Random Thoughts on the Road

Posted on by charliej373
Fake Gnus
Establishment Media’s New Logo

By Charlie Johnston

Watching tapes of the Democrat debates, I was startled that none of the candidates was asked any questions about the border crisis…or about Israel…or about how candidates’ utopian plans were going to work out differently for the entire country than they have for those cities which have been under Democratic control for several generations – and have become squalid hellholes in the process. Then it dawned on me. This wasn’t a debate; it was an infomercial. All you needed was for Chuck Todd to start proclaiming the virtues of the Popeil Pocket Fisherman and the Amazing Ginsu Knife (“It slices! It dices! It even juliennes!”) and then Rachel Maddow to enthusiastically inform us, “But wait, there’s more!” Ah well, I’m not buying what they’re selling. At least if you buy a Ginsu Knife, it actually does slice and dice.

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California just gets more insane with each legislative session. Now the state has enacted big health care subsidies for illegal aliens while simultaneously enacting a fine for any actual citizen who does not BUY healthcare for himself. Perhaps this is just a sly way to solve the homeless problem. The state starts by fining the homeless in Los Angeles who don’t buy health insurance – then jail them when they can’t pay the fine. Bingo! They’re no longer homeless. Meantime, the commissariat in San Francisco has a big pool of low-paid servants from among the illegal aliens who are exempt from everything but subsidies.

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The art of every era reflects its zeitgeist – both its idealistic hopes and its atavistic fears. A very popular movie and television genre of the last decade or so has been about zombies. I did not get the appeal of this genre until I was driving from Pittsburgh to Charlottesville. Then it dawned on me. Zombies are mindless, malicious drones who attack everything they see and are never satisfied. They can’t be reasoned with, only stopped. Is there any better metaphor for the modern anti-God American left? I still don’t think I will be watching any zombie movies. I get enough of that in the daily news as it is. If I want extra, I’ll watch a Democrat debate.

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Occasionally I get asked about UFO’s. Fr. Dwight Longenecker recently wrote a column on the subject that delighted me, for it nicely reflects my attitude, as well.

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Many holy Priests and Bishops are cowed by the lefties in the pews that are on a hair trigger to shriek in complaint should they dare preach anything orthodox with fidelity. This message is for those clerics.

When counseling people who are in conflict with a seemingly invincible and touchy institution, I always advise them that when such groups get their way by bullying, the raw truth is that that is usually all they have in their arsenal. When you refuse to be bullied, they have nothing left – and often tangle themselves up in their own schemes.

I do not suggest that anyone act deliberately provocative. Don’t put a chip on your shoulder and dare anyone to knock it off. Simply speak fearlessly and with fidelity those basic truths which are fundamental to you. In this case, we are speaking of the fundamentals of the faith. Speak without malice or fear, completely bold but never brash. Listen and respond to any reasoned counter-arguments, but refuse to even countenance any screeching harangues or efforts to bully you.

The “social justice warriors” among us are accustomed to getting their way by merely screeching. Some clerics have become like Pavlov’s dogs: when the screeching begins they retreat to their corner and cower. The anti-God left knows this. So they will keep screeching in expectation of the same results. To speak Christian truth with fidelity, you are going to cue the screechers, at least as long as you reward them by retreating. If you stand your ground matter of factly without malice; if both a Priest and his Bishop refuse to be cowed, after a noisy period of angry screeching, your opponents have nothing. Some will leave, some will write a nasty letter to the editor – but the quiet faithful who are worn out with all the bullying will rally to a Priest and Bishop who lives fidelity under fire.

Every friend or client I have recommended this course to who has adopted it has prevailed (though some only after a few years of enduring the screeching. You have to have some real fortitude, patience and restraint along with boldness). Most have even converted a few of the screechers. Every friend and client I recommended it to who did not adopt it is still cowering. Cowering before bullies does not appease them: it encourages them while simultaneously inflaming their contempt for you.

One of the most common complaints I get from Priests in these times is that even when they try to live candid fidelity, many are undercut by their Bishops – who don’t want any trouble. Trying to avoid any trouble is a sure way to guarantee unending trouble. Bullies learn quickly to avoid those who fight back effectively – and focus on those who cower and retreat.

Speak Christian truth with unshakeable resolve. Do it with malice towards none and charity for all. But do it. The truth will, indeed, set you free.

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I have had an invigorating series of visits throughout the northeastern U.S. I will write about that soon. I’m dipping down to the southeast now. My assistant, Mary Lapchak, is starting to plan out fall visits to the west. Four are already scheduled. Her email address is lapchakma@gmail.com if you would like to make arrangements to host a visit.

244 thoughts on “Random Thoughts on the Road”

  1. If there ever was a time to listen to your Angel, it is now. Also might want to take time out to watch recent One For Israel youtubes.

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    1. May the Lord bless your evangelical efforts (One For Israel is a group seeking to evangelize Jews into Christianity). Yet my angel has told me long ago that, in these times, we are to treat all faithful Christians – Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox – and all faithful Jews as full and equal partners in the work before us; that if we do that with fidelity God, Himself, will see to the unity after the Storm is over. And we are to treat all people of good will as true neighbor regardless of their faith. I respect your calling, but it is not my calling.

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      1. Everybody has their assignment, Charlie. Trudging right along, taking the next right step. Along the way we discover things that we also have to do on the personal level.

        – Had some very nice communications with Orthodox Father John Behr of St. Vladimir’s Seminary on St Irenaeus on St John and how Origen must be understood in the light of Irenaeus. Father John found that when he studied Nicene Christianity, it leads you to Eusebius of Caesara, and then to Origen. The key is not Origen to Clement of Alexndria, but Origen to Irenaeus. No one has ever done that. Father John found all sorts of connections between Origen and Irenaeus. To fully explicate this, Father John is under contract with Oxford to do a new translation and editon of St. Irenaeus’s Adversus Haeresies, all five books. What a project!

        – – Having some generational healing and healing masses said to help heal the wounds/stains that have been inflicted on my family, but also for the healing of those I have hurt. If you love the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and realzie what Jesus suffered to allow us access to the Father, you will happily do such things for all your fellow children of the father, but especially your own family. And, prudentially, better to do this now than pay the torturer the last penny!

        Have a good Fourth and watch out for those giant wasp nests when you get to Alabama!

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        1. I’ve seen tremendous blessings unfold in families when even one member attends our monthly Masses offered for Intergenerational Healing, James. There are conflicting opinions about the efficacy of such Masses. One priest expressed the opinion that sins visiting the third and fourth generations is an Old Testament kind of thing that no longer is of concern since Jesus, the Perfect Sacrifice, is here. However, just look at the patterns of sin which repeat in families unto today. Think of original sin, itself, which effect afflicts every person throughout the ages. And, in the words of the boys watching Mikey try Life Cereal, after you try the Masses for Intergenerational Healing, people will be saying about you: “S/he likes it!” Truly, the anecdotal stories of change and blessings are bountiful and beautiful. In the Masses, the deceased are lifted in prayer. Fr. John Hampsch can tell story after story about the blessed effects these Masses have had on the living.

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          1. Beckita and anyone else who may be interested:
            Fr. Ripperger has a few things to say about sins of a father and how they can make trouble.

            Search YT for ‘generational spirits ripperger’.

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            1. He surely does, Christopher. And he expands the concept to speak of generational spirits influencing parishes, dioceses, regions and more. My initial learning about such spirits came via a Marian Eucharistic conference which Fr. Wang and I attended more than twenty years ago where Fr. Hampsch presented. We came back to Missoula and Fr. W began offering the Masses each First Saturday of the month and we continued reading many priest authors on this topic. I found it affirming of our efforts to hear, several years ago, Fr. Ripperger share about generational from his experiences as an exorcist.

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          2. So neat, Beckita! Where can people find out about these inter generational healing Masses?

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            1. First, Thankful, I would view the YT three part series of videos by Fr. Ripperger on generational healing. Then, if you wish to have a Mass or Masses offered for generational healing in your family, you may find a priest in your area to do so. If not, you can write me at the TNRS Answering Service and request that Fr. Wang offer the Mass(es). He’s always willing.

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          3. Father Hampsch can indeed school critics on this subject, he’s wonderful at explaining and expounding. Many years ago, I attended an all day taping of his talks and a healing Mass and it was inspiring and so educational. As you say, Beckita, one has only to look at the pattern in families to see the truth of the line from Scripture. It is a spititual inheritance, and there is such a void in our Church regarding powerful spiritual information and methods.

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            1. He truly was a pioneer, Annie. Thank God that so many more priests and lay evangelists have come on board to teach about generational healing. We are blessed!

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  2. Great to hear from you, Charlie! Oh how I’ve seen random thought #5 play out, again and again. We, as lay people, need to continue praying for our priests and bishops who do preach Truth, day in and day out, for many times the screeching goes on behind the scenes, undetected by parishioners. Our ongoing prayers and sacrifices are a true sign of hope which well may be equally hidden and oh so needed.

    New priestly assignments began yesterday in my diocese. With a new pastor coming to our parish, I’m quietly calling parishioners to gather a commitment of prayer – Holy Hours, Rosaries, whatever one wishes to offer on an ongoing basis – for our new pastor and for the life of the entire parish.

    Interestingly, Our Lady of Medjugorje gave this message through Mirijana today:
    “Dear children, according to the will of the merciful Father, I have given you, and will still give you, evident signs of my motherly presence. My children, this is a motherly desire for the healing of souls. This is a desire that every child of mine may have true faith, to live to see wondrous experiences, drinking from the spring of the words of my Son-the words of life.

    My children, my Son, by His love and sacrifice, brought the light of faith into the world and showed you the way of faith. Because, my children, faith elevates pain and suffering. True faith makes prayer more sensitive, and does acts of mercy-a conversation, a gift of alms. Those of my children who have faith-true faith-are happy despite everything because they live the beginning of heavenly happiness on earth. Therefore, my children, apostles of my love, I am calling you to give an example of true faith, to bring light where there is darkness, to live my Son.

    My children, as a mother I am telling you: you cannot go on the way of faith and follow my Son without your shepherds. Pray that they may have the strength and the love to lead you. May your prayers always be alongside them. Thank you. ”

    Blessed are the shepherds who have had someone from TNRS praying for them since so many generously responded to do so more than a year ago!

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    3. Beckita, I have been praying this daily since Fr. Heilman shared it earlier this year and feel it is such a great way to support all of our shepherds:Bill

      O Almighty Eternal God, look upon the face of Thy Christ, and for the love of Him who is the Eternal High Priest, have pity on Thy priests. Remember, O most compassionate God, that they are but weak and frail human beings. Stir up in them the grace of their vocation which is in them by the imposition of the bishop’s hands. Keep them close to Thee, lest the Enemy prevail against them, so that they may never do anything in the slightest degree unworthy of their sublime vocation.

      O Jesus, I pray Thee for Thy faithful and fervent priests; for Thy unfaithful and tepid priests; for Thy priests laboring at home or abroad in distant mission fields; for Thy tempted priests; for Thy lonely and desolate priests; for Thy young priests; for Thy aged priests; for Thy sick priests, for Thy dying priests; for the souls of Thy priests in purgatory.

      But above all I commend to Thee the priests dearest to me; the priest who baptized me; the priests who absolved me from my sins; the priests at whose Masses I assisted, and who gave me Thy Body and Blood in Holy Communion; the priests who taught and instructed me, or helped and encouraged me; all the priests to whom I am indebted in any other way, particularly (name here). O Jesus, keep them all close to Thy Heart, and bless them abundantly in time and in eternity. Amen.

      Imprimatur +Robert C. Morlino, Bishop of Madison, 6 September 2018

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    4. Becks, when you have a spare moment and inclination, pplease provede links to an overview of the “why” of the priesthood.

      From my reading of the gospels, I can make a case for it; Jesus, after the resurrection popped in (litteraly! the doors were locked) on the Apostles and those discussions are the foundation of the Catholic priesthood,

      If there is more too it than that, I would like to learn of it.

      In a similar vein, http://www.woodpilereport.com has a link to a story on St. James’ ossuary. The subject of Mary concieving via St. Joseph other children is dismissed as heretical by Anne Barnhardt, yet a given in Protestant doctrine. This is another doctrine wich I would like to be able to explain from both sides .

      Also! God bless you! (:

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      1. Hey Timothy, the Catholic priesthood was instituted by Christ at the Last Supper. I think you’ll really like these links for exploring. The first one takes you to the CATHOLICS COME HOME site. It takes you to a page with a few Q & A’s which are very good. I like the “further exploration” links. Rich, good stuff. Also good is the material at New Advent found here. Interesting history, including the pagan priesthood and the ways God prepared His people for the the precious gift of priesthood as we know it today. God bless you as well!

