News

Uruguay’s artist Federico Arnaud presents his work ‘El juego de los Milagros’ (The match of the wonders), a table soccer with Catholic Saints and Jesus as keeper, in the exhibition ‘Rundlederwelten’ (The world of the round leather) in Berlin’s Martin-Gropius-Bau exhibition center Monday, Oct. 17, 2005. The exhibition to celebrate the soccer World Cup 2006 opens on Thursday, Oct. 20 through Jan. 8, 2006. (AP Photo/Sven Kaestner) [Source] [Via Friary Notes]

I am torn between hating this and wanting one for myself.

THE Vatican is preparing to give England its first post- Reformation saint by putting Cardinal Newman — the 19th-century priest whose conversion from Anglicanism to Roman Catholicism shocked Victorian England — on the road to canonisation, thanks to a long-awaited miracle.

Although a dossier on Cardinal Newman’s beatification was first opened in 1958, no miracles had, until now, been attributed to his intercession. “I had to tell John Paul that the English are not very good at miracles,” Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor said. “It’s not that we are not pious, but the English tend to think of God as a gentleman who should not be bullied.”

Yesterday, however, the cleric responsible for arguing Newman’s cause, Father Paul Chavasse, the Provost of Birmingham Oratory, which was founded by Newman in 1848, said that a deacon in the Diocese of Boston in the United States had testified that he had recovered from a spinal disease after praying to Cardinal Newman. “At last we have a miracle cure,” he said.

Father Chavasse said that the 60-year-old deacon, who could not be named, had earlier undergone an unsuccessful operation, but after prayers to Newman had “fully recovered his health and mobility”.

The cause of Newman’s beatification is likely to be close to the new Pope’s heart because he is known to have admired Newman since his student days. One of his first messages after his election in April was to Trinity College, Oxford — where Newman was the first Honorary Fellow — praising his “disciplined commitment to the pursuit of religious truth”.

The miracle attributed to Newman is being investigated by the Boston Diocese, which will complete its findings in February. The evidence will then be forwarded to the Vatican for approval by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, and ultimately to the Pope. [Source]

VATICAN CITY (AP) – Pope Benedict XVI offered a rare glimpse into his past Saturday and gave a small lesson in Catholicism to children who attended his first youth rally at St. Peter’s Square – an event that was reminiscent of the gatherings inspired by Pope John Paul II.

Benedict recalled the sunny, “beautiful Sunday” in 1939 that he made his First Communion at the age of 9, telling an estimated 150,000 children and their parents he had begun a “lifelong friendship with Jesus” that he hoped the children would also enjoy.

“So I went forward in my life, and thanks to God, the Lord has always taken me by the hand, guided me even in difficult situations,” Benedict said.

Benedict was responding to a question about his own First Communion posed to him by a little girl who had received the sacrament for the first time this year. Communion is the sacrament in which Catholics receive bread and wine that they believe is the body and blood of Christ.

Benedict had invited all children who had made their First Communions in 2005 to attend the Vatican rally, which was full of singing and dancing – including break-dancing – and was reminiscent of the youth rallies favored by John Paul.

…During a question-and-answer session with a half-dozen children, one boy told the pope that he had been told that Christ was really present in the Eucharist, or Communion.

“But how? I don’t see him,” the boy said. Benedict chuckled.

“We don’t see him, but there are so many things that we don’t see that exist and they are essential,” Benedict said. “For example, we don’t see our reason, but we still have reason. We don’t see our intelligence, but we have it … We don’t see the electric current, but we still see it works: We see how this microphone works, the lights.

“We don’t see the risen Lord with our eyes, but we know that where Jesus is, men change, become better, become a bit more able to have peace and reconciliation.” [Source]

Middletown – The two women sat praying at opposite ends of the all-night chapel yesterday when the man in the clear plastic cape came in and shattered the silence of the dawning day.

"Don’t look at me," police say he shouted at one of the women after snatching a leather-bound Bible from her hands. His face also was covered in clear plastic. He dropped the Bible – it apparently wasn’t what he was looking for – and took the other woman’s bag before he fled.

Police say he wanted money. What he got was a handful of prayer cards and a few dollar bills collected from people who asked that a candle be lighted for a sick friend or relative.

It was over in less than two minutes. No one was hurt. But the crime at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church sent shudders through a community that sees the church as its sacred center.

…For others, though, the robbery won’t scare them off.

"I wouldn’t hesitate to come," said Christine Sacchi, who attended midday Mass with four of her seven children. "I think maybe my husband and I should make the extra effort to come."

"It’s such a beautiful thing to have all-night adoration," she added. "Given what we do here, I think we should pray for the man." [Source]

This Christmas, one of the main attractions is "The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe". The Disney film company is counting on Christian audiences to boost this film.

