Subject: FLORIDA COURT SETS ATHEIST HOLY DAY In Florida, an atheist created a case against the upcoming Easter and Passover holy days. He hired an attorney to bring a discrimination case against Christians, Jews and observances of their holy days. The argument was that it was unfair that atheists had no such recognized days.
The case was brought before a judge. After listening to the passionate presentation by the lawyer, the judge banged his gavel declaring,"Case dismissed!"
The lawyer immediately stood objecting to the ruling saying, "Your honor, how can you possibly dismiss this case? The Christians have Christmas, Easter and others. The Jews have Passover, Yom Kippur and Hanukkah, yet my client and all other atheists have no such holidays."
The judge leaned forward in his chair saying, "But you do. Your client, counsel, is woefully ignorant."
The lawyer said, "Your Honor, we are unaware of any special observance or holiday for atheists."
The judge said, "The calendar says April 1st is April Fools Day. Psalm 14:1 states, 'The fool says in his heart, there is no God.' Thus, it is the opinion of this court, that if your client says there is no God, then he is a fool. Therefore, April 1st is his day. Court is adjourned."
You gotta love a Judge who knows his scripture!
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Irony or God's hand?
Butte, MT (LifeNews.com) -- The crash of a small airplane in Montana carrying a family from California after a ski trip has made the national news, but the mainstream media hasn't yet connected the dots. Were they to dig a little deeper, they would learn that the family killed in the crash has an infamous abortion connection.
The crash involved two daughters of a prominent California abortion business owner, Irving "Bud" Feldkamp, and their families.
Feldkamp owns the Family Planning Associates abortion business he purchased four years ago, but the mainstream media is only mentioning his ownership of a dental practice and that he is the CEO of Glen Helen Raceway Park in San Bernardino.
That is despite the fact that his 17 FPA abortion centers do more abortions in the state of California than Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest abortion business.
Their plane went down on Sunday killing daughters Vanessa and Amy, two of Feldkamp's sons-in-law, five grandchildren, the pilot and four family friends.
For pro-life advocates who are familiar with Feldkamp's exploits as an abortion business owner, the crash is sad news but it carries a certain irony. The plane crashed into Catholic Holy Cross cemetery near the Butte airport and burst into flames. The site of the devastating impact and the deaths of the 14 passengers was near a memorial erected in the cemetery to honor unborn children who have died in abortions. The memorial, called the Tomb of the Unborn, was erected as a dedication to all babies who have died because of abortion. Gingi Edmonds, a young pro-life activist, noticed the connection and the irony associated with Feldkamp and the site of the plane crash.
"Although Feldkamp is not an abortionist, he reaps profits of blood money from the tens of thousands of babies that are killed through abortions performed every year at the clinics he owns," she says.
"His business in the abortion industry was what enabled him to afford the private plane that was carrying his family to their week-long vacation," Edmonds adds.
Edmonds, who spent time with the pro-life group Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust, helped organize and conduct a weekly campaign where youth activists stood outside of Feldkamp's mini-mansion in Redlands holding fetal development signs and raising community awareness regarding Feldkamp's abortion business ownership.
"Every Thursday afternoon we called upon Bud and his wife Pam to repent, seek God's blessing and separate themselves from the practice of child killing," she said.
Edmonds isn't sure if the plane crash is God's way of warning Feldkamp that he needs to end his involvement in the abortion industry, but she can't help but recall the Feldkamps reactions to her signs showing developing unborn children.
"Pam Feldkamp laughing at the fetal development signs, Bud Feldkamp trying not to make eye contact as he got into his car with a small child in tow" -- those are what she recalls.
"I only hope and pray that in the face of this tragedy, Feldkamp recognizes his need for repentance and reformation," Edmonds says.
"I pray that God will use this unfortunate catastrophe to soften the hearts of Bud and Pam and that they will draw close to the Lord and wash their hands of the blood of thousands of innocent children, each as precious and irreplaceable as their own," she concludes.
The crash involved two daughters of a prominent California abortion business owner, Irving "Bud" Feldkamp, and their families.
Feldkamp owns the Family Planning Associates abortion business he purchased four years ago, but the mainstream media is only mentioning his ownership of a dental practice and that he is the CEO of Glen Helen Raceway Park in San Bernardino.
That is despite the fact that his 17 FPA abortion centers do more abortions in the state of California than Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest abortion business.
Their plane went down on Sunday killing daughters Vanessa and Amy, two of Feldkamp's sons-in-law, five grandchildren, the pilot and four family friends.
For pro-life advocates who are familiar with Feldkamp's exploits as an abortion business owner, the crash is sad news but it carries a certain irony. The plane crashed into Catholic Holy Cross cemetery near the Butte airport and burst into flames. The site of the devastating impact and the deaths of the 14 passengers was near a memorial erected in the cemetery to honor unborn children who have died in abortions. The memorial, called the Tomb of the Unborn, was erected as a dedication to all babies who have died because of abortion. Gingi Edmonds, a young pro-life activist, noticed the connection and the irony associated with Feldkamp and the site of the plane crash.
"Although Feldkamp is not an abortionist, he reaps profits of blood money from the tens of thousands of babies that are killed through abortions performed every year at the clinics he owns," she says.
"His business in the abortion industry was what enabled him to afford the private plane that was carrying his family to their week-long vacation," Edmonds adds.
Edmonds, who spent time with the pro-life group Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust, helped organize and conduct a weekly campaign where youth activists stood outside of Feldkamp's mini-mansion in Redlands holding fetal development signs and raising community awareness regarding Feldkamp's abortion business ownership.
"Every Thursday afternoon we called upon Bud and his wife Pam to repent, seek God's blessing and separate themselves from the practice of child killing," she said.
Edmonds isn't sure if the plane crash is God's way of warning Feldkamp that he needs to end his involvement in the abortion industry, but she can't help but recall the Feldkamps reactions to her signs showing developing unborn children.
"Pam Feldkamp laughing at the fetal development signs, Bud Feldkamp trying not to make eye contact as he got into his car with a small child in tow" -- those are what she recalls.
"I only hope and pray that in the face of this tragedy, Feldkamp recognizes his need for repentance and reformation," Edmonds says.
