Sunday, December 27, 2015

All you needed to know about Stephen Colbert

The homoheresy prevails...

This is not a shocker...




Ok so plain as day he says he doesn't believe in the Bride of Christ.
(ie: he is at least schismatic at this point, but he is part of the homoheresy)

I'm going to assume that the Jesuit (at least Fr. Martin's) plan of singing a new church into being is not going as planned.  But hey maybe a few more interviews with Cardinal Dolan and Fr. "Luther is a saint after all" and maybe, just maybe the church will be healed of its pre VII selfishness... or maybe the liberals will all just leave and set up shop like the apostate Coren with cross dressing women.

Just a thought.  Read the whole article HERE

+JMJ+



Thursday, December 24, 2015

Inside baseball on the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in Milwaukee

James over at Cream City Catholic wrote a fantastic article proposing that Ad Orientem worship be brought back to the cathedral, its well worth the read HERE


 I only wanted to add that I have heard from a source within the archdiocese that there is currently a donor out there that has offered the Archbishop the funding necessary to restore the cathedral to its original, pre-Weakland, condition. Sadly, the archdiocese has not taken up the man on his offer.

I'm not saying that there are people out there that are content (shall we say in all charity) with the Weakland era continuing, but if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck... its likely a Bears fan... or a duck (one of the two).

So Archbishop Listecki, 



Monday, December 21, 2015

Know thy magisterial teaching: Limbo of the Infants

So in an effort to promulgate Catholic teaching once again, I now wish to offer - for your consideration - the new series: Know thy magisterial teaching

Do you know a seminarian or just some everyday Catholic out there that has no idea where to go to find the teachings from an anti-nominalist? Well, here is another shot at this:

Limbo is dead... well to the normalists it is, but their theological opinions are weak kneed anyways.  Listen to the whole talk and say 3 Hail Marys for the priest too!

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Updated 12/23: Fr. Hardon on the new catechism and more

It seems like the Catechism of the Catholic Church (1994) is constantly touted as the norm for teaching the faith.  This goes unchallenged by just about everyone, but it is interesting that Fr. Hardon took issue with the text:

http://catholicism.org/49274.html



Update is part II


Something similar happened with the Youcat,  but not to the extent of a Father Hardon questioning the text.  The authors of this youth catechism even got Pope Benedict to endorse it... but as you will find listening to this talk there are some real issues




The solution is simple,Cardinal Burke reminded us recently of the Catechism of Pius X

"St. Pius X saw with clarity how religious ignorance not only leads individual lives, but also to the decay of society and a lack of balanced thinking in the most serious problems," said Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke, Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura at event surrounding the Catechism of St. Pius X 100 years after its publication, by the Kulturkreis of John Henry Newman on the 24th of May.  It was organized in Seregno.

Read the rest HERE

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Renovation Progress at St. Stan's in Milwaukee


As St. Stanislaus approaches its 150th anniversary, preparations are being made to restore the Church to the greatest extent possible.

I would like to thank Matt of Badger Catholic for blogging about the restoration as well as the many other fine blogs you can see to the side from the area that have also chronicled the restoration.  Another thank you to the Archdiocese of Milwaukee for their generous post on the renovation!

A few pictures of the new stained glass windows and other parts of the renovation, followed by an explanation of what they are






Stained Glass depicting the Holy Ghost above the Immaculate Conception

Center aisle of Church with fleur du lis for the Holy Trinity



St. Stanislaus Stained Glass


The Immaculate Conception






All photos are taken by and property of Patrick Wesley


Parishioners have been working hard to restore St. Stanislaus back to the glory that it was back when the Polish...
Posted by Archdiocese of Milwaukee on Monday, December 7, 2015


"O God, Who by the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin, prepared a worthy dwelling for Your Son, and Who, by Your Son’s...
Posted by St. Stanislaus Catholic Church (Milwaukee, Wisconsin) on Tuesday, December 8, 2015


The new stained glass windows have been installed in the sanctuary. More pictures to come.
Posted by St. Stanislaus Catholic Church (Milwaukee, Wisconsin) on Monday, December 7, 2015

Wednesday, December 2, 2015

Thursday, November 26, 2015

And a Happy Thanksgiving to the Jews, your conversion is apparently unnecessary

This is the orthopraxy of todays modern bishops, after all don't you know that they went through the holocaust so we can't be inconsiderate and call for their conversion to Christ.  Such a thing would not be good for "dialogues-sake".

