Still Running Off at the Keyboard

POLITICS HEATING UP IN POLAND

Doug Ireland, a radical journalist and media critic, has a long article on the homosexual politics in Poland at the ZNet website. The article originaly appeared in Gay City News, a New York gay weekly.

Though it may be exaggerated, the article describes a political tinderbox with the potential to erupt into violence today as gay marches take place. The marches are a reaction to a government crackdown on homosexuality/pedophilia. The phrase "Catholic fundamentalist" appears in the article.

"The situation of sexual minorities in Poland is under a very serious attack," said Lisette Kampus of Poland's four-year-old Campaign Against Homophobia.

The state prosecutor's announcement of the investigation of gay groups came in response to a May 12 letter from Wojciech Wierzejski, a front-bench member of Parliament from the League of Polish Families Party, of which Wierzejski is a vice-president. Ultra-homophobic, anti-Semitic, and Catholic fundamentalist, the League recently became part of the hard-right national government led by the Kaczynski twins. A copy of Wierzejski's letter was attached to the state prosecutor's order.

Wierzejski, in his letter, formally demanded an investigation of Poland's LGBT organizations by the interior and justice ministers for "illegal financing," which Wierzejski claimed was from drug trafficking. Wierzejski -- a former leader of the League's violence-prone All Polish Youth -- also equated homosexuality and pedophilia.

That last sentence represents a connection I would not expect to see made in print.

Not long ago there was a report of a Catholic Polish radio station being reprimanded by the Vatican. There were not a lot of details. This article at ZNet sheds some light on what that reprimand was about.

The League's unofficial alliance with the popular and openly anti-Semitic Radio Maryja, the national Catholic radio station led by the demagogic and homophobic Father Tadeusz Rydzyk -- noted for his Jew-baiting and gay-hating discourse -- gives the party a high profile in national debates.

That quote brings up the secondary issue of anti-Semitism, which is dropped in the latter part of the article. Why are anti-Semitism and homosexuality linked in the politics of Poland?

Education plays a prominent role in whatever is taking place over there as well--specifically homosexual education in the schools--which sort of brings the disagreement home to roost, as we see the opposition here to the bishops' "Talking about Touching" sex ed. program. But ours is a war of words. I get the impression from this article that in Poland the words are about to cease and the weapons take over.

Is war being fomented in Europe? And if so, by whom? Or am I over reacting?

CHRISTIAN MURDER AND MAYHEM--OR SLIDING DOWN THE SLIPPERY SLOPE

Spirit Daily has linked Paul Proctor's review of a new "Christian" video game called "Left Behind: Eternal Forces". He is not complimentary.

One has to wonder if computer games like this aren't really just training videos and simulators designed by ecclesiastically embedded enemies of Christ, in the tradition of Judas, to undermine the Gospel and seduce its more naive and narcissistic players into pursuing their passions rather than yielding to the Word of God; providing a purpose driven pretext for recreational rebellion; a sanctimonious sanctioning of sin and sadism for the supposed salvation of seekers under the gratuitous guise of "meeting their felt needs;" one more clever contraption of compromise, confusion and complicity intended to lure and hold a carnal Christian's attention and keep them coming back for more so as to casually coerce them into a new crusade of global zealotry; another "end justifies the means" vision and ministry brought to you by the smiling faces of the ever-clever church growth movement.

From what I can ascertain, they're just taking pragmatism to the next level here, that's all; which is precisely what unrepentant sin always does. But, hey - it's just harmless entertainment, right? Why take it so seriously? It's pretend, for crying out loud! Nobody's actually going to get hurt here; and if you object, then - well, you obviously have no real compassion for or interest in reaching young people for Christ, now do you?

Think it's all just fun and games?

Tell that to the folks out in Littleton Colorado where violent video gamers, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold trained religiously at home on their computer screens in preparation for that infamous massacre of Christians and others at Columbine High School on April 20th, 1999 -- an event that led to an entire string of similar shootings in schools and churches across the country.

A comparison of Proctor's evaluation of Left Behind: Eternal Forces to my take on Cthulhu/Lovecraft was inevitable, and you already knew I was going to make it, didn't you. Needless to say, I'm in agreement with Proctor. In fact there is even a Cthulhu video game based on what Tor Thorsen refers to in his review at that link as "demonic fiction of author H. P. Lovecraft."

