Those that thronged around the Saviour on Sunday do not so much acclaim Him as they acclaim themselves.

ON this Palm Sunday, the profound reflections below by Fr. Edward Leen in Why the Cross? may help you better understand that day in history and challenge the common misconception that because Jesus was hailed by palm-waving crowds in Jerusalem he therefore had popular support. He did not have popular support then, he certainly does not have popular support now and he would never in all human history be accepted by the majority of the human race, not even by the majority of Christians.

From Fr. Leen’s book:

On the morning of the Sunday in the last week of His mortal life, Jesus entered Jerusalem amidst the enthusiastic acclamations of a multitude composed of citizens and strangers. His malignant enemies saw their snarling protests drowned in the tumult of rejoicing. They felt themselves to be like straws tossed helplessly on the swelling tide of popular favour on which the Nazarene was borne triumphantly. The Pharisees therefore said among themselves : ‘Do you see that we prevail nothing? Behold the whole world is gone after him.’ And yet, five days later, Jesus was hurried through the streets of the city of His triumph amidst the execrations of the multitude and the silent dismay of His friends. Such a sudden reversal in the fortunes of the prophet of Nazareth baffles human reason. Some explanation might be furnished by the ordinary laws of mob psychology, but the explanation is far from satisfying and, to a mind approaching the problem without prejudice, appears wholly inadequate.

[…]

Much has been made of the supposed devotedness of great numbers of the simple country people to the cause of the Saviour. The entry into Jerusalem is pointed to as the occasion on which this enthusiastic devotion overbore all opposition and had a free course. The mood of the populace is supposed to have undergone a complete change in the course of a few days, owing to the machinations and the skilful propaganda of the priests. It is undeniable that the Nazarene had some sincere and devoted followers, but they must have been comparatively few in numbers. They did not constitute the great throng that went out at the city gates, on the morning of Sunday, to welcome Him with loud acclamations and the waving of palms. (more…)

"THE Church will be punished because the majority of her members, high and low, will become so perverted. The Church will sink deeper and deeper until she will seem to be extinguished, and the succession of Peter and the other Apostles to have expired." --- St. Nicholas of Flüe, d. 1487 Source

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Source: Thuletide  

STATES and the federal government have represented the interests of Big Agriculture for many years and have engaged in a longstanding war against the small farmer, which appears to be intensifying. (more…)

A READER writes:

I thought I’d commend you for being a thinking housewife. As a believer in male headship, as well as a great admirer of the Brontë sisters, I hold that the ideal wife is a thinking being who is a complement to her husband.

From Charlotte Brontë’s novel Shirley:

“Solomon’s virtuous woman … had something more to do than spin and give out portions: she was a manufacturer – she made fine linen and sold it: she was an agriculturist – she bought estates and planted vineyards. That woman was a manager: … a worthy model! … Men of England! Look at your poor girls … envious, backbiting, wretched, because life is a desert to them; or, what is worst of all, reduced to strive, by scarce modest coquetry and debasing artifice, to gain that position and consideration by marriage, which to celibacy is denied. … Seek for them an interest and occupation which shall raise them above the flirt, the maneuverer, the mischief-making talebearer.” (more…)

WHO can understand sins? From my secret ones cleanse me, O Lord; and from those of others spare thy servant. If they shall have no dominion over me, then shall I be without spot; and I shall be cleansed from the greatest sin. And the words of my mouth may be such as may please: and the meditation of my heart always in thy sight. O Lord, my helper and my redeemer. Psalm 18, 13-15  

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"IT IS NOT in the power of man gladly to bear the Cross, to chastise the body and make it submissive to the will of the spirit, to flee honors gladly, to sustain reproofs, to despise himself and to desire to be despised, patiently to suffer adversities with all the displeasures that accompany them, and not to desire any manner of profit in this world. If you trust in yourself, you will never bring this about. But if you trust in God, he will bring you strength from heaven, and the world and the flesh will be made subject to you." ---- The Imitation of Christ, Thomas à Kempis  

“The concept of ‘racism’ posits that preference for those closest to you genetically is immoral.”

