Ratings for the Catechism of the Catholic Church on Google are completely bonkers.

A few of my friends and I have been studying the catechism for the past year or so. We have been trying to get in a session every Thursday, but things have come up, especially with the pandemic situation, that have prevented us from having a get-together each week.

On top of that, a friend of ours has actually left the province to enter the seminary! Such great and exciting news. I think he would make a fine priest.

I will perhaps get more into what we do as a group in another post. But for now, I just wanted to mention something a little strange that I found when doing some research.

I searched for the Catechism of the Catholic Church to find out when the most recent one was published. I searched for it on Google and it displayed a rating. I noticed it didn't have a great rating, just 3.8 overall. But almost all of the ratings seemed to be either 1 star or 5 stars. Very strange.

Looking a little deeper, I noticed the reason for this. People were giving the strangest reviews for the Catechism. Some would mention that they stopped attending Mass a long time ago. Some just had a grudge against the Church. Some of the comments were from Protestants who were voicing their disagreement with their false conceptions of what the Church teaches.

These people were apparently opposed to the Catholic Church and thus gave the Catechism a low rating. What a strange thing to do. Most of them seemingly didn't even read the Catechism, therefore they weren't even really rating it. They were rating how they personally felt about the Catholic Church. Okay, fine, I get that many people oppose the Church, but it doesn't make any sense to give the Catechism a low rating because of this. It would be like someone who hates BBQ rating a book on BBQ and saying the book was terrible because they dislike that type of food.

Anyway, it was just one of those things that caught my attention. On the other hand, there are hundreds of 5-star reviews, so the score doesn't completely plummet. I hope people realize this when they are looking at this rating.

I find the Catechism of the Catholic Church is a great resource, and it's quite a hefty book with over 800 pages, but despite this fact, it really is an introductory book. It goes over the main tenets of the Christian faith. Sometimes it will quote a saint in a sentence of two. However, it may be valuable to read the entire document or book from which the quote is taken.

The most recent Catechism isn't the only one. There are previous versions. For example, one came from the Council of Trent. There is another called the Baltimore Catechism which was quite popular.

So if you are planning on picking up a copy of this widely-available resource, don't let the reviews stop you!

You're not the real St. Nicholas! (Smart Kid) Meme

 

Happy Feast Day of St. Juan Diego December 9

 

Readings for December 9, 2020 in the Catholic Church

Readings in the Catholic Church in Canada and the United States:

Wednesday of the Second Week of Advent

Lectionary: 183

Reading 1

Is 40:25-31

To whom can you liken me as an equal?

says the Holy One.

Lift up your eyes on high

and see who has created these things:

He leads out their army and numbers them,

calling them all by name.

By his great might and the strength of his power

not one of them is missing!

Why, O Jacob, do you say,

and declare, O Israel,

“My way is hidden from the LORD,

and my right is disregarded by my God”?

Do you not know

or have you not heard?

The LORD is the eternal God,

creator of the ends of the earth.

He does not faint nor grow weary,

and his knowledge is beyond scrutiny.

He gives strength to the fainting;

for the weak he makes vigor abound.

Though young men faint and grow weary,

and youths stagger and fall,

They that hope in the LORD will renew their strength,

they will soar as with eagles’ wings;

They will run and not grow weary,

walk and not grow faint.

Responsorial Psalm

103:1-2, 3-4, 8 and 10

R.    (1)  O bless the Lord, my soul!

Bless the LORD, O my soul;

and all my being, bless his holy name.

Bless the LORD, O my soul,

and forget not all his benefits.

R.    O bless the Lord, my soul!

He pardons all your iniquities,

he heals all your ills.

He redeems your life from destruction,

he crowns you with kindness and compassion.

R.    O bless the Lord, my soul!

Merciful and gracious is the LORD,

slow to anger and abounding in kindness.

Not according to our sins does he deal with us,

nor does he requite us according to our crimes.

R.    O bless the Lord, my soul!

Alleluia

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Behold, the Lord comes to save his people;

blessed are those prepared to meet him.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel

Mt 11:28-30

Jesus said to the crowds:

“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,

and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,

for I am meek and humble of heart;

and you will find rest for yourselves.

