FIFTH COMMANDMENT OF THE DECALOGUE: "Thou shalt NOT kill."
EIGTH COMMANDMENT: "Thous shalt NOT bare false witness."
Watch the video for yourself:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1556094098037051142&q=hodari&total=35&start=0&num=100&so=0&type=search&plindex=1
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/dec/07121203.html
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
CATHOLIC RECORD LABEL
Catholic Record Label is a new endeavor by some of our parishioners. Please check out their website and if you enjoy what you hear, give them your support.
http://www.catholicrecordlabel.com/index.php
http://www.catholicrecordlabel.com/index.php
Thursday, December 6, 2007
FLORIDA RIGHT TO LIFE
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The following is from Florida Right to Life:
"Just before she became pregnant, Pam fell into a coma after contracting amoebic dysentery, a bacteria transmitted through contaminated drinking water. Her treatment required a series of strong medications. As a result of those medications, doctors told Pam the fetus had been irreversibly damaged, and they strongly advised her to have an abortion.
She refused because of her faith.
Pam spent the last two months of her pregnancy on bed rest, and on her due date - Aug. 14, 1987 - she gave birth to a healthy baby boy, who she described as "skinny, but rather long."
This coming Saturday night, you can see Pam on TV with the rest of her family, celebrating the accomplishments of her baby boy and giving all the glory to God. Her son’s name is:
TIM TEBOW
Friday, September 28, 2007
Thursday, September 27, 2007
RECLAIMING FATHERHOOD
"This conference is the first to focus on the effects of abortion on men. Speakers will cover the following topics: pertinent research, abortion as trauma, and counseling men who have experienced pregnancy loss through abortion. This is a unique opportunity for those who deal with men in pastoral or clinical settings to learn about this much neglected topic."
FOR MORE INFO, GO TO:
http://www.menandabortion.info/
http://www.menandabortion.info/downloads/brochure.pdf
FOR MORE INFO, GO TO:
http://www.menandabortion.info/
http://www.menandabortion.info/downloads/brochure.pdf
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
The Curia's "First Lady"
Check out this story from Whispers about the Vatican's high ranking ladies at the Curia.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
TWO WAYS TO LOOK AT EVERYTHING
Two Ways to Look at Everything
My wife and I were sitting at a table at my high school reunion, and I kept staring at a drunken lady swigging her drink as she sat alone at a nearby table.
My wife asks, "Do you know her?"
"Yes," I sighed, "She's my old girlfriend. I understand she took to drinking right after we split up those many years ago, and I hear she hasn't been sober since."
"My goodness!" says my wife, "Who would think a person could go on celebrating that long?"
My wife and I were sitting at a table at my high school reunion, and I kept staring at a drunken lady swigging her drink as she sat alone at a nearby table.
My wife asks, "Do you know her?"
"Yes," I sighed, "She's my old girlfriend. I understand she took to drinking right after we split up those many years ago, and I hear she hasn't been sober since."
"My goodness!" says my wife, "Who would think a person could go on celebrating that long?"
WHITE LIE CAKE (from Marlene Nikolich)
White Lie Cake....
(Have you ever told a white lie?)
You are going to love this - especially all of the ladies who bake for church events.
Alice Grayson was to bake a cake for the Church ladies' group bake sale in Tuscaloosa, but she forgot to do it until the last minute. She remembered it the morning of the bake sale and after rummaging through cabinets she found a white cake mix and quickly made it in a bundt pan while drying her hair, dressing and helping her son, Bryan, pack up for Scout camp. But when Alice took the cake from the oven, the center had dropped flat and the cake was horribly disfigured.
She said, "Oh dear, there's no time to bake another cake." This cake was so important to Alice because she did so want to fit in at her new church and in her new community of new friends. So, being inventive, she looked around the house for something to build up the center of the cake.
Alice found it in the bathroom -- a roll of toilet paper. She plunked it in and covered it with a beautiful crimson icing. Not only did the finished product look beautiful, it looked perfect!
Before she left the house to drop the cake by the church and head for work, Alice woke her daughter Amanda and gave her some money and specific instructions to be at the bake sale the minute it opened at 9:30, and to buy that cake and bring it home.
When the daughter arrived at the sale, she found that the attractive, perfect cake had already been sold to someone before the cake sale had begun. Amanda grabbed her cell phone and called her Mom. Alice was horrified; she was beside herself. Everyone would know, what would they think? Oh, my she wailed! She would be ostracized, talked about, ridiculed.
All night Alice lay awake in bed thinking about people pointing their fingers at her and talking about her behind her back. The next day, Alice promised herself that she would try not to think about the cake. She had promised to attend a fancy luncheon/bridal shower at the home of a friend of a friend, so she decided to go and try to have a good time. Alice did not really want to attend because the hostess was a snob who more than once had looked down her nose at the fact that Alice was a single parent and not from the founding families of Tuscaloosa, but having already RSVP'd, she could not think of a believable excuse to stay home.
The meal was elegant, the company was definitely upper crust old South...and to Alice's horror, the CAKE in question was presented for dessert! Alice felt the blood drain from her body when she saw the cake! She started to rise out of her chair to rush and tell her hostess all about it, BUT before she could get to her feet, the Mayor's wife said, "What a beautiful cake!" Alice, still stunned, settled back into her chair when she heard the hostess, who was a prominent church member say, "Thank you, I baked it myself." Alice smiled and thought to herself, "GOD is good
(Have you ever told a white lie?)
You are going to love this - especially all of the ladies who bake for church events.
Alice Grayson was to bake a cake for the Church ladies' group bake sale in Tuscaloosa, but she forgot to do it until the last minute. She remembered it the morning of the bake sale and after rummaging through cabinets she found a white cake mix and quickly made it in a bundt pan while drying her hair, dressing and helping her son, Bryan, pack up for Scout camp. But when Alice took the cake from the oven, the center had dropped flat and the cake was horribly disfigured.
She said, "Oh dear, there's no time to bake another cake." This cake was so important to Alice because she did so want to fit in at her new church and in her new community of new friends. So, being inventive, she looked around the house for something to build up the center of the cake.
Alice found it in the bathroom -- a roll of toilet paper. She plunked it in and covered it with a beautiful crimson icing. Not only did the finished product look beautiful, it looked perfect!
Before she left the house to drop the cake by the church and head for work, Alice woke her daughter Amanda and gave her some money and specific instructions to be at the bake sale the minute it opened at 9:30, and to buy that cake and bring it home.
When the daughter arrived at the sale, she found that the attractive, perfect cake had already been sold to someone before the cake sale had begun. Amanda grabbed her cell phone and called her Mom. Alice was horrified; she was beside herself. Everyone would know, what would they think? Oh, my she wailed! She would be ostracized, talked about, ridiculed.
All night Alice lay awake in bed thinking about people pointing their fingers at her and talking about her behind her back. The next day, Alice promised herself that she would try not to think about the cake. She had promised to attend a fancy luncheon/bridal shower at the home of a friend of a friend, so she decided to go and try to have a good time. Alice did not really want to attend because the hostess was a snob who more than once had looked down her nose at the fact that Alice was a single parent and not from the founding families of Tuscaloosa, but having already RSVP'd, she could not think of a believable excuse to stay home.
The meal was elegant, the company was definitely upper crust old South...and to Alice's horror, the CAKE in question was presented for dessert! Alice felt the blood drain from her body when she saw the cake! She started to rise out of her chair to rush and tell her hostess all about it, BUT before she could get to her feet, the Mayor's wife said, "What a beautiful cake!" Alice, still stunned, settled back into her chair when she heard the hostess, who was a prominent church member say, "Thank you, I baked it myself." Alice smiled and thought to herself, "GOD is good
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
THAT MAN IS YOU! Becoming a man after God's own heart.
On Wednesday, September 12th, the men of Our Lady of the Rosary will journey down a new road of faith in Christ and personal discovery through a program titled: “That Man Is You!”
This 26 week interactive men’s program combines the best research from science with the teachings of the Catholic faith and the wisdom of the saints to develop a vision of a man fully alive. By honestly addressing the pressures and temptations that men face in our modern culture, That Man Is You! seeks to form men who will be capable of transforming their homes and society.
The men in this program will discover
· The scriptural vision of man and woman and the overwhelming scientific evidence that supports this vision.
· How the family is the foundation of society and the Church.
· How and why Satan always attacks the union of man and woman.
· The three main obstacles to living as authentic men and the means for overcoming them.
