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.

Sweden, Germany, Alberta, America--why do governments fear home schooling?

A long time ago in another universe, I lived and worked in Alberta, Canada. For awhile, I worked for Wisdom Home Schooling, and for the spokesperson, Ken Noster, who is quoted in this LifeSiteNews article. As I home schooled in Alberta, twelve years or so ago, I had no problems with the government. However, that is all changing. In the article here, the provincial government is now extending curriculum requirements on home schoolers which would require them to include pro-gay materials in their studies. If this bill goes through, religious liberties will disappear for the home schooling community. Ken stated, among other things, that "[the government] could insist that non-politically correct material such as Scripture and the [Catechism of the Catholic Church] could be deemed as offensive and not useable.”


Alberta already has some of the worst laws against freedom of religion in existence. The brave and wonderful Bishop of Calgary, Bishop Henry, in 2005, had to defend himself against the Tribunal, that is the Alberta Court dealing with so-called "hate speech" for promulgating Catholic teaching against homosexuality. Those in charge of education have been putting the squeeze on home schoolers and this is an out and out attack. Catholic home schoolers in Alberta and, indeed, all home schooling parents, need to contact their ministers immediately. The links are above.


In an earlier post, I noted that the Obama Administration wants to interfere with home schooling in the States. One must ask the question why all these governments fear home schooling? The teaching of the Catholic Church has been that education is primarily the duty and right of the parents, not the governments. The growing persecution of religious freedoms in all western countries, either from the viewpoint of education or freedom of speech shows a widespread hatred of the Catholic Church and Evangelicals, the two groups who have spear-headed home education. 

I am grateful that I had all those years of freedom to educate at home-happy and fruitful years. I pray earnestly that the next generation of parents have this right. I highly recommend those home schooling parents to join the HSLDA, as I did. 

The Importance of the Vatican State

Scene from Becket, the Movie, Peter O'Toole and Richard Burton, 1964

It is crucial for the entire world that the Papacy remains independent of any other country or nation. St. Thomas Becket knew this. St. Catherine of Siena knew this, which is why she begged Pope Gregory XI to leave Avignon, and she succeeded, as the Holy Spirit was guiding her and him. Since I have set up this blog again, I have had the national anthem of the Vatican Papal State on the right-hand side to show my support for the physical nation which is the heart of the Catholic Church. As Catholics, we have always believed in the "visible Church", decrying the ultra-Protestant idea of the "invisible Church" as a heresy. Last week, David Quinn's article on Mirror of Justice, a site which I have on my blog list, eloquently reviews the importance of the Papal States. Here is a section of Quinn's argument, which is timely, most timely:

The reason the Papal States evolved was to try and preserve the independence of popes although even these couldn't always offer protection because rulers could still invade them if strong enough, as Napoleon did.

One reason the popes opposed the unification of Italy was because they feared that if the Papal States were destroyed so would their independence. They feared they would be dominated by the new Italian state.

After a standoff lasting several decades, Mussolini agreed to recognise the independence of the Holy See, the successor to the Papal States.

The reason the Holy See seeks diplomatic ties with as many countries as possible is to solidify the place of the Holy See in Italy -- something that couldn't be taken as a given for a long time -- and to solidify its place in the world.

The alternative to an independent Holy See is a pope who lives in the Italian state and is subject ultimately to the whim of the Italian state and to whatever laws it passes. The possibility of a strongly anti-clerical government being elected in Italy in the future can never be ruled out, nor can the passage of politically correct 'human rights' laws such as exist in places like Canada where the simple expression of church teaching on issues like homosexuality could end up being deemed a 'hate crime'.

Pope St. Pius IX: And, We are a Physical Church, as Well as a Spiritual One

There is more good stuff at Mirror of Justice, which, in these times of certain tyrants pushing the envelope against religious freedom, is a great site to check out daily. Remember that many of the martyrs died for the independence of the Papacy, and the list is long. St. Thomas Becket, pray for us.

I have suggested before here, all reading Robert Hugh Benson's Lord of the World, for another perspective on the importance of the independent Papacy, until the end of time. 

Irish Media Wakes Up: When Will the French Media See the Difference?

Loyalty and friendship?

