My Lovely Conversation with a Stranger at the Dearing Drive-in

On my way back from getting my hair bobbed and crimped, I stopped at The Dearing Drive-in for a hamburger. I love that place! Their hamburgers are so tasty--the way I remember them when I was a kid in the 60s. It's in an old building that looks like it was originally built as a Tas-t-freez. 

Nothing about its humble origins has been updated, which makes it all the more alluring to me.

A lone picnic table under the front awning offers the only available seating, and all orders are taken at the walk-up window by right friendly folks. An air of mystery pervades the transaction while the ancient sliding screen is in place. 

But that may just be me seeing things through my Catholic lens.

After I placed my order I turned and saw that the gentleman who ordered before me had sat down on one end of the table, on the side closest to the road.  

I considered sitting down on the other bench, so that I would be facing the building with my back to him to wait for my order.

Chastising myself, I decided to engage him in conversation instead. 

I figured I couldn't complain about the disintegration of society if I didn't even make an attempt to talk with this fellow under such easy circumstances.

So I sat and greeted him, and soon we were chatting amicably while we waited for our orders. He explained to me all about the garbage company he drives a truck for. I had no idea there were so many types of dumpsters and garbage trucks. 

When I admitted this to him, he surprised me by saying that he didn't know it either until recently. "I've only been working for this company for five months," he admitted smiling. "I lost my job, But some people get angry when I talk about it."

I grinned and assured him that I would not get angry.

His face lit up. "I was a pipeliner. My wife and I traveled all over the country in our 5th wheel. But Biden put an end to that," he explained matter-of-factly. 

I detected no resentment in his voice or expression. In fact, he seemed almost jolly--happy to talk about driving the garbage truck, how busy he and the other drivers are, and how far afield they travel from their home base on their routes.

"Ah, I see." I told him smiling. "My husband works for the refinery here."

He returned my smile and mentioned one of the contractors at the refinery that is also one of the garbage company's customers.

"YES!" I thought. We can talk about hard things and not lose our composure. I wanted to hug him but restrained myself. (This new-found restraint is one of the gifts of my dotage.)

The clerk at the window hollered that the pork sandwich was ready, so my new friend retrieved it and sat down again. I commented that the sandwich didn't look big enough to maintain a man. He smiled and said that he usually didn't eat breakfast or lunch. "When I started doing that I lost 30 pounds," he exclaimed happily.

"Wow!" I thought to myself. "He's an intermittent faster, too. What a super cool fellow!"

The clerk announced that my double cheeseburger was ready, so I wished my new friend a good day and thanked him for the conversation, feeling enormously grateful for his company. 

I hope I see him again. I want to ask him to tell me some stories from the time when he and his wife were traveling around the country towing their 5th wheel.

Fixing Our Gaze on The Immaculate Conception

A most blessed Feast of the Immaculate Conception to you!

In this clip from The Song of Bernadette we see Bernadette fixing her gaze on the beautiful lady who has been appearing to her at Lourdes.  In answer to Bernadette's request to learn her identity, the lady responds, "I am the Immaculate Conception."

Watching Bernadette in the opening scene as she knelt there on the ground, I was impressed by the purity of her expression as she looked upon the most pure Virgin.  How rare it is to see that kind of innocence today!  And I thought about the Catholic concept of custody of the eyes and what a daily battle we must fight to practice it.

It's frightening, but much of what we should guard against today, we may not even be aware that we see.

Let me explain.

I just finished reading a transcript of a Solari Report podcast on entrainment technology, a form of mind control.  In it, Catherine Austin Fitts interviews Adam Trombly, a scientist/physicist, about how this technology is used and what you can do to minimize its influence on your life.

Basically, the entrainment relaxes/pleasures you and puts you in a state of openness to suggestibility.  The suggestibility part is where they implant the subliminal message they want you to act upon.  Entrainment is used surreptitiously in all kinds of media--dvd's, cd's, radio, movies in the theaters, etc., but it seems television paved the way for the others starting way back in the 1950s.

Maybe I've finally discovered why Catholics accepted the New Mass in 1969.  They had been lulled to sleep by gathering in front of the TV at home instead of kneeling in front of the Immaculate Conception and the Crucifix.

John Senior was so right when he admonished Catholics to "smash the television," in his classic book, The Restoration of Christian Culture.

Of course now the television has morphed into all kinds of different screens that we must guard ourselves and our children against.  We haven't done such a good job.  Just look at how we fell for the notion that public school children needed computers in the classroom to be able to keep up with technology and compete in the modern world.

After reading about entrainment techniques, I firmly believe that the so-called "snowflakes" are a product of it.  Previously I had thought it odd that Hillary Clinton had called on pop singers to boost her campaign.  But now I understand that their music and videos are powerful vehicles for entraining listeners.  The raw emotion from the melting snowflakes finally makes sense.  At first I thought it was all the coddling they received in school and a lack of critical thinking skills.  And, of course, a lack of the True Faith.

