Non Tasarmi, Fratello!

“Wherever the Catholic sun doth shine, There’s always laughter and good red wine. At least I’ve always found it so. Benedicamus Domino!” Hillaire Belloc

Thursday, February 26, 2015

Just as I Suspected

The history of the Church ends after Vatican Council 2.

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Tuesday, February 24, 2015

This Sounds Interesting....

Actually, I think this a book that, if I purchased it, I would never read. But the subject is at least somewhat pertinent.








As faith communities in the United States grow increasingly more diverse, many churches are turning to the shared parish, a single church facility shared by distinct cultural groups who retain their own worship and ministries. The fastest growing and most common of these are Catholic parishes shared by Latinos and white Catholics. Shared parishes remain one of the few institutions in American society that allows cultural groups to maintain their own language and customs while still engaging in regular intercultural negotiations over the shared space.
This book explores the shared parish through an in-depth ethnographic study of a Roman Catholic parish in a small Midwestern city demographically transformed by Mexican immigration in recent decades. Through its depiction of shared parish life, the book argues for new ways of imagining the U.S. Catholic parish as an organization. The parish, argues Brett C. Hoover, must be conceived as both a congregation and part of a centralized system, and as one piece in a complex social ecology. The Shared Parish also posits that the search for identity and adequate intercultural practice in such parishes might call for new approaches to cultural diversity in U.S. society, beyond assimilation or multiculturalism. We must imagine a religious organization that accommodates both the need for safe space within distinct groups and for social networks that connect these groups as they struggle to respectfully co-exist.

It just got a lot less interesting:


 Kindle Price: $33.32



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Islamic Outreach, Part LX

From an earlier post on this blog:

Pope Francis spoke to the diplomatic corps and amongst other things, said, "Hence it is important to intensify dialogue among the various religions, and I am thinking particularly of dialogue with Islam."

Meanwhile...





Uh-oh. 

I have a solution.  If we put sausage on the pizza, the ISIS guys won't climb it. 




You wouldn't climb it, would you angry jihad guy?


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Monday, February 23, 2015

Paging Doctor Gregory.... Dr Gregory!

St. Gregory of Narek, an Armenian Catholic monk who lived in what is now Turkey and died in 1005, has been named by Pope Francis a Doctor of the Church.





 From the website of St. Gregroy of Narek Armenian Church website:





St. Gregory of Narek is widely revered as one of the greatest figures of medieval Armenian religious thought and literature. Born in the city of Narek in about 950 A.D., St. Gregory came from a line of scholars and churchmen.
St. Gregory received his education under the guidance of his father, Bishop Khosrov, author of the earliest commentary on the Divine Liturgy, and from Anania Vartabed, abbot of Narek Monastery. He and his two brothers entered monastic life at an early age, and St. Gregory soon began to excel in music, astronomy, geometry, mathematics, literature, and theology.

 St. Gregory’s masterpiece is considered to be his Book of Lamentations. Also known as Narek, it is comprised of 95 prayers, each of which is titled “Conversation with God from the depth of the heart.” A central theme is man’s separation from God, and his quest to reunite with Him. St. Gregory described the work this way: “Its letters like my body, its message like my soul.” He called his book an “encyclopedia of prayer for all nations.” It was his hope that it would serve as a guide to prayer for people all over the world. After the advent of movable type, the book was published in Marseille in 1673, and has been translated into at least 30 languages.

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Friday, February 20, 2015

Miriam's Punishment

From the Book of Numbers Chapter 12):

Now the cloud withdrew from the tent, and there was Miriam, stricken with a scaly infection, white as snow! When Aaron turned toward Miriam and saw her stricken with snow-white scales, he said to Moses, “Ah, my lord! Please do not charge us with the sin that we have foolishly committed! 

Meanwhile....

Blizzards sweeping across the Middle East have generated rare amounts of snowfall in much of Israel, Jordan and Lebanon.
The landmark Dome of the Rock in the Al-Aqsa mosque compound and much of the West Bank were blanketed with snow early Friday as officials closed schools for the day and urged residents to stay indoors, Agence France-Presse reports.
“There’s heavy snow falling in Jerusalem, about (10 inches) so far,” Israel Meteorological Service forecaster Rinat Rehamim told public radio. “And it will continue to fall throughout the day.”

