A Merry Christmas To All!

Luke 7:23
"Blessed is he who does not take offense at Me."

Coming soon to a school near you...

Now that Christmas Card season is over for me, I can turn my attention to more pressing issues - like the annual re-running of a "Charlie Brown Christmas". I recently read an article about how the special came about way back in the early 60's. As Charles Schultz and the producers were putting the story line together, one of the producers asked Mr. Schultz if he was certain he wanted to include the part where Linus reads from the Gospel of Luke. Schultz replied "If we don't do it, who will?".

How soon do you think it will be before Linus' speech gets edited out and replaced with something about "being nice" and "recycling" and "being tolerant"?

No, I'm not dead....

The CCB is not dead. I'm simply finishing up the Christmas card season. I'll be back with something this month hopefully.

Notre Dame FAILS (again)

I'm sure most of you have heard of the tragic accident last week at Notre Dame that killed a young man who was up on some scaffolding filming the football team. At Saturday's football game, the public address announcer asked for a "moment of silence". You'd think that a Catholic college would offer a prayer for his soul, especially at a public gathering. Nope - not at Notre Dame.

My daughter is a freshman at Mt. Saint Mary's University in Emmitsburg, MD. When we went to the orientation, the President of the University stated that they were "proudly Catholic", and that "The Mount" was a "Catholic University", not simply a University with a Catholic identity. That was reassuring to hear.

Shortly after the start of the school year, a freshman died tragically due to heatstroke. The Chaplain of the school, along with the President, held a public prayer outdoors for her soul, and to beg comfort for her parents, family, & friends. It was attended by a large contingent of the student body, and the local newspaper filmed a portion of it and posted it on their website. There was no "moment of silence", there was no embarrassment for their Catholicism, there no "neutering" of the prayers to avoid offense.

Quite a study in contrasts between a university that has the "veneer" of, and is embarrassed by, Catholicism (Notre Dame), and one that embraces and is proud of Catholicism (Mount Saint Mary's).

Please watch Real Catholic TV's Michael Voris talk about yet another Notre Shame episode:
http://www.youtube.com/user/RealCatholicTV?feature=mhum#p/a/u/0/_vSvu-7lAB8

And please remember to offer a prayer for the soul of that young man, even if Notre Dame would rather you didn't.

Hey, thanks for the guidance...

The Massachusetts Catholic Conference issued their statement to assist voters for 2010. It is good that we have such clear, concise, and eloquent guidance as we make our ways to the polls. In what I like to call our "post-Christian" society, it's comforting to know that we can rely on the guidance of the hierarchy as we sift through the heavy moral issues of our time.

And then I woke up.

You can go here to read the MCC's statement: http://www.macathconf.org/

One statement that stood out for me:
"As shifts in societal challenges are inevitable, it is also vital to determine from election to election which human rights face the greatest threat at the time of voting."
Which "human rights" face the greatest threat? Their statement seems to indicate that the greatest threat changes from year to year. Gee, let's review:

2010 - Abortion is still legal. Seems like the RIGHT TO LIFE is still the paramount issue that is threatened.

2008 - Abortion is still legal. Seems like the RIGHT TO LIFE is still the paramount issue that is threatened.

2004 - Abortion is still legal. Seems like the RIGHT TO LIFE is still the paramount issue that is threatened.

2000 - Abortion is still legal. Seems like the RIGHT TO LIFE is still the paramount issue that is threatened.

1996 - Abortion is still legal. Seems like the RIGHT TO LIFE is still the paramount issue that is threatened.

1992 - Abortion is still legal. Seems like the RIGHT TO LIFE is still the paramount issue that is threatened.

1988 - Abortion is still legal. Seems like the RIGHT TO LIFE is still the paramount issue that is threatened.

1984 - Abortion is still legal. Seems like the RIGHT TO LIFE is still the paramount issue that is threatened.

1980 - Abortion is still legal. Seems like the RIGHT TO LIFE is still the paramount issue that is threatened.

