A repeated post ...for my fellow bloggers

Saturday, 3 March 2012

A Catholic Carpe Diem

A Catholic Carpe Diem, this post is for bloggers.
And, I claim Fulton J. Sheen as one of my patrons on the Net.
A day in the life of a blogger depends on the person's real job.
Now, for most bloggers, a vocation to the priesthood, married life,
motherhood and fatherhood may be part of the blogging day.
A job or profession most likely marks most Catholic bloggers,
who can be Canon lawyers, secular lawyers, university professors,
artists, journalists, writers, students, computer “guys”, or home schooling moms.
Blogging is an addition to the busy schedule of most.
The quality of the blog depends upon the time and technological skills of the bloggers.
For example, for one blogger, a posting may take 20 minutes.
For another, 30 minutes, and for some bright sparks, 10 minutes.
But, the real mark of every blogger is passion.

The passion of the Catholic blogger is to communicate the beautiful Faith of
our Catholic Church, and give of the five loaves and two fishes
which have been given to that writer, especially in a busy schedule.
A blog may be what is left over in the baskets at the end of the day, or even the week.
Or, the blog could be one of the five loaves.

For most Catholic and traditional bloggers, a blog is a means of evangelizing, i
n the “new evangelization” of Blessed John Paul II. The Internet may very
 well not always be a place of truly free speech. I am not writing this out of paranoia,
but have already shown below in some articles, the coming United Nations effort to
bow to less than free cultures regarding electronic communication.
We in the West expect to be able to stand on our virtual soap-box
and say what we will, without being harassed. This may not always be the case.
And, so, the passion of the blogger is to get across as much real Truth,
real Catholic information as possible in a short period of time. Hence,
the needed passion to communicate falls within a framework of the “now”.
What is important “now” for Catholics?

By the “now”, I do not mean the ephemeral or the trendy. I mean what is important for
the corporate life of the Faithful. Sometimes the now means sharing a prayer, or being a
prophet, or a teacher. Sometimes the now means answering questions, or communicating
important local and international Catholic events, both good and not so good.
One can imagine examples in the last three months where the Catholic blogging
community has worked more hours than usual on the question of Catholic freedom of conscience
 in America. And, that is not the only issue.

I am convinced that I am part of a growing number of bloggers who try to make up what
has been missing in the catechesis of two, maybe three, generations. One person here in
Ireland, four years older than myself, was never taught Catechism in school. The lack of
education for some has created the Catholic Traditional Blog,
which attempts to fill in the gap for adult education for those who are on the computer
and on the Internet. I have read that sixty-percent of the Irish public have
Internet access at home. This is not my personal experience, quite the contrary.
Or, if there is access, only the very young, or under thirties use it regularly and not those older.
Access is limited elsewhere, as I have already noted on this blog.

Was is appalling are the numbers of adults who are not on the computer and not on the Internet,
who do not have access to the real teaching of the Catholic Church, or simply,
do not know where to find the resources. Such adults will remain as children and
even may be endangering their salvation by remaining in ignorance. Any adult who remains in
ignorance of the teachings of the Church in 2012 is guilty of sloth or disinterestedness. 
The second is a serious sin of neglect.

I have been told over and over again in England and in Ireland that adults
“do not have time for religious learning”. The pursuit of mortgages, cars,
careers and even a developed social life have pushed the responsibility to learn
and appropriate the Faith to the back-burner.

I have written on this before, almost two months ago. We shall be judged on
our own merits, or lack thereof, and not on the merits of Father ABC, who did not teach us the Faith.

The blogging community wants to share the Faith, Hope and Love given to us by
Christ with the whole world. If some Catholics are not interested or are too busy to
pursue learning the Truth of the Teaching Magisterium of the Church, we can only
hope that some day soon, the little light of realization will show them that now is the time
to grow in Faith and Reason, knowledge and grace. We may not have the leisure or the means “later”.

I compare blogging with missionary work. In my home town, the oldest existing
Church was founded by an Italian missionary priest, who traveled on horseback along
the Mississippi River spreading the Gospel and setting up parishes. He moved with
whatever was available at the time-a horse, backpack, Bible, Missal, Mass kit, vestments,
 food and water. He may have traveled with others, like a tracker, or guide, or a
few lay assistants. But, he moved, from Italy to Iowa and then up and down the edges of the Great River.

If he had not done this, many families would have died in the Faith. We are the
missionaries of the world of the Internet. I would like to think that in any little way, we encourage the Faith.

