A Priest Life ((((..))))

"We ask the government to fix the problems we already have, not create new ones": the courage to stand against the tide

2012-01-31T09:41:00.000-08:00

By Annie Linskey, The Baltimore Sun

10:24 p.m. EST, January 30, 2012

More than 300 protesters filled a courtyard in front of the State House in Annapolis on Monday evening, listening to ministers and chanting slogans in opposition to a same-sex marriage bill introduced by Gov. Martin O'Malley.

"We ask the government to fix the problems we already have, not create new ones," said the Rev. Michael DeAscanis, a Roman Catholic priest in St. Agnes and St. William of York Parish in Baltimore.The crowd roared with approval and broke into a chant directed at state lawmakers: "Do your job! Do your job!"

At another point, protesters yelled "one man and one woman" over and over again, stressing their support for traditional marriage.The rally was intended to set a defiant tone before a Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee hearing scheduled Tuesday on O'Malley's bill to legalize gay unions. The governor is scheduled to pitch the legislation in person, a rare appearance before a legislative committee.A same-sex marriage bill passed the Senate last year, but was pulled from the floor of the House of Delegates when Democratic leaders determined they were a few votes short of passage. That chamber never voted on the measure.

Over the summer, O'Malley pledged to include a similar bill in his legislative package for the 2012 session, and put the full force of his office behind passing it. If he succeeds, most expect that it will be petitioned to referendum and voters will decide on the November ballot.On Monday, protesters latched on to remarks made last week by Maryland first lady Catherine Curran O'Malley, who called some delegates "cowards" for preventing the measure from passing last year. She later said she regretted her choice of words.

One man, who declined to give his name, held up a sign that read "Katie O'Malley, Only 'Cowards' endorse the immorality of LIBERALS." Another held a handwritten sign that said "Mrs. O'Malley, I'm not a coward." Several Republican lawmakers wore yellow buttons with the phrase "Proud to be a coward. Defend marriage."Robin Robertson, 54, of Damascus said that he came to the evening rally because he feels "bullied" by "the gay agenda." A Catholic with five children, he said: "I feel like I'm having to accept something that I don't believe in."annie.linskey@baltsun.comhttp://www.twitter.com/annielinskey

Music Mondays: New Church Music and Vatican II Hymnal

2012-01-30T00:01:00.001-08:00

CHURCH

01/23/2012

Some New Church Music That Isn’t Sickening

Daniel Lord

The music you hear in a family’s household says a great deal about that family. For instance, if all they ever play is the shallow, repetitive stuff that gets churned out of the modern pop music machine then they deprive themselves of the richness and depth that God intended when he gave us the gift of music. Or, if family members are forever splitting up and going into separate rooms to listen only to the music they individually prefer then the family suffers from disunity—by never sharing music or singing as one they never get to be drawn together in that way which, again, is such a powerful gift from our heavenly Father.

These are problems which affect our earthly, human families, yet to a greater degree they affect God’s family, as well. When we, the members of Christ’s body and of God’s family, gather together in God’s house at Mass, the music does not often serve the purposes of fully drawing us together in unity and deepening our relationship with the Almighty. It has the opposite effect, in some cases.

A New Kind of Hymnal

This is not another article about bad liturgical music. It is more of a clarion call to embrace a better way of performing and participating in the music of Mass. The recently released Vatican II Hymnal, published by the Texas-based non-profit organization Corpus Christi Watershed, is the pièce de résistance of this “better way.”

There are, of course, other hymnals available already from other publishers. Catholics use them at Mass every Sunday. The quality of the songs therein is debatable, and there is no dearth of opinions on the subject. Song preferences aside, the Vatican II Hymnal responds to a more pervasive problem that is rarely recognized at the parish level: every Sunday music directors “spin the dial,” as CCW President Jeffrey Ostrowski puts it. Songs for Mass are very often chosen, if not outright randomly, then with little regard for the liturgical season or for the themes of the Mass that day.

The Church put specific prayers and chants in place for every Mass many centuries ago, with the intention that we should sing them regularly and ritually: an Introit at the beginning, a Gradual and an Alleluia after the readings, an Offertory and a Communion.

Each is an exquisite gem that inspires everyone who hears. Each bears an aura of antiquity that is astounding: many of them would have been heard and sung by St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Francis of Assisi, and St. Albert the Great.

The Church prefers that we use these chants today, and yet most of us have never heard them before. The Catholic Church does allow for some latitude in the music planned for Mass, but what was intended as an extraordinary exception has become a universal rule. Sunday Mass is now dominated by songs which are quite often musically inferior, thematically inappropriate, and lyrically shallow. The result is a lack of unity in God’s family and a watering down of the Mass’s inherent beauty.

The Picture of Mass

Just as the Scripture readings are formally set and repeated in cycles throughout the ages, so also is the music we are meant to hear and share in. It is all for a reason, of course—it all works together to form a particular picture.

For example, at the Mass for the first Sunday after Easter last year Catholics heard specific readings from Acts of the Apostles, the 1^st letter of Peter, and the Gospel of John. The homily expounded on those readings (one hopes) and in some way exhorted parishioners to imitate the first disciples spoken of in those readings. The Church thought all of this through a long time ago for the sake of the faithful—in general, everything at that specific Mass should celebrate these particular themes and subjects. That is the “picture” it forms.

The music should add even more color and texture to the overall picture. The best way to do this is what the Church has prescribed for centuries: chant. Gregorian chant is the best, most common way of singing what are called the “Propers” of Mass: the Introit, the Gradual, the Alleluia, etc.

Changing to Chant

This would amount to a revolution in parish music programs, and Ostrowski is sensitive to the seismic disturbances this would cause.

“I would suggest a two-step program,” he says. “Firstly, every secular, undignified, emotionally-driven song needs to be gradually banished from our churches. Secondly, we ought not to instantly take away hymns, because we have become so accustomed to them—and many are truly beautiful and they enhance worship. However, we should remember that chanting, especially the Mass Propers, is our ultimate goal.”

“Musicologists,” he goes on to say, “have pointed out that the very form of metrical hymns, with their predictable upbeat and downbeat, tend to remind us of the passage of time and (by extension) the world. Whereas Gregorian chant, which is completely free in its rhythm, takes you into another world: prayerful, reverent, eternal, holy.”

On top of this, it is the preferred music of the Church—not the hymns to which we have all become so accustomed. Gregorian chant “should be given pride of place in liturgical services,” wrote the Council Fathers in 1963’s Sacrosanctum Concilium (par. 116) and yet this mandate has largely been ignored for decades.

It seems, however, that chant’s time has come. Corpus Christi Watershed has achieved amazing success as the go-to place for any and all resources having to do with chant, and the Vatican II Hymnal is a crown jewel of that success. The hard work and persistence of the staff, board members, composers and performers associated with CCW is all an effort designed to meet a modern resurgence of interest in the ancient forms of liturgical music. New scholas, or liturgical musical groups, are springing up in dioceses across America and they are often comprised of young, enthusiastic folk with very little formal training—they only know that they love the music that Corpus Christi Watershed is making available.

At this point, the biggest obstacle for the average Catholic is simply a lack of confidence. They are unfamiliar with the traditional music and so they are not sure if they will be able to learn it or perform it correctly. Again, that is what Corpus Christi Watershed was created for: to assist Catholics everywhere in rediscovering and implementing ancient polyphony and chant in their parishes.

Imagine the glorious beauty of every Catholic Church on earth joining in harmony to hear the ancient Scripture readings assigned to a particular Sunday, to be pondering and fixating on the same themes and ideas, and to share in the one, holy sacrifice of the Mass all to the music of sacred chants that have been sung by Catholics on that day since the first centuries of Christianity? That is a more profound sharing in and realization of the unity of God’s family, and a foretaste of the heavenly reality that waits for all of us at the end of time.

The Vatican II Hymnal, like everything Corpus Christi Watershed produces, is done with no other purpose in mind than to bring us all into closer contact with God and with each other at Mass. It is high time that music directors stop thumbing through missalettes in search of mediocre songs that may or may not be prescribed by the Church. It is time to rediscover the ancient glory of the chants that the Church gives us.

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Daniel Lord Dan Lord is a writer whose articles have appeared in Crisis, National Catholic Register, Catholic News Agency, and Fathers For Good, and his as-yet-untitled book being published by Our Sunday Visitor will be released in the spring of 2012. He has an MTS from the University of Dallas, and he enjoys teaching, composing music and playing with the various children which his loving wife tricked him into conceiving. He blogs with careless abandon at www.thatstrangestofwars.com

Letter from Cardinal Donald Wuerl: "There can no longer be any doubt that religious liberty in our country is in jeopardy."

2012-01-26T14:21:00.000-08:00

January 26, 2012

Dear Brother Priests,

On January 20, 2012, the United States Department of Health and Human Services with the approval of President Barack Obama issued a new federal mandate making coverage of abortifacient drugs, sterilization and all FDA-approved contraceptives obligatory for virtually all employers, including faith-based institutions. What is at the center of the concern of Catholic bishops and others about this action by the Obama administration? How can it affect the institutions of the Archdiocese of Washington?

The new mandate is the first federal regulation in our nation’s history to require all faith-based institutions to pay for coverage of abortifacient drugs, sterilization and contraceptives. People were already free to use such widely available products and procedures. Up until this mandate, employers could choose whether or not to cover them and individuals could choose whether or not to seek employers that pay for them. Now nearly all those who provide insurance must include abortifacients, sterilization and contraceptives. Virtually all Catholic institutions and individuals will have to pay for that coverage. Being forced to provide these services violates both our faith conviction and our freedom.

In upholding the HHS regulation, the administration has ignored the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States and has denied Catholics the most fundamental freedom, religious liberty. Despite the Church’s appeal for a broader religious exemption, which was echoed by many other faiths, the administration refused to modify the regulation’s current exemption that is limited to religious groups that hire and serve people primarily of their own faith. Most churches and church-run institutions do not qualify for the exemptionbecause of their very openness to serving the common good of society and all people regardless of creed.

Even those who may disagree with the Church’s teaching on the sanctity of human life, such as the editorial boards of The Washington Post and the New York Daily News, have stated that the government has no business forcing religious institutions to sponsor and pay for procedures and drugs which violate their beliefs.

What will happen if this mandate stands? Our schools, hospitals and charitable organizations will be placed in the untenable position of choosing between violating civil law and abandoning our religious beliefs.

For example, the mandate will allow a Catholic school one of three options: 1) violate its beliefs by providing coverage for medications and procedures we believe are immoral, 2) cease providing insurance coverage for all of its employees and face ongoing and ultimately ruinous fines, or 3) attempt to qualify for the exemption by hiring and serving only Catholics.

A Catholic school simply cannot effectively teach Catholic doctrine while providing insurance to its teachers – and in the case of Catholic universities, to its students as well – that violates its own beliefs. Nor should it have to deny its employees access to affordable health care, a basic human right. Nor could it afford to pay crippling fines. Nor should it be forced to close its doors to non-Catholics.

There can no longer be any doubt that religious liberty in our country is in jeopardy. Only weeks ago, the Obama administration unsuccessfully argued to the Supreme Court that the government has the right to interfere in a church’s choice of its ministers. Thankfully, the Court unanimously rejected this radical position. Undeterred, the government has advanced on another front.

Catholics across America are already fighting this mandate. Catholic journalists of all backgrounds have widely criticized the HHS rules as unjust, and leaders of major Catholic organizations — such as the Catholic Health Association, Catholic Relief Services, andCatholic Charities USA — have also spoken out against them. In the meantime, the Bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty is actively exploring options for litigation and legislative proposals to remedy this injustice.

I hope you will bring this information to the attention of your parishioners and encourage them to pray that justice will prevail and religious liberty may be restored. You may wish to include a bulletin announcement or information on your parish website recommending that parishioners visit http://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/religious-liberty/conscience protection/index.cfm and http://capwiz.com/mdcath/home/ for details about the new federal mandate and how to contact Congress to support legislation that would reverse the administration’s decision. Please consider calling attention to this issue and all of these resources as soon as possible.

With gratitude for your collaboration in this very important matter and with every good wish, I am

Faithfully in Christ,

Donald Cardinal Wuerl

Archbishop of Washington

"Vos estis sal terrae": Solemn High Mass for the Feast of Saint Francis de Sales in Benedict, Md

2012-01-24T18:57:00.000-08:00

"Quod si sal evanuerit, in quo salietur?" In worship we immerse ourselves in the Lord as He comes to us through the Holy Spirit and the Church so that we may go away "salted", changed by Him so that His grace is evident through the witness of our Faith. A votive Solemn High Mass was offered at Saint Francis de Sales in Benedict, Maryland, on the day of his feast in the ordinary form calendar on January 24th, 2012, perhaps for the first time at the parish in many years.

"You are the salt of the earth": Servers before Mass take time to prepare themselves for the demands placed upon them in the worship of God. By serving God in liturgy and life we manifest His present as "salt" because we give the flavor of Christ to a world which hungers for His presence.

"Vos estis lux mundi". Practicing with MC George Walter, left, Deacon Richard Walker, center, and Father John Reuteman. The priest, deacon and subdeacon must stretch themselves in learning to worship Almighty God in the extrordinary form of the Roman Rite with its demands for prayer in the Latin language of our Church and the music of Gregorian chant so that, having been formed by Him they may serve as light for others who seek Him.

"..iota unum, aut unus apex non praeteribit a lege, donec omnia fiant". The ministers of the liturgy work together to give glory to God, in mutual obedience to the worship of God's holy Church so that Christ's light might shine before the Church and the world more clearly through the fullness of the Faith we proclaim in the Creed at holy Mass and seek to live each day.
At the sedalia for the duration of the chanting of the Credo by the cantor.

"Neque accendunt lucernam, et ponunt eam sub modio": Deacon Walker, right, receives the blessing before proclaiming the Gospel. The Church serves God's holy Word by proclaiming it in season and out of season so that the world might always look to the Body of Christ to hear His voice. In every liturgy the Word of God is raised up before the world as a light which marks out the path to the future through Faith. The Church serves the Lord as a lampstand by giving light to all in the house of the Church in the proclamation of the Word so that they might go forth and spread His light for the footsteps of others.

"Sic luceat lux vestra coram hominibus". In the offertory of the Mass Father Reuteman, left, serves as subdeacon. The Church is a light which shines before others as she obeys the Lord in the faithful celebration of the holy Eucharist which He instituted with a command: "Do this in memory of me."

"...ut videant opera vestra bona": the use of incense in the liturgy proclaims the activity of the Church as always at prayer, doing this good work in the sight of others, in praise of the heavenly Father because of Christ who prays in her through the power of the Holy Spirit.

"...qui autem fecerit, et docuerit, hic magnus vocabitur in regno caelorum": The Church has been given the mission to teach all nations. The members of the Body of Christ preach and teach the truth of God's law, above all in the context of the sacred liturgy, so that we might attain our salvation as we seek thus to call the world to salvation in Jesus Christ.

"Ite, Missa est": the liturgy seeks its end also in the upbuilding of the members of the Body of Christ as witnesses for freedom of conscience and religion for the greater glory of God and the salvation of their own souls as well as for the sake of others. All are sent forth prepared to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world because they meet and know Christ in the sacred liturgy.

One cannot give what one does not have. In order to be the "salt of the earth" and the "light of the world" we must first allow ourselves to be immersed in the Lord by submitting to the demands of the liturgy with its silence, chant, Latin and all of the elements that enable us to truly worship God. We must first possess Christ through grace before we are prepared to go forth and to be saints. It is Christ we who we must seek to give to others in all that we do, in liturgy and in life.

Maggie Marches for Life

2012-01-24T08:08:00.000-08:00

My beautiful niece Maggie, and APL mascot, marched for Life in Washington, DC, yesterday with almost one-half million other people, a very small percentage of the many millions of pro-life Americans who are calling for the protection of all human life from the moment of conception. Maggie and her sisters made their own pro-life posters and carried them in the March.

Pro-lifers start young and March for Life faithfully every year on the anniversary of the Supreme Court death warrant Rove v. Wade which declared an entire class of human beings unworthy of protection, transforming the nation's capitol into a sea of joyful humanity ready to defend God's gift of human life for every person no matter how small.

Thank you, Maggie, and thanks to all of those persons both young and young-at-heart, who march every day for human life in prayer, fasting and untiring efforts for the day when all human life is loved, respected and protected outside and inside the womb.

Pro-Life priests-in-training March for Life

2012-01-23T17:35:00.000-08:00

College seminarians and faculty members of the Blessed John Paul II Seminary in Washington pause for a photo along the March for Life route in DC today.

They were among between 200,000 and 500,000 people who came to represent the millions of pro-life Americans who are calling for the overturning of the Roe v. Wade decision of 1973 that imposed abortion on demand upon a Christian and pro-life nation.

These men are the pro-life leaders of tomorrow. Keep them in your prayers. Fast and offer your penances for them that they will remain faithful to the Lord and to His Gospel of Life.

Catholic News Agency reports that attendance at this year's March for Life may have topped last year's estimate of 400,000.

Abp Dolan: "the president is saying we have a year to figure out how to violate our consciences”

2012-01-22T12:48:00.000-08:00

U.S. Bishops Vow to Fight HHS Edict

January 20, 2012
Unconscionable to force citizens to buy contraceptives against their will
No change in limited exemption, only delay in enforcement
Matter of freedom of conscience, freedom of religion

WASHINGTON—The Catholic bishops of the United States called “literally unconscionable” a decision by the Obama Administration to continue to demand that sterilization, abortifacients and contraception be included in virtually all health plans. Today's announcement means that this mandate and its very narrow exemption will not change at all; instead there will only be a delay in enforcement against some employers.

“In effect, the president is saying we have a year to figure out how to violate our consciences,” said Cardinal-designate Timothy M. Dolan, archbishop of New York and president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

The cardinal-designate continued, “To force American citizens to choose between violating their consciences and forgoing their healthcare is literally unconscionable.It is as much an attack on access to health care as on religious freedom. Historically this represents a challenge and a compromise of our religious liberty."

The HHS rule requires that sterilization and contraception – including controversial abortifacients – be included among “preventive services” coverage in almost every healthcare plan available to Americans. “The government should not force Americans to act as if pregnancy is a disease to be prevented at all costs,” added Cardinal-designate Dolan.

At issue, the U.S. bishops and other religious leaders insist, is the survival of a cornerstone constitutionally protected freedom that ensures respect for the conscience of Catholics and all other Americans.

To read the entire article click here to visit the USCCB web site.

Solemn High Mass on 24 January in Benedict, Maryland

2012-01-20T10:06:00.001-08:00

Solemn High Mass
in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite
for the Feast of St. Francis de Sales

Tuesday, January 24, 2012, at 7 pm

St. Francis de Sales Roman Catholic Church
7185 Benedict Avenue, Benedict, Maryland

Celebrant: Rev. Fr. Kevin Cusick
Deacon: Rev. Mr. Richard Walker
Subdeacon: Rev. Fr. John Reutemann

“What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and
great for us too, and it cannot be all of a sudden entirely
forbidden or even considered harmful. It behooves all of us to
preserve the riches which have developed in the Church’s faith
and prayer, and to give them their proper place.”
-Pope Benedict XVI, Letter to Bishops, July 7, 2007

The Ordinary Chants of the Mass IV --

Kyrie

Gloria

Sanctus

Agnus Dei

Why I Love Religion, and Love Jesus

2012-01-19T10:43:00.000-08:00

BXVI: "it is imperative that the entire Catholic community in the US come to realize the grave threats to the Church’s public moral witness"

2012-01-19T09:32:00.001-08:00

From the Holy Father's address to the US bishops today in Rome on their ad limina visit:

"Dear Brother Bishops,
...

