New Blog Format Starting on the 26th

With all the changes online, I am changing the pace and focus of this blog starting on the 26th. I most likely will start a brand new blog ONLY on catechesis, apologetics and spirituality. No politics or news. You can get news from Mr. Voris and liturgical news from Fr. Z.

This has been a long time of considering what to do, in God's Will, and advice from a very holy person. At these times, it is important to concentrate on the Faith, period.

I am praying about a new name for the new blog and will leave my blog up for archives. Tomorrow, I shall share the name of the new blog.

Pax vobiscum.

STM

Blogger Against Rubio for President

One more candidate has made himself non-electable by real Catholics.

Sad.

Rubio stated he would go to a gay wedding. He does not understand what it means for a Catholic to attend such a ceremony.

Two sources of his theological confusion....if one goes to a wedding, one is a witness and agrees with the union. Period. There is no such thing as a ssm. Period.

http://www.politico.com/story/2015/04/marco-rubio-attend-gay-wedding-fusion-117042.html

“It’s not that I’m against gay marriage,” Rubio said in a CBS interview taped in New Hampshire, the early voting state to which Republican candidates flocked this weekend. “I believe the definition of the institution of marriage should be between one man and one woman.

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/apr/19/marco-rubio-same-sex-marriage-not-constitutional-right

He seems confused. He also seems like a Neo-Con. Sorry, we have had enough of them.

Irish Connections

A really interesting article about Ireland sent to me by a friend, who like me, knows that the Irish have given up their sovereignty. This is written from the point of view of the Irish who worked for democracy and a Catholic nation. I have visited Ireland at least four times in five years, spending much time there. I have seen the loss of Faith and the love of money cause this nation, now with the highest GNP of all EU nations, to become Godless.

"His perturbation at the state of Ireland, his confusion, his acute pain at the abandonment he would feel, was most callously condensed into a single statement by An Taoiseach who, in referring to the referendum on the redefinition of marriage, said:

'As we approach the centenary of the Rising, a Yes vote would, I believe, send out a powerful signal internationally that Ireland has evolved into a fair, compassionate and tolerant nation.'

The insinuation was clear: the leaders of ’16 were unfair, merciless and intolerant. And even worse, no party in the Oireachtas, none of those who so proudly proclaim their political lineage to the Rising, raised a voice to contradict such a contemptuous statement."

Read more here....

http://irishmachabean.blogspot.ie/2015/04/approaching-1916-centenary-celebrations.html

27%

As I am leaving this house, which has sold, and looking for new digs, I am shocked by the number of people I have met who live alone, but will not rent out space. Why do single people need an entire house and big ones? A friend of mine knows four women who are living alone in huge houses. They will not rent. Renting parts of houses was not uncommon when I was younger. I rented an entire floor of a house from a widow at one time.

Perhaps it is because I lived in community for almost seven whole years, I am used to living in disciplined order with others. Perhaps it is because I was in the convent, that I know what it is like to share. Marriage alone does not really teach people how to share unless the couple have children. Children create mature adults, as the couple, who can just coast along as two single people doing things together, must die to self when the children come along. Children are part of our salvation as parents.

But, this great number of single people of which I have become aware since coming back to the States astounds me for another reason-many are women. Check out these statistics from here, the 2012 census.

• Sixty-six percent of households in 2012 were family households, down from 81 percent in 1970. • Between 1970 and 2012, the share of households that were married couples with children under 18 halved from 40 percent to 20 percent. • The proportion of one-person households increased by 10 percentage points between 1970 and 2012, from 17 percent to 27 percent. • Between 1970 and 2012, the average number of people per household declined from 3.1 to 2.6. 

27% of Americans live alone. This reveals two major problems: a lack of community causes this, and a lack of the ability to want to share causes this.

A nation, a culture with this many single households must not be seen as normal. Two conditions cause single households-the fact that people are not getting married, and the fact of an aging population which is not incorporated into families.

In days gone by, Grandma or Grandpa lived in families. Even in the 1980s, "Granny Flats" were popular in new houses being built, with little add-ons for the Aged P. In 2011, only 3% of White households were multi-generational, only 6% of Asian were multi-generational, and 8% of both Black and Hispanic households were multi-generational. Grandparents use to be part of daily life in communities.

Not so anymore.

 In 2011, there were 56 million married-couple households and 32 million one-person households--from article above.

Of those who live alone, 55.3% are women, and 44.7% are men. I spoke with a man yesterday who lives alone. His house is worth one million dollars. I do not "get it".

