The Discernment Dilemma

Lately

2007-01-16T13:01:00.000-05:00

Jonathan Lee has gone off to college, so some room remodeling was done. For a few years I shared a room with the third eldest brother and while it never presented too many problems, more space would not have gone (and is not going) over badly. I moved into a room which I share with the eldest brother. So I don't have a room to myself, but the room I'm in now is at least fifty percent larger (if not more) than the room I was in before. I'm getting used to it now but I don't think that will take long, especially since I'm right by a certain toy I bought for myself. It's funny, I actually decided to put this item there just a couple of days before I had any idea that I'd be moving into that room in a few days.

As recently as three or four months ago, I had little life. To put it bluntly, that is why I could post as much as I did. But since then, stuff has begun to take off. As I noted before, I have my learners permit now. So that's something to consider and practice at.

I've had this job now for six months (I can scarcely believe that) and, with all humility, I've gotten to be good and reliable at it. In the manager's eyes, I'm worthy to get a lot more hours which, now, I'm doing.

And now I have SAT's to think about. Not only are they something to think about, but they are what is weighing heaviest on my mind. I tell people I love the job I'm at but I don't want to be at home a day past eighteen years. So I'm really worried about doing a good job and developing a good strategy with which to go at it.

This isn't something to think anxiously about, but I just thought I'd mention that I now have guns! BB guns. The first one I got for Christmas was good except that it had a load of trouble cocking only one round at a time. It would jam, I'd cock it again and it would take another round, so then it would have two rounds in it and wouldn't fire...it was a mess. So I went out and got two more guns which are more accurate and have none of the problems. Very fun.

There is my status report. Again, I hope to post at least a few times a week.

From the Dead

2007-01-11T11:11:00.000-05:00

Gooood Lawd it's been a long time since I've posted anything. I don't know what happened aside from blogging being thoroughly pushed to the side when things like work and school and driving came around (yes, ladies and gentlemen, I have my learners permit). Still, I'm going to try and get at least a few posts a week in.

In the meantime, check out some of the beautifully designed and structured parishes popping up in my home diocese of Arlington.

"Oh no, you're not rapping your way outta this one!"

2006-12-02T09:57:00.000-05:00

Ariz. Cop Had Black Men Rap Away Ticket

TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) - City leaders have apologized after a program on Tempe's cable channel showed a white police officer telling two black men they could get out of a littering ticket by performing a rap.

Good Lord...

2006-12-02T09:50:00.000-05:00

Snake king Ali Khan dies from cobra bite

TAIPING: Malaysia’s snake king Ali Khan Samsudin, 48, died as he had lived – handling the reptiles that he loved.

His eldest son Amjad Khan, 21, said his father had been performing at a show in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday when he was bitten by a King Cobra.

Ali Khan, who regularly performs with his beloved snakes for charity and for a living, died at 1am yesterday at Kuala Lumpur Hospital where he had been recuperating.

Amjad Khan related that when his father contacted him on Tuesday to tell him he had been bitten, the family had not been too worried.

“He had been bitten by snakes many times before, including three times by King Cobras. The first King Cobra bit him in Taiping when he was 21.

“So we didn’t think anything would happen. I was just relaks saja (calm),” said Amjad Khan at their flat in Kampung Boyan here yesterday.

A Test of Consistency

2006-11-23T22:58:00.000-05:00

Jailed For Religious Abuse

A man who spat at a Muslim woman and verbally abused her has been jailed for 15 months.

Charles Adams, 23, targeted his victim as she travelled by train with her children from an event in Hyde Park commemorating the July 7 terror attacks on London.

Middlesex Crown Court heard he had been watching an Arsenal match at Highbury with his elder brother and dad and had been drinking.

Adams told mother-of four Michelle Idrees, who is white Islam convert, that she had "sold out" her culture and her children would grow up to be "suicide bombers".

Judge Mr Justice Calvert-Smith told him: "When to your surprise, instead of cowering meekly at your abuse, she answered back you increased the venom of your abuse.

"This culminated in what was a disgusting form of common assault by spitting in her face."

The altercation on the Thameslink train in London began when Adams walked past Ms Idrees - who was wearing traditional Muslim dress - and chanted: "Terrorists, bombers. Terrorists, bombers."

Prosecutor Aisha Khan said the pair began to argue and Ms Idrees suffered foul-mouthed abuse.

Adams, a window cleaner, then turned to her four-year-old son and said "That's the next suicide bomber" before spitting at her face. His dad joined in the verbal abuse.

Ms Idrees, 28, who was also with her nephew, two friends and their two children, pulled the train's emergency cord and the men were arrested.
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I don't approve of these men's behavoir, but let's go over to England and yell at a priest that he's a pedophile or at a devout couple with going to or fro a church that they've sold out to the Catholicism and that they've totally abandoned their ability to think, and see if we're saddled with these punishments? Any takers? Didn't think so. If there were any punishments handed out, you can take it to the bank that "religion" would not be on the ticket.

T'was called 'The Golden Age of the Priesthood'

2006-11-23T01:44:00.000-05:00

Holy lord! I think they'll need a few more bishops in there to ordain all of those ordinadi!

Openness and Tolerance

2006-11-22T21:10:00.000-05:00

School bans pro-life T-shirts, fliers
Officials fear other students will object, consider message religious

A Virginia high school barred a Christian student from distributing materials and wearing a T-shirt that declared opposition to abortion, prompting a legal response.

Andrew Raker, a student at Millbrook High School in Winchester, Va., participated in a national pro-life event Oct. 24 called the "Day of Silent Solidarity" in which he distributed postcard-sized fliers with information about abortion, the Arizona-based Alliance Defense Fund said.

The next day, school officials pulled Raker from class and told him he could no longer distribute the materials because other students might object or consider them to be religious in nature.

C-c-c-CAVE!

2006-11-22T21:05:00.000-05:00

Transvestite killings on the rise in Guatemala

BENTONVILLE, Arkansas, November 22, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Retail giant Wal-Mart announced Tuesday afternoon that the company will no longer use corporate money to “support or oppose highly controversial issues” such as homosexual activism. Wal-Mart had outraged pro-family groups for its financial support to homosexual activists, and for the recent promotion for sale of a graphic sex-ed manual promoting teen lesbianism, recalled shortly after a LifeSiteNews.com exposé.

Very Interesting

2006-11-20T23:46:00.000-05:00

Pro multis means "for many," Vatican rules

Vatican, Nov. 18 (CWNews.com) - The Vatican has ruled that the phrase pro multis should be rendered as "for many" in all new translations of the Eucharistic Prayer, CWN has learned.

Although "for many" is the literal translation of the Latin phrase, the translations currently in use render the phrase as "for all." Equivalent translations (für alle; por todos; per tutti) are in use in several other languages.

Cardinal Francis Arinze, the prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship, has written to the heads of world's episcopal conferences, informing them of the Vatican decision. For the countries where a change in translation will be required, the cardinal's letter directs the bishops to prepare for the introduction of a new translation of the phrase in approved liturgical texts "in the next one or two years."

Putting things into Perspective

2006-11-18T00:06:00.000-05:00

Fr. Jim has a very good post up. Essentially, a lady was talking to him about her husband who was publicly humiliated for some minor point of grievance. The lady's husband, apparently quite a devout man, has quit going to Church. Fr. Jim hit the nail on the head right here:

"Why do we worship God? Why do we hear Mass? Why do we continue as Catholics, rather than become Jews, or Baptists, or Muslims, or whatever? In Whom do we put our faith? I think those are questions that all of us should seriously ask ourselves periodically. There are probably a number of ways that we could phrase our response, but one answer that is certainly 100% wrong is that we have faith in Father So-and-so, and that we believe in God because Father says so, and that we are in the Church because Father is so wonderful. Or Sister, or the bishop, or His Holiness, or our dear sainted German grandmother. God alone is perfect: everyone else is bound to fall short. And when the one we've placed on the pedestal falls, our faith (if it depends on another human person) is likely to fall, too. God knows, if I gave up my religion every time some stupid priest offended me, I'd have become a pagan a long time ago."

I'm no fan of public humiliation, but even the most embarrassing incident has to be put into perspective. God wants and deserves your presence at Mass. Ideally, you're surrounded by friends and family who are all come to do the same thing: worship God. Quite a few people can share stories of little churches out in the country where every one knows everyone else; where you're practically disallowed from not being knit into the proverbial fabric of the parish's life.

However, often times it's not that way and you're surrounded by people who are just other people to you, and quite often there are people there who you wish weren't. In this gentleman's case, it's the danged priest celebrating the Mass up on the altar and a few dozen folks nervously looking over at you for a variety of reasons.

It sucks, but so does life. Look beyond the very real but oh so temporary discomforts of embarrassment and forward to the love of and for the glory of God. "Blessed are you when people hate you, and revile you, and utter every kind of evil against you for my name's sake. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven." (Lk 6:22-23)

With all possible compassion towards this man, but is quitting going to Mass putting you (and I use the term collectively) and the wound you are nursing before God or after him. Aren't you deciding that your own embarrassment is more important than worshipping God and renewing the covenant of Christ's blood through the sacrament of the Eucharist?

I'm not an eighty year old man who is very wise and who can lend an entirely new meaning to someone's struggles with a one-liner, but God knows that this is a hard thing to do. But so long as you believe in the mediation of Christ and His Body of believers who establish their own mediatorship in Christ, you are never alone. There isn't a saint, I believe, who can't relate to what this gentlemen must feel. I also believe, however, that there isn't a saint who can't help. It's all in the prayer. Prayer will never solve all your problems, but it will help you to accept and to deal with them. In a world like this, we can use all the help there is, can't we?

Fr. Jim also noted somethin which I, having lived there, can certainly vouch for, and this is that there are about a bazillion other parishes within throwing distance in the Arlington Diocese. It only makes skipping out on Mass more illogical. But I'm going to pose another question, and this is one that I find myself trying to deal with so much that I'm sick of thnking about it. This is, what if you're pushed up against the wall with no other choice really. Translating this hypothesis to this situation, what if there weren't so many other parishes to go to? Would you (again, collectively speaking) be able to suck it up and go despite everything? In parts of the world, and this has been the case for two-thousand years, you're simply not afforded that comfort. So what would you do? That's a question I think everyone should ask themselves.

If you're like me, the honest result is probably not what it should be. Again, prayer prayer prayer. The Mother of God followed along and stood there while her Son died in a manner that was not only reserved for the lowest sort of criminals, but which was also publicly humiliating. I think she would understand our plight if we went to her asking for greater will and resolution and integrity. Go to Mary, I say, like the servants at the wedding feast did when they ran into trouble with a lack of wine. She will never fail to lead us to her divine Son, in Whom is found the source of all consolation.

Naught as queer as Folk

2006-11-13T23:52:00.000-05:00

Distraught Man Uses Terrorist Tactics to Stop Girlfriend’s Abortion

MOSCOW, Russia, November 13, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A young man dressed in military gear attacked a Moscow abortion clinic in an attempt to stop his girlfriend from undergoing an abortion, Interfax reported Nov. 8.

Identified as ‘Alexander’, the student from the Ulyanovsk region burst into the hospital clinic wearing camouflage gear from his army service and carrying what appeared to be a grenade and a pistol.

According to reports, the man took a nurse hostage and ordered her to take him to the operating room, arriving just before the doctors began the abortion.

Begging his girlfriend not to have the abortion, he threatened the doctors, ordering them to release the girl.

The man was restrained by guards and taken to a local police station. His grenade was discovered to be a plaster cast, while the pistol was an air gun.

In his defense the man said he had not intended to do anything wrong, but that he loved Tatiana, the girl, and wanted to marry her and raise a child. He was released without charges.

The couple married. Their child will be born next spring.
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This is an odd story, and the man's tactics were certainly awry, but it does have a happy ending.

