The Open Book/Annunciations Bestseller's List

Our Bestseller's List

What Books People who Read Amy's Open Book blog and Michael's Annunciation blog are Buying

February 2007 (2/24/2007)

1. The Power of the Cross: Meditations for the Lenten Season

2. The How-To Book of the Mass: Everything You Need to Know but No One Ever Taught You

3. The Gift of Faith

4. The Best American Catholic Short Stories: A Sheed & Ward Collection

5. Those Terrible Middle Ages: Debunking the Myths



Books that Spark the Most Interest (for this month so far):

1. The Power of the Cross: Meditations for the Lenten Season

2. Those Terrible Middle Ages: Debunking the Myths

3. The How-To Book of the Mass: Everything You Need to Know but No One Ever Taught You

4.*Inventing the Flat Earth: Columbus and Modern Historians

5.*Fire in the City: Savonarola and the Struggle for the Soul of Renaissance Florence

*People ultimately don't buy the book, (although a few people have since this list first appeared last week).

New Books that Show Strong Interest:

Rome 1300: On the Path of the Pilgrim

By Way of Grace: Moving from Faithfulness to Holiness

A Pocket Guide to the Meaning of Life by Peter Kreeft

Last Month's Bestsellers

January 2007

1. The Gift of Faith

2. When Children Became People: The Birth Of Childhood In Early Christianity

3. The Best American Catholic Short Stories: A Sheed & Ward Collection

4. God Alone Suffices

5. Behold, I stand at the Door and Knock

Today's Feast

A Story on the Men's Conference in Milwaukee

I'll be at the one in Cincinnati next Saturday signing books, along with Coach Danny Abramowicz at the Our Sunday Visitor booth...

From the Milwaukee Catholic Journal:

Following lunch, Danny Abramowicz, a former member of the New Orleans Saints (1967-1973) and the San Francisco 49ers (1973-1974) and special teams coach for the Chicago Bears and offensive coordinator for the Saints, also used sports metaphors to convey his message on the need for spiritual workouts.A spiritual workout, said Abramowicz, should begin with stretching out in prayer, developing the habit of prayer. Choose a regular time and find a place to pray, even if for five to 10 minutes a day, he said.

The second step in Abramowicz’s spiritual workout is jogging to Mass.

“If I told you that Jesus Christ was going to be at Lambeau Field or Miller Park today, we’d have a stampede of people trying to get there,” he said. “But guess what? Jesus Christ is going to be right here with us at Mass.”Why wouldn’t we go regularly to Mass, if we truly believe it is Jesus in the Eucharist?" He asked.

Q. Little Time to Read? A. Pocket Guides

Our Sunday Visitor is launching a series of pocket guides and I noticed this morning that one of them that will be released next month is already on the Catholic Bestseller's list on Amazon--namely the one written by Dr. Peter Kreeft. Here is the one by him and the others that will be coming out next month:

A Pocket Guide to the Meaning of Life by Peter Kreeft

A Pocket Guide to Purgatory by Patrick Madrid

A Pocket Guide to the Mass by Michael Dubruiel

And the one pocket guide that was released last year:

A Pocket Guide to Catholic Apologetics by Patrick Madrid

And this Fall they will release:

A Pocket Guide to Confession by Michael Dubruiel

Along with two others that still are being finalized by two very popular Catholics in the U.S.

Mepkin Abbey Counters PETA Accusations of Animal Cruelity

The Post and Courrier has the story. The Monk's website has a statement which in part reads:

It has always been Mepkin Abbey's purpose to provide the healthiest environment for our chickens, to treat them as one of God's precious creatures and to offer to consumers the best possible product for their health and enjoyment. That is precisely why we moved to the cage arrangement over 30 years ago, and why we have continued with it to the present. Cages provide hens protection from predators, soil-borne diseases, and diseases that are caused from walking in litter or waste.

We stand by our product and by the commitment we make to our customers as stated on the inner cover of our egg carton.

Bishop's Theory on Anna Nicole Smith

From the Wisconsin State Journal:

Bishop Robert Morlino says the legal circus being waged over Anna Nicole Smith can be laid at the steps of a state that "does not protect and reinforce the marriage bond and the true definition of marriage."

Morlino, the spiritual head of the quarter-million Christians in the Madison Catholic Diocese, wrote in Thursday's edition of the Catholic Herald that "when civil law opened the door to no-fault divorce and in- vitro fertilization, the civil law started down the slippery slope that led us to the present moment."

"Tinkering with the marriage bond and the definition of marriage empowers the courts to usurp decisions that belong to the traditional family and affords great wealth to eager litigators," the bishop continued. "The natural law is the guide both to freedom and to conscience in these very sensitive matters."

One of the many things I like about Morlino is his ability to make me look at the news in a way differently than I ordinarily would. And, as a columnist for his own newspaper, he certainly has as much right to capitalize on Anna Nicole as I do in this column.

He says he is "praying frequently for the respose and soul" of Smith, which, to be honest, makes him a far better man than I am.

