h/t Val Here’s a scene about oath taking…
Monthly Archives: March 2012
My old stomping grounds: The local Church Militant with the weapon of the Rosary outside the local abortuary
I recognize, of course, most of these seminarians at the Pontifical College Josephinum, who are receiting the Rosary with the Rector of the great seminary just outside the local abortuary. I very often went with the sems for the Rosary. Chapeau to the great PGJ
Filed under Pro-Life, seminarians
12 Rosary Rant – Mysteries of Light (for priests and bishops) – 4 – The Transfiguration
My dear brother priests and bishops, are not the Mysteries of Light especially appropriate for use by ourselves? Blessed John Paul II, while thinking about his own priesthood over the years, put these together, it seems to me, specifically with us, his fellow priests and bishops, in mind. Please God, more Scriptural and Patristic sources will be added to the present “rant style” meditations when circumstances at Holy Souls Hermitage aren’t quite so utterly barbaric.
The purpose of this first run through these mysteries is to note especially the goodness and kindness of Jesus amidst the violence and chaos back in the day… and today. Hang on, it might be a bit of a rough ride, as rough and tumble as we focus on, in this post, the transfiguration. Let’s take the old NAB Luke 9,27-36:
Luke 9,27 Truly I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.” 28 About eight days after he said this, he took Peter, John, and James and went up the mountain to pray. 29 While he was praying his face changed in appearance and his clothing became dazzling white. 30 And behold, two men were conversing with him, Moses and Elijah, 31 who appeared in glory and spoke of his exodus that he was going to accomplish in Jerusalem. 32 Peter and his companions had been overcome by sleep, but becoming fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men standing with him. 33 As they were about to part from him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good that we are here; let us make three tents, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” But he did not know what he was saying. 34 While he was still speaking, a cloud came and cast a shadow over them, and they became frightened when they entered the cloud. 35 Then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my chosen Son; listen to him.” 36 After the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. They fell silent and did not at that time tell anyone what they had seen.
Here’s the first paragraph of The Dog Woman, which I’m still in the process of writing…
We’re already dead, and not by way of any glorious martyrdom, if we go about our ministry by the usual method of “consensus building” as regulated by the status quo of the lowest common denominator established by way of tyrranical imposition of relativism. Our synod type of collegiality won’t get us anywhere in the Lord’s eyes either, unless that collegiality is united with the Supreme Shepherd on earth, the Bishop of Rome, and then, of course, necessarily with that, with the Supreme Shepherd of all, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Any pastoral plans imposed by ourselves aside from our Lord and His Church will bring ourselves and all to ruin.
We must listen to the “hard sayings”, to the decree of our Lord that we must all be on our way to Calvary for our own exodus united with His. And with that, all of a sudden, we will get a glimpse of the glory of the Lord, and we will hear our Heavenly Father commanding us, wonderfully, to listen to His most beloved Son. And we will hear our Heavenly Father speaking that Logos into us as well, making us to be members of the Body of Christ.
We say those words of His in the first person singular, do we not, acting in Persona Christi — This is my Body, my Blood, given, shed, in sacrifice — ? We do. We must be just as prompt in being on our way to Calvary.
Sure, it’s good to be with Moses and Elijah and Jesus, but it is better to be on our way to Calvary, for that is exactly where we will find them. If we stay on Tabor, we will be alone with ourselves. Everyone else is going to Calvary. What about us?
Lord, have mercy on our weakness. We are so very weak. Have us die to ourselves. Have us live for you alone, not for appearances in the sight of men, but for you alone. Have us bring many to heaven by the witness we provide in your grace. Lord, have mercy on us. Keep us close to yourself as your good friends. You yourself called us that. Lord, have mercy on us. Without you, we will fail. Satan is rampaging. Jesus, have mercy. Make us to ever be in enthusiastic, humble thanksgiving before you. Lord, show us your goodness and kindness. Mary, our Immaculate Mother,monstra te esse matrem! Show yourself to be a Mother!
Filed under Rosary Rants
And for ending horrific sexual abuse? What? Mockery? It has to be. Get over it. Don’t count the cost.
Imagine if, having gotten the person you were rescuing on board the rescue helicopter, but you were still just outside the helicopter itself, your rescue chains, holding you yourself to the helicopter, were to be unhooked by others inside the helicopter, so that you tumbled to the waters below with hundreds of pounds of heavy chains falling in on you, drowning you, and imagine you heard, while the chains were being unhooked, those inside telling the person that was just rescued that he had never needed to be rescued, that the incident never happened, that there never was a rescuer who had given his life for him. They were just enjoying a nice day in a non-rescue aircraft. It happened to the Lord. It happened to me too. Has it happened to you, yet? If not, why not?
