On Not Playing the Game.

On Not Playing the Game.

Rumors that the Supreme Court may well strike down the Roe v. Wade ruling broke late yesterday, an event that would return to the States the decision of whether or to what extent to protect abortion under the law.

Immediate protests and meltdown videos ensued. Rage erupted over social media, calls for taking to the streets or to violence.

The self-identified Catholic speaker of the house Nancy Pelosi characterized the possible decision as “monstrous.

The self-identified Catholic president reaffirmed his love of Roe and determination to codify it into law, while also offering a super watertight and well-researched theological declaration that Roe beautifully enshrines what all major world religions have concluded: that we just have no bloomin’ idea when human life starts and and so how could we protect it?

And thus rang out the starting pistol for another endless relay, a game in which, when all is said in done, none of the standards of logic, ethics, equality–and yes, even theology, since Joe saw fit to bring it up–matter to half of the players. These words are merely feints to slow down their opponents.

Such games are not worth playing anymore. These people have chosen their god.

They explicitly call abortion “sacred.” They laugh at the piles of bodies. They are quite willing to tear down whatever institutions might prevent it, to fire off a million whataboutisms to distract from the real moral question. Like Biden & Pelosi, they smilingly twist the words of the Faith, the better to shield that which they love more than Faith.

And that is the definition of what is evil. It’s an evil that hungers to destroy many bodies, yes–but many, many more souls.

It loves death. And it seeks to teach us its game.

It teaches us to forget that it is evil, first of all.

It teaches us to imagine that lives that do not serve one’s present purposes are not good, worthy, or even real.

It teaches us to overlook the theft of life from those to whom God gave it–as if He will not one day require an accounting.

It teaches us to deny dignity to those made in His image and likeness–as though that dignity were solely ours to confer.

It teaches us to equivocate while the cells which He knit together in the womb–as His own words in the Scriptures so beautifully state again and again–are endlessly ruptured.

And it teaches us to forget about the worst death of all: the death of sin.

It’s Easter. The lilies bloom and the alleluias ring out.

Why?

Because Jesus Christ has destroyed sin from the inside, destroyed death literally from within the stone walls of the sepulchre.

None of the might of armies and princes could prevent Him. None of the secret evil in the hearts of men could stop Him.

So don’t play the game.

Believe in life over death. Tell the truth. Work. And especially, pray.

Do this so that others might live.


39 Replies to “On Not Playing the Game.”

  1. I just want to invite members to friend me on Facebook and join my small group “Catholic Hoosier.” I have both western and eastern Catholics in the group, the latter being some friends of mine from my time at St Athanasius Byzantine/Indy. Faithful to the Magisterium and 100% on board with the teachings of the Church, no exceptions–it’s Catholic with some Hoosier content. Not militant but not compromising either. It’s kind of a Catholic respite from the world’s woes and an affectionate nod to God’s Indiana gift to us.

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  2. I ran a quick survey and in three parishes of the diocese, all in the southern part of the diocese, no mention was made of the overturning of Roe V Wade in Sunday homilies, announcements or in the prayer petitions. I am utterly mystified. Many of us have prayed and fasted for many years for the overturning. Years from now we’ll be anble to tell our grandchildren where we were when we found out about this, right? The church bells should have been pealing, Rosaries of thanksgiving should have been scheduled. But all I heard was crickets. And of two of the parishes, they were places ordinarily known for their orthodoxy. I am in sorrow. Deeply disappointed at the sound of silence.

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    1. Well, this is what you get when you’re led by an unaccountable, indifferent, faith-challenged bishop and his cruel, phony, financially-challenged lieutenant: Our diocese has been driven into the ground by these oppressive individuals. With about three-years to go until bishop retires, it’s pretty clear to me that apathy has set in and the MO our clergy has embraced is to “keep your head down, shut-up, and pray our next bishop is Fulton Sheen”. To which I would ask: What if the next bishop hails from the Jesuit church? What if instead of a Fulton Sheen you get a James Martin? Think that’s out of the question? Just ask the people of the Diocese of Lexington, KY…(God help them).

      For all the faithful, retreating into a shell and hoping for better times is not a solution. It’s a retreat. And when someone retreats, someone else advances. That’s just how the spiritual life works until Christ comes again.

