Brendan O’Neill was a Catholic who now is an atheist. He nails the problems that the same-sex crowd has brought to the issue of marriage and the damage of now putting it under the realm of government with the change in how law looks at marriage. Carl Olson has written an excellent review with examples of what Mr. O’Neill discusses. The original article can be found here and it is worth reading.
I am always amazed how the social justice liberation theology crowd (messed up) and those who want to express the preference for the care of the poor (good minded) will hold up people like Cesar Chavez who was highly influenced by Alinsky community organizing and tactics that in no way represent “loving your neighbor” rather than defeat your neighbor at all costs. This biography points out those who influenced Chavez and it is worth the read.
Bergoglio's Intervention: A diagnosis of the problems in the Church
Comments of Pope Francis before his election. He sums up the situation of the Church of our time. Read the whole piece, but this quote stood out for me:
Put simply, there are two images of the Church: Church which evangelizes and comes out of herself, the Dei Verbum religiose audiens et fidente proclamans; and the worldly Church, living within herself, of herself, for herself. This should shed light on the possible changes and reforms which must be done for the salvation of souls.
MercatorNet: 2 doctors, 103 women, sterilisation quota achieved
Read the whole story above after viewing this very sad video. The Western world forces this on the rest of the world with money. They won’t use the money for education, infrastructure changes, food delivery systems, water and sewage systems. Rather, they just want to depopulate countries and let the wealthier procreate. Disgusting. Sounds like one of those programs Bill Gates would love to fund.
John Thavis | The pope's 'reform' project has already begun
How wonderful, the thought that the local Bishop attends the local liturgies daily. I have often thought it would be nice to know the Bishop on a fairly regular basis celebrates a daily Mass, say at noontime or 6PM where one could attend. We are so disconnected from our Bishops in many parts of the USA. Our only contact is in a poorly constructed diocesan newspaper full of politics and Catholic school exposes that offer nothing to the public school Catholics. Many times, the Bishop does not show up for Confirmations.
Au Contrarian: A Quarrel in a Far-Away Country between People of Whom We Know Nothing
An excellent commentary on what is going on in Cyprus and why the EU was a horrible idea. Two thoughts from the article:
This should remind residents in other countries that, first, what is theirs isn't, and second, relying on logic (e.g., "the government wouldn't do that, it would be shooting itself in the foot") is not a wise path to self-preservation.
…Those with assets in the U.S. are well aware of resourceful money grabs by the government in recent years. Theft from General Motors bondholders is an example. When the Federal Reserve is buying 100% of the U.S. Treasury issues and bond yields are rising, the U.S. government will probably apply new confiscatory taxes on savings, investments, and assets. (U.S. Treasury gold holdings will become a point of contention, to express this vaguely, at some point.)
This is a bad virus that we don’t know what the repercussions will lead towards. Interestingly, Milton Friedman was correct. He pointed out European regulations were a killer. http://euobserver.com/economic/16030
Domine, da mihi hanc aquam!: Pope Francis isn't a garden statue
I loved the title of this blog post. It won’t be long before Pope Francis joins the ranks of all of his predecessors.
It’s Holy Week 2013. What an excellent suggestion to make it count.
Sisters, Sisters, Never Were There Such Devoted Sisters | Novices
Ok, just wanted to blog this. I know the author very well. I especially like the part about the “worthless degrees”. But I think he nails it when he talks about the challenge a parent needs to face head on in assisting a son or daughter in choosing their vocation:
But there is an outright panic about the idea that one’s children might (God forbid!) study Theology (like Sr. Maura, who, in it, found her own calling.) I am not a sociologist, but I think that this is because deep down, we have been taught to think that the universe is unmerciful, that (to quote Cat Stevens) “baby, it’s a wild world”, and that if we don’t constantly war against being “irrelevant” or “unproductive” we will be stomped under its giant iron boot-heel – that the universe is based upon cruel and dead necessity, not anything like love.
FDA Abandons Cigarette Warning Fight From http://www.medpagetoday.com/PrimaryCare/Smoking/37974
The court stepped in and stopped this employment act for graphic horror show artists that would have been hired to put scary pictures on cigarettes. Thank God. Now that they won’t hire the artist, they can resume White House tours for eighth graders during sequestration.
Domine, da mihi hanc aquam!: Pope Francis: Old School Jesuit
I want a springtime of “old school Jesuits” those I grew up with, who made me love philosophical and theological discussions that always argued towards the truth. One can never be too young to be invited to the discussion. It is in such discussions one can be introduced to the proper use of language, truth and beauty.