One of these days I’ll get around to getting around to writing a bit of my autobiography as suggested by my confessor and my confessor/spiritual director (not to mention so many priests and nuns and laity throughout my entire life, actually). This is just one more incident recounted in this post. The names and places and descriptions of events have all pretty much been removed so as to avoid already threatened (out of the blue) litigation should I tell the full truth of the events alluded to here. Imagine that. Anyway…
In my priestly ministry I’ve sometimes been sent as a trouble-shooter into parishes by whatever local bishop it happened to be in the myriad continents and countries and (arch)dioceses where I’ve had to privilege to serve the Lord’s flock. Sometimes, you see, there are bishops who do appreciate that I’m just a bit freakish in that I just will not compromise truth provided in charity. Why should I? Why should anyone? Honestly! No compromise is something bishops can count on when confronted with situations which call for something more than the usual “consensus builders,” who accomplish their task by seeking the lowest common denominator with nothing more than a sometimes violent tyrrany of relativism.
In one particular parish, like Sodom and Gomorrah, there was full intent to continue — how else to put it? – programmatic sexual abuse, putting minors on stage to do strip shows to get money for the parochial school. Incredibly, the parish, almost to a man, almost to a woman, wanted this abuse to continue for the money it made and the sense of sexual liberation it is sure to have provided them. But not incredibly. This is how low mankind can sink. The bishop, having heard of it, wanted it to end, and end now.
Thanks be to God, not only was this stopped (with the bishop also doing what he had to do), but the Lord flooded that parish with his grace, to the point where the parish was to shock itself with the most successful 2nd rite of the Sacrament of Penance that parish had ever experienced in living memory, incomparably so, as I was told by a previous pastor. To get to that point, however, I had to put up with the tires of my car getting slashed and have some threats of violence brought to my attention. Whatever.
Now, some time later, incredibly — but not incredibly – some took it upon themselves to mock me, dancing about and sing-song accusing me of making up the whole story, for, in their view, such abuse could not be possible, and my being a troubleshooter was also just as impossible. Sometimes people with no backbone can’t imagine that anyone has any backbone. At any rate, the mockery, I must say, was horrific. This kind of mockery is tantamount to an attempt to ensure that abuse continues and that no priest will put a stop to it should he come across it. I came to know that this crowd had supported in their own way what I consider to be abuse. Yep. This is just how low mankind can sink.
Is any of this a reason to stop stopping abuse? Nope. Not on your life. I’m sure that the mockery I had to endure on behalf of those being abused was much less than what the victims had to suffer, and that suffering this mockery was the least I could do to be in solidarity with them. So, do I regret any of what happened to me in all of this? Thanks be to God, not for a second. Thanks be to the Son of the Immaculate Conception.
But Father, but Father, what happened to all those hundreds of pounds of chains falling around your neck and drowning you as the rescue helicopter sped away in glee? What happened? What happened!?
You have to know that our Lord is the Lord of history. He does what He wants. He gets what He wants. He rules the day. He. Rules! If there is any lesson in all of this for myself, for my fellow priests and bishops, and for the laity, it is that our Lord can permit evil to happen to us, but only because He knows He will, with the utmost tender solicitation for our welfare, bring a greater good out of it, more than ever could have happened otherwise. Those who whine and mock from the sidelines of the battle need encouragement to join the fight. If we can offer good example by remaining with our Lord in this battle, He who gave His life for us, then all will become an act of intercession for those who presently wimp out to the disgrace of the entire Church Militiant. And there can be conversions, and new-found soldiers in this Church Militant. Our Lord is just that good and just that kind. Really. He is.
UPDATE: And then there’s this (h/t to the Z):
And the trailer:
Spring cleaning day today… NOT! Instead, off to the doctor
It’s spring, and the leaves are coming out of a zillion forest trees…
And a gazillion Lady Slippers are popping out of the ground in honor of our Lady…
Some flowers are making a show of thier Lenten colors…
But all of that Spring couldn’t get me to do any intended Spring cleaning today. Instead, I got a call to do the good Samaritan thing, helping to bring a truly ancient of days neighbor to the doctor. That took the whole day. A privilege. Always.The doctor, in this case, was WAY, WAY down the mountain, all the way into Hendersonville. Yikes!
However, there was an opportunity to see this at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church…
…and then to see this…
Very awesome. Our Lord, just so good and just so kind to be among us!
Filed under .
Take good care of that donkey! (And some sad news for these mountains…)
Today I was given this icon of Jesus entering Jerusalem on His way to His exodus, His Passion and Death, riding, notably, on a donkey.
It was given to me by Sister Jackie (also on behalf of Sister Gretchen). Until now, they have given their lives to bring medicine to this part of the Appalachians at the Frances Warde Health Service, way down the mountains from Holy Souls Mountain. But, time gets on and even the health of the health providers can suffer. The Urgent Care has been closed. Very sad indeed. They invited me to sack the place on behalf of the hermitage. Thank you, good sisters. Thank you so much. May the Lord reward you.
On a brighter note, I return to the Pueri Hebraeorum welcoming Jesus into Jerusalem:
Filed under .
Yikes!… I mean Yoicks!
