Feast of Saint Andrew the Apostle

St. Andrew was the brother of St. Peter and a follower of St. John the Baptist and was the first of the apostles to follow Christ. He preached the Gospel in Greece. St. Andrew was crucified in 60 A.D. in Patras on an X-shaped cross. He is Patron Saint of Fisherman, Old Maids, Russia, Scotland, and Singles.

The First Called

From the Fourth Gospel we know an important

detail: Andrew had previously been a disciple of John

the Baptist: and this shows us that he was a man who

was searching, who shared in Israel's hope, who

wanted to know better the word of the Lord, the

presence of the Lord. He was truly a man of faith

and hope; and one day he heard John the Baptist

proclaiming Jesus as: "the Lamb of God" (Jn 1:36);

so he was stirred, and with another unnamed disciple

followed Jesus, the one whom John has called "the

Lamb of God." Thus, Andrew enjoyed precious

moments of intimacy with Jesus. The account

continues with one important annotation: "One of

the two who heard John speak, and followed him, was

Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He first found his

brother Simon, and said to him, 'We have found the

Messiah' (which means Christ). He brought him to

Jesus" (Jn 1:40-43), straighaway showing an

unusual apostolic spirit. Andrew, then was the first

of the Apostles to be called to follow Jesus. Exactly

for this reason the liturgy of the Byzantine Church

honors him with the nickname: "Protokletos,"

[protoclete] which means, precisely, "the first called."

Pope Benedict XVI

when i was an atheist, i didnt understand how a person can have faith; i thought it must be something a person is born with, like blue eyes or brown skin; but then i discovered that faith is'nt something we are born with, but that it is a gift from God, given to all, but a gift that only some accept, open and share.

i was stirred as St. Andrew was when i discovered, as an adult, that i could forgive someone who had committed a great injury to me when i was a child.

I discovered that i always had God's gift of faith, but i set it aside, unopened, turning my attention instead toward my tormentor; a slow tortuous death by fear, anger and hate.

By God's grace i found God's gift of faith, unconditional love. A love, that for me took the form of forgiveness, for myself and my tormentor that reconciled me with God and his church after a long exile.

i hope and pray that i continue to be stirred.

Birthday

SPE SALVI

ENCYCLICAL LETTER
SPE SALVI
OF THE SUPREME PONTIFF
BENEDICT XVI
TO THE BISHOPS
PRIESTS AND DEACONS
MEN AND WOMEN RELIGIOUS
AND ALL THE LAY FAITHFUL
ON CHRISTIAN HOPE

Introduction

1. “SPE SALVI facti sumus”—in hope we were saved, says Saint Paul to the Romans, and likewise to us (Rom 8:24). According to the Christian faith, “redemption”—salvation—is not simply a given. Redemption is offered to us in the sense that we have been given hope, trustworthy hope, by virtue of which we can face our present: the present, even if it is arduous, can be lived and accepted if it leads towards a goal, if we can be sure of this goal, and if this goal is great enough to justify the effort of the journey. Now the question immediately arises: what sort of hope could ever justify the statement that, on the basis of that hope and simply because it exists, we are redeemed? And what sort of certainty is involved here?

full text

Pet Peeve: Political Correctness II

CHRISTMAS CENSORS ARE OUT IN FORCE

November 27, 2007

Catholic League president Bill Donohue commented today on efforts to censor Christmas:
“We haven’t hit December yet and already the politically correct police are out in force trying to censor Christmas. Here’s a sample:

· For 75 years, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce sponsored the ‘Hollywood Christmas Parade.’ When it refused to sponsor the parade this year, the L.A. City Council took over, renaming it the ‘Hollywood Santa Parade.’

· The Department of Housing and Urban Development has censored Christmas religious symbols from its housing complexes.

· No Christmas decorations are allowed on school buses in parts of Vermont.

· A Jewish public official in Wisconsin wants to rename the State Capitol Holiday Tree the Christmas Tree, but is being opposed by the Freedom From Religion Foundation.

· Chattanooga has banned a live nativity scene from its public festivities.

· Sonoma City Council has nixed religious displays on the Plaza.

· Voters in Berkley, Michigan have forbidden a crèche at City Hall.

· Fort Collins, Colorado says it is okay to have green and red lights outside city buildings, but only secular symbols are allowed inside.

· After Briarcliff Manor, New York was ordered to erect a crèche next to a menorah, the village elected to ban all religious symbols.

· Residents in Olean, New York are fighting over privately owned nativity scenes being displayed in city parks.

· A nativity scene in front of the Ypsilanti Township fire hall in Michigan has been banned.

· No religious symbols are allowed in Seattle-Tacoma airport, but trees made of cardboard are legit.

· Nativity scenes at Texas Tech are not permissible, but a tree is okay. The official in charge says, ‘We’re not saying it’s a holiday tree, because it’s a Christmas tree, but we choose to do a tasteful tree that really anybody can embrace.’ Great idea!

“There you have it. The multicultural monsters are rearing their ugly heads once again, showing what they really mean by tolerance for diversity.”

Reminds me of the second labor of Hercules slaying the hydra, but that was a myth, the PC hydra is real, foul and devilish and the only way to slay it is through prayer, fasting, participation in the sacraments and eucharistic adoration.

St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle.Be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the Devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray, and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly hosts, by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan, and all the evil spirits, who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen

Huck & Chuck

Best Fiction Ever

"Cry, the beloved country, for the unborn child that is the inheritor of our fear. Let him not love the earth too deeply. Let him not laugh too gladly when the water runs through his fingers, nor stand too silent when the setting sun makes red the veld with fire. Let him not be too moved when the birds of his land are singing, nor give too much of his heart to a mountain or a valley. For fear will rob him of all if he gives too much."




Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika, Enoch Mankayi Sontonga (ca. 1873 - 18 April 1905)

The Sacrament of Abortion

by Fr. Thomas Euteneuer, President HLI

The standard Catholic description of a real Sacrament is that it is an “efficacious sign instituted by Christ to give grace.” The “sign” is whatever the particular Sacrament is meant to convey: Baptism—cleansing from sin, Eucharist—union with Christ, Penance—forgiveness of sins, etc. “Efficacious” means that it actually produces the effect it signifies, and it “gives grace” as sort of a conduit of divine life into our souls. A Catholic Sacrament is holy in itself and does not need a holy person to administer it, and on the basis of the Sacrament’s innate holiness, the children of the Church are sanctified and in turn sanctify the world in which we live.

The demonic “sacrament” of abortion has the same characteristics as a real Sacrament except that it reverses any concept of holiness and perverts its meaning. This is because the devil always mimics God’s plan to communicate His life to us and does everything he can to draw us away from that life. In this case, abortion is a “sign” that points to death; it is “efficacious” in that it brings death through bodily destruction; it “destroys grace” in that each act of abortion is a mortal sin that seduces and corrupts all of those who take part in it.

Furthermore, abortionists, witches and Satanists put their “faith” in the “sacrament” of abortion. Don’t take my word for it. In a 1999 LifeSite interview, retired abortionist Patricia Baird-Windle, self-professed wiccan (witch), actually said, “Abortion is a major blessing, and a sacrament in the hands of women. ... At the very crucible of the sacrament of abortion work is that some women have an abortion out of love for the baby, [some] out of love for the children they already have and are having a hard time feeding.” Rarely am I shocked by what abortion apologists say, but this perverse logic leaves me utterly speechless. It shouldn’t surprise me, though; Ms. Baird-Windle claims responsibility for 65,000 abortions in the three death centers that she owned.

There’s more. An Episcopal “priestess,” Carter Hayward said, “Abortion would be a sacrament if women were in charge. Abortion should be a sacrament even today. I suspect that for many women today, and for their spouses, lovers, families and communities, abortion is celebrated as such, an occasion of deep and serious and sacred meaning.” No comment is really necessary here.

