Posts Tagged ‘catholic’

God’s Mysterious Ways and Man Having a Lot to Answer For

Posted: April 27, 2023 by datechguy in baseball, catholic, catholic devotions
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Rabbi: Jesus, please explain why you stopped the reading before Isiah spoke of the day of vengeance of our God, especially during a time of such oppression?

Jesus: The day of vengeance is in the future. I’m not here for vengeance, I’m here for salvation.

The Chosen Physician, Heal Yourself 2022

Yesterday my family and I were at the minor league ball park in Worcester thanks to a 4 pack of tickets my youngest won at work. There was according to weather.com a 20% chance of rain and those numbers came up so we waited 45 minutes for the game to start and very much enjoyed the heat lamps that were all around the covered to warm ourselves up.

By the bottom of the 7th it wasn’t looking well for the home team who couldn’t manage to get the key hit to drive in the tying runs when the chance presented itself so I moved up to where the heat lamps where. Most of them were still had groups of people but one of them near home plate was empty so I parked myself there as I urged the home team to throw strikes while on the mound and have a good eye at the plate.

Within a minute or two I was joined by a tall gentleman about my own age and we started talking about the game, the various players and the online league which I run (posting to come soon) etc which is the type of thing that the pace of baseball allows and is one of the joys of going to any ballpark. His son-in-law had season tickets so he often was able to catch a game and spoke highly of the various season ticket combos offered.

At one point my wife decided to refill her water bottle at the water bottle refill station. Seeing me with the fellow she walked by and made a flirty remark about me and my hat. The fellow grinned as guys do when that happens to a fellow and I explained that the flirting lady was my wife of 35 years. At that point the reason for my presence there became clear.

One of the things I talk about on my “Your Prayer Intentions” radio show and have as part of my regular prayer rotation is an offering to notice the works of God all around us and one of those works is to put people where they need to be.

At this point the man’s face became more serious and a change came over him. He told me two years ago that his wife of 38 years had in his own words “died suddenly”. I didn’t press him on what had happened but as it was near the end of the month I asked if he was catholic to offer his wife a place on our monthly indulgence calendar for me. It turned out he was and eagerly jumped at my offer and so I took her name and will be remembering her there and in next week’s radio show along with him family. When my oldest walked by he too took the name to ad it to his prayer list.

The fellow was very grateful. It was very clear that he misses her terribly and that there is a giant hole in his life from her loss, which his son in law has helped fill with the season tickets and as we were leaving found us again to thank us for our kind words and prayers which he needed desperately and that God had seen fit to put us there at that rainy game so I could be under that sun lamp to be there and offer consolation and prayer. Daily baseball is an excellent tonic and distraction for a soul in pain but sharing that pain when one might not normally do so is even better.

But that’s not all that went through my mind when this was happening.

The age of the gentleman, about my own or maybe a year or two older or younger and the “sudden death” of his longtime spouse immediately suggested the COVID shot to me. It’s a story I’ve read about and seen time and time again online and while I did have a vaccinated in-law die of COVID his many other complications before the outbreak didn’t make his death all that “unexpected”, this was the first person I had met who had experienced such an unexpected loss.

Now in fairness I don’t know if in this case the culprit was the shot as I wasn’t about to interrogate him on the matter but it hits me that there are thousands of people who like him have suddenly lost spouses, children and loved ones “unexpectedly” who CAN trace the problem to the shot and have to live every day with that loss that shouldn’t have happened and frankly didn’t have to.

When I ponder that I think of Biden and Fauci and Trudeau and every petty tyrant in government and in corporate America who made people choose between the jab and their livelihood and/or education and think of how much pain and suffering they have to answer for.

It’s in those moments that a good Catholic has to remember that Christ died for ALL sinners without exception and pray that all those involved in those events take advantage of the mercy that Christ offers while they have the chance because the alternative to Christ mercy for our sins is his justice according to our deeds.

And the clock is ticking.

Six Quick Thoughts on the Upcoming Boston “Satancon” under the Fedora

Posted: April 19, 2023 by datechguy in catholic, catholic devotions, Uncategorized, under the fedora
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This week at mass father mentioned a letter sent by Bishop McMannus of the Worcester Diocese that echoes the letter from Bishop Mark speaking for Cardinal O’Malley of Boston suggesting that the faithful avoid going to Boston to pray in front of the location of the Satan convention but rather go to various shrines and churches to pray all this week.

I tend to agree, given what we see of today’s media we know which side they are serving here so why help the enemy out by playing into their hands.

