Fired for not Practicing What You Teach

Diocese of Green Bay, in Appleton, WI. My guess is that there is more to this story, something akin to a very public dissent from Church teaching that isn't being told in the stories below:

From ABC's Good Morning America:

After five years trying to conceive, Kelly and Eric Romenesko decided to try in vitro fertilization.

Their twins, Alexandria and Allison, were born last year. It was a joyous event in the couple's life.

"They're miracles. They're precious," Kelly Romenesko said.

The couple were not prepared for what came next. When Kelly, a teacher at two Catholic schools in Wisconsin, told her bosses she had gotten pregnant through in vitro, they handed her a pink slip.

From the Local Press:

Kelly Romenesko wanted to get her story before the public, but appearing live on network TV was a little more exposure than she had anticipated.

A camera crew from ABC's "Good Morning America" was setting up at the Romenesko's house Wednesday night for a live broadcast this morning.

Oh, and Geraldo called. So did CNN.

Romenesko lost her teaching job with ACES/Xavier, the system that runs Appleton's seven Catholic schools, in 2004 for having in-vitro fertilization. The procedure violated her contract with the district, which requires teachers to act and teach in accordance with church doctrine. Unbeknownst to Romenesko, the Roman Catholic Church opposes in-vitro fertilization.

Evangelicals Using DaVinci Code as an Opportunity

To evangelize...even offering free i-pods?

From the LA Times:

Evangelical churches across the nation are launching an aggressive effort to save souls by talking about a fictional murder mystery that many regard as blasphemous.

Pastors are setting out doughnuts and sandwiches and inviting non-Christians to come discuss "The Da Vinci Code" bestseller. They're creating hip marketing campaigns to draw nonbelievers to sermons about the thriller. They're even giving away free iPods loaded with their commentary on the novel.

Amy Live Tonight on Life on the Rock (EWTN)

At 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time, you can watch online if you don't have EWTN...

Understanding the Traditionalist Movement

This book will be invaluable if the rumored Indult happens:

Benedict's Catechesis on the Church Continues

From Asia News Italy:

Benedict XVI, partly improvising and reading off his prepared speech,
highlighted the role of the Church of Rome, “sign, criterion and guarantee of
the uninterrupted transmission of the apostolic faith” in the context of
apostolic succession. Although no reference, direct or indirect, was made to the
illicit Chinese ordinations, the words spoken by the pope today cannot but
appear to be a stress on bishops’ need for a relationship “with Peter”.

Benedict XVI dealt with the theme of apostolic succession, continuing
to tackle tradition in the Church. The pope said succession has a “personal
aspect”. It was started by Jesus, “gathering the Twelve, who represented the
future people of God”. After the Ascension and the “defection of Judas”, others
were “associated” with the Twelve and their ministry, so it would continue, and
Jesus himself “called” Paul. All of them, as the last expressly said, are
concerned with “passing on what I have received”. “Just as at first, there is a
calling and sending by the Risen Lord to the apostles, in the same way, the call
and sending of others, in the strength of the Spirit, by those who are already
inserted in the apostolic ministry, will be the way through which Episcopal
ministry is entrusted.”

Accuracy in the Media

Published by students of John Carroll University...

From Carroll News Online:

Books such as Darrell Bock’s "Breaking the Da Vinci Code," a book which attempts
to answer questions surrounding the novel and Amy Welson’s
"De-Coding Da Vinci," a Catholic response to the issues in the novel, are now
being published. Documentary television shows are aired to rebuttal some of the
issues Brown’s book raises.

Coming Soon!

Available September 2006!

Also look for:
A Pocket Guide to The Mass
in 2007

The Healing Priest at Ave Maria University

And a Parish Healing Service.

Poster Priest for Vocations--Known Dissident?

Such is the claim at Life Site:

The ad pictures Fr. Marcoux smiling, with the subtext "Priesthood, I love
my life."

The only problem is that Fr. Marcoux was the main signatory and in fact
one of the promoters of a letter slamming the Vatican and the U.S. bishops for
using "vile and toxic language" in addressing homosexuality.

The diocese cannot claim ignorance of Marcoux's actions since he led
the charge to write the controversial letter to the US Bishops Conference, and
the Congregation of the Doctrine of Faith then and sent a copy to his bishop,
Rochester Bishop Matthew Clark. Bishop Clark has long been known to be a
sympathizer of homosexual clergy.

Top 10 Newspapers (by Circulation)

Look for Amy's op-ed in the top paper sometime within the next ten days...

From Drudge:

1. USA Today, 2,272,815, up 0.09 percent
2. The Wall Street Journal, 2,049,786, down 1 percent
3. The New York Times, 1,142,464, up 0.5 percent
4. Los Angeles Times, 851,832, down 5.4 percent
5. The Washington Post, 724,242, down 3.7 percent
6. New York Daily News, 708,477, down 3.7 percent
7. New York Post, 673,379, down 0.7 percent
8. Chicago Tribune, 579,079, up 0.9 percent
9. Houston Chronicle, 513,387, down 3.6 percent
10. The Arizona Republic, 438,722, down 2.1 percent

Opus Dei Site Affirms DaVinci Code Assertions

In fact, as you'll read on Fr. John Wauck's excellent DaVinci Code Catechism...Jesus was married (as also has been posted on this blog and look for a fuller treatment this week), the Church did create the New Testament, Sex is holy, and others.

Free Kittens...Not

From Yahoo News:

A Sphynx kitten is held before a referee while being evaluated at an international cat beauty contest in Bucharest Romania Sunday May 7, 2006. Rare breed cats sell for prices ranging from 300 to over 1,000 euros ($US380/ $US1,270). The average monthly income in Romania is around 150 euros.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder...personally when I think of Romania, I think of vampires and this sure looks like a vampire to me!

Even Stranger Top 10 Barnes and Nobles Catholic List

May 7, 2006, B & N Daily Top Bestsellers in Roman Catholicism...

The surprise isn't that "Holy Blood, Holy Grail" is listed here or that it's listed twice, but rather what the #1 book is:

1.Praying the Rosary: With the Joyful, Luminous, Sorrowful, and Glorious Mysteries
Michael Dubruiel, Amy Welborn / Hardcover
Usually ships within 24 hours - Same Day delivery in Manhattan
Our Price: $6.95

2.Parish Priest: Father Michael McGivney and American Catholicism
Douglas Brinkley, Julie Fenster, Julie M. Fenster / Hardcover
Usually ships within 24 hours
Our Price: $17.46
You Save: 30%

3.Mother Teresa: In My Own Words: 1910 - 1997
Mother Teresa / Hardcover
Usually ships within 2-3 days
Our Price: $5.99
You Save: 49%
4.Essential Rosary: With Prayers by Caryll Houselander
Caryll Houselander / Paperback
Usually ships within 24 hours - Same Day delivery in Manhattan
Our Price: $5.95

5.Rediscovering Catholicism: Journeying toward Our Spiritual North Star
Matthew Kelly, Matthew Kelley / Hardcover
Usually ships within 2-3 days
Our Price: $18.36
You Save: 20%

6.Holy Blood, Holy Grail
Michael Baigent, Henry Lincoln, Richard Leigh / Paperback
Usually ships within 24 hours - Same Day delivery in Manhattan
Our Price: $13.50
You Save: 10%

7.Holy Blood, Holy Grail
Michael Baigent, Henry Lincoln, Richard Leigh / Mass Market Paperback
Usually ships within 24 hours - Same Day delivery in Manhattan
Our Price: $7.99

8.Mother Angelica: The Remarkable Story of a Nun, Her Nerve, and a Network of Miracles
Raymond Arroyo / Hardcover
Usually ships within 24 hours - Same Day delivery in Manhattan
Our Price: $19.16
You Save: 20%

9.Catholicism For Dummies
John Trigilio / Paperback
Usually ships within 24 hours - Same Day delivery in Manhattan
Our Price: $17.59
You Save: 20%

10.The Return of the Prodigal Son: A Story of Homecoming
Henri J. M. Nouwen / Paperback
Usually ships within 24 hours - Same Day delivery in Manhattan
Our Price: $12.80
You Save: 20%

Amazon's Catholic Bestseller's (5/7/2006)

Always interesting, not sure how some get labeled "Catholic", anyway here it is the snapshot at 8:28 a.m on Sunday morning:

1. Peter, Paul, and Mary Magdalene : The Followers of Jesus in History and Legend
by Bart D. Ehrman Not Catholic

2. Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church
by Libreria Editrice Vaticana

3. Truth and Fiction in The Da Vinci Code : A Historian Reveals What We Really Know about Jesus, Mary Magdalene, and Constantine
by Bart D. Ehrman Not Catholic

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

5. My Life With the Saints
by James Martin

6. Breaking the Da Vinci Code : Answers to the Questions Everyone's Asking
by Darrell L. Bock Not Catholic

7. Catholic Matters: Confusion, Controversy, And the Splendor of Truth
by Richard John Neuhaus

8. Return of the Prodigal Son
by Henri Nouwen

9. The Da Vinci Hoax: Exposing the Errors in The Da Vinci Code
by Carl E. Olson, Sandra Miesel

10. Catechism of the Catholic Church : Second Edition
by U. S. Catholic Church, Catholic Church

Pope Ordains Priests for Rome and the Carmelites

From the homily via Asia News Italy:

In the homily, the pope highlighted some fundamental aspects of the priesthood in the image of the “Good Shepherd”.

