Catholic schools could lose non-profit status if Supreme Court rules gay marriage a right...

Catholic Schools Could Lose Non-Profit Status if Court Rules Gay Marriage a Right |Blogs | NCRegister.comMATTARCHBOLD: Justice Antonin Scalia pointed out the threat to religious liberty during his questioning. He said if a state decides to approve gay marriage, exceptions can be made for religious liberty. "If you let the states do it, you can make an exception," he said. "You can’t do that once it is a constitutional proscription."

It will be interesting to see how Catholics would respond to this? Will this be the issue that finally makes plain the true nature of the tolerance brigades? Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall famously said in 1819, "the power to tax involves the power to destroy."

10 things that are strengthening the family

10 Things That Are Strengthening the Family |Blogs | NCRegister.comSCHAIJIK: It’s tempting for conservatives to get so appalled by the losses we see all around us that we fail to take note of the good that’s been unfolding too. It’s important to notice the good, not just so that we don’t get depressed, but so that we have a more complete and balanced sense of reality — what God is about in the world, and which of our efforts are most likely to bear fruit.

Why other people need the gift of your confidence...

Why Others Need the Gift of Our Confidence - Seton MagazineMOLITOR: Time changes things, and through God’s grace, time also changes people.
I recall my teenage summers as a softball player, sitting in the dugout and sizing up the different girls on my team, choosing which personalities I could get along with and disregarding those I believed that I could not. From a young age, I began to form the habit of assuming certain things about my peers. At the start of an acquaintance, I would decide that I “meshed” with certain people, and not others.

Christian humility and liturgical beauty are not opposites. They go hand-in-hand...

Beauty and Tradition in the “Church of the Poor” | Catholic World Report - Global Church news and views: Since the election of Pope Francis, “humility” has become a watchword in the life of the Church. This seems, on balance, to be a good development: a reminder, for both the faithful and the public at large, of a virtue that has been described as the wellspring of all virtues. Humility is a quality notably lacking, too, in our uncivil and technologically-prideful age.

If Pope Francis can teach some measure of true humility to a polarized Church, and a dangerously embattled world, he will have accomplished a great thing. Granted, there is a danger of exaggerating the Pope’s actual virtues, and fostering a misguided cult-of-personality. Yet this is the risk one always takes when he allows the light of Christ within him to “shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 5:16).

How Satan tempts us to treat Christianity as a clique

#18: How Satan Tempts us to Make Christianity into an Exclusive Club | Philip KosloskiKOSLOSKI: As we draw closer to the end of our series on the tactics of the devil, we come to a topic many of us fall into, but few ever address. One very clever way the devil tries to influence us is by putting thoughts in our mind that we Christians are a part of an exclusive group or clique. The devil seeks to have us associate Christianity not with Jesus Christ, the Gospels or the Catholic Church as a whole, but with the subset of fellow Christian people we associate with on a regular basis.

People who defend the Sexual Revolution are either fools or liars

Fools or Liars? - The Catholic ThingThe Catholic ThingESOLEN: They told us that “everybody was doing it,” with “it” growing gradually more immoral and unnatural, basing their assertions upon research conducted by that pedophile and fraud, Alfred Kinsey. Therefore, they said, to smile upon fornication was not to change anything, except to relieve everybody from reproach, and allow them to do open and honestly what they had been doing dishonestly and in secret.

The haunting stories of 5 saints who battled demons

The Haunting Stories of 5 Saints Who Battled Demons | ChurchPOPMILLEGAN: The spiritual world is real, and there is a battle going on.

Though Satan and his demons rarely reveal themselves to ordinary people, when it comes to those who are strong in the Lord like the saints, demons apparently sometimes make open attacks.

Of course, Jesus has already overcome Satan and all the evil forces of this world. Though Satan rages on, looking for souls to pull down to hell with him, any person who abides in Jesus cannot be separated from God.

So don’t let these stories frighten you. Rather, let these stories be reminders that Satan and his temptations to sin are real – even if you don’t see him like these saints did.

We are all to blame for the marriage meltdown

We Are All to Blame for the Marriage MeltdownLONGENECKER: As the Supreme Court debates the issue of same sex marriage and Pope Francis prepares for the second round of what promises to be a bruising Synod on the Family we should all wake up to the fact that marriage is a mess.
We should open our eyes and realize that the human race is in a historic battle to understand what marriage is, and if we are struggling with a true understanding of marriage, then we’re really talking about the survival of human civilization because strong marriages and families are the foundation of civilized and human societies.

It is a great and wonderful work of mercy to instruct the ignorant

More Precious than Silver or Gold – A Meditation on the Spiritual Work of Mercy to Instruct the Ignorant � Archdiocese of WashingtonPOPE: To instruct comes from the Latin in struere, which means to build up or (even more literally) to pile up. In English, there is also the notion of strewing something. For example, to strew hay or to say that the seed has been strewn. Thus, to instruct means to disperse knowledge or build someone up in what is learned.

Fwd: CATHOLIC HERALD: Pope Francis appoints commission to reform Vatican media

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Blogtrottr <busybee@blogtrottr.com>
Date: Thu, Apr 30, 2015 at 9:06 AM
Subject: CATHOLIC HERALD: Pope Francis appoints commission to reform Vatican media
To: kcknight@gmail.com

AUTHOR=Carol Glatz:

Pope Francis has set up a five-person committee – which includes the Irishman Mgr Paul Tighe – to find ways to implement recommendations for streamlining and modernising the Vatican's many communications structures.

When the Pope met the Council of Cardinals this month, the cardinal advisers suggested he name a new commission to implement a reform plan drafted by a previous 11-member papal commission.

The reform effort is looking at how Vatican communications outlets can adapt to changing media consumption trends, better co-ordinate its existing channels and make substantial financial savings.

The Vatican announced the official establishment of the new commission and its members today. Three of the papal appointees are top-level officials at Vatican communications outlets. The five members of the commission are:

– Mgr Dario Vigano, 52, director of the Vatican Television Center, and now president of the new Commission for the Vatican's Communications Media.

– Mgr Tighe, 57, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications. He served as director of the Archdiocese of Dublin's communications office and created its office for public affairs to aid in its communications efforts. He also served as secretary of the 11-member papal commission that came up with written proposals for revamping the Vatican's media.

– Italian Jesuit Fr Antonio Spadaro, 48, director of the influential Jesuit journal, La Civilta Cattolica. He is a consulter for the councils for social communications and of culture. He is active on many social networks, contributes to a variety of online news sites and has the blog, "CyberTeologia", which he says hopes to bring "the intelligence of faith to the web".

– Argentine Mgr Lucio Adrian Ruiz, who was born in 1965, serves as head of the Vatican Internet Service and the Vatican's telecommunications office. He runs the vatican.va website and he built the clerus.org website for the Congregation for Clergy.

– Paolo Nusiner, the only lay person on the commission, was born in 1963 and is managing director of Avvenire, the daily newspaper of the Italian bishops' conference. An expert in business, he has worked at Deloitte & Touche in Milan and is an adviser for an Italian federation of newspaper editors and an association of Christian business leaders.

The Vatican has nearly a dozen separate communication outlets and offices, many of which operate independently of one another. They include the Pontifical Council for Social Communications; the Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano; Vatican Radio; the Vatican television production studio, CTV; the Vatican Information Service; the Vatican press office; the Fides missionary news agency; the main Vatican website; the news.va news aggregator; the Vatican publishing house LEV; and the Vatican printing press.

#kk2churchnews

Manage or unsubscribe from this feed at Blogtrottr.

We've tried nothing, Lord, and we're fresh out of ideas...

We've Tried Nothing, Lord |Blogs | NCRegister.comFISHER: I don't know, America. Nothing hasn't worked all that well. Maybe it's time to try religion again. Not the religion of puritans whose job it was to stamp out dancing and drinking and fun; not razzle dazzle televangelists who somehow persuade old ladies to fund their new gold-encrusted Cadillac for the Lord; not useless hand-holding and banjo strumming and felt banner making, and not political lobbying masquerading as something spiritual, but real religion, the kind that brings us to our knees in the street. We've tried nothing, Lord, and we're fresh out of ideas.�

How to see all six Apollo landing sites on the Moon

How to See All Six Apollo Moon Landing Sites - Sky & Telescope: We all love dark moonless skies, but let's face it, the Moon's out two weeks a month. How can you ignore it? You've doubtless observed craters and mountain ranges and probed for volcanic features like rills and domes. But here and there among the nooks and crannies, you'll find six of the most remarkable locales on the Moon — the Apollo landing sites. They're the only places where humanity has achieved one of its oldest dreams and "touched the stars".

