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Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Teen Pro-Life Phenomenon 'Lia' Defends Rights of the Unborn
Amazing. A 13 year-old understands more about respecting life than pro-abort adults do.
If the unborn are not human, the 13-year-old Toronto-native explains in her ten-minute address, then abortion is simply a matter of personal preference. But, she says, "if the unborn are human, then they have value and rights."
She points out that textbooks on embryology clearly state that life begins at conception and human development begins at fertilization. "At conception, a new life with its own unique DNA begins,” she explains. "All of the body parts of the mother share the same DNA, the mother's DNA. But an unborn baby has an entirely different DNA. He or she is separate from the mother."
“It should be clear that when two living beings from the same species mate, the product will be the same species as the parents," she adds.
Lia argues that all of the claims against the humanity of the unborn distinguish them from the born based on (1) size, (2) level of development, (3) environment, or (4) degree of dependency. She goes through each one and points out that we do not devalue born people based on these differences.
‘We will bury Katrina,’ New Orleans archbishop declares on fifth anniversary
Five years after the Hurricane Katrina disaster, Archbishop of New Orleans Gregory Aymond remembered the dead and thanked those who have helped recovery work. He noted that the symbolic funeral residents held for Katrina shows that it is time “to let her go.”
“Five years ago Katrina, the unwelcomed guest, did ravage on our city and left incredible destruction,” the archbishop said in a video posted on August 29 at the archdiocese’s website.
“We stand here five years later in a spirit of hope and gratitude, with hope for those who have died. We cannot forget the hundreds who died. We commend them to God’s kingdom and ask God’s blessings on their families as they grieve.”
“On Saturday morning we will bury Katrina,” said the archbishop. “We will have a jazz funeral. We’re hoping she doesn’t resurrect. It is a very symbolic gesture … that it is time to let her go. But we must move on to hope and to the future.”
St. Raymond Nonnatus
The Saint of the Day for August 31 is St. Raymond Nonnatus.
Raymond became a priest due to his quiet persistence in prayer and study.
He was born to a noble Spanish family in 1204. His mother died during child birth and his father had high expectations for Raymond to serve in the country’s Royal Court. However, the young Raymond felt drawn to religious life. In an attempt to dissuade him, his father ordered him to manage one of the family farms. However, Raymond spent his time with the workers, studying, and praying. His father finally gave up and allowed Raymond to enter the Mercederians.
Fr. Raymond spent his entire estate ransoming slaves. He even offered himself as a hostage to free another. He was sentenced to death but was spared because his ransom would bring in a large amount of money.
During his imprisonment, he succeeded at converting some of his guards. To keep him from continuing his preaching, his captors bored a hole through his lips with a hot iron, and attached a padlock. He was eventually ransomed, and he returned to Barcelona in 1239.
That year, he was named a cardinal by Pope Gregory IX. The following year, in 1240, he was summoned to Rome, but barely made it out of Barcelona before he died at the age of 36.
St. Raymond is the patron saint of pregnant women, childbirth, and newborn infants.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Bishops to run in Denver marathon to pay off cathedral debt and boost vocations
Two cool Bishops :)
Two Catholic bishops will take part in a Denver marathon in October. One is running to raise funds to pay off the $2.07 million debt on his diocese’s cathedral, while the other is joining local Catholics to increase prayers for and awareness of vocations to the priesthood and religious life.
Bishop of Springfield, Ill. Thomas J. Paprocki, a longtime marathon runner, has announced he is training for the Oct. 17 event. In a statement from the Diocese of Springfield, the 58-year-old prelate said he enjoys running and has participated in 16 marathons.
“This year I have decided to dedicate my marathon effort to help pay off the debt of the recent restoration of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Springfield,” said the bishop, who took over the diocese in June.
“Catholics in the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois can take rightful pride in our beautiful mother church, especially the many people who have already contributed generously to help pay the restoration costs,” he commented.
However, he explained that “unexpected expenses” had caused the debt and he would like to “retire this debt completely.”
Auxiliary Bishop of Denver James Conley will also take part in the event.
Natalia Fletcher, executive assistant in the office of priestly vocations, responded to a CNA inquiry about the bishop’s participation. She reported that Bishop Conley and Bishop Paprocki attended graduate school together in Rome. Conley later told CNA in an e-mail that the two had run together in Rome, but not in a marathon.
Saint Jeanne Jugan
The Saint of the Day for August 30 is Saint Jeanne Jugan.
Jeanne Jugan, Foundress of the Little Sisters of the Poor
Three years after the French revolution had broken out, a baby girl was born whose name is known today all over the world.
Jeanne Jugan was born on October 25, 1792 in Cancale, a fishing port on the north coast of Brittany, France. Her father was absent at the time, for he sailed six months earlier for the fishing season in Newfoundland. According to parish registers of Cancale, she was baptized the same day in Saint Méen Church.
