Applause for Bishop Stack | CatholicHerald.co.uk

Bishop Stack, an auxiliary Bishop in London recently celebrated Confirmations in the Extraordinary Form at St. James church, Spanish Place, London. Applause for Bishop Stack | CatholicHerald.co.uk

Applause for Bishop Stack | CatholicHerald.co.uk

Bishop Stack, an auxiliary Bishop in London recently celebrated Confirmations in the Extraordinary Form at St. James church, Spanish Place, London. Applause for Bishop Stack | CatholicHerald.co.uk

Silent Night Holy Night - Christmas Without Decoration

As we celebrate Christmas in a few days there will no doubt be an outward display of our joy and happiness at the coming of Jesus with lights and singing and other external expressions.  Let us not forgot our Catholic brothers and sisters around the world whose celebrations will be far more subdued.  Where an outward expression display of the Faith is a chance to take a bullet or shrapnel from a bomb.  Yet in spite of it all we still have hope for into the world God sent his son to save and redeem us. Let us pray for peace and become peacemakers ourselves. Here is a letter from the Chaldean Bishop of Iraq.

Midnight Christmas Mass has been cancelled in Baghdad, Mosul and Kirkuk as a consequence of the never-ending assassinations of Christians and the attack against Our Lady of Perpetual Help Cathedral on 31 October, which killed 57 people. For security reasons, churches will not be decorated. Masses will be sombre and held during the day.

A sense of sadness and mourning prevails among Christians. There is much concern for the future of young people. For the past two months, they have been unable to go to university. The same is true for many families that fled north who now must plan a future without any concrete bases.

No one expects anything from the government as far as protecting Christians. Political leaders are too caught up in setting up a new administration.

Security is slightly better in Kirkuk than in the capital, but here too abductions and threats occur. For this reason, we have decided for the first time since the war began not to celebrate Midnight Mass. We shall simply not have any feast, period. Santa Claus will not be coming for the children; there will be no official ceremony with the authorities proffering their best wishes.

For the past six weeks, we have not celebrated Mass because of a lack of security, except late in the morning and Saturday afternoons. For now, we have also stopped teaching the catechism.

We do not have the right to put people’s lives in danger. All our parish churches have security guards, but when worshippers step outside the church and into the street, they become an easy target.

Yet, despite everything, we shall pray for peace this Christmas and help the poor families of Kirkuk and Sulaymaniyah. So far, 106 families have arrived from Baghdad and Mosul.

In my homily, I am going to focus on such problems, on the clashes and on people’s fears but also on the fact that Christmas brings a message of hope. Of course, heaven and earth are two different realities. The Massacre of the Innocents followed Christmas. Thus, for us in Iraq, Christmas is a time of hope and joy as well as pain and martyrdom.

Peace is a goal that people of good will should make happen. If we Christians want to be Christian and welcome Christmas and its message, we must be peacemakers, and build harmony among our Iraqi brothers and sisters.

* Chaldean bishop of Kirkuk

Silent Night Holy Night - Christmas Without Decoration

As we celebrate Christmas in a few days there will no doubt be an outward display of our joy and happiness at the coming of Jesus with lights and singing and other external expressions.  Let us not forgot our Catholic brothers and sisters around the world whose celebrations will be far more subdued.  Where an outward expression display of the Faith is a chance to take a bullet or shrapnel from a bomb.  Yet in spite of it all we still have hope for into the world God sent his son to save and redeem us. Let us pray for peace and become peacemakers ourselves. Here is a letter from the Chaldean Bishop of Iraq.

Midnight Christmas Mass has been cancelled in Baghdad, Mosul and Kirkuk as a consequence of the never-ending assassinations of Christians and the attack against Our Lady of Perpetual Help Cathedral on 31 October, which killed 57 people. For security reasons, churches will not be decorated. Masses will be sombre and held during the day.

A sense of sadness and mourning prevails among Christians. There is much concern for the future of young people. For the past two months, they have been unable to go to university. The same is true for many families that fled north who now must plan a future without any concrete bases.

No one expects anything from the government as far as protecting Christians. Political leaders are too caught up in setting up a new administration.

Security is slightly better in Kirkuk than in the capital, but here too abductions and threats occur. For this reason, we have decided for the first time since the war began not to celebrate Midnight Mass. We shall simply not have any feast, period. Santa Claus will not be coming for the children; there will be no official ceremony with the authorities proffering their best wishes.

For the past six weeks, we have not celebrated Mass because of a lack of security, except late in the morning and Saturday afternoons. For now, we have also stopped teaching the catechism.

We do not have the right to put people’s lives in danger. All our parish churches have security guards, but when worshippers step outside the church and into the street, they become an easy target.

Yet, despite everything, we shall pray for peace this Christmas and help the poor families of Kirkuk and Sulaymaniyah. So far, 106 families have arrived from Baghdad and Mosul.

In my homily, I am going to focus on such problems, on the clashes and on people’s fears but also on the fact that Christmas brings a message of hope. Of course, heaven and earth are two different realities. The Massacre of the Innocents followed Christmas. Thus, for us in Iraq, Christmas is a time of hope and joy as well as pain and martyrdom.

Peace is a goal that people of good will should make happen. If we Christians want to be Christian and welcome Christmas and its message, we must be peacemakers, and build harmony among our Iraqi brothers and sisters.

* Chaldean bishop of Kirkuk

Brave Adam's Word's of Inspiration - "Enough"

The following is an excerpt from Cardinal George's opening letter at the US Bishops Meeting in November.  Despite the sadness of this tragedy, there is nevertheless a reason for encouragement and inspiration to be drawn from the heroic example of this little martyr. 

An American Dominican Sister, a friend of a friend, has written from that country: "Waves of grief have enveloped their world, surging along the fault lines created in Iraqi society by the displacement of thousands of Iraq's Christian minority who have fled what is clearly a growing genocidal threat…One survivor was asked by a reporter, what do you say to the terrorists? Through his tears he said, 'We forgive you.'…Among the victims of this senseless tragedy was a little boy named Adam. Three-year-old Adam witnessed the horror of dozens of deaths, including that of his own parents. He wandered among the corpses and the blood, following the terrorists around and admonishing them, 'enough, enough, enough.' According to witnesses, this continued for two hours until Adam was himself murdered." As bishops, as Americans, we cannot turn from this scene or allow the world to overlook it.

Dear brothers, we have all experienced challenges and even tragedies that tempt us to say at times, "enough." Yet all of our efforts, our work, our failures and our sense of responsibility pale before the martyrdom of our brothers and sisters in Iraq and the active persecution of Catholics in other parts of the Middle East, in India and Pakistan, in China and in Vietnam, in Sudan and African countries rent by civil conflict. With their faces always before us, we stand before the Lord, collectively responsible for all those whom Jesus Christ died to save; and that is more than enough to define us as bishops and to keep us together in mission. May the Lord during these days give us vision enough to see what he sees and strength enough to act as he would have us act. That will be enough. Thank you.

Brave Adam's Word's of Inspiration - "Enough"

The following is an excerpt from Cardinal George's opening letter at the US Bishops Meeting in November.  Despite the sadness of this tragedy, there is nevertheless a reason for encouragement and inspiration to be drawn from the heroic example of this little martyr. 

An American Dominican Sister, a friend of a friend, has written from that country: "Waves of grief have enveloped their world, surging along the fault lines created in Iraqi society by the displacement of thousands of Iraq's Christian minority who have fled what is clearly a growing genocidal threat…One survivor was asked by a reporter, what do you say to the terrorists? Through his tears he said, 'We forgive you.'…Among the victims of this senseless tragedy was a little boy named Adam. Three-year-old Adam witnessed the horror of dozens of deaths, including that of his own parents. He wandered among the corpses and the blood, following the terrorists around and admonishing them, 'enough, enough, enough.' According to witnesses, this continued for two hours until Adam was himself murdered." As bishops, as Americans, we cannot turn from this scene or allow the world to overlook it.

Dear brothers, we have all experienced challenges and even tragedies that tempt us to say at times, "enough." Yet all of our efforts, our work, our failures and our sense of responsibility pale before the martyrdom of our brothers and sisters in Iraq and the active persecution of Catholics in other parts of the Middle East, in India and Pakistan, in China and in Vietnam, in Sudan and African countries rent by civil conflict. With their faces always before us, we stand before the Lord, collectively responsible for all those whom Jesus Christ died to save; and that is more than enough to define us as bishops and to keep us together in mission. May the Lord during these days give us vision enough to see what he sees and strength enough to act as he would have us act. That will be enough. Thank you.

