A Study of Two Women

JUNE

When we first moved to California in 1970, we were befriended by a family with a very strong matriarch. I'll call her "June." June had characteristics of an untreated victim of sexual assault, probably at the hands of men in her family of origin. Her scripted story about her childhood and youth, was of an incorrupt virgin, who remained so in spite of her family's alcoholism. She eventually left home for bible college.

By old age, she projected a persona of power and self-confidence. Well known in some Evangelical circles, she was a gifted author. She led bible studies with other women. She was passionate about converting others, especially poorly catechized Catholics. Her former Catholic friends all had testimonies about how "June" had led them to "Christ," and away from the Church of Rome.

After a few years, my parents distanced themselves from "June" after encountering her hostile side.

The men in "June's" family either died or moved away. The women in her family were kept neatly under her control and were hostile towards her.

"June" was an overt narcissist.

JANE

In the mid eighties, my family was befriended by another woman. I'll call her "Jane." Jane made no secret of her sexual abuse at the hands of all of her brothers while she was growing up. She was divorced and had children, but rarely saw them. She was a highly accomplished career woman. In spite of her intelligence and professional accomplishments, she couldn't hold down a job. She kept getting terminated because she was not a team player. She eventually started her own business.

By old age, "Jane" was married to an alcoholic. She was a sort of  sole-practicing "christian." None of the churches were good enough for her. She was a sea of disordered passions, inarticulately supporting many fringe causes.  She loved to fight.  What her "arguments" lacked in logic, she made up for in ardor. When people distanced themselves from her, she became a victim and responded with an emotional firestorm.

Again, my parents distanced themselves after a few years when it became too stressful to be around "Jane." She had no concept of personal boundaries. She also attempted to triangulate them into a scheme to trap one of their single male friends for her.

"Jane" was a covert narcissist.


Knowing the horrible childhoods these two women endured, could give us empathy for June and Jane. If they had chosen different paths and eventually come to a healed perspective, their lives could have been beautiful testimonies of God's power and redemption.  Instead, both June and Jane became like Jezebel, the biblical archetype. Projecting their rage upon the male species, they loved to make eunuchs; emasculated men they could control. The men who escaped were forever slandered and demonized by them.

Out of all the scriptures, there were none so odious as Jezebel. She met her end by being thrown off a wall by eunuchs, presumably her own victims. She was then eaten by dogs; unclean animals in Israel.
(II Kings 9:30-37)

“More bitter than death I find the woman who is a hunter’s trap, who’s heart is a snare, whose hands are prison bonds. The one who pleases God will be delivered from her, but the one who displeases will be entrapped by her. “ (Ecclesiastes 7:26-27)


Jezebel's antithesis is the Virgin Mary, the Theotokos. the Mother of God.

Our Lady produced a man. Our Lord Jesus Christ was and is a complete man and all that means. Arguably, nobody loved Him more than she did. The last book of the Bible, the Apocalypse, portrays her as His Mother for all eternity (Chapter 12).

Our founding fathers, if they were christians, held a view of the Virgin Mary that she was only temporarily so. God utilized her, they believed, as a sort of incubator to bring forth the Son of God, after which she lived an ordinary life as a wife and mother of other children. In our time, our culture is reaping the end results of this error. Cultures cannot exist in a philosophical vacuum. If we reject the true Messiah and embrace a false one, then false beliefs come to  infect that culture. The culture will then produce wounded caricatures of men and women, who employ harmful coping skills.

We must either choose Our Lord Jesus Christ and His Mother, or Jezebel. To not choose, is to choose Jezebel who is the default setting for our times.

The foundation of true Christology, and the remedy for the wounds inflicted by Jezebel is proper and fervent Marian devotion. The Rosary, with its scriptural meditations on the life of Christ, can be a powerful healing conduit of God's grace.

When You Are Called To Spiritual Warfare

God placed our first parents in a beautiful garden. Some scholars believe it became a desert wilderness within one generation after the fall. It was into that wilderness that our Messiah came, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Sometimes God places people in strategic places to advance His Kingdom. Some of the work may involve pulling down demonic strongholds that have been in place for centuries. This can be very arduous and tiring. If we try it in our own strength, it can destroy us.

I received gifts at my baptism in 1959. One of these gifts was prophetic. God knew it, The Devil knew it. I didn't know it. The church we belonged to knew nothing of the prophetic, or at least didn't teach it. The Wesleyan fire that had started that movement was watered down by the time it reached me. I pray for the man who baptized me. He was either a saint, or he was possessed.