Disney hired the same group that marketed "The Passion of the Christ" to churches. Plans are well in hand so that churches nationwide will host sneak previews of parts of the film before its December opening in cinemas. Some Christians consider the C.S. Lewis classic story as an allegory in which the hero, the lion Aslan, represents Jesus Christ. [Source]

Some Christians consider the C.S. Lewis classic story as an allegory? C.S. Lewis was not exactly subtle when it came to allegory.

From and article in Jewsweek on the Late Donald James Yarmy (Don Adams)

After the miracle that saved his life, Don felt a consuming thirst for a firm faith. In an effort to fill his need, he began a study of all religions, including Roman Catholicism. His mother had him baptized as an infant but this was something Don’s father didn’t learn for twenty years.

"I doubted, I questioned, I challenged," Don says. "I felt that Catholicism was the religion that offered what I sought, but I couldn’t accept it blindly. After a year and a half of instruction, I was climbing the walls." A Jesuit priest was his mentor. "I wanted clear-cut answers to questions. The answer, ‘Because it’s God’s will,’ was never enough for me. If you grow up with a complete, unquestioning faith –as my wife did– it’s easy. But when you wait until you are nearly 20 years old and then approach religion intellectually, it’s very difficult. Very, very difficult.

"I remember that the priest finally said to me, ‘You wouldn’t like to have a religion that makes things easy for you.’ Now I know that both faith and intellect are components of religious belief."

A practicing Catholic today, Don has not forgotten that his father, whom he loves, is a Jew. And that it was the Divinity that rules over all faiths that brought him back to life. That’s why he can say, "God knows why I’m a Catholic and a Jew…."

Here is a good article on Archbishop Harry Flynn visits to the sick and dying.

NEWPORT – She went from $25,000 weekly bank deposits to withdrawing bitterness from brokenhearted women.

But before she could let go of her "ladies-only" adult pornographic Web site fortune, Michele Washam would have to become one of those women.

With 7,000-plus members paying $29.99 a month, Washam started a Web site dedicated to female viewers some 10 years ago. Just4Ladies.com is still signing ladies up, except now the cost is free, and the message is of Jesus Christ.

To go from an adult Web site designer to "God’s webmaster" was a journey that began in 1999 when the mother of three moved from Delaware back to her hometown of Palm Beach County, Fla., without the man she loved "more than air."

He had given her a diamond engagement ring and a promise to move with her to Florida. But, after a three-year courtship, he broke his promise, taking with him "my heart, my life."

"It hurt to breathe," said Washam.

With no will to live or work, the self-taught Web site builder and designer called the adult Web site business quits. No amount of money could take her pain away.

"It was never all about the money," said Washam.

"It was about providing food, shelter and an occasional Toys ‘R’ Usshopping trip for my three children, along with a future of security. The only big things I bought for myself were a used Mercedes-Benz and a Chanel suit that I eventually ended up giving away."

That summer, she was ready to give up her life as well.

"I went for a walk along the beach adjacent to the Port of Palm Beach, and my intention was to just keep walking until there was no more ground and only ocean beneath me," Washam said.

But then she drew on what little she could remember from her days of growing up in a devout Italian Catholic family.

"I had no idea who God was, but I looked over the ocean and literally cried out to Him," she said.

"And I saw a rainbow – the symbol of hope."

With a mustard seed of faith, Washam began studying miracles and the word of God.

Washam said she knew she no longer could do adult Web sites, and she realizes now that "back then, I should have paid attention to the tug on my heart and conscience not to get involved" in pornography.

The reformed Web site is now a faith-based site dedicated to restoration and healing of broken hearts. [Source]

WASHINGTON (September 22, 2005)— The U.S. Bishops’ Secretary for Education, Sister Glenn Anne McPhee, OP, said Senator Edward Kennedy’s opposition to hurricane relief aid for private and religious schools “makes no sense.”

“Denying educational aid to victims of Katrina because they attended Catholic schools is like denying home repair assistance to anyone who is not in public housing,” said Sister McPhee.

“Congress needs to reach out to help all afflicted by disaster, whatever their race, economic level, or school ties,” she said also.

Denying educational aid to victims of Katrina because they attended Catholic schools is like denying home repair assistance to anyone who is not in public housing. It makes no sense. [Source]

VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI on Wednesday blessed a statue of the founder of the conservative Catholic organization Opus Dei, saying he hoped it will serve as inspiration for those who passed by to "do one’s daily work in the spirit of Christ."

The 20-foot-tall white Carrara marble statue, placed in a niche of the outside wall of St. Peter’s Basilica, depicts Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer with his hands open in a welcoming gesture and two cherubs at his feet holding a sculpted Bible. Balaguer founded Opus Dei in Spain in 1928.

"
May all those who stop to contemplate the statue be encouraged to live their daily work in the spirit of Christ and in ardent love for the work of redemption," said Benedict, who stopped to bless the statue at the end of his general audience before returning to Castel Gandolfo, his summer residence in the Alban hills outside Rome. [Source]

Now if he had blessed a statue of an albino Opus Dei monk assassin, that would have been news. Of course it would also be news if.Opus Dei actually had any monks.