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, March 31, 2016

The Power of Christ Compels You!

CNA/EWTN News).- Recognizing the difference between a person who's possessed and a person struggling with a mental illness or other infirmity is a vital part of the ministry of exorcism, according to a long-time exorcist and priest.
  Father Cipriano de Meo, who has been an exorcist since 1952, told CNA's Italian agency ACI Stampa that typically, a person is not possessed but is struggling with some other illness.
The key to telling the difference, he said, is through discernment in prayer on the part of the exorcist and the possessed – and in the potentially possessed person's reaction to the exorcist himself and the prayers being said.
The exorcist will typically say “(a) prolonged prayer to the point where if the Adversary is present, there's a reaction,” he said.
“A possessed person has various general attitudes towards an exorcist, who is seen by the Adversary as an enemy ready to fight him.”
Fr. de Meo described the unsettling reaction that a possessed person usually has, detailing a common response to the exorcist's prayer.  
“There's no lack of frightening facial expressions, threatening words or gestures and other things,” he said, “but especially blasphemies against God and Our Lady.”




The Catechism of the Catholic Church emphasizes the importance of distinguishing between demonic activity and mental illness. From paragraph 1673: “Exorcism is directed at the expulsion of demons or to the liberation from demonic possession through the spiritual authority which Jesus entrusted to his Church. Illness, especially psychological illness, is a very different matter; treating this is the concern of medical science. Therefore, before an exorcism is performed, it is important to ascertain that one is dealing with the presence of the Evil One, and not an illness.”

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Doxology News!

Eye of the Tiber reports:




At a press conference today in the nation’s capital, Cardinal Emeritus Roger Mahoney of Los Angeles announced that the USCCB is petitioning the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments to require that parishioners give a “good, humanity affirming squeeze” following the doxology which concludes the Lord’s Prayer during Mass.
“God’s people have been spontaneously doing this for years anyway,” Mahoney told EOTT, “We just want to bring uniformity by removing the awkward part. The people will now proudly raise their hands, which are held together as they have been doing, but when they finish praying ‘for thine is the Kingdom, the power and the glory, forever and ever, amen,’ they will give that last squeeze, which is meant to communicate, ‘Don’t worry friend…I’m here for you until the very end of Mass.'”

Even more reason to buy some of these babies:

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Wednesday, March 30, 2016

The Trouble With Jesuits, Part 45

Marquette University ( a Jesuit University) has moved to suspend and then fire Professor John McAdams for backing a student who tried to defend man-woman marriage when a leftist teaching assistant shut the student down.
In the fall of 2014, junior faculty member Cheryl Abbate told a student, who secretly recorded the exchange, that his defense of man-woman marriage was an unacceptable topic in her ethics class and compared his views to racism. She said, “You can have whatever opinions you want but I can tell you right now, in this class homophobic comments, racist comments, and sexist comments will not be tolerated.” And then she told the student he should drop the class.

Professor McAdams - Free Speech Advocate and JFK conspiracy debunker
 McAdams posted the instructors name on his blog. She complained. 

“Abbate, of course, was just using a tactic typical among liberals now. Opinions with which they disagree are not merely wrong, and are not to be argued against on their merits, but are deemed ‘offensive’ and need to be shut up,” McAdams’ post continued.
Over the weekend, McAdams posted excerpts from a letter he received from Marquette University officials detailing the penalty facing him for for his 2014 post.
“I have decided to accept your fellow faculty members’ recommendation to suspend you without pay. Your suspension without pay will begin April 1 and continue through the fall semester,” the letter, signed by University President Michael R. Lovell, read. “In addition, your return to the faculty on Jan. 17, 2017, for the spring semester is conditioned upon you delivering a written statement to the president’s office by April 4, the details of which are contained later in this letter.”