Less than four years later, Jeanne’s father was lost at sea. At home, it was hard to make both ends meet. Jeanne, her brother and two sisters learned from their mother how to live poverty honestly and courageously with faith and love in God.
A servant and kitchen maid in a manor near Cancale, Jeanne was 18 when she refused a first marriage proposal. Six years later, she asked the young sailor who renewed his request to no longer think of her. “God wants me for Himself. He is keeping me for a work which is not yet known, for a work which is not yet founded,” she explained to her mother.
Jeanne probably did not realize the impact of these prophetic words. Many years were to pass before this call became clear to her. In the meantime, she left Cancale for the nearby town of Saint Servan. A nurse at Le Rosais Hospital, a visiting nurse, then a servant, she desired only to serve God and others, especially the poor.
She was in this way faithful to the ideal of configuration to Jesus through Mary - that Saint John Eudes taught to members of the Third Order of the Admirable Mother, an association founded in the 17th century which she joined around the age of twenty-five.
Saint Servan, 1839
One winter’s evening, Jeanne opened her home and heart to an elderly woman named Anne Chauvin. Anne was half paralyzed, blind, and had suddenly found herself all alone. Jeanne gave up her bed for Anne, and slept in the attic. This act committed her forever. Soon another old woman followed, then a third. In 1843, there were forty of them around Jeanne and her three young companions, who had chosen her as the Superior of their small Association which was slowly taking the form of a religious community.
However, it was not long before Jeanne was deprived of this responsibility. Through her faith and love, she discovered in this turn of events God’s plan for herself and for her religious family. Jeanne then spent all her time collecting for the poor. She had witnessed this act of charity and of sharing as a child in Cancale, when a sailors' widow was in need. Jeanne was encouraged to continue collecting by a Brother of Saint John of God.
Time of Hidden Growth, 1862-1879
As the years passed by, Jeanne Jugan was buried more deeply in obscurity. The history of the beginning of her work was distorted. When she died on August 29, 1879, in La Tour St. Joseph, few Little Sisters knew that she was the foundress. However, her influence on the younger Little Sisters, whose life she had shared for twenty-seven years, was decisive. During this long period, she transmitted to them the original charism and spirit of the community. Little by little the situation became clear.
In 1902, the truth became evident. Jeanne Jugan, Sister Mary of the Cross, who died on oblivion a quarter of century earlier, was not the third Little Sister, as it was believed, but the first, the foundress. Her tomb, in the crypt of the chapel of the Motherhouse, in La Tour St. Joseph (Saint Pern), attracts many pilgrims, as do her birthplace in the hamlet of Les Petites Croix, in Cancale, and the foundation’s house in Saint Servan.
Recognition
On July 13, 1979, the Church officially acknowledged the heroic nature of Jeanne Jugan’s virtues.
On October 3, 1982, at her beatification in the presence of 60,000 pilgrims from all over the world, Pope John Paul II declared of “Blessed Jeanne Jugan” that "God could glorify no more humble a servant than her." Her example continues to inspire the Little Sisters of the Poor today as they continue her work of humble service to the poor.
She was beatified on October 11, 2009 by Pope Benedict XVI.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Catholic commentators weigh in on Glenn Beck ‘Restore Honor’ rally and Tea Parties
A well-attended Saturday rally in Washington, D.C. which linked U.S. patriotism and religiosity has sparked comparisons to a religious revival. Two Catholic commentators have offered different views of the rally’s possible effects while discussing the place of religion and social issues in the Tea Party movement.
The “Restoring Honor Rally,” organized by radio and Fox News talk show host Glenn Beck, was held at the National Mall in D.C. on Saturday. The rally featured prayers, Scripture readings, music and patriotic references to major figures and events in American history such as the Founding Fathers. It was reportedly inspired by the National Park Service’s alleged silencing of a group of young people who tried to sing the U.S. National Anthem at the Lincoln Memorial.
Early estimates of rally attendance ranged from the tens of thousands to 500,000.
Speaking at the rally, Beck claimed that the United States had “wandered in the darkness” of divisive politics, “but America today begins turning back to God.” He said the religious leaders in attendance disagreed on religion and politics. However, "what they do agree on is that God is the answer."
Alveda King, niece of civil rights leader Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., told the rally that America still suffers from racism. She called for prayer in the public square and in public schools. A pastoral associate of Priests for Life, she also alluded to her opposition to abortion.
Fr. Euteneuer to leave HLI, return to Palm Beach diocese
I hate to see Fr. Euteneuer leave HLI, but I believe he'll be a wonderful priest no matter where he is.