Religious Tolerance In Egypt

RG “There is really a problem for people who want to change their religion – and that is where the Muslim fundamentalists become violent and make demonstrations. They threw the picture of (Coptic) Pope (Shenouda) on the ground and burned it...these things increase the tension in Egypt”

“I think (these terrorists) used these two girls just maybe to make the Christians of Egypt afraid. That is why now all the churches, we have police all around our churches… it’s as if we are in a fortress.”

Fr. Rafic goes on to say he thinks the terrorists targeted a Catholic church in Baghdad “in response to what was said in the (October) synod for the Middle East.”

RG “This is what the Muslim fundamentalists want: they want the Christians to evacuate from the Middle East and leave (the region to them). And this is what is happening every day… and the governments do not take serious action to relieve or solve these problems.”

Fr. Rafic speaks of a “double standard” in Egypt where obstacles to church-building can mean a wait of ten years or more for a new church while a room used for improvised prayer can be turned into a mosque over night.

The whole interview with Fr. Rafic can be listened to on a podcast at Vatican Radioas well as the rest of the article.

Religious Tolerance In Egypt

RG “There is really a problem for people who want to change their religion – and that is where the Muslim fundamentalists become violent and make demonstrations. They threw the picture of (Coptic) Pope (Shenouda) on the ground and burned it...these things increase the tension in Egypt”

“I think (these terrorists) used these two girls just maybe to make the Christians of Egypt afraid. That is why now all the churches, we have police all around our churches… it’s as if we are in a fortress.”

Fr. Rafic goes on to say he thinks the terrorists targeted a Catholic church in Baghdad “in response to what was said in the (October) synod for the Middle East.”

RG “This is what the Muslim fundamentalists want: they want the Christians to evacuate from the Middle East and leave (the region to them). And this is what is happening every day… and the governments do not take serious action to relieve or solve these problems.”

Fr. Rafic speaks of a “double standard” in Egypt where obstacles to church-building can mean a wait of ten years or more for a new church while a room used for improvised prayer can be turned into a mosque over night.

The whole interview with Fr. Rafic can be listened to on a podcast at Vatican Radioas well as the rest of the article.

Sacrament of Confirmation in Extraordinary Form for St. Paul and Minneapolis Update

Our efforts to have the Sacrament of Confirmation in the Extraordinary Form are moving forward in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.  While no official word yet, Archbishop Nienstedt has asked for a count of the number of candidates desiring to receive the Sacrament in this form.  If you or someone you know are interested please contact me.

Sacrament of Confirmation in Extraordinary Form for St. Paul and Minneapolis Update

Our efforts to have the Sacrament of Confirmation in the Extraordinary Form are moving forward in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.  While no official word yet, Archbishop Nienstedt has asked for a count of the number of candidates desiring to receive the Sacrament in this form.  If you or someone you know are interested please contact me.

WaPost Article Mention of Holy Family Hospital

An article in the Washington Post mentions the Holy Family Hospital in Bethlehem which is one of the major works of the Order of Malta.

Still, the town does its best to take advantage of its place in Christian history, going so far as to link the Christmas nativity story to the fact that it houses the West Bank's best maternity facility.

The placement of a maternity hospital in Bethlehem is no accident, said Jacques Keutgen, director of the Holy Family Hospital, situated just half a mile from the Church of the Nativity which marks the traditional birthplace of Jesus.

"This is the birthplace of Jesus Christ, so it is very important that people here have the possibility to deliver safely and in peace," he said.

One wing houses the Palestinian territories' only intensive care unit for severely premature babies. The hospital also specializes in multiple births.

The hospital has been a Bethlehem institution since 1882. Political violence caused it to shut in 1985, but the Sovereign Order of Malta, a lay Roman Catholic order, reopened it as a maternity hospital in 1990.

The old building hosts advanced facilities. One wing houses the Palestinian territories' only intensive care unit for severely premature babies. Its 18 incubators often hold tiny babies born as much as three months early. The building's stone corridors surround a courtyard with a statue of Mary and Jesus amid rows orange trees.

The rest of the article is here.

WaPost Article Mention of Holy Family Hospital

An article in the Washington Post mentions the Holy Family Hospital in Bethlehem which is one of the major works of the Order of Malta.

Still, the town does its best to take advantage of its place in Christian history, going so far as to link the Christmas nativity story to the fact that it houses the West Bank's best maternity facility.

The placement of a maternity hospital in Bethlehem is no accident, said Jacques Keutgen, director of the Holy Family Hospital, situated just half a mile from the Church of the Nativity which marks the traditional birthplace of Jesus.

"This is the birthplace of Jesus Christ, so it is very important that people here have the possibility to deliver safely and in peace," he said.

One wing houses the Palestinian territories' only intensive care unit for severely premature babies. The hospital also specializes in multiple births.

The hospital has been a Bethlehem institution since 1882. Political violence caused it to shut in 1985, but the Sovereign Order of Malta, a lay Roman Catholic order, reopened it as a maternity hospital in 1990.

The old building hosts advanced facilities. One wing houses the Palestinian territories' only intensive care unit for severely premature babies. Its 18 incubators often hold tiny babies born as much as three months early. The building's stone corridors surround a courtyard with a statue of Mary and Jesus amid rows orange trees.

The rest of the article is here.

ACLU Denies Separation of Church and State

From the do as we say, not as we do file comes this story.

NEW YORK – The American Civil Liberties Union today asked the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services to ensure that religiously-affiliated hospitals provide emergency reproductive care as required by federal law, specifically the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) and the Conditions of Participation of Medicare and Medicaid (COP).

"The lives and health of pregnant women seeking medical care should be of paramount importance," said Brigitte Amiri, senior staff attorney with the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project. "No woman should have to worry that she will not receive the care she needs based on the affiliation of the nearest hospital."

So separation of Church and State is fine when it suits the Government but their intrusion into the affairs of the Church is necessary when they decide.

ACLU Denies Separation of Church and State

From the do as we say, not as we do file comes this story.

NEW YORK – The American Civil Liberties Union today asked the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services to ensure that religiously-affiliated hospitals provide emergency reproductive care as required by federal law, specifically the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) and the Conditions of Participation of Medicare and Medicaid (COP).

"The lives and health of pregnant women seeking medical care should be of paramount importance," said Brigitte Amiri, senior staff attorney with the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project. "No woman should have to worry that she will not receive the care she needs based on the affiliation of the nearest hospital."

So separation of Church and State is fine when it suits the Government but their intrusion into the affairs of the Church is necessary when they decide.

We are called to be Apostles, not conferenciers

Hard to believe this quote is from the 19th century.

"I have just put up with a wretched sermon on Materialism or Naturalism as opposed to supernatural Revelation.  All the worn-out arguments rehearsed at the Seminary were led out in procession before the still Presences of the Blessed Sacrament.  Poor me!  I had come to the Church like "a beggar loaded with prayers."  This whirlpool of empty words engulfed them all, and my soul slipped into the troubled slumber brought on by such prattle.  What systematic warping of the Faith or what lack of it are we to surmise when so many have become completely unaware that the chief stock in trade of man are Faith and Obedience.  Our times call for Apostles and not Conferenciers, for Martyrs and not Demonstrators.  This is no longer the moment to prove that God exists.  The hour summons us to give our lives to Christ Jesus" (from She Who Weeps. Our Lady of La Salette by Leon Bloy - page 95 - #33 below).

If anyone is interested the book is out of print but a copy is available from Loome Books.

We are called to be Apostles, not conferenciers

Hard to believe this quote is from the 19th century.

"I have just put up with a wretched sermon on Materialism or Naturalism as opposed to supernatural Revelation.  All the worn-out arguments rehearsed at the Seminary were led out in procession before the still Presences of the Blessed Sacrament.  Poor me!  I had come to the Church like "a beggar loaded with prayers."  This whirlpool of empty words engulfed them all, and my soul slipped into the troubled slumber brought on by such prattle.  What systematic warping of the Faith or what lack of it are we to surmise when so many have become completely unaware that the chief stock in trade of man are Faith and Obedience.  Our times call for Apostles and not Conferenciers, for Martyrs and not Demonstrators.  This is no longer the moment to prove that God exists.  The hour summons us to give our lives to Christ Jesus" (from She Who Weeps. Our Lady of La Salette by Leon Bloy - page 95 - #33 below).