"I pray that God will use this unfortunate catastrophe to soften the hearts of Bud and Pam and that they will draw close to the Lord and wash their hands of the blood of thousands of innocent children, each as precious and irreplaceable as their own," she concludes.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
More from Bishop Chaput
Catholic ‘complacency’ shares blame for country’s failures, Archbishop Chaput says
Detroit, Mich., Mar 21, 2009 / 12:32 pm (CNA).- Archbishop of Denver Charles J. Chaput delivered a speech on Saturday reflecting on the significance of the November 2008 election. Warning that media “narratives” should not obscure truth, he blamed the indifference and complacency of many U.S. Catholics for the country’s failures on abortion, poverty and immigration issues.
He also advised Catholics to “master the language of popular culture” and to refuse to be afraid, saying “fear is the disease of our age.”
The archbishop’s comments were delivered in his keynote address at the Hands-On Conference Celebrating the Year of St. Paul, which was hosted at the Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit.
Having been asked to examine what November 2008 and its aftermath can teach Catholics about American culture, the state of American Catholicism and the kind of Pauline discipleship necessary today, Archbishop Chaput said:
“November showed us that 40 years of American Catholic complacency and poor formation are bearing exactly the fruit we should have expected. Or to put it more discreetly, the November elections confirmed a trend, rather than created a new moment, in American culture.”
Noting that there was no question about President Barack Obama’s views on abortion “rights,” embryonic stem cell research and other “problematic issues,” he commented:
“Some Catholics in both political parties are deeply troubled by these issues. But too many Catholics just don’t really care. That’s the truth of it. If they cared, our political environment would be different. If 65 million Catholics really cared about their faith and cared about what it teaches, neither political party could ignore what we believe about justice for the poor, or the homeless, or immigrants, or the unborn child. If 65 million American Catholics really understood their faith, we wouldn’t need to waste each other’s time arguing about whether the legalized killing of an unborn child is somehow ‘balanced out’ or excused by three other good social policies.”
Offering a sober evaluation of the state of American Catholicism, he added:
“We need to stop over-counting our numbers, our influence, our institutions and our resources, because they’re not real. We can’t talk about following St. Paul and converting our culture until we sober up and get honest about what we’ve allowed ourselves to become. We need to stop lying to each other, to ourselves and to God by claiming to ‘personally oppose’ some homicidal evil -- but then allowing it to be legal at the same time.”
Commenting on society’s attitude towards Catholic beliefs, Archbishop Chaput said, “we have to make ourselves stupid to believe some of the things American Catholics are now expected to accept.”
“There’s nothing more empty-headed in a pluralist democracy than telling citizens to keep quiet about their beliefs. A healthy democracy requires exactly the opposite.”
Noting the 2008 presidential campaign’s “revealing” focus upon the candidates’ “narratives,” he said the campaign seemed not to involve facts, but rather “story-telling.”
“Of course, there’s nothing intrinsically wrong with story-telling -- unless the press and other news media themselves become part of the story-telling syndicate; in other words, peddlers of narratives in which facts are not told because they’re true, but rather become ‘true’ because they’re told by those who have the power to create an absorbing narrative,” the archbishop explained.
In such a state, he warned, real power does not rest with the people but with those who “shape the structure of our information.” He linked this situation with Pope Benedict’s critique of the “dictatorship of relativism.”
The archbishop also connected this relativistic spirit to St. Paul’s appearance at the Aeropagus, recounted in the Book of Acts. At the Areopagus, a prestigious place of debate for Greek philosophers, “Nearly anything was tolerated, so long as no one claimed to have an exclusive and binding claim on the truth,” the archbishop explained.
He then quoted Acts 17’s description of the Areopagite mindset: “All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new.”
“It’s worth paying attention to that description. There’s no mention of truth,” he commented, noting that when St. Paul preaches the truth “he’s mocked and despised and his preaching is a failure, at least in the short term.”
“Paul’s failure at the Areopagus is a good lesson for the times we face now in America,” the archbishop said. “When Catholics start leading their daily lives without a hunger for something higher than their own ambitions or appetites, or with the idea that they can create their own truth and then baptize it with an appeal to personal conscience, they become, in practice, agnostics in their personal lives, and Sophists in their public lives. In fact, people who openly reject God or dismiss Christianity as obsolete are sometimes far more honest and far less discouraging than Catholics who claim to be faithful to the Church but directly reject her guidance by their words and actions.”
Noting that Paul mastered the language of the popular urban culture of his time and used “every technical resource, tool and environment at his disposal,” Archbishop Chaput extensively quoted Pope John Paul II’s 1990 encyclical Redemptoris Missio, which also discussed St. Paul at the Areopagus.
“If Paul felt so fiercely compelled to preach the Gospel -- whether ‘timely [or] untimely’ -- to a pagan world, then how should we feel today, preaching the Gospel to an apostate world?” he asked, answering that the love of Christ must “impel” Catholics forward.
“Catholics in America, at least the many good Catholics who yearn to live their faith honestly and deeply, can easily feel tempted to hopelessness,” he concluded. “It becomes very burdensome to watch so many persons who call themselves Catholic compromise their faith and submit their hearts and consciences to the Caesars of our day.”
But Archbishop Chaput closed by encouraging Christians to remember the words of Jesus:
“In this world you will have tribulation. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
Detroit, Mich., Mar 21, 2009 / 12:32 pm (CNA).- Archbishop of Denver Charles J. Chaput delivered a speech on Saturday reflecting on the significance of the November 2008 election. Warning that media “narratives” should not obscure truth, he blamed the indifference and complacency of many U.S. Catholics for the country’s failures on abortion, poverty and immigration issues.
He also advised Catholics to “master the language of popular culture” and to refuse to be afraid, saying “fear is the disease of our age.”
The archbishop’s comments were delivered in his keynote address at the Hands-On Conference Celebrating the Year of St. Paul, which was hosted at the Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit.
Having been asked to examine what November 2008 and its aftermath can teach Catholics about American culture, the state of American Catholicism and the kind of Pauline discipleship necessary today, Archbishop Chaput said:
“November showed us that 40 years of American Catholic complacency and poor formation are bearing exactly the fruit we should have expected. Or to put it more discreetly, the November elections confirmed a trend, rather than created a new moment, in American culture.”
