How very pleasing to God is the willing desire to suffer for him November 7, 2012
Posted by Tantumblogo in awesomeness, Basics, Dallas Diocese, Domestic Church, Four Last Things, General Catholic, Glory, Holy suffering, Interior Life, North Deanery, Papa, sanctity, Tradition, Virtue.comments closed
Some advice from the Dialogues of St. Catherine of Siena, of which we may need to become very familiar in the coming months and years:
Very pleasing to me, dearest daughter, is the willing desire to bear every pain and fatigue, even unto death, for the salvation of souls, for the more the soul endures, the more she shows that she loves Me; loving Me she comes to know more of My Truth, and the more she knows, the more pain and intolerable grief she feels at the offences committed against Me. Thou didst ask Me to sustain thee, and to punish the faults of others in thee, and thou didst not remark that thou wast really asking for love, light, knowledge and truth, since I have already told thee that, by the increase of love, grows grief and pain, wherefore he that grows in love grows in grief. Therefore, I say to you all, that you should ask, and it will be given you, for I deny nothing to him who asks of Me in truth. Consider that the love of divine charity is so closely joined in the soul with perfect patience, that neither can leave the soul without the other. For this reason (if the soul elect to love Me) she should elect to endure pains for Me in whatever mode or circumstance I may send them to her. Patience cannot be proved in any other way than by suffering, and patience, is united with love as has been said. Therefore bear yourselves with manly courage, for, unless you do so, you will not prove yourselves to be spouses of My Truth, and faithful children, nor of the company of those who relish the taste of My honor, and the salvation of souls.
———————–End Quote———————–
We may have much to be patient for in the coming years! Pray God to give you strength, to cooperate with Grace and grow in all the virtues, so that you may be pleasing to Him and be a beacon of light in a dark world. Live your faith with joy! If we are faithful, we know how this story ends, how all stories end, with Jesus Christ triumphant and the world prostrate and his foot! We shall be there with the 12 Apostles, seeing the final judgment of all the nations! Trust in God! Follow the Pope! If you stay close to Christ and His Church you have nothing to fear, no matter what storms rage in the world! The more the world rages against us, the more we should cling to the Barque of Peter! The world will howl in mad impotence, but we must remain blissfully indifferent to the world and its ways, caring only for Christ and His Holy Church!
It is a great Grace to live in times of persecution and martyrdom! Do all you can to aid the Church and practice virtue, rejecting all sin, especially sins of anger and despair, and trust in God! He Will Provide! DEO GRATIAS!
We should perhaps be reminded….. November 7, 2012
Posted by Tantumblogo in Basics, Dallas Diocese, demographics, disaster, foolishness, Holy suffering, horror, persecution, sexual depravity, sickness, Society.comments closed
….that certain Catholic pundits like Mike Voris and Pat Buchanan called this election for Obama a long time back. I know I was getting a bit miffed at Voris for doing so, but he turned out to be absolutely right. I had too much naive optimism that the better angels of people’s natures would win out. But in a culture so thoroughly sexularized (not misspelled), so increasingly cut off from God and His Word, appealing to the better angels of nature is a lost game. We first have to convert the culture to something resembling morality. Unfortunately, unless some incredible Saint is raised up or a general miracle of Grace, I don’t see that happening. I see a long, slow decline to the collapse. It will not be pretty. I pray for my children, and the world they will inherit from us. My loathing for TV knows no bounds. It has done more to help shape this indifferent, pagan culture than anything else.
David Werling penned some thoughts that I think are just about perfect:
Evil people prop up evil leaders.
Those of you who know me personally, know that I’m pretty upset by the outcome. There was a point over the last few days that I had convinced myself, with the help of conservative talk-show pundits, Romney stood a better than average chance of winning the election. So I was pretty disappointed last night when at about eight o’clock (EST) I realized both Florida and Ohio were coming in too tight to indicate a Republican victory. At ten o’clock I knew it was over.
I would have saved myself a lot of disappointment and heartache if I had just stuck with the guy I’ve always listened to in the past, Patrick Buchanan, instead of listening to conservative radio talk-show heads. Buchanan has been saying for a long time that demographically its simply impossible for the Republican Party to win national elections, unless, of course, the Republican Party becomes a clone of the Democratic Party. [because the base of the Republican party no longer exists in enough numbers, percentage-wise, to win. And that fact can be traced directly to contraception and abortion. God is simply allowing the consequences of our collective sins to play out.]
