Prayers Answered!

When you compile a book of prayers, you hope that they will be prayed--and more importantly that those praying will experience the power of prayer in their lives. That is what makes this blog post so important--it is a witness to the power of prayer.

Thanks also for the recommendation:

Besides thanking God for my son's health and speedy recovery, I'd like to thank all my family, friends and fellow bloggers who offered up prayers on his behalf. Most especially, I'd like to acknowledge the celestial assistance of two saints: St. Apollonia, the patron of tooth problems who will continue to be petitioned by me for her prayers until Fritz's adult teeth grow in properly, and St. John Newmann to whom our family prayed a novena before Fritz's biopsy when we feared he had cancer. I found the novena in a book I love: (Mention Your Request Here): The Church's Most Powerful Novenas by Michael Dubruiel. This book has been updated and is due for re-release later this month. I highly recommend it.

And now, back to life as usual. I wonder what fantastic, miraculous gift God will give me today...

Just a note on the revision...
The cover is more of a burgundy, than the brown shown in the image on Amazon. The revision includes added novenas and their history, including:

Mother Teresa's express novena, the rosary novena, the novena to the Precious Blood and Padre Pio's Sacred Heart Novena.

Praise for Father Joe Classen's Book

From the National Catholic Register:

Often, when my wife and I reach a mountain summit after a good three- or four-hour climb, I’m so elated over the accomplishment — and so awestruck by the view — that I want to start singing that line from the Latin Sanctus: Pleni sunt caeli et terra gloria tua! “Heaven and earth are full of your glory!”

Father Joseph Classen would understand.

While not primarily a hiker or mountain climber, this young priest of the Archdiocese of St. Louis spends a lot of time in the wilderness and appreciates its beauty as the work of the Creator. Here he takes us along on his expeditions in the various hunting and fishing seasons of the year: stalking deer with a bow and arrow, casting his line into trout streams and chasing elusive wild turkey. The trips are leavened with self-effacing humor as he lets us see how God uses nature to check his pride.

And from the Catholic News Service:

His spirituality developed when he was a boy spending time in the outdoors and he thought about the priesthood, but later those thoughts faded. Just as many others do, he went through a period of questioning his faith. In college, he returned to the church, he said.

Hunting and fishing, he said, is hands-on stewardship and a way of taking an active role in the food chain. People who hunt and fish have a deep respect for food, he added.

In a message on a Web site promoting the book Father Classen said he doesn't consider hunting or fishing a sport but a way to sustain life and feed others, as it was intended. He quotes the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which states that it is legitimate to use animals for food and clothing

Editor of Catholic Anchorage Paper Quits

Says calls for her firing had nothing to do with it...(personally I doubt that)...

From the Anchorage Press:

The editor of the Catholic Anchor, the newspaper of the Archdiocese of Anchorage, is leaving the paper after only two months on the job. Maia Nolan's resignation comes after she was criticized for comments she made on a personal blog about a year-and-a-half ago, regarding the late Pope John Paul II. Nolan says she's leaving the paper to focus on a master's degree in creative writing.

“Ultimately, I resigned because I'm a full-time grad student,” Nolan said this week.

Forget About Politicians and Lay People, What About Priests?

Dissent from church teaching usually comes from the altar...as an old saying has it "every heresy comes from the altar" meaning the clergy. Until there is some real policing of dissenting clerics, clerics who've lost their faith, etc.--I doubt anyone can expect the laity to walk lockstep when their pastors aren't. For every John Kerry there is a Jesuit or Paulist priest advising him that he can do and say what he wants (in good conscience) and remain a Catholic in good standing. Why? Because they (the clerics) do this and aren't removed or even reprimanded.

In today's Tennessean, a priest who was reprimanded for two years, but then allowed to speak out again and does so today:

On birth control, Breen said, "I really think if the bishops had two or
three children, they'd be better informed on what constitutes great parenthood.
Catholics have already examined their conscience and determined (birth control)
is a necessary part of parenthood."

A clasmate of Cardinal Levada's, btw.

Michael Brown's Dream of the Bishop's Conference

AS BISHOPS BEGIN MAJOR CONFERENCE, THERE ARE MANY MATTERS TO DREAM ABOUT

Confusion in the Press? Pope to Hold Summit on Married Priests?

My guess is that this has more to do with Milingo, than the issue...

Pope Benedict XVI to hold Vatican summit on married priests

Five Best Books to Understanding Islam

From the Wall Street Journal's "Sense of Ummah"

"Pope Urban Rules"

Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel (the best sports writer out there):

"This looks like it could be the year of the Gator," Spurrier said afterward. "Everything's going right for them."

Said game-saving UF defensive end Jarvis Moss, the man who blocked the game-winning kick and one other: "We can sense something special is going on. We're going all the way. There's no doubt in my mind we're going to wind up in Arizona [playing in the national-title game]."

