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Ave Maria! December 12, 2011

Posted by Tantumblogo in awesomeness, Basics, Dallas Diocese, General Catholic, Glory, North Deanery, Our Lady, Saints.
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Thank you, my Mother, for deigning to appear to St. Juan Diego and effecting the miracle of his tilma, thus propelling a still doubting, still warlike Aztec people out of their hideous nightmare religion of massive human sacrifice and violent conquest, and into the Light of the Faith.  Thank you for guiding and protecting this entire continent and hemisphere.  Billions of souls owe you a tremendous debt.  Pray for us!  Pray that this continent may not slip back into the night of darkist paganism and sensual excess!  Pray that we may work in the Light, always!  Pray that we may be a beacon of light to the world, not for our military power or wealth or technology or our form of government, but because we embrace the Faith and live it with total devotion to God and charity for our fellow man!  Pray for a great re-conversion of this continent!  Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis! 

Ahhhh………to dream December 12, 2011

Posted by Tantumblogo in Admin, awesomeness, Society.
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There was a time in my life, dear readers, when I did not want to do much other than fly military aircraft.  Surely I desired fighters, like everyone does, but I would have been quite happy with something less sleek and more lumbering, like a bomber or even a transport of a certain type.  Alas, that was not God’s Will, my heart developing an arrythmia in college and my eyesight, even though 20/15, not being quite up to standard in terms of depth perception.  In truth, I hid the arrythmia from the military screeners, because it was so minor, but they got me on the eyesight.  C’est la vie. 

I used to read little but military blogs, but since I really embraced the Faith (or tried to), I only read one now, the best, Neptunus Lex.  Neptunus Lex is a retired Navy Captain and F/A-18 pilot, who left the Navy a few years ago, tried living as a desk bound corporate monkey for a few years, hated it, and recently got the golden opportunity to fly fighters again, but this time for a private company, ATAC.  He’s been posting tantalizing stories from his experience getting up to speed on an out of date Israeli fighter (Kfir C.2), and his various corporate assignments.  Most recently, he’s been off at the US Navy’s main large scale combat exercise range at NAS Fallon, NV.  His readers had been pestering him to buy a helmet mounted cam, the better to see the action, and he finally figured out how to mount it.  The results, are, I think, fantastic, bordering on the sublime:

Really puts you in the pilot’s seat, dudn’t it?

It’s my 2nd blog-o-versary! December 12, 2011

Posted by Tantumblogo in Admin, Dallas Diocese, General Catholic, North Deanery.
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Saturday marked the 2nd anniversary of this blog.  We’ve come a long way, baby.  When I first started, I had a number of days when I had 4 or 5 people come by!  Now this blog averages about ~600 individual readers a day.  My all time record came this September 11, when I had 3300 unique readers.  That’s small potatos by big blog standards, and even small by Catholic blogs – Fr. Z gets 10-15 times the traffic I do, but I’ve never been one to chase traffic.  I blog because I feel motivated or called to do so, in spite of being a lowly sinner who would probably be better advised praying far more and talking much less.  But, I pray this blog has had some small impact on the lives of Catholics in this Diocese and generally.  I see some evidence that this blog may have had some role in some changes ongoing in the Diocese – or, that could simply be my greatly exaggerated sense of worth talking!    I pray my nonsensical prattlings have been of some use to people – I think it has at least for a few. 

Pray for me!  I need all the prayers I can get.  I try to present the Faith clearly, to forcefully defend the Faith, especially that Faith of Tradition which has been practiced, loved, and observed for centuries.  Any errors or shortcomings on this blog are my own.  Any success or knowledge conveyed is due to the Grace given by God.  I pray that I may cooperate much better with this Grace as the 3rd year of this blog develops – God willing! 

Thank you to my readers for your kind support and attention (read as: putting up with me).  May God bless all of you! 

Deo Gratias!

Mater mei, ora pro nobis!

Perry video gravely offends our secular, pagan culture December 12, 2011

Posted by Tantumblogo in Basics, Dallas Diocese, disaster, General Catholic, horror, North Deanery, sadness, scandals, sickness, Society.
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Are you offended by this?

