.png)
I came across the story in the News of a young man called Josh.
This young man, who self identifies as straight/heterosexual, made news because he found out that the woman he has been dating is "Trans."
Obviously stunned and confused by this newly discovered information he took to that fount of all wisdom and knowledge, Reddit.
I find this whole thing truly fascinating for a number of reasons. First, because I predicted years ago that this sort of thing would happen .
Secondly, because I often reflect on the state of the world, the Church and people's lives to seek genuine answers to what we see happening today.
Trawling through his chat on Reddit has confirmed my reflections.
The whole "Trans" thing is, without a shadow of a doubt, the logical end game of the "Gay movement".
Indeed, it is the spirit of old Sodom distilled.
Let's look at this more deeply.
Sodomy, as we know from Sacred Scripture, Natural Law and consistent Catholic teaching, is a sin against nature which cries to Heaven for vengeance. People, members of the same sex, engage in sexual activity which lacks all complementarity and is always a dead deed.
Any Catholic with their faculty of reason still intact will recognised this.
But the "Trans" thing is much much worse. How so? Well, a man who self identifies as "gay" and lives as a Sodomite can, with the grace of God, convert and live a sexual life according to God's plan.
There are many heartening stories of such men and women, touched by grace, who are living beautiful lives, married with children.
Trangenderism (it is an ideology therefore an 'ism') is the most pernicious and perverse of them all, in my estimation.
Whilst Sodomy is against nature, Transgenderism DE-natures man. Men and women, created so by God, created in His image and likeness, are mutilated, destroyed and made unfruitful.
Of course, a "Trans" person can also convert and there are more and more cases of them. But, in this life, they have been de-natured. Their bodies are mutilated (often too young to understand the ramifications) and that beautiful Temple of God, the body, is desecrated for a lifetime.
Furthermore, transgenderism mimics the natural. It makes Sodomy (in its spirit) look like one man and one woman. But it is a lie. Just like the AntiChrist will appear like the true Christ. But it is a lie.
Going back to Josh's story, what can we learn? Well, let's take a look at some of his own words. Here a actual quotes from his messages on Reddit.
"Today, i found out a girl I'm really physically and mentally entranced by is actually MtF."
"Here's where I could use your advice, she came out today after I shared a kink list with her that showed I wasn't at all interested in MtF"
We can see what the problem is immediately.
1) He is entranced on a physical and mental level. In a trance. Hypnotised. Mesmerised.
2) The whole "kink" thing.
Answer? Lust.
People think Lust is just sexually desiring someone or something when they shouldn't. It is that. But it is also so much more.
Lust is accancer of the soul. It warps reason and intellect, leaving the person operating through mere exteriority. There is little to no interiority.
P*rnography is central to this process. It reduces those involved to the exterior. A woman is reduced to the outward appearance (breasts etc). People have been hollowed when they are called to be hallowed.
Lust is pernicious. The more one gives into it the more demands it makes. The more one gives into those demands the more it warps the mind. Around and around, spiralling down into decadence and depravity until the rock bottom they hit is the hard pavement of Hell.
Josh told this denatured man 'I still want you'
This young man's mind has been warped. He is not alone. There are, sadly, many men like Josh and an increasing number of women too.
Unbridled carnal desire strips a person of interiority and warps the intellect, reason and will. The whole notion of relationship has been divorced (yes, the pun was deliberate) from God's plan for man & woman.
Today, what matters most for many people is their "sexual appetite" as if they were choosing from a menu in their favourite restaurant. God's plan for marriage, based on natural, Godly complementarity, which brings forth fruits of new life and grace, is cast aside by one of the devil's masterstrokes, the cravings of Lust.
This is how low our society has sunken. That a self professed heterosexual/straight man will desire the exteriority of a denatured man parading as a woman.
Ultimately, the greatest victim is the Truth.
So why am I writing all of this?
That maybe, just maybe, someone out there by some miracle will read it and be saved. So many innocent children are being perverted from their tender years.
Statistics show that boys first view p*rn at the age of 10.
That is horrific. And that warping and perverting will take ever deeper roots in their minds and souls. It will ramp up as puberty sets in leading to serious spiritual, psychological, emotional and physical problems.
All this leads to an ever worsening of this situation. Sexual desire becomes an insatiable sickness. Over the years I have met many people with this sickness. It is absolutely devasting. It leaves a shell where a soul should be glistening with grace,
Marriage is blasphemed by twisted ideologues. Families destroyed. Lies hailed as Truth. A wasteland.
