News Updates, 8/6

Mexican police raid Catholic church during Mass
Feds apologize to Church for ill-planned drug arrest

Report: 185 killed in ethnic clashes in Sudan
Catholic radio station confirms thousands displaced

Catholic group crusades against Madonna concert
Pop diva scheduled to sing in Poland on Annunciation

Bishops seek gov's help to end church robberies
Indian cardinal: At least two are looted each week

Episcopals nominated openly gay, lesbian as bishops
Move likely to further inflame Anglican communion

'Most religious' colleges of 2009 revealed
At number one: Thomas Aquinas College in California

Catholic sisters queried about doctrine, fidelity
U.S. nuns have strayed too far from Church teaching

Priest's mission: Saving flock from foreclosure
Bank sale signs sprout faster than weeds in parish

Catholic Charities receives large federal contract
$100 million over 5 years to aid in disaster relief
[playing footsies with the devil]

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Other Issues
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U.S. Considers Remaking Mortgage Giants, Fannie Mae & Freddy Mac
The Obama administration is considering an overhaul of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that would strip the mortgage finance giants of hundreds of billions of dollars in troubled loans and create a new structure to support the home-loan market, government officials said....

California ordered to release 40,000 inmates
In a decision that could dramatically reshape California's criminal justice system, a panel of federal judges Tuesday ordered Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and state legislators to find ways to cut the prison population by 40,000, or about one-quarter of all inmates.

Half of U.S. mortgages seen underwater by 2011

Senator accuses White House of compiling 'enemies list'
Texas Sen. John Cornyn, accusing the White House of compiling an "enemies list," has asked President Barack Obama to stop an effort to collect "fishy" information Americans see about a health care overhaul.

Welcome to Gestapo-care
So what has the White House told supporters to do when you run across those who spread "disinformation" about the new attempt by the Obama administration to install the anti-competitive practices of a "public option" into a federalized universal health care initiative?

Cornyn to Obama: Stop With the Enemies Lists
The White House call for people to inform on anyone spreading "disinformation about health insurance reform" didn't sit well with a lot of people...

MEDICAL MURDER: Why Obamacare could result in the early deaths of millions of baby boomers

Crowd mocks lawmakers over Obama health plan in Arkansas

Pelosi: Town Hall Protesters Are 'Carrying Swastikas'

Obama's spies monitoring Jews house-to-house
'They try to mingle with us to get more information on what we're doing'

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[No society can survive the socialist] fallacy that there is an absolutely unlimited number of inspired officials and an absolutely unlimited amount of money to pay them.
-G.K.Chesterton, The Debate with Bertrand Russell, BBC Magazine, 11/27/35

Gospel for August 6, Feast: The Transfiguration of the Lord

From: Mark 9:2-10

The Transfiguration
[2] And after six days Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart by themselves; and He was transfigured before them, [3] and His garments became glistening, intensely white, as no fuller on earth bleach them. [4] And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses; and they were talking to Jesus. [5] And Peter said to Jesus, "Master, it is well that we are here; let us make three booths, one for You and one for Moses and one for Elijah." [6] For he did not know what to say, for they were exceedingly afraid. [7] And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, "This is My beloved Son; listen to Him." [8] And suddenly looking around they no longer saw any one with them but Jesus only.

[9] And as they were coming down the mountain, He charged them to tell no one what they had seen, until the Son of Man should have risen from the dead. [10] So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what the rising from the dead meant.
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Commentary:
2-10. We contemplate in awe this manifestation of the glory of the Son of God to three of His disciples. Ever since the Incarnation, the divinity of our Lord has usually been hidden behind His humanity. But Christ wishes to show, to these favorite disciples, who will later be pillars of the Church, the splendor of His divine glory, in order to encourage them to follow the difficult way that lies ahead, fixing their gaze on the happy goal which is awaiting them at the end. This is why, as St. Thomas comments (cf. "Summa Theologia", III, q. 45, a. 1), it was appropriate for Him to give them an insight into His glory. The fact that the Transfiguration comes immediately after the first announcement of His passion, and His prophetic words about how His followers would also have to carry His cross, shows us that "through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22).

What happened at the Transfiguration? To understand this miraculous event in Christ's life, we must remember that in order to redeem us by His passion and death our Lord freely renounced divine glory and became man, assuming flesh which was capable of suffering and which was not glorious, becoming like us in every way except sin (cf. Hebrew 4:15). In the Transfiguration, Jesus Christ willed that the glory which was His as God and which His soul had from the moment of the Incarnation, should miraculously become present in His body. "We should learn from Jesus' attitude in these trials. During His life on earth He did not even want the glory that belong to Him. Though He had the right to be treated as God, He took the form of a servant, a slave (cf. Philippians 2:6)" ([St] J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", 62). Bearing in mind WHO became man (the divinity of the person and the glory of His soul), it was appropriate for His body to be glorious; given the PURPOSE of His Incarnation, it was not appropriate, usually, for His glory to be evident. Christ shows His glory in the Transfiguration in order to move us to desire the divine glory which will be given us so that, having this hope, we too can understand "that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us" (Romans 8:18).