If anyone is interested the book is out of print but a copy is available from Loome Books.

Unrestrained Freedom Leads Ultimately to Unrestrained Tyranny

"[As] the traditional restraints and moral sanctions of society come to be regarded more and more as worthless, outworn taboos or as cruel checks placed upon individual egotism, which now goes under the name of freedom. A stage is eventually reached where there is no acknowledged limit to self-expression. The most traitorous deeds are defended as civil rights; the defense of even the natural law is ridiculed as "medieval." This lawlessness, if widespread, creates such confusion in society that a tyrant soon arises to organize the chaos through force. Thus is fulfilled thedictu of Dostoevski that "unlimited freedom leads to unlimited tyranny." Bishop Sheen

Unrestrained Freedom Leads Ultimately to Unrestrained Tyranny

"[As] the traditional restraints and moral sanctions of society come to be regarded more and more as worthless, outworn taboos or as cruel checks placed upon individual egotism, which now goes under the name of freedom. A stage is eventually reached where there is no acknowledged limit to self-expression. The most traitorous deeds are defended as civil rights; the defense of even the natural law is ridiculed as "medieval." This lawlessness, if widespread, creates such confusion in society that a tyrant soon arises to organize the chaos through force. Thus is fulfilled thedictu of Dostoevski that "unlimited freedom leads to unlimited tyranny." Bishop Sheen

Que soy era Immaculada Councepciou

Here is a short video of images taken around the Lourdes domain this morning where Mary announced to St. Bernadette that she was the Immaculate Conception.

Lourdes (France): Fête de l'Immaculée Conception, 8 décembre
Uploaded by Lourdes_Sanctuaire. - Explore international webcam videos.

Que soy era Immaculada Councepciou

Here is a short video of images taken around the Lourdes domain this morning where Mary announced to St. Bernadette that she was the Immaculate Conception.

Lourdes (France): Fête de l'Immaculée Conception, 8 décembre
Uploaded by Lourdes_Sanctuaire. - Explore international webcam videos.

The Virtue of Fortitude

Fortitude may be defined as that virtue which enables us to face undismayed and fearlessly the difficulties and dangers which stand in the way of duty and goodness.  It stands midway between foolhardiness, which rushes into danger heedlessly, and cowardice, which flees from it recreantly.

                    Bishop Sheen

The Virtue of Fortitude

Fortitude may be defined as that virtue which enables us to face undismayed and fearlessly the difficulties and dangers which stand in the way of duty and goodness.  It stands midway between foolhardiness, which rushes into danger heedlessly, and cowardice, which flees from it recreantly.

                    Bishop Sheen

The Inhumane Businessman - An Essay by Russell Kirk

Russell Kirk wrote a very interesting article in 1957 for Fortune magazine called The Inhumane Businessman. Kirk makes a number of poignant points that are even more relevant today. As the title of the essay is The Inhumane Businessman, 'inhumane' being the operative word, this is not a criticism of business or businessmen in general but of those business people describe in his words as,

American businessmen, like most other Americans, are deficient in the disciplines that nurture the spirit. They are largely ignorant of the humanities, which, in a word, comprise that body of great literature that records the wisdom of the ages, and in recording it instructs us in the nature of man. The humanist believes in the validity of such wisdom.

The next section could describe a number of our current billionaires, such as Warren Buffet, Bill Gates, etc., who have recently gotten together 40 fellow billionaires who have committed to give half of their respective fortunes to philanthropic causes.

Let us be quite clear about the difference between humanism and humanitarianism. In common usage, humanitarianism has simply come to mean generosity or charity; but strictly defined, as a system of thought, humanitarianism is a belief that mankind can be improved through the application of utilitarian principles, without divine aid; this is the idea that Rousseau pursued ecstatically and Stalin ruthlessly, while they overlooked the human law. Now there are a great many benevolent humanitarians among us who are neither ecstatic nor ruthless. The American businessman by and large is a benevolent humanitarian. In fact, probably no class of businessmen in all history has been so openhanded and so full of social conscience. So I do not mean to say that the American businessman is selfish when I say that he is not humane. But he misunderstands the limited virtues and even the profound hazards of humanitarianism so long as he neglects, as he does, the wisdom of humanism.

The rest of the article can be read at The Kirk Center.

The Inhumane Businessman - An Essay by Russell Kirk

Russell Kirk wrote a very interesting article in 1957 for Fortune magazine called The Inhumane Businessman. Kirk makes a number of poignant points that are even more relevant today. As the title of the essay is The Inhumane Businessman, 'inhumane' being the operative word, this is not a criticism of business or businessmen in general but of those business people describe in his words as,

American businessmen, like most other Americans, are deficient in the disciplines that nurture the spirit. They are largely ignorant of the humanities, which, in a word, comprise that body of great literature that records the wisdom of the ages, and in recording it instructs us in the nature of man. The humanist believes in the validity of such wisdom.

The next section could describe a number of our current billionaires, such as Warren Buffet, Bill Gates, etc., who have recently gotten together 40 fellow billionaires who have committed to give half of their respective fortunes to philanthropic causes.

Let us be quite clear about the difference between humanism and humanitarianism. In common usage, humanitarianism has simply come to mean generosity or charity; but strictly defined, as a system of thought, humanitarianism is a belief that mankind can be improved through the application of utilitarian principles, without divine aid; this is the idea that Rousseau pursued ecstatically and Stalin ruthlessly, while they overlooked the human law. Now there are a great many benevolent humanitarians among us who are neither ecstatic nor ruthless. The American businessman by and large is a benevolent humanitarian. In fact, probably no class of businessmen in all history has been so openhanded and so full of social conscience. So I do not mean to say that the American businessman is selfish when I say that he is not humane. But he misunderstands the limited virtues and even the profound hazards of humanitarianism so long as he neglects, as he does, the wisdom of humanism.

The rest of the article can be read at The Kirk Center.

Memorial of Our Lady of Liesse - Causa Nostra Latitia

Today the Order of Malta commemorates Our Lady of Liesse or Cause of Our Joy. I previously posted on the history of Our Lady by this title and you can read it here. The image below is found in the Church of Our Lady of Liesse in Valetta which was built in 1620 by the titular Bailiff of Armenia, Fra' Jacques Chenu de Bellay and restored by the French Langue of the Order in 1740. The video clip is of the bells of the Church.

Memorial of Our Lady of Liesse - Causa Nostra Latitia

Today the Order of Malta commemorates Our Lady of Liesse or Cause of Our Joy. I previously posted on the history of Our Lady by this title and you can read it here. The image below is found in the Church of Our Lady of Liesse in Valetta which was built in 1620 by the titular Bailiff of Armenia, Fra' Jacques Chenu de Bellay and restored by the French Langue of the Order in 1740. The video clip is of the bells of the Church.

Vespers Service for Catholics Massacred in Baghdad

While we were in New York a couple weeks ago for the investiture of new members into the Order of Malta we had the priviledge of attending a vespers service held at the Church of the Holy Family, the United Nations parish, to honor the victims of the recent massacre in Baghdad.  Here is a news account from  agenzia fides, the publication of the Pontifical Mission Societies.

Ambassadors and diplomats attended an Evening Prayer Service for the victims of the ferocious 31 October attack on the worshipers of Our Lady of Deliverance Syriac Catholic Cathedral in Baghdad, Iraq, that killed over 50 faithful, including 2 priests. A healthy crowd of friends and parishioners added to the number. According to information sent to Fides, the Evening Prayer Service was promoted by the Holy See Mission to the United Nations, in conjunction with the Syriac Catholic Diocese of Our Lady of Deliverance and the Archdiocese of New York and was held at New York City’s Church of the Holy Family just a block away from the United Nations, on November 12.

Archbishop Francis Chullikatt, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the UN, who had been Apostolic Nuncio to Iraq and Jordan for the last four years until arriving in New York two months ago, knew quite well the priests who were murdered, Fr. Thaer Abdal and Fr. Wassim Al-Qas Boutrus, as well as other victims. “What happened on October 31st is the worst possible nightmare. And the nightmare is not over,” he said in his greeting, deploring the fact that some of the families who had already lost loved ones on that day were later victims of attacks on their homes. “The situation is intolerable,” he said.