Why the World, by and large, Sucks

2006-11-09T14:09:00.000-05:00

Losses on Ballot Measures Jolt Religious

From the country's heartland, voters sent messages that altered America's culture wars and dismayed the religious right - defending abortion rights in South Dakota, endorsing stem cell research in Missouri, and, in a national first, rejecting a same-sex marriage ban in Arizona.

Conservative leaders were jolted by the setbacks and looked for an explanation Wednesday. Gay-rights and abortion-rights activists celebrated.

The verdict on abortion rights was particularly clear. Oregon and California voters defeated measures that would have required parents to be notified before a girl under 18 could get an abortion, and South Dakotans - by a margin of 56 percent to 44 percent - rejected a new state law that would have banned all abortions except to save a pregnant woman's life.

The Fruitcake Lady

2006-11-09T00:11:00.000-05:00

Marie Rudisill, a.k.a. "the fruitcake lady", was a correspondent on the Jay Leno show for five plus years. She was, in my opinion, the funniest by far. She came on to make fruitcakes a few times and they decided to, since she was old and wise looking, turn her into an advice lady. "Ask the Furitcake Lady" was Jay's funniest card to play.

Anyway, she recently died. But look at the commemorative page on Jay Leno's web-site and have a look at her videos. Hilarious!

Politics

2006-11-08T22:42:00.000-05:00

California and Oregon give a shout out to all child molesters interested in covering up getting their thirteen year old mistress pregnant. We all know the argument in favor of abortion (or "choice"), but I simply can't understand what kind of a hellish reasoning there could be behind this.

And amendment two passed in Missouri. Says this article:

According to the Missouri Secretary of State's office, of the 2-million-plus votes cast, 50.7 percent voted yes, while 49.3 percent voted no.

In comparison to Virginia's senate race, that's a blowout. By the way, why are people writing articles about Webb's win as if it were a done deal? Barrinunforeseenrseen concession, it'll be a few days yet...at least..

All Hallows Meme

2006-11-07T13:49:00.000-05:00

Nobody tagged me, but I want to do it, so what the hell.

If you were invited to a Halloween/ All Saints Day Costume Party, which saint would you dress up as and why? (The Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, is not an option.)

St. Thomas More

Which saint or other person would accompany you to the party?

St. John Fisher?

What famous quote would help others identify you?

"I die the king's good servant, but God's first."

Describe your costume.

Wealthy, sixteenth century Tudor England. Jonathan Lee played Thomas Howard, the Duke of Norfolk in a play so it wouldn't be too hard to mock up a costume.

Which movie or film best depicts the life of this saint?

A Man for All Seasons

What is your favorite book written about this saint or that he or she has written?

I haven't read it, but I want to, and that was Thomas More's son-in-law biography of the saint.

I'm not surprised

2006-11-07T13:47:00.000-05:00

Suicide is the second leading cause of death in Iran

Hospital data indicate that women top the list in suicide. Suicide among the young is setting off additional alarm bells.

Tehran (AsiaNews) – Suicide, especially among women, is the second leading cause of death in Iran. Everyday, Tehran’s Loqman Hospital admits scores of would-be suicides. However, officials in this and other hospitals tend to downplay the incidence of suicides in Iran, partly due to government pressure, partly due to the experts’ view that such news would cause even a further spike in suicide rates. In fact the head of Iran’s Forensic Medicine Organisation is quoted by the Sedaye Edalat daily as saying that “suicide data should not be publicised.” Still some successful suicide attempts are reported every day in the national press.

Unreal

2006-11-07T13:45:00.000-05:00

Monty Python and the Holy Grail's killer bunny has met its match.

I like Abp. Burke

2006-11-07T13:42:00.000-05:00

Homosexual Predators Removed from Priesthood by Vatican at Archbishop’s Request

ST. LOUIS, November 6, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Catholic Archbishop of St. Louis, Missouri has announced that four priests, previously suspended upon credible accusations of sexual abuse, have been permanently removed from the ranks of the priesthood. The Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has dismissed the men at the request of Archbishop Raymond Burke.

A word from the Pope

2006-11-07T13:35:00.000-05:00

Pope says Catholics can't choose which teachings to follow or ignore

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Catholics, whether laypeople or priests, cannot choose which teachings of the church are important to follow and which can be ignored, Pope Benedict XVI said.

"The basic duty of the bishop -- pastor and teacher of the faith -- is to invite the faithful to accept fully the teaching of the church," said the pope in a Nov. 7 address to the bishops of Switzerland.

The bishops were in Rome for meetings with Vatican officials and the pope as a delayed conclusion to their February 2005 "ad limina" visits. Those visits, which bishops make every five years, were interrupted by the illness and death of Pope John Paul II.

Pope Benedict said he knows that it is a "painful experience" for the bishops to see practicing Catholics and "sometimes even priests" question some of the doctrines and disciplines taught by the church.

"Some have assumed a right to choose, in matters of faith, those teachings that, according to them, should be accepted and those that can be refused," he said.

Life and Death

2006-11-07T12:26:00.000-05:00

Gosh, posting has been so slow recently. Well, now I have something to post about.

I went up to what I call "God's country", northern Virginia, to attend a wedding of the daughter of some long time friends of ours. The wedding was at All Saints in Manassas, my old parish.

The family was a very big one, and I exaggerate not when I tell you I learned of new siblings of the bride's I didn't know existed. I had also forgotten how pretty all of the daughters were.

Since it was a family tightly knit with the private schools up their, I had expected to see a few people from my old school and specifically my old class only seven years older. Unfortunately, I didn't see anyone.

Curiosity got the best of me, and I had a look at the altar server schedule. I was surprised to see that the ranks of altar servers was still predominantly male. In fact, I only saw one girl's name.

The only people I really knew there were my God-parents who I had seen in a much shorter time since they came down for my confirmation in April. I learned that they're twenty year old daughter is about to get married at the very end of December.

The wedding was only an exchange of vows and not a nuptial Mass. I would've had the nuptial Mass, but oh well. What with the wedding and the fact that Jonathan Lee had been visiting Christendom College in Front Royal (about forty-five minutes away, though thirty the way he drives it), I was reminded oh what a friend of mine and current Christendom student told me which is that quite a few Christendom people want their nuptial Masses to be Tridentine, and that Bishop Loverde is apparently quite generous in dealing out permission slips, if you will.

After the wedding and before the reception, I saw a priest come out of the rectory with the flowing tails of a cassock and a hip sash blowing in the breeze. I, being a nerd, recognized him as one just ordained this past summer. Fr. Gregory Thompson I think his name was.

At the reception, there was the typical music three times as loud as it needed to be. One of the songs played was the one that goes on about "love and marriage go together like a horse and carriage". Yeah..one is fitted with constricting binds and made to pull the loud! Just kidding.

At All Saints, up against the wall and to the right of the altar, there were two huge scroll like things titled "In Memoriam" and had the names of the parish's dead of the last year. Jonathan Lee spotted a name that was all too familiar. The name was that of my lifelong friend's mother who I saw and talked to quite a bit since I lived next door to them for almost ten years. I thought to myself that it could have been someone else but it would have indeed been a coincidence if someone with the same name from the same home parish had died. Since it was my friends birthday on that day anyway, I called up and amidst wishing a happy birthday and catching up on a few other things, I heard that it was indeed his mother listed and that she died about a year ago from some sort of heart condition that stumped the doctors. Very sad...she was younger than my mom.

Which reminds me, it was quite fitting and made a pleasant contrast that my return to All Saints should be to attend a wedding since the last time I was there was a few years back attending the funeral of a little girl.

Response to Kerry

2006-11-03T00:50:00.000-05:00

Haha! This is very funny.

MO Stem Cell Ads

2006-10-30T21:41:00.000-05:00

It's very easy to say that of course Michael J. Fox should run ads supporting stem-cell research since he is afflicted with a disease that, supposedly, could be cured by the offspring of stem-cell research. The way I see it is that it's sly manipulation by its clear attempts to appeal to pity. "The poor guy...I need to vote yes on amendment two". I do feel sorry for him and anyone suffering from Parkinsons, but I'll be damned if I'm going to vote to expand embryonic stem-cell research for you.

Now on the other side. The ad retorting Michael J. Fox was, for the most part very good. (Did you notice four of the five people were Catholic and two of them were baseball players?) However Jim Caviezel should not have been in that ad. It's just too damn easy now to say "oh the Republicans are just trying to say that you hate Jesus if you vote 'yay'." But it was beyond imprudent to actually have him quoting an Aramaic line from the Passion of the Christ. They had him quoting the line from the Garden of Gethsemane where he rebukes Judas for betraying the son of man with a kiss. Very tacky, and a huge lapse in judgment.

Edit: Check this out.

That's a tall Building

2006-10-30T21:03:00.000-05:00

World's tallest tower rising in Dubai

Slated to become the world's tallest skyscraper and symbol of a city given to grandiose projects, "Burj Dubai," or Dubai Tower, is rising in parallel with the profits of its promoter, Emaar Properties.

With two stories added every week, Burj Dubai is taking shape as the centerpiece of a 20-billion-dollar venture featuring the construction of a new district, "Downtown Burj Dubai," that will house 30,000 apartments and the world's largest shopping mall.

When it sucks to be right

2006-10-20T00:43:00.000-04:00

I can't say I didn't foresee this. Just a couple of thoughts though.

I don't want to see anything about "Willie Randolph this" or "Willie Randolph that". Willie was incredible this year. I can only remember two or three games where he should've pulled a guy sooner or left a guy in longer. He really is what the Mets need. It will be good to have him back next year.

Even before this Championship Series was old, I was thinking that, regardless of the outcome, next year will be exciting for the Mets. Come May, we'll have Pedro Martinez back, and we could have had Orlando Hernandez back as early as a couple of week from now.

On that note, I think I was right about the Mets hurting from their loss. What downed the Mets? It was injuries. Pedro went down and now is out until the summer, and then Orlando Hernandez falters before the start of the first game of the division series, for crying out loud. That's murderous. And then Floyd goes down at the beginning of the series....no, the Mets problem this year was the injury factor.

John Maine and Oliver Perez did much better than I and many other people expected, but you're not going to win the World Series on a staff of Glavine, Trachsel, Maine, and Perez. You will, however, on a pitching rotation of Martinez, Hernandez, Glavine, Trachsel, and a John Maine, Oliver Perez, or (who knows?) Mike Pelfrey in the fifth spot.

Another thing I was saying to myself before the Championship Series ended was that I doubted the National League would win the World Series. Detroit's pitching rotation is a force to be reckoned with, and I was doubtful that the Mets, hitting a poorly as they were when I noted it in my last post, would be able to pull four games from under them.

I want it to be quite a long time before I hear the name "Yadier" again, and for crying out loud, Ron Belliard, close your damned mouth! Why the hell do think anyone at home wants to see your tongue?! Seriously! The guy gets a base hit, the camera looks over at him, and we're treated to a short film of a grown man drooling!

I don't now how long it's been since the Cardinals won the World Series, but I'm fairly sure it's been longer for the Tigers. They've sat through so many humiliating years of losing absurd numbers of games. I'm a Mets fan...I know what that's like. For now, I'm pulling for the Tigers. As for me on a more personal level, I'll have to wait a little longer.

Back from the Dead

2006-10-18T15:15:00.000-04:00

Sorry for that absence to those of you who, for some reason, wanted to read my blog.

I got caught up watching the playoffs. When the Mets won the NLDS two Saturday's ago, it came as something nice just as something really crappy was starting. I had come down with Pneumonia which I had never had before. Well I've given it a try and all I can say is that I don't want to have it again.

Anyway, some comment on the NLCS. First of all, it was a good season but the Mets have lost. After both Pedro Martinez and Orlando Hernandez got hurt we were talking about how we had been winning a lot of the year even in Pedro's absence and won the entire first half without El duque. Well, yeah, because we scored a lot of runs. Now that we're in the playoffs and actually running up against, you know, pitching, our offense has taken a nosedive and that's why were down right now.

