Sunday, July 31, 2011

Veddddy Interesting!

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Mass Citizens for Life"
Date: Jul 26, 2011 10:51 PM
Subject: MCFL looking to hire Executive Director
To:



Mass. Citizens is planning to hire an Executive Director. If you are interested,
please check, http://jobview.monster.com/Executive-Director-Job-Boston-MA-US-101205979.aspx


We are very excited about finding just the person. Please feel free to forward this
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You've Come a Long Way Baby

Here's a gem written by Jon O'Brien, President of "Catholics For Choice".

What is a man doing heading up the cultural crusade to deflower and dump women?

(By the way, I'm curious, have you ever heard the wizards at the USCCB say that 'Catholics for Choice' is not approved by the Catholic Church?)

I'm not sure what to say about the poor misguided lambs whooping it up that the government run by sexually irresponsible men has decided women need free birth control.

We don't love you or respect you but we'd like to use you for sex and then dump you. Free pills for everyone so men don't end up like John Edwards.

And what do these poor women say to the men tweeting pictures of themselves naked, having their way with women whose self-respect is bankrupt from sleeping around with men who make clear at the outset they're going to dump them or they want to live with them rather than marry them because something better might come along yonder down the road?

"...progressive Catholic organizations appear to have a better understanding of Catholic teachings than the bishops. Citing the Catholic social justice tradition, the organizations requested that Secretary Sebelius reject this demand from the U.S. bishops and not "impose burdensome conscience clauses which seek to limit and indeed eliminate access, and dishonor the conscience of those seeking services."

The timing of the letter is particularly opportune because July 25 is the 43rd anniversary of when Pope Paul VI issued Humanae Vitae."



Why thank you sirs for respecting our "consciences"!

God preserve our young women from the insanity.

This was my favorite part of the article:


Since Humanae Vitae, Catholics have increasingly felt that the hierarchy did not speak for them
.

It sure doesn't. The Catholic Church is the Paraclete Christ promised before being Martyred to purchase Her for those who wish to follow His guidance and pursue Heaven. It speaks for God, Our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ our Sovereign King.

Knock yourselves out rejecting the guidance. But really, I don't know what you've won. You've built a generation of men who never developed emotional intimacy and relationship skills because you reduced sexuality to an emotionless alternative to masturbation.

The reality is, it is a generation of women suffering the consequences. Lonely and miserable. Seems to me women were much happier when they reserved their sexuality for men who committed their lives to the women they loved for better or worse, richer or poorer, in sickness and in health.


Not to worry though, they're passing out pills for that too. Maybe they should augment this initiative and pass out free antidepressants along with it.

More Wreckovation and Lies from the Archdiocese of Boston

Earlier this week, Cardinal O'Malley moved the body of Boston's first Cardinal and tore down his mausoleum to close the sale of the Chancery to Boston College. Boston College escrowed 2 million dollars pending the removal of Cardinal O'Connell's body since 2004.

Cardinal O'Malley made the deal to disinter O'Connell's body and demolish his mausoleum without permission or even a courtesy call from his relatives. Upon learning of the deal, they promptly took the Cardinal to court where the matter has been tied up since 2004.

They didn't have the decency to hire a hearse. The gravediggers dug him up and the body was thrown onto the back of their truck.

Our friends at BCI point out yet another stupid lie from the Archdiocese. The Cardinal sold all of the land to Boston College. Our Catholic seminary is literally leasing air space on the parcel formerly owned by the Archdiocese and those entitled to her inheritance, built up over the last 200 years.

Last October, we reported in “Seminary Squeezola: BC Brighton Campus Plans” that St. Johns Hall is all that remains of the former St. Johns Seminary property for the seminary, and even that building sits on land now owned by Boston College. The building itself is legally considered a “condominium.” You can verify that in the St. Johns Seminary 2010 annual report on page 9, where it says: “The Seminary retained an ownership of a condominium in St. John’s Hall.”

Bottom line: there are in reality no more ”grounds of St. John’s Seminary.” BC owns all the land. Thus, the remains of Cardinal O’Connell were moved from the former chapel and mauselium that was on land currently owned by BC, to another plot of land that is also owned by BC, which is very close to St. John’s Seminary. Cardinal O’Connell was re-buried in a gravesite which is today legally Boston College property, not the “grounds of St. John’s Seminary.”


How strange, peculiar and unnecessary it is to lie about the situation.

It is duly noted by Boston Catholics that though the Archbishop couldn't make the time to perform his duty to give the honor and respect Cardinal O'Connell deserved under these most grievous circumstances, he was able to make the time to be present and accounted for to cry like a banshee at Myra Kraft's funeral.

The chicanery is breathtaking.

Debtpocolypse Tanking Obama's Approval Rating

His class warfare shtick may not be working out for him after all.

I don't remember it, but apparently the same dive in approval rating happened during Clinton's shutdown.

I seldom if ever have tuned into his 'speeches', but I did tune in to his debtpocolypse speech. I was curious to get a good, hard look at what would manifest itself.

Whoah, he sure can sling it. Lie straight-faced. Calm, cool, manipulative.

Something creepy going on there.

Anyway, what ever happened to the 'change' he was going to bring to Washington?

Is this it?

The chaos of a reckless spending spree and then asking taxpayers for a blank check?

Jerry Lewis on Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton...

Saturday, July 30, 2011

The Princes of the Church...

I have a lot of smart readers so let me throw this question out there...

Who came up with the birdbrained idea that Bishops are supposed to be 'princes'?

'Princes of the Church'??

It isn't from Christ or of Christ as His directives were to flitz about preaching truth with nothing but the sandals on their feet and to follow the path to His Marrtydom, which most of them did.

Bishops (and in fact priests) give up their families, possessions, homes and if necessary their very lives to be a beacon to uphold the moral precepts of the Catholic Church in a hostile culture.

They are not princes and laity has to stop creating the thrones for them to sit their weak, craven and indulgent fannies upon. It is enabling and an obstacle to the merits of their vocation: They are martyrs.

Kicking the dogs when they're down

I long ago stopped reading secular newspapers and watching the news. I figure if it's something that affects us, Pewsitter or New Advent will post it or the bloggers will pick it up. It's nothing but the propoganda of mean-spirited religious bigots.

Yesterday,I picked a Herald lying around on a table while waiting for my salad with chicken and feta and this story blew me away.

For those of you outside of Boston, the two characters involved are both former Speakers of the House, both democrats, both got prosecuted for abuse of power. Tom Finneran for some kind of redistricting scheme and Sal DiMasi for taking bribes. I don't know the merits of either accusation - but both were convicted. Tom now has a radio show and Sal is awaiting sentencing.

Finneran, is a prolifer and for the most part during his tenure he did what he could to protect unborn children.

DiMasi on the other hand, was an enemy of the unborn. He didn't just rake us over the coals, he was spiteful. There is no love loss between prolifers and Sal DiMasi, but nonetheless, this article is a pathetic indictment of where the media is taking the animus and soul of our country.

The village idiots are being desensitized to innate virtues, including compassion, by pitching class warfare.

Finneran was expressing compassion for a family he observes going down the tubes. A colleague, and presumably a friend of his, struggling to pay the bills and provide for their children.

Is this some kind of etiquette on compassion I'm unaware of?

When giants fall, we are suppose to laugh at and ridicule the compassion relatives and friends express towards those who studied in school, driven to achieve, who now find themselves unable to provide for their children?

How cheap and contemptible.

Yet, Casey Anthony, a woman who killed her daughter and got away with it, is showered with affection and compassion in the press. Charlie Sheen's drug addict and pervert show is a national sensation. Murderers, drug addicts and drunks are cultural heroes of the idiot boxes in our living rooms.

