"Although I am free in regard to all, I have made myself a slave to all so as to win over as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew to win over Jews; to those under the law I became like one under the law--though I myself am not under the law--to win over those under the law. To those outside the law I became like one outside the law--though I am not outside God's law but within the law of Christ--to win over those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, to win over the weak. I have become all things to all, to save at least some. All this I do for the sake of the gospel, so that I too may have a share in it. Do you not know that the runners in the stadium all run in the race, but only one wins the prize? Run so as to win." (1 Corinthians 9: 19-24).

Photo of myself competing in Nashua, NH 10K run, 1985.

Prayer in honor of the Tears of Mary

By Ven. Martin von Cochem

Hail, countless and bitter tears which flowed in such profusion from your eyes, O Mary, in your loving and tender compassion for your Son, our Crucified Saviour! Men and angels shall honor and revere these tears, and all sinners shall flee to them for refuge, for they have their source in your most compassionate Heart.

O Sorrowful Mother! Even as the crimson blood flowed from the Wounds of Jesus, so did the tears flow from your eyes, O Mary, mingled with unutterable bitterness on account of the agony with which your soul was overwhelmed.

O burning tears, O bitter tears, O mournful tears, which moved the angels to pity and touched the Heart of the Eternal Father! Soften my hard heart that it also may be moved to pity and to a true sorrow for my innumerable sins. O holy tears, wash me! O bitter tears, purify me! O mournful tears, cleanse me! O gentle tears, soften my heart! O burning tears, inflame my heart! O tears, rich in merit and grace, enrich and adorn me!

O most gentle Virgin, I recall to you the heartfelt compassion which you felt for your Divine Son during His Passion and the countless tears which then flowed from your eyes. I beseech you, through these bitter tears, to obtain for me the gift of tears and a true and heartfelt sorrow for my sins. Oh, would that I could shed such efficacious and salutary tears over the cruel sufferings of my Saviour and over my sins, as you shed at the foot of the Cross.

O most merciful Virgin, offer, I beseech you, your bitter tears to the Eternal Father in satisfaction for my tepidity and hardness of heart; and through their merit obtain for me mercy and pardon of all my sins. And when, O dearest Mother, I lie upon my deathbed, give me but one of your precious tears wherewith to wash and purify my sinful and guilty conscience. Amen.

For more information on Our Lady's Tears, visit my sister's Blog here.

For information on how to obtain a book of Chaplets including The Rosary of Our Lady's Tears and the Rosary of the Tears of Blood and dozens more, leave your email address in the comments section of this post and I will get back to you. - Paul.

"The messages which I give...are not taken into consideration."

Our Lady told Father Gobbi on December 31, 1983, "The signs the Lord sends are neither understood nor accepted; the dangers pointed out by 'my Pope,' who courageously and anxiously is predicting the storm awaiting you, are not believed. The messages which I give, through simple and little souls chosen by me in every part of the world, are not taken into consideration....The appearances which I am still making, often in faraway and dangerous places, are ignored. And yet you are only inches from your ruin. When all are shouting for peace, a new world war could suddenly fall upon you, spreading death and destruction everywhere."

This week's Catholic Free Press has a CNS article written by Dennis Sadowski entitled "Financial woes leave millions wondering how far down economy can go." But Our Lady, whose messages indeed are seldom taken into consideration by many Catholics (and most especially those in positions of "power" or influence) has already answered this question. Read here.

Do we believe ourselves to be "wiser" than Our Lady? Recall the words Our Heavenly Mother spoke to Mother Elena (a longtime spiritual daughter of St. Padre Pio): "If penance is not done, and they do not pray, the punishments will be ghastly...there will be death everywhere...Awareness of the terrible reality is urgent....I have given messages in all parts of the world with tears of blood, and humanity is not conscious of the terrible reality."

This message corresponds with that of Our Lady to Fr. Gobbi: "That which is awaiting you is suffering such as the world has ever known" and the prophecy of the Countess Francesca de Billiante: "Those nations which have rebelled against the Law of Christ will perish by fire. Europe will then be too large for them who survived."

Pride blinds. It was pride which motivated the people to laugh at Noah and his sons as they prepared an ark. Today, as faithful Catholics enter into the safe refuge of the New Ark (Our Lady), there is still laughter. Jesus prophesied this in Matthew 24: 39. We should not, therefore, be surprised.

Over the last few years, I have reminded readers of this Blog of what Our Lady told Fr. Gobbi back in 1990 (at Malvern, Pennsylvania):

"I announce to you that the hour of the great trial is on the point of arriving. The great trial has arrived for your country. How many times, as a concerned and sorrowing mother, have I endeavored to urge my children to follow the path of conversion and of return to the Lord. I have not been listened to. You have continued to walk along the way of rejection of God, and of His law of love. Sins of impurity have become ever more widespread, and immorality has spread like a sea which has submerged all things. Homosexuality, a sin of impurity which is against nature, has been justified; recourse to the means of preventing life have become commonplace, while abortions - these killings of innocent children, that cry for vengeance before the face of God - have spread and are performed in every part of your homeland.The moment of divine justice and of great mercy has now arrived. You will know the hour of weakness and of poverty; the hour of suffering and defeat; the purifying hour of the great chastisement.

The great trial has arrived for your Church. How great is your responsibility, O Pastors of the Holy Church of God! You continue along the path of division from the Pope and of the rejection of his Magisterium; indeed, in a hidden way, there is in preparation a true schism which could soon become open and proclaimed...And then, there will remain only a small faithful remnant, over which I will keep watch in the garden of my Immaculate Heart.The great trial has arrived for all humanity. The chastisement, predicted by me at Fatima and contained in that part of the secret which has not yet been revealed, is about to take place. The great moment of divine justice and of mercy has come upon the world."

