Seamless Garbage Contributes To Episcopal Brain Rot

In last night's State of the Union address, President Trump announced a plan to usher 1.8 million illegal-immigrant "dreamers" towards citizenship and to keep their nuclear families intact.  Obviously taking their cues from the sourpusses on the Democrat side of the chamber, the USCCB announced that they were "deeply troubled" about the plan's "impact on family unity".  What?  Trump said he'd keep nuclear families intact.  He simply said "chain migration" would end, meaning that an immigrant could not pull over his third cousin twice removed.  This is not rocket science.

Bishop Vasquez of Austin Texas made these remarks.  In his embrace of "seamless garment" no-holds-barred illegal immigration, he also revealed his abysmal ignorance regarding the nature of the Church.  He claimed that "family immigration is part of the bedrock of our country and of our church".

Family immigration, or any immigration, is part of the bedrock of the One True Church?  Excuse me!  Can anyone cite the support for that from any dogma?  Any Church fathers?  Our Lord founded the Church to save souls.  That's it!  Anything else, be it hospitals, schools, charities, etc is ancillary to that one all-encompassing mission - to save souls from damnation and to lead them to heaven. 

Those embroiled in "seamless garbage" organizations discount the Church's sole mission.  That's why they count gays among their boards of directors.   That's why they divert from truly intrinsic evils such as abortion, contraception, homosexual conduct and focus attention on matters that at most, fall into the realm of prudential judgment.  Bishop Vasquez and most of the higher-ups in the USCCB do exactly that, as they pander to governmental and Soros-related sugar daddies.

Pray for these bishops, but please never put another red penny in any USCCB-related collection.

Cardinal Cupich Is Right

For a change!

This year Ash Wednesday falls on Feb 14.  That day also happens to be St Valentine's Day, an occasion given over to romance and - let's be honest - lust.  In response to petitions placed to him for dispensation from the obligation to fast and abstain from meat on that day, Cardinal Cupich replied that the obligations to fast and abstain still stand. 

Needless to say I'm pleasantly surprised.  I truly expected bishops to acquiesce to these silly requests, as they are wont to do when St Patrick's Day falls on a lenten Friday.  I commend the cardinal for standing for the holy season of Lent and hope this is the start of a welcome change of direction for him.  I must say that I think it disgraceful that Catholics would even think of asking for a dispensation of the fast.  It shows how little they value their Faith and how frivolous are their attitudes towards their own spiritual needs.

Marshmallow Catholicism, Courtesy Of Youcat

This video from Sensus Fidelium warns against Youcat and other types of "gimmick catholicism".  Although the video image is odd, just click on it and it will play.

Msgr John Enzler - Making Allowances For Some Abortions?

Msgr John Enzler is CEO of Catholic Charities.  He's a former pastor of Blessed Sacrament parish in Washington DC (Chevy Chase neighborhood).  He writes regularly for Our Parish Times.

Unfortunately his leanings are quite progressive.  We've had occasion to comment on the evidence in the past.  In this latest issue of Our Parish Times he wrote a column entitled "Celebrating Life, Equality and Education".  Regrettably it is much worse than the usual progressive screed.  Please go to page 16 of that pdf.  In one paragraph he wrote glowingly of the March for Life.  However, he started the next paragraph by saying "I take a pastoral view of this issue".  Uh-oh!  There's that word "pastoral"!  We know now that it has ominous undertones, thanks to the way Pope Francis has used that word to camouflage all sorts of dissidence and heresy.  Msgr Enzler merely followed suit.  Here is the rest of Enzler's "pastoral view".  To wit: "Let’s start by admitting it’s wrong and admitting that abortion is in fact taking the life of an innocent baby. At the same time, let us as a Church be welcoming to all who may be considering or have had abortions. We don’t condone it, but we need to meet them where they are, recognizing that people are forced to make decisions in all kinds of circumstances. While we don’t agree with the decision, they still need to be welcomed and loved in our Church as part of God’s family."  Shall we unpack all this "pastoral" double-talk?

Let's do this "bullet style".