As I thought more about the idea of how we, like Bernadette, should "fix our gaze" on the Immaculate Conception, I became aware of the double meaning, as "fix" also means to repair.  We do need to constantly fix our gaze by avoiding as much as possible the things the world wants us to see.  And we must pray the Rosary, which Our Lady gave us as the most efficacious weapon for our battles against the world, the flesh, and the devil.

The Rosary, with its beautiful mysteries, gives us lovely pictures to contemplate and incites the imagination to holy thoughts, which makes us more human, more alive, more able to create.  All this is in direct opposition to the sounds and images that the world wants us to consume.  Look around, and you will see the results--zombie-like people who are consumers, not creators.

Interestingly, entrainment technology takes advantage of God's design for our brains.  As  Mr. Trombly explained it, "Entrainment technology basically is the technology that exploits a neurological function called frequency following response. And, frequency following response was discovered in the earlier part of the 20th century and in terms of this type of entrainment was a matter of when the brain hears a repetitive pattern.

"It can be a repetitive pattern of words, it can be a repetitive cadence of rhythm, or in modern times it can be a repetitive acoustic sound coming across the loud speaker. It can be in a certain wave form, a certain frequency, the brain will follow that sound. The brain will follow that sound whether it’s monaural or binaural or surround sound; the brain will fall into rhythm with that sound." 

My conclusion from that explanation?  

God hard-wired our brains for the recitation of the Rosary with its repetitive pattern of words and repetitive cadence or rhythm!  Without fixing our gaze on the Immaculate Conception and praying the Rosary, we leave ourselves open to conquest by the Powers of Darkness, the enemies of Christ.

Three Steps to Follow

Fix your gaze  
Pray the Rosary and
Entrain your brain to follow that sound to Heaven.

Advent: The Cross and the Crib

The painting of the Sacred Heart commissioned by Gabriel Garcia Moreno for the consecration of Ecuador

The aftermath of the presidential election revealed to me in a startling way how desperately this country needs to be Catholicized.  How much better the Catholic way when faced with situations one finds disagreeable: practice resignation and embrace one's cross!

Instead, it seems as if the country has been taken over by toddlers in their terrible twos.  Such whining and temper tantrums I've never before witnessed on a national scale.

The experience shone a light on my own weaknesses in this regard and gave me pause.  How often, I, too, whine and complain!  And how unattractive it must be for those around me!

Consequently, on St. Andrew's feast I decided to start saying St. Andrew's prayer, O Good Cross, every day in addition to the St. Andrew Christmas novena during our Advent wreath prayer time.  The idea of being led to both the cross and the crib by St. Andrew is one I hadn't considered before now.  I find it enormously helpful, and it has given me reason to be thankful for the Trump protestors.  May their unhappiness work toward their conversion and the establishment of the Social Reign of Christ the King.

The Logic of Secession

From Trump Wins--Secession Back in Style by James Ronald Kennedy

"The idea that a large and supreme central government in the United States can protect the rights and interests of all the people is mathematically absurd. When the original federal government under the constitution was established (1789) each member of the House of Representatives represented the interests of 60,000 citizens. Today each member of the House of Representatives is supposed to represent the interests of over 700,000 diverse people. If we had the same ratio today, there would be over 5,000 members of the House of Representatives! It is absurd to think that a supreme central government that rules over the lives of over 300 million people would be able to protect the interests of the political minority. Under the current system of supreme federalism, the lives of 300 million people are governed by a majority vote of 269 members of Congress and even less if acting by a mere quorum. With Trump’s victory, even liberals, who once controlled the federal government, are now beginning to see the logic of secession."

Play Me

While walking down the sidewalk, enjoying a festival in an economically-depressed small town, I came upon the scene in the photo to the left.

I stood there mesmerized while the little girl plunked away at the tired keys.  She obviously had never had a piano lesson, but that did not dampen her enjoyment at all.  It probably heightened it.

I was struck with the idea--so simple--that We Can Do Little Things That Make a Big Difference.

There is the possibility that the opportunity to play this piano will lead to an interest in studying music.  This would undeniably be a great return on the investment of making the piano available to festival goers.  But even if no one was inspired to learn music, what a fabulous expression of goodwill!  I believe that such acts create good returns, even if they appear to be invisible.



Recently I noticed an old and scarred baby grand piano on display in my local community center.  It was roped off, but there was a small placard on it that explained that the instrument had been used to teach piano lessons to local children for 30 years.  I marveled at the remarkable impact this piano most likely has had on our town, probably with immeasurable ripple effects of goodness that have echoed throughout the country.  I am grateful to whomever had the insight to put it on display.  So often we are encouraged to publicly admire the big industrialist.  His impact can be measured in dollars, so he easily gains recognition.

I struggle to remember these lessons.  I have gotten caught up in all the national election hoopla.  Yes, the president of the United States is important.  But we cannot discount the importance of the little local things that we can do.  Locally, we can have a far bigger impact than nationally.  

