A Year Later,..

Where to begin?  Where have I been?  What's going on?

I guess I cannot truly answer any of those questions.  As this readership knows, I struggle with depression and thus have 'ups' and 'downs.'  My mental state is somewhat stabilizing by the Grace of God and the support of incredibly wonderful people.  My personality has always been both a strength and a curse.  My mother, since I was a child warned me,.. 'Ignorance is bliss..'   ... I guess I didn't listen.

I find myself counter cultural,..

I find myself staunchly Catholic,..

I find myself more self critical,..

I find myself questioning the Clergy,..

I find myself more pro 'Trump.'

I find myself trying to constantly challenge myself...

I find myself isolated,..

I find myself 'redpilled.'

I find myself loved. 

The one constant remains Jiu Jitsu,.. Jesus let me keep that and with every passing day, I realize why.

So much has changed since my seminary days.  I started 'Confessions' over ten years ago as an outlet, a way to express myself which was therapeutic.  At that time I was dating an awesome woman.  She has since moved on.  While working at my uncles's gym, I lost control of myself, (did I truly ever have any?), ..the single life, women, while being intellectually Catholic on Sundays.  (Kind of like a 'straight' Milo Yiannopoulos)  I then found another amazing woman, right before my decision to enter seminary,.. I left her to serve God,..  She moved on and though we both work in the funeral industry, I find myself happy yet asking many 'What if's?,..' 

God has since sent me a third amazing woman.  She supports and is aware of my weaknesses.  I pray that I don't break her heart.  


St Augustine,...... ora pro nobis.

Douchebag Invitation

So its 2018, and your new year’s resolution is to get into shape.  So you walk into a gym for the first time in a while.  You got all your gear at Walmart, ‘tap-out’ t-shirt, wide brimmed fitted hat, ridiculous attitude, tattoos up to the nostrils, the time you did train you gassed yourself up to the gills but forgot to take your anti-estrogen, thereby assuring that your pecs are probably man boobs by now but you don’t care, and to complement your illusion, the ‘bling.’  and oh yeah,. You’ve never fought.  The fights you had were gang up style beatdowns on lesser more timid people.  The coup de gras?,. You are probably a drug dealer, a wannabe slimeball with no ambition or work ethic, but you dream to live the so-called ‘gangzta’ lifestyle!  I get it, you’re in your twenties or thirties (the latter pathetic) and are searching for an identity!  Two problems though,.. You live your life financed by my tax money and,.. You’ve never come face to face with an ‘Alpha male’ so to speak. 

Allow me to introduce my program of ‘unf@#king.’  It’s usually a 10 week course, whereby you’ll train, (yes, legs too! 😉) learn and develop humility and hopefully leave as a better person offering a contribution to society.  Weights, Jiu Jitsu (any Martial Art for that matter) or perhaps the military could’ve helped you, but don’t worry,.. Its not too late,.. I’m here.  You see I detest your character, not you, (that would be unchristian of me.).  You live a lavish lifestyle based upon our socialist Canadian principals, ie,. You collect ‘pogey’ while you deal your dope for cash.  (BTW,. I am not against drugs, in fact, I would probably legalize them all, and slap a tax on them thereby cutting into the black market.  Obviously there would be an ‘age moratorium,’ but if you’ve made a free choice to snort powder, inject needles or whatever,.. Who am I to stop your free will?  BTW,. The reason I don’t take drugs, is the same reason I don’t drink Javel or Antifreeze either,. There is a warning sign with a skull and crossbones informing me of the consequences.)  From a Faith standpoint, you will also learn how to pray that Rosary you hang around your neck as an added bonus! 

So I invite you to enter a gym, maybe an MMA or Jiu Jitsu gym?  See that little 145lbs red headed accountant kid?,.. Spar with him and experience him kill you, several times.  Then will come the real test,.. Will you come back?  Now with a sore neck and joints, and an even more injured ego comes the reality of whether or not you will come back?  In my experience, the wannabe douchebag schmucks have a 1/3^rd ratio.  1/3^rd will stay, and slowly they will begin not using four letter words to describe a newborn kitten,.. They will begin saying ‘please’ and ‘thank you,’ and they will begin respecting women.  By respect, it means being authentic and honest, gallant and chivalrous. 

To conclude, I hope that 2018 truly brings about a positive change in all of our lives!  

God bless!

My Own Man.

