So embarrassing!!!

Sometimes, we know people who do stupid things. It happens. Sometimes, we’re associated with a place that the makes the news for stupid reasons. My Alma Mater, Loyola University New Orleans, has prompted a few eye-rolling moments from me over the past couple of years, but this really takes the taco.

Professor Call Cops on Cop-Student, for being a Cop.

No, for real! A current student, Sgt. Josh Collins of the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office, didn’t have time to change out of his uniform and safely secure his sidearm one day, so went to class wearing both. Another student, presumably named Speshall Snoflayk, whined to a professor, who then called the cops– that’s right, more dudes with uniforms and sidearms– about the student in a uniform with a sidearm.

St. Ignatius and All Companions, pray for my patience! I’m not able to donate much money to many causes at the moment, but if I ever sell a story for a lucrative movie deal, Loyola New Orleans is currently OFF the “To Donate” list. I hope that this is a smack in the face to the administration that has allowed this stupidity to grow and fester. It was bad enough when I was there back at the turn of the century, but what I’ve seen over the past 12-24 months is a campus culture going off the rails. Because this line, while damning, is pretty reflective of what I’ve been seeing:

At the end of the day, Loyola University is little more than a daycare for young “adults.” $52,000 a year is a bit much to spend for daycare, even if you’re living on campus.

This is embarrassing as an alum! Hey, Society of Jesus: For years I’ve been trying to defend my beloved “Jebbies” from blanket accusations of Marxism and Heresy, but if you guys don’t get your shit straightened out, get some Catholic back into your Catholic University, some Academics into your School, and some Actual, Biblical Jesus back into your Society, I’m gonna give up! I know there are some younger members of the order with a firmer grasp on Orthodoxy and Doctrine, and I pray you don’t run them out and or ruin them before their formation is complete. But in the meantime, it’s like you’re trying your damnedest to prove all the worst accusations and conspiracy theories correct!

Get your shit together, Jebbies, and straighten out your institutions before it’s too late, if it isn’t already!

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28 June 2012, St. Irenaeus of Lyons

Big News Day. See below for some SCOTUS and Colorado Fire coverage.

Let’s get to the rest:

The House votes 255-67 to hold Eric Holder in contempt. Ace writes that since 17 Dems voted for contempt, that means it’s a bipartisan move. And:“The Democrats staged a walk out. From WI and IN to the House of Representatives, when Democrats don’t get their way they walk away like spoiled little brats.”

UPDATE: Missed this earlier– Fulton Sheen declared “Venerable”. Heck to the yeah, man! Next step, Beatification!

Do Not Be Taken In By False Choices!

The news today is all about an “Accomodation” the White house is proposing in the whole Birth Control Mandate Dabacle. I hope and pray no one falls for this. Here’s how it’s being described:

One source familiar with the decision described the accommodation as “Hawaii-plus,” insisting that it’s better than the Hawaii plan – for both sides.

In Hawaii the employer is responsible for referring employees to places where they can obtain the contraception; Catholic leaders call that material cooperation with evil. But what the White House will likely announce later today is that the relationshio between the religious employer and the insurance company will not need to have any component involving contraception. The insurance company will reach out on its own to the women employees. This is better for both sides, the source says, since the religious organizations do not have to deal with medical care to which they object, and women employees will not have to be dependent upon an organization hostile to that care in order to obtain it.

This announcement would not go that far. Sources say it will involve health insurance companies helping to provide the coverage, since it’s actually cheaper for these companies to offer the coverage than to not do so, because of unwanted pregnancies and resulting complications.

Rick Moran adds:

Basically, the White House is offering a sleight of hand solution, allowing Catholic organizations to deliberately turn the other way when insurance companies offer the coverage, thus “sparing” them the burden of having to offer it themselves.

Let me make something clear. There are two ways to sin– by commission and by ommission. Commision is doing something sinful. Omission is failing to even try to prevent sin when you have the ability to stop it, or failing to do something you ought to be doing. It works like this: If you murder someone, you have sinned by commission. If you see someone being murdered, and take no action to stop it, you sin by omission. The second is equally as severe a sin as the first. Got it? [My own failings on some issues condemn me, I fear, as I have not been as zealous in my duties as I should have been.]

So, what the WH is offering here, is basically this: “Instead of forcing you to sin by commission, we’re offering the option of sinning by omission instead.”

Our Lady of Vailankanni

Meandering through the Crypt Church under the Shrine, I was thinking a lot on my friends Grunt and Shalini. One little chapel in particular really brought Shalini to mind– the Chapel for Our Lady of Vailankanni.

