This Week's Headlines

As another week comes to an end, this is your chance to top off your glass with a final helping of news, current events, and just plain interesting stuff that may not have made into the mainstream media. A chance to linger for a few more moments before we close the door on the week. Below are some links to articles, blogs, and miscellaneous happenings that caught my eye over the past few days. Sample what you like - I'll serve up more next Friday...

Breaking Bad Liturgical Habit - "[T]he “changes in the words” offer the Church a golden opportunity to confront, and then break, some bad liturgical habits that have accumulated, like unlovely barnacles on the barque of Peter, over the past several decades."

One Example of How Beautiful Church Buildings Lead People to God - "To experience beauty is to experience God. It’s why the monasteries and cathedrals of Western civilization have always been so marvelous, why places like the Sistine Chapel lure people of all different faith backgrounds to behold them."

How to handle awkward conversations with family members - "So, to be a faithful Catholic today, one must remember first and foremost that to do so means being rejected at times, even by those we dearly love, but this rejection can be a means of drawing closer to Christ — of being truly blessed."

How do Saints in Heaven 'Hear' Us? - "Ultimately, glorified Saints in heaven take up their priestly identity as the people of God. This priestly identity involves intercession and so they continue to love us and the only thing they can do is pray for us."

Pope on All Saints' Day: 'The Original Vocation of Every Baptized Person Is Holiness' - "The Pope also reflected on how today’s emphasis on the “communion of saints” continues into tomorrow’s commemoration of All Souls, which occurs every Nov. 2. This is the day when the Church prays for the souls in purgatory."

And He Will Wipe Every Tear From Their Eyes, yes, Every Tear. A Reflection on the Healing Hope of Purgatory - "Purgatory has to be. God loves us too much to leave us in our present unseemly state."

The Enchiridion of Indulgences - "The following is not represented to be an exact reprint of the Enchiridion but and accurate digest of what constitutes an approved indulgenced work by the Sacred Apostolic Penitentiary."

The ancient Christian origins of the feast day of All Saints

Sing the Dies Irae at My Funeral – A Meditation on a Lost Treasure

The Three "Reformation Day" Ironies  - "While I respect the desire to have fun without celebrating evil, I find Reformation Day to be unwittingly hilarious.  Here's why..."

Witches Are Real - "All magic is black magic because of the philosophy behind it: those involved in witchcraft seek power, and anybody who seeks power for it's own sake is bad."

Vatican Does Horrible Job of Being Anti-Science - "The Vatican signed a $1 million contract with NeoStem, and will be co-hosting an adult stem cell conference in Rome in November.  The Church supports adult stem cell research, but condemns embryonic stem cell research because it requires the destruction of the human embryo."

Top 5 Heresies I Would've Believed Without the Authority of the Church - "If God wanted us to know him, it seemed nonsensical that he would give us a system where even the most basic ideas about his nature and his will were up for grabs... Then, when I heard the theory behind the Catholic Church, it all came together."

Moral Economics 101 - "...next time you’re talking to someone about Occupy Wall Street, don’t just denounce greed. Bring up honesty, prudence, and chastity: these are as important as charity in the development of a just, flourishing economy."

Why are parents encouraged to abort Down syndrome children and banned from aborting girls? - "Since the advent of ultrasound, sex also can be diagnosed prenatally. However, the Ethics Committee for the American Congress of Obstetrician and Gynecologists (ACOG) issued an opinion in 2007 that said it was unethical to use prenatal testing for sex selection. This was the same year that ACOG also recommended that all women be offered prenatal testing for Down syndrome."

The Coming Church-State Wars - "...if the Office of Human Rights has nothing better to do than spending six months investigating these nonsensical charges, it ought to be abolished. Give the taxpayers back the money these bureaucrats are wasting..."

U.S. House Reaffirms 'In God We Trust' - "The resolution, passed by a vote of 396 to 9, encourages the motto's public display 'in all public buildings, public schools and other government institutions.'"