Last year for Halloween Domenico Bettinelli posted some Halloween Safety Tips that he had created. They are quite funny and well worth reading.

NEW YORK – Reversing course, the Reuters news agency has agreed to allow the display of a religious message on its Times Square building and will reevaluate the corporate policy that had prohibited it.

That could mean not only religious but also political messages on the company's giant electronic billboard, Reuters spokesman Steve Naru said Thursday.

"The whole policy will be up for review," he said.

The immediate effect was a victory for the United Methodist Church, which signed a $30,000 contract in September to display a series of Thanksgiving season messages, only to have Reuters revoke the deal on grounds that it violated company rules designed to "preserve its independence, integrity and freedom from bias."
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That is the funniest thing I have read this week. Reuters saying "preserve its independence, integrity and freedom from bias", who would have known.

A Colorado mother is appealing a child custody decision in which a court barred her from teaching homosexuality is wrong.

Cheryl Clark, who says she is a Christian, has been ordered by Denver County Circuit Judge John W. Coughlin to "make sure that there is nothing in the religious upbringing or teaching that the minor child is exposed to that can be considered homophobic."

The directive arose from the decision to award joint parenting responsibilities for her daughter to a practicing homosexual.
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ABC News correspondent Elizabeth Vargas concedes her network is stepping into a theological minefield with its one-hour exploration of whether Jesus Christ had a wife.

The ABC News special, "Jesus, Mary and DaVinci," is scheduled to air next week.

"You can't talk about this subject without intriguing people or offending people," Vargas said Thursday. "We're trying to do it as respectfully as we can."

ABC screened the special for some reporters and religious leaders on Thursday. The program is based on the best-selling novel, "The DaVinci Code," which claims to be partly grounded on historical fact.
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You would never guess that one of the Catholic theologian they interview is (surprise-surprise) Fr. Richard McBrien. For those either brave or stupid enough to inflict this drivel upon themselves I would suggest reading CRACKING THE ANTI-CATHOLIC CODE instead.

Why is it these networks never have a show like "The Real Mohammed" or "Buddah, Great Thinker or Fat Slob."

From time to time most St. Blog bloggers reflect on prefix Catholicism and the inherent problems in those labels. Amy Welborn talks about it and writes something that I whole heartedly agree with.

I rebuke labels of "liberal" "conservative" "progressive" and even "orthodox," because even that last label has political implications in the current climate.

...But as I work through various issues, my fundamental stance is, and must be one, of humility. I come first to Scripture and Tradition, asking what I can be taught, what I can and must learn from it, holding my life up to judgment, not judging it by the standards of my life. It is a dialectic, to be sure, but in the end, I cannot ever presume to look at Jesus on the cross, hear him speak to me through the Gospels, come to him in the Sacraments in any other stance but love, humility and openness to what he wants to teach me. It's not the other way around.
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I just finished reading Mark Shea's By What Authority?: An Evangelical Discovers Catholic Tradition and these thoughts have been on my mind. I had already come to realize that Sacred Tradition was an important part of the Church and reading this book I now see that it is totally fundamental to the Church. He described how as an Evangelical working to refute the Jesus Seminar and other modernists he came to understand the role of tradition. The abandoning of Apostolic tradition is what leads to so much prefix Catholicism and why there are an ever increasing number of Bible believing churches believing contradictory things. To attack one part of sacred tradition in order to interpret the Bible in a way that agrees with something that you advocate has repercussion beyond what they would intend.

Mark's book demonstrated that much of what we believe to be a Biblical slum dunk is in reality totally confusing without sacred tradition. Apostolic tradition is the only Rosetta stone in which we can interpret the Bible. Using false Rosetta Stones like preference, fairness, modern culture leads to totally incorrect translations. Removing sacred tradition is like removing the bottom box of cereal at the grocery store; everything else falls apart. Where is the cannon of scripture without sacred tradition? When I first starting reading the Bible it was not within the mind of the Church. My own ideas and preference were interjected into the Bible as I converted what I read into how I could relate to it. I look back now laughing at all the errors and heresies that I recreated as I tried to read the Bible. Amy talked about humility in approaching scripture and tradition and I can see how much humility the Ethiopian eunuch had when Phillip asked him "Do you understand what you are reading?" And he said, "How can I, unless some one guides me?" It took me much longer to get to that stage and to find out that I needed to be taught. Through cultural osmosis even as an atheist I had picked up the idea that if you became a Christian that the Bible was all you needed to live by.

Many people get aggravated when someone takes a scripture passage out of context, yet they don't realize that they have also taken the whole bible out of context. The context of the BIble is the Church that Jesus left us through the Apostles to teach us all things. If you read through the Catechism and find yourself saying yes to some things and no to others than you are saying the Church is just a human institution and can teach error. Flannery O'Connor famously said in relation to the Eucharist "If it is just a symbol, to hell with it." I add if the Church is just a human institution, to hell with it. Obviously we have to make distinctions between what are true Church teachings like Purgatory and what are theological musings like limbo. Before coming into the Church there were many issues like contraception, IVF, and the Assumption of Mary that I was highly skeptical about. Once I came to believe that the Catholic Church was true and had the authority to teach, I was able to look at these issues and come to both accept and to understand why the Church teaches as it does.

Political labels to describe adherence to Church doctrines are inept. I hope to be liberal with my time, talents and money. I hope to be conservative to "maintain the traditions even as I have delivered them to you." 1Cor.11 I hope to be progressive in that I only measure myself toward and and progress toward a goal of increasing holiness and loving God and Neighbor. That I am orthodox in adhering to and understanding what God teaches us through the Church.

See Times agains Humanity for the latest on Terri Schiavo

Students looking for an objective talk about devil worship Wednesday night were surprised by Christian music and pamphlets about the dark side of Halloween.

Campus Missions International sponsored its seventh annual “Unveiling the Darkness,” a presentation on the evils of Satanism, Wicca and the occult that was held at the Holmes Student Center’s Carl Sandburg Auditorium.

Fliers distributed around campus contained no mention of the Christian nature of the event.

A few hundred attendees watched a video called “Devil Worship: The Rise of Satanism” and listened to John Miller, a former occultist, speak about his experiences.

Tim King, a freshman management major, said he attended “Unveiling the Darkness” because he saw a flier that looked interesting. He didn’t know the event was put on by Campus Missions International.

Susana Rodriguez, a sophomore theater arts major, left soon after the speech began.

“I thought it would be an informational talk on Wicca,” she said. “I don’t want to come here to listen to someone bash another religion.”
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October 30, 2003) — Rolling thunder can often be heard around St. Boniface Church. But it’s not rain clouds or even God bowling — although the latter is much closer to reality.

It’s just the St. Boniface Men’s Club rolling a little tenpin in the basement of the Catholic elementary school.

Tucked into a corner close to the church is a fully operational, automatic four-lane alley. Need a ball? There are plenty to choose from. Need some shoes? Those are available. Need a beer or snacks? They’ve got that, too.

“People are amazed when they come down here,” said Kevin Ehmann, treasurer of the Men’s Club, which maintains the private lanes.
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In Sparks City, Nev., during the summer, City Attorney Chet Adams, perhaps influenced by the legal challenges to the Alabama courthouse monument displaying the Ten Commandments, ordered an employee to scissor out "God" from the town's Sept. 11 "God Bless America" signs around City Hall. (Mayor Tony Armstrong, among the many baffled by the newly anonymous blessing, immediately bought more "God Bless America" signs and posted them himself.)
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Religion is the new rock 'n' roll in one Nottingham church - which has its own stage, band, and a licensed bar.

Eight hundred worshippers turned up at the inaugural service of the Trent Vineyard Church.

They helped celebrate its move to the £2.25m Blue Warehouse on Easter Park, Lenton Lane, and anyone expecting draughty spires and uncomfortable pews was in for a surprise.

Worshippers entering the building are met by the sight of a stage, complete with electric guitars and drum kits ready for the next service, a fully licensed bar, leather couches and halogen lighting.

It is one of 70 parishes of the UK Vineyard Church Movement, an evangelical Christian church, which has attracted unusually large congregations.

The Pastor, John Wright, 43, of West Bridgford, does not wear the familiar robes and dog collar of the Church of England, but instead sports jeans and trainers.

He said: "The church in this country is massively not attracting people in their 20s and 30s and we are very keen to change that.

"Our aim is to remove as many barriers as we can for people - from babies to old folk - and to make the church culturally relevant to them."

,,,"We are not presenting a watered-down version of the Christian faith, we are just presenting it in a relaxed user-friendly environment."
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Give a gift of eternal value, the gift of prayer. Includes a 6 oz bar of the finest milk chocolate, a beautiful set of Rosary beads, and Scriptural Rosary book on how to pray the Rosary. Call us about a "fundraising" opportunity that builds treasure where it lasts forever.

Jim Paras and Thomas Rutkoski have collaborated on a project designed to encourage prayer and fund local charities while satisfying sweet tooths.

Paras, president of the West View-based Betsy Ann Chocolates, and Thomas Rutkoski, founder of Gospa Missions in Evans City pooled resources to create The Chocolate Rosary.

The concept came to Paras as he developed new products for the holidays. Rutkoski had a similar notion while brainstorming for fund-raising projects during a retreat in Texas.

A chance meeting five years ago began a journey neither man could have predicted. Paras was searching for rosary beads when an employee suggested he try the Gospa religious goods store in Evans City because it was convenient to his home in Cranberry. While he was in the store, Rutkoski came in.

The volunteer introduced Paras as a candy maker, and Rutkoski said, "You're just the guy to make me a chocolate rosary," Paras recalled.
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St. John of the Cross talked about those who had a "spiritual sweet tooth" so I guess this might qualify. The rosary that melts in your mouth not in your hands.

Here are some other religious candies on the web.

Sweet Jesus

Pick up your cross daily. Yum!

Baptism lollipops now save you

In a play about abortion.

Bennett College undertakes a creative, compassionate and rational treatment of this volatile controversy.

In the late 1960s a young woman gets pregnant by a partner who abandons her and she feels that becoming a single mother will thwart her dreams to make something of her life on her own terms. So with reluctant determination the young woman visits an old woman to have an abortion.

The old woman had resorted to becoming an abortionist to support her family after her husband had lost his job. But she felt such great guilt over her choice that she went to a Catholic church to pray for absolution at the feet of a statue of St. Lucy.

St. Lucy, who was martyred c. 304 during the Great Persecution under Roman emperor Diocletian, was born in Syracuse, Sicily to noble and wealthy parents. Beautiful and virtuous, she intended to leave her inheritance to the poor and so was denounced as a Christian. During her torture one of her tormentors attempted to rape her, but she gouged out her own eyes rather than submit to him and her statues traditionally depict her holding her eyes on a tray. The old woman was horrified to feel St. Lucy's eyes watching her as she walked through the church, so she vowed to make every effort to ensure that some good would come out of the evil of her work.

So the old woman performs the abortion, but in a nurturing, motherly way she counsels the young woman that she must learn from this painful experience and go on with all the more resolve to make something of her life. Years later when fate brings the young woman and old woman together again, events bear out that, as difficult as it was, in this case this decision was the right one.
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Abortion in a nurturing and motherly way? If this is the compassionate and rational treatment of abortion, I would hate to see the mean-spirited and irrational treatment. After reading Tom's post at Disputations today For the thousandth time, no about the ends never justifying the means, it reminds me how often this principle is ignored. It is a good thing that I am not the world dictator or there would be a lot of people writing repeatedly on chalk boards "The end does not justify the means, The end does not justify the means..."

ROME, Oct. 26 — If any city is well supplied with churches, it is surely Rome. Yet 10 years ago, after concluding that 600,000 people here had no convenient place to worship, the archdiocese began an ambitious building program. On Sunday it consecrated the 50th new church, and the most spectacular: a striking Modernist structure designed by Richard Meier around three soaring "sails" of white concrete.
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I might be a fan of SF and a tech geek, but I guess I am just old fashioned when it comes to Church architecture. I just can't imagine someone living in Rome and choosing this as their church to go to.