· The wonderful renewal God is offering to men and their families through the Church.
Than Man Is You! begins Wednesday, September 12th, at 5:30 A.M. in Rosary Hall, and every Wednesday morning thereafter. Coffee and donuts will be served promptly at 5:30 a.m. and the program will end no later than 7:00 a.m.
TMIY Core Team members and registration tables will be outside the church on the weekends of September 1st and 2nd, and again on the 8th and 9th, after all Masses. Make this year, the year you become a man after God’s own Heart.
For further information, contact Ron Ludwin, TMIY Core Team Leader at 813-995-0273 of go to the That Man Is You! website at:
This 26 week interactive men’s program combines the best research from science with the teachings of the Catholic faith and the wisdom of the saints to develop a vision of a man fully alive. By honestly addressing the pressures and temptations that men face in our modern culture, That Man Is You! seeks to form men who will be capable of transforming their homes and society.
The men in this program will discover
· The scriptural vision of man and woman and the overwhelming scientific evidence that supports this vision.
· How the family is the foundation of society and the Church.
· How and why Satan always attacks the union of man and woman.
· The three main obstacles to living as authentic men and the means for overcoming them.
· The wonderful renewal God is offering to men and their families through the Church.
Than Man Is You! begins Wednesday, September 12th, at 5:30 A.M. in Rosary Hall, and every Wednesday morning thereafter. Coffee and donuts will be served promptly at 5:30 a.m. and the program will end no later than 7:00 a.m.
TMIY Core Team members and registration tables will be outside the church on the weekends of September 1st and 2nd, and again on the 8th and 9th, after all Masses. Make this year, the year you become a man after God’s own Heart.
For further information, contact Ron Ludwin, TMIY Core Team Leader at 813-995-0273 of go to the That Man Is You! website at:
http://www.paradisusdei.org/tmiy/index.asp?varnav=,,,,
You can also register for the program on line at:
You can also register for the program on line at:
Monday, August 27, 2007
DR. ALVEDA KING: "...ABORTION HAS DONE WHAT THE KLAN ONLY DREAMED OF."
Dr. King states that "in the last forty-plus years, 15 million black people have denied their most basic civil right, the right to live. Roughly one quarter of the black population is now missing."
http://www.christiannewswire.com/news/285043965.html
http://www.christiannewswire.com/news/285043965.html
Africans demand countries follow Ugandan model of abstinence in order to stop AIDS
This is a story that Planned Parenthood and the liberal media don't want you to read....
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=10203
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=10203
PREAMBLE TO THE STATE CONSTITUTION
The following is a forwarded email message....
Do you know the Preamble for your state . .. .quite interesting .
Important commentary at the end.
Alabama 1901 , Preamble . We the people of the State of Alabama , invoking the favor and guidance of Almighty God, do ordain and establish the following Constitution.
Alaska 1956, Preamble . We, the people of Alaska , grateful to God and to those who founded our nation and pioneered this great land.
Arizona 1911, Preamble .. We, the people of the State of Arizona , grateful to Almighty God for our liberties, do ordain this Constitution...
Arkansas 1874, Preamble . We, the people of the State of Arkansas , grateful to Almighty God for the privilege of choosing our own form of government...
California 1879, Preamble . We, the People of the State of California , grateful to Almighty God for our freedom.
Colorado 1876, Preamble . We, the people of Colorado , with profound reverence for the Supreme Ruler of Universe.
Connecticut 1818, Preamble. The People of Connecticut , acknowledging with gratitude the good Providence of God in permitting them to enjoy.
Delaware 1897, Preamble . Through Divine Goodness all men have, by nature, the rights of worshipping and serving their Creator according to the dictates of their consciences.
Florida 1885, Preamble . We, the people of the State of Florida , grateful to Almighty God for our constitutional liberty, establish this Constitution....
Georgia 1777, Preamble .. We, the people of Georgia , relying upon protection and guidance of Almighty God, do ordain and establish this Constitution...
Hawaii 1959, Preamble . We , the people of Hawaii , Grateful for Divine Guidance . Establish this Constitution.
Idaho 1889, Preamble . We, the people of the State of Idaho , grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, to secure its blessings..
Illinois 1870, Preamble . We, the people of the State of Illinois, grateful to Almighty God for the civil law, political and religious liberty which He hath so long permitted us to enjoy and looking to Him for a blessing on our endeavors.
Indiana 1851, Preamble . We, the People of the State of Indiana , grateful to Almighty God for the free exercise of the right to choose our form of government.
Iowa 1857, Preamble We, the People of the State of Iowa , grateful to the Supreme Being for the blessings hitherto enjoyed, and feeling our dependence on Him for a continuation of these blessings ! establish this Constitution
Kansas 1859, Preamble . We, the people of Kansas , grateful to Almighty God for our civil and religious privileges establish this Constitution.
Kentucky 1891, Preamble. We, the people of the Commonwealth are grateful to Almighty God for the civil, political and religious liberties...
Louisiana 1921, Preamble We, the people of the State of Louisiana , grateful to Almighty God for the civil, political and religious liberties we enjoy.
Maine 1820, Preamble. We the People of Maine acknowledging with grateful hearts the goodness of the Sovereign Ruler of the Universe in affording us an opportunity ... And imploring His aid and direction.
Maryland 1776, Preamble We, the people of the state of Maryland , grateful to Almighty God for our civil and religious liberty...
Massachusetts 1780, Preamble . We...the people of Massachusetts , acknowledging with grateful hearts, the goodness of the Great Legislator of the Universe .. In the course of His Providence, an opportunity and devoutly imploring His direction .
Michigan 1908, Preamble. We, the people of the State of Michigan , grateful to Almighty God for the blessings of freedom establish this Constitution.
Minnesota , 1857, Preamble . We, the people of the State of Minnesota , grateful to God for our civil and religious liberty, and desiring to perpetuate its blessings:
Mississippi 1890, Preamble . We, the people of Mississippi in convention assembled, grateful to Al mighty God, and invoking His blessing on our work.
Missouri 1845, Preamble . We, the people of Missouri , with profound reverence for the Supreme Ruler of the Universe, and grateful for His goodness .. Establish this Constitution .
Montana 1889, Preamble. We, the people of Montana , grateful to Almighty God for the blessings of liberty establish this Constitution ..
Nebraska 1875, Preamble . We, the people, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom . Establish this Constitution.
Nevada 1864, Preamble . We the people of the State of Nevada , grateful to Almighty God for our freedom establish this Constitution
New Hampshire 1792, Part I. Art. I. Sec. V . Every individual has a natural and unalienable right to worship God according to the dictates of his own conscience.
New Jersey 1844, Preamble . We, the people of the State of New Jersey, grateful to Almighty God for civil and religious liberty which He hath so long permitted us to enjoy, and looking to Him for a blessing on our endeavors.
New Mexico 1911, Preamble . We, the People of New Mexico, grateful to Almighty God for the blessings of liberty
New York 1846, Preamble . We, the people of the State of New York , grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, in order to secure its blessings.
North Carolina 1868, Preamble . We the people of the State of North Carolina, grateful to Almighty God, the Sovereign Ruler of Nations, for our civil, political, and religious liberties, and acknowledging our dependence upon Him for the continuance of those
North Dakota 1889, Preamble . We , the people of North Dakota , grateful to Almighty God for the blessings of civil and religious liberty, do ordain...
Ohio 1852, Preamble . We the people of the state of Ohio , grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, to secure its blessings and to promote our common
Oklahoma 1907, Preamble . Invoking the guidance of Almighty God, in order to secure and perpetuate the blessings of liberty ... establish this ..
Oregon 1857, Bill of Rights, Article I. Section 2. All men shall be secure in the Natural right, to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their consciences...
Pennsylvania 1776, Preamble We, the people of Pennsylvania , grateful to Almighty God for the blessings of civil and religious liberty, and humbly invoking His guidance
Rhode Island 1842, Preamble. We the People of the State of Rhode Island grateful to Almighty God for the civil and religious liberty which He hath so long permitted us to enjoy, and looking to Him for a blessing
South Carolina, 1778, Preamble . We, the people of he State of South Carolina grateful to God for our liberties, do ordain and establish this Constitution.
South Dakota 1889, Preamble . We, the people of South Dakota , grateful to Almighty God for our civil and religious liberties
Tennessee 1796, Art. XI.III. That all men have a natural and indefeasible right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their conscience...
