Saturday, May 16, 2009

Gospel for the 6th Sunday of Easter

From: John 15:9-17

The Vine and the Branches (Continuation)

(Jesus said to His disciples,) [9] "As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you; abide in My love. [10] If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love. [11] These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

The Law of Love

[12] "This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. [13] Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. [14] You are My friends if you do what I command you. [15] No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. [16] You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide; so that whatever you ask the Father in My name, He may give it to you. [17] This I command you, to love one another."
________________________
Commentary:
9-11. Christ's love for Christians is a reflection of the love the Three Divine Persons have for one another and for all men: "We love, because He first loved us" (1 John 4:19).

The certainty that God loves us is the source of Christian joy (verse 11), but it is also something which calls for a fruitful response on our part, which should take the form of a fervent desire to do God's will in everything, that is, to keep His commandments, in imitation of Jesus Christ, who did the will of His Father (cf. John 4:34).

12-15. Jesus insists on the "new commandment", which He Himself keeps by giving His life for us. See note on John 13:34-35.

Christ's friendship with the Christian, which our Lord expresses in a very special way in this passage, is something very evident in [St] Monsignor Escriva de Balaguer's preaching: "The life of the Christian who decides to behave in accordance with the greatness of his vocation is so to speak a prolonged echo of those words of our Lord, `No longer do I call you My servants; a servant is one who does not understand what his master is about, whereas I have made known to you all that My Father has told Me; and so I have called you My friends' (John 15:15). When we decide to be docile and follow the will of God, hitherto unimagined horizons open up before us.... `There is nothing better than to recognize that Love has made us slaves of God. From the moment we recognize this we cease being slaves and become friends, sons' ([St] J. Escriva, "Friends of God", 35).

"Sons of God, FRIENDS OF GOD.... Jesus is truly God and truly Man, He is our Brother and our Friend. If we make the effort to get to know Him well `we will share in the joy of being God's friends' ["ibid.", 300]. If we do all we can to keep Him company, from Bethlehem to Calvary, sharing His joys and sufferings, we will become worthy of entering into loving conversation with Him. As the Liturgy of the Hours sings, "calicem Domini biberunt, et amici Dei facti sunt" (they drank the chalice of the Lord and so became friends of God).

"Being His children and His friends are two inseparable realities for those who love God. We go to Him as children, carrying on a trusting dialogue that should fill the whole of our lives; and we go to Him as friends.... In the same way our divine sonship urges us to translate the overflow of our interior life into apostolic activity, just as our friendship with God leads us to place ourselves at `the service of all men. We are called to use the gifts God has given us as instruments to help others discover Christ' ["ibid.", 258]" (Monsignor A. del Portillo in his preface to [St] J. Escriva's, "Friends of God").

16. There are three ideas contained in these words of our Lord. One, that the calling which the Apostles received and which every Christian also receives does not originate in the individual's good desires but in Christ's free choice. It was not the Apostles who chose the Lord as Master, in the way someone would go about choosing a rabbi; it was Christ who chose them. The second idea is that the Apostles' mission and the mission of every Christian is to follow Christ, to seek holiness and to contribute to the spread of the Gospel. The third teaching refers to the effectiveness of prayer done in the name of Christ; which is why the Church usually ends the prayers of the liturgy with the invocation "Through Jesus Christ our Lord...".

The three ideas are all interconnected: prayer is necessary if the Christian life is to prove fruitful, for it is God who gives the growth (cf. 1 Corinthians 3:7); and the obligation to seek holiness and to be apostolic derives from the fact that it is Christ Himself who has given us this mission. "Bear in mind, son, that you are not just a soul who has joined other souls in order to do a good thing.

"That is a lot, but it's still little. You are the Apostle who is carrying out an imperative command from Christ" ([St] J. Escriva, "The Way", 942).
___________________________
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland. Reprinted with permission from Four Courts Press and Scepter Publishers, the U.S. publisher.

Notre Dame Warns TV Networks that They Will 'Cut the Feed'

Other news: A Local attorney requested an emergency hearing, in order to request bond for the seven pro-lifers who were being held without bond. The judge granted the request, but placed a high bond on those in custody. Pro-lifers are currently seeking people to bond them out.

Other news: A journalist told a StopObamNotreDame official that the University threatened to "cut the feed" of any network that covers disruptions during Obama's address.

Randall Terry states: "Notre Dame is so desperate to hide the fruit of their sin, that they will cover up the truth of what happens inside the auditorium. We pray for the success of those who are committed to bearing witness during Obama's address."
Jenkins and company are a disgrace to all humanity for having Baraq Hussein Obortion speak and receive and honorary degree...Pathetic lost souls in Satan's grasp...

Read more here.

And for those interested:
Live Stream! Notre Dame Commencement Ceremonies
Each year, the University videotapes the Notre Dame Commencement exercises. This year, one can watch ceremonies live via streaming video.
Saturday:
11:30 a.m. (Tape delay from earlier)
ROTC Commissioning Ceremony

10:00 a.m.
Graduate School Commencement Ceremony

4:40 p.m.
Commencement Mass
Catholic TV – Music Texts

Sunday
12:45 pm
University Commencement Ceremony
Live video will be available starting at 12:45 p.m. on Sunday, May 17, 2009.

1:15 p.m. – Academic Procession

2:00 p.m. – University Commencement Ceremony

Principles and Practices - May 17

Real Devotion

This resolution is not the fruit of a passing ardour or of a heated imagination; it is confirmed by innumerable acts of renuncia­tion and mortification, it has its abode in the depths of the will, it persists continually and subconsciously, and the least important acts of life performed in this disposition, which is that of perfect love, are of great value in the eyes of God.

-Saudreau-Bidwell.
_________________
From Principles and Practices
Compiled by Rev. J. Hogan of The Catholic Missionary Society
Published by Burns Oates & Washbourne Ltd., Publishers To The Holy See
Nihil Obstat; Eduardus J. Mahoney, S.T.D. Censor deputatus.
Imprimatur; Edm. Can. Surmont, Vicarius generalis.
First printed in 1930

Thoughts of St Augustine for May 17

I AM treating of the Word of God and telling you why it is not understood. I am not now speaking to make it understood, but I tell you what hinders it from being understood. For he is a certain Form, a Form not formed, but the Form of all things formed; a Form un­changeable, without failure, without decay, without time, without place, surpassing all things, being in all things as at once a kind of foundation in which they are and a Head­stone under which they are.
_________________________
Click here for more information.

From Thoughts of St Augustine for Every Day
by Kathleen Mary Balfe (© 1926)
Nihil Obstat: Georgius D. Smith, S.T.D
Imprimatur: Edm. Can. Surmont

Thoughts from St Alphonsus for Every Day-May 17

VALERIUS MAXIMUS relates that when Corio­lanus was besieging Rome, the prayers of his friends and all citizens were insufficient to make him desist; but as soon as he beheld his mother, Veturia, imploring him, he could no longer refuse, and immediately raised the siege. But the prayers of Mary with Jesus are so much more powerful than those of Veturia as the love and gratitude of this Son for his most dear Mother are greater.
_________________
From Thoughts from St Alphonsus for Every Day
Compiled by Rev. C. McNeiry, C.SS.R.
Imprimatur: Joseph Hull, C.SS.R., Prov. Angl. Sup.
Nihil Obstat: Innocentlus Apap, O.P., S.T.M., Censor Deptutatus.
Imprimatur: Edm. Can. Surmont, Vicarius Generalis.
Westmonasterii, Die 9a Junii, 1927.
First published 1927

"Fr. Norm" - 80-Year-Old Priest Arrsted, Jailed at Notre Dame

Here is the video of Fr. Norm Weslin's arrest by University of Notre Dame police. He was carrying a cross and singing a hymn in honor of the mother of Jesus Christ ---"Our Lady" -- "Notre Dame."

Why Does Our Lady Cry? Protesting Against the Scandal

The following begins TFP's statement on the Notre Dame graduation controversy:

Our Lady shed tears at the foot of the Cross, how could she not shed tears contemplating the Passion of Holy Mother Church today?

Our Lady cries when she sees how secularism has declared open war on the Catholic Church and Christian morals in our nation.

We see this in the increasing expulsion of the Faith from the public square in America. It is found in the efforts of activist judges and opportunistic legislators who are placing marriage and same-sex unions on the same footing.

We see this in the many new appointments of notoriously “pro-choice” officials who favor abortion on demand and American funding of this “slaughter of innocents” in foreign countries...

