Mental Prayer Meditation Helps
Presence of God.
Grace I Ask: A strong, realizing faith in God as my loving and interested Father.
Mental Picture (cf. Matt. 14 :22-33) : In their small fishing boat, the Apostles are making their way across the Sea of Galilee during the early morning hours. Suddenly across the waters a shape appears to be moving toward the boat. "Take courage. It is I. Do not be afraid."
Impetuous Peter: "Lord, if it is really you, let me come to you over the waters."
And Jesus: "Come."
Climbing out of the boat, Peter starts to walk on the water toward Jesus...until he begins to doubt and fear for himself; then his fears pull him under.
Personal Application: A habit of strong, unhesitating confidence is what will put me firmly on the road to my eternal goal. A strong, unwavering faith will always show its life in deeds. The way a young man or girl lives out his Catholic life is a direct reflection of the type and depth of his faith.
I Speak to Christ: Let me be convinced, dear Lord, that the degree of my faith in you sets the tone for my life of the spirit. When my religion starts to become mere routine, just going through the motions, then deepen my faith in the mysteries of the divine life. Give me the grace constantly to keep asking for a deeper faith, the grace at least to want to delve deeper into the truths of my religion.
Thought for Today: "All things are possible to him who believes."
___________________
Adapted from Mental Prayer, Challenge to the Lay Apostle
by The Queen's Work,(© 1958)
Saturday, August 12, 2006
If Jesus were the Bishop of Amarillo, what would He do?
Excerpts from a pastoral letter by Bishop John W. Yanta:
For those who may not remember, Bishop Yanta invited Fr Frank Pavone to his diocese in order to establish the National Headquarters of Priests for Life. Father Pavone has started a seminary there, as well.
The link is here.
July 16, 2006 - Feast Day of Our Lady of Mount CarmelActually, it is complete - no excerpts...there was nothing which seemed 'snippable' - and - I'm not certain how long it will be available on the diocese website since I was unable to find an archive.
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, if Jesus were the Bishop of Amarillo, how would he run the Diocese of Amarillo? What would Jesus try to teach us? Would Jesus be evangelizing the people of God? How? Doing what? Saying what?
Would Jesus be trying every means possible to call us to holiness? Would Jesus not only invite us to become his disciples but provide all the means of becoming disciples in every parish throughout the diocese? Would Jesus want every parish to be a school of holiness as Pope John Paul II taught us as a good goal for the new millennium?
Jesus is the Good Shepherd of his Church on earth – its pastor! Given the fact that Jesus arose from the dead and ascended into heaven, He still remains on earth with his Church as its head. Remember, Jesus wants 100% of the sheep to be in his flock and he wants all the sheep to receive 100% of his teachings! But Jesus has chosen to have some men and parents placed over certain sections of his Body, the Church.
The pope is the Vicar of Christ on earth by being a good shepherd of the Church Universal; the bishop as a successor of the apostles should try always to be a good shepherd of all the people of God of his diocese; the priest pastor (co-worker united with his bishop) is delegated to be a good shepherd for his parish which is “a family of families” (Pope John Paul II, San Antonio, TX, Sept. 13, 1987). The pope, bishop, and priests are anointed and sent by Jesus to care for his people.
Parents, living in Jesus with each other in marriage, are the shepherds of their children. The family is the domestic church; the family is the most important part of both the Church and the world. Parents share the awesome responsibility with the pope, their bishop, and their pastor. Each has a flock to feed and tend – under, with, and for the Good Shepherd, Jesus.
Would that every child would be received as the greatest blessing of marriage! Jesus wills it!
Would that every child could say that Mom and Dad are the first teachers of the Faith by what they do and what they say! Jesus wills it!
Would that every child would learn in infancy and childhood that our loving God has a plan for each of us how to live in this life and be happy with Him in the next! Jesus wills it!
Would that every child would learn first and principally from his parents about God’s sacred plan for our sexuality as male and female! Jesus wills it!
Natural Family Planning
As announced in my pastoral letter January 28, 2006: “The Diocese of Amarillo will be a natural family planning diocese: henceforth, all marriages (except for couples past the child bearing age) will be required to attend and complete an approved Natural Family Planning course in conjunction with an approved marriage preparation program. Effective date: July 25, 2006.
“July 25th is the date selected for implementation: July 25th is four (4) months after the Annunciation (March 25th) and five (5) months before the Nativity of Jesus. July 25th is also the feast of St. James, first bishop of Jerusalem.
“July 25th is also the 38th anniversary of Humanae Vitae (on artificial contraception) by Pope Paul VI. Copies of a simplified version by Msgr. Vincent Walsh are available from Key of David Publications, 204 Haverford Road, Wynnewood, PA 19006, 610-896-1970.
“Omnia parata” (All is ready) as Jesus said in the parable of the wedding feast. In all parts of the diocese we have teachers trained to give the Natural Family Planning instruction in both English and Spanish.
“I ask Almighty God to forgive me for waiting so long to implement Natural Family Planning as normative and as a requirement for a marriage to be witnessed by our priests and deacons in the Diocese of Amarillo.
“Every married couple has the right from the Church to continue on the road to sainthood begun in baptism by living as one joined to Christ: Natural Family Planning is God’s way to live responsible parenthood. Marriage and family are the pillars of the Church and society”.
Our Catholic Schools
Just a few days ago, Pope Benedict XVI at the Fifth World Gathering of Families in Spain called the family “a unique institution in God’s plan.” He further proclaimed: “I wish to set forth the central role, for the Church and for society, proper to the family based on marriage.”
