Recent Posts

Wednesday 22 October 2014

An answer to a reader which is applicable to many people

... if you read this blog, you will know I am not into the cult of personalities. However, there is a real problem with some people who lack an understanding as to what one can criticize and what one cannot.

One cannot criticize ideas or thoughts unless these are really shown in action, and there is way too much imagined scenarios blowing around the Net.

The Pope cannot be criticized like a bishop or priest can, but even then we are to be charitable and never attack character or fall into false conspiracy theories.

You are wrong about saints not being saints when they criticized Popes. Catherine of Siena was a saint as a teenager. She has extraordinary gifts of discernment from God and the stigmata. There are few saints who were called to criticize popes.
St. Paul did not criticize St. Peter, he corrected him. And, the Council made in Peter's name, the right decisions about the Gentiles. Catherine and Paul are unique.

There is no one writing today in her or his category.

This pope is not evil, corrupt or a heretic. One cannot say that he has declared any heretical statements.

That many trad newspapers extrapolate on some of his sayings is downright sinful and out of order.

There is too much pride and to be honest, holier than thou attitudes from many of the lay pundits.

I only see egotists complaining, not saints.

The pope is a man with private opinions, just as St. John Paul II had and others before him. Only when the popes speak ex cathedra are they infallible. But, we do not have to examine every statement either, which is a waste of time and not helpful.

Mr. Voris needed to apologize for knee-jerk reactions to some information he received which caused lesser minds to make up stuff, to go off on tangents, and make mountains out of molehills.

This generation has lost the ability to respect the office of Christ's vicar on earth, while understanding that the vicar is a man. We have had many worst popes, by far, that this good man, who should not be compared with those who recently have gone before him.

I blame the laity for most of the chaos. One does not have to read the mainstream media which hates the Church and Christ, nor the far right press which has fallen into a huge lack of charity and frankly, writes theory not truth.
22 October 2014 22:34

Alert!!!

St. Norbert College to Host Radical & Notorious Pro-Abort Gloria Steinem -- Protest Today

By John Ritchie   
October 19, 2014
http://www.tfpstudentaction.org/get-involved/online-petitions/st-norbert-college-to-host-pro-abortion-gloria-steinem-protest.

While dedicated pro-lifers work to save babies, St. Norbert College will be doing something oddly different:  welcoming radical pro-abortionist Gloria Steinem to speak on campus.  The talk is scheduled next semester on April 21, 2015, according to a news release issued by the college.

Every pro-lifer should sign this peaceful protest today

Given that St. Norbert College in De Pere, Wisconsin is a Catholic institution, the invitation is causing confusion and scandal.  Pro-life students and alumni are deeply troubled by the decision which, if not canceled, will give a Catholic platform to a notorious activist who publically promotes the killing of innocent children.

Gloria Steinem and abortion:  In a 2011 interview with Abortion Review, she boasted about her own abortion at age 22, saying: "...it felt positive."

“It [abortion] is supposed to make us a bad person. But I must say, I never felt that. I used to sit and try and figure out how old the child would be, trying to make myself feel guilty. But I never could! I think the person who said: ‘Honey, if men could get pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament’ was right."

On another occasion, speaking at a pro-abortion fundraiser for Planned Parenthood, Steinem said:  “There is no organization in this country or the world that is more important than Planned Parenthood.”
(NJ.com, Sept. 17, 2011)

More recently, she stated: "Approximately one in three women in this country needs an abortion at some time in her life. It should be a part of reproductive rights."
(The Washington Post, Nov. 19, 2013)

Gloria Steinem and same-sex "marriage":  In addition to actively supporting the Human Rights Campaign, the Los Angeles Times printed this: "Gloria Steinem called the fight for same-sex marriage inseparable from the pro-choice and feminist movement. 'We are talking about the right of all individuals to form committed, loving, nurturing relationships,' she said."
(Los Angeles Times, June 17, 1996)

Gloria Steinem and feminism:  "Steinem's debut issue of Ms. Magazine immediately went to work pushing abortion as the issue at the heart of the women's movement.  It featured fifty-three well-known U.S. women declaring they had undergone abortions despite state laws against the procedure.... To rally her feminist troops back in the heyday of women's 'liberation,' she insisted: 'We don't just want to destroy capitalism, we want to tear down the whole f---ing patriarchy.'"
(American Thinker, Nov. 22, 2013)

Gloria Steinem and religion:  "Religion is politics in the sky. When God looks like the ruling class, we’re in deep (expletive)."
(Ms Magazine, Sept. 29, 2010)

Gloria Steinem and Marxism:  "When I was in college, it was the McCarthy era," she said in a 1997 interview with Susan Mitchell, "and that made me a Marxist." Steinem is currently listed as an honorary chair member of the Democratic Socialists of America.  Earlier in her feminist career, a photo of Steinem at her desk shows a poster of ruthless communist terrorist Ernesto Che Guevara on display in her office.

