Fatima Message: The Most Important Part is Still Missing

A few individuals have asked "Who is behind" the eclipse or the "hijack" of the national Rosary Campaign in regard to the complete Fatima message? In response, I can only emphasize that we don't know whether or not various organizations promoting the incomplete message fully realize what they are doing. Because the days are fleeting before the arrival of October 13, 2007, my view is that the time required to thoroughly investigate the answer is time better spent relating Fatima's historical events and the "Three Secrets" of Fatima.

Our only intention is to point out that the most important request of Our Lady is conspicuously absent and to do our best to rectify that most serious omission.

In filial obedience to the Lord's and the Virgin Mary's requests, KIC also asks that those who may participate in a local Rosary Campaign politely invite the organizers to please include the most necessary request:

"For the collegial consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary."

Only if one encounters resistance, there is recourse to Plan B (not to be used lightly except in extreme circumstances), which is to ask for the intention to be couched in the following way:

"For the intentions of the Immaculate Heart of Mary."

Yet, if even that does not work, then there is a last recourse: During the public recitation of the the Rosary, while at any Rosary Campaign, publicly and charitably announce the intention as the Rosary begins! Doing so will take much courage and fortitude, not to mention either overcoming or not possessing that awful encumbrance of human respect.

That said, we Catholics should not be forced into compromise, but there are circumstances where prudence is the better part of valor. But it would be an offense to God if, due to a lack of the virtue of fortitude, we totally disregard THE MOST IMPORTANT PART of the Fatima message.

The Rosary Campaign will take place in parishes and other places across the United States and, it is to be hoped, in other nations. We must keep in mind that, if thousands of Catholics first and foremost pray the Rosary "for the intentions of the Immaculate Heart of Mary," together we shall be making thousands, if not millions, of supplications to heaven for the collegial consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart.

Only an FYI, the organizations listed on a flyer insert of a local parish bulletin includes a small note at the bottom, "Coordinated nationally by Tradition Family Property and its American Needs Fatima campaign."

Mothers' Watch also sent out a newsletter (dated Summer 2007) in which they included a one-page letter which stated, "Because of the different subject matter, this most important newsletter does not have the banner of Mothers' Watch, but 'Moms for Fatima' as our identity so that we may reach as many people as possible. This time we are not pointing a finger at bishops, sex education or Catholic schools. This special newsletter is a plea to bring as many people as possible to our Blessed Mother."

At this point, I first must say I highly respect the Mothers' Watch ladies; some of you may also recall that I once wrote an article for them (Spring 1998). Due to the respect I hold for them, it was distressing to discover that, while the first half to three-quarters of their recent newsletter included pertinent facts and observations about the Rosary, Our Lady of Fatima, Masonry, and the Muslim threat (with a spot-on reference to Hillaire Belloc), the last section on Fatima repeated the half-truths and innuendos with which so many of us are familiar.

The article of which I speak can be found at http://www.momsforfatima.org (Btw, I earnestly tried to contact the Mothers' Watch moms but had no success. The phones ring, there's no voice mail, and emails bounce.) Should anyone choose to read that article, please be sure to pay special attention to the last part, especially the two subtitles "Dividing the Faithful" followed by "The Virgin Mary's Requests at Fatima."

It is the last section with which we at KIC are specifically concerned. One will find a number of truths in regard to what is called "Our Lady's Peace Plan," but one will also find that some of them are "incomplete." That incompleteness is the problem.

Very troubling is the insinuation that the world is now threatened by a world-war, at the hands of an Islamic jihad, "because we have failed to live the message of Fatima." While that threat is indeed true, the blame appears to be once more solely placed upon a lack of Marian devotion amongst the faithful - another popular assumption these days.

In other words, it is the same insinuation (based only on subjectivity but on nothing historically related by either Our Lady or Our Lord in later apparitions to Sr. Lucia) that if enough of the lay faithful obeyed Our Lady - in daily praying the Rosary, wearing the Brown Scapular, fulfilling the First Saturday Devotions, offering all that they do, especially their daily duty, as a sacrifice for the conversion of sinners - then the popes and bishops would follow suit and also obey the Mother of God.

