Yup

Today, the Mass was denied to me in Ávila (Spain). I am the chaplain of a pilgrimage group from the United States. This pilgrims usually attend the Traditional Latin Mass, so they wanted to be accompanied by a priest who would celebrate in the Old Rite. We had the chapel booked, but we were told that this rite required authorization from the Bishop. I went to the Episcopal Curia to request the authorization, so the Mass could take place. However, the Bishop, not to me personally, but through the Vicar General, categorically stated: “That Mass is prohibited in this diocese.” Prohibited why? And by what authority? Has this rite been abrogated? I was going to celebrate it in a chapel with the group of pilgrims. What harm could possibly come to the world? The rite is exactly the same one used in the convents of the Discalced Carmelites, stemming from the reform of Saint Teresa of Ávila and Saint John of the Cross. The rite was good for those great saints, but now it is bad for us? The Code of Canon Law - Canon 932 §1 - prohibits Masses outside of sacred places, except in cases of necessity: “The Eucharistic celebration must be carried out in a sacred place unless, in a particular case, necessity requires otherwise; in that case, it must be celebrated in a decent place.” In this case, there was no necessity to celebrate the Mass in a hotel room, since we were surrounded by chapels and churches with beautiful altars (that are almost never used). The necessity was created by the Bishop himself, who, instead of promoting sacred things, decided to prohibit them. Who benefited from the Mass being celebrated in a profane place? Was Our Lord more praised in a hotel room than He would have been in a church? Were the souls of the faithful more edified by seeing a table serving as an altar? It is normal for people to be scandalized by these tyrannical and anti-pastoral decisions, especially from those who claim that everyone is welcome in the Church. But not everyone is. That is quite clear. I have gone through several similar episodes before and remained silent. But this must be denounced, this cannot be the normal state of the Church. Pope Leo must act quickly to put an end to these abuses of authority.

Yup

And when you do have kids, vacation becomes even more work. Or at least a different kind of work. The only joy I get out of family vacations is watching my kids laugh and play... other than that, its just a bunch of work for me while I manage my business from 1000 miles away.

Watched the Star Wars prequels with my kids recently. First time I have watched them in many years. Two thoughts: first, they aged incredibly well. Second, one reason Star Wars nerds are so critical of how Padme/Anakin played out is that they just can't understand it. They dont know what love in your teens/early 20s feels like. Its like a drug that can overpower your faculties of reason.

🎯

After Pope Francis I now have the Catholicism of a Medieval sod farmer. “Who’s the Pope?” “Don’t know. Don’t care.” “Ya hear what the Pope said?” “Nope.” “The Pope’s an idiot & a fraud.” “Take that back or I’ll whip your ass right here & now.” “I’ll see you at Mass.” “Yep.”

This whole thing fascinates me and further reinforces my belief that rad trads are very often their own worst enemies.

This right here

In his Summa Theologiae, St Thomas Aquinas laid out one of the most charitable yet practical arguments concerning immigration that effectively shaped the West for almost 1,000 years. 1. Immigration must always be proportionate so that foreigners can properly assimilate into the culture and mode of worship of the state. 2. Citizenship – and associated rights – should only ever be granted after the third generation to preserve the culture, mode of worship, and constitution of the state. 3. The common good of the citizens must remain the highest priority of the state, meaning, the state's obligation to provide aid to its neighbours can never be at the expense of the citizens. However, Aquinas ends with the sobering reminder that some peoples and states are incompatible with one another, and these must be held as "foes in perpetuity".

Someone i know well who coached Kelce called him the most physically gifted athlete he ever coached but was near the bottom of the roster in terms of work ethic. People forget he was kicked off his college team and had to beg to come back and make a position change. Pic related.

eyes filled with tears over this

Many such cases, unfortunately. This Pope and the last pope have been the biggest hurdle for a lot of potential converts. And I really dont know what to tell them. I guess all I can say is that Catholicism is so much more than the papacy. Thats just one part of it.

I laugh at feminists who actually think the handmaids tale is some living dystopia. It is the complete opposite. Let's imagine an alternate dystopia: women are fed hormone altering pills from teenage years to make them infertile through their prime fertility years, whilst they work to deliver profits for mostly male elite bosses. And if they accidentally get pregnant, the baby is killed so they can continue to generate profit. It's a good plot. It is just real life. Not a work of fiction

Trad goes full sperg on first date and ruins chances with decent woman. Many such cases!

When I umpired kids, I'd tell them I'd give their pitchers the first 2 strikes, but they have to earn the 3rd one. Not going to ring kids up looking on a pitch chest high and 3 inches off the plate.

There's obviously a very fine line, but this is mostly correct.

Last night, I read the entirety of C.S. Lewis' The Screwtape Letters. It's a novel told in the form of letters written by a demon to another demon instructing him on ways to manipulate his "patient" to do evil. This one quote sounded familiar.

The Venn diagram between people who think you should get fired for using the R word and people who think you should be able to euthanize your child if it has Down syndrome is almost a circle