What Catholics Do NOT Believe!

The year 1884 is the date when my beloved Grandmother was born, so I'm always interested in HOW the Catholic Church taught its eternal truths during that period. EWTN reprints from a 1884 discussion by the Very Rev. Joseph Di Bruno, D.D. on what Catholics do NOT believe.

Two of the total list of seven items include:

4. Catholics do not believe that a man can by his own good works, independently of the Merits and Passion of Jesus Christ and of His grace, obtain salvation, or make any satisfaction for the guilt of his sins, or acquire any merit.

...

6. Catholics do not believe that it is in the power of the Church to add to the truths contained in the "deposit of faith," that is, to frame or enforce any doctrine which has not for its source the written or unwritten word of God, or authority from the same. Nor do they believe, when the Church makes a Definition in matters of faith, that this definition or article of faith is a new doctrine; it is only a solemn declaration and a clearer statement of what was believed, at least implicitly (that is, in an implied way, or inferentially), in the time of the Apostles, though some private persons might have doubted of it.

Now, read the remaining five here.

Cures Without Cloning

The good Missourians who worked very hard and almost stopped the multi-million dollar juggernaut financed by James Stowers to pass the pro-cloning amendment have no intention of failing again. Their new website, MoCuresWithoutCloning.com, should be checked often. WolfTracker gives more information on the new anti-cloning initiative.

Patron Saint of Weight Watchers

St. Mochta is a good patron saint for all of us who wish to curb their appetites for spiritual advantage and control their weight for physical motives. Butler's "The Lives of the Saints" notes that St. Mochta (Mochteus) never ate a morsel of fat as a way of curbing his appetite for such foods. [Note: some liquid oils are necessary for good health.]

The result was that the Abbot Mochta lived a very long life, fabled to be three hundred years (but the evidence is that he lived to be about ninety). St. Mochta was a contemporary of St Patrick, who is said to have built the original church in Louth, Ireland and to have appointed St Mochta the first Bishop of Louth.

Search on the word "eat" and note that Google keeps bringing up the word "death", in which "eat" are the middle letters. Now search on the two words together and see that Americans Eat Themselves to Death:

...inactive Americans are eating themselves to death at an alarming rate, their unhealthy habits fast approaching tobacco as the top underlying preventable cause of death, a government study found.

In 2000, poor diet including obesity and physical inactivity caused 400,000 U.S. deaths - more than 16 percent of all deaths and the No. 2 killer. That compares with 435,000 for tobacco, or 18 percent, as the top underlying killer.

Obesity is highly related to health problems such as daily stomach acid reflux, knee replacements, feet problems, heart attacks, and diabetes. Should the government then partially subsidize weight loss programs for obese persons? Private health insurance companies usually do not cover obesity treatments, even those known to be highly effective, yet costing as little as $12/week, such as Weight Watchers. Until 2004, the government-sponsored Medicare did not consider obesity to be a disease or illness and would not authorize any payments or services to treat obesity.

I wonder if more health bang for the buck wouldn't be generated by allowing deductions for taxpayers' enrollment in programs similar to Weight Watchers. Should the government allow individuals to subtract expenses for an approved weight loss program from their gross income, before paying income tax? Why? Or why not? I'd like to hear your opinion.

Utopia and Stranger in a Strange Land

"Robert Heinlein in STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND wrote a work of propaganda, which was meant to, and in my case did, persuade the reader to adopt a philosophy that was false." -- John C. Wright at his Journal. [Note: the famous science fiction novel, Stranger in a Strange Land, proposes cannibalism as a virtue. John C. Wright explains what is wrong with the book in a previous post of his Journal. The discussion continues below.]

"And did you start eating your friends as a gesture of respect as a result?"

No, but the libertarian moral-relativism he [Heinlein] deliberately (and successfully) persuaded me [Wright] to adopt, left me without an ability to say what [why] cannibalism was wrong, or polygamy, or incest. His stated aim was to undermine monogamy and monotheism. One way to do this is to feign total innocence when confronted by total wickedness: to ask (with wide-eyed naivety) why cannibalism or incest is wrong, and, if the answer requires any value judgment, to dismiss the value judgment as arbitrary, ergo of no moral weight.

Once one has no confidence in the reasoning about what is morally obvious, those things that are morally obscure become cloudy as well. For many years, I saw nothing wrong with perversion, fornication, polygamy, open adultery, and so on. That was Heinlein's rhetorical purpose.

Heinlein did not get me to be a cannibal, but he did persuade me to throw away the moral code I used to say cannibalism is wrong. Of course he did not give a tinker's damn about cannibalism: it was my judgment, my sense of reason, my sense of proportion, that he wanted me to scuttle.

I submit that the one leads to the other: a moral standard that is neutral on the question of cannibalism is perforce neutral on every lesser standard. I challenge you or anyone to prove me wrong. To prove me wrong, all you need do is give me an argument, starting from a Heinlein axiom that all men should be free to do whatsoever they will, provided it does no violence to another, to show clearly, and without any arbitrary value judgments, why cannibalism of a willing victim is wrong, or incest with a willing daughter, or any other victimless crime.

