Fresh from painting the kitchen...

A conundrum for us all to ponder from the "is it me?" category...

Let's take a trip to Theoretical Island, and let's say you're a teacher in a quasi-Catholic school system. Your kid goes to junior prom, then has a bunch of friends over afterwards to hang out in your house/back yard to build a fire and "make s'mores."

Do you:

A. Say no, because it's late, it's prom night, and you never know with kids these days....

B. Say yes, and discreetly monitor the activities to ensure nothing untoward is going on

C. Join in the festivities and provide the alcohol to the 16-18 year olds as well as the graham crackers, marshmallows, and Hershey bars; or

D. Go to bed and tell the kids to have fun while a few dozen teenagers are at your house on prom night, and then feign shock when the cops are beating on your door and arresting drunken teenagers who are rampaging through the neighborhood on 4-wheelers you own and holding beer they got from your fridge?

Okay. Stick with me.

Let's presume, for the sake of argument, that you chose C and/or D.

Should you still be employed by the local (marginally) Catholic Diocesan school system, or perhaps at least be on leave until the investigation is complete and the charges are either proven or dropped?

IS IT JUST ME WHO THINKS SOMETHING'S ROTTEN IN DENMARK?!?

What Would Matthew Say?

If he had a spine or was orthodox at all?

The latest proposed gay marriage bill is wending its way through the corrupt corridors of Albany, and we get this predictably weak "statement" of what the Church opposes, but not its titular head in the DOR. No educating, no expounding on the sacramental nature of marriage...just some happy social justice/civil rights crap.

How unrefreshingly typical.

"You must die to live"

That's what the Gospel said today, right? The grain of wheat falls to the ground so that new life might spring up. Christ died so that we might share in eternal life.

So I'm taking those words and applying them to my spiritual life here in the DOR, and trying to draw comfort from them in the face of this:

Behold Bishop Matthew Clark's new vinyl labyrinth prayer mat in Rochester's Sacred Heart Cathdral!

And then there's this tasty treat:

Two words: REIKI MASS

[CORRECTION: Per the Sagacious Dr. K, the above took place in Cinicinnati, but see combox for more detail and links to DOR-specific pics... ]

Go on over to Rich's blog, Ten Reasons (from whence I swiped these photos), and scroll through the posts and better yet, the comments.

The death of Catholicism this Diocese (its murder, really) is a tragedy - thousands upon thousands of lost souls, and thousands more misguided and lied to by the liberal snake oil being sold to them each Sunday at travesties like this. The few brave souls who stand up for the Faith are ostracized, marginalized, and branded as crazies and/or troublemakers.

But I say we crazy troublemakers are the wheat, and in a little over three years, when the detritus is cleared and the current Bishop decamps for parts (hopefully) unknown, we will grow...and the splendor of Tradition and Truth will return.

St. John Fisher, Pray for Us!

Maybe I shouldn't say it out loud....

...but it occurs to me that Fr. John Trigilio would be a fabulous choice Bishop of Rochester when the time comes. (Because despite my fondest wishes, I don't think Fr. Erik would really ever leave Utah - far too entertaining - and I'm afraid Tara would 'jack him and throw him the the trunk of her car for the long ride back....)

Not only is Fr. Trigilio geographically convenient, just over 2 hours to the south of us down there in Harrisburg, he also wrote the book (along w/ Fr. Brighenti) that so many hapless, catechesis-challenged lifelong DOR-ians need - in fact, it should be mandatory reading around here:

The mandate should apply to anyone who serves at the altar in any capacity. And there needs to be a test that they have to pass, as well as a dress code they must follow.

Yeah, Mass was "like that" again this weekend.

Another Belated Blogroll Addition

Jeff Pinyan over at The Cross Reference is a bright young man, a deep thinker and a gifted writer - here's a recent topic that's close to my heart here in the liturgical wasteland known as the DOR. Check him out!

Mater

D o l O R o s a

...Pray for us!

I'd love a little more 15th century...

...and a lot less warm-fuzzy womynpriestly advocating in charge of my diocese.

Way to go Bishop Martino -- you tell 'em, and never, ever quit!

Back to our regularly scheduled b****ing...

