On the Timely Wisdom of St. Thomas

The Angelic Doctor.  Universal Doctor of the Church.  St. Thomas. Thomas. Thomas Aquinas.  St. Thomas Aquinas goes by many names. He is still a part of secular vocabulary. Ask most any modern and odds are they’ve heard his name connected to that of the Catholic Church, the Middle Ages, theology, or philosophy.  He is sometimes scorned as a throw back to the “Dark Ages;” in the modern Church he is usually marginalized as a mere pre-Vatican II reference or worse an ossified rationalist whose thought they claim lacks in spirituality.

St. Thomas.  The greatest mind, teacher, and intellectual saint in the history of the Church.  Not my opinion. That’s the opinion of a centuries old lineage of popes up to and even after the Second Vatican Council.

And I can tell you from personal experience reading St. Thomas, absorbing his wisdom coupled with accounts of his saintly intellectual humility, that what these popes have taught rings true.  His teachings give the intellectual soul wings to rise above ignorance, foolishness, and any jouvenile or fragmented sense of morals.  Thomistic wisdom is like putting on glasses and seeing the world in all its divine and natural hierarchical organization.  To see the proper relation between the material and spiritual, the vegetative, animal, human, and angelic.  To see how the Creator orders Creation upward in an organized way as a path to Him.  And that metaphysical hierarchy isn’t just a development of Aristotle but likewise Plato.  Modern classical Thomists like J.P. Torrell or Ralph McInerny have highlighted this, with the insight that the Thomistic world view is not only a hierarchy of existence but also a cycle of life.  All come from God and return to Him, but the return is necessarily vertical.

In other words, to ascend back to God, according to the Angelic Doctor, to find our ultimate self-actualization in the ultimate source of our existence, we must follow the path of Creation as God set it out.  With St. Thomas then we can and must discern the wisdom embedded in Creation and by means of it climb upward toward sainthood.

That is one of the most profound messages of St. Thomas for modern man.  It runs against our horizontalist mindset, but is liberating as I can attest.

To read St. Thomas, go to his Summa Theologicae all online for free at New Advent.com.

OKC Catholic Relates History of Trad Movement in OKC Diocese

Tomorrow we need to go to OKC for a bit of business so I thought, why not make a full day of leisure out of it? So we leave at 8am to take the historic Route 66 to OKC, stopping at a small town diner for breakfast and checking out Catholic churches along the way. Then tour the indoor Myriad Gardens in downtown OKC followed by lunch, then our business appointment, then shop at the Asian market, then before leaving town attending the Saturday Latin Mass at the SSPX chapel of St. Michael’s. Will have to blog how it went with photos. But all this reminded me of s short history of the Traditional Movement in that diocese, once shared with me through the blog. So here it is, enjoy:


St. Michael's Chapel in OKC was originally called St. Athanasius. Here's a link to some history about St. Michael's : www.saintmichaelschapel.com/father-themanns-farewell.html What a struggle they maintained to keep the Mass alive in this diocese, especially in the 70's and 80's, often flying priest and even bishops in on a Sunday to celebrate the Mass of the Ages. 

Queen of Angels, let by Father Walters, begain in the early 80's as well. You can read more about his story in the book "Mass Where is They Priest, Priest Where is Thy Mass?"

Best I can tell, Fr. Jerome Talloen was the first non-independent diocesan priest to begin saying the Mass of the Ages under the auspices of the bishop, first privately and then publicly. Despite repeated requests for permission,

Archbishop Salatka denied Fr. Talloen permission to say the Mass of the Ages publicly. Archbishop Beltrain initially denied permission as well. Beltrain's hand was forced by Ecclesia Dei in the early 90's. The small group led by Fr. Talloen became known as St. Anne's Latin Mass Community. Once Father Talloen began saying the Mass publicly, the FSSP (Father Rizzo) was then able to start saying the Mass at St. Michael's chapel, though Fr. Rizzo had been there before while he was still SSPX.


The FSSP played some politics with the bishop in the early 2000's, and Beltrain consolidated St. Anne's Latin Mass

Community with the FSSP Community (because we all know you can't have more than one!).

The Bishop moved the FSSP out to Piedmont/Edmond/Middle of Nowhere in 2010, forming St. Damien's Parish. Some speculate the move had a connection to this lawsuit regarding oil royalties: newsok.com/article/2915123

Thanks be to God for sending the SSPX to Oklahoma City in 2010, who keep the Mass alive at St. Michael's and who feed its parishioners with the traditional doctrine.

If you haven't visited St. Michael's, please do! Low Mass on Saturdays at 5PM and High Mass on Sundays at 9AM.

Who Burnt Down Notre Dame?

Answer: we all did.  In a sense. 

When society murders its own children by the millions, these kinds of tragedies to me are omens of God’s wrath and impending chastisement. 

Have you seen those infernal photos of the tallest steeple over Notre Dame Cathedral engulfed in a deep red flame?  It looked apocalyptic, am I wrong?

