Silver Linings and wedding bells.

My roommate was just married. It was the most beautiful wedding I've ever been to. Let me tell you about it.

1. The bride was beautiful.

2. It was at the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception. It is the prettiest church in Jacksonville, and I daresay prettiest church between the cathedral in Savannah, GA and Gesu in Miami, FL.

3. My roommate dug deep and hired a choir to sing a polyphonic Mass. They weren't cheap and he got what he paid for.

4. Everybody was beautiful, and they really took the invitation to the TLM seriously. I was impressed with how modestly everyone was dressed. The ladies even dawned courtesy chapel veils provided by the bride and groom!

5. I served the Mass with four of my best friends. (I'm so glad the groom and I share friends.) Three of the servers never served the Traditional Latin Mass before, let alone a Missa Cantata. But they did it for their friend, the groom and God. We had a Crucifer, Thurifer, two Acolytes, and an MC. The guys really practiced hard and I, as the Master of Ceremonies, and the Groom are very thankful to them. NO MAJOR MESS UPS!

6. There was a special Greek incense used.

7. We busted out the Communion cloth for those who received Communion in the Sanctuary. Unfortunately, the rails did not have a cloth for the lay faithful. Hopefully the pastor will see our example and adhere to the rubric.

8. I am also deeply touched, and admit... a little tickled, that my friends put my fathers Mood^3 blocks out at the reception. I hope people enjoyed them. I know a couple of people took them home. I know he would have enjoyed seeing people turn the blocks for the first time.

While the Traditionalist in me wants to nit pic some things, this joyous post is not the time or the place. My prayers are with the newly wedded couple. My father RSVPed he was going. It was very sad not having him there. He wanted the Bride and Groom to have a beautiful wedding, and would have been proud with the way things went.

St. Elizabeth of Hungary, Pray for us.
St. Nicholas of Bari, Pray for us.
St. Mary, Pray for us.
St. Joseph, Pray for us.

Good bye, Dad.

My dear father, David, passed away. He had baldder cancer that spread throught his poor body. Having cancer coupled with sepsis, he had a rare gift from God: knowing Our Lord would call him soon.

A little miracle happen that I would like to share with you. After my dad stopped taking a very toxic antibiotic at the hospital to keep his full body infection down, the illness really affected his mental capacity. He came home under the care of hospice and immediatly got worse. After a few days with no sign of improvement the doctor said we could possibly have entered a 72 hour window. His family was on their way to be what was certainly his last few days. Dad said very little the passed few days, but mumbled for Holy Communion. The next day we dressed up and sat in the living room awaiting Our Lord to come to us. The priest walked in and unveiled the Blessed Sacrament. He said confidently, "Mr. Walker,  would you like your confession heard." I was surprisedd that little weak man said yes and I was happy to excuse myself. Whether there were specific sins or a general "I am sorry" it os not for me to know, but I came back in when I heard a knock. There was my father in his chair, looking very contemplative. The priest asked me to start the Confiteor. As I began, who should join me in Latin, but the man who taught me the prayer 15 years before. He finished the last Mea Culpa, and let his son take over. Father let us behold the Lamb of God Who takest away the sinsnof the world, and then we received Holy Communion. Then the priest begins the Apostolic Blessing to the dying and tells my father to think of his sins and tell Jesus he was sorry. I then took the picture that will stay with me for a long, long time.

After rallying some strength, my father gave his best for two weeks. We took a shot of whisky, went down to the river and said our prayers.

Then God called my father,  His servent, to be judged. I pray the Lord had mercy on my father, a poor sinner. Please join me in praying for the repose of his soul.

A Blue Moon

Every so often my daily reading aligns so perfectly that I feel I need to type them out. Today's meditation taken from My Daily Bread was also tackled by my spiritual reading from Dom Scupolis book The Spiritual Combat. I will let you make the connections!

Chapter 59
Remedies for Tepidity

Christ:
My child, it is sad for Me to see men living disorderly lives. I made them for eternal glory. Little do they realize how harmful it is to neglect their duties, or to perform them carelessly. Pay attention to your purpose in life, and keep before your mind the image of the crucified Kimg. Consider My earthly life, and blush if you are not doing your best to imitate Me.

2. Your loyalty and progress in serving Me ought to improve each day. Nowadays it is considered a great thing if one can just hold on to some of his original enthusiasm. A person is considered great if he merely avoids evil, or if he can be patient enough to endure life's daily burdens. Greatness lies not merely in avoiding evil, but especially doing good.

3. It grieves Me to see how half-hearted and negligent so many people are. How quickly they lose their devotion and grow tired of the higher life because of laziness and spiritual tepidity. May your desire to progress in virtue grow greater each day. Study the holy examples of My saints and learn to appreciate their continual loyalty to Me.

