Originally Posted at Bravest Thing

Recently the ordinary in my diocese, Bishop Albert Thevenot, released a letter regarding funding for Development and Peace (D&P). In the letter Thevenot explained how D&P, the Canadian Catholic Bishop's charity responsible for social justice (is there a justice on earth which does not involve society?), was finally reprimanded during lent for funding anti-life agencies. The Canadian Bishops withheld their yearly lenten cash haul to D&P. The decision was several years too late, but welcome nonetheless. In the Catholic Church these days, Leviathan that it has become, you take what you can get. 

And so, Thevenot explained the position with Development and Peace. He stated D&P has given no assurance of refraining from funding agencies with policies contrary to Catholic moral teaching - "Dark clouds seem to hover over Development and Peace at this time." Well and good. Why should bishops provide money which supports evil agencies? It all seems so obvious and utterly not worth stating. Like calling rain wet, puppies cute, or bagpipes out of tune. Cue the next paragraph.

"After much discernment, however, I have decided to forward the 2018 Lenten Campaign collections to Development and Peace with a clear indication that the sum should only be used for projects approved by the CCCB."

Mic drop. Jaw drop on my part as well. “As a dog returns to his vomit, so a fool repeats his folly” (Proverbs 26:11). Let's get the facts straight: D&P is guilty of grave misdoings. D&P is continuing in these grave misdoings. They are unrepentant and therefore untrustworthy. "Dark clouds hover over" the organization. Therefore D&P is being sent more money (because they are untrustworthy?). Bishop Thevenot then dedicated two and a half additional paragraphs gushing over the work that D&P has accomplished.

This work, one must ascertain, includes a very 'poor' charity rating (a mediocre C+), an appalling 21% of funds spent on administration with many salaries exceeding $100,000, as well as the fact that the Canadian government already funds over $20 million yearly to D&P's plump budget. All of this incompetence, however, is but minor when considering D&P's funding of immoral organizations. The saints, including St. Thomas Aquinas, define justice as giving what each person deserves or is owed (II-II, Q. 58). Development and Peace, an organization which has funded immoral agencies, and remains unrepentant, certainly is not owed more money! To do so is an act of injustice. But one must not plead for justice in 2018. Not when mercy provides license to sin.

I wrote a letter to Bishop Albert and pleaded for even a slight amount of logic, that great connector to the Logos, to be considered. I asked for him to ponder the possibility that, maybe just maybe, not all laity are stupid sheep who are rather fond of being treated like a punching bag, one that spits out money every time it is hit. Alas, punching bags should remain silent and I have certainly said too much.

No, I will say more. Much more. 

Why not utilize the illogical argument in our favour? Dear Bishop (you can use this for your own bishop some time): I have noticed that my hard earned money which I tithe to my parish has a portion taxed and entrusted to the diocesan coffers. I have decided, after much discernment (which, of course, is always infallible), to continue giving money to my parish with a clear indication that the sum must not be used to fund untrustworthy organizations, namely your diocese. Indeed, dark clouds seem to hover over it. Signed, Punching Bag.

The Leviathan. Photo Credit: politicaexterior.com

What I have just explained is certainly not the most grievous and pressing issue amongst bishops and all Catholics at this time. We are in the times of, as Anthony Esolen calls, the irreal. Unreal is hardly believable. Irreal defies all conception of normalcy, order, and logic. Yet it is emblematic of what we are in the midst of. When 137 American bishops are incapable of agreeing to request that Pope Francis release files on sex abuser ex-Cardinal McCarrick, it is irreal. When these same bishops call on Cardinal Mahoney, Mr. $720 million-man in payouts for his episcopal misdeeds of covering up abusers, to address these same bishops on how to handle abuse, it is irreal. When in the same week the majority of U.S. bishops refuse to budge on addressing what is wrong while preparing to ask the American Catholic for money to fund themselves, it is irreal.

No, my little squabble with my bishop is insignificant, yet remains emblematic. Accordingly, responding to my bishop might be insignificant, but it also is emblematic.

