Practically all of Christian denominationalism -- whether mainstream Protestants or the non-denominational denominations -- agree with Catholics on *what* the New Testament says. The problem is their disagreements about what the New Testament *means* on critical issues, as well as what those critical issues even are. "Bible alone" (sola scriptura) manifestly just doesn't work. We have to obey St. Paul's instructions to keep the traditions passed on by word of mouth or by letter (2 Thess. 2:15) -- which is to say, not by letter alone.

When Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane, he prayed God's will be done, and asked his disciples to pray they don't enter into temptation. Today (and over the past few decades, and actually in various ways almost over the last two millennia) the Church -- the Body of Christ -- is going through a Passion, too. *We also should pray for God's will to be done, and that we don't enter into temptation.* I keep coming back to this: *We have to make the rosary part of our daily lives.* It's the perfect "pray without ceasing" kind of prayer. I've been making great use of my ring rosary. I wish I had known the power of the rosary from childhood -- instead of being ignorantly anti-Catholic and anti-BVM. But...I was ignorant. God enlightens us in his time. --- Jesus, I trust in you. Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, pray for us.

I very much dislike ads that show smiling people with Band-Aids on their arms. I would rather send these folks pictures of my smiling healthy family *without* Band-Aids.

I bought a new modem and router over the weekend. We can see all the neighbors' WiFi signals, so I thought it would be appropriate to name ours: PrayTheRosary! As Christians, we should be taking up space in society -- might as well take up the electromagnetic spectrum, too.

If you like David Allen's "Getting Things Done" (GTD) system of personal productivity, I recommend checking out mindwtr.app It makes the system easy. It's FOSS and available on all platforms. Also, your info is private stays on your device, though you can sync it if you wish (I sync between GrapheneOS and Linux using Nextcloud/WebDAV).

It's bizarre how some of my nondenominational Christian friends love to talk about how everything comes down to "what Jesus did on the Cross for us" -- but they feel an aversion to seeing a crucifix (a visual representation of Jesus' body on the Cross), because Jesus is no longer dead and hanging from a cross, because is risen! And so they prefer an empty cross in their Christian symbolism. Also, they're fine with displaying a crèche scene at Christmastime, portraying Jesus as a baby in a manger. But one could say, "Jesus is not a helpless baby in a manger -- he is in heaven, seated at the right hand of God in power and glory!" Then, if they see a statue of the glorified risen Jesus, some will claim the statue is an idol! There are sound explanations to offer these people in response to their sincere, good-intentioned objections, but there does come a point when one is tempted to say: "Come on, dude. Get real. Sober up. Don't be a hard-headed, obstinate goofball." And then I remember: I was that obstinate person before -- oftentimes worse -- and I was shown patience and mercy.

We should not think of prayer as merely a checklist of requests, asking favors of God. It is primarily a means to draw closer to God. And so our best personal method of daily prayer is the most holy rosary.

One of the obvious reasons to pray the daily rosary is that it ensures you intentionally meditate on the gospel for at least 15 minutes every day -- the life, death, and resurrection of our Lord.

I remember 1995 when the two most exciting sounds on a computer were "You got mail!" and the creaking door-hinge sound when a friend from your "Buddy List" logged on. Within a few years I graduated to Yahoo! Mail and Yahoo! Messenger. But no one had cooler sound effects than AOL. Although ICQ's "uh-oh!" was pretty iconic. Just reminiscing. The internet used to be fun and free, with everyone having homepages. Now it's a tool of Big Brother, yet so few are willing to use freedom and privacy tech to bring back some of the joy. Because normies are gonna norm no matter what.

You're a behind-the-times normie if you check your old AOL email daily on webmail after all these years. But you are cool retro if you use AOL email (along with others) on Thunderbird with PGP encryption.

I choked on my omelet this morning. That was an eggs-aspirating experience.

When conservative Catholics boast of their "reverent Novus Ordo Masses informed by the TLM," I wonder: Why not be fully informed? Would they object to the TLM fully in English? What parts of the TLM do they not want to inform their New Mass? Their answers would be revealing.

I just re-listened to a memorable episode of Dr. Taylor Marshall's podcast from 2019. This is from when he would inspire us, convict us, motivate us to hold fast to authentic Catholicism -- before he started taking ad spots for Birch Gold and other sponsors. He was honest, he was real, he was raw. We could identify with him. We aspired to be stronger Catholics in the face of opposition. Today, he is not the same. Where is the old Taylor from the TNT days? What happened? Pope Francis says Pachamamas Retrieved from Tiber River - Taylor Struggles and Reflects (#323)

I grew up in a quasi-Christian cult, the leader of which expected to be considered infallible, even when he made things up and contradicted himself. As a young adult I took the Bible-only route for a while. I “proved” things from my Bible, until I later proved myself wrong by the same standard, and so it led me to not know what is necessary for the Christian to believe or do. How can I know who’s right or wrong on important issues -- or even what the truly important issues are? Finally I became Catholic. Not to follow an oracle. Not to become a Protestant or Modernist or to follow my ill-formed conscience. I became Catholic because of rock-solid, 2000-yr-old Tradition that makes sense of everything. Without it, we have no certainty about the truth of our Faith. With it, we can endure any storm, whether in our personal life or in the Church.

