IN THIS CASE OF FREE SPEECH AND TOTALITARIAN BIG TECH COMPANIES LIMITING IT, THE ACLU IS ON THE SIDE OF TRUTH, JUSTICE AND THE AMERICAN WAY, JUST LIKE SUPERMAN!

 

ACLU senior legislative counsel Kate Ruane said in a statement:

For months, President Trump has been using social media platforms to seed doubt about the results of the election and to undermine the will of voters. We understand the desire to permanently suspend him now, but it should concern everyone when companies like Facebook and Twitter wield the unchecked power to remove people from platforms that have become indispensable for the speech of billions — especially when political realities make those decisions easier. 

President Trump can turn to his press team or Fox News to communicate with the public, but others — like the many Black, Brown, and LGBTQ activists who have been censored by social media companies — will not have that luxury. It is our hope that these companies will apply their rules transparently to everyone.

 

FOR GOD AND COUNTRY

 

When Iran and China were experiencing civil discord, I was amazed that the government there could shut down the internet so that social media platforms could not be used to further the push to democracy, liberty and freedom of speech. Protestors could organize through social media.  These dictatorial governments were able to do that, shut down the internet.

What we are witnessing in the USA right now is the most dangerous tilt to totalitarianism we have ever seen. It is a kind of marshal law. One social media platform has been completely shut down and Twitter, Facebook and Amazon sites are being severely censored to limit free speech. 

Is President Trump doing this? Is it an act of Congress doing this? Is it the Supreme Court who is upholding the right of the president or of congress to do this? No, No, and No!!!!

It is the tech giants. They have now become the totalitarian deep state. And they have the power now to shut down the sitting President of the USA who has not been charged yet with any high crime or misdemeanor, nor has he been put on trial and convicted. Thus he is innocent until proven guilty by a constitutional method, either impeachment by the House and conviction and removal by the Senate. Or a lesser deal can be made by the 25th amendment of the Constitution or the president can cut a deal with the Vice President and simply resign. 

None of that has happened. Yet the deep state totalitarian regime has censured the president and is censoring him. 

This is quite dangerous for our democracy and free speech. Hopefully court challenges will ensue and the Supreme Court will eventually act to save our nation from the deep state tyranny.   

IS IT TIME TO RESTORE TO THE LATIN RITE OF THE CHURCH, ORDINATION TO THE SUB DIACONATE?

 

In light of Pope Francis opening the formal ministries of lector and acolyte to lay men and women and with more required for these laity to be installed in these ministries by the bishop, isn’t it more important than ever to restore ordination of men to the major order of sub deacon?

SUBDIACONATE

Definition

Formerly one of the major orders, although not considered a sacrament. a subdeacon assisted a deacon and had certain other auxiliary responsibilities. The subdiaconate was the normal prelude to the diaconate and priesthood. Subdeacons took the vow of celibacy before ordination. The candidate for the subdiaconate had to be at least 22 years old.  The subdiaconate was suppressed by Pope Paul VI for the latin Church in 1973. The Eastern Rite has maintained it, though. 

IT’S OFFICIAL, ALTHOUGH IN PRACTICE SINCE THE 1970’S

 My comments first: For years I have advocated for what Pope Francis accomplished today. That the ministries of lector and acolyte be opened to women in a formal way. I have advocated for years now, that there needs to be a codified way to admit men and women to these ministries and that the bishop is the one to install the laity into this ministry after proper screening and preparation. 

As it concerns lectors at Mass, there is almost no mandate from the Church as it concerns who these volunteers will be (in terms of qualification, moral and academic) and no real program of ministry formation for these candidates. 

In our diocese, parishes can pick whoever they wish to be both lectors and Communion Ministers. Once installed as acolytes, I presume Communion Ministers will be Ordinary not Extraordinary.

In our diocese at one time, Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion had to have their names submitted to the bishop who would by letter commission them for a period of three years. That has fallen by the wayside without any official promulgation by our last two bishops. 

It seems that this Willy Nilly approach to these liturgical ministries of lector and Communion Minister is coming to an end and thank God for that.

Pope Francis: Ministries of lector and acolyte to be open to women

Pope Francis changes the Code of Canon Law to institutionalize what is already allowed in practice: the access of lay women to the service of the Word and the Altar. The Pope explains his decision in a letter to Cardinal Ladaria.

By Vatican News

With a Motu proprio released on Monday, Pope Francis established that from now on the ministries of Lector and Acolyte are to be open to women, in a stable and institutionalized form through a specific mandate.

There is nothing new about women proclaiming the Word of God during liturgical celebrations or carrying out a service at the altar as altar servers or as Eucharistic ministers. In many communities throughout the world these practices are already authorized by local bishops.

However, up to this point, this has occurred without a true and proper institutional mandate, as an exception to what Pope St Paul VI had established when, in 1972, even while abolishing the so-called “minor orders”, he decided to maintain that access to these ministries be granted only to men because they were considered to be preparatory to the eventual admission to holy orders.

