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Earlier today I received a nasty-gram on Facebook from a fellow USNA graduate (30 years my senior).  He saw my profile picture and assumed that I was still active duty, and wasn’t pleased that I was a member of the group, “I Hate It When I Wake Up in the Morning and Barack Obama is President”.  Whatever.

After reading his rather condescending note about how “you’re entitled to your opinion” but not if I identify myself as a member of the military, he suggested that I ditch the uniform in my picture.

So of course, I immediately investigated his Facebook page.     It turns out that he’s a member of the group, “Progressive Democrats of America”.  Figures.  Another liberal trying to tell somebody what to do.

But I digress…

After writing him a stern, but polite, note explaining my position, I was astounded to read what I had written:

However, I no longer serve in uniform, and my Commander-in-Chief is no longer the President, but, rather, Jesus Christ in a spiritual realm, and the Holy Father temporally.

There is no way that I would have written that a year ago.  I guess I’m a work in progress.

I came across this great piece by Kimberly Cox over at BigHollywood.com.  As a Gen X’er, I feel some of the same sentiments as she does as a Millenial.  I’m glad she’s leading the charge!

All right! We blew it! My Generation, The Millennial Generation, totally fell for the oldest trick in the book and now we look like hopeless idiots in front of the whole world. What was our mistake? Youth. The veracity of naivete that only comes with inexperience, adolescence and a total lack of responsibility.

Characterized by our Pop Culture and Mass Media, we may participate in an election, try to be advocates for hope and change, but as long as “The Bachelor” and “Jersey Shore” succeed in the ratings, The Millennial Generation will be seen as having the same morals, values and ethics as the people who are on these reality shows.

We should know better. At least, with all the education we have had, you would think we might have picked up a thing or two in history class. But no, we are making the same mistake just as naturally and easily as the generation before us, the generation before them, and generations to come.

Despite all our potential and the efforts of our subculture, we allow propaganda to move us when it is there to seduce us; zeitgeist, to inspire us when it is there to distract us.

Welcome to the 21st Century and the Age of Information Technology, ushering in a new generation with all the hopes, dreams, ideals and utopianism of youth. We Millennials stand at the cusp of assuming our role in the future of our country, our world and our culture.

And we look stupid.

NOW WHAT?

First, let’s admit we are making a big mistake by allowing Pop Culture to define who we are and who we will become. At least we can learn to recognize failure. We need to move on and start to correct it.

Entertainment today has as much respect for the audience as the Ancient Romans had for their slaves and lower classes. Realize Ancient Rome is where the origins of Pop Culture began. Unlike the Ancient Greek Theatre where the purpose was to affirm the values, morals and ethics of the community, Roman Popular Entertainment was specifically created to distract people. Instead of heroes, the audience in Ancient Rome got free bread and spectacle. Watching two men fight to the death or be eaten alive by lions was considered Popular Entertainment or as we call it today, Pop Culture.

The world perceives us as juveniles. Our elders look on us with doubt. And we look at ourselves and know we are better than this. It’s not 1965 anymore and the kids who show up at political rallies acting like it’s another Woodstock are just indulging the AARP Members who are living vicariously through them.

If you really want to drag this out, then continue dithering over who’s wrong and who’s right and who’s to blame. The ugly truth is that we all share blame, we all are right and we all are wrong. Honestly, we could lose the redundant rhetoric altogether.

We are all better, much better than this and we know it. We are the Millennial Generation, stepping into the 21st Century, not with hesitation, but with purpose and with virtue. We owe it to one another to hold a higher standard than before. Let’s learn our lesson and not fall for the propaganda, the Mainstream Media or the lazy speeches that reassure us that we do live in an age of hope and change.

Most of all, it is time for Our Voice to be heard. Enough with allowing others to speak for us, to represent us and define who we are and who we will become. We know now the voracity of youth is our weakness.

No one thought we’d notice our exploitation but guess what? We do see it, plain as day. And quite honestly, I find it insulting.

We understand why we should not ask what our country can do for us.

Instead, we want to know what we must do for our country.

I will not go gently into that good night. I will no longer be silent in the face of the criticism intended to dis-empower or negate the promise of my generation. Demanding better content, higher standards and moral boundaries is our responsibility.

The time has come for The Millennial Generation to step up to the plate.

via Big Hollywood » Blog Archive » The Millenials: From The Greatest Generation to The MTV Generation.

