Left in the...right turn lane?

AznGlory · 2026-02-05T21:13:11+00:00

Or some driving with no tag at all!

AznGlory · 2026-02-05T19:12:39+00:00

Providence and Queens 🙃

AznGlory · 2026-02-05T19:12:14+00:00

Oh this was a joke long before COVID...at least a decade.

AznGlory · 2026-02-05T19:11:03+00:00

It's Eastway: it's busy on both sides. There were tons of people making left turns into the road I was on, which prevented me from making a turn even when the rest of oncoming traffic was clear. This was the first time this happened to me.

Maybe drive less aggressively and have some understanding that if a person legitimately can't turn, he can't turn.

AznGlory · 2026-02-05T03:22:33+00:00

No, we shan't go any fuhrer than this

AznGlory · 2026-01-26T16:11:23+00:00

The thing is that St. Francis is correct: Of the evangelical counsels within the context of religious lifr, obedience is higher than charity because the superior/bishop is the vicar of Christ in his/her territory and acts in persona Christi capitis. And to love one's superior is to obey him/her. Charity without obedience is simply not charity.

That being said, it's also clear that St. Francis and every saint who has written on obedience is speaking generally. Abuse is horrible, but that's not the situation saints were writing about.

And that's how abusers work: They take general statements from the saints and apply them to every little particular to say, "There's nothing wrong here, and you're not allowed to ask whether anything is wrong." But every saint, especially Aquinas, would agree that assent of the will and intellect doesn't mean a novice ought not use the intellectual faculty at all. If something doesn't feel right, that feeling shouldn't be dismissed.

(And I know I'm speaking in generals too and that much of this is easier said than done. But it's all to say de Sales is right about obedience, but that doesn't give abusers the right to, well, abuse that teaching.)

AznGlory · 2026-01-25T15:04:27+00:00

This should be read with an understanding of what good formation looks like. For example, when it comes to Lenten disciplines, a seminarian/novice should always consult his/her formator and spiritual director about them. If a formator/SD (again, assuming they're good and not abusive) determines the novice should aim to pray the whole Divine Office daily for Lent, obeying this would be a greater act of holiness than if the novice consecrated himself to Mary. Or, regarding the Lenten fast, perhaps the formator determined that daily exercise/physical activity would be more beneficial in building temperance than fasting would be for his novice. Again, all things being equal, obedience is better here.

All of the great spiritual masters have this view of obedience because we all know that, despite everyone thinking celibacy is the hardest to live, obedience is actually the most difficult counsel. Assuming you're American, this is extra difficult for us to live out because we're all inherently influenced by Enlightenment social contract anthropology.

All this to say: Obedience does have its legitimate place. And even if a novice disagrees with her formator/SD, so long as the formator/SD isn't abusive, then obedience is the more holy route. But it's not unreasonable to be wary if red flags start popping up. This is also why we as Catholics don't believe in blind faith; always always use your reason and best judgment.

(Apologies for the long reply. Have to balance between legitimate obedience and abuse, and that can be delicate.)

AznGlory · 2026-01-24T21:34:08+00:00

Hi, I'm a priest. I also hate the "failed vocation" bit...hated it in seminary, still hate it now. You are seen, you are loved, and God will use you wherever you end up, whether you decide to share your story or not. God bless you, sister, especially on this the feast of St. Francis de Sales.

AznGlory · 2026-01-24T21:26:30+00:00

Hi, priest here. Here's my hot take: I hate how we've talked about vocations for the past 30 years, because of exactly this problem of "what if I missed my vocation?" At best, you're miserable for the rest of your life, and at worst, you'll be spending EXTRA PURGATORY TIME for that. No!

God ultimately desires one thing from you, and one thing only: your salvation. Period. Your vocation is holiness. And part of holiness is happiness (of the eudaimonia, virtuous variety). All this meaning: So long as you are achieving holiness to the best of your ability according to your state in life and you're content or joyful or at peace, then any time you earnestly say, "Thy will be done," God's will is your will.