Massachusetts Department of Public Health Report: Homosexuality linked with health problems and destructive behavior

JOHN R. DIGGS, JR., M.D.
"As a physician, it is my duty to assess behaviors for their impact on health and wellbeing. When something is beneficial, such as exercise, good nutrition, or adequate sleep, it is my duty to recommend it. Likewise, when something is harmful, such as smoking, overeating, alcohol or drug abuse, and homosexual sex, it is my duty to discourage it." (John R. Diggs, Jr., M.D. - see here).

"Their females exchanged natural relations for unnatural, and the males likewise gave up natural relations with females and burned with lust for one another. Males did shameful things with males and thus received in their own persons the due penalty for their perversity." (Romans 1: 26, 27).

Pope Benedict XVI warns that the world is headed for ruin if selfishness prevails over solidarity

"If people look only to their own interests, our world will certainly fall apart."

- Pope Benedict XVI

"The human heart is constantly seeking good things that will make it happy; but if it seeks them from creatures, it will never be satisfied, no matter how many it acquires. If it seeks God alone, God will satisfy all its desires. Who are the happiest people in this world, if not the saints? And why? Because they desire and seek only God."

- St. Alphonsus de Liguori

The solution? Prudent education. Paragraph 1784 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches us that: "The education of the conscience is a lifelong task. From the earliest years, it awakens the child to the knowledge and practice of the interior law recognized by conscience. Prudent education teaches virtue; it prevents or cures fear, selfishness and pride, resentment arising from guilt, and feelings of complacency, born of human weakness and faults. The education of the conscience guarantees freedom and engenders peace of heart."

Oscar Romero, the martyred Archbishop of San Salvador, said that:

"The Church, like Jesus, has to go on denouncing sin in our own day. It has to denounce the selfishness that is hidden in everyone's heart, the sin that dehumanizes persons, destroys families, and turns money, possessions, profit, and power into the ultimate ends for which persons strive. And the church has also to denounce what has rightly been called 'structural sin:' those social, economic, cultural, and political structures that drive people onto the margins of society. When the church hears the cry of the oppressed it cannot but denounce the social structures that give rise to the misery from which the cry arises." (August 6, 1977.)

And: "To try to preach without referring to the history one preaches in is not to preach the gospel. Many would like a preaching so spiritualistic that it leaves sinners unbothered and does not term idolaters those who kneel before money and power. A preaching that says nothing of the sinful environment in which the gospel is reflected upon is not the gospel." (February 18, 1979)

And: "The church is obliged to demand structural changes that favour the reign of God and a more just and comradely way of life. Unjust social structures are the roots of all violence and disturbances. How hard and conflicting are the results of duty! Those who benefit from obsolete structures react selfishly to any kind of change." (November 1979).

Will we heed Pope Benedict XVI's warning? In San Salvador, Archbishop Romero was not heeded by those in power. And more than 60,000 people lost their lives. Will we choose solidarity or selfishness? Self-interest or justice?

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Scrooge was better than his word. He did it all, and infinitely more; and to Tiny Tim, who did not die, he was a second father. He became as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man, as the good old city knew, or any other good old city, town, or borough, in the good old world. Some people laughed to see the alteration in him, but he let them laugh, and little heeded them; for he was wise enough to know that nothing ever happened on this globe, for good, at which some people did not have their fill of laughter in the outset; and knowing that such as these would be blind anyway, he thought it quite as well that they should wrinkle up their eyes in grins, as have the malady in less attractive forms. His own heart laughed: and that was quite enough for him.

He had no further intercourse with Spirits, but lived upon the Total Abstinence Principle, ever afterwards; and it was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us! And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God Bless Us, Every One!

The children of Belial...

"God has established not just one enmity but "enmities", and not only between Mary and Satan but between her race and his race. That is, God has put enmities, antipathies and hatreds between the true children and servants of the Blessed Virgin and the children and slaves of the devil. They have no love and no sympathy for each other. The children of Belial, the slaves of Satan, the friends of the world, - for they are all one and the same - have always persecuted and will persecute more than ever in the future those who belong to the Blessed Virgin, just as Cain of old persecuted his brother Abel, and Esau his brother Jacob. These are the types of the wicked and of the just. But the humble Mary will always triumph over Satan, the proud one, and so great will be her victory that she will crush his head, the very seat of his pride. She will unmask his serpent's cunning and expose his wicked plots. She will scatter to the winds his devilish plans and to the end of time will keep her faithful servants safe from his cruel claws.
But Mary's power over the evil spirits will especially shine forth in the latter times, when Satan will lie in wait for her heel, that is, for her humble servants and her poor children whom she will rouse to fight against him. In the eyes of the world they will be little and poor and, like the heel, lowly in the eyes of all, down-trodden and crushed as is the heel by the other parts of the body. But in compensation for this they will be rich in God's graces, which will be abundantly bestowed on them by Mary. They will be great and exalted before God in holiness. They will be superior to all creatures by their great zeal and so strongly will they be supported by divine assistance that, in union with Mary, they will crush the head of Satan with their heel, that is, their humility, and bring victory to Jesus Christ.

2) Devotion to Mary is especially necessary in the latter times.

Finally, God in these times wishes his Blessed Mother to be more known, loved and honoured than she has ever been. This will certainly come about if the elect, by the grace and light of the Holy Spirit, adopt the interior and perfect practice of the devotion which I shall later unfold. Then they will clearly see that beautiful Star of the Sea, as much as faith allows. Under her guidance they will perceive the splendours of this Queen and will consecrate themselves entirely to her service as subjects and slaves of love. They will experience her motherly kindness and affection for her children. They will love her tenderly and will appreciate how full of compassion she is and how much they stand in need of her help. In all circumstances they will have recourse to her as their advocate and mediatrix with Jesus Christ. They will see clearly that she is the safest, easiest, shortest and most perfect way of approaching Jesus and will surrender themselves to her, body and soul, without reserve in order to belong entirely to Jesus." (St. Louis de Montfort, True Devotion to Mary, Nos. 54, 55).