One of the ironies here is that given the messages going out to all catholic churches in the state the Satan Con (like the black mass they were going to hold at Harvard years ago) is likely going to generate a whole lot more prayer, visits to shrines and devotions than normal over the next ten days. All of this is likely to be very good for souls.

As ever God takes lemons and makes lemonade

Concerning the Cardinal’s and the Bishops request to stay away from Satancon there is one exception I would make if I was Cardinal O’Malley in Boston. I would assign a priest to be in viewing distance of the hotel for all three days with instructions to be available for confession for anyone who attends this event who has a change of heart.

After all that’s the primary goal of all the prayers that will be going on and given the volume of prayer I would think that said priest might find himself busier than expected.

One other admonition that the Cardinal and the Bishop have made is that churches and shrines take extra security to protect the blessed sacrament and make sure that over the next ten days they make sure that people who receive the Eucharist at mass actually consume it as it is the practice of Satanists to attempt to get a consecrated host to defile it.

You might remember from Elizabeth Scalia’s excellent reporting at the time that this was a bid deal during the Black Mass business at Harvard.

It’s also one of the ironies that while most of our protestant brothers do not acknowledge the Eucharist as the body of Christ Satanists know what it is which is why make such an effort to obtain consecrated hosts rather than just buying the unconsecrated ones available at catholic supply stores.

After all there is a reason why they hold a black mass and not a black tent revival or a black meeting or go after protestant bread of remembrance and why they’ll desecrate a Bible but you never hear about them going after a koran..

It’s been suggested that the vast majority of those who are attending don’t actually believe in Satan and are just doing it for a lark. Given how it is sold out I’m not sure I agree but I must confess that what I would really like to see is somebody before the convention spread blessed and/or exorcised salt around the hotel or at least its entrance and then have a webcam film the people going in during the convention.

The ones who don’t react are either guests or people doing it for a lark. The ones who react, they’re the real thing.

But either way if I owned that Hotel I’d ask the archdiocese to have someone come in to bless the building and do what’s called a minor exorcism on the place once this convention is done, because frankly after hosting this thing there is no amount of money that could talk me into going in that place until that’s been done.

Finally I’m rather curious about how the various Protestant, Jewish and or Muslim congregations in the area are reacting to this event. Are they ignoring it? Opposing it? Being proactive about it? Praying about it like we Catholics. Are they even mentioning it to their congregations? I mentioned it to one Pentecostal friend and he had not even heard of it and was completely shocked that it was taking place.

And is TFP planning anything. They were VERY proactive during the Harvard business. Will they turn up in defiance of the Cardinal’s request or join in the prayers?

It’s going to be an interesting ten days.

Divine Mercy Sunday. If you Need Confession Today is the Day for it

Posted: April 16, 2023 by datechguy in catholic, catholic devotions
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Cardinal Lamberto: Would you like, to make your confession?

Michael Corleone: Your Eminence, I’m uh – I’m uh — it’s been so long, I wouldn’t – wouldn’t – wouldn’t know where to uh, it’s been thirty years, I’d – I’d – I’d use up too much of your time, I think.

Cardinal Lamberto: I always have time to save souls.

Michael Corleone: Well, I’m — I’m beyond redemption.

Cardinal Lamberto: [in italian to an approaching priest] Give us a couple of minutes alone please – thanks… [To Michael when the other priest leaves] I hear the confessions of my young priests here. Sometimes the desire to confess is overwhelming. And we must seize the moment.

Michael Corleone: What is the point of confessing if I don’t repent?

Cardinal Lamberto: I hear you are a practical man. What have you got to lose?

In my opinion if you had to name both the most and the least popular sacrament of the Catholic Church the answer would be the same.

Confession.

The Godfather Part 3 1990

There are people who rush to the confessional and go there regularly sometimes multiple times a week. There are others who avoid it like the plague itself. The source of both of these impulses are the same.

Seeing oneself in the light of truth.

To the person who sees himself in the light of truth and accepts that reality. The confessional is a place of cleansing. Like a shower after heavy work. Such a person understands the state of their soul and wishes to be made clean. The irony among such people is it’s my experience that the holier a person is the greater the tendency for confession because like a skilled carpenter who can tell the difference between a beam off 1/32 of an inch and one that is not, a person of deep faith and devotion sees the small imperfections in themselves that others might miss and confess to get themselves completely right with God.

Ironically to those who avoid confession it is many times the same but are in denial. It’s one thing to know in the back of your head who and what you are, but it’s quite another to have that reality brought before God to be acknowledged even in the privacy of the confessional becuase at that moment you have to bear the sight of yourself in the light of truth.