Friday, May 15, 2009

Gospel for Saturday, 5th Week of Easter

From: John 15:18-21

A Hostile World

(Jesus said to His disciples,) [18] "If the world hates you, know that it has hated Me before it hated you. [19] If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. [20] Remember the word that I said to you, `A servant is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also. [21] But all this they will do to you on My account, because they do not know Him who sent Me."
_____________________
Commentary:
18-19. Jesus states that there can be no compromise between Him and the world, the kingdom of sin: anyone who lives in sin abhors the light (cf. John 3:19-20). This is why Christ is persecuted, and why the Apostles will be in their turn. "The hostility of the perverse sounds like praise for our life", St. Gregory says, "because it shows that we have at least some rectitude if we are an annoyance to those who do not love God; no one can be pleasing to God and to God's enemies at the same time. He who seeks to please those who oppose God is no friend of God; and he who submits himself to the truth will fight against those who strive against truth" ("In Ezechielem Homiliae", 9).

___________________________
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland. Reprinted with permission from Four Courts Press and Scepter Publishers, the U.S. publisher.

Will One Bishop Pray With Us At Notre Dame On Saturday?


Updates:
--------
Two Priests Arrested With Dr. Keyes and 20 Pro-Lifers: Will One Bishop Pray With Us At Notre Dame On Saturday?

Police violate rights of peaceful praying people, refuse to allow Dr. Keyes and others to bond out of jail.

Norma McCorvey, AKA "Jane Roe" of Roe vs. Wade, to pray and risk arrest with others at Notre Dame at Saturday, May 16, at 12 noon....

The following is a statement by Randall Terry, founder of Operation Rescue:
"Is there one - just one - Catholic Bishop in all of America who will walk on campus and pray with us?

"St. John Fisher - the only Catholic Bishop who stood against Henry III, stands in stark contrast with the Bishops of his day. We are praying for one Bishop with the fiber of St. John Fisher to join us at the epicenter of this 'clash' between the culture of life and the culture of death. Such a witness would resound throughout the earth.

"Would Notre Dame really arrest an American Bishop who walked quietly on campus, praying, and holding an image of Mary? We need to find out.

"We are pleading with Bishop D'Arcy to use his authority to grant emergency relief from the deeds of Notre Dame's administration."

Principles and Practices - May 16

A Great Proof

It is no small proof of virtue to live a good life among the depraved, to preserve the pureness of innocence, and gentleness of character, among the evil-disposed; it is still a greater one to be peaceful with those who are hostile to peace, and to show yourself a friend to your enemies themselves.

-St. Bernard.
_________________
From Principles and Practices
Compiled by Rev. J. Hogan of The Catholic Missionary Society
Published by Burns Oates & Washbourne Ltd., Publishers To The Holy See
Nihil Obstat; Eduardus J. Mahoney, S.T.D. Censor deputatus.
Imprimatur; Edm. Can. Surmont, Vicarius generalis.
First printed in 1930

Thoughts of St Augustine for May 16

THE Word of God is set forth before all men; let them who can procure it, and they can who have a godly will. For in that Word is peace; and peace on earth is to men of good will. So then whoso will procure it let him give himself. This is as it were the price of the Word, if so it may in any way be said, When he that giveth doth not lose himself and gain the Word for which he giveth him­self, and gaineth himself too in the Word to whom he giveth himself.
_________________________
Click here for more information.

From Thoughts of St Augustine for Every Day
by Kathleen Mary Balfe (© 1926)
Nihil Obstat: Georgius D. Smith, S.T.D
Imprimatur: Edm. Can. Surmont

Thoughts from St Alphonsus for Every Day-May 16

ALTHOUGH Mary, now in heaven, can no longer command her Son, nevertheless her prayers are always the prayers of a mother, and consequently most powerful to obtain whatever she asks.
_________________
From Thoughts from St Alphonsus for Every Day
Compiled by Rev. C. McNeiry, C.SS.R.
Imprimatur: Joseph Hull, C.SS.R., Prov. Angl. Sup.
Nihil Obstat: Innocentlus Apap, O.P., S.T.M., Censor Deptutatus.
Imprimatur: Edm. Can. Surmont, Vicarius Generalis.
Westmonasterii, Die 9a Junii, 1927.
First published 1927

Thursday, May 14, 2009

News Updates, 5/15

Pastor Says: 'I Saw Catholics Arrested for Being Catholic at a Catholic University' -- Notre Dame
SOUTH BEND, Ind., May 15 /Christian Newswire/ -- Vision America President Pastor Rick Scarborough said he was sickened by what he saw when those protesting Obama's speech at Notre Dame were arrested on the campus. "I wept when I saw my friends arrested and taken to jail," Scarborough disclosed. "They almost broke the arm of a priest who appeared to be in his 80s, by dragging him on the ground."
[This is the way thugs, liars, and followers of Satan treat those who proclaim the truth... How long will it be before you see Americans being arrested for being True Christians and Patriots? That time draws nigh, I believe...]

LIVE TV FEED: Pro-LIFE Witness with Arrests at Notre Dame
Alan Keyes Arrested, Fr Norman Weslin arrested...more...


Why Is Obama Going to Notre Dame? To Divide and Conquer American Catholics
Many are questioning why officials at the University of Notre Dame are inviting the most pro-abortion president in our history to receive an honorary doctorate of laws. Doesn’t this make a mockery of Notre Dame’s historic role as the premier Catholic university in America? Doesn’t this create a scandal for the Catholic faithful as well as for the larger community of Americans who are not Catholic? Much of the fierce public debate has centered on why Notre Dame would extend such an honor. The divisions exposed by this invitation are deep and worrisome....

Netanyahu asks Pope to condemn Iranian rhetoric
Israeli PM wants Benedict to use his 'moral authority'

Criticizing Pope's Yad Vashem speech misses point
Benedict's words in Holy Land over-scrutinized

Bishop 'caught off guard' by Weakland admission
'It was not necessarily something I was ready to hear'

20 Conservative Catholics target Obama aide
'Harry Knox is a virulent anti-Catholic bigot'

JPII's would-be killer wants Vatican baptism
Mehmet Ali Agca hoping to meet Pope Benedict XVI

Spain socialists move to ease abortion law
Pressing ahead with a sweeping social reform agenda

Catholic diocese in NM will review priests' files
New bishop wants a more thorough evaluation

Priest: Every diocese has secret archives
Maintaining sensitive files mandated by canon law

Palin backs Miss Calif., blasts 'liberal onslaught'
Alaska governor: 'I can relate as a liberal target myself'

=========
Other Issues
=========


"The Worst Is Yet to Come": If You're Not Petrified, You're Not Paying Attention
"We're in a complete mess and the consumer is smart enough to know it," says Davidowitz, whose firm does consulting for the retail industry. "If the consumer isn't petrified, he or she is a damn fool."

FBI Agent: Obama Making Another 9/11 ' Inevitable '
A former FBI Agent who recently won a lawsuit defeating FBI attempts to muzzle him tells Newsmax that the agency's morale may be at it's lowest ebb ever and warns the "chilling" effect of Obama administration ploices is making another terrorist attack on the U.S. homeland "inevitable"...

FDIC chief says some bank heads to roll
Sheila Bair, the Chair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., said that chief executives at some U.S. banks will be replaced in coming months, according to a report from Bloomberg News.

Hong Kong suffers record contraction, biggest since 1955
Hong Kong’s economy contracted at the fastest rate since the Asian financial crisis in the first three months of this year as exports passing through the territory saw their biggest drop in more than half a century...

Insurance Companies to Receive TARP Money
The Treasury today granted preliminary approval for some of the nation's largest insurance companies to receive capital infusions under the government's Troubled Assets Relief Program, Treasury spokesman Andrew Williams said. Recipients are Hartford, Prudential, Allstate, Ameriprise, Lincoln National and Principal Financial Group, Williams said...
[The New American Dream - Taxpayers get to carry the risk as shareholders get a bump in the share price - what a deal!]

Hope and Change! Millions in Stimulus Checks for Dead People
[Payback for those who voted for the Frudster and Usurper???]

New Outbreak In NYC - Critical Patient
In the first serious case of swine flu found in New York City, the assistant principal of a Queens middle school has been hospitalized and is on a ventilator, officials said Thursday....The assistant principal, who works at Intermediate School 238, in the Hollis section of Queens, appears to have become critically ill and was said to be near death.
[The original story has been edited & "near death" was removed without explanation...One wonders if "they" are protecting concerned family or the public from unecessary concern??? Spin control? My level of skepticism runs high due to the lies and disinformation coming from the oligarchs and their minions. It's as if Satan has control of them all.]