If I were a snow man, all day long I'd biddy biddy bum!


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Thursday, February 19, 2015

In Praise of the Jesuits

I did not say "Part 1" because it assumes there will be another one. It's like Pope Francis.

A letter from the President of the University of Scranton:



Dear Members of the Faculty and Staff,
Throughout last year, the University celebrated the anniversary of our founding in 1888 by the Diocese of Scranton. We recounted astonishing achievements that made clear that we are not the same institution founded on little more than prayers, dreams and a block of granite. We also remembered, however, that fidelity to our mission as a Catholic and Jesuit institution is the abiding theme of our history, regardless of the times and trials.
Remaining faithful to our identity as a Catholic institution calls us to serve the world in unique and inspiring ways. It has also, over the years, led the University to adapt its institutional practices to ensure harmony with the moral teachings of the Catholic Church, including adjustments to employee health care plans. I am writing to you all concerning such an issue.
The University’s health care plans include coverage for abortion in cases of rape, incest and to preserve the life of the mother. The current coverage was put in place in the 1990s to comply with the limits of Pennsylvania state law for traditional insurance plans. Although the coverage is limited, it is inconsistent with the moral teachings of the Church. Considerable deliberation and research has made clear to me that because the University is self insured we can, and therefore must, offer insurance plans that are free of all abortion coverage.

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Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Ash Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Boy, some people, huh?

The Eye of the Tiber reports:

 Local Catholic dimwit Elton Price admitted to friends today that he had absolutely no clue that ashes used during Ash Wednesday Masses came from cremated pets.
The parish ignoramus, who up until last week didn’t even know that Catholics worship Mary, thought that ashes actually came from branches used in the prior year’s Palm Sunday services, one friends reported to EOTT.


“Elton has never been the sharpest tool in the shed,” longtime friend Richard Tower said. “One time I saw him reading the Bible and I had to stop him and tell him that the Church suppresses Catholics from reading it. I remember him being really confused about this and asking me why we as Christians weren’t allowed to read it. I simply reminded him that we’re Catholics, not Christians. Big difference there.”
Tower went on to point out a few other instances where Price proved himself to be a complete moron, including the time [Price] did not know that the Pope is at all times infallible and impeccable, or that Constantine, not Jesus, actually invented the Catholic Church.
At press time, Tower has taken away Price’s science text book, reminding him that science is “Satan’s bible.”


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Tuesday, February 17, 2015

The Trouble With Jesuits, Part 28

Proof that I am RIGHT.

Two articles, one in First Things, the other in The Atlantic. The First Things article is in response to The Atlantic one, entitled "The New brand of Jesuit Universities".

As Jones points out in her article, Rockhurst University in Kansas City, Missouri has removed “Jesuit” from the university tagline, while Denver’s Regis University actually hides its Catholic affiliation.

“We hide the word ‘Catholic’ from prospective students,” said Traci McBee, who helps oversee fundraising efforts at Regis University. “We focus on the Jesuit piece rather than the Catholic piece. We’re able to transform a little quicker because we are not waiting for the archbishop to give us permission. We don’t have to ask the Pope when we want to make changes.”

Just as I suspected. The "Jesuit piece" is more important than the "Catholic piece".

Where's Pope Clement XIV when you need him?

Pope Clement XIV

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"Take Your Stinkin' Paws Off Me You Dirty Ape! "

Father Z answers a question I can SOOOOO relate to:

My husband and I were at a local novus ordo this past Sunday because of weather and illness we were not able to travel to our regular EF Mass.
During the sign of peace we keep our hands folded and heads down in contemplation/prayer not wishing to participate in the circus atmosphere during the sign of peace. The woman in front of us was making the rounds…the aisle in front, the people in her aisle etc.

From the Connecticut Catholic Corner
  When she got to us, instead of leaving us alone she had to lean towards us and say “peace of the Lord be with you” . I nodded my head in acknowledgement..never looking up. I guess this offended her because after Mass, when we were offering our thanksgiving…she came up to us again and made a comment about how she commended our reverence during Mass. I know the sign of peace is an option at the discretion of the Priest. Is it required that one participate in the sign of peace at a novus ordo?

