Scatterbrain

There's been so much going on lately that I've hardly been able to think!! This time last week, I was in Texas. Now I'm in Minnesota. Tomorrow night, I'll be back in Kansas.

It's good to travel and to see family members and friends again... I'm especially happy to be here in Minnesota, where my siblings live. But it will be nice to settle down at home again too.

I've been so constantly occupied with people lately, that although much is said and much is done, I don't get much of a chance to think (i.e. reflect). At home, normally, I can think while I do things, but lately when there IS a quiet and still moment (like this one while everyone is napping), I realize that I have little on which to ruminate. It's almost disconcerting! :)
That's partly why the recent posts have just been pictures.

Regardless... Today, my brother took the cassock - the visible, tangible sign that he's on the path toward the priesthood. I am so happy for him and so proud of him!! It's great to be around him and I love visiting with his fellow seminarians and the priests - there's just something about them that makes me wish I could stay with them always! LOL! :)
Virtuous lives/the sanctified are always so attractive... even disarming.

...Anyway, enough rambling from the Scatterbrain. Please keep my brother in your prayers as he casts off the old man and puts on the new! (And while you're at it, say a prayer for me too, would you? :))

Thanks and God bless!

Poor, Sick Baby

Wednesday, January 27, 2009; Grand Prairie, TX

Wordless Wednesday: Agility and Speed

Tuesday, January 27, 2009 ~ Atlanta Thrashers @ Dallas Stars

For more Wordless Wednesday entries, check out today's edition at 5 Minutes for Mom.

Out to Eat at Riscky's

January 25, 2009; Fort Worth, TX

Some Pictures of Late

A pictorial summary of some recent events...

