Germantown, Maryland: Instead of New Clinic, Carhart Moves Late-term Abortions Into Rundown Abortion Mill

Instead of New Clinic, Carhart Moves Late-term Abortions Into Rundown Maryland Abortion Mill November 30, 2010 Activists plan an aggressive challenge Germantown, MD - Operation Rescue has confirmed that late-term abortionist LeRoy Carhart is not in fact opening a new clinic in Maryland as he announced, but is instead joining up with an existing abortion business in Germantown in order to evade a new Nebraska law that prohibits abortions past 20 weeks. "This is not an expansion of abortion, but a relocation of Carhart's failing late-term abortion business in a desperate attempt to avoid financial ruin," said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. Running from the law that halted his late-term abortion business, Carhart has made an opportunistic move to capture a portion of the abortion market vacated by the notorious abortionist Steven Chase Brigham, whose Maryland abortion clinics recently closed after it was discovered that he was operating a secret illegal late-term abortion racket in Maryland. Like Brigham, Carhart has no hospital privileges in any state, including Maryland where he intends to commit the risky late second and third trimester abortions at Germantown Reproductive Health Services, located at 13233 Executive Park Terrace. GRHS is an affiliate of the National Abortion Federation, a group of abortion mills that has an abysmal record of filthy clinics and dangerous abortionists. Convicted rapist Brian Finkel, who is currently serving 34 years in an Arizona prison for raping dozens of his abortion patients, was a proud NAF member. (View photos of a filthy NAF abortion clinic in Wichita, Kansas, which was bought and closed by Operation Rescue.) "Being an NAF affiliate only increases our belief that conditions at the Germantown clinic are such that the lives and health of women seeking Carhart's late-term abortion services would be placed at even greater risk than is usual for late-term abortions which are typically prone to complication," said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. Carhart plans to begin late-term abortions at GRHS on December 6, 2010. Operation Rescue is working with Maryland and Washington, D.C. pro-life groups to employ peaceful, legal means to halt Carhart's plans to do late-term abortions in Germantown. About Operation Rescue® Operation Rescue is one of the leading pro-life Christian activist organizations in the nation and has become a strong voice for the pro-life movement in America. Operation Rescue is now headquartered in a former abortion clinic that it bought and closed in 2006. From there, Operation Rescue launches its innovative new strategies across the nation, exposing and closing abortion clinics through peaceful, legal means. Its activities are on the cutting edge of the abortion issue, taking direct action to stop abortion and ultimately restore legal personhood to the pre-born in obedience to biblical mandates. Click here to support Operation Rescue. Web site: www.operationrescue.org Operation Rescue Troy Newman President 316-841-1700 Operation Rescue Cheryl Sullenger Senior Policy Advisor 316-516-3034

The brilliant results of some of the most expensive Catholic education in this country

At least one of the individuals in this photo, and in all likelihood more, is the product of so-called Catholic education at one of the most prestigious institutions to bear that name in this country. No further comment except to commend these and so many others to your fervent prayers.

Day 2: Novena for Philip Johnson

Father all-powerful and ever-living God,
you chose the Immaculate Virgin Mary,
the mother of your Son, to be the mother and help of all Christians.
As she endured her bitter agony
at the cross of her Son, she was consoled by you
with the hope of His resurrection.
Now, in heaven
she consoles with a mother’s love all who turn to her with faith,
until the day of the Lord dawns in glory.

~Pray the Memorare~

Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to your protection, implored your help or sought your intercession, was left unaided.
Inspired with this confidence, I fly to you, O Virgin of virgins, my Mother; to you do I come, before you I stand, sinful and sorrowful.
O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in your mercy hear and answer me.

~We pray~

O Mother of the Word Incarnate,
we are filled with confidence that your prayers on our behalf
will be graciously heard before the throne of God.
Bring our seminarian, Philip Johnson, healing, peace, courage and strength
as he shares in the suffering of your Son.
O Glorious Mother of God,
in memory of your joyous Immaculate Conception,
hear our prayers and obtain for us our petitions.