Now, in the wake of the discernment which has emerged from the last Synods of Bishops, Pope Francis wanted to formalize and institutionalize the presence of women at the altar.

Shared baptism

With the Motu proprio Spiritus Domini, which modifies the first paragraph of Canon 230 of the Code of Canon Law, Pope Francis, therefore, establishes that women can have access to these ministries and that they be recognized through a liturgical act formally instituting them as such.

Pope Francis specifies that he wanted to welcome recommendations which have emerged from various synodal assemblies, writing that “a doctrinal development has been arrived at in these last years that has brought to light how certain ministries instituted by the Church have as their basis the common condition of being baptized and the royal priesthood received in the Sacrament of Baptism.”

The Pope, therefore, invites us to recognize that what is under discussion are lay ministries “fundamentally distinct from the ordained ministry that is received through the Sacrament of Holy Orders.”

The new formulation of the canon reads: “Lay persons who possess the age and qualifications established by decree of the conference of bishops can be admitted on a stable basis through the prescribed liturgical rite to the ministries of lector and acolyte.” The specification “lay men” qualifying the laity and present in the Code until today’s modification, is, therefore, abolished.

Part of Vatican II renewal

The Motu proprio is accompanied by a letter addressed to the Prefect of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Luis Ladaria, in which Pope Francis explains the theological motivations behind his decision.

The Pope writes that “within the spectrum of renewal traced out by the Second Vatican Council, the urgency is being ever more felt today to rediscover the co-responsibility of all of the baptized in the Church, and the mission of the laity in a particular way.”

And, citing the Final Document of the Synod for the Pan-Amazon Region, the Pope observes that “regarding the entire Church, in the variety of situations, it is urgent that ministries for men and women be promoted and conferred… It is the Church made up of baptized men and women that we must consolidate, promoting forms of ministry and, above all, an awareness of baptismal dignity.”

Lay people and evangelization
In his letter to the Cardinal, after recalling the words of Saint John Paul II that “regarding ordained ministries, the Church does not have the faculty in any way to confer priestly ordination on women,” Pope Francis adds that “regarding non-ordained ministries, it is possible, and today it seems appropriate, to surmount this reservation.”

The Pope explains that “to offer to lay persons of both sexes the possibility of accessing the ministries of Acolyte and Lector, in virtue of their participation in the priesthood of the baptized, the awareness will grow, through a liturgical act (of institution) as well, of the precious contribution that many lay persons, including women, have been offering for some time to the life and mission of the Church.” He concludes that “the decision to confer these offices even on women, which entails stability, public recognition and a mandate on the part of the bishop, will make more effective everyone’s participation in the work of evangelization.”

Mutual collaboration

This provision comes after extensive theological reflection on these ministries.

Post-conciliar theology has, in fact, recovered the relevance of the ministries of Lector and Acolyte, not only in relation to the ordained priesthood, but also, and above all, in relation to the priesthood of the baptized.

These ministries are situated within the dynamic of the mutual collaboration that exists between these two priesthoods, and their specifically “lay” nature has become ever more pronounced, in connection with the priesthood exercised by all the baptized in virtue of their baptism.

This entire article, including the citations attributed to Pope Francis, is a working translation from the Italian original.

YES VIRGINIA, THIS IS AN EPISCOPAL CHURCH THAT LOOKS MORE CATHOLIC THAN MOST NEW OR WRECKOVATED CATHOLIC CHURCHES

 This altar has dignity:

St. Mary's Episcopal Church Kansas City, where the Christmas decorations stay up until Candlemas!

POLL: DID YOUR CHURCH IN THE ORDINARY FORM KEEP ALL THE CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS FOR BAPTISM OF THE LORD?

 At my parish, we had them all up through Baptism of the Lord. They come down now. Merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

YOURS TRULY THE CELEBRANT OF THE CATHEDRAL BASILICA OF SAINT JOHN THE BAPTISM IN DOWNTOWN SAVANNAH AT 1 PM FOR THE EXTRAORDINARY FORM OF THE HIGH MASS FOR THE FEST OF THE HOLY FAMILY; FIRST SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY

 Evidently, the EF Mass for the Feast of the Holy Family is both that and the First Sunday after Epiphany as in the Ordinary Form it is the Baptism of the Lord and the First Sunday in Ordinary Time. Interesting, no?

FEAST OF THE HOLY FAMILY; FIRST SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY

 
Image via Wikipedia

First Sunday After The Epiphany
Within the Octave

THE HOLY FAMILY

GREATER DOUBLE/WHITE

From eternity, the Son of God had lived the family life of the Blessed Trinity. At Nazareth, as the Redeemer both of individuals and of families, He lived and made holy the home life that guards divine life in every baptized person.