How on earth can a woman like Gloria Steinem who has such a public pro-abortion and anti-Catholic record be invited to give a lecture at a Catholic institute, which ought to be a cornerstone in the defense of innocent life and moral values?

Click "LIKE" for moral values!

Help Cancel Gloria Steinem's Talk

TFP Student Action invites you and all its readers to call for the immediate cancelation of Gloria Steinem's talk at St. Norbert College.  The Culture of Death must not be promoted on any Catholic campus.  Nor should any pro-abortion activists be given a platform to spread falsehood and further undermine the precious moral teaching of the Holy Catholic Church. 

This issue is not about academic freedom.

This issue is all about being faithful to God.  About being true to our baptismal vows.  About having the moral courage to reverse one of the worst scourges that ever hit American society: 55 million surgical abortions, 55 million mortal sins, 55 million innocent lives snuffed out in the name of "choice."

Sign this peaceful protest here

The unborn depend on you and your voice.  Stand up for the truth.

Contact information (be polite yet firm)

Mr. Thomas Kunkel
President, St. Norbert College
1527 Fox Ridge Court
De Pere, WI 54115
Office: (920) 403-3165
Home: (920) 632-7485
Email:  thomas.kunkel@snc.edu

Wind and Sand Today and Tonight

Something was up, as I had, yes, an asthma attack during the night and only slept two and a half hours. Could not lay down so read much of Vanity Fair...seemed appropriate.

Sand and wind, wind and sand. I have all the windows and doors shut and have washed my floor twice today.

I feel icky...sandy in hair, skin, mouth, eyes...such is Malta today.

This comes from the Sahara. There is a name for it, not sirocco, but an African name, but I do not know it.

Last year, I was in Sliema exactly on this date and no such wind with sand. Interesting.

Tomorrow, apparently, it will be the same. I hope I get to Mass.

The wind wipes around the flat, and makes the windows and doors shudder. Biblical, almost. I prefer this to snow and ice!  If I lose electricity, which is possible if lines go down, you will notice that on this blog.

Father Kevin Knox-Lecky RIP

RIP Father Kevin Knox-Lecky. Today, his funeral was in Glastonbury today, a 1962 Latin Mass. Crispian Hollis attended. Praise God.

I remember this good priest. We had a few good trad talks back then, when I was in Bristol.

May he rest in peace.

http://www.cliftondiocese.com/generalnews/father-kevin-knox-lecky-rip/

I was in that congregation that day. Some might recognize Christopher Walker as well in the video.


Hypocrisy and Predominant Faults

Recently, I have been wondering about why hypocrites exist. Now, a hypocrite is a person who states he believes in a set of moral or religious beliefs, but acts contrary to those beliefs.

It seems to me that hypocrisy comes from a blindness to one's predominant fault or faults.

For example, a woman who suffers from the predominant fault of vainglory and cares too much about how she looks or how other people see her, will spend too much time on clothes, make-up, hair, even wasting money on excessive care for her body. She may even fall into lying to cover up this fault.

But, she may at the same time go to Church on Sunday, read Catholic sources, and maybe go to Confession every few months.

She had blinded herself to her predominant fault and will probably make excuses for vainglory.

The predominant faults are hard to too out. These are the faults which lead one to one's most common sins.

For example, if one is defensive and lies a lot, one may have the predominant fault of deceit.

If one is highly critical of others, she may experience pride as a predominant fault.

Hypocrisy grows from not facing one's predominant faults.


VIP Note from Voris

Amen to this clarity and Pope Francis is the Pope. We cannot be sedes...

