WARNING: NOT NIRVANA!

Have you ever wondered why worshippers of the Buddha never argue about anything? Uneducated and ignorant people think nirvana was a grunge band headed up by that guy who killed himself. Even less educated people think nirvana is some kind of blissful state of the soul, a place of joy, peace, and tranquility, and have visions of lily ponds and light and pink lemonade at the mere mention of the word. But the object of Buddhism is not joy. The object of that cold, atheistic religion is the annihilation of love, of self, of thy neighbor, and indeed the world. That’s nirvana, if it pleases you. Buddhists never argue, because they simply have nothing to argue about.  

Now, have you ever wondered why worshippers of the only begotten Son of God seem always to be arguing? And if they are not arguing, they are being ripped to shreds by bears? Christians argue, or put up a good fight against the faithless, precisely because the object of this true religion is love, of self, of neighbor, of the world—‘world’ here meaning the created order and beauty of nature, of all that exists in creation.

Thus, the curse of the Christian is to be a controversialist, because where the true religion is involved, disagreement is bound to arise. This is true, of course, between the believer and the non-believer, but as often happens, the non-Christian is far less concerned about truth than his Christian interlocutor. But where disagreement and controversies do spring up like lilies of the field is in the vineyard of the Lord, between fellow Christians. The reason is a simple one: a true Christian loves his neighbor as much as he loves the truth, which is why paradoxically he is willing to fight with him, to tell him how much of a dunce he is.  

It is to one such little fight or controversy that I would like to draw your attention. A seemingly concerned and very well-intentioned reader of this blog recently typed the following comment: 

“Dear Mr. Robbins: I too am Catholic, reject Vatican II, am sedevacantist, and stay at home owing to the lack of a true pope from whom all jurisdiction in the Church originates. I think Mr. Alonso’s question is a fair one. You are not merely writing a blog; you are, in fact, publishing on theological matters, which according to Church law requires an imprimatur.

I cannot speak for Mr. Alonso, of course, as I don’t know him, but the scandal might be that while you call out traditionalists for violating Church law and her sacred canons, you do the same thing when publishing without benefit of ecclesiastical review and permission for your writings. If it be argued that, owing to the lack of a pope and canonical bishops, Catholics can take up the duties of the hierarchy in its absence to some extent, who is there to correct you if you’re wrong?

I think that we stay-at-home Catholics have to be careful to avoid pride, develop humility, and most especially be careful not to commit the same or similar errors that we correctly point out to those who attend illegal traditionalist groups, or who are still in the Conciliar Establishment religion.”

The reader is referring to a previous comment made by another equally concerned and well-intentioned reader, to the effect: 

“Dear Robert, Although I don’t know you personally, I’m happy to see you are doing better after your absence due to your physical illness. I am a Catholic, sedevacantist, and stay at home. Although I accept all that the Church teaches up until the death of Pope Pius XII, and reject vatican II, I don’t know how far we agree or disagree. Please allow me to ask who gave you the Imprimatur to publish this article? Since no one could have given it to you, how did you determine that it was for God’s greater glory to publish it, and not a scandal? I see it as objectively scandalous.”

That’s Me

I do not doubt the goodwill or sincerity of either of these readers. But I do doubt how much commonsense they have. Yes, the papacy, hierarchy, and priest in his parish were given the mission to shepherd souls in the pasture of the Lord. Sheep were not given crooks. But the shepherd never forbade the sheep from bleating about the Apocalypse, either, especially when he was dead or somewhere in a ditch drunk with apostasy. All this blog is, contrary to what some may think, is so much bleating about the Apocalypse, or as the tag of the blog puts it: “Opining on the Apocalypse.” What I say here is simply an echo of what one may hear read from a catechism intermixed with my opinions on facts of reality. I put forth no new theological theory, nor do I believe telling people they must think and link things together in a syllogistic thought is theology: it is commonsense.  

So why the disconnect? Why the lack of commonsense from my otherwise very intelligent and awake readers? I would argue that it is because we Catholics who only pray at home tend to be very cautious about doing anything that is not approved by the Church. These end times have taught us to be on our guard against false prophets, such that now we are wary of anyone even talking about the Faith. And this phenomenon is not limited to talking to our neighbor. Over at BetrayedCatholics.com, T. S. Benns has had to write an article justifying her encouragement to pray the rosary together in a lay organization dedicated to fulfilling the requests of the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of our Mother. Apparently some believe we must even have ecclesiastical approval to gather together to talk with God and His Mother!

Give Us This Day…

Part of the mission of this website is “…to provide an online haven for those who find themselves feeling alone and isolated just for being faithful.” To this end, I have conducted interviews, written articles, and produced videos for your consumption—a term I despise, but which is fitting. Communion with others is our daily bread as Christians. We need fellowship and the exchange of ideas on the current goings on of the world, otherwise our souls atrophy, and with it, commonsense and love of neighbor. We fall in upon ourselves, caved in by the gravity of being alone with only our own thoughts.

It’s Not Good for Man to be Alone…during the Apocalypse

Christianity is not Buddhism. We simply cannot survive in alienation (if not annihilation) to our neighbor and the world. We do not live by doctrine and law alone, but by friendship with our fellow faithful Catholics—which may, at times, mean we fight like family, because that is what we are! The creation of this website has taught me something: we are not alone. There are so many of you out there who adhere to the true religion, to the untainted Faith, and who also are obedient to the laws of the Church, and so choose to pray at home. I know you are there, because I receive emails from you all. But perhaps others would like the reassurance that they are not alone? I suspect that is why my “Home Alone in Heaven” videos are more immensely popular than all my other videos combined, notwithstanding the fact that my other videos took ten times as long to produce. You out there need to see Catholics talking about Catholicism, and about the Apocalypse and our place during it. For the most part, we have the doctrines and laws down pat, but what we don’t have is fellowship, and actually seeing that there are others who profess the same religion as us, and who are going through the same trial and persecution, no small part of which is being deprived a parish hall, and all that entails.    

It is my belief that hearing from others, and being engaged in conversation about Catholicism, will put an end to this nonsense about needing imprimaturs to talk with our neighbor or our God.   To that end, let me announce a video series idea I have been thinking about for sometime, one which I believe you all really care about and want. Introducing Catholic Conversations, a video series in which I converse with real Catholics from around the world, with those who adhere to the Church in all doctrine and discipline, and principally, those who stay and pray at home. Αll I need is a line-up of those who would like to be interviewed. Ιf you would like to, use the COMMS page to let me know. I look forward to hearing from you!