From the LMS Chairman:

"We've heard from the Bishops' Conference of England and Wales that they would like to get rid of the Prayer for the Jews used in the Extraordinary Form Good Friday Liturgy. Bishop Kevin McDonald, who is in charge of Catholic-Jewish relations, says this about it:

“The 1970 prayer which is now used throughout the Church is basically a prayer that the Jewish people would continue to grow in the love of God’s name and in faithfulness of his Covenant, a Covenant which – as St John Paul II made clear in 1980 – has not been revoked. By contrast the prayer produced in 2008 for use in the Extraordinary Form of the liturgy reverted to being a prayer for the conversion of Jews to Christianity.”

The 2008 prayer replaced one expressed in rather strong language, language used by St Paul in 2 Corinthians 11. Pope Benedict thought it best to express its central idea, and even its central image - of light overcoming darkness - in a slightly different way.


Pope Benedict's prayer reads as follows:
Let us also pray for the Jews: that our God and Lord may illuminate their hearts, that they acknowledge Jesus Christ is the Saviour of all men.

The Novus Ordo Prayer is this:
Let us pray for the Jewish people, the first to hear the word of God, that they may continue to grow in the love of his name and in faithfulness to his covenant.

So what, exactly, is the suggestion? That people of Jewish extraction (or is it just Jews who practice their religion?) are saved by something other than Christ? But that can't be right, at least according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

846 Basing itself on Scripture and Tradition, the Council teaches that the Church, a pilgrim now on earth, is necessary for salvation: the one Christ is the mediator and the way of salvation; he is present to us in his body which is the Church. He himself explicitly asserted the necessity of faith and Baptism, and thereby affirmed at the same time the necessity of the Church which men enter through Baptism as through a door. Hence they could not be saved who, knowing that the Catholic Church was founded as necessary by God through Christ, would refuse either to enter it or to remain in it.

848 "Although in ways known to himself God can lead those who, through no fault of their own, are ignorant of the Gospel, to that faith without which it is impossible to please him, the Church still has the obligation and also the sacred right to evangelize all men."


It should be noted that these passages come immediately after the Catechism's treatment of the Jews, and of Muslims, so they'd not been forgotten. Everyone who is going to be saved, is going to be saved, whether through Baptism or through a 'way known only to God', by reference to Christ's blood which was shed for the whole of mankind.

This is made explicit by Vatican II's Declaration on Non-Christian Religions, Nostra aetate, whose anniversary was the occasion for this discussion by the Bishops' Conference (section 4):

Christ underwent His passion and death freely, because of the sins of men and out of infinite love, in order that all may reach salvation. It is, therefore, the burden of the Church's preaching to proclaim the cross of Christ as the sign of God's all-embracing love and as the fountain from which every grace flows.

The idea that Christ did not die for the Jewish people is evidently absurd. (How about Matthew 15:24? 'I was not sent but to the sheep that are lost of the house of Israel'.) The idea that the Jews, before or after the Passion, received the grace of God in any other way than through the 'cross of Christ' would be a fundamental mistake.

Bishop McDonald refers us to something Pope St John Paul II said in 1980. He must mean a very short speech (a speech- not a very heavyweight exercise of magisterial authority) to the Jewish community of Berlin on 17th November that year. It is not available in English on the Vatican website, but you can read it here. The relevant passage is this:

The first dimension of this dialogue, that is, the meeting between the people of God of the Old Covenant, never revoked by God [cf. Rom. 11:29], and that of the New Covenant, is at the same time a dialogue within our Church, that is to say, between the first and the second part of her Bible.

What does this reference to the Old Covenant mean? Pope St John Paul refers us to Romans 11:29. (These kinds of references are part of the official text, notwithstanding the square brackets; the same passage of St Paul is cited by Nostra aetate to the same effect.) St Paul tells us this:

For the gifts and the calling of God are without repentance."