Let us never pretend that abortion is just a social or political phenomenon that has to be voted out of office to be defeated. We must do everything we can to restore legal protection to our most innocent citizens, but our battle against the devil will not be won at the polls. It will be won on our knees before the Lord and on our feet before the centers of death. More than ever we need men and women of tested holiness who are willing to fight the spiritual battle for the lives of God’s precious babies and the souls of their mothers and fathers. Even abortionists like Baird-Windle are caught up in a demonic religion which can be challenged and defeated by those of us who belong to the true Church of Christ, the only spiritual power strong enough to defeat the “sacrament” of abortion.

Thanks to Nicholas

FINAL SOLUTION

Thanks to The World IMHO

"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing"

National Conference on Pain Men Experience After Abortion Starts Wednesday

by Steven Ertelt LifeNews.com Editor November 27, 2007
San Francisco, CA (LifeNews.com) --

The emotional pain women feel from abortions is well-documented, with more than 40 percent experiencing severe depression and drug and alcohol abuse occurring at higher rates compared with women who give birth. The pain men experience as a result of abortion will finally be highlighted at a national conference Wednesday.
The Knights of Columbus and the Archdiocese of San Francisco are co-sponsoring the first national conference to focus on the effects of abortion on men whose partners had abortions.

Featuring an international panel of speakers, the "Reclaiming Fatherhood" conference will be held Nov. 28-29 at St. Mary's Cathedral in San Francisco.

The Milwaukee-based Office of Post-Abortion Reconciliation, headed by Vicki Thorn, is organizing the conference.

Thorn is highly-regarded as one of the first and most experienced post-abortion counselors in the nation and she tells LifeNews.com the conference hopes to bring to light the "invisible" pain of men and abortion.

She says society at large and even in the churches and pro-life community, the profound effect that abortion has on fathers whose children are aborted is not often acknowledged or understood.

Supreme Knight Carl Anderson told LifeNews.com the conference will be important to highlighting these issues.

"There are three victims of every abortion, the child and both of his or her parents, and it is our hope that this conference will be the beginning of a ministry within the Church to these fathers, who grieve the death of their unborn child in isolation and silence," he said.

Experts from a variety of backgrounds and countries -- including several therapists -- will cover topics including men's healing process after abortion; abortion's effects on men's spirituality; fatherhood and abortion; and why men who have been involved in abortion come for help.

Anderson and Thorn believe the "Reclaiming Fatherhood" conference could help men deal with the psychological trauma of post-abortion reality the way Project Rachel has helped women.

The conference is sorely needed, according to Kevin Burke, the associate director of Rachel's Vineyard Ministries.

He said in August that men suffer from a myriad of problems following a partner's abortion -- especially one in which they lent their support or persuaded their partner to have.

"The reality is that men are involved in 95% of all abortion decisions, and they are profoundly impacted by their participation in the abortion of their child," Burke explained.

In April 2008, the Knights of Columbus are also sponsoring an international conference on the effects of abortion on parents, and the effects of divorce on children.

That conference will be held in Rome -- co-sponsored by the Knights and the Rome session of the John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and the Family.

I know I dont do enough; what do you do?

Thanks to The World IMHO

Stones Tunejacked by Sony

The Sony Bravia - She's A Rainbow

ok, so it's cute.




other spots

Bringing Shatner Back

Shadetree Theology

I was listening to Teresa Tomeo’s show this morning, on our local Catholic radio station, 910AM, and her co-host, Father Frank Pavone, made some comments about free will and how the choices we make all have their root in original sin. Adam and Eve eating of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil did not endow them with the awareness to distinguish between right and wrong; Adam and Eve already knew that eating of the Tree of Knowledge was forbidden and contrary to God’s will. What eating the forbidden fruit did was to deform our will away from obeying the true source of all knowledge, which is God, to deciding for ourselves what is good or evil.

Imo there are at least three aspects to Adam and Eve’s disobedience; the first, was to pride themselves into deciding that something they already knew to be evil, was indeed evil; secondly, they hide their shame, the doubt about the aforementioned knowledge; lastly, given the opportunity to seek forgiveness, they instead deny the truth of their actions and blame God.

In choosing to decide for themselves what is good or evil, they have chosen the means of their death, separation from God.

Today's Earworm

Queen - Somebody To Love

Old News But New To Me and Refreshing

Status Ecclesiae
November 2005

“Gay” Priest: An Oxymoron
“It’s not about you. It’s about the Church and the good of the Church”
- by John Mallon, Contributing Editor, Inside the Vatican

The Rev. Gerald Chojnacki, SJ, head of the New York Province of the Society of Jesus, is unhappy. According to a recent Associated Press report on a forthcoming Vatican document (expected in November) which will reiterate the Church’s teaching that “gay” seminarians should not be ordained priests, Chojnacki, in a September 26 letter to the Jesuits of his province, said he is asking bishops to tell Vatican officials who are drafting the policy “of the great harm this will cause many good priests and the Catholic faithful.”

Great harm? Father Chojnacki must not speak to many of the faithful, who simply want to attend church and have their children taught the Faith with fidelity by priests who are happy with Church teachings and their priesthood, and are not ostensibly celibate men preoccupied with their sexuality. The AP said Chojnacki wrote in the letter that he had participated in the funerals of several gay Jesuit clergy over the last few years. “I find it insulting to demean their memory and their years of service by even hinting that they were unfit for priesthood because of their sexual orientation,” he wrote. Chojnacki said he would be working with the Conference of Major Superiors of Men, which represents leaders of religious orders in the United States including the Jesuits, Franciscans and others, and with bishops, to fight “for the opportunity of a gay person to say yes to God’s call in celibate service of priesthood and chaste religious life.”

It seems odd, if not telling, that Father Chojnacki cites these men’s deaths. It raises the inevitable question, “How did they die?” One cannot help but think of AIDS in this connection. If, in fact, these men met untimely deaths from AIDS, the question is of course raised as to whether this is the “celibate” and “chaste” religious life of which Chojnacki speaks. Don’t dead young priests qualify as “great harm?” Most sane Catholics would say yes.

Jesuits have reason to be concerned. According to a document that came into my possession a few years ago, complete with names, in the New England Province alone, four priests and one novice died of AIDS between 1984 and 1997. In 1991 the Master of Novices left the order and priesthood to cohabitate with the “lover” of a former novice. In 1993 a Jesuit of the New England Province was convicted of drugging and indecently assaulting Marines and sentenced to five years in Leavenworth Prison. Between 1997 and 2000, seven Jesuits of the New England Province left the order to take up the “gay” lifestyle. In 1999 the Jesuit Urban Center in Boston was named the “Best Place To Meet A Mate, Gay” by Boston Magazine (August 1999).

If vows of chastity were being kept, there would be no issue. This is not a matter of scapegoating or a witch hunt. Active homosexuality in the priesthood or the seminary is a scandal all by itself. Laurie Goodstein of the New York Times recently quoted our old friend Rev. Thomas J. Reese, SJ, former editor of the Jesuit Weekly America magazine, saying that with the shortage of priests, the Church can hardly afford to dismiss gay seminarians.

What are you telling us, Father? That the priesthood is a numbers game? That fidelity to Christ and the doctrine of His Church should be dropped so we can have lots of priests to preach the resultant compromised Gospel? That the priesthood of Jesus Christ cannot survive without homosexuals? That in time we won’t work our way out of the humiliating scandals caused by “gay” priests demanding their “rights”?

It is more likely that men with a serious interest in prayer, pursuing holiness and serving Christ will no longer be run out of the seminary by dissent and homosexual hazing.

Reese continues, “It’s much healthier if a seminarian can talk about his sexuality with a spiritual director, but this kind of policy is going to force it all underground.” The attitude of these Jesuits and other clerics making comments to the secular press seems to be that the Church and priesthood is their own private bathhouse and the Pope has a lot of nerve to impose Catholicism on them.

