Al Kresta This Afternoon

Today's the Memorial for Our Lady of the Rosary.

So...for anyone who listens to Catholic Radio--I'll be on Al Kresta's program this afternoon discussing my book Praying the Rosary for Inner Healing. I'll be on around 4:20 EST.

Learn more about the book here.

Duane Mandible Reports

Guest blogger, Duane Mandible is a contributing editor to The Truth Hurts, a bi-monthly journal of politics, economics and opinion. He also contributes regularly to Freedom Monthly; Illuminations and The Sojourner. Duane is the author of Guns and Knives will Save Your Children's Lives. He is Vice President of the Sacred Society of St Philibustre, and enjoys hunting rattlesnakes, square dancing and watching re runs of comedy classics. He is unmarried.

It has come to my attention that there is some doubt in some people's minds about the validity of the papal election of the 'pope' Benedict XVI in Rome. Followers of my writings will not need to be reminded that what appears to be a papacy in the Vatican City, (Citta Vaticana) in Rome is simply a false facade or a mask for the anti-pope. It is well known among the genuine Catholic faithful who belong to the Sacred Society of St Philibustre, that Angelo Roncalli 'Pope' John XXIII was a Freemason, a member of the Rosicrucian Order, a Knight of the Darkest Circle, a member of the Skull and Crossbones Society, an Illuminati, a member of the Readers' Digest Book Club, and an avid reader of 'science fiction' novels very often with occult themes.

For many years the Catholic Church struggled without a true pastor. Confusion was rife as different claimants (like the liberals Montini, Albani, and Wotyla) claimed the papal throne (they were the famous 'triple tiara') At last on June 29, 1994 at a secret conclave in Assisi the true Pope was elected. A humble priest named Fr. Victor Von Pentz was elected and acclaimed as Pope Linus II. The moving story of his election can be found here in this link which links to a site where you can read the story itself. Pope Linus II resides in Bishop's Stortford (an apt name I think!) in England and reigns supreme from his throne in the papal apartments in a two up two down on Ferndale Crescent (three doors down from the Spar corner shop, and the 'Jolly Fryer' fish and chip shop) His Holiness Linus II selected his name as a reference to the second pope of history and also in homage to the Linus-- the intelligent philosopher and theologian in the weekly social commentary called 'Peanuts'. Drawn by the comic genius and lay theologian Charles Schultz. (R.I.P)

No sooner was His Holiness elected than controversy arose about his claim. In Kansas, the anti-pope David Bawden was pretending to be 'Pope Michael.' Then just four years later Fr. Lucian Pulvermacher had himself elected in Montana and called himself 'Pope Pius XIII' and he pretended to rule over the 'True Catholic Church.' There is very little that can be said about these two wolves in sheep's clothing. A quick look at the process of their election will show that their 'elections' were invalid. Both are heretics on the jurisdictional question and an examination of the Most Sacred Codes of Canon Law for each will reveal startling inconsistencies which invalidate their claim. Neither was ordained by the fourth revision of the conclavist rite, nor were their cardinals wearing the correct silk stocking of the crimson hue. Their claims can be dismissed. They are no more 'Pope' than the pretender Joseph Ratzinger wearing his cappa magna and being carried on his 'sedevacante gestoria'.

In next week's column I will go further to expose these three impostors who are frauds and reveal how a hitherto secret connection between Pope Linus, Mr George Adamski, and a very interesting group of Danish people who have been in touch with alien intelligences who were able to confirm the divine inspiration of Pope Linus's election.

Until then faithful readers, Keep the (True) Faith!!!

Chust for Nice

A Carthusian monk says Mass

Married Priests

The Longenecker family at my ordination. Wife Alison, Benedict (16) Madeleine (15) Theodore (12) Elias (11)

From time to time I am asked to justify or explain the fact that I am a married man with four children, and also a Catholic priest. There are strong feelings in the 'celibate priests' debate on both sides, and people expect me to have all the answers. I hate to disillusion those who wish to recruit me for either side of the debate. My own views are a mixture of common sense and loyalty to the traditions and teachings of Mother Church.

