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...

US Catholics to join Pope Francis in Eucharistic Adoration - "The Pope has invited the world to join him in an hour of adoration at 5 p.m. Rome time this Sunday, the Feast of Corpus Christi, which he will lead from St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican. See also: Adoration With Pope Energizing Catholics Worldwide

"Do We Let God Lead Us... To Not Be Afraid To Give?" – On Corpus Christi, Francis Calls Church Beyond Its "Fence"

Pope Francis Calls All Catholics to Evangelize -  "...to evangelize is not just a task undertaken from time to time; or even most of the time.  It is, to put it simply, the Churcgayh’s defining identity; it is what she exists for.  Faith is only worth having when you give it away."

Praising God frees us from sorrow, Pope proclaims - "Through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, who is 'the author of joy, the Creator of joy,' Pope Francis said that Christians learn to praise and become joyful, which leads to 'true Christian freedom.'"

Pope Francis: Following Christ is Not a Cultural Gloss - "We should not reduce the proclamation of Jesus to being a mere cultural 'gloss' or 'veneer', it must go 'straight to the heart' and change us."

If Atheists Can Go to Heaven, Why Bother with Faith? - "While some news reports suggested that these remarks are a departure from the theology of Pope Benedict, in reality Francis’ predecessor had made similar attempts to reach out to non-believers."

IRS Bombshell - Harassment continued as recently as 4 weeks ago! - "It remains unclear if Obama was ever aware of the IRS harassment, as he claims to have first heard stories of it from the news media."

Top IRS Officials Targeted Conservative Groups, Not Just Staffers - "Additional scrutiny of conservative organizations’ activities by the IRS did not solely originate in the agency’s Cincinnati office, with requests for information coming from other offices and often bearing the signatures of higher-ups at the agency, according to attorneys representing some of the targeted groups."

Issa forced to issue subpoena to get cooperation from State Department - "The Oversight Committee is working diligently to find out what really happened in Benghazi and why President Obama did not make a better effort to protect the mission there."

Leading Catholics call for prayer, fasting to fight gay marriage - "The faithful were called upon to pray, fast and make personal sacrifices to help the court make a ruling favorable to traditional views of marriage."

Taking it to the Streets: Time to Join the New French Resistance Defending Marriage - "What occurred in Paris this weekend is a sign of a resistance movement which is spreading. We must all take our place within its ranks.  It is time for us to take it to the streets. Marriage and the family and society founded upon them are under a wholesale assault and the future of freedom is at risk."

The Boy Scout's New Policy - "There is a certain incoherence to it, I contend, that makes it impossible to defend.  After all, what rational justification could one think of for admitting gay youths but banning gay leaders?"

Girl Scouts Join Planned Parenthood at Huge Pro-Abortion Conference - "The global organization is a well-known advocate for sexual and reproductive rights, including abortion, for youth, and claims to speak for all of its 10 million members."

Abandoned Baby Rescued From Sewage Pipe Doing Better, Mother Found - "Reports from Chinese media indicated the baby was found in the toilet sewage pipe in a residential building in the city of Jinhua after residents on the fourth floor called the fire department with reports of a baby crying."

Quote of the Week

"Reprimand and rebuke should be accepted as healing remedies for vice and as conducive to good health. From this it is clear that those who pretend to be tolerant because they wish to flatter-----those who thus fail to correct sinners-----actually cause them to suffer supreme loss and plot the destruction of that life which is their true life."

- St. Basil the Great 

Catechism for the Year of Faith

Part of a continuing series.A selected quote from the Catechism of the Catholic Church in honor of the Year of Faith (October 11, 2012 - November 24, 2013)

1322 The holy Eucharist completes Christian initiation. Those who have been raised to the dignity of the royal priesthood by Baptism and configured more deeply to Christ by Confirmation participate with the whole community in the Lord's own sacrifice by means of the Eucharist.

1323 "At the Last Supper, on the night he was betrayed, our Savior instituted the Eucharistic sacrifice of his Body and Blood. This he did in order to perpetuate the sacrifice of the cross throughout the ages until he should come again, and so to entrust to his beloved Spouse, the Church, a memorial of his death and resurrection: a sacrament of love, a sign of unity, a bond of charity, a Paschal banquet 'in which Christ is consumed, the mind is filled with grace, and a pledge of future glory is given to us.'"