Today the insinuation includes human, erroneous thinking that the "world" consecrations already made fulfilled Our Lady's request. However, since it is painfully clear that the promised era of peace is yet to be seen, it is alleged that the problem must be due to laxity on the part of the laity. What continues to be totally ignored or fallaciously explained away is the critical fact that God Himself still awaits complete and total obedience in regard to the collegial consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. When that finally occurs, Our Lady promised that "an era of peace will be given to mankind."

Fatima Message: Still in Eclipse

It recently came to KIC's attention that almost every "mainstream" Catholic apostolate and parish is currently promoting what might be sadly called an "eclipse" of the Fatima message via a nationwide "Rosary Campaign," which is planned for Saturday, October 13, 2007 - the 90th anniversary of the Miracle of the Sun in Fatima, Portugal.

At first glance, the upcoming Rosary Campaign is a most welcome and pious commemoration of the greatest public miracle since the parting of the Red Sea. However, thus far the plans for the Rosary Campaign fail to acknowledge the most crucial command of the Lord our God - a command so imperative for the salvation of souls living during this crisis in Church history that He sent His Holy Virgin Mother to deliver it.

This one command has yet to be obeyed in full: The Holy Father and the bishops throughout the world must consecrate Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

In response, it is my hope, both on this blog and the KIC email list, to cover the key points of Fatima and the very real necessity of the collegial consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

September: A Holy Month to Start Homeschooling

The summer has practically flown by! I know many people view this first weekend in September only as the Labor Day weekend, but we Catholics know that it is much more than a secular holiday. After all, today is September 1, a First Saturday of the month - a special day of devotion and reparation to Our Lady's Immaculate Heart for five major blasphemies against the one one and only Virgin Mother. In addition, this coming Friday (September 7) is a First Friday, in loving honor and reparation to Our Lord's Sacred Heart.

Speaking of how quickly time passes, members of the Keeping It Catholic list may recall my mentioning a literal answer to a prayer this past spring. That’s also the reason you haven't heard much from me. My "summer break" primarily focused on very real and serious health needs. Ultimately, I was able to fully implement (and plan to continue) an amazing combo of strategies that are working well: A low-carb lifestyle, loads of natural health supplements, and water therapy three times or more a week. As a result, the more severe symptoms of arthritis, lupus and fibromyalgia have greatly improved. More and more often, I see a return to normal energy instead of chronic exhaustion. In addition, I no longer need daily medication, and (finally!) I am much slimmer. All glory to God and grateful thanks to Our Lady for answering my prayers!

I’m also happy to say that my mom, who suffers from many diabetes-related health problems, recently returned home to us. Since we are all doing our best to help her, the home schedule shifted a bit and we are adjusting to it. Our second and third older children are working full-time and getting ready for their third year in college. Our high school-age son, who will be 17 yo this fall, wants to begin college classes this year, too, and our youngest is entering 4th grade. It looks to be another full year, with every day blessed with wholesome work!

There are many things for which each of us can be grateful as September opens. September is another month in which to practice particular devotions to Our Lord, Our Lady, and the saints. Next Saturday, September 8, the entire Catholic Church will once more honor the Nativity of Our Lady. Just a few days later on Wednesday, September 12, we publicly revere the Holy Name of Mary. This year, the Exultation of the Cross falls on Friday, September 14 (and also is the eve of Our Lady of Sorrows on Saturday, September 15), and it is the same day that the Holy Father’s recent “Motus Propio” officially goes into effect. Wednesday, September 19, commemorates the apparition of Our Lady of La Salette, while Monday, September 24, pays homage to Our Lady of Ransom.

Like most months on the liturgical calendar, every day of September honors at least one or more saints, from St. Stephen, King (September 2), Pope St. Pius X (September 3), St. Rose of Viterbo and St. Rosalia (September 4), St. Laurence Justinia (September 5), St. Eleutherius (September 6), and St. Cloud and St. Regina (September 7) to St. Padre Pio (September 23), the Eight North American Martyrs (September 26), Sts. Cosmas and Damian (September 27), St. Michael the Archangel (September 29) and, finally, St. Jerome (September 30).

