Category Archives: Free exercise of religion
Coerced against one’s Catholic Conscience? Never! Thanks, Thomas.
Filed under Free exercise of religion
Free speech dead. Essential interview with the top authority in the world, now whistleblower
This guy is wicked smart, like smartest-guy-in-the-world ex-NSA Bill Binney in his day.
Well worth the listen. Perspective altering.
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Freedom teaming up with Freedom
For a moment, two Bald Eagles flew along with me just above my car whilst I was racing through one of the many gorges in the vast territory of the parish. It’s as if they making sure I was safe in the freedom one might enjoy according to the providence of God. I should really re-install my dashcam.
In the picture above they were now in their third circling back over my now stopped vehicle, now above the trees. Because of the silhouette-effect, it’s difficult to see the brilliantly white heads and necks, and tail feathers. Because they were now higher, it’s difficult to gauge their massive size.
With all the slavery to sin going on these days, this sighting, not long after another, did good for heart and soul. But then, in cropping, brightening the pictures I took, I noticed this in the following picture. Sigh. Am I seeing things?
I have been warned multiple times of a local, who is a terribly dark and paranoid neo-Nazi, who could, in his own mind, just about singlehandedly take on entire battalion. But in such cases, I look to my guardian angel, who is well practiced in watching over me, oblivious and naïve as I am.
You will recall that the Weimar Eagle is entirely black. The Bald Eagle is blackish-brown with a brilliantly white head and neck and tail.
Meanwhile, I don’t read tea leaves. This just made me do a double take. I do like making analogies however. Any ideas?
Anyway, this makes me recall a ragged old flag…
And that’s exactly the patriotism our Nazi DOJ and FBI have against believing Catholics.
There aren’t too many believers around any more. We have to team up to bring freedom, protect freedom. We have to ensure that the Holy Sacrifice of the One who led captivity captive, nailed to a cross, but then risen from the dead, is able to offered on our altars in our churches no matter what.
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Filed under Free exercise of religion, Nature, Patriotism
Fiducia supplicans fallout, strategizing for same-sexer demands: “Pope Francis and his Tucho-boy said…”
Should same-sexers come to Holy Mass at my little parish church so as to militantly politicize their inversion, they will be met with a friendly welcome of tough love.
On a milestone of the Great Apostasy (18 December 2023), all on their own, many parishioners came up to me, warning me of what will surely happen because of Fiducia supplicans, that same-sexers will come to Holy Mass and demand a blessing for their mortal sin, you know, with television cameras in tow, with gifts for buying my compliance, with threats of taking it to the bishop if I don’t comply. And they’ll do this, not because they don’t know what I think. They’ll do it because they know what I think. And then these same parishioners asked me what they should do to stop it.
I said, just alert me to the fact of what is happening and I will take care of it.
And they know they have to alert me because I have three serious difficulties with situational awareness when at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass:
- Holy Mass is offered ad orientem, so I’m facing the dear Lord with everyone else. I don’t see behind me, no eyes in the back of my head.
- The small podium we have for the priest at “the chair” is, with “the chair”, facing perpendicular, toward the altar and tabernacle from the “Gospel side.” This is true for the entirety of the Mass except when I turn this small podium “versus populum”, toward “the people”, for the Gospel and homily, only.
- During the homily, according to an ancient custom of the Irish monastics, I preach mostly with eyes closed. So, I’m quite oblivious to anything untoward during Holy Mass.
People asked if they should escort troublemakers out of church, you know, say members of the Rainbow Sash Movement, which is an extremely militant, extremely anti-Catholic, extremely visible group, though made up especially of Catholics. They wear rainbow sashes, as their name indicates such as that pictured above, then march up to receive Holy Communion, spit out the dear Lord, stomping on Him, returning then to their pews.
No, I said. Don’t touch them. They will have you in jail for assault in a nanosecond. That’s why they are here, to get publicity. And we need our parishioners at Holy Mass, not in jail. One insisted on getting such people the hell out of church. I said: “No! Don’t make me add time to all my visits to the hospitals, rehabs and homes of the elderly sick and disabled by making me go to jail every week just to visit you! They won’t let me see you anyway. It’ll be a video-monitor which is recorded. Just tell me that something is going down in church and I’ll take care of it.”
