Well it’s been a week. Received a few supportive emails, for which I’m thankful.
I have no reliable way of knowing if this blog has any real effect in the world unless I’m told. Stats aren’t reliable. And when I allowed comments, while some were civil and friendly, many were trolls or spam. I do not have the time to moderate the comments, which is why I turned off the comment section.
So IF over the years this blog has informed, entertained, or otherwise inspired you, if you appreciate my style or approach, please let me know in the next week, 7 days, otherwise I am considering taking this blog down.
JosephOstermeir@gmail.com
I’m getting roughly 450 views a day lately. So, if just a mere 1% of you email me (4.5/day x 7 days = 31+ people), heck even if just 10 people email, then that would be a positive to consider.
I need to hear from a substantial number of people if I decide to take time away from my family going forward to sustain this Catholic blog.
Please let me know, if you want to continue reading this content.
If in a week this blog is gone, there’s no hard feelings. I’m sure there are many dozens more trad Catholics in Internet land who will take my place writing a blog opining about the latest in Church or secular news, or anything in Life related to the Almighty. Besides, there are other hobbies and interests of which I can spend more time.
(Update 7/18, I wrote a long post about the new Motu Proprio situation going forward in my local Church, but decided to take it down because I’d rather be silent going forward. You already know my convictions. The Church is in a kind of state of eclipse, to quote one local priest of my diocese, though never entirely, so there is always hope to obtain what a Catholic needs to save their soul, no matter how much the Shepherds have been struck. Life goes on.)
Francis might amend Summorum Pontificum? The future of the TLM is in jeopardy? What if my bishop takes away the Latin Mass for us speaking out too much in the church parking lot?
This week we are treated once again to the never-ending Church Militant Voris/Niles Witch-Hunt of the SSPX. While I'm generally trying to abstain from all the latest sensationalist internet "Catholic news," this hit home for me.
Heading out the door to OKC. Destination: the truly Extraordinary Mass at the truly Oasis-like SSPX St. Michael’s Chapel. Every Saturday 5 pm (happens to be cancelled today), and Sunday 9 am. Serene setting, friendly community, angelic choir...
It was Spring of 2009, and I was visiting my soon-to-be fiance in her home of Tagbilaran City, Bohol, Philippines, having met on a Traditional Catholic dating site. We had the privilege of attending Holy Week liturgies at St. Pius V Chapel (SSPX) in Cebu, the Society being the main source of the Traditional Latin Mass in the Philippines.
The highlight was attending their annual national SSPX pilgrimage across the island of Bohol, considered by many to be the most beautiful, conservative, and pious part of the country, itself at least still a Catholic culture. Not to mention its spectacular beaches, scuba diving, waterfalls, and exotic wildlife.
Miraculous Image of Our Lady
Inside a Sea Shell
Calape, Bohol, Philippines
And it was my future wife's Catholic faith and culture that brought me there to get to know her better. There are definitely drawbacks spiritually, the county being infiltrated by Freemasons and militantly anti-Catholic Protestant missionaries. The Novus Ordo is the standard, and too often Catholics are not faithful to certain teachings like the condemnation of artificial birth control.
Yet, despite all this, there is much that is still Catholic about this country, whether it is the prohibition of abortion and divorce, the noon Angelus prayed over the loud speaker in the mall, everyone stopping to genuflect and pray, many beautiful Spanish churches still preserved, or the frequent village festivals in honor of the Saints.
And, there is most profoundly still a deep reverence and honor given to the Mother of God, with several sites across the country where Mary is believed to have appeared and performed miracles, as proof and assurance that God and His Divine Son do indeed exist as Lord and Creator.
Day Trip to Calape, Bohol:
So, one Saturday, we went on one of our adventures to the town of Calape, Bohol, north of Tagbilaran City, to visit the Shrine Chapel where pilgrims venerate what is believed to be a miraculous image of Our Lady, called "The Virgin of Kalooy of Calape," as well as to visit a friend.
We arrived in Calape around 10 am, visiting a large, Spanish cathedral painted blue. We toured the town plaza and open air market, where I sampled some tuba, that is coconut liquor. A small cup cost about 15 pesos, or 30 cents, the men lightheartedly laughing when I proverbially coughed chugging it down.
We then rented a "tricycle," which is the standard transportation, going out to the ocean to a bamboo walk way that extends out onto the sea water, staying under a bamboo hut on stilts where we ate pre-cooked shrimp and swam in the warm, tropical water. One family invited me jubilantly over to their own swimming hut to sample more tuba, and some kind of raw fish ceviche-style, while I in exchange answered all their questions about life in the US.
Then we were off to her friend's house in Calape, who is a school teacher, also a traditional Catholic, who lived with her mother in a large, somewhat primitive house that also extended out onto the water. I managed a nap, the sea breeze blowing gently through open windows, me lying on hard wood floors on a colorful, woven mat, Filipino style, before we three took off for the Shrine Chapel of Our Lady of Calape.
Shrine Chapel
Lay Volunteers Bring You the Image to Venerate
While You Kneel
There is a humorous photo of us sitting on a bench (bamboo of course), with a goat sitting on the ground between us looking like he was smiling, just around the bend from the Shrine Chapel.
I do not know if this chapel is blessed ground, approved by the Bishop, or that the miraculous image has ever been officially investigated by the Church. What I do know is that many laity, priests, and religious, since the 1800's have visited this Shrine to venerate the image, and that there are many stories of miracles and conversions as a result.
The Miraculous Image:
Here is the story in a nut shell. In the 1800's, a fisherman brought up in his net a shell which he threw back into the ocean, moving on to deeper waters, each time throwing out his net in new waters he kept pulling up the same exact shell, so he took it home to use as a chicken feeder. He had a dream in which he was told to pray a Novena with his wife, which he did.
At this same time, a group of people nearby had a similar dream, in which they were also directed to his house to view this sea shell. When they arrived, looking at the shell, they saw a new formation inside of it, that in a short period of time started to take shape.
