Praising Allah -- en español

From the Orlando Sentinel:

Catherine Garcia enters the mosque barefoot and finds a spot on the floor. She kneels and leans forward. Palms, nose and forehead touch the ground. Her lips move, almost imperceptibly, whispering words in Arabic.

Three years ago, she would have been in a Roman Catholic church, murmuring prayers with her rosary beads. Today, she invokes Allah while reciting portions of the Quran.

Garcia, 33, is among an estimated 70,000 Hispanics nationwide embracing Islam, blending with apparent ease two cultures seemingly at odds.

They are renouncing salsa dancing, roasted pork and Christmas. But they are making their tamales with halal meat, reading the Quran in Spanish and sharing their faith at Hispanic cultural events.

"I am a Latino woman," said Garcia, who was born in Colombia and now lives in east Orange County. "I prefer to read the Quran in Spanish, and I praise God in Spanish. It's the language that I feel."

A Bitter Pill to Swallow for Evangelicals?

A piece on evangelicals and contraception written by an associate professor at Wheaton...

From the Wall Street Journal:

Some evangelicals charge that the Pill has contributed to the moral breakdown of society; perhaps, but evangelicals' embrace of the contraception culture has not helped. It may have made Christianity sexier to potential adherents but diminished a public understanding of marriage in the process. For evangelicals, this may be a bitter pill to swallow.

Not so fast...Ex Wife Says Confessed Killer was in Alabama

When Jon Benet Ramsey was murdered in Colorado...

As usual it would seem that this would be more evident in the news stories, rather than half way down and mentioned as an afterthought.

From Yahoo News:

No evidence against Karr has been made public beyond his own admission. U.S. and Thai officials did not directly answer a question at the news conference Thursday about whether there was DNA evidence connecting him to the crime.

Karr's ex-wife, Lara Karr, told KGO-TV in California that she was with her former husband in Alabama at the time of JonBenet's killing and she does not believe her former husband was involved in the homicide.

She said her ex-husband spent a lot of time studying the cases of Ramsey and Polly Klaas, who was abducted from her Petaluma, Calif., home and slain in 1993.

Cardinal Arinze on Liturgical Dance

While doing research, I came across this and found it very enjoyable...

From Adoremus:

Now, some priests and lay people think that Mass is never complete without dance. The difficulty is this: we come to Mass primarily to adore God -- what we call the vertical dimension. We do not come to Mass to entertain one another. That's not the purpose of Mass. The parish hall is for that.

So all those that want to entertain us -- after Mass, let us go to the parish hall and then you can dance. And then we clap. But when we come to Mass we don't come to clap. We don't come to watch people, to admire people. We want to adore God, to thank Him, to ask Him pardon for our sins, and to ask Him for what we need.

Don't misunderstand me, because when I said this at one place somebody said to me: "you are an African bishop. You Africans are always dancing. Why do you say we don't dance?"

A moment -- we Africans are not always dancing!

Moreover, there is a difference between those who come in procession at Offertory; they bring their gifts, with joy. There is a movement of the body right and left. They bring their gifts to God. That is good, really. And some of the choir, they sing. They have a little bit of movement. Nobody is going to condemn that. And when you are going out again, a little movement, it's all right.

But when you introduce wholesale, say, a ballerina, then I want to ask you what is it all about. What exactly are you arranging? When the people finish dancing in the Mass and then when the dance group finishes and people clap -- don't you see what it means? It means we have enjoyed it. We come for enjoyment. Repeat. So, there is something wrong. Whenever the people clap -- there is something wrong -- immediately. When they clap -- a dance is done and they clap.

It is possible that there could be a dance that is so exquisite that it raises people's minds to God, and they are praying and adoring God and when the dance is finished they are still wrapped up in prayer. But is that the type of dance you have seen? You see. It is not easy.

Most dances that are staged during Mass should have been done in the parish hall. And some of them are not even suitable for the parish hall.

I saw in one place -- I will not tell you where -- where they staged a dance during Mass, and that dance was offensive. It broke the rules of moral theology and modesty. Those who arranged it -- they should have had their heads washed with a bucket of holy water!

Why make the people of God suffer so much? Haven't we enough problems already? Only Sunday, one hour, they come to adore God. And you bring a dance! Are you so poor you have nothing else to bring us? Shame on you! That's how I feel about it.

Somebody can say, "but the pope visited this county and the people danced". A moment: Did the pope arrange it? Poor Holy Father -- he comes, the people arranged. He does not know what they arranged. And somebody introduces something funny -- is the pope responsible for that? Does that mean it is now approved? Did they put in on the table of the Congregation for Divine Worship? We would throw it out! If people want to dance, they know where to go.

Pope's General Audience

From Asia News Italy:

“Today,” he explained, “there are those who live as if they were never to die or as if all should end with death. Some act as if humankind was master of its own destiny, as if God did not exist, going so far as to deny Him any place in our world. The great advances in science and technology, which have much improved humanity’s conditions, leave unanswered the innermost questions of the human soul. Only by opening up to the mystery of God, which is Love, can our heart’s thirst for truth and happiness be quenched. Only a point of view based on eternity can give historical events, especially the mystery of human frailty, suffering and death, real value”.

“By contemplating Mary in her celestial glory,” the Pontiff said in conclusion, “we understand that the earth is not our final homeland, that if we live constantly focused on that which is eternal, we can share one day that same glory. For this reason, despite our many daily challenges, we must not lose our serenity and peace. The luminous sign of the Assumption of our Lady in the heavens glows brighter than the sad shadows cast by sorrow and violence. We are certain that from high above Mary follows our steps with sweet trepidation. She brightens our life in its dark and stormy hours and reassures us with her maternal hand. Conscious of this, we continue confident along our path shaped by our Christian commitment wherever Providence takes us”.

To Mary Queen of Peace

The Pope entrusts the violent world...

From Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary's Angelus:

“Mary encourages us not to lose faith in the face of the difficulties and
inevitable problems of daily life,” continued Benedict XVI. “She assures us of
her help and reminds us that the essential thing is to seek and to think ‘of
things that are above, not of things that are on earth’ (cfr Col 3:2).
Taken up with daily worries, we run the risk of maintaining that it is here, in
this world where we are only passing through, that the ultimate scope of human
existence lies. However Paradise is the true goal of our earthly pilgrimage. How
different our days would be if they were animated by this perspective! This is
how it was for the saints. Their existence testifies how, when one lives with
one’s heart constantly turned towards heaven, earthly realities are experienced
according to their proper value because they are illuminated by the eternal
truth of divine love.”

New Blog from an Old Blogger

Jesus Christ is Lord by Martin Farkus

The Cross in the Sand

From Pennsacola News Journal:

But the cross on Pensacola Beach by Fort Pickens Road symbolizes the birth of the United States' first European settlement.

Emerging from the white sand dunes, the universal Christian symbol commemorates Spanish Conquistador Don Tristan de Luna's first Mass when he landed on Santa Rosa Island on Aug. 15, 1559.

On the same day 447 years later, religious and community leaders plan to surround the symbol at a 6 p.m. ceremony. They encourage the public to sink their toes into this event as well.

"We're rededicating the sign that identifies the cross," said Joe Barron, member of the Knights of Columbus, De Luna Assembly, the group responsible for erecting the memorial in 1954. "We'll be there with a color guard."

While the cross survived Hurricane Ivan in 2004, the sign that identified it did not. The Roman Catholic fraternal organization has remade the sign.

Bishop John H. Ricard of the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee will lead the rededication at the cross on Fort Pickens Road.

No Greater Love Than This...

Jonathan Daniels remembered in Alabama From the Montgomery Advertiser:

Episcopalians from across the country gathered in Hayneville on Saturday to honor the memory of a seminary student who gave his life to protect a young black girl during the height of the civil rights movement.

His name was Jonathan Daniels and the fateful step he took that hot August day 46 years ago is memorialized every year in this Lowndes County town.

Named a martyr within the Episcopal Church, Daniels has become the focal point of a movement that claimed several lives in 1965 and eventually led to passage of the Voting Rights Act.

Daniels grew up in the small city where I was born. Amy and I visited Hayneville some years ago specifically to see where this had happened--the place looked frozen in history. Read Outside Agitator for the story.