I that decent, honorable people won’t/don’t go into politics.

I also worry about the village idiots being desensitized to innate virtues – including compassion – by pitching class warfare.

The venom is just really shocking and sad for our country.

Something’s got to give.

Purgatory for Bloggers

Fun post at Larry's: Bloggurgatory

Me?

Stuck on the Redline between Ashmont and Alewife, flanked on all sides by the characters from the Chancery, America Magazine, Vox Nova and the National Catholic Reporter incessantly repeating as dull as dishwater balderdash and theological errors.

David Haas blaring from the PA system "We come to share our story. We come to break the bread. We come to know our rising from the dead."

You?

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Catechesis has to be approved by Bishops, dontcha know...

It took 40 years and hundreds of thousands of complaints about errors in Catechesis, but the day when Bishops finally publicly denounce a Catechist has arrived.

“Participants in the World Youth Day 2011 Cultural Program must be recognized and endorsed by the bishops and episcopal conferences of their respective countries,” read a July 25 statement from the event’s organizers."

There had been “some confusion” about Voris’ affiliation with World Youth Day, organizers said, further noting that “Real Catholic TV” and Michael Voris’ catechetical session “No Bull in Madrid” have not received endorsements from the group’s local bishop—Archbishop Allen Vigneron of Detroit—or the U.S. bishops’ conference.


Aaaah. Now I get it.Every World Youth Day, there is some group of promiscuous people who pass out condoms. That must be part of approve World Youth Day programming.

I guess too, we can assume everything written in the National Catholic Reporter has received their endorsements?

Who do they think they're kidding?

This isn't about catechesis.

This is what Bishops do to people who expose their misfeasance, malfeasance and abuse.

They are “not in any way recognized or approved” by the official event. The Pontifical Council for the Laity selects and invites only bishops from around the world to conduct catechesis sessions at World Youth Day, the statement explained.


That's right. Bishops like Cardinal O'Malley who signed an abortion contract who was so ignorant of Catholic teaching, he had to call in Catholic bioethics experts to advise him as to whether he can hire people to kill other people and give them rides to their executions - that is who conducts Catechesis.

A bishop who thinks a priest leading a ministry known for hooking up sex partners, filled with older promiscuous men reaching out to emotionally disturbed at risk children estranged from their families who are sexually confused, is a wonderful priest who has his support, THAT is what world youth day is looking for to lead catechesis.

Given the state of catechesis in Boston, one only has to imagine who is on the credentials committee.

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Heart of My Own Heart, Whatever Befalls...

Still be my vision, Oh Ruler of All!

Is the Church Imploding?

A dear Catholic and reader here at TTC asked somewhere in the comments section. I didn't get a chance to respond. Now that I have a moment, I thought it would be better to post the response in a more prominent place.

"NO!"


It's just a period in our history where there is a sifting of souls. The period when the tempter works on the elect, the baptized. A period when I/we need to be on our guard. Painful to watch.


Here's a treasure from a book called Prayer in the Presence of God, written by Dom Augustin Guillerand, sent to me by a gracious woman and sister in Christ, among so many of you - both men and women - whom I have had the pleasure to make acquaintance.

Springs gush forth from rocks in the desert. The waters of the sea of rivers divide to allow a vast concourse of people to pass over. The walls of the city fall down, enemies are put to flight and manna descends daily from Heaven. The sick are healed, the lame walk and the dead are raised to life. Hardened sinners are touched by grace, while the minds of men are elevated so that they perceive beyond them perspectives of light by which they almost seem to enter into the very truth of God. Wills are strengthened and at once take control of passions until then unleashed. Divine Love comes so near to souls that He seems almost to consume them and to transform them into His own likeness.


The Church stands, shining on the top of the hill. I watch it as an observer, similar to Paul's last entry in the New Testament.

When you find yourself thinking that it is the 'Church' that is imploding, go there. One day, it will be such a familiar place to you that you'll take up residence there.

Then the angel showed me the river of life-giving water, sparkling like crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb

down the middle of its street. On either side of the river grew the tree of life that produces fruit twelve times a year, once each month; the leaves of the trees serve as medicine for the nations.

Nothing accursed will be found there anymore. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him....


"Behold, I am coming soon. I bring with me the recompense I will give to each according to his deeds.

I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end."

Blessed are they who wash their robes so as to have the right to the tree of life and enter the city through its gates.

Outside are the dogs, the sorcerers, the unchaste, the murderers, the idol-worshipers, and all who love and practice deceit.

"I, Jesus, sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the root and offspring of David, the bright morning star."

The Spirit and the bride say, "Come." Let the hearer say, "Come." Let the one who thirsts come forward, and the one who wants it receive the gift of life-giving water.

I warn everyone who hears the prophetic words in this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book,

and if anyone takes away from the words in this prophetic book, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city described in this book.

The one who gives this testimony says, "Yes, I am coming soon." Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!

The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all.

A Goodbye to the Knights of Columbus

Wow. Michael Voris has publicly expressed what many other faithful Catholic men have quietly been doing for some time now, left the Knights of Columbus.

Many, many years ago, I naively thought the capes, swords and feathers parading in Masses meant they were men who defended Church teaching. When the Deposit of Faith, our schools, our children and the culture was under attack, they were one of the first groups I reached out to. I won't bore you with the all the details but every time I now see them in their ridiculous costumes, it generates disgust.

The Knights does fundraise and uses its sources to do some good work but sadly, the feathers and swords protect corruption, abortion and the political and theological indoctrination of our people into the slavery of sin.

Several of you have written to alert me that Mark Shea stuck more pins into his Voris voodoo doll.

You have to love the irony of this citation in his Voriscreed:

For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." But if you bite and devour one another take heed that you are not consumed by one another.But I say, walk by the Spirit, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you would. But if you are led by the Spirit you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are plain: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, selfishness, dissension, party spirit, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and the like. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. 26 Let us have no self-conceit, no provoking of one another, no envy of one another. (Galatians 5:14-26)


Helllooowwwwwwwww. Check out your archives Mark!

Or, if you don't have time, CMR has the reader's digest of his most recent:

Mark drops a whole dumptruck of hyperbolic polemic on Voris. Some juicy excerpts.

Voris' sole message is "I am the measure of Real Catholicism and those who agree with me have the right to call themselves Catholic, while those who disagree are liars and lukewarm fake Catholics".
and
Dave Armstrong (who is, of course, not a real Catholic since he questions the infallible Voris) looks at Voris' tissue of prideful, biblically illiterate and theologically stupid assertions
and then Mark unloads on those who like Voris (like me, I suppose)
Why does this matter? Because I am constantly hearing from fans of Voris who think that his method of perpetually sneering at brother and sister Catholics, tearing down anything that he deems to be not "really" Catholic, and endlessly complaining about and sneering at others for their alleged "impurity" (such as singing "Amazing Grace") constitutes being a "bold voice of reform".
and
I don't understand what people see in this guy. You can get all the good things he has to say--without the sectarian self-righteousness and cloddish theological blunders and over-simplifications--from lots of other sources. So it would appear that precisely what people want is his distinctive contribution: sectarian self-righteousness and cloddish over-simplifications.


Good one. LOL.

We all have a job to do. Nobody this side of Colleseum has had the spinal fortitude to do what Michael Voris is doing. Putting Christ's Church above the need to be controlled by donors with cult mentality of protecting corrupt Bishops and Cardinals and priests.

That era is coming to an end. It will be painful for those who want to continue to protect it. Such is life.

Worthy is the Lamb


I don't know where Terry finds these things!