(Roto Reuters) Hours after Dean declared himself a "metrosexual," the buzz phrase for straight men in touch with their feminine side, another news conference was held.

His feminine side has gone to court and a judge has issued a restraining order against Howard Deans male side. "He kept trying to get in touch with me, even though I told him I was not interested. I am just not that impressed with the male side"

The president of Planned Parenthood announced Wednesday the organization's plans to become more involved with the political process and for the first time endorse a presidental candidate in 2004.

Gloria Feldt, president of Planned Parenthood Action Fund, said Florida is a key battle ground in the fight for abortion rights, especially with State Speaker Johnnie Byrd's proposed constitutional ammendment to require parental notification for minors seeking abortions.

A barbie doll, locked in a bird cage sat on each table during the breakfast meeting at the Westin Hotel in Fort Lauderdale, symbolizing what the group calls Byrd's attempt to take away women's rights.
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Strange how the not-for-profit status of Churches can be jeopardized if they support a specific political candidate, but Banned Parenthood which receives millions from the government can endorse a specific candidate. I would be curious to know if in fact they are violating their status. But this will be a tough decision for PP to make, to determine just which democratic candidate is the most pro-abortion. They just might need to use the enny-meeny-miny-moloch method.

Voice of the faithful represents themselves this way:

Voice of the Faithful (VOTF) a worldwide organization of over 30,000 mainstream practicing Catholics from more than 40 U.S. states and 21 countries.

Yet they continue to have people at their meeting and conventions like Eugene Kennedy and Fr. Richard McBrien as their keynote speakers. They say they are mainstream yet they look more like a board meeting at the National Catholic Reporter. They say they are faithful Catholics in communion with the universal Catholic Church who I guess just accidentally represent themselves with people who dissent significantly from Church teachings. Maybe they just don't have enough money to get a speaker who actually believes in the Catholic faith. Catholic Answers has a speaker's bureau and offers seminars on various topics by Marcellino D'Ambrosio, Rosalind Moss, Mark Shea, Jimmy Akin and others for an honorarium of $1200 for the first talk and $800 for each additional talk. I would like to give them a hand to help them get back on track and raise some money for them to get some good keynote speakers. Every organization has it's strengths and if you look closely at VOTF you can tell that they have an abundance of items for making money.

First VOTF has a surplus of fruitcakes so why not sell them off for a profit.

VOTF Fruitcake more fruits and nuts per square inch then any other commercially available cake. It is even shaped like a small C for Catholic. (An O was just too close to orthodox).

Plenty of wings to sell. So if your are looking for left wings, here you go.

Chock full of nuts of every kind. They even have plenty of specially designed nut cases.

Roman Collars and Religious Clothing

Fr. Richard McBrien and Joan Chittister,OSB have everything from Roman collars to religious habits in stock and in pristine condition (never worn).

A news story about an exorcism that was performed in 1928 starts with this disclaimer:

Warning: The following story contains references to spiritual matters of an extremely frightening nature. Readers with heart conditions, children and those who are otherwise ill-at-ease with detailed descriptions of demonic possession and its associated behaviors may not wish to continue reading beyond this point.

I must be pretty jaded because the story in this article didn't seem that frightening to me. Of course watching the Exorcist as a movie and seeing something similar in real life would make a lot of difference.

What got me was the disclaimer and I thought it was pretty frightening itself. I can easily imagine any news story on spiritual matters in the future staring out with:

Warning: The following story contains references to spiritual matters such as a frank discussion of God and references to humans having a soul. Readers easily offended or ill-at-ease with a discussion of God actually existing may not wish to continue reading beyond this point.

CATHOLIC Bishop Raymond Mpezele declined to be honoured at the investiture ceremony at State House on Friday.

Zambia Episcopal Conference (ZEC) Communications Secretary Father Paul Samasumo confirmed yesterday that Bishop Mpezele declined the honour of the Independence Day because he believed he did not deserve an award for his service to mankind.

"Bishop Raymond Mpezele declined the honours not out of ill will," he said. "Anyone who knows Bishop Mpezele's humility will not be surprised that he declined. He likes to do things quietly for the people of God."

Fr. Samasumo said Cabinet Office were last week informed about Bishop Mpezele's decision to turn down the honour.
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...As Kerry embarked on his presidential campaign, the Boston Globe reported new details about his family history. The Globe disclosed that the senator's paternal grandfather, Fritz Kohn, was an Austrian Jew who changed his name to Kerry and converted to Catholicism before immigrating to Massachusetts.

"I didn't know this because my grandfather died when my father was just five years old -- a reminder of how much so much of America's history is buried," Kerry writes. "One thing that hasn't changed for me as a result of this revelation is my Catholic heritage. I am a believing and practicing Catholic."
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And I am the King of Siam.

SOUTH BEND -- St. Adalbert Catholic Church parishioners may feel as if they've spruced up their souls after Mass, but some members have the tougher mission of truly cleaning up.

Some faithful ladies and men of St. Adalbert gather every Monday after the 8 a.m. Mass for an hour or so to carry out their allotted tasks of cleaning the church. They are all senior citizens and have been volunteering for many years.

On this day, Elaine Jurgonski dusts the vessels and prepares the credence tables for the weekend and weekday Masses. Her husband, Edwin, busies himself by cleaning the seats and surrounds of the large church.

"I have been cleaning the church for over 30 years," Irene Pajakowski says. "It gives me such joy to be able to get up every Monday and clean the church. It always looks so nice when we leave."
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Police in China have swooped on a religious retreat and detained almost a dozen Roman Catholic clergymen.

A church in the vicinity was then demolished in further proof of the country’s lack of religious freedom.

The 12 priests and seminarians were attending a retreat on 20 October in Gaocheng county, in Hebei province's Shijiazhuang city, when police struck, the Connecticut-based Cardinal Kung Foundation said in a statement reported by AFP.

The gathering was not supported by the government-sanctioned “Patriotic Association,” – the body that oversees all state-approved churches in China, the foundation said.

“They are charged with illegal assembly. I don't know if they will be released soon,” a worker at the detention center where the priests are being held told AFP.
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Rockets Hit Baghdad Hotel Where Wolfowitz Was Staying

Wolfowitz Escapes Deadly Baghdad Strike

Wolfowitz wasn't Iraq target, US believes

Wolfowitz Unhurt, US Undeterred in Baghdad Hotel Attack

I am really sure that the family of the American Colonel killed will be consoled by the fact that Wolfowitz escaped unhurt. Requiescat in Pace to this man an all those who have died in service of our country.

After reading Libertarian mayoral candidate Carlton Harvey's contention that a spell was placed over Charlotte in the wake of a ritualistic dance 15 years ago, Mecklenburg County Libertarian Party Chairman Christopher Cole called The Observer to set the record straight.

"Although I'm a pagan, the Libertarian Party does not believe in spells," said Cole, also an at-large candidate for Charlotte City Council. "I just wanted to make that clear."

Harvey believes the ills that have befallen the city's poor stem from energy released during a dance honoring Ramses the Great. The 3,000-year-old Egyptian pharaoh's coffin lid and other artifacts came to Charlotte in 1988 as part of an exhibit at the Mint Museum.
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GARLAND, Texas - For Dan Southern, Halloween isn't about trick-or-treating.

It's a time for "tracts and treats."

His 10-year-old daughter, Tyler, will dress up as a princess, go door to door and offer Christian literature, or tracts, as thanks for lollipops and candy bars. Son Adam, 15, will stay home and give "Testamint" candy and "Scared Yet?" tracts to ghosts and goblins who stop by.

"It's a natural opportunity because people are coming to your door, instead of you having to approach them," said Southern, president of the American Tract Society and a former longtime crusade director for the Rev. Billy Graham.
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One way to save money in candy each year is to dress up like a fundamentalist preacher and answer the door yelling "Repent" and "Thall shall not suffer a witch" and also kneeling down and praying over those dressed in Harry Potter costumes.

I wonder if your a child in West Virginia mountains with parents members of Pentecostal Signs, if you look forward to the annual snake-bobbing contest. "Just remember son, you can pick up snakes and other deadly things and it won't hurt you."

I have seen the testamint candies in Christian stores, but nowhere else. With all of the tart candies out now they ought to come out with a line of sweet and sour eatable bible scrolls. "Takes like honey in you mouth, but bitter in you stomach" Then we would just need a clever name and an ad campaign so it could go national and not just sell as a novelty items in Christian Book stores.

"Revelation" the end of the world for you hunger. Revel in the flavor.

"Apoco-Lips" Lip smacking chocolate taste to die for.

"Scroll You!" The anti-social candy.

"Saintly Snacks" A crowd of witnesses testify to it's heavenly flavor.

"Alpha & Omega" Tastes divine from beginning to end.

"Mary Maculates (M&M)" Taste so pure that you will give it twelve stars.

"Maranatha Munch" Coming soon!

In my web travels I notice that many Christian churches have logos and motto's and here are some examples.

The Episcopal Church "We're here for you"

The Methodist Church has "the world is my parish" and also "Open hearts. Open Minds. Open doors."

Martin Luther is busy creating an up-to-date logo and motto.

Canadian Presbyterians have "Fanning the Flames"

The Southern Baptist Founders Conference has an interesting looking logo.

Mid-Maryland Baptist Association has "Churches networking to impact our world"

Here is a flash tract called "Jesus gets tough sins out "

Assemblies of God have:

Finally a message that would make Dr. Frankenstein feel at home.

There does not seem to be an official Catholic Church motto so I will propose some.

Takes a licking, keeps on ticking.

Since the first Pope we have not Petered out.

2000 years of annoying people

Only you can prevent eternal fires

Got Milk and Honey?

We could advertise confirmation with "A little dab'll do ya"

"Smells and Bells and help from going to...."

You got Tradition in my Scripture. You got Scripture in my Tradition. Two great tastes together at last.

Lutheran congregation whose founding predates the United States itself is preparing to welcome a local Roman Catholic priest for the first time in its pulpit Sunday.

The Rev. Stanley Krempa, pastor of Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church in Winchester, is scheduled to preach at the 8:15 and 11 a.m. services at Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church, 26 W. Boscawen St., Winchester. He plans to talk with the congregation about its 250-year history and the importance of continuing its Christian tradition.

The Rev. Stanley Krempa, pastor of Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Winchester, talks with the Rev. James Utt, pastor of Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church in Winchester, last week in preparation for Reformation Sunday. Krempa will be the first local Catholic priest to preach at Grace in its 250-year history when he stands in the pulpit at 8:15 and 11 a.m. Sunday.

“We have an opportunity to be a great light in darkness, which is a great theme as Advent is approaching,” Krempa said Thursday. “We are workers together in the vineyards for Christ.”

Krempa’s sermon is part of the church’s year-long 250th anniversary celebration, and comes on Reformation Sunday, a time when Lutherans around the world remember Martin Luther and the event that sparked the reformation of the church. On Oct. 31, 1517, the day before All Saints Day, Luther, a Christian theologian and Augustinian monk, posted his “95 Theses” and called for Christians to return to basic Biblical teachings and renounce some of the practices of the 16th century church.

In years past, Lutherans spent Reformation Sunday celebrating a victory of sorts over the Catholic Church, but the theme in recent years has turned more toward unity, said the Rev. James Utt, pastor of Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church.

Brummel, a comedian, inspirational storyteller, musician and motivational teacher, will present a light-hearted, yet serious look at family experiences, the Catholic faith and the joy of the gospel.

Reminiscent of the family-style humor of comedic greats such as Bill Cosby, Red Skelton and Carol Burnett, Brummel uses his own acting abilities as he shares his message through a cast of characters.

Here is his web site.

Monsignor Richard Charles Antall rides on a boat along with Catholic faithfuls and fishermen during a procession at sea in honor of archangel San Rafael, patron saint of fishermen, in Puerto de La Libertad, El Salvador, some 16 miles south of San Salvador on Thursday, Oct. 23, 2003. (AP Photo/Victor Ruiz Caballero)

SUNLAND PARK -- Since he was a child, Enrique Lopez and his family have made an annual pilgrimage up Mount Cristo Rey.

