Gospel for Saturday, 6th Week of Easter

From: John 16:23b-28

Fullness of Joy (Continuation)

(Jesus said to His disciples,) [23b] Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask anything of the Father, He will give it to you in My name. [24] Hitherto you have asked nothing in My name; ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.

[25] "I have said this to you in figures; the hour is coming when I shall no longer speak to in figures but tell you plainly of the Father. [26] In that day you will ask in My name; and I do not say to you that I shall pray the Father for you; [27] for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me and have believed that I came from the Father. [28] I came from the Father and have come into the world; again, I am leaving the world and going to the Father."
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Commentary:

25-30. As can be seen also from other passages in the Gospels, Jesus spent time explaining His doctrine in more detail to His Apostles than to the crowd (cf. Mark 4:10-12 and paragraph)--to train them for their mission of preaching the Gospel to the whole world (cf. Matthew 28:18-20). However, our Lord also used metaphors or parables when imparting instruction to the Apostles, and He does so in this discourse of the Last Supper--the vine, the woman giving birth, etc.: He stimulates their curiosity and they, because they do not understand, ask Him questions (cf. verses 17-18). Jesus now tells them that the time is coming when He will speak to them in a completely clear way so that they will know exactly what He means. This He will do after the Resurrection (cf. Acts 1:3). But even now, since He knows their thoughts, He is making it ever plainer to them that He is God, for only God can know what is happening inside someone (cf. 2:25). Verse 28, "I came from the Father and have come into the world; again, I am leaving the world and going to the Father" summarizes the mystery of Christ's Person (cf. John 1:14; 20:31).
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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.

Aug 4-6, Conference in La Crosse at Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe

From the St Louis Review:

Archbishop Raymond L. Burke will be one of several speakers at a conference Aug. 4-6 at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in La Crosse, Wis.

Other speakers include Bishop Joseph J. Madera, retired auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese for the Military Services, and Arthur Hippler, director of the La Crosse Diocese’s Office of Justice and Peace.

The conference also is sponsored by the Queen of the Americas Guild.

For information call the guild at (630) 584-1600 or the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe at (608) 782-5440.

June 19 - Opus Dei Observance of St Josemaria Escriva

From the St Louis Review:
Archbishop Raymond L. Burke will be principal celebrant and homilist at 7:30 p.m. Mass on Monday, June 19, the feast day of St. Josemaria Escriva, founder of the Opus Dei apostolate.

The Mass will be at the St. Louis Cathedral Basilica, Lindell Boulevard and Newstead Avenue in the Central West End. Confessions will be heard at 6:45 p.m. The apostolate, marking its 50th anniversary in St. Louis, plans anniversary events for September.

World Apostolate of Fatima named public association of faithful

The World Apostolate of Fatima has been named a public association of the faithful in the Catholic Church by the Pontifical Council for the Laity.

A Son Returns to His Father

I just received notice of this...

Fr. Todd Reitmeyer returned to his Father on May 24th at 12:30 PM in the year of our Lord, 2006.

Fr Todd, a recently ordained priest, hosted a blog, "A Son becomes a Father".

Please keep him in your prayers. He will be dearly missed.

This Weekend's 'Da Vinci Code' Protests

Here are the locations and times for this weekend's protests:

Friday May 26th
Chase Park Plaza Cinema St. Louis, 6-8
Des Peres 14 Cine Manchester, 6-8
Cinema 1 Plus Washington, MO 6-8

Saturday and Sunday
Chase Park Plaza
Des Peres 14 Cine

Please tell your friends and family.

Thanks to Mark Serafino for the updates!

First priest ordained in 30 years in Laos

Vientiane (AsiaNews) – The first ordination of a priest in Laos in 30 years is scheduled to take place on June 16. The ordination of Br Sophone Vilavongsy, a 32-year-old Oblate missionary of Mary Immaculate, was supposed to take place on December 8 last year, but the government stopped it at the last moment, requiring the postponement of the historic ceremony to an unspecified date.

The Senate's 'Tough' Immigration Bill

Some people are worried that amnesty will give illegal aliens the same rights that American citizens have. In reality, it will give the illegals more rights than the average American citizen.
...
If an American citizen forges a Social Security card in order to get a job, he can be arrested. Under a provision recently passed by the Senate, illegal aliens who forged Social Security cards not only get a pass, they get to collect Social Security benefits. [and much, much more]
...
What the immigration bill in the Senate has become is just another attempt to pander to another special interest, in disregard of how that affects the country as a whole.
...
There was a time when immigrants came here to become Americans. But there are powerful pressure groups in this country, extending far beyond the immigrant community, doing their best to keep foreigners foreign and force Americans to accommodate their foreign language and culture in the name of "multiculturalism."

Eric Johnson at Catholic Light has some interesting comments here as well.

Missouri Senator Jim Talent who opposed the recent Senate "Amnesty" Bill ( a sellout of the American people) gave a speech recently opposing the bill to provide amnesty for those who unlawfully entered the United States and those provisions which provide citizenship for at least 70 to 90 million new immigrants over the next 20 years...That speech can be read here (PDF file). A video of this speech is available here.

Archbishop Burke to Ordain Four New Priests on Saturday

Archbishop Raymond L. Burke will ordain four men to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of St. Louis at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 27, at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis, Lindell Boulevard and Newstead Avenue in the Central West End.

The Sacrament of Holy Orders will be conferred after the reading of the Gospel of the Mass. Announcement of the new priests’ assignments will be printed in an upcoming issue of the Review.


The new priests are, clockwise from top left, Fathers Christopher Dunlap, Christopher Martin, Aaron Nord and Nicholas Muenks.

Each has earned a master of divinity degree and master of arts in theology degree from Kenrick-Glennon Seminary.

Congratulations! And may God bestow His abundant blessings on these men!

Please keep these men in your prayers that they may fulfill their calling to the priesthood, to be an "Alter Christus", with love and fidelity.

Archbishop Burke Issues Priestly Assignments

The New Curia of Benedict XVI Looks toward Asia

The new prefect of “Propaganda Fide” comes from India. And the new secretary of the congregation for the liturgy is from Sri Lanka. His first public address was the presentation of a book. And it was revealing
by Sandro Magister

Belleville Home of Admitted Priest Sexual Molester

BELLEVILLE -- The Rev. Real "Ray" Bourque, who admits that he sexually abused boys in the late 1970s and early '80s while serving as a priest on the East Coast, was transferred four years ago to a retirement home in Belleville.

During a brief telephone interview Monday, Bourque said that while he did sexually abuse children, he was himself a victim of molestation as a child by an attacker who was not a priest.

Asked whether he had sexually molested boys, Bourque responded: "Eventually I did." He declined further comment, saying, "I was a victim myself ... I'm retired. I'm 78 years old. I don't want to be part of a witch hunt."

An editorial in the Belleville News Democrat shows a lack of comprehension about how the Church is structured...The editorial blames Bishop Braxton for not doing something about this case:

Bourque admits he is a child molester. But because he is a member of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, not a parish priest, he is not covered by the sex abuse policy. He is the responsibility of the [O}blates. Their response to his pedophilia is to have Bourque sign himself out of the retirement home.

So how does current Bishop Edward Braxton respond? After the vicar general was sent to meet with the oblates' leader, Braxton concluded his obligations under the zero-tolerance policy were fulfilled and there was no more he was allowed to do under canon law.

Really?

First, I have not yet read whether this is a case "pedophilia" or one of homosexuality...Noting that the editorial writer is wrong about Bishop Braxton's powers to do something in this case leads me to be suspicious about the writer's other claims.

In all fairness, the editorial should be directed toward the Oblates and not Bishop Braxton.

A Prayer for Priests

O Jesus, Eternal Priest;
keep Thy priests within the shelter of Thy Sacred Heart,
where none may touch them.

Keep unstained their anointed hands,
which daily touch Thy Sacred Body.

Keep unsullied their lips,
daily purpled with Thy Precious Blood.

Keep pure and unworldly their hearts,
sealed with the sublime mark of the priesthood.

Let Thy holy love surround them from the world's contagion.

Bless their labors with abundant fruit,
and may the souls to whom they minister be their joy and consolation here
and their everlasting crown hereafter.

Mary, Queen of the Clergy, pray for us: obtain for us numerous and holy priests.

Pope to Priests:...Be an Expert in the Spiritual Life

Papal Address to Priests in Warsaw Cathedral
"To Be an Expert in the Spiritual Life"

WARSAW, Poland, MAY 25, 2006 (Zenit.org).- Here is a Vatican translation of the address Benedict XVI gave to priests today in Warsaw Cathedral, on the first day of his apostolic visit to Poland.

...The faithful expect only one thing from priests: that they be specialists in promoting the encounter between man and God. The priest is not asked to be an expert in economics, construction or politics. He is expected to be an expert in the spiritual life. With this end in view, when a young priest takes his first steps, he needs to be able to refer to an experienced teacher who will help him not to lose his way among the many ideas put forward by the culture of the moment.

In the face of the temptations of relativism or the permissive society, there is absolutely no need for the priest to know all the latest, changing currents of thought; what the faithful expect from him is that he be a witness to the eternal wisdom contained in the revealed word. Solicitude for the quality of personal prayer and for good theological formation bear fruit in life...

Gospel for May 26, Memorial: St. Philip Neri, Priest

From: John 16:20-23

Fullness of Joy (Continuation)

(Jesus said to His disciples,) [20] "Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. [21] When a woman is in travail she has sorrow, because her hour has come; but when she is delivered of the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a child is born into the world. [22] So you have sorrow now, but I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. [23] In that day you will ask nothing of Me. Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask anything of the Father, He will give it to you in My name."
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Commentary:

21-22. This image of the woman giving birth (frequently used in the Old Testament to express intense pain) is also often used, particularly by the prophets, to mean the birth of the new messianic people (cf. Isaiah 21:3; 26:17; 66:7; Jeremiah 30:6; Hosea 13:13; Micah 4:9-10). The words of Jesus reported here seem to be the fulfillment of those prophecies. The birth of the messianic people--the Church of Christ--involves intense pain, not only for Jesus but also, to some degree, for the Apostles. But this pain, like birthpains, will be made up for by the joy of the final coming of the Kingdom of Christ: "I am convinced," says St. Paul, "that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us" (Romans 8:18).