First let us dispose of some red herrings. Some favor celibacy of priests for utilitarian reasons. The most common argument one hears for celibacy is that 'the celibate man has more time for God and for his flock'. A married man cannot really serve the Lord with the total dedication that is required. Well, yes and no. Of course, this is one of the arguments put forward by the apostle Paul in I Corinthians 7.32-33. However, in saying this, common sense also prevails.

Does marriage mean that I do not have time for the parish or my priestly work? No. My wife and children are very supportive. I have a job as a school chaplain (not a parish priest) that is very suitable to the married state. Am I busy? Yes, do I sometimes have to work hours that put pressure on the family? Yes, but then so do many other men in other professions, and their hours and time away are much worse than mine. I think of truck drivers, fire fighters, soldiers and sailors and doctors on call. Many jobs take the man away from home. Many travel for days and weeks at at time. People cope. Furthermore, I'm afraid I can think of a good number of celibate men who are not available at all times for all the people everywhere. For some celibacy leads them to a life of selfishness, self absorbtion and isolation. Celibacy does not automatically produce the Cure d'Ars.

Another red herring: the church cannot (or can) afford married priests. Or course some churches cannot afford married men with families, but many can afford married priests. There are plenty of chaplaincy posts available that provide an adequate salary. Any decent medium sized parish can easily support a married man and his family. Catholics should get over the idea that their priests work for $5,000.00 a year. If a married man were to get the benefits in kind that most parish priests receive (house, insurance, expenses, food allowance, utilities etc) plus a rewarding job for life, many men (from a purely practical view) would jump at the chance. However, the married man and his wife and family must be prepared to live the life of faith filled poverty if need be, and many married men and their wives are prepared to do just that in order to serve the church. The support of the married clergy is simply a practical problem to be solved, and it is just as easily solved as finding a salary for any lay person as we do in our parishes, our schools, our diocesan offices etc.

There is a complication which many who are in favor of married priests do not think of: While it may be possible to support married men with families, if they are living according to church teaching and are young and fertile this might mean many children. It is possible to afford married clergy and they can find the time to be priests too, but what if they have a dozen children? I believe it is still possible, but the larger the family, the more the questions of affordability and division of vocation and time availability become an issue.

A third red herring: Celibacy is mandatory because sex is dirty. This is alien to Catholic teaching. Marriage is sacred and so is the marriage bed. Yes, you can find some witnesses from the early church who teach that the marriage act defiles the priest, but just because it is primitive doesn't mean it is correct. Support for both married and celibate clergy is found in the primitive tradition. The primitive tradition is considered in the light of the whole teaching of the church on marriage and sexuality.

A fourth red herring: married priests make better pastors because they have a wife and children. They understand the stresses and strains of marriage and parenting and so they understand most people's situation better. This assumes that the man is a good husband and father. I can assure you from my experience as a Protestant that this is by no means the case. When clergy marriages hit the rocks they hit hard. There are all sorts of difficulties and levels of complexity that most marriages never have to face. Just as there are celibate priests who fail to live up to their vow, there are married clergy who have disastrous marriages and are terrible fathers. Likewise, there are many celibate men who understand marriage and family life perfectly well. Remember, they were brought up in a family. They're not stupid, and as C.S.Lewis said, "The referee can see the game better than the players." A wise celibate priest can offer advice and direction to married couples and families.

A fifth red herring: Marriage will solve the priest child abuse problem. This assumes that all celibates are frustrated sexually and are secret perverts while married men are all well adjusted, sexually mature and satisfied men. It doesn't take an Einstein to figure this one out. Again, common sense prevails. Some celibate men are sexually immature, perverted and twisted. So are some married men. Likewise, many celibate men are confident, content and fulfilled within their vow just as many married men are. Celibacy actually pre-empts a whole range of nightmarish problems for the clergy: divorce and re-marriage, homosexual unions, support of divorced clergy wives and children, mixed marriages etc.

So what is my position and why? Simply this: I support the present discipline of the church. It is a discipline not a dogma. It could be changed tomorrow. It could be changed in any number of ways: the Eastern discipline could be adopted. Married older men could be invited to apply for ordination. Men who were laicized to be married could be invited back into active ministry. I can see practical advantages to both positions, but whatever happens it is not for me to say. Therefore, I support the present discipline of the church.

