Mama Buzz Collects Nativity Scenes

Usually, she only sets up some of them. But this year, for the 800th anniversary of the very first nativity scene, Mama Buzz got out almost all of them! Here are some of my favorites.

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CATHOLIC: “[The] individualism and materialism that [are] killing the church in Europe and some parts of the USA … will not be revived by syncretism which means diluting the uniqueness of the Gospel in an attempt to make it more easily acceptable. … Anybody who champions a teaching that contradicts the word of God is championing a heresy which should not be obeyed.” – Bishop Martin Anwel Mtumbuka, Roman Catholic Diocese of Karonga, Malawi. The diocese was erected by Pope Benedict XVI in 2010 and he appointed Bishop Mtumbuka as its first bishop.

COLORADO: In response to the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision to bar Trump from the state primary ballot, the Colorado Republican Party has decided that, if the decision is not reversed, they will switch from a primary to a caucus. In a primary, registered voters decide who they want to be the party’s nominee in the general election. In a caucus, registered members gather and vote on who will be the party’s nominee. Opting for a caucus would allow GOP members to choose the former president for the 2024 race.

EDIBLE BOOK TITLES: Lord of the Onion Rings. Frog and Toad in the Hole. Hogshead Revisited. Moby Spotted Dick. An ox tail of two city chickens. Sticky willy wonka and the chocolate eclair factory. The Count of Monte Crisco. Call of the Wild Rice.

INDIANA: Last month, Saint Mary’s College in Notre Dame announced they would be allowing trannies to enroll in the traditionally all-female institution. After the bishop and a lot of other people objected, pointing out that it went against Catholic teachings, the school reversed its decision.

MIDDLE EAST: CLICK https://www.facebook.com/reel/348724041117718 for an excellent history lesson slash reality check from Bill Maher.

PENNSYLVANIA: Student fees covered the approximately $40,000 Dylan Mulvaney received for appeared on stage at Penn State University on December 5, 2023 for “A Conversation with Dylan Mulvaney.” Despite the fact that admission was free for students, the hall was mostly empty.

PREDATOR: CLICK https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ILm0rlhLxHk to hear Nick Freitas respond to a recent TikTok video by Jeffrey Marsh. Also CLICK https://www.youtube.com/shorts/acD79a41lIc to hear a PR person explain why she tosses out resumes that have pronouns listed.

WEST VIRGINIA: A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit trying to remove Trump from the state’s ballot. However, the ruling was not based on the merits, but on the fact that John Anthony Castro lacked standing. Trump’s lawyers noted that Castro had demonstrated no political activity in the state aside from filing the lawsuit. The judge agreed, writing that his purported campaign was clearly just “a vehicle for pursuing litigation, not votes.”

GRAMMY NOTES: This year, we had the shortest Advent possible. On Christmas Eve, the Mascots got into their Christmas jammies, lit the fourth Sunday of Advent candle and the Christmas Eve candle, sang “Happy birthday!” to Jesus, opened one gift each, and got put to bed. ❤

SHORTS:

CLICK https://www.youtube.com/shorts/HeB0vk8Q-vk to learn how to make your wife glow!

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Merry Christmas!

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Fiducia Supplicans

CLICK https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SF7n_blVbw [4:25] to hear Fr. Mark Goring give his first impression, which was very positive. Then CLICK https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncf3nLo_EYo [7:22] to hear his follow up response to people who were scandalized. Overall, his position is similar to Horn’s. I, however, find his praise for Pope Francis’ alleged love for “all” hard to swallow, given how often the man has gone out of his way to ridicule, condemn, and even persecute Catholics who disagree with him on issues such as large families, the Latin Mass, the COVID jab, and climate change.