Bishop Yousif Habash, the Syriac Catholic Bishop for the United States and Canada, and several Syriac Catholic priests, led part of the service, chanting prayers in Syriac including the “Proemion of the Martyrs.” The evening included an impassioned plea for peace and reconciliation. Archbishop Cullikatt quoted the Gospel of St. Matthew: “Love your enemies. Pray for those who persecute you”. He said that not only do the dead and their families need prayers, but also those assembled need to pray “so that our hearts do not grow bitter and so that we can do our share in building a world that values and promotes reconciliation, harmony, love and peace among peoples, nations and religions.” (SL) (Agenzia Fides 13/11/2010)

Condividi: Facebook Google

Bishop Habash gave a very moving homily and I hope to obtain the text so I can put it here on my blog.

Vespers Service for Catholics Massacred in Baghdad

While we were in New York a couple weeks ago for the investiture of new members into the Order of Malta we had the priviledge of attending a vespers service held at the Church of the Holy Family, the United Nations parish, to honor the victims of the recent massacre in Baghdad.  Here is a news account from  agenzia fides, the publication of the Pontifical Mission Societies.

Ambassadors and diplomats attended an Evening Prayer Service for the victims of the ferocious 31 October attack on the worshipers of Our Lady of Deliverance Syriac Catholic Cathedral in Baghdad, Iraq, that killed over 50 faithful, including 2 priests. A healthy crowd of friends and parishioners added to the number. According to information sent to Fides, the Evening Prayer Service was promoted by the Holy See Mission to the United Nations, in conjunction with the Syriac Catholic Diocese of Our Lady of Deliverance and the Archdiocese of New York and was held at New York City’s Church of the Holy Family just a block away from the United Nations, on November 12.

Archbishop Francis Chullikatt, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the UN, who had been Apostolic Nuncio to Iraq and Jordan for the last four years until arriving in New York two months ago, knew quite well the priests who were murdered, Fr. Thaer Abdal and Fr. Wassim Al-Qas Boutrus, as well as other victims. “What happened on October 31st is the worst possible nightmare. And the nightmare is not over,” he said in his greeting, deploring the fact that some of the families who had already lost loved ones on that day were later victims of attacks on their homes. “The situation is intolerable,” he said.

Bishop Yousif Habash, the Syriac Catholic Bishop for the United States and Canada, and several Syriac Catholic priests, led part of the service, chanting prayers in Syriac including the “Proemion of the Martyrs.” The evening included an impassioned plea for peace and reconciliation. Archbishop Cullikatt quoted the Gospel of St. Matthew: “Love your enemies. Pray for those who persecute you”. He said that not only do the dead and their families need prayers, but also those assembled need to pray “so that our hearts do not grow bitter and so that we can do our share in building a world that values and promotes reconciliation, harmony, love and peace among peoples, nations and religions.” (SL) (Agenzia Fides 13/11/2010)

Condividi: Facebook Google

Bishop Habash gave a very moving homily and I hope to obtain the text so I can put it here on my blog.

The Power of Suffering to Comfort and Heal the World

In his book The Divine Pity, a study on the social implication of the Beatitudes, Fr. Gerald Vann O.P. gives a beautiful summmation of the Beatitude, Blessed are they that mourn, on the power of suffering to comfort and heal the world,

that whatever suffering and sorrow may come to you, and whenever it come, it can be used, and ought to be used, in the power and in the company of Christ for the healing and the comforting of the world as a whole; and in that suffering of the sorrow of the world as a whole you can find your understanding and your heart immeasurably enlarged, enlarged indeed to something remotely approaching the fullness of the stature of Christ.

And in order to be among those that mourn it is necessary to start by

making sure that you are temperate in your attitude toward creatures: that you are reverent towards men and women and animals and inanimate things. You must not be sentimental: you must not make reverence synonymous with fear or softness or blindness. There is an order in created things, and the less are meant to serve the greater, and to serve them according to their nature. [And here comes a note for PETA] It is not reverence but irreverence to treat your pets as though they were beings of a superior order: it is a failure to respect their nature. It is not reverence but irreverence to refuse from mistaken humanitarianism to punish a disobedient child. But you can be reverent to the nature and personality of the child you are punishing, though it is very different reverence from the reverence the child owes to you.

The Power of Suffering to Comfort and Heal the World

In his book The Divine Pity, a study on the social implication of the Beatitudes, Fr. Gerald Vann O.P. gives a beautiful summmation of the Beatitude, Blessed are they that mourn, on the power of suffering to comfort and heal the world,

that whatever suffering and sorrow may come to you, and whenever it come, it can be used, and ought to be used, in the power and in the company of Christ for the healing and the comforting of the world as a whole; and in that suffering of the sorrow of the world as a whole you can find your understanding and your heart immeasurably enlarged, enlarged indeed to something remotely approaching the fullness of the stature of Christ.

And in order to be among those that mourn it is necessary to start by

making sure that you are temperate in your attitude toward creatures: that you are reverent towards men and women and animals and inanimate things. You must not be sentimental: you must not make reverence synonymous with fear or softness or blindness. There is an order in created things, and the less are meant to serve the greater, and to serve them according to their nature. [And here comes a note for PETA] It is not reverence but irreverence to treat your pets as though they were beings of a superior order: it is a failure to respect their nature. It is not reverence but irreverence to refuse from mistaken humanitarianism to punish a disobedient child. But you can be reverent to the nature and personality of the child you are punishing, though it is very different reverence from the reverence the child owes to you.

Catholic Economics 101 - It's Not Your Money

We hear much debate about taxes and tax cuts, about "the rich" paying their fair share, or the statement that, "it's my money." Without getting into the debate over how much tax we should each pay, keeping in mind that forced restribution of wealth is not a Catholic social teaching, it would be helpful if we all remembered this principle from the prayer of St. Ignatius and used our resources accordingly.

All that I am and all that I possess You have given me. I surrender it all to You to be disposed of according to Your will.

Catholic Economics 101 - It's Not Your Money

We hear much debate about taxes and tax cuts, about "the rich" paying their fair share, or the statement that, "it's my money." Without getting into the debate over how much tax we should each pay, keeping in mind that forced restribution of wealth is not a Catholic social teaching, it would be helpful if we all remembered this principle from the prayer of St. Ignatius and used our resources accordingly.

All that I am and all that I possess You have given me. I surrender it all to You to be disposed of according to Your will.

Sister Marie de Mandat-Grancey - Updated Status

The first step toward beatification of Sister Marie de Mandat-Grancey will take place on Friday, January 21st, 2011 in the Diocese of Kansas City at the Immaculate Conception Cathedral.  Sister Marie is the foundress of Mary's House in Ephesus, Turkey.  She has a remarkable story and it would be wonderful to see her raised to the altar of sainthood.  Visit the website set up for her cause to learn more and print off a prayer card.  She came from a noble family of France and had a great love and care for the sick and poor. 

Sister Marie de Mandat-Grancey - Updated Status

The first step toward beatification of Sister Marie de Mandat-Grancey will take place on Friday, January 21st, 2011 in the Diocese of Kansas City at the Immaculate Conception Cathedral.  Sister Marie is the foundress of Mary's House in Ephesus, Turkey.  She has a remarkable story and it would be wonderful to see her raised to the altar of sainthood.  Visit the website set up for her cause to learn more and print off a prayer card.  She came from a noble family of France and had a great love and care for the sick and poor. 

Church Closings and How We Can Respond

Msgr. Charles Pope has a good article today on the topic of Church closings.  He also includes some practical solutions to the problem compared to the emotional reactions most often seen in the local media which generally include some form of dissent from Catholic teaching.  Here's the link to the Archdiocese of Washington blog.

Church Closings and How We Can Respond

Msgr. Charles Pope has a good article today on the topic of Church closings.  He also includes some practical solutions to the problem compared to the emotional reactions most often seen in the local media which generally include some form of dissent from Catholic teaching.  Here's the link to the Archdiocese of Washington blog.

5 Virtues Catholic Parents Should Teach Their Children - Talk By Fr. Rocky

Five Virtues All Catholic Parents Should Pass On To Their Children

Date: Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Time: 7:00 PM
Location: Maternity of Mary, St Paul

More info at Relevant Radio Do you worry about your children and grandchildren? What do they need to succeed in life? Will they have a life of fulfillment and purpose?