I also should have given more credence to Mr. Michael Voris when he nailed this election, calling it for Obama over a month ago. He made the argument that the cultural rot is such that Pro-Life and pro-family candidates simply don’t stand a chance against the urban liberals and their army of immoral, subservient, television hypnotized, entitlement addicted masses. He pointed to the failure of the Catholic Church’s leadership to emphasize the evils of the Obama regime, even in the face of the “Contraception” Mandate. The Cardinal Dolan “Obama invite” to the Al Smith Dinner was Voris’ bell weather. As of just a few days ago, CARA reported that the “Catholic” vote was split, slightly favoring Obama. Once again, American Catholics were probably instrumental in an Obama victory, and that can’t be blamed on anyone except the mainstream bishops and priests who have failed over and over again to instill even a small margin of the Church’s teaching about sexual morality and the final end of man.
At the end of the day, I was simply too much of an optimist. Despite all the indicators, I simply refused to believe that Americans would choose entitlement over the economic promises of Mitt Romney, so I guess in that way I bought into the Republican narrative that the economy would decide this election. Of course, I now know that the economy did not decide the election. It was those “other issues”.
There’s no way to get around this. When confronted with a clear choice between entitlement/statism/perversion/abortion/distraction and economic prosperity, the American people, and primarily those in urban areas, overwhelming chose entitlement/statism/perversion/abortion/distraction. Evil people got their evil leader. The electoral map clearly charts that our cities are pockets of moral degradation, filth and outright socialism. What this bodes for the future of this divided country, I don’t know. I will, however, be sure to pay more attention to those who got it right, like Buchanan and Voris, rather than those who, because they are just the flip side of the coin that is the problem, got it so wrong.
Some more, from the comments:
Disappointment doesn’t begin to cover it. I concur with all that you said about our society. I so long for a day when people will turn back to God. If a Catholic voter simply looked at one issue-abortion-and voted as a faithful Catholic, Obama would have lost. However, Catholics are no longer Catholic. The majority of Catholics have morphed their idea of our religion into a rationalistic, tolerant, [but it’s not tolerant! We are soon going to find that those who most appeal to “toleration” are the most intolerant at all! You wait, this man’s term in office will not expire before the Catholic Church is being forced to conduct “gay weddings.” Or it face horrible persecution and suffering if it does not!] ideology that has nothing to do with Truth. They view love as the acceptance of every kind of distortion-homosexuality, abortion, sex outside of marriage, contraception etc. They don’t understand that real love is helping those that live in these distorted states to see the error in their ways for helping another save their soul is the greatest love. We must all pray more fervently than ever now.
Another:
For a few years I taught political philosophy at UMichigan and so have a good bead on the younger generation (I am 39). We’re in trouble. Gay marriage will be coming to a state near you, fornication/contraception is here to stay, and many young people will be “personally opposed” to abortion but won’t lift a finger to help stop it. [that’s right. We have allowed the education industrial complex to become totally dominated by the left. The left may not have children, but they don’t need to, as they have access to the vast majority of children who go to private or public school. Years of indoctrination in leftism in the schools is producing generations of entitlement-addicted, morally bankrupt children. No, not all, but a very large percentage of kids turn out that way. And now, it shall get much, much worse] The lauded US work ethic will continue to decline, and people will continue to put their hope in material luxuries and comfort over God. That being said, we need to continue to focus on cleaning out Holy Mother Church and whatever keeps us from holiness.
And now, there is naught to do, but wait for the collapse.
Dang……even worse day. Darrell Royal dies November 7, 2012
Posted by Tantumblogo in Admin, awesomeness, blogfoolery, Society, true leadership.comments closed
I always liked Coach Royal. He’s the one that really built the Texas football program into a national power. He was a class act all the way around. He never cheated in recruiting like Switzer and Teaff and many others did. That’s what ultimately made Royal retire at the relatively young age of 52. He died after a short decline caused by Alzhiemers:
A Lone Star original by way of Oklahoma, Darrell Royal built an enduring legacy at the University of Texas and in college football history by always having the right scheme, the proper call or the perfect quip.