Christians living in what is becoming a non-Christian, and maybe I could even say an anti-Christian, culture must be discerning in what they choose for entertainment. Murder and mayhem simulated on an interactive video screen serves to lower the threshold of opposition for the same thing in real life. Just as a flight simulator can teach a pilot how to fly, a video game can teach the player how to kill without mercy. If we don't want to end up as barbarians, we should stop taking barbarian lessons.

GAYS AND CHILDREN

The Scottish government is preparing to vote on a bill that would allow gay couples to be parents according to Gay News:

It allows same-sex partners to adopt each other's children. It also permits both partners to adopt children through an agency or become co-parents through in-vitro fertilization. And, it allows same-sex couples to jointly be foster parents.

See, someone needs to explain this to me. Just what, exactly, does a doctor do with the petri dish potential for two male lovers? I've just never heard of a man carrying a child to term before. Or is this intended to be a three-way scenerio? In which case, does the child have two daddies and one mommy? Or are we talking about discrimination against gays and in favor of lesbians here?

I must be awfully naive.

OLD TESTAMENT PROPHECY FULFILLED IN JESUS

Zacharias IX:9 (Douay Rheims)

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Sion, shout for joy, O daughter of Jerusalem: Behold thy king will come to thee, the just and saviour: he is poor, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt, the foal of an ass.

According to the New American Bible Zechariah's first prophecy is dated to 520 B.C.

The above prophecy is fulfilled:

Matt. XXI:1-5 (Douay Rheims)

And when they drew nigh to Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, unto Mount Olivet, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them: go ye into the village that is over against you, and immediately you shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them and bring them to me. And if any man shall say any thing to you, say ye, that the Lord hath need of them: and forthwith he will let them go. Now all of this was done that what was spoken by the prophet might be fulfilled, saying: Tell ye the daughter of Sion: behold, thy king cometh to thee, meek and sitting upon an ass and a colt, the foal of her that is used to the yoke.

FLY WITH THE BLUE ANGELS

BISHOP SAYS AVOID GAMBLING

Spero News reports that religious leaders in the Philippines, including the Catholic leader, have signed a joint statement opposing gambling, even the legal variety:

The statement asks people not to indulge in gambling of any sort including the legal Small Town Lottery, which operators licensed by the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes have started in Bataan and other northern provinces.

In their statement, the religious leaders wrote that gambling destroys the person and society because it breeds laziness and dependence on luck rather than hard work for livelihood. They also pointed out that it is a "sin" to operate a gambling facility and to earn one's living through gambling.

Meanwhile in America the bingo games continue, and a Catholic youth ministry convention is scheduled for Las Vegas.

OLD TESTAMENT PROPHECIES FULFILLED IN CHRIST

According to the New American Standard (Protestant) edition of Scripture the commencing of the ministry of Jesus in Galilee was predicted. (Catholic bibles, however, begin the ninth chapter of Isaiah with "The people who walked in darness...", not mentioning Galilee in the text of Isaiah)

Isaiah 9:1-2 (New American Standard)

But there will be no more gloom for her who was in anguish; in earlier times He treated the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali with contempt, but later on He shall make it glorious, by the way of the sea, on the other side of Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles. The people who walk in darkness will see a great light; those who live in a dark land, the light will shine on them.

A similar passage does appear in Isaiah 8:23 in the Catholic New American Bible:

First he degraded the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali; but in the end he has glorified the seaward road, the land west of the Jordan, the District of the Gentiles. Anguish has taken wing, dispelled is darkness: for there is no gloom where but now there was distress.

The prophecy is fulfilled in Matt. 4:12-23 (New American Standard)

Now when He heard that John had been taken into custody, He withdrew into Galilee: and leaving Nazareth, He came and settled in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali. This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, saying, "The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, by the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles--

The people who were sitting in darkness saw a great light, and to those who were sitting in the land and shadow of death, upon them a light dawned." From that time Jesus began to preach and say, "Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand," and walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. And He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." And they immediately left the nets, and followed Him.

And going on from there He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and He called them. And they immediately left the boat and their father, and followed Him. And Jesus was going about in all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people.