Clarification +
Hello everyone. Michael Voris coming to you from Rome with a clarification.
This past weekend we aired a breaking news report about Cardinal Raymond Burke
having granted an interview to a secular outfit in which he publicly revealed for the first
time he was going to be transferred AND, in his estimation the pope not speaking out
openly about the crazy ideas floating around the synod was harming the church.
We decided to go with the story for two main reasons.
One – the tone of discourse had not risen to that level prior – that harm was being done to
the Church and that he had now CONFIRMD he was going to be transferred.
Secondly – unlike much of the “inside the Catholic world” news reports that had been
published before – THIS one had been released by the secular media – it had broken out
of the Catholic media bubble and into the mainstream.
We approached the story and its details strictly from a journalistic point of view. In
hindsight, that was a mistake because ANOTHER unintended impression was generated –
that we were criticizing the Pope.
I could give a number of reasons why we didn’t forsee this – being close to the story here
on the ground, being tired etc., but they aren’t sufficient to offset the unintended
impression.
Given that some people may think we were criticizing the Pope, it was wrong to air the
story. I alone made the decision so the responsibility is entirely mine.
Again, I was approaching this from a journalism aspect, and not enough, or at all, from an
apostolate standpoint. Other media outlets who cover Catholic things can run with the
story as a newsworthy story, but this apostolate has an additional filter.
What we do at Church Militant.tv is use the tools of the new media to further the cause of
the Church. Period. We don’t use them as an end in themselves. On this occasion, I
unthinkingly inverted those priorities and ran with it. For that I offer you my deepest
apologies and ask your forgiveness.
I have dedicated the remainder of my life to serving the Church and to have to consider
that I did something that brought some harm to Her makes me heart sick. On a personal
note, to show you how bothered in spirit I am by my actions, I chose not to receive Holy
Communion on Sunday, and have gone to confession over this entire matter.
Now .. shifting to the harm to the Church question, again, the harm has come in that someindividuals have interpreted this report as being a criticism of the Pope, and by extension
the Papacy, and by further extension the Church.
To whatever degree this has happened, again, I am to blame.
But others have taken my mistake and DELIBERATELY ran with it to imply that I and/or
the apostolate have now hopped on the bandwagon of publicly criticizing the Pope.
A very clear distinction needs to be made here. There are those in the Catholic
blogosphere who do not like the pope and openly mock him and have practically created
a cottage industry out of combing thru every syllable he utters and producing reams of
criticisms over them.
They introduce to the Catholic world things that most Catholics would never hear of if it
weren’t for their on-going discussions of them.
He has been called evil, a heretic, an anti-pope – they have openly speculated that the
conclave that elected him was bogus and Benedict is still somehow the real pope.
They are sewing massive and countless doubts in the minds of many Catholics about this
Pope’s legitimacy and authority and driving them to consider leaving the Church and
entering independent Catholic enclaves that exercise no legitimate authority in the
Church.
I wish to make abundantly clear that in no way shape or form do we condone anything of
the sort. Pope Francis is the legitimate Pope and any kind of pretended communion with
the Church while rejecting him is not possible. You are either in full communion or you
are not.
Other blogs have speculated that I have “seen the light” at last. Wrong. I reported what I
thought was a legitimate newsworthy story – I did not even consider, much less intend to
destabilize belief in the Pope’s authority.
In short, my mistake is now being used to make hay and I decry that. Pope Francis is the
Pope. He is the Holy Father. We are called to love the Holy Father, to pray for him. He
is the very first name I mention in offering up my daily rosary.
The Holy Father should not be being publicly criticized by lay Catholics, much less
mocked and called insulting names and made the butt of jokes. If others do that, then
they will have to give an account to Our Lord for mocking His Vicar when they die.
I want no part of that, and make very clear in your understanding, I NEVER intended
anything of the sort. Again, I was mistaken, and that mistake should not be being
multiplied by those who see it as an opportunity. Thank you and please keep our work here in your prayers. GOD Love you

The Reality of Being A Parent

I have addressed American parents many times on this blog. It is child abuse to put your child in a Common Core school.

But, after reading the CHIPS program requirements, I am seriously wondering why any Catholic parent in GB has their child in a state school?

I lived in England for almost 13 years. As soon as the Key curriculum came out, it was clear to me as a parent that I could not in good conscience do anything by educate at home. I had decided before that, but the new curriculum at the time provided the clincher. I had to teach religion and all the subjects from a Catholic viewpoint.

With one income, things were tough. We did not go on vacations. We did not have a car. My husband rode a bicycle to work or took public transport depending on where we lived.

We lived simply, but were dedicated to home education. I started in 1991 in Dorset.

I cannot understand Catholics either putting their children in compromising Catholic schools, that is schools wherein non-Catholics educated your children and the religious curriculum is lame.

Parents, God will judge you on whether your children have proper formation, as you are the primary educators of your children.

Even my parents so long ago understood we needed religious training in the home.

Proverbs 22:6New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

 Train children in the right way,
    and when old, they will not stray.
Your children do not need things, the latest clothes, mobiles, TVs, stuff. They need God and formation in the virtues.

Lay persons who do not take the religious training of their children in hand directly have added to the leadership crisis in the Church. Where do you think Catholic leaders come from? The family....

