When Jeff Miller, the King of Catholic Humor, gives it the thumbs up, you know it's good:
From Saint Louis Catholic:
"Summer time approaches again, and Catholic parents across America face the inevitable vacation-by-car. Some parents love this time-honored tradition. Some are forced into it by the natural aversion to TSA sexual assault of themselves and their children. Some are forced into it by a simple mathematical calculation:
if x = one [un]reasonable airfare
and y = number of children
then z = are you kidding me?
Whatever the cause, Catholic families will pile into their mini/maxi-vans and killer SUVs and hit the roads.
When it comes to wiling away the long hours of driving, you should know this: I have a deep disgust with the DVD entertainment system with which many of these vehicles are equipped. I mean, is it so difficult or unpleasant to actually talk to our children that we have to shove a telescreen in front of their faces while driving? If we can't handle interacting with our children for whatever time we spend in the car, then the terrorists have already won."
Continue reading.
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Sunday, April 15, 2012
For the Sake of His Sorrowful Passion...
Have mercy on us and on the whole world!
On this Sunday of the Divine Mercy, you may find the Chaplet of the Divine Mercy here.
Saturday, April 14, 2012
"One of our highest values is inclusion and welcome"
That's the justification offered by Tricia Wittman-Todd, pastoral life coordinator of St. Mary’s Parish in Seattle, for refusing to allow signature gathering in the parish to put Washington's Referendum 74, which is the defense of marriage in the state of Washington, on the ballot.
The highest value in a Catholic Church is getting people into heaven. That requires the avoidance of mortal sin.
She continued "I fear that the collection of signatures would be hurtful and divisive to our parish. I am particularly concerned about our youth who may be questioning their own sexual identity and need our support at this time in their lives.”
The concern of anyone working in a Catholic Church should be Catholic identity, not "sexual identity," which is just a label created to justify sin. And the proper support that a Catholic Church can offer to anyone is Catholicism.
Whitman Todd is not alone. She is joined by Father John Whitney, a Jesuit, of St. Mary's parish, and Father Michael Ryan, pastor of St. James Cathedral. The signature gathering was requested by His Excellency J. Peter Sartain, Archbishop of the Seattle diocese.
The Archbishop should fire Whitman-Todd and remove Frs. Whitney and Ryan from their pastorates.
Posted by Gibbons J. Cooney
The highest value in a Catholic Church is getting people into heaven. That requires the avoidance of mortal sin.
She continued "I fear that the collection of signatures would be hurtful and divisive to our parish. I am particularly concerned about our youth who may be questioning their own sexual identity and need our support at this time in their lives.”
The concern of anyone working in a Catholic Church should be Catholic identity, not "sexual identity," which is just a label created to justify sin. And the proper support that a Catholic Church can offer to anyone is Catholicism.
Whitman Todd is not alone. She is joined by Father John Whitney, a Jesuit, of St. Mary's parish, and Father Michael Ryan, pastor of St. James Cathedral. The signature gathering was requested by His Excellency J. Peter Sartain, Archbishop of the Seattle diocese.
The Archbishop should fire Whitman-Todd and remove Frs. Whitney and Ryan from their pastorates.
Posted by Gibbons J. Cooney
A Question That Won't Go Away
An article in First Things entitled "The End of Democracy? The Judicial Usurpation of Politics." It seriously examined whether the wholesale departure from constitutional order had, in fact, led to the kind of regime in America that was no longer legitimate.
Strong brew, of course. Several of the magazine's board members resigned. Even though they largely agreed with the descriptive side of the case, they reacted strongly to the stark conclusion that many Americans may no longer feel a need for loyalty to such a regime.
That symposium makes for good reading in light of the somewhat superficial arguments that swirled around the Supreme Court hearings on Obamacare last week. Sixteen years ago, it took a group of distinguished thinkers to point out the deep problems within our polity. Today, just about anyone who pays attention can see the large dimensions of the threat (two-thirds of Americans want the healthcare reform modified or repealed).
