Navigating Catholic Life - Part 9: Exhaustipation: Too Tired to Give a Poop

JMJ

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At some point in a competition, exhaustion starts to become an internal competition between the body and the will.

The same can be said for the continual struggle to be a good Catholic in this world. I know, I know ... there are millions of Catholics who are not SSPX or even Traditional who are "good Catholics". The key difference is how much they care about what has happened over the last hundred years.

Yes, you read that correctly. The fight for the soul of Catholicity started well before the Second Vatican Council. That was when the closeted Modernists came out of their respective closets.

Since then, for those aware of the conflict, it has been a continual battle against the World, Flesh and Devil.

The problem is that, if you just pour yourself into the battle without a strong protected supply chain (see list) then you will run out of energy for the fight, become discouraged and eventually exhaustipated.

Catholic Combat Supply Chain

Active Spiritual life: Spiritual reading, contemplation, meditation, prayer.
Ever deepening knowledge of the Catholic Faith: Pre-Counciliar Encyclicals, Dogmas, Moral Theology.
Regular participation in the Sacraments: Mass, Communion, Confession.

At the point of exhaustipation, you become too tired to give a poop. In short, you give up. This is a dangerous place, because, even if you pull yourself up and take a few more steps, each time you will sink lower and lower. Until you give up and make excuses for why you did. I'm thinking of Steve Skojec right now.

So don't allow yourself to become exhaustipated, you'll probably make some really bad mistakes - such as giving up the Faith and who knows what else.

Acknowledge the past, deal with the present and move on towards the future. I'll say it a different way.

It is important to realise that until we die we are on a fast moving conveyor belt in which we need to:

Take responsibility for our past decisions, learn from them and stop living in the past. Anyone else's bad decisions were theirs, not yours. Likewise, their good decisions were theirs not yours.
Make good decisions in the present moment and own them. They are ours after all, so we need to follow good principles to make good ones.
Move towards the future by making it our present. As long as we are alive we are irresistibly and continually pulled into the future that we call the present. We need to make prudent decisions in each moment to shape our future.

Obviously, I'm thinking about our main occupation - one that separates us from the plants and animals. We make decisions - hopefully rational ones.

So - pace yourself, life isn't a race, it's a marathon and please, try to not be a cautionary tale for others.

P^3

Comments

"Father, Should I Attend That Mass?" Advice on Attending Non-SSPX Latin Masses

+ JMJ I see that the 'resistors' are in a tizzy because Fr. Robinson used them as an example instead of the sedevacantists. What is interesting is that you can apply the exact same reasons against going to a sede mass as that of the 'resistors'. Namely: On the other extreme are those situations where an SSPX priest knows that a certain non-SSPX traditionalist venue is a grave danger to the faith . Frankly, most, if not all, of the Resistance Masses would fall into this category. In many cases, the behavior of these priests has been and continues to be scandalous, by their (A) spirit, their (B) preaching, and their indiscriminate conferral of the (C) priesthood and (D) episcopacy. To attend a Mass with such ongoing scandals poses a serious danger to the souls of the faithful. Yep, looking at A,B,C and D the shoe fits. On this basis the "resistors" = "sedevacantists". P^3 Courtesy of SSPX.org A companion article to a recent "Questions with ...

Correcting Caricatures of the SSPX

+ JMJ Introduction First, a little background on the FSSP St. John Vianney Chapel in Mission Hill Kansas. After the 1988 consecrations and the foundation of the FSSP there was a consistent trend of Dioceses allowing the SSPX to run chapels and churches near SSPX locations. As with any 'organizational change' there were those who didn't agree with the change and no longer sought the sacraments from the SSPX. I heard from friends that in that era there was a lot of anger and tension (on both sides) between the St. Mary's SSPX and Mission Hill FSSP. Second, there have been caricatures of the SSPX position (some are evident below) in which personal opinions of SSPX priests and laity are taken as the official position or conflated with those of sedevacantists or 'resistance'. Recent Perspectives of the SSPX Position In the shadow of the consecrations a fever pitch accusations and opinions how surfaced - many of which include caricatures of the SSPX positions, of w...

SSPX: Why Is the SSPX So Criticized?

+ JMJ As long as you are ok with what happens in other Catholic Churches, Traditional Catholics will be left 'alone'. This is a paraphrase of words spoken by an Archbishop to Traditional Catholics (with a sprinkling of SSPX) who had requested the Traditional Latin Mass under Summorum Pontificum. This reflects that attitude of the Church towards anyone who takes issue with some of the ambiguities of Vatican II and the post-conciliar magisterium. If you reject the papacy but are ok with V2, the New Mass, and what Rome has stated since 1965 - then you are welcome. Question some of the more abiguous statements and ask for Rome to realise that a circle is not a square - then you are in for a world of hurt. This is where the SSPX exists and has existed from almost its very first moments. Pointing out contradictions with previous magisterium is not acceptable - under any condition. Why? Because it will cause the whole V2 house of cards to fall. I guess only when the contradic...

Stories: Early Days of Tradition Part 8 - Convention Centre Chapel

+ JMJ I came to Tradition a few years after they had bought a chapel. My wife told me of the earlier years when Fr. Normandin would come to town and Mass would be held in a room at the convention centre. He'd start by blessing the room and then proceed with Mass. This went on for a while before the one of the faithful found a small hall that would suit just fine. They pooled their money and bought the building. Then came the work as the retiree's refinished the floor, setup the sactuary. Oh, did I mention that I heard that the hall had been used by a motorcycle gang? The floor needed a lot of work. I remember seeing pictures of the founders working to make the hall into a fitting place for the Sacrifice of the Mass. That little chapel would be a refuge like many others serviced by Fr. Normandin. From Thunderbay, Ontrario to Nanaimo, British Columbia - the SSPX chapels are all the results of Fr. Normandin's missionary work in those desperate times. Without h...

How many more must die for the throne? or How to combat FUD!

+ JMJ How many more must die for the throne? (Movie Quote: Prince Caspian) The Spread of Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt I've seen a lot of FUD spreading across the intergnat on various stats etc. So let's put this in context ... especially the perspective of those people in positions of authority who need to make decisions to protect the lives of their citizens. Yep, this is going to be that type of post. Like it or not the leaders of our governments have their authority from God. So, as Catholics should know, you need to have a very good reason to deliberately disobey the orders of their superiors. This is basic St. Thomas Aquinas ... so don't blame me for discussing things from a Catholic perspective. The leaders of our countries have taken action to protect the vulnerable of our countries. As much as the young and not-so-young may whine and complain - I have to ask how many more of our elderly have to die? What the armchair virologists and ec...

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