Pope Gives Advice on How to Vacation

From Asia News Italy:

The pope did not fall short of giving some advice about how to utilize vacation time, an opportunity for “cultural meetings, for prolonged moments of prayer and contemplation in contact with nature or in monasteries or religious structures. Having more free time means one can dedicate oneself with greater ease to dialogue with God, to meditation of the Sacred Scripture and to reading some useful formative book. Who undergoes this experience of repose of the spirit knows how useful it is not to reduce the holidays merely to fun and enjoyment.”

Holidays are also a time to “spend more time with relatives, to rediscover family and friends” and to “nourish ourselves with the Eucharist”. The pope said: “The faithful participation in the Sunday Eucharistic celebration helps us... to feel an active part of the ecclesial community, even when one is away from one’s parish. Wherever we find ourselves, we always need to nourish ourselves with the Eucharist. We are reminded of this by the gospel pages this Sunday, which present Jesus as the Bread of Life. He himself, according to the evangelist John, proclaims that he is the ‘living bread from heaven’ (cfr Jn 6:31), the bread that nourishes our faith and feeds communion among all Christians.”

Happy 25th EWTN!

My picture on the right from my visit to Mother Angelica's Blessed Sacrament Monastery last January...
From Ventura County Star:

Twenty-five years ago, Mother Mary Angelica had a vision for Eternal Word Television Network, a channel offering nothing but Roman Catholic programming. She had little more than faith, $200 and a garage to use as a studio.

Now EWTN Global Catholic Network is available in 127 countries and more than 118 million households, and is capping a celebration of its founding in 1981. With viewers from Illinois to India, the satellite channel has grown to include radio and the Internet, and bills itself as the largest religious media network in the world.

Italian Bestseller Cause for Concern in Vatican

From the Times UK Online:

The former Communist, whose mother was a devout Catholic, outlines a philosophy of Indian spirituality, communion with nature and “the harmony of opposites” that he said helped him in his fight against cancer. He deplores the impact of Western materialism on Asia and describes how his growing pacifism made him a bitter opponent of war, and especially of the Bush Administration’s War on Terror.

This week Avvenire, Italy’s leading Catholic daily, accused Terzani of “leading people astray”. He had “completely lost sight of the incarnate and historical dimension of religious experience”. Alessandro Gnocchi, a Catholic author and television presenter, accused Terzani in the conservative newspaper Libero of peddling “a confused mixture of Oriental philosophy, Marxism and Christianity” that muddled “St Francis with Zen Buddhism”.

Vatican sources said that this was anathema to Pope Benedict XVI, who, as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger and head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, warned of the dangers of trying to reconcile Oriental and New Age spirituality with Catholicism.

August 22nd Doomsday for Israel?

From Newsmax:

Noted Middle Eastern scholar Bernard Lewis warns that Iran is preparing for
an apocalyptic "end of time” – and that it could come as soon as August 22.

The July 28 edition of NewsMax’s Insider Report pointed to the connection between that date, when Iran leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said his country would respond to Western demands regarding Iran’s nuclear program, and a possible attack on Israel.

Now Lewis, professor emeritus of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton,
writes about that scenario. He notes in the Wall Street Journal that this year, August 22 corresponds, in the Islamic calendar, to the night when Muhammad flew first to "the farthest mosque” – usually identified with Jerusalem – and then to heaven and back.

On a more hopeful note:
August 22nd is also the Feast of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Electric Prayer Blog

Interesting blog by those who post the Liturgy texts online at universalis.com:

Electric Prayer

Christendom Conference on Pope Benedict

On liturgy, scripture with Cardinal Arinze, Fr. Groeschel, Hellen Hull Hitchcock and others...from Christendom College:

Fr. Benedict Groeschel, the internationally loved speaker and writer, presented a lecture on "Benedict XVI and Biblical Exegesis." Fr. Groeschel decried modern biblical exegesis that does not deal with Scripture on a theological plane. He cited the source of improper biblical exegesis as rationalism, which uses mathematical methods in philosophy, holding that only that which can be observed by the human senses and deduced by human reason is true.

"This way of thinking entered the schools of biblical scholars, resulting in a widespread skepticism, creating a desire to get rid of the mythological. But Catholics did not fall prey to this very easily. The dogmas of the Catholic faith from tradition held that the Word of God, the Scriptures, are unerring substantially and they are given to us, no matter their origins, to guide us on our way to salvation. Many Protestant churches did not have that anchor, so skepticism came in," he said.

"Scripture study grew further and further away from hermeneutics, which is the study of Scripture to make it an effective preaching and teaching tool," Groeschel continued. "Contemporary Scripture studies are about as scientific as examining the entrails of a dead chicken by the full moon in order to predict the weather the next day. It's not scientific!

"This way of thinking is dead!" Fr. Groeschel exclaimed. "Theories of a historical Jesus and a Christ of faith are not being taught in schools anymore. It is mentioned only in the pulpit these days, because people are not 'keeping up on things.' If you hear it from the pulpit you should approach the preacher and ask him if he believes in alchemy as well," Groeschel said.

Feast of St. Lawrence

From the Office of Readings and St. Augustine:

The Roman Church commends this day to us as the blessed Laurence’s day of triumph, on which he trod down the world as it roared and raged against him; spurned it as it coaxed and wheedled him; and in each case, conquered the devil as he persecuted him. For in that Church, you see, as you have regularly been told, he performed the 0ffice of deacon; it was there that he administered the sacred chalice of Christ’s blood; there that he shed his own blood for the name of Christ. The blessed apostle John clearly explained the mystery of the Lord’s supper when he said Just as Christ laid down his life for us, so we too ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. St Laurence understood this, my brethren, and he did it; and he undoubtedly prepared things similar to what he received at that table. He loved Christ in his life, he imitated him in his death.

And we too, brethren, if we truly love him, let us imitate him. After all, we shall not be able to give a better proof of love than by imitating his example; for Christ suffered for us, leaving us an example, so that we might follow in his footsteps. In this sentence the apostle Peter appears to have seen that Christ suffered only for those who follow in his footsteps, and that Christ’s passion profits none but those who follow in his footsteps. The holy martyrs followed him, to the shedding of their blood, to the similarity of their sufferings. The martyrs followed, but they were not the only ones. It is not the case, I mean to say, that after they crossed, the bridge was cut; or that after they had drunk, the fountain dried up.

The garden of the Lord, brethren, includes – yes, it truly includes – includes not only the roses of martyrs but also the lilies of virgins, and the ivy of married people, and the violets of widows. There is absolutely no kind of human beings, my dearly beloved, who need to despair of their vocation; Christ suffered for all. It was very truly written about him: who wishes all men to be saved, and to come to the acknowledgement of the truth.

God is Love-Unique to Christianity

Pope's General Audience:

“It is not by chance that I wanted to start my first encyclical letter with
the words of this Apostle: ‘God is love’ (Deus caritas est); those who abide in
love abide in God, and God abides in them’ (1 Jn 4:16). It is very difficult to
find such writings in other religions. And so such expressions bring us face to
face with a fact that is truly unique to Christianity.”

Starting out not from “an abstract treatment, but from a real
experience of love, with direct and concrete reference, that may even be
verified, to real people”, John highlights the components of Christian love that
the pope summed up in three points. The pontiff said: “The first regards the
very Source of love that the Apostle places in God, reaching the point where he
affirms that ‘God is love’ (1 Jn 4:8,16). John is the only writer of the New
Testament who gives us definitions of God. He says, for example, that ‘God is
Spirit’ (Jn 4:24) or that ‘God is light’ (1 Jn 1:5). Here he proclaims with
striking intuition that ‘God is love’. Take note: this is not a simple
affirmation that ‘God loves’, still less is it that ‘love is God’! In other
words: John does not limit himself to describing divine conduct, he goes right
to its roots. Further, he does not intend to attribute a divine quality to a
generic, perhaps impersonal love; he does not rise from love to God, but he
turns directly to God to define his nature with the infinite dimension of love.
By this, John wants to say that the essential constituent of God is love and
hence all the activities of God are born from love and are stamped with love:
everything God does, he does for love and with love.”
The second point,
continued the pope, is that God, in his love, “did not limit himself to verbal
statements, but he truly committed himself and he ‘paid’ himself. As John in
fact writes, ‘God so loved the world (that is, all of us) that he gave his only
Son’ (Jn 3:16). Now, the love of God for mankind is concretized and manifested
in the love of Jesus himself. Once again, it is John who writes: Jesus, ‘having
loved his own who were in the world, loved them to the end’ (Jn 13:1). In virtue
of this sacrificial and total love, we are all radically saved from sin, as the
Apostle writes once again: ‘My little children... if anyone does sin, we have an
advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the atoning
sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole
world’ (1 Jn 2:1-2; cfr 1 Jn 1:7). This is how far the love of Jesus went for
us: until the shedding of his own blood for our salvation! The Christian,
pausing in contemplation before this “excess” of love, cannot but ask himself
what a dutiful response would be.”

