Letter to Heaven,..

The blog has been silent the last week,..the reason?  The passing of my Uncle and Godfather,..Zio Sabatino, aka Uncle Sam,.  What can I say about Uncle Sam?  He was truly a remarkable man and the closest to emulate St Francis as one could get.  His love of animals, undeniable.  (Especially for an 'old school' Italian man!) 

I apologize that this blog is taking a personal twist,..but I have not been able to adequetely think or put together any coherance with regards to the sudden passing of my uncle.  My last correspondance with him was two wednesdays ago,.. My words perhaps came off as harsh,..As I made sure he had my number if he couldn't get a hold of my dad.. .Uncle Sam you will be forever  remembered and immortalized through this post, (the reason I'm writing it..) lauched into cyberspace for eternity.  In Heaven, I know there is a bocce game happening, there are ribs on the BBQ,  and perhaps a little Tre Sept card game with St Peter later on,..

I hope that I can be even half the man that you are,..Your witness to love is a hallmark that any person who knew you would seek to learn from.  I can only imagine that as you entered Eternity,..three voices did you hear.  The first, 'Sabateeee!' was Nonna welcoming you,.the second was 'Hey Sam! an all too familiar greeting from Uncle Mario,.. and the third?  'Hey Babes!' (As you reunite with Auntie Jean after 9 years!),..Dad and I raised a glass to you yesterday, today and tomorrow will be the same,..Can't wait to see you again Uncle Sam,.. Miss you..

-Marco

St Francis of Assisi,............................Ora pro nobis,..

Political Mythology,...

The world seems to be shaping up into a 'left' vs 'right' mentality, all under the guise of dialogue.  This past month, Justice Roberts declared Obamacare 'constituional' and violated the US's very own founding principal of 'religious liberty.' Please remember that I speak as a Canadian, so if I misrepresent anything please contact or correct me...I want to challenge in a pastoral way some views held by the so-called left concerning the Catholic Church, and attempt to show the Catholic position.  Only the Church has the answer because She and She alone is divinely instituted by Christ Himself.  You will not disagree with me, but with Jesus and His Church..

A few years back, I wrote a post on the incompatibility of socialism with Catholicism.  At its very core, socialism denies original sin and sets mankind to save himself.  That does mean I don't have a preferential option for the poor,..absolutely!  But it is freely chosen by me and in accord with Church teaching.  Fr Larry Richards once remarked at a men's conference, 'what is more important, praying or eating?  Praying!   We can forget that the poor, through there suffering are much closer to Jesus than we can be,..Jesus Himself says it in the Sermon on the Mount.  We need to reform institutions to conform with Catholic values.  The Gospel serves as blueprint for a pilgrim people journeying through this world in order to attain Heaven, our true home.  The focal point of the Gospel, That God reconciles the fallen world to Himself in the person of Jesus Christ out of LOVE.  LOVE means a choice,..a willingness to lay down one's life for another.  The emotive 'feelings' is a corporal reaction, not the main point.  Jesus provoked the people of His time and continues to provoke us as a whole, our humanity fallen as it is, seems to have lost its moral compass. 

-  The Church is not 'anti-woman' by being pro-life.and against 'women's ordination.  She understands the sexual dimension within the parameters of God's Divine law,..'Though shall not kill'  Choice begets consequence,..the scene from Young Catholic minute of registering 'shock' after putting ice scream in the microwave and realizing that it melted,..'But I only wanted to see it spin..'  I've known women who have had abortions and they have realized what they did,. it was murder out of conveniance... They feel isolated and empty, and they carry the weight of their 'political choice' around with them the rest of their lives.  Only through Christ and His Mercy can they find redemption... This is the Church's message...

As for the ordination of women, this issue has been infallibly settled by Pope John Paul II.  (see here)  Jesus acted freely by ordaining only men to the priesthood.  The Church has spoken that She has no authority to confer 'ordination' upon women, and furthermore this is contrary to God's plan.  The Church by Her nature mirrors Mary and receives Grace from God,. (Can we not see the image?)  To push this issue, is akin to holding a referendum on whether or not all men should be able to fly on our own,.. Even if we all vote yes, our nature dictates otherwise.