Especially in light of that fact, we're not going to come back and win two games against Chris Carpenter and Jeff Suppan. Fine season, but pack it up.

Lastly, I want it to be a long time before I hear the name "Yadier" again.

I never Knew this

2006-10-01T16:16:00.000-04:00

Did you know this? I didn't! Now that I do know it, it seems like every other person I see is saying it.

I find him unbearably arrogant to read, but thanks to the kind gesture from Stephen L.M. Heiner in pointing this out to me.

Just saying

2006-09-28T18:00:00.000-04:00

"Once more the Church will rule the galaxy!"

Won't work Under present Conditions

2006-09-21T23:10:00.000-04:00

And this is from the rulers of Jordan who are as moderate as you can get. This is a stumbling block to Pope Benedict's call for dialogue with Islam. Anytime you offer criticism, or even quote a criticism that you vow doesn't even reflect your personal opinion, it's immediately goes in the prejiduce file. You can't talk about differences with this kind of an atmosphere.

Wouldn't you know...

2006-09-21T17:35:00.000-04:00

Dave Chappelle did a sketch that was a parody of Trading Spaces called "Trading Spouses". That show actually happened. Now there is another parody of his that has apparently come to fruition.

Ditch that 'Best Baby Name Book'!

2006-09-20T20:49:00.000-04:00

Read this passage from this article from CNA:

St. Perfidious, a 1,400-year-old Greek Orthodox church in Gaza, was attacked by unknown assailants Friday and suffered interior damage.

Isn't Perfidious a rather poor name for a saint?!

Right on the Money

2006-09-20T20:41:00.000-04:00

Cardinal Pell: Violent Muslim reaction justifies Pope's concerns

Sydney, Sep. 20, 2006 (CNA) - Cardinal George Pell of Sydney said the violent response to Pope Benedict’s comments about Islam last week justified the concern the Pope had been expressing about the lack of reason which can exist in faith and the use of religion to justify violence.

”The violent reactions ... showed the link for many Islamists between religion and violence, their refusal to respond to criticism with rational arguments, but only with demonstrations, threats, and actual violence," the cardinal-archbishop said in a statement.
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Yes!! Thank you, your excellency!! "...their refusal to respond to criticism with rational arguments..." That is exactly what I've been thinking more than anything. Even from the ranks of the moderate Muslims, I've heard the hurt feelings and the demnads for an apology, but I've not read even any attempts whatsoever to show that Emperor Manuel Paleologos' challenge to Islam was fundementally flawed.

Wha- huh?!

2006-09-20T20:25:00.000-04:00

VATICAN: SPANISH PM RALLIES BEHIND POPE IN ISLAM CONTROVERSY

Madrid, 20 Sept. (AKI) - Muslims societies around the world should calm down and step back from the "disquiet" they may have experienced at Pope Benedict XVI's recent remarks linking Islam and violence to allow "understanding to prevail," Spain's prime minister, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said on Wednesday. "I am absolutely convinced that the Pope at no time wanted to cause controversy, confrontation or criticism of the Islamic confession or the people who practise it," Zapatero stated, adding that Benedict XVI had his "full support."
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Alright, I'll be honest...I never saw this coming.

The Hierarchy of Canada

2006-09-20T20:20:00.000-04:00

Bishops laud 'new mood' at the Vatican
Ontario prelates welcome the building of rapport

Ontario's bishops are saying there is "a new mood in the Vatican" under the pontificate of Pope Benedict XVI.

During their ad limina visits to the Vatican, which heads of dioceses are required to make every five years, each bishop, talked about his diocese with Pope Benedict in a brief, individual, private audience at Castel Gandolfo, as well as in longer talks with Vatican officials in Rome.

Archbishop Marcel Gervais of Ottawa, who has made innumerable visits to Rome during his 26 years as a bishop, told CNS he found the pope to be "the epitome of courtesy and fraternal affection."

Uplifting conversation
Though each bishop's private audience was brief - 10 to 20 minutes long - the archbishop said the conversation was "very good" and "uplifting."

Gervais said all the bishops noted a "new mood in the Vatican."

During their week of meetings with Vatican officials discussing issues important to their dioceses, "we were not getting preached at," the archbishop said. There was a real sense of "we're here to serve you."

Bishop Fred Colli of Thunder Bay, age 57, said even though he was nervous before meeting the pope the pontiff's warm and friendly manner immediately put him at ease.

Clinching News

2006-09-19T14:28:00.001-04:00

METS LIVIN' IN CROWN TOWN

Mets Clinch First NL East Title Since 1988

Wait's over: Valentin homers twice as Mets clinch East

Mets clinch National League East title

It’s All Good. No, It’s Better Than That

For Crying out Loud

2006-09-19T14:21:00.000-04:00

How hard is it to just re-read your notes before going on the air? I was watching an ABC news clip where Diane Sawyer talked about the controversy that has come of Pope Benedict citing a fourteenth century Pope.

Mets Win!!!

2006-09-18T22:31:00.000-04:00

Ladies and Gents, my New York Mets have clinched a playoff berth and won the N.L. East for the first time since '88!!

By the way...

2006-09-18T22:24:00.000-04:00

...yesterday was this blog's one year anniversary. I can hardly believe that.

Islam's Weakest Link

2006-09-18T19:23:00.000-04:00

This is the best post I've ever read from the Shrine of the Holy Whapping. Drew puts down in plain terms the main difference between Christianity and Islam, the notion of a loving God who wants us to be with Him and who would send His divinity to earth for our sake.

In Islam, there are the characteristics of Allah. Among them are unity, eternity, perpetuity, existence, strength, knowledge, life, hearing, sight, speech, and my favorite, total dissimilarity. Love isn't on that list, nor is forgiveness or mercy. Islam is a faith of powerful strength and not a faith of powerful love. I believe John Paul II put it that Islam is not a religion of redemption and that in Islam, there is no room for the cross.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16

Building your own Cathedral

2006-09-18T14:25:00.000-04:00

If I had the money to do something like this, I'd probably keep it to a parish level. I'd go an look at a bunch of churches in this diocese, the Diocese of Richmond, for modeling purposes. There are a bunch of churches still left in this diocese which didn't have the money to tear themselves down and therefore still remain quite nice.

One thing I'd have to do would be to build a new church my local Tridentine Parish that would be, among other improvements, more conveniently placed.

Via Fr. Jim

Disappointing

2006-09-17T23:01:00.000-04:00

Pope Benedict apologized today. For a few reasons, I think that sucks. Not because I don't want to see some people apologized to or anything like that, but because I just don't think it was necessary. And it sends the wrong message. The message is that if Muslims don't like something, all they need to do is riot, burn, shoot, and kill, and they'll get what at least some of them want. These Muslims, bascially, are whinny children.

Without getting too deep into the debate over Islam's nature, if the Papacy starts telling it like it is about Islam and then backs down as soon as the child gets whinny, there will be little chance of ever recovering. I had hoped the Vatican would start to get a little more serious about Islam. The National Catholic Register believed this is to be the Dominus Iesus papacy. I don't mean to rail (especially not against the Pope), but this isn't a good start. As I and many others have said, Benedict didn't even say he agreed with the emperor. How is he supposed to now continue with his hopes for more frank dialogue (dialouge that it would be given that he would agree with) after this?

In my opinion, the response should have been that he simply quoted an emperor, and that anything about Benedict agreeing with the emperor is purely hearsay.

Will the Pope's words make this blow over? I think they will. But regardless, peoples eyes, I think, have been opened more. I know many people had a much more difficult time accept "the religion of peace" after the deadly riots that protested the whole Danish cartoons deal. I think this adds onto it. The Pope quotes the emperor as saying that stuff about Islam, Muslims respond to allegations of them being violent by staging angry marches that go right up to the line, and then other Muslims downright crossing that line by torching, shooting, and killing. They're only making it harder for their co-religionists in the west who while may not liking anything the Pope (or rather, the emperor) said, aren't in favor of burning churches or shooting nuns.

Ugh, enough of this for now...

More non-violence

2006-09-17T22:11:00.000-04:00

Italian nun slain in Somalia, Pope link speculation

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Gunmen killed an Italian nun at a children's hospital in Mogadishu on Sunday in an attack that drew immediate speculation of links to Muslim anger over the Pope's recent remarks on Islam.

The Catholic nun's guard also died from pistol shots in the latest attack on foreign personnel in volatile Somalia.

The assassinations were a blow to Mogadishu's new Islamist rulers' attempt to prove they have pacified one of the world's most lawless cities since chasing out warlords in June.
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Wait wait..stop right there! Wasn't someone saying something about Islam being an "evil" and "inhuman" religion?

More Absurdity

2006-09-16T23:34:00.000-04:00

Pope stops short of apology to Muslims

VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI "sincerely regrets" offending Muslims with his reference to an obscure medieval text that characterizes some of the teachings of Islam's founder as "evil and inhuman," the Vatican said Saturday.

But the statement stopped short of the apology demanded by Islamic leaders around the globe, and anger among Muslims remained intense. Palestinians attacked five churches in the West Bank and Gaza over the pope's remarks Tuesday in a speech to university professors in his native Germany.
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I guess I wasn't paying attention....didn't someone say something about an "evil" and "inhuman" religion? But let's continue...

--------------------------------------------
An Iraqi insurgent group threatened the Vatican with a suicide attack over the pope's remarks on Islam, according to a statement posted Saturday on the Web.

"We swear to God to send you people who adore death as much as you adore life," said the message posted in the name of the Mujahedeen Army on a Web site frequently used by militant groups. The message's authenticity could not be independently verified. The statement was addressed to "you dog of Rome" and threatens to "shake your thrones and break your crosses in your home."
--------------------------------------------

Seriously...wasn't someone saying something about Islam being an "evil" and "inhuman" faith?

Getting no less serious but a little less sarcasticly ironic, it is ridiculous for BBC to be posting articles saying "Pope Praised for Apology" just like it was rather ridiculous, as Fr. Jim noted, for others to be posting facile and simplistic assesments such as "Pope Slams Islam". This was not an apology and anyone could see that. He said, through new Secretary of State Cardinal Bertone, that he regretted the offended reaction. For all they know that could mean that he had wished he could have said what he said without all this hissy-fitting.

I'll say that I certainly wish this wasn't the approach taken to the situation. A istuation where a Muslim for crying out loud is looking at the Church tsk-tsking and thinking "good start but not enough" is wrong and degrading.

I'll also mention that major props are due to Yahoo news for this article. They had the intillectual honesty to report on what the ironic and poorly chosen response of the Muslims has for the very most part been (especially when you consider what they're protesting!). And they also mentioned very flatly that the speech was, for cripes sake, on religious peace!

But then we have to remember that that is what a lot of the Muslims who are marching, shooting, and fire-bombing are objectiong to. The fact that the Pope quoted the emperor in the way he did was just more bitterness added atop the Pope condemning holy war. Look at the picture a couple of posts down and you'll see a sign that says "Jihad is our wa..." The last letter(s) is/are blocked by an enraged hand (it's either "our way" or "our war"). When I read that the Pope had condemned holy wars I thought "the people in the Mid-East won't like this" before I had heard a word about the Pope quoting the Byzantine Emperor. Quote or no quote, there would have been outrage. Some folks just gotta have 'em their morning religious persecutions.

Before you go, read this!!

Well, this sucks

2006-09-16T10:51:00.000-04:00

Look at this headline:

Benedict blunder shows he has failed to master media machine

His blunder was, of course, saying something that Muslims didn't fancy hearing. What sucks first and foremost about this is how it is assumed that offending Muslims was a careless mistake like me being at work at clumsily dropping a case of cans. I suppose they want to be charitable and give Benedict the benefit of the doubt by assuming it was only an accident that he upset some Muslims.

