Freedom Through Truth

An Embarrassing Case of Sacramental Mistaken Identity

2011-12-25T07:13:00.000-05:00

Patrick Madrid

Let he who is without guilt cast the first stone.

An Embarrassing Case of Sacramental Mistaken Identity

12 Days of Christmas - An Unusual Version

2011-12-24T12:23:00.000-05:00

How Animals Might Present It

12 Days of Christmas is certainly an interesting song, though not one of my personal favourites. Here, from the Talking Animals channel on You Tube is what cats, dogs and other animals have to say and sing about it.

New Mass Translation

2011-12-15T18:44:00.000-05:00

The Process and The Intent

A short video prepared for Life Teen explaining the process and reasons for the changes in the Roman Missal.

Intellect versus Wisdom

2011-12-15T17:46:00.000-05:00

In recent years I have followed the goings on over at Father Tim Moyle's blog, Where the Rubber Hits the Road. There have been a number of commenters, almost to the one thoughtful people, who have something to say either supporting an item linked on Father Tim's site, or raising a criticism of something read.

One of the most frequent and verbal of the commenters is a man named Martin, s former classmate of Father Tim's at the St. Peter's Seminary in London, Ontario, who one would therefor expect to be Catholic in his beliefs and comments. Such is not the case, and Martin, well versed in the words of scripture always seems to have an axe to grind. He is frankly better versed than yours truly, and generally raises interesting arguments.

A while back, he felt that verses in the bible about Jesus commenting on the end times proved that Jesus could not be God, since he apparently erred in Martin's humble opinion. We went back and forth for some time, and I thought he made good points, though I felt they were erroneous. One thing that was never mentioned is that the books of the Bible were not produced in the time of Jesus, but 30 years later or so, which gives one pause. Jesus did not stand beside Matthew, Mark, Luke or John, and say: "Take this down. This is good." They also had the benefit of about 30 years of seeing how what they understood Jesus to have said played out, if it did.

But, the bigger issue for me is one I took umbrage with Martin on. I believe that he possesses a great deal of intelligence, or intellect, but is lacking in wisdom.

Being an atheist in our times is a very difficult task, and requires one to undertake machinations to prove the unprovable, which of course, is what atheists say about Christians. But, beyond the words of the Bible, there are instances, and many of them protracted, where the Blessed Virgin Mary is appearing to people around the world, and communicating with them in no uncertain terms. As well, Jesus has appeared to many as well, and has shared His Heart with them.

Christians and non believers, are not required to believe in these things, but prudence requires us to at least examine them for their veracity. The appearances of Mary at places like Garabandal in Spain, Fatima in Portugal, have borne much fruit, as people have been drawn into a greater commitment to life in Christ.

One of the most interesting recent phenomena is the communications purported to be between Jesus himself, and Vassula Ryden, which took place over more than 15 years, and have been published, with a letter from a Catholic Bishop indicating that reading and meditating on this book is spiritually beneficial to all, and in no way contravenes Catholic Church teaching. The book also contains dialogue between Vassula and the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, where questions were asked and satisfactory answers provided.

But, this particular book, True Life in God, at page 419 had an insight into what I thought was going on between Martin and the things he rails against. It differentiates between Wisdom and Intellect.

Vassula asks the Lord: "Give us the Wisdom then to imitate You."

Jesus responded in kind: "Wisdom is given to mere children; unless they seek Me in simplicity of heart, Wisdom shall not be given to them and as long as their intellect is at work, Wisdom will remain hidden and as a riddle to them."

She then prays as follows:"Tear away, Lord, their intellect so that they may at last see with their eyes Your Beauty and Your Splendour!"

Jesus says: "little heart, pray for them then; pray in these godless times; let your prayers be like blended incense;"

"pray that I may give them back their sight; pray that I may go over to them and wake them up from their everlasting sleep; pray, My little one, you who had the Law brought to you by Me; and directed by My Holy Spirit, pray that they die to their sin and resurrect to Holiness, Love and Faith; and if there are any wise men, let them show their wisdom by their simplicity of heart towards Me, their zeal to all that is holy, and by their ardour to draw souls to Me; may all these things be done with humility and love; remember that if you do not get what you ask it is because you do not pray hard enough and with your heart;"

You can improve your intellect by studying, reading, even watching certain things, but you cannot get Wisdom that way. Wisdom cannot be chased. Wisdom comes from submission, even a tiny bit of submission. Wisdom, once it starts to have its way with us can grow and blossom.

When our intellect is allowed to be in the driver's seat, we limit what we can understand and what we can accomplish. We claim certain things to be factual, where they are only opinions, and incomplete understandings. Wisdom has no such bounds, because it is not from us, and not about us.

Intellect is about what we know, what we have seen, what we have interpreted. As such it is very limited; yet we rely on it to guide us.

We cannot bring another to Wisdom, but we can pray for that person to be visited by Wisdom, and if we are to pray and seek an answer to our prayer, then the admonition of Jesus to pray hard enough and with our hearts is essential.

Many have wandered away from the faith we profess; many of whom once made the same professions. They have been deluded by intellect, not Wisdom, and that matters. Pray that all those who have wandered far from home, would be visited by Wisdom, and would receive it so that they may turn their hearts towards home.

The Christmas Rush

2011-12-13T22:05:00.005-05:00

A Capella

A fun song to help us remember what Christmas is about.

The Christmas Rush - LYRICS
I hit the mall, spendin' dollars.
To show people what they mean to me.
Got trampled trying to find an elmo.
Got pepper sprayed, guess that was free...
They gotta know, that gifts mean love.
I got my Mom MJ's glove.
And as for pops, a crystal bird house.
It doesn't really even matter what Christmas about baby.
I bought the fam lots of crap for Christmas,
Forgot who I bought it for yeah.
It won't be Christmas without presents,
Spending till my card gets sore yeah.
And who knew,
that this holiday could make me so poor yeah.
And who knew,
That i'd almost break my pelvis in a revolving door yeah.
I got my bro some N'Sync earmuffs,
then fought off Britney tryin' to steal from me.
My sis is gettin' a brand new loofa,
the jokes on her cause it was free.
This time of year the stores get nuts.
Who knew that meat mitts could cost so much?
I think the Mall Cop just grabbed my butt.
I'm gettin' kind of sick of this Christmas rush baby.
I bought the fam lots of crap for Christmas,
Forgot who I bought it for yeah.
It won't be Christmas without presents,
Spending till my card gets sore yeah.
And who knew,
that this holiday could make me so poor yeah.
And who knew,
That i'd knock a granny over face first on the floor yeah.
Feeling sweaty, feeling nervous.
Shopping's not supposed to make you bleed.
I got a feelin' there's more to Christmas.
Then buying stuff that no one needs.
Look around you and find somebody,
who matters more than you can believe.
This is love so spread it around you.
Love's a gift that all can receive yeah.
I don't need all this crap for Christmas,
Don't matter who I buy it for yeah.
It's still a Christmas without presents.
To me it means so much more yeah.
And wooo,
You can't buy love from any store yeah.
And wooo, with peace and love you'll never be poor yeah
And wooo,
You can't buy love from any store yeah.
And wooo, with peace and love you'll never be poor yeah

Change of a Dollar

2011-12-13T22:02:00.000-05:00

Patrick Madrid

Patrick Madrid came across this video and it shows what small things can mean in the bigger picture.

Many years ago, I was attending morning prayer with a number of my Catholic Christian friends, and on one particular morning, my friend Wayne asked me if I wanted to drive with him to take his cousin, Paul to meet his father about 30 miles outside of London, Ontario. I had some time on my hands, and went with him.

When we got to our destination, a truck stop along the highway, I heard a voice tell me to give Wayne $50. Since I knew whose voice it was, I did as I was old, and turned to Wayne, giving him the money and telling him that the Lord told me to.

He immediately turned to his cousin Paul and gave it to him.

As we started back to London a short while later, I was mulling over what had just happened, and told Wayne that if I had wanted to give the money to Paul, I would have, but I was told to give it to him.

Wayne was non-plussed about the whole thing, and old me the Lord told him to give the $50 to Paul.

Then he explained. He said that as I was obedient, I was blessed by what I had done. But, as he was obedient, he too was blessed by what he did next. As well, Paul was blessed by receiving money that he, in fact needed,.

So, in essence, God is capable of making something bigger out of a small thing, and the film at the link below is about blessings from small things, and how they go full circle.

Let us not lose sight of the fact that we are called to do the small things to the best of our ability, and that in our obedience to God, these small things make the world better.

Change: This movie will mess you up . . . in a very good way

Merry Christmas I Mean MERRY CHRISTMAS

2011-12-09T00:36:00.000-05:00

Not Happy Holidays, Though I Hope They Will Be

We will be celebrating Christmas this year on December 25. Same date as last year. Same date as next year. Same date people around the world have been celebrating it for generations, come to think of it.

I was going to let go after my little rant last year, complete with musical accompaniment here. But, then I got to watching the news on our local television station here in London, Ontario. And frankly, I got mildly bothered. You can substitute another word or two if you want, maybe one that is less . . . well . . . mild.

A lot of companies that we have never really heard of, take it upon themselves to issue a commercial greeting during the news this time of year. I lost count of how many lawyers, accountants, purveyors of things we need and other stuff did their thing but it was several. Of that several, more than half wished me and My Dear Wife in the next chair a Happy Holiday. Too bad I can't remember who they were, since it was coming so hot and heavy. I would gladly communicate to them where I think they should put their Happy Holiday. Think lack of sunshine.

The brave ones who remembered that we would be celebrating Christmas were somewhat outnumbered, but not overcome. In fact, in most instances they had a gaggle of employees, students or friends with them to make sure that we knew they communally were wishing us a Merry Christmas.

As I said I would have let it go. But, a friend from Petrolia, who lives near us in our winter home in Tucson, Norm Sutherland, sent out the following in an email, which he invited us to share with others. It is cute. It is relevant, and it is poignant.

And so, I am sharing it with you in this forum, my blog. Should any of you want the original email, so that you can send it to your friends, relatives, mortal enemies (to whom you wish glad tidings) leave me a comment with your email address, and I will forward the original to you.

We will be making a conscious effort to wish everyone

a Merry Christmas this year ...

My way of saying that we are celebrating

the birth Of Jesus Christ.

So, we are asking readers,

if you agree with us,

to please do the same.

And if you'll pass this on to

your friends, and so on...

maybe we can prevent one more Canadian/American

tradition from being lost in the sea of

"Political Correctness".

To One and All ! ! ! ! !

Kids Say the Darndest Things

2011-12-08T09:27:00.000-05:00

Humor from GodVine
Funny Things Kids Have Said
LOT 'S WIFE

The Sunday School teacher was describing how Lot's wife looked back and turned into a pillar of salt, when little Jason interrupted, "My Mother looked back once while she was driving," he announced triumphantly, "and she turned into a telephone pole!"

GOOD SAMARITAN

A Sunday school teacher was telling her class the story of the Good Samaritan. She asked the class, "If you saw a person lying on the roadside, all wounded and bleeding, what would you do?"

A thoughtful little girl broke the hushed silence, "I think I'd throw up."

DID NOAH FISH?

A Sunday school teacher asked, "Johnny, do you think Noah did a lot of fishing when he was on the Ark?"

"No," replied Johnny. "How could he, with just two worms."

HIGHER POWER

A Sunday school teacher said to her children, "We have been learning how powerful Kings and Queens were in Bible times. But, there is a Higher Power. Can anybody tell me what it is?"

One child blurted out, "Aces!"

MOSES AND THE RED SEA

Nine-year-old Joey was asked by his mother what he had learned in Sunday School.

"Well, Mum, our teacher told us how God sent Moses behind enemy lines on a rescue mission to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. When he got to the Red Sea, he had his army build a pontoon bridge and all the people walked across safely. Then he radioed headquarters for reinforcements. They sent bombers to blow up the bridge and all the Israelites were saved."

"Now, Joey, is that really what your teacher taught you?" his Mother asked.

"Well, no, Mum, but, if I told it the way the teacher did, you'd never believe it!"

THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD

A Sunday School teacher decided to have her young class memorize one of the most quoted passages in the Bible - Psalm 23. She gave the youngsters a month to learn the chapter.

Little Rick was excited about the task - but he just couldn't remember the Psalm. After much practice, he could barely get past the first line.

On the day that the kids were scheduled to recite Psalm 23 in front of the congregation, Ricky was so nervous. When it was his turn, he stepped up to the microphone and said proudly, "The Lord is my Shepherd, and that's all I need to know.

Discourse on Jesus Return - Civil or Not?

2011-11-20T21:04:00.000-05:00

Recently, a discussion broke out at Father Tim Moyle's Blog "Where the Rubber Hits the Road" over what appeared to be a humorous and innocuous posting he made linking to Harold Camping's revised prediction of the Rapture coming on October 21, 2011.
If you are reading this, then you know that the Rapture, if there is ever really going to be one, did not occur as promised by Mr. Camping. This was not his first prediction of the end, but was as accurate as his previous ones.

But, of greater interest was the ensuing comment thread, largely involving myself, and another Catholic Christian named Paul, pitted in a contestuous battle of wits, our 2 halves against Martin's nit.

The discussion I felt was worthy of being brought out more into the open, because Martin, who was educated here in London, Ontario at St. Peter's Seminary has taken the knowledge he received and has built upon, and has wandered over to the dark side (no offence meant Martin).

We have ultimately agreed to disagree. At least we do disagree, and have drawn no closer to agreement. Ignore the testiness that crept into the comments, particularly my own.

The actual frolicking began when Paul reerenced the bible stating that we know not the time nor the place of Jesus' return, in reference to Mr. Camping fixating on a particular date and time. Martin is categorically an SD (you know disturber of excrement), and so he dutifully stirred the pot.

He raised the ante, by referencing Luke 21:32, "In truth, I tell you before this generation has passed away all will have taken place." Specifically, he said:

Jesus clearly tells his audience that the world will end in their own lifetimes. Not only was Jesus wrong, but his words contradict your citation. No matter how you try to square that circle, the world cannot be both ended in the lifetime of the apostles and still in existence and facing an immanent destruction in 2011.

There was more and you can read it in the comments, but that was a pretty pivotal point, and remained the main topic of the comments.
Frankly, it seemed such a walk in the park to refute what Martin had said, that I started out lazily, and never really got past it, try though I might.
What, of course, was missed in the discussion, was when the text of Luke and the parallel texts of Matthew 24, and Mark 13 were actually written. Since Luke was not probably written until about the 60s AD, use of the term generation becomes even more of a challenge. So, I looked up this commentary from Bible Gateway.com and quote from there:

Jesus assures the disciples that these signs will be so. "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away." The things Jesus has taught are true, more firm than creation itself.

In the midst of this note of assurance is one of the most-discussed passages in Luke. For Jesus also says, "This generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened." The prediction is made emphatically, using the strong Greek phrase ou me. This generation will not (!) pass away.

On the surface it looks as if Jesus is predicting the end within his generation, especially since Luke normally uses the term generation (genea) to mean the current generation (7:31; 9:41; 11:29-32, 51; 17:25; Acts 2:40; 8:33). Often the term also has a negative implication, meaning this current generation is evil. Against applying this interpretation to 21:32, however, is the reality of the delay. The generation of Jesus' utterance was passing away even as Luke wrote, and Luke had described numerous intervening events. Jesus had spoken in the thirties, but Luke was writing, in all likelihood, in the sixties. A reference to the current generation is unlikely.

Neither is it likely that Luke refers to the Jews as this generation. According to this view, the promise is that "the generation of Jews" will not pass away. Though this approach removes any problem for the meaning, it is unlikely because genea is not used in this general, nontemporal, ethnic sense elsewhere.

Two other options are possible. If the term has no temporal force, then it could mean "the evil generation of humankind." Using the term with this descriptive, ethical force would mean Jesus is speaking of a quality of human being: evil persons will not escape the judgment when it comes. This evil generation will not pass away before God deals with them. There will be judgment and vindication.

Finally, the term might refer to the generation of the end. In other words, once the beginning of the end arrives with the cosmic signs of verses 25-26, the Son of Man will return before that generation passes away. Such a meaning honors the term's temporal force and reads it as somewhat contextually limited by Luke's clear distinction between near and far events. This view has been rejected by some as too obvious a sense--the last generation will not pass away (Stein 1992:526). However, this misreads the view's force. It is arguing that the end will occur within one generation; the same group that sees the start of the end will see its end. This is the option I slightly prefer, though the previous sense is also possible.

However the phrase this generation is taken, Jesus' statements in verses 32-33 emphasize that Jerusalem's destruction and then the events of the end, including the Son of Man's return and the cosmic signs that accompany it, are more certain than creation's permanence. Be assured, Jesus says, these things will come to pass.

It was and may continue to be an interesting discussion. But, what came to me in prayer was some thoughts on attitude. Zig Ziglar, a well known Christian says this: “Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude”.

Though I respect Martin's knowledge, my challenge is with his attitude towards the Bible, and Catholic teaching. Jesus told us that we were to come to Him like little children. Well, little children are curious, inquisitive, helpful, and trusting. At least, they are that way until we, of the older generations, train it out of them. We eventually train them not to trust, to be petulant, and argumentative. They move from being child like, to being childish in their behaviours and attitudes, and that is how we enter adulthood.

I hope I am not misrepresenting concepts I believe I have read from him. What I have understood from what I have read, is that he takes a critical approach to scripture, what I would characterize as a childish attitude, as opposed to an attitude of trusting inquiry and inquisitiveness. This is not meant as a criticism of Martin, as when I look at some of the things I have written in response to him, I see the same petulance and childishness. In fact, I doubt that the verbal jousting would have gone on as long as it did if I had presented a better attitude.

Be that as it may, mayhaps we will re-engage over this topic or others as time passes.

No Hurry???

2011-11-06T19:43:00.001-05:00

From Father John Pirt's Sermon This Morning

Today's Gospel reading was about the 10 virgins waiting for the Bridegroom (Jesus) to come (Matthew 25:1-13). The scene of the gospel was apparently a common scene in Jesus day on earth. The bridegroom would possibly play tricks on the bride and attendants by showing up at an odd time. So, while 5 attendants had lamps and oil, five only had lamps, and ran out of oil before the bridegroom arrived, and their lack of preparedness and diligence was to their eternal sorrow.

To start his homily, father John told this story about the devil.

The devil was about to send three newly trained devil apprentices to earth to test our their skills, and so he met with them prior to their starting this assignment.

He asked the first one what he planned to do on earth. He said, he was going to tell everyone he could that there was no God.

Satan smiled at him, and told him that that would get a few, but that most over time know from their heart that there is a God, and so as a strategy, it would not be very productive.

When he queried the second one, his response was that he planned on telling everyone he could that there was no hell.

Again, the devil was amused but told him that the people on earth knew in their hearts that there was a hell, and so he might have minor success, but that it was not a very effective plan.

When he asked the third demon what he planned, his response was chilling. He said that he was going to tell everyone on earth, that there was no hurry.

The Gospel tells us to stand guard, be vigilant and prepared. The devil tells us there is no hurry.

Who are you going to believe?

Steve Jobs - Requiescat in Pace

2011-10-06T09:27:00.000-04:00

Most interesting quote -IMHO

“.. almost everything – all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.”

Not everybody liked Steve Jobs, certainly not those who were jealous of him. He had a significant impact on how we do things, including me sitting here on my iPad writing this.

I hope he ran into the loving arms of God when he left this mortal coil.

Will this have any impact on Your Thoughts?

2011-09-28T15:07:00.000-04:00

A Movie For Our Times

Please watch this.

Judge tells offenders to go to jail or church - Weird News - Canoe.ca

2011-09-25T07:39:00.000-04:00

The article linked below was captioned under weird news on Canoe this morning. The MSM cannot get into their heads that current approaches to minor crimes are not in any way restorative, or remedial. So, offering miscreants jail or Church as options could prove to be excellent options to halt a downward spiral in behavior. Have we lost our way so badly that the existence of a loving God and of people who want to serve Him and help others to find Him is considered weird?

Judge tells offenders to go to jail or church - Weird News - Canoe.ca

A Touch of Deja Vu: The Case against Rev. Gordon ...

2011-09-24T14:11:00.000-04:00

The Truth is Relative?

Does the truth matter? We Christians know that the truth alone can set you free. Yet, we see evidence daily of where intentional lies and falsehoods are treated as factual truths, and produce success for their bearers. Thou shalt not bear false witness, or so the commandment goes, yet it is everyday fare for so many among us.

The case that was put together against Father Gordon MacRae, the author of These Stone Walls is one of those blatant circumstances where lies of gargantuan proportions were perpetrated by alleged victims, and possibly also by investigating detectives, and prosecutors, though maybe the detectives and prosecutors were just so focused on their objective that they lost their . . . objectivity.

Ryan MacDonald who has done a lot of long distance research into the tragic case of Father Gordon has once again brought some of the lies and corruption to the surface about this case. And still midst all the evil falsehoods perpetrated against this man of God, he languishes in prison, and his accusers go free to spend their ill gotten lucre.

The story will not end well for those who deal in lies and falsehoods. It just may take some time. My hope and prayer for all those who have contributed to the deceptions that have kept Father Gordon in prison for about 17 years is that the lies are weighing on the hearts and minds of those who were their source, and that God's Holy Spirit is working to turn their hearts back to Him, who is the Truth.

A RAM IN THE THICKET:: by Ryan A. MacDonald Whatever you think about the guilt of Catholic priests accused over the last two decades of the Church's sex abuse ...

A Young Girl Confronts an Atheist

2011-09-10T01:29:00.000-04:00

A Moral Inside Humour

A friend sent me this as a joke, but considering the source, I expected something more than just a laugh, and I was not disappointed.

See what you think:

An atheist was seated next to a little girl on an airplane and he turned to her and said,"Do you want to talk? Flights go quicker if you strike up a conversation with your fellow passenger."

The little girl, who had started to read her book, replied to the stranger, "What would you want to talk about?"

"Oh, I don't know," said the atheist. "How about why there is no God, no Heaven or Hell, or no life after death?" as he smiled smugly.

"OK," she said. "Those could be interesting topics but first let me ask you a question. A horse, a cow, and a deer all eat the same stuff--grass. Yet a deer excretes little pellets, while a cow turns out a flat patty, but a horse produces clumps. Why do you suppose that is?"

The atheist, visibly surprised by the little girl's intelligence, thinks about it and says, "Hmmm, I have no idea."

To which the little girl replies, "Do you really feel qualified to discuss why there is no God, no Heaven or Hell, or no life after death, when you don't know shit?" And then she went back to reading her book.

The Invisible Woman

2011-09-09T11:17:00.001-04:00

A Friend sent me this video to watch,

and to be astounded with the simplicity of faith it calls us to, not self centredness, but other centredness, because God sees everything, and it is for Him that we are called to live.

The Anti-Catholic Moment

2011-09-09T10:52:00.000-04:00

Robert Royal on what may be (in the reverse of Richard John Neuhaus) the Anti-Catholic Moment in contemporary history.

Over at The Catholic Thing, Robert Royal writes with reference to Father Richard John Neuhaus, a now deceased Roman Catholic priest (and friend of Father Tim Moyle from whence I came upon this article) and former Lutheran Pastor. Though Father Neuhaus wrote of a Catholic Moment, My Royal has noted anti-Catholic sentiment, much of it brought on by our own sinfulness in the Catholic Church, and what we can expect.

The Anti-Catholic Moment:

Eucharistic Miracles

2011-09-09T10:40:00.000-04:00

Monsignor Charles Pope - Archdiocese of Washington

Monsignor Pope writes today over here of a Eucharistic Miracle he was a part of 15 years ago. I had my own experience of a Eucharistic Miracle many years ago, that I wrote about last year here.

Some of us need these experiences to help us get the truth of the Eucharist into our hearts and out of our heads. What a blessing for those who without these physical experiences have a faith deep enough to know that they know that they know without external evidence beyond the Eucharist itself.

The Holy Eucharist is the source and summit of our faith. We in the Catholic Church believe that Christ becomes present in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass at the Consecration, when the priest performs that rite as Christ prescribed it before His death on the Cross at Calvary.

BUT, we are so often not giving faithful witness to this fact, and bear much responsibly for the ongoing separation of our Christian brothers and sisters from this miraculous appearance of Our Lord and Saviour. When we do not show appropriate reverence to the Eucharist, how can we expect others to? When we dress casually to attend Mass, and make it an occasion for seeing our friends, when we are in fact in the presence of our best friend and lover, how can we expect others to grasp that truth?

If we truly believe that Jesus Christ is present on the altar at each and every mass, and that He is residing in every tabernacle in every Catholic Church, should we not show Him respect? Dare we create scandal for ourselves and our brothers and sisters by showing disrespect for the One who dies to save us and was resurrected again on the third day?

