Mobile blogging

Posting on a cell is like eating perogies covered in butter with your fingers while texting......

Well, why am I not surprised...

http://twitchy.com/2013/01/05/rep-jose-serrano-reintroduces-bill-to-repeal-presidential-term-limit/

Chad Brand@ChadOwenBrand

So, congressman Jose Serrano from Dist 15 in New York introduces resolution 15 to repeal 22nd amendment to constitution. What insanity!

6 Jan 13

On the Infallibility in the Catholic Church

There seems to be a lot of confusion about what is and what is not infallible from Rome.

I am going to cover this topic over the next few days, but let me just start with the Catholic Encyclopeadia online to get you going. I shall return to this topic tomorrow. I have left in the links. Note, there are layers of infallibility, or the Magistetium, in the Church. To be continued.

The Vatican Council (I) has defined as "a divinely revealed dogma" that "the Roman Pontiff, when he speaks ex cathedra — that is, when in the exercise of his office as pastor and teacher of all Christians he defines, by virtue of his supreme Apostolic authority, a doctrine of faith or morals to be held by the whole Church — is, by reason of the Divine assistance promised to him in blessed Peter, possessed of that infallibility with which the Divine Redeemer wished His Church to be endowed in defining doctrines offaith and morals; and consequently that such definitions of the Roman Pontiff are irreformable of their own nature (ex sese) and not by reason of the Church's consent" (Densinger no. 1839 — old no. 1680). For the correct understanding of this definition it is to be noted that:

• what is claimed for the pope is infallibility merely, not impeccability or inspiration (see above under I).
• the infallibility claimed for the pope is the same in its nature, scope, and extent as that which the Church as a wholepossesses; his ex cathedra teaching does not have to be ratified by the Church's in order to be infallible.
• infallibility is not attributed to every doctrinal act of the pope, but only to his ex cathedra teaching; and the conditionsrequired for ex cathedra teaching are mentioned in the Vatican decree:
  • The pontiff must teach in his public and official capacity as pastor and doctor of all Christians, not merely in his private capacity as a theologian, preacher or allocutionist, nor in his capacity as a temporal prince or as a mere ordinary of the Diocese of Rome. It must be clear that he speaks as spiritual head of the Church universal.
  • Then it is only when, in this capacity, he teaches some doctrine of faith or morals that he is infallible (see below, IV).
  • Further it must be sufficiently evident that he intends to teach with all the fullness and finality of his supremeApostolic authority, in other words that he wishes to determine some point of doctrine in an absolutely final and irrevocable way, or to define it in the technical sense (see DEFINITION). These are well-recognized formulas by means of which the defining intention may be manifested.
  • Finally for an ex cathedra decision it must be clear that the pope intends to bind the whole Church. To demand internal assent from all the faithful to his teaching under pain of incurring spiritual shipwreck (naufragium fidei) according to the expression used by Pius IX in defining the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin. Theoretically, this intention might be made sufficiently clear in a papal decision which is addressed only to a particular Church; but in present day conditions, when it is so easy to communicate with the most distant parts of the earth and to secure a literally universal promulgation of papal acts, the presumption is that unless the popeformally addresses the whole Church in the recognized official way, he does not intend his doctrinal teaching to be held by all the faithful as ex cathedra and infallible.

It should be observed in conclusion that papal infallibility is a personal and incommunicable charisma, which is not shared by any pontifical tribunal. It was promised directly to Peter, and to each of Peter's successors in the primacy, but not as a prerogative the exercise of which could be delegated to others. Hence doctrinal decisions or instructions issued by the Roman congregations, even when approved by the pope in the ordinary way, have no claim to be considered infallible. To be infallible they must be issued by the pope himself in his own name according to the conditions already mentioned as requisite for ex cathedra teaching.

The Pope on Bishops

Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday celebrated Epiphany with a Solemn Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica. The Solemnity of Epiphany commemorates the visit of the three Wise Men, or Magi, to the Baby Jesus. 
Below, please find the complete text of Pope Benedict’s homily for Epiphany: 
Homily of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI
Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord
6 January 2013

http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-benedict-homily-for-epiphany