God knows that no one actually and really wants to say something that isn't complementary to Islam, so surely this was carelessness on the Pope's part.....right?

But let's look at the first paragraph of the article:

By unwittingly angering Muslims with his comments on Islam, Pope Benedict XVI has shown that he has yet to shake off his academic theological roots and master the global media machine with the same deftness as his predecessor.

Once again, who said it was unwittingly? I doubt Benedict went out hoping to offend Muslims but I should certainly hope myself that he places candid truth before who is going to be offended.

The other absurdity is the writer of this article not understanding why Benedict, as the freaking POPE of the CATHOLIC CHURCH hasn't spent less time on the study of God and more time 'mastering' the group of people who understand nothing about the Church but often pretend they do, who try to view it the way they view American politics (remember hearing about Cardinals going around the Vatican and "campaigning two Februarys ago?), and who get in your face and ask obnoxious and ignorant questions.

Sucks to be the New Guy

2006-09-16T01:03:00.000-04:00

Hahaha!! This is one of the funniest things I've seen in a long time!

Latest Muslim Ridiculousness

2006-09-15T22:46:00.000-04:00

A big reason the early Christians fascinated people was the way they calmly took persecution and even prayed for their persecutors. I'm not going to get into any of the "means peace" or "is warmongering" arguments, but you simply don't get that much in Islam. Granted, the media won't report on the Muslims taking (what they perceive to be) their wrongs patiently. I realize and accept that.

I'll go a step further and say that we should remind ourselves that whatever the Koran said and didn't say, and whatever Muslim Sultans did or omited to do, we should encourage the peaceful Muslims to keep on being peaceful. Let's be honest, it's easier to have a theological debate with someone who's going to defend himself and his faith but who is not going to decapitate you then, say, with our friend Abdul in the top picture below.

However, when some folks in Denmark drew up some cartoons, the Muslim world blew up, marching around with signs reading "we will burn buildings" and following through with it, people in the west started to have a more difficult time embracing Islam as generally a good religion. I did not hear a single condemnation of the violent riots until quite a ways into it. I saw the sense of righteous indignation, but not the bearing wrongs patiently let alone praying for your enemy. On the part of peaceful Muslims I saw only the anger - which was understandable in my opinion...my desires after hearing a co-worker make an absurd joke about the Mother of God were not exemplary - but I did not see the condemnation, let alone the charitable piety that was the hallmark of the Christian Martyr for centuries upon centuries. A tough standard to hold yourself and other to? Indeed, now suck it up and hold yourself to it.

So along comes the Pope and quotes a fourteenth century Byzantine emperor who said that the things Momahammad added to Christianity and Judaism was evil and inhuman. Is the response a firm but calm and respectful reproach? Nope. It's this:

this:

this:

and this:

He doesn't even say that he agrees with it!! He just quotes it within the context of holy war (something that has been practiced by both Christians and Muslims). But that means nothing....if something about Islam passes beyond the lips, whether it is said as a statement, a recollection of past or of other view points, or is mentioned with total ambivalence, if it isn't boot-lickingly glorifying of Islam, God help you.

It's early yet. Let's see how the reaction is from those we hold so dearly as moderate.

Outside of the physical marches, how does the debate go? Some Turkish guy comparing Benedict to Hitler and Mussolini. Very inspiring. Applause all around, guys!

EDIT: Bravo to Drew at the Holy Whapping for immediately spotting the absurdity in all this: guy implies that your religion is violent so you respond by burning him in effigy. Real smooth!

The Immutibility of Doctrine

2006-09-15T00:37:00.000-04:00

Fr. Jim has a post up citing an essay by Hans Urs von Balthasar on why one stays in the Church along with his personal reflections. There's one thing that raised an eyebrow from this end:

"The most difficult part, of course, is discerning between what is God-given and divine within the Church, and what is of our own making and, therefore, imperfect and transitory.

...

That difficulty in discernment is also responsible for what sometimes angers us in "compromised Catholics," those who don't accept some part of the Church's teaching....those who have made a sincere attempt to understand and accept the totality of Church teaching and have not been able to do so, who have in fact been convinced (or convinced themselves) that this or that teaching is either not an authoritative teaching, or is imperfectly framed, or is not universally valid."

This seems inaccurate to me. It seems to undermine the very reason for the establishment of the See of Peter.

The role of Peter is as a lighthouse. It is founded on a foundation that will not move. The passings winds of fancy do not move it, nor do the storms of the era. It is there to guide people away from the path of destruction to safety and hapiness. No one is forced to follow, but if they do not, they cast themselves from reach and can no longer claim to be within the confines of unity and cooperation.

It is very true that there are things that are of human making. The law of celibacy, for example. But one of the essential aspects of the Pope's role is to distinguish between what is human law and therefore open to disagreement, and what is a dogma of the Church that binds us together in unity of faith, therefore not being open to "revision".

Putting the case of a man looking at a teaching and working hard to, as Fr. Jim lists as a possibility, convince himself that such a line is of human law and therefore capable of questioning is a more respectful way of packaging dissent and heresy.

9/11 Conspiracy

2006-09-13T21:54:00.000-04:00

This is probably totally wrong and full of innuendo and full of questions asked that they cared not to answer, but this was the most interesting thing I've seen in a long time. You have to give it to them for the dedication given to finding out all these things and putting their play together (for what it's worth).

From the Pope in Germany

2006-09-11T00:04:00.000-04:00

Pope tells Germans social work is not enough, faith is needed

Munich, Sep. 10, 2006 (CNA) - Pope Benedict XVI celebrated the first public Mass of his trip to Bavaria this morning, telling his countrymen while Germany is admired for its scientific and technical prowess and even noted for its social concern for those in need, that it is lacking in faith.

The Pope offered the Eucharistic sacrifice on a white and gray stage erected before a myriad of Germans who were gathered on Munich’s New Fairgrounds. The sparsely decorated sanctuary held at its apex a life-size crucifix, dating from the 9th century. The assembled crowds, standing in groups upon the grassy fields, watched and listened to their countryman, now the head of the worldwide Roman Catholic Church.

In his Homily the Holy Father challenged his fellow Germans to allow their ears to be opened to God’s word and to do away with the cynicism that is shutting God out of society.

Name-Five Meme

2006-09-10T23:58:00.000-04:00

I saw this meme and started doing it but my lack of answers caused me to cut it off. But And Also with You tagged me so I'll have a go. He has many of the same answers that I did in one category. I'll just leave blank the ones I have no answer to.

If you could meet and have a deep conversation with any five people on earth, living or dead, from any time period, who would they be? (Explaining why is optional.) Name five people from each of the following categories: saints, those in the process of being canonized, heroes from your native country, authors/writers, celebrities.

Saints

St. Thomas More (relate to me the things Henry said to you)
St. Edmond Campion (help me in arguing with the Protestants, please)
Pope St. Gregory the Great (heh heh, hi! did you know the statue atop Castel St. Angelo is dedicated to the time you saw St. Michael standing there?)
Pope St. Leo the Great (what was the presence like when you were chastising Atilla?)
St. Peter (Oh Lord!..just start from the beginning!..tell it all)

Those in the Process of being Canonized

Venerable Pope Pius XII (oh gosh..I don't know what to say)
Blessed Teresa of Calcutta (you were probably the greatest saint of my lifetime)
Venerable John Henry Newman (I suppose I should read your stuff)

Native Heroes

Authors/Writers

J.R.R. Tolkien (I had some questions but I forgot them since it's been too long)
Scott Hahn
Tim Staples (you're my favorite apologist)

Celebrities

His Holiness, the Sovereign and Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church, Benedict, the Sixteenth of that name (I just felt like putting more bells and whistles on it)
Pope John Paul II, Servant of God
Pope Paul VI (No vendettas, no agendas, just questions and talk)
Morgan Freeman (I've liked everything I've seen him in)
Paul Scofield (the same. from the best movie ever made, A Man for All Seasons, to Henry V, to The Crucible)

Brother Roger

2006-09-07T20:26:00.000-04:00

Was Taizé founder a secret Catholic?

Sep. 06 (CWNews.com) - The late Brother Roger Schutz, founder of the ecumenical Taizé community, quietly entered the Catholic Church in 1972, according to a story published in France by Le Monde.

The religious affiliation of Brother Roger became a subject of speculation last April, at the funeral of Pope John Paul II (bio - news), when the Taizé leader received Communion from then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger. Although he had been extremely sympathetic to Catholicism, at the time Brother Roger was still identified as a Protestant minister. The mystery deepened after Brother Roger was killed on August 16, 2005, when Cardinal Walter Kasper (bio - news) presided at a Catholic funeral.

Now Le Monde reports that Brother Roger was received into the Catholic Church in 1972 and confirmed by Bishop Raymond Séguy, who was then head of the Autun diocese in which the Taizé community is located.

Le Monde cites historian Yves Chiron as the source of this revelation. Brother Roger kept his conversion secret, Chiron says, in order to avoid upsetting the ecumenical harmony of the Taizé community.

Brother Alois, who succeeded Brother Roger as the leader of Taizé, told Le Monde that the report by Chiron was "inexact." He said that in 1972 his predecessor had received Communion in the Catholic Church for the first time, "without a 'conversion,' which was not requested of him." He explained that Brother Roger sought "communion" with the Catholic Church, but avoided the term "conversion," because it would "imply a break with his roots."

Happy Brithday to Mom

2006-09-07T14:07:00.000-04:00

Today is mom's birthday!

Spot On

2006-09-05T16:05:00.000-04:00

You Are Likely A Fourth Born

At your darkest moments, you feel angry.
At work and school, you do best when you're analyzing.
When you love someone, you tend to be very giving.

In friendship, you don't take the initiative in reaching out.
Your ideal jobs are: factory jobs, comedy, and dentistry.
You will leave your mark on the world with your own personal philosophy.

The Birth Order Predictor

Yes!

2006-09-05T02:56:00.000-04:00

Avoid "syncretist" approach, Pope urges Assisi meeting

Sep. 04 (CWNews.com) - In a message to the 20th Inter-religious Meeting of Prayer for Peace, being held in Assisi this week, Pope Benedict XVI (bio - news) cautioned against "syncretistic interpretations" and "relativistic concepts" in inter-faith activities.

At the time of the original inter-religious meeting held at Assisi on October 27, 1986, as an initiative promoted by Pope John Paul II (bio - news), then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger had expressed grave reservations about the event. Now, in a message to Bishop Domenico Sorrentino of Assisi, he sought to put the event in context.

Good to Know

2006-09-05T00:29:00.000-04:00

Wright takes bubble-blowing crown

NEW YORK -- About a week ago, David Wright found out from Tom Glavine that he'd be participating in the Rally Foundation's bubble-gum blowing contest. Wright knew the National League record stood at 11.5 inches, held by Atlanta Braves pitcher John Smoltz. So the Mets third baseman began the intense regime of daily gum chewing exercises to strengthen his jaw and practicing the technique of blowing bubbles.

Wright made sure to use Wrigley's Big League Chew, the gum of choice for the Rally Foundation. It also offered the best texture for manufacturing the best bubble.

And he noted the obvious.

"You've got to have a lot of gum in there," Wright said.

Days of practice evidently paid off as Wright demonstrated the competitive nature that has spurred him to an All-Star season on the diamond, beating out Glavine and Paul Lo Duca with a bubble that measured 14 inches. Not only did Wright top Smoltz, he bested the Rally Foundation's Major League record of 13.5 inches, set by Baltimore Orioles catcher Eli Whiteside earlier this year.

Cheaper by the Dozen

2006-09-03T18:34:00.000-04:00

Fr. Fox and his music director (I really prefer that tile to "music minister") are taking on a worthy project where they will familiarize Father's two parishes with about a dozen hymns, and Father wants some suggestions.

