Keep
your eyes open!...Keep
your eyes open!...
August 31, 2007
THE TRIB TIMES WILL RETURN NEXT WEEK, GOD WILLING (James 4:15).
(John 19:27) After that, he saith to the disciple: Behold thy mother. And from that hour, the disciple took her to his own.The
Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Humility
63. A brother asked a hermit, 'What is humility?' He answered,
'To do good to them that do evil to you.' The brother said,
'Suppose a man cannot attain that standard, what is he to do?'
The hermit answered, 'He should run away, and choose silence.'
August 30, 2007
(Jos
24:15) But if it seem evil to you to serve the Lord, you have your
choice: choose this day that which pleaseth you, whom you would rather
serve, whether the gods which your fathers served in Mesopotamia, or
the gods of the Amorrhites, in whose land you dwell: but as for me and
my house we will serve thee Lord,
EXCELLENT REVIEW: Catholic response to stem cells
COMMENTARY: Researchers’ “Blind faith” in Embryonic Stem-cell Research an “Idolatrous Gospel” says Cardinal
IN THE NEWS: Battle lines being drawn for new war over stem cells
Clashes between the high-tech and the
holy are looming anew as political changes force stem-cell research
back onto the public agenda, raising a host of new bioethical concerns
for doctors and patients. And a Toronto physician is going to have his
say about where this all leads.
The
Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Humility
62. A hermit said, 'I never push myself up above my station; and I am
untroubled when I am put in a low place. All the time I try to
pray God to strip me of my unregenerate nature.'
August 29, 2007
(Mic
6:8) I will shew thee, O man, what is good, and what the Lord requireth
of thee: Verily to do judgment, and to love mercy, and to walk
solicitous with thy God.
LINK: Will America Be Turned into a Beacon of Purity? Some see Great Hope in "Our Lady of America"
FROM THE MAILBAG
VIA Roy Tenn:
Considering the present state of immorality and the quest for
secular materialistic objectives by our citizens at large, the time has
certainly come for the enshrinement of Our Lady of America Statue as
requested by the Immaculate Virgin Mary Herself.
Already this request by Our Lady has begun to gather momentum,
following the authenticity of this request by Archbishop Raymond Leo
Burke of St. Louis who himself has recently exposed this statue at the
Cathedral of St. Louis, and is now being exposed in New York.
Archbishop Burke has sent a letter to other Catholic Bishops appraising
them of his authenticity of request by Our Lady, so let us hope and
pray that very soon Our Lady's request will be honored, by our US
Catholic Bishops and the Vatican.
Thanks for posting this well written article on the subject by our friend Michael H. Brown.
LINK: http://www.spiritdaily.com/ourladyamericabasilica.htm
VIA Dan Lynch:
Fifty years to the day after Our Lady of America appeared to an
American nun and asked that a statue of her likeness be displayed in
the Basilica Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, her statue was
blessed by an American Bishop while it was on display in the Mass room
of the United States Bishops Conference in Baltimore, Maryland.
Archbishop Raymond L. Burke, of Saint Louis blessed the statue on
November 15, 2006 and affirmed that the devotion was approved. He is a
world renowned canon lawyer. In a letter dated May 31, 2007 he wrote,
What can be concluded canonically is that the devotion was both
approved by Archbishop Leibold and, what is more, was actively promoted
by him. In addition, over the years, other Bishops have approved the
devotion and have participated in public devotion to the Mother of God,
under the title of Our Lady of America.
Our Lady of America appeared as a crowned Queen and identified herself
as the Immaculate One, Patroness of your land. She said that the role
of America, especially through its youth, is to lead the world to
purity and peace through prayer. She promised peace if we did and
warned of chastisements if we didn't. Let us pray that the Bishops
honor Our Lady of America's request soon and place her statue in the
National Shrine as a safeguard for our country.
For a FREE booklet of Our Lady of America call TOLL FREE Monday - Friday 9 AM - 5 PM EST 1-888-834-6261
Click here to see the statue and to read the full story: http://www.jkmi.com/PDF/ourladyofamericahopeforthestates.pdf
RELATED
Nun sees interest in Our Lady of America gaining momentum
Statue of Our Lady of America comes to St. Louis
Our Lady of America to visit New York Metropolitan Area- On September 11 she will will visit two Manhattan Churches: the Church of Saint Peter and Cathedral of Saint Patrick.
The
Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Humility
61. A hermit said, 'In every trial do not blame other people but
blame yourself, saying, "This has happened to me because of my sins."'
August 28, 2007
(Heb 11:1-2) Now,
faith is the substance of things to be hoped for, the evidence of
things that appear not. For by this the ancients obtained a testimony.
