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:

http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=50185

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article1588370.ece

(PHOTO OF SISTER: Associated Press)

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:

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).
.

"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:

http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_ben-xvi_exh_20070222_sacramentum-caritatis_en.html#PART_ONE

"Sacrament of Charity" An Apostolic Letter of Pope Benedict XVI (INTRODUCTION)

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

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)

"Blessed are the Pure in Heart"

Bishop Robert W. Finn of Kansas City- St. Joseph is the author of "Blessed are the Pure in Heart", a Pastoral Letter on the dignity of the human person and the dangers of pornography.

Check it out at the following sites:

http://www.diocese-kcsj.org/flashLanding.html

http://www.catholicculture.org/docs/doc_view.cfm?recnum=7438

Missing Soldier Receives Third Promotion

These links say it all.

http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=38281&archive=true

http://www.defenselink.mil/home/faceofdefense/fod/2006-08/f20060815a.html

http://www.vvof.org/keith.htm

http://www.pownetwork.org/gulfII/maupin.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Maupin

http://www.bluestarmothers.org/documents/maupin.htm

INVESTIGATION INTO THE LIFE, VIRTUES AND FAME OF SANCTITY OF THE LATE JOHN PAUL II

CONCLUSION OF DIOCESAN STAGE OF JOHN PAUL II'S CAUSE

VATICAN CITY, MAR 10, 2007 (VIS) - In the basilica of St. John Lateran, on Monday April 2, the second anniversary of the death of John Paul II, the closing session will be held of the diocesan investigation into the life, virtues and fame of sanctity of the late pontiff.

Having received notification from the postulator of John Paul II's cause of beatification and canonization, Fr. Slawomir Oder, Cardinal Camillo Ruini, the Holy Father's vicar general for the diocese of Rome, announced the news in a letter addressed to the priests, deacons, male and female religious and laity of the city.

The opening session of the diocesan investigation was held in the same basilica on June 28, 2005, less than three months after John Paul II's death, after Benedict XVI waived the normal waiting period of five years after the death of a Servant of God.

The diocesan investigation over, the acts and documents will now pass to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, where all the material will be studied.

(Source: Vatican Information Service)

RED FRIDAYS

The following was forwarded to me. I am proud to pass it on to you.

RED FRIDAYS ----- Very soon, you will see a great many people wearing Red every Friday. The reason? Americans who support our troops used to be called the "silent majority". We are no longer silent, and are voicing our love for country and home in record breaking numbers. We are not organized, boisterous or over-bearing. We get no liberal media coverage on TV, to reflect our message or our opinions.

Many Americans, like you, me and all our friends, simply want to recognize that the vast majority of America supports our troops. Our idea of showing solidarity and support for our troops with dignity and respect starts this Friday -and continues each and every Friday until the troops all come home, sending a deafening message that every red-blooded American who supports our men and women afar will wear something red.

By word of mouth, press, TV -- let's make the United States on every Friday a sea of red much like a homecoming football game in the bleachers.

If every one of us who loves this country will share this with acquaintances, co-workers, friends, and family. It will not be long before the USA is covered in RED and it will let our troops know the once "silent" majority is on their side more than ever, certainly more than the media lets on.

The first thing a soldier says when asked "What can we do to make things better for you?" is...We need your support and your prayers. Let's get the word out and lead with class and dignity, by example; and wear something red every Friday.

WE LIVE IN THE LAND OF THE FREE, ONLY BECAUSE OF THE BRAVE.

THEIR BLOOD RUNS RED---- SO WEAR RED!

DOMINICAN SISTERS OF MARY MOTHER OF THE EUCHARIST

This weekend, March 10-11, the Dominican Sisters of Mary Mother of the Eucharist will be speaking at all the Masses here at Our Lady of the Rosary on vocations to the Religious Life. As you can see from the pictures, many of the women in this new order a young. I believe the average age of the community is just 26.