There is a French saying that refers to a pot of gold to full to take from. Too many good ones to take just one, or in this case, just twelve. I'll just put down my favorites that all deserve to be on that list deserve to be on that.

All Glory, Laud, and Honor
Alleluia! Sing to Jesus
Ave Maria
Christ is made the sure Foundation
Faith of our Fathers
Holy God we Praise Thy Name
I Sing the mighty Power of God
Immaculate Mary
Lift High the Cross
O God our Help in Ages Come
O Salutaris Hostia
Sing of Mary
The Church's One Foundation

Ooo-kay. It appears I didn't have as many as I thought I would. I probably am forgetting some. If I've forgotten any let me, or better Fr. Fox, know.

One lady in the comment boxes over at BOTV suggested O Lord I am not Worthy. My spine is starting to hurt. That song makes my skin crawl as it was taught to me by a nice enough lady but a lady nonetheless stuck in a nineteen-fifties time capsule. Pretty much what I perceive to be the only down side to a school I used to go to. Only my humble opinion though.

Another person suggested How Can I keep from Singing. My Pauline Mass Parish sings that one incessently and I find myself - even while not in a particularly bitter frame of mind or even trying to make a quip - thinking "I'll find a way.."

Sing of Mary isn't one I see on many people's lists and that kind of surprises me. I only get to hear it sung once a year and that's when I'm in New York visiting my grandparents and aunts and go to St. Vincent Ferrer's at 65th and Lexington.

Gregory the Great

2006-09-03T18:12:00.000-04:00

Today, September 3, is my feast day, the feast day of Pope Saint Gregory the Great. My middle name, as I think I've noted here before, is "Magnus" which is Latin for "Great". Who was he though? Read Catholic Encyclopedia's page dedicated to him.

Thanks to Fr. Jim, by the way, for the reminder. And check out Father's photo project of different illustrations of what is called the Miraculous Mass of St. Gregory the Great.

I believe, of course, that canonization should not be done frivilously and that plenty of time should be given to the study of the candidate's life. However, for those of you who risk becoming too knee-jerk on the question, keep in mind that Gregory was declared a saint the same year he died, 604 AD.

Links

2006-09-01T21:36:00.000-04:00

Applause...

Haha!

No, really?!

2006-09-01T21:23:00.000-04:00

Sometimes you see headlines so boring or so mundane that you don't want to read it or click on the link. "Pregnancy centers draw criticism from abortion-rights groups" is one of them.

TS Ernesto

2006-09-01T21:21:00.000-04:00

Tropical Storm Ernesto is really reeking havoc here! For eample, I showed up at work today only to find out that I had the day off since the store was shut due to complicating circumstances due in turn the the Tropical Storm. Tsk tsk.

Clarifiying Fr. Amorth

2006-09-01T21:13:00.000-04:00

Despite my job, my despair in the commonplace stupidity prevalent in humanity was starting to weaken, even if not disbanding. That despair is renewed in stories like this.

I had no idea people were taking that the way they are. Absurd. Anyway, the second (decently sized) paragraph is a very good clarification.

Italian Restroom Evangelization

2006-09-01T21:05:00.000-04:00

“Mission Possible” on Italian highways

Rome, Sep. 01, 2006 (CNA) - Young Italians of the group Sentinelle del Mattino (Sentinels of the Morning) have launched a unique project they are calling “Mission: Possible,” in which they are setting up stands at rest areas along the freeways near Bologna inviting travelers to attend Mass or Eucharistic adoration.
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Highway bogs aren't exactly the place that I would choose for encouraging people to go to Mass. On the other hand, some people feel so relieved when they come out that they're very happy to listen to things like this...

Beatific Vision

2006-09-01T20:50:00.000-04:00

New Vatican Secretary of State took job after seeing John Paul II in dream

Milan, Sep. 01, 2006 (CNA) - It took a dream of Pope John Paul II to convince Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone to accept Pope Benedict’s invitation to succeed Cardinal Angelo Sodano as the Vatican’s Secretary of State.

Cardinal Bertone recounted the dream to journalists at his departure ceremonies from Genoa Tuesday at the Sanctuary of Madonna della Guardia. The cardinal, who has been serving as Archbishop of Genoa, will begin as Secretary of State Sept. 15.

The cardinal explained that he was fearful when Pope Benedict told him about his intentions to name him Secretary of State.

“When he asked me to accept, I got the shivers and replied, “I need to think hard.”

“During the night, between Aug. 15 and 16, I saw John Paul II in a dream: he was serene and smiling,” he continued. “We spoke about young people and I told him that World Youth Day was his most beautiful invention. Then I spoke with him about my new appointment and I asked for his blessing. He told me, ‘of course.’ I kneeled and he blessed me.”

Cardinal Bertone said when he recounted this dream to Pope Benedict XVI, the current Pope said: “Well, then, you don’t have to be afraid.”

“The Pope then confirmed his appointment and I accepted,” the cardinal concluded.
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It is said that Padro Pio had a vision from Pope Pius XII not long after Pius died affirming Padre Pio's hope that the late pope was in heaven.

New Seminarians

2006-08-31T21:44:00.000-04:00

The Diocese of Arlington has its seminarian page revised to include the new people coming in this year. I count eight new faces. Eight! Gee-yuz...

Streuth!

2006-08-31T14:20:00.000-04:00

President Bush 'assassinated' in new TV docudrama

This is the dramatic moment when President George Bush is gunned down by a sniper after a public address at a hotel, in a gripping new docudrama soon to be aired on TV.

Set around October 2007, President Bush is assassinated as he leaves the Sheraton Hotel in Chicago.

Death of a President, shot in the style of a retrospective documentary, looks at the effect the assassination of Bush has on America in light of its 'War on Terror'.

The 90 minutes feature explores who could have planned the murder, with a Syrian-born man wrongly put in the frame.
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....interesting.

The Prodi-gold Son

2006-08-31T01:06:00.000-04:00

Man confesses to melting down and selling ring donated by John Paul II

Santiago, Aug. 30, 2006 (CNA) - One of the thieves who stole a ring that was donated by Pope John Paul II to a museum in the Chilean city Coquimbo has turned himself in to a priest admitting that he melted the ring down and sold it for $112.

Last Thursday, two burglars broke into the Museum of the Cross of the Third Millennium and made off with the papal ring and two gold pectoral crosses that were donated by the Apostolic Nuncio to Chile, Archbishop Aldo Cavalli.

Local media confirmed that one of the burglars went to Father Fernando Candia and told him that the “fisherman’s ring” was melted down and sold for $112. Father Candia said the man returned the other two objects intact.

After the robbery, museum officials removed from display a gold ring and a silver pectoral cross that were donated in 2002 by now Pope Benedict XVI.

Officials have also taken steps to install more security cameras and increase the number of security guards on duty at the museum.
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"Pater, Peccavi in Caelum et Coram te: iam Non sum Dignus Vocari Filius Tuus".
("Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you: I am not now worthy to be called thy son.")

Powerful

2006-08-31T01:02:00.000-04:00

Colombian Catholic Church Excommunicates All Involved in 11-year-old Rape Victim’s Abortion

BOGOTA, Colombia, August 30, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Cardinal Alfonso Llopez Trujillo announced Tuesday that the Colombian Catholic Church has excommunicated all persons involved in obtaining an abortion for an 11-year-old girl, who became pregnant after she was raped.

The order includes the judges, politicians and legislators involved in the decision, as well as the doctors, nurses and the girl’s parents, the Manila Bulletin Online reported today.

Under excommunication, all those involved in the abortion are banned from receiving the sacraments, except the sacrament of confession, and may not perform a ministerial role in the Liturgy or other worship ceremony.

Participating in abortion carries the automatic penalty of full excommunication, under the Catholic Code of Canon Law.

Cardinal Trujillo, president of the Pontifical Council for the Family, has been very clear on the application of excommunication in cases of abortion. In a June interview with Famiglia Christiana magazine, Cardinal Trujillo said the doctors, nurses and the mother involved in abortion all incur excommunication, as would the father if he supported the abortion decision.

Colombia bowed to internal and international pressure earlier this year by allowing abortion in cases of rape or incest, in a Constitutional Court decision. Bogota’s Achbishop, Cardinal Pedro Rubiano Saenz responded to the decision by stating, in an interview with El Tiempo newspaper, “All those who commit the crime, the sin of abortion, will be excommunicated immediately. This applies as well to those who foster or assist abortion.”

Archishop Luis Augusto Castro, president of the Bishops’ Conference of Colombia, spoke out against the Court’s decision to accept abortion in difficult cases involving rape or incest, saying “The child is innocent…the criminal should be punished and put in jail for a long time, but the child should not have to pay for the sins of another. He is an innocent baby.”

Chuga-Chuga-Woot-Woot!

2006-08-31T00:54:00.000-04:00

Papal audience: Christianity requires detachment

Vatican, Aug. 30 (CWNews.com) - "Christ excludes no one from his friendship," Pope Benedict XVI (bio - news) told his weekly public audience on August 30. But someone who chooses to follow Christ cannot remain attached to sinful habits, the Pontiff said.

Speaking to about 8,000 people in the Paul VI auditorium at the Vatican, the Holy Father continued his series of reflections on the apostolic tradition with some thoughts on St. Matthew, the apostle who left his work as a tax collector to follow Jesus.

As a tax collector, the Pontiff reminded his audience, Matthew was held in contempt because he "not only handled money that was regarded as impure because it came from people not belonging to the people of God, but also because he was collaborating with a foreign authority." But when Matthew responded to the call from Jesus, the Pope continued, he "evidently understood that being close to Jesus would not allow him to continue with the activities of which God disapproved."

In his own recounting of that call (Mt 9:9), St. Matthew says simply, "And he rose and followed Him." Pope Benedict remarked that "the brevity of that sentence clearly reflects the alacrity with which Matthew responds." But if St. Matthew answered the call immediately, he could not have made his choice lightly, the Pope observed, because he was "leaving everything behind-- especially what had guaranteed him a secure income, however unjust and dishonorable."

Responding to Christ's call entailed a dramatic conversion, the Pope said. He remarked that the moment is captured brilliantly in Caravaggio's painting, "The Calling of St. Matthew," which is displayed in Rome's church of St. Luigi dei Francesi.

Applying the example of St. Matthew to one's own life is simple, the Pope said. "Today too, attachment to things incompatible with following Christ, such as wealth dishonestly obtained, is inadmissible." Christianity requires "detachment from occasions of sin and a conscious choice of a new way of life." Following Christ means "leaving behind-- sometimes at great cost-- everything that is incompatible with true discipleship and embarking upon a new life."
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Amen! One of the things I can't abide is facile theology. One of the abominable children of it is the line I've seen pulled again and again; that is that everyone is cool no matter what because Jesus loves me. I mean, look - He ate supper with a tax collector which was very much out of the norm. It naturally follows that we are all sinners but good enough for God. Q.E.D., biotch!

I'm Not Really Surprised

2006-08-31T00:50:00.000-04:00

Shocker: Schwarzenegger Signs Bill Denying Funds to Schools That Won’t Promote Homosexuality

SACRAMENTO, August 30, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – To the horror both of advocates of traditional values and defenders of freedom of religious expression, California’s governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed legislation that would make it impossible for schools, whether public or private, secular or religious, to exclude homosexual “lifestyle” propaganda.

The bill will punish any entity or program that accepts any state assistance unless it accepts homosexuality, bisexuality and transsexuality. Sponsored by lesbian activist Sen. Sheila Kuehl (D-Santa Monica), SB 1441 says that “any program or activity” that “receives any financial assistance from the state” must give “full and equal access” to Californians without regard to “race, national origin, ethnic group identification, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, colour, or disability.”

The Nondiscrimination in State Programs and Activities Act, has no religious exemption and violators face having their funding cut off. The legislation allows the state to threaten childcare centres and Christian schools that accept childcare vouchers and state college grants.