1st Arizona swine flu-related death reported
PHOENIX – A woman in Arizona suffering from a lung condition has apparently become the fourth person with swine flu in the nation to die, authorities said Thursday...

Chairman MaObama Says Debt Load 'Unsustainable'; Warns of skyrocketing interest rates
US Domestic Enemy #1, calling current deficit spending “unsustainable,” warned of skyrocketing interest rates for consumers if the U.S. continues to finance government by borrowing from other countries.
[And the lying illegitimate Kenyan moron wants to keep spending more and more money that taxpayers don't have and never will have! ]

Krauthammer: Pelosi Is Now At War With The CIA; I Suspect They Will Destroy Her
Krauthammer also provides some overwhelming factoids regarding Pelosi's charge that the CIA lied to her:
"Her charge of the CIA lying to her is utterly implausible. Why would it lie to her and tell all the others the truth? It makes no sense at all; and it was refuted by the black and white Obama CIA memo –– not a memo out of the Prince of Darkness: Bush and Cheney; but Obama CIA –– would show that in the briefing in which she says none of this simulated drowning occurred, they had specifically told her about the Enhanced Interrogation Techniques that had been used on a prisoner, obviously, a month earlier."

YRC to Apply for Bailout Funds
Amid Pension Pressure, Trucking Company Plans to Request $1 Billion in U.S. Aid
[Have you mailed your "Bailout Request" to Chairman MaObama yet?]

SEC Attorneys Probed For Insider Trading
CBS News Exclusive: Two High-Level Attorneys Under Scrutiny By FBI

CBS News has learned that two attorneys at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) are under "active" criminal investigation by the FBI for trading stocks based on inside information...

Napolitano Pulls Right-Wing Extremism Report
A contentious "Rightwing Extremism" report that warned of military veterans as possible recruits for terrorist attacks against the U.S. was not authorized, has been withdrawn and is being rewritten, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told Capitol Hill lawmakers...."The report is no longer out there," she said. "An employee sent it out without authorization."
[First she defended the report, now she’s blaming it on improper vetting??? This incompetent libtard needs to resign.]

===============
Welcome to the New Amerika - "Chains you can believe in"

And remember this - Obama will do for health care what he's done for the auto industry...That's if the country can last that long.

Gospel for Friday, 5th Week of Easter

From: John 15:12-17

The Law of Love

[12] "This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. [13] Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. [14] You are My friends if you do what I command you. [15] No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. [16] You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide; so that whatever you ask the Father in My name, He may give it to you. [17] This I command you, to love one another."
_______________________
Commentary:
12-15. Jesus insists on the "new commandment", which He Himself keeps by giving His life for us. See note on John 13:34-35.

Christ's friendship with the Christian, which our Lord expresses in a very special way in this passage, is something very evident in [St] Monsignor Escriva de Balaguer's preaching: "The life of the Christian who decides to behave in accordance with the greatness of his vocation is so to speak a prolonged echo of those words of our Lord, `No longer do I call you My servants; a servant is one who does not understand what his master is about, whereas I have made known to you all that My Father has told Me; and so I have called you My friends' (John 15:15). When we decide to be docile and follow the will of God, hitherto unimagined horizons open up before us.... `There is nothing better than to recognize that Love has made us slaves of God. From the moment we recognize this we cease being slaves and become friends, sons' ([St] J. Escriva, "Friends of God", 35).

"Sons of God, FRIENDS OF GOD.... Jesus is truly God and truly Man, He is our Brother and our Friend. If we make the effort to get to know Him well `we will share in the joy of being God's friends' ["ibid.", 300]. If we do all we can to keep Him company, from Bethlehem to Calvary, sharing His joys and sufferings, we will become worthy of entering into loving conversation with Him. As the Liturgy of the Hours sings, "calicem Domini biberunt, et amici Dei facti sunt" (they drank the chalice of the Lord and so became friends of God).

"Being His children and His friends are two inseparable realities for those who love God. We go to Him as children, carrying on a trusting dialogue that should fill the whole of our lives; and we go to Him as friends.... In the same way our divine sonship urges us to translate the overflow of our interior life into apostolic activity, just as our friendship with God leads us to place ourselves at `the service of all men. We are called to use the gifts God has given us as instruments to help others discover Christ' ["ibid.", 258]" (Monsignor A. del Portillo in his preface to [St] J. Escriva's, "Friends of God").

16. There are three ideas contained in these words of our Lord. One, that the calling which the Apostles received and which every Christian also receives does not originate in the individual's good desires but in Christ's free choice. It was not the Apostles who chose the Lord as Master, in the way someone would go about choosing a rabbi; it was Christ who chose them. The second idea is that the Apostles' mission and the mission of every Christian is to follow Christ, to seek holiness and to contribute to the spread of the Gospel. The third teaching refers to the effectiveness of prayer done in the name of Christ; which is why the Church usually ends the prayers of the liturgy with the invocation "Through Jesus Christ our Lord...".

The three ideas are all interconnected: prayer is necessary if the Christian life is to prove fruitful, for it is God who gives the growth (cf. 1 Corinthians 3:7); and the obligation to seek holiness and to be apostolic derives from the fact that it is Christ Himself who has given us this mission. "Bear in mind, son, that you are not just a soul who has joined other souls in order to do a good thing.

"That is a lot, but it's still little. You are the Apostle who is carrying out an imperative command from Christ" ([St] J. Escriva, "The Way", 942).
___________________________
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland. Reprinted with permission from Four Courts Press and Scepter Publishers, the U.S. publisher.

To Bear Witness To the Truth: An Unequivocal Moral Obligation for All Christians

by Rev. John Corapi, SOLT, STD
---------------

Every Catholic and, indeed, every Christian faithful to the Gospel, has the moral obligation to bear witness to the truth, “in season and out of season, convenient or inconvenient,” accepted or rejected. This mandate is nothing new, of course. It’s as old as the Old Testament, and as new as the New Testament. Nonetheless, I’m afraid that it has become more necessary than ever to remind ourselves of it.

The Magisterium formally teaches in the Catechism of the Catholic Church #2471, quoting Sacred Scripture, “Before [Pontius] Pilate, Christ proclaimed the He has ‘come into the world to bear witness to the truth’ (Jn 18:37). The Christian is not to be ‘ashamed then of testifying to our Lord’ (2 Tm 1:8). In situations that require witness to the faith, the Christian must profess it without equivocation, after the example of St. Paul before his judges. We must keep ‘a clear conscience toward God and toward men’” (Acts 24:16).

Let me give you one definition of equivocation: “A statement that is not literally false but that cleverly avoids an unpleasant truth; intentionally vague or ambiguous.” How about this for an example: “A woman has the right to choose.” Choose what? A less vague, ambiguous, and equivocal statement would be, “A woman (or man) has the right to choose to perpetrate homicide. Or, “A nation has the right to facilitate, enable, or legislate genocide.”

Oh, excuse me, that would be an unpleasant truth, or maybe an “inconvenient truth,” as the inventor of the internet, Al Gore, might say.
The Catholic Church unambiguously and formally teaches:

The duty of Christians to take part in the life of the Church impels them [IMPELS THEM] to act as witnesses of the Gospel and the obligations that flow from it. This witness is a transmission of the faith in words and deeds.

WITNESS IS AN ACT OF JUSTICE THAT ESTABLISHES THE TRUTH OR MAKES IT KNOWN (see Matthew 18:16).

The recent travesty involving the University of Notre Dame’s invitation to the President of the United States to give the commencement address and receive an honorary doctor of laws degree is the antithesis of Catholic and Christian witness to the truth. A lawyer who vigorously, publicly, and consistently support an anti-life and anti-family litany of evils will now receive an honorary doctor of laws degree from what is arguably the most prestigious Catholic University in America.

A picture is worth a thousand words. Indeed, what thousand words will be conveyed by the picture(s) of Mr. Obama receiving his honorary doctorate and sending off the graduating class at Notre Dame University?

This will be a dark day indeed for the University of Notre Dame and the Catholic Church that permitted it to happen. In the end, the bishops have the right and the duty to decide if the University of Notre Dame can any longer claim “Catholic” credentials.