I have written here about the youth across America and Europe living with parents. I have written about the high jobless numbers of youth 18-35 in these areas, and specifically in Ireland and Great Britain. Today, the Irish Times online has highlighted the newest plan of the Obama Administration to break up traditional ties with European, pointedly, Irish society by imposing a higher tax for overseas American coorporations. There are, according to the article here, six-hundred American companies established in Ireland which hire the Irish, including youth. I see hundreds of unemployed Irish youth daily. Thousands are living at home, like adolescents. Some are in government housing. The problem exists in America as well, as even the Irish paper online has noted. But, behind the Obama move to make life more difficult for the Irish is his systematic undermining of traditional relationships with European countries, at the expense of good will and commerce. From the article:

A US economist and tax expert who recently gave evidence to the ways and means committee in the US House of Representatives, Martin Sullivan, told The Irish Times last night that Ireland had benefited more than any other country from the fact that US corporations don’t pay US tax unless they repatriate their profits.

“So Obama’s proposals to significantly curtail those benefits are a serious threat to the Irish economy

I do not believe in bailouts, such as the Greek or even the Irish rescue. However, I do believe in helping companies thrive and reach out to the younger population,  who have skills, especially in technology. Youth, of course, have to want to work, (see yesterday's first post), but to purposefully tax American companies, which are helping the global economy seems like nonsense, and will have repercussions financially and socially. America is rapidly being seen as no longer the friend of the very countries whose sons and daughters built up that great country. But, Obama does not have a European bent, either in ideology or in religion. This could be the reason for the further snubbing of Ireland.

By the way, I refer to the French in the title of this post, as there still is some sort of love-affair for Obama in the media there. Why, I do not know.

So, marriage is important for society after all....(us little, old Catholics knew this); October 21, 1911

Dr. Sanity is on a roll, but then, she is the voice of reason in the blog-sphere. Catholics, check out this video and her link. And, I dedicate this to Blessed Karl and Zita, and all my dear friends who are married.....

From Burns and Haberman on Politico

Murdoch on Santorum: 'Win Michigan game over'http://www.politico.com/blogs/burns-haberman/2012/02/murdoch-on-santorum-win-michigan-game-over-115006.html

Rupert Murdoch's latest tweet on the GOP race a few minutes ago: 

From distance, Santorum doing great. Values really do count in America, and not sneered at as in parts of Europe. Win Michigan game over.

Do you want to work in teams? Can you work with others? Do you have manners? Would you love your job?

In England, there is or has been an interesting photographic exhibit which proves a point of this post. The exhibit is called "Unordinary People", but I would call it the "New Conformist-Non". Here is the description of the exhibit online at: http://www.allgigs.co.uk/view/artist/59750/Unordinary_People_Exploring_British_Youth_Culture_1960_2009.html

• Exhibition
• "Unordinary People is an exhibition celebrating the self-expression, resilience and creative vitality of young people throughout the generations. The exhibit will feature an eclectic selection of rare and exclusive cultural photography, archive video footage and excerpts from essays that will highlight the history, lifestyles, fashions, hairstyles, music and subcultures of British youth culture from the 1960s to the present day."

This is a controversial posting from me. I have been thinking of the huge unemployment numbers among college-age youth in America and in Europe. Some of the problems I know these first-hand growing up in an area where the Agra-businesses and connected agricultural factories moved to Europe and elsewhere as early as the 1960s, such as J.I. Case and Farmall leaving the area to John Deere alone, which has also cut back American-made tractors, combiners, harvesters, etc. Great Britain in my lifetime lost its thriving clothing manufacturing businesses to places like India, China, and small countries. The lack of work marks the professional levels as well, when there are less children, less teachers are needed.

Here, in Ireland, a nursing shortage is obvious from where I sit in Dublin. Pages and pages of interesting yet demanding jobs for nursing professionals, with good salaries attached, go begging. A young person would do well to go into this field, as the nursing shortage may be found in other countries as well.

Shortages in some professions and lack of opportunities in others can lead to unemployment. But, here are the real reasons in my experience teaching youth people in college for years.

One, the work ethic is dead. Many youth do not want to work the long hours necessary in some professions, even teaching, where we all take our work home, be it papers to correct or lesson plans to create.