I have been reminded since the election that even a smile matters.  With all the news about the animosity of different groups, I realized that I was beginning to expect people to be unfriendly to me.  I have been enormously relieved to have my expectations proved completely unfounded.  Representatives of the different groups have gone out of their way to greet me with warm smiles and welcoming eyes--to politely and cheerfully say, "Excuse me," as they pass by me in the grocery store.

I happily return the greeting and remind myself to take a break from the news, even the alternative news, and to make decisions on my own experience.

A Gentle Plea for Dis Cussing Our Political Disagreements

As a first step, let us drop the use of *F you!*

And also *F ing*

I can't hear your ideas because they are drowned out in *F* noise.

Forget the Election and Celebrate Catholic Thanksgiving

From the movie "Babette's Feast"

Editor's Note: I got the idea and the historical background for this post from reading Dr. Marian Horvat's "The First Thanksgivings Were Catholic."

If you, like I, really detest the whole Puritan/Pilgrim party that is foisted on us every November, right when Catholics should be preparing for Advent and Christmas, your chance to fight back with a holiday that is truly meaningful is coming up: Saturday, April 30.  That's the day the second Thanksgiving was celebrated, in Texas, with Holy Mass and a great feast.  Even better, according to "The First Thanksgivings Were Catholic," after the Mass, the expedition leader, "Don Juan de Oñate, took formal possession of the new land, called New Mexico, in the name of the Heavenly Lord, God Almighty, and the earthly lord King Philip II."

Now that's more like it! 

May Catholic men rise up in the spirit of Don Juan de Oñate and renew the effort that Catholic missionaries began so valiantly long ago, establishing outposts of the True Faith in the midst of our  pagan land.  Why waste time worrying over which narcissist will be the next president of the United States?  It's just another distraction at this point.  Plus, should Catholics aspire to getting back to America's Masonic roots and its godless Constitution as "conservatives" propose?

No, we must build from a solid foundation; we must establish a Catholic order, replacing Lady Liberty with Our Lady of Guadalupe, and it is not going to happen with anyone who is "electable" in the present system.  

The first priority is establishing the Social Reign of Christ the King in our homes and in our communities.  That will provide the rich soil from which the seeds of good government may burst forth and flower.  Catholic mothers, with Rosary in hand, must form Catholic citizens.   And it can start with simple things like celebrating Catholic Thanksgiving on April 30 and again on September 8, the day on which we celebrate the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in a month rich with Marian feasts, when the real first American Thanksgiving was celebrated in Florida by Spanish Catholics.

And by all means invite your non-Catholic friends.

I highly recommend watching Babette's Feast.  It seems the perfect artistic representation of the difference between celebrating Protestant Thanksgiving and Catholic Thanksgiving, and not only that, it is a truly beautiful movie that will uplift and inspire you and increase your sensus Catholicus.

We're Totally PC

Update:  I added a favorite Civil War song at the end of this post.

Panna Cotta forever!  I don't care if I ever eat another dairy-based pudding.  Emma's been making double batches of this delectable coconut milk pudding, using Deliciously Organic's recipe.   Talk about good and good for you!  It features grass-fed beef gelatin powder--we use Great Lakes brand--which is a wonderful source of amino acids.  This panna cotta is really creamy and dense.  I keep telling Emma we need to try it as a topping on this chocolate tart she makes.  Considering how much time I have spent imagining how delicious this combination would be, it's probably best we don't do it.

 The lovely color combination of the fruit on the creamy white pudding inspired me to use some of our recently re-discovered stash of awesome Confederate flag decorations.  Emma and I were so excited when I pulled them out from behind some cookbooks!  We started naming all the ways that we could make use of them, ending with Emma's suggestion of wedding cake.  Oh, yes, she is a Southern girl!  No, we don't believe in slavery, not even the wage slavery that was supported and spread by the North.  We do love the agrarian lifestyle of the Old South and that was more in line with the Catholic ideal.  Plus, we have ancestors who fought in that War of Northern Aggression, so it's wonderful to be able to honor them.

Here's a beautiful rendition of The Homespun Dress (O Yes, I am a Southern Girl)

Striving to Be Catholic in the Land of the Green Dragon

One can be a citizen of the USA (that is, CUSA) and be a Catholic, and most CUSAs are Americans. One cannot be a Catholic and an American. To be an American is to believe in American principles before the teachings of the Church, or in other words to accept the Enlightenment ideals as superior to the teachings of the Faith.  ~ David Wemhoff, "Joseph Ratzinger's American Mind"

Although I do not agree with Mr. Wemhoff's contention in the full article that the Conciliar church has not changed doctrine, I heartily agree with this quote.  It sums up all that I have figured out in my studies over the last few years.  Listening to two of Wemhoff's interviews on how Americanism was purposely inserted directly into the circulatory system of the Church, finally helped me see how John Courtney Murray, an American Jesuit priest and "theologian", was able to get Religious Liberty approved at Vatican II, an idea that had always been condemned by the Church.  The interviews are based on Wemhoff's book, John Courtney Murray, Time-Life, and the American Proposition.  I haven't read the book, but the Amazon description of it is helpful background for listening to the interviews.  Here's a portion of it:

In 1941, Franklin D. Roosevelt gave his famous "Four Freedoms" speech. In that speech, FDR set forth a vision for the reengineering of societies around the globe. The means was psychological warfare, involving the manipulation of ideas, words and symbols to divide target societies and convince these societies of the ideology that formed America. The most important society America targeted was the Roman Catholic Church. Media mogul Henry R. Luce, founder and publisher of enormously influential magazines like Time and Life, used the CIA's doctrinal warfare program to turn the Catholic Church into a promoter of American ideas. This struggle reached its culmination at the Second Vatican Council with the promulgation of the document Declaration on Religious Liberty.    