(Novena for Philip Johnson. November 29th through December 8th)

"... the sheer fixation on the condom implies a banalization of sexuality": Reading "The Light of the World" by Pope Benedict

"As a matter of fact, you know, people can get condoms when they want them anyway. But this just goes to show that condoms alone do not resolve the question itself. More needs to happen. Meanwhile the secular realm has developed the so-called ABC Theory: Abstinence - Be Faithful - Condom, where the condom is understood only as a last resort, when the other two points fail to work. This means that the sheer fixation on the condom implies a banalization of sexuality, which, after all, is precisely the dangerous source of the attitude of no longer seeing sexuality as the expression of love, but only a sort of drug that people administer to themselves. This is why the fight against the banalization of sexuality is also a part of the struggle to ensure that sexuality is treated as a positive value and to enable it to have a positive effect on the whole of man's being."

-- Benedict XVI, "Light of the World", Part II, Chapter 11

Day 1: Novena for Philip Johnson

Father all-powerful and ever-living God,
you chose the Immaculate Virgin Mary,
the mother of your Son, to be the mother and help of all Christians.
As she endured her bitter agony
at the cross of her Son, she was consoled by you
with the hope of His resurrection.
Now, in heaven
she consoles with a mother’s love all who turn to her with faith,
until the day of the Lord dawns in glory.

~Pray the Memorare~

Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to your protection, implored your help or sought your intercession, was left unaided.
Inspired with this confidence, I fly to you, O Virgin of virgins, my Mother; to you do I come, before you I stand, sinful and sorrowful.
O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in your mercy hear and answer me.

~We pray~

O Mother of the Word Incarnate,
we are filled with confidence that your prayers on our behalf
will be graciously heard before the throne of God.
Bring our seminarian, Philip Johnson, healing, peace, courage and strength
as he shares in the suffering of your Son.
O Glorious Mother of God,
in memory of your joyous Immaculate Conception,
hear our prayers and obtain for us our petitions.

(Novena for Philip Johnson. November 29th through December 8th)

Deacon Brendan Buckler

Deacon Buckler is in his final year of formation at Saint Charles Seminary for the Diocese of Raleigh in anticipation of his priesthood ordination next year. He served at the Extraordinary Form Mass today at Saint Francis de Sales Catholic Church in Benedict, Maryland.

Benedict Sunday Morning: “Let us walk in the light of the Lord!” Silence is not an emptiness when in it the Word of Light is received with love

With the publication of his new book, The Light of the World, Pope Benedict’s openness and willingness to engage the world in order to bring the light of Christ to others has once again ignited a controversy. His words about the hypothetical use of condoms by a male prostitute with AIDS for the sake of saving the life of another were quickly twisted to give the impression that the Church is now doing an about face in regard to its long-standing teaching that every use of artificial contraceptive is a moral evil. What in fact he was saying was obscured mainly due to the fact that all of the static erupted before the book was officially released. We ended up once again, as a result, in a propaganda tsunami and not with a dialogue because Benedict could not yet speak for himself if the vast multitude were not yet able to read the book for themselves.

For the full text of homily for the First Sunday of Advent visit Meeting Christ in the Liturgy.

Vigil for All Nascent Human Life: "O Salutaris Hostia"

Quae caeli pandis ostium.
Bella premunt hostilia,
Da robur, fer auxilium.

Protect and save, Lord, all human life from the moment of conception until natural death, in all its stages and conditions. Amen.

"Penance is a positive gift": Reading "The Light of the World" by Pope Benedict

"The concept of penance, which is one of the fundamental elements of the Old Testament message, is something we have increasingly lost. People somehow wanted to say only positive things. But the negative things do exist; that is a fact. The fact that one can change and allow oneself to be changed through penance is a positive gift."

(Part I, Chapter 3)

Jesus, I trust in you!

The new Divine Mercy icon at Saint Francis de Sales Catholic Church.  The image is made in Poland and framed as a copy of the image at the shrine of Divine Mercy.

Thanks to Bob C. who crafted the metal arm which attaches the image to the vigil candle stand.

Thanksgiving: "All is in readiness"

... come to the feast.

“Blessed is the one who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God.” (Luke 14:15)

A blessed Thanksgiving to all APL visitors and friends.

((((..))))

Love is not a drug...

...it's not an "it" either.

Love is a Person.

What's your temperature?

Hello, with "warm greetings" and best wishes. Thank you for visiting APL today,

((((..))))

The celebration of our Christmas liturgies and the Scriptural faith of our children

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK

Around this time of the year our parishes begin planning their Christmas schedule of Masses. As with the weekly vigil of Sunday Mass on Saturday evenings, more and more people gravitate toward the vigil of Christmas and away from the Church’s custom of celebrating at midnight on Christmas Eve and at Christmas Dawn and Day.

