Why Must We Suffer?

The Boston Marathon bombing and the horrific West, Texas fertilizer plant explosion are the latest in a series of calamities, both natural and man-made, that have stricken this nation in recent months.  And the disasters fall on the good and the bad, the wicked and the innocent, men, women and children, without respect to age, race, class or creed.  In an instant, and without warning, people die, or are bereft of limbs, or lose everything they own.  Why does this happen to good people?  How are we to make any sense of this?  

We need to take seriously the catastrophes that are falling on this country in ever greater numbers.  A solid young priest gives us food for though on this, and some direction on how to cope with it.  It is worth the half-hour it takes to listen.

The Purpose of Suffering

We Cannot Tame the Spirit of Murder, Part II

Is it possible that the reason for the media's failure to cover arch-abortionist Kermit Gosnell's murder trial is that the details are too shocking and disgusting?  Seems hard to believe in an age when kids spend their days and nights parked in front of gory video games, women regale the United States Congress with details about their promiscuity, liberals bring a peculiar gay sex practice out of the shadows to denigrate the Tea Party movement, and a popular television drama portrays a serial killer as the good guy.  American culture these days sets the bar pretty high on disgusting.

So how has the Gosnell story proven to be too much for a media gluttonous for sensation?  Is it over the top that Gosnell targeted the children of poor women, immigrants and minorities for extermination?  That he plunged scissors into the necks of babies to sever their spinal cords?  That he was in the habit of finishing the job once they were outside the womb?  That he kept chopped-off baby feet around the office?  That he ran his "practice" amid conditions of unspeakable filth?  That he forced patients to undergo abortions after they had changed their minds?  That mothers died or were seriously wounded under his gentle ministrations?  That he employed a fifteen-year-old high school sophomore as part of a school work-study program to assist in actual abortion procedures?  That he got into the abortion industry in the first place?  

Or is it that Gosnell has committed the iniquitous crime of embarrassing the abortion industry by failing to maintain a facade of smiling, healthy, sanitary professionalism?  After all, Roe v. Wade was supposed to eliminate clothes-hanger abortions and put the back-alley butchers out of business.

The ugly truth is that this is what the abortion industry is all about.  An abortion mill can be cleaned and sterilized and cheerful and sunlit, with brightly colored curtains, friendly receptionists and a phalanx of the world's best doctors and nurses; but at least -- at least -- fifty per cent of all those who enter an abortion mill leave it as corpses.  Zero per cent leave unscarred.  Dead, mutilated babies and haunted mothers are what abortion is all about, with or without lab coats, antiseptics and medical degrees.  Abortionists themselves acknowledge that abortion means killing children.

No, the Gosnell blackout probably has to do more with how damaging this story is to the pro-abortion narrative, in which the murder of children in their mothers' wombs is portrayed as a women's health issue.  But it's high time Americans came face-to-face with the realities of this constitutionally protected rite of human sacrifice.

H/T Digital Hairshirt, who also brought us the real face of abortion:

Never forget this face.

The Medal of Honor Chaplains

The (Congressional) Medal of Honor was established in 1861, during the Civil War.  The qualifications for being awarded the Medal have been tightened up and refined over the years, but it is currently awarded to a member of the U.S. military for acts of intrepidity and gallantry above and beyond the call of duty while involved in combat operations.  

Since the Medal of Honor was established, it has been awarded to nine chaplains.  Four Protestant chaplains were awarded the Medal for their service during the Civil War: John Milton Whitehead (Chaplain, U.S. Army, 15th Indiana Infantry); Francis Bloodgood Hall (Chaplain, U.S. Army, 16th New York Infantry); James Hill (1st Lieutenant, U.S. Army, Company I, 21st Iowa Infantry); and Milton Lorenzo Haney (Regimental Chaplain, U.S. Army, 55th Illinois Infantry).  One Catholic priest serving the Confederate Army, Fr. Emmeran Bliemel, O.S.B., was killed at the Battle of Jonesboro while administering last rites -- the first American chaplain to die on the field of battle -- and is said to have been postumously awarded the Southern Cross of Honor. 

Since the Civil War, five more American chaplains have been awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.  Every one of them was a Catholic priest, and two have causes for beatification.  The fifth member of this exclusive society of Medal of Honor priests was inducted just this week, with the award of the Medal to Servant of God Emil J. Kapaun, for his valor during the Korean War.  Herewith the five priests who have been awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor:

Lt. Comdr. Joseph Timothy O'Callahan, U.S. Navy (World War II)

Out of 464 Medal of Honor winners in World War II, Fr. O'Callahan was the only chaplain.  Here he is, ministering to the wounded aboard the U.S.S. Franklin in 1945.

Citation

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as chaplain on board the U.S.S. Franklin when that vessel was fiercely attacked by enemy Japanese aircraft during offensive operations near Kobe, Japan, on 19 March 1945. A valiant and forceful leader, calmly braving the perilous barriers of flame and twisted metal to aid his men and his ship, Lt. Comdr. O'Callahan groped his way through smoke-filled corridors to the open flight deck and into the midst of violently exploding bombs, shells, rockets, and other armament. With the ship rocked by incessant explosions, with debris and fragments raining down and fires raging in ever-increasing fury, he ministered to the wounded and dying, comforting and encouraging men of all faiths; he organized and led firefighting crews into the blazing inferno on the flight deck; he directed the jettisoning of live ammunition and the flooding of the magazine; he manned a hose to cool hot, armed bombs rolling dangerously on the listing deck, continuing his efforts, despite searing, suffocating smoke which forced men to fall back gasping and imperiled others who replaced them. Serving with courage, fortitude, and deep spiritual strength, Lt. Comdr. O'Callahan inspired the gallant officers and men of the Franklin to fight heroically and with profound faith in the face of almost certain death and to return their stricken ship to port.