The missionary priests, and my great-uncle was one who came to help the
Czech community in northern Iowa, faced horrible dangers and inconveniences--weather,
unfriendly natives, unfriendly Protestants, lack of provisions, lack of books,
even lack of housing and clothing. We, who sit in our dens, classrooms, living rooms,
or Internet cafes, face no problems except perhaps not enough change for a second cup of coffee,
or the temporary loss of electricity, or travelling through a “dead zone”. But,
this may not always be the case. Blog away, fellow bloggers, while you can.
The days of freedom may be shorter than one would hope.

The New Racism

Some brave journalists have referred to the increasing racism in America and in England from the Blacks and other minority groups. The mainstream media refuses to admit that POTUS has done more to undermine unity and has actually stirred up racial hatred because of language and ideals of "blackness" or being a minority.

Why does a life-style denote color, or why should color denote a life-style?

That culture and education cross racial lines was a given until recently. Here are some characteristics I have spotted in the press coming either from journalists, as in Standpoint, or in American political comments from Congressmen.

One) If one sends one's minority children to private schools, that Black person is no longer black, but "white".

Answer) Are not private schools available to all and, as I know from experience, are not scholarships available? Look at Notre Dame.

Two) If one goes to a concert or a black-tie dinner, one is no longer Black but white/

Answer) Some of the richest people in the world are of color. What has money to do with race?

Three) Professional sports persons are increasingly from private schools and this shows that Blacks have become whites.

Answer) No, it shows that parents who care about their kids education, even in sport, sacrifice to send them to the best schools for either sport or academics. Sacrifice is a good thing for parents to do.

Four) Blacks are "white" who are Republicans or Tories.

Answer) This is stating that one does not have the freedom to follow a political party of one's choice. That is another definition of slavery. And, in my opinion and that of Star Parker, the Dems and all other socialist parties create a new slavery through poverty programs that merely keep people on the dole or food-stamps instead of encouraging independence and self-fulfillment. If one is getting and not giving, one is emotionally still a child.

Five) One must never learn correct English as it is a sell out to the whites.

Answer) Language transcends color. If you are still rebelling over the British Empire, get over it. It ended a long time ago.

Six) If a Black becomes a Catholic he is no longer Black

Answer) The Catholic Church is the most universal of all....

For Europeans and newbies, an "oreo" is a racist tag for Blacks who are black outside but white inside. Obviously, a racist idea.....an term around at least for forty years in the States.

The Poetic Sincerity of Language

Language is important. Recently, I was reading an article on technology and came across two phrases, one of which, I have seen before. The first phrase,  referring to computers, cell phones, laptops, notebooks or even an espresso machine, is "sexy piece". Now, I cannot understand why a machine of plastic, diodes, and other semiconductor stuff is "sexy". But, I am over thirty.

Partly to blame is advertising, (surprise, surprise), which uses all types of buzz words and phrases to get one's attention in this age of too-much-information. But, I cannot label something like an espresso maker, "sexy". Or maybe some people just see sex in everything. What limited imaginations some have.

The second phrase may be particularly French, I do not know. The phrase is rude and used to describe ugly, outdated machinery at someone's workplace or in their home-office. That phrase is "desk manure". I suppose an 2002 fax machine, or an old monitor from 1998, would allow a person to use the language of agricultural derision, but not me.


Growing up in Iowa, on knows that manure means something useful, albeit unpleasant to the senses. I am not sure those journalists whose use these terms know anything about animal waste, or perhaps, even sex. My real concern is philosophical, of course. If sex, for example, is only one more commodity, bought and sold to the highest bidder, than certain machines would fall under the same subjective language code. If anything ugly is likened to something which is naturally useful in its proper context, I suppose there is room to doubt the poetic sincerity of the writer. Ah, I have just coined a new one, "poetic sincerity". That the Victorians were sincere and poetic makes them the ultimate arbiters of phraseology. Do you think they thought the items of the industrial age appearing in their homes, such as hot and cold taps, showers, gas light fixtures, or even incandescent light bulbs were "sexy"? I am sure William Blake would think not.

And did those feet in ancient time
Walk upon England's mountains green?
And was the holy Lamb of God
On England's pleasant pastures seen?

And did the Countenance Divine
Shine forth upon our clouded hills?
And was Jerusalem builded here
Among these dark satanic mills?

Bring me my bow of burning gold!
Bring me my arrows of desire!
Bring me my spear! O clouds, unfold!
Bring me my chariot of fire!

I will not cease from mental fight,
Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand,
Till we have built Jerusalem
In England's green and pleasant land

The Charismatic Leader and the Downfall of the West

On this beautiful sunny morning in Surrey, my thoughts move to darker times in the past and perhaps ahead. I have been reading Young Stalin by Simon Sebag Montefiore. If you have not read it, do.