But even if the law is struck down, it's only temporary relief for a deep-seated set of issues that will, beyond all doubt, soon be back to haunt us.
According to reports, the justices already voted on Friday whether to void the individual mandate in Obamacare and, perhaps, the whole healthcare law. Justice Kennedy, the expected swing vote, weighed in heavily during oral arguments about the "high burden of justification . . . when you are changing the relation of the individual to the government." He even suggested that judicial restraint might lie in simply voiding the whole thing, not trying to decide which of the 2700 pages might stand.
Justice Scalia had some fun, asking whether the government might next require us to eat broccoli, and Chief Justice Roberts wondered whether everyone will have to buy cell phones to report medical emergencies. It's quite easy to mock powers government is now claiming, almost unconsciously, since limited government is an almost dead notion. When Nancy Pelosi was asked about the constitutionality of Obamacare, she replied, "You can't be serious?"
The Court was very serious last week...
ROBERT ROYAL (CERC)
Strong brew, of course. Several of the magazine's board members resigned. Even though they largely agreed with the descriptive side of the case, they reacted strongly to the stark conclusion that many Americans may no longer feel a need for loyalty to such a regime.
That symposium makes for good reading in light of the somewhat superficial arguments that swirled around the Supreme Court hearings on Obamacare last week. Sixteen years ago, it took a group of distinguished thinkers to point out the deep problems within our polity. Today, just about anyone who pays attention can see the large dimensions of the threat (two-thirds of Americans want the healthcare reform modified or repealed).
But even if the law is struck down, it's only temporary relief for a deep-seated set of issues that will, beyond all doubt, soon be back to haunt us.
According to reports, the justices already voted on Friday whether to void the individual mandate in Obamacare and, perhaps, the whole healthcare law. Justice Kennedy, the expected swing vote, weighed in heavily during oral arguments about the "high burden of justification . . . when you are changing the relation of the individual to the government." He even suggested that judicial restraint might lie in simply voiding the whole thing, not trying to decide which of the 2700 pages might stand.
Justice Scalia had some fun, asking whether the government might next require us to eat broccoli, and Chief Justice Roberts wondered whether everyone will have to buy cell phones to report medical emergencies. It's quite easy to mock powers government is now claiming, almost unconsciously, since limited government is an almost dead notion. When Nancy Pelosi was asked about the constitutionality of Obamacare, she replied, "You can't be serious?"
The Court was very serious last week...
ROBERT ROYAL (CERC)
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Rick Santorum Pulls Out
The former Senator is calling it a day. His upstart, underfunded campaign surprised a lot of people, which shows the power of his pro-life, pro-family, pro-God, pro-America message. Maggie Gallagher put it nicely:
"No Republican underdog in living memory won ten states against the presumptive front-runner and nominee. Time will tell, but let me say what I think: It wasn’t an accident. We haven’t seen the last of Rick Santorum."
Thanks, Rick, & God Bless you. I was proud to have the opportunity to contribute to your campaign!
Posted by Gibbons J. Cooney
Monday, April 9, 2012
How Easy is Voter Fraud?
Why do the Democrats oppose having voters show an ID before receiving their ballots? Simple: because they think voter fraud will help them. This video is going all over the net. It is by one of James O'Keefe's operatives,at the polling place of Eric Holder, the Attorney General of the United States. The man asks for a ballot under Holder's name, and address, and the poll worker is ready to give it to him, no questions asked.
UPDATE: Hans von Spakovsky has an amazing article on on voter fraud in today's Nation Review: "Election Fraud Tainted the 2008 Presidentail Race in Indiana."
Posted by Gibbons J. Cooney
UPDATE: Hans von Spakovsky has an amazing article on on voter fraud in today's Nation Review: "Election Fraud Tainted the 2008 Presidentail Race in Indiana."