Dear Brothers and Sisters, For the Church which believes and prays, the Wise Men from the East who, guided by the star, made their way to the manger of Bethlehem, are only the beginning of a great procession which winds throughout history. Thus the liturgy reads the Gospel which relates the journey of the Wise Men, together with the magnificent prophetic visions of the sixtieth chapter of the Book of Isaiah and Psalm 71, which depict in bold imagery the pilgrimage of the peoples to Jerusalem. Like the shepherds, who as the first visitors to the newborn Child in the manger, embodied the poor of Israel and more generally those humble souls who live in deep interior closeness to Jesus, so the men from the East embody the world of the peoples, the Church of the Gentiles – the men and women who in every age set out on the way which leads to the Child of Bethlehem, to offer him homage as the Son of God and to bow down before him. The Church calls this feast “Epiphany” – the appearance of the Godhead. If we consider the fact that from the very beginning men and women of every place, of every continent, of all the different cultures, mentalities and lifestyles, have been on the way to Christ, then we can truly say that this pilgrimage and this encounter with God in the form of a Child is an epiphany of God’s goodness and loving kindness for humanity (cf. Tit 3:4).
Following a tradition begun by Pope John Paul II, we celebrate the feast of the Epiphany of the Lord also as the day when episcopal ordination will be conferred on four priests who will now cooperate in different ways in the ministry of the Pope for the unity of the one Church of Jesus Christ in the multiplicity of the Particular Churches. The connection between this episcopal ordination and the theme of the pilgrimage of the peoples to Jesus Christ is evident. It is the task of the Bishop in this pilgrimage not merely to walk beside the others, but to go before them, showing the way. But in this liturgy I would like to reflect with you on a more concrete question. Based on the account of Matthew, we can gain a certain idea of what sort of men these were, who followed the sign of the star and set off to find that King who would establish not only for Israel but for all mankind a new kind of kingship. What kind of men were they? And we can also ask whether, despite the difference of times and tasks, we can glimpse in them something of what a Bishop is and how he is to carry out his task.
These men who set out towards the unknown were, in any event, men with a restless heart. Men driven by a restless quest for God and the salvation of the world. They were filled with expectation, not satisfied with their secure income and their respectable place in society. They were looking for something greater. They were no doubt learned men, quite knowledgeable about the heavens and probably possessed of a fine philosophical formation. But they desired more than simply knowledge about things. They wanted above all else to know what is essential. They wanted to know how we succeed in being human. And therefore they wanted to know if God exists, and where and how he exists. Whether he is concerned about us and how we can encounter him. Nor did they want just to know. They wanted to understand the truth about ourselves and about God and the world. Their outward pilgrimage was an expression of their inward journey, the inner pilgrimage of their hearts. They were men who sought God and were ultimately on the way towards him. They were seekers after God.
Here we come to the question: What sort of man must he be, upon whom hands are laid in episcopal ordination in the Church of Jesus Christ? We can say that he must above all be a man concerned for God, for only then will he also be truly concerned about men. Inversely, we could also say that a Bishop must be a man concerned for others, one who is concerned about what happens to them. He must be a man for others. But he can only truly be so if he is a man seized by God, if concern for God has also become for him concern for God’s creature who is man. Like the Wise Men from the East, a Bishop must not be someone who merely does his job and is content with that. No, he must be gripped by God’s concern for men and women. He must in some way think and feel with God. Human beings have an innate restlessness for God, but this restlessness is a participation in God’s own restlessness for us. Since God is concerned about us, he follows us even to the crib, even to the Cross. “Thou with weary steps hast sought me, crucified hast dearly bought me, may thy pains not be in vain”, the Church prays in the Dies Irae. The restlessness of men for God and hence the restlessness of God for men must unsettle the Bishop. This is what we mean when we say that, above all else, the Bishop must be a man of faith. For faith is nothing less than being interiorly seized by God, something which guides us along the pathways of life. Faith draws us into a state of being seized by the restlessness of God and it makes us pilgrims who are on an inner journey towards the true King of the world and his promise of justice, truth and love. On this pilgrimage the Bishop must go ahead, he must be the guide pointing out to men and women the way to faith, hope and love.
Faith’s inner pilgrimage towards God occurs above all in prayer. Saint Augustine once said that prayer is ultimately nothing more than the realization and radicalization of our yearning for God. Instead of “yearning”, we could also translate the word as “restlessness” and say that prayer would detach us from our false security, from our being enclosed within material and visible realities, and would give us a restlessness for God and thus an openness to and concern for one another. The Bishop, as a pilgrim of God, must be above all a man of prayer. He must livebe in constant inner contact with God; his soul must be open wide to God. He must bring before God his own needs and the needs of others, as well as his joys and the joys of others, and thus in his own way establish contact between God and the world in communion with Christ, so that Christ’s light can shine in the world.
Let us return to the Wise Men from the East. These were also, and above all, men of courage, the courage and humility born of faith. Courage was needed to grasp the meaning of the star as a sign to set out, to go forth – towards the unknown, the uncertain, on paths filled with hidden dangers. We can imagine that their decision was met with derision: the scorn of those realists who could only mock the reveries of such men. Anyone who took off on the basis of such uncertain promises, risking everything, could only appear ridiculous. But for these men, inwardly seized by God, the way which he pointed out was more important than what other people thought. For them, seeking the truth meant more than the taunts of the world, so apparently clever.
How can we not think, in this context, of the task of a Bishop in our own time? The humility of faith, of sharing the faith of the Church of every age, will constantly be in conflict with the prevailing wisdom of those who cling to what seems certain. Anyone who lives and proclaims the faith of the Church is on many points out of step with the prevalent way of thinking, even in our own day. Today’s regnant agnosticism has its own dogmas and is extremely intolerant regarding anything that would question it and the criteria it employs. Therefore the courage to contradict the prevailing mindset is particularly urgent for a Bishop today. He must be courageous. And this courage or forcefulness does not consist in striking out or in acting aggressively, but rather in allowing oneself to be struck and to be steadfast before the principles of the prevalent way of thinking. The courage to stand firm in the truth is unavoidably demanded of those whom the Lord sends like sheep among wolves. “Those who fear the Lord will not be timid”, says the Book of Sirach (34:16). The fear of God frees us from the fear of men. It liberates.
Here I am reminded of an episode at the very beginning of Christianity which Saint Luke recounts in the Acts of the Apostles. After the speech of Gamaliel, who advised against violence in dealing with the earliest community of believers in Jesus, the Sanhedrin summoned the Apostles and had them flogged. It then forbade them from preaching in the name of Jesus and set them free. Saint Luke continues: “As they left the council, they rejoiced that they were considered worthy to suffer dishonour for the name of Jesus. And every day… they did not cease to teach and proclaim Jesus as the Messiah” (Acts 5:40ff.). The successors of the Apostles must also expect to be repeatedly beaten, by contemporary methods, if they continue to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ in a way that can be heard and understood. Then they can rejoice that they have been considered worthy of suffering for him. Like the Apostles, we naturally want to convince people and in this sense to obtain their approval. Naturally, we are not provocative; on the contrary we invite all to enter into the joy of that truth which shows us the way. The approval of the prevailing wisdom, however, is not the criterion to which we submit. Our criterion is the Lord himself. If we defend his cause, we will constantly gain others to the way of the Gospel. But, inevitably, we will also be beaten by those who live lives opposed to the Gospel, and then we can be grateful for having been judged worthy to share in the passion of Christ.
The Wise Men followed the star, and thus came to Jesus, to the great Light which enlightens everyone coming into this world (cf. Jn 1:9). As pilgrims of faith, the Wise Men themselves became stars shining in the firmament of history and they show us the way. The saints are God’s true constellations, which light up the nights of this world, serving as our guides. Saint Paul, in his Letter to the Philippians, told his faithful that they must shine like stars in the world (cf. 2:15).
Dear friends, this holds true for us too. It holds true above all for you who are now to be ordained Bishops of the Church of Jesus Christ. If you live with Christ, bound to him anew in this sacrament, then you too will become wise men. Then you will become stars which go before men and women, pointing out to them the right path in life. All of us here are now praying for you, that the Lord may fill you with the light of faith and love. That that restlessness of God for man may seize you, so that all may experience his closeness and receive the gift of his joy. We are praying for you, that the Lord may always grant you the courage and humility of faith. We ask Mary, who showed to the Wise Men the new King of the world (cf. Mt 2:11), as a loving mother, to show Jesus Christ also to you and to help you to be guides along the way which leads to him. Amen. 