The research accomplished  by the author is compelling, as is the prose. But, what is striking me is the  repetition of history in the attraction of the Charismatic Leader. Now, I put that label in capitals as I want to emphasis not only that this is a type of person who becomes a leader easily in a leadership vacuum and that is an important follow-up on Saturday's post, but the Charismatic Leader is the type people want in a crisis.


The two points provide a framework for what is happening in Greece and even France. Dealing with France first, one may gasp and say, correctly, "Hollande, charismatic? No!" He seems the opposite of the bling-bling Sarkowzy, now fading into the past quickly in this modern age of media hype and un-hype. But, the charism of Hollande is exactly that he is the supposed intellectual next-door, the man of the people, even a populist, if a socialist can be a populist. Hollande's charism is that he reflects the normal man of France. The youth and middle-aged can identify with his manners, his seeming, caring demeanor (a la Clinton, I feel your pain) and even his non-first lady, the first mistress.


Hollande fits the bill for France and really is not Mr. Ordinary. Here is a comment from him before the election: 


Asked about fears that he was too bland to be president, Hollande said: “Everyone says François Mitterrand had huge charisma. But before he was president they used to call him badly dressed, old, archaic and say he knew nothing about the economy … until the day he was elected. It’s called universal suffrage. When you’re elected, you become the person that embodies France. That changes everything.”

Mr. Boring becomes President Charismatic. This does say more about the French about Hollande, but there it is.

The new president embodies the French ideal of the revolutionary, which is a charismatic ideal in France. They love their revolutionaries. The office of the President of France is one for an egotist. Now, Hollande's real ally is the scary Alexis Tsipras, a communist and real Charismatic Leader. He is a true radical and his agenda is more than getting Greece out of an austerity mode. He preaches hatred of the normal means of working with problems by an inflamatory and blatantly false rhetoric.  This past week in France, Tsipras stated. 

"We are here to explain to people in Europe that we have nothing against them. We are fighting the battle in Greece not just for the Greek people but for people in France, Germany and all European countries."

"I am not here to blackmail, I am here to mobilise," he said.


Mobilize who and what?

Now, Hollande is not the same type of charismatic leader as Tsipras, but they are going to work together against austerity measures which are necessary. These socialists, and I think the new man of Greece, the man of the hour, is a communist, don't you, will work against the democratic and capitalist system with which ideologically they disagree. From the same article--

Opinion polls suggest Tsipras's party Syriza could be in a position to lead a coalition government in Greece after a second general election next month. He was in the French capital to meet members of France's far left, including Front de Gauche firebrand Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who stood as a presidential candidate in April.

The young and charismatic Greek politician will travel to Berlin to reiterate his message; this is that Greece wants no more austerity and is willing to tear up the country's €130bn (£105bn) bailout agreement if necessary.

His defiance appears to be catching. Before Greece held a general election on 6 May, the 37 year old and his Syriza party were widely mocked as a motley collection of ex-Trotskyists, Maoists, champagne socialists and greens, who appealed to fewer than 5% of voters. After polling more than 25%, the Greeks and the rest of Europe have been forced to take him and his party seriously.

At a press conference at the French Assemblée nationale on Monday, there was a scrum as dozens of journalists from around the world packed into a small wood-panelled room in the parliament building and jostled for the chance to ask Tsipras questions.

Pierre Laurent, national secretary of the French Communist party and president of the European Left party, himself a former journalist, was having no truck with those waving their arms about and huffing and puffing about not being able to address the Greek politician.

"It's me who decides," he said firmly. Laurent added that he was "delighted to welcome" Tsipras and supported his crusade against austerity that was not only "conducting us into a dead end" but was "anti-democratic".

Tsipras does not care about democracy or he is redefining it, as so many Marxists do.

Notice the language of division. Americans, does this type of rhetoric remind you of someone--the most divisive president we have ever had?

Wake up, Europe and America before the EU turns into one great playground for tyrants. and read the book.

Dancing with fairies and the fiction of language in politics

Thanks to Wiki; William Blake's Oberon, Titiania and Puck

To me, fairy tales, (excluding Tolkien, but not Shakespeare) reveal a world of madness and irrationality. Fairy tales represent the unknown mysteries of nature, where the human rational view of the world no longer exists. Living in Europe right now is like living in land where the most important thing is dancing with fairies.

I can't believe I am writing a post which could have been written in the 1930s in Nazi Germany. The purposeful twisting of language in Great Britain and Europe with regard to political terms has become an explosion in a spaghetti factory. I have been listening to television from several nations, reading articles online and conversing with people. From these sources I have gleaned several serious problems which I want to share, as a heads up.