In his blog post over the weekend, McAdams said Lovell's demands were "reminiscent of the Inquisition, in which victims who 'confessed' they had been consorting with Satan and spreading heresy would be spared execution."
In addition to admitting wrongdoing, McAdams said, the Marquette administration is asking him to affirm and commit "that your future actions and behavior will adhere to the standards of higher education as defined in the Marquette University Faculty Handbook, Mission Statement and Guiding Values" if he wants to return to the faculty.
"The addition of a demand that we abase ourself and issue an apology and sign a loyalty oath to vaguely defined 'guiding values' and to the university's 'mission' is obviously a ploy by Marquette to give the administration an excuse to fire us," McAdams wrote in his blog post.
"They have calculated, correctly, that we will do no such thing."

 McAdams said in a recent radio interview that he’ll apologize, “When hell freezes over.” 

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Islamic Outreach, Part LXXXVIII

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....

Here's an excerpt from an article from the Boston Globe. Can you spot what is missing?




A statue of the Virgin Mary at St. Catherine of Siena Parish in Norwood was vandalized with black spray paint on Good Friday, the most sacred day of the year for Catholics.
The body of the statue, which depicts the Blessed Mother with praying hands, was covered in paint. Graffiti was scrawled beneath a plaque that reads “To Jesus Through Mary,” on the base of the statue, which stands in a garden outside the parish school.

In a tweet posted Saturday night, Norwood Police asked the public for help.

 “Statue defiled last night at St. Catherine’s,” said the tweet, which was posted just after 8 p.m. “Father is asking for prayers, but we could also use some leads. If you know something call us.”

Hey! I have a clue for you! What is that spray painted on the base of the statue?


Is it the ARABIC SYMBOL FOR ALLAH???





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Monday, March 28, 2016

R.I.P, Mother Angelica


Mother Mary Angelica, a Roman Catholic nun who started a global religious media empire in a garage in Alabama, has died. She was 92.
EWTN Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Michael P. Warsaw said Sunday that the founder of the Eternal Word Television Network died at the monastery where she lived about 45 miles north of Birmingham.
Mother Angelica had been in declining health after suffering a series of strokes over the last 15 years.
Mother Angelica was born Rita Rizzo in Ohio in 1923. She entered the Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration monastery in Cleveland at age 21 and joined other nuns at a new monastery in Alabama in 1962.
The nun began broadcasting a religious TV show from the monastery garage in 1981. That grew into Eternal Word Television Network, a worldwide TV, radio and publishing operation.


 Watch and listen as Sister Angelica lowers the boom when she finds a woman played Christ in a reenactment of the Stations of the Cross.



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Islamic Outreach, Part LXXXVII

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....

In Lahore, Pakistan, a Muslim associated with the Taliban bombed a park where Christians were celebrating Easter, murdering at least 69, mostly women and children, while injuring more than 300 more. A spokesman for the terrorist group explained, “Members of the Christian community who were celebrating Easter today were our prime target.”

And if that weren't enough...

The Indian Catholic priest kidnapped by ISIS - linked terrorists in Yemen earlier this month was crucified on Good Friday, it has been claimed.
Father Thomas Uzhunnalil, 56, was taken by Islamist gunmen, reportedly linked to ISIS, who attacked an old people's home in Aden, southern Yemen, killing at least 15 people, on March 4.
The terrorists reportedly carried out the heinous murder on Good Friday, after threatening to do so earlier in the week, according to the Archbishop of Vienna.

Father Tom Uzhunnalil

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Sunday, March 27, 2016

Urbi et Orbi 2016




Dear Brothers and Sisters, Happy Easter! Jesus Christ, the incarnation of God’s mercy, out of love for us, died on the cross, and out of love he rose again from the dead. That is why we proclaim today: Jesus is Lord!
His resurrection fulfils the prophecy of the Psalm: God’s mercy endures for ever; it never dies. We can trust him completely, and we thank him because for our sake he descended into the depths of the abyss.
Before the spiritual and moral abysses of mankind, before the chasms that open up in hearts and provoke hatred and death, only an infinite mercy can bring us salvation. Only God can fill those chasms with his love, prevent us from falling into them and help us to continue our journey together towards the land of freedom and life. . . . 

Read the whole thing here.

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Misssed It! And Now I Have to Wait Until 2157...