Texas 1845, Preamble . We the People of the Republic of Texas , acknowledging, with gratitude, the grace and beneficence of God.
Utah 1896, Preamble . Grateful to Almighty God for life and liberty, we establish this Constitution.
Vermont 1777, Preamble . Whereas all government ought to enable the individuals who compose it to enjoy their natural rights, and other blessings which the Author of Existence has bestowed on man
Virginia 1776, Bill of Rights, XVI Religion, or the Duty which we owe our Creator can be directed only by Reason and that it is the mutual duty of all to practice Christian Forbearance, Love and Charity towards each other
Washington 1889, Preamble . We the People of the State of Washington , grateful to the Supreme Ruler of the Universe for our liberties, do ordain this Constitution
West Virginia 1872, Preamble . Since through Divine Providence we enjoy the blessings of civil, political and religious liberty, we, the people of West Virginia reaffirm our faith in and constant reliance upon God ..
Wisconsin 1848, Preamble We, the people of Wisconsin , grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, domestic tranquility
Wyoming 1890, Preamble . We, the people of the State of Wyoming , grateful to God for our civil, political, and religious liberties ... establish this Constitution.
After reviewing acknowledgments of God from all 50 state constitutions, one is faced with the prospect that maybe, the ACLU and the out-of-control federal courts are wrong! If you found this to be "Food for thought" copy and send to as many as you think will be enlightened as I hope you were.
Do you know the Preamble for your state . .. .quite interesting .
Important commentary at the end.
Alabama 1901 , Preamble . We the people of the State of Alabama , invoking the favor and guidance of Almighty God, do ordain and establish the following Constitution.
Alaska 1956, Preamble . We, the people of Alaska , grateful to God and to those who founded our nation and pioneered this great land.
Arizona 1911, Preamble .. We, the people of the State of Arizona , grateful to Almighty God for our liberties, do ordain this Constitution...
Arkansas 1874, Preamble . We, the people of the State of Arkansas , grateful to Almighty God for the privilege of choosing our own form of government...
California 1879, Preamble . We, the People of the State of California , grateful to Almighty God for our freedom.
Colorado 1876, Preamble . We, the people of Colorado , with profound reverence for the Supreme Ruler of Universe.
Connecticut 1818, Preamble. The People of Connecticut , acknowledging with gratitude the good Providence of God in permitting them to enjoy.
Delaware 1897, Preamble . Through Divine Goodness all men have, by nature, the rights of worshipping and serving their Creator according to the dictates of their consciences.
Florida 1885, Preamble . We, the people of the State of Florida , grateful to Almighty God for our constitutional liberty, establish this Constitution....
Georgia 1777, Preamble .. We, the people of Georgia , relying upon protection and guidance of Almighty God, do ordain and establish this Constitution...
Hawaii 1959, Preamble . We , the people of Hawaii , Grateful for Divine Guidance . Establish this Constitution.
Idaho 1889, Preamble . We, the people of the State of Idaho , grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, to secure its blessings..
Illinois 1870, Preamble . We, the people of the State of Illinois, grateful to Almighty God for the civil law, political and religious liberty which He hath so long permitted us to enjoy and looking to Him for a blessing on our endeavors.
Indiana 1851, Preamble . We, the People of the State of Indiana , grateful to Almighty God for the free exercise of the right to choose our form of government.
Iowa 1857, Preamble We, the People of the State of Iowa , grateful to the Supreme Being for the blessings hitherto enjoyed, and feeling our dependence on Him for a continuation of these blessings ! establish this Constitution
Kansas 1859, Preamble . We, the people of Kansas , grateful to Almighty God for our civil and religious privileges establish this Constitution.
Kentucky 1891, Preamble. We, the people of the Commonwealth are grateful to Almighty God for the civil, political and religious liberties...
Louisiana 1921, Preamble We, the people of the State of Louisiana , grateful to Almighty God for the civil, political and religious liberties we enjoy.
Maine 1820, Preamble. We the People of Maine acknowledging with grateful hearts the goodness of the Sovereign Ruler of the Universe in affording us an opportunity ... And imploring His aid and direction.
Maryland 1776, Preamble We, the people of the state of Maryland , grateful to Almighty God for our civil and religious liberty...
Massachusetts 1780, Preamble . We...the people of Massachusetts , acknowledging with grateful hearts, the goodness of the Great Legislator of the Universe .. In the course of His Providence, an opportunity and devoutly imploring His direction .
Michigan 1908, Preamble. We, the people of the State of Michigan , grateful to Almighty God for the blessings of freedom establish this Constitution.
Minnesota , 1857, Preamble . We, the people of the State of Minnesota , grateful to God for our civil and religious liberty, and desiring to perpetuate its blessings:
Mississippi 1890, Preamble . We, the people of Mississippi in convention assembled, grateful to Al mighty God, and invoking His blessing on our work.
Missouri 1845, Preamble . We, the people of Missouri , with profound reverence for the Supreme Ruler of the Universe, and grateful for His goodness .. Establish this Constitution .
Montana 1889, Preamble. We, the people of Montana , grateful to Almighty God for the blessings of liberty establish this Constitution ..
Nebraska 1875, Preamble . We, the people, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom . Establish this Constitution.
Nevada 1864, Preamble . We the people of the State of Nevada , grateful to Almighty God for our freedom establish this Constitution
New Hampshire 1792, Part I. Art. I. Sec. V . Every individual has a natural and unalienable right to worship God according to the dictates of his own conscience.
New Jersey 1844, Preamble . We, the people of the State of New Jersey, grateful to Almighty God for civil and religious liberty which He hath so long permitted us to enjoy, and looking to Him for a blessing on our endeavors.
New Mexico 1911, Preamble . We, the People of New Mexico, grateful to Almighty God for the blessings of liberty
New York 1846, Preamble . We, the people of the State of New York , grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, in order to secure its blessings.
North Carolina 1868, Preamble . We the people of the State of North Carolina, grateful to Almighty God, the Sovereign Ruler of Nations, for our civil, political, and religious liberties, and acknowledging our dependence upon Him for the continuance of those
North Dakota 1889, Preamble . We , the people of North Dakota , grateful to Almighty God for the blessings of civil and religious liberty, do ordain...
Ohio 1852, Preamble . We the people of the state of Ohio , grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, to secure its blessings and to promote our common
Oklahoma 1907, Preamble . Invoking the guidance of Almighty God, in order to secure and perpetuate the blessings of liberty ... establish this ..
Oregon 1857, Bill of Rights, Article I. Section 2. All men shall be secure in the Natural right, to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their consciences...
Pennsylvania 1776, Preamble We, the people of Pennsylvania , grateful to Almighty God for the blessings of civil and religious liberty, and humbly invoking His guidance
Rhode Island 1842, Preamble. We the People of the State of Rhode Island grateful to Almighty God for the civil and religious liberty which He hath so long permitted us to enjoy, and looking to Him for a blessing
South Carolina, 1778, Preamble . We, the people of he State of South Carolina grateful to God for our liberties, do ordain and establish this Constitution.
South Dakota 1889, Preamble . We, the people of South Dakota , grateful to Almighty God for our civil and religious liberties
Tennessee 1796, Art. XI.III. That all men have a natural and indefeasible right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their conscience...
Texas 1845, Preamble . We the People of the Republic of Texas , acknowledging, with gratitude, the grace and beneficence of God.
Utah 1896, Preamble . Grateful to Almighty God for life and liberty, we establish this Constitution.
Vermont 1777, Preamble . Whereas all government ought to enable the individuals who compose it to enjoy their natural rights, and other blessings which the Author of Existence has bestowed on man
Virginia 1776, Bill of Rights, XVI Religion, or the Duty which we owe our Creator can be directed only by Reason and that it is the mutual duty of all to practice Christian Forbearance, Love and Charity towards each other
Washington 1889, Preamble . We the People of the State of Washington , grateful to the Supreme Ruler of the Universe for our liberties, do ordain this Constitution
West Virginia 1872, Preamble . Since through Divine Providence we enjoy the blessings of civil, political and religious liberty, we, the people of West Virginia reaffirm our faith in and constant reliance upon God ..
Wisconsin 1848, Preamble We, the people of Wisconsin , grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, domestic tranquility
Wyoming 1890, Preamble . We, the people of the State of Wyoming , grateful to God for our civil, political, and religious liberties ... establish this Constitution.