Finally, what is the real reason for celibacy? All of the utilitarian reasons are red herrings for the reasons I have outlined above. Instead the core argument for celibacy is theological. The celibate (priest or religious) pictures for us the 'Bride of Christ'. The male priest and male or female religious are bethrothed to Jesus Christ, and thus become icons of what all of us are intended to be in Christ. Each one of us are supposed to put Christ absolutely first in our lives and have no greater love than him. The married, in their turn, remind the celibate what marriage is like, and what their relationship to Christ consists of: daily, nitty gritty, self sacrifice. Then the celibate, reciprocate by reminding the married that their marriage is a sacrament that is a mystery that reflects and incarnates the unity between Christ and his Church.

This is why some are called to the self sacrifice of celibacy...not essentially for practical reasons, but for theological reasons, and those theological reasons become practical as they are lived out in the daily sacrifice.

UPDATE: Go here for my latest article for National Catholic Register on Convert Clergy.

Doing Religion with the Leftovers

This post pointing out that the liberal Presbyterian Church of the USA has been funneling loot to the corrupt ACORN organization for years makes me stop to ask why such a thing could be going on. We can't hold our head too high. The Catholic hierarchy have been shoveling loot their way too it seems.

This is the inevitable result of modernism in the church. At its core, modernism denies the supernatural in religion. For modernists the Scriptures are not inspired. They are a collection of human religious texts. There are no miracles. They are the product of a fervent and deranged religious imagination. God (if he exists) does not intervene in the world. There is no such thing as answered prayer. Sacraments are no more than symbols. The Church is merely a human institution. The incarnation is no more than 'Jesus was the most fully human being who ever existed and in that way he shows us God'. The Virgin Birth is a pretty fable and the resurrection is 'the beautiful fact that Jesus' teachings continued to live even after his tragic death.'

This is the creed of the modernist Christian, and it is only the end result of the core denials of Protestantism. (As a side line, ask your conservative Protestant Evangelical friends which of the above statements they would agree with. You'll find that they agree with about a third, and will have no good reasons why they do not deny the others.) This same modernism, of course, has infected the Catholic Church too.

The result is that Christians have to do religion with the leftovers, and what is leftover after the Christian faith is robbed of any supernatural element? Good works. When you no longer believe in the reality of the next world the only thing left to do is work to make this world a better place. So religion becomes a campaign for peace and justice. Religion becomes a campaign for equality and tolerance. Religion becomes a campaign to eliminate poverty and raise the standard of living for all.

Of course, these are laudable objectives and ones that all Christians should endorse, but they should be the fruit of religion, not the main point. The terrifying thing is that once changing the world becomes the main object of religion the devotees soon shift their attention away from the worship of the immortal invisible God to the devotion to a mortal visible god.

Confirmation Podcast 3

This week's homily is the third on the sacrament of Confirmation--continuing my series on the seven sacraments of the Church. This one considers confirmation from the perspective of 'Communion' following last week's 'Continuity' and the first on 'Co-operation.'

We Are Not Amused

This article from the Daily Telegraph reports that the Queen of England, and head of the Church of England, is not amused, indeed she is heartily dismayed, by the present direction of the Church of England. She is reported to be increasingly sympathetic to the Catholic Church and has much admiration for Pope Benedict XVI.

Let's face it, the Church of England is never going to roll over and submit to the Holy Father, but it would be rather nice if a conservative group were to split off, join the Catholics and have Her Majesty come long for the ride. She could repudiate her role as the head of the Church of England, and the Anglicans could elect Elton John to take her place. That way they could have everything they really want: homosexual marriage and an old English queen as the head of their religion.

Photographs of the Developing Child

This is Respect Life month with 40 Days for Life, Rosaries for Life. Tomorrow we'll be standing on Woodruff Road here in Greenville from 2:30 - 3:30 as part of the annual pro life chain.

Go here for another look at the beautiful photographs of the child developing in the womb, and why not send the link to anyone you know who is still in favor of 'choice'.