The Fiend!

2006-08-30T00:50:00.000-04:00

Scottish Authorities Deny Goalie Disciplined for Making Sign of Cross

By Gudrun Schultz

GLASGOW, Scotland, August 29, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Scotland’s Crown Office issued a clarification yesterday denying that Celtic goalkeeper Artur Boruc received a caution for making the sign of the cross during an Old Firm game in February.

The Crown had announced last Friday that the Polish Catholic footballer would be cautioned and receive a criminal record for “gesticulating at and incensing the crowd at a football match,” constituting a “breach of the peace.” Boruc was chastised for making three gestures, according to the Crown Office, including a “V” for victory sign, an obscene gesture toward Rangers fans and the sign of the cross.

Catholic church officials and politicians raised an outcry over the Crown’s inclusion of Boruc’s religious gesture in the caution. The Sunday Herald reported that the Catholic Church demanded a clarification from the Crown Office on “whether or not it deems the sign of the cross to be an offensive action which is the equivalent of gratuitous hand gestures.”

Demonic Possession

2006-08-30T00:44:00.000-04:00

Stalin, Hitler Were Possessed by Satan — Vatican Exorcist

Adolf Hitler and Russian leader Stalin were possessed by the Devil, the Vatican’s chief exorcist claims, the Daily Mail newspaper reports. “You can tell by their behavior and their actions, from the horrors they committed and the atrocities that were committed on their orders,” Father Gabriele Amorth, who is Pope Benedict XVI’s “caster out of demons,” said during an interview with Vatican Radio.

“Of course the Devil exists and he can not only possess a single person but also groups and entire populations. I am convinced that the Nazis were all possessed. All you have to do is think about what Hitler — and Stalin did. Almost certainly they were possessed by the Devil.”

Curial Reform

2006-08-30T00:40:00.000-04:00

Cardinal Bertone: a reform in the Roman Curia is indeed possible

Milan, Aug. 29, 2006 (CNA) - Two weeks before starting his duties as the new Vatican secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone declared that a reform at the Roman Curia is very likely to happen, in order to make it “smaller and more agile.”

In an interview published by Il Giornale, a Milan newspaper, Cardinal Bertone noted that in the last fifty years “two reforms of the Roman Curia have been conducted, one right after the Second Vatican Council, by Pope Paul VI and another one by Pope John Paul II”.

“After almost two decades, he added, an evaluation of how the dicasteries are organized is more than comprehensible, in order to reflect on how to make the existing structures more efficient for the mission of the Church and eventually to consider whether all of them should be maintained.”

The Cardinal also pointed out that he is “optimistic” in the face of the duties he will assume in two weeks, duties which will make him the closest cooperator with Pope Benedict XVI in the government of the Church

The Regina

2006-08-22T23:42:00.000-04:00

Bishop declares Mary as 'Queen of diocese'

TULSA, Okla. (CNS) – About 3,000 people processed through the streets of downtown Tulsa the night of Aug. 13 following a Mass at Holy Family Cathedral during which Bishop Edward J. Slattery crowned Mary as "Queen of the Diocese of Tulsa."

"With my authority as bishop of Tulsa, I solemnly declare that from this day forward Our Lady of Guadalupe shall be known as our august and most venerable queen,'" Bishop Slattery said in his official proclamation, which he delivered in Spanish. The overwhelming majority of people in attendance were Hispanic.
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When I saw this headline, I thought it was going to be Bishop Bruskewitz. Bishop Slattery is doing great things, I hear!

What the...?

2006-08-22T23:36:00.000-04:00

President Bush supports over-the-counter access to abortion drug

Washington DC, Aug. 22, 2006 (CNA) - President George Bush shocked the pro-life movement with his support for over-the-counter access to abortion-drug Plan B, also known as the morning-after pill, for adults. However, Plan B “ought to require a prescription for minors,” he said.

Bush’s words of support came at a White House press conference yesterday, when he was asked by the Washington Examiner’s Bill Sammon about Plan B and his new FDA commissioner who supports its over-the-counter status.

“President Bush’s implied support of over-the-counter status for the abortion-causing drug Plan B is a betrayal of the pro-life principles he claims to support,” said Stephen Peroutka, Esq., chairman of the National Pro-Life Action Center.

“If this dangerous drug is made available over-the-counter, it will give adult male predators another weapon in their arsenal against young women,” he added.

Fr. Thomas Euteneuer, president of Human Life International added that the president’s statement is also "completely inconsistent with his recent veto of the embryonic stem-cell research (ESCR) funding bill.

“What the president apparently fails to realize is that Plan B kills the same innocent unborn children that the ESCR process does," said the priest in a statement.

"The president must demonstrate a consistent respect for the sanctity of all human life or he risks provoking a great divorce with the conservative Catholics that comprise a large part of his support base,” Fr. Euteneuer continued. “Human beings in the embryonic stage of development deserve equal protection under the law and the president's position falls far short of that mark."

FDA Commissioner Dr. Andy von Eschenbach has said he would support making the abortion drug available without a prescription to women, aged 18 and up. Pro-life groups called for his resignation last week over his support for the drug.

According to LifeSiteNews.com, Concerned Women for America had blasted the decision, pointing out a clear incongruence: Plan B would be available without medical supervision while a low-dose of the same drug, found in birth control pills, requires medical oversight to protect women from serious health complications.
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The big reason I still respected President Bush was for his pro-life stance. I did know that his stance was flawed with the usual "except in the case of rape or incest 'cause then it's not a life" but that's still a hell of a lot better than his opposition could say and also a good start in the right direction. But this...this certainly changes things.

Comment boxes open and ready for bombardment.

An Unshakeable Problem of Mine...

2006-08-20T22:27:00.000-04:00

Pope: Don't work too hard

Castelgandolfo - Too much work can be bad for you, even if you are the pope, Pope Benedict said on Sunday.

Speaking during his Sunday address at his summer residence south of Rome, the pope quoted from the writings of St Bernard of Chiaravalle, who lived in the 11th and 12th centuries.

"We have to guard ourselves, the saint observed, from the dangers of excessive activity, regardless of the office one holds, because too many concerns can often lead to hardness of heart," the pope said.

"This warning is valid for every type of job, even those concerned with the government of the church," he said.

The 79-year-old Benedict noted that the saint had written to the pontiff of the times, Eugene III, warning him of the dangers of working too hard.

Benedict said one should always make room for "prayer and contemplation".

Nostalgia

2006-08-20T10:14:00.000-04:00

Haha! Look at the uniforms my Mets wore yesterday in their win over the Rockies. Awesome.

Yankees and Red Sox

2006-08-19T22:13:00.000-04:00

Geez. It's going to be tough for the Sox to dig themselves out of this hole. Ever since they lost Jason Varitek to injury they've tanked.

By the way, can anyone tell me why the two teams are playing a five game series against each other? That's a thing unheard of to me.

Ugh

2006-08-17T14:17:00.000-04:00

Man says he drugged, had sex with Ramsey

BANGKOK, Thailand - The American suspect in the killing of JonBenet Ramsey told investigators that he drugged and had sex with the 6-year-old beauty queen before accidentally killing her, a senior Thai police officer said Thursday.

An autopsy on Ramsey said a blood screening showed no drugs or alcohol in her body but said she had vaginal abrasions.

Lt. Gen. Suwat Tumrongsiskul, head of Thailand's immigration police, said by telephone that he was not present for the questioning, which was conducted by U.S. law enforcement officials.

But, according to what the general said he was told of the questioning, the suspect, John Mark Karr, "said he drugged the child." Suwat did not say who briefed him on the questioning.

Shame

2006-08-15T11:07:00.000-04:00

Mark Shea comments on some nonsense from Charlotte Church. In a new album of hers, she sings about how being brougt up Catholic, she has this terrible cloud of guilt that hangs over her and which she is trying to escape from. Says Mark Shea:

"I'm sorry, but there are certain things that I simply find it impossible to believe. Faster than light travel, geocentrism, Bush-planned-9/11 conspiracy theories are among them.

Also among them is the notion that the post-Vatican II Church is a dark, guilt-tripping dungeon filled with adolescents struggling to overcome their guilt-wracked childhood."

One hundred and fifty odd years ago, there was Jansenism which taught humanity is hopelessly sinful that we are rarely ever in a state fit to recieve the Eucharist. Today, we have the exact opposite heresy, the anti-thesis of Jansenism.

Today, everyone is always in a state fit to recieve the Eucharist! What's the big deal about? God loves us so we needn't go to Confession!

Just like that, today we have the exact opposite of the guilt-tripping dungeon that Mark Shea spoke of. Today, we have no sense of shame. Maybe not everything is okay, but certainly not anything we do is wrong.

Being told that God is angry with us and that we have blasphemed against Him to be curious about procreation in our adolesence is wrong. Being totally ambivilent to the reality that, yes, we do offend God and that, yes, it is something to repent of, is also wrong. There's a happy medium that can be reached without to much trouble.

Genealogy

2006-08-13T22:05:00.000-04:00

Star Is Descended From Kings. Of Course, Most People Are
Famous Ancestors Adorn Almost All Family Trees

Actress Brooke Shields has a pretty impressive pedigree -- hanging from her family tree are Catherine de Medici and Lucrezia Borgia, Charlemagne and El Cid, William the Conqueror and King Harold II, vanquished by William at the Battle of Hastings.

Shields also descends from five popes, a whole mess of early New England settlers, and the royal houses of virtually every European country. She counts Renaissance pundit Niccolo Machiavelli and conquistador Hernando Cortes as ancestors.

What is it about Brooke Shields? Well, nothing special -- at least genealogically.

Even without a documented connection to a notable forebear, experts say, the odds are virtually 100 percent that every person on Earth is descended from one royal personage or another.

"Millions of people have provable descents from medieval monarchs," said Mark Humphrys, a genealogy enthusiast and professor of computer science at Dublin City University in Ireland. "The number of people with unprovable descents must be massive."

By the same token, for every king in a person's family tree there are thousands and thousands of people whose births, lives and deaths went completely unrecorded by history. We'll never know about them, because until recently vital records were rare for all but the noble classes.

It works the other way, too. Anybody who had children more than a few hundred years ago is likely to have millions of descendants today, quite a few of them famous.

Take King Edward III, who ruled England during the 14th century and had nine children who survived to adulthood. Among his documented descendants are presidents (George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Quincy Adams, Zachary Taylor, both Roosevelts), authors (Jane Austen, Lord Byron, Alfred Lord Tennyson, Elizabeth Barrett Browning), generals (Robert E. Lee), scientists (Charles Darwin) and actors (Humphrey Bogart, Audrey Hepburn, Brooke Shields). Some experts estimate that 80 percent of England's present population descends from Edward III.

Theology di Bella

2006-08-13T21:56:00.000-04:00

Bella: "The point if life is to be born, serve God, tell other people about the one God, and then die."

Greg: "The purpose of life is to know, love, and serve God. Didn't you ever read the Baltimore Catechism?"

Bella: "Yes..the purpose of life is to serve God. You serve Him by telling other people about Him. That's what serving is! It's not just about serving Martinis!"

Sen. Allen

2006-08-09T22:01:00.000-04:00

Abortion Foe Allen Faulted for Stock in Morning-After Pill Maker

RICHMOND, Aug. 8 -- A leading conservative antiabortion group has joined Democrat James Webb in criticizing Republican Sen. George Allen for opposing abortion while owning stock in the manufacturer of the morning-after pill.

Chris Freund, policy director for the Family Foundation in Richmond, said social conservatives should be troubled by Allen's investment in Barr Laboratories Inc., maker of the pill, Plan B.

"Given his pro-life record, I think pro-life Virginians would be very confused by this decision to invest in the only producer of the morning-after pill," Freund said. "I think the issue of the morning-after pill really goes to the heart of the abortion debate, and for a lot of pro-life Virginians, this is the issue of the day."