It actually takes a lot of nerve and righteous anger to step up and write a bishop. I referenced the Leviathan earlier. The giant fish-like creature Leviathan appears in the bible several times. I actually refer to philosopher Thomas Hobbes' Leviathan. For Hobbes, life is "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short." A mega structure of power, the Leviathan, is necessary to keep any semblance of order, otherwise those evil underlings will destroy and corrupt each other. We are all just back-stabbing murderers at heart. Thus, the subjects of the Leviathan are to quake in its presence, to fear and tremble while timidly obeying. One harkens Machiavelli's famous line, "It is better to be feared than loved." When bishops act with little or no regard for their subjects, the subject's money, the subject's received abuse, nor the logic in the subject's pleas, they wield a mighty sword indeed. A Leviathan rules. The Episcopal Leviathan demands obedience to the irreal because it believes the subjects are incapable of fighting back against the iron rule. I answer that this necessitates, all the more, faithful Catholics to speak out against such a rule.

When the faithful Catholic speaks out against irrealism from the episcopacy they must expect ridicule, difficulties, and a slow drawn out martyrdom for the faith. Nevertheless, bring justice. Bring truth. Bring charity. Bring what is real. Expect strife. Expect pain. Expect ridicule. And expect a gentle nudge of peace and warming love from the Holy Spirit. But for the love of souls: Speak out. These are not the times for apathy. A small voice is still a voice. Many small voices make a loud voice. Death comes for us all. We all answer to Jesus. The Church is not a Leviathan. Do not permit it to be run as one. Dear faithful Catholics: speak out. 

Editor's note: Bishop Albert Thevenot can be reached at bishop.assistant@padiocese.ca

D&P Sunday

This upcoming Sunday, the 5th Sunday in Lent, is also the Sunday where the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops trumpet their baby, Development and Peace, and entice the ignorant pew-sitter into supporting the cause.

According to Canadian Charity Intelligence, D&P will raise in excess of 16 million dollars this year, and our taxpayer dollars will give another 16 million to them as well. Of this money, only 74% of it will be spent on helping others. The rest of the money will be spent on such things as salaries. D&P has 71 full time staff member with an average salary of $71,595. Perhaps it is a good thing that they are so pathetic at financial prudence, for, as we all know, they've been caught funding pro-abortion groups in the past.

This year, on their 50th birthday, D&P has adopted the theme: Women at the Heart of Change.

They state: "This Lent, act in solidarity with and walk alongside the women and men who advocate for an equal and inclusive society, one in which women can participate hand-in-hand with men in building the world of tomorrow."

and

"Together, let us take full advantage of the sacred moment that is Lent to create a space for dialogue that will allow us to contemplate a future of justice and dignity for all."

They've also included a women's way of the cross, whereby you get to meditate on the injustice against women at every station. For instance, here's the meditation from the 9th station:

"The women feel great sorrow at the exhaustion of Jesus. Has God forsaken him? When he gets up, their hearts are illuminated by a conviction: Jesus is sacrificed for the salvation of humanity. Let us open our hearts to the resilience of women who for generations have been working to have their rights recognized. We can only imagine their inner strength, and also the exhaustion they must sometimes feel from confronting injustice."

So once again, I urge you to give a sizable donation this year. Give until it hurts. Here's the link:

DONATE TO LIFESITE

Points to Ponder: Development and Peace Comes Through, and other Miscellaneous.

Random thoughts. Ponder as you wish.

1) Kids and Food for Thought

A new kitchen has led to some dynamite suppers! We had the best meal ever on Sunday. Juicy tender steaks. Fresh garden potatoes spiced perfectly. Garden veggies. And Joseph's favourite: chocolate pie for dessert. I forgot to mention that we were at my parents' house. As for our kitchen. Well, with kids, more work, and all around chaos, we get what we get. I wish I was a kid again. The other day we had some chow mein noodles to go along with some chicken. A crying baby meant the noodles got over cooked. Badly. They literally turned into a ball of mush. Becca and I stared at our plates in disbelief. The boys? "Mmmm! These are the best noodles ever!" Even John Paul kept coming up for air from his bowl of noodles to say: "These noodles are SO GOOD!" They both had multiple helpings. Four or five each. And then tonight we ate an uninspiring Friday supper of grilled egg and cheese sandwiches. I did add some bacon to the boys' sandwiches, though. Nevertheless, they gobbled them up. Joseph came up to me and thanked me for a delicious supper. John Paul added a carrot to his sandwich to form a hot dog of sorts, and then loudly gave "Mmmms" after each bite ("What about Bob?" style). Joseph reminded me frequently that the bacon was extra good. I just sat there staring at my plate. I might be up at midnight for a little trip to the fridge. Not our boys. They went to bed with nice full bellies.