In addition to all these beautiful feasts, September also sees the majority of Catholic parents on the Keeping It Catholic List formally begin the task of home education. May we remember to humbly ask God the Father to bless us and our children, while we also petition the Sacred and Immaculate Hearts for their hourly help in carrying our daily crosses.

In the love of Christ and His Virgin Mother,
Marianna Bartold
We're "Keeping It Catholic" on the Net at http://www.keepingitcatholic.org
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"One day, through the Rosary and the Scapular,
I shall save the world."
~ Our Lady to Blessed Alan de la Roche
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Men!!! Pt. 2: "I Bid You Stand, Men of the West!"

On the day my essay MEN!!! Pt. 1: Missing in (Catholic) Action was published on the KIC blog, I also posted it to my Keeping It Catholic email list (at Yahoogroups).

In response to that essay, Syler Womack, the very lady whom I mentioned in that piece (as author of The Catholic Code of Chivalry), wrote a wonderful composition of her own.

With her permission, it is posted here as a fantastic follow-up to "MEN!!" To openly borrow from Syler's signature line, our mutual message comes from the not-yet-crowned-king Aragorn in the move version of The Return of the King:

"I Bid You Stand, Men of the West!"
Well, it's sure not going to surprise you when I concur with you 100%...and you hit the nail square on the head when you said our men are, for the most part, no longer chivalrous. How BLESSED are those of us who have real men for husbands! We are far too busy basking in their love and making their homes to embrace any sort of feminist behavior. Invading the realm of men is in no way appealing, for we are too joyful to be Catholic Wives!

So, here's my word to those Trad Men who spend all their time worrying and writing about women:

Fellows, you need to remember your place!

Your place is at the head of your family---not as a tyrant, but as a provider and protector and one who cherishes his mate above all earthly things. Your place is to make your wife realize that she is the Queen of your world. She is your Guenivere--- your Isolde---your Dulcinaea. She has sacrificed her health and strength to bear you fine sons and daughters. Do you realize how many times the fate of nations has turned on the ability of a Queen to bear sons? If your wife has borne you one, or several, you should fairly weep with gratitude every time you think of her! If she has mothered adopted sons, why, she is even more to be exalted! If she has been open to life, she has been willing to sacrifice her own life so that YOU can have heirs! Do you thank her for it? Do you respect her for it?

Your home is your wife's World. She desires nothing more than to make it a haven for you and your heirs. Do you ever see what she does? Do you ever thank her for the meals she cooks for you? For the patience with which she plans and executes thankless jobs every day? For the fact that she daily cleans your filth off the bathroom porcelain? or do you only see when she fails to live up to perfection?

You complain about Feminism, and Feminism IS the oldest and most deadly heresy---but it is a heresy which is made possible not by women but by MEN. Your failure to honor her womanly accomplishments, your habit of taking her for granted---these are the things which have driven her out of her home, out of her realm and into situations which mock her and all women. She receives no appreciation from you, so she seeks appreciation in false venues. She feels like a thankless drudge at home, but she can be center stage as a eucharistic minister---and then, to make matters worse, you casually abdicate your responsibilities and allow her to take over because it's so much easier on you! Your sons see it, and it's fine with them for their sisters to take over their responsibilities on the altar.

Shame on you! You have forgotten how to be men. You have forgotten to thank God constantly for this wonderful gift of a loving wife! You have failed to cherish her. Ah, but you can still find time to write critical tracts about her behavior! Step away from the computer and go love your wife! No, you won't receive adulation from all the other sour-faced fellows who browbeat their wives with your accusations, but you may just become the man you should be, and that will pave the way for your wife and children to be as they should be, too. Your place is at the head of your family, not in the bully pulpit. Get back to your place, and stay there!

Syler Womack
"By all that you hold dear on this good earth, I bid you stand, Men of the West!"
~King Aragorn

Men!!! Pt. 1: Missing in (Catholic) Action: Chivalry!

I'm a Catholic woman. One who simply considers herself a Catholic...but it appears I'm also one whom others consider a "rad Trad" due to my staunchly Catholic approach to very serious subjects.

On the other hand, I've heard from other women, also considered "rad Trad" (aka Tradosaurus Regina!) who get very annoyed with a few of my more light-hearted posts or go into a state of shock upon meeting me and seeing that I wear jewelry (!) and...make-up.