“I’m not a man who constantly thinks up jokes. But I think it’s very important to see the funny side of life and its joyful dimension and not to take anything too tragically. I’d also say it’s necessary for my ministry.A writer once said that angels can fly because they don’t take themselves too seriously. Maybe we …could also fly a little bit if we didn’t think we were so important.”-Pope Benedict XVI, August 2006

Your email:

 

Archbishop Charles Chaput is probably the most consistently vocal US bishop when it comes to actively living your faith in political life.  In a recent speech at Houston Baptist University, Archbishop Chaput made a strong case that Jack Kennedy did serious damage to the role of faith and morals in the public square.  By stressing that he would be an American first and a Catholic second, he redefined the concept of separation of church and state in a way which the Founders never intended.

Early in his remarks, Kennedy said: “I believe in an America where the separation of Church and state is absolute.”  Given the distrust historically shown to Catholics in this country, his words were shrewdly chosen.  The trouble is, the Constitution doesn’t say that.  The Founders and Framers didn’t believe that.  And the history of the United States contradicts that.  Unlike revolutionary leaders in Europe, the American Founders looked quite favorably on religion.  Many were believers themselves.  In fact, one of the main reasons for writing the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause – the clause that bars any federally-endorsed Church – was that several of the Constitution’s Framers wanted to protect the publicly funded Protestant Churches they already had in their own states.

The full text of the speech can be found here.

The Q&A session beginning around 45:00 is especially revealing.

Your email:

 

CREEPY: The more I listen to this guy, the more I honestly think there’s something wrong upstairs.

His comments are wrong on so many levels: using a dead person for political gain…and then telling everyone that she’s going to be buried in an Obama t-shirt.  Or is he boasting?

I just found out that my NO parish is doing a Bible study based on the book “90 Minutes in Heaven” during Lent.  If you’ll remember, this is the account of the Baptist Minister who has a near-death experience and supposedly enters Heaven temporarily, only to return to Earth after 90 minutes.

My parish issued a press release today which states that “everyone is welcome regardless of religion or denomination”, and promises that “attendees will see life’s troubles in a whole new light.”

I’m disappointed yet again with my parish for offering yet another one of these non-Catholic study groups.  (This is the second priest in a row who has offered study programs by non-Catholics such as Rick Warren, Dr. Kevin Leman, etc.)
Everyone wonders why Catholic identity is eroding away, yet they refuse to consider that this kind of behavior is one of the causes.

After discerning and praying about it, my wife and I sent this letter to our pastor.  (I removed the names to preserve anonymity.)

Dear Monsignor XXXXX,

WIFE  and I were saddened to hear that PARISH is sponsoring a Bible study based on the book “90 Minutes in Heaven” by Don Piper.  Mr. Piper is a Baptist minister.

While we have not reviewed the program, we anticipate that the course will touch on topics of justification, salvation, redemptive suffering, and others.  Because Mr. Piper is Baptist it is reasonable to believe that these topics will be addressed from a perspective that is not entirely consistent with the teachings of Holy Mother Church.

Will any and all deviations from Catholic teaching be addressed during the discussion?  For instance, will the Church’s teachings on the Communion of Saints be discussed?

Vatican II’s ‘Decree on Ecumenism’, Unitatis Redintegratio, tells us that “ecumenical activity cannot be other than fully and sincerely catholic, that is, loyal to the truth we have received from the Apostles and the Fathers, and in harmony with the faith which the Catholic Church has always professed, and at the same time tending toward that fullness in which our Lord wants his Body to grow in the course of time.” (UR, 24)

WIFE and I pray for Christian Unity, however we believe that Catholic teaching should be the starting point.  Unitatis Redintegratio tells us that we need to “better understand the outlook of our separated brothers and sisters.”  But that is to enable the ultimate goal that we may “more aptly present our own belief”. (UR, 9)

If one examines the recent success that Pope Benedict has had in bringing the Anglicans, the SSPX, and the Eastern Churches toward unity with Rome, it is because he has stressed the primacy of authentic Catholic teaching and hasn’t compromised it.

There is a large body of catechesis materials available which teaches the faith from a truly Catholic perspective.  May I suggest that in the future, PARISH consider a program delivered by Father Larry Richards, Father John Corapi, Michael Voris, or others who are Catholic?  In the recent past, PARISH has presented programs by the non-Catholic psychologists Dr. Gary Smalley and Dr. Kevin Leman.  Why not present a program by psychologist Dr. Ray Guarendi, a devout Catholic with ten adopted children?

We would love to attend a Bible study at our own parish, but we are unable to support a Bible study by a non-Catholic.  We will be attending catechesis based on Father Corapi’s work on Thursday nights at a different parish.