Two, some youth refuse to do simple jobs, such as gardening, or cleaning, or ironing. This again is part of the loss of the work ethic. We all did such jobs during the holidays or even after college, if necessary, until we were settled in a profession. Manual labor is good and upright.

Three, socialism has destroyed initiative, especially in Europe. If a young person can get a housing allowance and a food allowance and so much spending money per week, why work? This is a huge disaster in Western Civilization, creating an underclass that knows how to use the system without working.

Four, and this is my own take, nonconformity. Now, I may be a non-conformist, being a Catholic, conservative, writer, artist, but I can fit into certain groupings, such as the trad group, or, in former days, the home schooling group. What strikes me especially in Europe are the thousands of youth who are so non-conformist that they would never get hired. Examples abound, as I am temporarily in a youth hostel and observing those coming and going. A few points. The youth from Ireland and Great Britain dress horribly and still look "goth", (I taught goths in the mid-eighties in England), with piercings and tattoos, which label someone from the States as "lower class". The youth here in this hostel from Germany, Bulgaria, Hungary, Latvia, Italy and Poland look smart and act much more politely than the Irish or the British. The emphasis is on choosing "your style" for the Irish and British. This is sort of like private interpretation of the Bible, which leads to chaos and complete relativism.  I shall get hate mail for this, but the worst dressed girls and guys in Europe are the British. I mean, what is with the large holes in the stockings and no underwear? The "sagging" look is in here as well for both sexes.  In other words, the continentals seem to have manners and style.

 If I were hiring any for positions in teams or in either an office or outside work, I would ask these questions: Would you fit into a team? Do you want to work hard? Can you work with both management and peers?

Sadly, the nonconformist, or dare I say, anarchist would not even think that these questions would be important. Talking with a few neighbors last week, some of the mothers were complaining about all the Polish youth who had jobs in the area, supposedly taking away jobs from the Irish youth. It was obvious from the conversation that either the Irish youth did not even apply for such jobs as hotel service workers or factory workers, or that there was and is a huge difference in skill levels.

And, that is my last point. All youth should be able to work on computers and do basic office skills. These should be required in all school systems by the upper levels. I was told that teachers still accepted hand-written papers in some colleges. Why? From 1979 on, I required typed papers in all my classes at the university level. Such skills are necessary in the workplace. It seems that some of the continental youth have higher technical skills than some of those in Ireland and Great Britain. How did this happen, especially in England, which use to have one of the best education systems in the world? No more.

Nicely dressed American Catholic students, who want to work

The unemployment of youth rises from complicated issues, but I suggest that the lack of taking responsibility for one's own life and the lack of initiative are the two greatest obstacles. In addition, the insistence of non-conformity in dress and hair, in manners and social skills, has damaged one, if not two generations, of the ability to work.

By the way, after travelling in Europe for nine months, the best dressed young women are the Japanese, who are into retro-style and have great taste at the moment. The worst I mentioned above. The sub-culture is not dress or hair, but anarchy. Conformism is not a dirty word. Such conformity is necessary if a civilization asks its workforce to be able to work together for the common good. One does act as one dresses, by the way.

Dame Vivienne Westwood, whose clothes I really do not like, has a quotation on the BBC today which states that people have never looked so ugly. I agree.

Big Brother = United Nations

Like the Fiber Optic Look of This

If you haven't read the latest on the United Nations efforts to control the Internet, you must look at this article. Robert McDowell's chilling list of items which could come about SOON is listed here.

And this is from the Wall Street Journal, usually not considered a paper which prints hyper-hysteria. The new ruling would:

• Subject cyber security and data privacy to international control;

• Allow foreign phone companies to charge fees for "international" Internet traffic, perhaps even on a "per-click" basis for certain Web destinations, with the goal of generating revenue for state-owned phone companies and government treasuries;

• Impose unprecedented economic regulations such as mandates for rates, terms and conditions for currently unregulated traffic-swapping agreements known as "peering."

