McBlogging Again

Well, I am back to the regime of McBlogging. Except, at this one, there is no McCafe, which hurts. I am avoiding gluten bread and gluten fries (see other sites on this fact), therefore my choices are somewhat limited.

Vanilla shake with no cherry or whip-cream today. Sigh.

My favorite Mac was in St. Julian's, Malta. The one near Tyburn was cool as well, as one could stay and blog happily without bother.

If I do not answer notes or comments quickly, you all understand why.....Mac is not doing well, as people are eating healthier and the lack of gluten free items is a problem. Also, I have been in Mac were the staff is positively rude.

Interesting that there is an article today on the growing unpopularity of Mac.

With 36,000 outlets in over 100 countries, McDonald's has been under pressure from falling customer traffic and revenues for two years, due to a range of challenges including changing consumer tastes and more agile rivals with ostensibly healthier menus.
http://news.yahoo.com/sinking-us-sales-hit-mcdonalds-earnings-q1-131608168.html;_ylt=AwrC1ChB0DdVimYATF3QtDMD;_ylu=X3oDMTByZnU4cmNpBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwM5BHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNzcg--

25% of Americans are eating gluten-free. GMOs have been poisoning us for years and now there is a backlash from the public. I have begun trying this when I can afford it, as I been having eating difficulties ONLY since returning to the States. ONLY!

Interesting... above statistic is from here...http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/18/dining/gluten-free-eating-appears-to-be-here-to-stay.html?_r=0

In the Mist of Wickedness

This week, St. Justin Martyr speaks through his writings in the Office of Readings. He points out that his generation grew up "in the midst of wickedness". Today's Millennials and younger are growing up in the midst of wickedness as well, with the difference that they are living in the great post-Christian cultures of the West, and not the pre-Christian ones.

A post-Christian world deserves the punishment of God, and many living today will see this justice enacted.

St. Justin reminds us of the great graces of baptism, and the "mental enlightenment" of those in sanctifying grace.

Many people, including two priests whom I have quoted on this blog, know that mankind is experiencing "devolution" not evolution. People are becoming less intelligent, less able to use common sense, less holy. Sin makes people stupid, as sin is basically, irrational.

One of the reasons for such devolution are the vast numbers of people who are not baptised, even in the West. This idea that children can choose baptism as an adult, if they so desire, held by some low-church Protestant denominations, as well as by seculars, who do not raise their children Catholic, has increased a population of those not in sanctifying grace, those whose intellects have not been enlightened by grace. (See my other posts on this under grace, faith and reason).

Here is a snippet from the selection in today's Divine Office from St. Justin. The reference to the baptism in the Name of Jesus does not deny the Trinitarian form, which has always been used by Catholics and true Christians, but Justin is merely emphasizing Christ's Presence in the Trinity here.

This baptism is called “illumination” because of the mental enlightenment that is experienced by those who learn these things. The person receiving this enlightenment is also baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, who was crucified under Pontius Pilate, and in the name of the Holy Spirit, who through the prophets foretold everything concerning Jesus.

SPUC News and Sad

Sinn Féin declares war on marriage and the family

JOHN SMEATON, SPUC DIRECTOR Wednesday, 22 April 2015 Sinn Féin declares war on marriage and the family   Any idea enjoyed by Catholics or non-Catholics around the world that Sinn Féin is committed to the Catholic religion or to the common good must be completely dispelled today. At a press event, reported today by Campaign for Marriage, they have declared war on marriage and the family by announcing a "vigorous" campaign to re-define marriage. Furthermore, a Sinn Féin motion, below, is to be debated 27 April in Stormont: That this Assembly welcomes the marriage equality referendum in the south of Ireland; notes that a growing number of parliaments across the world have embraced, and legislated for, marriage equality; respects the rights of the religious institutions to define, observe and practise marriage within their beliefs; and calls on the Executive to legislate for marriage equality for same sex couples so that all citizens will have the same legal entitlement to the protections, responsibilities, rights, obligations and benefits afforded by the legal institution of marriage. As I report today, the Nigerian bishops have (accurately) described same-sex marriage as harming the innocence of children - a fact which is confirmed in schools around Britain where Stonewall, a militant homosexual group, has been invited into schools (not excluding Catholic schools) to train teachers on how to educate little children about marriage. One cannot but recall the words of Christ: "But he that shall scandalize one of these little ones that believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone should be hanged about his neck, and that he should drowned in the depth of the sea." (Matthew: 18,6) Of course, everyone knows that Catholic teaching is unequivocally opposed to same-sex unions. What is also overwhelmingly clear to everyone who studies the evidence objectively, however, is that same-sex unions are deeply damaging to the common good. The experience of legalising marriage for same-sex couples in Europe and North America shows that such legalisation has negative effects for real marriage and for families, shows latest evidence. The evidence was presented to the House of Commons committee examining the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill, in a written submission by Dr Patricia Morgan, the British family policy researcher, on behalf of SPUC. The submission can be read in full at www.spuc.org.uk/campaigns/ssmsub20130301 Based on research and data from Sweden, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain, Canada and the US, Dr Morgan concluded that: as marriage is redefined to accommodate same-sex couples, this reinforces the idea that marriage is irrelevant to parenthood same-sex marriage leads to the casualisation of heterosexual unions and separation of marriage and parenthood Spain saw a pronounced acceleration in the decline of marriage following the introduction of same-sex marriage (same-sex marriage was introduced at the same time as the ‘express divorce bill’) across all countries analysed, no causal link has been established to support the idea that same-sex marriage prevents marital decline in the move to same-sex marriage, opposite-sex relationships have to conform to gay norms rather than vice-versa a publicly-professed, legal, partnership does not prevent homosexual couples from breaking up more frequently than married heterosexual couples experience with same-sex partnerships/marriage legislation tends to suggest that availability is all, and participation more or less irrelevant to sexual minorities same-sex marriage may be the end-game of long-running anti-marriage, anti-family policy typified by Sweden same-sex marriage may begin the process of severing marriage from family in otherwise family-friendly societies such as Spain and the Netherlands same-sex marriage triggers dismemberment of family structures in family-friendly societies. As a pro-life organisation, SPUC campaigns against same-sex marriage because: marriage - the permanent, exclusive union of one man and one woman - is the basis of the family, the fundamental group unit of society. Upholding marriage is therefore in everyone’s interests. marriage as an institution protects children, both born and unborn. Statistics show that unborn children are much safer within marriage than outside marriage. same-sex marriage lacks basic elements of true marriage e.g. the complementary sexual difference between spouses necessary for the procreation and healthy upbringing of children. same-sex marriage represents an attempt to redefine marriage, thus undermining marriage. This undermining lessens the protection for unborn children which true marriage provides. Sinn Féin, and indeed any political party which seeks to foist the redefinition of marriage on the good people of Ireland, should be utterly ashamed of themselves and will be judged by history to have proved to be the enemies of marriage, the family and, above all, of children. Comments on this blog? Email them to johnsmeaton@spuc.org.uk