Lopez will carry the newest member of his family, his infant son, Enrique, up the 2 1/2 -mile route Sunday to pray and give thanks to God.

"This is my grandmother's tradition, and we have followed it ever since," Lopez, 37, said. "We usually pray the rosary going up. ... It's just an act of gratitude for all the blessings bestowed upon us."

Lopez and his family will join the 20,000 to 30,000 people expected to participate in the 64th annual pilgrimage beginning at 10 a.m.

"It's so inspiring to see ... so many thousands of people climbing the mountain of Jesus Christ," Catholic Bishop Ricardo Ramirez of Las Cruces said. "This has to be the largest or one of the largest pilgrimages in the United States."
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They rank No. 1 in Oregon - one of only four states where "no religion" was the most common answer in a religious identification survey commissioned by City University of New York in 2001. The other states were Washington, Idaho and Wyoming.

Other recent studies draw similar conclusions, including a 2002 survey commissioned by the Glenmary Research Center in Tennessee that identifies several cities in Southern Oregon and Northern California - including Corvallis, Eugene, Medford and Redding - as those where Americans are least likely to have a religious affiliation.
[Full Story][Link Via Relasped Catholic]

Yesterday on EWTN radio I heard Mark Shea mention that Seattle was the least churched city in the least churched state. Being originally from Portland, Or I wanted to argue back that "Hey, Oregon is the least churched" and now I got the facts to back it up. I then realized how stupid is was to want to have bragging rights for the least churched state. While in the Navy I lived in both Whidbey Island, Wa and Pullayup, Wa. I was a recruiter for a bit with our station being in Bellevue. I found that Oregon and Washington were very similar in attitudes. When I went back to Portland earlier this year I would say that it is even more permeated with new age religions then it was before. The majority of signs and bumper stickers reflected a spirituality based around nature worship. I felt totally out of place and like a intruder there. Spiritually and politically the place was like antimatter to me and I felt like at any moment while walking down the street that people would point at me and scream like the aliens did in the movie "Invasion of the Body Snatchers." The most common mantra I heard was "I don't go to any church, but I am spiritual." Mark also mentioned on the radio yesterday G.K. Chesterton's quote "When people cease to believe in God, they don't believe in nothing; they'll believe anything." Growing up in Portland I didn't know the difference between Catholic, Protestants, etc; but I knew about Hari Krishnas, EST, reincarnation, auras, ESP, Transcendental Meditation, and others. But if you had asked me about the Incarnation or the Trinity I would have replied with a blank stare. I had no idea that Christians believed in the Trinity or what it was suppose to be and I would have thought incarnation was a type of flower.

What factors lead to these states being like this I don't now. The weather is depressingly similar in both states, which is one reason that when I retired from the military I moved to Florida. The weather is nicer here and I only have to be concerned about killer hurricanes and killer judges.

Here is Dante'e Inferno Test where you are quizzed and then Judged.

...Proud of his country's achievement, Museveni rejects the Western priority on condom distribution--as if "only a thin piece of rubber stands between us and the death of our continent." Rather, he says, "we made it our highest priority to convince our people to return to their traditional values of chastity and faithfulness or, failing that, to use condoms." Ugandans have a colorful term for their goal of fidelity to a single partner: "zero grazing."

Research confirming the effectiveness of Uganda's behavior-based model comes from an unlikely quarter: the very health organizations that champion "safe sex" and condom distribution. The list includes the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), the World Health Organization, and the Harvard School of Public Health. Most researchers now agree that 9 out of 10 Ugandan adults changed their behavior to avoid the disease.

Abstinence and marital fidelity were the most important changes, according to a recent study by Daniel Low-Beer and Rand L. Stoneburner in the African Journal of AIDS Research. Even teenagers, in large numbers, delayed having sex. Condom use among high-risk groups, such as those involved in commercial sex, apparently played a much smaller role. "Many of us in the AIDS and public health communities didn't believe that abstinence and faithfulness were realistic goals," says Edward Green, a medical anthropologist at Harvard with 30 years' experience in Africa and Latin America. "It now seems we were wrong. The Ugandan model has the most to teach the rest of the world."

The question still outstanding is whether the rest of the world is willing to listen.

CLARK, Wyo. (AP) - Carmelite monks held a festive Mass before beginning a new life in a new monastery.

Roman Catholic Bishop David Ricken officiated at the Mass last week at Saint Barbaras Catholic Church in Powell. Several priests, monks and members of the local Knights of Columbus also took part in the ceremony attended by over 400 people.

Father Daniel Mary initiated monastic life in the monastery with another Carmelite monk, Brother Michael Mary, who was installed and received his habit at the Mass.

The Mass was celebrated on the Feast of St. Teresa of Avila. The feast is dedicated to a Spanish saint from the Middle Ages who felt that monks of the Carmelite monastery, which began in 1150, had lost their zeal.

Pointing out that Wyoming has the nation's fifth-highest suicide rate, Ricken said people need to be inspired.

''They have no vision. They have no hope. The new monastery and the parish's involvement are lighting a flame of faith to scatter the darkness,'' he said.
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The Senate on Tuesday voted to ban the practice that critics call partial birth abortion, sending President Bush a measure that supporters and foes alike said could alter the future of U.S. abortion rights. A court challenge is certain.

...The 64-34 vote came three weeks after the House passed the same measure by 281-142.
[Full Story]

Well to offset the Florida Legislature's vote today, my two senators from Florida disgraced themselves by voting to retain infanticide. At least Tom Daschle finally voted on this issue and he voted for the ban. Much more prayer and work to be done, but this is a good beginning.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Lawmakers sent Gov. Jeb Bush a bill Tuesday that will give him the power to order a feeding tube reinserted into a brain-damaged woman who is at the center of one of the nation's longest and most bitter right-to-die battles.

Bush said he will immediately sign the legislation - a victory for Terri Schiavo's parents, who have been fighting for several years to keep her alive. Her husband, Michael Schiavo, says she would rather die.

...The House approved the bill 73-24 after the Senate passed it 23-15.
[Full Story]

Hopefully this was done in time. It definitely looks like the prayers, emails, phone calls have turned the tide in this case. Getting the Florida legislature to put together a bill and pass it without it being one that increased their salaries is a miracle indeed. Now we can turn our prayers towards the conversions of Michael Schiavo, his lawyer and the Florida judiciary.

Thank you Jeb Bush and I am proud to have you as my Governor. I have sent an email to Jeb. Bush and my representatives thanking them for the passage of this bill and I would encourage you to do the same. My representative Jennifer Caroll is solidly pro-life.

People in the church who call themselves progressives frequently call for the church to address women's issues. Progressives completely skip talking about progressing on men's issues. There are some major inequalities in the way the church treats men. I would like to address some of these men's issues from a more progressive progressives viewpoint.

Brothers are second class citizens. Why can't men go into the convents and become sisters? Sure men can become brothers, but everybody knows that they are treated differently then nuns and their status is deemphasized. Even the secular society sees this inequality. Are there movies or TV shows about the Singing Brother, Flying Brother, or Brother Act? Where are the Brother art critics on PBS. Why does Dead Men Walking have a sister talking? Do you hear stories about strict brothers brandishing rulers? Where are the movies attacking laundries run by brothers? Even Christopher Hitchens doesn't waste his time attacking Catholic Brothers. Do brothers get to wear nifty head-ware like nuns? No they get stuck with just a cowl which is not exactly the most flattering fashion accessory. There are no difference in Greek or Jew in Christ, yet we maintains this difference between sisters/brothers. Italy has a musical for Mother Teresa, but where are the musical celebrating Catholic Brothers? There is a glass ceiling imposed on brothers that keep them from rising to the same level as sisters.

Exclusive Male Biblical Texts. Who is the greatest saint? The Virgin Mary of course. No generations are calling any man as being blessed. Go to any daily Mass and you will find that the majority of people there are women. At the Cross we have a high infusions of Mary's but only the Apostle John was there to represent the men. In an act of unbelievable bias all of St. Joseph's lines were cut from the Gospels. The thread of thought in the Bible is exclusive toward men. Mary gets some choice lines and even gets to recite the Magnificat while Joseph is suppose to just shut up. Gabriel went first to Mary and only later let St. Joseph in on what was really going on. In the meantime poor St. Joseph was agonizing over what was happening. Zachariah makes a mistake in doubting that Elizabeth would become pregnant and again a man is made to shut up for a considerable length of time. Angels have this bad habit of dismissing the husbands. An angel let the mother of Sampson in on what was going to happen first and only later let the husband know. At the Presentation Simeon tells Mary that a sword will piece her heart without even a howdy-do to Joseph. Then St. Joseph just totally disappears from he story, no mention of what happened to him. Mary gets assumed and crowned, while Joseph is still waiting in line with everyone else for the second coming to get a body. Mary gets prominently mentioned in the Book of Revelations, but no mention of her hubby. We use to have a lock on the Doctor's of the Church, but now women have swept the series in the last century.

Churches. Males our always getting hit for being the ones running the church. But is this really true. Call any church to make an appointment with the pastor. Will the phone be answered by a man, probably not. Look at the makeup of all the committees and then tell me males rule the church. If the common male truly ran the church then the interiors would look much different. For one we would generally have more stained glass windows of smiting and of Jesus knocking over the money lenders tables. How about a window of the view the David got staring down at Bathsheba? Men would never have come up with going to Mass on Sundays during football season. Men would have stratoloungers with beverage holders instead of plain pews. We would light bottle rockets instead of candles for prayer intentions and have beer and pretzels after Mass. There would be fishing retreats where we could listen to spiritual talks while fishing, if it was good enough for St. Peter and the boys it is good enough for us.

Multiple Opposite Sex Attraction Progressives are always trying to mainstream homosexual sex even though it totally goes against God's plan for us. Well if we are going to ignore scripture and tradition in relation to these people, then why can't we also do this for the average male. Most males are continuously attracted by other females. Why can't we have sex with whomever we desire. Males can maintain and sustain a lifetime committed relationship until they are ready for the next lifetime committed relationship. Why should societal taboos that want a male to be faithful to whoever they are currently with be maintained. This is the 21st century why should we allow the medieval forced slavery of marriage and such to keep to keep us from our true natures. Why are there no Adulterers Pride parades? Where are the fornicator or adultery support groups. Why aren't we allowed in the schools to promote tolerance of promiscuous heterosexual sex and unfaithful relationships. When some guy gets murdered for being caught in bed with someone's wife where is the media outcry for this hate crime? Where are the complaints about these extramaritalphobes? This century we have made many inroads in males being able to act like they choose, but there are still barriers. St. Bill Clinton pray for us.

Contraception To guarantee our rights as free males we need contraception. How can we use women as sex objects and then move on if their is a possibility of a child resulting and incurring financial responsibilities on us. This is my wallet! Why should anybody be able to make decisions over my wallet? Why should the government interfere and force me to be responsible for possible offspring at the point of a gun? We are pro-wallet and while we support the right of other males to distribute from their wallet, we want to have full control over our wallets. Luckily the feminists have done much to help our agenda and pretty much we are able to use women as we desire.

Abortion. While we are theoretically against abortion since half those killed are males, as long as contraception is not 100% we still need it to protect are lifestyles and our wallets. Why should any females force on us the obligations of fatherhood? The government also needs to pay for these abortions since this issue again affects our wallets. What about male predators that are financially poor, why should they have to change their lifestyle because they can't afford to pay for any resulting abortions. We will never be free to act as long as others can force responsibilities on us

Regular progressives have always been good at ignoring scripture and tradition and obedience is something they send their dogs to school for. We progressive progressives have some common goals with the regular progressives and we must work to change the church instead of ourselves. We can work toward perfection by making nothing sinful. We can work hand in hand with regular progressives to continue to destroy marriage and other inhibiting institutions.