The first interview I listened to was this one, "David A. Wemhoff on Henry Luce and the American Century."  Chilling.

The second interview that I listened to was this one:

The introduction by host Peter Helland is slow going, but once Wemhoff starts talking, it's good.  One of the more startling revelations he makes is that John Courtney Murray actually wrote "The American Proposition" speech for Luce, a fact that lends credence to the assertion by one of the Time reporters who covered Vatican II that John Courtney Murray was part of a conspiracy.

The American Proposition speech set forth the American principles for a good society based on no established religion.  I found it interesting that it was delivered in 1953, the same year that Cardinal Ottaviani, head of the Holy Office, delivered his speech on the Duties of the Catholic Confessional State, which directly contradicted the principles of The American Proposition.

Reading Solange Hertz's, The Star-Spangled Heresy: Americanism finally wove the last threads together for me into a recognizable pattern, as she lays out the sordid history of the heresy of Americanism from its beginnings in revolutionary America among the Catholic hierarchy.  I thought I knew a good deal about that, but I truly was shocked by the quotes she used from these so-called Catholic churchmen.

It's quite disheartening.  However, it is a great advantage to know the problem.

Without a Catholic confessional state, we do not serve Jesus Christ.   We must recognize Him as King, and the Church He established must be free to ensure His reign over our affairs and provide a check on the government.  If we do not serve Jesus Christ then we serve Mammon.   That is why everything revolves around money in America and why it does not matter who gets elected to office.  The founding principles of America are in direct contradiction to Catholic doctrine.

In the very heart of the Passion He [Christ] was pleased to show us “democracy” in action, manipulated by the instruments of Satan. Pilate, turning to the people in hopes of saving the Prisoner he knew to be innocent, asks, “What, then, am I to do with Jesus who is called Christ?” And they answered, prompted by their leaders, “Let him be crucified!” (Matt. 27: 22-23) and elected Barabbas. Thus was our Lord’s death demanded and ratified by Jews who had espoused the democratic process, preferring human rule to God’s. Let there be no mistake. The real objective of the liberty, equality and fraternity touted by the forces of humanism is always the death of God.  ~ Solange Hertz, The Star-Spangled Heresy: Americanism

I've really benefitted this Lent from doing the Total Consecration to Mary according to St. Louis de Montfort while also reading The Star-Spangled Heresy: Americanism.  It's made the contrast between Catholicism and Americanism much clearer to me.  True freedom lies in Holy Slavery to Our Lord through His Blessed Mother.  It is not in the American idea of freedom, which is of Satan.  (The American founders met in a Boston tavern called The Green Dragon, which Daniel Webster called the “Headquarters of the Revolution”.  It was the seat of Massachusetts Masonry's Provincial Grand Lodge, according to Mrs. Hertz.)

I will close with a gorgeous recording of Ave Maris Stella.  Saying that prayer every day is a requirement of the Consecration.  I have found that if I sing it, it will come to me on its own frequently throughout the day.

Attention, European Union Readers

My dear friend Mr. Google has advised me that I am required by European Union law to give its citizens information about cookies.  (And here I thought I was just a simple little mom blog in rural Texas.  I had no idea that my ramblings had drawn the attention of so august a body as the European Union!)

I sincerely regret that I have neglected this serious duty so far and make haste now to correct it:

Dear European Union Readers,

Greetings from America!  I hope that you are well.  It is indeed my great honor to provide you with information about cookies.  Please know that in America we love cookies exceedingly, especially Chips Ahoy, Oreos, and Fig Newtons.  These are manufactured in huge factories with ingredients produced by industrial farming and a variety of chemicals.  This combination ensures that cookies make big dollars for the food corporations but also for the medical and pharmaceutical industries, which in turn bankroll our politicians.  You can see that cookies are an important player in the Gross National Product.  And I do mean gross!

I hope you have found this information helpful, and that this explanation satisfies the requirements of the European Union.  If you ever come to America, please come to my house.  We'll have raw milk and homemade cookies and a lovely visit, I am sure, despite not contributing to the GNP.

May God bless you and keep you and restore Christendom in your land.

Love ya!

Wendy

A Pilgrimage and a Procession: The Cabalgata of Christ the King

I never fail to be inspired by Catholic men making an exterior act of faith.

