and I have a little story for you. You may make of it what you will.
I brought my mike with me for total confusion because I needed to record my weekly radio show for WQPH (Queen of Perpetual Help) radio however circumstances never gave me the chance to record. So I figured no big deal I’d record on Monday which I took off but again somehow I just didn’t get a chance to record.
Now I was really getting up to a deadline so I was determined to get the show recorded right after daily mass but somehow I kept getting delayed till FINALLY I was able to get started.
I had just listed the prayer intentions for the show when the phone rang (I don’t have a cell phone) I paused the recording to hear the voice of a friend. He was hospitalized, she already had heart issues which were expected to be fatal and was now recovering from a stroke. She asked for prayers for her mother and children and there was no knowledge of how long she would be around.
Now this is the thing, if I had recorded the show at any of the times I should have it would have been in the bank and her request would have to wait for the next show to air March 9th. If I had managed to get started on my recordings early that morning as I planned same thing. And if she had called just a couple of hours later It would have been too late, I’d be at work and she would have missed me completely.
Nope she called at the exact moment in fact the last possible moment when I could squeeze in her prayer intentions to get them into the show broadcast tomorrow.
I submit and suggest that this type of thing is God’s MO and has been for millennia. Any reading of scripture shows it to be so, and I further submit and suggest that God is just as active as he was during biblical times to those who call upon him, but we’ve trained ourselves, or have been trained not to see what is in front of our faces.
At least that’s my take but feel free to make of it what you will.
The first of the two relics shows is a fragment of the Crown of Thorns, the 2nd is a Holy Face Relic whose origin is explained by our speaker in his talk.
Michael Petroch of the Confederacy of the Holy Face of Jesus was our primary speaker who talked about the origins and benefits of the Confederacy. His presentation is in two parts
You might notice that the video is a little shaky, that’s because for the life of me I couldn’t find my monopod that morning and thus had to hold my little Cannon Camera by hand for the 28 minutes of his talk.
Boimler:When I first arrived, I brought expectations of each of you from the future. And not only was that dangerous, it denied the reality of who you are right now. So, I’d like to apologize to you all with a limerick.
There are two things that I have been all my life.
One is a Catholic. At various times I’ve been a better Catholic than at other times but I’ve been consistently Catholic all my life and my study of history, the various Protestant sects and my own lived experience has convinced me of the truth of the faith beyond any doubt.
The second is completely fascinated with human beings. I find ordinary people incredibly interesting. Even the most seemingly dull person has lived a life full of twists and turns that has shaped them for good or ill and simply observing people in their daily lives can give you a real appreciation of what a gift life is. That’s what makes history so interesting to me.
And it’s what we do with that life that makes all the difference.
Applying these observations to Christianity, particularly in the study of history I’ve developed a theory concerning the difference between a good Christian and the great saints. The clue to this is from one of the most standard representatives of Christ and of a Bishop is that of a Shephard who protects his sheep. As Christ himself says:
I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. A hired man, who is not a shepherd and whose sheep are not his own, sees a wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away, and the wolf catches and scatters them. This is because he works for pay and has no concern for the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and I know mine and mine know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I will lay down my life for the sheep.
John 10:11-15
Most good Christians are content to be the sheep. They do their best to follow Christ and take correction when they start to go astray. They enjoy the protection of God. This varies from the avoidance of some of the things that the world throws at them to the ability to cope with what can’t be avoided. (old age, death etc) It is often those things that get us over the hump to where we need to be.
Some Christians however aspire to be more, they aspire to be Sheepdogs, who help the shepherd protect the rest of the flock. They are the ones who eschew the protection that God offers to the sheep and instead take up the sufferings and crosses to help keep the sheep safe. This is what is known as “redemptive suffering”. To use a less ancient example they are the people who ride shotgun and thus risk and endure the bullets and arrows of the world to keep their passengers safe. They also see their own faults more clearly which is why the holiest of people tend to confess more because they see themselves in the light of God’s truth.
Most are not cut out to be sheepdogs, as James says in his letter:
Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you realize that we will be judged more strictly,
James 3:1
Some rise to this occasion and some do not. Those who don’t flee when the world applies pressure. Those are the hired help, that Christ tells of. Those who take position for the sake of position rather than to serve the people of God. James again:
Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show his works by a good life in the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth.
Wisdom of this kind does not come down from above but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every foul practice.
But the wisdom from above is first of all pure, then peaceable, gentle, compliant, full of mercy and good fruits, without inconstancy or insincerity. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace for those who cultivate peace.
James 3:13-18
There is nothing wrong with being content to be shepherded by Christ and those in the church who has been designated for this work. If you aspire to more, that’s fine but be ready to leave the security of the flock and face the fangs of the wolves out to devour it. You will have to endure the world as it is and if you do so at the call of Christ you will achieve greatness. If you do so at the call of power and position you will not. I’ll give Jesus the last word on it:
Which of you wishing to construct a tower does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if there is enough for its completion? Otherwise, after laying the foundation and finding himself unable to finish the work the onlookers should laugh at him and say, ‘This one began to build but did not have the resources to finish.’
Or what king marching into battle would not first sit down and decide whether with ten thousand troops he can successfully oppose another king advancing upon him with twenty thousand troops? But if not, while he is still far away, he will send a delegation to ask for peace terms.
People are finally beginning to pay attention to declining birth rates, since it will send Social Security into a death spiral, and there are plenty of efforts in Congress to provide tax cuts to promote people having more children. These efforts are doomed to fail, because more tax dollars motivates exactly zero people to have more children.