It's a little over the top for me but I smile when I see him dressed this way. No doubt, it is a level of respect and love I still haven't reach. It is such a revelation of his heart - worthy is the Lamb.

He is a corker and I absolutely love him.

The rumors in the mill circulating about Bishop Chaput's appointment to Philly are that it indicates some significant changes in who is guiding the counsel of the Pope on appointments. (You'll remember the Pope rejected the recommendation of the usual suspects.)

I hope it's true. I do pray he is our next Pope.

Saturday, July 23, 2011

The latest from the chief fundraiser at the Chancery...

May her memory be for a blessing. (?) She was a great supporter for serving less fortunate, dedicated to serving those in need. She was an advocate for abortion and gay marriage and did a great disservice to souls and the Catholic Church....oh wait, he didn't say that.

We pray for her and her family, those jolted by her loss. God rest her soul. But as a Catholic Cardinal, he has the duty not to portray the situation as one where his own flock gets confused by the message.

It isn't supposed to be about the money somebody gives to Sean. But that is definitely the matrix he and his administration operates from. The salvation of souls does not even make the radar when somebody dangles dollars in front of his face.

Good luck to him with that.



From Cardinal Sean O’Malley
“I was sad to learn of the passing of Myra Kraft earlier today. Myra was a strong advocate for serving the less fortunate and, together with her husband Robert, they have been great supporters of worthy organizations like Catholic Charities. Her dedication and commitment to serving those in need and her willingness to enlist others in that important work will be greatly missed. We ask God to provide comfort to Robert and their family during their time of sorrow. We pray for Myra and give thanks for her life. May her memory be for a blessing.”

Primacy of Conscience

A few discussions over the St. Cecilia's morass led to discussions about 'primacy of conscience'.

I have never understood why smart people opine that the teaching of the Church on 'primacy of conscience' grants license for us to use our own desires and emotions to lift prohibitions on immorality and sin.

The human spirit is pulled by many things. We may have intellectual flaws. We may have experiences that have wounded our libido and psyche. Our anger, lust, avarice, jealousy and other things can cause us to be impulsive or make rash decisions or to engage in activities that are sinful and hurt others and God.

Can we remind ourselves about something we need or want and use 'primacy of our conscience' to take somebody's wallet?

If somebody uses the primacy of their conscience to the conclusion their life would be better off without somebody else and they kill them, that doesn't take away the painful consequences of that murder to everyone involved, does it?

Of course not. Primacy of conscience does not mean our thoughts and desires trump Church teaching. We can't rely upon our own desires and thoughts because we are experts at making up excuses.


Christ Sacrificed to leave us The Source to guide our judgment.

If you want to use your 'primacy of conscience' to reject it, that's called free will.

But by rejecting it, we are choosing sin and by choosing sin we are rejecting Christ and our salvation.

A reminder of our baptismal promises is all we ever need to know about the malpractice of John Unni and the luminaries who enable him.

Do you reject Satan?
R. I do.
V. And all his works?
R. I do.
V. And all his empty promises?
R. I do.
V. Do you believe in God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth?
R. I do.
V. Do you believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was born of the Virgin Mary was crucified, died, and was buried, rose from the dead, and is now seated at the right hand of the Father?
R. I do.
Do you believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting?
R. I do.
V. God, the all-powerful Father of our Lord Jesus Christ has given us a new birth by water and the Holy Spirit, and forgiven all our sins. May he also keep us faithful to our Lord Jesus Christ for ever and ever.
R. Amen.

Here's the 411 on the primacy of conscience: You have the free will to remain faithful or to be unfaithful. Knock yourself out. On the day of judgment, we'll all get our recompense in accordance with which choice we made.

I wouldn't follow John Unni out of a burning building.

Caught with the Evidence in My Hand...



Anyone know the carbs in a smores with a peanutbutter cup in it?

p.s. Jerry, my cholesterol is about the same as it was last year.

Caught with the Evidence in My Hand...



Anyone know the carbs in a smores with a peanutbutter cup in it?

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Vigilante Vigilers

Did you see this?

Vigilers resist Church's conversion plan.


BCI has some rational observations on the squawking squatters HERE.


EVERETT – Catholics who have occupied St. Therese Church for seven years vowed last night to continue their vigil, despite a plan by the Archdiocese of Boston to convert it to a chapel for use by the Brazilian Catholic community.

“We are still in vigil and will maintain our vigil,’’ said Joan Shepard, a vigil leader, standing behind an altar. “We feel this decision is a mistake… .. It’s very disrespectful.’’

“Aren’t we all children of God?’’ asked Gloria Young, one of a dozen parishioners seated in pews. “We’ve been sitting here for seven years, and for what? So that someone else can use it?’’…



Yes, inquiring minds are salivating to know why have you been sitting in an empty building, without Christ's Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity, for seven long years.


The church on Broadway is slated to become St. Therese Oratory, part of St. Anthony Parish of Everett. Masses will be offered in Portuguese, to accommodate a growing number of Brazilian immigrants in this city north of Boston seeking to worship in their own language.


Kinda scary. The vigilers are wondering just who the Brazilians think they are - nobody invited them to this whitey parish - and they're plotting resistance.

No room at the Inn.

Here's an excellent summary in the comments section of BCI:

The protesters in Everett wanted the church to stay open, and in this situation, the church will now stay open. St. Therese in Everett has not been relegated to profane use. What further basis exists for them to be occupying this church, and what more is there for them to appeal?

Chuck Colbert's Nastygram to Roman Catholics


First, a housekeeping item. We'll be getting the video of Fr. Unni's homily up shortly, but the quality is still not good.

My thoughts on Chuck Colbert's article..

Quite the nastygram against Roman Catholics.

I know Chuck as a reasonable, kind, compassionate man. I am dumbfounded by the chicanery and religious bigotry manifested in this article.

Let's start with common ground in Chuck's article: Catholics have not done a good job preaching and teaching moral theology with respect to homosexuality. Our vocabulary and pastoral approach needs some work. We can teach or witness with conviction and love while being sensitive to vocabulary that pours salt into wounds.

Our parishes and schools are training camps for evangelists. We can't enable but we can acknowledge that gays and lesbians have been hoodwinked into believing the Roman Catholics hate them and we can be sensitive to that reality.

I was speaking to a gay man recently about the controversy and he asked me to try to walk in his shoes. I wasted no time telling him that we have all walked in his shoes in one way or another.

Long before secular/cultural discussions on homosexuality took place in the public square, women were the victims of the same kind of cultural brainwashing.

Everyone loves a good crusade against the oppressed. They had a good run painting women as slaves to marriage and motherhood. The village idiots jumped right on the bandwagon. They went from teaching young girls how to recognize a decent, loving, loyal and responsible man and reserving our sexuality for him, to teaching young girls to hop into bed with emotionally crippled and irresponsible men.

Here's some savvy advice to teach your daughters: If you're thinking of a sexual encounter with a man whom you worry might be carrying sexual diseases from all the women he's slept with - He's a jerk. A twisted soul who will only bring you misery and heartache. Run. When you are far enough away, take a good look in the mirror to figure out what is causing you to be attracted to men who treat you as their human doormat and receptacle for their defective libidos. You've got some problems with self-esteem and self-respect that need emergency treatment.

I digress.

The point is, stomping on the moral compasses of naive people has all been said and done before. Long before Unni, priests with pony tails and bongs in their closet hoodwinked a generation of women into believing our sins were virtues and that Rome just didn't get it.

When all was said and done,the men carrying out that crusade had as much respect for women as Charlie Sheen. That disrespect is something women share with the current cultural lilliputians.

Meanwhile, what may account for conservative Catholic vitriol over St. Cecilia’s ministry with gay and lesbian Catholics?