Over the course of years, this shape took that of a woman, and slowly over time the image grew with fine details of a lady that appeared to be Our Lady. The family then built a Shrine Chapel for veneration, their descendants to this day still owning and taking care of this chapel for pilgrims.
Read the story here, at a Filipino Catholic blog: LINK.
This local pilgrim gives her own ediying account:
Just Click Above on "Watch on Youtube"
I cannot say with intellectual certainty this is a bona fide miraculous image, but given its history, and accounts of miracles, I am inclined to believe it, as I myself knelt and venerated this sacred image of the Mother of God.
The moral of the story is that Our Lady then, and still today, shows herself in miraculous apparitions of all kinds, as a messenger of God's mercy, and the truth of Christ and the Catholic Church, that it is indeed the One True Religion and Church of God.
(Update: 7/8. No document released, as prognosticated. Life goes on.)
Hot off the press. This just in from Ann Barnhardt. Pope Francis will release today, July 7th, on the anniversary of Pope Benedict’s Summorum Pontificum, anew document regarding the use of the Traditional Latin Mass. She writes:
Taylor Marshall this last week released some "breaking news" click bait: an insider has leaked to him the REAL plan for changes regarding Summorum Pontificum. We are told. Francis will not change SP, but instead issue an addendum motu proprio that "goes further," to put an end to "TLM-only-ism."
This is the first 4th of July I am not honoring the government of what continues to be called the "USA," because the USA died on January 6th, 2000. It is now de facto the Communist States of America.
I highly recommend reading Dr. John Senior's (RIP) two great modern classics The Death of Christian Culture and The Restoration of Christian Culture. These are excellent books explaining the downfall of the modern West, and classic means to restore Christian civilization, beginning foremost with each individual, marriage, family, and local community.
1. A major spiritual relief--i.e. from the banality of the Novus Ordo rite atmosphere. Turning away from Modernism towards Catholic Tradition is like removing yourself from a room filled with noxious fumes clouding the mind, and stepping into fresh, clear air. Catholic Tradition clears and enlightens the mind and soul.
Fr Z yesterday wrote a very long post, what he described as a thought experiment, to resolve the “Two Popes” controversy, to at least put people’s mind at ease troubled by a Pope Emeritus Benedict still dressed in white living in the Vatican.
My Irish ancestors escaped the Potato Famine, and tyrannical British/Protestant rule. They were still persecuted as Catholics when they immigrated to the US, but they found more peace and prosperity.
Correction. The Annual Sodomy Parade. Today in downtown Tulsa. I wasn't considering when that event was scheduled to go down this month, when I made a trip late this afternoon to the downtown area.
My dad (RIP) was both a devout Catholic and an avid gardener. That hobby I always perceived was something devotional. Working the land helping to cultivate virtue and a deeper connection to the Creator.
This in today from the Vatican. Good times. Francis called out online Catholic “preachers” of the Gospel caught up in “certainties” from past “traditions” they adhere to. It was quite transparent who he was targeting.
Which is a greater opportunity, being able to get along with the Modernists who run St. Peter's Basilica, jumping through God knows what hoops to get their permission to say the TLM at a side altar in the basilica...or the opportunity to use the current suppression as a public witness to the superiority, truth, and doctrinal orthodoxy of the Traditional Catholic Mass?
Our first weekend trip to Blue Hole Spring was a success, I am happy to report. Past readers know this is one of our Go-To places for good old fashioned leisure during the hot months. I like to plug this hidden Oasis because if you live anywhere in northeastern Oklahoma, and like family outings immersed in God's green earth (NE Oklahoma is called "Green Country"), then I am confident you will also find this a treasure.
I’ve rarely told this story because it was a challenging time and experience as a young man discerning my vocation. I was in my mid 20s, having withdrawn after first year medical school to discern the priesthood. I had been visiting a nearby seminary, and a monastery, off and on since during college, split between a medical profession and marriage, and a higher calling to the priesthood or religious life.
I’m feeling very gay this month. You know, happy. Cheerful. It’s summertime! Time for swimming and BBQ’s. And it’s not because it’s the Sodom and Gomorrah celebration of “Pride Month.”
Gonna do some BBQ Saturday. Such is the plan. Marinated a rack of ribs tonight. Soy sauce, banana ketchup (yes, there’s ketchup flavored like banana), pineapple juice, lemon juice. Then a heavy dry rub tomorrow, pretty much every spice from my spice rack.
I’m not into Twitter, but a couple times I tried to engage Voris and Niles there. I did not disagree with them investigating the Society, or that their investigation did reveal sex abuse or even incidents of cover up.
Anonymity in the online Catholic world. Is that really how Catholics need to operate? Frank Walker puts out daily Vlogs with some pretty edgy stuff, showing his face, which is ballsy. Bishop Gracida is the most outspoken Trad Bishop, with his own blog, except maybe for Archbishop Vigano (in hiding).
I've been following lately the story of Tulsa's commemoration of the 1921 Tulsa Race Riot. It happened in 1921, it involved race, there was a riot, and both whites and blacks were committing acts of violence and vandalism. Those are facts. Conservatives like myself like facts, as opposed to Leftist historical revisionism.
But I digress.
Last week, "Catholic" "President" Joe Biden delivered an address here in Tulsa near the "Black Wall Street District." He gave the Leftist narrative of the riot, painting the culprit to be the White Devil. The most un-factual statement he gave, which if Rush were still alive he would have pulverized on his show for its leftist agenda, was, paraphrasing from memory: "The number one threat in this country is not from terrorists or foreign powers, but from white supremacists." I nearly spit up my drink in laughter when I read that absurd statement.
But I get the subtext. European American, Christian, Western patriarchial society is Enemy #1. If you read this blog, that is likely you.
"Ah come on man. You ain't Black if you
vote for Trump."