Related reading: Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights says that hate or ideology (or both) is at the root of the war against Christmas. Read here.

The Church proposes but the world imposes...

"Ladele brought her employer to court after she claimed she was bullied and treated as a 'pariah' by her fellow employees because of her adherence to Christian beliefs on homosexuality. Ladele would not perform such ceremonies and instead arranged for other colleagues to handle them. Nonetheless, the Council accused her of gross misconduct and refused to consider her for promotion, eventually threatening to fire her if she did not conduct a homosexual union herself." (From the Lifesite News article, click on title of this post to go to article).

In his Encyclical Letter Redemptoris Missio (The Mission of the Redeemer), Pope John Paul II said that, "The Church proposes; she imposes nothing." (No. 39). Such was the teaching of Vatican II: "The Church strictly forbids forcing anyone to embrace the faith, or alluring or enticing people by worrisome wiles. By the same token, she also strongly insists on this right, that no one be frightened away from the faith by unjust vexations on the part of others." (Ad Gentes, No. 13). And Dignitatis Humanae, No. 10 teaches that: "It is one of the major tenets of Catholic doctrine that man's response to God in faith must be free: no one therefore is to be forced to embrace the Christian faith against his own will. This doctrine is contained in the word of God and it was constantly proclaimed by the Fathers of the Church. The act of faith is of its very nature a free act. Man, redeemed by Christ the Savior and through Christ Jesus called to be God's adopted son, cannot give his adherence to God revealing Himself unless, under the drawing of the Father, he offers to God the reasonable and free submission of faith. It is therefore completely in accord with the nature of faith that in matters religious every manner of coercion on the part of men should be excluded. In consequence, the principle of religious freedom makes no small contribution to the creation of an environment in which men can without hindrance be invited to the Christian faith, embrace it of their own free will, and profess it effectively in their whole manner of life."

But while the Church respects freedom of conscience and shuns any form of coercion, our Holy Father reminds us that, "We are building a dictatorship of relativism that does not recognize anything as definitive and whose ultimate goal consists solely of one's own ego and desires.
We, however, have a different goal: the Son of God, the true man. He is the measure of true humanism. An "adult" faith is not a faith that follows the trends of fashion and the latest novelty; a mature adult faith is deeply rooted in friendship with Christ. It is this friendship that opens us up to all that is good and gives us a criterion by which to distinguish the true from the false, and deceit from truth."

This dictatorship of relativism seeks to impose its immoral agenda on Christians in the name of "tolerance." But this "tolerance" is a sham. It is simply an attempt to make an idol out of a false conception of freedom. Again, our Holy Father explains that, "..what clearly stands behind the modern era's radical demand for freedom is the promise: You will be like God...The implicit goal of all modern freedom movements is, in the end, to be like a god, dependent on nothing and nobody, with one's own freedom not restricted by anyone else's...The primeval error of such a radically developed desire for freedom lies in the idea of a divinity that is conceived as being purely egotistical. The god thus conceived of is, not God, but an idol, indeed, the image of what the Christian tradition would call the devil, the anti-god, because therein lies the radical opposite of the true God: the true God is, of his own nature, being-for (Father), being-from (Son), and being-with (Holy Spirit). Yet man is in the image of God precisely because the being-for , from, and with constitute the basic anthropological shape. Whenever people try to free themselves from this, they are moving, not toward divinity, but toward dehumanizing, toward the destruction of being itself through the destruction of truth. The Jacobin variant of the idea of liberation...is a rebellion against being human in itself, rebellion against truth, and that is why it leads people - as Sartre percipiently observed - into a self-contradictory existence that we call hell. It has thus become fairly clear that freedom is linked to a yardstick, the yardstick of reality - to truth*. Freedom to destroy oneself or to destroy others is not freedom but a diabolical parody. The freedom of man is a shared freedom, freedom in a coexistence of other freedoms, which are mutually limiting and thus mutually supportive: freedom must be measured according to what I am, what we are - otherwise it abolishes itself."

In the name of "tolerance," the New World Order seeks to impose its rebellion from truth on all. It will not tolerate any dissent, any disagreement. Coercion is an acceptable tool in a dictatorship. Soon, the New Order will use violence to achieve its goals and not just coercion and propaganda. In the end, every dictatorship must rely on violence in its vain attempt to hold onto power.

* Previous Blog post here.

Related reading: Pope Benedict XVI on saving humanity from homosexual or transsexual behavior: read here.

Signs of the times...

"A general convergence of religions upon a universal Christ who fundamentally satisfies them all: that seems to me the only possible conversion of the world, and the only form In which a religion of the future can be conceived. "(Teilhard De Chardin Christianity and Evolution p. 130)

According to a press release posted on the Dow Jones & Company's Market Watch website, readers should prepare for a miracle which everyone will see in the sky shortly before the "emergence of Maitreya and his group, the Masters of Wisdom." As Paul Proctor so eloquently put it, "This is a major business and financial news publication - not some obscure blog for Bigfoot hunters and UFO enthusiasts." Why such a strange message from such a respected financial news publication? If it were the Enquirer or some other silly tabloid which regularly runs stories about two-headed babies and Elvis sightings, we could just laugh and shrug it off. But the Dow Jones & Company's Market Watch website?

Read what Pere Teilhard de Chardin, S.J. had to say about this coming "Christ" here. As Maritain said, Teilhard preserves Christ in his theology, but what a Christ!