People are rightly speculating if Muslim terrorists did it.  I mean come on, this happened on Holy Monday of Holy Week in a nation recently known for such symbolic attacks on the Faith. 

But it’s just a building, some are saying. True, we shouldn’t get torn up over the loss of a cultural symbol made popular by Victor Hugo.  But it’s the symbolism of this loss. 

One of the greatest physical structures on Earth giving testament to the eternal truth of Christ and His Church. 

Time will tell how spiritual writers, priests, and the faithful fully interpret this sad, telling event. 

Our Lady pray for us sinners.  Blessed Holy Week. 

Turkey Mountain Hike. Pain creates Happiness.

Lovin’ this Spring weather.  I feel like a bear emerging from his den.  Or an isolated mountain man suffering from cabin fever re-entering normal existence.  SAD is sad.  Seasonal Affective Disorder that is.  And I think most of us get hit by it in the winter months, and that 80% of it is preventable if our elected officials would pull their heads out of their *** and abolish once and for Daylight Savings Time.  I know I’m a Traditionalist, but I think that’s one tradition that needs to be abolished.

So I could literally feel my serotonin, dopamine, and cortisol levels re-balancing as we ascended steep, rocky hiking trails a few hundred feet up Turkey Mountain in Tulsa, which is now the #1 hiking spot for Tulsans.  Flowering red bud trees cheered me on as I broke a good sweat up the hill, with a hiking stick in one hand and my Dauchshund Peanut’s leash in the other.  

Turkey Mountain

Tulsa, OK

And each climb to a higher elevation I hit it pretty hard, David Goggins-style (watch his life story on Joe Rogan’s podcast).   The trail was muddy, but as Goggins, a quiet Navy Seal, says, the key to peace, health, and happiness is doing daily challenges that are doable but very hard.  He preaches, like a Catholic, which I suspect he is from a google search, that we must go through major pain and suffering every single day until we die, to be our true selves.  He’s got his own podcast which I highly recommend. 

David Goggins

Happy weekend. And blessed Lent. 

Dream of a Weekend Cabin by Clear Creek

It might take a couple years for our budget to allow it, but I’ve been contemplating for a year now the idea of a weekend cabin out by Clear Creek monastery.   I’d just need a half acre.  When the time is right, will put out feelers out there to see if someone would part with a little bit of land.   Closer to the abbey the better.  It’s okay if it’s very wooded and rocky.  Would just to need to be next to or near a road.   Anyone out there reading this, would you take $2K for a half acre, or even smaller?  I’m thinking to put a small barn on it from Home Depot or Lowes, or a barn builder closer to CC.   There’s one such company on the north side of Hwy 412 east of T-town as you take what the monks call the “north route.”

$2K for the land.  $3K for the barn.  Maybe $500 to outfit it. Can’t beat a weekend getaway cabin, nestled in the beautiful Okie lower foothills of the Ozarks, an hour from Tulsa, and just a jog from dozens of traditional Catholic monks celebrating daily Traditional Latin Mass, and the Divine Office sung in Gregorian chant.

Can’t imagine anything more idyllic and simultaneously practical.  $5500.

A weekend getaway.  Camp base to hunt and fish (with permissions of CC land owners - like the monks).   Hermitage for a spiritual retreat.  Guys hangout.  Family home-away-from-home.  A bug out place in the event of the Great Chastisement (you never know).  The opportunities abound.

This all started with more frequent visits to the monastery for the Catholic Manshow campout, 2018 Workday, a quick half day retreat of sorts last Advent, and the 2019 Workday.  I think I blogged about most of those visits.  My inspiration was also watching a couple YouTube channels (beats the heck out Netflix these days with its increasing amounts of PC shows and ones that appeal more to our fallen natures) of men building/living in cabins in the deep woods.  Check out My Self Reliance and TA Outdoors.  This all just rekindled an old dream of a cabin, and one near CC, coupled with a recent gain in livelihood that would make such ventures prudent.

So on any winter evening I may be seen perched on my Okie armchair sipping hot cocoa (flavored with stevia) watching these channels, dreaming of the day soon I pull the trigger on this project.  I’d need to first find the land.  Plenty of trees, alive or fallen to the ground, would be a plus for firewood.
A nice view of some pasture land or distant hills would be nice.  Also a bit of a creek for running water would be another plus.  I’d think I could find a Catholic living within 5-10 minutes of the monastery with a bit of land they’d part with.  Would have to think of the best method of procuring such land.

The other task is finding a Home Depot or Lowes  that would deliver and assemble the barn on the land, given it’s a hilly, rocky area, far from the city. Maybe one in Tahlequah or Muskogee. Or the next time I’m out there check and see if there’s a closer business that sells barns.  The kind you see on the side of the highway, including little sheds with a front porch designed like a mini-cottage.