• Establish for the first time ITU dominion over important functions of multi-stakeholder Internet governance entities such as the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, the nonprofit entity that coordinates the .com and .org Web addresses of the world;

• Subsume under intergovernmental control many functions of the Internet Engineering Task Force, the Internet Society and other multi-stakeholder groups that establish the engineering and technical standards that allow the Internet to work;

• Regulate international mobile roaming rates and practices.

all from the source above

Worse than the Pagans--Stranger in a Strange Land

Thanks, Wiki

How is it that our Western, and indeed, parts of the Eastern cultures, have lost the old ideas of hospitality and kindness to strangers? Are we all living in such a fear culture that we cannot possibly reach out to those who are not from our families and usual set of friends? That Christianity created a culture of hospitality superior to the ancients is true, but even the ancients of all areas entertained the stranger. I think of Odysseus at the end of his journey in the House of the King Alkinoös and his court. These isolated people were surprised to see a stranger, but immediately opened their hearts to him, and gave him hospitality without knowing who he was. In fact, the king ordered the mariners to deliver Odysseus to his own country. Homer wrote this in the 8th century B.C.


In the Poetic Edda, the literature written in the 12th or 13th centuries, these words ring as false today, but true then:


Hail, ye Givers! a guest is come; 
say! where shall he sit within?
Much pressed is he who fain on the hearth
would seek for warmth and weal.

He hath need of fire, who now is come,
numbed with cold to the knee;
food and clothing the wanderer craves
who has fared o'er the rimy fell.

Thanks, Wiki

He craves for water, who comes for refreshment,
drying and friendly bidding,
marks of good will, fair fame if 'tis won,
and welcome once and again.


I write this as a stranger in a strange land, three lands to be correct, for almost a year of travelling and writing. I can say that hospitality is dead in some parts of the Western World. Going to daily Mass for nine months in three different countries, and having in two of those countries, no one talk to me or ask about me, or wonder why I was there has happened in countries supposedly Catholic and English speaking. Not friendly. Only in one out of three was there hospitality. Fear and greed have taken over from hospitality. I also blame socialism, which supplants individual love and openness to the unusual, placing all persons under bureaucracies, making people ciphers and not part of the communities, which have died in these socialist countries. Governments are not substitutes for relationships.

I have come to the conclusion that the Americans, and perhaps, because we were all strangers in a strange land at one time, are the most hospitable people I have met. Why hospitality and welcome is dead among the Christians is a mystery to me. The pagans were superior to us in this. We now have the "hospitality industry", which is the service industry of hotels, hostels, bed and breakfasts, which has taken over from the common acceptance of strangers entering a strange land. If we do not change in our perceptions and openness, we may all find ourselves isolated. The stranger could be you.

British readers, important note

Please see Fr. Ray Blake's blog this morning. VIP.

Coming to a Church Near You...

Washington Times Communities Blog

I have many Christian friends who want to ignore what is happening in the Middle-East and Africa, to their own peril. Some of my posts have followed certain trends. See below. The great Spencer sent this note on the move to stop the building of churches in Kuwait, which up to this time, has been fairly open, as opposed to Egypt, the Sudan, Nigeria, Uganda, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Malaysia, India, or Iran, in the giving of permits to build Christian churches. If the complacent Christians in the West do not realize the growing dangers to their brothers and sisters in Christ all over the world, including Somalia. Ethiopia, and even Libya, as well as the above, the situation will escalate into the worst forms of persecution. Pray please, and when you have the chance to vote, vote for those politicians, who are not only aware of the persecution of Christians, but support aid. If you are not aware of the websites carrying news of the Africa nations which persecute Christians, here is one. If it happens there, it can happen anywhere. Here is a twitter link to Voice of the Martyrs which I have followed for many, many years. And, here is an excellent article from the Washington Times Communities blog on persecution and the silencing by the media of news.

Detroit, please note. Some Bishops Support Voris and Give Him the Papal Room!

Some of you remember the crazy kerfuffle over Michael Voris, RealCatholicTV, and the Archdiocese of Detroit noted here. Well, as I mentioned here and elsewhere, Catholics and Christians around the world were shocked by this internecine warfare coming out of the Detroit chancery offices. Such things cause scandal. And, like a small justification for his good and holy work, noticed worldwide, (even in Ireland, Britain, and Malta), the one of the Bishops in the Philippines invited Voris and his team to give a talk on Catholicism and the media. Ironic. And, to underline his support, the good Bishop gave the Papal Room, named after Blessed John Paul II, who stayed there when he visited the Philippines, for the use of Voris. Good one, Bishop and I am sure Blessed John Paul II is smiling on Michael Voris's new evangelization methods.

