You May Find This Offensive

Me Too

This is the picture of an aborted baby.  You can call it tissue, a fetus, a blob, or whatever you like, to salve your own conscience, but this is a picture of an unborn child that someone did not want, and so they killed him. 

Tonight, you will watch NCIS on TV, and see someone murdered, and then the story of the solving of the murder.  The scene of the murder will be pretty graphic, as will the scenes in the autopsy room where Doctor Mallard performs his necropsy.  If you watch NCIS Los Angeles after that, there will be a murder there too, or several maybe, and there will be shooting and gore abounding, in the midst of some salving witty repartee, akin to NCIS.

Or maybe you will watch the fights, where there is a possibility that a hockey game will break out.  You will see guys crashing each other into the boards or into the net, and you might see a high stick cut someone for several stitches.

Maybe you will stay up and see the news.  There you will see gore from tragic traffic accidents, and violence and mayhem from around the world.

None of those things will offend you, though you may "tut tut" for a moment at the senseless violence on the news.  Senseless violence in a hockey game, or on a TV serial show is not so tut tutable.

But, you will take offence at the graphic image of a baby who has been aborted by its mother, severed limb from limb by a person claiming to be a doctor, who I always thought was supposed to save lives.

Ever wonder why you find that offensive, but not the other things?

What I find offensive is the lengths that people will take to prevent those who value life from showing these pictures of the worst genocide our society has ever seen to the world, such as recently at Carleton University, latest here, and here. 

We cry out over the slaughter of our Jewish brothers and sisters during the second world war, but want to pretend that abortion is a procedure, and that there is not a life at stake (more than one in the long run).

Yes, I take offense too.

Addition By Subtraction

Learning from Father Gordon MacRae and Father Mark Gruber

It is late afternoon here in Southern Ontario as I write this.  The sun is streaming through the family room windows of our home that faces a small city park just beyond our backyard.  I have spent time outdoors today enjoying the fall sun resting on my shoulders and warming me.  God willing, My Dear Wife and I will leave our home here to spend the first four months of 2011 in our winter home in Southern Arizona, far from the snow and slush, and the bitter cold of Canadian winters.

We can do this because Our God is a Great God, and He has provided this for us to enjoy, but also to use for His Glory. 

It is not so for Father Gordon MacRae.  Father Gordon languishes in the New Hampshire State Prison, where he can, if he tries, see a few inches of the outside world.  But, he cannot choose to go where he wishes.  He is a prisoner.  So too, Father Mark Gruber in a very real sense.  They are the victims of lies perpetrated by those whose need to be right has exceeded their grasp of the importance of the Truth.

But, languishes is a word that diminishes these two fine men of God, for they are not in fact languishing, but seeking His Face in all they meet, and submitting themselves to His Divine Providence for their daily lives.

They are free in ways that most of us cannot imagine.  They have met the Way, the Truth and the Life personally, and He, Our Dear Saviour has allowed them to share in His Suffering and a Death to their dreams of priestly ministry.  He has made His Sufferings a gift to them, and they have taken up their crosses and are following Him, joined to His Death, and ultimately to His Victory over sin and death.

Add to this something else that happened recently, and how the rest of us respond to what is before our eyes must change.

Last weekend, Gus Lloyd, an Evangelist, and radio announcer on Catholic Radio on the satellite networks, where he hosts the morning show "Seize the Day" was given a prayer ("Drain Me of Me") by God, which he dutifully wrote down, and which he equally dutifully, but with some trepidation, shared on his web site and radio program, and which I reproduced the other day.  It is a prayer that calls for the pouring out of all that is in us that is not of Him, who poured Himself out for us at Calvary.

In one part of the prayer, near its conclusion, it says:

And when I am emptied, unencumbered by
The stuff and nonsense of the world,
No longer weighed down by the heaviness
And burdens put upon me by myself
Or the dark forces of the evil one

Fill me with your Spirit,
For your Spirit has no chains,
Your Spirit recognizes no boundaries,
Your Spirit is lightness and light,
Your Spirit allows me to soar
As on eagle’s wings.

Gus has realised that though he lives with his family in South Florida and travels about the country preaching as the opportunity arrives, he is not in fact completely free.  For reasons of my own personal journey, I know this too.