If you cannot do it, then you have been deceived, and harmed, by the same school of thought that deceived and harmed me: and it is this school of which Heinlein, at least in science fiction circles, was the foremost advocate.

I responded on the above post by Wright to ask:

Was that philosophy Utopianism? This "perennial heresy" is the basis for many hypothetical future worlds where the vices of lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, and pride have disappeared (or in some instances, made into virtues). The corresponding virtues of chastity, abstinence, liberality, diligence, patience, kindness, and humility that have been the foundation of prior civilizations are usually ignored.

Utopians believe human beings are perfectible. These thinkers are at odds with REALITY and believe in the deification of mankind. Yet our permanently imperfect society is incapable of reaching an ultra-human state because of the extreme tensions between what we want, what we can achieve, and what is good for us. [You can argue all day on that last one!]

In contrast, non-Utopians (religionists) have a much higher regard for REALITY because they conclude that, if mankind sinned consistently over the past 10,000 years, mankind's imperfections will be disturbingly evident over the next 10,000 years. The root of Utopianism is a great pride, never a good starting point to find truth. Moreover, Utopia is a world where freedom must be severely constrained for the benefit of all. The Utopian must dissolve personalities which individualities are the cause of disagreements between peoples.

Sci-Fi authors, in their Utopianism, regularly insist that humanity will be transformed into a community of saintly scientists and philosophers, all joined together in a collectively high intelligence. [THE GOLDEN TRANSCENDENCE is an example.] In reality, dreams of Utopianism are nightmares where no change can be tolerated within a person's life or within a society.

Philosophy attempts to understand mankind, but science cannot understand the non-objective parts of man's reasoning. Even if science is perfectible, mankind is not perfectible because philosophy is not perfectible. Or if it is, man's weaknesses prevent him from knowing or acknowledging philosophical truths.

I recently asked a professor of philosophy what philosophical ideas were new and original, so that he and others could meet requirements for "new, published research." He laughed and said there was nothing new in philosophy. He and other professors could only write about philosophical thoughts presented and studied in the past, yet with "new" organization and comparisons. I was heartened to hear this old professor insist that philosophy is well worth studying because it contemplates God, mankind, the universe, knowledge, and values.

Original Sin needs to be mentioned here, but others have written more succinctly on the topic here and here.

The Identity of a Pig

Over 50 years ago, a radio program sponsored a national contest to find the person with the funniest name. The lady who won had the name of Ima Haug. Her original name was something like Ima Huntington, but she married a man with the last name of Haug.

I've thought the name as very fitting for most of us human beings, as the nature of a swine can be compared to both the best and the worst characteristics of the human race. Regardless of the stories of beautiful pigs given large clean spaces in which to roam and root, pigs do not groom themselves (like a cat), eat with no regard for what or how much, always have dirty noses, and defecate in their living area. I too can resemble a pig in being spiritually dirty, especially before I go to confession to ask the priest to forgive my sins.

When I was very small, I hated to have to take a bath because it shortened my outdoor play time. My Mother finally solved the problem when she bought a book with 365 small childrens' stories to be read nightly. The one-page story on my birth date had a drawing that impressed me. The picture was of another little girl who also hated baths. In the story, the little girl refused to take a bath and was punished by having to sleep with the pigs. I was asked by my Mother after the story if I would agree to take a bath, and of course, my answer was now 'yes'.

When I was growing up, we raised a few pigs, so I was aware how dirty they were. Their pen was always foul-smelling from spilled slop and hog manure. Moreover, it was not easy to recover the manure to fertilize farm fields and gardens, as we did with cow manure and chicken manure. So the pig manure had little value, except to eventually fertilize the area for planting a new garden, after moving the hog pen to another spot.

Pigs do have have numerous advantages over beef cattle.

1. Pigs are omnivores so they will eat anything from soapy dishwater to dirt (which they consume when they find roots).
   
2. Lots of baby pigs are born in a litter. I once observed 12 or 13 small piglets born to a large sow on an in-law's farm. Even the sow's owner was amazed that the baby pigs kept coming out!
3. Pigs grow fast and produce pork chops, ham, and bacon--and these taste very good, especially when I smoke them.
   
4. Pigs may produce replacement parts for human beings in the future because of their genetic similarity to human beings (and several other factors).
   

Pigs are also a problem. In both Hawaii and Texas, residents told me that hunting wild pigs is encouraged. Why? Because wild boars are mean and dangerous, the pigs carry dangerous diseases, and they tear up farmland and manicured grassy areas.

In Hawaii, the native Islanders are allowed to kill wild hogs whenever they want. The native told me that wild pigs cause a significant amount of soil erosion on the Big Island. In Texas, dogs are used to hunt wild swine, although the man I spoke with said good dogs are often killed by wild hogs. The man recommended an alternative method to keep wild hogs from disturbing manicured grassy areas.

