A Simple Time

Where are the Corpus Christi processions?

2011-08-24T08:06:00.000-07:00

Remember when Corpus Christi processions were held each and every year? Why have these been largely abandoned? Is it not the result of a spirit of fear which has entered into and crippled the Mystical Body of Christ in many places? Pope John Paul II said that, "The encouragement and the deepening of eucharistic worship are proofs of that authentic renewal which the Council set itself as an aim and of which they are the central point" (On the Mystery and Worship of the Eucharist, 9).

Omnia possum in eo qui me confortat! I can do all things in Him who strengthens me (Phil 4:13). Why aren't our priests leading such marches through our cities? Where are the Corpus Christi processions?

Issue the battle cry! Let's take back our cities!

Those who walk in the Spirit know no fear. What are we waiting for? The Lord Jesus waits. He grows tired of our excuses:

I’m not holy enough:
Is 6:1-9; Lk 5:1-11

I’m afraid I will fail:
Ex 14:10-31; Lk 15

I’ve made mistakes and I’m a sinner:
Jn 21:15-23; Mt 9:9-13; Lk 7:36-50

I’m too young:
1 Sam 3:1-18; Jer 1:4-10; Lk 1:26-38

I’m not talented enough:
1 Sam 17:32-51; Lk 1:26-38

I want to have a family:
Gn 12:1-3; Mt 12:46-50; Mk 10:28-30

I’m afraid of making a permanent commitment:
Ruth 1:15-17; Mt 28:16-20

I’m afraid of public speaking:
Ex 4:10-17; Jer 1:4-10

I’m not smart enough:
2 Cor 4:7-18; Ex 4:10-17

I’m afraid of being alone:
Ex 3:4-22; Lk 1:28-38

I want to be happy:
Ps 37:4; Mt 5:1-12; Jn 10:10; Mk 10:28-31

I can do all things in Him who strengthens me. Do we really believe that? Then there are no obstacles we can't overcome in His holy name. The Church understood this in days gone by. Let us reflect on what God's Holy Word assures us, "All of us, gazing on the Lord's glory with unveiled faces, are being transformed from glory to glory into His very image by the Lord Who is the Spirit." (2 Corinthians 3:18).

Do we really understand the full implication of these words?

Then let's rally behind Our Eucharistic Lord and take back our lost cities!

Remember when sin was taken seriously?

2011-08-16T13:10:00.000-07:00

Remember when confessional lines stretched across the Church and were often so long that they continued outside the Church? When priests understood and took seriously the fact that the sacrament of Penance not only forgives sins while restoring the faithful to friendship with God but imparts graces which strengthen the People of God against future onslaughts from the world, the flesh and the Devil?

How many priests today really and truly love souls? Let's be honest here. As this article explains:

"No priestly function is apt to become a greater weariness to the flesh and the spirit than a protracted sitting in the confessional. This arduous duty M. Vianney [the Cure of Ars, Saint Jean Vianney] discharged for many hours, day by day, year in, year out, when chilled to the bone by the hard winters of central France or when all but overcome by the stifling heat of the long summer days. Even his hard-working parishioners had their days of rest—for him alone there was no repose, no respite, no holiday. At all seasons his working day consisted of twenty hours out of twenty-four. In summer he spent as much as fifteen and even sixteen hours in the confessional. Yet he loved the beauty of nature. How he would have revelled in the sunshine, the charm of mellow autumn days, the fragrance and colour of blossoming orchards and flowery meadows! But all he had to look forward to, day after day, was the same confinement in the dark, ill-ventilated wooden box which was for him what the cangue was for the martyrs of Cochin-China."

