Candlemas

Presentation of Christ in the Temple

Happy Candlemas to all - in the 'old' rite purple was used for the distribution of candles and procession, emphasizing the penitential aspect of Simeon's prophecy to Our Lady, that a "sword shall pierce through your own soul also". During the Mass itself, vestments of the Sacred Ministers and Altar change to white, which is dramatic if done well. Well, I like it and so do others as the liturgical ravages of the Woodstock generation are gradually rewound and old becomes new again.

Distribution of candles - new rite

Speaking of church, its interesting to note that Blues drummer, John Chane, Bishop of Washington D.C., has announced he'll retire in 2011. He succeeded Jane "Holmes" Dixon; I won't comment but I'll leave you with a picture.

Kappa Interfaith Alliance

Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace.

Gun rights,

LSP

Don't Be Shallow, Read Aquinas.

Dawkins

I know this blog's been a frivolous mix of aliens, guns, boots and horses recently, so here's a bit on St. Thomas Aquinas to even things out. It's from the Chicago Daily Observer and argues against the widespread notion that God is a superstitious idea that's been explained away by 'science'. I've never understood how physics, chemistry and assorted technics could disprove a necessary being, and it seems strange to me that Dawkins & Co. would get so worked up about something they see as so absurd. Surely they're not threatened in any way? Regardless, I think Fr. Barron's take on Thomas is good:

"Secondly, Thomas knew that the Creator God of the Bible is the only finally satisfying explanation for the existence of the contingent things of the world. He was deeply impressed by the actual existence of those things that do not contain within themselves the reason for their being. Clouds, trees, plants, animals, human beings, buildings, planets, and stars certainly exist, but they don’t have to exist. This means, he saw, that their being is not self-explanatory, that it depends, finally, on some primordial reality which does exist through the power of its own essence. This “necessary” being is what Thomas called “God.” He was moved by the correspondence between this philosophical sense of God and the self-designation that God gives in Exodus 3:14: “I am who I am.” How significant this is in our time when “new” atheists have raised their voices to dismiss belief in God as a holdover from a pre-scientific time. Thomas would remind the Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins of the world that no scientific advance could ever, even in principle, eliminate the properly metaphysical question to which God is the only satisfying answer. God is not a superstitious projection of human need; rather, God is the reason why there is something rather than nothing.

Thirdly, Thomas Aquinas was a deep humanist, precisely because he was a Christian. He saw that since God became human in Christ, the destiny of the human being is divinization, participation in the inner life of God. No other religion or philosophy or social theory has ever held out so exalted a sense of human dignity and purpose. And this is why, Aquinas intuited, there is something inviolable about the human person. How indispensably important that teaching is in our era of stem-cell research, euthanasia, legalized abortion, and pre-emptive war, practices that turn persons into means." You can read the whole thing here.

"How indispensably important..." well said, Barron.

Just heard that one of my old friends from England has been made a Bishop. Quite remarkable.

God bless,

LSP

Resist The Invasion!

Looks like a Bishop - Is an Alien

Top British boffin, Simon Conway Morris, professor of evolutionary paleobiology at Cambridge University, has announced that space aliens are likely to be "just like us", according to the U.K's Guardian newspaper, ATS and GNN.

Morris warns that human look-alike extraterrestrials will probably be looters, on the lookout for water, minerals and fuel, driven by "greed, violence and a tendency to exploit others' resources."

Demented Space Creature

This will come as no surprise to LSP readers who have followed this site's longstanding disclosure reportage of off-world attempts to subvert Church and State.

Destroy All Humans!

Resist the invasion! Trijicon, Aimpoint, Eotech and Schmidt & Bender will help, as will high cal. precision rifles, custom knives, mastery of horsemanship, a renewed SMOM (Sovereign Military Order of the Knights of Malta, RIP V.F.) and the powerful intercession of Our Lady of Victory.

Deus Vult.

