American Idol---Pun Intended/Father George Rutler

Father Rutler, rector of Church of Our Saviour in New York City writes the following about Catholics and the election of Obama, it's sobering.

"In February of 1943, the ill-prepared United States Army II Corps valiantly fought against the German-Italian Panzer Army at the Kasserine Pass in Tunisia but had to retreat. The army did wake up, commanders were replaced, the troops regrouped, and eventually the war was won. This is a contemporary allegory, when we see the social consequences of poorly formed Catholics overwhelmed by secular forces that have no love for the Church.

In the nineteenth century, Cardinal Newman warned that naïve Catholics would fall into "mass apostasy" through lack of preparedness in spiritual combat: "Do you think (the Prince of Lies) is so unskillful in his craft, as to ask you openly and plainly to join him in his warfare against the Truth? No; he offers you baits to tempt you. He promises you civil liberty; he promises you equality; he promises you trade and wealth; he promises you a remission of taxes; he promises you reform. This is the way in which he conceals from you the kind of work to which he is putting you; he tempts you to rail against your rulers and superiors; he does so himself, and induces you to imitate him; or he promises you illumination, — he offers you knowledge, science, philosophy, enlargement of mind. He scoffs at times gone by; he scoffs at every institution which reveres them. He prompts you what to say, and then listens to you, and praises you, and encourages you. He bids you mount aloft. He shows you how to become as gods. Then he laughs and jokes with you, and gets intimate with you; he takes your hand, and gets his fingers between yours, and grasps them, and then you are his."

Many have warned about the consequences of yielding the Faith to false messiahs. Years before becoming pope, Benedict XVI wrote: "Wherever politics tries to be redemptive, it is promising too much. Where it wishes to do the work of God, it becomes not divine, but demonic" (Truth and Tolerance, p. 116).

We are about to witness many outrages against the dignity of life by politicians who have taken advantage of nominal Christians. For starters, we may expect removal of the present administration's ban on destructive embryonic research, and rejection of the Mexico City accords which restrained abortion and eugenics. Most immediately, the New York State legislature has proposed a bill removing the statute of limitations on lawsuits that would damage, and possibly bankrupt, Catholic and other private institutions. Since Cardinal Egan wrote his letter about this, the recent election gave both houses of the legislature to the party that favors this bill.

As with the lesson of the Kasserine Pass, we are learning that there is no place for amateur soldiers in the army of the Lord. A short time from now, many will say: "We should have listened to the warnings." The hard response will be: "Why didn't you?"

"Self-Limitation"/Understanding Patriotism

"Wisdom comes out of the mouth of children"

My 3 year old grandson's most recent interest is "super heroes." Not long ago, when we were together, he designed the game "du jour."

First, we gathered up all the super heroes placing them on the couch, we were to stay put on the couch as well, (as the "unmoved movers!") Then, he explained the objective; defend our territory against the "bad guys," (the anti-heroes.) It was an exacting struggle, as first one super hero, then another, fell off the couch arms, only to be quickly rescued by another super hero, just in the nick of time. In the end, we won.

According to G K Chesterton, what my grandson was doing in this little game, was creating his own version of "self-limitation."

Children play "stepping stone" games, arbitrarily limiting the stones on which they can step. We've all played "hopscotch." We've all heard the story of Noah's Ark, perhaps we played our own version of it as children. Most of us have read Robinson Crusoe. GK makes the point that what makes it such a great tale is not that a boy makes an explorative step outward, but that he becomes a man, surviving alone, on the self-limiting environment of an island.

Have you ever been asked the perennially intriguing question: if you could only have one book, while stranded on a desert island, which one would you choose?

Self-limitation, as Chesterton calls it, seems to be innate. Chesterton's first novel, a political allegory, concerns Adam Wayne, a man living in a future authoritarian England, the culture of which, is drowning in ennui and apathy. Given the opportunity, he re-ignites the entire country with a sense of vigor and life, by patriotically defending his own little hamlet, Notting Hill.

We all have our "Notting Hill."