Not long ago I phoned the rectory of a Catholic parish in New Hampshire's Queen City. I inquired as to when confession was held. I was promptly [and rudely] informed that Confession was at 3 PM and that if I happened to be late - even by one minute - the priest would not wait for me. On another occasion, I found it necessary to correct a young priest who was attempting to convince me that it really isn't necessary to confess every two weeks. Pope Pius XII (who went to confession daily) would have disagreed with this young priest as well. For the Holy Father taught, in his Encyclical Letter Mystici Corporis, that: "The same result [the prior paragraph noted the "deplorable ruin" of the faithful which resulted from false teachings] follows from the opinions of those who assert that little importance should be given to the frequent confession of venial sins. Far more important, they say, is that general confession which the Spouse of Christ, surrounded by her children in the Lord, makes each day by the mouth of the priest as he approaches the altar of God. As you well know, Venerable Bethren, it is true that venial sins may be expiated in many ways which are to be highly recommended. But to ensure more rapid progress day by day in the path of virtue, We will that the pious practice of frequent confession, which was introduced into the Church by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, should be earnestly advocated. By it genuine self-knowledge is increased, Christian humility grows, bad habits are corrected, spiritual neglect and tepidity are resisted, the conscience is purified, the will strengthened, a salutary self-control is attained, and grace is increased in virtue of the Sacrament itself. Let those, therefore, among the younger clergy who make light of or lessen esteem for frequent confession realize that what they are doing is alien to the Spirit of Christ and disastrous for the Mystical Body of our Savior." (Mystici Corporis, No. 88).

Did you get that? Priests who make light of or lessen esteem for the sacrament of confession are harming the Mystical Body of Christ. On March 25th of this year, Pope Benedict XVI addressed a gathering of priests at the Vatican. His Holiness said that, "By administering the Sacrament of Penance we [priests] can receive profound lessons of humility and faith...For each priest, this is a powerful call to an awareness of his own identity. Never could we hear the confessions of our brothers and sisters merely on the strength of our own humanity...If they come to us it is only because we are priests, configured to Christ, the Supreme and Eternal Priest, and granted the capacity of acting in His Name and Person, so as to make present the God Who forgives, renews and transforms."

Pope Benedict told the priests that the sacrament of Penance teaches the priest about his faith and the truth and poverty of his person. It also nourishes in him an awareness of his sacramental identity. He also spoke of our "age of relativism and of the consequent reduced awareness of self" which has contributed greatly to the practice of this Sacrament being diminished.

It is a little known fact that the Cure of Ars, a martyr of the confessional, prophesied that one day the Sacrament of Reconciliation would be celebrated as never before. The holy Cure said: "One day Our Lady of La Salette will lead the world." And who is Our Lady of La Salette but the Mother of Reconciliation?

Until that time, I'll continue to preach on the importance of frequent confession. And I'm sure I'll continue to be ridiculed as "backward" and "pre-Vatican II" by some of my more charitable brothers and sisters in Christ's Mystical Body. But I stand with the Church. I stand with the holy Cure as I too await that day when Our Lady of La Salette will lead all men and women back to the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

Fasting is longing after God and breaks demonic strongholds...Why then have we largely abandoned its practice?

2011-08-13T06:24:00.000-07:00

Fasting must accompany our prayer. Why? Because Fasting helps subject our bodies to our spirits (1 Cor 9:27), because fasting disciplines the body, mind, and spirit (Prov. 25:28), because fasting subordinates our flesh with its desires to the desires of the Spirit (Gal 5:17), because fasting helps us to set priorities in our lives. (Mt 6:33) and because fasting is really longing after God. (Ps 63:1-2). The power of fasting is a mystery. Which is probably why those who deem themselves "intelligent," "reasonable" and "rational" cannot understand its importance. But whether such people accept it or not, fasting breaks demonic strongholds and demonic attacks and helps us to walk in the spirit rather than the flesh, to sow to the Spirit, not to the sinful nature.