1976 - Abortion is still legal. Seems like the RIGHT TO LIFE is still the paramount issue that is threatened.

Maybe it's just me; maybe there's another issue that trumps the right to life, but I can't think of one.

Another Halloween cartoon, this time starring Obama

Oh, there's a change a-coming, alright, but it ain't going to be the kind of change that President Obama will welcome. Fortunately, the people are awake to what he's been up to, and they don't like it. This includes "independents" - those who somehow couldn't see through the slogans to see what "hope and change" really meant. Now many of them do, and many are saying "Hey, this ain't the kind of change we were thinking of...".

Tuesday can't get here soon enough.

Semi-Annual CCB Halloween cartoon

The Spirit of Vatican II doesn't scare us anymore; with the advent of the internet, sunlight and exposure has helped to beat back the damage it's dished out since the 60's.

Of course, such a costume would elicit different reactions depending on where you donned it; in Lincoln, Nebraska, you'd probably be given rocks by good Catholics, a la Charlie Brown. But in places like Los Angeles, you'd be welcomed as an old friend.

Me? I'll be going out on Halloween as a mild-mannered father of 4, escorting the boys on their yearly Candy Shakedown. I'll be the one with gray hair...

Pro-abort politician at the Pearly Gates

The above cartoon was inspired by, and originated from, the mind of the Curt Jester; it's such a good idea that I'm surprised that one of us Catholic cartoonists hadn't thought of this one before.

Great idea Jeff!
http://splendoroftruth.com/curtjester/

Catholic GPS

As the Church begins what we hope is a long, albeit slow, return to its' traditions, I have to admit that the idea of a "reform of the reform" comes up a bit short.

In any other type of situation, if you looked back over the last 40 years and saw nothing but devastation, wouldn't you think that the time had come to admit so?

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm picking no fight with the "reform of the reform" guys, but why "reform" something that has been a complete failure? Wouldn't you scrap the whole thing?

You're hiking in the woods, on a long and well-traveled path, and the sun is shining, and there's no mosquitos, no wild animals, no threats of any kind. Then you take a turn off of that path and encounter deep, dark valleys, snakes, bears, and every other kind of awful thing, wouldn't you re-trace your steps and get back to where you made the wrong turn to begin with?

Maybe it's all more complicated than that.


For a good article on the architect of the guy who was instrumental in constructing that dark and treacherous path, check out:
http://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2010/10/bugnini-i-am-liturgical-reform.html

If liberals hate the new translation, it must be good.

I've read some of the reaction to the updated translation that will be put into effect in 2011. I can't help but laugh at the protesting and ugliness on display by those who are against it. Their argument is that they've had this translation for 40 years - why change it? What's funny is that some of these same aging hippies saw no problem with ditching 1900 years of tradition way back in 1969.

Now they're crying because a few words and phrases are changed? It's almost as if they're saying "Look, we've dumbed this down for 40 years and we're not going to stand for you 'smartening' it up!!!".

You can always judge the efficacy and worthiness of something by the reaction of liberals. If they love it, it can't be good, and if they hate it, it's GOT to be good.

As I see it, the new translation is a good start. They need to keep working.

Just for laughs, read some of the back and forth on the National Catholic Distorter site: http://ncronline.org/news/faith-parish/pope-receives-english-translation-roman-missal

Don't forget your mantilla!

One of the great things about being Catholic is that we have all the trappings that go along with it - priests with collars, nuns with habits, and ladies with mantillas. All of these were seemingly cast aside in the uproar after Vatican II, but all seem to be on the comeback trail.

To borrow a phrase, "It's a good thing".

I recently added a couple of mantilla-related blogs over on "Links I Like" section. Step into the world of the mantilla; you'll be glad you did.

Parish musicians getting ready for new Roman Missal

Uh oh - you knew it was coming. CNS has an article about how liturgical musicians are gearing up for the big changeover coming in 2011. Call me cynical, but giving them time to "implement changes" musically can't be a good thing, can it?