Problems of family life center mainly in personalities. But social pressures and poverty also add disturbing tensions. Happily, God made marriage a sacrament, which is ministered by husband and wife to one another. Through the sacrament, they communicate to one another those special graces they need for living their enduring and sometimes difficult obligations.

God remains the third partner in every marriage, with His own inalienable rights. In the Holy Family, God Incarnate was the third member. In a Christian family, anywhere in the world, the father is the spiritual head who takes the place of Christ.

INTROIT (Prov. 23:24, 25)

The Father of the just one greatly rejoices. Let your father and your mother be joyful, and let her who bore you be glad. Ps. 83:2, 3. How lovely is Your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts! My soul yearns and faints for the courts of the Lord. V. Glory be . . .

COLLECT

O Lord Jesus Christ, You sanctified home life with untold virtues by being subject to Mary and Joseph. May they assist us to imitate the example of Your Holy Family, so that we may share with them their eternal happiness; who lives and rules with God the Father . . .

EPISTLE (Col. 3:12-17)

Brethren: Put ye on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, the bowels of mercy, benignity, humility, modesty, patience: Bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if any have a complaint against another. Even as the Lord hath forgiven you, so do you also. But above all these things have charity, which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of Christ rejoice in your hearts, wherein also you are called in one body: and be ye thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you abundantly: in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms, hymns and spiritual canticles, singing in grace in your hearts to God. All whatsoever you do in word or in work, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.

GRADUAL (Ps. 26:4; 83:5)

One thing I have asked of the Lord; this will I seek after: to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. V.Happy they who dwell in Your house, O Lord! They shall praise You forever and ever.

Alleluia, alleluia! V. (Isa. 45:15)

Verily You are a hidden king, the God of Israel, the Savior.

Alleluia!

GOSPEL (Luke 2:42-52)

And when he was twelve years old, they going up into Jerusalem, according to the custom of the feast, And having fulfilled the days, when they returned, the child Jesus remained in Jerusalem. And his parents knew it not. And thinking that he was in the company, they came a day's journey and sought him among their kinsfolks and acquaintance. And not finding him, they returned into Jerusalem, seeking him. And it came to pass, that, after three days, they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, hearing them and asking them questions. And all that heard him were astonished at his wisdom and his answers. And seeing him, they wondered. And his mother said to him: "Son, why hast thou done so to us? Behold thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing." And he said to them: "How is it that you sought me? Did you not know that I must be about my father's business?"

And they understood not the word that he spoke unto them. And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was subject to them. And his mother kept all these words in her heart. And Jesus advanced in wisdom and age and grace with God and men.

OFFERTORY ANTIPHON (Luke 2:22)

The parents of Jesus took Him up to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord.

SECRET

O Lord, we offer You this sacrifice in atonement for our sins. May the intercession of the Virgin Mother of God and blessed Joseph, ever bestow Your peace and grace upon our families. Through our Lord . . .

Jesus went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them.

POSTCOMMUNION

We are refreshed by Your heavenly Sacrament, O Lord Jesus. Help us always to follow the example of Your Holy Family, that Your glorious Virgin Mother and blessed Joseph may meet us at the hour of our death, and find us worthy to enter with You into Your eternal home; who lives and rules with God the Father . . .

HOW TO MUCK UP A BEAUTIFUL CHURCH

 Annunciation parish in Denver, Colorado:

You can’t see it, but there is a free-standing altar in all that clutter. Poinsettias are placed in front of a flimsy free standing altar, thus helping your eye to look at the first and official altar, the high altar. 

I guess this church was decorated for Christmas during Advent as all the violet  colors are still in place, and these too add to the clutter, not to mention the Christmas trees with distracting decorations on them. 

But a stunningly beautiful sanctuary it is if all the unnecessary clutter was removed. 

Get rid of the flimsy free standing altar. Pull the “table” part of the altar away from the reredos  so that it once again becomes the altar of sacrifice and allows for Mass to be celebrated facing the nave or the liturgical east. That’s the altar. You don’t need another one in front of it. 

PERSONALITY DISORDERS ALL

 

I’m not a psychologist, but I know a personality disorder when I see it and narcissism among political leaders runs rampant, in fact in any leader. You have to think pretty highly of yourself to be a leader or at least pretend to think very highly of yourself to convince others you are a leader.

We know President Trump qualifies for personality disorders and moral disorders.

But what about the Democrat cabal, Senator Schumer, Representative Pelosi and the cast of characters under her care who pursued the first impeachment.

There indeed is Trump derangement in those quarters and elsewhere.

Meanwhile there are about 80 million people who voted for President Trump and they believe the conspiracy theories, some of which hold a grain of truth. Some of those voters, a percentage at the Washington protest that stormed the Capitol, are quite capable of insurrection. 

Schumer seems a bit more measured than Pelosi who has been and still is unhinged over Trump. 