A local psychotherapist offered an observation.

"What this entire experience has taught is about the venom that comes from these ‘Catholic’ bloggers towards gay people,” said Charles Martel, a licensed clinical social worker in private practice.

“From a psychological perspective, their level of anger and rage reflects that the issue of homosexuality seems to be something that they have unresolved personal conflicts about, and clearly are struggling with,” he added.


What Colbert fails to disclose is that the Rainbow Ministry is a dating support club for gay Catholics operated by gay marriage advocates in the basement of a Roman Catholic Church.


How's this for irony: I actually think it is Unni and prelates like him, including Bishops, who hold contempt for gays. Gays are the only sinners in the history of the Catholic Church whom they cultivate taking pride in immorality and sexual sin, knowing they are robbing them of their salvation.

They are spitting on them and telling them it's hydrotherapy.

You want to talk about self-loathing latent homosexuality, you need look no further than prelates and their Chancery-enablers robbing lesbians and homosexuals of Paradise.

Catholics holding them accountable for victimized gays are actually not the boogiemen.


What's next for the Rainbow Ministry? "We are in the process of reaching out to Waltham House," a center for homeless gay and lesbian youth, said Charles Petit, a parishioner, adding, "We got a letter from them, asking us to come out and talk about why this church is different from other Catholic churches. We're thinking about having a barbeque.”


But what is "different" from St. Cecilia's is never clarified in Chuck's article. He dances around it.

Permit me to tell you what it is: Fr. Unni is amoral and immoral man who is spreading his own errors and enticing and enabling others to spread theirs. Surely Colbert realizes Catholics are duty-bound to evict Cardinal O'Malley's friends with benefits ministries from the basements of our Churches.


As far as I am concerned, the Cardinal's support of a ministry operated by older, sexually active gay men and their recruitment of teenagers confused about the messages the culture is feeding them by promiscuous is a violation of the Dallas Charter and we are in the process of reporting it as such.

There is no doubt whatsoever in my mind that the organizers have no idea of the dangers of bringing young men confused about human sexuality into a ministry in the basement of a Catholic Church that will be a magnet for a pedophile. Nonetheless, the Bishops know or should know and a formal complaint that Cardinal O'Malley is violating the spirit of the Dallas Charter will be filed.


Fr. Unni has already destroyed his career. Rome will no more elevate an immoral man with a history of advocating promiscuous sex than they would a woman.

One more thing Chuck is right about - we have never been angrier.

Not even when the Cardinal made a contract with the Commonwealth to hire abortionists to execute infants and promised to give them a free ride to their subcontractors were we this angry.

Monday, July 18, 2011

Fr. Tad: Gay Genes, Sexual Attractions and the Call to Chastity

Was the Pilot welcome at Fr. Unni's digs this week?

Fr. Tad has an excellent article called Gay Genes, Sexual Attractions and the Call to Chastity.

"Sherif Gergis summarizes this idea in a recent article: "We do not pretend to know the genesis of same sex attraction, but we consider it ultimately irrelevant to this debate. On this point, we agree with same sex marriage advocate Professor John Corvino: 'The fact is that there are plenty of genetically influenced traits that are nevertheless undesirable. Alcoholism may have a genetic basis, but it doesn't follow that alcoholics ought to drink excessively. Some people may have a genetic predisposition to violence, but they have no more right to attack their neighbors than anyone else. Persons with such tendencies cannot say 'God made me this way' as an excuse for acting on their dispositions.'"


I was born to use the word bitches when I see them. Doesn't make it right!

Bishop Chaput to Philly?

No fair!

At least a theologically-sound Cardinal is being replaced with a theologically-sound Bishop.

Do you think Denver would be a good place for an Irishman to run a travelogue blog? Some potential for beautiful pictures.

Some very interesting details here.

On June 30, the Vatican's Congregation for Bishops picked the name of a potential Philadelphia archbishop from a list of three candidates – known as a “terna” – to recommend to Pope Benedict.

However, after praying over the issue during the Fourth of July weekend, Pope Benedict decided not to select any of the recommended candidates, and specifically chose Archbishop Chaput for the post.


Very interesting!

Sunday, July 17, 2011

What Congregants Won't Hear From Fr. Unni

Still waiting for Chuck's piece to be published to post the homily and in the meanwhile, people are working on trying to improve the sound. If the quality is good enough to transcribe it, we'll work on a transcript.

How Chuck translates the message in Fr. Unni's homily is important in the discussion as I believe it will provide the opportunity to see exactly where Fr. Unni isn't being honest. He isn't being honest to parishioners at St. Cecilia's and he isn't being honest about the treatise of the Rainbow Ministry which is operated by individuals who oppose the moral teachings of the Church and leads others to oppose them.

The Catholic Church is not a place we go once a week to be nice to each other, although that is certainly part of a Catholic Community in providing ministries to serve the needs of the parish. It is a place we go to be taught the moral teachings of the Church to use that knowledge to judge our own actions against those teachings. We come to use the Sacraments to bolster our efforts to bring our defiant spirit into surrender. We amend our lives.

We've had many discussions in the com boxes this week with St. Cecilia's parishioners. They are masters at taking things out of context to grant license to sin and scandal.

Oh, the Church teaches us to check in with our own brains to get guidance (but says nothing about making sure our consciences have been formed and are consistent with Church teaching).

Oh, she was just an Altar server wearing an alb giving out Communion (but says nothing about the five priests sitting on their fannies)

When you bring out the proper context, the beautiful people get rather hostile and vulgar. This is the fruit of John Unni's ministry.

We'll explore the reasons why when the other pieces of the puzzle as soon as Chuck's piece gets published.

Meanwhile, here is the final part of Fr. Landry's discussion on St. Cecilia's: The Gospel of Chastity.

For the last two weeks, we’ve been examining some of the larger issues that have been raised by the controversy over a Mass at St. Cecilia’s in Boston to welcome those who celebrate gay pride. We’ve mentioned that those with same-sex attractions deserve and need the full and authentic pastoral care of the Church. Those who are “gay” — meaning those who celebrate sexual activity and culture based on same-sex attractions —are in even greater need of the full teaching of the Catholic Church, since in addition to the normal need for pastoral accompaniment and assistance in resisting temptations they also are vulnerable to severe attacks against the faith, considering that gay orthodoxy involves the rejection of Biblical and magisterial teaching on sexual morality and marriage, and therefore the denial of the authority of Scripture and of the Church.

Central to the Church’s full and authentic pastoral care of those with same-sex attractions is the assistance to live a chaste life. When mention is made of this call to chastity, some in the gay movement shriek with exasperated incredulity, as if chastity were a death sentence to a loveless life or, worse, some type of medieval castration ceremony executed in subterranean Vatican dungeons. Chastity, however, is the precondition for any real love.


Take the time to read it in its entirety. Peace to all who read it.

God bless him for tackling the complexities of this latest scandal in the Archdiocese of Boston.

It is the substance that is cleverly subverted by Fr. Unni.

Comments and a Correction

I hate comment moderation. I hate the blog feature and I'm not a fan of moderating comments by telling people what to say and how to say it in the comment section. When people come along and hurl their invective or exhibit their propensity to bully and intimidate towards the Catholic faith and those who inherit it, we have some very talented, witty regulars who respond and entertain.

There are blogs out there that are gentle places for the repose of souls, some of them linked in my blogroll. TTC will never be one of them because it's a blog for warriors fighting off religious bigotry and scandal to souls inside and outside of the Catholic Church.

From time to time when we tackle subjects like Corapi, Euteneur or Unni it attracts people with deep-rooted psychological and spiritual problems. Sometimes it's worth defending our religion. When we've exhausted truth and reason and it starts to get ugly, I'll do what I can to hit the delete button.