Caddell Unloads on 'Racketeering' GOP Consultants
This is an important article to read and understand if you feel the purpose to be involved in politics is to stand for principles. Pat Caddell says it like it is because he is a patriot (a Democrat, no less).
You can see his speech at the following link, but read the above story first.
Pope Francis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
What exciting times for Catholics throughout the world and for all people of the world. Extraordinary times demand a leader who will be lead by the Spirit to go into the world proclaiming the Gospel for this time. Pope Francis, from his biography, is very pastoral to his Church. This is what we can conclude from his willingness to be close to the people professing the truth of the Gospel. No wonder he took the name Francis.
From this brief introduction to him, I would venture the notion that his ministry will be about shepherding his shepherds in setting their corporate bastions aside and reevaluating how they live among their sheep. John Paul II and Benedict XVI formed us with their excellent writings of philosophy and theology giving us a true appreciation for them. Adoration, the Liturgy are continuing to grow in the life of the faith for Catholics throughout the world. I see this in my travels to India and in my own country of the USA. They have lit a fire in the youth and the prolife movement is a youth movement as demonstrated in the West Coast Walk for Life.
Sadly, as I speak as an American Catholic, the Bishops have preferred to take a corporate approach in public policy and day to day operations of their diocese. I believe it is starting to change with the recent appointments of American bishops, but the demands of society inflamed with secularism, demand the bishops form the people and the people fight the prudential battles. The mixed messages of the nice photo ops with the President on the front pages of diocesan papers and national papers have given conflicting messages to Catholics especially within families. The allowing of “Catholic” universities to promote a culture counter to the morality taught in the Church have diluted our messages. I believe, Pope Francis, will make this the focus of his mission. Bishops must be about the needs of their diocese, not about sound bites about an economic poverty, but also about the poverty of spirit, mercy, justice and hunger for the Gospel and the Sacraments. I believe he will tell the Church to put on its walking shoes and spread the Gospel in their own backyard.
This is my hunch and my hope. I look forward to seeing how it plays out.
I like this website for the recipes, so I am blogging about it to remember it. The Paleo Diet is an answer to an easier meal planning for the family.
God in Search of Man | Catholic Answers
Found this article on the Catholics Come Home website. I think it demonstrates that we can have a discussion with anyone that is honest in talking about God. There exists in all of us the need to ponder the existence of God. Today, we are encouraged to think in sound bite, so that we won’t think at all, but react. But sooner or later, we will have ample opportunity to stop and actually ask ourselves a question or two, and hopefully, it will be around someone willing to engage in the conversation. This is a good article to read, because it will help us to understand where other people are coming from and to speak to the truths that are written in their being. No that is not a relative statement, because the truth is absolute, even if it is mixed with fantasy or folly.
Catholic Leaders Challenge “Pro-Life” Lawmakers on Gun Violence, NRA Ties | Faith in Public Life
Oh how nice, now they tie prolife to their total misunderstanding of the fact that the Second Amendment is all about the right to life. Note the usual list of liberals that it would be hard to believe voted for anyone other than Obama. I hope to see all of them at the Prolife rallies this week that underscore the disgrace of the Obama love of abortion, Planned Parenthood and the duplicity of using children to work against the 2nd Amendment built to protect their rights to life,liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Here is a link to the .pdf. http://www.faithinpubliclife.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Catholic-Stmt-on-Gun-Violence-1.23.12.pdf
Over the past five decades, we’ve moved from a culture permeated by religious faith to a culture that seems increasingly indifferent or cynical toward religion in general and Christianity in particular. Many Americans no longer claim any religious affiliation. And as Notre Dame’s distinguished social research scholar Christian Smith has shown, vast numbers of American young adults are, in effect, morally illiterate. They’re not bad people—far from it. But they lack the moral vocabulary and roots of a living religious tradition that would enable them to reason independently through complex ethical problems. They believe in God, but only in a generic, feel-good sense: God’s main job is giving them what they want when they want it.This was not because what Vatican II taught and promoted in its documents. The Archbishop points out that:
At a minimum, this implies a massive failure of catechesis and young adult ministry, not to mention personal witness, on the part of my own generation. And I don’t think many of the men and women my age in the Church are willing to admit that yet. But the results don’t lie, and now we need to deal with the consequences.