For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”

Why are Churches singled out for Covid and why are they participating so much?

Covid fears are in full swing at the moment. I go around to many places such as grocery stores, department stores, and more. I also frequently go to Church to attend Mass. One thing I can say without hesitation is that the level of precaution used at the Church is significantly higher than anywhere else. It's as if churches are being targeted and singled out.

First of all, I don't know what the limit is on the number of people in places like Walmart, but it definitely seems very high. I would say there are easily well over 100 people in the store at any given time. I have not seen any lines either in a very long time. Contrast this with churches where there is often only a handful of people. Limits on people are very strictly enforced in churches, but it doesn't seem to be the case elsewhere.

Once you enter a church, you notice how strictly rules are enforced. Pews have barriers restricting huge amounts of sitting space and ensuring people are at least 2 meters or 6 feet apart. There are multiple ushers making sure no one does anything wrong. You cannot enter if you are not wearing a mask. Again, compare this to shopping centers. People never seem concerned about staying 6 feet apart and it isn't enforced. All areas of a store are accessible, nothing is blocked off. But again, it's much stricter for churches.

Next, when anyone enters a church, they are obliged to give their name, phone number, and answer the covid questions. Each person must answer no to all questions. In the case of shopping places, no one has to give their name, no one has to answer questions. Another example of a double-standard.

Once you finally get to sit down, you have to sit through not one but two Covid announcements at church. These are not generic 30-second "please stay 6 feet away"-type announcements. No, they go into every imaginable detail. It is centered around the reception of holy communion.

From memory, they make the following points:

• During this time of covid-19 we must follow the guidelines in order to ensure the safe and respectful reception of Holy Communion
• One general attestation of "Amen" when the priest presents the Eucharist.
• Put on mask before approaching.
• Sanitize your hands before receiving communion
• Bow to the Host
• Receive the host but do not consume the host immediately. Instead, wait until you step aside, then you may consume the host.
• Even though you are wearing a mask, do not say Amen upon receiving the Eucharist. You must remain silent.
• Go back to your pew.
• Make sure you are always 6 feet apart from everyone else.
• If you cannot receive the Eucharist in your hand, you can receive a blessing.

There may be more instructions but that is what I remember at the moment. This is the second announcement which is done during Mass. The other precedes Mass but does not contain as much detail. During communion, the priest or bishop sanitizes his hands and wears a mask. At the end of Mass, the presider recites a prayer by Pope Francis for the protection of the Blessed Virgin during the Covid pandemic.

It just seems Covid has become such an overriding concern in the church. And yet, during these 10 or 15 directives, never once is the idea of unworthy reception of communion ever mentioned or even brought up.

We're at least lucky, churches are allowed to remain open. In some places, while all kinds of other establishments, including liquor stores, acupuncture facilities, bicycle repair shops, hardware stores, etc. remain open as Justice Gorsuch pointed out.

I'm not opposed to a brief message about maintaining distance from one another and receiving communion safely, but to make it such a central part of the Mass I think is overdoing it. We are far too concerned about the temporal and not enough about the eternal. There has to be a balance.

Let me know your thoughts on this subject, would love to hear from you.

Happy Feast Day of St. Ambrose of Milan December 7

 

What do the Advent Candles on the Advent Wreath Represent?

 

There are 4 Advent candles - one for each of the four Sundays of Advent. They represent the following:

Week 1: Hope

Week 2: Love

Week 3: Peace

Week 4: Joy

Readings for December 6 2020

 These come from https://www.catholic.org/bible/daily_reading/?select_date=2020-12-06

Reading 1, Isaiah 40:1-5, 9-11

1 'Console my people, console them,' says your God.

2 'Speak to the heart of Jerusalem and cry to her that her period of service is ended, that her guilt has been atoned for, that, from the hand of Yahweh, she has received double punishment for all her sins.'

3 A voice cries, 'Prepare in the desert a way for Yahweh. Make a straight highway for our God across the wastelands.

4 Let every valley be filled in, every mountain and hill be levelled, every cliff become a plateau, every escarpment a plain;

5 then the glory of Yahweh will be revealed and all humanity will see it together, for the mouth of Yahweh has spoken.'