Thank you for taking the time to consider this, and please feel free to contact us if you would like to discuss this further.

In Christ,

SIGNED

Our Bishop just announced that he was suspending next week’s CCHD collection.  This is welcome news.

Here’s an email I sent to some friends which explained the significance of this:

Hello Friends,

At Mass this weekend you may notice a terse announcement that Bishop _____ has suspended next week’s second collection, which was designated to go to the Catholic Campaign for Human Development.

This is a fabulous development, and I want to publicly thank His Excellency for taking this action!

You may not be aware of this, but the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) is an arm of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).  A recent investigation has shown that the CCHD has been giving Catholic money to groups which actively oppose church teaching.  Some of this money has gone to groups which publicly advocate abortion, homosexual marriage, prostitution and contraception.

These are grave statements, so I want to provide the documentation:

• This video by RealCatholicTV gives a nice summary of the situation.  This “aired” on 9/24/09:  http://www.realcatholictv.com/mvideo.php?id=2012
• The Bellarmine Veritas Ministry is the group which performed the investigation:  http://bellarmineveritasministry.org/campaigns/cchd/
• Here is the response from Bishop Roger Morin, Chairman of the CCHD:  http://www.usccb.org/cchd/Morin-CCHD_memo-bishops-10-01-2009.pdf
  • In the letter you will see a reference that the CCHD still has a ban on giving money to ACORN.  (The CCHD gave over $7 MILLION to ACORN in recent years, but that is another story.)

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE inform me if any information I shared above is incorrect or if I am missing anything.  I want to ensure that all facts are stated clearly and objectively.

The Bishops need our support in defending the Faith.  Please pray for them and for Holy Mother Church.

In Christ,
___________

To date, I haven’t received any responses other than positive ones.

I’ve been pleased to see more and more bishops speaking out strongly in support of the Church in recent months.  Here is another example!  Bishop Tobin of Providence, Rhode Island recently spoke out against Representative Patrick Kennedy’s repeated support for abortion and his claim that publicly supporting abortion “doesn’t make him any less of a Catholic”.

Here’s the full text of the article:  http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=4560

Here’s an excerpt from the Bishop’s statement:

[I]n confronting your rejection of the Church’s teaching, we’re not dealing just with “an imperfect humanity” – as we do when we wrestle with sins such as anger, pride, greed, impurity or dishonesty. We all struggle with those things, and often fail.

Your rejection of the Church’s teaching on abortion falls into a different category – it’s a deliberate and obstinate act of the will; a conscious decision that you’ve re-affirmed on many occasions. Sorry, you can’t chalk it up to an “imperfect humanity.” Your position is unacceptable to the Church and scandalous to many of our members. It absolutely diminishes your communion with the Church.

Congressman Kennedy, I write these words not to embarrass you or to judge the state of your conscience or soul. That’s ultimately between you and God. But your description of your relationship with the Church is now a matter of public record, and it needs to be challenged. I invite you, as your bishop and brother in Christ, to enter into a sincere process of discernment, conversion and repentance. It’s not too late for you to repair your relationship with the Church, redeem your public image, and emerge as an authentic “profile in courage,” especially by defending the sanctity of human life for all people, including unborn children. And if I can ever be of assistance as you travel the road of faith, I would be honored and happy to do so.

The tide continues to turn!

Check out this link to a Catholic Radio Apostolate.

www.hearinggodscall.org

David Warren of the Ottawa Citizen is one of my favorite columnists.  He asks the question earlier this week, “Is Obama Like Gorbachev?” I never saw this answer coming, but it shook me to the core when I truly considered it.

Consider this excerpt:

A lot of people have entertained the idea, that Mikhail Gorbachev was to the late great Soviet Union, what Barack Obama is to the surviving United States — the leader who reforms so many things so quickly that his country suddenly disappears. One recalls the speed with which the first Soviet head of state to be born after the October Revolution became its last head of state. It took him about three years: just less than the time of one U.S. presidential term.

Gorbachev did not bring about the collapse of the Soviet Union, on purpose. Those who still detect a glint in his eye would do well to respect his persistent denials. He was sincerely trying to reform the place. He was walking a dog with powerful jaws, but rather loose teeth; he tried to adapt it to a vegetarian diet; it died.

And the parallels to our current situation are spooky:

The poor dictator inherited not only an economy going bankrupt by even socialist standards; but a war in Afghanistan that was being lost, against an utterly disorganized enemy from another century; to say nothing of half-a-dozen other imperial missions, in exotic third-world locations, that were not going well.