The New American (Catholic) Bible gives nearly the same reading for Matthew 4:12-23.

WHERE ARE YOU GOING, BENEDICT ?

"No more perfect venue could be laid out to welcome the Son of Perdition."

That is the closing sentence of James Larson's March 2006 article in "Christian Order".

The article discusses von Balthasar's theology, exploring "a very small book by Hans Urs von Balthasar entitled Razing the Bastions (English edition: Communio Books, Ignatius Press, 1992)" which was first published in 1952, and which Balthasar called a "programmatic little book."

As background the article presents the "circle of influence" in 1972 that established the magazine "Communio", with Karol Wojtyla in charge of the Polish edition. Contributors of articles include Balthasar (61), David Schindler (Academic Dean of the John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and the Family and chief editor of Communio (42), Cardinal Josef Ratzinger (35) Cardinal Quellet (14), Cardinal Walter Kasper (13), Cardinal Angelo Scola (13), Fr. Jacques Servais (currently head of Casa Balthasar in Rome) (10).

The founding of Casa Balthar was also assisted by Cardinal Schonborn and Fr. Joseph Fessio, with Cardinal Ratzinger as its Cardinal Protector.

Some circle of friends! Both Fr. Fessio and the president of Ave Maria College, Nicholas Healy, wrote their doctoral dissertations on von Balthasar. Henri de Lubac and Hans Urs von Balthasar were considered the greatest spiritual writers in this movement. Larson says that the book Razing the Bastions was not only the personal philosophy of von B., "but also [the] 'program' which was largely adopted by Vatican Council II."

These men, then, were the constructors of our present turmoil. The article sets out some of the "aberrant theories" contained in the little book, including material derived from Adrienne von Speyer, and labels it "Modernism," opposing it to the works of 19th and 20th century popes.

These men have written a chaos scenerio. The fuzzy ephemeral theology that leaves you scratching your head and asking "What did he say?" when you are through with it is demonstrated by brief quoted passages in the article. The use of language to morph doctrine, labeling novelties cleverly so as to cloak them in a costume of tradition, is explained. The occultists could hardly have constructed better chaos magick.

What will be left of the Church when these men are finished with Her?

Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us!

THE REASON ROME LOOKS LIKE IT'S UNDER CONSTRUCTION

according to the Cincinnati Post is that while no bilboards are allowed in Rome, there is a loophole in the law that allows banners and signs to be posted on scaffolding while reconstruction is taking place. The idea was to get the advertisers to pay for some of the reconstruction that the government could not afford to do. Given the corporate desire to wallpaper the earth with ads, you can probably guess why the scaffolding would not come down.

OLD TESTAMENT PROPHECIES FULFILLED IN CHRIST

A reader asked why I am doing this. It's a faith-confirming exercise. When the chaos in our Church swirls all around us, we turn to something more substantial. The prophecies in the Old Testament were written long before a baby named Jesus was born. They are the reason the Israelites expected a Messiah. God made it clear in these Old Testament prophecies that a Savior was part of His plan. One can identify that chosen Savior by seeing these prophecies fulfilled in Christ as recounted in the New Testament. That is the reason they are significant, and that is the reason for this and subsequent blogs.

Jesus is the seed of Abraham. His human nature stands in Abraham's line of descent. In Genesis God promises to Abraham that he will father nations:

Gen. XVII:1-11 (Douay Rheims)

And after he began to be ninety and nine years old the Lord appeared to him: and said unto him: I am the Almighty God: walk before me, and be perfect. And I will make my covenent between me and thee: and I will multiply thee exceedingly. Abram fell flat on his face. And God said to him: I am, and my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations.

Neither shall thy name be called any more Abram: but thou shalt be called Abraham: because I have made thee a father of many nations. And I will make thee increase exceedingly, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. And I will establish my covenant between me and thee, and between thy seed after thee in their generations, by a perpetual covenant: to be a God to thee, and to thy seed after thee.

And I will give to thee, and to thy seed, the land of thy sojournment, all the land of Chanaan, for a perpetual possession, and I will be their God. Again God said to Abraham: And thou therefore shalt keep my covenant, and thy seed after thee in their generations. This is my covenant which you shall observe between me and you, and thy seed after thee: All the male-kind of you shall be circumcised. And you shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, that it may be for a sign of the covenant between me and you.