Related reading here and here and here.

Genuflecting before the spirit of Antichrist...

Pray for Notre Dame:

In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and by the power of his blood, his cross and his resurrection, I bind you Satan, and all your evil spirits, demonic forces, satanic powers, principalities, attributes, aspects, clusters, endowments, and satanic thrones: I bind all kings and princes of terrors, I bind all demonic assignments and functions of destruction, from any of the above demonic entities from outer space, the air, water, fire, the ground, the netherworld, and the evil forces of nature.

I bind all interplay, interaction, and communication between satanic and demonic spirits and expose all you demonic forces and spirits as weakened, defeated enemies of Jesus Christ. I sever all demonic spirits from any demonic ruler above these spirits in the name of Jesus Christ.

I bind all enemies of Christ present together, all demonic entities under the one highest authority, and I command that you leave my life now and go straight to the feet of Jesus Christ. Your assignments and influences are broken.

I call forth and loose the Holy Spirit, the heavenly host, the holy angels of God, to surround, and protect, and cleanse with God’s holy light all areas vacated by the forces of evil. I ask the Holy Spirit to permeate my mind, heart, body, spirit and soul, creating a hunger and thirst for God’s holy word, and to fill me to overflowing with the life and love of my Lord, Jesus Christ.

No wiggle room...

Father Ray Bourgeois, an American Maryknoll priest who advocates the ordination of women, will be excommunicated unless he renounces his stand. I was attacked by a La Salette priest for standing with the Church on this issue. Read here. This angry priest saw no problem with La Salette religious discussing the ordination of women to the ministerial priesthood (going so far as to suggest that there is "wiggle room" on the issue) and described such discussion as "casual speculation."

Wrong Father. It's disobedience. And I won't expect you to understand the difference.

Exciting news for Fitchburg, Massachusetts...

According to Fr. John Zuhlsdorf over at WDTPRS, "There will be a high Christmas midnight mass (missa cantata) at Immaculate Conception Church, 59 Walnut St., Fitchburg, Massachusetts. A musical prelude will begin at 11:30, with the mass beginning at 12 midnight. It will be celebrated by Fr. Mark Withoos."

Let's hope that this positive development will mark the beginning of renewal for the Catholic Church in and around Fitchburg. And let's remember the words of Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, our beloved Pope Benedict XVI, in his book "Salt of the Earth": "I am of the opinion, to be sure, that the old rite should be granted much more generously to all those who desire it. It's impossible to see what could be dangerous or unacceptable about that. A community is calling its very being into question when it suddenly declares that what until now was its holiest and highest possession is strictly forbidden and when it makes the longing for it seem downright indecent."

Relevant passage from Vatican II:

"Particular law remaining in force, the use of the Latin language is to be preserved in the Latin rites." (Sacrosanctum Concilium, No. 36, see also No. 54).

And from Pope John Paul II in his Apostolic Letter Ecclesia Dei:

"Respect must everywhere be shown for the feelings of all those who are attached to the Latin liturgical tradition...for the use of the Roman Missal according to the 1962 edition."

Explosive report issued by the U.S. Army War College's Strategic Institute

Report cites the prospect of a breakdown of order in the United States. Read full text here (pdf file).

Catholic hospital flying "gay pride" flag...

"The wrath of God is indeed being revealed from heaven against every impiety and wickedness of those who suppress the truth by their wickedness. For what can be known about God is evident to them, because God made it evident to them. Ever since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes of eternal power and divinity have been able to be understood and perceived in what he has made. As a result, they have no excuse; for although they knew God they did not accord him glory as God or give him thanks. Instead, they became vain in their reasoning, and their senseless minds were darkened. While claiming to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for the likeness of an image of mortal man or of birds or of four-legged animals or of snakes. Therefore, God handed them over to impurity through the lusts of their hearts for the mutual degradation of their bodies. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie and revered and worshiped the creature rather than the creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. Therefore, God handed them over to degrading passions. Their females exchanged natural relations for unnatural, and the males likewise gave up natural relations with females and burned with lust for one another. Males did shameful things with males and thus received in their own persons the due penalty for their perversity. And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God handed them over to their undiscerning mind to do what is improper. They are filled with every form of wickedness, evil, greed, and malice; full of envy, murder, rivalry, treachery, and spite. They are gossips and scandalmongers and they hate God. They are insolent, haughty, boastful, ingenious in their wickedness, and rebellious toward their parents. They are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Although they know the just decree of God that all who practice such things deserve death, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them." (Romans 1: 18-32).

And the Band Played On...

"I am honored to invite these talented groups and individuals to participate in the Inaugural Parade," said President-elect Obama. "These organizations embody the best of our nation's history, diversity and commitment to service. Vice President-elect Biden and I are proud to have them join us in the parade." - From the CNA article.

These organizations embody the best of our nation's history? The Lesbian and Gay Band Association (LGBA) will be marching in the Southern Decadence Parade. The Southern Decadence event has become known as the "Gay Mardi Gras" (see the official website here).

As Paul Rondeau explains, "Among America's culture wars, one of today's most intense controversies rages around the issue alternatively identified, depending on one's point of view, as 'normalizing homosexuality' or 'accepting gayness.' The debate is truly a social-ethical-moral conceptual war that transcends both the scientific and legal, though science and law most often are the weapon of choice. The ammunition of these weapons, however, is persuasion." (Paul E. Rondeau, "Selling Homosexuality to America," Regent University Law Review, 2002, Vol. 14, p. 443. Available here.

If you're one of those who is convinced that President-elect Obama has "moved to the center" in recent weeks, you are only deceiving yourself. The Obama administration plans on advancing a radical homosexual agenda. Elements of the LGBA do not "embody the best of our nation's history." They embody perversion*. And there is nothing noble about that.