First, there is a purposeful disassociation of the term Socialist. Normal usage of the word is construed by the media and private persons to mean either Centralist positions, or worse, Communism. The original meaning of the word Socialist has been obfuscated to cover so many meaning as to make the word meaningless. Not only is this sloppy journalism, it is done with agendas including the softening of hard-line communists principles now found in most Socialist parties.

Second, the reports which refer to "far-left" and "far-right" groupings present various meanings to these terms, which have confused the man and woman in the street. What those of us who are students of history or politics deem as "far-right" would be the KKK, other openly racist groups, fascism and neo-Nazi parties.

However, the far-right now includes mainstream, even right to centralist parties which have or want stronger immigration policies. Of course, the term is being misused on purpose. The term is used to cover anti-abortion and anti-gay marriage advocates, as if these people were terrorists. Far-right means in some places opposition to sharia law. That is a completely ironic use of the term.

Third, the news gurus also use the term "far-left" in confusing arrays of definitions. In my book of definitions, the far-left would include communists, anarchists, syndicalists, and some socialists. The problem is this. The term "Communist" is taboo in the Euro-zone. However, many politicians, or would be government officials, or even diplomats in the Brussels, Strasbourg, even Frankfurt actually hold communist ideals but are not labelled as such. They are called "reformers", mostly. The term "far-left" is used in an undisciplined manner to include terrorists, as well as political candidates in Greece, who the media refuses to label communists, although that is what the platforms of such persons looks like, when one can actually find substance beneath the rhetoric.

The terms "government", "sovereignty", "austerity" and "growth" have been bandied about so much lately that one loses track of the misuses of these terms. At this point in any real political discussion, the terms are meaningless. The left twists austerity into unfair punishment and uses the term growth as if spending will get anyone out of debt. Families know this is ludicrous and if the jobs are not there, if the industries or worse, if the population is gone which would create a strong infrastructure (population problems caused by brain-drains, contraception and abortion, among other things), there can be no growth--that is simply a fairy tale and the media in Europe loves this fairy tale.

I am concerned, as in the old days, at least in the English-speaking world, journalists and other writers had a common parlance. It was only the propaganda machines which used language to suit political agendas. Now, we have a state where one has to listen and look closely to find the Truth.

I hope the Vatican can avoid slipping into sloppy language, or vague language, which is another post, as this happened last Autumn with the horrible socialist economic leaked paper, and with other documents in the 1960s.

If language is corrupted either by propaganda or agendas, or deceit , or narcissism, we no longer can communicate. This is happening very quickly in Europe.


If Catholics can save the Truth through the Teaching Magisterium, we need to be very careful about definitions and language. The relativistic onslaught is weakening not only language, but how we think. Thinking needs definitions and clarity. We are slipping into the dance of the fairies.


When we cannot trust a common language, we cannot trust each other. We have lost our civilisation's ability to communitcate.

Is anyone paying attention to Egypt?

Is anyone paying attention to the deterioration of Egypt? Over a year ago, when I was watching the so-called new spring of Arab liberties on the television in America, I knew, from history and the long desire of the Muslim Brotherhood that the spring was a ruse. Those encouraging the real liberty-seekers, the Westernized youth and the educated, were of a different ilk. Now, the great Spencer and other honest and open journalists have noted the take-over of Egypt, slowly but surely by the sharia law party, the Muslim Brotherhood. Here is a bit from the Associated Press on Spencer's website.


CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's Islamist-dominated parliament on Saturday voted overwhelmingly in favor of ensuring that its own lawmakers make up a large portion of a panel writing the country's first constitution after the ouster of longtime ruler Hosni Mubarak.

Lawmakers at a joint meeting of both houses approved a quota giving lawmakers half of the seats on a 100-member panel that will draft the new constitution.

The remaining 50 panel members will be chosen by parliament, and are likely to be legal experts, academics and Muslim and Christian scholars.

The makeup of the panel has been hotly debated. Islamists, who dominate the newly elected parliament, wanted lawmakers to have a significant role in the panel. But many Christians and liberals had pushed for more outsiders on the constitution writing body.

Amr Hamzawy, a lawmaker from a minority liberal party, said that the quota selected on Saturday is not representative enough of women, youth and other segments of Egyptian society who have little to no representation in parliament.

"What happened today lessens the chance for a wide representation of the country," Hamzawy said, adding that he voted to have only 30 lawmakers on the panel. "I would have liked that there are less members of parliament."