Can she be charged in inciting another insurrection because of her Trump derangement, a second impeachment less than 10 days from Trump’s presidency ending. 

Are the wild numbers of democrats who are and have been unhinged since Trump was elected as responsible for the state of the nation today as President Trump.  I think so. I wish they all would resign. 

Pray for our nation and for good leaders to step up and run for government. We don’t have them now in Pelosi and Schumer. 

ART SHOULD CHALLENGE YOU AND MAKE YOU THINK, SO WHAT TO YOU THINK OF THIS ARTISTIC PULPIT?

 I saw this on Facebook's "I'm fed up with ugly churches". It did not say where this is, but it isn't fake:

What does it mean for you? 

DISCUSS!

RELIGIOUS ART AS DEPICTED BY CATHOLIC AND PROTESTANT ARTISTS

 I can't actually describe it verbally, but I know it when I see it in painting and stained glass. Catholic art in these two venues has a distinct Catholic ethos or piety, whereas Protestant art has its own distinct ethos or piety. The two are clearly different even when depicting the same event.

This is the Baptism of the Lord depicted in Catholic Art:

This is the Baptism of the Lord as depicted in Protestant art:

FINALLY, SINCE THE DIOCESE OF SAVANNAH ACQUIRED THE MARTHA AND MARY CHAPEL, TO BE SAINT ANNE MISSION AND LATER CHURCH, WE HAVE THE ACTUAL SAINTS DEPICTED IN THE CHAPEL AS A RESULT OF A GENEROUS CONTRIBUTION

 Oooh, aaah, a new image of Jesus, Martha and Mary in our Martha and Mary Chapel has been hung it the sanctuary! Out of respect for Richmond Hill’s history and that Henry Ford named this once non denominational chapel built in 1938 after his mother and mother-in-law, Martha and Mary, when our Diocese acquired it in 1955 for St. Anne Mission, the subtitle Martha and Mary was kept. But today we have the actual two Saints depicted in this chapel. I love Martha’s sneer at Mary! It is quite a generous donation to the chapel. So without officially and actually changing its historic secular name, we just did.

TO BE CHRISTMASTIDE OR NOT TO BE CHRISTMASTIDE, THAT IS THE QUESTION FOR THE BAPTISM OF THE LORD

 What to do? What to do? Oh, what are we to do? Our yearly conundrum strikes afresh! Is the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord the First Sunday of Ordinary Time and thus no longer in Christmastide or is the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord the conclusion to Christmastide with Ordinary Time resuming on Monday? But then why is the following Sunday, The Second Sunday in Ordinary Time? 

Our Church is always so logical and correct, except when she isn't:

Lectionary:

Book of the Gospels:

CENSORSHIP IN SOCIETY AND THE CHURCH AND THE AMERICAN “RIGHT TO FREE SPEECH” AND WHAT COMMONWEAL’S PAUL MOSES HAS TO SAY ABOUT IT

 

As a child “immigrant” growing up in the USA, Georgia to be exact, and partly during segregation here, free speech was ingrained in us in both Catholic and public schools. Yet, we were told that there were limits to free speech. No one could go into a crowded movie theater and yell “fire” if there was not fire as it could cause a stampede and people could be trampled, injured or killed.

The President of the United States is the most powerful man in the world (could be a woman eventually and sooner than we think). Right wingers who believe almost every conspiracy theory feel that there is a deep state that is manipulating elections and a power that is unseen and more powerful than the presidency.

Now, President Trump’s Twitter account has been permanently suspended. Why, because he’s been yelling fire where there is supposedly no fire. And his fire yelling led to an insurrection on Wednesday, Epiphany,  when the Capitol building was invaded during an extraordinary session of Congress leaving five dead, including a Capitol Policeman. 

But that begs the question. Media moguls are now the most powerful entities in the world and they can censor the most powerful man in the world, the sitting President of the USA. In effect, the politically to the left media giants have the power to censor a sitting President without checks and balances. 

Are they the “deep state?”

Isn’t it up to Congress to “censure” a President? Not Twitter? Or any other media platform? Have the media moguls overstepped their boundary? 

But with that said, in terms of checks and balances, Congress should be able to censure a President and any person in Congress if that is written in the Constitution. 

But a warning to Catholics. In the early 1980’s our now deceased former Bishop of Savannah, Bishop Lessard asked or told parishes not to provide the National Catholic Reporter or the Wanderer in the narthex of our churches. At that time, those two were the left and right extreme. 

The Church also required  that religious books needed censorship or an “imprimatur.” Catholics were not to read materials without that censor or imprimatur and most Catholics appreciated seeing the imprimatur in religious books they read.

But when it comes to “Catholic” media platforms, like Lifesite and Church Militant and also the National Catholic Reporter, there is no mechanism for the local bishop to give or withhold their imprimatur. 