1) The priest does not want “to personally become someone, but rather to be so for another, for Christ, and thus through Him and with Him, to be there for the men He seeks, who He wants to lead to the path of life. One enters the priesthood through the Sacrament – and this means precisely: through the total giving of self to Christ, so that He may use me, so that I may serve Him and follow his call, even if this should be in contrast with my desires of self-realisation and esteem. Entering the door, that is Christ, means knowing and loving him ever more, because our will becomes one with his and our behaviour becomes one thing with his.”

2) Celebrated each day, the Eucharist “should become for us a school of life, in which we learn to give our life. Life is not given only in the moment of death and not only in the moment of martyrdom. We must give it day after day. We must learn, day after day, that I do not possess my life for myself. Day after day, I must learn to abandon myself, to put myself at the disposal of that which He, the Lord, wants of me at that moment, even if other things appear more beautiful or important to me. Giving life, not taking it. And it is thus that we experience freedom. Freedom from ourselves, the enormity of being. It is in being useful that our life becomes important and beautiful. Only those who give their life, find it.

3) The priest must live in his intimate “relationship with Christ and through the Father, only then can we truly understand men, and then they will realise they have found a true shepherd”.

4) “The mission of Jesus regards all humanity, and so the Church is entrusted with a responsibility for all humanity, so that they may recognize God, that God who, for all of us, became man in Jesus Christ, suffered, died and rose. The Church should never be content with the line-up of those who have joined it at a certain point. It cannot withdraw comfortably within the borders of its own environment. It is entrusted with universal concern; it should concern itself about everyone. This great task must be “translated” in our respective missions. Obviously, a priest, a pastor of souls, should worry above all about those who believe and live with the Church, who seek there the path to life and who, for their part, are living stones, building the Church and thus together edifying and supporting the priest too. All the same, we must always once again – as the Lord days – go “into the roads and lanes” (Lk 14:23) to bear the invitation of God to his banquet to those men who so far have not yet heard anything, and who have not been touched inside.”

Regina Caeli Message of Pope

World Day of Prayer for Vocations...

From Asia News Italy:

The Pope told pilgrims gathered in St Peter’s Square: “In the message, I recalled the experience of the first apostles of Jesus who, after getting to know him at the lakeside and in the villages of Galilee, were conquered by his appeal and his love. The Christian vocation is always the renewal of this personal friendship with Jesus Christ, which gives full sense to one’s existence and makes it available for the Kingdom of God. The Church lives off such friendship, fed by the Word and the Sacraments, a sacred reality entrusted in a particular way to the ministry of Bishops, Presbyterians and Deacons, consecrated by sacrament of ordination. This is why – as I reiterated in the same message – the mission of priesthood is irreplaceable, and although in some places there is a shortage of clergy, there should be no doubt that God continues to call young people and adults to leave everything to dedicate themselves to preaching the Gospel and to pastoral ministry”.

The Pontiff also recalled “another special form of following Christ” that is “vocation to consecrated life, expressed in a poor, chaste and obedient existence completely dedicated to God, in contemplation and prayer, and at the service of one’s brothers, especially the meek and the poor”. He also emphasized that Christian marriage is a vocation in the full sense of the word, and that “the example of holy parents is the first condition that favours the flourishing of priestly and religious vocations.”

Before reciting the Easter prayer to Our Lady, the Pope called on all the faithful to invoke the “intercession of Mary, Mother of the Church, for all priests and religious; let us pray so that the seeds of vocation that God sows in the hearts of the faithful may reach maturity and bear fruits of holiness in the Church and the world.”

Co-Founder of Life Teen Resigns

From East Valley Tribune:

Baniewicz, father of four, was praised Friday in a statement from the Catholic Diocese of Phoenix.

“Words cannot truly express the gratitude the diocese, as well as thousands of young people around the world, has for Phil Baniewicz,” diocese spokeswoman Mary Jo West said. ”For 21 years, this dynamic leader has devoted his life to Life Teen, bringing God’s message of love and hope to those young people who are the future of our Catholic Church.”

Free Comic Book Day!

I remembered this from an article I'd read in the Indianapolis Star the other day, but didn't want to mention it to Joseph in case it wasn't being observed locally--but no fear it is...about ten free comic books later, he is very happy.

Plus he got to ride on the new carousel at the mall and won free food, tickets to a Wizard's game (Single A Minor league baseball) and other bling.

Catholics and Immigration

Reminds me of something I read and I believe wrote about in Praying in the Presence of Our Lord with Fulton Sheen that led Dorothy Day to take an active passivist stance when it came to war (active in that we should pray like their is no tomorrow)...when it comes to being a Christian the Body of Christ doesn't know of borders.

Nations can defend their borders, but Christians welcome the stranger as Christ Himself (Matthew 25).

From the Voice of America:

Father Richard Mullins represents many priests who say protecting immigrant
rights is part of their religious mandate to minister to the poor and
oppressed. "No one is illegal especially in the eyes of the church. We are
all the sons and daughters of God."

The Catholic Church has a long history of helping immigrants -- no
matter what their legal status -- to learn English, find employment and
provide legal services. But if a new law supported by many in Congress is
passed, aiding and abetting an illegal immigrant could be a criminal
offense.

Life Conceived in the Lab: Doctor, 63 Pregnant

From the ITV:

A doctor in her sixties is about to become Britain's oldest mum following IVF treatment abroad. Patricia Rashbrook, a 63-year-old child psychiatrist
from Sussex, is thought to be seven months' pregnant.
She has conceived after IVF treatment with the controversial Italian fertility doctor Severino Antinori, it is believed. He specialises in treatment for women who have gone through the menopause and do not have their own eggs. It is not clear
if Dr Rashbrook has used donor eggs or not.

Want to Grow Spiritually?

"Take every thought captive to obey Christ..."
2 Corinthians 10:5

Why the Bishop of Saginaw Met the Pope

Exclusive at Bishop Of Saginaw Robert Carlson Talks With The Catholic Report

Threefold Mission of the Apostles--Pope at GA

From Asia News Italy:

"The mandate conferred by Jesus on the Apostles was transmitted by them to their successors. Beyond the experience of their personal contact with Jesus, a unique and irreplaceable experience, the Apostles passed on to their successors the solemn sending to the world by their Teacher. Apostle comes from the Greek word ‘apostéllein’, that means to send; they are those who were sent by the Lord. The apostolic sending, that is revealed in the text of Mt 28:19ff, implies three elements: a pastoral service (‘make disciples of all the nations’), liturgical (‘baptise them’…) and prophetic (‘teach them to observe all I have taught you’). A triple service guaranteed by the nearness of the Lord until the end of time (‘See, I am with you all the days until the end of the world’). Through the apostolic ministry, it is Christ himself who reaches he who is called to faith. The distance over centuries is overcome by the Risen Lord who offers himself alive and working for us, in the present of the Church and the world." The pope ended off the cuff: "He is truly always with us and he gives us life, the road towards the future."

Creighton University Prof's Argue for Morality of Same Sex Acts

First of all, since when has it been termed the "New" Natural Law theory? Did I miss something? Secondly what is "genital-biological complementarity"(or do I even want to know)?

Of course, I also notice that the Christian aspect of Natural law isn't addressed here.

In the Heythrop Journal, here is an abstract:

The New Natural Law Theory (NNLT) argues against the morality (and
legality) of same sex-unions on the basis that homosexual (and non-reproductive
heterosexual) acts are unnatural, unreasonable, and therefore immoral. In this
paper, we explore and critique the foundational principles – biological and
personal complementarity, their subcategories, and the interrelationship between
them – that the NNLT uses to justify its claim. We propose alternative
principles – orientation, personal, and genital-biological complementarity, with
a distinct interrelationship – to argue that homosexual couples can engage in
sexual acts that are natural, reasonable, and therefore moral. Our study clearly
demonstrates that for the NNLT genital complementarity, a subcategory of
biological complementarity, is the sine qua non for personal complementarity. In
other words, personal complementarity within a sexual act is only possible if
there is genital complementarity between male and female. We believe that the
NNLT's foundational principles reflect too narrow an understanding of the human
person and human sexuality. Instead, we propose "holistic complementarity" as
the fully human integration of orientation, personal, and genital-biological
complementarity. What defines a natural, reasonable, and moral sexual act is not
genital complementarity as the foundational principle, but a dialectic between
these three principles of complementarity.

