Strategies for Men to Conquer the Devil...

The following program is from EWTN's lineup 'Crossing the Goal.'  It was emailed to me, and I believe it is important for men to understand our enemy, how he operates and recourse to a Catholic men's show geard towards men.  The last thing I want to do is turn this blogsite into a youtube carnaval.  However, it must be noted that if I do see something of interest like this program,..I will post it.  Along with of course from time to time,..my own little video uploads...

St Michael the Archangel,.........ora pro nobis.

Nuts, Bolts and a New Bishop in the Wings!

Okay,..so at times the Optimusmastro email account gets loaded with many unusual questions, that once again call for 'Confessions' to publically answer the Optimusmailbag!  The topics,..though not only religious, reflect in a very healthy way what my interests are and truly capture the essence of who I am.  Throughout the existence of this blog, I have made no bones about articulating my positions whether they be pro-life, traditional Catholic or socially conservative, but also at the same time, reminding people that I'm a dude too!  I burp, I fart, and can have some opinions and interests on what some people would consider very immature subjects!  So without further delay let's dip into the Optimusmailbag, have some fun and answer some questions!  (Everything of course will be paraphrased, and the 'sender's' name will not be revealed...')

Ques:  Hey Marco,..What's the deal with the anti-Vatican II sentiment on your blog!  My priest says that it must be our model for the future Church!

Ans:  First off, there is absolutely no anti-VII sentiment on my blog!  What I do question is the so-called heterodox interpretation of the Gospel, as put forward by the so-called 'social justice' crowd.  Vatican II did not make any infallible pronouncements and in essence concluded the work of VI.  Sadly, however people within the Church use and interpret VII as sort of new beginning, whereby the Holy Spirit intended to create a whole new Church.  The same Holy Spirit who convened the Council, is also the same Holy Spirit who chooses the Pope.  Last I heard, we are seeing the return of the Tridentine Mass and a general restoration of orthodoxy, so I guess that means that VII was and is to be interpreted within the light of Tradition and not some flaky open ended marxist propaganda blueprint for a social organization which only bears the name 'catholic.'  (Sorry Fr Hans...)

Ques:  What do you think of Medjugorge apparations?

Ans:  The Church still has not sanctioned the Apparitions and therefore being in obediance to the Magisterium requires that we do not accept as worthy of belief just yet,.what the supposed apparitions messages are saying.  The local Bishop seems to be against them, then again, the Church also initially went Fatima.  Irregardless of whether or not the messages are legit, the deposit of Divine Revelation is closed.  We have all we need, and all these messages can only serve as reminders of Revelations we already have.  Being 'worthy of belief' does not necessarily mean we have to accept it.

Ques:  Who would win in a fight between a Kung Fu guy and an MMA guy?

Ans:  The guy with the overall better fighting skill level period.  Whether or not your trained in Shaolin Kung Fu, Jiu Jitsu, Muay Thai or Arabian belly dancing, your individual skill level will no doubt play a role.  On the other hand, a few posts back, I noted a difference between what would be a martial art and what would be a sport.  That said,.a guy with serious training in Shaolin Chin Na going into the Octogon would pose a serious problem for the MMA guy with respect to his joints, pressure points and muscle tissue fighting.  For this reason, it would be highly unlikely that a traditional Kung Fu guy would be able to use everything in his arsenal against the MMA guy.  The stand-up style Kung Fu in the Octogon used by guys like Frank Shamrock or Pat Militich has been adapted (edited..) to more of a sports oriented approach based on a point system.  Youtube shows a clip which is honestly quite laughable whereby a 'Gracie' Jiu Jitsu practitioner fights a so-called Kung Fu 'expert' and is easily defeats him by going to the ground, thereby exposing the one dimensionalism of Kung Fu...It's a cute video, unfortunately what if the Kung Fu guy closed a vain, or stuck a thumb in the eye of the Gracie grappler?   We'll never know...

Ques:  Why do you put so much emphasis on philosophy?  (from a protestant)

Ans:  Simply put, the Faith is rational.  Look up the Gospel of John,..its loaded with greek philosophy.  Truth is truth, plain and simple.  Where philosophy leaves off, Theology takes off and we can arrive 'a posteriori' at the truths God wishes to have us know about Him whose nature is Love.   To acknowlege the Bible is to acknowledge the Church which discerned Her books! (cause and effect)  God Bless!!

To conclude,..I want to give a shout out to Father Thomas Dowd,..(the monster responsible for me!!  Yes, he's the dude from the diocesan book room who more or less brought me back to the Faith)  Fr Tom is going to be consecrated as a Bishop this coming September!  How cool is that?  His blog, Waiting in Joyful Hope  is the first blog by a Canadian Roman Catholic priest! Please keep him in your prayers...