Sanity and Insanity

Dr Sanity, who is the genius blogger, has written on Santorum and BLT today, with a great cartoon. Check this out. And, as I am weary of repeating what I have written on this blog and my former blog against BLT, here is my comment on the great doctor's post.

Wish I had her brain: Dr. Sanity, thank you again.

from Supertradmum...Thanks for posting this. I have been almost manic since 2008, in trying to convince people of the nutsiness of the Wright Church in Chicago and the entire Black Liberation Theology anti-Semitism. The lack of scholarship overtaken by ideology in a race concerning which dumb theory is the best to push BLT has been ignored by the media. Santorum seemed to back down a bit today, but phony theologies is a great phrase. The Christian Jesus is not a militant, violent Messiah, nor are the Blacks the Chosen People of God. On my blog and in the classroom when I was teaching college, I less than successfully pointed out the Marxist behind the Cross ideas of Obama. Well, some of the voting public have bothered to look at the websites of Obama's ex-church in Chicago and the BLT stuff taught in New York at the Union Theological Center. How many articles does one have to write on this disgusting tripe before some out there in voting land get it? Thanks for your erudition and insights again. 


Wow, and my post on a comment of mine on a post seems very much like post-post-modern literature. Oh, dear...

Strange Bedfellows for Santorum

Evangelicals and Catholics are surging for Rick Santorum. Exit polls online show this surge. Forty years ago, Evangelicals would never have voted for a Catholic. Christians are beginning to realize that there exists more common goods, especially in the area of morals and ethics, than not. A growing respect for Catholic conservatives, such as  Santorum and Gingrich, emerges from this shared base of the view that Jesus is God and what He actually taught in the New Testament is Truth. If one wants statistics, check out articles on Iowa and Texas polls. The primaries tomorrow may show this trend.

May this support for the bishops, and Santotum coming from some of the Evangelicals, last through the voting season. Check here for an interesting view from Pew Research Center.

"Rick Santorum’s support among Tea Party Republicans and white evangelicals is surging, and he now has pulled into a virtual tie with Mitt Romney in the race for the Republican presidential nomination. In polling conducted Feb. 8-12, 30% of Republican and Republican-leaning registered voters favor Santorum while 28% favor Romney. As recently as a month ago, Romney held a 31% to 14% advantage over Santorum among all GOP voters."

Prayer for Priests, Five

A Prayer Before the Blessed Sacrament
for the Increase of Priestly and Religious Vocations

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Eternal Father,
Son of the Virgin Mary,
we thank you for offering your life in sacrifice on
the Cross, and for renewing this sacrifice
in every Mass celebrated throughout the world.

In the Power of the Holy Spirit
we adore you and proclaim
your living presence in the Eucharist.
We desire to imitate the love you show us
in your death and resurrection,
by loving and serving one another.

We ask you to call many young people to religious
life, and to provide the holy and generous priests
that are so needed in you Church today.
Lord Jesus, hear our prayer. Amen.

Cardinal Rigali 

Thanks to Adoremus for this prayer and many others for priests.

No priests, no bishops, no Eucharist. Pray for priests.

Kristallnacht and The Lukewarm War

The Cold War is being talked about in the media because of the situations in Iran and Syria. I am concerned about the Lukewarm War. Most Americans and Britains are asleep while their rights and freedoms have been eroded by financial decisions made either in Congress or in the EU, and by the liberal and indeed, Marxist ideologies which control almost all aspects of society. But, the change has been gradual and most Catholics have not realized, as they have forgotten their history, how tyrants get into power. All it takes is one event.

In the horror of Kristallnacht, German Stormtroppers killed 91 Jews and destroyed thousands of Jewish businesses and synagogues, after the assassination of Ernst vom Rath, by a Polish Jew. The violence had been brewing for years, with stricter controls over the Jewish population of Germany, and only one event was necessary for the Government to kill, destroy, round-up 30,000 Jews and send them to the concentration camps. which were ready for them.