Meanwhile, the obligation to bear witness to the truth weighs more heavily than ever on each one of us. We have rapidly entered into a new era of persecution of the Church and the truth that she professes and teaches, reminding us again,

"The disciple of Christ must not only keep faith and live on it, but also profess it, confidently bear witness to it, and spread it: All however must be prepared to confess Christ before men and to follow him along the way of the Cross, amidst the persecutions which the Church never lacks.” (Lumen gentius 42; Dignitatis Humanae 14).

Service of and witness to the faith are necessary for salvation: “So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven; but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven” (Mt 10:32-33).

God Bless You,
Fr. John Corapi

Principles and Practices - May 15

Tenderness a Necessity

Now, if Our Lord is our model, and if His spirit be ours, it is plain that a Christian-like tenderness must make a deep impression upon our spiritual life, and indeed give it its prin­ciple, tone, and character. Without tenderness we can never have that spirit of generosity in which we saw that we must serve God. It is as necessary to our interior life or our relation with God as it is to
our exterior life or relation with others; and there is one gift of the Holy Ghost, namely, piety, whose special office it is to confer this tenderness.

-Father Faber.
_________________
From Principles and Practices
Compiled by Rev. J. Hogan of The Catholic Missionary Society
Published by Burns Oates & Washbourne Ltd., Publishers To The Holy See
Nihil Obstat; Eduardus J. Mahoney, S.T.D. Censor deputatus.
Imprimatur; Edm. Can. Surmont, Vicarius generalis.
First printed in 1930

Thoughts of St Augustine for May 15

THE cause of the little ones we commend to their elders. Speak ye for them who are mute, pray for them who weep.
_________________________
Click here for more information.

From Thoughts of St Augustine for Every Day
by Kathleen Mary Balfe (© 1926)
Nihil Obstat: Georgius D. Smith, S.T.D
Imprimatur: Edm. Can. Surmont

Thoughts from St Alphonsus for Every Day-May 15

WHOEVER finds Mary finds every good thing, obtains all graces and all virtues; for by her powerful intercession she obtains all that is necessary to enrich him with divine grace.
_________________
From Thoughts from St Alphonsus for Every Day
Compiled by Rev. C. McNeiry, C.SS.R.
Imprimatur: Joseph Hull, C.SS.R., Prov. Angl. Sup.
Nihil Obstat: Innocentlus Apap, O.P., S.T.M., Censor Deptutatus.
Imprimatur: Edm. Can. Surmont, Vicarius Generalis.
Westmonasterii, Die 9a Junii, 1927.
First published 1927

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

News Updates, May 14

APA revises 'gay gene' theory
The attempt to prove that homosexuality is determined biologically has been dealt a knockout punch. An American Psychological Association publication includes an admission that there's no homosexual "gene" -- meaning it's not likely that homosexuals are born that way....

Can you ordain a hermaphrodite?Santa Clara University theology professor says Church had long history of ordaining women that ended because of “virulent misogyny”

Pope demands independent Palestinian state
Benedict challenged reluctant Israeli leadership

Vatican reveals Henry VIII annulment request
Known as letter that split England from Catholic Church

Rabbi: 'Vatican to stop missionizing Jews'
Did Pope Benedict XVI agree to stop missionary activity

Bolivian cardinal: End violence against Church
Demands respect for Catholic faith and freedom of worship

Colombian hospital fined for refusing abortion
UN-funded, pro-abort attorney praises decision

Pope to grant new plenary indulgences
Year of Priests will commence on June 19, 2009

Polish priest advocates happy sex life in new book
Theology guide for 'married couples who love God'

'Jesus in jeans' sculpture unveiled
Depicting Christ as a 'man of the 21st century'

=========
Other Issues
=========


Chrysler Eliminates 789 Dealers, 25% Of Total
In bankruptcy court earlier, Chrysler filed an initial salvo in its quest to trim its cost side from uber-bloated to merely bloated...
[The list of dealers can be viewed here]

Weiss: Five Economic Storms Raging NOW!
Any economist fixated on so-called “signs of a recovery” needs to have his head examined. As I’ll prove to you in a moment, the hard-nosed reality is that five major economic cyclones are in progress at this very moment. The storms are not abating. Nor are they changing direction. Quite the contrary, what you see today is, at best, merely a deceptive calm before the next, even larger tempests. For investors who follow Wall Street, it could be fatal...
[Take a look at the charts:
Storm #1 - Plunging Jobs
Storm #2 - U.S. Housing Starts Down 77.6 Percent!
Storm #3 - Auto Sales Down 44 Percent!
Storm #4 - Biggest Decline in Consumer Credit Ever Recorded!
Storm #5 - Big Banks!]


Thug-in-Chief Obama warns Netanyahu: Don't surprise me with Iran strike
US Domestic Enemy #1, B. Hussein Obama, has sent a message to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu demanding that Israel not surprise the U.S. with an Israeli military operation against Iran.
[Someone needs to tell the Usurper to pound sand...]

US 'sham' bank bail-outs enrich speculators, says buy-out chief Mark Patterson
The US Treasury’s effort to stabilise the banking system through the TARP programme is a hopelessly ill-conceived policy that enriches speculators at public expense, according to the buy-out firm supposed to be pioneering the joint public-private bank rescues.

FDA claims cheerios too healthy
The Food and Drug Administration scolded the makers of Cheerios about the way they promote the cereal's health benefits. The FDA sent a letter of warning to General Mills accusing them of making unauthorized health claims.
[Does the FDA really have the competence to make such a determination? Naw, I didn't think so...try & find the words in the Constitution that authorize the federal government idiots to regulate food or drugs...save yourself the time, it's not there..]

California Requests TARP Funds
California Treasurer Bill Lockyer asked U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Wednesday to authorize assistance for his state from the federal Troubled Asset Relief Program, warning that depressed tax revenues may cut into basic services and halt the building of infrastructure.
[More throwing away of taxpayer dollars...morons]

18 financial institutions are suing MBIA
A group of 18 financial institutions sued MBIA Inc., claiming the bond insurer's decision to split its businesses earlier this year was fraudulent and left one of the units effectively "insolvent."
[Pigmen suing pigmen - oh, my! What's next?]

And MBIA is already suing Merrill for defrauding MBIA into writing insurance on bad mortgages [From May 1]

Obama Eyes Bank Pay Overhaul; Curb Compensation Across Finance
[Like a true marxist swine]

And for Kenyan Komrade Obama's "Hope & Change," we have this gem:
:
U.S. banking crisis may last until 2013: S&P
A day after saying big U.S. banks probably needed to raise only one-fourth the capital demanded by the government, Standard & Poor's said the nation's banking crisis has "merely entered a new phase" and might not end before 2013...
[It might end sooner if each of the thieves and criminals are introduced to one of these


===============
Welcome to the New Amerika - "Chains you can believe in"

Gospel for May 14, Feast: St. Matthias, Apostle

From: John 15:9-17

The Vine and the Branches (Continuation)

(Jesus said to His disciples,) [9] "As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you; abide in My love. [10] If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love. [11] These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

The Law of Love

[12] "This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. [13] Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. [14] You are My friends if you do what I command you. [15] No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. [16] You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide; so that whatever you ask the Father in My name, He may give it to you. [17] This I command you, to love one another."
________________
Commentary:
9-11. Christ's love for Christians is a reflection of the love the Three Divine Persons have for one another and for all men: "We love, because He first loved us" (1 John 4:19).

The certainty that God loves us is the source of Christian joy (verse 11), but it is also something which calls for a fruitful response on our part, which should take the form of a fervent desire to do God's will in everything, that is, to keep His commandments, in imitation of Jesus Christ, who did the will of His Father (cf. John 4:34).

12-15. Jesus insists on the "new commandment", which He Himself keeps by giving His life for us. See note on John 13:34-35.

Christ's friendship with the Christian, which our Lord expresses in a very special way in this passage, is something very evident in [St] Monsignor Escriva de Balaguer's preaching: "The life of the Christian who decides to behave in accordance with the greatness of his vocation is so to speak a prolonged echo of those words of our Lord, `No longer do I call you My servants; a servant is one who does not understand what his master is about, whereas I have made known to you all that My Father has told Me; and so I have called you My friends' (John 15:15). When we decide to be docile and follow the will of God, hitherto unimagined horizons open up before us.... `There is nothing better than to recognize that Love has made us slaves of God. From the moment we recognize this we cease being slaves and become friends, sons' ([St] J. Escriva, "Friends of God", 35).