And then I said what I would do, all things being polite, but obnoxious, say, with rainbow sashes. I said that such symbols are signs of militancy and that circumstances may turn violent, and so I will tell such political activists that they are trespassed. And when they object, I will aggressively ask their names and trespass them again. I know how to aggressively explain matters to people’s faces when necessary for safety. If they leave, quietly or loudly, great.
If they stay, I will tell everyone that I’m dispensing them of their Sunday obligation or obligation for a Holy Day, requesting that they leave in an orderly, peaceful fashion, not addressing the mostly peaceful protestors, but just going home peaceably, adding that we’ll talk about it later. Then I will call 911 in front of everyone and say that we have a possibly violent situation at the church with a number of perpetrators who may or may not have weapons and could a couple of cruisers be sent immediately. Everyone is trying to leave, so there’s mayhem. It’ll take about 5 seconds for police to arrive.
State charges for obstructing a religious ceremony will be filed. In North Carolina that means a criminal misdemeanor for the first offense, then jacked up felonies for any subsequent offenses. Federal charges of hate crimes smashing First Amendment rights of the free exercise of religion will also be filed. But that’s if it’s all peaceful or they are simply shouting or chanting or even using fighting words, but nevertheless making it impossible for us to worship.
However, if such people are putting us in fear of our safety, pushing and shoving and causing injury, or, God forbid, presenting weapons, knives or guns or whatever… Then protection of the innocent proportional to the threat presented is to be employed but only to the point of ending the threat. Since mostly peaceful protests can also include already being delivered deadly aggression, a proportional response meant only to stop the threat may be indicated.
This diabolical nightmare is all on Pope Francis and his Tucho-boy. They have caused this persecution of the Church. Their laughter and glee is only temporary.
Meanwhile, the FBI, investigating any hate crime, will say that it is the very existence of believing Catholics that is the hate crime, and they will arrest the priest and the parishioners. The same-sexers will rejoice as they then burn down the church in their mostly-peaceful protest, having the matches given to them by Merrick Garland and Christopher Wray. But those two will point to Pope Francis and his Tucho-boy, blaming them. No rebuttal will be permitted.
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Filed under Free exercise of religion, Pope Francis
Fr Gordon’s “The True Story of Thanksgiving: Squanto, the Pilgrims, and the Pope.”
And then:
- “But Father George! Father George! What are you most most thankful for?”
- That would be a valid absolution, when I’ve needed that.
- Imagine having to nuance that with “valid.”
- That would be a valid provision of Last Rites, when I’ve needed that.
- Imagine having to nuance that with “valid.”
- That would be the reception of the Most Blessed Sacrament during the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
- That would be the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Immaculate Heart of Mary, the Chaste Heart of Saint Joseph.
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Filed under Free exercise of religion, Priesthood, Vocations
Strategy for speaking with wolves in a time of general apostasy
For the believer, the wolves in sheep’s clothing are entirely unhidden.
I recall a one-time prisoner of a certain communist country who spoke of his best-practices for undergoing interrogations for which he was periodically dragged out of solitary confinement. He was imprisoned for being religious. He said that:
- Those who were ambiguous in their answers, wanting to please both God and Satan, would undergo torture until they became more fulsome in their answers, possibly dying by this torture.
- Those, like himself, who immediately proclaimed to the fullness of their crimes, you know, of believing in God with all their heart, mind, soul and strength, were quickly returned to their cells or otherwise dispatched.
God, who is Truth, is not appreciative of confusion. Confusion is not being astute, like a serpent, nor is it being innocent, like a dove. Confusion is ugly; it’s all about manipulation. No one likes being manipulated, not Satan, not God. And it’s just so obvious. Jesus said, He who acknowledges me before men I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father. Is not being fulsome about Jesus tantamount to denying Jesus? He who denies me before men I will deny before my heavenly Father.
Where are we at in our spiritual lives? Are there any believers any more? Is anyone indignant that Jesus is maligned by the powers-that-be as being mere bubbly joy, always a Jesus who has nothing to do with forgiveness of sin because there is no sin, no commandments?
Does no one stand with, now, the merely one or two martyrs that we have? Are all afraid? Of what? The wolves? Pfft.
- “Don’t be a fool, Father George! They can always hurt you more!”
Well, that’s true. They can always hurt you more. Terribly. Horrifically. But Christ’s love and truth are stronger, strong enough to bring us through torture and death, strong enough to bring us to heaven.