Capt. Angelo J. Liteky, U.S. Army (Vietnam War)

Citation

Chaplain Liteky distinguished himself by exceptional heroism while serving with Company A, 4th Battalion, 12th Infantry, 199th Light Infantry Brigade. He was participating in a search and destroy operation when Company A came under intense fire from a battalion size enemy force. Momentarily stunned from the immediate encounter that ensued, the men hugged the ground for cover. Observing 2 wounded men, Chaplain Liteky moved to within 15 meters of an enemy machine gun position to reach them, placing himself between the enemy and the wounded men. When there was a brief respite in the fighting, he managed to drag them to the relative safety of the landing zone. Inspired by his courageous actions, the company rallied and began placing a heavy volume of fire upon the enemy's positions. In a magnificent display of courage and leadership, Chaplain Liteky began moving upright through the enemy fire, administering last rites to the dying and evacuating the wounded. Noticing another trapped and seriously wounded man, Chaplain Liteky crawled to his aid. Realizing that the wounded man was too heavy to carry, he rolled on his back, placed the man on his chest and through sheer determination and fortitude crawled back to the landing zone using his elbows and heels to push himself along. pausing for breath momentarily, he returned to the action and came upon a man entangled in the dense, thorny underbrush. Once more intense enemy fire was directed at him, but Chaplain Liteky stood his ground and calmly broke the vines and carried the man to the landing zone for evacuation. On several occasions when the landing zone was under small arms and rocket fire, Chaplain Liteky stood up in the face of hostile fire and personally directed the medivac helicopters into and out of the area. With the wounded safely evacuated, Chaplain Liteky returned to the perimeter, constantly encouraging and inspiring the men. Upon the unit's relief on the morning of 7 December 1967, it was discovered that despite painful wounds in the neck and foot, Chaplain Liteky had personally carried over 20 men to the landing zone for evacuation during the savage fighting. Through his indomitable inspiration and heroic actions, Chaplain Liteky saved the lives of a number of his comrades and enabled the company to repulse the enemy. Chaplain Liteky's actions reflect great credit upon himself and were in keeping with the highest traditions of the U.S. Army.

Unfortunately, Fr. Liteky went on to change his name to Charles, repudiate his Medal of Honor (making him the only Medal of Honor recipient to do so), abandon his priestly ministry, and marry (or attempt marriage with) a former nun.  He now devotes his energies to protesting American foreign policy.  None of this changes his conspicuous valor under fire, or the fact that he deserved his Medal of Honor, or the indelible character of his priesthood.  Pray for him.

Maj. Charles Joseph Watters, U.S. Army (Vietnam War)

This photograph of Fr. Watters offering Mass in the field was taken shortly before he was killed in action on November 19, 1967.

Citation

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Chaplain Watters distinguished himself during an assault in the vicinity of Dak To. Chaplain Watters was moving with one of the companies when it engaged a heavily armed enemy battalion. As the battle raged and the casualties mounted, Chaplain Watters, with complete disregard for his safety, rushed forward to the line of contact. Unarmed and completely exposed, he moved among, as well as in front of the advancing troops, giving aid to the wounded, assisting in their evacuation, giving words of encouragement, and administering the last rites to the dying. When a wounded paratrooper was standing in shock in front of the assaulting forces, Chaplain Watters ran forward, picked the man up on his shoulders and carried him to safety. As the troopers battled to the first enemy entrenchment, Chaplain Watters ran through the intense enemy fire to the front of the entrenchment to aid a fallen comrade. A short time later, the paratroopers pulled back in preparation for a second assault. Chaplain Watters exposed himself to both friendly and enemy fire between the 2 forces in order to recover 2 wounded soldiers. Later, when the battalion was forced to pull back into a perimeter, Chaplain Watters noticed that several wounded soldiers were Lying outside the newly formed perimeter. Without hesitation and ignoring attempts to restrain him, Chaplain Watters left the perimeter three times in the face of small arms, automatic weapons, and mortar fire to carry and to assist the injured troopers to safety. Satisfied that all of the wounded were inside the perimeter, he began aiding the medics--applying field bandages to open wounds, obtaining and serving food and water, giving spiritual and mental strength and comfort. During his ministering, he moved out to the perimeter from position to position redistributing food and water, and tending to the needs of his men. Chaplain Watters was giving aid to the wounded when he himself was mortally wounded. Chaplain Watters' unyielding perseverance and selfless devotion to his comrades was in keeping with the highest traditions of the U.S. Army.

Lt. Vincent Robert Capodanno, U.S. Navy (Vietnam War)

Known for his sanctity and his devotion to his Marines, Fr. Capodanno was killed in action in Vietnam on September 4, 1967. Archbishop Edwin F. O'Brien of the Archdiocese for the Military Services officially opened his cause for beatification on May 21, 2006.

Prayer for the Canonization of Fr. Capodanno

Heavenly Father, source of all that is holy, in every age You raise up men and women who live lives of heroic love and service. You have blessed Your Church through the life of Vincent Capodanno, Vietnam War Navy chaplain, who had the "courage of a lion, and the faith of a martyr." He was killed in action offering medical assistance to the wounded and administering last rites to the dying on the battlefield. Through his prayer, his courage, his faith, and his pastoral care he is an example of laying down one's life for one’s friends: Jesus told us that there is no greater love than this. If it be Your will, may he be proclaimed a saint! We ask this through Jesus Christ, Our Lord. Amen.

Citation

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as Chaplain of the 3d Battalion, in connection with operations against enemy forces. In response to reports that the 2d Platoon of M Company was in danger of being overrun by a massed enemy assaulting force, Lt. Capodanno left the relative safety of the company command post and ran through an open area raked with fire, directly to the beleaguered platoon. Disregarding the intense enemy small-arms, automatic-weapons, and mortar fire, he moved about the battlefield administering last rites to the dying and giving medical aid to the wounded. When an exploding mortar round inflicted painful multiple wounds to his arms and legs, and severed a portion of his right hand, he steadfastly refused all medical aid. Instead, he directed the corpsmen to help their wounded comrades and, with calm vigor, continued to move about the battlefield as he provided encouragement by voice and example to the valiant marines. Upon encountering a wounded corpsman in the direct line of fire of an enemy machine gunner positioned approximately 15 yards away, Lt. Capodanno rushed a daring attempt to aid and assist the mortally wounded corpsman. At that instant, only inches from his goal, he was struck down by a burst of machine gun fire. By his heroic conduct on the battlefield, and his inspiring example, Lt. Capodanno upheld the finest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life in the cause of freedom.