The Muslim Brotherhood, the country's most powerful political party, has promised that the constitution will be inclusive and are not likely to support changing key wording from its current state about the role of Islam in the government. The current language says the state religion is Islam and the principle of Islamic Sharia law is the main source of legislation.

In another article, Spencer highlights this news: and the reason why the question of divorce is important for Islamic women, is that the vast majority of marriages are forced and frequently include domestic violence, as the Koran oks the beating of wives. Unless the women of the West defend these women in Muslim countries, the situation will get worse, not better, as the sharia law parties take over.

ZeeNews, March 18 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):

Cairo: An Egyptian lawmaker has proposed a controversial draft law to limit the legal provisions for women to divorce or separate from their husbands.

Mohamed al-Omda, deputy head of the People's Assembly's Constitutional and Legislative Affairs Committee, has submitted the draft to cancel a woman's right to divorce (Khula) or separate from her husband, privately-owned Al-Shorouk newspaper reported today.

Khula is the right of a woman in Islam to divorce or separate from her husband.

The term "Khula" is used here somewhat interchangeably in two senses: in the sense in accordance in Sharia, and as an umbrella term for women's access to divorce, even where lawmakers intend to roll back that option for women.

In the bill's explanatory memorandum, Omda said women's right to divorce through courts was granted to satisfy the National Council for Women (NCW), which was chaired by former first lady Suzanne Mubarak, allegedly to save women from persecution in eastern countries.

Sharia has been under siege since then, Omda claimed. In 2000, the parliament issued a law on the regulation of litigation procedures in personal status matters.The law applied Sharia, in which the woman can obtain a divorce if she returns the financial settlement her husband paid her when they married. If a husband refuses to divorce his wife, the woman has the right to petition a judge in order to obtain to a divorce.

This law applies only to Muslim women as Christian women have a separate personal status law.

In recent months, the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party has launched an attack on laws regulating personal status in the country.

They accuse the NCW of implementing Western strategies to spoil the family and social life in Egypt.

Last week, a number of Islamist MPs criticised the Khula law and the law regulating child custody, saying they contradict Sharia.

What I find despicable in all of this are travel agents in Ireland and Great Britain pretending there are no changes to the Arab Spring into the Arab Winter, and pushing cheap flights. I have met many people in the last six months who were going to or on their way to Egypt. The same is true for some American or South American based cruises. The West cannot continue to support regimes which are becoming repressive and which may even put tourists in danger. Why no one wants to talk about this is a symptom of political correctness. When will Americans and other nations recognize that supporting uprisings without democratic leaders leads to harsh sharia law groups who have been waiting in the wings to take over? See my post of http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.fr/2012/02/no-revolution-works-without-democratic.html

A Catholic Carpe Diem

A Catholic Carpe Diem, this post is for bloggers. And, I claim Fulton J. Sheen as one of my patrons on the Net. A day in the life of a blogger depends on the person's real job. Now, for most bloggers, a vocation to the priesthood, married life, motherhood and fatherhood may be part of the blogging day. A job or profession most likely marks most Catholic bloggers, who can be Canon lawyers, secular lawyers, university professors, artists, journalists, writers, students, computer “guys”, or home schooling moms. Blogging is an addition to the busy schedule of most. The quality of the blog depends upon the time and technological skills of the bloggers. For example, for one blogger, a posting may take 20 minutes. For another, 30 minutes, and for some bright sparks, 10 minutes. But, the real mark of every blogger is passion.

The passion of the Catholic blogger is to communicate the beautiful Faith of our Catholic Church, and give of the five loaves and two fishes which have been given to that writer, especially in a busy schedule. A blog may be what is left over in the baskets at the end of the day, or even the week. Or, the blog could be one of the five loaves.

For most Catholic and traditional bloggers, a blog is a means of evangelizing, in the “new evangelization” of Blessed John Paul II. The Internet may very well not always be a place of truly free speech. I am not writing this out of paranoia, but have already shown below in some articles, the coming United Nations effort to bow to less than free cultures regarding electronic communication. We in the West expect to be able to stand on our virtual soap-box and say what we will, without being harrassed. This may not always be the case. And, so, the passion of the blogger is to get across as much real Truth, real Catholic information as possible in a short period of time. Hence, the needed passion to communicate falls within a framework of the “now”. What is important “now” for Catholics?

By the “now”, I do not mean the ephemeral or the trendy. I mean what is important for the corporate life of the Faithful. Sometimes the now means sharing a prayer, or being a prophet, or a teacher. Sometimes the now means answering questions, or communicating important local and international Catholic events, both good and not so good. One can imagine examples in the last three months where the Catholic blogging community has worked more hours than usual on the question of Catholic freedom of conscience in America. And, that is not the only issue.