23-24. See the note on John 14:12-14.

[Note on John 14:12-14 states:
12-14. Jesus Christ is our intercessor in Heaven; therefore, He promises us that everything we ask for in His name, He will do. Asking in His name (cf. 15:7, 16; 16:23-24) means appealing to the power of the risen Christ, believing that He is all-powerful and merciful because He is true God; and it also means asking for what is conducive to our salvation, for Jesus is our Savior. Thus, by "whatever you ask" we must understand what is for the good of the asker. When our Lord does not give what we ask for, the reason is that it would not make for our salvation. In this way we can see that He is our Savior both when He refuses us what we ask and when He grants it.]
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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.

More Judicial Tyranny

International Law Threatens Home Schooling Warns Home School Legal Defense

PURCELLVILLE, Virginia, May 25, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A home schooling association is warning that the U.S., and even more so other countries, faces the threat that home schooling may be deemed illegal due to international law.

The Home School Legal Defense Association's (HSLDA) Chairman and General Counsel, Michael Farris, warns that even though the U.S. has never ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, the convention may still be binding on citizens because of activist judges.

All that is necessary for the US to become part of this international takeover is for the voting public to continue to elect reprobates to politcal office...It seems to me, that this, too, is part of the spiritual warfare in which we are currently embattled. There is a concerted effort by some to destroy the family - and this will destroy society as we know it. As the country and world becomes more and more paganized, the necessity of prayer, reparations and sacrifice increases.

Complete article here.

In light of the above and more, here is a Parents Prayer for Children

O Jesus, Lover of children, bestow Your most precious graces on those whom You have confided to our care. Increase in them faith, hope and charity. May Your love form them to solid piety; inspiring them with horror for sin, love of work and an ardent desire of worthily approaching Your Holy Table. Preserve in them innocence and purity of heart and if they should offend You, grant them the grace of prompt and
sincere repentance.

From Your Tabernacle watch over them day and night, protect them in all their ways. Grant that they may acquire the knowledge they need, that they may embrace the state of life to which You call them.

Give us for them a sincere love, constant vigilance, generous devotedness. Be here below our sweetest consolation and in Heaven our eternal reward. Amen.

Seven Reasons to Keep Protesting the Duh Vinci Code

For photos of the Missouri Protests, click here

To find your state's protest pictures, click here

Groups Spends $1.3M to Promote Embryonic Stem Cell Research

Anyone who claims that this research is not about money is simply not in touch with reality. This $1,300,000 expediture to collect signatures does not include the current ads running on TV (and I presume, radio). These ads, designed to evoke an emotional rather than an intellectual response are pure bunk - they make me want to wretch! They are full of lies and deceptions! Though tremendous advances are being made in the area of Adult Stem Cell Research, these are largely ignored by the press and by those who have been sold a false and illusory hope in something which has yet to offer any promise for a cure, let alone that both ESCR and somatic cell nuclear transfer are inherently immoral and unethical as they rely on destroying human life to achieve their ends.

..the Missouri Coalition for Lifesaving Cures relied on paid professional signature gatherers to collect the signatures necessary to qualify its ballot initiative, which also allows some forms of human cloning.

The group spent almost $1.3 million to pay signature gatherers, according to an Associated Press report. The money went to an out-of-state firm -- the Michigan-based National Petition Management, which hires people to obtain signatures.

And, of course, the signature gatherers misled the public in order to get them to sign on the dotted line..."This is a petition to ban human cloning. Would you like to sign it so we can vote on it in November?"

Granted, the signature gatherers may have been lied to by the Missouri Coalition for Lifesaving Cures, the group responsible for the massive deception. One can only conclude that many of the signatures were gathered by fraud and deceit - I know - I heard it myself.

Jaci Winship, director of Missourians Against Human Cloning, accused backers of buying a place on the Missouri ballot. She said backers have received millions from the Stowers research center for the proposal and would "whatever is necessary to deceive the voters into supporting this unethical amendment."

When it comes right down to its core, truth, morality and ethics are thrown out the window for the chance to acquire more wealth and potential patent rights...this behavior is reprehensible.

Meanwhile, almost all of the $10 million the pro-cloning group raised through May 17 came from two people -- James and Virginia Stowers. The group has received only about 5 percent of its funds from average Missouri residents.

Not too surprising...

Arizona Family Needs Help....

As posted at CatholicLight here:

Who protects you from an abusive CPS?

If any of our readers happen to be family lawyers in the state of Arizona, would you take a moment to look into a family that needs help?

Nancy Sandrock is a practicing midwife and mother of twelve in Maricopa County. Seven of her children live at home, but they were removed by the Arizona CPS recently in connection with a complaint against her 18-year-old son.

Our blog neighbor Alicia the midwife (May archive) has visited the family in the past and knows the mother well, so she's been posting about the case.

What they need most now is legal help to stop apparently abusive state social workers from bulldozing their family.

Prayers needed for this situation.

By Their Fruits....

...you will know them...

Scotland abortions reach all-time high

Glasgow, May. 25, 2006 (CNA) - Policymakers in Scotland must gather their courage to publicly discourage early sexual activity and promote abstinence, said Archbishop Mario Conti of Glasgow after new government statistics revealed that the number of abortions in the country have reached an all-time high. There were 12,603 abortions in Scotland in 2005.

Poor Scotland...While abortions are currently on the rise, the future holds the promise that in a few years there may be a significant decrease due to the fact that the children are going to be taught how to have "safe" sex - homosexual style...What a plan!

The new data demonstrates that “the current approach of ever greater availability of contraception, ever more explicit sex education and ever easier access to abortion is a recipe for disaster,” said the archbishop.

Archbishop Conti is right on target, but does anyone listen? Will Scotland be yet another Western country that chooses to commit suicide? Time will tell.

Dr Ed Peters: Msgr. Cormac Burke's canon law website

For those of us who have more than a passing interest in Canon Law, this looks to be great news:

Msgr. [Cormac] Burke is that unusual kind of man who has maintained extensive scholarly output while performing Church work at the highest levels; in him, we have the chance to see how a canonical judge (one with a common law formation at that) adjudicates actual cases, and how the same man reflects on those issues as an academic. Thus, his decision to launch a personal website, featuring many of his books, articles, and judicial sentences, is very exciting news. His materials (often entire works) are now available in several languages.

Read Dr. Peters' overview of retired Rotal Judge, Msgr. Cormac Burke’s, important new canon law website here.

A Farewell to a Modernist in Minneapolis-St Paul

Ever wonder how St. Joan of Arc parish in Minneapolis became what it is today?

It all began with Fr. Harvey Egan, who passed away on Saturday, May 20th. St. Joan of Arc has a video documentary on their website which includes excerpts from a 2003 interview with Egan by Anna Vagle, a parishioner who has been with the parish, apparently, since the days of the first Gym Masses at St. Joan's.

For those unfamilar with this parish, it might be described as one of the most un-Catholic "Catholic" parishes around...Even worse than St Cronan's in St Louis...

There are seven video clips and The Weight of Glory Blog has posted some of the highlights (or lowlights) of these clips here.

The Star-Tribune carried a story here recently about the "priest":

To his parishioners at St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church, Egan the rebel provided the nourishment that helped transform the south Minneapolis church throughout his 18 years as its pastor.

Egan was installed as St. Joan of Arc pastor in 1967 and under the liberalizing reforms of the Second Vatican Council, he created a contemporary mass that was conducted in the church's gymnasium.

"That was the time to make up your mind, whether you were going to go with old church or new," Egan said in a 2003 interview posted on the church's website.

"I knew what Vatican II said and I knew this was the right way to go," he said.

The "infallible" words of Pope Harvey...

It was also a time to make bold moves. Egan invited feminist Gloria Steinem to speak from the church pulpit in 1978.
...
"St. Joan of Arc believes in women and their participation in the liturgy and believes in contemporary themes and their position in the liturgy," Egan said in 2003.

The spirit of rebellion has not subsided...

"Where Jesus was doesn't interest me. It's where he is now that I want to find," he told the Star Tribune in 1986 when he retired. "I want to see the action now. The message of the resurrection is that the love of Christ is alive and in operation here and now."

Interestingly, in segment 5 of the video he speaks of the last things:

"There won't be a heaven and hell at the end -- it's all glory, it's all heaven. That's the way it is, even though most parishes don't see it that way..."

I wonder if he thinks any differently today?

And let's not forget this tidbit on eliminating abortion:

"Minneapolis pastor Father Harvey Egan wrote a Minneapolis Star guest editorial opposing amendments outlawing abortion for moral or religious belief. Egan, who recently invited Gloria Steinem to St. Joan of Arc Church to give the homily wrote, 'Sixty years ago, prohibitionists, largely inspired by religious groups believing that strong drink is evil, obtained ratification of the 18th Amendment to the Constitution and imposed their restrictive moral conviction on all U.S. citizens. . . Prohibition was a disaster. I suggest caution in pushing for another constitutional amendment based on a moral conviction'."

National Catholic Reporter
February 9, 1979

Has Archbishop Flynn done anything to deal with this parish other than getting the last pastor, George Wertin, to retire last year? I'm not certain, but he doesn't seem to hesitate punishing those priests who are faithful and obedient (Fr. Altier)...

I hope people will pray the repose of the soul of Harvey Egan.

Ford Continues to Support Sexual Deviancy

This comes from an email I received last night:

You Will Absolutely Not Believe What Ford Has Done Now

Ford's magazine sponsorship now includes promotion of repugnant activity

When Ford responds to those who write concerning their promotion of homosexual marriage, the response they get from Ford's Customer Relationship Center says their support "is a strong commitment we intend to carry forward with no exception." For Ford, that support also includes homosexual polygamy.

To show those supporting traditional marriage they mean business, Ford sponsored the June 6 issue of the homosexual publication The Advocate. The cover reads: "Polygamy & Gay Men. Dirty laundry or sexual freedom? How gay men handle multiple partners." The article promotes homosexual polygamy.

Ford sponsored the publication with a full page back cover advertising Ford Motor company product Volvo and a full page ad for all Ford brands with the line: "Ford Motor Company. Standing strong with America's families and communities."

Ford's support for the magazine's promotion of homosexual polygamy leaves no doubt that Ford means to continue pushing the homosexual agenda, even including homosexual polygamy.