Human Life International (HLI) announced on Aug. 27 that president Fr. Thomas Euteneuer has stepped down from his position and will return to work in his Palm Beach diocese at the request of his bishop.
In a press release on Friday, the HLI board of directors wrote “that after nearly 10 years of meritorious service to HLI as president, Reverend Thomas J. Euteneuer has stepped down from his position after being asked by his bishop to return to his Diocese in Palm Beach, Florida.”
Saturday, August 28, 2010
More details released on Ambassador Kmiec car accident
Authorities released more details surrounding a car accident earlier this week which killed a 74-year-old religious sister and caused serious injuries to a priest and Ambassador Doug Kmiec.
Preliminary Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and California Highway Patrol reports state that at about 1:40 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 25, Ambassador to Malta Doug Kmiec, Our Lady of Malibu pastor Msgr. John Sheridan, and Sister Mary Campbell were involved in a one car collision at Mulholland Highway and Malibu Canyon Road.
Sr. Mary Campbell, who, according to Malibu Surfside News taught generations of Our Lady of Malibu students, died at the scene.
Ambassador Kmiec, along with 94-year-old Msgr. Sheridan suffered injuries. After surgeries at the UCLA Medical Center Trauma Center, the ambassador is reported to be in good condition and improving. Although doctors have been able to stop most of Msgr. Sheridan's internal bleeding, he has been treated for several broken ribs and remains in critical condition. The priest is also being carefully monitored for pneumonia and infection.
Memorial of St. Augustine, bishop, confessor and doctor
The Saint of the Day for August 28 is St. Augustine.
Augustine Aurelius was born on November 13, 354, in Tagaste, North Africa. His father was a pagan, his mother, St. Monica. Still unbaptized and burning for knowledge, he came under the influence of the Manicheans, which caused his mother intense sorrow. He left Africa for Rome, deceiving his mother, who was ever anxious to be near him. She prayed and wept. A bishop consoled her by observing that a son of so many tears would never be lost. Yet the evil spirit drove him constantly deeper into moral degeneracy, capitalizing on his leaning toward pride and stubbornness. Grace was playing a waiting game; there still was time, and the greater the depths into which the evil spirit plunged its fledgling, the stronger would be the reaction.
Augustine recognized this vacuum; he saw how the human heart is created with a great abyss; the earthly satisfactions that can be thrown into it are no more than a handful of stones that hardly cover the bottom. And in that moment grace was able to break through: Restless is the heart until it rests in God. The tears of his mother, the sanctity of Milan's Bishop Ambrose, the book of St. Anthony the hermit, and the sacred Scriptures wrought his conversion, which was sealed by baptism on Easter night 387. Augustine's mother went to Milan with joy and witnessed her son's baptism. It was what it should have been, the greatest event of his life, his conversion — metanoia. Grace had conquered. Augustine accompanied his mother to Ostia, where she died. She was eager to die, for now she had given birth to her son for the second time.
In 388 he returned to Tagaste, where he lived a common life with his friends. In 391 he was ordained priest at Hippo, in 394 made coadjutor to bishop Valerius, and then from 396 to 430 bishop of Hippo.
Augustine, numbered among the four great Doctors of the Western Church, possessed one of the most penetrating minds of ancient Christendom. He was the most important Platonist of patristic times, the Church's most influential theologian, especially with regard to clarifying the dogmas of the Trinity, grace, and the Church. He was a great speaker, a prolific writer, a saint with an inexhaustible spirituality. His Confessions, a book appreciated in every age, describes a notable portion of his life (until 400), his errors, his battles, his profound religious observations. Famous too is his work The City of God, a worthy memorial to his genius, a philosophy of history. Most edifying are his homilies, especially those on the psalms and on the Gospel of St. John.
Augustine's episcopal life was filled with mighty battles against heretics, over all of whom he triumphed. His most illustrious victory was that over Pelagius, who denied the necessity of grace; from this encounter he earned the surname "Doctor of grace." As an emblem Christian art accords him a burning heart to symbolize the ardent love of God which permeates all his writings. He is the founder of canonical life in common; therefore Augustinian monks and the Hermits of St. Augustine honor him as their spiritual father.
Friday, August 27, 2010
video: The Climate and the Bishops
The Bishops' Conference needs to stop supporting the hysteria around global warming and realize the real agenda behind this very dangerous movement.
Alaskans approve parental notification law backed by bishops
If minors can't get a tattoo or piercing without parental consent, why shouldn't parents know when their daughter is considering an abortion?
By a 55%-44% margin, Alaska voters on August 24 approved a measure requiring teens to notify their parents before having an abortion.