Forgive me Lord for the many, many times in my life that I have not shown reverence for who You are, and for what you have done for me. Wash away my sins; cleanse me from my iniquity.

Life is Precious

2011-09-09T08:36:00.002-04:00

From Australian X Factor - Choosing Life
Keep your head back from your keyboard. Don't want to short out your computer should this video hit you in the tear ducts.

Largest ever study finds abortion increases risk of severe mental health problems by 81%

2011-09-05T11:01:00.000-04:00

Life Site News
The loss of an unborn child to abortion is a tragedy, but abortion is the gift that keeps on giving. The mother (and the father) will live forever with the decision (choice) they made. Short term gain (questionable). Long term pain (guaranteed).

You might notice that the study referenced in the linked article is not one you have seen in the Main Stream Media. Why is that? Because, it is one of the real inconvenient Truths.

Largest ever study finds abortion increases risk of severe mental health problems by 81% | LifeSiteNews.com

My Chocolate Heart: The Gospel of Tolerance: You Must Approve

2011-09-03T19:37:00.000-04:00

My Chocolate Heart: The Gospel of Tolerance: You Must Approve: at Catholic Online Stacy Trascanos is one gutsy lady. Last week she wrote a little blog post about how she’s getting tired of wonderi...

Abortion and Diabolical Lies

2011-09-03T09:04:00.000-04:00

Fr. Dwight Longenecker

Abortion is probably the most absurd thing in our world today. If abortion raises the risk of mental health issues for women, should they not get some independent advice other than from an abortion provider before making their "choice"? If abortion raises the risk of breast cancer for women, should the leading breast cancer awareness group be funding Planned Parenthood?

Abortion and Diabolical Lies

How Can This Be?

2011-08-24T13:16:00.000-04:00

Shock and Horror at the continued incarceration of Father Gordon MacRae
Unless you or I have been asleep under a rock for the last decade or two, we have heard about how DNA evidence has exonerated a not insignificant number of prisoners on death row, or in the general prison population of murders, rapes, and other crimes where such evidence was able to be gathered in the days of the investigation of the crimes.

But, we all think that justice, though it may be blind, its blindness is meant not as a problem, but that it is not prejudiced against or for a particular victim or accused perpetrator. So, we conclude that mistakes happen, and isn't it a good thing that those wrongly incarcerated will one day be freed. It is of course easy for us, since it isn't us, and besides he/she probably got away with something else anyway.

So, someone proclaims his/her innocence for year after year, when he/she could probably have been paroled simply by saying that he/she had committed the crime, and by showing sincere remorse for having done such a heinous thing, whatever it was. But, because someone did not know how or desire to fake sincerity and remorse, he/she languished in prison wrongfully, until some group or individual pursued their innocence for years to get them freed.

Justice might be blind, but it appears in not just a few incidences that it is deaf, dumb and stupid as well. We think that in a criminal court of law that a preponderance of evidence will cause the guilty to be found so, and the innocent to be exonerated. Most times it works that way. But not always.

How does one exonerate someone if a crime was never committed? How does a non crime make its way into the criminal justice system, and how does someone get convicted and sent to prison for 67 years for a non-crime? Well, it's not easy, but it can be done, and there is at least one example of which I am familiar where the perfect storm conspired for it to be so.

The perfect storm of which I speak is the sexual abuse scandal of Catholic priests. In the US between 1960 and 2004, 10,667 individuals claimed sexual abuse by 4,392 priests, and 90% of these claims were from prior to 1990. It seems like a lot, but in fact in the totality of sexual abuse in the US during the time period, it is not even statistically a dot on the radar, not 1%, not even .1%, or even .01%. Yet, the only sexual abuse we have heard about for 20 years is that by Catholic priests.

There are reasons for this, and Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York said this in a recent post, which is worthy of a read for its own sake:

“For one,” I continued, “we priests deserve the more intense scrutiny, because people trust us more as we dare claim to represent God, so, when one of us do it – even if only a tiny minority of us ever have — it is more disgusting.”
“Two, I’m afraid there are many out there who have no love for the Church, and are itching to ruin us. This is the issue they love to endlessly scourge us with.”
“And, three, I hate to say it,” as I wrapped it up, “there’s a lot of money to be made in suing the Catholic Church, while it’s hardly worth suing any of the other groups I mentioned before.”

The first one is true. Priests lives should be able to withstand close scrutiny, since they represent Christ to Catholics around the world. But, lest we get to intense about this, I assure you that my life breaks down under close scrutiny, and I rely on the grace and mercy of God to survive my own sinfulness.

The second one is about the animosity to the Church that goes on daily in our world. Good on you, Archbishop for saying this, because although it is the truth, most won't believe it.

But, it is the third one that salts the clouds of the perfect storm, and which has led to the incarceration of at least one priest of my electronic acquaintance, Father Gordon MacRae of These Stone Walls.

In the early 90's as the eyes of the US fell on priests and sexual abuse, many of the cases that had occurred and had been buried either by victims who felt ashamed, as victims of sexual abuse often wrongly do, or worse still buried by Church administrators and bishops, who felt shame as well, and sought to protect the Church, came bubbling up to the surface. As they percolated in our collective consciousness, opportunity surfaced as well.

Necessity may be the mother of invention, but greed and opportunity are the parents of copycats. As reports surfaced of financial payoffs by the Church, new claims of abuse surfaced, and money changed hands with nary a peep, and no evidence beyond a claim that something had happened.

Many priests were correctly caught in their deceptions, but many others were caught in a web of deceit and lies and hidden agendas, not their own, such as Father Gordon.

Father Gordon has been an inmate of the New Hampshire State prison for about 17 years as of now, for a crime or set of crimes that never could have logistically happened, and which earned those claiming that they did handsome settlements from the local diocese. You can read the case history of the case against Father Gordon here.

One writer, Ryan A MacDonald, who lives in London England, has taken up Father Gordon's cause, and has done considerable research into it. Though he has had much of his work published, he has taken it on himself to create a blog for this purpose. It is called very appropriately "A RAM in the Thicket".

Here is his dedication of the blog:

When God stayed Abraham's hand, sparing Isaac, "Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in the thicket by its horns, and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up as a burnt offering in place of his son." Genesis 22:13. A Ram in the Thicket is a blog by Ryan A. MacDonald (RAM), a writer, Catholic convert, and advocate for the Church as a mirror of justice in the public square. Too often in the current climate the Church's own sons - our priests - are sacrificed to satisfy the demands of contingency lawyers, insurance companies, and a scandal-hungry news media. This blog is dedicated to those priests who are accused falsely, or with wild exaggeration, and who wait with patience and fidelity for their reflection in the mirror of justice that our Church must be.

In his latest post, Ryan opens up a can of worms that is worthy of reading, To Azazel: Father Gordon MacRae and the Gospel of Mercy .

Ryan presented in this posting about the abandonment of Father Gordon by his brother priests, and by his own Bishop.

In a 2001 confidential memo to Bishop McCormack, diocesan attorney Bradford E. Cook wrote: "There were certainly imperfections in the judge's handling of [MacRae's trial]." In regard to the actual claims against Father MacRae he wrote: "Whether it was all trumped up or totally manufactured is impossible to know .... That it was embellished is clear.” The diocesan attorney cited that a number of other priests where Father MacRae served were also accused - some by the same people who accused MacRae: "It is impossible to discount that one or more of them may have been involved with one or more of [MacRae's accusers]."

In another confidential 2001 memo, diocesan Chancellor Rev. Edward Arsenault noted that errors occurred in MacRae's trial, and cited the unfairness of the diocese's refusal to assist him with an appeal forcing him to rely on a public defender for his only remaining hope for justice. Arsenault recommended that the diocese deal with the matter of funding an appellate defense for MacRae by coming up with a remedy for "the lack of base remuneration" from the diocese as required by Church law. On the very verge of these Church officials finally stepping to the plate to help their priest, the 2002 national scandal implicated Bishop McCormack and cast Father Gordon MacRae back into the abyss.

Two persons, a New Hampshire attorney and a former television news producer, have attested under oath that in 2000 Bishop McCormack told them of his belief that Father MacRae is innocent of the claims for which he is in prison, then demanded secrecy, saying, "None of this can ever leave this room."

So, here we have a situation, where Father Gordon's own superiors in the Roman Catholic Church, are pretty sure that he is not guilty of any crimes, and yet no one has lifted a finger to defend him originally, or to assist him today.

In the name of Our God of Mercy, how can this be?

A RAM IN THE THICKET: HOW PSYCHOTHERAPISTS HELPED SEND AN INNOCENT PRIES...

2011-08-21T08:14:00.000-04:00

About the Erroneous Conviction of Father Gordon MacRae

This should shock you.

A RAM IN THE THICKET: HOW PSYCHOTHERAPISTS HELPED SEND AN INNOCENT PRIES...: By Ryan A. MacDonald

Therapists should be held professionally and civilly liable when they promote junk science to help convict...

Feeding Delusions

2011-08-19T14:58:00.002-04:00

Disputing Revisionist History from an Anonymous Commenter

Recently, Fr. Tim Moyle, at Where the Rubber Hits the Road, provided a link to an article about Archbishop Chaput, which spoke of his rallying the troops against a piece of legislation that would have opened the civil statute of limitations on sexual abuse in the state of Colorado. This piece of legislation had no impact whatsoever on criminal culpability of those who abused the young in their charge. The only logical targets of such a piece of legislation, which was successfully launched in 4 other states have proven to be the local dioceses of the Roman Catholic Church.

An anonymous reader took umbrage at Mr. (Archbishop for those of us who respect the office)Chaput's audacity, and provided vitriolic commentary to same. The commenter indicated that the purpose of the proposed defeated legislation was to "penalize an institution that is guilty of wrongdoing in both the past and in the present." If the Catholic Church had been the major contributor to the sexual abuse of young in the past 50 years, this might in fact have been reasonable. However, statistically that is not the case now, and has never been the case in America or Canada, nor of course anywhere else in the world.

So, I took up the cause, wasting valuable brain cycles in what is probably a fruitless exercise, including yesterdays article here. It seems that Anonymous has his or her mind made up, and facts are irrelevant. Anonymous seems to have been educated by newspaper reports alone, and has no context for this umbrage taking, turning it into a virulent form of anti-Catholic bigotry.

So, how about some context. For that we can turn to the John Jay College study of sexual abuse by priests in America. This exhaustive study was commissioned as an independent study by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, and in its first phase was an analysis of what had happened between 1960, the first time when reasonable data was available, and 2004. The Executive summary is available here.

That study found that there had been 10,667 individuals who had made claims of some form of abuse by 4,392 priests, approximately 4% of all priests active during those years. Nobody is pretending that this is a total complete list of all instances of abuse.

The incidents reported, based on the dates when the alleged abuse occurred peaked in about 1980 at 775 incidents, and 490 priests accused of abuse. Between 1992 and 2004, the number of incidents was always below 100, and has dropped to about 30 by 2004. The number of priests accused has dropped from about 90 in 1995 to less than 30 in 2004.

How does that compare to the totality of sexual abuse. In Canada, the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics used a General Social Survey conducted in 2004 and 2007 to find the prevalence of sexual abuse in Canadian society, and reported on it accordingly. It can be inferred that with a population approximately 1/10th that of the US, that US incidents of abuse would likely exceed the Canadian numbers by a factor of 10.

That study, which also examined police reporting of abuse, found that in 2004 about 80,000 incidents in Canada were reported to police. But quoting from this statistical report, the following is noted: "According to the 2004 GSS, there were about 512,000 incidents of sexual assault, representing a rate of 1,977 incidents per 100,000 population aged 15 and older.

In Canada police reported incidents of sexual abuse peaked at about 137,000 in 1991-1993, and have since declined to about 75,000 by 2007.

Assuming that the number of incidents in the US would be about 10 times that in Canada, then in 2004, there would have been about 5,120,000 incidents of sexual abuse in the country, and maybe 800,000 of them were reported. Priests accounted for about 30 of approximately 80,000, or .00375% of the reported incidents or about .0006% of all incidents.

Extrapolating again, in 1991 when abuse reporting peaked at 137,000 incidents reported to police in Canada, or about 1,370,000 in the US, 130 priests were involved in about 175 allegations of sexual abuse. As incidents are under reported by a factor of about 7 to 1, there were more likely about 9,600,000 incidents in total in the US, so priests were involved in .00018% of the total number of incidents, and .0013% of those reported to police.

So, following the logic of our commenter, the "RCC did not just have bad apples in its barrel, but it also had leaders who enabled the rape and sexual abuse of children." If the RCC did that, I wonder how, and what about the rest of society? So, why does only the RCC come under scrutiny?

However, there is more to the vitriol found in the phrase "leaders who enabled the rape and sexual abuse of children" that tells the tale of bigotry in this commenter's own agenda.

Let's look at the appropriate words for sexual abuse, particularly in this context. "Rape" is "a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent".

But, is that what happened or what was even reported? Most reports focused on the term pedophilia to describe what priests did in the way of sexual abuse. Pedophilia is defined as a psychiatric disorder in adults or late adolescents (persons age 16 or older) typically characterized by a primary or exclusive sexual interest in prepubescent children (generally age 13 years or younger. However, that too is a misnomer. Hebephilia is the interest in those children in the early years of puberty, and per the John Jay Study accounted for about 51% of all reported incidents. Only about 22% of incidents involved actual pedophilia. Further, another 27% of the incidents were in fact Ephebophilia, which is the interest in post pubescent young people ages 15-17. Calling things what they are does not in any way justify the horrors brought to the lives of victims of priests sexual deviance, but a spade is still a spade, and calling it by a term that has a meaner ring to it does not make it be that term.

Most sexual incidents involving priests were as follows from the John Jay report: "The most frequent acts allegedly committed were: touching over the victim’s clothing (52.6%), touching under the victim's clothes (44.9%), cleric performing oral sex (26%), victim disrobed (25.7%), and penile penetration or attempted penile penetration (22.4%)."

Not a lot of rape going on there.

But, our commenter had a further comment yesterday that deserves to be responded to. He/She said:

MBrandon - I fail to see how posting anonymously impedes your ability to respond to what I am saying. I will remind you that you chose to respond to my anonymous post and not the other way around.

Wrongfully accused people are an unfortunate reality regardless of the crime for which they are accused. I fail to see the relevance of your point.

You still have not answered how an educated and privileged man of great power, and with many resources at his disposal (e.g. Mr. Bernard Law) was incapable of understanding that the recidivism rate for pedophiles was very high, and that there was no effective psychological treatment for a child rapist at the time he recylced those rapists through his parishes. If Mr. Law did not know, he should have known. Mr. Law should have acted accordingly.

While we may all be sinners, I will wager that neither of is a child rapist. I will also wager that neither of us has knowingly enabled a child rapist. That makes us very different from the priests who raped these children, and the hierarchy that enabled them. That you see this "unity among sinners" as some great validation of your church is a matter for your own personal conscience.

There is no excuse for child rape or the enabling of child rape. None. The same laws that apply to the RCC apply to all. No special persecution involved. If there are more convictions against the preists of the RCC, it is probably due to the fact that no other organization has had so many child rapists in its ranks. You are free at any time to show statistical evidence to the contrary.

For Mr. Chaput to twist the truth in order to limit the depletion of the temporal wealth of his church is just one more example of the church putting its own interests above those of the victims. To do so in the name of "innocent Catholics" is shameful.

That you endorse the actions/inactions of Mr. Chaput and Mr. Law is truly sad. The only good news is that Catholics like you are a dwindling minority.

Our commenter stated that recidivism is known to be high and Cardinal Law, then of Boston where one of the parts of the scandal erupted should have know that. Well, studies in New Zealand and in the state of Vermont disagree with our detractor. They found that recidivism in those who went for treatment was approximately 5%, and only 30% in those who did not once they were caught. Of course, these statistics were not actually known to Cardinal Law, the local bishop I referenced in my last post, or other bishops and administrators.

As the commenter said: " If there are more convictions against the priests of the RCC, it is probably due to the fact that no other organization has had so many child rapists in its ranks. You are free at any time to show statistical evidence to the contrary."

Amazing conclusion that can only be reached from reading some main stream media and ignoring the rest of the world to come to the desired conclusion. Above is my statistical evidence to the contrary, which took me all of about 2 hours to find. Our commenter has not produced one piece of evidence, even anecdotally to support wild and frivolous claims.

Does the truth matter? Only the truth will set us free, free of our own prejudices, and of the lies that the devil would plant for us to believe to separate us from each other in the body of Christ.

What Happens When a Bishop Actually Stands Up for His Church?

2011-08-17T16:51:00.000-04:00

Archbishop Chaput

Recently, Father Tim Moyle (not Mr. Tim Moyle) linked to an article at Gazettenet.com, the daily Hampshire Gazette web site about Archbishop Charles Chaput (not Mr. Chaput). The article carried this title to which I have linked the actual article: "New Philadelphia archbishop says church singled out unfairly on sex abuse".

A number of years ago, some states enacted legislation to open the window of civil statutory limitation for sexually based incidents to allow for lawsuits against plaintiffs for sexual abuse that happened beyond the normal statutory limitations for such lawsuits. Not surprisingly, in the states that opened up the window, there were many claims made, 850 in California alone, and again not surprisingly most of them were made against the various dioceses of the Catholic Church.

Archbishop Charles Chaput, the recently appointed, yet to be installed, Archbishop for the Diocese of Philadelphia, while the Archbishop of Denver stood up against the opening of such a window in Colorado, and he and those who supported him were successful. There is more in the article worth noting.

While in Philadelphia for a news conference about his appointment, he said the following: "The Catholic Church wants to be treated like citizens with equal access to protection of the law. That's all we were asking for in Colorado."

Over the last 60 years of my life, I have generally travelled in Catholic circles, though not exclusively, and though I have met male and female victims of sexual abuse often, I have yet to meet one who was the victim of a Catholic priest. I know there are many who were victimized by Catholic clergy, but proportionally it is in fact small. Yet, almost all the financial pressure for redress has been directed at the Catholic Church.

In a 2001 report on Family Violence in Canada, The Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics found that family members, including relatives, constituted the vast majority (93%) of alleged perpetrators, including sexual abuse. Parents were responsible for 46% of sexual assaults against youth, and siblings accounted for 26%. An additional 28% were perpetrated by members of the extended family.

Yet, I have never known of any person I know who was abused to have tried to sue their parents for the pain inflicted on them by sexual abuse, and for some that I know it was particularly horrific. I have heard of hardly any instances where a scout troop leader, a guide leader, a teacher, or anyone but the Catholic Church being targets for financial compensation.

Yet, it was hardly surprising to see a flash of anti-Catholic bigotry in response to Father Tim's posting of the link. Anonymous engaged the conversation, and I hate it when Anonymous (in one form or another) turns up because there is an agenda and it is a secret, and so if you engage, you do so with one hand tied behind your back. Be that as it may, I did and here is the commentary that followed.

Anonymous said...

Mr. Chaput is quoted as saying: "I have an obligation - a duty I can't avoid - both to help the victims and to defend innocent Catholics today from being victimized because of earlier sins in which they played no part,"
What a very clever way of reframing the issue. Unfortunately, what Mr. Chaput implies is false. The intent of criminal charges and lawsuits is not to "victimize Catholics today" but to obtain compensatory awards for the victims, and to penalize an institution that is guilty of wrongdoing in both the past and in the present.
Let's never forget that the RCC did not just have bad apples in its barrel, but it also had leaders who enabled the rape and sexual abuse of children. These crimes did not just occur in the distant past - they are also recent. These rapes did not occur just in the US or in Canada, but all around the world.
The men responsible for enabling these child rapists (e.g. Bernard Law) are not former members of the hierarchy, but are current "priests in good standing" who are being sheltered today by the Vatican from criminal prosecution.
How dare Mr. Chaput twist the truth to set up this false framing of the issue? You should be ashamed of what Mr. Chaput did in your good name. You should be calling this man to account for mispresenting the truth.

MBrandon said...

Anonymous:

You should be ashamed of yourself for reframing the truth of sexual abuse that has run rampant in our society and continues in much of our society, making it just an issue about the Catholic Church. The catholic Church is the safest place in the world today for young people, far safer than schools, scout troops, girl guide troops, and other institutions.

Anonymous said...

MBrandon - How do you respond to the fact that the Vatican continues to shelter Bernard Law from further investigation? Do you think this demonstates that your church has really learned anything from its sins?
Are children really safer in the Catholic Church when the church evades financial and legal responsibility for its recent and past abuses?
Even if I accept your assertion that the RCC is the safest institution in the world right now for our children, how is this relevant to the church's culpability and responsibility for recent and past abuses?
People who unquestioningly support Mr. Chaput's shameless distortions are part of the problem and share in his culpability.

MBrandon said...

I see that carrying on this discussion would be like trying to put a dress on a pig. It only wastes time and irritates the pig.
Clearly you have an agenda. Enjoy your life.

Anonymous said...

MBrandon - thought you had no response of your church's indefensible behavior. Your "flounce" confirms it. As for agendas...we all have them honey. Instead of bemoaning this fact, you should have addressed my points and questions directly. But then again, how does one defend Bernard Law, the great enabled of child rPe, and the popes who protect him? You are in my prayers. God bless.

MBrandon said...

Being in your prayers offers no solace. If your prayers are as misguided as your information about the Catholic Church I am better off without them. Bernard Law sadly did what every other organization did about sexual abuse, not so much covered it up as pretended that it was just a minor issue, and so sent offenders for repair,and returned them to ministry when the professionals said that they were repaired.
As news of the rampant sexualization of the young in Hollywood starts to surface, if the main stream media will allow it, will you condemn them, or give them a pass as you do other organizations?
News flash. The Catholic Church mishandled sexual abuse, just like the rest of society. It should never have happened. It does not change the truth of Jesus Christ and the Church he founded. It proves once again that we are powerless to do good consistently without His guidance.

Anonymous said...

MBrandon – my prayers ought to be as efficacious as anyone else’s – that is unless you think prayers in general are a waste of time.
As for Mr. Bernard Law – you are partially correct. He acted like many other members of the hierarchy by placing the PR image of his church ahead of the well being of the children who were raped by his priests. If only his tender tolerance for child rapists was as keen as that for the innocent children. I will remind you, and other apologists for this heinous scandal, that it was well known then (as it is now), that the recidivism rate for pedophiles is very high, and that there is no effective psychological treatment for a child rapist. Had Mr. Law reported these child rapists to the authorities, he could have prevented the rape and sexual abuse of literally hundreds of children (according to the Attorney General of the Sate of Massachusetts dated July 23, 2003). If the Vatican is so convinced of the innocence of Mr. Law – then send him back to the US to face his accusers.
It is no moral or legal defense to claim that other organizations behaved as badly as the Roman Catholic Church. It is laughable for you to suggest this, while providing no evidence that any other organization actually did behave as badly or worse.
I have made no claim that this scandal in any way invalidates Christianity or Catholicism. You have placed those words in my mouth. I do, however, wonder how any Catholic can claim divine guidance of the church and her ministers when both have behaved so badly time after time. It takes a special kind of faith to be utterly blind to reality.
Whether or not you welcome my prayers, I pray that truth, clarity, and charity will visit your heart and mind. God bless.

MBrandon said...

Dear Anonymous:
Attempting to communicate with people who Hyde behind anonymity is very disadvantageous.
The efficacy of your prayers is not up to me. However, I suggest that you might more properly pray that truth, clarity and charity visit your own mind as well.
Unless you have been blinded by anti-Catholic bigotry, or have been educated by the Main Stream Media and their particular bias only, it would be nearly impossible for you to not be aware that the statistics of sexual abuse, which is by the way not the rape of young children particularly has been statistically more prevalent through this ugly last 4 or 5 decades many places in our society, which in no way excuses that it occurred in the RCC.
In fact, there are a number of Catholic priests, like Father Gordon MacRae Of the These Stone Walls blog who have been falsely accused of things they could not have logically, geographically done. Still, contingency lawyers have wrung many dollars out of their bishops with no proof whatsoever, merely a threat.
The Church has always had sinners in it, who like Peter, have betrayed the Lord. Count me in that number. I deserve to be there. The Church was founded by Christ for such as us. The failure of it's members, even those popes who have been miserable failures does not take away from the truth of the Church.

Regards
Michael Brandon

To imply that sexual abuse did not occur in the Catholic Church is head in the sand thinking. To imply that it was a significant proportion of all sexual abuse going on is absurd.

I find it equally absurd to think that Anonymous or I have a clue as to why Cardinal Law is in Rome. Certainly there is no practical evidence online that he was implicated criminally, personally in what happened on his watch in Boston.

I have known 4 bishops in my adult lifetime, and hold each of these men in high regard. I happened to do a lot of work for one particular diocese in the day, and knew of some of the struggles that that particular bishop was dealing with. He was and is, even in retirement, a good man, desirous of doing the best he could for those under his care.