9 Go up on a high mountain, messenger of Zion. Shout as loud as you can, messenger of Jerusalem! Shout fearlessly, say to the towns of Judah, 'Here is your God.'

10 Here is Lord Yahweh coming with power, his arm maintains his authority, his reward is with him and his prize precedes him.

11 He is like a shepherd feeding his flock, gathering lambs in his arms, holding them against his breast and leading to their rest the mother ewes.

Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 85:9-10, 11-12, 13-14

9 His saving help is near for those who fear him, his glory will dwell in our land.

10 Faithful Love and Loyalty join together, Saving Justice and Peace embrace.

11 Loyalty will spring up from the earth, and Justice will lean down from heaven.

12 Yahweh will himself give prosperity, and our soil will yield its harvest.

13 Justice will walk before him, treading out a path.

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Gospel, Mark 1:1-8

1 The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

2 It is written in the prophet Isaiah: Look, I am going to send my messenger in front of you to prepare your way before you.

3 A voice of one that cries in the desert: Prepare a way for the Lord, make his paths straight.

4 John the Baptist was in the desert, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

5 All Judaea and all the people of Jerusalem made their way to him, and as they were baptised by him in the river Jordan they confessed their sins.

6 John wore a garment of camel-skin, and he lived on locusts and wild honey.

7 In the course of his preaching he said, 'After me is coming someone who is more powerful than me, and I am not fit to kneel down and undo the strap of his sandals.

8 I have baptised you with water, but he will baptise you with the Holy Spirit.'

Reading 2, Second Peter 3:8-14

8 But there is one thing, my dear friends, that you must never forget: that with the Lord, a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.

9 The Lord is not being slow in carrying out his promises, as some people think he is; rather is he being patient with you, wanting nobody to be lost and everybody to be brought to repentance.

10 The Day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then with a roar the sky will vanish, the elements will catch fire and melt away, the earth and all that it contains will be burned up.

11 Since everything is coming to an end like this, what holy and saintly lives you should be living

12 while you wait for the Day of God to come, and try to hasten its coming: on that Day the sky will dissolve in flames and the elements melt in the heat.

13 What we are waiting for, relying on his promises, is the new heavens and new earth, where uprightness will be at home.

14 So then, my dear friends, while you are waiting, do your best to live blameless and unsullied lives so that he will find you at peace.

And now for some serious fun

The famous Fr. Z posted this on his blog. I thought it was funny.

And now for some serious fun

Happy Feast Day of St. Nicholas of Myra

 

I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life EGO SVM VIA ET VERITAS ET VITA

Jesus Christ says:

"EGO SVM VIA ET VERITAS ET VITA"

which translates to:

"I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life."

Starting Your Own Catholic Catechism Class

In September 2019, I felt the need to have greater and more in depth catechesis. Much of what I had received up to that point in various groups and events was good but it wasn't providing adequate detail. I had already been listening to a Youtube channel called "Sensus Fidelium" and in particular a priest by the name of Fr. Chad Ripperger. He would go into great amounts of detail in describing various tenets of the faith. I found that quite appealing in contrast to a trend I had noticed which was to aim for less and less detail.

With all of this in mind, I decided I wanted to start my own catechism group with some people I knew. I wanted to choose the right people, people who would contribute and be interested in the topics discussed. I didn't want people who would undermine what we were talking about or always bring it around to an unrelated topic.

I wasn't necessarily looking for people based on their level of knowledge. I just wanted some men who would be open to discussing the catechism. In fact, I sought high and low for a good guide to use when discussing these topics. I look at various books on moral theology, faith studies, guides, etc. I couldn't quite pick something. I even spoke to some priests. After giving it some more thought, I decided we could simply use the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

We used the latest edition from 2000 promulgated by Pope John Paul II. I know some people make take issue with this edition and prefer an older edition. There is nothing wrong with that. This one was just the most accessible. I will get into why the edition is not of grave concern later.

So once I had decided on who to invite and what reference we would use, I set about planning on how to best tackle this large resource. The catechism is 846 pages and has copious footnotes. For every footnote, you could find a whole other work with plenty to read. So it's something of a daunting task.