Spurrier -- a k a Stevie Spoiler -- beat the Gators last year and ruined Florida's chances of winning an SEC title. And Saturday, he came into his old Swamping grounds and nearly cost the Gators a chance at possibly winning a national title.

Before the game, Spurrier's wife, Jerri, whom he met at UF and married 40 years ago, sat anxiously in a luxury box with a worried look on her face. Like everybody else in the stadium, she probably felt confused and conflicted. Here was Steve Spurrier, who named The Swamp, trying to drain The Swamp. Here was Steve Spurrier, the father of Florida football, trying to burn down the family home.

"This isn't fun," Jerri said with a pained expression.

Actually, it was a blast -- one of the most uptight, unnerving, emotionally charged games I've ever witnessed. A game of mixed emotions and split allegiances, a game of duality and dichotomy. Afterward, Spurrier, the old boy from Florida, waved at a section of cheering Florida fans. And then Spurrier, the new head Gamecock, gave the thumbs-up sign to a section of disappointed South Carolina fans. Perhaps Spurrier's son-in-law, Jay Moody, a UF grad, put it best when he said afterward, "I don't know if I'm supposed to be happy or sad."

There was no question how Meyer felt afterward -- delighted, excited, fired up, jacked up and, mostly, relieved. He knew he had to win this game, not just to help keep Florida's national championship hopes alive, but to help kill UF's massive man-crush on Spurrier.

No doubt about it, the Urban Legend needed badly to beat the real legend. Even though Meyer said in the days leading up to the game that this was "about beating South Carolina," nobody believed him. And afterward, he admitted beating Spur-Dog was bigger than he let on.

"It means a lot -- more than I'll ever admit to, more than anybody will ever know," Meyer said.

Yes, there always will be a Spurrier shadow hanging over whoever is UF's coach, but the victory Saturday let a stream of light pierce through and shine onto Meyer and the program he has turned into a national-title contender in just two years. It was Meyer's offense that drove down the field when it had to Saturday. It was Spurrier's offense that mismanaged the clock at the end, wasted time and didn't even use all of its timeouts.

He might have left UF five years ago, but the Spurrier coaching era didn't really and truly end until Saturday.

King Steve has been conquered.

Pope Urban rules.

God once again is grinning on the Gators.

Pope's Angelus "Commit Yourself to Overcoming Hunger"

From the International Tribune:

"In any case, every person and every family can and must do something to alleviate hunger in the world, adopting a style of life and consumption compatible with safeguarding creation and with criteria of justice toward whose who cultivate the land in every country," Benedict said.

The U.N. agency, in a report late last month, said that 10 years after global leaders had pledged to halve the number of the world's hungry, almost no progress has been made, with some 854 million people worldwide still suffering from undernourishment.

Benedict urged the faithful to join him in "committing ourselves concretely to defeat the scourge of hunger" and promote justice and solidarity.

Village Used in "Borat" Plans to Sue Actor, Studio

Real village used in Romania...

From The Daily Mail:

But now the villagers of this tiny, close-knit community have angrily accused the comedian of exploiting them, after discovering his new blockbuster film portrays them as a backward group of rapists, abortionists and prostitutes, who happily engage in casual incest.

They claim film-makers lied to them about the true nature of the project, which they believed would be a documentary about their hardship, rather than a comedy mocking their poverty and isolation.

Villagers say they were paid just £3 each for this humiliation, for a film that took around £27million at the worldwide box office in its first week of release.

Now they are planning to scrape together whatever modest sums they can muster to sue Baron Cohen and fellow film-makers, claiming they never gave their consent to be so cruelly misrepresented.

Cardinal Arinze on Mass in Latin

From Saint Louis Today:

In his address on Saturday, titled, "Language in the Latin Rite Liturgy: Latin and Vernacular," Arinze said the Roman church used Greek in its early years, but was "Latinized" in the fourth century. "The Roman rite has Latin as its official language," he said. The great religions of the world all "hold on" to their founding languages — Judaism to Hebrew and Aramaic, Islam to Arabic, Hindu to Sanskrit and Buddhism to Pali.

"Is it a small matter," he asked, for priests or bishops from around the world to be able to speak to each other in universal language of the church? Or for "a million students" who gather for World Youth Day every few years "to be able to say parts of the Mass in Latin?"

In an hourlong, often humorous, address that received several standing ovations, Arinze suggested that, in order to give Catholics options, large parishes offer the Mass in Latin at least once a week, and in smaller, rural parishes, at least once a month. (Homilies, he said, should always be in the faithful's native language.) Latin "suits a church that is universal. It has a stability modern languages don't have," he said.

