by ignorance, inadvertence, duress, fear, habit, inordinate attachments, and other psychological or social factors”. Consequently, without detracting from the evangelical ideal, they need to accompany with mercy and patience the eventual stages of personal growth as these progressively occur.  I want to remind priests that the confessional must not be a torture chamber but rather an encounter with the Lord’s mercy which spurs us on to do our best. A small step, in the midst of great human limitations, can be more pleasing to God than a life which appears outwardly in order but moves through the day without confronting great difficulties. Everyone needs to be touched by the comfort and attraction of God’s saving love, which is mysteriously at work in each person, above and beyond their faults and failings.
47. The Church is called to be the house of the Father, with doors always wide open. One concrete sign of such openness is that our church doors should always be open, so that if someone, moved by the Spirit, comes there looking for God, he or she will not find a closed door. There are other doors that should not be closed either. Everyone can share in some way in the life of the Church; everyone can be part of the community, nor should the doors of the sacraments be closed for simply any reason. This is especially true of the sacrament which is itself “the door”: baptism. The Eucharist, although it is the fullness of sacramental life, is not a prize for the perfect but a powerful medicine and nourishment for the weak. These convictions have pastoral consequences that we are called to consider with prudence and boldness. Frequently, we act as arbiters of grace rather than its facilitators. But the Church is not a tollhouse; it is the house of the Father, where there is a place for everyone, with all their problems.

Get it?  Mortal Sin is nullified by inculpability always and everywhere.  It’s not just the possibility of a reduction in culpability depending on the circumstances, which the Church does teach is possible, and is already dangerously close to Situational Ethics.  It’s also that this reduction in culpability, up to and including inculpability, occurs in EVERY CASE of Mortal Sin, and this includes future intended sins! That’s the only way “there is a place for everyone, with all their problems” squares with the issue at hand. Since no one is really guilty of their faults, no one is deserving of the punishment God’s justice would require.  Because “God’s saving love is at work in each person”, when someone sins, it must mean that they have some burden or defect which cannot be overcome and is not their fault.
This is a different religion.  A properly catechized ten year old can explain that, not only does God never cause you to sin, He also never puts you in a situation where you are incapable of resisting sin.  Sin is an action taken through free assent of one’s own free will that goes against God’s will.  God cannot will something that goes against His own will.
The three conditions necessary for Mortal Sin:  Grave Matter, Full Knowledge, and Deliberate Consent.  God made it simple, so that simple people can know the score.  That quote from the Catechism in EG44 is CCC 1735.  Now take another look at the Catechism, at the bits immediately preceding and following CCC1735:

1734 Freedom makes man responsible for his acts to the extent that they are voluntary. Progress in virtue, knowledge of the good, and ascesis enhance the mastery of the will over its acts.
1736 Every act directly willed is imputable to its author:  Thus the Lord asked Eve after the sin in the garden: “What is this that you have done?” He asked Cain the same question. The prophet Nathan questioned David in the same way after he committed adultery with the wife of Uriah and had him murdered. An action can be indirectly voluntary when it results from negligence regarding something one should have known or done.

Twisting CCC1735 by selectively quoting it in isolation from the context which surrounds it. This is not merely willful ambiguity, nor merely deliberate obfuscation. This is diabolically inverting the truth.  And he is not being misquoted, mistranslated or misunderstood. No, he is obstinately clinging to these notions, time after time, after numerous charitable corrections, after petitions, after the Thirteen Cardinals Letter, etc etc.
And that’s how you attempt to destroy the One True Faith. By holding the Bride of Christ at fault, and holding Her children blameless.  If the children are blameless, Christ died for nothing. And when the children have nothing required of them, have nothing Supernatural to strive for, for whom nothing is transcendent, they dedicate themselves to attacking the First Commandment by worshiping environmentalism, vegetarianism, and animals.
Oh, I haven’t even gotten to the bad parts yet.

The fancy footnotes need to be exposed again for all those who were asleep last year, but are now awake

Fancy Footnotes and the Diabolical Inversion of Truth

APRIL 10, 2016
#AmorisLaetitia
Be patient.  There are at least three of these  footnote monsters, and I’m pressed for time.