HEADLINE: Vatican officials say new book illustrates Mother Teresa's strength
SPIRITDAILY: Media Hypes Mother Teresa's Doubt, But the Real Story is in the Trials of 'Dark Night' and Cases of Devout Afflicted by Spirits
COMMENTARY: People with true faith persevere by Bill Wineke
The big religion news over the
weekend is the revelation that Mother Teresa, the "Saint of Calcutta, "
had an ongoing crisis of faith.
"I have no faith. I dare not utter
the words and thoughts that crowd my heart and make me suffer in untold
agony, " she wrote at one point.
Mother Teresa, who died in 1997,
would have celebrated her 97th birthday Sunday had she lived. She spent
most of her life in Calcutta, working with the poorest of the poor and
tending to those dying on the streets. She is now under consideration
for sainthood.
Since most of us look to her as the
epitome of faith, a woman who gave up everything material to care for
God 's poorest children, the apparent fact that she had grave doubts
even to the existence of God is, initially, staggering. Why would
anyone do that kind of work if she didn 't have faith?
It 's the wrong question.
Mother Teresa worked with the poor
because she believed that 's what God had called her to do. The fact
that she didn 't always believe in God and didn 't always believe that
her life had a purpose was, in some ways, irrelevant.
True faith isn 't a happy assurance
that everything is proceeding as it ought to proceed. If you really
feel that God is at your side sustaining your every move, then it 's
relatively easy to suffer hardship and pain.
True faith comes more from a place
in the soul that keeps you doing what you must do, even as every fiber
of your consciousness rebels.
It doesn 't take a Mother Teresa to
exercise that faith. We see it displayed in parents of severely
brain-damaged children. We see it in the witness of parents who remain
in loveless marriages in order to raise their children. We see it in
people who struggle with cancer or other dread diseases, enduring
months of chemotherapy and drug trials that, in the long run, may prove
futile.
Do we really think it is easy for these people? Do we think they never succumb to doubt and despair?
Hardly.
If Mother Teresa didn 't have a
crisis of faith, she would have had to be blind or totally unfeeling.
All around her, every day, she saw incredible suffering, pain and
neglect. Often, the best she could do for the people she was sent to
serve was to help them die in peace.
Do we really think she could end each day with a song in her heart?
She wasn 't blind.
One problem we have when we
attribute super faith to those who do good works in spite of material
obstacles is that we take ourselves off the hook. We assume it is
easier for the Mother Teresas and the other "saints " of the world to
face temptations, heartaches and betrayals than it is for us because
they have such "faith. "
Probably not so. They contend with
the same doubts, fears and despair that we do. The difference between
them and us is that they keep on trucking.
The important thing about Mother
Teresa and about all those like her who persevere in the face of doubt
is that she did what she believed she was called to do, even without
the reinforcement of the faith we all believed was her foundation.
"Give God permission to use you without consulting you, " was one of her favorite admonitions.
That 's actually what real faith is all about.
The
Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Humility
60. A hermit was asked, 'What is humility?' He said, 'It is if you forgive a brother who has wronged you before he is sorry.'
August 24, 2007
THE TRIB TIMES WILL RETURN NEXT WEEK, GOD WILLING (James 4:15).LINK: Harry Potter and "the Death of God" - by Michael D. O'Brien
FROM THE MAILBAG
VIA: [email protected]: Words of Venerable Fr. Charles de Foucauld (Brother Charles of Jesus)
"One of the things we absolutely owe to Our Lord, is never to be afraid." "Jesus is Master of the impossible."
"The moment I realized that God existed, I knew that I could not do
otherwise than to live for Him alone... Faith strips the mask from the
world and reveals God in everything. It makes nothing impossible and
renders meaningless such words as anxiety, danger, and fear, so that
the believer goes through life calmly and peacefully, with profound joy
- like a child hand in hand with his mother."
"It is nearly always faith which Our Lord praises and rewards.
Sometimes he praises love, sometimes humility, but this is rare...
Faith, though not the supreme virtue - charity holds that place - is
nevertheless the most important because it is the basis of all the
others, charity included. Also it is the rarest... Real faith, faith
which inspires all one's actions, faith in the supernatural which
strips the world of its mask and reveals God in everything which makes
meaningless the words 'impossible', 'anxiety', 'danger', and 'fear'
.... How rare is that!"
"Your mind... should be full of the love of God, forgetful of yourself.
It should be full of the contemplation and joy of My beatitude, of
compassion and sorrow for My sufferings, and of joy at My joys... It
should be a mind full of love for your neighbor for My sake, for I love
all men as a father loves his children. It should be full of longing
for the spiritual and material goods of all men for My sake. It should
be a mind free, tranquil, at peace.... Do not be disturbed by little
things. Throw all little matters aside and try to live at a very high
level, not from pride but from love."
"God sometimes allows us to be in such a profound darkness that not a
single star shines in our skies. The reason is that we must be reminded
that we are on earth only to suffer, while following our gentle Savior
along a dark and thorny path. We are pilgrims and strangers on earth.