Anti-Semitic Chants Seen as Chance to Educate

At a Bishop Sullivan Catholic School...from the Pilot Online:

Students at Bishop Sullivan Catholic High School will receive sensitivity training as a result of anti-Semitic chants and graffit i during a recent basketball game against rival Norfolk Academy.

Several Sullivan students met with Norfolk Academy's cultural diversity club Thursday as part of a series of events aimed at promoting tolerance, Sullivan Principal Dennis W. Price said.

"It is important that we work harder at having students leaving here who are tolerant and understand how serious these kinds of things are," he said.

KFC Seeks Papal Blessing

Shouldn't it be KFF(ish)....

From Playfuls.com:

KFC President Gregg Dedrick said he sent a letter to Pope Benedict XVI asking him to bless KFC's Fish Snacker Sandwich, the company said in a news release.

After Protests From Catholic Church

Telus Stops Selling Porn

From Bloomberg.com:

Telus Corp., Canada's second-biggest phone company, reversed its decision to sell pornography on mobile phones after customers including the Catholic Church threatened to cancel their service.

Pope Benedict's Ash Wednesday Homily

From Asia News Italy:

In his homily the Pope said that “with the penitential procession we have begun the austere period of Lent. Introducing ourselves in the Eucharistic celebration we have prayed that the Lord may help the Christian people to ‘begin a journey towards true conversion so as to victoriously confront with the weapons of penance the fight against the spirit of evil’ (Opening Prayer). In receiving the ashes on the forehead, we shall listen again to a clear invitation to convert that can be expressed in a dual formula: ‘Convert and believe in the Gospel’ or ‘Remember that we come from dust and that we return to dust’.”

Benedict XVI then emphasised that “today’s liturgy and its gestures form an ensemble that anticipates the whole Lenten period,” a time “to become reconciled with God in Jesus Christ.”

“For the liturgy of Ash Wednesday,” he said, “a heartfelt conversion to God is the fundamental trait aspect of the time of Lent. It is the quite suggestive reference that comes to us from the traditional ritual of the imposition of the ashes. This ritual has a double meaning. The first refers to an inner change, to conversion and penance, whilst the second refers to the precariousness of human existence easily seen in the two expressions that accompany the gesture.”

Now “we have 40 days to deepen this extraordinary ascetic and spiritual experience.” Jesus himself tells us what are “the useful instruments to achieve a true inner and communal renewal: charity (alms), prayer and penance (fasting). These are three fundamental practices that are also dear to the Jewish tradition because they contribute to the man’s purification before God (cf Mt 6, 1-6.16-18). Such external gestures, which must be performed to please God and not to get men’s approval and consensus, are acceptable to Him if they express the heart’s determination to serve Him only in simplicity and generosity.”

“Fasting, which the Church invites us to do during this demanding time, is certainly not motivated by physical or aesthetic reasons. It stems man’s need to purify himself from within and detoxify himself from sin and evil. It teaches him to accept the beneficial renunciatory practices that free the believer from the slavery of his own self. It makes him listen more attentively to God and more available to Him and to serve his brothers. For this reason fasting and other Lenten practices are seen in the Christian tradition as spiritual ‘weapons’ in the fight against evil, wicked passions and vices.”

Lent Begins Today

I've written a Lenten devotional that you might find a great help this Lent: The Power of the Cross: Meditations for the Lenten Season.

What is it?

Daily Meditations based on the Gospel Readings of the day from Ash Wednesday to Holy Saturday…

• For Use as a private Lenten Devotional or
• For Use as in a Group Bible Study

Praise for The Power of the Cross: Meditations for the Lenten Season :

National Catholic Register
Weekly Book Pick February 2005

For launching into Lent, Clare Siobhan recommends "The Power of the Cross: Applying the Passion of Christ to Your Life" by Michael Dubruiel.

And from those who've used it in the parish as a small group devotional:

We just finished studying your book "The Power of the Cross: Meditations for the Lenten Season"– ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL!!!!!!!.
It was soooo Catholic and thank you for speaking the truth. We have a lot of Catholics out there (including myself) who missed these lessons over the last 20 years. We have made Catholicism what we wanted it to be. Not how is really is. I believe your book opened the eyes of a lot of the ladies in the group.

Vickie Loftis, Women's Bible Study, San Juan Del Rio Catholic Church, Switzerland, FL

“The Power of the Cross” will be our text for adult education classes during Lent. Keep on writing!

Pastor, Saint Patrick Catholic Church, Sarasota, FL

Check inside the book on Amazon to sample what the book is like.

I also did a weekly series on KVSS in Omaha, NE that remains online in podcast format for those using the book to have as a supplement to the book.

Ash Wednesday Thought From "God Alone Suffices"

From God Alone Suffices:

"Though full of dignity, created in the image of God, and redeemed by the blood of the Redeemer, a person remains only ashes, and his body turns to dirt after death. If we would acknowledge this truth that permeated the lives of saints, even in a limited way, each one of us would have a deep awareness of our nothingness. We would acknowledge that we are a handful of ashes loved by God, dirt in which the Creator of the universe wants to dwell."