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      2. Timothy, as I understand the “Jesus brothers” part, there is no word for cousin in the ancient language and the only way to directly translate it is brother. It is through tradition that it is understood that Jesus had no biological brothers. Also, when Jesus was dying on the cross, he gave the care of his mother to John. Jewish tradition holds that the mother would have to have been taken care of by any other siblings (brothers). There is a greater implication when Jesus gave John the care of Mary and that is she became the mother of the church. There is much more that can be said about Mary’s role in salvation history. Here are a few things.

        1. She is the ark of the covenant. At the end of Revelation 11, John said he saw before the throne of God, the ark of the covenant and immediately, chapter 12 starts where he says he saw the woman clothed with the sun with a crown of 12 stars and the moon under her feet who was about to give birth to a male child who will rule the world with an iron scepter (Jesus). First, when the Bibles was written, there was no chapter delineation. So what John saw as the ark and Mary were the same thing. The other implication is this is the first apparition of the Blessed Mother which means the scriptures support her appearing. In Hebrews, it references that the ark contained the stone tablets (word of God), Arron’s staff (great high priest) and some of the Manna (bread of life). So when Mary contained Jesus in the womb, she was literally the ark as she contained the great high priest, word of God and bread of life. There is great beauty in this in that it elevates the dignity of woman when you consider Jesus, who is God, being raised in the womb. Think about how much the sin of abortion is against this dignity. Anyway, the Ark of the covenant in the Old Testament prefigures Mary. The Ark was very sacred as is the Blessed Mother.

        2. Now, what helped me, and Potestants may understand, is a key role of Mary is to intercede for us and point us towards her son. The Gospel of John articulates this well at the wedding feast of Cana. Due to here intercession, Jesus performed his first miracle when he said it is not his time yet. Jesus, being God, did not refuse his mother. Protestants may say that it is only through Jesus that we can get right to God. What do we need Mary for when we can go right to Jesus? This is almost a sin of pride saying we do not need each other. Why do we ask our earthly brothers to pray for us if we can go right to Jesus? James says the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. God told Jobs friends to ask Job to pray for their forgiveness. To not think Mary can intercede for us is ludicrous. It is true that our salvation is wrought only by Jesus. Jesus is human and divine. Adam and Eve’s sin was against an infinite God. The only thing that could expiate this was an infinite sacrafice. Thus, Jesus had to be human and divine As his divinity satisfied the infinite. Although Mary is the most Holy among all humans, she does not hold the divine As a created being. As Catholics, the role of Mary’s intercession cannot be over emphasized. The second piece of Cana which defines what I think is one of her biggest roles is she points us to her son. Her response at Cana echos through all of time “do what he says”. There is much more to be said about the Blessed Mother, but there’s are some key points that are easily seen in scripture. I will let Becks’s talk more about the priesthood. Blessings!

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        1. Meant to say:

          There is much more to be said about the Blessed Mother, but above are some key points that are easily seen in scripture. 

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        2. Beautiful, Doug! You know, to this day, families in both the near East and the far East name their cousins as brothers and sisters in the family. When Fr. Wang visits the family in China, every last one of the grandchildren of his siblings below him call him Grandpa and they call me Grandma, Ye Ye and Nai Nai.

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          1. Thank you Patrick. It was Scott Hahn who came to NH in person and did a talk on this that enlightened me. I have never forgotten it. The Blessed Mother brought me into the church and I was endeared to her before I even theologically understood this. I am astounded at the depth of the Churches understanding and teachings. I came from a protestant back ground and firmly believed in Sola Scriptora. I understand how protestants think about Mary and what tools they will accept. I was never brought up in any church. So I had no bias or preconceived notions of scripture which allowed me to see it for what it is. When I looked into the Catholic church, I reflected its teachings against the Bible. I saw no contradiction. The key for me was when I read about Medjugorje and heard Mary was appearing and it was about bringing folks to her son. Well, that’s what protestants are big on; it is about the son; Jesus. That won me over.
            Anyway, given that protestants will only accept the Bible alone (Sola Scriptora), I find this reference in scripture most efficacious in discussing Mary’s role with them when they are sincerely asking about how and why I can be Catholic. God bless you!

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        4. Thank you, Doug.

          I will study the matter as the Lord leads me. I will be adding your thoughts to my notes.

          I learned a new phrase today “Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi” (exlained here https://infogalactic.com/info/Lex_orandi,_lex_credendi)
          which obliquily gives meat to the question of the priesthood and explains a core difference between you Catholics and the Protestants that I was never aware of.

          It is a rock solid argument; the liturgy predates the Bible.
          E. Michael Jones has a great rebuttal to the Sola Scriptura claim when he demands, “show me where in the Bible it says Sola Scriptura” . This completely destroys the solae as the doctrine cannot justify itself by its own predicates (I may be missing a subtlety that rebuts my conclusion, so my verdict is tentative)

          The core of the matter is that I cannot place any man between me and my Saviour. I have no faith in men (and priests are men), God gave me Himself ( as Christ) and He has been true. The evidences of Sanctification are there, as I grow in my faith, Christ and only Christ is IT. There is no other Way.

          Its a very odd position to find oneself in. I am a Christian looking out on the ecuminics of it all scratching my head wondering just what all you churched types are up to!

          In peace

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          1. Oh goodness yes, Timothy. I’m with you 100% in acknowledging that Christ is IT, the One and Only Lord of All. Every good Catholic shares your belief not to put their faith in mere mortals. But here’s the mindboggling thing… (Not trying to convert you, just sayin’ what’s there in the Scriptures as something to chew on.) Christ chose those twelve men, the Apostles, the first priests He called to continue His work after He ascended. He plucked them from all the disciples who followed Him and gave those twelve special instructions for their special mission (or as one might say, for the office of the priesthood). Like in the first appearance He made to the twelve after His Resurrection (well Judas had jumped ship by then and Thomas was missing that night) and Jesus actually breathed on them. That must have been amazing to see. Pretty extraordinary way of calling down His Holy Spirit. Here’s the whole passage:

            “When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” (John 20:19-23)

            Holy Smokes what a commission! So when I confess, I’m revealing my heart to what looks like an ordinary guy, but I know the priest has been anointed and consecrated in a way so that it is actually Jesus Who is using this man to forgive me… and not because mere men dreamed up this idea, but because Jesus Himself thought it up and set it up to be like this. Same sort of example and instruction came at the Last Supper.

            “When the hour came, he took his place at the table, and the apostles with him. 15 He said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; 16 for I tell you, I will not eat it[c] until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” 17 Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he said, “Take this and divide it among yourselves; 18 for I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” 19 Then he took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And he did the same with the cup after supper, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.” (Luke 22:14-20) So like those first twelve priests that Jesus called and commissioned to “Do this in remembrance of me”, the priests down through the generations, including today, follow Christ’s directives. Thing is, though, even given the awesome office of the priesthood, every priest has a conversion to pursue and must work at growing in holiness with spiritual warfare to be waged for the sake of his own conversion and salvation. I can only conclude that the poor, poor men who betrayed their priestly office and sinned in grievous ways, refusing to repent and make reparation somehow lost the faith.

            Surely hope this didn’t sound like preaching, Timothy. I deeply respect your faith and your journey and your presence with us on this leg of Life’s Journey. God bless you. 🙂

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            2. Hi Becks, please dont apologize for any statements of your faith; your work is very helpful.

              Given those scriptures, I still cannot infer that the administering of the sacraments is delegated solely to a priesthood. Its a good case, and of course I will continue to study the matter.

              Confession is the low hanging fruit here, so I will use it as the example. I confess my sin every day as I discover it. I ask God to dig around in me and root the stuff out by any means. I have direct access , real time accessto my Father via Jesus’ antonement.

              It strikes me as odd thar I should go sit in a confessional when in a very real way, I am always in a confessional.

              Funny side note. I tend to talk verbally to God while I am doing physical work or driving and more than once realized I am talking out loud to God on the shop floor. hoping I am not frightening anyone. Its a very noisy factory where you must wear earplugs. Plus, its the Bibke Belt and we still pray publically here. But uts kind of funny being in intense prayer and not realizing you are speaking out loud . gives me a chuckle every time.

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              1. Thanks for the feedback in your opening line, Timothy. I would never wish to force anything on anyone and I appreciate that you see I’m simply sharing what I understand as a Catholic.

                Confession is, often, a stumbling block for non-Catholics… well, even for some Catholics who may not have a clear understanding. I’m with you, Timothy on always being in a confessional. In the evening, when I think over the gifts of the day and my failings, I express my regret and sorrow to the Lord and I k.n.o.w. His Mercy is there. Often, in the moment of blowing it, such expression rises in my mind and heart. But the thing about confessing to a priest is that no human thought of it. The reason this practice became the work of the priest is because Jesus asked His first priests to do it that way. (As Our Lady said at Cana: “Do whatever He tells you to do.” When I read 2 Kings 5 and see that Elisha the prophet, the man of God, was asked what to do about poor Naaman and his leprosy, Elisha – inspired by God – told Naaman to dip seven times in the pool. Naaman thought this was nothing short of ridiculous and, in essence, balked at God’s idea. When Naaman proceessed his refusal with his servants, he overcame his distaste for the idea and performed what was asked and VOILA! His healing ensued.) There’s evidence that Abba had already directed the priests of the Old Testament to play a intermediary role when His people wanted to offer sacrifices and offerings to repair for the damage done by their sins. Again, not an idea dreamed up by man, but one coming from God whose ways are so far and above any thoughts of which we are capable. Here’s a resource with more Biblical references to the idea of priests and confession.

                Timothy, I love that description about talking aloud to the Lord! Yeah for the Bible Belt where people pray in public!

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                1. Oh and in haste to get to Mass, I left out the greatest awesomeness that comes from confession and all the sacraments: God’s Grace flows in bucket loads. Is it the only way to tap into His Grace? Surely not. He is so generous and kind to us. Still, the Catholic teaching is that Christ set it all up so we could intimately encounter Him in the sacraments.

                  Funny, I’m thinking of Mikey and Life cereal again. I’ve tried this stuff all my life and I like it more and more. 🙂 In addition to embracing the teachings, in my experience of partaking in confession and all the sacraments, I am uplifted in spirit, imbued with Christ’s Peace and armored up to do what He asks me to do… and I am one weak puppy without Him.

                  PS. Timothy, I’d love to be a mouse on the shop floor and listen in. 😉

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                  1. Hi again,

                    one other question if you have the time.

                    Michael Vorbis (who I admire for his obvious Faith in and love of God) in one of his videos referred to the members of the early Church in a passage from Scripture he was citing referred to them as “These Catholics…”

                    This irked me in that nowhere in the New Testament do I see the word ‘Catholic’ .

                    More magisterium line of reasoning on Vorbis part?

                    thx again

                    ok, one more…(:

                    The thief crucified with Jesus is in Heaven per Christ’s own words. He was not baptizes with water.
                    The early verses of Acts show the Apostle loved by Jesus (John, I infer) state that John the Baptist baptized by water but Jesus by the Holy Spirit. It also appears that baptism with water retains a place within the scriptures.

                    It seems clear to me that it is the baptism by Spirit that is the one given to the thief on the cross and that , since there are priests , who by definition must have been baptized by water, in hell*, then it stands to reason that bapism by water, while a biblical good, is not sufficient for salvation.

                    Thank you again.

                    *Source a painting showing a scene from Dante’s inferno that Ann Barnhardt posted on her website.

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                    1. Love the ways you think and probe these things, Timothy. I’m visiting family this weekend and will answer more thoughtfully later. Briefly, though, there’s a ton of terms we humans have developed with the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit to help us communicate about God and His relationship with His people, e.g. you can’t find the word Trinity anywhere in the Bible either.

                      Too, it’s a theological principle that whenever One Person is the Trinity is at work, all Three are there, the Three in One. For example, the Father is the Creator and Jesus and the Holy Spirit were there. (Later I could pull a few scripture regencies on this topic. Too hard to do on the phone.) So, at Baptism all Three are there. I know the Holy Spirit came down upon and I know my soul changed in an order incredible way, infused with graces untold to become a disciple of Christ on a mission to draw others to Him as well. And I am certain the our Father said at my baptism: This Is My beloved daughter in whom I am well pleased.

                      Pure gift! I did n.o.t.h.i.n.g. to earn this. I’ll just spend this life and eternity loving Him, thanking Him and trying to do whatever He asks of me.

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                    2. Catholic and Christian were synonymous for over a thousand years after the founding. Catholic merely comes from the Greek word, “katholikos,” meaning universal. It was used to describe Christians because it was open to all, neither restricted by geography or ethnicity. It was the only such faith in history at that point, so “universal” was a clear tag.