He suggested digging a ditch in a nearby area, dropping in a bushel of corn, and covering with packed soil. The wild hogs will smell the corn and come at night to root it out, leaving the unfenced grassy area alone. It would take a while before all the kernals would be found by the wild pigs. The man actually believed it was possible to train the wild pigs to eat only in areas where corn was used as reward. He thought this method would meet the demands of animal lovers who would raise a howl if wild hogs were simply shot.

Lovers of the Latin Mass, Read This!

Read St. Louis Catholic's post comparing the characters in The Incredibles movie to the players in the Motu Proprio. Don't miss it!

Canning Vegetables

Canning vegetables from the garden is always hard work, but the end products are usually better than you can buy in the grocery store. I've been busy canning pickles (27 quart jars) and corn relish (5 pints). I also froze fresh tomatoes that had been blanched so that the skin easily slid off. The whole tomatoes were then cored and packed in sandwich bags for the freezer.

The outdoor temps have been in the 90s, but indoor air conditioning now makes canning a relatively easy chore. I remember when both the indoor and outdoor temperatures were very hot and my Mother canned different vegetables and fruits. One year, she canned 82 pints of strawberry preserves because the berries were too small (or too close to rotting from too much rain) to sell. We kids had to stem box after box of them! Naturally, we enjoyed strawberry preserves on bread all year long--even as sandwiches in our packed lunches for school.

Mother canned pickles, corn, green beans, peaches, and especially tomato juice. One of our daughters borrowed her Grandmother's colander and wood paddle to make tomato juice. The paddle is rotated around and around inside the colander to push the cooked tomato pulp through, and leave the unwanted seeds inside the colander. Our daughter concluded the intensive effort was not worth it, considering the grocery store price for tomato juice and paste. However, homemade tomato juice definitely tastes better than store-bought juice.

Soap was also made by Mother and her mother and grandmother. Mother said the recipe for soap was printed on the side of the box of lye. One year her Dad didn't get around to killing a young hog during the cold butchering season. He had to wait until the next winter to butcher that hog. Mother remembers that the large hog was very fat, and they made a lot of soap from the buckets of lard. I imagine the soap recipe was much like that described by a lady born about the same time as my Mother.

Fallen-Away Catholics

Most of you have probably met Catholics who have fallen away from the Church. Frequently, they began to reject Catholicism by becoming angry with a priest, or becoming upset by money handling in the Church, or any of a hundred other reasons.

I've talked twice with J., an old man (my age!), and he told me today that he is a fallen-away Catholic. He is disgusted by the priests' sexual scandals of the past few years, but I concluded he left the Church a long time before the scandals made the headlines. J. added that he wasn't sure he now believed everything the Church teaches (perhaps another indication that his departure is of some duration). Yet he noted that he could never join another church because he would always consider himself a Catholic. Finally, J. mentioned that if a priest cousin from another area were to be in Kansas City, he would go to Mass every Sunday to hear his excellent sermons!

Whatever the reason (excuse!) for losing his faith, J.'s rejection of the Church MAY have begun, as so often happens, by rejecting the 6th and 9th Commandments. It is so difficult to admit that one is sinning when it feels so good and seems so right!

There are a lot of arguments to justify sinful sexual behaviors. "It's my nature and only natural to do it." "No one is being hurt." "This is such a small sin in comparison to the sin of hatred." "No one can obey these commandments, so why even try." "Jesus really didn't mean what He said." After sufficiently ruminating over different variations of these excuses, a person's conscience becomes twisted, he concludes the Church is wrong, and he leaves the Church.

Sometimes, God's grace is restored and a person become aware of the spiritual battle for his soul that is inherent in sexual temptations. He realizes he is excusing his sins, but God isn't! When he admits "through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault", and asks for God's mercy, he can begin to be truly repentant.

Sexual temptations and falling into sins make a person uncomfortably aware of his fallibility--his lack of strength. A person cannot rely on his own strength in repelling this kind of sin. In fact, the Church teaches we must always run away from a sexual temptation; we must never stop and consider the temptation even in order to fight it.

Sexual sins can become the occasion for the virtue of humility--I blew it again, God! Only when we are so humble that we admit we are powerless without God, can His grace enter to change a life. A wise person recognizes this for the remainder of his time on earth.

The only persons represented in the four Gospels who really pleased Jesus Christ were repentant sinners. First was the man in the parable who stayed in the back of the temple, with his eyes cast down and confessing he was unworthy. Second was the man who told Jesus, "I am not worthy that Thou should come unto my roof; but say the word and my servant will be healed." Third was St. Dismas who hung on the cross next to Jesus and who admitted he deserved his crucifixion because of his crimes, but nevertheless, begged Jesus in a great act of faith to remember him when he came into his kingdom. Jesus' response was that "This day you will be with me in paradise." Quite a reward after a man's bad life, but one that was entirely mitigated by acknowledging personal sins and pleading for mercy from Jesus!

When I was young, my parents lived next door to Mr. & Mrs. M. They were Catholics who had rejected the Church's teaching on the permanence of marriage, and their "marriage" was not true in the sight of God. For many years, they lived together as man and wife. Yet I always saw them at Sunday Mass where they sat in a middle pew on the left side of the Church, even though they never received Holy Communion. On Thursday evenings, we attended Novena devotions and Mr. & Mrs. M also were always there.