Kristallnacht, the Night of the Broken Glass, burst out like puss out of a putrid sore. a sore which was created by the Lukewarm War. For years, almost the entire population of Germany had been made into automatons by the systematic destruction of many cultural stays-- classical education, the influence of the Catholic Church, and the family. The hatred of the Jews was not created by the Nazis, but fanned into flames by that party, using old prejudices and legal means to create a sub-class.

The Lukewarmness of the German people, greed, and the mediocrity of many of the ministers of religion created an atmosphere of complicity. How many people turned a blind eye to persecution and genocide? Most.

Even in small towns, such as Zeven, a town of 2,300 people or so, witnessed degradation of the Jews, destruction and death. That ordinary people would collaborate with the SS was the result of years of Lukewarm acceptance of the steps of persecution. Read this chilling description of the Night from the Daily Telegraph, from Wiki:

Mob law ruled in Berlin throughout the afternoon and evening and hordes of hooligans indulged in an orgy of destruction. I have seen several anti-Jewish outbreaks in Germany during the last five years, but never anything as nauseating as this. Racial hatred and hysteria seemed to have taken complete hold of otherwise decent people. I saw fashionably dressed women clapping their hands and screaming with glee, while respectable middle-class mothers held up their babies to see the "fun".

Note the dates here.

SS-Brigadefuehrer Reinhard Heydrich at his Munich office during his tenure as deputy chief of the Bavarian Political Police (photo at site above). As Himmler's assistant in securing control of the Munich and then the Bavarian police after the Nazi seizure of power, Heydrich assured the successful "synchronization" [Gleichschaltung] of the political police in the other German states during 1933-34. In 1934, he became Chief of the Berlin Gestapo and by 1936, he was given command of the Security Police [political and criminal police forces] throughout the Reich. In 1941, Heydrich oversaw the murderous activities of the Einsatzgruppen (mobile killing squads) in the Soviet Union, and in keeping with Goering’s instruction to implement a "total solution" to the "Jewish Question," convened and chaired the Wannsee Conference of January 1942, to discuss and coordinate the coming fate of Europe’s Jews. Heydrich was mortally wounded by members of the Czech resistance on May 27, 1942 near Prague and died several days later.

Such changes happened over several generations, where the True Faith of the German people was exchanged for neo-paganism, financial security, and greed. The phrase itself was a mockery of the horror which occurred. Note:

So, it appears, the term "Kristallnacht" or "Crystal Night" was invented by Nazis to mock Jews on that black November night in 1938. It is, therefore, another example of Nazi perversion. There are numerous other examples of this same tendency in the language of the Nazi perpetrators: Sonderbehandlung ("special treatment") for gassing victims, Euthanasie for a policy of mass murder of retarded or physically handicapped patients, "Arbeit Macht Frei" (Work Makes you Free) over the entrance to Auschwitz. When the Nazis launched their plan to annihilate the remaining Jews in Poland in the fall of 1943, they called it "Erntefest," or Harvest Festival. While this may have been a code word, as Froma Zeitlin has observed, it had the same grim and terrible irony that is reflected in Kristallnacht as in so many other instances of the perverted uses of language in the Third Reich. Perhaps most cynical of all is the use of the term, "Endloesung der Judenfrage" (Final Solution of the Jewish Question), for what is now known as the Holocaust. Goebbels frequently used such terminology to amuse his audiences (usually other Nazi officials) and to further demoralize his victims.

Source 

Gradual hatred, gradual marginalization, systematic change of culture and breakdown of Western Ideals. Sound familiar?

How do such racial hatred and hysteria control a people who live in a democracy? How does such callousness and violence strike at one group of people without consequences?

You can answer those two questions by looking at the financial and cultural chaos of our present time, both in America and in Europe. Who will be blamed? Those who are not politically correct, those who supposedly use hate speech, those who are perceived as intolerant. The Catholics, the real Catholics.

‘"Yes, we can, we will, we dare". Men, step aside for the women--too bad, so sad

Does that phrase in quotations sound familiar? No, it is not POTUS, but the title of the conference of women priests in Sweden in 2010. The official Church of Sweden policy for ordaining women is now over 60 years old. There has been a huge influx of women into the priesthood, with the statistics in 2009 being about 33% of the entire ordained ministers being women. The Church of Sweden also has seen women bishops and the approval of same-sex marriages in that church. Hmmm.

