Yoga is an essential part of Hindu philosophy and the two cannot be separated.

This is from the Hindu American Foundation: “Yoga is a combination of both physical and spiritual exercises, entails mastery over the body, mind and emotional self, and transcendence of desire. The ultimate goal is moksha, the attainment of liberation from worldly suffering and the cycle of birth and rebirth.”

As a Catholic the term “rebirth” in this excerpt should be very disconcerting. Catholics simply do not believe in rebirth. As Catholics we believe you are given one lifetime. You are baptized and will live your life as a believer in Christ as your Savior. You aren’t given multiple lives to work out your final destiny.

Additionally, Catholics “get” suffering. Maybe sometimes too much; but nonetheless, we don’t—as a group—run from suffering. We understand its redemptive value. While we may wish to be liberated from it and can certainly pursue that through Christ, we don’t see it as our “ultimate goal.” Our ultimate goal is to unite our lives with Christ, the Suffering Servant.

Or there is this from the Hindu American Foundation: “There is the concerning trend of disassociating Yoga from its Hindu roots. Yet, even when Yoga is practiced solely in the form of an exercise, it cannot be completely delinked from its Hindu roots.”

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Psalms 96:3-6 Declare his glory among the Gentiles: his wonders among all people. (4) For the Lord is great, and exceedingly to be praised: he is to be feared above all gods. (5) For all the gods of the Gentiles are devils: but the Lord made the heavens. (6) Praise and beauty are before him: holiness and majesty in his sanctuary.

photo: Wikipedia

Liberal social justice Catholics have drunk the Protestant Kool Aid

by Doug Lawrence

The Catholic Church in America appears to be almost evenly split between “libs” and “trads”.

For those who are new to these culture wars, “libs” might be described as Catholics who tend to be light on Catholic dogma and overly reliant on emotion and social work – especially when it  comes to things like voting for pro-abortion, pro-homosexual politicians and the government funding of various welfare programs.

“Libs” also tend to be less concerned about the liturgy, and often have a less than complete understanding and appreciation for the sacraments – especially the need for the absolution of sins in the confessional and the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist.

For “libs”, emotion generally trumps faith and reason and malformed conscience trumps all – leading to the scandal of high profile, pro abortion and pro homosexual Catholic (and Protestant) politicians infesting all levels of government – along with a plethora of seriously defective Catholic In Name Only (CINO) charities, social justice organizations and even, religious orders.

All of these characteristics are really nothing new for Protestant groups – but they are new for Catholics, since they were essentially put into place by the post-Vatican II “reformers/enablers/revolutionaries” and others who have subsequently learned to invent such things, for their own nefarious purposes, from “whole cloth”.

To sum it up: Like most Protestants, Catholic “libs” generally find it difficult or impossible to believe in the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass as Christ’s one time, once for many, propitiatory sacrifice for the sins of mankind, the Catholic Church as the “Barque of Peter” – the world’s only universal sacrament of salvation, according to the grace, mercy and forethought of Jesus Christ – and the Bible as the inerrant, Holy Spirit inspired, written Word of God – so about all they have left is social justice work – and their poor choices will almost certainly tend to perpetuate the continuing need for it! 

“Trads” tend to obtain their personal guidance through the exercise of faith and reason, based on a good working knowledge of the teachings of Jesus Christ, illuminated by two thousand years of Catholic Church Tradition, exquisitely reasoned, settled Catholic dogma and Magisterial teachings, the Ten Commandments, the Beatitudes, the lives of the saints and the Holy Bible.

Subsequently, “trads” tend to be very picky about the Masses they attend, the fidelity of the priests and bishops who minister to them, the integrity of the politicians who represent them in government, the causes they support, the Bibles they read and the sacraments they receive – most especially the Holy Eucharist, which they firmly believe to be the authentic body and blood of Jesus Christ, along with his soul and divinity.

The “trad’s” primary reliance on grace-giving sacraments – which for baptized Catholics, serve to engender and deeply nurture the cardinal virtues of faith, hope and charity, among others – is based on almost two thousand years of remarkably successful Catholic church history and tradition- which until fairly recent times, provided the spiritual underpinnings for all the best features of modern, western civilization.