A primary goal of the Second Vatican Council was to advance the Church as the sacrament of Christ in the world. A sacrament is, as we all remember, an outward sign, instituted by Jesus, to give grace. A vibrant Church, a vigorous and mission-oriented Church, radiates the presence of Jesus to others and gives us a share of Christ’s life and love.The problem was a mix of widespread iconoclasm and a deconstruction of classic education replaced by the interpretation of knowledge by experts who sought to replace truth argued from faith and reason to a more morally relativistic platform that would rewrite what was fundamentally held in the society and that infected even the Church in the world. Both the Fr. Robert Baron video and Archbishop Chaput’s article demonstrate the solution to this problem and the reason for hope that we as a society do not have to be at a point of no return to the good. Archbishop Chaput states:
God will multiply every gift we bring unselfishly to his service, no matter how meager our abilities. But we need to let God do his miracle by letting go of ourselves, our vanities, our plans, and our assumptions.Catholics involved in the New Evangelization must remember that each person has been given the gift of the free will. God will work with us, give us what is best for us to exercise it. But we make the decision freely to say yes or no to His will. We can allow him to change our heart in our YES or to allow our heart to be hardened in its NO to Him. That is what is meant when it is said we have a FREE will. The ultimate civil snapshot of a society is the reflection where God’s will and natural law that promotes the common good is or is not playing out in the societal morality and policies. We must do what each of us can to put Christ back into play by spreading the faith one person at a time. Before becoming the Holy Father, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger said the following:
Too often in the Church we expect young adults to simply fill the empty slots of existing structures and ministries, even when some of the programs are obviously dead shells. Old methods of pastoral outreach predetermine the ways in which we employ new disciples. Then we’re surprised that nothing seems to change.
We’re frequently quick to dismiss new initiatives and ideas because “It’s not the way we do things here.” It’s “too liberal” or it’s “too conservative.” In my own experience as a bishop, I’ve been astonished at the number of campus ministers over the years who have rejected the obviously fruitful and very effective work of FOCUS—the Fellowship of Catholic University Students—for ideological reasons.
I cannot offer a magic blueprint to revivify campus ministry across the country and turn around our Church and culture in the next five years. But I know that we can’t afford to merely maintain the status quo. I know that we need visionaries, missionaries, leaders who will burn up every atom of themselves in the furnace of God’s service, so that nothing remains but the light and warmth of Jesus Christ blazing out to touch the lives of others.
Man, precisely as man, remains the same both in primitive and in technologically developed situations. He does not stand on a higher level merely because he has learned to use more highly developed tools. Mankind begins anew in every single individual. This why it is not possible for the definitively new, ideal society to exist-that society built on progress, which not only was the hope of the great ideologies, but increasingly became the general object of human hope once hope in a life after death had been dismantled. A definitely ideal society presupposes the end of freedom. But since man always remains free and begins anew in every generation, we have to struggle in each new situation to establish the right societal form. Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, (Pope Benedict XVI) Values In a Time of Upheaval, Ignatius Press, 2006 p. 25The New Evangelization is about the Common Good and we need to evangelize our youth so that they, too, will make it their mission to establish the “right societal form”.
Doris Donnelly: The Cleric Behind 'Les Mis' - WSJ.com
Go see this movie! It was beautifully directed and performed. This article highlights the true hero of the movie, a bishop who was pastoral and put the salvation of a soul ahead of all other concerns. The movie portrays that perfect justice is that which greatly tempered with mercy. Justice in the absence of mercy is revenge. We must balance the need for good order also with the need for hope to those who have lost that hope. Both are possible at all times, but demand the acts of will of all good people who are involved. The movie emphasizes the principle exercise of subsidiarity demanded of everyone. The Catechism of the Catholic Church as quoted here:
1883 Socialization also presents dangers. Excessive intervention by the state can threaten personal freedom and initiative. The teaching of the Church has elaborated the principle of subsidiarity, according to which "a community of a higher order should not interfere in the internal life of a community of a lower order, depriving the latter of its functions, but rather should support it in case of need and help to co- ordinate its activity with the activities of the rest of society, always with a view to the common good."7
From: http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p3s1c2a1.htm
Te Deum laudamus!: What is the real status of the National Catholic Reporter in the Catholic Church?
This article was very informative about the history of the paper that Fr. Z calls “fish wrap”. The National Catholic Reporter publishes some good news articles of current subjects in the Church, but it has a lot of offensive material, which leaves me hesitant to refer people to who are not well-schooled in the faith. This article points out that the paper was declared heretical according to this paragraph in the article cited above:
Finally, it has given lengthy space to a blasphemous and heretical attack on the Vicar of Christ. It is difficult to see how well instructed writers who deliberately deny and ridicule dogmas of our Catholic faith can possibly escape the guilt of the crime defined in Canon 1325 on heresy, and how they can escape the penalties of automatic excommunication entailed thereby.