“I was happy to see that common sense prevailed,” said Archbishop Roger Schwietz told of Anchorage. “Parents, no matter where they are on the abortion issue, understood: to be parent is to be a parent. You have responsibility for your children and therefore you should be able to know what they’re doing, and not have other people take away the right to know.”
Memorial of St. Monica
The Saint of the Day for August 27 is St. Monica.
St. Monica is an example of those holy matrons of the ancient Church who proved very influential in their own quiet way. Through prayer and tears she gave the great Augustine to the Church of God, and thereby earned for herself a place of honor in the history of God's kingdom on earth.
The Confessions of St. Augustine provide certain biographical details. Born of Christian parents about the year 331 at Tagaste in Africa, Monica was reared under the strict supervision of an elderly nurse who had likewise reared her father. In the course of time she was given in marriage to a pagan named Patricius. Besides other faults, he possessed a very irascible nature; it was in this school of suffering that Monica learned patience. It was her custom to wait until his anger had cooled; only then did she give a kindly remonstrance. Evil-minded servants had prejudiced her mother-in-law against her, but Monica mastered the situation by kindness and sympathy.
Her marriage was blessed with three children: Navigius, Perpetua, who later became a nun, and Augustine, her problem child. According to the custom of the day, baptism was not administered to infants soon after birth. It was as an adolescent that Augustine became a catechumen, but possibly through a premonition of his future sinful life, Monica postponed his baptism even when her son desired it during a severe illness.
When Augustine was nineteen years old, his father Patricius died; by patience and prayer Monica had obtained the conversion of her husband.
The youthful Augustine caused his mother untold worry by indulging in every type of sin and dissipation. As a last resort after all her tears and entreaties had proved fruitless, she forbade him entrance to her home; but after a vision she received him back again. In her sorrow a certain bishop consoled her: "Don't worry, it is impossible that a son of so many tears should be lost."
When Augustine was planning his journey to Rome, Monica wished to accompany him. He outwitted her, however, and had already embarked when she arrived at the docks. Later she followed him to Milan, ever growing in her attachment to God. St. Ambrose held her in high esteem, and congratulated Augustine on having such a mother. At Milan she prepared the way for her son's conversion. Finally the moment came when her tears of sorrow changed to tears of joy. Augustine was baptized. And her lifework was completed. She died in her fifty-sixth year, as she was returning to Africa. The description of her death is one of the most beautiful passages in her son's famous "Confessions.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Archbishop Chaput: "Systematic Discrimination Against Church Now Seems Inevitable"
MUST READ Excerpts from Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput's address to the 15th symposium for the Canon Law Association of Slovakia on Tuesday:
Today's secularizers have learned from the past. They are more adroit in their bigotry; more elegant in their public relations; more intelligent in their work to exclude the Church and individual believers from influencing the moral life of society. Over the next several decades, Christianity will become a faith that can speak in the public square less and less freely. A society where faith is prevented from vigorous public expression is a society that has fashioned the state into an idol. And when the state becomes an idol, men and women become the sacrificial offering.
We face an aggressively secular political vision and a consumerist economic model that result - in practice, if not in explicit intent -- in a new kind of state-encouraged atheism.
Pope and Mother Mary Prema remember Mother Teresa on anniversary
The “exemplary model” of Blessed Mother Teresa was highlighted in a letter from Pope Benedict XVI released for the 100th anniversary of her birth. An accompanying message from the current mother superior of the Missionaries of Charity reproposed Mother Teresa’s call to change the world through small acts performed with great love.
Celebrations of all types, especially Eucharistic ones, are being observed across the globe on Thursday to honor the foundress of the Missionaries of Charity (MC) and her legacy of love. According to a letter dated May 18, but just released for the Aug. 26 occasion, the Pope has also been “spiritually” joining in with the year’s celebrations.
The Holy Father remembered Mother Teresa as an “exemplary model of Christian virtue” in the brief message to MC superior general, Mother Mary Prema. He expressed his confidence that this year’s celebrations of her life would be “an occasion of joyful gratitude to God for the inestimable gift that Mother Teresa was in her lifetime and continues to be through the affectionate and tireless work” of the order she founded.
Archbishop Dolan and Gov. Paterson have 'productive conversation' about NYC mosque
I'm no Paterson fan, but at least he has offered to help them locate the mosque elsewhere than ground zero.
Days after Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York offered to moderate discussions in the heated debate over a planned mosque near Ground Zero in New York City, Gov. David Paterson met with the prelate on Tuesday for a “productive conversation,” according to a spokesman for the governor.
The proposed mosque and Islamic center near the site of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks have drawn numerous criticisms from citizens across the U.S. as well as from politicians of both parties. President Obama added to the national debate on Aug. 13 when he appeared to condone the planned complex, known as Park51, in remarks to Muslims at the White House during a Ramadan celebration.