St Jean Vianney,...ora pro nobis!

Optimusmastro issues a video plea to Fr Corapi,..

Call to Prayer,....

Man,..did I dread writing this post...Unfortunately, human weakness being what it is will always be sinful and structurally bankrupt.  This is why we need a Saviour right?  God said, we can't appease an Eternal God by offering temperal sacrifices,..we need an equally eternal one, so He sent His Son (Jesus) for the sake of our Salvation.  Last week, I spoke about the situation of Father John Corapi,.and explained my position.  My position is not one of judgement, never has been and never will be,..'There but for the Grace of God go I..'  That being said, however, I will explain myself as a man, and a trainer, constantly being presented with temptations by the very character of my job.  Did I ever fall?  Oh hell yeah!!!!!!!!  I admit it, I struggle and used to scream at God sometimes in adoration asking Him to take away my inclinations or to be ignorant, because well it was so much easier back then.  Little did I know that I was headed straight for hell, a life devoid of joy and constant sensual gratification.  Let's put our cards on the table, another name for a personal trainer should be 'pool boy' or worse 'cougar bait.' Father Corapi is no different than any other male.  Ordination does not take away your manhood or your vices, it is you who must ultimately control them not them you.  We all fall.  A few months back, I wrote about Father Euteneur falling and subsuquently owning up to it.  So before I continue,..I'll post the link, here.

Father Corapi,.you will continue to inspire me with the good you did while active in priestly ministry.  I ask humbly that you return to live in community with your fellow SOLTers and if it be God's will that you relinquish the fame and fortune that made you a quasi celebrity.  Submit to the authority of Holy Mother Church, let the process take place and be done.  You have said that it would be a long and arduous process, your right it will be!  After all it took almost 400yrs to formulate the dogma of the most Holy Trinity(The Church moves slow).  If it does turn out that you are innocent, God will vindicate you, maybe not in this life but that might be the necessary sacrifice you need to make.    You always spoke of the spiritual battle, not against flesh and blood but against 'powers' and 'principalities.'  Don't let them win!   A few years back, you suffered a medical set back, I remember praying for you.  I am praying for you now, and will continue to do so. 

This is the Father Corapi that I will always remember.  It is taken from 'Surrender is Not an Option!'  Don't surrender!  If you've fallen, heed your very words, we all fall.  The difference between Saint and sinner is that a sinner stays down.  This picture is you at your peak, not as the creepy Blacksheepdog or recent pictures with a jet-black pinch/goatee where well,..I don't know what your marketing departement was thinking,..but (a little humour...)  So,..this friday, we abstain and I ask all my readers to once again pray and fast.  Not just for Father Corapi, but for all priests and all men and women,...

St Augustine,.......Ora pro nobis

Why Catholicism is Rational,...

A few weeks back my cousin and I had a brief conversation whereby she mentioned her 'Christian' (I guess that means as distinct from 'Catholic')friend does not believe in dinosaurs.  Stemming from that theology, it can be safe to conclude that her friend belongs to a fundamentalist evangelical form of Christianity deeply rooted in 'Fideism,' what is known in certain theological circles as a fear or suspicion of reason.  In this light,..I think it is imperative to explain and articulate the Catholic understanding of Genesis,.the first book of the Bible.

 To begin, we must understand the nature of scripture as it relates to the Church.  The Bible, 'daughter' of the Church is understood in terms of God's love story to mankind.  In this light, everything relating to salvation history is found in the Bible(yes even Purgatory, Mary and the Sacraments).  Bible by definition, means 'collection' or 'library' thus giving credence to its latter form of understanding in 'Bibliotheque' in french.  So this collection, inspired by the Holy Spirit and discerned by the Church, as to which books belong in scripture and which were just considered spurious (The Gospel of Thomas, Epistle of Peter and Paul,..etc..) contains many different forms of literary genre.  The Bible is poetry, prose, Gospel, Psalms, history and apocalyptic literature.  Coming back to Genesis, this particular book belongs to a genre known as hebrew poetry.  Does that mean the Church doesn't believe that we descend from two sets of parents?  Absolutely not!  The Church looks to the Genesis account as a story which is so true, that this particular narrative (hebrew poetry..) explains it the best. 

So what do we make of Adam of Eve?  Well,.there names were probably 'Ugg' and 'Moog,'  or something else very caveman-like.  The point is, they fell and disobeyed God and were thrown out of the Garden, inheriting for us, original sin, the conflict between the intellect and the will, which resulted in our (mankind's) need for a Saviour.  As Catholics, we read the Bible literally!  Fundamentalists, however read the Bible literalistically, meaning they would probably hire an archeologist to 'dig up' Adam and Eve, along with trying to figure out what language the snake spoke...

