A Move Toward Sanity

 After 49 shameful years, Roe v. Wade has been overturned. At last.

Over 64,220,000 abortions in the US alone since Roe v. Wade made abortion legal.

64 million innocents murdered.

And yes, abortion is murder. Always murder. Never healthcare. And hopefully, never more!

Defenders of Infanticide on the March

 At least 21 pro-abort members of Congress are appealing to Alphabet, Inc. to manipulate the Google search engine to hide pregnancy crisis centers. 

As we know, "pro-choice" means pro-abort. The other option they will fight tooth and nail to prevent. 

On the Attacks on Traditional Catholics

 Almost a year ago, Pope Francis published his motu proprio "Traditionis Custodes", which seeks to eradicate all celebration of the Mass of the Ages, the usus antiquior, also referred to as the Extraordinary Form, or TLM.

The premise is that traditional Catholics deny Vatican II. Further, that we consider the Novus Ordo or Ordinary Form of the mass to be invalid. These claims are false.

The claim that we create division is not merely false, but seeks to distract from the reality that division is a primary result of the Novus Ordo, with its many options, and undisciplined ad libs by some "presiders."

Prior to the release of the Novus Ordo, mass was consistent around the world. The language was Latin, and to the degree that you came to understand it, that understanding served you equally well in any country. But now, with the Novus Ordo in the vernacular, churches in relative proximity may be celebrating in almost any language. And even if you visit adjacent parishes which use the same language, the options applied may still confuse those unfamiliar with the full range of possibilities.

We are told that Vatican II called for this new liturgy. Another false claim. The constitution on the liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium, called for:

• Continuing to use Latin
• Continuing to favor chant and polyphony
• Preference given to the use of the organ

And certainly, SC did not call for the extensive use of "hymns" written by apostates, Protestants, or laicized clerics. Nor yet, for a Gloria set to the tune of My Little Pony. And yet, in Novus Ordo parishes all over the country, these are standard fare.

People with training in knowledge in theology, the liturgy, and Canon law have all written extensively on the problems with the motu proprio. Many have said it is internally incoherent, not juridical, and self-contradictory. Moreover, it places a heavy burden on bishops, whose duties are already heavy. And it risks alienating a segment of Catholic America which is growing, procreating, and supporting its parishes, even as the Novus Ordo parishes are shrinking and families in them are having fewer children. 

The traditional Catholics are estimated at 5-6% of American Catholics, yet Latin parishes frequently account for as much as 20% of new vocations in their dioceses. If there are no new priests, then all too soon there will be no Church. No priest, no Eucharist. It is not rocket science, after all.

Willful Ignorance may be our Destruction

Willful ignorance is dangerously stupid. 

To characterize the rioters in the Capitol as "Trump supporters" is to refuse to see the thugs who were dropped in to instigate violence. With all the many Trump rallies since he announced his candidacy, at how many have Trump supporters been violent?

And yet, suddenly they are ready to take the place apart?

Get a grip, people. There were two sources of violence I observed: the imported thugs and the nominal law enforcement people who were there ostensibly to quell violence.

We now live in a country which is increasingly godless and immoral. Abortion is the one essential plank of the Democrat platform. Covid has provided a facade for the introduction of totalitarian controls. 

Now if, and I do not find it incredible at all, the Democrats decide to pack the Supreme Court, then it is truly over for the republic. Expect the closing of the churches and the opening of the internment camps.

We are not much different from China, it seems.

Real Evils

We hear endlessly now about white privilege and racism. 

As so often happens, self-proclaimed victims have hijacked the meaning of racism, claiming that it can be inflicted only on non-whites, people of color.

So many years ago, Dr. Martin Luther King delivered his speech I have a Dream. The declaration which gave a name to his speech was:

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. I have a dream today!

Today I sat through a lengthy presentation on white privilege. Let me now offer the definition of bigotry, of which racism is a subset:

obstinate or unreasonable attachment to a belief, opinion, or faction; in particular, prejudice against a person or people on the basis of their membership of a particular group.

Dr. King, looking down on what has become of his dream, must surely be weeping. White privilege is a textbook example of bigotry, no less offensive than any of the derogatory terms which have been applied to people considered "people of color." How can it be less offensive to judge nominal whites for their skin color than to judge any visible minority? 