If the vigil is seen as a convenience, does liturgical observance of Christmas on Christmas Day come to be deemed by default as an “inconvenience” by those, especially our young people, who observe this practice? Does Christmas Day itself become devoid of mention of the Lord or prayerful recognition of His incarnation among us? Celebration of the Lord’s birth should never be portrayed as a less attractive component of family Christmas customs, but must be observed as the centerpiece of the whole. This is best done by attending Mass to celebrate Christmas on the Feast of Christmas, which begins during the night of December 25.

The first to receive the news of the Savior’s birth were shepherds “in that region living in the fields and keeping the night watch over their flock.” A star, visible only in the night sky, announced His birth. Christ was born at night and the Church’s liturgical celebration of this fact is scriptural.

Many people see a disconnect between our Catholic faith as expressed in the liturgy, for example, and the Scriptures. This is a longstanding issue, but one that we must acknowledge and work to overcome. In truth it should never be so. This is so to some degree because liturgical abuses have crept into Catholic practice since Vatican II and corrections have been rejected for “pastoral reasons.” Is it truly pastoral to allow our people to continue to languish spiritually under the false impression that the Catholic Church is not scriptural, that she does not follow the Bible? More and more people are leaving the Church for these reasons, false as they are. It should not be this way, one reason for which is that the liturgies of the Church and the Scriptures both came from the same source: the Revelation in Christ of the one true God and the people He formed as the Church under the guidance and in the life of the Holy Spirit.

One of the ways that we can work to overcome the seeming divide between the Jesus of the Bible and the Jesus of the life of the Church is to actually look at the Church’s custom or tradition in celebrating a particular feast, having been handed down along with the word of Scripture proclaimed in the liturgies of the selfsame Church. When we do this for Christmas, we see that the Church’s intention is that we celebrate Christmas at midnight, dawn, and day. A look at a Sacramentary will establish this. The reason for this custom is that the Bible tells us that Christ was born at night, after Mary and Joseph sought lodgings at the end of the day’s travel.

The movement for vigils came out of the pastoral concern of the Church for people who had to work on the day of a feast and for whom the obligation to attend Mass would be impossible to fulfill unless a vigil was offered. The usual custom of the Church is that vigils begin no earlier than 5:00 p.m. on the evening before a feast or solemnity.

All of our children know that they cannot celebrate their birthdays meaningfully until the day of the birthday anniversary itself. They would readily tell you this because they know through family witness, their birth certificate, and custom itself, that they were in fact really and truly born on a particular date in history and to celebrate before that anniversary date would evacuate such a celebration of all of its intended meaning.

Celebrating the vigil of Christmas during daylight on what is technically still Christmas Eve has become very common. Doing so strains for us and our children the historic nature of the birth of Christ at night as our faith demands that we celebrate, but it can be done with a lot of good “homiletic gymnastics” as I have been doing for 18 years.

Christmas begins with the praying of evening prayer on Christmas Eve, usually around 5 pm. In some places the vigil is moved up to 4:00 p.m. without a grave reason for doing so and against universal custom. Observing the vigil of Christmas at a time that is technically still liturgically on December 24 is stretching credulity perhaps a bit too far.

The liturgical vigil is a spiritual reality that is lived by the universal Church and observing it serves communion with the Church at the local level. I pray that these ideas will resonate with the very sincere concerns we all share for the faith and pastoral good of our people.

(Visit Meeting Christ in the Liturgy daily at for teachings from the Catechism of the Catholic Church paired with the Scriptures of Holy Mass for every day of the week. Fr. Cusick blogs at A Priest Life and you can e-mail him at mcitl DOT blogspot DOT com AT gmail DOT com.)

Requiem Mass at Saint Francis de Sales Catholic Church on 24 November

Holy Mass in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite begins at 6 pm.

Saint Francis de Sales Catholic Church
7185 Benedict Avenue
Benedict, Maryland 20612

Vatican issues clarification about AIDS and condom use

The head of the Holy See Press Office, Father Federico Lombardi, SJ, has issued a statement clarifying passages of the book Light of the World, in which Pope Benedict discusses AIDS and condom use.

The statement says Pope Benedict states that AIDs cannot be solved only by the distribution of condoms, and, in fact, concentrating on condoms just trivializes sexuality, which loses its meaning as an expression of love and becomes like a drug.