After reviewing acknowledgments of God from all 50 state constitutions, one is faced with the prospect that maybe, the ACLU and the out-of-control federal courts are wrong! If you found this to be "Food for thought" copy and send to as many as you think will be enlightened as I hope you were.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
MAN IN IRAN LASHED FOR BEING CHRISTIAN
As this story illustrates, it is not easy to be Christian.
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=10129
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=10129
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
THE 800 MARTYRS OF OTRANTO
Please read about the Martyrs of Otranto in Italy. They died in 1480 rather than denounce their Catholic faith to the Muslims. This story has many important lessons for us today.
http://chiesa.espresso.repubblica.it/dettaglio.jsp?id=161401&eng=y
http://chiesa.espresso.repubblica.it/dettaglio.jsp?id=161401&eng=y
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Monday, August 6, 2007
Sex for the motherland: Russian youths encouraged to procreate at camp
This story will wake you up.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=471324&in_page_id=1770
http://www.washingtontimes.com/article/20070723/FOREIGN/107230050/1003
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12277079
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=3392893
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/jul/07073010.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=471324&in_page_id=1770
http://www.washingtontimes.com/article/20070723/FOREIGN/107230050/1003
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12277079
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=3392893
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/jul/07073010.html
Friday, August 3, 2007
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Mea Culpa!!!
I know it's been a few weeks since I've entered anything into this blog, but be patient with me. I've been extremely busy with the construction project and I took two weeks RR in Italy. While I was away the staff moved me from my temporary (9 months) office in the office break room to my new digs, which are quite nice. However, I haven't a clue where everything is and I'm still trying to hang my pictures and put everything away (not that I'll remember where I placed anything.)
Gerri Morales mom sent me the picture above of her son, and our parishioner, Sgt. Joe Morales in Iraq (lower left). Please remember to pray for all our troops in harm's way. They're counting on us.
Gerri Morales mom sent me the picture above of her son, and our parishioner, Sgt. Joe Morales in Iraq (lower left). Please remember to pray for all our troops in harm's way. They're counting on us.
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Adult stem cells outperform embryonic stem cells
Gainesville, FL, May 15, 2007 / 12:17 pm (CNA).- The American College of Pediatricians is calling for an end to embryonic stem cell research and recommends the exclusive support of already proven effective adult stem cell research.
For full story go to:
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=9374
Calif. students pay price for refusing to observe pro-homosexual 'Day of Silence'
Dozens of students at three Sacramento, California, area public schools were suspended when they took a stand against a pro-homosexual event -- the "Day of Silence," which was observed nationwide late last month....
For complete details, go to:
http://www.onenewsnow.com/2007/05/calif_students_pay_price_for_r.php
Monday, May 14, 2007
"[Planned Parenthood] set up a system to prevent reporting abuse."
A story out of Mason, Ohio paints a horrifying picture of just how far Planned Parenthood may be willing to go to attract young abortion clients. In what prosecutors are calling "one of the worst cases of child abuse" in Warren County, a local man has been sentenced to five years in prison--one for each year he molested and raped his own daughter. The abuse could have been prevented, or at the very least, cut short, the girl's attorney says, had Planned Parenthood intervened when the young girl reported her dad at the clinic where she was forced to undergo an abortion. Rather than help the hurting child, lawyer Brian Hurley alleges, Planned Parenthood preyed on the girl's vulnerability and refused to intervene as the law requires. Instead, clinic workers performed the procedure and sent her back with a supply of birth control where her tormentor continued sexually assaulting her for another year and a half. In 2006, the girl was so terrified that her dad would also abuse her sister that she shared her story with a high school official, who, unlike Planned Parenthood, contacted police. Tragically, her situation may not be an isolated one; many others are made possible by the government's funding of Planned Parenthood. Similar allegations have been raised in Indiana and Kansas. In the Sunflower State, former state attorney general Phill Kline has obtained abortion clinic records that appear to show a long trail of criminal neglect. Hurley thinks stonewalling on such cases will not work, "If we ever do get a look at all the records, it will ...show... [Planned Parenthood] set up a system to prevent reporting abuse. Some people roll their eyes when you bring up abortion. Nobody rolls their eyes about abuse." Planned Parenthood officials in Ohio deny they have a "don't ask, don't tell" policy about statutory rape.
But read on.
http://zanesvilletimesrecorder.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070512/OPINION02/705120336/1014/OPINION
(Source: Family Research Council)
But read on.
http://zanesvilletimesrecorder.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070512/OPINION02/705120336/1014/OPINION
(Source: Family Research Council)
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Five Nuns Out On The Town
Sisters Mary Catherine, Maria Theresa, Katherine Marie, Rose Frances, & Mary Kathleen left the Convent on a trip to St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City and were sight-seeing on a Tuesday in July. It was hot and humid in town and their traditional garb was making them so uncomfortable, they decided to stop in at Patty McGuire's Pub for a cold soft drink. Patty had recently added special legs to his barstools, which were the talk of the fashionable eastside neighborhood. All 5 Nuns sat up at the bar and were enjoying their Cokes when Monsignor Riley and Father McGinty entered the bar through the front door. They, too, came for a cold drink when they were shocked and almost fainted at what they saw.
Thursday, April 12, 2007
SALAFIST ISLAM SPAWNS ISLAMIC TERRORISM by Samir Khalil Samir, sj
This from Asia News:
At the very roots of the violence is an ideological interpretation of the Koran, rather than mere reactions to Western aggressions. The time has come for Muslims to react to this blind and childish style of religion. The first in a series of lessons on Islamism.
For the rest of the story go to:
http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=8980&size=A
JESUS OF NAZARETH by Pope Benedict XVI
The pope's new book "Jesus of Nazareth" goes on sale in English in mid May. You can pre-order at:
For more info go to :
Friday, March 30, 2007
CONFESSION: ENCOUNTER WITH GOD'S MERCY
VATICAN CITY, MAR 30, 2007 (VIS) - Yesterday evening in the Vatican Basilica, the Pope presided at a penitential celebration with thousands of young people from the diocese of Rome in preparation for the forthcoming World Youth Day. The Day is due to be held on Palm Sunday, April 1, on the theme: "Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another."
"The heart of all mankind ... thirsts for love," said the Holy Father in his homily. "Christians, even more so, cannot live without love. Indeed, if they do not find true love they cannot even call themselves fully Christian because, ... 'being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction.'
"God's love for us," he added, "which began with the creation, became visible in the mystery of the Cross. ... A crucified love that does not stop at the outrage of Good Friday but culminates in the joy of the Resurrection ... and the gift of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of love by which, this evening too, sins will be remitted and forgiveness and peace granted."
This divine love "may be described with the term 'agape,' in other words 'the self-giving love of one who looks exclusively for the good of the other,' but also with the term 'eros'" because "it is also a love in which the heart of the Almighty awaits the 'yes' of His creatures." And "in the sacrifice of the Cross, God continues to present His love ... coming 'to beg' the love of His creatures."
"With Baptism you were born to new life by virtue of the grace of God. However, since this new life has not suppressed the weakness of human nature, ... you are given the opportunity to use the Sacrament of Confession. ... And thus you experience the forgiveness of sins; reconciliation with the Church; the recovery, if lost, of the state of grace; ... peace and serenity of conscience and the consolation of the spirit; and an increase of spiritual strength for the Christian struggle."
Christ "hopes we will allow ourselves to be attracted by His love and feel all its greatness and beauty, but this is not enough. Christ attracts us to Him in order to unite Himself to each one of us, so that, in our turn, we learn to love our brothers and sisters with His same love."
"As you leave this celebration, with your hearts full of the experience of God's love, be prepared 'to dare' to love in your families, in your dealings with your friends and even with those who have offended you. Be prepared to bear a truly Christian witness" in all environments.
Benedict XVI called upon newly-engaged couples to experience the period of their engagement "in the true love which always involves mutual, chaste and responsible respect. And should the Lord call some of you, dear young people of Rome, to a life of special consecration, be ready to answer with a generous and uncompromising 'yes'."
"Dear young people, the world awaits your contribution for the building of the 'civilization of love.' ... Do not become discouraged and always have faith in Christ and in the Church."