Rev. Thomas Reese, editor of the Jesuit magazine America and one of the media's go to men says:

•Someone who shows concern for women's issues. "If we lose women in the 21st century, we might as well close up shop," Reese says.
[Full Story]

The gates of hell will not prevail against the church (unless of course it doesn't address women's issues).

Someone I work with told me this joke today.

A man was marooned on a desert island, and was the only inhabitant. Three years later he was rescued but his rescuers were puzzled why he built three buildings. "That's simple, the one on the left is my house, the one in the middle is my church and the one on the right is the church I use to go to."

Scotland’s Senior Roman Catholic tonight strongly denied reports that he had called for the church to debate its teachings on celibacy, contraception and homosexuality just days after being appointed a Cardinal.

Speaking on the eve of his elevation to the College of Cardinals by Pope John Paul II, Archbishop Keith O’Brien said he had been hurt by the allegations.

He told a press conference in central Rome: “I would strongly object to the wrong reports that have been circulated about me round the World.

“I did not say anything against the Church’s teachings at that mass (at St Mary’s Cathedral in Edinburgh three days after he was named a Cardinal).”
[Full Story]

The original reports did misrepresent what he said about homosexuality in that they made it appear that the Bishop supported homosexual acts, but what he had actually said about homosexual priests. "If they are leading a celibate life, God bless the men." This would be a prudential decision as part of the church and would have nothing to do with doctrine and the same goes for married priests. Contraception is another matter all together and it appears he did call for discussion of this topic. Back on September 30th he was quoted as saying.

"So there is no problem about that. What I would ask for in the Church at every level, including the cardinal's level and the Pope's level, is to be able to have a full and open discussion about these issues to see where we stand and what the need is and what the implications are."

In this article it also said:

He later said that the issue of artificial contraception was one that should also be open for discussion.

Now if he is claming that the original stories misquoted him, then is is surprising that he would wait for three weeks to deny those reports. And if those reports were false why on Oct 13th did he add the following after saying the Nicene Creed?

``I further state that I accept and intend to defend the law on ecclesiastical celibacy as it is proposed by the Magisterium of the Catholic Church; I accept and promise to defend the ecclesiastical teaching about the immorality of the homosexual act; I accept and promise to promulgate always and everywhere what the Church's Magisterium teaches on contraception.''

I would certainly like to give the Cardinal-elect the benefit of the doubt, but the apparent facts get in the way.

Clearwater, FL October 19, 2003: The Governor of Florida, Jeb Bush, has called a special session of the Florida Legislature for Monday, October 20, 2003. At that time, Florida’s Speaker of the House will introduce “Terri’s Bill”. By Florida law, two thirds majority vote are required to have a topic entered.

Volunteers with the Terri Schindler-Schiavo Foundation have learned that Senate President, Jim King is against this bill.

The Bill would put an immediate moratorium on all dehydration and starvation deaths currently pending in Florida.

We have come to a time when the merchants of death have created a constitutional crisis and a justice gridlock, while the rightful life of Florida’s disabled and vulnerable citizens tragically hang on Terri Schindler-Schiavo’s court ordered dehydration and starvation death.
[Full Story]

Fellow Floridians if you have not already done so please e-mail your representative

You can find your senator here

And your Representative here

There is a form letter available to send.

Choose any saintly intercessor you desire and please pray.

Sometimes I would desire that conservatives would have the audacity of Democrats. You know that if there was a woman in Florida being denied access to an abortion via a court order that Democrats would send in shock troops faster than Elian Gonzalez was surrounded by troops and whisked back to Cuba. That if there was any legal pretext for them to act they would. In the beginning days of Terri's forced starvation I figured at any moment I would see a headline where Governor Jeb Bush had forcefully acted. I am no Lawyer, but there appeared to be many possible avenues where the Governor could act in this situation. It has been reported that Governor Bush has received roughly ten e-mails a second begging him to act. I have no doubt that Governor Bush does desire to intervene in this situation, but it appears that he will not take a bold step to do so.

[Gov. Bush's actions] undermine and threaten the public's confidence in the independence and objectivity of the judiciary, the rule of law, and the State of Florida's ability to impartially administer justice through its state court system. --Clearwater Bar Association, resolution rebuking Gov. Bush for sending a letter to Judge Greer

That is a pretty funny line here in Florida "independence and objectivity of the judiciary." Does it truly take objectivity to grant guardianship to someone living with another woman with whom he already has one child and is expecting another? Does it truly take objectivity to ignore video taped evidence of Terri's true condition and to ignore the conflict of interest and award guardianship to someone who might have been the cause of Terri's injuries and has already ordered that she be cremated as soon as she dies?

Soon we will see special Florida Vacation and Euthanasia packages. Come down to sunny Florida home of the Superbowl Champion Buccaneers and World Series contender Marlins. Bring your incapacitated spouse with you and no matter what the circumstances our courts will give you guardianship and help you to pull the proverbial plug. Sound too good to be true? Well are judicial system is really that blind and will gleefully ignore any evidence and will wash there hands while blaming you for their decisions. There are many "Choose Life" license plates and a pro-life governor, but don't let that distract you - it really doesn't matter.

I have been blogging for over a year and up till today I have never banned a commenter's IP before. I have no problems with people disagreeing with me or challenging my statements. I am quite fallible and open to comments and I have changed posts in the past based on comments made.

But when someone starts to attack other commenter's, that is where I draw the line. This commenter has been banned on other blogs because of his bashing of others and up to this point he had not engaged in that behavior on my blog. Earlier today I had deleted his comment and then banned his IP and just a couple of minutes ago he reposted the same identical vile under a different IP. I find it odd that someone would save a comment in the first place to repost in case of deletion.

In the past I have attracted comments from atheists and their comment's reflected charity even though they disagreed with me and it is sad that a self-identified Catholic is the one that resorts to name calling.

My commenting policy is the same as the one Barbara Nicolosi wrote.

A Note to Visitors:
Please share your comments! Note, however, that civility is considered a higher good than First Amendment rights here. Incivility will be uncivilly suppressed. Welcome to Our Kingdom!
Enjoy your stay.

Here is an interesting article about a business in Rome that has been tailors for Bishops and Cardinals since at least 1798.

A BUNCH of ravenous supermodels raided a bakery and wolfed down cakes, pastries and bread -- then passed out on the crust-littered floor.

"They didn't touch the cash register, just the pastries and breads," says Paris police Detective Jean-Luc Rousseau. "There were five of them, all as skinny as bed slats, and they broke into the bakery and started gorging themselves.

"I think they must have been hungry -- very, very hungry."

Says devastated bakery owner Francois Duchard: "It's all gone -- every bit of food is gone.

"They devoured eclairs, petits four, bread, croissants -- even a three-tier wedding cake.

"I wish they had just robbed the cash register. It would have been a lot cheaper."

Duchard says he found the five accused passed out on the floor, frosting covering their mouths, when he arrived to open for business in the morning.

"I stepped inside and saw five beautiful, skinny women on the floor," he recalls. "I heard them moan and saw that their faces were covered with chocolate, frosting and crumbs and there were gobs of cream in their hair. Every display rack in my store was empty -- and I had just refilled them the night before."
[Full Story]

This article is an excellent overview of how euthanasia went on to the holocaust in Germany.

...revealed that Germany's trend toward atrocity began with their progressive embrace of the Hegelian doctrine of "rational utility," where an individual's worth is in relation to their contribution to the state, rather than determined in light of traditional moral, ethical and religious values.

And just how are we now different?

Updated 3/31/05: New post added in relation to Terri's death

Dei Gratia has now changed their address to:
Dei Grati
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Added Scott W Fischer of Viam Pacis to my blog roll
Viam Pacis
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Added Nicole DesOrmeaux of Notes to Myself
Notes to Myself

Article about the co-author of the "Catholic Encyclopedia for Children" put out by Our Sunday Visitor.

The familiar black and white speed limit signs in some rural parts of Burlington County aren't getting drivers to slow down.

They're also not getting any laughs, but officials believe new signs going up on a few roads should do both.

The brightly colored signs are scheduled to go up next week along county roads in Shamong and Medford Lakes.

The signs include messages like "Free Speeding Tickets Ahead" and "Meet Our Judge -- Exceed 25 mph."
[Full Story]

Vermont doctors are scheduled to vote Friday on the issue of physician assisted suicide and the state's Catholic Diocese is mobilizing to impact that decision.

At their annual meeting tomorrow, the 1,400 doctors of the Vermont Medical Society will debate and possibly vote on a resolution calling for them to take a neutral stand on the issue. But opponents say that's as good as a yes vote.

So the Catholic Church is sending out letters and activating its Respect Life Phone Tree, asking members to call their doctors and urge a no vote.
[Full Story]

Here is a beautiful story from Sparki of Fonticulus Fides of why she believe in miracles.

On this celebration of the Pope's silver jubilee anniversary, along with many other, I want to give my thanks and appreciation to the great Pope. I believe the papal name of John Paul is very accurate indeed. That he has the great missionary zeal of St. Paul along with the deep contemplative and theological understanding of St. John. Like St. Paul, attempts were made to murder him. Like St. John he will live out his life to the end giving himself to the Church. St. John benefited from the presence of Mary, who was given as his mother; The Pope whose motto is Totus Tuus, has also availed himself of Christ's mother to the benefit of himself and us.

This man is a living exegesis of this passage from Colossians 1:24

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, of which I became a minister according to the divine office which was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now made manifest to his saints.

At the beginning of this year I predicted that the Pope yet again would not be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, and so was not surprised . It would be nice to see the world acknowledge the truth of the achievements of Pope John Paul II. But since the Nobel Prize committee does not know what peace truly is, it is not surprising that they would not recognize someone that promotes it. We now take the collapse of the Soviet Union as just past history. The cold war long forgotten. The steel curtain and the Berlin wall gone. Yet too few have honored this man in his part in bringing this about, but his reward will not come from us and it will not perish.

The spiritual gifts he has brought to the Church are equally outstanding. From the Catholic Catechism of the Catholic Church to his untiring efforts to heal the wounds of the Orthodox schism he has totally given of himself. From his embrace of the man who tried to assassinate him to the joyful embrace of children, he has truly been a representative of Christ on Earth.

Do some fish engage in coral sex?

Do female fish, when not in the mood, complain that they have a haddock?

Would the head of a fish army be the Sturgeon General?

Just pondering today what a progressive and enlightened culture we live in. We don't crash jets into buildings, or stone adulteries to death, or perform honor killings on our children. No we like our murders and executions as antiseptic and hidden as possible. We want to complain in line at a fast food joint because it is taking more than five minutes while a woman slowly dehydrates and starves to death. Roughly 3,000 children are murdered each day through abortion in various out of sight abortion mills. Hardly a conscientious blip as Oregon provides the means for state supported suicide in the name of compassion. When non-medical care of our parents becomes an inconvenience for us we warehouse them in nursing homes, while the clock in eternity clicks faster than the time between visits by their children. Our medical science works even harder to find even more ways to kill people. With IVF we implant multiple children hoping that one survives while the others starve to death. Then we place the "unused" children in the freezer and humans become just another pop-tart for later possible use. Embryonic stems cells allow us to experiment on the youngest of children and to create possible spare parts for others.

It use to be the good guys were the ones in white hats. The ones in white lab coats are more dangerous than any comic book villain. Their total disregard for life in the name of science would seem over the top in the worst caricature of a villain. The people in black robes are equally dangerous. God used Moses to give us the ten commandments, and Satan is equally served by those judges that issue edicts that continue to cause death. From the Supreme Court on down, the dogma is "Life begins at deception." It's not human yet - kill it, use it. She is not human anymore - kill her. They are not productive to society - kill them. It is bad enough that we have judges that can issue such execution notices, but it is worse that there are doctors who obey.