However, most on the political Left, as well as the intellectual elite brooding on college campuses, or, the "sophisticated Europeans," like Barack Obama is wont to be, tell us, who are still steeped in the pride of patriotism and love of America, that we are backward buffoons! Could it be true? Is patriotism only a parochial prejudice that leads to Imperialism?

Chesterton would say, "No!" In fact, as he traces the evolution of his own thoughts on the subject, in his autobiography, he comes to the conclusion that patriotism is necessary, nurturing and spiritually edifying to man's nature.

Man, is at his best when he is rooted, ideally, within the context of his own "means of production," contributing to the larger society. Hillaire Belloc wrote: "Give a man a farm, a small business, an artisan's anvil, a boat to sail, wine to drink-suffuse all this with the love of Christ; center man's life around liturgical rhythms; and that man....is happy..."

Patriotism, in this context, does not contribute to the "aggrandizement of power and territory," characteristic of Imperialism; on the contrary, it celebrates the liberty and dignity of every man to his own "Notting Hill."

We have enshrined these principles of the Natural Law in our founding documents. Thousands of Americans have sacrificed their own lives so that other human beings, in distant lands, could have the opportunity to thrive on their own Notting Hills.

God forbid that patriotism should die in our land, because if it dies here, the lofty principles upon which it rests, will have met their demise as well.

The kind of patriotism that invigorates Americans is the life blood of humanity, and our Father would not have us take it lightly!

As Father Brown states, in Chesterton's famous "Father Brown" series:

"Reason and justice, grip the remotest and the loneliest star"

Therefore, you are right to keep a firm grip on them as well, on your own, "Notting Hill."

A Crisis of Faith/The Battle for Western Civilization

"IT'S FALL, THE LEAVES ARE COMING DOWN,and I have fallen into myself. I'm flat on my back, under the cottonwood,yellow leaves falling, brilliant blue above, abandoned rake beside. My two children sit at my side, feeding sticks to the dog, who understands that every time he gently takes a twig from their hands and crushes it in his teeth he is causing great delight, and so he keeps doing it stick after stick. Somtimes they leave him long enough to tackle me and I have just enough time to clench my stomach muscles so the air isn't knocked out of me, and we laugh and wrestle. When they grow tired of all this, I play an injured character so that I can stay a bit longer, an injured knight, injured princess,...all in need of medical attention. I tell stories, and while we play I watch the leaves come down...Finally, finally, finally, I have fallen."

This is from a piece in "5280" magazine, September 2008 edition, by Laura Pritchett, entitled, Falling Into Myself.

In my opinion, Laura Pritchett exemplifies, "man," discovering his mystic core. Man, is, by nature, a mystic.

But, back to that in a minute, to change the subject slightly...

This is a pivotal time in American history, in world history; since people make history, it's a pivotal time for each one of us as well.

Everyone has heard of the culture war, proximally effecting the upcoming federal election, but also apparent in everything from media to education to economics. We are in the midst of a fierce existential struggle; everything, even our own salvation, depends on it. The entirety of Western civilization is at stake... no more procrastinating; we are literally on the brink. So, if you never thought of yourself as a soldier before, start thinking in those terms now, because you are on the front lines of a raging battle, whether you like it or not.

How does mysticism apply? Before we can rescue Western civilization from the forces arrayed against it, we must recover ourselves, our heritage, so to speak.

Listen to what a wise catholic convert, now gone on to the church triumphant, Malcolm Muggeridge says:

"...the real crisis which confronts us is about faith rather than power, about the question 'Why' rather than the question "How"--about man's relationship with his Creator rather than about his energy supplies, his currency, his balance of trade and Gross National Product, his sexual fantasies, and his other passing preoccupations with which the media interminably concern themselves. ...whereas the God we serve, the salvation we hope for, the light we live by in this world, and when we come to leave it, the vista reaching before us into eternity--these concern the very fundamentals of our moral existence."



And, now, another prophetic voice, William McNamara, a Discalced Carmelite monk:



"What is at stake is not the means to survive, not even the will to survive, but the faith to survive. Was not our Western civilization born of the great drama enacted in Palestine two thousand years ago, the drama of the Incarnation, the Passion and the Resurrection and all the ramifications of that latter world-changing event? It was this divine drama that inspired the great art, music, literature and architecture that have and will be the glory of our civilization."(Christian Mysticism.)