St. Jeanne Elizabeth Des Bichier Des Anges
The Saint of the Day for August 26 is St. Jeanne Elizabeth Des Bichier Des Anges.
Born July 1773 at La Blanc, France; 26 August, 1838; canonized 1947 by Pope Pius XII.
Born to nobility, and educated in a convent school, Jeanne Elizabeth witnessed closely and was personally affected by the events of the French Revolution which rocked France when she was 16 years old.
On her father’s death she moved to La Guimetiere with her mother, and in 1796, realizing that she needed to do something to defend the Church and keep the faith alive amidst the attacks of the revolutionaries, she decided to begin a ministry of teaching and serving the poor.
She gathered groups of faithful in the town – which was at this point without a priest or community of religious – and organized meetings of prayer and Scripture study.
The town still suffered the effects of the French Revolution; it didn't even have a priest, much less religious communities. Jeanne Elizabeth gathered the remaining faithful together to pray, read Scripture, and sing hymns.
She entered a Carmelite convent on her mother’s death in 1804 and later the Society of Providence, on the advice of Saint Andrew Fournet, an underground priest who was forced to remain clandestine because he refused to make a pledge of allegiance to the government of the new republic.
He realized that she was the one God had called to lead a community of women he had gathered, and she cofounded the Daughters of the Cross with him in 1807 to care for the sick and poor and teach the faith.
By the time of her death in 1838, the community had more than 60 houses all over France.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Embryonic Stem Cell Federal Funding
Michael Hichborn, director of American Life League's Defend the Faith project, appears on CBN Newswatch to support a judge's order upholding the law banning federal funding of deadly embryonic stem-cell research.
video: Climate Change Scam
CIA (Catholic Investigative Agency) is back with its latest episode. This one is on Global Warming and how junk science is being used ultimately to de-stabilize Christian values.
Mother Teresa Rally
The Catholic League rally to protest the decision by officials from the Empire State Building not to honor Mother Teresa on the 100th anniversary of her birthday will begin tomorrow, August 26, at 6:00 p.m. The staging area for speakers will be at 34th and 5th, but everyone is being asked by the NYPD to enter at 34th and 6th, and then work their way up the street.
There will be a spot for the media cordoned off right near the staging area. There will be many speakers, beginning with Jackie Mason and ending with Curtis Sliwa.
St. Louis of France
The Saint of the Day for August 25 is St. Louis of France.
Reigning from 1226 to 1270, Louis IX showed how a saint would act on the throne of France. He was a lovable personality, a kind husband, a father of eleven children, and at the same time a strict ascetic.
To an energetic and prudent rule Louis added love and zeal for the practice of piety and the reception of the holy sacraments. He was brave in battle, polished at feasts, and addicted to fasting and mortification. His politics were grounded upon strict justice, unshatterable fidelity, and untiring effort toward peace. Nevertheless, his was not a weakly rule but one that left its impress upon following generations. He was a great friend of religious Orders, a generous benefactor of the Church.
The Breviary says of him: "He had already been king for twenty years when he fell victim to a severe illness. That afforded the occasion for making a vow to undertake a crusade for the liberation of the Holy Land. Immediately upon recovery he received the crusader's cross from the hand of the bishop of Paris, and, followed by an immense army, he crossed the sea in 1248. On the field of battle Louis routed the Saracens; yet when the plague had taken large numbers of his soldiery, he was attacked and taken captive (1250). The king was forced to make peace with the Saracens; upon the payment of a huge ransom, he and his army were again set at liberty." While on a second crusade he died of the plague, with these words from the psalm upon his lips: "I will enter Thy house; I will worship in Thy holy temple and sing praises to Thy Name!" (Ps. 5).
It was his mother's supreme desire that her son should become a kind, pious and just ruler. She was wont to say to him: "Never forget that sin is the only great evil in the world. No mother could love her son more than I love you. But I would rather see you lying dead at my feet than know that you had offended God by one mortal sin." These words remained indelibly impressed upon his mind.
St. Louis was a member of the Third Order of St. Francis and so is included in the family of Franciscan saints.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
video: Dueling Bishops
The strange coincidence of two bishops reprimanding two of their own priests presents an interesting look into the state of affairs in the Church.
US celebrations to mark Mother Teresa’s 100th birthday
Numerous celebrations across the globe will mark the 100th anniversary of Mother Teresa’s birth on Aug. 26. Masses and memorial displays have been scheduled to honor the life of the servant to the poor of Calcutta.
Blue and white, the colors of the Missionaries of Charity, will be displayed at St. Peter’s Cathedral in Belfast. Other events will take place in countries like Switzerland, Bulgaria and Albania, the famous sister’s birthplace.