      So, for all the faithful, as our blind-leadership “moves-on” from the death of Roe V Wade and gets back to the “work of the church” (AKA: mailing out the latest fundraising campaign pledge cards) it’s worth reflecting on Matthew 25:24-30 and the fate of the last servant:

      “…Then the one who had received the one talent came forward and said, ‘Master, I knew you were a demanding person, harvesting where you did not plant and gathering where you did not scatter; so out of fear I went off and buried your talent in the ground. Here it is back.’ His master said to him in reply, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I did not plant and gather where I did not scatter? Should you not then have put my money in the bank so that I could have got it back with interest on my return? Now then! Take the talent from him and give it to the one with ten. For to everyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich; but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And throw this useless servant into the darkness outside, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.’”

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  3. This is what The New Evangelization looks like. Way to go, Fort Wayne-South Bend Bishop Rhodes! It occurs to me that with voluntary contributions and events like this, Tipton is centrally located, suited to this kind of event and the retreat center gets paid for. Bishop Doherty, I assume you have someone who monitors this blog. Please take notice!

    https://www.ncregister.com/news/communion-in-action-indiana-procession-highlights-universal-missionary-dimensions-of-eucharistic-faith?fbclid=IwAR3aH7ZjwhdHdr4PGf9Ux8He7OLOMavztMrYjqzjm6eNi3VuZb-BYq_3NAU

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    1. The Church in this country is certainly divided and it is events like these that show where a diocese has its heart. The diocese of Ft. Wayne-South Bend is so lucky to have a shepherd who loves his people and the Blessed Sacrament. It also takes a lot of organization to put an event on, a score of people at the diocesan level who also love the Blessed Sacrament. The opening of the Revival in our diocese was barely a whisper, not even live streamed for the faithful to watch later. To the north of us, Bishop Rhoades was an example of Eucharistic devotion and forethought. I am hopeful, however. Let us all fast and pray for this much needed Revival. We all need it. The world desperately needs it.

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      1. Our diocese was created out of the Diocese of Fort Wayne back in 1944. It’s been a good run until recently, but I think it’s time to go back home. Since our church is now a “synodal-listening church”, I vote for Doherty’s early retirement (he’ll be pleased) and the formal suppression of the Diocese of Lafayette-in-Indiana and merger with the Diocese of Fort Wayne–South Bend.

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        1. I remember when a Vatican official replied with astonishment, queried about the sex abuses which took place under Bishop Higi. As a percentage of total priests in service, it was indeed an astonishing percentage. I’d be all for combining with Fort Wayne-South Bend at this point. Cuturally, with Carmel, Zionsville, Noblesville, Fishers, and Geist, and Whitestown and Westfield coming on strong, we are no longer a predominantly agrarian diocese and far from homogeneous in any pastorally meaningful way. Perhaps the southern tier ought to join Indy, I don’t know. There are some good parishes there, Our Lady of Grace, Noblesville, finally experiencing recovery from a long standing ugly progressivism/modernism, along with excellent Our Lady of Mt Carmel, Seton, St John Vianney…your oh, so synodal thoughts?

          1. Arch-Indy would no doubt like a bite of the money and vocations that come from the northern metro-Indy suburbs. How about an arm-wrestling match between Bishop Rhoades and Archbishop Thompson to decide things?

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    2. The problem is the Diocese of Lafayette were to merge it would most likely be with Diocese of Gary with im surprise it still a diocese.

  4. Thank you Red Wolf! I pray that someday soon YOU will be the Communications Director of this diocese and Editor of the Catholic Moment!

    Let’s pray now for our next bishop whoever he is and wherever he may be!

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      1. Speaking of the Catholic Moment, here’s a bit of news: conversation between a prelate and a layman overheard in an Indiana restaurant –
        “Who in their right mind would ever propose a retreat center in Tipton, Indiana of all places, and think it would stay afloat? It’s a tragedy. Someone is responsible for sinking $9M in a money pit…”

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        1. Um maybe those folks that you hear gossiping should research Catholic Retreat Centers. Most of them are in rural locations so attendees experience serine, restful environments. Also last time I looked Tipton is about dead center in our diocese making it good for all. And I’ll bet if you check, no Catholic retreat centers are money makers. They serve a mission just as other Catholic ministries do. A bigger question for me on waste is why are we spending millions upon millions to build a Protestant style mega church at Our Lady in Carmel? Wouldn’t we be better off with more spin off parishes like Maria Goretti was and Seton was?

