Perspectives of a Wanderer

One cannot go one day where there is an article about how some group or governmental body trying to silence Christians in general and Catholics in particular when it comes to moral issues.  This seems to be especially true when it comes to the more “conservative” and orthodox the Christian is.  If the “Christian” is of the “liberation theology” or “progressive” type, they are generally left alone since they are more in line with the Socialist and Liberal plagues.

Just in the past couple of days, there have been reports of:

• Maine churches threatened with IRS complaints for supporting marriage
• Local regulations targeting pro-life pregnancy centers suggest new strategy
• Religious exemptions in D.C. same-sex ‘marriage’ bill are too narrow, archdiocese says

All of these are example of the open hostility against traditional Moral and Social teachings (especially when they are in line with the Catholic Church) by the Liberals and Socialists.  And this is only in America.  It is even worse in Europe.

When are we going to stand up to these thugs and say no more?  We Catholics have a right and an obligation to oppose all man-made “positive law” that is direct conflict with God’s Natural Law.  We need to start pushing back and I see two things that could be done immediately:

1. Invalidate all contracts and relationships with any governmental body that passes these unjust and immoral laws.
2. Excommunicate any governmental official who purports to be Catholic.

I do expect that there will be retaliation, especially by those who are excommunicated, but it has to be done.  The only thing is that we must make sure of is that the services that were provided in the Church/government relationships still be provided even under threats of persecution by government officials.

Only when the Catholic Church is free of the onerous yoke of the Liberal and Socialist plagues can it concentrate on doing God’s work.

While reading though the myriad of postings over on Facebook, a link to the chapter “The Great and Enduring Heresy of Mohammed” in Hilaire Belloc’s The Great Heresies was posted.

In there, Belloc hypothesizes that Islam (Mohammedanism as he called it in some instances) was not a new and/or pagan religion, but really another heresy of Catholicism.  He points out how Islam started out with many Catholic tenets and how it became a heresy.

What was that heresy? It was a full denial of the Incarnation.  He explains it as follows:

Mohammed did not merely take the first steps toward that denial, as the Arians and their followers had done; he advanced a clear affirmation, full and complete, against the whole doctrine of an incarnate God. He taught that Our Lord was the greatest of all the prophets, but still only a prophet: a man like other men. He eliminated the Trinity altogether.

With that denial of the Incarnation went the whole sacramental structure. He refused to know anything of the Eucharist, with its Real Presence; he stopped the sacrifice of Mass, and therefore the institution of a special priesthood. In other words, he, like so many other lesser heresiarchs, founded his heresy on simplification.

He goes on in a lengthy discourse on the history of Islam and it waxing and waning power, but that is not a subject for this post.

I have read reports where a great number (Somewhere around 15, 000) of Muslims in France convert every year, especially to Catholicism.  I hear the number is even greater in Africa and numbers in the millions worldwide.  Here in the United States, there is no real statistics that I can find on how many convert, but I have a feeling that it may not be that many (at least to Catholicism)

What I believe is that we may be able use what Hilary Belloc termed the “heresies” of Islam as an Evangelization tool for the conversion of Muslims. I also believe that we can use the recent events such as the massacre at Ft. Hood and how Islam seems to be controlled by the radical Imams to portray Christianity in general and Catholicism particular and as an attractive alternative to Islam.

As I have pointed out in previous posts is that this evangelization must not include:

• Forcing people to convert
• Providing physical benefits in hopes that recipients will be open to listening
• Providing physical benefits only to those willing to listen
• Providing physical benefits only who convert

Also, as I have stated in the past, these evangelization efforts will fail if we do not live our lives according to the teaching of Our Lord and his Church. You have heard of the quote: “Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words”. This means we If we do not live by example, our message will fall on deaf ears and we will probably fall on the sword of Islam.

One thing I like about the Extraordinary Form of the Mass (also known as the Latin or Tridentine Mass) is that it forces one to concentrate more on the Mass than the Ordinary Form of the Mass.  In my opinion the Low Mass requires more concentration than the High Mass because there is even less interaction (i.e. no music or incense).

This has nothing to do with reverence since I have since I have seen the Ordinary Form of the Mass celebrated with great reverence.  It is just, with the Ordinary Form of the Mass, you always know where you are in the Mass due to the “active participation”.  No concentration is really needed.

However, this is not what this post is really about since Mass is the easy part.  It is concentration when doing things like my prayers or sacred reading.  It seem that, no matter what I do, I cannot concentrate.  I have tried music and silence and neither works well for extended period of time.

