The Virtue of Prudence

Folks,

"Prudence means that we do whatever we need to do to win souls for Heaven."
"No one gets to heaven who lacks integrity."
Michael Voris of Real Catholic TV.

The Virtue of Prudence

Feast Day of St. Andrew

Folks,

Today - November 30th - is the Feast Day of St. Andrew whose name comes from the Greek "andreia" which means manhood or valor. St. Andrew was always fourth in the list of disciples in the New Testament. Unlike Peter, James and John, he always stayed quietly in the background. But when some Greeks approached Phillip desiring to see Jesus, Phillip brought them first to Andrew. Sometime around 60 AD under Emperor Nero, St. Andrew suffered the ultimate fate for His Lord and Savior. The Roman Governor Aegeas (also called Aegeates) at Patrae in Achaia in what is now Greece had him crucified on an "X" shaped cross. To prolong his suffering, the pagans had him bound to the cross instead of nailed. He lived up to his name and demonstrated true Christian manhood and valor to the bitter end. We all still remember him two thousand years later, but how many remember his crucifier Aegeas?

Manhood (or Womanhood) - Valor - Christianity - those are the virtues we should all emulate, and one day as the merciless march of malevolent paganism grows ever bolder, we may very well be required to follow St. Andrew's example. The spiritual successors of Nero and Aegeas now live and rule in high places of authority throughout the Muslim world, and are coming into their own in Western society under the guise of atheist liberalism and progressivism. But better to die for Jesus than to live for the devil - that was St. Andrew's choice, and now he lives forever with his Lord and Savior where no one can ever touch him again.

Theo-Psychology

Folks,

Some good wisdom from Michael Voris of Real Catholic TV is provided in his latest video:

Theo-Psychology

Penance Service

Folks,

I went to a Penance Service at my parish this evening and it was wonderful. I do try to make Confession about once per month, but this was special. There were two priests present, one being our pastor and I went to him. The Examination of Conscience that was passed out beforehand is reprinted below. I heartily recommend this particular one because it's short, simple and to the point.

For those familiar with the Fourth and Tenth Steps on Moral Inventory in AA's Twelve Steps, doing this should be a rather straightforward matter. For my Protestant friends, the examination starts with the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17 and Deuteronomy 5:6-21),  and is required by 1st Corinthians 11:28-32. Confession is then made pursuant to James 5:16, and as John 20:21-23 explains, to the Apostles and their successors (i.e., our bishops and priests) has the power to forgive sins been given. It's all Biblical.

Examination of Conscience

Prior to confession, as well as each day in our life, we should compare our lives with the ten commandments. Only through sincere examination can we identify our faults and know what we must confess and where we must strive to live more as Christ would have us live. Consider the following:

[1] I am the Lord your God. You shall not have strange gods before me.

Do I give God time every day in prayer?
Do I seek to love Him with my whole heart?
Have I been involved with superstitious practices or have I been involved with the occult?
Do I seek to surrender myself to God's Word as taught by the Church?
Have I ever received Communion in a state of mortal sin?
Have I ever deliberately told a lie in confession or have I withheld a mortal sin from the priest in confession?

[2] You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.

Have I used God's name in vain: lightly or carelessly?
Have I been angry with God?
Have I wished evil upon another person?
Have I insulted a sacred person or abused a sacred object?

[3] Remember to keep holy the Lord's Day.

Have I deliberately missed Mass on Sundays or Holy Days of Obligation?
Have I tried to observe Sunday as a family day and a day of rest?
Do I do needless work on Sunday?

[4] Honor your Father and your Mother.

Do I honor and obey my parents?
Have I neglected my duties to my spouse and children?
Have I given my family good religious example?
Do I try to bring peace into my home life?
Do I care for my aged and infirm relatives?

[5] You shall not kill.

Have I had an abortion or encouraged anyone to have an abortion?
Have I physically harmed anyone?
have I abused alcohol or drugs?
Did I give scandal to anyone, thereby leading them into sin?
Have I been angry or resentful?
Have I harbored hatred in my heart?
Have I mutilated myself through any form of sterilization?
Have I encouraged or condoned sterilization?

[6] You shall not commit adultery.

Have I been faithful to my marriage vows in thought and action?
Have I engaged in any sexual activity outside of marriage?
Have I used any method of contraception or artificial birth control in my marriage?
Has each sexual act in my marriage been open to the transmission of new life?
Have I been guilty of masturbation?
Have I sought to control my thoughts?
Have I respected all members of the opposite sex, or have I thought of other people as objects?
Have I been guilty of any homosexual activity?
Do I seek to be chaste in my thoughts, words and actions?
Am I careful to dress modestly?

[7] You shall not steal.

Have I stolen what is not mine?
Have I returned or made restitution for what I have stolen?
Do I waste time at work, school or at home?
Do I gamble excessively, thereby denying my family of their needs?
Do I pay my debts promptly?
Do I seek to share what I have with the poor?

[8] You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

Have I lied?
Have I gossiped?
Have I spoken behind someone else's back?
Am I sincere in my dealings with others?
Am I critical, negative or uncharitable in my thoughts of others?
Do I keep secret what should be kept confidential?

[9] You shall not desire your neighbor's wife.

Have I consented to impure thoughts?
Have I caused them by impure reading, movies, conversations or curiosity?
Do I seek to control my imagination?
Do I pray at once to banish impure thoughts and temptations?

[10] You shall not desire your neighbor's goods.

Am I jealous of what other people have?
Do I envy the families or possessions of others?
Am I greedy or selfish?
Are material possessions the purpose of my life?
Do I trust that God will care for all of my material and spiritual needs?


Imprimatur:
+ Francis Cardinal Spellman
Archbishop of New York

Nihil Obstat:
John M.A. Fearns, S.T.D
Censor Librorum

Pope Benedict XVI's Prayer for Life

Folks,

On the eve of the First Sunday of Advent, Pope Benedict led a worldwide “prayer vigil for unborn life.” Let us therefore pray with our Holy Father:

Pope Benedict XVI's Prayer for Life

Lord Jesus,
You who faithfully visit and fulfil with your Presence
the Church and the history of men;
You who in the miraculous Sacrament of your Body and Blood
render us participants in divine Life
and allow us a foretaste of the joy of eternal Life;
We adore and bless you.

Prostrated before You, source and lover of Life,
truly present and alive among us, we beg you.

Reawaken in us respect for every unborn life,
make us capable of seeing in the fruit of the maternal womb
the miraculous work of the Creator,
open our hearts to generously welcoming every child
that comes into life.

Bless all families,
sanctify the union of spouses,
render fruitful their love.

Accompany the choices of legislative assemblies
with the light of your Spirit,
so that peoples and nations may recognise and respect
the sacred nature of life, of ever human life.

Guide the work of scientists and doctors,
so that all progress contributes to the integral well-being of the person,
and no-one endures suppression or injustice.

Gift creative charity to administrators and economists,
so they may realise and promote sufficient conditions
so that young families can serenely embrace
the birth of new children

Console the married couples who suffer
because they are unable to have children
and in Your goodness provide for them.

Teach us all to care for orphaned or abandoned children,
so they may experience the warmth of your Charity,
the consolation of your divine Heart.