Come and find out! The event is free and open to the public - we simply ask that you bring a friend or family member with you!

5 Virtues all Catholic Parents Should Pass On To Their Children

Wednesday, November 3, 2010
7:00 pm
Maternity of Mary, St Paul

Presented by Fr. Francis J. Hoffman
"Fr. Rocky", Priest of Opus Dei, Executive Director of Relevant Radio©, Co-Host of Go Ask Your Father™



For more information, please call 6512.643.4116.

Sponsored by Relevant Radio© www.relevantradio1330.com

5 Virtues Catholic Parents Should Teach Their Children - Talk By Fr. Rocky

Five Virtues All Catholic Parents Should Pass On To Their Children

Date: Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Time: 7:00 PM
Location: Maternity of Mary, St Paul

More info at Relevant Radio Do you worry about your children and grandchildren? What do they need to succeed in life? Will they have a life of fulfillment and purpose?

Come and find out! The event is free and open to the public - we simply ask that you bring a friend or family member with you!

5 Virtues all Catholic Parents Should Pass On To Their Children

Wednesday, November 3, 2010
7:00 pm
Maternity of Mary, St Paul

Presented by Fr. Francis J. Hoffman
"Fr. Rocky", Priest of Opus Dei, Executive Director of Relevant Radio©, Co-Host of Go Ask Your Father™



For more information, please call 6512.643.4116.

Sponsored by Relevant Radio© www.relevantradio1330.com

All Souls Poem by Kenelm Digby

The following excerpt from the poem for the feast of All Souls was written by Kenelm Digby, the author of the classic work of chivalry, The Broadstone of Honour, which was later condensed and published as Maxims of Christian Chivalry, which I have linked to on my recommended books.  (h/t to Why I Am Catholic for finding this) 


                  All Souls

There's a race that we love, though it thinks it can soar
Above truths that it held to in ages of yore.
We deem it pretension; and we judge it from acts;
Let us single but one out of numberless facts,

Not confined to the circle which doubts or denies
That a prayer can be needed when any one dies,
But e'en showing this error extending as wide
As the nation renouncing the primitive side.

'Tis the day of the dead, it was once here well known;
Yes, but then all such fancies have hence long flown.
For religion reform'd is now far too wise
To demand of our time such a fond sacrifice.

For suppressing the custom, this way is the first;
But then who can feel certain that it is the worst?
Although heads remain firm, one quickly discovers
That hearts pretty nearly agree with the others.

'Tis the day of the dead, and it comes once a year,
But sooth few are now found to attend to it here.
For some are too busy, aye with too much in hand,
To suppose that a moment they have at command.

And there's always some pressure on that very day,
Which must keep both the busy and idle away;
Our profession, affairs, visits--these are supreme--
And to think of suspending them, merely a dream.

'Tis the day of the dead, and it comes with the cold,
With the fall of the leaf and the soft drench'd black mould;
The long damp waving grass and the tall dripping trees
Would do quite as much hurt as the wild wintry breeze.

'Tis the day of the dead, and long has it gone by;
Mediaevalists only can like thus to sigh:
If you will talk and have us both pray and feel so,
'Tis in warm and gay churches we should all of us kneel.

For what can one place be now more than another,
Unless superstition your reason will smother?
These old customs romantic and certainly wild
Belong to the vulgar for too often beguiled.

'Tis the day of the dead, but then what would they say
Who might hear that through graves thus we too would stray?
You and I, my good friend, must now be like others,
However thus any one talks on and bothers.

'Tis the day of the dead--but no great bell sounds
To invite us in thought from our brief earthly bounds:
Through the streets one runs hastening, another one stays;
All for business or pleasure; in brief no one prays.

Oh! England, that once wert believing and holy,
So free too from Pagan-like dull melancholy,
Aye so quick to attend to religion's great voice,
Inviting gravely to mourn or gladly rejoice,

Just behold thy graves now left so lonely ever!
With the tears of fond memory on them never!
So deserted by all their surviving best friends:
And you'll see at least here where thy long boasting ends.

But the scene changes now to a different shore,
Where religion exits as in ages of yore,
Where no one pretends that men are not clever,
The true and the false to distinguish and sever.

'Tis the day of the dead, and it comes once a year:
The crowds are now moving, none ashamed to appear.
So the busiest men all engaged in their trade
Leave their shops and their ledgers, and thoughtful are made.

The statesman. the senator, the great and the small,
View the spot loved by each one, and kneeling down fall,
Yet at home much to do! constant work for their head!
But now all is forgotten excepting the dead.

Then the maiden so pale, and the old pensive sire,
With the youth for the day free, in deep black attire,
The widow, the orphan, and the seamstress so shy,
Gently pass to the spot where their loved ones still lie.

The little one grasping, and with such a tight hold,
The frock of sweet sissy, who herself's not too bold;
Though all walk on order like relatives dear,
By their looks even charity letting appear.

Then some strew their pale flowers, and some light the lamp,
Unlocking in silence the cold monument damp,
And kneel like mute statues, and others stray on,
And all love to linger, and thence none will be gone.

There is woodbine that flourishes best o'er a grave;
Each alley, death's violets--Pervenche--will pave;
Poet's fictions of worms all engender'd below
Yield to wreaths of immortals which friends will bestow.

'Tis the day of the dead; it comes bright or cold,
But all are not nervous like some timid and old;
The slopes amid flowers, and the high stirring breeze,
Have enchantment for him who both feels and who sees.

So the tortuous path and the dark cypress spire,
He will follow half pleased, e'en, and he will admire;
The tombs shining graceful, or the green mossy sod--
Oh, how all of these lift up his heart unto God!

The day of the dead--to our old faith we owe it;
Both dear to the Christian and dear to the poet.
Our fathers they taught us on the graves thus to stray,
Although still in churches each morning we pray.

And the men of our age with their courage so high,
Have yet time thus, and hearts too, to breathe a soft sigh.
And let no one suppose we are sorrowful made
By wandering so thoughtful through this peacful shade.

'Tis the day of the dead, and the day of each home,
While recalling each household, wherever we roam;
'Tis the day of our fathers, of sons, and of brothers,
The day of our sisters so fond, and of mothers.

'Tis the day for the young, for the old, and for all,
And which needs not of priests the particular call.
Thus domestic, ancestral, the day has its claims
Still on every being who human remains.

See whole families walk in groups as they pass.
Do they weep for a brother, a boy, or a lass?
Do they think of a mother, a sister, or bride?
Oh, then mark with what pains will they seek tears to hide!

And when now fresh processions are seen to arrive,
What a sympathy moves all the rest who survive!
During eight days, from morning till evening 'tis so,
And all raise up to Heaven the hearts from below.

'Tis the day of the dead, and here no one is found
To take his way reckless to a diffent ground;
It is known, and respected, and honor'd here still,
By ll those who have even the faintest weak will

Thus to follow the customs so closely allied
With the faith of the Church that is elsewhere denied;
For the worst and most thoughtless, the wildest here then
Will remember that they too are mortal and men.

'Tis the day of the dead, do you hear the strange bell?
Hark! it tolls thus all day, through the night too as well:
The guards are there mounted to keep the long way,
Such multitudes hasten to weep and to pray.

O then France, sprightly France, still so faithful and true
To defend what their fathers all believed in and knew,
With soft hearts that are warm, and aye kindled with light,
The same that dispell'd once, the old sad Pagan night,

Now behold thy deck'd graves thus from year unto year,
So bedew'd and refresh'd with poor grateful tear,
Thus frequented at times as the sweetest of fields,
And see there what good fruits now thy old faith still yields.

Thou art praised for thy science, thy art, and thy grace,
For courage so high that belongs to thy race,
But when all is admired, and all has been said,
There is nothing surpasses thy love for the dead

All Souls Poem by Kenelm Digby

The following excerpt from the poem for the feast of All Souls was written by Kenelm Digby, the author of the classic work of chivalry, The Broadstone of Honour, which was later condensed and published as Maxims of Christian Chivalry, which I have linked to on my recommended books.  (h/t to Why I Am Catholic for finding this) 


                  All Souls

There's a race that we love, though it thinks it can soar
Above truths that it held to in ages of yore.
We deem it pretension; and we judge it from acts;
Let us single but one out of numberless facts,

Not confined to the circle which doubts or denies
That a prayer can be needed when any one dies,
But e'en showing this error extending as wide
As the nation renouncing the primitive side.