But I digress.
Days later that same week, blocks away in Holy Family Catholic Cathedral, Bishop Konderla held an Ecumenical Service with the pastor of the Black Methodist-Episcopal Church, which is about a half a block from Tulsa Black Wall Street, the same Leftist pastor who attended "Catholic" "President" Joe Biden's speech.
I read Bishop Konderla's sermon. This being a lay blog, and decidedly not a work of scholarship or professional journalism, I will not quote it or attempt to break it down. What the speech and this "Service" did signify, in my opinion, was the Tulsa Bishop aligning himself with the official narrative from the Leftist Black community, that the sole culprit was Evil Whitey. The central controversy now are those unmarked graves, which forensic scientists, not to mention Tulsa Law Enforcement, have not decisively concluded are Black victims murdered by Whites. This does not matter though, because Facts do not as a rule matter to Leftists with an agenda.
Bishop Konderla and "Armadillo Jim"
Spiritual Lessons Show for the Kids
Monte Casino Elementary School, Tulsa
(I used to play Middle School basket ball here, nice court)
By the way, our "Catholic" Mayor basically cowtowed to the Left with his own PC speech the same week. He was taught well at the "Catholic" prep school he attended, Cascia Hall, blocks from Monte Casino.
But I digress.
In a related story that runs parallel to this, is the recent discovery of a grave of dead Native American children outside a former Canadian school. Francis lamented this with a veiled statement that clearly blamed European Christian civilization in Canada, condemning the "colonial model," which is rash judgment and calumny against that Christian civilization, considering the fact the Canadian authorities do not know what is the cause of death for these children.
Francis Church, the Democratic Party, and the Radical Left keep shamelessly showing their true colors. And they did it last week here in Tulsa, politicizing race.
By the way, maybe somebody can explain to me how Protestants can combine African American ethnicity, Episcopalianism, and Methodism (and Leftism), into an actual denomination. I was picking up an excellent burger recently at Fat Daddy's on Black Wall Street, and when I looked down the street at their church, they had tables set up selling T-shirts on their lawn, with big Black Lives Matters and LGBT rainbow flags in display. I wasn't sure if I should feel anger, humor, or sadness. Or all of the above.
This is enough for me to chime in to 'ole Laramie Hirsch's blog from time to time to get his take on such local race events. As he is want to say, toodles.
And have a good rest of your weekend, Okie Trads and Beyond. We were going to go to 'ole Blue Hole this weekend, until my body got hit by a sinus infection and an attack of gout, nearly incapacitating me for the moment. Hope to go there next weekend with family to snorkel and grill, in this now summer heat, and will post about it here.
Woo hoo! 40 clicks on this blog yesterday. Now I’m somebody. Of course some of those are probably Ad Bots from China. Or me clicking multiple times in a day on the site. But wow, I’m a famous Catholic blogger now. Despite--it would seem--being thrown back to the outer margins by a certain Catholic News conglomerate that made me famous years ago. No worries, I’ve now got my own online congregation already sitting at my feet. Give me a few more years, and I’ll be calling myself CEO and Editor, making six figures off of the Gospel. Yeah baby
So rumors are circulating, some of which are coming from the Vatican itself, that the Francis Regime is writing up restrictions on the use of the Traditional Latin Mass, amending Pope Benedict XVI's motu proprio Summorum Pontificum, and that these changes will start taking effect this summer and next fall. To me, these reports sound credible.
Predictions from these sources are that any diocesan priest will now be required to get permission from the Bishop to say the TLM as they once were required under the 1988 Ecclesia Dei indult of Pope John Paul II, and that Traditionalist Society's like the Fraternity of St. Peter (any Traditionalist Society, so that would extend to the SSPX) will have to start aligning themselves more clearly and publicly with the pastoral directives and orientation of Vatican II.
Traditionalists have rightly predicted that agenda for decades.
If this happens, I would think the SSPX will condemn this mutilation of the Motu Proprio of the previous Pope, something they helped achieve for the universal Church, in their negotiations with Rome under Pope Benedict. I expect they will back off even more from any potential "canonical reconciliation," but re-energize their fight against the Vatican II Crisis.
The situation across the board would worsen for everyone. But God will provide, as I reflected on in my last post.
Vatican II was a pastoral council, and, having read all 16 documents, the Council itself does not strictly, legally mandate priests or laity to support it and align with its pastoral orientation. To impose this is tyranny with no authority to do so, just as it is tyranny to impose on any lay Catholic, priest, or Traditionalist group a total acceptance of the Council/New Mass, without public objection to certain doctrinal errors.
This is why the Society justifiably operates currently under supplied jurisdiction, because it cannot in good conscience go this far, and remain silent. The impasse being created by the Vatican Conciliarists themselves who demand we all eventually accept Catholic Modernism.
I'll put it another way. The Faithful are approaching the Society for the Mass and the Faith. The Society in turn wants to serve their needs, and the Church. Yet, the Vatican is saying they must accept those heretical teachings in Vatican II (religious liberty, ecumenism, collegiality, etc), and the moral goodness of the New Mass, in order for their ministry to be canonically approved. Yet, the Society in good conscience cannot do this; nor can any Catholic do this who understands the traditional doctrine being contradicted. By definition then, supplied jurisdiction is provided in an emergency situation. This is a common sense conclusion based on the facts.
IF history repeats itself, the FSSP, Institute, and other similar groups would unfortunately acquiesce and start making major changes to their pastoral work to please the Conciliarists in the name of obedience and maintaining the Bishop's support for their apostolate. This would only scandalize many Traditionalists, some making the extra effort to go to the SSPX.
Many Motu Proprio communities would likely come to an end, if these draconian changes soon go down. Tradition becoming quarantined, except by a few Dioceses where the Bishop is friendly to Tradition. Most Bishops are still suppressing the Traditional Mass in spite of the Motu Proprio.
