Clothed in Virtue

  "And behold all generations shall me blessed."      Today we celebrate the beautiful feast of the Assumption. The Assumption is the culmination of Mary's earthly life, which began at her Immaculate Conception and finished here, at the Assumption. She continues to be an advocate in Heaven, showering graces upon us.      What does this feast mean? What are we celebrating? Let’s pause today and see what it is that we truly celebrate and what it means for us.      The Immaculate Conception is when we celebrate Mary’s conception in her mother’s womb, the womb of Ann, conceived without sin.  Today, we  celebrate Our Lady being taken up, body and soul, into heaven, being assumed by God into heaven. This is different from the Ascension of Jesus Christ where Jesus used his own divine power to ascend into heaven. He raised Himself at the Ascension, whereas the Assumption is God bringing Mary into heaven. It wasn’t by her own power, it ...

“I have handed on that which I also have received.”   What does it mean to be a "Traditional Catholic?" Is this truly what we are? Should we call ourselves Traditional Catholics? To be Catholic means to stand apart from the rest of men and from the rest of the world.  Being Catholic means that we strive to put God in his proper place by giving the honor and glory that is due to Him, at least to the degree that it is humanly possible. Today we live in a world that has rejected God. In the supposed "Age of Enlightenment," man turned away from God and turned to himself, and the world became man-centered rather than God-centered. With the battle cry of “liberty” and “freedom," man made himself the center of the universe, the most important thing that exists. Liberty logically follows from this assertion, as liberty allows men to do whatever they want.  Nowadays people have, by and large, rejected the moral law.  It's an "anything goes" society, as lon...

August 1st, 2021 Tenth Sunday after Pentecost Today’s gospel gives us a good look into the spiritual life by comparing the difference between the Publican and the Pharisee. According to society, the Pharisees were the "ideal.” They studied the law and knew the most about the Jewish religion. They served in the temple, made important decisions, and did many acts of public mortification.  The  Publicans were despised by the Jews because they worked with the Romans to collect taxes. They were tax collectors, which was bad enough, but they also worked with the Romans. They were hated for these two reasons. Our Lord uses these two people as an example for us.  Jesus was speaking to those  "who trusted in themselves as just, and despised others...”  He spoke to enlighten these people about themselves, but the same applies to us. This gospel was written for us. Is the spiritual life about externals? Your first answer is probably no -- it’s not about externals. That’s t...