Pilgrims sleep in tents and sometimes cross deserts, but the thought of
their homeland makes them forget everything else."
"However wicked I may be, however great a sinner, I must hope that I should go to heaven. You forbid me to despair."
"By force of events, you made me chaste... Chastity became a blessing
and inner necessity to me. It was you who did that, O God - you alone.
I, alas, had no part in it. How good you have been! From what sad and
culpable relapses you miraculously preserved me!... The devil is too
much the master of an unchaste soul to let truth enter it. You could
not, O God, come into a soul where the devil of unbridled passions
rules supreme. But you wanted to come into my soul, O good shepherd,
and you yourself expelled your enemy from it."
"In this sad world there is a joy at the heart of things which is not
shared by either the saints in heaven or the angels - that of suffering
for Our Beloved. However hard life may be, however long our days of
sadness may endure... we must never seek to leave the foot of the cross
sooner that God would have us do... our Master having been good enough
to let us experience, if not always its sweetness, then at least its
beauty and necessity for those who love it."
"O God... you gave me a disgust for vice and shame. I did evil, but I
never approved of it or loved it. You made me experience a melancholy
emptiness, a sadness that I never felt at other times."
"How greatly we should long for all men to be in a state of grace! In
other words, we should long to see as many living tabernacles, as many
bodies and souls animated by Jesus, as there are souls in the world.
How greatly we should long to see souls in a state of grace doing the
holiest of all possible actions."
"When one is in love, one is humble, one sees oneself as very insignificant, as nothing beside one's beloved."
"The more we pray, the more we wish to pray. Like a fish which at first
swims on the surface of the water, and afterwards plunges down, and is
always going deeper; the soul plunges, dives and loses itself in the
sweetness of conversing with God."
August 23, 2007
(1Ti 6:10-11) For the desire of money is the root of all evils; which some coveting have erred from the faith and have entangled themselves in many sorrows. But thou, O man of God, fly these things: and pursue justice, godliness, faith, charity, patience, mildness.
COULD AMERICA BE THE NEXT ROME?
Is the United States on the same
fateful trajectory as another great republic: Rome? David Walker,
comptroller general of the United States, makes a compelling argument
that the nation is headed down the same path as that long-extinct
empire.
In a speech earlier this month to the Federal Midwest Human Resources
Council and the Chicago Federal Executive Board, Walker -- head of the
Government Accountability Office -- warns of the similarities between
Rome prior to its fall and the United States today:
"The Roman Republic fell for many reasons, but three reasons are worth
remembering: declining moral values and political civility at home, an
overconfident and overextended military in foreign lands, and fiscal
irresponsibility by the central government."
Walker's focus has been almost entirely on the third factor. "Simply
stated, America is on a path toward an explosion of debt. And that
indebtedness threatens our country's, our children's and our
grandchildren's futures. With the looming retirement of the baby
boomers, spiraling health care costs, plummeting savings rates and
increasing reliance on foreign lenders, we face unprecedented fiscal
risks."
MORE: http://www.economyincrisis.org/
August 22, 2007
(Mat 25:34-36) Then shall the king say to them that shall be on his right hand: Come, ye blessed of my Father, possess you the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave me to eat: I was thirsty, and you gave me to drink: I was a stranger, and you took me in: Naked, and you covered me: sick, and you visited me: I was in prison, and you came to me.Catholic Relief Services was founded in 1943 by the Catholic Bishops of the United States. Our mission is to assist the poor and disadvantaged, leveraging the teachings of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to alleviate human suffering, promote development of all people, and to foster charity and justice throughout the world.
LINK TO DONATE TO CRS: http://crs.org/make_a_gift/
The
Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Humility
56. A hermit said, 'He who is praised and honoured above what he
deserves suffers grievous loss. He who receives no honour at all among
men, shall be glorified hereafter.'
August 3, 2007
THE TRIB TIMES WILL RETURN AFTER A BRIEF SUMMER RECESS, GOD WILLING (James 4:15).
MUST READ: Cloning our way to moral disaster
EDITORIAL: Science and ethics, partners for progress by Archbishop John Vlazny
BENEFICIARIES OF ADULT STEM-CELL TREATMENTS SHARE THEIR STORIES
Some people who have been helped by treatments using adult stem cells shared their stories.
Their stories stand in stark contrast to the total lack of treatments
produced by research using life-destroying embryonic stem-cell research.
Doctors told Doug Rice he had two years to live because of congestive
heart failure. That was eight years ago and before he learned about a
treatment in Thailand that was discovered thanks to research using
noncontroversial adult stem cells.
“This stuff just flat works," he said. "If you were to see me
before I went to Bangkok, you would have thought I was ready to die. My
skin was grey, I had to sleep sitting up. And now I sleep lying down, I
can walk pretty much as far as I want to walk, and I feel good.”