As I have stated many, many times, I am not a fan of the Boston Marathon-esque starting-gun rush to the altar after the consecration when 7-8 EM's storm the altar, while there are easily under 200 butts in the pews.

Today may be an all-time low.

The priest called for spare EM's, and the rush followed...and one of the lucky fastest sprinters declined receiving...yet proceeded to serve the Eucharist to others.

We can debate this one all you want (more learned readers than I will probably come up with good theories*), but it seems to me that if you are conscious that your own soul is not in a state to receive the Host, why would you be distributing same?

Madness. Ignorance. Hubris.



* Let's go with the most innocuous explanation I could come up with - the guy went to Mass already this weekend, and didn't want to receive twice. The APPEARANCE of impropriety should be enough to dissuade him...not to mention the surplus of wannabe EM's. Step aside and let someone else do it, don't send mixed messages to the sheep...

Note to the USCCB...

...NO MEANS NO!!! Manifestly pro-abort so-called Catholic politicians are not entitled to receive Holy Communion. Individual Bishops don't get to make the call.

No more questions.

And to think, many of those same USCCB member-weasels are b**ching about the SSPX'ers being brought back into the fold...the same SSPX'ers who were cast out because their Bishop took matters into his own hands and would not obey a directive from the Vatican.

Pot, meet kettle.

It would be extremely entertaining to see some excommunications handed out to a few of our domestic Bishops for their refusal to comply on this and several other issues...

[...eyes rolling to the north-northwest...]

Graphic h/t: Cavey (Joe & Larry, too)

When It's OK To Fail

FINAL UPDATE: My daughter's letter was NOT published (shocker). There will be a shortened lass schedule tomorrow because the student body is - yes - required to watch the inauguration.

Semester exams start next week. Just sayin'.

UPDATE #2: Got a less than apologetic reply from the teacher this morning, which I will paraphrase here: the assignment was apparently given in response to a contest in the local paper, and the nun-in-chief had the English teachers assign it to the students on Monday. It was NOT optional, and indeed, no alternative assignment was given. The teacher states that the contest gave writers the task of writing a letter "detailing" what The One's policies and goals should be, or drafting the first 250 words of his inaugural address, and he indicates that the words "congratulate" and "positive" were not in the contest rules. He advised students that submissions were, however, supposed to be "appropriate for publication."

I am looking in the newspaper's online archives for the contest details to confirm this, but in the meantime, one must ask: What exactly is "appropriate for publication" in a left-wing newspaper is supposed to mean? Was this left open to interpretation by high school English students? When they are told to "behave appropriately," is it not implied to the child that their behavior must be "good" or "positive" behavior? Could it be that the teacher is blaming the kid for interpreting the intent of the assignment rather than accepting that it was an ill-conceived assignment?

Here's a direct quote:

...when I am made aware of legitimate concerns, I always try to accommodate those requests.

Hmmmm....perhaps my concern is not regarded as "legitimate" depending on how you interpret that last bit. See the problem?

I'm not done with this.

UPDATE: Sent a written request for clarification of the assignment requirements to the teacher a few hours ago...no response yet...

My eldest, the quasi-Catholic high school student, has received the following mandatory Honors English assignment:

Write a letter to President-Elect Obama congratulating him on his inauguration. It must be positive, and not exceed 250 words.

[yep - it's a RED ZONE moment]

The letters must be emailed by the students to the local paper and to the teacher.

Yeah. I have a slew of MAJOR ISSUES with this assignment. I told her she did not have to do the assignment if she did not want to, and that I'd go to the mat for her with the teacher and the administration...including the habitless nuns...about the lack of 1st amendment rights involved when one is required to support One who she knows to be an insupportable politician. She did not want to go that route because the implicit threat involved getting a failing grade if you went "negative," and that was something she didn't want to deal with.

We conferred until late into the evening last night about how to be "positive" and yet make a stand against what's wrong about The One at the same time. We discussed the issues, she drafted, and I helped her pare it down to the required limit. (I suggested that she write a thank you letter to President Bush for his service and especially for keeping the country safe from enemies foreign and domestic during his tenure and hand it in along with the required letter for extra credit...but we agreed that might not go over well...)

I doubt the letter she wrote will be published (I'll post it later in that case), and I hope she won't be punished for having the audacity to hope in her letter that The One will stick to his vow to protect women's rights...including those of unborn women. ("FOCA" that!)