To see the front cover, the contents page and the ads for Ford and Volvo, click here. I must warn you, it will be offensive to many. The pages show the contents of the magazine which Ford helped sponsor with two full-page ads, but I felt we must include the proof. If you don't want to see it, please don't click the link.

At their stockholders meeting on May 11, Ford voted 95% of the ballots cast to continue their support of the homosexual agenda rather than be neutral in the cultural battle.

The boycott is working. The value of Ford stock has gone down 13% since the boycott began, while sales continue to drop.

Take Action:
Click Here to Sign the Ford Boycott Pledge Now!

It's obvious that Ford believes two or more homosexuals in a "relationship" constitutes a family...It's obvious, as well, that Ford thinks more of promoting sexual deviance than it does making cars and trucks...I'm dumping my Ford product - it is a defective piece of junk anyway - kind of like Ford's social philosophy.

An Editorial from the National Catholic Register...

...regarding Fr. Maciel.

What to Expect of Cofounders
May 28-June 3, 2006
by Father Owen Kearns, LC

A note from the publisher of the National Catholic Register

We must always pray for our priests. Our prayers will not go unanswered. Let us beseech God's blessings and grace upon those whom He has called to lead us to Him.

HT to Salvacion for the article...

Catholic Church Responsible for "Gay" Deaths...

so claims flamer Elton John in this article.

LONDON, May 24, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) - British pop music star Elton John has attacked the Catholic Church and its position on condom use as a reason for the demise of 60 of his friends to the sexually-transmitted disease, AIDS.

Of course, it had nothing to do their "alternative" lifestyles...While it's unfortunate that his friends died, and we should pray for them and Elton; they surely did not rely on the moral teachings of the Church about whether to use condoms while they were humping each others backsides, did they? Besides, the very act of sodomy is intrinsically evil itself. What's love (of condoms) got to do with it?

I mean, let's face it. Does Elton have a clue, or does homosexuality really make one that stupid?

Are we to suppose to believe that the conversation of Butch and Mango, leading up to their show of "affection", included a statement like, "Well, Mango, the Vatican is opposed to me using of condoms while I show you how much I "love" you (it contraceptive, you know)...So if either us catches AIDS, it'll be Rome's fault, not ours. I just hope "

I'm beginning to wonder if maybe there's a yet unknown and undiscovered STD which affects one's brain. We already know that practicing homosexuals suffer a deadly spiritual disease, as do all who engage in gravely sinful acts.

The fact is that we reap what we sow. If one steeps himself in the world, engaging in abhorent and deadly acts of sinful behavior, one should not be surprised at his self-inflicted pain, suffering and death. Free will can be abused by ignoring the will of God and choosing to satisfy one's own will, instead. Rejecting the good, which is an abuse of one's freedom, leads to bondage and slavery, and ultimately to one's own death.

"Fraternal Correction" Needed for Wisconsin Governor

Doyle restates support of stem cell research

Governor responds to criticism from two Catholic bishops
BY RYAN J. FOLEY
Associated Press

MADISON — Gov. Jim Doyle broke with Wisconsin's two most prominent Catholic bishops on Wednesday, bluntly telling them he would not rethink his strong support of embryonic stem cell research.

"While I appreciate your thoughts on this important issue, I also feel a responsibility to promote vital research which holds the potential to save countless lives and bring thousands of jobs to our state," Doyle, a Catholic, wrote in a letter to Milwaukee Archbishop Timothy Dolan and Madison Bishop Robert Morlino.

This public statement by a professed Catholic must not go uncorrected. This is a statement in open defiance of, not only these bishops, but the natural moral law and the decalogue. This man favors taking the live of the innocent to further human experimentation. He is also more concerned with money rather the the lives of innocent human beings.

Doyle's executive order set a statewide goal of capturing 10 percent of the stem cell technology market by 2015 and directed the Department of Commerce to use $5 million to recruit and help stem cell companies.

This man is motivated by Satan and not by God - he is spiritually bankrupt! He brings disgrace and scandal to all that is Christian!

The governor responded that the research typically involves using surplus embryos at fertility clinics that would be discarded anyway.

"The ultimate question isn't whether embryos will be destroyed, but whether we should allow a few of those unused embryos to be utilized saving lives instead of discarding them," Doyle wrote. "I believe we should come down on the side of saving lives."

Some would, no doubt, propose that we have a surplus of ignorant, pompass governors and legislators who would be excellent specimens for scientific "research"...After all, they're going to die someday anyway.

The bishops of the state need to act on this travesty immediately...This man who claims to be Catholic, is openly rejecting the teaching of the Church. This public rebellion needs a public response. Apparently, "dialogue" has again proven to be an inadequate means for correcting openly public, scandalous politicians.

Polish National Catholic-Roman Catholics Adopt "Joint Declaration on Unity"

WASHINGTON (May 24, 2006) -- The Polish National Catholic-Roman Catholic dialogue has adopted a “Joint Declaration on Unity” that spells out the nature of the relationship between the two bodies and looks forward to the establishment of full communion between them.

Thursday, May 25, The Ascension

LESSON (Acts I. 1-11.)

The former treatise I made, O Theophilus, of all things which Jesus began to do and to teach , until the day on which, giving commandments by the Holy Ghost to the apostles ,whom he had chosen, he was taken up: to whom also he showed himself alive after his passion, by many proofs, for forty days appearing to them, and speaking of the kingdom of God. And eating together with them, he commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but should wait for the prom­ise of the Father, which you have heard (saith he) by my mouth: for John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost, not many days hence. They, therefore, who were come together, asked him, saying: Lord, wilt thou at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? But he said to diem: It is not for you to know the times or moments which the Father hath put in his own power; but you shall receive the power of the Holy Ghost coming upon you, and you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and Samaria, and even to the uttermost part of the earth. And when he had said these things, while they looked on, he was raised up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they were beholding him going up to heaven, behold, two men stood by them in white garments, who also said: Ye men of Galilee, why stand yon looking up to heaven? This Jesus who is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come, as you have seen him going into heaven.

EXPLANATION

This gospel of St. Luke addressed to Theophilus, a Christian of note in Antioch, contains an account of the life, sufferings, and death of Jesus up to the time of His ascension into heaven. The Evangelist con­tinues his account in the Acts of the apostles, in which he describes in simple words that which Jesus did during the forty days following His Resurrection, and the manner in which He ascended into heaven in the presence of His apostles. Rejoice that Christ today has entered into the glory gained by His sufferings and death, and pray: I rejoice, O King of heaven and earth, in the glory Thou bast this day attained in heaven. Sing to God, ye kingdoms of the earth: sing ye to the Lord: sing ye to God, who mounteth above the heaven of heavens to the east. Give ye glory to God for Israel, his magnificence and his power is in the clouds. God is wonderful in his saints, the God of Israel is he who will give power and strength to his people, blessed be God. (Ps.LXVII. 33‑36.)


GOSPEL (Mark. XVI. 14-20.)

At that time, Jesus appeared to the eleven as they were at table: and he upbraided them with their incredulity and hardness of heart, because they did not believe them who had seen him after he was risen again. (And he said to them: Go ye into the whole world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved: but he that believeth not shall be condemned: And these signs shall follow them that believe. In my name they shall cast out devils: they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents: and if they shall drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them: they shall lay their hands upon the sick; and they shall recover.) And the Lord Jesus after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God. But they going forth preached everywhere, the Lord work­ing withal, and confirming the word with signs that followed.

The part of this gospel which is within the marks of parenthesis, is the gospel for the feast of St: Francis Xavier.

Why did Christ say to His apostles: Go ye into the whale world and preach the gospel to all creatures?

To show that no one is to assume the office of preach­ing, but must look for his mission from the lawful pastors of the Church. And when Christ sends His apostles into the whole worlds to all nations without exception, He shows His willingness to save all men. If the designs of God are not fulfilled, the blame is not to be attributed to God, but to man, who either does not accept the doctrine of the gospel, or accepting, does not live in accordance with it, or else renders himself by his obduracy in vice, unworthy of the gospel.

Is faith without good works sufficient for salvation?

No, faith that is not active in love, not fruitful in good works, and therefore not meritorious, (Gal. V. 6.) is not suf­ficient for salvation. "Such faith," says St. Anselm, "is not the faith of a Christian, but the faith of the devil." Only he who truly believes in Christ and His doctrine, and lives in accordance with it, will be saved.

Is ours then the true faith since all the faithful do not work miracles; as Christ has predicted?

St. Gregory very beautifully replies to this question: "Because the Redeemer said that true faith would be ac­companied by miracles, you must not think that you have not the faith, because these signs do not follow; these miracles had to be wrought in the beginning of the Church, because faith in her had to be increased by these visible signs of divine power." And even now when such signs are necessary for the propagation of the faith, and victory over unbelief, God gives His faithful power to work them.

Are miracles wrought now in the Catholic Church?

Yes, for there have been at all times saints in the Church, who, as seen from their lives, have wrought miracles, on account of their faith, which even the heretics cannot deny; for instance St. Francis Xavier, who in the sight of the heathens, raised several dead persons to life. In a spiritual manner all pious Catholics still work such miracles; for, as St. Chrysostom says, "they expel devils when they banish sin, which is worse than the devil; they speak new tongues when they converse no longer on vain and sinful things, but on those which are spiritual and heavenly." "They take up serpents," says St. Gregory, "when by zealous exhortations they lift others from the shame of vice, without being themselves poisoned; they drink deadly things without being hurt by them, when they hear improper conversation without being corrupted or led to evil; they lay their hands upon the sick and heal them, when they teach the ignorant, strengthen by their good example those who are wavering in virtue, keep the sinner from evil, and similar things." Strive to do this upon all occasions, O Christian, for God willingly gives you His grace and you will thus be of more use to yourself and others, and honor God more than by working the greatest miracles.

Where and how did Christ ascend into heaven?

From Mount Olivet where His sufferings began, by which we learn, that where our crosses and afflictions begin which we endure with patience and resignation, there begins our reward. Christ ascended into heaven by His own power, because He is God, and now in His glorified humanity He sits at the right hand of His Father, as our continual Mediator.

In whose presence did Christ ascend into heaven?

