The Dead Zone

I confess. I freely admit my guilt. I think that Stephen King is a great novelist. Through the years, one of my guilty pleasures has been occasionally reading a Stephen King novel. I've really only read a handful of King's novels. I've read Pet Cemetary, Gerald's Game, The Long Walk, and Desperation. When I caught the chicken pocks as a mid-thirties adult and was bedridden for two weeks, I waded through all 1000 plus pages of The Stand.

I just finished The Dead Zone (1979). Even though this is a 30 year old book which was made into a popular Hollywood movie and a subsequent TV show, it's still new to me.

King makes no secret of the fact that he is not a Christian. However, I would say that King is an agnostic leaning towards belief. The Dead Zone is really a very spiritual novel. This is the story of Johnny Smith, an everyman who is thrust into an extraordinary situation. Smith is in a devastating car wreck and is in a coma for 5 years. King uses this device to review the cultural and political history of the 1970's and how much change occurred between 1970 when Johnny goes into a coma to 1975 - 76 when he wakes up. Besides the "Rip Van Winkle" effect of his fiance now being married with children and everything being changed, Johnny Smith is also able to see the future.

The curse of being able to know what will happen before it happens is explored. Smith shakes hands with a politician and has a vision where he sees that the candidate for Congress, Greg Stillson, will be elected President and start a nuclear war. If you could go back in time to 1932 or 1933 and you knew the future, would you kill Hitler? The Dead Zone is a great read which holds up well even 30 years later.

Do Catholics Worship Mary and the Saints?

Here's a good column by Jimmy Akin over at NATIONAL CATHOLIC REGISTER which explains why older Catholic literature says that we do "worship" Our Lady and the Saints.

The Last Judgment - A Nightmare

My wife and one of my employees are great fans of the show which I have come to call "AMERICAN IDOLATRY." Now that auditions for this paragon of post-modern American culture are on again, I have a recurring nightmare. It goes something like this:

RYAN SEACREST: "Hello, America. Here we are in Sheol, the place of the dead, for our judges to begin THE LAST JUDGMENT. Our judges will review the life of each contestant to determine where he or she will spend the afterlife. Will it be perfect peace in Heaven in the presence of the Beatific Vision, a period of cleansing in Purgatory, or everlasting damnation in Hell. Well, here comes our first contestant. Contestant number 666 who hails from the deep South and calls himself the Bad Catholic. How are you doing today, Bad."

BAD CATHOLIC: "I'm doing great Ryan."

RYAN SEACREST: "How do you think the judges will like the review of your life."

BAD CATHOLIC: "Well, Ryan I'm confident that I'm a shoo-in for Purgatory, and I'm sure that I was so faithful to Christ and His Church that I'm liable to get straight into Heaven on the first try. I'm shootin' for the Beatific Vision, Ryan."

RYAN SEACREST: "We'll see what our judges think of Contestant Number 666!"

Bad Catholic is ushered into the audition room:

SIMON: "Number 666, Bad Catholic. OK, justify your life."

BAD CATHOLIC: "Simon, I faithfully attended mass almost every Sunday, read lots of Christian literature, and was an awesome Catholic blogger on the internet."

SIMON: "That's it?"

BAD CATHOLIC: "Oh, no. I was a faithful believer and lived a good Christian life."

SIMON: "Oh, really? It appears from your record that you're quite the hypocrite, aren't you? You criticized others, you were downright nasty to a lot of people, you had a lot of hidden sins in your heart. You didn't go to confession regularly, and you totally denied the words of Our Lord that to think it is as bad as to do it."

BAD CATHOLIC: "Uh, well, uh, I intended to go to confession . . . but, but, . . . I really wasn't that bad was I?"

SIMON: "What about what Our Lord said, that if you look upon a woman to lust after her you've committed adultery in your heart. How many times have you done that?"

BAD CATHOLIC: "Well, maybe a couple, but . . . but . . ."

SIMON: "The truth is you're disgusting and pathetic. I'm going to have to say 'NO.'
What do you say Paula?

PAULA: "You know, Simon's really right about all that unconfessed sin and lack of true repentance thing. But I kinda like you. Can't we just let him through to Purgatory and give him another chance, Simon?"

SIMON: "Absolutely not. He's had his chance and he blew it. Randy?"

RANDY: "Yo, Dawg. You know you really were just doin' a put on act with all that church goin' and stuff. And you probably dishonored Our Lord by receiving the Eucharist when your heart wasn't right. That's a BIG SIN, Dawg. You didn't do hardly any works of mercy, like visiting the sick and helping the poor, and when you did you did it grudgingly. The truth is you been a hypocrite, Dawg, just like Simon says. Sorry, Dawg, I gotta say NO."

The floor then opens beneath me, flames shoot up and I fall into the lake of everlasting fire as I hear Randy, say, "WELCOME TO HELL, BABY . . .!"


"O Jesus, watch over me always, especially today, or I shall betray you like Judas."
Saint Philip Neri

PRAYER: O MY JESUS, SAVE US FROM THE FIRES OF HELL AND LEAD ALL SOULS TO HEAVEN ESPECIALLY THOSE IN MOST NEED OF THY MERCY.

Is Global Warming a Hoax By Big Brother?