298. The divorced who have entered a new union, for example, can find themselves in a variety of situations, which should not be pigeonholed or fit into overly rigid classifications leaving no room for a suitable personal and pastoral discernment. One thing is a second union consolidated over time, with new children, proven fidelity, generous self giving, Christian commitment, a consciousness of its irregularity and of the great difficulty of going back without feeling in conscience that one would fall into new sins. The Church acknowledges situations “where, for serious reasons, such as the children’s upbringing, a man and woman cannot satisfy the obligation to separate. 329

Let’s have a look at footnote 329, wherein the Holy Father attempts a diabolical inversion of Truth by referencing two documents, both of which actually say the OPPOSITE or something WHOLLY DIFFERENT from what he is proposing.  Here’s the footnote:

329 John Paul II, Apostolic Exhortation Familiaris Consortio (22 November 1981), 84: AAS 74 (1982), 186. In such situations, many people, knowing and accepting the possibility of living “as brothers and sisters” which the Church offers them, point out that if certain expressions of intimacy are lacking, “it often happens that faithfulness is endangered and the good of the children suffers” (Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World Gaudium et Spes, 51).

Now watch this.
First, here is the text from FC 84, written 35 years ago, by a saint.

84. Daily experience unfortunately shows that people who have obtained a divorce usually intend to enter into a new union, obviously not with a Catholic religious ceremony. Since this is an evil that, like the others, is affecting more and more Catholics as well, the problem must be faced with resolution and without delay. The Synod Fathers studied it expressly. The Church, which was set up to lead to salvation all people and especially the baptized, cannot abandon to their own devices those who have been previously bound by sacramental marriage and who have attempted a second marriage. The Church will therefore make untiring efforts to put at their disposal her means of salvation.
Pastors must know that, for the sake of truth, they are obliged to exercise careful discernment of situations. There is in fact a difference between those who have sincerely tried to save their first marriage and have been unjustly abandoned, and those who through their own grave fault have destroyed a canonically valid marriage. Finally, there are those who have entered into a second union for the sake of the children’s upbringing, and who are sometimes subjectively certain in conscience that their previous and irreparably destroyed marriage had never been valid.
…
However, the Church reaffirms her practice, which is based upon Sacred Scripture, of not admitting to Eucharistic Communion divorced persons who have remarried. They are unable to be admitted thereto from the fact that their state and condition of life objectively contradict that union of love between Christ and the Church which is signified and effected by the Eucharist. Besides this, there is another special pastoral reason: if these people were admitted to the Eucharist, the faithful would be led into error and confusion regarding the Church’s teaching about the indissolubility of marriage.
Reconciliation in the sacrament of Penance which would open the way to the Eucharist, can only be granted to those who, repenting of having broken the sign of the Covenant and of fidelity to Christ, are sincerely ready to undertake a way of life that is no longer in contradiction to the indissolubility of marriage. This means, in practice, that when, for serious reasons, such as for example the children’s upbringing, a man and a woman cannot satisfy the obligation to separate, they “take on themselves the duty to live in complete continence, that is, by abstinence from the acts proper to married couples.”[180]
…
By acting in this way, the Church professes her own fidelity to Christ and to His truth. At the same time she shows motherly concern for these children of hers, especially those who, through no fault of their own, have been abandoned by their legitimate partner.
With firm confidence she believes that those who have rejected the Lord’s command and are still living in this state will be able to obtain from God the grace of conversion and salvation, provided that they have persevered in prayer, penance and charity.