In the presence of His apostles, and many of His dis­ciples, whom He had previously blessed, (Luke XXIV. 51.) and who, as St. Leo says, derived consoling joy from His ascension. Rejoice, also, O Christian foul, for Christ has today opened heaven for you, and you may enter it, if you believe in Christ, and live in accordance with that faith. St. Augustine says: "Let us ascend in spirit with Christ, that when His day comes, we may follow with our body.

Yet you must know, beloved brethren, that not pride, nor avarice, nor impurity, nor any other vice ascends with Christ; for with the teacher of humility pride ascends not, nor with the author of goodness, malice, nor with the Son of the Virgin, impurity. Let us then ascend with Him by trampling upon our vices and evil inclinations, thus build­ing a ladder by which we can ascend; for we make a ladder of our sins to heaven when we tread them down in combating them:"

ASPIRATION

O King of glory! O powerful Lord! who hast this day ascended victoriously, above all heaven, leave us not as poor orphans; but send us, from the Father, the Spirit of truth whom Thou hast promised. Alleluia.

Why is the paschal candle extinguished after the gospel on this day?

To signify that Christ, of whom the candle is a figure, has gone from His disciples.
_____________________________
From Explanation of the Epistles and Gospels by Fr. Leonard Goffine (c) 1880

Gospel for Thursday, 6th Week of Lent

From: John 16:16-20

Fullness of Joy

(Jesus said to His disciples,) [16] "A little while, and you will see Me no more; again a little while, and you will see Me." [17] Some of His disciples said to one another, "What is this that He says to us, `A little while, and you will not see Me, and again a little while, and you will see Me'; and, `because I go to the Father'?" [18] They said, "What does He mean by `a little while'? We do not know what He means." [19] Jesus knew they wanted to ask Him; so He said to them, "Is this what you are asking yourselves, what I meant by saying, `A little while and you will not see Me, and again a little while, and you will see Me'? [20] Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy."
_____________________________

Commentary:

16-20. Earlier our Lord consoled the disciples by assuring them that He would send them the Holy Spirit after He went away (verse 7). Now He gives them further consolation: He is not leaving them permanently, He will come back to stay with them. However, the Apostles fail to grasp what He means, and they ask each other what they make of it. Our Lord does not give them a direct explanation, perhaps because they would not understand what He meant (as happened before: cf. Matthew 16:21-23 and paragraph). But He does emphasize that though they are sad now they will soon be rejoicing: after suffering tribulation they will be filled with a joy they will never lose (cf. John 17:13). This is a reference primarily to the Resurrection (cf. Luke 24:41), but also to their definitive encounter with Christ in Heaven.
___________________________
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.

Ascension - The Dignity of the Human Body

"The Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up to heaven." St. Mark, 16:19.

For years, ever since 1924, the Russians had kept and honored a dead body, the body of Lenin, god of the Communists. At his death the Soviet leaders ordered two scientists to embalm their founder for the ages. For months they worked on other corpses to find a method. What they finally did to the remains of Lenin is a holy Communist secret. At first the anatomist and the chemist assigned the task, expected the body to last only two years. When they succeeded for that long, they boastfully predicted that it would last forever.

At first the body lay in a wooden tomb before the Kremlin. Then it disappeared for 18 months while a new tomb of dull red granite was built at the same place. Many millions of Russians have filed past the remains, getting no closer that 10 feet from the coffin, which lies in an air-conditioned room. Close observers have noted, however, that the body is decomposing and discoloring despite all efforts to preserve it.

What a far cry this almost disgusting effort to keep a dead man's body in a state of preservation, from the glory of this Ascension day. What a contrast between what happened to the body of Lenin, god of Communism, and to the body of Christ, God of Christianity. The cruel Lenin and the kindly Christ offer no sharper contrast than in that which happened to their bodies.

The corpse of the Communist founder rotted, despite every effort to preserve it; whereas the body of Christ ascended, rose up and returned, glorious and triumphant, to His eternal home. Today we honor the fact that Christ ascended into heaven. And today it would be well for us to think a moment about the dignity of the human body, especially since we are considering the Fifth Commandment, which demands respect for the human body.

Of all material things, the human body is the Creator's most marvelous work. The bright spring sunshine is no more radiant than the tender smile of a human being. Beautiful as is the dawn, it is dull beside the clear, open face of an innocent youth. Who has not admired a clear, blue cloudless sky? Yet, the clear eyes of a little child are much more beautiful. The song of a bird is delightful, but the song of a human is still more thrilling. The human body is God's greatest material creation.

But the dignity of the human frame arises not from this alone. It comes from spiritual reasons:

1. Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. As St. Paul tells us: "Do you not know that your members are the temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have from God?" I Cor. 6:19. In the next verse he tells us: "Glorify God and bear him in your body."

2. That is what we do literally when we receive Holy Communion. Your body becomes the living tabernacle of the Son of God. Father, Son and Holy Spirit take up their dwelling in you when you receive the Eucharist. How we honor the tabernacle on our altar. How we protect and adorn it. How much more so the body which becomes the living and loving home of the All-holy.

3. Your body takes its dignity from the fact that it is the co-worker of your soul. Of the two the soul is more important, but still the body is the instrument, the case, the tool of the soul. Your body cooperates in the good you do and in the bad you do. In the same way your body will share in merit and blame.

4. The human body was honored especially when the Son of God came down from heaven and took to Himself a human form from the Immaculate body of His beloved Mother. What a perfect body Christ must have had. What perfect cooperation there was between His body and His soul.

That body was cut and broken on the cross, buried in the earth. But the third day Christ rose triumphant and glorious, His body was beautiful and dignified in its resurrection.

And today we see that matchless body of Christ ascending, rising up into heaven, there to be seated at the right hand of the Almighty Father. Today is an occasion for us to realize the beauty and dignity of the human frame. Today is a time for us to see why God gave us a Fifth Commandment, demanding respect for the body of every man.

Because your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, and the tabernacle home of Christ, because your body is the intimate partner of your soul, because your body was honored by the Incarnation, by the Resurrection and by the Ascension of Christ, the Son of God, for all these reasons your body and every human body is worthy of dignity and honor.

That is why murder, suicide, abortion, mercy-killing, mutilization, sins against chastity, sterilization, other criminal killing or maiming of the human body are against the wise law of God.

We have seen the followers of Lenin lined up against the followers of Christ. We see on the one side feeble men trying feebly to keep from decaying and rotting the dead corpse of a mere man.

Today we also see - and what a thrilling sight it is - the glorious, beautiful, living body of the Son of God ascending into heaven.

May this Ascension day prompt us to renew our allegience to Christ and to reject everyone and everything that is against Christ. Particularly may we today pledge our respect for the body which God gave to man - your body and the body of every other human being.
_________________________
Adapted from Talks on the Commandments
by Fr. Arthur Tonne, OFM (© 1948)

Ascension - His Heavenly Throne

"The Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up to heaven, and sits at the right hand of God." St. Mark, 16:19.

"He ascended into heaven, sits at the right hand of God." Creed.

In the very first book of the Bible we read the thrilling, inspiring story of Joseph of Egypt. We read how his brothers jealously betrayed him, how he was sold into the service of Pharao, how he won the favor of the king, and how he explained a dream which prepared the Egyptian people for seven years of famine. As a reward for his honesty, ability and devotion King Pharao made Joseph next to himself in royal power, saying to him: "Seeing God hath shown thee all that thou hast said, can I find one wiser and one like unto thee?

"Thou shalt be over my house, and at the commandment of thy mouth all the people shall obey: only in the kingly throne will I be above thee.

"And again Pharao said to Joseph: 'Behold, I have appointed thee over the whole land of Egypt.'

"And he (ook his ring from his own hand, and gave it into his hand: and he put upon him a robe of silk, and put a chain of gold about his neck.

"And he made him go up into his second chariot, the crier proclaiming that all should bow their knee before him, and that they should know he was made governor over the whole land of Egypt.'

"And the king said to Joseph: 'I am Pharao; without thy commandment no man shall move hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.'

"And he turned his name, and called him in the Egyptian tongue, The Savior of the world." Genesis, 41:39-45.

Something similar to thls happened to our Divine Savior when He ascended into heaven. In the heavenly court Christ is seated at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty. Joseph of old is a figure - a type - of Christ. Our Lord, too, was betrayed. Our Lord worked with His heavenly Father. Our Lord was truly the Savior of the world. As Pharao rewarded Joseph by making him ruler with himself, so God the Father rewarded Christ by seating our Lord at His right side. When we pray those words,... "Christ sits at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty," we mean that Christ, as God, is equal to the Father, and we mean that Christ, as man, is in the highest place in heaven.

When we say that Christ "sits" we do not mean any bodily posture or position. We do mean that Jesus, the Son of God, was given the position worthy of His dignity; He was equal to the Father. This was due Him as God. As man, Christ deserved the highest place in heaven, next to the Father.

The word "sit" signifies royal power. In the presence of kings everybody usually stands. Sitting is a position of rest, a position of contentment, a position of power. Sitting also implies a throne, the heavenly throne befitting the Kingship of the God-man.

The Bible also tells us that Christ sits "at the right hand of God." Really God has no hands; He is a pure spirit. But the expression "at the right hand" shows that Christ was seated in the place of honor, next in dignity to God the Father. As God, Christ has a throne equal in honor and power to the throne of His Father. As man, the throne of Christ is second and next to God's. As God and man Christ is above all creatures.

In some ways the relations between Pharao and Joseph were quite different from the relation between God the Father and God the Son. In this, however, they are alike, that just as Pharao made Joseph go up into his second chariot and receive the homage of all the people, so God the Father received Christ and placed Him at the right side, the position of power and honor.

As we follow our Lord this Ascension day to the very court of heaven, and look at Him, and think of Him, seated at the right hand of His heavenly Father, various feelings rise in our hearts. Our hope of heaven receives a new spurt of life. To know that the One whom we follow has entered into His glory, gives us renewed confidence that we too shall one day share in His glory. Nothing could be more encouraging to the good life He asks us to lead. Here below it is difficult, wearisome; there above we see the reward of it all.