.- A single thorn held to have been taken from Christ's crown of thorns that traditionally 'bleeds' each time that Good Friday falls on March 25, has done so again this year.
Bishop Raffaele Calabro, Bishop Emeritus of Andria in Italy's Apulia region, confirmed today that the thorn has bled.
“The miracle has started, the wonder is underway,” Bishop Calabro stated.
The thorn has been kept in a reliquary in Andria's cathedral since 1308.
A commission who observed the miracle confirmed the formation of three spherical formations or “gems” on the thorn and that “on the base of the thorn is the residue of the preceding miracle of 2005, renewing.”
The last time the miracle of the bleeding thorn took place was in 2005, and it is not expected to do so again until 2157. The occurrence has been recorded since 1633.
Bishop Calabro thanked God “for what he is doing, as the miracle is a gift from the love of God and is a sign of his love for this community.”

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Friday, March 25, 2016

Rendleman and Hileman Funeral Home Feast Day of St. Dismas, March 26

 Or it would be if not for the fact it is the Feast of the Annunciation. Or it would be except Good Friday takes precedent over the Annunciation.



 Dismas is the penitent thief who is crucified with Christ on Golgotha. He doesn't have a name in the Catholic Bible, but he is mentioned in the apocryphal " Gospel of Nicodemus".

The Biblical apocrypha (from the Greek ἀπόκρυφος, apókruphos, meaning "hidden") denotes the collection of ancient books found, in some editions of the Bible, in a separate section between the Old and New Testaments or as an appendix after the New Testament. Although the term apocrypha had been in use since the 5th century, it was in Luther's Bible of 1534 that the Apocrypha was first published as a separate intertestamental section. To this date, the Apocrypha is "included in the  lectionaries of Anglican and Lutheran Churches." Moreover, the Revised Common Lectionary, in use by most mainline Protestants including Methodists and Moravians, lists readings from the Apocrypha in the liturgical calendar, although alternate Old Testament scripture lessons are provided.

Dismas is the patron saint of undertakers.

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FIRED? They Should Have Given Him a Raise and an Apology!


A former custodian at St. Cecilia Cathedral was ordered to pay a $100 fine and court costs Thursday after pleading guilty to misdemeanor criminal mischief for damaging property at the church’s annual flower festival.

Mark F. Kenney, 59, said he disagreed with the secular content of the show’s 2016 theme of “A Night at the Movies.” He admitted that on Jan. 29, he took a pair of bolt cutters, walked onto a catwalk high above the main sanctuary and cut a steel cable, sending a suspended Mary Poppins figure crashing to the floor.




  After that, Kenney went downstairs and removed a cardboard Buddha figure from the Nash Chapel, which also featured costumed mannequins from “The King and I.” He threw the Buddha out one door and proceeded to toss costumed mannequins out two other doors.



The pastor, Father Gutsgsell, had this to say:

  “Obviously, context is everything,” the priest said in an interview this month. Cathedrals are kind of the epicenter for culture presentation and development.” 


What a dope.






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Thursday, March 24, 2016

I Was Going to Help a Homeless Guy, but made a Statue Instead

A life-size bronze statue, the "Homeless Jesus," has been placed in the Sant'Egidio courtyard of the Vatican during Holy Week.
The statue, the work of Canadian artist Timothy Schmalz, depicts Jesus stretched out on a bench, coverd with a light blanket. Copies of the same work are on display in several countries, with one at the entrance to Rome's Santo Spirito hospital.





Were Mary and Joseph homeless, too?  And when did they put park benches in Jerusalem?

 To me, this is a dumb as the shrines/remembrances that spring up whenever there is a horrible event. Flowers, Teddy Bears, signs declaring solidarity.... all done to assuage consciences and avoid having to actually DO SOMETHING. 


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More Photos From Seville, Spain


The Brotherhoods who march today are:

Holy Thursday

  • Los Negritos (The Blacks). Prior to 1400. Up to the mid 19th century, only black people (both free and slave) could be full members.
  • La Exaltación (The Exaltation). 16th century. Nicknamed los caballos (the horses).
  • Las Cigarreras (The Cigarmaking Girls). 1563.
  • Monte-Sión (Mount Zion). 1560.
  • Quinta Angustia (Fifth Anguish). 1541.
  • El Valle (The Valley). 1590.
  • Pasión (Passion). 1531. The image of Jesus is a masterpiece of Juan Martínez Montañés.