The incredible, inspiring death of St. Catherine of Siena

The Incredible, Inspiring Death of St. Catherine of Siena | ChurchPOPMILLEGAN: Known for her holiness, St. Catherine was a mystic, theologian, philosopher, and spiritual advisor. Famously, she helped convince Pope Gregory XI to return to Rome (the papacy had resided in Avignon, France for decades). Today, she is honored as a Doctor of the Church, is the patron saint of Rome, of Italy, and of Europe, and is generally revered as one of the greatest saints in the history of the Church.

In the Culture War, we must play the game until the clock expires...

The Culture War: Stand Up and Fight - AleteiaMILLS: “I don’t believe the seeds for 1968 were planted in 1776,” said Robert P. George in a Facebook discussion. The McCormick professor of jurisprudence at Princeton, he’s the conservative Christian academic whose name is recognized by New York Times reporters, and the most hopeful Christian public intellectual I know.

Someone had posted an article on the marriage debate and others jumped in to blame the problem on “the Enlightenment.” Their point seemed to be that America is an Enlightenment creation, inevitably moving to the legalization of same-sex marriage and the wide social acceptance of the innovation.

Fwd: TOM PERNA: 10 quotes from The Treatise of Prayer by St. Catherine of Siena

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Blogtrottr <busybee@blogtrottr.com>
Date: Wed, Apr 29, 2015 at 7:21 AM
Subject: TOM PERNA: 10 Quotes from The Treatise of Prayer by St. Catherine of Siena
To: kcknight@gmail.com

AUTHOR=Tom PernaPERNA:

Today is the feast day of St. Catherine of Siena, the Mystic of the Incarnate Word. Although she is well known for being a mediator of parties and for bringing the Papacy back to Rome after the 70 year Avignon "captivity", her most famous writing is The Dialogue. The Dialogue, which was completed in 1370, is a document that focuses on four treatises – Divine Providence, Discretion, Prayer, and Obedience. The Dialogue was written by her own hands, to her secretaries, while she was in a state of ecstasy.

Here are 10 Quotes from The Treatise of Prayer…

1. "When the soul has passed through the doctrine of Christ crucified, with true love of virtue and hatred of vice, and has arrived at the house of self-knowledge and entered therein, she remains, with her door barred, in watching and constant prayer, separated entirely from the consolations of the world."

2. "And so, with exercise in perseverance, she [the soul] will taste prayer in truth, and the food of the Blood of My only-begotten Son, and therefore I told you that some communicated virtually with the Body and Blood of Christ, although not sacramentally; that is, they communicate in the affection of charity, which they taste by means of holy prayer, little or much, according to the affection with which they pray."

3. "Then this soul, yearning with very great desire, and rising as one intoxicated both by the union which she had had with God, and by what she had heard and tasted of the Supreme and Sweet Truth, yearned with grief over the ignorance of creatures, in that they did not know their Benefactor, or the affection of the love of God."

4. "Then said the Supreme and Sweet Truth of God, "Oh, beloved and dearest daughter, you beg knowledge of the reasons and fruits of tears…These are the tears of damnation. The former are those of fear, and belong to men who abandon sin from fear of punishment, and weep for fear. The third are the tears of those who, having abandoned sin, are beginning to serve and taste Me, and weep for very sweetness; but since their love is imperfect, so also is their weeping, as I have told you. The fourth are the tears of those who have arrived at the perfect love of their neighbor, loving Me without any regard whatsoever for themselves. These weep and their weeping is perfect. The fifth are joined to the fourth and are tears of sweetness let fall with great peace, as I will explain to you. I will tell you also of the tears of fire, without bodily tears of the eyes, which satisfy those who often would desire to weep and cannot. And I wish you to know that all these various graces may exist in one soul, who, rising from fear and imperfect love, reaches perfect love in the unitive state."

5. "I did not impose this law upon you, in order that My rational creature should be conquered by it, but in order that he should prove and increase the virtue of his soul, because virtue cannot be proved, except by its contrary. Sensuality is contrary to the spirit, and yet, by means of sensuality, the soul is able to prove the love which she has for Me, her Creator."

6. "My Providence will never fail you, and every man, if he be humble, shall receive that which he is fit to receive; and every minister, that which I have given him to administer, each in his own way, according to what he has received and will receive from My goodness."

7. "Wherefore, as I have said to you, I, God, have become man, and man has become God by the union of My Divine Nature with your human nature. This greatness is given in general to all rational creatures, but, among these I have especially chosen My ministers for the sake of your salvation, so that, through them, the Blood of the humble and immaculate Lamb, My only-begotten Son, may be administered to you."

8. "By receiving this Sacrament she dwells in Me and I in her, as the fish in the sea, and the sea in the fish — thus do I dwell in the soul, and the soul in Me — the Sea Pacific. In that soul grace dwells, for, since she has received this Bread of Life in a state of grace, My grace remains in her, after the accidents of bread have been consumed."

9. "They are My anointed ones, and I call them My Christs, because I have given them the office of administering Me to you, and have placed them like fragrant flowers in the mystical body of the holy Church. The angel himself has no such dignity, for I have given it to those men whom I have chosen for My ministers, and whom I have appointed as earthly angels in this life. In all souls I demand purity and charity, that they should love Me and their neighbor, helping him by the ministration of prayer…"

10. "You have soothed me because with Your love and gentleness You have manifested Yourself to me, Sweet above all sweetness, and have illuminated the eye of my intellect with the light of most holy faith, with which light, according as it has pleased You to manifest it to me, I have known the excellence of grace which You have given to the human race, administering to it the entire God-Man in the mystic body of the holy Church."

Saint Catherine of Siena…Pray For Us.

#kk2mugshot

Manage or unsubscribe from this feed at Blogtrottr.

In Sister Mary Ann Walsh, both the Church and the media had a friend

In Sister Mary Ann Walsh, both the Church and the media had a friend | CruxALLEN: Back in 2002, at the peak of the sexual abuse crisis in the American church, then-Bishop Wilton Gregory of Belleville, Ill., at the time the president of the US bishops’ conference, was in Rome. Every journalist on the planet wanted an interview, and my friend Jim Bittermann from CNN was lucky enough to score one.

I asked Bittermann if I could tag along to his appointment at the North American College, the American seminary in Rome, figuring it was the only way I would get access to Gregory on that trip. (Even though I worked for a competing publication, I was a regular on CNN.) Bittermann agreed, and so we set off.

Remembering Jim Mutscheller, a tight end for the Colts and a great Catholic man...

Remembering Number 84 - Denver CatholicWEIGEL: He scored 40 times in an eight-year NFL career, best known, now, for the touchdown he didn’t score, as the sun set over Yankee Stadium on Dec. 28, 1958. His wife of 59 years, Joan, said that Jim Mutscheller, who died on April 10, wanted to be known as a man “who had led a good life,” for he was “quiet, humble, and so conservative that he’d eat crabs with a suit and tie on.”

And therein lies a tale—and a yardstick by which to measure pro sports then and now.

There are some things, even many things, that are not for us to know...

There Are Some Things That Are Not for You to Know – A Meditation on the Seven Thunders of the Book of Revelation � Archdiocese of WashingtonPOPE: Usually, especially in our modern setting, people think they have right to know just about anything. The press speaks of the people’s “right to know.” And while this may be true about the affairs of government, it is not true about people’s private lives, and it is surely not true about all the mysteries of God. There are just some things that we have no right to know, that are none of our business. Much of our prying and nosing around is a mere pretext for gossip, and for the opportunity to see others’ failures and faults. It is probably not an exaggeration to say that more than half of what we talk about all day long is none of our business.

Pope's Wednesday Audience: "Marriage consecrated by God is a source of peace and good"

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Blogtrottr <busybee@blogtrottr.com>
Date: Wednesday, April 29, 2015
Subject: VIS: General audience: the dignity of marriage
To: kcknight@gmail.com

AUTHOR=VISarchive 02: Following last Wednesday's catechesis on God's original plan for man and woman as a couple, the Pope spoke at today's general audience about marriage, recalling that Jesus' first miracle took place during the wedding at Cana, when He transformed water into wine and thus ensured that the celebrations could take place. "This fact reminds us of Genesis, when God completed His creation with his masterpiece: man and woman", he said. "And Jesus began His miracles with this masterpiece, in marriage. … Thus Jesus teaches us that the masterpiece of society is the family: the man and the woman who love each other. ... Since that time, many things have changed but that 'sign' of Christ contains a message that remains valid".

"Nowadays it does not seem easy to describe marriage as a celebration that is renewed over time, in the different seasons in the entire life of spouses. It is a fact that fewer people marry. Instead, in many countries the number of separations is increasing, while the number of children is in decline. The difficulty of staying together – both as a couple and as a family – leads to bonds being broken with increasing frequency and rapidity. … In effect, many young people are led to give up the plan of an irrevocable bond and a lasting family. There is a kind of culture of the provisional: everything is temporary, and it seems that nothing is permanent".