- “There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated — the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground.” (Hebrews 11:35-38).
We only have a short time in this world. Make each moment count. Every battle is the battle that may save someone’s soul. If you bypass the small battles, being prudent, you’ll never take on the big battles.
And if I rant on this kind of thing all the time it’s because I hear the opposite all the time from those who should know better, including some of my fellow priests.
Now is the time to be close to Jesus, to return to Calvary as did John. Now is the day of salvation.
There is nothing that speaks more of our faith in the living God than to go to Sacramental Confession.
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Filed under Confession, Free exercise of religion
Catholics, Freemasons, Synodality?
DICASTERIUM PRO DOCTRINA FIDEI
NOTE FOR THE AUDIENCE WITH THE HOLY FATHER
13 November 2023
The Request of His Excellency, the Most Rev. Julito CORTES,
Bishop of Dumaguete (Philippines)
Regarding the Best Pastoral Approach to
Membership in Freemasonry by the Catholic Faithful
Recently, His Excellency, the Most Rev. Julito CORTES, Bishop of Dumaguete, after explaining with concern the situation caused in his Diocese by the continuous rise in the number of the faithful enrolled in Freemasonry, asked for suggestions regarding how to respond to this reality suitably from a pastoral point of view, taking into account also the doctrinal implications related to this phenomenon.
Membership in Freemasonry is very significant in the Philippines; it involves not only those who are formally enrolled in Masonic Lodges but, more generally, a large number of sympathizers and associates who are personally convinced that there is no opposition between membership in the Catholic Church and in Masonic Lodges.
To address this issue appropriately, it was decided that the Dicastery would respond by involving the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines itself, notifying the Conference that it would be necessary to put in place a coordinated strategy among the individual Bishops that envisions two approaches:
(a) On the doctrinal level, it should be remembered that active membership in Freemasonry by a member of the faithful is forbidden because of the irreconcilability between Catholic doctrine and Freemasonry (cf. Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, “Declaration on Masonic Associations” [1983], and the guidelines published by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines in 2003). Therefore, those who are formally and knowingly enrolled in Masonic Lodges and have embraced Masonic principles fall under the provisions in the above-mentioned Declaration. These measures also apply to any clerics enrolled in Freemasonry.
(b) On the pastoral level, the Dicastery proposes that the Philippine Bishops conduct catechesis accessible to the people and in all parishes regarding the reasons for the irreconcilability between the Catholic Faith and Freemasonry.
Finally, the Philippine Bishops are invited to consider whether they should make a public pronouncement on the matter.
Ex Audientia die 13.11.2023
Franciscus // Víctor Card. Fernández
You have heard that it was said:
- Motivations cannot be questioned! This is such a good document! Period!
Well, let me try:
You will recall the rambunctious, German, “Synodale Weg” (synodal path). The Germans moved ahead with their doctrinal and moral heresy without waiting for Pope Francis and the world-wide Synod on Synodality. They were reprimanded by Bergoglio, not about any doctrinal or moral heresy, but because they were walking alone in the world, not waiting for the rest of the world, failing to emphasize walking together. The idea is that if we’re to launch ourselves into doctrinal and moral heresy, we should do so together, with the world-wide Synod on Synodality.
Forbidding Catholics to be Freemasons as coming from Bergoglio, is, in my opinion, not any disagreement with any Freemasons, but an expression of umbrage with the mere fact of there being a significant number of people not under the direction of Bergoglio. Surely, Bergoglio thinks that f there’s to be a Synod on Synodality, it doesn’t help if there’s competition with ways and means, even if it’s to the same ends. Freemasons may embrace the same principles as the Synod on Synodality in relativizing all truth, but they are not submissive enough to Bergoglio.
The document above cites a very short statement of the then Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith regarding the mortally sinful nature of a Catholic having membership in the Freemasons, and the fact that such persons are forbidden from the reception of Holy Communion. But who’s going to look for an explanation of the cause of the mortally sinful nature of such a membership? Here’s an explanation published in l’Osservatore Romano and signed with three asterisks (***), which refer to the Cardinal Prefect of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith at the time, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger. Here, in full:
REFLECTIONS A YEAR AFTER DECLARATION
OF CONGREGATION FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH
Irreconcilability between Christian faith and Freemasonry
On 26 November 1983 the S. Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (S.C.D.F.) published a declaration on Masonic associations (cf. AAS LXXVI [1984], 300). At a distance of little more than a year from its publication, it may be useful to outline briefly the significance of this document.