At the same time, the Pope considered an exceptional situation in which the exercise of sexuality represents a real risk to the lives of others. In this case, the Pope does not morally justify the exercise of disordered sexuality, but believes that the use of condoms to reduce the risk of infection is a "first step on the road to a more human sexuality”, rather than not to use it and risking the lives of others.

Father Lombardi’s statement clarifies Pope Benedict XVI has not reformed or changed the Church's teaching, but by putting it in perspective reaffirms the value and dignity of human sexuality as an expression of love and responsibility.

Benedict Sunday Morning: The Solemnity of Jesus Christ, King of the Universe

"I will go up to the altar of God, the God who gives joy to my youth."

A special word of thanks goes to Michael (left) and Pete who served holy Mass for the Solemnity of Christ the King at Saint Francis de Sales Catholic Church in Benedict, Maryland this morning.

Solemnity of Jesus Christ, Universal King: “The Rulers Sneered at Jesus” and Still Do

“The rulers sneered at Jesus and said, ‘He saved others, let him save himself if he is the chosen one, the Christ of God.’ Even the soldiers jeered at him … one of the criminals hanging there reviled Jesus”.

In our liturgy of holy Mass for the Solemnity of Christ the King the sacred Scriptures take us back to the day on Calvary’s hill and into the presence of Our Lord who, dying on the Cross, accomplishes the perfect will of the Father for our salvation. We hear once again of those who stood, unbelieving, and watched Him breathe his last without a hint of sympathy and, much the opposite, sneered and ridiculed Him in most egregious acts of blasphemy which Our Lord forgave even with His last few words.

What is royal or kingly about this One who dies the death of a criminal, abandoned by those He loved, ridiculed and derided by those who pass Him by? Jesus Christ is the perfect Suffering Servant because His Kingdom is of justice, love and peace.

"Finally, the People of God shares in the royal office of Christ. He exercises his kingship by drawing all men to himself through his death and Resurrection. Christ, King and Lord of the universe, made himself the servant of all, for he came 'not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.' For the Christian, 'to reign is to serve him,' particularly when serving 'the poor and the suffering, in whom the Church recognizes the image of her poor and suffering founder.' The People of God fulfills its royal dignity by a life in keeping with its vocation to serve with Christ. The sign of the cross makes kings of all those reborn in Christ and the anointing of the Holy Spirit consecrates them as priests, so that, apart from the particular service of our ministry, all spiritual and rational Christians are recognized as members of this royal race and sharers in Christ's priestly office. What, indeed, is as royal for a soul as to govern the body in obedience to God? And what is as priestly as to dedicate a pure conscience to the Lord and to offer the spotless offerings of devotion on the altar of the heart?" (CCC 786)

Today the sneerers and the revilers are still among us. These are the host of ridiculing unbelievers, some among the elite and ruling classes: kings and king-makers, politicians who claim the mantle "Catholic" or "Christian" but who spurn the moral teachings of Christ and do as they please in disposing of human life through crimes such as abortion or embryonic stem cell research and take part in the ridiculous and laughable pretense that holy matrimony can ever be anything other than a lifelong union between one man-husband and one woman-wife. There are also those who in pride stand aloof from the Lord and His Church because of the sinners in her midst, who ridicule Him dying once again in His martyrs such as we have recently witnessed in Baghdad, who are indifferent to Him as He suffers once again in the starving and choleric poor dying in Haiti, who blaspheme once again in the attacks on our holy Faith, who malign the Pope and believers without examining the facts.

For the full text of this Sunday reflection, please click here to go to Meeting Christ in the Liturgy.

Pope Benedict on condoms in "Light of the World"

What appears to have happened in the controversy spawned by media manipulation of material from the Holy Father's new book, before many people have had a chance to read for themselves exactly what he said, is confusion between the law of gradualness in human nature with a supposed "gradualness of the law itself" which, based faith and morals as revealed by God, cannot change. -- ((((..)))) Web exclusive What does the Holy Father really say about condoms in the new book? By Dr. Janet E. Smith This week, Light of the World, a book-length interview given by Pope Benedict XVI to journalist Peter Seewald, will be released worldwide. Several of the Holy Father's statements have already started making news, particularly his comments regarding condom usage in the prevention of the spread of HIV. To the charge that “It is madness to forbid a high-risk population to use condoms,” in the context of an extended answer on the help the Church is giving AIDs victims and the need to fight the banalization of sexuality, Pope Benedict replied: There may be a basis in the case of some individuals, as perhaps when a male prostitute uses a condom, where this can be a first step in the direction of a moralization, a first assumption of responsibility, on the way toward recovering an awareness that not everything is allowed and that one cannot do whatever one wants. But it is not really the way to deal with the evil of HIV infection. That can really lie only in a humanization of sexuality. Are you saying, then, that the Catholic Church is actually not opposed in principle to the use of condoms? She of course does not regard it as a real or moral solution, but, in this or that case, there can be nonetheless, in the intention of reducing the risk of infection, a first step in a movement toward a different way, a more human way, of living sexuality. Read the rest of the article by clicking here.

