working on....
What does Michael Moore have to say about THIS? Part II
Courtesy nytimes.com, below is all business-related content of Trump's press conference speech of last week. Pay particular attention to the last paragraph, which specifically mentions jobs in Michigan, Michael Moore's home state, which he supposedly has been so concerned about. It even mentions General Motors, the company that "Roger & Me" was centered on, Roger Smith being the CEO. It even mentions Ford abandoning plans for Mexico, which was the issue which "Roger & Me" focused on...jobs moving from Michigan to Mexico. Trump is moving jobs from Mexico to Michigan and still Mr. Moore is unhappy with him!
What "Roger & Me," really is, and what all Moore's films really are, is a diatribe against capitalism. He is an admitted socialist. Yes, he wants jobs, but he wants the government to provide them....and everything else apparently. The same people who scream "Freedom! Freedom!," don't seem to realize (perhaps the intellectuals do, but not the average college kid holding a placard) that with EVERY government regulation, comes one LESS freedom. When the state gives, it is in control. Let us remember the words at every traditional Catholic Mass, during the Washing of the Hands, from Psalm 25: "In whose hands are iniquities, their right hand is filled with gifts." In one line, we have our description and indictment of socialism. Oh, the genius of God's word!
President Trump is Moore's latest male obsession of hatred. I'm no psychologist, but this guy sure seems to have Daddy issues. He has a habit of focusing on male figures to an irrational, obsessive degree. He did it to Roger Smith, to Charlton Heston in "Bowling for Columbine," and now his latest Dark Lord of All Evil is Donald Trump. He seeks power over these individuals, even to the point of lies and distortions. Its sad, really, because Moore is quite talented, perhaps a genius. His films are riveting, he re-created the documentary genre, everyone copies him...if he put his talents to some good use, he could actually make the world a better place. I do have to give him credit for shedding light on some very real problems but at the end of the day, he is a socialist propagandist, waving his flag at just the right time...when Americans have become terribly vulnerable to it. It is a war we are fighting and Moore knows this. He is waging it and we must also. Remember the words of Saint Paul:
"Put you on the armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the deceits of the devil. For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood; but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the world of this darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in the high places. Therefore take unto you the armour of God, that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and to stand in all things perfect. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of justice, and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace: In all things taking the shield of faith, wherewith you may be able to extinguish all the fiery darts of the most wicked one. And take unto you the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit (which is the word of God)." Ephesians 6:11
Mr. Moore came out with a film entitled "Michael Moore in Trumpland," just a few weeks before the election. This film followed Moore interviewing Trump supporters (not very articulate ones) and performing a one-man anti-Trump show. Didn't swing the election, did it? Moore's latest fun is, "Do these 10 things and Trump will be toast." After Trump's pronouncement that jobs will now be coming in droves to Moore's beloved home state, it took the filmmaker all of 5 days to publish his oh so shiny & streamlined set of directives, apparently to make sure these jobs get immediately directed back to Mexico. Has he turned his back on Flint after all these years? He and his friends have also come out with something called "The Resistance Calendar," which provides local event info for those who oppose Trump. How about a Catholic response to Moore's "10 Things?" He was actually raised Catholic, once considered becoming a priest and used Christianity to attack capitalism in his film "Capitalism: A Love Story," complete with several interviews of Catholic priests. But we know the truth: the state is no friend of the Church. So what 10 things can we do this coming Lent for the good of souls and the good of our country? I can certainly come up with a few....and you'll have to stay tuned for Part III to see some of my ideas!
"No one can be at the same time a sincere Catholic and a true socialist." Pope Pius XI
Business-Related Content of President Trump's Press Conference Address, February 16, 2017:
"The stock market has hit record numbers, as you know. And there has been a tremendous surge of optimism in the business world, which is — to me means something much different than it used to. It used to mean, 'Oh, that’s good.' Now it means, 'That’s good for jobs.' Very different. Plants and factories are already starting to move back into the United States, and big league — Ford, General Motors, so many of them...
We’ve withdrawn from the job-killing disaster known as Trans Pacific Partnership. We’re going to make trade deals but we’re going to have one on one deals, bilateral. We’re going to have one on one deals. We’ve directed the elimination of regulations that undermine manufacturing and call for expedited approval of the permits needed for America and American infrastructure and that means plant, equipment, roads, bridges, factories. People take 10, 15, 20 years to get disapproved for a factory. They go in for a permit, it’s many, many years. And then at the end of the process — they spend 10s of millions of dollars on nonsense and at the end of the process, they get rejected...
Now, they may be rejected with me but it’s going to be a quick rejection. Not going to take years. But mostly it’s going to be an acceptance. We want plants built and we want factories built and we want the jobs. We don’t want the jobs going to other countries. We’ve imposed a hiring freeze on nonessential federal workers. We’ve imposed a temporary moratorium on new federal regulations. We’ve issued a game-changing new rule that says for each one new regulation, two old regulations must be eliminated. Makes sense. Nobody’s ever seen regulations like we have. You go to other countries and you look at indexes (ph) they have and you say 'let me see your regulations' and they’re a fraction, just a tiny fraction of what we have. And I want regulations because I want safety, I want environmental — all environmental situations to be taken properly care of. It’s very important to me. But you don’t need four or five or six regulations to take care of the same thing....