Matthew spells out the line of descent from which Jesus came in the first chapter of his Gospel.

Matt. 1:1-25 (Douay Rheims)

The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham begot Isaac. And Isaac begot Jacob. And Jacob begot Judas and his brethren. And Judas begon Phares and Zara, of Thamar. And Phares begon Esron. And Esron begot Aram. And Aram begot Aminadab. And Aminadab begot Naasson. And Naasson begot Salmon....

And Eliud begot Eleazar. And Eleazar begot Mathan. And Mathan begot Jacob. And Jacob begot Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.

That is the geneaology of Joseph.

The geneaology of Mary is given in Luke.

Luke 3:23-38 (Douay Rheims)

And Jesus himself was beginning about the age of thirty years: being (as it was supposed) the son of Joseph, who was of Heli, who was of Mathat, who was of Levi, who was of Melchi....Who was of Henos, who was of Seth, who was of Adam, who was of God.

The Bible History online website discusses this geneaology of Jesus, indicating the line of descent in Luke was Mary's line.

Curiously, both Evangelists indicate they are talking about Joseph's line. Luke does not mention Mary, yet clearly the two lines of descent are different, and the footnote in the Douay Rheims indicates it is Mary's line given in Luke.

NEW OXFORD REVIEW JUNE 2006

has taken Benedict to task yet again for the document on homosexuals in the seminary, and they haven't pulled their punches this time. Two short quotes sum it up:

With the document on homos in the seminaries, which you can read just about any way you want, Benedict has validated a "dictatorship of relativism."

And

Dare we say it? This is not the Pope we need at this time. The NOR had expected so much more.

Nuff said, but if you want a little more...

Commenting on the first 12 months of Benedict's papacy, John L. Allen Jr., the Vatican Correspondent for the liberal National Catholic Reporter, says: "No theologian has been publicly censured,...there is no discernable drift towards radically conservative figures either in the bishops' appointments or the Roman Curia, and there has been no earthquake in either liturgy or doctrine. We even had the unanticipated spectacle on Sept. 24 of a friendly four-hour reunion between Benedict XVI and the enfant terrible of the Catholic left, Swiss theologian Hans Kung....When Benedict went to Bari, Italy, for a Eucharistic Congress, he did not lament liturgical abuses....When he went to Cologne, he did not scold German dissidents...." Allen paints Benedict as a "cautious consultative and moderate figure," a "consensus" figure (NCRonline, March 31)

God's rotweiler has become God's pussy cat. Are we absolutely sure this is the same man who used to head up the CDF? One could almost believe there has been a Sr.-Lucy-like switch. Reminiscent of another older cardinal who became Pope for a few years and reincarnated into the keeper of the windows.

Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us!

THE NEW ECUMENISM

Zenit reports that a new document on Ecumenism is being issued.

Will this be the one that facilitates the One World Church we are warned of in Scripture? In any case, Cardinal Kasper is behind it.

Blogger credit to Novus Ordo Watch.

SR. LUCY'S WRITINGS PUBLISHED

Zenit reports that the up to now unpublished writings of Sr. Lucy have been published. The article doesn't deal with that most important question, though--which Sr. Lucy?

CARDINAL PELL SPEAKS BOLDLY ON ISLAM

According to The Trumpet:

In an interview conducted in Rome, Pell told the National Catholic Reporter that “the ‘million-dollar question’ was whether intolerance was a modern distortion of Islam or arose out of internal logic. ‘It’s difficult to find periods of tolerance in Islam,’ Australia’s top Catholic was quoted as saying” (Australian Associated Press, June 6).

The headline, "Catholic Archbishop Offends Muslims" is hardly neutral. What is offensive about the truth? In any case, the last paragraph would appear to be a call for religious war:

We do not question the veracity of Pell’s observations, but rather point out that the vocalization of such views by high-ranking Catholic officials is a precursor to a time coming soon when these two universal religions will come to blows.

TRADITIONAL BANS RESTATED

The Pontifical Council for the Family has formally restated the traditional bans on contraception, invitro fertilization, stem cell research, abortion, civil unions. The document also criticized feminism.