If she is penalized in any way, it's game on - and make no mistake, I will scorch some serious earth if I have to.

I try to be a reasonable person, I really do. I have been trained to look at issues from both sides, and I strive to do so in my professional life even when a counterargument is just patently nonsensical. As I have been taught, and as I now teach others, sometimes you have to set aside your own feelings and take a step back...because you must be able to understand the opposition in order to defeat it. But today, I just can't do it. I cannot comprehend the goose-stepping mentality the Obamaniacs have...and the fact that said mentality has infiltrated a Catholic High School where I'm paying (a lot) for viral immorality to be downloaded into my child's head, well, it sickens me.

Should I Stay or Should I Go?

We went to Mass at a different-than-usual parish yesterday due to cheerleading camp conflicts today. From the local cluster bulletin:

Winter Solstice Celebration: Come and celebrate this very special night with hot chocolate & cookies at a beautiful ceremony at the [Parish] labyrinth TODAY, Sunday, December 21st at 7:00 p.m.

Yeah....

NO!

Welcome, Rochesterians!

Hmmmm....since posting Monday's offering, I've had a spike in hits from Rochester, NY.

Welcome to you all, whether from your homes or from your offices on Buffalo Road or elsewhere. I hope you enjoy reading the opinions expressed here. I hope you learn something, whether you take it to heart or merely absorb what's said as a means of studying your opposition.

I also hope and fervently pray that I never have to read another local news item like this. Is it too much to ask all of you suddenly visiting Rochesterians to pray for our One Holy Catholic Apostolic Church, our priests, and their parishioners as well?

Someone's cranky....[edited]

...but maybe it's because he's an apostate married man who calls himself a priest!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9GOL894GK0

All I can say is:

1. To "ElDoctorK": Suuuuhhhh-NAP!!!

2. To Rich: Thanks for all you do, and keep at it!

3. To the "Reverend":

a) Nice sweater and turtleneck. Makes quite a statement. Did you come up with the idea to do this video on your own? You don't have to answer that, on second thought.

b) I have lots of books at home too. How about giving some page, chapter, or code section citations to the texts you display that support your position. And hers. And his.

c) As one of "the others" you censure for expressing opinions contrary to yours and perhaps even those of the Bishop of Rochester (not to mention your poor misunderstood "good friend"), I can tell you that YES, I am a Christian. A Roman Catholic one at that (!) stuck in one of the worst-run, worst-reputed Dioceses in the Western Hemisphere. One who loves, reveres, and would like to practice the faith of my fathers without being subject to derision and labeled as an "extremist" for doing so by the Bishop and actual priests who work so hard to suppress and dilute the Faith in this Diocese. One who believes self-serving apostates masquerading as priests have zero authority to call out lay Catholics in full comminion with Rome for objecting to the liturgical abuses inflicted upon the people of St Anne's Church by a radical female activist wannabe priest and her sympathetic Bishop.

d) A video disavowing any support of married or womenpriests, lay homilists, liturgical puppetry, mimery, clowning, and/or dancing would be nice, too.

St. John Fisher, pray for us!

(P.S. Rich, not sure why you took the video down - I will maintain this link to youtube as long as the video remains "up" - anyone who wants to take a look at the video collection on youtube, have a gander at videos posted by "priestray" - have some Tums and/or Tylenol close by, though.)

And once again

Bishop Clark has just been sued for having actual/constructive knowledge of sexual abuse and failing to act - article here.

Lord, have mercy.

Fr. Joan is crowned

...and two more parishes in the DOR suffer white martyrdom. Rich has the photos and footage here. Just sickening.

Is it wrong to punch a mime?

Ok, well, how 'bout in CHURCH?

I'll give you one guess as to the Diocese in which this "Passion of the [Mime]" was allowed to take place.

Thanks for that, Bishop Clark. Thanks a lot.

H/T to Rich at Ten Reasons

Madness: today's homily and its revelations...