The Apostle Paul was never more free than when he was imprisoned, and neither have Father's MacRae and Gruber ever been more free than they are at this moment, while imprisoned, ostracized, criticized and ridiculed by those in authority.

True freedom can only come with abandonment to divine providence, to trusting in God so completely that nothing else matters but seeking to do His will every moment of every day.

Father Gordon and Father Mark have and are being drained by God of all that separates them from Him.  When all the clutter of daily life is removed there is only Him.

That their suffering not be in vain, nor that of Our Dear Lord, we too must take up the cross that is before us, and add to our life in Him by subtraction.

Lord God, Creator of the Universe, remove from us all the parts that keep us from being totally submitted to You and Your Plan for our lives.

Amazing Grace - Once Again

And Amazing It Is

My friend Norm Sutherland, who lives down the road from London here, and who I met at daily Mass in Tucson, sent me this link to Andre Rieu and a very rousing version of that old favourite spiritual, Amazing Grace.

If this doesn't get your fire burning, your wood's wet.

Birth and Reconciliation

Entering Advent with a New Granddaughter

Earlier this week, November 23 at 10:15pm, to be exact, a little baby girl, weighing 7 pounds and 9 onces, was born in Foothills Hospital in Calgary, AB.  Here name is Charlotte. Of course, lots of babies were born this week, and some others even at Foothills.

There are a few things that make this event memorable for us.  First, she was also named after her maternal grandmother, My Dear Wife.  What is significant about that is that it means that her second name is Christina - "Follower of Christ".  So, we have a new granddaughter, a little sister for Sam and Emilia.  Charlotte is well and at home with her family, which of course, includes her mother Katie Rosso, and father Marco.  For the next 20 years or so, they will only be known as Charlotte's mother and father, or Emilia's or Sam's. 

But, as we enter into the Advent season, and prepare to welcome the Christ of whom Charlotte is a follower, we remember too the lead up to that birth, a time when Mary was pregnant with her child, as was her cousin Elizabeth with hers.

As a man, I have witnessed labour when my children were being born.  As a man, I have never experienced it.  From observing it, I can conclude that it is difficult, painful, and produces great joy in the end.  What I cannot know is what it feels like to go through a pregnancy and delivery as a mother.  In actual fact, I am very grateful for that.  As a proud father and grandfather, I can speak about it, but not really speak to it, if you get my meaning.

Being pregnant and giving birth to a child are things that can only be fully known by experiencing them.  If my step daughter Katie were to tell me about the pain and discomfort, and even the joy involved in the process of carrying Charlotte in her womb and then bringing her into the world, I could listen, and even empathise, but not from my own similar experience.  Now, My Dear Wife can listen to her as a mother, who in fact carried Katie to term, delivered her and then felt the joy at her arrival.  Yet, the birth of Charlotte is a unique experienc still, and My Dear Wife, as knowledgeable as she is, did not experience this particular birth.

And so, we are joyful at Charlotte's safe arrival, though we do not seem as excited as Sam and Emilia are at this moment.

But, this all brings to mind something more profound about our faith.  Readers of this blog and of Father Tim Moyle's Where the Rubber Hits the Road blog, might remember exchanges that occured here and there between us and a lapsed Catholic, Small Town Guy, who found Jesus and has taken up his relationship with him in the Reformed tradition.  He writes from his experiences as a Reformer, and like many fundamentalist Christians takes his turns at bashing the Catholic vision of Christ, and has taken particular delight in slamming essential beliefs of Catholicism, particularly relating to the sacraments.  He has postured on the Catholic belief about Reconciliation, a sacrament that Father Tim administers to the faithful, and one that I love to partake of when I can.

Although our friend, Small Town Guy, would have gone to Confession as a young child, and so has some experience with the sacrament, he spouts rhetoric about how there is no need for Confession/Reconciliation, and so on.  He quotes bible verses to support his position.  Essentially what you would expect from a fundy.

On many occasions, when I have gone to Confession, I have experienced a profound grace come over me, not merited by me, but given freely by God.  I have known that I am once again in His embrace.  On one occasion recently, I went to Confession to a retired priest, who seemed hurried, and so my experience was one of being rushed out the door, which does not diminish the power of the sacrament, just colours the experience.