Together with Mary, Your Mother, the great believer,
in whose womb you took on our human nature,
we wait to receive from You, our Only True Good and Saviour,
the strength to love and serve life,
in anticipation of living forever in You,
in communion with the Blessed Trinity

Nigel Farage: Britain's Man of Common Sense

Folks,

There may be hope for Britain after all if it can produce more people like Nigel Farage. But I fear that to bring to fulfillment the prophecy in Daniel 2:40-44 that began with the old Roman Empire, the EU will actually survive (at least until God destroys it in verse 44) by doing precisely what Mr. Farage fears - the elimination of voting first and freedom in general.

Note: The 10 toes of the image which King Nebuchadnezzer saw in his dream in Daniel chapter 2 may well represent the same kingdom as the beast with ten horns in Daniel 7:19-20 and in Revelation 13:1. The times are going to get interesting.

Nigel Farage throws egg in Eurocrat faces

Atheism Is Irrational

Folks,

The following article is from the Zenit News Agency and deserves to be reprinted in full. Cardinal Walter Brandmuller is merely re-echoing in a more diplomatic manner what King David pointed out in Psalm 14:1 some 3000 years ago:

"The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God.'"

Truth has not changed one iota in the three millennia since.

Cardinal: Atheism Is Irrational

Says Man Finds Fulfillment Only in God

VATICAN CITY, NOV. 24, 2010 (Zenit.org).- Cardinal Walter Brandmuller is underlining the irrationality of atheism, noting that only in God can the human person find fulfillment.

The former president of the Pontifical Committee for Historical Sciences, who just became a cardinal on Saturday, said this in a new Italian-language book "Ateismo? No grazie! Credere è ragionevole" [Atheism? No Thanks! To Believe is Rational], published by the Libreria Editrice Vaticana.

It features an original interview of the prelate by Ingo Langner, journalist, publicist and film director, on the most debated questions: Does God exist? Faith or atheism? Science or religion? God or non God?

The interview begins with Langner who asked, quoting Richard Dawkins, "Why still believe?"

Cardinal Brandmuller responded: "The question is not a novelty. Friedrich Nietzsche makes his madman announce that God is dead and Yury Gagarin, the first Russian in space, on his trip of April 12, 1962, said that nowhere had he seen something that resembled God. Dawkins does not recognize God even as a hypothesis. For him God is a hallucination that exists only in the mind of a retarded person."

"In reality, the target of the atheists is not so much God but the Church, the Pope and the Vatican," said the prelate. He added that the Church has been attacked since the beginning of the Christian era, the Pope for 2000 years and the Vatican since its existence.

The cardinal addressed the topic of miracles, recalling what happened in Calanda, a small town not far from Saragossa, Spain, where there was a youth named Miguel Pellicer whose leg was amputated. Two years later and despite the difficulty in walking, the youth undertook the journey to the Marian shrine of Santa Maria del Pilar in Saragossa.

Once he arrived at the shrine, he prayed intensely to Mary to help him. That night an incredible event took place. When he woke up in the morning his leg had grown back, perfectly healthy.

To explain the miracles, Cardinal Brandmuller quoted William Shakespeare who said to followers of the Enlightenment: "There are more things between heaven and earth than your scholastic erudition can imagine."

The prelate explained that "modern man wants to come to himself through self-fulfillment, but he doesn't succeed by separating himself from God; he succeeds only if he turns to God."

He continued: "For modern man this means the prodigal son who returns to the father, hence to God. Only then does he fulfill himself, when he recognizes what he is and for what purpose God has created him."

Last Days - Your First Christmas in Heaven

Folks,

Today's liturgical readings for the First Sunday of Advent, 2010 may be found by left clicking your mouse cursor on the aforementioned link.  Today's events fit right into these readings:

1. The current crisis between the DPRK, its Chinese master and the world in the Yellow Sea
2. The on-going War in Afghanistan
3. The turmoil in Israel and throughout the Middle East
4. The ambitions of the mad mullahs in Iran for nuclear weapons
5. The continuing infestation of radical Islamists in Europe and North America
6. The vicious, murderous wars of drug cartels just below the border in Mexico
7. The utter and complete sexual depravity and idolatry of Western secular atheism

And as usual, my friend Catawissa Gazetteer has been keeping us up-to-date on the latest crisis started by the DPRK

Turning Up the Pressure in the Yellow Sea
Why China Calls the Shots
China Moves Slowly to Avert Crisis

We move ever closer to the fulfillment of seeing a 200 million man army marching from the east across the Euphrates and into the oil rich area of the Middle East exactly as predicted by Revelation 9:13-21. Thus, the reflections provided by the myCatholic web site on today's Scripture readings are most noteworthy and appropriate:

"You cannot know the day your Lord is coming." –Matthew 24:42

This first day of the Church year could be the last day of the world, for we know not the day or the hour. "The Son of Man is coming at the time you least expect" (Mt 24:44). "The coming of the Son of Man will repeat what happened in Noah's time. In the days before the flood people were eating and drinking, marrying and being married, right up to the day Noah entered the ark. They were totally unconcerned" (Mt 24:37-39).

Many are busily getting ready for Christmas, but how many are ready for Christ? What if this Advent didn't mean waiting for His Christmas coming but His actual Second Coming? Would we be busy about many things (see Lk 10:41), or prepared and ready to greet Him when He comes again? (see Mt 24:44) What if today were the world's last day, or your last day? Would you spend Christmas in heaven? "You know the time in which we are living. It is now the hour for you to wake from sleep, for our salvation is closer than when we first accepted the faith" (Rm 13:11). "Let us live honorably as in daylight; not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual excess and lust, not in quarreling and jealousy" (Rm 13:13).

When Jesus comes back this hour, day, Advent, Christmas, year, or whenever, may He see Himself in us because we have "put on the Lord Jesus Christ" and have made "no provision for the desires of the flesh" (Rm 13:14). Come, Lord Jesus!

PRAYER: Jesus, come back today, this Advent, or as soon as possible.
PROMISE: "The mountain of the Lord's house shall be established as the highest mountain." –Is 2:2
PRAISE: Praise Jesus, exalted at God's right hand, Who will come again in glory! Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus!

Today's Gospel Reading

Luke 21:34-36

Jesus said to his disciples:

“Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy
from carousing and drunkenness
and the anxieties of daily life,
and that day catch you by surprise like a trap.
For that day will assault everyone
who lives on the face of the earth.
Be vigilant at all times
and pray that you have the strength
to escape the tribulations that are imminent
and to stand before the Son of Man.”

More Reflections on the China / Korea Problems

Folks,

I commend to your attention Catawissa Gazetteer's latest entry entitled "More Reflections on the China / Korea Problems." Obama and his minions from hell have at the very least acheived what the demonic legions called Democrats have always wanted from the days of McGovern in 1968: the end of American supremacy in the world. It won't be long before China's need for easily accessible oil changes its direction, however.

"Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a voice coming from the [four] horns of the gold altar before God, telling the sixth angel who held the trumpet, 'Release the four angels who are bound at the banks of the great river Euphrates.' So the four angels were released, who were prepared for this hour, day, month, and year to kill a third of the human race. The number of cavalry troops was two hundred million; I heard their number. Now in my vision this is how I saw the horses and their riders. They wore red, blue, and yellow breastplates, and the horses' heads were like heads of lions, and out of their mouths came fire, smoke, and sulfur. By these three plagues of fire, smoke, and sulfur that came out of their mouths a third of the human race was killed. For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails; for their tails are like snakes, with heads that inflict harm. The rest of the human race, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, to give up the worship of demons and idols made from gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk. Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic potions, their unchastity, or their robberies." Revelation 9:13-21

"The sixth angel emptied his bowl on the great river Euphrates. Its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings of the East." Revelation 16:12

Today's Humor - Obama Outlines Moral, Philosophical Justifications For Turkey Pardon

Folks,

That ever objective source of fast-breaking journalism on the internet called The Onion reports that Obama Outlines Moral, Philosophical Justifications For Turkey Pardon. Please left click your mouse cursor on the aforementioned link to view and listen to the video.