As school opens again soon, I ask you, what is Jesus’ plan for our children’s education? A relatively new phenomenon has emerged in our midst: home schools. They are a fulfillment of Jesus’ plan that the father and mother are the first teachers of the ways of faith for their children.
However, if parents choose not to home school, Jesus would want them to attend a Catholic school. Catholic schools exist to help parents in their duty to form their children in the fullness of Christianity – our Catholic Faith. It is a given that our Catholic schools provide an education equal to the local school or superior to it, as the facts and data bear out.
Jesus wants us to recognize our Catholic schools as a great gift, an awesome ministry, and a stewardship we all support.
Our Catholic schools are supported by the tuition paid by students’ parents and extended family, the fundraisers sponsored by parents and alumni, their parish and nearby parishes, the diocese, and foundations, e.g. Bill and Louise Dee, Kenedy in Corpus Christi, and Scanlan in Houston.
Partial scholarships are available. I, as bishop, have a policy that no child will be denied a Catholic School education because of financial need. The Lord will provide, is our trust. Would Jesus be calling you to adopt a needy student? You will be helping the child Jesus in disguise; that’s our Faith.
Eucharistic Families
Let’s begin with the well known adage: “The Family that Prays Together – Stays Together.” The Eucharist is the highest form of prayer.
As your bishop, in the name of Jesus, I invite all you families to participate fully in the Second Diocesan Eucharistic Congress, August 25 and 26 in the Amarillo Civic Center.
Instruction on the Eucharist states: “145. The pastoral value of Eucharistic Congresses should be highly esteemed, and they ‘should be a genuine sign of faith and charity.’”
Pope John Paul II said: “The Christian family’s sanctifying role is grounded in baptism and has its highest expression in the Eucharist, to which Christian marriage is intimately connected.
To understand better and live more intensely the graces and responsibilities of Christian marriage and family life, it is altogether necessary to rediscover and strengthen this relationship.
“The Eucharist is the very source of Christian marriage. The Eucharistic Sacrifice, in fact, represents Christ’s Covenant of love with the Church, sealed with his blood on the Cross” (The Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortations of John Paul II, #57).
Eucharistic marriages produce Eucharistic families.
May the Holy Family of Mary, Joseph, and Jesus be your strength and inspiration!
Sincerely in Christ,
Most Rev. John W. Yanta
Bishop of Amarillo
For those who may not remember, Bishop Yanta invited Fr Frank Pavone to his diocese in order to establish the National Headquarters of Priests for Life. Father Pavone has started a seminary there, as well.
The link is here.
Gospel for Saturday, 18th Week in Ordinary Time
From: Matthew 17:14-20
The Curing of an Epileptic Boy
[14] And when they came to the crowd, a man came up to him and kneeling before him said, [15] "Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and he suffers terribly; for often he falls into the fire, and often into the water. [16] And I brought him to your disciples, and they could not heal him." [17] And Jesus answered, "O faithless and perverse generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him here to me." [18] And Jesus rebuked him, and the demon came out of him, and the boy was cured instantly. [19] Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, "Why could we not cast it out?" [20] He said to them, "Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move hence to yonder place,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you."
_____________________
Commentary:
14-21. This episode of the curing of the boy shows both Christ's omnipotence and the power of prayer full of faith. Because of his deep union with Christ, a Christian shares, through faith, in God's own omnipotence, to such an extent that Jesus actually says on another occasion, "he who believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I go to the Father" (Jn 14:12).
Our Lord tells the Apostles that if they had faith they would be able to work miracles, to move mountains. "Moving mountains" was probably a proverbial saying. God would certainly let a believer move a mountain if that were necessary for his glory and for the edification of one's neighbor; however, Christ's promise is fulfilled everyday in a much more exalted way. Some Fathers of the Church (St. Jerome, St. Augustine) say that "a mountain is moved" every time someone is divinely aided to do something which exceed man's natural powers. This clearly happens in the work of our sanctification, which the Paraclete effects in our souls when we are docile to him and receive with faith and love the grace given us in the sacraments: we benefit from the sacraments to a greater or lesser degree depending on the dispositions with which we receive them. Sanctification is something more sublime than moving mountains, and it is something which is happening every day in so many holy souls, even though most people do not notice it.
The Apostles and many saints down the centuries have in fact worked amazing material miracles; but the greatest and most important miracles were, are and will be the miracles of souls dead through sin and ignorance being reborn and developing in the new life of the children of God.
20. Here and in the parable of Matthew 13:31-32 the main force of the comparison lies in the fact that a very small seed--the mustard seed--produces a large shrub up to three meters (ten feet) high: even a very small act of genuine faith can produce surprising results.
___________________________
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.
The Curing of an Epileptic Boy
[14] And when they came to the crowd, a man came up to him and kneeling before him said, [15] "Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and he suffers terribly; for often he falls into the fire, and often into the water. [16] And I brought him to your disciples, and they could not heal him." [17] And Jesus answered, "O faithless and perverse generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him here to me." [18] And Jesus rebuked him, and the demon came out of him, and the boy was cured instantly. [19] Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, "Why could we not cast it out?" [20] He said to them, "Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move hence to yonder place,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you."
_____________________
Commentary:
14-21. This episode of the curing of the boy shows both Christ's omnipotence and the power of prayer full of faith. Because of his deep union with Christ, a Christian shares, through faith, in God's own omnipotence, to such an extent that Jesus actually says on another occasion, "he who believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I go to the Father" (Jn 14:12).