Read the whole of the excellent article HERE

This also reminds me of something I saw on St. Peter's List upon the resignation of Benedict XVI:

“Benedict XVI has profoundly bolstered the positive trajectory of Catholic-Jewish relations launched by his predecessor, Pope John Paul II. Benedict, as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, worked closely with John Paul during his 26 year papacy, developing a historic new relationship between Catholic and Jews as “loving brothers and sisters” after centuries of tragedy.
In his tenure as pope, Benedict pledged that he would always stand with the Jewish people against anti-Semitism. He strongly condemned Holocaust denial. He made it a point early in his papacy to visit Israel, going to Yad Vashem and the Western Wall, thus cementing the historic act of his predecessor for future generations and strengthening the relationship between Israel and the Vatican. He became the first pope to visit a synagogue in the United States. And he also visited the synagogue in Rome, institutionalizing these visits.
Pope Benedict XVI reconfirmed the official Catholic position that God’s covenant with the Jewish people at Sinai endures and is irrevocable. He said that the Catholic Church should not try and convert Jews.
There were bumps in the road during this papacy – the rewriting of the old Good Friday prayer for Jews making it more problematic for Jews, starting negotiations with the anti-Semitic group the Society of St. Pius X, and moving World War II Pope Pius XII one step closer to sainthood while the Secret Vatican Archives are still under wraps. But he listened to our concerns and tried to address them, which shows how close our two communities have become in the last half century, and how much more work we need to do together to help repair a broken world.
In his trilogy on the life of Jesus of Nazareth, Benedict re-interpreted problematic passages in the Gospels of Matthew and John that dismisses the negative images and false charges against the Jewish people which has led to millennia of persecution and death against Jews.
He importantly declared the validity of the Jewish reading of the Hebrew Bible, or Tanach.” – Abraham H. Foxman ADL National Director, The Jerusalem Post, 2-12-13


So just incase you thought this pandering only happens today there are a few counterpoints.

I for one will continue to pray for the jews because if they persist in their rejection of Christ until the end they will only gain eternal Hellfire, which does not worry about interreligious dialogue.

Oh and tomorrow is Friday:




+JMJ+

Wednesday, November 25, 2015

The Twitterverse: OnePeterFive v. Patheos and Matt Fradd makes a Franciscan joke

I didnt know there was such bad blood between 1Peter5 and Patheos Catholic.  For that matter I didnt know Patheos Catholic still existed (rimshot, i know I'm a funny guy)



But anyways there is a dust up between the two with accusations, name calling and general wasting of time going on.  Why is Skojac taking this seriously so as to continually reply?  I will leave that to you to consider why. After all nothing good comes from Patheos (but Patheos is no Galilee).




Oh and Matt Fradd had a funny tweet:




h/t to Badger Catholic twitter feed for the Matt Fradd quote

Monday, November 23, 2015

Correcting the narrative on Christ the King and a Warning about Marvel's Jessica Jones!!!

"Madness ensues when you remove Christ from your nation" - Fr. John H


Its a pretty good homily.  Its about the day to day grind of building the City of God in each of us, then our family, our community, our state, our nation and then the whole world.

Subsidiarity...  GET ON IT!!

Stating that Christ is King of the Universe is true, but it almost side steps that he is right beside us and in us.  A nation will not survive that ignores him, and neither will it survive when it fails to recognize His Bride.  Religious tolerance has been kicked to the side in the last 60 years thanks to the French and American errors of masonry, galicanism and Americanism.  We cant be content with just having a seat at the table. We must be willing to preach Christ and His Church to the whole world.  We need to stand and state that Outside the Church there is no salvation, because it is a fact.  Sure other groups might have some truth claims but they did not have those exclusively like the Church does.

For some contrast I give you Fr. Ripperger



Also a WARNING to people of good will about the Marvel Netflix series Jessica Jones.  The series actively promotes abortion. I have seen no one else say a word about this so let this be a warning and demand better from the stooges at Marvel and Netflix

Read about it Here




Friday, November 13, 2015

Monday, November 9, 2015

Sunday, November 8, 2015

Sure mathematics is a reality with all the glories that go along with it

But it is impractible and downright behind the times to claim that 1+1 equaling 2 is routed in the same truth of Math existence...

Jeff Foxworthy (You might be) - If you agree with that logic You might be a modernist


#CommunionWithoutRestraints

#Synod15

Friday, November 6, 2015

Catholic Answer's President Chris Check is in Milwaukee and you are invited to his talk!