Vatican to Launch Interactive Web Site This Fall

O Click All Ye Faithful

Bishop Wenski on Immigration

From an editorial in the Orlando Sentinel:

To those who accused Jesus of breaking the laws of his day, he replied:
"The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath." (Mark 2: 27) This
teaching underscores the point that positive law, even divine positive law, is
meant to benefit, not to enslave mankind. The patriots who broke the law by
tossing tea into Boston Harbor understood this -- as did Rosa Parks, who broke
the law by refusing to give up her bus seat to a white man. When laws fail to
advance the common good, they can and should be changed.

Today, as a statewide march for immigration reform leads thousands of
people through the heart of downtown Orlando, let me state: Our immigration laws
need to be changed. They are antiquated and inadequate for the promotion and
regulation of social and economic relations of 21st-century America. On this
point, everyone is seemingly agreed. However, the solutions proposed should not
make the situation worse. Outdated laws, ill adapted to the increasing
interdependence of our world and the globalization of labor, are bad laws.
However, proposed changes must take into account both human dignity and the
national interest; otherwise, bad laws will be replaced by worse ones.

For this reason, the U.S. Bishops and a broad bipartisan coalition ranging
from unions to Chambers of Commerce have supported broad, comprehensive
immigration reform. Our proposed reform, while addressing future needs for labor
by providing for a legal guest-worker program, also offers an "earned" path to
legalization for those 10 million or so workers already in the country, as well
as fixing the unacceptable backlogs for family reunification visas that keep
families separated for intolerable lengths of time.

A narrow, restrictive legislation focusing on solely "enforcement" will
only make matters worse. Indeed, a billion dollars has been spent on border
enforcement over the past 10 years -- and yet illegal immigration has increased
because the labor market has demanded willing and able workers. Illegal
immigration should not be tolerated, for it leads to the abuse and exploitation
of the migrants themselves. Ultimately, businesses that rely on their labor --
and, in doing so, help fuel the growth of the American economy -- would prefer
and benefit from a reliable and legal work force. But, fixing illegal
immigration does not require the "demonization" of the so-called illegals.
America has always been a land of promise and opportunity for those willing to
work hard. We can provide for our national security and secure borders without
making America, a nation of immigrants, less a land of promise or opportunity
for immigrants.

Victor Hugo's 19th-century novel, Les Miserables, tells how pride and
neglect of mercy represented in the bitterly zealous legalism of Inspector
Javert ultimately destroys him.

Today, modern day Javerts, on radio and television talk shows, fan flames
of resentment against supposed law breakers, equating them with terrorists
intent on hurting us. However, these people ask only for the opportunity to
become legal -- to come out of the shadows where they live in fear of a knock on
their door in the dead of night or an immigration raid to their workplace. Like
Jean Valjean, today's migrants look only for the opportunity to redeem
themselves through honest work. This is the point of the massive demonstratives
that have taken place throughout the country.

Today, many take umbrage at the Catholic bishops' advocacy on behalf of
these "illegals" -- but, in doing so, we stand in a proud moral tradition, like
the novel's benevolent Bishop Myriel, who gave his candlesticks to the desperate
Jean Valjean and protected him from arrest by Javert. For this reason, we call
upon the legislative branch of our government to seize the opportunity for a
comprehensive fix to our broken immigration system. We backed the bipartisan
McCain-Kennedy proposal -- and, while the Martinez-Hagel compromise needs work,
it moves our nation in the right direction and should be passed.

A nation that honors law breakers like the patriots of the Boston Tea
Party, a nation that can allow the dignified defiance of Rosa Parks in her act
of lawbreaking to touch its conscience, is a nation that also can make room for
modern-day Jean Valjeans. We can be a nation of laws, without becoming a nation
of Javerts. As Jesus reminded the embittered zealots of his day, laws are
designed for the benefit -- not the harm -- of humankind.

Saint Athanasius

"Within the Virgin He fashioned a Temple"

From the Office of Readings:

The Word of God, incorporeal, incorruptible and immaterial, entered our world. Yet it was not as if he had been remote from it up to that time. For there is no part of the world that was ever without his presence; together with his Father, he continually filled all things and places.
Out of his loving-kindness for us he came to us, and we see this in the way he revealed himself openly to us. Taking pity on mankind’s weakness, and moved by our corruption, he could not stand aside and see death have the mastery over us; he did not want creation to perish and his Father’s work in fashioning man to be in vain. He therefore took to himself a body, no different from our own, for he did not wish simply to be in a body or only to be seen.
If he had wanted simply to be seen, he could indeed have taken another, and nobler, body. Instead, he took our body in its reality.
Within the Virgin he built himself a temple, that is, a body; he made it his own instrument in which to dwell and to reveal himself. In this way he received from mankind a body like our own, and, since all were subject to the corruption of death, he delivered this body over to death for all, and with supreme love offered it to the Father. He did so to destroy the law of corruption passed against all men, since all died in him. The law, which had spent its force on the body of the Lord, could no longer have any power over his fellowmen. Moreover, this was the way in which the Word was to restore mankind to immortality, after it had fallen into corruption, and summon it back from death to life. He utterly destroyed the power death had against mankind – as fire consumes chaff – by means of the body he had taken and the grace of the resurrection.
This is the reason why the Word assumed a body that could die, so that this body, sharing in the Word who is above all, might satisfy death’s requirement in place of all. Because of the Word dwelling in that body, it would remain incorruptible, and all would be freed for ever from corruption by the grace of the resurrection.
In death the Word made a spotless sacrifice and oblation of the body he had taken. by dying for others, he immediately banished death for all mankind.
In this way the Word of God, who is above all, dedicated and offered his temple, the instrument that was his body, for us all, as he said, and so paid by his own death the debt that was owed. The immortal Son of God, united with all men by likeness of nature, thus fulfilled all justice in restoring mankind to immortality by the promise of the resurrection.
The corruption of death no longer holds any power over mankind, thanks to the Word, who has come to dwell among them through his one body.

Oil--The New Terrorist Attack

Iran minister: Oil likely to climb to $100 a barrel by Winter.

On the McLaughlin Group this past week, Pat Buccahnan predicted that it would hit $200 a barrel by Labor Day.

With enemies of the US holding back on production to drive up the cost it is not to difficult to conceive of this as an attack on the US economy. Like most wars, it is the poor who will suffer the most.

St. Joseph the Worker

A Reflection by Father Richard Roemer, CFR:

When Pope Pius XII put today’s feast of Saint Joseph the Worker on the Church’s calendar just 50 years ago, it had probably seemed like “May Day” would be a perpetual day of Communist propaganda. Now Communism is hardly spoken of, but thanks be to God, this feast celebrating both Saint Joseph and the dignity of human labor will far outlast “May Day.”

Bishop Publishes Novel on Early Church...in Florida

Story of New World Mission Insightful

Pope: Present Moment Marked by Not a Few Shadows

From Today's Regina Caeli Message:

Christ's resurrection is the central event of Christianity, a fundamental truth that must be reaffirmed with vigor at all times, as to deny it in different ways, as has been attempted and continues to be attempted, or to transform it into a merely spiritual event is to make our faith vain. "If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain" (1 Corinthians 15:14).

In the days that followed the Lord's resurrection, the apostles remained gathered together, comforted by the presence of Mary and, after the Ascension, persevered with her in prayer, awaiting Pentecost. The Virgin was for them mother and teacher, a role she continues to carry out for Christians of all times. Every year, during Eastertide, we live this experience more intensely and, perhaps, precisely for this reason, popular tradition has consecrated the month of May, which normally falls between Easter and Pentecost, to Mary.

Therefore, the month that begins tomorrow helps us to rediscover the maternal role that she carries out in our lives so that we may always be docile disciples and courageous witnesses of the risen Lord.

Let us entrust the needs of the Church and of the world to Mary, especially at this moment marked by not a few shadows. Invoking also the intercession of St. Joseph, who we remember particularly tomorrow, thinking of the labor world, we address her with the Regina Caeli prayer, which enables us to relish the comforting joy of the presence of the risen Christ.

Great Crowd in Kalamazoo

Thanks to Kurt Lucas, who is a real blessing to his diocese and their people.

Learn Chant

EWTN Podcasts

Most of their shows and some extras.

Thanks!