Over the last ten years, this community of religious women has grown from 4 memebers to 72 (and counting). Their primary apostolate is to teach in Catholic schools. Perhaps I should inquire if they'd be interested in running our new early childhood program. I don't know if they do that kind of ministry or not, but what does it hurt to ask. So I'll ask, and you pray!

I hope and pray the parishioners of OLOR will make the sisters welcome. A special thanks to Angela Martinez for agreeing to host the sisters in her home.

For information on this dynamic young community of religious women, go to their web site at:

http://www.sistersofmary.org/index.php

Priest, related to British royal family, moves closer to canonization

Simon Caldwell of Catholic News Service writes:

"The British royal family could soon have its first saint after the Catholic Church took a step forward in the canonization process of a priest related to Princes William and Harry....."

Go to Catholic News Service for the rest of the story:

http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0701277.htm

Boston Cardinal Cites Canada as an Example on Crackdown on Religious Freedom

Hillalry White of Life Site News writes:

"Boston's Cardinal Archbishop, Sean O'Malley has compared Canada's eroding legal protections for religious freedom with the case of a Lexington Massachusetts father who was denied by a school his right to opt his son out of state-prescribed sex-education classes......"

For the rest of the story go to Life Site News at:

http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/mar/07030606.html

THE SEAMSTRESS

One day, when a seamstress was sewing while sitting close to a river, her thimble fell into the river. When she cried out, the Lord appeared and asked, "My dear child, why are you crying?"

The seamstress replied that her thimble had fallen into the water and that she needed it to help her husband in making a living for their family.

The Lord dipped His hand into the water and pulled up a golden thimble set with pearls. "Is this your thimble?" the Lord asked.

The seamstress replied, "No."

The Lord again dipped into the river. He held out a silver thimble ringed with sapphires. "Is this your thimble?" the Lord asked.

Again, the seamstress replied, "No."

The Lord reached down again and came up with a leather thimble. "Is this your thimble?" the Lord asked.

The seamstress replied, "Yes."

The Lord was pleased with the woman's honesty and gave her all three thimbles to keep, and the seamstress went home happy.

Some years later, the seamstress was walking with her husband along the riverbank, and her husband fell into the river and disappeared under the water. When she cried out, the Lord again appeared and asked her, "Why are you crying?" "Oh Lord, my husband has fallen into the river!"

The Lord reached down into the water and came up with George Clooney. "Is this your husband?" the Lord asked.

"Yes," cried the seamstress.

The Lord was furious. "You lied! That is an untruth!"

The seamstress replied, "Oh, forgive me, my Lord. It is a misunderstanding. You see, if I had said 'no' to George Clooney, you would have come up with Brad Pitt. Then if I said 'no' to him, you would have come up with my husband. Had I then said 'yes,' you would have given me all three. Lord, I'm not in the best of health and would not be able to take care of all three husbands, so THAT'S why I said 'yes' to George Clooney.

And so the Lord let her keep him.

The moral of this story is: Whenever a woman lies, it's for a good and honorable reason, and in the best interest of others.

That's our story, and we're sticking to it.

Signed,
All Us Women

(SOURCE: Ann Steffens)

FLORIDA RIGHT TO LIFE
378 CenterPointe Circle, Suite 1250
Altamonte Springs FL 32701
407.834.LIFE
www.frtl.org frtl@earthlink.net

U.S. House of Representatives may act within weeks to restrict "grassroots lobbying" and right to communicate with federal officials

This is a congressional alert from the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) in Washington, issued March 6, 2007, at 11 AM EST. Please forward this alert to any appropriate lists.

WASHINGTON (March 6, 2007) -- The U.S. House of Representatives may act within weeks on legislation that would restrict so-called "grassroots lobbying," and also on legislation that would restrict the right of private citizens to communicate with officials of the federal Executive Branch.