Our Lord tells the Apostles that if they had faith they would be able to work miracles, to move mountains. "Moving mountains" was probably a proverbial saying. God would certainly let a believer move a mountain if that were necessary for his glory and for the edification of one's neighbor; however, Christ's promise is fulfilled everyday in a much more exalted way. Some Fathers of the Church (St. Jerome, St. Augustine) say that "a mountain is moved" every time someone is divinely aided to do something which exceed man's natural powers. This clearly happens in the work of our sanctification, which the Paraclete effects in our souls when we are docile to him and receive with faith and love the grace given us in the sacraments: we benefit from the sacraments to a greater or lesser degree depending on the dispositions with which we receive them. Sanctification is something more sublime than moving mountains, and it is something which is happening every day in so many holy souls, even though most people do not notice it.
The Apostles and many saints down the centuries have in fact worked amazing material miracles; but the greatest and most important miracles were, are and will be the miracles of souls dead through sin and ignorance being reborn and developing in the new life of the children of God.
20. Here and in the parable of Matthew 13:31-32 the main force of the comparison lies in the fact that a very small seed--the mustard seed--produces a large shrub up to three meters (ten feet) high: even a very small act of genuine faith can produce surprising results.
___________________________
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.
Friday, August 11, 2006
Mental Prayer for August 12-Christ Comes to Me Too in Holy Communion
Mental Prayer Meditation Helps
Presence of God.
Grace I Ask: Jesus, help me to realize that you will come to me in Holy Communion any morning I wish.
Mental Picture (cf. Luke 19:1-10): Zaccheus, a sinner, up in a tree. Jesus, looking up, says, "Come down. This day I'll stay in your house." Joy of Zaccheus... his great privilege... his haste in getting his house ready for Jesus... Jesus brings him joy, help, courage. When Jesus leaves his house, Zaccheus is a changed man.
My Personal Application: Like Zaccheus, do I need God's help? Will Jeus give it to me? Where? When? If the President of the U. S. A. told me that he would come to my house today, what would I do? Would I put myself out to have him come? Would I be happy? Proud? Will Jesus come just to my house, or will He come inside me? Will He bring me joy, help, courage too? Can Jesus make me into a better person if I let Him? Would I walk as far as my parish church to see the President? Can I find one good reason why I can't go to Holy Communion every morning? Do I want to? Do I need to? Is it worth the sacrifice it would involve?
I Speak to Christ: Lord, I need you just as Zaccheus did. I have my problems, my temptations, my troubles too. Help me realize that you are ready to aid me if I just invite you inside my soul in Holy Communion. I promise to go to Communion as often as I can, even daily for I need you. I love you.
Thought for Today: "Come to me all you that labor and are troubled and I will refresh you."
___________________
Adapted from Mental Prayer, Challenge to the Lay Apostle
by The Queen's Work,(© 1958)
Presence of God.
Grace I Ask: Jesus, help me to realize that you will come to me in Holy Communion any morning I wish.
Mental Picture (cf. Luke 19:1-10): Zaccheus, a sinner, up in a tree. Jesus, looking up, says, "Come down. This day I'll stay in your house." Joy of Zaccheus... his great privilege... his haste in getting his house ready for Jesus... Jesus brings him joy, help, courage. When Jesus leaves his house, Zaccheus is a changed man.
My Personal Application: Like Zaccheus, do I need God's help? Will Jeus give it to me? Where? When? If the President of the U. S. A. told me that he would come to my house today, what would I do? Would I put myself out to have him come? Would I be happy? Proud? Will Jesus come just to my house, or will He come inside me? Will He bring me joy, help, courage too? Can Jesus make me into a better person if I let Him? Would I walk as far as my parish church to see the President? Can I find one good reason why I can't go to Holy Communion every morning? Do I want to? Do I need to? Is it worth the sacrifice it would involve?
I Speak to Christ: Lord, I need you just as Zaccheus did. I have my problems, my temptations, my troubles too. Help me realize that you are ready to aid me if I just invite you inside my soul in Holy Communion. I promise to go to Communion as often as I can, even daily for I need you. I love you.
Thought for Today: "Come to me all you that labor and are troubled and I will refresh you."
___________________
Adapted from Mental Prayer, Challenge to the Lay Apostle
by The Queen's Work,(© 1958)
Sept 17 - Credo Dinner with EWTN's Fr Dominic Garner
is proud to present
Father Dominic Mary Garner
Speaking on the Topic
“Would that Catholics knew their Catechism.”
* * * * * *
Our September Forum speaker is a young priest of the Franciscan Missionaries of the Eternal Word located in Birmingham Alabama. Recently founded by Mother Angelica, this men’s order strives to evangelize the world and call back the stray "sheep", mainly through the apostolate of the Global Catholic Network – EWTN.
Fr. Dominic was ordained to the Holy Priesthood in 2004 after attending Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, Maryland. He currently serves as Chaplain for the employees of EWTN and also serves as Assistant Chaplain at the Shrine of the most Blessed Sacrament in Hanceville Alabama, which is also the home of Mother Angelica and her Poor Clare Nuns of Perpetual Adoration.
For those of you who are EWTN fans, Father Dominic often celebrates the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass on television. He minces no words in his homilies as he proclaims the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
He was a recent visitor to our area when he participated in the EWTN 25th Anniversary Celebration at the St. Charles Family Resource Center.
Join us on Sunday, September 17th, at 6:00 p.m. for a delicious dinner at the Crowne Plaza Hotel located at 7750 Carondelet Blvd. in Clayton, MO.
