Perspectives of a Wanderer

It seems every day that Relativism (especially Moral Relativism) is warping today’s society to the point that it may no longer be able to stand on its own.

With infanticide (contraceptives, abortion), pornography, and the likes being so pervasive, it seem the God’s moral truths are being forgotten. Without these absolute truths society had no foundation and will start to crumble.

Just the past couple of days, other and I have been in a protracted “discussion” with a couple of Secular Relativists on the immorality of contraception. Their only defense was “do not impose your morality on me”. However, they seem to have no qualms about government and the courts imposing their immorality on the populous.

As with civilizations in the past, the double standard of Relativism will be the downfall of today’s society if we do not change it. Of course, working with a clean slate may not be a bad thing other than the pain an suffering it would cause getting back.

While I do not mind the Extraordinary Form of the Mass, I do recognize the validity and necessity of it. What makes it unpalatable to me are the people, not all, that go to it. An example if this happened today.

I decided to go down to my parish for the social after the 9:30 Mass. Big mistake.

The 9:30 Mass is an Extraordinary Form Mass and I made the mistake of mentioning that I go to the OF Mass on Saturday. Well that got them started on how the Ordinary Form Mass is Protestant and so on and so on and so on. I tried to point out their fallacy, but to no avail. Finally I had left because of their bigotry.

I have also heard this faction call the Cardinal corrupt and other things.

For me, this speech is divisive. I would love to attend more Extraordinary Form Masses, but this continues to turn me off.

It has also cast doubt on whether I want to continue being a member at the parish.

Growing up, a home was not an investment tool to get rich. It was a place to live.

That all changed with the excesses of the 90’s and came to a screeching halt in the past year. Insane speculation has cause the housing market to spiral out of control. First to the upside and now to the downside.

In addition, builders concentrated on the high end of the market while ignoring the middle and lower end of the market. Bigger was better was the theme.

All of this cause people to go into markets where they were not financially able or prepared to be. They got in just on the speculation (and hype) of getting rich from the market appreciation.

This “housing crisis” is not a crash. It is a correction to get back to where the market should be, a home before an investment of gain.   Hopefully the builders will also realize there is a market that has been too long ignored.

The Second Sunday of Easter is also know as Divine Mercy Sunday.

On 13 June 2002, to those Responsible for the Apostolic Penitentiary, granted the following Indulgences:

a plenary indulgence, granted under the usual conditions (sacramental confession, Eucharistic communion and prayer for the intentions of Supreme Pontiff) to the faithful who, on the Second Sunday of Easter or Divine Mercy Sunday, in any church or chapel, in a spirit that is completely detached from the affection for a sin, even a venial sin, take part in the prayers and devotions held in honour of Divine Mercy, or who, in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament exposed or reserved in the tabernacle, recite the Our Father and the Creed, adding a devout prayer to the merciful Lord Jesus (e.g. Merciful Jesus, I trust in you!”);

A partial indulgence, granted to the faithful who, at least with a contrite heart, pray to the merciful Lord Jesus a legitimately approved invocation.

I wonder how many are even aware, and those who are aware partake, of the graces that are given to those who complete the above.

In recent months, I have come to the conclusion that speculation in the commodity markets (i.e. Futures, Options, and other instruments) is no longer a good thing. In the past it was used to lock in prices by being a hedge against inflation. These days, people are using it to prey on people fears to get rich.

The oil market is one good example. In recent months the speculators have been a major part of the rise in oil prices by bidding up the price. I have seen reports where analyst have said that speculation is pricing oil as much as $30 to $40 over where it should be. Just in the last couple of days, though, the price has dropped dramatically when these same “investors” dumped their positions. This speculation, in my opinion, is one reason why gas prices have been fluctuating wildly.

The same thing is starting to happen in food prices. With the talk of alternative fuels driving up prices of certain grain prices, people are panicking about food prices. You never hear about the research and use of non-food materials for the alternative fuels.

Has speculation turned into something immoral?

Although I have not been doing much lately, I love reading the spiritual classics.

My favorite of all time is The Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis. It is one of those books where you can meditate on one or two chapters at a time without being overloaded.

After Easter, I plan on doing a lot more reading.

As stated in my previous post, the pastor has designated the Masses for Holy Thursday, and the Easter Vigil, as well as the Good Friday Ceremony will all be in the Extraordinary form.

Although I am not a fan of the Extraordinary Form, I have decided to attend on Thursday and Friday due to my obligation to a Holy Hour on Thursday and Fridays.

Should be interesting since I have only attended one EF Mass in the past and that was by accident.

This is a take on my first post under this topic, but involves ALL Catholics.

With the pervasion of the of Secular Relativism in today’s society, should Catholic consider withdrawing as much as they can in participating in the secular part of society.

What I mean by that is setting up networks of business, schools, and the likes that reject what seems to be today’s norms. Around Southeast Michigan area, we have the Catholic Business pages is specifically for businesses that are geared towards Catholics. I use it whenever I can.

What I am not talking about is giving up on society completely. We still have to vote and try to change society for the better.

This is kind of a combination of two of my recent posts.

For the past two years, I have made a three day group silent retreat through the Confraternity I belong to.

However, I have been trying to find a place near where I live to make a personal silent retreat that would be about a week long.  So far, I have found nothing that would suffice.  The only place that was remotely close is the Abbey of Gethsemani in Kentucky.

I think I will bring this up with my Spiritual Director the next time I talk to him.

With all that goes on in todays would, I wonder if it is conducive to Spiritual Growth.  For me, I say it is a hindrance.  The “noise” make it more difficult to concentrate on what is important.