Suppose God had not told us in Sacred Scripture that Jesus was seated at the right hand of the Father. Then virtue would be so much more difficult; the very word "virtue" would be empty and vain. Then the goods of this life would be everything to everyone. Empty and useless as they are, the baubles of earth would be our only concern. Without this article of the Creed, without the Ascension and all it implies, the passions of man would have no check, suicide and the asylum would be our only outlet, and society could seek a stop for its suffering only in the scaffold, the sword and the cemetery.

On the contrary, knowing with absolute certainty that Christ is enthroned in glory, bearing im mind the Ascension, and that He awaits us with a place prepared, we generously trade the goods of time for the goods of eternity. With the Ascension in mind we can attempt any and every virtue, any and every sacrifice. Gladly we pay the price of labor and pain. Today, Ascension day, a good life is sure of its reward, every good deed is sure of its return.

Ordinarily we should be sad at the departure of Christ. Instead we are glad - glad that He has received His reward, glad that now we can be certain of our own reward. May we be worthy to ascend with Him!
__________________________
Adapted from Talks on the Creed
by Fr. Arthur Tonne, OFM (© 1946)

In case you haven't seen it...

Here is a Cardinal Arinze's Letter to Bishop Skylstad regarding Liturgiam Authenticum and the Latest Missal translation efforts on which the Bishops will vote in June.

Dissent, Truth, and Obedience

Today there are too many people who call themselves Catholic but, in reality, are not. Some are "Catholic" in name only, knowing very little about our Lord, His Church, and the Faith which they profess. Any number of reasons may explain this.

Others, having been taught about the Church and the Catholic faith from professedly Catholic institutions or others, believe they have acquired a special wisdom and power, with the ability to judge the legitimacy or relevance of Magisterial pronouncements.

We see it every day. We have seen it for years. Some of us may have even been a part of it at one time or another during our own lives. What is this "it"? It is nothing more than a new taking-up of an old revolution, a new embracing of an "enlightenment", which is is, in reality, the old sin of pride and disobedience, dressed up in new words and phrases, in an attempt to be persuasive - to one's own conscience as well as to others.

What we are witnessing (and have witnessed) is not only a revolution, but a bold and insolent rejection of morality and of doctrine.

The encyclical, Veritatis Splendor (The Splendor of Truth) was written by Pope John Paul II, in part, to address "...'the issues regarding the very foundations of moral theology', foundations which are being undermined by certain present day tendencies."

These "tendencies" include errors which distort or deny the Church’s moral teaching or her authority to speak on moral issues. These "tendencies" rupture the relationship which authentic freedom has with Truth - that Truth which is the Person of Jesus Christ and His teaching. This dissent, this rupturing, this "tearing asunder", is founded on pride and arrogance and buttressed by distortions and denials. It contaminates and poisons the unwary.

In recent decades, many professed Catholic 'theologians' and others have opined that a Catholic may dissent from authoritative, non-infallible teachings of the Magisterium and that a Catholic is at liberty to ignore the Church to follow his own conscience.

This thinking reflects a human intellect which is unwilling to be enlightened by faith and, consequently, prone to error in moral matters. This error exalts one's conscience to the level of being the supreme judge in all moral matters. The subjective conscience is thus divorced from objective truth. Following the suggestion of the serpent in the Garden of Eden, one has chosen to become like God, arbitrarily deciding by himself and for himself what is good and what is evil.

Those who engage in the promotion of such dissent and rebellion are also depriving others of their right to the truth. It is by the truth - Jesus Christ - that we are saved. It is by obedience to Him that one attains heaven. He gave us His Church, aided by the Holy Spirit, to guide us in His truth.

What, then, is a Catholic to do to avoid being poisoned or corrupted by such pervasive dissent, rebellion, and disobedience? One must strive even more to be ever in union with our Lord and His Church. One must be prepared to refute and condemn the errors which cause so much spiritual sickness and death. One must pray for those who, like a carrier of some deadly communicable disease, infect others with their errors. And one must pray for all those who must suffer the effects of such errors. We also should encourage our priests and bishops to nourish the faithful with the truth in obedience to Christ. We should thank those who are fearless in proclaiming this truth.

We must remember that

"...obedience to the Vicar of Christ is the acid test of being a bona fide Catholic today...And as long as the bishop is kept in a diocese by the pope, we owe him obedience. But ...our obedience to the bishop is conditioned by the bishop’s own obedience to the Bishop of Rome, then, fidelity to the Church’s teaching." *

###
Posted as I received it from LRS.

"Safe" isn’t Safe Anymore

The USCCB and the “Safe Environment” Programs...

Some Can't Handle the Truth

Commencement Speaker Stirs Controversy

A spring term that began with controversy at the University of St. Thomas ended the same way Saturday when a student used part of his commencement address to admonish people he considered "selfish," including women who use birth control.

The remarks by Ben Kessler, a well-known student recently honored by peers and faculty as Tommie of the Year, led to catcalls and boos during commencement at the Catholic university in St. Paul.

Kessler also alluded to the unmarried professors caught up in the travel policy battles, calling them selfish. And he then called women who use birth control selfish. He also called himself selfish and said he needed to be a better person, said university spokesman Doug Hennes.

Kessler plans on entering the priesthood...



HT to Darla for the link

The Ascension-Confession is a Key to Heaven

"They shall lay hands upon the sick and they shall get well." St. Mark, 16:18.

Imagine a woman paying $1,000 in order to be sure that she will some day ascend into heaven. That is what a Chicago housewife paid back in 1942. Here is how it happened. A movement or religion called the "I AM" religion had been started by a man and his wife, Mr. and Mrs. Guy Ballard. Mrs. Ballard maintained that she could ascend to heaven any time, but that she "would stay here until her followers were ready to ascend." Through the mail they advertised this wonderful ascension. The Chicago lady, a Mrs. Maude Hill, was deeply impressed with the beauty of making a bodily ascension. She gave the founders of the "I AM" movement $1,000 in the hope of achieving this marvel. The Ballards advised her to continue in her efforts to accomplish an ascension and to "use a violet consuming ray to purify her body, live apart from her husband and think only fine thoughts." All this was made known when the Ballards were tried in court for defrauding through the mails.

What a far cry this silly story from the true story of the Ascension as we read it in the Gospel. After His glorious Resurrection our Lord appeared many times to His disciples, advising them, instructing them, giving them directions about their work in the world. Forty days after the first Easter Jesus took His Blessed Mother, the eleven Apostles and a number of His disciples to Mt. Olivet, a little over a mile from Jerusalem. From the top of that mountain He ascended by His own power into heaven. As the group stood gazing after Him, two angels in white garments stood near and announced: "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up to heaven? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you have seen him going up to heaven." Acts, 1:10,11.

St. Bonaventure, great Franciscan and doctor of the Church, bosom friend of St. Thomas Aquinas, gives us some stirring thoughts regarding the Ascension: "Never in heaven was there a day so grand and solemn. . . . It is the accomplishment of the mysteries of the life, and the blessed close of the earthly course for our Lord, Son of the living God. For His sake is this day more dear and solemn than all the others, and he who truly loves God will be more powerfully excited to praise Him on it, than on any other day of the year."

On this day Christ ascends to heaven that He might send His comforting Spirit, the Holy Spirit. Today He opens heaven for us. Today He ascends that He might be a Mediator between ourselves and the Father. Today He ascends that He might draw our souls to heaven after Him.

But Jesus paid a price for the Ascension. It was not such a silly arrangement or bargain as that made by the woman in Chicago who paid $1,000 for the privilege of rising bodily to heaven. But Jesus paid a price. He paid the price in a life of poverty, hard work, and misunderstanding. He paid the price in His bitter passion and torturing death. He paid the price with the last drop of His Precious Blood.

You and I must also pay a price for the privilege of ascending into heaven with Christ. There are two paths to the palace of our Prince: The way of innocence and the way of penance. By disobeying and offending the King of heaven we have made it necessary to set things right, to settle accounts, to make good for our sins, before we can be admitted to the heavenly court.

Thank God for the great grace of the Sacrament of Confession whereby we are restored to His friendship; whereby we are made able to ascend with Christ. As we are considering Confession at the present time of the year, it will be well to realize that this sacrament is a true key to heaven. It is one of the keys which Jesus gave to St. Peter and His Church in the words: "I will give thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever thou shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven,; and whatever thou shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." St. Matthew, 16:19.

There is your key. But you must pay for it. You must pay the price in a good confession. Often we hear the groundless, senseless accusation that we Catholics have to pay to have our sins forgiven - so much for murder, so much for cursing, so much for unkind talk. If that were the case, would we priests be rich! Yet, in a sense, we do have to pay for confession, not in money, but in a sincere sorrow for all our sins. We pay the price by making up our minds that we will never offend God again. We pay the price by telling our sins to the priest and following his advice and admonition. We pay the price by performing the penance imposed on us. We pay the price by rising from the grave of sin, so that we can also ascend with Christ. Ascension follows resurrection. You must rise before you can ascend.

Indeed, for many of us it would be easier to pay $1,000 or even a million dollars to be sure of ascending with Christ. Following Christ is not easy;
it is not bought in that way.

You buy your way into heaven with love. And when you go back on that love you buy forgiveness with sorrow and amendment and confession and satisfaction.

Today think of confession in that light. Think of it as the key, the means, the pathway to heaven. Use it often. Use it intelligently. Use it fruitfully. To priests in the confessional we can apply what Jesus tells us today: "They shall lay hands upon the sick and they shall get well."

Look up as our Lord ascends and ask Him to help you make the most of this merciful means, this key of heaven - the sacrament of Confession.
____________________
Adapted from Talks on the Sacraments
by Fr. Arthur Tonne,OFM (© 1947)

Ascension - The Poor in Spirit

Gospel for Wednesday, 6th Week of Easter

From: John 16:12-15

The Action of the Holy Spirit (Continuation)

(Jesus said to His disciples,) [12] "I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. [13] When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak of His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak, and He will declare to you the things that are to come. [14] He will glorify Me, for He will take what is mine and declare it to you. [15] All that the Father has is Mine; therefore I said that He will take what is Mine and declare it to you."
______________________

Commentary:

13. It is the Holy Spirit who makes fully understood the truth revealed by Christ. As Vatican II teaches, our Lord "completed and perfected Revelation and confirmed it...finally by sending the Spirit of truth" (Vatican II, "Dei Verbum", 4). Cf. note on John 14:25-26.