I am convinced that I am part of a growing number of bloggers who try to make up what has been missing in the catechesis of two, maybe three, generations. One person here in Ireland, four years older than myself, was never taught Catechism in school. The lack of education for some has created the Catholic Traditional Blog, which attempts to fill in the gap for adult education for those who are on the computer and on the Internet. I have read that sixty-percent of the Irish public have Internet access at home. This is not my personal experience, quite the contrary. Or, if there is access, only the very young, or under thirties use it regularly and not those older. Access is limited elsewhere, as I have already noted on this blog.

Was is appalling are the numbers of adults who are not on the computer and not on the Internet, who do not have access to the real teaching of the Catholic Church, or simply, do not know where to find the resources. Such adults will remain as children and even may be endangering their salvation by remaining in ignorance. Any adult who remains in ignorance of the teachings of the Church in 2012 is guilty of sloth or disinterestedness. The second is a serious sin of neglect.

I have been told over and over again in England and in Ireland that adults “do not have time for religious learning”. The pursuit of mortgages, cars, careers and even a developed social life have pushed the responsibility to learn and appropriate the Faith to the back-burner.

I have written on this before, almost two months ago. We shall be judged on our own merits, or lack thereof, and not on the merits of Father ABC, who did not teach us the Faith.

The blogging community wants to share the Faith, Hope and Love given to us by Christ with the whole world. If some Catholics are not interested or are too busy to pursue learning the Truth of the Teaching Magisterium of the Church, we can only hope that some day soon, the little light of realization will show them that now is the time to grow in Faith and Reason, knowledge and grace. We may not have the leisure or the means “later”.

I compare blogging with missionary work. In my home town, the oldest existing Church was founded by an Italian missionary priest, who travelled on horseback along the Mississippi River spreading the Gospel and setting up parishes. He moved with whatever was available at the time-a horse, backpack, Bible, Missal, Mass kit, vestments, food and water. He may have travelled with others, like a tracker, or guide, or a few lay assistants. But, he moved, from Italy to Iowa and then up and down the edges of the Great River.

If he had not done this, many families would have died in the Faith. We are the missionaries of the world of the Internet. I would like to think that in any little way, we encourage the Faith.

The missionary priests, and my great-uncle was one who came to help the Czech community in northern Iowa, faced horrible dangers and inconveniences--weather, unfriendly natives, unfriendly Protestants, lack of provisions, lack of books, even lack of housing and clothing. We who sit in our dens, classrooms, living rooms, or Internet cafes, face no problems except perhaps not enough change for a second cup of coffee, or the temporary loss of electricity, or travelling through a “dead zone”. But, this may not always be the case. Blog away, fellow bloggers, while you can. The days of freedom may be shorter than one would hope.

Catholic Families and Holiness

Families and holiness is a topic rarely taught either in the classroom or from the pulpit. Now, many good priests speak of the importance of family prayers, family catechesis, Catholic education, and even discipline in the home. But the topic of a family being holy and passing down a heritage of holiness is a subject I have never heard discussed or presented. One could list families wherein the parents, children, siblings, uncles, aunts were all saints. What do I mean specifically?

Every family has charisms. Some families produce generations of medical professionals, such as doctors. Some families pass down a tendency toward the legal profession and even politics. For example, in the American presidency, we have has families which have created civil servants, and the idea of leadership. Some families produce generations of writers, journalists, painters, architects, and we say, in conversation, that “it is in the blood”. The same is true of holiness.

If one looks at the history of certain countries, one can see traces of this heritage of holiness in particular families. St. Basil, below, came from a family of saints, as did St. Etheldreda, the patron of this blog. St.Therese, above, had holy parents, and St. Thomas More, below, produced a family of unusual holiness through several generations. This is not to say that families cannot produce a terrible sinner, or a saint unique to the line, but it seems that strong Catholics beget strong Catholics. The entire idea of the organisation of the old Medieval class system and the passing down of inherited talents may have stifled some people, but offered a continuity of vocations as well.

Many years ago on the BBC a series called By the Sword Divided followed the supposed history of a family during the English Civil War, wherein some members stayed Catholic and some became Puritans. This Cavalier/Puritan division in the series was not presented merely as a simple choice of religious persuasion, but depicted a complicated set of motivations for certain members taking the sides, and even betraying kith and kin, for the “cause”.

What struck me about the narration, and also the history of recusancy in England, was the heritage of stubborn loyalty to the Church in the face of fines, imprisonment and even death It was as if the charism “in the blood” was heroism, even holiness.