“Gay” Ideology vs. Catholicism

So, what is really wrong with this? The statements of Fathers Chojnacki and Reese cited here are scandalous themselves, and yet they appear not to realize it. They seem to imply that it is Pope Benedict who is creating the scandal. It illustrates how far gone they are, and what living in the cocoon of the Culture of Dissent does to one’s faith. Perhaps the most depressing thing about this issue is the flood of ignorance being voiced by clergy—who should know better—about the Church’s motives on this. Though the 1961 document setting forth this policy (with the signature and full support of “Good Pope John”) has been widely ignored, the Church’s teachings on homosexuality have always been very clear. Now that the policies are being reiterated, many are crying foul. What indeed were their motives and expectations in pursuing the priesthood?

Dissenters have long used the tactic of the fait accompli— ignore a certain teaching and then claim falsely that it has changed. Then accuse the Church of being unfair or “uncaring” when it restates the teaching. Now, this fait accompli approach has failed.

Almost every argument being made in American op-ed pages by angry priests is based on emotion, not theology. The media naturally obtain comments from priests who object to restating the policy, originally spelled out in 1961.

Perhaps what is most disturbing is the number of priests who use the term “gay priest” seriously. It is one thing to be a faithful priest who struggles with same-sex attractions, but to openly proclaim one’s self “gay” is another matter. It calls fidelity into question. Is calling oneself “gay” in keeping with chastity? Such a man is trying to serve two masters.

The word “gay” is a term of ideology. It implies that homosexual attractions are not merely a struggle but an identity. Some even go so far as to claim their homosexuality is a “gift from God” or that “God made me this way.”

If homosexual attractions are, as the Church teaches, intrinsically disordered, and homosexual acts intrinsically evil, then it cannot be claimed that God made them. Rather they are the result of the Fall—Original Sin. This is not to single anyone out; we all suffer from the effects of Original Sin.

The ideology implicit in the word “gay” denies that homosexuality is intrinsically disordered, and that homosexual acts are intrinsically evil, and attempts to grant homosexuality the same moral status as race and ethnicity. To accept this Big Lie recalls St. Paul’s warning: “They exchanged the truth of God for a lie and revered and worshipped the creature rather than the creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. Therefore, God handed them over to degrading passions. Their females exchanged natural relations for unnatural, and the males likewise gave up natural relations with females and burned with lust for one another. Males did shameful things with males and thus received in their own persons the due penalty for their perversity.” (Romans 1:25-27)

Do we believe this, or do we accuse St. Paul of spreading “hate speech”? Despite the astonishingly up-to-date description this passage provides of today’s world—and today’s Church—citing Scripture is dismissed as “out-of-date prooftexting.” How about what it says?

The Culture of Death is a two-legged stool which only remains standing because it is propped up by lies. Death and lies go together as Christ taught about the Church’s Adversary, “He was a murderer and a liar from the beginning.” The two legs of this stool are homosexuality and abortion. The Culture of Death is the main Adversary of the Church today. The two legs of this stool also comprise not merely sin, but two of the four sins that cry out to God for vengeance: murder of the innocent and sodomy.

Being a Catholic, much less a priest, implies a degree of conversion, and conversion implies a certain degree of renunciation, including first of all renunciation of sin and ultimately renunciation of one’s very self in order to die with Christ. This, in part, is what vows of chastity are all about.

As St. Paul said, “I urge you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, your spiritual worship. Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect.” (Romans 12:1-2)

The First Commandment states, “You shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart, mind and strength.” It is not unreasonable to presume this includes one’s sexuality. To accept the validity of the term “gay” and the ideology and view of the human person it represents is to be in conflict with the Church and the teaching of Christ, accepting the terms laid down by the world, the flesh and the devil over those of Christ.

Therefore the term “gay priest” is an oxymoron. A priest may well struggle with same-sex attractions but to declare himself “gay” is in a sense a capitulation to the Church’s enemies. It is an acceptance of the way of the world, the flesh and the devil and a rejection of Christ and His teachings. A man in Holy Orders is an alter Christus, not a “gay man.” Some will argue, “I am both a gay man and a priest,” but invoking the Biblical language of God being a jealous God, one cannot be both and not be guilty of idolatry. The question is who is on the throne of our lives? Christ the King? Or someone or something else? For a celibate man vowed to chastity to have his sexuality—or homosexuality—on the throne of his life is a recipe for disaster and requires conversion. We have had enough disasters in the Church.

None of us, clerical or lay, lives in perfect conformity to Christ, which is why Christ gave us the Church and the sacraments, to assist us in our daily conversion to Christ, who is our true identity. How can a true priest of God, or any Christian, proclaim his identity to be in his sexual preferences rather than in Christ? It is absurd that Christ would want us to identify ourselves with what is intrinsically disordered or evil. This is not discriminatory; all of us must deal daily with that which is intrinsically disordered and evil. It’s called sin. No one is exempt from the struggle.

Confusion on this is not surprising after a century of Bible scholarship that has sought to tell us that the Bible doesn’t mean what it says, and a half century of dissent within the Church which tells us that the Church must conform to the world, for the sake of “credibility” instead of vice versa.

If I could say one thing to the gangs of clergy writing angry op-eds and letters to the editors to secular newspapers filled with clichés about witch hunts, hurt feelings and being ashamed of the Church, scapegoating for the pedophilia scandals, “outdated teachings from the Dark Ages,” ad nauseam, it would be a cliché of my own: It’s not about you. It’s about the Church, and the good of the Church. It’s about the eternal salvation of souls which homosexuality places in grave danger. How many times does a child have to hear that his priest is “gay” before concluding there’s nothing wrong with it—or even something noble about it—and starts experimenting? A priest’s job is to proclaim Christ, not his sexual preferences.

The credibility of the Church lies precisely in how it stands against the sinful trends in the culture as a sign of contradiction in fidelity to the Gospel, not in going along with these trends. The world has erected an ersatz morality in opposition to the Church which says homosexuality is simply an “alternate lifestyle” and not to accept it constitutes bigotry and unfair discrimination and that abortion is a “right” and “necessity.” This is an “angel of light” the Church must stand against, not something to which she may acquiesce.

And yet the house of Israel says, “The Lord’s way is not fair!” Is it my way that is not fair, house of Israel, or rather, is it not that your ways are not fair? Therefore I will judge you, house of Israel, each one according to his ways, says the Lord GOD. Turn and be converted from all your crimes, that they may be no cause of guilt for you. Cast away from you all the crimes you have committed, and make for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. Why should you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies, says the Lord God. Return and live! (Ezekiel 18:29-32)

John Mallon is a Contributing Editor to Inside the Vatican magazine. He also has regular columns on the websites Catholic.Org and TheFactIs.Org. An archive of Mr. Mallon's work also appears at petersvoice.com. You can reach Mr. Mallon at johnmallon@insidethevatican.com

Homosexuality is not a gift from God; God didnt make me this way. How i react to my disordered sexuality, however, can be a gift from God. God uses all evil as opportunities to draw us near Him. Homosexuality is a cross that was imprinted upon me, probably from birth; it was a burden of confusion, fear, anger and hatred that hung around my neck, like a proverbial albatross, for the first 40 years of my life. For all my fighting and rejecting, it never left me, it cant, it's what I am, but not who I am.

I didnt discover who I was, until i reached 40 and no longer had the strength to carry on. I had 2 choices, accept life as a gay man and reject God, or reject the gay lifestyle and live chastely embracing my cross and offering myself to God's mercy; i chose the latter; it was simple really, shall i choose death or life? Through the cross of homosexuality, God gave me the grace to see His truth and the courage to desire His love.

I say desire, because my conversion, like anyones conversion, is a lifelong conversion filled with many dangerous obstacles, diversions and detours and so I strive to cooperate with God's will by offering him my disordered passions without complaint.

The Allegory of Painting

Johannes Vermeer (baptized October 31, 1632, died December 15, 1675)



The Milkmaid (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam) (c. 1658)




Woman Holding a Balance (National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.) (1665)




Christ in the House of Martha and Mary (National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh) (1654-1655)




The Allegory of Painting (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna) (1666-1667)

Culture of Death

Mesa Arizona woman, charged on suspicion of second degree murder and child abuse, who says she did'nt know she was pregnant, drowns and throws away her newborn son.