As the reader can see from the flowchart at left (left - get it?), Obama has with great thoughtfulness considered this decision. One can expect nothing less in his dealings with the communists in China and North Korea, and the Islamic mad men in Iran.

Today's Liturgical Reading from Revelation 20:1--21:2

Revelation 20:1--21:2

I, John, saw an angel come down from heaven,
holding in his hand the key to the abyss and a heavy chain.
He seized the dragon, the ancient serpent,
which is the Devil or Satan,
and tied it up for a thousand years and threw it into the abyss,
which he locked over it and sealed,
so that it could no longer lead the nations astray
until the thousand years are completed.
After this, it is to be released for a short time.

Then I saw thrones; those who sat on them were entrusted with judgment.
I also saw the souls of those who had been beheaded
for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God,
and who had not worshiped the beast or its image
nor had accepted its mark on their foreheads or hands.
They came to life and they reigned with Christ for a thousand years.

When the thousand years are completed,
Satan will be released from his prison.
He will go out to deceive the nations at the four corners of the earth,
Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle;
their number is like the sand of the sea.
They invaded the breadth of the earth
and surrounded the camp of the holy ones and the beloved city.
But fire came down from heaven and consumed them.
The Devil who had led them astray was thrown into the pool of fire and sulfur,
where the beast and the false prophet were.
There they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

Next I saw a large white throne and the one who was sitting on it.
The earth and the sky fled from his presence
and there was no place for them.
I saw the dead, the great and the lowly, standing before the throne,
and scrolls were opened.
Then another scroll was opened, the book of life.
The dead were judged according to their deeds,
by what was written in the scrolls.
The sea gave up its dead;
then Death and Hades gave up their dead.
All the dead were judged according to their deeds.
Then Death and Hades were thrown into the pool of fire.
(This pool of fire is the second death.)
Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life
was thrown into the pool of fire.

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth.
The former heaven and the former earth had passed away,
and the sea was no more.
I also saw the holy city, a new Jerusalem,
coming down out of heaven from God,
prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

Archbishop Dolan vs Moses and St. Paul

Folks,

The Catholic Cavemen blogsite also has a report entitled, "USCCB Prez: God - .Call it Him or Her or whatever you want'." So what did the Archbishop state?

"We're grateful to God. We're conscience that somebody, some... call it Him or Her or whatever you want..."

Now what does Moses say in Deuteronomy 6:4-5?

"Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone! Therefore, you shall love the LORD, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength."

And what did St. Paul say and do when he stood before the Athenians at the Aeropagus in Acts 17:22-32? What did he say and do when he stood before Roman Governor Felix in Acts 24 and his successor Porcius Festus in Acts 25? Did he water down the Gospel message by saying "We're conscience that somebody, some... call it Him or Her or whatever you want..." Did he give deference and tolerance for all the diversity of pagan religions in the Empire? Did he say what the Book Book of Alcoholics Anonymous advises on page 12 - choose your own conception of God? Or did he preach Jesus Christ - His Passion, Death and Resurrection?

None of us get to choose our own conception of God. No one!

"You Athenians, I see that in every respect you are very religious. For as I walked around looking carefully at your shrines, I even discovered an altar inscribed, 'To an Unknown God.' What therefore you unknowingly worship, I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and all that is in it, the Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in sanctuaries made by human hands, nor is he served by human hands because he needs anything. Rather it is he who gives to everyone life and breath and everything. He made from one the whole human race to dwell on the entire surface of the earth, and he fixed the ordered seasons and the boundaries of their regions, so that people might seek God, even perhaps grope for him and find him, though indeed he is not far from any one of us. For 'In him we live and move and have our being,' as even some of your poets have said, 'For we too are his offspring.' Since therefore we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the divinity is like an image fashioned from gold, silver, or stone by human art and imagination. God has overlooked the times of ignorance, but now he demands that all people everywhere repent because he has established a day on which he will 'judge the world with justice' through a man he has appointed, and he has provided confirmation for all by raising him from the dead."

Brink of War: North Korea Warns South Korea and US

Folks,

Today's news is actually 2000-year old news: "North Korea warned Friday that U.S.-South Korean plans for military maneuvers put the peninsula on the brink of war, and appeared to launch its own artillery drills within sight of an island it showered with a deadly barrage this week."

Brink of War: North Korea Warns South Korea and US

As Jesus said in Matthew 24:4-6: "Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains."

What Is Archbishop Dolan Thinking?

Folks,

Michael Voris of Real Catholic TV reports that "in a recent Fox News interview, NY Archbishop Timothy Dolan blew it. Instead of talking about being grateful to God (Jesus) he said, some people call God him, her, whatever. What is he thinking? An audience of a few million and God is spoken of in terms cultural diverse language. Please watch this episode for yourself with the interview in it. We report. You Decide."

What Is Archbishop Dolan Thinking?

Neither a Jewish Rabbi nor a Muslim Imam would have given deference to a diversity of beliefs in God. And they would be correct for doing so. God is NOT diverse. God IS Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and there is none other than He. Not Allah. Not Buddha. Not the great spirit in the sky. Not goddess Gaia. Only our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is God - He who at His first coming arrived as the spotless Lamb of God to take away the sins of the world, and who at His second coming will arrive as the Lion of the Tribe of Judah to judge all the inhabitants of the Earth. Every knee will bend and every tongue will confess that He is Lord of all. There will be NO more choices, no diversity of belief, no deference to personal opinion. Everyone will comply and resistance will be futile. That is what every true Christian is grateful for and that is the message that needs to be said on Fox News and everywhere else. Thus, as Michael Voris states it, when you're friends with Christ, you're going to have enemies, but the new President of the USCCB apparently can't stand that alternative.

Thanksgiving in Latin and Greek

Folks,

There are several words for Thanksgiving in the ancient languages Latin and Koine Greek:

Supplicatio: thanksgiving; supplication
Confessio: praise, thanksgiving
Eucharistia or eucharisticon: thanksgiving, eucharist, element of any consecrated offering

In all cases thanksgiving is a sacrifice of self-giving. The ultimate thanksgiving is Christ having offered Himself as the spotless lamb of God. That is why the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass (when we enter into the one-time-for-all event at Calvary) is called the Eucharist. That event just outside the walls of Jerusalem some 2000 years ago becomes visible and real and present for us now just as it became present for the Disciples at the Last Supper hours before the actual Sacrifice occurred (Matthew 26:26-30, Mark 14:22-26, Luke 22:14-22, and 1st Corinthians 11:23-25). Indeed, John 6:56-58 describes the Eucharist in this way:

Jesus said to them, "Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever."

Yet the response of most people today is the same as the response of people 2000 years ago as John 6:66 states:

As a result of this, many (of) his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him.

Are we ready to give thanks? Christianity after all is the only religion whose adherents eat and drink their God, thereby becoming (as St. Paul describes it in his epistles) the very Body of Christ. In all other religions (including atheism which indeed is a religion of ego) the god (or gods) eats his adherents. Such is the alternative provided by Satan.