                      Actual Catholic Doctrine notes three forms of Baptism: 1) the ordinary form that all are familiar with, 2) the Baptism of martyrdom – dying for the faith (that does not apply to the “good thief”) and 3) the Baptism of Desire – the sincere desire for God before death and after which no other form of Baptism is available in time (this DOES apply to the ‘good thief.”)

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                    3. To me, this leads to an irony in the Catholic teaching that is a gift of God’s Mercy. I understand that the church teaches that salvation comes only through the Catholic Church. On the surface, that seams like a very arrogant statement. First, it is the Catholic church that has always taught that the door of Salvation has opened via the expiation of sin due from the sacrafice of Jesus on the cross. The irony is in the teaching on the baptism of desire which, in effect, opens the faith up to all men of good will who recognize God and repent. I love the good thief on the cross! Oh how God’s mercy just shines through!

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                    4. I think of baptism of water as a sort of consummation of the faith. Of course, it always starts with desire. So does marriage. Two agree to be married, but the consummation does not take place until after the wedding vows. In Acts, Peter saw that the Holy Spirit was given to Cornelius. Peter stated “what is there to hold back from baptizing him?” Baptism by water is an important element of the faith that cannot be ignored as per the scriptures and early church teaching. Yesterday’s readings were apropos. It was the story of Jaccob stealing the blessing from Esau. Even though Jaccob stole the blessing that was rightfully Esau’s, when Isaac imposed it, it was binding which shows the authority of the position. This scripture in many respects alludes to the authority of the Apostolic tradition and the binding of the priesthood. It is a great mystery.

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                  1. Your style is great counsel for us all, Timothy: pray and study. And in these topics of study I pray that Christ will give us His Light and His Mind. We are, after all, seeking Him in these things. He never disappoints in the ways He answers such a prayer. The brightest bulb on the planet still has but a glimpse of what God is doing in His awesome wonders. Most of it is mystery unfolding as we keep His Commands and seek Him… and in this, we grow more deeply in love with Love Himself and a joy that knows no end permeates our lives.

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          2. Hi Timothy,The interesting thing about the scriptures is they were not codified until around 350 AD (give or take as I forget the actual date).  It is through the Magistarium of the Catholic church that brought this forth.  Thus is the importance of the Magistarium as the guardian of the faith.  It, however, does not mean there have not been bad actors (Judas was the first bad actor) along the way, but the dogma has been promised to be protected as said by Christ, himself.  Anyway, the Bible cannot exist without the Magistarium if you logically think about it. What authority on earth has legitimate power to declare the scriptures the inerrant word of God?  Without this authority, who determines what writings are in and which ones are out?  For example, Paul had other writings that did not make it in.  Why?  It was not the Apostles that determined official scripture even though many were authors.In the Gospel, the scripture that shows the beginning of Apostolic succession and tradition is first when Jesus said to Peter, “you are Rock and on this Rock, I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it”.  This establishes Peter as the head of the church.  Another scripture I think is less understood is when Jesus was talking with the Pharasees.  He said in Matthew 21:43 “therefore the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who produces the fruits of the kingdom”.  With this, Jesus officially stripped the Magistarium from the Mosaic tradition and passed it to what exists as the Holy Catholic Church.  Lastly, the strongest verse that supports the church is when Jesus said the following to Peter in Matthew 16:19 “I will give you the keys to heaven and what you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven”.  Giving the keys is a very important distinction and symbolism in Jewish tradition. It is this that allows Peter to ordain priests as well as allow for the sacrament of reconciliation and many other things established in the church.  In short, it gave Peter earthly authority of which, because of this authority, can use it to pass the authority along to the next generation.  Hence, Apostolic tradition.  I think one of the greatest of this succession is the gift of ordination of the priesthood that yields an indelible mark on the soul of the person that gives him the authority to “command” that ordinary wine and bread are transformed into the body and blood of our Lord Jesus.  This is a mystery that is hard for many to understand, but the scripture in John Chapter 6 explains it well as Jesus says his flesh is real food and his blood is real drink.  Jesus gave no explanation that this was symbolic and let folks walk away without apology as this was rejected by many.Scott Han one who went from being protestant to Catholic as he researched the writings of the early church fathers post Apsotle erra.  A study of this history makes clear of the traditions if the Catholic church as they still exist today.  Many a men have converted to the Catholic faith as they have endeavored to dig deep into its history and learn the truth that still exists today.  This is why the evil one works over time to destroy and discredit the Catholic faith.I hope this helps some more to understand where the Catholic priesthood comes from on a pire scriptural level.  God bless you Timothy!DougSent from Doug’s mobile

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            2. Hi Doug,

              That line of logic demolishes the Sola Scriptura . Thank you for it.

              As a personal step, I must be able to ecplain the basis for the Solae better than most proponents before I can claim I know the subject well enough to teach it. However, as a layman’s discussion I am in the camp that the Catholics have the better claim

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              1. 2 Thessalonians 2:15 & 3:6 speak to church tradition.  Practical examples are how Paul deferred to Peter as head of the Church in the Acts of the Apostles.  From a historical perspective, I recently read a good book called “The Fisherman’s Tomb” about the excavation of the catacombs under the Vatican during the 1940s and 1950s.  Peter’s tomb was discovered and as such, if one wants to, the scipture can be taken literally “You are Peter (rock) and on this Rock, I will build my church”.  Sent from Doug’s mobile

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            3. Doug

              Thank you.

              I am at my workstation going through the replies here and adding them to my notes for follow up and categorizing them.

              Your wonderful reply made 3 (count em) 3 categories:
              1. Transubstantiation
              2. The Authority of St. Peter
              3. Lex Orandi Lex Credendi

              You mentioned in a previous comment how a study of the early church is critical and I will be doing that first. JAMES IGNATIUS MCAULEY provides some direction, that I will be adding to my notes as I scroll down.

              God bless.

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              1. James IM gave some great detail and references of which I am amazed. I feel like I have barely scratched the surface of the Catholic faith. The more I study, the more amazed I become. Glad you are here.

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        5. “Now, what helped me, and Potestants may understand, is a key role of Mary is to intercede for us and point us towards her son. The Gospel of John articulates this well at the wedding feast of Cana. Due to here intercession, Jesus performed his first miracle when he said it is not his time yet. Jesus, being God, did not refuse his mother”

          that is a beautiful insight. thank you

          The Protestant line of thought that equates Mary with Samiramis must be an object of disgust for you.

          Goodness gracious, what a mess.

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          1. Amen to “what a mess,” Timothy. Our Lady, in Medjugorje, once said it is man who made the divisions in the Church, not God. We humans surely do know how to make messes. Rather than disgust, I feel sad that Our Lady’s role is simply misunderstood. She’s such a powerhouse of assistance and, as you say, she ever points us to her Son. Best part of this mess: God is already at work in drawing us into unity. I love the plentitude of stories about Jesus appearing to Muslims.

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          2. Renewed our wedding vows in Cana. Interesting thing about Cana. Mary not only pointed “us’ to her son Jesus … “Do what he tells you to do” …. but she also pointed her son Jesus to us … “They have no wine”.

            That last bit should blow your mind about Mary. She is the most powerful advocate you and I have.

            It’s as if you were attending a great party with tons of people milling around and there was Mary standing with Jesus across the room having a nice conversation with Him and others when she spots you standing there in the corner all by yourself. She grabs her Son by the elbow and says “Come with me I want you to meet this guy in the corner…. and be his friend.”

            Mary is the Great Introducer. “Timothy, this is my Son Jesus. Jesus this is Timothy. I want you two to be friends.”

            It’s what a mother does.

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            1. So true Ed. It never ceases to amaze me how deep the theological implications are in that one segment of scripture with regards to the wedding feast at Cana. You so eloquently bring out some things I have never given thought to.

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          3. Hi Timothy, I have never heard of Samiramis.  Could you explain?  But anyway, as Catholics, Mary is ever gently pointing us to her son and those of us that find him are her children as articulated in Revelation, Chapter 12.  I also believe Revelation, chapter 12 best describes the times we are living today as there is a war taking place between good and evil (the dragon and her, Mary’s, offspring).  Thanks.Sent from Doug’s mobile

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            1. Hi Doug,

              If you search youtube for “The Fuel Project” he has a series “know your enemy”. Within that series is where I got the information. (many years ago. I am not endorsing the views held there)

              IIRC Samiramis was Nimrod’s wife, later pagan goddesses where types of her. It is “common”? protestant thinking that Roman Carholicism and Mary are continuations of what they name ‘Mystery Babylon’.

              grace and peace

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              1. Boy, that is a stretch to make that connection.  A simple understanding of Catholic teaching would dispell that.  Sent from Doug’s mobile

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                1. There is a deep hatred there.
                  I do not understand the origins of it.

                  The Fuel Project is pretty standard fare on the protestant side.

                  Dicken’s “Tale of Two Cities” where they (the French Catholics) cut the tongue out of a man who did not pay enough reverence horrified me.

                  There is much history there, that is never taught in American public schools (fancy that, ban prayer, end education, end thought, reduce our heritage(s) to propaganda props…its almost like Christendom is under concerted and planned attack by those who hate Christ)

                  For example, go to any town square, and most times you will see an Obelisk. ‘research’ the origin of the form, and I get the heck out of dodge any time I encounter one.

                  Anyhoo….first things, original sources, build from there…

                  God bless.

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                  1. Hi Timothy, It does astound me. I chock it up as ignorance. This may be more related to unbelievers, but I think the piece Charlie wrote after this where the demons erupted like lava from a volcano is accurate. The satan is being allowed to have free reign in these times, but at the same time, I think we have brought this upon ourselves. I have had direct influence by the demonic a long time ago and it makes my hair stand up. I had to be delivered and when I was delivered, it was a stark contrast. I endeaver to stay away from anything that smokes of the demonic or occult. I try to keep my eyes focused on Christ.

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      3. Timothy,

        I am a little late jumping in here, but in regards to St. James as the brother of our Lord, we must keep in mind:

        1.) There is no “dogmatic” answer
        AND
        2.) The mind of the church actually has TWO (2) answers.

        The older one is called the Ephiphanian and states that St Joseph was a widower and had a prior marriage. Two of the three sons from the prior marriage were St James and St. Jude. This was articulated by St Ephinanius of Salamis, but is attested by Origen in his Commentary on Matthew. It roots are in the Infancy Gospel of James. This is the position of the Eastern Churches today.

        The “newer” position is the Hieronymian from St. Jerome that decalred the prior view, witj his usual uncharitable invective, to be pious fairy tales fits for babblers and children. Out of whole cloth, Jerome declated that St. Joseph was a virgin and never married and that the brothers and sisters of Jesus were actually cousins, based on his study of the Hebrew langauge. This is the general position of the Roman Church.

        An excellent, but exhaustive breakdown of the two positions is found in orthodox Father Laurent Cleenewerk’s Book Aiparthenos – Ever Virgin? The book also contains the infancy Gospel of James.

        I will also address your comments on the priesthood and confession. But, a general note: The reformation began as a scholastic dispute (95 theses, for an academic disputation). The Reformers when they found that the Fathers of the Church generally backed the position of the Pope, would then fall back with the allegation it is not find in scripture. All too often, Roman Catholic apologists fall into this trap and let the parameters be solely scripture and then the bounds of scripture be what the Reformers defined as Scripture. In the East, this is not the case. Tradition, the Fathers, and the more expansive list of Scripture are used and I repeatedly see that when Protestants try to set the boundaries of debate with the Orthodox, the Orthodox refuse to agree to these limits.

        You could read the six books on priesthood by St. John Chrysostom, but to go back further, it is clear that when reading the epistles of Ignatius of Antioch and the Adversus Haeresies of St Irenaeus that there is a priesthood. Irenaeus’s book Three in the Ancient Christian Writers Series is probably the best for you.

        Confession is well attested to among the Desert Fathers of the 4th and 5th century. Monks are always running to an elder (priest) to confess. Origen also makes references to what can only reasonalby construed as “Confession.”

        The form of confession as we know it has changed but the substance has not. An anaology is the mass. We know that the early Christians had:
        (a) the agape or love feast, a time of a communal meal of fellowship;
        (b) the Eucharist on Sundays and catechumens could not attend; and
        (c) the synaxis, usually on Wednesdays, a time where there were scriptural reading in front of the Bishop and then a catechetical homily that explained this. Catechumens could attend this.

        The Agape lasted longer than people realize, and survived in the get togethers monks and nuns held every Sunday afternoon, after morning mass together. In most parish Churches, they faded away as impractical in late antiquity, and survive today as parish dinners. Protestant “fellowship gatherings” are a form of this, when you think about it. Catholic/Orthodox parish dinners are much older thatn we realize and I have found references to them back to the middle ages. They are essentially the Agape transformed to meet changing times.

