Archive for the ‘catholic’ Category

Under the Fedora: Jonah Goldberg and the New Rules, Pride Month Savings on Sports, The annual Business ritual, More Utilitarian Candidates, What Bread of Life Discourses?

Posted: June 3, 2024 by datechguy in Blame Trump, business, catholic, culture, election 2024, elections, politics, Sports, under the fedora
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This weekend Jonah Goldberg noted that a lot of people on the right were comparing Trump to Christ and weren’t taking into account the idea that he cheated on his wife with a porn star.

Well there are two things I’d like to say to that. While Jonah is of course free do disagree on the merits of either verdict the fact is we compare Trump to Christ because Trump we believe both were found guilty unjustly, not of sleeping around but of a completely made up bookkeeping felony, so like Christ he was unjustly found guilty. Nobody (with the possible exception of Laura Loomer) on the right compares Trump to Christ’s divinity.

Second while I do in fact find it plausible that a really rich guy decided to bang a porn star and tried to keep it quiet (frankly I’d hate to have my performance in bed judged by a professional) folks like me who under the old rules thought such things should be disqualifying were massively outvoted on said rules so until the left decides to go back to said rules we aren’t either.

We’re in the middle of a baseball season where the Redsox have a great crop of young players and at the end of a basketball season where the Celtics are in the finals with a solid shot of winning and least we forget the Pats have a new 1st round QB and an old Brady era vet to mentor him. All these things are strong temptations to have me pony up for one of various sports packages from NESN to MLB to NBA etc etc etc…

…and then June roles around and all the professional teams go out of their way to remind me that they are not on my side in the culture wars and suddenly radio and hitting a local bar/restaurant to watch a game rather then giving these guys my money becomes an attractive alternative.

My thanks to various leagues for helping me appreciate the joy of free sports.

Oh and the annual ritual of business shoving gay pride down our throats in the west while making it a point to avoid the same in the middle east continues as always, with BMW actually admitting what we all know that it’s all about the risk and reward of the mob.

Of course in a new years the Ghastly Tom Hagan math will catch up with the west and when it does the west will drop their pride campaigns faster than the Democrats dropped Israel

Speaking of a lack of principles there are quite a few GOP candidates who had been pushing their pro-life credentials in the past who suddenly find themselves willing to compromise on life to gain higher office.

Now there are no shortage of Democrats who run as republicans in red states or republican who run as dems in blue states to get power nor is there a shortage in either party of people whose primary principle is to advance their political power. And the reality is that given the number of honest men & women in politics you likely can’t get a majority without these sorts.

So when there is no other choice by all means elect them but keep such folks away from the true levers of party power because people willing to sell out their principles or their God will have little trouble selling you.

Finally episode one of the Chosen is available free and those who expected to see the aftermath of the feeding of the 5000 and the calming of the waters which closed last season might have been shocked to see they went back to Luke Chapter 1 to the Visitation as their lead.

Granted they decided to knock off John the Baptist in episode one but if there is one thing you could always be sure of in any protestant movie about Christ skips the 6th chapter of John once it reaches verse 26 the beginning of the bread to life discourses. The only exception being word for word adaptions of Gospel.

Given that The Chosen is a TV series rather than a movie there would have been more than enough time to include them but as Catholic as Jonathan Roumie is, he does not have creative control so the bread of life discourses had to go.

Don’t get me wrong, it was a good episode and I liked the juxtaposition of the Canticle of Zachariah (the Morning Prayer of the Catholic Church) with the scenes of John’s end and the reaction to it but some things never change, and if you were expecting to see The Chosen break that mold you will be mistaken.

Oh and I’d watch it via the youtube live stream because the loading time of the app seems to be very slow likely due to the sheer number of people trying to watch it there.

June Indulgence Calendar now available

Posted: June 1, 2024 by datechguy in catholic, catholic devotions
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It’s a new month so time for a new indulgence Calendar and it’s a busy one if you live near me because there are multiple feast days for saints who have a church dedicated to them meaning lots of extra Plenary indulgences available just for going to mass.

indulgence-calendar-june-2024Download

Remember there is always a plenary indulgence available for going to mass on the feast day of a saint at a church dedicated to said saint so this month will be a big one for all those St. Anthony of Padua and St. John the Baptist churches nationwide.