Read the article over at CNS:
http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1003398.htm

The Slow Death of the "Spirit of Vatican II"

Slowly but surely the "Spirit of Vatican II" is plodding toward a slow death. Oh, it's not going quietly; it still has a legion of "followers", but the outcome is inevitable. The Pope is doing his part, but so are the enlistees in the Church Militant. Tom Roeser has a good post, mostly concerning one of those Militants, Michael Voris of Real Catholic TV:

http://blog.tomroeser.com/2010/08/personal-asides-readers-colloquium-on.html

Reiki at a Catholic Hospital?

For the May issue of the New Oxford Review, I did a cartoon to go along with an article by Hurd Baruch detailing the curious goings on at a Catholic hospital. Apparently some of the nuns there practice Reiki on the patients. To read another example of how the adherents have traded in the Faith for some New Age, hop on over to the NOR site:
http://www.newoxfordreview.org/article.jsp?did=0510-baruch

This was my first contribution to the NOR; more will be done on an occasional basis.

Thank the Lord for Air Conditioning!

With all of this heat, I'm sure thankful that we've got air conditioning in my parish!

Senator Byrd's in Heaven?

According to Bishop Michael Bransfield of Wheeling-Charleston, that's exactly where the late Senator Robert Byrd is already. Safe in heaven. Nope, no need for prayers here, people, he's already there. Wow.

Is this how low we've come? That even a Catholic bishop declares a non-Catholic to be in heaven? It would appear that "social promotion", that great equalizer of the publik skools, has now worked it's way into the hierarchy of the American Church.

Puts a new, modern twist on "Whatsoever you bind on earth, is bound in Heaven", because if an authority in the Church says you've made it, then I guess they're duty bound upstairs to let you in, right? Right?

Read about it here:
http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=6787

UPDATED:
Here's a nice piece on purgatory over at Bedlam or Parnassus:
http://bedlamorparnassus.blogspot.com/2010/07/on-nature-of-purgatory.html

Raid in Belgium

Belgium was (is) one of the leading "lights" in the Dissenting Catholic movement, beginning in the 1960's (and probably with roots that go farther back). Belgium also is the place where the authorities raided the palace of the archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels for information related to sex abuse and cover-ups.

Coincidence?

Check out the Real Catholic TV's spot on the Dissenting Chickens coming home to roost: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COZdKL5TMSM

Bedtime Stories for Liberals

Apparently the parishoners at St. Mary's in Platteville, WI don't take too kindly to having priests who might be faithful to the Magisterium... Read about their whining: http://www.thonline.com/article.cfm?id=286980

Now that's dedication!

Word for word - something my little one said to me Sunday evening.

One disaster visits another

Just for fun...

Footprints of Vatican II ( a parody )

What if a heretic had written that famous poem?
(Click to see larger)

Hate the military? He's (Obama) with you!

So, President Obama sees a vacancy open up on the Supreme Court, and nominates Lou Costello, um, I mean Elena Kagan?!?

Oh, that's right, she hates the military because of their stand on homosexuals. Maybe she's tipped her hand on that one? Well, heck, anyone who hates the military is just fine with the Hater-In-Chief.

Read more about Kagan and her stance at Harvard over at Mommy Life:
http://mommylife.net/archives/2010/05/kagan_harvard_t.html

Progression of a Convert

Some of you may remember that old poster from the 1970's of some guy on a drug trip (no, this was NOT in my room - it was in a friend's room), where it showed his progression from "normal" to "wasted". For some reason that popped in my head the other day.

Since my return to the Faith in 1998, I've gone through all of the stages shown here, and would guess many others have also. Things are better than they were 12 years ago, to be sure, but sometimes panel # 6 still applies.

Scaling Tradition Mountain

Five years into Pope Benedict's reign, the restoration has gotten off to a good start.