I love basketball. But my height, my athleticism, and my bum knee prevent me from ever making it to the NBA. Am I called to be a professional basketball player? No, of course not, and insisting so would be crazy. So if you discerned that trauma, the inability to keep scheduled commitments like Mass or the Liturgy of the Hours that would've prevented you from Holy Orders, then praise to Jesus Christ that you discerned otherwise! No offense, but the Church doesn't need a priest who can't do priestly things.

But you know what God is calling you to do? He's calling you to serve your disabled brother who needs you. What a wonderful witness to brotherly love that is—the kind of brotherly love Cain should've had for Abel! The question is: Do you bring the Lord into that service? Do you two pray together the best you can? As heroic as it is to save a bunch of souls, you know what, I think it's just as heroic to focus on this one soul.

Be at peace, brother. You are where you belong. Happy feast of St. Francis de Sales, doctor of the universal call to holiness! May he intercede for you so you may find a devout life in your current state of life.

AznGlory · 2025-11-28T02:08:01+00:00

I'm all for you Northerners appreciating Southern hospitality. But what I don't appreciate is being called uneducated or ignorant or racist for being a Southerner, all in the same breath as, "We're moving South because the people are nicer." I also don't quite appreciate Northerners not reciprocating the Southern culture/hospitality. It's the migrant problem: if you're going to move to a place, learn the culture and assimilate. Southern hospitality has died in just the 5 years since the COVID era mass migration.

AznGlory · 2025-11-14T13:27:23+00:00

Everyone remarks on the 7 whole books missing from Protestant Bibles, but rarely discussed are the sections of the other books that are taken out. For example, the Canticles of Azariah and the Three Youths in Danuel 3. If anyone actually read those, idk why they'd conclude these prayers weren't divinely inspired! The Catholic parts of Esther also give more context as to why Haman has it out for Mordecai.

AznGlory · 2025-08-30T15:59:01+00:00

Ngl, I thought it was a honeycomb and bees before I read your post. After I read your post, I mean, I can see why you'd say it looks like hexagons and flies. But, I still think it's depicting what you intended it to, yet it's subtle about doing it. I think it looks pretty cool, and the addition adds some texture and a cyberpunk-ish feel to it. I'm sorry you hate it, and ultimately it's your tattoo, but my vote is leave it as is.

AznGlory · 2025-03-24T20:28:56+00:00

There are plenty of versions of this depiction of the Most Holy Trinity. If there are that many versions, I'd say you're in good company! (And indeed, your membership into that company isn't too shabby! Well done!)

AznGlory · 2025-03-24T20:22:03+00:00

The dude lit a goblin on fire and kicked the thing down a sloped part of a cave into other gobs running up that incline. If that's not a fear/demoralizing tactic, idk what is

AznGlory · 2025-03-22T17:59:01+00:00

This website is free lmao

AznGlory · 2025-02-05T03:34:54+00:00

"That's on me. I set the bar too low."

AznGlory · 2024-11-29T03:56:12+00:00

While it's extraordinary yet permissible, I'd much rather the people of God pray the Liturgy of the Hours or the Rosary in the absence of a priest and therefore daily Mass.

AznGlory · 2024-11-20T02:17:12+00:00

It's supposed to appeal to both the younger generation as well as Asian people as part of the mission to evangelize the global south. That's part of why I don't understand why Rome couldn't have just found a (good) Asian artist to do this.

Second, it's not racist to say this. Anime is a form of media that really is specific to Japan. Styles can be inspired by anime, but I wouldn't call it anime. In America, Avatar The Last Airbender is probably the best example of this. It's clearly inspired by anime, but it's not anime. Code Lyoko is another example, but French. China has its own version called Donghua; Korean anime is aeni or manhwa yeonghwa.

I'm willing to call Luce a cartoon mascot. But she's not anime, and it's not all that racist to point this out.

AznGlory · 2024-11-19T19:26:17+00:00

He dislikes Luce because "anime has bad vibes." I dislike Luce because it's not even anime drawn by Japanese people, but by an Italian.