No offense, why are Catholic kids in secular schools?

Birmingham parents call on Council to get CHIPS out of their school
22 October 2014: Parents from Welford Primary school in Birmingham are presenting 150 letters to Councillor Brigid Jones calling on her to ask the governing body at the school to remove a controversial teaching programme, Challenging Homophobia in Primary Schools (CHIPS).

The parents are angry that CHIPS was introduced without any consultation with them. They are concerned that CHIPS is introducing same-sex issues to their children at an inappropriate age and in an inappropriate way. They fear that this teaching programme is sexualising their children.

The text of the letter is:
Dear Councillor Jones,
Welford Primary School
I am a parent at Welford Primary School. On Tuesday 7 October I received a letter from Miss Bonnique, Chair of Governors, stating that the school is committed to using the CHIPS programme.
The programme has been introduced to challenge discrimination. I do not believe that there is discrimination in Welford Primary School. I am not aware that there is a problem with homophobic bullying.
I do not want my child to be in the CHIPS classes. I am able to talk to my own child about respect for other people. I understand that it is my responsibility as a parent, to teach my own child about values.
The school will not listen to my views or the views of the community. I am losing confidence in the school.
I am calling on you to ask the governing body of Welford Primary School to remove the CHIPS programme from the school.
The presentation of the letters will take place at 12.30 on Thursday 23 October at the council offices in Victoria Square.

Antonia Tully of Safe at School will be with the parents. The Welford parents asked Safe at School for advice and support in their efforts to protect their young children from this unacceptable teaching programme.

For more information please call Antonia Tully on 020 8407 3463 or 07926 007 175. Safe at School is a campaign of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) https://www.spuc.org.uk/campaigns/safeatschool/

Note to editors:

Key features of the CHIPS programme include:
  • Promoting 'diversity' to four to five year-olds
  • Five to six year-olds role playing lesbian parents
  • Telling six to seven year-olds that "It doesn't matter if someone is gay, does it!"
  • Teachers role playing a gay person
A review of CHIPS can be read online.
To receive this news regularly, visit http://www.spuc.org.uk/em-signup

Prayers, Please

One of my best and oldest friends is having surgery today. She has six children, two grandchildren, and a very busy husband, all who need her.

Thank for prayers....

Coffee, Lemon Tart and God-Talk


Just spent three hours with two friends discussing God and His Ways at the Corinthia at St. George's Bay in St. Julian's

The Church Militant is alive and well in Malta. St. Paul's hand is still touching Malta...But, what would he think of all this? I was, gratefully, treated...

If you missed these...

....gone viral

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2014/10/meditating-on-synod.html

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2014/10/for-synod-members.html


English Orthodox Catholics, Where Are You?

Are you writing to Westminster with your unhappy responses to the Synod?

Are you discussing this with your parish priests?

Are you doing more than making comments on blogs or twitter?

Are you writing to the Pope?

Are you doing penance for you own weak leaders?

If not, why not to all of the above?

Are you pulling your children out of Modernist Catholic schools?

Are you supporting independent Catholic media and other orthodox groups? 
LifeSiteNews, ChurchMilitant, Voice of the Family?

Are you still relying on mediocre and even heretical Catholic newspapers and magazines?

If the Church is weak in your area, is your family saying the rosary nightly?

If not, why not?

KUDOS to Voris et al

Thanks to the real voice of the Church's orthodox laity, we got real news from Rome.

Thank you, Voris and Pentin and others...

Support Church Militant TV, please. See Michael' latest video on YouTube, which I cannot upload.

Internet in my area is having serious problems with consistent interruptions. Not just my router.


Catholic Priests Next--told you so years ago this was coming....

http://m.ncregister.com/43012/d#.VEccl_nF8UB

More thoughts on lay shock

Maybe it is because I was in academia and saw the rot early. Maybe it is that I was brought up in one of the most liberal dioceses in the States and saw the rot early. Maybe it is that I had to get in the car and take my son to other Masses, walking out of invalid ones, seeking orthodox priests in the 1990s.

No offense, but what we see in Rome we have seen in every diocese in the Western world for almost my entire adult life, As early as the 1970s, priests in the Midwest and in England were allowing contraception. As early as the 1970s, people who were in irregular marriages were being given Communion. I remember one public case in 1981.

Shock, horror?

Parents, have you continued to support compromising Catholic education?

Singles, have you continued not to fast, pray, and do mortification for your pastors, your lay leaders who you know are heretics?

What has happened in Rome is not news. It is clearly the result of many, many years, including the years between the two world wars, of bad leadership, especially in Germany.