Capt. Emil J. Kapaun, U.S. Army (Korean War)

The newest Medal of Honor winner, Servant of God Kapaun, is shown here offering Mass in the field on the hood of a Jeep, less than a month before he was captured by the Communists.  He would die in captivity, but not before making himself a thorn in the flesh of his jailers, and an inspiration to his fellow prisoners.  Father Kapaun would sneak out of his own compound in order to minister to the other prisoners, and, by the intercession of St. Dismas, the Good Thief, to scrounge for basic necessities to help them survive their hellish conditions.  He got even non-Catholic prisoners praying the Rosary, and also made himself irritating to the Communists by answering them back and openly defying them in their daily forced indoctrination sessions.  For a long time, they did not dare retaliate, for fear of provoking the other prisoners to rebellion; but when Father Kapaun came down with an eye infection and a blood clot in his leg, they seized the opportunity to carry him off to an isolated "hospital" and starve him to death.  

Father Kapaun's cause for beatification opened in 2008.  We should pray for his intercession against North Korea and its itchy nuclear trigger finger.

Prayer for the Beatification of Emil Kapaun

Lord Jesus, in the midst of the folly of war, Your servant, Chaplain Emil Kapaun spent himself in total service to You on the battlefields and in the prison camps of Korea, until his death at the hands of his captors.  We now ask You, Lord Jesus, if it be Your will, to make known to all the world the holiness of Chaplain Kapaun and the glory of his complete sacrifice for You by signs of miracles and peace.  In Your Name, Lord, we ask, for You are the source of peace, the strength of our service to others, and our final hope. Amen.  Chaplain Kapaun, pray for us.

Citation

Chaplain Emil J. Kapaun distinguished himself by acts of gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty while serving with the 3d Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division during combat operations against an armed enemy at Unsan, Korea, from November 1-2, 1950. On November 1, as Chinese Communist Forces viciously attacked friendly elements, Chaplain Kapaun calmly walked through withering enemy fire in order to provide comfort and medical aid to his comrades and rescue friendly wounded from no-man's land. Though the Americans successfully repelled the assault, they found themselves surrounded by the enemy. Facing annihilation, the able-bodied men were ordered to evacuate. However, Chaplain Kapaun, fully aware of his certain capture, elected to stay behind with the wounded. After the enemy succeeded in breaking through the defense in the early morning hours of November 2, Chaplain Kapaun continually made rounds, as hand-to-hand combat ensued. As Chinese Communist Forces approached the American position, Chaplain Kapaun noticed an injured Chinese officer amongst the wounded and convinced him to negotiate the safe surrender of the American Forces. Shortly after his capture, Chaplain Kapaun, with complete disregard for his personal safety and unwavering resolve, bravely pushed aside an enemy soldier preparing to execute Sergeant First Class Herbert A. Miller. Not only did Chaplain Kapaun's gallantry save the life of Sergeant Miller, but also his unparalleled courage and leadership inspired all those present, including those who might have otherwise fled in panic, to remain and fight the enemy until captured. Chaplain Kapaun's extraordinary heroism and selflessness, above and beyond the call of duty, are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, the 3d Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, the 1st Cavalry Division, and the United States Army.

Roman collars...iron men.  It is no accident that the Roman collar is a military collar.  

The Conclave, the Church and the Touching Naivete of Liberals

Paul at Catholic Cartoon Blog gets it right once again.

The Cardinal Electors have now fixed a date to begin the conclave: Tuesday, March 12th.  Of course, for an event for which I want to be glued to the news, they had to choose a date when I will be in court all day.  Yet another matter of earth-shaking importance on which nobody consulted me.

But in any case, I don't want to be glued to just any old news source.  The secular media (and some "Catholic" media, too) just don't get who the Church is and what she's all about.  They don't get why their sacred cows aren't sacred to her.  And they don't get the fact that a change in Popes does not translate to a change in doctrine.  They need not hope that the next Pope will permit gay "marriage," or extol the virtues of abortion, or start ordaining women to the priesthood.  Bl. John XXIII is the nearest thing to a "good" Pope that there is in the minds of liberals, because they hopelessly misunderstand him, but it never entered his mind to implement these policies of theirs.  Even Paul VI, who allowed the liberals to run riot on his watch, upheld the Church's prohibition of birth control, in the face of acute and immense pressure from both Catholics and non-Catholics to do the opposite.

Nevertheless, uncorrected by experience, the liberals go on hoping.  It would almost be cute, if it weren't so sad.

These Are Indeed Stern Times

The Holy Father abdicates, citing his incapacity in the face of a rapidly changing world shaken by questions of deep relevance for the faith.  Then, all kinds of things start happening in the lead-up to the next conclave that threaten to affect the selection of a new Pope.  Rumors fly regarding Pope Benedict's motives, and whether he wasn't really forced out, and whether his abdication had to do with a network of gay prelates in the Vatican.  We have some rather distressing statements coming from the bishops of Germany on the subject of the "morning after" pill in cases of rape.  We have Scotland's Cardinal O'Brien, previously outspoken in defense of traditional marriage, coming out in favor of priests getting married.  Now we have the news that this same cardinal is facing accusations of past misconduct.

Can anyone seriously doubt that the devil is putting in a lot of overtime at this particular moment in history?  And if the devil is putting in a lot of overtime, can anyone doubt that this particular moment is a critical one?

And if this particular moment is a critical one, we'd better ratchet up the prayers and penances.

Opus Bono Sacerdotii

Did you know that many priests are in trouble, even here in the U.S.?  There are priests in prison, some deservedly, some not; priests with legal difficulties, some deserved, some not; priests excluded from ministry, justifiably or not, who are without means of support; priests in spiritual, emotional or mental crisis; priests in financial trouble; and -- perhaps most heartbreaking -- elderly, infirm priests living in destitution because their dioceses do not, for one reason or another, take care of them.  Consider the testimony of one of these, Father Charles:

I’m 82 years old and have been a Catholic priest for a very long time. I am a priest in good standing and have been retired for some time now. Because of my infirmities (I am also blind in one eye), I am no longer able to offer Mass or administer the sacraments at the local parishes where I would receive a stipend to help supplement my Social Security of $670. I am paying rent on a small apartment. We are a small diocese and have no money to give priests like me who can’t work anymore at the parishes....I do have health insurance, but the co-pays for prescriptions and doctors visits are hard for me to manage. I am really afraid that I will have to stop taking my medicine. 

