Quote of the Week

"There is no evil to be faced that Christ does not face with us. There is no enemy that Christ has not already conquered. There is no cross to bear that Christ has not already borne for us, and does not now bear with us."

- Blessed Pope John Paul II

Monday Musings

A few random thoughts and ponderings to start the week...

This is Holy Week.

I'm not sure how much I'll be posting on the blog this week. So, today I thought I would just post a little link to Pope Benedict's homily that he delivered on Palm Sunday as a kind of opener to this final period approaching Easter. Here are the first few lines of that homily...

"Palm Sunday is the great doorway leading into Holy Week, the week when the Lord Jesus makes his way towards the culmination of his earthly existence. He goes up to Jerusalem in order to fulfill the Scriptures and to be nailed to the wood of the Cross, the throne from which he will reign for ever, drawing to himself humanity of every age and offering to all the gift of redemption. We know from the Gospels that Jesus had set out towards Jerusalem in company with the Twelve, and that little by little a growing crowd of pilgrims had joined them. Saint Mark tells us that as they were leaving Jericho, there was a "great multitude" following Jesus (cf. 10:46)." 

The whole homily can be found here.

I think it is fitting that we set aside this whole week (not only the Triduum which is certainly important, but also the days leading up to the Triduum) as a time when we journey along with Jesus to the cross and the tomb). So I think I'll blog a little differently this week. I may still post a Friday round-up of links...but I'll do that on Thursday early in the day, rather than Friday, and leave the Triduum for proper spiritual reflection.

Have a blessed Holy Week.

 

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...

This Sunday is Palm Sunday...so here are some important instructions: How to Make a Palm Cross

Supreme Court and Obamacare: What happens next  - "The Supreme Court likely will decide whether the Obama administration’s signature legislative accomplishment is unconstitutional within 48 hours. But aside from the nine justices and a handful of law clerks, none of us will know what that decision is until the summer."

Obamacare Mandate in Deep Trouble - "The Obamacare health insurance mandate appears to be teetering on the edge of being struck down by the Supreme Court..." [I hope and pray!]

Vatican Approves New Blessing for Unborn Children - "The blessing was prepared to support parents awaiting the birth of their child, to encourage parish prayers for and recognition of the precious gift of the child in the womb, and to foster respect for human life within society."

Anglicanism, Atheism, and Abitofhell - "Back in 1914, to show the peril of this approach, an Anglican priest by the name of Ronald Knox wrote a parody called Reunion All Round, envisioning a future Church of England that would be acceptable to Catholics, Jews, Muslims, and atheists... Today, I'm not sure it would even be recognized as satire."

Why Women Can Be Protestant Ministers - "If other religious groups want to ordain women we Catholics don’t really have anything to say about it at all except, 'That presents a serious obstacle to unity between us and your church.' Other than that (which is just us being honest) why the fuss?"

St. Joseph is not a Leprechaun - "We can pray all day and all night and fast and sacrifice and ask every saint we’ve ever known to storm heaven on our behalf. But sometimes, and in some seasons it might even be often, the Lord’s answer will be ‘no’."

New Evangelization Tips - "Cardinal Dolan, in his talk to the cardinals, spoke of various ways, simple ways, according to which the call to evangelization might be carried out. His remarks ought to be taken to heart by all Catholics."

How Come I Don't Remember It Being That Way: Triduum - [A few (very minor) changes to the rubrics for these holy days.]

When does the Eucharistic fast start? Before Communion or before Mass? - [Never a bad idea to review some things we should already know. And when Fr. Z offers an answer it's always a good idea to listen.]

Questions Answered: Does Hell Exist? And, Civil Law vs. Moral Law  -  [And here are a couple of questions with a little more weight to them.]

Catholic Trivia: Who is Scipione Rebiba? - [...And this one I just found interesting - one of those 'I-never-knew-that' moments.]

Mark Driscoll and the Canon of Scripture - "If you're not familiar, the Catholic Bible has seven more Books...compared to the Protestant Bible.  We call these Books the Deuterocanon; Protestants call them (and several other books) the Apocrypha.  So the question is: are Catholic Bibles too big?  Or are Protestant Bibles too small?"

Killing Us Softly: Seduced by the Occult - "It is time for us to pray and fast. This is spiritual war. Necromancy (contacting the dead), Tarot cards, witchcraft, Reiki (or 'healing touch'), psychics, astrology, and other occult practices are all forbidden by God because He loves us and wants us to come to Him, to live in Him, and to be truly happy and at peace." [Very interesting story...]

Archbishop Chaput writes new eBook on religious liberty - "A new eBook from Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Philadelphia will examine the role of religious faith in American public life and contemporary pressures on religious liberty."

Update on the Lewis & Tolkien Film Project - [I will be very interested in seeing this film.]

Speaking of movies...here's one that might be worth catching.

Check out these sites for more Catholic news and stories of interest..

New Advent

National Catholic Register

PewSitter

The Pulp.it

Catholic Exchange

Crisis Magazine 

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Quote of the Week

"Christians must lean on the Cross of Christ just as travelers lean on a staff when they begin a long journey."