Before the practice of daily Mass, people were encouraged to fast for 24 hours before Mass. My mother and father often spoke of how their families observed this day-long fast as they were growing up. Pope Pius XII changed the rules in an effort to encourage daily Mass participation. In his Motu Propio Sacram Communionem (March 19, 1957), the Holy Father said that, "Priests and faithful, before Holy Mass or Holy Communion respectively, must abstain for three hours from solid foods..." But how many actually do attend daily Mass? Or even Sunday Mass for that matter? Many Catholics attend Mass when they feel like it. Some only at Christmas and Easter. And now the Eucharistic fast is down to one hour before Holy Communion. How many fail to observe this one hour fast?

This is a real tragedy not only because fasting strengthens us spiritually, but because we must make a good faith effort to prepare ourselves properly to receive the Lord Jesus, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity in the Most Blessed Sacrament. Canon 919 of the Code of Canon Law states that, "One who is to receive the Most Holy Eucharist is to abstain from any food or drink, with the exception of water and medicine, for at least the period of one hour before Holy Communion."

It is easy to think that since the Church has lessened the time of the Eucharistic fast, it is not a serious matter after all. But as Dr. Germain Grisez has noted, "Traditionally, the Eucharistic fast, required by the Church for the sake of reverence, was considered a grave responsibility which did not admit parvity. Now, since the requirement is more easily fulfilled, its violation is even harder to excuse...Someone who deliberately disregards the Eucharistic fast out of irreverence for Jesus or contempt for the Church's law plainly is guilty of grave sin. And, knowing that the fast has been broken, whether by accident or on purpose, in a significant way, anyone as reverent and obedient as he or she should be, will not receive Holy Communion, except for a reason sufficient to justify an exception to the Church's law.."

Because of a lack of sound catechesis, many of the faithful no longer approach the Eucharist - the Holy of Holies - with the reverence required. In Dominicae Cenae, Pope John Paul II addressed the problem of those who are not properly disposed to receive Holy Communion. The Holy Father wrote, "In fact, what one finds most often is not so much a feeling of unworthiness as a certain lack of interior willingness, if one may use this expression, a lack of Eucharistic 'hunger' and 'thirst,' which is also a sign of lack of adequate sensitivity towards the great sacrament of love and a lack of understanding of its nature.."

Perhaps we should return to the three hour fast? Or a longer one?

Why not? What is the argument against fasting?

"The lack of reverence is a specific defect of our age.."

2011-08-09T07:31:00.000-07:00

At Fatima (1917), Our Lady said that, "Certain fashions will be introduced that will offend Our Lord very much." Sadly, such fashions may be found even in Catholic parishes. This is the direct result of a lack of reverence before sacred mysteries. Dietrich von Hildebrand explains that, "..lack of reverence may have two roots...the first is to be found in pride. The man who lacks reverence because of pride and arrogance approaches everything with conceit and presumption, imagines that he knows everything, that he sees through everything....The world holds no mystery for him. He treats everything tactlessly, with easy familiarity...There is..another form of irreverence, one which is born of concupiscence. The concupiscent man is interested in the world only as a means of procuring pleasure for himself...

The lack of reverence is a specific defect of our age. On the one hand, the feeling of reverence is undermined by the increasing technicalization and instrumentalization of the world wherein everything is considered only as a means for the attainment of practical aims, and being is not allowed to be taken seriously. On the other hand, the attitude of self-glorification is increased in man by progress in the knowledge of secondary causes and by the conquest of the physical world. This makes us forget that 'He has made us and we have not made ourselves.' It makes the shortsighted intoxicated with superficial knowledge so that they overlook the causa prima because of the causae secundae" (Liturgy and Personality, pp. 49, 51-52).

How important is modesty? Saint John Chrysostom warned the immodest that:

"You carry your snare everywhere and spread your nets in all places. You allege that you never invited others to sin. You did not, indeed, by your words, but you have done so by your dress and your deportment, and much more effectively than you could by your voice. When you have made another sin in his heart, how can you be innocent? Tell me, whom does this world condemn? Whom do judges in court punish? Those who drink poison or those who prepare it and administer the fatal potion? You have prepared the abominable cup, you have given the death-dealing drink, and you are more criminal than are those who poison the body; you murder not the body, but the soul. And it is not to enemies that you do this, nor are you urged on by any imaginary necessity, nor provoked by injury, but out of foolish vanity and pride."