*Saint John Chrysostom denounces homosexual acts as being contrary to nature. Commenting on the Epistle to the Romans (1: 26-27), he says that the pleasures of sodomy are an unpardonable offense to nature and are doubly destructive, since they threaten the species by deviating the sexual organs away from their primary procreative end and they sow disharmony between men and women, who no longer are inclined by physical desire to live together in peace.

The brilliant Patriarch of Constantinople employs most severe words for the vice we are analyzing. Saint John Chrysostom makes this strong argument: “All passions are dishonorable, for the soul is even more prejudiced and degraded by sin than is the body by disease; but the worst of all passions is lust between men…. The sins against nature are more difficult and less rewarding, since true pleasure is only the one according to nature. But when God abandons a man, everything is turned upside down! Therefore, not only are their passions [of the homosexuals] satanic, but their lives are diabolic….. So I say to you that these are even worse than murderers, and that it would be better to die than to live in such dishonor. A murderer only separates the soul from the body, whereas these destroy the soul inside the body….. There is nothing, absolutely nothing more mad or damaging than this perversity.” (St. John Chrysostom, In Epistulam ad Romanos IV, in J. McNeill, op. cit., pp. 89-90)

The decline of local newspapers...

John Gapper writes, "Many American journalists, facing job losses and the death of an industry they loved, regard it as a tragedy not just for them but for society. They fear that television, radio and blogs can never replace what newspapers provided for readers." And what exactly would that be?

In a meeting with communications specialists in the United States, Pope John Paul II explained that, "...the Church recognizes the need for freedom of speech and freedom of the press, just as does your Constitution. But she goes further. Rights imply corresponding duties. The proper exercise of the right to information demands that the content of what is communicated be true and - within the limits set by justice and charity - complete (see Inter Mirifica, No. 5). Your very profession invites you to reflect on this obligation to truth and its completeness. Included here is the obligation to avoid any manipulation of truth for any reason. This manipulation in fact takes place when certain issues are deliberately passed over in silence, in order that others may be unduly emphasized. It also occurs when information is altered or withheld so that society will be less able to resist the imposition of a given ideology."

Many newspapers have exhibited a strong penchant for such manipulation. See here for example. There are many factors contributing to the death of local newspapers. But one which is so often overlooked is that readers have grown tired of newspaper editors and journalists who have abandoned their obligation to truth and its completeness.

Will the death of local newspapers represent a "tragedy" for society in general? I honestly don't see how this could be the case. Many gave up on these newspapers a long time ago. As one individual said at this Blog, "...liberal bias hasn't exactly helped these papers either. If a paper isn't even going to try to remain objective, I don't want to read it."

Precisely. This isn't a tragedy. It's a comedy of errors (minus the happy resolution at the end). The newspaper industry is only reaping what it has sown.

Related reading: Shameless in Massachusetts - the Telegram & Gazette's pro-homosexual bias examined here.

Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another...

"Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for 'God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.' Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that in due time He may exalt you." (1 Peter 5:5-6).

A few years ago, another Catholic Blogger (who would routinely refer to His Eminence Sean Cardinal O'Malley as "Sean" - while accusing him of heresy) wrote me an email in which she referred to my Blog as "small potatos." It must have shocked this woman when I sincerely agreed with her. I'll go further. Not only is this Blog small potatos. But I am also small. In fact, my very name is from the Latin Paulus meaning "little" or "small."

We quickly forget that Jesus can do much with our little. Wasn't that really the point He was trying to make when He multiplied the bread and fishes and fed so many with so little? Humility (which is really only the truth) is so important to the spiritual life because it keeps us from falling into pride, which is one of the Seven Deadly Sins. It was pride that caused the fall of Lucifer, one of the greatest of the angels. And it is pride which goes before every fall. So important is humility to the spiritual life that St. Jean Vianney said, "Humility is to the various virtues what the chain is to the Rosary; take away the chain and the beads are scattered, remove humility and all virtues vanish." St. John Chrysostom said that, "Humility is the mother, root, nurse, foundation, and center of all other virtues."

It's okay to be "small" and "little." How easily we forget this. The Little Flower taught that even picking up a pencil for the love of God can be a great thing, precisely because it is done out of love. In Philippians 2: 3-11, St. Paul exhorts us to, "Do nothing out of selfishness or out of vainglory; rather, humbly regard others as more important than yourselves, each looking out not for his own interests, but (also) everyone for those of others. Have among yourselves the same attitude that is also yours in Christ Jesus, Who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross. Because of this, God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

There is no shame in weakness. Although the world would have you believe otherwise. But we don't follow the world or its asinine maxims do we? We follow the Apostle Paul who said, "For when I am weak, it is then that I am strong." When we humbly acknowledge our weakness, our poverty, then - AND ONLY THEN - can God fill us with His strength.

Anti-religion sign placed next to traditional Nativity scene at Washington State Capitol Building

The sign reads:

"There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell. There is only our natural world. Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds"

As we move toward one world government, the new humanitarian religion will become more and more aggressive. Catholicism, its greatest enemy, must be overcome at all cost. To this end, ecclesiastical masonry (see here and here) has inflitrated the Church.

