The Last Pope

“If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,

Where's the peck of pickled peppers that Peter Piper picked?”

When I wrote about the Mayan apocalypse back in December, I didn’t think it would be so soon that we would be fretting over another. I figured it would be at least summer time.  By then, I thought, it would be warmer, there would be a drought (like every year,) and the global warming doomsday scenarios would parch us with their prognostications.

But, there’s still time for that.

Yet another end of days scenario is beginning to play out. Even though barely three months have passed since the Mayan wheel fell off, we are again, roiling, biting and chewing our lips eager to see if it comes true.

Getting Ourselves Off The Hook Q&A

In this piece, I will attempt to address questions, concerns, and statements made by individuals who voiced objection to the Sandy Hook essays and/or other remarks I have made regarding 2^nd amendment rights and the debate over the ban on “so called” assault weapons.

I have elected not to mention names out of respect for their privacy, even though I do not hide my identity.

I some instances I was forced to extract a question from comment(s), a somewhat subjective process. However, I tried to use the exact language used by the poster whenever possible.  As more questions come in, I will add them to this post.

Serving The Law that Serves Us Best

When I think back on my career as a police officer, it was not uncommon to say or think, “I served the law.” While I knew there were reasons for the law, the phrase, “I serve the law,” never seemed problematic. I always knew I served the people and didn’t get too hung up on the phraseology.

Even outside the vocation of policing, we often think in those terms. We serve our boss, we serve our company, we serve our stockholders, we serve our nation, etc.

Heck, we even service our cars.

We say these things without too much thought; we sort of understand and believe its all good. I wonder, however, how often we consider what’s behind that service.

Getting Ourselves Off the Hook Pt 5

The Right Firearms and the Right to Self Defense

Go to the Introduction

Go to Part 2 The Common Good and the Dignity of the Human Being

Go to Part 3 The Militia. An Antiquated Term?

Go to Part 4 The Problem with Governments

Part 5 -Ignorance from Firearms

For those who know little about firearms, self-defense, and use of force dynamics, it’s easy to see the assault rifle as excessive; but, they are far from it. The term “assault rifle” itself is a misnomer in any case.

Getting Ourselves Off the Hook Pt 4

The Right Firearms and the Right to Self Defense

Go to the Introduction

Go to Part 2 The Common Good and the Dignity of the Human Being

Go to Part 3 The Militia. An Antiquated Term?

Part 4 -The Problem with Governments

We must be honest. Governments do go bad. In fact, our nation was born from this sad fact. We shouldn’t delude ourselves into thinking this can’t happen in the U.S.

The founders of our Republic were sending a message to future generations when they penned our nation’s founding documents.

This message is the clearest. I fear it has been clearly forgotten. For clarity’s sake, I will be clear here:

The history of man is MORE a story of governments gone bad than those that have not.

Getting Ourselves Off the Hook Pt 3

The Right Firearms and the Right to Self Defense

Go to the Introduction

Go to Part 2 The Common Good and the Dignity of the Human Being

Part 3 - The Militia. An Antiquated Term?

For the average American, it’s generally inconceivable to consider ourselves vulnerable to foreign invasion or attack. We think our military can never be defeated.

Think again. Historically speaking, no nation has ever been able to make that claim ex post facto. Although, many have certainly believed that pre facto. We are fools if we think we are an exception in this sense.

If our military was ever defeated, who will be left protect us from the horror and genocide that may follow?

Getting Ourselves Off the Hook Pt. 2

The Right Firearms and the Right to Self Defense

Go to the Introduction

Part 2 -The Common Good and the Dignity of the Human Being

Governments are created to serve the common good of man.

But, the common good must be held in balance with the dignity of the human being, which is its foundation.  The common good should never crush that. When it does, the human being is deprived of its truer nature.  The common good, which seeks the best for all men, is no longer attainable because the fundamental aspects of humanity are undermined.

Getting Ourselves Off the Hook

The Right Firearms and the Right to Self Defense.

Introduction

Perhaps too much time has passed since the horror of Newtown was seared into our memories. Anyone could see what would come of this. Rather than recognize this as a terrible and unexplainable tragedy, those in power, those with dark agendas, would seize this as an opportunity for Americans to vote away their freedom for a greater level of perceived security.

This is occurring now- “Let’s take another look at that troublesome 2^nd amendment.”

2012: Apocalypse Interrupted

or, 2012: The Year We Make Confetti

I was on an errand for my mother when I first found out.

Purchase a loaf of bread and bring it home – that was all I had to do. When I think back on those occasional grocery missions, they were neither necessary nor urgent tasks. I used to think it was her way to make me stop pestering her about wanting  to ride my bike somewhere, anywhere.

But, I think she was trying to teach me some responsibility and independence…”and don’t forget the change!” 

But, education is about more than the 3R’s as this event bore out.

The B.A.R.T. Files: Just Finish One - The Art of Earning

It’s the noon train out of Concord.  Stepping into the car, I settle into my bedbug-ridden urine stained seat.  The car, typically empty at this end of the line, does not begin to fill up until Lafayette and Orinda.

I open my backpack trying to decide which book is up for rotation. It had been a week or so since I spent some time trying to unravel the monomyth as drawn out by Joseph Campbell’s, “The Hero With A Thousand Faces.” So, I open up where I left off.