In 1970, the Lord moved me to Bakersfield to do spiritual warfare. God knew it. The Devil knew it. I didn't know it. I was a mere lad of 11. Even then, I was aware that I had invaded enemy territory. I encountered hostile forces, some of which were flesh and blood. There was a network of power in place in this town. A crony "good old boys" network that was highly insidious. Some of the players' sins became public over time.  I ran up against many masculinized angry women, who were part of the network. Everyone in that network were "christians."

If you do not like doing spiritual warfare, you can always run from it. Many of the Old Testament prophets ran from theirs. You can turn to your work, hobbies, alcohol or sex. In Bakersfield, you will be supported by many churches who teach that you can never be lost once you accept Jesus as your personal savior. If you are part of the "network," you may even find yourself in a position of authority in one of those churches.

After my world came crashing down, I moved to Merced where I experienced a great move of God in my personal life. In a sense, I had retreated from the land of the "enemy." One of the things God did for me in Merced, was prepare me for another tour of duty.

In 2015, I moved back to Bakersfield a little wiser and more spiritually aware. In spite of this, I have wondered most of the time since, if I misheard God.

Prophets are NEVER accepted in their hometown. (Luke 4:24)

If you say you are a Catholic Charismatic Prophetic Intercessor, some of the local Christians will get parts of that. Most will say you are confused.

You never quite fit in. You get thrown out of organizations and some churches. You feel that someone is always watching you. You will have people get angry at you for no apparent reason.  You will have people trying to start fights with you on Facebook. You will have "christians" you never met come harass you at your place of business. You will have an occasional "christian" married couple try to rope you into a sexual tryst.

The enemy will show you travelogues of other places that seem so tranquil and beautiful. You will wonder if God is leading you to move somewhere else. Surely you could be like other Christians who belong to healthy, loving little churches in places with little to no stress. This must be the real plan of God that you missed.

The Lord said, "you are well known to the principalities over this area, and they hate you."

I finally asked the Lord to either open a door for me to move, or give me a new heart for Bakersfield.

God loved the people of Ninevah and sent them Jonah. God loves the people of Bakersfield.

When the Kingdom of God starts to prevail in a place and the old strongholds are broken, it can be confusing. Church leaders are brought up on unfortunate charges, either true or false. This will test your faith and you will find out if your house is built on the Rock of Christ, or the sands of one of the christian ministries that was really a personality cult. "Oh, you are Catholic? I just love Pope Francis or Father so and so," be careful. Be very careful.

When the church leaders fall, God wants to use the event to bring about their salvation. Old habits are hard to break, especially the ones based on pride.  Pray for them.

If you agree to stay in that area, God will bring others into your life with similar experiences.

"When they walk through the Valley of Weeping, it will become a place of refreshing springs. The autumn rains will clothe it with blessings. " (Psalm 84:6)

"The LORD will surely comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; he will make her deserts like Eden, her wastelands like the garden of the LORD. Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the sound of singing." (Isaiah 51:3)

"God of eternal compassion,

  each Easter you rekindle the faith of your consecrated people.

Give them still greater grace, so that all may truly understand

  the waters in which they were cleansed,

  the Spirit by which they were reborn,

  the blood by which they were redeemed.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

  who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

  one God, for ever and ever.

Amen."

From the Morning Prayer Office 4/28/19

Does Nobody Weep For Milo Yiannopolis?

"It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that even pagans do not tolerate: A man is sleeping with his father’s wife.  And you are proud! Shouldn’t you rather have gone into mourning and have put out of your fellowship the man who has been doing this?  For my part, even though I am not physically present, I am with you in spirit. As one who is present with you in this way, I have already passed judgment in the name of our Lord Jesus on the one who has been doing this.  So when you are assembled and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present,  hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh,  so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord.

Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough?  Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.  Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people—  not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world.  But now I am writing to you that you must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister  but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or slanderer, a drunkard or swindler. Do not even eat with such people." (I Corinthians 5: 1-11)

Two weeks ago, I had never heard of Milo Yiannopolis.

My introduction to his story was a convergence of two events; a new podcast from an apostolate that I support, and the purchase of a book. The podcast was cancelled at the last minute because something had "come up." The book I bought had a forward written by Milo. Since I saw his name twice in two days and had never heard of him, I decided to investigate who he is.