Following the liturgy the Pope put on a purple stole and entered the confessional to administer the Sacrament of Penance to six young people. Fifty-five priests joined him in administering the Sacrament to others present in the Vatican Basilica.
http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=50214
(ARTICLE: Vatican Information Service)
(PHOTO: Associated Press)
IDENTITY OF FRENCH "MIRACLE" NUN CURED THROUGH INTERCESSION OF JOHN PAUL II
Read the full story at:
(PHOTO OF SISTER: Associated Press)
Friday, March 23, 2007
SORROW LOOKS UP. WORRY LOOKS AROUND. FAITH LOOKS UP!
"Lord, hold our troops in your loving hands. Protect them as they protect us. Bless them and their families for the selfless acts they perform for us in our time of need. Amen."
RECALL NOTICE!
The Maker of all human beings is recalling all units manufactured,regardless of make or year, due to a serious defect in the primary andcentral component of the heart.This is due to a malfunction in the originalprototype units code named Adam and Eve, resulting in the reproduction ofthe same defect in all subsequent units.
This defect has been technically termed "Subsequential InternalNon-Morality, " or more commonly known as S.I.N., as it is primarilyexpressed. Some other symptoms include:
The Manufacturer, who is neither liable nor at fault for this defect,is providing factory-authorized repair and service free of charge tocorrect this S.I.N defect.
The Repair Technician, Jesus, has most generously offered to bear theentire burden of the staggering cost of these repairs. There is noadditional fee required. The number to call for repair in all areas is:P-R-A-Y-E-R. Once connected, please upload your burden of S.I.N through the REPENTANCE procedure.
Next,download ATONEMENT from the RepairTechnician, Jesus, into the heart component.
No matter how big or small the S.I.N defect is, Jesus will replace itwith:
Please see the operating manual, the B.I.B.L.E. (Believers'Instruction Before Leaving Earth) for further details on the use of thesefixes.
WARNING: Continuing to operate the human being unit withoutcorrection voids any manufacturer warranties, exposing the unit to dangersand problems too numerous to list and will result in the human unit beingpermanently impounded.
For free emergency service, call on Jesus. DANGER: The human beingunits not responding to this recall action will have to be scrapped in thefurnace. The S.I.N defect will not be permitted to enter Heaven so as toprevent contamination of that facility.
Thank you for your attention!
GOD
Please assist where possible by notifying others of this importantrecall notice, and you may contact the Creator anytime by "kneemail".
(Source: Paula O'Keefe).
.
The Maker of all human beings is recalling all units manufactured,regardless of make or year, due to a serious defect in the primary andcentral component of the heart.This is due to a malfunction in the originalprototype units code named Adam and Eve, resulting in the reproduction ofthe same defect in all subsequent units.
This defect has been technically termed "Subsequential InternalNon-Morality, " or more commonly known as S.I.N., as it is primarilyexpressed. Some other symptoms include:
1. Loss of direction
2. Foul vocal emissions
3. Amnesia of origin
4. Lack of peace and joy
5. Selfish or violent behavior
6. Depression or confusion in the mental component
7. Fearfulness
8. Idolatry
9. Rebellion
The Manufacturer, who is neither liable nor at fault for this defect,is providing factory-authorized repair and service free of charge tocorrect this S.I.N defect.
The Repair Technician, Jesus, has most generously offered to bear theentire burden of the staggering cost of these repairs. There is noadditional fee required. The number to call for repair in all areas is:P-R-A-Y-E-R. Once connected, please upload your burden of S.I.N through the REPENTANCE procedure.
Next,download ATONEMENT from the RepairTechnician, Jesus, into the heart component.
No matter how big or small the S.I.N defect is, Jesus will replace itwith:
1. Love
2. Joy
3. Peace
4. Patience
5. Kindness
6. Goodness
7. Faithfulness
8. Gentleness
9. Self control
Please see the operating manual, the B.I.B.L.E. (Believers'Instruction Before Leaving Earth) for further details on the use of thesefixes.
WARNING: Continuing to operate the human being unit withoutcorrection voids any manufacturer warranties, exposing the unit to dangersand problems too numerous to list and will result in the human unit beingpermanently impounded.
For free emergency service, call on Jesus. DANGER: The human beingunits not responding to this recall action will have to be scrapped in thefurnace. The S.I.N defect will not be permitted to enter Heaven so as toprevent contamination of that facility.
Thank you for your attention!
GOD
Please assist where possible by notifying others of this importantrecall notice, and you may contact the Creator anytime by "kneemail".
(Source: Paula O'Keefe).
.
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
"Sacrament of Charity" An Apostolic Letter of Pope Benedict XVI (Part I # 6-11)
POST-SYNODAL APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION
SACRAMENTUM CARITATIS
OF THE HOLY FATHER BENEDICT XVI
TO THE BISHOPS, CLERGY, CONSECRATED PERSONSAND THE LAY FAITHFULON
THE EUCHARISTAS THE SOURCE AND SUMMITOF THE CHURCH'S LIFE AND MISSION
PART ONE
THE EUCHARIST, A MYSTERY TO BE BELIEVED
"This is the work of God: that you believein him whom he has sent" (Jn 6:29)
The Church's eucharistic faith
6. "The mystery of faith!" With these words, spoken immediately after the words of consecration, the priest proclaims the mystery being celebrated and expresses his wonder before the substantial change of bread and wine into the body and blood of the Lord Jesus, a reality which surpasses all human understanding. The Eucharist is a "mystery of faith" par excellence: "the sum and summary of our faith." (13) The Church's faith is essentially a eucharistic faith, and it is especially nourished at the table of the Eucharist. Faith and the sacraments are two complementary aspects of ecclesial life. Awakened by the preaching of God's word, faith is nourished and grows in the grace-filled encounter with the Risen Lord which takes place in the sacraments: "faith is expressed in the rite, while the rite reinforces and strengthens faith." (14) For this reason, the Sacrament of the Altar is always at the heart of the Church's life: "thanks to the Eucharist, the Church is reborn ever anew!" (15) The more lively the eucharistic faith of the People of God, the deeper is its sharing in ecclesial life in steadfast commitment to the mission entrusted by Christ to his disciples. The Church's very history bears witness to this. Every great reform has in some way been linked to the rediscovery of belief in the Lord's eucharistic presence among his people.
The Blessed Trinity and the Eucharist
The bread come down from heaven
7. The first element of eucharistic faith is the mystery of God himself, trinitarian love. In Jesus' dialogue with Nicodemus, we find an illuminating expression in this regard: "God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him" (Jn 3:16-17). These words show the deepest source of God's gift. In the Eucharist Jesus does not give us a "thing," but himself; he offers his own body and pours out his own blood. He thus gives us the totality of his life and reveals the ultimate origin of this love. He is the eternal Son, given to us by the Father. In the Gospel we hear how Jesus, after feeding the crowds by multiplying the loaves and fishes, says to those who had followed him to the synagogue of Capernaum: "My Father gives you the true bread from heaven; for the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven, and gives life to the world" (Jn 6:32-33), and even identifies himself, his own flesh and blood, with that bread: "I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh" (Jn 6:51). Jesus thus shows that he is the bread of life which the eternal Father gives to mankind.