Since the Church began to declare her mind concerning Freemasonry, her negative judgment has been inspired by many reasons, both practical and doctrinal. She judged Freemasonry not merely responsible for subversive activity in her regard, but from the earliest pontifical documents on the subject and in particular in the Encyclical Humanum Genus by Leo XIII (20 April 1884), the Magisterium of the Church has denounced in Freemasonry philosophical ideas and moral conceptions opposed to Catholic doctrine. For Leo XIII, they essentially led back to a rationalistic naturalism, the inspiration of its plans and activities against the Church. In his Letter to the Italian people Custodi (8 December 1892), he wrote: «Let us remember that Christianity and Freemasonry are essentially irreconcilable, so that enrolment in one means separation from the other».
One could not therefore omit to take into consideration the positions of Freemasonry from the doctrinal point of view, when, during the years from 1970‑1980, the Sacred Congregation was in correspondence with some Episcopal Conferences especially interested in this problem because of the dialogue undertaken by some Catholic personages with representatives of some Masonic lodges which declared that they were not hostile, but were even favourable, to the Church.
Now more thorough study has led the S.C.D.F. to confirm its conviction of the basic irreconcilability between the principles of Freemasonry and those of the Christian faith.
Prescinding therefore from consideration of the practical attitude of the various lodges, whether of hostility towards the Church or not, with its declaration of 26 November 1983 the S.C.D.F. intended to take a position on the most profound and, for that matter, the most essential part of the problem: that is, on the level of the irreconcilability of the principles, which means on the level of the faith, and its moral requirements.
Beginning from this doctrinal point of view, and in continuity, moreover, with the traditional position of the Church as the aforementioned documents of Leo XIII attest, there arise then the necessary practical consequences, which are valid for all those faithful who may possibly be members of Freemasonry.
Nevertheless, with regard to the affirmation of the irreconcilability between the principles of Freemasonry and the Catholic faith, from some parts are now heard the objection that essential to Freemasonry would be precisely the fact that it does not impose any «principles», in the sense of a philosophical or religious position which is binding for all of its members, but rather that it gathers together, beyond the limits of the various religions and world views, men of good will on the basis of humanistic values comprehensible and acceptable to everyone.
Freemasonry would constitute a cohesive element for all those who believe in the Architect of the Universe and who feel committed with regard to those fundamental moral orientations which are defined, for example, in the Decalogue; it would not separate anyone from his religion, but on the contrary, would constitute an incentive to embrace that religion more strongly.
The multiple historical and philosophical problems which are hidden in these affirmations cannot be discussed here. It is certainly not necessary to emphasize that following the Second Vatican Council the Catholic Church too is pressing in the direction of collaboration between all men of good will. Nevertheless, becoming a member of Freemasonry decidedly exceeds this legitimate collaboration and has a much more important and final significance than this.
Above all, it must be remembered that the community of «Freemasons» and its moral obligations are presented as a progressive system of symbols of an extremely binding nature. The rigid rule of secrecy which prevails there further strengthens the weight of the interaction of signs and ideas. For the members this climate of secrecy entails above all the risk of becoming an instrument of strategies unknown to them.
Even if it is stated that relativism is not assumed as dogma, nevertheless there is really proposed a relativistic symbolic concept and therefore the relativizing value of such a moral-ritual community, far from being eliminated, proves on the contrary to be decisive.
In this context the various religious communities to which the individual members of the lodges belong can be considered only as simple institutionalizations of a broader and elusive truth. The value of these institutionalizations therefore appears to be inevitably relative with respect to this broader truth, which instead is shown in the community of good will, that is, in the Masonic fraternity.
In any case, for a Catholic Christian, it is not possible to live his relation with God in a twofold mode, that is, dividing it into a supraconfessional humanitarian form and an interior Christian form. He cannot cultivate relations of two types with God, nor express his relation with the Creator through symbolic forms of two types. That would be something completely different from that collaboration, which to him is obvious, with all those who are committed to doing good, even if beginning from different principles. On the one hand, a Catholic Christian cannot at the same time share in the full communion of Christian brotherhood and, on the other, look upon his Christian brother, from the Masonic perspective, as an «outsider».