Posted by Gibbons J. Cooney
Sunday, April 8, 2012
Friday, April 6, 2012
SF Archdiocese, SFPD Foil Anti-Catholics
On April 4, we reported on the planned action against San
Francisco’s Mission Dolores Church by members of Occupy SF, ACT-UP, and the
Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. The group’s release read, in part:
“The march will link
the issues of gentrification and lack of affordable housing faced by people
with HIV/AIDS and our communities today by starting at Wells Fargo, a major
profiteer of the housing crisis. The march will continue to the steps of Mission
Dolores Church, marking Good Friday and protesting the Catholic Church's
continued role of condemning people to die of AIDS globally and repression of
sexual freedom and health here at home-- by blocking access to condoms, and
restricting access to reproductive health and abortion. Ashes of those who died
during the epidemic in SF will be placed on the steps of Dolores Church….Its 25
years since we started ACT UP and the Catholic Church is still to blame.”
But good communication between the Archdiocese of San
Francisco and the San Francisco Police Department queered the deal. The group
had said they planned to arrive at the church at 5:30 PM. By 5PM there were
already at least 15 officers from the SFPD standing in front of the Mission Dolores
Basilica and the Old Mission, built in 1776, which is immediately adjacent to
the south. Police had installed crowd control barriers in the gutters to
prevent protesters from reaching the sidewalk. The barricades prevented the
anti-Catholics from their stated aim: to place the ashes of a man who died from
AIDS on the Church stairs.
At 5:10 PM a squad of about 8-10 police motorcycles appeared
on the northbound lane of Dolores Street, and the chants of about 80 anti-Catholics
became audible “(bleep) the Church.” The anti-Catholics were led by three or
four apparent members of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. The group crossed
Dolores Street’ grassy median strip, and moved to the southbound lane, in front
of the Mission Basilica.
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The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence offered their standard
list of grievances against the church: abortion, contraception, child abuse,
the opposition to same-sex adoptions, and Archbishop Niederauer’s defense of natural
marriage. George Wesolek, Director of Public Policy for the Archdiocese of San
Francisco was there to observe the event. He said that it was
interesting that the anti-Catholics should have chosen the Mission Basilica for
this particular display. Wesolek reminded us that during the trip of Blessed
John Paul II to San Francisco in 1987 he had visited the Mission Basilica. It
was the Mission Basilica where the Holy Father gave his special blessing to 62
people suffering from AIDS. It was the
Mission Basilica where the Holy Father embraced 4 year-old Brendan O’Rourke, a little
boy suffering from the disease. Photographs of the embrace (above) drew worldwide
attention. Wesolek said “At that time many
people treated AIDS patients like lepers. People thought it was something you
could catch easily…. John Paul’s show of compassion opened up the arms of compassion
of the world.” Brendan passed away from the disease in 1990.
It might thus seem ironic that the anti-Catholics thus chose the Mission Basilica, but more likely it was simple ignorance. As they were “eulogizing” the man whose ashes they were scattering, a victim of AIDS, one of the speakers pointed out that the deceased was an “in your face” type. The speaker said that the deceased had attended a San Francisco “Pride Parade” with a sign reading “I like to (perform oral/anal contact on men).” The quote is cleaned up for publication. The crowd laughed at this—they thought it was funny. They were apparently unable to see any connection between such behaviors and the man’s untimely death.
As they prepared to scatter his ashes, I was the only man in the crowd to remove his hat (or, in the case of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, headdresses) out of respect for the dead. They threw the ashes over the crowd control barriers, toward the stairs of the Mission Basilica, but San Francisco’s normal late afternoon wind immediately dispersed them in all directions.
It might thus seem ironic that the anti-Catholics thus chose the Mission Basilica, but more likely it was simple ignorance. As they were “eulogizing” the man whose ashes they were scattering, a victim of AIDS, one of the speakers pointed out that the deceased was an “in your face” type. The speaker said that the deceased had attended a San Francisco “Pride Parade” with a sign reading “I like to (perform oral/anal contact on men).” The quote is cleaned up for publication. The crowd laughed at this—they thought it was funny. They were apparently unable to see any connection between such behaviors and the man’s untimely death.