LSP

Ghost Horse

Someone's picture of a ghost horse

Had a mixed ride; the first half was frustrating because the horse was reluctant to move and when she did it was in skittish, unpredictable ways - almost as though she was scared. I've noticed that before when riding in that field, the horses really don't want to go beyond a certain point, either at night or during the day.

I'd put that down to predators, coyotes perhaps, but maybe not. Rumour has it that spectral horses have been seen in the pasture, ghost horses, several times. Strange; whatever the case, once we'd moved to a different field the spooked behaviour stopped and I had a good gallop about - great fun and decent exercise too, which is no bad thing.

And, not that I'm skeptical, but why would a horse, or any animal, haunt the earth after they'd died? I'm inclined to think it's something to do with time, but what do I know, being a simple shooting parson? Regardless, there's quite a literature on the subject.

Didn't get any rabbits today - they sensibly hid themselves - but did shoot the center out of a target with the carbine. Nicely accurate bit of kit, the new AR. Looking forward to higher calibers on the same platform.

God bless,

LSP

Disiaster Averted

Took the .45 out for a spin the other day and all seemed well - plenty of ammo, a clear day and it was simply good to be out in the fields. So I loaded up, got into position and fired - excellent, an enormous great hole in my enemy, which happened to be some sort of green plastic bucket. "Well done, LSP", I thought, seeing as how the round had ended up where I'd intended. But then I noticed a curious thing; the slide had locked open.

Well, so what? So a lot because the slide shouldn't do that until the last round and your mag's empty, or you've deliberately locked it open. Puzzled, I released the slide, re-cocked the weapon and fired - good shot, the bucket was taking a pounding, but the slide returned to its new found bad behaviour, which meant that my pistol had somehow turned itself into a one shot, re-cock nightmare.

I did the sensible thing; made safe, retired to the tailgate and field stripped the gun, which apart from a surfeit of oil seemed fine. Then it struck me - too much oil... from an overenthusiastic cleaning... when the slide release/lock lever had somehow popped out of the frame...

Sure enough, the lever in question wasn't right, it lacked tension, or more specifically a tiny spring, which must have exited the gun along with the lever and not been put back.

Mystery of the malfunctioning .45 solved I drove home, thinking how likely it would be to find the miscreant spring. I wasn't sanguine, the thing was small and who knows where it had thrown itself. Springs are like that, you see, and this one had everything to do with the proper functioning of the firearm. I wasn't happy.

Back at the parsonage I went upstairs, stood in the doorway of the room where I'd cleaned the pistol and took stock. "Stay calm, LSP, concentrate." I did, walked slowly over to the gun table, looked down at the floor, and there it was, staring up at me - the spring. Disaster averted, I put it back in its rightful place, snug under its lever.

Now, some would attribute this to Divine intervention, lost springs being notoriously hard to find. Others might say that if that's all that counts as a crisis in LSPland I should count myself lucky; others again might suspect that I'm holding off from posting on the melting glacier that is the failed modern liberal humanist secular project. Whatever, the pistol works now and I'm happy with that.

Off in search of rabbits tomorrow.

Shoot straight,

LSP

The Next Step

Thanks to Tom at Boomers I've discovered the next, logical step. It's another AR chambered for .308, not that I've got BRF (Black Rifle Fever), or anything like that. Not far off the price of a good FN-FAL or M1A. Value.

Speaking of guns, it seems that the Progressive Party aren't doing so well in Mr. Kennedy's old state, where Coakley's ineffective campaign and "crummy personality" helped reduce her massive lead over Brown to a lackluster trail in the polls. So most everyone predicts a win for Brown, but if he does...

"Dems will fight tooth and nail to ensure that he is not seated before they force another vote in Congress. From the certification of the election results in Massachusetts to the halls of Congress in DC, Dems will mobilize to keep that 41st Vote OUT of DC until their nefarious healthcare plan can come to fruition. Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi are like Boris and Natasha - they want to win at any cost to the American People…" Lady Liberty at Rightpundits

Even so, a Brown win could spell the end of a filibuster proof Senate and with it the "internicene graft parade" that's shamefully characterized this year's politics.