Thoughts on Thanksgiving - 2010

Folks,

National Review Online has an excellent recounting of The First Thanksgiving by Frank Miniter. Most of us know the obvious. The Pilgrims fled England to the Netherlands and then to America to be able to worship God in freedom and peace. But what the revisionist history that is taught in public schools does NOT explain is this: when they first arrived, the Pilgrims held all things in common. "During the first two and a half years [after their arrival], there was neither private property nor division of labor at the Plymouth Colony. No one was permitted to own any particular plot of land. Food was grown collectively and distributed equally." So of course the slothful and indolent began to rely on the fruits of the labor of the industrious, and everyone starved. This is what always happens when freedom and responsibility are not equal and coordinate. This is the old, old story of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5:1-11. This is why God told Adam in Genesis 3:17-19 that by the sweat of his brow would he henceforth till the soil to get bread to eat. This is why St. Paul told the Church at Thessalonika in Thessalonians 3:10-12 that "if anyone was unwilling to work, neither should that one eat." As William Bradford, Governor of the Pilgrim's Plantation, described it, "the Pilgrims had initially thought 'the taking away of property and bringing in community into a commonwealth would make them happy and flourishing; as if they were wiser than God.'" But nothing could be further from the truth, for when private property rights were restored in 1623, the colony began to prosper because now people were made responsible for their freedom. Ironically the Pilgrims had fled England to live more closely in accordance with Biblical principles, and it turned out that upon arrival in the New World that is exactly what they did NOT do; thus, the inevitable happened: famine, starvation and death. "However, after the cleared land had been divided into sections owned and controlled by individuals and families, 'This had very good success, for it made all hands industrious, so as much more corn was planted than otherwise would have been by any means the Governor or any other could use...'" Restoring personal accountability and responsibility always works. Thus do we have the first Thanksgiving.

Catholic Online also has great article by Randy Sly entitled, Lest We Forget: Thanksgiving, a Time of Offering Thanks to God for His Blessings. He reminds us of President George Washington's declaration on October 3rd, 1789:

"Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be-- That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks--for his kind care and protection of the People of this Country previous to their becoming a Nation--for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions of his Providence."

In 1863, during the middle of America's most bloody war - the Civil War - President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed the following:

"The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God."

So we see again and again and again that gratitude to God on the part of our elected leaders was the hallmark of everything truly and uniquely American. We were founded as a Christian Constitutional Republic, NOT as a secular atheist democracy. As John Adams and John Hancock declared on April 18, 1775, "We Recognize No Sovereign but God, and no King but Jesus!" What Thanksgiving can possibly mean to the secular atheist is anyone's guess, for asserting ultimate authority to their own ego (EGO - Edging God Out), they have no one to whom to give thanks and are thus unworthy of the holiday. Their cry that knowledge is power is so true and exactly what the serpent told Eve in the Garden of Eden in Genesis 3:5, "God knows well that the moment you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods who know what is good and what is bad." But the story does NOT stop there, for we know that in the end the serpent is defeated, for verse 15 tells us, "I [the Lord] will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; He will strike at your head, while you strike at his heel." Let us give thanks after the example of Revelation 5:5-10:

Then I saw standing in the midst of the throne and the four living creatures and the elders, a Lamb that seemed to have been slain. He had seven horns and seven eyes; these are the (seven) spirits of God sent out into the whole world. He came and received the scroll from the right hand of the one who sat on the throne. When he took it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each of the elders held a harp and gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of the holy ones. They sang a new hymn: "Worthy are you to receive the scroll and to break open its seals, for you were slain and with your blood you purchased for God those from every tribe and tongue, people and nation. You made them a kingdom and priests for our God, and they will reign on earth."

Maranatha, Veni Domine Iesus, Maranatha!

Sex Abuse: Catholic Priests, Protestant Ministers and Public School Teachers

Folks,

My liberal detractor brought to my attention the following, but once again we see that the liberal Democrat news media cannot get its story straight.

Father Fiala formerly of Sacred heart of Mary in the archdiocese of San Antonia, TX was suspended from ministry within the Roman Catholic Church in the autumn of 2008 as soon as the Archdiocese received a report for the local sheriff's department that the priest was being investigated for interfering with the custody of a minor. CNN, however, reports that "a Catholic priest, facing criminal charges and a lawsuit alleging that he sexually abused a teenage boy, is now charged with attempting to hire someone to kill the youth...."

Police: Priest solicited murder of boy accusing him of sex abuse

I will now say the same thing about this ex-priest that I would about anyone who commits such a heinous crime: one day we will ALL stand before God Almighty and be judged. To those who have been given much, much will be expected. And to those who abuse children, it would be better for a millstone to be tied around their necks and for them to be cast into the sea. Priests, politicians and other such leaders are even MORE culpable. Ezekiel 34 is directed towards such wicked priests and Wisdom 6 to such wicked politicians.

However, let us remember something that both our liberal news media and my liberal detractor chose to ignore: a man must be considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law, even in cases like this where the circumstantial evidence appears overwhelming. Personally, though, I think this individual is guilty as sin, and if that is demonstrated to be the case in a court of law, then I think his genitals ought to be removed without anesthetic. If that's done, then he'll never rape again and given the heinousness of his crimes, the punishment is certainly appropriate. Failing that, the example of putting a rabid dog down comes to mind, but of course I cannot advocate capital punishment.

Yes, here I do agree with my liberal detractor. What this ex-priest is accused of is appallingly wicked, and certainly as evil if not worse than what militant gay activists, and fornicators and adulterers, and abortionists do. One may excuse a pagan homosexual who doesn't know any better than to rut like a baboon, or a frightened teenage woman intimidated into abortion. However, there is NO excuse - NONE, ZERO - for ANY Roman Catholic Priest to abuse any child. We are held to a higher standard, and this is just about as low as one possibly can go. But the news media sadly focuses quite myopically on Catholic sex abuse and ignores to everyone's peril the abuse that has wreaked havoc among Protestant clergy and laity:

Reformation - Protestant Sex Abuse

And as Lifesite News reports, Forgotten Study: Abuse in School 100 Times Worse than by Priests

Here is the 2004 report by the US Department of Education on such sex abuse in public schools.

Educator Sexual Misconduct: A Synthesis of Existing Literature

Yes, the US Department of Education itself reports that "...the physical sexual abuse of students in schools is likely more than 100 times the abuse by priests." But CNN won't report on this, and my liberal detractor ignores it completely.

The whole problem is this: SIN. This is nothing other than SIN, and there is only ONE cure: Jesus Christ, our crucified and risen Lord and Savior.

Cardinal Raymond Burke: What the Pope Really Meant

Folks,

The National Catholic Register has interviewed Cardinal Burke on the subject of the Pope's recent comments concerning condoms:

Cardinal Burke: What the Pope Really Meant

The salient portion is excerpted below:

NCR's question:

In Light of the World, Peter Seewald poses the objection that “it is madness to forbid a high-risk population (AIDS) to use condoms. To which Pope Benedict answers, in part, “There may be a basis in the case of some individuals, as perhaps when a male prostitute uses a condom, where this can be a first step in the direction of a moralization, a first assumption of responsibility, on the way toward recovering an awareness that not everything is allowed and that one cannot do whatever one wants. But it is not really the way to deal with the evil of HIV infection. That can really lie only in a humanization of sexuality.”

Seewald asks for a clarification: “Are you saying, then, that the Catholic Church is actually not opposed in principle to the use of condoms?” The Pope answers, “She of course does not regard it as a real or moral solution, but in this or that case, there can be nonetheless, in the intention of reducing the risk of infection, a first step in a movement toward a different way, a more human way, of living sexuality.”