Fresh from Mass. Pondering what the substitute priest said:

• Church isn't here in this big fancy building, it's at your house. God said so.
• You are the church, you the people. Not me, the priest. That's where my bosses, the bishops and the popes, are wrong. Their priorities are all messed up.
• The only reason we come here is because we can't all fit at one person's house, it would be too crowded.
• People are too attached to old drafty buildings with statues and paintings because we are materialistic.
• God doesn't live in the tabernacle, He lives at your house, and my house, and black people's houses, and Muslim's houses, and Buddhist's houses, because the Holy Spirit breathed life into everyone, and that continues after the body is dead. Why do we even have bodies?
• God doesn't care what religion you are. He made us all in his image. He doesn't only care about Catholics, we don't have an exclusive relationship with God because we call ourselves Catholics.
• There are as many, if not more, bad Catholics as good Catholics.
• People get too hung up on what is said and what is done or not done at Mass.
• We are racists and bigots if we think it's ok to have fenced yards or build walls to keep people out of anywhere they might want to go to find a better life, and if we live in a nicer house than anyone else but don't invite them in or give them enough of what we have so that they can live in just as nice a place as we do.
• We, as Americans, as Catholics, sponsor terrorism right here at home in America because we do these things to the less fortunate. We don't help them enough, so we help keep them down.
• No one will tell you the truth about these things. Not our Bishops, our Popes, or Mother Angelica, because it is too uncomfortable for them, so they focus on the materialistic and ritualistic, which is meaningless.
• If we leave the building today unwilling to share all that we have, we are sinners, because we are racists and bigots and we are not following God's commandments.
• As racists and bigots, we're in for a big shock on election day, one way or another.
• The issue on election day boils down to one issue. We have to pick between a woman...and a black man who has experienced racism and bigotry all his life, but is an example of overcoming and transcending all of those things to bring his message to the world. "Sound familiar?"
• You can do what is most comfortable at the consecration, the Our Father, and the Lamb of God. Sit if you want, you don't have to kneel, just be comfortable [about 1/4 of the people - of all ages - were thrilled with this advice and stayed on the pews]. AND:
• (this is my own query) Is there an annotated version or one with commentary to be recited during the consecration? "This is my body...you know, the one that God gave me here on earth...that I'm now giving up for you. Because that's what God sent me here for." And so it continued.

What has he loosed on the parishioners today?

I don't think I went to Mass today. Maybe a Unitarian Universalist meeting or a Communist political rally? The Beloved, the Princess and I kept looking at one another, jaws dropping, wondering what the heck was going on. We did one of my pet peevey things - we took off out a side door after Communion.

It's not so much a matter of validity or licit-ness of the Mass. The form was [loosely] followed, but the substance wasn't there - just a lot of leftist ranting. The new ponytailed deacon did not concelebrate - he and his wife did the guitar, handclappy and swaying thing (which the priest swayed along with) in place of the atrocious but well-meaning choir, which usually starts back up after Labor Day.

I have had such an emotionally, physically, and now spiritually draining week. I just want to curl up and hibernate with my tea, my vast collection of Brit Lit DVD adaptations, my Butler's and my breviary for the foreseeable future.

Here we go again.

"Father" Joan, she of the Nativity scene t-shirt proclaiming "it's a girl" and the female-Corpus bearing crucifix, longtime trad-busting favorite of Bishop Clark, is making it known who's in charge at St. Anne's in Rochester:
.

Mark your calendar for September 14

[Read: "All Hail Father Joan!"]

On Sunday September 14, Bishop
Clark will come to our cluster to pray with
us as we move into this still-new way of
being

["Being" what? Schismatic? Heretical? Or just plain WRONG?]

and to install me officially as the
pastoral leader of the cluster.

[Emphasis/inflation added, as if she needs it - and just what the hell is a "pastoral leader" anyway?]

.
Since January 2008-even before
we knew who our pastoral leader would be,
[oh, methinks SOMEONE knew very well...]

a joint sub-committee of our councils
already began its work. When you see
them, please say thank you to...
[names omitted - forgive them, Father, for they know not what they do.]

.

Father Leone [the cluster's ordained "other"/male priest, now relegated to the position of "sacramental minister"]

sat on the committee early on. Later, I replaced him.

[LOL!!! Of course you did, dear...of course you did....].
.
I especially love the suggestion at the end...
.

Your ideas for developing our parishes even more deeply as true communities are welcome! [so long as they don't conflict with your agenda, of course!]

.

Here's mine: why don't you cut short your ego trip and not BURY these parishes even more deeply than you already have just by showing up?

