The Importance of Sources

Teaching for many, many years research skills to college students, I emphasized over and over again, the importance of excellent source material.

Peer reviewed articles make good bibliographies. Primary texts make excellent bibliographies.

Now, too many Catholics are following sources which are not reliable for their information on religion.

Reliable sources must be sought out and not marginal or idiosyncratic sources. The list of reliable sources for a Catholic are the teachings of the Catholic Church, including doctrines, dogmas, and the encyclicals.

Apostolic letters from the popes are reliable sources. The Catechism of the Catholic Church is a reliable source, as are older versions of the CCC, such as the Baltimore Catechism.

The approved translations of the Scriptures are reliable, of course, as being the Word of God. In the Catholic Church, we have some choices of approved versions, the most exact being the Catholic version of the Revised Standard Edition. I recommend the Navarre Bible.

One must take care regarding source material. One cannot, for example, use sources, to find truth,  which have been condemned by the Church, such as the writings of the Modernists, or the heretics. Scholars may studied these writings in order to better refute error, but the common reader cannot indulge in reading such.

The same is true with authors from schismatic groups. Many separated writers have departed from the Teaching Magisterium of the Church and many people, especially trads, may not know they are being led astray.

Private revelation which has been condemned must absolutely not be read. Period.

There is a type of sin connected to curiosity which leads people astray and even to hell because of a perceived need to read condemned private revelations.

Be careful online as well. Some readers send me links from groups which are sedevacantism in origin. I do not read these. Readers, do not indulge in reading works by people not in union with the one, holy, Catholic and apostolic Church.

Your souls may be in danger. One should not read the works of priests who are denying the papacy of Francis, (Paul Kramer, for example).

Be watchful...there are several popular websites which can lead one astray.

One's safety is within the Catholic Church, only.

The Country of Purgation

Being in the country has not been good for one who is susceptible to asthma--neither is being in the Mississippi River Valley and neither is being in and around Maryville, Missouri.

Why, I do not know. Today, there were fires in the fields next to the farmhouse where I am staying. I bought masks to wear as not only do I have asthma, but I am allergic to smoke. That is one allergy which has been defined.

I am still praying to get back to sea air, which suits me just fine. But, God is allowing this suffering, as well as the complications in my eyes for a reason.

One becomes resigned to suffering after awhile. This resignation is part of the process of purgation. The purification of the soul, imagination, mind, body means that one must be taken to the brink of trust on a daily basis.

Patience comes out of resignation to God's Will, to His mysterious plan, to His perfection.

Humility comes out of patience. One is no longer in control and must give up all.

I am truly thankful for the sorrows which began in earnest on October 31st, 2013,  I know that suffering is a gift for my purification.

Thank you for your prayers, as I know that it is God's Will that I return to Europe. But, this time is not today.

Perhaps soon, but not today.

Thank God

I studied von Balthasar for seven years and finally decided he was a heretic in more way than one. That was a long time ago.

To convince others to break away from the writings of this man is very difficult in academia.

God has saved me from the brink so many times.

Good News

I do not need further surgery. Father Hardon answered my prayers. Readers, thanks so much for prayers.

Pray my eyes continue to heal properly. Be thankful for your eyes, Readers.

If you not are listening to Voris Live

get on line now and listen to Mick'ed Up.

Very slow internet today

Why is the Net easier to access and faster in Europe? Just wondering....

Wondering....

Any people involved in airlines, who would like to comment on the missing plane? Some of my friends doubt all the information from the news. I have been listening to a Viet Nam vet, who was ruminating on the possibilities.

Any comments?

Limited Feedback

I have had only two recommendations on reading material for arguments against classical liberalism. I shall take time and read these once in hand.

Any more suggestions?

We need to realize that the GOP is no longer a real force in American politics. What America needs are new parties, to challenge the old guards, which have let us down.

Are there any brave people who can start new parties, which have no truck with socialism and which actually defend the Constitution of the United States?

Huge Earthquake

http://rt.com/news/earthquake-strikes-chile-iquique-713/

and why does RT have the news before the US earthquake site?