What is the Pope saying here? Is he saying that in some cases condoms can be permitted?

Cardinal Burke's response

No, he’s not. I don’t see any change in the Church’s teaching. What he’s commenting on — in fact, he makes the statement very clearly that the Church does not regard the use of condoms as a real or a moral solution — but what he’s talking about in the point he makes about the male prostitute is about a certain conversion process taking place in an individual’s life. He’s simply making the comment that if a person who is given to prostitution at least considers using a condom to prevent giving the disease to another person — even though the effectiveness of this is very questionable — this could be a sign of someone who is having a certain moral awakening. But in no way does it mean that prostitution is morally acceptable, nor does it mean that the use of condoms is morally acceptable. The point the Pope is making is about a certain growth in freedom, an overcoming of an enslavement to a sexual activity that is morally repugnant [unacceptable] so that this concern to use a condom in order not to infect a sexual partner could at least be a sign of some moral awakening in the individual, which one hopes would lead the individual to understand that his activity is a trivialization of human sexuality and needs to be changed.

Submit to Evil or Take a Stand

Folks,

My friend Catawissa has a thought provoking entry today entitled, "Will You Submit to Evil - Or Will You Take a Stand?" Can we say the following as St. Ignatius of Antioch wrote to the Church at Rome before his martyrdom?

I am writing to all the Churches and I enjoin all, that I am dying willingly for God's sake, if only you do not prevent it. I beg you, do not do me an untimely kindness. Allow me to be eaten by the beasts, which are my way of reaching to God. I am God's wheat, and I am to be ground by the teeth of wild beasts, so that I may become the pure bread of Christ.

Can we declare the following as St. Paul did to the Church at Philippi?

But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you.

Or will we try to run away as Jonah initially did when he attempted to escape God's commands to go preach to the Ninevites, and thus fled across the Mediterranean Sea in the direction of Tarshish? There is no running away now.

The Last Days - Thoughts on Today's Readings

Folks,

Today's daily Scripture readings are so applicable as we see TSA agents act as Nazi Gestapo, North Korea shelling a South Korean island, and Ireland's economy in collapse on the heels of Greece's economic flounder with Portugal and Spain not far behind. Let us begin by discussing the first reading from Revelation 14:14-19. Think of this passage in terms on the Holy Eucharist where the harvest is the consecrated bread and the vines to be cut the consecrated wine - that is to say, the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

I, John, looked and there was a white cloud,
and sitting on the cloud one who looked like a son of man,
with a gold crown on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand.
Another angel came out of the temple,
crying out in a loud voice to the one sitting on the cloud,
“Use your sickle and reap the harvest,
for the time to reap has come,
because the earth’s harvest is fully ripe.”
So the one who was sitting on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth,
and the earth was harvested.

Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven
who also had a sharp sickle.
Then another angel came from the altar, who was in charge of the fire,
and cried out in a loud voice
to the one who had the sharp sickle,
“Use your sharp sickle and cut the clusters from the earth’s vines,
for its grapes are ripe.”
So the angel swung his sickle over the earth and cut the earth’s vintage.
He threw it into the great wine press of God’s fury.

Right now at Mass we partake of the consecrated bread (i.e., the harvest that is Christ) and the wine (i.e., the clusters on the vine). Thus do we become members of the Body of Christ. Yet soon will come the time when we as members of that Body will in turn become the grain to be harvested for that sacred bread, and the clusters on the vine to become that sacred wine in the great wine press of God's fury. The time to reap the harvest and cut Earth's vintage draws nigh. The servant is no better than the Master. We as His Body are subject to all that He was subject to.

Luke 21:5-11 then sums up the situation that we face today:

While some people were speaking about
how the temple was adorned with costly stones and votive offerings,
Jesus said, “All that you see here–
the days will come when there will not be left
a stone upon another stone that will not be thrown down.”

Then they asked him,
“Teacher, when will this happen?
And what sign will there be when all these things are about to happen?”
He answered,
“See that you not be deceived,
for many will come in my name, saying,
‘I am he,’ and ‘The time has come.’
Do not follow them!
When you hear of wars and insurrections,
do not be terrified; for such things must happen first,
but it will not immediately be the end.”
Then he said to them,
“Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.
There will be powerful earthquakes, famines, and plagues
from place to place;
and awesome sights and mighty signs will come from the sky.”

Let us nevertheless be re-assurred by Psalms 96:10-13.

R. (13b) The Lord comes to judge the earth.

Say among the nations: The LORD is king.
He has made the world firm, not to be moved;
he governs the peoples with equity.

R. The Lord comes to judge the earth.

Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice;
let the sea and what fills it resound;
let the plains be joyful and all that is in them!
Then shall all the trees of the forest exult.

R. The Lord comes to judge the earth.

Before the LORD, for he comes;
for he comes to rule the earth.
He shall rule the world with justice
and the peoples with his constancy.

R. The Lord comes to judge the earth.

Hail to the Chief

Folks,

Michael Voris' commentary on Archbishop Dolan's rise to the presidency of the USCCB deserves careful thought. Orthodoxy did not win the presidency; rather, a moderate won against a liberal by a mere 17 votes.

Hail to the Chief

Another Note

Folks,

My apologies if I have seemed to go off the deep end. When I saw that You Tube video of a Young Boy Strip Searched by TSA, quite frankly I flipped out. And yes, to all the liberal pagans out there, I would have been equally if not more appalled had it been a priest molesting a young boy because that is exactly what I saw on the video except in this case it was government-sanctioned and government-required molestation.

And then when I learned how the news media distorted and perverted what Pope Benedict XVI really said about condoms, that was only gasoline on the fire. The Pope NEVER said it's OK to use condoms. Rather, he said that if a male prostitute suddenly decides to use them because he's afraid of spreading disease, then maybe some kind of morality is starting to dawn on him - that it's wrong to have gay sex because gay sex kills.

So then I went to my favorite sections in the Books of Maccabees and the Book of Revelation to describe what's in store for us if we don't repent of our wickedness pronto!  This is NOT a joke. This is NOT mythology. This is NOT a delusion. But my detractors will continue nonetheless.

One other thing: the comments and opinions expressed here at Commentarius de Prognosticis are my own. They are made from own own personal computer on my own personal time. They represent no government agency or organization, no corporation, company or business entity, and no church, parish or diocese. What is recorded here has nothing to do with the Church where I go to Mass, the place where I work for a living, the gym where I do my workouts, or the girls whom I may date (on rare occasion, but it does happen from time to time). And no, this blogsite is NOT a Democracy where two wolves and one sheep vote on what's for dinner. It's my blogsite and I am absolute dictator (until Google blogger kicks me off). Comments that are respectful towards Holy Mother Church, Pope Benedict XVI, the Holy Bible, and Christianity in general are published. Liberal, progressive, Democrat comments are rejected. Period. So don't waste your time. I don't read them anyways.

So please kindly bear with your blogmaster. I will accept neither TSA molesting a little boy, nor news journalist lies about the Pope. I won't accept today's paganism and rebellion against all that's holy. It's time for us to join "Mattathias, son of John, son of Simeon, a priest of the family of Joarib," in the fight for freedom and righteousness. No, I do NOT adocate violence, but I do advocate that we obstruct by any and all peaceful means the wickedness of today's society. Let's start with prayer:

Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum.
Benedicta tu in mulieribus,
et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Iesus.
Sancta Maria, Mater Dei,
ora pro nobis peccatoribus, nunc,
et in hora mortis nostrae.
Amen.