Noting that there was no question about President Barack Obama’s views on abortion “rights,” embryonic stem cell research and other “problematic issues,” he commented:
“Some Catholics in both political parties are deeply troubled by these issues. But too many Catholics just don’t really care. That’s the truth of it. If they cared, our political environment would be different. If 65 million Catholics really cared about their faith and cared about what it teaches, neither political party could ignore what we believe about justice for the poor, or the homeless, or immigrants, or the unborn child. If 65 million American Catholics really understood their faith, we wouldn’t need to waste each other’s time arguing about whether the legalized killing of an unborn child is somehow ‘balanced out’ or excused by three other good social policies.”
Offering a sober evaluation of the state of American Catholicism, he added:
“We need to stop over-counting our numbers, our influence, our institutions and our resources, because they’re not real. We can’t talk about following St. Paul and converting our culture until we sober up and get honest about what we’ve allowed ourselves to become. We need to stop lying to each other, to ourselves and to God by claiming to ‘personally oppose’ some homicidal evil -- but then allowing it to be legal at the same time.”
Commenting on society’s attitude towards Catholic beliefs, Archbishop Chaput said, “we have to make ourselves stupid to believe some of the things American Catholics are now expected to accept.”
“There’s nothing more empty-headed in a pluralist democracy than telling citizens to keep quiet about their beliefs. A healthy democracy requires exactly the opposite.”
Noting the 2008 presidential campaign’s “revealing” focus upon the candidates’ “narratives,” he said the campaign seemed not to involve facts, but rather “story-telling.”
“Of course, there’s nothing intrinsically wrong with story-telling -- unless the press and other news media themselves become part of the story-telling syndicate; in other words, peddlers of narratives in which facts are not told because they’re true, but rather become ‘true’ because they’re told by those who have the power to create an absorbing narrative,” the archbishop explained.
In such a state, he warned, real power does not rest with the people but with those who “shape the structure of our information.” He linked this situation with Pope Benedict’s critique of the “dictatorship of relativism.”
The archbishop also connected this relativistic spirit to St. Paul’s appearance at the Aeropagus, recounted in the Book of Acts. At the Areopagus, a prestigious place of debate for Greek philosophers, “Nearly anything was tolerated, so long as no one claimed to have an exclusive and binding claim on the truth,” the archbishop explained.
He then quoted Acts 17’s description of the Areopagite mindset: “All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new.”
“It’s worth paying attention to that description. There’s no mention of truth,” he commented, noting that when St. Paul preaches the truth “he’s mocked and despised and his preaching is a failure, at least in the short term.”
“Paul’s failure at the Areopagus is a good lesson for the times we face now in America,” the archbishop said. “When Catholics start leading their daily lives without a hunger for something higher than their own ambitions or appetites, or with the idea that they can create their own truth and then baptize it with an appeal to personal conscience, they become, in practice, agnostics in their personal lives, and Sophists in their public lives. In fact, people who openly reject God or dismiss Christianity as obsolete are sometimes far more honest and far less discouraging than Catholics who claim to be faithful to the Church but directly reject her guidance by their words and actions.”
Noting that Paul mastered the language of the popular urban culture of his time and used “every technical resource, tool and environment at his disposal,” Archbishop Chaput extensively quoted Pope John Paul II’s 1990 encyclical Redemptoris Missio, which also discussed St. Paul at the Areopagus.
“If Paul felt so fiercely compelled to preach the Gospel -- whether ‘timely [or] untimely’ -- to a pagan world, then how should we feel today, preaching the Gospel to an apostate world?” he asked, answering that the love of Christ must “impel” Catholics forward.
“Catholics in America, at least the many good Catholics who yearn to live their faith honestly and deeply, can easily feel tempted to hopelessness,” he concluded. “It becomes very burdensome to watch so many persons who call themselves Catholic compromise their faith and submit their hearts and consciences to the Caesars of our day.”
But Archbishop Chaput closed by encouraging Christians to remember the words of Jesus:
“In this world you will have tribulation. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Notre Dame Debaucle
Just bumped into that poem the other day, before this ND Obama rubbish came out. So I joined the facebook group protesting Obama's speaking there. Anyway, Gotta give it up to prayer, but here's my 2 cents I wrote on facebook:
I choose to put my full prayerful and respectful support of this group. I want to correct that there is a "conservative wing" of the Catholic Church. The Church is not a political nor sociological club nor institution. She is the Mystical Body of Christ, His Beloved Bride. He did promise us teaching authority on earth, by leaving us successors, with Peter as the foundation. Each Holy Father, while certainly human and having imperfections, serves us as Peter - and as Catholics we defer to the Holy Father, and accordingly to the Bishops, in accordance with our common sense. The abortion issue is a clear issue - it is murder - it is holocaust - and this can not be said of opinions of things like "The War" and "Social Justice", on which neither polarity in government openly approves the taking of life.Some may choose NOT to agree with me or the Church. Unlike 100 mil of their aborted peers who have no choice. ND Students - Rage, RAGE against the fading of the light!
I hope they rage! I pray for courage and insight for them, and especially that the Holy Spirit fills the Hearts of those who are His own at Notre Dame, and directs them in saftey and love.
I choose to put my full prayerful and respectful support of this group. I want to correct that there is a "conservative wing" of the Catholic Church. The Church is not a political nor sociological club nor institution. She is the Mystical Body of Christ, His Beloved Bride. He did promise us teaching authority on earth, by leaving us successors, with Peter as the foundation. Each Holy Father, while certainly human and having imperfections, serves us as Peter - and as Catholics we defer to the Holy Father, and accordingly to the Bishops, in accordance with our common sense. The abortion issue is a clear issue - it is murder - it is holocaust - and this can not be said of opinions of things like "The War" and "Social Justice", on which neither polarity in government openly approves the taking of life.Some may choose NOT to agree with me or the Church. Unlike 100 mil of their aborted peers who have no choice. ND Students - Rage, RAGE against the fading of the light!
I hope they rage! I pray for courage and insight for them, and especially that the Holy Spirit fills the Hearts of those who are His own at Notre Dame, and directs them in saftey and love.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Do not go gentle into that good night
Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rage at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Though wise men at the end know dark is right,
Because their words have forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Good men the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Wild men who caught and sand the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could rage like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
And you my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Dylan Thomas
St. Michael the Archangel, pray for us.
Church Militant - rage, RAGE against the dying of the Light!