For this reason, the Pope continued, one of the questions we must face nowadays is why young people do not choose to get married, and seem to have little confidence in marriage and in the family. "The difficulties are not only of an economic nature, although these are very important", he observed. "Many people believe that the change that has taken place in recent decades was set in motion by the emancipation of women. But this argument is not valid either. It is an insult, a form of misogyny that seeks to subjugate women. If men behave in this way, we are like Adam, when God asked him who had eaten the fruit of the tree, and he said that the woman gave it to him".

"In reality, almost all men and women would prefer emotional security in the form of a solid marriage and a happy family … but, for fear of failure, many do not even want to think about it. … Perhaps it is precisely that fear of failure that is the greatest obstacle to receiving the word of Christ, Who promises His grace to the matrimonial union and to the family". However, "marriage consecrated by God preserves that bond between man and woman that God has blessed ever since the creation of the world; and it is a source of peace and good for all married and family life. For example, in the early times of Christianity, this great dignity of the bond between man and woman defeated an abuse considered to be entirely normal in those times, that is, the right of husbands to repudiate their wives, even for the most specious and humiliating reasons. The Gospel, the Gospel that announces this sacrament, ended this culture of habitual repudiation".

"The Christian seed of radical equality between spouses must bear new fruit today", emphasised the Holy Father. "The witness of the social dignity of marriage will become persuasive, the witness of reciprocity between husband and wife, of complementarity. .. And as Christians we must become more demanding in this respect. For example, in decisively supporting equal pay for equal work: inequality is a scandal. Why is it taken for granted that women should earn less than men? No! They have the same rights. At the same time, the maternity of women and the paternity of men should be recognised as a richness that remains valid, especially for the benefit of children. Equally, the virtue of hospitality in Christian families today retains a crucial importance, especially in situations of poverty, degradation and domestic violence".

"Do not be afraid of inviting Jesus to the wedding celebrations! And also His Mother Mary!" exclaimed Pope Francis. "Christians, when they marry 'in the Lord', are transformed into an effective sign of God's love. Christians do not marry only for themselves: they marry in the Lord in favour of all the community, of society as a whole".

#kk2churchnews

Manage or unsubscribe from this feed at Blogtrottr.

Fwd: CNA: Local bishop describes 'a very, very frightening scene' in Nepal

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Blogtrottr <busybee@blogtrottr.com>
Date: Tue, Apr 28, 2015 at 4:51 PM
Subject: CNA: Local bishop describes 'a very, very frightening scene' in Nepal
To: kcknight@gmail.com

AUTHOR=Unknown:

Kathmandu, Nepal, Apr 28, 2015 / 04:05 pm (Aid to the Church in Need).- {Nepal's bishop has given a graphic account of the country's catastrophic April 25 earthquake, describing how he was lucky to survive.

In a message to international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need, Bishop Paul Simick, the Vicar Apostolic of Nepal, said he "saw houses falling like a pack of cards," and that people "were running in all directions to save their lives."}

"It was a very, very frightening scene … I myself had to literally run to save my life."

He continued: "Repeated aftershocks – just now there was one [and] I had to run away from my office – have made people frightened so they have left their houses and pitched tarpaulin tents on the streets and open fields."     

With more than 5,000 confirmed deaths, the bishop added that local radio reports had predicted a rise in the death toll as more bodies are recovered. "I saw animals killed by falling cow sheds and stone walls," he added. "I saw the dry landslides after the shake all over the hills where I was."

The bishop described the devastating impact of the earthquake on Nepal's small Catholic community, numbering just 10,000 faithful.  "Here in Kathmandu city, many Catholic families have cracks in their houses or major damage … many of our churches, schools, convents and other institutions have developed precarious cracks."

Bishop Simick stressed the problems of trying to assess the situation on the ground, describing the crippling impact of communications breakdown, impassable roads, no domestic flights, and entire communities still cut off from any help.

Reporting on the suffering of Catholic communities, he described how some faithful had lost their lives in a mission station which takes three days by foot to reach from the capital. He said that on Monday "one helicopter went to see the place and victims, but because of bad weather it could not land and saw nothing."

The bishop added: "I would also like to request your prayer support for the victims' families who have lost loved ones, those who are still missing loved ones and those who are seriously injured."

 

John Pontifex is a senior journalist for Aid to the Church in Need, an international Catholic charity under the guidance of the Holy See, providing assistance to the suffering and persecuted Church in more than 140 countries.

#kk2churchnews

Manage or unsubscribe from this feed at Blogtrottr.

Huff Post editor: 'Why doesn't the Left advocate for persecuted Christians?'

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Blogtrottr <busybee@blogtrottr.com>
Date: Tue, Apr 28, 2015 at 12:27 AM
Subject: CNA: Huff Post editor: 'Why doesn't the Left advocate for persecuted Christians?'
To: kcknight@gmail.com

AUTHOR=Unknown:

Rome, Italy, Apr 28, 2015 / 12:08 am (CNA/EWTN News).- {Lucia Annunziata, a journalist who directs and edits the Italian edition of The Huffington Post, has accused the political left in Western nations of remaining silent before ongoing massacres of Christians, which she called the "most horrible of the crimes perpetrated against the weakest."

The self-proclaimed atheist also complained that young journalists are not proposing to The Huffington Post stories relating the situation of persecuted Christians.}

"I ask myself where is the Left, with a capital L, the social party wide as it is because of its history and principles, because it is outside of the cages of daily life, and loves itself because it is attached to its own sense of justice," Annunziata wrote in an op-ed published earlier this month.

This wide party, she continued, has remained silent "in front of the most terrible of crimes against the weakest … the massacres of Christians whose blood is shed in many parts of the world."

"Why have I not received any petition to sign, though I receive many of varied kinds? Why has no-one promoted, if not a public protest, a sit-in, or a meeting? I hear no slogans for persecuted Christians, nor do I get documents or petitions on the issue," Annunziata complained.

She lamented that "television is elsewhere, but that neither are young or ambitious journalists pushing The Huffington Post to give voice to these newly weak and helpless."

Noting the situation of the political left in Italy, Annunziata noted it has "taken up a huge number of causes," listing women's issues, youth unemployment, gay marriage, institutional reform, internet freedoms, innovation, poverty, austerity, the Islamic State, war, and the attacks on Charlie Hebdo and Tunisia's Bardo Museum.

However, she added, "with few exceptions, never does the Left express pain or horror for the men and women who die because of their faith."

Annunziata called death the "final violation of the most important right of personal freedom," and noted that Christianity is the faith of most Italians as well as serving as "the basis of the definition of the history and culture" of Europe.

She underscored that she is not Catholic, but "atheistic, and willing to remain so," and has not been a cheerleader for Pope Francis.

Yet as a journalist, she emphasized that "the news is the loneliness of this very popular Pope, who has been for months the sole voice to denounce the massacre of the faithful, and is presently the only head of state capable of pointing the finger against the immobility of Western countries over these massacres" against Christians – unlike what happened after the massacre at the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.

According to Annunziata, the reason for Western countrys' silence in front of the massacres of Christians is "the fear that defending Christians means activating other mines in the already tough struggle, thus giving the 'green light' to a reaction and finally legitimizing" the claims of Rightist political parties which are "already fanning the flames of racism and of the clash of civilizations" for their own interests.

"Respect for human rights is the first sacrificial victim of the reason of state," and this is why "the Left, as the political party that always claimed the strength and conviction to engage in the defense of the weakest" should take some stance, since this party has "a great deal of clout in Western countries."

Annunziata proposes that "governments draft a plan to put thousands of refugees in safety" – providing them shelter, schools, and healthcare facilities, but also providing "citizenship to all the families willing to flee their countries," with peculiar attention to "all the young people willing to come to Europe to study or work."

This effort may be compared to that put into action by Western countries for thousands of Jewish victims of Nazism following the Second World War.

"This is not much, but it is a beginning, and also an effective message of moral strength and solidarity to oppose the violence of ISIS," Annunziata concluded.

#kk2churchnews

Manage or unsubscribe from this feed at Blogtrottr.

Fwd: CATHOLIC WORLD NEWS: Pope meets with UN secretary general as Vatican climate-change conference begins

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Blogtrottr <busybee@blogtrottr.com>
Date: Tue, Apr 28, 2015 at 5:14 AM
Subject: CATHOLIC WORLD NEWS: Pope meets with UN secretary general as Vatican climate-change conference begins
To: kcknight@gmail.com

AUTHOR=Unknown: Pope Francis met with Ban Ki-moon on April 28 before the UN secretary general addressed an interfaith conference on climate change. The purpose of the conference, which is sponsored by ... #kk2churchnews

Manage or unsubscribe from this feed at Blogtrottr.