Move away from the mainstream, please

So, there is a generation gap, but I am on the younger side of the gap. So many people do not use the Internet for news. I am amazed at the misplaced trust in the five media companies which own all the news of the West. I am sure the brainwashing is undetected by most people. Read newspapers, such as T
the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, and look at Drudge Report and other news groups online.

I also get several news group in my email daily: Newsmax, LifeSiteNews, etc. Do it.

Stay Awake

Adoration of the Magi Tapestry in Manchester Metropolitan University

Watch ye therefore, because you know not the day nor the hour.

Matthew 25:13

Douay Rheims

This is not merely about our death, but about persecution and derision. Be prepared. Pray, think, study, act.  The Kings were ready to act after study and reflection. They found Christ. They listened to the Angel. They did not give in to Herod.

Be awake. Here is the reliquary of the Kings in the Cologne Cathedral. I would love to see this someday.

Epiphany in Malta It-Tre Re

Chartres Cathedral

 or The Three Kings. 

Qagħaq tal-Għasel or tal-Qastanija or honey rings, are eaten. I have not seen one as of yet, but hope to today.

I love the Three Kings and wrote a book length poem on them in 1979. My poetry professor at ND liked it, which was amazing, as he was an agnostic.

My poem is a psychological and historical study in verse. It is in a box in Illinois. However, I love the Magi, as they overcame great odds, most likely including derision, for their long journey to Christ. 

The Medievals loved them and art-work, including stained glass depicts them. Of course, they herald the coming of the Gentiles into the Kingdom of God.

Here are some choice pieces of art depicting the Magi. Happy Epiphany.

Canterbury Cathedral

Canterbury Cathedral

Chartres Cathedral

Canterbury Cathedral, again

Sigh...where is my dutch oven?

Trying to post on my cell here in Malta is like trying to cook a five course cordon bleu type dinner over an open fire in a desert in the middle of this island...

From Bill O' Reilly on Christ's Mass

Part of an article from today....Like him, I hope the secularists in America do not push for such...sad days for Christians. The sufferings of Christ are still, as St. Paul writes, carried out in His People.

North Korea: According to reporting by ForeignPolicy.com, that feisty little country does not permit the celebration of Christmas, and anyone caught worshiping Jesus can be tortured or executed. Sounds like Rhode Island. Right now, there are about 70,000 Christians in North Korean labor camps decking the halls with rocks and concrete 10 hours a day.