Seems we Catholics today are a motley-crew. Sad but true.

The fact is: A person can't please everybody all of the time... and one shouldn't try. To paraphrase Shakespeare: To God and thine own self be true.

That said, I can guarantee this post is going to irritate, annoy, and tick off a lot of men and women who, for reasons unfathomable to me, possess a heretical, Calvinist, legalistic Puritanistic attitude which cunningly pretends to be that of traditional Catholicism. This is especially true in regard to the alleged traditional Catholic view of women and their roles - at least, as explained to us by a number of our contemporary "traditional" Catholic men.

In the interest of fair play...

Isn't it time the Catholic audience heard a traditional Catholic woman chime in on the subject of men? (And I freely admit I plan to have some fun with this.)

A reader of almost all things Catholic, I've gone through phases, so to speak, throughout my adult reading life. Always looking for meat in Catholic papers, I often received pablum. As a result (and as a mature, well-catechized Catholic), I’ve mainly focused on traditional Catholic papers these past seven years. For the most part, I greatly enjoy them. Yet it cannot be denied there is a serious flaw continually displaying itself as an "integral" part of the mindset of most (but not all) traditional male authors.

Say what? you may ask. Please allow me to explain.

In almost every article bewailing the disastrous changes in the Church, I began to notice that the first thing mentioned or listed by a traditional male author will always, consistently, and without fail have something to do with women or girls.

Now, it isn't as though I was looking for that pattern; it's simply one that came to my attention.

And an interesting pattern it is...but what does it mean?

Something about "splinters and beams" comes to mind.

While some trad men authors harp on a woman's role, place and behavior in the great scheme of things, we never read an article in which a traditional man reminds his brothers in Christ of their collective duties toward God, wife, children and society. Seriously - have any of you ever read a carefully researched article on that subject? Or an article that touched on the subject even momentarily?

I wondered why some "trad" men just can't let any opportunity slip by without even the slightest, off-hand remark about women and their "rightful" place. I even discussed it with a few trustworthy "trad" lady friends. As one of them wrote to me:

"The men who are doing right are too dam' busy to write about it, that's why! The 'writers' are generally on a power trip."

Hmmm. Now that's a thought. I can't say I like it, but it's a thought. C'mon, now...are most trad male writers on a power trip? Really? If true, one would also have to consign the majority of all male Catholic writers (be they trad, neo, or whatever label is in vogue at the moment) to the same pitiful little dustbin. On the other hand, one can't deny that modernist male writers who think they are members of the Kool Kathlix Klub are prone to a different kind of arrogance than their trad counterparts.

At any rate, as a traditional Catholic author in my own right, I've often pondered writing an article on this quirky, bizarre attitude of some trad men that seemingly appears to lean-toward-misogynism, especially in regard to Catholic women.

But then what?

Would I place it on the KIC website or submit it to be published in a "paper"? And to whom would I submit it? Would my favorite trad papers take me for a radical feminist posing as a traditionalist woman, due to what I wrote? I think so. Would a few seriously consider what I wrote and change their minds, even a wee bit? I hope so.

So the question remains: Why do most trad male authors who write any kind of list outlining "What's Wrong with The Church" think it their duty to whine and gripe first about women, whether trad or Novus Ordo?

I'll tell you why: Men - even trad men - are no longer chivalrous. Very few of them even pretend to be. What these men need are lessons from the "Catholic Code of Chivalry" (a beautiful piece by Syler Womack, published in my Catholic Study Guide on The Return of the King)!

Sad to say, too many "trad" men consider it their obligation to zoom in on the symptoms of the Church's decline (and lo, they are many) and transform one of the more recent symptoms into the seeming "Queen of them All."

What is that symptom?

Women-in-the-Sanctuary (serving as EM's - e.g., Extraordinary Ministers), but that term also includes "Altar Girls" (too often disrespectfully spelled "gurlz" or "gurls" - as though the problem should be laid at the feet of the poorly-taught, badly-led little girls and teens who have been wrongly led to believe they can and should serve at the altar.)

