You Don’t Have the (Moral) Right to Leave

I said I would be back in a few weeks, but I can’t let a certain part in that article I linked to yesterday go. It was this quote:

“I’m not a Catholic anymore,” said Hammond, the woman who left when the church’s school began to change. “Not even a little bit.”

And a part of my response:

I spent eight years learning about the Church and her dogma and doctrine.

I felt that I’d like to give her a decent parental whack upside the back of the head, a “Gibbs” for NCIS fans. Or to consider the story false. And partly I wanted to change my response to the poor woman who must have had a very tenuous grasp of being Catholic in the first place. Her quitting (again, assuming this part of the article is even real) over non-doctrinal issues at one particular parish (and not even the parish, but the, supposedly, parish school) shows such a shallow commitment to the Church one almost wants to view it as no loss.

The part of my response that I couldn’t let go of either reflects the partial argument for the Church. I did spend eight years pondering over the dogma and doctrine of the Catholic Church.

I also spent eight years falling in love with her.

And that is why I find this lady’s seemingly flippant dismissal of the Church so appalling. Nowhere in the article is there a mention of unorthodoxy, nowhere is there mention of actual real disturbing changes.

I fell in love with the clarity of the Church’s positions, I also fell in love with the Both/And resolution on many issues. This was a marked departure from the Either/Or that so marks the world. Her art, her history, her architecture, her saints. I fell in love with her life which is life in Christ. I likened it to a big metropolis versus a tiny little one gas station town. The Catholic Church is like a metropolis, it teams with life all around the clock, throughout the week. Most denominations are 2 hour churches (some throw in a Wednesday evening service as well). They come on Sunday morning and the place is vacant the rest of the week. Although some rent it out for other functions during the week – that doesn’t help in my opinion.

Our main church (it is a two parish community, one is only on Sunday morning) is open seven days a week. You have nine chances to attend Mass during a regular week. Six hours a week our priest sits in the confessional. One hour a week for Eucharistic Adoration with a 24 hour first Friday Adoration available every month. And the main church itself is open at least ten hours seven days a week for you to pray in, read in, meditate, contemplate, whatever additional spiritual activity you may need, even if it is only to sit in front of Mary and say the Rosary. Only, like that is a small thing.

And I’ve looked at other Catholic parishes in the surrounding area (I live in Western North Carolina so the surrounding area I have to look up is quite large – boonies and all that) and, besides the bountiful opportunities our priest offers for confession, most Catholic churches are like this.

One of the things I really fell in love with was her writers. Particularly her contemporary writers, Percy, Flannery O’Connor, Lafferty, Greene to name a few. Then it started to seem every time I particularly loved something, I found a Catholic underneath it.

I love her position on the Eucharist. I love Flannery O’Connor’s famous response to someone who said the Eucharist is merely a symbol. She retorted, “If it is merely a symbol, to hell with it.” Damn right. That’s Catholic with spunk, right there.

I even love how the Host tastes. I mean just the physical taste of it. I am sure there is a lot making me like “just the physical taste,” but it is the best darn thing I have all week.

I love her commitment to the truth despite consequences. It probably seemed at some points to Pope Clement VII to give into the Henry and grant his divorce. I love how Paul VI shocked the world by not giving into the pressures of the sexual revolution. Man, I would have loved to been alive to see that! Most importantly all the martyrs from St. Stephen to Bl. Miguel Pro.

I love the sacraments. I love the sacrament of Confession. Forget self-help tapes (showing my age there) or going to a shrink. Go get yourself shriven, do it fully, do it honestly.

I could go on and on and on. Nothing would ever make me not Catholic. I don’t care if my parish was taken over by the F’ing Village People, with homilies of Jesus’ hot bod. I’d drive 50, even a 100 miles to a different parish. But the absolute last thing I would do is leave the Church.

There are accidentals I do not care for. But they are just that – accidentals.