1324 The Eucharist is "the source and summit of the Christian life." "The other sacraments, and indeed all ecclesiastical ministries and works of the apostolate, are bound up with the Eucharist and are oriented toward it. For in the blessed Eucharist is contained the whole spiritual good of the Church, namely Christ himself, our Pasch."

1325 "The Eucharist is the efficacious sign and sublime cause of that communion in the divine life and that unity of the People of God by which the Church is kept in being. It is the culmination both of God's action sanctifying the world in Christ and of the worship men offer to Christ and through him to the Father in the Holy Spirit."

1326 Finally, by the Eucharistic celebration we already unite ourselves with the heavenly liturgy and anticipate eternal life, when God will be all in all.

1333 At the heart of the Eucharistic celebration are the bread and wine that, by the words of Christ and the invocation of the Holy Spirit, become Christ's Body and Blood. Faithful to the Lord's command the Church continues to do, in his memory and until his glorious return, what he did on the eve of his Passion: "He took bread. . . ." "He took the cup filled with wine. . . ." The signs of bread and wine become, in a way surpassing understanding, the Body and Blood of Christ; they continue also to signify the goodness of creation. Thus in the Offertory we give thanks to the Creator for bread and wine, fruit of the "work of human hands," but above all as "fruit of the earth" and "of the vine" - gifts of the Creator. The Church sees in the gesture of the king-priest Melchizedek, who "brought out bread and wine," a prefiguring of her own offering.

1334 In the Old Covenant bread and wine were offered in sacrifice among the first fruits of the earth as a sign of grateful acknowledgment to the Creator. But they also received a new significance in the context of the Exodus: the unleavened bread that Israel eats every year at Passover commemorates the haste of the departure that liberated them from Egypt; the remembrance of the manna in the desert will always recall to Israel that it lives by the bread of the Word of God; their daily bread is the fruit of the promised land, the pledge of God's faithfulness to his promises. The "cup of blessing" at the end of the Jewish Passover meal adds to the festive joy of wine an eschatological dimension: the messianic expectation of the rebuilding of Jerusalem. When Jesus instituted the Eucharist, he gave a new and definitive meaning to the blessing of the bread and the cup.

1336 The first announcement of the Eucharist divided the disciples, just as the announcement of the Passion scandalized them: "This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?" The Eucharist and the Cross are stumbling blocks. It is the same mystery and it never ceases to be an occasion of division. "Will you also go away?": the Lord's question echoes through the ages, as a loving invitation to discover that only he has "the words of eternal life" and that to receive in faith the gift of his Eucharist is to receive the Lord himself.

1337 The Lord, having loved those who were his own, loved them to the end. Knowing that the hour had come to leave this world and return to the Father, in the course of a meal he washed their feet and gave them the commandment of love. In order to leave them a pledge of this love, in order never to depart from his own and to make them sharers in his Passover, he instituted the Eucharist as the memorial of his death and Resurrection, and commanded his apostles to celebrate it until his return; "thereby he constituted them priests of the New Testament."

1340 By celebrating the Last Supper with his apostles in the course of the Passover meal, Jesus gave the Jewish Passover its definitive meaning. Jesus' passing over to his father by his death and Resurrection, the new Passover, is anticipated in the Supper and celebrated in the Eucharist, which fulfills the Jewish Passover and anticipates the final Passover of the Church in the glory of the kingdom.

1341 The command of Jesus to repeat his actions and words "until he comes" does not only ask us to remember Jesus and what he did. It is directed at the liturgical celebration, by the apostles and their successors, of the memorial of Christ, of his life, of his death, of his Resurrection, and of his intercession in the presence of the Father.

1342 From the beginning the Church has been faithful to the Lord's command. Of the Church of Jerusalem it is written:

They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. . . . Day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they partook of food with glad and generous hearts.