You can plan something like this too.  I’m thinking a barn, 12’x15’, with a couple windows.  Maybe a loft, built-in kitchen bench.  No electricity or running water.  Bring water, cooler, propane for a propane stove, some batteries.   A small wood-burning stove. A couple of beds doubling like couches,
with a multi-functional table between them.  Cast iron skillets hanging over a Coleman stove.  Plus an outdoor kitchen with grill, firepit, covered wood stash, and makeshift outddoor latrine.  May make a compost toilet, like I had made several for use by the group when attending a traditional Catholic pilgrimage (SSPX) once upon a time in the Philippines.  Much more sanitary than a hole. 

Let me know in the comments what you think?  Any other things you’d add to the project?  Live in Oklahoma and would like to use the future cabin too?

Fighting Dopamine Addiction. With a Campfire

Facebook, Twitter, Internet Forums, Blogs, Netflix, X-box.
All in front of an artificial 2D screen, with little real connection to persons or society.  We’ve become hooked by the Dopamine peddlers.  

The hormones that regulate mood, like dopamine or serotonin, have become the #1 drug that everyone—except maybe the Amish—are addicted to by contemporary culture.  

And getting you’re minute-by-minute Dopamine fix doesn’t stop with the smartphone, computer, or TV screen.   

It comes from looks and gestures of approval for looking athletically fit, smartly dressed, head held high, smartphone in hand, driving the latest model of car.  Or just the inner satisfaction you’re seemingly pleasing and appeasing the masses with your contemporary six figure, two income lifestyle. 

Diabolical narcissism turning us into Zombies. 

It’s like living in a Hollywood movie like The Matrix.  Our divorce from creation and Creator, from a realist life whereby we “act in accord with nature and reason,” has left us already in social ruins the effect being a break down in mental health.  

If you’re a contemporary urbanite, by definition you suffer from chronic anxiety and depression.  And we all are affected the more we allow ourselves to get sucked down this whirlpool.   

I’m as guilty and affected as any trad Catholic with a smartphone and a TV.   A stressful day at work to me is not from the actual work itself, which is life sustaining, but from the endless toxicity of the modern workplace and marketplace.  The mental torture of crazy drivers in 5pm traffic is just icing on the cake.   

It’s an unhealthy coping mechanism then to soothe your emotions by endlessly checking your phone throughout the day for texts, emails, notifications, weather, news, etc, etc.  

I cannot imagine how this vicious cycle of modern stimulation to elevate mood hormones can be sustainable.  Addictions to computer games, or trendy language like the now ubiquitous use of “awesome” or an exclamation point at the end of every text message, these now constant variables will only result in month by month, year by year, decline in mental, physical, and spiritual health.  
The dystopian, post-apocalyptic future is here, minus in the US anyway economic collapse or civil war.   Most now are either wolves or wolves in sheep’s clothing.  The proverbial sheep, people trying to be God-fearing, honest, humble, and like Christ, are in the vulnerable minority.  Everywhere. 

If I had a teenager, I wouldn’t allow them to have a smartphone or FB account.   Or play hours a day of video games.  I might do a Wii for physical games in the home during bad weather, on occasion, but not on demand daily hours on end in front of any screen.  

But I’d be a hypocrite if I said I was living as strictly as my inner convictions dictate for parenting.  This winter was especially tempting for me, as it usually is, to flop in front of the TV or impulsively pick up my smartphone.  I chalk it up to getting my own Dopamine fix because of shorter, colder, and  
dimmer days.  

And so with the change in Daylight Savings Time (which should be abolished imo), the beginning of Spring, and warmer weather, we took a short camping trip just east of town on the Verdigris River in Buffalo Landing state park, for no other reason than to get our Dopamine fix the way nature intended. 
By being outside, breathing fresh air, hearing actual wildlife, staring into the soulful flames of a campfire, and looking up at the constellations.  Realism being the best antidote for modern stress.  Something I am more and more mindful that I am in need of. 

Here is a video (yes I took on my smartphone) of our campfire.  I burned a dozen year old logs which made for a blazing fire keeping us warm from just after dinner until midnight.  You can hear bullfrogs in the background, and Peanut my dauchshund moaning a bit as she tried to get warm on my lap under a blanket.  And so as I sat there sipping Jim Beam recalling stories from the past, these are also the thoughts that came to mind which I put down here.  It sure beat the artificial image of the Netflix fireplace I sometimes use at home.  Enjoy the Realism (no exclamation point needed).

Day trip to Pawhuska. Home of The Pioneer Woman. & “Cathedral of the Osage”

Joseph Pieper, classical Thomistic writer on subjects like Christian culture, defined the true nature of work as “not being at leisure so that we may be at leisure.”  In other words, the purpose of human work is ultimately holy leisure which contemplates divine things.  Such then was our aim when taking a day trip out to Pawhuska, OK west of Bartlesville.  Home to the famous Food Network star Ree Drummond and Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, itself home to some of the most revered stained glass windows in the US.   This destination is a must visit for an Okie Catholic family seeking wholesome recreation and country living inspiration.

After all, practicing Catholic families seek more sane forms of re-creation than our artificial video game culture.