Coming from countries where community forms a primary part of daily life, as in Malta, I still cannot get use to the lack of local community, or the idea of so many people living alone.

I have created a monastic day complete with chapel. Even monastic communities get together several times a day. But, those I know who are living alone do not spend hours in prayer or study. One single woman I spoke with does visit the sick in her neighborhood, which is fantastic, but she also spends time watching television.

Americans seem to be heading for a real crisis of isolation leading to a lack of love and care for the elderly and the single, who seem to be choosing a lack of real love.

A statistic of 27% single households indicates an implosion of local community.

Review of one of my most controversial posts--
http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2012/07/i-do-not-believe-that-being-single-is.html

Lost

One of my best friends is brilliant. He must be one of the most erudite and intelligent people I know. He is actually a genius. Yet, he is mostly hidden from the world, working hard, having his wife and children as any good dad, and husband, as a priority.

He is one of the "good men" kicked out of seminary in the rough days of liberal and gay mafias running Irish seminaries. Too many men were discouraged from following their true vocations by narcissistic priests who, frankly, lost their Faith and followed all types of "isms".

These priest lost touch with reality, the reality of God's Kingdom on earth. Because of their personal sins, they discouraged and even dismissed the best of the lot in seminaries from Dublin to Rome to New York to Davenport to San Francisco. The loss cannot be regained, as many, like my friend, chose another way to serve God.

I have another friend who is a lost vocation. Yes, this happens. He, too, was refused for orthodoxy.

He found his way in the Church through teaching and writing.

Those priests and bishops who lost their first love of Christ, who lost touch with the beautiful mysteries of the Catholic religion have no clue as to the gems they tossed aside.

I think of my several male friends who were asked to leave the seminary, or not accepted because of being real Catholics as lost as well in some sad way. The talents, the gifts, the call God gave them could not be realized in this world. They were called to holiness and to wear the indelible mark of the priest into heaven.

I have also met women who knew they had vocations but in days gone by, before the resurgence of the newer traditional orders, could not find an order which was in habit, obedience to Rome, and not into New Age nonsense. These women, like the men, were called to serve God in a specific role denied to them by the sins of others.

Sins have consequences. My several friends felt the consequences of men and women who sinned against God and His Church. I feel deeply for those who were not allowed to be what God called them to be. This is a reality of our times. Not all stories have happy endings.

Those called but unable to follow their vocations live in a daily suffering, knowing that the doors shut cannot now be opened. I pray that God may, before these men and women die, give them peace and a deep consolation of His love that even this terrible suffering is part of God's plan.

Those closest to me live in England, which, like Ireland, saw some of the worst abuses in seminary training in the 1990s.  May God forgive those who rejected these men and women. May God open doors, even towards the end of life for these chosen ones to live as God, in His Perfect Will, desired them to live.

I read this book when it came out in 2002. The grief one feels for those men is one of loss, the loss of gifts to the Church. There are too many of the men and women, the victims of the sins of others in power, who have forgiven their bishops, rectors, prioresses.

May God forgive those rectors, bishops, vocation directors--may God forgive them.

On Father Z Yesterday

Supertradmum says:

23 April 2015 at 1:31 PM

I write about this all the time on my blog under the corporal and spiritual works of mercy.

An admonishment saved me.

Story time: back in 1971, the year I graduated from college, in early October, I sought out a nun, who had been one of my theology teachers in college. For about 18 months, I had been a brat-agnostic, Marxist, heading for the Hillary route by being involved in community action and campus politics. I had been approached by the lawyers of the Chicago 8 to work with them, but had the grace to refuse. Having set aside my Faith, and no longer believing that Jesus was Lord, I became suicidal from months of being away from God. Seeking refuge out of desperation in the retreat house my friend nun ran, (I had learned Ignatian Spirituality from her, and thrown it all out), I told her I was going to shoot myself. This nun looked hard at me and said, “You may as well kill yourself as you are spiritually dead.”

I knew she was correct. If I died then, I would go to hell.

She added, “There is a priest downstairs and I shall tell him you are coming down to make your confession.” She left. I sat on the side of the bed in the retreat room knowing it was decision time. I stood up, and decided to go downstairs. I hardly made the decision. It was only a decision of going downstairs, not of perfect contrition. I had been admonished.

When I stood up, walking to the top of a great set of stairs in this old, grand house, (it no longer exists), I felt a wind at my back and I was virtually carried down the stairs. In seconds, I was making a general confession amidst great tears of sorrow and relief. Then, Christ entered the room, but I was too ashamed to look at Him. I saw His Feet with the wounds of the nails. He spoke to me and said, “Never doubt that I Am God.” To this day, with the grace of God, I have not.