God never makes mistakes. Male and Female He created mankind. His design was for the family. One man and one woman created as a physical sign, a Sacrament in which He shows forth His plan for Bride (the Church) and the Bridegroom (Himself, the Lord Jesus Christ).
We are being demonically assaulted from all sides. Sex, sexuality, gender, the nature of the Church, the Mass and the Priesthood. All of this is under siege by a demonic ideology seeking to destroy God's vision.
Of course, it will not succeed.
Pray during this Triduum that Jesus's Triumph on the Cross may Triumph in the hearts of so many people, esp. Josh.
Pray that His Most Precious Blood will wash over such souls, cleanse them and save them.
Pray for those poor souls that are "gender confused." Call the Blood of Jesus down upon them so that they make free from these demonic lies.
Lord Jesus, touch their hearts and souls with Your grace, love and mercy. Heal their wounds. Convert them. Help them with Your Almighty power to accept that beautiful vision that You have for their lives.
Mary, Immaculate Virgin Mother, take these people into your arms as you stand at the foot of Your Divine Son's Cross. Intercede for them that they may find salvation in Him before it is too late.
Amen
God bless.
Another picture which speaks a 1000 words
Take a look at the photo below.
These are the "Religious sisters" who want to celebrate ‘Transgender Day of Visibility’.
Remember that a picture is worth a thousand words.
Do you remember when Shia LaBoeuf was interviewed by Bishop Barron? Here it is to refresh your memory.
Shia LaBeouf Becomes Catholic - "Latin Mass Affects Me Deeply" - YouTube
In the interview Shia explains to a somewhat stunned Bishop Barron that the TLM affects him deeply because it doesn't feel like someone is trying to sell him a car. Clearly, the Novus Ordo does.
Shia LaBoeuf gets it. The Church is not meant to be a Business.
Sadly, false shepherds, wolves in sheep's clothing have stripped the Church of many of her greatest spiritual treasures whilst, at the same time, filling their coffers with material wealth.
To them the Church is merely a Business. For them it has nothing to do with the Faith.
If you don't believe me then just consider these two questions.
1) Why do many dioceses employ a Chief Operating Officer? That's Business language. The Bride of Christ, His Mystical Body, does not need Chief Operating Officers. But a Business does.
2) Why is it that many bishops have sold off countless churches, often those built on the backs of the poor, for a huge profit of many millions of Dollars/Pounds/Euros?
Because it's just "good business."
In this week when we call to mind that day when wicked shepherds exchanged Our Blessed Lord for 30 pieces of silver we do well to reflect on this, especially before handing over our hard earned cash.
First of all, a blessed Holy week to you all!
I have been reflecting on the whole state of affairs regarding BLM, repatriations, CRT etc.
I must say from the outset that I am no expert and I don't claim any special knowledge on the subject matter. I can only speak from my own personal experiences and observations.
Growing up on a small British island I had very little contact with black people. Despite that, I was always taught that a person's skin colour matters not. Neither does their eye colour or the health of their bank account.
What makes a person is what is found within. My mother especially taught me these principles.
Having a Portuguese father I experienced bigotry and hatred from my fellow Brit. By some but not the majority. The hatred of a person because they are black or white or from another country is, without a doubt, ugly.
However, it seems to me (remembering my own sufferings from the hatred of others) that the prevalent ideology today has reached almost Commandment levels is: Thou shalt be a VICTIM.
Victimhood can be real. No one should ever dare to tell the poor, abused child that they are not a victim of something heinous. But we are not dealing with that type of victimhood.
The type of victimhood found at ideological levels today is one which is a "state of being" and, ironically, is itself fuelled by hatred.
Again, I am no expert on the matter but this does seem to be what is happening in places like the United States. Whilst I have never stepped foot on American soil I can, nevertheless, observe that this most insidious ideology weighs heavy on that nation.
Leftist ideologues love a victim. They love to see people perpetually trapped by self pity and munching on anti depressants. These hate-filled, self piteous depressed people are the easiest to control and are a huge boon to Big Pharma. Hopeful people are out of the grasping clutches of the Left.
But it goes further than that. By having these "victims" as their foot soldiers, the Left can push their vision ever deeper.
They want you to "take a knee" in a constant state of "penance". The word that must ever rise upon your lips is sorry. Indeed, public acts of self flagellation are required. If you are white you must be ashamed of it.