The Earth is the Lord's and the Fullness Thereof

This is the Day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. Enjoy!

Will It Soon Be a Crime to Be Catholic or Baptist?

Criminal organizations which preach hate, like the Southern Baptist Convention and the Roman Catholic Church, can no longer be tolerated and those who adhere to them must be punished.

What In the World Is Pat Robertson Talking About?

Pat Robertson says that the leaders of Haiti made a deal with the Devil to free themselves from slavery in the late 18th century and that's why Haiti is a poor country and now God has punished them with a devastating earthquake. What in the world is Brother Pat talking about?

Here's a good article from a British newspaper explaining the history of Haiti. Apparently, Pat is talking about vodou ceremonies which took place before and after the Haitian Revolution. Vodou is a mixture of West African Tribal Religions and Catholicism. Who can fault an oppressed and enslaved people from praying to their gods before undertaking to overthrow their oppressors? If you were a slave on a sugar island where slaves were routinely worked literally to death, would you pray to the gods of your people or to the God of the oppressor?

Father Dwight Longnecker has done some SENSIBLE theological reflection on all of this on his blog. Brother Pat's comments about contracts with Satan are highly irresponsible.

You Must Comply With Our Opinion Or Else!

Society can no longer tolerate the prejudicial and backward views of those who adhere to outmoded concepts like orthodox Christian belief. Those who continue to stubbornly hold to the teachings of hate groups like the Roman Catholic Church must either be re-educated or punished. No opinions disagreeing with the consensus of enlightened thinkers can be tolerated.

Pray for the People of Haiti

PRAYER IN TIME OF CALAMITY: O God, merciful and compassionate, who art ever ready to hear the prayers of those who put their trust in thee; Graciously hearken to us who call upon thee, and grant us thy help in this our need; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Source: 1929 BCP

Prosperity Gospel Part II

We were recently discussing the so-called "Prosperity Gospel." Read about the life of this girl whose cause for sainthood is now being advanced. Almost all of the saints were blessed but most of them weren't prosperous by the world's standards.

(That's TV preacher Joel Osteen in the picture above, whom Evanglical author Hank Hanegraaff, author of Christianity in Crisis: 21st Century, describes as "the preeminent prosperity preacher on the planet." I believe that the early Christian martyrs depicted above were blessed and that their best days were ahead of them, but not on this earth and not in the sense that Preacher Osteen means.)

Sin

From the Rules for Monks by Saint Basil the Great:

"This is the definition of sin: the misuse of powers given us by God for doing good, a use contrary to God's commandments. On the other hand, the virtue that God asks of us is the use of the same powers based on a good conscience in accordance with God's command."

The Prosperity Gospel

Today I went with my wife to her doctor's appointment on how to proceed with her cancer treatment following the completion of chemotherapy. (They are going to run tests and if everything is clear, it's just a matter of monitoring).

Upon returning home and getting the mail from the box, I received a letter which had emblazoned on the front "DEAR JESUS, WE PRAY THAT YOU WILL BLESS SOMEONE IN THIS HOME SPIRITUALLY, PHYSICALLY AND FINANCIALLY." Upon opening the envelope, I was told "THIS LETTER BRINGS SOME GOOD NEWS AND HELP FOR YOU!" Good, after 6 months of cancer treatment and running a demanding law practice solo without my partner (my wife is also my law partner) I need all the good news and help I can get.

The letter goes on to tell me in huge print with large Jack Chick-esq cartoon graphics, "GOD HAS MADE THESE PROMISES TO YOU IN THE HOLY BIBLE . . . POWER TO GET WEALTH" and lists about half a dozen scripture verses in support. There then follows about ten testimonials. For instance, Mrs. R.W. of Pennsylvania relates that she needed a place to live and God answered her prayer by giving her an entire apartment building with paying tenants that she is now the owner of.

And all I have to do is send off in faith for THE BIBLE PRAYER CROSS which has been prayed over by the PRAYER FAMILY in Tulsa, Oklahoma and I will receive MORE HAPPINESS, LOVE, JOY, MONEY AND PEACE. And all of this is free to me. In a few days I will receive my FREE PRAYER CROSS. This letter does not ask for a donation but I am quite sure that when my FREE PRAYER CROSS arrives I will be prompted, since the Lord is getting ready to heal me and my family of all our illnesses and provide us with unlimited amounts of money, to send a donation in support of this ministry.

I told my former Episcopal priest the other day that one of the things that has helped my wife and I during our difficult time is that there is no prosperity gospel in Catholicism. (Although since coming into the Church and subscribing to certain periodicals, I have gotten mail from Catholic groups which is about like this except they are usually talking about Marian apparitions, the Secrets of Fatima, the miracles of Padre Pio and so forth.)

What's wrong with using God like a magic box? Jesus said "Ask and ye shall receive," so if I ask to be healthy and rich how come I can't expect to have my cancer cured and wait for the check to come in the mail?

The venerable old BALTIMORE CATECHISM says this:

"What is Prayer? Prayer is the lifting up of our minds and hearts to God."

"Why do we not always obtain what we pray for? We do not always obtain what we pray for, either because we have not prayed properly or because God sees that what we are asking would not be for our good."