Make no mistake, though, the leftist, schismatic National Catholic Reporter is as much a threat to the unity of the Church and is an arm of the radical elements of the Democrat party as lifesite and Church Militant are on the far right and radical elements of the Republican Party. Make no mistake about it. 

Paul Moses writing for Commonweal has a good article on far right Catholic media platforms. Unfortunately he does not include the far left. Press title for full article:

Piety, Populism, and ‘Patriots’

Right-wing Catholic media and the Capitol riots

By Paul Moses

January 8, 2021

HOLY DAYS OF OBLIGATION AND SANCTIFYING WEEKDAYS AND NOT JUST SUNDAYS

 

As everyone knows, I have been distressed beyond distress ever since the bishops with no real good reason, other than novelty, decided to turn Sunday into a Thursday when they transferred Ascension Thursday to the following Sunday and thus created out of thin air the miracle of making a Sunday, Thursday and Ascension Thursday at that. But there are two miracles involved, not only changing Sunday into Thursday but maintaining the number of days from the Resurrection to the Ascension, which of course any lay person knows, is 40 days. So even though it is three days later it is still 40 days after the resurrection. Only bishops could perform this kind of miracle. 

But all sarcasm aside, why in the Name of God and all that is Holy don't our bishops understand the importance of making days during the week into a "Sunday" by maintaining Holy Days of Obligation and adding more to them? The sanctification of time is important in these secular times.

When I was in a public high school, we Catholic kids had permission to arrive at school later in the day because of our obligation to attend a holy day of obligation Mass.   It was always cool to arrive late and tell the teacher I had to go to Mass and I had permission to come late. 

Thus, my suggestion to our esteemed bishops is to add extra holy days of obligation on the proper day:

Epiphany, January 6!

Annunciation, March 25

Ascension Thursday

Saint Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary, March 19

Assumption, August 15

All Saints, November 1

Immaculate Conception, December 8

Any others?

WHAT WILL THIS DAY BE LIKE.....? I WONDER.....

 

Sedition and treason are carried out by a right wing mob of insurrectionists who invaded the US Congress at the Capitol while in an extraordinary session. Four are killed.

Those responsible could be charged with treason and sedition in federal court and the death sentence is not off the table unless President Elect Biden once he is in office ends it.

But who instigated all of this and now for months. The current President of the USA. President Trump who has a cult-like following and followers who think he is a political messiah, hang on and believe every word he says when it is clear that often this president is a pathological liar. 

Like Mussolini who had a charismatic personality and his Italianness was on steroids, he also had a dedicated following, many cultural Catholics and others practicing Catholics despite the fact that he was a fascist. He did many good things that Italians liked, like getting the trains to run on time but other things too. But he was in cahoots with another cultic figure, Hitler. And both Hitler and Mussolini fanned the flames of populism with high octave fuel. And World War II ensued. Those who sided with Hitler and Mussolini were ardent, fanatical supporters and turned a blind eye to their cult of the personality. 

Basically, we have a Jim Jones effect in these two leaders and yesterday we saw Trump’s followers drink the Koolaide and continue to do so, even after sedition and treason, to support him and create other conspiracy theories that those who invaded the Capitol were antifa! Really!?

So what will this day be like? I wonder...

President Trump could be removed from office under the 25th amendment and could be charged with sedition and treason. He could face the death penalty for it.

Or in light of that possibility, he will resign and let Vice President Pence oversee a peaceful transition of power. He can cut a deal and save the nation from a political trial of a former US President. 

But two weeks more with an unhinged and clearly isolated president who has the nuclear option, literally, is quite dangerous.

FROM FACEBOOK’S “I’M FED UP WITH UGLY CHURCHES”

 This is a pre-Vatican II Catholic Church. But notice how the altar is dressed. The center tabernacle with the traditional six candlesticks and three steps up from the sanctuary floor, makes all the difference and brings focus to the purpose of an otherwise naked, minimalist, unremarkable, stark, brutalist, sterile pre-Vatican II Catholic Church:

The church of St Joseph, Aachen, Germany.

When visiting my eye floaters were visible against the brilliant white walls which was frustrating.

The church was built before Vatican II and is in stark contrast to the ornate Aachen Cathedral.

THE PRESS I SAW DURING THE INVASION OF THE CAPITOL BUILDING ARE NOT MY FATHER’S PRESS!

I was in my office when all hell broke out from Trump supporters who invaded the Capitol Building. I did not have access to a television and thus had to rely on finding something on the internet. All I could get was CNN and FOX.

This was a hard news story and one would expect that we would get hard news reporting from reporters. CNN which once was the Cadillac of covering breaking news and the go to news network to watch, was a miserable failure, miserable. 

What we got from CNN was hysterical political pundits masquerading as reporting a hard news, historic news. They gushed with indignation over what was happening and like diarrhea coming uncontrollably from their pundit mouths, they used their time on this network for therapy, psychological therapy. 

They needed a therapist, not a national news platform. 