However, the ultimate goal is the white Christian with a particular emphasis on the white heterosexual male who deeply believes in Our Lord and His Holy Church. It is THAT man who is the bull's eye of their target.
They want such men to show their remorse for their history and their patrimony.
How many times have I heard a Leftist raise the question of the Crusades or the Inquisition or the Colonisation of South America? How often have I been asked if I am ashamed of what the Church did to the Incas?
Indeed, this self hatred has infected many of the faithful. I remember an incident when I was studying Theology in Spain. I lived in the Student Halls of Residence with a black gentleman from Equatorial Guinea. We were discussing the Spanish Church's past when suddenly he became quite angry.
He accused the Spaniards of going to his country and dominating its people. Now, anyone who knows me on a personal level knows that I will never be canonised for my patience! I have absolutely no patience for ignorant, Anti Catholic rhetoric rooted in God hating ideology. Call a spade a spade.
I told the gentleman in question that, in fact, he owes a huge debt of gratitude for what Spain and the Catholic Church did in his country.
Whilst it may be bitter and unpalatable, truth always remains the truth.
Such countries, whilst having many inherently good things in them, were also immersed in the darkness of Paganism and human sacrifice. Don't believe me? Just watch Mel Gibson's Apocalypto.
These people were in the darkness of their ignorance when the Light of the Gospel was brought to them. Tribes were warring against each other. Slaughter abounded. Sexual immorality was rampant.
Furthermore, their culture, though with some good elements, was very rudimentary. The Church brought them Jesus Christ and all that He brought us through His Church. Art, Music, Architecture, Language, Culture and right worship.
It may be politically incorrect to say such things but it is not morally incorrect. This goes deeper, further and higher than any ideology.
Simply put, you cannot compare the Pagan frenzy of bashing bongo drums to the sublimity of Gregorian Chant reverberating around an incensed filled Cathedral.
Suffice to say, my African friend was somewhat stunned. Truth has that shocking effect.
We must not apologise to anyone who wishes to denigrate the glorious past of the Church. Of course, there were some instances of abuse. But that is sinful human nature. If a Democrat tries to get you to focus on that then ask them if they are willing to focus on their historical support for slavery (oh the irony!)
If you find one bruised apple in the basket are you going to toss out the whole bushel? Then why do it with Church history?
I am Catholic. I am not sorry. Neither should you be.
God bless
Happy Feast Day of St Benedict!
Today is the first of two Feasts of St Benedict, the other being on 11th July.
St Benedict, Father of Western Monasticism and one of the Patrons of Europe.
I think that St Benedict's vision is not really understood by most Catholics. Sure, he is known as the Founder of the Benedictine Order but his actual vision is not known.
However, to understand the future of the Church we need to understand that vision. At its heart the Catholic Church is Monastic, therefore so will its future.
When we look back over History, especially European History, we see how the Benedictines basically built Europe. Monasteries became centres of beauty, Liturgy, art, culture, music, language and academic learning. Around these glorious monasteries many villages, towns and cities grew.
People instinctively knew the value of Monastic life. The monasteries became the hub around which their lives revolved. Minds, hearts, souls and bodies (the Monasteries provided work and food) were nourished. It was, and still is, a harmonious system. It still continues in certain Traditional monasteries today.
It is so important that one just needs to look at how desperately ugly and impoverished England became on so many levels after Henry VIII destroyed Monastic life during his reign. He left the country devasted and bereft. He ripped out its heart and left the ruins of many Monasteries as stark reminders of the shell that England had become.
But we take heart. Countless Catholic prophecies point to a Golden Age, the Age of Mary wherein Monasticism will flourish anew. Indeed, many visionaries state that at the end of the world only two religious orders will prevail: Benedictine and Carmelite. These two Religious orders are and have been the main pillars of the Church's spiritual life.
Furthermore, many visionaries also state that during the Age of Mary, the era of Peace, there will be so many vocations and many monasteries and churches will be built that people will struggle to keep pace.
So why Monasticism?
Traditional monasticism distils the very essence of the Catholic Faith. A life lived rooted in a noble and beautiful Liturgy. This is central to the spiritual life. A right ordered adoration of God. The justice of giving God what He is due. A right ordered adoration which, when we cooperate with it, we become right ordered ourselves.
A life of the Glory of God's beauty made manifest in the Traditional Latin Mass and Gregorian Chant. This is the nourishment of the heart and soul, where the Sacraments are celebrated with reverence and are imbued with Tradition. Nothing compares with it. The most beautiful thing this side of Heaven. A true foretaste of the Beatific Vision.