The entire skyline of Miami, including the landmark Miami Tower, will be cast in blue and white. The Peace Bridge between Buffalo, New York and Fort Erie, Ontario will light up in Bl. Teresa of Calcutta’s honor, as will Buffalo’s Electric Tower.
Many Catholic churches in the U.S. will display blue and white ribbons. Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas will officially mark her birth by lighting some of its buildings in blue and by naming its new nursing and health education building for the sister.
In New York City, the Hutchinson Metro Center in the Bronx will shine in blue and white, as will the U.S.S. Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum. Billboards in Times Square will shine blue while Hoboken will show posters of Mother Teresa in several venues, the Catholic League reports.
Some controversy resulted from the Empire State Building’s refusal of the Catholic League’s request to honor Mother Teresa’s birth in its lighting scheme.
Book Review: "Revenge of Innocents" by Nancy Taylor Rosenberg
Probation officer Carolyn Sullivan is back. She's been promoted to manager of the department, she is busy planning her wedding to Marcus, and her children are doing well. Life is good, until her best friend and co-worker Veronica is found dead. Initially it is considered a suicide, but Carolyn doesn't believe that. She postpones her wedding to investigate Veronica's death. It is soon apparent it was a murder. It is also connected to two other deaths, as well as as two young girls who were molested, including Veronica's daughter Jude.
I like the way that Ms. Rosenberg throws suspicion on someone other than the real killer, but this time I found it quite tiresome the way a key victim and witness kept lying and changing her story. As usual, Ms. Rosenberg does a masterful job of tying all the pieces together to reveal the true killer and the motives. Unfortunately, she chooses to leave some loose ends in the story.
There is some more discussion of Carolyn's Catholic faith. She is trying to receive the sacraments more frequently because she is feeling guilty about killing a bad guy (this was in "Sullivan's Justice"), even though it was in self defense. When a witness is badly injured by being hit by a car, Carolyn's first reaction is to call a priest to give her the sacrament of the sick. Unfortunately, Carolyn is both divorced and now living with Marcus.
In addition to the subject of two girls being molested, content warnings include an intimate scene with Carolyn and Marcus, and language throughout.
U.S. Court Halts Obama Admin Stem-Cell Research Guidelines
Excellent news. Embryonic stem cell research destroys life while showing NO results.
A U.S. District Court Judge for the District of Columbia has intervened to block regulations issued by the Obama administration expanding embryo-destructive research.
Pro-life researchers and Nightlight Christian Adoptions, a group that encourages adoption of frozen embryonic children, filed the suit last year. Judge Royce Lamberth had ruled in June that the group has standing to sue over the guidelines that the National Institutes of Health developed for taxpayer-funded research that would involve the destruction of living human embryos.
The newly-expanded research was made possible by an executive order signed by President Obama in March 2009.
The plaintiffs argue that the new guidelines clearly violate a provision in U.S. law (known as the Dickey-Wicker amendment) that prevents taxpayer monies from funding research in which embryos "are destroyed, discarded, or knowingly subjected to risk of injury or death."
Feast of St. Bartholomew, Apostle
The Saint of the Day for August 24 is St. Bartholomew.
St. Bartholomew, a doctor in the Jewish law, was a dear friend of St. Philip the Apostle. Because Bartholomew was a man "in whom there was no guile," his mind was open to the truth. He went willingly with Philip to see Christ, and recognized the Savior immediately as the Son of God. After having received the gifts of the Holy Spirit on the first Pentecost, Bartholomew evangelized Asia Minor, northwestern India, and Greater Armenia. In the latter country, while preaching to idolaters, he was arrested and condemned to death.
In St. John's Gospel, Bartholomew is known by the name Nathaniel (the liturgy does not always seem aware of this identity). He hailed from Cana in Galilee, was one of the first disciples called by the Lord. On that initial meeting Jesus uttered the glorious compliment: "Behold, an Israelite indeed in whom there is no guile!" After the Resurrection he was favored by becoming one of the few apostles who witnessed the appearance of the risen Savior on the sea of Galilee (John 21:2). Following the Ascension he is said to have preached in Greater Armenia and to have been martyred there. While still alive, his skin was torn from his body. The Armenians honor him as the apostle of their nation. Concerning the fate of his relics, the Martyrology says: "His holy body was first taken to the island of Lipari (north of Sicily), then to Benevento, and finally to Rome on an island in the Tiber where it is honored by the faithful with pious devotion."
The Church of Armenia has a national tradition that St. Jude Thaddeus and St. Bartholomew visited the Armenians early in the first century and introduced Christianity among the worshippers of the god Ahura Mazda. The new faith spread throughout the land, and in 302 A.D., St. Gregory the Illuminator baptized the king of Armenia, Dertad the Great, along with many of his followers. Since Dertad was probably the first ruler to embrace Christianity for his nation, the Armenians proudly claim they were the first Christian State.