Plan B is an emergency contraceptive that is supposed to prevent pregnancy if taken within 72 hours of intercourse. Its availability is a subject of intense debate between abortion rights supporters and people who consider it a form of abortion. The Food and Drug Administration has resisted efforts to make the drug available without a prescription.

Webb, who supports abortion rights but opposes late-term abortions, issued a statement over the weekend saying his campaign is "troubled" that "Allen is profiting off a drug that many of his evangelical supporters consider a form of abortion."

"It seems hypocritical to oppose a woman's right to choose while investing in a drug that does just that," the statement said. "Allen should dump his Barr stock."

The dispute about the stock comes two weeks after another fight over stock holdings in the increasingly divisive Senate race.

Last month, Webb called on Allen to return $800,000 in oil industry contributions, which prompted the Allen campaign to note that Webb owns stock in Chevron and Exxon-Mobil. Dick Wadhams, Allen's campaign manager, called Webb a "flaming hypocrite."

In an interview Tuesday, Allen said that stock purchases shouldn't be an issue in the campaign and that he has no plans to sell his Barr holdings. He also urged voters to focus on his record instead of his investments.

"Look at the way I vote," said Allen, who opposes abortion except in cases of rape, incest and danger to the life of the mother and often scores a perfect rating from the National Right to Life Committee.

Allen bought the stock in January 2004, according to financial disclosure reports. His holdings are valued at $1,000 to $15,000.

Allen said he is proud to own the stock because, he said, Barr Laboratories -- which is based in New York and operates a plant in southern Virginia -- is vital to the state's economy and has been a leader in efforts to treat breast cancer. In 1996, when he was governor, Allen said, he helped lure the company to Bedford County, where it employs more than 300 people.

"I very much like them," Allen said after a campaign speech at a senior citizens home here. "It's a good company. I don't use their products, but it's a good company that works hard in the community."

The issue underscores the difficulty that Allen faces running for reelection in Virginia at the same time he is laying the groundwork for a possible presidential bid in 2008. In refusing to abandon a company with Virginia roots, he risks alienating himself from national social conservatives, whom he has been reaching out to and who are influential in GOP presidential primaries and caucuses.

Webb has tried to exploit Allen's presidential ambitions and his ties to conservatives. "What does he really stand for? It's hard to tell right now," said Kristian Denny Todd, Webb's spokeswoman. "He's a big right-winger when he is trying to appeal to the conservative base to gain access to their money so he can run for president. . . . When he's in Virginia stumping, it's very unclear."

News from China

2006-08-07T01:00:00.000-04:00

90 Catholics, including bishop, arrested in Hebei

Aug. 04 (CWNews.com) - Authorities in China's Hebei province have arrested more than 90 members of the "underground" Catholic Church, including Bishop Yao Liang, the Cardinal Kung Foundation reports.

Bishop Yao, the head of the Xiwanzi diocese, who had previously been taken into custody last March, was arrested on July 30. A priest of the same diocese, Father Li Huisheng, was arrested on August 1.

When some Catholic faithful protested the arrests, and asked for information about the whereabouts of the jailed clerics, policy mobilized a force of 500 to jail 90 members of the underground Church on August 2. The arrests followed a previous crackdown by Protestant "house churches" in the area, in which thousands of military police participated on July 29.
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Catholics in China are, in a manner of speaking, facing the east.

Pope to Parents...Come in Parents...

2006-08-07T00:57:00.000-04:00

Pope to Catholic parents: Renew your faith to be authentic teachers

VATICAN CITY – The key response to today's increasingly secularized communities is for adults to renew and deepen their faith in Christ so they can be authentic examples and teachers of Christian living to future generations, Pope Benedict XVI said.

Before his planned trip to Valencia, Spain, July 8-9, to help close the Fifth World Meeting of Families, the pope underlined the importance of this year's theme of living and transmitting faith in the family.

In remarks made before praying the July 2 Angelus in St. Peter's Square, the pope urged all the world's families to be "authentic communities of love and life in which the flame of faith may be handed down from generation to generation."

Telling it Like it IS

2006-08-06T23:44:00.000-04:00

"Remember that you are a mortal man, fear the day of judgement. Do not interfere in ecclesiastical affairs or dictate anything about them to us, but, rather, learn from us what you ought to believe concerning them. God has given you the government of the empire, and to us that of the Church ... we are commanded to give unto Caeser the things that are Caeser's, and unto God, the things that are God's. It is not lawful for us to arrogate to ourselves the imperial authority. You also have no power in the ministry of holy things."

-From an unknown bishop in the western Church from the fourth century to the Emperor Constanius

Book Meme

2006-08-05T23:35:00.000-04:00

1. One book that changed your life: I don't and never have looked to a book to change my life.

2. One book that you have read more than once: There's no easy way to say this...

3. One book you'd want on a desert island: A good and long book about Church history and theology.

4. One book that made you laugh: Anything Dave Barry

5. One book that made you cry: The Myth of Hitler's Pope. Just stop and try and think of the pressure there was.

6. One book you wish would have been written: When I'm standing there looking at a library packed to the brim with books - thousands of pounds of books - I'm not exactly thinking "man, is this it? why didn't they ever write a book where this dude and chick fall in love?!"

7. One book you wish had never been written: There are a lot but I don't have any off the top of my head.

8. One book you are currently reading: The Story of the Church

9. One book you have been meaning to read: Triumph: The Power and Glory of the Catholic Church.

10. Tag some others: Jason, Julie, Zorak, and Danny

He won't do It

2006-08-05T23:08:00.000-04:00

Indigenous summit at Bear Butte asks pope for help

BEAR BUTTE — Tribal leaders and indigenous rights groups will ask the pope to rescind a 1493 Vatican document which they believe paved the legal road for Europeans to take land from indigenous American people.

Twenty-three organizations and 100 individuals signed a resolution Thursday at the Summit of Indigenous Nations at Bear Butte. The resolution, which will be sent to the Vatican for review, targets the Papal Bull Inter Caetera of 1493, in which Vatican officials urged Christopher Columbus to convert indigenous Americans to Catholicism.

“We command you in virtue of holy obedience that, employing all due diligence in the premises, … you should appoint to the aforesaid mainlands and islands worthy, God-fearing, learned, skilled and experienced men, in order to instruct the aforesaid inhabitants and residents in the Catholic faith and train them in good morals,” reads the 1493 document.

Funny, but also True

2006-08-01T21:42:00.000-04:00

Horse-Drawn Procession

2006-08-01T20:55:00.000-04:00

Is this strangely inspiring or incredibly tacky?

The Christened

2006-08-01T20:27:00.000-04:00

Clovis, King of the Franks, being baptized by Saint Remigius, Bishop of Rheims.

I'm Packed...

2006-08-01T20:22:00.000-04:00

35,000 altar boys to attend papal audience

Aug. 01 (CWNews.com) - Over 35,000 altar boys, primarily from Germany, are expected to attend the regular weekly public audience of Pope Benedict XVI (bio - news) at the Vatican on August 2.

The altar boys will be participating in a 2-day visit to Rome, sponsored by Coetus Internationalis Ministrantium, an international group that organizes pilgrimages for altar servers and choir members. They will be attending the first Wednesday audience by the Holy Father after a three-week hiatus, caused by his summer vacation. Coetus Internationalis Ministrantium was founded in Altenberg, Germany-- near Cologne-- in 1960, and dedicated to the spiritual formation of lay people involved in liturgical ministry. The group's current president is Bishop Martin Gächter, an auxiliary of the Swiss Basel diocese.

In addition to the papal audience, the altar boys-- more than 30,000 of them from Germany-- will attend a Mass celebrated in St. Peter's Basilica by Cardinal Christoph Schönborn

An Interesting Key

2006-08-01T20:09:00.000-04:00

It's astonishing what kind of a difference interest in a book can make. When you're not interested in the book, or even just that you are interested in the subject but not in reading the book, reading it lends new meaning to "drudgery".

Believe it or not, I'm not a huge reader. There are quite a few big subjects I'm interested (God, the Church, History) but I'll pick up a book about that subject and just decided "meh..."

But recently, after arguing with a couple of folks about the Reformation, I decided it was time to go back and sharpen the sword of knowledge and understanding. I picked up a book (a book which I passed over with a "meh..." some time ago and which is a little more than five hundred pages) written in the thirtes and started reading it and am cutting right through it. Next, I think I'll try Triumph: The Power and the Glory of the Catholic Church.

I'm sure he's Horrified

2006-07-27T11:07:00.000-04:00

Dean Calls Iraqi PM an 'Anti-Semite'

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- Democratic Party chairman Howard Dean on Wednesday called Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki an "anti-Semite" for failing to denounce Hezbollah for its attacks against Israel.

Al-Maliki has condemned Israel's offensive, prompting several Democrats to boycott his address to a joint meeting of Congress and others to criticize him. Dean's comments were the strongest to date.
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Well, at least he's not saying that if he had been president, there would be no such thing as anti-semitism.

Papal Transportation

2006-07-26T13:03:00.000-04:00

'Go, pope, go!' – Pontiff travels by plane, train, automobile and feet

VATICAN CITY – If children's author P.D. Eastman had written a sequel to his book "Go, Dog. Go!" about dogs on the move, it could have been about the many ways the pope gets around and would be called "Go, Pope. Go!"

Back in the old days, a pope, like many people, was limited to horses and carriages. But he also had the grand "sedia gestatoria," or portable papal throne to move effortlessly through the crowds of the faithful during special ceremonies.

The red velvet chair was carried on the shoulders of 12 "sediari" or chair-carriers dressed in bright red uniforms. But the papal throne was mothballed in 1978 after the start of Pope John Paul I's pontificate.

Modern-day popes get around by car, train, plane and helicopter. And instead of a special chair powered by 24 legs, they now have the gas-powered popemobile, serving much the same purpose: to raise the Holy Father up above the crowds so he can be seen from afar.

The first papal car pulled into the Vatican in 1909 when then-Archbishop John M. Farley of New York donated the newfangled mode of transport to Pope Pius X. However, the pope apparently wasn't impressed with the new technology and stuck to his horse and landau carriage.

But a car would have been useless at the time. Pope Pius didn't have much of anyplace to go since a dispute with the Italian government over the sovereignty of the Holy See kept popes confined to Vatican City from 1870 to 1929.

When the 1929 Lateran Pacts finally allowed popes to go freely outside Vatican City walls, Pope Pius XI became the first pope to put the rubber to the road in a U.S. Graham-Paige.

He amassed a small fleet of donated papal cars and became something of an auto aficionado.

Msgr. Charles Burns, a Scottish historian and retired official of the Vatican Secret Archives, said, "There are photos of (Pope Pius XI) examining the innards of a Mercedes. He was interested in those things" and he would ask all about the car's engine and features before going out for a test ride through the Vatican Gardens.

Soon the so-called "iron horse" puffed its way into town when the first steam locomotive arrived at the Vatican in 1932. However, the first time a pope used the Vatican railroad wasn't until 1962 when Pope John XXIII boarded the papal train to travel to Italy's Assisi and Loreto. Pope John Paul II chugged along the papal tracks twice, once in 1979 and again in 2002 to Assisi.

After being held up in the Vatican for most of his 1903-1914 pontificate, Pope Pius X finally did leave in 1959 when his remains were transferred from the Vatican by papal train to Venice.
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It was interesting just to read about past Papal modes of transportation, for me at least.

"Credal Imposition!!"

2006-07-25T23:35:00.000-04:00

There are those times where you know what you want to say and what your point is but you just can't put it into words. It's maddening! The whole farce about "imposing your beliefs" is just one of them. Fr. Tadeusz Pacholczyk does it far better than I ever could, even supposing I could ever get the words to come out.