My friends, Catholicism works simply because it is true.  It is rational and thus will never be against 'science' as too many protestant Christians seems to shy away from.  The position of the Church will always be, that what God uncovers, man discovers and thus Theology will tell you the 'why' while science will ultimately show you the 'how.'  So as Catholics, we believe in dinosaurs, we know that the world is much older than 7000years and finally can accept the theory of evolution as not being contrary to the Faith.  By the way, distinguishing 'Christian' from 'Catholic' is an error.  Catholics are Christians,.infact we are the original Christians, the ones in the Upper Room, the ones commissioned at Pentecost.  

St Thomas Aquinas,.........Ora pro nobis.

It's Time,..

The wheels are in motion and there's no turning back!  Optimusmastro is about to breath fire!  A few weeks back, I was in confession with my priest.  My sins are the typical sins a single man struggles with,..the only exception is the vitriolic passion/anger with which I lash out at 'institutional' Mother Church and Her bevy of effeminate clergy, priests, bishops all who sit idly by watching the flock go to hell in a hand basket.  My priest, who has been at my parish for about a year is solid, pastoral and has been charged with the task of steering our Church back on track after a near ten year assault by the so-called 'Spirit of VII' crowd brainwashing the faithful out of the Faith and straight into the (again) so-called 'social-justice' nonsense.  His challenge to me was direct, like St Francis,..go and rebuild my Church!  The project will be a Catholic bootcamp for men and boys.  Teaching men to be men.  It will feed the spiritual, physical and fraternal needs of men encompassing a prayer life of daily Mass and the Rosary,.physical fitness, including weight resistance training and hand to hand combat and finally lectio divina and recreation/fellowship.  You know what it won't have??  Television!  Our enemy is Satan and you wanna know how he attacks manhood?  PORNOGRAPHY!  We won't be doing any arts and crafts,.colouring banners, butterflies, knitting or exploring our feelings,..we are men, we will act like men, and train to be leader, provider and protector, the way our Lord intended us to be!
 

In the coming days/weeks and months, a donation box will appear in the blog, saying something like buy Optimus a protein shake.  The goal will be to purchase a country place style chalet maybe two with ample land to build a Chapel, an obstacle course and various other sleeping facilities.  If you can't contribute from time to time, then I ask you to pray a Rosary for this intention, that it may God willing, come true.  The way these retreats would work would be a complete absense of television, internet and any other distraction,..instead the focus will be manhood, discipline(physical, spiritual and mental) and fraternity.  It's time to take back the Church, and for the foreseeable future, it doesn't look like the institution in the Quebec or the West in general want any semblance or adherence to tradition.  So what do we do in a situation like that?  We prepare!!!!!!!!!!  The battle is on,..and just like Optimus Prime says in Dark of the Moon,..'It's time to take the battle to them!'

Happy 4th of July to all my American readers!  God Bless!

Hallucination,..

I recently experienced an epiphany.  It would seem that I have now seen the error of my ways and thus feel the need to emotively express myself with regards to this new change of direction.  The Church cannot be static, we must learn to dialogue and discern the signs of the times especially in light of the Spirit of the second Vatican Council. That includes rethinking the Church, the scriptures, gravity and yes,..Mathematics!  (What kind of bigoted closed minded intolerant, insensitive person still believes 2+2=4?  Can they be anymore backwards?)   I recently read the American Catholic Council's manifesto and was enlightened by the spirit of change!  I think it even spoke to me after using my new Ouija board!!!  I was so delighted.   No longer would I be shackled by oppressive Catholic patriarchal anti-environment substructure,..I am free to be me!  So that being said, let's pass the condoms, contracept ourselves into oblivion and prepare to tolerate and welcome our future Islamic state, Canadastan.  I mean after all we were so compassionate and tolerant to them as they emmigrated, that I'm sure they'll return the favour, we only misunderstand countries like Saudi Arabia and the Sudan,..beacons for human rights that we in the west discriminate against.  I mean every woman wants to dress like a ninja, especially in desert heat!  By the way,..drugs are good!

I think you get  my point.  Too often we are accused of not being 'open-minded'  Well,..the above paragraph represents a scenerio of being soooooooo open minded that your brain falls out.  My friends, objective truth does exist,.and it is found completely and in its entirety in the one, holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church!  God Bless and to all the separated brethren,..discern that closed minded statement I just made and come home!

Pope John Paul the Great,.....Ora pro nobis..