"For her part, the Church in the United States is called, in season and out of season, to proclaim a Gospel which not only proposes unchanging moral truths but proposes them precisely as the key to human happiness and social prospering (cf. Gaudium et Spes, 10). To the extent that some current cultural trends contain elements that would curtail the proclamation of these truths, whether constricting it within the limits of a merely scientific rationality, or suppressing it in the name of political power or majority rule, they represent a threat not just to Christian faith, but also to humanity itself and to the deepest truth about our being and ultimate vocation, our relationship to God. When a culture attempts to suppress the dimension of ultimate mystery, and to close the doors to transcendent truth, it inevitably becomes impoverished and falls prey, as the late Pope John Paul II so clearly saw, to reductionist and totalitarian readings of the human person and the nature of society.

"With her long tradition of respect for the right relationship between faith and reason, the Church has a critical role to play in countering cultural currents which, on the basis of an extreme individualism, seek to promote notions of freedom detached from moral truth. Our tradition does not speak from blind faith, but from a rational perspective which links our commitment to building an authentically just, humane and prosperous society to our ultimate assurance that the cosmos is possessed of an inner logic accessible to human reasoning. The Church’s defense of a moral reasoning based on the natural law is grounded on her conviction that this law is not a threat to our freedom, but rather a “language” which enables us to understand ourselves and the truth of our being, and so to shape a more just and humane world. She thus proposes her moral teaching as a message not of constraint but of liberation, and as the basis for building a secure future.

"The Church’s witness, then, is of its nature public: she seeks to convince by proposing rational arguments in the public square. The legitimate separation of Church and State cannot be taken to mean that the Church must be silent on certain issues, nor that the State may choose not to engage, or be engaged by, the voices of committed believers in determining the values which will shape the future of the nation.

"In the light of these considerations, it is imperative that the entire Catholic community in the United States come to realize the grave threats to the Church’s public moral witness presented by a radical secularism which finds increasing expression in the political and cultural spheres. The seriousness of these threats needs to be clearly appreciated at every level of ecclesial life. Of particular concern are certain attempts being made to limit that most cherished of American freedoms, the freedom of religion. Many of you have pointed out that concerted efforts have been made to deny the right of conscientious objection on the part of Catholic individuals and institutions with regard to cooperation in intrinsically evil practices. Others have spoken to me of a worrying tendency to reduce religious freedom to mere freedom of worship without guarantees of respect for freedom of conscience.

"Here once more we see the need for an engaged, articulate and well-formed Catholic laity endowed with a strong critical sense vis-à-vis the dominant culture and with the courage to counter a reductive secularism which would delegitimize the Church’s participation in public debate about the issues which are determining the future of American society. The preparation of committed lay leaders and the presentation of a convincing articulation of the Christian vision of man and society remain a primary task of the Church in your country; as essential components of the new evangelization, these concerns must shape the vision and goals of catechetical programs at every level."

Read the entire address to the US Bishops at this link.

Un peu de Paris

2012-01-18T05:30:00.000-08:00

We stayed at a religious house near the Arc de Triomphe. The weather was mild although we had frequent rain. I ran from our rooms to the Isle de la Cite' and back one evening, about 3 miles distance. The Champs Elysee was wall to wall people so I ran in the street facing traffic in order to keep moving.

This photo taken inside La Sainte-Chapelle gives an idea of the way the windows bathe the interior in light, essential to the Gothic genius. The windows together comprise the largest in-situ collection of 13th century Gothic stained glass in the world.

The windows illustrate the Scriptures for the benefit of a largely illiterate populace.

The baldacchino stood over the altar removed during the revolution.

A Christmas tree stands in the place of Notre Dame with crowds filling the square.

An off-beat door in Paris.

Solemn High Mass for feast of Saint Francis de Sales on 24 January in Benedict, Maryland

2012-01-17T19:11:00.000-08:00

Votive Patronal High Mass

for the feast of Saint Francis de Sales

24 January 2012

7 pm

at the church of

Saint Francis de Sales

in Benedict, Maryland

Paris avec Philippe

2012-01-13T07:51:00.000-08:00

My friend Philip Johnson, pictured below, is a seminarian for the Diocese of Raleigh and invited me to join him for a Christmas voyage to France.

Philip studied French and spent some time studying in Paris so did a good job navigating the Metro as well as helping me learn how to make the nasal "tro" sound in "Metro". Takes a lot of practice but I think I've almost got it down. He had to put up with listening to me.

Our view of the roof and spire of La Sainte-Chapelle while we waited in the queue to enter. Louis IX built the masterpiece to house his relics of the Passion of Our Lord and, in particular the crown of thorns. I chatted with two Italian priests from Milano while we passed the time.

The exterior apse of the chapel is more beautiful than the facade. The chapel is the only remaining structure of Louis' palace.

Well, maybe not; you decide. The chapel is significant principally for its gothic windows, considered a masterpiece of the style designed to maximize the amount of light entering the structure and to make it seem almost as if the walls disappear, the roof of the chapel floating on light.

Two angels on the carved wood baldacchino over the sanctuary hold an image of the crown of thorns, central symbol of Christian devotion according to Louis' conception for the chapel. The furnishings do not remain as the chapel was partially destroyed during the demonic reign of terror in the French revolution.

The rose window. Nothing I could offer by way of description would do it justice. Just look and find out more about what the word "awe" can mean.

Come back soon for more of Paris and France.

Au revoir, mon amis!

((((..))))

Agnostic Jew: "What is so terrifying and bizarre about the Catholic Church's teachings on the intrinsic beauty and sanctity of life, death and sex?

2012-01-12T06:42:00.000-08:00

"I’m not Catholic. In fact, I’m an agnostic Jew who loves a nice ham and Swiss sandwich. But what, exactly, is so terrifying and bizarre about the Catholic Church’s teachings on the intrinsic beauty and sanctity of life, death and sex?"

From The Daily Caller

Contrary to popular belief, Rick Santorum is not “coming for your birth control.” The senator has explained that, although state governments have the power to pass laws banning contraceptive use, he is not interested in seeing these laws get on the books.

“It’s been clarified about oh, 150,000 times, so I’ll clarify 150,001,” Santorum said on Sunday afternoon in Greenville, South Carolina. “I’ve never said I wanted to ban birth control. I wouldn’t vote for it.”

A President Rick Santorum, however, would undoubtedly use the bully pulpit to talk to Americans about what he sees as the dangers of contraceptive use, just as Michelle Obama has used it to talk about the dangers of childhood obesity. As Santorum put it in October:

One of the things I will talk about, that no president has talked about before, is I think the dangers of contraception in this country. … It’s not okay. It’s a license to do things in a sexual realm that is counter to how things are supposed to be.

While I disagree with Santorum’s conclusion about birth control, is it really such an off-limits topic that the country couldn’t stand to have a little discussion about its pros and cons? Sure, 99% of sexually active American women either use or have used some form of birth control. But it is also undeniable that since the birth control pill’s invention a half-century ago, STDs have become more widespread and the number of unintended pregnancies has increased. Even a recent New York magazine cover story celebrating the anniversary of the pill acknowledged that it has helped create a group of women who, having put off pregnancy until their late thirties, spend thousands on various fertility treatments: “Inadvertently, indirectly, infertility has become the pill’s primary side effect.”

I’m not Catholic. In fact, I’m an agnostic Jew who loves a nice ham and Swiss sandwich. But what, exactly, is so terrifying and bizarre about the Catholic Church’s teachings on the intrinsic beauty and sanctity of life, death and sex? Rick Santorum is being derided for living his life in a way that respects his faith and its teachings, but his example is an admirable exception in a culture that routinely treats sexuality as a consumable product. Liberals are always paranoid about Christian right-wingers who want to take away their condom Christmas trees and heap disapproval — horror of horrors — on their licentious lifestyles, but it is liberals who do not want to let the Santorums, and their lifestyle choices, just be.

Inez Feltscher has a philosophy BA from UCSD, where she was chairwoman of the College Republicans and an editor of the conservative newspaper on campus.

Source: The Daily Caller.

600th Anniversary of the Birth of Joan of Arc

2012-01-11T10:23:00.001-08:00

Recommended reading

On the 600th anniversary of the birth of the "Maid" I had the privilege of visiting the site of her martyrdom at Rouen.

I recommend this book as especially worthy of your attention. Regine Pernoud, an eminent historian, began her task of researching this book as an unbelieving skeptic and, after exhaustive examination of the records of the French archives became a convinced and ardent advocate of the sterling integrity and authentic heroism of Sainte Jeanne d'Arc.

Beautifully written and an impeccable history. Purchasing information through Barnes and Noble available at this link.

Please check back at this blog in coming days for photos and information about St Joan and France.

((((..))))

In Circumcisione Domini: Solemn High Mass in Montmirail, France

2012-01-09T10:59:00.000-08:00

I had the joy through the kindness of our French friend Dom Hugues Beaugrand, of the Institute of the Good Shepherd, and Philip Gerard Johnson, seminarian of the Diocese of Raleigh, North Carolina, and blogger at In Caritate Non Ficta, to celebrate Solemn High Mass at Montmirail, France on January 1, 2012, on the occasion of the Feast of the Circumcision of the Lord.

"Introibo ad Altare Dei": procession to the sanctuary with, at left, Dom Beaugrand, IBP, and right, Philip Johnson.

Diane and Sophie receive their first holy Communion at the Mass.

Photos thanks to the kindness of Philip Johnson.

Vocation Thursdays: Father Ron Gillis

2011-12-29T00:01:00.000-08:00

Listening to people’s hearts

Fr. Ron Gillis provides spiritual direction for many

By Lisa Socarras | For the Catholic Herald

Lisa Socarras | For the Catholic Herald

Fr. Ron Gillis

Born and raised in Boston, Father Ron Gillis calls 1967 the year of “The Impossible Dream” because the Red Sox won the American League Pennant and because the youngest of eight children in the Gillis household was ordained to the priesthood.

“My father was in seventh heaven,” he said, reflecting on his vocation. “I regard it as a miracle, the whole expectation that you could be called by God to give everything. I looked at the crucifix and said, ‘Lord, You did all that for me. What should I be willing to do for You?’”

Today, 44 years later, Father Gillis serves as chaplain at both the Reston Study Center and Oakcrest School in McLean, and as a spiritual director at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, Md., a position he has held for the past 30 years. Some years, he has given ongoing spiritual direction to more than 40 seminarians, driving twice a week from Northern Virginia to listen, advise and guide those in priestly formation.

As an Opus Dei priest working in the Washington, D.C., area for the past 38 years, Father Gillis has administered the sacraments, taught courses, preached, and provided spiritual direction and evenings of recollection for hundreds of married men and women as well as students. He always has been selfless and ready to help others on their personal path to sanctity, part of the universal call to holiness.

Opus Dei, a personal prelature of the Catholic Church, was founded in Spain in 1928 by St. Josemaría Escrivá, who taught that work and the circumstances of ordinary life are occasions for growing closer to God, serving others and for improving society.

Even as a young man, Father Gillis had a strong sense of purpose for his life and never had any doubts about his vocation.

“It was impossible to grow up in Catholic Boston and not have a strong sense of vocation because vocations were abundant,” he said. “It was a very common question for Catholic young people to ask, ‘What is my vocation?’”

“We were surrounded by the Faith and by the sense of dedication, also present in our parents, who raised large families. They were working-class people, very committed to the Faith,” said Father Gillis.

He attended Catholic elementary and secondary school where his teachers sensed he had a vocation to the priesthood.

“The nuns were after me in the eighth grade to go away to junior seminary,” he said, adding that he was not ready at that young age to make the commitment.

Later, while a junior in high school, Father Gillis said a friend “dragged me along” on a retreat at a Trappist monastery and it made a profound impact on him.

“It was in August and it was the feast of St. Bernard,” he said. “I always remember that it was like going to heaven. It was so beautiful, the peacefulness, the spirituality, the whole thing was magnificent, the Divine Office, the Liturgy. Then we were helping to make the hay with the monks. The silence, I remember thinking this is really the peace of God. This is really wonderful, but I don’t want to stay here.”

He asked himself how one could bring this sense of the presence of God into the midst of the world.

“I don’t have a monastic vocation. I like being in the middle of the world. When I encountered Opus Dei, that’s what happened. I saw that these people are involved in things, but they take spirituality very seriously. I was struck by this kind of formula that we need to bring Our Lord to so many people who are good people who live in the middle of the world,” Father Gillis said.

Following his freshman year of college at the University of Toronto, he became a member of Opus Dei and then transferred to Boston University because there was no Opus Dei center in Toronto. After earning a bachelor’s in history, he went to Rome in 1964 to study for the priesthood as a seminarian at the Roman College of the Holy Cross. While in Rome, he had the opportunity to learn from St. Josemaría Escriva himself.

“He was a great coach and a tremendous leader of men,” said Father Gillis. “As the founder, he was strong and enormously affectionate.”

He instilled in the seminarians that the only thing that really matters is personal sanctity, that we be saints. Always ready to admit his own challenges, the saint taught that determination to persevere, even in times of tremendous trial, is the journey of the soul toward holiness. To begin again is man’s goal because of our fallen nature we will have failings.

“The spirit of St. Josemaría is that the important thing is the struggle,” said Father Gillis. “The struggle is the sign of holiness. A saint is a sinner that keeps trying.”

In 1966, Father Gillis went to Pamplona, Spain, to continue his studies. After his ordination in Segovia, Spain, in 1967, he went on to earn a doctorate in cannon law in 1969 and returned to the United States.

“I went to Rome in 1964 to study, just after the Beatles had appeared on ‘The Ed Sullivan Show,’” he said. “I remember thinking this music is the most fantastic but it’s immoral for them to wear their hair that long. Everybody had their hair buzz cut. Then when I came back after being away for five years, in 1969, I like to tell people it looked like everybody had their fingers in an electrical socket, a complete change,” he laughed.

He worked in New York and Boston until 1972 when he was assigned to the Washington area, which has been his home, except for one year that he spent in Pittsburgh. In 2005, he became a resident chaplain of the newly built Reston Study Center, which is an educational center dedicated to the character development of students and professional men.

He reflected on his role as a priest over the years and the Church.

“I have lived through these tumultuous years, coming from that period of total solidity in terms of structure and stability of the Church, to live in the tumultuous times of the 1960s, ’70s, ’80s and ’90s,” Father Gillis said. “It has been a unique experience, an adventure to see how basically a revolution occurred, not just in the Church.”

He said that prayer is the answer to solving all of life’s challenges.

“Prayer is the only weapon we have. The Church will rise up when we get on our knees,” Father Gillis said.

God is never far from us, He is with us in our ordinary, daily life.

“God has chosen the low road, the way of Bethlehem and Nazareth, instead of the high road. He came in through the back door, in the real world,” Father Gillis said. “As St. Josemaría said, ‘If you don’t find God in the real world, then you don’t find Him at all.’”

In November 2010, Father Gillis was diagnosed with Stage 4 colon cancer. He is currently undergoing treatments, the success of which he attributes to the prayers of many. Through it all he continues the work and spiritual direction that he loves. “The Holy Spirit works through you,” he said. “The most important thing that a spiritual director does is to listen to people’s hearts. You have to love people.”

Source: Arlington Catholic Herald. Socarras is a freelance writer from Annandale.

Find out more

For more information about Opus Dei, go to opusdei.org.

Homily for Nativity of the Lord. "Christmas every Sunday": the Lord seeks to be born into our lives through the Eucharist at Sunday Mass each week

2011-12-25T05:14:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas!

I must begin my remarks by sharing a confession with all of you: our church does not look this beautiful every Sunday! I do not speak of the decorations which beautifully announce our joy on this occasion when we celebrate the birth of the Child Jesus at Bethlehem. I am speaking about all of you, the people of God who fill and make beautiful the Lord's house which exists for your sakes, for the purpose of providing for your own meeting with Jesus at Christmas and every Sunday.

You are God's people through the grace of Baptism and your presence here which glorifies God beautifully praises His goodness and love and is a true Christmas gift to me, your priest, for which I thank and praise Him.

In our Mass this evening we also keep the Lord's Day holy together because Christmas falls on a Sunday this year. Here we are, together on a Sunday, perhaps to realize also as God's gift that we can indeed overcome the many things of daily life that sometimes seem to prevent us from making room for God here at Mass and in other ways!

For the full text of the homily please visit Meeting Christ in the Liturgy.

A Child's Prayer for Christmas: "Happy Birthday Jesus"

2011-12-24T09:08:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday, Jesus!

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Happy Birthday, Jesus! We are happy because today we celebrate your birth in Bethlehem many years ago. You have a birthday today, just like we each have our own birthdays.

We thank you that you came from heaven to earth to be born just for us. Thank you for all you did for us when you were here with us. You taught us how to love God our Father in heaven and to obey His will. You taught us to love each other: help us to remember to be more loving. You taught us how to do the right thing: remind us that you are with us, even when we think no one is looking.

We thank you for growing up to be our Savior and dying on the Cross for our sins. We thank you that you rose again and went to heaven, opening a way so we can go there too, someday.

Thank you for the gift of the Church and for your Body and Blood in the Holy Eucharist.

Thank you for our parents who love us so much and for all our family and friends.

Amen.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Archbishop Broglio's Christmas Letter

2011-12-21T10:46:00.001-08:00

Dear Friend of Church and Military,

Fall colors in the Washington area have vanished and the bleak signs of winter are appearing. Of course, that means that the holy season of Christmas is quickly approaching. The traditions surrounding our annual celebration of the Savior’s birth fill us with joy and a deep longing for that peace announced by the angels.

Parishes plan penance services and other activities, families gather, office personnel celebrates, and friends and neighbors decorate their houses and host parties. The birth of absolute Goodness, the Incarnation of the Son of God, reminds men and women that we are all brothers and sisters, children of God our heavenly Father.

Of course, for the men and women in uniform who serve our Country at home and abroad, holiday time is special, but my heart goes out to those who are deployed far from home and the warmth of their families.

I will spend Christmas with those stationed in Kuwait and Kyrgyzstan and perhaps in the Persian Gulf on the aircraft carrier USS John Stennis. Bishop Higgins will remain in the nation’s capital to celebrate Christmas at the installations of the Military District of Washington and at the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Bishop Spencer will bring the joyful news of the Savior’s birth to those in Afghanistan. Bishop Buckon will celebrate these holy days with soldiers and their families at Fort Stewart, Georgia—home of the U.S. Army’s 3rd Infantry Division.

Thank you for making those pastoral visits possible. My flight to and from the Middle East will cost $2,500. Your generosity makes a difference. You allow us to fly far from these shores, visit, and celebrate the Eucharist with the troops who sacrifice themselves for our freedom and values. They appreciate the time and effort expended to confirm them in their faith. During these visits the expressions of gratitude abound.

Indeed these valiant men and women bend under the weight of combat and the tension provoked by an elusive enemy. They are anxious about their future and they are far from their loved ones. The long and frequent deployments to the Middle East take their toll on everyone: military, families, and our long-suffering chaplains who care for our brothers and sisters both during the deployment and afterward.

There is no doubt that service in the Armed Forces of our country at this point in time has damaged family life. The pressures and the uncertainty affect everyone. The syndrome of post-traumatic stress (PTS) has become a national health issue for the troops, chaplains, and veterans. Alleviating the burden depends on the willingness of each one of us to guide the returning veteran to a haven of trust and welcome.

This particular archdiocese without territorial boundaries also looks back and remembers those who have served in previous wars and are now cared for in the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Centers and Clinics. In October, I met with almost one hundred VA chaplains who serve across the country. Their concerns are ours and providing for their pastoral care is another way that the Nation does not forget those who have generously served us in past conflicts and now in the current challenges. Thank you for all that you make possible.

How can you help in this process? First of all, continue to beg the Prince of Peace to end the time of the tramping boots and the garments rolled in blood, as the Holy Father prayed last Christmas at Midnight Mass. Then please invoke the loving Father for the healing of the victims of PTS. Furthermore, extend a welcoming hand to those in your community who are returning from deployment. You can make a difference for them and for their families. Finally, your financial support to the Archdiocese for the Military Services allows it to minister to the men and women in uniform and to support of the chaplains and their own process of healing.