CLICK https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZnL2WKPbGo&t=7s [20:16] to hear Catholic apologist Trent Horn’s take on the document. As usual, Horn is careful, thoughtful, and orthodox. CLICK https://catholicvote.org/bishop-of-erie-issues-clarification-fiducia-supplicans/ to read the statement by the Bishop of Erie, Pennsylvania and/or https://kcsjcatholic.org/2023/12/statement-of-guidance-for-fiducia-supplicans-on-the-pastoral-meaning-of-blessings/ to read the Bishop of Kansas City-St. Joseph. Both are similar to what the USCCB, Trent Horn, and Father Mark said.

On the other side of the spectrum are church leaders like Archbishop Tomash Peta and Auxiliary Bishop Athanasius Schneider, both of Kazakhstan, who firmly contend that the new declaration is a “great deception”, and that its proposed blessings of same-sex couples “directly and seriously contradict Divine Revelation and the uninterrupted, bimillennial doctrine and practice of the Catholic Church.”

CLICK https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fy8dkAtSq6g [11:29] to hear John-Henry Newman report on bishops who have loudly condemned Fiducia Supplicans. A majority of bishops in Ghana, Malawi, Nigeria, and Zambia have published statements indicating that blessings of “same-sex unions“ will not be permitted. The Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference — comprising the bishops of Botswana, South Africa, and Eswatini — advised clergy to follow “the suggestions offered by the declaration” until the conference offered further guidance on “how such a blessing may be requested and granted to avoid the confusion the document warns against.”

CLICK https://www.lifesitenews.com/analysis/full-list-where-do-bishops-stand-on-blessings-for-homosexual-couples/ to see Life Site News’ full list of bishops around the world who have come out strongly for or against.

CLICK https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwO-6uKazrI [3:30] to hear Matt Fradd report on the document just released by the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC), the text of which is posted @ https://www.skeparchy.org/wordpress/patriarch-sviatoslav-communique-on-the-reception-of-fiducia-supplicans-in-the-ugcc/. N.b., the UGCC is the largest of the non-Roman Catholic churches. While it is in full union with the Roman Catholic Church, it uses the Byzantine rather than the Latin rites.

The UGCC document declares that Fiducia Supplicans “applies exclusively to the Latin Church and has no legal force for the faithful of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. … According to the traditions of the Byzantine rite, the concept of ‘blessing‘ means approval, permission, or even a spiritual directive for a certain type of action, prayer or ascetic practice, including certain types of fasting and prayer. Obviously, the blessing of a priest always has an Evangelical and Catechetical dimension, and therefore can in no way contradict the teaching of the Catholic Church about the family as a faithful, indissoluble, and fruitful union of love between a man and a woman, which Our Lord Jesus Christ raised to the dignity of the Holy Sacrament of Matrimony. Pastoral prudence urges us to avoid ambiguous gestures, expressions and concepts that would distort or misrepresent God’s word and the teaching of the Church.”

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Away in a Manger

This is the 800th anniversary of the first Nativity scene. In 1223, St. Francis of Assisi set up the first nativity scene to help the faithful to better appreciate the story of Christ’s birth. The story goes that he set it up in a cave just outside Greccio, Italy, using a wax figure of the infant Jesus, costumed people playing the roles of Mary and Joseph, and a live donkey and ox that he had borrowed.

Nativity scenes are also called manger scenes. They are often modeled after the wooden stables and wooden hay troughs common in northern Europe. But in ancient Israel, animals were usually sheltered at night in caves. And they weren’t given hay at night, because they were put out to pasture every day. However, they did need water, so the manger in which Jesus was laid was what we would call a water trough. And it wasn’t made of wood; it was carved out of stone.

The only time a manger is mentioned in Jesus’ birth story is Luke 2:8-12, when an angel of the Lord appeared to some shepherds and told them the Messiah had been born. Bethlehem, being only 5 miles from Jerusalem, was famous for the unblemished lambs it provided to the Temple to be sacrifice for sins. To prevent newborn lambs from random injuries that would render them unfit for sacrifice, they would be wrapped in cloth and laid in a dry manger.

