Monday, March 15, 2021
Sunday, March 14, 2021
A Sunday Sermon
The Feeding of the Five Thousand. What's it all about? That Christ will feed his people. With what? With the Word of God, as Jesus tells us in his temptation in the wilderness "If you are the Son of God, turn these stones into bread," says Satan, and the Lord replies, "Man shall not live on bread alone but by every word which proceeds from the mouth of God."
Yes indeed, the Word of God is the food of the people of God. In Old Testament times the Divine Word was given through the Law and the Prophets, which is signified in the elements of the miracle.
Five loaves for the five books of the Law, the Mosaic Pentateuch. And note, the loaves are made of prophetic barley; the greatest prophet, Elisha, multiplied 20 barley loaves to feed one hundred men. So the loaves stand for the nourishment of the Word of God delivered by Law and Prophecy.
This will feed the great multitude of God's people, represented by the fish in the Gospel. Our minds go instantly to the fifth day of creation in Genesis, where God blesses the birds and the fish, "be fruitful and multiply." And to Abraham, "Your descendants shall be as many as the stars of heaven," and in Christ's words, "I will make you fishers of men."
But the fish are also food, the people of God fed by the Word of God, which is, quite literally, Christ himself. He who is the Word, the Logos, will sustain and nourish his people with himself. He says as much a little later in John's Gospel.
"I am the bread of life," again, "Unless you eat of the flesh of the son of man and drink his blood, you have no life within you." And more, "Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day..."
Let's cut to the chase. Where do we find this supernatural nourishment, this bread from heaven? In the Word, obviously. In what he said, as recorded in Scripture and the Apostolic teaching of the Church, which is Christ's teaching; in prayer and in every good thing, but most specifically?
In the Sacrament of the Altar, in the Mass. This is my Body... this is my Blood. Flesh and Blood, loaves and fish, which we must eat to have eternal life, the divinizing life of God himself. And there you have it, manna from heaven.
Rejoice, laetare, at the saving glory of this, disregard it at your peril. Here endeth the short sermon.
In Nom.,
LSP
Friday, March 12, 2021
General Lee
Shack Street
One of the things I like to do is walk around and explore this bucolic rural haven in North Central Texas. But, to be honest, after 12 years there's not much you haven't seen. Not so fast, so-called "LSP." And I saw something new today, a new street I hadn't walked before, a street of shacks.
The adventure began after yet another meeting with a banker, which went well. We were opening a new account with some of the Mission's newly unfrozen funds, and the First National Bank of Texas were friendly. All well and good. After the meeting, I said goodbye to our Treasurer, "Debbie, thanks for that, I will now stroll to the pawnshop."
She paused, "What? You're walking?" I thought about that for a moment and answered, "Yes, Ma'am, I am. I have a ministry to the town's Pawns. A few years ago I buried Miss Dale, who ran the Gold Nugget. She used to ask me for Holy Water and I'd deliver, by the gallon. She claimed the customers needed it and I believed her."
A few moments later I found myself walking with purpose towards the pawn and suddenly it struck me, I've never been here before. Yes, it was sinister, somehow threatenning. There was a boarded up "assisted living" complex, residents gone, not even a crack commune inhabiting the vinyl floors and broken windows. I gazed at it in wonder. Why have I never seen this? It was like the Twilight Zone.
And so was the next street, a street of shacks. All new, I'd never seen them before, but they reminded me of the year or so the SPC stayed. As I drove him to High School to make sure he went, I'd point out a random shack, "Play your cards right, fella, and you too could live in one of those." Hey, he rose to the game and, let's not be proud, there but by the grace of God.
All too soon, Shack Street ended and there was a machine shop, flying a Come And Take It flag. That filled me with hope. All hail Texas.
That in mind, let's rebuild our towns and make them the communities they should be, as opposed to asset-stripped slums, gutted by transnational elite oligarchs who hide under a veneer of Millionaire, sorry, Billionaire Socialism.
Your Pal,
LSP
Thursday, March 11, 2021
Such Utter Disaster
Utter disaster. Try putting your handheld computing device on the hood of the rig and cleverly driving away, forgetting about the miracle of technology resting on the bonnet. Thirty minutes later, by the Lake and Stations of the Cross, you ask yourself, where's the dam phone?
It was lying, smashed, in the middle of a crossroads near the Compound, and I picked it up after a devil in the detail drive home. There you are, fella, welcome back. But the mini computer was irretrievably busted and smashed, so I went to T Mobile for a replacement.
The TM persynn asked me what I wanted to buy, and I figured a brand new, up to the minute Samsung phone. Time to upgrade and spend some money. Salesguy sensibly said no, save your money, get the same thing without the brand at way less cost. In fact, why not buy my old phone?
What? How much? 200 bucks, same phone we're selling for 400. Yours, for cash. I couldn't say no to an obvious deal. But had to ask, "Don't you lose on commission, I mean, you just lost a sale." He replied, "We only get 5 dollars a sale, so so what. I hate corporate, in fact, I want to join the Army, get into IT." We talked about that, and phones.
Your Pal,
LSP
Wednesday, March 10, 2021
Piers Morgan - We Apologize
Repentance, contrition, and apology can come from the most unlikely sources, as can virtue itself. In this case, from Compound News and the appalling Piers Morgan.