And, IF history repeats itself, Bishop Konderla, not that long ago consecrated Bishop and appointed to the Diocese of Tulsa, will do what the Presbyteral Council wants. That is IF history repeats itself.
And if History teaches us anything, it teaches us that History itself repeats itself.
And from everything I have been told by both official and lay sources over the years, the Tulsa Presbyteral Council is no friend to the restoration of Catholic Tradition (as attempted for many years by Bishop Slattery) which is a shameful scandal to the Faithful.
For a conservative-leaning diocese, I blame our Protestant culture here in Oklahoma on this modernist orientation, many of the priests here coming from that background. Protestantism as a rule does not like things like Church Tradition, Latin, or Gregorian chant.
It has to be asked out of concern, would the one Motu Proprio Latin Mass at St. Peter and Paul parish, in north Tulsa be shut down, by the Bishop and Pastor there? Will their contributions to the collection basket prevent that from happening, or will the Baby Boomer Modernists give them the boot-- i.e. those who in their past actions demonstrate clearly antipathy toward the Traditional Mass, and faithful attached to it.
In literally just a few months after becoming a Bishop, Bishop Konderla shut down two traditional communities of priests and sisters, attached to the Latin Mass, with little or no public explanation. I was one of the bloggers talking about that here, simply discussing the already public story, and questioning the motive. Both groups had labored for 5 years, with Bishop Slattery, to be established here. They created local apostolates that helped many people, buying land and buildings, planting their roots in the local spiritual family that is the Catholic Church of the Tulsa Diocese, where I was raised Catholic and where I've practiced the Catholic Faith all my life.
Their summary dismissal from our local Church, through the Powers-that-Be, is not something we should forget for years to come.
I pray history does not repeat itself this summer. I would not be surprised to find out it does, and if it does, I will comment on it here. If it is likely to happen, following Fr. Z's recent recommendations, we have to write the Bishop to plead the case.
And the case is not about preserving a particular emotional attachment to Latin or Gregorian chant, or a particular priest, parish, or group, but about preserving the Catholic Faith here and everywhere. And always.
If you are reading this dear Bishop Konderla, my Bishop, sincerely, for the love of God and all that is good and holy, in preserving the sacred offering of the Catholic Mass in this local Church and everywhere in the universal Church, for future generations, that is IF the Vatican soon undoes Pope Benedict's work of liturgical restoration, as predicted, please do not follow the designs of the Modernists. The TLM and TLM communities are greatly helping to preserve the life of the Church and the Liturgy. You have the grace of Holy Orders and of the Office of Bishop to decide--freely on your own ---the good of the local Church, and to do your sacred duty which is to transmit Sacred Tradition to your flock. Praise be to Christ the King.
Folks, now get this. After waves of violence and destruction on the rise across the country since after his election, not to mention a more steady decline of the American system by all measures, the first fraudulently elected President (that I know of) is coming to Tulsa next week Tuesday. Anti-President Joe Biden, of the now Communists States of America. Leader of "The Party." The Party of Radical Leftists who have usurped not only the Presidency, and likely for years to come the Federal government, but the Constitutional Republic that I, as an American, and as a Catholic. hold dear. The object of my patriotic love and duty since birth, until it was sent into a virtual Eclipse last January 6th.
January 6th, folks. A day that will live in infamy. And I'm not talkin' about the damn "riot" of the Capitol, or whatever that nebulous event was. I am talking about the verified and verifiable Coup that took place beginning Election Day, as finalized by both Parties on 1/6 inside the Capitol chambers. That day that the GOP, imo, finally dissolved itself into the Democratic Socialist Party, and can never be supported again.
Reverse discrimination from the Radical Left, manipulating the minority groups for their own political design, with the likes of Black Lives Matter and Anti-fa, which is really organized mass revenge, has now engulfed the mainstream. If you are caucasion, European American, heck even worse if you are a male, straight, social conservative, you are Enemy #1 by these people. I fit every one of these categories. Yet I am thankful and blessed to fit into these categories. And why shouldn't I be? I love my God-given race, ethnicity, Faith, gender, sexual orientation, and moral principles.
Yet praising and defending that, according to The Left, is, for them, a social evil, and will be eliminated.
There were race riots in Tulsa a century ago. Both Blacks and Whites were killed. It was a terrible event.
Yet I have no doubt that Anti-President Joe Biden and his regime coming to Tulsa to commemorate the riot, is only one step in the march to get dirty even with the majority labelled racist, bigoted, supremacist, dangerous, and a threat. If you're white and Christian, per critical race theory (even being taught in Oklahoma schools, though now it is technically outlawed due to a laudable measure by our good governor), you are a racist and a threat to the common good.
Heck even my very conservative, traditionalist Catholic Filipino wife, an Asian thinks this, as does her race of Filipino expats here in America. She was even more into Trump than I was, as were most Filipinos, which is saying a lot considering I started to support his candidacy, and policies, the moment he came down those escalators 6 years ago.
Anti-President Joe Biden, you will not be welcome by the majority of Oklahomans here when you come. Only by a few woke fools. Most Americans, especially us Okies, think you are a fraud. And we suspect and expect that when you deliver your hallow and confused speech here in Tulsa, it will be full of innuendo aimed at people like us. This is God's country. We don't like globalism, killing unborn babies, or radical views being forced upon us through forced speech/behavior everywhere. We are Bible-believing Christians, whether Protestant or Catholic, and do not support your Catholic liberalism and Catholic socialism.
Hopefully there will be a peaceful, prayer protest against this publicity stunt next week in Tulsa.
When I was a kid you could talk like this openly without having to go on the internet and use pseudonyms with fear that the Thought Police might jeopardize your livelihood. Gradually free speech has disappeared. And as of 2021, a harmless, benign conservative blogger like me, who has zero intention whatsoever to cause anyone any harm, is in fact Enemy #1. People like me who would dare publicly challenge the establishment and radical leftism. Think about that Mr. President, or I should say Mr. Anti-President. I will pray for your conversion to Catholic Christian orthodoxy, to the Natural Laws of God, to sanity and right moral reasoning, that you will repent of your liberalism, support of mass infanticide, and fraudulent stealing of our Country.