        We know that the synaxis and the eucharist were combined at some after the death or Origen and before the time of Basil the Great. That is why the Byzantine Rite and the EF mass have the so called mass of the catechumens and mass of the faithful. The monks kept the synaxis going into the Fifth century and maybe longer, but it was eventually joined to the Eucharist.

        The problem of looking for proof texts, as most apologists do (and in that sense it is a form of simplified scholasticism, whether done by Catholics or Protestants), is that our faith is not a series of proof texts and quotes have to be seen in context, belief (understanding) and tradition.

        So, communion in the hand. When that, at the instigation of the late Cardinal Bernardin was illicitely pushed in the late 1970s and early 1980s, they cited a quote from Cyril of Jerusalem. The quote (proof text) was correct, but the context and understanding was not. It failed to take into account the context and understanding of Cyril, to wit, the role of the subdeacon, who held a houseling cloth (cloth napkin) so that when the deacon gave the communicant the body of Our Lord, no crumbs were lost, as well as the acolyte who stood by with a lit candle. Nor did those who put the practice (of communion in the hand) remember the concept of the Ecclesial hierarchy, and how it reflects the angelic hierarchy, as discussed by Pseudo-Dionysius. Cyril never would have tolerated “eucharistic ministers.”

        Ok, long enough. Sorry for rambling!

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        2. James,

          Too short!

          thank you very, very much for your detailed answers and the rambling is part of the fun of it.
          That the form has changed really makes things real and brings peace to the discussion and discovery.

          I love the idea (and practice, as perhaps that is what the Teacher is putting me through) of the catechumen . In flight instructor terms, it is not to your students benefit that you let him or her fly solo until they have demonstrated competency in the craft, Perhaps that was the wisdom of the catechumen.

          Interestingly, the early Magisterium in the practice of the Agape and Eucharist demonstrates that the Transsubstantiation discussion is better supported in the Catholic tradition in that the text of the Last Supper could legitimately read as the Bread and Wine being metaphors for the Body and Blood of Christ, however, accepting as principle that those closest in time to the original practice have the better take on it (is this really true? legitimaly debatable) then Transubstantiation is the better interpretation.
          Fun fact, I have been denied a protestant communion because I was too surfer dude-ish about the metaphore ;

          ‘that our faith is not a series of proof texts and quotes have to be seen in context, belief (understanding) and tradition.”

          I go further than this. Imho the “ideas” are the map, not the territory (In the late Jerry Pournelles phrasing) and yet once we accept God’s invitation to the faith, an invitation that God tailors to His beloved created beings, the ‘proof texts, quotes, understanding and traditions’ fall into place–with the usual peant butter and coffee stains we humans are prone to leaving on everything we touch.

          Again, thank you so much. It is a privilege to learn from my bettors.

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          1. Tim,

            I would not use the term “metaphors” to try and describe the real presence. Let me explain.

            Transubstantiation is a scholastic approach to define, in earthly terms, how the bread and wine offered become the body and blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It is an excellent articulation of this mystery. The problem is that scholasticism it is limited by its very methodology and sometimes cannot come to grips with/adequately describe/explain certain heavenly mysteries.

            Scholasticism was developed in its earliest form in late antiquity by the Church Father Leontius of Byzantium, in his approach to deal with Christological issues. What we now understand as “scholasticism” was its medieval development

            Another approach is the older patristic approach of mystagogy. Father Stelyios Muksuris, a Greek Orthodox priest who teaches at the Byzantine Catholic Seminary in Pittsburgh states that “Liturgical mystagogy intends to raise the spiritual consciousness of the worshipper, from a trivial vision of the ritual acts conducted in the church to a deeper understanding of the meaning behind those acts . . . It attempts to convey the invisible divine presence through the visible human act.”

            Growing up, I heavily depended on the scholastic approach for until about 12 years ago. when, by the grace of God, I discovered the mystagogical approach, which I find to be much more satisfying. I think you would, too. The one western Father who wrote about the mass in its mystagogical sense was St. Ambrose.

            An interesting point to note that for the majority of the fathers, the Eucharistic species was understood literally – not allegorically, symbolically, metaphorically, etc., etc. but literally. When the translation of Origen’s homily two on Psalm 73 (Septuagint) by Joseph Trigg is published (hopefully next year), you will see that Origen understood the Eucharist to be the literal Body and Blood of Our Lord. We also see this in Cyril of Alexandria’s Commentary on John. I could go on and on, citing fathers, but you see my point.

            This next statement is an over simplification, but, as a generalized statement, the Alexandrian Patristic approach is to see things spiritually and the Antiochan was to see things Christologically, and the two approaches were combined in Constantinople.

            If you want a good patristic approach to Catechesis, find Cyril of Jerusalem’s ProtoCatechesis and Catechetical Lectures in Catholic University of America Press’s Fathers of the Church Series ##61 and 64. The second volume will also contain the Mystagogical Lectures, which are now ascribed to be the work of John of Jerusalem, the contemporary of many fathers and mothers, including Augustine, Jerome, Rufinus, Melania the Roman, and Orosius. A worthy investment, but then there is a confusing commentary by the translator, which, approaches the mystagogical work scholastically and thus confuses the point! Father McCauley’s (no relative), mistake is akin to using the methodology of the legal profession to explain a medical issue that would be best explained by using the methodology of the medical profession. In other words, you can use the scholastic methodology to explain the eucharist, but do not use scholasticism to explain a mystagogical explanation of the eucharist! It shows that the late Father McCauley never really understood mystagogy, but let us not be too hard on him – like most pre-Vatican II Roman Catholic priests he was trained in the scholastic method.

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            1. Dear James

              “Transubstantiation is a scholastic approach to define, in earthly terms, how the bread and wine offered become the body and blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It is an excellent articulation of this mystery. The problem is that scholasticism it is limited by its very methodology and sometimes cannot come to grips with/adequately describe/explain certain heavenly mysteries”

              We see this conundrum all the time in computer programming terms, the absolutely critical skill of being able to change one’s thought processes from one idiom to another. i.e C (algol) to SQL to Smalltalk to LISP ….

              While I do not know, I strongly suspect that Mathematics has its same “jumps” between “filters”.
              Actually, I have read this recently; “We deduce, the Greeks see”

              Ergo, it makes perfect sense that the Lord would expect us to make the same “jumps” between “filters”

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        3. James . . . I do not see education, edification and enlightenment as “rambling”. I commend you for taking the time to put all of this into a synopsis for us. Well done. God bless you

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    1. I’d be scared to be in a locked room with rachel😲 Forgive me Lord. But she seems really angry a lot….Let’s all say a Pmt for her invoking Charlies angel😇

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      1. Ha ha Linda, there really is a lot of anger on the left. Because of this I decided to take a more active role in the Church Militant. I even bought a pair of camo pants last night. 😉

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  5. I ❤️ The fake Gnus!!

    It is so wonderful to read truth! It brings hope!

    Are we in the eye of the storm, Charlie?
    I have never been known for fortitude. Sometimes I feel like I am holding on to a cliff and my fingers are slipping and I keep looking down. 😳

    Thank you for your short takes!

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  6. So much this!

    “…but the quiet faithful who are worn out with all the bullying will rally to a Priest and Bishop who lives fidelity under fire.

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  7. Thank you for the “Fake Gnus” a wonderful pun to start the morning, and get the gears going.

    I watched the video from Charlie’s visit to Iowa. Well worth the watch. Fr. Longnecker’s take on UFOs also very interesting. A different take than I had read before.

    God’s blessings for continued safe travel, Charlie.

    And prayers for our priests and bishops. May they have courage, strength, and perseverance in these times. May they inspire us, and may we inspire them. God help us to be faithful, as was St. Thomas More, our parish patron of our re-opened parish in Paradise.

    Thank you God, for all of our graces, blessings, and gifts!

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  8. I was left a bit confused with the thrust of Fr. Longenecker’s column. Was his point to say that UFO’s exist because, in their longing for the supernatural, people want them to?

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    1. To discuss UFOs is to enter a rather nebulous realm, Justin. Rather than a definitive conclusion, I read Fr. Longenecker proposing possibilities. The salient passages in his piece are these:
      The question “Are UFOs Real?” therefore takes us into another question, “What is Reality?” Harpur’s book proposes the existence of what might be termed an intermediate reality between the invisible realm and the totally material realm. This reality is linked with our shared human consciousness, and from time to time we perceive these “realities” as semi physical manifestations. They certainly look and seem real to us, but they are not real in the same way other physical things are real. Furthermore, they do not have an existential reality apart from our human consciousness.

      And:
      Another way to put this is that these things come from the realm of the collective unconscious. They come from the same realm that our dreams originate. You could say they are “figments of our imagination” except that phrase has too many negative connotations… as if it is only in the mind. They are not “only in the mind” because they are more than that. Something might be captured on camera. A footprint might remain. There could be scorch marks on the earth where the UFO landed. The person may have wounds on the body where the alien operated on them.

      However, what you will not do is capture an abominable snowman or an alien. You will never recover a UFO from a crash sight or shoot one down. You will not catch the Loch Ness Monster or put a ghost in a bottle. They’re real, but they’re not real like that.

      Harpur is also very interesting when he speaks about modes of perception. Many of the paranormal phenomena are very similar, but we perceive them according to our cultural context and preconceptions.

      And:
      Is all of this demonic rather than just daimonic? I think it is within this realm that the demons operate, but they are bigger and older than this intermediate realm of the daimonic. They can come through that door if you like, but they don’t live there.

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      1. This on “Unholy Communion” about folks who were freed from so called “alien abductions” by calling on Jesus and the implication being that at least some of these are demonic:
        (I removed the link, Bob, because it’d be a long video to vet. Here are search words so those who wish to view it can: “Unholy Communion: The Fourth Kind Unveiled – Joseph Jordan and Guy Malone”)
        On the other side I have an in law who was fishing one night in southern Missouri with a friend and they both saw what they called a UFO flashing throught the sky above them, with great speed, making no sound, and he is an engineer and had no explanation for this. But as this reappeared several times they both were unnerved enought that they stopped fishing. He has told this story to his wife and close friends for years.

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        1. After posting it I wondered if it was a bit too long. Briefly they,Joseph Jordan and Guy Malone make the claim in their book which I have read “Unholy Communion” that folks who have claimed often early morning so called “Alien abduction” in which they feel oppressed and powerless to move or to avoid them are likely a form of demonic oppression and calling on Jesus has been shown to help. the theory is that demons who in earlier ages could take the form of ghosts, fairies, deceased relatives, etc. in these ages of a more “scientific bent” the demons can impersonate so called aliens to be more enticing to this present age. They also point our how many of these folks hold occult views on things like ESP, the aliens having “superior knowledge” etc. which put them in dangerous territories.

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      3. Fr. George W. Rutler posted a piece on May 30 of this year titled “Science and the Ascension of Christ”. Here are the last few paragraphs.
        Fr. George W. Rutler published a piece in his Crisis Magazine titled “Science and the Ascension of Christ”. The entire post is available to read in his website. Here are the last few paragraphs as they relate to the discussion here about the supernatural.

        This applies to the enigmatic “Shekinah,” the Presence of God, in the form of the cloud —“anan”—that accompanied the wandering Jews (Exodus 13:21) and appeared on Sinai (Exodus 24:16) and on Tabor (Matt. 17:5). Finally, the cloud—“nephele”—was seen at the Ascension (Acts 1:9). While this cloud could have been perceived by human senses, it was beyond physical analysis. Here meteorology yields to another dimension for which there is no human definition other than acknowledgement of its existence. The Christian response moves beyond analysis to rejoicing. When Saint Paul spoke of a man who had experienced a “Third Heaven” he could say no more than that (2 Cor. 12:2).

        In the three accounts of the cloud at the Transfiguration, the apostles were “terrified,” not at the brightness of the inexplicable light that shone from Christ, but at the way the light had the quality of darkness “when they entered the cloud.” This was something from another dimension, a luminous darkness that Saint John of the Cross experienced as a “dark night of the soul” and which previously St. Gregory of Nyssa struggled to express in words. Dionysius the Areopagite managed to say: “Those who would see God must pass beyond the limits of creation, into a state which is beyond human knowledge and light and speech, and must therefore, from the point of view of created beings, be called one of ignorance, darkness, and silence.”

        I knew a woman who, while Christmas caroling as a schoolchild, sang “Silent Night” outside Einstein’s house at 112 Mercer Street in Princeton. The professor appeared on the porch with his violin and, while not singing the words, played the music. This scene might be an arresting illustration of Father Jaki’s application of Godel’s incompleteness theorem to various attempts at formulating a “Theory of Everything.”

        In a sermon of the year 388, Gregory of Nyssa first referred to a special Feast of the Ascension to celebrate the mysterious cloud predicted by the Psalmist. This was on the Fortieth Day; we lose the significance of time meeting eternity—“kronos” encountering “kairos”—when the feast is moved to the next Sunday for the convenience of hasty urban commuters and suburban shoppers.

