Church Militant's The Download is New Coke

Anyone who has followed my blog knows I support Church Militant and I am a big fan of their programming. The first thing I do each morning when getting online is go to CM-before any other site- and watch the latest Vortex episode. My day always begins with Church Militant. 

My three favorite programs Church Militant has ever done are the 'One True Faith' series, the 'Case Files' series by Simon Rafe and the old 'Download' show. 

Last summer the Download went off the air and didn't come back until yesterday because CM was doing extensive construction and remodeling work. I couldn't wait to have The Download back.

I was so very disappointed when I tuned in because The Download I loved was gone. What it was replaced by had none of the charm of the original. We had original Coke and what CM gave us yesterday was New Coke- from the comments on CM's website and their Youtube Channel I wasn't alone in my feelings. 

I'm not only sad for myself but also for the people at CM because I know they all worked so hard and they were excited about what they were doing. Everyone wanted it to be great, but its not.

I didn't like anything about the new Download. I hated it and I want to talk about why I hated it today. 

I am a news hound. I watch too many hours of secular news every day. I watch local news, Fox News, MSNBC and even some CNN to hear what everyone is saying about what is happening in the world. 

When I tune into Church Militant the last thing I want is to be brought back to secular news. I want something above that. I want something steeped in Catholicism. I want not only what I hear to draw me into my Faith, I want what I see to do the same. I want to be pulled out of the secular world and planted firmly back into the Catholic world. The way a beautiful old Catholic church rich in stained glass and art is always worlds above a modern church that has nothing visual to offer its people. Church Militant's The Download used to do that for me. 

I want to start with the music. Oh how I miss the old music! The old show used to begin at 1 pm so I would typically go to CM about 10 minutes before the show and listen to their music leading up to the show. During this time I would make my tea, read some mail etc, always keeping my ear to the music playing because that spoke to me. I knew exactly when the show would start because the music changed. I would put down the mail, grab my mug of tea and settle in to watch The Download just as Christine Niles would appear on screen giving me the Catholic news headlines. I adored my ritual and getting the news headlines from Christine before we all settled in to a one topic discussion on The Download. 

You might think I am being dramatic, but I miss that. This was an important part of my day, a daily ritual for me that I have truly missed. Yesterday I was so happy to get back to my ritual I couldn't wait for 1:30 pm (new time slot) to get here. I was crushed when the music was gone. I had been missing that...more than I knew. It never occurred to me that CM would change the music leading up to the show and I was terribly disappointed because my ritual was ruined and gone. Then the show appeared and I was heartbroken. 

CM's The Download used to be filmed inside their "Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen Studio" complete with the spectacular large St. Michael statue and the soothing colors of blues and purples - to me and others who also mentioned this in CM's comments, Mary and Jesus colors. The tone and feel was not at all like mainstream secular media and that was a very good thing. The table CM's hosts sat behind was inviting and calming. It was like they were sitting across the table from me, talking to me about a Catholic topic-one topic so the discussion was in depth and I learned from it. Even if the topic was tragic, the people and the setting were calming to me-we were in this together-sort of thing. I was engaged, charmed and I wanted the discussion to go on for hours while I drank my tea. Most days when the show ended I would get a refill of my tea and watch the show all over again. This was my must see show every day and I am completely heartbroken its gone.  

The Download January 14, 2019

The new studio that the people at Church Militant refer to as "the pit" is not charming, it's off putting. 

The Download January 14, 2020

The Download went from an inviting room where I felt welcome to sit down and join in, to a vast warehouse stuffed with wires, blaring lights, distracting secular media screens and a ticker. The tiny bar stool type table is the same one shown on MSNBC! And I hate it.

They went from Catholic to secular. I am stunned. I honestly can't believe CM did this. I can't believe no one at CM saw the problems with this. 

As one person commented on CM's Download yesterday, there is no way Michael is going to dance on the new table like he did election night in 2016. 

And the problems aren't just the visual and music, its the content too. The greatness of the one topic Download's of the past where one topic is discussed in depth has been tossed out the window and replaced by multiple topics mentioned in passing because time is ticking. No deep discussions, no thoughtful reflections because there is no time for those things anymore. 

They've morphed the Download into a sort of 30 minute evening news show and it stinks. I'm all for CM doing that sort of thing if they want to, but it should have been done with Christine Niles' headline news, not The Download show. 

I can't say enough how very disappointed I am with everything CM has done. I miss the old music, I miss the Fulton Sheen studio, I miss the long in depth discussions, I miss Simon Rafe, I miss having four people at the table rather than three on bar stools. 

Church Militant made some huge unfortunate mistakes this time. I pray and truly hope they ditch "the pit" and bring back the Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen studio we all loved so much. 

Chalk it up as a mistake and return to what people fell in love with about the show. You don't need to fix what ain't broken. Ditch the New Coke and please, please give us back old Coke!

I'm praying CM listens to their supporters.

In Christ,

Julie 

The Biter Bitten

The following is from The Fountain of Catholic Knowledge (copyrighted by Office of Catholic Publications, 1900)... 

  Two young officers, when walking one day in Paris, entered the Church of the Assumption. After having looked at the pictures, the architecture; after having thought of everything excepting God, they were going out, when they perceived a priest wearing a surplice kneeling down close to a confessional. He seemed to be waiting for someone. 