The North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, even threatened "unexpected consequences" if the South Korean government allowed lights on trees within view of the border. Kim calls that a provocation and a mean form of "psychological warfare."

Saudi Arabia: All non-Muslim religious activities are banned in public, so unless Santa puts a prayer rug in his sleigh and heads directly for Mecca, he is persona non grata in this nation. The Saudis even have a religious police force that runs around checking to see who has been naughty and nice in the Islamic context.

According to ForeignPolicy, several dozen Christmas trees imported from Holland were seized by Saudi authorities, hacked to pieces and sent back to the Netherlands. So there. No Christmas for you!

Cuba: Fidel Castro banned the holiday in 1969 saying Cubans were needed to harvest sugar cane on December 25, and don't even think about Christmas dinner. That ban lasted three decades until the Pope told Comrade Fidel to knock it off. Most Cubans are Catholic and didn't really appreciate the government calling Santa a symbol of "consumerism" and "mental colonization." 

British Friends, do you know this?

"British textbook erases Israel," by Ryan Jones for Israel Today, December 31 from Spencer.

A popular textbook used by institutions and teachers to teach English as a second language to students in the UK has been found to have a serious anti-Israel bias.

"I teach English as a foreign language in a further education college in Nottingham, England. I came across the attached map and couldn't believe my eyes!" Liz Wiseman told Israel Today.

The textbook in question is "Skills in English Writing Level 1", which includes a map of the Middle East on which Israel is nowhere to be found.

While Wiseman acknowledges she was not obligated to use this particular textbook, it is one of the more popular and mainstream English Language Teaching (ELT) textbooks published by one of the more popular and mainstream ELT publishers, Garnet Education.

Garnet Education bills itself thus:

"Garnet Education is an independent English Language Teaching (ELT) publisher, specialising in English for Academic Purposes. We produce award-winning ELT books, multimedia resources and tests for students of all ages, from kindergarten to university."

This is far from an isolated incident, which is motivation for drawing attention to this particular case. It is not only in the Middle East where students, both adults and children, are being taught that Israel has no right to exist. The more students around the world are fed this brand of propaganda, the more remote prospects for true peace become.

Why no outrage or media coverage?

Pastor Paulus Wiratno of Mercy Indonesia ran an orphanage and taught Christianity by radio from his Bible School- until neighbor Muslims bombed their dormitories while they slept. Why? He explains Muslims' violent intolerance towards non-Muslims in this exclusive DemoCast video interview. Thanks to Spencer and Scott.

http://democracybroadcasting.blogspot.com/2012/12/indonesian-pastor-paulus-wiratno-how.html

A Treat for Your Epiphany Meditations

Tomorrow, when you have time, listen to the entire video of last year's proms Monteverdi Vespers. This performance is almost flawless.

Nation-State Suicide

An island nation has a geographical and demographical advantage over other nations. Malta had this advantage and so did Great Britain, but sadly both nations have squandered this natural defense. Many tourists I have talked with this past week, Maltese who use to visit England, lament the fact that London is not English and that England is more and more just one international EU country among many.

This state of the diluting of a particular culture seems to be true of Ireland, and to me, Malta. In Eire, most of my friends are neither from North Ireland or Eire, but Polish, Asian, Scottish. In England, the majority of daily Mass goers in my parish, are either Filipino or African. At least at Mass in Malta, the vast majority of attenders are Maltese, of a certain age. Most of the African immigrants here are Muslim. That the Church is universal is part of Her Beauty and strength. Christendom was an attempt to have a united Christian national identity under agreements between monarchs. These failed.

But, I am lamenting the passing of English, Irish and, soon, Maltese cultures. There are few children to whom to pass on these distinctive cultures, and EU social engineering provides the atmosphere for nation-state suicide.

Oh no, not interested, thank you and St. Vincent Pallotti

Many Catholics in America and Europe do not want to get involved in politics. Part of it is the brain-drain in Europe to the States, and part of it could be that many brilliant minds and leaders have been aborted. We are having a crisis in Catholic leadership.

Young people want to make money and not serve. The ideal of civil service is gone. The same ideals which make a young man or woman look towards the religious life, are the same lofty, nobles principals of those going into politics--in the old days.

Recently, I have discovered a great saint, Vincent Pallotti. There is an excellent mine-biography online and here is the link. I think we should pray to him for Catholic politicians who are not tainted with Masonry or liberalism. He fought against these things in his amazing work.

Here is one section from this small biography online. St. Vincent, pray for us.

