Archives for January 2016

7 Quick Takes Friday (set #192)

7 Quick Takes Friday

This week: Turning last Friday’s March for Life lemons into lemonade. The main stream media lost control of the narrative for once. 28 week old preemies hold hands. RISEN looks like it may be a wonderful movie this Lent. Jeff Harris illustrates the difference between the National Catholic Register and the schismatic tabloid with a similar name. A beautiful, special sunrise in Michigan. Your dreams of setting the Rubik’s cube speed record have just been obliterated.

— 1 —

Last Friday’s March for Life was a success, despite the weather. Dozens of buses heading west were snowed-in on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Stranded in place for many hours, what to do? Celebrate Mass on a snow altar!

— 2 —

USUALLY, despite almost a million marchers (half that this year), the liberal main stream media maintains a tight lid on the event. The media blackout is effective in keeping the march invisible to many. This time, with the snow altar Mass, they lost control of the narrative and news actually reached the public. The hand of God!

— 3 —

Kristiana and Kristian Rushford were born January 3rd at 28 weeks. Here they are a week later, holding hands while staying warm on dad’s chest:

— 4 —

RISEN is a new movie scheduled to be released this Lent (on February 19th). It is an interesting take on Easter, focused on (mostly fictional) events after the resurrection. Early reviews are quite positive.

— 5 —

Jeff Harris at Sword of Peter recently captured the difference between two publications. First, the highly schismatic National catholic Reporter (Fr. Zulhsdorf alternates between calling them the “National Schismatic Reporter” and calling them simply “Fishwrap”). Second, the faithful, orthodox National Catholic Register. Never get them confused.

Sword Of Peter Ncr Museum

— 6 —

Mechaele Loraff had to pull over on her way to work recently. This reason…   this amazing Michigan sunrise:

Merchaele Loraff Sunrise

— 7 —

If you hope to set a record one day in solving Rubik’s cube, give up now.


Some random thoughts or bits of information are worthy of sharing but don’t warrant their own full post. This idea was begun by Jennifer Fulwiler and is now continued by Kelly Mantoan. So, some Fridays I too participate when I have accumulated 7 worthy items. Thank you Kelly for hosting this project!

Sacrilege in the Vatican

Sacrilege In The Vatican

This is monumentally bad. Heaven weeps.

According to many reliable reports (National Catholic Register, LifeSiteNews, Christian Today) visiting Lutheran dignitaries were purposely given the Most Holy Eucharist at a Vatican Mass following ecumenical talks. The Lutherans approached with their arm crossed — even THEY knew that they were not properly disposed to receive (see my piece: The Body of Christ).

Sacrilege is in general the violation or injurious treatment of a sacred object. (The Catholic Encyclopedia calls this real sacrilege “the worst of all sacrileges”). IF priests knowingly gave the Eucharist to non-Catholics who could not possibly have been in a proper disposition to receive the Blessed Sacrament – then they profaned the Body of Christ, possibly incurred a latae sententiae excommunication and would be subject to possible dismissal:

A person who throws away the consecrated species or takes or retains them for a sacrilegious purpose incurs a latae sententiae excommunication reserved to the Apostolic See; moreover, a cleric can be punished with another penalty, not excluding dismissal from the clerical state.

Canon 1367

This is more serious than attempting to “marry” gays or attempting to ordain a woman. This is hugely scandalous to the faithful, a threat to unity and worse of all – a direct crime against God Almighty. We must not sugar-coat this.