I also watched FOX. For the most part they reported news without hysteria. 

I am watching NBC now at the 7 pm hour and it is approaching 8 PM. They are very professional. Our local stations for ABC and CBS are showing normal programming. 

NBC, thus far, has been measured and have been acting like legitimate reporters. 

I think the elephant in the room which has been touched a bit by NBC is what to do with an unhinged President who is responsible for what happened today. 

We are in dangerous times and we need good reporting, not hysteria from the so-called news media.

Where are Walter Conkright, Chet Huntley, David Brinkley, and the numerous other hard news reporters from the past going back to radio and print. We need them now, not what we have. 

THANK GOODNESS THE VATICAN STILL CELEBRATES EPIPHANY ON EPIPHANY, JANUARY 6!

 

WHEREIN GEORGIA MIRRORS THE NATION AND SHOWS HOW EQUALLY DIVIDED THE NATION AND STATE OF GEORGIA ARE

 

The only way for any political party to win an election these days is to attract the swing voters, usually those who call themselves independents, of which I classify myself. 

The election in Georgia on Tuesday of two senators shows how evenly divided Georgia now is and that reflects what is happening in the nation as a whole. Senator Elect Warnock won by a slim margin and it appears that Senator Perdue may lose by a slim margin, thus giving the Democrats control of the Presidency and Congress. 

The Catholic Church and thus bishops, priests and deacons, not to mention Religious men and women (religious orders) should not endorse this, that or the other candidate. The Church collectively does not do so in a democratic society. 

So, apart form conspiracy theories which are abundant, how did the Republicans lose what was theirs to win?

My theories:

1. An act of God in the Pandemic. I know, I know, progressive Catholics are wont to attribute plagues, natural disasters and the destruction of peoples and animals to God, but it is very Biblical and we cannot escape it with a Pollyanna theology.  We can say God was displease with the President's emphasis on mammon to the neglect of the poor and thus favoring the rich and want to be rich.

2. In President Trump we have a president with personality disorders and an inferiority complex masked by overcompensating his own virtues and abilities. Chaos has reigned in the White House; there has been a tremendous turn-over in the office of the Presidency and many have who have quit or been fired are talking and more of that will come out. The Narcissistic personality and perhaps Obsessive Compulsive Disorder are at work.  The denigration of anyone who disagrees with the President by sophomoric name calling and the like and a sophomoric mentality in general may well have turned most swing voters off.

When supporters of the President come off as though they are a part of the Championship Wrestling Crowd and its throw them to the lions coliseum  mentality of entertainment, they lose the swing voters who are bit more sophisticated and brought up with manners and etiquette. 

3. In Georgia, Senator Kelly Leofler  mocked Senator Elect Wornock's Black Baptist Faith and this certainly contributed to the black vote getting out to support one of their own. Also using a scorned former or separated wife in ads was not appreciated by the religious blacks in the south. And there is a failure to understand Black Protestant Theology as it concerns being oppressed and seeing the nation and whites at the root of it. Many progressive whites who might have been swing voters empathize with the black community in the south and many my age and older remember segregation and the racism of the south and how these contributed to the marginalization of the black community.  

There is a lesson in here for pro-life Catholics who are very conservative politically. If there is not a consistent ethic of life, welcoming of strangers and migrants and respectful language toward those who disagree with the political right's agenda, Republicans will continue to lose. There is a disconnect for the respect of persons, born or unborn, when a child from Latin America brought here illegally by her parents as an infant and grows up in the USA and as an adult could be deported and threats are made against them that they will be. That is a turn off to swing voters.

As it concerns the Democrats and the more radical elements of it, they will certainly lose if they continue to make abortion, even partial birth abortion and killing a child after a botched abortion a "sacrament" of their agenda. Their pro-choice ideology from a religious and humanity point of view is deadly and will cost them in the future. 

Pope Francis is right on abortion, it is a human tragedy even before religious sentiments are brought into it.

PRIVATE DEVOTION AND MASS PARTICIPATION VERSES COMMUNAL WORSHIP

 

When Vatican II was being shoved down our throats right after the conclusion of the Council, and yes it was shoved, the way it was done was to denigrate everything Catholics did at Mass and in their pious devotional life.

Out was anything that was “me and Jesus” during Mass or in any kind of traditional popular devotion. If you prayed the Rosary during Mass, you were living in the dark ages and a complete ignoramus as it concerns what the Eucharist is. It is about what we do together, collectively, not anything we do privately. Private relationships with God are out, communal are in and anything that distracts from the communal celebrations must be excoriated. 

Thus churches has to be stripped of anything that would lead to any kind of private devotion during Mass, like statues, the tabernacle, candles and the like. Only the people, the altar, the ambo and most certainly the priest must be seen and the focus had to be on all four, especially the priest’s chair. 