Via Tradition in Action: "From throughout the State of Guanajuato - as well as many other states of Mexico and the U.S. - the pilgrims meet two days before Epiphany to ride together on pilgrimage to honor Christ the King."  Read the entire post HERE.

Start Thinking Like a Southerner, Even if You're Not One

A 12-step program for restoring the culture via THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT:

"The ideas I present here are by no means original. I have reproduced them, and modified them, as needed to fit this cause. The United States of America is sinking. It is a ship that is going down. Our problems far exceed those of national debt and economic recession. If only these two were all that faced us, we could conquer them in time. No, our problems are more deeply rooted."  Read the rest HERE.

For a more in-depth treatment of restoring the culture, read The Restoration of Christian Culture by Dr. John Senior.

A Nun Speaks Out: "Leave the Syrian People Alone"

Our government is funding and training the rebels, which means the USA is working alongside the Muslim Brotherhood and al Qaeda against Christians and other innocent civilians.  Yes, even babies have been brutally murdered.  I read about one in particular who was killed out on the street right in front of his family.  Both presidential nominees and their running mates support the continued military interference of the United States in sovereign countries.

Here is the story, via American Everyman, of the nun in the video as explained on Information Clearinghouse:

A NUN who has been superior at a Syrian monastery for the past 18 years has warned that media coverage of ongoing violence in that country has been “partial and untrue”. It is “a fake”, Mother Agnes Mariam said, which “hides atrocities committed in the name of liberty and democracy”.

Superior of the Melkite Greek Catholic monastery of St James the Mutilated in Qara, in Syria’s diocese of Homs, which is in full communion with Rome, she left Ireland yesterday after a three-day visit during which she met representatives of the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference in Maynooth.

She told The Irish Times she was in Ireland “not to advocate for the (Assad) regime but for the facts”. Most news reports from Syria were “forged, with only one side emphasised”, she said. This also applied to the UN, whose reports were “one-sided and not worthy of that organisation”.

UN observers in Syria had been “moderate with the rebels and covered for them in taking back positions after the withdrawal of heavy equipment, as seen so tragically in Homs”, she said.

When it was put to her this suggested the whole world was out of step except for Syria, Russia and China, she protested: “No, no, there are 20 countries, including some in Latin America” of the same view.  Read the rest HERE.

The Pro-Life Movement: I Plead the Fifth

Adam and Eve grieve over the death of Abel in "The First Mourning" by Bouguereau

 After the 2008 presidential election, I resolved to ignore politics, deciding that it really was not compatible with my place as the heart of the home.  I was much happier in this mode:  Ignorance truly is bliss in this regard.  However, after I watched the Cristero movie earlier this year, For Greater Glory, I realized how dangerously close Americans are to having a Cristero-type scenario with our government.  I decided that I could no longer keep silent, that I had a duty to speak up.

This I have done on Facebook.

I have pointed out the dangers of the military-industrial complex, the immorality of our wars, the hypocrisy of the "conservative" movement, and the Masonic agenda in both the major political parties, etc., etc., etc.

I don't think it has made a bit of difference.  As soon as Paul Ryan was chosen as Romney's VP, many of my Catholic friends jumped on board because Paul Ryan is Catholic and says he is "pro-life".

I really don't understand.

The man is big government all the way.  He supports all the wars and even wants more military spending.  He voted to make the Patriot Act permanent.  He voted for all the bailouts.  He supports NDAA, the indefinite detention of Americans without trial if suspected of terrorism.

Even his pro-life credentials are suspect to me.  He sees the protection of the unborn as a social issue.  Poverty is a social issue.  Murder is not.  And in 2010, he supported calling a "truce" on the pro-life fight until he was called to task by others in the movement.  Then he flip-flopped on demand.  He is just exactly the same as Romney.  He'll do or say whatever he needs to in order to get elected.

I think Catholics keep getting tricked into voting for candidates like Paul Ryan because of a faulty definition of what it means to be pro-life.  We wear "American baby in the womb" blinders and never consider that the pro-life movement in America today is just one part of the Fifth Commandment, "Thou Shalt Not Kill".  It commands us to live in peace and union with our neighbor, to respect his rights, to seek his spiritual and bodily welfare, and to take proper care of our own life and health; controlling one's anger.  It forbids all willful murder, suicide, abortion, euthanasia, artificial contraception, sterilization, cloning, endangering life and limb of self or others, fighting, anger, hatred, revenge, and bad example.

To make being "pro-life" a litmus test for acceptability as a political candidate while ignoring his stance on the totality of the Fifth Commandment is morally wrong and completely illogical.  It is compartmentalized thinking, a hallmark of modernism.  How can supporting the wars in the Middle East (and elsewhere around the globe) be compatible with being pro-life in particular and with the commandment not to kill in general?  We kill innocent civilians there every day.  There are estimates that as many as a million Iraqis have died at our hands, even though there were no weapons of mass destruction and Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11.

I guess Middle Eastern babies do not count.  They are not exceptional.  They are not from the shining city on the hill.