Maryland Abortionist That Killed Patient Permanently Surrenders License

November 20, 2010 Severna Park, MD - Abortionist Romeo Ferrer, who stood accused of negligence in the death of Denise Crow in February, 2006, has permanently surrendered his Maryland medical license and promised not to seek licensure in any other state. Ferrer voluntarily surrender his license on October 27, 2010, rather than face revocation. Ferrer's license was temporarily suspended in September. At that time, Ferrer hired another abortionist, Gheovant Wartanian, in an attempt to keep his Severna Park abortion clinic open, but when Operation Rescue exposed Wartanians's troubled past and pro-lifers prayed and protested at his non-abortion office, Wartanian quit the abortion business, forcing Ferrer to permanently close his office. "Even though the authorities were on to Ferrer, it was pro-life efforts that helped bring this case into the public eye and forced the closure of his abortion mill and the ultimate surrender of his license," said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. "This is what can be accomplished when pro-life groups work together through the legal avenues available. This is a tremendous victory for the pro-life movement and for women and their pre-born babies who will no longer be subject to Ferrer's dangerous abortion practices." On February 3, 2006, Denise Crowe walked into Ferrer's Gynecare Center abortion clinic in Severna Park, Maryland, for a second trimester dilation and evacuation abortion in her 16th week of pregnancy under the mistaken impression that an abortion would solve her problems. Ferrer was accused of failing to properly administer anesthesia or monitor her during and after the abortion. Once Crowe suffered complications, Ferrer did not adequately properly administer resuscitation. Less than two hours after her abortion began, Crowe was pronounced dead. Her death was kept secret for four years until the Maryland State Board of Physicians filed to initiate disciplinary action against him on April 7, 2010. That is when the pro-life community activated to insure that Ferrer was brought to justice. Operation Rescue worked with Maryland pro-life groups to draw attention to the dangers Ferrer's abortion business posed the public and call for speedy discipline and criminal charges. "We have every reason to believe that criminal charges could soon be filed against Ferrer for his part in Crowe's death. We will keep working until that becomes a reality and Ferrer is behind bars where he belongs," said Newman. Read Ferrer's Surrender Letter

________________________________ About Operation Rescue® Operation Rescue is one of the leading pro-life Christian activist organizations in the nation and has become a strong voice for the pro-life movement in America. Operation Rescue is now headquartered in a former abortion clinic that it bought and closed in 2006. From there, Operation Rescue launches its innovative new strategies across the nation, exposing and closing abortion clinics through peaceful, legal means. Its activities are on the cutting edge of the abortion issue, taking direct action to stop abortion and ultimately restore legal personhood to the pre-born in obedience to biblical mandates. Click here to support Operation Rescue. Click here to make a secure donation online. ________________________________ Web site: www.operationrescue.org E-mail: info@operationrescue.org

Forward email This email was sent to mcitl.blogspot.com@gmail.com by info@operationrescue.org. Update Profile/Email Address | Instant removal with SafeUnsubscribe™ | Privacy Policy. Email Marketing by Operation Rescue | P.O. Box 782888 | Wichita | KS | 67278

Congratulations, Your Eminence, Donald Cardinal Wuerl

On the blessed occasion of your elevation today to the College of Cardinals of the Holy Roman Catholic Church.
Praised be Jesus Christ, now and forever. Amen.