This nun had the courage to speak the truth to a sinful apostate. Her honesty brought me back to life in Christ and a real appropriation of my adult Faith. What I found out later, is that she had gathered all the, unknown to me, retreatants in the center, and they were in the next room praying for me.

I admonish sinners. I am not afraid to do so. There is not enough truth in this world and we must save souls, just as Sr. Elizabeth brought about the salvation of my lost soul. May her soul rest in peace and may my conversion and few merits, as well as her own, gain her everlasting life. I am eternally grateful to this nun.

Heretical Sermon and The Feast of St. Mark

"Leone marciano andante - Vittore Carpaccio - Google Cultural Institute" by Vittore Carpaccio - Google Art Project. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons

St. Jerome writes, "To be ignorant of the Scripture is not to know Christ."

A few weeks ago, I heard a heretical sermon, and since I was not a member of that parish, only a visitor, unknown to the pastor, I felt I had no right to speak to him about his error. I am more bold with those I know, as I feel as a visitor I have no right to say anything about a priest or a parish.

Remember, the Catholic Church has stated irrevocably that the authors which are named as the Gospel writers are indeed the writers, and not others unknown, and not groups of people. Those are Protestant interpretations. For clarity see this Vatican document on this fact. 

http://www.papalencyclicals.net/Leo13/l13provi.htm 

PROVIDENTISSIMUS DEUS ON THE STUDY OF HOLY SCRIPTURE ENCYCLICAL OF POPE LEO XIII NOVEMBER 18, 1893 To Our Venerable Brethren, All Patriarchs, Primates, Archbishops, and Bishops of the Catholic World, in Grace and Communion with the Apostolic See. Venerable Brethren, Health and Apostolic Benediction. The God of all Providence, Who in the adorable designs of His love at first elevated the human race to the participation of the Divine nature, and afterwards delivered it from universal guilt and ruin, restoring it to its primitive dignity, has in consequence bestowed upon man a splendid gift and safeguard -- making known to him, by supernatural means, the hidden mysteries of His Divinity, His wisdom and His mercy. For although in Divine revelation there are contained some things which are not beyond the reach of unassisted reason, and which are made the objects of such revelation in order "that all may come to know them with facility, certainty, and safety from error, yet not on this account can supernatural Revelation be said to be absolutely necessary; it is only necessary because God has ordinated man to a supernatural end."1 This supernatural revelation, according to the belief of the universal Church, is contained both in unwritten Tradition, and in written Books, which are therefore called sacred and canonical because, "being written under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, they have God for their author and as such have been delivered to the Church."2 This belief has been perpetually held and professed by the Church in regard to the Books of both Testaments; and there are well-known documents of the gravest kind, coming down to us from the earliest times, which proclaim that God, Who spoke first by the Prophets, then by His own mouth, and lastly by the Apostles, composed also the Canonical Scriptures,3 and that these are His own oracles and words4 -- a Letter, written by our heavenly Father, and transmitted by the sacred writers to the human race in its pilgrimage so far from its heavenly country.5 If, then, such and so great is the excellence and the dignity of the Scriptures, that God Himself has composed them, and that they treat of God's marvelous mysteries, counsels and works, it follows that the branch of sacred Theology which is concerned with the defense and elucidation of these divine Books must be excellent and useful in the highest degree.

and later in the encyclical:

But first it must be clearly understood whom we have to oppose and contend against, and what are their tactics and their arms. In earlier times the contest was chiefly with those who, relying on private judgment and repudiating the divine traditions and teaching office of the Church, held the Scriptures to be the one source of revelation and the final appeal in matters of Faith. Now, we have to meet the Rationalists, true children and inheritors of the older heretics, who, trusting in their turn to their own way of thinking, have rejected even the scraps and remnants of Christian belief which had been handed down to them. They deny that there is any such thing as revelation or inspiration, or Holy Scripture at all; they see, instead, only the forgeries and the falsehoods of men; they set down the Scripture narratives as stupid fables and Iying stories: the prophecies and the oracles of God are to them either predictions made up after the event or forecasts formed by the light of nature; the miracles and the wonders of God's power are not what they are said to be, but the startling effects of natural law, or else mere tricks and myths; and the Apostolic Gospels and writings are not the work of the Apostles at all. These detestable errors, whereby they think they destroy the truth of the divine Books, are obtruded on the world as the peremptory pronouncements of a certain newly-invented "free science;" a science, however, which is so far from final that they are perpetually modifying and supplementing it. And there are some of them who, notwithstanding their impious opinions and utterances about God, and Christ, the Gospels and the rest of Holy Scripture, would fain be considered both theologians and Christians and men of the Gospel, and who attempt to disguise by such honorable names their rashness and their pride. To them we must add not a few professors of other sciences who approve their views and give them assistance, and are urged to attack the Bible by a similar intolerance of revelation. And it is deplorable to see these attacks growing every day more numerous and more severe. It is sometimes men of learning and judgment who are assailed; but these have little difficulty in defending themselves from evil consequences. The efforts and the arts of the enemy are chiefly directed against the more ignorant masses of the people. They diffuse their deadly poison by means of books, pamphlets, and newspapers; they spread it by addresses and by conversation; they are found everywhere; and they are in possession of numerous schools, taken by violence from the Church, in which, by ridicule and scurrilous jesting, they pervert the credulous and unformed minds of the young to the contempt of Holy Scripture. Should not these things, Venerable Brethren, stir up and set on fire the heart of every Pastor, so that to this "knowledge, falsely so called,"²⁸ may be opposed the ancient and true science which the Church, through the Apostles, has received from Christ, and that Holy Scripture may find the champions that are needed in so momentous a battle?

St. Mark writes his Evangelium at the dictation of St. Peter "Pasquale Ottino San Marcos escribe sus Evangelios al dictado de San Pedro Musée des Beaux-Arts, Bordeaux" by Attributed to Pasquale Ottino - www.europeana.eu. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons 

And in Dei Verbum we read this:

The Church has always and everywhere held and continues to hold that the four Gospels are of apostolic origin. For what the Apostles preached in fulfillment of the commission of Christ, afterwards they themselves and apostolic men, under the inspiration of the divine Spirit, handed on to us in writing: the foundation of faith, namely, the fourfold Gospel, according to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

19. Holy Mother Church has firmly and with absolute constancy held, and continues to hold, that the four Gospels just named, whose historical character the Church unhesitatingly asserts, faithfully hand on what Jesus Christ, while living among men, really did and taught for their eternal salvation until the day He was taken up into heaven (see Acts 1:1). Indeed, after the Ascension of the Lord the Apostles handed on to their hearers what He had said and done. This they did with that clearer understanding which they enjoyed (3) after they had been instructed by the glorious events of Christ's life and taught by the light of the Spirit of truth. (2) The sacred authors wrote the four Gospels, selecting some things from the many which had been handed on by word of mouth or in writing, reducing some of them to a synthesis, explaining some things in view of the situation of their churches and preserving the form of proclamation but always in such fashion that they told us the honest truth about Jesus.(4) For their intention in writing was that either from their own memory and recollections, or from the witness of those who "themselves from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the Word" we might know "the truth" concerning those matters about which we have been instructed (see Luke 1:2-4).https://www.ewtn.com/library/COUNCILS/v2revel.htm

This priest I heard is steeped in Protestant liberal interpretations of Scripture and shares these false ideas with his congregation.

He referred to the Gospel of Mark as ending without today's Gospel, a 19th century interpretation of Mark which is not held by the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church determines and has always determined the Canon of Scriputre. The following pericopes are accepted as the true ending of Mark.


Mark 16:15-20

15 And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the good news[a] to the whole creation. 16 The one who believes and is baptized will be saved; but the one who does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will accompany those who believe: by using my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18 they will pick up snakes in their hands,[b] and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

The Ascension of Jesus

19 So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. 20 And they went out and proclaimed the good news everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that accompanied it.[c]]]It is convenient for modernist priests to omit this last section of Mark as merely "an addition" when it is part of the Canon of Scripture as defined by the Church. Why it is convenient to omit this becomes obvious in an age when the command to preach Christ in the entire world has become unpopular. The heresies of false ecumenism and universal salvation erase this command of Christ to preach and baptize. Those who do not believe the Gospel are not saved. There are Christ's own words. Mark writes that the apostles took Christ seriously and "proclaimed the good news everywhere."

The call to evangelize comes with baptism. No Catholic is exempt from evangelizing. We do it all in the way to which God has called us. 

April 25th is the feast day of St. Mark, who gave us this Gospel passage. He was the follower and scribe of St. Peter. Much of his gospel would be from the eyes of Peter, the first pope. Papias, Bishop of Hierapolis wrote: "When Mark became Peter's interpreter, he wrote down accurately, although not in order, all that he remembered of what the Lord had said or done."