I met a particular priest, who was working in the tribunal office that dealt with annulments, and who had been sent to this particular diocese from his home diocese after allegations were made about hissexual misconduct with young people. This particular bishop put him away from any contact with young people while his court cases worked themselves out. He was convicted of several sexual assaults. He was never allowed back into public ministry, as is appropriate. Last year, he committed suicide.

This bishop and his confreres tried to deal with the unthinkable to the best of the knowledge they and the professionals they consulted with had at the time. They took a long time to get it partly right. Could I have done better, or Anonymous? I have no idea.

Does the failures of those in the Church hierarchy diminish the truth of the living presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist, which is the source and summit of Our Catholic Faith? Not one iota.

Embracing Feminity - A Man's Perspective

2011-08-14T13:07:00.000-04:00

Becoming Worthy of Our Wives
Recently, a talented female Catholic writer, Mrs. Jennifer Hartline, relayed on her blog, My Chocolate Heart, and at Catholic Online a conversation between her and her husband about the nature of feminine beauty, which was at once intriguing, and as well, thought provoking.

In it she presented this quote from Bishop Fulton Sheen, long since deceased, but still touching our Catholic faith lives:

"To a great extent the level of any civilization is the level of its womanhood. When a man loves a woman, he has to become worthy of her. The higher her virtue, the more her character, the more devoted she is to truth, justice, goodness, the more a man has to aspire to be worthy of her. The history of civilization could actually be written in terms of the level of its women."

As a belatedly devoted husband, having previously failed miserably at marriage, and the father of three young adult women, what Mrs. Hartline wrote challenged me to examine my view of the women in my life, and to ponder what the appropriate response is from me as a man, husband and father. I take full responsibility for all of my actions that have diminished the women who have touched my life, those which have been sinful, and those which has been merely inappropriate for the circumstance. But, without excusing my ignorance, there have been also societal influences that have helped me and other men to form the wrong impressions of what women require from us as men.

What we now see as traditional feminism, though it is a short but pervasive tradition, flies in the face of all that we men hold deep and dear in our hearts about the nature of a woman. Feminism was, in essence, a response to generation upon generation of men failing to be the men we were created to be, particulary in our response to those women in our lives, our wives and daughters. As such, it took on a radical tone and totally lost the complementarity of women and men, in favour of some kind of melding of women into trying to be better men than men are.

Father Benjamin Bradshaw has an interesting perspective on the feminine over at The Theology of the Body Institute in an article he recently wrote about The Unique Nature of the Feminine Soul according to St. Edith Stein and Blessed John Paul II.

But, what does all of this mean to men practically, for if anything, we men do attempt to deal with things practically.

That reminds me of what lives in my mind and that of My Dear Wife as the quintessential argument of our married life together. One evening we were in the sitting area of our bedroom in a home we lived in many years ago. My wife was "prattling on" (in my mind at the time) about her feelings about something or other. As I sat across from her, not really hearing her, I interrupted her to share my wisdom with her and told her the following: "I need to deal in facts, not all this emotional B??? S???." For emphasis I had turned my left hand over and was slapping the back of my palm into my other hand. That pretty much brought an end to the discussion, and God has used the constant memory of that low point in my communication with My Dear Wife to heal me of the arrogance and lack of sensitivity to her over the years.

As men, we may participate in discussions with other men about the women in our lives, and how irrational they are. Somehow we feel better to be able to share in this misery with others who are more like us. Women, of course, are not immune from this, but this is not about them in that sense, but about us as men.

I have discovered this over many years, and by much grace from a God who loves and me and loves My Dear Wife more than we can possibly imagine, and wants to give us the desires of our hearts, and there is the rub. The desire of my heart, though not one I could articulate, was to participate in an exclusive loving relationship with another person, in my case as a man, with a woman, to come to a spiritual, mental, emotional oneness, that both united us, and respected our individuality.

My Dear Wife has been challenged by autoimmune diseases for the last decade. As such, rounds of medications, too many to count, where we are not sure which is worse, the disease or the cure, has left her looks different than they were. But, in my eyes, she has grown more beautiful over the years, as I have witnessed her courage under fire, as she lives in constant pain, yet continues to love all who come her way. God has given me immense grace to accept her as she is, to love her where she sits, and yet not to leave her there, but to pray for the best for her, and to encourage her daily in her walk of faith and life.

Somehow God gave me the grace to seek my own healing of those things that prevented me from seeing women, and in particular the one to whom I am married, through his eyes, the eyes of faith, rather than as something or someone less, particularly less than me.

When we men engage in sexual relations, even if only in our mind, with women who we are not married to, we diminish all women, even though the sex may be consensual. When we allow our daughters to wear clothes that are not respectful of their bodies, as opposed to most current fashions that turn our attention away from eye contact to objectifying them, we perpetuate the degredation of our society that has made sex an end in itself, and has taken away from the sanctity of the marriage bed. We are equally capable of disrespecting our wives in many ways, too many actually to count.

I have the amazing good fortune, (read that for what it actually is - amazing grace) to be married to my best friend in the whole world, to wake up beside her almost every day, and to share faith, love, and a delight in the simple things of life with her. She sees most things of life so totally differently from me, that I essentially get to see things twice, through my eyes, and through her eyes. I see flowers I never noticed before, and feel emotions I did not know even existed 10 years ago.

What is missing from our life that hampered our marriage, is the competition. She is not trying to be a better man than I am. I have no reason, and there would be no value in it either, to put down her viewpoints that do not correspond to mine. As my equal in our journey of life, what she sees is of value, as what I see is of value.

But, this is all only possible, because God has opened my male eyes to see the particular beauty of a woman, in My Dear Wife; to live without relationship stress because we can accept each other as we are. To reduce the day to day tensions of life with a smile, a tear, a kiss, a prayer, so they take on the perspective that they deserve, is an amazing blessing.

Yet, it is also only possible if we men choose to love. Women are by their nature responders. They respond for example with their emotions to the various stimuli of life more than we do. We men have been trained to take that for weakness, rather than for the strength that it is, particularly if nurtured and accepted by one who loves them unconditionally.

When I place My Dear Wife as number 1 for me in our relationship, I have found that I am a big winner. She melts in a sense into the relationship, and all is well.

So, the face of radical feminism is a response to bad behaviour on the part of men for many generations, and though it contains some good, it is a distortion of the truth, as much as our behaviour was and continues to be. To me, the best way to combat radical feminism is not to fight or rail against it, since that resistance gives it more power, and consumes energy better used for more meaningful purposes.

No, the best way to deal with the feminine is to embrace it as God has intended for us to do, by loving with no conditions, by being patient, kind, forgiving, seeking forgiveness. Essentially, it is to live the words of Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, where in Chapter 13, verses 4-8, he said:

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails.

Marriage works when men choose to love radically, not for what is in it for us, but for what it is, an opportunity to see Jesus in the other, and to be Jesus for that other.

We men are called to a radical masculinism, not one that is self serving, but one that is other serving. So let us men leave our egos at the door of our homes, not to ignore our egos, but to give them their proper due and place in us, and embrace all aspects of the one we have chosen to live out our lives with, and to form a family with. Our patron in married life, St. Joseph is a wonderful model for us, of quiet fidelity, in the midst of trials, and he is worthy of our emulation.
Let us prove to the woman that we love that we are worthy of her, and that in seeking to be worthy of her and her love, that she is a pearl of great price. Then we will see the level of women in our society rise so that we can once again be proud of the society in which we live.

The Eucharist & Cannibalism

2011-08-12T08:48:00.000-04:00

Are Catholic Christians Cannibals for believing that they are eating the Bodyand drinking the Blood of Jesus?

I was disturbed when, in response to some comments on another blog, a fundamentalist Christian, formerly a Catholic came up with the last year. Belatedly, here is the answer and it is a good one.

The Eucharist & Cannibalism: "Michael Foley answers the questions: Are Christians cannibals?"

Thoughts on the arrest of Linda Gibbons on Aug. 4, 2011 | LifeSiteNews.com

2011-08-06T05:26:00.000-04:00

Life Site News

Here is a report well worth reading and viewing abut the most recent arrest of Linda Gibbons, a senior citizen who is a strong, yet often silenced voice of the pro-life movement here in Canada. The temporary injunction that was instituted in 1994 to protect the abortuaries from senior citizens who might silently pray in front of them, or perish the thought might try to present other Choices to the poor young women who are coming there to participate in the death of their unborn child, are an embarrassment to the people of this province.

Linda Gibbons has spent more than 8 years in jail for her very peaceful disobedience of this injunction, not law, as a conscientious objector to it's insanity.

She needs our prayerful support, and LifeSite News needs our financial support to be able to continue to bring to us important news of the trampling of real human rights, such as the right to life for the unborn. Please follow the link below.

Thoughts on the arrest of Linda Gibbons on Aug. 4, 2011 | LifeSiteNews.com

Preserving Our Faith

2011-08-01T16:50:00.000-04:00

Archishop Timothy Dolan

H/T Fr. Tim Moyle - Where the Rubber Hits the Road

I have immense respect for Archbishop Dolan. I have heard him on Catholic Radio on Sirius XM (channel 129), when he speaks every Thursday for an hour. I have read his blog postings, and have found several things about the man. He is totally committed to Jesus Christ. He is faithful to the Magisterium of the Roman Catholic Church. He is a strong voice teaching about the love of Jesus Christ, as found in holy writ, traditions and the teachings of the Catholic Church which come directly from scripture and tradition. If you want to see somone waver to fit the political mood of the day, move along. There is nothing to see here.

Here is his blog posting on the straight line teachings of the Church under a heading Preserving Our Faith. He is so clear, so very crystal clear, that there is no wiggle room in what he says. And no surprise here, it is totally consistent with Church teaching since Jesus left the Church in the hands of Peter and the Apostles.

Read what he has to say over here.

Jesus Christ Superstar

2011-08-01T15:09:00.002-04:00

Thoughts on the 2011 Stratford Festival Presentation

As an anniversary present this year, I purchased two tickets for My Dear Wife and I to see Jesus Christ Superstar at the Avon Theater in Stratford, Ontario. Here are thoughts compiled over 40 years of loving the music created by Timothy Rice and Anthony Lloyd Webber.

Webber and Rice put out some fine musicals together, and also separately over the years. Jesus Christ Superstar was actually their third collaboration, the second being Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat after The Likes of Us, which was slow to see the light of day.
When I first heard the music in 1971, I fell in love with it, which was interesting as I had recently begun my self imposed exile from the Catholic Church, in what I refer to as my agnostic period. But, the music struck me and stayed with me. 40 years later, I knew every lyric of every song, and followed every musical nuance. This too is interesting, since 7 1/2 years ago, I incurred a brain injury that makes it difficult for me to recall what I had for lunch yesterday. I had owned the album, and the sheet music, which I had played on the piano for many years. As well, I saw the movie a number of times.

But, this time I saw it with different eyes. The production was fantastic, beautifully done, sung and acted.

However, I noticed the play's focus was on the humanity of Jesus, not His divinity. This did not matter in the least to me 40 years ago, but provided opportunity this time. I did not find this disturbing, as Jesus was and is both divine and human. Some evangelicals had picketed 40 years ago, when the play first hit Broadway, but I think they missed the point. Clearly the focus was His humanity. Additional focal points were the humanity of Mary Magdalene, and Judas Iscariot.

We see in the play, a Jesus who has some trepidation about his death. We Christians think of Jesus as God, and can easily forget that He was about to be killed in a most brutal way. On the way to "Father forgive them, for they know not what they are doing," there is a great deal of anguish, and I think we lose sight of that. The play helped me to rethink the human aspect of Jesus' sacrifice for us, without diminishing His divine work to redeem us. He did it in human form.

Mary Magdalene is portrayed as a woman, a former prostitute, who is confused by the love she has for Jesus. But then, why should this not be so? When she was loved by Jesus and turned from her life of sexual sin, would all those learned behaviors have just disappeared in a flash? I know that after Jesus touched me, all my learned sin responses and rebellious acts did not suddenly disappear. Yes, I am a new creation, but there is much of the old me yearning to get out, oft times successfully. So, Mary Magdalene seemed very real and human to me, confused about who Jesus really is.

Judas also came off as very human to me. He was afraid that Jesus was getting out of hand. Clearly, he could not get his head around the divinity of Jesus, and so he tried to bring him down to reality to protect his view of how Judaism needed to function in the Roman occupation. Judas was clearly most interested in protecting his own hide, a lot like I am often in my life. We know historically that Judas was less interested in the poor and their needs, than in setting aside money for a rainy day for himself.

So, I could relate to Mary Magdalene, and Judas, and also to the betrayal by Peter, which is portrayed briefly. I would have been capable of playing any one of those roles in 33 AD, and can even play them today, thank you very much, and for the same reason as they did. Often times, I diminish the divinity of Jesus, and focus on His humanity, excusing my own behavior, when I am called to imitate His divinity.

I still love Jesus Christ Superstar, the musical, but even more so, I love Jesus Christ, my Lord and Saviour.

A Woman And A Dragon

2011-07-31T22:05:00.000-04:00

Mark Mallett
Mark is a very interesting writer, and I suggest that you wander over to his blog site, through the link below to a particular article of his, to see what I mean about interesting.

In the particular article linked here, he writes about Our Lady of Guadalupe. Mariology is a tough pill for our brother and sister non Catholic Christians to follow, about as hard as it is for those who do not believe in Christianity. But, in this particular article, Mark writes about the science around the apparition and the history of the time, when Mary appeared in 1531 in Mexico to a humble man Juan Diego.

Certain things of the time relate to her appearance, as do certain miraculous pieces of physical evidence. I won't spoil it for those of you who might have the interest to follow the link above, but I suggest that it would be well worth your while to see what he has to say. Though I have always believed that Mary appeared as what we know as Our Lady of Guadalupe, but I had no idea how deep the symbolism, and the evidence ran about this apparition.

My Chocolate Heart: On Beauty

2011-07-30T10:59:00.000-04:00

Jennifer Hartline

The word beautiful to describe a woman of substance goes far beyond the mere physical. As My Dear Wife has aged, and been somewhat subject to the ravages of illness, her character and particularly her faith has grown stronger, day by day. I see it happening, and even more so than I see the impact of illness and the required medicines. I am not blind to the physical changes; they just are not nearly as significant as the growth of her inner, true beauty. So, I thank God daily for the gift of beauty in the woman that I share life and love with in the sacrament of our marriage.

Jennifer Hartline has written a thoughtful posting over at My Chocolate Heart about this. Follow the link below to read her insights.

My Chocolate Heart: On Beauty: "Tonight a thoughtful conversation with my husband turned out this question: If you asked a woman if she would rather have her husband think..."

Are You and I a Hard Case for God?

2011-07-29T23:53:00.000-04:00

Monsignor Charles Pope

Interesting viewpoint on the challenges we sheep/goats present to a God who knows only love. Cthis article describes me pretty well. How 'bout you?

Are You and I a Hard Case for God?

Scandals in Ireland and Miami

2011-07-29T07:50:00.000-04:00

Mark Shea

Interesting thoughts on scandals affecting the Roman Catholic Church, from a Catholic apologist with a wary eye.

Scandals is Ireland and Miami

The Terror of Evil and Sin, Christian News

2011-07-28T10:31:00.000-04:00

Chuck Colson knows whereof he speaks.

Here is an interesting take from a respected Christian man, who by the grace of God has turned his life into one that gives witness to God's mercy and abounding love for all of us. The tragedy in Norway cannot be easily explained, but understanding our fallen human nature can bring us closer to seeing it for what it is.

Does a tragedy such as this draw people to the love of God, or are they so stubborn as to ignore it.

The Terror of Evil and Sin, Christian News

The Errant Blindness of Justice Denied

2011-07-27T15:22:00.001-04:00

Father Gordon MacRae

Justice is blind, in and of itself, but the agendas of those purporting to work on it's behalf adds more dimension to the blindness. Fr. Gordon MacRae, a priest who has spent about 17 years in jail for crimes that were never committed is an of systemic blindness to the truth, while furthering the agenda of participants in it. Dominique Strauss-Kahn was treated differently and in this case fairly, though one question his personal moral fiber.

Father MacRae examines aspects of the cases against Roman Polanski and Dominique Strauss-Kahn, and how justice sometimes works, particularly for those of influence, but may be really blind for Catholic priests and other selected targets.

Why the Sordid Case of Dominique Strauss-Kahn matters to Catholics

What Are Attachments and What Are They Not

2011-07-26T09:51:00.000-04:00

Monsignor Charles Pope

I sometimes wonder about attachments, those things that draw me in certain directions. The prayer to the left, the Drain Me Prayer speaks to a desire to be drained of all attachment to the flesh; easily said, not so easily done. In the link below, Monsignor Pope references the teaching of a now deceased priest on the subject with his own insights into the topic.

What Are Attachments and What Are They Not

Abby Johnson: Yes, I oppose ALL abortions! But being pro-life doesn’t stop there | LifeSiteNews.com

2011-07-26T00:30:00.000-04:00

Recall that Abby Johnson for many years worked for Planned Parenthood.. She saw the light miraculously.

Abby Johnson: Yes, I oppose ALL abortions! But being pro-life doesn’t stop there | LifeSiteNews.com

Rise of the Evangelical Catholic Bishops - George Weigel - National Review Online

2011-07-21T08:37:00.000-04:00

George Weigel

There is only one Holy Roman Catholic Church, but there is a Catholic attitude that is tuned by the society it exists in. Since Luther et al attempted to break apart the Church that Christ founded, in what has erroneously been called a reformation, not a revolt, the RCC has been considered to be in a post Reformation, Counter Reformation mindset. But men like Archbishop Chaput, recently of Denver, and now going to Philadelphia, are the new breed, men of evangelical fervor, and just the tonic that the Church needs in this challenging epoch.

The faithful need the leadership of men like Chaput, and Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York, to wake us up to the joy of the faith we hold dear, and to bring back to the fold those who have wandered off, while drawing those who have not heard the Gospel previously in to the Church.

Read what George Weigel has to say about it at the link below.

Rise of the Evangelical Catholic Bishops - George Weigel - National Review Online

ZENIT - South Sudan Bishop Dies Celebrating Mass

2011-07-19T10:59:00.000-04:00

Wow

RUMBEK, South Sudan, JULY 18, 2011 (Zenit.org).- Just one week after welcoming the independence of South Sudan where he had been a missionary for three decades, Bishop Cesare Mazzolari of Rumbek died Saturday while celebrating Mass.

The Bishop had just consecrated the Eucharist, and died where he stood. What an amazing witness to Christ.

Read at the link below.

ZENIT - South Sudan Bishop Dies Celebrating Mass

Debt Ceiling Debate

2011-07-18T14:27:00.000-04:00

Paul Ryan vs. Stephen Schneck – A Budget Debate between Catholics and a Request for Your Input

In the US currently there is a debate underway with lots of rhetoric, finger pointing and arm waving going on. There are party lines which have been drawn, and there is much at stake. As a Canadian, I appreciate that this issue, which is monumental, is to an extent, out in the open. In Canada we don't have a debt ceiling; we just spend the money we don't have. Well, I guess that is what is happening in the US as well in reality?

The blog post by Monsignor Charles Pope over at the Archdiocese of Washington linked below shows the two sides of the debate from Catholic perspectives.

But, they seem to be missing a major point, in my personal opinion. The US is in debt - public debt only excluding unfunded pension liabilities, for example, - to the tune of about $14.4 trillion at the moment, and it is climbing daily by numbers that are beyond our individual comprehension.

So, the House, Senate and President's Office are debating how to get to borrow more money, to fund the 40 cents out of every dollar of government spending that they are not taking in in tax revenues.

So let me put this as clearly as possible. The US owes $14.4 trillion and spends 66% more than it takes in in revenue. In the real world, a company operating like this is called an undeclared bankrupt, or is pushed into bankruptcy officially. But, they intend to raise the debt ceiling a few trillion or so, and might make some cuts in spending. The Republicans don't want to raise taxes, and the Democrats do not want to cut programs.

So to an extent both parties are wanting to rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic.

Here in our house, My Dear Wife and I give from our income to assist charities that we believe in. We do not borrow from the bank, or from foreign governments to make charitable donations, because that would be bad stewardship of our assets.

What's wrong with this picture?

Paul Ryan vs. Stephen Schneck – A Budget Debate between Catholics and a Request for Your Input

Saints and Ain'ts Gospel of the Wheat and the Tares

2011-07-17T07:57:00.002-04:00

Today's Gospel is the parable of the wheat field that is seeded in the night by the evil one with Tares/darnel, and how the infestation of weeds in the food crop is to be dealt with.

Monsignor Charles Pope at the Archdiocese of Washington has a very interesting homilitic on it today, and linked below.

For those of us who have to tend our own gardens at home we are familiar with weeds that have to be pulled. They are generally easily identifiable from the plants that we have planted with intention in our gardens. But in the story of the Wheat and the Tares from today's Gospel, there is a little bit more that gives context to the parable.

The weed that is called tare or darnel is also called false wheat, because of its similarity in appearance, until it is near harvest time. So, if you knew of its existence among your wheat, because of similarity, pulling it early would put pulling wheat plants at risk as well. If you wait until nearer to the harvest, then the risk is that the weed roots are integrated among the roots of the wheat, and pulling the tare would take the wheat with it. So, it is not until harvest that you could separate the two by their fruits. The wheat yields a lot of seed and the wheat heads droop with the weight. The darnel heads are light and stand up. So, in imagery, the wheat is humbled, while the darnel stands up proud for all to see.

The parable shows us that evil is at work in our lives and in our society,and that there are appropriate steps to take to remove it from our lives and society.

Monsignor Pope sums it up as Wake up, Wise up, Wait up, and Wash up. Read the linked posting to see what he has to say about it.

Is you is or is you Ain't a Saint

USCCB Media Blog: A Catholic by any other name…

2011-07-16T10:41:00.000-04:00

Awesome article by the US Catholic Conference of Bishops

We all have family and friends who are baptized Catholics who have lapsed in the practice of their faith. But, they are family, and they are part of the family of God, in the Catholic Church, even if they do not come by for dinner like they used to. We are all one, and are called to be one. Read the article by Sister Mary Ann Walsh over at the USCCB site, linked below.

USCCB Media Blog: A Catholic by any other name…

Trash and Truth

2011-07-16T10:30:00.000-04:00

Father Dwight Longenecker

Father D was raised in Jolly Olde England, and many of his postings have links there. From the article, it seems that they have a problem with trash over there, much like we do here. The author of the originating piece, a right leaning atheist, notices the garbage, and the metaphor that it is for English life. His observations are meaningful, but only go so far.

Father D though, ramps it up a notch or two, adding a spiritual dimension that we, of faith, believe must be present, and brings more meaning to the situation. For him, the issue comes down to accountability, which is lost in the nanny state of the UK, but also here in Canada and in the USA. When you add in Father D's imagery of Gehenna to the mix, with appropriate history attached, the picture becomes clearer.

We tut tut about the nanny state in the UK, while we wander down that same path with blinders on. We in Canada are, for some mysterious reasons, trying to replicate the disastrous situation of our parent, and have created Human Rights Commissions/tribunals to right the imagined wrongs in our land, adding new rights regularly, most importantly, the made up right to not be offended. That has a name - political correctness, and the fruit of it is that everybody has rights and nobody has responsibilities anymore.

With the proliferation of birth control in our society, and all that that has come to mean, I have a right to have sexual relations with anyone (or thing) I want, and with abortion free for the taking here in Canada, and readily available in America, I need not take any responsibility for the product of my sexual deviance. But, what is really produced by my exercise of these rights? Nothing good, as I have observed from my own sinfulness.

What are my responsibilities?

Trash and Truth

Courageous Cardinal Arinze Decries Abortion 'Word Games' - International - Catholic Online

2011-07-15T16:55:00.000-04:00

Real Straight Talk

There are still Catholic Church leaders who will lead us. And there are many Catholics who wish to be led, not by the whims of their bodies, but by the natural laws that God has placed on our hearts. What we Catholic Christians need is to be told the truth so that the Holy Spirit can then prompt us to follow it. Lie to us; hide the truth from us out of fear of rejection, and we will all perish, and it will then be on the heads of those who were given the charism to show leadership and did not do so.

Real Straight Talk: Courageous Cardinal Arinze Decries Abortion 'Word Games' - International - Catholic Online

Michele Bachmann’s pro-life heart – and credentials - Jill Stanek

2011-07-15T11:47:00.000-04:00

This Woman Would Get My Vote - if I were a citizen

Michele Bachmann has the credentials of her heart, a heart that loves all American people, including those in thue womb, and the vulnerable in our society. This is someone very special.

Michele Bachmann’s pro-life heart – and credentials - Jill Stanek

Once Saved Always Saved? - Salvation and Sports Ca...