I don't know about you, but I'd say the fewer troughing opportunities open to our overlords the better.

Cheers,

LSP

Booting It About

Back in August I swapped out a pair of Bates combat boots for a pair of Wolverines, partly because I didn't like the way water seemed to get trapped in the Goretex liner, turning the boot into a squelching, spongelike nightmare. I found their soles had a nasty habit of de-laminating from the upper too, necessitating repairs with the ever handy Locktite; not a disaster, but annoying.

No such problem with the Wolverines. They've seen plenty of use out in the field and so far the soles have stayed resolutely fixed to the upper, they're pretty watertight too, which has been handy while walking across semi-flooded fields in search of dove or rabbit. Then again, I make sure to keep them well saddle soaped and mink oiled, so they shouldn't leak. For the money and the kind of use I give them, a great boot, well suited to the climate and terrain here.

The Wolverines worked for riding but I found they didn't give as much support as I'd like, being fairly roomy, and the soles could have had better traction on the stirrups. So in a fit of self-indulgence I invested in a pair of Ariat Stockmans.

Very sturdy boots, with a good solid heel designed to take spurs and they seem to stick to the stirrups like glue; great arch support also, which is perhaps due to their 'Exclusive ATS Technology', standing for 'Advanced Torque Stability'. Improbable, I know, but it seems to work, making for a much firmer, better controlled ride and posture.

I'd say they have plenty of Lonestar State appeal and what's wrong with that? Nothing whatsoever.

Stay on the horse,

LSP

Shoot The Carbine!

I've learned something new and it's this; ARs seem to get really dirty when you shoot them but, and this isn't new to me, they're fun to blast off, which is why I stopped being gun indecisive and bought one. It isn't fancy, just a 5.56 flat top carbine and I can always trick it out later with optics, different handguards etc., if the desire's there. It might be handy against wild dogs, coyotes and revisionist clergypersons, if they present themselves, but first things first - zero it in, which I did.

I found it worked better with a Magpul flip-up iron sight than it did with the supplied carry handle. Perhaps the latter was defective as it wouldn't sight in till the windage was dialed all the way to the left. The flip-up didn't have that problem and soon came to rest not far off mechanical zero - elevation at the front sight post didn't seem to need adjusting.

So I advanced to contact against the paper adversary and its Green Bucket and Ice Tea Can allies. I won the firefight, fortunately, doubtless helped by the opposition's inability to shoot back. Ice Tea Can went down spectacularly, exploding into the air in several parts - huge fun.

As the sun began to set the 'value packs' ran out and it was back to the parsonage for meditative weapons cleaning and reflection on tomorrow's homily; water into wine. I'm all in favour of that, preferably in great, or 'industrial strength' quantities.

Self-verdict on latest gun? Worth every penny, for sheer enjoyment. Next stop - get sinister black Deathstar battle rifle in .308 - more stopping power you see.

Good shooting,

LSP

Lepanto

Battle of Lepanto

Inspired by Snarky Basterd, I thought I'd better post this, from the Battle of Lepanto by G.K. Chesterton.

But a noise is in the mountains, in the mountains, and I know
The voice that shook our palaces--four hundred years ago:
It is he that saith not 'Kismet'; it is he that knows not Fate;
It is Richard, it is Raymond, it is Godfrey at the gate!
It is he whose loss is laughter when he counts the wager worth,
Put down your feet upon him, that our peace be on the earth."
For he heard drums groaning and he heard guns jar,
(Don John of Austria is going to the war.)
Sudden and still--hurrah!
Bolt from Iberia!
Don John of Austria
Is gone by Alcalar.

Stirring stuff - Lepanto. Then again, I'm for the Faith, along with GKC. But more of that on the Feast of Our Lady of Victories (Oct. 7).