Monday, March 16, 2009
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Fr. Don Calloway's Conversion Story
When you have the time, this former Dead Head is worth listening to.
http://www.123people.com/ext/frm?ti=personensuche%2Btelefonbuch&st=suche%2Bnach%2Bpersonen&search_term=donald%20calloway&target_url=http%3A%2F%2Fcatholicmentoday.org%2F2008%2F10%2F24%2Fformer-drug-dealer-to-catholic-priest-father-donald-calloway-mic.aspx%3Fref%3Drss
http://www.123people.com/ext/frm?ti=personensuche%2Btelefonbuch&st=suche%2Bnach%2Bpersonen&search_term=donald%20calloway&target_url=http%3A%2F%2Fcatholicmentoday.org%2F2008%2F10%2F24%2Fformer-drug-dealer-to-catholic-priest-father-donald-calloway-mic.aspx%3Fref%3Drss
Via Dolorosa
No time to watch the Passion? Watch and listen to this. Let's walk to Calvary together...
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1047102/via_dolorosa/
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1047102/via_dolorosa/
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Pillar of Iron quote
Cicero's father - also Marcus Tillius Cicero and known as Tullius: "I have discerned a sadness of spirit in you, Marcus, that seems even greater than your illness.You speak to me no longer of God, you turn from His name. Why is this?"
Marcus murmered, "I have considered if He is dead. He is silent in the face of enormities."
"He is concerned with man, not men," said Tullius...
Marcus murmered, "I have considered if He is dead. He is silent in the face of enormities."
"He is concerned with man, not men," said Tullius...
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Our Holy Father's take on the Economic Crisis
In a recent essay, Kishore Jayabalan, director of the Acton Institute's Rome office (I didn't even know they had a Rome office), offered his assessment of Pope Benedict's recent remarks about the economic crisis. The whole thing is worth reading, but here is his salient observation:
Rather than denounce an economic system that encourages people to follow their self-interest, the Pope denounces realities with more of a past and deeper effects - original sin, human greed and idolatry. He does not equate profit with greed, probably realizing that waging spiritual warfare against profits would mean losing the interest, attention and perhaps possible salvation of all who know anything about business and economics. And maybe most importantly, rather than tell us that we need a "new" system of producing and consuming, buying and selling, the Holy Father takes a more sober, realistic approach by reminding us that there is no just system without just people, and that sin is a permanent fact of life that we must learn to combat slowly, persistently and above all spiritually.The idea that a free economy, like a free political system, reflects the moral condition of its participants is a point to remember as we debate policy solutions in the coming months and years.
Acton has also put together a useful web page with resources for understanding the economic crisis.
Rather than denounce an economic system that encourages people to follow their self-interest, the Pope denounces realities with more of a past and deeper effects - original sin, human greed and idolatry. He does not equate profit with greed, probably realizing that waging spiritual warfare against profits would mean losing the interest, attention and perhaps possible salvation of all who know anything about business and economics. And maybe most importantly, rather than tell us that we need a "new" system of producing and consuming, buying and selling, the Holy Father takes a more sober, realistic approach by reminding us that there is no just system without just people, and that sin is a permanent fact of life that we must learn to combat slowly, persistently and above all spiritually.The idea that a free economy, like a free political system, reflects the moral condition of its participants is a point to remember as we debate policy solutions in the coming months and years.
Acton has also put together a useful web page with resources for understanding the economic crisis.
Interview with Bishop Chaput of Denver
TORONTO, Canada, March 2, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - During the visit of Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput to Toronto last week LifeSiteNews interviewed the archbishop at the offices of Salt & Light television following his breakfast presentation to local Catholic businessmen. The interview offers important insights into Archbishop Chaput's views on the obligations of Catholics in the public realm and the failure of the Church to properly instruct its members since the 1960s. Following is the transcript of the conversation between the archbishop and LifeSiteNews Managing Director Steve Jalsevac:
LSN (Jalsevac): What can be done to bring leading Catholic pro-abortion politicians to comprehend their accountability to their faith and to God, especially regarding their public actions and public statements on the moral issues.
CHAPUT: Apparently, very little can be done because so little seems to have been accomplished. I don't know how clearer the bishops, at least as a body, can be speaking about these matters beginning with the Holy Father, of course, and now through the body of bishops. I don't know if it's because we've let it go on for such a long time and haven't challenged it before now, but this attitude of being comfortable with being pro-choice and Catholic at the same time seems to be deeply set in the lives of these folks. Genuinely, they seem to believe it's true, so somehow either someone taught them that or they've arrived at it themselves and weren't challenged on it or whatever, but they seem so firmly set in the course they've taken. So quite honestly, I don't know what can be done. I'm not aware of a single case of a Catholic politician who is pro-choice who has changed his or her mind. Maybe you are, but I am not aware.
LSN: Off hand, no, I don't. This is a question that follows that. It seems that almost without exception, Catholic politicians are affirmed or even led to their wrong views on moral issues by one or more Catholic clergy, religious, theologians or lay teachers. The recent revelation about how the Kennedy's were negatively influenced in their transformation from pro-life to pro-abortion is one of many such examples that we have become aware of. What can be done about this phenomenon? And it seems to have especially been occurring since the 60s.
CHAPUT: I think so too. It seems like there has been a very bad period of catechesis of people in the Church, not only catechesis of the laity but also catechesis of the clergy and it's bearing bad fruit in our time. I think it's very important for clergy to advise political leaders of the great scandal that they might be part of because this can lead not only to the death of the unborn but it can also lead to the spiritual death of the political leaders who vote that way. So, it seems to me that we need to reinvigorate the Church's understanding of the horror of abortion. We are as horrified by that as we would be by genocide, by slavery, you know, those kinds of issues. It seems that we have become deadened to the horror of abortion. If we can reinvigorate our understanding of that, become more sensitive to great evil that abortion is, the we can make a difference.
LSN: It doesn't seem to be limited to abortion, it's all the moral issues that seem to be tied to the same mentality
CHAPUT: Well, I don't know, I don't know if it's true about all the moral issues, but I think I would agree that some would be much related to it.