As I cannot know the experience that Katie had giving birth to Charlotte, neither can Small Town Guy know the experience that I have had during Reconciliation.  As My Dear Wife, Christina, can have a better understanding of Katie's experience, she still did not have that exact same experience, and so would not diminish its uniqueness for Katie. 

So too, Father Tim Moyle, who has administered the sacrament countless times, can relate to my personal experience, and if I had had occasion to go to Confession to him, he might be in a better place to grasp it.  But, he still has never been in my shoes when I have received the sacrament.

And so, we come back to uniqueness, and the one of a kind relationship that each of us on the planet is called to have with Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

It saddens me to know that there are Christians who feel the need to disavow other professing Christians of the core beliefs of their profession, yet do so from rhetoric rather than having spent time in the shoes of those they choose to criticise, shoes they can never really walk in.  It saddens me to know that I am one of those that sadden me, and worst of all sadden Our Lord by our actions.

Jesus called us to be one, as He and the Father are One.  Yet, He knows us and loves us uniquely, according to our gifts, faults, trials and tribulations.

Little Charlotte is only 4 1/2 days old as I write this.  She is largely a blank slate on which will be written the story of her life and her faith.  She is loved by God perfectly at this moment, and will be at every moment in her life.  He will call her to Baptism into His Death and Resurrection, and she will respond as she does, and He will love her on her good days, and on her bad days, as only He is capable of.

If, as her parents raise her, they follow the traditions of the Catholic Church, and she partakes of the sacraments as they are offered to her, and draws closer in relationship to Jesus, who among us would like to answer to God for standing in her way?

And so too, should we stand in the way of another brother or sister who professes to know and love Christ, but does it differently than we do?

Advent Begins With Gregorian Chant

Chant for the Season

I have been a fan of Christian Contemporary music for many years now.  As a former pianist and guitar player, I have had occasion to participate in its performance, and in writing it as well.  Since the automobile accident I had almost 7 years ago, I have been on the sidelines, and for an extended period of time could not listen to music at all.  Though I can handle small doses of it today, I have none the less been touched by many forms of Christian musci these last several years, maybe in part because I can only listen, and then have to marshall my listening time.

I have always liked some of the old hits, songs like Amazing Grace, and for many years played it with various other musicians where we felt the Spirit move us into different nuances of performance.  For a lengthy period, we never played it exactly the same, and could in fact not have duplicated one of our previous efforts with it. 

When I gather with my prayer partners in the mornings to pray the Lauds from the Liturgy of the Hours, we sing a song found in the hymnal section of the liturgy book, and those songs are all oldies but goodies.  So, I have been touched outside the contemporary scene, though I still have fondness for contemporary music.

I have given some thought to Gregorian Chant, but have by and large thought about it, and not listened to it.  Today, Stephen McElligott of the Loyal to the Magisterium blog posted a beautiful Gregorian Chant to begin Advent, here.

It is deeply spiritual, and prayerful.  Where Christian Contemporary is more about Jesus meeting us here where we are, it seems to me that Gregorian Chant is more about approaching the Divine in music.

Give a listen and see if it touches you.

What Is God's WIll?

The Skit Guys
An interesting take on knowing God's will in your life.


You can also go to their web site and see what else they have there.

Giving Thanks

All of Us Have Reason To Be Thankful


Father Gordon MacRae, an ordained Roman Catholic priest, ministers to the inmates of the state prison in New Hampshire.  He will spend Thanksgiving Day 2010 as he has spent the last 16 Thanksgiving Days, in the prison with "Pornchai, and Donald, and Joseph, and Skooter-with-a-K", and the other inmates of that institution, where he is a blessing to them, and in no small measure they to him, as well.  Father Gordon does not have the privilege of entering the prison to minister, and then repairing to his comfortable home elsewhere, as he has been in that prison every single minute, of every single day, of every single year for the last 16 years or so.  Not only was he falsely accused and convicted of molesting youngsters, in what to the most jaded of observers of the facts can be seen to be contrived, and horribly wrong, but he has been abandoned by his Bishop, his fellow priests, and by the Catholic Church, embodied in its members, who have consigned him to an earthly purgatory.