There are still other concerns. The Archdiocese for the Military Services is actively planning for future ministry to its faithful. The 32 co-sponsored seminarians who are preparing themselves for the priesthood and military chaplaincy represent the best hope for that future. Your financial support allows the Archdiocese to meet half of their seminary expenses and to help the dynamic Director of Vocations seek even more workers for the harvest.

I boldly beg you to continue your support for this vast archdiocese. Christmas is the occasion when we remember the Gift of the Father to us. Each of us tries to respond by giving something we have received to those in need. Thanking you for your generosity to this Archdiocese in the past, I am also grateful for whatever help you can offer at the present time.

As I wish you abundant Christmas blessings, I thank you for your past generosity. Rest assured that you and your loved ones will be remembered in my prayers throughout the Christmas Season in the Middle East. May the Lord bless you with health and happiness throughout 2012!

With sentiments of gratitude, I remain

Sincerely in Christ,

(Most Reverend) Timothy P. Broglio
Archbishop for the Military Services

P.S. Please support and pray for our brave troops and the chaplains who help them during their deployment and afterwards, especially in Afghanistan and Iraq during the Christmas season. I pray that you will help this Archdiocese to continue to provide all of its programs of spiritual pastoral care.

Everyday martyrdom

2011-12-20T06:23:00.000-08:00

We admire the martyrs' heroism and desire it for ourselves.

There is a living death through suffering, even of the consequences of our own sins, by which we can realize each moment a heroism which God offers us though different from that of the bloody martyrs.

The resolution is put into action when the will actively anticipates and chooses to acknowledge the continued consequences of sin which arise through the memory, the imagination or the changed attitudes or reactions on the part of those wounded by our sins. One's past deficiencies of respect for the dignity of oneself and others though still potent in memory is rejected. One thus freely wills this very beautiful way to meet the Lord each day by living these moments in a manner similar to the way in which a martyr watches the bullets approach for a split second before closing his eyes on this world for the last time, his transit thus hastened to behold and adore the face of God.

Also that staunch, unflinching love which manifests itself in daily forgiveness in the face of the unremitting attacks of the incomprehending, the vengeful, the bitter, the jealous is a martyrdom which indeed experiences most acutely the pain of these bullets but refuses to respond in kind, allowing the burning love of God which is grace to melt them into fuel for the increase of the power of the burning charity of the heart aflame with the divine Presence which is love.

Through this grace the faithful heart achieves a union, a participation in the burning furnace of Divine love which is fully and truly present in the Sacred Heart of our Lord Jesus Christ.

"Why the change when what we had seemed to work just fine?" On the new English translation of holy Mass

2011-12-17T08:53:00.001-08:00

I suspect this article may help some of our Catholic worshipers who are struggling to understand why the need for a different translation of the Mass into English when we already had one which we have been using for many years.

The Roman Rite of the Latin Church

By Father Anthony Marques - The Priest, 11/1/2011

"The Church’s current guidelines state that, for the Ordinary Form of Mass, the Latin text 'must be translated integrally and in the most exact manner' (Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments, Liturgiam Authenticam, No. 20). This applies not only to the words, but also to the unique style, word order, and sentence structure of Latin (Liturgiam Authenticam, No. 57). In short, when the Roman Rite is translated into English — or into any other vernacular language — its “Latiness” should shine through."

To read more of this article on the reasons behind the English translation of holy Mass, click here to visit Priest Magazine.

John L. Allen Jr. reviews new book, "Joseph Ratzinger: Crisis of a Papacy"

2011-12-16T07:45:00.000-08:00

The perils of a 'part-time pope'
by John L Allen Jr on Dec. 16, 2011

* All Things Catholic

Marco Politi, to be sure, has a point of view. A veteran Italian journalist and commentator, mostly for the leftist La Repubblica, Politi's sympathies clearly run to the Catholic church's progressive wing. It thus may be tempting to see his critical new book on Benedict XVI, titled Joseph Ratzinger: Crisis of a Papacy, as the predictable grumbling of someone who just doesn't like what this pope stands for.

However understandable, that would be a mistake.

I've known Politi for two decades, covering Vatican happenings with him and reading his stuff. Whatever one makes of his big-picture perspective, he's an astute observer, and there's always something to learn from what he has to say. (Proof that Politi is taken seriously in the Vatican is that Gian Maria Vian, editor of L'Osservatore Romano, was among the panelists at a Nov. 16 presentation of the book in Rome -- even though Vian said he came as a "devil's advocate" to argue that the book "shouldn't be canonized.")

Politi's core thesis is expressed in the provocative assertion that Benedict XVI is a "part-time pope."

As Politi sees it, Benedict dips in to running the church or acting as a global leader only when circumstances require it. His passion, however, is focused on his private theological studies and his own writings.

"Joseph Ratzinger has revealed himself to be a fragile leader," Politi writes, "uncomfortable in the art of government, hesitant to confront the internal problems of the church, more sensitive to theology than geopolitics."

The result, according to Politi, is a "gap in governance".

Benedict, in Politi's eyes, has not articulated a clear vision for confronting the church's big-ticket challenges, such as the global priest shortage. So far, Politi asserts, the two most consequential reforms on Benedict's watch -- tighter norms on sex abuse and more transparent money management -- were "imposed by circumstances."

Perhaps most damaging, according to Politi, is that the geopolitical relevance of the Catholic church accumulated under John Paul II is in free-fall. For instance, he asserts that Benedict has had little incisive to say about the Arab Spring, arguably the most significant mutation of the global order since the collapse of Communism.

In the Vatican, Politi reports, there's a sense of frustration. He quotes a Vatican official who says that in the absence of monthly meetings of department heads, "everyone is running their own shop, without any reference to a common direction or a shared vision."

As a result, Politi writes, even after six and a half years of Benedict's papacy, "A priest, a journalist or a church historian can still be approached during a conversation and confronted with an apparently bizarre question: 'What's this pope like?'"

To be sure, there's much in Politi's analysis open to debate.

For the full text of Allen's review of Politi's book visit John L Allen Jr's blog "All Things Catholic"

Advent Message from Archbishop Dolan

2011-12-14T07:32:00.000-08:00

A Special Advent Message from Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan from St. Patrick's Cathedral on Vimeo.

President Nominates Catholic Air Force Chaplain Richard Erikson for Promotion

2011-12-14T06:58:00.000-08:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

12/09/2011

Photo cutline below

President Nominates Catholic Air Force Chaplain Richard Erikson for Promotion

Promotion from Colonel to Brigadier General awaits U.S. Senate confirmation

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The United States Air Force (USAF) Reserve announced this week that Father Richard M. Erikson, a USAF colonel and Catholic military chaplain, has been selected for promotion to the rank of Brigadier General. President Obama officially nominated Father Erikson for the promotion, and has submitted the nomination to the U.S. Senate for confirmation.

His Excellency, the Most Reverend Timothy P. Broglio, Archbishop for the Military Services, expressed his congratulations to Father Erikson.

Archbishop Broglio said:

“I am very pleased to learn about Father Erickson’s selection. His service to the Air Force Chaplaincy has always been greatly appreciated and I know that he will continue to offer excellent leadership to those he is now called to serve in this Reserve capacity. On behalf of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, I offer him heartfelt congratulations and the assurance of our prayers.”

Upon hearing of his nomination for promotion, Father Erikson said:

“I am deeply honored by this nomination and deeply grateful for Archbishop Broglio’s support and leadership over the years. I am looking forward to serving our troops, families and Chaplain Corps in this capacity.”

Father (Colonel) Erikson currently serves as the mobilization assistant to the Air Force Deputy Chief of Chaplains, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C. He is principal advisor to the Deputy Chief of Chaplains for training, readiness and sourcing the Air Force Reserve Chaplain Corps. He assists in developing the Chaplain Corps Strategic Plan, Total Force Policy, and strategic planning objectives. He assists the mobilization assistant to the Chief of Chaplains in coordinating Air Force Reserve matters. Father Erikson serves as advisor to the Armed Forces Chaplains Board. He is a member of the Reserve Chaplain Corps Council and the Air Force Reserve Chaplain Development Team.

Father Erikson was commissioned a second lieutenant on June 10, 1982. He has served 29 years in the Air Force Reserve including seven years as an active duty chaplain. His previous assignment was an Individual Mobilization Augmentee (IMA) to the Command Chaplain, Air Force Reserve Command, Robins Air Force Base, Ga.

In his civilian position, Father Erikson served five years as Vicar General and Moderator of the Curia for the Archdiocese of Boston (2006-2011). He recently completed a sabbatical program at the Institute for Continuing Theological Education at the North American College in Vatican City, Italy.

Father Erikson was ordained a Catholic priest on June 8, 1985. He is author of Late Have I Loved Thee: Stories of Religious Conversion and Commitment in Later Life (Paulist Press, 1995; St. Paul's Press, 1998). He is an avid lover of music and has compiled, produced and published liner notes in more than a dozen compact discs. He deployed to Balad, Iraq from July to September 2004 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

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Photo Cutline: Father (Colonel) Richard M. Erikson, USAF, nominated for promotion to Brigadier General.

"Protest against 'blasphemous' play in Paris": Who decides who is "a fundamentalist Catholic"?

2011-12-10T06:34:00.000-08:00

"Two men reported to have links to fundamentalist Catholic groups were arrested at the weekend while attempting to disable the theatre's security system."

Catholics protest against 'blasphemous' play in Paris

Angelique Chrisafis
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 8 December 2011 13.16 EST
Article history

The Théâtre du Rond-Point's staging of Golgota Picnic is the latest target in a wave of demonstrations across France

An earlier French protest against Golgota Picnic in November by fundamentalist Christians in Toulouse. Photograph: Remy Gabalda/AFP

One of Paris's most prestigious theatres was being protected by riot police and guard-dog patrols on Thursday after it became the latest target in a wave of Catholic protests across France against so-called "blasphemous" plays.

The head of the Théâtre du Rond-Point on the Champs-Elysées complained of death threats in the runup to Thursday's premiere of the play Golgota Picnic by the Madrid-based, Argentinian writer Rodrigo García. Two men reported to have links to fundamentalist Catholic groups were arrested at the weekend while attempting to disable the theatre's security system.

Several Catholic groups have called for peaceful demonstrations, prayer-vigils and the laying down of white flowers outside the building every night the play is shown, while the archbishop of Paris will lead protest prayers against the play at Notre Dame Cathedral.

The demonstrations over Golgota Picnic come after a rise in fundamentalist religious protest action against some of France's most high-profile theatres, including pelting the audience with eggs, letting off stinkbombs and the invasion of the stage of Paris's esteemed Théâtre de la Ville mid-performance by outraged Catholics carrying banners reading "Stop Christianophobia".

Earlier this year, young French fundamentalist Catholics staged an unprecedented attack on a gallery in Avignon, slashing photographs including Piss Christ by the New York artist Andres Serrano. More peaceful Catholic protests outside theatres, including young people kneeling with wooden crosses outside venues from Lille to Toulouse, have led the French culture pages to question the rise in rightwing and nationalist feeling among hardline Christian groups.

Paris remains sensitive about Christian demonstrations since the fire-bombing of a cinema showing Martin Scorsese's The Last Temptation of Christ in 1988. Political commentators have speculated that some traditionalist Catholics in the demonstrations had broken off from the Front National after the leadership was taken over by Jean-Marie Le Pen's daughter Marine.

Golgota Picnic, which takes place on a stage strewn with burger buns, has several religious references including readings and a crucifixion scene. But Paris theatre critics said it was absurd to call it anti-Catholic or blasphemous and questioned whether its religious critics had actually seen it.

Yet in a move that went further than the recent protests over Théâtre de la Ville's staging of On the Concept of the Face, Regarding the Son of God by the Italian Romeo Castellucci, Paris's archbishop, André Vingt-Trois, deemed Golgota Picnic, which he had not seen, "deliberately offensive" and said he would lead a protest prayer at Notre Dame.

Jean-Michel Ribes, head of the Théâtre de Rond-Point, appealed for calm. He said: "The Théâtre du Rond-Point isn't an anti-Christian, anti-Muslim or anti-Jewish place." But he said the role of artists was to fight against "suffocating dogma". Theatregoers have been advised to arrive an hour early to get through the airport-style security before reaching their seats.

Paris city hall's art supremos rushed to defend the theatre community against what it said was fundamentalists holding art to ransom, saying a "silent minority" of Catholics did not share the notion of making threats or stifling freedom of expression.

Civitas, a lobby group that says it aims to re-Christianise France, has called for a large, peaceful street demonstration "against Christianophobia" this weekend.

"Catholics Come Home" ads to air nationwide Dec 16 to Jan 8

2011-12-06T19:08:00.000-08:00

EPIC Full Length from Catholics Come Home on Vimeo.

To find out more about how you or someone you know can "Come Home" please click this link for more information.

Jessica Stecklein in concert December 10 at Huntingtown MD

2011-12-01T19:24:00.000-08:00

Join the Jesus the Divine Word

Parish Anniversary Celebration

Sponsored by the Knights of Columbus

December 10, 2011

featuring
Jessica Stecklein, soprano
(www.jessicastecklein.com)

6:15 p.m. Refreshments in Doran Hall
7:30 p.m. Christmas Concert in the Sanctuary
9:00 p.m. Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament

Please join us as we celebrate the
anniversary of the official forming of
Jesus the Divine Word Catholic
Church community.
We invite all adults and young adults
(high school age and above) to
participate in this special event.

COST: Donation (To benefit the Servants of the Lord and the Virgin of Matará)

DRESS: Holiday/Festive

RSVPs are appreciated: Secretary@jesusdivineword.org or 410-414-8304 x10

Amalfi: Saint Andrew's Tomb

2011-11-30T00:01:00.000-08:00

The Amalfi Coast

The relics of Saint Andrew are enshrined at the cathedral of Amalfi, richly endowed through the wealth of the former Maritime Republic which established this town as its seat.

Natural bridge formation is typical of the rocky coastline and the neighboring islands which include the most well-known, Capri.

Gothic lace carvings on the cathedral porch frame the views of Amalfi.

The fine pebble beach results from the work of water and waves over many years.

Hundreds of steps lead down from the road to Santa Croce beach. The reward of a swim in the clear water is worth the effort.

Photos by MCITL.

"Raising Pure Teens": talking to your teen about chastity

2011-11-28T10:32:00.000-08:00

Have a hard time connecting with your teenager about chastity? You could probably come up with a whole telephone-book-sized list of activities you’d rather be doing than talking to your teenagers about sex.

In today’s culture, though, who can afford to raise their children without the truth about human sexuality? With the “pornification” of everything from adolescent fashions to primetime television commercials, who can take a chance on withholding from kids the real score on human sexuality?

As your children’s primary educators, it’s your right and duty to make sure your children are forearmed and forewarned when it comes to dealing with the opposite sex in a Catholic way and resisting the secular world’s false vision of sexuality.

In "Raising Pure Teens", noted chastity speakers Jason Evert and Chris Stefanick incorporate the Church’s wisdom with 10 proven strategies for talking with teens about chastity. They offer a perfect blend of humor and sobriety, real-life stories and effective metaphors, cutting-edge science and undeniable logic.

Once you read "Raising Pure Teens", you’ll realize you’re not alone in bringing these beautiful truths to your teens—and you won’t be alone as you help them implement these teachings in their own lives Once you read Raising Pure Teens, you’ll realize you’re not alone in bringing these beautiful truths to your teens—and you won’t be alone as you help them implement these teachings in their own lives.

For more info and to purchase the book, click this link to visit Catholic.com.

When you tell me

2011-11-23T03:11:00.000-08:00

When you tell me my Faith is a "religion" and put it in a bucket with everything else you deem similar I would be insulted if I didn't have Faith.

When you tell me "don't whip it out in public and start waving it around" I take it as a compliment because my Faith is supposed to be evident.

When you tell me to "stop trying to shove it down people's throats" that's a personal problem. I can't help you with that. God can, though.

But only if you have Faith.

((((..))))

Vatican to Take Legal Action against Benetton

2011-11-19T06:59:00.001-08:00

Posted on November 18, 2011 by SBrinkmann

A communique released today from the Vatican Secretariat of State indicates that the Vatican is pursing legal action to stop the promulgation of an offensive portrayal of Pope Benedict XVI in a global advertising campaign launched by Italian clothing giant, Benetton.

“The Secretariat of State has authorized its lawyers to initiate actions, in Italy and elsewhere, to prevent the circulation, via the mass media and in other ways, of a photomontage used in a Benetton advertising campaign in which the Holy Father appears in a way considered to be harmful, not only to the dignity of the Pope and the Catholic Church, but also to the sensibility of believers,” the Vatican said in a statement.

The Benetton ad campaign, dubbed “Unhate,” features a montage of world leaders kissing each other. The pontiff is shown kissing Ahmed Mohamed el Tayeb, the imam of the al Azhar mosque in Eqypt, and President Barack Obama is shown kissing both Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez as well as Chinese Premier Hu Jintao. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is depicted kissing Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas.

Even though Benetton agreed to pull the offensive photo, the Vatican wants to take legal steps to be sure the pope’s image is not used in this way again.

“We cannot but express a resolute protest at the entirely unacceptable use of a manipulated image of the Holy Father, used as part of a publicity campaign which has commercial ends,” said Holy See Press Office Director Father Federico Lombardi, S.J.

“It is a serious lack of respect for the Pope, an affront to the feelings of the faithful and an evident demonstration of how, in the field of advertising, the most elemental rules of respect for others can be broken in order to attract attention by provocation.

“The Secretariat of State is examining the steps that may be taken with the competent authorities in order to guarantee adequate protection for the figure of the Holy Father.”

This entry was posted in Breaking News, Church news, Pope and tagged Ahmed Mohamed el Tayeb, Benetton. Bookmark the permalink.

Pro-Life Saturdays: "Sexual Healing" and respect for life through chastity

2011-11-19T00:01:00.000-08:00

Vocation Thursdays: Workers of the Vineyard

2011-11-17T09:52:00.000-08:00

“Workers of the Vineyard” is a Diocesan Religious Congregation of consecrated Chaldean women of the Eparchy of St. Peter the Apostle, USA, who have promised their gifts for dedicated service to Christ and his Church in order that they might grow in holiness by filling the needs of the Diocese and their community, as directed by the Eparchial Bishop.

You can friend Workers of the Vineyard on Facebook by clicking this link.

Find out more about "Workers of the Vineyard" by clicking this link to visit their website.

Religious Freedom: Statement from the Maryland Bishops

2011-11-16T07:11:00.000-08:00

Bishops of Maryland Raise Concern over Erosion of Religious Freedom

Date:

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

In a joint statement released today, Maryland’s bishops call on Catholics and all Marylanders to reaffirm and uphold America’s First Freedom and the foundational principles upon which its democratic society is built. “Religious liberty – a right rooted in our human dignity and protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution – is being silently and subtly eroded,” wrote the bishops of Maryland in the statement. “[I]n recent years there has been a subtle promotion of the idea that religious liberty should be restricted to Sunday morning worship.”

The Most Sacred of All Property: Religious Freedom and the People of Maryland is signed by Washington Archbishop Donald Cardinal Wuerl, Baltimore Apostolic Administrator Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien, and Wilmington Bishop W. Francis Malooly. The statement was issued with input from a task force chaired by John Garvey, President of The Catholic University of America, that included experts in legal, theological, and historical issues.

“Religious liberty is the most important civil rights issue of our time. This thoughtful statement by the Maryland Catholic bishops is a reminder of the role it has played in our history, and of the continuing need to cherish and protect it,” noted Garvey. The statement will be distributed to Maryland’s nearly 280 Catholic parishes and other Catholic institutions, as well as to all of Maryland’s state and Congressional elected officials.

Click here to read the full statement by Maryland's Bishops.

Click here for an interactive PDF of Religious Freedom and the People of Maryland: A Statement from the Catholic Bishops of Maryland

Click here for a static PDF of Religious Freedom and the People of Maryland: A Statement from the Catholic Bishops of Maryland

Watch this accompanying video to the statement on religious freedom by Cardinal Wuerl.