Yes, it acknowledges the sad reality of broken families, and notes that “discernment of situations” is necessary.  But then it goes on, within the same paragraph, to reinforce the impossibility of Eucharistic Communion for those who continue in second “marriages” unless, for the sake of the children produced by the second bond, and after repentance and sacramental Confession, they practice perfect continence (which, by the way, is already a very generous provision).  So Francis is using this paragraph to support his position that situations differ, even though elsewhere in the very same paragraph his broader proposal is utterly destroyed, by coming to the OPPOSITE conclusion of where he is going with this.
Now back to footnote 329, the second part, which references GS51.  Go back and look at the footnote.  Francis is moaning that, while of course the living as brother and sister option is always available, that idea is just so cruel and unmerciful, we must find a way around it for the sake of the children.  Then he quotes GS 51 to support the argument.
Except guess what. GS51 is talking about PEOPLE WHO ARE REALLY MARRIED.  First marriages. Not divorced and remarried.  Furthermore, the topic at hand in GS is the licitness of refraining from full intimacy for the sake of spacing of children, which is WHOLLY DIFFERENT from the topic we are dealing with in AL. Here’s the relevant text:

51. This council realizes that certain modern conditions often keep couples from arranging their married lives harmoniously, and that they find themselves in circumstances where at least temporarily the size of their families should not be increased. As a result, the faithful exercise of love and the full intimacy of their lives is hard to maintain. But where the intimacy of married life is broken off, its faithfulness can sometimes be imperiled and its quality of fruitfulness ruined, for then the upbringing of the children and the courage to accept new ones are both endangered.

You can’t tell me this is bad scholarship.  This is deliberate and diabolical inversion.
And there is so much more.

“The Scriptures Speak” — loud and clear!

The Scriptures Speak

Posted onAPRIL 9, 2016
  • Take heed to yourselves, and to the whole flock, wherein the Holy Ghost hath placed you bishops, to rule the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. I know that, after my departure, ravening wolves will enter in among you, not sparing the flock. And of your own selves shall arise men speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. Acts 20:28-30
  • A man that is a heretic, after the first and second admonition, avoid: Knowing that he, that is such an one, is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned by his own judgment. Titus 3:10-11
  • Whosoever revolteth, and continueth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that continueth in the doctrine, the same hath both the Father and the Son. If any man come to you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into the house nor say to him, God speed you. For he that saith unto him, God speed you, communicateth with his wicked works. 2 John 1:9-11
  • Now the Spirit manifestly saith, that in the last times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to spirits of error, and doctrines of devils, Speaking lies in hypocrisy, and having their conscience seared….” 1 Tim 4:1-2
  • For there shall be a time, when they will not endure sound doctrine; but, according to their own desires, they will heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears: And will indeed turn away their hearing from the truth, but will be turned unto fables. 2 Tim 4:3-4
  • But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there shall be among you lying teachers, who shall bring in sects of perdition, and deny the Lord who bought them: bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their riotousnesses, through whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you. Whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their perdition slumbereth not. 2 Peter 2:1-3

Read the rest of it HERE

Toward a holy Passiontide: Re-unmasking the horrors of Amoris Laetitia. Won’t you join me?

Thanks to Canon212.com for the link to this excellent chronology of the Francis, four years of unthinkable madness HERE. It’s enough to make you physically ill. Even worse is knowing that Francis is simply the inevitable result of nuChurch playing itself out to its only logical end.
Capturing and publicizing that exhaustive chronology is a work of charity toward unknowing souls. I’ve said this again and again. All that has been documented and expounded about the heresy within the Church should have this as its primary aim: Salvation of souls.
We are also approaching the one year anniversary of you-know-what.  Over the next several days, between now and Holy Week, I will be re-posting my initial reading of Amoris Laetitia from one year ago.  I encourage all Catholic bloggers to do the same, as there are now many more eyes wide open to the Francis situation than there were then.
From 8 April 2016:

The situation CANNOT be hyperbolized: When the Levee Breaks edition HERE

Meaning, its seriousness on several levels cannot be overstated, and there is no turning back.  The Great Apostasy has now arrived, 8 April 2016,  with the publication of Amoris Latitia.
Let’s get one thing out of the way right from the start.  I don’t care who the ghostwriters were.  I don’t care how much of it is directly from Pope Francis (but it’s obvious that much of it is).  It’s his name at the top – he owns all of it.
It is a 260 page (in English) disaster, a cobbled mess of quotations from homilies, audiences, statements from episcopal conferences, VII documents, relatios from the two synods, and finally, and devious misquotations from pre-Franciscan popes, most notably and unsurprisingly from Familiaris Consortio.  It doesn’t matter that the majority of it is harmless if it is read with the mind of traditional Church teaching.  I read the whole wretched thing, although I had to skim some of the middle fluff to fight off drowsiness.
The poison is there, and it can’t be covered up.  The first hint comes 61 pages in:

78. The light of Christ enlightens every person (cf. Jn 1:9; Gaudium et Spes, 22). Seeing things with the eyes of Christ inspires the Church’s pastoral care for the faithful who are living together, or are only married civilly, or are divorced and remarried. Following this divine pedagogy, the Church turns with love to those who participate in her life in an imperfect manner: she seeks the grace of conversion for them; she encourages them to do good, to take loving care of each other and to serve the community in which they live and work… When a couple in an irregular union attains a noteworthy stability through a public bond – and is characterized by deep affection, responsibility towards the children and the ability to overcome trials – this can be seen as an opportunity, where possible, to lead them to celebrate the sacrament of Matrimony.
79. When faced with difficult situations and wounded families, it is always necessary to recall this general principle: ‘Pastors must know that, for the sake of truth, they are obliged to exercise careful discernment of situations’ (Familiaris Consortio, 84). The degree of responsibility is not equal in all cases and factors may exist which limit the ability to make a decision. Therefore, while clearly stating the Church’s teaching, pastors are to avoid judgements that do not take into account the complexity of various situations, and they are to be attentive, by necessity, to how people experience and endure distress because of their condition.

None of this heretical, if understood in accordance with Church teaching.  But it is part of the set up for what’s coming. Remember, most of those VII documents are also harmless if their ambiguous parts are read in the light of Tradition.
After 80 more pages of fluff, meandering well past our desire to please get to the point, out of nowhere comes this huge shot across the bow:

185. Along these same lines, we do well to take seriously a biblical text usually interpreted outside of its context or in a generic sense, with the risk of overlooking its immediate and direct meaning, which is markedly social. I am speaking of 1 Cor 11:17-34, where Saint Paul faces a shameful situation in the community. The wealthier members tended to discriminate against the poorer ones, and this carried over even to the agape meal that accompanied the celebration of the Eucharist. While the rich enjoyed their food, the poor looked on and went hungry: “One is hungry and another is drunk. Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the Church of God and humiliate those who have nothing?” (vv. 21-22).
186. The Eucharist demands that we be members of the one body of the Church. Those who approach the Body and Blood of Christ may not wound that same Body by creating scandalous distinctions and divisions among its members. This is what it means to “discern” the body of the Lord, to acknowledge it with faith and charity both in the sacramental signs and in the community; those who fail to do so eat and drink judgement against themselves (cf. v. 29). The celebration of the Eucharist thus becomes a constant summons for everyone “to examine himself or herself ” (v. 28), to open the doors of the family to greater fellowship with the underprivileged, and in this way to receive the sacrament of that eucharistic love which makes us one body. We must not forget that “the ‘mysticism’ of the sacrament has a social character”.207 When those who receive it turn a blind eye to the poor and suffering, or consent to various forms of division, contempt and inequality, the Eucharist is received unworthily. On the other hand, families who are properly disposed and receive the Eucharist regularly, reinforce their desire for fraternity, their social consciousness and their commitment to those in need.

Oh yes, you had to read that several times, didn’t you.  Maybe not the first time we’ve seen calumny in a papal document, but it’s the first time it has been directed at me. Alas, he’s been doing it verbally for three years.
It seems like we’re about to go nuclear at this point but, annoyingly, nearly 80 more pages of fluff follows this.  And just when it goes on so long that you start thinking we are going to escape the ordeal with nothing serious, the final chapter arrives.  Chapter Eight:  “ACCOMPANYING, DISCERNING AND INTEGRATING WEAKNESS”.
The situation cannot be hyperbolized.  It is so, so, bad.  It affirms, for the most stubborn Pollyana, that +Francis was the driving force behind the absolute worst of what went down in the synods.  That +Francis intends to institutionalize sacrilege, destroy three sacraments, and renounce Divine Immutability.  It’s kinda serious.
I’m not pasting the entire chapter.  There will be several posts to come regarding Chapter Eight. Go read it, and start praying.  Contemplate how, if we really believe what we say we believe, we can let this stand.