When lay people decide to be truly orthodox themselves, we shall see a revival of great leadership.
Leaders do not pop out of thin air, but are nurtured in homes, schools, parishes.

We have many bad leaders.

I was actually at the consecration (ordination) of bishop, now Cardinal, Wuerl in Rome. At that Mass, I knew he was not a good candidate for the episcopacy.  That was on January 6, 1986 and his behavior at that Mass showed me a man who was not bishop material.

My home diocese had one of the largest sex scandal payouts in the sad history of the Church. I watched the special meetings on television in 2001 and saw some bishops being rude to Burke.

If my readers are shocked, I want to know why, seriously.

I am grateful to God for revealing those who are already schismatic. They did not suddenly become this way last week.

If you want good leaders, laity, create them. That is our job. Stop supporting bad seminaries. Stop supporting weak, compromising schools which have accepted Common Core. Stop giving money to dioceses which support liberal agendas and give to those which are run by holy bishops.

Pray and do penance daily for the Church.

The crisis is not merely that of the bishops but our own crisis.


Not New Problems

The Internet is off and on every few seconds or so here, which is why I am behind in my posts today.

But, I can quickly state that again, there are many comments on line regarding the Synod which are being posted by commentators indicating a huge lack of learning regarding the last 150 plus years.

Did not almost every single pope in that time period have to deal with recalcitrant bishops?

The heresy of Americanism swept the States for years in the mid-19th Century, making two Popes have to intervene to the point of calling bishops to Rome.

Have not popes issued oaths and promises against Modernism, ignored by the laity in colleges and universities across the world?

In my opinion, it is a good thing to see the snakes in the grass in the Church clearly. One cannot deal with problems unless these are known.


That the laity is so shocked reveals not only the lack of study and reading, but a lack of faith.

We know Who to believe and we know where to find the Truth.

My entire blog has been dedicated to teaching how to become holy. That is our job as laity. Personal holiness.

Stop thrashing around mentally, get on your knees and pray and do penance, which should have been done by the laity a long time ago.

Pursue holiness and your discernment will improve.






Disagreement

http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/commentandblogs/2014/10/21/well-pope-francis-as-cardinal-burke-implored-has-now-firmly-upheld-the-depositum-fidei-but-has-he-let-loose-forces-he-cant-control/

The Pope did not cause the radicalization of "forces" or "positions" in the Church. These have been there since the Popes dealt with Modernism, Many Oddie should read all the Popes encyclicals against Modernism.

On Liberalism (Mirari Vos). Gregory XVI. 1832.   • On Current Errors (Quanta Cura). Pius IX. 1864.   • The Syllabus of Errors. Pius IX. 1864.   • On Government Authority (Diuturnum Illud). Leo XIII. 1881.   • On Freemasonry and Naturalism (Humanum Genus). Leo XIII. 1884.   • On the Nature of True Liberty (Libertas Praestantissimum).  Leo XIII. 1888.   • On the Condition of the Working Classes (Rerum Novarum).  Leo XIII. 1891.   • On Christian Democracy (Graves de Communi Re). Leo XIII. 1901.   • Syllabus Condemning the Errors of the Modernists (Lamentabili  Sane). St. Pius X. 1907.   • On Modernism (Pascendi Dominici Gregis). St. Pius X. 1907.   • Our Apostolic Mandate (On the "Sillon"). St. Pius X. 1910.   • The Oath Against Modernism. St. Pius X. 1910.   • On the Feast of Christ the King (Quas Primas). Pius XI. 1925.   • On Fostering True Religious Unity (Mortalium Animos). Pius XI. 1928.   • On Atheistic Communism (Divini Redemptoris). Pius XI. 1937.   • On Certain False Opinions (Humani Generis). Pius XII. 1950. 

Oddie seems naive and lacking in a historical perspective. For over 150 years, the Popes have fought relativism, subjectivism and so on. Pope Francis dealt with Liberation Theology in Argentina. He is not a newbie when it comes to facing heresies.

The Synod has merely highlighted problems in the Church which many of us have seen for years. How many of us have had to take our children hours away to Masses said by orthodox priests because the liberal, Modernist priests in our cities spoke heresy and allowed aberrations in the Liturgy?

Pope Francis may have trusted his cardinals to listen less to their own egos and consult the Holy Spirit. He may have hoped for more real dialogue rather than the posturing of agendas.

But, what we saw last week is not new, nor surprising.

The Holy Spirit is in control of the Church, not one man, who has yet to state anything ex cathedra.

Schism has been simmering for years. I, for one, am glad the universal Church can see clearly the sides which were drawn up a long time ago.