I asked my Mother about their situation, and was told Mr. & Mrs. M. were living in sin, but could find no way out of their situation because of a child they both needed to care for. The priest was gentle, but firm, in saying they were to hope in God's mercy by otherwise living a good life. The pastor encouraged the couple to come to him in the confessional where he would encourage them and guide them in spiritual practices and good works. However, their sins were never able to be forgiven because they continued to live together.

Many years later, Mr. & Mrs. M began to receive Holy Communion, and I asked Mother what had happened. She answered they were now old and the pastor had accepted the practicality of their desire to live together in the same house, but only as brother and sister.

Both Mr. & Mrs. M were kind and generous people. Mrs. M took care of her sick and very difficult-to-care-for mother for several years before the mother died. My own Mother thought Mrs. M behaved as a saint in this long trial. Mr. M was always first to help his neighbors, and the whole neighborhood missed them when they died. Both Mr. & Mrs M. left this world and were buried in full communion with the Church, even though their original spouses still lived. God's mercy prevailed for poor, humble, and repentant sinners!

The "Best of Times," the "Worst of Times"

I recently met some old classmates from my high school of 50+ years ago. Both men said that we had lived during the "best of times," referring to the rosy economic conditions that we had enjoyed. One remarked solemnly that our children and grandchildren will never enjoy as good fruits as we have eaten in our lifetimes.

I agreed, but also thought that like the time of the French Revolution described by Charles Dickens, the past 60 years were also the "worst of times." Public morality and personal integrity and responsibility are clearly at a low point. Regardless of whether one agrees on the causes, the effects mean more children have less--spiritually and economically--than did the children of two generations ago.

Two old friends and I discussed the above observations at lunch a couple of days ago. I asked these elderly women how many old people living on Social Security were giving part of their monthly check to their children and grandchildren. Both women agreed that this was happening more and more, as young people have fewer and fewer good jobs.

One friend continues to work at Walmart and noted she is seeing grandparents buy a significant part of their grandchildren's needs. She said she was shocked that so many grandmothers are now buying school supplies for their grandchildren. We concluded that Social Security is now paying for more than the oldest generation, it is now helping to pay for the youngest generation.

Yesterday I talked to another friend in a parking lot and she explained her son and his wife are working very hard at three jobs to support themselves and their two young children. The son has begun his own business of laying carpet and doing other home maintenance work, but they can't afford to move out of his mother's house where they live in her basement. The man is in his early 40's and has hired several employees. When he pays them, they buy drugs and don't show up the next day, and his business suffers. Now his mother says that she hopes he gives up the business and simply tries to get a maintenance position for apartments run by a Protestant church. Regardless, it sounds like the young family will continue to be supported in their housing needs by his widowed mother.

I would bet much more than a nickel that there are many, many stories like the above. They do not predict a bright future for a large number of young people in our country.

Exorcizing Harry Potter

Who's afraid of the fastest selling fiction in modern history, the seven-novel, 325-million books in the Harry Potter saga? Is it the buyers of the 12 million advance copies of the newest J.K. Rowling book? No, it is the 3rd National Conference of Catholic Exorcists that met in Mexico City, July 16-20, 2007.

Almost 300 priests and others involved in exorcisms listened to international experts, including Fr. Gabriel Amorth, the Vatican's chief exorcist, and the author of An Exorcist Tells His Story, and An Exorcist: More Stories. The agenda of the conference focused on a systematic course of instruction for priests who have responsibility for the Church's mandate by Christ to perform exorcisms.

Sixteen conference sessions and a case study were scheduled:

1. The rebellious fall of the angels, according to Scripture, the Fathers of the church, Catholic theology, and Church teaching. What truths do demons affirm under the pressure of God during the exorcisms?
2. Demonology and Satanism (dogmatic teaching) According to the Church: Who are they? What can they do? What is understood by demonic possession?
3. Practical criteria for the exercise of the Rite of Exorcism, including the instructions given by Cardinal Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) in September 2000.
4. The Exorcism of Jesus and a discussion of seven cases of true possession.
5. Demonic possession, as contrasted with physical and mental diseases. Causes, aims, varieties and degrees, limits, and distinctions between obsession, humiliation, oppression and possession.
6. True pathologies as compared to demonic possession. Natural development of the human being: personality, traumas, and upheavals.
7. Discernment in the Bible and the Tradition of the Church. Natural, preternatural, and supernatural events. Ordinary and extraordinary actions of a demon.
8. Discernment in particular: Spiritual versus psychological occurrences. Errors that an Exorcist can commit and the vigilance needed to properly care for the patient.
9. The relationship of the Exorcist to the diocese. Pastoral collaboration at the diocesan level.
10. The required spiritual condition and training of the Exorcist.
11. A historical overview of exorcisms in the Roman ritual.
12. A review of the new Rite of Exorcism (1999 and 2da.), including 2004 typical edition.
13. Pastoral recommendations for the team who accomplish the exorcism.
14. Liturgical and canonical aspects to observe in the exercise of the greater and smaller exorcism.
15. The ministry of the Exorcist
16. Positive and practical conclusions, according to the practice and norms of the new Rite of Exorcism. What remains to be done?
17. Discernment of a case with the participation of medical doctors, psychologists, psychiatrists, and exorcists, in that order--with each to diagnose the patient according to his own training.