1345 As early as the second century we have the witness of St. Justin Martyr for the basic lines of the order of the Eucharistic celebration. They have stayed the same until our own day for all the great liturgical families. St. Justin wrote to the pagan emperor Antoninus Pius (138-161) around the year , explaining what Christians did:

On the day we call the day of the sun, all who dwell in the city or country gather in the same place.
The memoirs of the apostles and the writings of the prophets are read, as much as time permits.
When the reader has finished, he who presides over those gathered admonishes and challenges them to imitate these beautiful things.
Then we all rise together and offer prayers* for ourselves . . .and for all others, wherever they may be, so that we may be found righteous by our life and actions, and faithful to the commandments, so as to obtain eternal salvation.
When the prayers are concluded we exchange the kiss.
Then someone brings bread and a cup of water and wine mixed together to him who presides over the brethren.
He takes them and offers praise and glory to the Father of the universe, through the name of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and for a considerable time he gives thanks (in Greek: eucharistian) that we have been judged worthy of these gifts.
When he has concluded the prayers and thanksgivings, all present give voice to an acclamation by saying: 'Amen.'
When he who presides has given thanks and the people have responded, those whom we call deacons give to those present the "eucharisted" bread, wine and water and take them to those who are absent.

1346 The liturgy of the Eucharist unfolds according to a fundamental structure which has been preserved throughout the centuries down to our own day. It displays two great parts that form a fundamental unity: 

- the gathering, the liturgy of the Word, with readings, homily and general intercessions;
- the liturgy of the Eucharist, with the presentation of the bread and wine, the consecratory thanksgiving, and communion.

The liturgy of the Word and liturgy of the Eucharist together form "one single act of worship"; the Eucharistic table set for us is the table both of the Word of God and of the Body of the Lord.

Monday Musings

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

Today is Memorial Day...and also my wedding anniversary...and the day after my youngest daughter's birthday. So as you can imagine, I've been rather busy this weekend. I spent a lot of time with the family and not so much time in front of a computer. So I didn't have much time to blog. Instead I'll just leave you with this prayer in honor of our soldiers:

Heavenly Father,

On this Memorial Day,

we pray for those

who courageously laid down their lives

for the cause of freedom.

May the example of their sacrifice

inspire in us the selfless love of your Son,

our Lord Jesus Christ.

Bless the families of our fallen troops,

and fill their homes

and their lives with your strength and peace.

In union with people of goodwill

of every nation,

embolden us to answer the call to work

for peace and justice,

and thus, seek an end

to violence and conflict around the globe.

We pray through Christ our Lord.

Amen

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...

Be salt of the earth, not 'museum Christians,' pope says at Mass - "Pope Francis said God gives Christians flavor, or salt, in order for them to share it with others and make a difference in the world..."

Pope Francis calls for change within the Church - "Francis spoke of the need to 'take to the streets of the world' and to 'reach the very outskirts of existence.'"

Vatican denies pope performed public exorcism - "The Holy Father had no intention of performing an exorcism, but -- as he often does with the sick and suffering people presented to him -- he simply intended to pray for the suffering person before him..." To see the video for yourself, see this article: Exorcism or not, it's still a miracle

8 things to know and share about Pentecost - The original day of Pentecost saw dramatic events that are important to the life of the Church. But where did the feast of Pentecost come from? How can we understand what happened on it? And what does it mean for us today? Here are 8 things to know and share about it..."

Evil Face of Jihad in London Suburb: Muslim Attackers Hack a Young Soldier to Death and Behead Him - [This was a horrific act! I am afraid that Islam is not the moderate religion of peace we are told by the Left and the mainstream media.] But from this horror comes this story of compassion and love: Undeterred by terrorists, mother and daughter comfort dying British soldier in London 

The Cold, Cruel Fate of a World that Is Terrified of Suffering - [Some thoughts about the Oklahoma tornado.]

What capitalists should learn from the Pope's critique  - "The Church is not imitating the rhetoric of the socialist movement; the socialists are exploiting the teachings of the Church."

It's Time to Demand Intellectual Honesty About Abortion - "We need to be the ones framing this debate. We mustn’t allow ourselves to be sidetracked by spurious arguments anymore."

Congress Sees Gruesome Photos of Born Alive Babies Abortionist Killed - "The photos were provided by former clinic workers who came forward to blow the whistle on Karpen’s heinous acts."

Dehumanizing Humans: When Animal Rights Trump Our Right to Life+ - "...to some, belief in human superiority (or 'exceptionalism') is a form of bigotry, dubbed 'specism.' Ironically, these same individuals must engage in deep—albeit wrongheaded but uniquely human—thought to conclude that some animals are our equals."