For “trads”, faith and reason are employed in order to better understand the “mind” of the Catholic Church and hence, the mind of Jesus Christ, who is God and who will also be our final judge. Individual conscience certainly plays a big part – but only after all pertinent Catholic teachings and principles have already been carefully and prayerfully weighed and considered.

When “trads” need to get something done, they pray – often using the Rosary, or kneeling before the Blessed Sacrament – believing they will receive. Then, one of several things typically happens: 1) The problem simply evaporates and disappears (praise God); 2) The right course of action becomes apparent and that action is personally carried out, according to God’s grace, resolving or suitably mitigating the problem; 3) If it is within their limited area of competence – God sends a socially conscious Protestant, “lib” Catholic, or other person – to fix things; or 4) Life goes on as before – since even God isn’t willing to tackle certain problems that we create for ourselves, in this “valley of tears”.

Of course, there are exceptions and variations on both sides, but it’s just about that simple!

Randy Engel’s Old Time Religion Prescription, for Catholics

… let us continue to do all that is necessary for our own salvation and for those entrusted to our care. We need to be soldiers of Christ and for Christ. Cradle Catholics like me know the holy drill well enough, at least in part, but it nevertheless bears repeating.

Following the four divisions of the doctrines of salvation found in The Catechism of the Council of Trent: the Apostles Creed (what we are to believe); the Sacraments (the instruments of grace); the Ten Commandments (what we must do); and the Lord’s Prayer (whatever can be the object of the Christian’s desires, or hopes, or prayers), let us strive to:

• Love God with our whole heart, our whole soul, our whole mind, and with our whole strength, and our neighbor as thyself.
• Live the spiritual life according to our state in life.
• Be modest in speech, dress and demeanor as is befitting a child of God
• Keep custody of our eyes; avoid the near occasions of sin.
• Keep ourselves in the state of grace.
• Attend the Traditional Mass.
• Frequent the Sacraments especially that of Penance and the Holy Communion.
• Bring the body under subjugation by fasting, acts of penance, and the offering up of sufferings in reparation for thy sins and those of the world.
• Read Holy Scripture; set time apart for daily meditation and recitation of the Rosary, before the Blessed Sacrament when possible.
• Cultivate a special devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Attend First Friday and First Saturday Masses.
• Pray for the Poor Souls in Purgatory and unbaptized children in Limbo.
• Pray to our Guardian Angel and to our patron saint (s) daily.
• Make generous use of Sacramentals especially the Brown Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.
• Pray for our enemies recalling the words of Saint Thomas More written in the Tower of London, 1534: “To think my most enemies my best friends, for the brethren of Joseph could never have done him so much good with their love and favor as they did him with their malice and hatred.”
• Give Glory to the One Triune God — Father, Son and Holy Ghost — always and everywhere.

Free Download – The Catechism of the Council of Trent (PDF)

 

Today’s Question: Why do Catholics worship graven images, when it’s forbidden in the Bible?

Q: Why do Catholics worship graven images, when it’s forbidden in the Bible? 

A: When Jesus Christ took on flesh and became the literal, flesh image of a heavenly thing, the old prohibition against certain types of graven images became not only moot, but totally obsolete, since no one in their right mind would ever think of worshiping an idol, once they had actually come to know Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God and the Immortal King of the Ages.

What to do? For probably the first time in history, the phrase, “Is the Pope Catholic?” is no longer merely rhetorical.

Next stop: Antichrist revealed?

Question: …From his many statements, it is very clear that the pope has given a tacit approval to homosexuality.

In one of his interviews, he said “Who am I to judge?” The Pope is not able to assertively state that homosexuality is sinful. Instead, he indirectly says homosexual practice is acceptable, as long as the person lives a good life.

What to do?

Answer: That particular statement is merely “the tip of the iceberg”! Increasing numbers of Catholics are beginning to wonder if Francis is really the Pope, since it’s highly unlikely that any “real” Pope would even consider saying and doing such ridiculous and even, heretical things.