What is the battle over...it is "the very fundamentals of our moral existence." Western civilization, going as far back as the long spiritual history of our Jewish forebears, has given us the American principles of liberty, justice, the rule of law, and, the moral principles and ideals of virtue expressed in our Declaration of Independence.

If we hope to win this war, we will need the kind of faith born of man's natural mysticism. And, this is precisely what we are losing in our headlong rush toward human self-sufficiency, obsession with busyness and "enlightened" social engineering. In the process of degrading the language, the culture, by "political correctness," our values are giving way to the meaninglessness of post-modern relativism. If this descent continues, we will lose. The enemy, both within and without, seeks to destroy the very fundamentals of Western civilization.

Laura Pritchett also quotes from the great philosopher, Soren Kierkegaard:

"The biggest danger, that of losing oneself, can pass off in the world as quietly as if it were nothing; every other loss, an arm, a leg, 5 dollars, a wife, etc, is bound to be noticed."

How do we recover ourselves, our common mystical faith? By doing what is the most natural thing in the world for us.


The mysticism of which I speak is not the "pie in the sky" New Age spirituality of modern charlatans, like Deepak Chopra, whose true character was exposed recently in his tirade against a perfectly normal, well-meaning American mother, Sarah Palin; nor does it have anything to do with trendy politically correct fashions within the church, which simply try to accommodate secular tastes. Nor is the answer to be found in the myriad of "self-help" tomes on bookstore shelves, nor is it in ivy league liberal arts departments, long ago surrendered to the idols of modernism.

No, Pritchett's final relvelation, "buying substantially less stuff, being outside, being present and playful with my children," is closer to an answer than any of the foregoing.

Go with your gut. There is more truth to be found in a game of "kick the can," or in collapsing on a pile of Fall leaves and letting your puppy and your toddler crawl all over you, than can be had in any other activity.

Trust your gut...your common sense; does it seem just "crazy" that the neighborhood elementary school can't have a Christmas Program, that a high school senior can't attribute her valedictorian achievement to Our Lord in a graduation speech, for fear of having her microphone turned off, that a baby in the womb can't be kept safe, that creeping social banalities continue to challenge traditional marriage, legitimize internet pornography, and mock Judeo-Christian values? Your common sense is right. It is crazy!

Let us remember what brought us to the highest pinnacle of human civilization. It is inherent in us, it is easy, don't doubt it, live by its wisdom and fight for every square inch of it, whether in the public square or in a pile of leaves in your front yard!

And, keep yourself "little," grateful, or, in the words of the poet, Francis Thompson, a Catholic convert, in his "Essay on Shelley."

"Know ye what it is to be a child?

It is to have a spirit yet streaming with the waters of baptism,
It is to believe in love, to believe in loveliness, to believe in belief,
It is to be so little that the elves can reach to whisper in your ear,
It is to turn pumpkins into coaches and mice into horses, lowness into loftiness, and nothing into everything, for each child has its fairy godmother in its own soul, it is to live in a nutshell, and to count yourself the king of infinite space, it is,

'To see the world in a grain of sand,
And a heaven in a wildflower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
And eternity in an hour.'”

(Essay on Shelley, Francis Thompson)

Catholic Bishops, where are you on Immigration?

Catholic Bishops, where are you...again?

Ok, so finally, you are, more or less collectively, speaking out in the pulpit and in the media against voting for politicians who support abortion, ie., (we're talking about OBAMA here,) and some of you are even asking priests not to offer the eucharist to politicians who scandalously vote for abortion legislation or who deny the Church's teaching regarding when life begins...think Pelosi.

I say, good, and it's about time. I wish you had been so pro-active in the pulpit 15 years ago. However, better late than never.

But, you still have a big problem, ethically. Its name is "immigration." And, your misguided efforts to encourage illegal immigration has a collateral effect on the "life" issue. I don't know why you can't figure that out...or, if you have, then, I'm even more disturbed as to your motives.