The hot topic here in Florida is baseball, not Terri. My local news channels did not even notice or report on what happened yesterday. We watch the economy and hope for signs of job growth and continued low inflation. Immune to the moral tumor growing in our culture and the meaning for life has even lower value. Kill our children and the elderly and those to expensive to care for, just don't dare raise our ATM fees. Culture of Death indeed.

Go to Two Sleepy Mommies and read this beautiful post The night I met someone like Terri

Via Video meliora, proboque; Deteriora sequor is Kathy The Carmelite's goodbye.

Steven Riddle of Flos Carmeli has many inspiring posts on St. Teresa of Avila.

Teresa of Jesus is one of my favorite and most influential saints. October seems to be the month of Teresa, starting out with Terese on the first of the month and now Mother Teresa being declared blessed on the 19th of this month. Mother Teresa was named after Therese of Lisieux who in turn was named after St. Teresa of Avila. Additionally Teresa Benedicta of the Cross whose birthdays was on the 12th of October entered Carmel on todays date and her entry into the Church was greatly influenced by St. Teresa of Avila's biography.

Before coming into the Church I watched the series Teresa of Avila: Personality & Prayer hosted by Fr. Dubay. In this series he talked about the fact that contemplation is not just reserved for those in convents and monasteries. This greatly intrigued me and I started by reading Fr. Dubay's book on St. Teresa and St. John of the Cross called Fire Within. I then went on to read Way of Perfection, Interior Castle, and her Autobiography. I dearly love the wit and wisdom of this saint and whose writings hold no pretensions and work to explain the spiritual life to those on any level. There were many books I read at the start of my conversion that I know I now need to read again to try to plumb more of their depths and her books are on the top of that list.

The good news is that I can now pray just like St. Teresa of Avila did in a period of her life.

Unfortunately, it is the period when St. Teresa didn't pray at all.

This saint who went from a luke-warm piety, to no prayer at all, and then to rediscover and fulfill her vocation and her prayer life is such an excellent example in perseverance. I am also distracted easily in prayer and I take great comfort in her having written.

As I write this, the noises in my head are so loud that I am beginning to wonder what is going on in it. As I said at the outset, they have been making it almost impossible for me to obey those who command me to write. My head sounds just as if it were full of brimming rivers, and then as if all the water in those rivers came suddenly rushing downward; and a host of little birds seem to be whistling, not the ears, but in the upper part of the head, where the higher part of the soul is said to be; I have held this view for a long time, for the spirit seems to move upward with great velocity. - Interior Castle, Fourth Mansion, Chapter 1

and

The mind of an adult is like an unbroken horse. It will go in any direction except the one in which you want it to go.

There is also another derivative of a pet name for Teresa that is on many minds lately. Terri as in Terri Schindler-Schiavo whose state ordered execution starts in an hour here in Florida. In my prayers I ask that St. Teresa, St. Terese, St. Teresa Benedicta, and soon to be Blessed Teresa of Calcutta intercede in saving Terri's life and for the conversion of her husband, the Judge, and those who see her life only in material terms.

This is from a presentation given at the OSU Newman Foundation by George Dennis O'Brien.

O'Brien believes that by knowing what came before the university system there can be a better understanding of where religion fits into the system.

"Before universities there were monastic schools," O'Brien said, "Benedictine monks spent time learning the work of God, which entailed reading scripture."

O'Brien concluded his presentation by comparing the faith of the Benedictine monks to the once popular music group Nirvana.

Neither the monks nor rock music are easily understood, their words become a mystery, O'Brien said.
[Full Story]

And I thought I made strange comparisons on my blog. But since he started it, what would have happened if Curt Cobain had found Benedictine spirituality instead of the dead end of drugs. So here is a song parody based on Nirvana's "All Apologies"

In Monastery

Where else should I be
In Monastery
What else should I say
Everyone should pray
What else could I write
Jesus is the light
Where else should I be
In Monastery

In the Son
In the Son I feel as one
In the Son
In the Son
Contemplative
Active

Work and Pray today
ora et labora
We must be the salt
Everything is my fault
I'll take all the blame
Benedictine shame
Benedict and Scholastica
Brother and Sister in Awe

Dust from dust is all we are
(repeat and fade)

Here is another Nirvana parody I did a year ago called "Smells like Vatican II Spirit"

More than a dozen opponents of abortion picketed outside a Knights of Columbus civic dinner Monday night in Oxnard, protesting an appearance by U.S. Rep. Lois Capps, the event's keynote speaker.

Carrying signs with photos of mutilated babies and slogans such as "Knights of Hipocrisy" and "K.C. Traitors to the Unborn," the protesters heckled dinner guests as they walked into the organization's council building downtown. Capps, a Santa Barbara Democrat whose district includes Oxnard, advocates women's reproductive rights.

..."What this is about is honoring our civic leaders and has nothing to do with her views," Chavez said. "Some people are trying to make us look bad.
[Full Story]"

In Australia:

EDUCATION Minister Brendan Nelson wants Parliament to grant him the power to cut funding to "bizarre" university degrees for such things as surfing, aromatherapy and considering whether Jesus Christ was a homosexual.

Despite fears the move is an attack on academic freedom, Dr Nelson said yesterday that taxpayers wanted more lawyers, veterinarians and teachers before they funded "silly" degrees.

Legislation being debated by Parliament to allow universities to increase HECS fees by 30 per cent and boost full fee places also would grant Dr Nelson the power to cut funding to controversial tertiary courses.

"We've recently seen, for example, controversy surrounding students doing PhDs on the sexuality of Jesus Christ and, in another case, on the divorce between Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise," Dr Nelson said yesterday.

"Australians might prefer to see extra places being put into teaching, or nursing, or vets, or dentists or training more historians than they do, for example, training people in the intricacies of surfboard riding, aromatherapy or understanding where Elvis Presley currently is living.
[Full Story]

This is from an interview of Gary Wills.

What are the specific issues? Married priests? Women priests? Birth control? Abortion rights? Gay marriage?

All of them.

Wells at least that answer is succinct.

What about the issues of the papacy and your criticism of it?

Catholics make up a huge part of the world. I don't criticize Catholicism or the church, but I do criticize certain leaders.

That's not a non-Catholic thing to do because the leaders have often been wrong. In the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, popes were put in hell by the poet Dante and by certain painters. The pope is not the church and never has been.

You just say you want abortion, birth control, and gay marriage and then say I don't criticize Catholicism or the church? I guess we need to drop the Bible and Apostolic Tradition to create a church to his liking. The Fathers of the Church will also need to be demoted and Doctors of the Church knocked back to interns.

In the face of all your criticisms, what keeps you a practicing Catholic?

I believe in the creed and the redemptive power of Jesus. I want to be united in my brothers and sisters in Christ. People say to me "You're no better than a Protestant" and I'd like to unite with the Protestants. But I'm a Catholic, and I'm not going to say your church is wrong and my church is right.
[Full Story]

Relativism at it's finest.

Good article by John Pacheco and Pete Vere.

Don't forget that today is the national holiday where we curse a Dead White European Male. If you live in the alternate universe know as Berkeley than today is Indigenous Peoples Day. In some places they have a Columbus Day parade where they celebrate Italian-American heritage, which is PC just as long as they don't mention old Chris.

Yesterday at Mass I heard an interesting parallel between the story of the man possessed by multiple demons and the story of Gulliver's Travels. The priest said he imagined that this possesion might have felt like Gulliver being bound up hundreds of the lilliputians. That because of this possession that he felt he couldn't move.

I think there might be another interesting parallel to draw out of this story in regard to venial sins. Many times when I hear someone talking about venial sins it is almost always prefaced by the words "only a." You would believe that there are two types a sins: "Mortal Sins" and "Only a Venial Sin." While we should rightly see the vast difference between what constitutes a mortals sin and what does not; to totally downplay venial sins is also a problem. If we make excuses for our faults by classifying them in a manner that doesn't require change is a distortion of truth. Just as one lilliputian soldier trying to bind us down will not cause us loss in our mobility and will, when they start to multiply and are ignored eventually they will cause us problems and can even open us up toward mortal sins. While many of the wounds inflicted on Christ were not in and of themselves mortal, they were quite painful to our savior. For us to ignore our sins and to not work toward perfection is like saying, oops sorry but it was only a thorn I added to your crown.

If I was an outside observer at a parish and I knew nothing about the Catholic Church and everything I would learn about it came from my observations, what might I come to know. In many parishes I might think that coffee and donuts is one of the sacraments. It is almost always mentioned at the end of Mass and it is always in the bulletin. Obviously coffee and donuts must be one of the more important things that the church promotes. If I look at the bulletin I will see that something called reconciliation is offered for an hour on Saturdays, but it is never mentioned during the homily or at the end of mass, so it must rank below coffee and donuts in importance.

I keep hearing about all the reforms required in the Church in regards to liturgy and other matters, but I rarely read about the lack of promotion of confession or it not being readily available. Many pundits have commented on the fact that there are large amounts of people going to communion, but not confession. When it comes to confession, I am a firm believer in that if you have it readily available they will come. One Church I go to has confession prior to every mass. So there is an opportunity twice on weekdays and four times on Sundays to go. The lines are very constant in size and I notice that many people that come there are from outside this parish. I think it is a very positive thing to see people in a line before Mass going to confession instead of it only being available at a time not in context with the Mass. This example must surely inspire others to go to confession and people see that confession isn't something pre-Vatican II.

For myself having the availability of frequent confession and then seeing the lack of that emphasis in other parishes angers me. That we have such a beautiful sacrament given us by Jesus through the Church and not to have it promoted is like withholding medicine from those in need of it. I remember my first confession toward the end of R.C.I.A and coming into the Church. By the time it was over tears were streaming down my cheeks in both contrition for my many sins but also the unbelievable joy of hearing the words of absolution. I am far from perfection and have so many faults that the U.S. Geological Survey has placed sensors in my many fault lines, but I also know my faults are not quite as many as before coming into the Church. So for the Sacrament of Reconciliation and for making us confess before one of your priests, Thank You Jesus!!!

A Dutch priest has quit the church because he's allergic to the wafers used during Holy Communion.

Father Stefan van Dierendonck of Nijmegen said he was always feeling sick during services and tests revealed he was allergic to gluten.

But when the Catholic Church said it didn't allow gluten-free wafers, the priest threw in the towel because, "I didn't want to choose between faith and health."
[Full Story]

There might be something else going on here. The Church does allow use in some occasions of low-gluten wafers. Since Christ is present fully in the Eucharist in every particle of the host then it seems to me that a smaller piece could be consumed to avoid problems from gluten allergies, but I don't know what the regulations might exist pertaining to the priest in particular. But the statement at the end about choosing between faith and health, the cynic in means thinks losing this priest might not be too much of a loss.

Freedom is important to Bishop Peter Hickman. So is being Catholic.

On Saturday, he will talk about how he found both. Hickman is the bishop of the Ecumenical Catholic Communion, which allows priests to marry and women to enter the clergy.

The free day-long event, "Renewing the Roots of Catholicism" is at The Pathfinder Community of the Risen Christ church in Bermuda Dunes. Hickman invites people of all faiths, as well as disillusioned Catholics.

Originally a Baptist minister, Hickman converted to Catholicism because he was attracted to the liturgy and spirituality.

However, he said, he did not find comfort in the authoritative manner and claim of infallibility of the Roman Church.

"Really, it’s contrary to the original meaning of what is Catholic," Hickman said, which means universal.

He said changes, such as accepting gay and lesbian couples, are inevitable for Catholicism to be a viable religion of the future.
[Full Story]

He certainly has gotten the idea of universal totally backwards. The fact that the church can teach authoritatively on faith and morals is what ensures it's universality. If every person/church can proclaim it as they deem then that is the total opposite of being universal. As for me I find great comport in the "authoritative manner and claim of infallibility of the Roman Church." That I am freed from the concern of weighing every possible idea in the realm of faith and morals to determine for myself that it is true. Also, since I know that it is the true church; when I do delve deeper into something the Church teaches as true I revel in how that truth is supported by reason.

