Observations of a Mosquito #9

"My life isn't going well, so I'm going to go to Mass less and avoid Confession," is really, really horrible and self-destructive logic.

At present,  it seems as though many, if not most, priests and religious eat well - some, very well; most if not all Saints ate poorly.

It is not a sin for a diocesan priest to own golf clubs or a good stereo system, but such luxury items, especially if they individually or in toto would be beyond the purchasing power of the median (single) member of his congregation, can spell trouble, and if care is not taken to avoid real attachment to them, his apostolate may be crippled.

Even knowledgeable Catholics tend to have a very limited understanding of the virtue of humility - and how many know that the virtue of religion, as explained by St. Thomas Aquinas, even exists?

In order to appropriate something secular (or pagan, or Protestant) for Catholic use, such as a philosophical construct or even a business or marketing plan, the appropriator(s) must come to understand exactly what of it is of the world and what is not, and, furthermore, what is Catholic (in the supernatural sense) and what it is to be such, and then the part from the world must be thoroughly removed; usually some part of this is not known or not done to the great detriment of the Church and its members... this is not infrequently related to Catholics not realizing that they are appropriating or have appropriated something with, originally, a non-Catholic character.

Observations of a Mosquito #8

It's best to save one's plate for food, and God's plate for everything else.

In their homilies, priests should stop seeming to assume that those in their congregation are generally in the state of grace: most congregations today are full of Catholics who avoid Confession, whose attendance at Sunday Mass is infrequent, and who are either formal or material heretics... it does not seem helpful to preach frequently on the spiritual benefits of receiving the Eucharist - without mention of Confession - to congregations composed in large part by those who should not be receiving Communion.

Some of those persons involved in the creation of the accidental self-satire "Ordain a Lady" may be excommunicated, per the chorus, but how much more damage have orthodox Catholics done to our souls by uncharitably mocking them and their (mistaken) beliefs?

No one is more embarrassed in confessing a mortal sin than he would be in finding himself in Hell on account of it.

If lack of contrition, whether generally or for some specific sin(s), is keeping you from Confession, it is good to go anyway and confess that one is not contrite.

Observations of a Mosquito #7

He has little right to seek to know the Will of God who willfully avoids doing what he knows of it, such as by avoiding his vocation, spending time in bad company, avoiding the confessional, etc.

There are two steps to becoming a Saint; the first is getting out of Hell.

If you find yourself not praying, you should start.

The idea is "to be holy" rather than "to do holy" for good reason.

You will neither find nor see Christ in anyone if you do not already know Him.

Observations of a Mosquito #4

It does not seem possible in this era to find a humble sedevacantist.

Most real vocation discernment is of which, not of what; most discerners are reasonably assured of the basics long before they accept them.

If you can't figure out your vocation, it's worth examining the one(s) you most don't want yours to be.

Father, if your confessional is always full, there is much too little Confession time, but if it is always empty, you must preach about Confession and improve the times you offer it - not from your perspective, but from that of your congregants, which you may only think you know.

It is always and categorically wrong to make the Gospel relevant; it already is - you must remove what is hiding the Gospel's relevance without removing the Gospel itself, which is often done instead.

Observations of a Mosquito #2

Rarely are Catholic apologists theologians; more rarely, philosophers; rarer still, students of the Saints.

When it comes down to it, a surprising number of those who "Say the Black, Do the Red" don't.

The greatest obstacle to the acceptance and practice of Catholicism on the part of the masses is that it is a fundamentally and even intrinsically inconvenient religion.

Homilies are not a good place for academic dissertations, but that is where they are commonly found.

The single greatest cause of few and bad Confessions in a parish is few and bad confession times.