What Happens Under Paganism (Today Called Liberalism)?

Folks,

It is utterly fascinating in a perverse sort of way to observe how the pagans - er, I mean liberals - were all up in arms against President Bush wiretapping suspected terrorists, but when Obama's TSA agents fondle a little boy's genitals, they come rushing to his defense, declaring that's the price of safety. Well the price is too high. As Benjamin Franklin declared, those who sacrifice essential liberty for a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.

Indeed, with this pretext of safety as the impetus for genital fondling at airports, how much longer will it be before we see the cry of safety used as a pretext for establishing such measures at public schools, shopping malls, railroad stations, bus terminals, etc.? Any time a Nazi like Obama is given an inch, he will take a mile. To sit back and accept this erosion of freedom means that no long from now the SS Storm Troops and the Gestapo will be knocking at your door and mine, demanding search and seizure without warrant.

We can see that this is an old, old story of how unlimited government will use any pretext of safety to slam the iron cuffs on control. 2nd Maccabees chapter 6 tells the story of how an old scribe named Eleazar would not submit to his version of Obama, and as a result the pagans of that day beat him to death for no other reason than he refused to eat pork. Today's pagans fine you $10K if you don't allow them to feel of your privates. The beating to death isn't far off.

2nd Maccabees chapter 7 tells the story of how a devout mother and her seven sons refused to bend knee to their Obama's pagan ways. That evil man slew them by slow torture, one and all. The day is coming when the same will happen here in these United States. The liberals cannot abide by Christianity, and they will not acknowledge defeat. Note how the TSA strip searches come right on the heals of the Democrats losing the majority in the House of Representatives. Obama's ego cannot take rejection. Thus, history repeats itself because man stays the same, regardless that his technological prowess increases. The Maccabean brothers had Antiochus IV Epiphanes, and we have Barack Hussein Obama. So will the TSA strip searches culminate in examples like Eleazar, and the Widow and Seven Sons. Then God will step in, and there will be no hiding from His wrath.

The kings of the earth, the nobles, the military officers, the rich, the powerful, and every slave and free person hid themselves in caves and among mountain crags. They cried out to the mountains and the rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb,  because the great day of their wrath has come and who can withstand it?"  Revelation 6:15-17

This Means War!

Petra - This Means War

Romans 16:20, Isaiah 14:12-15

Words and Music by Bob Hartman

Son of the morning--highest of all
You had so much going till you took the fall
Had a place in the glory but you wanted it all
Impossible odds but you had the gall
It seemed so unlikely that you would rebel
Such a worthy opponent that you knew so well
But you went down fighting when you heard the bell
Took a third of all heaven when you went to hell

[Chorus]

This means war--and the battle's still raging
War--and though both sides are waging
The Victor is sure and the victory secure
But till judgement we all must endure
This Means War!

Then came the cross--you thought you had won
You thought you had conquered God's only Son
"So much for Jesus" you said in jest
Then you got a visit from an unwelcome guest
Now it's all over down to the wire
Counting the days to your own lake of fire
But you'll go down fighting for all that you're worth
To try to abolish His image on earth



1st Maccabees 2:15-27

The officers of the king in charge of enforcing the apostasy came to the city of Modein to organize the sacrifices. Many of Israel joined them, but Mattathias and his sons gathered in a group apart. Then the officers of the king addressed Mattathias: "You are a leader, an honorable and great man in this city, supported by sons and kinsmen. Come now, be the first to obey the king's command, as all the Gentiles and the men of Judah and those who are left in Jerusalem have done. Then you and your sons shall be numbered among the King's Friends, and shall be enriched with silver and gold and many gifts."

But Mattathias answered in a loud voice: "Although all the Gentiles in the king's realm obey him, so that each forsakes the religion of his fathers and consents to the king's orders, yet I and my sons and my kinsmen will keep to the covenant of our fathers. God forbid that we should forsake the law and the commandments. We will not obey the words of the king nor depart from our religion in the slightest degree."

As he finished saying these words, a certain Jew came forward in the sight of all to offer sacrifice on the altar in Modein according to the king's order. When Mattathias saw him, he was filled with zeal; his heart was moved and his just fury was aroused; he sprang forward and killed him upon the altar. At the same time, he also killed the messenger of the king who was forcing them to sacrifice, and he tore down the altar. Thus he showed his zeal for the law, just as Phinehas did with Zimri, son of Salu.

Then Mattathias went through the city shouting, "Let everyone who is zealous for the law and who stands by the covenant follow after me!"

Revelation 19:11-21

Then I saw the heavens opened, and there was a white horse; its rider was (called) "Faithful and True." He judges and wages war in righteousness. His eyes were (like) a fiery flame, and on his head were many diadems. He had a name inscribed that no one knows except himself. He wore a cloak that had been dipped in blood, and his name was called the Word of God. The armies of heaven followed him, mounted on white horses and wearing clean white linen. Out of his mouth came a sharp sword to strike the nations. He will rule them with an iron rod, and he himself will tread out in the wine press the wine of the fury and wrath of God the almighty. He has a name written on his cloak and on his thigh, "King of kings and Lord of lords."

Then I saw an angel standing on the sun. He cried out (in) a loud voice to all the birds flying high overhead, "Come here. Gather for God's great feast, to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of military officers, and the flesh of warriors, the flesh of horses and of their riders, and the flesh of all, free and slave, small and great."

Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered to fight against the one riding the horse and against his army. The beast was caught and with it the false prophet who had performed in its sight the signs by which he led astray those who had accepted the mark of the beast and those who had worshiped its image. The two were thrown alive into the fiery pool burning with sulfur. The rest were killed by the sword that came out of the mouth of the one riding the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh.

Dr. Pournelle on Obama's TSA

Folks,

Dr. Pournelle's commentary on Obama's TSA deserves our full attention. The photograph accompanying this entry is designed to remind us of exactly who it is that occupies the Oval Office and is ordering this blatant violation of the Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution.

Airport Security Debate Required

Rush Limbaugh, quoting an article in the Atlantic magazine, says that the TSA pat downs are deliberately being made intrusive and invasive in order to induce people to choose the X-ray machines. Too many people were refusing to go through the new X-Ray systems, choosing rather the older personal inspections.

Of course that's all true. The purpose of the TSA is to make it clear that Americans are subjects, not citizens; at least it has operated as if that were the mission from its beginning. The X-Ray machine are expensive, and I suspect that if you trace the profits made from the government's buying them you will find paths to lobbyists involved with those who made the policies. Given the profits involved, I would not be astonished to find that donations to al Qaeda from people who make profits from those machines. Stranger things have happened.

There is a story that one chap stripped to his underwear. They required him to put his clothes back on before doing the pat down. I don't know if that story is true, but it certainly would not be astonishing. It's just routine, Ma'am. This is the new normal. You wanted change, didn't you?

And the jokes are flying.

What I have not heard is a discussion of the effectiveness of the new machines and procedures. How much explosive does it take to bring down an airplane? Is a Tampax full enough? A Super size Kotex? If so, we can all see where this concentration on searching for objects rather than terrorists is going. There is simply no way to detect every dangerous thing that someone might be carrying.

Nor have I seen any sane debate on alternative security procedures and their effectiveness. Reading Miranda rights to the underwear bomber was probably not be one of the most effective moves in this game; what was the cost of that compared to the effectiveness of X-rays and patdowns? We might also debate rights tradeoffs. I am willing to give up Miranda Warning rights as a condition of flying; I'd damned well prefer giving up some procedural post-arrest rights than concede a blanket right to be groped and humiliated for no cause whatever.