I have BALTIMORE CATECHISM NUMBER 2 which was intended for children. The explanation of the above paragraph says "Asking in His name means asking for love of Him, since the name represents the person bearing it. We ask for what we need to love Him. Even if we do not use these words, what we really mean is this: "O Lord, please give me what I need to please You, and if what I am asking for does not really please You then do not give it to me. Give me instead what would really please You, even if it is a cross." Such a prayer, God has guaranteed to answer. . . . Many people do not pray in the name of Christ, as explained in the preceding answer, but pray in this way instead: 'O Lord, please give me what I want.' And they do not think whether or not it will help them to love God more, and sometimes they do not even care. God has never guaranteed to answer a prayer such as this, as it is not really a prayer but selfishness."

Here's the question, did God bless Saint Peter who was crucified upside down and Saint Paul who suffered many hardships and was then beheaded? Did God bless Saint Therese of the Lisieux who died of Tuberculosis in her early twenties? Did God bless Saint Bernadette whom Our Lady told that she could promise her no comfort in this world? How about Saint Francis who lived as a beggar and was blessed by being given the wounds of the stigmata?

Brothers and Sisters, we serve the CRUCIFIED GOD. Our Lord was a man of sorrows who had no place to lay his head. Why should we expect that we are entitled to more in life than Our Lord? Saint Paul said that he was determined to boast in nothing but Christ and Him crucified. The so-called "Prosperity Gospel" is a great heresy.

Thought for the Day

From THE SIGN OF JONAS by Thomas Merton, entry for Sunday,November 19, 1950:

"Silence not a virtue, noise not a sin. True. But the turmoil and confusion and constant noise of modern society are the expression of the ambiance of its greatest sins - it godlessness, its despair. A world of propaganda, of endless argument, vituperation, criticism, or simply of chatter, is a world without anything to live for."

Feast of the Baptism of the Lord

Since I used to be a Southern Baptist, I made sure I found a picture showing a full immersion baptism.

Today, the Sunday after the Epiphany, the Church celebrates the Feast of the Baptism of Our Lord.

From a sermon by Saint Gregory of Nazianzus:

"Today let us do honor to Christ's baptism and celebrate this feast in holiness. Be cleansed entirely and continue to be cleansed. Nothing gives such pleasure to God as the conversion and salvation of men, for whom his every word and revelation exist. He wants you to become a living force for all mankind, lights shining in the world. You are to be radiant lights as you stand beside Christ, the great light, bathed in the glory of him who is the light of heaven. You are to enjoy more and more the pure and dazzling light of the Trinity, as now you have received - though not in its fullness - a ray of its splendor, proceeding from the one God, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and power for ever and ever. Amen."

PRAYER: Father in heaven, who at the baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan proclaimed him your beloved Son and annointed him with the Holy Spirit: Grant that all who are baptized into his Name may keep the covenant they have made, and boldly confess him as Lord and Savior; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.

Professor Roland Bainton on Martin Luther and the Reformation

The following documentary film contains footage of Dr. Roland Bainton discussing Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation. Enjoy!

The Church of Our Fathers

Between Christmas and New Years the BAD CATHOLIC and SHE WHO MUST BE OBEYED managed to get away for a few days to a cabin at scenic PINE MOUNTAIN, GEORGIA. Although I brought a stack of books with me, I wound up reading an old children's book I picked up at an antique store.

The book is THE CHURCH OF OUR FATHERS by Roland Bainton. Professor Bainton was for many years the professor of church history at Yale Divinity School (back when they actually believed in something at Yale Divinity School) and was an ordained Congregational minister. Professor Bainton's most famous book is his biography of Martin Luther which is still in print.

THE CHURCH OF OUR FATHERS was first published in 1941 (the copy I have is dated 1950) and is written at about a sixth grade level. Sadly, what was a 6th grade level in 1950 is just about above the reading level of many adults I know. THE CHURCH OF OUR FATHERS is a beautiful book which, like much of Professor Bainton's works, is illustrated with Medieval and Renaissance works of art.

Professor Bainton was a great popular historian who had a lively and interesting writing style. THE CHURCH OF OUR FATHERS conveys a tremendous amount of information in a simple and direct style aimed at middle grade children. I admit that I learned things about Church history that I did not know.

Although I would say that Professor Bainton had a definite Protestant bent to his writing and writes from a Protestant prospective, he is extremely fair to both sides in the Reformation controversy and writes with sympathy of the Catholic Church both before and after the great schism of the sixteenth century.

Here is an excerpt from Chapter 1: "The Church is our spiritual home. In every village and town the sky line is marked by the slender spire or the square tower of the church. In Europe and America the Church has been the greatest force in shaping the world in which we live. Universities, schools and colleges, hospitals and asylums, better prisons, kinder laws, the ending of slavery and dueling, and the attempt to end war and bring in the brotherhood of man, all these have been in large measure the work of the Church."

From the last Chapter: "The end of this book is not the end of this story. What the years to come hold for men upon this earth no man can tell. If the spirit of Christ does not win, there may be in a short time but few men left upon this earth. But if men go on, then the Church we hope will carry forward her work of healing for mankind. Often in the past she has been sorely tried, and all too often she has sadly failed, but the voice of Jesus has never ceased to recall her to his service, and so it shall be until the end. But if the folly and the crime of men bring the end soon, then will the Church uphold her children through faith in that life which conquers death."