'Tis the day of the dead, it was once here well known;
Yes, but then all such fancies have hence long flown.
For religion reform'd is now far too wise
To demand of our time such a fond sacrifice.

For suppressing the custom, this way is the first;
But then who can feel certain that it is the worst?
Although heads remain firm, one quickly discovers
That hearts pretty nearly agree with the others.

'Tis the day of the dead, and it comes once a year,
But sooth few are now found to attend to it here.
For some are too busy, aye with too much in hand,
To suppose that a moment they have at command.

And there's always some pressure on that very day,
Which must keep both the busy and idle away;
Our profession, affairs, visits--these are supreme--
And to think of suspending them, merely a dream.

'Tis the day of the dead, and it comes with the cold,
With the fall of the leaf and the soft drench'd black mould;
The long damp waving grass and the tall dripping trees
Would do quite as much hurt as the wild wintry breeze.

'Tis the day of the dead, and long has it gone by;
Mediaevalists only can like thus to sigh:
If you will talk and have us both pray and feel so,
'Tis in warm and gay churches we should all of us kneel.

For what can one place be now more than another,
Unless superstition your reason will smother?
These old customs romantic and certainly wild
Belong to the vulgar for too often beguiled.

'Tis the day of the dead, but then what would they say
Who might hear that through graves thus we too would stray?
You and I, my good friend, must now be like others,
However thus any one talks on and bothers.

'Tis the day of the dead--but no great bell sounds
To invite us in thought from our brief earthly bounds:
Through the streets one runs hastening, another one stays;
All for business or pleasure; in brief no one prays.

Oh! England, that once wert believing and holy,
So free too from Pagan-like dull melancholy,
Aye so quick to attend to religion's great voice,
Inviting gravely to mourn or gladly rejoice,

Just behold thy graves now left so lonely ever!
With the tears of fond memory on them never!
So deserted by all their surviving best friends:
And you'll see at least here where thy long boasting ends.

But the scene changes now to a different shore,
Where religion exits as in ages of yore,
Where no one pretends that men are not clever,
The true and the false to distinguish and sever.

'Tis the day of the dead, and it comes once a year:
The crowds are now moving, none ashamed to appear.
So the busiest men all engaged in their trade
Leave their shops and their ledgers, and thoughtful are made.

The statesman. the senator, the great and the small,
View the spot loved by each one, and kneeling down fall,
Yet at home much to do! constant work for their head!
But now all is forgotten excepting the dead.

Then the maiden so pale, and the old pensive sire,
With the youth for the day free, in deep black attire,
The widow, the orphan, and the seamstress so shy,
Gently pass to the spot where their loved ones still lie.

The little one grasping, and with such a tight hold,
The frock of sweet sissy, who herself's not too bold;
Though all walk on order like relatives dear,
By their looks even charity letting appear.

Then some strew their pale flowers, and some light the lamp,
Unlocking in silence the cold monument damp,
And kneel like mute statues, and others stray on,
And all love to linger, and thence none will be gone.

There is woodbine that flourishes best o'er a grave;
Each alley, death's violets--Pervenche--will pave;
Poet's fictions of worms all engender'd below
Yield to wreaths of immortals which friends will bestow.

'Tis the day of the dead; it comes bright or cold,
But all are not nervous like some timid and old;
The slopes amid flowers, and the high stirring breeze,
Have enchantment for him who both feels and who sees.

So the tortuous path and the dark cypress spire,
He will follow half pleased, e'en, and he will admire;
The tombs shining graceful, or the green mossy sod--
Oh, how all of these lift up his heart unto God!

The day of the dead--to our old faith we owe it;
Both dear to the Christian and dear to the poet.
Our fathers they taught us on the graves thus to stray,
Although still in churches each morning we pray.

And the men of our age with their courage so high,
Have yet time thus, and hearts too, to breathe a soft sigh.
And let no one suppose we are sorrowful made
By wandering so thoughtful through this peacful shade.

'Tis the day of the dead, and the day of each home,
While recalling each household, wherever we roam;
'Tis the day of our fathers, of sons, and of brothers,
The day of our sisters so fond, and of mothers.

'Tis the day for the young, for the old, and for all,
And which needs not of priests the particular call.
Thus domestic, ancestral, the day has its claims
Still on every being who human remains.

See whole families walk in groups as they pass.
Do they weep for a brother, a boy, or a lass?
Do they think of a mother, a sister, or bride?
Oh, then mark with what pains will they seek tears to hide!

And when now fresh processions are seen to arrive,
What a sympathy moves all the rest who survive!
During eight days, from morning till evening 'tis so,
And all raise up to Heaven the hearts from below.

'Tis the day of the dead, and here no one is found
To take his way reckless to a diffent ground;
It is known, and respected, and honor'd here still,
By ll those who have even the faintest weak will

Thus to follow the customs so closely allied
With the faith of the Church that is elsewhere denied;
For the worst and most thoughtless, the wildest here then
Will remember that they too are mortal and men.

'Tis the day of the dead, do you hear the strange bell?
Hark! it tolls thus all day, through the night too as well:
The guards are there mounted to keep the long way,
Such multitudes hasten to weep and to pray.

O then France, sprightly France, still so faithful and true
To defend what their fathers all believed in and knew,
With soft hearts that are warm, and aye kindled with light,
The same that dispell'd once, the old sad Pagan night,

Now behold thy deck'd graves thus from year unto year,
So bedew'd and refresh'd with poor grateful tear,
Thus frequented at times as the sweetest of fields,
And see there what good fruits now thy old faith still yields.

Thou art praised for thy science, thy art, and thy grace,
For courage so high that belongs to thy race,
But when all is admired, and all has been said,
There is nothing surpasses thy love for the dead

Sung High Mass for Christ the King at Sacred Heart in Robbinsdale

To celebrate the Feast of Christ the King there will be a sung high Mass in the Extraordinary Form tomorrow, 10/31, at Sacred Heart in Robbinsdale, at 11:30. A men's schola from the Twin Cities will be singing. Ctlick here for directions to Sacred Heart. There is also a weekly Mass in the Extraordinary Form there at the same time.

Sung High Mass for Christ the King at Sacred Heart in Robbinsdale

To celebrate the Feast of Christ the King there will be a sung high Mass in the Extraordinary Form tomorrow, 10/31, at Sacred Heart in Robbinsdale, at 11:30. A men's schola from the Twin Cities will be singing. Ctlick here for directions to Sacred Heart. There is also a weekly Mass in the Extraordinary Form there at the same time.

Pope to Bishops, Remind Laity It Is Their Duty to Vote for the Common Good

The following comments are from the Pope's message to the Bishops of Brazil.

Bishops must guide their faithful to use their vote to oppose efforts to legalize abortion and euthanasia, Pope Benedict XVI told bishops from Brazil.

“Dear brother bishops, to defend life we must not fear hostility or unpopularity, and we must refuse any compromise or ambiguity which might conform us to the world’s way of thinking,” the pope said Oct. 28 during a meeting with bishops from northeast Brazil.

… Pope Benedict told the Brazilian bishops that while direct involvement in politics is the responsibility of the laity [that's where the Catholic Vote comes in!], “when the fundamental rights of the person or the salvation of souls requires it, pastors have a serious duty to make moral judgments even in political matters [there is no "space" that is free from our obligations as Christians - not even the voting booth].”

… While some may claim they support abortion or euthanasia to defend the weak and the poor, “who is more helpless than an unborn child or a patient in a vegetative or terminal state?” he said.

“When political positions openly or covertly include plans to decriminalize abortion and euthanasia, the democratic ideal – which is truly democratic only when it acknowledges and safeguards the dignity of every human person — is betrayed at its foundations,” Pope Benedict told the bishops.

(CNS)

Concluding message:

Bishops and priests have an obligation to help Catholic laity live in a way that that is faithful to the Gospel in every aspect of their lives, including their political choices, he said. “This also means that in certain cases, pastors should remind all citizens of their right and duty to use their vote to promote the common good,” the pope said.

Pope to Bishops, Remind Laity It Is Their Duty to Vote for the Common Good

The following comments are from the Pope's message to the Bishops of Brazil.