We started covering the catechism in September 2019. We have had some breaks and hiatuses throughout this period, but we are still not done over a year later. My approach was to divide the book into manageable sections for discussion. I would try to split it into logical sections, not just random page numbers. Once the sections were divided, there would be a new group member who would present their section each week. With 5 people in the group, each person would have 5 weeks to prepare their section.

To give you an example, right now we are covering the 10 commandments. This was easy to divvy up - one commandment per person. Some parts are a little more tricky. But the main thing is trying to have a connected theme.

This format has worked well. People have used all kinds of multimedia to make their presentations. It isn't a strict format and each person is allowed to create their own work and their own approach. Some like to be the only ones talking while others like to involve the audience a lot more. As long as the topics are being covered, that's the main thing.

I would encourage everyone who wants to learn their faith more to start one of these groups. We have our every Thursday around 7:00pm. This makes it nice and consistent. Our group consists entirely of men at the moment for the most part. I like this arrangement. It allows men to discuss things from their unique perspective. Women can certainly do the same thing.

Let me know in the comments section what you think about this idea for learning the faith. Look forward to hearing from you!

Happy Feast Day of St. Francis Xavier December 3

 

Why are Advent Calendars always so inaccurate?

I was checking out Google for trending topics and one that came up was Taco Bell Advent Calendar. It seemed rather specific. I did some research and found out they had these "calendars" which contained 12 "prizes". I'm not sure where they got 12 from. I'm assuming it's because it's half of 24, which is the normal size of an Advent calendar these days.

But why are there 24 days on Advent calendars. It's inaccurate 86% of the time. The reason is pretty simple. To avoid having to print a different Advent calendar every year, companies produce the same one and just begin it on December 1 and it ends on December 24. Usually it's arranged in 4 rows of 6 days.

This is inaccurate. Advent ranges from 22 to 28 days inclusive. It can start as early as November 27 and as late as Dec. 3. I wrote about this on a previous blog which you can find here titled "The Date of Advent". The blog goes into a lot of detail as to the dates of Advent and why the length varies from year to year.

So the calendars out there are inaccurate, as only 1 in 7 years does Advent actually begin on December 1. This happens when December 1 is a Sunday. That means Advent calendars will become valid again in December 2024, and every 7 years after that.

The Taco Bell Advent Calendar is particularly bad, having only 12 blocks. I don't even know if they have particular days associated with each block.

I'm not really sure the purpose of Advent calendars to begin with. Advent is a time of spiritual preparation. How does it make sense to give little candies and goodies throughout this time. If anything, people should be giving up these things, detaching themselves, so as to get more out of Advent.

But as usual, it seems this is simply a ploy by businesses to take advantage of the season. I can't really blame them, they are simply catering to the desires of customers. The general populace pays relatively little attention to the spiritual aspects of Advent and opts instead for the gifts and pleasures of Christmas which they celebrate early.

Ironically once the Christmas season is actually here, many people abandon it early. So they start celebrating early only to stop celebrating early also. Makes very little sense. Hopefully people will reclaim a spiritual aspect to their Advent season this year.

Ellen Page now "Elliot" Page? - a Catholic view on transgenderism

Ellen Page, a well-known actress, says she is no longer Ellen Page, but rather Elliot Page. Once referred to in the feminine, articles have automatically started to refer to her as he and "they". To me it's kind of strange. Without skipping a beat, every reference to this person who used to be her and she will now be his and they. No questions asked. Just seems eerie to me.

It used to be that people undergoing so-called sex-change operations would openly say they are changing from male to female or vice versa. However, that of course had to be modified as well. It went on the euphemism treadmill. First it was sex-change, then gender re-assignment, but that wasn't good enough. A new philosophy emerged which stated that the people who were undergoing these operations were not "changing" their genders or sex. Rather, they were simply "being who they are": A woman trapped in a man's body or a man trapped in a woman's body.

Who knows what anyone will come up with next. It's all made up as they go along. This gets into a broader topic of words and definitions. The left is continually attacking words. It started some time ago. People started becoming less and less precise in their use of words. At first it was similar words being used perhaps slightly incorrectly. However, it soon went further. Words were weaponized as in 1984. Up was down, left was right. Someone discovered that all you had to do was slap a euphemistic label on something and bam, everything is alright.