Why I, a Protestant, pray the “Hail Mary” and use a rosary

Why I, a Protestant, Pray the “Hail Mary” and use a rosary: As part of this year-long effort to better understand what we mean when we talk about following Jesus, called My Jesus Project, I’ve been making a more concerted effort to pray every day. Even though my tendency is to focus on more silent, contemplative reflection, I’ve actually taken on a number of prayers that I do several times each, over a half-hour period or so.

After fresh tragedy, Syrian Christian leader warns: ‘We could disappear’

After fresh tragedy, Syrian Christian leader warns: ‘We could disappear’ | CruxALLEN: While most of the world celebrated Easter 2015 with church services and family get-togethers, Christians in the Syrian city of Aleppo spent the holiday digging through rubble to locate the bodies of 15 people who died after a ferocious round of rocket bombs rained down on a Christian neighborhood.

It was merely the latest assault on Christians in the city, which has seen some of the most intense fighting between jihadists and Syrian forces.

We ought to give a closer eye to the eyes of St. Paul...

Eyes That Are Humble – A Meditation on the Humbling Thorn of St. Paul � Archdiocese of WashingtonPOPE: The story of St. Paul’s conversion is well known and we read it last week in daily Mass. But there is a detail that I have often pondered which, though speculative, ought not be overlooked. Indeed, even my choice of the words “speculative” and “overlooked” (both of which refer to the eyes) indicate that we ought to give an eye (i.e., a look) to St. Paul’s eyes.

As you probably recall, St. Paul was not just struck down on the road to Damascus, he was blinded as well.

25 things you didn't know about Disney parks

25 Things You Didn’t Know About Disney Parks | Travel Leisure: Spoiler alert: from historic moments to revamped rides, there are a lot of fascinating factoids and behind-the-scenes secrets at America’s Disney Parks.

The 12 best destinations for stargazing

The 12 Best Destinations for Stargazing | TIME: The immensity of the universe is beautiful and humbling—the stars reminders of billions of lives spent, in astronomer Carl Sagan’s words, “on a mote of dust, suspended in a sunbeam.” But as our population grows, so too does light pollution, clouding the atmosphere and all that lies beyond it. Today, as few as 500 stars are visible from many urban areas.

But happily that’s just not the case for these dozen locales, where as many as 15,000 individual pinpricks of light can be seen with the naked eye. The catch? They’re not exactly convenient—but that’s kind of the point.

The problem isn't income inequality. The problem is greed...

Income Inequality is Not the Real ProblemLONGENECKER: A reader has asked me why I don’t write more on subjects like the environment and income inequality.
I’m as shocked as the next ordinary person to see the vast inequality of income in the United States.
I’m even more shocked to see the vast inequality of income between a “poor” American and someone in the developing world.

How I was reminded that "an inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered"

Altar Server SurrogateBECKER: It’s Monday. I arrive early for the 5:30 p.m. Mass, settle down in a pew to read through the Gospel, and quiet my mind after a busy day.

Prayer, then drifting, eyes wandering over the sanctuary, the big Crucifix, the icons. There’s Fr. Dunkle, lighting candles on the altar – he forgot to light the Paschal candle. Now he’s carrying chalices over to the credence table.

Wait. Father is carrying the chalices and lighting the candles? Where are the altar servers? I’m fully alert now, and moving up to the sanctuary, a quick genuflection, a hand motion to Father – he’s carrying out the Sacramentary now.

Batman and Superman are superheroes who symbolize rival academic visions...

Superheroes Who Symbolize Rival Academic Visions - Crisis MagazineFITZPATRICK: There is a clash of mystical ideas in the world, which is often represented in mythical imagery—like superheroes. Though many hold superheroes as nothing to be taken seriously, Msgr. Ronald Knox wrote, “To the scholarly mind, anything is worthy of study.” Though the demigods of current culture are not as golden as the demigods of classical culture, they are nevertheless vehicles of cultural communication; and one of the things they communicate is a cultural crisis of poetry. The popular confrontation between two icons of comic book mythology, Superman and Batman, (firmly-established by Frank Miller’s 1986 series and highly anticipated in Zack Snyder’s 2016 film) bears a serious symbolism reflecting a struggle between the poetic and practical whose battleground is not Metropolis or Gotham, but Academia.

Honolulu bishop plans to return sacraments of initiation to “their proper order”

Bishop plans to return sacraments of initiation to “their proper order”: There’s a detailed history of the sacrament of confirmation available at the Catholic Encyclopedia. More recently, Archbishop Samuel Aquila gave a lecture on the subject in 2011...

How Karl Barth changed Protestantism forever in 1915...

The Man Who Launched a Theological Revolution - AleteiaJENKINS: As 2015 progresses, we have plenty of grim centennials to mark: the Armenian Genocide, the Gallipoli Campaign, the first use of poison gas at the front line. In so many ways, 1915 was a memorable (and dreadful) year. We might though be missing one of the key stories of that time, which continues to reverberate through the way we understand Western religion. Unknown to most people outside his immediate neighborhood, it was at exactly at this time that a young Swiss pastor was launching a theological revolution.

The mystery of the "Woman" at Cana

The Mystery of the "Woman" at CanaBEALE: When it comes to Mary in the Gospels, John 2:4 is a real head-scratcher.

It’s the wedding at Cana and the wine has run out. When Mary informs Jesus, here is the startling reply: Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come.

It doesn’t sound like any way to talk to your mother, let alone any ‘woman’ for that matter. But many interpreters, including many evangelical Protestants, take this verse on face value, concluding it is some kind of rebuke. One well-respected evangelical scholar, D.A. Carson, takes it this way, suggesting that Jesus is putting some distance between Himself and Mary and signaling that He starts His ministry on His initiative alone.

Panicking my way into Catholicism

Panicking My Way Into Catholicism | St. Joseph's VanguardDEVINROSE: I grew up on Nintendo and television. My parents were both brought up, to varying degrees, in Christian homes, but by college they had abandoned whatever faith they had. So they reared my sister and me atheistically. Oh, they phrased it differently than that: “We want you to choose for yourself what to think,” was the actual line they used. But since we never prayed, never talked about God, never went to church (except a Unitarian one which may as well have been a meeting of the Enlightened Atheists Society), and since from an early age they taught us that we evolved from primordial ooze, unsurprisingly both my sister and I became just like our parents and rejected belief in God.

The abandoned settlements hidden inside our national parks

The Abandoned Settlements Inside National Parks | Travel | Smithsonian: In the summer of 2009, urban explorer Jordan Liles was walking the back roads of Tennessee's Great Smoky Mountains National Park when he found an intriguing remnant of the past. About a mile off a main road and up an overgrown staircase lay the ruins of the abandoned Wonderland Club Hotel and a few accompanying cabins. Built in 1912, the hotel originally served as a vacation spot for wealthy Tennessee families, and over the next eight decades it provided a refuge away from busy city life. In the 1990s, the Wonderland Club Hotel closed and fell into ruin, gradually fading into the forest surrounding it. Twenty years later, Liles rediscovered the place for himself. “I first saw the large white annex building through trees from the road to Elkmont,” Liles told Smithsonian.com. “I parked nearby and walked up the old stone steps. I felt like I was entering a very special place.”

This is how fast America changes its mind...

This Is How Fast America Changes Its Mind | Bloomberg Business - Business, Financial & Economic News, Stock Quotes: Eleven years after Massachusetts became the first state to allow same-sex couples to marry, the Supreme Court on April 28 will hear arguments about whether to extend that right nationwide. The case comes amid a wave of gay marriage legalization: 28 states since 2013, and 36 overall. Such widespread acceptance in a short amount of time isn't a phenomenon unique to gay marriage. Social change in the U.S. appears to follow a pattern: A few pioneer states get out front before the others, and then a key event—often a court decision or a grassroots campaign reaching maturity—triggers a rush of state activity that ultimately leads to a change in federal law.

NBA pregame routine: Stretch, tape ankles, join hands in prayer...

N.B.A. Pregame Routine: Stretch. Tape Ankles. Join Hands in Prayer. - NYTimes.com: Like so many of his N.B.A. peers, Andrew Lang chose to stay close to the game when his playing days came to an end. But the second act of his career did not relocate him behind a front-office desk or onto a coach’s chair or inside a broadcast booth.

It brought him, instead, to a small auxiliary locker room at Philips Arena, bare except for some padded folding chairs. There, before every Atlanta Hawks home game, Lang fulfills his responsibilities as the team’s chaplain, taking prayer requests and imparting a prepared message to players before they step onto the court.