From Video meliora, proboque; Deteriora sequor:

The rosary can be a nourishing prayer or it can be somewhat exasperating, with the decades going by with little or no comprehension of the mysteries. I've found a helpful book aid of late, helpful in the sense that it's pocket-sized and includes icons to help focus on particular mysteries. (The art is to my taste, with a Byzantine bent.) I'm speaking of Michael Dubruiel and Amy Welborn's Praying the Rosary. It also helped open up the Joyous mysteries to me. Before they seemed tinged with non-joy (i.e. the loss of Jesus and presumed dismay of Mary, the sword that would pierce her heart, the lack of inn, or hearts, the Holy Family found). But the book emphasizes the positive side of each mystery, which pessimists need, and there was also the helpful reminder on every page: "Ask Our Lady to help you pray this mystery." I've become increasingly mindful of the help I need to do just that.

The book (which you can look through on Amazaon):

Soon, Another American Saint

The story behind Blessed Mother Theodore Guerin, and a side note--I was taught by Sr. Marie Kevin Tighe (the postulator of her cause).

Changing Face of the Catholic Church

From The Wichita Eagle:

At a time when priesthood ranks in the United States have been shrinking -- down 26 percent from 57,317 in 1985 to 42,528 in 2005 -- the number of Asian-Americans in seminary schools is growing, according to the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University.

From 2000-2005, the number of seminarians in the U.S. dropped 5 percent, with whites falling from 69 percent to 65 percent. Black seminarians increased from 4 percent to 5 percent; Hispanics held steady at 15 percent.

And while exact numbers by ethnicity are not available, church officials say Vietnamese and Filipinos make up the largest segment of the Asian seminarian population.

The Urgency of Divine Mercy

Divine Mercy and the Second Coming of Christ

Call From Vatican Official for Catholics to Boycott DaVinci Movie

From Yahoo News:

Amato, addressing a Catholic conference in Rome, called the book "stridently anti-Christian .. full of calumnies, offences and historical and theological errors regarding Jesus, the Gospels and the Church."

He added: "I hope that you all will boycott the film."

New Saints and Blesseds

Quite a list, one American--in fact an Indianan or Hoosier if you wish, from the Vatican Information Service:

Today, during a private audience with Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins, C.M.F., prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, the Pope authorized the congregation to promulgate the following decrees:

MIRACLES
- Blessed Filippo Smaldone, Italian, diocesan priest, founder of the Congregation of the Salesian Sisters of the Sacred Heart (1848 - 1923).
- Blessed Rafaele Guizar Valencia, Mexican, bishop of Veracruz, Mexico (1878 - 1938).
Blessed Rosa Venerini, Italian, foundress of the Congregation delle Maestre Pie Venerini (1656 - 1728).
- Blessed Teodora Guerin, ne Anna Teresa, French, foundress of the Congregation of the Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary of the Woods in the United States. (1798 - 1856).
- Venerable Servant of God Basile Antonio Maria Moreau, French, priest and founder of the Congregation of the Holy Cross (1799 - 1873).
- Venerable Servant of God Mariano de la Mata Aparicio, Spanish, priest of the Order of Saint Augustine. (1905 - 1983).
- Venerable Servant of God Margarita Maria Lopez de Maturana, Spanish, foundress of the Institute of the Missionary Sisters of Mercy (1884 - 1934).
MARTYRS
- Servants of God Cruz Laplana y Laguna, Spanish, bishop of Cuenca, Spain (1875 - 1936) and Fernando Espanol Berdie, Spanish, diocesan priest (1875 - 1936).
- Servant of God Narciso Estenaga Echevarria, Spanish, bishop of Ciudad Real, Spain (1882 - 1936).
- Servant of God Libero Gonzalez Nombela, Spanish, diocesan priest (1896 - 1936).
- Servant of God Eusebio del Bambino Gesu, Spanish, professed priest of the Order of the Discalced Carmelites (1888 - 1936).
- Servant of God Felice Echevarria Gorostiaga, Spanish, professed priest of the Order of the Minor Friars (1893 - 1936).
- Servant of God Teodosio Rafael ne Diodoro Lopez Hernandez, Spanish, professed religious in the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian School (1898 - 1936) and three brothers from the same institute.
- Servant of God Sara Salkahazi, Hungarian, of the Institute of the Sisters of the Assistance (1899 - 1944).
HEROIC VIRTUES
- Servant of God Ciriaco Maria Sancha y Hervas, Cardinal of S.R.C., Spanish, archbishop of Toledo, Spain, founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of Charity of Cardinal Sancha (1833 - 1909).
- Servant of God Vincenza Maria Poloni ne Luigia, Italian, foundress of the Institute of the Sisters of Mercy of Verona (1802 - 1855).
- Servant of God Maria Bucchi ne Maria Matilde, Italian, foundress of the Congregation of the Most Precious Blood of Monza (1812 - 1882).
- Servant of God Esperanza Gonzalez Puig, Spanish, foundress of the Congregation of the Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (1823 - 1885).
- Servant of God Cataline Coromina Agusti, Spanish, foundress of the Institute Josephine Sisters of Charity (1824 - 1893).
- Servant of God Maria Dolores Marquez Romero de Onoro, Spanish, foundress of the Congregation of the Philippian Daughters of Sorrowful Mary (1817 - 1904).
- Servant of God Maria Rosa Flesch, German, ne Margherita, foundress of the Congregation of the Franciscan Sisters of Saint Mary of the Angels (1826 - 1906).
- Giuseppina Nicoli, Italian, of the Society of the daughters of Charity (1863 - 1924).

"And the Love of Many Will Grow Cold"

Pope Benedict says "lovelessness" reason for low birthrates, from CNN International:

Pope Benedict has said the growing number of loveless relationships may be behind declining birthrates in the developed world.

The pope also said on Friday that an "eclipse of love" and lack of moral guidance threatened the intellectual and spiritual development of future generations of children.

"Perhaps the lack of such creative and forward-looking love is the reason why many couples today choose not to marry, why so many marriages fail, and why birthrates have diminished," the pope said in a message to a meeting of the Vatican's Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences.

"It is children and young people who are often the first to experience the consequences of this eclipse of love and hope. Often, instead of feeling loved and cherished, they appear to be merely tolerated."

Most of Misouri Has "Cheaper" Gas

Gas Price Map

Excellent Conference

I think this is open to anyone and includes an excellent line-up of Catholic speakers, including:

Cardinal Arinze, Fr. Benedict Groeschel, Christopher West (costs extra to hear him), Fr. Richard Hogan and others. In July, in Jacksonville, FL on a Friday the 21st and Saturday the 22nd.

The Family Honor Conference.

Father Corapi--No Confessions and Bodyguards

Thanks to Spirit Daily for this link... rather strange, especially since I don't find Father Corapi all that "dangerous." But there are plenty I guess who do. Read the thread, its interesting and mostly from people who have heard or seen Father speak in person.

One commentor says that he isn't allowed to say Mass in several dioceses. Very strange.

Catholic Digest Poll on DaVinci Code

Strange one...Catholics not "fazed" by it, mainly because those polled haven't read it or only read part of it.

From USA TODAY, today:

But most Catholics view the brouhaha with a big yawn, according to the survey released Tuesday by Catholic Digest, the 70-year-old monthly magazine.

Most (73%) say The Da Vinci Code has had "no effect on their faith."

And 92% say they don't know of anyone leaving the church after reading the book, says the March 23-27 survey of 443 Catholics, by Yankelovich Inc. Margin of error was ±4.7 percentage points.

"Catholics know this is fiction," and they're "smart enough and strong enough not to let a book or movie bother them," says Dan Connors, editor-in-chief of Catholic Digest.

Other findings:

• 28% have read all or part of the book; 63% did not read it, chiefly, they say, because they lack time, interest or inclination to read fiction.

Bonnie Owens RIP

Four weeks after the death of Buck Owens, her one time husband. Married to Merle Haggard and to a third husband, divorced all...had Alzheimer's for the past six to seven years.

From the LA Times:

Bonnie Owens, a cocktail waitress-turned-singer who was married at different times to country music giants Buck Owens and Merle Haggard, died Monday in Bakersfield after a lengthy struggle with Alzheimer's disease. She was 76.

Her death came four weeks after that of Buck Owens, but she may have been too deeply gripped by Alzheimer's to know that he was gone, according to Jim Shaw, a close family friend.

WHAT?

I think someone is pulling John Allen's leg, can you imagine Father counseling the unrepentant mob boss thus?

"Hey Vito, don't kill him--just rough him up, and while your at it Vito wear a condom when you're out on the town--it's self defense you know!"

From NCR:

Traditionally, confessors and pastors have long been permitted to counsel a "lesser evil" to prevent greater harm. For example, if a mob boss tells a priest he intends to kill an enemy, and if the mob boss can't be persuaded to change his mind, the priest could advise him to beat up the enemy instead. Under those circumstances, the priest is not approving the beating, merely tolerating it to avoid an even worse outcome.