The very spirit of madness that led to the French Revolution (1789) had spread beyond the bounds of France into the heart of the Catholic world. Italian radicals wanted to create a “unified Italy,” fusing the various smaller kingdoms into a modern liberal republic. There was one major problem, however: that vast chunk of land in the center of Italy known as the Papal States, a sovereign nation with the Pope as its monarch. Gregory XVI had held on tenaciously to the Papal States. This last “Monk-Pope” stridently resisted the spirit of Freemasonry and the doctrinal indifferentism that accompanied it. But his successor was known to be a liberal in political matters, and conservatives in Europe — Don Vincenzo included — quaked when this “compromise” Cardinal was elected.³⁸

Don Vincenzo appealed to the Roman populace to pray so that a public chastisement would be avoided. But God was not satisfied and His wrath flowed over. The year 1847 was one full of imprudent political capitulations on the part of Pius IX. The radicals thought that they could get their way with him, and in certain instances, he proved them right. “Death to the Jesuits” became a rabble-chant in the Roman streets in early 1848. The Society of Jesus was seen as the friend of Gregory XVI and Austria, and the enemy of Italy and “the people.” On March 28, Pius disbanded the Society in the Papal States and some feared another suppression as had happened under Clement XIV. During this time, the liberal thugs around the Pope forbade Vincent to get to the Roman Pontiff.

The Propaganda Fide College, run by the now disbanded Jesuits, sought help from St. Vincent by asking for Don Melia to return to his former post as vice-Rector. (He had returned to Rome to make plans for expansion of the London mission.) Vincent agreed, and the Propaganda Fide College remained in operation, thanks to the U.S. consul, who allowed the Stars and Stripes to fly over the seminary, signaling a “hands-off” to the revolutionaries.

On July 25, 1848, the Austrians defeated the Piedmontese, who were fighting with them over the Tyrol. This was a hindrance to the revolution; but it also added fuel to its propaganda machine, which tried to force Pius into a war with Austria. The Pontiff refused.

On November 14, Father de Geslin acted as faithful imitator of his master by helping a dying impenitent man return to the grace of God. The man, Gasparo Lunati, had been in the Carbonari, and confessed that he was part of a plot to kill Pius IX’s secretary of state, Pelligrino Rossi. Lunati made it clear that Geslin could use this information outside of the confessional. The French priest immediately notified Vincent, who had several people warn Rossi, but to no avail. Rossi went ahead with the public appointment he was forewarned would be his death. True to Lunati’s words, an assassin came out of the crowd and plunged a dagger into the Papal secretary of state, killing him.

In the ensuing chaos, the “Republic of Rome” was declared. The Pope was forced to flee to Naples, where he took refuge in Gaeta, thanks to the French and Bavarian emissaries and the hospitable King Ferdinand II of Naples. Vincenzo’s work in the military hospital was called to a halt by the tyrannical rulers and the brave Don Vaccari (less well known than his rector) disguised himself as a doctor to visit the patients. It was no longer safe for Don Vincenzo to show himself publicly. Twice, attempts were made on his life.

The revolutionaries, who barged into monasteries and rectories unannounced, were confiscating Church property. It was therefore decided to send Don Melia back to London, and disperse the other brethren throughout the city, leaving only de Geslin in San Salvatore. His French citizenship and accent would protect him. Don Vincenzo himself took up residence in the Irish College, whose seminarians and faculty were grateful to have a saint in their midst. Both Don Melia and Bishop Wiseman invited Vincenzo to England for his own safety, as well as to aid the London mission, but Vincent refused. While in the Irish College, he took advantage of his retreat to write God the Infinite Love , a book of meditations, much resembling the devotional books of St. Alphonsus de Liguori.

The French, Neapolitans, Austrians, and Spanish finally came to the rescue of the Pope. General Oudinot fought Garabaldi and Mazzini, whose minions were turning Rome into a war zone and a brothel at the same time. Oudinot fought successfully, and, on July fourteenth, the General declared the restoration of Pius IX’s secular rule.³⁹ The Pope, however, did not return until April of 1850. When he did, it was “no more Mister Nice Guy.” It was then that the archconservative Pius IX of the Syllabus of Errors, Vatican I and papal authority was formed. In large part, Pallotti was blamed for this change.

To give just a small idea of the bestial anti-Catholic nature of this Masonic revolution, we present one fact: The monastery of San Callisto, turned into a prison during the revolution, revealed the mangled bodies of ninety murdered, tortured priests, all killed in the name of modern “liberty.”

Tags

Does anyone bother to follow the tags at the bottom of my articles? Just wondering.

Over on Father Z

is an important discussion on hate groups...and use my blog search bar and put in persecution, for the stages of...

Victories and Losses-Gramsci and the West

Antonio Gramsci was a professional revolutionary. I have written more posts on him, perhaps, than any other person on this blog. The reason is that we must understand where the West stands in the culture wars.

We have lost. Whether this loss leads to other types of wars, I cannot say for sure, but only speculate.

When the United States lost the ideal of a confederation of independent states in charge of their own destiny, in a free union made to create a nation under God and a peaceful environment for its citizens, war was inevitable  Sadly, since the killing of Able by Cain, war seems to be an option when people are divided by vision and passion.

Are there any men to fight this war? I have written on the Men of the West before and have the tags below.

Three things which Gramsci desired have occurred. One, the slow war of undermining Catholic, Christian culture has occurred. This was not accomplished by war, but by the taking over of key elements of society, which I have discussed on this blog.

People, especially Americans, are in denial. The State in the West was an organization created to protect the culture. Gramsci clearly saw that this ideal was breaking down as religion and the moral collapse of nations was undermining unity. I could never understand why both Lenin and Gramsci wanted leaders to control the very proletariat they were idolizing as the new intellectuals, the new society.