Merriam-Webster says its first usage was in 1774. Much earlier orally surely. Apparently it’s a cry used while on the hunt. I didn’t know that. I use it as an exclamation not of aggression, but of surprise, usually in fairly serious circumstances.
Filed under .
I’m bored, so, just tell me the truth, that I’ve crucified the Son of the Living God
Satan is a liar and the father of lies. But when he goes before the throne of God to accuse us of our sin, he doesn’t have to lie, and can’t, not before God. So, for once, and only here, he tells the truth, and this to his frustration. The saints in heaven, you have to understand, were all sinners, who have been forgiven. Satan accuses them of what they did, and the saints say “Yes, that’s right! How good and kind Jesus is to have forgiven us! Praised be Jesus Christ, Son of the Immaculate Conception! Praised be God, the Father of Mercies and of all consolation! Praised be the Prince of the Most Profound Peace…” And so on. Meanwhile, Satan, confused, scampers off, defeated yet again. He. Can’t. Win. And all of this reality is really wonderful to watch. Anything less than the truth is just so boring.
BTW: This isn’t about this or that sin, or even that other one, whatever it is, whether great or small or whatever. This is especially about original sin in whose consequences we have all partaken, whether the babe just conceived or the great saints of any age.
Filed under Forgiveness
Today was a good day: update on the Saint Michael Prayer intention…
For some time now I’ve been asking you readers to invoke Saint Michael, asking that you pray the Saint Michael prayer once for my intentions and then once for you and yours. Many of you have also had Masses offered for me. Thank you. Don’t forget to include each other in the latter prayer!
Some documents came my way today that have a very direct connection with the intention for which I’ve asked you to pray. I immediately forwarded them to some friends in Washington, D.C., and elsewhere, where they might receive — how to say — appropriate attention.
I sometimes exclaim Yikes! as you all know. Sometimes I throw in a double Yikes! or, very rarely, a triple Yikes! Today, the scale was broken. It’s gone to a seven-fold Yikes! followed by a very heart felt Lord, have mercy!
I had been wondering if such documents even existed anymore. The content has much to do with Saint Michael. Awesome, really. I mentioned all this to someone, who responded: “O.K., but that doesn’t mean we should stop praying.” That’s exactly right. But there is progress. Important progress.
Sancte Michael Archangele,
defende nos in proelio;
contra nequitiam et insidias diaboli esto praesidium.
Imperet illi Deus, supplices deprecamur:
tuque, Princeps militiae Caelestis,
satanam aliosque spiritus malignos,
qui ad perditionem animarum pervagantur in mundo,
divina virtute in infernum detrude.
Amen.
Saint Michael the Archangel,
defend us in battle; be our protection
against the wickedness and snares of the devil.
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray:
and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly host,
by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan
and all the evil spirits
who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls.
Amen.
Filed under .
Fort Snelling, near my old stomping grounds in more ways than one
Someone emailed this to me from the Star-Trib. It’s the National Cemetery in Fort Snelling, very near to where I grew up. I think my father brought me here while on his way over to Saint Paul, where he worked a bit in the State government. I was just a very little boy.
Cemeteries are impressive to little boys. There can be a real sense of patriotism instilled on such occasions, a real sense of religion. Religion and patriotism go together. Perhaps you notice that by looking at the picture. Thanks go to our vets. I couldn’t be here on Holy Souls Mountain without them.
So, an opportunity to pray for our vets who have passed away: Hail Mary…
Filed under separation of church and state
Of prohibition, stills, car chases and death just up from Holy Souls Mountain
It just happens that Holy Souls Hermitage boasts to have the wood stove of the most famous moonshiner in American History. These were the most moonshiningest parts in North America. The feds were always having car chases. Just up the way are these waterfalls, some hundreds of feet of drop…
Here are a couple of chase scenes from a famous film about all this. The second part involves these waterfalls. Yikes!!!
Kanzelverkündigung: Gespräche mit Rom
Liebe Gläubige,
am 16. März überreichte Kardinal Levada, Präfekt der Glaubenskongregation, dem Generaloberen unserer Bruderschaft, Bischof Fellay, in Rom einen Brief mit Erklärungen, in dem wir ultimativ aufgefordert werden, uns positiver zu der lehrmäßigen Präambel vom 14. September 2011 zu äußern, als dies bisher geschehen ist.
Als letzten Termin für eine Antwort wird der 15. April 2012 genannt. Gewiss haben Sie dies schon ganz oder teilweise aus den Medien erfahren. Wir sind also an einem entscheidenden Punkt angelangt.
Wenn der Brief auch einen unangenehmen Ton anschlägt, so gibt es doch berechtigte Hoffnungen auf eine befriedigende Lösung. Falls diese zustande käme, würde sie alle bewahrenden Kräfte in der Kirche bedeutend stärken; im anderen Fall würden diese eher geschwächt und entmutigt werden. Es geht also in erster Linie nicht um unsere Bruderschaft, sondern um das Wohl der Kirche.
