Sunday, September 18, 2011

Wedding Dress Shopping and the Taming of the Shrew in Blogosphere


I apologize for the scant blogging this week. My oldest daughter is getting married in the Fall of 2012 and we were/are shopping for a wedding dress. Of course at a size 2, everything had to be pinned up which doesn't do justice to the design of the dress...and so the search continues. She did find a few she really likes and we may well go back to them - but I'm really hoping for a 'this is it' moment for her.

I approached shopping for a wedding dress with my daughter with the sensitivities that what I want her to wear and what she may fall in love with in a dress are two different things. I don't want to impose my style on her...just be there to make sure the Sacrament is the focus and help her to find the wow factor in the styles of the dress. Many blessings as we make our way to it.

Anyway, I wanted to followup on the problems in blogosphere.


Catholic blogging, especially at this time in our history, is about helping to free up truth from the negligence and errors of unfaithful priests and Bishops. Each of us has their own calling and mission. Christ ministered to people's spiritual and temporal needs in numerous ways, according to the situation. Some - like Judas, He tried to set an example for through loving him gently. Others, He provoked by saying they were dogs unworthy of reception. Others, He took the whip to drive them out. Other times, in His omnipotence - He knew the situation called for truth and mercy. There is temperament of the persons, spiritual warfare and other things involved in the reasons for these different approaches.

Christ could, of course, do it all and in an instant. He could see it all, knew it all and in His perfection, could create a perfect storm for healing. Healing requires a submission of the person. If it relied solely upon God, everyone would be perfect in health and mind and spirit. There are different ways and different approaches according to the circumstances.

In our humanity, we cannot. To make up for those deficiencies, each of us has been imparted with gifts to carry out only a part of it.

I have my own mission in this spiritual vortex as we try to carry on Christ's ministry. Shea has his own mission. Terry Nelson has his own mission. Voris has his.

Instead of working as the Mystical Body of Christ, two things are happening in blogosphere.

1. People suffer from the affliction of believing their own calling and mission is the sole ministry of Christ.

2. The mission gets trumped by one that protects the ego, emotions and feelings of people.


All of us can and do fall into these pits along our way.

As our faith matures, we grasp number 1.

Number 2 is always hanging around in some form or way - either in minor ways or it can take over the animus of the mission and the people near it.

The discussions about Communion in hand at Abbey Roads were so immersed in both of these spiritual challenges that my presence in bringing them into to the light was only serving to dig heels more deeply into these flaws.

Since my own mission is more of the emergency search and rescue, I have a tough time watching people swimming in the river of denial without trying to cast the net. I can't seem to keep my mouth shut. Since I felt this was conflicting with Terry's mission and what he wanted to do on his own blog, I unlinked him. It seems by doing so, it's led to an impression that I think he is unorthodox or unfaithful - which is absurd. Nor should my unlinking him imply I believe him to be spiritually inferior.

There were numerous posts that whipped up a frenzy of contempt for Voris, Corapi and others, ridiculing the person for foibles and troubles and sins, excuse it by implying they are carrying out the mission of mortification of souls. That's a new one on me. You can't do this and then claim you're trying not to create cliques because that is exactly what you are doing.

To protect feelings and emotions and egos, others chime in to dump on the the mission of the exposition of priests Cardinal who are sexually exploiting children and adults, leading their flocks into temptation, sin and spiritual death, sacrilege of Christ's Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity or even hiring people to kill the unborn to make a profit, enabling or supporting the killing in some way to as having the same motives and objectives.

But, these two things couldn't be any further apart.

One is a mission of liberty from evil.

The other is a combination (and fruit) of number 1 and 2 above.

The taming of the shrews requires acceptance that Christ's ministry has many facets, for many reasons that cannot be seen with the eyes in our head. An admission that Christ's gifts and ministry which He witnessed to had to be divy'd up among the donkeys. It would require support and prayer.

Until that day comes, you gotta know when hold em. Know when to fold em. Know when to walk away and know when to run.

Otherwise, you can do more damage to the souls with their panties in a twist than if you had said and done nothing at all.

***ADDENDUM

I wish I could write more about this subject today, but I simply MUST make my way through my adoring fans and papparazzi to run some errands!

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Meanwhile your buddy and colleague in condemning *some* bloggers as "Professional Catholics" - Steve Kellmeyer - is calling Fr. Pavone a "money-grubbing worm."

http://skellmeyer.blogspot.com

That shocked even me.

Will the usual *anti-"professional Catholics" like you and Dymphna and Voris take Kellmeyer to task?

I doubt it - because his name ain't Shea or Kandra or Scalia.

TTC said...

'money-grubbing worm'?

I hate to say it, but I don't know who steve kellmeyer is.

I don't see much difference in saying that and Mark Shea calling Corapi a fraud and a liar.



I don't see Corapi or any other Catholic as frauds, liars or money grubbing worms. I just see them as fallen souls.