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/usc000nzvd#summary

https://twitter.com/RT_com/status/451153727550795776/photo/1

The Growing Catholic Arguments For And Against Libertarianism Part One

Before diving into the deep here, let me quote one favorite, Catholic author, J. R. R. Tolkien.

“My political opinions lean more and more to Anarchy (philosophically understood, meaning the abolition of control not whiskered men with bombs) — or to ‘unconstitutional’ Monarchy. I would arrest anybody who uses the word State ... and after a chance of recantation, execute them if they remained obstinate! If we could go back to personal names, it would do a lot of good.

Government is an abstract noun meaning the art and process of governing and it should be an offence to write it with a capital G or so to refer to people … The most improper job of any many, even saints (who at any rate were at least unwilling to take it on), is bossing other men. Not one in a million is fit for it, and least of all those who seek the opportunity …

There is only one bright spot and that is the growing habit of disgruntled men of dynamiting factories and power-stations; I hope that, encouraged now as ‘patriotism’, may remain a habit! But it won’t do any good, if it is not universal.”

- J.R.R. Tolkien, letter to his son, 1943 (from The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien).

Now, a disclaimer-I am not one of these super-democrats who believes in the absolute power of the people. Just read de Tocqueville for my point of view in that regard.

Nor am I one of these neo-trads who believes that God created monarchies as the best government for all posterity.

I believe in subsidiarity and in small, very, very small government, like the cantons and the city state polis of the Greeks.

I believe in local government, not in large, international, global governments. The smaller government is the best, in my opinion.

Many Catholics in the Midwest who are conservative, especially the young conservatives, have been tending towards libertarianism. Now, this phrase covers a huge range of definitions. I suppose I am a Greek, pre-enlightenment classical libertarian, not quite as naive as Hayek, but more inclined to Christianize the older, enlightenment ideals. Hayek would be a Whig, and of course, I would never be a Whig. Also, the Church has rightly condemned socialism and that is not part of this argument.

I am a passionate believer in American states' rights. Except for the evil of slavery, I would have followed Lee and Jackson into battle for the sake of state independence from big Washington government. I totally support the idea of cessation of states, believing it to be legal and, perhaps, necessary.

If Texas or Alaska would declare independence, I would reconsider moving to those states.

My first political awakening as a young teen was the campaign of Barry Goldwater. My son has all my Goldwater badges. I was a fierce campaigner and could debate the best in the high school or in the dining room.

In our times, with the decay of the GOP, acting like Dems, I hardly can cast my vote for the neo-cons. Note, as a historical anecdote, I was THE representative for Alan Keyes in the 2000 Iowa caucus in my area. I like that man and he would have made a great first Black president.

As to the trads who glorify monarchists, I can only quote Scripture, Samuel 8:

10 Then Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people that had desired a king of him,

11 And said: This will be the right of the king, that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and put them in his chariots, and will make them his horsemen, and his running footmen to run before his chariots,

12 And he will appoint of them to be his tribunes, and centurions, and to plough his fields, and to reap his corn, and to make him arms and chariots.

13 Your daughters also he will take to make him ointments, and to be his cooks, and bakers.

14 And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your best oliveyards, and give them to his servants.

15 Moreover he will take the tenth of your corn, and of the revenues of your vineyards, to give his eunuchs and servants.

16 Your servants also and handmaids, and your goodliest young men, and your asses he will take away, and put them to his work.

17 Your flocks also he will tithe, and you shall be his servants.

18 And you shall cry out in that day from the face of the king, whom you have chosen to yourselves. and the Lord will not hear you in that day, because you desired unto yourselves a king.

Have there been saintly kings? Yes, and the list is impressive. But, these men form a small list compared to horrible kings and queens.

I think the Catholic can look to Christ the King as the real Ruler of Heaven and Earth. As to libertarianism, let the debate begin.....is Catholicism compatible with some form of libertarianism? And, I am not referring to Ayn Rand and the evil objectivism. Again, there are many definitions of libertarianism.

Very Odd

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/593833-yellowstone-volcano-eruption-in-2014-some-believe-animals-are-fleeing-park-see-it-as-an-alert/

Prayers for those in our families

Last week, I sent Catholic books to my three brothers who are practical atheists. I have tried to convert them in small ways and in rational argument for years. Two ignore me and one, once in a while, encounters me and asks questions.

