Humility,..2 Theologians and a Car...

Last Sunday, I found myself rediscovering the act of humility while ending up in a most unusual if not humourous situation. My friend, a Catholic seminarian, whose car had a burnt front light, found itself an unlikely source of salvation! It came in the form of my ever resourceful girlfriend!!!You see, I'm about as automotively (is that a word?) oriented as a humpback whale attempting to burrow underground. That being said, what transpired was actually quite funny, if not downright sad. My friend and I share many common interests, including theology, metaphysics and liturgical appreciation, yet changing a tire or repairing a burnt light is not our forte. The scene, both of us, with our facial hair holding a wrench and plyiers while discussing how DesCartes set into motion the decline of Western Civilization, caused my girlfriend to quickly assess that this scenerio was in total need of an intervention. Twenty minutes later, my girlfriend had successfully installed our seminarian friend's new car light, and I found myself with a new sense of humility. Needless to say, I'm still getting bugged for it, as my girlfriend found the ultimate tag team partner to chastise me,....MY FATHER!!! oh well,..

St Jude,(patron saint of hopeless cases..) Ora Pro Nobis!

the Evangelical Appraisal....

For quite some time now, I have been getting my books through the Christian Book Depot in Montreal's West Island. It is operated by two of the most spirited faith filled individuals I have ever met. The beauty is that they wear their faith on their sleeve and are not afraid to evangelize it publicily. (I can recall Daniel Ali saying that he wished Catholics would be more easily identifiable and less 'private.') In truth, these individuals through their prayer and support have reaffirmed me in my walk with Christ, by the constant witness evident in their own lives. My heart is one with them as well as we both share the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

The question remains, however what keeps us separated? Aside from the obvious answer that arose out of the sixteenth century with Luther,.I would have to say slight indifferentism as well as a lack of understanding the proper ecclessiology. The faith they share, understands the Church as purely an invisible gathering of believers who have had a secondary conversion. That being said, there are true Christians in every denomination, Baptist, Catholic, Presbytarian,..so on. While this is true, the Catholic would argue that the fullness of Salvation can only come from the Catholic Church. So while every Christian group shares the scriptures, a moral code, Sacrements/ordinances,..all these 'things' properly belong to the Catholic Church.

I pray for my friends everyday. While their living testimony and love of Sacred Scriptures is beautiful, there is nothing like encountering Jesus's Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity in the Eucharist! Unfortunately, misconceptions, (Mary, the Pope...) still exist, the main thing we as Catholics can do is start living our faith! That would be the best witness of all!

Sacred Heart of Jesus,..Have mercy on us!
Immaculate Heart of Mary,..pray for us!

August Heat,..

Well it has been a while indeed since I last blogged. To repeat myself, I find it truly amazing how an individual can start off by sincerely wanting to post at least one article per day and end up posting (or barely...)one per month.

Of interest to me right now is some news that came out of the Vatican recently about Pope Benedict wanting the faithful to receive the Eucharist on the tongue kneeling. Now obviously, there would be exceptions, for the aged and infirmed, but really what's the problem with that request? Catholics believe in the Real Presence, right? So for all intents and purposes we are receiving the body, blood, soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ truly present in the Eucharist, a Substantial presence which contains no potency. What that means is that we receive our Lord's 'Esse' under the appearance or accidents of bread and wine, simply put we don't chew on Jesus's fingernails, or limbs. Of course I say this because the 'Spirit of Vatican II' crowd complete with its lack of philosophical training, (yet all with degrees in psychology or emotional subjective psychobabble) seem to cringe when the Holy Father says something. The Motu Propio of 2007 comes to mind...Back to the issue at hand,..these sixties priests, all with good intentions, I hope cannot downplay the Real Presence anymore, yet they still do. Imagine joining a company, reading the terms and conditions of employment, if the Boss says something, it should override mid-level management. Apparently not in my diocese. I ask for Rosaries to be prayed,..

Sacred Heart of Jesus,..Have mercy on us!
Immaculate Heart of Mary,..pray for us!

The Rigidity of Truth!