Elkton, Maryland: Secret Burial Held for Babies Recovered in Abortion Clinic Raid

November 19, 2010 Burial missed an opportunity to provide a teaching moment to the public about the horrific nature of abortion and the value of human life. Elkton, Maryland - Pretty much everything about their short lives was secret. On Monday morning, November 15, 2010, the remains of 34 aborted babies were secretly buried in an Elkton cemetery three months after police discovered them in a storage freezer during a raid on the secret abortion clinic where their lives secretly ended. Blogger Jill Stanek broke the story of the burial yesterday after speaking with the only reporter to witness the service. The bodies were the result of late-term abortions illegally started by the notorious abortionist Steven Brigham at his Voorhees, New Jersey abortion mill, and completed at his under-the-radar Elkton, Maryland, clinic. Brigham is not licensed to practice medicine in Maryland and has since had his New Jersey medical license suspended. Two other abortionists involved in Brigham's illegal late-term abortion scheme have also been suspended in Maryland. (Background) According to Stanek, her source at Elkton's newspaper, the Cecil Whig, says that of the 35 babies recovered, 34 were buried on Monday. One child's remains were claimed by a Canadian couple. Most interesting is news that eleven death certificates were issued for eleven of the pre-born babies. Does this mean that eleven murder counts could be pending? Operation Rescue spoke with a representative of the State's Attorney's office in Elkton, who indicated that the case was still an open investigation under the purview of the Elkton Police Department, who conducted the initial raid and recovered the aborted baby remains. Operation Rescue continues to monitor the case. In the meantime, while it is commendable for the Immaculate Conception Church to arrange for a decent burial for the tiny victims of abortion, it is more than sad that the service was held in secrecy. "It is important for the world to know that the lives of 35 innocent babies have been brutally and illegally taken from us," said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. "The burial service would have allowed the pro-life community the opportunity to restore human dignity to these children in death that was denied them in life. "This kind of secrecy only works to benefit the abortion industry, who seeks to hide the grisly truth about abortion abuses such as the ones to which these babies fell victim. These abuses have become commonplace across the nation. It was a lost opportunity to provide a teaching moment to the public about the dangers of abortionists who act as if they are above the law as well as the horrific nature of abortion, and the value of human life." It is time for the secrecy to stop. It is our prayer that justice in this case will be aggressively and publicly pursued by the authorities. We must shine the light on the horrific nature of abortion and help the American people face the grisly nature of an abortion industry that is fraught with abuses. This is the kind of public discussion that is needed if America is to ever face the truth about abortion and end it once and for all. Watch Video of Burial (filmed by the Cecil Whig)

________________________________ About Operation Rescue® Operation Rescue is one of the leading pro-life Christian activist organizations in the nation and has become a strong voice for the pro-life movement in America. Operation Rescue is now headquartered in a former abortion clinic that it bought and closed in 2006. From there, Operation Rescue launches its innovative new strategies across the nation, exposing and closing abortion clinics through peaceful, legal means. Its activities are on the cutting edge of the abortion issue, taking direct action to stop abortion and ultimately restore legal personhood to the pre-born in obedience to biblical mandates. Click here to support Operation Rescue. Click here to make a secure donation online. ________________________________ Web site: www.operationrescue.org E-mail: info@operationrescue.org

Forward email This email was sent to mcitl.blogspot.com@gmail.com by info@operationrescue.org. Update Profile/Email Address | Instant removal with SafeUnsubscribe™ | Privacy Policy. Email Marketing by Operation Rescue | P.O. Box 782888 | Wichita | KS | 67278

Siracusa, Sicilia: "We put in at Syracuse"

"Three months later we set sail on a ship that had wintered at the island. It was an Alexandrian ship with the Dioscuri as its figurehead. We put in at Syracuse and stayed there three days, and from there we sailed round the coast and arrived at Rhegium."

-- Saint Paul, Acts, 28

The pristine facade of the Duomo, or cathedral, in Siracusa, is radiant in the October sunshine.

The sanctuary of the Duomo, dedicated to Santa Lucia, virgin and martyr.

View of the nave.

More recent renovations of the Duomo have revealed the Greek columns of the pagan temple over which this Christian shrine was constructed. In places both inside and outside the church, masonry has been removed to reveal the original purpose and beauty of this temple, throughout the ages instrumental in man's search for, and desire to worship, God.

Prayer for the Fordham University Club of Washington, DC, Remini Luncheon, 17 November 2010

Heavenly Father,

As we thank and praise You that the Lord revealed through a meal the gift of Himself in the Eucharist, so today we ask you that through our sharing in this meal we may continue to grow in Your gifts of faith, hope and love.

Look with favor on the Fordham family everywhere and, especially in this month of the holy souls, we beg You give refreshment, light and peace to all of the faithful departed Fordham graduates, their family members and in particular Father Allen Novotny, S.J., a fellow alum and a friend to this local Fordham circle.