In one of the threads on Fr. Corapi, Mark Shea was accused of being one of the posters that made you say 'wow, this is a lunatic' after experiencing their troubling behavior. I subsequently identified these posters as Jeanette O'Toole and Adele Darnowski. Mark corrected that allegation in an older thread and an apology was issued by the person who made the allegation. I thought it deserved a more prominent place for those who may have read it.

I apologize to anyone who was hurt or tripped up by my inability to be available to manage situations -- or worse, caused them myself.

Saturday, July 16, 2011

Patches Gets Married in a Tent

Howie Carr has a rather colorful description of the sad deterioration of the Kennedy family, HERE.

Another Kennedy wedding on the Cape today — big night for package stores and state police sobriety checkpoints. But somehow it doesn’t seem the same — so many things seem to be missing from the traditional Kennedy wedding.

For starters, a Catholic church. Didn’t the Kennedys used to get married in Catholic churches? Caroline at Our Lady of Victory in Centreville, Maria Shriver at St. Francis Xavier in Hyannis?

Now Patches gets hitched at the compound. Forget “celebrating” Mass, these nuptials will be “officiated” by moonbat Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer.

Bill Clinton must not have been available.


If we don't laugh, we'll cry.

Really?

What a sad development for Boston Irish Catholics.

We can't blame this one on Episcopal misfeasance. Bishop Tobin invited Patrick to numerous come to Jesus meetings. Privately and publicly.

I'm not even sure why this really bothers me. It's better than having prelates Sacramentally endorse defiance and leading hundreds of thousands of Catholics into an abyss. Maybe it's because I had secretly hoped they could get it through their thick Irish skulls and this is just another step in the wrong direction.

Apparently they're all fighting over Rose and Joe's house on the compound. Ted donated it to host think tanks? The family is appalled and concerned about the infringements upon their heritage and history. The place is a ghost house. Bobby's children feel the Kennedy Library has snubbed their father. Isn't the Kennedy Library another blueprint of Jack Connors'? He's really got the Midas touch doesn't he.

I didn't think anything could top sitting between two bitches listening to John Unni, but the cocktail hour must have been something else, huh?

God help them.

Friday, July 15, 2011

Leiby, RIP

I've been wanting to post about Leiby's shocking kidnapping and murder, but the words have escaped me. I can't get it out of my heart and mind. Please remember the family in your prayers.

I was a helicopter parent, probably to the point of being absurd. I live in a quiet middle to upper income suburb but I wouldn't let my children walk 1/2 mile into the town center, even with a group of other children, until they were 13 - and there were no circumstances when I would let them walk alone. There is a bit of unworldiness, naivete and immaturity they need to catch up on in their later teens -- but staying vigilant in forming all of the gifts they need in this world will catch them up by 19 or so.

This is not to pass judgment on this grieving family - but to serve as a reminder that we can never be too careful in a world where everything has been made into virtues of nomatterwhatness.

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Good News..

The US may be getting a new Nuncio.

Since Sambi was proven to be worse than useless, this comes as good news.

As a friend remarked, we don't want to ne whistling past a graveyard with rose-colored glasses, but given our many campaigns that disclosed his ineptitude, we take this as good news.

Let him be promoted that he may be removed.

Monday, July 11, 2011

Globe Misquotes Fr. Unni's Homily



I was fascinated by the Boston Globe's coverage of Fr. Unni's homily.

For instance, compare what the Boston Globe claimed Fr. Unni said:

“This is not about taking a stand; it’s about standing in the right place,”

That's not what Unni said at all.

He was explaining to the congregation that religious authority of the Catholic Church has the strategy of Jesus all wrong. The Catholic Church lays heavy burdens and rules on people are the people who just don't get it. Following giving his congregation this context, what he said was the following:

"The strategy of Jesus was not about taking the right stand on issues, it is about standing in the right place."

Quite a difference between what was reported and what he actually said.

Did anybody see any reports on Unni's theology of nomatterwhatness or ridding oneself of guilt caused by sin by standing in your own strength?

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Fr. Unni's Message on the Parable of the Sower: "The Nomatterwhatness of God Fills Us With Mercy"

I'll bet you never heard that one before. I'm wishing I never heard it, but I'll get to how Fr. Unni got that message out of the parable of the sower in a minute. First, some good news:

Parishioners at St. Cecilia's were told that though they billed today's Mass at St. Cecilia's as a 'welcome' Mass, everyone is welcome at all Masses - said he thought everyone has known that all along.

He also stopped referring to faithful Catholics as hate mongers. We are now known at St. Cecilia's as the people who "don't get it". And, we're in good company because the Pope and 2000 years worth of Church teachings are with us.

You have to love the irony that today's Gospel was the parable of the sower, where the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven are lost to people whose souls are inadequately prepared to receive the Word.

Enough suspense.

Fr. Unni's homily explained exactly whose souls are inadequately prepared to receive the Word - it's the 'hard liners' and religious authorities who just 'don't get it'.

You see, Jesus opposed religious authority because He said stupid stuff like everyone was welcome, come to Him wracked with shame, whether you are gay or a prostitute or any other person on the margins. Religious authority and hard liners don't get it. Remember that Nicodemus came through the roof.

Fortuitously, he read the Gospel of Matthew before and after the parable of the sower and you know what he found? That Christ said if he had gone to Sodom and did what He did for outcasts, they would have gotten it.

Get it?

No?

He knew this was all going to be open for misinterpretation, but he is not giving the green light -no no - it's about loving people taking care of other people.


Jesus said 'these people' are people who lay heavy burdens and rules upon you but if you come to Him, He will give you rest. Know who you are. God sees who you are and He will give you rest. Stand in your own strength.

Do you get it, he asked?

I was only one in the pews around me shaking my head 'no' but there must have been others because he went on to clarify what he was talking about. That's when he gave the quote that ties it all together. It's all about shame and compassion. Shame bad. Compassion good.

He had a book written by "Greg Boyle" who apparently explains that shame is at the root of all addiction. God loves all woundedness into health. God finds in them total acceptability in their being. Self cannot survive without love. The absence of self-love is shame. The sinner is the outcast. Shame speaks lies. You're not at home with yourself. If we don't believe in ourselves, we will never come to the Table. If somebody tells you that you can't come to the Table, it isn't the Catholic religion.

So much for the theology of unworthy reception of the Eucharist but I digress.

If we don't believe in ourselves, we will never come to the Table. Let shame go because the nomatterwhatness of God fills us with mercy.

The strategy of Jesus was not about taking the right stand on issues, it is about standing in the right place. Compassion stands in awe of what others carry in life rather than judging them. Jesus eats with them, that's it. He eats with them. Eating with outcasts renders them acceptable.

Some people ask him why he needs a Rainbow Ministry. He tells them he listened to gay older men in their 60s, 70s and 80s - and all you say is tell me a story of who is feeling squashed - there needs to be a place. People saying this is the Unni gospel of sodomy just don't get it. With compassion, margins get erased.

The seed is God's compassion and acceptance. What kind of soil are we?

Are we stingy or open?

Everyone is holy love. There is no shame. Shame is healed. There is nothing to be ashamed of. Do we get it?

And with that, he flung open his vestments and swirled around like he was getting ready to fly, and up the stairs he went as the congregation broke open into wild applause. (In fact, there was a lot of clapping throughout the whole Mass, which I don't have the wherewithall to describe right now.)

I am not putting words in Unni's mouth - these are all his words. Somebody taped the homily. As soon as I receive it, we'll get it uploaded to the internet. I can't even get into the nightmare of the intercessions.

