Abbey-Roads2

About religious life.

That would be my advice to anyone seriously considering entering a convent or monastery.

A silly news story out of Italy (from the pazzi Neapolitan area no less), concerns a priest who is sponsoring a beauty pageant for nuns.  He claims the group of sisters he works with suggested the idea - to demonstrate that the vocation is not just for ugly women.  WTF?  I know!   Stupid nun’s story here.  (I’m sure the story is an internet hoax:  Despite that, the story dimishes the true, supernatural beauty of the religious vocation and mocks women religious.) 

Martyrdom.

Such a frivolous gesture, especially contrasted with continuing horror stories out of India about Hindu extremists going forward with their persecution of Christians.  Shouting, “Kill the Christians, and destroy their institutions!”  They are attacking Catholic nuns.  One nun was just burned alive, and another gang raped, while their priest was beaten unconscious in the district of Bargarth (Orissa).  Elsewhere, the Missionaries of Charity have been attacked as well.  Read the story here.  (These people will protect a cow yet butcher Christians.) 

And yet, if the story is true, an Italian priest has nothing better to do than host a beauty pageant for nuns.

UPDATE:  The nun beauty pareant was true! - but now it is canceled - story here.  The priest is a Passionist!

Question?

Would the United States ever grant political asylum to foreign nationals who would otherwise be prosecuted (read persecuted) with heavy fines and/or imprisonment because they speak out against immorality and the growing effort of certain anti-Christian groups and governments to forbid Christian teaching on faith and morals? 

Answer:

Not likely Hillary - it’s coming here too - but you knew that.

Did you see these stories?

Brazilian President Luiz Lula had the First National Conference of Gays, Lesbians, Bisexuals, Transvestites and Transsexuals (GLBT), inaugurated by presidential decree, and called for “a time of reparation” in Brazil.

June 5 was a landmark day for the international homosexual movement.  For the first time in history, the president of a nation officially launched a conference with the sole purpose of promoting and defending the homosexual agenda.

After calling for a universal embrace of the homosexual movement, the president affirmed that “homophobia” is perhaps “the most perverse disease impregnated in the human head.” - Lifesite 

Aberta Pastor fined $7000 and ordered to publicly apologize and remain silent on homosexuality.

On Friday, the Alberta Human Rights Commission ordered Alberta pastor Stephen Boissoin to desist from expressing his views on homosexuality in any sort of public forum. He was also commanded to pay damages equivalent to $7,000 as a result of the tribunal’s November decision to side with complainant and homosexual activist Dr. Darren Lund. The tribunal has also called for Boissoin to personally apologize to Lund via a public statement in the local newspaper. 

Boissoin was first hauled before the Human Rights Commission to answer to a complaint filed by Lund, an assistant professor at the University of Calgary. Lund made his complaint after Boissoin published a letter to the editor in the Red Deer Advocate, in which he denounced homosexuality as immoral and dangerous, and called into question new gay-rights curricula permeating the province’s educational system.

“Children as young as five and six years of age are being subjected to psychologically and physiologically damaging pro-homosexual literature and guidance in the public school system; all under the fraudulent guise of equal rights,” wrote Boissoin in the letter.

In an interview, Boissoin told LifeSiteNews.com that he’s under attack not only for his letter, but more significantly for his beliefs.

“The point I am trying to make here is what’s being attacked at the core is what I believe, according to my personal beliefs and my religious beliefs.” - Lifesite

Today is the memorial of Blessed Miguel Agustin Pro, the Jesuit priest who died a martyr’s death in 1927, during the Masonic persecution of the Mexican Church.  Falsely accused of a political crime, Fr. Pro was executed by firing squad.  Go here for details on his life and photos of the saint in life and death.

It is interesting that leftists in Mexico once again seem to be threatening the Catholic Church, as well as the lives of Bishops and priests.  Today the persecution seems to be rooted in leftist opposition to Church teaching against abortion, contraception, and same-sex marriage.  Recently the Cathedral of Mexico City was closed because leftists had stormed the Cathedral  during Sunday Mass, threatening the priests and the faithful.

