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.