Pray for her and her son, Jeremy Lee Davidson.

story here

This one began to build but did not have the resources to finish

Following is an excerpt from a commentary by Scott McDermott published in the December 17, 2005 edition of the National Catholic Register, titled:

WHY I THANK GOD I COULD'NT BE A PRIEST

"...The Catechism of the Catholic Church (No. 2358) teaches that Catholics who experience unwanted same-sex attraction, like those afflicted with any other cross whatsoever, can offer up their sufferings for the good of the Church and the salvation of others. But this does not mean, as the recent Vatican document makes clear, that people with “deep-seated” homosexual attractions are capable of exercising the ministerial priesthood.

In our culture, we have developed the absurd habit of seeing vocation in terms of rights. But “equality before the law” does not mean that everyone is equally capable of fulfilling every role in our society. The priesthood is not an entitlement, it is a calling; God gives some men, and not others, the requisite gifts to live out the priesthood.

Indeed, a moment's thought should convince anyone that this is true of every vocation, not just priesthood. Someone who panics at the sound of gunfire must not be sent into combat. People who faint at the sight of blood should not become surgeons. Narcoleptics should not be night watchmen. And so forth.

This is not discrimination. It is simple realism. It is God's deep knowledge of us, calling us to true self-knowledge, the prerequisite of wisdom..."

rest of story here (sub only)

Jesuit Priest "Comes Out" & Gets Ripped A New One

Yet, another devilish tactic; pitting priest against priest; following is a shameful commentary on our priests and the war against the culture of death.

On Sunday, November 4th, Rev. Thomas Brennan, S.J., revealed publicly to a parish at St. Joseph University in Philadelphia that he was a homosexual. The priest chose to “come out” during a so-called “Diversity Week” allegedly dedicated to honoring Jesuit founder, St. Ignatius Loyola.

OUT OF THE CLOSET

By John-Henry Westen PHILADELPHIA, November 5, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) -

Before a packed church of some 400 on the campus of the famed St. Joseph's University, Father Thomas J. Brennan announced that he is homosexual. During the Mass he spoke of his homosexuality as one of "the worst kept secrets" on campus. He failed however to mention that homosexual acts are considered intrinsically evil by the Catholic Church.

Fr. Brennan, S.J., is an Assistant Professor of English at the University, who on his website lists "lesbian and gay studies" under "general fields of professional interest".The announcement came at the 10pm Mass to a congregation of mostly students and a smattering of alumni.

The announcement could not have come at a worse time for the Jesuit University founded in 1851. This week, Jesuits throughout the world commemorate their founding father St. Ignatius and the many holy men who have lived and died in the order established by him.

However, this year, the University has, according to a comment by Frank Morris, Executive Director of the Office of Mission in the campus newspaper, dedicated Ignatian week to race and diversity. Yet the University was unwilling to comment on the incident. LifeSiteNews.com received two calls from the communications office of the university both seeking more information on a request for comment but no comment was made by deadline. A call to Fr. Brennan's office was also left unreturned. The Archdiocese of Philadelphia also did not respond to a request for comment.

Matt Archbold, who runs the Creative Minority Resport blog with his brother Patrick, was in attendance at the Mass on Sunday. Archbold told LifeSiteNews.com that reaction from the congregation at the Mass was "extraordinarily understated. "Archbold, an alumnus of St. Joseph's, suggested that suspicions on campus related to Fr. Brennan's homosexuality may have been due to his having written a chapter in the book "Jesuit Postmodern" which was entitled "A Tale of Two Comings Out: Priest and Gay on a Catholic Campus."

To express concerns to the Archdiocese of Philadelphia contact:

OFFICE OF CARDINAL RIGALI
222 North 17th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103-1299215-587-3800
archbish@adphila.org

Rev. Timothy R. Lannon, S.J.President
Saint Joseph's University5600 City AvenuePhiladelphia, PA 19131-1395
tlannon@sju.edu

In response to Fr. Brennan's coming out, is an open letter from Fr. Thomas Euteneuer of Human Life International:

Homosexual Jesuit Needs Refresher Course in Priestly Love

Dear Father Brennan,

Faithful Catholics are so accustomed to being scandalized by Jesuit priests and universities these days that your public announcement of your same sex attraction during the Mass last Sunday does not really surprise any of us. It does, however, increase the indignation that people of faith have toward such shameless displays of clerical irresponsibility like this. There is something just plain wrong about abusing people’s trust in the priesthood in such a public way, and since you chose to “go public” with this matter, a public response to your outrageous “outing” is merited.

First of all, Holy Mass is not a forum for your self-expression. You chose the sacred liturgy and the pulpit reserved for preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ as the launching pad for your personal testament to homosexuality, when by your own admission this was hardly a secret to anyone. One wonders if you would have inflicted details of your personal life on a friend while officiating at his wedding or any other sacred occasion. The effect would be the same: the derailing of the focus of attention from the host to you. You’ve read the same documents I’ve read about the liturgy, and all of them say the Mass is not your personal stage.

Secondly, since you brought up the matter of sexuality, please consider what the sacrament of Holy Orders represents. A priest is “another Christ” (alter Christus), both sacramentally and existentially. That means the priest witnesses in his very body and person the Bridegroom who loved His wife (the Church) giving Himself up to death for her (Eph 5:25). In light of that, what, specifically, do you as a homosexual man witness? I am not talking about celibacy here. That is a form of Christian chastity to which you and I are called, and I trust that you are faithful to it. I am asking a more direct question about the sacramental witness of your gift of sexuality. A heterosexual celibate renounces his natural desire for wife and children in order to serve the Bride of Christ in a direct spousal relationship. A homosexual celibate renounces an unholy desire for members of the same sex: that is a renunciation of a disorder, not the embrace of a Bride.

When even a celibate priest chooses to go public about his homosexual identity as an expression of “diversity” or “pride,” the faithful are rightfully confused and scandalized. Not only do you owe them an apology, you owe them a better example of priesthood. They deserve a priest who is clear about the Church’s teaching on homosexual acts and who teaches it unambiguously. They need a priest who personally witnesses the same teaching without feeling the need to make statements about himself or inserting ideology into the Gospel. If you do not clearly witness the Church’s teaching about your own vocation, how can you teach others to be faithful to theirs?

I would ask you, in the Name of Jesus, to go back to your congregation and offer them a renewed witness to your masculine love for Christ’s Bride the Church. Assure them that you will defend them in a manly way from all wolves that attack them, Jesuit or otherwise, and that you will be a strong and loving father for all their needs, not a man pre-occupied with his own orientation.

If you are unwilling to do that, I recommend that you make a thirty-day Ignatian retreat at Tyburn, England, where dozens of your Jesuit brethren were hung, drawn and quartered in the English Reformation—all for the sake of Christ’s Bride. That would be a good refresher course in both theology and priestly love.

Sincerely Yours in Christ,


Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer,
President, Human Life International

The End Is Near

We had children's mass in the 70's and hippie songs like Kumbaya were a staple. Hopefully, that's about to come to an end,as the pope desires an end to modern music and a return to traditional catholic music. BRAVO!

Fr. Francis Mary Stone, MFVA

A few weeks ago, the following announcement, from Fr. Stone of EWTN's Life On The Rock, was broadcast that Fr. Stone was taking a leave of absence to discern his vocation. Pray for him and all our priests and religious.