Father Gordon has always claimed his innocence and there are no shortage of those who believe in him, but to date there has been no justice for him.  Or has there?  Is justice just what we see in this world, or is there divine justice that we cannot see.  Father Gordon would tell you that God is just, and that God is merciful, and that no matter what happens on a day to day basis to him in the "hoosegow", the trials that he is enduring are all joy.

Some time ago, I wrote a piece about the verse from Ephesians that talks about considering trials to be joy, but for some reason never got around to completing it and posting it until today here.  In it I spoke about the challenges that my dear friend Deacon George Sebok encountered along the way to being called to be a Roman Catholic Deacon, and a lover of Our Lord and Saviour. I dare say that Father Gordon is a man like George, one who sees the beauty in the trials he encounters, and the grace abounding.

We in Canada, who live near the US or who live part of the year in the US are aware of a second opportunity we have each year to officially give thanks for our blessings.  We had our Thanksgiving day in early October, but now we can join our sisters and brothers in America as they give thanks for their blessings, and we can in turn give thanks once more for ours.  Once again, Father Gordon has eloquently shown us that all of us have things for which we can show gratitude, no matter what turns our lives take.

If you read down to the comments to his posting, you will see how his faith inspires others, from the comment from Pornchai Moontri, his fellow inmate who has been inspired to join the Church by his witness, and who was able to arrange for his own words to be posted, to the others who  have felt the Spirit move them to visit These Stone Walls, or who regularly follow the goings on here, and take the time to comment.

Let Father Gordon's unfailing faith be an inspiration to you and to yours, and then give thanks that godly men take up the vocation to be Roman Catholic priests, and remain faithful to that vocation in even dire circumstances and persecution.

Then pray that God would release Father Gordon from the chains of false imprisonment.

And above all, Give Thanks with a Grateful Heart.

Consider All These Trials Joy

From The Epistle of James


The second verse of the first chapter of the Epistle of James translates a little more broadly in the New Jerusalem version to "My brothers, consider it a great joy when trials of many kinds come upon you, for you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance, and perseverance must complete its work so that you will become fully developed complete, not deficient in any way."


One morning a few months ago, I was walking with my friend Deacon George Sebok after morning prayer in Springbank Park, a beautiful and large park that is right across the street from our Parish of St. George, here in London Ontario.  Deacon George understands the veracity of this verse, and we spoke about it as we walked.


Deacon George was a successful realtor back in the day.  In a matter of a relatively short space of time, and with the help of a recession, he lost a ton of money, or in our metric world here in Canada, a tonne of money, which is even bigger than the more common ton.  Deacon George subsequently became a simple tailor, running his tailor shop and a dry cleaning depot, after he took over his father-in-law's business, as the elder man retired.  From his tailor shop, George did his work, prayed over all the clothes that came into his shop, and offered all those who entered a smile, a blessing, and a chance to talk about faith if they were thus inclined.  He considers the biggest blessing to occur in his life to be the taking from him of his financial wealth.  "Consider all these trials joy."

20 years ago, he and our other prayer partner Wayne Zimmer, and others would gather at 6 am in the tailor shop to start the morning in praise, worship and prayer together.


When he entered into the diaconal formation programme several years ago, the priests who were reviewing his application were not inclined to accept him due to his age, and his weakness in written literacy.  What they could not gloss over was that he had been living his life by all the principles of service of a deacon long before our diocese entertained ordaining men to the permanent diaconate.  What they could also not miss was the gentle spirit that he carried, and the love of Christ and mankind that he shared.


George is pretty certain that had he not been financially ruined many years ago, that he would have lost his soul.  The trials of financial disaster produced in George a perseverance that he lives by daily, when he meets challenges, and those rough edges, that I recall from when we first met, are gradually being smoothed as he becomes "not deficient in any way."


I consider it a great blessing to be able to meet with him for prayer most mornings, and to share whatever time we have together.  He is a man of God who inspires my faith to grow.


It is interesting to note that the arrogant, successful realtor that he was before would likely have appealed to me more back in that day, than the man he is now would have.  But, I would much rather know and walk alongside the man he is now, than that earlier iteration of him.