Press Release for the Religious Freedom Statement

Read the press release for the new Religious Freedom Statement.

Archbishop Dolan: "Love for Jesus and his church must be the passion of our lives."

2011-11-15T05:16:00.000-08:00

BISHOPS-DOLAN (UPDATED) Nov-14-2011 (570 words) With photos. xxxn

Reclaim truth about Jesus' church, Archbishop Dolan tells bishops

By Nancy Frazier O'Brien
Catholic News Service

BALTIMORE (CNS) -- Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan of New York called on his fellow bishops Nov. 14 to communicate to the world that the sinfulness of the church's members is not "a reason to dismiss the church or her eternal truths, but to embrace her all the more."

In his first presidential address since election as president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops last November, Archbishop Dolan opened and closed with the words: "Love for Jesus and his church must be the passion of our lives."

Describing the church as a spiritual family that "to use the talk show vocabulary ... has some 'dysfunction,'" he said the bishops' "most pressing pastoral challenge today is to reclaim that truth, to restore the luster, the credibility, the beauty of the church."

But he cited "chilling statistics we cannot ignore" that "fewer and fewer of our beloved people -- to say nothing about those outside the household of the faith -- are convinced that Jesus and his church are one."

"So they drift from her, get mad at the church, grow lax, join another or just give it all up," Archbishop Dolan said. "If this does not cause us pastors to shudder, I do not know what will."

He also acknowledged the enthusiasm of "young people, new converts and recent arrivals" as well as "the wonderfully deep and radiant faith of Catholic immigrants who are still a most welcome -- while sadly harassed -- gift to the church and the land we love."

Shortly after he spoke, the USCCB issued a statement announcing that Archbishop Dolan had met privately with President Barack Obama at the White House Nov. 8.

The statement described the meeting as "very cordial" and said it "included discussion of pertinent moral concerns arising in foreign and domestic policy, issues of both agreement and disagreement."

"Both President Obama and Archbishop Dolan agreed that this was a private meeting, so no further details will be discussed," it added.

In his talk, the archbishop said "our world would often have us believe that culture is light years ahead of a languishing, moribund church."

But rather, "the church invites the world to a fresh original place, not a musty or outdated one," he said. "She dares the world ... to foster and protect the inviolable dignity of the human person and human life; ... to protect marriage and family; to embrace those suffering and struggling; to prefer service to selfishness; and never, ever to stifle the liberty to quench the deep-down thirst for the divine."

Archbishop Dolan urged the bishops to "resist the temptation to approach the church as merely a system of organizational energy and support that requires maintenance."

"The church we passionately love is hardly some cumbersome, outmoded club of sticklers, with a medieval bureaucracy, silly human rules on fancy letterhead, one more movement rife with squabbles, opinions and disagreement," he added.

"Our urgent task to reclaim 'love of Jesus and his church as the passion of our lives' summons us not into ourselves but to Our Lord," Archbishop Dolan said. "Jesus prefers prophets, not programs; saints, not solutions; conversion of hearts, not calls to action; prayer, not protests; 'Verbum Dei' rather than our verbiage."

But like Jesus on Calvary, the church has wounds, the archbishop said.

"Instead of running from them, or hiding them, or denying them, she may be best showing them, like he did that first Easter night," he said.

Read the text of Archbishop Dolan's inaugural address as president of the USCCB by clisking this link.
Photo: Archbishop Dolan addresses the bishops. (CNS//Nancy Phelan Wiechec)

Marriage: Unique for a Reason

2011-11-14T18:05:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Marriage: Unique for a Reason!

What is marriage? Are a man and a woman really essential to marriage? What about the child … and the role of mothers and fathers? Is it discriminatory to defend marriage as the union of one man and one woman? What impact does the redefinition of marriage have on religious liberty?
These are just a few of the many questions about marriage today. They all hinge upon the first question: What is marriage? When the answer to this question is understood, everything else falls into its proper place.

Marriage is unique for a reason. We invite you now to find out why:

Explore the four themes (and one in Spanish) at the top of this page

Brush up on the basics of marriage

Dive in deep to the Church’s teaching

Join the conversation about marriage, children, society, and more!

Ask us your burning questions about marriage

Order resources for your parish, class, or home (search for “Made for Each Other” or “Made for Life” as as Title, not a Keyword)

ABOUT THE ART
Saints Joachim and Anne are the father and mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Mary is the fruit of their marriage. By a singular grace of God in view of the merits of Jesus, she was preserved from all stain of Original Sin from the moment of her conception. Thus it is in the context of married life and conjugal love that Mary is prepared to receive the Divine Logos, the Word made flesh, Jesus Christ our Lord. Jesus is the Logos, the “Reason” at the heart of all reason and truth, including the truth of marriage. The marriage between Joachim and Anne is a significant witness to why marriage is “unique for a reason.”

The Bishops have launched a new website to promote the truth about marriage called Marriage: Unique for a Reason.

Visit the site by clicking this link.

A Blessed Veteran's Day

2011-11-11T04:08:00.000-08:00

Dear Heavenly Father,

In every age, You call certain persons to defend the human family from oppression, tyranny, and evil. Since our founding as a nation "conceived in liberty," countless American men and women have stepped forward to defend our country and many others from aggressors, and to liberate those held captive.

Today we revere all our veterans: those who rest in honored glory, those who still suffer from the wounds of war, and those who, with us, enjoy the blessing of living in the land of the free and the home of the brave.

O God, thank You for the selfless sacrifice of these veterans and of their families. Help us to remember them, to pray for them, and to care for them. Please bring all our departed veterans into Your Kingdom, and console their families with Your unfailing love. Please heal our wounded veterans through the power of Your Holy Spirit, and give to all our veterans the satisfaction of having served You even as they have served us.

Thank You for Your gifts of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. May we fight to keep these rights available to all. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Photo of Army Veterans in Iraq by MCITL.

11/11/11 11:11

2011-11-11T00:01:00.000-08:00

Eleven minutes after the eleventh hour on the eleventh day of the eleventh month in the year 2000 and eleven.

A moment in time filled with significance if filled with the fullness of God.

All times are the right time to pray.

((((..))))

Vocation Thursdays: The problem of priestly narcissism today

2011-11-10T00:01:00.000-08:00

Messing with the Mass: The problem of priestly narcissism today

PAUL VITZ & DANIEL C. VITZ

It has been frequently noted that the mass since Vatican II has fallen victim to various kinds of irregularities.

Since Vatican II the Mass has fallen victim to various kinds of irregularities. This issue has been much discussed from various perspectives, but in this article we will examine a previously neglected aspect of the situation — namely, the psychological reasons why priests have introduced these changes. We will not deal with theological explanations for why the Mass has been subject to liturgical experimentation, nor will we discuss liturgical rationales for such innovations. Instead, we will focus on the psychology of the priest and those assisting at the liturgy — that is, on the psychological motives as distinct from theological and liturgical reasoning.

We propose that the primary motivation behind many of these changes derives from underlying narcissistic motives — that is, extreme self love — found in many people in contemporary culture. This is especially the case with the relatively small changes introduced in an idiosyncratic way into the Mass. We first summarize and describe the nature of this narcissism, then apply it to the situation found among priests.

American Narcissism

Beginning in the 1970’s, a number of major social critics noted and criticized this country’s increasingly narcissistic — that is, self-preoccupied — character. Tom Wolfe’s article “The Me Decade” opened this critique, and many others followed it. Perhaps the most extensive treatment was Christopher Lasch’s The Culture of Narcissism. The first book-length critique of American’s narcissism was written by one of the present authors (PCV), Psychology as Religion: The Cult of Self-Worship (1977, 1994). Vitz explicitly addressed the basic anti-Christian (though not the anti-Catholic) significance of contemporary cultural narcissism. Robert Bellah and colleagues’ Habits of the Heart: Individualism and Commitment in American Life in 1985 continued such critiques. We briefly summarize here key points made by these authors to allow their insights to be applied to the psychology of many American priests.

Lasch emphasized the decline of the “sense of historical time.” (p. 1) Narcissism as a mental framework is easier for individuals and societies when they are no longer connected to the past. It is the past that provides a framework for judging contemporary behavior as good or bad, as appropriate or inappropriate, as traditional or novel. The historical past, with its heroes and its lessons, is a person’s link to family and cultural traditions; it provides norms of behavior and moral strictures. Lasch makes it clear that as the past has faded from American consciousness, the capacity for narcissistic self-indulgence has grown substantially.

To read the rest of this article, please click this link.

Cardinal Wuerl: The "First Freedom" - Religious Liberty

2011-11-09T12:24:00.000-08:00

November 9, 2011

Dear Friends,

In the coming weeks, we will gather with our families and friends to celebrate Thanksgiving. This holiday has its roots in the pursuit of a right our nation has cherished since its inception — a right so fundamental that it is known as the “First Freedom”— the freedom of religion. Today, through the Maryland Catholic Conference, which represents the Archdiocese of Washington as well as the Archdiocese of Baltimore and the Diocese of Wilmington, my brother bishops and I released a statement outlining increasing threats to this cherished right and highlighting the urgent need for all Marylanders to take steps to defend religious liberty.

Most of us are familiar with the story of the Pilgrims and the first Thanksgiving. Their arduous journey across the Atlantic in search of a place where they could freely practice their faith reminds us not only of the primacy of religious liberty in our country’s origins, but also of the deep need that we all have to follow our own conscience. When the Pilgrims sat down at the table with their new neighbors, they surely gave God great thanks that they had found such a home.

Unfortunately, not all settlers found the lasting religious liberty that they sought. Catholics were drawn especially to the haven of Maryland, where the Toleration Act of 1649 was the nation’s first law to protect an individual’s right to freedom of conscience. However, from the time the Church of England was made the official religion of the colony in 1692 until the American Revolution in 1776, Maryland Catholics found themselves increasingly oppressed. Churches were shuttered and Catholics were prohibited from holding public office. Our faith was banned from the public square.

Even here, then, the right to religious liberty must be vigilantly guarded if it is not to be lost. This Thanksgiving, a recent series of challenges to our freedom of religion have given us special cause to consider the lessons of the holiday and of the history of Catholicism in Maryland. At the local level, Catholic pregnancy resource centers offering material aid and emotional support to women in crisis have been singled out for increased regulation in both Montgomery County and Baltimore, for no other reason than that they are pro-life. Baltimore’s ordinance has since been ruled unconstitutional, and Montgomery County’s has also been largely overturned.

Local efforts to redefine marriage have made little allowance for those who believe that marriage is the union of one man and one woman. After the legalization of same-sex marriage in the District of Columbia, the city government informed Catholic Charities that the organization would no longer be eligible to contract with the city to provide foster care and adoption services unless it agreed to place children with same-sex couples. Although Maryland’s same-sex marriage bill of 2010 was defeated in committee, as drafted it would have provided little protection to Catholic institutions and no exemption for individuals to observe their religious beliefs about the nature of marriage.

Nationally, the Department of Health and Human Services has drafted regulations that would require virtually all Catholic organizations to add coverage for sterilization and contraception, including the abortifacient drug Ella, to their employee health insurance plans. A social services program for victims of human trafficking run by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops lost funding from HHS after the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit claiming it was unconstitutional for the program not to offer its clients referrals for abortions. Meanwhile, the Obama administration argued before the Supreme Court that the Court should eliminate a long-standing legal doctrine meant to keep civil courts from deciding religious questions that often arise during employment disputes between churches and their ministers.

Our Constitution’s First Amendment famously guarantees that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” However, this right to religious liberty exists not only in our nation’s civil law, but also in natural law, flowing from each person’s human dignity.

To know God and love Him is the essential purpose of our being. The freedom to seek the Lord, then — and the freedom to reject Him — is likewise central to what it means to be human. As our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, stated, “Religious freedom expresses what is unique about the human person, for it allows us to direct our personal and social life to God, in whose light the identity, meaning, and purpose of the person are fully understood.”

History teaches us that the right to religious liberty is fragile. Remembering the extraordinary efforts of the Pilgrims to secure their freedom, let us always be thankful for ours, and may our prayers and deeds preserve it.

With prayerful best wishes, I am
Faithfully in Christ,
Donald Cardinal Wuerl
Archbishop of Washington

ON YOUTUBE: Cardinal Wuerl discusses the importance of the "First Freedom" - religious liberty.

Archdiocese of Washington

Prayer on the Occasion of the 236th Birthday of the United States Marine Corps

2011-11-05T00:01:00.000-07:00

This evenings’ Marine Corps Ball brings together an outstanding gathering of military men and women of the US Navy and Marine Corps, together with their spouses and guests, to enjoy one another’s company as we celebrate the 236th birthday of the United States Marine Corps. That we may start this celebration well, we call upon Almighty God for the blessing of all present here that He may be glorified by all we say and do. With that in mind I offer the Marine Corps prayer:

“Almighty Father, whose command is over all and whose love never fails, make me aware of thy presence and obedient to thy will.

“Keep me true to my best self, guarding me against dishonesty in purpose and deed and helping me to live so that I can face my fellow Marines, my loved ones, and Thee without shame or fear. Protect my family. Give me the will to do the work of a Marine and to accept my share of responsibilities with vigor and enthusiasm. Grant me the courage to be proficient in my daily performance. Keep me loyal and faithful to my superiors and to the duties my country and the Marine Corps have entrusted to me. Make me considerate to those committed to my leadership. Help me to wear my uniform with dignity, and let it remind me daily of the traditions which I must uphold.

“If I am inclined to doubt, steady my faith; if I am tempted, make me strong to resist; if I should miss the mark, give me courage to try again.

“Guide me with the light of truth and grant me wisdom by which I may understand the answer to my prayer.”

We pray for all of our deployed military and their families: all who stand guard this night over our freedom and security around the globe and those who wait for them at home.

We pray for all those missing in action or prisoners of war or conflict: may we never forget them or their service and sacrifice; we ask that You grant them the spiritual anchors of faith, hope and love.

And may we never look upon the symbol of our national spirit and ideals, the eagle flying high and proud, without recalling with gratitude all of those who have given the last full measure of the sacrifice of their lives for all of us. Grant them eternal rest, O Lord. May they, and all the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.

Almighty God, keep us and all Marines ever faithful: Semper Fideles! And grant to the United State Marine Corps a very happy birthday and many more: ad multos annos, United States Marines!

Amen.

Vindictive, bitter and childish: Vatican stunned by Irish embassy closure

2011-11-04T16:54:00.000-07:00

This is the kind of vindictive, bitter and childish behavior one expects of a medieval fiefdom, not the modern-day Irish state which now relegates itself to the status of a religious, humanitarian and cultural backwater among Christian nations.
((((..))))

(Reuters) - Catholic Ireland's stunning decision to close its embassy to the Vatican is a huge blow to the Holy See's prestige and may be followed by other countries which feel the missions are too expensive, diplomatic sources said on Friday.

The closure brought relations between Ireland and the Vatican, once ironclad allies, to an all-time low following the row earlier this year over the Irish Church's handling of sex abuse cases and accusations that the Vatican had encouraged secrecy.

Ireland will now be the only major country of ancient Catholic tradition without an embassy to the Vatican.

"This is really bad for the Vatican because Ireland is the first big Catholic country to do this and because of what Catholicism means in Irish history," said a Vatican diplomatic source who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

He said Ireland informed the Vatican shortly before the announcement was made on Thursday night.

Dublin's foreign ministry said the embassy was being closed because "it yields no economic return" and that relations would be continued with an ambassador in Dublin.

The source said the Vatican was "extremely irritated" by the wording equating diplomatic missions with economic return, particularly as the Vatican sees its diplomatic role as promoting human values.

Diplomats said the Irish move might sway others to follow suit to save money because double diplomatic presences in Rome are expensive.

It was the latest crack in relations that had been seen as rock solid until a few years ago.

DAMNING REPORT

In July, the Vatican took the highly unusual step of recalling its ambassador to Ireland after Prime Minister Enda Kenny accused the Holy See of obstructing investigations into sexual abuse by priests.

The Irish parliament passed a motion deploring the Vatican's role in "undermining child protection frameworks" following publication of a damning report on the diocese of Cloyne.

The Cloyne report said Irish clerics concealed from the authorities the sexual abuse of children by priests as recently as 2009, after the Vatican disparaged Irish child protection guidelines in a letter to Irish bishops.

While Foreign Minister Eamon Gilmore denied the embassy closure was linked to the row over sexual abuse, Rome-based diplomats said they believed it probably played a major role.

"All things being equal, I really doubt the mission to the Vatican would have been on the list to get the axe without the fallout from the sex abuse scandal," one ambassador to the Vatican said, on condition of anonymity.

Cardinal Sean Brady, the head of the Catholic Church in Ireland, said he was profoundly disappointed by the decision and hoped the government would "revisit" it.

"This decision seems to show little regard for the important role played by the Holy See in international relations and of the historic ties between the Irish people and the Holy See over many centuries," Brady said in a statement.

The Vatican has been an internationally recognized sovereign city-state since 1929, when Italy compensated the Catholic Church for a vast area of central Italy known as the Papal States that was taken by the state at Italian unification in 1860.

It has diplomatic relations with 179 countries. About 80 have resident ambassadors and the rest are based in other European cities.

The Vatican guards its diplomatic independence fiercely and in the past has resisted moves by some countries to locate their envoys to the Holy See inside their embassies to Italy.

Dublin said it was closing its mission to the Vatican along with those in Iran and East Timor to help meet its fiscal goals under an EU-IMF bailout. The closures will save the government 1.25 million euros ($1.725 million) a year.

(Additional reporting by Carmel Crimmins and Conor Humphries in Dublin; Editing by Tim Pearce)

Vocation Thursdays: New Blessed Pope John Paul II College Seminary dedicated in Washington, DC

2011-11-03T00:01:00.000-07:00

Pope Benedict: pray for the faithful departed and renew our faith in the promise of eternal life

2011-11-02T08:34:00.000-07:00

Pope Benedict XVI held his weekly General Audience today focusing his meditation on the day's Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed. At the conclusion of the Audience, the Holy Father made an appeal for a successful outcome to the G-20 summit meeting of Heads of State and Governments set to take place on Thursday and Friday in Cannes, France.

Below is the catechesis the Holy Father gave in English:

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Today, the day after the Solemnity of All Saints, the Church invites us to pray for the faithful departed. This yearly commemoration, often marked by visits to the cemetery, is an occasion to ponder the mystery of death and to renew our faith in the promise of eternal life held out to us by Christ’s resurrection. As human beings, we have a natural fear of death and we rebel against its apparent finality. Faith teaches us that the fear of death is lightened by a great hope, the hope of eternity, which gives our lives their fullest meaning. The God who is love offers us the promise of eternal life through the death and resurrection of his Son. In Christ, death no longer appears as an abyss of emptiness, but rather a path to life which will never end. Christ is the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in him will never die. Each Sunday, in reciting the Creed, we reaffirm our faith in this mystery. As we remember our dear departed ones, united with them in the communion of the saints, may our faith inspire us to follow Christ more closely and to work in this world to build a future of hope.

I offer a warm welcome to the priests from the United States taking part in the Institute for Continuing Theological Education at the Pontifical North American College in Rome. My greeting also goes to the pilgrimage group from Saint Paul’s High School in Tokyo, Japan. Upon all the English-speaking visitors present at today’s Audience, especially those from Ireland, Denmark, Norway, Japan and the United States, I invoke God’s blessings of joy and peace!

[01531-02.01] [Original text: English]

Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed: A tear, a flower, a prayer

2011-11-02T04:13:00.000-07:00

Una lacrima per i defunti evapora. Un fiore sulla loro tomba appassisce, una preghiera arriva fino al cuore di Dio.

A tear for the dead evaporates. A flower on their tomb passes away, a prayer arrives all the way to the heart of God.