Why are so many priests in dire straits?  It is true that, like other men, priests can be their own worst enemies.  But whether or not particular priests are in distress through their own fault, it is also true that, good or bad, they are Other Christs, chosen and set aside to exercise His power on earth.  A bad priest will have a lot to answer for before God, but the Mass he offers is still valid; the Sacraments he administers are still efficacious.  When we are at death's door, we will be thankful to have a priest hasten to our bedside, and will not ask whether he has led a good life.  

Surely the reason so many priests are in dire straits is that we in the pews have stopped loving these men as the spiritual fathers that they are.  There is no question that many of the alleged "reforms" in the Church have served to obscure the special dignity and fatherhood of priests, and diminish their standing in the eyes of their flocks.  For example, did we have the problem of elderly priests living in penury and loneliness before pastors started being transferred from parish to parish?  Here indeed is some of the "fresh air" we let in by opening the windows of the Church onto the world: the contempt of society at large for fathers has infested the Church, until parishes resemble the broken, fatherless families increasingly prevalent in the West.  Instead of parishes having fathers, who by definition are permanent fixtures in healthy families, they have an endless parade of step-fathers.  With priests coming and going, neither they nor their parishioners have long-term stakes in each other’s well-being.  This is an inescapable reality, regardless of the good will of either priest or parishioners.  It’s time to re-examine this policy of constantly uprooting priests.  

The destitution of priests is also a fruit of secularization within the Church.  The priesthood is viewed even by some priests as a job or a career, rather than a calling, so that the priest is useful only for as long as he can continue in active ministry.  How many local churches have, for years and years, been run primarily along business lines, by bishops who act more like middle management bureaucrats than shepherds of souls?  Small wonder that charity runs cold, and trust in Divine Providence occupies the back burner, if indeed it is to be found on the stove at all.

But we shouldn't look to the chanceries for the solution to the problem of abandoned priests.  It is the laity's responsibility to support the Church and her ministers, and for too long, we have looked to bureaucracies, whether religious or secular, to handle problems that we should be taking care of ourselves.  Fortunately, some laymen who take their responsibility seriously have formed an association to come to the aid of priests in distress.  Opus Bono Sacerdotii -- Work for the Good of the Priesthood -- is an apostolate that reaches out to priests in need with concrete assistance, both corporal and spiritual.  Among other things, they provide financial assistance to priests struggling to support themselves; support to priests in prison; counseling for priests in crisis; consolation for friendless priests; even, in some rare cases, suicide watches for priests in despair.  This apostolate is worthy of support, and needs all the (tax-deductible) donations it can get.  

We still need a reform of the "reforms" of the last half-century in the Church.  In addition to the reforms in the liturgy and in the government of the Church that our present Holy Father has introduced, I vote we also get rid of the game of musical pastors.  Priests should resume their status as spiritual fathers by staying in one parish permanently, and living in the rectory. Then, when a priest gets older and his health begins to fail him, he should not be ruthlessly put out of the way to make room for fresh blood, but continue to live there as a mentor to younger priests, exercising his ministry to the extent he still can, for as long as he can, all the while having his needs looked after by his spiritual children, in whose loving care he dies. That would be in line both with charity and subsidiarity.  

Meanwhile, we should not wait for reforms in canon law to take care of our troubled priest.  We can, and should, support Opus Bono Sacerdotii with both alms and prayer, right now.

A Lesson on Mystics and Private Revelations

In this unsettled age, when so many seek spiritual consolations, and so many fake seers and visionaries rise to meet this demand, it pays to re-examine the devil's most notorious deceits.  Read here the story of Sr. Magdalene of the Cross, a 16th-century Spanish nun who, as a child, had entered into a pact with the devil and for decades had a lot of people going with her alleged miracles and prodigies.  Even monarchs and high prelates were fooled.  

There are many lessons to be drawn from the story of Sr. Magdalene of the Cross.  First, we need to know our Faith well, so that we have a true yardstick against which to measure alleged marvels and revelations.  Second, we need to remain in the state of grace, so that we have the divine assistance we need when our natural powers fall short.  Third, we need to remain under the mantle of the Church's authority, which is instituted by God and is a sure protection against deceit, even when it leads us in directions not to our liking.

Fourth, we need to pray constantly.

Sancte Michael Archangele, defende nos in proelio; contra nequitiam et insidias diaboli esto praesidium. Imperat illi Deus; supplices deprecamur: tuque, Princeps militiae coelestis, Satanam aliosque spiritus malignos, qui ad perditionem animarum pervagantur in mundo, divina virtute in infernum detrude. Amen.

We Cannot Tame the Spirit of Murder

As steady readers of this blog know, on the last day of every year, I publish a review of the year's events.  The first time I did this, I didn't actually come up with the idea until New Year's Eve; but since then, I have kept a running draft all year, updating it every few weeks until it's time for it to go up.

Since I have been doing these Year in Review posts, I have noticed one or two societal trends in America.  A particularly disturbing one is the large number of murder sprees that take place in this country every year.  Consider the ones we have seen during the calendar year 2012:

1. February 27th, Chardon, Ohio: a 17-year-old shooter kills three and wounds three at Chardon High School before being apprehended.

2. March 8th, Pittsburg, Pennsylvania: a shooter kills one and wounds seven at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center's Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic before being shot dead.

3. April 2nd, Oakland, California: an expelled former student kills 7 and wounds 3 at Oikos University, a Korean Christian college, and later surrenders to authorities.

4. May 15th, Port St. John, Florida: a woman shoots and kills her own four children, then turns the gun on herself.

5. June 10th, Auburn, Alabama: a shooter who later turns himself in to federal agents kills three and wounds three more at a party near Auburn University.

6. July 20th, Aurora, Colorado: a shooter sets off teargas grenades and opens fire inside a crowded movie theatre, killing 12 and wounding 59 before being apprehended.