As they prepared to scatter his ashes, I was the only man in the crowd to remove his hat (or, in the case of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, headdresses) out of respect for the dead. They threw the ashes over the crowd control barriers, toward the stairs of the Mission Basilica, but San Francisco’s normal late afternoon wind immediately dispersed them in all directions.
By 5:36 PM, the protest was over. The anti-Catholics marched
west on 16th Street, towards the Castro District, chanting “(Bleep)
the Church, we don’t need ‘em, all we want is total freedom.”
At 6:30PM both the Old
Mission and the Basilica celebrated their regularly scheduled Good Friday
liturgies, in Spanish at the Basilica, in English at the Old Mission.
Posted by Gibbons J. Cooney
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Homosexual Activists Target San Francisco Catholic Church on Good Friday
At 5:30 PM on Good Friday, members of ACT-UP and other anti-Catholic groups will descend on San Francisco’s Mission Dolores Church. Mission Dolores is the oldest Catholic church in the Archdiocese of San Francisco. The event listing on the LGBTQI/Queer page of San Francisco’s IndyBay Media, a radical leftist website, reads, in part:
“The march will link the issues of gentrification and lack of affordable housing faced by people with HIV/AIDS and our communities today by starting at Wells Fargo, a major profiteer of the housing crisis. The march will continue to the steps of Mission Dolores Church, marking Good Friday and protesting the Catholic Church's continued role of condemning people to die of AIDS globally and repression of sexual freedom and health here at home-- by blocking access to condoms, and restricting access to reproductive health and abortion. Ashes of those who died during the epidemic in SF will be placed on the steps of Dolores Church….Its 25 years since we started ACT UP and the Catholic Church is still to blame.”
The assertions ignore significant facts. San Francisco’s Catholic Church was the first responder to the city’s AIDS epidemic. Further, the availability of condoms seems not to correspond with the HIV infection rate. The most recent study from the United States’ Center for Disease Control showed that 61% of new HIV infections are among homosexual men—2% of the population of the United States. It also showed that the only group in which new HIV infections are increasing is among young homosexual men—a group not known for following the teachings of the Catholic Church.
Mission Dolores, was founded on June 29, 1776, the feast of Saints Peter and Paul, by Franciscan friars, under the leadership of the Fr. Francisco Palou. It is the oldest building in San Francisco. The Church is located two blocks from the eponymous Mission Dolores Park. For the past decade, Mission Dolores Park has also been the site of the infamous Easter Sunday “Hunky Jesus” contest—an event where the “Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence” mock the passion and death of Jesus Christ.
“The march will link the issues of gentrification and lack of affordable housing faced by people with HIV/AIDS and our communities today by starting at Wells Fargo, a major profiteer of the housing crisis. The march will continue to the steps of Mission Dolores Church, marking Good Friday and protesting the Catholic Church's continued role of condemning people to die of AIDS globally and repression of sexual freedom and health here at home-- by blocking access to condoms, and restricting access to reproductive health and abortion. Ashes of those who died during the epidemic in SF will be placed on the steps of Dolores Church….Its 25 years since we started ACT UP and the Catholic Church is still to blame.”
The assertions ignore significant facts. San Francisco’s Catholic Church was the first responder to the city’s AIDS epidemic. Further, the availability of condoms seems not to correspond with the HIV infection rate. The most recent study from the United States’ Center for Disease Control showed that 61% of new HIV infections are among homosexual men—2% of the population of the United States. It also showed that the only group in which new HIV infections are increasing is among young homosexual men—a group not known for following the teachings of the Catholic Church.