Through one of the characters in his book The Lord of the World, Robert Hugh Benson describes this humanitarian religion which is to overcome the Catholic Church: "Humanitarianism...is becoming an actual religion itself, though anti-supernatural. It is a Pantheism. Pantheism deifies all nature, God is the world, but naturally, man above all is God since he is the highest expression of nature. It is a religion devoid of the 'super' natural, because since God is nature itself, there is no longer a distinction between Creator and creature. The creature is God and hence arbitrator of his own destiny and establishes the moral law for himself. Nature, and man is its highest expression, has all the divine attributes. Humanitarianism is a religion devoid of the supernatural. It is developing a ritual under Freemasonry; it has a creed, 'God is man'; and the rest. It has, therefore, a real food of a sort to offer religious cravings: it idealizes, and yet makes no demands upon the spiritual faculties. Then, they have the use of all the churches except ours, and of all the Cathedrals; and they are beginning at last to encourage sentiment. Then they may display their symbols and we may not..."

The new humanitarian religion, which is anti-supernatural, must absorb Christianity as it prepares for the entrance of the Man of Sin. Catholics who maintain a devotion to the Holy Eucharist and Our Lady must be first ostracized and later eliminated as incompatible with the New Order.

On March 11, 1995, Our Lady told Fr. Gobbi that, "In the Church, the great apostasy, which will spread throughout the whole world, will be brought to its completion; the schism will take place through a general alienation from the Gospel and from the true faith. There will enter into the Church the man of iniquity, who opposes himself to Christ, and who will bring into her interior the abomination of desolation, thus bringing to fulfillment the horrible sacrilege, of which the Prophet Daniel* has spoken."

Related: World ready for world government?

And more from Michael Brown here.

Friendship with the world...

Newsweek, in an article which may be found here, is actually trying to make a religious case for same-sex "marriage." Meanwhile, the article I submitted to the Worcester Telegram & Gazette on the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts and how it did violence to the common good, which may be found here, will never see the light of day. Mr. George French, the Editor of the Editorial section of the T & G, hasn't even responded to my queries. I'll live with it. I'm not wrapped up in myself. I'm just not that important in the grand scheme of things. And I never will be (even though I am important to Jesus).

It only serves to highlight the fact that newspapers such as the Telegram & Gazette are not really interested in a free and open exchange of ideas. Indeed, orthodox Christians are not welcome in the marketplace of ideas throughout much of our secularized society. Expect this trend to continue. Christians will be marginalized to the same extent our Jewish brothers and sisters were marginalized by the Third Reich. In the New Order, Christians (at least the orthodox ones who actually accept Divine Revelation and especially the authority of the Magisterium) will be barred from the public forum and contained within a ghetto courtesy of the dictatorship of relativism. Absolute truth will have to be expunged. As well as those who adhere to it.

In the Gospel of John, chapter fifteen verses 18-27, Jesus explains to us: "If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own; but because you do not belong to the world, and I have chosen you out of the world, the world hates you. Remember the word I spoke to you, 'No slave is greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. And they will do all these things to you on account of my name, because they do not know the one who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin; but as it is they have no excuse for their sin. Whoever hates me also hates my Father. If I had not done works among them that no one else ever did, they would not have sin; but as it is, they have seen and hated both me and my Father. But in order that the word written in their law might be fulfilled, 'They hated me without cause.' "When the Advocate comes whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth that proceeds from the Father, he will testify to me. And you also testify, because you have been with me from the beginning."

Related: When Mr. Vic Melfa, an alumnus of Holy Cross College in Worcester, wrote a letter to alumni of Holy Cross criticizing the Holy Cross newspaper and a student group which promotes homosexuality (see here), it elicited a strong front-page reaction from the Telegram & Gazette (see here).

More evidence of the pro-homosexual bias at the Telegram & Gazette here.

A special and personal vocation...

Gaudium et Spes of the Second Vatican Council teaches: "May all Christians be aware of their special and personal vocation in the political community. This vocation requires that they offer a shining example of devotion to duty and of service in promoting the common good, so that they also show by their deeds how authority can be harmonized with freedom , personal initiative with the interrelationships and bonds of the whole social body, and appropriate unity with beneficial diversity." (No. 75).

At the same time, Christians must not treat citizenship as inherently more important than other elements of their vocation which are more central (such as work and family) and should refrain from deferring unduly to the government's authority. It goes without saying that the State should not be regarded as the first principle of morality and that when the State demands that which conflicts with moral truth (such as same-sex "marriage" or abortion) the Christian should affirm that, "We must obey God rather than any human authority" (Acts 5:29). Dignitatis Humanae, No. 11, reminds us that: "He [Jesus Our Lord] acknowledged the power of government and its rights, when He commanded that tribute be given to Caesar: but He gave clear warning that the higher rights of God are to be kept inviolate: "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's" (Matt. 22:21). See also Thomas Aquinas, S.t., 2-2, q.104, a.5.

The purpose of the State is to promote the common good. This is what gives the State its fundamental right to rule. Where the State no longer promotes the common good, it forfeits its right to rule: "The Church has always taught the duty to act for the common good and, in so doing, has likewise educated good citizens for each State. Furthermore, she has always taught that the fundamental duty of power is solicitude for the common good of society; this is what gives power its fundamental rights. Precisely in the name of these premises of the objective ethical order, the rights of power can only be understood on the basis of respect for the objective and inviolable rights of man." (Redemptor Hominis, No. 17).

Pope John Paul II defines the common good as, "..the good of all and of each individual, because we are all really responsible for all" (Sollicitudo Rei Socialis, No. 38). John Paul also explains in this Encyclical Letter that, "It is important to note...that a world which is divided into blocs, sustained by rigid ideologies, and in which instead of interdependence and solidarity different forms of imperialism hold sway, can only be a world subject to the structures of sin. The sum total of the negative factors working against a true awareness of the universal common good and the need to further it, gives the impression of creating, in persons and institutions, an obstacle which is difficult to overcome." (No. 36).

At a time when Christians are increasingly being marginalized, both here and abroad, the Christian has a duty more than ever to fulfill the responsibilities of his or her vocation and to say - when the State demands that which conflicts with moral truth - "We must obey God rather than men."