The Cardinal knows this. Pope Benedict taught in his letter to the Bishops, accompanying the motu proprio Summorom Pontificum, that the SSPX is within the Church, that it is not a schism. Burke dissents on this formal teaching of the Supreme Pontiff ironically taking the unorthodox position opposed to the Pope, claiming recently to another internet Professional Catholic that the Society is schismatic.
Folks, the Society is not schismatic. It is one of the best examples of maintaining the Catholic Faith during this Crisis. To speak or act as if the opposite is the case is disingenuous. Cardinal Burke needs to re-read what Pope Benedict said and issue an apology to undo the damage he has caused toward the Society in this and past interviews, if he is an honest man.
What a relief. Tulsa no longer requires The Mask, as of the last week or so. Truth is we deserved it. The penance of having to put that on your face at work, Walmart, or wherever the Mask police enforced it. And the penance of being forced by a now Communist Banana Republic.
And a small penance for tolerating 100,000,000 surgical abortions since RvW, not to mention all the chemical abortions from the Pill. Or every other decadence we have allowed to normalize these last 50 years.
Seems to me.
A foreshadow of larger penances to come? I have not yet been divinely gifted with powers of prognostication and prophesy, but my intuition tells me, especially since the Radical Left has now officially usurped the Federal Government, that we’re going through a great chastisement that’s going to get worse.
Whether it’s skyrocketing prices for gas and groceries, most employers forcing the vaccine to keep your job, or the good Lord knows what.
That said, God is also merciful and even, according to private revelation, gives the Poor Souls in Purgatory a relief now and then. So I’m takin’ this little break from all things Coooovid to breath, smile at strangers, and feel the normalcy that the Powers-that-Be took from us the last year.
Happy Saturday Fellow Okie Trads and Beyond. If you follow this blog, you’re probably like me. I like anything to do with the Catholic Faith, the Great Outdoors, and the simplest of pleasures.
Pleasures like a cold Diet Coke while smoking a brisket at the end of the work week. Thank God for Spring, which is like a voice outside my door beckoning me more and more to step outside and partake of the glory of God’s Creation.
Creation like the birds coming to our front yard bird feeder. Even the pesky flock of crows lately swooping down to eat literally a half bag of bird food in one day. Still kinda pretty, with their dark blue sheen across their otherwise black feathers.
Note to self: research clever ideas for designing a Scare Crow. That’ll be another first, making one of those. Gotta deter these crows from the bird feeder, not to mention the front yard garden nearby. But, I digress.
Anti-Covid Vaxxers:
Momma Mia. Oh Lord, how long will this continue? And Okie Trad said to Pharaoh...let my People go. Let...my...People go...let my People...gooowowo. Sang with some Southern Gospel flare, and reverence for the Lord.
For how long will the Powers-that-Be hold over our heads daily All Things “Cooovid?” Covid covid covid. Covid. Whether it’s the Communists who usurped power trying to force everyone to get vaccinated, or certain Bully Pulpit Pundits trying to shame those traditionalist Catholics who might think a few might eventually need to take the shot, or you know be required to take the shot to save their livelihood and support their family.
Or so that Granny in her 70's with heart disease and COPD doesn't have to die prematurely of a bad flu-like virus. Which is why it is clinically recommended for old people, especially with chronic illness, to get an annual pneumonia vaccine.
In fact, according to the SSPX, FSSP, ICK, etc (not to mention the Vatican) it is not intrinsically a sin to get the vaccine, my fellow Traddies.
Reminds me of the wild kids dancing frenetically around the fire in Lord of the Flies, a threat to anyone who would disagree with the collective of the group. I remember Laramie Hirsch sometimes harping on this trend of forced collectivist opinion among Trad circles in the Trad forums, often referencing it as “group think.”
Astute observation about current trends, even in church circles, Bloggermeister. But, I digress.
The group-think coming not only from the radical Left.
This covid vaccine question is a tough one. Vaccines forced by government or industries that were derived from aborted fetus research, which have serious safety concerns. Without which in some circumstances Catholics, Christians, and pro-life social conservatives will be effectively persecuted if they don’t get a certain Shot in their arm.
This thing should be avoided Bishop Schneider is right to condemn the call for everyone to jump on the pro-vaccine bandwagon. That was his message. Read what he actually said. He did not explicitly say it was intrinsically a sin to take it for grave reasons. As for myself, in my profession, I will likely be required to get vaccinated at some point, but I will be first seeking a religious exemption and expressing my pro-life beliefs. I mean, I usually waive the Hep vaccine, they better let me do it for the precious Cooovid vaccine, darn it. If still forced, for me, prudence and duties of state of life dictate getting the jab. No lay pundit has convinced me otherwise. Is what it is.
"Ya, Okie Trad. I Think You Make Dee Right Distinctions. Ya."
God help us. Hopefully this thing starts fading away some by summers end, in time for the next news cycle super-problem all will just have to obsess about.
Climate change will be the next “thing,” according to a leaked revelation by a top CNN executive. Good times. Life goes on.
Friday Abstinence:
So, did you all know the Church law still requires abstinence from meat all Fridays of the year? That this is still the law and official norm? Not just a Trad thing.
Bishops Conferences allow another penance to be substituted, but it is still a moral requirement every Friday either way.
Trad priests have recommended following the tradition on this, as do we, the Mrs. having made this week her award-winning Thai-style soup with something like 6 kinds of seafood in it. Not very penitential, but I do appreciate the graces from not eating meat one day a week.
Being a meat-atarian.
I found it as striking when I discovered it is still a law as the personal observation this law is rarely explained, either by Novus Ordo or Trad priests. In my observation.
