Hmmm

http://rt.com/uk/172984-residents-cuts-legal-aid/

Important Schism Watch

http://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2014/07/austrian-priest-mentions-hell-and.html

Thomas Ladner (in the photo) is a 36 year old Austrian priest, usually dressed in a cassock and collaborator in the parish of Stans, in Tyrol, a small town of 1500 souls, where he also teaches religion in the primary school. Before the end of the school year, he was informed of the withdrawal of his permit to teach by the diocese of Innsbruck. The priest’s fault, according to the diocesan school office, would be that he had spoken to his young students about The Four Last Things, among which he mentioned hell and purgatory; “lessons not suitable for children at their stage in life,” that he had dealt with themes on the family in “terms no longer up-to-date,” and of having used “rhetorical language,” or rather – too traditional.  

more at the site

Important News from SPUC

3 Whitacre Mews, Stannary Street London, SE11 4AB, United Kingdom Telephone: (020) 7091 7091 Email: information@spuc.org.uk http://www.spuc.org.uk
SPUC Pro-Life urges supporters to keep lobbying against Falconer assisted suicide bill
JOHN SMEATON, SPUC DIRECTOR Tuesday, 15 July 2014 SPUC Pro-Life urges supporters to keep lobbying against Falconer assisted suicide bill Following a decision by a group of Peers, opposed to Lord Falconer’s Assisted Dying Bill, not to vote against the Bill at its Second Reading debate this Friday (18 July), SPUC Pro-Life is urging supporters to keep on lobbying members of the House of Lords both to oppose and to vote against the Bill. SPUC Pro-Life is a leading anti-euthanasia group which was represented officially in the High Court in the Diane Pretty and Debbie Purdy assisted suicide cases. In a letter published in today's Times the group of Peers said: "In the light of the opinion expressed recently by the Supreme Court that Parliament should consider whether, and if so how, the law should be changed, we believe, albeit reluctantly, that the bill should have an unopposed second reading and proceed to its committee stage." SPUC told the media earlier today: "By deciding not to vote against the Bill at Second Reading, this group of Peers is bowing to the flawed opinions of biased judges and to questionable parliamentary convention, rather than the urgent need to protect the right to life. The Bill does not need to be debated by Parliament, either in general or in detail. Assisted suicide was debated in the last parliamentary session and in previous sessions and does not deserve further consideration. The Falconer bill is a dangerous and deceitful proposal, which will lead to wider and wider demands for disabled people and others to be granted a 'right to die'." The Supreme Court has threatened to overturn the existing law if Parliament does not allow people to help others commit suicide. The media and a number of celebrities are ranged against the pro-life position. Mark Davies, the Catholic bishop of Shrewsbury, has said of the Falconer bill: "... whilst we recall the heroism of generations before us, we must not fail to recognise the great challenge for our own generation. We are now being called upon to defend the sanctity of human life amidst the growing threats against it." Comments on this blog? Email them to johnsmeaton@spuc.org.uk

The Decay of Customer Service

I shall give you all more details tomorrow, but an airlines wants to charge me fifty dollars for a typo they made on the boarding pass. Can you believe this? They are blaming the travel agent, who got it right. I have all the proof in hardcopies.

I was also spoken to rudely at customer service for asking why I should pay for a typo.

Amazing. What has happened to America? Well, this company has a blogger for a "customer", so we shall see what happens. And, I just read in US Today last week or so about this airlines making mistakes and having bad customer service. Hmmmm. Too bad I got the ticket before reading the article.

UPDATE--After some input from STM, the company changed my name today and did not charge me.

Sigh....

Article Worth Reading

http://www.hprweb.com/2014/07/the-problem-with-a-personal-relationship-with-jesus/

An Essay on Evil

This is one of the most difficult posts I have ever written. One of the things which Catholics must learn is to work with the virtues which God has given us in order to understand evil.

Understanding evil does not mean, as St. Thomas Aquinas assures us, committing evil. One can use prudence, temperance, justice and fortitude, as well as discernment to see what evil really is. Many young people become confused about evil and simply are so naïve that they do not see evil until, perhaps, they have fallen, Naïveté is not a virtue, but wisdom is.

Christ exhorted us to be wise as serpents and guileless as doves regarding the world. When we are faced with evil, we need both wisdom and purity. Purity gives one wisdom.

Humility whets wisdom. As one sees one’s own sin, one learns both to see good and evil.

In this post, I want to point out some characteristics of evil, especially for young people who are not so experienced in the world. I present these characteristics of evil as warning signs for all.

I shall give these insights as bullets. This is not an exhaustive list.

·        If a person is constantly negative and contradicts what one has to say, there is an evil which is contradictory. Sometimes, this is a rebellious spirit.

·        If a person undermines one’s good works, there is evil. Instead of building one up, this person constantly negates goodness and presents good as bad.

·        If a person insists on making you waste time or wants you to go do trivial things consistently, like always going out, there is an evil of dissipation.

·        If someone says that praying is a waste of time, or that one is praying too much, there is some sort of evil present.

·        If someone states that daily Mass is unnecessary or if Adoration weekly is excessive, there is some sort of evil present.

·        If a person constantly talks about others and their sins and flaws , there is some sort of evil present.

·        If a person constantly talks about money, how much things cost and rarely or never speaks of the spiritual life, there is some spirit of evil.

·        If a person constantly undermines your efforts to be good and holy, there is an evil present.

Sadly, I come across such Catholics almost daily. I find that there is a tendency to excuse people by appealing to psychological problems or appealing to the victim status of the person in making excuses for such evils.

One must, absolutely, remove one’s self from daily contact with such people. Sometimes, this is impossible. I worked as a young person in a bookstore with a woman who was negative 100% of the time. Other people who worked with her either fell under her spell of gross negativity, or avoided her. As a very young person, I attempted to cheer her up, to no avail. She thought I was not worthy to consider, thank God.