Think:
If I thought more often of death than of a long life, I would be far more eager to advance in virtue. Occasional thinking about the reality of hell and purgatory will help me to bear the labors, sorrows,
and hardships of daily life. No longer would I love flattery and praise, nor would I be so lazy and half-hearted in serving Christ, my King. I ought to think often about His life and make it the model of my own daily life.

Pray: my Saviour, each hour of the day is an important part of my daily life. Whether I am at work, or play, or rest, I can do these things in a holy way. Each hour brings it's chance for patience, kindness, unselfishness, and other virtues. If I am half hearted, I will not make the effort needed for acting as God desires. I can cure this disease by spiritual guidance, variety in prayer, meditations on Your life and Sacraments. My Jesus, government he grace to do whatever I need to avoid tepidity in my daily life. Amen.

Chapter 20
How to Combat Sloth
 It is of great importance to make war against sloth. This place is not only an obstacle on her way to perfection but it delivers us to the enemies of our salvation. If you desire to fight this vice in earnest, begin by avoiding all curiosities in vain amusements. Withdrawal your infections from worldly things and stop pursues that are not in harmony with your state.

Strive assiduously to comply with the inspirations of heaven, to execute the orders of your superiors, to do everything at the proper time in the proper manner. Do not hesitate a moment in the execution of a command. The first delay brings on a second, this is a third, and thus we lose ground. For the dread of labor and the love of ease increase in proportion to their indulgence. Labor becomes so distasteful that a lethargic hesitancy in applying oneself to work, or even the total neglect of work, is the result.

It is difficult to shake off the habit of sloth, once it is acquired, unless shame accompanies this
indolent life and rouses us to greater diligence and application. Sloth, moreover, is a poison that spreads itself through all the faculties of the soul. It not only infects the will by making work odious to it, but also the understanding by so blinding  that the resolution of the slothful usually have no effect. What should be done without delay is either neglected for deferred to some other time.

Mere swiftness of action, however, is not enough. Things must be done at the proper time, and in the most perfect manner possible. A precipitous act, which is done with no regard for its proper execution, but only to be rid of the trouble and to enjoy peace again as soon as possible, cannot be called diligent. It is rather an artful, refined slots.

You may, at first, find your strength insufficient to undergo all the difficulties and troubles that you encounter on your road to perfection. Then you must acquire the habit of hiding them from yourself.  They will appear more insignificant than the slothful are apt to imagine them to be.

When an act must be repeated many times in order to acquire some particular virtue, in this has to be continued for several days in opposition to the countless powerful enemies, begin to do these acts as though if you would suffice in your trouble would soon end. Attack one enemy at a time, as though you had but one to encounter. Be confident that, with God's grace, you will master them all. In this way you will overcome your sloth and acquire the contrary virtue.

Use the same method in regard to prayer. If you are to pray for an hour, and the time seems long, begin as though you were to play a quarter of an hour. When that is finished, propose another quarter hour, and the hour will elapse imperceptibly. If, however, during this you experience a great repugnance and aversion to prayer, cease praying for a while. Any short time return again to the prayers that you had interrupted.

This is also true in regard to manual labor. If you feel that you're overwhelmed by the amount of work before you buy the difficulties involved, do not permit indolence to discourage. Begin with what demands your immediate attention and do not think of the rest....

... Guard yourself, pray, and do good. Do not defer making your wedding garment until you are called upon to go forth and meet the heavenly bridegroom.

Reflect every day on the fact that He Who ask granted you the morning has not promised the evening, and should He grant this, He gives no assurance of the following morning. Spend each day therefore, as if it were the last; cherish nothing but the will of God, for you will have to render a strict account for every moment.

Good stuff. God bless.

Holy Father Dominic

Soon to come...

A Chapel Within a Chapel

I see that the old tour of St. Michael's did not have the completed side chapel dedicated to Our Lady Of Mt. Carmel. There is indeed an relic embedded In the altarstone so a prieat cansay Mass if he would like. It is a nice place to pray before and after Mass. There Iis a statue of St. Therese of Lesuix on the Gospel side and there is a portrait of St. Theresa Of Avila that was comissioned and during her life. I 

think it looks great,  but could use more flowers. 

Happy Feastday!

Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, pray for us.

Under the Banner of Pride

I think I might be on to something. I heard that one fast food restaurant has hopped on the band wagon of the New Order and is publicly supporting practicing homosexuals.  This "Proud Whopper" will add BK to the boycott list for me, but it also got me thinking...

