My new parish

Now that I'm in the States again, I've begun attending a beautiful Traditional Latin Mass in Volo that is celebrated by the Canons Regular of St John Cantius.

Feel free to browse the homilies located on their website. I'm sorry, but the pictures do not do the church justice; it is just too beautiful for words.

Attention Canadians!

http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/may/08052809.html

Apparently, pro "choice" -ers believe only in choices that allow for people to kill their babies. Not freedom of speech for those whose conscience leads them to the pro-life view.

If you are currently pro-choice, and reading this, please take a few minutes to ask yourself if this is the type of activity a free society should tolerate. Are the only points of view worth discussing the ones you agree with?

A website for my home parish

It's about time!
http://www.staugustine-holytrinity.org/

A scam in Saint Matthew's name

I received an odd piece of junk mail the other day. It offered divine graces and blessings, as well as secret prophecies, and some sort of prayer rug (all inside was paper, no cloth). There was something to open as well that I was not supposed to open until I did something (probably donated money).

There is nothing Christian, or Catholic, about this. If you get something like this in the mail, rip it up and throw it away, and say a prayer for those who get sucked into this scam. Read here for more information.

Catholics care nothing for secret prophecies, and if anyone, priest or layperson, says otherwise, do not associate yourself with that person.

How to keep strip clubs out of your community!

What does one do when a neighborhood is suddenly faced with a strip club down the street? How do you explain to your small children what the place is?
While I generally believe the argument that Saint Thomas Aquinas makes about keeping brothels legal for the sake of protecting innocent young ladies from overanxious and unscrupulous men (his argument is described here), I think local communities ought to set up laws keeping the places in certain areas of towns (red light districts) IF even allowed at all.
Saint Thomas' argument is not DOGMA, so I would bow to the Church if there is evidence that she teaches otherwise, but mainly, I'm interested in the question of WHAT DOES ONE DO, within the law, to get rid of a place or keep them out?

Papal Mass...and music

There is plenty that has already been said on the internet about the dreadful music at the Papal Mass. I, for one, have not heard it, but don't feel the need to either. I'm familiar enough with the junk that is played in many parishes across the U.S. and if this was bad enough to get such a huge reaction from Catholics then I'm better off without hearing it. To paraphrase Jeffrey Tucker, it's really bad when Marty Haugen saves the day.

Just in case you don't quite understand why many Catholics are upset about this, I'm happy to explain. We have almost 2000 years of the Church's existence, and Western Music has been formed by masters who wrote a large amount of their works for the Church and for God. Gregorian Chant, known to far too many young Americans as "kinda like that music from Halo", is probably the holiest sounding music ever created. Any classical piece you find titled "missa" is going to have music for a Mass, and this music was thoughtfully written by geniuses.

There has always been, alongside "high classical" music, songs that were known and sung by the people, folk tunes. Modern folk tunes in the U.S. are called commercials and tv theme songs, but I digress. These folk tunes were enjoyed at home, but never at Mass. The idea was that Mass, where we worship God and celebrate His sacrifice on the cross at Calvary, should have a certain reverence and piety.

That idea is lost on the American bishops who organized this Mass. Instead, the Mass music became a cheesy slogan, an Old Navy or Mentos ad, with BLACK MUSIC! ASIAN MUSIC! AND DON'T FORGET LATINO MUSIC! put in to show off how diverse we are.

When Mass becomes a place we go to show others who WE are, rather than to give glory to God, thanksgiving, satisfaction and repentance, and for graces and blessings, then we forget the nature of Mass and put ourselves in God's place.

It is a shame, but not a surprise, to hear of this circus of a Mass. Let us pray for our bishops and priests, and for the Holy Father. And let's remember what we're attending when we visit our churches on Sunday for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

Manias

An interesting article regarding the FED and its hopes to grow even stronger can be found here.


I'll leave it to better authors to explain this, who are more knowledgable, but suffice it to say the FED's interference in the economy is the reason for the housing bubble...and the tech bubble...and all other bubbles since the early 20th century. More regulation and central planning may sound good, but the effects will be disastrous.

Don't vote for congressmen or senators who will give the FED more power. The presidential candidates are essentially the same in this regard, so don't go looking for respite from any of them. Get in touch with a local Ron Paul Meetup group and support pro-life, free-market men and women to local offices. Ignore the presidential hoopla, unless it is viewed for sheer entertainment.