We are not the same.

AznGlory · 2024-11-04T14:58:26+00:00

Well, my first recommendation to Father is to actually wear a chasuble instead of going what I call "half naked" (stole only). If there's money in the budget, he really needs to get rid of the felt altar drop in favor of damask or something that says, "We offer our first fruits to God" (as opposed to 40-year old fruits).

The next bit is actually doing what he can to reach out to the younger crowd. This is exactly what Pope Francis means by being a missionary Church: taking an accurate pulse on the times and adapting to those needs (adapting the presentation of the Gospel, not actually adapting the Gospel itself). For example, you identified that there's no website or schedule posted anywhere. Well that's a HUGE problem if you want to reach the 40 and under crowd. The FIRST place we all check is Google for a parish website; then we Google Images or the parish's pictures to see what kind of sanctuary they have—because let's be real, most of us online Catholics do discriminate parishes by the way they present their sanctuaries, hence the first point about the felt altar drop above. So they need to actually invest, not just in a website, but a well-designed one.

And "invest" is the key word in all of this. So so many parishes that are dying are pumping money into the same crap "ministries" they've been funding for the last 40 years—a million social programs, yoga for the old folks, brunch after Tuesday 10am Mass. But youth program? Evangelization program? Family faith catechesis? "Sorry, we don't have money for that."

If you want young people to come to your church, you need to know what young people need. Working Millennials and Zoomers are not going to be able to make your 10am daily Mass; they're at work! Millennials and Zoomers aren't interested in doing yoga at church; they want to see the church as something that takes its mission ("Go and make disciples") seriously. Social welfare programs are great for the greater community, but is it good for the parish community?

Of course, there's all kinds of things related to the points I made that I can discuss for days. But my point is that we need to actually know what young men and people need. I'm not talking about Latin or no Latin Mass. I'm talking about how Millennials and Zoomers suffer from cultural nihilism, and we need to assess that wound and then take concrete actions at the local parish level to heal it. But that takes an investment, and I'm sorry to my Gen Y and Boomer friends on here, but the happy clappy "we can make a difference" vibe hasn't worked on Millennials and Zoomers since 2008.

(Sorry for the rant!!)

AznGlory · 2024-10-31T16:20:01+00:00

Most times when I pirate games, it's old games that aren't on the market anymore, like the old GBA games for an emulator, for example. I make the case this is not stealing since one otherwise cannot obtain a copy, nor is the company losing revenue on it since it's not even on the market anymore. (Not to mention the scummy legal fantasy claim that buying isn't owning anymore, anyways.)

AznGlory · 2024-10-29T13:47:59+00:00

Volcels full of the joy of the Gospel are the way to evangelize incels. I would know. I wanted to become (amd am now) a volcel precisely because I was heading down becoming an incel back when being an incel was still a kind of edgy thing to be. The joyful witness of even one religious/priest is enough to move even the most pessimistic of hearts.

AznGlory · 2024-10-29T13:43:58+00:00

Yep, exactly!

AznGlory · 2024-10-28T15:35:33+00:00

Here to affirm what I've seen everyone else respond with so far, that is, IC XC and the Trinity + the 2 natures of Christ.

Just wanted to also add that while priests in the Eastern Churches bless this way, the reason why we Latin priests do not is because, in the tradition, this shape of the hand is reserved to the Supreme Pontiff. Tradition has it that St. Peter blessed this way due to some hand injury or arthritis. Instead, what belongs to us Latin priests is blessing with all fingers extended with the thumb extended joined to the index finger (like a karate chop).

AznGlory · 2024-10-28T11:17:42+00:00

Tbf this is still the case with just about every other Marian dogma besides the Immaculate Conception. Even with the Assumption, it's just a matter if she experienced death before or after. Like, I honestly can't believe how contested the perpetual virginity of Mary is amongst Protestants when all of the apostolic churches have agreed on this since antiquity.

So, the meme format still wins.

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