        At the Ascension, “two men clothed in white” asked: “Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky?” (Acts 1:11) What had been seen could not be comprehended by looking up, but it might have been apprehended by looking within, so they returned to the Temple. Saint Paul drew on his own cosmology when he invoked the poem “Phaenomena” to show the deficiencies in the pantheism of its author Aratus, a Stoic, whose notion of an impersonal “life force” would be congenial to lax thinkers today (Acts 17:28). But having once been blinded by God’s luminous presence, he proclaimed to those more inclined to consider what they know and what they do not know: “The Lord himself … will come down from heaven, and the dead who live in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore, comfort one another with these words” (1 Thess. 4:17-18).

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          1. Yes Beckita, I especially LOVE to watch Fr. Rutler and listen to him in his presentations. Those “hidden” realms are fascinating to ponder with the helpful guidance of people such as Fr. Rutler and Fr. Spitzer.

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    2. Justin,
      My take on Fr. Longenecker’s column is rather that the supernatural is real and can have actual physical impact or manifestation in this reality. After all Our Lady created the image on the tilma of St. Juan Diego and Our Lord has physically changed hosts at Mass into His Flesh (cf. Lanciano, et al.). Thus angels (good or bad) can also physically manifest. For an interesting treatment of all this you might want to watch the movie “Ghost” with Patrick Swayze. For Hollywood, it did a pretty good job of talking about how human spirits can hang around sometimes and cause things in this reality.
      PAX, Matthew

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      1. Matthew I too read the link to Fr. Longenecker’s column. Your take is quite similar to my own on this subject.

        Seems to me it is past time for the Church to buck people up on the topic of “The Nature of Reality”. “What is Reality?” What a great question.

        ” ,,,,, the existence of what might be termed an intermediate reality between the invisible realm and the totally material realm. This reality is linked with our shared human consciousness, and from time to time we perceive these “realities” as semi physical manifestations. They certainly look and seem real to us, but they are not real in the same way other physical things are real. Furthermore, they do not have an existential reality apart from our human consciousness …..

        ……. You could say they are “figments of our imagination” except that phrase has too many negative connotations…as if it is only in the mind. They are not “only in the mind” because they are more than that…..

        ……. Something might be captured on camera. A footprint might remain. There could be scorch marks on the earth where the UFO landed. The person may have wounds on the body where the alien operated on them….

        …….. However, what you will not do is capture an abominable snowman or an alien. You will never recover a UFO from a crash sight or shoot one down. You will not catch the Loch Ness Monster or put a ghost in a bottle. They’re real, but they’re not real like that….

        ………… stunts that are impossible according to known technology and physics …. ”

        We have elevated Science of known technology and physics to the status of Religion. If one of the functions of Religion is to help man understand and deal with the reality of the supernatural then Science is really out of its depth trying to play in that league.

        Science is near sighted. It focuses on the results of the The Five Senses: 1. Sight 2. Touch 3. Smell 4. Taste 5. Hearing. Through the pursuit and practice of the Religion of the Scientific Method.

        “The scientific method is an empirical method of acquiring knowledge that has characterized the development of science since at least the 17th century. It involves careful observation, applying rigorous skepticism about what is observed, given that cognitive assumptions can distort how one interprets the observation. It involves formulating hypotheses, via induction, based on such observations; experimental and measurement-based testing of deductions drawn from the hypotheses; and refinement (or elimination) of the hypotheses based on the experimental findings. These are principles of the scientific method, as distinguished from a definitive series of steps applicable to all scientific enterprises.”

        Science has constructed a box for itself. A box that limits the field of inquiry at the risk of derision by presbyters of orthodox science or even excommunication if a scientist happens to be too curious about what lies outside the box. Nothing but superstitious nonsense lies outside the box. See that famous Scientist Karl Marx and his buddy scientist Friederich Engels.

        The problem for Science? What it will not do is capture an abominable snowman or an alien. It will never recover a UFO from a crash sight or shoot one down. It will not catch the Loch Ness Monster or put a ghost in a bottle. It will not read the mind of an Angel. It will not measure, test or digitalize God.
        They’re real, but they’re not real like that….

        My take, Matthew, is that Reality is a much bigger field than the Natural Science Box and its scientific method can measure, test, replicate or allow itself to even hypothesize. Science needs more research money, more data, better instruments, and more fellowships to tackle the supernatural and always will.

        They don’t call it supernatural for nothing.

        “What also interests me about this discussion is that people are clearly fascinated with this “other realm” but in our materialistic, secular age they neglect the very thing by which humanity has confronted this other realm, interacted with it and learned how to deal with our interface with that realm. It’s called religion.

        Religion used to be about just this: the interaction between gods and men. It was about the supernatural and the rites and rituals of religion were concerned with our interaction with that realm.

        However, from the beginning of the twentieth century Christianity turned its back on such things. The modernists decided that all that supernatural stuff was superstitious. We lived in a modern age where people don’t believe in such things. So they turned religion into moral, therapeutic Deism. It became a way to make the world a better place and be nicer people. They cut off the wings of angels and turned them into social workers.”

        From the beginning of the twentieth century …. from the dawn of Marxist Scientific Materialism … modernists decided that all that supernatural stuff was superstitious.

        As Fr Heilman might put it …. we’ve lost the sense of the supernatural.

        Since the beginning of the twentieth century. They cut off the wings of angels and turned them into social workers. Ain’t that the truth?

        Perhaps the path to renewal lies through the Church reasserting the answer to the question “What is Reality” in a bolder less apologetic response to the bullyism of Science and political philosophies masking as science.

        “Yes, Virginia, there really are angels and a God who loves you.”

        Unless and until the Church musters enough energy to stoutly defend the supernatural in the face of the Storm, the world, including ourselves and our children and our country, will have Hell to pay.

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        1. Oh I think there are many voices in the Church who beautifully defend the supernatural. While we rightly decry those voices who do not teach and promote the supernatural, let us also proclaim, defend and promote the voices who uphold Christ’s Teaching with vigor. I propose the same attitude concerning the beautiful gift of understanding God’s creation via science. Interestingly, I see that God Himself is allowing science to prove certain realities about the supernatural in order to draw this faithless generation to fall on their knees and pray the prayer the Angel of Fatima taught to us via the three little shepherd children: My God, I believe, I adore, I hope, and I love You. I ask pardon for all those who do not believe in You, do not adore You, do not hope in You, and do not love You.

          On You Tube there are videos posted in which renowned scientist and former atheist, Dr. Ricardo Castañón, shares the results of his research conducted in scientific labs wherein the supernatural manifests in tests and studies showing that God IS alive. Totally amazing findings discovered by Dr. Castañón! I came to know Ricardo due to his work with the Vatican in investigating alleged seers and apparitions. He is a remarkable man doing remarkable work. Here’s on search phrase: Milagro Eucaristico Buenos Aires Argentina

          Fr. Robert Spitzer SJ is another amazing mouthpiece of Truth who weds religion and science, faith and reason, to proclaim the wonders of the supernatural in the ordinary elements of life and death.

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          1. Dr. Spitzer is my guy when it comes to faith and science. I have switched from referring to “supernatural” terminology to “transcendent” terminology. I like the term transcendent as it scientifically alludes to the reality beyond our understanding. Jesus is transcendent. I have also heard about folks with near death experiences describe the transcendent as more real than what we see in our physical world. To me, it is a beautiful term that has power to evangelize those of an atheistic persuasion.

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            2. I love Fr. Spitzer Doug. I often find myself struggling to keep up with his intellectual streams.

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      2. I was momentarily puzzled as to why CJ briefly broached the UFO subject, but he said quite clearly that it was in response to occasionally getting asked about it. I had also previously read Fr. Dwight’s take on the matter. B nails it quite nicely, as a “nebulous realm” of discussion. I’m also reminded of her sometimes response of “both/and” on certain matters.

        Ancient astronaut theorists often point to the Ezekiel’s vision of the Merkabah as evidence of an alien UFO encounter, but I find that to be a perfect example of men treating the supernatural as something ultra mundane.

        As with all things, the safe approach to such matters is to rest firmly on the Heart of God, wherein we find the unfathomable, fiercely protective Love –– to excess –– Who created all things. What Love! I only add the thought that He is not a limited Creator.

        That men of different times relate supernatural encounters to familiar themes is certainly plausible (e.g. – wee folk and advanced alien spacecraft), but that doesn’t necessarily hold water as the sole explanation. What are perceived as alien spacecraft in these times have been recorded throughout history for millenia, consistently, and across many cultures. From personal experience, I can relate one curious, maybe humorous instance from my youth, having awoke one night to find a wee man standing at the foot of Brother Gideon’s bed. I saw this quite clearly, and wanting to throw some light on it I turned to flick on the lamp on our nightstand. When I turned, wee man jumped onto the floor and ran under my bed. And that was that.

        “Look, crazy MP says he saw a leprechaun.” No, I’m not saying that. I only mention it because I’m obviously not some sheep herding Gael from the Emerald Isle. My people were indeed Gael’s way back, but not sheep herders for the most part. They were seafaring folk. Fisherman.

        Which brings me back to this current mess of why we’re losing so much traction with the Gospel in these times. Why are our brethren going down so many false paths, pursuing so many things that are, if not deceptively evil, are at least pitifully mundane?

        T.N.R.S. That ain’t just a clever byline. And ALL HANDS ON DECK!!

        For my part, I plan to continue what my people have done. I’m going to fish… better to say entice folks with the only mysterious light they need encounter, His Light! Sure, I’m armed with references aplenty (contemporary references… some would even bemoan them as “pop culture”). Maybe so, but easy stuff people can understand. Yes to fishing, sheep, etc…. but also zombies if needs be. Only thing I wince at is realizing that I have to share His Light from the perspective of my woefully inadequate self… not so much in words, but in deeds. Oh, we don’t need to think in terms of epic deeds, as Jesus has not only already given each of us our true measure, but He has assured us of the immense value of the wee act of sharing a cup of water.

        Further challenging, is that I find myself wanting to wade into the deep parts of the current morass of confusion where His Light is most desperately needed. This would be a truly fearful thing, but my buddy Phil assures me that he’s willing to share a spare set of his deep waders. I’ll stop just short of trying one of his hats, though, as mine fits me perfectly.

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        1. A golden thought to carry any weary traveler through the Storm: “As with all things, the safe approach to such matters is to rest firmly on the Heart of God, wherein we find the unfathomable, fiercely protective Love –– to excess –– Who created all things.”

          And if you need a good bit of laughter, just remember: “Look, crazy MP says he saw a leprechaun.” 🙂

          And this one, MP: Further challenging, is that I find myself wanting to wade into the deep parts of the current morass of confusion where His Light is most desperately needed. This is exactly what Jesus does!!! He is attracted to our weaknesses and not at all fearful of wading into the deepest parts of any morass through us, with us and in us. I heard a talk by Fr. John Riccardo wherein he tells of a story associated with the Rublev icon of the Holy Trinity. As the Father, Son and Holy Spirit were discussing the abysmal state of humanity after the original Fall, they conversed about the details of saving us. Fr. John said Jesus didn’t just drag his feet about the matter, rather, Jesus expressed with intensity His burning, gripping desire to come to earth and save us. He was filled with angst for each one of us at the pitiful mess we had brought upon ourselves. I believe He has angst to the max for us in these days. Oh yes, how L.O.V.E.D. are we! “Where sin abounds grace abounds all the more,” says Paul in Romans. And so it does. And so He is pouring out an abundance of grace! As CJ has repeated and we, too, can confidently echo: “Aslan is on the move.”

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          1. Maybe one of my favorite movie scenes of all time: the tin foil hat scene in “Signs.” Not everyone’s genre, but an example of great storytelling with simplicity and a truly unique style that is heads and tails above Hollywood’s usual mindless fare. I like the fact that the majority of that movie was filmed at a farm house with a cornfield backdrop. No wild chase scenes, no CGI, no lavish sets… just the conditions and gripping tone necessary for one to focus on that family of characters and their story without distraction (the lead, of which, is a pastor struggling to find his faith again… spoiler alert: he does). There are a lot of talented folks who attempt the same but fall short because they really don’t have something worthy to say, and/or just get in the way of the treatment of it. M. Night Shyamalan is a master storyteller IMO, though his subject matter could best be described in the vein of contemporary supernatural. Makes me wonder what he could accomplish if he shifted his focus to The Gospel.

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            2. Well, I got the tin hat thing from you MP.  You mentioned it and Lambzie and I watched the movie.  I like the tin hat scene.  It made me realize that I could protect my brain from EMP with simple house hold items.  You never know when that will come in handy.  Aliens are supernatural.  Well, probably the demonic in disguise.  Jesus is transcendent; true reality, but a mystery beyond general comprehension.  I like a good mystery.Sent from Doug’s mobile

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              1. For some reason we have an unusual amount of Reynolds Wrap around here. Hm. Maybe we’re just not baking much lately.