Da Vinci Code Resources

Give Answers about the book and the movie!

Tradition Lives

From the Pope's General Audience today:

Ecclesial communion, in the words of Benedict XVI, “does not only extend to all believers in a given moment in time, which unites all believers in all parts of the world (synchronic communion); it also embraces all times and all generations of believers in the past and future (diachronic communion).”And so the “experience of the Risen Lord of the apostolic community at the beginnings of the Church, can always be lived by successive generations, in that it is transmitted and actualized in faith, in worship and in communion of the People of God, pilgrim in time. The apostolic Tradition of the Church consists of this transmission of the virtues of salvation, which makes the Christian community the permanent realization of the original community, in the strength of the Spirit. It is called so because it was born from the testimony of the Apostles and of the community of disciples at the beginning, it was handed down under the guidance of the Holy Spirit in the writings of the New Testament and sacramental life, and the Church continually refers to it as its foundation and norm through the uninterrupted succession of the apostolic ministry.” And it is the Spirit who “actualizes” the “saving presence of the Lord Jesus through the ministry of the apostles – leaders of the eschatological Israel (cfr Mt 19:28) – and through the life of all the people of the new covenant”.

“This permanent actualization of the active presence of the Lord Jesus in his people, by the work of the Holy Spirit and expressed in the Church through the apostolic ministry and brotherly communion, is what is meant, in a theological sense, by the term Tradition: it is not the simple material transmission of things and words, of what was given to the Apostles at the beginning, but the effective presence of the Lord Jesus, crucified and risen, that accompanies and leads the community gathered around him in the spirit”.

Magister Gives Full Text of Cardinal Martini Interview

Calls it the "first great act of opposition to this pontificate from the upper levels of the Church."

A conversation between Carlo Maria Martini and Ignazio Marino

We Visited This Church--DaVinci Controversy

It is one I couldn't find the name of when doing my travelogue, but I recognized it immediately:


From Christianity Today:

The advertisement was an enormous poster which featured the Mona Lisa, arguably Da Vinci’s most famous painting. The poster, which has the title of the upcoming film on it, has been up already for a few weeks outside the St Pantaleo Church in Rome.

Rev. Marco Fibbi, a spokesman for Rome’s Vicariate reported that the poster was “causing a problem.”

He added, “This movie is not reputed to be particularly appreciated by ecclesiastic circles.”

The Search is Over!

For the Holy Grail, that is...found at Mike Aquilina's and Chris Bailey's new blog http://www.grailcode.com/.

Their book is out too!

Feast of Saint Mark--Evangelist to the Rest of Us

This year's (Cycle B) Sunday Gospel readings are from the Gospel of Mark whose full name was John Mark a combination of a Jewish and Roman name. To me Mark is a patron of those who set out in ministry and for whatever reason turn their hand back from the plow. The Church evangelizing (symbolized by St. Paul) have little use for the John Mark's of the Church (Acts 15:38), but the institutional Church (symbolized by St. Peter and here I think we glimpse the Divinity of Jesus in choosing Peter to head up the church) take in John Mark and uses him to interpret and present the Gospel in a language that the lapsi (the lapsed) can understand.

A friend remarked the other day, how different Jesus is when he appears to the disciples in Mark's Gospel after the Resurrection. Jesus does not offer them "Peace" but focusing on their disbelief "he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen,"(Mark 16:14). Here we have a Gospel for those who like Peter and Mark have failed and failed again and need the "tough" Gospel!

Some with the intensity of St. Paul embrace the Faith and set out never to look back, others like John Mark and St. Peter "take account of the winds" and sink but reach out to the Lord to save them, once again. To some "Peace" is what is needed, to others "Why do you persecute me?" and to still others a rebuke. Count me among those who need to hear that latter. Thanks to Saint Mark, Jesus awakes me from my slumber.

Read about Saint Mark in the Catholic Encyclopedia.

Reality--Freeze Watch Here Tonight

After a few weeks of highs in the 70's and lows in the 50's (and this is still April), reality sets in as the highs for today have already passed and the lows tonight could bring a frost.

Summer is over!

Product Placement and the Pope

In today's Wall Street Journal:

A senior Vatican official who asked not to be named says that when it comes to worldly goods, Benedict XVI's choice of personal accessories is "completely arbitrary."

The official adds: "He's aware of the buzz, but mostly he laughs about it, because it's so absurd. What does he really have to choose? He doesn't wear a tie or coat. The glasses he wears are the same glasses he wore as a cardinal, as is the pen he writes with."

But because the pope is so lightly accessorized, brands like to be associated with him all the more. This was relatively easy for Italian shoe company Geox SpA, whose founder, Mario Moretti Polegato, is a friend of papal spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls. (Mr. Navarro-Valls is a member of Geox's ethics committee.) Following Benedict XVI's election in April of last year, Geox gave Mr. Navarro-Valls several pairs of Geox Uomo Light loafers -- featuring the brand's trademark antifoot-sweat system -- as a present for the new pope.

When the pope wore the shoes, Geox chose not to promote the event through advertisements or press materials. But the company was delighted when word got out. "If the pope uses our product that means it works. He's out in public under the sun for hours in a heavy tunic, so he risks becoming sweaty," says Geox spokesman Eros Scattolin. "What better testimony could you ask for?"

Co-Adjutor Bishop Named for Venice (Florida)

Monsignor Frank Dewayne of Green Bay, Wisconsin who has been with the Pontifical Council of Peace and Justice.

Is Bishop Nevins ill?

Gas Prices Across the USA

A Neat Map...

Why is gas least expensive in the Upper Mid-West?

A Can of Worms?

Amy posted on this story a few days ago and the comments spelled out the dire consequences if such a relaxation of the rule were to be allowed. Now the story is starting to get a wider reporting, although still nothing official. I would point out that at least what moral theologians (usually liberal ones) have always pointed out was that the Vatican allowed certian religious sisters to use artificial contraception to prevent pregnancy by rape in warring countries where that was likely to happen--now I'm just reporting that I was taught that in a Catholic seminary some twenty years ago and that I've never seen any documentation to back it, but I'll bet someone online knows where to point us if such was the case.

From the BBC Online:

Cardinal Barragan told the newspaper: "Soon the Vatican will issue a document about the use of condoms by persons who have grave diseases, starting with Aids."

He said his department was studying the document, along with the scientists and theologians who wrote it.

"It is Benedict XVI who asked us for a study on this particular aspect of using a condom by those afflicted with Aids, and by those with infectious diseases," he added.

Asked whether he agreed with Cardinal Martini's views, Cardinal Barragan said: "It is a very difficult and delicate subject which warrants prudence."

He said he preferred not to comment on Cardinal Martini's remarks, so as "to not anticipate the study".

It is not clear when the document will be published.

The Vatican has made no official comment.

Further info on the "nuns in the Congo" referred to in my comments above:

Father Gonzalo Miranda, who lectures at the Pontifical Academy of the Regina Apostolorum, and is Secretary of the Institute of Bioethics at Rome's Catholic University, said that the use of the Pill is sanctioned in such cases if the women ran "a serious and imminent risk of rape".

In an interview published by the Italian Bishops' Conference official news agency, SIR, which lends his views extra weight, the theologian said: "Contraception is morally illicit when it accompanies a desired sexual act, but when a sexual act is imposed, and not wanted, then contraception represents the only form of protection."

He added: "In such cases the act of taking the Pill . . . is not a true act of contraception from the moral point of view, but only an act of defence."

The question of nuns taking the Pill as a defence in trouble spots around the world was openly authorised long ago in the case of the Congo by Cardinal Pietro Palazzini - even if the Pope's authorisation of the prelate himself was never publicised.

In Defense of St. Thomas ...the doubter

Originally posted on this blog on April of 2002:

This Sunday which now is the Feast of Divine Mercy is also the Sunday where we hear the story of the so called doubting Apostle Thomas. The lone Apostle who is not locked in the Upper Room with the other surviving Apostles. It strikes me that he always gets a bad rap, undeservedly so, I would say.

Remember on the way to Jerusalem, one of the Apostles pointed out to Our Lord that a certain death awaited Him if He went to Jerusalem.

Jesus undeterred continues to journey toward Jerusalem.

It is then that John's Gospel records the Apostle Thomas as saying, "Let us also go, that we may die with him," (John 11:16). These are the words not of a doubter (in the mission of the Lord) but rather a proclamation of a believer, ready to take up his cross and to die with and for Jesus Christ.

As they journey along and Jesus says, "You know the way that I am going," and Thomas doesn't understand Jesus he says so, "Lord we do not know where you are going, how can we know the way?" (John 14). Jesus replies, "I am the way."

