Happy St. Nicholas Day!

Well, I'm a bit late - "today" is nearly over, but I did not want to let this day go by completely unnoticed! Today is the day we celebrate the ORIGINAL SANTA CLAUS!

That's right! St. Nicholas, Bishop of Myra in Turkey during the 3rd to 4th Centuries.

I encourage you to go to the ACTS Website to see an article I posted there years ago, which references several other articles documenting the origin of Santa Claus. You can't post comments on the website, but you can here!  After you read the article(s), come back here and share your thoughts.

In JMJ,

Scott<<<

Missed It By That Much!

This time I am giving this "Missed It By That Much" - to ME! I was back in the hospital last week and one of the chaplains and I were discussing the Blessed Virgin Mary. I made a comment about Catholics do not "worship" her like a goddess. He responded, with, "Well, some do," and gave me a look like, "you agree with me on that, don't you?" I responded that it is not Catholic teaching, but I cannot speak for every single professing Catholic out there - and that is where I "Missed It By That Much!" 

I told my wife about this discussion and she was quick to point out, as a "cradle Catholic," she has NEVER heard of ANY Catholic worshiping Mary as if she were a goddess - NOT ONE! Of course, that is a bit anecdotal, but true! I too know of NO Catholic who believes the Blessed Virgin is a goddess. Now you might find some former Catholic professing he/she worshiped Mary as a goddess - but that might be one of the reasons they are no longer Catholic - they didn't KNOW their faith!

The problem here is many Protestants, like this chaplain, have a perception of Catholics where they believe that WE believe the Blessed Virgin is essentially a goddess. I did explain that prayers to Mary are essentially petitioning her to petition her Son to gain graces or answer prayers. She does not replace Jesus, as when we go to her, ultimately we are going to Him THROUGH her. 

We discussed the Wedding at Cana, Jesus' first public miracle, where she intervened and even after He told her, "this is not My time," she turns to the servants, knowingly, and says, "Do whatever He tells you." Jesus then goes to them and has them fill the large water pots to the brim with water, and turns the water into wine! (John 2:1-11).

 Want to discuss this more? Please leave a comment!

Second Sunday in Advent

 

The 2nd Sunday of Advent

Prepare ye the way of the Lord! 

During the Season of Advent, like Lent, but with less intensity, we should be doing penance to remind ourselves of the "Reason for the Season," which, of course is Jesus Christ who became incarnate by the Holy Ghost through the Blessed Virgin Mary. Keeping in mind that the Incarnation is not just His conception and/or birth, but also His life, death, and resurrection!

 

On the Second Sunday of Advent, we light the second purple candle and as we do, it is customary to read the Collect of the day (see picture above).

 

Remember also, this is NOT the Christmas Season! Christmas starts with the First Mass of Christmas (typically "Midnight Mass"). Right now we celebrate our holy days BEFORE Christmas. One coming up on December 6th is the Feast of St. Nicholas, from where the legend of Santa Claus arises - more on that on December 6th. Two days later we celebrate the Feast of the Immaculate Conception on December 8th.

 

So, Happy Holy Days!

Round 5 - On Hold!

Well, Round 5 of chemotherapy was to begin on 11/30 and conclude today - but on 11/29 I was put back into the hospital! This time with multiple bilateral pulmonary emboli (blood clots in both lungs). On 11/28 while I could breath - no matter how deeply I breathed I felt like I was suffocating! I called in sick for work that day and put myself on oxygen - and started feeling better. On 11/29 my cardiologist called me back (I had left him a message on the 28th) and had me come into his office for an echocardiogram - and that showed my heart was slightly enlarged on the right side, like it was being overworked, so he told me to go straight to the emergency room and get a CT and "don't plan on going home, I believe you have a pulmonary embolism."

As it turned out, it wasn't just "A" pulmonary embolism, but several and in both lungs. As my cardiologist suspected, I was admitted into the hospital and put on a Heparin drip. By Friday (12/2) I was on an oral blood thinner and by late that afternoon - I was sent home. I am still using oxygen a little, but it is getting much better.

I have a message in to my oncologist about when to start back on chemo. Round 6 is scheduled for next 12/14 - so he may decide to just hold off until then. I await his call to let me know.

 

First Sunday in Advent!