Even when, as stated earlier, there were no explicit obligation to profess relativism as doctrine, nevertheless the relativizing force of such a brotherhood, by its very intrinsic logic, has the capacity to transform the structure of the act of faith in such a radical way as to become unacceptable to a Christian, «to whom his faith is dear» (Leo XIII).
Moreover, this distortion of the fundamental structure of the act of faith is carried out for the most part in a gentle way and without being noticed: firm adherence to the truth of God, revealed in the Church, becomes simple membership, in an institution, considered as a particular expressive form alongside other expressive forms, more or less just as possible and valid, of man’s turning toward the eternal.
The temptation to go in this direction is much stronger today, inasmuch as it corresponds fully to certain convictions prevalent in contemporary mentality. The opinion that truth cannot be known is a typical characteristic of our era and, at the same time, an essential element in its general crisis.
Precisely by considering all these elements, the Declaration of the Sacred Congregation affirms that membership in Masonic associations «remains forbidden by the Church», and the faithful who enrolls in them «are in a state of grave sin and may not receive Holy Communion».
With this last statement, the Sacred Congregation points out to the faithful that this membership objectively constitutes a grave sin and by specifying that the members of a Masonic association may not receive Holy Communion, it intends to enlighten the conscience of the faithful about a grave consequence which must derive from their belonging to a Masonic lodge.
Finally, the Sacred Congregation declares that «it is not within the competence of local ecclesiastical authorities to give a judgment on the nature of Masonic associations which would imply a derogation from what has been decided above». In this regard, the text also refers to the Declaration of 17 February 1981, which already reserved to the Apostolic See all pronouncements on the nature of these associations which may have implied derogations from the Canon Law then in force (Can. 2335). In the same way, the new document issued by the S.C.D.F. in November 1983 expresses identical intentions of reserve concerning pronouncements which would differ from the judgment expressed here on the irreconcilability of Masonic principles with the Catholic faith, on the gravity of the act of joining a lodge and on the consequences which arise from it for receiving Holy Communion. This disposition points out that, despite the diversity which may exist among Masonic obediences, in particular in their declared attitude towards the Church, the Apostolic See discerns some common principles in them which require the same evaluation by all ecclesiastical authorities.
In making this Declaration, the S.C.D.F. has not intended to disown the efforts made by those who, with the due authorization of this Congregation, have sought to establish a dialogue with representatives of Freemasonry. But since there was the possibility of spreading among the faithful the erroneous opinion that membership in a Masonic lodge was lawful, it felt that it was its duty to make known to them the authentic thought of the Church in this regard and to warn them about a membership incompatible with the Catholic faith.
Only Jesus Christ is, in fact, the Teacher of Truth, and only in him can Christians find the light and the strength to live according to God’s plan, working for the true good of their brethren.
[Article from L’Osservatore Romano dated March 11, 1985]
So, again, Bergoglio agrees with the central thesis here, although from his polar opposite perspective:
- “For a Catholic Christian, it is not possible to live his relation with God in a twofold mode, that is, dividing it into a supraconfessional humanitarian form [Freemasonry] and an interior Christian form [Synod on Synodality Bergoglians]”.
All Catholics, for Bergoglio, must submit only to the Synod on Synodality; no other fraternity is possible.
Those who belong to the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church believe in Jesus Christ, the absolute Truth Incarnate. Jesus is not relativistic. Jesus is not an opinion. Jesus is not outdated. Jesus is the one and only Living Truth, Eternal God.
Those who insist that Bergoglio has the same Catholic take on Freemasonry as did Ratzinger and so many previous popes are the very hyper-papalist-apologists who deny what Bergoglio is saying and doing, thus insulting him.
It’s like those who say that Islamicists are always and everywhere members of “The Religion of Peace.” If you insist on that with them, thus going against the Qu’ran, will you not be cut down for having insulted them?
Good Catholics reject both the Synodal Way and Freemasonry.
Good Catholics follow Jesus Christ, the Divine Son of the Living God.
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Filed under Free exercise of religion, Freemasons, Pope Francis
FBI, America’s friend or foe? LifeSite from Treehouse. Heading to Martial Law?
That article is a must read, or listen, as LifeSite has an extremely useful “listen to the article” tool.