Fr. Ripperger is one of my favorite preachers. One thing that makes him great is that every time he uses a particular word for the first time, he defines it. He is very precise in his use of language. This is an important skill which has been largely ignored unfortunately. If people use and are aware of precise language, concepts can be communicated very precisely. If not, communication conveys only very vague ideas.

In the case of transgenderism, the whole movement is about manipulating language in order to advance acceptance. Distinctions, which should be made, are deemed irrelevant at best. So, we are told we must "accept people". This is very broad and muddles various concepts. Because of the imprecision of language that is being advanced, not accepting any aspect of transgenderism is considered offensive and wrong. The Catholic point of view would be that God gives men and women their genders at conception. We cannot change what God has created. However, if someone chooses to manipulate how they are seen or, in fact, their own bodies, although we oppose this, we still give them the dignity they deserve as human beings. They are committing acts which are objectively sinful, but perhaps due to their own poor judgment are not personally culpable. This is especially the case given our current world.

My point is that by making distinctions we avoid the two extremes. One extreme says hate everything about this person and what they do. The other extreme says love and accept everything this person does. Neither is correct. 99% of people out there have or continue to commit sin. We don't throw the baby out with the bath water. We always must strive to help people who live in sin.

Denying God's creation in our lives is not giving proper reverence and obedience to him. We are saying we are above God, he doesn't choose my sex and gender, I do. This is fundamentally wrong. Our parents brought us forth through an act of intimate love. We owe them our lives. This is something I am learning more deeply with regards to the fourth commandment of honoring our mother and father. We are not meant to be autonomous self-directing entities. We in fact fall within a hierarchy, with God being at the head. We can never usurp his authority.

Beyond this, transgenderism involves doing violence to one's body and often involves mutilation. This is gravely wrong as we cannot purposely injure part of ourselves which is designed for good and is healthy.

Part of this whole problem stems from our separation of the marital act from procreation. When sex is viewed as a recreational activity with no true end, it can be used for many and varied purposes. The very idea of male and female, which is foundational to the human person, become abstractions and irrelevant. Catholics who have followed these developments know this all stems from sexual immorality, and in particular, in the acceptance of contraception. Contraception allows for the idea that sex is separate from procreation. This makes possible so many of the evils related to the sixth commandment that we see in today's world.

I wish Ellen Page the best in her life and hope that she comes to a realization of what she is doing beyond her own misinformed whim. Pray for her.

Advent Preparation Guide 2020

As we know, in our modern-day secular world, there is no distinction made between Advent and Christmas. Usually right after Halloween, Christmas stuff starts appearing. Out of respect for soldiers, some people wait until after November 11 to begin decorating for the season. However, this is far too early according to the Christian Calendar.

In the Catholic Church, everything is governed by seasons. As the Bible says, there is a time and place for everything in our universe. Prior to great celebrations in the Church, we strive to strip away our inordinate attachments to the material world to be better prepared for the spiritual significance of the season we will celebrate.

The most famous of such times is Lent which is a preparation for the most important season of the Christian calendar - Easter. The meaning of Easter has nothing to do with material goods, but rather it has everything to do with spiritual goods.

In the same way, Advent is our way of preparation for the upcoming feast of Christmas. Christmas is a spiritual reality. Unfortunately, our modern society focuses almost exclusively on the material aspect - how many gifts will you receive or give. At most the secular world will say that Christmas is about spending time with your loved ones. Rarely do they discuss the true reason and meaning for Advent and Christmas.

Christmas is a celebration of the Second Person of the Trinity becoming incarnate to dwell among us to bring salvation to the whole world. Jesus was, in a sense, born to carry out his mission which was to offer himself as the perfect sacrifice on Calvary for the salvation of souls. His incarnation and birth made this possible. Our job on Earth is to unite ourselves more fully with God and to receive his Grace. One of the things that stands in our way to achieving this is our attachments to material or created goods. These attachments prevent us from achieving a closer spiritual union with our Creator.