2011-07-15T11:36:00.000-04:00

Taylor Marshall

There are a number of Protestant beliefs that fly in the face of what the Catholic Church has taught, as handed down by Our Saviour Jesus Christ through the Apostles and those they have chosen to lead the Church after their demise. Once Saved, Always Saved is one such belief. It would be nice to know that I am saved and there is nothing I can do about it, but it flies in the face of all logic, and also in the face of Catholic teaching since the beginning of the Church.

If life is meant to be a journey, that takes us to the foot of the cross, then how we handle the journey really ought to matter.

As my wife heard today in a voice message from a physician she sees, "Our lives are God's gift to us. What we make of that gift is our gift back to God."

Canterbury Tales by Taylor Marshall: Once Saved Always Saved? - Salvation and Sports Ca...: "Most Protestant Evangelicals hold that a Christian is “once saved always saved,” by which they mean that once a person has committed his li..."

The Sin of Human Respect?

2011-07-15T07:17:00.000-04:00

Monsignor Charles Pope at Archdiocese of Washington

I have given a little thought to the topic of whether I am trying to please others more than I am interested in pleasing God. The examples in the good Monsignor's piece linked here hit too close to home for me.

Do we wish to be like and to be liked by those we meet daily, or do we wish to be like and receive the unconditional love of our God? For me the answer too often has been the former.

The article is food for thought, and more importantly food for action.

On overcoming the sin of self respect through the fear of the Lord

On Cell Phones and Prayers to the Saints

2011-07-09T10:01:00.000-04:00

The Protestant Revolution Threw the Baby out with the Bathwater

This is a very interesting article by a well studied, well read, wise convert to the Christian faith as expressed in the Roman Catholic Church. The comments that follow the article are quite interesting as well.

It is most interesting to me to read the attempts by those who would call themselves "saved" "bible believing" Christians, to defend one of many thousands of distorted versions of Christianity, ignoring history under the guise of sola scripture, while criticizing the Catholic Church, which despite being filled with sinners, and frail humans, has continued the faith and traditions of the early Church and it's Fathers for over 2,000 years and counting. For, the moment that their pastor makes some new error (in their minds) they will scurry off looking for the next, perfect model of a Christian church. All they need to do is drop their age old prejudices and look at the Catholic Church with the eyes of their hearts and see that Jesus is there waiting for them to come home.

Canterbury Tales by Taylor Marshall: On Cell Phones and Prayers to the Saints: "Recently in the comments box, someone named Wayne wrote: 'I can say with 100% certainty that Mary can't hear your prayers. This cruel joke ..."

Sacred Heart of Jesus we trust in your love for all those who would persecute your Holy Church. Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us that we may be made worthy of the promises of your Son Jesus Christ.

I Suspect There’s More Talking Going On, than Listening: Some Questions about Social Media

2011-07-09T08:05:00.000-04:00

Monsignor Charles Pope at Archdiocese of Washington

The good Monsignor poses questions about social media from the perspective of his own use of it, and an attached video. Well worth the read, and viewing of the video.

I Suspect There’s More Talking Going On, than Listening: Some Questions about Social Media

Example Over Advice - Fallible Blogma

2011-07-08T12:50:00.000-04:00

Kids do what they see us do

Although this applies particularly to young parents and young children, it is true of older ones as well. We will be parents all the rest of our lives, from the moment of conception.

How we love our spouses is the most important example we can give our kids. If the two parents are the most important humans in each other's lives, the children win, because there is more than enough life to go around. If the parent's make the children more important than their own relationship, everybody loses because the example given will remain in their training for the rest of their lives.

Example Over Advice - Fallible Blogma

From Archdiocese of Washington - the Diabolical

2011-07-07T08:44:00.001-04:00

Three Characteristics of the Diabolical

Let he who is without sin cast the first stone

2011-07-06T08:44:00.000-04:00

(Father) John Corapi, you, and me

I was shocked to hear about the SOLT press release yesterday about (Father) John Corapi, and about the double life he has lived during his public ministry. That is, until I looked into the mirror and remembered the particular time in my life where I did the same. That simply brings to mind the Gospel words: "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone," words that Our Saviour said, and words we must live by.

(Father) John Corapi has an opportunity that I did not have in that period of my life. He has been publicly called to repentance and to return to his community. When I was in serious sin nobody called me out. I was left to my own devices and fortunately for me God took matters into His own hands largely and pulled me out.

My darkest days looked bright to those around me. I made really good money. Though I lived well, I was not ostentatious with the money I had, but I did not spend much of it wisely. I looked pretty good to much of the world I inhabited. Most people did not see the shambles that I had made of the most important aspects of my life, my family, my faith.

Then God hit me in the back of the head with a Ford Windstar van. What grace. What mercy. That my God loves me so much that he would not let me stray far from Him. One reason that God came to my aid, was that I had a praying mother, who prayed that God would hit me over the head with a baseball bat. Maybe somebody else was praying too, and God upped it to a van.

(Father) John Corapi is a sinner. Breaking news. OK, so his sins might be different than some of yours or mine. But the pride with which any one of us puffs up our chest and claims our own innocence is as serious a sin as any he has committed.

He needs one thing from the Body of Christ. He needs our prayers. The Canticle of Zechariah antiphon today in the Lauds (Morning Liturgy of the Hours) is "Let us serve the Lord in holiness all the days of our lives." May we do so ourselves, and may we in communion with all the saints pray that (Father) John Corapi returns to the holiness to which he was ordained by Blessed John Paul II in 1991.

If This is the Way You Treat Your Friends

2011-07-03T17:52:00.000-04:00

It's no wonder you have so few! ~St. Teresa of Avila (about God)

Father Tim Moyle over at Where the Rubber Hits the Road has highlighted two recent articles focused on anti-Catholic bias, and prejudice, here and here.

As a Roman Catholic lay person, I have a view on this topic. I have been witnessing a lot of incidents of what I would call bias against the Catholic Church.

If you take for example the one-sidedness of the sexual abuse scandal, and how it has resulted in reaction from American bishops in particular to accusations against their priests, and then seeking out the facts you see two things at play. First of all, sexual abuse carries on in our society regrettably, but it does not by and large occur in the Roman Catholic Church anymore. That boat has sailed, and not largely because the US bishops finally in 2002 created the Dallas Charter to protect young people.

I have written often about Father Gordon MacRae, a guest of the state of New Hampshire prison system for a crime that was never committed, and if it was, it was not by him. His case is an example of prejudice run amok. The detective examining the evidence or lack of it in the first place, had a clear prejudice against Catholic priests, and so was less inclined to look for incontrovertible proof than he was to believe the lies against Father Gordon. The prosecutor and then the judge were similarly inclined to believe in their prejudice, and so Father Gordon did not get a real chance to prove his innocence. But, in a case of the Church knuckling under to the prejudice, and in fact supporting it, he was abandoned by his bishop and the successor to his bishop at the time, and left to his own devices. And so, he sits in prison for a crime that he did not commit. If he were not a Catholic priest, would he have ever been tried, and convicted? I think not.

But, the prejudice is often more subtle and also often comes from sources one would not expect. In the US, there has only been one Catholic President, and we saw how that ended up. In Canada, we have had a number of senior politicians of some Catholic persuasion, though from their actions, it appears that their Catholicism is nominal, and therein lies the rub. Here in Ontario, we have a Premier, Dalton McGuinty, who claims to be a Catholic. However, he leads a government bent on removing the Catholicism from the Catholic School System, with education policies that are meant to give precedence to homosexualist agendas at our expense. One of our own is putting the screws to us.

While on that, if the Gay Pride parades and celebrations, rife with overt sexuality, and nudity, are not an affront to all that we Catholics hold reverence for regarding the sanctity of the human body, then I miss my guess.

And there is more. Much more, but I am preparing to head to the LifeTeen Mass at Holy Family Parish around the corner to celebrate the Sacred Mystery of our Saviour's Passion and Death on the Cross, in the midst of like minded individuals.

Prejudice has been there always, and will be until He returns, and we, as Catholic Christians will bear the brunt of it, along with many of our other Christian brothers and sisters, but we will bear more of it. God allows it to occur. He could certainly stop it, if He chose. But, he does so for our greater good, and for the strengthening of our faith with trials.

As we grow in our individual faith, the existence of prejudices and trials matter very little. Our vocation is to grow in holiness, and the trials and prejudices help us with that, if we look with our eyes of faith at what is going on in our lives and in the lives of the Church.

Father Gordon, for one, is being tried and is growing daily in his own faith, and love of Our Saviour. If his life had been peachy keen, it likely would not have happened.

So, I say bring on the prejudice and the trials, and Lord mold us into Your Image.

Kafka, Heller and Corapi Have Much in Common

2011-06-25T12:38:00.000-04:00

Thus Says Father Gordon MacRae of These Stone Walls

If there is someone on the planet whose opinion should matter on the affair of Father John Corapi, and the still to be proven accusations against him, that would be someone who has walked miles in similar shoes. So, when Father Gordon MacRae published his latest thoughts at These Stone Walls, titled: "Good-Bye, Good Priest! Father John Corapi’s Kafkaesque Catch-22", I took notice and I highly recommend giving it a read and some thought.

I am concerned for Father Corapi's mental health today, as I have been while reading and listening to his own comments on the goings on that have been swirling around him over this whole matter. It would be very stressful to have been caught in flagrante delicto. There, pants figuratively at half mast, the sinner has his assets bared for all to see. That was not the case here. It must be even more stressful to find oneself pilloried for things beyond the pale, that are far beyond what the individual would ever commit in sane mind.

What is even more stressful, is to fall victim to a draconian process which much like being hauled in front of one of our Canadian or provincial Human Rights kangaroo courts (officially tribunals), where as Calgary lawyer and journalist, Ezra Levant demonstrated, the punishment is the crime.

Father Corapi, and priests like Father Gordon MacRae, as well as others like Father Mark Gruber, are paying a heavy price for the sins of others. You can look at the left of this page and see labels for Father MacRae and for Father Gruber that will lead you to articles where I have made mention of their situations, and provided links in articles to other sources about them.

Most instances of sexual abuse going on between priests, and young people in particular, approximately 94% of those reported to the Church took place prior to 1990. But, prior to 1985, priests who were accused of sexual abuse were buried, or were sent for treatment, and if considered rehabilitated were returned to active ministry.

It could be said that the bishops of North America and the world, were asleep at the switch. In fairness, society was asleep at the switch and though many were abused at the hands of priests, far more were abused at the hands of parents, relatives, teachers, coaches and others. But that does not make good newspaper copy.

Our bishops, priests, and the religious leaders of the Catholic Church may well be anointed with the Sacrament of Holy Orders, into a life of service to the cause and sharing in the life of Jesus Christ. However, unlike Jesus Christ, we must always remember that they too are sinners, subject to the same temptations as we are, and probably worse, because they are an affront by Holy Orders to the devil and all that he stands for, which is destruction of you and me and them, and separating us from our eternal home with Jesus, the Father and the Holy Spirit.

Like us they have the Holy Spirit for inspiration, but also like us, they are often hard of hearing, or worse still hard of listening.

The sexual abuse scandal and its remnants, particularly in the United States of America is a case in point. Here in Canada, our bishops created a committee on Child Sexual Abuse, which drafted a report called "From Pain to Hope" in 1992 which has been the foundation of the Canadian Church's handling of the issue and prevention of such behaviours today. Even in 1992, this was late to address a serious issue that had brought harm to many young people and their families, while undermining the trust of parishioners in their priests.

But, in America it took the Boston Globe breaking news about the criminal prosecutions of 5 priests, to get what appears to be serious action from the US Bishops. In 2002, the US Bishops produced the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People. Until that time, the basic principles of the Charter were being applied on an ad hoc approach.

The Charter is focused on the following:

Creating a safe environment for children and young people;
Healing and reconciliation of victims and survivors;
Making prompt and effective response to allegations;
Cooperating with civil authorities;
Disciplining offenders;
Providing for means of accountability for the future to ensure the problem continues to be effectively dealt with through a national Secretariat of Child and Youth Protection and a National Review Board.

But, it seems that the Charter and its concepts has become a one size fits all, for anything that might have the word "sex" in it.

The Dallas Charter has resulted in the official victimization of priests. An American priest against whom a claim of some form of sexual misconduct is raised, is punished first, and if by some chance, with his hands tied behind his back, and a blindfold on he is able to prove his innocence, he may have some opportunity to try and rebuild his life and heal his hurting soul.

Father Gordon MacRae's conviction in New Hampshire happened several years before the Dallas Charter. There was no credible evidence against him, but that did not stop the prosecutor, investigating detective and judge from having him sent away basically forever, since he refused to admit any culpability, for the things that didn't happen, but for which he was charged and convicted. Had he admitted he had done, what logically could never have occurred, he would be a free man, ostracized, mind you, but free in some sense of the word. Instead, he continues to claim innocence, and gets to be a guest of the state of New Hampshire. But, the main reason he sits in prison, is because he was abandoned by the Catholic Church, by his bishop at the time, and his successor, and those responsible for believing incredible claims and paying significant sums of money to those making the claims.

There is nothing in the charter or in the actions of bishops around America, that even pretends that priests are innocent until proven guilty, which presumption by law they have a right to.

Father Mark Gruber, a well known retreat leader and teacher has been silenced because someone used a computer in a public area attached to his office to access homosexual pornography. The person who did the accessing came forward and admitted his sins. For a time, Father Gruber attempted to commence a lawsuit to recover his good name. But, in a courageous action on his part, he abandoned the case because of the pain it would have caused to others. The case of Father Mark, and his silencing has nothing at all to do with sexual abuse, or sex for that matter. It is about power, and the power to silence a good and holy priest, under the guise of sexual misconduct.

So too, the case of Father John Corapi, . A woman, who claimed that she would destroy him for personal reasons, has been able to do that, with the complicity of bishops and those in charge of his order, by making claims of sexual impropriety against him.

The safest place to be a child in North America today is in a Catholic Church. The most dangerous place to be a priest in North America today is in the same Catholic Church.

We must pray for our bishops and those in positions of authority in the Catholic Church, that they will use right judgement to examine the challenges they face over claims made against priests, both currently and in review from the past, particularly where there are credible claims of injustice.

Most in positions of authority are priests, and so me must include them in our prayers for priests, who face this internal persecution that makes priestly ministry more difficult for them. I remember as a small child running up to our parish priest and giving him a hug. I remember when my children were small and one child, not one of my own, commented out loud to her mother as our then pastor passed by in procession to the altar: "There goes God Mommy." In a sense this child was correct, as our beloved priests represent Christ for us in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

Kids don't usually hug our priests anymore, and more's the pity. Some did break the trust tragically, and some small few may still do it. But, that childhood holding in awe of our priests, and yet the approachability that was there to help them to see that beauty of a priestly vocation has been lost, and there will be a price to be paid for that down the line.

God Bless our priests and particularly those falsely accused.

Something Crappy going on with Corapi

2011-06-21T17:05:00.000-04:00

More than Meets the Eye
I have followed the saga of (Father) John Corapi for some time. I confess that I was never particularly a fan of the good father, not because his teaching was not solid and beneficial to those who were blessed with hearing it. Something else seemed to hold me back from becoming interested in his work.

When all hell broke loose for Fr. Corapi, I did not doubt the veracity of his own claims about what transpired, and I have no doubt now that he is innocent of all charges. But, more is in play here than what we see at first blush.

(Father) Corapi is not the first priest to be falsely accused. If we go back a little in history, we find that Padre Pio was falsely and seriously accused of things beyond his capability of doing. Padre, now Saint, Pio was able to submit to his superiors, and eventually by the Grace of God, he was cleared of all wrong doing, and returned to his priestly faculties.

More recently, Father Gordon MacRae was falsely accused, abandoned by his bishop and diocese, and has spent over 16 years in prison as a guest of the state of New Hampshire. Father MacRae is the author of These Stone Walls, and you can read about his case there, and also the many thoughtful things he has to say about the faith and about the Roman Catholic Church, which he so loves. He has been forced by circumstance to be submissive to a system that has treated him very badly.

There is also Father Mark Gruber, about whom I have written. Father Mark is a well known retreat master, and beloved for his faith and his communication skills. In what amounts to the weirdest set of circumstances, he has been falsely accused of something that is first of all, not illegal, though it would be sinful, if he did it. But, the SODDI (some other dude did it) defense applies here, not by innuendo, but by fact. Some Other Dude confessed to doing what Father Gruber was accused of. Father Mark, in his defence, originally commenced legal proceedings to protect his good name.

I summarised some of where they are at relative to those of us who are free to roam the earth in this posting.

Father Mark Gruber put into perspective his situation, in one of the most humble and humbling comments yet on situations such as these, when he said:

“No man is just, except Jesus our Savior, and while I’m certainly not guilty of this crime, we all deserve any sufferings short of the fires of hell, simply for being a sinner on this earth."

But, Father Corapi was only able to take 3 months of being pilloried, by some, though still revered by many, until he cracked. I have no doubt that he is under tremendous emotional strain. There were reports that Father Gruber was cracking for some time under the strain of false accusation, and I hope that has passed for him, and that he is able to bear his cross with equanimity. Father MacRae has also born his cross nobly, though he has worked on his defence, and documented it and made it available with the help of supporters.

Father Corapi has handled his situation differently. He has passively aggressively proclaimed his innocence, and done so with bombast and counter charges, and in reality, as a man falsely accused, he legally has the right to so do.

As one who has been recovering from a brain injury for over 7 years, I have a perspective that I think is somewhat different on this situation. Father Corapi's behaviour, particularly of late, both in written and spoken form has appeared to be erratic to at least this casual observer, causing at least one commenter to suggest that he is on drugs. This particular comment, which I believe was way out of line, begat a fiery response from Father C, when it needed none. What I have discovered is that when one's emotional response to a particular situation is bigger than the situation warrants, then there are likely issues involving brain chemistry and function at play, and help is required. This is not just from my own experience, but also from the training and experience of one of the foremost psychiatrists in America and probably the world today.

Doctor Daniel Amen, whose clinic I attended a few years back, specialises in brain imaging as a diagnostic tool, and has been particularly successful in situations where behavior has been erratic, even to the extremes of being criminal. The brain is the center of our thoughts, moods and actions. In a recent posting Dr. Amen wrote about Brains Acting Badly. The focus of this article was the sexual misdeeds of some of the recent miscreants highlighted in the MSM, but the conclusions that our brains take the lead in our lives is valid, and must be dealt with if we are to lead lives that are filled with truth and which lead us to holiness.

I believe that Father Corapi is in desperate need of our prayers, and love as fellow travelers on the journey of faith.

It has been my belief for some time now, that we must provide prayer cover for all men who have a vocation to the priesthood. The mantle of "alter christus" is too heavy for these dear men to carry on their own. They need us to draw alongside them, in prayer and fellowship, where that occasion arises.

Do not abandon Father Corapi, but lift him up. He is one of us, and if he hurts, we hurt.

Spirit of Debate

2011-04-29T08:33:00.000-04:00

Something to Ponder

During our two week trek across the US in our motor home returning to Southern Ontario, we saw and enjoyed many things. There is one memorable afternoon and evening for me that sticks out.

In the middle of our journey, we were in a Mississippi suburb of Memphis TN. Interestingly, we camped in an Arkansas suburb of Memphis, along the might Mississippi River the previous night, and went to Olive Branch Mississippi to visit with friends of one of our daughters. This couple, who are devout Baptist Christians are about our ages, and have a son, who is 48 years of age, and is back living with them.

Tommy suffers from bi-polar disorder and is heavily medicated to keep the symptoms in check. As such, he is only alert for a few hours each day, and at that somewhat drags himself around, due to the effects of the medication. But, for about three hours, we spoke about Our Lord Jesus Christ and about the challenges and joys each of us faces in our daily lives with our own disabilities.

As a born again Baptist, Tommy, and his father who joined us for some time in our discussions, he/they have many misconceptions about the Catholic Church. However, I have never been asked about my faith in such a respectful manner from a Protestant believer. I hope that my responses to them were as respectful as their sincere questions were to me.

We shared faith, and knew that we departed as brothers in the Lord.

But, during our discussions, there was a moment when I felt a little on edge, and that maybe I had to defend the Catholic Church. The moment passed because of something that Tommy said that struck me right between the eyes.

Tommy spoke about a Spirit of Debate that exists in Christianity, and that is very divisive. He spoke of this spirit that makes those who are discussing faith matters need to be right. Hence, rather than just listening to the other, we are formulating our next response to prove our point.

I have pondered what Tommy said, and believe it to be profound wisdom, and one of the serious lessons that Our Dear Lord wanted to show me during Lent.

I confess that I have engaged in debate over religious matters mainly in commenting on other Catholic or Christian blogs. I also confess that there was never any real peace to these debates, and very little if any good fruit from it.

Just prior to Lent and during Lent, I felt compelled to not write blog postings, and in fact on the occasions when I attempted to do so, had mental blocks in the middle of trying to compose my thoughts. I, frankly, do not know what or if I will be posting in the future at this moment in time, but feel the import of not pushing, but waiting on the Lord for wisdom and guidance.

I am grateful for the time that I spent with Tommy, and I am grateful that he shared wisdom that he has garnered in his life journey with me.

It is so easy to debate points of belief over the Internet, with no interpersonal human interaction involved, but to what end? I knew I was right to begin with. The other party knew that he/she was right to begin with. We write our proofs, defend our beliefs, criticize the other's position, and go away miserable.

What's the point? What is the point?

Praying the Rosary for Our Troubled World

2011-04-08T10:18:00.000-04:00

We have proven incapable of fixing the problems of our world

I received the following in my email inbox this morning and believe it is important to share with people of goodwill thoughout the world. It is a simple request founded on the principle of looking beyond our own selves to the author of our salvation for the help we need from Him to bring about peace in our world and a return to moral values.

Here is the email:

Hi Everyone,

Imagine what might happen if every Catholic in the world would pray a Rosary on the same day! We have an example in October of 1573, when Europe was saved from the invasion of the mighty Turkish fleet, by the praying of the Rosary by all Christians!

So, on Good Friday, let us all pray a Rosary for peace in the world and the return of moral values into our communities. If possible, please pray your Rosary between 12 noon and 3:00 pm.

Also, please e-mail this message to every Catholic on your address list, and ask them to pass it along to every Catholic on their lists. Let's unite in praying one of the most powerful prayers in existence, for these intentions, on one of the holiest days in our Church year.

God bless all,

"I shall pass this way but ONCE.
Any Goodness I can DO; Any Kindness I can SHOW
Let me do it NOW. For I shall Never Pass this way,.. AGAIN

There is a slight bit of confusion on the date of the invasion of the Turkish Muslim fleet of Europe. That battle occurred at Lepanto, off western Greece on October 7, 1571. On October 7, 1571 Pope St. Pius V prayed the Rosary with many faithful in Rome from dawn to dusk. On that day, as documented here, the winds miraculously changed to assist the Christian forces against a superior Muslim invading force, suffering minimal casualties for such a significant battle.

From that same article is this quote:

"Following the great Christian victory at Lepanto, Pope St. Pius V declared that henceforth a commemoration of the Rosary would be a part of the Vatican's Mass on every October 7. His successor, Pope Gregory XIII, went further. In 1573 he established the Feast of the Most Holy Rosary--to be celebrated at all Churches which had specific altars dedicated to the Rosary."

If you read further, you will note that the Rosary was instrumental in further protection of Europe from Muslim invasion.

But today

"our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places." Ephesians 6:12

The enemy has infiltrated every structure, political and corporate in our world, has laid waste family after family, has brought sickness and disease into our bodies, and has stolen the faith (at least temporarily) of loved ones and family members around the world. Morals have disappeared in a moral relativist maelstrom in our society, and up is down and down, up.

As the nations of the world have turned away from prayer to try and fix these challenges and problems by our own merits, we have learned that we are no closer to resolution, and have lost our way.

So, here is a simple opportunity to place trust where it belongs, in the hands of He who died on the Cross to save us, Jesus Christ. When the Church has turned to Him in prayer, He has answered. When we have turned our backs on Him, He has allowed us to operate in our free will, and to wander about almost aimlessly.

So, on Good Friday, when we celebrate the atoning sacrifice of Jesus, could we set aside a short span of time, preferably between noon and 3 pm in your local time, to join others in the world praying the Rosary for peace in our World, and a return to moral values?

What have we got to lose? More than that, what have we got to gain?

Father Tim Moyle Interview of George Weigel

2011-03-03T09:57:00.000-05:00

George Weigel is a well educated, faith filled Catholic layman, well known for his writings on Pope John Paul II, and his work in producing books on being a Catholic in the world in which we live. He currently serves as Distinguished Senior Fellow and Chair of Catholic Studies at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C.