Sexual Healing and Sanctity

That got your attention didn't it?

I got involved in an interesting discussion the other day with some fellow Catholics about the effects of sanctity in one's life and how it touches human sexuality. The saints are individuals who, by the grace of God, have been purified in this life. They are sanctified completely and have become perfect. That is to say, they have become whole. They are all that God created them to be. In psychological terms they are 'totally self actualized'. In Catholic speak, 'grace has perfected nature.'

If this is so, then you would expect the area of their sexual identity to be whole as well. Jung uses the language of anima and animus. Anima being the female aspect of human personality and animus the male. Each of us have within us both anima and animus. This would make sense as we are, both male and female, created in God's image, and although we relate to God as masculine Father, he must have within himself all the feminine attributes as well. This is not to say that God is feminine, but that God's 'masculinity' is complete, and therefore the feminine is integrated within and through the full 'masculinity'. We would expect, therefore in our Lord, to see a full integration and wholeness of masculinity, and that would include some strengths normally thought of as 'feminine.' And so we see that he is able to weep freely. He weeps over Jerusalem and 'would gather them under his wings as a mother hen her chicks.' He is able to relate emotionally. He is able to love the little children and not reject them. He understands women just as well as he understands men.

If this theory of mine is true, then we should see a similar fulfillment of the anima within male saints and a fulfillment of the animus within the growth of the female saints. My friends immediately pointed out the 'toughness' of St Catherine of Siena, St Teresa of Avila, St Joan of Arc, Bl. Teresa of Calcutta, St Therese of Lisieux and proposed with me that the same would be true of all female saints in their own way, and that the beauty of this sanctification is not that the females became 'masculine' but that through the process of sanctification the integration and blossoming of the animus in their lives completed and fulfilled their femininity. If this theory is true, then Catholic spirituality and the lives of the saints has some pretty trenchant things to say about feminist ideology. Radical feminism seeks not a subtle and naturally grace filled integration of the animus with femininity, but a destruction of femininity by an exaltation of the animus.

This also shows up another aspect of contemporary sexual imagery: what I call the Barbie doll female. The woman who is so giggly and girly and vain is not yet fully female. She is a shallow typecast female exhibiting everything female, but without the depth and completion of the animus.

There are similar observations, therefore to be made for the male saints. My friends observed the full blossoming and integration of the anima within male saints: St Dominic who wept freely when celebrating Mass, and dealt with his brothers with tenderness of heart and soft compassion; St Benedict who treats his charges with similar tenderness and sensitivity; even the most manly of saints like Ignatius Loyola and Thomas More and Gregory the Great and Thomas Aquinas display a tenderness of heart, compassion and sensitivity that shows the proper flowering of the anima within the male soul. Again, this is not to say that they were effeminate; instead their masculinity is fulfilled and completed with a beautiful integration of the anima rather than a rejection of it.

As the female saints shed light on the feminist movement, so the male saints shed light on the homosexualist movement. This complex maladjustment of the masculine soul is a false feminization which mocks both true masculinity and true femininity. As the Barbie Doll female is a shallow travesty of true fulfilled femininity, so the 'macho man' is a shallow and immature realization of the masculine. You will find no saints who are one step above the gorilla. Instead male saints show us true masculinity which is completed by a fearless acceptance and integration of the anima in the correct way.

Finally, this work is not something that can be accomplished by analysis or therapy or self help or 'behavior modification'. It is something that can only be accomplished by the supernatural work of grace in a person's life. Only through a life of prayer and discipline and humility and self sacrifice can one hope to attain this supreme gift.

For women perhaps a greater devotion to the Seven sorrows of the Blessed Mother will help. There you see the Blessed Virgin in the face of suffering being both as soft and tenderhearted as a caramel chocolate and just as tough as old boots at the same time.

For my part, as a man, I sense that a devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus helps. "O Lord who wears your heart on the outside, take away my heart of stone and give me a heart of fire. Help me to be vulnerable and learn the lessons of love before it's too late. Help me not to be ashamed to love and be loved. AMEN."