The above photo is a studio shot, and the only image I have of a retablo/icon style painting I did of Blessed Miquel several years ago.  Ann Ball had requested the photo for the website  dedicated to Blessed Miguel.  The painting had sold through a gallery in Santa Fe before I thought to have it professionally photographed.  I represented the saint with five bullet wounds, holding a prayer card of the Virgin of Guadalupe, his jacket over his shoulders - to emulate the Jesuit cape.  The background graffiti is inscribed with some of Fr. Pro’s last words and graffiti found in his prison cell.  The painting is more Mexican retablo than iconographic. 

Swimming against the tide.

In retrospect, I realize I’ve always been something of a conscientious objector in the workplace.  I had real problems with being required to show up for work every day, and I very often disagreed with employment policies and management decisions concerning compensation issues, personal time off, and so on. 

But seriously, my jocular objections are not the same thing as a pharmacist refusing to dispense birth control, or a nurse refusing to assist in an abortion, or a young man or woman refusing to participate in studies or research which goes against Catholic teaching. 

Most of us usually think of a conscientious objector as a person who refuses to go to war.  Such people rarely win the respect of authorities or fellow citizens.  Today conscientious objectors are frequently found emerging in the workplace, and I doubt they are lauded as heroes like a Norma Rae, Karen Silkwood, or Erin Brokovitch.  Simply because their causes are so politically incorrect.

“Benedict XVI has recently recalled that pharmacists have the duty of engaging in conscientious objection.”- Zenit

For instance, how dare a pharmacist refuse to dispense a morning-after pill, or basic birth control?  And it is not the sales clerk’s business to refuse to sell a condom or a pornographic video.  He is there to work for the company, not dictate morality.  Conscientious objectors like these may share a certain similarity with their movie heroine counterparts, except for the fact their conscientious objection is usually an affront to the popular mindset.  Many in our culture see no problem with such things as contraception, abortion, along with the other “Catholic guilt trips” the “imperial power structure of the Church imposes“.  (These are secularist terms, not mine.) 

See how that works?  Conscientious objectors will receive no respect from a society without a conscience.  Which may be why priests, bishops, and the Pope  have been talking about a “green martyrdom“ as well as “concientious objectors”  more frequently and with increasing urgency these days.

Something to think about. 

Source: Zenit: “More Conscientious Objection Encouragd“

Martyrdom is a realistic possibility for every Christian.

During the Holy Father’s Angelus address for the beatification of 498 martyrs of the Spanish Civil War, Pope Benedict suggested that martyrdom is indeed possible for every Christian in today’s world.  Such a change of tone from what I heard growing up as a kid when the school sisters and parish priests always told us:  “None of us will ever have to face martyrdom…”  When I was little, even though we lived with the fear of nuclear war, no one ever thought we would see the day of outright persecution of Christians - at least in the “free world”.  How times have changed.

“The Pope addressed the issue before a crowd of some 50,000 who had gathered in Saint Peter for the recitation of the Angelus, including a large number of Spaniards with unfurled flags who had previously taken part in the beatification ceremony presided in Saint Peter’s Square by Card José Saraiva Martins, prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

“The contemporaneous inclusion of such a large number of martyrs to the list of the Blessed,” said the Pope, “shows that the supreme witness of blood is not an exception reserved only to a few individuals, but is a realistic possibility for the entire Christian people. We are in fact talking about men and women who vary in terms of age, vocation and social background but who paid with their life their faithfulness to Christ and the Church. The words by Saint Paul that echo in this Sunday’s liturgy are fitting: “For I am already being poured out like a libation,” aid Timothy, “and the time of my departure is at hand. I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith (2 Tim, 4: 6-7).” - Asia News

[Photo: Bl. Eduardo of the Child Jesus, OCD.  One of two Discalced Carmelites of the 498 martyrs beatified today.] 

Maybe more like an exhortation to martyrdom. 

