Tag Archives: Bald Eagle

Some birds in my parish

Bald Eagle, a frequent sight, for me symbolic of Saint John the Evangelist, but, here in America, also a symbol of patriotism, a virtue of piety if truth be told, as described as a virtue of justice by Saint Thomas Aquinas. Lots of those in the parish.

Wild Turkey, which always reminds of our forefathers and Thanksgiving. Quiet foragers, stately. I’ve counted as many as 90 together at the right time and place.

Turkey vultures with their red-heads and huge wingspans taking over roadways over roadkill and sailing effortlessly in their “kettles” as they spy for more to scavenge. Necessary. Helpful.

Humming bird, smallest, meanest, most violent, most beautiful, fastest, noisiest, most helpful in their own way with pollination and such.

Then their are the song-birds, the varieties of finches and chickadees and sparrows.

There are crows and ravens, and the waaaaay too opinionated blue-jays.

You thought I was talking about birds. Them too. But I was talking about parishioners. All good.

You know, one kind of bird we do not at all have in the parish are ostriches. Nobody is wanting to escape reality. We look to our Risen Jesus, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, we see His wounds. And then everything is right with the world again, because we have our souls pointed to the heavens.

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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

🛞Screech!🛞Look! Cross & Freedom!

Racing at highway speed, this fellow was seen yesterday, Vigil of Our Lady of Guadalupe, across the mountain, up in Graham County, causing me instantaneously to screech to a stop safely just off the road.

Today, on the great Feast:

  • Las Mañanitas a la Virgen de Guadalupe, followed by Holy Mass.
  • Procession with our Lady from one end of town to another, hopefully “blue-lit”, followed again by Holy Mass. I’m gonna try to walk this.

There are…. FLOWERS! YIKES!

Pictures later this evening…

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“Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest” So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place.

  • Mark 4:30 The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. 31 Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” 32 So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place.

This retreat, if you will, of Jesus and the Apostles, turns immediately into teaching and healing the vast crowds, and the multiplication of loaves, which, of course, points to the Institution of the Eucharist. Jesus knew that would happen.

Meanwhile, on the rare occasion, various parishioners up in Graham County will be Jesus for me, as it were, and bring me out on a pontoon boat atop Lake Santeetlah for a bit of a retreat. Their provenance varies as much as they do, from Atlanta, Miami, Cleveland. Very relaxing. Well appreciated.

Like clockwork, there are always questions to be fielded. I try to interject some distractions, such as with the picture up top of this post: “Look at that nest! Is an osprey bigger than an eagle?” But inevitably, questions go back to Sacred Scripture, Sacred Tradition and the extraordinary interventions of the Magisterium of the Church. The Lord’s Little Flock is so very hungry.

Then, on Sunday, Adoration. There were many for Adoration before Mass up in Graham County (starting at 8:00 AM), but I didn’t count as I was busy with Confessions. Earlier, starting at 6:00 AM down in Cherokee County, we had an all-time record of attendance for Adoration, I counted while going from the Confessional to the sanctuary for Benediction. The angels are at work.

Meanwhile, a bald eagle is bigger than an osprey, but an osprey can hold its own.

Meanwhile, amidst the mayhem in the world and amongst some individuals in the Church:

This post, perhaps, a bit of a tumultuous retreat…

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Eagle sighting, every day, but called “The Last”

Not my picture. I couldn’t get a picture of the one I saw, as I was driving at the time and he had been right over the top of the car. Massive white head, gargantuan wingspan, white tail. Yep.

The Bald Eagle, symbol of strength in freedom with God-given rights in the rule of law enshrined in the Constitution is refreshing to see amidst all the betrayal of these USA and of our military. There are so many, so high up, who are treasonous, who are intent on destroying this country, and for what? A couple of bucks from big money with which they can eat ice cream cones and drink from sippy cups while proving senility and dementia as marxist college kids do up subversion for him?

That’s a perpetual rant going on in my heart. But that betrayal of the “powers that be”, that violence against everyone from conception to death, dragging the world into persecution of the Church, fades into insignificance compared to the scandal and destruction of eternal souls by the pastors of the Church.