Though Mr. Weigel was born and raised in Baltimore Maryland, and currently resides in Bethesda, he has lived in various places around the United States and Canada. His Achilles heal would seem to be his life long support of the Baltimore Orioles of the American League in Major League Baseball. But maybe not! The once mighty Orioles have fallen on hard times since their last trip to the World Series in 1997, and do not look like they will be there anytime soon, with the mighty Red Sox and Yankees playing out of the same division. But, hope springs eternal.

This is a lot like the once mighty Roman Catholic Church, which too has fallen on hard times, or so it would appear. The Catholic Church plays in the Salvation League and has to compete against the better funded and more attractive Moral Relativists, and Secular Humanists, with the combined Agnostics and Atheists looking like the Toronto Blue Jays, not as much cash available and not as attractive a team to play for.

This undying support of the Orioles may in fact just have been a metaphor for his love and support of the Roman Catholic Church, which he not only supports but encourages. Again, hope springs eternal.

Father Tim and Mr. Weigel have been friends for many years, and also shared that friendship with another influential, though now deceased author and Catholic priest, Father Richard John Neuhaus.

Father Tim recently interviewed Mr. Weigel and posted the interview on his blog site. If you follow this interview, you will meet a rational man, with well reasoned thoughts and descriptions of his thoughts. Above all, you will find a seeker of the truth, not one proclaiming that he has an exclusive lock on it, but one who is able to filter out the distractions that prevent so many of us from seeing it.
Here is a link to his interview with Father Tim Moyle at Where the Rubber Hits the Road.

I conclude from this interview that I would like to read more of what he has written and writes. Some of his writings can be found at the Archdiocese of Denver site here. Additional links can be found at his home bas, the Ethics and Public Policy Center here.

This Should Disturb You

2011-03-02T10:14:00.001-05:00

Couple Rejected: Will Christians Be Allowed to Provide Foster Care in England?

Dear Readers:

Like frogs placed into cool water that is then slowly heated, Christianity has been and is being put to the test. We will either sit in our kettle of water while we are cooked to death, or we will resist. Resistance is not futile, but necessary. Moral relativism is taking serious hold of our society, and articles like this from Deacon Keith Fournier at Catholic Online are continuing examples of what is happening in our society today.

WAKE UP.

Here is the article:

The ruling is part of a trend in England since the passage in 2007 of the 'Equality Act Sexual Orientation Regulations'

What happened to Eunice and Owen Johns this past week concerning their participation in foster care is ominous. What is next for Catholics and other Christians if this trend continues? We are in the throes of a Cultural Revolution involving two competing visions of the human person, human flourishing, the true nature of marriage - the family and society founded upon it - and the definition of the common good. These two visions of the human person and human freedom are in conflict.

NOTTINGHAM, England (Catholic Online) - Christian Concerns, a public interest legal group in England, reported on a disturbing Court ruling in an article entitled "High Court Judgment Suggests Christian beliefs Harmful to Children". A Protestant Pentecostal couple has been disqualified from being foster parents, in effect, because they are Christians. The Catholic News Agency in an article entitled "British court says Christian couple can't adopt due to beliefs." offered this summary of what occurred:

"Eunice and Owen Johns, aged 62 and 65, are Pentecostal Christians from the city of Derby and have cared for 15 foster children in the past. Following the ruling, Eunice Johns said she and her husband were "extremely distressed" at the ruling handed down in Nottingham Crown Court. "All we wanted to do was to offer a loving home to a child in need," Eunice Johns said. "We have a good track record as foster parents, but because we are Christians with mainstream views on sexual ethics, we are apparently unsuitable as foster parents. The judges have suggested that our views might harm children. We have been told by the Equality and Human Rights Commission that our moral views may 'infect' a child. We do not believe that this is so."

The ruling is part of a trend in England since the passage in 2007 of the "Equality Act Sexual Orientation Regulations" The Court ruled that if children were placed with people like Eunice and Owen Johns who hold classical Christian views on morality "there may well be a conflict with the local authority's duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of looked-after children." They gave lip service to religious freedom but held that in foster care "sexual orientation should take precedence." They also insisted that a foster family exhibit "positive attitudes towards homosexuality." Finally, they held that the "Article 9 [of the European Human Rights Act] only provides a 'qualified' right to manifest religious belief and ... this will be particularly so where a person in whose care a child is placed wishes to manifest a belief that is inimical to the interests of children." The Court in essence ruled that classical morality is "inimical to the interests of children."

In 2010 "Catholic Care", a Catholic adoption agency in the Diocese of Leeds, was forced to stop participating in adoptions because they refused to place children with practicing homosexuals. They were the last Catholic Adoption Agency left standing in the wake of the "Equality Act Sexual Orientation Regulations" Eleven other Catholic agencies closed down or severed their ties with the Catholic Church. Catholic Care appealed to the High Court seeking to limit its services to heterosexual married couples. They argued there were 'particularly convincing and weighty reasons' for such "discrimination." That is now the standard for any variation. This is how tyrants work. They make unjust positions sound "just" and then enforce their will with the police power of the State.

The Charity Commission rejected their argument about the best interest of children. They made light of their appeal to a fundamental human right to religious freedom. They worded the opinion in high sounding language but revealed that the Commission has become an apologist for a regime in the United Kingdom which promotes an equivalency between active homosexual relationships and authentic marriage. They also insist that homosexual practices be given protected legal status as a fundamental human right. In other words, unnatural acts between two men or two women are protected by the law in the same way as race, creed or natural origin.

The Commission wrote, "The High Court judgement had found that respect for religious views could not be a justification for discrimination on the ground of sexual orientation in this case, because of the essentially public nature of adoption services... In certain circumstances, it is not against the law for charities to discriminate on the grounds of sexual orientation. However, because the prohibition on such discrimination is a fundamental principle of human rights law, such discrimination can only be permitted in the most compelling circumstances. We have concluded that in this case the reasons Catholic Care have set out do not justify their wish to discriminate." So, Catholic adoption agencies can no longer participate in providing adoption services in England because they refuse to bow to a new Caesar.

What happened to Eunice and Owen Johns this past week concerning their participation in foster care is ominous. What is next for Catholics and other Christians if this trend continues? We are in the throes of a Cultural Revolution involving two competing visions of the human person, human flourishing, the true nature of marriage - the family and society founded upon it - and the definition of the common good. These two visions are in conflict. One is a throwback to ancient paganism which calls itself "progressive" when it is regressive. The other is the path to a future of true freedom.

On January 22, 2007 Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor sent a letter to the government concerning the pending legislation which later passed as the "Equality Act Sexual Orientation Regulations" . Here is an excerpt:

*****

Dear Prime Minister and Members of the Cabinet,

"It has always been the wish of the Catholic Church in this country to work with the government for the common good of its people. We believe we do this in matters of social care, education and in many other ways. Catholic teaching urges us to do this, and we do it gladly in a spirit of cooperation. We would, however, have a serious difficulty with the proposed regulations on discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation in the provision of goods and services if they required our adoption agencies to consider homosexual couples as potential adoptive parents.

"The Catholic Church utterly condemns all forms of unjust discrimination, violence, harassment or abuse directed against people who are homosexual. Indeed the Church teaches that they must be accepted with respect, compassion and sensitivity. We, therefore, recognize many elements of recent legislation -- including much in the Northern Ireland regulations -- that takes steps to ensure that no such discrimination takes place.

"What, then, is the problem? It is that to oblige our agencies in law to consider adoption applications from homosexual couples as potential adoptive parents would require them to act against the principles of Catholic teaching. We require our agencies to recruit and approve appropriate married and single people to meet the needs of children in local authority care for whom adoption has been identified as being in their best interest.

"We place significant emphasis on marriage, as it is from the personal union of a man and a woman that new life is born and it is within the loving context of such a relationship that a child can be welcomed and nurtured. Marital love involves an essential complementarity of male and female. We recognize that some children, particularly those who have suffered abuse and neglect, may well benefit from placement with a single adoptive parent.

"However, Catholic teaching about the foundations of family life, a teaching shared not only by other Christian Churches but also other faiths, means that Catholic adoption agencies would not be able to recruit and consider homosexual couples as potential adoptive parents. We believe it would be unreasonable, unnecessary and unjust discrimination against Catholics for the government to insist that if they wish to continue to work with local authorities, Catholic adoption agencies must act against the teaching of the Church and their own consciences by being obliged in law to provide such a service...."

*****

The Cardinal's letter was reasonable. But reason seems to be losing its persuasive power as tyranny is released from its moral restraints and now masquerades as tolerance. Now, it is not only a matter of squeezing the Church out of providing adoption services, it is a wholesale effort to deny Christian couples a right to be foster parents. Perhaps this will soon lead to denying Christians the right to adopt as well. This Court decision against Eunice and Owen Johns is ominous and calls for a focused response of prayer and Catholic Action.

PRO-LIFE CLUB SUES CARLETON UNIVERSITY

2011-02-23T11:19:00.000-05:00

Carleton Lifeline Seeks Restitution

The young are leading the Pro-Life fight. Just see my earlier article where Lila Rose is highlighted, and now this. The Pro-Life group at Carleton University is not taking it anymore, and good for them. Bullies have to be swatted down hard.

Here is a press release from them:

Carleton Lifeline, the pro-life club at Carleton University, has sued the University and its administration for the discriminatory treatment they have been subjected to during the 2010-2011 academic school year.

“We believe that the behaviour of the University is actionable. We have suffered discrimination and intimidation, we have been arrested and threatened and we are seeking restitution”, said Ruth Lobo, President of Carleton Lifeline. “The University’s discriminatory actions are shocking, to say the least. We want to ensure, through law, that this behaviour is not repeated at Carleton University ever again.”

Lifeline is asking the Court to declare that Carleton University and its administration have breached their own internal policies regarding freedom of expression, academic freedom and discrimination. As such, Lifeline is also requesting that the University is ordered to comply with these internal policies.

On October 4, 2010, Carleton University had members of Lifeline handcuffed, arrested, charged and fined with trespassing for attempting to display an exhibit that the University administration deemed disturbing and offensive due to the graphic nature of the display. In November 2010, Carleton University’s administration provided Lifeline with an ultimatum regarding the expression of their opinions and threatened further arrests.

“Carleton University has allowed other exhibits using graphic images on campus” commented Albertos Polizogopoulos, Carleton Lifeline’s lawyer. “Clearly the University opposes Lifeline’s message and not its medium. This is censorship and viewpoint discrimination and it violates Carleton University’s internal policies."

To view a copy of the Statement of Claim, please visit http://www.carletonlifeline.wordpress.com/

For more information, please call Carleton Lifeline at 613-600-4791 or Lifeline’s lawyer Albertos Polizogopoulos at 613 -241-2701 Ext: 243

The Truth Will Set You Free

2011-02-23T09:31:00.000-05:00

Live Action and the Fight to End Abortion

For the past several years, Lila Rose and a committed group of young pro-life advocates have been working to use new and social media to bring the truth of (expose really) Planned Parenthood's practices in abortion out into the open. They have created videos and posted them to raise awareness of what goes on behind closed doors.

These videos have been created by having young people present themselves as underage pregnant girls, as pimps and other sex workers, at many of the PP clinics in the US, where they have produced consistent videos of the actions of staff at these clinics, actions that appear to be highly illegal, and actionable, actions that are meant to further the real aims of PP, or so they must since they are so consistent.

Live Action did not make up the scenarios that they have gone in and presented for the purpose of getting their videos. They have researched the actions of PP, and have been very aware that even when PP has been brought before the courts in particular cases, or sufficient smoke has been raised as to their actions, the Main Stream Media has turned a blind eye to PP and their deeds and misdeeds, and this has gone on for years and years.

And so, Lila Rose and her band of young people have found their voices in alternative media, and their videos of misdeeds have been viewed by many, many people. Eyes are being opened to the evil of abortion as never before.

What has come as a surprise to me is that some in the pro-life movement have spoken against the methods of Live Action. Doctor Peter Kreeft, a noted Catholic writer and teacher has spoken out in support of them here. As he writes, those against the actions of Live Action are dealing more in moral legalism than the truth.

Jesus spoke to us in parables, that were made up stories to prove a point. Were they lies? They certainly were not factually true. Last night millions of North Americans watched NCIS on television. In that series Mark Harmon portrays Jethro Gibbs, an NCIS Special Agent. It is a work of fiction, from beginning to end, like most other shows on television. Yet, we enjoy these shows and do not think of them as lies.

So, why do some of us get indignant when a group of young and very courageous pro-life advocates research scenarios about the actions of PP and then present themselves in similar roles to discern the truth.

Please watch what Glenn Beck reported on his show last week. This YouTube video has been seen by over 20,000 people as of this morning, and deserves to be seen by more.

Let's Get Real - Whatever That Means

2011-02-22T08:03:00.000-05:00

A thoughtful and thought provoking commenter at Where the Rubber Hits The Road - Martin, who writes cogently from an anti-religious bias responded to Father Tim's linking to my posting on "Rational Human Beings - An Oxymoron" as I hoped he would, and expected that he might. It was his use of the word "RATIONAL" in a previous comment thread that had prompted my article in the first place.
On matters religious, Martin and I are not likely to reach accord, and he seems to hold in some measure of disdain many things religious. He, like Small Town Guy, Father Tim's most prolific anti-Catholic commenter makes it a point to share his opinions from time to time.

Here is what he said in the comment thread on my article at Father Tim's blog:

Hi Michael,

An interesting and thoughtful reflection on what it means to be "rational".

I often suspect that "rational" is more of an aspirational goal for our species than something we actually possess.

To clarify - when I used the word "rational", I used it in the following 2 senses:

a) logically consistent and internally coherent
b) grounded in reality

I think some religous folks can be logically consistent and internally coherent. If one accepts their many premises about reality, then one may rightly conclude that much of what they say and do is quite rational in the sense of (a).

As you might suspect, I part company with many religious folks when their premises are not grounded in reality. While their premises MIGHT be true, these premises are often inconsistent with reality and therefore not rational in the sense of (b).

Having said this - I readily acknowledge that some religous views are neither logically consistent, internally conherent, nor are they grounded in reality. I think we have all met folks who would fit that description.

I apologize if my use of the word "rational" was confusing or sounded condescending. I intended neither.

Cheers...Martin

So, basically in the original article I wrote, I came to the conclusion in more words than this, that
"rational" is a relative term, and as I said in my own comment on the thread, it is elusive.

So, in explaining his meaning of rational, Martin concluded that the term has two senses:

a) logically consistent and internally coherent

b) grounded in reality

But, again like rational, both of these are relative terms. I concur that they pick up the flavour of the word rational.

The key word though is "reality." It is interesting that Martin said in reference to "religious people" that their premises thought they "MIGHT be true", "these premises are often inconsistent with reality ."

Reality is defined in the Merriam Webster dictionary as follows:

1: the quality or state of being real

2a (1) : a real event, entity, or state of affairs
(2) : the totality of real things and events
b : something that is neither derivative nor dependent but exists necessarily

So, I am challenged to understand how something MIGHT be true, but not grounded in reality. However, I do not think that Martin mispoke as much as he presented conventional wisdom. Conventional wisdom is another really good oxymoron.

Are people who agree with me dealing with reality whereas those who do not agree with me are not? And is anyone grounded in reality, or is reality too fluffy a word to put boundaries on?

Albert Enistein said this about reality:

Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.

John Lennon had this to say about reality:

A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together is reality.

John Lennon is not available to answer the question that comes to my mind reading his quote, but if he were here in my reality I would ask him how many dreamers it takes to make something real. On the other hand, I can't ask Einstein for further explanation either, though I think his statement is sufficient unto itself.

The problem with words and terms like "rational", "consistent", "coherent", and "realistic" is that they are like "beauty" - found only, or at least, in the eyes of the beholder.

Speaking of beauty, maybe we can recall the closing lines of John Keats Ode on a Grecian Urn from 1819:

"Beauty is truth; truth, beauty -- that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know."

All the above not withstanding, I consider myself a rational human being. I am a husband, a father, hold a university degree, and was qualified as a Chartered Accountant. At 60 years of age, I am not the brightest bulb in the pack, but with the age of compact flourescents, I get some brightness out of my lower wattage. I believe that what I write is both logically consistent and internally coherent, and for me, at least totally realistic.

One time I wrote about a particular miraculous healing of arthritis that happened for me here.
I was raised in the Roman Catholic Church, and walked away from my faith at age 20, when I believed at the time that it was not "logically consistent and internally coherent", and also for me at the time was not "totally realistic." Over the ensuing decade, I had occasion to learn that the lack of consistency and coherence was in me, not in the Church and Christianity.

So, what is reality anyway?

Rational Human Beings - An Oxymoron?

2011-02-18T11:47:00.000-05:00

I find that Father Tim Moyle's blog, "Where the Rubber Hits the Road" provides a good source for things to ponder, particularly things that have a religious bent to them. What can be telling though are the particular nuances of the comments placed there to some of the articles.

I find it interesting that links to my own articles that Father Tim has found worth linking at his site receive many comments there, which is an oblique way of commenting to me about what I have written, though the commenters don't usually comment at my blog site. The same applies usually, I have noticed, to other article links that Father Tim posts.

Recently, Father Tim linked an article from the National Catholic Register about 144 dissident German theologians, who want the Church to stand on its head, and basically deny much of what it has taught about the priesthood, and human sexuality. However, like most article links that Father Tim posts, the article itself becomes an orphan as commenters wander down a new thread, or two, that might have some relationship to the actual article, but usually doesn't.

But, a particular comment by Martin, a frequent commenter, though not in the league of Small Town Guy for word count or even comment count, caught my eye. He was responding in this comment thread to Father Michael Smith, a parish priest who formerly taught at St. Peter's Seminary, and is known by Father Tim. Father Michael was responding in the thread to Lady Janus, and to "Anonymous" or two Anonymi, not sure which, and finally Martin surfaced as he oft times does, with this gem:

. . . you don't have any objective evidence whatsoever in support of your religious propositions. The best you can do is some vague arm waving about subjective experiences you or others have undergone, or mumble about unbroken lines of tradition, or philosophize that no one can prove that your propositions are untrue...but in the end, you have little to nudge the rational mind anywhere nearer to your beliefs.

The bold is mine, because it was the word "rational" that got my attention.

There are interesting definitions of the word Rational available for our cogitation. Here are relevant ones from Dictionary.com:

1. agreeable to reason; reasonable; sensible: a rational plan for economic development.

2. having or exercising reason, sound judgment, or good sense: a calm and rational negotiator.
3. being in or characterized by full possession of one's reason; sane; lucid: The patient appeared perfectly rational.
4. endowed with the faculty of reason: rational beings.
5. of, pertaining to, or constituting reasoning powers: the rational faculty.
6. proceeding or derived from reason or based on reasoning: a rational explanation.

Rational is just such a reasonable and sensible word. It conveys so much, or so it seems.

Martin appears to be as rational as any other commenter to that or other of Father Tim's posts, though some of the commenters tend towards bloviating. So, if I catch the drift of his comment, he is rational, and those who think, in this instance that faith matters, and for those of us particularly of the Catholic faith, the Catholic faith matters, must therefor not be rational, since they/we are unable to convince his rational mind of the merits of their/our beliefs.

Ambrose Bierce started a reference book he called "The Devil's Dictionary" back in about 1881. In it, he redefines some common English words with a little humour, but also some tongue in cheek sensibility. Here is how "rational" is defined in The Devil's Dictionary:

RATIONAL, adj. Devoid of all delusions save those of observation, experience and reflection.

Now, there's a definition that I can hang my hat on. Under this definition, Martin is rational. Under this definition, Father Michael Smith is rational, and also Lady Janus. Heck, I even qualify. As for the Anonymous commenter, who did not sign his or her name, bloviating probably is more appropriate than rational.

Human beings are sentient (having the power of sense perception or sensation; conscious) usually, though consciousness is a relative term. What we are is feeling beings, and those feelings have deep roots, and serious impact on our rationality. They also cause us to have delusions as to the truth and rationality of things we observe, experience and reflect upon.

Frankly, we do not have to look hard around us to see that "rational human beings" is probably oxymoronic, more than rational. For me to self define as rational, is a lot like self defining as humble. For others to observe me as rational, says more about us both being in agreement about what I have come off as so rational about, than it is an observation of my rationality.

In other words, in my humble opinion, rational is a word that cannot be used alone, without being used as a qualifying adjective. If you want to tell me you are a rational liberal, rational conservative, rational Catholic, rational atheist, rational witch, rational homosexual, at least then I can have a sense of the delusions that motivate you, and we can pretend to be rational together.

I am a rational married Catholic, heterosexual, conservative male, or at least me and the guy in the mirror in the bathroom think so. I didn't ask My Dear Wife for her opinion on this last statement, in case she might dissent.

Persecution - Overt/Subtle

2011-02-15T23:22:00.000-05:00

In a posting earlier today about Said Musa, a Christian in Afghanistan, that is clearly being persecuted for his Christian faith, I intentionally made a concluding comment as follows:

Persecution of Christians, Catholic or Protestant, takes many forms. This is the most overt form, though the criticism that fundamentalist Christians level against Catholics and their faith is little different, just not as violent.

It has the same root cause, ignorance, and the determination to be right at the expense of others freedoms and beliefs.

My comment begat a particular response from Small Town Guy over at Father Tim Moyle's blog where I put a link to it, as I expected it would. It became all about him, and about his excuses for behaviour that is unpleasant at least, persecution at worst.

I have been contending for some time that systematic highjacking of a Catholic blog by a fundamentalist claiming to be a Christian, wherein he makes fatuous claims about the Catholic Church, quoting his interpretation of the Bible, as well as presenting as fact the writings of Lorraine Boettner, Jack Chick, and now even Avro Manhattan, is a form of persecution.

Well, as expected STG has his own take on it as follows:

Unfortunately Michael sees any comments which are critical of RC teaching, doctrines, or the dark side of RC history as "persecution" and brands it as persecution of the same kind as the tragic real persecution of christians as in this article, only without the violence.

I don't think he really understands freedom of speech or the meaning of the word persecution if he throws the word around so easily. I could ask if he thinks it was right or persecution for a Danish newspaper to publish cartoons of Islam's prophet with a bomb tied to his headcloth?

If one believes in freedom of speech for himself, he should be willing to allow others to have the same right even if he disagrees with the comments, without crying persecution. Can he disagree? Yes of course.

Well, let's see if STG has grounds for his response. Let's start with the definition of persecution. Persecution means:

1. To oppress or harass with ill-treatment, especially because of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or beliefs.

2. To annoy persistently; bother.

Now, if I go on to a fundamentalist blog, and participate in a dialogue on equal footing with those there on say, the Real Presence in the Eucharist, where I express Catholic teaching as documented, and accept that that is not what our Protestant brothers and sisters believe, then there is not likely any persecution in that. Difference of opinion is not persecution.

If however, I go to their blog site, and consistently hijack postings about topic A and turn them into my own fatuous ramblings about the truth of the Bible, and how those there don't get it, maybe we are moving into another arena, the arena of persecution.

That is ill treatment in my humble opinion, based solely on religion, and it also fits definition two, as I am both bothered by it and find it annoying with persistence. Persecution has less to do with the persecutor than it does with the one or ones being persecuted. I have very little credibility to say I am not persecuting you, whereas you as the recipient of my venom are the only one who can readily determine if persecution has occurred.

STG threw in the "freedom of speech" thing. In other words, it is his humble opinion that he can say whatever he wants because in this country (both Canada and the USA) we have laws that protect freedom of speech.

That would be a good point if that were all there is. With freedom of speech comes responsibility for the speech that we communicate. But, if you cannot police yourself, in Canada, we have the Canadian Human Rights Act, and similar law in each of the provinces and territories. The Canadian Act has a section, Section 13, that deals with abuse of free speech as follows:

13. (1) It is a discriminatory practice for a person or a group of persons acting in concert to communicate telephonically or to cause to be so communicated, repeatedly, in whole or in part by means of the facilities of a telecommunication undertaking within the legislative authority of Parliament, any matter that is likely to expose a person or persons to hatred or contempt by reason of the fact that person or those persons are identifiable on the basis of a prohibited ground of discrimination.

Interpretation

(2) For greater certainty, subsection (1) applies in respect of a matter that is communicated by means of a computer or a group of interconnected or related computers, including the Internet, or any similar means of communication, but does not apply in respect of a matter that is communicated in whole or in part by means of the facilities of a broadcasting undertaking.

So, here's the deal. If I consider that STG has been exposing Father Tim, and all Catholics who hang out at his blog, to hatred or contempt on the grounds of religious discrimination, I have the freedom to file a claim with the Canadian HRC. By the way, I can file a claim with the Canadian Human Rights Commission even if I personally do not feel injured by his ramblings.