The first thing one learns in Operations Research is the importance of choosing the true criterion of success. We have not done this. The object of security agents in the airports is not to prevent potentially dangerous stuff getting on airplanes: the object is to prevent dangerous objects from getting into the hands of terrorists who get aboard airplanes. Not quite the same thing.

Surely this is all worth discussing?

We cannot "just adopt the Israeli system." There is far too much air commerce in the United States to have college educated counter intelligence agents interview every single potential passenger. If we try interviewing a selected list, then there will be enormous controversy over who is selected. There will be accusations of racial and religious profiling, and that will go on through the courts.

The Congress of the United States is the Grand Inquest of the Nation. It's time the Congress got into this act: not for theater but in a serious way, to examine the costs and benefits of security policy. It's clear the TSA has already become a typical Iron Law bureaucracy. There needs to be debate on whether it does more harm than good. Perhaps it needs to be abolished, and rebuilt from the ground up. I suspect that can be done for a lot less than the $7 billion a year this agency costs us now.

Francis Hamit has a few words about this in mail.

===============

The TSA Czar says he hopes "people will use judgment and reason" by which he means "Submit, Por Favor." I note that he has not directed his agents to use judgment and reason, presumably because he has a good idea of just how plentiful good judgment is among his employees.

Score

TSA (Citizens abused, humiliated, molested, reduced to tears): 25,346,034

American Citizens (terrorists caught): 0

============

Why try terrorists if we are not going to release them no matter the verdict? What is the purpose of the show trials? Why give Miranda rights if the accused will be jailed for life no matter what?

The Pope in the News

Folks,

It has become apparent that no matter what our Holy Father says or doesn't say, what passes for news journalism in today's completely depraved and utterly pagan Western society is incapable of reporting the facts as they truly are. As Michael Voris of Real Catholic TV describes it: "The media's treatment of the Catholic Church is well known .. but every now and then .. the media out does itself in how low it can go." The Zenit News Agency, however, seems to be a welcome relief, but it does not figure into the "popular" media. As we already know, "The Pope Does Not Reform or Change the Church's Teaching":

Statement on Pontiff's Words Regarding Condoms

Therefore, without further adieu Mr. Voris' video is now provided here and at Catawissa Gazetter's blogsite:

The Pope in the News

Young Boy Searched by TSA

Folks,

The following video is a young boy being stripped searched and fondled by Obama's TSA agents.

Young Boy Strip Searched by TSA

Disgusting, putrid filth. It is time to revolt against that mad man in the White House. I urge non-violent means. But the godless liberals won't stop until God's wrath descends on their heads. Let us remember what Judas Maccabees had to do, or closer to home, what Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry and other true patriots likewise had to do. We can afford neither Antiochus IV Epiphanes nor his spiritual successor, the Obamanation of Desolation.

Pelvic Obsessed Baboons and What the Pope Said

Folks,

Once again the pelvic obsessed baboons of current society - including the one who frequents this blogsite - are in an uproar over an out-of-context quote from Pope Benedict XVI in Peter Seewald's new book-length interview, Light of the World. The full text of the applicable section of the interview may be found here:

 Pope Benedict XVI discusses condoms and the spread of HIV

Fr. Philip Neri Powell makes clear what is really the case in his blogsite entry entitled, "OMG! The Pope says condoms are OK!!!" I will summarize:

Adultery is SIN.
Fornication is SIN.
Homosexuality is SIN.
A male whore who uses a condom supposedly to prevent the spread of disease (which it doesn't do anyways) is showing awarness that SIN leads to DEATH, and that dawning awareness is a GOOD thing.

So for the liberal trolls out there, READ and UNDERSTAND what the Pope said: SIN will KILL you.

Now let's digress a little bit. These same pelvicly obsessed liberals say they refuse Christianity because science and reason tells them that faith in God is ridiculous (and of course "we liberals" don't want to be a laughable lot, now do "we"?). Yet those exact same liberals want to rut in sexual filth like a baboon (see photograph above) contrary to the dictates of reason, and have the Pope tell them their condom use is A-OK. So the reader can see quite clearly that all their scientific protestations against religion, based supposedly on reason and logic, have NOTHING to do with science, reason or logic. Rather, their protestations have to do with their animalistic orgasmic delight obtained from their genitals being fondled and titillated. Perhaps then they should go to the nearest airport and have Obama's TSA agents give them a full pat down with gloved hand. The effect would be salutory for the irrational, unthinking and unscientific gratification of their bestial instincts, and since the TSA agents wear glove over hand, neither condom is required nor potential of disease present.

One last thing: let no liberal come here to this blogsite, talking (essentially out of his rectum) about how reason and science say there is no God when all he wants is ecclesial permission to run around mindlessly like a baboon getting his genitals titillated, then protesting when it is pointed out that what the Pope really said was "NO!": Godless, liberal, progressive Democrats endlessly fascinated with penis and vagina, breasts and rectum.

Sex outside of marriage is SIN, and condom use inside or outside of marriage is SIN. Period. End of story.

If you ever wondered what side of the fence you sit on...

If you ever wondered what side of the fence you sit on, here is a great test!

If a conservative doesn't like guns, he doesn't buy one.
If a liberal doesn't like guns, he wants all guns outlawed.

If a conservative is a vegetarian, he doesn't eat meat.
If a liberal is a vegetarian, he wants all meat products banned for everyone.

If a conservative is homosexual, he quietly leads his life earning the respect of others.
If a liberal is homosexual, he demands legislated respect.

If a conservative is down-and-out, he thinks about how to better his situation.
A liberal wonders who is going to take care of him.

If a conservative doesn't like a talk show host, he switches channels.
A liberal demands that those shows he doesn't like be shut down.

If a conservative is a non-believer, he doesn't go to church.
A liberal non-believer wants any mention of God and religion silenced.
(Unless it's a foreign religion, of course!)

If a conservative decides he needs health care, he goes about shopping for it, or may choose a job that provides it.
A liberal demands that the rest of us pay for his.

If a conservative reads this, he'll forward it so his friends can have a good chuckle.
A liberal will delete it because he's "offended."

Well, I forwarded it to you.

Catawissa on the Pope's Message to Health Care Conference

Folks,

A translation of the message that Benedict XVI sent to the 25th international conference of the Pontifical Council for Health Care Ministry that began on November 18th may be here:

Papal Message to Health Care Conference

The Pope described access to adequate medical care as an inalienable right. As my friend Catawissa Gazetteer notes, "While the media will try and twist the words of both Benedict and Bertone into something that fits their statist agenda, the Pope is not calling for state run health care of the type that Obama and his party have rammed down our throats. They are not calling for re-distribution of wealth but instead for distributive justice. These two ideas are as remote as night and day." Continuing commentary may be found here:

Catwissa: The Pope Speaks on Health Care

The general topic of social justice (which any discussion of right of access to health care necessarily invokes) is one that has been discussed at length here at Commentarius de Prognosticis.

More Debunking of the False Liberal Gospel of Social Justice

Debunking Liberal Social Justice from the Bible

The False Gospel of Social Justice - Again

Social Justice - An Explanation

What Jesus Says About Distributive Justice

Our Judas Iscariots and the Gospel of Social Justice

The False Gospel of Social Justice

The bottom line is this: nanny government is NOT responsibility to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, care for the sick, clothe the naked, visit the imprisoned, or welcome the alien. We are responsible as individual members of the Body of Christ. And when we fail to discharge our Christian responsibility as individuals, instead abdicating to government that responsibility, then we declare the same thing that Lucifer did in Heaven so long ago: "non serviam" or "I will not serve."