Getting the Church Wrong and Bad Reporting

Tomorrow will be our parish’s first of a year long series on Vatican II. This is, perhaps, inspired by our priest’s attempt last year to offer the morning weekday Masses in Ad Orientum for the season of Lent. It was only for that time and he was offered it as a gift to parishioners to experience another way the Mass has been done. It caused some consternation among some parishioners. Very few though, but enough.

Yesterday he sent out a message that referenced an AP news article titled ‘A step back in time’: America’s Catholic Church sees an immense shift toward the old ways. He shared it as an example of the errors and incorrect assumptions many people have about Vatican II. He doesn’t say so, but I detected many cases of dishonesty in the article as well.

Some of this is news to me. My Catholic experience has largely been of a single parish under a single priest. Even the few different priests and parishes I have been to have been in the Charlotte Diocese of North Carolina which are pretty orthodox as far as I have been able to tell.

But the article tells of the sudden re-emergence at a parish of homilies about sin, and the sacrament of Confession. Woo, poor people. Most of our parish homilies are on the need for confession, which, of course, implies sin.

The truth of the matter is most people haven’t read the documents that make up Vatican II. I have only read two and a half of the four major documents myself. There is nothing in the document Sacrosanctum Concilium (Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy) that says you have to get rid of Latin. Nothing that says the priest must face the people at all times during the Eucharistic liturgy. Nothing that says you must or must not have incense (and if someone is making an apostasy level decision based on these things, shallow was their faith indeed).

Here is a scary part of the article:

“I’m not a Catholic anymore,” said Hammond, the woman who left when the church’s school began to change. “Not even a little bit.”

This person was of very little faith in the Catholic Church, perhaps none at all. But it serves the purpose of the article to bring this dead branch to the attention of the readers. Think of St. Thomas More and what he paid for the Holy Catholic Church, and then look at that quote again.

Might as well solicit opinions of the Catholic Church from Biden.

Perhaps, I am a lucky man after all. I wasn’t born into the faith. I wasn’t born into any faith whatsoever, my parents saw to that. In fact I held the Church to be a sworn enemy most of my life. I am now wholly impressed by my ability to have had such a contempt for something I knew nothing about!

But, I spent eight years learning about the Church and her dogma and doctrine. And I will never be done. I thought and gave assent slowly. I don’t have the right (and this goes beyond the Catholic Church as a general principle) to sign up, as it were, and then announce my disagreement with the whole thing, or even major parts of it.

Now, some of this may be the result of poor catechesis. If all you understand about the Church’s prohibition on contraception is that it is an arbitrary decree, a “do as we say,” and you were never told why it exists. If nobody ever directed you to Humanae Vitae, you’ve never heard anything about the whole argument of the unitive and procreative argument the Church employs as its reasoning for contraception, then I don’t hold your violating or disagreeing with it as a crime. But there exist many out there who do know the whole thing and still disagree.

The priest, and the Bishop and the Pope, each respectively and each as their scope dictates has authority over what we can call their territory. As a Pope can open up the celebration or restrict the celebration of the TLM on a global scale, so a priest can set the general tone, tenor and focus of his parish if it falls within the parameters set by his Bishop. So if you have had a “liberal” priest for a long time with social justice homilies but nary a word on sin and confession, and he is replaced by a more traditional priest who talks about sin, confession and hell. You suck it up, or you find a different parish. If the “conservative” priest is replaced by a “liberal” one who axes the Gregorian chant for more recent hymns like from the 1800’s. You suck it up, or you find a different parish.

If you have a new priest that suddenly is giving Mass with his back to you all, traditionally known as Ad Orientum – you suck it up. If your live and let live priest is replaced by one that talks about sexual disorders – you suck it up.

But, Bobby-Boy, I can hear you cry, mine is the only parish near me! I understand, and I sympathize completely. Here is my advice to you then.

SUCK IT UP.

None of this is about you. You are not here for your self-expression. The Church isn’t here to reflect you and your views and sentiments. You are not God, God is God. You don’t get to huff and leave the Church because of little things like is mentioned in this article. No sir, and no ma’am. You can leave the Church (but not really) over the sex abuse scandals. That I can empathize with. I can see the rationale at least. You left over talk of hell and hearing Gregorian chant? Get real.