2. According to Deuteronomy (19:15), to bear witness to anything the evidence of two or three much concur. Perhaps this is why Jesus wanted three Apostles to be present. It should be pointed out that these three Apostles were specially loved by Him; they were with Him also at the raising of the daughter of Jairus (Mark 5:37) and will also be closest to Him during His agony at Gethsemane (Mark 14:33). Cf. note on Matthew 17:1-13.

7. This is how St. Thomas Aquinas explains the meaning of the Transfiguration: "Just as in Baptism, where the mystery of the first regeneration was proclaimed, the operation of the whole Trinity was made manifest, because the Son Incarnate was there, the Holy Spirit appeared under the form of a dove, and the Father made Himself known in the voice; so also in the Transfiguration, which is the sign of the second regeneration [the Resurrection], the whole Trinity appears--the Father in the voice, the Son in the man, the Holy Spirit in the bright cloud; for just as in Baptism He confers innocence, as signified by the simplicity of the dove, so in the Resurrection will He give His elect the clarity of glory and the refreshment from every form of evil, as signified by the bright cloud" ("Summa Theologiae", III, q. 45, 1.4 ad 2). For, really, the Transfiguration was in some way an anticipation not only of Christ's glorification but also of ours. As St. Paul says, "it is the same Spirit Himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him" (Romans 8:16-17).

10. That the dead would rise was already revealed in the Old Testament (cf. Daniel 12:2-3; 2 Maccabees 7:9; 12:43) and was believed by pious Jews (cf. John 11:23-25). However, they were unable to understand the profound truth of the death and Resurrection of the Lord: they expected a glorious and triumphant Messiah, despite the prophecy that He would suffer and die (cf. Isaiah 53). Hence the Apostles' oblique approach; they too do not dare to directly question our Lord about His Resurrection.
___________________________
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland. Reprinted with permission from Four Courts Press and Scepter Publishers, the U.S. publisher.

Principles and Practices - August 6

Confidence in God's Mercies

A few whispered words, a few minutes' penance, and the soul doomed to hell has passed into a soul bound for heaven! How intimate, then, how condescending, how easily available is the operation of redeeming grace! The Cross reaches from earth to heaven; in it the faithfulness of God to His own Nature is mysteri­ously reconciled with mercy to the sinner, eternal Justice with reconciliation of our estranged souls to their Creator.

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

Thoughts of St Augustine for August 6

THE blessed Apostle admonishes us not to be sorrowful concerning them "that are asleep" - that is, our dear dead, "as others, who have no hope," which hope is that of the resurrection and of eternal life.
_________________________
Click here for more information.
From Thoughts of St Augustine for Every Day
by Kathleen Mary Balfe (© 1926)
Nihil Obstat: Georgius D. Smith, S.T.D
Imprimatur: Edm. Can. Surmont

Thoughts from St Alphonsus for Every Day-August 6

ALL the Saints have become Saints by mental prayer. Mental prayer is the blessed furnace in which souls are inflamed with divine love.
_______________
From Thoughts from St Alphonsus for Every Day
Compiled by Rev. C. McNeiry, C.SS.R.
Imprimatur: Joseph Hull, C.SS.R., Prov. Angl. Sup.
Nihil Obstat: Innocentlus Apap, O.P., S.T.M., Censor Deptutatus.
Imprimatur: Edm. Can. Surmont, Vicarius Generalis.
Westmonasterii, Die 9a Junii, 1927.
First published 1927

Principles and Practices - August 5

From Creatures To God

A legitimate, therefore, and authorized and safe way of arriving at some faint idea of the charity and love of Our Lord's Sacred Heart is to watch and note all the best and highest instances of strong and devoted love which we meet with in mothers and fathers and true friends here on earth, and when our hearts are consoled and cheered and brightened by meeting with such good things in this our prison, then to bid our souls rise upwards high and higher still, above the beauty of these created things, and hear the Holy Spirit whispering within us those words of wisdom: 'By the great­ness of the beauty and of the creature, the Creator of them may be seen, so as to be known thereby.'