Beginning of Lent Meditation

From Lenten Meditations:

Do you want to know the secret to making this Lent truly a life changing event?Stop thinking that you are different. I know the message you get from almost every corner of the world these days is that you are unique, one of a kind--sort of like a snowflake! There is an element of truth to that, but it is not the whole truth. Because you are also just like every other human being living on this planet.Jesus wasn't like everyone else--but he did not "deem eqaulity with God" and as Saint Paul said to the Philipians, that is something "to be grasped at."So have a change of mind--repent! Stop thinking of yourself in terms of how you are different from everyone else, i.e. stop praying like the pharisee in the Gospels. Stop worrying about this group of sinners or that group and see yourself as part of all of those or more correctly all of us sinful human beings.Then start genuinely praying, "Lord have mercy on us," Lord be generous with us. We are beggars before your throne.Let the ashes on your forehead mark you as just another in the crowd of dreadful need of Jesus the savior, not as a mark of what a great Christian you are--because quite frankly if you think the latter you really aren't that great of a Christian. Humility is the key to following Christ and being a Christian.

Ash Wednesday--Pope Benedict's General Audience

From the Vatican:

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Today – Ash Wednesday – we begin our Lenten journey in a spirit of prayer and penance. From the earliest days of the Church, Lent has been a special time of preparation for Baptism. For those already baptized, Lent is a time of conversion and renewed faith. It is a time to "exercise" our desire for God by opening our hearts to the new life offered to us in Christ. Jesus exhorts us to "repent and believe in the Gospel". Only conversion can lead to true happiness, and God’s grace is needed to inspire and sustain our efforts to direct our hearts completely to him.

Conversion consists in recognizing that we depend entirely on God, who created us and redeemed us in Christ. In my Lenten message this year, I wanted to emphasize God’s immense love for us, and to invite all Christians, together with Mary and the Beloved Disciple, to draw near to the Lord, who gave his life for us on the Cross. The Cross – the definitive revelation of God’s love and mercy – is the only way to enter this mystery of saving love. This Lent, by a more fervent participation in the Eucharist, may we learn to enter more deeply into the Paschal Mystery and to "re-give" Christ’s love to others, especially the suffering and those in need.\

I am pleased to greet the pilgrimage group from the Diocese of Jelgava in Latvia, led by Bishop Antons Justs. Upon all the English-speaking visitors present at today’s Audience, especially those from England, Wales, Ireland, Finland, Japan and the United States, I cordially invoke God’s blessings for a fruitful and spiritually enriching Lent.

Office of Readings Podcast

I couldn't find one online (there is one for Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer), so I'm setting out to do one. I have three days available and I'll try to keep at least two-three days ahead of schedule.

Of all the hours the Office of Readings makes the most sense as a podcast because it largely is made up of two substantial readings-one from Scripture, the other from a Church Father, Saint or Council.

RSS URL: http://odeo.com/channel/286253/rss.xml

Subscription Page

Lenten Meditations

Lenten Meditations

Pope Benedict's Latest Q & A

With Roman Seminarians last Saturday, from Zenit.

A second-year theology student asked: "How one should address shortcomings within the Church in the most serene and responsible way?"

"Not an easy question," the Holy Father said with a smile. "But the Lord knows, he knew from the beginning that there is sin in the Church. "

And for our humility it is important to acknowledge this and to see the sin not only in others, in the structures, in the high hierarchical offices, but also in ourselves, thus being more humble with ourselves and learning that, before the Lord, one's position does not count, but what counts is to be in his love and to make his love shine."

"How is one to behave in the face of pain?"

Benedict XVI underlined the need to make it understood above all that suffering is an essential part of human maturation.

Jesus himself, the Holy Father continued, said that he had to suffer for the salvation of the world and that whoever wishes to follow him must take up his own cross.

"We are always like Peter who says to the Lord: 'No, Lord!'" the Pontiff observed. "'This cannot be the case, you must not suffer, we do not want to carry the cross, we want to create a more human, more beautiful kingdom on earth.'

"This is totally mistaken: Whoever promises a life that is only happy and comfortable, lies, because this is not the truth of man and then one flees to false paradises and precisely in this way one does not arrive at joy but at self-destruction."

Benedict XVI explained that Christianity proclaims joy to us, a joy that grows in the way of love, a path that is, however, linked to the cross. Yet, there is an obligation in the face of suffering, he said: "We must do everything possible, to overcome humanity's suffering and to help suffering people -- there are so many in the world -- to find a good life and to be freed from evils caused by ourselves: famine, epidemics, etc."

A student asked how they should relate to human weakness, when one is aware of being very far from true coherence with one's yes to God.

"It is good to acknowledge one's own weakness because in this way we know that we have need of the Lord's grace," the Pope answered. "The Lord consoles us. In the college of the apostles there was not only Judas but also the good apostles.

"Peter fell, and so many times the Lord reproached his slowness, the apostles' closed hearts, the little faith they had. Therefore, it shows us that no one of us is up to the loftiness of this great yes."