At least suck it up, and, if you really believe that the other way was better, maybe try some more democratic means of effecting change than storming out in a tantrum.

I don’t get to join a Communist fraternity and then complain there is a lack of free market expression. See how stupid it is?

There are many other slight distortions or outright dishonesties to be caught in this article – check this one out about the conservative girl who also wrestles with some uncertainties.

She wrestles with her belief in an unerring Catholic doctrine that can see good people, including some of her own friends, as sinners.

Including some of her own friends. The key word here is “some.” The Church doesn’t view some of her friends as sinners and some as not sinners. All are sinners. I think this is dishonesty here. I think this is a smuggling in of the LGBT-etc, agenda. Church doctrine marks some people off as sinners and some as not. This is entirely false. It is a lie.

Wife is up. I’ll be back in a few weeks.

Be at School For a Spell

Not that it matters since I think my readership has now reached somewhere around zero people – certainly close to zero commenters – but I will be largely not here for a time.

Almost like now… but a little more. Perhaps after that I’ll see if I can get something rolling on this log, I admit my effort here has been sporadic and lackluster lately.

I am embarking on two different projects. First is I am taking Scripture 101 over at the Institute of Catholic Culture. I will be taking 102 as well and probably all the rest. The scripture courses first as I still haven’t deep dove, or in some cases even read, large parts of the Bible.

Secondly, my priest is giving a once a month meeting after Sunday Mass (it is part of our general Donuts and Dogma get togethers) on Vatican II. Recommended reading is the documents, specifically recommended is the two books linked to in this sentence. They have commentary and is in line with the viewpoint of our priest. Second is Reclaiming Vatican II. So there is that reading. I have read two and one half of the Vatican II central documents, but I’ll have to read them again.

The reading for the Scripture course is, wait for it… the Bible – yes! by Patty you guessed it. Also, Walking with God: A Journey Through the Bible. That is more than enough to fill my plate.

With all of that, I will simply have no time for blabber on this site for a while. Oh, and all the stupid mowing and yard work that comes with spring and summer as well!

In the future then, people, God Bless.

Bourbon, Neat

Over at the podcast, Catholic Stuff You Should Know, they had a very interesting episode called Bourbon, Neat, which was inspired by writer Walker Percy’s essay called Bourbon, Neat.

Public service announcement first. If you have not read Walker Percy’s Love in the Ruins, stop reading this and go get that book, it is a great and funny ride. I actually enjoy the Audible version best, which I never say about audio books because I usually can’t pay attention that long.

Apparently this very famous YouTubeer I have never heard of has scared a bunch of young adults and kids away from alcohol because he has convinced them they are literally poisoning themselves if they drink it. Now granted, if you drink alcohol you should do so reasonably and in moderation. I say this as someone who, for a number of years, did not follow this advice.

But the point is you are not really poisoning yourself if you are having a few drinks here and there (and here and there can even be here and there in the confines of your week). You could go scientifically into the processes the body goes through to digest and process the sugars in a slice of birthday cake as well. Doesn’t mean you are poisoning yourself. Now if you eat a whole sheet cake every day, then you are poisoning yourself.

But the point of the podcast was that we are not merely body. We are also spirit. And there is a communal nature to alcohol. It is its real essence. I know this to be true by experience. I used to be a heavy drinker (I still drink now, but I can do so now in moderation) and I used to drink alone a lot. Invariably, I would have that phone in my hand at some point. Usually this was after I had annoyed the wife with my blabber (she drinks a margarita on her birthday and that is about it). There is a slickness of thought (that can get away from you if you are immoderate) that alcohol provides that is very much not shared by the person not participating.

At some point I would have that phone in my hand because alcohol is communal. It can be enjoyed on its own to a certain extent, but I find it unsatisfying and restricting.