Cowboy Church

Howdy Partners! Why don't we saddle up and bust a wild Bronco for Jesus?

Here in the Empire State of the South, new Protestant Evangelical Churches seem to sprout up like weeds. Each of them have a different flavor or a different twist to attract people to them. In other words, if you don't like worshiping with the old folks down at First Methodist then come on over here to Spirit Filled Inter-Denominational Life Center and listen to electric guitars and wear your blue jeans and T-shirt and get a mocha latte at the Church coffee shop on the way out.

Apparently, one of the new things in the Evangelical world is the "COWBOY CHURCH." On my way to Court in a nearby city, I pass by a sign on the highway leading the way to a "Cowboy Church." The sign has the silhouette of a cowboy kneeling before the cross with his horse standing by and points the way down a rural road. I wondered what this was and asked a friend of mine, who is a former Southern Baptist Seminarian, what this was all about and he explained it to me.

I think that an argument can be made that the original "Cowboy Churches" were all those Spanish Franciscan missions in the Southwest. After all, the Spanish vaqueros were the first "cowboys." Look at a map of the Southwestern United States and what do you see. Towns called "Santa Fe" (Holy Faith), "Los Angeles" (The Angels), "Sacramento" (Sacrament), not to mention San Diego, San Francisco and others. A good argument can be made that the original "Cowboy Church" is the Catholic faith brought by the Spanish to the American Southwest.

Of course, any movement that leads unchurched people to faith in Jesus Christ is a good thing. So let us pray for our separated brethren in the Cowboy Churches.

San Francisco Jesuits Replace Confessionals With Pagan Art

Creative Minority Report reports that a Jesuit run college in California has ripped confessionals out of the churches and replaced them with a gallery of "pagan art."

Powerful Testimony Against Abortion

This is very powerful. It speaks for itself.

Cardinal says Europe about to be lost to Islam

A Czech Cardinal has said that Christian Europe is about to be lost.

Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton

Today, the Church celebrates the Feast Day of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton. After being widowed, Saint Elizabeth converted to Catholicism and founded an order of nuns.

Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God

Happy New Year! Today, January 1st, the Church celebrates the Feast of Mary the Mother of God.

GOD OUR FATHER, MAY WE ALWAYS PROFIT BY THE PRAYERS OF THE VIRGIN MOTHER MARY, FOR YOU BRING US LIFE AND SALVATION THROUGH JESUS CHRIST HER SON WHO LIVES AND REIGNS WITH YOU AND THE HOLY SPIRIT, ONE GOD, FOR EVER AND EVER. AMEN.

Is This a Catholic Church?

Why is the baby Jesus surrounded by minarets and quotes from the Koran? Can this really be a Catholic Church? This display was apparently in the foyer of the church of a Franciscan community in Switzerland.

What We Look Like to the Un-Churched

Here is a wonderful article from THE AMERICAN THINKER about a secular Jewish woman's first visit to a Catholic Church.

Here's what happened when Robin inquired about visiting the local Episcopal Church in Berkley, California.

Some Catholic Writers

I have an addiction. I admit it. I am a bibliophile. I love books. I love to buy them, feel them, stack them, hoard them, and occasionally read them.

For my holiday reading, I just finished a book about other books. Of course, one danger of reading books about books is that it makes one want to go out and acquire more books.

The book is SOME CATHOLIC WRITERS by Notre Dame's Professor RALPH MCINERNY. McInerny is himself a Catholic Writer being the author of many novels as well as scholarly works. Professor McInerny is perhaps best known for the FATHER DOWLING series of mystery novels.

In SOME CATHOLIC WRITERS, Professor McInerny profiles 35 writers all of which were at least nominally Catholic, fallen away Catholic, or in the case of one non-Catholic, had what McInerny considers a Catholic sensibility.

All the usual suspects are here: FLANNERY O'CONNOR, WALKER PERCY, G.K. CHESTERTON, HILLAIRE BELLOC, ROBERT HUGH BENSON, GEORGES BERNANOS, ETIENNE GILSON, GRAHAM GREENE, JACQUES & RAISSA MARITAIN, THOMAS MERTON, J.F. POWERS, EVELYN WAUGH and others. There are also some surprises. Professor McInerny has included JAMES JOYCE, F. SCOTT FITZGERALD and ANTHONY BURGESS among his Catholic writers. Although Joyce and Burgess, the author of A CLOCKWORK ORANGE, were fallen away Catholics who had renounced their faith, McInerny says that their Catholic upbringing informed their writing and haunted their lives. Professor McInerny also thinks that a Catholic sensibility informs the work of F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Also surprising is the inclusion of a non-Catholic, WILLA CATHER. McInerny believes that Cather's novels DEATH COMES FOR THE ARCHBISHOP and SHADOWS ON THE ROCK are two of the best American "Catholic novels." Professor McInerny also debunks the post-modern revisionist view of Cather as a lesbian. In the same vein, Professor McInerny criticizes the view of KATE CHOPIN's controversial novel THE AWAKENING as a proto radical feminist tract. THE AWAKENING ruined CHOPIN'S career as a novelist when it was published in the late 19th century because of its frank descriptions of female sexuality. McInerny says that CHOPIN was an orthodox Catholic and that her novel is really about the effects of the sin of adultery.