And in this awareness, added the Holy Father, there is also an attitude of continuous conversion: "To acknowledge that we are in need of a permanent conversion, and that we have never simply arrived; to accept our frailty but to stay on the path, not to give in but to go forward and through the sacrament of reconciliation to be converted ever again by a new beginning and thus grow, mature through the Lord, in our communion with the Lord."

Fr. Cantalamessa (Papal Preacher) in Central Kentucky

From the Lexington Herald:

He said Pope John Paul II, who appointed him to the post of papal preacher in 1980, stressed "exchanging gifts among the churches, not exchanging accusations." That's something Cantalamessa said he wants to encourage.

"What unites us is much more important," he said. "The Lord put love in my heart for the fellow Christians."

He said the issues that created the division between the Catholic Church and other denominations centuries ago "have lost most of their importance."

National Catholic Register Reviews The Virtue Driven Life

By Father Benedict Groeschel...

From the National Catholic Register:

That’s one reason this latest breezy read from the most popular American Franciscan of our day, Father Benedict J. Groeschel, a Capuchin Friar of the Renewal, arrives as a well-timed dose of reality. It’s medicine that tastes good and goes down easy even though it possesses potent anti-toxin properties.

Not only does the priest offer a practical primer on the qualities that constitute the three theological virtues (faith, hope and charity) and the four cardinal ones (prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance), but he also seriously challenges the reader to cultivate those qualities, little by little, in everyday living.

Vatican Takes Steps to Control Overcrowding

From the NY Times:

The number of visitors to the Vatican has nearly doubled in the last 10 years, hitting a high of 4.2 million in 2006, and has resulted in the overcrowding of a structure originally built to accommodate a Renaissance papal court, not up to 20,000 visitors at a time shuffling around one another.

Between enormous tour groups and rowdy school-trippers, a visit to the Vatican Museums can become “more of a traumatic than an artistic experience for tourists,” said Paola, one of several guides who were interviewed and who asked that their full names not be used for fear of offending the Vatican.

Anglicans Back Plan to Unite with Pope

Some Anglicans, anyway...

From Times Online:

Radical proposals to reunite Anglicans with the Roman Catholic Church under the leadership of the Pope are to be published this year, The Times has learnt.

The proposals have been agreed by senior bishops of both churches.

In a 42-page statement prepared by an international commission of both churches, Anglicans and Roman Catholics are urged to explore how they might reunite under the Pope.

The Open Book/Annunciations Bestseller's List

Our Bestseller's List

What Books People who Read Amy's Open Book blog and Michael's Annunciation blog are Buying

February 2007 (2/17/2007)

1. The Power of the Cross: Meditations for the Lenten Season

2. The How-To Book of the Mass: Everything You Need to Know but No One Ever Taught You

3. The Gift of Faith

4.(tied) Those Terrible Middle Ages: Debunking the Myths

4.(tied) The Best American Catholic Short Stories: A Sheed & Ward Collection

5. God Alone Suffices

Books that Spark the Most Interest (for this month so far):

1. Those Terrible Middle Ages: Debunking the Myths

2. The Power of the Cross: Meditations for the Lenten Season

3. The How-To Book of the Mass: Everything You Need to Know but No One Ever Taught You

4.*Inventing the Flat Earth: Columbus and Modern Historians

5.*Fire in the City: Savonarola and the Struggle for the Soul of Renaissance Florence

*People ultimately don't buy the book.



FYI, Last Month's Bestsellers:

January 2007

1. The Gift of Faith

2. When Children Became People: The Birth Of Childhood In Early Christianity

3. The Best American Catholic Short Stories: A Sheed & Ward Collection

4. God Alone Suffices

5. Behold, I stand at the Door and Knock

Pope: "Why does Jesus ask us to love our enemies?"

In today's Angelus message--which of course ties in to today's Gospel that'll you hear at Mass. The answer?

It is all about the "love of God"which exceeds the way the world thinks and acts. The pope invites all to enter the season of Lent with a renewed sense of our weakness and need to be empowered by the love of God.

To the English speaking pilgrims:

As we prepare to enter the holy season of Lent, let us recognize our sins and weaknesses, and deepen our desire to forgive and to grow in compassion. Upon all of you and your loved ones, I invoke the joy and peace of Christ the Lord!

Let's Go Lenten!!!

Host Fr. Greg Sakowicz and Co-host Wayne Magdziarz discuss Lent with Fr. Frank "Rocky" Hoffman, Chaplain at Northridge College Prep; Michael Dubruiel, author of several books including The Power of the Cross: Meditations for the Lenten Season; and Fr. Robert Pawell, OFM, Director of Programs at St. Peter's in the Loop.

Pocast of the show here.

I'm On Chicago Catholic Radio This Morning

My Schedule

Radio 820 AM (WCSN)

Pope Expected to Visit Assisi

In June.

From Perugia Online:

Pope Benedict XVI is expected to visit Assisi on June 17th as part of the 800th anniversary celebrations of the conversion of St Francis.The Pope will make a tour of the basilicas of San Damiano, Santa Chiara, San Francesco (where there will be Holy Mass and a blessing) and hold further appointments in the afternoon.