So the shepherds would have immediately understood the significance of the angel’s sign – “a baby wrapped in cloth and lying in a manger.” Jesus was also wrapped in cloth and laid in a stone box after he was crucified.

Stone water troughs were also placed outside, because animals need access to water 24/7. Thus, Baby Jesus’ manger gives us more to think about when pondering John 4:13: “Whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

According to the Law of Moses, stone could not become impure; thus, stone vessels were common in Judea for ritual purposes. Likewise, “living water” (water drawn from a fresh, natural, flowing source, such as a spring) was deemed to be pure. Therefore, purification vessels were filled from sources of “living water” to maintain its purity until it was needed for the many cleansing rituals required by the Jewish religion. Remember how, when they ran out of wine at the Wedding at Cana, Jesus ordered the stone purification jars to be filled with water? Like the mangers, purification jars were carved from limestone that had formed when the area was an ocean floor and minerals containing dissolved calcium settled out of the water. Limestone often contains ancient fossils of corals and other sea creatures that lived hundreds of millions of years ago, tying it not only to water, but to the earliest eras of our planet’s history.

It also speaks to us of the strength we have available to us through our worship of Jesus, the Son of God. While limestone is relatively easy to carve, it is both hard enough to maintain its shape once it has been carved and also immensely strong, with a crushing strength more than 3 times that of concrete.

The image of Baby Jesus in a stone watering trough casts us forward not only to when Jesus turned water into wine at the Wedding at Cana, but further when He turned wine into His blood at the Last Supper, the very blood He would sacrifice the next day to save us all from eternal damnation. Hallelujah!

DECEMBER 25 UPDATE: A friend sent me this photo of one of her Nativity sets. I think it is my favorite one EVER!

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Bits & Bytes

BORDER: CLICK https://twitter.com/libsoftiktok/status/1736929513299378252?s=20 [:11] to see video of thousands of migrants waiting to be processed by Border Patrol after they crossed illegally into our country. This isn’t about immigration. It’s about planned and purposeful invasion.

CATHOLIC: As expected, liberal Catholics and their allies on the godless Left are ignoring the ditzy distinction spelled out in the Vatican’s document – i.e., that blessing two people who happen to be in a disordered relationship is not the same thing as blessing the relationship.

The document also specifies that such a blessing must be spontaneous and avoid the use of words, gestures, or clothing that signify a wedding. But Fr. James Martin, SJ – whose ministry to LGBTQ has been famously praised by Pope Francis – immediately wrote, “I welcome this new declaration and see it as a much-needed pastoral response to Catholic same-sex couples in loving, committed and self-sacrificing relationships.”

I’m thinking it’ll be about five minutes before such blessings become public celebrations that suggest the Roman Catholic Church no longer teaches what the Bible says about such relationships.

POPE FRANCIS: Just days after formally allowing priests to bless same-sex couples, the pontiff (ab)used his annual Christmas greeting to the Holy See hierarchy to encourage the cardinals, bishops and laypeople who run the Vatican to listen to one another and to others so they can evolve to truly offer service to the Catholic Church.

Let us remain vigilant against rigid ideological positions that often, under the guise of good intentions, separate us from reality and prevent us from moving forward. We are called instead to set out and journey, like the Magi, following the light that always desires to lead us on, at times along unexplored paths and new roads.

TRANS: On Monday, activist Kendall Stephens (37) was arrested by Philadelphia police and charged with multiple counts of sexual crimes against two boys, ages 14 and 9. The charges include but are not limited to rape, indecent assault, endangering the welfare of a child, and dissemination of sexually explicit material to minors. Bail was set at $250,000.

On Tuesday, another trans activist posted a heartfelt plea for tolerance and understanding. CLICK https://twitter.com/libsoftiktok/status/1737239104574927228?s=20 [ :20] to hear his rant, which starts, “Can we just start st**bing transphobes at this point?