We like taking little road trips a few times a year to small towns in eastern Oklahoma, to check out their local churches, museums. restaurants, and sites of attraction.  We’ve probably done about 20 of these outings in the last 5 years, each one proving to be a fruitful and frugal adventure.  So this one was no different, marking pretty high up the list.   I had some work to do in the morning, so we got a later start. We packed tuna fish sandwiches, chips, cheese, and seltzer water for a picnic lunch once we arrived in downtown Pawhuska.  As you leave Tulsa going north on Interstate 75, the land already starts to open up into plainly beautiful rolling ranch land, preparing you for the wide desert-like landscape that surrounds this town.

There is a spiritual solace in that kind of environment devoid of urban materialism.

Our first destination—The Prairie Woman Mercantile, which is Drummond's own creative business injecting life into the town.  A mercantile-style store featuring her signature kitchenware, a restaurant showcasing her famous Southern cooking recipes, a bakery, and hotel.  The place was a combination of simplicity, high quality, warmth, and authenticity.  Tightening our belts as of late, we opted after our parking lot picnic  for pecan cinnamon rolls in the second floor bakery cafe.  The Amish couldn’t have made it better.  There is something to be said for the value of producing things that have high quality, to nourish the spirit.  Even from a cinnamon roll made with bourbon, brown sugar, and molasses. 

I love quality over quantity.

After a stroll through shops selling cowboy apparel and art, and stopping to pet a horse used to give carriage rides, we took advantage of the free vouture given at the Mercantile to tour the Drummond ranch and guest Lodge west of town.  It was a surreal experience.  100,000 acres, 9,000 head of cattle, as far as the eye could see.  I remarked to the tour guide (a retired cowboy gentleman) at their hill side Lodge, which Drummond uses to film her cooking shows and as a family guest house, that looking across their land it reminds me of a vast desert. He responded "It's funny you say that.  The Osage Indian tribe that has lived here since before it was a state called this land 'The Great Desert."

This same cowboy also related how the local Osage tribe converted more to Catholicism than Protestantism.   I found that interesting as an Okie Catholic.

The panoramic view, and the Lodge itself, was really surreal.  An ultra-plain, rugged kind of beauty, but absolutely realist environment.  At a distance you could see the Drummond homestead, very modest considering my estimate her husband's land alone is worth at least $200,000,000, and her reported assets around $8,000,000. 

Their life and livelihood then is a good example of maintaining authenticity in our commercialized society.

So we needed to get back to town quickly to see Immaculate Conception church's famed stained glass windows before the sun started going down.  Entering the church I could see why it had the nickname "Cathedral of the Osage."  Stunningly beautiful stained glass depictions of the life of Christ, with an amazing natural brightness.  And this was around 5:30 pm on a cloudy day, which made me wonder what it must look like at noon on a sunny day.  The church itself was built in the traditional American gothic style -- high vaulted ceilings, large statuesque stations of the cross, a majestic marble high altar, and two similar smaller side altars on either side, large statues of the Sacred Heart and the Virgin Mary, and a huge, dark-wood confessional in the back (which I took advantage of, the priest hearing confessions).

Incidentally, this was the church where just last Fall the young pastor hosted the Fraternity of St. Peter parish to celebrate their parish's anniversary by offering there the Traditional Latin Mass, followed by a pizza dinner catered by none other than the Prairie Woman's wood oven pizzeria. This little six hour excursion was definitely rejuvenating  and something I recommend for all Okie locals.  In the end we were able to contemplate God's truth and goodness in His creation and in the simplicity of rural life.

Deo gracias. 

Clear Creek Workday 2019. Cold, Productive, and Testosterone-Boosting

I can think of no better tonic for declining levels of testosterone than participating in Clear Creek Abbey’s annual Workday every March.  Dozens of men (mostly men) divided into work crews building fences, chopping up firewood, moving heavy forest debris, doing carpentry projects, etc, no less in very cold damp weather, after a 6:45 am Tridentine Low Mass in the monastery crypt chapel, all in a spirit of prayer and sacrifice for Christ and His Church, is enough to inject a heavy dose of Catholic masculinity in the modern 21st century, self-distracted man (which I am a good example of).  

There is something spiritually renewing to stack large logs of firewood while looking across the section of land you’re assigned to while a monk nearby can be seen tending sheep. The same monk priest who a couple hours before offered the Holy Sacrifice of Christ the Lamb at a side altar in the crypt chapel.  In the simplicity of this established local Okie Church tradition, the Clear Creek Workday, which typically draws men, church groups, and Catholic scout troops from several states, are multiple layers of poetic spirituality to be discoverred.  From the quiet balance of prayer and work exemplified in the life of the monk, i.e. Ora et Labora, shared by laity for one day, to the unity experienced with the Creator by helping restore the garden of His creation, to the Christian friendship expressed between the workers and monks, the annual Clear Creek Workday always proves to be something especially edifying. 

Yet I must admit for me the day began begrudgingly being woken up by my alarm clock at 5 am, which is a strongly unnatural hour for someone of my temparement on a Saturday morning. Definitely a little Septuagisima season, i.e pre-Lenten penance to drive in the cold dark an hour east, part of the journey along winding rocky roads, to make it for the utterly silent wee hours Low Mass that typifies Clear Creek monastery. And I made it into the pew in the nick of time before a flow of young monk priests came out of the sacristy to each offer simulateously the truly Extraordinary Form of the Mass. 

