Apologetics Cruisers

Edit: is there a rule against taking some form of recreation even during Lent?  In a time when most Catholics don't  fast during Lent, much less avoid meat, this newfound Jansenism on the part of some borders on the hypocritical.   For what could be worse? Supporting abortion, sodomy, the distribution of condoms and Marxist schemes using the Catholic name, or going on a cruise during Lent with Father Z?

Surely, some of these effete newly austere navel gazers have the purest motives when they attack Michael Voris and FatherZ for holding a Lenten Retreat aboard a ship bound for the Caribean islands.

Critics of this retreat would do well to take a close look at what they're objecting to.  A retreat can be a  a beautiful place, even a kind of hothouse, with good food and companions, where a man can withdraw, retreat, from the rigors of his life to take stock, still his heart and listen for God's voice.

Most retreat facilities fall nothing short of luxurious and might be accused of providing a vision of heaven and are comparable to an above average to luxurious hotel.  After all, what is a cruise ship but a hotel on the water?  Even the more austere retreat houses are far from uncomfortable, but not all of us are Carthusians, or meant to be.

Certainly, the J.R.R. Tolkien's imaginative creation of the last refuge of the Noldor in Middle Earth at Rivendell has been compared to a retreat, a place to rest and refresh the soul.  It is nothing short of glorious and luxurious.

Indeed, there are few things more peaceful than sailing along the water, watching a magnificent sunset and hearing the sound of the waves and the birds after having heard a moving and thoughtful Conference by the skillful retreat director.

Any way, the Catholic Church's own puritanical Jacobins are up in arms all over the place and the usual suspects are making themselves heard.  Some of the most vocal critics have been on "apologetics" cruises themselves, which were quite expensive and frankly decadent, upwards of 10,000 dollars.  

The cost of going on a Father Z and Michael Voris cruise is $1,000-$2,000,  which is rather Spartan in comparison.

Karl Keating himself has been kind and wise enough to see how this current blogger frenzy might bleed over into his own Catholic cruise interests, which one of the most vocal critics of Voris forgets he benefits from.