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

Thoughts of St Augustine for August 5

HE is at once the priest who offers himself and he is the Oblation. He willeth that the mystery should be the daily sacrifice of the Church.
_________________________
Click here for more information.
From Thoughts of St Augustine for Every Day
by Kathleen Mary Balfe (© 1926)
Nihil Obstat: Georgius D. Smith, S.T.D
Imprimatur: Edm. Can. Surmont

Thoughts from St Alphonsus for Every Day-August 5

WHOEVER styles himself the greatest sinner in the world, and then is angry when others despise him, plainly shows humility of the tongue, but not of the heart.
_________________
From Thoughts from St Alphonsus for Every Day
Compiled by Rev. C. McNeiry, C.SS.R.
Imprimatur: Joseph Hull, C.SS.R., Prov. Angl. Sup.
Nihil Obstat: Innocentlus Apap, O.P., S.T.M., Censor Deptutatus.
Imprimatur: Edm. Can. Surmont, Vicarius Generalis.
Westmonasterii, Die 9a Junii, 1927.
First published 1927

News Updates, 8/4

RU 486 Users Risk Automatic Excommunication: Vatican Responds to Italian Drug Agency Decision
When the Italian drug agency approved the sale of the deadly abortion drug RU 486 late Thursday night, senior Vatican officials responded strongly saying that doctors who prescribe it and the women who take it risk excommunication...

Eight Christians burned alive in Pakistan
Religious and militant Islamic fundamentalists to blame

Pope deplores killings of Christians in Pakistan
Pontiff 'deeply grieved to learn of the senseless attack'

Archbishop of Westminster criticizes Facebook
Social networking websites undermining community life

Canterbury proposes two roads for Anglicans
Line of division is over ordination of gays, lesbians

Pope expresses sadness at death of Aquino
Praised her commitment to freedom, justice for Filipinos

Catholic congressman: 'I'd rather save my soul...'
Slams health care plan's 'stealth mandate' for abortion

Nigerian bishops issue appeal to end violence
Islamic group staged raid on police station

Church of England enjoys revival in France
Services held in churches lent by local Catholic clergy

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Other Issues
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Call For Informants:
If You Oppose Obamacare, Even in ‘Casual Conversation,’ the White House Wants to Know About It
If you see anybody publicly opposing President Obama’s plan to implement a government-centric overhaul of the health care system, the White House wants you to report that person (or persons) ASAP...

OBAMA 2003 (UNCUT): 'SINGLE PAYER HEALTH CARE PLAN, THAT IS WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO SEE'

Guard troops may be needed in troubled Alabama county
The sheriff in Alabama's most populous county may call for the National Guard to help maintain order, a spokesman said Tuesday, after a judge cleared the way for cuts in the sheriff's budget and hopes dimmed for a quick end to a budget crisis.

Obama administration withholds data on 'cash-for-clunkers' program

Issa to Emanuel: Back Off!
Following reports that White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel has been orchestrating an effort to intimidate members of Congress and Governors who raise legitimate concerns regarding the effectiveness of the stimulus, House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Ranking Member Darrell Issa (R-CA) sent a letter to Emanuel saying “While this type of scare tactic may work in Chicago, it will not work to intimidate me or other Members of the United States Congress.”...
["Dead fish" Emanuel is a little thug punk....I'm surprised someone hasn't punched his lights out]

After the beers, Obama's character (or lack of it) revealed
Sergeant Crowley, the sole class act in this trio, helps the handicapped Professor Gates down the stairs, while Barack Obama, heedless of the infirmities of his friend and fellow victim of self-defined racial profiling, strides ahead on his own. So who is compassionate? And who is so self-involved and arrogant that he is oblivious? A metaphor for ObamaCare?

Feds Hit With Biggest Tax Revenue Drop Since 1932
The recession is starving the government of tax revenue, just as the president and Congress are piling a major expansion of health care and other programs on the nation's plate and struggling to find money to pay the tab...
[Dangerous enemies control the government - and slavery is their goal]

Post office considers changing hundreds of offices
The neighborhood post office is facing major changes as postal officials consider closings or consolidating services at hundreds of locations across the United States.

Harry Reid: Not 1 minute for 'phony issue' of birth
But Senate Democrat pressed 'total transparency' on McCain

Tamiflu resistant Swine Flu along US border
"We have found resistance to Tamiflu on the border. We have observed some cases, few to be sure, in El Paso and close to McAllen, Texas," said Maria Teresa Cerqueira, head of the Pan-American Health Organization office in La Jolla, California...