Just as a reminder:

The talk is open to the public and we recommend a $35 donation with all proceeds going to the Church Restoration Fund.  However, if you cant afford this you wont be turned away

The talk will be on Lepanto: The Battle and the Poem.  Refreshments will be served and we want to thank Capitol Brewery for donating some fine brews for your enjoyment.

The talk is at 7:30pm at St. Stans behind the Church (parking in back as well)


Schedule is as follows:

6:00pm Confession in the Main Church

6:30 Low Mass

7pm -12am Adoration in the Main Church with First Friday devotions

7:30pm: Chris Check Talk

Following the talk will be a social and more adoration!


SEE YOU THERE!!!

Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Purgatory: Part of Hell, NOT of Heaven

I figured since its the month dedicated to our dearly departed I would share this old video by Dr. Marshall on Hell, and its different levels which often are neglected by dissadents and normalists alike.


Friday, October 30, 2015

VHE IV: The Witness of Dietrich von Hildebrand

If you haven't figured it out by now I am a huge fan [right word?] of Dietrich von Hildebrand and I want people to learn more of this man whom Venerable Pope Pius XII called "The 20th century doctor of the Church"


So, for your viewing pleasure and to better understand Dietrich John Henry Crosby of the Hildebrand Project did an excellent talk on him.  I would also encourage you to look at the other videos for the project HERE



Thursday, October 29, 2015

Leithart (Eye's will bleed): What I Want from Catholics: Become More Protestant

Saw this in Patrick Madrid's twitter feed and I just had to go line by line on this one (my comments in red). The article is HERE:


What I Want from Catholics: Become More Protestant
By Peter J. Leithart | October 28, 2015
My wish list for Catholics is terribly old-fashioned and terribly assertive. There’s hardly space here to defend my positions or thoroughly critique the Catholic position, so this may end up sounding like a drive-by shooting or a childish tantrum. I trust that I can formulate my wish list with enough calmness that it doesn’t turn it into a bitch list.

Who in their right mind thought it a good idea to give protestants and other dissadents the right to make demands of the Church?  #Synod15… I’m just …well sort of kidding.

I want the Pope to give up his claim to infallibility. In our day, the Papacy stands as a global symbol of Christian faith, and popes of recent decades have been among the greatest Christian leaders of recent history. The Pope is a universal teacher, a stout defender of Christian morals, a living icon of charity, a father to princes and presidents.

Wait so you like him acting as a universal teacher, but to teach what?  When you don’t agree then its just up to each individual to dissent?  So when the Holy Spirit revealed that they would be lead into all truths… I guess Baptists and Lutherans are ok in disagreeing on the importance and necessity of Baptism.  But then again who am I to judge. Plus, in regards to morals, who is standing for morals when they are changing?  Lets be real protestants only stand for morals when they can be seen in the public square.  They frown on bolemia but are giddy to support contraception.  Note both are disorders with obvious ends that are not founded in truth.  And I’m not going to get into the Anglicans/Episcapalians that run from the abortion issue (Can anyone say “first among equals” for Welby? How’s that working out?)

 None of that makes him a definer of dogma.

He knows that is not an argument used but the praxis employed.

No matter how narrowly tailored papal infallibility may be, it is theologically and historically unfounded, as Lord Acton knew.

So Lord Acton was infallible in his defining of the papacy not being infallible?  Puleeze…

I want the Pope to give up his claim to exclusive primacy. Why not be content with being primus inter pares among the ancient sees?

Note: The office was not made by man and therefore cannot be changed in its essence by man.  And again see Welby, hows that working again?

Suppose Peter was the first Bishop of Rome: Didn’t he leave it to Paul to lead the mission to the Gentiles?

So Peter refused to speak with Gentiles?  Isn’t that going beyond scripture?  What of Luke?  Peter was not a theologian like Paul was, and the Pope does not have a guarantee that knowledge of theology will just be foisted upon him when he takes the chair.  Plus Peter and Paul worked together because Rome was the metropolis of its day. Plenty of room for Cephas to oversee with the help of a great Apostle like Paul, who both founded the Roman Church and both Choose Linus to succeed Cephas.