- St. Anthony

Monday Musings

A few random thoughts and ponderings to start the week... 

Have a blessed Feast of the Annunciation!! - Technically this celebration falls on March 25, but because that date fell on a Sunday of Lent this year, the solemnity was transferred to the following Monday.

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This holy day would be a good time to take up the old tradition of praying the Angelus. Whether you pray it three times per day, once a day, or just once a week, this would be a great opportunity to revive an old prayer that often gets overlooked by modern Catholics. Perhaps praying the Angelus once at noon on Saturdays would be a good start, and easy enough to accomplish.

 

 The Angelus

V. The angel of the Lord declared unto Mary.

R. And she conceived by the power of Holy Spirit.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou amongst women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners,
now and at the hour of our death. Amen

V. Behold the handmaid of the Lord.

R. Be it done unto me according to your Word.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou amongst women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners,
now and at the hour of our death. Amen

V. And the Word was made flesh.

R. And dwelt among us.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou amongst women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners,
now and at the hour of our death. Amen

V. Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God.

R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray: Pour forth, we beseech thee, O Lord, Thy grace into our hearts, that we to whom the incarnation of Christ Thy Son was made known by the message of an angel, may by His Passion and Cross be brought to the glory of His resurrection; through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.

Glory be...

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Another thought that comes to mind on this day...as I've mentioned here before...the Annunciation falls exactly nine months before Christmas on the liturgical calendar. What a wonderful testimony this provides for the motherhood of Mary. We are given the opportunity to journey with her in real time through the nine months of carrying Christ in her womb. In a sense, this can be an extended "Advent" as we anticipate Jesus' birth on December 25.

As modern expectant mothers share their ultrasound images of their babies or prepare their nurseries for their new arrivals, as they attend baby showers and do everything generally necessary for a new member of the family, we might imagine Mary's own sense of wonder and joy as she bore the Savior of the world. We can imagine the nine months she shared with her own child as every expectant mother does, and keep that image in our minds for the nine months leading up to Christmas - keeping in mind every stage of a baby's development. This would be a good exercise in promoting the pro-life message of the Incarnation. The Annunciation should always be an important day for expanding and sharing the culture of life.

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...

God the Father loved the world, but why did he not give us himself together with his Son? - [This is one of those questions you never knew you wanted to ask...but now you wish you had asked it sooner.]

Seven “Givens” and Seven “Oughts” of Catholic Social Justice - [If liberals stuck to these principles then I could certainly support their Social Justice agenda. But then again, if they stuck to these principles they wouldn't be liberals...and their agenda would look quite different...it would actually be SOCIAL JUSTICE instead of leftist social engineering.]

Obama Moves away from 'Freedom of Religion' toward 'Freedom of Worship'? - "I sounded a warning regarding the change in rhetoric in America. Now, almost two years later, we are living out the consequences of what I have previously termed the 'war of words.'"

I Don't Want Freedom of Religions - "Language is the blunt instrument of choice with which the secularist left in this country bludgeons our freedoms. The secularist left has successfully used seemingly slight alterations in language to change the way ordinary people perceive an argument."

Church-State Separation and the Obama Mandate  - "The scandal is that modern liberals/progressives have vastly exaggerated and misinterpreted the establishment clause, and often to the almost complete exclusion of the free exercise clause."

After ‘United for Religious Freedom’ - "This striking episcopal unity not only held during the March 13–14 meeting of the Administrative Committee of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, it was strengthened."

Contraception Isn’t Healthcare; It Isn’t Even Helpful - "Every time I brought up the fact that I wanted to fix what was broken, not break what was working properly for temporary relief from my actual ailment, these specialists either tried to sell me on the pill (down to showing me how cute and decorative the pill compacts are!) to just dismissing me with 'take it or leave it.'"

Was that a fluke with a capital “F”? - "In the wake of Sandra Fluke’s testimony before several Democrat members of Congress, Mark Steyn has written what The Motley Monk believes is a superb analysis."

The Fluke Charade - [This is the Mark Steyn piece referred to in the article above...]

How to argue against same-sex marriage - [This piece is specifically about legislation being proposed in the U.K., but I think many of it's points are applicable to our own debate here in the States.]

It is Unconstitutional for Laws to be Based on Religiously Influenced Moral Reasons? - "True, religious people’s moral views may rest on unproven and probably unprovable metaphysical assumptions — but the same is generally true as to secular people’s moral views."

Catholics and Capital Punishment - [Very thorough treatment of this issue.]

The Church of England being what it is, no Archbishop of Canterbury can succeed: but Rowan Williams has failed more disastrously than most

St. Joseph and the Staircase - [In honor of Saint Joseph's Feast Day, March 19, I thought I would share this story. I have always been fascinated by it.]

HA!! You've gotta watch this video - I'll excuse this guy for any liturgical abuses. :)

Get more Catholic news at these sites:

New Advent

National Catholic Register

Pew Sitter

The Pulp.it

Catholic Exchange

Quote of the Week

"God is Love. We eventually have to ask ourselves the question; why was Love nailed to a cross?"

- Blessed John Paul II