Leonard the Guardian Angel

I was wanting to tell a few guardian angel stories today, but here's one that is pretty good from Acts of the Apostasy-- a blog that has just been recommended to me, which I plan to re-visit. What caught my eye was the whimsical detail that this guy's mother named all her kids' guardian angels, and she told him that his guardian angel was called Leonard. This rather tickled me. No really angelic sounding name like Lord Elidil...just Leonard. What next the Lord of Darkness being called Sidney?

Caitlin on Relics

I couldn't believe it because yesterday was St Therese who is one of my favorites and my Aunt Margaret always says she gives you roses and we were at school and Father Florsheim who is the new young priest who always wears a cassock and is in a hurry said Mass and after Mass he had a gold thing that looked like a little monstrance and Sister Mary Maximillian who teaches seventh grade said it was a reliquary and inside Father Florsheim said there as a bone from the little flower and I could have kicked him when Jimmy Pochowski said that flowers don't have bones they have petals he is so stupid and thinks he's so great because he scored a goal at soccer which anybody could have put in because the goalie at St Elizabeth's is very fat and slow but we all went forward if we wanted to so we could kiss the bone of St Therese and I wanted to go and so did Maureen and we did and I asked Therese for a rose and Jimmy said it was dumb and he didn't want to kiss bones or get roses but I told him there was nothing dumb about it and that he was just scared of doing it like the time he almost cried at the Halloween party when he saw a glow in the dark skeleton so he went up to kiss the bone too which made me happy because I can't explain it but it was like St Therese was right there with us even if it was just her bone but that was better than nothing and why not have a bit of her in that little gold house kind of thing because Sister Mary Albert said God had made all of her holy even her bones and therefore it was like a little bit of her holiness was there with us and I believe it even if Sister Joan who used to be the nun here thinks it was a load of nonsense and I think my Aunt Margaret said she thought Sister Joan was a load of nonsense dressed up like someone from a communist health farm and Sister Mary Albert told us later that this was a relic that was given to the school by Dr Ballast who used to be a Lutheran but became a Catholic and it was a good thing that the converts took relics seriously because no Cathlolics do anymore and she thought Dr Ballast and his wife were very nice because they always came to weekday Mass and Sister said that Mrs Ballast used to be a Lutheran pastor too and wear a backwards collar and pretend to be a priest but she was not doing that anymore and now she wears a black mantilla to Mass just like my Aunt Margaret and I want to get a white one because they are so cool and Jimmy Pochowski would never be able to do that and then at recess he told me that Sister Mary Maximillian was in love with Father Florsheim and he said all the seventh graders call her 'Mad Max' so me and Maureen grabbed him and pushed his head in a big mud puddle over at the edge of the playground and when he got up he was really mad and threw a stone at me which hit me in the face and when Sister Mary Albert came over we said he was picking on us which he was sort of if you know what I mean but I didn't feel very bad about it and neither did Maureen because he had it coming to him and when I got home and looked in the mirror because it hurt where he hit me with the stone there was a round red mark on my cheek and my Mom said it looked like a rose and so I guess I got a rose from St Therese after all.

Welcome to Mark Shea's...

...army of cheerful blog reading drones.

If you've come here to find my alter egos. You are very welcome the various characters: Todd Unctuous, The Rev'd. Humphrey Blytherington, Caitlin O'Rourke, Mantilla Amontillado (aka Mantilla the Hon) and the latest, Duane Mandible, are all here in their ludicrous glory.

You can read all their posts by using the 'labels' facility to search.

Enjoy!

Jester is Curt

Curt Jester socks the liberals here with some sharp and on target comment.

Support for Abortion Drops Dramatically

Pro Lifers are gaining ground. A new survey charts a continued drop in support for abortion. American public opinion is about even, but better yet, those who say they support abortion say they support 'the right to choose'. In other words, even those who register as pro-choice are often either anti-abortion or only wish it as a last resort. More encouragement in this month of 40 Days for Life. Bad news for the lesbian Dean of Episcopal Divinity School, the Rev'd Ragsdale-- who is on record as saying that "abortion is a blessing."