Thus, this day’s journey begins.

Celebrate This: Coming to Terms Over The Killing of Osama Bin Laden

It’s been over one week since we learned that Osama Bin Laden was killed by the US Navy’s mythical Seal Team Six while conducting Operation Neptune Spear halfway around the world. It is only now that I can begin to put into words the thoughts and emotions flung into motion on the first day of May, 2011.

In the hours and days that followed, celebrations, planned and unplanned broke out. All forms of media were energized by the dramatic death of the most notorious man of our time.

News commentators and pundits of all types repeatedly made the amusing gaffe of transposing “Obama and Osama” in their sheer excitement to proclaim the “good news.” As I listened to this, I chuckled and thought, why don’t we just call him Bin Laden? This way we can avoid sounding like Ted Kennedy.

My Parish

A video of my Parish. Enjoy!

Boozy Textbook Image of Jesus Christ Appears

Our Lord, tossing back a cool one.  This is just plain bizarre.  One really needs to wonder what is going on here.  Click on the link below for the full story:

Police Search for Publisher Behind Boozy Textbook Image of Jesus Christ - International News | News of the World | Middle East News | Europe News - FOXNews.com

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On Mercy by Fr. Paul

Excerpt: “How many will be saved,” and he gave them a frankly terrifying answer, “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it” (Mt 7:13-14). For this reason, and the parallels to this passage found in the synoptics, saints and theologians have repeated through the centuries that the number of men who are saved will be fewer, in the end, to those who will be damned.

Another fine piece by Fr. Paul Ward

Resident Evil –Portal to Misology

Should Mt. Diablo be re-named?


There is small and inane debate popping up over whether Mt. Diablo should be re-named Mt. Reagan after the former President Ronald Reagan. The concern over re-naming the mountain originates from a local resident who believes we should not have a mountain named after the devil, Satan.

The Immorality of Suspicion by Fr. Paul

Another terrific article by Fr. Paul.  A must read.

Editorial (01/27/10)


The Immorality of Suspicion

The amount of damage done to souls, to priests, to parishes, to apostolates because of loose tongues is impossible for any human mind to calculate. One of the components of uncharitable speech is, very often, suspicion. Perhaps the suspicions arise from pride, or insecurities, or whatever, but we’ll leave that aside and in this week’s article, we shall focus on the question of suspicion itself.

Atheist Group Blasts Postal Service for Mother Teresa Stamp - Local News | News Articles | National News | US News - FOXNews.com

Read here for the "Darker Side" of Mother Teresa.  I don't know whether to laugh or cry. 
Atheist Group Blasts Postal Service for Mother Teresa Stamp - Local News | News Articles | National News | US News - FOXNews.com

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Moral Relativism at Work.... on the Highway

WHAT THE SPANK?!!! Once again, the common sense test is failed by, this time, The State of Colorado and our judicial system. OK, so the Nazi party in Colorado can have a stretch of road adopted by them. Maybe it’s the timing of this story that has set me off. No, it’s not the timing. Its just plain stupid and wrong.


Timing wise, I find this particularly disturbing because two days from today, January 27, 2010, is the 65th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. On the radio this morning, I heard the story told by a, now 90 year old, Debbie Sessler a Jewish-Dutch woman who, with her sister, managed to survive the Holocaust. It was a long, painful, and horror filled story. She and her sister were at Auschwitz toward the end of their 4 year long ordeal, on their death beds from illness and starvation, when another prisoner came to them one day and said, “They are gone,” referring the Nazi’s. Several days later they were liberated by Soviet forces. Her story tore my heart out. She lost her father to the Nazi’s and had to survive on her own all while protecting her younger sister, keeping her alive, a seemly insurmountable task for a 10 year old girl.

What happened to millions under Nazi rule is unthinkable. But, this ideology is what brought the unthinkable to us.  They are NOT gone.  What's worse is that they are held in the same regard as the Kiwanis or the Rotary Club.          

I wonder what would happen if a local Catholic Parish wanted to adopt a highway? Forgive me. Perhaps it has been done already. I sense, however, it being the main topic of a very contentious 6:00 PM news story. This is another example of how amoral our society has become, another example of moral relativism slithering into our lives.  Moral relativism is the unthinking path to the unthinkable. 


Click here or on the image for the full story.

Faith, Regrets, and Life

This was posted on Facebook; it rings with truth.

Life is too short to wake up with regrets. So love the people who treat you right. Forget about the one's who don't. Believe everything happens for a reason. If you get a second chance, grab it with both hands. If it changes your life, let it. Nobody said life would be easy, they just promised it would be worth it. Post to your wall if you agree!

I would frame it a little differently:

It is only through our Lord and Savior’s sacrifice that we have the path open to us for redemption. And, through redemption the banishment of all regrets. Our free will aligned with His will, that is the challenge. With that challenge, the uphill battle toward true freedom, the tough life at times. But, that end, worth it for all eternity.

Blessing to all.

McChurch

I really liked this article by Father Paul Ward. It is worth a read and reflection.

Editorial (1/14/10)

McChurch

That is neither a real name nor a real word, but an expression I coined to convey “commercial Catholicism,” or even “consumer Catholicism.” Not only in America, but in many other places as well, the Catholic Church has largely gone the way of pop culture. That is, it became an object of the market.