7. August 5th, Oak Creek, Wisconsin: gunman murders 6 and wounds 4 at a Sikh temple, including one police officer responding to the scene, before being shot by police and then turning the gun on himself.

8. August 16th, LaPlace, Louisiana: in separate incidents, shooters murder two sheriff's deputies and wound two more, before being wounded themselves and/or taken into custody.

9. August 31st, Old Bridge, New Jersey: an employee at a Pathmark grocery store opens fire, killing two before turning the gun on himself. 

10. October 24th, Downey, California: three people are killed and two wounded at a business and a residence two blocks apart.

11. October 30th, Chicago, Illinois: a woman murders her own seven-year-old son and a five-year-old girl she was babysitting, ostensibly out of rage that her husband left her to do menial work she considered beneath her.

12. November 6th, Fresno, California: an employee at a chicken-processing plant shoots four of his co-workers execution-style, killing two, before turning the gun on himself.

13. November 30th, Casper, Wyoming: a killer using something on the order of a bow and arrow murders his father's girlfriend, then goes to Casper College and murders his father, then kills himself.

14. December 1, Kansas City, Missouri: Jovan Belcher, Kansas City Chiefs linebacker, murders his live-in girlfriend in front of his mother, then goes to Arrowhead Stadium and commits suicide in front of his coach and several others.

15. December 11, Happy Valley, Oregon: a shooter opens fire inside the Clackamas Town Center mall, killing two and wounding one before committing suicide.

16. December 14, Newtown, Connecticut: the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre.

Consider that the nation recoiled in horror at the 1929 St. Valentine's Day Massacre in Chicago, when seven thugs were murdered by some other thugs in a gang war between Al Capone and Bugs Moran.  Such was the public outrage over this butchery that the Massacre marked the beginning of the end for Capone.  Now, in addition to the criminal-on-criminal home invasions and drive-by shootings among gang-bangers in cities, we have a massacre nearly every month, sometimes more than one in a month, all over the country, and frequently at random.

We may well ask why.  But the better question is: why not?  In a country where the murder of babies in their mothers' wombs is enshrined as a constitutional right, where embryos are created and frozen and experimented on and mingled with the genes of animals, and where euthanasia is legal in several states, an explosion of violence was inevitable.  Did we really think we could make the spirit of murder our servant, drawing curtains and closing doors on it, imprisoning it inside clinics and laboratories and bending it to our will?  We were deluding ourselves.

Come, Lord Jesus!

Of Onions, Liars and Hypocrites

Did the White House press room smell of onions yesterday, during the lachrymose presidential speech about the events in Connecticut?

Barack Obama supports infanticide.  When he was an Illinois state senator, he voted against the Born Alive Protection Act that would have protected infants that survived abortion procedures.

On Day Three of his administration, Barack Obama repealed the Mexico City Policy, making abortion groups eligible for U.S. foreign aid money.

Under the Obama Administration, Planned Parenthood got nearly half a billion taxpayer dollars in the year 2010.

Meanwhile, the number of abortions in the United States since Roe v. Wade came down in 1973 rivals the total number of people who perished in World War II.

Barack Obama made a show of weeping yesterday for the twenty children who were gunned down in Newtown, Connecticut.  But if an abortionist had destroyed those same children in their mothers' wombs, he'd have been perfectly fine with that.  

Barack Obama is a liar and a hypocrite.

The Mystery of Iniquity

The heart is perverse above all things, and unsearchable, who can know it? 

Jeremiah 17:9

God rest the souls of all those who perished today at the hands of the shooter in Newtown, Connecticut.  This post is written at the end of a day filled with speculation and conflicting reports.  At this point, we do not know very much about exactly what happened; we know even less about what motivated the shooter, who apparently ended his rampage by turning the gun on himself.  God alone is that man's judge.

I do not want to add to the speculation and theorizing about what happened.  The focus here, rather, is on what this outrage reveals about our level of spiritual awareness.  Conversations I have had with people about what happened confirms me in my conviction that many of us are suffering from a deadly lack of realism about fallen human nature.  Our society has for many years cultivated spiritual blindness under the guise of enlightened thinking, and it is killing us -- both in this life, and in the life to come.

It is a curious fact that many in the West emerged from the bloody, cruel, murderous, war-torn, irreligious 20th century unable to face up to the fact that there are such things in the world as evil people.  Even in the face of something as horrific as the massacre of 20 little kids and six adults, it is assumed that the shooter must have been insane -- because no sane person could do such a thing.  

Nor does this thinking necessarily represent the concern for the murderer's immortal soul that might move one to hope for mitigating factors.  There are, of course, the pure materialists, who think that individuals are nothing more than the sum total of their hormones, and that crime is solely attributable to chemical imbalances in the brain.  But what about those who do not fall into this extreme category, but nevertheless instinctively chalk up atrocities like today's to insanity?  Is it possible that this is just a way of thinking ourselves better than we really are?  After all, the reasoning goes, one must be insane to do something so horrible; I am not insane; therefore, I am incapable of doing something that horrible.  Is this thinking, then, a way of blotting out the reality that every one of us is capable of unspeakable evil -- that there, but for the grace of God, go we?

I do not know whether the shooter in Connecticut will turn out to have been insane.  We may never know.  But what we need to face up to is the fact of original sin, which inclines us to evil and makes it harder to practice virtue.  Only one Man and one woman in history were ever completely free from the taint of original sin, and we are not either of them.  Sin darkens the intellect, and leads to more sin.  We should not be surprised if we find that people who commit terrible crimes are enslaved to some vice, even if the vice seems wholly unrelated to the crime.  It is not unrelated.  Where will our vices lead us, if we do not strive to extricate ourselves from them?

The other thing we need to face up to is that, despite the powerful allure of sin, we human beings who have the use of reason have free will.  That makes us both capable of choosing evil and responsible for having done so.  To hold any other position is to dehumanize criminals and deny their inherent dignity.  It also blinds us to the need to pray for grace to avoid falling into evil ourselves.

Let us pray for the souls of those who died today; for consolation for the families of the dead; and for mercy for him who murdered them.  And let us pray for ourselves, that we may avoid sin, have frequent recourse to the Sacraments, and strive to remain in the state of grace.