Blessings for All Saints' Day

2011-11-01T00:01:00.000-07:00

CUA President letter to students on Muslim controversy: "Banzhaf has created the perception our Muslim students are offended"

2011-10-29T16:16:00.000-07:00

The Catholic University Of America

Office of the President

Washington, DC 20064

October 28, 2011

Dear Students, Faculty and Staff,

You may have heard or read news accounts this week about a complaint filed with D.C.’s Office of Human Rights regarding our Muslim students. The complaint has been filed by John Banzhaf, a professor at a neighboring university who has no affiliation with us. In a press release he issued October 19, Mr. Banzhaf claimed that Catholic University has “illegally discriminated” against Muslim students. That charge is completely without foundation. Worse, Banzhaf has created the perception that it is our Muslim students themselves who are offended by the symbols of Catholicism on our campus, and that they object to the absence of worship space set aside specifically for them.

The fact is that no Muslim student at Catholic University has registered a complaint with the University about the exercise of their religion on campus. And today we learned from an article in the Washington Post that Mr. Banzhaf himself has not received any complaints from our Muslim students. Instead, according to today’s Washington Post, he based his complaint on an article that appeared in that newspaper in December 2010. Contrary to the impression Mr. Banzhaf would like to create, the December 2010 Post article spoke in overwhelmingly positive terms about the experience of Muslim students at Catholic University, and explained why they are attracted to us. A considerable part of the attraction stems from the fact that our community, because of its own outward expressions of Catholic faith, makes them feel comfortable living their faith among us. The evidence bears this out. Since 2007 our Muslim enrollment has more than doubled, from 56 to 122.

I want to reassure all of you that our Muslim students are welcome at our University. Our Catholic teaching instructs us to embrace our fellow human beings of all faith traditions. They enrich us with their presence and help to promote inter-religious and inter-cultural understanding. I regret very much that our Muslim students have been used as pawns in a manufactured controversy. I urge all of you continue to show one another the respect and goodwill that are the hallmarks of The Catholic University of America.

John Garvey

President

Sunday 31 A. "Now, O priests, this commandment is for you": performing good works of love whether seen or unseen

2011-10-29T10:03:00.001-07:00

In the new English text for the Creed we profess our faith in things both visible and invisible, whereas the previous version translated the original Latin text "seen and unseen". What's the difference and why is it important?

There are realities in God that always remain invisible to us even if we enjoy their physical proximity. Angels, for example, have spirits as do we but do not have bodies as we do, therefore whether here or in heaven we have to believe they exist and are present even though we cannot detect them except through the power of faith.

There are, however, "unseen" things that are thus because they are happening at a place and a time different than the one we are inhabiting at any given moment. The Lord speaks of these kinds of things in the Gospel today when he excoriates with severity the religious leaders of his day who "performed religious works to be seen."

For the full text of the homily for the 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time visit Meeting Christ in the Liturgy by clicking here.

Thank your priest on 30 October, World Priest Day, sponsored by Worldwide Marriage Encounter

2011-10-29T09:44:00.001-07:00

Last Sunday in October
October 30, 2011

Welcome to the World Priest Day web site!

World Priest Day

BLESSING FOR A PREIST

This blessing is for use at a Sunday Liturgy on World Priest Day or any weekend during the month of October. Following the Prayer after Communion, a member of the parish pastoral council or any parish member(s) leads the community in blessing the Priest.

During the month of October we celebrate World Priest Day. Priests daily use the gifts of healing, counseling, preaching and celebrating the Eucharist to and for the benefit of Catholics everywhere. We pause today with a special prayer for Father _________, asking God to continue to bless him in his ministry. I invite you now to extend your hands toward Father as I (We) lead a prayer of blessing.

All in the assembly extend their hands as the leader continues:

All honor and glory to you, Lord our God, maker of all and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In your faithfulness and love, you sent your only Son to live with us and to save us by giving his life for us.

Today we offer you thanks and praise for choosing Father ________, to be filled with the Spirit of Jesus as he leads your flock with zeal and wisdom. We ask you to give him your fullest blessing in his priestly ministry. Help him to serve others as generously as Jesus did, in times of sorrow and in times of joy.

Caring God, bless Father _________, so that he may nourish us with your Word, lead us in prayer and worship, and sustain us as a shepherd and father.

Saving God, bless Father _________, so that he may instruct us by his teaching, inspire us by his preaching, and encourage us by word and deed to work with him for the good of our parish.

Loving God be close to your servant Father _________, as he follows your Son. Guide him in paths that are level and smooth. May your powerful grace make him strong in faith, joyful in hope, and fervent in love, this day and every day to come. We ask this through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Amen.

WeOur Priests!

Click here to read a letter from the WPD Coordinating Team.

Click here for the 2011 WPD Celebration Starter Kit. (PDF, 372KB)

WWME Logo World Priest Day is sponsored by Worldwide Marriage Encounter.

World Priest Day is now celebrated concurrently with Serra Club's Priesthood Sunday:

Priesthood Sunday sponsored by Serra Club USA

Click here to find a Serra Club near you.

Have a question about World Priest Day? Contact the Coordinators.
Have a question about this web site? Contact the Webmasters.

CUA VP of Public Affairs: “We have not yet received any legal filing from the Office of Human Rights" referring to Mr. Banzhaf’s allegations

2011-10-29T08:04:00.001-07:00

Intimidate the landlord into handing over a space free of charge on campus by fighting a battle for public sympathy in the press, get it designated "Muslim only", outgrow the space and come back demanding a larger beachhead, in a continuing process of reverse colonialism until, voila!, through higher rates of reproduction, continuous intimidation and a battle of wills, "The Muslim University of America". Don't think it's happened before?

((((..))))

Muslim Issue Hits National News

Pro-Life Saturdays: "I am the 10%"

2011-10-29T00:01:00.000-07:00

This powerful message is making its way around Facebook. When I speak with friends who have a child with Down Syndrome, unfailingly they all say how much joy their child brings into their life. It makes me feel ashamed to live in a country that chooses death instead of life for 90% of babies who are diagnosed with Down Syndrome.

Read the story at CatholicVote here.

The Passion of the Lord on Fridays: Abbi misercordia di noi! / Have mercy on us!

2011-10-28T12:26:00.000-07:00

Philokalia

Seconda stazione: Gesù è caricato della croce
"Dolores nostros ipse portavit"
Second station: Jesus carries the Cross.

Per la gentilezza do Fabrizio Diomedi / through the kindness of Fabrizio Diomedi.

Archbishop Broglio to celebrate Veterans' Day Mass 6 November in Upper Marlboro, MD

2011-10-28T06:21:00.001-07:00

St. Mary of the Assumption Catholic Church in Upper Marlboro, MD, will hold their annual event to honor military Veterans and to observe Veteran's Day at the weekend Masses of November 5th and 6th 2011.

Archbishop Broglio will be the main celebrant at the 11:30 a.m. Mass on November 6th. The theme this year is "Heroes Among Us."

As part of the observance parish members will display memorial photos of veteran family members and others to honor their service.

Saint Mary of the Assumption Catholic Church is located at 14908 Main Street in Upper Marlboro, Maryland 20772. A map is located here.

More information about Archbishop Broglio and the Archdiocese for the Military Services is located at the website for the Archdiocese: www.milarch.org.

Dear "Coach Smith": About not getting "hung up" on the clothing rack

2011-10-27T06:15:00.001-07:00

Dear Coach Smith,

Everyone who loves our Lord and the holy Mass also shares your concerns about behavior at Mass and would like to see respect as exemplified by arriving on time, departing after Mass ends, attending quietly and attentively. But these are not the only factors that affect the praying of the Mass and the worship of everyone present.

I am glad that you are not "hung up" about what others wear. None of us should be and I certainly don't recommend anyone get "hung up" about anything except God as being unhealthy and unhelpful for spiritual, psychological and other reasons. What it seems as though you are in fact saying here, however, is that others who bring up the subject of modest or appropriate clothing are in fact "hung up" on the subject. That is a judgment and I recommend that you avoid getting "hung up" on that, as well.

The Church has always encouraged the faithful to express love for God not necessarily by wearing fine clothing as an end in itself which may be taking money that could be spent for feeding or caring for the poor, for example. No, here the issue is not expense as an end in itself or wearing the best one can afford but, rather, only about avoiding the wearing of the least appropriate clothing one owns.

The Church also has a concern for modesty in dress at Mass as anywhere else.

I am assisting parents who tell me their children no longer go to Mass. I am beseeching them to recognize that every element in preparation, presence and participation is just as, and more important for worship, as it is for every other situation: there is appropriate garb for a wedding, a funeral, for any special event.

If at Mass we otherwise wear the most casual shorts and t-shirt or gym clothes in the closet we teach our children something by this that we may not intend and may later regret. I would not bring this up except that I have witnessed families return home after Mass, change into less casual garb and then return to the same church later in the afternoon for the baptism of a friend's child. So, again, this is not about going "more formal"; it is simply a respectful request that our people shun the wearing of the most casual garb they possess in order to speak more powerfully, and to witness to our Faith more consistently, that Christ is truly present in the Eucharist, and in the community of the faithful through His grace, at every Mass.

Asking that people exercise the same kind of care about their clothing at Mass as they do at work, or visiting friends, or attending other community events is not "going back" and is not a "rigid format": it's plain, simple common sense. Vatican II did not intend, and nowhere in the documents does it say, that common sense was to go out the window along with the beauty of the Church's immemorial worship as was tragically the case in so many places.

You recommend to me: "worry about yourself". I do. I vest at Mass as the Church asks me to and do so gladly as an opportunity to give glory to God and help to build up the faith of my neighbors.

The Church welcomes your liking for Latin and gives you opportunities to attend the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite through the document Summorum Pontificum in which Benedict XVI makes clear that any priest can say the latin Mass anywhere, for anyone.

You said that you respect other people's opinions. I welcome that and am glad of it but ask that you take care in future to also show that you do so by avoiding statements which might lead others to believe you are judging their motives. This will enable you as it does all of us to "worry about ourselves and our reflection with Jesus Christ" as you so laudably recommend we do.

God's blessing also be with you,
((((..))))


"Coachsmith"'s comments are reprinted below.: I am more concern that people come on time and leave after the last blessing, control their kids so as not to distrub others who are listening to the word. Don't hold conversation during the mass with your neighbors. Allow me and others five to ten minutes prior to the mass as a time of reflection. I am not hung up on what someone wears as I don't walk in my brothers shoes and the cloths they wear may be the best they have. I'm glad that they are at mass. I respect the individuals opinion but I'd be more concern with getting the twice a year Catholics back to mass on a regular basis. If you truely want to make it a rigid format then let's go back to Latin and have women once again ware a veil. In a lot of ways I preferred the Latin over the English mass however it was a change. Again, I respect the persons opinion however worry about yourself and your reflection with Jesus Christ and less with what others are wearing. God Bless.

Modesty at Mass: A Case for a Catholic Dress Code

2011-10-26T00:01:00.000-07:00

By Ashley E. McGuire, October 20, 2011

In a few weeks, we will start hearing about the coming changes to the Catholic liturgy. Much to the surprise of the world, the Catholic Church is, in fact, capable of change. There will be a brief period of freak-out, but then everyone will calm down and before we know it, it will be liturgy as usual. People will forget they ever even said “And also with you,” instead of “And with your spirit.” The media will do its schizophrenic thing and claim that the Church is pushing people away with its top-down changes, but before long it will return to blaming the top for refusing to ever change.

What Catholics and the media alike seem to forget is that the Church is evolving all the time, not on fundamental issues of doctrine, but rather in the way the Church engages the culture of which it takes part. And today, the Church in America is a part of a culture where women like to dress like prostitutes, and men like to dress like gangsters and personal trainers.

So I would like to propose that while the Church is changing the liturgy it add another change to the docket: attire at Mass.

The way many people dress to Mass is completely offensive. Strapless tops, cleavage, skirts that hardly cover the derriere, shorts, tracksuits, cut-offs. Tank tops. Midriffs. Minis. How this became acceptable is a mystery. How to change it, is not.

A simple solution could restore churches everywhere to basic dignity: a dress code. Think this is radical? It’s not. The Vatican has one. The Vatican prohibits anyone from entering who is wearing:

· Shorts/skirts above the knee
· Sleeveless shirts
· Shirts exposing the navel
· Shirts for women that expose cleavage

Why don’t all Catholic churches have the same standards? It is the same Jesus Christ present in the tabernacle. It is the same discipleship the priests share with the pope. The human beings on their knees are the same people trying to live lives of holiness and chastity in a world that works to undermine them at every turn.

A Catholic dress code could be instituted with a relatively simple, three-step action plan:

Stage 1—Recruit code enforcement. The priests and deacons would recruit lay women of charitable but forceful demeanor, approximately two per Mass depending on the size of the parish, to enforce the dress code. These women would be trained to stand outside Mass and gently but firmly request those in violation of dress code to change. This stage would likely take eight weeks. I assure you, there would be no shortage of eager volunteers.

Stage 2—Announce the coming change. Just as the Church has been doing with the coming liturgy changes, parishes would include a weekly insert into the bulletin explaining the simple, four-pronged dress code. Priests would alert parishioners at every Mass. (The media would help with its usual hit pieces.) This would be done for four weeks consecutively before dress code beings.

Stage 3—Grace Period. For two weeks there would be a grace period, where the newly trained women would give warnings to those not dressed appropriately that in the future, such attire will not be accepted, but still allow them into the House of God. This allows them to practice confronting those dressed inappropriately and allows the stubborn, skimpy dressers to avoid the humiliation of actually being sent home.

Once the dress-code period becomes official, there will no doubt still be much angst. People will wail and gnash their teeth in their desire to attend Mass dressed in PJs or two-inch skirts. People will claim the Church is so draconian and unwelcoming and that Jesus would never send people away!

Sure, Jesus spent time with residents of the red-light district. But let’s not forget, Jesus also flipped tables in a rage when he saw his Father’s house disrespected. He also reminded us in a parable in a recent gospel that the man who showed up to a royal wedding not wearing the proper attire met a dreadful fate. Jesus was clear throughout the gospels: What you wear matters. He went to his own death in a garment so fine that men gambled for it.

The Vatican is clear, too. So are lots of other houses of worship for that matter. When I was in Egypt, I visited a mosque dressed in what I thought was modest attire. The women at the entrance still took my pashmina from my bag and swaddled my arms so no skin above my elbows was exposed. I was swaddled so tightly I couldn’t move. Women and men whose attire was beyond salvageable were asked to wear a giant, floor-length green sheet with a hole through the top for their head.

Mormon Temples have dress codes. I asked a Mormon friend what would happen if a woman tried to enter a Mormon Temple in a mini-skirt and she said, “In theory, that’s not supposed to happen.”

Oh for the day when mini-skirts in Mass are a thing of theory instead of reality!

Even I am embarrassed of my idea of Sunday Best when my husband and I drive home from Mass. Our route home takes us past a black, Baptist church where the men and women are dressed as if they were going to tea at Buckingham Palace. We often slow down to admire the men in three-piece suits and the women in bright, colorful hats. No exposed boobies or hairy man legs to be found there.

A Vatican insider told me that when a United States Supreme Court Justice showed up for a visit in shorts, he was turned away. On another occasion, a high-ranking woman showed up for an event with the pope in a low-cut top and Vatican officials sewed up her shirt in the car on the ride over. If St. Peter’s can turn away a Supreme Court justice and make a famous woman sew up her blouse for the Pope, then surely our local parishes can ask women to grab a shawl on their way out the door. Heck, put a basket of them inside the door and hand them out. Just like Jewish synagogues often have flimsy yarmulkes for men who show up with bare heads.People would freak out about the dress code. And then, suddenly, it would stop. People would move on. Girls would begrudgingly grab that shawl on the way out the door. Parents everywhere would breathe easily again knowing they won’t have to fight their children to dress appropriately for Sunday Mass. And then the House of God would actually start to look like the House of God again.

It’s just an idea.

Ashley E. McGuire is editor-in-chief of AltCatholicah.Photo Courtesy Nick Lucey.

Pope Benedict XVI receives military Ordinaries

2011-10-25T07:22:00.000-07:00

22/10/2011 13.40.23

On Saturday, Pope Benedict XVI received the participants in a conference celebrating the 25th anniversary of Blessed John Paul II reform of the military Ordinariates – the structures that provide for the spiritual care of soldiers and their families all around the world.

The occasion for the meeting was the sixth International Congress of Military Ordinariates and the third International Formation Course in Humanitarian Law for Military Chaplains, which took place this week under the joint sponsorship and organization of the Congregation for Bishops and the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.

In his remarks to the participants, Pope Benedict XVI said the 25th anniversary of Blessed John Paul II’s document, Spiritali militum curae is an excellent opportunity to pause and reflect on the quarter-century of development that the Pope’s reform stirred. “In expressing my heartfelt encouragement,” said Pope Benedict, “I would draw your attention to the need to ensure that men and women of the Armed Forces receive spiritual assistance that meets all the requirements of a consistent Christian life and mission.”

“The issue,” he went on to say, “is one of forming Christians who have a deep faith, who live a committed religious practice, and are true witnesses of Christ in their community.” The Holy Father said that, to achieve this goal, the military chaplains and bishops should feel responsible for proclaiming the Gospel and administering the sacraments wherever there are soldiers and their families.

“The work of evangelization in the world of the military,” said Pope Benedict, “requires a growing assumption of responsibility, so that, in military life as well, there be an ever new, convicted and joyful proclamation of Jesus Christ, the one hope for life and peace for all humanity.

Thieves steal 2-ton bell from St. Mary's garden in San Francisco

2011-10-24T18:40:00.000-07:00

(10-24) 13:16 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- A historic, 2-ton bell has been stolen from the garden at San Francisco's St. Mary's Cathedral, police said today.

The bell, the size of the Liberty Bell, disappeared from the cathedral at Gough and Geary streets sometime over the last month, said police Inspector Brian Danker.

"Nobody can swear on a Bible and say the last time they saw the bell," he said.
Metal thieves, eager to sell the copper to smelters, probably stole the $500,000 bell, Danker said. How they lifted or hauled it is not known. No security cameras are pointed at the area.

"The theft of metal is a low-life, unscrupulous, rather-steal-metal-than-get-a-job type of thing," Danker said.

The bell was cast in 1889 by a foundry in Baltimore, Danker said. It hung in old St. Mary's Cathedral on Van Ness Avenue until that church burned down in 1962. When the new cathedral was completed in 1970, the bell was mounted on a stump in the garden.

The cathedral is offering a reward for information leading to the return of the bell.
"My concern isn't about making an arrest, but about the getting the bell back," Danker said.

Anyone with information should call Danker at (415) 614-3463 or (415) 575-4444. Anonymous tips can also be texted to TIP411, he said."It is a priceless artifact," Danker said. "It belongs back with the parishioners."

E-mail Will Kane at wkane@sfchronicle.com.
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/10/24/BAPU1LLIPU.DTL#ixzz1bkmehRRK

Rev Adam Parker of Archdiocese of Baltimore named Monsignor

2011-10-22T21:09:00.000-07:00

Archbishop Edwin O'Brien made the announcement this evening at the Archdiocesan schools dinner. The new Monsignor Parker is Archbishop O'Brien's long-time personal secretary and can be seen in the accompanying photo on the left assisting the Archbishop at the yearly Chrism Mass. Congratulations and best wishes to this newest honorary member of the papal household.

Archbishop O'Brien currently serves as Apostolic Administrator in Baltimore until his successor is named, having been appointed the Grand Master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem. He will take the formal title of pro-Grand Master until he is named to the College of Cardinals, which is expected to happen at the next consistory. He will replace Cardinal John Foley, who had been the Order's Grand Master since 2007, and resigned, due to ill health, earlier this year.

Solemn High Mass marks feast of Blessed Emperor Karl of Austria in Washington, DC

2011-10-21T20:48:00.000-07:00

Mass in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite was celebrated this evening at the Church of Saint Mary, Mother of God, in Washington, DC, to mark the feast of Blessed Emperor Karl of Austria. Here his relic and image are placed before the ambo.

Faithful filled the church.

The Mass was celebrated by priests of the Fraternity of Saint Peter assisted by priests of the Archdioceses of Washington and New York.

Susan desparately seeking ...