So now we reach the moment after the crucifixion has passed when Scripture tells us, "On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews," (John 20:19). We find that Thomas is not with them.

Why not?

Remember that the Apostles were in the room for "fear" of the Jews, they were afraid that the same ones who had handed Jesus over to death might come after them next, but Thomas had said "let us go to die with him." He was not afraid, he was out and about his business, if they came after him...so be it!

Is it any wonder then that when he returns to enconter the disciples still locked in the room, that he does not believe them. Why should he? If the Lord were alive, why were they so filled with fear? If they really had experience the Resurrected Lord why weren't they proclaiming it with their lives? Why weren't they back out on the streets?

When Jesus appears to Thomas, he believes!

Our Lord tells him and us that "Blessed are those who have not seen and believe."

It is very easy to doubt that the Lord lives when we see modern day Apostles locked behind clerical doors for fear of the press, or scandal, or law suits, or the laity. It is easy to wonder if they really believe in the power of the risen Lord.

But what about us? Are we out in the streets ready to die with Him or are we too locked behind our own fears?

Saint Thomas, pray for us!

Lord have mercy on us!

Divine Mercy Sunday

What is Divine Mercy?

Holy Fire and Tempers Flare at Orthodox Pascha

From Chronicles.com:

Security was tight as visitors from around the world flocked to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, where tradition says Jesus was crucified and buried.

Tempers flared as thousands of worshippers waited to pass through security barricades into Jerusalem's Old City. Some priests and pilgrims shoved and punched police. Inside the church, people scuffled with each other and with officers as they waited for the ceremony to begin.

The Greek and Armenian Orthodox patriarchs in the Holy Land descended into the church's underground tomb to bring out the flame. Worshippers clutching bundles of unlit tapers and torches waited in the darkened church for the church leaders to emerge.

When they reappeared with lighted torches, church bells pealed. Worshippers cheered, shrieked "Christ, Christ," and ululated. The flames were passed around to the thousands of faithful and light and smoke filled the cavernous church within seconds.

Divine Mercy Sunday Mega Page

Here

Indulgences Attached to Divine Mercy Sunday

Decree on Indulgences

Regina Caeli Message--Divine Mercy Sunday

From Asia News Italy:

Thanks to the Polish pope the traditional Low Sunday or Dominica In Albis, the Octave Day of Easter, became the ‘Sunday of the Divine Mercy’, “making the most of the spiritual experience of a humble nun, St Faustina Kowalska”, canonised by John Paul.

Benedict XVI also mentioned that “Providence decided that he [John Paul II] should die right on the eve of that day in the arms of Divine Mercy.”

The theme and experience of the Divine Mercy refer to this Sunday’s Gospel (Jn, 20: 19-31), which mentions the apparition of the Risen Jesus to the circle of disciples to show his nail marks and side.

“The holy marks in the hands, feet and side are inexhaustible source of faith, hope and love that each can draw from, especially the souls most thirsty for Divine Mercy,” said the Pope.

Benedict XVI also stressed that from the apparition of the Risen Jesus to the disciples on “the evening of that first day of the week” (Jh, 20: 9), and then again “a week later” (Jh, 20: 2), comes the weekly cycle of Sunday mass we now know as the “Lord’s day” and “encounter with the Risen Lord”.

Relaxed and calm, the Pope sang the Regina Caeli, perhaps impressed by the very many pilgrims, estimated to be around 45,000 people.

Divine Mercy Novena--Day Nine

Ninth Day

"Today bring to Me The Souls Who Have Become Lukewarm and immerse them in the abyss of My mercy. These souls wound My Heart most painfully. My soul suffered the most dreadful loathing in the Garden of Olives because of lukewarm souls. They were the reason I cried out: 'Father, take this cup away from Me, if it be Your will.' For them the last hope of salvation is to run to My mercy."

Go here for instructions.

Divine Mercy Novena--Day Eight

Eighth Day

"Today bring to Me The Souls Who Are Detained in Purgatory and immerse them in the abyss of My mercy. Let the torrents of My Blood cool down their scorching flames. All these souls are greatly loved by Me. They are making retribution to My justice. It is in your power to bring them relief. Draw all the indulgences from the treasury of My Church and offer them on their behalf. Oh, if you only know the torments they suffer, you would continually offer for them the alms of the spirit and pay off their debt to My justice.

Go here for instructions.

Euro with Benedict to be Released

From Catholic News.Com:

The first Vatican euro coins bearing a bust of Benedict XVI will be released next week, according to information from the Vatican's numismatic bureau.

Catholic World News reports that the Bureay will release a full set of coins, denominated in euros, bearing a bust of the Pope on one side, with the inscription "Citta del Vaticano" and 12 stars representing the European Union.

The other side of the coin will be the same as the obverse of coins minted by other member-states of the European Union.

"Little Saint Peters" Keep St. Peter's Clean

From the Washington Post: Gum battle marks St Peter's 500th anniversary:

Visitor numbers have swelled further since the death of Pope John Paul II last April and thousands daily queue for hours to visit his tomb deep in the bowels of the church -- some of them dropping gum and scribbling on the marble as they wait.

An army of Vatican workers, known as "sanpietrini" (little St Peters), work full time trying to repair the damage and remove the stains left by visitors.

Marchisano said upkeep was not cheap. Although he declined to give a precise figure, he said most of the funds were met by tickets sold to those wanting to visit the giant dome or "cupola."

Bishop of Charleston on Immigration

When I was a stranger you welcomed me... (check out my Good Friday reflections on April 14th)

From his Good Friday Homily:

In Matthew's gospel, chapter 25, we learn that attaining the kingdom of heaven will depend on how well we welcomed the stranger. The stranger was Jesus in our midst. (Matt. 25:35- "I was a stranger and you welcomed me.") is the stranger suffering, lonely, or lost? That is Jesus suffering, lonely, and lost. From Jesus, especially from Jesus on the cross, we receive a summons to welcome the stranger when and as we can, to absorb the stranger into our community, when and as we can.
What length does this stranger go to receive a welcome from us? Economic conditions make the stranger go to extremes that occasionally result in death. Not long ago eleven decomposed bodies were found in a locked railroad car about 60 miles northwest of Omaha, Nebraska, in a town called Denison. The bodies were so badly decomposed it was difficult to determine whether the victims were men, women, or children. Bodies were found huddled together. There was no evidence of water or food inside, and the car was latched firmly on the outside. They couldn't escape a cruel, torturous death.
The railcar had left Matamoras, Mexico in the month of June and had been parked for a long time in Oklahoma before being brought to Denison, where the bodies were discovered. It was unclear whether the people had been smuggled or had hopped on the freight car themselves. It doesn't matter how they got there. We know why. They were looking for work, for a better life, for a livelihood. People in need of work to survive go to such extents just to survive.
People may argue, "they are here illegally from Mexico. Let other people worry about them. Let other people welcome them." but the Christian knows better. It was our lord who suffered and died in that freight car, as he suffered and died on Calvary. And he would want us to treat these people better. He would want us to find a way to address the plight they find themselves in.
He suffered and died to help suffering humanity.
We have many reasons to turn and walk away from this situation. These people are taking other people's jobs we may say. There is not enough work to keep them gainfully employed. Well, maybe but maybe not.
We might argue that we cannot possibly absorb this group of people. They will be on the welfare roles. They will be unproductive citizens. And yet in response to those legitimate concerns, don't they seem by their work habits to have answered those fears we may have about them already?
And what about the need for borders and protective measures against terrorist threats? Many of these people are here illegally. Obviously these concerns need serious attention and cannot be overlooked. But there are ways that are humane and fair that are being proposed in congress that can regulate what must be regulated. Borders between countries cannot be ignored, nor can the laws of a country. But the Judeo-Christian teaching about welcoming the stranger stands as a summons to be headed by all who take their Jewish and Christian faith seriously. This also seems to be a summons from the cross of Christ this Good Friday to us Christians of South Carolina, inviting us to respond to the plight of those who suffer great hardship, like the stranger in our midst.

Robert Novak on Walled Off Christians in the Holy Land

From Townhall.com:

On Good Friday, I stood atop the remnant of the Santa Barbara shrine, destroyed by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), and observed a panorama of the picturesque village of Aboud. I could see properties confiscated to make room for the Israeli security wall, at the cost of centuries-old olive trees. Nearby are two enclosed, heavily guarded Israeli settlements, with four times Aboud's Palestinian population.

Defenders of Israeli policy claimed my facts were wrong Feb. 16 when I wrote that the wall threatens Israel's tiny Christian minority and particularly Aboud's Christian roots going back two millennia. Coming here for a firsthand look, I found the plight of the village's Christians worse than I had reported.