Bishops must guide their faithful to use their vote to oppose efforts to legalize abortion and euthanasia, Pope Benedict XVI told bishops from Brazil.

“Dear brother bishops, to defend life we must not fear hostility or unpopularity, and we must refuse any compromise or ambiguity which might conform us to the world’s way of thinking,” the pope said Oct. 28 during a meeting with bishops from northeast Brazil.

… Pope Benedict told the Brazilian bishops that while direct involvement in politics is the responsibility of the laity [that's where the Catholic Vote comes in!], “when the fundamental rights of the person or the salvation of souls requires it, pastors have a serious duty to make moral judgments even in political matters [there is no "space" that is free from our obligations as Christians - not even the voting booth].”

… While some may claim they support abortion or euthanasia to defend the weak and the poor, “who is more helpless than an unborn child or a patient in a vegetative or terminal state?” he said.

“When political positions openly or covertly include plans to decriminalize abortion and euthanasia, the democratic ideal – which is truly democratic only when it acknowledges and safeguards the dignity of every human person — is betrayed at its foundations,” Pope Benedict told the bishops.

(CNS)

Concluding message:

Bishops and priests have an obligation to help Catholic laity live in a way that that is faithful to the Gospel in every aspect of their lives, including their political choices, he said. “This also means that in certain cases, pastors should remind all citizens of their right and duty to use their vote to promote the common good,” the pope said.

Archbishop Chaput on Military Service and and a New Service of Knighthood

The following is a talk Archbishop Chaput delivered to Catholic cadets at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs on Monday, Oct. 25, 2010, taken from the Archdiocese of Denver website.

None of you wants to sit through another classroom lecture. So my comments will be brief. Then we can get to some questions and answers. I'm also going to skip telling you how talented you are. You already know that. You wouldn't be here if you weren't. What you'll discover as you get older is that the world has plenty of very talented failures – people who either didn't live up to their abilities; or who did, but did it in a way that diminished their humanity and their character. 
 
God made you to be better than that. And your nation and your Church need you to be better than that. Scripture tells us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Ps 111:10). Wisdom – not merely the knowledge of facts or a mastery of skills, but wisdom about ourselves, other people and the terrain of human life – this is the mark of a whole person. We already have too many clever leaders. We need wise leaders. And the wisest leaders ground themselves in humility before God and the demands of God’s justice.
 
I want to offer you just four quick points tonight. Here's the first. Military service is a vocation, not simply a profession.  
 
The word “vocation” comes from the Latin word vocare, which means to call. In Christian belief, God created each of us for a purpose. He calls each of us by name to some form of service. No higher purpose exists than protecting other people, especially the weak and defenseless. This is why the Church, despite her historic resistance to war and armed violence, has held for many centuries that military service is not just “acceptable.” It can also be much more than that. When lived with a spirit of integrity, restraint and justice, military service is virtuous. It's ennobling because – at its best – military service expresses the greatest of all virtues: charity; a sacrificial love for people and things outside and more important than oneself. It flows from something unique in the human heart: a willingness to place one's own life in harm's way for the sake of others. 
 
The great Russian Christian writer Vladimir Solovyov once said that to defend peaceful men, “the guardian angels of humanity mixed the clay [of the earth] with copper and iron and created the soldier.”    And until the spirit of malice brought into the world by Cain disappears from human hearts, the soldier “will be a good and not an evil.” (i) He expressed in a poetic way what the Church teaches and believes. And you should strive to embody this vision in your own service.
 
Here's my second point. Protect the moral character you build here, and remember the leadership you learn here. You’ll need both when the day comes to return to civilian life.
 
I think it's unwise for people my age to judge the world too critically. The reason is pretty simple. The older we get, the more clearly we see – or think we see -- what's wrong with the world. It also gets harder to admit our own role in making it that way. Over my lifetime I've had the privilege of working with many good religious men and women, and many good lay Christian friends. Many of them have been heroic in their generosity, faith and service. Many have helped to make our country a better place. 
 
And yet I think it's true – I know it's true – that my generation has, in some ways, been among the most foolish in American history. We’ve been absorbed in our appetites, naïve about the consequences of our actions, overconfident in our power, and unwilling to submit ourselves to the obligations that come with the greatest ideals of our own heritage. 
 
Most generations of Americans have inherited a nation different in degree from the generations that preceded them. You will inherit an America that is different in kind  – a nation different from anything in our past in its attitudes toward sexuality, family, religion, law and the nature of the human person; in other words, different and more troubling in the basic things that define a society. My generation created this new kind of America. Soon we will leave the consequences to you. 
 
And this brings us back to my second point: Where the leadership and moral character of my generation failed, you need to succeed. The task of Christian moral leadership that will occupy much of your lives in the future will not be easy. It will place heavy demands on people like you who learned discipline and integrity in places like this.
 
Here's my third point. Guarantees of religious freedom are only as strong as the social consensus that supports them. 
 
Americans have always taken their religious freedom for granted. Religious faith has always played a major role in our public life, including debate about public policy and law. The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution explicitly guarantees this freedom. But that guarantee and its application are subject to lawmakers and the interpretation of courts. And lawmakers and courts increasingly attack religious liberty, undermine rights of conscience, and force references to God out of our public square. This shift in our culture is made worse by mass media that, in general, have little understanding of religious faith and are often openly hostile. As religious practice softens in the United States over the next few decades, the consensus for religious freedom may easily decline. And that has very big implications for the life of faithful Catholics in this country.
 
Here's my fourth and final point. Given everything I've just said, how do we live faithfully as Catholics going forward in a culture that’s skeptical, and even hostile, toward what we believe?
 
Knighthood is an institution with very deep roots in the memory of the Church.  Nearly 900 years ago, one of the great monastic reformers of the Church, St. Bernard of Clairvaux, described the ideal Christian knights as Godly men who “shun every excess in clothing and food.  They live as brothers in joyful and sober company (with) one heart and one soul. … There is no distinction of persons among them, and deference is shown to merit rather than to noble blood.  They rival one another in mutual consideration, and they carry one another’s burdens, thus fulfilling the law of Christ.” (ii)
 
Bernard had few illusions about human nature. And he was anything but naïve.  Writing at the dawn of the crusading era, in the early 12th century, he was well aware of the greed, vanity, ambition and violence that too often motivated Europe’s warrior class, even in the name of religious faith. 
 
Most of the men who took up the cause of aiding eastern Christians and liberating the Holy Land in the early decades of crusading did so out of genuine zeal for the Cross.  But Bernard also knew that many others had mixed or even corrupt and evil motives.  In his great essay “In Praise of the New Knighthood” (c. 1136), he outlined the virtues that should shape the vocation of every truly “Christian” knight: humility, austerity, justice, obedience, unselfishness and a single-minded zeal for Jesus Christ in defending the poor, the weak, the Church and persecuted Christians. (iii)
 
Our life today may seem very different from life in the 12th century. The Church today asks us to seek mutual respect with people of other religious traditions, and to build common ground for cooperation wherever possible. 
 
But human nature -- our basic hopes, dreams, anxieties and sufferings -- hasn’t really changed.  The basic Christian vocation remains the same: to follow Jesus Christ faithfully, and in following Jesus, to defend Christ’s Church and to serve her people zealously, unselfishly and with all our skill.  As St. Ignatius Loyola wrote in his “Spiritual Exercises” -- and remember that Ignatius himself was a former soldier -- each of us must choose between two battle standards: the standard of Jesus Christ, humanity’s true King, or the standard of his impostor, the Prince of This World. 
 
There is no neutral ground. C.S. Lewis once said that Christianity is a “fighting religion.” He meant that Christian discipleship has always been -- and remains -- a struggle against the evil within and outside ourselves. This is why the early Church Fathers described Christian life as “spiritual combat.” It’s why they called faithful Christians the “Church Militant” and “soldiers of Christ” in the Sacrament of Confirmation.
 
The Church needs men and women of courage and Godliness today more than at any time in her history. So does this extraordinary country we call home in this world; a nation that still has an immense reservoir of virtue, decency and people of good will. This is why the Catholic ideal of knighthood, with its demands of radical discipleship, is still alive and still needed.  The essence of Christian knighthood remains the same: sacrificial service rooted in a living Catholic faith.
 