That it is under pain of sin. During Fridays in Lent, abstinence from meat is under pain of mortal sin. Prior to the Council, my understanding is it was as well--a mortal sin--for all Fridays of the year.
Is either abstinence or a substituted penance under pain or mortal sin every Friday?? It seems not. Any of the documents I’ve read in the past, nothing said it was, so I’m assuming it’s not grave matter until told otherwise, in other words something that must be strictly confessed when neglected.
Anyways, if you are a traditional Catholic, you are a “Fish Eater,” i.e. as a norm you give up meat on Friday (eating fish, etc.) to overcome sin and as a memorial to Christ dying for our sins on the Cross.
But...this law and norm is not just for Trads, but for all Catholics By law you must not eat meat on Fridays. Or you are permitted to substitute another penance. But abstinence is still generally expected by the Church, as the norm. Even if the Bishop or most parish priests never explain this.
I’ve not always diligently observed the norm, with perhaps a bit too much attachment to ribs and ribeye steaks.
Tradition is something we are obliged to align ourselves to and follow. It is not a mere preference, something to give a nod to now and then as the mainstream Church tends to do, or a personal preference for Latin and St. Thomas Aquinas. But, I digress.
The Catholic Tradition is such a well-spring of spiritual blessings, including things like weekly abstinence from meat to curb our attachment to the flesh, and better attach ourselves to the spiritual life, in God and His Son Jesus Christ.
Please pray and have Masses said for the repose of the soul of Aurelios Olano, my wife’s nephew, who passed away yesterday in the Philippines in a tragic helicopter accident.
He was a Filipino Air Force captain and helicopter pilot. Yesterday he was flying a crew of three near the coast of Bohol, one of the islands in the Philippines, when the helicopter had a mechanical malfunction.
Captain Aurelios Olano
Through bravery, he was able to steer close enough to land in the ocean, instead of on land, saving the lives of the three crew members. Unfortunately, he sustained injuries so serious that he did not survive.
Aurelios was 32 years old, newly married, a Catholic Christian, known for his charity to others, and now for his heroic service to his Country. In my book at least, he was in the end a Christian hero. Requiescat in pace. May he rest in peace.
I saw this today over at The Catholic Monitor: Link. It was a comparison of my points about the Covid vaccine to opposite points made by Ann Barnhardt: Link. Her post came the day after my own.
I was expressing some minor issue one evening last week in a post about all the Covid hysteria that keeps dominating the headlines, and the private judgment of some that taking the Covid vaccine is somehow objectively a sin. That had followed my observation that Charles Coulombe got himself tarred and feathered by the professional pundits for over a week recently (I hope that is over), including by Barnhardt who had ridiculed him for his weight in a rather scathing critique of his reading of tarot cards, even though in that post I did not mention her.
The Vatican says it is NOT a sin to receive the Covid vaccine. Traditional priests like the SSPX, FSSP, and other Trad groups, as far as I can tell, agree.
Miss Ann Barnhardt, however, insists it IS.
She said that taking the vaccine is a “massive” sin against prudence, even to save your job, because in her scientific/moral theology assessment the risk of death is actually--in her words-- greater than playing Russian roulette. "Massive" isn't something "venial." Therefore it would be, according to her, a mortal sin, a damnable offense.
I think so far I’m being fair in laying out what her position is.
By the way, a hand pistol has 6 chambers, making her statistical assessment a 1 in 6 chance, or worse, that you're gonna stroke out and die, if you get the Covid shot. Hmmm.
Perhaps that was meant as hyperbole, but what I won’t do is insult her for comments like this. I will offer, instead, counter points for the reader considering both sides of the argument.
1. What matters most in deciding if it is a sin is to consider the authoritative ruling of Church authorities. I reference those sources, whereas Barnhardt decidedly did not. Not even bishops like Bishop Athanasius Schneider have gone as far as this one lay blogger. This would only weaken her argument.
2. As I originally said, I recognize the evils surrounding the vaccine and the actual prudence of generally avoiding it—if you can--supporting the pastoral letter of an SSPX priest C212 linked to last week, Father not going himself as far as this person.
3. However, Ann is not giving accurate science. Yes, of course it would be extremely imprudent to take a vaccine that poses the same or worse statistical risk to life than actually putting a bullet into one of a few pistol chambers, and pulling the trigger. But common sense says the data does not support this extreme conclusion.
4. Seriously, if say you’re a Catholic man providing for a large family, wife at home, (there are many Trads that fit this description), required to take the vaccine at work, with access to actual comprehensive reports on the arguably low risks, it is not so simple as giving up your livelihood to boycott a vaccine. And risk having to put your family on food stamps.
To not take the vaccine in those specific cases could also be imprudent, in my opinion. Putting your family unnecessarily into poverty is imprudent. The Priest in confession would actually be the one though to advise on this for each person in their circumstances, if this is a question of actual prudence (vs. being an act that is absolutely evil, or not).
But Ann Barnhardt is actually suggesting that the chances of dying from the vaccine are so high that it is sinfully imprudent to take the vaccine.
If she sincerely believes that math, then her conclusion makes sense for her to follow.
5. But that assessment is, to put it, well, diplomatically, not even remotely based on all the statistical evidence, even those reports that most detail associated cases of death or serious adverse reactions.
That said, if even 1 out of 100 die from the vaccine, as her jelly bean meme suggested, Ann has provided no data to back that grossly exaggerated # up.
And that does not demonstrate causation. On the contrary, the latest report of all officially reported post-vaccination deaths puts #s of associated deaths at 0.0016%. In fact, nearly every vaccine or drug, in a very small % of people, is loosely associated with death or serious adverse side effects.