A free gift of the Blessed Trinity
8. The Eucharist reveals the loving plan that guides all of salvation history (cf. Eph 1:10; 3:8- 11). There the Deus Trinitas, who is essentially love (cf. 1 Jn 4:7-8), becomes fully a part of our human condition. In the bread and wine under whose appearances Christ gives himself to us in the paschal meal (cf. Lk 22:14-20; 1 Cor 11:23-26), God's whole life encounters us and is sacramentally shared with us. God is a perfect communion of love between Father, Son and Holy Spirit. At creation itself, man was called to have some share in God's breath of life (cf. Gen 2:7). But it is in Christ, dead and risen, and in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, given without measure (cf. Jn 3:34), that we have become sharers of God's inmost life. (16) Jesus Christ, who "through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God" (Heb 9:14), makes us, in the gift of the Eucharist, sharers in God's own life. This is an absolutely free gift, the superabundant fulfilment of God's promises. The Church receives, celebrates and adores this gift in faithful obedience. The "mystery of faith" is thus a mystery of trinitarian love, a mystery in which we are called by grace to participate. We too should therefore exclaim with Saint Augustine: "If you see love, you see the Trinity." (17)
The Eucharist: Jesus the true Sacrificial lamb
The new and eternal covenant in the blood of the Lamb
9. The mission for which Jesus came among us was accomplished in the Paschal Mystery. On the Cross from which he draws all people to himself (cf. Jn 12:32), just before "giving up the Spirit," he utters the words: "it is finished" (Jn 19:30). In the mystery of Christ's obedience unto death, even death on a Cross (cf. Phil 2:8), the new and eternal covenant was brought about. In his crucified flesh, God's freedom and our human freedom met definitively in an inviolable, eternally valid pact. Human sin was also redeemed once for all by God's Son (cf. Heb 7:27; 1 Jn 2:2; 4:10). As I have said elsewhere, "Christ's death on the Cross is the culmination of that turning of God against himself in which he gives himself in order to raise man up and save him. This is love in its most radical form." (18) In the Paschal Mystery, our deliverance from evil and death has taken place. In instituting the Eucharist, Jesus had spoken of the "new and eternal covenant" in the shedding of his blood (cf. Mt 26:28; Mk 14:24; Lk 22:20). This, the ultimate purpose of his mission, was clear from the very beginning of his public life. Indeed, when, on the banks of the Jordan, John the Baptist saw Jesus coming towards him, he cried out: "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world" (Jn 1:29). It is significant that these same words are repeated at every celebration of Holy Mass, when the priest invites us to approach the altar: "This is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Happy are those who are called to his supper." Jesus is the true paschal lamb who freely gave himself in sacrifice for us, and thus brought about the new and eternal covenant. The Eucharist contains this radical newness, which is offered to us again at every celebration. (19)
The institution of the Eucharist
10. This leads us to reflect on the institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper. It took place within a ritual meal commemorating the foundational event of the people of Israel: their deliverance from slavery in Egypt. This ritual meal, which called for the sacrifice of lambs (cf. Ex 12:1-28, 43-51), was a remembrance of the past, but at the same time a prophetic remembrance, the proclamation of a deliverance yet to come. The people had come to realize that their earlier liberation was not definitive, for their history continued to be marked by slavery and sin. The remembrance of their ancient liberation thus expanded to the invocation and expectation of a yet more profound, radical, universal and definitive salvation. This is the context in which Jesus introduces the newness of his gift. In the prayer of praise, the Berakah, he does not simply thank the Father for the great events of past history, but also for his own "exaltation." In instituting the sacrament of the Eucharist, Jesus anticipates and makes present the sacrifice of the Cross and the victory of the resurrection. At the same time, he reveals that he himself is the true sacrificial lamb, destined in the Father's plan from the foundation of the world, as we read in The First Letter of Peter (cf. 1:18-20). By placing his gift in this context, Jesus shows the salvific meaning of his death and resurrection, a mystery which renews history and the whole cosmos. The institution of the Eucharist demonstrates how Jesus' death, for all its violence and absurdity, became in him a supreme act of love and mankind's definitive deliverance from evil.
Figura transit in veritatem
11. Jesus thus brings his own radical novum to the ancient Hebrew sacrificial meal. For us Christians, that meal no longer need be repeated. As the Church Fathers rightly say, figura transit in veritatem: the foreshadowing has given way to the truth itself. The ancient rite has been brought to fulfilment and definitively surpassed by the loving gift of the incarnate Son of God. The food of truth, Christ sacrificed for our sake, dat figuris terminum. (20) By his command to "do this in remembrance of me" (Lk 22:19; 1 Cor 11:25), he asks us to respond to his gift and to make it sacramentally present. In these words the Lord expresses, as it were, his expectation that the Church, born of his sacrifice, will receive this gift, developing under the guidance of the Holy Spirit the liturgical form of the sacrament. The remembrance of his perfect gift consists not in the mere repetition of the Last Supper, but in the Eucharist itself, that is, in the radical newness of Christian worship. In this way, Jesus left us the task of entering into his "hour." "The Eucharist draws us into Jesus' act of self-oblation. More than just statically receiving the incarnate Logos, we enter into the very dynamic of his self-giving." (21) Jesus "draws us into himself." (22) The substantial conversion of bread and wine into his body and blood introduces within creation the principle of a radical change, a sort of "nuclear fission," to use an image familiar to us today, which penetrates to the heart of all being, a change meant to set off a process which transforms reality, a process leading ultimately to the transfiguration of the entire world, to the point where God will be all in all (cf. 1 Cor 15:28).
Full Text at:
TO THE BISHOPS, CLERGY, CONSECRATED PERSONSAND THE LAY FAITHFULON
THE EUCHARISTAS THE SOURCE AND SUMMITOF THE CHURCH'S LIFE AND MISSION
PART ONE
THE EUCHARIST, A MYSTERY TO BE BELIEVED
"This is the work of God: that you believein him whom he has sent" (Jn 6:29)
The Church's eucharistic faith
6. "The mystery of faith!" With these words, spoken immediately after the words of consecration, the priest proclaims the mystery being celebrated and expresses his wonder before the substantial change of bread and wine into the body and blood of the Lord Jesus, a reality which surpasses all human understanding. The Eucharist is a "mystery of faith" par excellence: "the sum and summary of our faith." (13) The Church's faith is essentially a eucharistic faith, and it is especially nourished at the table of the Eucharist. Faith and the sacraments are two complementary aspects of ecclesial life. Awakened by the preaching of God's word, faith is nourished and grows in the grace-filled encounter with the Risen Lord which takes place in the sacraments: "faith is expressed in the rite, while the rite reinforces and strengthens faith." (14) For this reason, the Sacrament of the Altar is always at the heart of the Church's life: "thanks to the Eucharist, the Church is reborn ever anew!" (15) The more lively the eucharistic faith of the People of God, the deeper is its sharing in ecclesial life in steadfast commitment to the mission entrusted by Christ to his disciples. The Church's very history bears witness to this. Every great reform has in some way been linked to the rediscovery of belief in the Lord's eucharistic presence among his people.
The Blessed Trinity and the Eucharist
The bread come down from heaven
7. The first element of eucharistic faith is the mystery of God himself, trinitarian love. In Jesus' dialogue with Nicodemus, we find an illuminating expression in this regard: "God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him" (Jn 3:16-17). These words show the deepest source of God's gift. In the Eucharist Jesus does not give us a "thing," but himself; he offers his own body and pours out his own blood. He thus gives us the totality of his life and reveals the ultimate origin of this love. He is the eternal Son, given to us by the Father. In the Gospel we hear how Jesus, after feeding the crowds by multiplying the loaves and fishes, says to those who had followed him to the synagogue of Capernaum: "My Father gives you the true bread from heaven; for the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven, and gives life to the world" (Jn 6:32-33), and even identifies himself, his own flesh and blood, with that bread: "I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh" (Jn 6:51). Jesus thus shows that he is the bread of life which the eternal Father gives to mankind.