But that apostle and evangelist who has an eagle as a symbol always has encouragement for us daily at what is called the Last Gospel, exactly parallel with the Proto-Evangelium, the First Gospel of Genesis 3:15 and exactly parallel with the the Apocalypse, and is the Prologue of his Gospel:

  • In principio erat Verbum et Verbum erat apud Deum et Deus erat Verbum. Hoc erat in principio apud Deum. Omnia per Ipsum facta sunt, et sine Ipso factum est nihil quod factum est. In Ipso vita erat, et vita erat Lux hominum. Et Lux in tenebris lucet et tenebrae eam non comprehenderunt. Fuit homo missus a Deo cui nomen erat Iohannes. Hic venit in testimonium ut testimonium perhiberet de lumine ut omnes crederent per Illum. Non erat ille lux, sed ut testimonium perhiberet de lumine. Erat lux vera quae illuminat omnem hominem venientem in mundum. In mundo erat, et mundus per ipsum factus est, et mundus eum non cognovit. In propria venit et sui eum non receperunt. Quotquot autem receperunt eum dedit eis potestatem filios Dei, fieri his qui credunt in nomine Eius. Qui non ex sanguinibus, neque ex voluntate carnis, neque ex voluntate viri, sed ex Deo nati sunt. ET VERBUM CARO FACTUM EST, ET HABITABIT IN NOBIS et vidimus gloriam eius, gloriam quasi unigeniti a Patre, plenum gratiae et veritatis.
  • In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him: and without him was made nothing that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came for a witness, to give testimony of the light, that all men might believe through him. He was not the light, but was to give testimony of the light. That was the true light, which enlighteneth every man that cometh into this world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, he gave them power to be made the sons of God, to them that believe in his name. Who are born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as it were of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

When I see a Bald Eagle, that’s what flashes through heart and soul and mind.

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(5) Memorial Day [end of day – learning by mistakes made]

Researching away on what looked like official military websites giving proper instruction for half-mast timings and re-hoisting, I found out I had intended to do everything wrongly. Due diligence when to 82nd Airborne personnel, who told me to my face that I was all wrong, that although I was right about slowly taking down the flags to half-mast as sunrise, the flags were NOT to go back up at Noon, but rather only at sunset. Thus, the picture above. I could include pictures of all the rest of the town flags but you get the idea.

Also, I stand corrected on another matter of flag etiquette, not that I didn’t know it, but I was concentrating on something else, that is, flags which were specifically marking the fallen on memorial day. Both the U.S. flag and the MIA-POW flag were lowered, but I didn’t bother with the other flags (not pictured, such as the N.C. State flag). My mistake, made here and at the highway-entrance-to-Andrews flag (the rest were on their own), was to permit a situation in which the U.S. flag was lower than other flags. That’s about enough to get me shot. But I’m learning!

The project now is to get new ropes and replace the present ropes. We’ll need a bucket truck for that. That will involve politics, etc. You would think that this would be a regularly attended matter of honor. But these are the days we live in.

Meanwhile, when I was re-hoisting the flag up church, I got another fly by right close to flag and cross, by the mottled juvenile Bald Eagle whom I had met up with twice earlier in the day. He perched just down the street to surveil my activities. The picture doesn’t do justice to his wing span.

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(4) Memorial Day [Bald Eagle at church]

The flag at church this morning was also lowered to half-mast. As I did that, a huge eagle got my sight, a juvenile Bald Eagle. I immediately thought of the 16 year old KIA whose grave I had just then visited at the cemetery.

That picture doesn’t do the size of this juvenile Bald Eagle justice, as he’s waaaay up in the sky, far from the tree top you see in the corner. The juveniles are mottled as you can see this one is.

Most of the vets who are KIA in military cemeteries are juveniles who fought for our lives, our freedom. The Bald Eagle – as the whole world knows – is the symbol of our freedom to live.

Then I saw him over the rectory…

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Bald Eagle sighting above the Rectory

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Standing next to the American Flag in the driveway, this is best picture I could get of a magnificent Bald Eagle. Sorry it’s not clearer. But my heart thrilled to see this representation of my own patriotic spirit.

On Eagles Wings?

  • “You have seen for yourselves how […] I bore you up on eagle wings and brought you here to myself. (Exodus 19:4)
  • “They that hope in the LORD will renew their strength, they will soar as with eagles’ wings; They will run and not grow weary, walk and not grow faint.” (Isaiah 40:31)

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