Deshalb bitten wir um das eifrige, beharrliche und flehentliche Gebet all unserer Gläubigen und aller Katholiken, damit Gott durch das erlösende Leiden seines eingeborenen Sohnes seine Kirche aus ihrer Krise herausführe und ihr in der heiligen Auferstehung Jesu neues Leben, neue Kraft und neue Blüte schenke.
Stuttgart, den 22. März 2012
Pater Franz Schmidberger, Distriktoberer
Filed under .
Rosary rant rerun for the Annunciation!
Remember that the easiest way to pray the rosary is to recognize that Jesus and Mary and Joseph are with you right here, right now, as they are in heaven, not as they were a couple thousand years ago. Sure, take a look at what they did for you and all of back in the day, but, in our Lord’s grace, with a spirit of humble thanksgiving for them, right here, right now.
Remember, it’s not about your imagination that you are in their presence, which Pelagian effort of imagination is a lot of hooey; rather, your act of the will, in our Lord’s grace, to humbly thank Him and our Blessed Mother is what the prayer of the rosary is all about.
Clever meditations, whether in “rant” style or, later, please God, in a style presented in a more genteel manner (when I get all the Scripture tomes out of the boxes and on some now non-existent shelves), don’t get anyone anywhere. The only way what is presented on this blog is going to help anyone is if that someone, by the grace of our Lord, uses these words as an occasion to humbly thank the Holy Family right now for what went in back in the day.
* * *
For this preliminary “rant meditation” on the first joyful mystery of the most holy rosary, a summary interlinear comment on Luke 1,26-38. Here’s my in-your-face translation from the Greek with an eye to the Vulgate. I’m not into the esoteric practice of translating one word for one word, as if, magically, all languages had absolutely perfect one word for one word equivalents. Such pretension cannot ever provide a great translation, unless you’re in a position to create the language, as was the case with the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures, which made up a goodly number of words, but paraphrased the rest. Instead, trying to avoid coining any words, I’ll provide a translation with more in-your-face accuracy than any one word for one word translation could ever present:
Luke 1,26 But in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent forth from God into a city of Galilee which had the name Nazareth 27 to a virgin being betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph of the city of David, and the name of the virgin was Mary. 28 And, having entered unto her, he said,
“Rejoice, you who continue to be perfectly transformed in grace, the Lord is with you. You continue to be perfectly blessed among women.”
29 But she was greatly troubled over the word, and pondered: “What would such a greeting mean?” 30 And the angel said to her,
“Do not fear, Mary, for you have found grace in the presence of God. 31 And behold! You will conceive in the womb, and you will give birth to a Son, and you are to call His name, Jesus. 32 He will be great, and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to Him the throne of David His father, 33 and He will reign over the House of Jacob unto eternity, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”
34 But Mary said to the angel,
“How will this be, since I do not sexually know any man?”
35 And answering, the angel said to her,
“The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. And for this reason, the Child being born holy will be called Son of God. 36 And behold! Elizabeth, your kinswoman, even she has conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her, the one being called barren, 37 for there is not any word which is impossible with God.”
38 Then Mary said,
“Behold the woman slave of the Lord. Let it be done to me according to your word.”
And the angel departed from her.
* * *
Now, let’s try some [HSH commentary]…
Luke 1,26 But in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent forth from God into a city of Galilee which had the name Nazareth 27 to a virgin being betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph of the city of David, and the name of the virgin was Mary. 28 And, having entered unto her, he said, “Rejoice [eventually, from χάρις, grace, charity, rejoicing because of grace], you who continue to be perfectly transformed in grace, the Lord is with you” [κεχαριτωμένη, from χάρις, grace, charity, a perfect passive participle; the perfect in this Greek unlike other languages, having the meaning that since the action began, and that in a perfect manner, the perfection of the action continues undiminished until the present. Mary's name here is "She who continues to be perfectly transformed in grace"*]. 29 But she was greatly troubled over the word, and pondered: “What would such a greeting mean?” 30 And the angel said to her, “Do not fear, Mary, for you have found grace [from χάρις, grace, charity] in the presence of God [who is χάρις, grace, charity, love]. 31 And behold! You will conceive in the womb ["IN the womb": without the sexual intervention of a man; Mary will remain a virgin], and you will give birth to a Son, and you are to call His name, Jesus [Savior]. 32 He will be great, and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to Him the throne of David His father, 33 and He will reign over the House of Jacob unto eternity, and of His kingdom there will be no end.” 34 But Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I do not sexually know any man?” 35 And answering, the angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. And for this reason, the Child being born holy will be called Son of God. [According to the Law, no man can possibly be born holy, opening the womb in a blood filled manner. The birth will also be miraculous. Mary will remain a virgin.] 36 And behold! Elizabeth, your kinswoman, even she has conceived a son in her old age [another miracle], and this is the sixth month for her, the one being called barren, 37 for there is not any word [reminding one of the Word] which is impossible with God.” 38 Then Mary said, “Behold the woman-slave of the Lord. Let it be done to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her. [Jesus, just one cell, embraces the entirety of His Mystical Body throughout time from the first instant of His conception, as Pius XII reminded us in his encyclical Mystici Corporis Christi. Thank you, Jesus, and thank you, Mary, for all that you have done for us back in the day. Have us so die to ourselves that we might live for the One who was conceived so as to die so as to bring us to life. Thank you.]