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Wednesday, March 23, 2016

LOL! Out Loud!

 From Eye of the Tiber, of course...





Los Angeles, CA––The Virgin Mary statue at the entrance of Our Lady of the Angels Cathedral in Los Angeles announced today that it was becoming evermore frustrated and frankly rather confused by the amount of mockery it has received since it was first created. The 8-foot-tall, modern representation of the Virgin Mary told Eye of the Tiber that ever since it was created in 2002, it has been the butt of jokes, scoffs, and laughs by visitors who pass it, despairingly adding that it has oftentimes wished it could just call in sick. “I guess I’m just more confused than anything else,” the statue said from its station above a pair of bronze doors. “Of course I’ve never looked at myself, but I’m a statue of the Virgin Mary, you know? How bad can I look? People stare at me as though I look like some kind of veilless Jedi with a boy-cut or something.”

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Purim

Purim begins tonight at sunset. Here's the story:

The jolly festival of Purim is celebrated every year on the 14th of the Hebrew month of Adar (late winter/early spring). It commemorates the salvation of the Jewish people in ancient Persia from Haman’s plot “to destroy, kill and annihilate all the Jews, young and old, infants and women, in a single day,” as recorded in the Megillah (book of Esther).




 Why Is It Called Purim?
Purim means “lots” in ancient Persian. The holiday was thus named since Haman had thrown lots to determine when he would carry out his diabolical scheme. You can pronounce this name many ways. In Eastern tradition, it is called poo-REEM. Among Westerners, it is often called PUH-rim. Some Central-European communities even call it PEE-rim. (WARNING: Calling this holiday PYOO-rim—as English speakers are sometimes wont to do—is a surefire newbie cover-blower.)

Haman Reenactor
 Purim Observances
Reading of the Megillah (book of Esther), which recounts the story of the Purim miracle. This is done once on the eve of Purim and then again on the following day.
  • Giving money gifts to at least two poor people.
  • Sending gifts of two kinds of food to at least one person.
  • A festive Purim feast, which often includes wine or other intoxicating beverages.

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The Whole Magilla

I was watching an episode of "Boardwalk Empire" last night, and someone said that he had gotten "the whole Magilla". My first thought was this:

I made a mental note to look up the origins some day. Well, this morning on Father Z's blog he answered the question for me!

This year our Wednesday of Holy Week, 23 March, coincides with the beginning of the Jewish holiday Purim, which celebrates how God, through Esther and her adoptive father Mordechai, saved the lives of the Jewish people from the hateful Hamman and the King during the Persian captivity.
One of the customs of Purim is to read or sing the whole scroll of the Book of Esther, which is called “the whole megillah (megillat – scroll)”.  There are several “megillah books”, but Esther is probably the most associated with the word.   During the singing of the whole megillah, when the name of the evil Hamman is pronounced, the people often shout and make noise with noisemakers to blot out his name, a kind of damnatio memoriae.










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Tuesday, March 22, 2016

Little Sisters of the Poor Versus Barak Obama


On March 23, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the Little Sisters of the Poor’s legal challenge to the Obama administration’s so-called religious “accommodation” to its contraceptive mandate. The Sisters are a group of nuns who’ve dedicated themselves to serving the elderly poor. They — along with numerous other religious organizations — are challenging their required role in facilitating their employees’ access to free contraceptives, including contraceptives that can function as abortifacients. The stakes of the case extend far beyond access to contraceptives. The Court’s holding could reaffirm America’s historic commitment to religious liberty or restrict its free exercise for decades to come.

Read the whole thing by David French in National Review.

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Better Than a Mummers Parade

Penitents of La Paz brotherhood hold a Holy Week procession in Seville, Spain. 

Holy Week in Saville, Spain is unique and historic.  There are processions every day. starting on Palm Sunday (The Penitents of La Paz march that day). Each parade has at least three pasos, elaborate statues depicting the Passion or Mary.