The exorcist coordinator of the Archdiocese of Mexico City, Fr. Pedro Mendoza, claimed at the above conference that the Harry Potter books allow the devil to enter children's minds to do "a lot of damage." "If you put all these ideas in a child's head, that he can become a wizard, the child believes that, and that is opening an avenue through which the devil can get in."

Fr. Gabrielle Nanni, the author of Exorcisms, noted that it is in magic and the occult where the presence of the devil is found. A third expert, Rev. Francisco Bamonte, commented that the Harry Potter books and films are a clear attempt to attract adolescents to admire and involve themselves in magic. Fr. Bamonte is an Italian exorcism expert and author of Diabolical Possessions and Exorcisms who is disturbed that witches and warlocks are identified as positive figures, and that "magical solutions" to life's problems are presented in the Harry Potter books.

In 2006, the Vatican's chief exorcist, Rev. Gabriele Amorth, warned readers about the dangers of the Harry Potter novels. "You start off with Harry Potter, who comes across as a likable wizard, but you end up with the Devil. There is no doubt that the signature of the Prince of Darkness is clearly within these books." "By reading Harry Potter, a young child will be drawn into magic and from there it is a simple step to Satanism and the Devil."

Fr. Amorth made very similar remarks in 2002, "Behind Harry Potter hides the signature of the king of the darkness, the devil." Magic is a "satanic art" and there is no distinction between black and white magic, both of whom turn to the devil. In either case, becoming familiar with magic by reading the Harry Potter books makes magic appear less of the threat it is to a good relationship with God.

Personally, I would compare the Harry Potter books to playing Russian Roulette. For some kids, the books are fun to read and the bullets mostly miss their target. However, bullets hit some adolescents and encourage them to engage in magic--just like Harry Potter does. That's why Exorcists in the U.S. are recently seeing more diabolical possession that begins with ouija boards, Tarot cards, seances, and other occult activities. Why play Russian Roulette with the spiritual life of a child?

The Motu Proprio and Coca Cola Classic

Curmudgeon is at his best in this amusing post comparing Pope Benedict XVI's Motu Proprio bringing back the Latin Mass to the return of Coca Cola Classic. Humor and parody are often helpful in achieving a better understanding.

New Chinese Archbishop of Beijing

As usual, I learned a lot reading a recent post and associated comments on Fr. Z's blog. He quotes from AsiaNews that describes the Beijing diocesan community selection of a successor to the communist puppet Archbishop of Beijing who died recently. I wasn't too surprised to read that Joseph (Giuseppe) Li Shan was not personally opposed by the Vatican.

However, the new appointment was without Papal approval. Pontifical mandates are discussed at some length in the comments to Fr. Z's post, especially by Alex who compares the situation in Beijing to other illicitly (not according to law) consecrated Bishops of the SSPX and of Eastern European countries while under communist rule.

Also, don't forget to read that the new Beijing Archbishop is now being praised by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican secretary of state.

Sexual Freedom, from a Unusual Perspective

John C. Wright is arguing about sex--and what magnificent truths he uses to whiplash the error of sexual freedom. See his most recent post, Arguements in favor of cheap women and Sex, Lies, and Shooting at the Cat, that discusses

Men who cannot keep their trousers up and women who cannot keep their skirts down.

Also don't miss the earlier post, Witnesses for the Defense, that begins with the statement

Back when I was a fun-loving, God-hating atheist, logic forced me to the conclusion that the passions of man, including sexual passions, were destructive of happiness and life unless conformed into the boundaries of reality.

and ends with reminders from historical religions and ethical systems on the great evils caused by sex unbound from marriage.

Prince of Peace Catholic Community, Olathe, KS

Prince of Peace Catholic Community is a very large church on the southwest side of Kansas City. Mostly new homes in the area means that parishioners are typically young and beginning their families. The church complex is extensive, featuring a large church, Catholic school, and a gymnasium, with large parking lots on the north and east.

The weekly church bulletin is the biggest I've seen--12 large pages, including three pages of advertisements. The bulletin indicates weekly donations at six weekend Masses exceeds $40k. Prince of Peace maintains an internet site where the altar space and small centered tabernacle can be seen.

Attendance at the 9:00 a.m. Sunday Mass included mostly white people, with a few individuals of oriental and black races. There were lots of little kids in addition to hundreds of adults that generally filled the 1,200-seat church. I thought it humorous that, even with the large parking lots of Prince of Peace, the parishioners needed to be reminded not to park across the street in the parking lot of another church.

As one enters the church, there is a large foyer/reception area with a tall statue of St. Michael the Archangel. Five individuals, including a guitarist and a violinist, led the music for the Mass while standing in front of five microphones on the left side of the church. Two women read the readings from Scripture. Three altar boys in white robes served the priest and were introduced by name at the end of Mass. Three nuns dressed in light blue habits and veils were present in one of the first few pews.