You can read the article here.

We’ve been getting into the habit of saying Compline with the kids before bed.

These lines, near the end, have always moved me.  Especially now with kids.

“Now, Master, you let your servant go in peace.

You have fulfilled your promise.”

What comforting words.

As a side note, it’s simply amazing how evening prayer calms the kids down before bed.  There have been nights when they’ve been jumping around, over-tired and cranky…and they calm down within seconds of saying the Sign of the Cross.

…then you know things are pretty bad.

Consider this quote from a few days ago:

“President Obama, I support the Americans’ outstretched hand. But what did the international community gain from these offers of dialogue? Nothing.” — French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Sept. 24

Bizzaro-world, Jerry!  :0:

I’ve been discussing the Catholic doctrine of Extra Ecclesia Nulla Salus – No Salvation Outside the Church – with some friends.  This is one area where Catholics sure get worked up!

Here’s an email I sent to an acquaintance:

Hi ______,
Thanks for taking the time to respond.  I’ve been praying and researching this a lot lately, and the more I find out, the more I am convinced that it is Christ’s desire and commandment that we are members of His Church.

Here are a few reasons.

• First, Christ founded a Church to be His mystical body on Earth.  He intended this Church to be visible, to have special authority and special sacramental power.  He left it the gift of the Deposit of Faith which enabled it to be Holy.  If all of these were not in place, the Church would not be able to survive 2000 years, nor to accomplish its mission of bringing all people to holiness.  That is why it is One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic.  Christ would not have established this Church if He did not intend for us to be in it.
• We know that His Church was holy and special because of the actions of the early martyrs.  The Romans and other tyrants murdered tens of thousands of Christians simply for following Christ.  Christians also knew that they would be killed if they continued to practice their faith.  Why?  Because of a piece of bread which was God!  They honestly believed this!
• “To whom much is given, much is expected”:  Christ founded His Church and placed expectations of those in it.  One example is in John 6.  I will paraphrase because I know you are familiar with it.  “My flesh is real food…my blood is real drink…he who eats my flesh and blood abides in me and I in him…he who eats me will live because of me.”  It is clear here that Christ expected us to receive Him through Communion.  In fact, Church law requires that the Faithful receive Communion at least once a year.
• Christ also gave us the means to be closer to Him through the Sacraments.  Confession is probably the most important sacrament behind the Eucharist.  Why would Christ have instituted the sacrament of Confession if He did not expect His Faithful to use the sacrament often?

Now let’s refer to our Protestant brethren.
While it may be true that they possess some teaching which are true from a Catholic perspective, we must remember that these are Catholic teachings first.  For instance, the requirement for Salvation which you mention in your email is true for Protestants but also true for Catholics as well.  It is and always was a Catholic precept.

• There are over 30,000 Protestant denominations.  Every one of these has different beliefs regarding the original Deposit of Faith.  There can only be One True Church.  Which one is it?  The Catholic Church is the only one which has ALL of the same beliefs as the early Christians.  If you want to worship the way that the Apostles did, the Catholic Church is the way to do it.  For an example of this, click on this letter from St Justin Martyr in 155AD.  Letter of St Justin Martyr to Roman Emporer
• Don’t forget that Catholics are Christians.  In fact, we were the original Christians.  Unfortunately, Catholics have allowed Protestants to claim the title “Christian” for themselves alone.
• What’s the difference between the Catholic Church and the 30,000 Protestant denominations?  The Catholic Church was founded by Divinity.  EVERY ONE of the protestant denominations was founded by a fallible man.  These have continued to splinter.  Even the Lutherans have three different churches with different beliefs.

Lastly, the dogma of Extra Ecclesia Nulla Salus (No Salvation Outside the Church), has been proclaimed by no fewer than twenty popes and a number of councils including Vatican II.  Here are two quotes from the VII document, Lumen Gentium (For the Light of All Nations):

• “Basing itself on Scripture and Tradition, the Council teaches that the Church, a pilgrim now on earth, is necessary for salvation: the one Christ is the mediator and the way of salvation; he is present to us in his body which is the Church. He himself explicitly asserted the necessity of faith and Baptism, and thereby affirmed at the same time the necessity of the Church which men enter through Baptism as through a door. Hence they could not be saved who, knowing that the Catholic Church was founded as necessary by God through Christ, would refuse either to enter it or to remain in it“ (Second Vatican Council, Lumen Gentium, 14).
• “Those who, through no fault of their own, do not know the Gospel of Christ or his Church, but who nevertheless seek God with a sincere heart, and, moved by grace, try in their actions to do his will as they know it through the dictates of their conscience — those too may achieve eternal salvation“ (Second Vatican Council, Lumen Gentium, 16