In an earthly sense, what is more absurd than a verse that says: ". . . consider it a great joy when trials of many kinds come upon you"?  You would have to be out of your earthly mind, or be barking mad, as the Brits say, to have this verse make sense to you, and as Deacon George commented when we walked that morning, that thinking as we are makes us "fools for Christ's sake," which also never made a lot of sense to me before.


As I have written previously, I had my own Come to Jesus incident, when 6 3/4 years ago, I was hit in the back of the head by a Ford Aerostar van.  The results of that accident have changed my life almost completely.  I loved God before, and sought to do His will, but over time, His will has become more important as my disabilities make my dependence on Him greater.

On June 26, 2003, "Anna" a lay apostle heard these words from Jesus that are found in her first book, which is available to be purchased or can be downloaded for free here:

Often My words fall on deaf ears. Truly there are those who see but do not see, who hear but do not hear. These brothers and sisters will have to answer for their disregard of My graces. My words bounce off them like so many stones. You, My children, have been given the grace to hear with both your ears and your hearts. Therefore you must heed My words. My Spirit will come upon you and you will know what I want from you. Please, hear the voice of your God in your heart and respond to Me with determination. My yoke is easy and My burden is light. My true followers know joy and peace and it is reflected in their eyes. Look to one another for support during this time. These holy friendships are My gift to you, dear children, to help  you walk My path during a time when there are few on that course. Listen to My words and let Me begin to use you to further My plan. My plan is one of love and salvation for your dark world. The next generation will know Me in a different way. You will be grateful to Me for this opportunity to serve.

Today, as I read this passage to my prayer partner, Wayne Zimmer, I was aware of the section that said: "These holy friendships are My gift to you, dear children, to help  you walk My path during a time when there are few on that course."

I am blessed to have My Dear Wife at my side, and to have holy friendships with her and with others like these two men of God.

May you be blessed with being surrounded by men and women of God who will draw you into deeper relationship with Him, and also with His Dear Mother, who loves us as her own children, and invites us to have holy friendship with her, to bring us even closer to her wonderful Son, Our Saviour Jesus Christ.

Quantitative Easing - Smoke and Mirrors

How Are We Going to Get Out of this Mess?

President Obama announced in August that the recession was over.  That's good news, right, for the US and for Canada?  I guess it might be if it were true, although technically it is.  But, there might be a little more to it than that.

You may recall that there is a plan to put a new $600,000,000,000 into the economy ($600 billion).  If we had that amount of money, it might be a good thing.  But, this dough is going to be created out of thin air.

Since the first push of money into the weak components of the economy, think auto manufacturers, and banks a couple of years back, there has been a ballooning of government debt in North America.  But, this is a good thing right?

Maybe not so.  If you have recently lost your job, should you go out and buy a new house, tv and car?  You would be out of your mind to do that, wouldn't you?  That would be spending money you don't have, and in tough economic times (well really any times) that is not a particularly good idea.  So, if we would not do it personally, why sould our governments do it?








So, in the midst of this, I received a humorous, though possibly sadly true, commentary on economic stimulus, and the payments made to Americans by the government a while back.

Sometime this year, we taxpayers will again receive another 'Economic Stimulus' payment.  This is indeed a very exciting program, and I'll explain it by using a Q & A format:

Q. What is an 'Economic Stimulus' payment ?
A. It is money that the federal government will send to taxpayers.

Q. Where will the government get this money ?
A. From taxpayers.

Q. So the government is giving me back my own money ?
A. Only a smidgen of it.

Q. What is the purpose of this payment ?
A. The plan is for you to use the money to purchase a high-definition TV set, thus stimulating the economy.

Q. But isn't that stimulating the economy of China ?
A. Shut up.

Below is some helpful advice on how to best help the U.S. economy by spending your stimulus check wisely:
* If you spend the stimulus money at Wal-Mart, the money will go to China or Sri Lanka ..
* If you spend it on gasoline, your money will go to the Arabs.
* If you purchase a computer, it will go to India , Taiwan or China ..
* If you purchase fruit and vegetables, it will go to Mexico , Honduras and Guatemala ...
* If you buy an efficient car, it will go to Japan or Korea ..
* If you purchase useless stuff, it will go to Taiwan ..
* If you pay your credit cards off, or buy stock, it will go to management bonuses and they will hide it offshore.