SOME CATHOLIC WRITERS packs a tremendous amount of information into only 154 short pages. This is a great read for anyone looking for insight into Catholic literature and Catholic culture.

The Feast of Saint Thomas A' Becket

Today, December 29th, the Church honors Saint Thomas A'Becket, Chaucer's "Holy, Blissful Martyr," who was murdered before the altar in Canterbury cathedral for defying the political authority of King Henry II.

Danish Newspaper Says Obama is Greater than Jesus!

Yes, indeed, the world has totally lost it. The "WORLD" as we Christians know, was always lost in sin and death, but now it is worse than ever. Apparently, a Danish newspaper editorial has proclaimed that Barack Obama is greater than Jesus Christ. When is Obama going to raise the dead?

Chairman Mao Honored on White House Christmas Tree

The White House Christmas Tree has an ornament honoring Chairman Mao. We can have a "Holiday Tree" honoring a Communist Dictator but cannot have anything on the "Holiday Tree" to honor God incarnate in the man Jesus of Nazareth. Incredible.

The Feast of Stephen

Today, December 26th, is the Feast of Saint Stephen the Martyr.

The Priest

I just finished reading THE PRIEST by Ralph McInerny. Although this novel is 37 years old (being published in 1973) and is set 41 years ago (in 1968), the book was new to me and I enjoyed it immensely.

Ralph McInerny was for many years the professor of Medieval Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame. Over the years, he has also written many novels the most famous of which are the Father Dowling mysteries. Early in his career as a novelist, McInerny set out to write "serious" fiction. THE PRIEST is one of his efforts at a "serious" novel. This book was also a best seller when it was first published in the early seventies.

THE PRIEST is set in 1968 in the fictional diocese of Fort Elbow, Ohio. The priest of the title is Father Frank Ascue, an up and coming young priest and scholar who, after being the best and brightest at the local seminary, has just completed his Doctorate of Sacred Theology in Rome. Father Ascue returns to Fort Elbow expecting to be appointed to the seminary faculty. Instead he is assigned by the Bishop to be the second assistant at an inner city parish. THE PRIEST is full of plots and subplots. McInerny writes from multiple points of view and introduces us to many characters all of whom have some connection with Father Ascue.

The novel concerns the crises and turmoil in the church and in American society at large in the late 1960s. As George Orwell famously said of Graham Greene, "there is a tendency for people to go to bed together almost at sight and with no apparent pleasure to either party." Sex is uppermost in everyone's mind, as it seems that it still is in real life. A large subplot involves Father Frank's sister Charlotte, who is organizing protests against Pope Paul VI's encyclical Humanae Vitae, which reaffirmed the Church's traditional stand against birth control. Despite the teachings of the Church, which everyone expects to be changed, Charlotte has started using the pill. Now Charlotte and her husband, Howard, can make love every night without worrying about pregnancy. Sex has been totally divorced from reproduction. Remember the old saying "familarity breeds contempt." Howard becomes bored with Charlotte and begins having an affair with a young client who is not much older than Charlotte and Howard's 19 year old daughter.

Clerical celibacy is very much an issue in this book. A hippie priest, Phil Bullard, seduces and then marries a nun, Sister Eloise. All this after Father Phil has already had an affair with another woman and asked to be laicized. Father Phil is depicted as the crusading liberal who blocks the entrance to the draft board, a la Daniel Berrigan. Phil and Eloise are married by another radical left wing priest who teaches at the seminary and after being suspended from the priesthood, hooks up with the flaming homosexual philosophy professor from the local college. In the meantime, Father Frank's niece, Barbara, has gotten herself pregnant by a seminarian from the local seminary who is struggling with his vocation. Frank and Charlotte decide that the best thing to do is to procure their daughter an abortion. When Father Frank fails to oppose his sister and brother in law's plans to abort their grandchild, Frank has a crisis of faith.

There are other subplots. There is an entire subplot involving the auxilary Bishop of the Diocese who is a political opportunist and will be a radical liberal when it gets him power and will become a total conformist when that advances his career.

In other words, THE PRIEST, although it is about serious issues, is a giant soap opera. I had great fun reading it. This book has been out of print for years, however, a search on the internet looks like copies are readily available.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

GLORIA IN EXCELSIS DEO!

Even More Scary Stuff - Britiish Parliament Attacks Churches

Here's even more scary BIG BROTHER uber left totalitarian news out of Great Britain. Under a new law, Churches may be required to hire persons as priests and ministers who do not agree with or abide by the moral teachings of the Church.

THE CRUCIFIED RABBI

This is an awesome video - looks like it should be a good book its advertising.

Anglican Morality?

More craziness.

A priest in the Church of England has advised his poor parishioners to shoplift to make ends meet. So, an immoral act (theft) is moral if you need what you're stealing real bad?

Even More Scary Stuff

I am a proud member of a soon to be illegal hate group: THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH! How long will it be until we here in the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave face active persecution for our beliefs?

http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0905419.htm

More Scary Stuff

Here's what's going on in Canada. Can the U.S.S.S.A. (United Soviet Socialist States of America) be far behind?



Here's an article about what may be brewing right here at home.