Have we lost that as Catholics? Has the blood been so diluted, and the “cause” been so forgotten that families have not passed down the passion, the heritage, even the genes for martyrdom? I challenge Catholics to read these types of stories to their children and for the old families to seriously look at their heritage of Faith to see if the inheritance has been passed down and, if not, why not? The Church is made up of people. People come from families which form the characters from early childhood. I would hate to think that the passing on of heroism has ended.

When the BBC gets it wrong...

In the BBC News Magazine today, Eamonn Walsh has an article on why men become Catholic priests. He interviews a very interesting not-so-young man about his vocation. Of course, the author has to bring up the abuse scandal, which absolutely has nothing to do with the drop in vocations. Only those who understand what the Faith is truly about, a love relationship between God and a person called by God to be a priest, can really write an article on vocations. A Catholic priest is not called merely because he wants to serve people, which is one of Walsh's main points. A social worker, doctor, or teacher can do that. The lack of vocations has nothing to do with the abuse scandals, either, but about the selfishness and relativism of so many parents, who no longer encourage their sons to be priests. The lack of priests reveals the weakness of the Catholics in Great Britain. A healthy Catholic community produces priests. I know of one parish in Michigan in the States with twenty-four vocations. Vocations come from the home, from strong parenting, from prayer, and a Catholic identity in the family. That those who write about vocations do not understand this is symptomatic of the times and their own ignorance of Catholicism.

I realize that the subject of celibacy seems a mystery as well to most people in this over-sexualized world. Again, the lack of appreciation that a celibate call is about relationship to God stems from the fact that those writing about such things obviously do not have that intimate love relationship with Jesus Christ, Who calls each one of us to some sort of vocation.

Only in the love of God and the pursuit of holiness are vocations understandable. A vocation is not just another job. It is who one is. A priest receives an indelible mark in his Sacrament of Holy Orders, which sets him apart from other human beings. He is ontologically changed. He is an alter Christus, another Christ. He is no longer James, or Robert, or Anthony, but a Man of God, in the Apostolic Succession, which is the unbroken line of priestly vocations all the way back to the Twelve Apostles. I am glad that some journalists attempt to interview and understand why men go into the priesthood, but Mr. Walsh got it wrong.

European Journalists Finally Respond to Crisis in America

Drudge has links to The Telegraph article this morning on the attack on Catholics in Obamacare. It is about time the international community looks at the issue. If America becomes a tyranny, Europe has no chance at all of freedom. Only the European blogs have carried such news in the past week, not the major papers. Kudos to the bloggers.

If the largest free nation in the world loses freedom of conscience, the entire global community will suffer. Look at the links, Europeans.

Army tries to silence chaplains, an article is there, and one of 167 bishops' statements is here. An article, reiterating louder calls for civil disobedience is also there.

Nice that the European press finally caught up with some real issues. Why we need freedom online is obvious.

Judith Miller on Looking for Christian Scapegoats in Egypt

Look at my post below a day ago and check out this article by Judith Miller. Thankfully, journalists are waking up to the dangers presented to Christians in the emerging Arab Winter countries. It has taken a year, but better late than never. The ostriches in the media are lifting their heads. Here are some extracts:

"There is a reluctance to acknowledge what is happening, which is that these revolutionary movements that were spearheaded largely by secular, liberal young people have been taken over by Islamist forces, and there is an unwillingness to come to grips with the direction in which these revolutionary movements are moving."


"If the Egyptian economy fails, and it’s rapidly on route to failing, they are almost out of hard currency --you could actually have riots and chaos in the streets. You could have a turning by the Muslims on their Christian brethren in the hunt for scapegoats. And that is what the Christian community fears the most."

Better late than never. Watch her video as well at the above link.

No Revolution Works Without Democratic Leaders-in-Waiting: Women and Christians to the Lions

Last year, when I was watching the revolution in Egypt happening, and listening to idiotic American television commentators go on about the Arab Spring, I knew we would witness an Arab Winter. Maybe it is because I am a woman and very aware of the lack of civil rights for women in almost all the parts of the world under sharia law, or maybe because I am a student of history and have seen all this before. Those who wished by a fantasy that a democratic government was to come out of Tunisia, or Egypt, or Libya, were and are living in a false world of wishes of their own making. The liberal media does not and will not understand Islamic sharia law. The media does not uphold the rights of Christians, or women in the Middle East or African nations.

One of the elements of which I was aware as the riots were happening, was that there were not and still are not any democratic leaders waiting in the wings to take over. The young man who started the twitter revolution in Egypt last year was thrown off the stage in Tahir Square by the Muslim Brotherhood speakers. Try and find that video I watched last year on YouTube, which, by the way, censors regularly such types of videos. Such silencing of young democracy seekers in Egypt happened last week as well. Check here.