A UT spokesman confirmed Wednesday that the legendary former UT football coach and athletic director had died. He was 88 and had been in declining health for several years.
Royal posted more wins than any football coach in Texas history. He went 167-47-5 at Texas in 20 seasons from 1957-76, including AP national championships in 1963 and ’69. His 1970 team, which was unbeaten before losing in a Cotton Bowl rematch to Notre Dame, also was credited with a national title by some news agencies and polls.
Royal’s influence cannot be quantified by mere wins and losses or the national championships or the 11 Southwest Conference titles.
He became the face of the Texas program, with a profile in the 1960s matched by only a few college coaches, including Alabama’s Bear Bryant and Ohio State’s Woody Hayes. His decision to implement the triple-option Wishbone formation turbocharged the Texas offense and revolutionized college football for more than a decade.
When I was at Texas, the football program was at its lowest ebb since….well, since before Coach Royal came, 30 years. And I was extremely into Texas athletics, especially football. The guy I lived with for 2 years at UT is now the Sports Information Director for Basketball. That’s how it was, all sports, all the time, aside from that 60 hours a week of engineering class and study. Since Texas football was so bad at that time (thanks to the alums and fans for undermining Akers in the mid-80s), we sort of looked back to the Royal period as a golden age long gone. We did have that one good year – 1990, when the last of Akers’ recruiting classes decided it was sick of losing and went 10-2, a brilliant season ruined only by a blowout loss to Miami at the end. That loss showed just how far the Texas program – and the SWC – had fallen. They were very far off the elite level of college football.
Mack Brown has, of course, changed all that. Or had changed it.
Here is Darrell Royal’s most famous game, the “Game of the Century” in Fayetteville on December 6, 1969. Texas won over Arkansas, 15-14, #1 beating #2, even though Arkansas dominated the first 3 quarters.
Resquiat in Pacem, Darrell Royal.
50 years of birth control precipitated this election November 7, 2012
Posted by Tantumblogo in Abortion, Basics, contraception, demographics, disaster, error, foolishness, General Catholic, sadness, sickness, Society.comments closed
We really don’t know all the facts about turnout, as in who failed to do so and what kinds of issues may have motivated them not to vote. I know several Catholic sources are already trying to claim that it was Romney’s failure to emphasize social issues like abortion and contraception that precipitated his defeat. That may be the case, but I’m afraid the takeaway by the Repubniks will be that they have to run more to the left to try to peal off some minority or lower income voters. It will take tremendous work to try to get the Repubnik leadership, much of which is pro-life in name only, to change course. I’m not too sanguine on the prospects.
But what the data appears to show, at least initially, is that the Republican base is simply not large enough to win elections. The core of Republican party support has been its caucasian base. Whether Catholic, evangelical, male, female, whatever, the vast majority of support for Republicans comes from whites. But there may no longer be enough white middle and upper class voters to win elections.
Why is that? Well, if you look at birth rate data, the answer is clear. Whites in the US have averaged less than 2 babies per woman for about 40 years – substantially lower than other racial groups save for Asians. That is to say, they have not even had enough babies to replace themselves. Coupled with democrat-led federal policy which has favored mass immigration of various classes of people who are most usually strongly sympathetic to the democrat outlook, and higher birth rates within those classes, there has been a steady erosion of the percentage of white voters in the United States. We have all read the statistics that the white majority is disappearing or has disappeared, that whites will make up only a plurality from now on, and you can see the base problem. Birth rates among middle and upper class whites are even lower than within the white population as a whole, so that the true core of Republican/conservative support has been collapsing from its own failure to propagate. The America of the 50s and 60s and even the 80s no longer exists. I am not certain if Ronald Reagan could win election today, because the America he appealed at that time no longer exists.
Now, some may argue, or the data may reveal, that there was a substantial portion of the Republican base that did not turn out due to dissatisfaction with Romney. It could be there is still a sufficient base to win. But that won’t last for long. The base continues to shrink with respect to the overall population.