Please communicate immediately with your representative in the U.S. House in opposition to restrictions on "grassroots lobbying" and in opposition to the Waxman-Davis "Executive Branch Reform Act" (H.R. 984). For essential details on what is happening, and to access easy-to-use tools to transmit appropriate e-mails and phone calls on these bills, go to the NRLC Legislative Action Center here:

http://www.capwiz.com/nrlc/issues/alert/?alertid=9319341&type=CO

For more detailed background information on these issues, see:

-- National Right to Life update (February 1, 2007) on stepped-up congressional attacks on "grassroots lobbying":

http://www.nrlc.org/FreeSpeech/NRLCFightsforGrassrootsLobbying.html

-- NRLC memo explaining the Waxman-Davis "Executive Branch Reform Act" (H.R. 984) (February 20, 2007) (PDF format):

http://www.nrlc.org/FreeSpeech/WaxmanDavisArticle.pdf

-- News clip: The Hill (March 6, 2007): "Anti-abortion-rights group takes aim at disclosure bill," by Jeffrey Young.

http://thehill.com/business--lobby/anti-abortion-rights-group-takes-aim-at-disclosure-bill-2007-03-05.html

-- News clip: Washington Post (March 6, 2007): "Lobbying Bill Sparks Populist Uprising -- on Both Sides," by Jeffrey H. Birnbaum.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/05/AR2007030501370_pf.html

-- Text of Waxman-Davis bill (H.R. 984) as approved by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on February 14, 2007 (PDF format):

http://www.nrlc.org/FreeSpeech/WaxmanDavisHR984.pdf

For further information, contact NRLC, Federal Legislation Department, 202-626-8820, Legfederal@aol.com

Church Bulletin Bluppers

They're Back! Church Bulletins: These sentences actually appeared in church bulletins or were announced in church services:

The Fasting & Prayer Conference includes meals.

The sermon this morning: "Jesus Walks on the Water." The sermon tonight: "Searching for Jesus."

Our youth basketball team is back in action Wednesday at 8 PM in the recreation hall. Come out and watch us kill Christ the King.

Ladies, don't forget the rummage sale. It's a chance to get rid of those things not worth keeping around the house. Bring your husbands.

The peacemaking meeting scheduled for today has been canceled due to a conflict.

Remember in prayer the many who are sick of our community. Smile at someone who is hard to love. Say "Hell" to someone who doesn't care much about you.

Don't let worry kill you off - let the Church help.

Miss Charlene Mason sang "I will not pass this way again," giving obvious pleasure to the congregation.

For those of you who have children and don't know it, we have a nursery downstairs.

Next Thursday there will be tryouts for the choir. They need all the help they can get.

The Rector will preach his farewell message after which the choir will sing: "Break Forth Into Joy."

Irving Benson and Jessie Carter were married on October 24 in the church. So ends a friendship that began in their school days.

A bean supper will be held on Tuesday evening in the church hall. Music will follow.

At the evening service tonight, the sermon topic will be "What Is Hell?" Come early and listen to our choir practice.

Eight new choir robes are currently needed due to the addition of several new members and to the deterioration of some older ones.

Scouts are saving aluminum cans, bottles and other items to be recycled. Proceeds will be used to cripple children.

Please place your donation in the envelope along with the deceased person you want remembered.

The church will host an evening of fine dining, super entertainment and gracious hostility.

Potluck supper Sunday at 5:00 PM - prayer and medication to follow.

The ladies of the Church have cast off clothing of every kind. They may be seen in the basement on Friday afternoon.

This evening at 7 PM there will be a hymn singing in the park across from the Church. Bring a blanket and come prepared to "sin".

Ladies Bible Study will be held Thursday morning at 10 AM. All ladies are invited to lunch in the Fellowship Hall after the B. S. is done.

The pastor would appreciate it if the ladies of the congregation would >lend him their electric girdles for the pancake breakfast next Sunday.

Low Self Esteem Support Group will meet Thursday at 7 PM. Please use the back door.

The eighth-graders will be presenting Shakespeare' s Hamlet in the Church basement Friday at 7 PM. The congregation is invited to attend >this tragedy.

Weight Watchers will meet at 7 PM at the First Presbyterian Church. Please use large double door at the side entrance.