Here is News!

Turns out we were part of the Episcopal church before we broke off...

Caught by Get Religion:

The irony is, Catholicism was part of the Episcopal Church before a split
in the 1500s.

Woman Faces Excommunication

What's surprising in this story is that she thinks what she's done is not important enough to merit the bishop's attention.

From Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Vandenberg, 64, said Monday that she was "startled" by the letter and
surprised that Dolan had "spent so much time and energy" on it when "other
important things" might demand his attention.

In his letter to the parish, Dolan said he was "disappointed because
Ms. Vandenberg and I had begun a fruitful dialogue on the matter last fall. At
that time, . . . I had advised her that any attempted ordination would affect
her relationship with the church.

"I believed her sincerity when she assured me that she was unaware of
such a consequence, and did not want that to happen."

Vandenberg said Dolan requested the September 2005 meeting, and in a
letter the month before it, he told her that "in the interim, you should not be
exercising any liturgical or pastoral ministry in the Catholic church lest
confusion or scandal arise among the people."

My Redesigned Homepage

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Pro's and Con's of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway

PROS:

Great ticket system. If you have a will-call ticket, you can go to any ticket venue at the site and when the venue is 2 1/5 miles around this is a life saver. There they take your info and print out your ticket in a few seconds--excellent service.

Good parking. I consistently am able to park within a 1/4 mile of one of the entrances and pay $10, compare that to parking about 3/4 of a mile from Daytona and paying $40.

Easy in and Easy out. Again I encountered no traffic coming in or leaving--but then I am not a sheep and do not park or drive where everyone else does. But again in contrast to Daytona (where the shortcuts I used to know, now are apparently known by everyone) it took close to two hours to even begin to move.

Civilized Crowd. This is Indiana and apart from the three idiots--two women who did rebel yells as loud as they could toward each other throughout the race, and the fat 30+ year old guy who didn't know anything about NASCAR but kept yelling all the lines from Talladega Nights that he learned-- for the most part you're dealing with a classier crowd than you are at Michigan or Daytona (I've had a similar experience at Atlanta--classier crowd--but it could be that it was 35 degrees on the day of the race).

Great Soundsystem. Indy is about the only track I've ever been to where you can actually hear the announcer during the race.

CONS

Lousy Concession Stands. Usual crap food, long lines and stragegically place about an 1/8 of mile between stands. If want a grilled chicken sandwich, you are out of luck. I did get an excellent cob of sweet corn though in the infield (with no line). This actually is something that most NASCAR tracks have in common, I'm trying hard to think of any track I've been to that had anything like what you can find at most baseball stadiums now.

Lousy Racing. The thing about Indy is once the race starts the show is over. I used to think that the Indy 500 was boring because no one passed--but if NASCAR only raced at tracks like Indy and not at Daytona, Talladega and Bristol it would soon have very few fans. Watching one lap of racing followed by 90 laps of follow the leader is not all that exciting to watch in 90 degree, sun in your face with the rebel yell screaming broads behind you. Here's my take--bank the turns like Daytona--then you can build stands all the way around the track because then you'll actually have a competitive race.

Archaeologist's work may make case for 'Georgia martyrs'

From the Atlanta Journal Constitution:

Are these the relics of a prospective saint, or just the bones of another
sinner? Time — along with some forensic investigation, a little DNA analysis and some luck — may tell.

A half-century after the skull was unearthed at the site of a former Spanish mission near Darien, and 20 years after the Diocese of Savannah proposed beatification for the "Georgia martyrs," science and religion have found a common bond in their curiosity about the weathered remains.

"Without any living relatives, there is little chance of being very definitive about the identity," says Stojanowski. "But there are some tests that can narrow the possibilities."

That prospect has persuaded Harkins, historian at the Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio, and the official "vice postulator" for the Cause of the Georgia Martyrs, to spend a little of the faithful's money on a scientific long shot.

"The case for beatification of the Georgia martyrs is a historical one, and it will be accepted or rejected by the Vatican on the basis of the historical record," Harkins says.

The Transfiguration

From Pope Benedict's Angelus:

“On the transfigured face of Jesus shone a ray of the divine light that He guarded within. This very light radiates on the face of Christ on the day of the Resurrection. Thus, the Transfiguration is like an anticipation of the Paschal mystery... The... Resurrection overcame once and for all the power of the shadow of evil. With the risen Christ, truth and love triumph over deceit and sin. In Him, the light of God now illuminates the life of men and the path of history permanently. ‘I am the light of the world,’ He says in the Gospel. ‘Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.’ (Jn 8:12).”

Talladega Nights Makes Fun of NASCAR but Blasphemes Jesus

I'm a big NASCAR fan--will be at the Brickyard tomorrow and have already been to Daytona and Michigan races earlier this year. So I went to see Talladega Nights like a lot of other people last night in a sold out showing.
On the face of it the movie is mildly funny with long stretches in between laughs. The plot is very similar to Anchorman where the hot shot dumb guy is replaced with someone who is marginalized but more talented and the former star ends up in the gutter until he has a miraculous comeback. Much of the humor is based on Ricky Bobby's stupidity and no doubt based on Hollywood's stereotype of the Southern U.S. But the character of Ricky Bobby is inconsistent and perhaps the longest stick in the movie centers on him saying grace to "baby Jesus" with a great discourse that as I said in the headline borders on blasphemy.
Now first of all southern Baptist don't pray to the baby Jesus, in fact Catholics are the only organized group that has this devotion. Mother Angelica's Monastery in Alabama is dedicated to the baby Jesus (and I wondered if that wasn't the source of this bit) and is not too far from Talladega where some parts of the movie were filmed on location.
I'm sick of something sacred to those who believe, like I do, that Jesus is the Son of God, being used as a vehicle of ridicule. You won't see Hollywood ridicule Arabs and their faith in Allah or see Mohammad being mocked. Why? Because radical Moslem fundamentalist would blow up the theaters and the studios.
Christians have been taught to turn the other cheek, by Jesus. That has to make the movie makers happy. But Christian's who believe that Jesus is their savior shouldn't waste a dime on Talladega Nights.

Theologian Found Dead

From All Africa.com:

A Catholic theologian was found dead in unclear circumstances at the Catholic University of Central Africa last Saturday.

Father Patrick Adeso was professor at the university and a consultant of the Pontifical Council for Migrants and Itinerant People. He was also the national chaplain of the Charismatic Renewal Movement in Cameroon.

His body was found in his room at the campus of the university in the eastern suburbs of the Cameroonian capital, according to media reports. MISNA reported that the door of his office was locked from inside and there was no sign that there had been violence.

The 55-year-old priest of Kumo Diocese was buried on Tuesday.

Catholic Relief Rejects Openly Gay Priest Volunteer

I know the priest. When a good friend of mine was a seminarian for Syracuse, Fr. Daley was the vocation director.

From Syracuse.Com:

A priest of the Syracuse Diocese says Catholic Relief Services has dismissed him from its volunteer program in Africa because he is gay.

"They said I was an openly gay priest with a high profile. They said a controversial figure would not be in their best interests," said the Rev. Fred Daley, 58.

Auxiliary Bishop Thomas J. Costello said he was disappointed by the decision.

Infanticide at Abortion Clinic in Florida

From LifeSite:

“We were able to locate the mother of this child, who is an 18-year-old female. We located her. She, in fact, reiterated that she did come to this clinic to have an abortion, and she gave birth to the baby while waiting for the doctor to arrive. The doctor was not here,” Lt. Ralph Garcia of the Hialeah Police Department told NBC6 News.

According to the anonymous caller who reported the incident, after the woman gave birth to her child in the waiting room, "Employees cut the umbilical cord, put the baby in a bag and walked away with it," Garcia said.

Pope's Student Circle Studies Evolution This Year

From Magister:

This year’s Ratzinger-Schülerkreis seminar will focus on "Schöpfung und
Evolution", creation and evolution. The private meeting is set for Saturday,
September 2, and Sunday, September 3, at the Pontifical Villa in the pope's
summer residence of Castel Gandolfo. The Ratzinger-Schülerkreis, that is the
‘Ratzinger Students’ Circle’, brings together once a year the old theology
professor, now pope Benedict XVI, and his former students to discuss a new topic
every year.