I’ve decided not to do the blank ones except on request. The lines below the names listed can be used to add additional names for a particular day.

Five Sunday Morning Thoughts Under the Fedora, A good sign, Colin Baker Disease, an unintentionally comical take, Cat Lady Candidate and Hey Elon What about Stacy McCain?

Posted: May 19, 2024 by datechguy in catholic, catholic devotions, doctor who, media
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I mentioned yesterday that my sons were taking me to the Tycoon Arcade in Manchester yesterday, I’ll have a video and write-up later in the week but I want to mention something on the side.

We all figured we needed confession and fortunately there was a Catholic Church Ste Marie’s right across the street a very French Canadian Parish.

Not only is the church incredibly beautiful, not only does the parish have 24-7 adoration and a parish school but when we got there we had to wait because there was a long line for confession including a nun properly dressed as a Nun.

Catholic Pro-tip. As a general rule if you see a line for confession you know that’s a parish to consider joining no matter what the AP thinks.

Despite the RIP Doctor who stuff out there I decided I was going to check out the first three new episodes. I’ll review them properly later but I wanted to mention a common theme that all of them suffered from. You could call it Colin Baker disease.

When the 6th Doctor was first introduced the showrunner at the time decided they wanted to make him disagreeable and then eventually win the audience over. They managed the first but not the so much the second to the point where they ended up firing him.

Of course this was the same issue with Whitaker but they didn’t dare fire the first woman Doctor and it goes without saying they won’t do that to the first black gay doctor.

Looking at the three episodes as a group it’s almost as if they really haven’t figured out who or what this Doctor is, only that he is

  1. The inferior to his companion
  2. Part of an agenda

This in my opinion has severely weakened the stories I’ve seen, there are flashes of both Davies and Moffat but you get the feeling they’re there strictly to try to bail out the merchandizing sales because Disney has already provided the cash.

On the bright side my oldest who actually watched the Whitaker years informs me that all three episodes are superior to anything from the Chibnall era. Talk about damning with faint praise.

Speaking of people from British TV John Cleese tweeted out something unintentionally funny yesterday

Now it goes without saying that Cleese is not only highly intelligent but one of the great comic genius in the history of mankind but I have to say that the joke is on him here.

I understand that he REALLY dislikes President Donald Trump but as this is an election between him and President Joe Biden but if your goal is to convince people that Mr. Biden is the better choice making an argument comparing either their mental facilities or physical facilities for that matter just might not be the wisest course of action.

This isn’t a parliamentary system where the party can just choose another head or perhaps he thinks the Democrats will plan on having someone else at the top of their ticket who is younger by the time election day rolls around.

Speaking of Dumb Takes I see Laura Loomer decided to attack Dana Loesch for having supported Ron DeSantis in the primaries and suggesting that she should not be a speaker at conservative events over it.

It’s one thing to think Trump was a superior choice to DeSantis, people I respect like Don Surber had that opinion and there are credible arguments that could be made in that direction. It’s another to label anyone who didn’t have Trump has their first choice as “dick riders” particularly someone like Loesch who was fighting the good fight for conservative causes before Loomer was out of school.

Trump was always my 2nd choice for President among the candidates and I’m happy to support him this time around not because of folks like Loomer but despite them.

This girl has future as a cat lady written all over her.

Finally while I don’t think much of Miss Loomer I do agree that she was improperly banned from twitter and my tastes aside deserved to be restored to the site.

That being said can anyone explain why Robert Stacy McCain is still banned?

Stacy McCain was along with Milo one of the first conservatives banned from the site for the crime of quoting liberals in their own words. Pretty much what libs of Tic Tock Does only without videos. I theorized at the time that he was the test case to see if it could be done without trouble and sure enough the wave of conservative banning followed before the last election.

With the coming of the age of Musk many of those who were banned have been restored but for reasons still unknown Robert Stacy McCain who was doing shoe leather reporting before Laura Loomer was born still has not.

This has cost Stacy money and exposure which prevents him from raising the funds needed to go on the road as he has in the past. Of course with a bunch of grandchildren and being of retirement age perhaps life at home is more comfortable, but seriously, wouldn’t the coverage of both the Biden & Trump campaigns along with key congressional races be a whole lot better with Stacy on the ground in the districts giving an eye witness account of what is going on?