The mind is nourished with Sacred Learning. The writings of the Saints and the Sciences rightly ordered to God's glory and the benefit of man.
A harmonious relationship with the earth. Yes, Traditional Catholic Monasteries were the original "Green movement" properly understood. Not this superficial, false ideology that you find peddled by the likes of Greta Thunberg. No. What I am talking about is man living in his true environment. Working by the sweat of his brow. Working in harmony with nature just like the Traditional Monasteries do. A truly organic life where nature is respected by those who till the earth.
Like our grandparents and great grandparents, monastic life wastes nothing. A frugal life filled with simplicity and gratitude was the true "recycling mentality". Our forefathers and the monasteries never polluted the earth.
Truly, pollution only became an issue when modern man moved away from a simple, God centred and ordered lifestyle. Big cities, big bucks and Godlessness took precedence.
So, picture the scene.
The green countryside. An enormous Benedictine Abbey. The sun is shining. It is the month of May, Mary's month. There are flowers everywhere. Monks and lay people are outside, ploughing the fields, tending the crops and flocks. Honey bees, free from modernistic man's pharmaceutical pesticides, buzz around the medicinal herb garden.
The people are sweating. They are working hard. No one is dropping dead from Myocarditis from any poisonous vaxx.
Families cooperating with each other to educate their children with a Godly, Classical education.
In the distance, the Abbey bell rings out the Angelus. The people pause to pray together.
They gather up their tools. The Monks make their way back to the Abbey in order to pray Sext in their beautifully hand carved Choirstalls.
God imbues everyone, everything, everywhere.
Cardinal Arthur Roche has done something very few Modernist heretics have ever done.
He has openly and boldly admitted what he believes. Namely, that the Theology of the Church has changed.
That's it. No more defence of the Hermeneutic of Continuity. The last atom of defence definitively died on 19th March 2023, the Feast of St Joseph the Terror of demons and the Protector of the Church. With God there are no coincidences.
So there is absolutely no hiding it now. We see clearly from his lips and, therefore the lips of the one he represents (BerGOGlio), why they HATE the Traditional Mass and want it destroyed.
CATHOLIC Theology is what they hate.
The SAINTLY Archbishop Lefebvre stands completely, totally and absolutely vindicated.
Vigano stands vindicated.
The Church has been infected by parasites in vestments. Modernist, Homoheretical wolves in sheep's clothing.
Freemasons and Satanists.
Godless and faithless.
Like a creeping cancer they have been eating away at the bones and the guts of the Church.
BUT for us, in a strange sort of way, this is wonderful news. How come?
Firstly, we can take great heart. We are on the right track. Through this God is confirming what we believe.
Secondly, we have been given an opportunity to display great courage and say to these perverse heretics a loud, resound NO! We will NOT yield our Faith no matter what.
Thirdly, it can be an opportunity for those who are wavering in Novus Ordolandia to have their blinkers ripped off. They have finally, openly confessed it. Theirs is a DIFFERENT THEOLOGY. It is a changed Theology.
Think about it like this. If the Theology of the Church has changed then the Church has changed. If that is the case then it is NO LONGER the Church founded by Our Lord Jesus Christ and adorned by Our Lady and so many countless Saints.
It is no longer the Church of the Martyrs.
It is no longer the Church of our forefathers.
It is a DIFFERENT Church.
It, therefore, cannot be the Catholic Church in its true, fullest sense.
God does not change. Truth does not change. The Theology of the Catholic Church, which is God's Church, cannot change.
So, Cardinal Roche...Here is my message to you.
To HELL with your changed Theology. I don't want. Send it back to Satan from whence it came.
I want the CATHOLIC Theology that my forefathers (especially my Irish ancestors) were persecuted for.
I want the CATHOLIC Theology that my favourite Saints lived and died for.
I DON'T want what you are offering and I resist you and your rubbish to your face.
I will have NO part in it and, by God's grace, will persist in it until my last breath.
Friends, listen to Cardinal Roche's words. He means what he says. So better had we.
Take heart. God is moving to unmask this Counterfeit Church. The enemies are full of arrogance and it is making them overly confident. They are over playing their hand.
Take heart and courage. The Traditional Mass, Sacraments and Faith are growing, especially among the young. The enemies fear it and hate it. We love it and foster it.
Keep it at the forefront of your minds. God is working!