IRS Hid Results of Probe of Targeting Pro-Lifers While Obama Campaigned - "The Internal Revenue Service conducted an internal probe over its targeting of pro-life and conservative groups that ended well before the 2012 presidential election, but reports show the results were hidden."

Time to Go for the Kill - "The IRS scandal provides Republicans and conservatives with the opportunity to repeal and replace Obamacare now." See also: IRS Scandal and HHS Mandate: Wrong for the Same Reasons

Obamacare Preview: UK’s NHS Kills 24 Disabled People Weekly Via Rationed Care - [Wow! Can't wait for that to start here. Yippee.]

Why I'm Starting a New Boy Scouts: My Catholic Scouting Manifesto - [With the recent developments concerning the Boy Scouts and homosexuality, this is an interesting proposal which Catholics ought to consider.]

Does Jesus Want Us to Support Same-Sex “Marriage”? - "Although it is true that the gospels do not record Jesus directly condemning homosexual acts, to conclude on this basis that he in any way approved of them is faulty reasoning."

In Bed Together: The Dept. of Justice and the Same Sex Agenda - "The Department of Justice (yes, THE U.S. Department of Justice) has an LGBT organization called DOJ Pride."

Why Cardinal O'Malley Is Staying Home - "Boston College's seniors graduate today without the traditional blessing of their Archbishop, Cardinal Sean O'Malley. That's because the college chose scandal over solidarity by inviting a politician who flouts Catholic Church teaching to be its commencement speaker."

How to Become An Annoying Catholic (In Eight Easy Steps) - "So let us ask the Holy Spirit for this grace of Apostolic zeal, let’s be Christians with apostolic zeal. And if we annoy people, blessed be the Lord."

Change and permanence - Even though we live in a world of constant change and are able to adapt ourselves to it, most of us feel more at home with the familiar, the old, the predictable. In the midst of change, we seek, at least, a certain amount of stability, permanence."

Constantine Has Been Beaten to Death - "It’s almost unfathomable to me that in this day and age Fundamentalists still have not learned to verify the validity of their anti-Catholic arguments."

Top 10 Catholic Facts Revealed in the 2013 Pontifical Yearbook - [Just a few interesting statistics about Catholics around the world.]

Catechism for the Year of Faith

Part of a continuing series.A selected quote from the Catechism of the Catholic Church in honor of the Year of Faith (October 11, 2012 - November 24, 2013)

1285 Baptism, the Eucharist, and the sacrament of Confirmation together constitute the "sacraments of Christian initiation," whose unity must be safeguarded. It must be explained to the faithful that the reception of the sacrament of Confirmation is necessary for the completion of baptismal grace. For "by the sacrament of Confirmation, [the baptized] are more perfectly bound to the Church and are enriched with a special strength of the Holy Spirit. Hence they are, as true witnesses of Christ, more strictly obliged to spread and defend the faith by word and deed."

1288 "...the apostles, in fulfillment of Christ's will, imparted to the newly baptized by the laying on of hands the gift of the Spirit that completes the grace of Baptism. For this reason in the Letter to the Hebrews the doctrine concerning Baptism and the laying on of hands is listed among the first elements of Christian instruction. The imposition of hands is rightly recognized by the Catholic tradition as the origin of the sacrament of Confirmation, which in a certain way perpetuates the grace of Pentecost in the Church."

1289 Very early, the better to signify the gift of the Holy Spirit, an anointing with perfumed oil (chrism) was added to the laying on of hands. This anointing highlights the name "Christian," which means "anointed" and derives from that of Christ himself whom God "anointed with the Holy Spirit." This rite of anointing has continued ever since, in both East and West. For this reason the Eastern Churches call this sacrament Chrismation, anointing with chrism, or myron which means "chrism." In the West, the term Confirmation suggests that this sacrament both confirms and strengthens baptismal grace.

1293 In treating the rite of Confirmation, it is fitting to consider the sign of anointing and what it signifies and imprints: a spiritual seal.

Anointing, in Biblical and other ancient symbolism, is rich in meaning: oil is a sign of abundance and joy; it cleanses (anointing before and after a bath) and limbers (the anointing of athletes and wrestlers); oil is a sign of healing, since it is soothing to bruises and wounds; and it makes radiant with beauty, health, and strength.