Diane M Korzeniewski, OCDS makes observations at the end of the posting that asks the pertinent questions as to the current status. I hope that these will not go unnoticed and unanswered.
The Case for Drinking as Much Coffee as You Like - Lindsay Abrams - The Atlantic
Go Ahead and Drink Coffee. Read the article and pour yourself a cup while you absorb all it says!
Pope Issues New Motu Proprio on Charitable Activities: Catholic World Report
From the Document cited in the article above I pull two quotes:
§ 2. To ensure an evangelical witness in the service of charity, the diocesan Bishop is to take care that those who work in the Church’s charitable apostolate, along with due professional competence, give an example of Christian life and witness to a formation of heart which testifies to a faith working through charity. To this end, he is also to provide for their theological and pastoral formation, through specific curricula agreed upon by the officers of various agencies and through suitable aids to the spiritual life.
Hopefully, this will help to make changes in the CCHD arena where those community organizing initiatives stop funding organizations with backdoors for offensive organizations. http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/coalition-of-catholic-leaders-reveal-serious-problems-with-cchd-grants
Here is yet another study
foodconsumer.org - Abortion linked to high breast cancer risk
that shows the link of abortion to breast cancer. We need to pass this information on to other women. We have an obligation to speak the truth about this subject, no matter how inconvenient it is.
About those Soros related "Catholic” front groups: Hint: they are not Catholic.
Don’t Give to CCHD this weekend (Nov. 17-18, 2012). Choose your Charities Carefully!
With the struggle for religious freedom in this country, we have a responsibility to remain brilliantly Catholic. In the secular world and its laws, we have a problem doing this as faithful Catholics when the USCCB will not even do it for our Catholic 
institutions. The lawyering of of this sticky associations and the constant excusing and denial of what our eyes see add greatly to the confusion we Catholics have in seeing the big picture from the pews.
Frankly, our bishops need to stop hiding from us and have the honest dialogue with us. Their acting in committee with majority votes and operation of programs by national staff make the translation of what is actually happening in the bastions of community organizing impossible to address, but they do need to be addressed. They are accountable to us in the pew who contribute to such programs. We do not hand them a gun to shoot us with. We hand them a contribution to alleviate suffering. In my book, that is not a ticket to spend it on community organizing for labor and socialism that is building a welfare state instead of an opportunity state with a safety net.
Some Wisdom and Relief from Father Brian Mullady, OP
Hope in God | Daily News | NCRegister.com
I highly recommend this article for post election nerve soothing and perspective. From whatever side the Catholic perceives themselves identifying with either the winner or the loser, this is the perspective we should start anew. The point of this life is after we breathe our last breath, we will stand before God and be judged. Did we live a life that pursued knowing, following and loving God or did we choose something else. That is the bottom line to everything, the justification or the abandonment from what we choose to do.
So for those who choose God, despair has no place in their person because eternal life is their hope. Keep up the good fight and remember what that fight is.
Michael Bloomberg proves just how quickly the climate can change | The Daily Caller
The Daily Caller nails it about Mayor Nanny Boobberg. He cared more about a marathon than his own people. The infamous New Orleans Mayor left the school buses parked instead of getting his people out, and Boobberg left the generators, water and blankets in the park at the site of the cancelled marathon. What a guy!
The Valley Catholic - October 23, 2012 Vol. 30 No. 13 - Joomag
Is it an editorial picture on page one endorsing Obama without saying so? One could argue yes. One could ask where is the guidance about voting for religious freedom rights? Having Obama’s picture above Pope Benedict XVI seems to say it is OK to vote for Obama without any consequences to one’s soul even though he is extremely prochoice, which is in truth, anti-woman. Pictures can be editorials. What a paper leads off with is an editorial in itself.
http://www.joomag.com/res_mag/page_thumbnails/949253.jpg
And this from the Vatican about a properly formed conscience and voting:
Why blog this from California? To remind people that who you vote for locally does matter. Here we see the lousy job Mayor Nanny Boobberg has done, because he squandered the time he should use to keep his citizens in a state of readiness for natural disaster and attack such as the infamous 9/11 for programs such as banning over-sized sugar drinks and coercing women to breastfeed. How does breastfeeding fit in a city code laws as infrastructure? The first response is always the local response starting with the citizen and moving very quickly to the local government. FEMA will hand you insurance forms, not food, clothing and medicine.
POWERFUL!… Navy SEALs Release Ad BLASTING Barack Obama (Video) | The Gateway Pundit
Our choices matter and have real consequences!
RELEASE: Facebook Censors the SEALs | Special Operations Speaks