Later wide-eyed and spiritually refreshed, I met a friend who needed to first milk his cow, living just a few miles down the country road.  Minutes later I was helping him tear off an armful of hay from one of those big round barrels of hay, feeding the cow, then for the first time in my life milking a cow.  Warm.  After warming ourselves in front of his fireplace discussing the merits of country living, it was off to the Workday to join one of the crews of maybe 20 men and teenage boys chain sawing and chopping up trees for firewood, stacking the wood, piling the branches into huge piles for burning, and then tending to the fires.  Chain saws, axes, and work gloves were our tools.  A visual of a towering medieval-style monastery across the woods, surrounded by hills and pastoral landscape, also helped boost our resolve. 

This year for me I took a very modest pace, with lots of little rest breaks, and only worked half a day. Last year as I reported here I did a whole day and was so sore afterwards I felt like I needed to be in a body cast.  But we did receive a medicinal reprieve at noon, care of volunteers, many of them women and teenage girls, for a sit down barbecue lunch outside the guest cabin.  Pulled pork, brisquet, cole slaw, baked beans, rolls, several desserts, and ice tea, plus connecting with like-minded Catholics for an hour of socialization, were the healing balm. 

Truth be told I was still quite tired and sore later.  But hard physical work when it is in God’s service is in the end something invigorating, life affirming, and motivating.  The experience motivates me more and more to imitate the monks, who are imitating Christ, by offering their daily work and prayer as a sacrifice to save their soul.  I plan to return to the Clear Creek Workday for years to come, as I hope you will too. 

My Conclusion: Diocesan Bishop Joins the SSPX

The blogosphere today is abuzz about this story.  With papal approval, a Diocesan bishop in Europe is retiring to live in an SSPX school.

People are speculating why.  Fr Z is unsure, while discussing tangents.  

Let’s use some deductive logic and premises. 

He’s not moving in because it would be a nice place to retire. 

And it’s not to work as Vatican diplomat to reconcile the SSPX to Rome.  At least as his main reason. 

He believes the work of the priests there is canonically legitimate. 

He at least in great part values the Latin Mass and theological positions of the SSPX. 

He has papal approval. 

The Society now has partial jurisdiction for confession and marriage. 

But according to Rome, it still lacks full canonical status. 

THEREFORE, 

If these points are true, then this Bishop is joining the work of the SSPX. 

He is going to do what bishops do and ordain and confirm. 

He is basically a traditionalist, at least now coming to Tradition. 

His mission in the SSPX will soon be publicly explained and celebrated 

by the SSPX. 

But it’s a new paradigm. Francis approves. 

The trad world is shifting with the erosion of what power the Motu Proprio still practically has in the Church.  And with the dismantling of Ecclesia Dei. 

Conclusion:  this Bishop is joining the work of the SSPX, is a traditionalist, but his role involves a canonical recognition of the SSPX in the foreseeable future. 

My Thoughts:

To my mind, that is how the facts play out.  But personally I have varying opinions if my deductive conclusions are right.  

Anything from Francis-Bergoglio is suspect. So I’m not sure if he had any planned diplomatic role if that is a good thing right now in the current situation in the Church.

On the other hand, this would mean one more Diocesan bishop returning to Tradition.  It would confirm again the trend of conciliar clergy turning back to the ancient and venerable, to the perennial and ever fruitful.  It would be something to really celebrate.

Ok my work break is over. Gotta get back to work. Tonight I make pork rind nachos grande. 

Saturday Musings: careerism, the simple life, Guinness.

Wishing your home to be warm and cozy this wet, cold day here in Oklahoma. Saturday leisure blessings. Here’s to hoping you too get to drink some Guinness as I will with a friend-colleague here in a spell. 

There are moments I wish I was financially independent.  I’d live semi-removed from modern society in a cabin or cottage and spend my days hiking, gardening, cooking, and blogging.  “Dreams are what make life tolerable,” said Rudy’s friend to him in that beloved movie. 

Careerism:

But then I have to get up from my Okie armchair and get back to the “grind.”   Pressures remain to maintain until death the “American dream,” which is no longer just about 20th century careerist goals (ie to climb up the corporate ladder no matter the sacrifices, a six figure salary, 2000 square foot home, 401k, medical “insurance,” keeping up with the Jones’ etc), but now about the 21st century absolute ability to free oneself of traditional religion and morality, to encapsulate oneself into a narcissistic, self-contained bubble of technological hedonism, and to turn what is left of society into a diabolical hell on Earth.  


Medical insurance is becoming financially unwarranted.  Servility to the corporate structure is  
destroying most people’s humanity and personalities. Economic materialism, engineered by the corporate elites, has almost entirely destroyed humanity and culture. 

And so I am renewed to be counter-cultural, alternative, ever seeking peace of mind.   Hopefully that will mean soon relative freedom in my profession if not self-employment.  

