I received a letter this morning that was signed by three humans and a dog. The letter was an invitation of sorts. I will share it with you here.
Dear RadTradScum Fellow Journey-Person on the Path to Fraternity:
As you may know, the holy and august Council Birthers at the Glorious Vatican II Council* invited us to sing a new Church into being. It has now been 60 years and you haven’t even whistled a single note. You are perilously close to being in great peril.
But fear not! We the undersigned desire your happiness in this life. We cordially invite you to join us in a wonderful process known as “synodal synoding”. It will be a gay time for all! The synodal way is a tender and beautiful path that the Apostles followed right after Christ ascended and they realized that He was not only Lord and Savior of all but mostly a prophet of love for all the marginalized. Over time, OldChurch grew bitter and sad and, thanks to adherence to the wicked and rigid patriarchy, came to exclude all the peoples who just wanted to be part of the Love of Christ. Fortunately, we, the children of the Easter of the Springtime of the Church, have rediscovered the synodal road and now wish to force for you to take our hands and come with us. Below are the results of our days-long synodal listening sessions with the questionnaires and stuff. We even used a SurveyMonkey thing because we’re hip. Listen to these results. The peoples are crying out to you.
First, we have felt excluded from the beauty of inculturation. We think it isn’t right that you tell us we cannot watch many of the Youtube things we want to watch. Our friends in this world only want happy things for us. We cannot possibly dialogue with them if we do not become like them. Let us be influenced so that we may influence.
Second, clinging to the past is fake and gay (but in the bad way). We object that you make us say our prayers in Latin like it was some kind of special language just because some unenlightened people call us “Roman” Catholic. There are so many other languages. More to the point, we object to a family where we are made to say “prayers” at all. Our faith life should reflect the spirit of the times. Why can’t we have a family where we just say nice things to each other at dinner occasionally? That IS our community meal, you know, and that’s what Jesus wanted from us.
Third, we don’t like a family where our daily lives are regulated. Making us get up in the morning and do school work or chores? No! The Spirit moves us to feel our way through life. This is the Spirit who inspires us to spirit things.
Fourth, remembering that the community of believers exists to lift each other up in joy and prayer, we need the judgment to stop. Look, man, it is so rigid of you to “discipline” us when we do wrong. Just because I forgot to take out the trash about thirty times this month, doesn’t mean God doesn’t love me and you have to stop making me feel bad so I can journey! (This last note was oddly specific.)
Fifth, we feel marginalized. We aren’t sure what that means but we don’t like it.
Finally, we demand to be able to make decisions with you and sometimes in your place, as in when we want to make decisions solely for ourselves. Just because God made you the “Dad” doesn’t mean you get to rule us. Also, I don’t like it when you don’t allow me to take part in your REM sleep cycle by kicking me off the bed. That sleep cycle is where you dream and dreaming is from the Spirit. (I think this point is from the dog?)
So, father, join us. You won’t have much of a choice anyway. We’re going to do what we want. But if you come along, at least we can all say we were in it together! We even made a drawing so we can synod proudly with a logo.
Earlier today as I left noon Mass at my parish, I received a phone call. The caller on the other end was a close friend, a law enforcement officer in a large Northeastern metropolis whom I have known for many years. He had been in training recently for some higher-level police work and he wanted to share some of his takeaways with me.
There was the mundane. “Guess what mode of communication they can’t eavesdrop on?” Looks like I’ll be continuing my practice of communicating with family and close friends via Facetime. Apparently one cannot (easily) put a trace on video.
There was the unusual. “You know how we always talk about investing in cryptocurrency and how it either isn’t safe or will be meaningless in the near future?” Turns out there is one crypto coin-like thing that even LEO’s acknowledge they cannot trace and from which they simply walk away. I’m not going to name it here but think of Saturday Night Fever and the main character. And it isn’t Travolta.
And then there was the practical. “I heard things in the past few days… Things that would frighten anyone with a conscience.”
What my LEO pal was not alluding to was super-secret sensitive information about governments and potentates. He wasn’t talking about great crime mysteries. He couldn’t tell me who DB Cooper really was or whether LBJ had help in bumping off Kennedy. No, he was simply getting at some of the truly demonic activities that surround most criminal activity. His advice to himself and each of us?