"Dear Family Regretfully, I have a message that does not come without significant pain to both you and me. I have to tell you in all honesty and truth, that I have been personally involved with helping a widow and her struggling family. Over the course of time, the mother and I have grown very close. As a result, I am compelled to take some time off to prayerfully and honestly discern my future. I am truly sorry of the impact this may have on so many. I am not unaware of the gravity and magnitude of the situation, yet after much wise counsel, it is really something that I must deal with now for the good of all. With that said, it is best that I deal with it away from EWTN. Therefore, I have asked for and graciously been granted some extended time to prayerfully discern my vocation. To those who are part of the EWTN family locally, and others throughout the world, especially all those who have supported me so faithfully in my priestly vocation and ministry here on Life on the Rock, I sincerely apologize. I ask for your prayers and understanding during this time that is so very difficult, but yet so very necessary. Please lift me up in your humble prayers to Jesus through Mary, our Mother, in Grace and Mercy. Fr Francis Mary, MFVA"

Fr Anthony Mary then said "Brothers and Sisters of our EWTN family, this is a time in which Fr Francis and all involved are in great need of your prayers and your support as our family. Always remember that no one is beyond the power of God's Mercy or Redemption. And on Fr's behalf, I humbly ask that you pray for him. God bless you."

Following is a statement from Father John Trigilio:

"Father Francis is indeed in my prayers. We were taught a saying when I entered the high school minor seminary in 1976, There but for the grace of God, go I. This means that we are all in need of prayer and in need of divine grace. Father Francis needs our prayers and so do all priests. All of us are tempted from time to time. All of us have weaknesses, vunerabilities, and our own demons. We know too well that we all make mistakes, are imperfect and have numerous idiosyncrasies since many cannot wait to point them out to us. Original Sin produced concupiscence which plagues every human being who has a wounded human nature. Only Our Lady and Our Blessed Savior had been spared this due to the miracles of the Immaculate Conception and the Incarnation. The rest of us men and women have to fight the good fight which is more often a battle inside ourselves and with ourselves, i.e., our own desires.

I have great respect and admiration for the good work done by Father Francis. I consider him a friend as well as a brother priest. I pledge my continued prayers for him. I remind him that his vows of holy orders made at diaconate and renewed at priesthood covenanted him to the Church as his spouse. He may have fallen in love with a woman but he is in one sense already spoken for, i.e., despite the vow of chastity and the promise of celibacy, he is married insofar as Ordination made him an alter Christus. As such, he and all priests have the same bride as does Christ. Holy Mother Church is the Bride of Christ, His spotless spouse, and we priests who are ordained as an alter Christus to act in persona Christi, have the same bride.

If a married man falls in love with another woman, whether she is married, single or widowed, he is still covenanted to his original wife. He made a promise to be true to her 'for better or for worse ... until death.' Likewise, a priest in the Latin (Roman rite) Church makes an oath of celibacy because he takes as his bride the bride of Christ. The Church, which is the parish, the diocese, the religious community, and indeed is also the universal church around the globe, is the spouse of every ordained priest.

Even if he discovers it was a mistake and he should not have been ordained or that he should not have taken solemn vows (poverty, chastity and obedience), like the married man (who may or may not have children from this marriage), he is still in a commitment which binds him for life. If there was an impediment to that covenant, then an annulment of matrimony or of holy orders can take place. Usually, however, it is more the case of the human heart finding someone at the wrong time and in the wrong place.

It does not mean that love is wrong. Human love is natural and is holy when it conforms to God's Will. The higher love of God, however, is rooted in the covenant and commitment we make to Him and before Him, as when a bride and groom get married or when a man gets ordained or when a person takes final vows and commits himself to consecrated religious life.

I can feel for Father Francis and can understand, at least a priori (and not a posteriori since I have never fallen in love with someone after being ordained) what it must be like to have those feelings. I urge Father Francis and all my brother priests, however, to remember the covenant commitment we made the day of our ordination or the day you took your final vows. God's grace can overcome even our imprudent decisions and yes even our bad judgments. Be open to divine grace and to the working of the Holy Spirit and you will be able to return to the path to which you belong. We all have second thoughts and some regrets along the way. We all imagine what it might be like 'on the other side,' as they say. But we must do what we can where we are now.

Father Francis is my brother priest and I promise him my support and prayers as I have with classmates and schoolmates throughout my 19 years of priesthood. I urge him to renew his first choice to embrace a consecrated life within the Church as an ordained priest of Jesus Christ. He may always love this woman but real love means wanting the best, i.e., willing good, to the other. The best she can have is a holy and complete relationship with Christ and within His Church. Many men have had to let their 'beloved' go so as to persue a more sublime and at times elusive lover. The Church may not give us a hug or a kiss; she may not whisper in our ear or laugh at our jokes; she may not cry in our arms nor tickle our feet. Nonetheless, the Church loves every priest as much if not more than any faithful, loving and devoted wife. The Church, local and universal, is our bride and she must always be our first and our only true love in the romantic sense of the term."God be with you Father Francis. We are praying for you and know that Our Lord, His Blessed Mother and your guardian angel will never let you down. GODSPEED."

Gentle Giants

Twin pandas born November 23, 2007 at the Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Center, Hubei province, China

A Collective Of Nouns

An Angst of Dissertations
An Oxymoron of Athletic Scholarships
A Clutch of Car Mechanics
A Conspiracty of Cryptologists
A Bark of Cynics
An Oversight of Deans
A Tabula Rasa of Empiricists
An Essence of Existentialists
A Discord of Experts
A Conjunction of Grammarians
A Thicket of Idiots
A Premise of Logicians
A Transcendence of Metaphysicians
A Summa of Thomists
A Troubling of Goldfish
A Shrewdness of Apes
A Singular of Boars
A Coalition of Cheetahs
A Labour of Moles
A Crash of Rhinoceroses
A Convocation of Eagles
An Exultation of Larks
An Unkindness of Ravens
A Murmuration of Starlings

more

Murder In A Small Town

I shall never have children; I have married friends & relatives who have struggled to become pregnant, others who have navigated the adoption process, successfully and unsuccessfully.

I have no adjectives in my vocabulary to describe how sickened I am to hear stories like that of Baby Grace, a 2 year old who was killed by her pregnant mother snd stepfather, for failing to say "please" "yes sir" and "no sir".

Pray for her parents and for baby Riley Ann Sawyers

(CNN) -- Before dying, 2-year-old Riley Ann Sawyers was beaten with belts, picked up by her hair, thrown across the room and held under water, according to an affidavit from the Galveston County Sheriff's Office.

Police believe 2-year-old Riley Ann Sawyers is "Baby Grace."

The affidavit says the girl's mother, Kimberly Dawn Trenor, described to police how her daughter died and was put in a plastic storage box that Trenor and her husband, Royce Zeigler, later dumped into a Galveston waterway.

Trenor told police Zeigler tried to commit suicide the weekend before Thanksgiving, and wrote a note that said, "My wife is innocent of the sins that I committed."

The body of the then-unidentified toddler was found on October 29. A fisherman found Riley's body stuffed inside a blue storage container that washed up on an uninhabited island in Galveston's West Bay.

A medical examiner said the child's skull was fractured, and a forensic dentist estimated her age at 2 to 3 years.

Police dubbed the child "Baby Grace." A police artist's sketch of her was widely circulated in the news media and prompted a call to Galveston police from Riley's grandmother in Ohio, who had not seen the girl in months.

On Saturday, police arrested Trenor and Zeigler on charges of injuring a child and tampering with physical evidence, the sheriff's department said. Their bonds were set at $350,000 each.

The affidavit, obtained by CNN, says when police interviewed Trenor on November 23, she "gave a voluntary statement on video with her attorney present in which she describes her involvement, with Royce Zeigler, in the physical abuse, death and disposal of the remains of her daughter, Riley Ann Sawyers."

Trenor's statement said on July 24, she and Zeigler both beat the child with leather belts and held her head under water in the bathtub. She said Zeigler picked the girl up by her hair and also threw her across the room, slamming her head into the tile floor.

After her daughter died, Trenor's statement said, she and Zeigler went to a Wal-Mart that night and bought the Sterilite container, a shovel, concrete mix, and other supplies.

The statement said the box containing the child's body was hidden in a storage shed for "one to two months." Then, Trenor said, she and Zeigler carried it to the Galveston Causeway and tossed it in, and she saw it drifting away.

Riley Ann's father, Robert Sawyers, on Monday tearfully remembered her as a "fun-loving girl ... with a big imagination."

Riley was "very active, very hyper, but also very well-behaved," Sawyers told reporters in Mentor, Ohio.