The Simple Life:

To be spiritually, mentally, and physically healthy. To have true freedom and peace. To be able to make a living and maintain a social and cultural life without being a proletariat to the corporate structure and materialism. 

To work to live, instead of living to work. To order all outward activities to inward contemplation, and not to allow oneself the be ground to a pulp my modernity.  The simple life. 

A stable, fruitful income and work life.  A warm, orderly, clean home.  Three square meals a day.  Some books, a few games, limited technology, a garden, some animals.  True friends.  

Guinness beer:

Well one can try as do I.  And today I’m happy to say at this moment I am living “the simple life.”  In an hour it’s a Guinness at Kilkenny’s Irish pub to laugh with a pal about modern ironies.  Later play with the dogs, read, watch a movie.  Tomorrow is Mass, lunch, and more rest. 

Until modernity sucks me back into the capitalist whirlpool come Monday morning.  Cheers. 

Tribute to Bob Coffey RIP, Tulsa Trad Community Elder

I am saddened to report that one of our own Tulsa Catholic Elders, Mr. Bob Coffey, has passed away at age 71, survived by his wife and four children.  He was a convert, devout traditional Catholic since the 1980s, and one of the original members of the wider Latin Mass community of the Diocese of Tulsa.  Many knew him from daily Mass, kneeling with head bowed low in the back of church, and often giving catechetical information in the church parking lot.  He was also a weekly participant at the St John’s hospital Perpetual Adoration chapel for decades, where I first met him about 20 years ago.  

Many knew Bob as an unabashed traditionalist, a strong Marian devotee, and a man with special personal devotions. Others also knew his love of nutrition and health, which he avidly studied and shared with others. Whether it was about the Faith, politics, economics, lifestyle, or healthy living, his dedication to pursuing truth was motivated by his strong desire to help his family, friends, and acquaintances to benefit from his discoveries.

But there are quite a few things many don’t know about Bob, and I am able to relate them because my wife is best friends with his wife, who approved this tribute.  Bob was a self-employed attorney who dedicated his practice to employment law, defending very ordinary people from unjust treatment in the workplace, some of whom could not pay him. Often his services to the poor were free, and he often staid up very late studying each of their cases.

Before practicing law, Bob was actually a professional gardener.  In fact, he was one of the main gardeners to build up the award winning gardens at Philbrook museum.  With his gardener coworkers, Bob formed a locally followed folk band of which he was the lead writer and singer, waxing poetic about living in the modern world.  A Renaissance Man, Bob also has graduate degrees in literature and Asian studies, having taught as a professor at the University of Tulsa and Oral Roberts University.

A unique man of many talents, and most of all one who put his Catholic faith at the center of everything, Bob Coffey will be greatly missed and remembered by our wider community for years to come.

PS Please have Masses said for Bob, though he did receive the last rites just before dying, which includes the apostolic blessing which remits all purgatory time.

Seasonal Changes. Blessings, Challenges.

I don't know about you, but I can already tell a difference in my mood and energy levels from the change in the season, daylight savings time, and beginning of the holiday shopping season.  Not sure if it's the Sun going down at a very early 5 pm, the looming annual tensions in the family about holiday get-togethers, or my uncouthe experience the other night buying an I-phone at Walmart, when Black Friday began at 6 pm Thursday night.  Note to self, do whatever you can to order all Black Friday stuff next year online.

But I count my blessings.  Family, the love of a good wife, friends, my avocation and income, and above all else the mercy of Our Savior.  He has seen me through a lot, as He does for all of us, through this Valley of Tears.  But while the valley has its shadows, I am thankful for the Fall season, the beautiful foliage, weekend outings to hike, camp, and fish.  This year we keep the Christmas shopping to a minimum to save for a down payment on a house.  Life is hard some days, but it is good!

Challenges.

This year I have a plan to combat the seasonal affective disorder that seems to affect most if not all of us, as the daylight decreases, our skins become more pale, and our serotonin levels drop as Earth gets further away from the Sun.  Cheerful music in the house, keep as many lights on as possible, but get outside in the daylight as much as possible.  Eat my lunch sitting in the Sun, pray my morning prayers on the front porch.

Our bigger challenge this coming Advent/Christmas season seems to be the god-forsaken secularist version of the Season.  Materialism to its max, while the light of the Manger grows more and more dim each year.

Too, as for many, my challenge is to have Peace of Mind, knowing that my extended family has for years been distant and somewhat at odds with each other.  When part of the penitential spirit of Advent, in preparation for the coming of the Christ Child, is to magnify more and more our love of one another, that becomes a spiritual challenge.  To not give into the turmoil that seems to subtly if not overtly affect many families at Christmas.

So my endeavor this year, as with every year, is to focus on the spiritual center of this Season, to observe the Church's customs of penance for Advent:  prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.  The mission will be a deeper conversion of heart to the Mercy of God, shown to the world in the Incarnation, and therefore a deeper peace of mind.