2011-10-21T08:47:00.001-07:00

Absolutely hilarious...
((((..))))

Desperation

by John White
14 hours ago

It happens. All of a sudden you wake up one day and realize that from now on, it’s all downhill. Career? Stagnant at best. Husband life partner? Not any more. Movie star looks? Buh-bye. Suddenly the realizations come cascading down, wave after wave of stark reminders that your time in the spotlight is no more. But this can’t be! I am someone! At least, I was…

Panic sets in. You jump up, scratching cucumber slices from your eyes as you begin typing furiously at the keyboard. You’ll just Google yourself…instant affirmation…here we go…and…oh no. Is this true? You want to laugh it off, to scoff at the absurdity of it, but you know. Everyone knows that the internet never lies. And there it is. The top story. An appearance at an anti-war rally. In 2005. You want to scream. So you do. At Raul, the pool boy. But Raul is gone too, and your shrieking demand for a tart cherry and lentil smoothie echoes hauntingly through the cold halls of your modest mansion in the Hills.

Fear grips your heart, and in desperation you reach out to the one person you know will always be there for you. Because you pay him a lot. Your publicist picks up at the other end, the awkward gulping betraying his constant struggle to reconcile a hyperactive, caffeine-driven intensity with a fondness for chili cheese fries. Quick, you command, get your tail over here, it’s urgent. You tell him. My career is on life support, I have no real principles or convictions that would give my life meaning outside of the self-indulgent social activism circuit, and I need a jumpstart. I need to be noticed again. So be here in five, and I want ideas from you. Click.

He’s there in four and a half, and you’ve managed not to drive your hybrid into the swimming pool in the meantime. He hands over some scribbled notes, and as your eyes race down the list, you start to relax. These are all good ideas, each capable of landing you squarely back in the limelight where you belong. And you only need one. A little shot of adrenaline, that’s all it takes. In no time, you’ll be back in the saddle, between the middle and the top of the A-list, baby.

1. Start a campaign for a Strom Thurmond memorial on the mall in Washington, D.C.

2. Occupy Hollywood Hills.

3. Sell your own line of industrial grade caulk.

4. Give a speech at Harvard on why there aren’t many black quarterbacks in the NFL.

5. Dancing With The Stars.

6. Thelma and Louise 2.

7. Spearhead a movement to invest in energy-saving solar panels.

8. Call the Pope a Nazi.

And there it is, the last one on the list. Of course, why hadn’t you thought of that yourself? So pithy, so controversial, so utterly asinine. So you. A sigh of relief. You dismiss your publicist like the paid slave he is, and decide you need some fresh cucumber slices. Where’s Raul?

Marriage Does Not Need Redefinition: Marriage in Maryland Needs Your Support

2011-10-21T00:01:00.000-07:00

Marriage in Maryland Needs Your Support Now	Take Action!
Tell Your State Delegates that You Care How They Vote

Issue: You raised your voices earlier this year and stopped the redefinition of marriage in our state. And the whole country took notice. We need you to stand strong and make your voices heard again. Maryland's General Assembly is meeting this week in special session and it is time to remind legislators that Maryland's Catholics support the long-held definition of marriage as between one man and one woman. You will receive two CAN alerts from the Maryland Catholic Conference. One will target your delegates, who sent the same-sex marriage bill back to committee without taking a vote. The second alert will target your state senator, who either voted for or against the bill. Please open both alerts and make your voice heard! Two weeks ago a statewide poll showed an 8 percentage-point swing against same-sex marriage since January. Before the legislative session began in January and before people realized how close the General Assembly was to redefining marriage, 51% of respondents said that they would favor same-sex marriage with 44% against. Now, the numbers are flipping with 49% opposed to same-sex marriage and 48% in favor. Marriage, recognized by societies throughout human history, originates in a simple biological fact. This unique union of one man and one woman is the only human relationship capable of creating children and nurturing them together as father and mother. Treating heterosexual and same-sex relationships differently is not unjust discrimination, and upholding the truth of marriage does not ignore the rights or the equal dignity of all human persons. Instead, stripping marriage of its unique connection to parenthood erases a child's right to a mother and father, and ignores an essential question of why government favors marriage between one man and one woman over all other relationships. Action: Please click the blue "take action" link near the top right corner of the page or click here now. Urge your state delegates to support traditional marriage and oppose same-sex marriage. It’s easy to stay connected: Follow the MCC on Twitter and LIKE us on Facebook for legislative updates, information and action. Visit our marriage website for more information on marriage. ***** To ensure that you continue to receive alerts, please add kdempsey@mdcathcon.org to your approved senders' list.

If you no longer wish to receive mail from us, please click here.

The Maryland Catholic Conference
10 Francis Street, Annapolis, MD 21401
410.269.1155 / 301.261.1979
410.269.1790 (fax)
info@mdcathcon.org

Vocation Thursdays: Priest finds joy in work that no material thing can give

2011-10-20T00:01:00.001-07:00

By Monsignor Robert J. Panke

I love being a priest. When I shared this fact in a homily a few years back on a college campus, a young man came to me after Mass and told me he had never heard that from a priest. He had no idea priests were happy. He respected the sacrifices of priests, was grateful for the ministry they provided, but the thought of priests as happy never entered his mind. I am happy to report that most priests do experience a great deal of joy in their life amidst the sacrifices. Priests live a life in deep relationship with God and in service to the people they serve. It is in this receiving from God and the gift of self that one finds the joy that no material thing in the world can give.

I experienced this truth firsthand in my life. I was blessed to have been raised in a strong Catholic family, going to public schools until attending the Catholic University of America. After graduating, my life on paper looked pretty good. I was working in Chicago, had a great apartment, and good friends. But I was experiencing an inner lack of joy and could not figure out why. I believed in God, but my faith had waned considerably. It was a pilgrimage to a Marian shrine in Europe that changed my life. I realized the one thing missing in my life was the most important relationship one can have: God was missing me, and without knowing it, I was missing him.

I was pretty much living for myself at that time in my life, and the empty feeling that came from my selfishness was replaced by the generous love of our Lord. God gave me a taste of the happiness and peace that comes from living a life centered on him and others and not on self, and so I pursued that path, which eventually led to the priesthood. People often ask why I chose the priesthood, and I reply with great confidence that I did not choose the priesthood, God chose it for me. It is God who calls the priest through an interior desire, as he did the early apostles, and I am convinced that following the will of God brings one the greatest happiness and freedom.

Once I remember rushing to the hospital late one evening to anoint a woman who was about to die. Just moments before, she was happily having dinner with her family. These are the difficult moments in life that our Lord very frequently asks the priest to enter. After reassuring the family of God’s deep love for her and reminding them of the promise of eternal life and a great family reunion in heaven that is sure to take place if we trust in God, her husband remarked, “Thanks for bringing Christ to us.” It is in these moments that I realize why God called me to this life of sacrifice, to bring Christ to the world. There are so many moments when the priest brings Jesus to the people through teaching, service, and the sacraments. It is hard to explain the deep joy and satisfaction that one receives in the priesthood but it is evident to me and to the overwhelming majority of priests who are good and faithful in their vocation. I love being a priest.

(Recommended reading: “Why Priests Are Happy: A Study of the Psychological and Spiritual Health of Priests” by Msgr. Stephen Rossetti, associate dean for seminary and ministerial programs and clinical associate professor of pastoral studies at the Catholic University of America.)

Monsignor Robert J. Panke is rector of Blessed John Paul II Seminary in Washington, D.C. He received a B.A. in financial management from the Catholic University of America in 1989 and worked in the hotel and restaurant management industry before entering the priesthood.

THE YEAR OF FAITH: APOSTOLIC LETTER “PORTA FIDEI”

2011-10-19T12:55:00.000-07:00

APOSTOLIC LETTER “MOTU PROPRIO DATA”
PORTA FIDEI
OF THE SUPREME PONTIFF BENEDICT XVI
FOR THE INDICTION OF THE YEAR OF FAITH

1. The “door of faith” (Acts 14:27) is always open for us, ushering us into the life of communion with God and offering entry into his Church. It is possible to cross that threshold when the word of God is proclaimed and the heart allows itself to be shaped by transforming grace. To enter through that door is to set out on a journey that lasts a lifetime. It begins with baptism (cf. Rom 6:4), through which we can address God as Father, and it ends with the passage through death to eternal life, fruit of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, whose will it was, by the gift of the Holy Spirit, to draw those who believe in him into his own glory (cf. Jn 17:22). To profess faith in the Trinity – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – is to believe in one God who is Love (cf. 1 Jn 4:8): the Father, who in the fullness of time sent his Son for our salvation; Jesus Christ, who in the mystery of his death and resurrection redeemed the world; the Holy Spirit, who leads the Church across the centuries as we await the Lord’s glorious return.

To read the Apostolic Letter PORTA FIDEI click here.

Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò named US Nuncio

2011-10-19T05:45:00.000-07:00

His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI has named His Excellency Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò apostolic nuncio to the United States as indicated in this morning's Vatican bulletin.

The Pope has also named, as Bishop of Bismarck, Monsignor David D. Kagan, priest of the Diocese of Rockford and serving until now as Vicar General and Moderator of the Curia.

NOMINA DEL NUNZIO APOSTOLICO NEGLI STATI UNITI D’AMERICA
Il Santo Padre ha nominato Nunzio Apostolico negli Stati Uniti d’America S।E. Mons. Carlo Maria Viganò, Arcivescovo tit. di Ulpiana.

Il Papa ha nominato Vescovo di Bismarck (USA.) Mons. David D. Kagan, del clero della diocesi di Rockford, finora Vicario Generale e Moderatore della Curia.

Sancti Lucae Evangelistae: "Opera manuum eius annuntiat firmamentum"

2011-10-18T05:37:00.001-07:00

In omnem terram exivit sonus eorum: et in fines orbis terra verba eorum. Caeli enarrant gloriam Dei: et opera ejus annuntiat firmamentum.
-- Ps. 18, 5 et 2

Photo: Blessed John Paul II rose by MCITL.

Sunday in the park

2011-10-16T11:53:00.000-07:00

Elkridge, Maryland. Photo by PBC.

Holy Mass for Blessed Karl of Austria to be celebrated in Washington, DC, on 21 October 2011

2011-10-15T07:17:00.001-07:00

Solemn High Mass for Blessed Karl of Austria will be celebrated at the Church of Saint Mary, Mother of God, in Washington, DC, on Friday, 21 October at 7:30 pm. Members of the Hapsburg family will be present and a reception will follow.

Medal for Bravery, bronze (Bronzene Tapferkeitsmedaille), Emperor Karl I, 1917-1918 issue.

Blessed Charles I of Austria and his wife Zita, who bore him eight children, are good patrons of marriage and family life.

Blessed Emperor Karl with consort Zita and son Otto.

"Karl was a great leader, a prince of peace, who wanted to save the world from a year of war; a statesman with ideas to save his people from the complicated problems of his empire; a king who loved his people, a fearless man, a noble soul, distinguished, a saint from whose grave blessings come." - Herbert Vivian

Let us pray

O Blessed Emperor Karl, you accepted the difficult tasks and burdensom challenges God gave you during your life. In every thought, decision and action you trusted always in the Holy Trinity.
We pray you to intercede for us with the Lord our God to give us faith and courage, so that even in the most difficult situations of our earthly lives we may not lose heart, but continue faithfully in the footsteps of Christ.
Ask for us the grace that our hearts may be molded into the likeness of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Help us to work with compassion and strength for the poor and needy, to fight with courage for peace in our homes and in the world, and in every situation to trustingly place our lives in the hands of God, until we reach Him, as you did, through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Imprimatur: Archdiocese of Vienna, May 18, 2004

"give back to God what belongs to God": every human being bears the “image” of God and so belongs to Him

2011-10-15T03:35:00.000-07:00

We are what we worship.

From José Antonio Pagola:

The question that some Pharisees put to Jesus, in collaboration with the Herodians, was evidently aimed to trap him: “Is it permissible to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”

If he said that it was licit, Jesus would be discredited before the people who would turn against him, and become easy prey for the Pharisees. If he said that it was not licit, he could be accused of being an agitator of the people against the Romans – who had flocked to the streets of Jerusalem for the Easter celebrations. Any such provocation could result in a rebellion against Caesar.

Without getting into any argument, Jesus just asked them, “Let me see the money you pay the tax with.” And he added, “Whose head is this, whose name?” They replied: “Caesar’s Tiberius, son of the divine Augustus.” Jesus, with that simple question, left them speechless.

Jesus, then, drew his own conclusion: if that image belongs to Caesar, “Give back to Caesar what belongs to Caesar.” Return the coin to Caesar, as a symbol of his political power. You have been using the coins as barter in all your business transactions. Just follow those rules.

Jesus, however, is not subject to the Emperor of Rome, rather “seeking the kingdom of God and his justice”, and so he adds something that nobody had asked him: “Very well, give back to God what belongs to God.” That coin had the image of Tiberius, but every human being bears the “image” of God and so belongs to Him. Never sacrifice humans to any power. On the contrary, protect them.

News Alert: Kansas City Bishop Is Indicted for Failing to Report Abuse

2011-10-14T12:48:00.001-07:00

Breaking News Alert
The New York Times
Friday, October 14, 2011 -- 3:27 PM EDT
-----

Kansas City Bishop Is Indicted for Failing to Report Abuse

The Roman Catholic bishop of Kansas City, Robert Finn, and the diocese he leads have been indicted by a state grand jury on a charge of "failure to report suspected child abuse" in the case of a priest who had been accused of taking lewd photographs of young girls.
The indictment is the first ever of a Catholic bishop in the 25 years since the scandal over sexual abuse by priests first became public in the United States.
Read More:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/15/us/kansas-city-bishop-indicted-in-reporting-of-abuse-by-priest.html?emc=na

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"Comunque, siamo amici": Requiescat in pace Monica di Maulo

2011-10-13T16:14:00.000-07:00

A wife and mother, a woman who loved to dance and who loved America and made many friends here, has departed this life. She leaves behind a good man who is her husband and their two daughters.

Once, early in our acquaintance, when the idea of friendship can seem quite tenuous and one can be unsure of its progress, she said a very generous and beautiful thing: "Comunque, siamo amici", that is to say, "anyway, we are friends".

Yes, we are friends: in all ways, always, and despite all.

Already, we pray, she is performing the most beautiful dance of her life for the most wonderful audience of all: God and His angels and saints.

We pray you rest in the peace of Christ, the Lamb of God, who is seated upon the throne and we pray you now hear Him say these wonderful words to you, "Comunque, siamo amici".

Rest in peace, Monica, as the friend now of Christ the Lord forever and ever. Amen.

In photo: Monica, left, with friends. Courtesy of Facebook friend Ana Lozar.

ACLJ: ObamaCare biggest expansion of abortion in US since Roe v. Wade

2011-10-13T06:59:00.000-07:00

Dear Reader,

ObamaCare is the biggest expansion of abortion in the United States since Roe v. Wade. It has the potential of funneling hundreds of millions of dollars into abortion businesses – using our tax dollars.

am pleased to report that there is a new effort in Congress to strip most of the abortion funding provisions out of ObamaCare. A bipartisan group in Congress, led by Congressmen Joe Pitts and Dan Lipinski, has introduced the Protect Life Act, H.R. 358. The bill is clear and unambiguous; it makes it illegal for taxpayer dollars to fund abortion or abortion insurance coverage.

This critical piece of pro-life legislation is scheduled for a vote in the House of Representatives on Thursday, October 13th. We will once again have an opportunity to see which Members of Congress who claim to be pro-life are truly pro-life.Pro-abortion opponents of this bill claim that ObamaCare doesn’t fund abortion – which just isn’t true. All truly pro-life Members of Congress should support this bill, to ensure once and for all that no taxpayer will be required to subsidize the heinous practice of abortion.

As a matter of fact, in addition to preventing funding for abortions, the Protect Life Act provides conscience protection for health care providers who refuse to participate in abortions, prohibiting them from being discriminated against for their pro-life views.

While we will continue fighting against all of ObamaCare’s unconstitutional provisions as it makes its way to the Supreme Court, it is important that we cut off ObamaCare’s pro-abortion provisions immediately.

The ACLJ strongly supports the Protect Life Act and we encourage you to contact your Member of Congress to let them know that you support this critical pro-life legislation.

The ACLJ has provided an easy-to-use tool for finding and contacting your Member of Congress on our website. Please use our Contact Congress page to urge your Member of Congress to support the Protect Life Act, H.R. 358 today.Thank you for your active support for the lives of the unborn. I will continue to keep you informed about this life-saving bill.

Jay Sekulow

ACLJ Chief Counsel

To ensure that you continue to receive e-mails from the ACLJ,please add jsekulow@action.aclj.org to your address book.Connect to ACLJ Connect to Jay Sekulow

Connect to Jordan Sekulow

American Center for Law and Justice

P.O. Box 90555, Washington, D.C. 20090-0555

Phone: (800) 296-4529

Vocation Thursdays: Most Priests Are Happy, Appreciate Celibacy

2011-10-13T00:01:00.000-07:00

ZE11100501 - 2011-10-05
Permalink: http://www.zenit.org/article-33600?l=english

Study: Most Priests Are Happy, Appreciate Celibacy

Interview With Monsignor Stephen Rossetti

By Genevieve Pollock

WASHINGTON, D.C., OCT. 5, 2011 (Zenit.org).- Priests in general are among the happiest members of society, says Monsignor Stephen Rossetti, and contrary to secular opinion, most embrace celibacy as a positive aspect of their vocation.

These were some of the conclusions outlined by Monsignor Rossetti in his book, “Why Priests Are Happy” (Ave Maria Press), which will be released Wednesday.

The author, who is currently serving as associate dean for seminary and ministerial programs at The Catholic University of America, also wrote “Born of the Eucharist,” “The Joy of Priesthood,” and “When the Lion Roars.” As a licensed psychologist, Monsignor Rossetti previously worked as president and CEO of Saint Luke’s Institute, a treatment and education center for clergy and religious.

The author surveyed 2,500 priests, and made discoveries that modern society might find surprising.

In this interview with ZENIT, he explained some of these findings, including the correlation between a priest’s happiness and his relationship with God and others, and the signs of hope for the future of the priesthood.

Read the whole story at Zenit.org.

Requiescat in pace: Dr. Luigi Giacometti

2011-10-11T12:32:00.000-07:00

Dr. Luigi Giacometti

NIH Scientist and Scholar

Dr. Luigi Giacometti, 85, who retired as chief of the Center for Scientific Review at the National Institute of Health after serving at NIH for 28 years, died at Potomac Manor Care on October 9, 2011 of natural causes.

A resident of Rockville, Maryland for over thirty years, Dr. Giacometti was born and raised in the small village of Gubbio, in Umbria, Italy, where as a young boy during World War II, he was an eyewitness to Hitler’s visit to Rome in May of 1938. Later, once the war began, he joined his older brother and became a member of the “Partisan Resistance”, the underground Italian resistance movement, working with the Allies to fight the Nazi occupation. While serving as a guerilla fighter in the Apennine Mountains, he and a group of other partisans were captured by Nazi soldiers. Dr. Giacometti escaped execution when a local priest convinced the Nazis to release the young teenager. After his release, Dr. Giacometti continued to serve as a Partisan Resistance fighter, ferrying critical messages between the Partisan Resistance forces and the British Army until the war ended.

After the war, Dr. Giacometti completed his studies, received a degree in biology, and married his wife, Filippina Mannucci. In January of 1956, when Filippina was 8 months pregnant, Dr. Giacometti and Filippina emigrated to the United States on the Italian liner the Andrea Doria, and while crossing the Atlantic Ocean their first daughter, Andrea, was born on board the ship.

