Help me, I beg the Father, to take up the task of Advent. The memories that awaken are silent Anna, raging Pat, chirping Mikey, his poor hand on the rail, begging his father, “No, Daddy, no!”
Tag: national catholic register
Dear Simcha, Vol. 2
Dear Mr. Pfischurr, if that is indeed your name,
I was thinking of sending a small I mean very very large sustaining donation to EWTN last year, but then this year I noticed that you’ve been writing for the Register for something like four years, and that certainly explains a thing or two in the downturn in quality that I have definitely noticed a lot; and my accountant, that I definitely have because I am a wealthy donor, feels the same way. It’s stealth liberals like you who are responsible for at least 90% of the souls who have been lost since the Council of Trent. I don’t know how you sleep at night.
P.S. You have yellow teeth, ha ha, why don’t you get a real job?
In His Name Plus Lots of His Blood and His Mother and His Mother’s Blood,
Albigensius Maximus
This post is not about Bill Cosby.
If you want to talk about Bill Cosby (or Bill Clinton, or Woody Allen, or Roman Polanski) please find a conversation somewhere else. This post is about what you are supposed to do if you’ve been raped. What’s the next step?
Reading comments by self-identified Catholic conservatives in the last few days, this is what I have learned . . .
What’s wrong with message art?
PIC 3d crucifixion tattoo
If you’re a Christian artist, and you want to use your skill to make the world better, I’m begging you: never lead with the message. Instead, listen with your inner ear until something hits that special note. You don’t even have to know why it resounds for you; just listen, and tell other people what you heard. Hone your skills, stay close to God in your personal life, always be looking and listening for new things . . . and above all, take off that delivery man’s uniform. That’s not your gig.
Francis to meet with Catholics on the autism spectrum
Rather than seeing their Church as a refuge where they can meet God, parents of kids with autism often report that their children are more isolated than ever at Mass – either because other parishioners disapprove of their behavior, mistaking it for irreverence or a lack of discipline, or because the liturgy itself provides a sensory overload that is too much to bear, or because sitting quietly and listening is not always possible.
If you have a family member with autism, or if you are on the spectrum yourself, what would you say to the Pope? What would you like your fellow Catholics to know about what it’s like to a member of the Body of Christ who is on the autism spectrum — either while you’re at Mass or other church functions, or just in general?
Have you heard the latest about Cardinal Burke?
I haven’t, and I’ve made it a point not to know what’s going on.
Why not? Because it’s not important to me. Me, as a layman with a job and a family and a personal conscience that keeps me busy enough all by itself. And if you were honest, you’d admit that it really isn’t important to you, either — not unless you work directly for Burke, or are his personal friend and will miss him when he moves to sunny Malta, the lucky son of a gun. It only seems important if you are addicted to following all the ins and outs of a 24-hour religious news cycle that has about as much to do with the Gospel as the schematics for the HVAC system at the Metropolitan Opera House has to do with music.
Is Christine Mayr-Lumetzberger worthy of the priesthood?
The great Elizabeth Scalia points out that prophets, like seminarians, tend to have something in common: they are mighty reluctant to take the job that heaven foists on them. They may certainly feel called, but they do not feel worthy — and they do not expect to slither comfortably into their vocations.
We start with our unworthiness, and we proceed to God’s mercy. That is the only path. There is no other path.
How to make your Halloween magnificent!
We never did find out what Wish Bear was so angry about. I thought she looked magnificent.
Our founding fathers didn’t die face down in the mud of Vietnam only to see my children struggling through the night with only Mary Janes, Good and Plenty, nameless lollipop blobs, and Bit-o’- Chicken to sustain them, like I did when I was a kid. Those were dark times. We can do better.
Other people’s blessings
I’ve had to remind myself, over and over again, that couples who really do love NFP aren’t just lying. The “Oh, how I love the monthly cycle of courtship and honeymoon!” crowd haven’t drunk any Kool-Aid. They’re not necessarily undersexed, brainwashed saps who have never encountered true suffering.
They’re just different from me, and if I expect them to respect my struggles, then I need to learn to respect their joy.
Discernment: What It Does and Doesn’t Mea
PIC wizard watching chicken
It does mean: The Holy Spirit works kind of like MSG, enhancing and heightening the “flavor” of the virtues that you’ve already worked to develop — virtues like self-control, prudence, mercy, and self-sacrifice. After you pray for guidance, you’re probably not going to find yourself doing something utterly foreign to your normal nature or inclinations; but you may find that you have deeper reserves of patience than you expected, for instance, or a temporary ability to work harder than you’re normally able to work.