“I learned that you really have to have a good working relationship with your guardian angel to be a cop.”
In fact, he already knew that but whatever he heard recently reinforced this belief. The reality is, though, that we ALL need to have a good working relationship with our angels. One of the things the modern world has given us is the belief in space aliens but not in the very real purely spiritual beings created in the quadrillions by God Almighty who are tasked with defending and enlightening us.
They are with us and they are real.
Padre Pio is said to have quipped that “if every demon who was after our soul were suddenly and physically manifest, it would black out the sunlight.” This is something akin to what my friend was telling me. All of the truly horrendous crimes he’s encountered have had some element of the diabolical to them. He says he can literally feel it (I imagine in a similar way to an exorcist) when he’s at certain crime scenes. He says it carries over in the conversations about the crimes that officers have with one another. He says it surrounds the people involved and comes into their homes. Frightened yet? Think about it, they’re everywhere and they want to kill you forever.
That litany I found (along with a copy of the Catechism of Trent).
Isn’t it comforting to know, then, that we have our own angel waging battle on our behalf? They are smarter, more powerful, holier, and generally just better than us by magnitudes we cannot fathom and they made the decision at the moment of their own creation to love you and me and truly to will our good.
Whether as a cop or fireman, as a prince or pauper, we ought all to speak to our guardian angels daily, asking them to be involved more and more in our daily lives. Thank them when you wake up that they protected you while you were asleep because they, unlike us, do not need rest. Call upon them during the day to steer your thoughts and desires toward good and away from evil inclinations. Beseech them before you close your eyes at night to prepare to advocate for you before your judgment if that is where you should journey in your unconscious.
They love you and they literally live to do these things for you.
Fathers (heads of families) should especially have a good working relationship with their angels. Ask them to guard the entrances to your home, to keep evil at bay, and to keep you physically safe, mentally sharp, spiritually attuned, and virile so that you can protect your wife and kids the way the angels protect us all.
So, to everyone reading this, remember the old prayer and make use of it. I recently came across a little pamphlet with a litany to one’s guardian angel. Become devoted to him. In the end, when Our Lord reveals all the instances where our angels served and saved us, He will also reveal all the times we refused our angels’ advice. I pray never to reject that advice as I go forward.
Mary, Queen of Angels and Saints, pray for us! Holy Guardian Angels, our friends, pray for us!
I used to be a political junkie. In my youth and, in fact, all the way up until the 2020 thing, I could have told you the name of every US Senator, most of the House members, all the governors, et al., etc.
Then I began to realize that it’s all quite meaningless. Heck, in my younger days I actually used to take that USCCB crap seriously about faithful citizenship. Seriously, though, it’s all nonsense.
Here’s how much I’ve changed. Back in January of this year I was approached by a fellow parishioner to run for a spot on the city council. The city in which I live is best described as a fairly large (medium-sized) city that still functions as a small town, if you follow what I’m putting down. I first asked this fellow why he would want me to run for anything. We had hardly ever spoken more than a few words to each other, albeit always very sociable. He insisted that it was because “they” needed me to run. He avered that I would make an ideal candidate. I’m articulate, great in front of a crowd, can think on my feet, am conservative, yadda yadda yadda.
St. Rocco statue, St. Lucy’s Catholic Church, Newark, NJ (unrelated to topic)
To counter his claims: 1) I don’t know who “they” are but I already loathe them for attempting to put me in this position. 2) I am quite articulate owing to my years of writing and a natural knack for communicating the written and spoken word as well as my general knowledge of a lot of things. 3) I am more than great in front of a crowd owing to my years of teaching. If you can master thirty high school juniors for 180 days then you’ve obviously got some skill. I am conservative but I’m not sure you know exactly what that means.