OLD TESTAMENT PROPHECIES FULFILLED IN CHRIST

Psalm CIX:4 (Douay Rheims)

The Lord hath sworn, and he will not repent: Thou art a priest forever, according to the order of Melchisedech.

Psalm 110:4 (New American)

The Lord has sworn, and he will not repent: "You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek".

Hebrews V:5-6 (Douay Rheims)

So also, Christ did not glorify himself to be made a high priest: but he that said to him: "Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. As he saith also in another place: "Thou art a priest forever, according to the order of Melchisedech.

Hebrews 5:5-6 (New American)

In the same way, it was not Christ who glorified himself in becoming high priest, but rather the one who said to him: "You are my son: this day I have begotten you"; just as he says in another place: "You are a pr9iest forever according to the order of Melchizedek."

"THE MYTH OF RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE"

is the title of an article in the current "Crisis" magazine, written by Rev. Thomas D. Williams, L.C., dean of the theology school at Rome's Regina Apostolorum University and Vatican analyst for NBC News. I'd like to post the whole thing, because Williams comes to grips with the morphing of values and doctrine that is being done in the name of "tolerance." Here's a little of it anyway:

...as a virtue, tolerance seems to have distanced itself so far from its etymological roots as to have become another word altogether. Thus the virtue of "tolerance" no longer implies the act of "toleration," but rather a general attitude of permissiveness and openness to diversity. A tolerant person will not tolerate all things, but only those things considered tolerable by the reigning cultural milieu. Tolerance therefore now has two radically incompatible meanings that create space for serious misunderstandings and abuse.

Tolerance and intolerance have no objective referent, but rather can be applied arbitrarily. Thus the accusation of intolerance has become a weapon against those whose standards for tolerance differ from one's own, and our criteria for tolerance depend on our subjective convictions or prejudices. ...

The affair grows even muddier when the "acceptance of diversity," present in modern definitions of tolerance, is thrown into the mix. The UN Declaration of Principles on Tolerance incorporates a prior statement from the UN Declaration on Race and Racial Prejudice, which states: "All individuals and groups have the right to be different." Taken at face value, this is a ridiculous claim. Suicide bombing is "different," as are genocide and sadomasochism. To say that one person has a right to be bad, simply because another happens to be good, is the lidicrous logic of diversity entitlement. ...

In the end, the question for everyone necessarily becomes not, "Shall I be tolerant or intolerant?" but rather, "What shall I tolerate and what shall I not tolerate?"

John Paul II is mentioned in a favorable light at the end of the article. As I read the applause, I couldn't help but think that JPII was the modern day promoter of "unity in diversity". I would have found Williams article even more appealing had he not tried to whitewash the unjustifiable.

CHAOS ROSARY

Over at Thee Temple Ov Psychick Youth you can see a Chaos Rosary complete with a chaosphere in place of a crucifix. It can have as few as one and as many as eight decades.

On the chaosphere one makes the sign of aether, matter, power, self-love, and infinity in place of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. The object is to begin by centering and balancing, and there are other formulas which can be used as well, including one written by Aleister Crowley.

On the large bead one prays to "Oh Great Chaos" and to "Oh Great Reigning Mother and Father of All" and to "Oh Great Formless Fire."

On the small beads one is to "recite the following: XIQUAL UDINBAK, which means roughly 'manifest chaos'".

At MySpace where kids hang out, TOPY has a spot of its own; so if you find a strange looking rosary in your kid's bedroom, don't assume there's nothing wrong with it.

OLD TESTAMENT PROPHECIES FULFILLED IN CHRIST

Psalm XL:10 (Douay Rheims)

For even the man of my peace, in whom I trusted, who eat my bread, hath greatly supplanted me.

Psalm 41:10 (New American)

Even my friend who had my trust and partook of my bread, has raised his heel against me.

John XII:18 (Douay Rheims)

I speak not of you all: I know whom I have chosen: but that the Scripture may be fulfilled: "He that eateth bread with me, shall lift up his heel against me.

John 13:18 (New American)

I am not speaking of all of you. I know those whom I have chosen. But so that the scripture might be fulfilled, 'The one who ate my food has raised his heel against me.'

