Heading back to my old hideout for almost a week. I need to get out of here.
I leave you with some good news from Doug Barry, a.k.a. Radix. He is making some real progress on his Camp Gargano.
I have also come into contact with a group much like ours called Fraternus. Check it out. I will have more on this later.
Please also take a look at my last post on Our Lady and masculinity.
And last, but not least, a demented cat lover.
I’m sure you can find something to chew on while I am away.
I am reading Leon Podles’ The Church Impotent: The Feminization of Christianity and am reflecting much on the mission of the Knights of Lepanto and of MaryVictrix. The book is now out of print, but can be found online for free here. Podles identifies some real problems in the Western Church, in the light of which it is not hard to understand why we have a crisis of homosexuality within the ranks of the Catholic clergy–the white elephant no one wants to talk about.
Podles investigates the causes of male absenteeism from Church and religious practices. He relates, for example, that studies have been done that show the more masculine a man is (how ever that is defined in the studies) the less likely he is to have any religious inclination. He notes in particular that the absence of males is a problem in Western Christianity and he traces the origins of this problem. In any case, I don’t think many would argue that in milieu of Western Christianity that men tend to be less religious, or religious mostly by way of the influence of women (mothers, girlfriends, wives).
I think his analysis is compelling in many respects. Here I would like to focus on the aspects of Marian devotion, celibacy and bridal spirituality and their relation to male identity. Continue reading
What do you think of this advice? It is from Living Indubiously via The Art of Manliness. I have some serious reservations. The subject is “The Warriors guide to Manliness”:
Use Death as your Guide. We all could die at any moment. It could be today, tomorrow, or next week. You could go and visit your dying friend in the hospital and then get hit by a bus the next day. Whether or not you have an existing condition is of no importance in your actual mortality. If this was the common outlook of today’s man, do you think we would sit around watching cable TV and spending our time worrying about how to afford the next big thing in consumer electronics? Hell no! We would go out today and start doing the exact thing that we have always wanted to do (our purpose) while not wasting any of our time on the petty, pointless things. After all, there is no better a teacher in time management than having death knocking at your door.
Choose the Path with Heart. All paths are the same. They lead absolutely nowhere. At the end of your life you will be in the exact same position except you will be able to look back with either regret or satisfaction on the choices you made. It is the path that is important, not the destination. It is better to have a followed a path in your life that brought you happiness in the moment, than to have followed a path that promised happiness at your destination. Using death as your guide will promote a distinct change in your level of presence and naturally lead you to living in the moment and choosing the correct path. The warrior who chooses his highest calling is also the one to achieve the greatest success, further strengthening the chance of the survival of his bloodline.
Fight Every Battle as if it was Your Last. If you are using death as your guide and living in the present moment then you will naturally fight every battle in your life as if it was a defining moment to make or break everything you have worked for. When you have this mentality you are naturally doing your best at everything and your chances for success are greatly improved. This is the type of performance that we have come to expect from our great leaders and role models so why should we sell ourselves short of realizing such greatness? It is through this concept that you will truly be living to your full potential and increasing your likelihood of being the man that others look to for inspiration.
I expect some discerning remarks from the Knights of Lepanto.
Mary Victrix 