In reality, I am also free to not read what he writes, and to ignore it for what it is. So, usually as soon as I see that he has written a comment on the blog, I move right past it, after checking for key words. That is the higher ground. It does not make what he is doing any less of a persecution, but it is a higher ground, and really the one we as Christians are called to.

Of course, we as Christians are also not called to pretend that we are more righteous than others of God's children, but that's another story.

No Ordinary Hero

2011-02-15T10:09:00.000-05:00

Said Musa

The following was brought to my attention by Father Tim Moyle, in an article he linked to and commented on this morning here.

Said Musa is a Christian in Afghanistan, though he was raised a Muslim. That is a crime there, punishable by death. So, he waits in a detention center for the inevitable. Oh, and by the way Canadian, British and American troops over there are fighting to defend the government and people, including those who would kill this man.

Mr. Musa is an amputee, the father of 6 and husband of one woman,and a firm believer in the love and atoning mercy of Jesus Christ.

Here is how his original arrest came about as reported at Compass Direct News last November 16, from Istanbul:

Authorities arrested Said Musa, 45, on May 31, days after the local Noorin TV station broadcast images of Afghan Christians being baptized and worshiping. Though there were other arrests in May and June during the ensuing man-hunt against Christians, Musa is the only known Christian facing a court case.

The deputy secretary of the parliament had this to say about converts to Christianity:

The subject of Afghans leaving Islam for Christianity became national news following the Noorin TV broadcast and ignited a heated debate in the country’s parliament and senate. In early June, the deputy secretary of the Afghan parliament, Abdul Sattar Khawasi, called for the execution of converts.

“Those Afghans that appeared on this video film should be executed in public,” he said, according to news sources. “The house should order the attorney general and the NDS [National Directorate of Security] to arrest these Afghans and execute them.”

Here is a hand written letter from Mr. Musa reported yesterday in the National Catholic Register, though the letter was written last Fall, and was first published on November 16, complete with grammatical and language challenges:

“To the international church of world and to the President Brother Barak Obama President of the United States and to the head of ISAF [International Security Assistance Force] in Afghanistan!

“My name is Said Musa 45 years old. I have been working since 15 years as a Physiotherapist in I-C-R-C [International Committee of the Red Cross] orthopaedic centre in Kabul, Afghanistan. About four and a half months before by security force of Afghanistan I [was] captured, due to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, Saviour of the world.

...Since that time I am in jail. The authority and prisoners in jail did many bad behaviour with me about my faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. For example, they did sexual things with me, beat me by wood, by hands, by legs, put some things on my head, mocked me ‘He’s Jesus Christ’, spat on me, nobody let me for sleep night and day. Every person spat on me and beat me. Also the prosecutor wrote something wrong against me. He told from himself something wrong against me on my file.

“He is stimulating every day the prisoners against me, ‘He is also in jail due to spy for Iran country’, to reveal the church in Kabul. I’m in a very and very bad condition in the jail.

“I agree with long imprisonment about my faith even for long life. Because I’m the sinnest person in the world. Because sometimes they treated for died I refuse my faith due to died. Sometimes I tolerate the persecution but immediately I acknowledge my sin before Lord Jesus Christ: ‘Don’t refuse me before your holy angels and before your Father.’ Because I am very very weak and sinful man…

I am alone between 400 handlers of terrible values in the jail like a sheep. Please, please, for the sake of Lord Jesus Christ help me. Please send a person who should supervise my document and my file, what I said in it. My prosecutor has told something wrong to the judge because he asked [for] money but I refused his request. Please, please you should transfer me from this jail to a jail that supervises the believers. I also agree with died on cross of my pride. I also agree with the sacrifice [of] my life in public, I will tell the faith in Lord Jesus Christ son of God and other believers will take courage and be strong in their faith. Hundred percent I am stable to my word. I have family of seven - one wife, three daughters and three sons. My big son [is] about eight years old. One of my daughters can’t speak, she has some mental problems.

“This is a request from me to all over the world, people please help me. I could not have any person to help. For [the] sake [of] Lord Jesus Christ please pray and immediately help me and rescue me from this jail. Otherwise, they will kill me, because I know they’re very very very cruel and hard hearted!

“Your destitute brother in the world.

“Please my English writing is not enough good. If I did some mistake please forgive me! From Kabul Provincial jail.”

Barnabas Aid took up Mr. Musa's case back in the Fall, and published an article on November 16 to that effect. The penultimate conclusion is important:

Dr Patrick Sookhdeo, International Director of Barnabas Aid, said:

The West can no longer turn a blind eye while the Afghan regime that it fought to put in place imprisons and tortures ordinary Christians and is calling for them to be killed simply because of their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

However, the final conclusion is most important:

Please Pray:
That the Afghan government will come under increasing international pressure to release Said and uphold the right to religious freedom throughout the country.

That the Lord will strengthen and uphold Said who, despite his ordeal, is determined to proclaim his faith in Jesus.

The Barnabas Fund article from February 7 had this to say here:

Hundreds of British (Canadian also) and US troops have lost their lives fighting a violent insurgency by the Taliban, whose hard-line Islamic regime was ousted in 2001. But despite these ongoing and costly efforts to support the new government and constitution, Afghan citizens - especially converts to Christianity - are being denied the fundamental right to choose their own faith. The constitution upholds international standards of human rights in theory, but in practice the government's policy towards converts appears no different from that of the Taliban.

Persecution of Christians, Catholic or Protestant, takes many forms. This is the most overt form, though the criticism that fundamentalist Christians level against Catholics and their faith is little different, just not as violent.

It has the same root cause, ignorance, and the determination to be right at the expense of others freedoms and beliefs.

The Highways to Heaven

2011-02-13T01:37:00.000-05:00

The Roads to Damascus, Emmaus, and Jericho

On the first night of the Parish Mission at San Xavier, this past Monday, Father Richard Gielow C.M., preached about the road to heaven. He borrowed much of what he presented from a Baptist preacher, he met in Los Angeles, when he and his preacher brother Father Robert Gielow C.M. were there as Catholic chaplains of the Chicago Bears. On the day when he first heard this concept, he and his brother had said mass for the Catholic members of the Bears and were invited to stay for a second service led by the Baptist preacher.

The Baptist preacher told all in attendance that no matter how important they thought they were, how rich how big, whatever, the way to heaven required them to travel on three roads.

The first road is the Road to Damascus that Paul was traveling when he was suddenly presented with the reality of Jesus Christ, and was brought to conversion. As Father presented it, we must all come to conversion daily in our lives. In essence the Road to Damascus is a road we travel each and every day of our lives.

Like Paul, we each live in judgement of our fellow man, trying to justify our own actions and beliefs as the truth. Like Paul, we live in spiritual arrogance. We think we detest the evil in others, while being righteous ourselves. But, the truth is that what we hate in others is what we see when we look into a mirror. We might not actually have or commit an abortion. We might not actually kill someone with our bare hands or a firearm, or some weapon of mass destruction. Paul, before Damascus was not evil because he wanted to be evil, but because he was blind to the good in other men, and to the truth about his own sinfulness.

For me, I detest most of the ramblings of a commenter on Father Tim Moyle's blog, Small Town Guy. But, the truth is though his words are filled with self aggrandizement and arrogant judgement of the Catholic Church, from a revisionist and narrow view of history, that anger in his heart which he spews forth is no different than the self protecting anger that I carry in my own heart.

So, the Road to Damascus is not an event, like the moment of conversion that Paul encountered there, but the whole journey to Damascus that Paul took, from the moment he started until he arrived and encountered the Brothers there. He had a moment of awakening, but a lifetime of conversion, as do we all.

The second road we must travel is the road to Emmaus. On that road, men who had been close followers of Jesus were walking after the Resurrection, and though Jesus walked along with them, they did not recognize him for some time. Father Gielow told a personal story of not seeing Jesus that opened his eyes.

He was in Denver Colorado a number of years ago, preaching for the day (Sunday - a football Sunday at that) to 700 teenagers who were preparing for Confirmation. As he stated, almost all of them did not want to be there, and so he worked hard for about 10 hours preaching, saying Mass, speaking to them. By 8 PM he was exhausted and had headed back to the Basilica rectory, where he was staying, to rest. As he approached the parking lot, he saw a man who looked dishevelled coming towards him, and carrying a bottle in a brown bag. The man also had long hair down to the middle of his back. He made the obvious, though erroneous, conclusion that this was someone who was down and out, and actually prayed to God to have someone else come and speak to him, as he was exhausted.

As he got out of his car, and beetled his way to the rectory door, the man approached him. Father Gielow had reached into his wallet previously and had taken out a $5 bill to hand the man, if necessary. As the man approached, he pulled out the bill and went to hand it to him. The man said he did not want the money, but wanted to know if he could enter the Church to spend some time in front of the tabernacle, and also to fill his bottle with holy water for his home. This incident brought home to Father the Road to Emmaus, and how we fail to see Jesus in each other.

For my friend Small Town Guy over at Father Tim's, the Road to Emmaus is elusive, since he is so busy telling anyone who will read his screed of the evils of the Catholic Church, that, like me in many of my fatuous ramblings, he cannot hear the voice of the Master. As Jesus travelled with the men on the road, he listened to them, and conversed with them, meeting them in their grief, confusion, disbelief. Yet, they did not recognize Him for who He was. They did not know who He was until He broke bread with them and blessed the bread and them. Jesus did not judge them for their unbelief. He walked with them. He did not criticize their confusion at the events that had occurred. He listened to them, loved them, and spoke gently with them. In essence, He set an example for us to awaken our faith in His midst, in our daily lives.

But, should we awaken to our own sinfulness on our Road to Damascus, and should we become aware of His presence amongst us as we travel our Road to Emmaus, we must put our converted selves and our aware selves into action, and so we must travel the Road to Jericho.

On the Road to Jericho, a Jewish man had been robbed and beaten. As Father Gielow described it, a priest happened by. The priest had priestly functions to attend to at the Church, things that were obviously more important to him than seeing to this injured man, and so he scampered on to what was more important (at least to him, if not to he injured man). The Levite happened along next. He was important in the administration of his parish/church, and had churchy things to handle, setting up for the bingo, preparing for coffee Sunday or whatever, and so he was too self important to minister to the injured man.

But along came a Samaritan. Samaritans hate Jews, and it is mutual, not a lot unlike Catholic Christians, and many Protestant Christians. But, when he came along, he set aside this animosity, and took it upon himself to help this man. He did not look upon him as a Jew, an enemy, but as a man who had been injured and needed help. He was colour blind. Before he carried on with his own business, he looked after him, and even when he left to do his own thing, he left money to care for the man, and promised to return to pay any additional charges for his care.

This is where faith is put into action. Yes, our salvation is purely by the Grace of God, but "faith without works is dead", and so if we have been traveling to Damascus and Emmaus in our lives, we must also travel to Jericho, and make our faith have substance in the world we live in, not by our churchy words, but by our love inspired actions.

I bet that priest who passed by gave a rousing good homily in the synagogue that day, railing against those hated and hateful Samaritans, who so despise the Jews that they would kill them and torture them. I bet he heard a lot of Amens, and "Preach it Brother" from the Levites that were present. They might even have gone out from synagogue later that day, and beaten up a Samaritan, possibly even the one that had helped their Jewish neighbour.

That's the thing with self righteousness. It can pretty much justify any response to imagined or real injustices. But, the Samaritan in this case was heeding the words of Jesus to love thy neighbour, and also to judge not lest you be judged.

Which is easier; to stop what you are doing in your busy life to love a neighbour that you may never have met before, or to rail on about the differences between us?

Oh, one final thing. The three Roads, to Damascus, to Emmaus, and to Jericho converge in a place we will all meet one day. They converge at Golgatha, at the foot of the Cross. There we will meet Him and each other face to face, the crucified Christ, the one who died to set us free from all the sin and corruption that has kept us from Him, and all those who have been His body here on earth.

There is a fourth road that meets there, for all roads lead to Golgatha. It does not have a name, but it is a path of self righteousness, and judgement. It is the road the priest and Levite were taking when they stumbled onto the Jericho road for a few moments.

There in the midst of Holiness personified, we will have no choice but to drop all pretence as to our own holiness, and self righteousness. There, His eyes from the cross will pierce our being, as the sword pierced His side. His love will wash over us, and in an instant we will have to choose between our own sin that has not drawn us closer to Him, but further away from Him, and Love personified.

What road/roads are you taking to Golgatha? If you see me on the Road to Jericho, will you stop to help me? If I see you there, will I stop to help you?

Does This Image Offend You? - I Didn't Think So. Me Either

2011-02-10T22:14:00.000-05:00

What Makes Us Take Offense?

A while back, I posted an image of an aborted child. It was real and it was graphic, as that child had been torn limb from limb during an abortion, which is what happens in an abortion. It is the taking of an innocent life.

One young woman who I know and respect very much wrote me personally to tell me that the image offended her (as I hoped it might) and explained her reasons for feeling offense. I respect that she had the courage to personally tell me what she felt, rather than trying to carry on as if I never posted it and she never saw it.

We should be offended by that image, though we will be offended for different reasons, but should that image be censored for some reason?

How about this image?

This is an image from the Holocaust, the murder of over 6,000,000 Jews, mainly by the German armed forces during World War II. This is historical fact. It cannot be denied. Many people did terrible things to others whose only sin was being Jewish, which most of us do not know to be a sin. (It isn't, by the way.)

This image is publicly available, and is horrible in what it depicts. Yet, we are not offended by it. And we do not hate German people because of the sins of their fathers. When we see something like this picture, we want to be sure that nothing like it ever happens again. It is almost too horrible to imagine.

But, since Roe v. Wade, and other events that have propelled abortion into the prominence that it now has, we have seen abortion rise to an epidemic. 14,000,000 million American unborn children have been murdered in the last decade, and probably 1,400,000 or so Canadian unborn children.

If the numbers of the unborn who are killed are not staggering on their own, and the images not graphic enough for you and me to scream out that this must stop, what then will it take for us to demand an end to abortion in our countries.

Here is a picture of the man who was most responsible for the murder of 6,000,000 Jews.

Does anybody in their right mind want to praise this man, give him the Order of Canada, or give him accolades? I thought not.

Yet, here is another man, who by fighting for the decriminalization of abortion, and running a series of abortion clinics, has led the charge that has resulted in the taking of the lives of so many unborn Canadian children.

This man, born in Poland 1923, and being Jewish, spent time in his youth, in a prison camp. If any man on earth should know about Holocaust, he should. He has been given the Order of Canada, for his work on behalf of Women.

Do we live in a wacky world or what?

A Missionary Preaches a Mission at a Mission Just Off Mission Road

2011-02-09T08:10:00.000-05:00

A couple of years ago, I had an Epiphany at the Church of the Epiphany on the Feast of the Epiphany in Normal Illinois. So, it did not seem strange to me to go to the Mission of San Xavier del Bac, which is just a short distance off S. Mission Road outside Tucson, to attend a mission led by a missionary priest, Father Richard (Dick) Gielow C.M. C.M. means Congregation of the Mission, though we would more commonly call priests of his order Vincentians, after Saint Vincent de Paul, their founder. It seems to me that when God wants me to get a word, He repeats it for me S-L-O-W-L-Y and often.

So, as I indicated in an earlier post here, My Dear Wife and I made our way to San Xavier for Monday night's mission start.

We had an opportunity to speak to Father Gielow at the end of the reception after the Mass and mission that evening. He shared with us something that I believe is very important for a successful mission in the Catholic Church. Father Gielow has a deep love of the Eucharist, and so the one condition he and his twin brother Father Rober (Bob) Gielow C.M., who also preaches missions around the US, has for agreeing to do a mission somewhere is that the mission must be incorporated into the celebration of the Eucharist. He wants the focus to be on the message, not the messenger, and since he is preaching Christ crucified for our sins, there is no better way in the Catholic Church than around the table of the Lord, and the Eucharistic celebration.

Father Gielow will be preaching his first mission in Canada, in BC later this year. It came about because a snow bird from there, attended a mission he led in Phoenix recently, and then wrote to his pastor in Canada, asking him to invite Father Gielow to come and preach there.

After hearing Father preach at the Sunday mass, and then lead the first evening of the 3 evening mission, I suggest to any of my priest friends who might read this post, that bringing him to Canada to preach is likely to light a fire in your parish, or at least wake up a few to the beauty of the Eucharist and our Catholic faith in Jesus.

Salvation - a User's Manual and FAQ's

2011-02-09T00:12:00.001-05:00

Musings on The Word of God And a Coffee Maker

Last Spring, two of our daughters bought My Dear Wife and I a Tassimo Coffee Maker. At first, I did not want to abandon our drip coffee maker that makes 6 full cups in one go, for a machine that could do a Latte (even though I love Latte's) or hot chocolate, or specialty or normal coffess and even tea. But over time it has grown on me, and the old coffee maker sits in the cupboard. But, this coffee maker has some tips in the useful owners manual, which are helpful if you want it to work properly.

Also, there are at the Tassimo site, Frequently Asked Questions and appropriate answers that are available for further edification. The owner's manual predates the FAQ's, and over time the FAQs have come from someone trying to do something unusual, or usual but not fully documented.

As I lay in bed this morning about 3 am, it dawned on me that Christianity is a lot like our Tassimo. Like the Tassimo, Christianity was an invention if you could call it that, at least for purposes of this article. Where the Tassimo was invented by some pretty smart German engineers, Christianity was the brain child of Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. The Tassimo is a way to brew hot beverages, whereas Christianity is a way of life meant to keep us from having very hot beverages and everything else hot in the hereafter.

The Tassimo comes with an owner's manual that included the things the inventors and manufacturers thought we needed to use it effectively to do what it was designed for. But, it was written at a point in time, when Tassimo's were first coming to market.

Christainity has an owner's manual as well. That manual is The Holy Bible. Parts of the Bible were in fact written prior to the creation of Christianity (what we know as the Old Testament), and so they set the stage for Christianity in its early use. But, much of the owner's manual was written long after Christianity was created by Jesus. It was not an after thought, but came about because the inventor was no longer physically on site to guide the users of Christianity.

Before the Owner's manual was completed for Christianity, there was actually an FAQ of sorts. The leaders of the Church (being the leaders of local churches) gathered to discuss what was happening. There they tuned some of the practices, and appointed people to provide guidance to users of Christianity. In fact, much of the owner's manual in the case of Christianity was letters written to respond to Frequently Asked Questions posed by early Christians.

Christianity is much more complex than the Tassimo. As well, since it was a way of life, and not a coffee brewer, people who disagreed with it didn't just pitch their Tassimo, or not buy one. They tended to murder the Christians to show their displeasure, which is a little more radical display of feelings.

Over time the FAQ's grew and the concept of the Magisterium of the Church came to being. Though it was not a new concept, and is supportable from the Bible, it was a way of documenting things so that they would be available for all.

Just a thought!!

San Xavier Del Bac - White Dove of the Desert

2011-02-07T18:47:00.000-05:00

Sunday Mass With a Surprise

Yesterday morning, My Dear Wife and I were trying to decide where to attend Mass. For some reason, neither of us was particularly interested in attending Our Lady of Fatima, nearby, nor of travelling across town to Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, where I have been attending daily mass regularly for the last several weeks. I looked on the Diocesan web site for mass times and places and suggested two parishes to herself. One was the actual parish of Judge John Roll, one of those who died in the Tucson Tragedy a short while back. The other was the Mission Parish of San Xavier del Bac.

San Xavier it was to be. That immediately sparked both of our interests, and we set off for the 11 am Mass there. San Xavier is named for Saint Francis Xavier. San Xavier is one of the early mission churches, one of many throughout the West, particularly in California and Texas, that were part of early North American evangelization efforts by Franciscan priests and others in what was then New Spain. The beginnings of the congregation date to Father Eusebio Kino, who visited the area in 1692. He started construction of a first Church that was never completed in 1700, and the actual Church that is there now was started by Fr. Juan Bautista Velderrain in 1783 and completed in 1797.

Over the years the parish has become both a center of worship, and also a National Historical Monument, as it is the oldest European style architectural building extant in Arizona. It is a Church and grounds of classical simple beauty, unlike what you would find elsewhere, and is holy ground.

We have visited it as tourists, but this was to be our first mass there. It was also the first mass for Father Richard Gielow, a Vincentian priest, who will be preaching a mission there tonight, tomorrow and Wednesday nights, including evening masses.

Father Gielow preached a humorous, touching, inspiring homily about the Catholic faith, and invited all in attendance to return for the mission, as the focus would be praying for our family members who are not attending Church, due to a loss of or absence of faith.

Although we found mass to be prayerful and wonderful as always, we knew that we were to attend the mission, and so today we have been preparing ourselves for that.

My Dear Wife had received from one of our daughters news that a friend of hers had given birth and that the baby, though a good size and appearing well at birth has contracted some kind of illness that doctors are stumped to resolve currently. She is quite sick, and we were asked to pray for her. Her name, like that of our latest granddaughter is Charlotte, and herself printed a picture of this little one to take with us to the mission for prayers for her healing. (I invite you to include baby Charlotte in your prayers as well).

We are looking forward to this mission, which starts in about 2 hours our time here in Tucson.

I will be keeping all who read this blog in my prayers as well as our loved ones.

Every Tom Dick and Satan Knows Scripture

2011-02-07T10:54:00.000-05:00

And Satan Knows It Best

Christianity is split largely between the Catholics and the Protestants, though there are so many splits among the Protestants that it is hard to tell denomination from denomination without some kind of score card. But, the Catholics don't get off so easily either. Catholics have abandoned their faith in droves, some surfacing with our Protestant brothers and sisters, but many just lapsing into nowhere land.

Somehow, many Catholics think they can earn their way into heaven, though that is not a Catholic exclusive. Many mainline Protestants are of the same opinion. Just a thought!! If you could earn your way into heaven, why did Jesus come to earth? What a terrible waste of time that was, and besides that it hurt a HELL of a lot. Sorry to burst your bubble, but you can't do it on your own, and He did win the right for you to go to heaven all by himself.

The brain wave that led people to believe that they could beat down the gates of heaven by their innate goodness did not come from the bible, nor from any preaching of the Word by any Catholic priest or evangelist worth his or her salt. We are to cooperate with Christ in His mission to set sinners free by living lives of holiness, goodness if you will, but it is cooperation, not salvation.

But, when it comes to using the Bible as a tool for d-evangelization no one does it better than our Protestant brothers and sisters, who call themselves "bible believers." "Bible believers" is a pejorative term, meant to differentiate them from those who they claim do not believe the Bible - read Catholics, if you will. Somehow, they have an exclusive lock on the truths of the bible. Although there are over 1,000 different denominations of bible believers, each of which believes something different from the bible, they do seem to have a common enemy, the Catholics.

That ought to give a clue as to how led by the Bible they actually are. But, fear not Catholics, we put them up to it in the first place, so this is only giving us what we are due to a certain extent.

Pause for a moment. About one thing Catholics and Protestants are unanimously in agreement, or should be, if they believe the basics of their faith. The Bible is inerrant - ie. It does not contradict itself, nor have one teensy weensy little error in it. It is therefor TRUE, and strictly so.

So, let's take one little bit of scripture for example. Jesus said: "This IS My Body," that Passover night when He gave the early Church the Eucharist. The early Church believed that He said it IS His Body, wrote about it, celebrated it, even though they could not grasp it with their own minds, but had to take it on faith. The canon of scripture followed along after, and in that scripture are references to this Eucharist and the celebration of it by believers.

This faith tradition has existed since the death of Our Saviour, and continues to this day in the Catholic Church, with no breaks.

So, about 500 years ago, the leadership of the Church was in turmoil and disobedience. Serious sin had weaseled its way in to the hierarchy as lust in general and lust for power reared its ugly head. Martin Luther and others rightly stood against the abundant sin. However, they compounded that sin with their own pride, and decided to REFORM the Church, ie. form again, the Church that Christ had created.

The devil had tempted Church leaders, and they fell to that temptation, creating an untenable situation. But, pendulums swing both ways, and so in attempting to correct errors, the baby and the bath water both hit the curb, and the free for all began. Sola scriptura, with its now over 1,000 variations crept in like a bad weed, and people calling themselves followers of Christ are now free to believe whatever they want the Bible to say and to mean, because they can find a similarly minded group out there proclaiming the Word of God in just the right flavour.

So, if the Word of God cannot be in error, and yet there are over 1,000 competing interpretations, who do you think might be behind it? IMHO "Satan Knows It Best." Oh, and he is LHAO about it.

Why are we prepared to give Slewfoot an upper hand in our faith? Whose voice are we going to listen to?

Packers 31 Steelers 25

2011-02-07T10:13:00.001-05:00

Call me Surprised!!

I live in London, Ontario much of the year, and Tucson Arizona during the winter. So, I didn't really have a dog in the fight, or even a football team. But, two really good teams played a whale of a game last night for the Lombardi Trophy, and it is making its way back to Green Bay, where Vince Lombardi made his name as former coach of the Packers.