The La Paz Brotherhood above are wearing capirotes, which are the long point hats with eye holes cut into them. The are not part of the Penitents, rather, they are part of the nazarenos. Colours, forms and details of the habit are distinctive for each brotherhood - and sometimes for different locations within the procession. Usually the Nazarenos march in pairs, and are grouped behind insignia. Moving between the lines are diputados de tramo, guardians who keep the formations organized.

At the end of the procession comes the penitents:

  A number of penitentes, carrying wooden crosses, making public penance. They wear the habit and the hood of the brotherhood, but the hood is not pointed.

  

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Monday, March 21, 2016

Heroism in the Face of Global Warming

 

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- During Holy Week and in the Easter season, the Vatican will take part in several initiatives highlighting the importance of ecology and the care for creation.
The Governorate of Vatican City State announced March 18 that the thousands of floral arrangements for the Easter morning Mass and the pope's solemn blessing "urbi et orbi" (to the city and to the world), will be repurposed after the celebrations.
Thousands of bushes, flowering trees, tulips and other flowering bulbs, which are a gift of growers in the Netherlands, will be replanted in the Vatican gardens. The plants also will be distributed to various pontifical colleges and institutions "so that they may bloom in the coming years," the governorate said. 

Nothing says earthly stewardship like re-gifting donated plants! Bravo, Gaia Warrior Pope Francis!

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How Not to Recognize an Anniversary

Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin paid tribute to the courage of Catholic priests who ministered to the wounded and dying during the Easter Rising of 1916.
At a St. Patrick's Day Mass, the archbishop recalled the bloodshed that occurred at the general post office nearby 100 years ago. He said that rebel leaders "drew courage from their faith to know how to life (sp?) and face death." He pointed out that even some noted rebels who were estranged from the Church "received the sacraments before their execution." 

Dublin, 1916

 So the Easter Rising of 1916 took place on St. Patrick's Day? No....it started April 24th (Easter Monday).  Luckily, the Catholics were there to help the wounded. Except for the Ancient Order of Hibernians, a Catholic group in the middle of the fight.

 The Easter Rising lasted from Easter Monday 24 April 1916 to Easter Saturday 29 April 1916. Annual commemorations, rather than taking place on 24–29 April, are typically based on the date of Easter, which is a moveable feast. For example, the annual military parade is on Easter Sunday; the date of coming into force of the Republic of Ireland Act 1948 was symbolically chosen as Easter Monday (18 April) 1949. The official programme of centenary events in 2016 climaxes from 25 March (Good Friday) to 2 April (Easter Saturday) with other events earlier and later in the year taking place on the calendrical anniversaries.

So we note the celebration on Easter Monday, which this year is March 28th Or not. Or St. Patrick's Day. Or not.


 The British Army reported casualties of 116 dead, 368 wounded and nine missing.Sixteen policemen died, and 29 were wounded. Rebel and civilian casualties were 318 dead and 2,217 wounded. The Volunteers and ICA recorded 64 killed in action, but otherwise Irish casualties were not divided into rebels and civilians. All 16 police fatalities and 22 of the British soldiers killed were Irishmen British families came to Dublin Castle in May 1916 to reclaim the bodies and funerals were arranged. British bodies which were not claimed were given military funerals in Grangerman Military Cemetery.


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The Scariest Part of the Bible

The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah? The frog downpour in Egypt? The Holy Innocence? Noah and the flood? A day in the life of Job?

How about this (Paul's Letter to the Romans)?

Let every person be subordinate to the higher authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been established by God. Therefore, whoever resists authority opposes what God has appointed, and those who oppose it will bring judgment upon themselves. For rulers are not a cause of fear to good conduct, but to evil. Do you wish to have no fear of authority? 





Then do what is good and you will receive approval from it, for it is a servant of God for your good. But if you do evil, be afraid, for it does not bear the sword without purpose; it is the servant of God to inflict wrath on the evildoer. Therefore, it is necessary to be subject not only because of the wrath but also because of conscience. This is why you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, devoting themselves to this very thing. Pay to all their dues, taxes to whom taxes are due, toll to whom toll is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due.