Seriously...These men blather on about the splinters in the eyes of both little girls and grown women, never once considering the beams in their own eyes. But let's take another step or two. I am serious here, and I ask in all sincerity:

Who is responsible for the infiltration and decline of the Church?

Men.

Who allowed the Rhine group and liberal "periti" to take over Vatican II?

Men - from the pope right on down to the liberal cardinals and bishops.

Who within the Church of the past 40+ years is responsible for the rape of ALL our children, body and soul, and who tenaciously connived to keep those sins "under cover"?

Men.

Why did most religious orders go down the proverbial hell-hole?

Through the example, admonition and insistence of MEN with authority in the Church.

So where do so many traditional men get the idea that their subjective viewpoint/mindset/opinion/whatever on women is "traditionally Catholic," anyway? Heck if I know, but it didn't issue forth from true traditional Catholicism.

Thanks be to the good God, I've been graced to marry a true Catholic gentleman. I've also had the fortune to know a small (very small) number of men like him. But all in all, I'm not impressed by most males posing as men today. Where have all the real men gone?

Sadly, my husband and I have had the misfortune to meet lay "trad" men who think they can admonish any woman they please, simply by their "virtue" of being born male. (Can you tell my tongue-is-firmly-implanted-in-my-cheek?)

Then there are the "trad" men who are extremely ungallant but think the facade of a smiling face fools an intelligent Catholic woman just because she is a woman.

There are even "trad" men who think they can spank their wives! I kid you not. (Talk about perverted Puritanism!)

And there are "trad" men who - not going so far as their more vicious brothers - are still very keen on "keeping a woman in her place."

(As one lady friend says, "I like knowing my place. It means I have one. Not everyone does, you know...But I don't need some document dork in a suit to tell me what my place is.")

What is a woman's role in the Church and, through Her (the Church), society? Above all else, the true Catholic woman is the mainstay and heart of the family and of society. A woman's role as mother - whether physical or spiritual - is a high vocation and one that should be loved, honored and cherished. (Btw, married ladies and gents, do those last 3 words sound familiar? It's what a man promises to his wife for all the days of his life!)

To return to my point - most trad Catholic male authors will inevitably first list among the Church's most severe problems either "women in the sanctuary" or "altar girls."

I'm not saying that either fact isn't a huge concern. But whose FAULT is it that lay men and women are in the sanctuary, or that little girls or teen girls are serving at the altar?

Men's.

Now, please understand - my purpose is not to finger-point. It's to MAKE a point.

Of all the travesties in the Church, do the majority of traditional Catholic men really consider "women in the sanctuary" or "altar girls" to be the worst of them all?

-What about the altering (and often the renaming) of every single Rite in the Church - from Baptism to Extreme Unction? That's correct - it's not only the Mass that was changed, but each and every Rite, thanks to the "spirit of Vatican II" (whatever that means!).

-What of moving the Blessed Sacrament in the sacred Tabernacle to the side, the basement, or anywhere other than its rightful place on the High Altar? Our Lord and Savior is no longer honored as He deserves to be.

-What about Communion in the hand? Our Lord, hiding under the appearance of bread, is passed from hand-to-hand, popped in the mouth and chewed like a common potato chip.

-What about the forced absence of kneeling during the Agnus Dei (Lamb of God in the Novus Ordo) and the reception of Holy Communion? (Don't you know that we no longer need to genuflect or kneel before Our God? We are "enlightened" now.)

-What about that atrocious hand-holding? The Kiss of Peace? (Be sure to keep what should be Divine Worship totally horizontal - which means focused on the community.)

-How about "Extraordinary Ministers" - male and female? (They were not seen before Vatican II, either. Even the adjective "Extraordinary" was later changed to "Eucharistic" - e.g., Eucharistic "Ministers" - as though a Catholic layman or laywoman is a "minister"!)

-What of the almost Church-wide demise of the First Friday and First Saturday devotions?

-Who is responsible for the decline of the Rosary in our days?

-For that matter, who is behind the eclipse of the true, entire Fatima message?

-Who decided that a mere 30 minutes for Confession shall be allotted per week to the entire parish?