Fr. Thomas Euteneur of Human Life International said Christian martyrdom will take on different forms in the future.  He speaks about a “green” martyrdom:

He explained the subtle economic forces that can compromise the faithful:  “even though many Catholics would undoubtedly give up their lives for Christ, people find it much harder to give up their jobs for Christ.” 

HLI’s president warned of pressures on health professionals to commit intrinsically evil acts in the course of their work, the difficulties of avoiding immoral practices institutionalized in some businesses, and the unjust stigma placed upon parents who criticize sex education in schools or have more children than average.

Father Euteneur saw this coercion acting even upon bishops.  The Archdiocese of New York will face significant financial consequences if it avoids state legal requirements that health insurance cover employees’ contraception.  Defending the Catholic faith, he wrote, “will sometimes mean bleeding green in lawsuits, financial losses, firings and confiscations for the sake of the Kingdom.” - CNA

Wouldn’t this be more accurately described as persecution?  I think so.  Actually, the financial and social sufferings Christians experience may serve as a preparation for martyrdom, but they cannot be classified as martyrdom itself.  Unless we consider our money and prosperity as our life blood - hence the “green” martyrdom theory.  If so, our priorities are skewed and just might require the correction.

Threats against the Pope, bishops and priests…

Mexico’s Cardinal Norberto Rivera’s car was attacked by leftist protesters on Sunday as he left Mexico City’s central cathedral.  He has been receiving death threats for over a year because of his opposition to abortion and same-sex marriage.  The Mexican Church is now asking the Government’s protection  for bishops and priests in Mexico City.

“They have threatened me with death. These are not just aggressions, I’ve received constant death threats,” Rivera said in an interview with Mexican television aired late Monday.

Rivera says he has been the victim of a hate campaign since the left-wing Party of the Democratic Revolution, or PRD, narrowly lost last year’s presidential election to the conservative National Action Party, which is seen as close to the Catholic Church. - SignOn San Diego.com 

As the Holy Father prepares to visit Naples, graffiti death threats against his person have been spray painted on walls in the city of Naples.  The usual suspects are to blame - those in favor of abortion and gay marriage.

This type of attack upon the Church and clergy is one of the reasons the clerics in the UK have been warned not to wear their collars  in public.

History repeating?

Fr. Blake of Mary Magdalen UK  has a post on the upcoming beatifications of 500 martyrs of the Spanish Civil War, in which thousands of Catholic bishops, priests, religious, and laity were killed for the faith.  Similar martyrdoms took place in Mexico in the 1920’s because of hatred for the faith, while the modern world paid little attention.

It should be well known that in Spain today, the Government is once again hostile to the Church.  Why?  Because of Church opposition to murdering the unborn and the immorality of homosexuality, which has become even more politicized by the push for same-sex unions.

I’m convinced Our Lady’s warnings at Fatima in 1917 are as relevant today as they were then.  (John Paul II said as much.)

“The good will be martyred; the Holy Father will have much to suffer; various nations will be annihilated.” - Our Lady of the Rosary of Fatima

Pray the Rosary everyday.

“Keep your eyes fixed upon Jesus.” 

When I returned to the Church in 1972 I received some incredible graces.  The most impressive was the experience that Jesus is really, truly present, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity in the holy Eucharist.  The experience was so intense and vivid, accompanied by such profound understanding of the truths of our faith, that I remained nearly oblivious to all the human mistakes of priests, religious, faithful, even the hierarchy, which were occuring in the Church after the Council.

Presentiments of troubles.

I remember two dreams I had, concerning persecution of the Church and Christians.  The first dream had me in a ‘refuge’, apparently in the mountains.  It was a sort of hermitage, though the building was more like a work shed.  Soldiers came with guns to arrest me; I was beaten, and then taken away.  That was all.

In the second dream I was in a lower church for Mass or some sort of devotion.  The church was filled.  Suddenly men broke in and began shooting.  I was hit in the neck, fell to the floor, and could hear my blood   pouring out like a faucet of running water.  I knew I was dying and began the Act of Contrition.  I later recognized that the church in my dream seemed to be the same as the lower church of St. Agnes in St. Paul.  (I had only attended St. Agnes once or twice at that time, and always in the upper church, therefore I had no idea what the lower church looked like.)  That was all.