The perspicuity of Scripture and other creation myths

The Perspicuity of Scripture and Other Creation Myths |Blogs | NCRegister.comSHEA: Last time in this space, I wrote a little piece on the ways in which the various Protestantisms filter the sometimes ambiguous text of Scripture through various semi-permeable membranes in order to accept the bits of the Catholic Tradition they approve of while a) removing those things they dislike and b) stapling on those human ideas and notions they want to add or elevate to the status of Divine Revelation.

That sort of seditious talk immediately gets blasted as a "classic attack on the perspicuity of Scripture" in the normal circles of anti-Catholic apologetics huff-puffery (my encounters with which I have discussed elsewhere).

3 signs that a private revelation is from God

3 Signs That a Private Revelation is From God | Philip KosloskiKOSLOSKI: The hallmark of any private revelation is that the visionary is entirely obedient to their superiors. This might be a local bishop, the pope or their religious superior. Padre Pio, who experienced many graces from God, but who also received unjust sanctions from his local bishop once said, “The will of the Bishop is the will of God.” Saint Faustina added that, “Satan can even clothe himself in a cloak of humility, but he does not know how to wear the cloak of obedience.” (Diary, 939). We may not like the judgement of a bishop and often a bishop will put sanctions on private revelations that were later lifted (as in the case of the Diary of St. Faustina). However, in the mean time, God asks us to obey those given authority in the Church and to respect their decisions. God will reward us for our obedience.

Here’s a Beginner’s Reading List for C.S. Lewis, with 7 suggestions...

Seven C. S. Lewis Books to Start With | The StreamMILLS: C.S. Lewis is the anti-Mick Jagger. Fifty-two years after he died, the portly, homely, undramatic, humble man still reigns as the bookish Christian’s rock star. Millions still turn to him as a guide and guru. People read one book of his and fall in love with his writing.

And then they find that the man wrote a lot of books, a lot more than the new fan wants to read. The hard-working Lewis wrote more than 50 books, including the collections of essays, letters and diaries published after he died. Some of his books look like slow going — the 600-page Oxford History of English Literature in the Sixteenth Century: Excluding Drama, for example. One fat collection of book reviews that hadn’t been put in a book before came out only last year, and who knows what other writing remains to be discovered.

5 simple steps to improve your prayer life

5 Simple Steps to Improve Your Prayer Life - Catholic Household: We’re all busy. We have responsibilities and duties that fill our days and crowd our minds and hearts. They stretch us and keep us on the go. In the midst of this reality, how are we to preserve and nurture a spiritual life? How are we to prevent our souls from being casualties to our life’s activities? In summary, how are we to stay close to the Lord in our everyday lives? How are we to pray?

What does the Anglican patrimony have to offer the Catholic Church?

Richard Upsher Smith Jr. – What does the Anglican Patrimony have to offer the Church? | ORDINARIATE NEWS (from Ordinariate Expats): November 2014 marked the fifth anniversary of the promulgation of Pope Benedict XVI’s apostolic constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus, which established personal ordinariates for Anglican converts to Roman Catholicism “so as to maintain the liturgical, spiritual and pastoral traditions of the Anglican Communion within the Catholic Church, as a precious gift…and as a treasure to be shared.” Anglicanorum Coetibus was not greeted with universal applause among former Anglicans already in communion with Rome, at least not among those of my acquaintance. These converts, who had left Anglicanism for what they had come to believe was the true Church, and who had been attending ordinary Novus Ordo parishes, sometimes for decades, wondered what substantial patrimony Anglicans could bring into the Church. To be sure, Anglicans have (or used to have) splendid liturgies, and their church music was incomparable, at least into the middle decades of the past century. But what do Anglicans have to give to the Church that is not of common inheritance from the pre-Reformation centuries or simply Protestant heresy?

Pope Francis is not the first "green pope"

Pope Francis, Green Conservative? | National Review OnlineFRANKOVICH: Francis’s critics leap to conclusions when they see “Pope Francis” and “the environment” in the same sentence, but forgive them. With his broad pronouncements against “savage capitalism,” he has, intentionally or not, already cast himself as an economic populist (“money is the devil’s dung”), and his image has been breezily conscripted by popular media to serve as a mascot for social liberalism. The LGBT magazine The Advocate named him “Person of the Year 2013,” and it would be easy to multiply illustrations. In fairness to popular media, though, it should be acknowledged that he has given them material to work with.

How a beautiful wedding inspired me to enter the seminary

That Loving Gaze.: I’m entering seminary in a month.
In March, you could already find me joking about how the two (young, joyful, Steubenville-birthed) weddings I was attending this summer were my “final test” before entering seminary.� Strikingly beautiful Catholic millenials abound at such events, and though I spoke of the challenges of these looming festivals of Christ-like love with much jocularity, I was in fact hauntingly certain that my always-fragile self-understanding would be disturbed at some point.

5 things you didn't know about Holy Communion in the Middle Ages

5 Things You Didn't Know About Communion in the Middle Ages - EpicPew: While the “Real Presence” was an understood reality in the early church, as it develops in the Middle Ages before the scholastics affirm transubstantiation, it was seen to retain the appearance of bread and wine because of the horror of blood found in most people. Rather than a formal philosophical underpinning for the accidents and substance in Aristotelian terms, Radbertus explained that people would not partake of communion if it physically appeared blood and flesh. The fact that the Body and Blood of Christ appear to us as bread and wine is then a great mercy.

10 people whose hearts were buried separately from the rest of them

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Blogtrottr <busybee@blogtrottr.com>
Date: Mon, Apr 27, 2015 at 8:07 AM
Subject: MENTAL FLOSS: 10 People Whose Hearts Were Buried Separately From the Rest of Them
To: kcknight@gmail.com

AUTHOR=Bess Lovejoy:

Though it may seem bizarre today, having your heart buried apart from the rest of your body wasn't uncommon for European aristocracy of the Middle Ages and beyond. The practice arose in part during the Crusades, when high-ranking warriors had a tendency to die in "heathen" places that weren't seen as desirable burial locations. But transporting a whole body back to Europe made things pretty stinky, so corpses were stripped of flesh and ferried back to Europe as skeletons, with the inner organs (including the heart) removed and buried where the Crusaders had died. By the 12th century, members of the English and French aristocracy frequently had their hearts buried separately from the rest of them.

Heart burial became less practical and more symbolic by the 17th century, partly as a religious practice associated with the Jesuits and other Counter Reformation groups. (Some scholars think the heart's powerful symbolism became particularly important while the Catholic Church was undergoing a moment of crisis.) In Western Europe, it became common for powerful individuals, such as Kings and Queens, to ask that their hearts be buried in a spot they'd favored during life. In more recent years, Romantic poets and other artists also picked up the practice, which has yet to be entirely abandoned. Read on for some examples.

1. Richard I

Richard I, a.k.a. "Richard the Lion-Heart," ruled as King of England 1189-99 but spent most of his reign fighting abroad, which is how he earned his reputation for military prowess. (He also may or may not have eaten the heart of a lion.) He died after being struck by a crossbow while campaigning in Chalus, France, and while most of his body was buried at Fontevraud Abbey, his heart was interred in a lead box at the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Rouen, France. The organ was rediscovered during excavations in the 1830s, and in 2012, forensic scientists examined it—now mostly reduced to a grayish-brown powder—to learn more about Richard's precise cause of death (some think a poisoned arrow dealt the fatal blow). The crumbling heart was too decayed to tell them much about how Richard had died, but the scientists did learn about medieval burial rituals, noting the use of vegetables and spices "directly inspired by the ones used for the embalming of Christ."

2. Robert the Bruce

Robert the Bruce, King of Scots 1306-29, asked for his heart to be buried in Jerusalem. But it didn't get all the way there—the knight he entrusted it to, Sir James Douglas, was killed in battle with the Moors while wearing the heart in a silver case around his neck. Other knights recovered the heart from the battlefield, and brought it back to Melrose Abbey in Scotland for burial. Archeologists rediscovered what they believed to be the heart in 1920 and reburied it in a modern container; it was exhumed again in 1996, and reburied beneath the abbey's lawn in 1998.

3. St. Lawrence O'Toole

Wikimedia Commons // CC BY-SA 3.0

St. Lawrence O'Toole, the second archbishop of Dublin and one of that city's patron saints, died in 1180 in France. His heart was sent back to Dublin's Christ Church Cathedral, where it rested inside a heart-shaped wooden box within an iron cage—at least until 2012, when it was stolen. The dean of Christ Church Cathedral has speculated that the heart might have been taken by some kind of religious fanatic, since it has little economic value, and much more valuable gold and silver objects were ignored. (Weirdly, the thief, or thieves, also lit candles on one of the altars before fleeing.) The item has yet to be recovered.