Will we have the courage, as Christians, to stand with Jesus? Will we risk being marginalized, persecuted and even put to death? Which is more important to us: friendship with the world or friendship with Christ? Many have already abandoned Our Lord and His Church. Some of these still warm a pew every Sunday. They remain "in the bosom of the Church, but, as it were, only in a 'bodily' manner" and not in their heart (See Lumen Gentium, No. 14).

The first Bishop of Worcester on the common good...

In an address given to the Catholic Conference on Industrial Relations in Portland, Oregon on October 5, 1954, the first Bishop of the Worcester Diocese, John J. Wright, explained to those present that, "..the common good is all the heritage from the past and all the hope for the future which good men share under God. Common to many, it is therefore public; perfective of the individual, it remains somehow personal. It calls the individual out of himself to share things with the general community, but it puts the resources of the general community at the service of the things closest to the personality of the individual. That is what Cicero meant when he defined the common good, the res publica, in terms of a nation's altars and hearths, of the spiritual and domestic values which center about these and which serve personality: 'in aris et focis est res publica.' It was out of this concept of the common good that our forefathers derived their notion of the great object of the State's existence. Hence their fine phrase the common weal, a phrase perpetuated in the name by which they designated this civil community, not by the cold collective name so dear to the totalitarian, The State, nor with any name of special interest or partisan emphasis as The Duchy or The Realm, but The Commonwealth, The Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is the concept behind warm words like mutual in the preambles of our national and state Constitutions, as that of my own state which provides 'that all shall be governed by certain laws for the common good.'...The common good: it is the mutual bond of all who love the good, the true, and the beautiful; who seek good things, not evil; who seek the private good of persons and the collective good of the State, but the good of both in and under and through the Supreme Good, which is God. It is the good which God gives us all in order to keep us together, as opposed to the good that He gives us each to keep to ourselves. It is the good before which, on due occasion, both individual and State are obliged to bow: the common good...

Such an appreciation of the common good which unites, as against - or, rather, as above all particular or factional or partisan goods which divide - would make possible the Vital Center for which certain political philosophers are pleading; a Vital Center which can exist only when honorable moderates of Right and Left prefer working with each other in behalf of the common good to working with extremists of their own respective camps, extremists who seek only the particular good after which their side aspires..."

In Goodridge v. Department of Public Health, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court did violence to this idea of the common good. The Court forgot that the common good is the good of both the individual and the State "in and under and through the Supreme Good which is God." The Court opted to side with extremists who "seek only the particular good after which their side aspires."

And the people of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts are the ones who will pay the price for this judicial arrogance.

Danger, Danger Gene Robinson...Hypocrisy...Danger!

Remember when New Hampshire's homosexual "bishop" V. Gene Robinson said that the Vatican's ban on ordaining men with a homosexual inclination was "vile" and represented an "act of violence"? See here.

Mr. Robinson is so concerned about the eruption of real violence (see here) which has been perpetrated by radical homosexual activists against Mormon and Christian Churches that he has said absolutely nothing to condemn these truly vile acts. And so the Walter Duranty Award for living in denial goes to V. Gene Robinson. A man whose thought processes really do not compute.

Runner up: Harry Forbes. See here.

Calling all Catholics of the Worcester Diocese....let's rally behind Bishop McManus

I have just submitted the following piece to the Worcester Telegram & Gazette. I'm hoping that it sees the light of day there:


At the 51st annual Red Mass held recently at St. Paul Cathedral, His Excellency The Most Reverend Robert J. McManus reminded those present that the greatest act of compassion which those in the legal and judicial fields can show is trying to ensure that the laws and statutes of the United States always protect the dignity of the human person. Sadly, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) has not shown such compassion in recent years.

On November 18, 2003, the SJC ruled, in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health, that two members of the same sex have a right to marriage under the constitution of the Bay State. Chief Justice Margaret Marshall, writing for the majority, wrote that the state’s constitution "affirms the dignity and equality of all individuals" and "forbids the creation of second-class citizens" and that the state had no constitutionally adequate reason for denying marriage to same-sex couples.

While this decision of the SJC is long on emotional appeal, it is short on substance. Article VII of the Constitution of the State of Massachusetts (1780) states clearly that, "Government is instituted for the common good; for the protection, safety, prosperity and happiness of the people.." According to this same article, government is not instituted for the "private interest" of individuals and certain classes of men. And what do we mean by the "common good"? The Catechism of the Catholic Church, citing the Letter of Barnabas, a Christian document which dates to the first or early second century, provides an answer: "In keeping with the social nature of man, the good of each individual is necessarily related to the common good, which in turn can be defined only in reference to the human person: ‘Do not live entirely isolated, having retreated into yourselves, as if you were already justified, but gather instead to seek the common good together’ CCC, 1905). The Catechism then provides us with a precise definition in paragraphs 1906 to 1909: "By common good is to be understood ‘the sum total of social conditions which allow people, either as groups or as individuals, to reach their fulfillment more fully and more easily.’ The common good concerns the life of all. It calls for prudence from each, and even more from those who exercise the office of authority. It consists of three essential elements: First, the common good presupposes respect for the person as such...Second, the common good requires the social well-being and development of the group itself...Finally, the common good requires peace, that is, the stability and security of a just order."

