Modesty and Monetary Miasma

I am more and more convinced that the scandals plaguing our Church and society, and the salvation of the world, depends far more upon individual, personal virtue than on any plan, committee, policies, safeguards, laws or procedures.

Hence, we should stop and ponder what may seem like the lesser things, which often are not all that lesser, like ‘modesty’, which I discuss in a Crisis article this morning.

I wonder how much a lack of modesty – if not its outright mockery – plays into t our current sex-obsessed culture, which infects even the best. I read with dismay of a popular, conservative, learned priest from a certain aposolate known for its orthodoxy, movement, charged with ‘groping’ one of his female spiritual directees. The recipient of these illicit advances has since been paid out to the tune of nearly a million dollars, and that’s in American.

Did a lack of modesty play into this debacle, as in so many others? Modesty – the virtue of refusing to unveil what should remain covered – is not just about clothing, but also about our thoughts, our speech, our movements, our eyes. For we ‘reveal’ much more by what we do than what we wear. Were there lingering and knowing glances, a caress here or there, an inability –or refusal – to keep ‘hidden’ what may have attraction may been interiorly experienced?

Anyway, read and comment, and I am always open to feedback.

And the Bank of Canada is filled with minds educated in modern ‘economics’ – more or less math with a dusting of sociology – but little else, and who seem to lack any immersion in the deeper, philosophical aspects of that science, upon which the Church has taught at length. Hence, they know not what to do with the economy. Interest rates are at historic lows, leading people to borrow money they can ill afford, to buy all sorts of things they do not need, from trucks to televisions to oversized homes and vacations. But if the Bank raises interest rates, not only will the ‘economy’ slow right down, more people will also be unable to keep paying back what loans they have, with dramatic spikes in bankruptcy, dumping toxic debt into the vast miasma that is our ‘money supply’, as I mentioned yesterday.

They are digging a hole deeper than they – we – can easily – now, even possibly – climb back out of.

Neither a borrower nor a lender be, barring exceptional circumstances, and maintain your independence from the vagaries of the ‘economy’.

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

This was the title given to Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, by Pope Benedict XVI, when he canonized her on October 28th, 2012, along with six others, in Saint Peter’ Square (she had been beatified by Pope John Paul II back in 1980). With Saint Joseph as our protector, along with the Canadian martyrs, we seem to[…]Continue reading→

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→