It is interesting to note that in the Bible the person most concerned with social justice (i.e., redistributing money to the poor) was the one who later betrayed the Son of God for thirty pieces of silver: "Why was this oil [with which Mary was anointing Jesus feet] not sold for three hundred days' wages and given to the poor?" The account is in John 12:1-8.

This is illustrative of every single liberal progressive Democrat who gives forth the cry for social justice: "[Judas] said this not because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief and held the money bag and used to steal the contributions." No godless liberal progressive Democrat has ever had any real concern for the poor, the sick, the needy. And they will continue to misrepresent the Pope's message regarding health care, but let us NOT be confused. Government has never in the six thousand years of recorded history ever cared about the poor, the sick, the needy, and it isn't going to start now. So we as members of the Body of Christ had better: "So Jesus said, 'Leave her alone. Let her keep this for the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.'"

The Book of Revelation and the Fourth Amendment

Folks,

My friend Catawissa Gazetteer sent me a link to the following article by Mark Mallett at the Spiritual Food for Thought blogsite; Mr. Mallett' sobservations are accurately (though sadly) reflected in these times of the Obamination of Desolation.

Interpreting Revelation

Dr. Pournelle's recent essays at the Chaos Manor web site also deserve close examination:

Much Ado About TSA

The System Works, So They Say

No one having any semblance of sanity left any longer can deny Obama's transforming America into a Nazi State. If TSA government agents can grap and fondle a person's genitals at an airport in the name of public security, then any government agent can (and soon will) do the same at a public school, a train station, a bus terminal, a hospital, courthouse, a shopping mall or an amusement park. The Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution states quite clearly:

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and Warrants shall not be issued, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

What ever happened to the principles that Patrick Henry immortalized in his speech to the Virginia Convention at St. John's Church in Richmond, Virginia on March 23, 1775?

Give me liberty or give me death

And let us note how this hero of the Revolutionary War against Great Britain gave the place of honor and respect to the Supreme Being, noting our responsibility is chiefly and supremely to God Almighty:

The question before the house is one of awful moment to this country. For my own part, I consider it as nothing less than a question of freedom or slavery; and in proportion to the magnitude of the subject ought to be the freedom of the debate. It is only in this way that we can hope to arrive at the truth, and fulfill the great responsibility which we hold to God and our country.

The Lightworker Wants to Touch Your Junk

Folks,

I encourage one and all to read Mencius Moldbug's short essay, The Lightworker Wants to Touch Your Junk, over at the Unqualified Reservations blogsite. I will forewarn the reader to expect language appropriate to the groping of private parts that the Obama Administration now deems necessary for public safety. But the truth in what Mencius writes is well worth tolerating the language, and perhaps because of what government can do now - just look at the photo attached to this entry - that language is the ONLY appropriate way to describe the godless sexual perversion of the Obamination of Desolation. Furthermore, I find Mencius' conclusion interesting (and perhaps offensive to some, but interesting nonetheless - anything that hastens the Day of the Lord's Return is perhaps a good thing, though I suspect that that is NOT Mencius' intent):

So who should you vote for? You shouldn't vote, of course. Whatever you think you're doing when you vote, you're just endorsing the whole insane system. If you must vote, however, please vote for Democrats. I endorsed Obama in 2008; I have no regrets at all. The system will go to hell in a handbasket that much faster. The sooner we get to hell, the less preheated the ovens.

Santa Claus Against the World

Folks,

Back in the day when men were men and stood by principle, Saint Nicholas (otherwise known as Santa Claus) of Myra in Lycia (which is located in what is now modern day Turkey) punched the heretic Arius in the face for denying the divinity of Jesus Christ:

Persecuted, Jailed, Passionate: That's my kind of Santa Claus

We need a Saint Nicholas to deal with our modern-day heretical and apostate pseudo-Catholic clergy and politicians enamored with the false gospel of social justice (otherwise known as socialism), the common good (otherwise known as communism), and peace at any price (what was it Jesus came to bring, peace or a sword? Matthew 10:34). Now at least we know the true meaning of the phrase, "He's making a list and checking it twice, he's going to find out who's naughty or nice!"

You Against the World

Rebellion and Loss of Faith

Folks,

The rebellion infesting and infecting the Church can only be dealt with by the surgery of public excommunication. "The result of the Rebellion in the Church is that people lose their faith."

Rebellion and Loss of Faith

A Letter from a Catholic Apostate

New Heretical Priest Group: Church Must Re-evaluate Sexual Teaching

See: the rebellion isn't about science or reason; it's about the desire to have unlimited sexual pleasure without regard for consequences. The only difference between these people and baboons is that these peopke KNOW better. As Romans 1:18-32 states:

The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.

For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.

Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.

Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.

Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.

The Altar of God

Folks,

A friend at work sent me the following in an e-mail today:

By putting on Christ, you are placed on the Altar of God, who is also Christ, ready to let the communal blood, that you have received from Christ.

I responded as follows:

John 6:53-58 states: Jesus said to them, "Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever."

By participating in Holy Communion, by partaking of His Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity (1st Corinthians 11:23-34), we bring Him into ourselves, thereby transforming ourselves to become (as St. Paul puts it in his epistles) members of the Body of Christ. St. Irenaeus of Lyons writes about this at length in his Adversus Haereses in the early 2nd century AD.

Thus, Romans 12:1 takes on a certain poignancy: "Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship."

In a very real sense it is only by becoming united with Him in His one-time-for-all Sacrifice on Golgotha that we rise from the death of our sin. The servant is no better than the Master (John 13:16).

We know from Genesis chapter 3 that the first man and woman, having partaken of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, were then driven from the Garden of Eden lest they in a state of mortal sin also partook of the Tree of Life (verses 22 and 23): Then the LORD God said: "See! The man has become like one of us, knowing what is good and what is bad! Therefore, he must not be allowed to put out his hand to take fruit from the tree of life also, and thus eat of it and live forever." When he expelled the man, he settled him east of the garden of Eden; and he stationed the cherubim and the fiery revolving sword, to guard the way to the tree of life.

But what is that Tree of Life except the Sacred Wood of the Cross? Thus does the angel of the Church in Ephesus say in Revelation 2:7: "Whoever has ears ought to hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the victor I will give the right to eat from the tree of life that is in the garden of God."

The Fruit of that Tree is the Holy Eucharist, and the responsibility inherent in partaking of that Fruit is the offering of ourselves as living sacrifices on the altar of love for God (The Greatest Commandment stated as such in Matthew 22:37-38 - the vertical beam of the Cross) and love for neighbor (The Second Greatest Commandment stated as such in Matthew 22:39 - the horizontal beam of the Cross). Only by so doing are we victors as the angel to the Church in Ephesus described.

The Vertical Beam of the Tree of Life: Deuteronomy 6:5: Therefore, you shall love the LORD, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength.

The Horizontal Beam of the Tree of Life: Leviticus 19:18: Take no revenge and cherish no grudge against your fellow countrymen. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.

The Fruit of the Tree of Life: John 6:54-55: Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.

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On a different note, Christianity is the ONLY religion whose adherents eat their God, and whose God offers Himself as a sacrifice; in all others the god eats the adherents.