Even within our churches, we witness much irreverence and immodesty. Mini-skirts and shorts are often worn at Holy Mass and during the reception of the Lord of Lords, the Holy of Holies. People who wouldn't dare to wear immodest clothing while having an audience with the Queen of England or the President of the United States have no difficulty receiving their Eucharistic Lord dressed in immodest attire. What does this represent but a loss of reverence and a weakened faith life?

Sister Mary of the Immaculate Heart (Lucia dos Santos of the Fatima apparition), once said, "When I think of the United States I think about this: one of the things which Our Lady especially asked for was modesty in dress. There does not seem to be much modesty in the life of the women of your country. But modesty would be a good sacrifice to offer Our Lady, and it would please her if the Catholics in your country would make a league for modesty in dress..."

But there is more to modesty than modesty in dress. There is also modesty - custody - of the tongue, the eyes and the minds. How many times have you been at Holy Mass and witnessed people talking rather than praying in preparation for the Mass? How often have you witnessed people constantly turning their heads and scanning around the Church for people they might recognize? Are such people reverent before the Lord Jesus? Can it honestly be said that their minds are on Him?

Many people (even, sadly, some who claim to be Catholic) are fond of mocking the Church prior to Vatican II. But the Catholics of this time period (for the most part) were extremely reverent and modest when they went to Holy Mass. They understood that the Eucharistic Jesus is present within the Church and prepared for the Mass in silent prayer.

In our "modern" and largely paganistic world we are constantly being assaulted with immodesty and irreverence. We need priests today who will courageously speak out and preach reverence and modesty. Examine the two photographs. One is from the 1950s and shows children kneeling for Holy Communion and dressed modestly - in shirt, jacket and tie in fact. The other shows a teen bringing the gifts to Cardinal Sean O'Malley at a parish located in Pepperell, Massachusetts.

The way we approach the Lord Jesus at Holy Mass says much about who we are and where we are spiritually.

"O homines ad servitutem promptos!"

2011-08-08T10:55:00.000-07:00

In his book Day of Reckoning, Patrick J. Buchanan writes, "The real revolution of the last half century began in the 1960s and drove wedges through society that endure today. This revolution involved the repudiation of America's past as racist, sexist, imperialist, and genocidal in its treatment of women, Indians, Africans, and all peoples of color. This revolution involved the rejection and overthrow of traditional Christian morality and Christianity itself as bigoted and repressive, and the conversion of the young to a sensuality, self-indulgence, and promiscuity condemned by all Christian faiths. This revolution involved the overturning of all laws rooted in Christian doctrine regarding divorce, homosexuality, abortion - and the purge of all Christian symbols, books, and practices from public schools. This revolution was about de-Christianizing and secularizing America...This was a true social, moral, and cultural revolution that changed the way Americans think about their country and civilization. It captured and converted not only many of the young, but most of the academy, media, and Hollywood, who went over to the revolution because that is where popularity lay and because they despised the America they had grown up in." (pp. 176, 177).

Secular Humanism, a driving force behind this revolution, has all the characteristics of a religion. The Secular Humanist places man at the center of things. In the Humanist Manifesto II, which was released in 1973, humanists called for a new faith: "...traditional theism, especially faith in the prayer-hearing God, assumed to love and care for persons, to hear and understand their prayers, and to be able to do something about them is an unproved and outmoded faith. Salvationism, based on mere affirmation, still appears as harmful, diverting people with false hopes of heaven hereafter. Responsible minds look to other means for survival." (Humanist Manifesto II, The Humanist; September/October 1973, p. 4). Humanism is, therefore, fundamentally at odds with Christianity which regards God and not man as the supreme value of the universe.