The first such meeting was held when Joseph Ratzinger was still a professor
in Regensburg. Once he became archbishop of Munich, his students asked him to
continue and he accepted.

When he moved to Rome to take up the post of prefect of the Congregation
for the Doctrine of the Faith the annual event continued. Typically, meetings
were held at a monastery over a weekend. When the 2004 meeting ended,
participants left already knowing the following year’s subject: the concept of
God in Islam.

Pope Renews Pleas for Peace

During the weekly audience, from Asia News Italy:

With “a heart full of sorrow” and the “chilling images of mangled bodies of so many people, especially children,” before his eyes, Benedict XVI appealed once again for prayers “for the dear, martyred region of the Middle East”, for more effective commitment from the international community for an “immediate cessation of all hostilities” and for “conditions for a definitive political solution to the crisis”.

Recalling in particular the massacre in Qana in Lebanon, the pope said: “I wish to repeat that nothing can justify the spilling of innocent blood, no matter from which part it comes!”

Benedict XVI emphasized that only a “definitive political solution to the crisis” will be capable of “delivering a more serene and safe future for generations to come”.

Feast of St. Alphonsus Liguori

From the Office of Readings:

All holiness and perfection of soul lies in our love for Jesus Christ our
God, who is our Redeemer and our supreme good. It is part of the love of God to
acquire and to nurture all the virtues which make a man perfect.Has not God in
fact won for himself a claim on all our love?

From all eternity he has loved us. And it is in this vein that he speaks to
us: “O man, consider carefully that I first loved you. You had not yet appeared
in the light of day, nor did the world yet exist, but already I loved you. From
all eternity I have loved you”.

Women "ordained" on the Three Rivers

What are there names?

(Found) Here are the names:

Eileen McCafferty DiFranco
Olivia Doko
Joan Clark Houk
Bridget Mary Meehan (Sister for Christian Community) (author)
Rebecca McGuyver
Dana Reynolds
Kathleen Strack
Kathy Sullivan Vandenberg

Cheryl Bristol (who identifies herself as a lesbian by birth, Catholic by choice)
Juanita Cordero
Mary Ellen Robertson (author of two books)
Janice Sevre-Duszynska

Where do they work?

Can anyone find this info, it seems absent from every news story I've read. Time for them to come out of the closet.

Tropical Storm Chris Forms in the Atlantic

From the Sun Sentinel:

Tropical Storm Chris, the third named storm of the 2006 Atlantic hurricane
season, developed early Tuesday near the Leeward Islands, forecasters said.

Chris
had sustained winds near 40 miles per hour, just above the threshold for a
tropical storm, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Why "When 'Ratzinger' was a Swear Word"?

A few commentor's have asked me why I would want to write a book about the divisiveness of the Church so I figured I'd answer here for others who may not have written.

This is one of those issues that there are endless examples of because "Ratzinger" became the lightning rod for both the left and the right (he's considered a liberal and heretic by the tridentine crowd) and there is great irony in him being chosen as pope.

I had hardly read anything he wrote before his election, but had to read as much as I could when he was elected because the publishing company I work for was doing a "quick book" on the election. It was during this time, reading his works that I came to see why he was such a threat to both sides--he has to be the most brilliant person I've read about the place of the faith in the world today! Benedict has answers for all sides.

Reflecting on this I grew rather angry that he had not been featured in my theological training. Studying him would have been invaluable for engaging the world that we live in and bringing the Gospel message to our time.

That the environment of the church is so incredibly hostile to him is a sure sign of demonic activity, I'd say. Yet the "gates of Hell" shall not prevail and the Holy Spirit has won the day!

I've written about the Vision of St. John Bosco on this blog before and I think my first chapter would lay out some of what I wrote there.

In an ironic twist I read just this morning that Pope Benedict is highlighting his papacy as one focused on unity. The Holy Spirit seems to have a great sense of humor.

Feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola

He says it all right here...

Man is created to praise, reverence, and serve God our Lord, and by this
means to save his soul.
And the other things on the face of the earth are
created for man and that they may help him in prosecuting the end for which he
is created.
From this it follows that man is to use them as much as they help
him on to his end, and ought to rid himself of them so far as they hinder him as
to it.
For this it is necessary to make ourselves indifferent to all created
things in all that is allowed to the choice of our free will and is not
prohibited to it; so that, on our part, we want not health rather than sickness,
riches rather than poverty, honor rather than dishonor, long rather than short
life, and so in all the rest; desiring and choosing only what is most conducive
for us to the end for which we are created.

Cardinal George on the Mend

Faithful come to the hospital to offer prayers, from Chicago Sun Times:

George sat up for two hours in a chair Sunday. "He's getting a little tired doing it, but it was good for him,'' Dolan said.

Even though he was in bed, George celebrated Sunday mass in his room with Bishop Thomas Paprocki, Dolan said. His vital signs were stable and he had no fever.

The next step will be for George to start walking, she said. He walks with a limp and leg brace because of complications from childhood polio, so "he may have to use a walker or crutches."

Where 'Ratzinger" Was a Swear Word

Those educated in Catholic institutions know of what I speak and not a few converts have been surprised to encounter someone in a parish who was less than enthusiastic about the faith...all of this contempt seemed to reach its zenith with the mention of one name "Ratzinger."

As I tell people I'm planning to write a book "Where Ratzinger Was a Swear Word" they share with me their own experiences, and I'd like to start sharing them here. I'd also invite readers to email me their own experiences with the caveat that in doing so they are giving me permission to use them in the book insuring of course their anonymity.

When the rector of a major U.S. seminary invited then Cardinal Ratzinger to be the ordaining prelate for that year's class of deacons, he told me that three diocesan vocational directors promptly notified him that they would be pulling out all of their seminarians from the seminary the following semester. I asked him if they followed through on their threat and he replied, "They did."

"In the Name of God Lay Down Your Arms!"

Pope Benedict, today from Asia News Italy:

“In the name of God, I appeal to all those responsible for this spiral of violence to immediately lay down their weapons on all sides! I ask rulers and institutional institutions not to spare any effort to attain this necessary cessation of hostilities so as to be able to build, through dialogue, a lasting and stable coexistence of all the peoples of the Middle East. I ask men of goodwill to intensify the delivery of humanitarian aid to those peoples who are so sorely tried and in so much need. But above all, let the confident prayer to God, who is good and merciful, continue to come forth from every heart so that he may concede his peace to that region and to the whole world.” He added: “I entrust this heartfelt appeal to the intercession of Mary, Mother of the Prince of Peace and Queen of Peace, so venerated in mid-eastern countries, where soon we hope to see reigning that reconciliation for which the Lord Jesus offered his precious Blood.”

Women "ordained" by Bishop in "Good Standing"

Interesting tidbit hidden in this story, who is this bishop and how could he not be known? From the Washington Post:

The group she belongs to began in 2002, when a renegade bishop ordained seven women in Germany. The Vatican quickly excommunicated the women. The next year, another bishop in good standing but who was never identified secretly ordained two women as bishops, saying he disagreed with the church teaching on women. More ordinations have taken place since, and the number of women in training for the priesthood has climbed to 120 today, Fresen said.

Mel Gibson Apologizes

For what he said when arrested the other night for DUI, from the Irish Examiner:

Hollywood star Mel Gibson has apologised for saying ”despicable” things to police officers when he was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol.

“I acted like a person completely out of control when I was arrested and said things that I do not believe to be true and which are despicable,” the actor-director said in a statement without elaborating.

What did he say, you wonder?

According to the report, in addition to threatening the arresting deputy and trying to escape, Gibson allegedly said, “The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world,” and asked the officer James Mee, “Are you a Jew?”

"Daddy, where's my zebra?"

Happy Birthday to Aunt Kathy!

Where "Ratzinger" was a Swear Word

Those educated in Catholic institutions know of what I speak and not a few converts have been surprised to encounter someone in a parish who was less than enthusiastic about the faith...all of this contempt seemed to reach its zenith with the mention of one name "Ratzinger."

As I tell people I'm planning to write a book "Where Ratzinger Was a Swear Word" they share with me their own experiences, and I'd like to start sharing them here. I'd also invite readers to email me their own experiences with the caveat that in doing so they are giving me permission to use them in the book insuring of course their anonymity.