I know.  We will never forget.  Almost 3000 Americans died in the twin towers!  So that gives us the right to destroy the Middle East, even the Christian communities.  Because America is exceptional.  Our people are more valuable than other countries' people.  As Christopher Check says in Dropping the Atomic Bomb:

My Country, Right or Wrong

Americans have another blind spot when it comes to evaluating our country’s political actions—perhaps especially our military adventures, because these are seen as patriotic events. The blind spot is nationalism. Patriotism, love of one’s native land, is a genuine virtue, to be sure. But when it becomes nationalism—an excessive veneration of one’s country and its government—it becomes a vice.

This vice is nothing less than a heresy condemned by Pope Leo XIII in 1899 as “Americanism.” Americanism, no less virulent in our day than it was in Leo’s, combines a collective sense of Christian exceptionalism (America as the “Shining City on a Hill”) with the hubristic conviction that America can draw up her own moral code. 

Catholics today seem mortally infected with Americanism.  I guess that is understandable.  We Catholics want to fit in.  I have often wondered if that is why American Catholic women ditched their veils in the '60s, despite no instruction to do so.  Was our desire to fit in the reason why we gave up so easily the Tridentine Mass?  Because we wanted to fit in and be American Catholics instead of Catholic Americans?  Whatever the reason, we have been assimilated.  As far as I can tell, there is little difference in the thinking of Catholics and other Christian Americans of the same socioeconomic group.

Now Catholics rally together with Protestants in opposition to the HHS mandate in order to fight for the "value" of religious liberty, rather than naming abortion and contraceptive use as immoral acts under the Fifth Commandment.

And every election, we put on our pro-life blinders and play the voting game.  Abortion continues unabated, whether we have a Republican in the White House or Republican control of Congress.  We let our enemies write the rules; we get beaten over and over again, but we keep playing anyway.

Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, Issue Statement on President Obama’s So-Called Compromise

NEWS RELEASE

Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist

Issue Statement on President Obama’s So-Called Compromise

 

Ann Arbor, MI - In response to President Obama’s remarks regarding the final rule for individual and group health plans under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Mother Mary Assumpta Long, O.P., the Prioress General of the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist released the following statement:

 

“Regarding the so-called compromise by President Obama on the Department of Health and Human Services rule for “preventative” services that mandate coverage for abortion-inducing drugs, sterilization, and artificial contraception for their employees, the mandate still compromises religious, economic, and political liberty.

Despite the assurances by President Obama that separating the premiums paid by religious institutions to insurance companies somehow protects the religious liberty of Catholic and other religious institutions, the bottom line is these institutions will still have to pay the insurance company that is mandated to provide these services for free to any employee who wants these services.  It is insulting for President Obama and his administration to suggest the so-called compromise “should be net cost neutral.” It is simply impossible to ensure that the insurance companies will not pass on those costs to the organizations and individuals who conscientiously object to their insurance policies covering abortion-inducing drugs, sterilization, and artificial contraception. In short, not only does the Administration not comprehend Catholic moral reasoning and the full-meaning of the principle of religious liberty, it does not even understand the basic economics of health-care insurance. The fact that Planned Parenthood has so quickly expressed satisfaction with these arrangements only confirms that nothing has changed in substance.

As the Second Vatican Council declared in paragraph four of its Declaration on Religious Liberty, Dignitatis Humanae:

“religious communities rightfully claim freedom in order that they may govern themselves according to their own norms, honor the Supreme Being in public worship, assist their members in the practice of the religious life, strengthen them by instruction, and promote institutions in which they may join together for the purpose of ordering their own lives in accordance with their religious principles.”

Moreover, as citizens of the United States we are guaranteed by the Constitution the right to fully and vibrantly live our Catholic faith according to the teachings of the Church.  We as Catholics demand that our institutions not be required to formally or materially cooperate in acts that the Church has always taught to be intrinsically evil.

The Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist plead with God to protect the ability for all Americans to freely exercise their religious liberty.  The Dominican Sisters of Mary will offer up daily prayers with the intention that this unjust mandate be overturned, and we will do so until it is overturned.”

 

The Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist is a Roman Catholic community of women religious based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Our primary apostolate is the education and formation of young people. We remain open to engaging the modern culture with new forms of evangelization in order to preach the Gospel and teach the Truth.  In 15 years, the Sisters have grown to over 100 in 14 years, the average age is 28 and the average age of the women who enter is 21. Sisters represent most of the States across the U.S., various Provinces in Canada, and countries in Europe and Asia.

Fight Courageously Under the Banner of Christ Your King

Even though I try to avoid it, I still hear bits of the garbage that is known as modern political debate, which as far as I can see is designed to distract us and prevent us from seeking a solution outside of the tiny, two-party box.  As longtime readers know, I quit voting after the last presidential election.  Even then, I only voted because I could vote with a clear conscience for Ron Paul.  I had long before that refused to vote for the lesser of two evils, as the lesser evil is still evil.  I see no major difference between a Democratic presidential term and a Republican presidential term.  They each work to move the country further to the left, though their respective approaches may be slightly different.  The only solution I see is to work toward the reign of Christ the King, which Catholics are called to do anyway.  I can do that with a clear conscience and without being in conflict with my role as the heart of the home. 