She would play "with a water hose ... spraying the whole patio soaking wet until she was done with it," he said, as he sat behind two photographs of his daughter, a toddler with wispy blond curls.

Robert Sawyers' mother, Sheryl Sawyers, said the family was "devastated" to learn that police believe Riley is dead.

"It's hard to think that I'll never see her again," she said, clutching a red Elmo doll she had planned to give Riley for Christmas.

Maj. Ray Tuttoilmondo of the Galveston County Sheriff's Department said Monday that authorities are "fairly confident" that the toddler whose body was found on October 29 is Riley Ann Sawyers.

DNA analysis is still in progress to confirm the identification. The results will be available in two to three weeks, Tuttoilmondo said.

Tuttoilmondo said Riley is originally from Mentor, Ohio, a Cleveland suburb, and that "she and her mother came down to Texas earlier this year."

The toddler was last seen in Texas "three or four months ago," Tuttoilmondo said, although he did not know by whom.

Tuttoilmondo said police did investigate whether Child Protective Services had taken Riley away, something the mother had reportedly alleged. Of that report, Tuttoilmondo said, "What we believe is that is not what happened."

The affidavit said Trenor admitted that after the body was found, Zeigler had her type up a fake letter from the Ohio Department of Children's Services saying that Riley was to be taken away.

Trenor left Ohio in late May, after filing an allegation of domestic violence against Robert Sawyers and reaching a joint voluntary agreement that gave her custody of Riley and gave Robert Sawyers visitation rights, the Sawyers' family lawyer said Monday.

"She disappeared," Laura DePledge said Monday at the Ohio news conference with the Sawyers.

Sheryl Sawyers said Monday that she saw widely distributed police sketches of "Baby Grace" and contacted Galveston police in November. The girl in the police sketches strongly resembles photos of Riley.

"No, I never did think it would end up like this," Sheryl Sawyers said Monday, eyes welling. "I guess knowing is better than not knowing."

The girl's family in Ohio has been "very helpful" in this case, Tuttoilmondo said, adding that the FBI and a Galveston County police officer visited the family in Ohio on Sunday.

DePledge said Riley was the product of a "teenage pregnancy." Trenor and Robert Sawyers were together for two years as a result of the pregnancy, DePledge said, during which time they lived with Sheryl Sawyers.

DePledge said Monday that the family, whose grief she described as "simply overwhelming," wants Riley's body returned to Ohio for a memorial service. "What Riley needs is to be brought home," she said. "I think this family needs some closure."

Tuttoilmondo asked anyone who knew the child or her family to help detectives reconstruct the events of Riley's short life.

The toddler's case has touched even hardened police officers, he said. "Any way you look at it, we carry a piece of her with us, and we'll always carry a little piece of her with us," he said Monday.

He held up a small, pink-and-white shoe identical to those the child was wearing when she was found. "That says it all. A little-bitty shoe."

Update here

What's It Gonna Cost?

By DAN NEPHIN, Associated Press Writer (Yahoo News)
Mon Nov 26, 4:07 AM ET

PITTSBURGH - While the origins of the Christmas carol "The Twelve Days of Christmas" may be a mystery, one thing is certain: It's getting more costly to buy your true love all the items mentioned.

It would cost $78,100 to buy the 364 items, from a single partridge in a pear tree to the 12 drummers drumming, repeatedly on each day as the song suggests, according to the annual PNC Christmas Price Index compiled by PNC Wealth Management. The cost is up 4 percent from $75,122 last year.

Buying each item in the song just once would cost $19,507, up 3.1 percent from last year's $18,921. And shopping online would be costlier, with the total for the 364 items costing $128,886, up 2.5 percent from last year's $125,767. You would spend $31,249 online for each item just once this year.

Though a humorous look, PNC said the index mirrors actual economic trends. PNC has been calculating the cost of Christmas since 1984.

Helping push the cost up this year is the minimum wage hike, which bumped the cost of eight maids a-milking from about $41 to nearly $47.

"They have not had an increase since 1997," said Jim Dunigan, managing executive of investment for PNC Wealth Management. "The good news is, if you're a maids a-milking, they will also see an increase in 2008 and 2009."

Higher food costs pushed the six geese a-laying from $300 to $360. And reflecting higher gold prices, those five gold rings will cost $395, up 21.5 percent from last year's $325.

"The cost of the gold rings in this year's Christmas Price Index reflects the general trend of increasing commodity prices in the Consumer Price Index, including gold," Dunigan said. "In addition, increased fears about inflation and the value of the dollar may have led investors to turn to gold as a safer place to invest their money."

Not everything is more costly. The price of a partridge ($15), two turtle doves ($40) and three French hens ($40) remained the same, as did seven swans a-swimming, at $4,200, and nine ladies dancing, at $4,759.

PNC checks jewelry stores, dance companies, pet stores and other sources to compile the list, Dunigan said.

If one had $78,000 to splurge for Christmas, there's "probably a Mercedes or a Hummer in there someplace," Dunigan said. "The key there is you'd lose the romantic value."

"I'm sure there's something on the list for everybody," he said. "If it was my wife, she'd probably go for five gold rings."

As for the origins of the carol, which has been around for hundreds of years, some contend the song was a coded way to teach aspects of Catholicism. According to such claims, the six geese a-laying represent the six days of creation and the 10 lords a-leaping represent the 10 Commandments.

Snopes.com, an Internet urban legend-debunking Web site, says there's no substantive evidence that the carol was used to preserve tenets of Catholicism.

On the Net:

PNC Christmas Price Index

PNC Financial Services Group

Snopes' Twelve Days page

Fr. John Riccardo, Where Are You?

http://olgcparish.net/frjohn.php

Beet No. 5

Needin' some Beet today

The Human Dilemma

"To be or not to be, that is the question;
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing, end them. To die, to sleep;
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to — 'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep;
To sleep, perchance to dream. Ay, there's the rub,
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come,
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause. There's the respect
That makes calamity of so long life,
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
Th'oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely,
The pangs of despised love, the law's delay,
The insolence of office, and the spurns
That patient merit of th'unworthy takes,
When he himself might his quietus make
With a bare bodkin? who would fardels bear,
To grunt and sweat under a weary life,
But that the dread of something after death,
The undiscovered country from whose bourn
No traveller returns, puzzles the will,
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of?
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all,
And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought,
And enterprises of great pitch and moment
With this regard their currents turn awry,
And lose the name of action."

Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, Act III, Scene I, Wm. Shakespeare



Ferdinand Victor Eugène Delacroix

Divine Dividend

"Late have I loved Thee, O Beauty so ancient and so new; late have I loved Thee! For behold Thou wert within me, and I outside; and I sought Thee outside and in my unloveliness fell upon those lovely things that Thou has made. Thou wert with me and I was not with Thee. I was kept from Thee by those things, yet had they not been in Thee, they would not have been at all. Thou didst call and cry to me and break open my deafness: and Thou didst sent forth Thy beams and shine upon me and chase away my blindness: Thou didst breathe fragrance upon me, and I drew in my breath and do now pant for Thee: Thou didst touch me, and I have burned for Thy peace" - Saint Augustine, Confessions

Sandro Botticelli

The Solemnity of our Lord Jesus Christ the King

"Jesus of Nazareth...is so intrinsically king that the title ‘king’ has actually become his name. By calling ourselves Christians, we label ourselves as followers of the king... God did not intend Israel to have a kingdom. The kingdom was a result of Israel’s rebellion against God... The law was to be Israel’s king, and through the law, God himself... God yielded to Israel’s obstinacy and so devised a new kind of kingship for them. The King is Jesus; in him God entered humanity and espoused it to himself. This is the usual form of the divine activity in relation to mankind. God does not have a fixed plan that he must carry out; on the contrary, he has many different ways of finding man and even of turning his wrong ways into right ways... The feast of Christ the King is therefore not a feast of those who are subjugated, but a feast of those who know that they are in the hands of the one who writes straight on crooked lines." - Pope Benedict XVI

I AM BEOWULF!

