Quotes on Mary

S
cripture meditation: I have sanctified this temple that you have built to put my name upon it forever, and my eyes and my heart will always be there. 1 Kings 9:3

Reflection: In no other spot as much as Lourdes do we feel so impelled toward prayer, forgetfulness of self, and charity. The most fervent are attracted to a life more totally offered to God's service. The less fervent become aware of their tepidity and rediscover the way of prayer. Hardened sinners and unbelievers are often touched by grace..

Venerable Pope Pius XII (1876-1958AD)
Mini-Bio: pope: (1939-1958) Italian; He supported several reforms in the Papal States, which included central Italy, and several outlying areas, such as Assisi. Gained a reputation for being a patriotic, and reforming Pope.

Prayer: O Mary, turn my heart into a miniature Lourdes where I can honor you each day and receive spiritual strength for my earthly journey.

Muslims can claim benefits for multiple brides

Senators Pelosi and Kennedy

Scanton speaks out against diversity

Quotes on Mary

S
cripture meditation: The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his ways, before anything was made. From eternity I was brought forth, before the earth was made. Proverbs 8:22-23

Reflection: The Holy Spirit spoke of Mary by the mouth of the Prophets, foretold her by His oracles, and drew her portrait by means of figures. He promised her in the events that preceded her and completed her in the events that followed her.

St. Ildephonsus (607-667AD)
Mini-Bio: Spanish; monk, Abbot of Agli, Archbishop of Toledo, founded and endowed a monastery of nuns

Prayer: O Mary, both before and after your birth you were looked after by God's wonderful Providence. Make me realize that the same Providence is also guiding every event in this world and in my life.

Quotes on Mary

S
cripture meditation: A great sign appeared in heaven, a woman robed with the sun, with the moon beneath her feet, and a crown of twelve stars upon her head. Revelation 12:1

Reflection: Mary is the glory of Virgins, the joy of Mothers, the bulwark of the Faithful, and the crown of the Church. She is the model of the true Faith, the seat of Piety, the robe of Virtue, and the dwelling place of the Holy Trinity.

St. Proclus (409-485AD)
Mini-Bio: Lycian; philosopher, head of the Platonic school in Athens

Prayer: O Mary, you desire to bring forth true believers in your Divine Son. Help me to be a lifelong follower of Jesus and so deserve to enjoy eternal bliss with you in heaven.

Obama vs. Jesus

The Bishop and the Truth

DEATH BY INDUCTION

Judie Brown
Recently a friend advised me that St. Joseph's Catholic Hospital in London, Ontario, Canada, was providing something called "early induction of labor" for expectant mothers based on physician claims, such as the one voiced 24 years ago, that if the preborn child was not delivered early, the mother would die.

The news reports went on to comment that since that first case the hospital had been doing early inductions for a narrow set of reasons such as "when the fetus has a lethal anomaly, a situation that poses grave risks for the mother and child."

I immediately became concerned, as this was not the first such case that had come to our attention involving a Catholic hospital. At the center of this particular controversy is Father Michael Prieur, a medical ethics advisor, a theologian and the man responsible for making recommendations in seriously difficult cases such as the question of whether or not early induction should be done.

What troubled me about the news report, which was published in a secular newspaper, was the idea that somehow the fact that LifeSite News was a bit fanatical because they had reported on this and argued that early induction was tantamount to abortion. The newspaper said,
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media obsessed with Catholics?

Jews apologizes to the Church

Protestant denominations

Pelosi Primer

The Editors

March 1-7, 2009 Issue | Posted 2/23/09 at 9:48 PM

To understand why and how the Church is intervening with Nancy Pelosi because of her abortion position, we have to first look at the context of the modern abortion mentality.

The widespread “pro-choice” attitude toward abortion today is especially horrific precisely because it has made abortion so commonplace.

The two messages we give young women are destined to collide: Your life’s worth is your career; your boyfriend has a right to intimacy with you without preconditions. Are we surprised that so many young women to choose abortion?

However, the burden we’ve placed on women doesn’t change the bare fact of what abortion is, and women know it.

Abortion is the killing of a child by her own mother, and as the Supreme Court pointed out in Gonzales v. Carhart, it is evident that women who give in to the pressure to abort suffer from Post-Abortion Syndrome for a lifetime. The pain and regret of abortion leads to decades of depression, broken relationships, and high suicide rates.
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The Abortion Story

Eleanor Bourg Donlon
“I can’t wait to tell my daughter about your periodical. She is remarkably talented — all of her teachers think so — and she has written a story about abortion that is so good.”