For probably the first time in history, the phrase,
“Is the Pope Catholic?” is no longer merely rhetorical.

The current infestation of the Holy Catholic Church by the worldwide network of homosexual clergy, including up to one third of all Catholic Priests and one half of all Catholic Bishops – not to mention a host of corrupt Catholic seminaries, Catholic religious orders and the Vatican itself – has also yet to be officially addressed, in any meaningful way.

Five things to do, until things in the Holy Catholic Church
finally improve:

1) Send a silent, but clear, message: Continue to attend Mass, but rather than offering the standard, verbal responses or participating in the usual hymns, respond “Sotto Voce” (quietly, to yourself) instead;

2) Starve the scoundrels: Reduce personal Church offerings to no more than $1 per week. Contribute freely to other, (verifiable) worthy ministries, instead;

3) Institute a year-long Eucharistic Fast: Refrain from receiving the Holy Eucharist. Make a silent, personal, “Spiritual Communion” instead. If Francis IS the Pope, you probably don’t want to be too closely “in communion” with the likes of him. If it turns out that he’s NOT actually the Pope, the same is even more true. But, remember to faithfully fulfill your Easter Duty;

Even the most “thick headed” Catholic Bishops will likely be able to figure that something is very, very wrong, when the congregation goes silent, the weekly collections “dry up” and all the people refuse to go up and receive Holy Communion!

4) Enlist the help of the Blessed Virgin Mary and her divine son, Jesus: Pray the Holy Rosary, AS OFTEN AS POSSIBLE.

5) Keep all your personal, spiritual affairs in good order: Because once end time events begin, they will likely proceed, at a very rapid pace.

I mention this last point because two things are always true: 1) The return of Jesus Christ is always liable to occur at any time; 2) If Jesus doesn’t choose to return during your lifetime, there’s no doubt that you will (shortly) find yourself appearing before him, in Judgment.

Asked and answered today on Yahoo! Answers (edited for content and clarity)

Further study (link): An act of idolatry made at the Vatican with the participation of the Pope

(Photo by Giulio Origlia/Getty Images)

More hand-wringing about foot-washing

Pope breaks rules as he washes feet of disabled people in pre-Easter ritual

Pelosi’s Mimicry of Pope Is ‘Sickening and Shameful,’ ‘Sacrilegious’

Pope Pelosi Washes Feet

 

$2.2 Million in Catholic Church money “blown” on Atlanta Archbishop’s posh new diggs

ATLANTA (AP) — The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Atlanta apologized Monday for building a $2.2 million mansion for himself, a decision criticized by local Catholics who cited the example of austerity set by the new pope.

Archbishop Wilton Gregory recently moved into a nearly 6,400-square-foot (595-square-meter) residence. Its construction was made possible by a large donation from the estate of Joseph Mitchell, nephew of Margaret Mitchell, author of “Gone With The Wind,” the Civil War epic that made his family wealthy. When Mitchell died in 2011, he left an estate worth more than $15 million to the archdiocese on the condition it be used for “general religious and charitable purposes.”

Text and photos

Editor’s note: The stories of legacies similarly squandered by Church prelates are legion. Even when such bequests have specific instructions and/or limitations included, a deceased person with no surviving family members typically has no one to see that his/her wishes are followed. A few years and a few personnel/policy changes later and anything becomes possible.

To put it quite simply: When you donate money – especially large sums of it – to the Catholic Church, the bishop can pretty much do with it whatever he wishes – no matter what – in which case your cash might be “Gone With the Wind”.

If underwriting the lifestyles of rich and famous bishops bothers you, then find something else to do with your money, before you die!

There has always been sin in the Catholic Church from the beginning of time, but it definitely has greatly multiplied since Vatican II and the sexual revolution of the 1960′s.

Just when we most need the medicine for the evil virus that has entered the Church (true traditional Catholic teaching and the Latin Mass) those who want to administer it, are marginalized and silenced.  Even super progressive Pope Paul VI said: “the smoke of satan had entered the Church“.

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Pope Francis: Jesus is a sinner…

“Jesus is a sinner, we take His own sins to Him and we tell Him, this is Yours and I’m going back out into the world to do it again. Jesus likes that.”