 

Today is the First Sunday in Advent! 

We begin the to prepare ourselves for the celebration of the First Coming of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!

What IS Advent?

As stated above, it is a preparatory time. Christians celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus at the Christ Mass (aka: Christmas) and Advent is the season to prepare us for the Christ Mass. 

Advent is often compared to a "Little Lent" as this preparatory time is a time of penance and reflection. The liturgical color is purple, just like Lent too - for that reason. What little sacrifices can you make during this season to remind you of the First Coming of our Lord?

What Advent IS NOT!

Advent is NOT the Season of Christmas! Christmas begins with the Christ Mass - or the First Mass of Christmas. So during the Advent Season, consider responding to people who wish you a Merry Christmas, before Christmas has begun, with "And a Blessed Advent to you!"

Offended by "Happy Holidays?"

Well, DON'T BE! "Holidays" is short for "Holy Days" - so when someone wishes you "Happy Holidays" they are (whether they are a aware or not) wishing you to have Happy Holy Days! You might consider responding with, "Thank you, and may your Holy Days be special too!"

Some argue that they are "taking Christ out of Christmas" - but that is not true! First off, as already stated, it is NOT Christmas yet! These are the Holy Days which lead UP TO Christmas! In the context of the liturgical year, Christ isn't here yet, so how can you be removing Him?

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Yes! In the Church year, today is the first day of the new liturgical year! So, Happy New Year!

My Anniversary Too!

November 27, 1981 - I married Katherine Marks - and we have had 41-derful years together! Here's to the start of year 42 and even more wonderful years to come - Lord willing!
 

 

Cardinal Zen

Cardinal Zen was found guilt by a Hong Kong court, but fortunately did not have to go to prison (this time) instead he received a fine. Still his stance had been for the religious freedom of Catholics in China, and is not being supported by Pope Francis. See below for what Dr. Marshall has to say about this...
 

https://youtu.be/aBXchPWlWvk

 

Dr. Taylor Marshall on the Cardinal Zen situation in China and how he is being treated by Pope Francis.

Quoting from CNN, they ignorantly referred to Cardinal Zen as “former bishop.” How can such a large news organization make such a mistake? The mark of bishop is indelible, as a cardinal, he’s still a bishop.

Bishop Georg Bätzing

Bishop Georg Bätzing - a leader among Catholic bishops in Germany is making comments in direct opposition to Catholic teaching on the matter of sexual relationships.

The teaching of the Catholic Church is pretty clear, sexual relationships are reserved to married, male and female - period. Having sex before marriage is called fornication, and it is a condemned sin - always has been and always will be - regardless of what bishops in Germany may want to "teach."

Likewise, homosexual acts are outright condemned in both Scripture and Church teaching as "an abomination to the Lord." Yet, Bishop Georg Bätzing is saying:

“no one” adhered to the Church’s teaching that sexuality should only be practiced within marriage, saying: “That’s true. And we have to somewhat change the Catechism on this matter. Sexuality is a gift from God. And not a sin.”

Asked if same-sex relationships were permissible, the German prelate replied: “Yes, it’s OK if it’s done in fidelity and responsibility. It doesn’t affect the relationship with God.”

No, Bishop Bätzing, no matter how you justify or rationalize - sex outside of marriage is a sin. Just because a majority of society partakes in sex outside of marriage does not make it "right." God has ALWAYS condemned extra-marital sex and just because there is a movement afoot to try and change Catholic teaching on this matter cannot change the entire history of God's Word and the Church! It is a sin which can be forgiven, but not overlooked.

Round 4 Is In The Books!

 

OK, chemotherapy started for me on October 5, 2022 and last week I completed Round 4 (of 12) chemotherapy treatments.

So far, so good! My only side-effect has been hyper-sensitivity to cold in my fingers, toes, and mouth. Cold air or touching anything cold turns my fingers into pin-and-needles, I can barely touch anything until I warm up my hands again. In the mouth, if I attempt to drink cold milk or any cold liquid, it feels like someone put some electrified steel wool in my mouth around my lips and the tip of my tongue - and then again in the back of my throat, making it difficult to swallow. Anything room temperature or warm to hot, I can drink/eat just fine. 