'Non-partisan' AARP named by Pelosi as part of Democrats August recess health care reform blitz
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's August 31 memo to House Democrats with their instructions for the August recess described a comprehensive national campaign designed in conjunction with a long list of outside groups lobbying for government government health care. Notably listed among those groups by Pelosi is AARP, the 40 million-member Goliath of Capitol Hill lobbying on behalf of government entitlement programs...
[AARP - non-partisan???? Puhleeeeze! Only statists, liberals, atheists, apostates, fascists, communists, marxists, Obama supporters, DC politicians and other "village idiots" try to pass off these lies as truth. Agents of Satan, every last one of them!]

Uncovered Video: Obama Explains How His Health Care Plan Will ‘Eliminate’ Private Insurance

Guaranty Bank Agrees To Be Taken Over By Feds
In a move that has yet to take place Guaranty Bank, with 160 branches in California and Texas, has agreed to be taken over by the Feds...

McCaskill Town Hall Meeting in St Louis 4-Solider's Story
[McCaskill too chicken to show up]

Protesters Shout Down Obamacare in Austin

Crowd Explodes When Sen. Specter Urges We 'Do This Fast'

UPRISING BACK HOME: Constituents Make Congressman Tim Bishop Sweat
Constituents protest before his arrival and speak out in frustration at the meeting.

Mexican trucks to storm U.S.
Obama prepares to reopen nation's roads to foreign long-haul rigs

Turbo Tax Timmy Geithner Vents as Overhaul Stumbles
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner blasted top U.S. financial regulators in an expletive-laced critique last Friday as frustration grows over the Obama administration's faltering plan to overhaul U.S. financial regulation, according to people familiar with the meeting...
[Is Timmy getting nervous?]

Post office considers changing hundreds of offices
The neighborhood post office is facing major changes as postal officials consider closings or consolidating services at hundreds of locations across the United States.


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"I would rather a boy learnt in the roughest school the courage to hit a politician, or gained in the hardest school the learning to refute him - rather than that he should gain in the most enlightened school the cunning to copy him."
-G.K.Chesterton, ILN 8-31-12

Gospel for Aug 4, Memorial: St John Vianney, Priest

Tuesday, 18th Week in Ordinary Time

From: Matthew 14:22-36

Jesus Walks on the Water
[22] Then He (Jesus) made the disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He dismissed the crowds. [23] And after He had dismissed the crowds He went up into the hills by Himself to pray. When evening came, He was there alone, [24] but the boat by this time was many furlongs distant from the land, beaten by the waves; for the wind was against them. [25] And in the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea. [26] But when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, "It is a ghost!" And they cried out for fear. [27] But immediately He spoke to them, saying, "Take heart, it is I; have no fear."

[28] And Peter answered Him, "Lord, if it is you, bid me come to You on the water." [29] He said, "Come." So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus; [30] but when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, "Lord, save me." [31] Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, "O man of little faith, why did you doubt?" [32] And when they got into boat, the wind ceased. [33] And those in the boat worshipped Him, saying, "Truly You are the son of God."

[34] And when they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret. [35] And when the men of that place recognized Him, they sent round to all the region and brought to Him all that were sick, [36] and besought Him that they might only touch the fringe of His garment; and as many as touched it were made well.
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Commentary:
22-23. It has been a very full day, like so many others. First, Jesus works many cures (14:14) and then performs the remarkable miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and the fish, a symbol of the future Eucharist. The crowd who have been following Him were avid for food, teaching and consolation. Jesus "had compassion on them" (14:14), curing their sick and giving them the comfort of His teaching and the nourishment of food. He continues to do the same, down the centuries, tending to our needs and comforting us with His word and with the nourishment of His own body. Jesus must have been very moved, realizing the vivifying effect the Blessed Sacrament would have on the lives of Christians--a sacrament which is a mystery of life and faith and love. It is understandable that He should feel the need to spend some hours in private to speak to His Father. Jesus' private prayer, in an interlude between one demanding activity and another, teaches us that every Christian needs to take time out for recollection, to speak to His Father, God. On Jesus' frequent personal prayer see, for example, Mark 1:35; 6:47; Luke 5:16; 16:12. See the notes on Matthew 6:5-6 and Matthew 7:7-11.

24-33: This remarkable episode of Jesus walking on the sea must have made a deep impression on the Apostles. It was one of their outstanding memories of the life hey shared with the Master. It is reported not only by St. Matthew, but also by St. Mark (6:45-52), who would have heard about it from St. Peter, and by St. John (6:14-21).

Storms are very frequent on Lake Gennesaret; they cause huge waves and are very dangerous to fishing boats. During His prayer on the hill, Jesus is still mindful of His disciples; He sees them trying to cope with the wind and the waves and comes to their rescue once He has finished praying.