As we bless this meal, make us mindful of those who lack their daily bread, and grant that we may share our gifts with all of those in need.

Bless us, O Lord, and these gifts which we receive in your goodness through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Dolan Is Surprise Choice to Lead U.S. Bishops' Conference

A surprise for who?

This is a vote for a more ebullient, self-confident orthodoxy. The bishops bypassed their longstanding custom of automatically promoting the vice president. This is a seismic shift for the Church in the USA, the dawning of a new day.

((((..))))

Breaking News Alert
The New York Times
Tue, November 16, 2010 -- 10:28 AM ET
-----

Dolan Is Surprise Choice to Lead U.S. Bishops' Group

Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan of New York was elected president
of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops at a
meeting in Baltimore on Tuesday, defeating the conference's
sitting vice president, Gerlad Kicanas of Tucson. It was the
first time since the 1960s that a vice president was on the
ballot for president and lost, the Associated Press reported.
Archbishop Dolan, who was notably omitted from a list of
newly elevated cardinals last month, won 54 percent of the
vote to 46 percent for Bishop Kicanas in the third round of
voting.

Read More:
http://www.nytimes.com?emc=na

Photo: Bishop Robert F. Vasa left, congratulated Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan after Dolan was elected president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops on Tuesday in Baltimore. Tom Grenchik, Maryland native and the US Bishops' lay pro-life leader, is visible background center.

By LAURIE GOODSTEIN

Published: November 16, 2010

3,000 in Southern Maryland demonstrate support at TJ Honeycutt Funeral

SoMdNews.com is reporting that about 3,000 people showed up to support LCPL Terry Edward, "T.J." Honeycutt and his family at his funeral yesterday in La Plata, Md. Read more at SoMdNews.com here.

Southern Maryland came out Monday by the thousands, many wearing black t-shirts emblazoned with the message "Thanks T.J.", in support of the family and friends of slain Marine T.J. Honeycutt. Traffic along the demonstration route on southbound MD Route 301 slowed to a crawl for miles near the site of today's funeral service as police diverted traffic into one lane to provide a wider shoulder area for the demonstrators of various ages and racial backgrounds, some of whom can be seen in above photo.

Coordinated largely on short notice through Facebook and email, this mass demonstration of popular support of a fallen Marine drew upon a groundswell of opposition to members of Westboro Baptist church who seek out military funerals and show up at these events with obscene and offensive posters and catcalls and had threatened to do the same at the Honecutt funeral. Southern Maryland patriots made a bigger statement today and effectively put the miscreants out of business.

Photo by APL.

Marine Corps Birthday cake cutting ceremony 2010

Celebrated at Andrews AFB Club by Marine Corps Reserve Center, Anacostia Annex, tenant commands on 7 November 2010.

Photo: APL/MCITL.

Blessed Newman on the priest at Mass

“Clad in his sacerdotal vestments, [the priest] sinks what is individual in himself altogether, and is but the representative of Him from whom he derives his commission. His words, his tones, his actions, his presence, lose their personality; one bishop, one priest, is like another; they all chant the same notes, and observe the same genuflections, as they give one peace and one blessing, as they offer one and the same sacrifice.

“The Mass must not be said without a Missal under the priest’s eye; nor in any language but that in which it has come down to us from the early hierarchs of the Western Church. But, when it is over, and the celebrant has resigned the vestments proper to it, then he resumes himself, and comes to us in the gifts and associations which attach to his person.

“He knows his sheep, and they know him; and it is this direct bearing of the teacher on the taught, of his mind upon their minds, and the mutual sympathy which exists between them, which is his strength and influence when he addresses them. They hang upon his lips as they cannot hang upon the pages of his book.”

-- Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman

For further reading, click here. With thanks to Father George Rutler.

Philip Johnson at Positano

Mangiando Italiano con mio amico Philip al ristorante Positano nella citta di Philadelphia. Buon appetito!

Eating Italian with my friend Philip at restaurant Positano in Philadelphia.

Good art on the walls. Good food, too.

Monsignor Richard Hughes in hospital

Please pray for him as he undergoes tests at SMHC.

Thank you,
((((..))))