This is why and the first of the three things desired which have occurred. The elite was religious and connected to the Church. Most universities were still teaching Scholastic principles and the Catholic world view of the need for Christ and salvation. In other words, the elite were supporting orthodoxy. This does not mean these people were perfect. Far from it.

It means that most of the States were doing what these human civil societies were meant to do-protect the religion and protect the people.

Number one in the three-fold list is that the State is now the predator, not the protector. The bulging State powers over all the Western world, now look very like the tyrannies of the Far East. Predators exist for themselves. The States have become narcissistic and the leaders are narcissistic. The American president and the French president are keen examples of this.

Number two in the success of the Gramscian vision is that a revolutionary mind-set has replaced stablity and conservation.

No one is talking about this. Revolution is assumed to be a good thing and the grass-roots revolutionary principles of Marxism as seen by Alinksy and Chomsky are in the main stream of American and European politics. Look at the language, look at the pushing of the dialectic. Pull apart the language of Hollande and Obama. It is clearly always that of the constant need for the opposition of peoples.

This view is totally opposite the Catholic, Christian view of unity of all peoples. Truth does not create false barriers or false classes.  In other words, "class-based politics" is normal. But, this is new and such political movements are false. Who needs to be identified with a class? Who needs the dialectic? Only those who want power create such false divisions.

Thirdly, the socialists are now Marxists and really have been from day one, but were hiding under different names. That socialism is Marxist makes the definitions more clear, but also shows the victory of Gramscian politicians   In the 1970s and in Chicago in the late 1960s, these Marxists were writing about Gramscian ideals in the leftist press. Those who were not interested ignored these messages, which were bugle calls from the far left. What happened is that the far-left took over grass-roots politics in many large urban areas, particularly Chicago, but did not use the language of Marxism, as the Cold War was raging and the press was nervous about such vocabulary.  What was hidden is now taken for granted and those of us who have ears to hear can follow the arguments. As Hitler knew, when one has control of the media and the use of propaganda, one has won a huge front in the war. So, too, we as Christians have lost this aspect of seeing the use of language for what it really is-gross manipulation of thinking.

Why were Catholics and Christians asleep while the culture-war was being won by the Marxists in Europe and America?

A few reasons: Marxism had invaded the Church in the form of Liberation Theology and grass roots politics in the new Social Teaching of the Church, misused and misnamed. See my tags on this from earlier articles. When a diocese can give Saul Alinksy a peace prize, one realizes the depth of the deceit. There were few voices calling for moderation or pointing to the dangers to the Church. These people were pilloried as reactionaries or old-fogies. Pat Buchanan is and was one ignored over the years. Many Catholics are socialists first and Catholics second-a dangerous position for religious freedom to thrive.

Secondly, those in power did not mind the Marxist take over of education, language, even religious institutions, as it served their purposes in creating, down the road, the new world order completely devoid of influence from religion. Freemasons, steeped in separation of Church and State, holding the heresies of indifferentism, and progressivism, and finally hating the Catholic Church as the bastion of truth against their society, allowed this take over by the far-left. The far-left and the anarchists are mere tools in the hands of those who hold the power of money and position. When push comes to shove, all these groups will undermine the same enemy, the Catholic Church, for their own purposes, as evil merely destroys and does not build. However, someone will end up holding the mace and wearing the crown.

If you do not believe this, look at the cvs of those who are in power in the European Union.  The idea of hegemony and the belief that people create their own history by ideology is so sublimated that most people do not realize the dangers.

Thirdly, political fatigue in the West has allowed those who want to fill in the power vacuum to do so. This is a result of revolutionary ideals. When Gramsci writes that he wants all people to become intellectuals, he is pretending that somehow the proletariat want to think. Why he missed this point is beyond me, but it is the only reason he fell into the typical revolutionary's idea that leadership must be somewhat tyrannical and decide what is best for all. This is the schizophrenia of the West. Revolutions without leaders do not end happily. Look at what happened in Egypt, which I predicted in January of 2011. When those who want a democratic government fight in the streets without the leaders set up to take over, those who are organized will use the situation for their own seizure of power. I tried to explain this to people a long time ago. Power vacuums will be filled by someone and political fatigue among those who truly want freedoms will result in just another tyranny taking over from the old.

Egypt is much worse off than it was under Mubarak. I have tried to teach my students in the past that revolution without genius and organization leads to the take-over by those who have been waiting in the wings, planning and using a situation when it arises.

When people become politically fatigued and expect leaders to come forward in their camp, without supporting the education and promotion of such leaders, disaster follows.

Gramsci's ideal of the proletariat creating leadership has always puzzled me. He himself was a cultured, educated man. He honestly thought, according to my reading, that education would create a smart, politically acute proletariat which was not ideological but rational and creative. The problem with this idea is that both the rational ability of men and the creative instincts come not from the material, but from the soul, the very element of mankind denied by Gramsci. His revolutionaries were doomed to an endless repetition of revolution and renewal without the ability to truly creative a new society. We create what is in our souls, in our own image and likeness.