From a Campus Minister who is faithful, charismatic and was shocked the first time he attended a national conference of campus ministers and at Mass witnessed a priest shadowed by a woman who repeated everything he said as he said Mass. He wasn't terribly thrilled when Sister Minus Mary got up and invoked the four winds in imitation of the Native Americans she was sent as a missionary to and they evidently succeeded in converting her. But the relevant point to my story came when the campus ministers: clerical, religious and lay gathered for a small group session and brainstormed what they would do if they could be pope for one day.

My friend said that in his group there was a nun, two priests and himself. The nun spoke up first and she had only three words to say as to what she would do if she were the Supreme Pontiff and she said them loud enough for the adjacent groups to hear, "I'd fire Ratzinger." The two priests nodded approvingly. One of the priests spoke up next, "I'd make the church more gay-friendly, more inclusive." My friend wondered what he had gotten himself into.

Pope Still Learning How to be Pope

From All Headline News:

After being voted in last year by the Conclave of Cardinals, Pope Benedict the 16th says leading the world's 1.1 billion Catholics is not a small task and he has just started to "learn" his new job.

The German-born Pope was speaking while addressing journalists on Friday. He had just completed a private holiday in the northern Italian mountains. Reuters quotes him telling reporters, "During this period I have also been working, because holidays are good only if you do some work. Without doing anything, they are not holidays."

He is slated to travel to the papal summer retreat at Castel Gandolfo, south of Rome. The Pope will spend his time recollecting at the retreat that is scheduled to end by late September.

Spanish Bishops "The Church is sick"

And in need of a cure...fascinating document that was done in conjunction with the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith when the Pope was still a cardinal and the head of it. It lays out what the problem is, its origin and the cure...

From Magister:

The sickness is “the secularization within the Church”: a widespread loss
of faith caused in part by “theological propositions that have in common a
deformed presentation of the mystery of Christ.”

The cure is precisely that of
restoring life to the profession of faith: “You are the Christ, the Son of the
living God” (Matthew 16:16), in the four areas where it is most seriously
undermined today:

• the interpretation of Scripture,
• Jesus Christ as the only savior of all men,
• the Church as the Body of Christ,
• moral life.

The instruction is organized under these four main headings. In each section, the
document first presents the features of correct Christological doctrine, and
then denounces the theologies that deform it. It denounces the theologies, not
the theologians. The instruction does not target particular authors, but limits
itself to denouncing erroneous tendencies. The names found in the notes that
accompany the text are simply those of theologians already marked out in the
past by doctrinal condemnations and disciplinary sanctions by the Vatican
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith or by the Spanish bishops’
conference.

And from the actual document:

2. They are not few who, in the shadow of a nonexistent Council, in terms of both letter and spirit, have sown agitation and disquiet in the hearts of many of the faithful.

13. From the denial of one aspect of the profession of faith, one passes to the total loss of the faith itself, in that by selecting some aspects and refuting others one does not respect the testimony of God, but rather human reasoning. When one alters the profession of faith, the entire Christian life is compromised by this.

19. In some instances the biblical texts are studied and interpreted as if these were nothing more than ancient texts. There is also the application of methods that systematically exclude the possibility of revelation, miracles, and intervention of God. Instead of integrating the contributions of history, philology, and other scholarly disciplines with the faith and the Church’s tradition, frequently the ecclesial interpretation itself is presented as the problem and considered as extraneous, if not opposed, to “scientific exegesis.”

25. The historical-critical method has been abused without a recognition of its limits, and this has gone so far as the assertion that the pre-existence of the divine person of Christ is a mere philosophical deformation of the biblical evidence. [...] The mission of Christ has been understood as a merely earthly event, if not political-revolutionary, thus denying his voluntary death on the cross for mankind.

Florida Housing Heading in Other Direction

After rising steeply, now its heading in the other direction...

Weeping Icon a Fake?

And other horrors at Orthodox monastery in Texas. The ring leader is a former Benedictine monk who left years ago, sold land in Texas and then formed an Orthodox monastery.

Read more about it here:

Besides naming the two boys tracked down by investigators, Elsbury said Greene confirmed suspicions that the picture of the Virgin Mary that was said to weep tears of rose oil was a fake.

"The whole thing is going to be exposed as a sham," the sheriff said. "They just put the tear drops on there themselves and then got all these people making donations trying to get some kind of miracle cure."

US Catechism for Adults

Available on July 31st. 638 pages!

Give us Peace Today!

From Pope Benedict XVI:

Just a quick word of meditation on the reading we have just listened to. What is striking, against the background of the dramatic situation in the Middle East, is the beauty of the vision illustrated by the apostle Paul: Christ is our peace. He has reconciled us with one another, Jews and gentiles, uniting them in his body. He overcame enmity in his body, upon the cross. With his death he has overcome enmity, and has united us all in his peace.

But what strikes us even more than the beauty of this vision is its contrast with the reality we experience and see. And we can do nothing, at first, but say to the Lord: “But Lord, what does your apostle say to us – ‘We are reconciled’?” We see in reality that we are not reconciled... There is still war among Christians, Muslims, and Jews; and there are others who foment war and are still full of enmity and violence. Where is the efficacy of your sacrifice? Where in history is this peace of which your apostle speaks?

We human beings cannot solve the mystery of history, the mystery of human freedom to say “no” to God’s peace. We cannot solve the entire mystery of the revelation of the God-man, of his activity and our response. We must accept the mystery. But there are elements of an answer that the Lord gives to us.

A first element – this reconciliation from the Lord, his sacrifice – has not remained without efficacy. There is the great reality of the communion of the universal Church, found among all the peoples, the fabric of Eucharistic communion that transcends the boundaries of culture, civilization, peoples, and times. There is this communion, there are these “islands of peace” in the Body of Christ. They exist. And they are forces of peace in the world. If we look at history, we can see the great saints of charity who have created “oases” of this divine peace in the world, who have always rekindled his light, and were always able to reconcile and create peace. There are the martyrs who have suffered with Christ, have given this witness of peace, of the love that places a limit on violence.

And seeing that the reality of peace is there – even if the other reality also remains – we can go more deeply into the message of this Letter of Paul to the Ephesians. The Lord has triumphed upon the cross. He did not triumph with a new empire, with a power greater than the others and capable of destroying them; he triumphed, not in a human way, as we would imagine, with an empire more powerful than the other. He triumphed with a love capable of reaching even to death. This is God’s new way of winning: he does not oppose violence with a stronger form of violence. He opposes violence with its exact opposite: love to the very end, his cross. This is God’s humble way of winning: with his love – and this is the only way it is possible – he puts a limit on violence. This is a way of winning that seems very slow to us, but it is the real way to overcome evil, to overcome violence, and we must entrust ourselves to this divine way of winning.

Entrusting ourselves means entering actively within this divine love, participating in this work of peacemaking, in order to conform with what the Lord says: “Blessed are the peacemakers, those who work for peace, because they are the children of God.” We must bring, as much as possible, our love to all those who suffer, knowing that the judge of the last judgment identifies himself with the suffering. So whatever we do to the suffering we do to the ultimate judge of our lives. This is important: that in this moment we can bring this victory of his to the world, participating actively in his charity.

Today, in a multicultural and multireligious world, many are tempted to say: “It is better for peace in the world among religions and cultures that one not speak too much about the specifics of Christianity, about Jesus, the Church, the sacraments. Let us be satisfied with the things that can be held more or less in common...” But it’s not true. At this very moment – at a moment of a great abuse in the name of God – we need the God who triumphed upon the cross, who wins not by violence, but by his love. At this very moment, we need the face of Christ, in in order to know the true face of God and thus to bring reconciliation and light to this world. And so together, with love, with the message of love, with all that we can do for the suffering in this world, we must also bring the witness of this God, of the victory of God precisely through the nonviolence of his cross.

So let’s go back to the starting point. What we can do is give the witness of love, the witness of faith; and above all, raise a cry to God: we can pray! We are certain that our Father hears the cry of his children. At the Mass, preparing for holy communion, to receive the Body of Christ who unites us, we pray with the Church: “Deliver us, O Lord, from all evil, and grant us peace in our day.” Let this be our prayer in this moment: “Deliver us from all evil, and give us peace.” Not tomorrow or the next day: give us peace, Lord, today! Amen.