We have also taken steps to begin construction of the Keystone Pipeline and Dakota Access Pipelines. Thousands and thousands of jobs, and put new buy American measures in place to require American steel for American pipelines. In other words, they build a pipeline in this country, and we use the powers of government to make that pipeline happen, we want them to use American steel. And they are willing to do that, but nobody ever asked before I came along. Even when this order was drawn and they didn’t say that. And I’m reading the order, I’m saying, why aren’t we using American steel? And they said, that’s a good idea, we put it in....
So we’ve begun preparing to repeal and replace Obamacare, and are deep in the midst of negotiations on a very historic tax reform to bring our jobs back, to bring our jobs back to this country. Big league. It’s already happening. But big league...
Jobs have already started to surge. Since my election, Ford announced it will abandon its plans to build a new factory in Mexico, and will instead invest $700 million in Michigan, creating many, many jobs. Fiat Chrysler announced it will invest $1 billion in Ohio and Michigan, creating 2,000 new American jobs. They were with me a week ago....General Motors likewise committed to invest billions of dollars in its American manufacturing operation, keeping many jobs here that were going to leave. And if I didn’t get elected, believe me, they would have left. And these jobs and these things that I’m announcing would never have come here. Intel just announced that it will move ahead with a new plant in Arizona that it probably was never going to move ahead with. And that will result in at least 10,000 American jobs. Walmart announced it will create 10,000 jobs in the United States just this year because of our various plans and initiatives. There will be many, many more, many more, these are a few that we’re naming."
What does Michael Moore have to say about THIS?
Trump announced at his press conference yesterday that he'll be bringing jobs back to Michigan. The vehement Trump-hater was made famous by his (questionable) film "Roger & Me," which dealt with the economic demise of Flint, Michigan. Mr. Moore, you want jobs in your home state so much.....here you go! A campaign promise kept!
In God's Image and Likeness...
We are fundamentally social creatures. We are not meant to be alone. The Father decided that Adam should have a "helper" and that they should bear children. All sins are considered by the Church to be sins against the community, that is one reason we confess. We are not even meant to keep our deepest and darkest secrets to ourselves. This is how much we are woven into the fabric of humanity. Many of our challenges in this testing ground which determines our eternal fate, called earth, involve how we relate to others, how much we love them....how much we are willing to put our own desires aside. So why did God make us social creatures? Because HE is fundamentally "social" in His own nature, three in one, Father, Son and Holy Ghost....because we are made in His Image and Likeness. Its not a perfect comparison, but it is significant.
Happy Valentine's Day. Saint Valentine, pray for us. Lord have mercy on us for our sins against chastity. May we, in our own small way, console Your Heart on this day by remaining pure in mind and body. May we continue to be a witness to the virtue of chastity, especially to our young people. Amen.
What is Life?
An immersion in chaos.
When I look around my house and consider how hard I try and how "wrong' everything still is, I wonder.....how does anything work in the world? I have been meditating lately on the immersive quality of life. Life is an immersion. We are placed into an environment full of the good, the bad and the ugly. Babies have an innate ability to navigate this environment. They just seem to know how to do it. It's only as adults, after developing stodgy habits and ideas, that we can begin to forget. We develop behaviors that are incompatible with life. We want to control an environment that cannot be entirely controlled. Life has its own agenda.
We'll never discover the Authentic Life if we don't understand the nature of life. We'll never survive the coming days if we are not able to accept....to embrace....chaos. We will navigate through much chaos. And as the Body of Christ, the Remnant, we can do no less than accept this task with complete joy. It is what we are given. Just as Noah navigated the tumultuous deluge...it is all for a purpose. And it is all good.
February is the Month of the Passion of Our Lord
Holy Church dedicates this month to Our Lord's Passion on that fateful Good Friday....such a terrible day, yet the day which wrought our Redemption. So how can we remember and honor His suffering this month? We honor His Passion every Friday by some act of penance and every Lent through various exercises and devotions. How then, does the month of February distinguish itself? Well, that is up to you. We are at such a juncture in human history, in the history of the Church, when we need to take the bull by the horns and create new traditions that will last perhaps, till the end of time (which, by the way, may not be too long from now).
So let's examine this month a little more closely....LENT begins exactly on March 1st, creating a nice clean cut between February and March! That means the 2 1/2-week Time of Septuagesima, our preparation for the rigors of Lent, begins about halfway through the month. What a great time to begin our commemoration of the Passion of Our Lord. I'm not going to give you any ideas. I assume if you are reading this blog, you must be intelligent enough to come up with something!
Shrove Tuesday also presents a wonderful opportunity to do a special meditation on the Passion...it is also the feast of the Holy Face of Jesus, given to Saint Veronica in the very midst of His suffering. I also am a proponent of doing penance on this day, to atone for the over-indulgences (a nice way to put it) that go on during Mardi Gras celebrations.