WELCOME: American wrestler Hulk Hogan and his son were both baptized this week at a church in Florida. Hogan posted photos to social media. “Total surrender and dedication to Jesus is the greatest day of my life. No worries, no hate, no judgment… only love!

WHAT IF: I learned more about God from parenting than from anything else. When my strong-willed, Houdini-like first born was suddenly fascinated with knives, I had to think how to safely teach her they were dangerous, so she would avoid them when I wasn’t watching.

I held her hand, said “Sharp!” and very carefully poked her palm with a pin. She jerked her hand away and looked at me shocked. I said, “Sharp!” again, then pointed to the knives and said, “Sharp!” again and again. Somebody told me I was a terrible mother for poking my kid with a pin, but the fact is that she learned a lesson that possibly saved her from major injury or death.

Pondering this, I realized that when God allows bad things to happen to us, He’s being a good parent. He’s holding our hands and poking us with pins, trying to teach us lessons that will save us from injury or death … if only we will listen and learn. Instead, we too often ignore the lessons and resent Him for trying to teach us. But that’s on us, not Him. He is always, ALWAYS being the best parent possible.

GRAMMY NOTES: My 2023 Christmas card. N.b., the mouse is a reference to the idea that the cross was the devil’s mousetrap. “The bait which caught him was the death of the Lord.” – St. Augustine

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2024: The Colorado Supreme Court has shamefully ruled that former President Donald Trump is ineligible to appear on the state’s primary ballot. If the Supreme Court agrees to review the issue by Jan. 4, the Colorado Secretary of State will be required to continued to include President Trump on the primary ballot. Otherwise, he will be removed from the primary ballot.

CARTER: Wow. I just saw the pictures from Rosalynn Carter’s funeral.

CATHOLIC: CLICK https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OEMgb_0ams [3:11] to hear Bishop Schneider explain why Pope Francis’ latest letter about blessing same sex unions is deceitful.

CATHOLICS WORSHIP MARY”: CLICK https://www.youtube.com/shorts/qVggiIjgVIg for the quickest and best explanation for why this is 100% false.

EPSTEIN: A New York federal judge has ordered a vast unsealing of court documents that will make public 177 of Jeffrey Epstein’s associates — including Epstein’s victims, co-conspirators and innocent associates. The release is schedule for Jan. 1, giving anyone who objects to their documents becoming public time to respond.

CLICK https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddkIHYCu_Gc [11:23] to hear Benny Johnson report on a Republican congressman who says our intel agencies are black mailing them to keep the Epstein files secret. “It’s not a swamp. It’s an open sewer.”

LEFT vs RIGHT: CLICK https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ZA9abM6QQGI and https://www.youtube.com/shorts/7ubtzRYSsD0 for two small doses of liberal stupidity.

NEW YUCK STATE: The Dem legislature wants to force all food and beverage providers along the Thruway to remain open seven days a week. Obviously, this is a bill specifically targeted at the religious rights of Chick-Fil-A, which is always closed on Sundays to honor the Lord’s Day. Yeah, except the Thruway knew this was the company’s policy before signing a 33-year contract for restaurants on the new Thruway Travel Plaza system.

Assemblyman Simone said, “I think it’s ridiculous that you’re able to close on Sunday — one of the busiest travel days of the week.” Except nobody is going to faint while driving on Sunday. Chick-Fil-A is only at eight of the 27 Thruway Travel Plaza locations and all eight of them have other eateries that are open on Sundays.

  1. Ardsley Travel Plaza also has Burger King and Starbucks.
  2. Sloatsburg Travel Plaza also has Shake Shack, Panda Express, Dunkin’, and Starbucks.
  3. Plattekill Travel Plaza also has Panera Bread, Burger King, Auntie Anne’s, and Starbucks.
  4. New Baltimore Travel Plaza also has Shake Shack, Panera Bread, and Starbucks.
  5. Iroquois Travel Plaza also has Burger King and Starbucks.
  6. Chittenango Travel Plaza also has Starbucks.
  7. Warners Travel Plaza also has Burger King and Starbucks.
  8. Clifton Springs Travel Plaza also has Shake Shack, Auntie Anne’s, and Starbuck.