Scary

Is this the U.S. Senate or the Supreme Soviet?

Standing at the Foot of the Cross

I have been away from this blog for quite some time now. But I have been very busy. I can hardly remember what life was like B.C. ("Before Cancer"). I heard a priest last week on Father Benedict Groeschel's program on EWTN say that standing in support of someone who is sick is like St. John standing at the foot of the cross. In some mystical way, those who suffer represent Christ on the cross and suffer with him.

Today at Eucharistic Adoration I read this from Thomas Merton's The Sign of Jonas: "The source of all sorrow is the illusion that of ourselves we are anything but dust. God is all our joy and in Him our dust can become splendor. The great sorrow of mankind is turned to joy by the love of Christ, and the secret of happiness is no longer to see sorrow except in the light of Christ's victory over sorrow. And then all sorrow contributes somehow to our happiness."

Saint Paul says "For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ." 2 Corinthians 1:5. "For I consider the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." Romans 8:18.

We will always suffer to greater or lesser degree. When we suffer directly we suffer with Christ on the cross. When we stand by those who suffer directly we stand at the foot of the cross with Saint John and Our Lady.

HEAVENLY FATHER, GIVER OF LIFE AND HEALTH: COMFORT AND RELIEVE YOUR SICK SERVANTS, AND GIVE YOUR POWER OF HEALING TO THOSE WHO MINISTER TO THEIR NEEDS, THAT THEY MAY BE STRENGTHENED IN THEIR WEAKNESS AND HAVE CONFIDENCE IN YOUR LOVING CARE; THROUGH JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD. AMEN. (1979 Book of Common Prayer p. 459).

Memorial of Saint Teresa of Avila, Virgin and Doctor of the Church

Today, October 15, the Church celebrates the memorial of Saint Teresa of Avila, one of the greatest mystics of all time. Along with a Carmelite priest, the mystic and poet Saint John of the Cross, she founded the Discalced Carmelites.

From THE LITURGY OF THE HOURS: Saint Teresa was born at Avila in Spain in 1515. She joined the Carmelite Order, made great progress in the way of purification and enjoyed mystical revelations. When she reformed the order, she met with much resistance, but she succeeded with undaunted courage. She also wrote books filled with sublime doctrine, the fruit of her own spiritual life. She died at Avila in 1582.

PRAYER: God, You raised up St. Teresa by Your Spirit so that she could manifest to the Church the way to perfection. Nourish us with the food of Heaven, and fire us with a desire for holiness. Amen.

Our Lady of the Rosary

Yesterday, October 7, the Church celebrated the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary.
Under the name of Our Lady of Victories, Pope Pius V instituted the annual feast to celebrate the victory of Don Juan of Austria and Christian forces over the invading Turks at the Battle of Lepanto in 1571.


Pope Pius V with the victorious flags of the Battle of Lepanto in the background.

Pope Gregory XII changed the name of the feast to OUR LADY OF THE ROSARY.


Pope John Paul II praying the Holy Rosary

"It could be said that each mystery of the rosary, carefully meditated, sheds light on the mystery of man. "Cast your burden on the Lord and he will sustain you." Psalm 55:23. To pray the rosary is to hand over our burdens to the merciful heart of Christ and his Mother. The rosary does indeed 'mark the rythm of human life' bringing it into harmony with the 'rhythm' of God's own life, in the joyful communion of the Holy Trinity, our life's destiny and deepest longing. Through the rosary the faithful receive abundant grace, as though from the very hands of the Mother of the Redeemer."
POPE JOHN PAUL II




PRAYER: God, fill us with Your Grace. We know the Incarnation of Your Son by the message of an Angel. Through the intercession of Mary may we obtain the glory of resurrection through Christ's Passion and Cross. Amen.

Belated Happy Feast of Saint Francis

The Bad Catholic got busy and missed blogging about the Feast of Saint Francis on Sunday. When I came out of the Church Sunday afternoon after Holy Hour, Father Jacek was blessing the animals in the parking lot. I called SHE WHO MUST BE OBEYED on the cell phone and asked her since Father was blessing the animals if I should get in line.

Guardian Angels

Today the Church celebrates Guardian Angels. Angels are powerful spirits who act as the messengers of God. The Church teaches that our spiritual well being is looked after by a guardian angel who waits to help us when we turn to God in faith.

PRAYER: God, in Your Providence, You saw fit to send Your Angels to watch over us. Grant that we may always be under their protection and one day enjoy their company in heaven. Amen.

Just What We Need

Just what we need. The Bishop of the Canadian diocese of Antigonish in Nova Scotia has been arrested and charged with possession of child pornography. Of course, Bishop Lahey, like any criminal defendant, is entitled to a presumption of innocence until proven guilty so we can't jump to any conclusions, however, like I told a good Catholic friend of mine just yesterday, I joined the Church founded by Jesus Christ not the priests and the bishops.

Saint Theresa of the Child Jesus, Virgin and Doctor of the Church

Saint Therese of Lisieux

Today the Church honors Saint Theresa of the Child Jesus, also popularly known as "the little flower." She was proclaimed a Doctor of the Church by Pope John Paul II.