CLEVELAND, Oct. 10 — Astronomers said on Friday that they had determined the time in cosmic history when a mysterious force, "dark energy," began to wrench the universe apart.

Five billion years ago, said Dr. Adam Riess, an astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, the universe experienced a "cosmic jerk." Before then, Dr. Riess said, the combined gravity of the galaxies and everything else in the cosmos was resisting the expansion, slowing it down. Since the jerk, though, the universe has been speeding up.
[Full Story]

I wonder if God might sue for slander. It was bad enough when people would say he didn't exist but to resort to ad hominem attacks and to call him a "Cosmic Jerk" just goes to far. If only they got to know him they would find he is not a jerk at all.

LOS ANGELES - Some Los Angeles-area Roman Catholic priests are urging an open discussion on whether to allow married clergy as one solution to the growing priest shortage, and say they hope Cardinal Roger Mahony will raise the issue to church authorities nationally and in Rome.

Calls to discuss the option of a married clergy came earlier this week at an annual assembly which drew about half of the archdiocese's 1,200 priests.

Many priests lauded Mahony for allowing the debate on a topic considered taboo a decade or two ago. Celibacy has been a cornerstone of the Catholic priesthood for more than a thousand years, and many priests say that efforts even to discuss it had been suppressed until recent years.

"We have made an extraordinary shift in the last 10 years," said Msgr. Clement J. Connolly of Holy Family Church in South Pasadena. "It's a new day when we can even talk about this now with respectability and a certain reverence and understanding."

Support to discuss the issue was not unanimous, according to participants who attended the meeting. Opposition was particularly strong from many younger priests and some priests from foreign countries who work in Los Angeles.

"Rome knows what it's doing," said the Rev. Donatus Ekanachi, a Nigerian native and associate pastor of St. Raymond Church in Downey. "The Catholic Church has one head, and anyone who challenges that head becomes a rebel."
[Full Story]

Earlier my comments got spammed with multiple advertisement from some purveyor of filth. It was fairly easy to clean up and ban their IP, but beyond being annoying it really makes me angry. I would not wish hell on any person, yet I can well imagine various purgatorial schemes for them. In this case If only God told them on death that when they were purged and ready to enter the company of the saints that He would send them an email to notify them of this. Each day (or whatever goes for time in purgatory) they would receive thousands of emails to sort through and that they would have to go through each one to try to find the one that notifies them of their perfection and promotion to Heaven.

They would get trick subject lines like "Welcome to Heaven", "From God", "Your purgation is over!", yet when they opened them up they would see something like.

How large is your faith life? If you desire perfection then order for a significant discount spiritual viagra because "For the gate is narrow and the way is hard, that leads to life"

or

My name is Dr. Jackson Ali and I am one of the senior managers in the First Bank of Heaven. I work under an ArchAngel in a office that finances Angel to Human visits where we handle all the travel expenses. Angels are not really good at filling out all of the paperwork since they are always in a rush to run out singing Holy, Holy Holy in the Beatific Vision and as a result there is a large amount of unclaimed perdium sitting in our accounts. Since this money is unclaimed and unused I would like to be able to send it to apostolates in need of assistance. But because of strict Bank of Heaven rules I am unable to transfer it into one of our accounts directly. I need to be able to transfer this money to an account outside of Heaven's territories, somewhere like Purgatory. I would be willing to offer you ten percent in transaction fees for of the millions of unclaimed dollars. If you could send me your back account number and follow my instructions perfectly within the next two weeks we could take care of this transaction promptly.
jackson@heaven.com

Construction of a multimillion-dollar Roman Catholic church named for Vietnam's patron saint has been delayed indefinitely because of a dispute over who should be pastor of a congregation that is now mostly Hispanic.

Bishop Todd Brown of the Diocese of Orange wants to replace the parish's current pastor with a priest of Vietnamese descent. The parishioners want the current pastor to stay.

The dispute underscores a deeper tension for the Catholic Church in 21st century America as it attempts to accommodate its increasingly diverse flock.

"The only reason the Catholic Church in the U.S. is still growing is because of immigration," said Michael Foley, a professor of political science at Catholic University who studies religion and immigration. "There's a very clear teaching now that the various cultural expressions have to be respected if possible."

The Diocese of Orange wants to replace Our Lady of Lourdes, a tiny, crowded church built in the 1920s for Mexican farmworkers, with Our Lady of Lavang, a parish with a name acknowledging Orange County's large Vietnamese-American community.

The new parish was supposed to be an example of the church's effort to bring together the two cultures. Now it has become an example of the difficulties in doing so.
[Full Story]

Or maybe I should say the re-balkanization of Catholic parishes. As immigrant groups initially came into the United States they setup parishes with the priests they brought along and then worked hard to have those churches built. No matter how much we talk about the values of multi-culturalism, people still flock to those places where people share the same culture or country orgin as themselves. With the latest growth of the Catholic Church in the U.S. we are seeing this process repeat.

Those variance in the liturgy due to local custom in various countries normally does not present a problem until those variances are brought into a larger cultural context like the U.S. and increasingly other European countries. While it is well and good to have the Mass in the vernacular when everybody speaks the same language it becomes a problem when either they don't, or they want the Mass to be in their native language. Thus we end up with churches that add Masses for other languages and we end up with a desecration of parish life.

Initially I thought that perhaps going back to the universal church language of Latin for most parts of the Mass might be a cure. I am biased toward that view because of my love of the Latin Mass, but Masses were in Latin during the first increase of Catholic immigrant populations into this Country and that didn't seem to make a difference. I firmly believe that immigrants should learn the predominate language of the country they are in, but even if they do it does not totally solve the problem of the balkanization of parish life. The devotional life and other cultural biases also come into conflict. Since we are all humans who have fallen and suffer from the effects or original sin we normally look for ways to separate ourselves from others. Cultural buzz words like "Celebrate difference" sound nice, but in no way reflects our natural aptitudes.

The main church I attend has diverse populations of Spanish, Filipino, Lebanese, and others. Our pastor does much to ensure both the devotional faith life of these groups and at the same time including them into the wider parish life. My wife is Filipina and I have learned much from the faith life of her and other Filipinos. Even though I do not speak Tagalog the example of the Filipino community in my church has been a great example to me. I have also learned from the Pastor, who is originally from Spain, many of the difficulties of integrating groups and the petty squabbling and misunderstanding that occur. So as with most things that involve humans they are no complete solutions and that we must continuously work together in striving for holiness to overcome cultural stereotypes.

A Christian mission serving homeless people since 1939 is under investigation for discrimination because its walls are adorned with crosses and other religious imagery.

The probe was prompted by a city fair-housing investigator, who also happens to be a cross-dressing Wiccan openly contemptuous of mainstream religions, the Charleston, W. Va., Daily Mail reported.

More proof of those groups who preach tolerance only mean tolerance for their activities. But then again what can you expect from a city investigator who as a drag queen goes under the stage name Miss Ilene Over.
[Full Story]

With the real news stories I post and also the parody news stories I create I am going to need some kind of parody disclaimer to separate the two.

In the above news story any resemblance to fictional persons I have created or imagined is purely coincidental.

U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton referred to California Gov.-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger as "the predator" Wednesday night - in what sounded like a double entendre reference to the myriad of groping allegations leveled against the former Hollywood action star as well as his 1986 movie by the same name.
[Full Story]

Now I had been wondering previously about what really happened on the set of the Predator movie. Out of a nine person cast, Jessie Ventura and now Arnold Arnold Schwarzenegger have gone on to become governors. Was there some strange virus in the water that caused these men to seek political power? Some secret CIA test used on unlikely candidates to prove the governor-virus effectiveness. If so then we should look at the cast to determine who else might become governors.

The actor who played the alien predator in both movies is Kevin Peter Hall. In three of his four SF movies he has played aliens, so maybe he won't become governor of California; but at least he can get a drivers license there and a reduced college education.

Out of the rest of the cast I would think that Carl Weathers would be the most likely unlikely person to become governor next. If there is a governor-aspiration-virus we must hope and pray that it is not communicable, especially since Carl Weather was in a movie with Adam Sandler.

There is also Bill Duke who might be possibility. If Arnold with all of the problems of his actions in the past can get elected, then it is theoretically possible that people would forgive Bill Duke for directing Whoopee Goldberg in Sister Act II: Back n the Habit.

There are many modern day vernacular translations of the Bible, including slang ones for surfers and Australians. But where are the Bible Translations for Computer Geeks? Jews, Gentiles and Nerds are not left out of God's plan for salvation so I have translated parts of the Bible into programming code. There are many computer programmers in St. Blogs so if you notice any heretical code let me know, I have not yet completed a heretical debugger for my Bible Code. The syntax of the code should be simple even for the non-geek to understand.

//Genesis and creation
switch( day )
    case 1:
        light = true;
    case 2:
        sea = true;
        sky = true;
    case 3:
        land = true;
        vegetation = true;
    case 4:
        sun = true;
        moon = true;
        stars = true;
    case 5:
        birds = true;
        fish = true;
    case 6:
        man = true;
        animals = true;
    case 7:
        break;
}

//Book of Judges
do while ( oldTestament = true )
{
    fallIntoIdoloatry = true;
    do while ( GodCallsJudge = false )
    {
        // loops until statement is true
    }
    repent = true;
}

//Jesus' temptation in the desert
for ( int days=0; days <= 40 ; ++days )
{
    fast = true;
    if ( days = 40 )
        rebukeDevil = true;
)

//John the Baptist
I < Christ >;
or using C syntax
I-- & Christ++;


//Marriage at Cana
if ( wine = 0 & hourHasNotYetCome )
{
    doWhateverHeTellsYou = true;
}

//Annunciation
if ( grace = "full" )
{
    handmaidOfTheLord = true;
    if ( accordingToThyWord = true )
    {
        soul = "magnifyLord";
        God <> "impossible";
        Mary = "blessed";
        fruitOfWomb = "blessed";
        Incarnation = true;
        redemption = true;
    }
    else
    {
        Incarnation = false;
        redemption = false;
    }
}

//Jesus
int Father, I; 
Father & I = 1;

public class Trinity
(
    persons = 3;
    Father, Jesus, HolySpirit = 1;
    public godhead Jesus()
    {
        God = true;
        man = true;
    }
)

//Rich young man
if ( obeyTenCommandments = true )
{
    if ( desireToBePefect = true & sellAllYouHave = true )
        perfectionThroughGrace = true;
    else
        walkAwaySad = true;
)

//Peter
for ( int roosterCrow=0; roosterCrow<= 3 ;++roosterCrow )
{
    peterDeniesChrist = true;
    if ( roosterCrow = 3 )
        peterWeeps = true;
)

//Paul
bool always = true;
while ( always )
{
    pray = true;
}

Cistercian monks in southern Poland hope to become the country's first distributors of an ale brewed from a 17th century recipe. "We can't divulge it, since our competitors on the brewery network never sleep," said Father Eugeniusz Wlodarczyk, abbot of the monastery at Szczyrzyc. "All I can say is that the secret lies in a certain very special kind of yeast." About 70 percent of Polish breweries are foreign-owned. The Cistercians also hope to obtain grants from the European Union to launch their own cheese and honey manufacturing operations. Church-run businesses are on the rise in Poland, 95 percent of whose 38 million inhabitants are Roman Catholic. Ventures run by parishes include transport and construction companies.
[Full Story]

Any why we are on the topic of yeast here is a book you are sure to want.

and while you are at it there is also The Bible Cure for Irritable Bowel Syndrome and also The Bible Cure for PMS and Mood Swings

The Philistines actually discovered The Bible Cure for Tumors, they returned the Ark of God to Israel..

Here is a pretty funny airline parody site called Sky High Airlines

Wesley Clark, criticizing the Bush administration for being too quick to seek military solutions to the world's problems, has proposed increasing American foreign aid and creating a cabinet-level Department of International Assistance to oversee it.

