Bravest Thing (He Ever Did)

We all know the story, are made hopeful by the story, are sick of the story. I speak of the Bud Light advertising fiasco. In it they put images of TikTok influencer (I need to take a shower after writing that phrase)  Dylan Mulvaney , dressed as a girl, on a can of Bud Light (formerly the #1 selling U.S. beer). Further, they had Dylan in a bathtub, dressed in lady's gear, blowing bubbles, laughing like a weird narcissist, and being all-together obnoxious.  The result? It was too much. They pushed it too far. "That's all I can stands, I can't stands no more!" said the common folk, like the scrappy Yosemite Sam rising in the air, higher and higher, with righteous indignation. It turns out targeted boycotts do work. Bud Light crashed. Billions in lost revenue. Dust on the blue boxes everywhere, beer gone stale, poured down the drain where it belongs. A lesson hopefully, maybe, probably not, learned. In my opinion this greatly affected the month of June. Named after o...

First, as brought to my attention on Facebook by Dr. Peter Kwasniewski (h/t Fr. Z ): " The Vatican has released a document on "the spirituality of synodality." (NOT making this up.) Two important sentiments emerge: “It is not enough to have a synod. We must be a synod.” “The point of entry must always be ‘situatedness’.” And this image was included in the document. Ponder its self-conscious profundity. It is, as it were, the master key to... "the beyond of the Spirit." * * * Give me a second to sort out where we're at with synods right now: 1st Step - To demonstrate our synodality, let's have a synod. 2nd Step - Now we need a synod on synodality. 3rd Step - Each diocese must have a synod on the synod on synodality. Current (4th) Step - We are a synod. Future Steps   ? -                      We need a synod on the synod on the synod on the synod on synodality           All are welcome...

  Take a step back and enjoy this little write up by the Jasper National Park team: "It is caribou rut season! During this time, the bigger the antlers, the better! Antler size allows males to easily size each other up. A smaller male will rarely challenge another bull who is larger, but drama is bound to brew when two males of similar size meet up. When nobody backs down, they will battle it out to see who is strongest. These fights can be intense and incredible to watch. Earning the title of 'dominant bull' is not an easy task. During the rut, a dominant bull spends a LOT of time and energy chasing away younger competitors – these big guys barely have any time to eat or rest. Only the strongest and most determined males can withstand such a challenging task. The ones that succeed have an opportunity to become fathers to the next generation of caribou calves. Something worth fighting for? " There is something raw, terrifying, and simply splendid about nature. I find...

In 1958 there was a belief, among a very small minority of Catholics, that John XXIII was not validly elected, ergo, there was no pope – sedevacantism. Last week I weighed in briefly into the modern soon-to-be-sedevacantist idea. That is, a small minority of Catholics believe that Benedict is still the pope, and that Francis is an anti-pope. I wrote here demonstrating the logical conclusion of such a belief. Long story short, when Benedict dies it becomes 1958 all over again. This time around, however, there is a further consideration: the internet. The internet can spread ideas rapidly, and can make adherers to such ideas rabid. For instance, I was labelled, among other things, a “prophet of despair”, a “snoot”, and a “freemason” for stating that Francis is the pope. I can only imagine what I would be called if I said that water is wet, snow is white, and puppies are fluffy. There are two things I would like to share from this, to be honest, amusing experience. 1 - Th...

Mark Twain popularized the aphorism that truth is stranger than fiction, a verifiable fact when considering the lives of the saints. The stories of the saints are as eccentric as they are venerable. Take, for example, St. Symeon the Stylite. Unable to gain enough prayer time due to a following of devotees (he sounds like me with my children), he spent 47 years living atop a pillar - the last pillar being over 50 feet high. St. Denis, after being decapitated, picked up his head in his hands and walked six miles, all the while preaching a sermon on repentance. To the chagrin of the altar boy present, St. Lawrence of Brindisi would take upwards of sixteen hours to say a Mass. St. Philip Neri, in the pursuit of humility, once shaved only half of his beard. And perhaps my favorite story of all, St. Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows walked unarmed in the midst of twenty Garibaldi Red Shirt soldiers who had kidnapped a young woman. Gabriel swiped a couple of pistols from the nearby soldie...

Printed by Sophia Press Institute Dr. Taylor Marshall's latest novel, Infiltration: The Plot to Destroy the Church from Within, was released on May 31st, the traditional celebration of the Queenship of Mary. Due to high demand, my copy did not arrive until recently. The actual book is a quick read, thanks to Marshall's smooth and skillful writing.  Infiltration  examines the Catholic Church from the 1830s until present. Why the 1830s? In the 1830s there was an important Freemasonic document discovered called the  Alta Vendita. Essentially, the Alta Vendita was a game plan, written by Freemasons, on how to infiltrate the Catholic Church. For instance, the Alta Vendita states: "Now then, in order to secure to us a Pope according to our own heart, it is necessary to fashion for that Pope a generation worthy of the kingdom of which we dream. Leave on one side old age and middle life, go to the youth, and, if possible, even to the children." And so, from th...

One question: Who is paying for this Youth Synod in Rome? Presumably this event is not cheap. Surveys. Endless committee work. Flying people in from all over the world. Housing and feeding them. Booking giant conference spaces. More committee work. P.R. costs and considerations. Large scale concerts. Still more committee work. There are millions of dollars at play here. All for a pre-set outcome I believe. And who is paying for this? The Vatican? I thought they were running deficits. Bishop conferences? I sure hope not. Private donors? Hmmm, sounds like this would lead to certain billionaires paying for set agenda items to pass. One can only wonder. Alas, I am sure I sound like Judas now. "Why spend all this money on a Synod when the money could be given to the poor?" To which some enlightened cardinal at the Vatican will respond: "The poor will always be with us. It is necessary that this money be used to tell the youth what they are supposed to want..." Phot...