Long vilified by our fearless reporters as an "Illuminati dupe sycophant" and the "Dark Lord" of British journalism, Piers Morgan was held up to ridicule and scorn by the Compound's newsroom. More than that, we lent our weight to the popular grass roots movement to remove Morgan from America and send him back, harming no one in the exit.
It was a successful campaign. Piers, hated everywhere in the US for his absurd NWO mandated hatred of 2nd Amendment freedom, fled to the UK, where he reestablished himself as a journalist. On probation.
It surprises us, and it may surprise you, but Piers has passed this test. He called out the money-grubbing, D-List, faux celeb, fake princess Meghan Markle on Monday's Good Morning Britain, accusing the Millionaire Socialist climber of lying.
No, said popular Piers, Meghan wasn't victimized by the Royal family on account of racism, but just because she was and is faked-up, #MillSoc rubbish. He doubled down today. Here's the erstwhile loathsome Morgan on social media:
On Monday, I said I didn’t believe Meghan Markle in her Oprah interview. I’ve had time to reflect on this opinion, and I still don’t. If you did, OK. Freedom of speech is a hill I’m happy to die on. Thanks for all the love, and hate. I’m off to spend more time with my opinions.
Well said, Piers, all is forgiven. In fact, we've always loved you, except Meghan, who might sue you to get even moar money because she's so racistly oppressed by being a millionaire socialist person of color married to one of the richest family's in Europe. Which, when you think on it, ain't bad for a two-bit, D-List Hollywood grifter.
Your Friend,
LSP
Tuesday, March 9, 2021
Princess?
Monday, March 8, 2021
Tombstone DOGE$
What can we say, win some, lose some. That in mind, the Peoples Crypto's soaring into .06land. Well done, pup.
Will the playful Shiba hit MOON? Let's wait and see and remember, the market's a way of transferring money from the impatient to the patient.
Your Fiduciary Pal,
LSP
Sunday, March 7, 2021
Sunday Sermon - Moneychangers
If you follow the newfangled lectionary, you'll have heard St. John's account of Christ driving the money changers and associated cattle out of the Temple. Picture the scene.
There's the forecourt of the Temple turned into a cattle market, replete with FX grifters exchanging secular currency for Temple coin, and making a nice profit to boot. Why? Because the Jews had to buy animals to sacrifice and the Temple didn't accept secular money. Enter Christ.
Zeal for his Father's house consumed him as he drove the beasts out with a whip, overturning the cattle market casino which had turned the Temple, the holiest place on earth, the focus of atonement as it then was, into a "den of thieves."
The Temple was defiled and Christ couldn't stand for it, hungering and thirsting for righteousness he drove it out, and the message, on the face of it, is clear. No corruption, grift, skulduggery and malfeasance in the Holy Church of God. But there's more.
Sensing something deeper, bystanders ask for a sign, they want to know what our Lord's actions signify, and he tells them, "Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up." Of course they're confused, but we're not.
Jesus' cleansing of the Temple is a prophetic act which points to his death and resurrection, to his atoning sacrifice and its attendant victory. He will be the new Temple and its Sacrifice, as one. So Christ drives the animals and the moneylenders out of the Temple. Their time is done.
We're the beneficiaries of this, the blood of the Paschal Lamb is on the lintel of our souls, such that the Angel of Death passes over us. As living stones in the spiritual temple of Christ's Body, the Church, his sacrifice is operative within us, which brings us back to the wicked money changers.
For sure, the Church writ large must cleanse herself of corruption, but what about us, as persons, the Church writ small? Surely the same applies. We're Temples of the Spirit, says the Apostle, and so we are. Message to market?
Repent. Drive those knavish thieves, the world, the flesh and the Devil out of the temple of our souls so that we, clean, may find union with the Cross and the life which flows from it. Therein lies sanctification and beatitude, and herein endeth the Lesson.
Your Old Friend,
LSP
Saturday, March 6, 2021
Biden's America - A Maypole
You can read all kinds of commentaries on the information superhighway, but here at the Compound we think this infovid captures the spirit of it all. Feel free to disagree.
LSP
Remember The Alamo
At 4 o’clock on the morning of March 6, 1836, Santa Anna advanced his men to within 200 yards of the Alamo’s walls. Just as dawn was breaking, the Mexican bloodcurdling bugle call of the Deguello echoed the meaning of the scarlet flag above San Fernando: no quarter. It was Captain Juan Seguin’s Tejanos, the native-born Mexicans fighting in the Texan army, who interpreted the chilling music for the other defenders.
Santa Anna’s first charge was repulsed, as was the second, by the deadly fire of Travis’ artillery. At the third charge, one Mexican column attacked near a breach in the north wall, another in the area of the chapel, and a third, the Toluca Battalion, commenced to scale the walls. All suffered severely. Out of 800 men in the Toluca Battalion, only 130 were left alive. Fighting was hand to hand with knives, pistols, clubbed rifles, lances, pikes, knees and fists. The dead lay everywhere. Blood spilled in the convent, the barracks, the entrance to the church, and finally in the rubble-strewn church interior itself. Ninety minutes after it began, it was over.
All the Texans died. Santa Anna’s loss was 1,544 men.
LSP