Once again going back to the issue of orthodox Catholicism, after a brief flirtation with the Quebec political scene, I am finding myself at a loss for words. The liberal heterodox crowd, complete with their innovative vocabulary with words like 'dialogue' or better still 'freedom of conscience' have once again began to ruffle my feathers. This time, the verbal diarrhea is aimed squarely at Pope Benedict XVI. In a recent conversation I had with an aquintance, I found myself defending a notion that believe it or not 2+2=4!. Okay, well not that simplistic, but I think you get my point. It seems for some self-styled hereti,..ooops, I mean 'progressive catholics' Pope Benedict is just way too rigid! That I should be more able to 'discern' the signs of our times and be way more open to the 'Spirit of Vatican II.' Fair enough, let's start.

For the last 40some years we have seen a dramatic decrease in Mass attendance, a prerequisite bare bones minimum for a practising Catholic. The Liturgy has been turned into some kind of do it yourself monstrocity reflecting the personality of the priest(or female liturgists in some parishes), instead of the unbloody sacrifice of the Cross. Humanae Vitae from Pope Paul VI has been almost completely ignored and has spawned open dissent, thanks to some cowardly Canadian bishops. Finally the Real Presence has been undermined. The Result? A vocations crisis, (partly man-made) and scandal. This, my friends, is the Spirit of Vatican II.

Now let's take a look at Vatican II itself. Personal prelatures such as FSSP and Opus Dei, the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, a vibrant adherence to orthodoxy, and Marian devotions. An emphasis on ecumenism with apologetics, the return of Adoration. There is also EWTN(especialy Father Corapi!) and Michael Voris' Real Catholic TV. The result, vibrant parishes and plenty of vocations.

The conclusion, for all my liberal friends is simple. Be faithful to the magisterium, your parish will grow and flourish, be faithful to relativism, your and your community will die out. Need proof? Compare the Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration to the 'Dominican sisters of Erie Pennsilvania;..Case closed!

The unending circle of Separation...

Well it is starting to loom its ugly head again,.. Louise Harel running for municipal politics and Pauline Marois rattling her troops like a pavlovian dog,.SEPARATION is back! Well,...er at least trying to make a last comeback to a dying generation, by presenting itself as open federalism. You see, the latest scheme cooked up by the PQ has the Quebec government bitching (yes you read that right...)about decentralizing more powers from Ottawa, until there is nothing left to grab, then just leave. Hey Pequistes! You bunch of whiners,.! how about worrying about the recession, jobs, health care, education and maybe infrastructure. For Federalists, this is good news, because everytime the PQ talks separation, people stop listening, well except for a few union people and some left leaning cummunis..er ooppps, I mean students.

Can't we all just get along?

Mme Harel?,..municipal politics?

I'm gonna shift gears for a moment and speak about another issue near and dear to my heart.,..POLITICS!!! Yes well, er,..municipal politics, so not exactly the most exciting realm of intellectual discourse, more of a haven for verbal diarria. (if that is how it is spelled...) Louise Harel, former PQ minister who speaks about as much english as I do swahili will run under the banner of the Vision Montreal ticket. This of course means that Benoit Labonte will step aside as leader. Aside from being an open separatist (I refuse to use the term 'sovereignist' as one cannot imply the action of sovereignating from anything...)she is also the mother of forced municipal mergers on the island of Montreal. I cannot see how federalist fortresses such as the West Island will come out and vote for someone with her record. Tremblay aside, it is time for a change, but not for a unilingual advocate for the future Republic of Quebexico to take his place. Another irony is that Labonte was the assistant to Paul Martin!

Mme Harel,..I will not be voting for you this coming fall!...

A Tragedy, a struggle, and a loss...

Wow it has been a while since I last updated,..however I'm still feeling the shock and sadness over the decision taken by Father Alberto Cutie to leave the Catholic Church and join the Anglican communion. Watching the press conference was heartbreaking, yet it led me to a moment of sincere reflection that ultimately all of us are human and everyone needs our prayers. Father Cutie is a heterosexual man who freely chose the vocation to celibacy and ultimately priesthood. This is not a new trend, men who love our Lord so much, that they freely give up wanting to be a husband and father so that others may live. While I strongly disagree with Father Cutie's decision to leave the Church, I admire his comments about loving the Catholic Church and her discipline of celibacy within the Roman rite. There is one interview on youtube, which I'm sure the heterodox crowd doesn't want you to see, the one from CBS. Father Cutie defends priestly celibacy within the context of vocation, and states that his struggle was not a 'fly by night' occurence. Becoming an episcopalian priest, Father will continue to work for ecumenical causes in the context that he is validly ordained,..this should proove interesting.