Here’s my final thought on this.  God is obviously the final judge on which souls enter into Heaven, whether in Communion with His Church or not. The fact that God may save some individuals outside the Church is the exception to the general rule that there is no salvation outside the Church.  Unfortunately, many Catholics, including myself until I learned more about it, turn the exception into the rule and never talk about the rule itself.  This is still difficult for me to speak about, but I am praying that I may better understand it, and more important, that I can better explain it to others.  If we don’t tell our Protestant brothers about the Catholic Church and God’s expectations of them, we risk the damnation of their souls.

I hope we can keep this dialog open, _______.  You, ______ and your wonderful kids have been a blessing to our family.  Thank you for your influence!

In Christ,
Dave

We just established a new rule for family play of Monopoly.

Henceforth, upon landing on the “Income Tax” space, instead of paying 10% of holdings or $250, one shall receive a $100 “Entrepeneur Credit” from Uncle Sam.

It’s never too early to imbue the next generation with conservative principles, is it?!?!

The Jehovahs just showed up at my door!  There were two of them, Lisa and Janice.  Lisa was definitely in charge.

Lisa asked me if I had ever felt offended…it was hard not to say, “yeah…I’m offended right now!”, but I held my tongue.

Anyway, she asked me if I would take a magazine, and I asked her if I took one of hers, would she take one of mine.  Here’s her expression:  and then came a resounding NO!  I asked her why not and she said, “Well, we came to your door so we can give you literature.  If you came to ours, then you could give us some.”  To which I responded, “Can I follow you home?”  They actually laughed a little, but I could tell they didn’t want to!

I gave her one more chance to take some of my literature but she refused.  (I planned to give her a copy of “For the Visitor at Mass” by Angelus Press.)

Here’s the kicker, though.  My wife started asking some questions and they asked us what religion we were.  After replying that we were Catholic, Janice said something about how Catholic teachings such as the Trinity are not true.  My wife asked her how she knew that.  When Janice said, “Our research shows that it’s not true”, my wife, who always gets to the point, said, “Well you can go now.”  And they did!

Was she too blunt?   

A friend of mine made this memento mori rosary for me. Memento mori is Latin for “remember your death”.
As you can see, the beads for the Our Fathers are actually hand-carved skulls. At the foot of the cross you’ll find a skull-and-crossbones. This is known as an “Adam’s Skull” crucifix. Legend tells us that Adam was buried at Golgotha, although I have a hard time with that one. Symbolically, I think it’s right on…through His sacrifice, Christ assumes His place as the New Adam.

I had a FABULOUS day in London last week.  Here’s a recap.

I got off to a late start, but arrived just in time for the 1pm Mass at St Etheldreda’s, the oldest Catholic Church in England.  The church was lovely and the stained glass behind the altar was very ornate.  Mass was NO and was brief.  One woman responded especially loudly with “Bless-ed be God For-EVAH” during the consecration, and with her English accent it had a really dignified feel to it.

I had a great confession after Mass.

Next up was the National Gallery.  I spent about an hour and a half looking at the 13-16th century art.  Compared to the Vatican Museum’s Pinacoteca (Art Gallery), the National Gallery was much more spacious.  The artwork itself is also more accessible which made for a more intimate experience.  The collection was top-notch, and highlights included Raphael’s Portrait of Julius II, Caravaggio’s Supper at Emmaus, and Michelangelo’s Entombment.  I also got to see the Wilton Diptych, which was featured in this month’s Magnificat.

Then I walked down to the River and took in the Eye, Big Ben and Parliament for a bit.

Evensong at Westminster Abbey was phenomenal.  It was straight out of the Breviary, including lots of Latin, plenty of Gloria Patri’s and the Magnificat.  I hate to admit it, but it was “more Catholic” than most other Catholic holy hours, etc.

I had visited Westminster in 1995 while on a European tour with the Naval Academy Men’s Glee Club.  I had forgotten how “busy” it is with the statuary all over the place.  I couldn’t lose the visual that it reminded me of someone’s cluttered attic.

After eating a Pig Sandwich at the Hard Rock, I finished up the evening by attending a candlelight chamber concert at St Martin-in-the-fields.  The playlist included some violin concertos by Bach, a harpsichord concerto by Handel and an oboe concerto by Albinoni.

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