Cutting through the very thick smog of confusion...

Back in 1971, I was invited to be one of two(!) best men at my friend's wedding in Southern Cal.

I flew from New Jersey, and arrived at LAX on that Fall, October day.

I stayed at my friend's house with his mom.  After a nights sleep, I got up and took a short walk down the sidewalks of Norwalk -- a pretty tough neighborhood in those days.

One of the first things that "hit" me was that I could see, smell and taste the air I was about to breath!!  Smog!!

I had never experienced that before, so all this was new to me, but not to the natives of So. Cal., especially my friend; he kind of chuckled when I mentioned that my eyes were burning too!

That was the lousy experience, but there were good experiences too.  The Chicano lifestyle, for better or worse, was interesting to say the least.  I was matched-up with a beautiful Mex-Amer. girl as my companion for the ride to the Church.  The "low-rider" was all dolled-up with tons of fur and fuzz balls; a steering wheel about the size of bottle cap, and special shocks that allowed the driver to raise the '67 Chevy up or down as we were riding!  Actually, it was more like bouncing up and down!

Pretty cool stuff for a boy from the Bronx...

After the wedding, we drove to the reception hall, and I have to tell the readers that there must have been 500 guests, or more!  The place was packed.

For the next few days, we drove up the eastern spine of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, eventually arriving at the incredibly beautiful, Lake Tahoe, then San Francisco, down highway 101, and back home.  Not bad...

I titled this article: cutting through the very thick smog of confusion, because you can just about smell and taste the "smog" that has infected our American culture, what's left of it.

This "smog" is annoying, but it also can be deadly to the soul, that is, if one is not strong in their faith.  And there lies the problem: it has blinded the eyes of some in the American Catholic Church.

During the reign of Pope Leo XIII, he praised America for the freedom of religion, rare among nations of that time, but he also condemned -- yes condemned -- AmericanISM.  

Basically, that meant the watering down of Catholic doctrine so as not to offend non-Catholics.  What a mistake.  We are still paying for it now.  It did not start with the Second Vatican Council, but that unnecessary council just poured gasoline on the fire, so to speak.  As you can imagine, it has only gotten worse, not better.

So, today we have Catholics who ignore authentic Church teaching, and have itching ears for false doctrine.  This is so widespread that many married Catholic women see nothing wrong with either contraception -- bad enough, and, yes, even the morally damning, soul killing abortion.  Incredible...

We must adhere to basic Catechism 101: why are we here on earth?  To know, love and serve God in this life, and be happy with Him in the next.  Simple...

Pray for discernment, and pray for our country.

Gene DeLalla