LSN: That brings us to a third related issue, I believe, and that is, you are on the bishops committee on the liturgy. How can the way that the liturgy is formulated and presented to the people elevate the sense of the sacredness of every human life and receptiveness to the Church's moral teachings and natural law. There are a lot of small things in the liturgy that may affect how Catholics have a sense of the awesomeness and wonder of God and liturgy is related to what has been happening since the 1960s. Coincident with the decline in the observance in proper liturgy and the abuse of liturgical norms has been this rise in moral relativism and rejection of the Church's teachings by people who still frequently go to Church as many of these pro-life politicians and leaders do. Is there a relationship that you can see?
CHAPUT: Well, a couple of things. First of all, I think the liturgy as we have it gives us many opportunities to think about the moral issues and life issues. One of the things that was very interesting in the United States in October, was in the week right before our national election, our federal election, we had this passage in scripture " render unto Caesar what is Caesar's and render unto God what is God's". But I find myself having the opportunity naturally because of the series that the Church presents to us in the three year cycle, to preach on the life issues frequently, so I'm grateful for that. But I think you're right. I think that sometimes priests have felt the freedom to change the liturgy kind of corresponds to their freedom to disagree with the Church's teachings on faith and morals. It's kind of like the individual priest might determine the hierarchy of what's important in the Church and what's true and what is not, and that's not at all what the Catholic Church believes. We need to be faithful to the Church's teachings and I think a sign of being faithful to the Church's teachings is being faithful to the liturgy as it's given to us by the Church.
LSN: I guess it's giving an example of, "we're doing our things here and you do things your way", rather than the loving way the Church has provided for us.
CHAPUT: Yes, that's right.
LSN: Last night a person asked you a question about excommunications. I'm not suggesting that is something that necessarily should be done, but there is the problem that prominent pro-abortion Catholics, whether they be politicians or otherwise, or known to be going to Church and being offered and still partaking of all the benefits of the Church. They may be even reading at mass, they may be involved in parish activities in some kind of prominent way in some cases. It's a scandal to the faith, but more than that it sends a very confusing message to the people.
CHAPUT: Right. I think it's another sign of accommodation with the reality of abortion. We don't understand this horror so we can put up with people who are pro-choice or pro-abortion and not challenge their Catholic identity. It seems to me that anyone who is pro-choice or pro-abortion shouldn't receive communion as they are not in communion with the Church's teaching and certainly if they cannot receive Holy Communion, they shouldn't be lectors at Mass, they shouldn't be given prominent positions in the life of the Church. Of course, we hope they will come back to the faith and to the truth, so we don't want to chase them away from the Church but, you know, Communion means not only union with the Lord but also union with His Church which is His body, His presence in the world today, and if someone doesn't believe what the Church teaches on faith and morals, that person shouldn't receive Holy Communion. Excommunication is a different thing, and for the Church to excommunicate someone, it's an extraordinarily serious situation and I think the reason it's not done more often is because it's not been perceived as being effective, that is will cause more problems than it solves. When I was a young boy a long time ago, Archbishop Rummel in New Orleans excommunicated several members of his diocese who stood in the way of his efforts to end segregation in the archdiocese of New Orleans. Essentially these people and his efforts were applauded by the New York Times even, When Archbishop Burke warned Catholic legislators in his diocese that they risked excommunication if they persisted in promoting access to abortion, he was condemned by the same kind of press for being intolerant. And is some ways that reveals the issue though. If bishops excommunicate, the issue is not going to be abortion, it's going to be the intrusive power of the Church in the life of the Church and so it's a question of is it a prudent thing to do or does this really confuse the issue more than help the issue.
LSN: Any you may be perfectly right about that. But for example, in a family there is a father, a mother and children and let's say there is one child that is very disobedient and persistently so and the father keeps talking and talking and the mother keeps talking and talking, and this goes on for years, and the other children say, "all they ever do is talk to him, they never take any action". Now, in this case I am not sure what the right action is, but…
CHAPUT: I am not sure the bishops have been talking to these people either.
LSN: That's a good point.
CHAPUT: And let's use your analogy. What about in the family if the father talks to one of the children about doing this and then decides that since you are not going to be obedient, you can't be part of this family until you are obedient. And then the other children say, why are you doing that Dad, it's not fair, or just, and instead of it being a corrective for the wayward child, it's the cause of a major family fight because the disagreement within the family is much broader than the disagreement with that one child.
LSN: But usually, the appropriate thing is to take one step at a time - take away some benefit, apply some accountability. Is there not a possibility of some accountability, as a sign?
CHAPUT: It seem to me that more bishops would be acting this way, in issues that are very clear, if they thought it would be effective, and the reason that they don't do this is that they don't think it would be effective. You know, the purpose of excommunication is ..
LSN: Sorry, I'm not asking about excommunication at all now, but rather lower level things.
CHAPUT: I can't understand why anyone who is pro-choice could be a reader at Mass, that's what you are talking about. And, an extraordinary minister of Holy Communion - it would be outrageous. Again, they should not receive Holy Communion.
LSN: In our work, that we have been doing for many years, we find that many people, even some leaders in the Church do not comprehend the gravity of the situation that we are in now, that our civilization is in danger of collapsing. Do you find that people just don't believe what you are saying, don't believe what you are warning them about, don't believe that they should not vote for Obama? Does it sometimes frustrate you that things are so obvious and yet you have a difficulty convincing the public or certain people of the gravity of the situation that we are in today?
CHAPUT: It seems human history has been a series of times of us not taking the warning signs seriously. I think the reading for the first Sunday of Lent this year is the story of Noah and the flood. They were eating and drinking and carrying on and the flood came. They just weren't willing to take the warnings that God sends us and I think it is true about our time that we are not taking the situation concerning the Church and the world seriously now. I agree with you. I don't know what we can do about it except to be persistent in our preaching and in our continuing to give the warning and that God bring fruit from that if He chooses. We shouldn't give up.
LSN: …proclaiming the truth, regardless,
CHAPUT: Yes.
LIFESITENEWS: Would you agree that there seems to be an increase in that happening now?
CHAPUT: Increase in what happening?
LSN: Of various leaders starting to be more outspoken about the current state of our culture?
CHAPUT: You might be a better judge of that than I. I certainly don't think there are enough.
LSN: I agree with that.
CHAPUT: There may be more than there were. Last year or the year before, I don't know.
LSN: Well, the last election there were so many bishops who came out so strongly. We were actually excited.
CHAPUT: Not nearly enough.
LSN: Last night a person asked a question comparing the response to the invitation to speakers at two colleges, a Canadian one and one in the United States and the Canadian one invited Cokie Roberts. I guess you didn't know who she was.