However, God has pulled off a miracle. He canceled all public and communal celebrations of the Mass and other sacraments with the Covid-19 pandemic. This has occurred worldwide from the Vatican to the smallest mission. 

In effect, God has vetoed the communal and forced us into the private aspects of Catholicism that priests and laity my age and older were told was so bad and so pre-Vatican II. Of course, back in 1965, being labeled pre-Vatican II was like the “n” word. It was not a compliment. 

Today, in 2021, pre-Vatican II has been redeemed by God. It is not like the “n” word at all, but a complement to orthodox Catholics. How good it that?

But back to pandemic private devotions. What would orthodox Catholics do without their private devotions? They would be like progressive Catholics with nothing to fall back upon. How sad is that?

LET’S GET INTO SOME REAL THEOLOGY!

 On January 6, Epiphany, Italy not only celebrates the three Magi, but also the mythical Santa Claus-like La Befana. She is a good witch and most Americans might associate her with the dark side of Halloween. However, like Santa Claus, and like the three Magi, she brings tiny gifts to good children. She fills their stockings with fruits, small toys, nuts and the like. The bad children get coal. My mother wanted to promote LaBefana when we moved to the USA but my father was opposed to it thinking that I would get confused in terms of Santa Claus which he loved and this witch. But heck, if I could get gifts from Santa on December 25 and gifts for La Befana on January 6, there would be nothing confusing about that!

CAN WE MAKE A LIGITIMATE CASE FOR THE LATIN RITE'S USE OF LATIN THE LITURGY?

Fortunately, John Nolan has come to our rescue to make sure we all know that Amen is Latin: " 'Amen' may be borrowed from Hebrew, but it is still a Latin word, and as such has the stress on the first syllable." 

One of the problems, of many problems, with the use of Latin in the Ordinary Form of the Mass is that it doesn't make any sense to do so. It becomes an idiosyncrasy of the priest, the parish or the diocese with no real need for it other than preserving the official language of the Church by three very parochial entities. 

Prior to Vatican II, the use of Latin in the Latin Rite of the Church was to unite the world's Latin Rite Catholics in a common Mass and language. No matter what Latin Rite parish you went to in the entire world, the Mass was the same. All that was needed was the hand missal for the changing parts of the Mass. 

Thus an English speaking Catholic could worship in a Chinese parish and still feel as though he was in his home parish except for the difference of ethnicity. A Spanish speaker would not know what the homily was about or the announcements, but everything else would be at his fingertips in his dandy St. Joseph Missal (which I still have). 

But more importantly, any missionary priest could go anywhere in the world and celebrate Mass. All he would need is an interpreter for his homily. 

But now that the vernacular has splintered the Latin Rite Church, that can no longer take place, even in a single parish with multiple ethnicity and languages. 

Thus if I have a mega parish with multiple Spanish, Italian, Chinese, Republic of Georgians, Russians and Jews, I would have to find priests who could speak Hebrew, and all the other languages. I could not do any of those Masses, especially the Hebrew Mass. 

But if Vatican II had emphasized the importance of Latin for the unity of the Church and the sanity of priests, I could offer Mass for each language group in my parish and simply have someone interpret my homily and give the announcements. How cool would that be?

FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE VATICAN II! HISTORIC EVENT AT YOURS TRULY’S PARISH IN LIL OLE RICHMOND HILL!

 As reported by Georgia’s Unavoce:

LATIN MASS & TRADITIONAL CATHOLIC NEWS FOR GEORGIA

THIS IS THE FIRST AND ONLY WEB SITE FOR NEWS ABOUT THE TRADITIONAL LATIN MASS AND TRADITIONAL CATHOLICISM FOR THE ENTIRE STATE OF GEORGIA. IT IS OPERATED BY UNA VOCE. FOR DETAILS ON THE LATIN MASS AND TRADITIONAL CATHOLICISM IN GEORGIA VISIT THE WEB PAGE OF UNA VOCE GEORGIA AT WWW.UNAVOCE-GA.ORG

MONDAY, JANUARY 4, 2021

FIRST TIME SINCE VATICAN II EPIPHANY WATER BLESSING SAVANNAH DIOCESE 2021

 

Saint Ann'e’s Richmond Hill

HISTORIC EVENT THIS TUESDAY FIRST TIME IN THE SAVANNH DIOCESE SINCE VATICAN II EPIPHANY WATER 

Make every effort to attend Saint Ann's parish in Richmond Hill this Tuesday for the Vigil of the Epiphany. For the first time since Vatican II Epiphany water will be blessed during vespers at 6:00 pm. There will be a high mass at 6:00 pm by Father John Paul Heiser, OSB. Following mass the Epiphany water will be blessed. Bring a container of water and make sure your name is on it. Spread the word and bring a friend. See the post below about the Blessing of Epiphany water and the Epiphany blessing of homes during the octave of the Epiphany: High Mass and Epiphany Water Blessing

Tuesday January 5, After the 6pm High Mass for the Feria After Circumcision, Father John Paul Heiser from Benedictine will bless Epiphany Water. Bring water to be blessed. Water, chalk, and instructions for the Home Blessing will be available after. 