Flags of our church and our country surround the altar on which were placed six gold chalices at the beginning of Mass. The additional priest's chalice appeared to be of wood with gold accent. Simple stations of the cross are mounted on the side and rear wall of the semi-circular church. The right alcove at the front of the church holds a statue of the Virgin Mary with the baby Jesus. A representation of another saint is located in the left alcove. A large statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is found at the rear of the church. On each side wall are three large stained glass windows depicting Gospel scenes.

The Mass appeared to be celebrated according to the current rubrics for the Novus Ordo Mass. The homily was built around the Gospel reading and was probably less than 10 min in length. Altar bells were rung at the Consecrations, after which was sung an enthusiastic acclamation of "...Christ is risen, Christ will come again" led by loud guitar music. The priest used a very large host for the Consecration that could be easily seen from the back of the large church.

Communion was distributed by the celebrating priest and ten extraordinary ministers--five women and five men in lay attire. Several of these bowed as they themselves received communion in the hand from the priest. The consecrated hosts were distributed from gold bowls, including one very large bowl carried by the priest.

Most of the people sat down as they awaited their turn to leave their pews to receive communion. Some bowed before receiving. Only a very few people in the church did not receive communion, perhaps including non-Catholic spouses. Most people knelt in thanksgiving for a short time after receiving communion.

I thought I heard the priest say, "Let us kneel..." for the final blessing, but no one did that I saw. At the end of Mass, the priest thanked all those who had provided the music, read the Scriptures, ushered, and distributed communion. Almost everyone quickly left the Church at the end of Mass, but a few stayed to pray, including an attractive young couple with six children. People were invited to meet their fellow Catholics after Mass in a reception area, where donuts were available.

So what irritated me to my very bones? It was the young women and girls who came to Sunday Mass, supposedly to worship God, while wearing skimpy tops and shorts (all exposing most of the thighs). [The church is well air conditioned, so the reason couldn't have been the heat!] The single pew in front of me (containing a total of 18 people) had five girls and young women wearing very short shorts--and they seemed to represent at least three different groups or families.

The bulletin featured announcements for the schedule of P.O.P. R.O.C.K.S., Prince of Peace's Really Outstanding Catholic Kids, the School of Religion Enrollment (ages 3 through eighth grade), and the CORE High School Ministry. [I hope training in modesty becomes part of the curricula of all three programs. More on this subject later.]

The parish sponsors Perpetual Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. A bulletin announcement noted that "We have over 3,200 families in our parish, yet 23 hours [of 151 hours to cover in a week] remain open. Is Jesus important enough to you to set aside one special hour each week to be with Him? Just one hour is all that He asks. This is a simple matter of putting God first in our lives." Children's Adoration is also set aside for every Sunday afternooon from 2:00 - 2:30 pm in the Adoration Chapel.

Guardian Angel Alarm Clock

My guardian angel is named Grace, at least that's the name I've given the lovely spiritual being that God has given me for a personal protector and a guide. A number of years ago, someone told me that a guardian angel will awaken a person at the time requested. When I must get up at a specific time, I ask my guardian angel to awaken me. [Being a person of relatively weak faith, I've also set the alarm clock as a backup.]

Invariably, I awaken shortly before the alarm clock goes off. It never fails, and it also means my spouse is not awakened by the ringing alarm because I shut it off first. A couple of times, our alarm clock was mis- or never set, yet I awakened at the proper time--even though it may have been earlier or later than the time I had decided on during the prior evening. I've concluded that Grace knows the time I need to arise better than I do. The last time, I didn't set the alarm clock and sure enough, I was awakened at the right time. [Grace is also a very good co-driver--sometimes warning others I am going to do something stupid so they can get out of the way!]

An internet search of "guardian angel" and alarm clock produced interesting tidbits of information on St. Padre Pio's guardian angel, including:

Father Alessio Parente was assigned to assist the fragile monk from the chapel to his monastic cell every day. But Father Parente had a habit of oversleeping. Often he wouldn't hear his alarm clock or, half awake, he would switch it off. "Every time I overslept," he says, "I heard a voice in my sleep saying, 'Alessio, Alessio, come down!' and a knocking at my door....

St. Padre Pio told Fr. Allesio that he sent his guardian angel to awaken Fr. Allesio.

Here is an important twice-daily prayer I say to my guardian angel:

Angel of God, my guardian dear,
To whom God's love commits me here.
Ever this day [night], be at my side,
To light and guard, to rule and guide. Amen.

Some of God's Gifts

I often think about how good God has been to me. Here are some of His places and things I see and love near where I live.....

Kansas Wheat Fields

Here are photos of Kansas wheat fields in Springtime==some of my husband's favorite places to visit.

Where I Think We Are...

WolfTracker left an interesting comment on the previous post re Bishops' Scorecard:

...even after all of the evidence you show to the contrary, you state that things [in the Church] are not "significantly improving." Surely, things are improving drastically, even if not all is all right. Perhaps, I misread your summation. Please help me out.