A free gift of the Blessed Trinity
8. The Eucharist reveals the loving plan that guides all of salvation history (cf. Eph 1:10; 3:8- 11). There the Deus Trinitas, who is essentially love (cf. 1 Jn 4:7-8), becomes fully a part of our human condition. In the bread and wine under whose appearances Christ gives himself to us in the paschal meal (cf. Lk 22:14-20; 1 Cor 11:23-26), God's whole life encounters us and is sacramentally shared with us. God is a perfect communion of love between Father, Son and Holy Spirit. At creation itself, man was called to have some share in God's breath of life (cf. Gen 2:7). But it is in Christ, dead and risen, and in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, given without measure (cf. Jn 3:34), that we have become sharers of God's inmost life. (16) Jesus Christ, who "through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God" (Heb 9:14), makes us, in the gift of the Eucharist, sharers in God's own life. This is an absolutely free gift, the superabundant fulfilment of God's promises. The Church receives, celebrates and adores this gift in faithful obedience. The "mystery of faith" is thus a mystery of trinitarian love, a mystery in which we are called by grace to participate. We too should therefore exclaim with Saint Augustine: "If you see love, you see the Trinity." (17)
The Eucharist: Jesus the true Sacrificial lamb
The new and eternal covenant in the blood of the Lamb
9. The mission for which Jesus came among us was accomplished in the Paschal Mystery. On the Cross from which he draws all people to himself (cf. Jn 12:32), just before "giving up the Spirit," he utters the words: "it is finished" (Jn 19:30). In the mystery of Christ's obedience unto death, even death on a Cross (cf. Phil 2:8), the new and eternal covenant was brought about. In his crucified flesh, God's freedom and our human freedom met definitively in an inviolable, eternally valid pact. Human sin was also redeemed once for all by God's Son (cf. Heb 7:27; 1 Jn 2:2; 4:10). As I have said elsewhere, "Christ's death on the Cross is the culmination of that turning of God against himself in which he gives himself in order to raise man up and save him. This is love in its most radical form." (18) In the Paschal Mystery, our deliverance from evil and death has taken place. In instituting the Eucharist, Jesus had spoken of the "new and eternal covenant" in the shedding of his blood (cf. Mt 26:28; Mk 14:24; Lk 22:20). This, the ultimate purpose of his mission, was clear from the very beginning of his public life. Indeed, when, on the banks of the Jordan, John the Baptist saw Jesus coming towards him, he cried out: "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world" (Jn 1:29). It is significant that these same words are repeated at every celebration of Holy Mass, when the priest invites us to approach the altar: "This is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Happy are those who are called to his supper." Jesus is the true paschal lamb who freely gave himself in sacrifice for us, and thus brought about the new and eternal covenant. The Eucharist contains this radical newness, which is offered to us again at every celebration. (19)
The institution of the Eucharist
10. This leads us to reflect on the institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper. It took place within a ritual meal commemorating the foundational event of the people of Israel: their deliverance from slavery in Egypt. This ritual meal, which called for the sacrifice of lambs (cf. Ex 12:1-28, 43-51), was a remembrance of the past, but at the same time a prophetic remembrance, the proclamation of a deliverance yet to come. The people had come to realize that their earlier liberation was not definitive, for their history continued to be marked by slavery and sin. The remembrance of their ancient liberation thus expanded to the invocation and expectation of a yet more profound, radical, universal and definitive salvation. This is the context in which Jesus introduces the newness of his gift. In the prayer of praise, the Berakah, he does not simply thank the Father for the great events of past history, but also for his own "exaltation." In instituting the sacrament of the Eucharist, Jesus anticipates and makes present the sacrifice of the Cross and the victory of the resurrection. At the same time, he reveals that he himself is the true sacrificial lamb, destined in the Father's plan from the foundation of the world, as we read in The First Letter of Peter (cf. 1:18-20). By placing his gift in this context, Jesus shows the salvific meaning of his death and resurrection, a mystery which renews history and the whole cosmos. The institution of the Eucharist demonstrates how Jesus' death, for all its violence and absurdity, became in him a supreme act of love and mankind's definitive deliverance from evil.
Figura transit in veritatem
11. Jesus thus brings his own radical novum to the ancient Hebrew sacrificial meal. For us Christians, that meal no longer need be repeated. As the Church Fathers rightly say, figura transit in veritatem: the foreshadowing has given way to the truth itself. The ancient rite has been brought to fulfilment and definitively surpassed by the loving gift of the incarnate Son of God. The food of truth, Christ sacrificed for our sake, dat figuris terminum. (20) By his command to "do this in remembrance of me" (Lk 22:19; 1 Cor 11:25), he asks us to respond to his gift and to make it sacramentally present. In these words the Lord expresses, as it were, his expectation that the Church, born of his sacrifice, will receive this gift, developing under the guidance of the Holy Spirit the liturgical form of the sacrament. The remembrance of his perfect gift consists not in the mere repetition of the Last Supper, but in the Eucharist itself, that is, in the radical newness of Christian worship. In this way, Jesus left us the task of entering into his "hour." "The Eucharist draws us into Jesus' act of self-oblation. More than just statically receiving the incarnate Logos, we enter into the very dynamic of his self-giving." (21) Jesus "draws us into himself." (22) The substantial conversion of bread and wine into his body and blood introduces within creation the principle of a radical change, a sort of "nuclear fission," to use an image familiar to us today, which penetrates to the heart of all being, a change meant to set off a process which transforms reality, a process leading ultimately to the transfiguration of the entire world, to the point where God will be all in all (cf. 1 Cor 15:28).
Full Text at:
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
"Sacrament of Charity" An Apostolic Letter of Pope Benedict XVI (INTRODUCTION)
POST-SYNODAL APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION
SACRAMENTUM CARITATIS
OF THE HOLY FATHER BENEDICT XVI
SACRAMENTUM CARITATIS
OF THE HOLY FATHER BENEDICT XVI
TO THE BISHOPS, CLERGY, CONSECRATED PERSONSAND THE LAY FAITHFULON
THE EUCHARISTAS THE SOURCE AND SUMMITOF THE CHURCH'S LIFE AND MISSION
INTRODUCTION
1. The sacrament of charity (1), the Holy Eucharist is the gift that Jesus Christ makes of himself, thus revealing to us God's infinite love for every man and woman. This wondrous sacrament makes manifest that "greater" love which led him to "lay down his life for his friends" (Jn 15:13). Jesus did indeed love them "to the end" (Jn 13:1). In those words the Evangelist introduces Christ's act of immense humility: before dying for us on the Cross, he tied a towel around himself and washed the feet of his disciples. In the same way, Jesus continues, in the sacrament of the Eucharist, to love us "to the end," even to offering us his body and his blood. What amazement must the Apostles have felt in witnessing what the Lord did and said during that Supper! What wonder must the eucharistic mystery also awaken in our own hearts!
The food of truth
2. In the sacrament of the altar, the Lord meets us, men and women created in God's image and likeness (cf. Gen 1:27), and becomes our companion along the way. In this sacrament, the Lord truly becomes food for us, to satisfy our hunger for truth and freedom. Since only the truth can make us free (cf. Jn 8:32), Christ becomes for us the food of truth. With deep human insight, Saint Augustine clearly showed how we are moved spontaneously, and not by constraint, whenever we encounter something attractive and desirable. Asking himself what it is that can move us most deeply, the saintly Bishop went on to say: "What does our soul desire more passionately than truth?" (2) Each of us has an innate and irrepressible desire for ultimate and definitive truth. The Lord Jesus, "the way, and the truth, and the life" (Jn 14:6), speaks to our thirsting, pilgrim hearts, our hearts yearning for the source of life, our hearts longing for truth. Jesus Christ is the Truth in person, drawing the world to himself. "Jesus is the lodestar of human freedom: without him, freedom loses its focus, for without the knowledge of truth, freedom becomes debased, alienated and reduced to empty caprice. With him, freedom finds itself." (3) In the sacrament of the Eucharist, Jesus shows us in particular the truth about the love which is the very essence of God. It is this evangelical truth which challenges each of us and our whole being. For this reason, the Church, which finds in the Eucharist the very centre of her life, is constantly concerned to proclaim to all, opportune importune (cf. 2 Tim 4:2), that God is love.(4) Precisely because Christ has become for us the food of truth, the Church turns to every man and woman, inviting them freely to accept God's gift.
The development of the eucharistic rite
3. If we consider the bimillenary history of God's Church, guided by the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, we can gratefully admire the orderly development of the ritual forms in which we commemorate the event of our salvation. From the varied forms of the early centuries, still resplendent in the rites of the Ancient Churches of the East, up to the spread of the Roman rite; from the clear indications of the Council of Trent and the Missal of Saint Pius V to the liturgical renewal called for by the Second Vatican Council: in every age of the Church's history the eucharistic celebration, as the source and summit of her life and mission, shines forth in the liturgical rite in all its richness and variety. The Eleventh Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, held from 2-23 October 2005 in the Vatican, gratefully acknowledged the guidance of the Holy Spirit in this rich history. In a particular way, the Synod Fathers acknowledged and reaffirmed the beneficial influence on the Church's life of the liturgical renewal which began with the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council (5). The Synod of Bishops was able to evaluate the reception of the renewal in the years following the Council. There were many expressions of appreciation. The difficulties and even the occasional abuses which were noted, it was affirmed, cannot overshadow the benefits and the validity of the liturgical renewal, whose riches are yet to be fully explored. Concretely, the changes which the Council called for need to be understood within the overall unity of the historical development of the rite itself, without the introduction of artificial discontinuities.(6)
The Synod of Bishops and the Year of the Eucharist
4. We should also emphasize the relationship between the recent Synod of Bishops on the Eucharist and the events which have taken place in the Church's life in recent years. First of all, we should recall the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000, with which my beloved Predecessor, the Servant of God John Paul II, led the Church into the third Christian millennium. The Jubilee Year clearly had a significant eucharistic dimension. Nor can we forget that the Synod of Bishops was preceded, and in some sense prepared for, by the Year of the Eucharist which John Paul II had, with great foresight, wanted the whole Church to celebrate. That year, which began with the International Eucharistic Congress in Guadalajara in October 2004, ended on 23 October 2005, at the conclusion of the XI Synodal Assembly, with the canonization of five saints particularly distinguished for their eucharistic piety: Bishop Józef Bilczewski, Fathers Gaetano Catanoso, Zygmunt Gorazdowski and Alberto Hurtado Cruchaga, and the Capuchin Fra Felice da Nicosia. Thanks to the teachings proposed by John Paul II in the Apostolic Letter Mane Nobiscum Domine (7) and to the helpful suggestions of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments,(8) many initiatives were undertaken by Dioceses and various ecclesial groups in order to reawaken and increase eucharistic faith, to improve the quality of eucharistic celebration, to promote eucharistic adoration and to encourage a practical solidarity which, starting from the Eucharist, would reach out to those in need. Finally, mention should be made of the significance of my venerable Predecessor's last Encyclical, Ecclesia de Eucharistia (9), in which he left us a sure magisterial statement of the Church's teaching on the Eucharist and a final testimony of the central place that this divine sacrament had in his own life.