Saint Valentine's Day

In my day (you know you're getting old when you start saying this) we were taught about Saint Valentine in public school (in the Northeast), as we were about Saint Lucy and Saint Patrick. Anyway for those who have grown up in a more pagan environment, here is the Wikopedia link and an image of St. Valentine to pique your curiosity.

They're Not Stupid

From The Power and Peril of Praising Your Kids:

Psychologist Wulf-Uwe Meyer, a pioneer in the field, conducted a series of studies where children watched other students receive praise. According to Meyer’s findings, by the age of 12, children believe that earning praise from a teacher is not a sign you did well—it’s actually a sign you lack ability and the teacher thinks you need extra encouragement. And teens, Meyer found, discounted praise to such an extent that they believed it’s a teacher’s criticism—not praise at all—that really conveys a positive belief in a student’s aptitude.

Catholic Bishop Supports Mayor's Opposition to Making English Official Language

Supports a move to make Latin the official language instead (just joking)...

City=Nashville, TN

Veto does not end English debate

Blogger Quits Edwards Campaign

Good...

Blogger quits Edwards campaign in light of conservative criticism

Pope Benedict's Lenten Message for 2007

From MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI FOR LENT 2007:

On the Cross, it is God Himself who begs the love of His creature: He is thirsty for the love of every one of us. The Apostle Thomas recognized Jesus as “Lord and God” when he put his hand into the wound of His side. Not surprisingly, many of the saints found in the Heart of Jesus the deepest expression of this mystery of love. One could rightly say that the revelation of God’s eros toward man is, in reality, the supreme expression of His agape. In all truth, only the love that unites the free gift of oneself with the impassioned desire for reciprocity instills a joy, which eases the heaviest of burdens. Jesus said: “When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men to myself” (Jn 12:32). The response the Lord ardently desires of us is above all that we welcome His love and allow ourselves to be drawn to Him. Accepting His love, however, is not enough. We need to respond to such love and devote ourselves to communicating it to others. Christ “draws me to Himself” in order to unite Himself to me, so that I learn to love the brothers with His own love.

Pope Slams Italian Civil Unions Bill

From Adnki.com:

As the Italian parliament is preparing to discuss a highly controversial government decree granting legal rights to civil unions, including same-sex couples, Pope Benedict XVI on Monday slammed the planned legislation as weakening the family and harming society. "No legislation can change the law of the Creator without making the future of society precarious with laws which are in stark contrast with natural law," the pontiff said.

"A very concrete application of this principle can be found in relation to the family, which is the intimate communion of life as founded by the Creator, with its own rules," Benedict also said. The family "has its stability under divine laws. The good fortune of spouses and society does not depend on arbitrary acts."

Faith-related Talks Set for Thursday

From the Palladium-Item:


Writer and teacher Amy Welborn will give two talks Thursday in Richmond (IN) related to faith.

Her discussion at 7 p.m. at St. Andrew Church, 235 S. Fifth St., is free and open to the public. She will focus on prayer and how the history and traditional use of certain prayers are "a treasure worth rediscovering" and "are gifts from the past that can be used to great benefit today."

Witchcraft is Destroying the Church in Africa

So the experts say, from All Africa. com:

Witchcraft is real, and it is destroying the church in Africa, Catholic experts warned this week.

Scholars from the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA) expressed concern that the church continued to dismiss the dark arts as mere superstition, thereby unwittingly helping the devil advance his reign.

For that reason, Christians who suffer because of witchcraft are often dismissed by priests as being superstitious. Because they do not get adequate help from pastoral agents, they seek the assistance of witchdoctors or join the mushrooming evangelical denominations that offer healing, exorcism and deliverance.

It was said that many African priests fear witchcraft or are ignorant of their own power to confront the devil.

Christians also visit diviners and magicians to seek practical solutions which the church and science apparently do not offer.

The Open Book & Annunciations Blog Bestseller's List

Our own Bestseller's list:

What Books People who Read this Blog and Amy's Open Book blog are Buying

February 2007 (so far)

1. The How-To Book of the Mass: Everything You Need to Know but No One Ever Taught You

2. The Power of the Cross: Meditations for the Lenten Season

3. The Gift of Faith

4. Those Terrible Middle Ages: Debunking the Myths

5. The Best American Catholic Short Stories: A Sheed & Ward Collection

FYI, Last Month's Bestsellers:

January 2007

1. The Gift of Faith

2. When Children Became People: The Birth Of Childhood In Early Christianity

3. The Best American Catholic Short Stories: A Sheed & Ward Collection

4. God Alone Suffices

5. Behold, I stand at the Door and Knock

World Day of the Sick

Pope entrusts the world's sick to Mary...

From Asia News Italy:

Benedict XVI recalled the “prodigious event” of “the first apparition of the Virgin Mary to St Bernadette, which took place on 11 February 1858 in the grotto of Massabielle in Lourdes”. This event, continued the pope, made “the location, situated in the French slopes of the Pyrenees, a global center for pilgrimages and intense Marian spirituality. In this place, for nearly 150 years now, the call of Our Lady to prayer and repentance still reverberates powerfully, a quasi permanent echo of the invitation with which Jesus inaugurated his preaching in Galilee: ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.’ (Mk 1:15).”