The only real exception is music without any vocals does help a little.  If there are any voices in the music or elsewhere, my concentration is completely disrupted. This is why I usually put Baroque music on since, for me at least, it is more relaxing that other eras of classical music and there are few vocal compositions played on the Internet site I frequent most often.  It is also does not help that I have extra sensitive hearing that intensifies background noise.

I have to figure out how to concentrate.  One thing I am going do is to try to find a place to live where it is quieter than where I live now.  Without going into detail, lets just say I can see 2 major highways from my apartment window.  I will be looking in the next couple of months at a number of places.  I am still a year or so away from having enough money for a sizable chunk of land where I can build my own home.

That is one thing, now to figure out other ways to concentrate.  If not, I will have a very hard time growing spiritually.

When I say the key, I am talking about fighting the plagues of Relativism, Socialism, Liberalism, Materialism, and Global Capitalism that have infected today’s society.

Yes, some of these plagues were around long before the Protestant Revolt, but none really took hold until after the splintering that took place in the early 16th century.  I believe the disunity that took place during the revolt allowed these plagues to grow into the widespread infestation that is threatening to implode society today.  It is also my opinion that only the unity of Christianity under the Catholic Church is the only way that the impending implosion can be averted.

In the past couple of weeks, we have seen the Traditional Anglican Communion take a huge step in returning to the fold and there are rumblings of other groups (I will not list them since they are only rumors) in serious talks with the Holy See in returning. The more groups, and individuals too, that return, the better chance we have in fighting these plagues.

As faithful Catholics, we must do out part in bringing our brethren back to the fold.  This can be accomplished through a number of activities. The main two are:

1. How we live our lives. You have heard of the quote: “Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words”. This means we must live our lives according to the teaching of Our Lord and his Church. If we do not live accordingly, we will lose the war at this point
2. A very active evangelization. Yes, what I am talking about can be considered proselytism, and you know what, you are right because it is. We must take the truth to the enemy and get in their faces. Of course, there are some things that must not do.  Those things include:

• Forcing people to convert
• Providing physical benefits in hopes that recipients will be open to listening
• Providing physical benefits only to those willing to listen
• Providing physical benefits only who convert

What we must do is preach the Truth to all, both those who are willing to listen and to those who are hardened to the Word of God.  We must use the public square as our pulpit at every chance we get. What we must not to is compromise the Truths set forth by the Catholic Church. These are non-negotiable.

The more people we can bring into the fold the better the chance we will have in fighting the socio-economic plagues that threaten us all.

They say that Socialism is the ultimate “Nanny State”.  That is true in the sense that, to a varying degree based on the type of Socialism (with Marxism being the most extreme type where everything is controlled by the State).

With the “nanny state” of Socialism, one does not have to worry about where the means of living will come from and, in that sense, one does not have to worry about being self-sufficient.  People are dependant on the state and that is the way they want it.  Independence and self-sufficiency are threats to the state. People are essentially slaves of the state.

The same can be said about Global Capitalism.  In this case, the corporation replaces the State as the provider.  The difference is how.  In the case of the corporation, wages and benefits are the control of the people.  Without these, many will be unable to provide for their families.

In addition, many of these same corporations provide the goods and services people need to survive.  And how to people pay for these goods and services? They pay with the same wages and benefits provided by the corporation.  This essentially makes the person another type of slave, a “wage slave”.

In either scenario, the person is a “slave” of one sort or another.  We need to return to a socio-economic model that allows a person to be their own provider if they want to. Distributism that is firmly ensconced in Catholic Moral and Social teaching provides the framework for this socio-economic model.

This cannot be forced on a person like Socialism and Global Capitalism has been, and is being, done. We must not let ourselves to be lowered to the level of Socialism and Global Capitalism, which are plagues of modern society.  We must, however, force our ideas into the public square to show that they are viable and, more importantly, desirable alternatives to the current, plague ridden, socio-economic models.

We are constantly bombarded with requests to boycott this or boycott that for many different reasons.  Usually it is because some person or group has been offended (sometimes valid, many time not) in one form or another.

Boycotts are completely worthless without viable morally sound alternatives.  People simply cannot or will not do without certain goods and services.  And, in some cases, there are not alternatives for these due to the rampant plague of Global Capitalism consolidating the means of production in the hands of an increasing diminishing number of companies.

In addition, there would be no need for “boycotts” if there were many morally sound alternatives since many would gravitate to those without the need to call for “boycotts”.

We must look at either developing these alternative and/or breaking up the oligarchic and monopolistic control of production of Global Capitalism. That is, implement a socio-economic structure based on distributive principles based in Catholic Moral and Social teaching before it is impossible to do so.

Yes, I know it sounds weird living in a society that is infected by plagues like Relativism, Socialism, Materialism, Liberalism, and Global Capitalism, but I am wondering if it could be a viable to completely living in today’s society.