That article at LifeSite has a couple of in-article time-queued YouTube videos of Christopher Wray from November 1, 2023. I had listened to those the other day, and I had heard what Wray said, but this time a couple of sentences of his stood out for me:
- “This is not a time for panic, but it is a time for vigilance. We shouldn’t stop conducting our daily lives, going to schools, houses of worship, but we should be vigilant.”
What that means is that attack is not considered indisputably imminent, is in motion, or is already taking place (DEFCON 1) at least that he’s going to tell us, and so there are no forced lockdowns and martial law right this moment, but we are absolutely to be [hyper]vigilant. For a politicized FBI to come up with that, against their own politics, is noteworthy.
What Wray’s seemingly out-of-character statement means is that we’re also to be at the ready in any number of ways. It doesn’t matter if Wray’s statement is simply an excuse for empire building, such as in: “Give us billions of dollars more for our budget because, like, times are dangerous!” What the truth of it is doesn’t matter. False flags can also be used to force lockdowns. In the case of martial law, there’s no more church-going allowed. Curfew means you’re shot on sight. Ready for that?
Even though Wray throws a measured tantrum to insist that we’re NOT at that stage, right now, the point is that threw the measured tantrum. He brought it up. That’s what’s being considered. Again, whether that’s all false-flag stuff, I don’t know. But I think the question is valid: Are you ready for that?
Perhaps I’m uselessly nostalgic, but can’t we have more of this:
But we might just see some acquisition of goods in times of lockdown:
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Church collections: Night-deposit-box best practices. What’s the point? Where’s Jesus?
That’s our parish’s counting room in that video above. There are nice church lady counters. There are those who pretend to surveil over the counting, with guns, the whole schtick. What’s lacking in the video above is that our parish has been asked to consider getting a courier service, because after all that counting, a fake courier might show up to assist us to making the trip to the night-deposit-box at the bank, sequestering the old buckeroos instead to a non-bank a non-bank “laundry”.
Just think, we could get Loomis or Brinks, with all their dip and velcro and guns and training!
Just my opinion, but that’s a little over the top for our just slick enough operations at the parish here in the ever so sleepy Moonshine back-ridges deep in Appalachia. But, let’s review the status quo, just so we get the idea. We want to be fair, after all.
- In the city of Andrews, in Cherokee County, there’s a Saturday night Mass. After the collection is counted, I’ve been taking it myself to the night-deposit-box of the local bank for very many years. That’s much safer than leaving it up in the church as bait for a break-in and much better than bringing it home as bait for a home-invasion. And anyway, here’s a look in the picture below at that night-deposit-box from the front door of the rectory (and yes, my own security lights just about light up the bank at night). It’s not a big deal:
- Now up in the city of Robbinsville, across the mountain, in Graham County, Holy Mass is early Sunday morning, after the parish’s second Holy Hour of Adoration and Confessions. Until very recently, it’s always been the practice (since the church opened in 1983 as far as I know) that parishioners, usually very capable retired military officers (one bank president as well) all well accomplished in 2nd Amendment activities, would, after the counting of that Sunday’s collection, drop off that collection at the local bank’s night-deposit-box. But now, after a transition period with them dying or moving away to be with the kids, I’ve started to take the collection to the bank myself. This is a daytime drop. No big deal.
- Back down in Andrews of Cherokee County, there’s a Sunday daytime Mass, after which it has been “tradition” since time immemorial as far as I know, for the counters to bring the collection to the bank pictured above, across from the rectory, during the day. But I’ve already been taking the collection to the bank myself for some time. This is also a daytime drop. No big deal.
But, as I say, it happens that someone with insurance-esque concerns says flat out that if just one of the laity were ever to bring the collection to the night-deposit-box, day or night (preferably not night), that’s compromising that person’s safety. So, in that circumstance, it is said, at least two people are wanted to bring the collection to the bank. It is to weep.
When it comes to robbery over against a robber with a gun who doesn’t care if he’s on a dozen cameras and just so doesn’t care if you have a gun, having more than one person doing the bank-drop isn’t going to make it all better. That’ll just be two or more people whose safety is compromised instead of one.
Full disclosure: pretty much everyone in my mountain parish carries a gun (even multiple), also to church. But after the best-practices proclamation about safety, it would be especially negligent of me if I were ever to send any number of people or bring others with me to the night-deposit-box at the bank. So, it’s all on me. Parishioners are not at risk regarding any collection . Nor do I consider myself to be at risk.
