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Background: The Discover your Roots Project…

The Discover Your Roots project began when I blurted out a crazy, ambitious idea…and it stuck. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let me start the story from the beginning.

No doubt if you are bothering to read this, you are aware of the Synods that have been taking place yearly, and also…well…uh…the…uh…clarity and depth of vision contained in the documents issuing forth from these gatherings. *cough*

Most of you also have probably heard the scuttlebutt surrounding this year’s Pan-Amazon Synod. I won’t get into this…if you aren’t already aware of the contents of the Synod’s Working Document and the many boasts regarding the irreversible changes that will be taking place…there is no lack of internet ink being spilled on the subject for your perusal. (Remember from my last post, I really do *try* to avoid getting pulled into that quagmire…)

So in one of my unavoidable moments of chagrin over some of these articles that I really shouldn’t be reading, but can’t help reading anyway…I thought to myself…This isn’t what is needed to revitalize the Church in the Pan-Amazon region! What is needed is not a new truth, but the Fullness of Truth…as embodied in the traditional Liturgies of our Church. The deep roots afforded by Tradition are what allow the Church to weather the vagaries of the world. Without them, no change will help…we build on sand when we abandon our roots.

And it occurred to me…I have heard so many stories of conversion relating to the book Treasure and Tradition. It presents this Fullness of Truth in a way that is so easy to digest, so appealing, yet so rich, that it is nearly irresistible. If only we could airlift in copies of this book Berlin-style…

My mind raced…hmmm…the Pan-Amazon region…so…Central and South America…where they speak Spanish and Portuguese (and some English)…Well, it just so happens that Treasure and Tradition has been translated into Portuguese already, and the Spanish translation is nearing completion…What if we got a group together and went to the Synod and handed these out outside the Synod Hall? Wouldn’t that be great?!?!?!

In hindsight, one often wonders in these moments of madness, what proportion of the ideas that coalesce come from the Holy Spirit, and what proportion from a combination of hubris, folly and naiveté. Be that as it may, in a fever of excitement over the idea, I immediately reached out to some friends and blurted out my idea. I hadn’t explored its feasibility, much less its sanity, and most of all, I was blissfully unaware that the Synod may be called a Pan-Amazon Synod, but it’s still being held in Rome, and it would be taking place…wait for it…during the entire month of October.

It was only after I received heartily enthusiastic responses to the idea that I discovered some of these most obvious drawbacks to the plan. Really, who can take an entire month, drop everything and go to Rome? (Hint: not me.)

Fortunately (or unfortunately, as my husband and anyone else who cherishes sanity would likely put it) the more I encouraged my friends to talk me out of it, the more the idea stuck. I tried consulting with the types of people in the Church who are eminently more sane, but this failed to produce anyone who wanted to talk me out of it. Even my own attempts to talk myself out of it failed. The more I thought about it, the more it became obvious that no matter how Quixotic the idea was, it needed to be done.

So…feasibility was quickly shoehorned into how can we make this work?, and the Discover Your Roots project roared into life. At least…that’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.

Learn more in successive posts about this unique project, what it’s all about, and how you can get involved and feel that you are not powerless to fight the Powers and Principalities that are arrayed against our Mother Church.

Till next time, God bless you.

Making a difference…

Does the news surrounding the Church today make you feel helpless?

I can do all things in Him that strengtheneth me.

(Philippians 4:13)

Years ago I made a promise to myself to only follow a few trusted news sources. I’m a worrier, and when I read about all the…stuff…happening in the world today, it is hard for me to maintain the peace that characterizes the people of God. That becomes even harder when I read about all the stuff happening in the Church today.

And since the news has been erupting with the most dismal stories on a daily basis for the past year or more, I have felt that the only way to restore that peace is to feel that I am actively doing something to bring about change.

Now, I’m not naive, and I know that little I can do will change the hearts and minds of some of the big names you read about in the news. Only God can effect that sort of change. But God has given me the gift of having some small ways of making a difference, and in the hopes that it will provide solace to those of you who are feeling lacerated by the constant explosions in the headlines, I want to share this small means with you.

Some of you may be familiar with the book Treasure and Tradition; it is a book that was conceived along the lines of a DK Eyewitness book, but its subject matter is the Traditional Latin Mass and its rich history. Now, some of you may be saying, “Well, that’s not for me, I’m not interested in the Latin Mass…” Wait. This is for you, too. The Ordinary Form of the Mass that is celebrated today shares the same history as the Extraordinary Form…and when you begin to learn about its beauty and splendor, you begin to fall in love with your faith in ways you never expected.

This is the gift, the small way of making a difference in the messed-up world we are living in. This book has a rare power to draw people in and fill them with a new understanding of the inestimable treasures that our faith contains…treasures that lie hidden today unless you seek them.

The purpose of this blog, then, is twofold:

  1. To provide a platform for you to share stories of conversion (or unexpected deepening of your faith) that came about from reading and/or sharing the book Treasure and Tradition; and…
  2. To share with you the journey that we will be undertaking in an attempt to bring this book to those who otherwise would never have found it, and effect a change in their lives.

We will share a means of doing #1 in a separate post.

As regards #2, I will say just a few words and then will also expand in a later post.

We are organizing a group of volunteers to be in Rome during the Pan-Amazon Synod in October to pray, fast and do reparation for the harms being done to our Mother Church…and to distribute, free of charge, at least 3000 copies of this book to the pilgrims there.

Currently our group is small but our hopes are high. Paul converted the Gentiles with only a handful of men; Saint Patrick converted the Irish with the same. With your prayers of support, we know that God will send us those who are ripe for conversion…and with His help, they will be brought closer to Him. And through this small effort…more souls will be illuminated by the light of faith.

Please add your prayers to our effort. If you are inspired to join us in Rome, contact us. And if you would like to add even just a widow’s mite to help us print more copies to distribute, and add your name to the list of those we will be praying for in Rome, you can make a donation here.

Thank you for reading and God bless you.

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