Matthew over at A Catholic Life has a good look-back:
http://acatholiclife.blogspot.com/2010/04/5th-anniversary-of-election-of-pope.html

More left-wing wackery from the USCCB

Not surprisingly, the USCCB has come down on the side of illegality with regards to the new Arizona law.

Part of the news release says:
"The U.S. Catholic bishops stand in solidarity with the bishops of Arizona in opposing this draconian law. We call upon the Administration to review its impact on civil rights and liberties. "

Boo hoo. Not a word about the civil liberties and rights of CITIZENS to not be shot and killed, or robbed or raped by hordes of mongrels prowling our streets. No, that's okay. In fact, I guess in the eyes of the Bishops, we should gladly open our doors to theft and assault.

These jokers can be counted on to come down on the wrong side of practically every issue. And even on the occasional time when they get something right, they're so mealy-mouthed about it that it's embarassing.

Read the news release (try not to laugh too hard):
http://www.usccb.org/comm/archives/2010/10-080.shtml

**And look for my exclusive cartoons to appear on a recurring basis in the pages of the New Oxford Review beginning in May!

The press loves a good scandal...

...if for no other reason than to use it to bludgeon the Church. During Holy Week, the press could hardly contain themselves in their efforts to tarnish the Church. Their glee was two-fold; not only could they pounce all over the Pope, but they got to do it during Holy Week. I'm sure they were all high-fiving one another off camera.

Pray for the Holy Father as he carries his cross.

Bart Stupak = The New Judas

Some "principles". Bart Stupak rolled over and played dead because some Federal money was thrown his way. The first few cartoon ideas that came to mind weren't fit to print, so we'll have to settle on cartoon # 4 or 5.

USCCB still doesn't get it

Not that I hadn't already given up hope on the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), but their support of the healthcare overhaul - so long as it doesn't pay for abortion - is mind-numbing. As if the whole thing is just peachy, save for the abortion issue.

Time and time again, they come down in favor of socialism and, in this case, they've done so again.

They should just change their name to the United Socialist Conference of Communist Bishops, for crying out loud.

Suffering

I made the unfortunate mistake of going to Mass yesterday. Well, not that going to Mass was a mistake, just that going to my parish on the 2nd Sunday of the Month was a mistake. I forgot that it was Guitar Mass Sunday.
Why our pastor allows this is beyond me. He says the Mass with reverence and class, so the music just doesn't square with it all. That type of music is for those parishes where they promote any of the many pillars of the Hippie Generation (recycling, gay rights, sex education, et al.).

My son asked, when we heard the first "twang" of the guitar, "Dad, can't we just leave and go to St. ???'s". I told him we'd just offer this up this week. But on the next 2nd Sunday, we're going somewhere else.

If anyone has tips on how to convince the pastor to put an end to this, I'd love to hear them.

Annual Ash Wednesday Cartoon

Where does your money go?

Thanks to work by those such as Real Catholic TV, the USCCB is under a little heat for their support of organizations who consistently work against Catholic teaching.

The Church teaches us that, in order to do good, we're not to cooperate with evil. Yet isn't this exactly what the USCCB is doing, when they partner with so many organizations that promote the tenets of the sexual revolution (abortion, homosexuality, birth control, etc.)?

How can I support my local parish, when I know that it has to turn over a particular % to the Diocese, who in turn financially supports the USCCB? Can I give a check with a note that says "Only for local parish support"? If I don't put anything in the basket, I know I'm shortchanging my parish. So I still give. But I ain't happy about it. I know God loves a cheerful giver, and He's not too happy with an "uncheerful" giver, but how does He feel about us middle-of-the-road guys - the "mixed feelings" givers?

Check out Real Catholic TV's latest, and keep an eye out at the :50 mark - they've picked up some art from the good ol' Cartoon Blog to highlight their news.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRBeEjJhG0k

Take a snowmobile to Mass!

Wow, what a snowstorm! Do we get extra dispensation just for making it to Mass?