Anyone who calls himself Christian must reject bigotry in all forms. 

Jesus' second Great Commandment directs that: "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself."

There is no option there in support of bigotry. Neither does it allow for seizing victimhood as a means of exacting special rights -- or anything else.

Today's Realities

Over two years ago, I lost one of my dearest friends. He was also my confessor of choice, a former microbiologist, and the most reliable spiritual guide I have known. Fr. Charles had been raised in Nigeria, and would have disagreed with the assessment of his then bishop that the biggest problem in the archdiocese of Atlanta was racism.

Father would also have been deeply saddened at the current epidemic of racial exploitation.

Yes, there is racism in Atlanta, though the assertion was, I am certain, intended to portray white racists. Sorry, Abp. Gregory, but the most common source of racism I observed during my years there was black racists.

Racism is a major issue because those who profit by their ranting will not let the issue die.

Fr. Charles was my friend, my brother, and a very holy man. He was a frequent guest at our table. He was a gentleman and a gentle man. He was kind, and always generous. He often laughed at the notion of a day off for a priest -- "should I take a day off from serving the Lord?"

But in Atlanta, not all priests are of that spirit. One I encountered online through a friend who is a deacon is proudly a member of Black Lives Matter. There are some problems with that:

• BLM favors socialism, condemned by the Church.
• BLM is in favor of disrupting the economy, doing damage to the poor.
• BLM is pro-LGBTQ, and anti-family, which are also positions contrary to Church teaching.

I am thankful he is unlike any priest I have experienced in a parish setting.

For the last week I have been flooded with online articles on racism, almost entirely devoted to the notion that whites are inescapably racists, and that blacks are incapable of racism. That view is one fortified by profound ignorance of reality. Everyone is capable of racism, as much as of other sins.

Conventional wisdom holds that whites are racist and that racism is rife in the South. Sorry, all of you in the media, but in 2020, all evidence suggests that you are inverting reality. I encounter racism and hatred in blacks, and only rarely in whites. And I see more evidence of racism in the North than here in the South.

What is deeply disturbing is that the hate mongers are so often self-proclaimed Christians. Even men of the cloth. The plank in their eyes...

Father, my brother, you are sorely missed.

There is no middle ground...

Trying times...

For months, I have felt the need to write about the madness which besets us now.

The Church is the Body of Christ. Not the hierarchy, not the laity, not some particular group of people, but all of us. All men are sinners, and Christ died to redeem all of us.

It has become all too common to see one group or another within the Catholic Church attacking another. By what right? We are all STILL sinners.

There are those who say the trads are troublemakers or worse. Really? Define "trad." And once you have done so, explain how those who take comfort in the liturgy of the ages are in some way less worth than those who proclaim the liturgy of the last 50 years.

No? I grant, the case is all but impossible to make.

The enemy we face is not new, but the same Evil One who tempted Jesus so long ago. But Jesus stood fast, and we seem to lack the will. Or the faith.

In our time, we have seen priests and bishops betray their vows. So? All men are sinners. We have seen this before. Read the history of St. Peter Damien. Man up. Faith is not easy. We are flawed, and predisposed to take the easy path, the path of immediate comfort. Of sin.

But we are called to follow our faith, and to act out of virtue. It is not easy. But it is right.

I have too often seen that there are some (few) priests and bishops who remain steadfast in their faith, committed to their vows, and are found wanting. By God? We know not. But they are found wanting by their fellow men. Because they are not sufficiently strong, not sufficiently outspoken, or whatever. Oddly, those who would condemn these good men have usually done less in support of the faith.

Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.

I will not be casting stones, but I shall ask that we all reflect, and that we also consider whether we seek so defend our faith, the one true church, or whether we seek to offer aid and comfort to the Evil One.

There can be no middle ground.

Update:

I had a comment which I will not publish, as the writer insisted upon reading my post through the lens of his prejudices. I won't enter into a debate with anyone who insists on challenging me on the basis of assertions I did not make.

Contrary to his assertions, I made no attack on those who prefer the Novus Ordo. Nor have I attempted to justify those priests -- and bishops and cardinals -- who have broken their vows and indulged their sexual desires on youth. Predatory priests should, at the very least, be removed from parish work. 

Each of us must work out his own salvation in fear and trembling.