I dug in my heels and made him make his point. In the end, it turns out he had an agenda. They always do. He wanted a candidate who would support some measures pertaining to a charter school his kids go to. And that’s totally fine. But I homeschool my kids because I detest the public schools and the Catholic ones to boot. I really do not have a horse in that race. And the reality is I do not have a horse in any race. I gave it a split-second muling over before settling on Barnhardt’s Axiom about politicians. I am NOT a narcissist and I will not be controlled by anyone. Ergo, I have no intention of running. Furthermore, I have been convinced that politicians cannot get anything accomplished of worth. People tell me, “Yes, I understand your frustration with national pols, but local politics is where it’s at! You need to get involved to help steer our community.” Again, no, no I don’t. I spent time as a volunteer member of my city’s library board a few years ago. This did not require me to be a politician and, although there was an interview, I did not have to campaign. What I discovered after almost two years was that the smut being peddled to children in my city was not going away anytime soon. I drafted and sent a letter to the City Council telling them the following: “Dear Sirs: I joined the Library Board to help the City manage the Library System effectively. A library exists for the collection and preservation of books. It does NOT exist to promote criminal sodomites interacting with children on my tax dime. It does NOT exist to curate collections about faggots. And it does NOT exists to stock books that the State of Texas considers pornographic (i. e., who’s dissemination to minors violates the state’s criminal code). As it is clear that my lone voice means nothing, I quit. PS: I’ve been removing the books on Wicca from the kids’ section and “disappearing” them for years. You’re welcome.”
Boy, where was I?
Ah yes, politics. Used to be my life. Now it’s not. I served on the board. I wouldn’t run for office. And what passes for a government in the middle latitudes of the North American landmass is corrupt and evil and leading us all to perdition.
But last night I caught a bit of the few senate and gubernatorial debates that were on the Youtubes. And for a brief moment I was in love with politics again. I don’t love any of the candidates. I feel no connection to them. But what I loved was the spectacle. I loved this in the same way I love watching tornado videos to fall asleep at night or airplane disasters when I’m on a flight. Face your fears, my friends, and laugh at them.
I showed a clip from the Pennsylvania debate to my wife while we ate dinner this evening. Keep in mind the one Uniparty candidate has had a stroke but was thoroughly wretched beforehand and the other Uniparty candidate is a carpetbagger who vocally supports sodomy.
We laughed at the spectacle. We laughed and then stopped laughing. We stopped laughing and realized we’re even more screwed than we thought. And then my wife asked me the most important question – one that no reporter has dared to ask.
Reader MG sends the following pics from St. Francis Xavier Basilica in Dyersville, Iowa. Thank you for these! I pray for a day when our Catholic churches are once again constructed with the beauty of God in mind.
My friend who runs the wonderful site St. Luke’s Gallery has just posted an excellent piece on the Archangel Gabriel.
As you know, I am a big fan of sacred art. I try to include a picture in every post – a sort of artistic freebie, if you will, as a way of giving readers a glimpse into not only the patrimony of the Church but also of the beauty of God reflected in the handiwork of man.
Tonight, St. Luke’s Gallery has a magnificent presentation about 7:00 in length that tells the story of the Archangel Raphael, drawing from the paintings of Andrea Vaccaro. I love the commentary that Vaccaro depicts Raphael, the heavenly guide-hero of Tobit, as youthful and manly. Watch the piece and you’ll know what I mean.
Tonight in a special way, I had recourse to pray to this patron of travelers. I drove four friends of my teenage daughter to the airport for their flight home. We experienced some significant weather here in Texas today and their flight was slightly delayed. I just received word that they landed safely. They were on Southwest but it could have easily been – as Fulton Sheen quipped – “TWA: Travel with Angels”.
And please continue to submit pictures of sacred art and architecture as you are able. A reader sent me some lovely shots of a church over the weekend that I will post in my next blog.
I invite you to check it out. I have friends in Denver. Perhaps if he reads this blog, he might reach out to me. I’d love to meet him and discuss things.
Folks, I got off all that social media nonsense a while ago. Sorry but I'm not on Twitbook, Facepalm, YouHu, WingWang or any of the others. Maybe an event will happen to make me change my mind like Peter and Paul coming down with flaming swords and commanding it be so. Until then, read the blog and if you feel a comment is in order or you feel like sharing a tip or suggestion for a topic, email me at harvey@harveymillican.com.
Harvey Millican's Blog: Musings of a Trad Dad 