Perspectives of a Wanderer

We are now in another Lenten Season and many are talking about what they are giving up. I prefer to talk about what I will be adding instead of subtracting.

For me, I will hopefully be doing some the following:

1. Increasing my prayer life.  Currently, I have been limiting it to  Lauds, Vespers, and Compline in the Liturgy of the Hours plus a few other prays.  I plan of adding the Office Readings, and a number of additional prayers each day.  What yet I have not selected, but it will be a different set of prayers, along with the Rosary each day.
2. Make at least two holy hours a week.  I have been remiss on this and need to start fulfilling my promise to do this.
3. Going to confession more frequently, not when it is necessary.
4. Attend Weekday Mass at least once a week.
5. Look into the various indulgences and avail myself of them.
6. Increase my spiritual reading.  I have a backlog of both that I have and want to get.  Lent is a good time to decrease that backlog.

These are just the top six on my list.  There are others, but these are a good start.

Both of the predominating economic models, that being Global Capitalism and Global Socialism (also know as Marxism), have been shown to be a complete failure as well as incompatible with Catholic Moral and Social Teachings.

This is especially apparent with the current incestuous relationship the two seem to have.  Not only has it not corrected the excesses of the past 15 or so years, it has exacerbated the current economic crisis.

We need to obliterate the both structures an bring everything back down to a smaller and more local level.  Local control of the economy is more efficient in dealing with issues that effect the economy.

How to go about this is up for discussion.  However, if it was up to me, I would withdraw any and all support for as much of the global structure as possible and let it wither and die like the seed on rocky ground.  This I have already started.  I have removed my money from a major banking entity and moved it to a Credit Union.  I am also looking for alternatives for my other investments.  In addition, I have started to move away from shopping at the major global retailers and started to look for local alternatives.  There are other things, but this is just a start.

Another reason to reject globalism is the rampant immorality that has been cause by the Materialism, Relatativism, and Liberalism that has developed along with it.  Without getting back to a moral code that is in line with Catholic Moral and Social teachings, socierty will continue to slide into an abyss of perversion.

The time to start is now before it is too late.  By breaking the stranglehold of Globalism, we will be in better shape no matter what happens.

I have been going to the Extraordinary Form of the Mass at my parish for a few months now and have been discovering new things about it every week.

One of those is that th Easter Cycle, also known as the Second Part of the Liturgical Year, starts three Sundays before the Ash Wednesday which signifies the start of the Lenten/Easter Season for the Ordinary Form of the Mass.

I like this because it give a reminder of what is coming and allows for preparation before the Lent Season officially starts on Ash Wednesday.  It is also a good counterbalance to “festivities” (more like debauchery) of Marti Gras that normally occur during the days leading upto Ash Wednesday.

One thing I noticed when I was on retreat the first full weekend in February was how accustomed I was to attending the Extraordinary form of the Mass. Actually, I noticed the same thing when I was on a cruise during Christmas and New Year, but the realization did not hit me until the retreat.

The reason I noticed is because the Masses during both those time periods were the Ordinary Form of the Mass.  I actually had to think about the responces during those Masses and how varied the Ordinary Form of the Mass can be (it was really apparent with the Masses on the Cruise).

I was actually glad to get back to the Extraordinary Form of the Mass after both period and am now thinking that maybe it might be a good thing to return completely to the Extraordinary Form of the Mass and scrappinig the Ordinary Form of the Mass.

And I mean Literally.

While on retreat this weekend, I started reading Catholic Controversy: St. Francis De Sales Defense of the Faith.and what I have read so far, I have found intriguing.

For those who do not know, St. Francis volunteered to re-evangelize the Chablais region of France that converted to mostly to Calvinism after the Protestant Revolt. In his first attempt he failed.  He then resorted to writing pamphlets (tracts) which he would distributed in various ways.  This was successful and within four years, almost the whole region came back to Catholicism.

The book is a collection of those pamphlets and I can see how they can directly be used today for the evangelization of non-Catholic Christians (our wayward brethren).

It is time for my third annual silent retreat with the Confraternity of the Holy Guardian Angels.

The past two, I have been looking forward to it, but this one I am a little indifferent.  This past year has been a busy one for me and even a 10 day cruise at Chistmas did not recharge me much.

One thing I am hoping for is to be renewed spiritually since I have been in a gigantic dry period for most of the past year.

It has been a week since I posted on it and so far, everyone I have talked to is open in one way or another about a prayer campaign for the conversion of Obama.  In fact, I am not the only one who has thought about it and it has also gotten exposure on other sites:

• From What Does The Prayer Really Say?: Check this out
• From Te Deum laudamus!: In Obama’s Pocket: Miraculous Medal
• Finally, there is a prayer thread on Catholic Answers Forums: Miraculous Medal Prayer for Obama

We still have a long way to go, but we must continue.  This is too important to let fail.