This episode has applications to Christian life. The Church, like the Apostles' boat, also gets into difficulties, and Jesus who watches over His Church comes to its rescue also, after allowing it to wrestle with obstacles and be strengthened in the process. He gives us encouragement: "Take heart, it is I; have no fear" (14:27); and we show our faith and fidelity by striving to keep an even keel, and by calling on His aid when we feel ourselves weakening: "Lord, save me" (14:30), words of St. Peter which every soul uses when he has recourse to Jesus, his Savior. Then our Lord does save us, and we urgently confess our faith: "Truly you are the Son of God" (14:33).

29-31. St. John Chrysostom ("Hom. on St. Matthew", 50) comments that in this episode Jesus taught Peter to realize, from his own experience, that all his strength comes from our Lord and that he could not rely on his own resources, on his own weaknesses and wretchedness. Chrysostom goes as far as to say that "if we fail to play our part, God ceases to help us." Hence the reproach, 'O man of little faith" (14:31).

When Peter began to be afraid and to doubt, he started to sink, until again, full of faith, he called out, "Lord, save me." If at any time we, like Peter, should begin to weaken, we too should try to bring our faith into play and call on Jesus to save us.

34-36. Learning from the faith of these people on the shore of Lake Gennesaret, every Christian should approach the adorable humanity of the Savior. Christ--God and Man--is accessible to us in the sacrament of the Eucharist.

"When you approach the Tabernacle remember that He has been awaiting you for twenty centuries" ([St] J. Escriva, "The Way", 537).
___________________________
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.

Reading for Aug 4, Memorial: St John Vianney, Priest

Tuesday, 18th Week in Ordinary Time

From: Numbers 12:1-13

The Complaint of Miriam and Aaron Against Moses
[1] Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married, for he had married a Cushite woman; [2] and they said, "Has the LORD indeed spoken only through Moses? Has he not spoken through us also?" And the LORD heard it. [3] Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all men that were on the face of the earth. [4] And suddenly the LORD said to Moses and to Aaron and Miriam, "Come out, you three, to the tent of meeting." And the three of them came out. [5] And the LORD came down in a pillar of cloud, and stood at the door of the tent, and called Aaron and Miriam; and they both came forward. [6] And he said, "Hear my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the LORD make myself known to him in a vision, I speak with him in a dream. [7] Not so with my servant Moses; he is entrusted with all my house. [8] With him I speak mouth to mouth, clearly, and not in dark speech; and he beholds the form of the LORD. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?"

[9] And the anger of the LORD was kindled against them, and he departed; [10] and when the cloud removed from over the tent, behold, Miriam was leprous, as white as snow. And Aaron turned towards Miriam, and behold, she was leprous. [11] And Aaron said to Moses, "Oh, my lord, do not punish us because we have done foolishly and have sinned. [12] Let her not be as one dead, of whom the flesh is half consumed when he comes out of his mother's womb."

Moses Intercedes
[13] And Moses cried to the LORD, "Heal her, 0 God, I beseech thee." [14] But the LORD said to Moses, "If her father had but spit in her face, should she not be shamed seven days? Let her be shut up outside the camp seven days, and after that she may be brought in again." [15] So Miriam was shut up outside the camp seven days; and the people did not set out on the march till Miriam was brought in again. [16] After that the people set out from Hazeroth, and encamped in the wilderness of Paran.
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Commentary:
12.1-16. Aaron and Miriam's complaints about Moses begin with the subject of his marriage to a foreigner. (The Hebrew text says "Cushite", which means "from Ethiopia", but if we look at Habakkuk 3:7, which links Cushan to the Midianites, perhaps we can read this passage as referring to Zipporoah: cf. Ex 2:16-21.) But their complaints are really aimed at something much deeper--Moses' unique authority as intermediary between God and his people. He is not the only prophet, they say; however, unlike Moses, they have not the humility to see that prophecy is a charism, a gift to be exercised on behalf of the people; rather, they see it as a privilege from which they can gain advantage. This negative feature of Aaron, along with what Exodus 32 has to tell about him, seems to suggest that his place in folk memory is less positive than might appear at first sight.

The passage really shows what a unique personality Moses was in history of Israel. He was the one who most put his trust in the Lord (perhaps that is the meaning of the Hebrew "anaw", here translated as "meek": v.3). Such was his trust that he became the most long-suffering of men; and brought God to his defense. The severity of Miriam's punishment and swiftness of her cure at Moses' intercession, serve to show how great Moses is. What really makes him great is the fact that God speaks directly to him and not through visions or dreams as in the case of the prophets. So, Moses is greater than the prophets. According to the Hebrew text, Moses saw the "form" of the Lord (v. 8); the Greek translation (presumably because of the spiritual nature of God and his transcendence) says that Moses saw "the glory of the Lord". Similarly St John will say that no one has ever seen God" (Jn 1:18), in order then to go on and stress that only Jesus Christ, the Son of God and himself true God, could reveal to us all the truth about God.