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          1. Admittedly, I’ve wondered if they are planning a Starbucks-style Sacred Grounds shoppe in the new addition. But seriously, that money was raised by parishioners specifically for that purpose. It wasn’t funneled from any general funds, it will be utilized regularly, and not putting the diocese millions in debt.

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          2. That’s an interesting spin designed to absolve one of responsibility: “…no Catholic retreat centers are money makers…”

            Thanks Uniting in Heart!

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          3. I lean your way. Knowing comps with other retreat centers would be helpful. Gathering actual facts here has been as pulling hen’s teeth. Genthsemani near Bardstown is not exactly urban. This traddie is not smitten with things in the diocese, same as many here. I think being a back waters small diocese has made us vulnerable to all the excesses of power with nothing to exert a needed healthy tension, but truth must prevail.

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        2. We all know who sunk the $9 million into the retreat center in the middle of no where. Good news from what I hear is he may never be a Bishop. I guess some type of questionnaires from the Vatican were sent out to several current and former employees of the parishes and diocese asking about his ability to become a bishop. The three I have heard from mentioned his bombastic attitude, forcing out the unpopular Uniting in Heart, mismanagement and and financial transgressions with the retreat center as evidence of his unfitness to be a Bishop. Perhaps someone else more in the know of this process can shed light on how these questionnaires work and the weight they carry. I’m torn as an appointment would get him away from here but then also result in him having more control and influence. Wish I could get my hands on one of those questionnaires. I think I smell some bridges burning!

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          1. Actually, in today’s corrupted Vatican being a cleric with a bombastic attitude who forces unpopular things on the flock while mismanaging finances is “almost” just the sort of thing that guarantees you’ll get a miter. I say “almost” because if you really want to seal the deal with Pope Pachamama and his henchmen you’ve also got to wrap yourself up in the latest emblem of the beast (the rainbow flag) while parroting the talking points of his globalist leviathan.

            Oh Lord, how much longer will you let your shepherds mock your Holy Bride?

            Come, Lord Jesus.

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  5. Is excommunication no longer a practice of the Church? I mean, how much more blatant can these so-called “Catholic” politicians be in their heresy?! And yet, they are allowed to receive Our Lord in the Holy Eucharist while everyone looks on and gets the impression that it is ok to kill innocent children and still be a Catholic.

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        1. Count on them to be, at best, late to the dance and, at worst, asleep at the wheel…

          In the end, if a critical mass of good bishops around the country jump on board, I could see Fort Wayne and Evansville bishops joining the team. But as for a unified response? HA! Good luck with that. There would be a better chance of the empty Tipton Center suddenly being popular…

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  6. AN UPDATE: Please be sure you pray for the safety of the justices. Catholic Vote has been reporting since this morning that abortion activist group “Ruth Sent Us” are organizing protests at their homes. Yes, I know: ironic in name, in that Bader-Ginsberg was not a huge fan of Roe, but one would have to be something other than ideologue lackey in Handmaid cosplay to know this. Anyway, these well-adjusted individuals published on social media the addresses of Coney Barrett, Roberts, Alito, Kavanaugh, Thomas, & Gorsuch and hope to target these residences. This heightens the safety concerns already raised for the Justices and their households, some of whom have kids at home. One can only imagine how this would feel for the children of Coney Barrett, for example–adopted from vulnerable circumstances–to see from their windows some unhinged mob baying for the right to spill children’s blood.

    In addition, be aware that the same group is urging their followers to disrupt Catholic Churches this Sunday, May 8, hashtagging the event #MothersDayStrike #WarOnWomen. Again, the poor souls miss the irony. Perhaps the calls will fall flat and nothing will come of it. One small consolation is that should they run into the Red Wolf’s mother, minding her business and hoping for a little peace at a Mother’s Day Mass, I predict some instant, instant regret. They will in that blessed moment discover a new interpretation for “Still She Persisted.”
    Levity aside, perhaps a little vigilance in the coming weeks will be warranted: https://twitter.com/RuthSentUs/status/1521566593850826752