"Sons of God, FRIENDS OF GOD.... Jesus is truly God and truly Man, He is our Brother and our Friend. If we make the effort to get to know Him well `we will share in the joy of being God's friends' ["ibid.", 300]. If we do all we can to keep Him company, from Bethlehem to Calvary, sharing His joys and sufferings, we will become worthy of entering into loving conversation with Him. As the Liturgy of the Hours sings, "calicem Domini biberunt, et amici Dei facti sunt" (they drank the chalice of the Lord and so became friends of God).

"Being His children and His friends are two inseparable realities for those who love God. We go to Him as children, carrying on a trusting dialogue that should fill the whole of our lives; and we go to Him as friends.... In the same way our divine sonship urges us to translate the overflow of our interior life into apostolic activity, just as our friendship with God leads us to place ourselves at `the service of all men. We are called to use the gifts God has given us as instruments to help others discover Christ' ["ibid.", 258]" (Monsignor A. del Portillo in his preface to [St] J. Escriva's, "Friends of God").

16. There are three ideas contained in these words of our Lord. One, that the calling which the Apostles received and which every Christian also receives does not originate in the individual's good desires but in Christ's free choice. It was not the Apostles who chose the Lord as Master, in the way someone would go about choosing a rabbi; it was Christ who chose them. The second idea is that the Apostles' mission and the mission of every Christian is to follow Christ, to seek
holiness and to contribute to the spread of the Gospel. The third teaching refers to the effectiveness of prayer done in the name of Christ; which is why the Church usually ends the prayers of the liturgy with the invocation "Through Jesus Christ our Lord...".

The three ideas are all interconnected: prayer is necessary if the Christian life is to prove fruitful, for it is God who gives the growth (cf. 1 Corinthians 3:7); and the obligation to seek holiness and to be apostolic derives from the fact that it is Christ Himself who has given us this mission. "Bear in mind, son, that you are not just a soul who has joined other souls in order to do a good thing.

"That is a lot, but it's still little. You are the Apostle who is carrying out an imperative command from Christ" ([St] J. Escriva, "The Way", 942).
__________________________
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland. Reprinted with permission from Four Courts Press and Scepter Publishers, the U.S. publisher.

Principles and Practices - May 14

Be Assured

When the children of God are tried by fire, nothing should be further from their thoughts than that they are alone. It may be said, speaking generally, that the word isolation is un­christian: but when it refers to a case of suffering and self-immolation, it is still more untrue. Be careful never to think that your pains are of no account, that the silent conflict, borne in loving patience, can remain barren. Your sufferings are the common treasures of mankind (united with Christ). And on the day when all things are revealed you will meet this or that unknown brother whose beatitude you have purchased.

-Abbe Perreyve.
_________________
From Principles and Practices
Compiled by Rev. J. Hogan of The Catholic Missionary Society
Published by Burns Oates & Washbourne Ltd., Publishers To The Holy See
Nihil Obstat; Eduardus J. Mahoney, S.T.D. Censor deputatus.
Imprimatur; Edm. Can. Surmont, Vicarius generalis.
First printed in 1930

Thoughts of St Augustine for May 14

LET the little ones come, let the sick come to the Physician, the lost to their Redeemer; let them come, let no man hinder them.
_________________________
Click here for more information.

From Thoughts of St Augustine for Every Day
by Kathleen Mary Balfe (© 1926)
Nihil Obstat: Georgius D. Smith, S.T.D
Imprimatur: Edm. Can. Surmont

Thoughts from St Alphonsus for Every Day-May 14

THE Holy Virgin is called a plane-tree, because, as the plane-tree shelters travellers under its branches from the heat of the sun and from the rain, so do men find refuge under the mantle of Mary from the ardour of their passions and from the fury of temptations.
_________________
From Thoughts from St Alphonsus for Every Day
Compiled by Rev. C. McNeiry, C.SS.R.
Imprimatur: Joseph Hull, C.SS.R., Prov. Angl. Sup.
Nihil Obstat: Innocentlus Apap, O.P., S.T.M., Censor Deptutatus.
Imprimatur: Edm. Can. Surmont, Vicarius Generalis.
Westmonasterii, Die 9a Junii, 1927.
First published 1927

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

News Updates, 5/13

Sweden Says Gender Based Abortion Is Legal
Swedish health authorities have ruled that under the current law, a woman is allowed to have an abortion, solely for the purpose of ending a pregnancy when the gender of the fetus is not what a woman wants. Health officials also decided that requests by pregnant women for gender testing, without a specific medical reason are allowed under the country’s laws....

Obama adviser accuses the Catholic Church
A homosexual-rights activist whom President Obama appointed last month to a White House advisory council had--just three weeks before his appointment--posted a statement on the Web site of the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s most prominent homosexual-rights organization, accusing Pope Benedict XVI, leader of the Roman Catholic Church, of “hurting people in the name of Jesus.”
Needs repeating again & again!

Vatican defends Benedict from Israeli criticism
Pope 'can't mention everything every time he speaks'

Pope visits holiest sites of Judaism and Islam
Benedict XVI due to say Mass in Garden of Gethsemane

Diocese threatens to excommunicate former deacon
Bishop Martino warns against out-of-Church ordination

Ave Maria, a Florida town without democracy
Land owners, not voters, have ultimate authority
[Owning property SHOULD be a requirement for some, if not most, elections.]

Miss California keeps her crown, her opinions
Beauty queen stands by her opposition to gay marriage

Some ND students to forego Obama commencement
Will hold prayer demonstration on university grounds

Africa's bishops back Pope on condom stance
'He was only reaffirming the Church's position'

Nazi row puts spotlight on Pope's PR
Papal spokesman fans flames over 'Hitler Youth' claim

Orissa gov't disputes anti-Christian death-toll
Authorities reject list of dead submitted by diocese

=========
Other Issues
=========


Bankers Told by Paulson to Accept U.S. Aid or Be ‘Vulnerable’
Former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said nine U.S. banks would have to accept $125 billion in government investments or be forced to by regulators, according to a memo prepared for a meeting with the lenders’ chief executive officers in October....

Judicial Watch Forces Release of Bank Bailout Documents
Documents Detail Historic Treasury/Bankers Meeting – but Geithner Input on Key Document Withheld from the Public...

Brazil to start taxing savings accounts in 2010
Brazil will begin charging income tax in 2010 on returns from savings accounts with deposits of more than 50,000 reais (about $24,000) to avoid a flight from government bonds and enable interest rates to fall further, Finance Minister Guido Mantega said on Wednesday.

GM, Chrysler to cut up to 3,000 dealers
General Motors Corp and Chrysler aim to drop as many as 3,000 U.S. dealers and are expected to begin sending notifications as early as Thursday, three people briefed on the still developing plans said.

Bill unveiled to punish China for undervalued yuan
A bipartisan group of 40 lawmakers unveiled new legislation in Congress on Wednesday that would punish China and other countries that manipulate the value of their currency to subsidize their exports.

Holding GM Debt? Gubbermint Is Robbing You!
If you hold this debt [GM bonds] you are about to be wiped out by our government, who has decreed by fiat, without even a vote in Congress, that:
1. You don't matter.
2. You don't have a right to rely on anything in the prospectus printed when these bonds issued, or even common and statutory law.
3.Your rights do not exist. Your government has literally declared economic war on you....
[The time for revolution gets closer and closer with each passing day as continued lawlessness spews forth from that cesspool in DC...Secession from the Republik may be the only option for citizens to retake their liberty and reject the chains of slavery imposed by the criminals in DC.]

Swine Flu May Be Human Error, Scientist Says; WHO Probes Claim
The World Health Organization is investigating an Australian researcher’s claim that the swine flu virus circling the globe may have been created as a result of human error. Adrian Gibbs, 75, who collaborated on research that led to the development of Roche Holding AG’s Tamiflu drug, said in an interview today that he intends to publish a report suggesting the new strain may have accidentally evolved in eggs scientists use to grow viruses and drugmakers use to make vaccines.