- The Church is not anti-'gay' by opposing so-called homosexual marriage.  The Church recognizes that some people are born with a same sex attraction affliction.  As well the Church recognizes some people born with an alcoholic dependency.. Both are treatable.  The homosexual act is intrinsically disordered, why?, because its act is rooted in selfishness.  Even outside of marriage a straight couple using contraception can still be 'open' to a child.  The homosexual act completely closes that off, and turns 'Love' an eternal giving of oneself' into a taking,..God created sex, it is good!  It is rooted in the very Trinity of God Himself and enables man to participate in the very act of creation,..ie.' Making Love'...The Church does not call 'homosexual' those born with this affliction but instead elevates them to live out the Call to holiness, through authentic freedom.  If they fall, they have recourse to the sacrament of Reconciliation.  The same is true for a straight couple.  The danger with sodomy is a muscle issue, it can tear.  Period plain and simple.  The Church is not anti-gay just as She is not anti-alcoholic,..She is pro -people.

This health care bill in the US, will force Catholic institutions into paying for contraception through insurance programs.  Don't worry though, he'll feed the poor,.. We need to recapture our logic goggles and truly see this bill for what it is,..just my two cents.  My friends, we are in a bad way,.. Our population is increasingly getting older, we are not producing children.   Yet our population is growing.... The most common name in the world?  Muhammed.  The Church does not impose rules, She proposes a solution to our fallen condition.  The Gospel is our blueprint, while we, a pilgrim people journey home.  God desires our Salvation but the choice ultimately is ours. 

I have been recently following Raylan Alleman of Fix the Family Citadel Catholic Media...an awesome ministry from a guy whose a dad, a real Catholic dad, a man with balls,..meaning you'd show respect if you were dating his daughter!  I am putting a link to his youtube channel,..See here

Our Lady of Akita,...................ora pro nobis!

The Ballad of the Whacky Tradies,..

Should be a song, and if it isn't written, it needs to be.  While on this blog, I do hammer the modernist crowd, every year it would seem, that certain so-called 'Traditionalists' attempt to claim me as one of their beloved defenders,...uhhh.not so much..  So let me dispel a rumour once and for all,..(seems I do a lot of that recently..)  I do not subscribe to a 'more Catholic than the Pope' mentality.  Sure there are some things that make me scratch my head, (Assisi gathering, a recent appointment to the CDF of a Bishop with questionable orthodoxy, etc..) but in the end, who am I to judge, interpret or criticize issues that the Church has taken.  In humility, I accept and place my trust in Jesus, truly present in the most Holy Eucharist, and therefore remain a loyal son of Holy Mother Church.

Ahh but you funny little whacky Tradies all claiming individual 'infallibility' on issues stemming from Vatican II, (yet none of you have read it),..to why and how the last Pope was Pius XII.  So you get these guys,.'True Catholics'  and of course my all time favorite, (and a reject from an SSPX seminary, so you know this dude has got it going on! ). Pope Michael!!!!!!!!!!  The bark of St Peter, such a precious gift, and yet the goofy radical traditionalist crowd fails to undertsand and heed the very words of Jesus Himself.  (See Matt 16-18).  I sympathize with an awful lot of your positions, I really do.  The modernist nonsense, the watering down of dogmas, the near silence on the Four Last Things.  But guess what?  I'm not in charge!  The Holy Spirit is,..and just like every council before it, VII had its share of 'crazies' attempting to hijack it and misinterpret it.  The solution is not to take your ball and go home, but to remain a faithful son or daughter of the Church as She undergoes purification.  So despite all the crazy liberalism,..I'll still stick with Jesus's promise, because I, unlike you will never say that Jesus was mistaken. 

I am a Catholic, favourable to Tradition?  Yes but inside the Church.  The Holy Spirit has provided the FSSP, (By the way if someone can pin point the difference between the FSSP and the SSPX doctrinally, as the SSPX claim, I would be impressed,.. Remember it must be doctrinal!)  We also have incredibly faithful younger priests loyal to the Magisterium and beautifully reverant celebrations in Ordinary Form as well.  The Reform of the Reform is well underway.  In the meantime, you guys will continue to schism and schism, bit by bit, with 'Popes' Michael, Billy, Peter, Paul, Ace, Gene, Paul, George, John and Ringo... Each claiming universal jurisdiction by the way,.. On another note,.yes Truth is important,..but it can't be separated from Love my dear friends,.......so chill out!  Your anger at every last liturgical detail can make Michael Voris look like Mr Rogers!