Monday, August 23, 2010
video: A book investigates the long battle of Benedict XVI against sexual abuse
A new book has been released focusing on how Joseph Ratzinger -- as Archbishop, Cardinal, and now Pope -- has dealt with the sex abuse crisis. The book is entitled "Pope Benedict XVI and the Sexual Abuse Crisis -- Working for Reform and Renewal" . The books authors are Gergory Eerlandson -- President and Publisher of Our Sunday Vistor Publishing Company -- and Matthew Bunson -- editor of The Catholic Almanac.
Nashville bishop rebukes priest who criticized Pope, Catholic teaching
KUDO's to Bishop Choby...I wish we had more like him!
A Tennessee priest who called upon the Pope to apologize for Catholic teaching on contraception has retracted his comments and written a letter of apology to his parish and to the Pope.
“Bishop [David] Choby offered Father [Joseph Patrick] Breen the choice of retracting and apologizing for his statements or face the process set forth for the removal of a pastor under canon law when a ministry becomes harmful or ineffective,” according to a statement from the Diocese of Nashville.
After ACLU complaint about Catholic workers refusing to perform abortions, legal fund offers help
What a bunch of hypocrites the ACLU is. They pretend to defend civil liberties, then attack our right to not kill babies.
Responding to an American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) request for a government investigation into and action against Catholic hospitals which refuse to provide abortions, the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty has said it will offer pro bono legal help to any hospital or individual threatened for refusing to perform an abortion.
In a July 1 letter the ACLU wrote to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), claiming that religiously-affiliated hospitals’ refusal to provide abortions violates the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act and the Conditions of Participation of Medicare and Medicaid.
Optional Memorial of St. Rose of Lima, virgin
The Saint of the Day for August 23 is St. Rose of Lima.
Rose of Lima, a member of the Third Order of St. Dominic, was the "first blossom of sanctity that South America gave to the world." Hers was a life heroic in virtue and penance. She expiated the evils perpetrated by the conquerors of the land in their lust for gold. For many her life was a silent sermon of penance. Pope Clement X stated in the bull of canonization: "Since the discovery of Peru no missionary has arisen who effected a similar popular zeal for the practice of penance."
Already as a five-year-old child (born 1586), Rose vowed her innocence to God. While still a young girl, she practiced mortifications and fasts that exceeded ordinary discretion; during all of Lent she ate no bread, but subsisted on five citron seeds a day. In addition, she suffered repeated attacks from the devil, painful bodily ailments, and from her family, scoldings and calumnies. All this she accepted serenely, remarking that she was treated better than she deserved. For fifteen years she patiently endured the severest spiritual abandonment and aridity. In reward came heavenly joys, the comforting companionship of her holy guardian angel and of the Blessed Virgin. August 24, 1617, proved to be the day "on which the paradise of her heavenly Bridegroom unlocked itself to her."
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Memorial of St. Pius X, pope
The Saint of the Day for August 21 is St. Pius X.
The future Pope-Saint of the twentieth century was born at Riese in Venetia on June 2, 1835, his name, Joseph Sarto. After ordination at the age of twenty-three (by special dispensation), he labored for 17 years as a parish priest, then as bishop of Mantua, and in 1892 was advanced to the metropolitan see of Venice with the honorary title of patriarch. On August 4, 1903, he was elected Pope, "a man of God who knew the unhappiness of the world and the hardships of life, and in the greatness of his heart wanted to comfort everybody."
The primary aim of his pontificate Pius X announced in his first encyclical letter, viz., "to renew all things in Christ." Here we need but allude to his decree on early and frequent reception of holy Communion; his Motu Proprio on church music; his encouragement of daily Bible reading and the establishment of various Biblical institutes; his reorganization of the Roman ecclesiastical offices; his work on the codification of Canon Law; his incisive stand against Modernism, that "synthesis of all heresies." All these were means toward the realization of his main objective of renewing all things in Christ.
The outbreak of the first World War, practically on the date of the eleventh anniversary of his election to the See of Peter, was the blow that occasioned his death. Bronchitis developed within a few days, and on August 20, 1914, Pius X succumbed to "the last affliction that the Lord will visit on me." He had said in his will, "I was born poor, I have lived poor, I wish to die poor" — and no one questioned the truth of his words. His sanctity and his power to work miracles had already been recognized. Pius X was the first Pope canonized since St. Pius V in 1672.
"He was one of those chosen few men whose personality is irresistible. Everyone was moved by his simplicity and his angelic kindness. Yet it was something more that carried him into all hearts: and that 'something' is best defined by saying that all who were ever admitted to his presence had a deep conviction of being face to face with a saint" (Baron von Pastor).
