Pitch Perfect Politics

December 31 – Saint Sylvester, Pope and Confessor So far, the only ones we have seen standing round the Crib of our Jesus have been Martyrs: Stephen, overwhelmed with the shower of stones; John, the Martyr in heart, who survived his fiery torture; the Holy Innocents, massacred by the sword; Thomas, murdered in his Cathedral—these are the champions of Christ, who keep guard in the palace of Bethlehem. Yet all Christians are not called to be Martyrs. Besides this countless battalion of the King’s favorite soldiers, there are other troops of sainted heroes which form the heavenly army—and amongst these, there are the Confessors, who conquered the world without shedding their blood in the combat. Though the place of honor in the service of the King belongs to the Martyrs, yet did the Confessors fight manfully for the glory of his name and the spreading of his Kingdom. The palm is not in their hands, but they are crowned with the crown of justice, and Jesus, who gave it to them, ha...

December 24 – Christmas Eve “At length,” says St. Peter Damian in his Sermon for this holy Eve, “at length we have got from the stormy sea in to the tranquil port; hitherto it was the promise; now it is the prize; hitherto labor, now rest; hitherto despair, now hope; hitherto the way, now our home. The heralds of the divine promise came to us; but they gave us nothing but rich promises. Hence, our Psalmist himself grew wearied, and slept, and with a seeming reproachful tone, thus sings his lamentation to God:  But thou hast rejected and despised us; thou hast deferred the coming of thy Christ.  (Psalms 88) At another time he assumes a tone of demand, and thus prays:  O thou that sittest upon the Cherubim, show thyself!  (Psalms 79) Seated on thy high throne with myriads of adoring Angels around thee, look down upon the children of men, who are victims of that sin which was committed indeed by Adam, but permitted by thy justice.  Remember what my substa...

After the last few days of the progressive praxis, preaching and prose of our Pope, will the Cardinals finally man-up and vote him off the Catholic Island after one more visit in person to see if he will make a profession of Faith? Crucifying a life jacket? Yes, he put a life jacket on a Cross. https://zenit.org/articles/we-must-help-and-save-we-are-all-responsible-for-our-neighbors-life-says-the-pope/ Telling High School students in Rome not to seek the conversion of Jews and Muslims. https://tinyurl.com/rwct43b Wait, hold on. Did he just subtly and cleverly announce his abdication? Yes, he did; what else could he have possibly meant? Pope Francis to Curia: "Time begins the processes, space crystallizes them. God is found in time, and in ongoing processes. We should not privilege spaces of power over time, even long ones, of processes. We have to start processes rather than occupy spaces .” Well, then, the Papacy is a place of power and The Bishop o...