I think it would be but the only way that happens is with a full tip jar and the best way for that to happen is to restore him to his rightful place on Twitter/X

Over to you Elon.

The Future Belongs to Those Who Show Up, Catholic Edition

Posted: May 6, 2024 by datechguy in catholic, catholic devotions, Church doctrine
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These things he said while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum. Then many of his disciples who were listening said, “This saying is hard; who can accept it?” Since Jesus knew that his disciples were murmuring about this, he said to them,

“Does this shock you? What if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the spirit that gives life, while the flesh is of no avail. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But there are some of you who do not believe.”

Jesus knew from the beginning the ones who would not believe and the one who would betray him. And he said,

“For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by my Father. As a result of this, many (of) his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him. Jesus then said to the Twelve,

“Do you also want to leave? Simon Peter answered him, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.

John 6:60-68

Apparently the AP is shocked SHOCKED that the Catholic faith in the United States is being populated by people who, you know actually believe and follow the faith:

They often stand out in the pews, with the men in ties and the women sometimes with the lace head coverings that all but disappeared from American churches more than 50 years ago. Often, at least a couple families will arrive with four, five or even more children, signaling their adherence to the church’s ban on contraception, which most American Catholics have long casually ignored.

They attend confession regularly and adhere strictly to church teachings. Many yearn for Masses that echo with medieval traditions – more Latin, more incense more Gregorian chants.

“We want this ethereal experience that is different from everything else in our lives,” said Ben Rouleau, who until recently led St. Maria Goretti’s young adult group, which saw membership skyrocket even as the parish shrank amid the turmoil.

If the young adult group is souring that means there will be a future generation in the parish consisting of the children of that young adult group. If there are families with four and five children, that means that their children will in a generation fill the pews that the contraception/abortion crowd has been abandoning for two generations.

It’s simple math. People who treated the Church as an Elks club that meets on Sunday tend not to bother to follow the teaching of the church on abortion, contraception and confession. Thus their children don’t bother to come or don’t bother to get married and don’t teach their children. And they certainly aren’t going to be going to the seminary to commit themselves to a life of service. They will be like this seed in the parable of the sower:

This is the meaning of the parable. The seed is the word of God. Those on the path are the ones who have heard, but the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts that they may not believe and be saved. Those on rocky ground are the ones who, when they hear, receive the word with joy, but they have no root; they believe only for a time and fall away in time of trial. As for the seed that fell among thorns, they are the ones who have heard, but as they go along, they are choked by the anxieties and riches and pleasures of life, and they fail to produce mature fruit.

Luke 8:11-14

And it goes without saying that their children, particularly those who might be gay who in past times choose the church as a respectable cultural option now in a society that embraces and celebrates open homosexuality have a ton of other options. (I’ve always found it interesting while 78% of the cases in the church sexual scandals involved gay men the media unexpectedly of course ducked that fact like the plague.) So who is populating the seminaries now? People like this:

At a time when U.S. college enrollment is shrinking, Benedictine’s expansion over the last 15 years has included four new residence halls, a new dining hall and an academic center. An immense new library is being built. The roar of construction equipment never seems to stop. Enrollment, now about 2,200, has doubled in 20 years. Students, many of whom grew up in conservative Catholic families, jokingly call it “the Benedictine bubble.” And it might be a window into the future of the Catholic Church in America.

I suspect you won’t be seeing anybody calling for the death of the Jews on that campus either.

I find it interesting that the article never mentions Mother Angelica and EWTN who spent decades working to get Catholics catechized with the truth while the Vatican II people didn’t bother. That combined with the liberals going elsewhere means that people who actually believe had the seed of th word planted on good soil, the result:


But as for the seed that fell on rich soil, they are the ones who, when they have heard the word, embrace it with a generous and good heart, and bear fruit through perseverance.

Luke 8:15

And it’s those faithful Catholics who are bearing fruit and giving meaning to their kids in the world that doesn’t offer any.

In the end any institution belongs to those who show up. The conservatives who actually believe the teachings taught those teaching to their children and thus their children go to church and pass those teaching on. The liberals who didn’t bother did not so they find themselves in a church and wonder where their Elks club went.

It’s simple demographics.

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