1294 Anointing with oil has all these meanings in the sacramental life. The pre-baptismal anointing with the oil of catechumens signifies cleansing and strengthening; the anointing of the sick expresses healing and comfort. The post-baptismal anointing with sacred chrism in Confirmation and ordination is the sign of consecration. By Confirmation Christians, that is, those who are anointed, share more completely in the mission of Jesus Christ and the fullness of the Holy Spirit with which he is filled, so that their lives may give off "the aroma of Christ."

1296 Christ himself declared that he was marked with his Father's seal. Christians are also marked with a seal: "It is God who establishes us with you in Christ and has commissioned us; he has put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee." This seal of the Holy Spirit marks our total belonging to Christ, our enrollment in his service for ever, as well as the promise of divine protection in the great eschatological trial.

1300 ...In the Latin rite, "the sacrament of Confirmation is conferred through the anointing with chrism on the forehead, which is done by the laying on of the hand, and through the words: 'Accipe signaculum doni Spiritus Sancti' [Be sealed with the Gift of the Holy Spirit.]." In the Eastern Churches of Byzantine rite, after a prayer of epiclesis, the more significant parts of the body are anointed with myron: forehead, eyes, nose, ears, lips, chest, back, hands, and feet. Each anointing is accompanied by the formula: "the seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit."

1302 It is evident from its celebration that the effect of the sacrament of Confirmation is the special outpouring of the Holy Spirit as once granted to the apostles on the day of Pentecost.

1303 From this fact, Confirmation brings an increase and deepening of baptismal grace: 
- it roots us more deeply in the divine filiation which makes us cry, "Abba! Father!"; 
- it unites us more firmly to Christ; 
- it increases the gifts of the Holy Spirit in us; 
- it renders our bond with the Church more perfect; 
- it gives us a special strength of the Holy Spirit to spread and defend the faith by word and action as true witnesses of Christ, to confess the name of Christ boldly, and never to be ashamed of the Cross:

Recall then that you have received the spiritual seal, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of right judgment and courage, the spirit of knowledge and reverence, the spirit of holy fear in God's presence. Guard what you have received. God the Father has marked you with his sign; Christ the Lord has confirmed you and has placed his pledge, the Spirit, in your hearts.

1304 Like Baptism which it completes, Confirmation is given only once, for it too imprints on the soul an indelible spiritual mark, the "character," which is the sign that Jesus Christ has marked a Christian with the seal of his Spirit by clothing him with power from on high so that he may be his witness.

1306 Every baptized person not yet confirmed can and should receive the sacrament of Confirmation. Since Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist form a unity, it follows that "the faithful are obliged to receive this sacrament at the appropriate time," for without Confirmation and Eucharist, Baptism is certainly valid and efficacious, but Christian initiation remains incomplete.

1310 To receive Confirmation one must be in a state of grace. One should receive the sacrament of Penance in order to be cleansed for the gift of the Holy Spirit. More intense prayer should prepare one to receive the strength and graces of the Holy Spirit with docility and readiness to act.

1311 Candidates for Confirmation, as for Baptism, fittingly seek the spiritual help of a sponsor. To emphasize the unity of the two sacraments, it is appropriate that this be one of the baptismal godparents.

1313 In the Latin Rite, the ordinary minister of Confirmation is the bishop. If the need arises, the bishop may grant the faculty of administering Confirmation to priests, although it is fitting that he confer it himself, mindful that the celebration of Confirmation has been temporally separated from Baptism for this reason. Bishops are the successors of the apostles. They have received the fullness of the sacrament of Holy Orders. The administration of this sacrament by them demonstrates clearly that its effect is to unite those who receive it more closely to the Church, to her apostolic origins, and to her mission of bearing witness to Christ.

1314 If a Christian is in danger of death, any priest can give him Confirmation. Indeed the Church desires that none of her children, even the youngest, should depart this world without having been perfected by the Holy Spirit with the gift of Christ's fullness.

Quote of the Week

"The Church has ever proved indestructible. Her persecutors have failed to destroy her; in fact, it was during times of persecution that the Church grew more and more; while the persecutors themselves, and those whom the Church would destroy, are the very ones who came to nothing.  ...Again, errors have assailed her; but in fact, the greater the number of errors that have arisen, the more has the truth been made manifest. ...Nor has the Church failed before the assaults of demons: for she is like a tower of refuge to all who fight against the Devil."

- St. Thomas Aquinas