The gay activists position is more clear to me. They are not so much interested in the sin of Sodomy. The Gay Agenda has stepped up their game. If you're going to sin, sin boldly! The activists bare "Pride" as the one word summation of their plight... Pride, the one sin to rule them all (and in the darkness bind them.) At the Gay Day marches the standard bearers not only wave the rainbow flag, they wave the one word that is so American, it flew right under my patriotic little nose. The problem is bigger than gays, abortion clinics, and strip clubs. The problem is America herself. She is the first country to cast off the king. She is the first country to echo Satan's cry: I will not serve. We are dealing sin which caused Lucifer to fall! It is no wonder that we are in the state we are in now. Truth is subject to majority rule which is crux of the problem. The only thing sadder than "laws" being overturned by liberal legislation is when good morals are only governing because we say they can. How sad indeed? We have dethroned God, and in His stead, placed ourselves. Uncle Sam says murder is against the law because it harms our neighbor. Rape is against the law because it hurts our neighbor. Theft is against the because it offends our neighbor. All the laws care about is neighbor, neighbor, neighbor- {basket ball buzzer noise} WRONG. Murder, rape and theft are wrong because they offend God first. The laws from sea to shining sea could care less what offends God. Human Rights are on the pedestal, now, and God will not allow this for much longer. But, God will allow it.

 People can be ashamed of things they know they shouldn't do. But there is a progression. It must be rationalized in one's own mind. A house divided cannot stand. You will love the one and hate the other, or hate the one and love the other. That is the truest sentence written in this post.
This is why I think the homosexual marriage agenda is purely diabolical. Its no longer just letting people get away with sin... it's I'm your face!

So, it's logical that they fix the underlying problem! If you can somehow find a way to silence your conscience, forget everything your grandmother believed in, and take a word like "love"and strip it of it's true meaning, you can start to feel alright about yourself. There is no longer a good angel/bad angel complex. The good angel was kicked out a long time ago. (I should devote a whole message on how we knight get that angel back.) Once there's no guide rails and people tell you what your doing Is wrong the obvious response is "i know what's best for me"
Once it is "i know what's best for me" the next step is "how dare you tell me what to do." After it's "how dare you tell me what to do" the natural next step is "I am proud! And i demand respect!"


My sin is not a sin. In fact, my sin is to be exalted as the new truth.

Corpus Christi

I will be entering more thoughts later, but a picture of our little procession with the Blessed Sacrament to show we are proud to be Catholic and to demonstrate the Truth!

Solemn blessing of New Image

Here is what could be a working GIF (how I took it I don't know.) St Michael's is the new home of a image that has been touched to the Tilma of San Juan Diego. Our Lady of Guadalupe was solemnly blessed and she is ready to be venerated and to help you in your need.

The Virgin of Guadalupe, pray for us.

Fr. Walker and my father Walker

Here is a picture of a young man becoming a priest. He was called Father Walker everyday from then on. Fatherhood is not just having a baby (although that's the fastest way to stumble upon it.) A father sacrifices for his children. A father protects them from harm. He puts the good of his children before his own preservation or comfort. And in this he finds his own sanctification.

As I sit bedside next to another "father Walker" at St. Vincent's (while dad fights a pretty bad infection) I see a tired man struggling to get better. Why does he want to get better? I saw the reason as clear as crystal when he opened my sister's father's day present. A picture of his little granddaughter as precious as a cherub. His daughter holding her tight for the family she represents. He wants to have life, full of grace and truth. The fatherly example to pass on. Sacrificial love, tough decisions, strength, loyalty.

Fatherly virtue is not given. Its earned by special men who are faced with the easy choice and the choice a father has to make. My dad would be the first to admit he has made a few unwise choices in the past. However, he knew he owed it to his kids, his God, and himself to earn the name "Father." If you are a struggling man who has kids, and you're not making the choices a father would make, don't wait to change! The devil wants you to wait till tomorrow. Of you didn't have a father or don't have one now, come over and I'll share mine!

Father Walker and my father Dave Walker are two great examples if alter-Christs. One was slain and the other will die, too (hopefully not any time soon but inevitably like you and me.) They both know(knew) God wants those who are called to fatherhood to be the best they can fathers they can be. The Almighty provides the graces, let us ask that all fathers are brave enough to accept them and act! 

St. Joseph, pray for us!

Out of Sight, Out of Mind

A quick "hello" to see if I still remember my password. And I promise to return and share with you all my thoughts more. It has been one year since I have blogged, and I mean to change that. I am tickled to see that I have something like 3,500 views to my page! And they can't all be me! Praying for you all.

St. Francis, pray for us.

St. Dominic, pray for us. 

St. Jude, pray for us.

St. Augustine, pray for us.

St. Joseph, pray for us.

St. Mary, pray for us!