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Thursday, March 17, 2016

St. Michael the Archangel takes Wing

High atop Mont St. Michel in France is a gilded statue of St. Michael. It is being repaired and additional lightning rods attached top it. He was attached to a line to a helicopter and off he went!


I could not figure how to imbed the video, but it is worth watching!


This is another video from La Figaro in France. Really long annoying ads to start, but a fun view of the flying Michael!

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Saint Patrick - Comedy GOLD!

Guiness Feast of St. Patrick, March 17


Sorry....I know I've posted this before, but it cracks me up.

Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Shrines to the Left of Me, Relics to the Right!

 I didn't even know there was a shrine in Perryville, but there is: The National Shrine of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal.


News out of Perryville, Missouri:


 We have exciting news to share!  Earlier this year a young man, who wishes to remain anonymous, gifted the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal with an heirloom, first-class relic of St. Catherine Labouré.The relic was given to his grandmother by a priest friend and was then passed on to the young man years later.  After prayerful consideration, he felt sure the relic belonged in a place where it could be seen and venerated by the public—not hidden away in his safety deposit box.  He found our Lady’s Shrine while searching the internet and made a special visit to Perryville to “check us out.”  After his visit and tour of the Shrine, the grounds, and the Miraculous Medal office, he knew in his heart that he had found the right home for his relic of St. Catherine to reside.  Of course, we are honored and blessed that this young man chose to pass on his precious heirloom to us.  Now that we have prepared St. Catherine’s relic for veneration here at our Lady’s Shrine, it will be available every Monday night before and after the Miraculous Medal Novena which begins at 7:15 p.m. (followed by Mass at 7:30 p.m.).

 




May we all be reminded of St. Catherine’s exemplary cooperation in the mission Mary gave her.  Let us also be inspired to call on Catherine in prayer, and on the grace of God to live the same faith-filled life that she did.

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Islamic Outreach, Part LXXXVI

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: 


(CNSNews.com) – Chaldean Catholic priest Father Douglas Bazi  spoke at the National Press Club Thursday calling on the U.S. State Department to recognize the genocide of Christians in the Middle East at the hands of ISIS.
“I’m begging here--begging people of America to recognize it as a genocide," he said.

Bazi, a parish priest in Erbil, Iraq, who was also born and raised in Iraq, described the persecution he and his parishioners have faced there.

“'Genocide' is a polite word. Can we think of another word to fit what happened to my people?” he told those gathered. “We are not talking about persecution just like stories.”

 “There is no life in Iraq for my people,” he said. “They call my church the church of martyrs or the church of blood.”

“My church in Baghdad been blowed up, blowed up in front of me,” Bazi said. “I survived twice. They bombed my car. I got shot in my leg by an AK-47.

“I was kidnapped for nine days. They used the hammer to broke my teeth, my nose, and my back,” Bazi said, adding that he still keeps the shirt he was kidnapped in, holding it up for reporters to see faded blood stains.

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Monday, March 14, 2016

The 224,000 Children Aborted in the United States This Year Could Not Be Reached for Comment

The University of Notre Dame says it is making a statement against a "toxic political environment" by honoring Democratic Vice President Joe Biden and Republican former House Speaker John Boehner with its coveted 2016 Laetare Medal.

HOW DID YOU GET HERE???
"It is a good time to remind ourselves what lives dedicated to genuine public service in politics look like," Rev. John I. Jenkins, president of Notre Dame, said in revealing the award Saturday, Catholic News Service.

Honoring Biden, who holds a pro-choice political position even though he says he personally believes life begins at conception, is being seen by some as Notre Dame's public rejection of the U.S. Conference of Catholic bishops' 2004 statement on "Catholics in Political Life" which stressed that "Catholic institutions should not honor those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles. They should not be given awards, honors or platforms which would suggest support for their actions."


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There is Only One Problem....

In a video recorded for an awards ceremony taking place in Dubai, Pope Francis announced that a Palestinian woman has won the Varkey Foundation’s second annual Global Teacher Prize.
The foundation was founded by Sunny Varkey, an Indian entrepreneur who runs a large network of private schools.