“When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next.”

For some reason, upon returning to the practice of my faith, I believed that the Church was living the dark night, literally following Christ on the way to Calvary.  I always believed the times of persecution were imminent, though priests and religious often told me they never believed it would happen in our lifetime.  (Interestingly enough, my thoughts paralleled the vision of the 3rd secret of Fatima.)  Today I believe most of them would say they were wrong.  Hatred for the faith is almost palpable in today’s culture.

Fr. Zuhlsdorf has a provocative post that seems  to follow along these lines, although he is only asking, “What would you take?” if you had to suddenly leave your house and belongings, and perhaps your livelihood, to flee…  In his post, Father isn’t making any statement about persecution, rather he is simply posing a question; “What if…”   It is a good question.

Oh.  What would I take?

My Rosary, my Bible, as many of my relics that I could carry, my cats with their food - cat food comes in small cans, and I’d pick up my best friend and we’d be off to that shed in the hills.

I must say, I was better off when I focused entirely upon Jesus and left the crises in the Church to Him.  I need to follow Father’s advice and “clarify my thinking”. 

Coming to a town near you?

One would really have to have their head in the sand not to recognize the wave of anti-Catholicism sweeping the planet.  Almost every day on The View, Whoopi  a former Catholic, brings up something Church related.  It is no secret she has nothing but contempt for the Pope, the Vatican, and Catholic moral teaching.  Today they were talking about the sacrament of penance.  Whoopi didn’t exactly attack it or anything, but she gets her digs in about religion.  Pop stars hate religion and they promote their hatred every chance they have a captive audience, which contributes to the lessening of respect for religious values  amongst people.  (Elton John is always shooting off his mouth on how religion should be banned, and of course Joni Mitchell  recently released an anti-Catholic CD.)

Politically correctness.

Secular society, which has abandoned the natural law  in favor of political correctness, is gradually putting the screws on those who uphold traditional moral values.  In Britain a firetruck load of firemen were recently fined and suspended for flashing their lights on four homosexual men engaged in illegal public sex acts.  In effect, the firemen, who committed no crime were charged with criminal activity while those engaged in illegal acts were excused.

Compromises with the State.

The recent decision of the Connecticut Bishops to allow the morning after pill in emergency room situations involving rape, has now been backed by the Catholic Health Association, according to the Connecticut Catholic Hospital spokesman, Barry Feldman.  The Bishops gave into pressure from the the State and gave the go ahead to implement the policy.  Pressure from the State resulted in a compromise of Catholic teaching and capitulation.  At least, that is what it looks like to me.

Under the Cardinal’s nose.

Then Fr. McBrien, writing for Tidings, the newspaper of the Los Angeles archdiocese - Cardinal Mohoney’s paper - tells Catholics they do not need to listen to the Pope, who approved the recent CDF document on the Catholic Church as the one true Church.  Huh?  This McBrien guy, along with those Dominicans in Holland  who are making up their own Mass, certainly are starting to sound a lot like apostates to me.

“In Portugal, the dogma of Faith will be preserved, etc….” - Our Lady, 1917

Reports have long been coming out of Fatima that the rector of the shrine, Luciano Guerra is not exactly the most orthodox Catholic, having allowed Hindu rituals  at the altar of the Capella of the Apparitions.  Today there is news that as the new auditorium style shrine Church is readied for the dedication on May 13, he intends to change the image of the Fatima shrine - he wants to forbid the “superstitious” pious practices of the Portuguese peasants, who walk to Fatima in pilgrimage, and finish the last hundred or so feet walking on their knees to the site of the apparitions.  Wouldn’t it be more appropriate to say Hindu ritual is superstitious and forbid that kind of stuff instead?

As persecution intensifies from without, is there really apostasy surfacing from within?  Maybe there is more to that 3rd Secret thing?  Naw, can’t be.

[Photo: Hindu ritual at Fatima shrine.  Source.]