The answer:
 
In the General Institution of the Roman Missal [GIRM], and the rubrics of the Mass itself, it is clear that the exchange of the sign of peace is an option.

 If the rite itself is optional, participation in that rite is optional as well.

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Islamic Outreach, Part LIX

From an earlier post on this blog:

Pope Francis spoke to the diplomatic corps and amongst other things, said, "Hence it is important to intensify dialogue among the various religions, and I am thinking particularly of dialogue with Islam."

Meanwhile...


From the Catholic Herald:

After beheading Coptic Christians, Islamists say they will ‘conquer Rome’ next
Islamist militants claiming loyalty to ISIS have released a video appearing to show the beheading of 21 Coptic Christians who were taken hostage in Libya several weeks ago.
The video shows men apparently being beheaded after being forced to kneel next to the Mediterranean Sea. A militant says they are sending a message “from the south of Rome”. At the end of the footage the same English-speaking fighter raises his knife to the water and says ISIS would “conquer Rome”.

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Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Zimmerman, Eleison




All along the watchtower
Princes kept the view
While all the women came and went
Barefoot servants, too

Outside in the distance
A wildcat did growl
Two riders were approaching
The wind began to howl.

Christ Have Mercy.

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The Trouble With Jesuits, Part 27

To celebrate the feast day of St. Valentine, our Jesuit friends have something special planned....


A lithgraph by Honoré Daumier called "Arrogant Beetle-swarm of Jesuits".
  At least eight Catholic colleges and universities will be hosting performances of The Vagina Monologues or have student groups putting on the play in 2015, The Cardinal Newman Society has discovered. This year, six out of the eight Catholic higher education institutions with connections to the play are affiliated with the Jesuits.


The Monologues has been criticized by several bishops for its positive portrayal of distorted human sexuality and promotion of immoral behaviors, such as lesbian sexual activity and masturbation.
At least eight Catholic colleges and universities will be hosting performances of The Vagina Monologues or have student groups putting on the play in 2015, The Cardinal Newman Society has discovered. This year, six out of the eight Catholic higher education institutions with connections to the play are affiliated with the Jesuits.
The Monologues has been criticized by several bishops for its positive portrayal of distorted human sexuality and promotion of immoral behaviors, such as lesbian sexual activity and masturbation. Bishop John D’Arcy, the late bishop of the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, called the play “an affront to human dignity.” Bishop Earl Boyea of the Diocese of Lansing described it as “anti-woman, reducing her God-given genius and dignity to a bizarre emphasis on one physical aspect of her person.”
- See more at: http://www.cardinalnewmansociety.org/CatholicEducationDaily/DetailsPage/tabid/102/ArticleID/3958/Most-Catholic-Colleges-Hosting-%e2%80%98V-Monologues%e2%80%99-in-2015-Are-Jesuit-Institutions.aspx#sthash.9PE1VEmM.dpuf

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Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Another Mega Raffle

And you thought the St. Andrew's Mega Raffle was impressive, how about this one? From Eye of the Tiber (of course):

Pope Francis To Raffle Off Papacy To Aid Poor

 
The Pope has already raffled off his smart phone and must take imaginary selfies.

As spiritual leader of over 1.2 billion Catholics, Pope Francis has received hundreds of gifts from devotees and world leaders since his election in 2013. But now Pope Francis is cleaning out his closet and raffling off items that range from a Fiat to the papacy to raise money for the poor, according to the Holy See.
The pope’s raffle of items that not only include the papacy, but will also reportedly include every item in the Vatican Library, as well as every member of the Curia, will end this Thursday when the winning numbers will be announced on the Vatican website.
Among the 13 items Francis is giving away are a leather suitcase, a Homero Ortega Panama-style hat, an espresso coffee machine, the Chair of St. Peter, the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, and Cardinal Burke.

 
Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore

 

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One of These Things is Not Like the Other

Saint John Paul II,  Pope

Benedict XVI, Pope 
Francis, Maitre d', signals he needs a table for four

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Islamic Outreach, Part LVIII

From an earlier post on this blog:

Pope Francis spoke to the diplomatic corps and amongst other things, said, "Hence it is important to intensify dialogue among the various religions, and I am thinking particularly of dialogue with Islam."