Beowulf kicks serious demon ass!

Warning: gratuitous male nudity (no full frontal though), gratuitous blood and gore, gratuitous demon seduction, gratuitous battles with demons.

Check out the trailer:

Happy Thanksgiving!

Such Stuff As Dreams Are Made Of

"Our revels now are ended. These our actors,
As I foretold you, were all spirits, and
Are melted into air, into thin air:
And like the baseless fabric of this vision,
The cloud-capp'd tow'rs, the gorgeous palaces,
The solemn temples, the great globe itself,
Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve,
And, like this insubstantial pageant faded,
Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff
As dreams are made on; and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep."

Shakespeare The Tempest Act 4 Scene 1

Let It Be

Excerpt from today's reading from the second Book of Maccabees 7:1, 20-31

..." I do not know how you came into existence in my womb; it was not I who gave you the breath of life, nor was it I who set in order the elements of which each of you is composed. Therefore, since it is the Creator of the universe who shapes each man's beginning, as he brings about the origin of everything, he, in his mercy, will give you back both breath and life, because you now disregard yourselves for the sake of his law."...

..."look at the heavens and the earth and see all that is in them; then you will know that God did not make them out of existing things; and in the same way the human race came into existence. Do not be afraid of this executioner, but be worthy of your brothers and accept death, so that in the time of mercy I may receive you again with them."

Memorial Feast The Presentation Of The Virgin At The Temple

Scenes from the Life of the Virgin: Presentation of the Virgin at the Temple by Domenico Ghirlandaio 1486-1490 Fresco Florence, Santa Maria Novella, Cappella Tornabuoni

Religious parents never fail by devout prayer to consecrate their children to the divine service and love, both before and after their birth. Some amongst the Jews, not content with this general consecration of their children, offered them to God in their infancy, by the hands of the priests in the temple, to be lodged in apartments belonging to the temple, and brought up in attending the priests and Levites in the sacred ministry. It is an ancient tradition, that the Blessed Virgin Mary was thus solemnly offered to God in the temple in her infancy.[1] This festival of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin, or, as it is often called by the Greeks, the entrance of the Blessed Virgin into the Temple, is mentioned in the most ancient Greek Menologies extant.

more from EWTN

Reader comment on Chastity

An interesting comment, by reader, Rich, in response to this post by Ignorant Redneck Rants

Chastity does NOT mean NO SEX (despite the general and incorrect popular understanding).

Chasity as a concept, and derivatively and consequentially as a practice, minimally addreses BOTH how to have sex AND how NOT to have sex in accordance with God's will.

Each are challenging - albeit different.

For instance, should you in a moment of lust have sex with your wife with a condom and with the primary intent to, "get your rocks off," then you have deeply offended chastity.

The culture would say, "no way," as you had sex in marriage, so its OK.

Wrong.

You satiated your lust via your wife, treating her as a "piece of meat," (and this would remain true without the condom) without regard for her soul and also without regard for for God's participation and ultimate decision in the result of that sexual act.

This is so because the concept of Chastity assumes openess to God's will in the result any sexual union.

And God's will in regard to sex is the creation of new life - in His image and in His time.

We like to think sex is different because it feels good.

Its not.

We want the "feel good" while denying God His "feel good;" namely the creation of new life in His image.

As a second example, say you have decided not to have sex.

Nonetheless you masturbate.

In practicing mastubatory sex you have used and received the pleasure of God's gift of sexual ability.

You have also denied God any possibility (outside of miraculous action) of creating new life in His image.

As mentioned above the concept and practice of chastity addresses both a life with sexual acts, without sexual acts and perhaps, as appropriate, a mixture of the two.

But wherever you may be in life, the decision to create new life is God's alone.

When we act to thwart that possibility we offend chasity.

Thus all solo sex and same-sex sex acts of any kind are wrong as they close the door to cooperating with God in creating new life.

Ditto with sex in marriage that denies the opportunity for life.

We may make the above choices.

We have free will.

But such choice have adverse consequences.

Just ask the Shakers or those "surviving" abortion.

God could have created new human life without us.

He chose not to do so.

Instead He created us such that we may participate in the creation of new life with Him through the sex act.

But again, the ultimate decision in creating new life is God's.

If you think this isn't so, just witness the pain of a couple that cannot, despite all science, conceive.

So - be chaste - as God wants it done.

The Sinking of the Whaleship Essex

Today in 1820, The Essex was struck by a sperm whale and sand 2,000 miles off South America; partly inspiring Herman Melville's Moby Dick.

Article

God's Mercy

Vid I skeeved from RECON

Homily Discovery # 2

From Fr. Martin Fox at Bonfire of the Vanities


"Do you want to be like Me?" (Sunday homily)

When you see a movie about “Armageddon”
or “Judgment Day,” it’s all explosions and nightmares.

And yet, what did the Lord just tell us?
“Do not be terrified.”

When I think about trying to be calm
in the face of terrible events,
I think of one of my favorite saints,
Father Maximilian Kolbe, from Poland.

Early in his life, he had a vision of our Lady,
in which he was offered a choice between two crowns—one white, one red.
The white meant a life of purity; the red, to be a martyr.

He told the Blessed Mother he would accept both.
He was 12 years old!

But that is exactly what happened.
He became a Franciscan priest; he was very successful:
he formed a movement to promote devotion to our Lady,
and he traveled the world, setting up monasteries.

Then came the storm clouds of Hitler and war.
He was arrested and shipped to Auschwitz.

One day, the Nazis rounded up men to be executed.
One man pleaded for his life,
and Father Maximilian stepped forward and said,
“I will take his place.”

My point is, here was a man
who saw his world come to an end,
as much as anyone could;
he certainly had reason to be terrified.

If we get laid off; bills pile up; our health goes sour.
These, too, are terrifying.
If Saint Maximilian knew peace—in that hell on earth—what about us?
Can we know peace in our situation?

Speaking of “Judgment Day”—
if we find that frightening,
isn’t it because we fear we won’t pass the test?

We might wonder what “test” we will face.
Well, we won’t “pass” because we’re smart;
nor will we “pass” because of the good works we have.

No, it’s a lot simpler than that.
Judgment Day is like looking in a mirror.
We will be asked, Are we like Jesus?
The answer is “yes”…or “no.”

I don’t know about you,
but today, I am long way from saying “yes.”

Well, in that Judgment Day exam,
there’s a second question.
If you’re not yet like Jesus…do you want to be?

Again, that’s a “yes” or “no.”
If “yes”—then Purgatory;
If “no”—then all that is left is hell.

But here’s the thing: we cannot wait until then.
This is the question we work on, right now!

This is where we realize what a blessing
we have in our Catholic Faith.
The Lord has given us the way to become like him:
he founded the Church,
his guides the pope and bishops in leading us,
and he gives us the sacraments, above all, the Mass.

In each sacrament—above all the Mass—
we have a direct encounter with Christ himself,
and he gives us his own, divine power to change!

So in confession, we come and tell the Lord,
“I messed up every possible way!”
What does he do? He forgives completely! Totally!
And he gives you his grace to change.

“But why do I have to keep coming back?”
Because the coming-back is how we change.

This leads us to the awesome reality of the Mass.
As a younger man, before I was a priest—
I wasn’t a particularly good Catholic.
And I didn’t like coming to Mass.

See, I knew the Mass
was Jesus offering himself for my sins;
I knew he was challenging me to change,
but I wasn’t ready…
so I couldn’t come to communion.

Every Mass was a little Judgment Day—
and I didn’t like that.
But really, consider what a mercy that is!

At the climax of the Mass,
the priest lifts up the Lord Jesus himself, and says,
“This is the Lamb of God,
who takes away the sins of the world;
happy are those who are called to his Supper.”
The answer is, everyone is called, but not all are ready:
Not all have even heard;
Not all are ready to be baptized;
Still others have heard, but are considering if they can say a full “yes” to all the Lord asks.

