Update on priests turned away after Boston Marathon bombing

 News  1 Response »
May 102013
 

An update to a story I previously blogged on.

BOSTON – Two priests turned away from entering the scene of the bombing at the Boston Marathon, April 15, said they understand the actions of the police in the heat of the moment.

After two bombs exploded near the finish line, leaving three people dead and wounding more than 260 others, the priests rushed toward the scene from St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine on Boylston Street, just over a half mile from the marathon finish line.

Father Tom Carzon, OMV, director of seminarians for the Oblates of the Virgin Mary, reached out to The Pilot after he saw media coverage surrounding their experience.

“The twist that this story has taken in some places just doesn’t reflect my experience on that day at all,” he said.

Father Carzon said he felt that media reports portraying a conflict between priests and police as a general reality in Boston mischaracterized the situation, and said he understood the police turning people back, including clergy, in light of potential danger closer to the finish line.

When I first posted the story regarding this I had the caveat “if true”, glad to find out it wasn’t.

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Sanford’s Win, a Loss for Conservatives

 Punditry  2 Responses »
May 082013
 

Hilary Towers writing at NRO:

Once upon a time in this country, moral integrity, emotional (and even spiritual) maturity, and a servant’s heart were considered important characteristics of public leaders. In Mark Sanford we find a case study in how far removed we’re becoming from that standard. When did abandoning one’s spouse and children for an extramarital affair become compatible with conservativism? [sic] Apologies are meaningless when they are followed by more of the same. Sanford describes himself as “one imperfect man saved by God’s grace.” But the problem with this win (and here is who South Carolina voters could have elected if they had put values first) isn’t that Sanford isn’t perfect. Marriage is hard, and every spouse has virtues and vices — defects of character with which they will struggle throughout their married lives. But marriages don’t “fall apart” as a result of falling in love with another person; they are all too often destroyed from within by a self-love that transcends marital bonds and spills over into every aspect of one’s existence. It is time for conservatives to publicly recognize the widespread phenomenon of spousal abandonment, and the system of “family law” that supports it, for what they both are — a national scandal.

Among other things, this election result is a searing reminder that we have, as a nation, lost touch with what “redemption” really means — with the true power of God’s grace, which is the power to transform behavior. And behavior, after all, is a reflection of the heart. How much longer can conservative stewards of family values turn a blind eye to the very narcissistic lifestyle choices of our leaders that we are fighting so hard to weaken (and ultimately transform) in society at large?

If repentance means marrying the women you committed adultery with, you’re doing it wrong.

If only this was contained to the “narcissistic lifestyle choices of our leaders.” The reason this pasts muster in the first place is that divorce and “remarriage” has become so accepted. Hard to hold politicians to a standard when the standard behavior of so many is exactly the same thing.

I heard callers on the Laura Ingraham show who were not concerned at all about his behavior because he votes the right way. The same as for the defense of President Clinton on the other side. The excuse always is that the other candidate will be worse for the country. Yet this never explains how seriously morally compromised candidates get nominated in the first place instead as if they were the only option.

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Washing my hands of this story

 Punditry  No Responses »
May 072013
 

Over a week ago Cardinal Dolan had blogged on the topic “All Are Welcome!”

My buddy Freddie from across the street and I were playing outside. Mom called me for supper.

“Can Freddie stay and eat supper with us?” I asked.

“He’d sure be welcome, if it’s okay with his mom and dad,” she replied.

“Thanks, Mrs. Dolan,” Freddie replied. “I’m sure it’s okay, because mom and dad are out, and the babysitter was just going to make me a sandwich whenever I came in.”

I was so proud and happy. Freddie was welcome in our house, at our table. We both rushed in and sat down.

“Freddie, glad you’re here,” dad remarked, “but … looks like you and Tim better go wash your hands before you eat.”

Simple enough … common sense … you are a most welcome and respected member now of our table, our household, dad was saying, but, there are a few very natural expectations this family has. Like, wash your hands!…

So it is with the supernatural family we call the Church: all are welcome!