Friday, August 20, 2010
Movie Review: Nanny McPhee Returns - PG
Isabel Green is trying to raise 3 children and run the family farm while her husband is away at war. She even has to resist her brother's pressuring her to sell the farm. Things get even worse when two spoiled cousins come to stay with them. Things do get better when Nanny McPhee arrives. She teaches the children 5 lessons: to get along, to help each other, to have faith, etc.
I enjoyed the transformations that took place, particularly among the children. At first they laugh off Nanny McPhee's rule: When you need her, even if you don't want her, she will be there. When you don't need her, even if you want her, she will go. The children do learn her lessons and are transformed by them. Even Isabel's brother Phil seems to soften his attitude.
Aside fom some crude humor, no content warnings.
Overall, a very good family movie with positive messages for kids.
Cardinal George announces Vatican approval of new Roman Missal
I am really looking forward to the introduction of the new, more accurate missal translation.
The new English-language translation of the Roman Missal, Third Edition has received Vatican approval and will be implemented on the first Sunday of Advent 2011, Cardinal Francis George has announced. One bishop said the new text will enable the “ongoing renewal” of the liturgy in parishes.
Cardinal George, Archbishop of Chicago and president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), announced the Vatican’s approval in an August 20 letter to the U.S. bishops. According to a Friday press release from the USCCB, he issued a proclamation that the use of the third edition of the Roman Missal will begin in U.S. dioceses on Nov. 27, 2011.
“From that date forward, no other edition of the Roman Missal may be used in the dioceses of the United States of America,” the proclamation reads.
European Catholics prepare host of celebrations for Mother Teresa's 100th birthday
On Friday, August 20, Catholic League President Bill Donohue will appear on EWTN’s “The World Over with Raymond Arroyo” to discuss the Catholic League’s Mother Teresa Rally.
The founder of the Missionaries of Charity will be remembered in celebrations all over Europe, and all over the world, on her birthday and feast day coming up in the next three weeks. At least a dozen cardinals will be presiding over Masses across Europe in her memory.
Blessed Mother Teresa was born Gonxhe Bojaxhiu on Aug. 26, 1910 in the city of Skopje, in what is now the Republic of Macedonia. On that same day this year, she will be remembered for what would have been her 100th birthday.
Motherteresa.org, the official site for the saintly sister, details the broad cross-section of principally European celebrations that began earlier this year and will continue until the final days of 2010. The majority of the memorials have been organized for Rome and former Eastern Bloc nations, but Masses, Novenas and art exhibitions and other initiatives are taking place all over the continent.
Obama Admin Blocks Release of Study Showing Abstinence Education Works
Sadly, it is no surprise that pro-abort Barry wants to encourage teens to be sexually active. And of course pro-abort Sebelius is also involved.
Obama administration is, once again, entangled in controversy over sex education.
Yet this time, it is not about what the administration is trying to implement, but about what it is withholding – and apparently for political reasons.
A taxpayer-funded study that indicates parental and adolescent support of abstinence education is not being released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), as it does not support the administration’s objective – or that of vocal “safe sex” activists – of eliminating all abstinence-education funding.
The Administration for Children and Families (ACF), a division of HHS, funded a survey of 1,000 adolescents between the ages of 12 and 18 and their parents, in order to measure parent-adolescent communication and adolescent attitudes toward sex and abstinence.
The American Public Health Association’s (APHA) website reveals the results of the study:
“Adjusting for all other factors in the model, parent and peer factors are more consistently associated with differences in adolescent attitudes about sex and abstinence than are measures of adolescent exposure to sex and abstinence topics in a class or program.
Additionally, parent attitudes are more important in influencing adolescent views than the level of parent communication with their adolescent.”
Memorial of St. Bernard, abbot and doctor
The Saint of the Day for August 20 is St. Bernard.
Bernard, the second founder of the Cistercians, the Mellifluous Doctor, the apostle of the Crusades, the miracle-worker, the reconciler of kings, the leader of peoples, the counselor of popes! His sermons, from which there are many excerpts in the Breviary, are conspicuous for genuine emotion and spiritual unction. The celebrated Memorare is ascribed to him.
Bernard was born in 1090, the third son of an illustrious Burgundian family. At the age of twenty-two he entered the monastery of Citeaux (where the Cistercian Order had its beginning) and persuaded thirty other youths of noble rank to follow his example. Made abbot of Clairvaux (1115), he erected numerous abbeys where his spirit flourished. To his disciple, Bernard of Pisa, who later became Pope Eugene III, he dedicated his work De Consideratione. Bernard's influence upon the princes, the clergy, and the people of his age was most remarkable. By penitential practices he so exhausted his body that it could hardly sustain his soul, ever eager to praise and honor God.
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