That goes for us who are Catholics;
We aren’t always ready to say a full “yes.”

But as I say—the mini-Judgment Day at each Mass
is not condemnation, but mercy.

Jesus asks us, “Do you want to be like me?”
In the Eucharist, in himself, he shows us the Mirror;
and he offers the Remedy.

Homily Discovery

From Crossed The Tiber

The Ultimate Contraception by Fr. B. Ezaki of Church of Notre Dame of Bethlehem, PA

"While studying philosophy in seminary, my classmates and I were taught a Latin dictum which, in hindsight, has proven to be extremely useful:

Quidquid recipitur secundum modum recipientis recipitur.

Translation: Whatever is received is received according to the mode of the receiver. What does it mean? It means precisely this: Whatever we receive in life depends, not only on what is given to us, but also upon our openness to receive. A very powerful insight indeed! I think this is partly what Jesus meant when He said (Luke 6:38), “The measure you measure with will be measured back to you.” Let me give you an illustration.

When I was about seventeen years old, my sister Carol was about eleven. She was, at that time, not what you would call a happy camper. She was, in fact, rather miserable on many occasions, and the rest of us in the family were not exactly sure why. All we knew for certain was that she was not someone we wanted to be around.

Well, that year for Christmas, I gave Carol a stocking stuffer. It was a little booklet of gift certificates from Friendly’s Restaurant. The booklet contained five certificates, and each certificate was worth one dollar. (OK, so I’m not a big spender!) Some clever advertising expert at Friendly’s had entitled the booklet Five Ways to Be Friendly. There were five gift certificates, and thus there were five ways to be friendly.

When my little sister looked into her stocking on Christmas morning and saw what I had given her—a booklet entitled Five ways to Be Friendly—what do you think she did? She jumped to the hasty conclusion that I had given her a booklet on etiquette! The poor girl immediately flew into a hissy-fit: “Bernard, why would you give me something like this on Christmas?” she cried. “Are you trying to tell me I’m not friendly? Who are you to tell me how to behave?” I thought to myself: “Cased closed! If the shoe fits, Honey, wear it!” (Incidentally, this was one of those “Ahah” moments in my life, and I’ve had many, when I realized that maybe celibacy wouldn’t be all that bad after all! Perhaps I have my sister Carol to thank, at least in part, for my priesthood.)

Here is the point: I had given Carol a Christmas gift that I intended to be an occasion of joy for her. Yet because of her sour disposition, it became an occasion of anger, bitterness, and accusation. Quidquid recipitur secundum modum recipientis recipitur. Whatever is received is received according to the mode of the receiver. What we receive in life depends, not only on what is given, but also on our disposition to receive.

By the way, I have five siblings; and of those five siblings, I am now closest to my little sister Carol. She had to go through a whole lot of suffering in her life, but she is a really good person today.

Now let me say something about the Holy Eucharist, and we shall see how our Latin dictum applies. In John 6:54-59, Jesus says:


“Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink his blood, you shall not have life in you. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has life everlasting and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh, and drinks my blood, abides in me and I in him. As the living Father has sent me, and as I live because of the Father, so he who eats me, he also shall live because of me. This is the bread that has come down from heaven; not as your fathers ate the manna, and died. He who eats this bread shall live forever.”


It is clear that Our Lord intends the Eucharist to be a source of life for us. He has a good intention, just like my intention to give my sister Carol a nice gift for Christmas. Yet I wonder: How often does my disposition to receive Jesus render my reception of Holy Communion, not an occasion of life, but, rather, an occasion of sin and even of death? Am I like my sister Carol? Do I take Jesus’ good intentions in the Eucharist and twist them to my own undoing?

Do you remember the words to the old Communion hymn?


And humbly I’ll receive thee,

The Bridegroom of my soul,

No more by sin to grieve thee,

Or fly thy sweet control.


The mystics tell us that Christ is the Bridegroom of every Christian soul. When we receive our Lord Jesus in Holy Communion, we have the opportunity to be impregnated by Jesus and bear His life. That’s how Saint Bonaventure puts it. He says we are “impregnated” by the power of the Holy Spirit. When we receive Jesus worthily in the Blessed Sacrament, Our Lord comes to us in a manner more intimate than any husband ever could. He offers the privilege of being impregnated by the Holy Spirit and of bearing His life.

Now listen up, mes ami: Here I must confess that I have very much in common with couples who practice birth control, and with the women who go to abortion clinics. Like them, I am afraid of being pregnant. I am afraid to take on the responsibility of bearing Christ’s life within me. Thus I practice a kind of spiritual birth control, what I call the ultimate contraception. How have I done this? To be blunt, I have allowed myself to embrace Jesus in Holy Communion: (1) while using a barrier, (2) after having taken the pill, (3) while being sick in my soul, and (4) while intending to have an abortion.

First: the barrier. Every time I make material possessions and the cares of this world my primary focus, it is as if I allow Christ to embrace me in Holy Communion all the while keeping possessions and worries as a barrier between the Spouse of my soul and me. How shall I ever bear Christ’s life if I allow possessions and worries to act as barriers between Him and me? I am like a foolish bride who, on her wedding night, piles the bed high with wedding gifts and wedding bills! Thus I make true nuptial union with Christ utterly impossible.

Second: the pill. Did you know that the contraceptive pill was discovered by accident? Scientists had originally intended to create a new kind of insecticide, and they ended up creating the birth control pill! The pill is, in reality, a kind of poison. If I allow my very soul to be poisoned by the thinking of this world—by the junk I see on television and on the internet, by the garbage I hear on radio or read in books or magazines—is it any wonder that the life of Christ fails to implant itself within me?

Third: my poor health. Any woman who wishes to become pregnant tries to take good care of herself—through proper diet and exercise. Yet I often fail to take proper care of myself spiritually. I do not allow myself to be properly nourished by prayer or the sacraments. I fail to exercise my heart in charity. Then should I be surprised if the life of Christ does not grow within me?

Finally: abortion. If I receive Holy Communion while in a state of mortal sin, it is as if I deliberately abort the life of Jesus within me. How then can the life of Christ ever enter into the depths of my being? I make up all sorts of excuses for myself as to why I can sin seriously and still receive the Eucharist; but there is no excuse for doing this.

So here I ask you for a favor: When you pray for couples who are using birth control, when you pray for women who are contemplating abortions, pray also for me. For I, too, am afraid to be pregnant with the life of Christ. I, too, am frightened at the prospect of bearing Jesus’ life within me. And if what I have said about myself rings true with you—if you, like me, permit created things and worries to act as barriers between you and Jesus, if you, too, have poisoned your soul with the junk of this world, if you, also, have not maintained yourself in good spiritual health, if you, too, have aborted the life of Christ by receiving Him in Communion while in a state of mortal sin—then let us pray for one another.

Saint Paul (1 Corinthians 11:27-30) underscores the danger of receiving the Eucharist unworthily. Saint Catherine of Siena, the patroness of our diocese, echoes this concern. In her Dialogue, she tells us that, when we receive Holy Communion, it is as if our souls are candles of varying sizes. Those whose love for Christ is great have souls like very large candles. The flame of Jesus’ Eucharistic presence remains long with them. Those whose love for the Savior is slight have souls resembling very tiny candles. The fire of Christ’s love remains with them only a short while. What about those who receive the Eucharist in a state of mortal sin? Their souls are like candles whose wicks have been soaked in water. The flame of Jesus’ Eucharistic love is extinguished the very moment it touches these souls! Saint Catherine sees this as the worst sort of affront to Divine Love.

In the Most Blessed Sacrament, Our Lord promises to give us life. He says, “Whoever eats this bread will live forever.” May we receive the Eucharist as Christ meant us to receive. May this Sacrament be for us an occasion of life, not an occasion of sin and death. Quidquid recipitur secundum modum recipientis recipitur. Whatever is received is received according to the mode of the receiver. It is not only up to Jesus. It is also up to us.

God bless you."

RECONnecting to the TRUTH left a great comment to Fr. Ezaki's homily.

Thanks RECON!