Some unique features of this month: a few feasts which call the New Testament to mind (Presentation, Chair of Saint Peter, Saint Matthias, Holy Face), 2 Cyrils and feasts pertaining to Lourdes and Fatima-the 2 most spectacular approved Marian apparitions of all time.
Here is a sampling of some upcoming feasts....I will begin to give the years associated with the saints, so we can have a better understanding of historical context....
2/2-Presentation of Our Lord (Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary/Candlemas)
2/3-Saint Blaise, 316-invoked for throat disorders
2/9-Saint Cyril of Alexandria, 444
2/11-Our Lady of Lourdes, 1858
2/12-Septuagesima Sunday (warning that Lent is coming!)/Seven Holy Founders Order of Servites, 1233 (trad)
2/14-Saints Cyril & Methodius, 869, 885/Saint Valentine, 269 (make reparation for sins against chastity on this day!)
2/17-Seven Holy Founders Order of Servites, 1233 (new)
2/18-Saint Bernadette, Seer of Lourdes, 1879 (lesser feast-it appears this date was chosen for its proximity to the date of the first apparition at Lourdes, but interesting to note there were in fact, 18 apparitions in total)
2/19-Sexagesima Sunday (even closer to Lent!)
2/20-Blesseds Francisco & Jancinta Marto, Seers of Fatima, 1919, 1920
2/22-Chair of Saint Peter
2/23-Saint Polycarp, Martyr, 166
2/24-Saint Matthias, Apostle-replacer of Judas
2/26-Quinquagesima Sunday (are you ready yet for Lent???)
2/28-Shrove Tuesday/Holy Face of Jesus
Waiting for the Miracle?
Leonard Cohen, may he rest in peace, has a song called "Waiting for the Miracle." The protagonist asserts that there is "nothing left to do" when things have reached an all-time low. The only option for him is to "go on waiting for the miracle to come." I don't envy this person. He does not know....the miracle has come. And it is all around him.
Christ did not come and go. He came and stayed. The Most Blessed Sacrament lies in every tabernacle. This is the Miracle. And the only Miracle that matters.
So next time you feel completely lost, completely emptied, completely bereft. Remember despair has no place in the Catholic soul. It may feel like your last shred of sanity...appeal to this Miracle which you have received in Holy Communion. And He will do the rest.
Thought for the Day.....
If you want to change your life....
You have to change your life!
Thought for the Day....
Life is like a casino.
It's always rigged in favor of the house.
I normally don't like explaining myself too much, because I never want to insult the intelligence of my audience and I also like to get people to think for themselves. What does evil do? It enslaves, it destroys the self. Good seeks to empower. It seeks no power for itself, only to assist others. I am very much of the mind...."If you wish to feed a man for a day, give him a fish. If you wish to feed him for a lifetime, teach him how to fish." However, I'd like to just say a few words about the above sentiment. There is another saying, which Pope Francis is also acquainted with, which illustrates well, what I mean. These are his words from a press conference two years ago, “God always forgives, we men forgive sometimes, but nature never forgives. If you give her a slap, she will give you one." This has everything to do with the search for the "authentic life." Okay, I'll leave the rest to you and the Holy Ghost.....
Prayer for the USA
Following is a wonderful traditional prayer (abbreviated), written specifically for the United Stated of America, in 1791 by Archbishop John Carroll. He was the first bishop, and later the first archbishop of this country, of the Archdiocese of Baltimore. His cousin was Charles Carroll, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence....
Traditional Catholic Prayer for the United States of America
We pray Thee, O almighty and eternal God, Who through Jesus Christ hast revealed Thy glory to all nations, to preserve the works of Thy mercy, that Thy Church, being spread through the whole world, may continue with unchanging faith in the confession of Thy Name. We pray Thee, O God of might, wisdom, and justice, through Whom authority is rightly administered, laws are enacted, and judgment decreed, assist with Thy Holy Spirit of counsel and fortitude, the President of these United States, that his administration may be conducted in righteousness and be eminently useful to Thy people over whom he presides, by encouraging due respect for virtue and religion, by a faithful execution of the laws in justice and mercy and by restraining vice and immorality. Let the light of Thy divine wisdom direct the deliberations of Congress and shine forth in all the proceedings and laws framed for our rule and government, so that they may tend to the preservation of peace, the promotion of national happiness, the increase of industry, sobriety, and useful knowledge and may perpetuate to us the blessing of equal liberty. We pray for the Governor of this state, for the members of the assembly, for all judges, magistrates and other officers who are appointed to guard our political welfare, that they may be enabled by Thy powerful protection to discharge the duties of their respective stations with honesty and ability. We recommend likewise, to Thy unbounded mercy, all our brethren and fellow citizens throughout the United States, that they may be blessed in the knowledge and sanctified in the observance of Thy most holy Law, that they may be preserved in union and in that peace which the world cannot give, and after enjoying the blessings of this life, be admitted to those which are eternal. Amen.