I have written here before that the constant use of revolution is the mark of Satan. As in Dante's hell, where everyone is never at peace physically, but many in constant motion or in a fixed state of pain, so too, the revolutionary must be making motion constantly, as conservatism is destroyed by his very ideology. The fixed state of pain is gross materialism--the definition of man as merely material, merely physical, so that the goal of all his efforts is the here and now.

How sad, how predicable and how victorious in our sad societies and cultures of the West is this reality.

But, the Catholic Church has a name for the original revolutionary and has a name for endless strife. The first is Satan and the second is sin.

Too bad the brilliant Gramsci ignored the interior life. Without the purity of heart and mind necessary to understand his own spirit and the Holy Spirit, he missed the point of life. But, sadly, his message is waxing as more and more people are either dead intellectually, politically fatigued, or so steeped in sin themselves that they cannot reason out the fact that we have lost the culture wars.

For Sarah, five; Love and do what you will-Augustine

Do you wish to be great? Then begin by being. Do you desire to construct a vast and lofty fabric? Think first about the foundations of humility. The higher your structure is to be, the deeper must be its foundation.  St. Augustine


The Internet is off and on and the music in McDonald's is heavy metal. Can people really still like this type of noise? Oh, well. Here we go....

And, I want to write about art for my friend Sarah.

The connection between the spiritual and the material is our gift from God. Satan hated this, of course, being so smart and so spiritual.

However, as Sarah knows, artists work with their hands and get down and dirty, be it with paint, clay, marble, costumes, lines, sets, lightening, words, words, words.

The material can become idolatrous so easily. So, how does an artist avoid the materialistic mind-set?

There is only one way and that is NOT pursuing self. The self is healed in a great Person. The Person of Christ heals us through Love. If we allow ourselves to be immersed in love, we shall be healed.

Most artists and, indeed, more people, think it is the other way around. They think they need to be healed first in order to enjoy love.

No, real love is healing.

Not false, idolatrous love, the love of looking at self and looking at the other as a demi-god.

Not false love based on things, status, money, names, titles.

Not false love based on sexual attraction or activity.

Real love is tough. Real love is truth. Real love is a Person.

We get bogged down, Sarah, looking for the means to be healed when all the time He is waiting with outstretched arms to hold us in His Holy Embrace.

Artists, perhaps, more than others, need Christ the Lover, as we are so sensitive and vulnerable.

Ask St. Bernard of Clairvaux. Read his Song of Songs commentaries.

We seek, we run after the Bridegroom and He waits for us. Sometimes, we are stupid and say "No". I have done this. I have said no in the past not understanding that His love opens to door to more love and all loves.

To belong to Christ is not an eggshell existence. It is living in the stars, where daily, new life begins.

Teach your peers to love, selflessly, and they will know God.

Art made be the medium, but the Truth is a Person.

Happy New Year, dear Bard.

Difference between poverty and penury; and fools for Christ

One of my patrons is Vasily, or Basil the Fool. The great cathedral in Moscow is named after him. Here is a bit on him from this link.  http://russiapedia.rt.com/prominent-russians/religion/st-basil/

Saint Basil or Vasily (known also as Vasily Blazhenny, Basil Fool for Christ, Basil the Blessed, Wonderworker of Moscow, or Blessed Basil of Moscow, Fool for Christ) is a Russian Orthodox saint of known as ‘yurodivy’ or ‘holy fool for Christ’. He was formally canonised around 1580. 

He was born to serfs in December of 1468 or 1469 in Yelokhovo, near Moscow (now in Moscow). It’s believed, he was born on the portico of the local church where his mother prayed for easy birth. He is thought to have died in 1552 or 1557.

St Basil's Cathedral in Moscow is named after the saint. Originally an apprentice shoemaker in Moscow, he adopted an eccentric lifestyle of shoplifting and giving to the poor to shame the miserly and help those in need. He is thought to have had the gift of clairvoyance. Once a man came to the shoemaker asking for good boots that would last him for years. Basil laughed and said the man did not need the boots as he would die tomorrow, and it happened just as Basil said.

He lived on the Red square itself when it was serving as Moscow’s prime market place. Once St. Basil threw about breads of a baker, and the man had to confess he added lime to flour. In 1547 St. Basil came to a cathedral in the center of Moscow and started praying in tears. Next day the Great Fire of Moscow happened, and it started in the church where the saint prayed.

He went naked and weighed himself down with chains. He rebuked Ivan the Terrible for not paying attention in church, and especially for his violent behaviour towards the innocent.

When he died on August 2, 1552 or 1557, St. Macarius, Metropolitan of Moscow, served his funeral with many clergy. Ivan the Terrible himself acted as pallbearer and carried his coffin to the cemetery. He is buried in St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow, which was commissioned by Ivan IV to commemorate the capture of the Khanate of Kazan. The cathedral is also known as “The Cathedral of Intercession of the Virgin on the Moa”. In 1588 Tsar Fedor Ivanovich had a chapel added on the eastern side above the grave of Basil Fool for Christ.