But this is no Christian problem. During Easter Week, I visited Palestinian territory in Ramallah, Bethlehem and Gaza as well as Aboud. Christians share the harsh fate of Palestinian Muslims in the wake of the disastrous Second Intifada. The blunt-spoken head of Roman Catholic Palestinians, Latin Patriarch Michael Sabbah, told me: "The world has abandoned the Palestinians."

If the world is uninterested in Palestinians generally, the plight of their co-religionists attracts the attention of Roman Catholics -- with Aboud a striking example. Of the village's 2,200 residents, 418 are Catholics and 375 Greek Orthodox. Thirty Catholic families have moved out, and more are expected to follow.

Divine Mercy Novena--Day Seven

Seventh Day

"Today bring to Me The Souls Who Especially Venerate and Glorify My Mercy and immerse them in My mercy. These souls sorrowed most over my Passion and entered most deeply into My spirit. They are living images of My Compassionate Heart. These souls will shine with a special brightness in the next life. Not one of them will go into the fire of hell. I shall particularly defend each one of them at the hour of death."

Go here for instructions.

Getting the Most Out of the Eucharist

The radio series...Podcast of KVSS's Weekly Radio Series

The book:

Divine Mercy Novena--Day Six

Sixth Day

"Today bring to Me The Meek and Humble Souls and the Souls of Little Children and immerse them in My mercy. These souls most closely resemble My Heart. They strengthened Me during My bitter agony. I saw them as earthly Angels who will keep vigil at My altars. I pour out upon them whole torrents of grace. Only the humble soul is capable of receiving My grace I favor humble souls with My confidence."

Go here for instructions.

Audience--Gentle but Firm

We've experienced the gentle, is the firm to come?

From the Vatican:

On this, the first anniversary of my election as the Successor of Saint Peter, I thank the Lord for his unfailing help, and I express my gratitude to all those who have supported me by their prayers. I ask you to continue praying that, by God’s grace, I may always be a gentle and firm Shepherd for Christ’s flock. During these days of Easter, the Church proclaims the Good News of Christ’s suffering, death and resurrection. The Paschal Mystery is the core of our faith! Our yearly celebration of Easter is a foretaste of the eternal joy of heaven. This joy is renewed each Sunday at the celebration of the Eucharist, when we proclaim "the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come", and celebrate the new life received in Baptism. During these days of Easter, all Christians are called to encounter the Risen Lord, to renew their faith in him, to be transformed by the power of his grace, and to share with the men and women of our time the Good News that Christ is truly risen!

I offer a warm welcome to the newly-ordained deacons of the Pontifical Irish College and their families. I also greet the pilgrims from the Diocese of Kerry. Upon all the English-speaking visitors, especially those from Ireland, Switzerland, Australia, Canada and the United States, I invoke an abundance of joy and peace in the Risen Lord.

Can't say anything, but in his greeting he is offering a direct welcome to a famous Roman blogger, to whom I offer a hearty congratulations!

Pope Benedict XVI Begins His Second Year

Sandro Magister..What’s New

Answering questions off the cuff, including this one on "How to Read the Bible":

First of all, it must be said that Holy Scripture cannot be read like just any historical book, as we read, for example, Homer, Ovid, or Horace. We must read it as truly the Word of God, placing ourselves in conversation with God. We must pray first, and talk to the Lord: “Open the door for me.” St. Augustine says this frequently in his homilies: “I knocked at the door of the Word in order to find at last what the Lord wanted to say to me.” [...]

A second point is this: Sacred Scripture brings us into communion with the family of God. So we cannot read Sacred Scripture on our own. Of course, it is always important to read the Bible in a very personal way, in a personal conversation with God, but at the same time it is important to read it in the company of persons who are on the journey with us. We must let ourselves be aided by the great masters of “lectio divina.” We have, for example, many wonderful books by cardinal Martini, a true master of “lectio divina,” which help us to enter into the living world of Sacred Scripture. [...]

A third point: if it is important to read Sacred Scripture with the help of teachers and in the company of our friends, our companions on the way, it is particularly important to read it in the great company of the pilgrim People of God, the Church. Sacred Scripture has two subjects. In the first place, there is the divine subject: it is God who is speaking. But God wanted to involve man in his Word. While the Muslims are convinced that the Qur’an was inspired by God word for word, we believe that one of the characteristics of Sacred Scripture – as the theologians put it – is “synergy,” God’s collaboration with man. He involves his People in his word, and thus the second subject – as I have said, God is the first subject – is human. The authors are individual, but there is the continuity of a permanent subject: the People of God that walks with the Word of God and is in conversation with God. In listening to God, one learns to listen to the Word of God, and also to interpret it. And thus the Word of God becomes present, because individual persons die, but the vital subject, the People of God, is always alive, and remains the same down through the ages: it is always the same living subject in which the Word lives.

This also explains many of the structures in Sacred Scripture, especially the so-called “rereading.” An ancient text is represented in another book, let’s say a hundred years later, and then there is a profound understanding of what had previously been inscrutable, even though it had been contained in the earlier text. Then it is reread again some time later, and new aspects are understood, other dimensions of the Word. And so, in this ongoing rereading and rewriting in the context of a profound continuity, while the time of expectation wore on, Sacred Scripture grew. Finally, with the coming of Christ and the experience of the apostles the Word was made definitive, so that there can be no more rewritings, although our understanding always must be deepened. The Lord has said: “The Holy Spirit will bring you into depths that you cannot bear now.” [...]

I think that we must learn these three elements: reading in personal conversation with the Lord; reading in the company of instructors who have the experience of the faith; reading in the great company of the Church, in whose liturgy these events continuously become present anew, such that we gradually enter more and more into Sacred Scripture, in which God really speaks to us today.

Fr. Fession in the Washington Post, This is the Year to watch!:

The Rev. Joseph Fessio, a former student of Benedict's and the publisher of his books in English, said he understands the impatience among fellow conservatives for a more active papacy but is not worried because "it's early yet."

When the encyclical on love appeared, "a lot of people said it wasn't the condemnation we expected, it was very open to others. That's true. He talks about the love of Eros. Here's the 'Panzer Cardinal' talking about erotic love!" he said.

But, Fessio noted, the encyclical also says that when erotic love is purified, it leads to exclusiveness and permanence. "And what does that mean? He's saying that that kind of love is only between a man and a woman, so he's rejecting homosexual unions. And he said it's exclusive and permanent, so he's excluding divorce and promiscuity."

"So on the surface it was non-controversial -- but underneath he was laying the groundwork, the principles, for conclusions that are controversial," Fessio said, adding: "I think this second year is going to be the one to look it."

Pope Benedict XVI: The First Year

From Time Magazine:

Even in the first weeks, it was clear that he was not a chilly and unbending bureaucrat, but a basically gentle man with excellent listening skills and a gift with words.

From Me:

I reject those (like George Weigel) who say that the crowds coming to St. Peter's for this pope are coming not to see him but to listen to him. As one of those who has come to St. Peter's since his election, I came not to hear him teach in Italian but to see him in person and I dare say that the mass of people that surrounded me were there for the same reason.
What I agree with Weigel on is that this Pope is very readable and I do visit the Vatican website to read all of his addresses which are like attending a great class on the Christian faith...he can communicate through the written word in a way that wasn't true for Pope John Paul II...but he also comes across great in person in a dignified way.
He has been a surprise, because a year later while John Paul the Great is still thought of in that way, Benedict is on his way to leaving what I predict will be a suprisingly great mark on the Church as well.

Divine Mercy Novena--Day Five

Fifth Day

"Today bring to Me the Souls of those who have separated themselves from My Church and immerse them in the ocean of My mercy. During My bitter Passion they tore at My Body and Heart, that is My Church. As they return to unity with the Church My wounds heal and in this way they alleviate My Passion."

Go here for instructions.

Easter Bunny Charged

Easter Bunny charged with punching angry customer at Fort Myers mall

The Holy Father Sends His Greeting!

Not on the Feastday...

Not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar among the people...

Some musings on why there was no release of the document liberalizing the use of the Tridentine Rite at Rorate Caeli. All very interesting, I might add--including a biting piece on John Allen's reporting of the episode (perhaps a little too harsh given that this pope is clearly about "hearing" the discussion before making decisions).
I must say that the same quote entered my mind when the document wasn't released, but then I thought of who says the quote--the high priests and of course the intention they have is not a good one.
A great book to read about this whole issue for the confused is:

Regina Coeli Message

During the Easter season, the Regina Coeli replaces the Angelus as the Marian Prayer:

Regina coeli, laetare, alleluia: Quia quem meruisti portare, alleluia. Resurrexit sicut dixit, alleluia. Ora pro nobis Deum, alleluia.