Edwarda O'Bara: Confounding the Wise and the Strong

But the foolish things of the world hath God chosen, that He may confound the wise; and the weak things of the world hath God chosen, that He may confound the strong. 1 Corinthians 1:27.

Edwarda O'Bara had dreams of becoming a pediatrician.  But in 1970, the year she turned 17, Edwarda took a course that neither she nor her family could have anticipated.  After being rushed to the hospital during an illness, she slipped into a diabetic coma.  She would never come out of that coma, but she would live another 42 years, finally passing away at home on November 21, 2012 at the age of 59.

Judging by the world's standards, Edwarda's was a wasted life, unworthy of being allowed to continue.  But fortunately for her, and for an ungrateful world, Edwarda belonged to a family of devout Catholics who never ceased caring for her up until the moment of her natural death, despite mounting debts and other trials.  Before losing consciousness, Edwarda made her mother, Kaye, promise never to leave her side; Kaye kept that promise until 2008, when she died at the age of 80.

Why was this fortunate for the world?  Because those who suffer in Christ draw down countless blessings and graces from heaven.  It is precisely for this reason that St. Faustina said that it was an unfortunate convent that had no sick sisters.  The same can be said for any family or society that does not have or care for sick and suffering members.  To repudiate these crosses is to despise grace; and to despise grace is to incite God's wrath.  That is what our aborting, contracepting, euthanizing society is doing right now.  It is putting us on the greased skids to hell.

The magnitude of our folly is shown by the lives that Edwarda touched.  Many who are active in the world fail to produce anything like the fruits that she produced merely by lying helpless in bed.  Her mother's steadfast, sacrificial love was an inspiration to many who came in from all over the world to visit the daughter who was the object of such love.  Her sister, Colleen, who gave up her career in order to care for her after their mother died, sums up what Edwarda herself accomplished.  "She taught me so much," said Colleen, "and I'm talking about now, after she was in the coma. She taught me so much about unconditional love that I couldn't say I had it before. She taught me about patience, that I didn't have before. I learned so much from taking care of my sister. It's like I grew up overnight."  Imagine how much poorer and worse off our already pathetic world would be if Edwarda O'Bara's family had followed the "wisdom" of the culture of death.

The O'Bara family is asking for help to pay for Edwarda's funeral, which will take place on Wednesday.  They probably also have an Everest of medical bills to pay.  Donations can be sent to the Edwarda O'Bara Fund, P.O. Box 693482, Miami FL 33269.

UPDATE: More on Edwarda O'Bara's extraordinary story.

Dead Nation Walking

Yesterday's election should have been a no-brainer.  That Obama got into the White House in the first place on his prior record is bad enough; but that a majority of voters should re-elect him after he has spent the last four years promoting intrinsic evils, running this country into the ground, pandering to her enemies and openly opposing everything she stands for shows how far gone we are.  

Stark reality: the majority of voters in today's America simply do not recognize evil when they see it.  We are surrounded by evil, at home, at school, at work, on television, in popular culture, until it seems normal.  We take vice for virtue, and virtue for vice, or, at best, a form of mental illness.  We are mired in habitual sin, especially lust.  We equate the pursuit of sensual pleasures to the pursuit of happiness, and sensual pleasures are now more important to us than life itself.  Not only are we willing to kill ourselves and others in the name of pleasure; we will tolerate even the extinction of the human race.  In today's America, formerly illicit liaisons enjoy the protection of law.  Sodomitical unions take the place of natural relations, and concubinage takes the place of stable families.  And the land is awash in the blood of the unborn.  According to the Guttmacher Institute, there were 1.21 million abortions in this country just in the year 2008.  That is more than the total number of Americans killed in the Civil War and both World Wars.  According to the same source, there were nearly 50 million abortions in the United States between 1973 and 2008.  That approaches the total number of people who perished in World War II.  These figures do not even take into account the numberless souls who are kept out of existence by contraceptives, many of which are abortifacients.

In the face of all of which the Catholic Church in America has remained silent.  For decades, with very few exceptions, American priests and bishops have not uttered a peep about the tsunami of spiritual sewage bearing down on their flocks.  The results are not surprising.  28% of women who have abortions identify themselves as Catholic.  98% of sexually experienced Catholic women have committed the sin of contraception.  Catholics are indistinguishable from non-Catholics in the rate of divorce.  Half of Catholic voters voted for Obama.     

America has turned her back on God and His law, and now He has decisively allowed her to be turned over to her enemies.  This is God’s judgment on the United States, because she will not stop offending Him.  And since the United States will now no longer offer refuge to the oppressed or keep the world’s barbarian warlords in check, it is also His judgment on the whole world for its sins.

There are no political solutions to our problems, only spiritual ones.  The words of Our Lady of Fatima are no less true now than they were 95 years ago.  We must repent, stop sinning, and do penance.  And we must pray the Rosary.  Every day.  Without fail.

All you Dominican saints, whose feast day is today, pray for us.

More on the Travesty of "Brain Death"

Nicholas Coke was born in 2009 without higher brain functions.  This is because all he had was his brain stem.  He was not expected to survive more than a few hours.  Indeed Nicholas did die -- two years and 11 months later.  Today, the Solemnity of All Saints, Nicholas Coke breathed his last.  

Nicholas defies the culture of death.  Having no brain, was he not "brain dead"?  Shouldn't he have been aborted?  Shouldn't his organs have been harvested for the sake of "worthier" children?  Yet his heart beat on its own; he breathed on his own; he could take nourishment and medication; he could respond to treatment; he moved; he grew; he smiled.  Persons who are dead can do none of these things, with or without machines, to which Nicholas was never hooked up.  Nicholas could neither see nor hear, but he gave signs of awareness that he was being held.  Clearly, the child had a soul, and was therefore very much alive, even though his faculties were severely impaired.  He had a soul, with all the gifts of the soul, dormant though they were in his frail body, even though he literally had no brain.  That is not supposed to be possible -- yet there he was!  Thank God Nicholas was born into a family that cherished his life.  He was surrounded by love, and touched hearts in his turn.