Meals include choice of entree (below), tossed garden salad, vegetables, dinner roll/butter, beverage and dessert. Cost is $20.00 per person.
There is free inside parking at the 7777 Bonhomme Parking Garage. Use the Orange level bridge to the hotel.
Use the coupon below and send it with your check made payable to Credo of the Catholic Laity to:
Howard Brandt
4386 Honeydew Lane
St. Louis MO. 63128
Phone 314-894-0357 e-mail hbrandt (at) i1.net
===================cut here===========================
Name_________________________________________________
Address______________________________________________
City/ST/Zip__________________________________________
Telephone____________________
e-mail_______________________________________________
Enclosed is my check for $______ to cover ____persons
for Father Dominic’s talk.
My menu entree selections are:
Roast Beef Bordelaise #___ Sautéed Chicken #___
===============================================
Indonesia: Stay of execution after papal plea
Aug. 11 (CWNews.com) - The Indonesian government has announced a stay of execution for 3 Christians who were scheduled to face a firing squad on August 12, the AsiaNews service has reported. The reprieve for the condemned men is said to be for at least one week.
Pope Benedict XVI (bio - news) had sent a last-minute appeal to Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, asking for a "an act of clemency" to stop the scheduled execution of three Christian men sentenced in connection with the religious violence that swept the eastern Sulawesi region in 1999-2001.
“How Bishops Discourage Vocations (and the Key to Attracting Them)”
From: Status Ecclesiae
Aug.-Sept. 2005
by John Mallon, Contributing Editor, Inside the Vatican
I've had this discussion with a deacon friend of mine who is associated with the Serra Club. Many times I have suggested that, in addition to the many programs of the Serra Club, it might consider promoting programs aimed at instilling orthodoxy as well as orthopraxis - not only at the parish level but also at the diocesan level.
Anecdotal 'evidence' appears to show that true vocations are born from those parishes in which the fullness of the faith is taught and where holiness is promoted and imparted to the young. Conversely, the vineyard is barren where heterdoxy and/or dissent is embraced.
At times, my conversations with my deacon friend seem to be beyond his grasp. When the majority of the young Catholic families are content with only one or two childen - presumably with the aid of artificial contraception, which is never condemned as intrinsically evil, there are fewer and fewer young men to hear the call of Christ. In addition, many grow up in an atmosphere which is, frankly, poisonous to the faith - for the tacit or, at times, even open denial that there exists gravely sinful matter is rarely if ever taught - except in cases of such things as environmentalism or distorted "social justice" issues.
Anyway, I digress...John Mallon has a great line further in his article:
This might be a good article to send to priests and bishops and to others involved in priestly vocations.
Aug.-Sept. 2005
by John Mallon, Contributing Editor, Inside the Vatican
In the mid 1990s, I attended a clergy meeting in the diocese where I was employed as the newspaper editor. The meeting was to discuss ideas to increase vocations to the priesthood, because the diocese was facing a crisis. Predictably, the discussion was going nowhere until the retired archbishop raised his hand, stood up and said, “Why don’t we study those dioceses which are attracting vocations, like Lincoln, Nebraska, and Arlington, Virginia, and see what they are doing and what we can learn from that.” I smiled to myself, eager to see the response to his suggestion, because I knew that the reason those dioceses were attracting so many vocations would be utterly unacceptable to this group of priests. Predictably, the priests just looked at each other and said nothing. No one responded to the archbishop’s suggestion.Many of us have opined from time to time that the only way that vocations are going to increase is to pray and to ensure that the fullness of the Faith is proclaimed and manifested, both by those in positions of ecclesiastical authority and by the faithful.
The answer was obvious. I may have even taken the retired archbishop aside and told him, but I suspect he already knew. The plain simple answer was that the bishops of those dioceses, Bishops Fabian Bruskewitz of Lincoln and the late John Keating of Arlington, were both explicitly, vocally and publicly committed to orthodoxy in Catholic teaching and practice. Meanwhile, the dominant priests of this diocese were known for being firmly committed to dissent. [emphasis added]
I've had this discussion with a deacon friend of mine who is associated with the Serra Club. Many times I have suggested that, in addition to the many programs of the Serra Club, it might consider promoting programs aimed at instilling orthodoxy as well as orthopraxis - not only at the parish level but also at the diocesan level.
Anecdotal 'evidence' appears to show that true vocations are born from those parishes in which the fullness of the faith is taught and where holiness is promoted and imparted to the young. Conversely, the vineyard is barren where heterdoxy and/or dissent is embraced.
At times, my conversations with my deacon friend seem to be beyond his grasp. When the majority of the young Catholic families are content with only one or two childen - presumably with the aid of artificial contraception, which is never condemned as intrinsically evil, there are fewer and fewer young men to hear the call of Christ. In addition, many grow up in an atmosphere which is, frankly, poisonous to the faith - for the tacit or, at times, even open denial that there exists gravely sinful matter is rarely if ever taught - except in cases of such things as environmentalism or distorted "social justice" issues.
Anyway, I digress...John Mallon has a great line further in his article:
....years later, perhaps it is beginning to dawn on some mid-level Church authorities that dissenters are not producing any progeny or followers — spiritual children. I call this ecclesiastical contraception. How can you inspire lifelong commitment and sacrifice in others to a Church you are constantly at war with?Ecclesiastical Contraception - a perfect term for what has occurred in many parts of the country as well as in many parts of the world. Not only did many, many bishops and priests openly reject "Humanae Vitae" - their doing so resulted in a decades old famine which left many of the faithful spiritually sterile and physically non-procreative.