Although miracles and healings confirmed by a team of doctors often take place at Lourdes, the pope saw fit to draw attention to a more profound miracle: “Moreover, the shrine has become a destination of many sick pilgrims who, putting themselves in a position to listen to the Most Holy Mary, are encouraged to accept their sufferings and to offer them for the salvation of the world, uniting them with those of the crucified Christ.”

Benedict XVI explained the connection between the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes and the World Day of the Sick: “It was precisely because of this link between Lourdes and human suffering that, 15 years ago, the beloved John Paul II wanted the World Day of the Sick to be celebrated on the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. This year, the focus of this feast is in the city of Seoul, capital of South Korea, where I sent Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragán, President of the Pontifical Council for Pastoral Health Care to represent me. I send an affectionate greeting to him and to all those gathered there.”


The pope continued: “I would like to extend my thoughts to health workers across the world, well aware of the importance of their service to sick people in our society. In particular, I want to express my spiritual closeness and my affection for our sick brothers and sisters, especially those who are afflicted by more serious and painful illnesses. On this Day, our attention is turned towards them in a special way. It is necessary to support the development of palliative care that offers holistic support and gives terminally ill people the human support and spiritual accompaniment that they badly need.”


Before the Angelus prayer, the pope reminded his audience about a Eucharistic Celebration that will be held this afternoon in St Peter’s Basilica, with many sick people and pilgrims. Mass will be presided over by Cardinal Camillo Ruini, Vicar of the diocese of Rome. Benedict XVI said: “At the end of Holy Mass, I will have the joy, like last year, of spending some time with them, reliving the spiritual climate experienced at the grotto of Massabielle. With this Angelus prayer, I would like to entrust to the maternal protection of the Immaculate Virgin all those in the world who are sick and suffering in body and spirit.”

A Parish Reformed According to Vatican II

I read in the Wanderer yesterday that two parishes that qualifies as a model are those run by the Oratory in Toronto, Canada.

They have a beatiful rendition of Ave Regina Caelorum on the site--the Marian Antiphon sung at Compline from the Feast of the Presentation to Wednesday of Holy Week.

Vatican Rejects Attempt to Keep NH Churches Open

From the Manchester Union Leader:

The Diocese of Manchester said the churches in Ashland and Bristol would close and all congregations would meet in Plymouth.
A month later, Rep. Fran Wendelboe sent a letter of appeal to the Vatican linking the merger to a loss of respect for the state's Roman Catholic leaders because of the priest sex abuse scandal.
The Vatican recently rejected that appeal, but Wendelboe, R-New Hampton, said she isn't giving up.
She hopes to raise $10,000 to take the matter to the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, the Roman Catholic Church's highest court.

School Bans Mother's Day Cards

Because some kids don't have them? Is that possible? I mean I realize that a mother may have died, but even that child still has a mother and might find it consoling to make his or her mother a card.

From Daily Mail:

A school has banned the making of Mother’s Day cards because the headteacher does not want to upset children without a mother.

Helen Starkey has ended the tradition in the interests of "sensitivity".

"More than five per cent of children here are separated from their birth mother and have either no contact or no regular contact with their mother," she said.

Study: Fertility Treatment Raises Birth-defect Risk

From The Seattle Times:

The biggest difference was seen in the rate of gastrointestinal problems, such as defects in the abdominal wall or organs not in the right place. Babies conceived through ART were nearly nine times more likely to have such problems —
one in 200 births versus six per 10,000 for the others.
However, "it's still pretty uncommon," said lead researcher Darine El-Chaar of the University of Ottawa.
The chance of cardiovascular defects was more than twice as high — 90 per 10,000 babies conceived through ART versus 40 among those conceived naturally. Defects such as malformed limbs also were slightly more common, but not facial defects such as cleft palate or problems such as spina bifida.
The researchers note that people who have trouble conceiving also may have underlying genetic or health factors that could partly account for the higher rates of birth defects.

The emphasis is mine on the last paragraph, because it struck me as something to think about.

Ugandan Seminarian Studying in US Implicated in Financial Scam

He wasn't claiming to be the recipient of a large fund, as far as I can tell....but

From All Africa:

A Ugandan catholic seminarian has been implicated in a financial scam in the United States, ending his studies only a month to ordination.
Jude Nanyumba, 28, a candidate for the priesthood at Notre Dame Seminary in New
Orleans, is accused of fleecing parishioners in the US of $12,000 (sh21m) and fleeing to Uganda.

Edwards, Once Again, Personally Offended but...

I could swear that he said something very similar about the issue of same-sex marriage that I read the other day. That he personally found it...but....

The question that this raises in my mind is "Is this guy totally unreal?" Is he personally against everything that he does and why is that?

And what does it mean when he says, "It's not how I expect the people who work for me to talk,"and then goes on to make excuses for them?

Can anyone say "charcter"?