 Besides, should we not be open to the possibility that the center of Christian gravity will shift dramatically in the future? In 3000 years, might not the Bishop of Beijing or Lagos or Brasilia be the actual primate of the Church? In 10,000 years, will Vatican-centered Christendom be anything more than a distant memory?

Note that was and continues to be the argument of the Eastern Orthodox where Power is in constant flux with Constantinople still claiming authority while Moscow references itself as the third Rome.  As a side note, the Creed was not read in the Latin rite for a long time because the Roman See was the only one that never feel into formal heresy unlike the other Sees.

Catholics Should Give Up
I want Catholics to give up their sectarian exclusiveness. Jesus and His Spirit are present in the suburban Bible church, the Chinese house group, the Pentecostal assembly at one of Rio’s garbage dumps.

Well, your bread is still bread and your wine/grape juice/ water (Mormon joke) is still such.  Sure you have warm feelings but that’s noting objective to hang your hat on.

 The Son and Spirit have promised to be wherever word is preached and bread broken, where disciples strive together toward maturity in Christ.

Presuming that as Our Lord wished, “That they all might be one”.  Plus who decides what a mature Christian is or believes?  Again empty words.

These assemblies are no less churches than the congregation of St. Patrick’s.

Well someone missed out on reading the CDF letter on this which you can find HERE. Basically, you don’t have all seven sacraments, and you have no authority to speak on behalf of Christ, no matter how warm your words make others feel.

 Fellowship with Rome is not the same as fellowship with Jesus;

“He who hears you hears me, he who despises you despises me.” Christ and his Church are one.  When there is an argument among the faithful the final means are to take it to the Church (I’m confused do we take it to any street corner preacher to give us his interpretation of scripture?). If Christ founded His Church on Blessed Peter when to Peters successors go the power of the keys.  “The eye cannot say to the hand I don’t need you.” Christ prayed singularly for Peter to confirm his brothers, he made Peter the chief Shepard and changed his name as he did with the other leaders throughout salvation history.

 submission to Rome is not the same as catholicity. Jesus and His Spirit do not observe Vatican protocols.

“Whatever you bind on Earth is Bound in Heaven, whatever you loose is loosed.”  By the way what protocals do you reference?  This is a weak attack using nonsense.

I want Catholics to stop spreading pious falsehoods about Mary. Protestants have unjustly neglected Mary’s central role in the Bible and redemption, but Catholic Marian dogmas are a cure worse than the disease. I want Catholics to honor Mary by giving up inventions like the immaculate conception and the assumption.

So you decide what is a falsehood?  Who gave you authority to speak for this catholic community that you and CS Lewis are so fond of? There are reasons to believe in those dogmas, just as there are reasons to call her “Mother of God”, a perpetual virgin and even – dare I say it – Mediatrix of All graces. We only recognize what God makes known, it is not for us to poo-poo Our Lady since she is our Mother in the faith and the First and greatest Christian.  And if you do not cease speaking ill of our Lady it will not look good for you on the last day for no Son will put up with evil being spoken of with his mother.

Failing that, I would be content if these speculations were treated as speculative opinions rather than dogmas.

And who makes the decision what is opinion and is dogma?  You?  Perhaps the Arians? 

I want a Catholic to explain how Mary, a Jewish woman of the first-century A.D., can simultaneously hear the appeals of millions of people who speak dozens of languages that she never learned.

Since she is not in time and space she is not limited as such.  Plus why would it be impossible for her to be told by God in some way what people are asking prayers for?  She desires one thing, God’s will, therefore all she would need to do is pray that those that seek her intercession and conform themselves to God’s will be granted such a grace… she is the Queen mother after all… see Solomon and David.

 I know Catholics don’t believe Mary has become God, but that looks like something only a God could manage.

But isn’t that a theological opinion and not founded in anything other then your feelings that God is not interested in having both the living and those that have passed to work together because we are one body?

I want Catholic theologians to give up the pretense that the dogma of the Church has never changed. When they try to explain that nothing substantive has changed between Trent and Vatican II, when they distinguish between unchangeable doctrine and changeable formulations of doctrine, they appear disingenuous. I prefer the old free church Independents, who eagerly expected the Spirit to break out fresh light from Scripture.