                I appreciate the fact that you state your position simply and absolutely, but we’ll have to agree to disagree. Maybe I’ll just chalk mine up to a healthy imagination (which is nothing compared to God’s) and the fact that I don’t spook easily (i.e. – that I don’t imagine phantasms around every corner). Not to say that you lack imagination or spook easily.

                Probably the most thought provoking element from “Signs” is that each family member had an idiosyncrasy that appeared to be shortcoming. In the end, we discover that those same ‘shortcoming’s we’re the very things they needed to defeat the enemy.

                Isn’t that just like God to get ‘er done that way?

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                1. …typos and “bings” notwithstanding. Why is it that your system undermines your spelling, and mine attacks my punctuation? Would it help if we wrapped our computer devices in tin foil?

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                2. Hmmm. I think I rambled and lost track. I noticed I listed number 1, but not number 2 or even number 3. What was My position? I’m not sure. Guess I was expounding on supernatural versus transcendent. I have to use transcendent because I love that word. It is too much of the engineer in me coming out. I reckon it’s like a modern day St. Thomas. Transcendent just fits for me. Also, there have been times I ask God for a sign and it seems I get pointed back to the scripture where St. Thomas doubted and put his finger in Jesus side. After, Jesus said “you believe because you see. Blessed are those who do not see, yet believe.” Sigh. Ok. Lord I believe. As side note, can you imagine sticking your finger in Jesus side? What was that like? Maybe wrapping it in tin foil would have helped.

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                    1. In keeping with the vein of random thoughts (and questions), being healed up is an interesting thought. Scar tissue in the wounds? I imagine if there is scar tissue, it may be from those who have spent their lives sinning and then have repented and converted. Sin is healed, but there is always a scar as a reminder. Now those who have not converted may be continually opening the wounds? Must add the salve of repentance and gauze of conversion. Yeah. Tin foil sounds harsh.

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  9. Good gnus, God’s in Charge! I second the motion on the previous comments – this too (storm) shall pass. One of the things I enjoy about Charlie’s blog is the verbal gems — theres always a new word or two that sends me to google to look it up. Today’s word is “atavistic”. Now I can say that my ancestry is “atavistic” instead of highly neanderthal.

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  10. Interesting, but I have to say that I don’t pay the slightest amount of attention to what Democrats (i.e. – the Left) are saying, much less take the time to watch a ‘debate.’ What exactly are they debating? Who gets the prize for being the biggest nitwit?

    I’ve thought for the longest time that the more real, faithful Priests in these times, the quicker we get through this mess. Mighty important to support and pray for our shepherds as much as possible.

    One piece of practical advice as we make our way through the zombie apocalypse: dress appropriately. I get so put off by the way people dress ’round here, what with the flip flops, skimpy tees and shorts. How do they plan on functioning in an emergency? Of course they’ll be the first ones eaten.

    Ever see the survivors in those zombie shows? Solid boots (preferably steel toed), jeans, multi-layers including long sleeves, maybe a good hat. Bandanas (and shumags) are a bonus. I also like a solid piece of hickory. Had to run down to get an oil and lube earlier and crossed paths with a crew from the Forest Service. That’s what I’m talking about, and the fact that their standard work dress fits the bill is another bonus. Put on the armor of God! It’s an instant Fortitude magnet.

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      1. I dunno. MP’s hat seems a little bit contrived since the original one he wore (out) on last gravitar looked like it belonged to a guy that has seen many a treck.

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        1. This is the white straw summer Stetson my ‘ole granddad left me. Thought I’d try it on for summer, one-time-only. The other worn one is my go-to for the zombie apocalypse. What’s the standard headgear for turtle herders these days?

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          1. I’m a man of many hats there MP. I’m not sure which one I will wear to the Zombie Apocalypse but I physically wear a baseball cap when I play ball, a fishing hat that has the longer bill and a rear flap for when I fish or trap turtles, a short- billed camo hat I buy at the military surplus store for archery season (the shorter bill stays out of the way when drawing the bowstring up to my face), a similar hat with ear flaps for early gun season before it gets real cold and a parka type hat that is fur lined for those really cold mornings I wear on top of a hand crocheted beanie cap.
            For the music scene I have a Stetson, another home made beanie, an flat Ivy cap and a baseball cap I wear to gigs.
            As far as metaphysical hats, I’ve made out that list before- got me the Rennisance Man position in Mayberry 2000 something. I’ll have to make sure they don’t get blown off while riding around in Doug’s red wagon.

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            1. A renaissance man, eh. Then you’ll no doubt come prepared for the little red wagon tour. Doug and I are going with the Apollo mission version pictured below because we’re a bit sentimental for those days.

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              2. I have about a dozen baseball caps. My favorite is what I call my “Moose Hat”. It has an orange, gold moose embroidered on it and it says Kancumacus on it. The Kancumacus is a road that passes through the heart of the White Mountains of NH. The hat is also a favorite of my grand daughter who endears me as grandpa moose. When I was a youngin, I was not partial to hats, but since I now have a helicopter landing pad on top of my head, I need to cover it up in the sun. Anyway, when the red wagon train travels the Universe, I think I will be wearing my moose hat inside my Apollo suite. However, given that when we travel the Universe, I will most likely be in a transcendent state. So I think I will leave the Apollo suite behind and just where the moose hat along with my white garment. I can where a white garment because there will be no need to grease the wheels along the way. I wonder go Job traveled the Universe when he was shown all the wonders of creation?

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                  1. Whoops again! No bongs. Although someone might think I am smoking one with what I write. I don’t smoke bongs and have no desire to smoke one. Anyway, got a few souls out due to my handy dandy trusty auto correct. Blessings!

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                3. Yes, you’re right of course, as our spirits will be soaring then, unencumbered by such trivial considerations as Apollo space helmets and the Kancumacus Moose cap. So too, the imagery of us in the back seat, hanging heads out the window, mouths agape, with tongues flapping in the breeze. And for that matter, what does it mean for us to rest our heads on the Sacred Heart of Jesus? Or to be so bold as The Little Flower, crawling up into the Father’s lap with great trust? None of that seems to literally apply, but I like the imagery because it makes mysterious truths simply accessible to all. And very real nonetheless!

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            2. Phillip Frank, after reading your list of hats, I’m thinking perhaps you and Imelda Marcos might get together and compare notes. I heard she ended up with 3,000 pairs of shoes. 😀

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              1. Shoes, hmm….
                Of course I have cleats for playing ball.
                For tile work I have steel-toed and regular work shoes and black loafers for when I drive clients for the EMS service. For turtle collecting I have wading shoes, hip waders and chest waders. For hunting I have neoprene knee high, wading and thermal insulated boots. For music I have a few different colored lightweight running shoes for drumming, some Oxfords and a nice pair of cowboy boots for ritzier shows (I slip on the runners when behind my kit, I could play drums with cowboy boots on but I just can’t get the same feel with that hard heal as the with my running shoes).
                For going out I have some nice leather shoes and a few sneakers.
                I bet even with 3K shoes Imelda doesn’t own one single pair like any of mine!

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              2. Hah! SteveBC. Nearly spit my milk on the PF/ Imelda Marcos hat/shoes similarity. I was thinking the same thing in a different way. I was thinking of my own front hall coat closet and the overhead shelf for hats and gloves and scarves and such. We all have one somewhere don’t we?

                I have a few hats. Mostly baseball caps of one sort or another. Freebies. I have a couple of Irish tweed walking caps which I rarely wear. For the beach, I have a couple of wide brimmed trekker hats. For the cold, I have a cotton watch cap that pulls down over my ears. I even have one of my dad’s old fedoras in there. Too small to wear but I keep it. Think of him every time I am hunting through that closet for something.

                I’m thinking PF must have an extra large front hall closet. Jumbo size. To accommodate all those marvelous hats.

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              3. PF and STEd, you’ve got me laughing. I had no idea we had such a crew of clothes horses in our midst! 😀

                I have a pair of sneakers, a pair of Bean boots for work, and a pair of flip-flops. Oh, and a pair of nice shoes for high society. I feel totally outclassed.

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                    2. “Like”.  I’m up in the cabin with Lamzie.  No internet.  So the like will go out the next time my email connects.  😎Sent from Doug’s mobile

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                    3. Have fun in the cabin, Doug and Lambzie. I’m in Denver with two grandsons, 4 and 2, playing and singing and reading and story-telling our hearts out!

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                2. Don’t feel bad, Steve—I pretty much wear boots in the winter and flip flops in the summer. I do have a couple pair of heels, but they aren’t on my feet very often at all.

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    3. I have yet to watch or even been tempted to watch any zombie or living dead movies. Such unreality seems to me to be such a waste of time. I can’t begin to believe that anyone has taken them seriously as I have read some teens do, (not intended to refer to anyone here. Just sharing my own strong beliefs.) I have no idea of what the references mean. Sorry to be a wet blanket. I have enough trying to deal with the unpleasant realities we already are forced to deal with. May God bless and guide all here. JAS

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      1. JAS,
        Actually there is a Catholic prophecy about a “zombie apocalypse” called the Three Days of Darkness. It has been mentioned here a few times but I believe there are other references to the dead walking the earth, even happened on Easter morning!
        The Three Days of Darkness mentions that the earth will turn inside out and all the inhabitants of hell will walk the earth and those who are “goats” will be taken and only the faithful “sheep” will remain. This prophecy may well be where the Zombie Apocalypse got its start from.
        Most Catholic ideas and ideals have been hijacked by the enemy who “ape” God to reduce the reality of God’s power to myths and humanisms (Then from his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river, to overtake the woman and sweep her away with the torrent. (Rev 12:15). Not sure about the churches stance on the 3 Days prophecy but there it is…

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        1. PF I tried to respond earlier in the five minutes I had before I needed to leave for the 9 AM mass, a little over an hour ago. It didn’t seem tp post in the usual manner and I don’t see it listed as awaiting so I will try again It is precisely this “hijacking” that I am seeking to avoid, I have never seen a reference to the “three days of darkness’ that describes anything akin to the “zombie apocalypse” as I see defined by references and small clypses that I have been exposed to. Yes, the three days of darkness does refer to demons loosed upon the earth to test and torment us but this bears little resemblance to any zombie apocalypse as I understand it. It seems to me that teens who no longer believe in God are left with searching for a higher power and are too willing to accept any mythological creations instead. These are indeed troubling times and we must strive to keep focused on reality and the Holy Spirit’s guidance. JAS

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          1. It’s just a metaphor, JAS, and I appreciate the glimpse I’ve gotten of your gentle, faithful soul. To be fair though, the metaphor was originally put forth up thread by none other than CJ himself, comparing them to the mindless left. And wasn’t Jesus sort of in that same vein in Luke 9:60? Sorry, but as is my wont with most such references I run with it… because any honest conversation is an opportunity to edify and build up… even if we’re not always that deft at it.

            Heck, this part here ought to be easy, folks. It’s out there with the rest of the 7.6+ billion people, many of whom don’t appear to know the difference between their left and right hands… and some ravenously coming at us to boot! Maybe I just should have left it at “put on the armor of God.” That, and no flip-flops.

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            1. Yea, metaphorically zombies come in all shapes and affiliations.
              Just about anyone caught up in mass hysteria can transform into a zombie-like state of mindless murderous madness complete with apocalyptic consequences straight out of the book of Revelation. All one has to do is a little historical reading during just about any time period about some revolution or another to find them or read/watch something on the internet on current events.
              I recently watched the movie A Man For All Seasons with Charlton Heston. The parallels between what happened then to what is happening now are stark. The decent into madness exhibited by most of the prelates and people and from his family and friends (out of grief and hardship/fear in the end) showed how much the enemy when set loose fully on a nation can create dissent. St Moore and St Fisher choose eternal life over expediency and even adulation if they had just signed the pledge. The strength of fidelity to the King over the treasonous fidelity to an “invisible” God depicted by many of the characters is reminiscent of how today the Left see christian values by those on the Right as old fashioned, unpatriotic or even as a form of dangerous mental illness!
              So pick your zombie folks.
              They’re apparently back and here to stay.