2) More Work

Work continues on our house. It, in fact, never ends. At what point does a house become a new house? We used to discuss things like that in Intro to Philosophy ("At what point does the Academy van become a new van, if everything gets replaced?"). Here I built a little spice rack using left over wood, some cable, and the sides of really old peach boxes we got from a farmer friend.

 

I built a mini pull out island, and shelving, using more scrap pieces of wood, some castors and cable. That pot on the stove you see has boiled water in it. Update coming...

And this week, among other things, I painted our ugly entrance way and have been laying down flooring. The flooring is now more consistent. I had a bunch of glue and grout (which is super expensive) left over. So... why not more work?!

3. Play

We will take a few days off though and have a mini vacation. We're driving to Saskatoon early on Sunday to attend the Latin Mass. We're super excited to hear that a great young priest, literally young, Fr. Geoff Young, will be saying the Mass. Afterwards we will visit with my sister and family (and go to the forestry zoo). We then will drive to Regina and spend two whole nights at a hotel! We plan to swim, visit the RCMP museum. Check out the new Mosaic stadium while saying good bye to the old one (and hopefully seeing a Rider practice). Shop. Walk by the beautiful Wascana lake near the legislature and feed the geese. And who knows what else. Yay for a three day vacation!   


4. Back to School

And then I will need to spend a few days prepping for school. Just a few. Or two. Maybe even one. This upcoming year I will be teaching six phys ed classes, grades 2-5, and 3 arts ed classes, grades 3-5. So it will be over 200 students again, and my days will be quite chaotic. My personal goal is to be even more dedicated to my fitness (aren't you happy to hear that Becca? More evenings with me in the basement?!). The more fit I am, the better I am with phys ed. It's that simple. *kisses bicep*


5. Olympics.

Golly they're addicting to watch! I've loved the rugby, golf, and swimming. But my favourite is always the actual track and field events. They are what make the Olympics. As mentioned, I've enjoyed the swimming, but I think there are far too many events. 100m this, 200m that. Relay with it. Change the stroke, do it all again... Hey, Phelps wins again! It's great, but it takes away from it. In comparison, think of the 100m sprint. The runners have so much pressure. This is their race! They need to start fast. But cannot false start. The rarity of it I appreciate. Swimming is like being served spaghetti for supper, every night. It's good, but loses any chance of being great because it's too frequent. The 100m sprint is a great steak and potatoes, served rarely. I appreciate that more. Gosh I'm hungry. Is it midnight yet? I think there's some spaghetti in the fridge, actually.


6. Kids

Our kids are still cute, in case you were wondering. Emilie is a Momma's girl. Joseph loves to help, and John Paul, well, he's John Paul. He's his own boss. I kind of respect that. And I kind of want to smack him because of it. But he is who he is. Tonight he refused to say his three Hail Marys. Just flat out refused, because that's what he wanted. He went to his room screaming and crying. Later he came out, with the promise of saying his prayers. When he got to the living room, of course, he flat out refused to pray. I took him to bed. He sobbed uncontrollably for a while. Then crawled into my arms and hugged me tight. Then started chatting as if nothing happened. Sigh. I left him to fall asleep on is own. Speaking of which, I should go check on him. He's probably still chatting.