I went to a Roman Catholic Mass last week. The priest announced that they now have a Spanish Mass every week to accommodate their parishioners. Why does the Church need a Spanish mass, all of a sudden? Could it be that there are so many illegals in the community who, of course, don't speak English?

What did the priest NOT say? He didn't say this..."As your spiritual father, I want to address this to any illegal immigrants in the congregation today, it is a sin to cross a sovereign border, illegally. By doing so, you have put at risk thousands of innocent people. You have compromised their property, their healthcare, their jobs, their very lives and you must take responsibility. The Church does not justify your actions and admonishes you to come out of hiding and report yourselves to the authorities..you need to do the right thing. You are welcome in our country but only when you come legally and do not expose current American citizens to the inevitable and undeserved repercussions. The Church will support you sacramentally and with humane assistance, but we do not condone the initial sin that brought you here in the first place."

We will never hear that sermon! Now, I understand why priests love to swell their congregations, but, by justifying what is actually a sinful act, you are also encouraging sympathetic Mexican Americans to vote for Obama because of the imimigration issue.

Worse, I have even read on some catholic forums that many in the hierarchy of the Catholic Church rationalize voting for a pro-choice democrat by saying, "we really can't do anything about the abortion issue at this point, so, we should vote on the immigration issue."

This is a blasphemy, especially when it occurs in the religious community.

Selective morality on the part of the Church will reap what it sows....

The bishops and priests need to be consistent morally; then, and only then, will their compassion be genuine. Right now, by encouraging illegals they are showing NO compassion for the 900 Americans a month, who suffer from violence at the hands of illegals!

Authenticity wins/"A contrite and humble heart, O Lord"

I'm watching the live streaming video of the Colorado Springs rally today. Wow, thousands are showing up, I 25 was really backed up for miles!

The American flags that the Democrats trashed after their convention at Invesco were rescued by a good soul, the Boy Scouts collected trash bags full of these flags; they are now being distributed to people in the crowd to be taken home and flown with pride! A telling meaphor.

I am convinced that the wrenching authenticity of John McCain and Sarah Palin will propel them over the finish line in November.

There was one stunning moment in John McCain's speech on Thursday night.

"They broke me, I felt ashamed."

As a Catholic, I could not help recall the 51st Psalm, "a wounded heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise."


Such candor is rare, especially in a politician! However, McCain is older and in terms of death bed reflection he's got nothing to lose, but he's also been to hell and back, he realizes the gravity of what he's asking of the American people. He owes them the truth.

Showing no insecurity, he was brutally honest. He conceded that he had been broken, he was no longer his own man. What saved him? The "Other." In a prison cell in Viet Nam the "other" came in the grit of a fellow prisoner who gave him the energy to get up and try again. This is the ultimate existential moment of every man, that is why it struck home to every American like a white hot ember melting through the dross.

It is at this moment, when man’s spirit is freed from the depths of his soul, and man, becomes who he is. He faces reality directly, honestly. A mere creature, part of the organic matter upon which he rests, and yet, within this mystery, there is a paradox, for, it is at this very moment when the lion within groans, rises out of the ashes of despair and roars majestically, all the way into infinity, spirit seeking Spirit.

Yes, man is mere creature, but at this moment he “knows,” (in the existential sense of that word, “gnosis,” translated from the ancient Greek,) that he is a creature…with a Father.

Here we have utter authenticity. One is now teachable, capable of wisdom.


Now to Sarah.

She strikes the same resounding chord of authenticity. How? Did you notice Piper licking her hand and patting down her little brother's hair while Mom was speaking?

Sarah said "yes" to God's will for her soul in giving birth to Trigg, her beautiful little boy. She's " walked the walk," or, to put it another way, she's given her own "fiat."

Inspite of what the pseudo-feminists say, like NOW, Goria Steinem, Oprah, etc., Sarah Palin is authentically feminine. Pseudo femininists are not advocates of women, they are advocates of one thing and one thing only...abortion. True feminism cradles, nourishes and protects new life...this takes true courage, true strength of character.

Both of these individuals have faced their own trials, both have come out on the side of sacrificial love, a refining fire.