God bless,

LSP

Horsing Around

Rural Texas was the way England used to be before Carbon turned the erstwhile land of hope and glory into some kind of Kurt Vonnegut Ice 9 disaster. In other words, it was misty and wet with the light drizzle of rain that I always used to associate with the onset of spring, or summer for that matter. But nostalgia aside, it was good to get out to the stables and ride about, except for one thing.

As soon as I began to get into the stride of a canter, the horse would pull a quick head duck, half halt, sneeze, then proceed as if nothing much had happened. But it had, the rider had nearly gone over the handlebars; not dissimilar, I suppose, to being on a motorcycle when the brakes go on unannounced - scary. Didn't come off, fortunately.

Still, sneezing aside, it was great to get back in the saddle for an hour or so. Curious creatures, horses - they do me the world of good.

Get to sight in new M4gery tomorrow, excited about that.

Stay on the horse,

LSP

Christian Realignment

Not B16, just some guy

I haven't posted much on Pope Benedict XVI's important Apostolic Constitution viz. Anglican converts to the Roman Church. So, to make up for the deficiency here's an article by William Lind, from the American Conservative. He writes about the realignment of Christianity across jurisdictional lines, amongst other things - I think it's excellent:

"Their (Frankfort Marxists/Gramscians) driving force is political ideology, not theology. They view the church as just one more venue for radical politics.

Their goal is Nietzsche’s “transvaluation of all values,” where the old sins become virtues and the old virtues, sins. In churches where they take power, the Holy Trinity is replaced by a trio of bogeymen: racism, sexism, and homophobia. Every denomination so afflicted is bitterly split between remaining Christians and the politically correct. (No, you can’t be both, as Marxists would agree.)

What is now happening, and what Rome may have discerned, is that the people on each side of this division find they have more in common with those in other denominations who share their basic faith, Christianity or cultural Marxism, than with the people on the other side of that divide within their own churches. A potential is emerging for a vast realignment, one transcending the divisions that came out of the Reformation. That realignment, in which the remaining Christians in every church would gather in a single, new (small “c”) catholic church, needs a leader. Who better than Rome? Indeed, who other than Rome could possibly pull it off?

Seen in that light, the Pope’s offer to the Anglicans takes on broader meaning..."

Read the whole thing here - well worth the effort.On another theme, you might like SBW's plea for commonsense thrift and less waste, Freeganomics.

Cheers,

LSP

Evil Space Aliens

TEC Bishop

I just read the most remarkable thing, about space aliens. Here's an excerpt:

"The Alien spiritual mission is to spread the gospel of the New Age Movement and to deny Christianity. They also highly encourage their contactees to participate in occult practices such as channeling or mediumship, automatic writing, clairvoyance, mental telepathy, out-of-body experiences, and other New Age related activities. Others who have been abducted have become obsessed with dabbling into the UFO phenomena and occult activities, which, for many, leads to bondage, despair, destruction and suicide. Surveys that have been taken discover that the majority of those who have been abducted have shown an interest in paranormal or mystical activities, involvement in the Eastern religions, and New Age movement. Other have also claimed they have had a past involvement with astral projection, astrology, channeling, Ouija boards, witchcraft, and so on. These things are clearly forbidden by God in His word (Deuteronomy 18:9-12)."

A Roman Catholic priest, Fr. Funes, had this to say:

"Just as there is a multiplicity of creatures over the earth, so there could be other beings, even intelligent, created by God. This is not in contradiction with our faith, because we cannot establish limits to God's creative freedom," he told the newspaper. "To say it with St. Francis, if we can consider some earthly creatures as 'brothers' or 'sisters,' why could we not speak of a 'brother alien'? He would also belong to the creation."

Terrifying Space Creature watched by Holy Father

Interesting - can both be right? In the light of The Episcopal Church's 'Bench of Bishops' and their Pelosian allies in government, I'd have to say that Fr. Funes is guilty of wishful thinking.

God bless,

LSP