But truth be told, this kind of contempt is something we all look forward to in the pews. Shake hands with the kind and charitable people with perfume of roses who say 'peace of Christ'. Just know if you fall, they will stampede to scratch you with their ginormous thorns. If you allow them to, they will reduce you to pulp and then come together for a group hug about how kind and saintly they are, all while claiming to only want peace and love throughout the land.

Somewhere, the devil is dancing.

TTC said...

Come to think of it, you don't even have to fall. All you have to do is defend truth and life from error or evil and you'll get a good dose of it.

susan said...

Classic McKinley...well said.

and the blog referenced above is vile...don't increase his traffic, it's not worth the effort of a visit; calumny, detraction, and rabid insults.

TTC said...

Ya think? I don't know.

The things Terry wrote about the perception he was unfaithful to doctrine, or I didn't like him, etc., made me feel the right thing to do would be to go over and correct the record. When I got there, I got the 411 on all kinds of things about myself from Joyce.

It appears I am famous. Not only am I famous, but I have let the fame all go to my head. I started out with good intentions but then my ego got WAY overblown and though I think I'm crusading for Christ, I'm just crusading for myself. And...brace yourself..I am apparently having a love affair with Michael Voris.

I'm afraid to leave my house now without makeup or in my sweatpants... and I'm thinking about wearing a wig and sunglasses when I go to the gym as I fear I will end up in the National Enquirer in one of those 'gone to the dogs' I'm relieved I didn't know this in the summer or I never would have sat on a beach in my bathing suit.

How will I find out what to do without those who know the mind of Jesus and channel our vocations and lives to us?

Do you think I should send them over the pictures of wedding dresses?

Maybe you should go over there so they can get another reading on you?

susan said...

:):):)

But the blog I was referring to as vile was is the one 'anonymous' references above....it is rabid.

and as for the 'other' blog you reference...uh uh...I'm keeping my distance. :)

TTC said...

Ohhhh...my bad!

Well, do you think we should alert the embassy that I'll be in DC in a few weeks so the Nuncio will arrange to have a proper greeting for me at the airport?

TTC said...

Just kidding.

Several people have asked - and yes, that is my daughter in the picture.

Lynne said...

You must be so excited! The Fall of 2012 is going to be here before you know it... Enjoy the time with your daughter.

An old saying, "A son is a son till he takes a wife but a daughter is a daughter all her life" :-)

susan said...

Perhaps a cappa magna? Of course in the salmon-red and not the magenta...so few wear that color well. :)

TTC said...

Lynne, we are all very excited and having a blast.

Susan,whooh, yes! But definitely NOT magenta. (I believe the prophecy ended with a warning not to sell ourselves as martyrs as we don't even know what a martyr is - something with which I wholeheartedly concur!)

I'll be the one singing that song by Counting Crows...

When I look at the television, I want to see me, staring right back at me. We all want to be big, big stars but we don't know why and we don't how. But when everybody loves me, I'll be as happy as I can be.

Caroline said...

Carol, I live vicariously through moms with daughters..It was all son's for me (and my sister, too.) But my mom says I gave her enough excitement in life to last 3 generations.. : ) Blessings to you and your daughter.
Re: Bloggers.. The devil is dancing somewhere, but it's not at the Tenth Crusade..At the risk of being accused of being one of your 'sycophants' & willing to adjust your crown, I've been reading here for a while and have watched you stand unmoved (Hehir, Boston,O'Malley, Sacred Heart) with a courage and fortitude that I deeply admire. It's not my gift to expose truth with such power and clarity , but I respect it as yours.

And I'm thankful you embrace the challenge. One day you'll lay that crown at the Lord's feet.

+

Anonymous said...

This post bothers me in so many ways I can't even begin to articulate - about the gown shopping, about Terry, about the Eucharist, about the other bloggers, all of it.

Heavy sigh.

TTC said...

Anonymous, I'm sorry the post has made you feel melancholy. I think we are all in agreement that there is a sick culture in blogosphere. It's getting misdiagnosed and it will never get fixed unless and until it's rightly diagnosed and the infection is treated with the right cure.

I can't imagine what would make you feel disturbed about a young woman who is planning a Sacramental wedding, especially in this day and age when most women are not even bothering with getting married and if they do, it's a civil marriage. In any event, as a heads-up, seldom do I share (or have time to share) details about my personal life - but I will most likely be sharing small pieces of this journey so feel free to tune out when if and when it disgusts you.

Peace.

TTC said...

Caroline,

Thanks for the kind words. I am in love with how diverse Christ's Mystical Body actually is - nobody's gifts are any better than anyone else's. We enrich each other. At least that is that is the way it is supposed to work. Right now, we have a lot of work to do to get the machine to work all together. It sometimes shocks me where I find the seven deadly sins feasting. Blessings to you and yours.

Maria said...

I thought for sure you'd be in hell about now, Carol. LOL.