Sarah and John can be trusted. Pray for them.

The train tracks of life

My grandson loves to watch his "Thomas" go rolling around the tracks, through tunnels, over bridges, he loves to lay down at eye level with it, relax, and just watch the train be a train.

One time, while we were stretched out on the floor enjoying the moment, I remembered an analogy I had come across in a book, (can't remember now which book.) The writer had compared man's existential condition to a train moving along train tracks. His context, as I remember it, had to do with Catholics fretting over church dogma, and how the rules were necessary because they were conducive to man's spiritual destiny.

Suppose the train could reflect on itself. It might say, "Look at how confined I am by these tracks, I want to jump these accursed tracks and be free." Unfortunately, as soon as our talking train escapes his imprisonment he finds himself completely immobile! The moral, of course, is that it's fine to live ones life off the tracks, unless one is a train!

The defining question here is, what is man? Is he, by nature, a worshipping being, is he a creature, who, by definition, requires meaning as much as knowledge? Does he have a transcendent spiritual core which is "restless until it rests in (Martin Buber's )'Thou."? (St. Augustine)

Let's examine what separates the cultural "right" from the cultural "left?" What separates the religious "right" from the religious "left?" These political, theological and cultural divides are, in reality, disagreements over the intrinsic nature of man. They are substantive debates, and should not be trivialized by the "can't we all just get along mentality." We need to engage and confront these controversies honestly.

Consider the debate over absolutes and secularism, which Pope Benedict referred to in his first major address as Pope.

Secularists are preoccupied with humanism in one form or another. Man is unraveling the secrets of the universe, of biology, of physics...religious rituals, loyalties, are now obsolete, in fact, they are counter productive, inhibiting man's inevitable progress. Man is now capable of setting the parameters, rules are self-interpretive and situational. Man runs toward self-glorification with every step. Here we have relativism.

On the other side, we have the long Judeo-Christian Tradition, a spiritual legacy embodied in the Natural Law, and the "corner stone" of western civilization. Man is created in the image of God, his destiny is communion, a covenant of love with the three Persons of the Trinity. The wonders of scientific discovery, the mystical heights of contemplation, in complementarity, draw man more deeply into the love story. Man runs towards God and finds his destiny. Here we have absolutes.

Two very different world views, indeed. From which well should we drink? Which source has the "living water," that will quench man's unremitting thirst for freedom, for meaning?

My "money" is on the Judeo-Christian Tradition. At times, in my life, I have been, "off the tracks" and the freedom it promised was a mirage. True freedom enables man to be most himself, or, in theological terms...we are to become what we are.

Mark Steyn, in his latest piece in Imprimis, entitled, Lights Out on Liberty, gives us a very sobering analysis of what is lurking out there, off the tracks, so to speak.

"On August 3, 1914, on the eve of the First World War, British Foreign Secretary Sir Edward Grey, stood at the window of his office in the summer dusk and observed, 'The lamps are going out all over Europe.' Today, the lights are going out on liberty all over the Western world, but in a more subtle and profound way."

He proceeds to list numerous instances where the western world is cowering, appeasing and giving way entirely to forces that would utterly destroy our freedoms. To name a few;

1. In the Danish cartoon crises the European Union Commissioner for Justice, Freedom and Security proposed "prudence" when dealing with Islam, aka...Islam is off limits!

2. Steyn himself is currently being sued by the Canadian Islamic Congress because of his "flagrant Islamophobia."

3. The British government is "issuing Sharia-compliant Islamic bonds,

4. Steyn reports that the Fortis Bank, in London, "has stopped using Knorbert the piglet as a mascot for fear of offending Muslims,

5. And, according to Steyn, last month the Archbishop of Canterbury said that it was dangerous to have one law for eneryone and that the introduction of Sharia to the United Kingdom was "inevitable." Oh, yes, the ugly spector of relativism haunts the Church as well.

I only touched the surface with these snippets. Steyn concludes, if this is what is happening now with Muslims at 10% of the population, what will happen when they are 20%...? "Honor killings" are taking place in our own big cities right now.

I would argue, that when one sees true liberty, piece by piece, being abolished, all in the name of tolerance and peace...we are severely off the tracks!