I have five kids at home, and in honor of them today, I’ll give you the top five reasons people don’t have more kids.
Number 5: Our public schools suck
I live in a fairly nice community, and my oldest daughter goes to a high school “academy” which has a specialized track for medicine. You have to apply to get in, so you would think it would be a fairly rigorous education. Sadly, you’d be wrong. There are kids that have failed classes in multiple semesters still hanging out, and just like how not prosecuting criminals brings more crime, not punishing poor performance brings more poor performance.
The older families at our church say “Well just homeschool,” but that is NOT cheap if you use a co-op, online curriculum, or anything other than doing it yourself…which takes a lot of time. Worse still, the child-hating Democrats in my state shot down bills that let homeschoolers participate in sports or get tax credits for expenses, so you get punished socially and financially for choosing homeschool. Worse still, the price of private education has skyrocketed, so if you’re a one-income family with mom or dad at home with lots of kids (like my family is), you better be loaded with money or else it’s a non-starter.
The fact is most large families have to rely on public school, and because they suck so bad, parents spend more time than they did in the past to supervise them, which takes away time from their own activities. You either tolerate loser teachers that don’t understand history, homeschool your kids or pay out the nose for education. Not exactly desirable. And speaking of the time suck…
Number 4: Most after school activities are run by inconsiderate people with no children
My son was in rec league baseball for a while. Good fun, but he would be out at games until 9 pm some nights…on school days, when he’s in middle school. When I was growing up, 9 pm was considered late as a middle schooler. You might be awake at home, but certainly not doing regular activities.
Not anymore. I regularly have kids in activities until 9 or even 11 pm at night! Ballet dance competitions and late night sports are by far the biggest offenders, but it’s everywhere now. These involve driving at night, getting home late, and then (for you as the parent anyway) waking up early to drive the 30-60 minutes to get to work (or more if you live in a big city). Talk about wearing you down! Worse still, half of these places have no pauses for dinner, so if you have a big family with small kids, pray you can pack enough food and that your little ones aren’t tired and cranky.
I particularly hate people that plan meetings or activities over dinner or lunch…pet peeve of mine.
All of this means most of my friends with two kids can manage a grueling rec softball season, but I have to balance five kids desires against my desire to get some sort of sleep. All at the expense of any hobbies I might want. Which brings up the next point…
Number 3: Society constantly tells you to not have kids
Now, I won’t begrudge people their hobbies, just like I don’t begrudge people that make more money than me. Everyone makes choices, and having more kids is a choice. But I’d be a rich man if I had a nickel everytime someone offered me advice along the lines of “You know how birth control works right” ***insert snicker here***.
A more salty friend of mine once, in a group conversation, replied with “I do, and I know your wife does too!”, which was the most alpha-male verbal throat chop I’d seen in a while. But I digress.
It’s already hard enough to find alone time with your spouse as a Catholic who follows the Marquette Method. It sucks having doctors push birth control on you every. single. visit. It’s even more fun to have them tell you that NFP doesn’t work and that you’re stupid for doing it (their words, not mine). And it’s rare to have anyone respond to “I have five living kids” with “Wow, what a beautiful family,” when the more common response is one of disdain. Speaking of disdain…
Number 2: Companies making having kids hard
Car seats used to be thin. Now they are thrones. And you can’t fit three across without making a sacrifice to the car seat goddess. It’s so bad that it is a form of birth control. And before you chime in about “safety ratings,” I looked up the safety ratings of these thrones, and I found the changes between seats to be similar to how professors change chapters in a book to force students to buy new books. The ratings are getting a whole lot better compared to the real estate they consume.
Unless you can explain how adding 5 pounds of side force to an already high rating significantly affects the safety rating, I’m going to always say that car seat manufacturers hate large families. I’ve done the math, it doesn’t add up.
Try eating out now…even McDonalds (which I don’t visit) is expensive. Now multiply it by 7. Try finding a home with enough bedrooms and fighting off investors to buy it, and definitely don’t tell your friends that your kids have to share a bedroom, because you’ll get looked at like some sort of monster. Or try fighting the little old lady HOA President that drives around your neighborhood and issues you tickets for your kids bikes in the front lawn.
Screw that lady…so glad I don’t live in a HOA…
Companies in general appeal to DINKs (Dual Income, No Kids), and if they do appeal to kids, they like you to have two. Anymore and you better be loaded. Which brings me to the last point…
Number 1: Society values work, not your family
If you say “I’m a homemaker” as a woman, you get looked down upon. Even if you manage five kids, which involves feeding them, balancing a checkbook, driving them everywhere, answering school emails and helping out on homework…somehow that isn’t “real work.” But you could sit in an office, drink coffee, chit chat with your office mates, and put in a whole 3 hours of work a day, and that’s “real work.”
Don’t worry though, like the Bobs, work will value you up to the point you are told your services are no longer required!
Face it, we stopped valuing stay-at-home parents a while back. We think they are lesser for picking their family over full-time paid employment.
And that’s the rub right there. When you create a toxic environment for people that have or want large families, you will get smaller families. The societal pressure permeates everything, far more than any financial incentive. Even if you got paid $20,000 a year per child, you’d be called a welfare rat for taking the money. It goes farther than even children, because when the point of getting married isn’t to raise kids, it makes it easy to simply “shack up,” which is why the current marriage rate is less than half that in 1976.
Until our society treats raising kids as a noble goal and worthy of the respect it deserves, we will continue to have declining birth rates among the majority of people that feel societal pressure.
This post represents the views of the author and not those of the Department of Defense, Department of the Navy, or any other government agency.
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