"Palestinians" celebrate the collapse of the World Trade Center

 “I would like to congratulate the teacher Hanan Al Hroub for winning this prestigious prize due to the importance she gives to the role of play in a child’s education,” the Pope said.
“A child has the right to play,” he continued. “Part of education is to teach children how to play, because you learn how to be social though games, and you learn the joy of life.”

 The problem? THERE IS NO COUNTRY CALLED PALESTINE.  The Vatican has recognized a "Palestinian State" but where is it? West Bank? Gaza? Jordan? Lebanon?

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Passiontide

Passiontide in the Current Liturgical Calendar

Since the revision of the Catholic liturgical calendar in 1969, Passiontide has been synonymous with Holy Week. Palm Sunday, the final Sunday before Easter, is now known as Passion Sunday, though in practice it is almost always referred to by its former name. (Sometimes you may see it listed as Passion (Palm) Sunday, reflecting the current usage.)


The Traditional Period of Passiontide

Before the revision of the liturgical calendar, however, Passiontide was the period of Lent that commemorates the increasing revelation of Christ's divinity and His movement toward Jerusalem. Holy Week was the second week of Passiontide, which began with the Fifth Sunday in Lent, which was known as Passion Sunday. (The Fifth Week of Lent was likewise known as Passion Week.) Thus Passion Sunday and Palm Sunday were (unlike today) separate celebrations.
The revised calendar is used in the Ordinary Form of the Mass (the Novus Ordus), which is the form of the Mass celebrated in most parishes.


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Thursday, March 10, 2016

Now You Tell Me

Today, after contemplating the Luminous Mysteries, I began to wonder about indulgences for saying the rosary. Here's the list:

A Plenary Indulgence...
may be gained (under the usual conditions) when the Rosary is prayed in Church, in a family group or in a religious community. Also:


  • Five (5) decades of the Rosary must be prayed continuously.
  • The prayers of the Rosary must be prayed vocally and one must meditate upon the Mysteries of the Rosary.
  • If the recitation of the Rosary is public, the Mysteries of the Rosary must be announced.

A Partial Indulgence...
One may gain a partial indulgence for the Rosary's recitation in whole or in part in other circumstances.

A Plenary Indulgence...
can be gained only once a day (except by those who are in danger of death.)

* to gain a plenary indulgence one must perform the indulgenced act. Three other conditions must be fulfilled:

  1. A sacramental confession
  2. Eucharistic Communion
  3. Prayers for the Pope's intentions
In addition, one must be free of all attachments to sin, even venial sin. If this complete integrity is not present or if the above conditions are not fulfilled the indulgence is only partial. Both a plenary and partial indulgence may be applied to the dead. 

 But now THIS! From EYE OF THE TIBER:


The largest jackpot in Vatican history — now an estimated 700 million indulgences – will be up for grabs in Saturday night’s drawing after no one produced the combination of 40, 33, 12, 10, 3 and the Powerball of 7 to win Wednesday night’s 524 million indulgence jackpot.


The jackpot would have had an estimated value of about 157,200 “days” off purgatory, according to the Vatican’s Powerball website. The final “take-home” amount depends on an individual’s state in life, Malinda Totti, the executive director of the Vatican Lottery, told EOTT.
The largest Vatican indulgence jackpot to date was won in three countries in April 2012, when the Mega Millions Rosaries drawing reached a whopping 656 million rosaries said on behalf of the winners.
In the past 13 years, 16 Indulgence Powerball winners have either bought their tickets in Malta or the Philippines, more than any other countries.
Winners are advised to sign the lottery ticket as soon as they get the chance. A baptismal certificate and proof of confirmation, along with the signed ticket, are required to claim the indulgences.
Totti went on to caution winners about the temptation of abusing their new-found spiritual wealth, saying that some past winners have squandered their extra-sacramental remission of temporal punishment within just a few years after winning.

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Wednesday, March 09, 2016

Shut Up, They Explained

In a striking rebuke to Pope Francis, an editorial posted on the web site of the Archdiocese of Mexico City argues that the Pontiff was misinformed when he criticized the Mexican hierarchy.
During his February visit to Mexico, Pope Francis urged the country's bishops not to identify themselves with the wealthy and powerful but to serve the poor. "We do not need princes," the Pontiff said.