V. Gaude et laetare, Virgo Maria, Alleluia,
R. Quia surrexit Dominus vere, alleluia.

Oremus: Deus qui per resurrectionem Filii tui, Domini nostri Iesu Christi, mundum laetificare dignatus es: praesta, quaesumus, ut per eius Genetricem Virginem Mariam, perpetuae capiamus gaudia vitae. Per eundem Christum Dominum nostrum.R. Amen.

In English:

Queen of Heaven rejoice, alleluia: For He whom you merited to bear, alleluia, Has risen as He said, alleluia. Pray for us to God, alleluia.

V. Rejoice and be glad, O Virgin Mary, alleluia.
R. Because the Lord is truly risen, alleluia.

Let us pray: O God, who by the Resurrection of Thy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, granted joy to the whole world: grant we beseech Thee, that through the intercession of the Virgin Mary, His Mother, we may lay hold of the joys of eternal life. Through the same Christ our Lord. R. Amen.

From Asia News Italy:

Explaining the invocations Regina Caeli, Benedict added that “Mary kept in her the heart the ‘Good News’ of the resurrection, source and secret of the true joy and real peace that the Dead and Risen Christ conquered for us with the sacrifice on the Cross. Let us call on Mary, who accompanied us in the days of the Passion, to continue guiding our steps in this time of spiritual joy so that we may always grow in the knowledge and love of the Lord and become witnesses and apostles of His peace.”

In the festive atmosphere of Easter, the Pope also mentioned the “joy of an important anniversary. Five hundred years ago—April 18, 1506, to be exact—Pope Julius II laid the first stone of the new Basilica of St Peter, [a structure] that the entire world admires for the powerful harmony of its forms”.

“With admiration,” Benedict XVI mentioned, “the artists who contributed with their genius to building and decorating” the basilica, people like Michelangelo, Raffaello, and Bramante. He said he was grateful to popes like Julius II who devoted themselves to erecting the basilica on top of the tomb of St Peter. He also thanked the staff of the [Reverenda] Fabbrica di San Pietro, [the church agency] that maintains and safeguards such a masterpiece of art and faith.”

Finally, the Pontiff stressed that this anniversary should reawaken “in every catholic the desire to be like living stones (1 Pt: 2,5) to build the Holy Church in which the ‘light of Christ’ is brightly visible through charity that is lived and witnessed before the world.”
Following the prayer, Benedict XVI greeted in different languages the pilgrims who had gathered in the courtyard of the Apostolic Palace. When he came to greet them in Italian, a group of young people from Naples (Italy) began to sing a well-known Neapolitan song, Ohi vita, Ohi vita mia. Amused and cheerful, the Pope responded saying: “I see there is no lack of Easter joy” among you.

Divine Mercy Novena--Day Four

Fourth Day

"Today bring to Me Those Who Do Not Believe In God and Those Who Do Not Yet Know Me. I was thinking also of them during My bitter Passion, and their future zeal comforted My heart. Immerse them in the ocean of My mercy."

Go here for instructions.

Song of Solomon used in Prayers of the Faithful

At the Easter Mass today in the Vatican.

I was half-asleep while listening, but I think in the Holy Father's introduction to the prayers he made reference to the risen Jesus being the Bridegroom and that "we the bride of Christ" await Him with our needs...then each petition began with a quote from the Song of Solomon or the Song of Songs, including the following:

"Upon my bed at night
I sought him who my soul loves"

and

"I went down to the nut orchard,
to look at the blossoms of the valley."

If someone knows where the whole text of the prayers of intercession is online, please let me know.

Fr. Groeschel--"Happy Easter from Judas!"

From the CFR Website:

Let’s take this beautiful feast of Easter and celebrate it by praying in our hearts, “ Jesus is Lord.” That’s the shortest and most succinct Christian creed, “ Jesus is Lord.” Let us joyfully celebrate the resurrection. For years The New York Times has ignored the celebration of Easter entirely. I wrote to them some time ago and they told me they would change, but they didn’t. I’m happy to say that The New York Sun, which is owned by Jewish people and not published on the Sabbath or Sunday, had a beautiful photograph of the Pope on Good Friday morning and also recognition of the Christian message of Easter. Let’s look at where our friends really are. May I ask you to take a look at the New York Sun if you live in our area? In any event keep reminding people, “ Jesus is Lord.”

Divine Mercy Novena--Day Three

Third Day

"Today bring to Me All Devout and Faithful Souls and immerse them in the ocean of My mercy. These souls brought Me consolation on the Way of the Cross. They were that drop of consolation in the midst of an ocean of bitterness."

Go here for instructions.

To the City and the World--"Easter Peace"

As the Risen Lord breathed upon the anxious Apostles saying, "Peace be with you!", Pope Benedict XVI on his 79th birthday greets the City of Rome and the World in 62 languages with a message of peace.

From Asia News Italy:

“May the Risen Lord grant that the strength of his life, peace and freedom be experienced everywhere. Today the words with which the Angel reassured the frightened hearts of the women on Easter morning are addressed to all: "Do not be afraid! ... He is not here; he is risen (Mt 28:5-6)". Jesus is risen, and he gives us peace; he himself is peace. For this reason the Church repeats insistently: "Christ is risen - Christós anésti." Let the people of the third millennium not be afraid to open their hearts to him. His Gospel totally quenches the thirst for peace and happiness that is found in every human heart. Christ is now alive and he walks with us. What an immense mystery of love!”

A Blessed Easter to All!

I live, no not I, but Christ lives within me!

I Am Risen

by Brother Sylvain, of Taize

Holy Saturday

Mandylion

By Michael O'Brien

From the Office of Readings:

Something strange is happening – there is a great silence on earth today, a great silence and stillness. The whole earth keeps silence because the King is asleep. The earth trembled and is still because God has fallen asleep in the flesh and he has raised up all who have slept ever since the world began. God has died in the flesh and hell trembles with fear.

He has gone to search for our first parent, as for a lost sheep. Greatly desiring to visit those who live in darkness and in the shadow of death, he has gone to free from sorrow the captives Adam and Eve, he who is both God and the son of Eve. The Lord approached them bearing the cross, the weapon that had won him the victory. At the sight of him Adam, the first man he had created, struck his breast in terror and cried out to everyone: “My Lord be with you all”. Christ answered him: “And with your spirit”. He took him by the hand and raised him up, saying: “Awake, O sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will give you light”.

From an Ancient Homily.

Divine Mercy Novena-Day 2

Second Day

Today bring to Me the Souls of Priests and Religious and immerse them in My unfathomable mercy. It was they who gave Me strength to endure My bitter Passion. Through them as through channels My mercy flows out upon mankind.

Go here for instructions.

Spectator's at the Cross

"And the people stood by by, watching"
Luke 23:35

This is a poignant statement made by Luke in his gospel as to what the people of Jesus' time did as they followed him to Calvary and then to his crucifixion.

We spent our Good Friday at a parish that once served the Irish immigrants and now serves the Hispanic and Asian communities that have come into this country. A somber yet festive recreation of the Passion of Jesus with the Stations of the Cross that led us out of the compound of the parish and into the streets of one of the more crime heavy areas of the city. A slow moving procession of about three hundred souls chanting: "Lord have mercy on your people!"as Jesus carrying his cross went through the streets being beaten by Roman soldiers as though he were a beast carrying a load for them--of course he was carrying the load of our sins on that cross!

Along the way the people of the neighborhood gathered at their doors--people of all types, some scantily clad (it was close to 80 degrees--summer like here), some on cell phones :"and they watched"--and of course I too "watched"--they the recreation of the passion in their streets, me the ongoing passion that no doubt is being lived in their lives.

God save us all, we who watch as your Son is crucified. We who stand by as He passes through our streets, offering us mercy that we dare not rise up to receive. We who receive that mercy and do not reach out to share it with those in need.

The local media records the event:



Photo by Cathie Rowland

The Ninth Station of the Cross

The Crucifixion
by Michael O'Brien

From The Way of the Cross celebrated by the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI, composed by Archbishop Angelo Comastri, © Copyright 2006 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana:

As Pascal insightfully observed:
“Jesus will be in agony until the end of the world;
and we cannot sleep during this time”.[1]

Where is Jesus in agony in our own time?
In the division of our world into belts of prosperity
and belts of poverty ... this is Christ’s agony today.
Our world is made of two rooms:
in one room, things go to waste,
in the other, people are wasting away;
in one room, people die from surfeit,
in the other, they die from indigence;
in one room, they are concerned about obesity,
in the other, they are begging for charity.

Why don’t we open a door?
Why don’t we sit at one table?
Why don’t we realize that the poor
can help the rich?
Why? Why? Why are we so blind?