However; God's spirituality and transcendence does not mean we cannot enter into direct conversation with him through prayer. "Moses' prayer is characteristic of contemplative prayer by which God's servant remains faithful to his mission. Moses converses with God often and at length, climbing the mountain to hear and entreat him and coming down to the people to repeat the words of his God for their guidance. Moses 'is entrusted with all my house. With him I speak face to face, clearly, not in riddles' for 'Moses was very humble, more so than everyone else on the face of the earth' (Num 12:3, 7-8)' " ("Catechism of Catholic Church", 2576).
___________________________
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland. Reprinted with permission from Four Courts Press and Scepter Publishers, the U.S. publisher.

Principles and Practices - August 4

For God Alone

Whoever really and in sincerity gives himself up to the service of God will experience the truth of that sentence: 'To serve God is to reign,' even if it be in poverty, in humiliations, and in suffering. All those who in this world seek their happiness in something that is not God, all, without exception, will verify the saying of St. Augustine: 'The heart of man is made for God alone, and is never at peace until it rests in God.' 'Thou hast made us for Thyself, and our heart findeth no rest until it reposeth in Thee.'
-Fr. Jean Grou.

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

Thoughts of St Augustine for August 4

A TRUE sacrifice is every work which is done that we may cleave in holy union to God­ - that is, with a reference to that great end by which we may become truly happy.
_________________________
Click here for more information.
From Thoughts of St Augustine for Every Day
by Kathleen Mary Balfe (© 1926)
Nihil Obstat: Georgius D. Smith, S.T.D
Imprimatur: Edm. Can. Surmont

Thoughts from St Alphonsus for Every Day-August 4

PURITY of intention is called the heavenly alchemy by which iron is turned into gold; that is to say, the most trivial actions, such as to work, to take one's meals, to take recreation or repose, when done for God, become the gold of holy love.
_________________
From Thoughts from St Alphonsus for Every Day
Compiled by Rev. C. McNeiry, C.SS.R.
Imprimatur: Joseph Hull, C.SS.R., Prov. Angl. Sup.
Nihil Obstat: Innocentlus Apap, O.P., S.T.M., Censor Deptutatus.
Imprimatur: Edm. Can. Surmont, Vicarius Generalis.
Westmonasterii, Die 9a Junii, 1927.
First published 1927

Gospel for Monday, 18th Week in Ordinary Time

From: Matthew 14:13-21

First Miracle of the Loaves and Fish
[13] Now when Jesus heard this, He withdrew from there in a boat to a lonely place apart. But when the crowds heard it, they followed Him on foot from the towns. [14] As He went ashore He saw a great throng; and He had compassion on them, and healed their sick. [15] When it was evening, the disciples came to Him and said, "This is a lonely place, and the day is now over; send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves." [16] Jesus said, "They need not go away; you give them something to eat." [17] They said to Him, "We have only five loaves here and two fish." [18] And He said, "Bring them here to Me." [19] Then He ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass; and taking the five loaves and the two fish He looked up to heaven, and blessed, and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. [20] And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over. [21] And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.
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Commentary:
14-21. This episode must have occurred in the middle of springtime, because the grass was green (Mark 6:40; John 6:10). In the Near East loaves were usually made very thin, which meant it was easy to break them by hand and distribute them to those at table; this was usually done by the head of the household or the senior person at the meal. Our Lord follows this custom, and the miracle occurs when Jesus breaks the bread. The disciples then distribute it among the crowd. Here again we can see Jesus' desire to have people cooperate with Him.
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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.

Reading for Monday, 18th Week in Ordinary Time

From: Numbers 11:4b-15

Craving for Egyptian Food
[4b] And the people of Israel also wept again, and said, "0 that we had meat to eat! [5] We remember the fish we ate in Egypt for nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic; [6] but now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at."

[7] Now the manna was like coriander seed, and its appearance like that of bdellium. [8] The people went about and gathered it, and ground it in mills or beat it in mortars, and boiled it in pots, and made cakes of it; and the taste of it was like the taste of cake baked with oil. [9] When the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell with it.