I do know I am naïve, but I’ve done something about it. Not to brag, but I study and practice situational awareness. I’m good at it, meaning I’m aware of how to get out of possibly dangerous situations before I get into them. And I know well how to defend myself. But training is never perfect for anyone. Training will fail to cover some circumstance. Practitioners will have lacunae in their muscle-memory arsenal. But we all live and we all die, regardless, right?
Here’s the facts: I would literally die of embarrassment if I had to hand over the collection to a couple of guys in all their dip and velcro and armor with pistols and rifles… And they would hate this as well. They would say: “This is so embarrassing. Why are they making you do this, man? Isn’t the bank right across from the rectory? We feel sorry for you, man. We’re bankrupting your parish banking your collection.”
What’s a courier service anyway? In this case, for insurance best practices, a courier service is licensed, bonded and insured, has multiple armed agents with an armored marked or unmarked vehicle, that is, get this, available for contracting out to non-financial-institutions like churches, for entire weekends, consistently, year-in, year-out. Who does that? We’re in the middle of nowhere.
Having an armored vehicle come up from Atlanta, over from Chattanooga, down from Knoxville, whatever, is gong to pile up insanely expensive mileage. It’s not for five minutes. It’s on the clock for the entire weekend, and it’s double pay for weekends. The drive to the parish, the overnight in two hotel rooms, all day the next day in multiple counties, two highly trained individuals, all their associated costs. We’re talking many thousands of dollars per weekend.
Do you know how much we made in our last Saturday night collection? $166 bucks.
So, seriously? Is this sarcasm? Some kind of joke? Do I hear laughter? I don’t get it. It’s like a set-up, a self-fulling prophesy:
- If you flaunt like you’ve got a billion dollars, you will die as you brag, because people will kill to get their hands on that kind of money. If you have a courier service waiting at each Mass, whadayathink is gonna happen? Even if it’s undercover, everyone knows what’s happening. Around here, law enforcement, who talk with thuggies all the time, will stop you if you are an unknown entity so as to find out what you’re up to. I experienced it when I got here. They’ve told me anecdotes since then. Having couriers puts a target on our backs.
Note to thugs and buffoons reading this. Don’t think you’re going to get $166 bucks. Lots of that consists of checks. So, useable money is almost nothing.
Here’s our considered response: This parish refuses to melt away in fear like tender snowflakes falling lightly onto a hot pie of fresh cow manure. Can you smell the resultant BS steam? Lovely.
I guess tender snowflakes think bringing money to the bank is always and everywhere like this event in South Africa:
Anyway, just to ask the obvious question:
How would that courier drama work out, you know, with two guys with all their dip and velcro, hands on their pistols, AKs strapped to their chests, their armored vehicle supplanting handicapped parking? It would all be so absurd that not even one parishioner would return, ever.
- Is that the point?
Oh, and, no small matter here, we’re the smallest parish in North America, and that $166 dollar collection is from our largest attended Mass. We would be instantly bankrupt in just one weekend.
- Is that the point?
If it really is so dangerous to drop $166 bucks at the bank, well then, the situation is truly terrible, too risky for life and limb. It’s better to shutter the parish, go to bed, and die of fear.
- Is that the point?
What’s really going on here? It sounds like insurance-best-practices social engineering trying to get rid of high risk customers without seeming to violate the Constitution. There are so many attacks these days on Jews and Catholics, on their synagogues and churches, what with Gaza and Jane’s Revenge, that it’s just not worth it to have Jews and Catholics as insurance customers. If life is made too difficult with best-practices enforcement, those dang Jews and those dang Catholics will just drop their policies and go to other companies. “Use a courier service!” chuckle chuckle chuckle
But is there some other social engineering from an unexpected source going on here, you know, which permits falling into that insurance-best-practices baiting?
Here’s the deal: I’m happy to bring all the collections to the bank. But ask me to fret about it? I think I’ll worry more about the two or three dollars we get in the collection when more protection is demanded by the same tender snowflakes for Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament on my Communion calls and Last Rites calls in some of the most dangerous back-ridge enclaves in Appalachia, which, mind you, are not dangerous at all to me in the least, because… I know the people there. I take care of them. They see me helping out the poor and sick. They are the Lord’s Little Flock. It’s the same with the bank. Potential robbers know me well. We leave well enough alone. They know to choose an easier target. People fall to insurance-best-practices oppression when they don’t care at all about Jesus anymore. Money is more protected than Jesus.