Anyway, this was to a referral to other material, not my subject to comment on. But definitely check out the podcast and Walker Percy’s essay!

Institute of Catholic Culture

Cant’ remember where I ran across this place, but what a find. This place offers free courses on a variety of Church related topics for free. Although they do ask for donations which I will do when I start their courses. It is called the Institute of Catholic Culture.

They offer some real courses, full length college style courses, by teachers.

Going to their course list, I am definitely doing most of them. Scripture 101 (then 102) is probably going to be my first (I still haven’t done a real deep deep dive except for Genesis). It is 20 lessons totaling 40 hours. The instruction has good credentials both academically and with those he has worked with. I don’t want to take courses from questionable sources, I already did enough of that in my 20’s!

Next would be Theology 101 and 102. And the textbook for 101, Ludwig Ott’s Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma, I already own.

The two philosophy courses are not the usual parade through the centuries that one gets in the normal free fair. The 101 course is almost pure Plato. The 102 course is Aristotle with a little St. Thomas Aquinas.

I would also like to do the courses on Catholic political thought. I was a full libertarian for my entire adult life up to a few years ago. But I haven’t revisited the subject of politics itself yet. I still naturally lean to libertarian thinking when approaching political subjects because I haven’t revisited the subject. By naturally lean to, I mean it is the first response that my mind goes to and I will have to pull back and reconsider the issue anew.

Frankly, I would (and maybe will if I have the time) take them all.

Anyway, if anyone is interested, check it out. And if you desire to take a course, pay them a little so they don’t fold in the middle on my taking a course because no one paid.

Selling Out Your Music to AI

Over the last month or two I have dabbled in AI. As I mentioned before I find there to be some value in practical applications in delimited ranges. And I believe that over time there will be vast improvement for it becoming, in various forms, valuable tools to aid in many tasks.

We are not there yet. Indeed a lot of what we have, that is, what is available to the average person to use, is advanced search engines and apps that can make images and so-so stories and poems among few other novelties.

But one area that is being pursued and that causes me consternation is the attempt to replace humans with AI. That is part of what the actors strike was about in 2023, that is what the 200+ signatories in the music industry are asking – keep AI from replacing human creatives. I haven’t heard of 90% of these people, but then I’m old and most music sucks now anyway (no, really, this time it’s true!).

They have to contend with the soulless group KISS who have opted to go full AI including “immortalizing” themselves in digital avatars. “They” are even supposed to go on tour in 2027. Not the humans that comprise the group KISS but the technicians that will be behind the curtains making the avatars don’t glitch. I hope this flops on its face.

My favorite live act back in the day was AC/DC. This is another band that can’t seem to let it go as they are to start a European tour this summer. The singer is 76 and Angus Young is 69. Their last concert was last October, Johnson was wheezy and couldn’t cut some of the songs, and Angus Young barely moved around. People get old, no shame, but you have to know when the bloom is not only gone but the rose has died.

The Everlasting Man

With notes and commentary!

First, Happy Easter! He is Risen! Blurry-eyed tired as I did Easter Vigil last night and will be serving at Easter morning Mass in about an hour.

I got this book yesterday. Back in 2014ish I tried to read this book. It was one of those weird instances where you know you are reading something grand but it’s a little over your head. I had just read Orthodox, which had a profound effect on me and so I presumed this one would too. Less so, and I believe that was my fault. I was still 95% ignorant on Christianity and, if memory serves, he talks of the orient in this work, and I know even less still about that.

Dale Ahlquist, foremost authority on Chesterton, has come out with an edition from Word on Fire with notes and commentary.

Got to finish my reread of the Catechism and the it is onto this one. I have a long, long reading list, but Mr. Chesterton is always granted the favor of taking cuts!

Israel and Jews – I don’t Even Want to Hear It

It is fashionable on the Left and on the Right (far right, that is, which has to be articulated only because the Left no longer has a moderate wing nor a center) to mistrust the Jew and Israel. To even hate the Jew and Israel. It is a pathology. It is, sometimes, I think, a demonic psychosis. No other people would be equated with their butchers, or even put beneath their butchers. Yet this is spoken everyday as a matter of course.