Gospel for Wednesday, 5th Week of Easter

Optional Memorial: Our Lady of Fatima

From: John 15:1-8

The Vine and the Branches

(Jesus said to His disciples,) [1] "I am the vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. [2] Every branch of mine that bears no fruit, He takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit He prunes that it may bear more fruit. [3] You are already made clean by the word which I have spoken to you. [4] Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. [5] I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. [6] If a man does not abide in Me, he is cast forth as a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire and burned. [7] If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you. [8] By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples."
____________________
Commentary:
1. This comparison of the chosen people with a vine was used in the Old Testament: Psalm 80 speaks of the uprooting of the vine in Egypt and its replanting in another land; and in Isaiah's Song of the Vineyard (5:1-7) God complains that despite the care and love He has lavished on it, His vineyard has yielded only wild grapes. Jesus previously used this imagery in His parable about the murderous tenants (Matthew 21:33-43) to signify the Jew's rejection of the Son and the calling of the Gentiles. But here the comparison has a different, more personal meaning: Christ explains that He Himself is the true vine, because the old vine, the original chosen people, has been succeeded by the new vine, the Church, whose head is Christ (cf. 1 Corinthians 3:9). To be fruitful one must be joined to the new, true vine, Christ: it is no longer a matter of simply belonging to a community but of living the life of Christ, the life of grace, which is the nourishment which passes life on to the believer and enables him to yield fruits of eternal life. This image of the vine also helps understand the unity of the Church, Christ's mystical body, in which all the members are intimately united with the head and thereby are also united to one another (1 Corinthians 12:12-26; Romans 12:4-5; Ephesians 4:15-16).

2. Our Lord is describing two situations: that of those who, although they are still joined to the vine externally, yield no fruit; and that of those who do yield fruit but could yield still more. The Epistle of St. James carries the same message when it says that faith alone is not enough (James 2:17). Although it is true that faith is the beginning of salvation and that without faith we cannot please God, it is also true that a living faith must yield fruit in the form of deeds. "For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is of any avail, but faith working through love" (Galatians 5:6). So, one can say that in order to produce fruit pleasing to God, it is not enough to have received Baptism and to profess the faith externally: a person has to share in Christ's life through grace and has to cooperate with Him in His work of redemption.

Jesus uses the same verb to refer to the pruning of the branches as He uses to refer to the cleanness of the disciples in the next verse: literally the translation should run: "He cleanses him who bears fruit so that he bear more fruit". In other words, He is making it quite clear that God is not content with half-hearted commitment, and therefore He purifies His own by means of contradictions and difficulties, which are a form of pruning, to produce more fruit. In this we can see an explanation of the purpose of suffering: "Have you not heard the Master Himself tell the parable of the vine and the branches? Here we can find consolation. He demands much of you for you are the branch that bears fruit. And He must prune you `ut fructum plus afferas": to make you bear more fruit'.

"Of course: that cutting, that pruning, hurts. But, afterwards, what richness in your fruits, what maturity in your actions" ([St] J. Escriva, "The Way", 701).

3. After washing Peter's feet Jesus had already said that His Apostles were clean, though not all of them (cf. John 13:10). Here, once more, He refers to that inner cleansing which results from accepting His teachings. "For Christ's word in the first place cleanses us from errors, by instructing us (cf. Titus 1:9) [...]; secondly, it purifies our hearts of earthly affections, filling them with desire for Heavenly things [...]; finally, His word purifies us with the strength of faith, for `He cleansed their hearts by faith' (Acts 15:9)" (St. Thomas Aquinas, "Commentary on St. John, in loc.").

4-5. Our Lord draws more conclusions from the image of the vine and the branches. Now He emphasizes that anyone who is separated from Him is good for nothing, like a branch separated from the vine. "You see, the branches are full of fruit, because they share in the sap that comes from the stem. Otherwise, from the tiny buds we knew just a few months back, they could not have produced the sweet ripe fruit that gladdens the eye and make the heart rejoice. Here and there on the ground we may find some dry twigs, lying half-buried in the soil. Once they too were branches of the vine; now they lie there withered and dead, a perfect image of barrenness: `apart from Me, you can do nothing'" ([St] J. Escriva, "Friends of God", 254).

The life of union with Christ is necessarily something which goes far beyond one's private life: it has to be focused on the good of others; and if this happens, a fruitful apostolate is the result, for "apostolate, of whatever kind it be, must be an overflow of the interior life" ([St] J. Escriva, "Friends of God", 239). The Second Vatican Council, quoting this page from St. John, teaches what a Christian apostolate should be: "Christ, sent by the Father, is the source of the Church's whole apostolate. Clearly then, the fruitfulness of the apostolate of lay people depends on their living union with Christ; as the Lord Himself said: `He who abides in Me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing'. This life of intimate union with Christ in the Church is maintained by the spiritual helps common to all the faithful, chiefly by the active participation in the Liturgy. Laymen should make such a use of these helps that, while meeting their human obligations in the ordinary conditions of life, they do not separate their union with Christ from their ordinary life; but through the very performance of their tasks, which are God's will for them, actually promote the growth of their union with Him" ("Apostolicam Actuositatem", 4).

6. If a person is not united to Christ by means of grace he will ultimately meet the same fate as the dead branches--fire. There is a clear parallelism with other images our Lord uses--the parables of the sound tree and the bad tree (Matthew 7:15-20), the dragnet (Matthew 13:49-50), and the invitation to the wedding (Matthew 22:11-14), etc. Here is how St. Augustine comments on this passage: "The wood of the vine is the more contemptible if it does not abide in the vine, and the more glorious if it does abide....For, being cut off it is profitable neither for the vinedresser nor for the carpenter. For one of these only is it useful--the vine or the fire. If it is not in the vine, it goes to the fire; to avoid going to the fire it must be joined to the vine" ("In Ioann. Evang.", 81, 3).
___________________________
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland. Reprinted with permission from Four Courts Press and Scepter Publishers, the U.S. publisher.

Principles and Practices - May 13

Advantages of Pure Love

The practice of pure love consists in acting with the intention of loving God for Himself, rather than from the fear of punishment or the hope of a reward, although these two motives are not to be despised. Pure love thus understood is as rare as it is precious, and I should like to give it to you. O Child of predilection! I advise you to beg from me this gold purified in the fire, suadeo tibi emere a me aurum ignitum..

-Andre Prevot, D.D., S.C.J.
_________________
From Principles and Practices
Compiled by Rev. J. Hogan of The Catholic Missionary Society
Published by Burns Oates & Washbourne Ltd., Publishers To The Holy See
Nihil Obstat; Eduardus J. Mahoney, S.T.D. Censor deputatus.
Imprimatur; Edm. Can. Surmont, Vicarius generalis.
First printed in 1930

Thoughts of St Augustine for May 13

GIVE and there shall be given you what ye desire, eternal life. Support the temporal life of the poor man, the poor man's present life, and for this so small and earthly seed ye shall receive for harvest life eternal.
_________________________
Click here for more information.

From Thoughts of St Augustine for Every Day
by Kathleen Mary Balfe (© 1926)
Nihil Obstat: Georgius D. Smith, S.T.D
Imprimatur: Edm. Can. Surmont

Thoughts from St Alphonsus for Every Day-May 13

IF a sinner, though he may not as yet have given up his sin, endeavours to do so, and for this purpose seeks the help of Mary, this good Mother will not fail to assist him, and enable him to recover the grace of God.
_________________
From Thoughts from St Alphonsus for Every Day
Compiled by Rev. C. McNeiry, C.SS.R.
Imprimatur: Joseph Hull, C.SS.R., Prov. Angl. Sup.
Nihil Obstat: Innocentlus Apap, O.P., S.T.M., Censor Deptutatus.
Imprimatur: Edm. Can. Surmont, Vicarius Generalis.
Westmonasterii, Die 9a Junii, 1927.
First published 1927

Monday, May 11, 2009

News Updates, 5/12

Some Notre Dame Seniors Say No to Graduation Because of Obama Speech
Because of Chairman MaObama's appearance and speech at Notre Dame this Sunday, some seniors will not attend their own graduation ceremony and instead join a University prayer service on the grounds at Notre Dame...

The Pope in Israel. Day One, Two Surprises [Chiesa]
The world was ready to pounce on him, over the most explosive questions: anti-Semitism, the war. But Benedict XVI did it his own way. He took two words from the Bible. With the first, he explained the conditions for peace. With the second, he illuminated the mystery of the Holocaust

Archbishop Rembert Weakland admits he's "gay"
Resigned in 2002 over a sex and financial scandal

Sheikh attacks Israel, Pope walks out
Palestinian accused Jews of murdering women and children

Pope takes on 'Mission Impossible' for Mideast peace
Pleads for resolution to Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Rabbi urges Pope to say Jews need not convert
'The Jewish people remain a people of God's covenant'

Pope Benedict condemns denial of Holocaust
Says cries of victims continue to reverberate

Pope to reach out to Palestinian Christians
Presence has dwindled to two percent of population

Rabbi: Pope's Holocaust speech offered no empathy
'There certainly was no apology expressed here'

Chicago priest flying American flag upside-down
Father Pfleger says he's protesting gun violence

Bomb explodes near revered Cairo church
Virgin Mary is believed to have appeared there in 1968

Benedict XVI makes second visit to a mosque
Dialogue with Islam characterized visit to Jordan

=========
Other Issues
=========


U.S. Will Pay $2.6 Million to Train Chinese Prostitutes to Drink Responsibly on the Job
(CNSNews.com) - The National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, part of the National Institutes of Health, will pay $2.6 million in U.S. tax dollars to train Chinese prostitutes to drink responsibly on the job. “The purpose of the project is to try and develop an intervention program targeting HIV risk and alcohol use,” Dr. Xiaoming Li, the researcher conducting the program, told CNSNews.com. The grant, made last November, is one of several “international initiatives” sponsored by NIH.