Moses' Prayer
[10] Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families every man at the door of his tent; and the anger of the LORD blazed hotly, and Moses was displeased. [11] Moses said to the LORD, "Why hast thou dealt ill with thy servant? And why have I not found favor in thy sight, that thou dost lay the burden of aIl this people upon me? [12] Did I conceive all this people? Did I bring them forth, that thou shouldst say to me, 'Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse carries the sucking child, to the land which thou didst swear to give their fathers?' [13] Where am I to get meat to give to all this people? For they weep before me and say, 'Give us meat, that we may eat.' [14] I am not able to carry all this people alone, the burden is too heavy for me. [15] If thou wilt deal thus will me, kill me at once, if I find favor in thy sight, that I may not see my wretchedness."
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Commentary:
11:7-9. The people dream of the sort of food they had in Egypt. The manna was a sign of the providence of God, who supplied his people with food in the arid desert. Therefore, their lack of appreciation for the manna, and on top of that their protest against God, show their blindness, their inability to appreciate the gifts God is giving them. Regarding the manna, cf. the note on Exodus 16:1-36.

[The note on Exodus 16:1-36 states:

16:1-36. The prodigy of the manna and the quails was a very important sign of God's special providence towards his people while they were in the desert. It is recounted here and in Numbers 11, but in both accounts facts are interwoven with interpretation of same and with things to do with worship and ethics.

Some scholars have argued that the manna is the same thing as a sweet secretion that comes from the tamarisk ("tamarix mannifera") when punctured by a particular insect commonly found in the mountains of Sinai. The drops of this resin solidify in the coldness of the night and some fall to the ground. They have to be gathered up early in the morning because they deteriorate at twenty-four degrees temperature (almost eighty degrees Celsius). Even today desert Arabs collect them and use them for sucking and as a sweetener in confectionery.

As we know, quails cross the Sinai peninsula on their migrations back and forth between Africa and Europe or Asia. In May or June, when they return from Africa they usually rest in Sinai, exhausted after a long sea crossing; they can be easily trapped at this point.

Although these phenomenon can show where the manna and the quail come from, the important thing is that the Israelites saw them as wonders worked by God. The sacred writer stops to describe the impact the manna had on the sons of Israel. They are puzzled by it, as can be seen from their remarks when it comes for the first time: "What is it?" they ask, which in Hebrew sounds like "man hu", that is, manna (v. 15), which is how the Greek translation puts it. Indeed, the need to collect it every day gave rise to complaints about some people being greedy (v. 20) and who did not understand the scope of God's gift (v. 15). And just as manna is a divine gift to meet a basic human need (nourishment), so too the divine precepts, specifically that of the sabbath, are a free gift from the Lord (v. 28). So, obedience is not a heavy burden but the exercise of a capacity to receive the good things that God gives to those who obey him.

The prodigy of the manna will resound right through the Bible: in the "Deuteronomic" tradition it is a test that God gives his people to show them that "man does not live by bread alone, but [...] by everything that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord" (Deut 8:3). The psalmist discovers that manna is "the bread of the strong" ("of angels", says the Vulgate and the RSV), which God sent in abundance (Ps 78:23ff; cf. Ps 105:40). The book of Wisdom spells out the features of this bread from heaven "ready to eat, providing every pleasure and suited to every taste" (Wis 16:20-29). And the New Testament reveals the full depth of this "spiritual" food (1 Cor 10:3), for, as the "Catechism" teaches, "manna in the desert prefigured the Eucharist, 'the true bread from heaven' (Jn 6:32)" ("Catechism of the Catholic Church", 1094).]

11:10-15. Despite the tone of complaint, in Moses' words we can glimpse God's relationship to his people: he is their father, he made them into a people. And the passage also shows the heavy responsibility he put on Moses' shoulders--to the point that he feels unable to carry it any longer.

The imagery used here to describe God's concern for his people will later be used by St Paul when he speaks of his concern for all the Christian communities which grew from his preaching and which he has to guide towards Christ (cf. I Thess 2: 7-11).
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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.

News Updates, 8/2-3

The Battle for Life in ‘Health Care Reform’: "Catholics United"[heretics] vs. Family Research Council
Someone is right and someone is wrong. There is no middle ground on this one. The truth must be revealed and shouted from the Housetops. In fact, it really is a matter of life and death. It will frame our action and response as Pro-Life people. It must be the determining factor as to whether faithful Catholics, other faithful Christians, Pro-Life people of faith and people of good will who recognize the truth concerning the personhood of our first neighbors in the womb can participate in any Health care Plan which funds the taking of innocent human life in the womb with tax payer dollars. If this Plan does indeed mandate such blood money, we have to prepare for massive resistance because we cannot participate. Abortion is not health care. Period. ...[emphasis added]

Italy ok's abortion pill despite church opposition
Italy's drug regulation agency has authorized the use of the abortion pill despite protests from the Roman Catholic church which threatens to excommunicate doctors who prescribe the drug and patients who use it...