There is no secret to attracting vocations. There are plenty of them out there. A bishop who tolerates dissent and ignores abuses will not attract them. A bishop who boldly stands up for Christ and His Church, and Church teachings, despite all costs and opposition, will attract them.It seems so simple, yet it is true. We have a profound obligation to help - and for many of us, that help comes in our offering of our prayers and sacrifices for our priests and bishops - so that they may be confirmed in their faith and their courage, that they may do what Christ expects of them - to pick up their crosses and follow Him.
This might be a good article to send to priests and bishops and to others involved in priestly vocations.
New UN Human Rights Treaty Threatens to Include Abortion
From the Friday Fax,
The UN will meet for two weeks starting on Monday on what may be the final negotiating session for an international treaty on disabilities. As per usual, "reproductive health" is a major sticking point in the final draft.More at the Friday Fax here.
C-FAM personnel, along with allies from around the world, will be present and working to affect the draft document.
Spread the word.
Yours sincerely,
Austin Ruse
President
===============================
New UN Human Rights Treaty Threatens to Include Abortion
By Susan Yoshihara PhD
(NEW YORK - C-FAM) United Nations delegates will assemble in New York on Monday to finalize a new human rights treaty. The International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities will be “hard” international law, joining other human rights instruments which are binding on the countries that ratify them. Most documents negotiated at the UN are non-binding. Treaties, such as this one, require governments to change their domestic laws based on the treaty.
Conservative legal experts have complained that the draft text contains ambiguous and undefined language – such as “reproductive health,” the right to “experience sexuality,” and the right to “have sexual and other intimate relationships” -- that has never before appeared in a treaty-level document. They note that the current text provides virtually no protection for the disabled from euthanasia due to a perceived diminishment in their quality of life. These experts caution that if delegates do not challenge the current text, there will be no safeguards against the worst outcomes – including the creation of new and enforceable rights such as the right to death and an unrestricted right to abortion.
Missouri Cloning Amendment Could Nullify Laws Regulating Abortion
That’s according to Jim Cole, volunteer legal counsel with Missouri Right to Life, who has written a series of papers detailing the flaws of the Missouri Stem Cell Research and Cures Initiative.There is a section of the ballot initiative which states:
The initiative, said Cole, "is sold to the public as a way to save lives, but the proposal guarantees that human lives can be created by fertilization and then killed for stem cells." He said the effort would nullify Missouri abortion laws that currently protect against that kind of action.
Missouri has several laws dealing with the use of tissue, including stem cells, from aborted human embryos...
...Those abortion laws would be affected "because of the provisions that say you can’t have any government action to prohibit or discourage or provide a disincentive for stem cell research and stem cell therapies."
"No state or local law, regulation, rule, charter, ordinance or other governmental action shall (i) prevent, restrict, obstruct or discourage any stem cell research or stem cell therapies and cures that are permitted by this section to be conducted or provided, or (ii) create disincentives for any person to engage in or otherwise associate with such research or therapies and cures."
"This would be in the Missouri constitution, so it would override any statutes to the contrary," said Cole.And this is just another of the the multitude of problems associated with engaging in intrinsically evil acts.
There is much more, including the fact that:
the definition of a blastocyst in the text of the initiative differs from section 188.015.6 of Missouri law, which states that an unborn child is considered "the offspring of human beings from the moment of conception until birth and at every stage of its biological development, including the human conceptus, zygote, morula, blastocyst, embryo and fetus."And not only this, but for Missourians, the term "cloning" will also be redefined...
The initiative’s text, however, lays out that a blastocyst is "a small mass of cells that results from cell division, caused either by fertilization or by somatic cell nuclear transfer, that has not been implanted in a uterus."
Jennifer Brinker, a St Louis Review Staff Writer, has a great article this week on the upcoming attempt to deceive Missouri voters in November.
Archdiocese Offers Speakers Bureau on Cloning
The archdiocesan Office of the Permanent Diaconate is offering a bureau of deacons who are able to speak about stem-cell research and human cloning.
The office already has identified about 25 deacons who are willing to speak at parishes about the issue. The topic has been at the center of the Missouri Stem Cell Research and Cures Initiative — Constitutional Amendment No. 2 on the Nov. 7 ballot — which would amend the state constitution to protect embroyonic stem-cell research. The Church condemns such research as human cloning while fully supporting research using adult stem cells.
The request for deacons came from the archdiocesan Respect Life Apostolate, said Father C. Eugene Morris, episcopal vicar for the Diaconate Office.
For more information,
The St Louis Respect Life Apostolate at 314-792-7555
The Diaconate Office at 314-633-2530
Peace, peace and there is no peace
Some worthwhile reading and action items from today's American TFP email:
Peace, peace and there is no peace, so says a passage adapted from Jeremias. Indeed what we see are wars and rumors of wars in the headlines. Politically, we know something about these conflicts. However, the religious and theological aspects are totally ignored. Peace is the fruit of order – and we live in a world of disorder and sin. And so I invite you to read Luis Solimeo’s article, “Peace, Peace and There is no Peace” by clicking here.
We are not stopping our efforts to protest blasphemy. Those who ridicule the Faith are relentless in their depictions. The Comedy Central show, “South Park” is one such offender. Click here to send your protest against a recent episode which depicts a “miraculous” statute of the Virgin Mary spraying blood into the face of a Pope Benedict XVI.