Truck Tonnage Index at 7 Year Low
Truck tonnage fell in March to its lowest level in seven years, according to data from American Trucking Associations (ATA) cited in the May 4 print edition of Transport Topics.

Home Prices in U.S. Fall 14% as Banks Sell Foreclosed Houses
May 12 (Bloomberg) -- The median U.S. home price dropped 14 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier as banks sold repossessed homes

Obama’s Latest Radical at the Defense Department
On April 9th, op-ed columnist and Georgetown University law professor Rosa Brooks penned her final piece for the Los Angeles Times, the newspaper for which she had written on a regular basis since 2005. Her gig at the Times served as a nice steppingstone to a bigger and better professional frontier, namely her recent appointment by Chairman Hussein MaObama to be an advisor to Michelle Fluornoy, the U.S. Undersecretary of Defense for Policy. “At this moment in history,” Brooks gushes, “I can’t imagine anything more rewarding than being part of the new team that’s shaping U.S. policy.” Brooks’ credentials as a far-leftist are impeccable. For one, she is the daughter of author Barbara Ehrenreich, the Honorary Chairwoman of the Democratic Socialists of America who has lauded Karl Marx’s Communist Manifesto.

China’s Export Decline Worsens, Hampering Recovery
China’s export slump worsened in April, making it harder for the government to revive the world’s third-biggest economy. Overseas sales declined 22.6 percent to $91.94 billion from a year earlier, the official Xinhua News Agency said. Imports fell 23 percent.
[Rally on, boys & girls - buy, buy, buy!!! Recovery is here!]

Visteon May File Bankruptcy, Says Chrysler Not Paying its Bills

More police officers quitting in Gary

Swine flu spreading too fast to count, CDC says...
Swine flu is spreading so far and fast in the U.S. that state health officials may soon stop counting individual cases, a federal health official said Monday. The novel H1N1 virus accounted for 40 percent of flu viruses logged in the U.S. in the past week and helped propel an uptick in overall flu-like illnesses, said Dr. Anne Schuchat, a deputy director with the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Fed Buys $3.51 Billion in Treasurys
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York bought $3.51 billion in Treasurys maturing between 2026 and 2039 on Monday. The buyback is part of the central bank's program to keep borrowing costs lower and spur economic activity. Dealers offered $10.426 billion to be purchased. Ten-year note yields (UST10Y: 3.28, -0.05, -1.6%) , which move inversely to prices, remained lower by 8 basis points to 3.21%. U.S. debt was supported by the Fed purchases and declining stock markets.

ZeroHedge: "Why I'm Freaking Out"
Insofar as this burgeoning Millennial Depression goes, I've noticed there are two sorts of people: Ones such as myself, obsessively following every blog and every chart and chasing after every little Bloomberg article like a starving hunter in an African veldt chasing down every little rodent with a spear, and others who vaguely know that there's a crisis going on but who are pretty much buying the stock markets' rise and the mainstream media's line that "Green shoots are sprouting, and everything will soon be back to normal."

California heading towards collapse, auditor warns
On the eve of a series of referendums proposed to increase taxes on Californians, the Golden State’s legislative budget analyst warns that both the legislature and the governor have seriously underestimated the budget shortfall. The state has a $23 billion gap even after the legislative compromise earlier this year supposedly eliminated the red ink and could default by July...

Decoupling From Reality
We've digested the so-called "stress tests" for now with nary a burp and in a few weeks General Motors will step into the dark cave of bankruptcy. All the ancillary businesses linked to the US car-makers face contraction and annihilation....At the moment, there is tremendous hoopla and jubilation over the start-up of so many "shovel-ready" highway projects around America -- as if what we need most are additional circumferential freeways to enhance the Happy Motoring lifestyle. How insane are we? Is this the only thing we know how to do? I remain confident that the months ahead will introduce the American public and our leaders to a range of horrors that will begin to penetrate our addled collective imagination...


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Welcome to the New Amerika - "Chains you can believe in"

Gospel for Tuesday, 5th Week of Easter

Optional Memorial: St Nereus and St Achilleus, Martyrs
Optional Memorial: St Pancras, Martyr


From: John 14:27-31a

The Promise of the Holy Spirit (Continuation)

(Jesus said to His disciples,) [27] "Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. [28] You have heard Me say to you, `I go away, and I will come to you.' If you loved Me, you would have rejoiced, because I go to the Father; for the Father is greater than I. [29] And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place, you may believe. [30] I will no longer talk much to you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no power over Me; [31a] but I do as the Father has commanded Me."
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Commentary:
27. Wishing a person peace was, and still is, the usual form of greeting among Jews and Arabs. It is the greeting Jesus used, and which the Apostles continued to use, as we can see from their letters (cf. 1 Peter 1:3; 3 John 15; Romans 1:7; etc.).

The Church still uses it in the liturgy: for example, before Communion the celebrant wishes those present peace, a condition for worthily sharing in the holy sacrifice (cf. Matthew 5:23) and also a fruit of that sacrifice.

On our Lord's lips this common greeting acquires its deepest meaning; peace is one of the great messianic gifts (cf. Isaiah 9:7; 48:18; Micah 5:5; Matthew 10:22; Luke 2:14; 19:38). The peace which Jesus gives us completely transcends the peace of the world, which can be superficial and misleading and compatible with injustice. The peace of Christ is, above all, reconciliation with God and reconciliation of men with one another; it is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit (cf. Galatians 5:22-23); it is "serenity of mind, tranquility of soul, simplicity of heart, a bond of love, a union of charity: no one can inherit God if he does not keep His testament of peace, or live in unity with Christ if he is separated from Christianity" (St. Augustine, "De Verbis Domini Serm.", 58).

"Christ `is our peace' (Ephesians 2:14). And today and forever He repeats to us: `My peace I give to you, My peace I leave with you'. [...] Never before in the history of mankind has peace been so much talked about and so ardently desired as in our day. [...] And yet again and again, one can see how peace is undermined and destroyed. [...] Peace is the result of many converging attitudes and realities; it is the product of moral concerns, of ethical principles based on the Gospel message and fortified by it. [...] In his message for the 1971 Day of Peace, my revered predecessor, that pilgrim of peace, [Pope] Paul VI, said: "True peace must be founded upon justice, upon a sense of the untouchable dignity of man, upon the recognition of an indelible and happy equality between men, upon the basic principle of human brotherhood, that is, of the respect and true love due to each man, because he is man'. This same message I affirmed in Mexico and in Poland. I reaffirm it here in Ireland. Every human being has inalienable rights that must be respected. Each human community--ethnic, historical, cultural or religious--has rights which must be respected. Peace is threatened every time one of these rights is violated. The moral law, guardian of human rights, protector of the dignity of man, cannot be set aside by any person or group, or by the State itself, for any cause, not even for security or in the interests of law and order. The law of God stands in judgment over all reasons of State. As long as injustices exist in any of the areas that touch upon the dignity of the human person, be it in the political, social or economic field, be it in the cultural or religious sphere, true peace will not exist. [...] Peace cannot be established by violence, peace can never flourish in a climate of terror, intimidation and death. It is Jesus Himself who said: `All who take the sword will perish by the sword' (Matthew 26:52). This is the word of God, and it commands this generation of violent men to desist from hatred and violence and to repent" ([Pope] John Paul II, "Homily at Drogheda", 29 September 1979).

The peace and joy which Christ brings us should be typical of believers: "Get rid of those scruples that deprive you of peace.--What takes away your peace of soul cannot come from God.

"When God comes to you, you will feel the truth of those greetings: My peace I give to you..., peace I leave you..., peace be with you..., and you will feel it even in the midst of troubles." ([St] J. Escriva, "The Way", 258).