I couldn't count the times I was brought to my knees in reparation, my heart moved with pity for the gentle, kind and loving souls surrounding me, being so spiritually abused. God help them.

It doesn't take much to find how frightening Fr. Unni's gospel of no shame actually is, as one of our readers found a St. Cecilia bulletin dated October 24, 2010 with a printed article by Michael Gelenfield who has been accused of repeated sexual abuse. Not even repeated sexual abuse is to be ashamed of at St. Cecilia's. Shame speaks lies, let shame go because the nomatterwhatness of God fills him with mercy, total acceptability in his being.

Wasn't this the problem?

Oh wait..I think I get it now...being a friend of the Catholic hierarchy has its perks, doesn't it.


CJ Doyle's Press Release - Archdiocese Abandons St. Cecilia's


Loving in the Truth at St. Cecilia's - What Would Jesus Do?


If you go to the Mass today, please, be wise and gentle.

All who come to an event that is pitched as an open invitation from the Church are bruised reeds. Above all else, our desire is to bring them to conversion.

It is true that some will come to make this some kind of territorial and cultural victory over the Deposit of Faith. But God can even use our stupid ideas to see if He can get us on the hook. He has the ability to soften the hardest of hearts.

I am living proof.

We don't want to engage in any battle in the cultural war waged by anyone, because souls rebelling are so far from a state of Grace, clonking them on the head on way into the door could cause them to rebel further - and perhaps they will never approach the Deposit of Faith.

The goal is to drive out the false teaching and bring in Courage. There is a time and place to continue with these goals. The people coming to Church today, they are not the parties that will help us achieve this goal. That battle is at 66 Brooks Drive and the Holy See.

Let's welcome, pray and see if Unni has been kicked onto the right trajectory. If he is not, we pick up that battle tomorrow.

These are my thoughts, for what they are worth.

As promised, here's the link to Fr. Landry's theological follow-up on the dung Fr. Unni is feeding the flock at St. Cecilia's. It is magnificent.

Last week we began a look at the controversy at St. Cecilia’s Church in Boston over the scheduling of a Mass originally advertised to celebrate “gay pride” and then after criticism postponed and relabeled to a “welcoming Mass,” which while perhaps no longer explicitly extolling gay pride still seems poised to give no-questions-asked hospitality to those who believe that gay pride should be glorified, including within the context of a Catholic Mass.

We noted that the controversy raises several concerns that extend beyond a particular parish or archdiocese with regard to the authentic pastoral care the Church owes those immersed in a gay lifestyle or in any lifestyle that exalts practices that are incompatible with the Gospel. The only adequate Christian response to anyone is love, but this love can never remain a shallow hospitality that fails to help the person recognize and respond to the rather conspicuous ways Christ is challenging him to turn away from sin and believe in the Gospel. Particularly with those ensconced in a gay lifestyle — which is a way of life built on regarding several basic truths of anthropology, sexual morality, marriage, Scriptural inspiration, and magisterial authority as antiquated and repressive “hang-ups” from which people need to be liberated — the Church’s charity must always be bound to the compassionate, clear and compelling presentation of the fullness of the truth that alone can set them free (Jn 8:32). The stakes of the Church’s failure to carry out this service to the truth are huge, not only for those presently involved in a gay lifestyle, but also for the conscience formation of all in the Church and society....

With that in mind, we will examine three common falsehoods that have come to the surface in the St. Cecilia’s controversy to which the Church must respond with the truth.



Read his brilliant examination and thesis.

It is a masterpiece on answering the question "What would Jesus do".

Not to undermine the theology, so lovingly and gracefully delivered, I wanted, especially for today, to point out the following:

The third falsehood relates to the common calumny that any opposition to the gay agenda, or any criticism of a “gay pride Mass,” comes exclusively from “homophobia” or “hatred” for those with same-sex attractions, as a few members of St. Cecilia’s alleged in interviews with the media. While there’s no dispute that, sadly, in some places real homophobia does exist, ministers to the gay community have a duty not only not to abet this confusion but to disabuse those entrusted to their care from thinking the Church’s teachings on same-sex activities are based on hatred rather than love grounded in truth; they also have the responsibility to remind them that judging others or mendaciously bullying others with epithets about their character are grave sins that those with same-sex attractions are not exempt from committing.
These false accusations, however, lead to a larger point about how much the tide has turned with regard to the direction of bullying between those with same-sex attractions and others in society. Whereas in the past, those with same sex attractions were often subject to ill-treatment and ridicule on account of their attractions, including sadly by those who claimed to be Christian, now it’s Christians who are often subjected to ridicule and, in a growing number of cases, discrimination. If anyone doubts this point, they should just ponder what Constance Cervone of Jamaica Plain said in a June 28 Boston Globe article on St. Cecilia’s: “It was harder for me … to come out as a Catholic than as a gay person.” This is an indication that, at least for her, “Christianophobia” is presently more menacing than “homophobia.” The Church as a whole, and those who minister to the gay community in particular, must have the courage to address this.

These things should be pondered today - and every day going forward when dealing with Fr. Unni and the souls being led by his chaotic spiritual leadership.

The third in Fr. Landry's series comes next week.

Prayers today for all.

Friday, July 8, 2011

BlackSheepDog Responds to SOLT




I thought we'd have a bit of a respite on this one...but here is Fr. Corapi's response.

SOLT supported and profited from his financial independence. Check.

SOLT'S claims that they are shocked, shocked I tell you, to find Fr. Corapi's plentiful bounty did not resonate with me.

This is as good as it gets.

I won't get into all the merits and omissions but here are a few of my observations:

The refusal to cooperate with the flawed process.

The process is definitely flawed....but... 'if the bad guy were truly revealed it may be revealed he is really not that bad' and 'the evidence must not have any substance' seems to leave an awful of of questions in his mind and room to pull the cord of a golden parachute.



SOLT'S claim of sexual impropriety.

Never had sex with her. Never.

Who her?
A celibate priest living with a prostitute?
How about outside of her?
What about the sexting?
What about the drinking and drugs?

Two things still strike me.

If I were guilty of the allegations an accuser brings forth, the last thing I would do would be to bring it to civil court where I would be open to subpoena and discovery.

How could a guy be so completely immersed in the truth and be living a sinister life. The Holy Spirit doesn't work this way. The further your soul gets away from Him, the more your judgment is clouded, the more you muck up in the public square.

It has the stink of the devil but it may not be what we see on its face. Then again it may be. Very, very strange.

Prayers for all involved.



Thursday, July 7, 2011



You're the One I wanna chase
You're the One I wanna hold
I wont let another minute go to waste
I want You and Your Beautiful Soul

Boston Catholics (Again) Petition Holy See for Intervention in Boston

Back to addressing the problems in the Boston Chancery...

A petition has gone up at BryanHehirExposed regarding the dishonest subterfuge (and slander) that takes place in response to Catholics reporting concerns about Church teaching and spiritual abuse of souls.

I will update this post later, but I would appreciate your signing the petition and sending it to other Catholics of good will.

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Comment moderation is on

You can thank Jeanette O'Toole and company for comment moderation.

Over the course of the last two months, she has posted the same mischaracterization in the comments section a couple of hundred times. Today alone, she posted the comment about 50 times. I addressed it several times and the rest of the time, I deleted the comment under all of the aliases.

Weird and creepy.

And bullsheet too.

:O)

I am here to help



If you are not a believer that sins create a vacuum that humanity gets sucked into - the revelations of what Fr. Corapi has been doing in his downtime and the conduct of Catholics that has surrounded it should end your naivete.

I have some work to do on the nightmare at 66 Brooks Drive - so blogging may be light over the next 24.