Finally, I invite you to read a review by Michael Whitcraft of the book, The Crucifixion of Jesus: A Forensic Inquiry. This is a rather technical analysis of the crucifixion by a leading doctor and forensics expert. Take a look at the review by clicking here.
Spread the Word - Vote NO on Constitutional Amendment 2
From Missourians Against Human Cloning:
It's official, we have a number. We are voting NO on Constitutional Amendment 2 on November 7th. Please continue to share the truth with everyone you know. You are making a difference.And let us not forget that Archbishop Burke initiated a Rosary Crusade to safeguard embryonic human life and prevent human cloning..
Thank you to everyone who handed out information at the polls during the primary election. With your help we were able to blanket the state with the truth about the proposed amendment. We will need each and every one of you to help on November 7th when we make our final push at the polls to spread the truth to those who have been confused, deceived or are undecied.
The campaign is hitting a fever pitch. If you have not yet had a presentation for your church, civic group, or neighborhood please contact our office (636) 536-9877 and we will help you schedule a presentation. We have a professional speakers bureau of doctors, medical professionals, and researchers available throughout the state ready to present the truth to your group.
If you have not visited our website www.nocloning.org recently please check it out. We have added a number of downloads that help explain the amendment as well as upcoming events.
.The power of praying the Rosary through the intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe is long-recognized in the history of the Church. “Like the Christians before the Battle of Lepanto, we must call upon God’s help by praying the Rosary, calling especially upon the intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mother of America and Star of the New Evangelization,” said Archbishop Burke when he announced the Crusade.With prayer and the truth, this Constitutional Amendment, which assaults the dignity of human life, can be defeated and the purveyors of death will be hampered in their efforts.
Creation or Evolution?
...Here Is the View of the Church of Rome
Creationists versus Darwinists, “intelligent design” versus random selection, the controversy is as heated as ever. The pope is studying the issue with a team of experts. Keep reading to find the truth he wants to reassert. And the confusion he wants to clear up.
by Sandro Magister
Creationists versus Darwinists, “intelligent design” versus random selection, the controversy is as heated as ever. The pope is studying the issue with a team of experts. Keep reading to find the truth he wants to reassert. And the confusion he wants to clear up.
by Sandro Magister
Dr Edward Peters on "Compounding their crimes"
The pseudo-ordinations that a number of women around the world, and lately in the United States, have attempted are, to borrow Leo XIII's phrase, "absolutely null and utterly void". (See specifically John Paul II, Ordinatio sacerdotalis, n. 4). Last summer (scroll to 6 July 2005) I explained how such affronts to divine and canon law can and will result in excommunication, although, as I argued, not by the automatic process (1983 CIC 1314) that many simply assumed would apply to such cases. Here I need to make a different point.
Gospel for August 11, Memorial: St. Claire, Virgin
From: Matthew 16:24-28
Jesus Foretells His Passion and Resurrection (Continuation)
[24] Then Jesus told His disciples, "If any man would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. [25] For whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. [26] For what will it profit a man, if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life? Or what shall a man give in return for his life? [27] For the Son of Man is to come with His angels in the glory of His Father, and then He will repay every man for what he has done. [28] Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in His Kingdom."
_________________________
Commentary:
24. "Divine love, `poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit who has been given to us' (Romans 5:5), enables lay people to express concretely in their lives the spirit of the Beatitudes. Following Jesus in His poverty, they feel no depression in want, no pride in plenty; imitating the humble Christ, they are not greedy for vain show (cf. Galatians 5:26). They strive to please God rather than men, always ready to abandon everything for Christ (cf. Luke 14:26) and even to endure persecution in the cause of right (cf. Matthew 5:10), having in mind the Lord's saying? `If any man wants to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me'" (Matthew 16:24) ("Apostolicam Actuositatem", 4).
25. A Christian cannot ignore these words of Jesus. He has to risk, to gamble, this present life in order to attain eternal life: "How little a life is to offer to God!" ([St] J. Escriva, "The Way", 420).
Our Lord's requirement means that we must renounce our own will in order to identify with the will of God and so to ensure that, as St. John of the Cross comments, we do not follow the way of those many people who "would have God will that which they themselves will, and are fretful at having to will that which He wills, and find it repugnant to accommodate their will to that of God. Hence it happens to them that oftentimes they think that that wherein they find not their own will and pleasure is not the will of God; and that, on the other hand, when they themselves find satisfaction, God is satisfied. Thus they measure God by themselves and not themselves by God" ("Dark Night of the Soul", Book 1, Chapter 7, 3).
26-27. Christ's words are crystal-clear: every person has to bear in mind the Last Judgment. Salvation, in other words, is something radically personal: "He will repay every man for what he has done" (verse 27).
Man's goal does not consist in accumulating worldly goods; these are only means to an end; man's last end, his ultimate goal, is God Himself; he possesses God in advance, as it were, here on earth by means of grace, and possesses him fully and forever in Heaven. Jesus shows the route to take to reach this destination--denying oneself (that is, saying no to ease, comfort, selfishness and attachment to temporal goods) and taking up the cross. For no earthly--impermanent--good can compare with the soul's eternal salvation. As St. Thomas expresses it with theological precision, "the least good of grace is superior to the natural good of the entire universe" ("Summa Theologiae", I-II, q. 113, a. 9).