My point is this. With the allowance of women priests, the ministry has become "feminized" to the point where the number of women priests may outstrip those of men in that country. (That is the same country which hates families and has outlawed home schooling, as seen below in another post.) May I make an extrapolation. With the permitting of altar girls in the Catholic Church, we have seen a drop in the number of altar boys, except in the Tridentine Mass community.

Sorry, but there is a connection to the lack of vocations to the priesthood and the allowance of altar girls. Watch the Church of Sweden. One of its slogans is "one world, one church". Why does this church remind me of the Obama Administration? Hmmm. Spot the similarities in the photos.

Silence is a Necessity, not a Luxury

Some people around the table this morning were discussing what they were going to give up for Lent. Chocolate and coffee were favorites. I have a suggestion. What if Catholics gave up NOISE? To be able to reflect or to pray, to have an examination of conscience, or listen to the small, still voice of God, one must pray, must be in silence.

I envy my ancestors, both in Europe and in America, who did not have cell phones, televisions, radios or other sources of noise. To live in silence is a gift not to be taken for granted. Silence makes us face ourselves, our sins and failings, our lack of charity. On the positive side, silence enables us to have a relationship with God. Relationships take time and attention. We cannot pay attention to God without silence. I suggest that if we truly love someone, we can sit in the same room with that person for hours and be at peace, in silence. Truly, to be present to someone, we must be silent and attentive. We must wait for God. And, if we fill our minds and hearts with noise, He will pass us by.

Only in silence does God come to the soul for refreshment and peace. I see and sometimes feel the stress of so many people around me who cannot live in silence. They must be doing and moving constantly. In silence and stillness, we present ourselves before God. As Mother Teresa said once, when asked what she does in prayer, "I look at God." The interviewers asked what God did. "He looks at me."

Looking means being still. I can see the wood pigeons in the lot next door because I am still, looking out my window. I stood and looked at the glorious night sky last night, marveling at Orion, the Pleiades, the Milky Way, Venus, Jupiter, Sirius. One must stop to look. One must stop to listen. Even lay people must live in some silence in order to reflect, to wait on God. I suggest giving up noise for Lent. Turn off the radio, get rid of the television, turn off the computer and cell phone unless necessary. Create a quiet corner in your room, in your house, in your soul. Wait for God to come in the silence of your being.

St. Philip Howard, pray for us

The third saint to be commemorated in the new chapel at Horsham is the star of the Howard Family, St. Philip Howard, 13th (20th) Earl of Arundel. His image is surrounded by the two Jesuits, Ss. Robert Southwell and Thomas Garnet. One of the endearing charms of this man are his writings, which became popular immediately after his death in the Tower, in 1595. A short list of these publications follows: "Epistle of Christ to the Faithful Soul " translated from Lanspergius (Johann Justus of Lansberg), was printed at Antwerp, 1595; St-Omer, 1610; London, 1867; his "Fourfold Meditations of Four Last Things" (once attributed to Southwell ), London, 1895; his "Verses on the Passion", by the Cath. Record Soc., VI, 29. from the Catholic Encyclopedia. 

Photo from Diocese of Arundel and Brighton News Blog 09-02-12

That he suffered so terribly for such a long time imprisoned for his faith gives us hope in our own increasingly troubled times. I, for one, find it comforting that a layman of the stature of St. Philip went before us to God to intercede for us now. His feast day is October 19th and he is the main patron of the Diocese of Arundel and Brighton.

St. Thomas Garnet, pray for us

On the new altar dedicated in Horsham, West Sussex, are the three Elizabethan martyrs dear to the Diocese of Arundel and Brighton. St. Thomas Garnet, Jesuit, whose uncle was the famous superior of the Jesuits, Henry Garnet, went to Horsham Grammar School, the connection, growing up in that area. Can one imagine him, a new priest of only twenty-four, going from Catholic house to house, catechizing, administering the sacraments, saying Mass?

He was implicated in the Gunpowder Plot, primarily for his relationship to Henry Garnet, considered one of the plotters. More of his story may be found here. He was actually freed after some time, but returned and finally was killed at Tyburn on June 23rd, 1608, and shares a feast day with Ss. Edmund Campion, who was martyred in 1601, and Robert Southwell, martyred in 1595. May the Holy Spirit raise up such men again.