A triumvirate of Antifa Fascists

I’m giving you three examples here, one audio and two video, in an effort to demonstrate how totally unhinged are the Leftists/Marxists/Fascists. Not only are they completely detached from reality, they are living inside their own separate “reality” which cannot be penetrated by reason whatsoever. So as you review the material here, see if you can find the common thread that runs through the thought process of all these brainwashed souls. All of these are at least a month old, so sorry if it’s old news to you. But seeing them together really drives home the horror.
First is an audio clip of Professor David Parry of the not-in-my-lifetime “catholic” Saint Joseph’s University of unhappy memory. I attended in the gogo 80s, when the Theology chair was a turtleneck atheist, at least that was my impression at the time, and the campus didn’t even have a chapel. They do have one now, but bring some eye bleach if you visit.
Anyway, this was recorded two days after the election, 10 Nov 2016. The good professor, still huffing paint from two nights previous, encourages minorities toward full hate of Trump supports and condones violence against them. Actually he condones anything at all they feel the need to do. He says, “People are going to die” because Trump won, and he’s basically inciting a preemptive race war. Listen for three minutes and tell me if I’m exaggerating:
https://youtu.be/vKBPtCa2H_o?t=18s
The university issued this statement in response:

“Saint Joseph’s University…is fundamentally committed to free speech and the exchange of ideas…Fostering a safe learning environment is one of the University’s primary obligations. Freedom of expression is integral to this effort. The University does expect respectful dialogue at all times and opposes any form of intolerance. This always has been and will remain a central principle at Saint Joseph’s University.” (Full statement HERE)

I ask you, is sedition covered under free speech?  I didn’t think so. Did you hear respectful dialogue, or did you hear intolerance? I guess the university will only tolerate intolerance toward the tolerant. Liberal pretzel logic! What a great acronym…LPL. LOL.
On a side note, I must say it astonishes me how few people actually click the videos or source references I link to, even on the most insane subjects. I’m sitting here writing on topics and taking positions many times that 99% of the world would disagree with, and you’re not even going to fact check my own references? This is how fake news is spread.  People, do a little digging.
Up next, a two minute video with a professor from NYU at the Gavin McInnes protest last month. Warning, she’s a bit of a potty mouth. Try to ignore that, and focus on her message.
https://youtu.be/BJa_s_2QX_c
Got it?  Of course…violence is the answer! Look, we really should be praying for these people.  This woman might very well be possessed by something more serious than an ideology. But you’re starting to see a pattern, right?
Yep, it is those protesting fascism most vociferously who are themselves the fascists.
Okay, last clip.  It’s ten minutes but you only need to watch the first three. This one is yet another “educator”, Yvette Felarca, self proclaimed advocate of intolerance “by any means necessary.”  You almost feel bad for her, because Tucker simply sets up the deadly irony and then lets her destroy herself in her own words.
The video opens with Felarca inciting violence and assaulting a peaceful protester. Then Tucker asks her to define fascism. It’s an instant classic, watch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSjyxgN6lPM
 
This is what we are up against.
 

Sorry, I’m back now

Two crazy weeks with work and a surprise 50th birthday party for my wife, which I actually managed to pull off.
Random thoughts:

  • Isn’t this the same guy who famously said, “No more pickled pepper sour puss Christians?”
    francis pickle faced
    “Non Serviam”