14-15. Jesus Christ here reveals some aspects of the mystery of the Blessed Trinity. He teaches that the Three Divine Persons have the same nature when He says that everything that the Father has belongs to the Son, and everything the Son has belongs to the Father (cf. John 17:10) and that the Spirit also has what is common to the Father and the Son, that is, the divine essence. The activity specific to the Holy Spirit is that of glorifying Christ, reminding and clarifying for the disciples everything the Master taught them (John 16:13). On being inspired by the Holy Spirit to recognize the Father through the Son, men render glory to Christ; and glorifying Christ is the same as giving glory to God (cf. John 17:1, 3-5, 10).
___________________________
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.

Oh, to be a Scotsman (or ScotsKid)

SCOTLAND, UK, May 23, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Scottish schoolchildren will soon be hearing about how to engage in "safe" homosexual activity, and getting advice on same-sex relationships, from their teachers.

The Scotsman reported Sunday on the coming release of a new set of official guidelines that includes homosexuality in school sex education programs...

[Even though over 85% of the were opposed]...Health officials pushed for the inclusion of the new material in the Sexual Health and Relationships Education program, saying the existing guidelines were "heterosexist" and did not reflect the current social climate.

While it's unthinkable to force the natural moral law on others, it's quite alright, even praiseworthy, to force one's IMMORALITY on others, including children...God help us!

Cardinal Pell on Sexual Morality, "Diabolical" Porn...

LifeSiteNews has the final installment of a three-part interview with Cardinal George Pell.

...I think we've got to explain to society at large not just from the point of view of Christian morality but from natural morality the importance of heterosexual marriage, a man and a woman, the immense benefits that brings to society, and the burdens that other arrangements often bring to society...

"I think a number of people in my generation reacted and rebelled against an excessive Puritanism-which was a bit too strict and too negative-and often fell silent and didn't give to the generation that was then growing up effective guidelines for love.

"I think the pendulum amongst the serious Catholics is swinging back closer to where it should be. But in society generally it's very wild, and of course now you've got the new growth of pornography, videos, the internet, and all the sort of thing, which is really quite diabolical."

A Choir Director's Lament on Lyrics for Liturgy

Another great article in this month's Adoremus Bulletin by Lucy Carroll:

Is there a real choir in your parish? If there is a choir, it is more probably a song group accompanied by guitar, perhaps with drums and bass guitar. The traditional choir, a mainstay of Catholic liturgy -- with a repertoire of great beauty -- has all but vanished in the parishes.

Where once Catholic choirs sang the great masterworks of Palestrina, Nanino, Victoria, Mozart, etc., now song groups gabble the pop-style pablum churned out by the powerful music publishing industry...

Today, however, choirs have virtually disappeared in most parishes. Usually soloists perform up front, with keyboard “backup”. (Why be lost in a group when one can sing solo?)

U.S. Bishops . . .Reverse Mandatory Safety-Sex-Ed Policy

From the Wanderer:

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a little-noticed, single paragraph released May 15 on its web site, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops reversed the policy adopted by numerous dioceses across America that had subjected Catholic schoolchildren to mandatory “sex-abuse-education” classes.

“New regulations issued May 15 by the U.S. bishops allow parents to remove their children from diocesan-sponsored training programs in child sex-abuse prevention,” said the announcement from the U.S. bishops’ Catholic News Service (CNS).

And the announcement appeared on the very day that the Vatican announced the acceptance by Pope Benedict XVI of the resignation of Washington’s Theodore Cardinal McCarrick, an outspoken supporter of those education programs.

In fact, Cardinal McCarrick had ordered all archdiocesan Catholic schools to expel any children whose parents refused to allow their children into the secular “Child Lures” program that was mandatory until the May 15 announcement apparently reversed it.

What a guy! This is a MUST read article!



HT to Darla M. for the update...

Rainbow Sash Movement Plans Cathedral Invasions on Pentecost

Press Release, Source: Rainbow Sash Movement

Gay and Lesbian Catholics Will Enter Catholic Cathedrals Nationally On Pentecost Sunday

Monday May 22, 6:00 am ET

CHICAGO, May 22 /PRNewswire/ -- The following statement was released today by the Rainbow Sash Movement (RSM). The RSM will respond to the fear and intolerance of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual Transgender (GLBT) persons, by many of our Catholic Bishops on Pentecost Sunday, June 4, 2006. We will be entering, with our straight allies, Catholic Cathedrals across the nation on Pentecost wearing Rainbow Sashes as a sign of identification. Some Bishops have welcomed us in the past, and we are thankful for their welcome.

Nationally our Bishops have lobbied against our human rights. Our grief is intensified because many in the GLBT Catholic Community feel alienated from the Church because of this assault on our human rights. We believe the Bishops have a serious obligation to root out structures and attitudes that discriminate against the homosexual as a person. A small number of courageous Bishops are exerting their leadership in behalf of this effort, and these Bishops will have our full support and prayers. . .

"Human rights"? Only those whose minds are darkened by ignorance or sin can conclude that it is a "human right" to engage in morally depraved acts of homosexuality...This rebellious action is nothing less that defiance of all morality. Of course, while those with a disordered inclination to homosexuality are to be treated with love and compassion, the sin of homosexuality deserves to be treated as the grave moral evil that it is. Those who promote lifestyles which are intrinsically evil need our prayers and offers of reparations.

Pope Benedict on Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus "cannot then be considered as a passing form of veneration or devotion. The adoration of God's love, which found historical-devotional expression in the symbol of the pierced heart, remains irreplaceable for a living relationship with God."

Bishop Braxton: The Need for a New Apologetic

The challenge of which I speak is the need to put reason at the service of faith in the most creative way possible in order to develop a new and more profound apologetic for our Catholic world view, an apologetic linked to the new evangelization of which Pope John Paul spoke that recognizes that the faith development of our children, our high school students, and our young adults is challenged in unprecedented ways today.

Gospel for Tuesday, 6th Week of Easter

From: John 16:5-11

The Action of the Holy Spirit (Continuation)

(Jesus said to His disciples,) [5] "But now I am going to Him who sent Me; yet none of you asks Me, `Where are You going?' [6] But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your hearts. [7] Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. [8] And when He comes, He will convince the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment: [9] of sin, because they do not believe in Me; [10] of righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see Me no more; [11] of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged."
___________________________

Commentary:

6-7. The thought that He is going to leave them saddens the Apostles, and our Lord consoles them with the promise of the Paraclete, the Consoler. Later (verses 20ff), He assures them that their sadness will turn into joy which no one can take away from them.

Jesus speaks about the Holy Spirit three times during the discourse of the Last Supper. The first time (14:15ff), He says that another Paraclete (advocate, consoler) will come, sent by the Father, to be with them forever; secondly, He says (14:26) that He Himself will send them, on behalf of the Father, the Spirit of truth who will teach them everything; and now He unfolds for them the complete plan of salvation and announces that the Holy Spirit will be sent once He ascends into Heaven.

8-12. The word "world" here means all those who have not believed in Christ and have rejected Him. These the Holy Spirit will accuse of sin because of their unbelief. He will accuse them of unrighteousness because He will show that Jesus was the Just One who was never guilty of sin (cf. John 8:46; Hebrews 4:15) and therefore is in glory beside His Father. And, finally, He will indict them by demonstrating that the devil, the prince of the world, has been overthrown through the death of Christ, which rescues man from the power of the Evil One and gives him grace to avoid the snares he lays.
___________________________
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.

6th Week of Easter - Lessons of the Ascension

"I came forth from the Father and have come into the world. Again I leave the world and go to the Father." St. John, 16:28.

"He ascended into heaven." Creed.

In the second century there lived a saintly widow by the name of Felici­tas. She and her seven sons were staunch Christians. Despite decrees against the faith, despite the threat of death and dire punishment, Felicitas and her boys practiced their faith openly and fervently. Their example won many to the cause of Christ. This stirred the spleen of the pagan priests, who complained to Emperor Antoninus that this family was drawing many from the worship of the gods; the gods were displeased. The gods could be appeased only when this mother and her sons would sacrifice to them.

Privately and publicly the Roman officials coaxed, bribed and threatened Felicitas and her sons. To no avail. To their mingled threats and promises the courageous mother replied: "My children will live eternally with Christ if they are faithful to Him; but must expect eternal death if they sacrifice to idols."

Turning to her sons, she exclaimed: "My sons, look up to heaven, where Jesus Christ with His saints expects you. Be faithful in His love, and fight courageously for your souls."

One by one before the very eyes of their mother, the sons were put to a cruel death. At last she who suffered the pain of bringing them into this world, and the pain of ushering them into eternal life, she too, was be­headed, four months after her first child had been put to death. We remem­ber this heroic family on July 10th.

We remember them also as we approach the feast of the Ascen­sion, next Thursday, for St. Felicitas taught her sons one of the lessons Christ teaches us when he returned to heaven: "My sons, look up to heaven where Jesus Christ with His saints expects you."

The Ascension teaches many lessons. To think of these lessons will be a good preparation for the Feast, which usually offers too little time to dwell upon them.

First of all we want to congratulate our Lord upon His entrance into His heavenly home. When a man accomplishes something, when a man com­pletes some task, or achieves some success, we congratulate him. We join in his joy. As Ascension day approaches we join in the joy of our Lord, the joy of returning to His heavenly Father. We congratulate Him. We tell Christ that we are happy with Him in the happiness that was deservedly His when He returned to His home with the Father. He came from His Father to us; from us He returns to His Father.

A second sentiment is one of gratitude to our Lord for the blessings of the Ascension: He has gone to prepare a place for us; He has gone to send the Holy Spirit down upon us; He has gone to intercede for us at the throne of the heavenly Father. That is why Christ reminds us: "Amen, amen, I say to you, if you ask the Father anything in my name, he will give it to you."

A third thought is that we can now follow our Lord in mind and heart right into the very court of heaven. We were delighted in watching and hearing Him as He walked this earth. We have joyed in His kindness, His patience, His power to cure, His desire to help. Don't stop at the door of heaven. Let your mind and heart go right in with Him.

It is as if a dear friend were admitted into some theatre before you. You have to wait your turn, weary, lonesome, in heat or cold or rain. Your friend is inside. You are happy that he is enjoying himself. You know you will be with him soon.