6. It is a fallacy to jump to the conclusion that there is causation, when there is correlation between taking the vaccine and deaths. Many taking the vaccine are older adults with serious co-morbidities already. This population experiences strokes and heart attacks every day. On the order of an an entire nation, or globe, statistically there are going to be a very small number of people who happen to die after taking any vaccine or drug. This is not to say there IS NOT more serious risk or could be, but the data so far is not concluding what Ann thinks it is.
That said, if Ann can prove the risk of death is 1/6, or even just 1/100, without cherry-picking from small, obscure reports, I will personally donate to her website. Enough $ to buy one of those cheesecakes I hear Italy is known for (Ann now lives in Italy).
But I hope she doesn't take me up on my wager. I am ready for the Covid hysteria to end.
Turning towards Catholic Tradition. This is the phrase I usually use when I relate to someone that phase in my spiritual journey as a Catholic in which I turned away from the Regime of Novelty that dominates the Novus Ordo form of the Roman rite, towards the Traditional form of the Roman rite. AKA the Traditional Latin Mass, or Tridentine Latin Mass.
But in reality it was a kind of conversion, akin to being an orthodox Catholic surrounded/ influenced by heterodox practices of semi-Arian bishops (if not full throttle Arian bishops) in the 4th century, during the Arian crisis, turning explicitly to Catholic Tradition as handed down clearly by bishops like St. Athanasius.
Some Principles that Helped My Conversion to Catholic Tradition:
1. Treating Catholic Tradition as a wellspring of spiritual faith to be discovered, more than an intellectual philosophy. I've been guilty like any other trad in over-intellectualizing the Faith, but the gifts of reason bear fruit only when kept subordinate to the virtue of faith. One man might treat the traditional Faith as a mere intellectual accomplishment, touting a library of Thomistic books, while actually having a weak faith. The founder and moderator of Fish Eaters forum cautions against this HERE
2. Treating the Traditional Latin Mass as the doctrinally sound form of the Roman Mass (the true Mass). Beauty being founded upon Truth, the Truth must be the foundation of turning toward the traditional Mass. Cardinal Ottaviani, as head of the Holy Office, explained it best HERE.
3. Treating Conversion to Tradition as a gradual process. On one hand, once you understand that the Novus Ordo is--not good--and that Vatican II took us down--a bad path, you make an immediate decision to embrace Tradition and not look back. On the other hand, it is a slow learning process to understand not only the complexities of subjects like the "New Mass" or the doctrinal problems of the Council, but even more all the customs, devotions, and lower level doctrines left out of even the best of RCIA programs. Turning to Tradition is more like stepping outside of rapid, chaotic waters, like in a river torrent, and instead moving along gracefully in deep, still waters.
Still Waters Run Deep
4. Turning steadily towards something more stable, perennial, and sublime, rather than a superficial radicalized kind of reaction against the errors of our time. The Catholic considering turning towards Tradition has a choice which path they will go down. They can seek something more sober and maturing, in the doctrines and traditions of the Faith, or something more opinionated and angry, that has little to do with traditional Catholicism.
5. Thinking with the traditional "Mind of the Church," vs. merely creating a trad ideology. The Society chaplain in Tulsa (when the Society was in Tulsa), taught several months of adult catechism classes about this topic after Mass. It was revealing to me how he exposed a litany of traditionalist opinions, some perhaps true and others perhaps false, that some trads mistake for actual Magisterial teaching. I've seen this play out in trad discussions, especially online, where opinions are forced with dogmatic certainty. We have Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition, but also the Magisterium that ultimately tells us how to understand divinely revealed Truths, what must be believed.
God knows I have not always followed these ideas or principles, but I try. I hope these points help you and yours. It took me years--after I started going to the TLM--to acclimate to Catholic Tradition. And I am still pondering it, and trying to put it into better practice, day by day.
I love Spring. Second only to Fall. Come to think of it, it has been competing the last couple years with my love of Fall, so much so that I give you my "10 Plans for This Spring." Care of The Okie Traditionalist.
1. Watching my garden grow. Planted Saturday tomatoes, bell peppers, several herbs, carrots, cucumbers, green and yellow summer squash, spinach, and for good measure kale (great in smoothies, being a super food). By late June, I should be posting pics of a fruitful harvest, God willing.
2. Smoking meat and grilling. Bought a new smoker grill recently, and tested her out Sunday smoking all day long pork ribs, and wow they came out tender. And smokey. Next will be brisket. There's nothing like enjoying a Busch lite while moderating the temp on your new smoker grill while watching your garden grow.
3. Home and Garden Show this Saturday in T-town. Will probably go, for the Mrs, but to get ideas about landscaping and all things outdoors. Plus it's FREE this year.
4. Going to the Park. Our favorite is Woodward Park, and also Centennial Park near downtown, which I liken to a mini version of Central Park on NYC, just on a micro scale.
5. Estate Sales. As we're planning to buy a house soon in the country, we are looking to expand our furniture and home decor. Again, more for the Mrs, but I like to scout out tools, books, and fine artwork.
6. More Sunday Trips to SSPX-OKC. Trying to make it there once a month, time permitting.
7. Eating Healthier. I transitioned recently from keto back to Atkins, to up the intake of vegetables, berries, seeds, etc. Enjoying fruit smoothies, iced green tea, and lemon aide made with stevia. And of course lemons. Plus lately I've been putting cilantro in everything--near zero calories, and near zero carbs, but chalked with vitamins.
8. More walking Peanut. Mea culpa, in the winter I neglected some days to take my Mans-best-friend around the block everyday. She was chomping at the bit more than me to get outside once Winter subsided.
9. Backyard fires. Still have a bunch of old wood to burn.
10. Blue Hole Spring Outings. Just as soon as it's warm enough to swim. Planning some nice BBQ cookouts there, under our canopy tent, snorkeling (need to get fins), and fishing.
After a tasty bowl of Thai-style soup made by the Mrs.--heavy on the chili paste, the evening rosary, and taking the dog for a walk, I thought I'd sit down and write a post about a couple things. I enjoy writing, after all.