The Judas League is at it again

Real Catholic TV has a couple of reports on John Carr, the guy who heads the U.S. bishops' Department of Justice, Peace, and Human Development.
He's been there for quite some time, and apparently, through the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (that group again), he's directed funding to a number of organizations that undermine Catholic teaching, most notably something called the Center for Community Change.

We have some good and courageous bishops, but time and time again the USCCB seems to be nothing more than an arm of the Democratic party. Seems we need a super-duper pest control company to weed out the liberal bugs at the USCCB. Judas would be proud of this group.

See the reports over at Real Catholic TV:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKBC8u15sQk

Me thinks they doth protest too much...

I missed this a couple of weeks ago, but Mary Rose over at the Prodigal Catholic Daughter has a post about more whining at the National Catholic Distorter about the investigation into LCWR communities.

She does a great job of commenting on the whining:

http://catholicprodigaldaughter.blogspot.com/2010/01/national-catholic-reporters-series-on.html

The Hand Never Held

At Mass this past Sunday, with January 22 coming up, our Priest touched on the abortion issue at Mass. He stated that we should make a special penance on that day, which sounds like a good idea. Right after the homily, we stood for the Creed. As we started, my little one (he's six, but he's still my little one), slipped his fingers into my hand. I turned and looked at him and he gave me the sweetest little smile - the one all of us parents see from time to time, that kind that can make your heart break into a million tiny pieces.

As I turned back to finish the Creed, my mind drifted as I held his little fingers. I thought back to the homily. I thought of all the little hands never held, all the smiles missed, all the joy missed out on over these last 36 years that we've had legalized abortion in this country. As so often happens, I drew a mental picture.

It may not be very original.
It may not even be very good.
Hopefully it conveys what I saw.

Connecting the dots?

AISH has a good article on our refusal to "connect the dots" on these so- called "isolated" incidents.

Obama's inability to see Islam as the problem can be boiled down to either naivety or a refusal to deal with reality. I don't believe he's naive. Refusing to see the enemy doesn't make the enemy any less real. Obama's problem is this - how does he continue to play the role of President while at the same time allow it's enemies to run wild?

Read the article here:
http://www.aish.com/ci/s/80883537.html
-----------------------------------------------
Also: Red State has a Connect the Dots cartoon with a different twist than mine.
See it here:
http://www.redstate.com/dia0420/2010/01/08/wh-connect-the-dots/

Diversity yes - Catholicism no

I saw something recently that referenced a "parish diversity council", and naturally I wondered "What the he-"? What does a parish need a "diversity council" (or any council) for? Funny, whenever I found a "diversity council", I never saw any reference to a Latin Mass at those parishes. Just sayin'.

Maybe there should be some Parish Catholic Councils, as a way to ensure that some Catholicism is retained in a given parish. "Sorry Ms. Judy Attitudy, a Pie Throwers Mass doesn't square with the GRIM, so NO, you can't have one."

Acts of the Apostacy has a review of the recently experienced Talk Show Mass.
For.Crying.Out.Loud.

http://actsoftheapostasy.blogspot.com/2010/01/talk-show-mass.html

The Secular Humanist Choir Sings!

Yesterday, the Feast of the Epiphany, we closed the Mass by singing Oh Come All Ye Faithful. Thankfully, this NOT being the 2nd Sunday of the Month, it was NOT accompanied by a guitar.

I found myself humming it during the day, in between watching as much football as I could. I also found myself thinking of what our pastor said during the homily, about the Epiphany being the "unveiling" of Christ and how the Magi "took a different route" once they'd seen the Lord. (Some of that had to do with the angels, of course).

The Epiphany or our Lord. Probably something the atheists hate even more than Christmas itself. I mean, for crying out loud, it's bad enough we have to celebrate His birth, then a week later we celebrate the "unveiling" for all to see??? Sheesh!!

So while humming Oh Come All Ye Faithful, somehow I was struck with the idea of how the secular humanists would sing it.