Mark gave his life for the Gospel, as we must.  The Coptic Orthodox Church, which has seen many martyrs lately, claim Mark as a founder. St. Mark was martyred in 68, most likely in Alexandria, where he established a church.

"Folio 19v - The Martyrdom of Saint Mark". Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons 

He is represent in Scripture, in Isaiah 6 and Revelation 4, as the Winged Lion.

Sad day for the Church in Chicago

http://www.churchmilitant.com/news/article/chicago-archbishop-commits-sacrilege

Good News for England and Wales

http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2015/04/23/women-entering-religious-life-in-england-and-wales-at-25-year-high/

Shameful Catholic Colleges

http://www.cardinalnewmansociety.org/CatholicEducationDaily/DetailsPage/tabid/102/ArticleID/4149/Scandalous-Commencement-Honors-Announced-at-Eight-Catholic-Colleges.aspx

Here are only two. Any bishop can take away the name "Catholic" from any institution.

Loyola University New Orleans will honor former National Football League (NFL) commissioner Paul Tagliabue with an honorary degree at the University’s commencement ceremony on May 9. Tagliabue has publicly advocated for same-sex marriage and given thousands of dollars to the cause. In 2012, he and his wife donated $100,000 to a same-sex marriage campaign in Maryland. “[T]his is the time not to view this as an expense, but as a capital investment in our nation’s infrastructure,” said Tagliabue at the Marylanders for Marriage Equality fundraiser, according to the Washington Blade. He made a $1 million gift to support the LGBTQ Resource Center at Georgetown University, which has been a significant challenge to the University’s Catholic identity.


Xavier University of Louisiana will honor Mary Landrieu, Eric Holder, and Earvin “Magic” Johnson as commencement speakers, as well as award them with honorary degrees, on May 9. As previously reported by the Newman Society, the University’s commencement lineup has already come under fire from Archbishop Gregory Aymond of New Orleans, whoexpressed that he was “disappointed” in the administration’s decision and warned that “some of those to be honored do not represent the values and teachings of the Catholic Church.” Landrieu is endorsed by EMILY’s List and earned a 100 percent NARAL rating in 2013 and a 90 percent rating in 2014 (for missing a vote). Holder has consistently defended the Obama administration’s controversial HHS mandate, which forces mandatory insurance coverage of contraceptives, sterilization, and abortifacients, regardless of conscientious or religious objection. Holder has also played a major role in attempting to coerce the Little Sisters of the Poor to accept the mandate. And Johnson, according to the Times-Picayune, “is an outspoken advocate for HIV/AIDS prevention and safe sex,” indicating contraceptive support.

On Graces Abounding

When Our Lady appeared to St. Catherine Laboure in 1830, she foretold long years of turmoil and even persecution of the Church in France. The 19th century saw some of the worst rebellions against Catholicism since the French Revolution. Our Lady wanted the French, and, indeed, all Catholics, to be protected from apostasy and even death. The Miraculous Medal remains a gift for all Catholics.

What is forgotten are the rings which Mary wore on her fingers in the visions. Some of the rings emanated great light, which represented graces coming upon the earth, but some were dim. When Catherine asked Our Lady why some rings were dim, she replied that those were the graces for which no one asked.

I have wondered lately what those graces are. One can only guess.. remember that St. Catherine is one of the many, over 100, incorruptibles.

However, seeing the times of which Mary warned, times of turmoil in France, revolutions against Catholicism and western values, the coming of the great tyrannies and all the isms of Modernism, I shall surmise what some of these graces could be for which we should ask of Mary.

Here is a list of graces which we may forget to ask of Mary:

1. The grace of final perseverance, a special grace given to the dying, as death can be a fearsome time.
2. The grace of detachment from family, so that we learn to love family members in Christ and not to become hooked into their problems which lead us away from God. Many things which families face are not of God and need to be left to God, and not our activities.
3. The grace of forgiveness towards our enemies, even those enemies inside the Church. The grace of forgiving ourselves and not being preoccupied with past sins.
4. The grace of generosity and flexibility with regard to God's Will in our lives. Only those who are generous of heart become perfected.
5. The grace to become perfected on earth, and to not aim for purgatory but sainthood.
6. The grace of daily courage to stand up for the Faith in all circumstances.
7. The grace to desire mortifications, suffering, and humility.
8. The grace of complete detachment not only from things, but from people.
9. The grace of self-knowledge and to see the predominant fault.
10. The grace to love Christ above all people and things of this world.