From His Campaign Blog:

The tone and the sentiment of some of Amanda Marcotte's and Melissa McEwan's posts personally offended me. It's not how I talk to people, and it's not how I expect the people who work for me to talk to people. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but that kind of intolerant language will not be permitted from anyone on my campaign, whether it's intended as satire, humor, or anything else. But I also believe in giving everyone a fair shake. I've talked to Amanda and Melissa; they have both assured me that it was never their intention to malign anyone's faith, and I take them at their word. We're beginning a great debate about the future of our country, and we can't let it be hijacked. It will take discipline, focus, and courage to build the America we believe in.

Cardinal Schoenborn "Science Alone Cannot Explain Creation"

From SignonSanDiego.com:

The cardinal said he found it “amazing” that a U.S. federal court ruled in 2005 that the Dover, Pa., public school district could not teach the concept of “intelligent design” as part of its science class. The judge had said that the theory, which says an intelligent supernatural force explains the emergence of complex life forms, was creationism in disguise.
The cardinal said the Dover ruling meant that schoolchildren would only be taught a materialistic, atheistic view of the origin of universe, without considering the idea that God played a role.
“A truly liberal society would at least allow students to hear of the debate,” he said.
Schoenborn's comments came in a speech Wednesday night sponsored by the Homeland Foundation, a philanthropy that funds cultural and religious programs, many involving the Catholic Church.
It is the latest in a series of remarks he has made on the topic. The cardinal, who is close to Pope Benedict XVI, has said he wants to correct what he calls a widespread
misconception that the Catholic Church has given a blanket endorsement to
Darwin's theories.

In Italy New Mass Attendance Survey Released

The smartest people go to Mass regularly....

From Sandro Magister:

The responses to the survey provided results close to the national figures over the past thirty years: 26 percent said they went to Mass every Sunday, and another 16.5 percent said they went from one to three times a month. In total, attendance was shown as 42.5 percent of the population of the patriarchate. But markedly lower attendance figures were shown in the on-the-spot survey conducted in all the churches on November 13 and 14, 2004. Those who said they had gone to
Mass on all of the previous four Sundays were 15 percent of the population. And
those who said they had gone from one to three times were 7.7 percent. In total,
22.7 percent of the population. In both of the surveys, the women who practice
their faith are more numerous than the men, and Mass attendance increases with
higher age and education levels. Castegnaro and Dalla Zuanna comment on this in
their essay for “Polis”: “Our results show a churchgoing population that is much
better educated than could have been imagined, and these differences are more
intense among the young than among the old: among the regular churchgoers in
their thirties, one out of three is a college graduate, while among those in their thirties in the overall population, only one out of ten is a college graduate.” The most striking result is, nevertheless, the wide gap between Mass attendance as reported by the interviews and as gathered in the churches. Declared attendance is much higher than actual attendance. And those most likely to overstate their religious practice are the persons with the least education.

Pelosi Delivers Fr. Drinan Eulogy

She quotes his addresss to Georgetown law students:

‘As I look out at all of you with your new and expensive law school educations, I would urge you to go forth into society not as mere legal tradesman, but as moral architects. Design, create and build a better and more equitable society and use your skills to help those who are otherwise not being served.’

From California Catholic.

Why do they think it is okay to be "moral architects" in regard to many issues that the general public do not support, but feel their hands are tied when it comes to pro-life issues???

Early Happy Valentine's Day

From Yahoo News:

A pair of human skeletons lie in an eternal embrace at an Neolithic archaeological dig site near Mantova, Italy, in this photo released February 6, 2007. Archaeologists in northern Italy believe the couple was buried 5,000-6,000 years ago, their arms still wrapped around each other in a hug that has lasted millennia

John Edwards' Bloggers Called Anti-Catholic'

"Called" is wrong--they either are or aren't--whatever happened to letting the facts dictate a story.

From the Spokesman Review:

Two bloggers hired recently by Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards were criticized Tuesday by a Catholic group for posts they had written elsewhere on the Internet.
Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, demanded that Edwards fire Amanda Marcotte and Melissa McEwan.
"John Edwards is a decent man who has had his campaign tarnished by two anti-Catholic, vulgar, trash-talking bigots," Donohue wrote in a statement.
The Edwards campaign declined to comment. McEwan and Marcotte did not respond to e-mails requesting a response.

Haggard Now "Completely Heterosexual"

From ABC News:

One of four ministers who oversaw three weeks of intensive counseling for the Rev. Ted Haggard said the disgraced minister emerged convinced that he is "completely heterosexual."
Haggard also said his sexual contact with men was limited to the former male prostitute who came forward with sexual allegations, the Rev. Tim Ralph of Larkspur told The Denver Post for a story in Tuesday's edition.
"He is completely heterosexual," Ralph said. "That is something he discovered. It was the acting-out situations where things took place. It wasn't a constant thing."

Nuncio Tells Bishop Gumbleton he Needs Permission?

To speak in another diocese?
This is Call to Action people reporting this, so that's why I have a question mark.