Our Lady will Triumph as She promised in Fatima.
Take courage. Pray!
I can't begin to tell you how many times I have been told that by well meaning Catholics.
Yet, nothing could be further from the truth. Indeed such people, though well meaning, are flirting with heresy. That heresy has a name: Angelism
Today, on the whole, we are facing two erroneous extremes. On the generally conservative side there is the tendency to downplay feelings and emotions with the saying that "they don't matter."
On the Left you tend to find the polar opposite.
Just picture the screaming, out of control Left winger with purple hair. Be it abortion or LGBTQ+ etc, they are full of out of control, raw emotion which leads some of them to be demonically oppressed (maybe possessed) and barking mad (some literally barking).
Neither of these positions are correct nor healthy.
To find the Truth we need look no further than Jesus.
We read in St John's Gospel Ch 11 v 35 that "Jesus wept". Furthermore, we read in verse 38 that Jesus was "groaning in himself."
Jesus is crying real human tears. Jesus is groaning in real sorrow and pain at the death of His friend Lazarus and at the mourning of the people gathered there.
Yet Jesus knew what He was going to do for His friend. He knew that death was not to have the final word.
Why did He cry? Why did He show His feelings and emotions?
Firstly, to confirm His humanity. Jesus is True God but also True MAN. Secondly, I believe He showed His emotions to sanctify emotions. In Jesus every aspect of our lives can be sanctified.
The Saint is a Saint in everything. You cannot be a Saint in part.
God created man with emotions. The problem is that since the Fall human feelings and emotions have been tainted by Original Sin and Concupiscence.
So what is the answer? Grace.
With Grace we are able to grow in emotional maturity. Some people think that emotional maturity is a Catholic form of Stoicism. But Stoicism is not Christ like.
This is a particular problem among men. Often you find well meaning men who show little or no emotion. I have seen this sort of thing being praised even among Traditional Catholics.
But the reality is that such men may be just as emotionally immature as the screaming Liberal at the Pride parade. They may be emotionally stunted. Emotional development and affective maturity has been prevented somehow. The Church and the world needs men who have a healthy affective maturity. Compassion and empathy are not just for women.
The man who cries at a sad scene in a film or at the sight of starving children on TV may be affectively more mature than his stoical comrades. Such a man is able to feel sorrow and empathy at the sufferings of others. This is a good thing and something that every man should seek to develop and cultivate in their lives.
If you are one of those men who weeps at suffering and you are chided for your tears just remember that Jesus wept.
The answer is very simple. A thoroughly healthy emotional maturity is one in which our emotions are submitted to God's Grace. It is not a question of basing our decisions on a whimsical passing feeling. Neither is it about "being in control" to the extent that we fall into a robotic way of behaving.
We are called to grow to our full stature in Grace. Compassion, empathy and the shedding of a tear over our broken world is good. Just remember that St Padre Pio did a lot of crying!
Feelings and emotions, in the right context and in the right way, DO matter. They are a part of being human and the glory of God is "man fully alive. (St Irenaeus)
Remember Jesus and Lazarus next time someone tries to tell you that feelings don't matter.
We are all invited to become more Christ like, even in our tears.
God bless
Ash Wednesday 2023
I have to admit it, I struggle with Lent. To be honest, I like my food too much.
But I deeply appreciate the vital important of this most solemn season of Penance.
This year I have decided to give Lent a real chance.
Reflecting on the power of a good Lent has brought to my mind something I saw on YouTube. If you look on there you will find a number of videos of fishermen and Marine Biologists helping poor beleaguered sea turtles.
They haul them onto a boat and start vigorously scraping of barnacles, parasites and other things that have become stuck to their shells with a brutally sharp knife.
Check out this deeply satisfying video
This is what God wants to do for us during Lent.
In our day to day lives we pick up attachments. We pick up the parasites of our vices. The clutter. The shallow nonsense of our petty loves.
God wants to free us. He wants to scrape off those things that hinder us from Holiness and from Him.
But it is deeply uncomfortable. The knife that He uses is the knife of Penance, Fasting and Suffering.
We, like those sea turtles, wriggle about. We try to escape His loving hands. We like the comfort of our sins.
Lent is the best time for us to allow God to free us from the crustiness of our sins.
Let us ask Our Lady's help, that we let God act. Let's ask for the grace to offer our little penances and sufferings borne patiently until we arrive at Easter Sunday with our souls less crusted.
God bless