There are many sects of Lutherans (they call synods) who, like many other Protestant denominations, believe different things from each other. This was a Finnish synod with which I am not familiar. In the United States, most Lutherans are in the largest synod here which is the ELCA. Among other things, they:

  1. do NOT have apostolic succession and thus no valid holy orders
  2. their worship service, while superficially similar those times when communion is offered, is not sacrificial as is our Mass
  3. their understanding of the real presence is very different than ours
  4. regardless of their belief, lacking valid holy orders, their hosts are unchanged
  5. there is no tabernacle or reservation of consecrated hosts
  6. all baptized may receive (Lutheran or non-Lutheran; state of grace only loosely)
  7. they do not recognize sacraments as Catholics or Orthodox do
  8. they have many women pastors and “bishops”
  9. they embrace open homosexuality even among their clergy (who are free to marry)
  10. divorce and “re-marriage” is completely accepted
  11. they use the abridged Protestant Bible
  12. they believe in sola scriptura (rejecting both Sacred Tradition and the Magisterium)
  13. their clergy health care plans include full abortion coverage
  14. becoming a Lutheran (like most Protestant denominations) is a snap
  15. many other differences from Catholicism

I in no way hope to demean Lutherans. My family and many relatives are Lutherans, as was I for almost 60 years. They sincerely hold their beliefs and dearly love the Lord. I pray that they may one day be fully reunited with Christ’s Church. The point is that Lutheran beliefs have become significantly separated from Catholicism. There is no valid analogy between the Orthodox and Lutherans. The Orthodox are very close to Catholicism while Lutherans are far. In fact, Lutherans move further and further away from Catholicism every year (see my piece: Protestantism trainwreck).

So, in what ways were they not properly disposed to receive?

  • they are not Catholic or even claim to be

That should completely suffice, but to expand on the obvious:

  • they are not in communion with the Church and do not profess all that the holy Catholic Church teaches, believes and proclaims to be revealed by God (not even close)
  • in this incident, they acknowledged improper disposition by crossing their arm
  • they do not believe the communion species have transformed (only taken on, possibly temporarily, a dual nature)
  • not having confession (sacramental or otherwise), they easily may not be in a state of grace

Some have already suggested that this represents a first step in officially recognizing Lutherans as “close enough” for inter-communion. That thought leaves me (and probably all other Lutheran converts) dumbfounded and alarmed. It would herald a very dark time of many serious consequences including to our unity. As a thought experiment, imagine we were to officially welcome Lutherans to communion. Consider, besides the grave, on-going sacrilege:

  • there would be little incentive for converts to bother with the RCIA process if their goal is to join us fully at Mass – becoming Lutheran is quick and easy, then come and celebrate the Most Holy Eucharist with us
  • “married” gay Lutherans, no problem
  • Lutherans on their third or fourth spouse, no problem
  • Lutheran and an abortion provider? no problem
  • don’t like Sunday obligation? become Lutheran and come when you like
  • opposed to Catholic moral theology in other ways? keep your favorite sins and come as a Lutheran (what Lutherans consider sins and what Catholics consider sins are not the same)
  • presumably Sacraments of Penance and Anointing the Sick would also be opened too
  • such a new “tier 2” Catholicism might appeal to cafeteria Catholics and others with objections to Church teaching
  • would Catholics currently unable to receive communion be able to simply become Lutheran?
  • if Lutherans, why not Episcopalians and all other Anglicans who are at least as “close”?

Our fervent hopes and prayers are that Lutherans become truly reunited with us at the Eucharistic table of our Lord. That happens when they become Catholic. This is what converts do, what I did, what Anglicans do en masse via the ordinariate. The purpose of true ecumenical dialog is to lead others to the fullness of the Christian faith. Affirming them where they are, with no need to change accomplishes exactly the opposite and fulfills Satan’s desires not God’s.


Also reference this analysis on a previous sacrilege against the Eucharist.

March for Life

March for Life 2016

Lord God, Author of Life and Source of Eternal Life,

Move the hearts of all our public officials and especially our President, to fulfill their responsibilities worthily and well to all those entrusted to their care.

Help them in their special leadership roles, to extend the mantle of protection to the most vulnerable, especially the defenseless unborn, whose lives are threatened with extermination by an indifferent society.

Guide all public officials by your wisdom and grace to cease supporting any law that fails to protect the fundamental good that is human life itself, which is a gift from God and parents.

You are the Protector and Defender of the lives of the innocent unborn. Change the hearts of those who compromise the call to protect and defend life. Bring our nation to the values that have made us a great nation, a society that upholds the values of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for all.