Way of Penitents for Divorced and Remarried in Italy?

Italian theologian tries to find a way for those living in an invalid marriage and excluded from Holy Communion that includes a life of penitence:

From Magister:

It would, moreover, require a certain span of time that should be determined with prudence, which would include some of the following penitential acts, according to the traditional threefold model of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, practiced on a daily or weekly basis for a few months, according to a set schedule: the reading of the Scriptures, the prayer of the Psalms or of the Liturgy of the Hours, participation in the celebration of the Eucharist (but without receiving communion) and in adult classes of catechesis, the recitation of the Rosary, pilgrimages, moderate fasting from food and from diversions, especially in preparation for the Sunday liturgy, monetary donations to poor people nearby or far away, the assumption of roles of social service in a professional or volunteer capacity, an effort to establish forgiveness and reconciliation with the spouse, etc. Of course, this journey would need to be modeled in reference to the confession of sins, and thus to the actual condition of the penitent.
At this point it becomes clear that, according to our proposal, admission to the sacraments cannot be decided privately by the individual believer on the basis of the judgment of his own conscience, but rather passes entirely through the ecclesiastical celebration and the priestly ministry.
And again, the individual believer cannot simply make this decision under some extraordinary circumstances, for example at a child’s first communion or at the funeral for a relative. Nor can it simply be left to the prudential judgment of the individual priest. It is appropriate that there should be a common and specific ecclesiastical practice in this matter.

What I find appealing in this is that it is a step in the right direction not only for this issue but countless others that the face individuals in the Church today--that the focus is on conversion, deepening a relationship with Christ and it realizes that most of the sinful behavior committed in our lives is due to our lack of conversion.

Saint Louis--The Arch

First, from below...

Then from above...


The preferred method of viewing...


The New Busch Stadium before the big storm...


How Amy takes all those nice pictures...


On the banks of the Mississippi...

Miracle Attributed to Sheen Sent to Rome

I'm a big fan and promoter of Bishop Sheen's cause. For a free holy card to pray for his intercession click here and follow the instructions.

From the Peoria Journal Star:

Copies of a report on an alleged miracle that took place in 1999 through the intercession of the late Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen were signed and sealed Sunday by Roman Catholic Church officials.

The 500-page report and supporting documents will now be delivered to Rome by canon lawyer Andrea Ambrosi, postulator of the cause to have Sheen recognized as a saint. There, Ambrosi will argue to a Vatican panel that this case and another being prepared in the Diocese of Pittsburgh are evidence of Sheen's sainthood.

Pope's Second Encyclical to Focus on Jesus?

Heard that it would be on social justice but this story which talks about a "book" seems to be talking about the subject of the next encyclical.

Happy Birthday to Amy!

Happy Birthday to my wife Amy...

Pope Entrusts Conflict to Our Lady of Mt. Carmel

Today's feast, origination of the brown scapular devotion...

Dancing the Night Away

From Catholic Online:

The nuns said that when Bush arrived in Milwaukee they would "pause for a
time of silent prayer, join together in a dance of universal peace and pray for
continual conversion of your heart."

Why not join together in prayer? My guess is that no one wants to impose their "style of prayer" upon the other, but "you will dance!"

Look for my upcoming book Where Ratzinger Was a Swear Word

New Office to Oversee Liturgical Music?

From The Church:

Some of these “reforms of the reform” will concern music. On June 30, the
head of the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music, Msgr. Valentino Miserachs
Grau, announced that the pope will make a personal visit there in November to
inaugurate the new academic year. And he said he expects the creation of a new
Vatican office “that would coordinate with authority the activity of all those
who work in liturgical music, and would watch over the liturgical celebrations.”

New Version of One of My Books

New Papal Spokesman--A Priest

From AGI online:

Father Federico Lombardi is the new spokesman for the Pope. A Jesuit, he was previously the general director of the Vatican Radio and director of the Vatican television centre. With his nomination as new director of the press office of the Holy See, there is a de facto synergy among the three organisms. Joaquin Navarro Valls is now out of the scene, having directed the press office for over 22 years and followed Pope John Paul II on all his trips since 1984.

Pope Benedict uses Holy Grail at Mass

From Spero News:

Pope Benedict XVI used the Holy Chalice of Valencia at Sunday's Mass for
the World Congress of Families. The chalice is said by its supporters to have
been used by Christ at the Last Supper.

On Saturday when the Pope
entered Valencia's Cathedral the chalice was placed on the altar, where
Benedict said a prayer.

On Vacation

Solemnity of SS Peter and Paul

Pope Benedict's Homily highlights from Asia News Italy:

Benedict XVI dedicated his entire homily to the primacy of Peter and later,
the reflection for the Angelus too, focusing on three Gospel passages that draw
attention to him. At the end of the mass, in his words to the crowd gathered in
St Peter’s Square for the recital of the Angelus prayer, he recalled the
martyrdom of Peter and Paul, and after apologizing for the delay due to the
prolonged rite in the basilica, he said: “This is why the Bishop of Rome,
Successor to the apostle Peter, undertakes a specific ministry in the service of
the doctrinal and pastoral unity of the People of God scattered around the
world.”
During the mass, explaining the logic of the three Gospel passages,
he said they “tackle the same task, but the diversity of situations and imagery
used makes it clear for us what interested and interests the Lord.” The first
was the passage from Matthew in which “his specific task is conferred upon him
through three images: that of the rock that becomes the foundation or
cornerstone; that of the keys and of loosening and binding”. At this time,
continued the pope, “I do not intend to interpret once again these three images,
which the Church, throughout the centuries, has constantly explained anew;
rather, I would like to draw attention to the geographical and chronological
context of these words. The promise was made near the source of the Jordan, at
the border of Jewish land, on edge of the Pagan world. The moment in which the
promise was made marks a decisive turning point in the journey of Jesus: now the
Lord is walking toward Jerusalem, and for the first time, he tells his disciples
that this journey towards the Holy City is a journey to the Cross.” “Both things
go together and determine the inner place of the Primacy, in fact, of the church
in general: the Lord is continually on a journey towards the Cross, towards the
lowliness of the suffering and killed servant of God, but at the same time, he
is also headed for the vastness of the world, in which He goes before us as the
Risen Lord, so that the light of his word and the presence of his love may shine
in the world.”
“The Church – and Christ in it – still suffers today. In the
Church, Christ is relentlessly mocked and stricken over and again; there are
always efforts to push it out of the world. The small boat of the Church is
forever being buffeted by the wind of ideologies that penetrate it with their
waters, seemingly condemning it to sink. And yet, right in the suffering Church,
Christ is victorious. Notwithstanding everything, faith in Him is renewed in
strength again and again. Still today, the Lord commands the waters and reveals
himself as the Lord of the elements. He stays on his boat, the ship of the
Church. Thus even in the ministry of Peter is revealed on the one hand the
weakness of what comes from man, but together with the strength of God.”
The
second passage recalled by Benedict XVI was that from the Gospel of Luke which
is about the Last Supper, when “Jesus, straight after the institution of the
Sacrament, talked about the meaning of being disciples, the ‘ministry’, in the
new community: he said it was a commitment of service, the same as He himself,
who was among them as one who served. And then he turned to Peter. He said Satan
had demanded to sift the disciples like wheat.” Akin to the biblical narrative
of Job, “this is what happens to the disciples of Jesus – in all times.”
However, “Jesus continues: ‘I have prayed for you that your own faith may not
fail’ (Lk 22:32). The prayer of Jesus is the limit posed on the power of evil.
The prayers of Jesus are the protection of the Church. We can seek refuge under
this protection, cling to it and be sure of it. But, as the Gospel tells us,
Jesus prayed especially for Peter: ‘that your faith may not fail’. There it is:
don’t ever allow this faith to become dumb, always reinvigorate it again, even
in the face of the cross and all the contradictions of the world – this is the
task of Peter. This is precisely why the Lord does not only pray for the
personal faith of Peter but for his faith in the service of others. This is what
He means when He says: ‘and you, when once you have turned back, strengthen your
brothers’ (Lk22:32).”
“The Lord entrusts to Peter the responsibility for his
brothers through the promise of his prayer.”
The third reference to the
Primacy that Benedict XVI referred to was from the Gospel of John (21:15-19).
“The Lord rose and as the Risen Lord he entrusted his flock to Peter. Here too,
the Cross and the Resurrection are intertwined. In his words to Peter, Jesus
portends his journey towards the cross. In this Basilica, erected over the tomb
of Peter – a pauper’s grave – we see that the Lord, thus, through the Cross,
always triumphs. His power is not a power according to the rules of this world.
It is a power of goodness, of truth and love, which is stronger than death. Yes,
his promise is true: the power of death, the gates of hell will not prevail
against the Church He built for Peter (cfr Mt 16:18), and that He, precisely in
this way, continues to edify in person.”