I didn't really think that General Clark was all that sharp before, but this clinches it. To suggest a whole department whose interest is to give money to other countries is among the worst ideas I have heard. That their whole focus would be to determine what governments to give money to and their only milestone of achievement would be how much they spent. Do you think that whoever held this cabinet level position would ever come in and say "We are spending too much this year, we need to cut back." The whole power of this position would be in spending money on whatever countries they deem require it.

To believe that giving foreign aid to a despotic regime would help to move them away from despotism is totally mistaken. Jimmy Carter wrangled that deal with the North Koreans where we would give them tons of money in return for them pretending not to build a nuclear arsenal. Does Clark really believe that sending money in the guise of aid to Saddam would have resulted in anything but bunkers, palaces, and tacky erotic art for his sons?

Relatedly:

Kucinich recently submitted a bill, H.R. 2459, to establish a Department of Peace -- a measure initiated by an old war vet named O'Kelly McCluskey and backed by the National Veterans for Peace.

Maybe we do need a Department of Peace run by the peace activists. It would be highly entertaining. Whenever there was any kind of threat to the country we could mobilize our shock troops. They would train constantly and in a moments notice could disrobe and make peace and anti-war signs with their naked bodies. They could specialize in empty symbolism and infiltrate enemy missile silos where they could pour bottles of their own blood on these missiles; that would really convince them.

Even better we could combine the Department of Peace with the Environmental protection agency and call it Department Of Peace and Environment (DOPE).

The Medalcraft Mint of Green Bay has designed and minted a limited edition medallion commemorating the 25th anniversary of Pope John Paul II’s pontificate.

Medalcraft, 2660 W. Mason St., expects the limited edition piece to become a collectible because the pope is one of only four in the history of the Catholic Church to serve at least 25 years.
[Full Story]

This year Marian College is holding it annual academic symposium called In the Name of God: Religion and Violence

Speakers include James Carroll author of that history hack called Constantine's Sword. Who will talk on Christian Anti-Semitism and Violence.

John Esposito, Ph.D will talk on Islam and Violence

He has said that Hamas is a "group that engages in "honey, cheese-making, and home-based clothing manufacture."

Esposito also claimed on NPR that Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasir Arafat's call for Jihad is comparable to a "literacy campaign" or the "fight against AIDS."

And then we have moderator Michael Ketterhagen, Ph.D. and Pandit Rajmani Tigunait Ph.D.(Successor of Swami Rama) both of the Himalaya Institue. This is a institute that promotes Hatha Yoga and states:

All problems are created and solved by the mind, but surprisingly, mind is not known to itself. Mind is the greatest of all mysteries.

Looks like they will get every viewpoint but a Catholic one.

(AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Pope John Paul II must be the Freddy Krueger for liberals. Just went they think he is on the outs and they are loading their stories with frail, ailing, sickly, and near death; the Pope still goes on. I can not express adequately my feelings for this dear man and how he has lead the church by his wonderful example so I will let scripture speak for itself.

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, to show that the transcendent power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For while we live we are always being given up to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you --2 Cor 4:7

Here is an interesting article on Cardinal-elect Justin Rigali called 25 things to know about the new shepherd

This article mentioned that yesterday he visited the Pink Sisters in Fairmount. These are the Holy Spirit Adoration Sisters who have a nice website here. And they do have pink habits and you can see a virtual tour here. The abbreviation SSpSAP used for their order stands for Congregatio Servarum Spiritus Sancti de Adoratione perpetua.

Prehistoric: Chilean Catholic Church Campaigns Against Divorce

Over 100 years behind England, Chile is the only country in the Western Hemisphere, in which divorce is still prohibited. The Socialist government is pushing forward a bill to change that

Divorce in Latin America has been always a controversial issue, since the region has suffered from far right-wing military regimes during long periods of time in the twentieth century.

Thus, the region has a poor record, despite the existence of a strong feminist movement at the start of the 1900's. As such there are countries, where divorce laws were passed early last Century -Uruguay, 1913; Cuba, 1918-, and some others where the legislation that brings family relations into modern times, had to wait longer. That is the case of Argentina that only obtained the law in 1986, after its return to democracy.
[Full Story]

I always knew that Dictators and military juntas were so pro-marriage and anti-divorce. The first thing they do after the coup and the murdering stops is to outlaw divorce. Dictators are such family friendly people, they even help with annulments by making spouses disappear suddenly. You can tell that this article came from Pradva because the word "Socialist" was used like an honorific.

I loved the line about the Prehistoric Catholic Church. I can imagine some archeologist digging around in some pre-Vatican layer of rock and finding some dinosaur bones along side of a mitre, shepherd's crook, and some skeletal human remains*. They knew the bones were really old because the bishop had an intact spine.

*Yes Steven, I know that human and dinosaurs did not coexist.

Yesterday my server went down since it was taken offline by another company because of some alleged abuse by someone. When I saw my site was down I emailed my hosting company and received a reply back within minutes about the problem. They ended up moving my site to another server, which they had been planning to do this week anyway. My hosting company even made sure my Movable Type files were set correctly and changed for the new server location. So I thank Tranquil Hosting for their excellent customer service and response time and I would recommend them to anybody because of their service and very competitive pricing.

Michelle of And Then? in the post below on the combined Catholic/Anglican Church recommended that I might parody what their bulletin might look like. I decided to parody a fictional combined Catholic/Anglican Church.

St. Thomas Moore & King Henry VIII Roman/Anglo-Catholic Church At each others necks since the 1500s Established 2001 Fr. Joseph Maria Maria Fr. Luther Smyth Calvin

Driving around I have seen fast food places where there are two restaurants merged together, such as Taco Bell and KFC or A&W and KFC.

In Virginia Beach, Va there is a church called Church of the Holy Apostles that has two priests - one Catholic and one Episcopal, and two altars.

Their web site says

Established on All Saints Day, 1977, in Norfolk, Virginia, at the request of Bishop Walter Sullivan of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Richmond and Bishop David Rose of the Episcopal Diocese of Southern Virginia.

Services
Services are held each week at 10:00 a.m. There are two altars in the worship space. Roman Catholics are invited to receive from the Roman Catholic priest; all other Baptized Christians in good standing with their own church are invited to receive from the Episcopal priest. Christian Formation for all ages is held from September 20 until May at 11:00 a.m.

I was rather doubtful about this being endorsed by the Diocese at first, but this Church is listed in the parish and their listing mentions that it is a joint church. Now I am all for true ecumenism, but how can they state that they are "eucharistically centered" when the Catholic Church has stated that Anglicans/Episcopalians do not have valid holy orders, thus no Eucharist. I would be curious how they handle the differences to make sure that there is no confusion in understanding the real differences between the two churches.

Another vision statement they made was "creative in liturgy". If I was still living in the Norfolk/Virginia Beach area that statement would send me running away.

This headline confused me until I realized the article was from South Jersey

Sheila Vincent quit an executive-level job with an international company.

Donna Huddell sold her house in Lindenwold and her beloved Honda Civic.

Lizette Yao left her family and the only home she had ever known.

A few weeks ago, these three women walked away from their everyday lives to live in a Haddonfield convent.

Newly designated as a "house of formation," the St. Mary of the Angels convent is owned by the Franciscan Sisters of Allegany, the same community of nuns that founded Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center in Camden.

For the next year, the three women will live as the sisters do, while they contemplate dedicating their lives to God.

[Full Story]

That was the message Saturday from the Rev. Donald Cozzins, keynote speaker at the first Voice of the Faithful conference in Greater Cincinnati, held at Good Shepherd Church Community Center.

"We are witness to the unraveling of the last feudal system in the west," Cozzins said to thunderous applause from the 250 people participating in the conference. "The feudal system depends on the serfs - in this case the laity - being uneducated. The most significant gift this scandal brought us is a laity who will no longer be treated as less than full adult members of the church they love.

"They are no longer serfs."
[Full Story]

If I was a conspiracy theorist I would believe that the Bishops setup and implemented VOTF. I look at the structure of VOTF and the types of speakers they select and the arguments they make I can infer the antithesis of intelligent design. Could any group that wanted to be taken seriously as an advocacy group for the faithful choose so many unfaithful speakers? If the Bishops wanted to setup a lay advocacy group doomed to failure they could not have done any better than how VOTF turned out.

Even their website betrays their lack of faithfulness. Under Prayerful Voice - recommended reading they don't recommend any books on prayer by any of the acknowledged spiritual classics on prayer like Imitation of Christ or any of the works of St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross. Instead we have a book by the dissident nun Joan Chittister, O.S.B who refused a Vatican order forbidding her from working with those who have same sex attraction. Another book by is by Fr. Anthony de Mello, S.J whose writings have been condemned by Cardinal Ratzinger of the Congregation for the doctrine of the faith. Out of the rest of the recommended readings the only one I have even heard of was Henri J. M. Nouwen of whom I have no experience with his books. Out of the gigantic treasury of prayer in the Church they managed to only find some writings from the last fifty years.

A couple of years ago in my eternal quest for books I went to the bookstore of the diocese retreat center. I know now why it was called a retreat center since they seem to have retreated from the faith and after looking at their selection I soon retreated from the store. If I wanted to know about "Hilter's Pope", or the enagram, or centering prayer, or any other new age fads then this place would have been a book mine. But since my tastes run more toward non-heretical books it wasn't for me. I did look through their whole collection figuring there must be something I would want. But just like VOTF recommended readings there were no classics from the Franciscans, Dominicans, Carmelites, Carthusians, etc.

Also from VOTF site is a Liturgy of Rededication and Reconsecration. After the Homily they have:

PROFESSION OF FAITH
[Use many different "voices" throughout the assembly]

I take it the following is not taken from the Liturgy for Humility.

Who will bind up the wounds?
Response: Here I Am.

Who will be voice for the voiceless?
Response: Here I Am.

Who will speak the truth?
Response: Here I Am.

Who will stand for justice?
Response: Here I Am.

Who will sow love?
Response: Here I Am.

Who will save the Church from the evil Bishops?
Response: Here I Am.

Well I added the last one, but they were on a roll and it just flowed.

LITURGICAL DANCE
"My Song Will Be With You Forever," David Haas, GIA, from the CD, "Where the River Flows."

[Prayerful gestures are a way of using your body for praise, for wholehearted response to God. This brings prayer to another level in that it moves it from inside your mind and heart to an outside, visible expression.]

Yes we are really faithful, it says so in our name. Just ignore the fact that the Bishops have banned liturgical dance, we are really faithful to ourselves. "Change the Church, not Ourselves."

FINAL BLESSING:
May almighty God bless us, the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit.

or

[Have the participants turn and raise their hands in blessing over each other; divide as necessary.]

I have to admit VOTF is really good at "divide as necessary"

Santiago, Chile -- This is the only country in the Western Hemisphere that still prohibits divorce. But, after a 120-year battle, Chile is on the threshold of approving a law to change that, even though the result may carry so many qualifications and preconditions that the process of ending a marriage could become even more complex.

Opponents, led by the Roman Catholic Church and its allies in the main right-wing party in this nation of 15 million people, are fighting to have the bill include compulsory mediation, waiting periods of up to five years and no possibility of divorce unless both partners want it. In the name of human rights and family values, they are also demanding that couples be allowed to choose marriage with a "no divorce" option.

..."What should not be done is to opt for solutions that imply the destruction of the notion of the family," Cardinal Francisco Javier Errazuriz, the archbishop of Santiago, wrote in a pastoral letter called "Let No Man Tear Asunder," issued in June. "Many countries have done precisely that," he added, but "their experience demonstrates that introducing divorce is not the right road."

Those in the U.S. who decry Chile not having divorce laws are crack addicts sitting in a crack house complaining about other countries that don't have accessible crack houses. Is our country really so blind to the repercussions of the destructions of families? Where there is no stability for children or spouses and their life could be upturned at any time for any reason.

..."With no divorce, people don't want to get married," said Ximena Diaz, director of the Center for Women's Studies. "It's going to be interesting to see what happens now."
[Full Story]

The Apostles wondered the same when they asked:

The disciples said to him, "If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is not expedient to marry." But he said to them, "Not all men can receive this saying, but only those to whom it is given.