In another job, another woman was equally obsessed with negativity. She poisoned the atmosphere of the workplace. Some people left the office, that is, quit the job, as they could no longer stand her constant negativity.

It is interesting that the above lady died early of cancer, and that the other woman became ill in young middle age. Many times, negativity takes its toll on the body. Not everyone who is ill is negative, far from it, but negativity and the evil of undermining good seem to lead to illnesses.

Why do people fall into the habits outlined in the bullets above?

Here is another list which may partly explain such evils.

• These people are so miserable that they want others to be miserable as well.
• These sad people honestly believe one cannot be joyful or even happy.
• Some evil people know they are evil and want others to be evil as well.
• Some evil people hate God and want to destroy God’s Goodness in the world.
• Some, who are Catholic, have lost their faith and do not realize this fact.
• Evil has entered their lives through some unconfessed sin, or through the persistent of the predominant fault.
• A person no longer believes in goodness, in God, but only in the gross sins of humanity, emphasizing sin over goodness.
• Some people have been so hurt, so abused, that these people hate themselves-they need to be evangelized as to the Good News of God’s Love.

Pray for those who have fallen into such evil. But, if you can avoid this poisoned atmosphere of such evil, do so. We must love our selves and we must tend to our own souls first, and then out of that love, love others. I have dear friends and readers who have shared with me that they must separate themselves from other friends and even family in order to avoid the daily barrage of evil.

God will strengthen us and make us strong against evil. But, this happens through purgation and humility. When we get to the point of being able to withstand evil without anger, but in a deep peace, then we know the gifts of the Spirit are being activated within us. We need to pray that those who wallow in evil are not sinning against the Holy Spirit, in the four sins which are those serious sins: presumption upon God’s mercy; despair; impugning the known truth; envy of another’s spiritual good; obstinacy in sin; final impenitence.

Pray for that state of goodness and holiness from which we can combat the milieu of evil if it surrounds us. We need more holy people in our Church.

More Catechetical Review

A Review of Catechetical Basics Continued…

I want to remind all Catholics that to ignore the following basics through neglect or through not learning is a mortal sin. Here are the basics we must do to avoid falling away.

Bullet Time Again.

·        The Existence of God

·        The Existence of Trinity

·        The Mystery of Redemption through the Incarnation and Death of Jesus Christ

·        Eternal life of hell and heaven

·        The Our Father, the Hail Mary, the Apostle’s Creed

·        The Ten Commandments

·        The Precepts of the Church

·        The Doctrine of the Sacraments, specifically Baptism, Confession and the Holy Eucharist

·        The Duties and Obligations of One’s State in Life

Rarely are these points discussed as necessary for a Catholic to know and to do unless they then fall into serious sin.

These are traditional teachings of days past. We have lost so much in recent years.

I pray that parents teach these points to their children.

A Catechetical Review

A Catechetical Review of some basics. All these are covered in much detail both in the perfection series and in the series on virtue or virtues, the corporal works, the spiritual works and so on. Also, look at the tag or label of Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit, the seven deadly sins, the cardinal sins, the cardinal virtues, etc. See also my Advent series on the seven deadly sins.

The Three Theological Virtues are Faith, Hope, and Charity.

The Four Cardinal Virtues are Fortitude, Justice, Temperance and Prudence.

The Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit are Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Fortitude, Knowledge, Piety, and Fear of the Lord.

The Twelve Fruits of the Holy Spirit are Charity, Joy, Peace, Patience, Longanimity, Goodness, Benignity, Mildness, Fidelity, Modesty, Continence and Chastity.

The Spiritual Works of Mercy are To Give Counsel to the Doubtful, To Instruct the Ignorant, To Admonish Sinners, To Comfort the Afflicted, To Forgive Offenses, To Bear Patiently the Troublesome, To pray for the Living and the Dead.

The Corporal Works of Mercy are To Feed the Hungry, To Give Drink to the Thirsty, To Clothe the Naked, To Shelter the Needy, To Visit the Sick, To Visit the Imprisoned, To Bury the Dead.

The Seven Deadly Sins are Pride, Lust, Anger, Covetousness, Envy, Gluttony, Sloth.

The Four Sins Which Cry Out to God for Vengeance are Willful Murder, Sodomy, Oppression of the Poor, Defrauding Laborers of Their Wages.

The Nine Ways to Be an Accessory to the Sin of Another Person are By Counsel, By Command, By Consent, By Provocation, By Concealment, By Partaking, By Silence, By Praise or Flattery, By the Defense of the Ill Done.

The Three Evangelical Counsels are Voluntary Poverty, Obedience,  and Chastity.

The Three Best Good Works are Prayer, Fasting, and Alms-Giving or Works of Mercy.

To be continued…

Hello to Readers in Taiwan

Be Back

...later today.

St. Bonaventure

I have several posts on this Doctor of the Church in my series. Just follow the tags and labels at the side.

The longest time in my life

...I have not seen STS. Almost nine months.

Sniff-England doesn't like poor mums of sems.

A Plea to The Knights of Columbus

Over 100 dioceses have accepted the horrible Common Core. Follow my tags.

I have seen advertisements among certain chapters of the Knights raising money for schools in those dioceses which have sold out to Mammon.

Why? Why are the Knights not at the forefront of confronting the evils of Common Core? So many parents tell me that they had NO say in their dioceses' decisions to adapt that system which will put your children in databases until they die, label them as trouble-makers in the system, if you do not want them to take gender choice classes, and make sure if they are pro-life, they will never get ahead in this world, because of the system.

Wake up!

I plead with the Knights to stop supporting Common Core so-called Catholic schools.

Do they care that the government will turn your children against you and your beliefs?