On arriving in the United States, Dr. Giacometti became the chief of the perinatal laboratory at Providence Lying-In Hospital in Rhode Island. Soon thereafter he became a pre-doctoral fellow at Providence Hospital, enrolled in the graduate program at Brown University, and earned his M.Sci. and Ph.D. in biology in 1964. Dr. Giacometti then spent 5 years as a scientist at the Oregon Regional Primate Research Center in Beverton. His groundbreaking research focused on the structure and function of skin in humans and primates, and he was noted for his accomplishments in the field of Langerhans cells in human skin, previously thought to be lifeless until Dr. Giacometti demonstrated they were living cells. He also conducted innovative and unique research on Egyptian mummies, identifying for the first time remnants of red blood cells in ancient tissue samples, and pioneering methods for retrieving cells from mummies.

In 1969 Dr. Giacometti became associate professor of dermatology at the University of Oregon Medical School and scientific director of the Oregon Zoology Research Center. In addition to his noted skin research he coordinated research devoted to developing animal models for human diseases and for conserving wildlife species. From 1968 until 1972 he also served as honorary Italian vice-counsel for the government of Italy in Portland, Oregon.

Dr. Giacometti moved to Rockville in 1972 after accepting a grant from NIH to study diseases related to the human eye. From 1973 to 1977, he served as director of the Extramural Corneal Disease and Cataract Program at the National Eye Institute. In 1977 he became chief of the visual sciences study session at the Division of Research Grants, and then ultimately became chief of the Center for Scientific Review.

Dr. Giacometti was an accomplished author, writing several books and articles on various topics from religion and politics to art and science, including a treatise on Jesus Christ “Who Was Jesus of Nazareth”. He spoke fluent Italian and English, taught courses in the Italian language and on Italian art. He was a member of Parliamo Italiano, an Italian language club based in Potomac, Maryland.

Beloved husband of Filippina Mannucci, he is survived by two daughters, Andrea R. Giacometti, MD, of Arlington, Virginia, and Elena F. Kennedy, Esq. of Potomac, Maryland; two grandchildren Brian and Christina Kennedy; and many devoted friends and former colleagues.

Family and friends will be received at PUMPHREY’S BETHESDA-CHEVY CHASE FUNERAL HOME, 7557 Wisconsin Avenue, Bethesda, MD 20814 on Thursday, October 13, 2011 from 3-5PM and 7-9PM. Mass of Christian burial will be offered at St. Raphael’s Catholic Church, 1592 Kimblewick Road (Falls and Dunster Roads) Potomac, MD20854 on Friday, October 14 at 10AM. Interment Gate of HeavenCemetery following Mass. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made in his honor to Potomac Manor Care, 10714 Potomac Tennis Lane, Potomac, MD 20854 Attn: Kara Noble. Please view and sign the family guestbook at www.pumphreyfuneralhome.com. In addition, there will be a reception - tentatively planned to be held in Bethesda - after the burial service, details of which will be provided at the burial service.

Zenit to lose independence from Legionaries of Christ

2011-10-11T01:49:00.006-07:00

Note: All six editors of Zenit have quit the organization. This after the Legionaries of Christ asked for the resignation of the founding editor. If Zenit is to be no longer a trusted, objective news source for the universal Church, and instead an organ for promoting the exclusive organizational interests of the LCs, it would be a significant loss.

--((((..))))

Zenit’s editors quit over Legion decision

8 Comments

Rome, Italy, Oct 10, 2011 / 10:24 am (CNA/EWTN News).-

Zenit news service’s six editors resigned their positions Oct. 7, citing their disagreement with the Legionaries of Christ’s plans to increase the outlet's ties to the order.

In a statement signed by the six editors, and addressed to Zenit readers, the editors state, "After years of fruitful collaboration with the Legionaries of Christ, we disagree with the decision of the congregation to underline the institutional dependence of the agency on the Legion. "The initial vision of ZENIT was never to make it a service of a particular congregation, but rather of the universal Church. This has been the spirit with which we have worked throughout the years, and the spirit we could not betray." "We warmly thank all our readers for their loyalty and support throughout the years, and we hope to be able to continue to work for the Church and for all those who seek the truth, in another manner, but always with the same spirit," they said.

Gisèle Plantec (French), Mirko Testa (Italian), Inma Álvarez (Spanish), Karna Swanson (English), Alexandre Ribeiro (Portuguese) and Tony Assaf (Arabic) have all informed the CEO of Zenit, Alberto Ramírez Puig, of their departure. The position of editor in German is vacant.

Zenit is a news service promoted by the Legionaries of Christ, which has expressed its desire to change the identity of Zenit from an independent news agency at the service of the Church to one with a more institutional dependence on the congregation. In 1997, Jesús Colina founded Zenit and asked the Legionaries of Christ to act as spiritual advisors to ensure fidelity to the magisterium.

For the past 14 years, the agency has worked independently of the congregation. Colina was informed earlier this year that the Legionaries wanted to change the identity of the agency, and asked for his resignation, which he tendered Sept. 27. At the time, he cited a lack of mutual trust and transparency between himself and the Legion, in both editorial and financial matters, and a fundamental disagreement with the future direction of Zenit.

Zenit publishes in seven languages and sends its daily service to some 450,000 subscribers.

All is ready... Come to the feast

2011-10-09T04:19:00.000-07:00

Fr Dawid in procession to celebrate his first wedding banquet of the lamb: the holy Sacrifice of the Mass. A tradition in Poland, young women walk with the newly ordained priest and his mother to the church where the first Mass will be celebrated.

"Ave Maria": Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary

2011-10-07T00:01:00.000-07:00

A blessed feast day to all of Mary's children in the Church militant, suffering and triumphant..

The false category of "Pre-Vatican II": "there cannot be a pre-Conciliar and post-Conciliar Church"

2011-10-06T06:07:00.000-07:00

Yours will probably be the first generation that will correctly interpret the Second Vatican Council, not according to the "spirit" of the Council, which has brought so much disorientation to the Church, but according to what the Conciliar Event really said, in its texts to the Church and to the world.

There is no Vatican II different from the one that produced the texts we have in our possession today! It is in those texts that we find that will of God for his Church and it is to them that we must refer, accompanied by two thousand years of Tradition and Christian life.

Renewal is always necessary for the Church, because the conversion of her members, poor sinners, is always necessary! But there cannot be, nor could there be, a pre-Conciliar Church and a post-Conciliar Church! Were it thus, the second one - ours - would be historically and theologically illegitimate!

There is only one Church of Christ, of which you are part, that goes from Our Lord to the Apostles, from the Blessed Virgin Mary to the Fathers and the Doctors of the Church, from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance, from Romanesque to Gothic to Baroque, and thus until our days, uninterruptedly, without any solution of continuity, ever!

And all that because the Church is the Body of Christ, it is the unity of His Person that is given unto us, her members!

You, most dear Seminarians, will be priests in the same Church of Saint Augustine, of Saint Ambrose, of Saint Thomas Aquinas, of Saint Charles Borromeo, of Saint John Mary Vianney, of Saint John Bosco, of Saint Pius X, up to Saint Padre Pio, Saint Josemaría Escrivá and Blessed John Paul II. You will be priests of the same Church that has been made up of so many holy Priests who, throughout the centuries, have rendered the face of Christ, Lord of the world, luminous, beautiful, radiant, and, therefore, easily recognizable.

"These were the main words of the powerful address delivered by Cardinal Piacenza, Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy, to seminarians in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles on October 4 - the address is available in Italian and in Spanish in the Congregation's website"

-- Thanks to Rorate Caeli

No Same-Sex Weddings at West Point's Catholic Chapel, Says Military Archdiocese

2011-10-05T12:05:00.000-07:00

By Pete Winn
October 3, 2011
Subscribe to Pete Winn's posts

Archbishop Timothy Broglio, of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA. (Photo courtesy of the archdiocese.)

(CNSNews.com) – Will same-sex marriage ceremonies be allowed at the Catholic Chapel of the Most Holy Trinity at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point?

“The answer is ‘no,’” said Taylor Henry, director of public affairs and media relations for the Catholic Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, and spokesman for Archbishop Timothy Broglio, who certifies all Catholic chaplains for the armed services.

“Holy Trinity is an actual Catholic parish, unlike the non-denominational chapels that are found on other military installations, and the only services held there are Catholic services. The Catholic Church does not perform the sacrament of matrimony for same-sex couples,” he said.
What about other Catholic chapels on other military bases?

“What non-Catholic chaplains do in nondenominational chapels on U.S. military grounds around the world will be up to the military, but no Catholic chaplain is authorized to perform a same-sex marriage under any circumstances,” Henry added.

Archbishop Broglio, meanwhile, has denounced directives issued last week by Under Secretary of Defense Clifford Stanley and DoD General Counsel Jeh Johnson clearing military chaplains to perform same-sex weddings in military chapels.

“The Pentagon's new policy, as outlined in these two memos, appears to ignore the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which was signed into law 15 years ago and remains in effect,” Broglio said in a statement released last week.

“Undersecretary Stanley cannot say, on the one hand, that chaplains may take part in any private ceremony as long as it is ‘not prohibited by applicable state and local law,’ and on the other, say nothing of the federal law.

“Nor can DOD's General Counsel say that determinations regarding use of military facilities should be made on a 'sexual-orientation neutral basis, provided such use is not prohibited by applicable state and local laws' while neglecting to take DOMA into account.
Broglio pointed out that voters in 29 states have affirmed marriage as the union of one man and one woman by referendum – and 41 states total have adopted laws or constitutional amendments protecting marriage. .

“Fundamentally the new policy seeks to circumvent the clear will of the majority, whose unquestionable sovereignty has the last word in the system of government enshrined in the Federal Constitution,” Broglio said.

“It cannot be forgotten that the 1996 enactment of DOMA was due to the efforts of a substantial, bi-partisan majority in Congress and to then-President Clinton. As a Nation we walk down a dangerous path when appointed officials are allowed to thwart the will of the people.

He added: “The women and men I am privileged to serve place their lives on the line every day to defend the Country whose government is of the people, by the people, and for the people. Let us pray that the millions who have died to ensure those liberties did not die in vain."

The Archdiocese for the Military Services is the sole endorser (certifier) of Roman Catholic chaplains to the United States government. A Roman Catholic priest cannot serve within the United States military as a priest without the express permission of the Archdiocese.

As of 2008, there were 285 Roman Catholic priests certified for active-duty military service.

Support of Susan G. Komen Foundation can be a scandal because of abortion ties

2011-10-04T18:49:00.001-07:00

"... the Foundation allows its affiliates to offer financial support to abortion providing facilities, publicly denies studies showing abortion as a contributing cause of breast cancer, and endorses embryonic stem cell research. Therefore, parishes should not participate in activities that benefit Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure."

Respect Life Office of the Archdiocese of Baltimore Statement

Below is a statement from the Respect Life Office of the Archdiocese of Baltimore on the Susan G. Komen for the Cure organization, along with a “Frequently Asked Questions” statement.

Please feel free to share with those who are interested in or concerned about the Race for the Cure activities.

Archdiocese of Baltimore| Position Statement on Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure
Issued January 7, 2011.

The Respect Life Office of the Archdiocese of Baltimore acknowledges the beneficial work of Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure in the area of breast cancer detection, prevention, research and treatment. Due to its policy allowing affiliates to offer financial support to abortion providing facilities, its public denial of studies showing abortion as a contributing cause of breast cancer, and its endorsement of embryonic stem cell research, the Respect Life Office neither supports nor encourages participation in activities that benefit Susan G. Komen for the Cure. This position is based on the following facts:

1) Public records indicate that Susan G. Komen for the Cure (“Komen”) affiliates (as of 2010 Maryland is not among them) provided grants to local Planned Parenthood chapters for breast health care services.1 Money donated to Planned Parenthood for a specific service, i.e. breast health care, directly frees up funds to support other areas of the organization’s operation, i.e. contraception and sterilization services, “safe” sex education and abortion. In addition, Komen’s website states: “A minimum of 25 percent of the net proceeds from any Komen Affiliate event directly supports Komen’s (national) Research Grants and Awards Program. Any not-for-profit organization may apply for a grant from Komen.” In 2007 Komen-Maryland sent 50% of the funds raised here ($2.6 million) to the national office.
Though Komen’s grants were for breast health care services, Planned Parenthood (the largest single abortion provider in the country) stated in its 2007-2008 annual report that 31,729 fewer breast exams and 15,560 more abortions were provided in 2007 than in 2006.2

2) The Komen website dismisses the link between procured abortion and increased risk of breast cancer.3 However, multiple studies indicate otherwise. Recent studies include those of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center4, Joel Brind, Ph.D., a professor of Endocrinology and founder of the Breast Cancer Prevention Institute5, and the work of Dr. Janet Daling, a leading cancer epidemiologist. Daling, a pro-choice advocate, said, “I would have loved to have found no association between breast cancer and abortion, but our research is rock solid, and our data is accurate. It’s not a matter of believing, it’s a matter of what is.”6 As part of a comprehensive search for a cure, we encourage Komen to either fund further studies on the link between breast cancer and abortion, or avoid prematurely denying any possibility of a connection.

3) Komen endorses embryonic stem cell research, which requires the destruction of embryonic human life, stating that, “embryonic stem cells are currently considered to have the most potential for use in the regeneration of diseased or injured tissues” for cancer stem cell research.7 The destruction of human life at any stage of development is never morally acceptable. As of this writing, embryonic stem cell research, unlike adult stem cell research which has a proven record of cures and treatments, has yet to be effective in treating a single disease.

The Respect Life Office encourages you to contact Susan G. Komen for the Cure (5005 LBJ Freeway, Suite 250 ▪ Dallas, TX 75244) and urge the organization to end to all associations between Komen (and its affiliates) and Planned Parenthood, to support further studies of the link between breast cancer and abortion, and to end the endorsement of research that leads to the destruction of any human life.

The patients and families who are victims of this terrible illness remain in our prayers, and we encourage all to continue supporting all those who are suffering or in spiritual, physical or financial need. As of this publication date, we believe the following organizations support morally licit breast cancer research and prevention, however, as with all charitable contributions, we encourage you to obtain the most current information possible before offering your support.

The Breast Cancer Prevention Institute 30 Rehill Avenue, Suite 3400 Somerville, NJ 08876 USA 1-86-NO CANCER (1-866-622-6237) www.bcpinstitute.org

Coalition on Abortion / Breast Cancer P.O. Box 957133 Hoffman Estates, IL 60195-3051 1-877-803-0102 www.abortionbreastcancer.com

1 Susan G. Komen for the Cure. Research and Grants. Retrieved June 3, 2010 from http://ww5.komen.org/GrantDescription.aspx?CID=29029, and
http://ww5.komen.org/FindAGrantResults.aspx?location=&keywords=planned.

"A Christian cannot live a life of integrity or peace when wittingly or unwittingly stuffing oneself with or indifferently absorbing the superficial"

2011-10-04T00:01:00.000-07:00

"A Christian cannot live a life of integrity or peace when wittingly or unwittingly stuffing oneself with or indifferently absorbing the superficial and the fleeting."

* * *When I bought my first pair of Asics running shoes many years ago, I noticed a familiar Latin maxim on the box – “Anima sana in corpore sano” – and soon realized much to my amazement that the name “Asics” is in fact an acronym for that very maxim. It is a variation on “Mens sana in corpore sano,” usually translated, “A sound mind in a sound body.”

The Roman poet and satirist Juvenalis (55-127 A.D.) is usually credited with the saying, and his point is a good one. People of every age have championed the value of a healthy body, even if notions of health and beauty have varied greatly through the centuries. The body/mind connection is a reminder that we are whole persons, that one aspect of living directly affects the others. Physical, intellectual, and psychological health go hand-in- hand. We live more serenely, think more clearly and work more energetically when we take care of our bodies – when we literally put our Asics to use.

It is interesting that Asics chose “anima” over “mens” for its corporate slogan, because while “mens” usually referred to the mind in its intellectual aspects, “anima” referred to the more encompassing “vital principal” of life, the “breath of life,” one’s “heart,” and one’s overall sense of well-being. In fact, “anima” is the word used for “soul” in the Latin Vulgate translation of the Bible, in Church writings and in the liturgy.

Juvenalis was not a Christian, but his famous maxim certainly lends itself to an essential Christian application: “A sound soul in a sound body.” We do well to remember that there is something deep within, something all-encompassing and literally life-giving, the very life-principle that makes the body human, which begs for attention, discipline and nourishment: our soul.

Juvenalis was just a kid as St. Paul was drawing near his martyr’s death, but Paul was keenly aware of the influence of comparable writers and thinkers in Greco-Roman culture. They shaped in part the environment into which the Lord sent him to preach the gospel, and it was critical to his mission to be familiar with them. Paul was a master of observation when it came to culture, law, language, philosophy – and yes, athletics – and put to work his highly-honed skills when framing the proclamation of the Christian message.

He borrowed from Stoic thought to exhort the Christian community in the Roman colony of Philippi to live a life of integrity:“...whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things” (Philippians 4:8).A sound, healthy soul will be truly nourished only by the good and the beautiful, the noble and the pure. A Christian cannot live a life of integrity or peace when wittingly or unwittingly stuffing oneself with or indifferently absorbing the superficial and the fleeting. Moreover, one cannot hope to be healthy or to do well in one area of life when the rest of life is malnourished. The Desert Father Poemen said, “Do not give your heart to that which does not satisfy your heart.”

St. Paul recognized that Christian freedom is not only freedom “from” the constraints of sin but freedom “for” positive striving for fulfillment in Christ, a natural and critical outgrowth of faith and one’s desire to live life to the full, peacefully and integrally.He also knew that at the heart of the Gospel is a mandate which both draws challengingly on the deepest resources of human freedom and opens up for the individual and for society the most complete fulfillment possible: and that is the spirit of loving self-giving, made manifest in acts – in lives – of total sacrifice.

As human persons we are not fully alive – even if we follow a balanced, healthy lifestyle and nourish ourselves with all that is good and beautiful in culture – unless we live for something beyond ourselves, unless we give ourselves to Someone beyond ourselves. It was that spirit, that stance, in Solomon which caught God’s eye:“Because you have not asked for a long life for yourself, nor for riches, nor for the life of your enemies, but for understanding so that you may know what is right – I do as you requested. I give you a heart so wise and understanding that there has never been anyone like you up to now, and after you there will come no one to equal you” (1 Kings 3:11-12).

Solomon desired to use his gifts for others – literally for the good of his people, who were, after all, God’s people – and thus for the purpose for which God gives every one of his gifts. It is love which makes the using of one’s gifts perfect; it is love which makes the gift of oneself beautiful in the eyes of God; it is love which best manifests the presence of God in our personal and public lives. This love is not just altruism. Rather, it is conscious participation in the sacrificial love of Christ, which the Christian disciple realizes he or she is called to communicate and proclaim – in everything.

It is impossible to overstate the importance of the perfection and integration which self-forgetfulness, generosity, and humility bring to a Christian’s life of service. Why? Because these virtues manifest our desire not just to do well, but to do the good and to deliberately manifest in our lives the One Who Is Good. We can barely grasp the extraordinary depth of God’s humility, the infinity of his love, and the mind-boggling truth that he has invited us to share in his very life and in his care for his people.

Try as I might to wrap my mind and heart around the image that Jesus presents in the gospel passage we have just heard, I am always utterly astounded and speechless when I picture it:“Blessed are those servants whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival. Amen, I say to you, he will gird himself, have them recline at table, and proceed to wait on them” (Luke 12:37).The Lord Jesus, having left us “in charge” until his return, will himself return – but still a servant, ever a servant, with perfect love and unimaginable humility – and will serve us at table. It could not be otherwise for the One who “came to serve” and to “give his life as a ransom.” Likewise, it cannot be otherwise for us who are his disciples. St. Augustine writes,“...the Christ who is preached throughout the world is not Christ adorned with an earthly crown, nor Christ rich in earthly treasures, but Christ crucified... Thus, at length, the pride of this world was convinced that, even among the things of this world, there is nothing more powerful than the humility of God” (see Epistle 232:5, 6).