    This was during Exposition on the Annunciation last Saturday. Does this look like a man in prayerful reflection before his Lord and his God? Notice this time the instructions were given beforehand to NOT set up the prie-dieu. No, just a chair will be fine, and I’m not removing my zucchetto either BECAUSE IT’S JUST A CRACKER. Remember, the signalling isn’t just for you, boys and girls. The act itself is thrilling to him personally – the brazen, out in the open nature of it – because the real thrill for the diabolical narcissist is in publicly getting away with it. I would be willing to bet that the greatest thrill in his life was at his first Mass as “Pope Francis”, when he refused to genuflect at the consecration, as the whole world watched.
  • The endless wait for the public correction from the four cardinals of dubia fame which may or may not be forthcoming has enjoined me to a guessing game of dates. If it does come, it’s not going to be just any random Tuesday. It will be a date of historic significance befitting the occasion. I imagine the only way it happens during Lent would be on the anniversary of the release of AL, which is 8 April, otherwise not until after the Easter Octave. And the very first day after the Octave is Divine Mercy Sunday, 23 April. Oh my, how appropriate it would be to restore the correct application of Divine Mercy. Then 13 May is the 100th anniversary of Our Lady of Fatima. Hmmmm. Pray for this to happen.  Prayer is not the least we can do, prayer works.
  • Everything going on politically in the U.S. right now is going to lead to mass violence instigated by Leftists. I’ve never seen Deep State operating so far out in the open. There are literally thousands of Leftist operatives pulling all the strings attempting to ruin Trump and shut down the government.  If you don’t live here, I’m not sure how I can convey what’s going on in a believable manner. Even going into this with what I thought were eyes wide open, it is still stunning.
  • The whole thing about repealing Obamacare was a complete bait and switch, and was designed as such from the beginning. There is no way to fix a healthcare system built on oligarch collusion, lawlessness and theft, not to mention a built-in ten percent inflation rate. The current system, whether it is Obamacare, Trumpcare, or Single Payer (which is where this will go next) all of these will bankrupt the country within ten years without systemic reform. Which you can’t do when the Rule of Law is long dead.
  • And remember, the same holds true for the economy as a whole. It’s all fake news. There is no recovery. There is no stock market “boom”. The market is twice as overbought as it was before the collapse. Although it is interesting to watch the selling since it peaked on March 1st.  The Dow was down for the eighth straight day today, which might not sound like much, but is actually a very rare event. Keep in mind the entire globe is tied into everything. When SHTF, it won’t be like anything that’s ever happened before. Also remember the debt… oh yeah, that.  Try doing the math on what a 3% hike above ZIRP would mean in terms of our ability just to service the debt (interest payments only). If you supported Trump as the moral choice over a monster, for the sake of souls, thank you for joining me.  But there is no such thing as MAGA. Get your head around that and get on with preparing for whatever comes next.
  • Never lose sight of the fact that we already know how the world ends. It ends in victory. You really need to keep this at your center, because we also know that it’s going to get much, much worse, before it gets better. If you can read Matt 24:21-25 without being terrified, you better go back and read it again.

    “For there shall be then great tribulation, such as hath not been from the beginning of the world until now, neither shall be. And unless those days had been shortened, no flesh should be saved: but for the sake of the elect those days shall be shortened. Then if any man shall say to you: Lo here is Christ, or there, do not believe him. For there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders, insomuch as to deceive (if possible) even the elect. Behold I have told it to you, beforehand.”

“unless those days had been shortened, no flesh should be saved”… not one person.
Stay frosty.
 
 

Ember Saturday and the rightness of calling down the Wrath of God

Fourth Lesson
Lesson from the book of Ecclesiasticus (Sirach)
Ecclus. 36:1-10 
Raise Your hand against the heathen, that they may realize Your power. As You have used us to show them Your holiness, so now use them to show us Your glory. Thus they will know, as we know, that there is no God but You, O Lord. Give new signs and work new wonders; show forth the splendor of Your right hand and arm; rouse Your anger, pour out wrath, humble the enemy, scatter the foe. Hasten the day, bring on the time; that they may declare Your wonderful works, O Lord, our God.
Pour out wrath.
Humble the enemy.
Scatter the foe.
There are five Lessons before the Epistle on Ember Saturday in Lent. They are traditionally used as an ordination sequence, and often omitted (except for the first) when ordinations are not conferred. That’s a shame. Okay, I groaned a little when the priest came out and announced he was doing the long form this morning. I had things to do, errands, some work work. Taxes. A neglected blog. It’s always in these situations that we get hit right between the eyes.
The fourth lesson comes after we’ve already heard in earlier lessons about the absolute sanctity of the Commandments (and our duty and ability to keep them), the value of sacrifice, and the glory of God. Now we arrive at prayers to destroy our enemies. How unFrancismercy, eh? no?
Of course these prayers are at the same time prayers for conversion… both for us and our enemies. We all need prayers, right? But there is a difference between those who know and acknowledge their need for a Savior, and those who in their obstinance refuse to do so. God doesn’t will Hell for anyone, but He respects the free will of those who choose the path to enter there.
I’ve been contemplating (meaning, I know I need to do it, but I’m being lazy and putting it off) starting the old breviary, with all the lost prayers for protection and wrath which have been removed from the new “liturgy of the hours.” Only God knows how many spiritual battles have been lost because of this.
Online breviary HERE
Three volume hardbound HERE
 