CONSPIRACY THEORIES AND CONSPIRACY

Over the years since AOL went to flat rate and I began posting comments in Catholic venues, I have frequently been mocked and ridiculed for believing in conspiracies. Well, it would seem, according to recent stories in the news, that I haven't been wrong. There have been conspiracies, or a single large conspiracy.

Take a story posted at LifeSite about priests who spied for the Communists. There you can read:

Historian, Marek Lasota, an official with the INR has written a study, "Spying on Wojtyla," and said that priests were targeted by the communists "from their seminary days onwards" including such "personal weaknesses" as sexual liaisons, alcoholism or "love of good living" for blackmail purposes. Lasota confirmed that the KGB planned and led all efforts to "eliminate" the Polish Pope - including the assassination attempt in 1981 - from 1978 up to 1989, the year communism collapsed in Poland.

Other former Soviet Bloc countries have reported similar revelations about Catholic clergy collaborators. In 2005, Hungary's Catholic Church admitted that "at least dozens" of clerics spied for the dreaded Hungarian communists.

In the west since the fall of the Soviet state, evidence has come forward of extensive ties between US Catholics and the Soviets in the 1940's and '50's. The so-called "Venona Papers" were declassified in 1995 and showed that Stalinist era agents were working closely with members of the legal US Communist Party.

The story is confirmed at Radio Polonia, and it would appear from this account that a cover-up is either underway in Poland or in the process of being foiled. It's hard to tell which:

Father Tadeusz Isakowicz-Zaleski, a popular former Solidarity chaplain, intended to present the results of his private investigation at a press conference in Krakow but shortly before that his superiors ordered him to abandon his plan arguing that it would discredit the Catholic Church and harm innocent priests.

Oh yes, where have we heard that before? In America it was the chanceries. In Poland the government would seem to be behind the cover-up:

Soon after post communists took over the power in Poland. Robert Strybel says that they too made sure that the vetting process did not get off the ground.

“Their ranks were the most littered with all kinds of people with shady backgrounds, the secret police and communist party apparatchiks. And obviously that period was not good. And time went on. It became more difficult, more things were lost, things were destroyed. I think it was the sin of negligence”.

The LifeSite article mentions Bella Dodd:

Dr. Alice von Hildebrand, philosophy professor and widow of the renowned philosopher and anti-Nazi activist, Dietrich von Hildebrand, has said that Americans are "naïve" to think that Soviet agents, whose intention was to undermine the then-powerful political influence of the Catholic Church, would have passed over the Catholic seminaries.

Von Hildebrand cites the voluminous Senate committee testimony of former Communist Party organizer and high Party official, Bella Dodd who revealed that the Catholic priesthood in the US and other western countries had been heavily infiltrated by communist agents whose mission it was, she said, "to destroy the Catholic Church from within." Dodd predicted changes in the Church that would be so drastic that "you will not recognize the Catholic Church."

Dr. von Hildebrand recalled in an interview with Latin Mass magazine in 2001, "Bella Dodd told my husband and me that when she was an active Party member, she had dealt with no fewer than four cardinals within the Vatican 'who were working for us'."

Dodd's book exposes a real-life conspiracy of major proportions. You can read it online for yourself.

In Chapter five she talks about the strife between groups seeking control.

I did not then understand why intelligent adults should struggle so hard to control an organization which in numbers was small and insignificant. I was dumfounded to find the names of distinguished professors such as John Dewey and George Counts involved in the controversy.

Intelligent adults struggling for control. Does that describe St. Blogs? Without a doubt it describes the entire history of the Paris occult revival which is still with us today in the form of chaos magicians such as those who follow Lovecraft.

Dodd writes about the labeling of people so as to make them an object that can be targeted:

The communist publicists carefully took for their own the pleasant word of Loyalist and called all who opposed them "Franco-Fascists." This was a literary coup which confused many men and women. Violent communist literature repeatedly lumped all of the Church hierarchy on the side of the "Fascists," and, using this technique, they sought to destroy the Church by attacking its priests. This was not a new tactic. I had seen it used in our own country over and over again. When Communists organized Catholic workers, Irish and Polish and Italian, in labor unions they always drove a wedge between lay Catholics and the priests, by flattering the laity and attacking the priests.