First, this silly tarring and feathering of Charles Coulombe recently, as a local Catholic blogger described it. I think I have to chalk it up to the underbelly of the Catholic Blogosphere. Brother against brother, in order to get more views, comments, and higher stats. By some.
Like the flame wars of not distant memory between the Gordon brothers/Voris-Niles Axis going after the Taylor Marshall crowd supporting the SSPX. ‘Scandalous’ indeed. That's enough to make my chili-digesting innards ache this evening.
More so than Coulombe going to a Halloween party, for Pete's sake. I remember Patrick Madrid, who always seemed to me like a calm enough guy giving some useful apologetics, going full throttle rabid cut throat against the Society during that turf war, via some Twitter rage. The way he recently raged against those who read Canon212.
There is constructive criticism, and then there is unjust rage, Patrick.
Good times. And good for internet business it seems.
Fight the enemy, not each other, guys. That includes you too Dymphna (who I otherwise enjoy reading, btw). Coulombe is one of the good guys in the trenches of traditional Catholicism, despite liking tarot cards.
The other topic is this endless vaccine issue that keeps dominating the news cycle, ad nauseum, just the latest ideological issue Big Brother/The Media is using to control the masses, in my opinion, which is why I'm largely silent about it and gloss over the daily headlines about Fauci et al as stupid distractions.
You know from good things like God, Jesus, or the Church.
Now, according to the principle of double effect, most of the covid vaccines (minus J&J) can be taken without committing a sin, whether venial or mortal. This isn't some novel post-VII idea, but rather traditional moral theology applied to medical ethics. And this is not my opinion.
This is the position by the way, not only of the Holy See, but nearly every traditionalist priest or trad apostolate I've heard give their opinion, whether SSPX, FSSP, or otherwise. That is on whether or not taking the vaccine is a sin. LINK
On the other hand, since these vaccines are new, and largely untested, but especially because they were derived from studies including aborted fetal cell lines, then, as this priest argues, (thanks to C212 posting it), and because they are being used by Big Brother for communist control, the vaccine can and should be generally avoided altogether: LINK.
Makes sense to me.
That said, if say you are the breadwinner of the family, i.e. the husband, then I can't fault any man using prudence deciding to take the vaccine if it is required to maintain his livelihood. Whether you're say a health care professional, educator, or police officer, if they make you take it, and not taking it could cost you your job, then that's a prudential decision.
And if I'm off base, then so be it. I'm just one guy waxing and waning on subjects that pop up daily on my radar.
Likes to discuss the Catholic imagery on tarot cards with gnostic friends, trying to convert them, we have been dutifully informed via the Trad blogosphere. Even attends a Halloween party at a gnostic lodge run by his cousin, who invites him there.
For the record, I wouldn't do either. And for the record, this peculiar habit of his isn't worth being dissected publicly on the internet.
Charles Coulombe in my experience of him online is no less of a good, traditional Catholic--in the way he conducts himself publicly--than the rest of the online trad armchair scholars and pundits.
I've really been appreciating this last week the rewards of the Lenten penance, with Easter feasting and celebration. Sunday's Easter dinner--and notably my Easter lemon cake shaped like an egg (see last post)--was a hit. Each day this week I've been treating myself in the evening to a whiskey soda, watching in pieces "The Ten Commandments," an excellent film for its day, by the way. Last night was the best fish in the state of Oklahoma at White River Fish market, today planting my garden and buying a new smoker-grill, and tomorrow smoking some pork ribs after attending the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass! Such is the way we are celebrating this Easter Octave.
Which brings me to our journey last Saturday to the Society of St. Pius Xth oasis chapel St. Michael's for the Easter Vigil Mass. Arrived in OKC that afternoon around 5 pm, picked up some drive-through food, checked in at the Holiday Inn, ate in our room, and relaxed until 9:30 pm. Got ready, drove the short two minute drive to the church, and got a seat before the church filled up for the 10:30 ceremony blessing the Easter fire, candle, etc. Three hours later, the Vigil Mass was over, and I was nearly asleep, yet we joined the parish community for their annual post-Vigil get-together with cheese, crackers, fruit, and other appetizers, the Mrs. bringing her famous Filipino macaroni salad (which was enjoyed).
The next morning we slept in, and checked out at 11 am for the drive back to T-town.
Thank God for the SSPX! And all priests preserving Catholic Tradition! And for the Risen Lord and this celebratory season! Okay, gotta run up to Home Depot.
God seems to think I need some penance right now, it seems, I’m sure for slacking on my Lenten penance recently. I gave up diet Coke and whiskey for Lent, except on Sundays. But last Saturday evening, mea culpa, I back-slid rationalizing “well Saturday evening is practically Sunday,” having a couple otherwise modest whiskey sodas, with my chicken wings. Had done well up to that point this Lent, but God must’ve thought I needed a reminder that the body must be tamed.
Hence I woke up Sunday morning with a sharp pain in my right heel, that has left me limping and wincing since. As far as I can tell it’s another flare up of gout—which is hellish btw—which can be triggered by alcohol and too much meat. The whiskey sodas + wings --> gout. I figure. But secondary to the gout is some tendonitis in the Achilles for good measure.
Fun.
So God seemingly gave me the opportunity to participate in my own way in His Son's Passion this Holy Week. It’s a gentle penance anyway compared to the unimaginable sufferings of some people in this world.
Anyways, it’s Holy Saturday. Later we’re off to OKC for Easter Vigil at the beautiful traditional Catholic community of St. Michael’s chapel (SSPX), and a stay at the Holiday Inn.
Sunday will be back to T-town for a family Easter dinner of ham, mashed potatoes, deviled eggs, brussel sprouts, rolls, wine, and an Easter lemon cake I made shaped like an egg, decorated with Easter candy.
Easter Lemon Cake I Made
Not Bad, If I Do Say So Myself
Just less meat and spirits for me going forward. Mea culpa.