If somebody doesn't want to get married because there is no divorce possible, then I believe they shouldn't be getting married in the first place. If they don't have the commitment to marriage at the outset, then how will they react when problems do crop up? Marriage with an escape hatch is hardly commitment to marriage at all.

TAMPA, Fla. Oct. 4 — A concert that was to feature an on-stage suicide of a terminally ill person was postponed Saturday because the Web site that was to broadcast the event was attacked, the operator of the site said Saturday.

The Web site for the band Hell on Earth was attacked Saturday evening by a flood of data from computers somewhere in Hong Kong, said Jason Trindade, the operator of a San Diego-based technology company that hosts the site.
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In a culture where sex and sexuality flash like neon, where promiscuity seems to coil on every street corner, it's no wonder the faith-driven course of Anne Inkret and Celeste Thomas seems utterly strange.

Inkret and Thomas are consecrated virgins, brides of Jesus Christ, adherents of a calling that is almost as old as the Catholic Church itself.

Unlike nuns, who frequently live in a community of their own, consecrated virgins do not.

In fact, it is required that they live in the world and support themselves. As such, Thomas is a speech pathologist for Aurora Public Schools. Inkret, a former critical-care nurse, is a Red Cross volunteer in crisis and grief intervention.

..."For a while, I got questions like 'Why would you do that? What will you do if meet Mr. Right, the perfect guy?' " says Inkret, 43.

With her perpetually shy smile, she adds, "I said, 'I already have.' "
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The newspaper of the Archdiocese of New York has refused to publish a paid advertisement for the Catholic lay organization, Voice of the Faithful, according to the organizer of an upcoming conference.

The Voice of the Faithful wanted to publicize their Oct. 25 conference on the church's sexual abuse crisis. According to a conference program, the meeting is an effort to "go forth in a spirit of healing and hope."

...The Voice of the Faithful conference is to be held at Fordham University and features a speech by psychologist and author Eugene Kennedy.
[http://www.nynewsday.com/nyc-cath1004,0,3008096.story?coll=nyc-topheadlines-left]

This is probably the same Eugene Kennedy who wrote an article in the National Catholic Reporter that to promote pro-life we must ordain women.

...How could women react otherwise when, while an abstract femininity is exalted, male ecclesiastics tell women, even at the poorest and most shadowed ends of the earth, that they may not choose contraceptive services even if they suffer rape or incest? Were church leaders to welcome a theological review of this question, they would thereby communicate their acceptance of women’s equality with men.

...In other words, making women equal in the church would address the broad social struggle for women’s equality with men, which is the real basis for the reproductive rights movement. Men surrendering control over women would lessen women’s need to keep fighting for it, one of the chief motivations of the pro-choice crusade.

In his latest article in this month's National Catholic Distorter called Healing the Wound: The Sacraments and Human Sexuality he tries to cast down on holy orders being passed down through the episcopacy, but instead through priests. He then goes on to talk about a sexual Jesus and the sacraments:

...Like us, the sacraments are sexual, filled with the exhilarating creative energy that brings and enlarges life that touches, now softly and now transcendentally, the strings of every human sensation. Should we be surprised at the passions put to use in God’s giving himself for us in the sacraments, would we be dismayed -- although neither John of the Cross nor Teresa of Avila -- were, at the ecstasy, at least partly sexual, that exploded out of their wholehearted surrender of themselves to God or in his response to them? We humans are never moved thoroughly without, even outside our awareness, being moved sexually. We can never create anything without engaging our sexuality in the process. We, and the sacraments, in the curious but commonplace harmony of all things human -- more often like the disjointed everydayness of Charles Ives than the melodic high tides of Ludwig van Beethoven -- are thoroughly spiritual as well.
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VOTF keeps wondering while they are not treated as a group of faithful, despite the fact that they have chosen very questionable speakers such as Richard McBrien and Eugene Kennedy to lead their conferences. They might want to look further than the index page of the National Catholic Reporter if they truly want to use the world faithful in their name.

SULTAN, Wash. -- An animal rights group's plan to free 10,000 mink from a farm turned deadly after many of the emancipated mustelids became cannibals while others went on a carnivorous feeding frenzy.

About 9,000 of the freed mink have been returned to Roesler Brothers Fur Farm since the Aug. 25 break-in, but keeping them alive has been a challenge.

Normally, only siblings are caged together, but workers cannot readily determine which of the recaptured mink are related, said Kate Roesler.

``The mink are fine when they're litter mates together, but when they're not they're quite vicious and they're cannibals,'' Roesler said. ``They do eat each other, and that's what we're battling.''
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Emergency contraception pills may become more readily available and affordable for women who show up at California drugstores without a prescription, under legislation signed Thursday by Gov. Gray Davis.

Building on earlier efforts to improve access to the "morning-after" pill, Davis signed one measure, SB 490, creating a statewide protocol for pharmacists to follow in giving this drug to women who go to a drugstore without first seeing a doctor. Davis also signed SB 545, limiting fees pharmacists can charge for assessing whether women need this form of birth control.

The morning-after pill is a highly concentrated dose of an ordinary birth control drug which, if taken within 72 hours of unprotected sex, prevents pregnancy by stopping fertilization or by preventing an egg from attaching to the uterus. It is not the same as the controversial abortion pill RU-486, which ends pregnancy by breaking down the uterine lining and ejecting the embryo.
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I am no expert, but don't they mean preventing a Blastocyst (a.k.a. human being), not egg from attaching to the uterus? Implantation occurs five to six days after conception. It seems like they use the language they want so they don't have to mention the fact that in these circumstances a chemical abortion has occurred and a developing human being has starved to death. Gov. Davis continues his moral slash and burn of California while he awaits the outcome of the recall.

A nice web site by the Poor Clares of Nuns’ Island, Galway, Ireland.

its launch coincides with the 750th anniversary of the death of St. Clare, the founder of the order who is also the patron saint of television.
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The Rev. John Leonard O'Shea, the former Denver deputy police chief and father of 10 who in June launched a new life as a Catholic priest, died Thursday morning at St. Joseph's Hospital. He was 69.

Just two days after becoming a priest in June, O'Shea, a widower, had a heart attack that sent him into a coma for a time. Then several weeks later doctors discovered a brain tumor.
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TOPEKA, Kan. - A sculpture from Longmont that depicts a Catholic clergyman in a cap bearing resemblance to a penis has drawn angry criticism from people who want it removed from the Washburn University campus.

The piece called "Holier Than Thou" is the work of Jerry Boyle of Longmont. It depicts the upper body of a heavyset man with a contorted face, wearing a tall ecclesiastical cap known as a miter.
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St. Elizabeth Seton Catholic School physical education teacher Jeff Tenbarge, left, shows second-grader Anthony Eichhorn his half-shaved head as his classmates watch after school on Tuesday. Tenbarge and some students in the Golden Gate school agreed to have their heads shaved to show support for their classmate, Nick Brown, who will undergo brain surgery soon.

"You look like a whole different guy," Anthony told Jimmy as more bits of brown tumbled to the floor.

There are many whole different guys at St. Elizabeth Seton Catholic School this week, all showing their support for 8-year-old student Nick Brown. Nick will soon undergo brain surgery, and must have a shaved head for the procedure.
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"I am unaware of any investigation by any authorities involving me. No governmental representative has contacted me directly or indirectly. If my assistance is required in the future, I will, of course, cooperate fully." -Rush Limbaugh

(CNSNews.com) - A perfume and clothing line using the brand name FCUK has caused a stir, not only because the letters in the name can be easily transposed to form a vulgarity, but also because of the brand's sexually suggestive marketing aimed at teenagers.

Consumers have joined together to issue several nationwide action alerts against the department stores that sell the product line.

FCUK, an acronym for French Connection United Kingdom, is being sold by the British company French Connection Group, which grossed $400 million in sales in 2002 and showed a $34 million profit, according to news reports.

FCUK fragrances and clothing are being sold in major U.S. department stores including Hecht's, Filene's, Kaufman's and the Target Corporation-affiliated chain Marshall Field's.

FCUK's $10 million marketing campaign for the fragrances has included the ad slogan "FCUK Him" and "FCUK Her" and included a "Scent to Bed" ad featuring scantily clad young people embracing.
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ST. AUGUSTINE, FL (AP) -- The Catholic Diocese of St. Augustine withdrew its invitation Wednesday for the Episcopalian Diocese to use one of its churches for a ceremony because the pro-gay leader of the Episcopalian Church was slated to attend.

The local Catholic diocese rescinded the invitation after Frank Griswold, the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, defended in a news article the church's confirmation of a gay bishop and argued that the Bible does not condemn same-sex relationships.

Bishop Victor Galeone "felt a good number of his people would be offended to learn that an Episcopalian bishop, that holds a position that is radically opposed to what both the church and scripture teach about homosexuality, is using one of our facilities," Kathleen Bagg-Morgan, a spokeswoman for the local Catholic diocese said in a statement.
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My Bishop, Victor Galeone, keeps impressing me. This is excellent that he was concerned about scandalizing the faithful and prevented it from happening. I have been a couple of times to the Church they were going to use. It is fairly large with a beautiful golden dome and a large tabernacle. Unfortunately they have no crucifix in the sanctuary, but a risen Jesus sans cross.

Mark Shea offers his take on the "hoohah concerning whasherface" which I have followed a bit and quickly realized it was much ado about nothing. The name Joe Wilson reminds me of the scenes in Cast Away where Tom Hanks in his dilapidated condition is screaming out WILSON! at his befriended volleyball with a happy face. The Democratic Party also seems to be cast away and has been screaming incoherently at inanimate objects that they think and hope might take down President Bush.

Yesterday Victor Lams commented on the concert-suicide story being under the topic music news. I also saw it yesterday on Reuters "Oddly Enough." It originally was reported in Rolling Stone. We can have Sixty Minutes broadcast one of Kevorkian's suicides with hardly a ripple in the media pool and now this latest sad case. Of course the number one lead story is not this news but the "hoohah concerning whasherface." With the band Hell on Earth saying they will simulcast a suicide at a undisclosed location, I long for singers like Ozzy who only bite the heads off bats.

Today being the feast day of St. Therese the Little flower and the Little Doctor, after Mass I was praying the Rosary and thinking about the band that is suppose to have someone commit a suicide during their performance here in Florida. Sometimes when we read the news and see all of the road signs of the culture of death we can get discouraged about what we can do. We want to take direct action to prevent these types of events. St. Therese hidden away in a convent, cloistered, and prevented from outside actions did more for the world then most teams of reformers ever had. Her little sacrifices, hidden kind deeds, and treating those she could hardly get a long with as her deepest friend set the stage for the theology of the little way.

These events that we hear in the news we can react to more that with e-petitions and such, but with prayer. By the little sacrifices that we can make to offer towards conversion. To offer a Mass for Family, Friends, or for people we hear about in the new. Speaking for myself I know that it can be easy to be caught up in causes, where the cause becomes all and it's goal can be lost. On first hearing the other day of the eighteen year old that died after taking RU-486, I thought about the arrogance of Planned Parenthoods statements and the politically shortened medical review process that brought this drug upon us. I totally forgot about the souls of this woman and her child and how her family and friends are suffering. The little way is a glorious corrective that can help us towards holiness. That great deeds are not required, but love is. As Mother Terese also said that "God does not call us towards success, but faithfulness"

Mother Teresa was criticized by some because she did not cure all poverty in India. The view that political systems and programs are more important than removing the filth off someone found in an alley does much damage. We become distanced from the problems when we assign it to others. We become dehumanized when we are able to remove the solutions to human problems from our own corner.

So I ask St. Therese to pray for that person who does not understand the meaning of suffering and is thinking about suicide. That she pray for those band members that would want this to occur to promote so-called right-to-die issues. St. Therese suffered as disease ravaged her and as she lost that sense of the presence of God during her dark night of the soul. During these trials she said she had made more acts of faith than at any other time.