However, they all have been far way from the Church for decades. Praying daily, I hope that God hears my prayers to give them tremendous graces of repentance and  for returning back to the Church into which they were baptized, the one, true, holy, apostolic and Catholic Church.

Many of us have fallen away Catholics in our families. Let us pause today and pray earnestly for them, not pretending that their lives have departed from grace, but begging Christ on the Cross for mercy.

I believe that God will hear our prayers. Pray that the wills of those who have fallen away may again be open to God's grace, as all conversion is in the will.

Let us pray together for our lapsed Catholic siblings and children.

The Grail?

http://news.yahoo.com/crowds-swamp-church-spain-holy-grail-claim-142642943.html

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/historians-holy-grail-goblet-spanish-museum-article-1.1740633

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/03/31/article-2593336-1CB652EC00000578-327_634x856.jpg

A reminder to home schoolers

http://www.hslda.org/

I belong to this group most of the years I was home schooling. I highly suggest joining.

April Post from The Guild Blog

http://guildofblessedtitus.blogspot.com/2014/04/what-is-heaven.html

March Guild Posts from STM

http://guildofblessedtitus.blogspot.com/2014/03/egos-in-church.html

http://guildofblessedtitus.blogspot.com/2014/03/the-glue-of-apathy-and-ugly-word-zeal.html

http://guildofblessedtitus.blogspot.com/2014/03/are-you-in-bubble.html

http://guildofblessedtitus.blogspot.com/2014/03/corruption-in-social-networks.html

http://guildofblessedtitus.blogspot.com/2014/03/the-long-hard-winter.html

Also, check out the what is hell, what is purgatory series......in February.

The Exterior Reveals The Interior Part Two

People, just going to the traditional Latin Mass weekly is not a guarantee of either final perseverance or the growth in holiness.

I see more and more a dangerous ideal creeping into some traditional groupings with which I am familiar.

Plain and simple-the problem is legalism.

Following the rules, going to the Mass of the Ages, saying all the great pre-Vatican II prayers cannot equal the daily metanoia, the daily repentance and the seeking out of purification necessary for union with God.

Recently, I have had to reflect on some of the serious signs of a lack of the interior life among some trads I know. I had to consult a priest in the past about the problem of knowing people in serious sin going weekly and even daily to the TLM while sinning publicly.

I could not understand how some I knew who were into the occult, letting their children live extremely secular and even compromised lives while living at home, and even some people caught up in what only could be called mafia-life business deals, common knowledge in the community, and going to the TLM without repentance.

This good FSSP priest explained to me that one can receive the sacraments and not receive grace. That the TLM makes many people feel like they are on the right track and this can lead to self-deception. This priest explained to me the evil of legalism.

This good priest noted that sometimes those in the deepest sinful patterns think they are saved merely by going to the TLM. He told me some people live in self-deceit.

Working out one's salvation in fear and trembling means hard work on a day to day basis.

What I cannot understand is why the men in the TLM communities do not reach out and bring their brothers in sin back to conversion and repentance. Why do men avoid confrontation?

Many women in one Traditional Mass group were terrified of a violent man, who exhibited this violence during the week in a work situation in which some of the women were employed. And, yet, none of the men in the community addressed this violence. Even after some women bravely brought this up to members of the TLM community, nothing was done in that community.

Many of the women left the TLM rather than deal with the serious denial of reality.

Some of the women left the workplace where this man also worked, and yet, no man in the TLM community protected these women. Moses defended the Daughters of Jethro, yet these single women had no champions.

In another case, some TLMers saw that a man was involved in something occultic. Yet, no one said anything. Some men were in denial about the situation.

In yet a third case, some financially comfortable families were sending their children to state schools and not teaching religion in the home. No one said that this was a breaking of the baptismal promises of those parents, and the promises made at marriage to raise the children Catholic.

Going to Mass on Sunday was not a substitute for daily virtue training.