So on Ascension Christ has gone ahead into the delights of heaven. We are left waiting outside. But the thought of being with Him some day en­courages us in our waiting. Christ has not only gone in ahead of us; He has gone to prepare a place for us. Just as if a friend were saving a place for you in the theatre.

That was the thought of St. Felicitas when a cruel death stared her and her sons in the face: "My children, look up to heaven. . . ." She knew that Jesus was waiting for them, preparing for them. That made the things of earth less important, another idea suggested by the Ascension.

We can't take the world with us. The toys and trifles of earth, no matter how important and necessary they may seem today, cannot go with us. The best way to realize and remember this is to think of the ascent of our Lord into heaven. I dare you to give this fact a "good think" between now and Thursday.

The Ascension strengthens our faith. Had Jesus remained in His bodily form, it would not have required as much faith to believe in Him and follow Him, even though many who saw Him and heard Him did not believe in Him. Now that He is in heaven where we cannot see Him, faith comes into its own.

The Ascension is a spur to our hope, our hope that one day we will be with Him, a spur to our hope that after the dark difficulties of earth we will enjoy the bright delights of company with Him.

The Ascenson kindles our love. Christ, as it were, has taken our hearts with Him to heaven. The loves of earth always have earth mixed with them. The loves of heaven are unmixed. Test your earthly loves in that eternal love.

Dwell on anyone of these thoughts between this moment and Thurs­day, the feast of the Ascension. Then the feast will mean much more to you. What Christ tells us will also mean much more: "I came forth from the Father. . . . Again I go to the Father." Amen.
__________________________
Adapted from Talks on the Creed
by Fr. Arthur Tonne, OFM (© 1946)

6th Week of Easter - The Sacrament of Confession

"For this reason we believe that thou came forth from God." St. John, 16:30.

Some years after World War I the Prince of Wales visited a hospital for hopelessly wounded veterans. Beside each broken body he stopped, shook hands and spoke a word of encouragement. As he was led to the doorway the Prince asked a question: "I understood you had thirty-six patients here - but I've seen only twenty-nine."

The nurse explained that the others were too horribly maimed for him to see.

"Is it for my sake or theirs that you're not taking me there?" asked the Prince.

"For yours, sir."

"Then I insist you show me in."

Here too he stopped and thanked each wounded soldier for his sacrifice. Again he turned to his guide: "Where is the seventh? I have seen only six."

Again the nurse objected. "Please do not ask to see him, sir," she pleaded.

"But I must see him."

"I advise against it, Your Highness. It can do no good."

"I insist that you take me in," demanded the royal visitor.

The Prince followed the nurse into a darkened room to what was left of a human body - blind, twisted, hideously broken and disfigured. The Prince turned white, his lips were drawn, and tears trickled down his cheeks. Impetuously he bent down and kissed the cheeks of the broken hero.

There was another Prince who came down from His palace in heaven not only to visit and shake hands with those wounded in the war with sin, but to raise them up body and soul. Jesus healed broken bodies; Jesus healed broken souls. Several times He healed the body to prove that He could heal the soul. To the paralytic He said: "Thy sins are forgiven thee."

Then to prove His power to cure the soul, He cured the body. "That you, may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins. . . Arise, take up thy pallet and go to thy house." St. Matthew, 9:2-7.

This power of forgiving sins Christ gave to His apostles and their suc­cessors, the bishops and priests of the Catholic Church, when He instituted the sacrament of confession: "Receive the Holy Spirit; whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained." St. John, 20:23.

What is confession? Confession is a sacrament which forgives the sins both mortal and venial which we have committed after Baptism. It has the three marks, of a sacrament: An outward or external, sense perceptible sign, the inward grace, and the institution by Christ.

1. The outward, sense perceptible sign includes the acts of the penitent and the acts of the priest. In his heart the sinner awakens sorrow. With his lips he confesses his sins. By his deeds he makes satisfaction. We can see the upraised hand of the priest and hear his words of forgiveness: "I absolve you from your sins, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."

2. What we cannot see or hear or feel, the inward grace, is the giving back to the soul of sanctifying grace, which had been lost through mortal sin, or the increasing of that same grace, if it had not been lost.

Confession also gives sacramental graces, special helps to perform good works, to avoid the occasions of sin, to be happy in doing good, and to overcome temptation. This inner power of confession is too often unknown or forgotten. The sacrament not only takes away sin; it gives helps to avoid sin. It gives graces and spiritual health which the soul needs.

Sanctifying grace is like complete spiritual health. Mortal sin destroys that health. Confession gives it back. If that spiritual health has not been completely destroyed, then confession increases your health of soul. This is one of the best proofs of what Christ tells us today regarding His heav­enly Father: "The Father himself loves you because you have loved me." St. John, 16:27.

3. We have referred briefly to the institution of this sacrament by Christ, and we will speak of it again. For the present keep thisin mind: Christ is God. As God He could and did forgive sins. And as God, He could and did give this power to those who were to do His work in the world. Jesus knew there would be sinners today as well as in the years while He walked this earth. He knew there would be paralytics today as well. He knew there would be Mary Magdalens and sinners of every type and stripe in our day. For us, the sinners of today, Jesus left the sacrament of mercy and forgiveness. In words of blazing clearness He gave the power of forgiving sin to the leaders of His Church.

This mercy without limit, this mercy becoming to a God, this mercy and forgiveness which Christ made available to all sinners without excep­tion, this mercy is offered to us in the sacrament of confession. What the disciples exclaimed we will repeat: "For this reason we believe that thou came forth from God."

If an earthly, limited person like the Prince of Wales could bring cheer and encouragement to the broken bodies and spirits of those who had been wounded in a cruel war, surely the Prince of heaven and earth, unlimited in love, unlimited in mercy, unlimited in power, can stoop down, as He does in confession, and kiss not only the body but the soul also, back to spiritual health. Thank God for this. Amen.
____________________
Adapted from Talks on the Sacraments
by Fr. Arthur Tonne,OFM (© 1947)

6th Week of Easter - Thou Shall Not Kill

"If you ask the Father anything in my name, he wilI give it to you." St. John, 16:23.

About 160 years ago or so there lived in Suabia, Germany, a splendid young man by the name of Meinrad. He sought quiet for prayer and meditation in the great Benedictine Order, which gave him permission to live alone on a mountain top, first in Germany and then in Switzerland, where he spent many prayerful days, days which were cruelly cut short when two robbers whom he befriended turned on him and put him to death. Instead of money they found only a hairshirt and books.

Although no one had seen the murder, the murderers were soon caught, because two tame crows that St. Meinrad had kept, followed the murderers wherever they went-into the cities, into their homes, into the taverns, everywhere cawing and fluttering, until suspicion was aroused and the two men were arrested and punished.

In memory of this divine punishment of murder, the Abbey of Reichenau, of which St. Meinrad had been a member, placed the figure of two crows on its coat of arms and seal.

Both sacred and human history are filled with such proofs of God's displeasure with those who deal in death. Killing has various forms:

1. Murder, or the deliberate taking of another's life on one's own authority, is a most serious sin that cries to heaven for vengeance. It may be:

A. Planned and intended. as poisoning another to collect insurance.
B. Not planned, but directly done, as when a robber kills a policeman who suddenly appears on the scene.
C. Due to criminal negligence, as when a doctor's neglect causes the death of a patient.

Our daily papers are splattered with the blood of those unjustly put to death through revenge, desire to remove a rival, for money or out of fear. That murder is sinful is clear from Sacred Scripture. "No murderer has eternal life abiding in him." I John, 3:15. "The voice of thy brother's blood cries to Me from the earth." Gen. 9:6.

The murderer takes to himself the right of God over human life. He robs man of his most precious possession-life. He often sends a soul into eternity without any preparation. He disrupts society, causes bitter grief and sets the stage for other murders.

2. Suicide, or taking one's own life, is also a serious sin, never permitted for any reason. It is for God to relieve you of the post of life in His way and in His time. Killing yourself doesn't help anything or anybody. Usually suicide is committed by the insane or those so emotionally unbalanced that they are not responsible. Some of the common causes of suicide are brooding over bad health or bad luck, heavy financial losses, incurable disease, the facing of punishment, or personal and family disgrace. Put your trust in God. He will see you through.

3. Mercy-killing, that is, putting to death one who is dying or suffering from an incurable disease, in order to put him out of his misery, is murder. It is never permitted - even when the patient freely and calmly gives his consent.

4. Willful and direct abortion is also a mortal sin. Doctors, nurses, parents, and all who cooperate to bring about the death of an infant either before or after its birth are guilty of murder.

Are we never allowed to take the life of another?

There are three kinds of justifiable killing, namely: self-defense, capital punishment, and a just war:

1. A man may kill another in self-defense in order to save his own life, the life of another, or to protect property of great value. You are not allowed to kill another just to preserve your reputation or good name, to prevent someone from trespassing on your property, or to protect property of little value.

2. The State has the right to punish with death if the crime is serious and the good of society requires a serious punishment. Such serious crimes are murder, treason, kidnapping. Capital punishment is permitted to prevent the criminal from doing further damage, to prevent others from crime through fear of execution. All the forms of law must be observed and a just and fair trial is absolutely necessary.

3. It is murder to kill if a war is unjust. If the war is just, soldiers are allowed and even obliged to kill in defense of their country, or in righting a wrong to their country. For a war to be just:

A. Every other means of settlement must have been tried first.
B. There must be a just cause in conscience.
C. The cause must be serious, that is, the good resulting from the war must completely outweigh the evils of war. Modern warfare has so many terrible evils, that there seems to be scarcely any evil or evils great enough to justify it.
D. The war must be waged in a just way.

If an individual Catholic knew positively that the war was unjust he could not fight in it. However, that is almost impossible to know. In general the State bears the responsibility. We Catholics are loyal; we follow the State; we obey the State, unless there are grave moral issues which would prevent us from doing so.