The purpose of this Exhortation
5. This Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation seeks to take up the richness and variety of the reflections and proposals which emerged from the recent Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops – from the Lineamenta to the Propositiones, along the way of the Instrumentum Laboris, the Relationes ante and post disceptationem, the interventions of the Synod Fathers, the auditores and the fraternal delegates – and to offer some basic directions aimed at a renewed commitment to eucharistic enthusiasm and fervour in the Church. Conscious of the immense patrimony of doctrine and discipline accumulated over the centuries with regard to this sacrament,(10) I wish here to endorse the wishes expressed by the Synod Fathers (11) by encouraging the Christian people to deepen their understanding of the relationship between the eucharistic mystery, the liturgical action, and the new spiritual worship which derives from the Eucharist as the sacrament of charity. Consequently, I wish to set the present Exhortation alongside my first Encyclical Letter, Deus Caritas Est, in which I frequently mentioned the sacrament of the Eucharist and stressed its relationship to Christian love, both of God and of neighbour: "God incarnate draws us all to himself. We can thus understand how agape also became a term for the Eucharist: there God's own agape comes to us bodily, in order to continue his work in us and through us" (12).
(The remainder of the text will follow in installments)
INTRODUCTION
1. The sacrament of charity (1), the Holy Eucharist is the gift that Jesus Christ makes of himself, thus revealing to us God's infinite love for every man and woman. This wondrous sacrament makes manifest that "greater" love which led him to "lay down his life for his friends" (Jn 15:13). Jesus did indeed love them "to the end" (Jn 13:1). In those words the Evangelist introduces Christ's act of immense humility: before dying for us on the Cross, he tied a towel around himself and washed the feet of his disciples. In the same way, Jesus continues, in the sacrament of the Eucharist, to love us "to the end," even to offering us his body and his blood. What amazement must the Apostles have felt in witnessing what the Lord did and said during that Supper! What wonder must the eucharistic mystery also awaken in our own hearts!
The food of truth
2. In the sacrament of the altar, the Lord meets us, men and women created in God's image and likeness (cf. Gen 1:27), and becomes our companion along the way. In this sacrament, the Lord truly becomes food for us, to satisfy our hunger for truth and freedom. Since only the truth can make us free (cf. Jn 8:32), Christ becomes for us the food of truth. With deep human insight, Saint Augustine clearly showed how we are moved spontaneously, and not by constraint, whenever we encounter something attractive and desirable. Asking himself what it is that can move us most deeply, the saintly Bishop went on to say: "What does our soul desire more passionately than truth?" (2) Each of us has an innate and irrepressible desire for ultimate and definitive truth. The Lord Jesus, "the way, and the truth, and the life" (Jn 14:6), speaks to our thirsting, pilgrim hearts, our hearts yearning for the source of life, our hearts longing for truth. Jesus Christ is the Truth in person, drawing the world to himself. "Jesus is the lodestar of human freedom: without him, freedom loses its focus, for without the knowledge of truth, freedom becomes debased, alienated and reduced to empty caprice. With him, freedom finds itself." (3) In the sacrament of the Eucharist, Jesus shows us in particular the truth about the love which is the very essence of God. It is this evangelical truth which challenges each of us and our whole being. For this reason, the Church, which finds in the Eucharist the very centre of her life, is constantly concerned to proclaim to all, opportune importune (cf. 2 Tim 4:2), that God is love.(4) Precisely because Christ has become for us the food of truth, the Church turns to every man and woman, inviting them freely to accept God's gift.
The development of the eucharistic rite
3. If we consider the bimillenary history of God's Church, guided by the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, we can gratefully admire the orderly development of the ritual forms in which we commemorate the event of our salvation. From the varied forms of the early centuries, still resplendent in the rites of the Ancient Churches of the East, up to the spread of the Roman rite; from the clear indications of the Council of Trent and the Missal of Saint Pius V to the liturgical renewal called for by the Second Vatican Council: in every age of the Church's history the eucharistic celebration, as the source and summit of her life and mission, shines forth in the liturgical rite in all its richness and variety. The Eleventh Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, held from 2-23 October 2005 in the Vatican, gratefully acknowledged the guidance of the Holy Spirit in this rich history. In a particular way, the Synod Fathers acknowledged and reaffirmed the beneficial influence on the Church's life of the liturgical renewal which began with the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council (5). The Synod of Bishops was able to evaluate the reception of the renewal in the years following the Council. There were many expressions of appreciation. The difficulties and even the occasional abuses which were noted, it was affirmed, cannot overshadow the benefits and the validity of the liturgical renewal, whose riches are yet to be fully explored. Concretely, the changes which the Council called for need to be understood within the overall unity of the historical development of the rite itself, without the introduction of artificial discontinuities.(6)
The Synod of Bishops and the Year of the Eucharist
4. We should also emphasize the relationship between the recent Synod of Bishops on the Eucharist and the events which have taken place in the Church's life in recent years. First of all, we should recall the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000, with which my beloved Predecessor, the Servant of God John Paul II, led the Church into the third Christian millennium. The Jubilee Year clearly had a significant eucharistic dimension. Nor can we forget that the Synod of Bishops was preceded, and in some sense prepared for, by the Year of the Eucharist which John Paul II had, with great foresight, wanted the whole Church to celebrate. That year, which began with the International Eucharistic Congress in Guadalajara in October 2004, ended on 23 October 2005, at the conclusion of the XI Synodal Assembly, with the canonization of five saints particularly distinguished for their eucharistic piety: Bishop Józef Bilczewski, Fathers Gaetano Catanoso, Zygmunt Gorazdowski and Alberto Hurtado Cruchaga, and the Capuchin Fra Felice da Nicosia. Thanks to the teachings proposed by John Paul II in the Apostolic Letter Mane Nobiscum Domine (7) and to the helpful suggestions of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments,(8) many initiatives were undertaken by Dioceses and various ecclesial groups in order to reawaken and increase eucharistic faith, to improve the quality of eucharistic celebration, to promote eucharistic adoration and to encourage a practical solidarity which, starting from the Eucharist, would reach out to those in need. Finally, mention should be made of the significance of my venerable Predecessor's last Encyclical, Ecclesia de Eucharistia (9), in which he left us a sure magisterial statement of the Church's teaching on the Eucharist and a final testimony of the central place that this divine sacrament had in his own life.
The purpose of this Exhortation
5. This Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation seeks to take up the richness and variety of the reflections and proposals which emerged from the recent Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops – from the Lineamenta to the Propositiones, along the way of the Instrumentum Laboris, the Relationes ante and post disceptationem, the interventions of the Synod Fathers, the auditores and the fraternal delegates – and to offer some basic directions aimed at a renewed commitment to eucharistic enthusiasm and fervour in the Church. Conscious of the immense patrimony of doctrine and discipline accumulated over the centuries with regard to this sacrament,(10) I wish here to endorse the wishes expressed by the Synod Fathers (11) by encouraging the Christian people to deepen their understanding of the relationship between the eucharistic mystery, the liturgical action, and the new spiritual worship which derives from the Eucharist as the sacrament of charity. Consequently, I wish to set the present Exhortation alongside my first Encyclical Letter, Deus Caritas Est, in which I frequently mentioned the sacrament of the Eucharist and stressed its relationship to Christian love, both of God and of neighbour: "God incarnate draws us all to himself. We can thus understand how agape also became a term for the Eucharist: there God's own agape comes to us bodily, in order to continue his work in us and through us" (12).
(The remainder of the text will follow in installments)
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