Because Humanists recognize the importance of the public schools in advancing their man-centered religion, they do everything in their power to ensure that children are indoctrinated into the tenets of Humanism even as they attack faith-based schools. It was Paul Blanshard, writing in The Humanist, who said, "I think that the most important factor moving us toward a secular society has been the educational factor. Our schools may not teach Johnny to read properly, but the fact that Johnny is in school until he is 16 tends to lead toward the elimination of religious superstition. The average American child now acquires a high school education, and this militates against Adam and Eve and all the other myths of alleged history." (The Humanist State, March/April 1976, p. 17).

Humanist John Dumphy, also writing for The Humanist, said "I am convinced that the battle for humankind's future must be waged and won in the public school classroom by teachers who correctly perceive their role as the proselytizers of a new faith: a religion of humanity that recognizes and respects the spark of what theologians call divinity in every human being. These teachers must embody the same selfless dedication as the most rabid fundamentalist preacher, for they will be ministers of another servant, utilizing a classroom instead of a pulpit to convey humanist values in whatever subjects they teach regardless of the educational level - preschool daycare or large state university. The classroom must and will become and area of conflict between the old and the new - the rotting corpse of Christianity, together with all its adjacent evils and misery and the new faith of humanism resplendent in its promise of a world in which the never realized Christian idea of 'love thy neighbor' will finally be achieved." (The Humanist, January/February 1983, p. 26).

How far along is this revolution? Consider the words of professor Harold Brown, professor of theology:

"The distinctiveness of marriage has been abolished (Baird v. Eisenstadt); prayer and Bible reading in schools has been stamped out (Abington, Schemp, et al.); the mother's womb has become the most dangerous place for a baby (Roe v. Wade, et al.); the rights (but not the duties) of fathers and parents of minor girls have been voided (Planned Parenthood v. Danforth); divorce has become easier than marrying; the Ten Commandments have been banned from public view; and now the natural distinction between male and female is being abolished (Goodridge, Lawrence, etc). The Pledge of Allegiance is forbidden; the Boy Scouts are under attack; and Christmas carols are banned. Pornography is everywhere. The structure of American society is being demolished brick by brick. Within a few short years, Americans will have reached the 'liberty' desired by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, the abolition of every particular dependency. This is what Hannah Arendt called 'the atomistic mass," a precondition for the establishment of totalitarianism." (Powers, Principalities, Spiritual Forces: Charging Toward the Dies Irae," Chronicles, August 205, p. 17).

It was Tacitus who said, "O homines ad servitutem promptos!" - O Man, how prompt to slavery." Indeed. Examine the two photographs. One is from a 1954 High School prom. The other, a 2010 High School prom. Both photographs were taken at public schools.

I recall an old Jesuit saying that we don't change externals unless we first change internals. Reflect upon what this Jesuit meant. And weep.

When Father Knew Best...

2011-08-04T08:04:00.000-07:00

In its Decree on the Media of Social Communications (Inter Mirifica) No. 14, Vatican II said that: "The production and showing of films that have value as decent entertainment, humane culture or art, especially when they are designed for young people, ought to be encouraged and assured by every effective means. This can be done particularly by supporting and joining in projects and enterprises for the production and distribution of decent films, by encouraging worthwhile films through critical approval and awards, by patronizing or jointly sponsoring theaters operated by Catholic and responsible managers.

Similarly, effective support should be given to good radio and television programs, above all those that are suitable for families. Catholic programs should be promoted, in which listeners and viewers can be brought to share in the life of the Church and learn religious truths. An effort should also be made, where it may be necessary, to set up Catholic stations. In such instances, however, care must be taken that their programs are outstanding for their standards of excellence and achievement. In addition, there should be an effort to see that the noble and ancient art of the drama, which now is diffused everywhere by the media of social communication, serves the cultural and moral betterment of audiences."