• The phrase "at the same time" sets the stage for the treatment of a pro-abortion mentality as being equivalent to reverence for life.
• "we don't condone it, but we need to meet them where they are"  It sounds nice, but "where they are" is literally hell-bound.  Where is the acknowledgment that the Church must immediately call such people away from abortion to immediate repentance?
• "people are forced to make decisions" Wrong.  No amount of "force" can ever justify a choice for an intrinsically grave evil such as abortion.  Enzler doesn't acknowledge that those "decisions" are impermissible.  What does that say about his own beliefs regarding abortion?
• "while we don't agree with the decision" It's not a mere difference of opinion.  Abortion is a mortal sin against God's commands.  Where is the truly pastoral concern?  Where are the Spiritual Works of Rebuking the Sinner, Instructing the Ignorant?
• "they still need to be welcomed" If one has committed the sin of abortion, they will find this welcome as they enter the confessional and confess this (and all other) mortal sin.  No other "welcome" will do.

If the topic of Enzler's article was "racism" as opposed to "abortion", would he be evincing such moral relativism?  Of course not!  But consider what was written of him in my previous posts.  We see that at the very best, he is less concerned about the murders of 3500 babies daily than he is about amnesty for border-crashers, etc.  Of course there are big bucks to be had from the latter.  The tiny babies?  Not so much!

I've been blogging on such mess for several years now.  Still I find it difficult to believe that a Catholic priest could vomit forth such pablum.  Consider that he's CEO of Catholic Charities.  Does he occupy this position despite his position - or because of it?  I suspect the latter.  This, and other problems with Catholic Charities, makes it an organization not worthy of one penny from faithful Catholics.

Our Prayers And Protests Do Matter

The heretical Jesuit Father James Martin was scheduled to give a Lenten reflection on February 15, 2018 at Our Lady of Lourdes parish in Metuchen NJ.  Permission for the sacrilege had actually originated from the deanery as opposed to the parish.

Happily, faithful Catholics got wind of the upcoming travesty and complained to the diocese in loud numbers.  The pastor of the parish said "I've gotten too many protests; I'm not doing it this year".  Other nearby parishes also refused to host Martin so his talk will occur in a secular venue.

This is not the first time that faithful Catholic in the Diocese of Metuchen shamed church officials into doing the right thing.  Almost three years ago, a teacher in a local Catholic high school was fired because she upheld Church teaching on her facebook page - all with the approval of then-bishop Bootkoski.  After hearing righteous anger from faithful Catholics, the teacher was restored to her position.

Now see this collection of posts.  If you go all the way down, you'll see that Cardinal Wuerl invited Martin to give reflections last Lent at St. Matthew's Cathedral in Washington DC.  I regret that we didn't learn of it in time to launch a protest effort.  However, we did have two months' notice of an address that he was to give at a priests' symposium last September (also in that string of posts).  Again, the resultant protests were enough to cause the symposium organizers to do the right thing and cancel Martin's talk - albeit reluctantly.

The point behind all this is simple.  THE PRAYERS AND PROTESTS OF EACH ONE OF US DO MAKE A DIFFERENCE!  Never shrug your shoulders and complain "what's the use?"  We are the Church Militant.  When we act, we often have an impact.  If we don't, then of course evil will triumph.  Ora et labora!

Seamless Garbage Pollutes The March For Life

The progressives are working overtime to insinuate "seamless garment" poison into the pro-life movement.  For accuracy, I'll refer to it as "seamless garbage" for that is a more accurate descriptor.  It made its way even to the rally stage of the March for Life.  C-Span has video of the entire rally, with all the speakers.  At about the 5:40 mark, you can hear an Orthodox bishop incorrectly claim that immigration concerns and the death penalty are just as evil as is abortion.  Not to be outdone by the Orthodox, DC Cardinal Wuerl spouts essentially the same nonsense in his blog as he carries on about those without insurance, illegal aliens immigrants, etc.