But, for many watchers the highlights are the $100,000 a second commercials that were shown for the first time during the game. $3,000,000 smackers for 30 seconds of eyeball time. WOW!!

Since Apple finished their series of Mac/PC commercials a year or so ago, my favourites have been the eTrade baby commercials. This morning I found this video of the out takes from the eTrade cutting room floor. Actually the cutting room floor is where most of them belonged.

Humility Explained and Lived Out

2011-02-04T20:59:00.000-05:00

I recently posted some thoughts on Eucharist in the Catholic context, called Real Presence, about what it means to us, and what it meant to the early Fathers of the Church. Father Tim Moyle of Where the Rubber Hits the Road picked it up, and posted a link to it. It then begat several comments over there, almost all of them from Small Town Guy, a man from BC, who regularly criticises the Catholic Church over at that blog.

The comments resulted in some dialogue between Father Tim and STG, and an act of humility on the part of STG, for which I want to give him a shout out. It was a gracious and gratuitous act on his behalf, and will do more to improve communications than all the pontificating and criticism that has preceded it over the last several months.

Humility is an underrated virtue, held by some to be of great value, and poo pooed by others as contrary to this world we live in. The latter on its own should be sufficient to indicate that humility has great merit. Humility requires a great deal of faith and submission to the Divine Will, something that we, even and often more so Christians, seem to avoid through our spiritual arrogance, which is, of course, the diametric opposite of humility.

I came across the writings of the founder of Opus Dei, a highly regarded Catholic organisation, a man who was canonized in October 2002. These thoughts of his of themselves are not biblical quotations, but are prudent and not inconsistent with biblical teachings. Here then are some thoughts on what humility does not look like from the writings of Saint Josemaria Escriva:

The Seventeen Evidences of a Lack of Humility

1. To think that what one says or does is better than what others say or do
2. To always to want to get your own way
3. To argue with stubbornness and bad manners whether you are right or wrong
4. To give your opinion when it has not been requested or when charity does not demand it
5. To look down on another’s point of view
6. Not to look on your gifts and abilities as lent
7. Not to recognize that you are unworthy of all honors and esteem, not even of the earth you walk on and things you possess
8. To use yourself as an example in conversations
9. To speak badly of yourself so that others will think well of you or contradict you
10. To excuse yourself when you are corrected
11. To hide humiliating faults from your spiritual director, so that he will not change the impression he has of you
12. To take pleasure in praise and compliments
13. To be saddened because others are held in higher esteem
14. To refuse to perform inferior tasks
15. To seek to stand out
16. To refer in conversation to your honesty, genius, dexterity, or professional prestige
17. To be ashamed because you lack certain goods

One could sum up humility simply to say: "If you think you are, you aren't." When we think of men and women, who in their commitment to follow Christ, have led exemplary lives or portions thereof, we can see in them true humility, the desire to do and see done the will of God, at any cost. What could be of higher value than to grow smaller, as He grows bigger in us?

Humility is a journey, a journey of faith, that leads us to the foot of the Cross, where we will meet Him face to face.

May we all seek to be humble servants of the Master. Thank you STG for showing us the way.

The Real Presence

2011-02-01T20:25:00.001-05:00

Catholics believe that Jesus Christ is really present in the bread and the wine that we receive in Holy Communion at the celebration of the Mass. Our Protestant brothers and sisters, in their ignorance, think that the Catholic Church made this up, holus bolus. However, if we made it up, we did so immediately after Jesus said it was so, and the early Fathers of the Church professed it.
So, if Jesus said it, and the early church leaders confirmed it, isn't it likely to be true? How come, somebody can come along in the 1500's and decide that it is not so, and millions of Protesters go along with it.

Here from the Church Fathers web site is what early leaders of the Church said about the Eucharist:

Irenaeus

“He took from among creation that which is bread, and gave thanks, saying, ‘This is my body.’ The cup likewise, which is from among the creation to which we belong, he confessed to be his blood. He taught the new sacrifice of the new covenant, of which Malachi, one of the twelve [minor] prophets, had signified beforehand: ‘You do not do my will, says the Lord Almighty, and I will not accept a sacrifice at your hands. For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name is glorified among the Gentiles, and in every place incense is offered to my name, and a pure sacrifice; for great is my name among the Gentiles, says the Lord Almighty’ [Mal. 1:10–11]. By these words he makes it plain that the former people will cease to make offerings to God; but that in every place sacrifice will be offered to him, and indeed, a pure one, for his name is glorified among the Gentiles” (Against Heresies 4:17:5 [A.D. 189]).

Ignatius of Antioch

“I have no taste for corruptible food nor for the pleasures of this life. I desire the bread of God, which is the flesh of Jesus Christ, who was of the seed of David; and for drink I desire his blood, which is love incorruptible” (Letter to the Romans 7:3 [A.D. 110]).
“Take note of those who hold heterodox opinions on the grace of Jesus Christ which has come to us, and see how contrary their opinions are to the mind of God. . . . They abstain from the Eucharist and from prayer because they do not confess that the Eucharist is the flesh of our Savior Jesus Christ, flesh which suffered for our sins and which that Father, in his goodness, raised up again. They who deny the gift of God are perishing in their disputes” (Letter to the Smyrnaeans 6:2–7:1 [A.D. 110]).

Justin Martyr

“We call this food Eucharist, and no one else is permitted to partake of it, except one who believes our teaching to be true and who has been washed in the washing which is for the remission of sins and for regeneration [i.e., has received baptism] and is thereby living as Christ enjoined. For not as common bread nor common drink do we receive these; but since Jesus Christ our Savior was made incarnate by the word of God and had both flesh and blood for our salvation, so too, as we have been taught, the food which has been made into the Eucharist by the Eucharistic prayer set down by him, and by the change of which our blood and flesh is nurtured, is both the flesh and the blood of that incarnated Jesus” (First Apology 66 [A.D. 151]).

Irenaeus

“If the Lord were from other than the Father, how could he rightly take bread, which is of the same creation as our own, and confess it to be his body and affirm that the mixture in the cup is his blood?” (Against Heresies 4:33–32 [A.D. 189]).
“He has declared the cup, a part of creation, to be his own blood, from which he causes our blood to flow; and the bread, a part of creation, he has established as his own body, from which he gives increase unto our bodies. When, therefore, the mixed cup [wine and water] and the baked bread receives the Word of God and becomes the Eucharist, the body of Christ, and from these the substance of our flesh is increased and supported, how can they say that the flesh is not capable of receiving the gift of God, which is eternal life—flesh which is nourished by the body and blood of the Lord, and is in fact a member of him?” (ibid., 5:2).

Clement of Alexandria

“’Eat my flesh,’ [Jesus] says, ‘and drink my blood.’ The Lord supplies us with these intimate nutrients, he delivers over his flesh and pours out his blood, and nothing is lacking for the growth of his children” (The Instructor of Children 1:6:43:3 [A.D. 191]).

Tertullian

“[T]here is not a soul that can at all procure salvation, except it believe whilst it is in the flesh, so true is it that the flesh is the very condition on which salvation hinges. And since the soul is, in consequence of its salvation, chosen to the service of God, it is the flesh which actually renders it capable of such service. The flesh, indeed, is washed [in baptism], in order that the soul may be cleansed . . . the flesh is shadowed with the imposition of hands [in confirmation], that the soul also may be illuminated by the Spirit; the flesh feeds [in the Eucharist] on the body and blood of Christ, that the soul likewise may be filled with God” (The Resurrection of the Dead 8 [A.D. 210]).

Hippolytus

“‘And she [Wisdom] has furnished her table’ [Prov. 9:2] . . . refers to his [Christ’s] honored and undefiled body and blood, which day by day are administered and offered sacrificially at the spiritual divine table, as a memorial of that first and ever-memorable table of the spiritual divine supper [i.e., the Last Supper]” (Fragment from Commentary on Proverbs [A.D. 217]).

Origen

“Formerly there was baptism in an obscure way . . . now, however, in full view, there is regeneration in water and in the Holy Spirit. Formerly, in an obscure way, there was manna for food; now, however, in full view, there is the true food, the flesh of the Word of God, as he himself says: ‘My flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink’ [John 6:55]” (Homilies on Numbers 7:2 [A.D. 248]).

Cyprian of Carthage

“He [Paul] threatens, moreover, the stubborn and forward, and denounces them, saying, ‘Whosoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily, is guilty of the body and blood of the Lord’ [1 Cor. 11:27]. All these warnings being scorned and contemned—[lapsed Christians will often take Communion] before their sin is expiated, before confession has been made of their crime, before their conscience has been purged by sacrifice and by the hand of the priest, before the offense of an angry and threatening Lord has been appeased, [and so] violence is done to his body and blood; and they sin now against their Lord more with their hand and mouth than when they denied their Lord” (The Lapsed 15–16 [A.D. 251]).

Council of Nicaea I

“It has come to the knowledge of the holy and great synod that, in some districts and cities, the deacons administer the Eucharist to the presbyters [i.e., priests], whereas neither canon nor custom permits that they who have no right to offer [the Eucharistic sacrifice] should give the Body of Christ to them that do offer [it]” (Canon 18 [A.D. 325]).

Aphraahat the Persian Sage

“After having spoken thus [at the Last Supper], the Lord rose up from the place where he had made the Passover and had given his body as food and his blood as drink, and he went with his disciples to the place where he was to be arrested. But he ate of his own body and drank of his own blood, while he was pondering on the dead. With his own hands the Lord presented his own body to be eaten, and before he was crucified he gave his blood as drink” (Treatises 12:6 [A.D. 340]).

Cyril of Jerusalem

“The bread and the wine of the Eucharist before the holy invocation of the adorable Trinity were simple bread and wine, but the invocation having been made, the bread becomes the body of Christ and the wine the blood of Christ” (Catechetical Lectures 19:7 [A.D. 350]).
“Do not, therefore, regard the bread and wine as simply that; for they are, according to the Master’s declaration, the body and blood of Christ. Even though the senses suggest to you the other, let faith make you firm. Do not judge in this matter by taste, but be fully assured by the faith, not doubting that you have been deemed worthy of the body and blood of Christ. . . . [Since you are] fully convinced that the apparent bread is not bread, even though it is sensible to the taste, but the body of Christ, and that the apparent wine is not wine, even though the taste would have it so, . . . partake of that bread as something spiritual, and put a cheerful face on your soul” (ibid., 22:6, 9).

Ambrose of Milan

“Perhaps you may be saying, ‘I see something else; how can you assure me that I am receiving the body of Christ?’ It but remains for us to prove it. And how many are the examples we might use! . . . Christ is in that sacrament, because it is the body of Christ” (The Mysteries 9:50, 58 [A.D. 390]).

Theodore of Mopsuestia

“When [Christ] gave the bread he did not say, ‘This is the symbol of my body,’ but, ‘This is my body.’ In the same way, when he gave the cup of his blood he did not say, ‘This is the symbol of my blood,’ but, ‘This is my blood’; for he wanted us to look upon the [Eucharistic elements] after their reception of grace and the coming of the Holy Spirit not according to their nature, but receive them as they are, the body and blood of our Lord. We ought . . . not regard [the elements] merely as bread and cup, but as the body and blood of the Lord, into which they were transformed by the descent of the Holy Spirit” (Catechetical Homilies 5:1 [A.D. 405]).

Augustine

“Christ was carried in his own hands when, referring to his own body, he said, ‘This is my body’ [Matt. 26:26]. For he carried that body in his hands” (Explanations of the Psalms 33:1:10 [A.D. 405]).
“I promised you [new Christians], who have now been baptized, a sermon in which I would explain the sacrament of the Lord’s Table. . . . That bread which you see on the altar, having been sanctified by the word of God, is the body of Christ. That chalice, or rather, what is in that chalice, having been sanctified by the word of God, is the blood of Christ” (Sermons 227 [A.D. 411]).
“What you see is the bread and the chalice; that is what your own eyes report to you. But what your faith obliges you to accept is that the bread is the body of Christ and the chalice is the blood of Christ. This has been said very briefly, which may perhaps be sufficient for faith; yet faith does not desire instruction” (ibid., 272).

Council of Ephesus

“We will necessarily add this also. Proclaiming the death, according to the flesh, of the only-begotten Son of God, that is Jesus Christ, confessing his resurrection from the dead, and his ascension into heaven, we offer the unbloody sacrifice in the churches, and so go on to the mystical thanksgivings, and are sanctified, having received his holy flesh and the precious blood of Christ the Savior of us all. And not as common flesh do we receive it; God forbid: nor as of a man sanctified and associated with the Word according to the unity of worth, or as having a divine indwelling, but as truly the life-giving and very flesh of the Word himself. For he is the life according to his nature as God, and when he became united to his flesh, he made it also to be life-giving” (Session 1, Letter of Cyril to Nestorius [A.D. 431]).
“We will necessarily add this also. Proclaiming the death, according to the flesh, of the only-begotten Son of God, that is Jesus Christ, confessing his resurrection from the dead, and his ascension into heaven, we offer the unbloody sacrifice in the churches, and so go on to the mystical thanksgivings, and are sanctified, having received his holy flesh and the precious blood of Christ the Savior of us all. And not as common flesh do we receive it; God forbid: nor as of a man sanctified and associated with the Word according to the unity of worth, or as having a divine indwelling, but as truly the life-giving and very flesh of the Word himself. For he is the life according to his nature as God, and when he became united to his flesh, he made it also to be life-giving” (Session 1, Letter of Cyril to Nestorius [A.D. 431]).

So, when a well meaning, but ignorant, brother tells you that Lorraine Boettner said this or that denouncing the Eucharist, or that some former priest like Bennett, has said this or that against the Eucharist, you may feel free to tell him to get his facts straight. You may also tell him that if he really believed in "sola scriptura" that he would have already had the truth about the Eucharist readily available.

Oh, and when he carries on with some other wacky reason why the Eucharist cannot be what we Catholics believe it to be, I recommend that you tell him to go pound salt, because the truth is the truth, and all the fatuous rambling to try and change it, doesn't (change it.)

Pro-Life, Canadian - Caught Between a Rock and a Hard Place

2011-01-27T08:16:00.000-05:00

Catholic Insight Newsletter

In my email, I received this piece this morning, from Catholic Insight. Father Alphonse De Valk, its head is unabashedly pro-life from conception to natural death. He is a somewhat in your face supporter of life, and has been pilloried for it in polite society, human rights claims, emotional beat downs, etc. But, he is a priest and man of God, committed to the truth, and committed to the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church on life.

Acknowledging that at some time in the not too distant future, Canadians will go to the polls again, here is his advice for voters who care about life. In Canada, unborn life has little value, unless you, individually want it too. No protective legislation exists in our country for the unborn. Thank you Pierre Elliott Trudeau, though had it not been you, it would have been another leader.

What will you do the next time the opportunity to cast your vote comes up?

Father De Valk views the honouring of life as the most basic issue facing us as human beings and as Canadians (or Americans). How you treat the least of our society, the voiceless is how you will ultimately treat those higher up the food chain. Read what he has to say:

January 27, 2011

Dear Friends,

It is not known when the federal election will be called, but we had better think hard about how we will vote. By “we” I mean the people whom politicians call “social conservatives” and the media, anti-abortionists. We call ourselves “pro-life.”

In Canada, politically speaking, pro-lifers are between a rock and a hard place. We have no political leaders in office, no political party in Parliament and no power-brokers who champion our cause, decent and honourable though it is. We are orphans in every sense.

We defend the right and dignity of life of all human beings, including the unborn, the elderly, the poor, women, parents and families, but government ignores us. Of the four political parties, three are pro-abortion by constitution and principle and the fourth, the Conservatives, by decision of its leader.

Society

There are still many who do not understand what is happening to society. They perceive the decline in moral standards, but they do not see the connections between one thing and another.

Let me present the briefest outline. The first serious setback to the Canadian moral standard, which also governed the whole Western world, came in 1931, when the Anglican church approved contraception and thereby shattered the age-old unity against contraception that had existed among otherwise-divided Christians. Within 20 years, practically every Protestant church adopted the Anglican position. This was followed in 1960 by the invention of the birth control pill.

Contraception, including the pill, had two consequences: it created the false belief that people could follow their own course of action in matters concerning procreation; secondly, that there was no longer much need for religion. By 1975, many countries, including Canada, had changed their laws to allow contraception, abortion, divorce, homosexual relations, sterilization, suicide, pornography, artificial insemination and bio-ethical experimentation.

Contraception, abortion and same-sex “marriage” are all of one piece. All three are united in their refusal to acknowledge the primacy of God in creation. All three refuse to allow the act of pro-creation to follow its natural course. The first makes it subject to the will of humans instead of God; the second snuffs out the delivery of the child; the third denies the natural pro-creative function. The other legal changes complete the evils of the first three.

Stephen Harper, Canada’s prime minister, however, does not grasp the magnitude of the issue. On January 18, 2011, the CBC interviewed him. While he favoured a return of capital punishment, he said, he refused to touch abortion. CBC: “Would you re-open the abortion issue?” Stephen Harper: “No, no. Look, Peter, I have spent my political career trying to stay out of that issue. It is one on which people, including in my own party, have passionate views. They’re all over the map … What I say to people, if you want to diminish the number of abortions, you’ve got to change hearts and not laws. And I’m not interested in having a debate over abortion law.”

Well, a return to capital punishment has little or no support in Canada. The number of people erroneously convicted for capital crimes and then set free is sufficient to quash that idea. But on abortion, a majority of Canadians want restrictions on numbers, (110,000-115,000 a year) and their cost ($300 million annually).
Pro-Life: What to Do?

1. Vote for a pro-life Conservative in your riding. Why? Because Conservatives minus Harper provide theonly solution.

2. Do not vote for a Conservative who is not pro-life, even if there is no other pro-life candidate.

3. Do not accept a candidate’s claim that he/she is pro-life without checking how he/she voted.

4. Check with CampaignLifeCoalition.com for the candidate’s voting record.

5. Tell your Conservative pro-life candidate to retire Stephen Harper after the election, regardless of the outcome (majority or minority).

6. The pro-life issue is the most important issue Canada faces. Continued abortions will kill Canada economically, socially, morally, culturally and religiously.

7. If there is no pro-life Conservative, try another candidate, but only if he/she is pro-life. Check record as above under 4.

Stephen Harper has expressed his view often enough for us to know he means what he says. He has chosen to build his “legacy” on tinkering with economics and finance, instead of transcending the daily cut and thrust of venal politics and challenge the root issues that gnaw relentlessly at society: killing our children, destroying our families and rotting away our principles.

He does not understand that changing hearts and minds requires changing laws and leadership. He won’t do it; hence, retire him and find someone who will.

Is it Possible?

2011-01-26T08:18:00.000-05:00

Could the Eucharist Actually Be From God to And For Us?

If you go to a prayer meeting, or a gathering led by a man or woman of God, you may hear the speaker say something like: "God can do ANYTHING. Can I get an AMEN to that?" To which all gathered, shout out a resounding and joyful "AMEN".

But, do we believe that Amen, which means simply: It is so.

Because if it is so, God can do ANYTHING, and is not limited by our imagination, beliefs, aspirations, or fantasies.

So, could God, just could He, not does He, but could He actually make himself present in the Catholic Eucharistic celebration in the form of bread and wine? Well, could he? Why not. He can do anything.

I have read our Protestant brothers and sisters writing that God wouldn't do that. Some have said: It's gross, and it would be cannibalism. I can see how you could think that.

We Christians have little trouble believing that Jesus healed the blind, deaf, possessed, those with skin diseases etc. We Christians even believe that He raised the dead, Lazarus, and Jairus' daughter. So, c'mon here, when somebody is dead, they are gone, gone, gone. If He can do that, He can do anything. Which is easier, healing someone, or forgiving their sins? He did and does both.

We Christians can believe that Jesus went up on a mountain with his closest followers and was transfigured right before their eyes, and they saw Him as glorious and glorified. We believe that He can do that don't we? If that didn't prove that He was God, what would it take?

And if He could do that, could He allow himself to be nailed to a tree, and killed to take away our sins, and free us from sin and death? We Christians believe He could and that He did. But, if you think about it logically, wouldn't we be more likely to look at it as Peter did, and say "No way. No way?" It is only in retrospect that we can believe, as Peter believed.

So, why could Jesus not have instituted the Eucharist, as a memorial, but also as the real sacrifice of Himself on the Cross, once for all time, but suspended in time, complete and finished, once and for all, yet joined by the Eucharistic celebrations in time, to eternity.

Eternity (Jesus) stepped into time (here where we are). Could He, just could He have provided a way for us to step into eternity, where time no longer needs to exist?

Could He? Of course, He could.

But, did He? That is a matter of faith.

Engaging with Pro-Choice Advocates and Christian Fundamentalists

2011-01-24T10:13:00.000-05:00

CAN Be Like Teaching a Pig to Sing

The reason why one should never try to teach a pig to sing is that it is a waste of time and it also annoys the pig. For Catholic Christians committed to their faith and animated by that faith to honour life and their faith, engaging with those committed to fundamentalist Christian beliefs, and those committed to pro-choice beliefs tends to waste time as well, while begetting just another flurry of platitudes and rhetoric. Pro-choice advocates and Christian fundamentalists make strange bedfellows, and indeed they are, by and large, but their animus towards the beliefs that we, as Catholic Christians hold dear is very similar.

This past year, I have engaged in dialogue with a Christian fundamentalist over at Father Tim Moyle's blog "Where the Rubber Hits the Road". It proved to be a waste of time, and bore similar characteristics in responses to engaging pro-choice folks over there, as well. Both groups seem inclined to feed you their rhetoric; in the case of the fundamentalist it is focused on the errors of the Catholic Church. In the case of pro-choice folks, they label us as anti-choice, and then carry on their spiel about the evils of denying women the choice to do what they want with their own bodies. In both cases, they tend to get it wrong, factually. So, attempting to be honest and faithful to our Catholic heritage and beliefs, I have presented the truth as we/I understand it. There, a real similarity surfaced, that I found curious. Both groups when presented with something that does not fit their belief system, gloss right over it and move on to the next item on their list.

But, it brings me back to what this is all about. Ephesians 6:12, in the New International Version translation, says this:

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

So, engaging as I have, for me at least, is a lot like taking a pocket knife to a gun fight, where the only reason you had the pocket knife in the first place was to clean under your nails.

My visits to Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, including the one I will set out for in a few minutes have reminded me that Jesus is what this is all about. As Catholic Christians, we have Jesus as Our Lord and Saviour. BUT, in that faith, we also have the Eucharist, which the catechism, referencing Lumen Gentium, the papal encyclical, describes as "the summit and source of our faith."

When Father Clement Agamba, or Father Tim Moyle, another priest or deacon, or an Extraordinary Minister of the Eucharist presents me with Holy Communion, he or she says: "Body of Christ." I respond: "Amen." It is so, nothing less. It is Jesus present here in this place, just as He said He would be. I take a brief moment to look at that wafer of bread, now transubstantiated into the body and blood of Jesus, My Jesus, Your Jesus, and allow Him to come into me.

At SEAS, they have Eucharistic Adoration Monday to Saturday, for an extended period of time. As I watched Father Clement prepare the altar for this Adoration, I could see the love He has for Jesus, and the love that Jack, a member of the parish, who was helping in the preparation had for Our Saviour, has for Jesus, and it started to become Clear, Crystal Clear.

Those in attendance are led in prayers to open Adoration by the priest, and then one particular woman leads us in the Divine Mercy Chaplet and other prayers. She ends the communal part of the prayers with prayers to end abortion and for the closing of abortion mills. And again, it becomes Clear, Crystal Clear for me.

Our greatest weapon against ignorance and bigotry is prayer. We pray to return love where we are hated and reviled. We pray to let Jesus shine through us so that He cannot be mistaken. We pray for forgiveness for our sins and sinful tendencies, those things that prevent others from seeing Him in us, and blind us to Him for ourselves. We pray to see Him in those who oppose us, for He is surely present in them.

Prayer changes things, and the first thing that must change is our own hearts, if we are to be witnesses to Christ in this world.

We Are all Pro-Choice - As For Me, I Choose Life

2011-01-22T18:38:00.000-05:00

A recent attempt at debate on abortion over at Father Tim Moyle's Where the Rubber Hits the Road got into semantics as these debates always seem to do. Those who favour a woman having the right to abort her unborn child prefer to call themselves pro-choice, which is at least euphemistically easier to swallow than pro-abortion.

Pro as used in words like pro-choice and pro-life is a prefix that quite simply means "favouring or in support of". No mystery there. Anti on the other hand, which pro-choicers use to attempt to tarnish their adversaries in this debate is a prefix used to mean "opposing, against or the opposite", so in this case, when Pro-choice folks call pro-life folks anti-choice, they mean opposing choice. So, to say that those who are against abortion are anti-choice is at first blush ingenuous, and is meant to be pejorative.