“The fact that anti-racists oppose family is …. the concept of racism taken to its logical conclusion.”

@Mark_Taylor (more…)

I have a great devotion to this saint because I have so often experienced, that he can obtain so much from God. For many years I have been accustomed to ask a special grace on his festival, and my prayer is always answered.

St. Alphonsus de Liguori

KNOWN as “Mirror of Patience” and “Terror of Demons,” Joseph has played a miraculous, inestimable role in history. Meditating on his humility, courage and strength has enriched untold lives and roused the indifferent. St. Joseph is famous for his intercessions for the dying. He is a patron of workers and of the Universal Church.

O Joseph, heavenly hosts thy worthiness proclaim,
And Christendom conspires to celebrate thy fame,
Thou who in purest bonds wert to the Virgin Bound;
How glorious is thy name renowned.

Thou, when thou didst behold thy Spouse about to bear,
Wert sore oppressed with doubt, wert filled with wondering care;
At length the Angel’s word thy anxious heart relieved:
She by the Spirit hath conceived. (Source)

From Daily Meditations in March on St. Joseph by Rev. R.F. Clarke, S.J.:

St. Joseph had a privilege on earth which for all other saints is reserved for the eternal Paradise, of being in the continual company of his God, of gazing on the Sacred Humanity of the Incarnate Word, of hearing from Him words of love and gratitude, of drinking in delicious draughts of heavenly delight from the words and looks of the Incarnate God. His life must have been one long ecstasy. If those who touched the hem of Jesus’ garment received an inflow of heavenly virtue, what must he have received who nursed Him in infancy, and bore Him the closest company in youth and manhood!

Pierre Chaignon wrote in 1907 (Source):

From the moment that the angel had revealed to him the mystery of the Incarnation accomplished in his august spouse, his life was a continual contemplation. What did he contemplate, if not the love of God for us, impersonated in the Word made flesh?  “God has so loved the world.”

Dom Prosper Guéranger in the nineteenth century wrote in his Liturgical Year: (more…)

"WE find in the Passion of Christ a remedy against all the evils that we incur through sin. Now these evils are five in number. (i) We ourselves become unclean. When a man commits any sin he soils his soul, for just as virtue is the beauty of the soul, so sin is a stain upon it. How happeneth it, O Israel, that thou art in thy enemies land? Thou art grown old in a strange country, thou art defiled with the dead (Baruch iii. 10, 11). --- From Meditations for Each Day in Lent, by St. Thomas Aquinas  

IF YOU are nauseated by the binge-drinking festival known as St. Patrick’s Day, now a week-long binge-drinking festival in some parts of America, you may find this 1985 interview with an Irish-American housewife who valued simple, homemade food and conversation to be refreshing and charming in comparison.

A KITCHEN WITH ROOTS IN IRELAND

Mar 10, 1985

By Marilynn Marter, Philadelphia Inquirer Food Writer

“And this is my little bit of Irish heaven,” says Agnes Patricia Songster McCafferty, introducing visitors to her domestic domain in Upper Darby, a kitchen with a decor that gives one the illusion of being, at once, both in and outside a cozy country cottage.

The morning sun seems to stream through the dimity-curtained windows, despite a cloudy sky. To push aside the curtains, a visitor feels certain, could reveal only the lush green lowlands and rolling hills of the Emerald Isle itself.

We’ve come in advance of St. Patrick’s Day to sample Irish dishes, particularly the McCafferty specialty – scone (pronounced scahn), one of the best known of the traditional Irish foods. While here, we will glean a few recipes from this fine Irish cook. (more…)

IS THE current war in Israel a hoax to drain the West of resources, flood it with immigrants and turn the world against the United States? I am not at all endorsing all the content of this site, but it provides compelling evidence of fakery in Gaza.