 7. Water: D&P Update

There has been an exciting 'development'! A possible fix to our water problems may come within a couple of weeks! This is an answer to our prayers. I wonder if it was God who answered, or Development and Peace? I like to think that they, after reading my previous blog, worked tirelessly to solve our issue. I picture lay workers, even bishops, up all night working phones and making behind the scenes efforts to help us. "I don't care if he's saying Mass right now! Get me Francis on the phone! There's a family that needs our help! Plus, they have a picture of the big guy with a water bottle... it looks legit! Yes a water bottle! Think of the scandal! And, oh, hi Francis! Hey, we need help..." Clearly I need to write Development and Peace a big cheque. I think they should change their title of work, from social justice to social mercy, because that is what they are. If you wish to donate to them also, simply click on this link here. Please do so!

Mercy me I'm hungry! Maybe I'll just have a drink of water instead.  

Watered Down

We thirst.

Our usual water source is currently unfit for drinking. We've boiled pots of it a few times, but how long can we keep doing that? Meanwhile our town water still tastes like drinking from a swimming pool. And we thirst. As with most things in life, we didn't know how good we had it until it was gone. Our plight is difficult, if not desperate. Picture me and the boys:

Things have gotten so bad that I am debating one last desperate plea. In times of need for water, unbottled water, we can only go to the well. That well is, clearly, Development and Peace. Now now, hear me out. Development and Peace is well known for their love of water. And watering down the faith. Just look at this inspiring poster:

If Canada's Catholic social justice department can care so much about saving water bottles, and by extension promoting fresh tap water, clearly they can, in this year of mercy, hear our plight. PLLLEAAASSE come to our aid! Come with all your folks. Come with your plane load, or twelve, of people. Take your pictures. I'll even find some token visible minority looking people to join in the photos. Promote your work in every church in this country. Yes, have a desperate looking me, and the family, with dirt on our faces, smiling as a seventy year old woman is holding a shovel in one hand while burning a water bottle in another. Photo shop a bishop in the picture too, holding a year of mercy icon. But please, PLEASE, just come. Dig us a well. Come with your good folks who, though probably not knowing the first thing about water systems, show up to help the needy. Again, dig us a well. Please give us water. Life giving water. Water, the pinnacle of social justice life. The nector of mercy. The bane of capitalism. I'll even say it in french, because I think that helps get attention. Nous donner l'eau s'il vous plait! Heck, we're so desperate here I'll even consider signing the pledge. You know the one. The Lifesite is Ungodly pledge. Which contains such lines as: "I hereby acknowledge that everything ever spoken by anyone from Lifesite is untrue," and "all Lifesite employees hate water. And listen to Justin Bieber music. And love Donald Trump more than their own kids. If they even love their own kids." Sorry Lifesite. A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do...


Still no response?


Time for old fashioned blackmail. Let me put it this way, D&P. If you don't hook me up with some fresh water then I will release a picture to the masses. A scandalous picture. One that will surely destroy your organization. I'm sure you're probably thinking: "Uh oh, which scandal did we get caught at now! Quick, call the bishops and ask for help!" No. Not you. I went straight to the top. Here's a quick sneak...

I expect you at my house at 8am tomorrow. Bring your own shovels. Water bottles will be provided.

Save the Cute Penguins!

Joseph was a bad boy last week. At Mass on Thursday morning I had to take him to the back of the church because he was yelling (he's teething). I gave him a quality Development and Peace handout to read, but instead he just ripped it up! Well, needless to say, I was shocked. So I gave him another one, but he ripped that up too! I resolved to keep giving him these handouts until he stopped ripping them up, but Mass soon ended. Bad Joseph!

Speaking of which, at Mass this morning someone gave a Development and Peace presentation at the end. He spoke passionately of how a penguin in a recent movie (it may have been an animated movie) got caught on a piece of plastic garbage while swimming. The only question left is how many zeroes I should add to the cheque for our yearly D&P Share Lent collection next week.

OK, yes, I jest. I guess I get a little ticked off that an organization that has been caught funding agencies that promote abortions and the like (and refuses to fess up) is so widely promoted in our churches. Is it right that I "allow" Joseph to rip up their promotional material? I don't know. Maybe when I die God will show me the cute penguin that should have been saved if someone had been able to read that handout which Joseph ripped up. For now, though, I'm more intent on worrying about saving our unborn babies, and not the penguins. That's Sidney Crosby's job (... sorry, I couldn't resist).