Two must reads....

http://www.crisismagazine.com/2015/u-s-constitution-upholds-traditional-marriage

and another important article...

http://www.crisismagazine.com/2015/attacks-archbishop-cordileone-fall-flat

From the Acts Today

"Tomb of Saint John the Apostle" by Me, but logged in at en.wikipedia - Transferred from en.wikipedia. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons - 

That day a severe persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout the countryside of Judea and Samaria. 2 Devout men buried Stephen and made loud lamentation over him.3 But Saul was ravaging the church by entering house after house; dragging off both men and women, he committed them to prison.

"Simone Cantarini - São João Batista em Meditação" by Simone Cantarini - Scanned from Boletim do Instituto de História da Arte do MASP (1997). Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons - 

Today, we read in Acts 8:1-8 of the outbreak of persecution against the Catholics immediately after the martyrdom of St. Stephen. Jerusalem, of course, was the center of the persecution at this time. It seems that only a few disciples and the apostles remained in Jerusalem. It is at this time that St. John would have taken Our Lady Mary out of Jerusalem to Ephesus, the third largest city in Roman Asia Minor, with a population, perhaps, of about 45,000 to 56,000, close to the population of Biloxi, Mississippi and smaller than Maple Grove, Minnesota. Ephesus would have been a good place to go as it was large enough to hide in and close enough to get to easily, most likely by ship. 

St. John had to have some income of substance to take Mary up to Ephesus and make a home for her. Ephesus is one of the seven churches in the book of Revelation, and St. Paul was there for two years between 52-54. Tradition notes that Mary died and was assumed into heaven at about the age of 63. If she was 18 at the time of Christ's birth, for example, Mary would have left this earth in the year 45, seven years before St. Paul's stay, and only 12 years after the Ascension. She would have, then, lived in Ephesus for those 12 years. We know that St. John lived to be old, as his last work was written about 100, making him, at least in his late 80s or early 90s, as tradition has it that he was a young man of less than 20 when he was called to follow Christ. Again, tradition has passed down the fact that he died about the year 100.

"Rubens apostel johannes grt" by Peter Paul Rubens - http://www.artbible.info/art/topics/rubens-apostles-series. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons -

The scattering of the Catholics spread the Gospel, so that eventually, even the apostles moved to other lands. All were martyred except for St. John, who endured the Cross with Christ on Gethsemane and was, therefore, spared martyrdom. That Mary was safe in the care of the resourceful St. John, not only a mystic and evangelist, but a resourceful protector, reveals that God chose a good man to take care of His Mother, Mary.

My little chapel here is called St. Mary of the Angels and Martyrs at Ephesus. However, God has not given me a young John to help me in my exile. I note today that there are few if no places to run and hide now in this world, if persecution is worldwide for Christians. 

From LifeSite News

https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/supreme-court-allows-judges-ruling-striking-down-oregons-marriage-protectio

The Supreme Court is hearing cases from four states – Michican, Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee – on April 28. The hearing could lead to a definitive legal ruling from the nation's highest court. One of the big questions the High Court may choose to answer is whether states are allowed to independently define marriage, which could allow Oregon's law to stand.  

On the Lyrids

Sadly, where I am staying at the moment, there was too much light pollution for watching the meteor shower. It is amazing how many lights there are in America even in semi-rural areas. When we were young, my brothers and I would get in the car with a telescope and drive out of the city to see certain astronomical goodies. But, a person on one's own cannot do that. One does not need a telescope to see the Lyrids

I hope some of you will see the Lyrids this year.

Tonight is suppose to be the peak night until the 25th, so please get up really early and try to see these. I shall try again tonight, however, as some meteors should be so bright as to be seen even in some light pollution.