CHAPUT:: Oh, I know who she is. I just didn't know where she stood.
LSN: She is a Catholic, outspokenly pro-abortion, pro-homosexual. At the college of course she was not talking about that, but that was the usual strategy of "we are not here to talk about abortion" and so on to justify inviting the person. It was a great disappointment to us that we got the kind of response that we did from the college.
CHAPUT: (After reading the LifeSiteNews report on the event) I can't believe that the president of the Catholic Assumption University said abortion is not infallible Church teaching.
LSN: Yes, we couldn't believe it either.
LSN (Jalsevac): What can be done to bring leading Catholic pro-abortion politicians to comprehend their accountability to their faith and to God, especially regarding their public actions and public statements on the moral issues.
CHAPUT: Apparently, very little can be done because so little seems to have been accomplished. I don't know how clearer the bishops, at least as a body, can be speaking about these matters beginning with the Holy Father, of course, and now through the body of bishops. I don't know if it's because we've let it go on for such a long time and haven't challenged it before now, but this attitude of being comfortable with being pro-choice and Catholic at the same time seems to be deeply set in the lives of these folks. Genuinely, they seem to believe it's true, so somehow either someone taught them that or they've arrived at it themselves and weren't challenged on it or whatever, but they seem so firmly set in the course they've taken. So quite honestly, I don't know what can be done. I'm not aware of a single case of a Catholic politician who is pro-choice who has changed his or her mind. Maybe you are, but I am not aware.
LSN: Off hand, no, I don't. This is a question that follows that. It seems that almost without exception, Catholic politicians are affirmed or even led to their wrong views on moral issues by one or more Catholic clergy, religious, theologians or lay teachers. The recent revelation about how the Kennedy's were negatively influenced in their transformation from pro-life to pro-abortion is one of many such examples that we have become aware of. What can be done about this phenomenon? And it seems to have especially been occurring since the 60s.
CHAPUT: I think so too. It seems like there has been a very bad period of catechesis of people in the Church, not only catechesis of the laity but also catechesis of the clergy and it's bearing bad fruit in our time. I think it's very important for clergy to advise political leaders of the great scandal that they might be part of because this can lead not only to the death of the unborn but it can also lead to the spiritual death of the political leaders who vote that way. So, it seems to me that we need to reinvigorate the Church's understanding of the horror of abortion. We are as horrified by that as we would be by genocide, by slavery, you know, those kinds of issues. It seems that we have become deadened to the horror of abortion. If we can reinvigorate our understanding of that, become more sensitive to great evil that abortion is, the we can make a difference.
LSN: It doesn't seem to be limited to abortion, it's all the moral issues that seem to be tied to the same mentality
CHAPUT: Well, I don't know, I don't know if it's true about all the moral issues, but I think I would agree that some would be much related to it.
LSN: That brings us to a third related issue, I believe, and that is, you are on the bishops committee on the liturgy. How can the way that the liturgy is formulated and presented to the people elevate the sense of the sacredness of every human life and receptiveness to the Church's moral teachings and natural law. There are a lot of small things in the liturgy that may affect how Catholics have a sense of the awesomeness and wonder of God and liturgy is related to what has been happening since the 1960s. Coincident with the decline in the observance in proper liturgy and the abuse of liturgical norms has been this rise in moral relativism and rejection of the Church's teachings by people who still frequently go to Church as many of these pro-life politicians and leaders do. Is there a relationship that you can see?
CHAPUT: Well, a couple of things. First of all, I think the liturgy as we have it gives us many opportunities to think about the moral issues and life issues. One of the things that was very interesting in the United States in October, was in the week right before our national election, our federal election, we had this passage in scripture " render unto Caesar what is Caesar's and render unto God what is God's". But I find myself having the opportunity naturally because of the series that the Church presents to us in the three year cycle, to preach on the life issues frequently, so I'm grateful for that. But I think you're right. I think that sometimes priests have felt the freedom to change the liturgy kind of corresponds to their freedom to disagree with the Church's teachings on faith and morals. It's kind of like the individual priest might determine the hierarchy of what's important in the Church and what's true and what is not, and that's not at all what the Catholic Church believes. We need to be faithful to the Church's teachings and I think a sign of being faithful to the Church's teachings is being faithful to the liturgy as it's given to us by the Church.
LSN: I guess it's giving an example of, "we're doing our things here and you do things your way", rather than the loving way the Church has provided for us.
CHAPUT: Yes, that's right.
LSN: Last night a person asked you a question about excommunications. I'm not suggesting that is something that necessarily should be done, but there is the problem that prominent pro-abortion Catholics, whether they be politicians or otherwise, or known to be going to Church and being offered and still partaking of all the benefits of the Church. They may be even reading at mass, they may be involved in parish activities in some kind of prominent way in some cases. It's a scandal to the faith, but more than that it sends a very confusing message to the people.
CHAPUT: Right. I think it's another sign of accommodation with the reality of abortion. We don't understand this horror so we can put up with people who are pro-choice or pro-abortion and not challenge their Catholic identity. It seems to me that anyone who is pro-choice or pro-abortion shouldn't receive communion as they are not in communion with the Church's teaching and certainly if they cannot receive Holy Communion, they shouldn't be lectors at Mass, they shouldn't be given prominent positions in the life of the Church. Of course, we hope they will come back to the faith and to the truth, so we don't want to chase them away from the Church but, you know, Communion means not only union with the Lord but also union with His Church which is His body, His presence in the world today, and if someone doesn't believe what the Church teaches on faith and morals, that person shouldn't receive Holy Communion. Excommunication is a different thing, and for the Church to excommunicate someone, it's an extraordinarily serious situation and I think the reason it's not done more often is because it's not been perceived as being effective, that is will cause more problems than it solves. When I was a young boy a long time ago, Archbishop Rummel in New Orleans excommunicated several members of his diocese who stood in the way of his efforts to end segregation in the archdiocese of New Orleans. Essentially these people and his efforts were applauded by the New York Times even, When Archbishop Burke warned Catholic legislators in his diocese that they risked excommunication if they persisted in promoting access to abortion, he was condemned by the same kind of press for being intolerant. And is some ways that reveals the issue though. If bishops excommunicate, the issue is not going to be abortion, it's going to be the intrusive power of the Church in the life of the Church and so it's a question of is it a prudent thing to do or does this really confuse the issue more than help the issue.