Benedict Sunday Morning 33C: "you are not to prepare"

... your defense beforehand, for I myself shall give you a wisdom in speaking that all your adversaries will be powerless to resist or refute. (Lk 21:5-19)

Well known is the parable in which we are urged to be prepared like servants awaiting their master's return from a wedding, but in today's Gospel it seems as though the Lord is instructing us to do the very opposite: do not prepare! But, in fact, what He means is that He Himself, through wisdom, is our "preparation"; He Himself will be with us to defend and protect the evil of unjust judgment in this world and the day that "is coming, blazing like an oven, when all the proud and all evildoers will be stubble, and the day that is coming will set them on fire," (Mal 3:19-20a) at the end of the world.

How can we live so that Jesus Christ Himself "gives" us this wisdom He describes in the Gospel, so that He Himself is our defense, our protector? He tells us that He is to be our "soul armor", our advocate who pleads our cause, our defender, such that we can live completely free of defensiveness, of the gnawing worry that eats away at one who is gripped by fear.

One must be "of Christ", that is "in" Christ in order that Christ might be in one. Christ has a Body in the world. This Body is His Church so that we might become members of Him.

" 'Fully incorporated into the society of the Church are those who, possessing the Spirit of Christ, accept all the means of salvation given to the Church together with her entire organization, and who - by the bonds constituted by the profession of faith, the sacraments, ecclesiastical government, and communion - are joined in the visible structure of the Church of Christ, who rules her through the Supreme Pontiff and the bishops. Even though incorporated into the Church, one who does not however persevere in charity is not saved. He remains indeed in the bosom of the Church, but "in body" not "in heart." ' " (CCC 837)

Yes, when we are baptized we are truly incorporated "bodily" into Christ by means of grace through faith, usually the faith of our parents. But as we grow we must continue to be nourished in faith through the Sunday Eucharist, the teaching and example of parents and the wider Christian community so that bodily growth in the natural sense is accompanied by the spiritual growth which Christ promises will make it possible for us to live true freedom, without the worry that comes with concern to "prepare a defense" beforehand. We must attain a mature Christian faith, through which we speak for ourselves and confess of our own will that Jesus Christ is Lord.

Temptations and worries will come. And weariness of prayer itself. One of the purposes of prayer is to "hallow" or to make holy God's name. We do this by glorifying Him in word and work. But the heart of faith is prayer and praise.

"In the waters of Baptism, we have been 'washed . . . sanctified . . . justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.' Our Father calls us to holiness in the whole of our life, and since 'he is the source of [our] life in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and . . .sanctification,' both his glory and our life depend on the hallowing of his name in us and by us. Such is the urgency of our first petition.

By whom is God hallowed, since he is the one who hallows? But since he said, 'You shall be holy to me; for I the LORD am holy,' we seek and ask that we who were sanctified in Baptism may persevere in what we have begun to be. And we ask this daily, for we need sanctification daily, so that we who fail daily may cleanse away our sins by being sanctified continually. . . . We pray that this sanctification may remain in us. (CCC 2813)

Living in faithfulness to the Church and her life of prayer, especially the Sunday Eucharist, also takes away any worry about what we will say on judgment day when we stand before God. Why? Because we are in Christ! He will do all the talking to His Father on our behalf! One can have no better or more perfect advocate!

For those who are distant from God, because they stand aloof from the Church and her sacramental life, these words describe well the fear which the certainty of judgment day can inspire:

"Lo, the day is coming, blazing like an oven,
when all the proud and all evildoers will be stubble,
and the day that is coming will set them on fire,
leaving them neither root nor branch" (Mal 3:19-20a)

But there is no fear for those who have His mercy, who live His life now with perserverance in the Church. We also hear these words which invite us to love Him, in action as well as word:

"But for you who fear my name, there will arise
the sun of justice with its healing rays." (Mal 3:19-20a)

What is "fear" of the Lord? It is not a worldly, gnawing loathing which eats away at the huma person, a foretaste of death itself. No, it is rather life giving: the love which worships and adores the very source of infinite Good, God Himself.

"God makes himself known by recalling his all-powerful loving, and liberating action in the history of the one he addresses: 'I brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.' The first word contains the first commandment of the Law: 'You shall fear the LORD your God; you shall serve him. . . . You shall not go after other gods.' God's first call and just demand is that man accept him and worship him." (CCC 2084)

Come to Christ, in His Body the Church, through which our advocate and defender gives Himself to us every time we, with the Church, "accept and worship Him" in His holy sacrifice: holy Mass.

Come, Lord Jesus!

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

Il Tramonto a Siracusa / Sunset at Siracusa