Perhaps a controversial post regarding the last US election.  We have all and are all getting a little tired of it.  It seems that so many armchair political analysts are coming out of the woodwork to give an opinion.  To be clear, I am not a political ‘expert’ nor do I aspire to be one. 

Let’s be clear.  I don’t know Donald Trump.  I have never met him, I really don’t wish to meet him, nor do I wish to have a beer with him.  I don’t nor do I enjoy his twitter feed or his persistent outburst which are crude, and classless.  That being said, I do not subscribe to the constant media bashing, Hollywood ‘holier than though’ approach of left of centre millionaire social justice warriors crying at full blown crazy level.  My question for all out there remains this.  Like most people, I  thought Trumps’ candidature was a reflection of the state of politics in the US, but then came the Wikileaks dumps.  My opinion on who was worse changed.  Who is worse, Donald Trump, the sociopath and most probable ‘character’ that he plays on TV, or George Soros, the billionaire communist funding the Hillary Clinton/Obama machine?

All this talk about Russia, takes our eyes off the ball.   Whether or not Russia interfered in US elections does not change the fact that the content was clear.  As a Catholic, there was overwhelming evidence with regard to an infiltration orchestrated by the Clinton camp to subvert the Catholic Church at Her highest levels, initiate a Catholic ‘spring’ and finally topple Her, leaving a socialist/communist machine in its wake.  That is not to say that I’m a conspiracy theorist/’truther’ who denies 911, I am though a person who like any other human being is naturally curious and hard wired for Truth. 

The whole fake news issue has been around since the beginning of time.  We as human beings, through technology have gotten better at it.  Mafia leaders, politicians to philanthropists and special interest groups have constantly tipped the ‘media’ and balance of power in order to ensure that their preferred candidate or option comes out looking good.  Sooo,.. As much as Trump and the mainstream media are screaming Trump’s links to Russia, what about alternative right media’s discovery of an elite pedophile ring with ties to heavy duty politicians advancing a globalist agenda?  We can’t deny this, and the fact that social media is discovery this, the people who run the social media sites are also trying to curtail these stories.  Think about it this way,.. Milo Yiannopoulis had to resign from Breitbart because of controversial comments regarding pedophilia.  I agree 100% with firing him or forcing him to resign.  What he said was utterly disgusting and should be punished.  My question is why did not the same mainstream media come down on George Takai, who basically advanced the same opinion?  Couldn’t be that Milo who is nationalist must be punished while Takai, who is globalist gets a free pass?  This should make us all think…

The world is changing and gone is the traditional ‘right’ vs ‘left’ dichotomy, leaving in its wake, Nationalism vs Globalism.  The example of Britain’s exit from the European Union comes to mind (Brexit.)  Perhaps all is not what it seems to be and perhaps we have been granted a time of Grace? Who knows?

What am I saying?  To paraphrase the song from the California Raisins,. ‘Heard it through the grapevine,.. ‘believe none of what you hear and only half of what you see!’ – I’ve always been an independent thinker, neither ‘right’ nor ‘left’ but instead celebrating my independent ‘thinking’ self.  I don’t know all the answers, but I will never be a sheep to ideology one way or another!  I watch CNN, ABC, CBS, FOX, CBC, CTV, and Global.  Still I will supplement my information by watching online sources such as Rebel Media, Lifesite News, Mark Dice, Alex Jones Infowars, Church Militant TV, Next News Network  Joe Rogan podcast, and Steven Crowder.  After gathering all my ‘sources’ I will form an intelligent ‘opinion’ taking into account the sourced material being referenced.  I still will never call it Truth, simply because I will never know all the facts essentially because I am still receiving them 3^rd party.  In this light,.. Pontius Pilate’s quote to Jesus comes to mind,.. ‘Quid est veritas?’ 

I won’t post links, but instead invite all those who can critically ‘think’ to do just that.  If you find yourself on the ‘left,’ you find out that although the Christian refusing to bake a cake for a gay couple is a contrived media plot, considering that Steven Crowder proved that it is much harder to get a Muslim baker to bake such a cake!  (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgWIhYAtan4)  If your on the right, you may find out that Iraq had no weapons of ‘mass destruction.’ (I believe history has already proved this point,..).  What is the desired result is that you develop an independent thinking brain.  Devoid of all influence and instead is to be informed(So that you may form) by all these news stories, sites and opinions!  (Yes I posted one link, because well,.. its funny! :P )

God bless!

My 'To do' List!!!!