…

So, for example, the Church loves, welcomes, and respects the alcoholic … but would not condone his binge;

The Church loves, welcomes, and respects a prominent business leader…but would not condone his or her failure to pay a just wage to a migrant worker;

The Church loves, welcomes, and respects a young couple in love … but would challenge their decision to “live together” before marriage;

The Church loves, welcomes, and respects a woman who has had an abortion, and the man who fathered the child and encouraged the abortion … but would be united with them in mourning and regretting that deadly choice;

The Church loves, welcomes, and respects a woman or man with a same-sex attraction … while reminding him or her of our clear teaching that, while the condition of homosexuality is no sin at all, still, God’s teaching is clear that sexual acts are reserved for a man and woman united in the lifelong, life-giving, faithful, loving bond of marriage.

The Church loves, welcomes, and respects wealthy people, while prophetically teaching the at-times-uncomfortable virtue of justice and charity towards the poor.

We are part of a Church where, yes, all are welcome, but, no, not a Church of anything goes.

The Cardinal did make some good points, although he constant use of elipses made his post confusing in parts and really could have been better written.

So of course the result of this blog post is that there were a group of protesters outside of St. Patrick’s.

Angry and greedy rich people were mad that the cardinal for talking as if greed was sin and equating them as having dirty hands. Oh wait that wasn’t the group.

It was alcoholics who were mad that the cardinal for talking as if alcoholism was sin and equating them as having dirty hands. Oh wait that wasn’t the group.

No of course it was an LGBT group with protest signs and hands dipped in ash.

Honestly my first reaction was “What a bunch of drama queens” although that thought was not intentionally pejorative and I don’t mean it in a pejorative sense here. Still those supporting homosexual acts are very good at staging events to get the media’s attention. In this case we are suppose to believe that for example that while the Catechism says the Church “has always declared that ”homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered” it was the Cardinal talking about washing your hands that was so greatly offensive. This is just another staged controversy looking for coverage and rewarded by the automatic media coverage.

Of course we got headlines like Cardinal Dolan Denies Catholics Entry at Cathedral Because of Dirty Hands and Gay Catholic Group Threatened With Arrest During Silent Protest. The typical lack of concern for truth.

Apparently if you bring in protest signs inside to where the President is speaking it is fine if you are arrested, but if you do the same thing inside a Catholic church that is totally unreasonable. Although they did not in fact attempt this. This is all very much like the Rainbow Sash movement that use to (or still does?) make a sash of themselves on Pentecost Sunday.

It is sad how activists and the media totally distort this story. Still “What is truth” and the person who said that washed their hands of it.

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An old-school confessional revives the Sacrament of Confession

 Liturgy  2 Responses »
May 072013
 

DERBY, Conn. (RNS) The Rev. Janusz Kukulka can’t say for sure that his parishioners are sinning more, but they sure are lining up at the new confessional booth to tell him about it.

The new confessional at St. Mary the Immaculate Conception Church in Derby, Conn. RNS photo by Ann Marie Somma/Hartford Faith & Values

For years, Kukulka, was content with absolving sins in a private room marked by an exit sign to the right of the altar St. Mary the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church.

But something happened during Lent this year. For the first time, Kukulka really noticed the two confessionals missing from the rear of his church. They’d been gone for four decades, ripped out during the 1970s to make room for air conditioning units during a renovation inspired by the Second Vatican Council.

They must have been a thing of beauty, Kukulka thought. He imagined their dark oak paneled doors and arched moldings to match the Gothic architecture of the church designed by renowned 19th-century architect Patrick Keely.

Their absence was striking, especially when the Archdiocese of Hartford had asked parishes to extend their confession hours during Lent, part of a public relations campaign to get Catholics to return to the sacrament of reconciliation.

So, one Sunday Kukulka announced his desire to the congregation. “I told them I wanted a visible confessional,” he said.

He got one within a week.

…

Patrick Knott, who had never confessed in the private room, said a long line formed in February when Kukulka held the first confession in the booth. He was the first to try it out.

“I got celebrity status,” he said. “It wasn’t bad.”

Kukulka said confessions have been up ever since at the church.