4. The prince-bishops of Würzburg

The prince-bishops of Würzburg (part of modern Germany) practiced a three-part burial: their corpses were usually sent to Würzburg cathedral, their intestines to the castle church at Marienberg, and their hearts, embalmed in glass jars, to what is now Ebrach Abbey. The practice was common by the 15th century, though it may go back as far as the 12th. Their funerals at the Marienberg castle also featured what may be one of history's worst jobs: a servant was required to hold the heads of the corpses upright during the funeral, which featured the body seated upright and impaled on a pole. The funerals lasted for several days. There were more than 80 prince-bishops; a German cardiologist who made a special study of heart burial says "about 30" of their hearts found their resting places in the abbey.

5. Anne Boleyn

According to legend, after Anne Boleyn's beheading in 1536, her heart was removed from her body and taken to a rural church in Erwarton, Suffolk, where the queen is said to have spent some happy days during her youth. In 1837, excavations at the church uncovered a small, heart-shaped lead casket inside a wall. The only thing inside was a handful of dust (it's not clear whether it was actually the heart), but the casket was reburied in a vault beneath the organ, where a plaque today marks the spot.

6. Lots of Popes

Twenty-two hearts from various popes—from Sixtus V in 1583 to Leo XIII in 1903—are kept in marble urns at Santi Vincenzo e Anastasio a Trevi in Rome. Traditionally, the hearts were removed with the rest of the organs as part of the postmortem preservation process, and kept as relics just in case the pope became a saint.

7. Frédéric Chopin

Romantic composer Frédéric Chopin died in Paris in 1849, and most of him is buried in that city's Pere Lachaise, but he asked for his heart to be buried in his native Poland. His sister carried it back to their home country, where it is preserved in alcohol (some say cognac) within a crystal urn inside a pillar at the Church of the Holy Cross in Warsaw. In 2014, scientists conducted a late-night examination of the heart to make sure the alcohol hadn't evaporated, although their secrecy frustrated scientists who hope to one day examine the organ for clues about what killed the composer.

8. Thomas Hardy

Alicia Griffin, Flickr // CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

The English poet and novelist Thomas Hardy wanted to be buried in his hometown of Stinsford, Dorset, but friends insisted that a burial in Westminster Abbey was the only appropriate choice for someone of Hardy's literary prominence. But when town officials found out that Hardy's body was destined for the abbey, they threw a fit, and so a compromise was reached—most of Hardy went to Westminster, but his heart was buried in Stinsford churchyard (where it has its own grave marker). A persistent, but unproven, story has it that a cat ate part of the heart when the doctor who was removing it got distracted; a gruesome addendum says the animal was killed and buried alongside the organ.

9. Percy Shelly

When the poet Percy Shelly died sailing the Mediterranean in 1822, local quarantine regulations dictated that his body had to be cremated on the beach. But his heart allegedly refused to burn, and a friend, the adventurer Edward Trelawny, supposedly plucked it out of the flames. After a custody battle among Shelley's friends, the heart was given to Percy's wife Mary, who kept it until she died. Her children found it in a silk bag inside her desk, and it is now said to be buried with her at the family vault in Bournemouth, England.

10. Otto von Habsburg

The powerful House of Habsburg practiced heart burial for centuries, with many of the organs buried in copper urns in Vienna's Augustiner Church. In 2011, Otto von Habsburg, the last heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire (which was dissolved in 1918), had his heart buried in the Benedictine Abbey in Pannonhalma, Hungary. The rest of him was buried in Vienna. The erstwhile crown prince said he wanted his heart buried in Hungary as a gesture of affection for the country—one half of his former empire.

Additional Sources: "Heart burial in medieval and early post-medieval central Europe"; Body Parts and Bodies Whole.

#kk2features

Manage or unsubscribe from this feed at Blogtrottr.

Why helicopters haven’t evacuated everyone from Mount Everest yet

Why helicopters haven’t evacuated everyone from Mount Everest yet - Quartz: A group of people estimated in the hundreds remains stranded on the slopes of Mount Everest following the earthquake that struck Nepal on Saturday. Their way back down from higher camps to base camp has been blocked by damage to the route. The mountaineers are huddled together and dug in amid aftershocks posing further risk, and have limited supplies, according to firsthand reports.

Why are some people pushing to replace Junipero Serra’s statue with Sally Ride's?

A Ticket to Ride | Catholic AnswersKEATING: Saturday’s lead editorial in our local newspaper, the San Diego Union-Tribune, was titled “Who Should Represent California: Father Serra or Sally Ride?”

There is a movement afoot (and more than afoot: it seems to be running to the finish line with almost no opposition) to replace the statue of Junipero Serra that appears in Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol with a statue of Sally Ride. Serra’s statue has been there since 1931. Ride’s statue is yet to be commissioned.

Those who pushed for a Church revolution are very much aware that their influence is fading...

MondayVatican – Vatican � Pope Francis and the family, the next step | MondayVaticanGAGLIARDUCCI: Pope Francis and the family – it’s time for clarification. April 15 was the deadline given to dioceses to return the questionnaire to the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops in preparation for the up-coming Synod. Then, beginning on April 15, Pope Francis dedicated his address in two consecutive general audiences to the complementarity between man and woman. In his speeches, Pope Francis defended the traditional family, and attacked gender ideology, emphasizing that “difference is the solution, it is not the problem.”

There's a difference between shock treatment and selfishness. What was this priest thinking?

Shock Treatment or Selfishness? |Blogs | NCRegister.comAKIN: Recently I heard a priest describe something that happened to him in the early days of his priesthood.

From his age, I’m guessing this would have been the mid-1970s.

He said that, for the first twenty-five years of his priesthood, he had really long hair (down to his waist, if he stretched it out) and a full beard.

At one point, he was assigned to a parish and came to know a local gentleman by phone but not by sight.

In one phone conversation the gentleman said that he really respected the priest and wanted his help with his son, who he felt was “going over to the other side.”

By this, he meant that his son was getting rebellious and not wanting to have his hair cut.

What happens if a priest can’t continue Mass?

What happens if a priest can’t continue Mass?KANDRA: The tragic story of a priest who died at the start of Mass last Sunday raises the question of what happens in such circumstances.
The document De Defectibus, promulgated by Pope Pius V in the 16th century, covers this in detail. More recently, Fr. Edward McNamara looked at the question a few years ago at Zenit, approaching from  an angle that may be more familiar to contemporary Catholics, the priest shortage...

Holy Father appoints Salt Lake's Bishop John Wester as Archbishop of Santa Fe

Whispers in the Loggia: And the Turquoise Goes To... Utah – Pope Lifts Wester to Santa FePALMO: And all of a sudden, everything was filled: at Roman Noon this Monday, in the fourth move on a US diocese within the last six days, the Pope named Bishop John Wester of Salt Lake City as the twelfth archbishop of Santa Fe, granting Archbishop Michael Sheehan's retirement after 22 years of rebuilding New Mexico's 320,000-member marquee church. Nearing the end of his three-year term as chair of USCCB Communications, the 65 year-old archbishop-elect had been the most frequently-mentioned Anglo among the potential choices for Santa Fe. A smooth, low-key conciliator in the tradition of his hometown church of San Francisco, Wester's elevation to an equal-sized, but more prestigious charge given its pallium – given the attributes of the place, quite possibly the most coveted appointment in the West – clearly bears the fingerprints of his mentor, Cardinal William Levada, as the onetime archbishop by the Bay-turned-CDF chief approaches his final year on the membership of the Congregation for Bishops before his 80th birthday in June 2016.

Pope's Regina Coeli: New priests for Rome, and prayers for Nepal

VATICAN Pope prays for Nepal quake victims, hopes they receive "fraternal solidarity" - Asia News: The Pope has been praying for victims of yesterday’s earthquake in Nepal, calling for help for stricken country.

The Holy Father had already expressed his closeness to the people affected by the quake in a telegram sent by Vatican Secretary of State Card Pietro Parolin to Mgr Paul Simick, apostolic vicar of Nepal.

Today, after the Regina Coeli, the pontiff reiterated his “closeness to people affected by a strong earthquake in Nepal and neighbouring countries. I pray for the victims, for the wounded and for all who suffer because of this disaster. May they receive the support of fraternal solidarity. Let us pray to Our Lady who is close to them.”

Fwd: CRUX: Catholics around the world can’t afford ‘luxury issues’

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Blogtrottr <busybee@blogtrottr.com>
Date: Saturday, April 25, 2015
Subject: CRUX: Catholics around the world can't afford 'luxury issues'
To: kcknight@gmail.com

AUTHOR=John L. Allen Jr.ALLEN: While US Catholics fight culture wars, Christians in much of the world have more pressing concerns. Like being kidnapped. Or murdered. PLUS: The delay on Finn, a climate change showdown, and are there new tactics from the Vatican's old guard? #kk3always

Manage or unsubscribe from this feed at Blogtrottr.