In Goodridge v. Department of Public Health, the SJC failed to uphold the common good and to acknowledge that government is instituted for the very purpose of promoting and defending the common good. With all due respect to Chief Justice Marshall, there is "constitutionally adequate reason" for denying marriage to same-sex couples. Same-sex "marriage" violates the common good. It does this on both the individual and social plane. On the individual plane, as Dr. Germain Grisez explains, "...although it is true that partners in sodomy also could conceivably share in a committed relationship with sincere mutual affection and express their feelings in ways that would be appropriate in any friendship, the coupling of two bodies of the same sex cannot form one complete organism and so cannot contribute to a bodily communion of persons. Hence, the experience of intimacy of the partners in sodomy cannot be the experience of any real unity between them. Rather, each one’s experience of intimacy is private and incommunicable, and is no more a common good than is the mere experience of sexual arousal and orgasm. Therefore, the choice to engage in sodomy for the sake of that experience of intimacy in no way contributes to the partners’ real common good as committed friends."

On the social plane, as the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith explained in a document entitled Proposals to Give Legal Recognition to Unions Between Homosexual Persons, "The inevitable consequences of legal recognition of homosexual unions would be the redefinition of marriage, which would become, in its legal status, an institution devoid of essential reference to factors linked to homosexuality; for example, procreation and raising children. If, from the legal standpoint, marriage between a man and a woman were to be considered just one possible form of marriage, the concept of marriage would undergo a radical transformation, with grave detriment to the common good. By putting homosexual unions on a legal plane analogous to that of marriage and the family, the State acts arbitrarily and in contradiction with its duties." (No. 8).

Our forefathers, the very men who made this Commonwealth and who crafted its Constitution, understood that government exists to serve the common good and that all society, both religious and civil, and every legal tradition of both authority and liberty, exist for the protection and perfection of the human person. Moreover, our forefathers (and this includes former Justices of the Supreme Judicial Court) recognized the ends and the purposes of marriage. They understood that matrimony is the creative cause of the social unit, the family.

For example, Justice Charles Ambrose DeCourcy (1857-1924) interpreted the special dignity of marriage with these rational words, "By the law of the Commonwealth marriage is regarded as more than a civil contract. After cohabitation, at least, it ripens into a status which affects the parties thereto, their posterity and the whole community...it is a change which, for important reasons, the law recognizes, and it inaugurates conditions and relations which the law takes under its protection." (Richardson v. Richardson, 246 Mass. 353, 354, 104. N.E. 73 (1923), quoting from Smith v. Smith, 171 Mass. 404, 407, 50 N.E. 933, 934 (1898).

Justice George Tyler Bigelow (1810-1878) said that, "The great object of marriage in a civilized and Christian community, is to secure the existence and permanence of the family relation, and to ensure the legitimacy of offspring..." (Reynolds v. Reynolds, 85 Mass.(3 Allen) 605-607 (1862).

For these Justices, marriage was something "more than a civil contract." They would have understood the teaching of Pope Pius XI in his Encyclical On Christian Marriage that, "Matrimony was neither established nor restored by man but by God. It has been protected, strengthened, and elevated not by the laws of men, but by those of God, the Author of human nature, and of Christ who restored that same nature. Consequently, these laws cannot be changed according to men’s pleasure." They would have understood this great Pontiff’s teaching that marriage has its origin "in God." They would have respected the Author of marriage, the common good and the dignity of the human person.

What a shame that we cannot say the same about the Justices who decided it was their prerogative to redefine marriage.

I agree with Fr. Euteneuer: The National Catholic Register is now part of the problem

Not only will Barack Obama be the most radical pro-abortion president in U.S. history, but as the CNA has observed: "Citing what they call America’s 'promise of equality,' the Obama administration plans to push for homosexual rights by including protections of sexual orientation, 'gender identity' and 'gender expression' as civil rights. His office proposes expanding hate crimes statues and the adoption rights of homosexuals while supporting full civil unions for 'LGBT couples' to give them 'legal rights and privileges equal to those of married couples.'"

The Vatican II Fathers teach us (in the conciliar document Inter Mirifica, No. 14) that: "...To instill a fully Christian spirit into readers, a truly Catholic press should be set up and encouraged. Such a press-whether immediately fostered and directed by ecclesiastical authorities or by Catholic laymen-should be edited with the clear purpose of forming, supporting and advancing public opinion in accord with natural law and Catholic teaching and precepts. It should disseminate and properly explain news concerning the life of the Church."

Catholics in this country really do not need another Commonweal or National Catholic Reporter to instruct them as to how to sell out to the secular culture.

And what of the Posse Comitatus Act?

The Posse Comitatus Act of 1878

June 18, 1878

CHAP. 263 - An act making appropriations for the support of the Army for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and seventy-nine, and for other purposes.SEC. 15. From and after the passage of this act it shall not be lawful to employ any part of the Army of the United States, as a posse comitatus, or otherwise, for the purpose of executing the laws, except in such cases and under such circumstances as such employment of said force may be expressly authorized by the Constitution or by act of Congress; and no money appropriated by this act shall be used to pay any of the expenses incurred in the employment of any troops in violation of this section And any person willfully violating the provisions of this section shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and on conviction thereof shall be punished by fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars or imprisonment not exceeding two years or by both such fine and imprisonment.

10 U.S.C. (United States Code) 375

Sec. 375. Restriction on direct participation by military personnel: The Secretary of Defense shall prescribe such regulations as may be necessary to ensure that any activity (including the provision of any equipment or facility or the assignment or detail of any personnel) under this chapter does not include or permit direct participation by a member of the Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marine Corps in a search, seizure, arrest, or other similar activity unless participation in such activity by such member is otherwise authorized by law.

18 U.S.C. 1385

Sec. 1385. Use of Army and Air Force as posse comitatus Whoever, except in cases and under circumstances expressly authorized by the Constitution or Act ofCongress, willfully uses any part of the Army or the Air Force as a posse comitatus or otherwise toexecute the laws shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both.

Note: The only exemption has to do with nuclear materials (18 U.S.C. 831 (e)