Saint Therese portraying Saint Joan of Arc

From THE LITURGY OF THE HOURS: "Saint Theresa was born at Alencon in France in 1873. While still a young girl, she entered the Carmelite monastery at Lisieux. There she lived a life of humility, evangelical simplicity and trust in God. By word and example she taught these virtues to the novices of the community. Offering her life for the salvation of souls and the growth of the Church, she died September 30, 1897.



The "Little Flower" in death.

PRAYER: God our Father, You designed Your Kingdom for Your children who are humble. Help us to imitate the way of Saint Theresa, so that, by her intercession, we may attain the eternal glory which You promised. Amen.

Saint Jerome, Priest and Doctor of the Church

Saint Jerome by El Greco

Today the Church celebrates the memorial of Saint Jerome. From THE LITURGY OF THE HOURS: "Saint Jerome was born at Stridon in Dalmatia around the year 340. He studied the classical authors at Rome, and was baptized there. He embraced a life of asceticism and went to the East where he was ordained a priest. Returning to Rome, he became a secretary to Pope Damasus. At Rome he began to translate the Holy Scriptures into latin and to promote the monastic life. Eventually he settled in Bethlehem where he served the needs of the Church. He wrote many works, especially commentaries on the Holy Scriptures. He died at Bethlehem in 420.

PRAYER: Father, you gave Saint Jerome delight in his study of Holy Scripture. May your people find in Your Word the food of salvation and the fountain of life. We ask this through Our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Feast of the Archangels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael

Today, September 29th, the Church celebrates the Feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, Archangels. These are the three angels who were sent by God to man over the course of the ages and whose names appear in Sacred Scripture. Michael, whose name means "Who is like God," appears in the Book of Revelation as the leader of the armies of Heaven against Satan. Gabriel, whose name means "God has shown Himself mighty," appears in the Book of Daniel and in the Gospel of Luke gives the announcement of the birth of John the Baptist and appears to Our Lady to announce the Incarnation. Raphael means "God has healed." He appears in the Book of Tobit where he helps Tobit bind a demon, helps Tobit find a wife, and heals Tobit from his blindness.

PRAYER: God, with great wisdom You direct the ministry of Angels and men. Grant that those who always minister to You in heaven may defend us during our life on earth. Amen.

Arms of Mercy

My life is a great mess and tangle of half-conscious subterfuges to evade grace and duty. I have done all things badly. I have thrown away great opportunities. My infedelity to Christ, instead of making me sick with despair, drives me to throw myself all the more blindly into the arms of His mercy.

THOMAS MERTON
THE SIGN OF JONAS

Follow Me

This is a video about the religious vocation of one my favorite priests and spiritual guides, Father Benedict Groeschel.

Ango-Catholicism: A Study in Religious Ambiguity

Our Lady of Walsingham


Yours Truly, the Anglo-Catholic, assisting Father Charles Bennett at St. Thomas Episcopal Church a number of years ago.

Lately, as my light escapist reading, I have been reading Anglo-Catholicism: A Study in Religious Ambiguity by W.S.F. Pickering which was published in 1989.

As one who as a member of the Episcopal Church delighted in being a self-described "Anglo-Catholic," I find this subject to be incredibly fascinating. For some unexplained reason it is just downright fun to be a member of a Protestant Church and pretend to be Catholic by putting on fancy vestments, doing a lot of bowing and genuflecting, throwing a lot of incense into the air, and generally putting on a big liturgical show.

Now let me tell you, the Anglicans/Episcopalians know how to put on a good show. In some respects, they may be more High Church than the Vatican. The only problem is that it is all form and no substance. They have all the outward forms of the true Catholic faith, but there are very few Orthodox Christians left in its ranks that hold the substance.

I finally decided that all the things which I liked best about the Episcopal Church were all the things that were Catholic and the things I liked the least were the things that were the most Protestant. I had already decided to "swim the Tiber" before the melt down of my Episcopal parish. A large number of the membership left and formed a new "Anglican" Church. However, the new "Anglican" Church is definitely part of the Evangelical, or "Low Church" tradition within Anglicanism, if it is really "Anglican" at all. With all due respect, if I had to put myself within the jurisdiction of a foreign bishop, I would rather choose the Bishop of Rome than the Anglican Archbishop of Uganda.

When I became a real Catholic I no longer had to hide that I prayed the rosary, and prayed to Our Lady and the Saints. (Nothing makes Protestants more nervous than devotion to Our Lady and the Saints.)


Here's a good quote from Pickering that kind of sums it all up:

The problem par excellence for Anglo-Catholics is their claim to be Catholic within an institution which for several centuries has generally been reckoned to stand in the Protestant camp, certainly not in the Roman Catholic camp. Some Protestants in the past, and still some today, have gone so far as to see in the Church of Rome the Antichrist. How can one be an Anglo-Catholic in a church in which only a proportion of the members openly claim they are Catholic and the rest say they are Protestant, or at least non-Catholic? Here is the ambiguity of using the self-designation Anglo-Catholic, or more simply, Catholic.

Keep in mind the fact that Pickering is an Anglican writer. In another place he says this:

In practice the Catholic church, if it is to be found anywhere, is the Roman Catholic Church, for on grounds of geographical universality, there can be no other contender. Roman Catholic theologians assert categorically that there is no Catholicism outside their Church. When Anglo-Catholics claim to be Catholic they are hardly adopting a universalist position but one which is essentially sectarian.