Prominent Nun Ridicules Healthcare Vote Delay over "Insignificant Details"
A prominent Catholic nun [Sister Simone Campbell, executive director of the national [pseudo-]Catholic justice lobby NETWORK] who is pushing for health care reform has dismissed concerns over Obama's health legislation - which pro-lifers say includes the "largest expansion of abortion since Roe v. Wade" - as "insignificant details," according to a Catholic News Service (CNS) report.
[It's a scandal and disgrace that such so-called "Catholics" are not rebuked and/or punished by their superiors or bishops when they openly embrace policies which further advance the wilful murder of innocent human beings and culture of death. They march in lockstep with the death peddlers, spewing their poisonous venom]

Catholic bank buys heavily into birth control
Dealt in shares attached to contraceptive companies

Muslims destroy Christian village in Pakistan
Sixty houses torched after family accused of blasphemy

Irish court may censor next Catholic abuse report
Publication could undermine efforts to jail pedophiles

Newspaper apologizes for inventing a scandal
No credible support for PM 'pocketing' Communion host

Prime Minister: Albania to allow gay marriages
Church spokesman: 'We are categorically against it'

Chicago Catholic cathedral reopens after fire
134-year-old church suffers damage to roof and attic

White House working hard to woo Catholics
Obama being 'packaged' as one who respects the Church
[Faithful Catholics will not be deceived by the agent of Satan]

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Other Issues
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Kenyan Birth Certificate of Barack Hussein Obama Discovered?
The Kenyan BC is supposedly a certified copy issued in 1964 of an entry recorded in the Birth Registry of Mombasa Province, Book 44B Page 5733. It says he was born August 4, 1961, at Coast Hospital at Mombasa, Kenya...
[So now we have not one, not two, but THREE different hospitals where Barry was born]

Lou Dobbs Right on Obama Birth Certificate
The Associated Press is wrong and Lou Dobbs is right. This past weekend, the AP published a story entitled "CNN's Dobbs Under Fire for Hosting 'Birthers'"...

Uncovered Video: Obama Explains How His Health Care Plan Will 'Eliminate' Private Insurance

Obama DOJ Threatened Oklahoma Over English-Only Vote
In April Chairman Obama's Department of Justice threatened to cut off federal funding to Oklahoma if that state's voters approve a state constitutional amendment making English Oklahoma's official language, Sen. James Inhofe (R-Oklahoma) revealed...

Venezuela begins shutdown of 34 radio stations
More than a dozen of 34 radio stations ordered shut by the Venezuelan government went off the air on Saturday, part of President Hugo Chavez's drive to extend his socialist revolution to the media...

UK: Patients forced to live in agony after NHS refuses to pay for painkilling injections

[Tax cheat Timmy] Geithner Won't Rule Out New Taxes for Middle Class

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"The Declaration of Independence dogmatically bases all rights on the fact that God created all men equal; and it is right; for if they were not created equal, they were certainly evolved unequal. There is no basis for democracy except in a dogma about the divine origin of man."
-G.K.Chesterton, Chapter 19, What I Saw In America, 1922

Principles and Practices - August 3

Do You Experience This?

I venture to say that an increased general desire of being more perfect is not altogether without its value as a sign of progress; and that in spite of what I have said of the importance of having a definite object in view. I do not think we esteem this general desire of perfection suffi­ciently. Of course, we must not stop at it, nor be satisfied with it. It is only given us to go on with.

Still, when we consider how worldly most good Christians are, and their amazing blindness to the interests of Jesus, and their almost incredible impenetrability by supernatural principles, we must see that this desire of holiness is from God, and a great gift, and that much which is of surpassing consequence is implied in it.

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

Thoughts of St Augustine for August 3

THERE is this difference between heretics and bad Catholics: heretics believe that which is false, but bad Catholics, believing that which is true, do not carry out their faith in their lives.
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Click here for more information.
From Thoughts of St Augustine for Every Day
by Kathleen Mary Balfe (© 1926)
Nihil Obstat: Georgius D. Smith, S.T.D
Imprimatur: Edm. Can. Surmont

Thoughts from St Alphonsus for Every Day-August 3

ALL are not allowed to speak to their king: the most that can be hoped for is to com­municate with him through a third person. To converse with thee, O king of glory, no third person is needed; Thou art always ready in the Sacrament of the Altar to give audience to all.
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From Thoughts from St Alphonsus for Every Day
Compiled by Rev. C. McNeiry, C.SS.R.
Imprimatur: Joseph Hull, C.SS.R., Prov. Angl. Sup.
Nihil Obstat: Innocentlus Apap, O.P., S.T.M., Censor Deptutatus.
Imprimatur: Edm. Can. Surmont, Vicarius Generalis.
Westmonasterii, Die 9a Junii, 1927.
First published 1927