    All of this delightful social intercourse comes on the heels of another of Biden’s repugnant psuedo-theological statements. This time, in defending abortion access, he reference “rights I have, not because the government gave them to me, but just because I’m a child of God, [because] I exist.” I’ve been searching my memory; was almost certain that in the Church we had a word for when “men, having professed the faith of Christ, corrupt its dogmas.” Asserting that God’s children get to smash God’s smaller children, all with the Creator’s blessing, seems pretty corrupt to me. Maybe those with teaching authority in the Church might care to address this perversion of His teaching? https://twitter.com/JerryDunleavy/status/1521890971943845891?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet

    Pray up & be joyful,
    RW

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  7. I agree. After nearly 60-years of “dialoging” with Moloch worshipers over their “sacrament”, I think it’s quite fair to say: “These people have chosen their god.” Truly they have. Evil is palpable now and way out in the open. Good grief, when “Satan Clubs” are openly petitioning elementary schools to recruit kids you either have to be hopelessly naïve about how bad things have gotten or so willfully ignorant that you’d make the world’s biggest cowards blush. Seriously, if anti-christ openly declared himself tomorrow in an exclusive interview on CNN would anyone be particularly surprised?

    But, for all their schemes and corruption, the evil spirits and sinful human souls who would try to drag you with them into perdition lack the power to overcome one very important thing: GRACE. A human soul in a state of grace is an absolute terror to all of them. They can’t withstand you.

    So, as you pray and work, stay in a state of grace. Get to confession if you’re not. And when you’ve done your penance, let your mourning turn into dancing. Rejoice! It’s Easter! It is the Lord’s pleasure to shower His grace upon you. Then keep your lamp on the lampstand and go be a lethal weapon for Christ by helping save souls in your own little ways. No one said life in the Church Militant would be easy, but our Lord did say His yoke is easy and His burden light. So, let us take His yoke upon ourselves, learn from the Master, and fear no created being.

    And always remember the martyrs, now enveloped in the eternal bliss of the Beatific Vision in the Church Triumphant: In the end the only power their murderers had over them was to take their earthly lives. And when you consider the length of eternity, that’s not really any power at all.

    “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” – Matthew 10:28

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    1. Absolutely. Grace is the only defense. Even those not drawn into the errors against life can be crippled by anger, fear, hopelessness. God preserve us in grace that we can do our part.

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  8. The very ugly fact is that abortion is big business for scientific research. Go to https://cogforlife.org and prepare to be shocked at how we have been fooled all of these years, from the development of the polio vaccine until now. Even the foods we eat are tainted by fetal lines. It is not even about some fetal line from an aborted baby from years ago. While you are reading this, babies are being aborted but kept alive because dead cells are worthless. These babies are being dissected while alive for research. Several reputable universities are involved in this. Our country is in crisis. Pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, the food industry depend on this research. Our tax money pays for this research. Politicians are in the pockets of those who get rich from this demonic business. Pray for our politicians and Supreme Court Justices who are standing in the breach. Their lives and those of their families are in danger from this. We need to get on our knees in front of the Blessed Sacrament. That is where the best activism happens. That is where WE can stand in the breach. Evil is ruling in Washington. But Jesus, I trust in You.

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    1. Be sure to add https://www.fetalindustry.com as a good reference as well to the documentation of the close ties all current COVID injections have to aborted tissue and organs. It chronicles the horrid research being done at US universities among other facilities.

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  9. It is said that a majority of Americans favor retention of abortion. That’s not quite true. Take heart:

    https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/what-americans-really-think-about-abortion/

    Don’t believe what you’re told by the media about the polls.

    Biden, Harris & Co. are Catholic the same way Russian archbishop Kirill is Orthodox. Taking religious titles to to try and burnish tyranny is as old as history and may fool some but won’t fool God. That meeting won’t likely go well.

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  10. I am old enough to remember when the Roe decision was announced. I have heard all of the arguments and the tortured reasoning behind the original decision. I knew it was wrong then, and nothing has really changed. The full horror of how the decision has reverberatedthrough the years and the cost to our country is still astonishing.
    If a country is doing something it cannot bear to look at, it is time to stop. God will forgive us if we are truly sorry. He is good all of the time.

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  11. All very good points, but I remind myself, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” We must continue to fight the liberal, Left, heretical Catholics. Otherwise, how can we then be martyred so that “the blood of the martyrs is seed for the Church”?

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    1. Heartily agree. Just no longer feel appealing to their logic or fairness or the like is effective. They are possessed by ideology–if not by something worse.

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