Last month Vatican officials said Pope Benedict XVI would soon loosen restrictions on the Latin, or Tridentine, Mass. In the 1960s the Second Vatican Council approved the use of vernacular translations of the Tridentine Mass, and today most Catholics are familiar with the celebration of Mass in their own languages.

Why the Republicans Lost Congress

And why a third vible party is needed right now!

From Chuck Baldwin Online:

As the Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer, president of Human Life International, said, "If the Republican Party truly wants to know why they lost, they need only look in the mirror. The most vulnerable seats in both houses were those held by politicians who had abandoned the pro-life and the pro-marriage principles that first brought them to power."

As an example of the GOP's neglect to fight for conservative principles, Euteneuer noted the loss of pro-life legislation in South Dakota. He correctly said, "While South Dakotans fought valiantly to defend their babies, we once again witnessed an almost total lack of support from the national [Republican] leadership."

Euteneuer is right. George Bush's neocons have all but decimated whatever genuine conservatism remained in the GOP, and they did it on the backs of the faithful conservatives still in the party.

There is also no question that the American people are fed up with Bush's war in Iraq. They are tired of being lied to about why our young men and women were sent to war, and they are tired about being lied to about why they are still there.

Feast of St. Leo the Great

I attended an early mass at St. Leo the Great's tomb one morning while in Rome and as I read the office of readings for today by him, I thought how death makes this even more apparent.

St. Leo, pray for us!

From the Office of Readings:

Although the universal Church of God is constituted of distinct orders of
members, still, in spite of the many parts of its holy body, the Church subsists
as an integral whole, just as the Apostle says: We are all one in Christ. No
difference in office is so great that anyone can be separated, through
lowliness, from the head. In the unity of faith and baptism, therefore, our
community is undivided. There is a common dignity, as the apostle Peter says in
these words: And you are built up as living stones into spiritual houses, a holy
priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices which are acceptable to God through
Jesus Christ. And again: But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy
nation, a people set apart. For all, regenerated in Christ, are made kings by
the sign of the cross; they are consecrated priests by the oil of the Holy
Spirit, so that beyond the special service of our ministry as priests, all
spiritual and mature Christians know that they are a royal race and are sharers
in the office of the priesthood. For what is more king-like than to find
yourself ruler over your body after having surrendered your soul to God? And
what is more priestly than to promise the Lord a pure conscience and to offer
him in love unblemished victims on the altar of one’s heart? Because, through
the grace of God, it is a deed accomplished universally on behalf of all, it is
altogether praiseworthy and in keeping with a religious attitude for you to
rejoice in this our day of consecration, to consider it a day when we are
especially honoured. For indeed one sacramental priesthood is celebrated
throughout the entire body of the Church. The oil which consecrates us has
richer effects in the higher grades, yet it is not sparingly given in the lower.
Sharing in this office, my dear brethren, we have solid ground for a common
rejoicing; yet there will be more genuine and excellent reason for joy if you do
not dwell on the thought of our unworthiness. It is more helpful and more
suitable to turn your thoughts to study the glory of the blessed apostle Peter.
We should celebrate this day above all in honour of him. He overflowed with
abundant riches from the very source of all graces, yet though he alone received
much, nothing was given over to him without his sharing it. The Word made flesh
lived among us, and in redeeming the whole human race, Christ gave himself
entirely

.

"Gravely Flawed"

So say the experts about a document dealing with homosexuals that the bishops will be discussing...

From World Net Daily:

"Gravely flawed" – that's the dire warning of medical experts who have seen
copies of the proposed guidelines for "Ministry to Persons with Homosexual
Inclinations," to be released by the Catholic Bishops of the United States at
their annual conference in Baltimore next week.

Go to the story for all the details.

Another African Vocation

Disturbing that children are still treated like sheep in some parts of the world...

From The New Vision, Uganda's leading website:

LIRA Diocese Catholic Bishop the Rt. Rev. Joseph Franzelli received a 14-year-old orphan as a gift. This was in recognition of his pastoral work at Lwala primary school, Alito sub-county in Apac district.

Franzelli, who was on a one-month pastoral tour, was also given six sheep, four goats, about 15 litres of honey and money. The gifts were handed over at a ceremony at the school campus recently. He had confirmed over 200 Christians at the school chapel.

The boy’s guardian, Miscellanea Auma, said the Primary Four boy, only identified as
Onyung, is expected to devote his life to church work and perhaps become a
priest.

Jihad Finds Strange Advocate in Jesuits

Sandro Magister at Chiessa:

The recent October edition of “La Civiltà Cattolica” – the authoritative
magazine of the Rome Jesuits printed with the supervision and authorization of
the Vatican authorities – opens with a jaw-dropping editorial on Islam. The
editorial furnishes a very detailed and alarming description of fundamentalist
and terrorist Islam, behind which “there are great and powerful Islamic states”:
an Islam aiming at the conquest of the world and fostered by violence “for the
cause of Allah.” But it does this without even the slightest note of criticism
of this nexus of violence and faith. And it is as if this nexus were an
inescapable reality, against which the West and the Church should do little or
nothing: little at the practical level – it’s enough to look over the scant
measures against terrorism that are recommended – and nothing at the theoretical
level.