If this scandal is really Francis’ statement, then our Pope is a blasphemer and public heretic.

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Editor’s note: See the story and verify the comments here on the official Vatican news website.

Incompetence, malfeasance and brutal politics manifest at the highest levels of the Catholic Church

Franciscans of the Immaculate Exonerated:
Correction of Commissar Volpi After Notification by Manelli Family

A reader sums things up for us: Still to this day there are no proven or formal charges of heresy, crime, or schism!. The so called “internal conflict” was generated, cultivated, and maintained by a few and seemingly deliberately over the past few years. Some malcontents, not living their Marian Vow, influenced others and turned a number of hearts against their founding fathers. Machinations have been and are going on behind the scenes with sympathetic ears in the hierarchy who do not care for anything of the traditional aspects of the Holy Church, even those the faithful have a full right to.

Reports of great suffering, even hunger, among the brothers is coming forward. Pray for the complete exoneration of the founders and a restoring of this holy Institute according to their direction and not the direction of a commissar or malcontents. A number of friars cannot in good conscience take the oath that the Novus Ordo is a ‘traditional’ expression of the Mass. It is not even though a valid liturgy. A number of friars are going home. The seminary is disbanded and holy vocations scattered.

Editor’s note: Once again, we have religious liberty for everyone, except for Traditional Catholics. That fellow who claimed, “Who am I to judge?” should have heeded his own words. Now we have the makings of a genuine scandal on our hands – and a totally unjust and unnecessary scandal, to boot! The military eqivalent of this kind of thing would be deliberately firing on your own troops. And that’s known as treason!

Somebody needs to get fired over this, but we all know that’s not going to happen. Why? Because instead of opposing and deposing the clerics who have worked to destroy the Catholic Church over the last forty years, the boys in the Vatican are instead, promoting them – and planning to declare a couple of them who have already died – as saints!

Ecumenism gone wild: Former Catholic explains “How Catholic Bishops Led Me to Islam.”

It’s like they put that phony “signing guy” from Nelson Mandela’s funeral
in charge of writing official Catholic Church documents.
A huge scandal, all around!

I was born to devout Catholic parents and attended a Catholic school taught by devout priests and nuns.

We learned thoroughly our religious knowledge by means of the question and answer method called “catechism”. It consisted of 499 questions to which we memorized the 499 well-thought-out answers, word for word.

Our catechism dealt with all aspects of faith, morality and prayer. We attended Mass every Sunday and on seven other special yearly holidays.

Every day at home we prayed the Rosary, a meditation on the 15 most important events in the life of Jesus and his mother, Mary. We dearly loved our parents, our teachers, and our religion. We had a happy childhood.

When I was a teenager, there was a meeting of all the Catholic bishops of the world, about 2500 of them, in Rome. After the meeting, they published a book which said, among other things…

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Editor’s note: This is just one of the many reasons that Muslims all around the world scoff at Catholic “New Evangelization” efforts. The referenced document “Nostre Aetate” was released on October 28, 1965 by Pope Pail VI. Like most Vatican II documents, it is poorly written, and it makes certain gratuitous, erroneous and even dangerous assumptions about a number of ethnic and religious groups.

In the case of Muslims, the writers of  Nostre Aetate assume that the pagan moon god of the Muslims is the one, true God that Christians worship, when the preponderance of the evidence clearly shows the opposite to be true.

The scariest part of all this is the fact that Pope Paul VI apparently intended Nostre Aetate to be an infallible statement of the Magisterium of the Catholic Church. If that’s true, the only thing any sensible person can ask is “which Catholic Church might that be – the old one or the new one – since the real Catholic Church would never – ever – publish poor quality documents of this nature?”

This is precisely the kind of nonsense you get when the liberals take over. It’s like they put that phony “signing guy” from Nelson Mandela’s funeral in charge of writing official Catholic Church documents.

A huge scandal, all around!

Pro-life leaders urge caution, while Pope, Cardinal Dolan praise controversial Nelson Mandela

CAPE TOWN, South Africa, December 6, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The death of South African former President Nelson ‘Madiba’ Rolihlahla Mandela on Thursday has led to an outpouring of glowing praise for the man most known for ending apartheid – a system of racial segregation.