That more than anything else I suspect is what hell is all about, the denial and self loathing of what a person is in the light of truth which is God. It’s why so many choose hell, and believe me it’s a choice because to them the acknowledgement of what they are is beyond what they can bear. I recall a priest telling me a story of a saint who had been allowed to visit heaven asking about a friend who had died. When told the friend was in hell, the saint pleaded with God to the point where God allowed the soul in his presence. Rather than sharing the joy of the saint at deliverance the soul was angry and said to God “Tell this fool that all this brings me is pain.” To the damned the sufferings of hell, horrible as they are, are more bearable than the presence of God and the truth of themselves.

Maybe that is you. Maybe your sins are so great that the very idea of confessing them is abborant, or maybe like Michael Corleone you believe the sins are so great they can’t be forgiven. You have given into despair.

But that need not be for as Christ told St. Faustina:

I desire that the Feast of Mercy be a refuge and shelter for all souls, and especially for poor sinners. On that day the very depths of My tender mercy are open. I pour out a whole ocean of graces upon those souls who approach the fount of My mercy. The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment. On that day all the divine floodgates through which grace flow are opened. Let no soul fear to draw near to Me, even though its sins be as scarlet.”

St. Faustina Diary 699

All over the world in parishes near and far priests are gathering for extra confession, extra masses and extra adoration to help the faithful and the lost take advantages of these mercies offered by Christ so that they may be wiped clear and get on that narrow path that leads to life. Again in the Lord’s words related to St. Faustina:

[Let] the greatest sinners place their trust in My mercy. They have the right before others to trust in the abyss of My mercy. My daughter, write about My mercy towards tormented souls. Souls that make an appeal to My mercy delight Me. To such souls I grant even more graces than they ask. I cannot punish even the greatest sinner if he makes an appeal to My compassion, but on the contrary, I justify him in My unfathomable and inscrutable mercy.

Diary 1146

Those who take advantage of this feast to obtain the mercy of God not only get that mercy, but discover something that so many people don’t realize. That Christ offers this mercy every single day of their lives thorough the sacrament of confession. It’s they’re for the taking if people will only grab it.

Take advantage of this mercy while you can, seize the moment because as Christ warns…

He who refuses to pass through the door of My mercy must pass through the door of My justice 

Diary 1146

Your call.

I Don’t get the Confusion here

Posted: April 13, 2023 by datechguy in Blame Biden Administration, catholic, official oppression
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If you work under the assumption they’re all Marxists it all makes sense

Steve Nott

At Hotair David Strom notes the war against the Catholic Church by this administration :

But even with these caveats, I have to conclude that Biden is, in fact, anti-Catholic in the simplest sense: he is at war with Catholics and the Catholic Church.

The evidence is irrefutable and copious. In just the past 4 days I found 4 stories about Biden Administration attacks on Catholics, and if you go back further than that you can find innumerable more. The FBI has categorized Catholic traditionalists as potential domestic terrorists, placed informants in Catholic organizations, kicked Catholic priests out of Walter Reed, and let a domestic terrorist who attacked a Catholic Church off with a slap on the wrist.

The latest example of course being the slap on the wrist for vandalizing churches:

He closes thus:

The Biden Administration has clearly targeted Catholics and the Catholic Church for what amounts to state suppression. The Catholic faith is being treated as a font of dangerous ideological ideas and a potential breeding ground for domestic terrorists. Further, the Biden Administration has basically declared open season on Catholic institutions, looking the other way as Catholic institutions have been vandalized.

Is it the pro-life doctrines of the Church that so offend?

Is it the hostility to gender ideology that stems from the Catholic Natural Law tradition?

Or is it just that the Church as an institution provides a cultural counterweight to the ideological power of the state?

I really don’t understand, to be honest. But the evidence is clear.

As a Catholic I really don’t see the confusion here because Christ was really explicit about this kind of thing during the Last Supper discourses to his disciples:

“If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own; but because you do not belong to the world, and I have chosen you out of the world, the world hates you. Remember the word I spoke to you, No slave is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. And they will do all these things to you on account of my name,  because they do not know the one who sent me.

John 15:17-21

So when I see this:

And Christ’s word to those opposing him:

“If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and am here; I did not come on my own, but he sent me. Why do you not understand what I am saying? Because you cannot bear to hear my word. You belong to your father the devil and you willingly carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in truth, because there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he speaks in character, because he is a liar and the father of lies.

John 8:42-44

I remember that there are two sides in the eternal battle and that like the Satanists who hold the black mass because they KNOW the Eucharist is the actual body of Christ, this administration knows, the mediocre Francis not withstanding, that the Catholic Church is not on theirs because they willingly carry out their father’s desires.

Mr. Storm might not understand it but I understand all too well.

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