Mission Dolores, was founded on June 29, 1776, the feast of Saints Peter and Paul, by Franciscan friars, under the leadership of the Fr. Francisco Palou. It is the oldest building in San Francisco. The Church is located two blocks from the eponymous Mission Dolores Park. For the past decade, Mission Dolores Park has also been the site of the infamous Easter Sunday “Hunky Jesus” contest—an event where the “Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence” mock the passion and death of Jesus Christ.
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Cuba Makes Good Friday a Holiday
VATICAN CITY, APRIL 2, 2012 (Zenit.org).- While Benedict XVI was in Cuba last week, he asked the government to recognize Good Friday as a holiday, a request that the Castro administration accepted.
Vatican spokesman Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi welcomed Cuba's announcement.
"The fact that the Cuban authorities have immediately accepted the request made by the Holy Father to President Raul Castro, declaring next Good Friday a holiday, is certainly a very positive sign," Father Lombardi said. "The Holy See hopes that this will facilitate participation in religious celebrations and favor a happy Easter holiday. It also hopes that the Holy Father's visit may continue to produce fruits for the good of the Church and of all Cubans."
Communist Cuba, teach us a lesson!
Vatican spokesman Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi welcomed Cuba's announcement.
"The fact that the Cuban authorities have immediately accepted the request made by the Holy Father to President Raul Castro, declaring next Good Friday a holiday, is certainly a very positive sign," Father Lombardi said. "The Holy See hopes that this will facilitate participation in religious celebrations and favor a happy Easter holiday. It also hopes that the Holy Father's visit may continue to produce fruits for the good of the Church and of all Cubans."
Communist Cuba, teach us a lesson!
The State against the Churches
A small town in Vermont has recently been ordered to cease its immemorial tradition of opening meetings with a prayer.
The order came from a judge who does not live near. A public school in the city where I am writing these words has banners hanging from its gymnasium ceiling, one of which featured a prayer written by a student of the school many decades ago. It has been removed, also by order of a distant judge.
Since the citizens of the town and the school district no longer govern themselves but have become dependent upon regular infusions of green federal blood, they could not reply, "You and whose army?" The prayer and the banner are gone.
We Catholics hold that man, unique among creatures on earth, finds his fulfillment only in what transcends him. He will not compose symphonies in honor of a good housing market. He does not whistle an air for low inflation. He will pen poetry born of love, but if the object of his love is a Clodia rather than a Beatrice, even his love poetry will degenerate into satire and cynicism. Man is made for God. That marks both his duty and his glory. Therefore any attempt to sever man from his devotion to God is an attack upon man's soul. It reduces man to a counter in an economic or political game, a consumer of creature comforts, or a competitor for wealth and prestige.
The argument of the aggressors in this case is indirect and sly. It is the argument of the serpent in the garden, who suggests to Eve that she can only be like God by being free from the laws of God. ...
ANTHONY ESOLEN (Crises Magazine
The order came from a judge who does not live near. A public school in the city where I am writing these words has banners hanging from its gymnasium ceiling, one of which featured a prayer written by a student of the school many decades ago. It has been removed, also by order of a distant judge.
Since the citizens of the town and the school district no longer govern themselves but have become dependent upon regular infusions of green federal blood, they could not reply, "You and whose army?" The prayer and the banner are gone.
We Catholics hold that man, unique among creatures on earth, finds his fulfillment only in what transcends him. He will not compose symphonies in honor of a good housing market. He does not whistle an air for low inflation. He will pen poetry born of love, but if the object of his love is a Clodia rather than a Beatrice, even his love poetry will degenerate into satire and cynicism. Man is made for God. That marks both his duty and his glory. Therefore any attempt to sever man from his devotion to God is an attack upon man's soul. It reduces man to a counter in an economic or political game, a consumer of creature comforts, or a competitor for wealth and prestige.
The argument of the aggressors in this case is indirect and sly. It is the argument of the serpent in the garden, who suggests to Eve that she can only be like God by being free from the laws of God. ...
ANTHONY ESOLEN (Crises Magazine
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