Saint Paul will use the aorist form of κεχαριτωμένη to describe our own, post-conception transformation in grace, that is, at baptism. We are transformed in grace at that time, but this may not be perfectly continuous as it was for Mary! According to the context, Mary was transformed in grace from the fist moment she began to prepare to be the virgin mother of God, that is, from the first instant of her conception, her Immaculate Conception. We read of this in the Hebrew text and context of Genesis 3,15, but a comment on that will have to wait for the popular version of the thesis.
[*I'm in agreement, of course, with a great friend, Father Ignace de la Potterie, S.J. (R.I.P.), on this point.]
HAIL MARY… (x10)… Perhaps you could, in your charity, offer right here, right now, a decade of the rosary for priests and bishops in the purgatory of this life and the next. They will thank you forever!
* * *
Just to say: Mary knew that she could have been stoned to death for it being thought that she conceived a child out of wedlock with someone to whom she was not betrothed. She trusted in God in an impossible circumstance. To make matters difficult, the angel Gabriel did not have a chat with Saint Joseph about this until much later. And Mary couldn’t say anything. How could she? Was Joseph to believe such a story if the angel didn’t appear to him?
The contemplative prayer of Mary must have been so wonderful with Jesus within her womb for nine months…
11 Rosary Rant – Mysteries of Light (for priests and bishops) – 3 – The proclamation of the Kingdom
My dear brother priests and bishops, are not the Mysteries of Light especially appropriate for use by ourselves? Blessed John Paul II, while thinking about his own priesthood over the years, put these together, it seems to me, specifically with us, his fellow priests and bishops, in mind. Please God, more Scriptural and Patristic sources will be added to the present “rant style” meditations when circumstances at Holy Souls Hermitage aren’t quite so utterly barbaric.
The purpose of this first run through these mysteries is to note especially the goodness and kindness of Jesus amidst the violence and chaos back in the day… and today. Hang on, it might be a bit of a rough ride, as rough and tumble as we focus on, in this post, just one aspect of Jesus’ public ministry, the proclamation of the Kingdom… in fact, His own comment on the proclamation of the Kingdom. Let’s take the old NAB Mark 14,1-11:
Mark 14,1 The Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread were to take place in two days’ time. So the chief priests and the scribes were seeking a way to arrest him by treachery and put him to death. 2 They said, “Not during the festival, for fear that there may be a riot among the people.” 3 When he was in Bethany reclining at table in the house of Simon the leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of perfumed oil, costly genuine spikenard. She broke the alabaster jar and poured it on his head. 4 There were some who were indignant. “Why has there been this waste of perfumed oil? 5 It could have been sold for more than three hundred days’ wages and the money given to the poor.” They were infuriated with her. 6 Jesus said, “Let her alone. Why do you make trouble for her? She has done a good thing for me. 7 The poor you will always have with you, and whenever you wish you can do good to them, but you will not always have me. 8 She has done what she could. She has anticipated anointing my body for burial. 9 Amen, I say to you, wherever the gospel is proclaimed to the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.” 10 Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went off to the chief priests to hand him over to them. 11 When they heard him they were pleased and promised to pay him money. Then he looked for an opportunity to hand him over.
EXAMINATION OF CONSCIENCE: Gentlemen, when’s the last time we preached with any great incisiveness about what this great woman of faith has done? If we can’t even remember, might we not ask ourselves if we have ever even once truly proclaimed the Kingdom in our ministries? Jesus said that “wherever the good news is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.” Proclaiming what she did is a condition of the truthful proclamation of the good news of the Kingdom, a sine qua non. If we have not proclaimed what she did, we have not proclaimed the gospel. Period.
Perhaps we think that exteriorly holding Jesus in some distant high regard, perhaps just by way of holding an ecclesiastical office in the Church He founded, is more than enough of a proclamation of the Kingdom. Perhaps we don’t know what she did. Perhaps we don’t want to know what she did. Perhaps it’s all just too much for us to take in. Perhaps there are so many Judas-priests to be concerned about that we no longer see what such a great woman of faith (and there are many in our own day) did for Jesus, letting the presence of such women in our midst be obscured by the idiocy of the Judas-priests in any age.
There was so very much more to this woman than just her pouring out a bit of perfume, however costly. Jesus did not say that He interpreted what she did as a defense of her. He said that she herself did what she did: it is she herself who fully intended the anointing as a preparation for His burial. Jesus couldn’t have cared less about the anointing itself. What was most precious to Him, what He saw to be the very essense of the proclamation of the Kingdom, was why she did this.