All Souls Day

Pope Benedict XVI prays at the tomb of Pope John Paul II today...

Holy Souls Online

All Souls Apostolate of Prayer

Mission to Empty Purgatory

Helpers of the Holy Souls

No Green Light from Vatican for Quebec Priest

See the "Huh?" post below....

From LifeSite.net:

The Diocese of Joliette has issued a press release after the mainstream
media erroneously reported that the Vatican had given permission for a Catholic
priest who supports abortion and homosexual 'marriage' to run for public
office.

Both a Canadian Press story, published in several papers, and a CBC
story claimed that the Vatican granted Fr. Raymond Gravel special permission to
run for politics. Gravel is representing the Bloc Quebecois, a separatist
party which is also known for its support of abortion and homosexual
'marriage'.

The first line of the press release from the diocese states: "No 'green
light' was given by the Vatican." It continues, "The Bishop of Joliette
did not receive any permission from Roman Authorities regarding the plans of Fr.
Raymond Gravel."

The Crux of the Problem: Atheism

The latest Harris Poll provides some startling beliefs out there among people who claim religious affiliation...the Jews it seem have barely any certianity that God exists, Catholics aren't much better...I guess for many this is another item in the cafeteria line...

From Breitbart.com:

Among the various religious groups, 76 percent of Protestants, 64 percent of Catholics and 30 percent of Jews said they are "absolutely certain" there is a God while 93 percent of Christians who describe themselves as "Born Again" feel certain God exists.

When questioned on whether God is male or female, 36 percent of respondents said they think God is male, 37 percent said neither male nor female and 10 percent said "both male and female."

Only one percent think of God as a female, according to the poll.

Asked whether God has a human form, 41 percent said they think of God as "a spirit or power than can take on human form but is not inherently human."

As to whether God controls events on Earth, 29 percent believe that to be the case while 44 percent said God "observes but does not control what happens on Earth".

Feast of All Saints:Pope's Homily

Just the improvisations here, from Asia News Italy:

Twice, the pope deviated slightly from his written address to underline
certain fundamental ideas.

The first time, citing St Bernard, he said that looking at the saints
serves to “awaken in us the great desire of holiness”. And he added
spontaneously: “Awakening the desire to be close to God, in the great family of
friends of God. Being close to God in his family is the vocation of all
Christians”. Here is a twofold concern of the pope: that holiness should not be
considered as something exceptional, and that it should be seen in relation to
God. He said: “To be saints, it is not necessary to undertake extraordinary
works and actions, or to possess exceptional charismas.” Above all, he wants to
instil the idea that the true dignity of man comes through holiness and
relationship with God. Bearing in mind the secularized world, which tends to do
without God and to exclude Him, the pope said: “The example of the saints is an
encouragement for us to follow in the same footsteps, and to experience the joy
of those who trust in God, because the only true reason for man’s sadness and
unhappiness is living far from Him.”

The second improvisation came as the pope was talking about the
Beatitudes, the Gospel of today’s Mass. The Gospel of the Beatitudes is often
used by some theologians to present a Christianity “of values” (poverty, hunger,
justice, peace workers and so on), detached from the person of Jesus. The pope
was clear: “In reality, the Blessed one par excellence is only Him, Jesus. It is
He, in fact, who is truly poor in spirit, afflicted, meek, the one who hungers
and thirsts for justice, merciful, pure in heart, and a peace worker. It is He
who is persecuted in the cause of right”. And spontaneously he added: “The
Beatitudes show us the mystery of death and resurrection, which is the mystery
of Jesus.” He continued: “With the Beatitudes, Jesus points out to us how to
follow him and to imitate him. In the measure that we welcome his invitation and
seek to follow it, we too can participate in his Beatitudes.”

Thus, the emphasis of Benedict XVI corrects a confused concept
that makes holiness a sort of “religion of civic values”, without testifying to
the Christian roots. At the same time, he opens a door to dialogue with the
Protestant world, which is often critical about the saints and devotion to them:
holiness is following Christ, not divinization operated by man. The pope said:
“Holiness calls for constant effort, but it is possible for all because, more
than the work of man, it is above all a gift of God, three times Holy... With
Him [with Christ] the impossible becomes possible and even a camel can pass
through the eye of a needle (cfr Mk 10:25). With his help, only with his help,
is given to us to become perfect as the Heavenly Father is perfect (cfr Mt
5:48).”