LSN: Any you may be perfectly right about that. But for example, in a family there is a father, a mother and children and let's say there is one child that is very disobedient and persistently so and the father keeps talking and talking and the mother keeps talking and talking, and this goes on for years, and the other children say, "all they ever do is talk to him, they never take any action". Now, in this case I am not sure what the right action is, but…
CHAPUT: I am not sure the bishops have been talking to these people either.
LSN: That's a good point.
CHAPUT: And let's use your analogy. What about in the family if the father talks to one of the children about doing this and then decides that since you are not going to be obedient, you can't be part of this family until you are obedient. And then the other children say, why are you doing that Dad, it's not fair, or just, and instead of it being a corrective for the wayward child, it's the cause of a major family fight because the disagreement within the family is much broader than the disagreement with that one child.
LSN: But usually, the appropriate thing is to take one step at a time - take away some benefit, apply some accountability. Is there not a possibility of some accountability, as a sign?
CHAPUT: It seem to me that more bishops would be acting this way, in issues that are very clear, if they thought it would be effective, and the reason that they don't do this is that they don't think it would be effective. You know, the purpose of excommunication is ..
LSN: Sorry, I'm not asking about excommunication at all now, but rather lower level things.
CHAPUT: I can't understand why anyone who is pro-choice could be a reader at Mass, that's what you are talking about. And, an extraordinary minister of Holy Communion - it would be outrageous. Again, they should not receive Holy Communion.
LSN: In our work, that we have been doing for many years, we find that many people, even some leaders in the Church do not comprehend the gravity of the situation that we are in now, that our civilization is in danger of collapsing. Do you find that people just don't believe what you are saying, don't believe what you are warning them about, don't believe that they should not vote for Obama? Does it sometimes frustrate you that things are so obvious and yet you have a difficulty convincing the public or certain people of the gravity of the situation that we are in today?
CHAPUT: It seems human history has been a series of times of us not taking the warning signs seriously. I think the reading for the first Sunday of Lent this year is the story of Noah and the flood. They were eating and drinking and carrying on and the flood came. They just weren't willing to take the warnings that God sends us and I think it is true about our time that we are not taking the situation concerning the Church and the world seriously now. I agree with you. I don't know what we can do about it except to be persistent in our preaching and in our continuing to give the warning and that God bring fruit from that if He chooses. We shouldn't give up.
LSN: …proclaiming the truth, regardless,
CHAPUT: Yes.
LIFESITENEWS: Would you agree that there seems to be an increase in that happening now?
CHAPUT: Increase in what happening?
LSN: Of various leaders starting to be more outspoken about the current state of our culture?
CHAPUT: You might be a better judge of that than I. I certainly don't think there are enough.
LSN: I agree with that.
CHAPUT: There may be more than there were. Last year or the year before, I don't know.
LSN: Well, the last election there were so many bishops who came out so strongly. We were actually excited.
CHAPUT: Not nearly enough.
LSN: Last night a person asked a question comparing the response to the invitation to speakers at two colleges, a Canadian one and one in the United States and the Canadian one invited Cokie Roberts. I guess you didn't know who she was.
CHAPUT:: Oh, I know who she is. I just didn't know where she stood.
LSN: She is a Catholic, outspokenly pro-abortion, pro-homosexual. At the college of course she was not talking about that, but that was the usual strategy of "we are not here to talk about abortion" and so on to justify inviting the person. It was a great disappointment to us that we got the kind of response that we did from the college.
CHAPUT: (After reading the LifeSiteNews report on the event) I can't believe that the president of the Catholic Assumption University said abortion is not infallible Church teaching.
LSN: Yes, we couldn't believe it either.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
And now, the rest of the story...(Paul Harvey - Good eternity!)
Here's the rest of the story of the facade of the San Jose Mission Church.
Look to the Left of the door, and you will find Saint Joachim, father of our Blessed Mother. The Franciscan monks were well aware of the native custom of reverence for grandparents, thus the prominent position of Jesus' "Nana and Papa" here. St. Joachim's arm is missing as it was broken when a thief climbed up him to try to enter throught the Rose Window above.
This window is reminiscent of many such windows on Churches through Europe. It was possibly named the Rose window after St. Rose of Lima, the first saint of the New World.
Look up and to the right of St. Joseph and Jesus, and you will find St. Francis, the patron of these missions. I myself know a lot about him, so moving on...
To the left is St. Dominic. St. Dominic became prominent in the late 10th century, where he battled the Albigensian heresy that was rampant at the time. He actually worked with his family, who all show signs of having been sanctified in this life. He loved the truth and abhorred heresy. His convents were set up originally to protect and educate women and children who were especially vulnerable to this heresy. The Militia of Jesus Christ (now known as the 3rd order Dominicans) was formed under him as a lay movement to protect the Church.
He is also known for having the Rosary revealed to him by our Blessed Mother.
Finally, notice the round balls surrounding the door. These are pomegranates, and represent fertility. Let the Truth that is held within this building bear great fruit, let faithful Catholics devoted to the truth populate and renew the world, and make the ground of the seedlings of Love be ever fruitful and nourishing!
Look to the Left of the door, and you will find Saint Joachim, father of our Blessed Mother. The Franciscan monks were well aware of the native custom of reverence for grandparents, thus the prominent position of Jesus' "Nana and Papa" here. St. Joachim's arm is missing as it was broken when a thief climbed up him to try to enter throught the Rose Window above.
This window is reminiscent of many such windows on Churches through Europe. It was possibly named the Rose window after St. Rose of Lima, the first saint of the New World.
Look up and to the right of St. Joseph and Jesus, and you will find St. Francis, the patron of these missions. I myself know a lot about him, so moving on...
To the left is St. Dominic. St. Dominic became prominent in the late 10th century, where he battled the Albigensian heresy that was rampant at the time. He actually worked with his family, who all show signs of having been sanctified in this life. He loved the truth and abhorred heresy. His convents were set up originally to protect and educate women and children who were especially vulnerable to this heresy. The Militia of Jesus Christ (now known as the 3rd order Dominicans) was formed under him as a lay movement to protect the Church.
He is also known for having the Rosary revealed to him by our Blessed Mother.