Gentlemen, Judas was an apostle, a prince of the Church. His spirit was full of greed, spite, rancor, betrayal, murder. And he is furious here, almost foaming at the mouth in his reprimand of Jesus. He just wanted the money, some three hundred days worth of wages. He couldn’t give a damn, quite literally, about Jesus. Judas would settle for thirty pieces of silver. Do we think that to be impossible among our fellow ecclesiastics? Do we think that such would be impossible for ourselves should we lack the grace of our Lord, proving, then, that we are, as it were, Judas reincarnate, perhaps praising Jesus exteriorly but surely seeing no need for ourselves to be redeemed, thereby giving ourselves a license to kill? Gentlemen, if we have not figured out by now that this blindness goes on all the time, we risk bringing ourselves and others straight to hell. That’s the way it is. Stare, if you would, at Jesus hanging in bleeding shreds of flesh on the Cross just some days later. Get it now? This is not a bureaucratic game. To quote our Holy Father just days before his election, we’re talking about the filthy sins of priests and bishops here.
The reason why this woman anointed Jesus for burial was because she could see such goodness and kindness in Jesus that surely He was a dead man, that surely He would be murdered, and very, very soon, that surely it would be the likes of Judas who would accomplish this. She could see it. Gentlemen! People see this. Do we?
If we cannot admit that we hate goodness of kindness if left to ourselves, without grace, that we think of Jesus’ goodness and kindness as a mere incrimination of our arrogance and greed, then we are Judas. Period. Perhaps we fool ourselves with our genteel style of murdering Jesus by way of distancing ourselves through various strata of bureaucratic self-protection, claiming moral superiority by way of our ever so nice consensus building with Judas worshiping sycophants (who only, then, laugh in our faces).
Gentlemen, the anointing of Jesus by this woman, this breaking open an alabaster jar of pure spikenard, was also an entirely conscious effort to make a statement that she was with Jesus, and against Judas and his sycophantic sub-cadre of worshipers who then mouthed their fury against her. But she knew: Jesus was already a dead man. Do we see that? If not, we have never even once proclaimed the Kingdom anywhere in the world.
And just to say, the way to preach about this woman is not just to praise her, but to proclaim that we ourselves would be Judas if not for the grace of our Lord. If we cannot say this, if we cannot proclaim our love for the sacrament of penance, praising our Lord for how much He does for us, then we have utterly failed, failed Jesus, failed the Church, failed the world, failed ourselves.
But there is hope. Jesus says so Himself: ”Wherever the gospel is proclaimed to the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.” That’s an invitation to receive the grace our Lord is holding out to us, gentlemen, though we are so unworthy. When we preach about this woman, truly about what she has done, we will begin to notice the great women of faith in our day, and great things will happen. Spiritual mothers of priests are not lacking, gentlemen. Let’s let ourselves by part of the family of faith.
One final examination of conscience: A great woman of faith remarked to me yesterday that the Church in America has taken 30 pieces of silver in an effort to get the three hundred days wages, paying out going on three billion dollars in settlements in order to avoid paying more by way of attorneys, court costs, etc., though we knew, gentlemen, that many priests who were accused were falsely accused. For the vast majority of priests, we did not permit hearings, nothing. Priests were simply removed upon a phone call and settlements were provided to bogus accusers even within days, if not hours. We now know, don’t we, that a good 30% of those cases were totally farsical, with that number reaching 50% in Los Angeles. And those innocent priests are rotting away in prison or in some obscure existence on a sex-offender list just because we want to continue to distance ourselves from all this, making ourselves look good, money in our pockets, watching Jesus be crucified all over again. Are we willing to re-open some of those all too easy settlements? Are we willing to get Jesus out of prison? No? Really? This isn’t a “good appearances” game, gentlemen. There really is a heaven and there really is a hell. Whatever bureaucratic walls of self-congratualtion we’ve built up, Jesus sees through them. The death of His true priests is precious to Him. There is a hell awaiting those who insist on spitting on Him.
Finally: again, the true gospel in its essense will be preached to all the nations, and what this woman has done will be known. We can proclaim that Kingdom or not, but it will be proclaimed. For my part, I’ll say this: if it were not for great women of faith praying and sacrificing for me, I’m sure I would long ago have been like Judas, with my guts splayed out on the ground, hanging from a tree in that field of blood, in that horrific ravine of hell. I rejoice, however, in the family of faith, and in that way, knowing how much has been done for me, I also rejoice in the goodness and kindness of Jesus, for, in so willingly going to His death also for me, He has been just that good and just that kind.
Filed under Rosary Rants
Benefactors!
People have been asking for this information, forcing the information out of me. Don’t forget, I can’t solicite donations, so you have to force them on me. A Canadian athiest group quipped that they should punch me unconscious and then stuff ten bucks in my shirt pocket!
So, if I mention my AMAZON WISHLIST, it’s not there for solicitation, it’s just there to remind me of some things I’m wishing for. Kind of a way of organizing things for me. If I mention my mailing address way down the mountain — which acts as a physical address for the delivery of any size package – that’s also just a reminder to me, as is the phone number of the UPS Store (which is what that address is), the phone number being useful for filling out shipping details.