Remember when television programs and motion pictures did just that? When programs such as Father Knows Best or The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet imparted traditional family values? When father and mother were portrayed as wise, caring and sensitive and the children were clean-cut, respectable and obedient to their parents?

And then something happened. There was a revolution against traditional morality and family values in Hollywood and entertainment circles. We went from wholesome family programs which celebrated faith, love and commitment to programs about dysfunctional families and those which ridicule religion in general and Christianity in particular.

And all of this has contributed greatly to the moral breakdown in society. Pornography has invaded our homes through the popular press, radio, cinema and television most especially. It was Saint Thomas Aquinas who warned that, "..many sins are committed not at all because our natural instincts impel us to them; in the majority of cases sins are brought about by environmental factors, which give rise to morbid curiosity in men and to the overstimulation of the passions." (St Th 2-2, q 142: 2 ad 2; 142:3). Indeed, Pope Paul VI has said that, "The external, environmental stimulus has become more insistent than ever, more seductive, more inciting, more invasive." (Paul VI, o.c.).

So-called "experts" continue to assure us that today's programming is "harmless" even as they assert that people have the right and ability to not watch them. It was Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn who so eloquently warned that: "Destructive and irresponsible freedom has been granted boundless space. Society appears to have little defense against the abyss of human decadence, such as, for example, the misuse of liberty for moral violence against young people, motion pictures full of pornography, crime and horror. This is considered to be part of freedom, and theoretically counterbalanced by the young peoples' right not to look or not to accept. Life organized legalistically has thus shown its inability to defend itself against the corrosion of evil." ("A World Split Apart," Commencement Address at Harvard University, June 8, 1978, reprinted in National Review, July 7, 1978).
We have to be careful what we subject our minds to. Much of what we see in movies and television is nothing more than a Secular Humanist "sermon." It is said that by the time a young adult graduates from High School, he or she has watched some 24,000 hours of television. This compared with only 12,000 hours of classroom - much of which is also steeped in Secular Humanism today!

This same young adult is only exposed to a 10 to 15 minute sermon once a week at their Church - and that's if they do attend a Church service.

We need to become more involved as media consumers. What values do we wish to subject ourselves to? Our children?

The answer to that question will determine the fate of this once-great nation. And more importantly, our eternal destiny.

The family that prays together stays together

2011-08-01T11:40:00.000-07:00

Remember Father Patrick Peyton, CSC? Known as the "Rosary Priest," Fr. Peyton was a member of the Congregation of Holy Cross. Having been cured of tuberculosis through the intercession of the Blessed Mother, Fr. Peyton made devotion to the Mother of God and her Rosary a priority in his spiritual life. Determined to bring others to Our Lady and to bring her honor and glory, Fr. Peyton founded the Family Rosary Crusade in 1942. It was he who made famous the two slogans , "The family that prays together stays together," and "A would at prayer is a world at peace."

Shouldn't every priest be so committed to the Mother of God and her Rosary that he is called a "Rosary priest"? And shouldn't every family find the time to pray the Rosary together? When the family prays together it is together with Christ. For He Himself has assured us that, "where two or three are gathered together in my Name, I am in their midst" (Matthew 18:20).

Do we believe this? Honestly? Or do we consider the Rosary to be passe? Vatican II said otherwise. The Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, No. 67, teaches, "Let the faithful hold in high esteem the practices and devotions to the Blessed Virgin approved by the teaching authority of the Church in the course of the centuries." From the time of Pope Leo XIII, there have been more than 35 Encyclicals recommending the Rosary devotion. What then are we waiting for?

At Fatima, the Blessed Mother asked Lucia, Jacinta and Francisco to "pray, pray very much and make sacrifices for sinners, for many souls go to hell because there is no one to make sacrifices for them." Over and over again, the Mother of God begged the seers to "tell the people to pray the Rosary." That's just how important this devotion is. Because it has been largely abandoned throughout the Church, countless families have disintegrated, numerous souls have fallen into grave sin, abortion and homosexuality threaten the Church and society and apostasy has spread like a cancer within the Mystical Body of Christ.