In the end, it is in our relationship with the Lord that we find the spiritual health that reveals and makes possible true balance, true integrity. We are speaking here not of a formula, and certainly not of self-improvement: we are speaking instead of lives lived in God, for others. It is God who created us who makes us complete, and it is a life lived in humble union with the servant-Savior that literally does the most good.A sound soul in a sound body makes for a balanced life, a life of integrity. And such sound, integrally healthy lives given to public service lift up and transform society. And consciously committed lives of discipleship reveal the living, saving presence of the humble Savior who gives himself as food to those who are his own. It is his love, his sacrifice which sets the standard for every life of humble service – and thus it is a living relationship with him that integrates our lives and makes them truly healthy. That is what we call holiness.

My sisters and brothers, we who are here this day know that it is from God that we come and toward God that we are headed. Each of us, according to the calling given us, has been put “in charge” of the Lord’s vineyard. The vineyard is his, we are his, and those we serve are his. And we pray that we will be humble servants like him, who seek to do only his good. It is that for which we were made – and it is that for which we are sent into the world. Amen.

-- Archbishop Peter Sartain, Homily, Red Mass, Washington, 3 October 2011

Cardinal Wuerl: The New Evangelization at Work in the Archdiocese of Washington

2011-10-03T17:00:00.001-07:00

October 3, 2011

Dear Friends,

After Jesus' Resurrection his disciples began to preach the Gospel and establish his Church around the world. Most often they faced hostile or indifferent listeners. Yet they had the courage to be Christians because they knew the Risen Christ. They also understood the joy that comes from introducing others to Jesus. Many in our world have never encountered Jesus. Many others know him, but not well enough to tell others about him. Igniting in others the joy of those early believers, who were willing to give everything to follow Jesus, is called the New Evangelization. I want to share with you some of the encouraging things that are going on across our archdiocese, and I hope you will be inspired to bring others closer to our Lord.

When our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, visited Washington, D.C. in 2008, he prayed during the Mass at Nationals Park that his visit would "be an occasion for all Catholics to reaffirm their unity in the apostolic faith, to offer their

contemporaries a convincing account of the hope which inspires them (cf. 1 Pet 3:15), and to be renewed in missionary zeal for the extension of God's Kingdom." His prayer is now being answered by many in our archdiocese.

In an attempt to provide a framework to implement the challenge of our Holy Father and to offer pastoral direction for the local Church of Washington, I

published a pastoral letter in August 2010 on the New Evangelization entitled, Disciples of the Lord: Sharing the Vision.

On the archdiocesan level we have begun wide-reaching initiatives during Advent and Lent. In Advent 2010 we introduced the "Find the Perfect Gift" campaign. With yard signs, as well as radio and bus advertisements, we hope to remind people that Jesus is the true gift of Christmas. We have developed a website — FindthePerfectGift.org — that has engaging catechetical and

apologetic content. Since 2007, we have "The Light is On for You" campaign, during which every parish church in the archdiocese is open for Confession on Wednesday evenings. Again utilizing advertising on radio and buses, we invite people to come and find the Lord's forgiveness. Both of these initiatives have been very successful.

Recognizing that the parish is an important key to the success of the New Evangelization, the archdiocese has begun a parish pastoral planning process. Pastors and parish leaders are invited to make a parish self-assessment focusing on the areas of worship, community, education, service and

administration. We call these the "Indicators of Vitality," and they assist the pastor and parish in forming short-term and long-term goals to improve the life of the parish and increase the evangelizing potential of each local community.

In order to be an evangelizer, one must not only have encountered Christ but also have understood and appropriated his teaching. The greatest challenge of the New Evangelization is that for the last 40 years or so, many have had little or no catechesis. I hear this from lay faithful all the time. In the Archdiocese of Washington we have revised our school and religious education policies and standards to improve our teaching of the faith and to ensure the Catholic identity of our academic institutions. The September 2008 pastoral letter, Catholic Education: Looking to the Future with Confidence, was intended to provide direction and oversight of our faith formation initiatives.

At the most local level, powerful examples of the New Evangelization can be seen throughout the archdiocese. Many parishes have established evangelization committees. Some have begun door-to-door outreach for inviting and welcoming neighbors to come to Church. Examples abound of the creative ways people are witnessing to their faith. For example, the parishes of Charles County made bumper stickers inviting people to visit the website www.charlescountycatholic.com, where visitors can find the parish closest to them as well as other links.

For the campus ministries at our secular universities, we have dedicated resources and effective priests to creating cultures of fidelity and apostolic zeal. At The George Washington University, a highly secular university in the center of Washington, D.C., the chaplain has challenged each of his students to bring a friend to Mass each week. The University of Maryland in the past years has produced many priests and seminarians for the archdiocese.

Perhaps the best news of all is that, due to the evangelization efforts and the hope reignited by the visit of our Holy Father, the archdiocese has had such strong numbers of men applying to study for the priesthood that we have opened Blessed John Paul II Seminary. Adjacent to the seminary will be a new shrine dedicated to Blessed John Paul II. With his intercession, all of us, here and around the nation, should once again feel the joy of those first disciples and have the courage to proclaim the crucified and Risen Christ.

Many do not join us at the table of the Lord because they have never been asked. This is where you come in. Perhaps there is someone you might want to invite to go to Mass with you. Inviting someone to meet the Lord will be a grace both for them and for you. Think of those early disciples sharing the Good News. It is our turn now.

With prayerful best wishes, I am

Faithfully in Christ,

Donald Cardinal Wuerl

Archbishop of Washington

Cardinal Wuerl encourages us to answer the call of the New Evangelization.

Watch as Cardinal Wuerl ordains 'agents of the New Evangelization, heralds of the Holy Spirit at work'.

Archdiocese of Washington

This message was sent to stfrancisdesales.md@adwparish.org from:

Archdiocese of Washington Office of Evangelization, Outreach & Information | P.O. Box 29260 301-853-4500 | Washington, DC 20017-0260

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"DC Padres" play Sunday, October 16 in Germantown

2011-10-03T06:18:00.001-07:00

Date: Oct 3, 2011 9:13 AM
Subject: "DC Padres" Make Another Vocations Pitch
To:

You are invited!

"DC Padres" Make Another Vocations Pitch

The DC Padres baseball team, comprised of priests of the Archdiocese of Washington and the Diocese of Arlington as well as seminarians of Mount St. Mary's Seminary, will be taking the field again. The purpose of the team is to raise awareness of and interest in vocations to the priesthood.

Sunday, October, 16, 2011

3:00 p.m.

Germantown Campus of the Montgomery County Community College

20200 Observation Drive

Germantown, MD

The next game will be against the Avalon School Varsity baseball team. Tickets will not be required for this event.

Hundreds attended the inaugural matchup at the Bowie Baysox Stadium in September against the Bowie All Stars, a team comprised of high school and college players. The DC Padres won the game 5-4.

The idea for the baseball team originated with Fr. Larry Swink and Fr. Larry Young, both pastors of the Archdiocese of Washington. The game was not only a win for the team, but also for the fans who came bearing homemade signs and t-shirts in support of their priests. "That's the most fun I've had in a long time, and maybe ever," wrote Fr. Larry Young after the inaugural game. "I loved all the base stealing, too. It felt like we were in the movie 'Field of Dreams' out there and we were all apparitions of ourselves from the past."

Taking the field for the second game are the following Catholic priests: Father Larry Young, pastor of Our Lady's Church in Leonardtown; Father Larry Swink, pastor of Jesus the Divine Word in Huntingtown; Father David Wells, parochial vicar at Immaculate Heart of Mary in Lexington Park; Father Jose Raul De Leon, parochial vicar at Our Lady of Sorrows in Takoma Park; and Fr. Greg Shaffer, chaplain, George Washington University. The following six seminarians from Mount St. Mary's Seminary will also participate: Shaun Foggo, Kevin Dansereau, Noah Morey, Adam Cesarek, Matthew Hoelscher, and Stephen Jagla. Rounding out the DC Padres' lineup is Father Andrew Fisher, pastor of St. Ambrose in Annandale in the Diocese of Arlington.

"We hope it will be a fun, positive, upbeat event where we can spread the word about what a tremendous gift a vocation to the priesthood is, and invite young men to pray and consider whether the Lord might be calling them as well," said Fr. Young.

Noah Morey, a seminarian for the Diocese of Arlington, said he enjoys having the team come together "to show the unity of all in the Church." Seminarian Kevin Dansereau said he is happy "to give glory to God through the gift of baseball." Organizers are working to develop this initiative into a cycle of about three games per year.

To see a video of the inaugural game, please visit: http://youtu.be/aqJhirHjSQU

The Archdiocese of Washington is home to over 600,000 Catholics living in Washington, DC and five Maryland counties: Calvert, Charles, Montgomery, Prince George's

Brie Hall

Communications Manager

Archdiocese of Washington

301.853.4512 office

703.505.6898 cell

bhall@adw.org

This Day God Gives Me

2011-10-03T00:01:00.000-07:00

This Day God Gives Me by L'Angélus

Sunday 27A. "The God of peace will be with you": Christ yields the fruit of peace, evidence of God's love, for all through the vineyard of the Church

2011-10-01T17:56:00.001-07:00

A young woman growing up in France many years ago wanted to be a priest. She heard God calling her to go out and work in his vineyard. In her holy love for God she could think of nothing greater than celebrating Holy Mass and giving the Body and Blood of the Lord to His people.

She found upon inquiring, however, that it was a certain teaching of the Church that the priesthood could be conferred only upon men. Therese did not respond to this news with anxiety but rather with authentic faith. She did not leave the Church in anger when she became aware of this difficult teaching. Neither did she found her own "church" so that she could have things as she wanted. She continued to live as a faithful daughter of the Church and to discern her vocation.

Visit Meeting Christ in the Liturgy for the full text of the homily for the 27th Sunday of the Year by clicking here.

US: military chaplains may perform same-sex unions

2011-09-30T09:25:00.000-07:00

US: military chaplains may perform same-sex unions

Benedict XVI: "Are we to yield to the pressure of secularization, and become modern by watering down the faith?"

2011-09-30T00:01:00.000-07:00

The second challenge to worldwide Christianity of which I wish to speak is more profound and in our country more controversial: the secularized context of the world in which we Christians today have to live and bear witness to our faith. God is increasingly being driven out of our society, and the history of revelation that Scripture recounts to us seems locked into an ever more remote past. Are we to yield to the pressure of secularization, and become modern by watering down the faith? Naturally faith today has to be thought out afresh, and above all lived afresh, so that it is suited to the present day. Yet it is not by watering the faith down, but by living it today in its fullness that we achieve this. This is a key ecumenical task in which we have to help one another: developing a deeper and livelier faith. It is not strategy that saves us and saves Christianity, but faith – thought out and lived afresh; through such faith, Christ enters this world of ours, and with him, the living God. As the martyrs of the Nazi era brought us together and prompted that great initial ecumenical opening, so today, faith that is lived from deep within amid a secularized world is the most powerful ecumenical force that brings us together, guiding us towards unity in the one Lord. And we pray to him, asking that we may learn to live the faith anew, and that in this way we may then become one.

MEETING WITH THE COUNCIL
OF THE EVANGELICAL CHURCH IN GERMANY

ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI

Chapter Hall of the Former Augustinian Convent, Erfurt
Friday, 23 September 2011

Vocation Thursdays: Full Text of Pope's Address to Seminarians in Freiburg

2011-09-29T00:01:00.000-07:00

“In preparing for the priesthood, study is very much a part of the journey. This is not an academic accident that has arisen in the western Church, it is something essential. We all know that St. Peter said: "Always be prepared to make a defence to any one who calls you to account for the hope that is in you" (1 Pet 3:15). Our world today is a rationalist and thoroughly scientific world, albeit often somewhat pseudo-scientific. But this scientific spirit, this spirit of understanding, explaining, know-how, rejection of the irrational, is dominant in our time. There is a good side to this, even if it often conceals much arrogance and nonsense. The faith is not a parallel world of feelings that we can still afford to hold on to, rather it is the key that encompasses everything, gives it meaning, interprets it and also provides its inner ethical orientation: making clear that it is to be understood and lived as tending towards God and proceeding from God. Therefore it is important to be informed and to understand, to have an open mind, to learn.”

******

For full text of
Pope Benedict XVI's comments in Meeting with seminarians, St Charles Borromeo Seminary Chapel, Freiburg im Breisgau
Saturday, 24 September 2011

click the link.

USCCB Media Blog: Roman Missal: Two Months and Counting

2011-09-28T07:29:00.000-07:00

USCCB Media Blog: Roman Missal: Two Months and Counting: On November 27, the First Sunday of Advent, the Roman Missal, Third Edition , the ritual text containing prayers and instructions ...

Pope Benedict on ecumenism and Christian unity: "A self-made faith is worthless"

2011-09-28T00:01:00.000-07:00

Prior to my visit there was some talk of an “ecumenical gift” which was expected from such a visit. There is no need for me to specify the gifts mentioned in this context. Here I would only say that, in most of its manifestations, this reflects a political misreading of faith and of ecumenism. In general, when a Head of State visits a friendly country, contacts between the various parties take place beforehand to arrange one or more agreements between the two states: by weighing respective benefits and drawbacks a compromise is reached which in the end appears beneficial for both parties, so that a treaty can then be signed. But the faith of Christians does not rest on such a weighing of benefits and drawbacks. A self-made faith is worthless. Faith is not something we work out intellectually and negotiate between us. It is the foundation for our lives. Unity grows not by the weighing of benefits and drawbacks but only by entering ever more deeply into the faith in our thoughts and in our lives.

ECUMENICAL PRAYER SERVICE
ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI
Church of the former Augustinian Convent, ErfurtFriday, 23 September 2011

Benedict XVI arrives in Freiburg: about handshaking between brothers

2011-09-27T08:45:00.000-07:00

I do realize that Germans have a slightly "cooler" approach to expression of affection, but does the shaking of hands in this context speak of brotherhood in the Faith, of the fraternity shared by priests, of the love of a member of the Christian faithful who welcome's the Lord's Vicar on Earth? Take a look at the video clicking the link below and decide for yourself ...

Video of arrival of Benedict XVI at Catholic cathedral in Freiburg

((((..))))

Dead Sea "E-Scrolls": The Digital Dead Sea Scrolls now on line

2011-09-26T07:22:00.000-07:00

Abir Sultan / EPA
Dr. Adolfo Roitman analyzes the original Isaiah scroll at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, Israel, on Monday, Sept. 26.

An new project has made the Dead Sea scrolls on line. Learn more by licking here.

Benedict XVI on the saints

2011-09-26T00:01:00.000-07:00

The saints show us that it is truly possible and good to live our relationship with God in a radical way, to put him in first place, not as one concern among others. The saints help us to see that God first reached out to us, he revealed and continues to reveal himself to us in Jesus Christ. Christ comes towards us, he speaks to every individual with an invitation to follow him. This was an opportunity that the saints acted on, they as it were reached out to him from deep within themselves in the ongoing dialogue of prayer, and in return they received from him the light that shows where true life is to be found.

-- Homily at Mass in Erfurt Cathedral Square

Libations with Phil Johnson

2011-09-25T17:26:00.001-07:00

Seminarian Phil Johnson and I are toasting his health on a recent visit. I think that was water in his glass, if I remember correctly.

Slainte, Salute and cheers, Phil!

A Priest Life ((((..))))

"We ask the government to fix the problems we already have, not create new ones": the courage to stand against the tide

Music Mondays: New Church Music and Vatican II Hymnal

Some New Church Music That Isn’t Sickening

Letter from Cardinal Donald Wuerl: "There can no longer be any doubt that religious liberty in our country is in jeopardy."

"Vos estis sal terrae": Solemn High Mass for the Feast of Saint Francis de Sales in Benedict, Md

Maggie Marches for Life

Pro-Life priests-in-training March for Life

Abp Dolan: "the president is saying we have a year to figure out how to violate our consciences”

Solemn High Mass on 24 January in Benedict, Maryland

Why I Love Religion, and Love Jesus

BXVI: "it is imperative that the entire Catholic community in the US come to realize the grave threats to the Church’s public moral witness"

Un peu de Paris

Solemn High Mass for feast of Saint Francis de Sales on 24 January in Benedict, Maryland

Paris avec Philippe

Agnostic Jew: "What is so terrifying and bizarre about the Catholic Church's teachings on the intrinsic beauty and sanctity of life, death and sex?

600th Anniversary of the Birth of Joan of Arc

In Circumcisione Domini: Solemn High Mass in Montmirail, France

Vocation Thursdays: Father Ron Gillis

Homily for Nativity of the Lord. "Christmas every Sunday": the Lord seeks to be born into our lives through the Eucharist at Sunday Mass each week

A Child's Prayer for Christmas: "Happy Birthday Jesus"

Archbishop Broglio's Christmas Letter

Everyday martyrdom

"Why the change when what we had seemed to work just fine?" On the new English translation of holy Mass

The Roman Rite of the Latin Church

John L. Allen Jr. reviews new book, "Joseph Ratzinger: Crisis of a Papacy"

Advent Message from Archbishop Dolan

President Nominates Catholic Air Force Chaplain Richard Erikson for Promotion

"Protest against 'blasphemous' play in Paris": Who decides who is "a fundamentalist Catholic"?

World news

Stage

"Catholics Come Home" ads to air nationwide Dec 16 to Jan 8

Jessica Stecklein in concert December 10 at Huntingtown MD

Amalfi: Saint Andrew's Tomb

"Raising Pure Teens": talking to your teen about chastity

When you tell me

Vatican to Take Legal Action against Benetton

Pro-Life Saturdays: "Sexual Healing" and respect for life through chastity

Vocation Thursdays: Workers of the Vineyard

Religious Freedom: Statement from the Maryland Bishops

Bishops of Maryland Raise Concern over Erosion of Religious Freedom

Archbishop Dolan: "Love for Jesus and his church must be the passion of our lives."

Marriage: Unique for a Reason

A Blessed Veteran's Day

11/11/11 11:11

Vocation Thursdays: The problem of priestly narcissism today

Messing with the Mass: The problem of priestly narcissism today

It has been frequently noted that the mass since Vatican II has fallen victim to various kinds of irregularities.

Cardinal Wuerl: The "First Freedom" - Religious Liberty

Prayer on the Occasion of the 236th Birthday of the United States Marine Corps

Vindictive, bitter and childish: Vatican stunned by Irish embassy closure

Vocation Thursdays: New Blessed Pope John Paul II College Seminary dedicated in Washington, DC

Pope Benedict: pray for the faithful departed and renew our faith in the promise of eternal life

Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed: A tear, a flower, a prayer

Blessings for All Saints' Day

CUA President letter to students on Muslim controversy: "Banzhaf has created the perception our Muslim students are offended"

Sunday 31 A. "Now, O priests, this commandment is for you": performing good works of love whether seen or unseen

Thank your priest on 30 October, World Priest Day, sponsored by Worldwide Marriage Encounter

World Priest Day

BLESSING FOR A PREIST

CUA VP of Public Affairs: “We have not yet received any legal filing from the Office of Human Rights" referring to Mr. Banzhaf’s allegations

Muslim Issue Hits National News

Other stories that might interest you...

Pro-Life Saturdays: "I am the 10%"

The Passion of the Lord on Fridays: Abbi misercordia di noi! / Have mercy on us!

Archbishop Broglio to celebrate Veterans' Day Mass 6 November in Upper Marlboro, MD

Dear "Coach Smith": About not getting "hung up" on the clothing rack

Modesty at Mass: A Case for a Catholic Dress Code

Pope Benedict XVI receives military Ordinaries

Thieves steal 2-ton bell from St. Mary's garden in San Francisco

Rev Adam Parker of Archdiocese of Baltimore named Monsignor

Solemn High Mass marks feast of Blessed Emperor Karl of Austria in Washington, DC

Susan desparately seeking ...

Desperation

Marriage Does Not Need Redefinition: Marriage in Maryland Needs Your Support

Vocation Thursdays: Priest finds joy in work that no material thing can give

THE YEAR OF FAITH: APOSTOLIC LETTER “PORTA FIDEI”

Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò named US Nuncio

Sancti Lucae Evangelistae: "Opera manuum eius annuntiat firmamentum"

Sunday in the park