Angelus Press recently hosted a 3-day conference on Christ's Kingship.  Read about it here.

As the feast of the Kingship of Christ approaches, it is good to re-read Quas primas, the encyclical Pope Pius XI wrote that established it.  Here is an excerpt that I find especially helpful:

The rebellion of individuals and states against the authority of Christ has produced deplorable consequences. We lamented these in the Encyclical Ubi arcano; we lament them today: the seeds of discord sown far and wide; those bitter enmities and rivalries between nations, which still hinder so much the cause of peace; that insatiable greed which is so often hidden under a pretense of public spirit and patriotism, and gives rise to so many private quarrels; a blind and immoderate selfishness, making men seek nothing but their own comfort and advantage, and measure everything by these; no peace in the home, because men have forgotten or neglect their duty; the unity and stability of the family undermined; society in a word, shaken to its foundations and on the way to ruin. We firmly hope, however, that the feast of the Kingship of Christ, which in future will be yearly observed, may hasten the return of society to our loving Savior. It would be the duty of Catholics to do all they can to bring about this happy result. Many of these, however, have neither the station in society nor the authority which should belong to those who bear the torch of truth. This state of things may perhaps be attributed to a certain slowness and timidity in good people, who are reluctant to engage in conflict or oppose but a weak resistance; thus the enemies of the Church become bolder in their attacks. But if the faithful were generally to understand that it behooves them ever to fight courageously under the banner of Christ their King, then, fired with apostolic zeal, they would strive to win over to their Lord those hearts that are bitter and estranged from him, and would valiantly defend his rights. 

The South's Gonna Rise Again With the Help of Tridentine Mass Supporters?

The crown of thorns given to Jefferson Davis by Pope Pius IX is on display at the Confederate Hall Museum in New Orleans.

THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: The emerging Dixie Independence Movement is now growing rapidly, and appears to be increasingly populated by Catholics, many of whom are taking leadership roles in the movement across the Southland. While it is impossible to calculate actual numbers at this time, reports are coming in to The Catholic Knight about many traditionalist Catholic groups, such as the FSSP and the SSPX, having a large crossover in membership with the League of the South and the Southern National Congress, especially in states that were part of the Old Confederacy (1860 - 1865). This of course is not limited to traditionalist Catholics, as many practical Catholics of all stripes are becoming partial to the movement.  


My jaw dropped when I read the above passage.  Then I finished reading the post and watched the video.   As someone who sees no hope of improvement in the present political "game" of the Republicans vs. the Democrats, I have come to the conclusion that the country must somehow adopt the Social Reign of Christ the King to avoid total ruin.  I couldn't imagine how such a Catholic alternative would come about.  I certainly never dreamed that it might come through the influence of Catholics in The League of the South, although I realized years ago that the Catholic agrarian movement of Fr. Vincent McNabb seemed compatible with the League of the South ideals.

Read The Catholic Knight's entire post and do watch the video also.  The video starts out a little slow.  Be patient.  It's worth your time.

Boys to Men: In Search of the Fairy Tale Ending, Part 2

In my first post on the book Iron John: A Book About Men, I said that it's the author's "attempt to explain the importance of traditional rites of initiation into manhood and how those things were expressed in the fairy tale of the same name." Well, that is true, but the book also gives fantastic insight into the problems that have been created by their loss. Strangely, Bly is openly critical and often plain wrong about Christianity, and in my initial reading I waded through much that I considered pure drivel. I definitely do not agree with everything he says, nor does my appreciation for the parts I find to be true imply support for the "men's rights" movement (or anything else for that matter). In fact, the truth I found in this book I understood in terms of traditional Catholicism. I'm sure Bly would be baffled by that!

So I am in the process of re-reading the book with a highlighter because every time I did find an amazing pearl of truth in my first reading, fireworks exploded in my head as my brain blazed with new and interesting connections. I am more than willing to pry open a lot of barren oyster shells in order to discover a few pearls.

Here's one from the preface to the 2004 DaCapo edition:

"The imposition of globalization was an act performed by the Destructive King of the Corporate World--Clinton was a part of that. Now we are experiencing the principles of disorder. Since Iron John was published in 1990, we have seen an extraordinary consolidation of the powers of disorder. The corporate scandals, summed up by the Enron collapse, have become vivid examples of the Dark Father or the Destructive Father. The retirement accounts of his 'children' were destroyed while the father escaped with millions. He draws energy out of his children and pulls it into some black hole that he shelters in himself. The presence of disorder is becoming deeper. George Bush is the Dark Son of a Dark Father.

The great sadness we can feel in the country, the lack of study, the absence of any brilliant new popular music--all of these are characteristic traits of life under the Dark Father. One good quality of the Iron John story, and the amplification of it, is that the story gives us a way to understand this lethargy and this grief without actively blaming ourselves for it."