The trouble with this is, in order to win, Republicans will be convinced they must appeal more to minorities and women. That will mean even less emphasis on the life issues. 55% of women went for Obama yesterday. I think his rhetoric about Republicans taking away birth control and abortion played a role in his winning the women’s vote. Same for minorities – the vast majority of minorities, even hispanic Catholics, are pro-abort, at least to a degree.
But, the bottom line is, the former white majority of this country has contracepted and aborted itself out of existence. And that bodes very poorly for “values voters” who are opposed to things like the redefinition of marriage, abortion, state-funded contraception (I think this move is a political coup on Obama’s part). Most values voters are white conservatives. But there may not be enough of us to change this culture and defend traditional morality.
100 years ago, Pope St. Pius X knew the Truth November 7, 2012
Posted by Tantumblogo in Basics, disaster, error, General Catholic, Papa, persecution, Saints, sanctity, Tradition, Virtue.comments closed
Just a really short quote, taken from reader Jordan H’s Facebook:
All the strength of Satan’s reign is due to the easygoing weakness of Catholics. – Pope St. Pius X
I don’t think you can encapsulate the calamities afflicting this country and the entire world more succinctly or accurately.
I found these two pictures of Beppo yesterday:
Yes, some northern Italians are blonde!
Actually, Giuseppe Sarto hated the pomp and formality of the Papacy, and felt trapped within its confines. He always remained an amazingly gifted and faithful poor country priest from Riese. I strongly, strongly recommend you read the book Flame of White from Lepanto Press. It is a tremendous biography of Pope St. Pius X, although its coverage of his papacy is too brief. But for his early life, it is great.
I do think we need the Papal tiara and sede gestoria back!
So, where do we go from here? November 7, 2012
Posted by Tantumblogo in Abortion, Basics, contraception, error, foolishness, General Catholic, Holy suffering, persecution, sadness, sickness, Society.comments closed
A lot of interesting developments last night, in a terrifying sort of way, just some scattershooting:
- The number of voters was way down from ’08. It looks like more conservatives stayed home than Obama supporters. In a number of states, the margin of Obama victory was support for 3rd party candidates. This is all very preliminary, of course, but it appears lack of conservative enthusiasm for Romney may have played a very big role in this election
- The democrat wins, however, were very deep. Even here in Texas – which is trending more dem. It looks like the Tea Party movement has run out of steam. Not much impact last night, and all those huge rallies and spontaneous events have largely gone away. Of course they would. They have jobs and lives and families, unlike the ‘occupy’ crowd.
- More on this later, but gay marriage won big last night. It has finally been put in place by popular vote. This is a sea change. These trends are running in only one direction. And with Obamacare, I don’t see how we ever get rid of abortion. Or government funded contraception. These are dark times
- We can expect the Republican party to be even less friendly to pro-life concerns as we go forward. This loss will almost certainly encourage the party to shift to even more “moderate” emphasis. This is feeling like the 60s/70s, when Republicans had to run as democrat-lite.
- This election almost certainly portends a shift towards democratic national political ascendency. With the enormously influential programs being put in place and growing, Obama may have built an almost insuperable electoral coalition, for some time to come. Or not. He could have won due to many conservatives seeing the choice as tweedle-dee and tweedle-dum. We’ll see.
On a personal note, I’m surprisingly not upset. In fact, I’m more upset about gay marriage being voted into law in Maine, Washington, and Maryland, and a push to define marriage as between one man and woman in the constitution of Minnesota failing, than I am about Obama. I sort of expected it. Oh, I had pretty good hopes a week or so ago, but then I started having literal premonitions of an Obama victory (something I’ve never had before), and not only that, it looks like my premonitions were disturbingly accurate.
Hello, Europe.
With regard to the Church, gird your loins. Have your staff in hand, and be ready to travel. Seriously. Buy altar bread.
Or, the bishops may come to an ‘accommodation’ which saves a tiny bit of face but essentially involves cooperation with grave evil?
What other forms of persecution do you expect?
Are we at 5, or 6 o’ clock? I’m fairly skeptical of the left hand of the clock for now.
But then again, persecution and difficulty tends to raise up many great Saints. More than anything else, that is what the world needs right now.
Can we assume God’s Will was done by this election? Or, have Americans so collectively fallen away that this result was actually an expression of rejection of God’s Will?
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