Observations of a Mosquito #10

Loquacity, which is a vice and a form of sloth, is perhaps even more unknown as a vice than is curiousity, which is also a form of sloth; both, however, are very common, and shamelessly so.

Very often men hold fast to errors in matters of religion - as well as in other things - because they dislike the consequences of the opposite opinions; they have, however, exchanged certain inconveniences for far greater ones.

No one has ever been too humble, nor could anyone ever be.

It is far too easy to treat the Holy Eucharist with less care can one would give even to a mere million billion dollar cheque.

If the majority of any parish's budget is spent on things unrelated to Holy Mass, such as the vestments, the altar furnishings, the church's upkeep, and the music, then that parish's budget needs to be altered.

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 #5

All changes in the sacred liturgy and in the breviary must be for the good of souls; personal preference and grandiose theories have no place... yet the recent history of both shows much that has violated these principles.

Wherever there seems to be something arbitrary in the liturgy, this is not the case; likewise, wherever a legitimate choice may be made in the celebration of the Mass, one of the options is best: this is true even in the 'modern' Roman rite.

Any undertaking not being undertaken because, "God wills it, as far I know," is fundamentally flawed, although there are many ways to determine His Will.

Hurry no prayer; delay no charity.

No one has ever justified not wearing clothes that cover oneself from the neck past the knees, covering and obscuring all that is between, in the normal course of events, and no one ever will.

Observations of a Mosquito #3

Nothing in the world of right and wrong is gray; things that appear such are actually composed of multiple elements, some black and some white.

Men who have food, money, and sex without marriage are not men but boys - or, if men, they become boys - and they never mature.

Sin clouds the intellect; immodest dress is both sign and proof of an irrational mind.

The success of the New Evangelization is predicated on the proper worship of God. Its failure, too, begins in problems with the offering of Holy Mass.

The Church has trained and continues to train too many medievalists and too few philosophers and theologians who are trained in the medievals.

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.