As a seminarian, there seems to be lots of things that annoy me and certain things that I want to do to be annoying, (I mean C’mon, I am a celibate man!!! For the love of all things, let me have some fun!)

…Before ordination to Priesthood, in the next few years, God willing, I think I need to get some stuff out of my system!  Certain annoyances, wishes, pet peeves and what not;  Soooooooooo here goes!

1

.       Find all the people who leave shopping carts abandoned in Grocery store parking lots and take a key to their respective cars.

2

.       Invite all the people who don’t wash, to not take public Transportation.  Instead be forced to walk slowly through a full car wash…backwards

3

.       Enter and leave every room in the house blasting Europe’s  ‘The Final Countdown’ complete with smoke and fireworks,..    pro wrestling style.

4

.       Play really loud bagpipes, while walking through a public library…

5

.       Answer 17! (Really enthusiastically )to the people at a restaurant who ask ‘How many ketchups do you want?’

6

.   

          Wear a DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince t-shirt in Harlem while quoting random ‘Arnold ‘ from Diff’rent Strokes,… ‘Whachoo talkin’bout Willis?’

7

.       Feed red Skittles to 18 year old douchebags in the gym, telling them it’s a flavored pro hormone that will not only increase their size and strength but also their libido,…Sit back and watch placebo take effect…

8

.       Introduce myself as George Costanza, representative of the human fund,.(to a newly arrived immigrant)

9

.       Eliminate all pigeons.  (Because they are kamikaze sky rats who will try to pick food off the street within an inch of the wheel of your car.)

1

.      Find a list of all Jehovah’s Witnesses in the neighbourhood, ring their doorbells and hand out free copies of MAD magazine…

God bless!

God Bless Idiots,..

Maybe that's a little harsh,. but,..

A short post today, a little anecdote,………….Ahhh,…So it happened again, calm, cool, and collected Marco turned into Optimusmastro  and needed to cut a WWE style promo on the Jack T Chick fanclub.   I recently bought Catholicism and Fundamentalism by Karl Keating, (Again) and low and behold inside the book was inserted a little comic book by these Chick devotees. 

My friends, Christian formation begins when one encounters the Risen Christ, and then seeks to understand Reason in the light of Faith and vice versa.  What that means is that your brain isn’t handicapped by refusing to search through the natural order of reason why things are the way they are!  I know that there are many a good Fundamentalist with a sincere Faith in Christ and God bless them!  We have some differences, but ultimately we pray that they search for Truth.  Some as well meaning Christians do more with less!  

As a Catholic, our formation begins with philosophy, and proper understanding of what we can know about things in nature.  Revelation builds upon philosophy.  My dear protestant friends, kindly keep an open mind, remember any authentic dialogue, we need FUNdamentalists who are cool, not fundaMENTALists who are completely insane and devoid of any coherence!

St Thomas Aquinas,……………………………..ora pro nobis!

Really? I mean Reeaaally?????

-Mr Mastro, -The Bible clearly shows that the Catholic Church in Revelations is the 'Whore of Babylon,.' -

Dear protestants,..

This is a quick note especially to those who try to get me to ‘debate’ with you.  This includes but is not limited to, Anglicans, (all breeds) Presbytarians, Lutherans, Baptists, Jehovah’s Witnesses, SSPXers, Sedevacantists, Mormons, Methodists, Evangelicals and Pentecostals.  Oh yes, I’m sure I’ve forgotten a couple of groups in there, but I think you get my point.  This is not a blog post, instead I’m writing a note.  This is not Optimusmastro, instead, just plain old Marco Mastromonaco.  It would seem that you guys enjoy opening up discussions but are in fact closed off to someone else’s opinion especially when it concerns matters of Faith.  My conclusion?  Fideism!  To engage a Catholic in dialogue or discussion, you must essentially be somewhat prepared for a reasonable defense.  Therein lies the crux of the issue, ‘Reason.’  As Catholics, I can assure you that our Faith is not blind, however can the same be said for you? 

You see, we can logically articulate our Faith, and in using our intellective faculties are by no means afraid of science.  Science will show you the ‘How,’ however Theology will tell you the ‘Why?’  From here on out, it is useless to debate someone who is closed off, unless;

      

    -Pick a topic (ie Concept of God,..) and stick to it

      - Give equal time to all parties

3  - Be judged in a debators’ arena, with FACTS! (This includes, Church history, Church Fathers, and logic,..that being said, proving God by the Bible and the Bible by God is not valid reasoning.) 

God bless you all!