Is it happening here in America now? Is a wedge being driven between the laity and the clergy? Those who oppose the Church often tote out the word "freedom" and apply it to the particular brand of anarchy they are proposing. Dodd saw this as well:

During the Spanish War the Communist Party was able to use some of the best talent of the country against the Catholic Church by repeating ancient appeals to prejudice and by insinuating that the Church was indifferent to the poor and was against those who wanted only to be free.

The bishops who disrupted worship and promoted various heresies while covering up pedophiles were invariably promoters of the social gospel. The poor--the poor--the poor. That's all we heard from Bishop Pilla for as long as I can remember.

Dodd even implicates the United Nations and describes her part in it:

When the Yalta conference had ended, the Communists prepared to support the United Nations Charter which was to be adopted at the San Francisco conference to be held in May and June, 1945. For this I organized a corps of speakers and we took to the street corners and held open-air meetings in the millinery and clothing sections of New York where thousands of people congregate at the lunch hour. We spoke of the need for world unity and in support of the Yalta decisions.

Today Gorbachev is still rounding the globe promoting world peace and unity--especially world religious unity, and a lot of Americans are lapping it up, thinking they are being World Servers. Dodd writes:

Late in 1945 word had come from Jessica Smith, wife of John Abt, who was in Moscow, that it was important that American women be organized into an international movement, ostensibly for peace. An international federation was to be established with Russian and French Party women as leaders.

A better description of chaos magick can't be found than this passage from Dodd:

The Party proposed to develop the national aspirations of the Negro people so they would rise up and establish themselves as a nation with the right to secede from the United States. It was a theory not for the benefit of the Negroes but to spur strife, and to use the American Negro in the world communist propaganda campaign to win over the colored people of the world. Ultimately the Communists proposed to use them as instruments in the revolution to come in the United States.

Dodd started out a communist working for the party to help undermine the Church, but she came to see through the fraud and ultimately became Catholic. As she writes:

He knew that a nominal Christian with a memory of the Cross can easily be twisted to the purposes of evil by men who masquerade as saviors. I thought how communist leaders achieve their greatest strength and cleverest snare when they use the will to goodness of their members. They stir the emotions with phrases which are only a blurred picture of eternal truths.

In my rejection of the wisdom and truth which the Church has preserved, and which she has used to establish the harmony and order set forth by Christ, I had set myself adrift on an uncharted sea with no compass. I and others like me grasped with relief the fake certitude offered by the materialists and accepted this program which had been made even more attractive because they appealed for "sacrifice for our brothers." Meaningless and empty I learned are such phrases as "the brotherhood of man" unless they have the solid foundation of belief in God's Fatherhood.

Dodd was able to make that discovery because there was still a Church to rescue her. When the Communist implants in the Roman Catholic Church in America are finished with Her, will we be as fortunate?

Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us!

RAIN ON THE RAINBOW SASH PROTEST

Looks like this year's rainbow sash protest was a dud even in Minneapolis-St. Paul where it should have succeeded if it could succeed anywhere.

ITTTTTT'SSSSSSS BACK

Vibrant Parish Life II

The "Call to Worship Prayer for Pentecost" was in the bulletin this morning and Father read the prayer during Mass. No one joined him in reading it, however. This is the text:

Almighty God,

We hear in sacred scripture: "In one Spirit we were all baptized into one body," and today we especially remember this call. In striving for this unity through the clustering of parishes, help us to break down the walls that may divide us and replace those walls with an open heart and oneness of spirit. May all parishes and communities work together, hand in hand, in one Spirit - to build up your Kingdom which has no barriers. Through the waters of our baptism, may we be one in you - giving glory, honor and praise in all our words and deeds. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Talk about hokey...

Before Mass began, our pastor gave a brief talk about the lack of priests, the fact that the priests we still have are becoming older and sickly, and some parishes are no longer financially solvent.

Our Mass was said by our regular, retired visiting priest. It was clear today that his health has taken a significant turn for the worse. He was not able to distribute communion. He was not able to participate in the recessional. He lost his train of thought during the homily. None of these things have happened before.

Our parish is not large, though we have a viable school. I seem to recall that we have around 6,000 families, but am not absolutely sure about that. Our church holds about 600 people and is not usually full at the Mass I attend.

In 2002 we had a "Minimum Weekly Need" to sustain the parish of $12,000 and were getting around $10,000 in the weekly collection.