Right now, I'm going to hit some golf balls - way, way out.

Ba Ba Black Sheep, Have You Any Bull?



Fr. Corapi is a train wreck. How sad.

The gig is up. I pray the man still has the ability to lay it all down and come home.

Last week while dealing with the of luminaries in the Boston Chancery, I heard a snippet of the closing arguments of the Casey Anthony trial struck me: It is fascinating how people will pile one lie on top of another just to stall the inevitable.

While SOLT has done the right thing publicly revealing what they know..all this time, Fr. Corapi had his own brothel which he retreated to and his supervisors didn't know? What were they doing? Running a travelogue blog? What else don't they know about their priests?

Fr. Corapi had to know that a civil trial would bring his charade to an end. He was just buying time. Out of fascination, I checked his website to see how close to SOLT's announcement he kept the charade going and he had a 50% off inventory clearance, last chance sale during Fourth of July weekend.

What gets me is, he took on the persona of a crusader for falsely-accused priests which he had to know would compromise men who are really falsely accused. The poor man has sunk as low as a soul can get. God help him.

As a sucker for a sob story, I have have been sucked into the vortexes of narcissists, here and there along my journey. When the veil rips, when all is said and done, I have never let those experiences change who I am. Never let those experiences rob me of my trust and love or true charity. Sometimes it's taken me a while to get there, but through the grace of our Sacraments and the magnificence of God, all things are possible.

It was plausible to me that a crusade to restore the rights of falsely accused could be distancing itself from the ecclesiastical for a civil trial.

A man, or woman, deserves - and has the right to - the presumption of innocence. The accuser has the burden of proof. . Juries set murderers free when they feel the prosecution has not met the burden of proof.

This can't be turned upside down.The President sets terrorists free when the evidence is thin. Even if you are incapable of charity, you are required to acquiesce to the laws of the land. Our priests are entitled to the presumption of innocence until the evidence presents itself.

You only have to look around the internet and our comments boxes here at TTC to see the torment of turning everyone into the boogeyman (or boogeywoman!)

The question is out there, did Fr. Corapi ever really have a conversion, or was the whole thing a beard. It's a good question. My limited experiences have left me with the belief that these people suffer from a combination of mental and spiritual problems. A tangled mess from sin. The evidence that he required a confidentiality agreement and paid people huge sums of money for it does not bode well.

I actually think a confidentiality agreement may benefit our Lord in some circumstances. Our human weakness and flaws can scandalize the truth we proclaim. I wouldn't want the weeds I'm not pulling from my yard so I can go to the beach or the times I react poorly to frustrations and challenges to be splashed all over the Deposit of Faith. But if you've got enough dirt going on that you pay somebody 100,000 to keep quiet about, that's another story all together. You shouldn't have to pay anybody at all - but the truth is, most employers work it into severance agreements.

$100,000 is a bit of an indictment if you ask me.

I was struck by the readings this week . The Old Testament readings, Jacob, with the help of his mother Rebekah, trick his blind and dying father to giving the blessing that belongs to Easu to Jacob. Eventually, he struggles all night in the tent with God who spares him his life. In the New Testament, Jesus is driving out demons.

The Magnificat had a fortuitous reflection from Father John Tauler, O.P.:

Against...good men the fiends who have fallen from the order of the virtues level their fiercest strokes. All their cunning devices are set to work to hinder their salvation; for they, if they but persevere to the end, will be given the places in that rank of heavenly spirits from which those demons themselves have fallen. The malignity of these evil spirits is inevitably great, and it works incessantly. We must stand our watch against them with sleepless vigilance; for often times their deadliest scheming takes the form of something good. Especially do they strive to divide and scatter our affections away from God and to waste them upon a multiplicity of created things. Often enough, when one has reached a state of moderate virtue, the demons will do their utmost to hinder him from advancing to that further state of perfection which God would have him reach. This is a very dangerous condition to him, and the devil is well aware of it; in our times there are more souls thus halted, while God calls them to go forward, than at any previous time. Saint Bernard says: "In the way of God, to stand still is to go backward".

In this state of stagnation are all those worldly hears , who say: We do as any good works as others do, and that amply suffices for us,; indeed, we are better than those who pretend to greater perfection and we will continue in the good ways of those who have gone before us. But, when some great trial comes upon these men, then shall we hear their lamentations: it will be shown that they were not as good as they thought they were. The evil spirits will work their fiendish will upon them, and at last lead them away without resistance. The contrary will be the case with fervent spirits, who have hearkened to the counsel of these good angels. When their trials are passed and gone, they will be found all purified and made holy by them; they will be, as it were, on terms of familiar friendship with those bright spirits, who will continue to conduct them towards a happy end.

I'm reading another book sent to me by a gracious TTC reader. I have more to tell you about my encounter with this gracious woman, but I'll save that for later. The book is called The Prayer of the Presence of God by Dom Augustin Guillerand, A Carthusian Monk.

We must pray always in order to be on our guard. Our life, both of body and souls, our natural and supernatural life, is like a fragile flower. We live surrounded by enemies. Ever since man rejected the Light that was meant to show him the way, everything has become for us an obstacle and a danger; we live in the shadow of death. Instead of pointing to the Creator and leading us to Him, things show only themselves, with the result that we stop at them. The Devil, to whom we stupidly gave them when we gave him ourselves, speaks to us through their many voices; his shadow darkens their transparence.

The tempter is lurking all around this vortex. Watch out, least we trip and fall ourselves.

Ad majorum Dei glorium.

Saturday, July 2, 2011

The Humble Capuchin: The Artful Dodger's Adventures and Ad Hominems



I apologize for the light blogging. Most blogs are people who use their talents to comment on theology and politics. While I do that here too, I'm really an activist with a blog which means the bulk of my work is done behind the scenes. You'll see a pattern if you read here. When something scandalous is going down and is posted here, the radio silence that follows means what time I have is being devoted to direct contact with the parties, with other Catholics, and disclosing and communicating what is going on to the Nuncio and the Holy See. Articulating our requests/expectations for intervention, etc.

There is a pervasive pattern of responding to scandal in the hierarchy of the Catholic Church in Chanceries across the USA.

They first try sweetness and flattery. They want you to be their friends. You are so smart, you see, they need you to serve on some committee. Your valuable insights and fidelity will be trumped on every policy because they've stack the committees with people who oppose Church teaching of course, but in the meantime, they've silenced your voice in the public square.

If the complaints are physical or spiritual abuse, they will throw money at you. The money comes piggybacked with a confidentiality agreement to get you to sit down and shut up.

When all tried and true tactics fail, they malign and slander. This is memorialized in the Archdiocese of Boston's public relations campaign in response to complaints of the spiritual abuse of parishioners at St. Cecelia's by Fr. John Unni.

The worst of the statements is here in this Lifesite article:

The spokesman also shot back at criticism of the archdiocese’s handling of the situation from Catholics on the blogosphere.

“I’m not going to let these people attack the Cardinal’s integrity nor his 40 plus years of priesthood,” said Donilon, defending O’Malley’s record defending the unborn and marriage, and calling the attacks “outrageous and disgraceful.”

“This isn’t about defending Catholicism, this is about hurting, defaming, denegrating people, and speaking mistruths, and manipulating words and positions of the cardinal and archdiocese. I think they’re malicious,” said Donilon.



As Judie Brown pointed out here, Catholics who want Church teaching promulgated are quite accustomed to Cardinal O'Malley's character assassinations.

There is no difference between this current situation and the problematic nature of the sale of a string of Catholic hospitals to Cerberus Capital Management with the agreement that the hospitals could easily drop their Catholic credentials with a $25 million payment (payoff) to the archdiocese.