FATHER GEORGE DAVID BYERS
102 COLLEGE STATION DRIVE
SUITE 3 — PMB 233
BREVARD, NC 28712 USA
Tel: (828) 883-4701
There are, at present, insurmountable logistics beyond my control, which prevent me from getting a non-profit status here in North Carolina. Without that status, I cannot solicit donations. Also, to get that status, I would have to get a federal charity number. That would be easy, but I couldn’t do it in conscience. According to the Obama persecution of religion, I would have to pay for insurance for the employees of the hermitage, which would be me. To get that Obama insurance, I would be paying into an abortion on demand fund. I just won’t do that. So, there we are! Saint Francis, eat your heart out. I can’t even beg!
Also: I’ll try to get to the bank tomorrow. Some of you have sent in some checks and I really need to get them in. Sorry! Also, there’s a package at the UPS Store waiting for me… Thank you!
An example of what I can’t do:
This is the last loaf of Trappist bread to be made by the monks. They sold out a while back to a private enterprise. I got this from the Soup Kitchen in town. I can’t do that because that’s soliciting donations. No coffee either. No soaps. Zilch. Not even a paypal button, since you have to be a 501c3 for that. But I’m content with nothing. Makes life a bit easier! A bit barbaric, but easier!
Filed under Benefactors
It’s Sunday night and I haven’t said Mass yet. Shock! Horror!
Actually, I’m waiting until the last second, starting at 11:20 PM EST USA so as to be in solidarity with Father Gordon MacRae, who celebrates Holy Mass in his prison cell at that time. Click HERE for logistics and helps in joining Father.
Filed under Catholic
There is beatitude in the beatitudes!
Clever meditations on the paradoxes of the beatitudes are cute. But they’re nothing at all compared to actually beginning to experience the beatitude promised by our Lord in the beatitudes. Totally awesome. Totally.
- The poor
- The grieving
- The friendly
- Righteousness!
- The merciful
- The pure of heart
- The peacemakers
- The perfectly persecuted
- SUM TOTAL of the Beatitudes
One winter day St. Francis was coming to St. Mary of the Angels from Perugia with Brother Leo, and the bitter cold made them suffer keenly. St. Francis called to Brother Leo, who was walking a bit ahead of him, and he said: “Brother Leo, even if the Friars Minor in every country give a great example of holiness and integrity and good edification, nevertheless write down and note carefully that perfect joy is not in that.”
And when he had walked on a bit, St. Francis called him again, saying: “Brother Leo, even if a Friar Minor gives sight to the blind, heals the paralyzed, drives out devils, gives hearing back to the deaf, makes the lame walk, and restores speech to the dumb, and what is still more, brings back to life a man who has been dead four days, write that perfect joy is not in that.”
And going on a bit, St. Francis cried out again in a strong voice: “Brother Leo Continue reading
Filed under Beatitudes
From a couple other blogs…
Remember Steven in Uganda? He’s getting married. Here’s his blog. Unfortunately, he doesn’t publish a way to contact him or put up links to his other internet forays. So, here’s an encouragement to do that, Steven!
http://ugandayouthministryassociation.wordpress.com/
Seen on Steven’s blog:
==============
From Dymphna’s road:
Somewhere
Somewhere in China a newborn baby’s head is being bashed in by her own mother. You can only have one child in China and this poor little miss is not the one her parents want.
Somewhere in South Dakota a Sioux girl is going to be cold tonight. Her family uses wood to heat the home and her father has sold it all for beer money.
Somewhere in Afghanistan a 12 year old girl has been raped with the full approval of her parents and tribal elders. The rapist is her 50 year old husband and this tragedy was called her wedding night.
Somewhere in West Virginia a little girl is frightened. Her parents are meth heads and she hasn’t seen them in days.
And meanwhile in Georgetown, one of the most expensive schools in America a 30 year old adolescent is demanding that we the people of the United States pay for her birth control. She thinks she and her female classmates are victims. Victims? This poor woman has no idea how lucky she is.
So, what is it about 3:00 AM !?! A rant on mind games with the devil
I’ve been getting emails about horrific things at night, with some pointing out 3:00 AM or thereabouts.
Some say it’s the mockery of the hour of mercy: 3:00 PM, when our Lord hung on the Cross.
It’s seems to be a bit of a phenomenon, real or perceived. If Satan’s minions do have something to do with a bit of this, it’s so as to create a culture which fears Satan’s power over even times of the day or night, making good people cower and giving idiots the licence to be all the more stupid. It’s all a mind game, either with ourselves or with Satan’s minions, but no more than a mind game.
Don’t play the mind game! The Lord has conquered! And don’t forget, it was 3:00 PM when all hell had broken out on Calvary, when Satan thought he had had a certain victory. But, no. Our Lord rose from the dead, and it is He, Jesus, who has a good grip on us!