Standing just outside the chapel of Our Lady of Vailankanni

Visiting The Shrine

Around these parts, when a Catholic like yours truly talks about going to the Shrine, what they mean is “I’m going to visit the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.”

I was down there all last night because they were taping the masses for shut-ins, and my church choir was the choir for those two dates (3rd and 5th Sunday of this upcoming Lent). They have the masses in the Crypt Church, which is one of my favorite places on the planet. If the upstairs is all Majesty, the downstairs Crypt Church is all Mystery.

I took some pictures with my cell phone of some of my favorite things. A friend was taking some others, and I’m hoping she emails me copies to add.

Oh, and there will be another post coming up right after this with a set that goes together.

Pictures after the break ^_^!

Speaking of Contraception . . .

The Anchoress points out a surprising source for support of the Church’s teaching re: Birth Control– Business Insider, of all places!

Here’s a tasty bit:

Today’s injunctions against birth control were re-affirmed in a 1968 document by Pope Paul VI called Humanae Vitae.  He warned of four results if the widespread use of contraceptives was accepted:

1. General lowering of moral standards
2. A rise in infidelity, and illegitimacy
3. The reduction of women to objects used to satisfy men. 
4. Government coercion in reproductive matters. 

Does that sound familiar? 

Because it sure sounds like what’s been happening for the past 40 years.

As is said, read the whole thing!

To be honest, I used to be a lot more laissez-faire about the issue myself. After all, if God wanted you to have a kid, it would happen– both myself and my little brother were conceived while our mother was using birth control.

Call the Sheriff, Run The Scum Out!

Well-a-day! Sometimes, when pondering the mighty battles before us, when contemplating their complexities and vagaries, we forget the basics. Sometimes, these basics are thing that we didn’t learn in school, but learned from the culture– from movies— because the tellers of those tales knew things, important things, that we didn’t know.

Every American child knows that when the bad guys come to town, it’s time to call out the sheriff. Wyatt Earp will come and sweep those no good, yella bellied, damn fool cowards out, don’t you worry none now, chile. . . A cultural stereotype. And image of our youth.

Based in real, Supreme Court Supported Law. Lawd Almighty! It was the Valiant Ann who has brought this to my attention. Since her place doesn’t link to individual posts, I’ll just borrow her words and hope she doesn’t mind (and be sure to click on the link and read that. Very good stuff to know!):

Question: What is the most powerful law enforcement office in the United States? Who has the power and authority to arrest Obama? Who could override the Secret Service?Answer: The County Sheriff of any county that Obama is physically inside. The single most powerful office in the United States, even more powerful than the President, is your friendly, local County Sheriff. This dynamic was built into the fabric of this nation by the Founding Fathers, and has been VERY recently affirmed by the SCOTUS.

Click here for a very detailed article on the topic with citations.

This is the principle of governance called “subsidiarity”. Subsidiarity is the principle of governance taught by the Magesterium of the Catholic Church – no matter how many Marxist bishops there may be, and no matter what lying Marxist filth they may spew. Subsidiarity means that the most power lies with the sovereign individual. The next highest level of power is LOCAL (and there’s your friendly county sheriff), the next most powerful level is the state, below that is the federal level, and the weakest level of governance is INTERNATIONAL (such as a body that would arbitrate trade disputes). The further away governance gets from the individual, the weaker it becomes. Golly! That kinda makes sense, huh? This principle can be applied to different governmental structures, from representative republic to parliamentary constitutional monarchy and even to hereditary monarchy. This is why Jesus didn’t call out a SPECIFIC form of government – because there are multiple possibilities that can totally work SO LONG AS subsidiarity is observed. And how did Christ identify subsidiarity as the true governmental principle? He did it by dying on the Cross for us personally. The Most Powerful Ruler there is submitted Himself UNTO DEATH for the sake of, and in service to the individual.

For anyone who might be interested, this is how the Catholic Church works, too. A priest is in charge and has authority over his parish. It is his responsibility. The bishop calls the shots in his diocese, and the Pope is a suffering servant, who is tasked with the BIG PICTURE issues, such as setting down in official writing the Church’s teachings on matters of faith and morals as needed. But in terms of the day-to-day stuff, the governance is definitely a matter of subsidiarity. This is why Rome had such a slow and admittedly not aggressive enough response to the sex scandals. They were trying to let the bishops assert their own power – but they didn’t fully appreciate how infested the bishopric had become with Marxist homosexuals. Rome understands that now. But I do wish they would be even more aggressive. It is now a matter of wolves attacking the flock. The shepherd needs to come out swinging.