11/17/19. Saturday Morning Musing. Outdoors, Fitness, World of Work, Francis, Weekend Plans

Outdoors.

Pantheism is a grave error.  Its position is that Nature is literally God, though there are variations.  Nature and God being one thing;  Nature as a literal extension of God's divine essence;  or that all natural things are divine beings.  It is at the very heart of the New World Order, and the vision of Modernism/Liberalism.  Overturning Tradition, doctrine, and dogma, to have a brave new, 21st century world where nations, peoples, races, and religions merge into one borg collective, making Mother Nature its supreme god.  Pardon my political incorrectness, goddess.

The Goddess Tree from the Movie Avatar

As readers of this blog know, though, I like to consider different opinions on a question, like flipping a coin over to read the other side.  Ever since I was a kid, in boy scouts, backpacking, fishing, spelunking, etc, I was raised to revere Nature.  Trash on the side of the road, or a loud, drunken camp of weekend urban campers, these kinds of things were seen as a sacrilege against something sacred.

The Outdoors.  God's creation. Something of no value in comparison to God; but because God created it in His likeness, and man as its pinnacle in His image, then something very much connected to God's essence.  

If God has divine attributes such as truth, beauty, and goodness, 

If Nature is made in His likeness,

Then syllogistic logic indicates that Nature is like the Divine.

It is Divine-like.

When I head out this morning on my Saturday morning hike out at Red Bud Valley park (a must visit during this Fall foliage), I will be contemplating God in his gloriously beautiful Creation.  After all, St. Thomas teaches that part of the way we come to know the Creator is to first know His Creation.

Fitness.

So, a friend challenged me to lose a lot of weight, to get in shape for a 5K St. Patrick's Day race in mid March next year, buying me a myzone heart monitoring belt.  We'll be speed hiking this morning.  Last week I did most days 20 mins of free weights, 30 mins of swimming, and then hit the hot tub to lower my cortisol levels.  Great way to end the work day.

Pray I really get in shape, plus that I can beat this friend at the 5K!

World of Work

The work place, like any other sphere of life, I must remind myself, is part of the larger sphere of modern society.  Helps to Venn diagram it.

The modern, secularist, materialist, ego-centered home/market place/entertainment milieu/thoroughfares, they all overlap, as they do with the workplace.  I have to remind myself that when the central commandments of our society are,

Though Shalt Worship Thyself

Though Shalt Have Absolute Freedom

Though Shalt Enjoy Sexual License

Though Shalt Dominate Others

You can't expect civility, charity, and professionalism to be the status quo in the work place.

That said, especially for us men, is not to fight our pagan coworkers like brute beasts, but to be shining example of the Christian work ethic and Christian professionalism, whether you are a doctor, lawyer, physical therapist, salesman, x-ray tech, etc.

Francis.

I took down his picture from my wall, and put up a nice painting of a town square in 19th century Paris.  Much more edifying and bright addition to our living room.  God have mercy on Francis.

Weekend Plans.

Wrapping up this blog post.  Then hiking at Red Bud, breakfast with said friend, laundry, we shop at the Tulsa Sears closeout sale, meet friends for a picnic at The Gathering Place, then its Date Night!

Tomorrow Mass, eat out, fly-fish at Pretty Water lake for trout in Sapulpa, make tortilla soup, and a fire.  

Have a great weekend!

Saturday Morning Musings

Greetings fellow lovers of the Catholic Faith, Catholic tradition, and all that is good, true, and beautiful.

Getting chilly here in T-town.  Snow maybe on Monday.  But Oklahoma weather is as predictable as whether or not OU will beat OSU today in their annual "Bedlam" showdown.  My money is on the Sooners.

Lack of charity in all its forms.  Witnessing the daily decent on our local cultures into darker darkness is like watching a sun get pulled into a black hole.  I think that is an actual astronomical phenomenon.

Let there be light.  Christ is the light of the world.  And so forth.  There really is no actual substance in nature that makes blackness a color.  Black is ultimately and merely the absence of electromagnetic waves on the color spectrum.  Even in a black room if you open up your eyes long enough, you will atune to some light.

That seems to be our challenge, when the work place, market place, and cultural mileau spirals deeper into incivility, chaos, and rebellion against Catholic and Christian social order.  

I mean even in the woods around Clear Creek monastery, you have the internet with porn, Pandora playing Black Sabbath across your smart TV app, and condoms sold at the country gas station.  Darkness.

So ends my morning musing, before I stock up on artificial flies for my Sunday Fly-fishing outing tomorrow (still planning to post my outdoors pics).  We are surrounded by what future Catholic historians will surely call the "Second Dark Age," but our mission is to not be stressed or depressed or oppressed by this darkness, but to keep our eyes ever open to the Light.

Happy Saturday and Happy Fall weather.

Robber's Cave Fall Campout was Amazing.

In the literal sense of the word.

Spectacular colors of the San Bois Mts. perched on top of a cliff overlooking the cave.

An Okie Oasis this time of year.

Ribeyes, cornish game hens, veggies grilled over the campfire.

