Missiles, the Unsinkable Titanic and the Liturgy of Emmaus
President Trump has launched a retaliatory missile attack on Syria, in response to Bashar al Assad supposedly ‘gassing’ his own people, in his own attempt to crush the ‘rebel’ forces, connected inextricably with radical elements of Islam, dragging out a war that is, or should be, already over, and that no one really wants. Even the terms one must use in describing this are loaded. Was there a chemical attack? If so, was it really Assad who launched it? Or was it the rebels themselves, seeking sympathy and indirect help from the Americans, and sympathy for their cause?
We will never know, I suppose. The news is untrustworthy, as is the response. Trump just a week ago was all for taking troops out of Syria; now he’s digging in, hitting military targets in a very limited way. Let us pray there are no human casualties.
There is something decidedly bizarre in all of this, a proxy war of the ‘great’ powers, in a country none of them really care much for.
Yet God has His ways in all of this, even if indirect from our point of view.
April 15th, marks the 106th anniversary of the sinking of the unsinkable Titanic, torn apart by an iceberg in 1912, resulting in the death of over 1500 people in the frigid waters off Newfoundland in the North Atlantic. Requiescant in pace. Too big to sink, or to fail, has its limits, as we ourselves may discover. Again, God has His ways, which are not ours, and the hubris of Man is often confounded by them. We know neither the day nor the hour, and it is a good and proper thing to keep that in mind. Memento mori; and I would modify the ancient Roman salutation, manducemus et bibamus, cras enim moriemur, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we may die, to oremus et faciemus bonum, let us pray and do what good we may, for…Well, you get the rest.
I am more and more convinced that it is Liturgy, and especially the revitalization of the Holy Mass, along with contemplation and prayer, that will revitalize and evangelize the world. Without that foundation, we are lost in a fog of secularism and activism. I have had the honour of teaching a number of young people who have given ‘all’ to God in consecrated religious life, or in the holy priesthood, and I stand in awe, a homo peccator with Saint Peter. Cardinal Sarah has it right, it really is God or Nothing, and silence, holy, golden silence, especially amidst all the noise of this world, even the ‘noise’ that creeps so insidiously into the Liturgy, that really is the way to hear His voice, and read, as Christ warns us, the signs of the times. Ponder the brief parable of Father Callam. Doing what we think is good, is not necessarily doing the will of God, especially if we neglect what is our duty. We must be obedient to His voice, far greater than any sacrifice.
On this Third Sunday of Easter, we read the tail end of the tale of the two disciples who meet Christ in hidden form on the road to Emmaus, and only recognize Him in the ‘breaking of the bread’, a mysterious reading, whose depths we may never fully discover. One commentator suggested that the two were Cleophas and his wife, which would help explain the insistence on hospitality, and which makes a touching domestic picture. What matters more is that Christ is present not so much in the great and powerful events of this world (an earthly and secular understanding of His mission, for which he upbraided the two disciples), but rather recognized and even ‘touched’ in the Holy Mass, the Eucharistic sacrifice, which we neglect to our peril, and immerse ourselves in to our great, eternal advantage.
On that note, a very blessed and joyous Sunday of Easter to one and all our readers.
Carney’s Amoral Majority
After five defections – euphemistically described as ‘crossing the floor’ – and three by-elections, Mark Carney and his Liberals how have their coveted majority. One wonders what bowls of pottage were offered in back-room deals. In the archaic monarchical system that is the Dominion of Canada, this majority allows the newly-minted Prime Minister to rule[…]Continue reading→
Saint Kateri , Canada’s Protectress
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A Closed, Unsustainable, Descending Loop
As a follow-up to my thoughts on Payette’s payout, here be a stark image of where are here in Canada. As the graph shows in, well, graphic terms, since 2025, the public sector has contributed to 95.5% of economic growth. The private sector – which funds the public sector, or is supposed to – has[…]Continue reading→
A Tale of Two Benedicts
A grace-filled Holy Week to all our readers! As we await and prepare for the Resurrection about to dawn upon us, we might keep in mind two Benedicts: Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, requiescat in pace, elected on this day in 2005; and today’s commemoration of the mystic pilgrim, Benedict Joseph Labre, who died on this[…]Continue reading→
My Name is Bernadette
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Presidential Pardon of Weronika Krawczyk
As a good news, follow-up to our story from Poland, of the persecution of Weronika Krawczyk for her pro-life views, we heard that she has been granted a presidential pardon. One might still wonder why one needs a presidential pardon for simply holding the long-held belief that the child within the womb is a child,[…]Continue reading→
Saint Lydwina of Schiedam and Suffering Joyfully
Saint Lydwina of Schiedam (1380 – 1433) was one of the countless and glorious ‘victim souls’ in the history of the Church, those whose lives are filled with suffering, often of an unimaginable intensity, but who suffer joyfully. She was a fifteen-year old Dutch girl, out skating one day, when she fell and broke one[…]Continue reading→
The Glorious Martyrdoms of Martin and Maximus
As we enter into Eastertide, we recall on this 13th of April Pope Saint Martin I (+655), one of the noblest, if most tragic, of the successors of Saint Peter. Born in Umbria, Italy, he was of noble lineage, with great intelligence combined with charity and love of the poor and the Church. While still[…]Continue reading→
Pope Leo and a Rosary for Peace
Pope Leo XIV has asked Catholics across the world to join him in a Rosary for peace today, at 18:00 Rome time (6 pm), which would be noon from where I write (EST). If you are able, whether at that time or another, and in whatever way you pray, to join in intercession with the[…]Continue reading→
Payette’s Payout
I was glancing through some headlines, and noticed a mention of Julie Payette – engineer and astronaut and sometime the Queen’s representative in Canada – which brought back vague memories. She was appointed Governor-General by Justin Trudeau in 2017. Ms. Payette resigned in 2021, amidst claims that she created a ‘toxic work environment’, with allegations[…]Continue reading→