I have tried to be diligent to support Catholic apostolates that are orthodox theologically. I don't read any material that is consistent with the "spirit of Vatican II." I can get leftist propaganda any time I want, simply by watching mainstream secular news. I have found that liberal "catholicism" lacks the power to change lives, and robs people of hope. My recent findings about Milo Yiannoplis and the role he has been roped into playing in our Church,  have reinforced a belief I have had for quite some time about the Catholic Church: among its members it is sometimes difficult to tell who are friends, and who are enemies. 

What began this "adventure" was this book, ordered from Amazon.com:

I don't normally care about book endorsements. I read a book solely because I am interested in the contents. This book arrived at exactly the same time as the announcement of an upcoming  interview with Milo at Coffin Nation, an apostolate I support. It became apparent that some leaders of these apostolates know each other, and sometimes discuss issues together.





Another Apostolate I support is Church Militant.  I visited their website to see if I could find any material on Milo. Sure enough, this article popped up, which quotes Milo's "fondness for black dudes," in the same paragraph with quotations from St. Augustine. Michael Voris calls out members of the clergy every day for their moral failings. I am utterly puzzled what role this article about Milo is supposed to play at such an apostolate. Voris' disclaimer that he disagrees with just about everything Milo says does little to relieve my confusion.

There is a cultural bias among Catholics that if a member of the clergy says it, it must be correct. This bias apparently comes into play when evaluating material published by conservative Catholic apostolates. Among the comments from viewers at the end of the Church Militant article, one can find the products of strenuous intellectual gyrations attempting to square the text of the article with orthodox Catholicism and its moral teachings.  We saw a similar phenomenon when Amoris Laetitia was released. The climate this creates seems like that of an old fashioned alcoholic family: The children in the house must come up with all kinds of explanations and excuses for the addict's crazy making behavior. I am beginning to think that the Catholic Church as I have come to know it,  is not necessarily good for one's mental or spiritual health.

One can only wonder what motivated three apostolates within the timeframe of a year, to suddenly feature Milo Yiannopolis. Was it an attempt to evangelize Milo? He already considers himself an orthodox Catholic. It seems that somehow, the leaders of these apostolates are tacitly confirming Milo in this belief.
Are these apostolates holding Milo up as an example of orthodox Catholicism? If so, then his life and example are completely consistent with some ordained leaders in the Catholic Church today.
Was the motive something less noble, such as a utilitarian attempt to gain more viewers through sensationalism? If this was the motive, where is the love of Christ for Milo?

All we have to do, is ask ourselves how Milo would have fared publically in the early Church. Would the Apostles or Church Fathers have published material of the sort we are seeing today?

Is anyone weeping for Milo Yiannopolis? He has publicly stated that he was a victim of clerical sexual abuse in his youth and has suffered a lot in life. What about his partner or his "black dude" hookups? Is anyone weeping for them?

What is a Catholic Pentecostal?

"When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all in one place together. ² And suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind,  and it filled the entire house in which they were. ³ Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them. ⁴ And they were all filled with the holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim." (Acts 2:1-4) New American Bible

 

Recently a coworker and I were discussing spiritual matters. I told him I was a Catholic Pentecostal and asked if he had ever heard of us. He replied that I sounded a bit confused. Actually, the term "Catholic Pentecostal" is redundant. I use it in this culture as an evangelistic tool to witness to others about what God is doing today within the context of the Catholic Church.

Pentecostal experience has been a part of the Catholic Church since her founding, even though it has been obscured at different times in her history.

 

In recent history, the term "Catholic Pentecostal" was the title of a book by David Duplessis. This book told of the move of the Holy Spirit in the Charismatic renewal all over the world. As on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit has been falling on lay and ordained. This is significant, because the Lord Jesus Christ occasionally imparted the Holy Spirit only on the Apostles. (John 20:21-23)

One of the people present in the upper room that day was the Virgin Mary. Even after a life of sanctified obedience as the spouse of the Holy Spirit, she met him in a new way on the day of Pentecost.

 

The Sacrament of Confirmation is the rite  within the Church, of the conferral of the Holy Spirit. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states: "by the sacrament of Confirmation, [the baptized] are more perfectly bound to the Church and are enriched with a special strength of the Holy Spirit. Hence they are, as true witnesses of Christ, more strictly obliged to spread and defend the faith by word and deed." As in the sacrament of Baptism, the desire to live out the sacrament of Confirmation is the fruit of a decision to follow Christ and all that he has for us.