Relic of St Therese

Because of the kind generosity of Dr Richard and Mrs Ruth Ballard we have three first class relics at St Joseph's Catholic School Chapel. Embedded in the altar is a relic of Bl. Francis Xavier Seelos, in a nice reliquary in front of an icon is a relic of St Elizabeth Ann Seton and attached to the base of a beautiful image of St Therese of Lisieux is another first class relic. This is a photograph of one of our students (Theresa) venerating the relic after Mass today.

Tens of Thousands See Therese's Relics

The relics of St Therese have now visited over 42 different countries and wherever they are taken thousands and thousands of people turn up to honor her. She is on a 28 day tour of England at the moment, and in that sadly secular country the sight of tens of thousands of people thronging her casket is somewhat of an embarrassment. The phenomenon is reported in the Catholic Herald here and the BBC reports here with some footage.

What are we to make of the extraordinary influence of the relics of this young girl? First, it is interesting how much she foresaw. She predicted that her body would not be corrupt so that her relics might be venerated. Nevertheless, when her coffin was opened the crowds reported supernatural fragrance of roses. When I lived in England I met a woman who's mother was present at the exhumation and who testified to this phenomenon.

There is more to it however. Therese also said on her deathbed that she believed God had granted all her desires. Well, one of her most fervent desires was to be a missionary. She longed to travel to every country of the earth singing the praises of God and proclaiming his mercy to the nations. In God's strange providence we see this desire coming true through the regular pilgrimages of her relics around the world. They say 'if stones could speak'. They might as well say, 'if bones could speak' for in this young girl they do.

There is more to it however. Mother Teresa took her name in religion from Therese--not from Teresa of Avila. Therefore, the missionary desire of Therese was brought to fulfillment in the little nun from Albania and her order: Missionaries of Charity. Not only does the title of this famous order refer to 'charity' as 'charitable work' but it also refers to the greater theological virtue of charity, and this too references back to Therese.

In probably the most famous passage of her writings she says,

Since my longing for martyrdom was powerful and unsettling, I turned to the epistles of St. Paul in the hope of finally finding an answer. By chance the 12th and 13th chapters of the 1st epistle to the Corinthians caught my attention…When I had looked upon the mystical body of the Church, I recognised myself in none of the members which St. Paul described, and what is more, I desired to distinguish myself more favourably within the whole body. Love appeared to me to be the hinge for my vocation…I knew that the Church had a heart and that such a heart appeared to be aflame with love. I knew that one love drove the members of the Church to action, that if this love were extinguished, the apostles would have proclaimed the Gospel no longer, the martyrs would have shed their blood no more. I saw and realised that love sets off the bounds of all vocations, that love is everything, that this same love embraces every time and every place. In one word, that love is everlasting. Then, nearly ecstatic with the supreme joy in my soul, I proclaimed: O Jesus, my love, at last I have found my calling: my call is love.

So Therese's missionary vocation is fulfilled in the Missionaries of Charity, for not only did Mother Teresa take her name from Therese, all her sisters are formed in Theresian spirituality.

Those secular critics of the pilgrimage of the relics only humiliate themselves publicly by insulting something greater than themselves. All they do is reveal their ignorance, their vulgarity and their blindness of soul.

Finally, a word of my own witness. I first met Therese when I was on my pilgrimage to Jerusalem in 1987. By chance I went to Lisieux. I was an Anglican priest and knew virtually nothing about her and what I did know did not impress. Then that summer evening in the Hermitage next to the Carmel where she lived in woke up at three in the morning. I was wide awake and felt a 'presence' in my room--a female presence. I felt it was her. The next morning I bought a copy of her autobiography and learned more about her. I remember saying a prayer as I walked along, "Therese, I am not a full member of your family, but I read here that you pray for priests. I pray that you will pray for me too, and perhaps one day I will be one of your priests." Just under twenty years later, despite great obstacles, I was ordained a Catholic priest, and I am convinced that she played no small part in my own peculiar pilgrimage.

I will be saying Mass in just a few moments here at school, and as it is every year, my heart will be full of gratitude to this great saint.

PS: Check out my book St Benedict and St Therese...