WT, I think we are now on the upside curve of the 'decline and resurgence' graph of strength within the Catholic Church in the U.S. The graphed line is intended to represent the precipitous fall when so much was lost in the past 40 years. My estimate of where we are now is marked at slightly beyond the low point and climbing.

We are a long way from climbing as fast as we fell, and we are likely to never reach the opposite of that severe decline rate in church strength. For example, weekend (Sunday) Mass attendance fell from approximately 70 percent attendance to 30 percent in 40 years--averaging about 1 percent decline per year for approximately 40 million Catholics (400,000 less Mass attendees per year). It is hard for me to imagine that we can gain 400,000 more regular Mass attendees per year over the next 40 years (but I do believe in God's miracles, especially when inspired by saintly lives and preaching!)

I cannot yet say that things are "significantly improving," although we seem to be advancing to that point. I will use the word "significantly" only when there is at least a sizable increase from the lowest value on the chart. I don't think we have yet reached that point--for example, in number of regular Mass-going Catholics, or in sacramental confessions and marriages.

Good Bishops are now coming on the scene, and one of the most optimistic reports I've seen is the news reported by Sandro Magister that Pope Benedict XVI is very carefully reviewing candidates for Bishops.

Much more than curia appointments, Benedict XVI has at heart the appointment of bishops.

He dedicates much greater attention to these than John Paul II did. Before giving his permission, the pope keeps the dossiers of the designates on his desk for up to two or three weeks. And sometimes he rejects them, without giving an explanation to the competent curia dicastery presided over by cardinal Giovanni Battista Re.

Pope Ratzinger is very demanding; he wants bishops of quality, and doesn’t always find them. The pace of episcopal appointments has fallen by a quarter with him, in comparison with the previous pontificate.

However, even a good Pope and good Bishops will have an extremely difficult job to restore and rebuild the Church to the point where most Catholics regularly attend Mass, get married before living together, and understand the importance of frequent confession. Moreover, the technologically adept secularists and pagans oppose the teachings of Christ and have a great deal more power in society than 40 years ago.

Scorecard for Kansas City Bishops

Since 1968, a scorecard that rated performance for most Kansas City Catholic Bishops would have been marked with many deficiencies, justifying grades of "D" and "F". However, almsgiving was not lost during the past 40 years as the Church continued its beautiful work for the poor. [Unfortunately, 'love' also was used by some Bishops to justify the extinction of common sense, as could be seen when examining lists of grantees and expenses receiving diocesan 'charitable' funds.]

Fortunately, the current two Bishops (Bishop Robert W. Finn and Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann) of Greater Kansas City deserve much, much better grades than most recent KC Bishops. I wish I had started to summarize their accomplishments when each Bishop took charge, but I really thought they did not have what was needed to dig the Church out of the pit of Modernism. However, the list of our current Bishops' good and faithful works gets longer and longer.

1. The Leaven and The Catholic Key diocesan newspapers are much improved. [Lots could be said in support of this conclusion--perhaps in a future post. The Key is now better than The Leaven, in my opinion.]

2. The diocesan leaderships are no longer hotbeds of dissent, even if some local parishes and 'Catholic' colleges remain bulwarks of Modernism.

3. The Bishops acknowledge and support the contributions and aspirations of traditional Catholics, even giving churches for the offering of the old Latin Mass and allowing FSSP and ICKSP priests to serve as chaplains.

4. Bishop Finn shows character, strength, and wisdom when dealing with dissenters. ['Nuff said!]

5. Archbishop Naumann seems to have taken a quieter approach in handling dissenters, but the results also seem fairly good, as diocesan Masses seem less 'experimental' than before. [Interestingly, I've observed two Kansas parishes where people were invited to kneel at the beginning of Mass where they ask God for forgiveness of their sins. I assume Archbishop Naumann is responsible for this welcome 'innovation.']

6. Archbishop Naumann and Bishop Finn are both strong pro-life supporters. Almost every week, their diocesan newspapers have an article or two on the life issues, and Archbishop Naumann usually leads a monthly rosary march to the abortion clinic in Kansas City, KS. In addition, both Bishops lead efforts to ban harvesting of stem cells from aborted infants, and Archbishop Naumann sponsored the production of a stem cell video to encourage opposition to the practice.

7. Bishop Finn has recruited the Benedictine Sisters of Mary, Queen of the Apostles, a traditional group of Catholic nuns, and is extending considerable support and encouragement to them.

8. Both Bishops recognize the evil of pornography and have organized programs to combat it.

9. Archbishop Naumann, a member of the Bishops' Committee on Marriage and Family Life, appears to recognize the great danger to the Church of the loss of over 50 percent of Catholic marriages. See my related post.

10. Archbishop Naumann has written many good columns in The Leaven that teach Catholic doctrine and that address thorny issues, such as contraception, 'free' love, and confession.

11. The two Bishops jointly sponsored the Annual Corpus Christi procession from St. Thomas More Church to Avila College, emphasizing Catholic belief in transubstantiation of the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.