However, pro-life leaders have warned that praise from Christian leaders is inappropriate given Mandela’s role in bringing abortion-on-demand and homosexual “marriage” to South Africa.

According to official statistics, nearly a million unborn children have been killed in South Africa since President Mandela signed legislation in 1996 permitting abortion on demand two years after taking office. Same-sex ‘marriage’ was legalized in 2006, with Mandela having supported it long before its passage.

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An interview with the second most important man in the Vatican – Rabbi Abraham Skorka

The Rabbi is on the left – next to the Pope

NEW YORK — It was September, not an easy time for a religious Jew to be traveling. The Jewish month of Tishrei was ending with its marathon of holy days. Kosher wine would be needed. There were Sabbath blessings to recite. Fortunately, Rabbi Abraham Skorka had a friend with the run of a hotel who arranged for kosher meals and said “amen” to the rabbi’s prayers.

Skorka has been talking about this trip ever since, in interviews and meetings with Jewish groups, for two reasons: The hotel was inside the Vatican, and the friend was Pope Francis.

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Editor’s note: The content of this interview demonstrates the dangers of the way Pope Francis has thus far, chosen to run his papacy. Personal friendship is one thing. Inviting someone from an apostate non-Catholic religion to take up residence with the Pope, in the Vatican, for an extended period – especially during the beginning of a new administration – is a scandal and a sin.

What might be reasonably acceptable in a remote, South America backwater often doesn’t play very well on a world stage – nor should it. Did no one else think this was very strange, even for a “humble” pope?

The Pope’s handlers (Think this is “over the top”? Prove it!) should have realized this when they initially overplayed their “hand”- revealing way too much, way too soon. Barack Obama and his handlers suffered from a similar type of hubris. Liberal community organizer types with a pronounced leftist orientation evidently can’t seem to help it!

You’ve probably heard the term, “death by a thousand cuts.” For Catholics – at least those Catholics who are capable of understanding and recognizing what’s actually going on – it has so far, been “insult by a handful of outrageous interviews.” The pattern continues – and I have little doubt there’s much more to come.

Oy vey!

Vanity Fair Magazine on homosexual clergy in Rome: For fear of laughing out loud, priests sometimes try to avoid making eye contact with one another when hymns like “Hail, Holy Queen” are sung.

The Vatican’s Secret Life
Despite headlines about a powerful “gay lobby” within the Vatican, and a new Pope promising reform, the Catholic Church’s gay cardinals, monks, and other clergy inhabit a hidden netherworld. In Rome, the author learns how they navigate the dangerous paradox of their lives.

 Link to story

Australian Church Scandal Revelations: Unspeakably evil, incredibly incompetent – or both!

Look who’s smiling!

SENIOR Catholic Church leaders protected pedophiles, allowed them to keep offending and kept Victorians in the dark about the problem.

A Victorian parliamentary report is scathing of the church’s leadership prior to the 1990s, saying child abuse was trivialised and their protection of pedophiles meant abuse happened when it could have been avoided.

Archbishop Denis Hart apologised to victims and said previous responses to abuse cases were inexcusable, calling it the worst betrayal of his lifetime in the church.

“I fully acknowledge that leaders in the church made mistakes – these are indefensible,” he told reporters.

“I have to accept that church leaders in the past concealed crimes and caused other children to be offended against.”

The report gives specific examples in which former Ballarat bishop Ronald Mulkearns and former Melbourne Archbishop Frank Little moved known sexual offenders between parishes without reporting them to police.

Link

Editor’s note: In which Vatican II document is this particular subject addressed? In which Pagan temple, Jewish synagogue or Muslim mosque was Pope John Paul II hanging out, when all of this this was occurring?

This is just another in a long string of colossal moral failures, of epic proportions, by the post-Vatican II Catholic Church, for which there is no acceptable excuse. It must be most embarrassing for the hierarchy – especially Australian Cardinal Pell. No wonder the Pope doesn’t want to “obsess” about it!