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        2. PF As far as the Church’s position on the Three Days of Darkness, I doubt that you will ever see any official pronouncement about that. I think those type of prophesies are meant less to tell you when such will occur as to help you to discern and be prepared for it when it does, how best to benefit from it. As far as the three days of darkness is concerned, I think it is prudent to have blessed candles ready, be ready to pray the rosary during the duration, cover your windows and stay indoors and do not be tempted to go outside if you think your loved ones are calling out to you. In order to be aware, I would encourage all to find the best description of the three days of darkness or a composite of it they can. Even if you’re not a boy scout, it is best to be prepared. May God bless and guide all here. JAS

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  11. PS – to clarify the situation in Crazyfornia – the homeless don’t need to pay for healthcare because very low income people get MediCal. This is administered by each county. We also have a variety of special taxes that are supposed to go to mental health care and other services for homeless and indigent people. Some counties are good at spending this money others (like mine) let hundreds of millions pile up in a bank account but don’t use it on the people it was intended to help. I was born and raised here and have seen the state go from protestants Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan to these so called Catholics – governor Gavin Newsom and speaker Pelosi. Everyone is all in a lather now about a new law (i think you wrote about it) that would make it a crime if priests did not break the seal of confession and reveal anyone who confesses child abuse – as if an actual abuser would go to confession after this law passed. I’m sure (wink wink) that McCarrick and his ilk made regular confessions about their debauchery. If the bill passes it will be an interesting Supreme Court case. If things go badly, it will effectively kill the constitution – as its fundamental principles of religious freedom will make the 1788 document void IMO

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  12. Love this message, Charlie. You’re tellin’ it like it really is out there. My husband had a medical appt. this past week with a former congressman (lefty) who is now a doctor. When Trump was first elected, this former congressman said Trump would be impeached/kicked out/ done in, within six months. This past week the former congressman said he wasn’t even going to watch the Dem. Debates… as the possible candidates were all making him sick! Quite a turn-around I’d say.

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  13. Charlie– I don’t know much about zombies, but your description certainly does sound like the American left!

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  14. Regarding priests speaking truth with love— I’ve been told by several priests that they have to be careful what the say in homilies. If they make the folks mad, the money will dry up. This seems to contradict what our faith teaches us. Do God’s Will– then don’t worry. He’ll take care of the rest. To be afraid to lose money…it makes my head blow up. Be a man– don’t be afraid of consequences for correctly teaching your flock.

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    1. I appreciate that, Kim. But, having run a lot of big political operations, I am also used to people telling others to be “brave” in something that those doing the telling will face no consequences – and all too often seen those same tellers run like scalded dogs when it was time for them to be brave in something in which they WOULD face consequences. Once I watched an interest group which specialized in telling others to be brave get tangled in a public controversy. They panicked and were scrambling (which privately amused me). The head asked me to step in and quietly help them manage the controversy. I agreed on two conditions: 1) we would discuss options privately, but when I made the decision, all must do exactly as I say with no loose shooting off of their mouths and 2) never again charge one of my candidates with “cowardice” before privately discussing the matter at hand with the candidate and me first. We solved their problem and they kept their word.

      Prudence is an undervalued virtue – and it is undervalued largely because many cowards mislabel their cowardice as “prudence.” You should always consider and be prepared for consequences, but when it comes to fundamentals – whether in politics or faith – it is never prudence to compromise a fundamental. That is both a matter of principle and of practicality. Practically speaking, to do so only enrages the genuine faithful while the screechers still hate you…they are just quiet until their next opportunity to screech.

      A friend of mine was head of Catholic Social Services for a Diocese in Illinois. He was both completely orthodox and a political conservative. When Illinois pulled adoption services from Catholic Social Services because they would not place children with same-sex couples, many board members who had been mouthy leftists on everything else were shocked. They thought they had bought themselves an exemption (a political indulgence, if you will). My friend smiled ruefully at the board meeting and told them, “I always knew they weren’t just coming for me; they were coming for you, too, as soon as it was convenient for them.” You can make a deal with the devil, but the devil never lives up to his end – and he enjoys sticking it to you when you thought he was on your team.

      On the other hand, I have known two Priests who were absolute marvels in living and preaching orthodoxy while maintaining full support of their flocks. One was Fr. Ernie Pizzamiglio, who was Pastor at Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish in Galesburg when I briefly lived there. He was a blunt, no-nonsense Priest who wore his heart on his sleeve. Amazingly, his love for his parishioners was so transparently obvious that all loved him even when he was rebuking them. The very few that thought to complain about him found their fellow parishioners united against them – not him. Another Priest who is currently active has such a diplomatic touch that it is hard for dissidents to get any traction against him. His bubbly enthusiasm for the Gospels just seems to carry him through the trials without him having to trim his sails.

      So it seems to me that the first order of business is to live fidelity boldly to Scripture and the Magisterium. But second to it is to spend time thinking how to present it in a manner best calculated to bring people along to this truth. It is a vanity to be thoughtlessly provocative and then blame your sloppiness (when you could have done it effectively) on bravery. Above all, do it with love.

      Liked by 12 people

      2. Charlie,

        I could not thank you via reply in your previous comment on the use of “catholic’, I could only like your response due to the software not showing a “reply” button.

        This is it.

        (:

        Liked by 1 person

  15. Perhaps this comment is a little late, but the discussion about “anger” has been on my mind for days.
    I found this as I was looking for something else (of course). I apologize if this has already been presented, but it helped me get through a difficult patch: blog.adw.org/2014/04/how-long-o-lord-a-meditation-on-the-role-of-anger-in-prayer/
    It is by Msgr. Charles Pope. The last comment by John R is a truly inspired one.

    Liked by 6 people

    1. THANK YOU! Joyfulhope20!

      Your article was perfectly timed for me! And some people in my life who are struggling with anger. I have sent your link to two people and I know it will make a difference in their lives as it will mine.

      Thank you!!

      Liked by 5 people

      1. Little one, you are so welcome. I am so happy that you were inspired to forward it to others. May it spread like ripples in a pond 🙂 Msgr. Pope has been a spiritual lifesaver to me.

        Liked by 4 people

  16. I know one priest whose homilies did indeed cause many people to leave his parish, and depleted the parish coffers as a consequence. But this priest was not so much “brave,” or “orthodox,” as he was inarticulate, unskilled, and deliberately provocative. There are two kinds of homilies that are very easy to deliver–a milquetoast homily, and a scathing homily–because neither requires much preparation, prayer, or thought. What’s difficult to deliver is a doctrinally sound homily on a controversial topic that accurately details the challenge of authentic discipleship. Whenever a priest can do this effectively, the only people who grow angry are those who were deliberately closed to deeper discipleship (this could be for any number of reasons). But there aren’t enough of those people in the pews to hurt a parish’s collection total. Such people are vocal, but they are also few. Most people (the majority, by far) are grateful for orthodoxy, and clarity. Our Church needs homilists who cut away sin and error as though they were wielding a surgeon’s scalpel. Any brute can heave a sledgehammer. 🙂

    Liked by 11 people

    2. Sort of cool… Our permanent deacon, soon to be priest is Peter Grodi aka Marcus Grodi’s son from ewtn…I run into him a lot. Adoration…let me tell ya’ll. ..he delivers a powerful homily. He’s going to be a great great priest.

      Liked by 7 people

      1. Linda, how awesome to hear about Marcus Grodi’s son. I watched him on EWTN years ago, when I could get it on our sat. dish. So many wonderful programs! What a blessing for a family to produce a priest!

        Liked by 2 people

    3. Love it, Victura. I learned in childhood that some men are more dangerous with a Bible in their hands than with a gun. I was silent on religion for over a decade, my constant prayer being that I not speak until what I said would be helpful rather than hurtful.

      Liked by 7 people

  17. New word of the day for me-“daimonic”-the unrest that exists in us all which forces us into the unknown, leading to self-destruction and/or self-discovery.
    Thanks for the link, Charlie.
    I love Fr Dwight….

    P.S. As one of the fortunate few in Jackson, I thank you for the lovely visit. It always astounds me how Providence arranges things. I found out about the meet up by seeing Mick and Charlie at that morning’s mass, at a church I dont regularly attend. Add to that the photo on the free calendar from my propane company. Note the date of Charlie’s visit which I added after the fact when I recorded the birth on that same day of my 15th grandchild, John Edward.
    https://photos.app.goo.gl/XSCJzjXohheRM8wC7

    Liked by 9 people

    1. Hi, Mary, and welcome back to commenting! I am so glad that we ran into each other that Sunday at Mass; as soon as I saw you walk into the sanctuary, I knew it was Providential that you were there on that day. I’m really glad that you were able to make it to Charlie’s talk. And I really enjoyed meeting your grandson at Mass (not the baby, ha!). I still can’t get over all that gorgeous red hair! 🙂

      Liked by 2 people

  18. I’M VERY INTERESTED IN HAVING INTER-GENERATIONAL healing Masses said but I don’t think it’s widely done in this archdiocese (New Orleans.) Do you know if there’s an online site for this?

    Liked by 4 people

      2. B, hope you don’t mind, I sent you an email also re same matter. 🙂
        Appreciate James and you bringing this important subject to the forefront.

        Liked by 3 people

      3. Beckita,

        Through Michael Brown of Spirit Daily, I learned of Father Jose Maniyangat who specializes in this and other healing masses n Florida: frmaniyangathealingministry.com I sent him the stipend for my masses.

        When I first learned about healing masses about 15 years ago, I was confused, but what I read by Father John Hampsch, as you mention above, convinced me. Why? Becaue I had to do was look at my own family and the oral history passed down our sept. The same probems kept repeating themselves, but getting worse. Every family has their own dirty laundry and sometimes God has to use the Precious Blood as the stain remover, as well as the antiseptic to heal the wounds.

        Liked by 6 people

        1. Yes, James. Absolutely. The Precious Blood. A dear and holy priest in our diocese told me about abother priest who has written, Healing You and Your Family Tree – A Contemplative Approach to Personal and Generational Healing. I have the book and have yet to crack it open but I am very interested in how Fr. Onuoha addresses healing via contemplation.

          I should add that I have been listening again to Fr. Ripperger’s three part series on this topic. (Thankjs for the reminder, Chris!) In various talks on other topics, Fr. R has repeated the wise exhortation of turning to Our Lady of Sorrows for assistance. He is of the belief that we should be able to discern what root spirit(s) is at work in our families… to particularly work at getting it(them) booted out of the family. Many sins may be committed as a form of self-medicating as someone struggles with the affliction of the root sin.

          Oh yes. We all have a lineage of saints and sinners. How fitting for us to discuss these things during this month dedicated to the Precious Blood of Jesus.

          Liked by 4 people

    2. I would think you could find such a thing in my birthplace of New Orleans. That is where the beautiful Magnificat movement was founded. I’m sure those ladies could help you.

      Liked by 1 person

  19. HaHahaha Charlie, Michael just asked me, “Why do they always have this walking dead zombie stuff on…so sick of it!” Lol..I said, “Hold on…Charlie just adressed it in his last piece!” 😆

    Liked by 2 people

    1. OK. Personal confession time. I believe I might be the number one fan of The Walking Dead and its spinoff, Fear the Walking Dead. Except for stabbing and cutting up already dead people it is quite the morality play. How the human being and his psyche deals with the unfathomable and translates it to daily survival is beautifully done. All are heroes some of the time but none can sustain it all the time. Spiral up or spiral down? Tune in next time to see who fails and falls and who succeeds and heartens. My once secret guilty pleasure now lay open to slings and arrows of outrageous comments. Uh-oh.

      Liked by 3 people

      1. Ha, St. Joan! I am a huge fan of Stephen King’s work. I think he is the greatest American author of the last 50 years. (His work, while superficially usually touching on the paranormal, usually constitutes very deep psychological meditations on identity, good versus evil, what the good is. I don’t know that I would want to have dinner with the man, but I love most of his work). So I’ll take a few slings and arrows with you 😉

        Liked by 3 people

  20. Celebrating Independence Day
    https://mailchi.mp/thomasmore/celebrating-independence-day

    https://providencefoundation.com/3223-2/

    John Adams Wanted Independence Day Celebrated With ‘Devotion to God…Pomp and Parade…Guns, Bells, Bonfires’
    https://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/cnsnewscom-staff/john-adams-wanted-independence-day-celebrated-devotion-godpomp-and

    America: Talked Out of Liberty
    https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2019/06/america_talked_out_of_liberty.html

    America and the Narrow Road – As we prepare to celebrate our nation’s birth.
    https://stream.org/hold-broken-hearts/

    LIVING IN AN AGE OF HATE [UPDATED]
    https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2019/06/living-in-an-age-of-hate.php

    Brent Bozell: CNN Wildly Exaggerates the ‘Explosion’ of Hate
    https://www.cnsnews.com/commentary/l-brent-bozell-iii/cnn-wildly-exaggerates-explosion-hate

    GOD SAVE ALL HERE ….. & HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!!