One Peter Five has done research that corroborates the fact that the USCCB's motives behind their eagerness for refugees is not completely altruistic.  Nope!  The USCCB receives at least several hundreds of millions of dollars (if not billion) from the feds (ultimately from our tax dollars) to "resettle" the illegals.  We might assume that non-Catholics are receiving similar grants: hence the "seamless garbage" crowing by the Orthodox bishop at the March.  Over the years, the USCCB has shown itself to be particularly susceptible to the seductive scent of dollar bills.

The Lepanto Institute has uncovered an even more troubling lapse of morals on the part of the USCCB in favor of - you guessed it! - MONEY!  They are lobbying Congress to fund two organizations that funnel money to Planned Parenthood and other death-dealing organizations because they in turn receive money from them.  This USCCB letter sounds so lofty and noble, right?  The letter's language shows the infestation of seamless garbage as abortion is completely ignored while other issues are exalted in its place.

Yesterday LifeSiteNews published a piece by Doug Mainwaring detailing another facet of "seamless garbage" adulteration of the pro-life movement.  That is, gays are trying to align themselves with us.  While I think it laudable on one hand that they see the evil of baby-slaughter, they also attempt to justify their mortal sins of sexual perversion via their abortion opposition.  They fail - or refuse - to acknowledge that abortion and sodomy stem from the same rejection of God's plan for life, family, sexuality, marriage.  Doug made mention of Rosemary Geraghty.  I too warned about her in an earlier post.  She is on the board of the "seamless garbage" Rehumanize International.

We as Catholics must stand for God's plan for marriage, family, sexuality, life.  God has privileged us with the ability to procreate new life with His grace.  The devil hates us for that because by that privilege we help engender new people to potentially enjoy life with God in eternity.  Hence all direct attacks against that privilege must be given top priority and we must allow nothing - be that diversion ever so noble - to dilute our energies from establishing the Culture of Life.  The diabolical attacks are: contraception, abortion, euthanasia, abuse of embryos, attacks on marriage (including divorce), the furtherance of homosexual perversions.  Let's engage in a laser-like focus on these matters and leave the "seamless garbage" in the trash where it belongs.

Pope Francis Betrayed The Church In Red China

I'm dumbfounded.  The pope just threw two Chinese bishops under the bus to favor two others who were illicitly ordained.  The two illicitly ordained were favored by the Communist regime - the same regime that forces women to abort their unborn children and who have persecuted Christians for decades.  The pope just validated the persecution of the faithful bishops as he kowtowed to the Chinese thugs.

This is betrayal of the worst order.  The shepherd has thrown his sheep to the wolves.

Action Needed - Particularly For Philadelphia Area Catholics

Yesterday at St. Rose of Lima Church in Eddystone PA, located within the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, Deacon Anthony DiIenno committed sacrilege while giving the homily at Mass.  See for yourselves, from the facebook page of his very misguided daughter.

UPDATE - She pulled the post or changed its privacy settings.  I had a feeling that might happened so I saved a screen-shot of it.  Below is that screen shot in lieu of the post.

Apparently the mask had to do with some football game.  No matter.  Holy Mass is not the time to be acting like a juvenile.  Mass is about Our Lord Jesus Christ and nothing else.  This Holy Sacrifice, which is the most important event of the week for any Catholic, is not to be trivialized for any reason.

Please contact this parish, St Rose of Lima in Eddystone.  Also register a complaint with the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.  We as faithful Catholics must raise our voices when Our Lord is outraged during Holy Mass.  This deacon needs to issue a public apology for his sacrilege.  If he won't, he should be disciplined and even laicized. From his daughter's facebook page, we know he is a grandfather.  He knows better than that.This behavior is unacceptable.

Speaking of facebook, one can go to the parish's facebook page from the link on the parish webpage.  Please do that and leave your respectful but firm complaint.

Marriage On The Fly - In More Ways Than One

It seems like an ecclesiastical disaster erupts every time Pope Francis embarks on an international flight.  Last week's trip was no exception.  Much of secular and milquetoast-Catholic media is all aflutter about the so-called "beautiful" marriage that the pope officiated between two of the airline employees whilst in flight.  Never mind that the two of them were only "civilly married", that is, were shacking up for eight years beforehand.  You see, it was so..."spontaneous", and...and.."so pastoral" of the pope to marry them on the spot, right?  Well, maybe not so much.