U.S. Archbishops Wuerly, Niederauer, and DiNardo Receive Palium from Pope

No Comment

From the Holy See Press Office:

"I have no comments to make on news that has appeared in various organs of the press concerning ongoing contacts between a Holy See delegation and the Chinese authorities."

Traveling Pope--To Germany in September

Holy See Press Office Director Joaquin Navarro-Valls today announced that Benedict XVI will make an apostolic trip to Germany from September 9 to 14, where he will visit Munich, Altotting and Regensburg.

Pope's Angelus

From Asia News Italy:

Recalling the feast celebrated on Friday 23 June, Benedict XVI said: “The consecration of the Sacred Heart was – and still is in some countries – a tradition in some families, which kept an image of the same in their homes. The roots of this devotion are embedded in the mystery of the Incarnation; it is precisely through the Heart of Jesus that the Love of God for mankind is revealed in a sublime way.” Genuine worship of the Sacred Heart, which became widespread in the seventeenth century, “preserves all its validity”, continued the pope. It “attracts above all souls thirsty for God’s mercy, as they find there an infinite font from which to draw the water of Life, capable of irrigating the desert of the soul and of making hope blossom again.”

Benedict XVI also recalled that the solemn feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is also the World Day of Prayer for the Sanctification of Priests. He said: “I take the opportunity to invite all of you, dear brothers and sisters, to pray for priests always, that they may be valid witnesses to the love of Christ.

Turning to the feast of the birth of John the Baptist – marked yesterday – the pope highlighted the expression “He must increase, but I must decrease” (Jn 3:30). This expression, he said, “is programmed for each and every Christian”. The pope said: “Our life is always ‘relative’ to Christ and it is realized by welcoming Him, Word, Light and Spouse, of whom we are the voice, lamp and friends (cfr Jn1:1,23; 1:7-8; 3:29)”.

Dwelling on the feast of Saints Peter and Paul, the pontiff said: “Allowing the ‘I’ of Christ to replace our ‘I’ was, in exemplary manner, the ardent desire of the Apostles Peter and Paul, who the Church will venerate in a solemn feast on 29 June. St Paul wrote of himself: “It is no longer I who lives, but Christ who lives in me. (Gal 2:20).”

Before the prayer of the Angelus, the pope also recalled the feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, “Heart of a Mother, who continues to keep watch with tender concern over us all. May her intercession grant that we will always remain faithful to our Christian vocation.”

New Secretary of State at Vatican

Effective September 15th...Our Lady of Sorrows... (a Papal sense of humor?)

Via the Vatican itself...

Pope Benedict accepts Sodanno's retirement and replaces him with Card. Tarcisio Bertone as has been widely speculated.

Also accepts retirement of Cardinal Szoka as governor of the Vatican City State and replaces him with Bishop Giovanni Lajolo.

Social Encyclical Coming from the Pope in 2007

From Catholic News:

Pope Benedict will next year release his first social encyclical on globalisation to coincide with the 40th anniversary of Pope Paul VI's encyclical Populorum Progressio, an Italian newspaper predicts.Catholic World News reports
that according to an Italian business daily, Il Sole 24 Ore, "unofficial
information" points to an encyclical on "ethical and spiritual questions posed
by the process of globalisation."The year 2007 will bring the 20th anniversary
of the encyclical Sollicitude Rei Socialis, in which John Paul II commented on
world economic affairs, the Italian daily notes.

What Amy Was Doing Yesterday

Besides waiting at O'Hare late into the night to return home...

From The Courrier Post:

Following the remarks by the bishop, author and daily blogger Amy Welborn
echoed Galante's quest to listen to the laity, by asking reporters to do the
same.
The northern Indiana resident admonished the media to do a better job
of reporting what is going on within the Catholic Church.
The author of
De-Coding Da Vinci: The Facts Behind the Fiction of the Da Vinci Code said
reporters should talk more with parishioners, rather than focusing on a handful
of church experts.
Welborn said her 5-year-old blog (www.amywelborn.com) receives
about 10,000 unique visitors a day.
The response to her blog is a raw and
unedited look at what Catholic people around the world are thinking.
She
said her "hyperinformed Catholic" community of readers want journalists "to let
Catholics tell their own story."
If they had the chance, Catholics would
tell the media to "stop trying to label us as either conservative or liberal,"
Welborn said. "Stop trying to put labels to Catholic theological
questions."

From The Great Temptor

Visit his page and you'll find out what Augustine really didn't say too!

From What Does the Prayer Really Say:

His Eminence Dionigi Card. Tettamanzi wrote a book on “The Great Tempter” entitled in the original Italian Il Grande Tentatore (Edizioni Piemme, 2001). In this useful little volume, indeed on the book’s back cover, Card. Tettamanzi gives us ten salutary points by way of a “decalogue against temptation”:
1. Do not forget that the devil exists.
2. Do not forget that the devil is a tempter.
3. Do not forget that the devil is very intelligent and astute.
4. Be vigilant concerning your eyes and heart. Be strong in spirit and virtue.
5. Believe firmly in the victory of Christ over the tempter.
6. Remember that Christ makes you a participant in His victory.
7. Listen carefully to the word of God.
8. Be humble and love mortification.
9. Pray without flagging.
10. Love the Lord your God and offer worship to Him only.

Recommended Books

First for Apologetics:


For a modern Biblical understanding of St. Paul:



The Book that is outselling the Da Vinci Code in Paraguay:



And an excellent primer on Opus Dei by Scott Hahn (I read a galley of it):

Because of Heat, Pope Abbreviates

He's on the road to being a great one too!

He seemed a little hoarse and looked flushed toward the end of the Audience.

From Ansa Italy:

The heat on Wednesday got to Pope Benedict XVI, who cut short his address to a packed St. Peter's Square because of the soaring temperatures .

"Because it's too hot, I would like to abbreviate," the 79-year-old pope said .

His words were applauded by the some 25,000 sun-baked pilgrims gathered in the piazza for the pontiff's midweek audience .

The German-born pope's short homily focused on St. James the apostle .

Benedict urged Christians to "be ready to follow Christ, even when he asks us to leave the boat of our human securities" .

"If we follow Christ as St. James did, then we know that even when we encounter difficulties, we are on the right road," the pope concluded .

1. Et cum Spiritu tuo..."And with your spirit"

From the New Testament texts... Galatians 6:18 "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brethren. Amen" and 2 Timothy 4:22 "The Lord be with your spirit."


Fr. Joseph Jungman S. J. had two footnotes about the origin of this, one in which he called the phrase a Semitism that simply meant "and also with you" (which obviously is what the original ICEL translators focused on to arrive at the translation that we have been using over these past years). Yet another footnote alludes to the fact that this reply in the usage of the Church's liturgy was given only to a priest or bishop and that the implication was that the greeting was to the Holy Spirit that the ordained minister had received upon their ordination. St. John Chrysostom mentioned this in a homily and an early Council of the Church reinforced its meaning.

What saying "And With Your Spirit" can teach us...

The Liturgy is the work of the Holy Spirit, not the individual presider. In fact there is no "individuals" in the liturgy save the Body of Christ. Our response acknowledges the one Holy Spirit poured upon the presider and reminds us that the work we witness in this Eucharist is the Opus Dei...the work of God.

And with your Spirit...

Approved

Catechise your parish now...A New Translation of the Mass Prayers?

And it is about the Bible!!!

A Glimpse Inside the Conclave

From Cardinal Anthony Okogie of Lagos as reported in Catholic News:

Reminiscing on his first Conclave experience, the Cardinal said that if he was elected Pope he would have collapsed, explaining that to be elected Pope one must be able to speak more than four international languages.

"That place they call Conclave is a top secret place and I was going there for the first time, like many of the cardinals. I was filled with big awe. I felt as if I wasn't really in the world especially when they said 'everybody out of the room.'

"You will swear and after that they will read the rules and regulations and thereafter the ballot papers are distributed. There is no nomination," he explained.