Shall we listen to our loving and concerned Mother and pray the Rosary? We've tried things our way and everything around us is in disarray. Let's trust our Mother and recall the words of Fr. Peyton: "The family that prays together stays together."

Dirt Roads...

2011-07-31T18:21:00.000-07:00

We have become so alienated from one another. So angry. So lacking in peace. We have exchanged a relationship with Christ Jesus and our neighbor for technological progress and material things. The front porch is gone. It has been replaced by Facebook, Twitter and MySpace. Deep down we know something precious has been lost. And we are uneasy.

Some years ago, Paul Harvey addressed this in a most beautiful way with a broadcast entitled "Dirt Roads":

"What’s mainly wrong with society today is that too many Dirt Roads have been paved.
There’s not a problem in America today, crime, drugs, education, divorce, delinquency that wouldn’t be remedied, if we just had more Dirt Roads, because Dirt Roads give character.

People that live at the end of Dirt Roads learn early on that life is a bumpy ride. That it can jar you right down to your teeth sometimes, but it’s worth it, if at the end is home…a loving spouse, happy kids and a dog.

We wouldn’t have near the trouble with our educational system if our kids got their exercise walking a Dirt Road with other kids, from whom they learn how to get along. There was less crime in our streets before they were paved. Criminals didn’t walk two dusty miles to rob or rape, if they knew they’d be welcomed by five barking dogs and a double barrel shotgun. And there were no drive by shootings.

Our values were better when our roads were worse! People did not worship their cars more than their kids, and motorists were more courteous, they didn’t tailgate by riding the bumper or the guy in front would choke you with dust & bust your windshield with rocks. Dirt Roads taught patience.

Dirt Roads were environmentally friendly, you didn’t hop in your car for a quart of milk you walked to the barn for your milk. For your mail, you walked to the mail box. What if it rained and the Dirt Road got washed out? That was the best part, then you stayed home and had some family time, roasted marshmallows and popped popcorn and pony rode on Daddy’s shoulders and learned how to make prettier quilts than anybody.

At the end of Dirt Roads, you soon learned that bad words tasted like soap. Most paved roads lead to trouble, Dirt Roads more likely lead to a fishing creek or a swimming hole. At the end of a Dirt Road, the only time we even locked our car was in August, because if we didn’t some neighbor would fill it with too much zucchini.

At the end of a Dirt Road, there was always extra springtime income, from when city dudes would get stuck, you’d have to hitch up a team and pull them out. Usually you got a dollar…always you got a new friend…at the end of a Dirt Road!"

We have indeed created such a mess haven't we? Everything across our society is crumbling: The economy, government, our educational system, churches, families. But there is a way out from underneath our problems, a solution which has gone untried for so long:

“Pray the Rosary every day in honor of Our Lady of the Rosary to obtain peace in the world . . . for she alone can save it.” (Our Lady—July 13, 1917)

“God has placed peace in her hands, and it is from the Immaculate Heart that men must ask it." (Jacinta—shortly before her death)

There you have it. Heaven's stimulus package for peace! Most, unfortunately, will scoff at such an idea. "Absurd" some will say. "Simplistic" still others will say. But I have seen up close the transforming power of the Holy Rosary and watched with amazement as those who prayed it with sincerity experienced changed lives. I have seen the Holy Rosary alter events with a supernatural power which must be experienced to be believed and appreciated.

We can return to simplicity of life and holiness. We don't have to be alienated from Christ Jesus and our neighbor. We can change the human heart through prayerful recitation of the Rosary. Why do we find this so difficult to accept? Mostly because we are too proud and believe too much in our own abilities.

The Rosary has the power not only to restore relationships and heal a broken world where neighbor is alienated from neighbor. It has the power to shape our will so that we may all the more easily abandon it to the Divine Will.

Shall we try it?