28. Here Jesus is referring not to His Last Coming (which He speaks about in the preceding verse) but to other events which will occur prior to that and which will be a sign of His glorification after death. The Coming He speaks of here may refer firstly to His Resurrection and His appearance thereafter; it could also refer to His Transfiguration, which is itself a manifestation of His glory. This coming of Christ in His Kingdom might also be seen in the destruction of Jerusalem--a sign of the end of the ancient people of Israel as a form of the Kingdom of God and its substitution by the Church, the new Kingdom.
___________________________
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.
Jesus Foretells His Passion and Resurrection (Continuation)
[24] Then Jesus told His disciples, "If any man would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. [25] For whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. [26] For what will it profit a man, if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life? Or what shall a man give in return for his life? [27] For the Son of Man is to come with His angels in the glory of His Father, and then He will repay every man for what he has done. [28] Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in His Kingdom."
_________________________
Commentary:
24. "Divine love, `poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit who has been given to us' (Romans 5:5), enables lay people to express concretely in their lives the spirit of the Beatitudes. Following Jesus in His poverty, they feel no depression in want, no pride in plenty; imitating the humble Christ, they are not greedy for vain show (cf. Galatians 5:26). They strive to please God rather than men, always ready to abandon everything for Christ (cf. Luke 14:26) and even to endure persecution in the cause of right (cf. Matthew 5:10), having in mind the Lord's saying? `If any man wants to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me'" (Matthew 16:24) ("Apostolicam Actuositatem", 4).
25. A Christian cannot ignore these words of Jesus. He has to risk, to gamble, this present life in order to attain eternal life: "How little a life is to offer to God!" ([St] J. Escriva, "The Way", 420).
Our Lord's requirement means that we must renounce our own will in order to identify with the will of God and so to ensure that, as St. John of the Cross comments, we do not follow the way of those many people who "would have God will that which they themselves will, and are fretful at having to will that which He wills, and find it repugnant to accommodate their will to that of God. Hence it happens to them that oftentimes they think that that wherein they find not their own will and pleasure is not the will of God; and that, on the other hand, when they themselves find satisfaction, God is satisfied. Thus they measure God by themselves and not themselves by God" ("Dark Night of the Soul", Book 1, Chapter 7, 3).
26-27. Christ's words are crystal-clear: every person has to bear in mind the Last Judgment. Salvation, in other words, is something radically personal: "He will repay every man for what he has done" (verse 27).
Man's goal does not consist in accumulating worldly goods; these are only means to an end; man's last end, his ultimate goal, is God Himself; he possesses God in advance, as it were, here on earth by means of grace, and possesses him fully and forever in Heaven. Jesus shows the route to take to reach this destination--denying oneself (that is, saying no to ease, comfort, selfishness and attachment to temporal goods) and taking up the cross. For no earthly--impermanent--good can compare with the soul's eternal salvation. As St. Thomas expresses it with theological precision, "the least good of grace is superior to the natural good of the entire universe" ("Summa Theologiae", I-II, q. 113, a. 9).
28. Here Jesus is referring not to His Last Coming (which He speaks about in the preceding verse) but to other events which will occur prior to that and which will be a sign of His glorification after death. The Coming He speaks of here may refer firstly to His Resurrection and His appearance thereafter; it could also refer to His Transfiguration, which is itself a manifestation of His glory. This coming of Christ in His Kingdom might also be seen in the destruction of Jerusalem--a sign of the end of the ancient people of Israel as a form of the Kingdom of God and its substitution by the Church, the new Kingdom.
___________________________
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.
Thursday, August 10, 2006
Mental Prayer for August 11-Zaccheus, the Publican
Mental Prayer Meditation Helps
Presence of God.
Grace I Ask: I want to feel the urgency and kindness of our Lord's mercy toward the sinner and to experience this mercy myself.
Mental Picture (cf. Luke 19:1-10) : Zaccheus, a crook operating within the law, exacting money from people with "taxation" as a pretext. He's curious about Jesus. What does He look like? A crowd surrounds Jesus; Zaccheus is short. He runs ahead, climbs a tree. Jesus sees him, calls him down, says He must stay in his house. People are shocked at this. Zaccheus promptly promises to return his unjust gains. Jesus brings him forgiveness.
My Personal Application: I realize that God may use any means, even insignificant ones, to lead a sinner to sorrow for his sins. Am I aware that my good example or my encouragement may be the means of someone's conversion? Do I have contempt for the wayward man or woman whom Christ wants to save? Or have I prayed for sinners sincerely? Do I approach confession with confidence, trusting Jesus to forgive and forget my sins? Am I confident that His mercy watches over my future?
I Speak to Christ : My Jesus, I marvel at your great kindness toward Zaccheus; for you invite yourself into this sinner's house, not caring what people think about it! Certainly you love the sinner; you want to save him. Let me help you do this by my good example and prayers. May I come to you trustfully when I have sinned and rest peacefully in the pardon you have given.
Thought for Today: "The Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost."
___________________
Adapted from Mental Prayer, Challenge to the Lay Apostle
by The Queen's Work,(© 1958)
Presence of God.
Grace I Ask: I want to feel the urgency and kindness of our Lord's mercy toward the sinner and to experience this mercy myself.
Mental Picture (cf. Luke 19:1-10) : Zaccheus, a crook operating within the law, exacting money from people with "taxation" as a pretext. He's curious about Jesus. What does He look like? A crowd surrounds Jesus; Zaccheus is short. He runs ahead, climbs a tree. Jesus sees him, calls him down, says He must stay in his house. People are shocked at this. Zaccheus promptly promises to return his unjust gains. Jesus brings him forgiveness.