In 2003 the Minimum was $12,000 and we were still getting around $10,000. The "Deficit to Date" began appearing in 2003 Sunday bulletins. On Feb. 9 it was $50,113.50.

In 2004 the need was $13,000 and we were getting around $12,000. The deficit on March 14 was $46,888.12. This is reported as "Deficit to Date (Fiscal Year 7-1-03)". I don't know whether there is an additional deficit for 2002-2003.

Today's bulletin reported a minimum needed of $15,000, and a Regular Collection of $12,653. Deficit to Date (Fiscal Year 7-1-05) is $140,440.13.

We have not had a financial report for many years.

For at least a year my husband has been saying that something is wrong with the numbers. I've tried to make light of it. But now we are hearing that some parishes are not financially viable and may close.

My mother-in-law's parish has a much larger church and more than one priest as well as a school. She and I have often compared the Sunday collection figures. Both our parish and hers get about the same amount of money each Sunday. They do have fundraisers at her parish which we don't have.

It occurred to both my husband and me today that there may be a plan in the works to close our parish when we no longer have a pastor. The church is small. And obviously the parish is in debt so it is not financially viable. And it occurred to both of us at the same time that this could very well be an orchestrated arrangement that has been in the works for quite some time.

Trust is hard to come by in this American Catholic Church.

How does one "strive for unity" with a parish that has been heterodox, with a modern church that doesn't look Catholic? What does one do when the orthodox parish that has been a refuge from heterodoxy in the area is closed down? I've known for a long time that this day would eventually come. Looks like it's nearly here. After all of the agony of the last 40 years, it appears the modernists are going to win in the end thanks to an arranged destruction of the priesthood by our bishops.

Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us!

OLD TESTAMENT PROPHECIES FULFILLED IN CHRIST

Lee recommended a study of it. I remember doing it in grade school, but haven't thought much about it since. I've probably just taken it for granted. Anyway...

Psalms II

Why have the Gentiles raged, and the people devised vain things? The kings of the earth stood up, and the princes met together, against the Lord, and against his Christ. Let us break their bonds asunder: and let us cast away their yoke from us. He that dwelleth in heaven shall laugh at them: and the Lord shall deride them. Then shall he speak to them in his anger, and trouble them in his rage. But I am appointed king by him over Sion, his holy mountain, preaching his commandment. The Lord hath said to me: Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I will give thee the Gentiles for thy inheritance, and the utmost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt rule them with a rod of iron, and shalt break them in pieces like a potter's vessel. And now, O ye kings, understand: receive instruction, you that judge the earth. Serve ye the Lord with fear: and rejoice unto him with trembling. Embrace discipline, lest at any time the Lord be angry, and you perish from the just way. When his wrath shall be kindled in a short time, blessed are all they that trust in him.

Luke 1:30-33

And the Angel said to her: Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found grace with God: Behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and shalt bring forth a Son, and thou shalt call his name, Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the most High, and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of David, his father: and he shall reign in the house of Jacob for ever.

John III:16

For God so loved the world, as to give his only begotten Son: that whosoever believeth in him, may not perish, but may have life everlasting.

Quotes taken from The Douay-Rheims Old and New Testament.

WORDS FROM ST. TERESA OF AVILA

The Collected Works of St. Teresa of Avila trans. Kieran Kavanaugh, O.C.D., and Otilio Rodriguez, O.C.D., vol. I, 2d ed., as quoted by Fr. Gabriel Amorth in An Exorcist Tells His Story:

How frightened these devils make us because we want to be frightened through other attachments to honors, property, and delights! It is then that they do us great harm, when they are joined with us who loving and desiring what we ought to abhor are in contradiction with ourselves. For we make them fight against us with our own very weapons, handing over to them what we need for our own defense. This is a great pity. But if we abhor all for God and we embrace the cross and try truly to serve God, the devil will flee these truths like the plague. He is a friend of lies, and is the lie itself. He will make no pact with anyone who walks in truth. When he sees the intellect darkened, he subtly helps to blind the eyes. For if he sees people already blind by the fact that they place their trust in vain things (and so vain that these worldly things become like children's games), he concludes that they are then children, treats them as such, and dares to fight with them not once but many times. (p. 65)