TEXAS: On Monday, Gov. Abbott signed a bill making it “a criminal offense for illegal entry into this state from a foreign nation.” This law will give authorize local police to handle immigration enforcement and allow Texas to deport those who cross into the state back to Mexico.

GRAMMY NOTES: Mama Buzz got invited to an Ugly Sweater Christmas Party. She doesn’t own one and rarely wears sweaters, so she opted for letting the kids dress her up as an ugly Christmas tree! LOL

SHORTS:

CLICK https://www.youtube.com/shorts/dl8NjP2zVso to see a libtard glitch. LOL

CLICK https://www.youtube.com/shorts/w2q5xU5koNE and grab a tissue.

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CATHOLIC: Pope Francis has issued a new document in which he reminds us that, while marriage is a sacrament between one man and one woman and we can’t bless sin, somehow it’s okay for a priest to bless couples who are in “irregular relationships.” The document stresses that such blessings must always be no more than “simple gestures,” not formal rituals, with special clothing and traditions such as are typical for a wedding ceremony.

Given the enormously positive reporting I have seen in the left-stream media, it is clear that just about nobody is paying attention to the “just a simple request for God’s graces” thing. CLICK https://notthebee.com/article/the-media-was-chomping-at-the-bit-this-morning-to-report-that-pope-francis-is-telling-priests-to-bless-same-sex-relationships-lets-look-at-what-he-actually-said to read a thoughtful commentary by Joel Abbott at Not The Bee, which basically says what I did.

CLICK https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfUBXyRaSq8 [3:11] to hear Bishop Strickland’s response. His response is a lot more to the point. “Just say no.” < YES!

J6: CLICK https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Db6t1TFIflE [8:46] to hear Liberal Hivemind’s report on the unraveling “insurrection” narrative. Text of tweet by Tarik K. Johnson, former Lieutenant U.S. Capitol Police:

I (Tarik Johnson) was the Commander that ordered and led the evacuations of the Senate and the House during the J6 breach after begging former Assistant Chief Yogananda Pittman for permission to do so as she sat comfortably in the Commander Center watching the events unfold on CCTV while Chief Steven A Sund was obtaining National Guard approval and getting assistance from local law enforcement agencies. Pittman flat out ignored me so I was forced to forge ahead with the evacuations without obtaining approval from her.

Three days later I decided to call Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont to report Pittman’s malfeasance and approximately an hour after I got off the phone with the senator I was contacted by the USCP internal affairs section and informed I was suspended. The suspension lasted for 17 months and I was under a USCP gag order not to speak about the events of January 6, 2021 to the media until I separated from the Department. I was also required to remain in my house Monday through Friday from the hours of 8am to 4pm and unable to step off my property without notifying the USCP for fear of being disciplined up to and including termination during those 17 months. These are SOME of many facts USCP Chief J Thomas Manger (who is arguably the most corrupt politician in the country) was brought in to cover-up.”

STUFF MANAGEMENT: My Stuff Management System (SMS) has three rules. 1. If I have a thing, my SMS must tell me where to put it. 2. If I want a thing, my SMS must tell me where to find it. 3. While my things are in storage, my SMS must keep my things in good condition.

GRAMMY NOTES: Bootz learned about Socotra Island in the Indian Ocean where the unique Umbrella Tree grows. He showed us where it is.

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2024: A new Morning Consult poll shows Trump leading in all seven swing states. In other news, Michigan‘s Court of Appeals ruled that Trump will be on the primary ballot.

BIDENOMICS: Since FAUXTUS took office, the average cost of a monthly mortgage payment has doubled. In other news, millions of able-bodied men are affirmatively not looking for work. CLICK https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Mags9-vRQw0 to hear Mike Rowe talk about how they’re not discouraged by a lack of jobs. There are plenty of jobs. They just don’t want to work.