Bottom line: Anglo-Catholics are Protestants who are pretending to be Catholic.

Sacred Heart of Jesus: Have Mercy on Us!

Our Lady of Walsingham: Pray for Us!

Return to Rome

I just finished reading RETURN TO ROME: CONFESSIONS OF AN EVANGELICAL CATHOLIC by Baylor University Professor and former President of the Evangelical Theological Society, Professor Francis J. Beckwith.

Beckwith's book is very good and I would recommend it to everyone who is interested in conservative Evangelical Christians converting to Catholicism. Or, in Beckwith's case, re-verting to Catholicism. Beckwith describes how he was brought up in the Catholic Church but because of the slippery, loosey-goosey theology and catechism which was going on in the late 60's and 70's, he slipped away and joined an evanglical protestant group.

After describing why he left Catholicism in the first place, Beckwith then describes why he came back. The last chapter is devoted to refuting the position of the Evangelical Theological Society which pretty much threw Beckwith out and declared that no Roman Catholic can claim to be an Evangelical Christian. Evangelical meaning one who has a high view of sacred scripture and accepts the Bible as the Word of God. Beckwith forcefully refutes this contention, showing that without the Catholic Church there would be no Bible to begin with.

Beckwith has a couple of good quotes which are worth repeating:

"However, my conservatism, ironically, developed out of my liberalism. I was taught by my parents that one of the roles of government was to protect the "little guy" and to make sure that those not well off should be given a chance to succeed and make a decent living. But in my early twenties I began to notice that self-described liberals had no interest in protecting the littlest guy of all, the unborn, and that they often advanced policies that inhibited economic growth, and thus harmed those who most needed the wealth produced by free markets, the poor and underprivileged. So, for me, true liberalism is conservative, for it strives to protect and nurture, indeed conserve, those people, institutions, and practices that advance the common good and thus provide a framework for human flourishing."

I found this quote from Carl R. Trueman, Professor of Historical Theology and Church History at Westminster Theological Seminary fascinating:

"Every year I tell my Reformation history class that Roman Catholicism is, at least in the West, the default position. Rome has a better claim to historical continuity and institutional unity than any Protestant denomination, let alone the strange hybrid that is evanglicalism; in the light of these facts, therefore, we need good, solid reasons for not being Catholic . . ." Trueman then goes on to state why he has good reasons to continue to protest the Church of Rome and always will. They are just not good reasons. 'Nuff said.

Why I Became a Catholic, Part II

Here's another good video explaining a conversion to Holy Mother Church:

Why I Became A Catholic

I can't say it any better than this lady, Tinsley Ducote, presents it in her video.

DELORES HART

How a Hollywood Starlet kissed Elvis, played a nun in a movie, and became a nun in real life.

Shelba's Story

My wife Shelba posted this on her Caring Bridge site:



Last February, I went to see my gynecologist. I did not feed bad at all, but I was having abnormalities. All of the usual tests came back normal except for cysts. In April, I started to feel some pain, but still thought the problem was cysts.



The first week in May, Mark, my husband, and I went to Destin for a week and enjoyed all of my favorite things, eating and shopping, and ususally in that order. However, the more I walked, the worse I felt. When I came back, I had a follow up ultrasound that still showed just cysts. The next step was an MRI. The MRI showed a potential malignancy on my right ovary. The results of the blood test for cancer were in the "elevated" range but not definately cancer.



In June, I found a very good gynecological oncologist in Tallahassee and scheduled my surgery for July 17th. The surgery was supposed to be the two and a half hour robotic removal of the ovary. Going into the fourth hour, Mark, my secretary Tammy, and my friend and client, Cookie, realized that my doctor had to do a lot more work than expected. Once the surgery started, the doctor had to ditch the robot and start debulking the cancer which had spread to my bladder and colon. When I woke up, I looked awful. Mark, the former prosecutor, told me he had seen autopsy pictures with more life than I had after my surgery. Luckily, I think that's funny. The day after surgery, I started to bounce back from being on an IV all night.



According to my doctor, the survivability rate from ovarian cancer that has spread is 50%. Currently, I am undergoing chemotherapy treatment to get rid of any stray cancer cells. Part of chemotherapy is figuring out how to deal with the side effects. I need your thoughts and prayers, and feel that they are already working. I was also uplifted by all the visits, flowers, food, phone calls, and cards from all of our friends.

The Tears of God

I have not posted anything on this blog for over a month now because on July 17th, my dear wife was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. The theodicy problem, or the existence of evil, has always been one of the major obstacles to belief in a good God. The alternative, that we are just the products of random chance on a rock in a vast sea of nothingness, is too horrible to contemplate.

Our conversion to the fullness of the Catholic faith has, so far, helped us in this crisis. It seems to me that the theology of redemptive suffering, so prevalent in Catholicism, is almost entirely absent in evangelical protestantism. We remain confident that we now participate in Christ's redemptive suffering. As Saint Paul said "(I) now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is lacking in the afflictions of Christ in my flesh, for the sake of his body, which is the Church." Colossians 1:24.

I would also like to thank all of our family and friends, and especially the members of our local parish, for all their prayers and support in our time of need. God Bless You All.