In all of these cases, I was either one of the few ladies to bring things up to the leaders, or the only one to do so. I tried to protect the single women. I tried to point out the occult dangers. I tried to show that Catholic education was a duty, not an option, for parents.

Why are men so complacent and accepting of serious imperfections?

Why? Where is the sense of community? Where is the sense of brotherly correction?

Just going to Mass is not enough. In fact, going to the TLM may cause some people to hide in sin.

Think about this.

The Mass is the culmination of one's worship, and should be a reflection of the interior life, not a substitute for the interior life.

We can all become merely "whitewashed sepulchers".

Matthew 23:27-28

Douay-Rheims 

27 Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites; because you are like to whited sepulchres, which outwardly appear to men beautiful, but within are full of dead men's bones, and of all filthiness.

28 So you also outwardly indeed appear to men just; but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

The TLM should change one forever. The TLM should change families. I have seen this happen. I have seen large families becoming holy because the father incorporated the grace of the TLM and brought that grace home.

Daily life began to reflect the deep mysteries of the Mass of the Ages.

I have seen five vocations come out of one TLM community, in a city where there had been no vocations for forty years.

Those young men incorporated the grace of the TLM. They changed. They absorbed the graces of the most perfect type of worship known to humans.

This should be happening. 

I speak of the "women at the well". In ancient times, women would gather at wells to discuss family problems and to get advice from the elderly wise women. For centuries, the elders led the young ones to wisdom and grace. The younger women trusted those who were older and wiser. 

If this is not happening in a TLM community, that community is bogged down by legalism. Sharing leads to growth, and the younger women should have humility to seek out the old saints. I have met some of these older saintly women who have so much to offer the young ones. But, the younger ones are closed, caught up in secularism, missing the opportunity to sit at the feet of those in the Illuminative State. I know one women who is ignored by the community and every time I speak with her, I am drawn closer to God and His Mother. What a gift she is.

But, too many of the younger ones cannot see beyond their own egos. They have a little bit of knowledge and have grown proud.

I have seen this in two communities, and one has shrunken to one-fourth of its original size.

Legalism kills the soul and deadens the community.

Only repentance and the search for humility can create a vibrant community wherein the exterior reflects the interior.

Doctors of the Church Series

Please follow the tags to read on the two doctors of the Church, one towards the end of this week and one in the past few days. I have not had enough time to re-post these.

Too much time in doctor's offices......

The Exterior Reveals The Interior Life Part One

The traditional communities are much weaker than seven years ago. I have several observations as to why. Part of the problem is that the older TLM communities included many of us pre-Vatican II types, who remember what the EF was actually like and could lead the congregations in proper lay responses and deportment.

Part of the problem, therefore, is the rupture of continuity taking its toll on the younger members who simply have no record, no memory and no way of knowing how to think or act as a Catholic.

The second huge problem has been the number of converts who either have been trained properly, or brought in by priests who verge on being on the margins of the Church. This leaves a small proportion of trads with idiosyncratic ideas and habits.

A third part of the problem is the lack of appropriateness in the lives of the younger Gen Xers. On Sunday, at a TLM, people applauded in the Church for a reason some saw as appropriate. Now, we have guidelines from Rome concerning the need for absolutely no applause in the Church before, during or after Mass.

I was glad I was not at this particular Mass, as I would have had words with those who applauded.

A fourth problem is the unwillingness to learn proper lay deportment, because society no longer requires certain rules of deportment. Unless people travel and see the wide-world of the Latin Mass, people will not see the real need for behavioral changes in the Mass.

I am not referring to modesty of dress or mantillas, but a sense of decorum.

Can this be changed, I wonder?

Deportment comes from a sense of the virtues of religion, piety and temperance. We are given these virtues in baptism and these virtues get a boost of spiritual energy and insight in confirmation.

So, what is needed may be simply the realization that religion, piety and temperance change our behavior, if one cooperates with grace.

to be continued...

Prayers, please, again

I have to see a specialist on Wednesday for one eye. Please pray I do not need surgery. That is a real possibility.  I do not do well in surgeries for two reasons. TMI.

I suggest praying to Father John Hardon to have my eye heal up miraculously.

Thanks

STM