There are absolutes in regard to man's highest and noblest aspirations. It is my contention, they are as firmly planted in our nature as is our DNA.

If we want to go anywhere we're going to need those tracks.

"Renewing America's Promise"/Cecile Richards?

This is a difficult topic...the most difficult topic, because it strikes at the very heart of good and evil.

Evil in our time, given a slight post-modernist spin, (a cultural tendency of the late 20 th century it is underpinned by French theorists such as Baudrillard, Michel Foucault, Jacques Derrida and Jean-Francois Lyotard . It rejects a notion of universal truth but emphasises that meaning is in appearance and interpretation. ...) is, in effect, calling what is good, evil, and vice versa. Nowhere is this more evident than in the "Alice in Wonderland" jibberish that passes for the abortion debate.

Most intellectually honest individuals realize, for example, that to call the philosophy, that justifies the taking of innocent human life in a mother's womb, which, should be the safest place for it, "pro-choice," is a catastrophic abuse of language, and, more tragically, of meaning. So, now, individuals who believe in the ultimate dignity of human life, are anti-choice!

This is a lie, of course. The truth is, that "responsibility" begins before conception, not after. However, this is the nature of evil, where ever it is perpetrated. It is not difficult to make truth a casuality when, according to our post modern culture, meaning itself is "[only] appearance and interpretation."

Politics now brings us to Tuesday night at the DNC. The theme of the night is, "Renewing America's Promise." On this night, Cecile Richards, President of Planned Parenthood, will speak to the Convention. Her abortion message, a sacrilege, certainly fits in with renewing America's promise, doesn't it? Welcome to "Alice in Wonderland!"

BHO has, in truth, (please see the American Right to Life website for an account of all the dismal facts, which difinitively prove his lies, regarding Illinois legislation BAIPA,) cast down his "thirty pieces" with evil, on the only ultimately significant issue--the dignity of human life, created in God's image. No Catholic should EVER vote for such an individual...see Chaput's recent book, Render Unto Caesar.

I have written several posts about the theological concept of "Personhood." Arguably, every threat to our Judeo-Christian culture today, is an attempt to strike down "Personhood," for the individual human being, and, ultimately, the Divine Communion/Personhood, of our Trinitarian God.

We, as Christians, simply must acquire a grasp, both intellectually and mystically, through prayer, of the danger and existential threat, to which we have fallen victim in the modern age. We are an inextricable part, an indispensable and sacred part, of the greatest of all Mysteries, God's own Mystery of love. We must take our stand on the battle lines and fight the good fight in our daily lives, as heirs of those great founding fathers who, unapologetically, brought forth our country in sacrifice and love, founded on Judeo-Christian principles.

Finally, perhaps this is too harsh on the Church, some of the Bishops, most notably Pope Benedict himself, and, in my own community, Bishop Chaput of Denver, have called Christians out to defend truth, against relativism, secularism and the assault on human dignity and freedom.

I came across a wonderful piece by Professor Michael Heller, given at the Templeton Prize News Conference in March of this year. The full statement can be read here,..., it speaks of the "Great Mystery," of God,

Science is but a collective effort of the Human Mind to read the Mind of God from question marks out of which we and the world around us seem to be made. To place ourselves in this double entanglement is to experience that we are a part of the Great Mystery. Another name for this Mystery is the Humble Approach to reality – the motto of all John Templeton Foundation activities. The true humility does not consist in pretending that we are feeble and insignificant, but in the audacious acknowledgement that we are an essential part of the Greatest Mystery of all – of the entanglement of the Human Mind with the Mind of God.

Yes, true humility accepts his vocation, his mirthful and holy "entanglement" with God, and, as Aragorn, in the "Lord of the Rings," cries in his "Battle Speech,"

"...My brothers, I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me, a day may come when the courage of men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship, but it is not this day; an hour of woes and shattered shields, when the age of man comes crashing down, but it is not this day, this day we fight. By all that you hold dear, on this good earth, I bid you stand..."

I will not watch Cecile Richard's speech, it "will take the heart of me,"-- brothers, stand with me...