28. Jesus Christ, as Only-begotten Son of God, possesses divine glory for all eternity; but while He is on earth this glory is veiled and hidden behind His holy human nature (cf. 17:5; Philippians 2:7). It only shows itself on a few occasions, such as when He performs miracles (cf. 2:11) or at the Transfiguration (cf. Matthew 17:1-8 and paragraph). Now, through His death, resurrection and ascension into Heaven Jesus will be glorified--in His body also--as He returns to the Father and enters into His glory. Therefore, His departure from this world should be a source of joy for His disciples; but they do not properly understand what He is saying, and they are saddened because they are more aware of the Master being physically separated from them than the glory which awaits Him.

When Jesus says that the Father is greater than He, He is thinking about His human nature; as man Jesus is going to be glorified, ascending as He does to the right hand of the Father. Jesus Christ "is equal to the Father in His dignity, less than the Father in His humanity" ("Athanasian Creed"). St. Augustine exhorts us to "acknowledge the twofold nature of Christ--the divine, by which He is equal to the Father; the human, by which He is less than the Father. But the one and the other are together not two, but one Christ' ("In Ioann. Evang.", 78, 3). However, although the Father and the Son are equal in nature, eternity and dignity, our Lord's words can also be understood by taking "greater" to refer to His origin: only the Father is "beginning without beginning", whereas the Son proceeds eternally from the Father by way of a generation which is also eternal. Jesus Christ is God from God, Light from Light, True God from True God (cf. Nicene Creed).

30. Clearly the world is good, for it has been created by God, and God loved it so much that He sent His Only-begotten Son (cf. John 3:16). However, in this passage "world" means all those who reject Christ; and "the ruler of the world" is the devil (cf. John 1:10; 7:7; 15:18-19). The devil opposed the work of Jesus right from the start of His public life when he tempted Him in the desert (cf. Matthew 4:1-11 and paragraph). Now, in the passion, he will apparently overcome Christ. This is the hour of the power of darkness when, availing of Judas' treachery (cf. Luke 22:53; John 13:27), the devil manages to have our Lord arrested and crucified.
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Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland. Reprinted with permission from Four Courts Press and Scepter Publishers, the U.S. publisher.

Principles and Practices - May 12

Why Prayer is Necessary

It is necessary in order to regain the friendship of God, if we have lost our baptismal grace by falling into mortal sin. If we have preserved that grace undefiled, it is still necessary for maintaining, strengthening, and developing our intimacy with God by means of the frequent exercise of the theological virtues. And finally, it is necessary for the overcoming temptation which entices us to sin, and which arises from our fallen state, the malice of the Devil, and the pitfalls of the World.

-Ludovic de Besse, O.S.F.C.
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From Principles and Practices
Compiled by Rev. J. Hogan of The Catholic Missionary Society
Published by Burns Oates & Washbourne Ltd., Publishers To The Holy See
Nihil Obstat; Eduardus J. Mahoney, S.T.D. Censor deputatus.
Imprimatur; Edm. Can. Surmont, Vicarius generalis.
First printed in 1930

Thoughts of St Augustine for May 12

LET us come and be filled. And who came but the beggars, the maimed, the halt, the blind? But there came not thither the rich and the whole, who walked, as they thought, well, and saw acutely; who had great con­fidence in themselves, and were therefore in more desperate case, in proportion as they were more proud. Let the beggars come, for he inviteth them who though he was rich,
for our sakes became poor
. ­
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Click here for more information.

From Thoughts of St Augustine for Every Day
by Kathleen Mary Balfe (© 1926)
Nihil Obstat: Georgius D. Smith, S.T.D
Imprimatur: Edm. Can. Surmont

Thoughts from St Alphonsus for Every Day-May 12

MARY is said to be clothed with the sun because, as there is no one on earth who can be hidden from the heat of the sun, so there is no one living who can be deprived of the love of Mary.
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From Thoughts from St Alphonsus for Every Day
Compiled by Rev. C. McNeiry, C.SS.R.
Imprimatur: Joseph Hull, C.SS.R., Prov. Angl. Sup.
Nihil Obstat: Innocentlus Apap, O.P., S.T.M., Censor Deptutatus.
Imprimatur: Edm. Can. Surmont, Vicarius Generalis.
Westmonasterii, Die 9a Junii, 1927.
First published 1927

'Change and Hope’ Turned Out to Mean 'Culture of Death,’ Says Archbishop Burke

The pro-abortion policies of the Obama Administration are part of the “culture of death” in America, said Archbishop Raymond L. Burke at the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast on Friday.

Burke, who serves in the Vatican as the prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, warned of a moral crisis in America specifically calling Pres__ent Barack Obama to task along with pro-abortion Catholic politicians and Catholic voters that support pro-abortion, pro-homosexual positions.

“What those who were so enthused about the strong message of change and hope in the United States, delivered during the last election campaign, are now discovering is a consistent implementation of policies and programs which confirm and advance the culture of death, which can only finally leave our world without the great hope,” said Burke.
Continued here

Sunday, May 10, 2009

News Updates, 5/10-11

Prohibited from celebrating or receiving any of the sacraments
Bishop of Phoenix excommunicates schismatic priest now living in Southern California

Pro-Abortion Organization Upset by LifeSiteNews' Coverage of Development and Peace
Recognizes and supports CCODP's funding of pro-abortion movement
An abortion advocacy group in the US has criticized LifeSiteNews for exposing the involvement of the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace (CCODP) with the funding of pro-abortion, homosexualist, and anti-Catholic groups in foreign countries...

Pope Benedict preaches tolerance in Jordan
'Like Moses, we too have been called by name'

There were two guards standing in front of Planned Parenthood, one armed with a 9mm pistol
Three days of prayer aid San Diego pro-lifers as security guards at abortion centers become increasingly aggressive

Pope Benedict XVI now headed for Israel
Crossing modern political and religious minefields

Israeli politicians oppose papal visit
...as Benedict cites Jewish-Catholic links

Gingrich criticizes Notre Dame's Obama invite
Former speaker converted to Catholicism in late March

Texas priest beaten, kicked and stabbed after Mass
Parishioner jailed, said his 'demons' would help him

Archdiocese of Miami leaders mum on priest's fate
Embattled cleric 'declared his love' in interview

Maine bishop: Gay marriage a 'dangerous experiment'
'Deeply disappointed' in state's lawmakers and governor

Jesuit university cancels theology program
Erosion of the institution's Catholic identity?

Latinos increasingly drawn to Pentecostal church
'I didn't get those feelings in the Catholic Church'

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Other Issues
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In Obama White House, nepotism is alive and well
Barack Obama's administration is looking more and more like the Chicago Machine all the time. Threatening, bullying, rewarding allies with sweetheart deals, "pay to play" schemes and political hard ball have been on display as the country is waking up to the fact that the way the game is played in the windy city has migrated east to the Potomac....

Is America about to go broke?
Government obligations for Social Security and Medicare may soon exceed the combined net worth of every household and nonprofit organization in the country....

Obama [Domestic Enemy #1] & Chrysler Lie to Congress
Late in the morning on Thursday, April 30, three officials serving under President Barack Obama got on a telephone conference call with members of Congress and Capitol Hill staffers.

Sen. John McCain pushes for GOP inclusiveness
Sen. John McCain said Sunday that his party needs to be “inclusive” without betraying its “fundamental principles.” Asked if being inclusive meant welcoming candidates and voters who support abortion rights or gay marriage, McCain said: “It means that we can have people in our party who do not have the same views on specific issues, as long as we share common principles.
[McInsane needs to join Arlen Specter and his DemonRat buddies]

Chairman Maobama & other Domestic Enemies in Washington: Budget deficit to top $1.8 trillion, 4 times 2008's record

State universities in fiscal trouble

Police have authority to attach device to anyone's car?

Saudi's say no thanks on making US investments
A secret American delegation was sent by US President Barack Obama this week to solicit Saudi Arabian and other Gulf rulers for hundreds of billions of petro-dollars for investment in US and global economic stimulus plans, DEBKAfile's exclusive Gulf sources report. They came away empty-handed.

Mortgages Over 5% Means More Quantitative Easing
May 11 (Bloomberg) -- The world’s biggest investors are increasing bets that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke will boost purchases of Treasuries as the steepest losses on government debt since 1994 send mortgage rates above 5 percent.

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Welcome to the New Amerika - "Chains you can believe in"