They are apparently tearing down (at least a part of) this old building adjacent to the silos and across from the Co-op!
Mom and I got our hair cut the other day - January 21 to be exact.
Lovin' the feel of freshly-cut and styled hair!! :)
~~~~~~

Yesterday afternoon, Mom and I went to the hockey game and family skate at the Expo Center. It was a fund-raiser for the new church building project and was well-attended! The hockey game was the Old-Timers (and Priests) vs. the Young-uns...
The Old-Timers won, 5 to 3!
Then ensued the family skate hour. I would've skated if I'd had somebody to skate with... AND if it hadn't been quite so crowded. I was glad to see it so well-attended though!
(I was practicing pan-blurring.)
Lots of little kids... :)
I'm out of town this week (and part of next), but I'll have more pictures to share either during or after my trip for sure. (Off to visit relatives and get a five-generation portrait made... and then my brother will take the cassock!)

The Excommunications Have Been Remitted

Statement from the Congregation for Bishops

By way of a letter of December 15, 2008 addressed to His Eminence Cardinal Dario Castrillón Hoyos, President of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, Mons. Bernard Fellay, also in the name of the other three Bishops consecrated on June 30, 1988, requested anew the removal of the latae sententiae excommunication formally declared with the Decree of the Prefect of this Congregation on July 1, 1988. In the aforementioned letter, Mons. Fellay affirms, among other things: "We are always firmly determined in our will to remain Catholic and to place all our efforts at the service of the Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ, which is the Roman Catholic Church. We accept its teachings with filial disposition. We believe firmly in the Primacy of Peter and in its prerogatives, and for this the current situation makes us suffer so much."

His Holiness Benedict XVI - paternally sensitive to the spiritual unease manifested by the interested party due to the sanction of excommunication and trusting in the effort expressed by them in the aforementioned letter of not sparing any effort to deepen the necessary discussions with the Authority of the Holy See in the still open matters, so as to achieve shortly a full and satisfactory solution of the problem posed in the origin - decided to reconsider the canonical situation of Bishops Bernard Fellay, Bernard Tissier de Mallerais, Richard Williamson, and Alfonso de Galarreta, arisen with their episcopal consecration.

With this act, it is desired to consolidate the reciprocal relations of confidence and to intensify and grant stability to the relationship of the Fraternity of Saint Pius X with this Apostolic See. This gift of peace, at the end of the Christmas celebrations, is also intended to be a sign to promote unity in the charity of the universal Church and to try to vanquish the scandal of division.

It is hoped that this step be followed by the prompt accomplishment of full communion with the Church of the entire Fraternity of Saint Pius X, thus testifying true fidelity and true recognition of the Magisterium and of the authority of the Pope with the proof of visible unity.

Based in the faculty expressly granted to me by the Holy Father Benedict XVI, in virtue of the present Decree, I remit of Bishops Bernard Fellay, Bernard Tissier de Mallerais, Richard Williamson, and Alfonso de Galarreta the censure of latae sententiae excommunication declared by this Congregation on July 1, 1988, while I declare deprived of any juridical effect, from the present date, the Decree emanated at that time.

Rome, from the Congregation for Bishops, January 21, 2009.

Card. Giovanni Battista Re
Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops


Press Release from the Superior General of the Priestly Society of Saint Pius X

The excommunication of the bishops consecrated by His Grace Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, on June 30, 1988, which had been declared by the Congregation for Bishops in a decree dated July 1, 1988, and which we had always contested, has been withdrawn by another decree mandated by Benedict XVI and issued by the same Congregation on January 21, 2009.

We express our filial gratitude to the Holy Father for this gesture which, beyond the Priestly Society of Saint Pius X, will benefit the whole Church. Our Society wishes to be always more able to help the pope to remedy the unprecedented crisis which presently shakes the Catholic world, and which Pope John Paul II had designated as a state of "silent apostasy."

Besides our gratitude towards the Holy Father and towards all those who helped him to make this courageous act, we are pleased that the decree of January 21 considers as necessary "talks" with the Holy See, talks which will enable the Priestly Society of Saint Pius X to explain the fundamental doctrinal reasons which it believes to be at the origin of the present difficulties of the Church.

In this new atmosphere, we have the firm hope to obtain soon the recognition of the rights of Catholic Tradition

Menzingen, January 24, 2009

+Bernard Fellay

Prayer Intentions

Pray for my soul. More things are wrought by prayer
Than this world dreams of. Wherefore, let thy voice
Rise like a fountain for me night and day.
For what are men better than sheep or goats
That nourish a blind life within the brain,
If, knowing God, they lift not hands of prayer
Both for themselves and those who call them friend?

~excerpt from The Passing of Arthur by Alfred Lord Tennyson



I'd like to ask all my readers to please keep several intentions in their prayers.

* A friend of mine had her first-born baby (a son) on Tuesday, January 20. He was born five weeks early and had some trouble breathing, so he was transferred from one hospital to another, where they have a NICU with good care. It should only be a matter of time before his lungs are mature enough to support him on their own, but that's a pretty rough situation, so please keep his mommy and daddy in your prayers.

* Another friend of mine lost her father to spinal cancer a year ago today. They've had a rough week of it, with two other deaths close to home - one this past Monday and one just yesterday. I'm sure a couple of prayers would do them well.

* I found out yesterday that a traditional priest (a friend of the SSPX) was brutally murdered in South Africa. Nothing was stolen from the priory. He was 83 years old and it looks like the primary intent was his death. How horrible! (You can read more here.) Please pray for the repose of his soul.

* My best friend's mom was admitted to the hospital Wednesday, when it was discovered that her lungs were infected and (literally) filled with pus! Her lungs were drained Wednesday night and a chest tube was put in, but one of her daughters informed me that she was going to have surgery yesterday morning. I haven't heard any further details, but it was a scary and life-threatening situation for a little while on Wednesday and we're hoping she'll make it through alright.

* Last but not least, I've got a few friends whose husbands are either without work entirely (having been laid off) or pretty close to having no work. A prayer to St. Joseph on their behalf would be much appreciated.
Plus, there is a very special financial intention on my behalf that I'd love to have prayers for as well. :)

(Oh, and of course!!, prayers please for the revoking of the decree of excommunication by the Vatican!)

Thank you sooo much!

Lifting of the So-Called "Excommunication"?!

Breaking news!! The Vatican apparently has plans to make an official announcement tomorrow that they are lifting the decree of excommunication that they had placed on the SSPX bishops, consecrated by His Excellency Archbishop Lefebrve in 1988.

The SSPX faithful completed 1.7 million 5-decade Rosaries for this intention. As opposed to this very thing as the Vatican has been lately, this can only be by virtue of divine intervention! Thanks be to God and His holy Mother. I have to run to work, but wanted to mention this elating news! Stay tuned!

You can read more here.

Wordless Wednesday: Hunter in Training

My niece, sporting her duds from Grandpa (who loves to hunt)! :)
7 months old at the time of the picture...

For more Wordless Wednesday entries, see today's edition at 5 Minutes for Mom.

Beauty... and Gratitude

Goodness, truth, and beauty... three facets of philosophy, three of God's myriad of attributes. Intimately linked, yet distinct: goodness is true and beautiful; truth is good and beautiful; beauty is true and good.

Beauty is not solely in the eye of the beholder, as the idiom would have you believe. In that which is beautiful to the eye, there are objective realities and guidelines that would have it defined as beautiful. Symmetry is beautiful, for example. It may be trendy to favor the asymmetrical, but symmetry has an undeniable and classic beauty.

Beauty, however, is not limited to that which is visible in the created physical world. There is beautiful music, fascinating in its elusive harmony. There are enchanting sentiments, capturing our attention with their nobility and idealism. There is beauty in self-discipline and self-sacrifice.


...Yours truly has a certain inclination toward cynicism and sarcasm, both by nature and by nurture. In my early teenage years, almost nothing gave me greater satisfaction than that derived from a "clever" sarcastic remark. I have been blessed or cursed (depending on how you look at it) with a quick wit and a tongue that has difficulty repressing some of the "perfect!" comebacks. I soon discovered, though, that while some sarcasm, under the right circumstances, was humorous indeed, an overindulgence in such a "pastime" quickly led to a too-bitter outlook on life. The same thing was true of cynicism. At first, it is great fun to see things through a cynic's eyes, but after awhile, it begins to detract from the vibrant beauty of life. Pointing out life's little ironies is one thing, but to become utterly unable to see anything for which to be grateful is quite another. I think that one element of child-likeness is to be able to keep one's eye on the silver lining and to be grateful for all the little things. We mustn't take the beautiful things in life for granted. There are so many beautiful things to see, if we will just open our eyes... And oftentimes, they are the littlest things.

The other day, I was thinking about how much I have for which to be grateful. The Faith, for one thing. That's huge. My family. Also a very big thing! And silly though it may sound, it also occurred to me to be grateful for the nice big deck that we have and enjoy so much... for a relatively spacious yard, for a house/roof over our heads, for our health, for the community in which we live (there's no place on earth I'd rather be in times like these!)... for the grace to see these things and the opportunity to be grateful for them!

Life is beautiful. And it's worth living. Sometimes we need an attitude adjustment; but there will always be something beautiful to see and to be grateful for, as long as we try to know and do God's Will!

God IS goodness, truth, and beauty. Wherever we see these, we see also a dim reflection of Him.