DEMOCRATS: One of Democrat Senator Ben Cardin’s staffers filmed himself enjoying anal sex with an unidentified, naked man perched on a table where senators often sit to ask questions during a hearing. The room has been identified as Senate Room Hart 216 – The Judiciary Room. Capitol Police are investigating.

IOWA: Michael Cassidy is a devout Christian and former military officer who felt compelled to remove the blasphemous Satan idol that the Satanic Temple erected in the Iowa Capitol. He turned himself in to police officers immediately afterwards. He has been charged with fourth-degree criminal mischief.

The world may tell Christians to submissively accept the legitimization of Satan, but none of the founders would have considered government sanction of Satanic altars inside Capitol buildings as protected by the First Amendment. Anti-Christian values have steadily been mainstreamed more and more in recent decades, and Christians have largely acted like the proverbial frog in the boiling pot of water. I saw this blasphemous statue and was outraged. My conscience is held captive to the word of God, not to bureaucratic decree. And so I acted.”

You can donate to his legal fund @ https://www.givesendgo.com/michael-cassidy-legal-defense. The $20,000 needed for his defense was raised within 3 hours, at which point donating was suspended. However, it has became clear that his defense could be much more expensive, so giving was reopened. Cassidy has promised, “All donations in excess of what is directly related to my defense shall be donated to a Christian legal fund.”

OMG: CLICK https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5wyG2n3GN8 [2:20] to hear about newly dropped whistleblower evidence of the DEI “cult” within IBM.

SHORTS:

CLICK https://www.youtube.com/shorts/4oEQlBdAEpg to see some “talking dog” sibling rivalry.

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BIDENOMICS: Dunno about you, but we’re definitely feeling the pinch.

CALIFORNICATION: As the wealthy flee high taxes and rampant crime, Democrats dreaming of a socialist utopia have been smacked upside the head by Maggie Thatcher’s 2×4. In short, the state has run out of other people’s money. Tuesday’s “Expenditure Freeze” Budget Letter orders all state agencies to immediately halt all nonessential expenditures. One might have thought that spending taxpayers’ hard earned dollars on nonessentials would be SOP; but then one would not be a Democrat.

DEMOCRATS: All voters need to learn this true fact … whenever Democrats put a warm, fuzzy name on a piece of legislation, you can be sure it will actually accomplish the exact opposite.

OKLAHOMA: Devout Christian and Republican Dusty Deevers has won a seat in the state senate. Despite having been outspent and suffered from a national smear campaign, he beat his Black Democrat opponent by 10 points. Deevers is outspoken about his desire to end abortion, pornography, and no-fault divorce.

OMG: About a month ago, IBM published a statement explaining that the company was canceling its ads on X due to Elon Musk’s alleged tolerance for antisemitic hate speech. The statement righteously announced, “IBM has zero tolerance for hate speech and discrimination.”

On Monday, O’Keefe Media Group dropped whistleblower leaked video showing that IBM actively and deliberately discriminates against certain races, which is a violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. CLICK https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrfVIbXKqtg [12:44] to hear the evidence. The first few minutes is plenty.

CLICK https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q53zscZdtdA [6:48] to hear IBM’s CEO try to wokesplain the undeniable fact that they are making hiring and firing decisions that discriminate against Caucasians and Asians. Again, the first few minutes is plenty.

Definitely CLICK https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QADPpH5AZpU [1:06] to hear a hysterical mock-up of an “IBM” attempt to fix their mess. LOL!!

TRANS: The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) just issued a major position statement that defines “sex” as a basic, defining, biological characteristic of human beings and renounces trans ideology. CLICK https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAHB-Ak4r_s [5:19] to hear Dr. Geroge Halasz comment on this “refreshing” change in position.

GRAMMY NOTES: And every single one of us had bell-bottomed hip-huggers and Ali McGraw’s “Love Story” hair. I owned one of those circle belts too. 🙂

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