39 Percent Of NYC Pregnancies Result In Abortion

New York Catholic Archbishop Timothy Dolan at a a press conference in New York on Jan. 6, 2011.

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) – Archbishop Timothy Dolan is calling for efforts to make abortions in New York City “rare.”

Dolan gathered with other religious leaders on Thursday to draw attention to the city’s high abortion rate. The city health department last month released statistics that showed 39 percent of pregnancies ended with induced termination in 2009.

Full story here.

(AP Photo/Chiaroscuro Foundation, Diane Bondareff)

Arapaho National Forest, Colorado: "May the mountains bring forth peace"

O God, give your judgment to the king,
To a king's son your justice,
That he may judge your people in justice
And your poor in right judgment.

May the mountains bring forth peace for the people
And the hills, justice.
May he defend the poor of the people
And save the childen of the needy
And crush the oppressor.

He shall endure like the sun and the moon
From age to age.
He shall descend like rain on the meadow,
Like raindrops on the earth.

-- Psalm 72

Photo: View of Arapaho National Forest from slopes above Winter Park, Colorado.

Great Lakes Recruit Training celebrates the Solemnity of the Epiphany

Father Charles Johnson arrives at the altar to begin holy Mass accompanied by Navy recruits serving as crucifer and acolyte at Navy Recruit Training Base, Great Lakes, Illinois.

Fr Johnson swings the thurible, sending incense outward and upward to symbolize both the making holy of the altar as the place where Christ will become present during the Holy Sacrifice and the prayers of the people arising upward toward God, made holy by their faith and grace of Baptism.

Fr Johnson, accompanied by the servers, in procession preparatory to proclaiming the holy Gospel.

Father Johnson uses incense at the offertory of the Mass to signify the prayerful offering of the gifts on behalf of the people to God and the anticipation of God's self-offering in Christ upon the altar in the gift of the Eucharist, Christ truly present Body and Blood Soul and Divinity.

"You make firm the mountains in their place"

... clothed in Your power and might."

-- Psalm 64


Photo: View of Arapaho National Forest from slopes above Winter Park, Colorado, by MCITL.

Winter Park, Colorado

Skiing.

Greetings from Colorado Springs

The Pauline Chapel is on the Colorado State and National registry of Historical Buildings.

Spencer Penrose, on behalf of his wife Julie, wrote a letter on February 5, 1918 proposing to Bishop J. Tihen of the Diocese of Denver that the present Chapel be constructed.

Click here for more information.

Epiphany

The Epiphany is the manifestation of Jesus as Messiah of Israel, Son of God and Savior of the world. The great feast of Epiphany celebrates the adoration of Jesus by the wise men (magi) from the East, together with his baptism in the Jordan and the wedding feast at Cana in Galilee. In the magi, representatives of the neighboring pagan religions, the Gospel sees the first-fruits of the nations, who welcome the good news of salvation through the Incarnation. The magi's coming to Jerusalem in order to pay homage to the king of the Jews shows that they seek in Israel, in the messianic light of the star of David, the one who will be king of the nations. Their coming means that pagans can discover Jesus and worship him as Son of God and Savior of the world only by turning towards the Jews and receiving from them the messianic promise as contained in the Old Testament. The Epiphany shows that "the full number of the nations" now takes its "place in the family of the patriarchs", and acquires Israelitica dignitas (is made "worthy of the heritage of Israel").

-- CCC 528