 Meanwhile.....

The Southeast Asian Jihadist terrorist organization Jemaah Islamiyah reportedly planned to kill Pope Francis during his recent trip to the Philippines by detonating a bomb along the route of the papal motorcade, but the attempt was prevented by adjustments to the Pope’s program.
On Monday, former Special Action Force (SAF) commander Getulio Napeñas testified before the Philippine senate that the Philippine National Police had received information that Jemaah Islamiya, in coordination with Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir (alias Marwan), planned to set off a bomb near the papal convoy in Manila on January 18, 2015.
Jemaah Islamiyah—translated as “Islamic Congregation”—is Al Qaeda’s arm in the region and seeks to establish an Islamic Caliphate across Southeast Asia.

Ha! You missed! How does that make you feel, angry Islamic guy?



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Monday, February 09, 2015

Septuagesima Sunday, followed by Sexigesima Sunday...

...,followed by Quinquagesima Sunday. Followed by Shrove Tuesday, followed by Ash Wednesday, followed by Lent.

INTROIT  Ps. 17:5, 6, 7  
Psalm 17, verses 5-7:

My steps have kept to your paths;
my feet have not faltered.

I call upon you; answer me, O God.
Turn your ear to me; hear my speech.

Show your wonderful mercy,
you who deliver with your right arm
those who seek refuge from their foes.

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The Trouble With Jesuits, Part 26

A really interesting article in "First Things" about the vaccination of children. It appears that some articles are quoting Father Richard McCormack, S.J. (he is referred to as a "moral theologian" in the article, but other sites call him the "NOTED moral Theologian"). To wit:

In the words of moral theologian Fr. Richard M.Cormack, SJ (1922–2000):
In 1829 Leo XII declared, “Whoever allows himself to be vaccinated ceases to be a child of God. Smallpox is a judgment of God, the vaccination is a challenge toward heaven.”
Pope Leo XII
 This alleged statement was often used to ridicule the Holy See and Catholic faith. It “proved” that Catholics did not use reason but blind faith and trusted rather divine providence than their intellect. Just like papacy rejected the unification of Italy and acted “irrationally,” so it had (according to Godkin) denounced all progress.
How could a man like Leo XII, after successful inoculations in Europe, America, Africa, and Asia, really reject a treatment that saved innumerable lives?
He didn’t. The whole “announcement” was made up to discredit Leo XII. A black legend was born. Later, when pressured to present evidence, some historians tried to justify the forgery by suggesting that Leo XII had perhaps said something of the sort as Cardinal, and thus before his election, but could again not produce the actual source of the statement.

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Friday, February 06, 2015

St. Cayetano, Pray For Us!

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Zimmerman, Eleison

Then she opened up a book of poems
And handed it to me
Written by an Italian poet
From the thirteenth century

And every one of them words rang true
And glowed like burnin' coal
Pourin' off of every page
Like it was written in my soul, from me to you
Tangled up in blue

Lord have mercy.

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The Trouble With Jesuits, Part 25

 From the College Fix:

Saint Louis University (a Jesuit  Institution) has commissioned a sculpture to be erected on campus that administrators say they hope “captures the spirit and importance” of a week-long “Occupy SLU” protest last fall on the urban campus that decried oppression, racism, racial profiling and police tactics.
For six days in mid-October, community activists refused to leave the St. Louis campus in a protest intended as an extension of the summertime riots that had wracked nearby Ferguson over the police shooting of Michael Brown.
Three social justice groups – Tribe X, the Metro St. Louis Coalition for Inclusion and Equality, and the Black Student Alliance – took over the campus and lived in tents around its clock tower.
Flying an upside-down American flag, they gave speeches and “teach ins” on topics such as “conscious awakening, systematic oppression, white supremacy, and students’ responsibility to the community,” according to a YouTube video that documented the demonstration.

Maybe they can make a statue of an oppressed Black man slapping around an Asian fellow.


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Catholicism is For Losers!

At least, it is at St. Mary Catholic Church in Marysville, WA.


Actually, it's not nearly so bad when you consider what the altar looks like normally:


Here's their Adoration Chapel:


How about the Christmas "Pillars of Light"?