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"Imposing Our Beliefs" on Others

REV. TADEUSZ PACHOLCZYK

After I gave my testimony, one of the senators asked a pointed question. "Father Tad, by arguing against embryonic stem cell research, don't you see how you are trying to impose your beliefs on others, and shouldn't we as elected lawmakers avoid imposing a narrow religious view on the rest of society?"

A lot of hot-button topics are being debated in our state legislatures these days, topics of great ethical and bioethical importance, ranging from emergency contraception to gay marriage. These debates address important issues for the future of our society. Lawmakers face the daunting task of making decisions about what should or should not be permitted by law within a reasonable society. Recently I was asked to speak in Virginia at legislative hearings about embryonic stem cell research. After I gave my testimony, one of the senators asked a pointed question. "Father Tad, by arguing against embryonic stem cell research, don't you see how you are trying to impose your beliefs on others, and shouldn't we as elected lawmakers avoid imposing a narrow religious view on the rest of society?" The senator's question was an example of the fuzzy thinking that has become commonplace in recent years within many state legislatures and among many lawmakers.

Two major errors were incorporated into the senator's question. First, the senator failed to recognize the fact that law is fundamentally about imposing somebody's views on somebody else. Imposition is the name of the game. It is the very nature of law to impose particular views on people who don't want to have those views imposed on them. Car thieves don't want laws imposed on them which prohibit stealing. Drug dealers don't want laws imposed on them which make it illegal to sell drugs. Yet our lawmakers are elected precisely to craft and impose such laws all the time. So the question is not whether we will impose something on somebody. The question is instead whether whatever is going to be imposed by the force of law is reasonable, just, and good for society and its members.

The second logical mistake the senator made was to suppose that because religion happens to hold a particular viewpoint, that implies that such a viewpoint should never be considered by lawmakers or enacted into law. Religion teaches very clearly that stealing is immoral. Would it follow that if I support laws against stealing, I am imposing my narrow religious viewpoint on society? Clearly not. Rather, the subject of stealing is so important to the order of society that religion also feels compelled to speak about it. Religion teaches many things that can be understood as true by people who aren't religious at all. Atheists can understand just as well as Catholics how stealing is wrong, and most atheists are just as angry as their Catholic neighbors when their house is broken into and robbed. What is important is not whether a proposed law happens to be taught by religion, but whether that proposal is just, right, and good for society and its members.

"Just like other people."

2006-07-25T23:27:00.000-04:00

From Fr. Peregrinator, I think this passage from Brideshead Revisited is one mom finds to be particularly profound.

Islamic Sycophancy

2006-07-25T23:21:00.000-04:00

Here is another GSI (God Save Islam) post from Fr. Jim. It used to be that I'd see it and think, "huh, well what can you do?" Now it just seems to be degrading. From someone who is an ordained presbyter of the ecclesiastical body with such celebrated events as the Crusades and Lepanto in her history, it would make my year to see him once, just once come out and criticize the faults of Islam (that is, of course, going on the assumption that the good Father perceives there to be faults).

Don't get me wrong...there are quite a few loonies out there droning on about how we should go crusading and who make other claims that I freely admit to be over-the-top. I have no quarrel with anyone condemning those especially not since, if memory serves, I've condemned them once myself. But turning a blind eye of denial to the blatant faults of Islam is simply degrading.

"In neo-con circles, one often encounters the Muslim-baiting that takes extremist groups (such as al-Qaida) as examples of pure Islam that is true to its inner nature."

Sounds stupid, doesn't it? Almost as stupid as someone who sees some Muslims protesting for peace and equality and then goes off singing about how that's what Islam truly is.

I remember hearing Fr. Jim make a fine concession that the Koran has some "rougher" verses (this is, along with a 'now, of course, I don't believe in Islam', is about the only criticism I've ever heard). Horse shit. That is, of course, that there certainly are rougher verses, but to present them as if they are an exception and misconstrued anytime anyone who uses it part-in-parcel to criticize Islam is horse shit.

I remember another GSI post was titles something like "Ya' know, the Koran says...", obviously being critical of those who cite the Koran in an attempt to criticize Islam. Gosh, I'm sorry Father, but should we not appeal to the Koran? It seems like in the book Fr. Jim reads from, you criticize Islam without even any citations and you're a bigot who can't even be bothered to read the holy book. Oh, but if you do cite the Koran in your criticisms, you're an ignoramus who has no idea how to read or interpret or anything like that.

In yet another GSI post, we sat in on a class that taught us how to read the Koran. It was essentially instructing us on what power we should turn the garden hose to for the purposes of watering down. Less for more placid yet still silly areas, more watering for the particularly violent areas (dillute the blood, if you will). Honestly, what does it say about a religious faith when "kill the Christians and Jews wherever you see them" is expected to be interpreted as something other than the rhetoric of a warmongerer?

"These are the folk who claim that the Muslim world is literally at war with the West and its values ... and that there can be no peace with Islam until all non-Muslims are subjugated to dhimmitude."

In the Koran, there is the Dar al-islam. This is translated the "house of submission", "Islam" coming from the Arabic word "islama" which means "to submit". The Dar al-islam refers to all those places where Islamic rule is accepted and it's inhabitants worship Islam except for those Christians who are servants/slaves and who are pressured with extraordinary and exorbitant taxes (which will, to be fair, cease when they convert).

Then there is the Dar al-harb which translates "house-of-war" and it refers to all places that don't accept Islamic rule (i.e., the west). Simply because modern Muslims have forgotten this does not mean that it isn't part of Islam. Simply because it was forgotten does not mean it wasn't a part of it...that pretty much sums up Modern Islam to those who, like Fr. Jim, point to Islam's adherents who practice a far looser and more watered down version of that faith; a version which, whatever else it may be, cannot be said to be the version preached by Mohammad on any other basis than denial of historical fact.

Something that I have noticed, and am curious to see if anyone else has as well, is that when Fr. Jim speaks out against Islam-bashers, it's always the objections that come from the man in the street which can certainly, at times, be rather loopy and irrational. These objections, even if right in themselves, come from someone whose not a scholar on the Koran and couldn't quote chapter and verse (or rather surats and ayats). On the other end of the scale, I have yet to see Fr. Jim debate the likes of Tim Staples, Jonathan Riley-Smith, or Robert Spencer, folks who know the Koran pretty well, to say the least. Don't do the crime if you can't do the time, I suppose.

One more thing, and I honestly believe this boils my blood more than anything else, and that is that with all that is going on in the Church - from desecration of the Eucharist to bishops who make Cranmer look like a saint, to the downright rampant dissent among the clergy and laity who disregard the beliefs that define the Church (often, the most basic beliefs), choosing instead to idolize a facile and imbecilic feeling of community - the thing that seems to rub Fr. Jim farthest in the wrong direction, that pushes his buttons the hardest, and which earns his ire the quickest is Islam being ridiculed. I mean, never mind all the crap going on in the Church! Don't stand up and preach against that because, dammit, there are Muslim feelings being (possibly wrongly) hurt!

Earlier I spoke of how gratifying it would be to see Fr. Jim come out and criticize Islam. I ran the risk of sending the wrong message, which is that, like a kid who sees his sibling or friend praised or sees himself scolded, wants to see himself praised or the other boy scolded just so he appears to be as good or no worse than the other boy. This is not what I intended it to sound like and is certainly not my motivation.

It's true that John Paul II was perhaps a less challenging towards Islam than he should have been and far more so than Benedict XVI has been or will be. But John Paul - and certainly Benedict - never pretended that the differences between Islam and Christianity were anything but serious. For this reason, it sends the wrong message to be silent towards the differences and the seriously erroneous beliefs that are in Islam. It leads to complacency that, though one should be knowledgeable enough to fall into, nonetheless will only trip those who are less knowledgeable and mislead them by failing to teach that, while there should be Christian love and respect, there should be plain, honest opposition to the beliefs of Islam. Instead, they hear that we are all overreacting. Would someone like Fr. Jim object to someone respectfully yet plainly saying that they oppose the beliefs of Islam? No, I doubt it, but then opposition to Islam isn't something talked about now so we might never know, now will we? I don't believe that there is any line of moral or religious relativism that did not have its seeds nurtured by this line of complacent silence.

I remember reading a Catholic newspaper that I liked (and still like) that had a story of some Muslims in Iraq who were indignant and the blowing up of a Catholic church in their country. "The Christians are good people," I recall the article citing a Muslim, "they do not deserve this." This shocked me as I, being quite young at the time, was not accustomed to this idea of Muslims saying something as compassionate as that. For a while, I held on to this idea that sure, there were some serious differences between the two faiths but that what is more important is the fact that most of the clan really aren't head-hunters. It was then pointed out to me despite the warm, fuzzy feelings I received (even if the warmth and fuzziness spawned from admirable sentiments), all of Islam rejects such fundamental Christian tenets as the divinity of Christ. I do not abandon my acceptance of the undeniable fact that there are so many Muslims who are peaceful and peace-loving, but the differences cannot be ignored and left untouched. For example, Fr. Jim is a fine priest whom I admire much (no, really), but that doesn't mean that the differences in the two approaches to Islam are left alone as if they were a hot potato (believe it or not).

One more time, put down the delusions of grandeur that have you valiantly crusading against Islam, blasting towels off heads with your M-16 and RPG that you pried from a cold, dead, heretical corpse. At the same time, stop day-dreaming about holding hands and singing songs with Muslims while prancing around the gardens of heaven. It's really degrading.

Given Shelter by the Church...big news.....

2006-07-25T23:09:00.000-04:00

Pope orders Maronite Catholic church to provide sanctuary

Hope glimmers for some 30,000 Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) trapped in Lebanon as a result of the fighting between Israeli forces and Hezbollah guerillas.

Pope Benedict XVI has approved the request of House Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr., coursed through the Papal Nuncio in Manila, Cardinal Fedoni, for the bulk of the 30,000 OFWs to seek sanctuary in different monasteries of the Maronite Catholic Church in Lebanon headed by Cardinal Butros Speir.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo called up De Venecia Saturday afternoon while he was having a reunion with members of his family here to relay the message that the Pope in Rome has accepted his (De Venecia's) request.

As a result, the Pope already directed his secretary of State, Cardinal Sodano, to contact Archbishop Speir, the head of the Lebanese Maronite Catholic Church, to provide sanctuary to the OFWs in his monasteries pending their final repatriation to the Philippines and solution to the Israeli-Hezbollah conflict.

I need to blogroll this guy

2006-07-23T22:01:00.000-04:00

Fr. Peregrinator has up a little piece on my patron saint, Gregory the Great. I never knew his mother was canonized. Check it out.

And this photo is incredible.

Cardinal's Aide Quits

2006-07-23T21:54:00.000-04:00

Cardinal's aide quits over affairs and abortion slur

A SENIOR aide to the Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, resigned yesterday after a series of allegations in the media about his private life, including a report about a girlfriend who had had an abortion.

Austen Ivereigh, who is single and was, until yesterday, the Cardinal’s director for public affairs, has never denied that a girlfriend had an abortion while he was a student at Oxford. He was not a practising Catholic at the time, and the episode is understood to have prompted his return to the faith. After a relationship with a more recent girlfriend ended, it was reported that she had been pregnant, but had miscarried twins.

Dr Ivereigh, 40, who has often spoken in support of the Catholic Church’s stance against abortion, is taking legal action over some of the reporting. He was educated at Worth Abbey, a public school in West Sussex, run by Benedictine monks. He rebelled as a teenager but, after rediscovering his faith, became such a committed Catholic that he considered becoming a monk. He worked in a senior post at the Catholic publication The Tablet, before joining the cardinal’s staff.

Colbert Report

2006-07-23T21:39:00.000-04:00

I saw Stephen Colbert on a late-night talk show and he was hilarious. I just looked over at Gerald's blog which I haven't done in a while. I found this video over there. It's bloody brilliant..go watch it.