Nicely positive story so of course they needed a killjoy.

But Thomas Groome, professor of theology and religious education at Boston College, doubts that an old-school confessional will be enough to keep the momentum going.

At the parish I came into the Church in they have two sets of the old style confessional and they have confession before every single Mass. There is always some kind of line.

I really think it is quite important to have confession “front and center” even if really it is back and center location wise. I love seeing people in line and I wonder how many people this encourages to also subsequently go to confession?

Frankly the “reconciliation rooms” kind of freak me out at some level. Whenever I see one of them I can hardly imagine wanting to go to confession there. The ones I have seen are so blasé that they could easily be converted to a janitors closet, if that is what they weren’t before. While certainly the location does not affect the sacrament, it does affect how we perceive the sacrament. Add the fact that these rooms are often apart from the main church (in my experience).

I do wonder what would happen if confession was available before every Mass everywhere?

Article via Da Mihi Animas

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“Angels and Saints at Ephesus” CD Giveaway

 Other  15 Responses »
May 072013
 

Angels and Saints at Ephesus from the Benedictines of Mary Queen of Apostles is now available. This is the followup album to their wonderful Advent at Ephesus.

Thanks to Carmel Communications I have two copies of the album to give away.

Rules are simple:

  • Leave a comment on this post with a valid email between now and midnight on Sunday.

I will then randomly select two winners with the results posted next Monday. Winners will be contacted so that the CD can be mailed to them.

  1. Dear Angel Ever At My Side
  2. Ave Regina Cælorum
  3. Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence
  4. Christe Sanctorum
  5. Duo Seraphim
  6. Virgin Wholly Marvellous
  7. Est Secretum
  8. Lorica of St. Patrick
  9. O Deus Ego Amo Te
  10. Emicat Meridies
  11. O God of Loveliness
  12. Læta Quies
  13. A Rose Unpetalled
  14. Jesu Dulcis Memoria
  15. Te Joseph Celebrent
  16. Jesu Corona Virginum
  17. Veritas Mea
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Strange Notions

 News  No Responses »
May 062013
 

The energetic Brandon Vogt announces a new site:

It’s called StrangeNotions.com and it’s designed to be the central place of dialogue between Catholics and atheists. The implicit goal is to bring non-Catholics to faith, especially followers of the so-called New Atheism. As a ‘digital Areopagus’, the site includes intelligent articles, compelling video, and rich discussion throughout its comment boxes.

Strange Notions gets its name from St. Paul’s speech at the Areopagus in Acts 17:16–34. There he proclaimed the Resurrection to the intellectual elite of the ancient world, who responded by saying, “you bring some strange notions to our ears; we should like to know what these things mean.” StrangeNotions.com helps those asking the same thing today. Open-minded atheists will encounter reasonable arguments for God and his Church, maybe for the first time in their lives, and like St. Paul’s listeners they’ll leave intrigued by these strange notions.

I’ve gathered several top Catholic minds to contribute to the site. Right now we have over 30 on board, including Dr. Peter Kreeft, Dr. Edward Feser, Fr. Robert Barron, Fr. Robert Spitzer, Dr. Benjamin Wiker, Dr. Christopher Kaczor, Dr. Janet Smith, Dr. Kevin Vost, Christopher West, Jimmy Akin, Jennifer Fulwiler, Marc Barnes, Leah Libresco, Stacy Trascanos, Mark Shea, Tim Staples, Carl Olson, and many more. The project has also received several great endorsements including these:

  • “Brandon Vogt is at the cutting edge of using the Internet and social media as a tool for evangelization…I believe that his latest endeavor, StrangeNotions.com, is an excellent example.” – Bishop Christopher Coyne, Archdiocese of Indianapolis
  • “Brandon Vogt brings his energy, enthusiasm, and prodigious intellectual gifts to the Catholic conversation and demonstrates how social media can be used effectively to advance the mission of the Gospel.” – Fr. Robert Barron, founder of Word on Fire Catholic Ministries

This site is timely for several reasons:

On May 12 the Catholic Church around the world will celebrate World Communications Day. Pope Benedict XVI, shortly before he stepped down, composed this year’s official message which he titled, “Social Networks: Portals of Truth and Faith: New Spaces for Evangelization.” This project embodies that theme as it uses social networks as “new spaces” to evangelize.