Finally, some European journalists are waking up to the fact that the only seeming replacement for tyrants are more tyrants. In the French paper Le Monde, an article written by Peter Harling reveals some semblance of reality. I quote part of a translated text from here.


What makes the transitions underway impossible to judge is that they have all brought to the fore innumerable tensions at the heart of the region’s societies, at the very moment when these societies are ridding themselves of the traditional means to manage these tensions, since the the usual means used by the regimes are exactly what their subjects no longer tolerate. At stake in these negotiations is precisely the creation of mechanism to regulate social conflicts, but on new bases which are themselves sources of conflict. It is therefore not surprising to see disagreements, and even violence. The real question mark is whether new political systems will appear that will give a central importance to popular legitimacy, in a region that has hitherto been deprived of such systems.


This is mild compared to what I would have written, as I am very concerned about women and Christians, who we all know, are not respected now in Egypt and are under increasing persecution, noted in the Vatican and among those who are not afraid to contradict the BIG LIE about moderate Islam taking over Egypt. 


Revolutionaries must have something in mind, in place, when they overthrow tyrannies. A democratic process takes intelligence, leadership, time. Under a military rule, or sharia law, there can be no democracy. We are witnessing the Arab Winter and I wish our own governments in the West would admit to this. Instead, Washington is pandering to a group which will be just as bad, if not worse, than Mubarak's government was.


The only major voice of reality in the media is the Washington Post, which wrote about Washington's blindness a few days ago.

And, can you believe there are some in America, who do not believe this photo is real--including Jimmy Carter? A phrase that was popular when I was in high school was "Get real and face the situation". (Thanks to Father Miclot). Get real, people, get real. 


I fear in this Arab Winter for my fellow Christians and women of all creeds. I do not want these images and truths to be suppressed, just as the Tienanmen Square photos and history have been suppressed in China. Remember during the Olympics there when Westerners were showing a generation of youth photos and history they had never seen online?


 from Wiki:

Public memory of the Tiananmen Square protests has been suppressed by the CPC since 1989. Print media containing reference to the protests must be consistent with the government’s version of events.^[157] Presently, many Chinese citizens are reluctant to speak about the protests due to the possibility of repercussions.^[160] However, some individuals do speak out, such as Ding Zilin of theTiananmen Mothers organization.^[161] Regardless, youth in China are generally unaware of the events that took place, and cannot recognize symbols such as tank man,^[162] or even the date itself.^[163]

Internet searches of '4 June' or 'Tiananmen Square' bring back censored results or cuts the server connection temporarily.^[161] Specific web pages with certain keywords are censored, while other websites, such as those of overseas Chinese democracy movements, are blocked wholesale.^[154][161] The censorship, however, has been inconsistent - with many sites being blocked, unblocked, and re-blocked over the years, including YouTube, Wikipedia, and Flickr.^[164] In addition, the policy is much more stringent with Chinese-language sites than foreign-language ones. In January 2006, Google agreed to censor their mainland China site to remove information about the Tiananmen Square massacre and Taiwan independence.^[165] Google withdrew its cooperation on censorship in January 2010.^[166]

Leading up to and during the event's 20th anniversary on 4 June 2009, party authorities increased security around the square. Members of the Public Security Bureau and the People’s Armed Policewere present at the square in uniform along with several hundred plain clothes officers.^[167] Tourists were allowed into the square subject to security checks. Journalists were denied entry.^[167] Some journalists who attempted to film at the square or interview dissidents were briefly detained.^[168] The 20th Anniversary also saw the shut down of global social-networking sites in China, as well as heavy policing of dissidents and their interactions with journalists.^[156][169] No protests were to be tolerated on this occasion in Beijing.^{[170][171][172]}

The younger teens and twenty-somethings did not recognize "tank man".  Remember, please. And, the same thing will happen in Afghanistan. Watch and see. I wish I had kept articles from last year which are missing. If someone can find the reference to the youth leader who was not allowed to speak in Tahir Square, please let us know here.  Remember, please.

Zenit and the world getting wiser about the erosion of religious freedom

Silenced: How Apostasy and Blasphemy Codes are Choking Freedom Worldwide (Oxford University Press) is a book being reviewed on Zenit today. It is about time people realize that the so-called Arab Spring, now being labelled Arab Winter by some journalists, is leading to a dark ages of scientific, religious, and academic suppression. I am going to try and get this book. If anyone has read it, please make a comment.