"Look! Do you see that priest?" said one of the young men, laughingly, to his companion. "What is he doing there?" 
"Waiting for you, perhaps," replied the other. 
"Not very probable," answered the first; "but what will you bet that I go up and speak to him?" 
"I bet you will not." 
"And what is more, that I will confess to him?" 
"I bet you will not." 
"I bet that I will. Come, what do you bet?" 
"A good dinner." 
"With champagne?" 
"With champagne." 
"Done!...Agreed!... Wait for me, and watch the manoeuvre." 

    And the foolish young fellow advances boldly to the priest of God. He whispers to him, and he rises immediately, enters the confessional; then the officer goes in at one of the sides and kneels down, just as is always done. 

"Will he ever have the effrontery?" thought the other. And with a smile of admiration on his lips, he sat down to wait for the improvised penitent. 
This went on for about seven or eight minutes, at the end of which he thought the joke had lasted a little too long. At length, after more than a quarter of an hour, the officer rose, came out of the confessional, and left after making a sign to his friend. His face was serious, and he seemed deeply moved. However, he laughed about the adventure with his companion, but would not tell him why he had remained so long. Upon the first excuse he left him and returned home. 

   Two days after, he again entered the Assumption, and, after having prayed for a long time, approached the same confessional where the same priest had just gone in. 

   This time he remained for half an hour; there were tears in his eyes when he came out...Peace and joy were written in his face...He had just received the pardon of his sins...And what was the meaning of all this? and what had happened to him two days before? It happens as follows, and I tell it in the officer's own words: 

   The priest to whom he addressed himself very quickly perceived, by the tone of his penitent, that he was listening to no serious confession. 

"This is all in mockery, monsieur," he said gently, interrupting him. "You are doing wrong; you must not scoff at the things of God nor at His appointed ministers. But I pardon you from my heart, and I pray God to do the same." 

The officer, a little disconcerted, tried to excuse himself. 

"No, no," said the good priest, smiling. "You have done wrong; let us say no more about it. Still, since you have sought me out, allow me to speak to you for a minute, to ask you what you are-what is your calling?" 
"Willingly, father," replied the young man; "I am an officer." 
"Ah! That is a very fine calling. And what is your grade?" 
"I am a sub-lieutenant." 
"And after that what will you become?" 
"I shall be a lieutenant." 
"And afterward?"
"Afterward a captain." 
"And afterward?" 
"A commander; then lieutenant-colonel, then colonel, then general, then lieutenant-general, perhaps." 
"And what age will you be then?" 
"Well, if I have good luck, and if I go to Africa, about forty or forty-five." 
"And do you not intend to marry?" 
"Oh, yes, I shall marry!" 
"Well, then you will become a general and married; and after that what will you become?" 
"After that? Why there is nothing left but the grade of a marshal." 
"And supposing that you should obtain that, what would you do afterward?" 
"Upon my word, I should do nothing more. I should rest with my wife and children." 
"And afterward?" 
"How afterward?" 
The serious tone of the priest troubled the young officer. 
"Ah, well! I shall die afterward." 
"And afterward?" 

The young man shuddered. Of this afterward he never thought. 

"You give me no answer, monsieur." said the confessor gravely. "You are ignorant perhaps, of what will come to pass afterward. You have told me only of what will happen before. But now I will tell you, in my turn, what will happen afterward. After your death, your soul will appear before Jesus Christ, and will be judged, not according to that human glory which will have vanished like a dream, but according to the good or evil it has done. If you have been virtuous, a faithful observer of the laws of God and of His Church; if you have been humble, pure, chaste, just, and merciful to others,-in a word, if you have been a good and faithful Christian, you will be saved, and will enter into the immutable happiness of eternity. If, on the contrary, you have followed the bent of your evil passions; if you have forgotten the services of God; if you have been proud, sensual, negligent, merciless, and unjust,- in a word, if you have not been a true Christian, you will be damned, understand me, monsieur. 
    General, marshal, though you may be, you will be judged by Him who has no respect for persons, and you will hear the thunder of the terrible sentence: 'Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.' Now I have only one word more to say to you. It was no slight offence to come thus to mock me, face to face. I demand some satisfaction which, as a man of honor, you cannot refuse. 
    I demand, understand me,-I demand that during one week, very night before you sleep, you shall think of what I have just said to you, and shall pronounce these words: 'I shall die; but I laugh at it. After my death I shall be judged; but I laugh at it. After my judgment I shall be eternally damned; but I laugh at it.' 
This is the reparation that I exact. Will you give me your word of honor to that you will not fail to grant it?" 

  His penitent, wholly entangled in the snare he had intended for another, dared not refuse. He promised upon his word of honor to do what was asked from him. 

"Go, then, monsieur," said the priest; "I pardon you from my heart, and I promise to remember you before the throne of God." 

    From a sentiment of loyalty and honor, the young officer performed the penance thus imposed. He made no resistance, and two days after his heart changed, and, sincerely repentant, he returned in good earnest to that confessional which he had entered in jest. He has since become an excellent Christian. 

   If we were wise, we should reflect every day upon the shortness of life, and the unchangeable eternity which awaits us; and by means, we too, should become good and faithful Christians." [end, pg 379-382] 

~~~

I highly recommend watching this excellent episode of The Download which speaks of what awaits people in hell...and a few of the sins, especially betrayal that will send a person to hell.

In Christ,


Julie @ Connecticut Catholic Corner 




Link: http://www.churchmilitant.com/news/article/watch-the-full-show-the-downloadhell-and-traitorous-clergy

image: http://sib-catholic.ru/katolicheskomu-svyashhenniku-v-ssha-prishlos-vyislushat-ispoved-pod-dulom-pistoleta/