Many Catholics who are middle-class and wealthy have never encountered a poor person. Socialism has destroyed charity in Europe as well, and only those who are holy can see the reality of the poor. But, there is another class of poor; those in penury.

Penury is described as  "a state of extreme poverty or destitution; "their indigence appalled him"; "a general state of need exists among the homeless" indigence, pauperism, pauperization, need impoverishment, poorness, poverty - the state of having little or no money and few or no material possessions mendicancy, mendicity, beggary - the state of being a beggar or mendicant; "they were reduced mendicancy"http://www.thefreedictionary.com/penury

The nuns I stayed with are greatly in need as are many orders. Oddly, orders do not help each other-that is, the rich orders do not necessarily help the poor ones. Some do. 

But, the real poor are those without families or a network of people to want to help them. There is too much judgement about the poor and those in penury. Those who are alone are invisible.

Catholics are not good about helping in England. There are three people I know who have open hearts for the poor. One is in London, one in Kent and one in Walsingham. They are spiritual people, seeing with the eyes of Christ. The Irish have fallen into the greed of the Celtic Tiger era and few want to face the real poor. They want socialism and even Marxism. The days of charity have passed.

Judgement abounds, especially with regard to those who are mentally ill and have no safety nets.

This is true in every country where I have lived. Malta is better than most and there are shelters in large cities run by businessmen, not the Church.

The Church has become so middle class in most places that those who are poor are not seen. People think poverty is like the measles. If they get too close, they shall catch it.

Christ was very clear on the poor, being always with us and always needing. That is our job. I live on very little. Still, when I can, I get a sandwich and orange juice for the man who sits outside Sainsbury's and begs. Why not? He is always grateful. He is hungry, cold and wet. I am not going to judge him. That is not my job. He needs to be fed. That is my job.

He is Christ. But, Christ is increasingly invisible, not seen, by those who think all must be deserved.

The undeserving poor is a Victorian invention; even the term is Victorian.

The undeserving includes me, you, all of us, who have been saved by the Cross and Resurrection of Christ, who have been given sanctifying grace in the sacraments. Do not judge..help. You may be surprised someday.

Many years ago,a nun who helped me come back to the Faith, said to be like the foxes in their holes was not to be like Christ. Christ's words are not understood as reality. People think these words are poetry. Poverty is not poetic. It is hard and demeaning. It is a way to perfection. It makes one humble as one is constantly insulted. This is a great joy. Why, I do not understand, but it is. One can identify with God Himself, Who left the throne of the universe to walk in a miserable  dusty, dry country for our sake. Do you understand that Christ allowed Himself to be dirty, to smell bad, to have dirty, unwashed hair, to wear very old clothes, to look like an indigent person? He did this for three years. But, He calls some to live like this by choice, and some not by choice.

Those who cannot understand Vasily, do not understand me. I am not a miracle worker. I do not wear chains. But, I choose the hard way. And have for many years. Why is it that the Russians recognized Vasily? Why is it that those in power listened to him? Innocence, purity of heart, clarity of vision, not being held back by vested interested. Vasily was truly free. This is what I desire. To be free in order for God to love me totally, with nothing in the way, no impediments to His Love entering my small heart.

Freedom has a great price. 

Matthew 8:19

19 καὶ προσελθὼν εἷς γραμματεὺς εἶπεν αὐτῷ, διδάσκαλε, ἀκολουθήσω σοι ὅπου ἐὰν ἀπέρχῃ. 20 καὶ λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ Ἰησοῦς, αἱ ἀλώπεκες φωλεοὺς ἔχουσιν καὶ τὰ πετεινὰ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ κατασκηνώσεις, ὁ δὲ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου οὐκ ἔχει ποῦ τὴν κεφαλὴν κλίνῃ. 21 ἕτερος δὲ τῶν μαθητῶν εἶπεν αὐτῷ, κύριε, ἐπίτρεψόν μοι πρῶτον ἀπελθεῖν καὶ θάψαι τὸν πατέρα μου. 22 ὁ δὲ Ἰησοῦς λέγει αὐτῷ, ἀκολούθει μοι, καὶ ἄφες τοὺς νεκροὺς θάψαι τοὺς ἑαυτῶν νεκρούς.

19 Et accedens unus scriba, ait illi : Magister, sequar te, quocumque ieris. 20 Et dicit ei Jesus : Vulpes foveas habent, et volucres cæli nidos; Filius autem hominis non habet ubi caput reclinet. 21 Alius autem de discipulis ejus ait illi : Domine, permitte me primum ire, et sepelire patrem meum. 22 Jesus autem ait illi : Sequere me, et dimitte mortuos sepelire mortuos suos.

19 And a certain scribe came and said to him: Master, I will follow you wherever you shall go. 20 And Jesus said to him: The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air nests; but the Son of man has not where to lay his head. 21 And another of his disciples said to him: Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. 22 But Jesus said to him: Follow me, and let the dead bury their dead.

The invisible.....