Cardinal Okogie said that they were free to interact with anybody until the order is given for all that non-eligible electors to go out as the papers are distributed to the electors.

"I believe really that there is something supernatural about the Conclave," he said, wondering how everybody could be backing one particular individual but after the first ballot, that person's name would suddenly disappear.

Mass Revision not Massive Changes

What the bishops are voting on is a more accurate translation of the Mass. If you've attended Mass in Spanish you already know that the English translation isn't exactly the same.
Aren't people use to the current translation? Absolutely.
So why change? Because the translation we currently use isn't exact and doesn't match the Scripture from which it is taken.
Pray for the bishops.

Now Amazon for Groceries

For all you non perishibles...?

St. Andrew: Pope's Audience on a Hot Roman Day

From Asia News Italy:

Today, Benedict XVI drew a picture of the personality of the brother of Simon, Andrew, who was the “first-called”, and therefore he is known as the “Protoclete”. The Pope said: “It is certain that because of the brotherly relationship between Peter and Andrew, the Church of Rome and the Church of Constantinople feel, in a special way, like sisters.” He continued: “To highlight this relationship, my predecessor Pope Paul VI, in 1964, restored the relics of St Andrew, which until then had been kept in the Vatican Basilica, to the Orthodox Metropolitan Bishop of the city of Patrasso in Greece, where according to tradition, the apostle was crucified.

The Pope did not talk merely about Andrew’s role as evangelizer of the Greek world; he also drew attention to his attitude when faced with the Cross on which he was to die. Tradition has it that Andrew defined the Cross as “blessed” because it was taking him to Jesus: an attitude that invites the faithful “to consider and to welcome” evils that strike us, “our crosses… as part of the cross of Christ”.

After recalling that the Gospels mention Andrew several times, showing him to be an eminent figure among the Twelve, the Pope added: “Very ancient traditions see Andrew not only as the interpreter of some Greeks meeting Jesus, they consider him as the Apostle of the Greeks in the years following Pentecost; they inform us that for the rest of his life, he proclaimed Jesus to the Greek world. Peter from Jerusalem reached Rome through Antioch to exercise his universal mission; Andrew, meanwhile, was the apostle of the Greek world: thus they appear in life and in death as true brothers – a brotherhood that is symbolically expressed in the special ties of the Sees of Rome and Constantinople, truly sister Churches”.

Benedict XVI also recalled the tradition of the death of Andrew at Patrasso, “where he too was submitted to the torment of crucifixion. At that supreme moment, however, like his brother Peter, he asked to be put on a cross different to that of Jesus. In his case, it was a saltire, x-shaped, tilted cross, that would become known as the ‘cross of St Andrew’. This is what the Apostle is said to have uttered on that occasion, according to an ancient narrative (from the early sixth century) entitled the Passion of Andrew: ‘Hail, O Cross that has been sanctified by the body of Christ, and adorned with his limbs as with precious stones! Before the Lord was nailed to you, you inspired fear on earth, but now you inspire heavenly love, and are desired as a blessing. Believers know how much joy you possess, how many gifts you have prepared. Thus I come to you assured and joy-filled, so that you may graciously receive me, the disciple of Him who hung upon you; O most beautiful cross that received majesty and beauty by carrying the body of Christ!... Take me, o cross, release me from my life among men and bring me to the Master so that through you he will receive me, he, who through you has saved me. Hail o Cross, yes hail!’” Evident here, continued Benedict XVI, is a very profound Christian spirituality, which considers the Cross not so much an instrument of torture as an incomparable means of full assimilation with the Redeemer. We must learn a very important lesson from this: our crosses acquire value if they are considered and welcomed as part of the cross of Christ, if they are touched by the reflection of his light. It is only through that Cross that our sufferings too are made noble and acquire their true meaning. The apostle Andrew, then, teaches us to follow Jesus promptly (cfr Mt 4:20; Mk 1:18), to speak to Him enthusiastically when we meet, and especially to cultivate a relationship of genuine familiarity with him, well aware that only in Him, we find the ultimate sense of our life and death.”

Cardinal's Predicted Clarification Arrives (see below)

I regret any confusion my words may have caused because I did not make myself sufficiently clear.”

The Parish of My Baptism, First Communion and Confirmation

To be merged which I thought this had already happened, does this really mean close?

Catholic diocese announces parish changes

From the Manchester Union Leader:

The St. Joseph Parish in Hinsdale will merge with the St. Stanislaus Parish in Winchester. The new parish, which will be known as "Mary, Queen of Peace," will share a pastor with the St. Bernard Parish in Keene.

Did He Challenge Them The Way Jesus Challenged?

Being with sinners and outcasts definitely is what Jesus did, but he brought them a life giving message that changed them forever--that seems to be what's missing here:

Ousted Newton priest cheered at gay pride service

``I told a friend of mine, about a month ago, that I was going to be here today, speaking at the gay pride interfaith service, and she said to me, `What's a Catholic priest doing at a gay pride service?' Cuenin said. ``My response was, `Why wouldn't a Catholic priest be here?' In the tradition of my own Christian faith, it seems to me, as I read it, that Jesus was always with those who were often the target of hatred and persecution."

Trinity Sunday-Pope's Angelus

From Asia News Italy:

This Sunday, dedicated to the most Holy Trinity, Benedict XVI addressed 40,000 people who came to St Peter’s Square to pray the Angelus. He stressed how “thanks to the Holy Spirit, who leads to understanding of the words of Jesus and guides one into all the truth (cfr Jn 14:26; 16:13), believers may know, so to speak, the intimacy of God himself, discovering that He is not infinite solitude but communion of light and love, life given and received in an eternal dialogue between Father and Son in the Holy Spirit – Lover, Loved One, and Love, to echo St Augustine.”

And although men cannot see him now, “the entire universe, for those who have faith, speaks of the One and Triune God. From the stellar systems to the microscopic particles, all that exists goes back to a Being who communicates through a multiplicity and variety of elements, like an immense symphony”, in which “all beings are arranged according to a harmonic dynamism that we can analogically call ‘love’. But it is only in the human being – free and endowed with reason – that this dynamism becomes spiritual; it becomes responsible love as a response to God and neighbour in a sincere giving of self. In this love, the human being finds his truth and happiness. Among the many analogies of the ineffable mystery of the One and Triune God that believers are capable of discerning, I wish to cite the family. This is called to be a community of love and life, in which diversities must come together to form a ‘parable of communion’.

Tropical Storm Alberto Expected This Weekend

It's a Tropical Depression right now....

For all things tropical....

The Mega Weather Blog

and the

Sun Sentinel of Ft. Lauderdale that I think has the best tropical storm coverage outside of the blog listed above online.

In Florida

Police Officer Dresses In Drag To Catch Red Light Runners

Running the Good Race

Joseph, running the bases...

Next Archbishop of Minneapolis?

Bishop Samuel Aquila according to one newspaper.

Huh?

Catholic Bishop William Skylstad said Thursday that his own investigation found no evidence to support a woman's claim that he sexually abused her 40 years ago.

His own investigation? How could anyone put that out with a straight face?

Fr. Benedict on Venerable Solanus Casey

An Interesting Visitor, in the one sentence where Fr. Benedict references recently visiting St. Felix Friary where he once witnessed Solanus in ecstasy--I was with him, in fact drove him there. It was a blessed event as he would stop and recount his experiences of this future saint(I pray) of the Church.

Expect a Clarification from Cardinal McCarrick

McCarrick: Same-Sex Civil Unions Acceptable, But Not Marriage

I think it is the term "union" that should be unacceptable to a Catholic, not the "rights" issues.

New Bishop of Raleigh, New Auxiliary for Philly

The Holy Father has:

Appointed Bishop Michael Francis Burbidge, auxiliary of Philadelphia, U.S.A., as bishop of Raleigh, (area 82,524, population 4,073,983, Catholics 188,101, priests 138, permanent deacons 37, religious 118), U.S.A. He succeeds Bishop Francis Joseph Gossman, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese, the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit.

Appointed Msgr. Daniel E. Thomas of the clergy of the archdiocese of Philadelphia, U.S.A., pastor of the parish of Our Lady of the Assumption, as auxiliary of the same archdiocese (area 5,652, population 3,875,021, Catholics 1,479,895, priests 1,048, permanent deacons 224, religious 3,733). The bishop-elect was born in Philadelphia in 1959 and ordained a priest in 1985.