-What of the seemingly prevalent number of sodomites who are now either our priests, bishops, or cardinals? And because of them, true and faithful priests of the Catholic Church are shunned and disrespected everywhere they go.

-And what of the number of Catholic men from all walks of life - from those who have received the Sacrament of Holy Orders to laymen (who may or may not be in the pews) - who abrogate their responsibilities, in countless ways, every single day?

-What of the Catholic lay men who live just like pagans? So many men do not want to marry but prefer to live in sin with women or other men. If they do marry, so many do not wish to sacrifice for their wives and children, do not see to the Catholic education of their children, do not even want to accept children, barely participate in the raising of the few children they have or, even worse, do not remain faithful to their marriage vows.

When traditional men point out the true or alleged failings, misdemeanors or sins of women, they only reveal themselves to be true Sons of Adam. They do exactly what our first father did. Instead of accepting responsibility for his own actions, good ol' Father Adam actually had the gall to petulantly complain to God the Father Himself: "The woman YOU gave me..."

Guess what? All of Adam's sons have been doing the same ever since - pointing their fingers at women instead of taking responsibility for their own actions or at least admitting that it is men in the Church who failed all of us.

And, dear Catholic reader, in case you don't know it, the human race did not fall until the moment FATHER ADAM consented to the first sin. Each one of us inherited Original Sin and all of its effects (even after baptism) through this one man, the first FATHER, Adam.

I don't know about you, but I feel sorry for him....what a load with which he had to live for almost 1,000 years! Because of his sin, the first baby ever born grew up to be the first murderer. Because of his sin, he and his wife and all their children throughout time (including our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ) suffer and die.

If today's traditional Catholic men want to see the Church partially restored (because total restoration is not going to happen until we all see the happy day of the collegial consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary), it's about time they take a good look at all of their collective duties and responsibilities.

Once they honestly do that, they just might finally "get it" that real Catholic women are looking for real Catholic men to lead by virtuous word and example. We would dearly love to see our men as true Catholic knights...complete with the truly beautiful and manly virtue of chivalry and its self-sacrificing love.

'Nuf said. For today, anyway. ;)

The Secrets of Catholic Homeschooling

The secrets I will share with you in this message are not my secrets. In fact, they are not really secrets but simply common sense - the kind of which St. Thomas Aquinas would surely approve. After all, it was the Angelic Doctor who best explained the truth about human reason illuminated by the Catholic Faith.

Dr. William Marra (Bill to his many friends and acquaintances) was a faithful Catholic who gave all his God-given talents toward the continual setup and restoration of the Catholic City. For many years, he was a "regular" at Catholic homeschooling conferences sponsored by Seton Home Study and was an ardent promoter of the need to "Keep It Catholic" in education long before our "Keeping It Catholic" Network existed. A Catholic man of wit and humor, Bill Marra was one of the "pioneers" of what we used to call the "Catholic homeschooling movement." (I haven't heard that particular phrase in years, have you?)

Dr. Bill Marra's usual "lecture" theme was the restoration of Catholic culture - which naturally included Catholic education of the authentic kind. By authentic is meant the kind which follows the outlines of the encyclical, Divini Illius Magistri (On Christian Education of Youth, 1929) When speaking on the subject of Catholic home education, Bill would offer a brief, true yet humorous guideline for Catholic homeschooling parents, which he usually introduced along these lines:

You Can't Take It With You!
Everything God gave you or allowed you to have on this earth will be left behind when you die. There is only one thing you can take to heaven with you, and that is your children.

To that end, consider the following three steps to get your family to heaven:

1. Think of Hippocrates and His Oath for Physicians: Do No Harm.
By taking your children out of the secular humanistic culture, with which the public school system is permeated, you have achieved this step even if - as Bill Marra would quip - you have done nothing more than play cards all day.

(Note to the very serious minded: Bill's remark about "playing cards all day" was intended to be humorous and to alleviate stress for parents who worry when they can't accomplish all of their daily homeschool goals. I mention this because I sometimes hear from those who did not grasp Dr. Marra's wit. His remark should be taken with the spirit with which it was intended - as an over-exaggeration which some speakers make in order to drive home an important point, especially if they think members of their audience possess a healthy sense of humor.)