Breaking in our new set of camping gear.  Deo gracias.

Woke up to a flock of geese flying across the picturesque lake.  Made in God's likeness, their life reflects His divine order and beauty.

Pics to be uploaded soon, time permitting. 

Fall Weather, Camping Trip

Fall Weather:

A healing balm from the extremes of August heat and humidity.  The mind becomes more clear with crisper temperatures.  The body feels more bouncy and less bogged down by the fatigue of summer dehydration.  

I think about the four seasons, how they are like life.  In Spring, things come to life; in Summer they live to abudance; in the Fall things slow down; and in Winter they die.

But of all the people over the years I've asked "So, what is your favorite season?" the majority seem to say Fall.

Perhaps that is because in this life we do not experience ever a permanent, sustained state of pleasure and joy, as symbolized at least in Summer.  Perhaps the best we can hope for in terms of happiness this side of the grave are reliefs from the extremes forces of nature, and a bit of comfort now and then.  Like relief from summer heat, and a quiet solace drinking a whiskey in front of the fireplace.

Camping Trip:

Treated myself to a new set of camping gear last weekend: tent, stove, table, cooler, canopy shade covering, etc.

Planning on next weekend at Robber's Cave in OK.  Hiking, bouldering, cave exploring, fishing, cooking, and fire building.

Will share photos!

The Best of Times, the Worst of Times

That's how the book starts out, and pretty much sums up life for me during this age in human history.  For that matter, for any age, which is the point.

The City of God vs. The City of Man, as ol' St. Augustine said.   That dynamic plays out everywhere, be it in the 4th century or the 21st century;  be it in the contemporary metropolis or out in the hillbilly boonies.

A day doesn't go by I don't witness this perennial dynamic.  An uncouthe cashier later warm and helpful.  A coworker ossilates between civility and cattiness.  One driver let's you merge, another shakes their head "not today buddy."

The human drama.  

Was musing last night over cigars with friends about Oklahoma.  Oklahoma.  Land of almost the least educated of Americans, with a church, fast food restaurant, and meth lab on nearly every corner.

You've got these cantankerous, "ornery" as we say here, Okies, who will react as quickly to help you change a tire as they would to OU losing a Saturday football game.  The Heartland.  The mind may be clouded here, but hearts do abound with Salt of the Earth, homespun Christian ways.

Oktoberfest in Tulsa this weekend!

Happy Fall weather!!

Go Sooners!!!

Celebrating. Oklahoma One Small Step Closer to a Catholic Culture

Can now buy wine in the grocery store. :)

Archbishop Vigano: a Hero, Welcome to come to Oklahoma

This guy is such a brave hero.  He knew when he released his report he would be hunted down by the liberal media and liberal powers-that-be in the Vatican, and even scrutinized at first from all quarters.

Yet, the press is reporting he has gone into hiding.  An unofficial hunt for him was initiated from behind Vatican walls, to answer for his report.

Well, we Okies are known for our down-to-earth common sense, and can clearly see that Vigano is a good man and did the righteous thing, on behalf of the children.  Our two Tulsa bishops even recently supported his exposure of the pedo Clerical Cabal, calling for an investigation at the Level of the Vatican/Francis.

So Archbishop, email me if you need a place to stay.  My wife is an excellent cook.  And I know our Bishops here will welcome you.  Perhaps even take a sabbatical within the walls of traditional Clear Creek Abbey here.
Cardinal Burke himself does from time to time.

What I admire most in this Bishop, in the stand he is taking, is his indifference to how he will be treated.  For him, the integrity of God and the Church is what matters.  Let the chips fall where they may.

God bless Archbishop Vigano!!  He is a hero we must support.  A lighthouse in the darkness, yet now a lightning rod targeted by the Rot in the human element of the Church.

Tulsa Bishop Emeritus Slattery Speaks! Re: Papal Level of Current Crisis

When I read this article on Lifesite news, it did my heart good, being an Okie Trad (Slattery is also an Okie Trad, btw!).

LINK

Wow, and double wow.  Spoken like the holy bishop that he is, one of the most Tradition-minded bishops in the Church today.

Btw, my Bishop Emeritus knows me personally, and that I write this blog.

Thank you Bishop!  For your courage in the statement you made.

His Successor, my Local Ordinary, anorher Successor to theApostles, Bishop Konderla made a likewise heroic statement on FB about investigating what Archbishop Vigano's bombshell report exposed.

i.e. at the Highest Level.

And he and I made up and are now friends. :)

I remember serving Mass for Bishop Slattery as a young man at Holy Family Cathedral, and meeting with him personally when I had discerned the seminary.  

The time has come to rid the Church of the Rot that has universally corrupted the Mystical Bride in virtually every Diocese.

Wouldn't you agree?

Btw, tonight I'm making jalapeno poppers to celebrate a certain career development.  Plus I'm really thankful for these subsiding temperatures and the promises of Fall:. the Fair, Oktoberfest, Halloween, All Saints Day party, Thanksgiving, more outdoor activities, and backyard fires!  

All of which I plan to blog about. :)