Instead, keep the money in America by:
1) Spending it at yard sales, or
2) Going to ball games, or
3) Spending it on prostitutes, or
4) Beer or
5) Tattoos.
(These are the only American businesses still operating in the U.S. )

Conclusion:
Go to a ball game with a tattooed prostitute that you met at a yard sale and drink beer all day !

No need to thank me, I'm just glad I could be of help.

Does God Speak to His People?

Why Not?

In my life, I have heard the voice of God from time to time, and I am pretty sure that Mary spoke to me last night in the middle of the night.  But God in His three persons, and even Jesus' Mother Mary does speak to some of His people, but mainly those who slow down their lives enough and quiet them down enough to listen for the still small voice that is His (and hers).

And what do they say?  Well, they don't seem to talk about the weather, or how about them Steelers or whoever.  If the messages from Mary are authentic, and many messages have not been approved by the Holy See, so their veracity has not been tested officially, they will point us to her Son, Our Lord and Saviour.  It appears that Mary does enjoy special favour with her Son, and with the other persons of the Trinity, and why would that not be so.  Does not even your own mother have a special place in your heart, the one who brought you into this world?

And Jesus when He speaks, calls us to love God above all, love our neighbour as ourselves, and to be holy as He is holy, pretty much what He says to us in scripture, but on an even more personal level.  In fact, if the messages from Him or purported to be from Him disagreed with scripture, then the hearer and any readers of the messages should be heading for the hills, because the voice is not a friend but THE foe.

But, the other day, Stephen McElligott, the writer of the blog Loyal to the Magisterium,  written from Ireland, form which my own family descends, and therefor a notch up the Brandon reliability scale, pointed readers to a lay apostle by the moniker Anne.  Anne purports to hear the voices of the Father, Jesus, Our Blessed Mother, and some of the saints.  I say purports only because what she has written from what she has heard has not had official recognition from the Holy See, as yet.

None the less, Anne is committed to obedience to the Church, and has submitted everything that she has written to her local Bishop, Bishop Leo O’Reilly of the Diocese of Kilmore in Ireland, prior to releasing them to the public.  He takes her writings seriously, and has assigned a priest to work with her, and they jointly have submitted her writings to Rome.

Her writings are of a mother of 6, and wife, and of one who loves God and Our Blessed Mother.  Her devotion to them all has resulted in ongoing conversion in her life, and she writes about that interspersed with the words she claims to have received from them.

To date, there are 8 volumes in particular that are available to be purchased, and also to be downloaded for free from a web site committed to disseminating these works here. 

Here is what Bishop O'Reilly wrote about the lay movement that is taking place here:

To Whom It May Concern:



Direction For Our Times (DFOT) is a religious movement founded by “Anne,” a lay apostle from our diocese who wishes to remain anonymous. The movement is in its infancy and does not as yet enjoy canonical status. I have asked a priest of the diocese, Fr. Darragh Connolly, to assist in the work of the movement and to ensure that in all its works and publications it remains firmly within the teaching and practice of the Catholic Church.


I have known “Anne,” the founder of the movement, for several years. She is a Catholic in good standing in the diocese, a wife and mother of small children, and a woman of deep spirituality. From the beginning, she has always been anxious that everything connected with the movement be subject to the authority of the Church. She has submitted all her writings to me and will not publish anything without my permission. She has submitted her writings to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and I have done so, as well.


In so far as I am able to judge, she is orthodox in her writings and teaching. Her spirituality and the spiritual path that she proposes to those who wish to accept it are in conformity with the teachings of the Church and of the great spiritual writers of the past and present.


+Leo O’Reilly


Bishop of Kilmore


16 June 2006

We are invited to discern for ourselves that which is of God, and are not bound in this instance to accept as from God what is available to read here.

I am most of the way through the first volume, and what I have read has touched my heart, and is drawing me to holiness.  It so happens that starting to read these works coincides with other calls that God has been placing on me, some of which I have tried to ignore, or in trying to follow have fouled up beyond all recognition (FUBAR).  There is even encouragement for those of us who try and fail and those who try not to try and fail from Jesus in the writings, meant to prevent discouragement.

Have a look and see if they touch you.  What have you got to lose?