Nothing like a little Lenten retreat to plan something wicked. Start Praying.


“Collaborators” is not a word normally associated with being on retreat. Even if it is not a silent retreat, it’s still a strange word, because it suggests the creation of something new. Such is normally the end product of a collaboration. It also suggests a closed group working together toward a desired result. It is strongly horizontal language, which seems at odds with what should be a transcendent  experience.
I checked the Italian handle to see if maybe it was a translation er….. nope.


So should we start girding ourselves for some further development of nuChurch next weekend? The Second Sunday of Lent is the Transfiguration. Perhaps a little faux nouveau dogme? “See, I wear white, just like Jesus! I get to deny His true words and replace them with my own.”
Here are some visuals that “collaboration” brings to mind. I can’t help it.
 
 
goodfellas_primary
sopranos_ep313
The Godfather
911
untouchables
pope-luther

“Class is a bearing, a mode of conduct, not a resume, not a designer label, and certainly not a net worth.”

Well, this is exactly correct. This is Miss Barnhardt bringing the Truth HERE.  The corollary in the moral realm is that one’s character is demonstrated not by how he perceives himself, or even how he is perceived by others, but rather by his actions. By choices. In fact, your choices don’t just demonstrate your character, your choices ARE your character. They are the very substance of it.
Notice her use of the word “bearing”.  This is usually used in a military sense in terms of situational awareness and operational tactics. And trust me, those aspects do apply here. But in the socioeconomic realm it’s also a mixture of preparedness, comportment, and demeanor. Understand the differences between these words, and how they come together to form your bearing – or lack thereof.  If you don’t think this is important, you don’t know what you don’t know.

“…“periphery” is anyone outside of the Boston-New-York-Washington DC metroplex, and the San Francisco-Los Angels corridor, having any say in anything.  Like, VOTING.  Look at a county-by-county red/blue map of the U.S. It is staggering.”

electoral-map
Yes, it is staggering.  I’ve used this map in at least two previous posts, and I can’t get enough of it. There are so many things to be said. But what we’re addressing here are the “elites”, and what they think about you.

“…their hatred isn’t just for Trump personally.  It is for anyone that they perceive to be “beneath them” – not of the Ivy League law school coastal elite.”

If you’ve never lived in one of the blue areas, I’m not even sure I can adequately explain this to you. But you really do need to understand the mindset of the typical Californian, and how far down the rabbit hole the ideology has taken them. You really do need to understand the Ivy League mentality, and how cultural Marxism has so altered the wiring in their brains, they are incapable of rational thought/discourse. You really do need to understand that the island of Manhattan might as well be the ocean on Solaris – the more you attempt to communicate with it, the more it tortures you (read the book please, the movies are garbage).
They view you as sub-human, and you are vomitous to them. Your existence is a burden. See where this is going? Oh, and here is something you might find funny.  They think you all want to be like them. This is no joke – I’ve walked amongst them. They know that when we use the term “elite” we mean it as a pejorative, but they think that it’s borne out of jealously not contempt. They think we view them as they view themselves. Such is the thickness of the bubble. They think all the red counties are actually jealous of the blue counties, and wish they were blue too. Which of course means the blues should do everything they can, for the sake of the common good, you know, to force the reds into blues. It’s for our own good, they say.

“And the truth is, they’re all trash, and deep down, they know it.  Class is a bearing, a mode of conduct, not a resume, not a designer label, and certainly not a net worth.”

Amen, sister.