.

Think I'm overreacting or being mean? Read this. (H/T: Dr. K.)

.

The profundity of my disgust ever deepens.

.

Once again, Rich at Ten Reasons lifts the ROCk so we can see all the squirmy things beneath...

Eucharistic Marginalization

"They have taken away the Lord and we do not know where they have put Him."

.

- St. Mary Magdalen, Easter Morning

.

-or-

.

-Parishioners entering a Catholic Church in the Diocese of Rochester on any given Sunday

Tabernacle? What tabernacle? Check out the See of Rochester, as destroyed by Bishop Clark.

(Actually, it's more of a "miasma...")

Once again, H/T to Rich at Ten Reasons - well spotted!

UPDATE: Another H/T, this time to Dr.K, for providing this link to the DOR's website. Interesting. And very telling.

So...

UPDATE - Based on the poll results as well as my own laziness (slept in after a long night with the baby), I did not go to Pittsford...we went to an arts festival in Corning instead, followed by a long afternoon drive past Mt. Saviour Monastery and on through the hills of southern Steuben/Chemung counties. Got to eat some seriously yummy Indian food (makani chicken and nan....yummy!) at the arts festival. A good day.

Should I go to Pittsford and listen to Charles Curran or not?

(Vote in poll - see sidebar!)

Another day, another outrage

More ridiculousness in the DOR. This parish is inviting a loud, proud dissenter priest, Charles Curran, to give a presentation on "social teachings." He was banned by the Vatican, courtesy of then-Cdl. Ratzinger, from teaching Catholic Theology. He was fired by Catholic University, and unsuccessfully sued the school for discrimination and wrongful termination. He has publicly stated his opinions on such things as the Real Presence being a "medieval" superstitious belief, he denies the Ascension, and supports gay marriage, abortion, and artificial birth control, among other things. He now teaches something called "Perspectives in Catholic Moral Theology" at SMU, where he is a "Professor of Human Values." He wears a suit and tie.

While it is VERY unlike me to cold-cock someone via email, I've written to the pastor, stated my concerns in that "way" I have when I'm politely annoyed, and asked him to reconsider, and got the following response:

Dear K[it],

Fr. Curran is visiting Transfiguration Parish as part of our 25th Anniversary year of celebration and at the invitation our Peace and JusticeCoordinating Committee to address the Social Teachings of our Church; this invitation was extended with my support.

As you may know Fr. Curran is recognized as one of the leading theologians in our Church relative to our Social Teachings. As you may or may not know Fr. Curran is a priest in good standing in ourUniversal Church and our local Church of Rochester.

You are correct in the fact that he, at this time, does not have theVatican permission to teach at any approved Catholic college or university.

Thank you for your interest in this matter. Enjoy life and let us continue to pray for peace in 2008!

In peace and courage,

Fr. Mike [Bausch]


Office:Church of the Transfiguration
50 West Bloomfield Road
Pittsford, NY 14534-9733
585-248-2427

[NB: I chose red font to honor the blood of the martyred St. John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester (England) - someone has to!]

I wrote back and asked who within the Church recognizes this man as any sort of authority or "leading theologian" on "our" Social Teachings, among other things, and asked him again to reconsider exposing his parishioners, (most of whom are probably very poorly catechised and will not recognize this man's heresy for what it is), to this crap.

On the contrary, someone who purports to stand in persona Christi, yet spouts his own feel-good, culture of death-friendly views on "our" social teachings will probably receive raves from the audience. I'd imagine it'll go something like this: "Okay [this] is what the Church teaches. This is why, in our day and age, the Church is wrong." That's his "perspective" from what I have read about him and how he teaches.

So in my first email, I asked Fr. Bausch if he would have an orthodox priest give a follow-up presentation - no response - so I asked again if he would at least properly disclose Charles Curran's status as a banned "theologian" when introducing him to the parishioners. I doubt I will hear back on that point, but I'll update as warranted.

Need I say it again? Spiritually speaking, I hate it here.

H/T to Rich at Ten Reasons for bringing this mess to our attention.

P.S. I did NOT link to any Curran bio or other info because I don't want to link to a heretic from this blog - feel free to Google him, though, if you'd like to see what I'm so annoyed about.