Apparently, this video has been vociferously criticized in the media and on Youtube and blogs, etc.  I see on Youtube there are already numerous videos either parodying or attacking the Perry video above.  I wish people had just a bit of memory.  20 years ago, making a video like this would indeed have been laughable – because the activist gay agenda was only in its embryonic state and no one would have found it threatening from a Christian perspective, and the idea of gays serving in the military a farce.  10 years ago, a video like this would have had wide support.  But now it’s trashed as being anti-gay bigotry (I’m not sure how one can be bigoted against a lifestyle, but…….) and a hateful exercise in pandering.  I agree that it’s pandering, but hateful, bigoted?  To say that something’s wrong when kids cannot pray in schools but gays can serve openly in the military (this gays in the military issue will be the wedge with which activists will try to force gay marriage and other cultural objectives on an ambivalent to unwilling populace). 

What do you think – is the Perry video “offensive?”  Is it bigoted?  Or have we come so low as a culture now that we can’t even remember what we used to be, just how much of our Judeo-Christian heritage we’ve casually sluffed off, like a serpent shedding its coils?   There are 19,000 likes for the video on Youtube, and 670,000 dislikes.  Yikes…….are we worse off than I thought?

More on our prayer corner December 12, 2011

Posted by Tantumblogo in Admin, Art and Architecture, awesomeness, Basics, Dallas Diocese, General Catholic, Interior Life.
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I did a brief post on our prayer corner several days ago, and someone asked what room of the house it was in. We used to have it in the den, but after we added onto our house by enclosing our patio and turning it into a large multipurpose/school room, we moved it in there.  It’s in a little nook in this large room.

I wanted to post the photo below as a way of saying thanks to Vicki for the awesome gift she gave me last Thursday night.  It’s a Mexican/Hispanic picture frame with pics of many Saints.  I really like it.  I don’t understand why the St. Anthony picture is upside down, though?  Does anyone know why that would be?  All the other Saints are right side up, but St. Anthony is intentionally upside down.  Thanks, Vicki!

Sorry for the graininess of the photo, I took it with my phone camera and it doesn’t like situations with less than glaring light. Vicki’s gift is in the upper left.

The small number of the lovers of the Cross of Jesus December 12, 2011

Posted by Tantumblogo in awesomeness, Basics, Dallas Diocese, General Catholic, Interior Life, North Deanery, Tradition, Virtue.
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It’s been a while since I’ve posted any Thomas a Kempis.  Shame on me.  From The Imitation of Christ, Book II Chapter 11:

Jesus has now many lovers of His Heavenly Kingdom, but few that are willing to bear His Cross.

He has many that are desirous of comfort, but few of tribulation.

He finds many companions of His table, but few of His abstinence.

All desire to rejoice with Him, few are willing to suffer with Him.

Many follow Jesus to the breaking of bread, but few to the drinking of the chalice of His Passion.

Many reverence His miracles, but few follow the ignominy of His Cross.

Many love Jesus as long as they meet with no adversity.

Many praise Him and belss Him as long as they receive consolation from Him.  But if Jesus hide Himself, and leave them for a little while, they either fall in to complaints or excessive dejection.

But they that love Jesus for Jesus’ sake and not for any comfort of their own, bless Him no less in tribulation and anguish of heart than in the greatest consolation.

And if He should never give them His comfort, yet would they always praise Him and always give Him thanks.

Oh, how much is the pure love of Jesus able to do when it is not mixed with any self-interest or self-love.

Are not all those to be called hirelings who are always seeking consolation?

Are they not to be proved rather lovers of themselves than of Christ who are always thinking of their own profit and gain?

Where shall we find a man that is willing to serve God gratis?

Seldom do we find anyone so spiritual as to be stripped of all things.

For who shall be able to find the man that is truly poor in spirit and stripped of all affection to all created things? His price is from afar and form the uttermost coasts (Prov 31:10)

If a  man give his whole substance it is still nothing (1 Cor 13:3)

And if he do great penance it is yet little.

And if he attain to all knowledge he is far off still.

And if he has great virtue and exceeding fervent devotion there is still much wanting to him, namely, one thing which is chiefly necessary for him (Lk 10:42)

And what is that?  That, having left all things else, he leave also himself and wholly go out of himself and retain nothing of self love.

And when he shall have done all things which he knows should be done, let him think that he has done nothing.

Let him not make great account of that which may appear much to be esteemed, but let him in truth acknowledge himself to be an unprofitable servant, as Truth itself has said: “When you shall have done all the things that are commenaded you, say: We are unprofitable servants” (Lk 17:10)

Then may be be truly poor and naked in spirit and may say with the prophet: “I am alone and poor.” (Ps 24:16)

Yet no one is indeed richer than such a man, none more powerful, none more free, who knows how to leave himself and all things, and place himself in the very lowest place.