2. Lead to Heaven the Souls Entrusted to You
Surround your children with the culture of Christ. Supply - and use - Catholic music, books, and artwork. This step begins to lead your children toward Heaven.

3. As You have Time, Add Academics
Now that remark would usually bring forth a wave of laughter (or sometimes, a titter) across the audience, but let's be clear! In no way was Dr. Marra offering a blanket endorsement for laziness when it comes to providing your children a Catholic education at home. Nor was he proposing a host of outside activities which would eclipse academics. Dr. Marra was known to emphasize the restoration of Catholic culture, and - educated yet humble man that he was -Dr. Marra knew that Catholic education holds its place in that restoration.

What he was striving at was the absolute need for a total immersion into Catholic life at home so that it would be carried into the future regardless of worldly achievements or viewpoints. Dr. Marra would conclude this point about academics with the following reminder: "It is important to remember that it is better to have a son who may be employed as a trash collector but who is, first and foremost, a good, solid, practicing Catholic than a son who is a Harvard-educated lawyer damned to Hell."

Dr. Marra was right, of course. The Church teaches that the means of Catholic education is intended for one end: heaven.

God rest your soul, Bill, and may His perpetual light shine upon you. I remember you with fondness and respect, and I have always taken your good advice to heart. Thanks to God's grace and courageous Catholics like you, there is another generation who pray and work daily to "Keep the Faith" and "Keep It Catholic!"

(First posted January 19, 2005 to the original blog, Keeping It Catholic - with Marianna Bartold)

Are We Good Thieves or Bad Thieves?

Last night was the first Friday of Lent but, for me, it was like no other. As I wrote yesterday, the movie about which everyone is talking, The Passion of the Christ, is more than a movie. It is best described as a living, "moving" meditation on what Our Lord willingly endured to redeem us.

I know that I am not alone when I say that meditating upon the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary will never be the same for me. I again "see" Our Lord in the Garden, I see Satan tempting Him (and asking this Man who keeps appealing to the Father, "Who are you?"), I "see" that most terrible Scourging, the incalculable cruelty of the Crown of Thorns, the painful exhaustion in carrying the Cross, the Lord crawling to that Cross and stretching Himself upon It...

It was no different when our parish priest led The Stations of the Cross last night.

Sometime in the late hours, the thought came to me that those who are making the outrageous statements against this moving meditation, The Passion of the Christ, as well as those who criticize Mel Gibson's movie with the most trivial, quibbling remarks, are no different that those who refused to see who He truly was, who lied in the High Priest's kangaroo court, or who screamed 2,000 years ago, "Crucify Him! Crucify Him!"

And even worse, there were those who were not moved to pity after seeing Our Lord mercilessly scourged, almost to death, and those who wanted him permanently removed still demanded not only His death, but a criminal's death by His Crucifixion.

Just like you and me, all those who have seen the movie have also been offered the opportunity to remember their Savior's sufferings. The Holy Ghost teaches, "Forget not the kindness of thy Surety, for He hath given His life for thee."

As the book, Meditation on the Passion, reminds us: "The Passion of Jesus Christ is the surest means of kindling love...We see in His Sacred Passion what the forgiveness of our sins cost Him, and how much He has forgiven us. We see how His love was so great that He suffered, not for His friends alone, but for sinners; for those who neglected, outraged, and insulted Him, that He might win them to God. Then how can we fail to love Him, who loved us and gave Himself for us? Meditation on Jesus' suffering is a subject well calculated to hearten and encourage us; to make us ashamed of our moral weakness and spiritual cowardice in the past; to stir us up in high aspirations, and help us to set before ourselves noble ideals in the future." (p. 17)

Those of us who can respond to The Passion of the Christ with any criticism other than the self-criticism, "I am guilty," lack what My Imitation of Christ calls "compunction of heart."

Those criticizers, may God forgive them, need a few responses from Catholics. What should those responses be? The Catholic response must be what Our Lord expects of us:

Forgiveness, prayer and sacrifice for them, our fellow sinners.

Let us always remember that Our Lord interceded with Our Father in Heaven for every person on earth - those that are, those that were, and those that are yet to be born.