A new “spirit of knighthood” is what we need now -- unselfish, tireless, devoted disciples willing to face derision and persecution for Jesus Christ. We serve our nation best by serving God first, and by proving our faith with the example of our lives.

Archbishop Chaput on Military Service and and a New Service of Knighthood

The following is a talk Archbishop Chaput delivered to Catholic cadets at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs on Monday, Oct. 25, 2010, taken from the Archdiocese of Denver website.

None of you wants to sit through another classroom lecture. So my comments will be brief. Then we can get to some questions and answers. I'm also going to skip telling you how talented you are. You already know that. You wouldn't be here if you weren't. What you'll discover as you get older is that the world has plenty of very talented failures – people who either didn't live up to their abilities; or who did, but did it in a way that diminished their humanity and their character. 
 
God made you to be better than that. And your nation and your Church need you to be better than that. Scripture tells us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Ps 111:10). Wisdom – not merely the knowledge of facts or a mastery of skills, but wisdom about ourselves, other people and the terrain of human life – this is the mark of a whole person. We already have too many clever leaders. We need wise leaders. And the wisest leaders ground themselves in humility before God and the demands of God’s justice.
 
I want to offer you just four quick points tonight. Here's the first. Military service is a vocation, not simply a profession.  
 
The word “vocation” comes from the Latin word vocare, which means to call. In Christian belief, God created each of us for a purpose. He calls each of us by name to some form of service. No higher purpose exists than protecting other people, especially the weak and defenseless. This is why the Church, despite her historic resistance to war and armed violence, has held for many centuries that military service is not just “acceptable.” It can also be much more than that. When lived with a spirit of integrity, restraint and justice, military service is virtuous. It's ennobling because – at its best – military service expresses the greatest of all virtues: charity; a sacrificial love for people and things outside and more important than oneself. It flows from something unique in the human heart: a willingness to place one's own life in harm's way for the sake of others. 
 
The great Russian Christian writer Vladimir Solovyov once said that to defend peaceful men, “the guardian angels of humanity mixed the clay [of the earth] with copper and iron and created the soldier.”    And until the spirit of malice brought into the world by Cain disappears from human hearts, the soldier “will be a good and not an evil.” (i) He expressed in a poetic way what the Church teaches and believes. And you should strive to embody this vision in your own service.
 
Here's my second point. Protect the moral character you build here, and remember the leadership you learn here. You’ll need both when the day comes to return to civilian life.
 
I think it's unwise for people my age to judge the world too critically. The reason is pretty simple. The older we get, the more clearly we see – or think we see -- what's wrong with the world. It also gets harder to admit our own role in making it that way. Over my lifetime I've had the privilege of working with many good religious men and women, and many good lay Christian friends. Many of them have been heroic in their generosity, faith and service. Many have helped to make our country a better place. 
 
And yet I think it's true – I know it's true – that my generation has, in some ways, been among the most foolish in American history. We’ve been absorbed in our appetites, naïve about the consequences of our actions, overconfident in our power, and unwilling to submit ourselves to the obligations that come with the greatest ideals of our own heritage. 
 
Most generations of Americans have inherited a nation different in degree from the generations that preceded them. You will inherit an America that is different in kind  – a nation different from anything in our past in its attitudes toward sexuality, family, religion, law and the nature of the human person; in other words, different and more troubling in the basic things that define a society. My generation created this new kind of America. Soon we will leave the consequences to you. 
 
And this brings us back to my second point: Where the leadership and moral character of my generation failed, you need to succeed. The task of Christian moral leadership that will occupy much of your lives in the future will not be easy. It will place heavy demands on people like you who learned discipline and integrity in places like this.
 
Here's my third point. Guarantees of religious freedom are only as strong as the social consensus that supports them. 
 
Americans have always taken their religious freedom for granted. Religious faith has always played a major role in our public life, including debate about public policy and law. The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution explicitly guarantees this freedom. But that guarantee and its application are subject to lawmakers and the interpretation of courts. And lawmakers and courts increasingly attack religious liberty, undermine rights of conscience, and force references to God out of our public square. This shift in our culture is made worse by mass media that, in general, have little understanding of religious faith and are often openly hostile. As religious practice softens in the United States over the next few decades, the consensus for religious freedom may easily decline. And that has very big implications for the life of faithful Catholics in this country.
 
Here's my fourth and final point. Given everything I've just said, how do we live faithfully as Catholics going forward in a culture that’s skeptical, and even hostile, toward what we believe?
 
Knighthood is an institution with very deep roots in the memory of the Church.  Nearly 900 years ago, one of the great monastic reformers of the Church, St. Bernard of Clairvaux, described the ideal Christian knights as Godly men who “shun every excess in clothing and food.  They live as brothers in joyful and sober company (with) one heart and one soul. … There is no distinction of persons among them, and deference is shown to merit rather than to noble blood.  They rival one another in mutual consideration, and they carry one another’s burdens, thus fulfilling the law of Christ.” (ii)
 
Bernard had few illusions about human nature. And he was anything but naïve.  Writing at the dawn of the crusading era, in the early 12th century, he was well aware of the greed, vanity, ambition and violence that too often motivated Europe’s warrior class, even in the name of religious faith. 
 
Most of the men who took up the cause of aiding eastern Christians and liberating the Holy Land in the early decades of crusading did so out of genuine zeal for the Cross.  But Bernard also knew that many others had mixed or even corrupt and evil motives.  In his great essay “In Praise of the New Knighthood” (c. 1136), he outlined the virtues that should shape the vocation of every truly “Christian” knight: humility, austerity, justice, obedience, unselfishness and a single-minded zeal for Jesus Christ in defending the poor, the weak, the Church and persecuted Christians. (iii)
 
Our life today may seem very different from life in the 12th century. The Church today asks us to seek mutual respect with people of other religious traditions, and to build common ground for cooperation wherever possible. 
 
But human nature -- our basic hopes, dreams, anxieties and sufferings -- hasn’t really changed.  The basic Christian vocation remains the same: to follow Jesus Christ faithfully, and in following Jesus, to defend Christ’s Church and to serve her people zealously, unselfishly and with all our skill.  As St. Ignatius Loyola wrote in his “Spiritual Exercises” -- and remember that Ignatius himself was a former soldier -- each of us must choose between two battle standards: the standard of Jesus Christ, humanity’s true King, or the standard of his impostor, the Prince of This World. 
 
There is no neutral ground. C.S. Lewis once said that Christianity is a “fighting religion.” He meant that Christian discipleship has always been -- and remains -- a struggle against the evil within and outside ourselves. This is why the early Church Fathers described Christian life as “spiritual combat.” It’s why they called faithful Christians the “Church Militant” and “soldiers of Christ” in the Sacrament of Confirmation.
 
The Church needs men and women of courage and Godliness today more than at any time in her history. So does this extraordinary country we call home in this world; a nation that still has an immense reservoir of virtue, decency and people of good will. This is why the Catholic ideal of knighthood, with its demands of radical discipleship, is still alive and still needed.  The essence of Christian knighthood remains the same: sacrificial service rooted in a living Catholic faith.
 
A new “spirit of knighthood” is what we need now -- unselfish, tireless, devoted disciples willing to face derision and persecution for Jesus Christ. We serve our nation best by serving God first, and by proving our faith with the example of our lives.

Feast of Blessed Charles of Austria

Blessed Karl,

at great danger to yourself and your family, you worked diligently to end the incredible destruction and bloodshed of The Great War.

In spite of losing your crowns, your power, your country, your wealth, and your health, you never lost your profound trust in God.

Pray for us and for peace in our world torn by war, strive and terrorism.

                           Collect

O God, through the diversities of this world

you led Blessed Karl from this earthly realm

to the crown reserved for him in heaven.

Grant through his intercession

that we may become worthy of eternal life.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son,

Who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

One God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Feast of Blessed Charles of Austria

Blessed Karl,

at great danger to yourself and your family, you worked diligently to end the incredible destruction and bloodshed of The Great War.

In spite of losing your crowns, your power, your country, your wealth, and your health, you never lost your profound trust in God.

Pray for us and for peace in our world torn by war, strive and terrorism.

                           Collect

O God, through the diversities of this world

you led Blessed Karl from this earthly realm

to the crown reserved for him in heaven.

Grant through his intercession

that we may become worthy of eternal life.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son,

Who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

One God, for ever and ever. Amen.