Over the last ten years, the number of self-identified atheists in America has increased 500%. They’re one of the country’s fastest growing religious groups yet almost no Catholics engage them. Strange Notions is a frontier project in this needed effort.
In the midst of the Year of Faith and the New Evangelization, this is a creative example of using “new ardor, new methods, and new expressions” to evangelize.

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The Weekly Francis eBook – Volume 8

 The Weekly Francis  No Responses »
May 052013
 

This is the 8th volume of The Weekly Francis ebook which is a compilation of the Holy Father’s writings, speeches, etc which I post at Jimmy Akin’s The Weekly Francis. The post at Jimmy Akin’s site contains a link to each document on the Vatican’s site and does not require an e-reader to use.

This volume covers material released during the last week from 24 April 2013 – 5 May 2013.

The ebook contains a table of contents and the material is arranged in sections such as Angelus, Speeches, etc in date order. The full index is listed on Jimmy’s site.

There is an archive for all of The Weekly Francis eBook volumes.  This page is available via the header of this blog or from here.

Omnibus Edition: In addition to The Weekly Francis I am also maintaining an Omnibus edition that contains all of Pope Francis writings, speeches, etc. At the end of the year an annual edition will be released along with maintaining the full omnibus.

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Gonzaga University Approves Knights of Columbus as Official Club

 News  1 Response »
May 012013
 

An update to a previous story. Tim Drake reporting for the Cardinal Newman Society.

Gonzaga University President Thayne McCulloh has reversed an earlier decision, and will now allow the Knights of Columbus to receive official club status. As first reported by The Cardinal Newman Society, the University had originally denied the group such recognition because it did not admit non-Catholics.

President McCulloh issued a statement yesterday approving the St. Aloysius Gonzaga Council #12583 as a sponsored organization. Reads the statement:

This sponsorship is granted under the University’s “Standards for On-Campus Religious Activities Policy.” The Council has been granted permission to: utilize the University’s name in its title; fundraise on campus for the purpose of advancing the Council’s mission and activities; meet in and utilize campus facilities, including for the purposes of hosting events; and to recruit members and participants in membership activities such as the semi-annual Club Fair. As with other student organizations, it is obligated to follow University policies and procedures.

As an official club, this makes the Knights of Columbus eligible for money from the university and student fees.

The president’s statement also revealed that, as a result of his review, he has directed the Student Activities department to review and update the “Clubs and Organizations Recognition Policy,” with the goal of more clearly and explicitly identifying benefits of recognition and criteria for club eligibility. Those revisions are expected to be in place when the next academic year begins.

Around the same time this story had come out there was also one regarding Johns Hopskins University rejection of a pro-life group likening it to a ‘hate group’. After publicity this was overturned.

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False dichotomy alert

 Punditry  2 Responses »
May 012013
 

Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx, who President Barack Obama tapped Tuesday to be the next transportation secretary, just declared Thursday “A Day of Reason” in his home city, and asked Charlotte’s citizens to observe the day.

May 2 is traditionally the National Day of Prayer, a government-designated religious event intended to encourage people to “turn to God in prayer and meditation.” Foxx separately issued a “National Day of Prayer” proclamation for the city of Charlotte.

Foxx said in his proclamation that May 2 should be A Day of Reason because “the application of reason, more than any other means, has proven to offer hope for human survival on Earth.” (source)

Well this type of idiocy gives me another reason to pray.

Besides as Blessed John Paul II wrote so wonderfully in Fides et Ratio

Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth; and God has placed in the human heart a desire to know the truth—in a word, to know himself—so that, by knowing and loving God, men and women may also come to the fullness of truth about themselves

As for the new transportation secretary, President Obama sure can pick them. The Constitution might have a “No Religious Test Clause”, but Obama is smarter than that since his nominees always seem to match an “irreligious test.”

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