Today we will ask the heavenly Father, who has given us life, to help us to respect all human life in every way. We will ask the heavenly Father to give all men a respect for the life of others. We will realize, with God's help, the wickedness of all forms of killing. May all men keep this law of God. Amen.
_________________________
Adapted from Talks on the Commandments
by Fr. Arthur Tonne, OFM (© 1948)

Federal Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act Defended In The United States Supreme Court

ANN ARBOR, MI — The Thomas More Law Center, a national public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, has submitted a brief with the United States Supreme Court supporting the Federal Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003. Joining the Thomas More Law Center in the friend of the court brief are the Catholic League and the National Pro-Life Alliance.
. . .
According to Richard Thompson, President and Chief Counsel of the Law Center, “Partial-birth abortion is nothing other than infanticide, and this barbaric procedure must be stopped.”
. . .
Edward L. White III, trial counsel with the Thomas More Law Center, explained, “In our brief, we request that the Supreme Court find the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003 to be constitutional. We also request that the Supreme Court take this opportunity to reconsider and reject its ‘abortion rights’ decisions, such as Roe v. Wade...

Antonin Scalia: Keep Foreign Law Out of Decisions

Judges around the world have come to believe they are charged with deciding "the most profound moral questions," Scalia said. "Should there be the death penalty? Should there be a right to abortion? Should homosexual conduct be proscribed?"

"If you believe that, of course you are going to cite the Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, because those guys wear robes just as you do," said Scalia. "And therefore they also have been charged with determining the most profound moral questions of mankind."

Of those he feels lean too heavily on foreign law, Scalia asked rhetorically, what authority can be cited when a court that says constitutional law which "used to say one thing now says something else?"

Every U.S. judge who refuses to abide by the Constitution by invoking some foreign law in his decision should be impeached for failing to exercise the oath he took upon entering the judicial branch of the government for he does not uphold and defend the Constitution but aids in perverting and destroying it.

Judge Blocks Prayer at High School Graduation

And what was the students' reaction to this mandate?

RUSSELL SPRINGS, Ky. (AP) - The senior class at a southern Kentucky high school gave their response Friday night to a federal judge's order banning prayer at commencement.

About 200 seniors stood during the principal's opening remarks and began reciting the Lord's Prayer, prompting a standing ovation from a standing-room only crowd at the Russell County High School gymnasium. The thunderous applause drowned out the last part of the prayer.

Good for them! While the order, no doubt, was directed toward the administration, the seniors, whose graduation it was to begin with, were under no obligation to follow the judge's order.

Best wishes to all of them! Now they need to pray for the confused judge and pray for the quick demise of the ACLU.

Cardinal Pell to Pro-Abortion Politicians

"How come you feel that you're able to go to Communion?"

FRONT ROYAL, VA, May 19, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Australia's Cardinal George Pell, was in Front Royal, Virginia over the weekend celebrating Mass and giving the Commencement address at Christendom College. LifeSiteNews.com interviewed the Australian Church leader at the college last Friday. This is the second part of that three-part interview.

The response from the pro-aborts is always the same. They have divorced their prodessed faith from their lives. Not only have they separated their alleged faith from their public lives, but, in reality, they have done so in their private lives, as well.

Politicians who, while claiming to be Catholic, actively and routinely vote for pro-abortion laws and policies, are liars and are complicit in the murders of untold numbers of unborn children...There seems to be, from a culpability perspective, manifest little difference between providing the legal means for a murder and another act of cooperation such as paying for abortion or driving an expectant mother to one of the torture and murder mills.

6th Week of Easter - Zeal

"I came forth from the Father and have come into the world." St. John, 16:28.

No doubt most of you have heard Lowell Thomas, the well-known com­mentator, either in newsreels or over the radio. You may have read some of his articles and books. Perhaps you have remarked:
"That fellow makes a fat living. Just a couple of hours a day, and he is finished. For that he gets thousands of dollars."

Let us see how easy Lowell Thomas has it. He breakfasts every morning at eight, and is at his desk by nine, tackling two hours of editorial work, followed by two solid hours of dictation. Twice a week he attends official luncheons at 29th Century-Fox Company, in addition to other civic and charitable affairs. From two in the afternoon until his evening broadcast Thomas and his assistants labor on their script. They choose, condense, check, re-check, write and re-write, rehearse and rehearse, until they have a program as perfect as possible.

Only after the program does he take a bite to eat. At 10:30 P.M. the man with the rich and sometimes jaunty voice starts his stint of newsreel commentating, at which he works two nights a week until three or four in the morning. In his so-called spare time he works on a commercial film, a weekly magazine article, with an occasional hour on some book he is writing.

Lowell Thomas works day and night for five days a week. He is well paid, but he also has to deny himself much of the ease and many of the comforts that the average American enjoys.

As one writer put it:
"The secret of successful people is this: They work. Successful men and women do not necessarily have any talents or opportunities that you don't have-unless it is the urge and the capacity to work hard."

If men like Lowell Thomas can slave day after day, day and night, for money and fame, why can't we work for spiritual things? If Thomas can sacrifice social pleasure for his career, why can't we make similar sacrifices for our eternal career?

We have outlined the principal powers of the true Christian, the necessary, fruitful virtues of faith, hope ~nd charity, and the four cardinal or key virtues of prudence, justice, temperance, and fortitude. Don't expect to acquire these spiritual powers unless you make an effort. The career of holiness demands as much effort as any other. We do need the urge and capacity to work hard at holiness. That urge is what we call zeal or diligence, another important virtue.

1. Zeal means ardor and fervor in the pursuit of anything. Religious zeal means ardor and fervor in the pursuit of the virtues. It means being fer­vently and actively interested in those virtues. It means enthusiasm in their practice. It means two things especially:

A. Working for God.
B. Working for the good of our souls.

2. The effects of zeal are many:

A. It gives a certain ease and joy in performing our religious duties.
B. It nourishes the light of faith with the oil of good works.
C. It keeps us ready at all times to do God's work.
D. It helps us avoid many temptations.
E. It makes us more competent in our work in the world, our job or position in life.
F. It gets things done in a spiritual way.

3. Zeal shows itself:

A. In devotion to our religious duties:

i. Daily prayer, however brief, is regular and fervent.
ii. Sunday Mass, and daily Mass when possible, is a joy and not a burden.
iii. The Sacraments become a privilege rather than an obligation.
iv. Spiritual reading is preferred to all other types of reading.

B. In performing our daily work as perfectly as possible. Successful people like Lowell Thomas, and especially those who attained the highest success, the saints, were never slipshod or careless in their daily activities. Many a saint has declared and has demonstrated that the performance of ordinary duties extraordinarily well is the test and the program for making a saint.

C. In using every moment and every opportunity; in keeping,mind and body busy with the things of God.

D. In staying at it, that is, in persevering. How weary and tiresome the daily grind becomes even to successful people. Often tbey are tempted to take it easy, to let something slide, to slow down in their efforts. Zeal urges them to keep on. Oh, how necessary this zeal is in the things of the soul.

What else was it but zeal for the redemption and the sanctification of man that prompted the Son of God to leave His home in heaven and come to this earth? He reminds us of this today when He tells us : "I came forth from the Father and have come into the world."

And in this world, what work of soul and body the Savior performed, day after day. He gave and gave of Himself, gave until He could give no more, gave until His last drop of blood was shed for our salvation. There is zeal at its highest and its best.

How does your zeal compare with that of Christ? Amen.
__________________
Adapted from Prayers, Precepts and Virtues
by Fr. Arthur Tonne, OFM (©1949)

More on Aids and Condoms

Condoms: Yes, or No? “La Civiltà Cattolica” Cuts Off the Pass

An article in the authoritative journal confirms that the Church will not loosen its restrictions. Not even when it comes to AIDS in Africa. But fifteen months ago, in the same magazine, cardinal Martini...
by Sandro Magister

Gospel for Monday, 6th Week of Easter

From: John 15:26-16:4a

A Hostile World (Continuation)

(Jesus said to His disciples,) [26] "But when the Counsellor comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, He will bear witness to Me; [27] and you also are witnesses, because you have been with Me from the beginning.

The Action of the Holy Spirit

[1] "I have said all this to you to keep you from falling away. [2] They will put you out of the synagogues; indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. [3] And they will do this because they have not known the Father, nor Me. [4a] But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told you of them."
________________________

Commentary:

26-27. Just before the Ascension our Lord will again charge the Apostles with the mission to bear witness to Him (cf. Acts 1:8). They have been witnesses to the public ministry, death and resurrection of Christ, which is a condition for elonging to the Apostolic College, as we see when Matthias is elected to take the place of Judas (cf. Acts 1:21-22). But the public preaching of the Twelve and the life of the Church will not start until the Holy Spirit comes.

Every Christian should be living witness to Jesus, and the Church as a whole is a permanent testimony to Him: "The mission of the Church is carried out by means of that activity through which, in obedience to Christ's command and moved by the grace and love of the Holy Spirit, the Church makes itself fully present to all men and peoples in order to lead them to the faith, freedom and peace of Christ by the example of its life and preaching, by the sacraments and other means of grace" (Vatican II, "Ad Gentes", 5).

2-3. Fanaticism can even bring a person to think that it is permissible to commit a crime in order to serve the cause of religion--as happened with those Jews who persecuted Jesus to the point of bringing about His death, and who later persecuted the Church. Paul of Tarsus was a typical example of misguided zeal (cf. Acts 22:3-16); but once Paul realized he was wrong he changed and became one of Christ's most fervent apostles. As Jesus predicted, the Church has often experienced this sort of fanatical, diabolical hatred. At other times this false zeal, though not so obvious, takes the form of systematic and unjust opposition to the things of God. "In the moments of struggle and opposition, when perhaps `the good' fill your way with obstacles, lift up your apostolic heart: listen to Jesus as He speaks of the grain of mustard seed and of the leaven. And say to Him: `edissere nobis parabolam': explain the parable to me.'

"And you will feel the joy of contemplating the victory to come: the birds of the air lodging in the branches of your apostolate, now only in its beginnings, and the whole of the meal leavened" ([St] J. Escriva, "The Way", 695).

In these cases, as our Lord also pointed out, those who persecute God's true servants think they are serving Him: they confuse God's interest with a deformed idea of religion.

4. Here Jesus prophesies not only His own death (cf. Matthew 16:21-23) but also the persecution His disciples will suffer. He forewarns them of the contradictions they will experience so that they will not be scandalized or depressed when they do arise; in fact, difficulties will give them an opportunity to demonstrate their faith.
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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.

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."
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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).

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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.