So you want warm feelings… try Mormonism. But as far as Vatican II, it didn’t proclaim anything new that was binding.  The texts are ambiguous, unlike Trent that is specific.

Worse, the premise of unchangeability makes it impossible for the Church to repent of mistakes. Catholics don’t think Vatican I, for example, will ever need to be overturned; it cannot be. But that means either that there will never be full reunion with Protestants and Orthodox, or that Catholic theologians must find a way to massage Vatican I so that it doesn’t say what it manifestly says. The possibility of saying “the church erred” is excluded in principle.

Or that you recognize your error and pride and repent by coming back into communion with the only Church Christ founded… just saying.

When I attend Mass, I want Catholic priests to let me share the Eucharist with my Catholic brothers. I want Catholics to accept my invitation to celebrate Eucharist with me and my Protestant brothers, and give up any doubts they might have that what we Protestants celebrate really is Eucharist.

The Eucharist is not a matter of warm feelings where you can feel like its something while it is still not.  Its like you support people saying that they are women when they are really men.  The feeling is not watch transubstantiates but the authority.  An authority you foolishly deny in your pride.

I want Catholics to give up veneration of the consecrated host and other sacred objects.

And worship the podium and the doctor behind it?  If that is Christ as he promised then adoration is the proper action to take because it IS God.  We venerate because some things are Holy and in doing so we glorify God.  Would DiVinci complain that you were honoring the Mona Lisa too much?  No, because it’s a part of his work that gives him the ultimate honor in the end.

 Jesus gave us His body and blood to eat and drink, not to admire.

So you cant even gaze upon the host?  Really, what is this a third grade author?  Puleeze you are looking foolish here.

Whatever Catholics think they are doing, to Protestants they appear to be indulging a form of liturgical idolatry.

Well, if protestants are disordered whos fault is that… other then the Bishops that refuse to help them see their error of course.

 At the very least, they are distracting from Jesus’ purpose for the Eucharist: “Take, eat; take, drink.”

Why is it an an either or case?  Why cant he spend time with the Actual presense of Christ.  Then go to Mass and Adoration.  Problem solved.

Everyone, Become More Catholic
My rants are typically directed against my own tribe of conservative Protestants, and typically I am urging them to become more Catholic: to acknowledge church authority, to cultivate sacramental piety, to embrace the glories of the whole Christian tradition, to honor Mary and the saints, to conform worship to the pattern of the ancient Church, which is essentially the pattern of Scripture.

But who gave you this scripture and what authority did they determine the canon by?

 Typically, I am urging Protestants to receive Catholics and Orthodox as Christian brothers, which they are.
I am not contradicting myself when I rant against Catholics and urge them to become Protestant. What I want above all, for both Catholics and Protestants, is full reunion and reconciliation in the truth.

But truth is definitive and doesn’t change based on warm feelings.  To reconcile in the truth we don’t run away from it but learn to humbly accept Gods will before our own. Oneness based on a ceasefire is no oneness but cowardice.

 What I want is a Church where the old names of Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox, or other, are discarded so that we can all wear the old/new baptismal name: Father, Son, and Spirit. And I want that because I am persuaded it is what Jesus wants.

So what of the oneness pentacostles then?  Or the Mormons.  Are you the authority to exclude them on the basis of their baptisms?

Peter J. Leithart is president of the Theopolis Institute in Birmingham, Alabama, and an adjunct senior fellow of New St. Andrew’s College in Moscow, Idaho. He is the author of many books, most recently Gratitude: An Intellectual History (Baylor) and Traces of the Trinity (Baker). An ordained minister, he is a member of Evangelical and Catholics Together.


Monday, October 26, 2015

The Vortex: Blame for the synod? Look a little deeper

Pulls no punches in today's Vortex.  And the hits are not directed at Francis P.P. but justly at those that put the wheels on this machine.  It reminds me of how Venerable Pius XII is lauded by many trads as great but no one ever looks at his appointments or how the Church was governed under him post WWII



Also, November 6th at St. Stans in Milwaukee, 7:30 pm - Christopher Check (President of Catholic Answers) gives a talk on Lepanto!  BE THERE!!!!