Do your best not to say, "The reason being is because...." I want to like you. "The reason is..." is just fine.

Final thoughts on the day before the #SSPX consecrations: The SSPX has been very transparent for the reasons behind their planned actions. The idea of more consecrations is nothing new, not a surprise. Time after time, over a span of decades, they've explained the problems they have with certain post-concilior issues and popular theological innovations. Just like before 1988, they have explained that they need bishops to ensure that Catholic Tradition continues uncompromised in service to the Church. But we never hear a word from Rome what their disagreements are specifically. The SSPX last week sent a profession of faith to the pope himself. Yet we never hear any rebuttals or problems with the Catholic Faith they hold. All we hear about is obedience, compliance, imagined "schismatic acts," even though the Code of Canon Law does not impose the punishment of excommunication for this kind of "disobedience" when such persons believe there is a state of crisis or emergency. It seems clear the reason for Rome's silence is that the SSPX brings the receipts of the Catholic Faith, while those currently in power in Rome hreasin p, such backing for their current direction away from the gospel she has held for two thousand years. They can't give historical support for why they are openly permissive of homosexual heresies. They undermine the truth that all people need to become Catholic. They force a novel, Protestantized liturgy on us without good reason (there is no good reason and no good fruits in the big picture). Rather than preaching on sin and salvation through Christ, they focus so much on the environment and immigration and justice and equality, etc. The novel idea of synodality and accompaniment and sharing in people's spiritual journeys goes out the window at times like this. Now, when it comes to those who uphold Catholic Tradition, Rome demands strict, uncompromising compliance with its orders Something stinks. If the SSPX gets truly pounded hard with unreasonable punishments after the consecrations, I can't help but wonder how all the other supporters of Catholic Tradition and liturgy will be seen. Likely with suspicion. "Hey, you think and act just like those schismatics! You better straighten up or else!" I don't know that the FSSP could withstand that kind of pressure without serious compromise. I don't know how much sympathy diocesan TLM parishes would find with bishops on Rome's good side. It's all one big ugly mess. I don't have all the answers. I don't know exactly what is the right thing to do in this situation, in the face of Rome's problems. All I can do is believe the faith, practice the faith, pray the rosary, receive the sacraments as often as I can. St. Peter, our first pope, pray for us. St. Joseph, patron of the Universal Church, pray for us.

My wife recently had a thumb surgery (trigger thumb) and then decided to read a book about Padre Pio.

I am afraid of hell. When I imagine it, it's not so much that I'm afraid of its literal pains or any other similar punishments, as horrifying as that would be. It's more that I fear its hopelessness and despair, for hell's inhabitants have no more recourse to God. Unlike now, there is no longer any route to repentance. Today is the day of salvation. How stupid it would be to throw it all away, to be tortured with regret for all eternity.

If you worship like a Modernist, you will become a Modernist.

FOR THESE REASONS, don't fret that God is too unhappy with you to forgive you yet again: * He always had a plan to save us, but it was first revealed in the Garden when Adam and Eve got busted. * God sent His Son to us while we were yet sinners, His enemies. * Jesus suffered and died for us as our representative. He volunteered to undergo this suffering, and it was excessively brutal. Proof of His love. * To apply the fruit of his most generous self-sacrifice out of love for us, he instituted the sacrament of baptism, which wipes away the eternal and even temporal punishments due to our sins. * He gives us the gift of the Holy Spirit, the gift of Himself in us, to guide us and lead us and empower us. * He knew we would still sin after baptism, so he instituted the sacrament of reconciliation, or confession. * To eradicate or lessen the temporal punishments due to sin, he gives us the gift of indulgences. That's some extra generosity right there, more proof of His love for us and His eagerness to forgive us our sins and welcome us on the fast traoffer ante called of all his life lines eternity. * Provided we don't die in the state of mortal sin, He gives us the necessary gift of purgatory to make us worthy of heaven even if we haven't completely overcome all sin. * On top of all this, he gives us a spiritual family in heaven, the saints in light, who are cheering for us, witnessing our race in life. They pray for us, even if no one else does. * The angels are also on our side. In fact, we are each assigned our own guardian angel to protect and guide us, to intercede for us, and to offer us inspirations. * Not least of all the signs of God's love for us is the premier saint,, our Queen Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, whom Jesus gave us to be our greatest teacher and example in the created realm. She loves us with a mother's heart. So don't be overly scrupulous or overly downtrodden when you stumble or fail in this life. It does not surprise God. He already knew about it. Just repent every day. Love our Lord every day. It's easier to do so when you remember all that he has done in anticipation of your failings, and how he has gone out of his way to ensure your entrance into the glorified kingdom of God -- if only you will accept his offer and take hold of all his life lines.