"A dark father" makes more sense to me that anything I've read by political experts. I no longer actively read about politics, but when I did, I didn't see one party as better than the other. My conclusion was that neither of them had the best interests of the country at heart.

The lethargy Bly speaks of particularly intrigues me. He talks about contemporary men embracing their "feminine" side and how that has not made them more free. Instead, he describes this new gentle male as "a nice boy who pleases not only his mother but also the young woman he is living with."

Now I would not have understood this as well if I hadn't just read, Stop Living for the Approval of Women on the Art of Manliness site. I think it's good to be a pleaser in general. However, the author, Wayne M. Levine, M.A., explains the problem this way:

"First, let’s define approval as it relates to our relationships with women. Approval is her permission for you to take an action. Approval is her acknowledgment that she won’t take you to task for your choice…maybe. Approval is giving away your power to do as you see fit. In other words, needing the approval of women makes you a pleaser."

I can easily see how being a pleaser according to Levine's definition can be bad. If the man has given up his power to do as he sees fit, he can't be the true leader of the family. Bly also uses the term "soft male" to describe these men and says that you "quickly notice the lack of energy in them." Then he says something that really got my attention:

"They are life-preserving but not exactly life-giving. Ironically, you often see these men with strong women who positively radiate energy."

My own interpretation is that the "life-preserving" male preserves his own life, maybe even to the point of avoiding defending things he should, like the Church, hearth and home, women and children. His not being "life-giving" reminds me of the widespread use of birth control. He no longer sees a wife and many children as blessings, rejecting "Thy wife as a fruitful vine, on the sides of thy house; thy children as olive plants, round about thy table." Psalm 127:3 Douay-Rheims.

As I've been writing this, I've been overhearing a "news" show promoting a segment on how women love to watch television shows that feature tough women characters or, as Bly describes, "strong women who radiate energy". These are the women that he says accompany "soft males". It reminded me of something Fr. Zendejas said in a women's conference about the importance of being feminine, that the woman cannot rise above the man, so when a woman is masculine, the man goes below her. In other words, he becomes a soft male.

In this context, it's clear how women have contributed to the destruction of our culture by rejecting femininity. I find that immensely encouraging, because if it is true, we women can begin to turn things around just by wearing pretty dresses. I can do that.

Artwork: My Lady is a Widow by Marcus Stone

From Victorian/Edwardian Paintings:

"This picture, one of Stone's largest, is conceived as a celebration of the joys of family life. A humble labourer, employed in digging a trench beside a wall, is interrupted in his task by the arrival of his family who bring him lunch. A proud and loving father, he tenderly lifts his youngest child into his arms, while his daughter offers him a sheaf of corn. The picnic brought by his wife in the wicker basket promises to be abundant, and each member of the family bears a smile. Though 'lowly born', as the attendant quotation from one of Shakespeare's more obscure plays implies, they are happy, united in their love, and 'content'. The contrast with the widow, observing them from behind the garden wall which forms a barrier between them, is marked. Her gabled mansion can be seen behind her, but the emotional barrenness of her life is emphasised by the dead tree above her head, and the unkempt nature of her garden. She appears stranded, Miss Havisham-like, disengaged from the simple pleasures around her. The quotation from Shakespeare is an injunction to her, and to us, not to shut herself away in a world of books and riches, but to embrace life, marry, have children, and live in community with others. Stone has depicted her young enough to make this still a possibility."

Logic vs Emotion

I had an interesting conversation with my mom's primary care physician. He had gone to one of President Obama's appearances at a Texas university and was dismayed and puzzled by the "viciousness" of the conservatives. After a moment, he mentioned that he saw the same behavior exhibited by some of the liberals. (I apologize for the use of the misleading labels "conservative" and "liberal".)

The doctor admires and supports Obama. I do not. This did not stop us from pleasantly exchanging ideas.

I suggested that the viciousness he saw is the result of the poor education most Americans have. We do not know how to think, nor do we care to. We rely on emotion to communicate politically. We are encouraged to believe that this is legitimate by the television and radio talk shows who specialize in this form of distraction.

Unsubscribe Me

Ever since I wrote Bring Back the Birds, I've been thinking about politics and my participation in it. I've come to the conclusion that I don't want to participate. At all. I don't want to read about it; I don't want to vote; I don't even want to be registered.

It is a big change for me. I used to read about politics daily and expend a lot of effort trying to understand the issues. I volunteered for the Ron Paul campaign, and I worked a precinct on presidential election day. I attended my county convention as a delegate.

However, when I said in Bring Back the Birds that I thought women's suffrage was an attack on the Christian family, I truly meant it. I began to wonder why I was acting in conflict with what I believe. No good answer came to me. So here I am, unsubscribing from all my political newsletters, avoiding headlines, and feeling much more in control of my situation than ever before, because I know that the decisions I make in running my household make all the political statement I need. My husband will take care of the rest.

Now that's empowering.