But I digress.

Isn’t it interesting how this stuff is all tied together? Yep. Mighty interesting indeed.

So what we need to do is get Obama to go to Maricopa County, Arizona for a campaign fundraiser and then have Sheriff Joe Arpaio arrest his felonious, forgering, treasonous @$$. And guys, I’m not really kidding. This is a VERY viable tactic.

 Well, Boy Howdy! Who would have thought that, at the moment of our need, Providence would have programmed in us the very answer we sought? That when the outlaw posse comes to town, you call the Sheriff! That symbol mixed between Knight and Cowboy, the man who stands against the agents of chaos to protect the towsfolk from those who would do them harm!

Now that said, I believe my local sheriff is absolutely useless for this particular job. I live just outside the 9th ring, which is to say, I’m in the DC suburbs. Ain’t no sheriff ’round these parts with the desire, much less gumption, to do what’s needed. Simple fact, that.

But across this fine nation of ours? We need to remind the Sheriffs of who and what they are. They have the authority–recently upheld– to do what must be done. To see this through to the end, and to defend our Constitution when no one else is in the position to do so.

There are Stars in the Night

[This was first posted at The Last Refuge. I’ve been meaning to repost here, but the time never seemed right. Good Friday is a good day for Confessions, so here goes. . .]

I must start by admitting that I don’t know exactly why I’m writing this. All I know it that since reading Dagny’s Women’s Voting piece, I’ve felt the need. Nagging, pressing, annoying. That usually means there’s some manner of Divine impetus behind it. Maybe somewhere in this story is something one of you needs to read. Maybe I just need to tell the tale to some people who haven’t actually met me personally. Maybe between the telling and the reading, some measure of clarity or understanding is offered. I really, really don’t know.

What follows is a partial autobiography at least to this point in my life, an attempt to explain why I approach certain topics from some rather strange angles. Many details will not be shared. Sometimes I may seem to go off onto a tangent—if so, it is only because I am trying to prevent at least some of the seemingly inevitable misunderstandings. Many of you will find some of these experiences strange—I will be as clear as I can and, if you ask questions, I will answer to the best of my ability. But that’s no guarantee to understanding—much I don’t even understand myself.

Please, bear with me. And yes, when I figure out what the point to all this is, I’ll let you know.

The fact of the existence of God was never a problem for me. From my earliest memories, the fact of God was as apparent as the clouds in the sky, or the fact that water was wet. “Du~uh, of course God’s real, dummy!” This has never changed, though to my great joy, my relationship to that Truth has changed a great deal over the years. No, my problem in my earliest years was that fact meant nothing to me. One might say: the brain knowledge was not connecting to the heart.

Patron Saint for 2011

So, I went over to The Anchoress this morning, and she has a link to a Patron Saint Generator. Be sure to read her little article detailing how the tradition of picking a New Year’s saint works.

I was chosen by St. Peter the Apostle. Feast is June 29. Patron of (among other things and places):

against fever
against foot problems
against frenzy
bakers
bridge builders
butchers
clock makers
cobblers
fishermen
harvesters
locksmiths
longevity
masons
net makers
papacy
ship builders
shipwrights
stone masons
Universal Church
watch makers
—
Berlin, Germany, archdiocse of
Jackson, Mississippi, diocese of
Las Vegas, Nevada, diocese of
Marquette, Michigan, diocese of
Peterborough, Ontario, diocese of
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, archdiocese of
Providence, Rhode Island, diocese of
Scranton, Pennsylvania, diocese of
—
Chartres, France
Chatillon, Aosta, Italy
Cluny, France
Cologne, Germany
Exeter College, Oxford, England
London, England
Mdina, Malta
Montpellier, France
Morbegno, Italy
Nadur, Gozo, Malta
Namibe, Angola, diocese of
Poznan, Poland
Regensburg, Germany
Rome, Italy
Saint Petersburg, Russia
Sint Pieters Rode, Belgium
Umbria, Italy
Worms, Germany
—
Bath Abbey
Berchtesgaden Abbey
Corbie Abbey

Well, that’s a whole list of super practical things. Perhaps he’ll be helping me get my house in order this year? ^_^ Well, we’ll have to see.

Praying for World Bees

A fabulous article from Busted Halo: On Not Praying for World Peace

This pretty much sums up how I feel everytime someone, wanting to seem good and deep, prays for World Peace, instead of something more useful like “And end to useless hostility.” Which is not quite the same thing. . .^_^