Mary, the Mother of the living, help us to bear witness to the Gospel of Life with our lives and our laws, through Christ, Our Lord.

Amen.

Our brave new world

Our Brave New World

Consider…

Women in the United States of America are forced by law to a life of servitude in support of unwanted biomass known as “toddlers.” Yes, small pre-person clumps of tissue who contribute nothing to society but who pollute the environment and tax the healthcare system. Enslaved women suffering loss of time, space, financial resources, sleep and emotional distress are forced to turn to illegal methods of post-birth abortions to free themselves of these burdens.

The Supreme Court must act to stop this war on women! It is truly uncivilized to recognize the right to terminate these things at any point prior to their emergence from the birth canal, then arbitrarily criminalize the same termination methods upon exit. Compassion, not prosecution; healthcare, not judgment!

Yes, these are difficult decisions women must make, but no one has the right to infringe on their lives. It is their choice. Once legalized, healthcare professionals will be able to safely provide the same full spectrum of pregnancy services both before and AFTER the pregnancy period ends. Pharmacies will stock “Plan C” (those who refuse to will be swiftly punished). This is basic healthcare and as such, will also be mandated for all government sanctioned health plans.

OK, that is not literally a manifesto of most pro-choice supporters — yet. Pro-life readers are horrified at such an outrageous idea while more than a few on the “pro-choice” side see some sense in it. This lady for instance:

It has been 4 years since the Journal of Medical Ethics published an academic paper on the topic. The abstract explains:

Abortion is largely accepted even for reasons that do not have anything to do with the fetus’ health. By showing that (1) both fetuses and newborns do not have the same moral status as actual persons, (2) the fact that both are potential persons is morally irrelevant and (3) adoption is not always in the best interest of actual people, the authors argue that what we call “after-birth abortion” (killing a newborn) should be permissible in all the cases where abortion is, including cases where the newborn is not disabled.

If this idea only popped-up once, we could dismiss it. It is persistent and a logical, progressive step. 50 years ago no one thought abortion would be legal, sodomites would be celebrated (and legally marry), or discrimination against Christians would be essentially legalized and encouraged. If the pro-life movement fails, expect this next.

Planned Parenthood, the abortion industry’s most enthusiastic promoter and largest beneficiary, sees the obvious business opportunity. Here, their lobbyist testified that PP believes (post birth abortion) should be left up to the woman and her abortion doctor. Of course.

We need to get back to a point where movements such as this, all abortion and all euthanasia are inconceivable.

March for Life 2016

…this Friday

From the archive (set #14)

Archive

My bucket of 7QTF items is too low for that today, so instead I would like to bring to your attention 3 original, brief essays that you may have missed. If you don’t have time to read all three, I especially recommend the first one — Some leave the Church.


Some leave the Church

The Mass is sacred and conducted with reverence. While it includes worship, it is much, much more than that. Every Mass is a supernatural mystery where heaven and earth touch, angels and saints join us as the Last Supper and Calgary are made present. The body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus is literally confected in the Eucharist — in which we are united with Christ and each other through all time and space. The worship services of other Christian communities, however holy and reverent, are not remotely comparable to the Mass.

…read it all:   Some leave the Church


Are you ready?

As interesting as it may be to ponder the rapture or to consider science fiction stories, we would be missing the big picture. People have been waiting for the rapture for 2,000 years and may be waiting for another 2,000 – or 10,000. The possibility of these science fiction scenarios during our mortal lives is even more remote. What is not remote and quite sure is an end to our individual exiles here on Earth. We do not know when, but we know its certainty.

…read it all:   Are you ready?


Prayer and contrition

The consequence of sin, against God (as all sin is), is clearer. The God who has literally given me everything. The God who hears and answers every prayer. This is the God whom I sin against. My focus shifts from how this sin effects me to the sorrow rightly due to sinning against God Himself. The contrition I feel becomes “more perfect.”

…read it all:   Prayer and contrition

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