+JMJ+

Friday, October 23, 2015

A few questions for Tim Staples on Fatima and the Ancient Rite

Tim Staples
I have an on and off again relationship with Catholic Answers.  There are days that I am really excited to take in their various apologetic platforms and then... well some days not.

Before I go any father I want to remind you all that Sursum Corda Milwaukee will be hosting Catholic Answers President Christopher Check on November 6th at St. Stans. The talk is open to the public and you can find more on this by clicking HERE


So the other day on Catholic Answers Live was an Open Forum for Non-Catholics and the guest was Tim Staples.  There were two specific issues that came up that continually confuse me.

1) The question of Russia being consecrated by the Holy Father and the Bishops of the Church

2) The idea that the new rite of the mass is nothing but a translation of the old and that both are equal in every aspect.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As I have stated in the past I don't take a specific stance on Fatima and the demands.  I indeed to believe in the events at Fatima but the poo-pooing that happens again and again is a real concern.

First we can expect huge miracles to occur (see the conversion of Mexico circa the time of the Protestant revolt)

Second the document put out by the CDF and confirmed by JPII on the third secret are probably exactly what was related by Sr. Lucia, but that does not mean that the opinion of the CSF on this particular private revelation is by no means binding on all the faithful.  Tim cant have it both ways saying that people can accept or reject Fatima because its a private revelation, but then double down saying that the CDF opinions are therefore binding on that faithful that the attempted assassination was what Our Lady warned Sr. Lucy of.  Now I'm not saying that this could not have been so, but come on its like trying to claim a definitive position on all that is in the Apocalypse of John

Third, I get it. JPII consecrated the whole world to the Immaculate Heart.  The idea is that he went beyond what was asked and therefore did some greater deed is pretty absurd.  God loves obedience to what he asks, not for us to fancy ourselves as knowers of what must really happen.  God asked specifically through Our Lady that Russia be consecrated publicly together with all the Bishops of the world to her Immaculate Heart.  Now this could have been done anytime since the revelations hit the papal office but again and again it was ignored or slightly altered for political reasons.  Saying that consecrating the world is better then just consecrating Russia doesn't jive with basic theology.  When an exorcism takes place the exorcist must call out the specific demons name (ie Russia's errors), he cannot just do a blanket I command all unclean spirits. to leave.  Just consider that.  Again I dont know, but this is not an ended prophecy even according to BXVI.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As to the OF and EF just being some translations of each other.  Anyone with a hand missal knows this is a joke.  Perhaps you could try and make the case that the Anglican Ordinariate's new missal is a translation of the Gregorian rite, but that is even pushing it.  Seriously we dont have to play games.  If it makes you feel good to call one the ordinary and the other the extraordinary form thats fine and dandy.  Its even ok to say that mutual enrichment needs to occur (without ever saying what is mutual that is).  But no games, one is not a translation of the other.


+JMJ+

Thursday, October 22, 2015

Our Lady of the Underground: The humble abode of the Holy Family on the run from Herod

Our Lady of the Underground October 22:

It is held by tradition that the Blessed Virgin lived for some years in this subterranean chapel.

“Saint Joseph sought to purchase for a suitable price some dwelling in the neighborhood; and the Lord ordained that he should find a poor and humble, yet serviceable house, at small distance from the city, just such as the Queen of heaven desired.”

“Having therefore found this dwelling near Heliopolis, they took their abode therein. At the first entrance of the heavenly Lady with her Divine Son and Saint Joseph, She prostrated Herself to the ground, kissing it in profound humility and lovingly thanking the Most High for having secured them this place of rest after their prolonged and laborious journeying.”

“She adored the immutable being of God in this prostration, dedicating all that She was to do in this place to His honor and worship. Interiorly She made a sacrifice of all her powers and faculties, offering to assume readily and with joy all the labors by which the Almighty could be served during her exile; for in her prudence She foresaw and affectionately embraced them all. By means of her divine knowledge She set a great value on sufferings; understanding how highly they are esteemed at the divine tribunal, and how her most Holy Son looked upon them as a rich treasure and inheritance.”

Read more about today's feast day HERE

Monday, October 19, 2015

Dr. Taylor Marshall on the Synod and it's causes

Whenever madness reigns it is important to have some clear thinkers out there identifying the problem and offering solutions so we can move beyond the anger and rhetoric that feels good but does nothing.