Oh, because I’m sure all this is about insurance best-practices, I’ll add that I do have great training and the highest level of the best liability insurance with the best lawyers around, with no cost to anyone but me (and a beloved donor). I’d rather eat the cost of all sorts of things for the sake of keeping the parish open. But insurance best-practices seem to be social-engineering to make sure parishes close down. I’m not playing that game.
Bringing Jesus to parishioners in Mass and outside of Mass is the point of a parish. And you can take that NOT to the bank, but right to heaven.
Trying to keep this parish open is the purpose of this post. I just want to do the right thing.
Let everyone know:
Filed under Free exercise of religion
“Catholics don’t run away.” But maybe insurance best practices will kill you.
I was once speaking to a (cardinal) (arch)bishop somewhere in the world about some of the rather aggressive events I was personally witnessing as wrought by various idiot anti-black, anti-Catholic, anti-Jewish groups ’round about, not to mention the aggressiveness of the local druggies. He stated that:
- “Catholics don’t run away.”
Notice that there’s no punctuation in the middle of that, such as: “Catholics! Don’t run away!” The (cardinal) (arch)bishop was not issuing an imperative command. His was a flat description of life:
- “Catholics just plain do not run away.”
I was so happy he said that. You have to know, I wasn’t complaining, I’m always having fun when it comes to anti-Catholics or those who threaten to erase our existence. Unless it’s a serious discussion on faith, people have basically given up on trying to mess with me on the street. All quiet. All peaceful. All good. There may be gunshots daily in this town, but not at me, not recently. So, happy, happy.
It’s not the first time that bit about “Catholics don’t run away” was told to me by a (cardinal) (arch)bishop somewhere in the world. When, in teaching at a certain international seminary when there was a coup d’état underway, orchestrated at the parliament right next to the seminary, so that, with me as the exception, 100% of the seminarians, faculty, staff, and administration fleeing the country, I stayed behind (and behind the last checkpoint) to keep things together. I had so much fun. Why run? And anyway, there’s no way the bishop was going to recall me. Instead, after a couple of months of this situation he ever so flatly stated:
- “Catholics don’t run away.”
Of course, my experience of any violence anywhere in the world is nothing. I’m not sequestered in a tunnel. I’m not right now tied to a wheelchair. I’m still alive. Meanwhile, there are wars and genocides and horrific torture being perpetrated right around the world. And in a world of all this violence…
…in a world of all this violence… we’re told by those who are not like the good bishops mentioned above to be more insurance-best-practices minded, which basically means don’t get out of bed in the morning, don’t ever risk being met with any danger whatsoever, ever, lest insurance rates go up or the insurance is just cancelled altogether. And if you do get up in the morning, well well, the insurance companies will just have to shut you down then. There’s no way they will tolerate you going against what insurance companies recommend for best practices.
- Wear a face-diaper
- Get a fake “vaccine” that will end up killing you or severely injuring you
- Close the churches
- Forbid the Sacraments, especially Last Rites, and Confession, and Holy Communion, and…
- No weddings, no funerals
- Don’t visit people in their homes
- Don’t go to the hospitals
- Don’t go to nursing homes
- Don’t go to rehabs
- Stay in bed
- Just die, or we will kill you
It’s my contention that big-insurance is mixed up in the social engineering scam, trying to shut down synagogues and churches, making it impossible for synagogues and churches to thrive when burdened with all the stifling best-practices and recommendations. The reason to close them down, losing customers? This isn’t some complicated conspiracy theory. It’s just money. So many synagogues and churches are now being attacked because of, say, the war in Gaza or Jane’s Revenge or some such thing, that it’s cost effective to lose synagogues and churches as insurance customers.
When you pay protection to the mafia, it’s not about protection for you; it’s about payments to them. It’s not about protecting what you do. It’s about protecting what they do in collecting money. I’ll give an example of this in the next post. It’s sooo disgusting.
The Apostles ran away from Calvary, right? They weren’t much Catholic just then. At least John came back to stand with Mary Immaculate, to stand with Jesus. And John, against all insurance-best-practices, was then finally able to say as well:
- “Catholics don’t run away.”
Let everyone know:
Filed under Free exercise of religion
ARISE! LET US BE GOING! 