We have demanded the sacrifice of Jewish blood several decades now. We have demanded it because there is no way that we cannot know what the results of our demand are. That much blindness is not explainable in terms of innocence.

Over on a blog I have frequented for over a decade someone in the same comment mentioned the Soviet Union’s stealing of nuclear material and information and Israel’s alleged acquisition by the same means. It is not proven that Israel acquired their nuclear capabilities by illicit means. But even if they did, I would cal it justified. And I think we all would – if – it were anyone other than Israel.

It is not that I will not criticize Israel, or will not hear of their faults. I will state them here up front. Israel should not have listened, nor heeded, our bullshit for this many decades. I do not know to what extent they may have felt they had to, but they should not have. We, the West, are guilty of a great crime against the Jewish people. This is after the greatest and blackest crime since the crucifixion of our Lord. Our treatment of the Jewish people after the holocaust is shameful. The Arab attacks on the state of Israel are crimes for which Israel was fully, and is still fully, within their rights to execute retaliation. Every single other country on the face of the world, if in similar circumstances, would cry the same rights.

I equate this our immigration policy in America. The slightest restriction on immigration generates the loudest detestation from foreigners, foreign governments, the “elites” and the Left. But all other countries are free to erect the most restrictive measures for whatever reason they wish. While we, are expected to accept floodgates of people who are not expected – the opposite actually – to assimilate to any American ideas or ideals whatsoever. Likewise, any country on the face of the globe would act with terribly much more force to attacks on their sovereignty than Israel ever has.

I cannot come up with another example of a country that has been asked by the global community to submit to so much bloodshed that Israel and for no reason.

JIMMY AKIN!

Today Jimmy Akin, Catholic apologist, walking encyclopedia, and host of Jimmy Akin’s Mysterious World, is on Pints with Aquinas today FOR 6 HOURS! Can’t wait to start digging into this tomorrow!

The Discalced Hermits of Our Lady of Mount Carmel

One cool thing about being Catholic (and there are many) is finding out about so many things by answering your mail. One way or another you’ve given to some cause, or given to your local diocesan appeal, or something that puts you on an uncommon mailing list. Sort of like getting on the credit card mailing list and you get offers several times a week.

Yesterday I got an appeal from The Discalced Hermits of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Discalced, btw, means without shoe. These guys are bad asses. I have always had a highly romanticized image of this sort of thing, and I think I would excel in certain parts of it. But I could not do it. It is the lack of sleep! And I usually require at least one day of what the Scots refer to as a little hurkle-durkle, that means laying in bed after the time one ought to rise.

You can get it off their website but here is their day:

0:00 -Rise
0:15 -Matins & Lauds
-Hour of Mental Prayer
-Retire by 3:00
6:00 -Rise
6:15 -Hour of Mental Prayer & Angelus
7:30 -Prime & Terce (End Grand Silence)
8:15 -Holy Mass and Silent Thanksgiving
-Optional silent Breakfast when Fasting is not obligatory
9:15 -Spiritual Reading
10:00 -Manual Labor
13:00 -Sext, None, Examen & Angelus
-Dinner
-Community Recreation
-Visit to the Most Blessed Sacrament
-Rest / Free Time
15:45 -Vespers
-Formation / Manual Labor / Study
17:30 -Compline (Begin Grand Silence)
18:00 -Hour of Mental Prayer & Angelus
19:00 -Silent Collation, or Supper when Fasting is not obligatory
-Reading or Free Time
-Retire by 21:30

What you’ll notice is a severe lack of sleep time. I bet some of the hermits in the private reading time take a snooze here and there, and probably not even voluntary.

They also have a promotional video on this page that is really well done. I like the part where the friar is swinging that axe into the tree, you wouldn’t want to fight these guys.

They live on the charity of their fellow man. So give and be a part of their battle.