Clarity of Catholic teaching has somehow evaded the Archdiocese of Boston in the wake of its efforts to placate the world and its expectations rather than fostering a spirit of healing to those who are troubled and confused.


The nice, kind, humble, pastoral Capuchin once again uses his media relations to characterize complainants as no good so and so's.

Thank you for writing to me expressing your concerns/prayers. I appreciate them and use them. But I don't want you to ever be concerned that these tactics have (or will) intimidate me. I'm out here as a witness. I'm here to remind them (and you) that my allegiance is to God and the Church He left to serve souls for the benefit of our salvation.

What they say bounces off of me like a flea on a dog that's been treated with frontline.

I have written to Mr. Donilon, the Cardinal, his secretaries, his lawyers, the Nuncio and the CDF and told them, and in no uncertain terms, it is my expectation that they cease and desist from using intimidation tactics by characterizing people this way.

Additionally, I shot a flare across their bow that was quite specific on what kinds of things they are to restrain Fr. Unni vis-a-vis his screwball intimidation and slander tactics. We'll see what happens.


There is an excellent set of ten questions posted at BHE that exposes the fundamentals of the artful dodging the Cardinal is doing to cover up and protect Fr. Unni's long history of spiritual abuse at St. Cecilia's which has been laid out on the internet over the past several weeks.

Rescheduling the timing of a Mass they claim was simply a Mass open to all parishioners is a ridiculous and deceptive ruse. The problem with the Archdiocese is, they have never had the good sense to surrender their lies at the foot of the Cross until they are completely discredited by the truth. The handwriting is on the wall but they are too consumed with their charades to read it and recognize its warning.

There's an art to living a life of lying by omission and the commission of ad hominems when somebody reveals your lies. The Boston Archdiocese is the crown jewel of that kingdom.

We have arrived at this desolate place in Catholic history because priests and prelates deprived a generation of Catholics the deposit of our teachings to avoid conflicts with people offended by them.

Cardinal O'Malley is advancing us from the deprivation to the next stage, overtly misleading the flock with false teaching and maligning, intimidating, slandering Catholics who are publicly exposing the chaos of his misfeasance and malfeasance.


This is an on-going story. Boston bloggers have another story cooking on what the Archdiocese does to people who proclaim Church teaching, so stay tuned.

As promised, here's a spectacular editorial that was published in this week's edition of the Fall River Anchor on the pastor care at St. Cecilia's and the Archdiocese of Boston.

Fr. Landry is a priest who will take any soul on that he feels is derailing. Nevermind the courage to take on a Bishop, *I* have been on his radar more than once in my public ministry. That's what you call valor! His demeanor is forthright. He doesn't just drop a hint, or say what he feels he needs to say as a priest. When you try to defend yourself, he stays in the ring. Goes above and beyond to try to get you to see it. A lover of souls and salvation... and a royal pain when you don't want to hear it. :)

His introductory paragraph summarizes the problem quite well:

The ongoing controversy at St. Cecilia’s Church in Boston over the scheduling, postponing and re-theming of a Mass originally planned to celebrate Boston’s gay “pride month” has brought to the surface issues that extend far beyond the boundaries of one parish or archdiocese. The controversy touches not only on the subject of the pastoral care of the Church toward those with same-sex attractions, but on the much larger matter of the purpose of the Church’s pastoral care to anyone and everyone: Whether the Church, her priests and parishes will faithfully, lovingly and courageously care for people with the fullness of the Gospel; or whether her ministers and ministries — perhaps out of too much fear to give offense, a lack of faith in the teachings of the Church, or a faint-hearted notion of what true love demands — will dilute the Gospel of its saving power by stripping it of the uncomfortable and countercultural teachings that some listeners most need.

Here, he disabuses the artful dodgers of the notion that we can't see what they are doing:

Cardinal O’Malley’s intentions to dissociate the Mass from “gay pride,” however, sadly haven’t succeeded, as many members of the parish and of the media have continued popularly to refer to the Mass as a gay pride Mass. Those who have ceased to draw explicit attention to the connection with gay pride have continued, however, to use coded language — “a welcoming Mass” — to communicate that supporters of the gay agenda do not have to worry about being made to feel uncomfortable at the Mass over the incompatibility of the gay agenda with Church teaching. The expression “welcoming Mass” now being employed to refer to the July 10 liturgy does not mean merely that people will be received with genuine Christian hospitality. Like the expression “welcoming parish” used in various places (such as the 200 “gay friendly” parishes promoted by pro-gay websites), it’s a euphemism that communicates to those who may be living in objective discordance with the teaching of Jesus and the Church —like those engaging in the gay lifestyle, living in irregular marriages, cohabitating, undergoing in-vitro fertilization, or actively supporting the practice of abortion, gay marriage or other practices contrary to the faith — that not only will they never have to hear a peep about any of these unpleasant topics, but very likely neither will they hear anything suggesting the necessity of concrete conversion, confession, and of being in doctrinal, sacramental and moral communion with Christ and his mystical Body the Church in order to receive Jesus worthily in Holy Communion....



Do read this treasure of an editorial in its entirety. Fr. Landry says he'll be writing more on the pastoral conundrum next week which I'll be sure to link here at TTC.

The Cardinal has been given documentation that Fr. Unni has not just been depriving his parishioners of Church teaching to make them feel at ease, he has been leading them to rebel against Church teaching and further, heckle it should it be proclaimed. The Cardinal has clarified that this kind of pastoral care has his 'full confidence' and 'support' and he has referred to Fr. Unni as a great pastor.

Since the Cardinal is not ignorant of Fr. Unni's methods of making people feel comfortable, and since he is aware that every Mass ever said in the history of the Catholic Church in every parish across the planet earth welcomes all parishioners and the wider community, there is no other conclusion to draw but that Cardinal O'Malley is on board making people feel comfortable by not only depriving them, but with training them to rail against Church teaching.


I'll leave you with a beautiful reflection written by St. Gregory of Nyssa to remind you of what is being stolen from our brothers and sisters at St. Cecilia's and other Catholics:

…If you draw from him the thoughts in your mind and the inclinations of your heart, you will show a likeness to Christ, your source and origin, as the gleaming water in a jar resembles the flowing water from which it was obtained.

“For the purity of Christ and the purity that is manifest in our hearts are identical. Christ’s purity, however, is the fountainhead; ours has its source in him and flows out of him. Our life is stamped with the beauty of his thought. The inner and the outer man are harmonized in a kind of music. The mind of Christ is the controlling influence that inspires us to moderation and goodness in our behavior. As I see it, Christian perfection consists in this: sharing the titles which express the meaning of Christ’s name, we bring out this meaning in our minds, our prayers and our way of life.”

Christian Perfection by St. Gregory of Nyssa, Bishop http://divineoffice.org/


Friday, July 1, 2011

whoops...the maid was lying?




Prosecutors have serious questions about the credibility of a hotel housekeeper who has accused former International Monetary Fund leader Dominique Strauss-Kahn of sexual assault, and he is expected to have his strict bail conditions reduced today, according to people familiar with the case.

Investigators have come to believe that the woman lied about some of her activities in the hours around the alleged attack and about her own background, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press on Thursday. The official is familiar with the case but spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss matters not yet made public in court.

Prosecutors think she lied about details on her application for asylum in the U.S., including saying she had been raped in her native Guinea, the official told the AP.

"She actually recounted the entire story to prosecutors and later said it was false," the official said.



This is the reason why I am glad Fr. Corapi's accuser will be subject to an authentic investigation and system of justice.

For men who know they are innocent, taking a leave of absence may be the way to go in the future.