The King of Love my Shepherd is

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Blogtrottr <busybee@blogtrottr.com>
Date: Saturday, April 25, 2015
Subject: ARCHDIOCESE OF WASHINGTON: The King of Love My Shepherd Is – A Homily for the 4th Sunday of Easter
To: kcknight@gmail.com

AUTHOR=Msgr. Charles PopePOPE: On this fourth Sunday of Easter we turn a corner of sorts. Up until now we have been reading of the resurrection appearances themselves. Today we begin to see how the risen Lord ministers to us as the Good Shepherd. In effect, the Lord gives us four basic pictures or teachings of how, as the […] #kk3always

Manage or unsubscribe from this feed at Blogtrottr.

The mystery and the mask of Alfred Hitchcock

The Mystery and the Mask of Alfred Hitchcock | Catholic World Report - Global Church news and viewsTURLEY: Following hard on the heels of last year’s fascinating Charlie Chaplin, Peter Ackroyd turns his attention to yet another ‘Cockney visionary’ with the publication of Alfred Hitchcock (Chatto & Windus).

Hitchcock is one of the most written about directors in the history of cinema, certainly in the English-speaking world. What could be left to say of a man about whom it has all been said? And, in his case, many times over in the 35 years since his death on April 29, 1980.

G.K. Chesterton: Rhetoric, genius and holiness

G.K. Chesterton: Rhetoric, Genius, & HolinessMILLS: He may even have waved his hand in a dismissive gesture, my friend, when he explained his dislike of G. K. Chesterton. “It’s all rhetoric,” he said, and his voice by itself comprehensively dismissed Chesterton as a writer one should read even if he hadn’t added the backhanded wave of his hand. He meant by rhetoric what others would have called “word games” and “verbal fireworks” or even “hot air”: an effect without meaning.

The concept, origin and sacramental nature of marriage

The Concept, Origin and Sacramental Nature of Marriage : The Integrated Catholic Life™RUMMELSBURG: Marriage is a principle and guiding theme throughout the Holy Scriptures. It is the symbol and sign of God’s sacred covenant with His people. The Creation and institution of marriage appears woven throughout the Bible, first at the beginning of Genesis and last in the book of Revelation 19:9, where it says “blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” Christ is the bridegroom and Holy Mother Church is the bride. Christ elevated marriage to a sacrament by the Gospel message and all are invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb if they come appropriately attired. Proceeding from these truths is the fact that we must abide in and bind ourselves to the conditions and guiding principles concerning the nature of marriage revealed to us by God and confirmed by natural reason.

Major earthquake hits Himalayas; CRS and Caritas mobilizing response

Major Earthquake Hits Nepal: CRS and Caritas Mobilizing Response: Catholic Relief Services is responding to a major earthquake that has caused severe damage in Nepal and affected neighboring areas of India.
News reports gave an initial death toll in the hundreds, with thousands of injuries and many more feared trapped in collapsed buildings, both in the capital Kathmandu and surrounding villages.
Avalanches were reported in the Himalayas, including on Mount Everest. Caritas Nepal reports that the quake damage has severed communication with its field offices.

Fwd: RADIO VATICANA: Pope prays for victims of massive earthquake in Nepal

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Blogtrottr <busybee@blogtrottr.com>
Date: Sat, Apr 25, 2015 at 6:35 AM
Subject: RADIO VATICANA: Pope prays for victims of massive earthquake in Nepal
To: kcknight@gmail.com

AUTHOR=webteam@vaticanradio.org:

(Vatican Radio) {Pope Francis is praying for the victims of a major earthquake in Nepal and following the developments in the country with great concern and sharing in the suffering of those who were struck. The major earthquake, which  measured 7.9 on the Richter Scale, shook Nepal just before noon on Saturday, causing major damage to the densely-populated Kathmandu Valley. Officials fear hundreds of people have died.}

The quake's epicenter was 80 km northwest of the country's capital, Kathmandu. The quake toppled a 100-year -old temple, split roads, and razed houses and buildings.

Among the damages is the Dharahara Tower, a national monument, built by Nepal's royal rulers in the 1800's. Officials estimate that at least 50 people are trapped inside the collapsed structure.

The quake is reported to have caused avalanches in the Mount Everest region of the Himalayas and Tremors could be felt as far away in New Delhi in neighbouring India .

Vatican Radio spoke with Fr Pius Perumana, an aid worker from Caritas Nepal in Kathmandu, who said many of the houses in the tightly packed city have collapsed  and survivors need emergency medical care and shelter.

 "I managed to reach Kathmandu, though the roads were blocked…they are still searching for survivors. The reports are still coming in…The picture is not very clear," he said.

This is Nepal's second-worst earthquake since 1934, when an 8.0-magnitude quake destroyed three cities: Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Patan.

 

Listen to the report by Andrew Summerson:

 

#kk2churchnews

Manage or unsubscribe from this feed at Blogtrottr.

1980s free-range childhood was not the same as 1950s childhood...

80′s Free Range Childhood Was Not the Same as 50′s ChildhoodDUFFY: I’ve had a recurring thought lately, that I should be a school bus driver, because every day, I follow the school bus all around town, doing exactly what it does at the exact same time. School bus drivers I’ve known have all been good people, even “Bert” the grouchy bus driver of my youth with her giant mug-a-lug on the dash, and the little black rat-tail hanging from the back of her short haircut. All she ever really said was “Shut up,” but there was always a weird sadness on the last day of school when she dropped us off and said goodbye with an uncharacteristic smile. It seemed as if under her veneer of absolute contempt, she might secretly like us. She was probably just glad for vacation.

The secret roots of Liberation Theology

The Secret Roots of Liberation Theology | National Review Online: History often repeats itself, and if you have lived two lives, as I have done, you have a good chance of seeing the reenactment with your own eyes.

Liberation theology, of which not much has been heard for two decades, is back in the news. But what is not being mentioned is its origins. It was not invented by Latin American Catholics. It was developed by the KGB. The man who is now the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, secretly worked for the KGB under the code name “Mikhailov” and spent four decades promoting liberation theology, which we at the top of the Eastern European intelligence community nicknamed Christianized Marxism.

Hillary insists that you change your backwards religious beliefs...

Hillary Insists Your Backwards Religious Beliefs Must Be Changed.SCHIFFER: “Deep-seated cultural codes, religious beliefs and structural biases have to be changed” for the sake of giving women access to “reproductive health care and safe childbirth.” That’s the message Hillary Clinton delivered to the 2015 Women in the World Summit on Thursday, April 23. What she means is that Catholics and other Christians who find abortion abhorrent must be freed from their backward faith so that women can kill their children up through the date of delivery, without fear of reprisal.

So, Hillary votes “no” on Faith in Public Square, then?

So, Hillary votes “no” on Faith in Public Square, then?SCALIA: So, it wasn’t long ago — April 13, actually — that I watched the usual “Hillary is very religious” narrative begin again and asked whether that meant the churches had an ally in Hillary, against those voices who demand that faith be relegated to pews and homes, and put out of the public square. Well, it seems Hillay is not so much in favor of faith in the public square, after all.

How to build a better sandwich

Build a Better Sandwich - NYTimes.com: It is one of life’s nagging mysteries: Why is a sandwich you order at a restaurant so invariably and intensely better than a sandwich you make at home?

12 reasons why you should watch The Twilight Zone

12 Reasons Why You Should Watch The Twilight Zone - Seton MagazineCLARK: Many a night I find myself searching through Netflix for a good movie or show—one that is both uplifting and free of the immorality that plagues modern motion pictures. As you might suspect, I am often disappointed with the selection.
Most nights, I wind up watching an old show like Columbo or The Rockford Files. There’s another that I have been watching a lot lately. It’s one that my brothers and I used to watch every weeknight after it was already in syndication. It’s called The Twilight Zone.
The Twilight Zone takes us into the mind of Rod Serling, who was an underrated observer of human nature and culture in the Twentieth Century. That is reason enough the watch the show, but the stories are top notch.

How Christianity invented children

How Christianity invented children: We have forgotten just how deep a cultural revolution Christianity wrought. In fact, we forget about it precisely because of how deep it was: There are many ideas that we simply take for granted as natural and obvious, when in fact they didn't exist until the arrival of Christianity changed things completely. Take, for instance, the idea of children.

San Francisco Chronicle op-ed: Why the Marin Catholic nuns walked out

Why the Marin Catholic nuns walked out - San Francisco Chronicle: The faithful nuns that teach at Marin Catholic High School in the San Francisco archdiocese seek to be full and credible witnesses to Christ and his church, teaching Catholic beliefs and making saints in a culture which too often misunderstands and even opposes these efforts.