Rice said he wouldn’t be alive if he relied on the research
involving embryonic stem cells.
“Embryonic stem cells don’t work," he said. "Odds are, they
may never work, and all the money they spend on that is just
tremendous.” Adult stem-cell research has produced more than 70
treatments. David Prentice, senior fellow for life sciences at the
Family Research Council, said that's where money needs to be invested.
“This is just such an important issue that we need to continue to
try and get to the public that it’s the adult stem cells that not
only hold the promise, but are already delivering on it.” He told
Family News in Focus it's time for the U.S. to get on board with using
more adult stem-cell therapies.
“We really are behind," he said, "and it’s because of this
push for the embryonic stem-cell research in the U.S.”
RELATED
Novel adult stem cell growth method may help treat cornea disorders
Zebrafish may provide blindness cure
Experts: Adult stem cell research should be priority
OF CONCERN
Harvard Embyro Cloning 'Tragic'
Charity Expresses Concern Over Human-Animal Embryos
Scottish Bishops Call for More Time on UK Embryo Bill
August 2, 2007
(Rev
12:7-10) And there was a great battle in heaven: Michael and his angels
fought with the dragon, and the dragon fought, and his angels. And they
prevailed not: neither was their place found any more in heaven. And
that great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, who is called the
devil and Satan, who seduceth the whole world. And he was cast unto the
earth: and his angels were thrown down with him. And I heard a loud
voice in heaven, saying: Now is come salvation and strength and the
kingdom of our God and the power of his Christ: because the accuser of
our brethren is cast forth, who accused them before our God day and
night.
LINK: "Operation – Special Intention"- Prayers and holy relics for military personnel
LINK: Catholics in the Military
FROM THE MAILBAG
VIA Ann: Here is the
link to the article my son Brendan submitted to the Bellingham Herald,
which was published in the Sunday paper on 7/22. I go on the first hand
eyewitness bits of folks firsthand there such as my son Brendan and
reporters in Iraq such as Micahel Yon. My opinion has changed over the
years and I now believe in the freedoms of the Iraqi people and in what
my son and others are doing over there...the danger and threat is very
real...my son bares witness to this daily.
Here is a link to this article written by my son:
http://www.bellinghamherald.com/291/story/135274.html
August 1, 2007
(John
13:12-15) Then after he had washed their feet and taken his garments,
being set down again, he said to them: Know you what I have done to
you? You call me Master and Lord. And you say well: for so I am. If
then I being your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; you also
ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that
as I have done to you, so you do also.
LAY VOCATION: Talking God and baseball with Mike Piazza
CATHOLIC LEADERS SEEK YOUNG RELIGIOUS RECRUITS ON THE WEB
On the popular social networking site
Facebook, Tracey Dugas flashes a winsome smile and a peace sign. But
she is not looking to share photos and send instant messages to
friends. Instead, she's using the wonders of the Web to recruit women
who might want to follow in her footsteps.
Dugas -- or, as she prefers, Sister Tracey -- is a 35-year-old nun with
the Daughters of St. Paul, and as the director of vocations for the
congregation's local house, she wants to make herself accessible to
those contemplating a commitment to Jesus Christ.
''You have to go where the young people are,'' Dugas explains. ``And
young people are on the Web.'' As technology permeates almost every
area of secular life, Roman Catholic communities around the world also
are adapting it to their efforts to reach out to youth. Priests blog,
nuns correspond via e-mail, and religious orders update their websites
to attract young people and tell them about the possibilities of
religious life.
''If you're not on the Internet, you're missing an entire audience,''
says Brother Paul Bednarczyk, director of the National Religious
Vocation Conference in Chicago. 'Forty years ago, a young person would
go to the parish priest for more information on religious life. They
now go to Google and type `religious vocations.' ''
Last August, when the National Religious Vocation Conference introduced VocationMatch.org -- also available in Spanish at www.EncuentroVocacional.org
-- to help match candidates for religious life with potential
communities, the group wasn't sure how the site would be received. But
it has surpassed expectations, with more than 4,700 unique visitors
logged on so far, a notable upswing from another online website the
group had hosted which produced only 600 inquiries a year.
The new site features animated guides and addresses such issues as
education, age, gender, preferred ministry, preferred community size,
prayer styles and whether the person would like to wear a habit. More
than 300 religious communities participate.
''It's been hugely popular,'' says Patrice Touhy, the site's executive
director. ``For the discerner, it helps narrow their search. It's a
great place to start.''
Here's a sampling of websites of Catholic religious orders:
• http://brotherbricesblog.blogspot.com
For more information on the Saturday night coffee house meeting organized by the local Paulist sisters, visit www.paulinascoffeehouse.com
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