It turns out that things may not have been that "spontaneous" after all - that in reality, at least the couple had their eye on this possibility.  They said as much in an interview they gave to a local newspaper - a month before the nuptial flight.  Many news outlets, including CNN, portrayed the situation as the pope offering to marry them and the couple gladly accepting - making it look like the entire thing occurred at the pope's initiative.  So was it the pope's initiative, or the couple's?  Might it be a combination?  Might the Vatican have gotten wind of the couple's interview and have determined that this "impromptu wedding" might be a booster for the pope's image?  In other words, was the whole thing scripted from the get-go?  So much for the "god of surprises"!

There are also questions regarding the status of this "wedding".  Canon lawyer Ed Peters raises some important questions.   Recall, of course, that canon law is the law of the Church.  Peters also states that because of the pope's disregard for Church norms, that priests will have even more difficulty in enforcing them in their own parishes - norms such as marriage preparation, insistence on being in a state of grace (recalling that this couple had been shacking up for eight years), etc.

Now here's another unpleasant but relevant consideration.  We now know that Amoralis Lamentia is a deliberated assault on three sacraments: Confession, Communion, and Matrimony.  Last week's "flighty marriage" was yet another episode that undermines the Sacrament of Matrimony and all it entails.

Of Medals, Seamless Garment, And Corruption

I posted the above from Father West for he says eloquently what I've been trying to say to those Catholics who not only refuse to acknowledge the evidence of Pope Francis' misdeeds but who lash out (in fits of obvious denial of reality) at those of us who are trying to shine much-needed light on these situations.  At one time I thought that these friends were simply too trusting and a bit simplistic in their views on the papacy.  Given their increasingly vitriolic reactions to our efforts, I must wonder if there is some intellectual dishonesty influencing them.

Let's look at two things.

Last week we learned that the pope gave a medal that is only given to a Commander of the Pontifical Equestrian Order of St Gregory to a rabidly pro-abortion Dutch politician.  Now they've gone into "damage control" according to Austin Ruse.  Perhaps the "control" should be rendered "augmentation".  We read that "the medal was no more than part of a protocol exchange".  Really?  I'm sure the Vatican has engaged in many, many protocol exchanges with other visiting dignitaries over the past centuries.  When, oh when, has the Vatican ever given such medals in the past as part of "protocol exchanges"?

Then the article says, "In recent months, the Vatican has played host to a steady stream of speakers who stand in public opposition to Church teaching on a whole host of issues including Governor Jerry Brown of California."  Now hold this thought for a moment while I bring up a related matter.

Today the annual March for Life occurred.  In addition to the main march in Washington DC, similar marches occurred elsewhere at the same time for the sake of those who were unable to make the journey to DC.  Such was the case in Little Rock, AR.  The local marches there were first organized by local bishops.  However, this year, Bishop Anthony Taylor of the Diocese of Little Rock boycotted the march because the local pro-life organizations had booked as a speaker someone who supports the use of the death penalty.  The speaker is Attorney General Leslie Rutledge, whose pro-life credentials seem to be totally in line with traditional Catholic morality as opposed to the "seamless garment" caricature of the same.  Bishop Taylor, in ascribing capital punishment the same status as baby-murder, is dissenting from Catholic moral teaching.  I've posted before why the move to eliminate the use of all capital punishment may well be its own heresy.  But the death penalty is not today's main consideration.

Consider both of the preceding paragraphs.  One the one hand, you have rabid pro-aborts being wined and dined and even given medals by the pope. These pro-aborts, though, are good little progressives who whine about capital punishment, climate-change junk-science, immigration.  On the other hand, you have a bishop snubbing a march for life because another speaker doesn't toady to the progressive talking points on capital punishment.  A consideration of both these scenarios together buttresses my suspicions that the so-called "seamless garment" yak is nothing more than a smokescreen for pro-abortion infiltration of the Church.

By the way: Eccles and Bosco have some pointers in giving out medals.