They are the very sort of teachers that Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone has promoted in his schools — with needless controversy — and that has put them into a high-stakes situation.

The Catholic Church is pretty wonderful, and it's time to start saying so again...

With all its faults and failings, the Catholic Church is pretty wonderfulSHAW: Is it time to revive Catholic triumphalism? On the whole, I’d say yes. At the very least, the question isn’t frivolous and deserves serious consideration. For after several decades during which Catholics have offered repeated apologies for a host of mistakes, sometimes real and sometimes imaginary, the feeling grows that a comparable effort devoted to tooting the Church’s horn is now long overdue.

But, first, a word about that word, “triumphalism.” It’s a pejorative term that tends to set people’s teeth on edge. If using it bothers you, try “self-respect” instead. Whatever name you choose to give it, Bill Donohue is a practitioner where the Catholic Church is concerned.

Two excellent Notre Dame profs are teaching a free online course this summer...

Jesus in Scripture and Tradition | edX: The Bible says that Jesus was identified as God's beloved son at his baptism. The same identification was made about Israel in the Old Testament and the disciples of Christ at their baptism. The striking similarity of these titles establishes a tight interrelationship between the people Israel, the person of Jesus Christ, and the church.

How the devil detests silence and fills our world with noise

#17: How the Devil Detests Silence and Fills our World with Noise | Philip KosloskiKOSLOSKI: Silence is a key way to hear God’s voice and unfortunately our world has been saturated by “Noise.” The “Noise” that we encounter today is not always audible, but it has also taken the shape of constant advertising, and numerous images and media vying for our attention.

The Internet is full of “Noise” that can distract us as well. That is not to say that the Internet is somehow tainted, evil and the spawn of Satan. The Internet is a great tool, one which I (and many others) use to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ. However, at the same time we must monitor our Internet use and discern if we are being distracted from hearing God’s voice.

Clericalism isn't dead. It thrives among clergymen and laity alike...

Is Clericalism Dead: On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of a priest of my diocese, I experienced the strongest and most negative reaction to a homily I can ever remember. I have heard lots of homilies, and lots of homilies that produced discomfort of one sort or another. So, what did this homilist say that caused me such concern? The priest-homilist had just deplored the evils of clericalism. Well, very good, you might think. O yes, very good, but not only did he fail to identify the true faults of clericalism – which, I admit, is a common problem – he announced that clericalism is virtually dead, a thing of the past by saying, and I will never forget this: “Thank God those days are over.”

My friends, those days are not over – far from it – if they will ever be over. This priest’s statement is grossly naïve at best and completely shallow at worst. I think, in fact, clericalism is far worse today than ever before. Therefore, I hope to help in an understanding of the nature of true clericalism and what is the only way to avoid it.

Depression is not a curse. It is a cross, and a way of participating in the life of Christ...

Depression: A Cold Reboot? | Catholic Coffee DrinkersLICHENS: I have written on this subject quite a bit, I still feel uncomfortable telling people about this in person. Most folks, in their tender hearts, want to help and fix it and, well, this is a lifetime condition. There is no “fixing” it and thus they either feel like I’m not even trying or they assume I have abandoned hope because their usual treatments for sadness (which, remember is distinct from depression) are not necessarily going to work on me. It’s not their fault, but often times I will tell people about my periods of absolute melancholy where my mind seems to refuse to listen to my demands to open up to the light and then I end up having to comfort them. Believe me, it’s even worse when I confess to the bark of the black dog telling me to end it all. I can still remember having to give one friend a hug and assuring them I had no real plans, but that was a lie. However, the guilt of it, even if it’s nothing either party did wrong, is sometimes one more stress I don’t need.

A fascinating new light on a tragic tale in American history

A New Light on a Tragic Tale in American HistoryAHLQUIST: A friend once lent me a book that I wish everyone else could read. Unfortunately it is not readily available. In fact, it has been out of print for almost 120 years. It is the memoir of Monsignor Augustin Ravoux, who served as a priest in Minnesota before the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis even existed. It is an inspiring and thrilling account of the trials and triumphs of a remarkable priest, who was born in France in 1815, and found himself assigned to Mendota in 1842. His “little flock” was spread along the Mississippi and St. Croix rivers. They spoke English, French, Sioux and Chippewa. He worked with Fr. Galtier who had built the first chapel in St. Paul in 1841. He welcomed the first bishop of St. Paul, Joseph Cretin, in 1851, and upon Bishop Cretin’s death in 1857, he was the administrator for the diocese until the next bishop was appointed, and he assisted in the building of Minnesota’s first Cathedral.

Of saints, suffering, and scleroderma

Of Saints, Suffering, and Scleroderma | God-Haunted LunaticBECKER: I’m guessing it was probably the first time Pope John Paul II heard that one in the Vatican’s audience hall. It was my sister, Adeline, who was visiting Rome with my mom and dad many years ago. None of them were Catholic at the time, but my pastor had helped them secure an invitation to a general audience. Although my family had tremendous respect for the Pope, they went to the audience mainly as tourists – devout evangelical tourists, to be sure, but tourists all the same.

Here's how to argue against "same-sex marriage"

The Case Against Same-Sex “Marriage” - Crisis Magazine: The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on April 28 about whether there is a “constitutional right” to same-sex “marriage.” For the first time in history, our nation faces a dizzying prospect—that its laws, its courts, and the coercive power of the state that upholds them, could be turned against supporters of traditional marriage by judicial fiat.

This is not the first time that traditional marriage has been attacked at the Supreme Court level. But as the New York Times reported last week, it is the first time that top lawyers and top law firms have refused to file any briefs in support of it.

Archbishop Joseph Naumann replaces Finn, signalling change in Missouri diocese

Archbishop Joseph Naumann Replaces Finn, Signalling Change in Missouri Diocese |Blogs | NCRegister.comFISHER: On Tuesday, the beleaguered Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph got a new interim leader, Archbishop Joseph Naumann. Naumann is stepping in to replace Bishop Finn, whose resignation was accepted by the Vatican two days ago. Finn has been at the center of a fierce debate about how he dealt with Fr. Ratigan, a priest in his diocese who took hundreds of pornographic images of children.

The semi-permeable membranes of the various Protestantisms

The Semi-Permeable Membranes of the Various Protestantisms |Blogs | NCRegister.comSHEA: One basic rule of thumb to understand in Catholic/Protestant conversations is that it is not the case that Catholics rely on Sacred Tradition and Protestants don't. Rather, Catholics (and, by this, I mean “educated Catholics speaking out of the Magisterial teaching of the Church”) rely on Sacred Tradition and know they do, while Protestants rely on (parts) of Sacred Tradition and (usually) don't know they do.

Faithful nuns walk out of Catholic school in protest of gay activists

Faithful Nuns Walk Out of Catholic School in Protest |Blogs | NCRegister.comMATTARCHBOLD: A group of faithful Catholic nuns of the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist walked out of their classrooms at Marin Catholic High School near San Francisco in protest of the pro-gay agenda literature being handed out by students on school grounds.

The walk-out took place on April 17th, which was the "Day of Silence" which was being run by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network. Now, to be clear, the school had announced that they would not be taking part in the events. But it seems that the school then linked to the GLSEN on its website where literature could be distributed. The GLSEN is not Catholic friendly.

Pray for a deep hatred of sin, and be afraid of its darkness...

On Praying for a Deep Hatred and Fear of Sin and Its Darkness � Archdiocese of WashingtonPOPE: We ought to ask the Lord to inspire us with a holy hatred of sin. There is a kind of inverse relationship that we ought to seek: if we love the truth staunchly we will detest sin and lies more fully. It is impossible to love the truth vigorously without also detesting error. Similarly, as we grow in the love of God, we grow in the love of holiness, for God is holy.

As our love for Him deepens, we become increasingly averse to all that is unholy. We begin to detest anything that would separate us from the beautiful, loving holiness of God. As we learn to love the light and become accustomed to it, the darkness becomes unfathomable to us. We cannot see into its depths at all.

‘Interstellar’ and ‘Gravity': Science fiction, outer space, and the question of God

‘Interstellar’ and ‘Gravity': Science fiction, outer space, and the question of God | CruxGREYDANUS: Last year’s “Interstellar” and the previous year’s “Gravity” follow different paths in a long tradition of asking ultimate questions against the biggest canvas available to our senses: the universe itself.�

As we find attested as early as Plato’s famous anecdote about the pre-Socratic philosopher Thales becoming so lost in the night sky that he stumbled into a well, the starry heavens have long inspired philosophical and existential wonder.