Is this OK,  Father Edward McNamara, professor of liturgy at the Regina Apostolorum Pontifical University?

The U.S. bishops' conference has recently published an official document, "Built of Living Stones," which gives concrete guidelines for many aspects of church construction and design.
The document may be obtained from the conference itself or from Catholic bookstores.

 No. 305 reminds us that: "Moderation should be observed in the decoration of the altar."



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Shut Up, I Explained



The President of the United States gave a speech yesterday at the national Prayer Breakfast, a speech that included this whopper:

 And lest we get on our high horse and think this is unique to some other place, remember that during the Crusades and the Inquisition, people committed terrible deeds in the name of Christ. In our home country, slavery and Jim Crow all too often was justified in the name of Christ.

This is stupidity on stilts.  Take it away, Jonah Goldberg:

“The Crusades could more accurately be described as a limited, belated and, in the last analysis, ineffectual response to the jihad — a failed attempt to recover by a Christian holy war what had been lost to a Muslim holy war,” writes Bernard Lewis, the greatest living English-language historian of Islam.
As for the Inquisition, it needs to be clarified that there was no single “Inquisition,” but many. And most were not particularly nefarious. For centuries, whenever the Catholic Church launched an inquiry or investigation, it mounted an “inquisition,” which means pretty much the same thing.
Historian Thomas Madden, director of the Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies at Saint Louis University, writes that the “Inquisition was not born out of desire to crush diversity or oppress people; it was rather an attempt to stop unjust executions.”

 Christianity, even in its most terrible days, even under the most corrupt popes, even during the most unjustifiable wars, was indisputably a force for the improvement of man.

I would add to this that it was Christians who began the Abolitionist Movement, and it was DEMOCRATS who gave us Jim Crow Laws.
William Wilberforce, Evangelical Christian
Bull Connor, Democrat






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Wednesday, February 04, 2015

Zimmerman, Eleison



I ain't gonna work for Maggie's pa no more
I ain't gonna work for Maggie's pa no more
He puts out his cigar in your face for kicks
Well, his bedroom windows are made out of bricks
The National Guard stands around his door
Said, I ain't gonna work for Maggie's pa no more

Christ have mercy.

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Father O'Malley, Call You're Office!




 Sure, Father O'Malley could sing a little....but could he do THIS?



This is from a fund raiser for the Pontifical North American College in Rome . You can read more about it here.


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Planned Parenthood and Black History Month

It would be funny if it wasn't so unbelievably sad.

From Truth Revolt:

Planned Parenthood has proudly announced its new "99 Dream Keepers" initiative in honor of Black History Month. The campaign is designed to honor 99 African American leaders—one for every year that Planned Parenthood has been in existence. 
Planned Parenthood, founded by outspoken eugenicist Margaret Sanger, has led the charge on promoting abortion among the African American population for decades. Since 1973, over 13 million Black babies have been aborted, with African American women more than 4 times as likely to have an abortion than non-Hispanic white women (Hispanic women are 2.7 times more likely than whites). In 2012, there were more black babies killed by abortion in New York City than were born, while the total number of African American abortions comprised 42.4% of abortions performed in the city that year.



Or as Margaret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood wrote:

" We should hire three or four colored ministers, preferably with social-service backgrounds, and with engaging personalities.  The most successful educational approach to the Negro is through a religious appeal. We don’t want the word to go out that we want to exterminate the Negro population, and the minister is the man who can straighten out that idea if it ever occurs to any of their more rebellious members."

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Monday, February 02, 2015

Event at St. Mary of the Woods, West Terre Haute

 From their website:


Professional artist Becky Hochhalter brings one of her popular Arte è Vino events to Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College (SMWC) as one of the College’s 175th anniversary events.
SMWC will host Wine & Design on February 21, 2015 from 6 to 8 p.m. in the LeFer Hall Ballroom. Hochhalter will instruct participants on how to create a beautiful luminary sculpture using clay and wine bottles. Artistic juices will flow, as everyone will sculpt a unique piece of art. The $35 fee per person includes desserts and the materials needed to create one luminary sculpture. A cash bar will be available.





While you are there, you can visit Saint Theodore Guerin's fingers.


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I Think This is Meant to Be Humorous....

But it seems like Pope Francis might some day do a video like this.




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