Finally, notice the round balls surrounding the door. These are pomegranates, and represent fertility. Let the Truth that is held within this building bear great fruit, let faithful Catholics devoted to the truth populate and renew the world, and make the ground of the seedlings of Love be ever fruitful and nourishing!
Monday, March 2, 2009
And so begins the Taylor Caldwell Quotes...
From "A Pillar of Iron" - An historical fiction work of Taylor Caldwell on the life of Marcus Tullius Cicero:
"I distrust uncontrolled and vehement emotion, which has its impulse not in reason but in malice and confusion, lord. If man is to rise above mere beasthood then he must obey just law, formulated by just men, and not random and expedient law which is the servant of tyrants. That law which appeals to the sentimentality, gross and unlearned, of the masses, or to their bellies, is no law at all. It is only the lust of the barbarian, the scream of the jungle. Such law leads us back to the wilderness of tooth and bloody claw, the service of mindless beasts. Unfortunately, too often, the wild law of savagery is used by unscrupulous men to advance their own interests, and they, too often, find it in the masses. These unscrupulous men discover, to their ruin, that they have seized a tiger by the tail."
"You will observe, lord (addressing Emporer Sulla) "that Cicero has no high regard for the noisy and noisome masses." He(Julius Caesar) spoke with affection.
Marcus cried, "We are not speaking of the same thing at all! The people have souls and minds! I ask that rulers appeal to these things, and not to base appetites!"
She has many actual quotes - but I just read this one, and after her 9 years of study before writing, I bet Cicero would approve.
"I distrust uncontrolled and vehement emotion, which has its impulse not in reason but in malice and confusion, lord. If man is to rise above mere beasthood then he must obey just law, formulated by just men, and not random and expedient law which is the servant of tyrants. That law which appeals to the sentimentality, gross and unlearned, of the masses, or to their bellies, is no law at all. It is only the lust of the barbarian, the scream of the jungle. Such law leads us back to the wilderness of tooth and bloody claw, the service of mindless beasts. Unfortunately, too often, the wild law of savagery is used by unscrupulous men to advance their own interests, and they, too often, find it in the masses. These unscrupulous men discover, to their ruin, that they have seized a tiger by the tail."
"You will observe, lord (addressing Emporer Sulla) "that Cicero has no high regard for the noisy and noisome masses." He(Julius Caesar) spoke with affection.
Marcus cried, "We are not speaking of the same thing at all! The people have souls and minds! I ask that rulers appeal to these things, and not to base appetites!"
She has many actual quotes - but I just read this one, and after her 9 years of study before writing, I bet Cicero would approve.
The Choice before Israel, the Choice before America
...I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Choose life, then, that you and your descendants may live, by loving the Lord, your God, heeding His voice, and holding fast to Him. (Dt 30:19-20)
Our Lady of Guadalupe
Now go to the center door (don't you long to go in?) and scan up. Above the door is the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. I just learned that she was especially mentioned as the protector of babies in danger of not being born, by our late Holy Father Pope John Paul the Great. See:
http://www.sancta.org/intro.html
I know of a baby like that. Her earthly parents desperately want her, but the mom is having scary symptoms. I pray for all who are now in the situation of possibly losing their babies, either through natural means or through the evil scourge of abortion. Hail Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy, Our Life, Our Sweetness and Our Hope. To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve, to thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears. Turn then, Oh gracious advocate, thine eyes of Mercy toward us. And after this, our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Oh clement, Oh loving, oh sweet virgin Mary, pray for us, Oh Holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
http://www.sancta.org/intro.html
I know of a baby like that. Her earthly parents desperately want her, but the mom is having scary symptoms. I pray for all who are now in the situation of possibly losing their babies, either through natural means or through the evil scourge of abortion. Hail Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy, Our Life, Our Sweetness and Our Hope. To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve, to thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears. Turn then, Oh gracious advocate, thine eyes of Mercy toward us. And after this, our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Oh clement, Oh loving, oh sweet virgin Mary, pray for us, Oh Holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Conduct in Public Life
Do no evil, and evil will not overtake you; avoid wickedness, and it will turn aside from you, Sow not in the furrows of injustice, lest you harvest it sevenfold. Seek not from the Lord authority, nor from the king a place of honor. Parade not your justice before the Lord, and before the king flaunt not your wisdom.
Seek not to become a judge if you have not strength to root out crime, Or you will show favor to the ruler and mar your integrity. Be guilty of no evil before the city's populace, nor disgrace yourself before the assembly.
Do not plot to repeat sin; not even for one will you go unpunished. Say not: : "He will appreciate my many gifts; the Most High will accept my offerings."
Be not impatient in prayers, and neglect not the giving of alms.
Laugh not at an embittered man; be mindful of him who exalts and humbles.
Plot no mischief against your brother, nor against your friend and companion.
Delight not in telling lie after lie, for it never results in good.
Thrust not yourself in deliberations of princes (yikes) and repeat not the words of your prayer. Hate not laborious tasks, nor farming, which was ordained by the Most High.
Do not esteem yourself better than your fellows; remember, his wrath will not delay. More and more, humble your pride; what awaits man is worms. (Sir 7:1-17)
Seek not to become a judge if you have not strength to root out crime, Or you will show favor to the ruler and mar your integrity. Be guilty of no evil before the city's populace, nor disgrace yourself before the assembly.
Do not plot to repeat sin; not even for one will you go unpunished. Say not: : "He will appreciate my many gifts; the Most High will accept my offerings."
Be not impatient in prayers, and neglect not the giving of alms.
Laugh not at an embittered man; be mindful of him who exalts and humbles.
Plot no mischief against your brother, nor against your friend and companion.
Delight not in telling lie after lie, for it never results in good.
Thrust not yourself in deliberations of princes (yikes) and repeat not the words of your prayer. Hate not laborious tasks, nor farming, which was ordained by the Most High.
Do not esteem yourself better than your fellows; remember, his wrath will not delay. More and more, humble your pride; what awaits man is worms. (Sir 7:1-17)
Santa Anna
Notice the statue on the bottom right. This is Saint Anne, holding the blessed Mother as a child. What can she tell you, what does she teach us? What were her thoughts and dreams for her child? What kind of a mother was she? What kind of a child was Mary? Was St. Anne
there when they crucified my Lord?
there when they crucified my Lord?
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