Jesus answered: My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would certainly strive that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now my kingdom is not from hence.
Jesus to Pontius Pilate (John 18:36)
Here is some unexpected good news . . .
Today, our time, is the easiest in mankind’s history for the greatest number of people to despise and detach themselves from the world. Leaving aside the acute misery experienced by folks in war zones, gulags, mass raping/killing, or other distresses, we’ve never faced such a miserable status quo. I’d like to explore how we might use this to our advantage, especially as Catholics traveling through this Valley of Tears toward perfection.
The Book of Proverbs compares the resumption of sin to a dog returning to its vomit. Oh, what a shame it is for men to follow this inferior, sub-rational behavior, but, alas, many Catholics do so every time they revert to the world’s fictitious delights. We eschew the narrow path toward sanctity for the ever fleeting pleasures of this world, despite how they become more and more poisonous and distasteful.
Let’s take the “returning to the vomit” analogy a little further. What if today’s world is a pile of vomit → engulfed in massive flames, surrounded by swarming bees (with scorpion stingers), and cloaked in noxious fumes? What if that vomit also emits shrapnel fragments, coated with strychnine? Would you still return to it?
Well, assuming we have our faculties working just halfway well, those should serve as bonus signals to depart immediately from the vomit. If you follow this line of reasoning, then let’s review what the vomit looks like in modern society? Today, the prospects for many once-normal behaviors will leave you repulsed to the point of projectile regurgitation.
- Want to get married? Watch out for the expanding array of trannies, “bisexual” women, and other strong/independent wildebeests on the market. It’s not any better from a woman’s perspective, either.
- Have any interest in owning a business? That ambition must have been burnt to a crisp back in 2020.
- Care to prevent your children from removing their breasts or testicles? Prepare for a possible jail sentence.
- Want to seek refuge in Jesus’ Holy Sacraments? Don’t get too attached to that Traditional Latin Mass, and brace yourself for the next time the worldly Novus Ordo Mass shutters over the flu.
- Want to at least pay your rent? I hope you don’t mind that it doubled.
So, for these reasons (and more), it behooves us to avoid the vomit, retreat from the world, and acknowledge it for its unbridled repugnance in 2024. Now is as great a time as ever to consider at least a semi-hermetic life, with as few of the above issues coming into play as possible. That’s at least until Our Lady’s Triumph.
While we’re at it, there are other subtle and deceptive elements, which Catholics should either beware, approach with caution, or altogether avoid. There are several, and I won’t cover them all in this brief article, but I wish to highlight two important distractions.
- The Traditional Catholic Industrial Complex
- The Catholic Prophecy Rangers
Beware the “Traditional Catholic Media Industrial Complex”
What is the Traditional Catholic Media Industrial Complex, otherwise known as “Trad Inc”?
These are the ones who dominate the various “alternative” Catholic media outlets, everything from One-Luther-Five to any number of YouTube channels. It would take a while to deep-dive into them all, but they’re easy to spot as they spend plenty of time begging for “likes,” “clicks,” “subscribes,” and “donates.” Because they have to answer to viewers and stakeholders, you better believe their programs/articles won’t arrive at any difficult conclusions (i.e., full-force opposition to Bergoglio).
I wouldn’t say these semi-scholarly guys are “always wrong,” “bad,” “sinful,” or any other overly-simplistic characterization. They do, however, operate from a profit mechanism (hence, a miniature industrial complex), which makes them either vulnerable to corruption or at least unwilling to announce unprofitable conclusions.
Plus, you might notice some presentation patterns among these fellows. They tend to cover the same topics as their compatriots (almost as if they were pre-arranged by some kind of guild). While I can appreciate many contributions from Taylor Marshall and Kennedy Hall, it was strange to see them both cover half-demon/half-human biblical Nephilim within two weeks of each other.
Why was that suddenly a du jour topic? Because esoteric subjects always get *clicks*. This bears a close resemblance to the contrived “36-hour-news cycle,” of premeditated news topics, orchestrated by the mainstream media.
BREAKING NEWS . . . Every 10 Minutes?
Also, you may have noticed the “click-bait” methodology many of these commentators employ. My favorite must be the abundant use of the word “BREAKING” in front of their video/article titles. Examples include . . .
- BREAKING: Pope Francis Ticks Off Trads Again with a Mega Mutant Heresy!
- BREAKING: Fr. Ripperger Puts Another Reptile Bastard in an Exorcist Choke Hold; Explains the Process.
- BREAKING: My Channel is Losing Views; You Plebes Better Watch This!
Some of them do this more than others. However, just as the boy-who-cried-wolf exhausted his neighbors, so to do these self-appointed Catholic experts with excessive “BREAKING” news. Therefore, we may wish to “break” our attachment to this little dopamine-inducing trick of theirs.
Finally, you won’t get any of these guys to take a definitive stance on crucial issues like the Bergoglio antipapacy (other than to say “move along, nothing to see here”). Anyone, by the way, can “explore” the topic, maybe even invite Dr. Mazza for an interview, and then promptly retreat to the convenient refrain of “I just don’t know.” That’s the most you’ll get from the Trad Catholic Media Industrial Complex (assuming they’re not hellbent on explaining away Bergoglio by disparaging the papacy and Vatican I).
If it isn’t obvious by this point, many of them WILL NOT touch this “third-rail” topic. That’s because it would cause them considerable trouble with the powers of this world, or a forfeiture of viewership.
I won’t totally slam the Trad Inc guys (they’re okay in small doses, remaining mindful of their limitations). Just don’t neglect the far better resources available for trad Catholics (Canon212, Barnhardt, Mazza, Fr. Paul Kramer, etc.).
With that said, let’s go over the even more sneaky and dangerous stuff, worthy of keeping at an even greater distance.