12. Bishop Finn has appointed faithful stewards of Catholic teaching to key roles in his diocese.

13. Both Bishops are working very hard and successfully to get religious vocations. Bishop Finn just announced that the Missouri diocese now has 25 seminarians. He promoted a diocesan observance of 30 Days of Prayer to St. Joseph for vocations that ended when he led a pilgrimage to St. Joseph's Oratory of Mount Royal in Montreal, Quebec. [It's heartening to see Bishop Finn is not afraid to get on his knees! Photo from The Key.]

14. Archbishop Naumann recognizes the importance of serving the homeschooling community. The Savior Pastoral Center was the site of a recent homeschooling conference and Laura Berquist will promote homeschooling at a July 15 conference starting at 1:00 pm at Benedictine College in Atchison, KS.

16. Archbishop Naumann is not afraid to publicly confront Governor Kathleen Sebelius on her pro-abortion activities. [Catholic pro-lifers are still waiting for the Archbishop to publicly acknowledge that the Kansas governor has removed herself from the Catholic Church and should no longer receive Communion. See my related post.]

17. Bishop Finn and Archbishop Naumann are co-sponsoring a Global Living Rosary during May 2008 at Kauffman Stadium. Also see here.

Not everything is all right or even significantly improving, but events over the past two years indicate that the days of unopposed Modernism in Kansas City have come to an end. Moreover, there is a resurgence of faith and Catholic action that I haven't seen for a long, long time.

Vatican Finances and Vatican Radio

Yesterday (July 6, 2007), the Vatican released a summary of their financial statement for last year, and today Cardinal Sergio Sebastiani, president of the Vatican's Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See, released additional financial notes.

It seems apropos to review the spending and income of the Holy See because Peter's Pence is collected at this time of the year by U.S. Catholic Churches. A surplus of 2.4 million euro was reported, and it seems the institutional activity of the Holy See cut expenses (Secretariat of State, congregations, councils, tribunals, the Synod of Bishops and various other offices). More importantly, the donations that came from Episcopal Conferences, dioceses, religious Institutes, faithful and various Entities increased from 73.9 million euro in 2005 to 86 million euro in 2006. Contributions for Peter's Pence grew to 74.6 million euro in 2006 as against the 2005 total of 46.7 million.

A major drain on Vatican resources appears to be Vatican Radio (deficit of about 23.8 million euro) and L'Osservatore Romano (deficit of 4.4 million euro), even though the Vatican Printing Office and the Vatican Television Center reported surpluses. All newspapers are struggling with the revolutions of the information world, so L'Osservatore Romano's problems are not unexpected.

The large 2006 deficit is not the first Vatican Radio deficit. In 2004, several Cardinals also questioned a large annual deficit of Vatican Radio. In addition, the 2000 financial statement also reported a large deficit for Vatican Radio, noting that the number of hours transmitted in the year were almost 24,000, and that many [2000] Jubilee events were transmitted in as many as 60 languages.

The most useful information on the large annual deficits of Vatican Radio were reported in 2006 by CNS:

Vatican Radio, which accepts no advertising, and the Vatican newspaper, which accepts very little, are traditional drains on Vatican revenues.

One day after he was appointed director of the Vatican press office, Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, who also serves as general director of Vatican Radio, told reporters the radio is working on reducing its deficit, which amounted to $29.9 million in 2005.

He said the radio was committed to reducing its staff from 395 employees to 335 by 2013, primarily by not replacing retiring workers whose jobs can be handled easily by others with the help of new technology.

As for advertising, he said the question was not only "ideological," but practical as well. Advertisers want to know how many people they will reach in a targeted geographic area, information Vatican Radio does not have for its programs broadcast in more than 40 languages around the world.

If you would like to listen to Vatican Radio, the signal is broadcast to North America on iTuner. I listened this morning to interviews with student astronomers given a chance to study at the Vatican observatory, and especially to an interview with Anita Garibaldi Hibbert, the great granddaughter of the Italian revolutionary, Giuseppe Garibaldi. Anita Garibaldi is the curator of Garibaldi 2007, a celebration of his revolutionary life.

The Risorgimento was the Italian revolution against the Papacy during the 19th century that was lead by Mazzini, Garibaldi, and Cavour -- all ardent Freemasons associated with the Carbonari. Wikipedia notes that the Carbonari (coal-burners) was "at the root of many of the outbreaks in Italy from 1820 on." The Carbonari was formed in southern Italy and was inspired by the principles of the French revolution. The controversial document, the Alta Vendita, was attributed to the Sicilian Carbonari. Wikipedia comments that the Alta Vendita details an alleged Masonic plan to infiltrate the Roman Catholic church and spread liberal ideas within it.

It was surprising (or perhaps not!) that the Vatican Radio is promoting Garibaldi's Bicentennial. In her introduction, Tracy McClure (the Vatican Radio interviewer) even called Garibaldi "one of Italy's greatest heroes." This in spite of the fact that Garibaldi was noted by his great granddaughter as getting to know many young woman and quickly forgetting them.

Frankly, I was not impressed with Vatican Radio and hope it goes "down the tube" if the stuff I listened to is typical of their programming. What I listened to showed Vatican Radio is more an enemy than a friend of the Church.