Radical Tradies,..I hate Vatican II
Whacky Tradies,..probably hate you
Radical Tradies,..Latin Rules!
Whacky Tradies,..Not diggin' Baptismal pools,.

Radical Tradie,.. the Rome contestant,..
Whacky Tradie,..what I really am is an extreme protestant!

Booyaaaaaa!

                                                My 'boy' Pope Michael keepin it real,........


Our Lady of Mount Carmel,...............Ora pro nobis!

Vatican Dark Forces and Conspiracies...

The impending reconciliation between Rome and the SSPX has hit a standstill.  It would appear that according to Bishop Fellay, Rome is suffering from a leadership problem.  Who is really behind all of this,..I'll give you a hint,.Pope Paul VI acccused this entity's stench of infiltrating the Sanctuary.  The stage has been set, and sadly this is nothing new.  Bishop Fellay did issue a comment that Archbishop Gus Di Noia's appointement to the CDF is a 'good thing.'  See here .  In the give and take political world, it would seem that Holy Father's wishes are being blocked by something so artificial, to not see this one is insane.  Di Noia is in,.but the Pope's friend, Bishop Mueller, a bishop with ties to liberation theology is heading it....Smart move?  You be the judge, perhaps the Holy Father is taking a page out of the Sopranos playbook, as Tony elevated his 'Uncle Junior to 'Boss' right?  Wink, wink,..hint hint.. At least that's what I think,. (and for that matter, that's what I would have done...)

Let's face it, where the Catholic Church goes, so goes the entire world.  If the Bishops are not teaching the True Faith boldly, and playing politics,. there goes the moral fabric of our entire civilization.  There is another religion all too ready to replace it!  (Allahu Akbar!)  Vatican II hasn't even really begun as we are still in a mode of reception, yet forces are trying to steer the bark of St Peter into an all too unfamiliar course.  Consider, the weirdness that has been going on,..  The Vatican lifts the excommunications of the Four Bishops from the SSPX, and restores the Extraordinary Form as not needing the Bishop's permission.  The imaginary 'vocation' crisis, man made by the Spirit of VII feminazi crowd,..has been somewhat neutralized and vocations are seeing an upswing thanks in part to Blessed John Paul the Great and his generation.  Under Pope Benedict, the reform of the reform has been put in place, and the last desire on his heart has been the reconciliation with the SSPX.

Sooo, last Septembre, the 'talks' began, to 'regularize' the 'irregular' condition that they were in, and BOY DID THAT CAUSE A S#&T STORM of epic proportions!!!  It seems that our ecumenism friendly crowd, let's call them the ecumentalists,.want to dialogue with everybody, except of course the schismatic catholics.  WOW, liberal priests acting like mini 'popes' declaring they will never follow a request for anything remotely orthodox, and we were entering the 'sin' of 'restorationism.  According to liberal priests, that one will send you to hell, (Even though they don't believe in hell,..a sin  like that makes God will hell into being instantly..)...So the doctrinal preamble needed clarification, and thus Bishop Fellay did that and according to sources there satisfyed the Pope.  So an offer was made for the SSPX to have the status of a personal prelature, as is the case of Opus Dei.  Next up,..Hans the Heretic, comes on the scene declaring that the Benedict would invalidate himself should he reconcile!!!!  WOW!!!  Hans Kung, the interfaith 'specialist' seeking his own religion,..Kungistianity..

So Bishop Fellay fights his own internal battle with the schismatics, and their pride, all the while neutralizing Bishop Williamson and his revisionist history, while Pope Benedict deals with crackpot 'theologians' putting their two cents in.  The day arrives and after a two hour meeting with Cardinal Levada,..Bishop Fellay informs him that he could not sign,..it seems that Fellay's preamble, the one which satisfyed the Pope, was re written by the CDF to conform to the original Septembre version!   WOW!!  Cardinal Levada retires,. (then again he turned 75...)  If this does not have the making of an awesome HBO movie,..well I don't know what does!

In all seriousness, this potential reconciliation scares people.  Why wouldn't it?  With the SSPX onboard, the so-called 'Traditionalists' (FSSP, ICK),  will pack one heck of a punch and end up sending the modernist crowd into oblivion.  Where do I stand?  I think that's pretty obvious,..I 'think with the mind of the Church.'  Regardless of what you, I or anyone else may want, we are ultimately on the Holy Spirit's time and God will be done! 

Our Mother of Perpetual Help,.................ora pro nobis.