And so my mind wanders away, and I brood over the purpose and prevalence of that developing genre — The Abortion Story — until the proud mother draws me back to the conversation with a comment that obviously requires a response.

It is easy to capture such a scene anonymously, as it happens all of the time, especially when one happens to be peddling a Catholic journal for fiction, poetry, essays and art.

The Abortion Story is a rite of passage for young Christian writers. I wrote one myself in earlier days, as have nearly all of my friends and colleagues who aspire with me to a literary vocation.

There is a positive glut of differing versions of The Abortion Story sitting around waiting to be picked up by an interested market. A very few of them are really well done; some of them are schmaltzy; most of them are highly sentimentalized; nearly all are predictable, and a considerable number of them are utterly unremarkable.
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Pelosi and the Pope

TIM DRAKE

VATICAN — Pope Benedict XVI had a clear message to one of the most powerful Catholics in the United States government: defend and protect human life from conception to death.

It was an extraordinary exchange — followed by an extraordinary public announcement — at the Vatican Feb. 18. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, in the midst of a six-day visit to Italy, had a 15-minute meeting with Benedict.

“His Holiness took the opportunity to speak of the requirements of the natural moral law and the Church’s consistent teaching on the dignity of human life from conception to natural death, which enjoin all Catholics, and especially legislators, jurists and those responsible for the common good of society, to work in cooperation with all men and women of good will in creating a just system of laws capable of protecting human life at all stages of its development,” said a Holy See Press Office statement issued immediately following the meeting.

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Quotes on Mary

S
cripture meditation: I am the root and the descendant of David as well as the bright morning star. Revelation 22:16

Reflection: The Blessed Virgin Mary is called the Star of the Sea. Those who sail the ocean seas are guided to the port they seek by carefully observing the stars. In the same way, Christians are guided to heavenly glory by keeping their eyes on Mary.

St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274AD)
Mini-Bio: Italian; Dominican philosopher, theologian, mystic, hymnist, Doctor of the Church

Prayer: O Mary, bright Morning Star for all the earth, let the rays of your Son's grace shine ever upon me. Be my loving guide until at last I arrive safely at the heavenly shore.

Blasphemous Israeli TV Show

The Holy See is denouncing the offensive portrayal of Jesus and his Blessed Mother on a commercial channel of Israeli television.

A Vatican press office communiqué noted Friday that Catholic leaders in the Holy Land "publicly expressed the disappointment and protest of Christians in regard to the recent broadcasts on Israeli private television Channel 10 in which the Lord Jesus and the Blessed Virgin Mary are ridiculed with blasphemous words and images."
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Quotes on Mary

Scripture meditation: Set me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm; for love is strong as death, and jealousy as hard as the netherworld; its flames are a blazing fire. Song of Solomon 8:6

Reflection: O Mother of love, you have given me your Heart. Now take firm possession of my heart and offer it completely to the pure love and sole glory of your beloved Son.

St. John Eudes (1601-1680AD)
Mini-Bio: French; priest, missionary, founder of seminaries and of the Congregation of Jesus and Mary (Eudists)

Prayer: O Mary, you love all your spiritual children with a never-ending love. Grant me an undying love for you and your Divine Son Jesus both in time and for all eternity.

Quotes on Mary

Scripture meditation: Come eat my bread, and drink the wine I have mixed for you! … For by me your days will be many and years will be added to your life. Proverbs 9:5,11

Reflection: You never think of Mary without Mary thinking of God on your behalf. Neither do you ever praise and honor God without Mary praising and honoring God in union with you.

St. Louis Grignion de Montfort (1673-1716AD)
Mini-Bio: French; priest, missionary, spiritual writer founder of the Daughters of Divine Wisdom and the Missionaries of the Company of Mary

Prayer: O Mary, I thank God for giving you to human beings as our intercessor. Help me to collaborate with you in praising God and in saving the souls of those whom Jesus cam to redeem.

It Took 40 Days …

Father Thomas Rosica, CSB

TORONTO, FEB. 22, 2009 (Zenit.org).- On Ash Wednesday, Feb. 25, the Church begins her great Lenten journey with Jesus on the road to Jerusalem. For centuries, Lent has been a very intense spiritual journey and experience for the followers of Jesus Christ.