Advent is a great opportunity, sort of a lesser Lent (in terms of penance), to remove some attachment to the material world and move closer to God. That way we can more fully celebrate the true meaning of Christmas.

To that end, I found an excellent Advent preparation. This comes from reginaprophetarum.org. I have transcribed it here into regular text. Feel free to print this off and use it as a guide as you prepare for the coming of the Savior of the World.

ADVENT IS COMING

THE FOUR WEEKS OF ADVENT are set apart by the Church to commemorate the ages that intervened between the fall of our first parents and the birth of  Christ which we celebrate at Christmas. It is a Season of special prayer and  penance mingled with joyful expectation, and calculated to prepare our souls for a worthy keeping of this great solemnity. Advent is also the beginning of the  ecclesiastical year, and as each succeeding year brings us closer to the Second Coming of Christ as Judge of the world, this holy time is likewise intended to make us ready to meet our Judge. Such preparation is best achieved by seeking sanctification through voluntary amendment of life, acts of penance, and works of charity. 

Do not let this time to Grow in Holiness Pass You By!!

Consider the following categories on what we should do for Advent this year.

1. VOLUNTARY AMENDMENT OF LIFE
Give up those things that need to go sooner or later, namely bad habits. Our goal here is to learn to love our souls more than our bodies… to break a bad habit forever and Advent is a good time to do it. Examples: Gossiping, surfing the web without real need, watching T.V., overeating, eating between meals, eating and drinking junk foods (e.g., soda), bad drinking habits, complaining, saying vulgar words, not getting up on time, using a snooze alarm, wasting time playing video games, going to movies, listening to base music, useless chattering on facebook, blogs, and the like, etc. 

In this category I am going to give up _______________________

2. ACTS OF PENANCE
Perform some kind of penance. Our goal here is to train ourselves to say “no” in little things so that we can say “NO” to big temptations later. We can resume doing the things given up here once Advent is over. Examples: Avoid eating or drinking something that we enjoy, such as desserts. Give up eating out, taking completely warm showers, drinking alcoholic beverages, etc... 

In this category I am going to give up _______________________

3. WORKS OF CHARITY
Perform some good and holy action(s). Our goal here is to strengthen our relationship with Christ and His Church. Ideally, what we start here would continue in some way even after Advent is over. Love God more than yourself! Examples: Pray the Rosary everyday, attend daily Mass as much as possible, read the Sacred Scriptures _______ minutes a day, spend _______ additional time everyday with my family, read a life of a saint or saints, increase spiritual reading in place of electronic media, make a daily visit to the Most Blessed Sacrament or shrine of Our Lady.

In this category I am going to _______________________

To get the PDF version, go to http://reginaprophetarum.org/mission_materials/Advent%20is%20Coming.pdf

Supreme Court Orders Preliminary Injunction in Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn v. Cuomo

Of all the places I have been, churches seem to be most strictly observing Covid regulations. Go into Walmart and Costco and people are just randomly walking all over the place. Contrast this with Mass, where the number of people is very strictly enforced, names and phone numbers are gathered, and people are only allowed to sit in designated areas at least 6 feet apart.

The difference is night and day. Not only that, most of the churches I go to have not one but two announcements regarding how we should proceed to communion in a "safe and respectful" way.

In my opinion, churches are going a little too extreme with all this mass hysteria (excuse the pun). We only have a handful of cases in my province, but this doesn't stop them from pulling out all the stops.

For governments to put much stricter limits on church services than they do on huge retailers is absolutely unacceptable!

Supreme Court Orders Preliminary Injunction in Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn v. Cuomo

Happy Feast Day of St. Andrew November 30 + Prayer

 

Prayer to St. Andrew

O Glorious St. Andrew,

you were the first to recognize and follow the Son of God.

With your friend, St. John,

you remained with Jesus,

for your entire life,

and now throughout eternity.

Image of St Andrew the Apostle sitting reading

Just as you led your brother, St Peter,

to Christ and many others after him,

draw us also to Him.

Teach us how to lead them,

solely out of love for Jesus

and dedication to His service.

Help us to learn the lesson of the Cross

and carry our daily crosses without complaint,

so that they may carry us to God the Almighty Father. Amen.