Now Doctor Marshall is what many would call an approved speaker and that may put many people off because neo-conservatives or normalists tend to down play real problems.  However, Dr. Marshall has always approached these situations with prudence but does not hold himself out as naive with regards the workings of the synod. His writings tend to be more traditional in their construction and he has made it known that his family attends the FSSP Parish.

The first video is a calming video and many will say that he is down playing real issues, but he has his reasons and I think them genuine and obvious.



Later, on his facebook page he makes it clear that we should not be naive about the goings on of the synod, pretending that everything is ok.


In the past Dr. Marshall has wrote about the new rite of the liturgy and the various differences with the ancient rite. One of the things he has spoken on was the lectionary and how the three year cycle of readings was supposed to introduce greater scriptural competancy into the laity.  Today he took an interesting look at this once again but this time identified some real problems with what was put in the cycle and what was left out (distinctly different from the ancient rite)


hy do Catholics in America support homosexuality proportionately more than the general population?
Two reasons: lack of authentic Catholic teaching regarding homosexuality…and the Church removed one of the clearest Bible verses on homosexuality from the lectionary:
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One of the very unfortunate results of the New Lectionary is that verses that might be deemed offensive have been removed from our liturgical celebrations. (I’ve written about how three “offensive” Psalms were removed from the Liturgy of the Hours after 1971 here.)

Verses against Homosexuality Removed from Current Lectionary

An example of the removal of offensive passages is from the readings of last week, where the reading of Saint Paul against homosexuality (including female lesbianism) in Romans 1:26-32 is notably removed from the cycle. Below are the readings for the 28th Week in Ordinary Time (Lectionary 468 and 469):
Tuesday of the Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 468
Reading 1 ROM 1:16-25
Wednesday of the Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 469
Reading 1 ROM 2:1-11
So what’s missing? Romans 1:26-32 is clipped out. Yet this passage at the end of Romans 1 is thelocus classicus for Paul’s theology against homosexual behavior and it also forms the cited passage in the Catechism of the Catholic Church for its teaching:

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The most powerful New Testament Scripture passage against homosexual acts is skipped over in the Catholic Mass Lectionary:
Posted by Dr. Taylor Marshall on Monday, October 19, 2015

Friday, October 16, 2015

One must have reverence even in producing the Eucharistic Bread


The book you need
“To the matter of the Sacrifice, already before its oblation, are due the most scrupulous care and the greatest reverence, as is evident from their more remote preparation.  Every precaution must be taken to procure genuine and freshly made hosts, to procure genuine pure wine for the Sacrifice of the Altar.  Let us recall the epoch of the Middle Age, so full of faith. Then it was that devout princes and princesses esteemed it high honor to be allowed to prepare and to provide the bread and wine for the Holy Sacrifice.  

In convents the preparation of the sacrificial bread was even accompanied with religious solemnity and with a kind of divine service. Thus was it prepared in the world-renowned Benedictine Abbey of Cluny.  At prescribed hours the monks performed manual labor; but that they might also be sanctified in the midst of their occupations, they worked amid the singing of Psalms. But of all manual labor especial care was bestowed upon the preparation of the bread for the Sacrifice. It was amidst the singing of Psalms that the seed destined for it was confided to the earth and the ripe grain gathered; amid the praises of divine power and love, grain after grain was selected carefully washed and carried in a special sact to the mill by one of the most exemplary monks.

Reverence in producing the altar bread
There he first washed the two mill-stones, covered them from top to bottom with cloths, robed himself in white, and then, with veiled face so that his eyes alone were uncovered, he began to grind the wheat. With similar care the sieve was then washed and the flour sifted. To prepare the bread from the flour was the duty of the highest official of the monastic church; two monks and a recently admitted brother, with no less care shared the holy labor with him. Being well washed and clothed in white garments, they baked the hosts in a blessed vessel. It is very proper that persons consecrated to God prepare with all devoted- ness and reverence the bread for the Holy Sacrifice, regarding this preparation as a work of love and of conscience.”






As a further note, the Transalpine Redemptorists have a similar practice when they milk their cow’s they sing hymns that glorify God and honor our Lady as seen in the documentary from a few years ago.(Go to the 8:40 mark)