My Personal Application: I realize that God may use any means, even insignificant ones, to lead a sinner to sorrow for his sins. Am I aware that my good example or my encouragement may be the means of someone's conversion? Do I have contempt for the wayward man or woman whom Christ wants to save? Or have I prayed for sinners sincerely? Do I approach confession with confidence, trusting Jesus to forgive and forget my sins? Am I confident that His mercy watches over my future?
I Speak to Christ : My Jesus, I marvel at your great kindness toward Zaccheus; for you invite yourself into this sinner's house, not caring what people think about it! Certainly you love the sinner; you want to save him. Let me help you do this by my good example and prayers. May I come to you trustfully when I have sinned and rest peacefully in the pardon you have given.
Thought for Today: "The Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost."
___________________
Adapted from Mental Prayer, Challenge to the Lay Apostle
by The Queen's Work,(© 1958)
If you were born after 1973, about 30% of your friends, neighbors, and relatives are missing
Culture of life goes Prime Time
By Susan Brinkmann
CS&T Correspondent
It’s time for a commercial break on MTV and a bright yellow school bus suddenly flashes across the screen. A group of youngsters hurtle off the bus while a voice in the background says: “If you were born after 1973, about 30 percent of your friends, neighbors, and relatives are missing.”More here...from the Catholic Standard and Times
The figures of two of the children start to fade, then slowly disappear.
The next scene shows a group of high school athletes taking off down a running track. “Since the Supreme Court approved legal abortions 30 years ago,” the voice continues, “nearly one of every three babies were aborted.” Two of the athletes vanish from the screen.
“That means 43 million U.S. children, teens, and young adults are missing,” the voice continues.
A young groom stands on the altar while the figure of his beautiful bride turns pale and ghostly, then disappears.
The message is plain but powerful, and is just one example of the kind of savvy, pro-life advertising that may soon be seen by Philadelphia teens — thanks to one of their own.
Here is a link to the ad, "Vanished"... Have a look - powerful!
Those promoting the culture of death won't like these spots...
'Packed House' Welcomes Latin Mass
From the Catholic Herald:
The choir loft at St. John the Baptist Church in Front Royal offered the best view of the delicate black and white head coverings, the newly installed Communion rail and the tall candles on the ornately adorned altar. Each served as a telling sign that the parish’s first Latin Mass was no ordinary eucharistic celebration.
A large group of altar boys assisted Father Ed Hathaway, pastor, in celebrating the Mass last Sunday. Attending in choir were Fathers Paul deLadurantaye, director of the Office of Sacred Liturgy; Chris Pollard, parochial vicar; and Jerome Fasano, pastor of St. Andrew the Apostle Church in Clifton. Eager parishioners and curious visitors filled the pews and flooded out the back of the church into the vestibule.
“It was a packed house,” said Father Hathaway, who said the Latin Mass is “an expression of our tradition that fills in a piece of our heritage.”
Letters To The Editor: Embryonic stem cells not answer
Clarion Journal,Enterprise JournalAnother cogent and rational letter - however, because it is rational, it will be misunderstood by a certain element of the population.
08/09/2006
TO THE EDITOR:
I have a few clarifications to add to Nancy Spier-Lee's July 26, 2006 opinion column on embryonic stem cell research ("Hey Religious Right...").
First of all, in vitro fertilization works because when the human sperm and human ova (egg) come together a new life is created. The new human being at this stage is called an embryo. The embryo is not potential life; the embryo is a living human being. We all were embryos at one point early in our lives.
Most frozen embryo are not "left over" nor are they destined to die. Most parents will choose to have their embryos implanted in hes/her mother's womb. Other embryos will be given up for adoption and implanted in his/her adoptive mother's womb (There is a program for embryo adoption called Snowflakes adoption).
Perhaps, sadly, some will be purposefully destroyed. However, I see no reason to experiment on them first.
Ask yourself, where have we heard this before: "They are going to die anyway, so let's experiment on them first"?
Furthermore, many people have been cured using adult stem cells that pose no moral dilemmas. No one has ever been cured of anything using embryonic stem cells.
I would not recommend using embryonic stem cells for fear of tumors and immune system problems. It will be years, if ever, before a cure is found using embryonic stem cells.
Laura Gidley-Feltz
Columbia
Source.
Another Letter: Throwing away embryos
From:
Letters to the editorSource.
Oakville-Mehlville Journal,South City Journal,South County Journal,South Side Journal,Southwest City Journal,Southwest County Journal
08/09/2006
To the editor:
The Missouri Stem Cell Research and Cures Initiative that will likely appear on the November ballot is very confusing and that is exactly what those wanting it passed are hoping for.
They claim early stem cell research does not involve abortions, rather left-over fertilized clinic embryos that would very likely be thrown away. These embryos are four to five days old. They are very small and would fit on the head of a pin. Not more than a mere speck of dust.
However, after these embryos are five days old, they will turn six days old, then seven, eight, etc. This process will continue for nine months until a child is born. Before you know it, we will celebrate the child's first birthday. We were all four- and five-day- old embryos. We have continued to grow older until this moment when you are reading this letter. Nobody threw us away or killed us so they could do research on us.
We realized killing Jews was wrong. We then went after unborn babies because no one could "prove" it was a child. Now we can. Therefore, we go after four- and five-day-old embryos. These are four- and five-day-old people. Throwing away these embryos is not the answer. If we threw our four- and five-year-old children away, we would be jailed and rightly so. We as a society need not be involved in the creation of people. We are not the extremists. Changing the Missouri Constitution is extreme.
Marilyn Angeli
St. Louis
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