I am not "losing" my hair, but it is thinning a bit, my wife has noticed - and I can tell too, to a point. I'm not supposed to lose my hair, but the doctor did say it will likely thin a bit.

Anyway, I am one third of the way through treatments now. When I am half-way through he plans to send me in for a PET scan to see how things are going on the inside. As mentioned earlier, the CT scans of my chest and abdomen did not show any signs of cancer spreading to other organs.

"I CAN FIGHT CANCER" 

With God's help, and your prayers of support!

The 24th and Last Sunday After Pentecost

Today is the last Sunday of the liturgical year!  Next Sunday is the first Sunday of Advent! What are some of your Advent family practices?

In the Extraordinary Rite, the Gospel is a lesson and teaching of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. So we end the year with the end of the world, and next week we start the new year with anticipation of His First Coming.

In the Ordinary Rite, today was the celebration of Christ the King, which is similar to the ancient tradition since with the Second Coming, He will return in glory and as King!

20 Years Blogging!

​Well, I'm not sure what happened to this article! It was posted on October 1st, (the anniversary of the first blog post is October 18th, 2002), and somehow it all but disappeared! So, I am rewriting it and republishing it now.

In 1966 my father-in-law, Francis, (who became my father-in-law in 1981) started the Arizona Catholic Truth Society, or ACTS for short. This was, as we call it today, a "snail-mail" group. He had many subscribers and he sent out a monthly newsletter. 

In 1988, shortly after my conversion to the Catholic Faith, I was starting an apologetics apostolate of my own and was looking for a good name (Proverbs 22:1) and Francis offered me "ACTS" as he was no longer active in his mailing list. I like the name and accepted his offer to take it over. I started the ACTS Email list in 1988. Within a year or two, ACTS was going nationwide, actually worldwide, so I changed from "Arizona Catholic Truth Society" to the "American Catholic Truth Society." ACTS continues to this day as a website and host to several forums, including this one, Qui Locutus.

Qui Locutus was originally started in October of 1992 as the "CathApol Blog." However, my nickname was also "CathApol" and I was not the only one blogging here, so in 2017 I renamed the blog to Qui Locutus, which is taken from the Apostles Creed in Latin "qui locutus est per prophetas" ("who spoke through the prophets") so in short, the name means "Who Spoke."

Outside participation has slowed here in the last few year, I think mostly due to my going back to school in 2016, receiving my masters degree in 2018, and the same year I started working on my doctorate - which as of this writing is nearly complete (working on my dissertation). Hopefully things will pick up again soon - but if you are reading along and see something you wish to comment on, PLEASE DO! Do not wait for me to finish the doctorate! I still jump in as I can and post things of interest to me - and I hope to you too. 

May God bless all those who read along here and guide them to the fullness of Truth - which can only be found in the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.

In JMJ,

Scott Windsor<<<

Scott Update

 Hi All!

It's been a little while since my last update, but it's time now!

 Recap:

In July a colonoscopy found cancer in my colon.

August 11, I had surgery to remove 18 inches of my colon. He also took out 13 lymph nodes (and for good measure, my appendix!), one of the 13 lymph nodes showed cancer as well. Then came recovery from surgery.

Last week I got the results back from a CT of my chest, my lungs are clear of cancer! Previous CT of the abdomen, prior to surgery, showed the liver is clear of cancer too! If the cancer spread to other organs, the next place is usually the liver or the lungs.

October 5, I am scheduled to begin chemotherapy to remove any microscopic cancer cells which may remain. Chemo will be every 2 weeks for 12 sessions (6 months).

Your continued prayers are much appreciated!

In Christ,

Scott<<<

YES! I CAN!

 

Trying this! Support ACTS - Subscribe to a magazine

 

   

Try a subscription to your favorite magazine - if it is listed here, save up to 60%!

Laying On of Hands

Laying on of hands to pass the Holy Ghost upon others. This was the subject of Pastor Greg Laurie the morning of August 28, 2022. I happened to have NewsMax on in my bedroomand his broadcast came on. Laurie spoke about the laying on of hands, but "missed it by that much!"

The laying on of hands is part of the Rite of Confirmation - and is done solely under the auspices of a valid bishop (a priest can do it with permission from his bishop). So while Laurie had it partially correct, the Holy Ghost IS passed on through the laying on of hands, not just anyone has the authority to do this.