Nicholas Coke is not only a testament to love and life, but also a rebuke and a warning.  He is a rebuke to the arrogance of a society that purports to redefine death for the sake of convenience.  He is a warning that we have made ourselves the enemies of what God holds dear, and that sooner or later we will have Him to reckon with.

Benghazi

Some things to remember on Election Day.

On September 11, 2012, a horde of terrorists assaulted the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, murdering our ambassador, J. Christopher Stevens; U.S. Foreign Service Information Management Officer Sean Smith; and two former Navy SEALs, Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods.       This attack coincided not only with the 11th anniversary of 9/11, but also with the storming of our embassy in Cairo.  Aided and abetted by the media, the administration portrayed these outrages as having been provoked by a purportedly anti-Islamic film uploaded to YouTube, the producer of which was rounded up and tossed into jail.   The Secretary of Defense, Leon Panetta, stated that no rescue operation was launched because it was too unclear exactly what was happening. 

This was on Thursday of last week, when we learned that, not only did the White House know the attack was premeditated, and who perpetrated it, but that they were receiving a live video feed of the attack from a drone.  The White House knew what was happening, while it was happening.    Then Friday, we learned that operatives at the CIA annex in Benghazi were not only thrice denied permission to go in and defend the consulate; they were specifically ordered to stand down, and were denied military assistance.   

Two former Navy SEALs, Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods, defied the order to stand down, along with at least two others.  Tyrone Woods singled out the source of mortar fire on the consulate, and painted it with his laser in the expectation that a missile would come in and take out the target.  "Expectation" is the key word here.  There would be no point in painting a target with a laser unless you were counting on a missile, especially since, by painting the target, you give away your position.  Tyrone Woods had reason to believe a missile would be forthcoming.  No missile came.  The mortars were not taken out.  Tyrone Woods was killed by mortar fire.

The Obama administration's response to this casus belli rises only from the mendacious to the buffoonish.  When the bodies of our slain embassy personnel were brought back to the United States, their families -- who did not plan to comment publicly until the White House's real-time knowledge became known -- were nonplussed at the apparent lack of concern on the part of the President and top members of his administration.  To the father of Tyrone Woods, the Vice President of the United States said: "Did your son always have balls the size of cue balls?"

How appropriate that the Obama flag logo has as much class as the Vice President, and looks like blood smears.

The Unbearable Lightness of Being

Yesterday, I found myself at a Mass caught in the clutches of a sort of pop music "choir." The guitars, tambourines, mics, and bee-boppy quality of the repertoire destroyed all meditation and recollection.  I couldn't look at the priest through most of the Mass, because he was on the verge of dancing to the beat.  Despite the presence of a perfectly good choir loft, the oversized group and their many accoutrements were parked next to the altar.  The sight of even the best-behaved musicians next to the altar is a major distraction; even more so when they are dancing around and/or dressed outlandishly or immodestly.

Yet, for some reason, this circus is still considered by many to be preferable to sacred chant, in Latin (I don't think chant and English are a good fit), sung from the choir loft, or at least from the back of the church.  I never cease to be amazed at the visceral hatred of and prejudice against sacred chant -- all of a piece with the irrational hatred of the Extraordinary Form Mass, often on the part of people who have either never attended one or only remember it as a distant childhood memory. I guess the problem with chant is (a) it takes effort, talent and discipline to master; (b) it suffers no mediocrity; (c) one cannot imprint one's own idiosynchratic stamp on it. 

But the reality is that there is true freedom in chant. Once I have mastered a piece of chant, singing it makes me feel as though I am soaring. Not being metrical, it is free of time, which is a prison; it is thus, in its own way, a little taste of eternity, which is beyond time.  Which, maybe, come to think of it, is part of the problem with chant: (d) it embodies too much freedom, the unbearable lightness of being.  That's a threat to our taskmasters, the liberals in both the religious and political spheres, who live in dread lest we develop a taste for true freedom, as in the freedom of the sons of God.  

So now would be a good time to dig through our old trunks and pull out the much ballyhooed non-conformity of our youth.  Remember that?  Now we can press it into the service of something really worthwhile.  Try chant.  Get used to singing it, or at least listening to it, and you find that it quite puts the lie to the idea that it and other aspects of traditional worship represent repression and hide-bound uptightness.  On the contrary, it opens our eyes to the difference between the banal and the transcendent.  The discipline of chant is itself freeing: one is only free to create or convey beauty with discipline, because true beauty must be orderly, as Truth is orderly.  Freedom without order is really chaos, and chaos is another prison, the prison of ugliness and insecurity.  That is what we have had in our worship for far too long, and our faith has suffered on account of it.  We no longer recognize chaos for what it is, and we fail to embrace Truth and Beauty, which, as Keats said, are the same.

We need to break out of this prison.  But when we've grown up not knowing anything else, it's hard.  Freedom is dangerous and frightening in our increasingly regimented, collectivist, atheistic age.  Yet we have the tools we need to make our escape, if we just use them.  Consistent exposure to sacred chant and traditional worship are the files that Pope Benedict has baked into the cakes of Summorum Pontificum and Universae Ecclesiae and smuggled to us in our cells.

There Is a Hell

One blog I check out regularly, because of its educational value, is Charleston Thug Life.  The owners of this blog started it as a way of exposing the criminal element in the Charleston, South Carolina area by means of their own Facebook postings.  For those who live in the Lowcountry, CTL is a rich source of information on the criminal records of persons who feature prominently in front-page crime stories; for those who don't, it is still a valuable primer on subjects such as gang life, street slang and the illegal drug trade.  CTL has recently expanded its mission to include covering the problem of contraband in prisons, and in particular, publicizing the Facebook pages of inmates with cell phones.

Charleston Thug Life also has value as a manual on how not to live.  There, on the Facebook pages of gangbangers, all seven of the deadly sins are on parade.  The bangers love to post pictures of their guns; gigantic wads of cash from slinging dope; the dope itself; themselves, lazing around, or with their babymamas, or posing in their bathroom mirrors, showing off their teeth bling or their tats, flipping the bird and throwing gang signs, and -- worst of all -- their little kids doing all of the above.  Contrary to the claims of race hustlers that gangbanging is a legitimate response of minorities to oppression by whites, the bangers of whatever race are motivated simply by greed for money (a common slogan: "M.O.E.", Money Over Everything), love of violence, lust for sex, power and pleasure, disdain for work and hatred of authority.  