Epiphany Water has two exorcisms and is one of the strongest sacramentals of the liturgical year. 

St Anne's Church, 

Martha-Mary Chapel

10550 Ford Avenue

Richmond Hill, Georgia

ABSURD!

 A minister said a prayer at a congressional meeting this weekend. He concluded with Amen and Awoman.

No wonder religion is no longer taken seriously.

In light of that, this makes sense:

SAVANNAH SEMINARIANS

 Seminarian Kevin Braski who was with my parish last summer sent me the first picture of his senior year at Mt. deSales Academy in Macon. At the Senior class’s first Mass at St. Joseph, each senior receives a special individual blessing. It is a very nice tradition there. It was a blessing for me to offer it. He is currently in 1st theology at Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans. He is a graduate of the University of Georgia. Following that he did two years of Philosophy (pre Theology) at St. Benedict’s in Covington. Louisiana.

Seminarian will Cook (with backward cap) Kevin Braski above him, Fr. Pete May, who was my altar boy in Augusta and I gave him his First Communion, Fr. Drew Larkin, also a graduate of Mt. deSales Academy in Macon, and Deacon, soon to be Fr. Nate Swann, my convert from St. Joseph in Macon.

THIS IS AN AUSTRIAN SEMINARY CHAPEL; NICE, NO? NO!

 From the "I Am Fed Up With Ugly Churches" Facebook page, comes this beauty. 

The law of prayer is the law of belief. I think we can extend that "truism" to architecture. The law of architecture is the law of belief.

Don't look at the crucifix. Pretend it isn't there. This chapel could be Presbyterian or Church of Christ but certainly not Catholic as it is stripped of Catholic sensibilities. It is Protestant theology, or worse yet, post-Catholicism. 

Look at the crucifix. It is meant to look like that. There is an explanation, but I don't buy it. The artist is snickering that he was able to sell this post-Catholic piece of "art" to a seminary who actually installed it in their seminary chapel. His form of blasphemy, their form of spirituality.

The biggest problem with this is that this chapel is forming future priests for Austria. It isn't just some wayward congregation into post-Catholicism. It is post-Catholicism preparing for future priests in that schismatic institution.  

And in Austria of all places which has some of the most beautiful Catholic Churches in the world, all built on the theology prevalent before Vatican II. Tell me that the Church hasn't been cooked like a frog in the crock pot of "let's re-imagine the Church and make it something unrecognizable as Catholic." And by Church, I mean Church, but it could also mean church.

ON THIS NEW YEAR’S DAY, LET’S TALK ABOUT CLERICALISM AS I AM NOT SURE WHAT IT IS AND WHAT IT ISN’T ALTHOUGH VAGUELY I CAN DETECT IT

 

I guess in a nutshell, clericalism is an undue or unquestioning authority given to any one person, no matter their profession. It isn’t a disease of just the priesthood or those in the clerical state.

For example, with the outbreak of the worldwide pandemic, the new clericalism is the unquestioned authority that scientists and doctors now wield and God forbid you question what is espoused by these “experts” or question those who blindly follow them. 

This occurs that despite their expertise, they have been so wrong on how to “flatten the curve” itself a silly meme, and have been wrong throughout history on certain subjects. 

Doctors and scientist have always had a messiah complex but that’s on steroids today—the messiah complex is clericalism in the priesthood or in scientific and medical circles. 

As it concerns the clergy of the Catholic Church, clericalism before Vatican II elevated individuals in the priesthood to other worldly status and nothing they could do could be questioned or excuses were made because they weren’t married and that caused idiosyncrasies or irritability. But the laity followed even errant priests because of the Messiah complex the laity allowed for the clergy, like so many “laity” today allow for doctors and scientists to remain unquestioned. 

Today, post-Vatican II, clericalism allows for what we have seen happen to our Church and Liturgy. Both become the priest or bishop’s playground regardless of what it does to the laity for good or evil. 

Look at how beautiful churches were reckovated or new ones no longer recognized as Catholic. How did that happen? EXPERTS ON VATICAN II, BE THEY CLERGY OR MONEY MAKING LITURGICAL CONSULTANTS SAID THIS IS WHAT VATICAN II WANTED AND THUS WE ARE DOING IT!

Clericalism can be seen in academics and an academic priest or bishop who is into clericalism can inflict the greatest harm on the Church in general and individuals in particular. Academics in high education look down their noses at their students and feel they know it all and know better than those less educated than themselves. Thus being well-educated and in preferable institutions, think Norte Dame or Harvard, places the person above everyone else and contributes to their desire not to be questioned by those not as smart as they. 

I think that’s clericalism. It is arrogance, basically. 

Discuss.