Jared Loughner was pro-choice a few weeks ago here in Tucson, Arizona. He went to a polite political gathering with Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and many of her constituents, and firmly expressed his choice that she and several of her supporters did not deserve to continue to live. It was, after all, his choice to believe that. To prove his point, he pulled a Glock 9 gun out and shot Ms. Giffords point blank in the head, and shot an additional 18 other people, 6 of whom died from their wounds. Not one Pro-Choice organisation came out in favour of Jared Loughner's right to choose to shoot those people. Not one. So, those groups calling themselves pro-choice are not pro every choice, just particular choices.

People make choices every day. I chose to drink a cappuchino just a few minutes ago. I might have chosen a chai latte, or a cup of decaf, but, no, I chose a cappuchino. I exercised my right to choose. Yet, those who favour abortion call me anti-choice, because I do not believe that it is a woman's right to impose her will on an unborn child that she helped create, usually complicitly.

In the debate that waged over at Father Tim's, those favouring a woman's right to have an abortion were attempting to say that organisations offering abortion as an alternative to a live birth of an unborn child are not really pro-abortion organisations.

They were in particular writing about NARAL. That organisation's official name today is NARAL Pro-Choice America. It's original name when it was established in 1969 was National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws. After Roe v.Wade, it changed its name to National Abortion Rights Action League, then to National Abortion & Reproductive Rights Action League. Finally in 2003, the long form was reduced to the current moniker. In that time, only one major change happened. Where the second "A" in the short form NARAL stood for Abortion early on, it jumped up to the first position in the later names.

One commenter over at Father Tim's blog post, who is pro-choice quoted this from the NARAL web site:

Our Solution
We will always have to fight to keep abortion safe and legal. This means defeating attacks in Congress and in the states.
We also believe in reducing the need for abortion. This means we support improving access to birth control and teaching young people comprehensive sex education.
Finally, we always are sure to separate anti-choice myths from facts.

-NARAL's page on Abortion, 1/20/11 (emphasis added.)

Of course, if there is a solution offered, it is appropriate to know the problem that is being solved, so here it is direct from NARAL's site:

The Problem
Anti-choice people want to outlaw abortion, regardless of the woman's situation. They will stop at nothing to make it harder for women to access abortion. They even target the doctors who provide abortion care.

Anti-choice people use many of the following tactics to reach their goals:
Violent tactics that intimidate doctors and patients
Bans on safe abortion methods that protect women's health
Restrictions on low-income women's access to abortion and other health care
Dangerous laws that jeopardize young women's health and safety
"Crisis pregnancy centers" that intentionally mislead women
"Personhood" measures that would ban abortion
Distortions of science to instill fear
Restrictions on women's access to RU 486
Refusal clauses that deny women basic health services.

So, this sounds like a lot of rhetoric to me, but let's break it down a little piece by piece, starting with the Problem.

"Anti-choice people want to outlaw abortion, regardless of the woman's situation."

Yes, they have that one sorta right. 1 for 1, except for calling pro-life people anti-choice. Those people who identify with the pro-life cause are FOR all human life from conception to natural death. We cared about Terry Schiavo, when she was killed by her husband removing her feeding and starving her to death. We are against Dr. Death (Jack Kevorkian) and euthanasia. We are against placing a score on a human life that makes it more valuable than another, or less valuable than another human life. We are against a choice that would terminate a human life chemically, surgically or otherwise, and that particularly includes abortion in its many shapes and forms. So I guess it is not really 1 for 1.

So, how about this next piece:

They will stop at nothing to make it harder for women to access abortion. They even target the doctors who provide abortion care.

That is a highly charged statement. "Stop at nothing". Really!! Almost to a one, pro-life people are fighting this battle on their knees. The Catholics pray the Rosary, pray prayers of intercession for the babies, their parents, abortion providers, and others caught in this web of deceit. And they do target the doctors, by picketing peacefully in front of their abortion mills, and do so with more vigour during the 40 Days for Life programmes twice a year in most major cities in the US and Canada.

Let's move on to the tactics attributed to those mean anti-choice folks:

Violent tactics that intimidate doctors and patients

Some anti-choicers actually enter restricted zones to tell young women that they are praying for them and to beg them not to abort their unborn child. I'll bet that the truth does intimidate people. It does me, when I am off the reservation.
Here's the next 3:

Bans on safe abortion methods that protect women's health

Restrictions on low-income women's access to abortion and other health care

Dangerous laws that jeopardize young women's health and safety

There is no abortion method that is safe for the unborn child, and the number of cases where unsafe abortion practices are coming to the fore is reprehensible, in light of such a declaration. What particular need do low income women and young women have for abortion? If you keep it zipped up, there is no need for abortion. If you value the child that you created, you do not have a need for abortion either. There is also no evidence to suggest that an abortion protects a woman's health. In fact, the evidence of post abortion mental and physical health issues is heading for an epidemic. See what former abortionist Joy Davis has to say, or read the stories of these other former abortion providers.

How about this one:

"Crisis pregnancy centers" that intentionally mislead women

Crisis pregnancy centers take in young women and help them to deliver safely the babies that they have in their wombs. These babies are often put up for adoption, though a mother who realizes that she wants to keep her baby is encouraged to do so. How's that for misleading?

This one is actually true:

"Personhood" measures that would ban abortion

We of the pro-life belief hold that an infant in the womb is a person from conception, and deserves to have all rights that other persons have. One pundit, who is a Catholic, though one must question his sincerity on this particular point, proclaimed a couple of times on his show that a child in the womb is a "potential human being". A baby in the womb is as much a potential human being as a 2 year old is a potential teenager.

Or this one:

Distortions of science to instill fear

The only distortion of science is by the pro-choice crowd, who keep trying to insist that a baby is not a baby, but fetal tissue, able to be aborted at least until it leaves the womb. That does not even make sense.

This is no surprise and is absolutely true:

Restrictions on women's access to RU 486

Pro-life folks are absolutely in favour of a complete ban on RU 486. Why is pretty simple? RU 486 causes an abortion of a live fetus early in its gestation. By the way, many instances of birth control pills also cause spontaneous abortions, preventing the fetus from implanting.

The last one is pretty rich:

Refusal clauses that deny women basic health services

There is no pro-life follower who is interested in denying any woman basic health services, but abortion is not a basic health service. It can easily be argued that abortion is hazardous to a woman's health.

So, NARAL wants you to believe that they are not a pro-abortion organisation. I, for one, do not believe it for an instant. The above from NARAL is all rhetoric and baffle gab, intent on misrepresenting facts to show a false front.

It would be appropriate to read what Abby Johnson, a former abortion clinic director, says on her web site. in her new book "Unplanned," which is available on Amazon or from her web site.

The truth is painful. It usually is, but it sure beats the lies that have been floated to trap women into surrendering the children in their wombs.

Left/Right - Herding Cats

2011-01-21T19:49:00.000-05:00

Earlier today, I posted a conservative perspective on the issues of Democrats and Republicans, which is really more easily described as left versus right. In Canada, we have the Liberals and the Conservatives, though with two other major parties, the left/right gets a little more muddled. Father Clement Agamba, a native of Ghana assured me in a note today that in Ghana it is also the same, where they have, as he said, the "National Democratic Congress who see themselves as social democrats, and National Patriotic Party, who believe in the individual working to create wealth for himself/herself." He also noted that this condition exists in all democracies around the world.

"Left wing" and "right wing" as terms to define political orientations first began with the French Revolution, where in the Estates General in France, the liberal deputies, members of the Third Estate, who were most interested in reform and revolution sat to the left of the president's chair. Those of the Second Estate, which comprised the nobility of France, were most interested in preservation, conservation of the status quo, counter revolutionaries, as it were.

It is interesting to note the matter of Estates in France. The First Estate, omitted above, were in fact, the clergy of the day, where the Bishops were the higher clergy, and parish priests and other religious were considered the lower clergy. But, moving on.

Father Clement in his homily today spoke of the 12 disciples, who Jesus picked to follow and become his apostles. Were they all carbon copies of each other? No, in truth they were not. In their midst was Matthew, a tax collector. A tax collector was an outcast. After all he robbed the poor to give to the rich, and was on the payroll to do so. No fancy IRS code, or Income Tax Act at his side. Things were a little more spontaneous for tax grabbing in those days.

And too, there was Simon the Zealot. The zealots as Father Clement explained in his note to me, and at Mass this morning, were nationalists. So, for Simon a nationalist to be called to come together with Matthew, a source of revenue for the occupying Romans is a stretch. But, we know it happened. By the grace of God, these two men from opposite ends of the spectrum became two of those who carried on the work of Christ on this earth.

Imagine how lively discussions between these two must have been in the early going. Natural enemies. Then, of course throw in the other ten, including the two sons of Zebedee, James and John, called in today's Gospel, "Sons of Thunder". A number of years ago, our parish priest at St. Joseph's Parish in London Ontario was Father Jim Williams. He was called Father "Tiny" Williams, though he was 6'4"tall. Somehow, I don't get the feeling that the Sons of Thunder were shy and retiring sorts, so they would have added to the mix.

Jesus was the first recorded herder of cats in history.

If we look at the desires of the liberal leaning members of our society, not with a jaundiced eye, but rather attempted to understand what it is they believe, those of us who are conservative in our leanings might learn something new. If the liberal leaning members of our society were to look, without prejudice at what conservatives are interested in, again something new might be learned.

But, most of us are too committed to positions to listen to reason, or to engage in meaningful dialogue. A televised presidential candidate or party leader debate during elections in the USA or Canada, does not qualify as sharing of beliefs and listening to each other.

But, there is a small wind of change happening here in the US next week. Republican and Democratic members of the House of Representatives will be intermingled for the State of the Union address by President Obama. We would be cautious to not see this as a kiss and make up occasion, where bygones will be bygones, but it is as opportunity for some fence mending, and some sharing of thoughts.

At election times, the will of the people surfaces to a small extent, but often gets blurred by political rhetoric and character assassination ads on television and in other media. The ads remind me so much of the family squabbles between siblings that happened in our family, and I hazard a guess, in yours. "Mom, she hit me." "Mom, he hit me first." "Did not." "Did too." You get the picture.

And so, the collective might of nations to govern themselves in the interest of the people gets lost, in childish power struggles and bickering.

Jesus knew how to make men of different backgrounds and leanings work together, even with their free wills. He gave us His Authority to use here on earth, to continue his work, to make the Kingdom of Heaven remain at hand. A successful marriage is the uniting of a man and a woman, and there is nothing more different than men and women, forging a unity out of their differences in love for each other.

Can we learn something from marriage, and from Jesus selection of the Apostles, that we can apply to the political realm in our two great North American nations, to quell the rancor and back biting that pervades our political climates?

As a humorous aside, here is a commercial shot a few years back about herding cats. If they can do it, we can too.

A Father Daughter Discussion

2011-01-21T11:43:00.000-05:00

Liberals vs. Conservatives/Democrats vs. Republicans
The following arrived in my email inbox today, and I find it interesting. It is a perspective, as is the quote from Margaret Thatcher and link to a NY Post article about Liberal Myths, and the truth about them.

What I found even more interesting was Father Clement Agamba's final prayer at the 7 am Mass at Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton this morning. It was a prayer for peace, including peace between and among Democrats and Republicans, something that might be easier for him as a Ghanan citizen and me as a Canadian citizen to pray for than for the local citizenry.

A young woman was about to finish her first year of college. Like so many others her age, she considered herself to be a very Liberal Democrat, and among other liberal ideals, was very much in Favor of higher taxes to support more government programs, in other Words redistribution of wealth.

She was deeply ashamed that her father was a rather staunch Republican, a feeling she openly expressed. Based on the Lectures that she had participated in, and the occasional chat with a professor she felt that her father had for years harbored an evil, selfish desire to keep what he thought should be his.

One day she was challenging her father on his opposition to Higher taxes on the rich and the need for more government programs. The self-professed objectivity proclaimed by her professors had to Be the truth and she indicated so to her father. He responded by Asking how she was doing in school.

Taken aback, she answered rather haughtily that she had a 4.0 GPA, and let him know that it was tough to maintain, insisting that She was taking a very difficult course load and was constantly studying, which left her no time to go out and party like other people She knew. She didn't even have time for a boyfriend, and didn't really have many college friends, because she spent all her time studying.

Her father listened and then asked , 'How is your friend Audrey doing?' She replied, ' Audrey is barely getting by. All she takes are Easy classes, she never studies, and she barely has a 2.0 GPA. She Is so popular on campus; college for her is a blast. She's always invited to all the parties and lots of times she doesn't even show up for classes because she's too hung over.'

Her wise father asked his daughter, 'Why don't you go to the Dean's office and ask him to deduct 1.0 off your GPA and give it to your friend who only has a 2.0. That way you will both have a 3.0 GPA, and certainly that would be a fair and equal distribution of GPA.' The daughter, visibly shocked by her father's suggestion, angrily fired back, 'That's a crazy idea, how would that be fair! I've worked really hard for my grades! I've invested a lot of time, and a lot of hard work! Audrey has done next to nothing toward her degree. She played while I worked my tail off!'

The father slowly smiled, winked and said gently, 'Welcome to The Republican party.' If anyone has a better explanation of the difference between Republican and Democrat I'm all ears.

If you ever wondered what side of the fence you sit on, this is a great test!

If a conservative doesn't like guns, he doesn't buy one.
If a liberal doesn't like guns, he wants all guns outlawed.

If a conservative is a vegetarian, he doesn't eat meat..
If a liberal is a vegetarian, he wants all meat products banned for
everyone.

If a conservative is homosexual, he quietly leads his life.
If a liberal is homosexual, he demands legislated respect.

If a conservative is down-and-out, he thinks about how to better his situation.
A liberal wonders who is going to take care of him.

If a conservative doesn't like a talk show host, he switches channels.
Liberals demand that those they don't like be shut down.

If a conservative is a non-believer, he doesn't go to church.
A liberal non-believer wants any mention of God and religion silenced.
(Unless it's a foreign religion, of course!)

If a conservative reads this, he'll forward it so his friends can have
a good laugh.
A liberal will delete it because he's "offended".

Here are the other two items a quote from the Iron Lady, Margaret Thatcher, and a link to a NY Post article.

Margaret Thatcher, the former Conservative Prime Minister of Great Britain said in a TV interview for Thames TV This Week on Feb. 5, 1976, "...and Socialist governments traditionally do make a financial mess. They [socialists] always run out of other people's money. It's quite a characteristic of them."

You might find the linked article from the NY Post interesting titled Liberal Myths vs. Reality.

Patience and Wisdom

2011-01-21T09:46:00.000-05:00

In my life, I have learned that among the most important qualities in a person are patience and wisdom.

Patience for me has come after many hard lessons. In fact, God, in His patience and wisdom finally had to hit me in the back of the head with a Ford Aerostar van over 7 years ago. Patience for me became not an option. I wish that I had been able to learn patience another way, but I am grateful that He loves me enough to teach me patience inspite of my long term impatience.

Wisdom is a whole other matter. Many of us possess tons of knowledge. A life lived will give you that. For many of us, our knowledge has been limited. At 60 years of age, do I have 1 year of experience 60 times, or 60 years of experience? But, wisdom is not just about what you know. There is wisdom in knowing what you do not know, and even more can be found in not knowing what you don't know.

Here is a humorous pictorial example of wisdom and patience. Works for me.

From Death to Rebirth

2011-01-20T18:05:00.000-05:00

We Are Resurrection People

The people who were killed and injured here in Tucson recently have been in my thoughts and prayers since, and as I related, by my attendance at the daily and Sunday masses held at Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton parish, I have felt at least a remote part of the tragedy and its aftermath. The healing of those wounded continues apace, and the healing of those who lost loved ones begins.

Funerals and memorial services have been held for the deceased, including the funerals of Judge John Roll and Christina Taylor Green that were held at SEAS.

Yesterday, I had lunch with a 53 year old man and father of a 9 year old son, whose wife passed away this past October from brain cancer. Although she had been diagnosed 23 months prior to her demise, she was only seriously disabled by the disease for the last 5 months of her 49 years here on earth. This man is grief stricken, but coping as best he can, and looking after his son to the best of his abilities. It should come as no surprise that the Tucson shooting did not come up in our discussion. He has enough coping with tragedy on his own plate to last him for some time to come. He wondered if the grief he was feeling was appropriate. I have had enough personal grieving over losses to know that we are all individuals, with individual circumstances, and how we grieve our losses is very personal. I assured him that he was doing fine, and that there was no blueprint, just a journey.

Yesterday, before meeting my new friend, I had been at SEAS for mass, and spent time before the Eucharist exposed for Adoration. For me, coming to grips with the incomprehensible is not about finding who to blame, as many are attempting, but in putting it all at the foot of the Cross, and giving it to Our Saviour in hope and trust.

But, this morning I had two opportunities to witness the aftermath of the tragedy, and whereas aftermath is usually a harsh word that means more bad stuff, what is coming out of the tragedy is not unlike what has arisen out of 9/11.

On the Catholic Channel there was an interview today, replayed from late last summer with Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York, speaking with Father Jim Martin, a Jesuit priest, and well known Catholic writer. Father Martin related how he had been in New York at the time of 9/11, and had the opportunity to minister to people at Ground Zero for the two weeks after that monumental tragedy. He spoke of how the Holy Spirit was alive and well, and that there was much good fruit that came out of what happened that September day. He said mass there, and distributed communion to the faithful, and witnessed to them of the forever love of Jesus.

This morning I attended the 9 am mass at SEAS, and it was a mass for the students of the Catholic school on the property. The students were all in their school uniforms and many of them were seated with their parents, and families. Something special happened at this mass. 3 young people, students at the school, 2 of whom were about the age of Christina Taylor Green, were baptized during the mass. Father Al Caponigro, a transplant from Cleveland, spoke during his homily of how SEAS had become famous for all the wrong reasons last week, because of the funerals, and how when he turned his cell phone on after the masses, he had several voice mail messages from people from Cleveland and around the USA who he knew, who suddenly realized that he was where the goings on were going on.

He reminded those in attendance that SEAS was not just a building that had held funerals for two decedents, but that it was the spiritual home of all present today, and many who had attended the funerals as well, and that SEAS was joined in prayer with Christian congregations around the world, by our faith in Our Saviour and Lord. And, further that played out in the admission to membership of those newly baptized.

So, while we bid some adieu at their funerals, and godspeed to their heavenly home, we also are renewed by the new members who join us in communion.

After mass, I drove over to the Safeway store at Ina Road and Oracle Road, the site of the shootings. I was curious to see how the event was being remembered. A monument of sorts had been placed in front of the store for Rep. Giffords, and for all who were killed and injured. Many local residents had put hand written notes of condolence there. Many more had placed a bouquet of flowers, or a teddy bear, or other memento. But what was very evident was the faith component evidenced by votive candles that were burning to keep the light of faith in memory.

At the Baptisms at SEAS, the final sacramental is the lighting of a candle from the Easter candle for each of the baptized, and as a reminder to their families, godparents and us all that we are to be the light of the world, in our role of being Christ for others here on earth.

And so, the candles at both locations remind us that in tragedy or joy, He is present. He is the Light of the World, and we are to bear that light to a world that is in darkness.

May God use these tragedies, and joyful occasions to bring us all to knowledge of Him, and of the redemptive work His Son accomplished for us here on earth.

Catholic Priests - in persona Christi

2011-01-17T11:45:00.094-05:00

Much of the problem that exists between Catholics and Protestants, is that our Protestant brothers and sisters have looked upon Christianity as a buffet, and not as a 10 course sit down meal served by Our Saviour. That has happened because the senses of mystery, including timelessness and adoration of Jesus, has been lost. But, in fact, who can blame them for moving in that direction? So many of the members of the Catholic Church who have always known and practiced the truth of the mystery of the divinity in ritual and prayer have not been good keepers and purveyors of this mystery. Shame on us, and shame on them.

Take the Catholic priesthood. The priesthood is a link to our Jewish brethren, and to the Great High Priest, Jesus. The ministerial priesthood is one of the great examples of the presence of Jesus Christ here on earth to this day.

Last week, something caught my eye at morning mass. At 7 am, there was a family with 6 boys ranging in age from 3-13 or so, and another family with two girls and a boy from about 5-8 or so. At communion time, the family of three children came over to the other side of the chapel, so that they could present themselves to the priest for a blessing as they had not yet received their first Holy Communion. After Mass, the celebrant, Father Clement Agamba stayed near the altar for a few minutes to greet the boys in the other family and shake their hands. These young boys then took time to pray kneeling in front of the alter and assisted in blowing out the candles.

This Sunday, I went to mass at Our Lady of Fatima parish nearby, and there saw little children jumping over to the line of Father Ray Ratzenburger so that they could receive communion from him or a blessing.

It brought to mind one Sunday morning when my own children were quite small, and we attended St. Justin's Parish in London, Ontario. The priest there was Father Pat Mellon, in his college days a big strapping tight end for the University of Western Ontario Mustangs, now deceased for many years. On this particular Sunday a little boy turned to his mother just after Father Pat passed him by and said in a loud voice: "There's God, Mummy."

At first blush these incidents are cute, and speak to the innocence of little children, but do they say more? Do these little children in that innocence know more than we do spiritually? Are they just not yet tainted by worldly knowledge? Jesus told us to come to Him as the little children.

I think the little ones have lessons to remind us of, if not to teach us of outright.

God had the Jews institute a ministerial priesthood to stand between the people and God imperfectly and ceremonially. When Jesus walked the earth, He did so as our High Priest, and so like the Jews he offered sacrifice, once and for all, to God for our sins. He stood in the gap as man and as God. Only God could come face to face with God, and only man could meet us here on the earth, since we could not be in the unblemished, and pure presence of God and survive.

But, He who was God every bit as much as He was man, chose to have man participate in His atoning sacrifice. How, you ask? Though as God he was every bit as capable as we were of nailing himself to the Cross, we had to do it, to participate in this atonement. We too, had to take Him down from the Cross, lay Him in a tomb, and go back to the tomb and see that He had risen from the dead, none of which was practically necessary for the God of the universe. And if one of us had been the only person on the planet at the time, the one would have had to do all those tasks. That's love, His not ours.

Our Protestant brothers and sisters say that His sacrifice was sufficient of itself, and we, as faithful Catholics should say a resounding Amen. Our Protestant brothers and sisters also say that only Christ can forgive our sins, to which we should again say a resounding Amen.

But, Christ gave his authority to the Apostles, with the intention of it continuing. So, we say in the Catholic Church that our priests, including Bishops and Cardinals are operating in persona christi, as it relates to the administration of the sacraments.

So, when a priest hears a confession, it is not he as himself, but he as Christ, Christ with skin on as it were, offering absolution, and conferring the graces of confession on the penitent.

When a priest comes to the altar of the Lord and offers the sacrifice for us during Mass, he is not doing it on his own, and he is not offering a new sacrifice. He is presenting again, and still the one sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross, in the substance and form that Jesus prescribed at the last supper. In the persona of Our Saviour, this priest offers the elements to God for God to change them into the Body and Blood of Jesus so that we the members of the royal priesthood in attendance, can obey Jesus words to us to take and eat, and take and drink.

Children are not caught up in time and space, as we are. Therefor, they see things as they really are, not as we believe them to be as we get older and jaded by life in the trenches.

We have been jaded by priests who have not taken their vows of chastity and continence seriously, and have fallen to temptation. Though the statistics show that the percentage of priests who fall into sexual sin is not greater than other parts of society, their sin destroys for many the image of in persona christi. They are called to live lives of holiness, like Jesus, and to present Him to us. When a priest leaves the priesthood to marry, or commits a crime, or even when he tries to be just one of the boys, rather than being set apart, we all suffer. (The problem is not being one of the boys, but being just one of the boys.)

We are their families, you and me. They have a responsibility to be Christlike for us, to show us the way, but it is not all on their shoulders. WE owe them the responsibility to pray diligently for them, because the temptations are great, and without proper prayer cover from the faithful, the road is very hard indeed, not impossible, but very hard.

Father, as a great gift to us, you call many men to be ordained to the Catholic priesthood, and many listen to and follow that call. Sadly, some have fallen by the wayside, and without our prayerful support more will fall. But, that is not as it should be Father, and so we, the royal priests, intercede on their behalf with you Father, for their protection, for their encouragement, for their sanctity.

Mother Mary, surround these precious brothers of ours with your mantle of protection, as they strive daily to represent your Son, Jesus for us in daily life.

Saint Michael and our guardian angels, come defend them (and us) in battle, Be their (and our) safeguard against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him we humbly pray, and do thou o prince of the heavenly host, by the power of God, cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who prowl through the world seeking the ruin of their (and our) souls. Amen.