The Christian faith tells us that all of the foregoing are paving stones on the broad, smooth path to perdition.  Yet, if their Facebook pages are any indication, the bangers are often imbued by a certitude of eternal bliss in the next life, both for themselves and for their brothers in thughood.  They prattle about praying, and spew greeting-card platitudes about overcoming adversity -- the adversity that they brought upon themselves by doing exactly as they please, no matter whom it hurts, but which they blame on the "crackers" that put them behind bars.  Even the ones who have been found guilty of rape, murder and kidnapping think they have God's approval.  And when their fellow bangers stop bullets in the pursuit of M.O.E., they are now "in a better place," "getting their rest."


Really?  This is an issue we have explored previously in this space, and it's worth going over again.  If you lead a life of dissipation, sling dope out of your taxpayer-subsidized Section 8 house, impregnate women you're not married to, cruise around town looking for trouble, smoke blunts and play video games all day, and teach your toddlers to throw gang signs, are you fulfilling God's will for your life?  And if your very last act on this earth is sticking up a gas station, or doing a home-invasion robbery, or gunning for rival gang members, or firing on police officers during a high-speed chase, is it really a better place you're headed for?  Would heaven really be heaven if you made it there as is?


Bulletin: every single one of us is going to die someday.  Every single one of us is going to appear before the highest tribunal of all, whose judgment is final and from which there is no appeal.  If we have been faithful to God and tried to serve Him and please Him in this life, and avoid the things that displease Him, we will go to heaven; if not, we will go to hell.  There is a hell, and damnation is forever and irremediable.  If you lead the thug lifestyle, you are on the one-way express train for hell.  The bling and the new car and the expensive athletic shoes will pass to new owners and do you no sort of good whatever.


So get off the train now, while you still can.  Go to confession, and turn your life around.  You will die as you have lived.

Am I Married to My Brother?

That question must be on the minds of a lot of folks in the U.K. now that it has emerged that the Barton fertility clinic in London, which operated from the 1940s to the 1960s, impregnated about 1,500 women from the sperm of a very select group of donors -- including the co-owner of the clinic, Bertold Wiesner.  In fact, Wiesner may have fathered between 300 and 600 children via sperm donation.

That stunning estimate is the fruit of years of research by Canadian Barry Stevens, a maker of documentaries, and Londoner David Gollancz, a barrister, who turn out to share a father -- Bertold Wiesner.  At the age of 12, Gollancz discovered that his biological father was a sperm donor; DNA tests finally uncovered the truth about his parentage, as well as 11 siblings, including Barry Stevens.  In 2007, DNA tests on a group of 18 people who had been conceived at the Barton clinic between 1943 and 1962 resulted in the discovery that 12 of them were fathered by Bertold Wiesner.  

The co-owner of the clinic, Dr. Mary Barton, was Wiesner's wife.  In 1959, sounding as though she were talking about a program for breeding livestock, she testified that "I matched race, coloring and stature and all donors were drawn from intelligent stock....I wouldn’t take a donor unless he was, if anything, a little above average. If you are going to do it [create a child] deliberately, you have got to put the standards rather higher than normal." The donors consisted mainly in a select group of Barton and Wiesner's family friends, plus -- obviously -- Wiesner himself.  Of course, the difficulties of tracking down the true parentage of all the people conceived in this designer kid factory will be all but insurmountable: Wiesner has been dead since the 1970s; Barton died 11 years ago; and the medical records have been destroyed.

At this point it is worthwhile to look at the Catechism of the Catholic Church on the subject of sperm donation and artificial insemination:

2376 Techniques that entail the dissociation of husband and wife, by the intrusion of a person other than the couple (donation of sperm or ovum, surrogate uterus), are gravely immoral. These techniques (heterologous artificial insemination and fertilization) infringe the child's right to be born of a father and mother known to him and bound to each other by marriage. They betray the spouses' "right to become a father and a mother only through each other."

2377 Techniques involving only the married couple (homologous artificial insemination and fertilization) are perhaps less reprehensible, yet remain morally unacceptable. They dissociate the sexual act from the procreative act. The act which brings the child into existence is no longer an act by which two persons give themselves to one another, but one that "entrusts the life and identity of the embryo into the power of doctors and biologists and establishes the domination of technology over the origin and destiny of the human person. Such a relationship of domination is in itself contrary to the dignity and equality that must be common to parents and children." "Under the moral aspect procreation is deprived of its proper perfection when it is not willed as the fruit of the conjugal act, that is to say, of the specific act of the spouses' union . . . . Only respect for the link between the meanings of the conjugal act and respect for the unity of the human being make possible procreation in conformity with the dignity of the person."

And a thought much ignored in today's society:

2378 A child is not something owed to one, but is a gift. The "supreme gift of marriage" is a human person. A child may not be considered a piece of property, an idea to which an alleged "right to a child" would lead. In this area, only the child possesses genuine rights: the right "to be the fruit of the specific act of the conjugal love of his parents," and "the right to be respected as a person from the moment of his conception."

It is clear that, at a visceral level, David Gollancz gets the foregoing teachings.  He has drawn some good out of his situation by rejoicing in his long-lost siblings, but his feelings about his ancestry are mixed.  He says: "It's rather uncomfortable, because artificial insemination was developed on an industrial scale for cattle and I don't like the feeling of having been 'bred.'"  And Gollancz is campaigning for a change in the law to abolish the anonymity of sperm donors.  "Most recipient parents don't tell their children they are conceived this way, meaning they would never know to search for a donor father.  People have a right to know about their own history."

Children have a right to know their own history.  Children have a right to be conceived in love and self-giving, and treated with the dignity due to a human being.  Children have the right not to be treated like a commodity.  And they have the right to know who their close relations are, so as to avoid marrying their own siblings.  That's why the mean old Catholic Church declares sperm donation and artificial insemination to be gravely immoral.  Maybe one of these days, the lesson will finally sink in.