Why are there 40 days in Lent? It took 40 days for sinfulness to drown in the flood before a new creation could inherit the earth. It took 40 years for the generation of slaves to die before the freeborn could enter the Promised Land. For 40 days Moses, Elijah and Jesus fasted and prayed to prepare themselves for a life's work.

Lent invites us to turn from our own selves, from our sin, to come together in community. Self-denial is the way we express our repentance. Self-denial is threefold, advises Matthew's Gospel.

We pray: "Go to your room, close your door, and pray to your Father in private."

We fast: "No one must see you are fasting but your Father."

We give alms: "Keep your deeds of mercy secret, and your Father who sees in secret will repay you."
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Quotes on Mary

S
cripture meditation: Everyone who asks, receives, and the one who searches, finds; and to the one who knocks, it shall be opened. Luke 11:10

Reflection: In His eagerness to show you, mercy, God has given His Son as your Advocate. And then to make your confidence even stronger, He has given you another Advocate, who obtains through her prayers whatever she asks. Go to Mary, and you will see salvation.

St. Alphonusus Liguori (1696-1787AD)
Mini-Bio: Italian; bishop, Doctor of the Church, founder and first superior of the Redemptorists

Prayer: O Mary, God has given you to me as a most powerful Advocate. Let me call upon you in any trouble and especially in time of danger to my eternal salvation.

Smoke of Satan

Sen. Pelosi

Rev. Hoye Sentenced for Unjust Conviction

William B. May

OAKLAND, CA, Feb 19, 2009 -- This afternoon, Judge Stuart Hing sentenced Walter Hoye to 30 days in jail, imposed a fine of $1,130, and placed him on probation for three years with a condition that he stays more than 100 yards away for the abortion clinic where he was arrested.

Hoye refused to accept the terms of the probation because it would abridge his First Amendment rights. He indicated that he would follow the law, but would not accept the proposed restrictions. The judge then said he was going to impose probation in Rev. Hoye anyway, which is illegal. Attorneys and Reverend Hoye met in chambers for hours with no resolution. The sentencing was continued until March 20, and Walter left today with his wife, free and with no restrictions.

If the 30-day sentence remains in place, Walter Hoye will be able to do alternative community service.

One of Walter’s attorneys, Mike Millen, made the point that there was a "conspicuous absence" of clients at the trial that Rev Hoye was alleged to have harassed.

Despite the lack of any evidence or a victim, Hoye was inexplicably convicted of something he did not do on January 15. This was a grave injustice.
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Quotes on Mary

S
cripture meditation: Blessed is the man watching daily at my gates, waiting at my doorways. Proverbs 8:34

Reflection: My most pleasant task is saying my Rosary and praying to my heavenly Mother. It is the most pure joy of my heart!

St. Francis de Sales (1567-1622AD)
Mini-Bio: French; bishop, missionary, cofounder of the Order of the Visitation (Visitandines), Doctor of the Church

Prayer: O Mary, my Mother in heaven, let me pray to you each day and say my Rosary. Help me to regard this as my heart's purest joy and my soul's greatest delight.

Sen. Pelosi

Nuff of Nancy

Quotes on Mary

Scripture meditation: The light will be among you only a little longer. Walk while there still is light, before darkness overtakes you. Whoever walks in the dark knows not where he is going. John 12:35

Reflection: Go to Mary, then, Praise her, and you will be enlightened. For it is through her that the true Light shines on the sea of this world.

St. Ildephonsus (607-667AD)
Mini-Bio: Spanish; monk, Abbot of Agli, Archbishop of Toledo, founded and endowed a monastery of nuns

Prayer: O Mary, grant me always to have the Light of the World. Help me to walk in the Light of Christ all my days, so that I may know where I am going and avoid all evil.

Icy Vatican reception damaging to Pelosi

Phil Lawler || category Commentary

Did you see the photo of Nancy Pelosi with Pope Benedict XVI during her visit to the Vatican yesterday?

No, you didn't. There was no photo, because there was no photographer on hand when they met.

The Speaker of the House went to Rome hoping for a photo op. A smiling picture of herself with the Pontiff would have done a great deal to ease the tensions between Pelosi and the American hierarchy: tensions caused by her unswerving defense of legal abortion. That photo would have burnished her credentials as the "ardent Catholic" she claims to be.