    Liked by 12 people

    1. Hi, CrewDog! I was just thinking about you this morning and wondering how you were doing and when we’d see you again. Thanks for the links, and Happy Independence Day! 🙂

      Liked by 2 people

    5. Crew Dog,
      Michael just invested in this cute little ’92 Ford Mustang convertable, he’s always wanted. The owner has ur tazmanian devil profile pic at the drivers side and the passenger…at first I was quite taken aback to getting into his new toy (investment ) with the devil at my feet until I realized it was crew dogs por file pic….hahahaha…now it’s a sign of hope for me and great reminder of my friend here at TNRS ASOH…God save all here!!! Here’s to Crew Dog🤗😇😘

      Liked by 1 person

  22. I have attempted to post this several times now and each has not gone through-St. Michael please help.
    This morning I read an article about Michelle Malkin and censorship of conservatives. She pointed out how a conservative voice on w**d pr**s who has be writing about immigration for the past years was deleted over the weekend. Michelle was wondering about her own w**d pr**s account and if it is going to be shut down. She pointed out the systematic silencing of conservatives. If you want to check it out, this is the link- https://www.breitbart.com/radio/2019/07/03/michelle-malkin-big-data-pulling-plug-conservatives-2020/. It has already been reported about go-ogle’s planned interference in the 2020 election. They stated they aren’t going to let another 2016 happen.

    My question-what do we do if this account is silenced? How will we keep in contact? Is there a backup plan?

    Liked by 4 people

    1. HttP, two additional comments about this content came through for moderation. Not sure how it registers on your end as not making it, but three did make it through. The evidence is all around us, isn’t it, that the left will drive this lust for power to its bitter, ugly end? We’ve all been observing and have read Charlie’s various pieces which acknowledge the oppression of individuals and repression of their American rights in multiple ways. Behind the scenes, with Steve’s capable and blessed lead, the team has been intermittently discussing this topic of what to do in the event that this site would be shut down. It’s apropos to continue working out the details of such an eventuality. And we are.

      We also need to prepare mentally for the real possibility of a total shutdown of the internet. Trump himself could do so as a national security measure. An EMP could blast us. A most calming thought – one rooted in the Gospel – oft’ expressed by CJ: God will not leave us bereft. If we, in this community, were all disconnected at this moment, we would continue doing what we’ve been trained to do: Acknowledge God, take the next right step and be a sign of hope to those around us. Press on and live it! And, please God, all the junior sherpas, who have been prepared by God in multiple ways in these days and in special ways via Charlie with his mission and message, would rise to the occasion and lead others in remaining calm, trusting God completely and networking in ways to solve whatever problems arise.

      The great news to me: We’re at a juncture where we have opportunities to truly live it. We are, right now, making our way into the New Beginning. It’s time to love as never before. If any of us is naturally feeling fear, just imagine how the ones who are uninformed that God has a Plan must feel… perhaps overwhelmed by fear. It’s worthless to dwell on worries and anxieties. We must let them pass in the sure and certain knowledge that God IS with us. And our presence, His Presence in us, can steady those around us. We are not alone.

      Liked by 6 people

      3. Beckita that was beautiful and True. I feel too that we are all very well trained at this point maybe not with knowledge as Charlie says is dangerous but with God’s grace, docility and littleness. What an amazing time to be alive🤗

        Liked by 1 person

      2. I don’t remember if it was on here but the Facebook alternative USA.Life is up and running. I am not on FB so haven’t signed up yet. Has anyone else from ASOH signed up for it? Does ASOH/TNRS have a site on it yet?
        Charlie, Beckita and ll have you switched your stuff over to USA.Life?

        Liked by 2 people

  23. so, since today is one of my three favorite American holidays and since I haven’ t posted this for a while 🙂 : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaxGNQE5ZLA
    It’s The Star Spangled Banner As You Never Heard It. I am now going to go and listen to my favorite holiday music like Victory at Sea, Battle Hymn of the Republic, service hymns, etc.
    I thank God for allowing me to live in this country.

    Liked by 5 people

  24. Great post, Charlie, and God bless. Speaking boldly and with courage, but without malice or brashness is definitely hard for me. I’m tempted to brashness for sure.

    Liked by 2 people

  27. Linda wrote several posts above, “Our permanent deacon, soon to be priest is Peter Grodi aka Marcus Grodi’s son from ewtn . . . .” Which reminded me that, every now and then, I go to Marcus Grodi’s “Coming Home Network” website and watch conversion stories. They are always both educational and inspiring, meant to be of help to both non-Catholic explorers and Catholics. Here’s the link:

    https://chnetwork.org

    See the “Conversion Stories” tab at the top.

    Blessings, friends ~
    Sister Bear
    Convert from agnosticism and, briefly, atheism; baptized in a Protestant denomination as a toddler

    Liked by 6 people

  29. Did anyone else catch the news lately? Apparently some Isis members returning from a trip to Afghanistan were planning terror attacks on Christian churches in Australia.

    China (the poor pretender) has been upping it’s trade war against Canada. And warning Britain not to get involved in it’s political troubles.

    Liberals are labelling conservative & orthodox people as -ists, -phobes, & hate mongers, but the real irony to those accusations is those are “pack/group” mentalities that socialists have, conservatives tend to act as individuals & free thinkers…

    Liked by 4 people

    1. DS I’m sorry but I cannot attribute any sense of reality to any assessment based on Godless and purely humanistic speculation of a mythological world containing only elemental particles of truth. We have a bigger challenge and that is to understand the truth that Jesus died to bring us and how it should shape and guide us in this life of testing and growing in the love of God and each other. We are indeed blessed that God has sent His servants like Charlie to be our guides in this darkness. Let us not be distracted by meaningless distortions of some of the guidance given us through apparitions, messages and prophesies aimed at preparing us for the unfolding of the Rescue as we journey on and participate in the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart. May God continue to bless and guide us, give us the grace to persevere. TRBS and ASOH. JAS

      Like

      1. That same Jesus can always recognize good will (however fuzzy or sometimes hidden to our way of reckoning), accept it with love and gratitude, guide, and turn it into something truly fruitful. Careful you’re not just beating someone over the head with their offering, JAS, your scruples notwithstanding.

        I’ve expressed concern on occasion over the seemingly burgeoning ranks of the anti-Christian, but much more so over a lack of Christian unity. Take it for what it’s worth, but I see that as the far greater challenge.

        Liked by 2 people

  33. Beckita…I’ll be asking for prayers of generational healing Mass from Fr Wang for my family…we are all a hot mess…lol…how do I ask him for this? How can I repay?

    Liked by 1 person

  34. St. Maria Goretti is the patron saint of rape victims, purity, chastity,and forgiveness. After 27 years in prison, her murderer joined Maria’s mother when the Pope declared Maria a Saint. May St. Maria Goretti pray for our Church and healing of victims of physical, sexual, and verbal abuse.

    Liked by 4 people

  35. ” ……. Many holy Priests and Bishops are cowed by the lefties in the pews that are on a hair trigger to shriek in complaint should they dare preach anything orthodox with fidelity. ”

    ” ……… The “social justice warriors” among us are accustomed to getting their way by merely screeching.”

    ” ……. The anti-God left knows this. So they will keep screeching in expectation of the same results.”

    ” …… Trying to avoid any trouble is a sure way to guarantee unending trouble. Bullies learn quickly to avoid those who fight back effectively – and focus on those who cower and retreat.

    ” ……… Cowering before bullies does not appease them: it encourages them while simultaneously inflaming their contempt for you.”

    ” ………. after a noisy period of angry screeching, your opponents have nothing. Some will leave, some will write a nasty letter to the editor – but the quiet faithful who are worn out with all the bullying will rally to a Priest and Bishop who lives fidelity under fire.”

    ” ……… the raw truth is that that is usually all they have in their arsenal. When you refuse to be bullied, they have nothing left – and often tangle themselves up in their own schemes.”

    ” …….. Simply speak fearlessly and with fidelity those basic truths which are fundamental to you.

    “……… Speak Christian truth with unshakeable resolve. Do it with malice towards none and charity for all. But do it. The truth will, indeed, set you free.”

    About sums it up, Charlie.

    A lawyer friend of mine once told me about a law professor of his who advised his budding class:

    “If you have the law argue the law; if you have the facts argue the facts; If you don’t have the law or the facts shout and bang your fist on the desk.”

    He also advised: “Make sure it’s your client who goes to jail not you.”

    The Anti-God Left in America has neither the Law or the facts. It has defaulted to shrieking and shouting and banging its fist on the desk.

    Reminds of this:

    Mark 5: 1-20
    The Healing of the Gerasene Demoniac.

    1
    * a They came to the other side of the sea, to the territory of the Gerasenes.
    2
    When he got out of the boat, at once a man* from the tombs who had an unclean spirit met him.
    3
    The man had been dwelling among the tombs, and no one could restrain him any longer, even with a chain.
    4
    In fact, he had frequently been bound with shackles and chains, but the chains had been pulled apart by him and the shackles smashed, and no one was strong enough to subdue him.
    5
    Night and day among the tombs and on the hillsides he was always crying out and bruising himself with stones.
    6
    Catching sight of Jesus from a distance, he ran up and prostrated himself before him,
    7
    crying out in a loud voice, “What have you to do with me,* Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me!”
    14
    The swineherds ran away and reported the incident in the town and throughout the countryside. And people came out to see what had happened.
    15
    As they approached Jesus, they caught sight of the man who had been possessed by Legion, sitting there clothed and in his right mind. And they were seized with fear.
    17
    Then they began to beg him to leave their district.
    18
    As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed pleaded to remain with him.
    19
    But he would not permit him but told him instead, “Go home* to your family and announce to them all that the Lord in his pity has done for you.”
    20
    Then the man went off and began to proclaim in the Decapolis what Jesus had done for him; and all were amazed.

    The shrieking Legion possessing the Demoniac. The American Anti-God Left. Full of bluster, bluff who could not be restrained. Shouting and banging his fist on the desk. Jesus calmly expelled the Legion which rushed to its destruction.

    This was Jesus’ first foray to the “far side” of the Sea of Galilee during his 3 year public ministry. The Decapolis. The Ten Cities. Occupying the territory across the lake. Gentiles. Greco-Roman culture. Can you imagine what the 12 Apostles accompanying Jesus on that journey across the lake were feeling? Plunging into the unknown. Jesus was showing them how to do it.

    St Paul is known as the Apostle to the Gentiles. But the very first apostle to the Gentiles was this cured Demoniac who wanted to go with Jesus. He got a commission instead. “Go home* to your family and announce to them all that the Lord in his pity has done for you.” The former crazy man filled with a Legion of demons complied. “Then the man went off and began to proclaim in the Decapolis what Jesus had done for him; and all were amazed.”

    The Decapolis was one of the areas where Christianity took root in the Middle East. Gentiles. They were amazed.

    Jesus is our role model in how to deal with the crazy Legion filled American Left. The ones who shout and shriek and who have broken their shackles of reason and truth and who bully the locals by pounding their fist on the desk.

    “Go home* to your family and announce to them all that the Lord in his pity has done for you.”

    That’s seems to be the starting place for renewal. Proclaim what Jesus has done for us.

    ” …. and all were amazed …. “

    Liked by 3 people

      1. Hello Charlie.

        Long-time reader and follower. I do believe God writes straight with crooked lines. I lived in Illinois near Waukegan. I was a founding member of Roman Catholic Faithful. There are things/stories I know about the church I will not repeat. We were going after Cardinal Bernadin and I believe we have been proven correct. I believe in what Archbishop Vigano has to say. Please, what are we to take from his latest release about Pope Francis and his altar boys?

        Liked by 2 people

    2. The quote I saw on a plaque in a lawyer’s office (about 27 years ago) similar to the one you quote here is attributed to Melvin Belli . . . “If the law is against you, argue the facts. If the facts are against you, argue the law. If both the facts and the law are against you . . . lie.”

      Liked by 1 person

  36. Beckita, I would also like to have my family added to Fr. Wang’s prayers for generational healing. Please let me know how to request this. THank you!

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Surely, Lin. Please send an email to me at The answering service. (To find the address just click on the MENU icon in the top right of the site’s page and scroll down to Techie Questions. In the material is the contact email.)

      Liked by 1 person

  37. A side question,

    Where can I go to get truly authentic news?

    I am avoiding all the big networks…

    Thanks!

    Like

    2. If, LITTLEONEINPA, you are referring only to television networks . . . try Newsmax and OAN (One America News). With DIRECTV, the channels are 349 & 347 respectfully.

      Liked by 1 person

Comments are closed.

Published by charliej373

Charlie Johnston is a former newspaper editor, radio talk show host and political consultant. From Feb. 11, 2011 to Aug. 21, 2012, he walked 3,200 miles across the country, sleeping in the woods, meeting people and praying as he went. He writes on cultural, global and political issues from an orthodox Catholic perspective. He emphasizes that we find God most surely through the ordinary, doing the little things we should with faith and fidelity. His constant refrain is that, to live real joy, we must acknowledge God, take the next right step, and be a sign of hope to those around us. He lives in the Archdiocese of Denver in the United States.