The Associate Minister unveiled the church's new tithing campaign slogan last Sunday: "I Upped My Pledge - Up Yours"

(Source: Dave Lesieur)

NUMBER 5 for the PENROSE FAMILY

Congratulations Kim and Kurt!

Pacifists, Ecologists and Ecumenists: Antichrist at Work

"The retired Archbishop of Bologna, Cardinal Giacomo Biffi, says the Antichrist presents himself as a “pacifist, ecologist, and ecumenist.” He said this in the Lenten Retreat he finished preaching on March 3rd to Benedict XVI and the leaders of the Roman Curia....."

For the rest of the story go to Catholic Culture at:

http://beta1.catholicculture.org/commentary/articles.cfm?id=177

Can You See the Baby Through the Tree?

(Forwarded from Theresa Guzina)

New research shows effectiveness of natural family planning method

The Catholic News Agency reports....

"German scientists are now confirming what many Catholic couples have known for some time – the natural family planning method known as STM works....."

For full story go to:

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=8754

No Aid to AIDS Groups That Promote Prostitution

Another good article from Family Research Council.

"In a commonsense ruling, the D.C. Court of Appeals sided with the Bush
administration yesterday saying that the president can deny AIDS funding to groups that condone prostitution and sex trafficking. The case, now a year and a half old, was brought by DKT International, Inc., a family planning group that, among other things, provides condoms to Vietnamese sex workers. When DKT refused to sign a pledge that it would honor the President's anti-trafficking policies, the administration denied it taxpayer support. A lower court sided with DKT, stating that the nonprofit's First Amendment rights were violated because the funding conditions "insisted that the groups 'parrot' the government's position on prostitution." Fortunately, a three-judge panel reversed the decision and restored President Bush's authority to fund only those organizations that communicate the U.S. government's opposition to sex trafficking. "

"Raising Kaine on HPV" from the FAMILY RESEARCH COUNCIL

"Although headlines are rampant with the suggestion that one in four women (between the ages of 14 and 59) is infected with HPV, the real shock of the study, released in the Journal of the American Medical Association, was somewhat buried. Lost in the panic surrounding the high HPV-infection rate is a footnote that should cause even greater concern for Gardasil advocates. Only 3.4% of the women studied had an infection that the new vaccine protects against. While many are touting the epidemic as justification for mandating the shots, the reality is that Merck's vaccine still leaves women vulnerable to a significant number of HPV strains, including those that cause 30% of the cases of cervical cancer. This news should give pause to Gov. Tim Kaine (D-VA) as he considers whether or not to sign a bill that would require the shots for schoolgirls. In an interview, Kaine said that he may try to amend the bill to include a more "generous opt-out provision" for parents. However, as FRC has said all along, the burden should be on the government--not parents--to convince Americans about the need for the vaccine. FRC is contacting Gov. Kaine and asking him to
reassess his idea of expanding the opt-out criteria and instead promote an
opt-in measure that would affirm parents' rights. In the meantime, legislators should ponder the greater cultural crisis of experimentation and promiscuity that created the epidemic in the first place. Along with the option of vaccination, states should educate children on an even better way to fight HPV--abstinence and monogamy."

(Source: Family Research Council)

"IN GOD WE TRUST"

Recently I posted the following:

"THE U.S. MINT DOES NOT HAVE "IN GOD WE TRUST" ON IT. I CAN'T SPEAK FOR THE REST OF YOU, BUT I WON'T BE USING THIS COIN, NOR WILL I ACCEPT IT IN ANY FINANCIAL TRANSACTION."

Apparently the original information I had received to this effect was incorrect. At the suggestion of a parishioner I went to US Mint.gov and discovered the words "in God we trust" are indeed on the new $1 dollar coing. The words are inscribed not on the front or back, but on the sides of the new coins.

Check it out at:

http://www.usmint.gov/mint_programs/$1coin/index.cfm?action=EdgeIncused

My apologies to the US Mint.

SHAME ON ME!!!

"Mea culpa! Mea culpa! Mea maxima culpa!"