Let us always remember that He interceded for all sinners, each of us who, to our great shame, have - at one time or another - mercilessly scourged Him, spat in His face, tore at His hair, ripped open His skin, mocked Him, and who showed Him not one ounce of pity: "Father, forgive them; they know not what they do."

And as we saw in The Passion of the Christ, Our Lord takes this abuse while pouring out His grace, until the time of grace in our own lives is over. But even grace is not enough.

We must accept each grace as it comes to us and use it as God intended. We don't "see" graces, and we don't hear them...at least, not the way we expect. But they make themselves known.

We clearly saw these truths about grace with the actions of the Good Thief and the Bad Thief. While dying, there was one Thief who acknowledged his sins, who repented and who confessed. But there was one who mocked God and dared to question Him to His face! To the Unrepentant Thief's accusations, Our Lord said nothing. He seemingly did not hear, but He did. He did not respond but He waited...just as He still waits for sinners to come to Him. And we begin to understand when the Holy Scriptures tell us that Our Lord is "long-suffering"! And so the dying Lord waited...but for what?

The Lord on the Cross, whose very Presence is Grace, was waiting for the reaction of free will. And there was a good response, but it came only from the Good Thief.

Although also suffering great pain, the Good Thief, which Tradition names Dismas, was both alarmed and outraged by his former friend's mocking of Christ and asked in tortured breaths, "Don't you fear God?" And he went on. He declared the innocence of Christ while confessing their collective guilt.

Think of the Good Thief's honesty and charity. He used words like "We deserve" and "our crimes." He didn't just accuse the other thief; he included himself in the accusations! By doing so, he confessed his own sins to Our Lord, he accepted his death as punishment for his crimes, and finally asked Our Lord for one thing only..."Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy Kingdom." By calling Jesus, "Lord," the Good Thief knew and publicly acknowledged that Jesus Christ is God.

And what of the Unrepentant Thief? When rebuked by the Good Thief, the unrepentant one had no more words to hurl against Our Lord. He had no defense at all. Instead of following the right example of the Good Thief, he instead chose to sink into final despair. He, like the Good Thief, could have repented and confessed his sins. He, like the Good Thief, could have offered his sufferings as reparation for his crimes. His own cross, like the Good Thief's, could have been a source of merit if only he had responded to God's grace by accepting it and offering it to God. But he did not. In his soul, he turned away, and the final grace offered him was lost.

Two sinners, both given the same grace to die alongside Our Lord, to repent and to confess their sins, to seek pardon,to offer their deaths in reparation for their sins, to receive God's forgiveness after confession, to pray, and to merit eternal salvation. But only one died in the state of sanctifying grace.

By confessing, and by seeking and receiving both forgiveness and absolution, the Good Thief died a Catholic in the state of grace. By offering up the punishment of death on the Cross for his crimes, he died with the promise of salvation. For Our Lord Himself said to him, "...this day thou shalt be with Me in Paradise." The Good Thief's soul went to Paradise, "the bosom of Abraham," the place for those who were saved, where there they waited until the day of Our Lord's Ascension so they, too, could follow Him into heaven.

And so, when other sinners see The Passion of the Christ and can only respond by mocking, arguing or quibbling instead of accepting the Truth set before them...

When others refuse to remember The Passion of the Christ was and is also for them...

When others fail to love Jesus Christ because He is their Lord and Savior, let us first remember that we also are sinners, but we are now Good Thieves, sinners who respond as we should to grace. Good Thieves are those Catholics who continually repent of our sins, who frequent the Sacament of Confesson, who seek forgiveness and absolution, who pray...and who accept our crosses for both punishment of our crimes and the purification of our souls.

Like the Good Thief's words in the movie, we might say to unbelievers, "He prays for you!" We can also say, "He died for you. He died for me." But we, too, must pray for the unbelievers and the fallen-aways.

And as we pray for the conversion of unrepentant sinners, let us also recall that "it becomes our duty to make reparation for their indifference and ingratitude. In proportion to the world's forgetfulness should be our remembrance. This solemn obligation rests on us all as Catholics." (Meditation on the Passion, p. v)

(Slightly edited from the first entry, posted February 28, 2004 to the original blog, Keeping It Catholic - with Marianna Bartold.)