Many Catholics, including myself, belong to various third orders and/or confraternities that share in the spirituality of a particular order or movement but are not religious members of that order.  From what I have read, and that has been very cursory at best, what I am looking at has existed in the past in one form or another with the best example being that of Third Order of St. Francis.

At the present, I am still researching this idea of mine but what I am looking at is where a group lives in a community, but still works outside of the community in many cases or in jobs associated with the community.  These communities can be set up anywhere but should be as self-reliant as possible.

These communities, based on the actual size will be broken up into a number of groups.  These groups would include, but not restricted to, married, single males, single females, and those inquiring and/or actively pursuing a religious life.  These communities would also follow a particular rule that could be completely based on a current rule, one of the most famous being the Rule of St. Benedict, a modified version of one of those rules, or a completely new one.

One thing that has consistently been mentioned when I suggest these types of thing is that I am trying to set up communities/societies completely separated (i.e. isolated) from current society.  This is not true.  What I envision is an alternative within the current framework of society that could become the norm.

There is more that would go into these types of communities but, at the present time, I am looking mainly at the possibility, viability, and examples of (both historical and present) communities.

I will admit, my prayer life has been a roller coaster for years now.  There are points, including recently where it has been extremely high and points where it has been practically non-existent.  Usually the lows come immediately after a period of extreme high.  I am currently at the point of extreme high that I have not reached before and I am now feeling the start of the burnout phase.  I do not want that to occur since other things tend to happen when I hit those low points.

The problem is finding the proper level of prayer life to avoid the highs and, thus, cause the lows to occur due to burnout.  There are a number of prayers that are obligatory for me.  These include Divine Office (also known as the Liturgy of the Hours), the Rosary, certain prayers to the Holy Guardian Angels, and Eucharistic Adoration (although not absolutely mandatory is encouraged).  All of these are related to investitures and/or groups I belong to.

Other than that, all other prayers are not required of my obligation.  Yes, I still want to say them, but maybe not all every single day.  I need to figure out a schedule for these prayers so that they are said only once or twice a week.

Another advantage of a measured approach to my prayer life is that I will avoid the tendency of rushing my prayers due to time constraints.  This is not no much of a problem on the weekends, but is during the week.  As it is right now, if I do the prayers at the proper pace, I do not leave much time in the mornings before work to do anything else.  This is the time here I feel most rushed.

I will be working on this the next couple of days and will probably speak to one of the priests I know about setting a proper prayer life.

We all, at least most of us, have heard the following Bible story of the “Tower of Babel”:

Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.” And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the sons of men had built. And the Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do; and nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down, and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.” So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth. (Gen 11: 4-9 RSV)

In the story, man was so united that they were becoming like gods in the sense that nothing they put their mind to was impossible.  Our Lord decided that this was not to be and scattered them across the earth unable to communicate with each other.

Although there are still many languages and people are scattered all across the globe, I see us getting very close to a “Tower of Babel” like situation today.  Why I see this is twofold.

First, the technology today makes it so distance, and in many cases language, barriers have practically fallen.  People communicate at the touch of the button and it is getting to the point where those communications can be automatically translated into their own language.

The second reason is more of ideological in nature.  With the rapid onslaught of secular based society due to the plagues of Relativism, Socialism, Liberalism, Materialism and Global Capitalism, man is either putting himself above God and/or saying God is irrelevant or non-existent.

Now, I am not saying that we need another “Tower of Babel” scattering, but I see this as a real threat to the moral fabric of society. Will God have to do something or will we discover the folly of our ways and return completely to the fold.  I do not hold out much hope of the latter, but I am praying that God does not take too drastic of action (although a return to the Medieval type society would not be undesirable).

Many of know that yesterday was Solemnity of All Saints, but few remember that today is the Feast of All Souls. On this day, we are to pray and celebrate Masses for the soul of those departed that have not attained the rewards in heaven due to not being perfectly cleansed from venial sins, or have not fully atoned for past transgressions.  These are the Poor Souls in Purgatory.

Since this day, unlike the Solemnity of All Saints, is not a Holy Day of Obligation and is not a “pagan party” like Halloween has become, it has, for the most part, become a forgotten day along with the souls that are in Purgatory.

Folks, these people are saints even though they have not attained the rewards in heaven. We are to pay for and celebrate Mass for those souls to aid them in attaining those rewards.

It seems we only pray to saints when we want them to intercede for us, it is high time return the favor and pray for those who will attain sainthood and will attain it quicker through our prayers.

Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine.
Et lux perpetua luceat eis.

Fidelium animae, per misericordiam Dei, requiescant in pace.
Amen.