Continue to Avoid the Modern “Catholic” Prophecy Rangers
“Oh, look Gertrude! There’s another prophecy out there. This time it’s from a special ‘traditional’ group. It must be good!”
Here we go again . . .
I’ve covered this topic previously (two specific articles), but it’s back in the news again with some new “prophecies” coming from the Mission of Divine Mercy (MDM) in Texas. This is one of the myriad of apparitions/visions that the Prophecy Rangers, or Catholic Prophecy Industrial Complex (so many complexes), can’t stop discussing lately. If you haven’t heard, there are new alleged messages, which have been kept secret for several years, featuring warnings from the Blessed Virgin, Jesus, and God the Father.
You can read them for yourself, but I’ll assume you know the basics, while I offer my criticism of their believability. This won’t involve any discussion of that group’s issues with the modernist bishop of San Antonio, just the difficulties I have with the message veracity.
Potential Problems with the MDM Messages
- Our Lady seems much more forceful than usual (could just be me, though).
- Overall, the messages are rather vague, mentioning nothing specific that we haven’t already heard.
- Why would God the Father “need” priests, as the 3rd message claims?
- It states that He needs both His good priests and those “brothers who are still asleep.” However, Holy Scripture shows us that God wants for nothing.
- In Psalm 113, for example, we’re reminded of God’s omnipotence . . . “But our God is in heaven: he hath done all things whatsoever he would.”
- Put another way, God doesn’t need any of us to accomplish His Divine Providence (even as He invites our participation). This cannot be a semantic or interpretive error, either. Even the slightest mistake is impossible for an inerrant deity (and the message was supposed to be a dictation, not any nebulous dream sequence).
- It’s unusual to hear from God the Father. What other examples do we have of someone hearing from the Father rather than Our Lady, Jesus, or a saint?
- Father Michel Rodrigue (the easily disproved “Prophet of the End Times”)
- Joseph Smith (AKA Not Catholic)
- Mother Eugenia Elisabetta Ravasio (here) – this is a lesser known example of God the Father supposedly commanding a religious sister to dictate His message. Why is it suspicious? It contains errors, despite it being an alleged direct dictation (similar to MDM). It’s one thing for a seer to make a mistake remembering certain visions. However, dictation (commanded by heaven, verbatim, which didn’t even happen in the bible) is an entirely different story. Those cannot involve errors.
- I welcome the reader to submit other examples in the comment section. Otherwise, there aren’t many messages from God the Father in private revelation.
- Could the MDM community be trying to raise money, support, and sympathy by releasing these messages (since they’re on the skids with the bishop)?
Reviewing Other Recent Prophecy Ranger Failures
Oh, before I forget. Shall we review all that hysteria from back in October? Remember when that was supposed to be the month where everything “hit the fan,” according to that Brazilian prophet, Fr. Oliveira? I commented on it last September, but please review that just in case that brilliant prophecy was memory-holed inadvertently.
How well did that go? Oh yeah, nothing happened in October, the predicted “Month of Doom” (beyond the normal pace of Bergo-Tucho demolition).
Finally, instead of devoting excessive time to this stuff, there are other interesting celestial developments you may find more plausible. I invite folks to ignore the dubious prophecies, and read/reflect on this fascinating presentation, from Laramie Hirsch, regarding this impending Solar Eclipse on April 8th. His analysis speaks for itself, he doesn’t make money from it, and I have nothing more to add to it.
Wordly Dangers Aside, Don’t Forget to Despise ONESELF as Well
Not every spiritual danger emanates from the world or demons, I’m afraid.
This message would be woefully incomplete if I didn’t include the essential reminder that one must despise oneself, or otherwise detachment from the world will fail. As a matter of fact, this is the very first thing we must do, and with good reason. Many of our traditional Catholic rituals begin with this rudimentary activity.
- Lent starts with Ash Wednesday (an acknowledgment that we are dust).
- St. Louis de Montfort’s Marian Consecration formula begins with detachment from oneself (in the first week’s readings).
- Holy Mass begins this way, where the priest strikes his breasts three times, pronouncing the Confiteor, before approaching the altar.
I hope you’ve focused on this throughout Lent and Passiontide. If not, it’s not too late because it should be a permanent goal, year round. I’ll keep this section short, simple, and essential: we must confess to God, “Oh Lord, You are not the problem, I am.”
As the Psalmist reminds us: “It is good for me that thou hast humbled me, that I may learn thy justifications.” Nevertheless, there are still ways to capitalize on this objective with these last few days of the penitential season . . .
Conclusion: Finish Passiontide Strong
I always encourage a consistent devotion of praying 15 decades of the Rosary each day. If the world continues to seem miserable, then we must accept our share of the blame for not following this crucial instruction, not from me, but the Blessed Virgin herself.
Tomorrow is your chance to attend a traditional Good Friday liturgy (travel and take the day off if necessary). Absent that, you can also pray the Stations of the Cross (St. Alphonsus Liguori’s version). It’s also a terrific pious practice to fast from all food until Easter Mass (assuming you’re healthy enough to do so).
Other than that, may God bless the rest of Holy Week for you.
Bonus Material: Meditating on Modernism
I couldn’t find a suitable spot for this thought, so I’m cramming it at the bottom (writer’s prerogative).
Modernism: It always moves imperceptibly slowly. Its proponents are wicked dialecticians who know how to insert microscopic falsehoods into the truth, repeatedly, until at long last, the result is the polar opposite of truth.
Application Analogy: Take the most beautiful woman. Then, each day, sow onto her the tiniest patch of “ugly.” Within six years, she will have become a hideous ogre. That’s how modernism perverts dogma and doctrine.
How’s that for “evolution”?
Catholics Aren't Zombies! 