Mexico City  has an intelligent disagreement

 In its online response, the Mexico City archdiocese responded: "The Mexican bishops have been accompanying the suffering, downtrodden people, devoting their lives to others and not living like 'princes.'" The editorial suggests that Pope Francis had based his criticism on inaccurate reports about the state of the Church in Mexico. "Who gave the Pope bad advice?" the online essay asks.

HA! He was just misinformed, like Rick in "Casablanca".




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Tuesday, March 08, 2016

Islamic Outreach, Part LXXXV

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:
One of those fiendish Missionaries of Charity



Pope Francis lamented the March 4 killing of four Missionaries of Charity and 12 others at a home for the elderly in Aden, Yemen.
Two of the religious sisters were from Rwanda; the others came from India and Kenya.
In a papal telegram of condolence sent on March 5, the Vatican’s Secretary of State said that “His Holiness Pope Francis was shocked and profoundly saddened to learn of the killing of four Missionaries of Charity and twelve others at a home for the elderly in Aden. He sends the assurance of his prayers for the dead and his spiritual closeness to their families and to all affected from this act of senseless and diabolical violence.”

A senior official of Aden's local government told Xinhua that suspected gunmen of the Yemen-based affiliate of the Islamic State (IS) group were behind the terrorist attack.

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Reconcilation Available in Spanish?


The previous post said at Our Lady of the Rosary Church in Springfield, reconciliation was available in Polish. Does Pope Francis go to confession in Spanish? Or Latin? I'll ask him next time we speak to each other.

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We Salute You, Diocese of Springfield, Massachusetts!

I saw this in the New York Daily News with this description:

Police stand outside Sacred Heart Church for the funeral of Prince William County, Va., Police Officer Ashley Guindon in Springfield, Mass. 

 A newly-sworn-in Virginia cop was fatally shot and two other officers were wounded while responding to a fatal domestic related incident, the Prince William County Police Department said late Saturday.
Officer Ashley Guindon died from injuries sustained in the shooting in Woodbridge, the police department said shortly after 10:30 p.m.
Police Sgt. Jonathan Perok said Guindon had been sworn in on Friday and was working her first shift on Saturday when she was killed. In welcoming Guindon and another officer to the force Friday, the department tweeted their photo and said, "be safe!" 

 
The diocesan website has some interesting wording:

 The Roman Catholic Bishop of Springfield, a corporate sole, is the civil corporate name for the Diocese of Springfield. The Bishop of Springfield is the head of the corporation. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield, which was erected on June 14, 1870, operates under both civil law and canon law (the law of the Church). It is comprised of 81 parishes and 9 missions with more than 217,000 Catholics. There are 184 priests throughout the four western counties of Massachusetts (Berkshire, Franklin, Hampden and Hampshire).
The diocese educates just over 3,100 students in 14 elementary schools, 4 high schools and 1 college.

The diocese supports our laity and public with extensive services, such as providing eleven homes for the aged, a hospital, a health care center, and a day care center.
On August 12, 2014 Bishop Mitchell T. Rozanski was installed as the 9th Bishop of Springfield. Retired Bishop Timothy A. McDonnell (8th Bishop of Springfield) continues to reside in the Diocese and takes part in the life of the Catholic community here.
There are several religious houses in our diocese, including the cloistered orders of the Visitation and Dominican nuns and numerous motherhouses including Sisters of St. Joseph, Sisters of Providence, Franciscan Missionary Sisters of Assisi and Daughters of the Heart of Mary. Other orders are present in the diocese. Among the religious men represented in the diocese, we have the Marian Fathers & Brothers, Franciscans, LaSalettes, Passionists and Stigmatines.


If you go to Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Church (also in Springfield), you will get this in the bulletin:

 3rd Sunday of month Haitian Creole Mass 5:00 p.m.
Kiswahili Masses as announced

 Also in Springfield, at Our Lady of the Rosary: 

Confession Schedule:
 Sat. 3:15 – 3:45 p.m., before each Weekday Mass
(Reconciliation available in Polish)


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