More details 

Bet you already suspected it: “Catholic” Priest Officiating Gay Marriage Worships at Episcopal Church and Has Male Partner.

[When Fr. Tom was a Catholic priest, he was director of vocations and priestly formation for the diocese of Paterson, New Jersey. He says he soon wants to “marry” his “partner,” with whom he was “living” while still an “active” priest of the Paterson diocese]

Link

Scandal of the week: Retired Catholic priest officiates at two New Jersey homosexual “weddings”

According to USA Today, gay marriage (in New Jersey) officially became legal at midnight and several couples made sure that they were among the first to get married.

Councilwoman Amy Quinn and partner Heather Jensen were married in Asbury Park with another couple, Steven Brunner and Daniel Baum, in a joint ceremony. “I think it’s wonderful,” the Rev. Thomas Pivinski, who officiated the two weddings, said. “I am just very grateful that the state has recognized the equality of all people.”

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Editor’s note: Retired or not, somebody (the local bishop) needs to have a serious talk with Rev. Pivinski. Anyone want to bet whether or not the pope calls him?

Catholic theology professor Anna Harrison’s public position on abortion is an overwhelming display of ignorance at best, and blatant disobedience and a flagrant abuse of her position at worst.

Not to mention, a great scandal!

Harrison wrote in a recent letter to The Argonaut:

The question of abortion coverage is not, as some have framed it, one of balancing Loyola Marymount University’s Catholic identity with its commitment to plurality and diversity of moral and religious sensibilities. This is, in part, exactly because there is no one ‘Catholic position’ on abortion – not unless we are willing to conflate Catholicism with the teaching of modern bishops.

Yet her claims appear to be in direct contradiction to the Catechism of the Catholic Church—which was created and published to “be a sure and authentic reference text for teaching catholic doctrine and particularly for preparing local catechisms”—and states the following about procured abortion:

2271 Since the first century the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion. This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable. Direct abortion, that is to say, abortion willed either as an end or a means, is gravely contrary to the moral law:

You shall not kill the embryo by abortion and shall not cause the newborn to perish.⁷⁵

God, the Lord of life, has entrusted to men the noble mission of safeguarding life, and men must carry it out in a manner worthy of themselves. Life must be protected with the utmost care from the moment of conception: abortion and infanticide are abominable crimes.⁷⁶

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Pope Francis is – wittingly or unwittingly – using a liberal code which genuflects to all the liberal impieties.

How else, for example, could one explain his extraordinary claim in this interview that proselytism is ‘solemn nonsense’? The Pope’s sermon yesterday (thanks Rorate) talks a lot about Mission, so surely we must interpret this remark favourably. Nevertheless, in the same interview, while ruling out proselytism, what Francis never seems to rule in is conversion.

The point is, even if he wants outsiders to convert, this coded language will be taken as a signal by ecclesial relativists. Moreover, at the same time, he insists that the Church is only there trying to spread a lot of love (principally to help the youth employment situation and lonely old folk).

And there was me thinking it had something to do with God (and it does, but you wouldn’t get that from this interview …). I mean, he does not even express the hope that maybe one day Scalfari and his readers might encounter Christ. Honestly, if he thinks this represents good tactics, he really has no antennae for how the liberals will interpret him internally.

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Related link: Liberalism is a sin

Diocese of Trenton, NJ priest “trolling” for sex with young boy gets an unpleasant surprise.

“Promise me you will never breath (sic) a word of this to anyone — ok?” he wrote.

(Fr.) Riedlinger had good reason for discretion.

He is a priest of the Diocese of Trenton, and while exchanging more than 1,200 text messages over four weeks last year, he thought was he talking to a 16-year-old boy.

Riedlinger, at the time an assistant pastor at St. Aloysius Church in Jackson and a sex-education teacher at the parish school, was the target of an elaborate sting by a Catholic University of America graduate who says the priest sexually harassed him for years.

Timothy Schmalz, now 23 and a resident of Washington, D.C., said he was moved to action after his first complaint about Riedlinger in 2011 resulted in what he characterized as a slap on the wrist by Trenton Bishop David M. O’Connell.

Link