And… and… don’t forget the Saint Michael prayer!
Filed under exorcism
You might want to read over the last number of posts about this post-abortive woman’s journey. Yikes!
http://postabortionwalk.blogspot.com/ She’s a great writer and terribly honest. Very helpful.
Filed under Pro-Life
Just thought you might be interested in scanning through these intentions: In solidarity!
Early morning ad orientem altar at Holy Souls Hermitage taken some time ago!
Wednesday, 18 April, 2012 through Sunday, 22 April, 2012, Holy Mass will be offered in reparation for the many offenses committed against our Blessed Mother’s Immaculate Heart: (1) blasphemies against her Immaculate Conception, (2) against her perpetual virginity, (3) against the divine and spiritual maternity of Mary, (4) blasphemies involving the rejection and dishonoring of her images, and (5) the neglect of implanting in the hearts of children a knowledge and love of this Immaculate Mother. These intentions come by way of suggestion of a dear reader of the blog, though I’ve not taken a stipend. These are “motu proprio”! Our Lady will look very kindly on our dear reader!
Monday 23, April, 2012, Holy Mass is offered for a special intention. Motu proprio!
Tuesday, 24 April, 2012, Holy Mass is offered for XX and XX, who were molested by a priest, and for all those who have been scandalized by those few faithless priests we have all suffered from. Motu proprio!
Wednesday, 25 April, 2012, Holy Mass if offered for Father XX, guilty (truly) of molesting younsters, and for all priests who have committed what Pope Benedict described in the 2005 Stations of the Cross in Rome as “the filthy sins of priests” … for their conversion before they die and, if they have somehow made it to purgatory after death, for the repose of their souls. Motu proprio!
Thusday, 26 April, 2012, Holy Mass is offered for Father B.J., very much alive, and for all priests who provide the goodness and kindness of our Lord while trouble-shooting parishes which have seen the horror of sexual abuse first hand. Motu proprio!
Friday, 27 April, 2012, Holy Mass is offered for Father Gordon MacRae, and for any priests who have been falsely accused, wrongfully convicted, abandoned by their fellow priests, shunned by their religious congregations, dioceses and society, that they might offer their great sufferings in solidarity with real victims and for the good of the whole Church, conformed as they are to the suffering Christ, which is priesthood par excellence. Motu proprio!
[[Tuesday, 1 May, 2012, Holy Mass in the Extraordinary Form is offered in thanksgiving for the intentions of the wonderful benefactors of Holy Souls Hermitage!]]
30 Masses — Wednesday, 2 May, 2012, through Tuesday, 31 May, 2012, Holy Mass is offered for the Bishop of Rome, the Supreme Pontiff, our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI. Motu Proprio.
[[Wednesday, 1 June, 2012, Holy Mass in the Extraordinary Form is offered in thanksgiving for the intentions of the wonderful benefactors of Holy Souls Hermitage!]]
30 Masses — Thursday, 2 June, 2012, through Sunday, 1 July, 2012, Holy Mass is offered for spiritual benefit of the priests and bishops of China loyal to the Bishop of Rome, and also for the conversion of the priests and bishops of the Patriotic, “Open”, Communist, governement “church”.
[[Monday, 2 July, 2012, Holy Mass in the Extraordinary Form is offered in thanksgiving for the intentions of the wonderful benefactors of Holy Souls Hermitage!]]
By the way, I’ve stopped taking Mass intentions for a while so that I can work through some of the intentions I have already. Yikes!
Filed under Prayers for Priests
The Hound of the Baskervilles and how to deal with knuckleheads
This picture of Holy Souls Mountain reminds me when I was a little kid watching the television version of “The Hound of the Baskervilles” with my father. Pretty frightening for a little kid!
The transmitter-fitted pack of hunting hounds invading the hermitage and killing the rooster weren’t quite so demonic, but half gave me a heart-attack anyway.
The worst thing with dogs in these parts is a pack of loose pit-bulls down the road, always snarling, snapping, foaming at the mouth, wild-eyed, baring their canine fangs and barking and screeching… They’re not so bad if you’re in a vehicle. I stopped one day and rolled down the window, putting my hand out as if to pet them ever so very nicely. As expected, they went totally crazy. Totally.
I think they expected that I was going to respond in kind, being violent in some way. Instead, I started cooing at them, mocking them with utter friendliness. This took them off guard. They calmed down instantly. Very cool! thought I. We can make analogies, can we not?
Filed under faunae
A wild pelican-turkey on Holy Souls Mountain
I’m sure it’s just an optical illusion, right? Yikes!
Accompany me, Father George David Byers, S.S.L., S.T.D., as I begin life as a Catholic Priest-Hermit by choice. Holy Souls Hermitage is dedicated to the sanctification of my fellow priests, bishops, deacons & seminarians going through the purgatory of this life or the next. Prayer and sacrifice go up, of course, for both Benedict XVI and the next Successor of Saint Peter. 
