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I think this is awesome March 30, 2012

Posted by Tantumblogo in Admin, awesomeness, episcopate, fun, General Catholic, Latin Mass, Papa, silliness.
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But it seems some folks don’t.  I’m all for upholding the dignity of the papacy and getting back to a much more formal assertion of the rights of the office and Church, but I don’t think the Pope wearing a sombrero fundamentally undermines the authority of the office. 

I think it’s funny and alright.

Here’s another good pic, picked up off of Rorate Caeli.  Local boy Brother Francis Davoren is lower left.  Apparently, the bishop of Norcia has asked that the good Benedictines there offer TLMs regularly, and the bishop takes part in choir.

If you’re an addict like me…….. March 30, 2012

Posted by Tantumblogo in awesomeness, Basics, Dallas Diocese, General Catholic, Glory, Holy suffering, Interior Life, North Deanery, religious, Saints, Virtue.
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…….pray a Novena to Venerable Alfred Pampalon, CSSR!  A good and wolfie local priest turned me on to him, and I have developed an interest in this Canadian priest who died at a very young age from the ravages of tuberculosis.  He has become known as a patron of alcoholics and drug addicts, especially those addicted to narcotics (hi!).   The Novena is here.  If you’re suffering from the great evil of addiction, have constant recourse to the Sacraments, pray for the intercession of Saints, and go to NA or AA.  They work.

It is so wonderful that God in His Benificence has bestowed Saints and Angels on His Church that can aid us in every occasion.  Prayers for the protection of St. Michael the Arcangel are also indispensable for addicts, as addicts are frequently hassled by demons.

Another hard hitting video from RCTV March 30, 2012

Posted by Tantumblogo in awesomeness, Basics, Dallas Diocese, fun, General Catholic, Glory, persecution, Tradition, Virtue.
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Few punches being pulled here:

Wow.  I really liked the ending.  As the culture becomes increasingly hostile, increasingly bereft of those Christian mores which created and sustained it (and rejecting the caricature of Christianity that is proposed to the masses as the “faith”), the way forward for the Church is, to me, clear.  We  must live a much stronger and more distinctly Catholic existence.  There are many who seem to believe, and this applies even to the very highest levels of the Church, that the Catholic Faith is somehow the victim of earthly, cultural trends and forces beyond its control, that it is doomed to shrink and lose influence and ultimately be reduced to tiny islands of faithfulness, which, after the collapse many see coming, will then have a chance to influence and even dominate the culture again. 

I disagree.  I believe that what has occurred to the Church in the last several decades was and is largely self-inflicted, and that what is needed is great Saints and great communities of Catholics to live the Faith vibrantly, authentically, and with great love and fire to be a witness to a world which is growing old and cold.  Truth doesn’t change.  Men’s hunger for it doesn’t change.  All that needs to be done is for Catholics to learn the Faith (I mean, really learn), practice the Faith fully, and carry that “lived” Faith into the world with an unyielding zeal. 

It could be (emphasis on could) God’s Will that the Church suffer and shrink in numbers and influence, and generally follow the course predicted by Paul VI in his more moribund moments (among others).  But the darkness has seemed poised to overtake the Church in the past, only for great Saints to be raised up, bringing the light of Christ to millions and the Church back to the forefront of the culture.  Where are our Saints today?  Who will it be? 

Well……….. it’s us.  We’re all called to be saints.  This is the challenge and mission for every Catholic who has ever lived.  There is nothing so different about people today, and the culture they create, that good old fashioned sanctity cannot change the world.  Sanctity means holy people.  Forget all the talk about the “new evangelization” and all the other buzzwords, what is needed is for you and me and all the good Catholics we know to really, truly be just that – good, holy Catholics.  God will take care of the rest.

Get out there and fight.  Don’t wait for someone else to fight for you…..it’s up to you!  Find something to fight – abortion, bad catechesis, poor liturgy, ugly art, socialism, porn, strip clubs – good Lord, we’ve got a target rich environment!  Make some effort!  We are about to celebrate the greatest Feast of the Year, may that be an inspiration to you to fight for your God, your Church, your family, and yourself!

And invoke Our Lady in all that you do!

Sancta Maria, Ora Pro Nobis!

 

Some Saints on adhering to the Divine Will March 30, 2012

Posted by Tantumblogo in awesomeness, Basics, Dallas Diocese, General Catholic, Holy suffering, Interior Life, Saints, Tradition, Virtue.
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More from Uniformity With God’s Will, taken from the writings of St. Alphonsus Ligouri, the Moral Doctor:

What else is the earth but a prison where we suffer and where we are in constant danger of losing God? Hence David prayed “Bring my soul out of prison.” (Ps 141:8)  St. Teresa too feared to lose God and when she would hear the striking of the clock, she would find consolation in the thought that the passing of the hour was an hour less of the danger of losing God.

St. John of Avila was convinced that every right-minded person should desire death on account of living in peril of losing Divine Grace. What can be more pleasant or desirable than, by dying a good death, to have the assurance of no longer being able to lose the Grace of God?…………”Why are we so tenacious of life,” exclaims St. Bernard, “when the longer we live, the more we sin?” A single venial sin is more displeasing to God than all the good works we can perform. [This is some really strong stuff.  I’m still processing it, although, I have had some thoughts along this line.  Not well developed thoughts……..cause it’s me!]

Moreover, the person who has little desire for Heaven shows he has little love for God. [Powerful claim.  Do you agree?] The true lover desires to be with his beloved. We cannot see God while we remain here on earth; hence the Saints have yearned for death so that they might go and behold their beloved Lord, face to face. “Oh, that I might die and behold thy beautiful face!” sighed St. Augustine.  And St. Paul: “Having a desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ”  (Phil 1:23). “When shall i come and appear before the face of God?” (Ps 41:3) exclaimed the psalmist.

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I don’t have a major point, except that we can see from the writings of the Saints, which may seem so foreign, even bizaare and baffling, to some of us, that death to the world and yearning for Christ that consumed them.  And there are two aspects of that consuming desire – fear of pleasing God, and a great hunger to be with Him in totality in Heaven. In some Saints, the former concern was stronger, but in most latter day and well-known Saints, the desire to be with God out of love was the main impetus of their desire.  That burning hunger for God makes quite a counter-point to our contemporary society, so totally focused on the pleasure of the moment, on the intolerance of suffering, and oblivious to the eternal.  Even within the Church, there has been a massive shift away from focus on the eternal and the spiritual, to focus on the temporal.  It is my considered opinion that the “structures,” as Pope Benedict XVI calls them, the conferences and committees and covenants and all that bureaucracy focused on earthly matters has played a huge role in that transfer of focus.  I pray we get back to being concerned first and foremost about souls.

OK, so I did have a point.