From The Arizona Republic:

Bishop Thomas Gumbleton of Detroit must seek permission from local bishops anywhere he wishes to speak, by order of the papal nuncio, the Vatican's ambassador to the United States, according to local leaders of Call to Action. The group has taken a variety of positions at odds with church policy.

Normally, Catholic clergy need permission only to conduct religious services. The Vatican has penalized dissident theologians in the past, but Robert Blair Kaiser, a Phoenix author who has covered the Vatican since 1962, said he had never heard of a nuncio restricting a bishop. advertisement

Ave Maria Law School Moving to Fort Wayne

And an association with Saint Francis University? Posted on an interesting blog dedicated to all things Fort Wayne.

Thrift Shopper Finds Stolen Crozier

In Mobile, AL Mobile thrift shopper finds purloined crosier

CDF Working on Documents on Life and Natural Law

Two New Documents in the Works: On Bioethics, and on Natural Law

Congratulations to Tony Dungy and the Colts

A good man who deserves to win the big game.

My team, the Jacksonville Jaguars beat the Super Bowl champions this year 44-17 two months ago--so it is rather remarkable that this Colts team made it all the way.

The Spiritual Life Set to Football

By former Bears Special Team Coach Danny Abramowicz:

"An Inconvenient Truth"-- It's -5 Degrees Here

Forecast high today: 3 degrees

It's 22 degrees and snowing where Al Gore lives or once lived (Nashville, TN)!

Bishop Trautmann's Red Herring

He continues his crusade against the new translation of the Mass, when ironically I would think he would defending and catechizing people on the necessity of it. But in the Tablet, a UK Catholic paper he presents this nugget:

While people need an understanding of the transcendence of God, the use of expressions not prevalent in the speech of the assembly and the use of archaic words defeat that purpose and make God remote. The new formalism in liturgicaltranslation will stifle authentic worship. For Christ's message can only be heard in the culture of the hearer. Liturgy does not take place in a cultural vacuum. If the liturgy of the Church is not celebrated in terms that resonate with the assembly, it will not be heard.

I find this a little disingenous, because quite frankly the liturgy(that word itself is archaic and hardly understood by the masses)is filled with words already that the majority of people in the congregation have no earthly idea of the meaning--and what is missing from this nugget is the sense that the liturgy is supposed to lift us out of this world (especially when the Eastern focus of liturg is emphasizd).

I have had great success with a book that I authored The How-To Book of the Mass: Everything You Need to Know but No One Ever Taught You, (which incidently is soon to be released in an expanded verion see Amazon)mainly because it defines a bunch of words that people hear at Mass (itself another archaic word, but one that is used in our culture in the context of Christmas)that are not part of our culture and quite foreign--think Eucharist!

One wonders what Bishop Truatmann hopes to accomplish with his crusade against the new translation?

The Book I Talked About on EWTN

On Bookmark last night.

Pope to Visit Tomb of Saint Augustine

In April.

Benedict XVI to visit tomb of St. Augustine

Vatican: Jesus Party Wig Blasphemus

Can be purchased right outside of Vatican City, from the UK Telegraph:

The "Jesus Party Wig", available across Italy to wear at the street festivities that precede Lent, costs €12 (£8) and comes complete with a flowing beard and a plastic crown of thorns.

Senior Vatican figures called it "blasphemous" and "shameful". One added that a similar Mohammed outfit would cause widespread outrage. "The vilifying of religion is a crime and this should be investigated by the police," said Bishop Velasio De Paolis, Secretary of the Apostolic Signature, the Vatican's Supreme Court.

Las Vegas Priest Caught in Arizona

Fugitive Priest Wanted for Attempted Murder Apprehended in Arizona

Was Priest Kidnapped by Diocese?

Members concerned about priest

No Shadow=Earlier Spring

With temperatures forecast to be no higher than the single digits over the next week, I guess we are going to pay for a short winter with an extremely cold one while it lasts.

More Ways to Procrastinate

And of course the #1 Book on Amazon today is:

Big Storm Heading Toward Florida This Weekend

The Problem "My" Versus "The Disciples of Christ"

I found this column interesting, because I think it once again shows forth the crux of the problem that we face as Catholics. Stephanie Salter aligns herself with the liberal end of the Catholic Church and distinguishes that Church as "My Catholic Church" over and against "The Disciples of Christ"--meaning those of us who believe in the sanctity of life. Bravo!!!!

Thank you, Stephanie for showing that there is the "gathering" of ego centered Catholics who focus on "My" as their operative word and then there are those who no less "ego centered" like "me" who strive to die to themselves and to be a student, a disciple of Jesus Christ. At least you don't put your group in that camp and I laud you for that!


Stephanie Salter: Remembering the greats of my Catholic Church

Thinking About Marrying a "Mother's Boy"?

Not a good idea...

From the Telegraph UK:

Being tied to your mother's apron strings is sufficent grounds to annul a marriage by the Vatican, it has emerged.

Officials ruled on several cases of men and women who were judged to be so dependent on a parent that they were unfit for marriage.

Judges on the Roman Rota, the top Catholic tribunal in the Vatican, agreed for an undisclosed number of marriages to be annulled on such grounds, according to a review of the judicial year.