But there was no photo op. After a month of disastrous public-relations gaffes, the Vatican handled this meeting quite nicely. The meeting was held in private. Without violating diplomatic protocol the Vatican managed to convey any unmistakable coolness about the encounter.
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Sacrament of Matrimony

Cathy Caridi, J.C.L. Print This Article Print This Article ·ShareThis

Q: We Catholics believe that marriage is a sacrament. So how is it possible for a Catholic and a non-Catholic to get married in the Catholic Church? Doesn’t that mean that somehow, a protestant or even a non-Christian is receiving a Catholic sacrament? How does that work? –Brian

A: This is an extremely good question, as it illustrates one of the great theological difficulties involved when people of different faiths want to marry. The Church recognizes that in general, marriage is a natural right, which is certainly not reserved exclusively to Catholics or to Christians. At the same time, the Catholic Church teaches that marriage is one of the seven sacraments. So how can these apparently conflicting teachings be reconciled? Let’s look first at marriages involving non-Catholic, baptized Christians, and then at marriages of the unbaptized.

Canon 1055.1 echoes the Second Vatican Council’s Constitution on the Church in the Modern World (Gaudium et Spes 48) when it asserts that the marriage covenant has, between the baptized, been raised by Christ to the dignity of a sacrament. The following paragraph is even more precise: a valid marriage cannot exist between two baptized persons without it being by that very fact a sacrament (c. 1055.2).
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Legislators to Defend Life

Benedict XVI is urging legislators to uphold the sanctity of human life according to Church teaching, he affirmed in an meeting with U.S. Speaker of the House of Representatives.

The Pope received Nancy Pelosi and her entourage briefly today after the general audience, reported a Vatican communiqué.

He "took the opportunity to speak of the requirements of the natural moral law and the Church's consistent teaching on the dignity of human life from conception to natural death," the Vatican reported afterward.

The Pontiff added that these teachings "enjoin all Catholics, and especially legislators, jurists and those responsible for the common good of society, to work in cooperation with all men and women of good will in creating a just system of laws capable of protecting human life at all stages of its development."
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The Speaker

Pope to Pelosi

Deal W. Hudson
Benedict XVI met only 15 minutes with Speaker Nancy Pelosi today in the Vatican. Photographers and reporters were not allowed in the room. The Vatican then released a text of the Pope's remarks to Pelosi, which were pointed on the subject of protecting unborn life.

Here is what the AP is reporting:

VATICAN CITY (AP) - Pope Benedict XVI on Wednesday told U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, a Catholic who supports abortion rights, that Catholic politicians have a duty to protect life "at all stages of its development," the Vatican said.

Pelosi is the first top Democrat to meet with Benedict since the election of Barack Obama, who won a majority of the Catholic vote despite differences with the Vatican on abortion.

The Vatican released remarks by the pope to Pelosi, saying Benedict spoke of the church's teaching "on the dignity of human life from conception to natural death." That is an expression often used by the pope when expressing opposition to abortion.
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Nancy Pelosi

Irene Lagan
Ample attention is being paid to Nancy Pelosi’s meeting with Pope Benedict, which should be taking place in the next couple of hours. I am guessing this will be the usual handshake, attended by the usual photos. Pewsitter is urging American Catholics to take action against Pelosi.

Italians in general are less aware of Pelosi’s duplicitous behavior, claiming strong Catholic Italian roots on one hand while being an aggressive promoter of the culture of death on the other. But Vatican officials are not, and will hopefully avoid occasions of scandal, like high profile liturgies in which Pelosi receives communion.
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Canon law

A Catholic news web site announced yesterday afternoon that it is launching a nationwide “Withholding Communion” petition project to encourage the nation’s Catholic bishops to withhold Communion from prominent Catholics in public life who obstinately persist in their dissent from Catholic teaching on serious moral issues.

Pewsitter.com, a Catholic news portal, is launching the nationwide “Withholding Communion” petition. The goal of the petition drive is to gather a least 1 million
petitions for presentation to the U.S. Bishops and the Vatican, Pewsitter.com said in a news release.

The basis for withholding communion is Canon 915, which stipulates that those who “obstinately persevering in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to Holy Communion.” Archbishop Raymond Burke, head of the Church's highest court, reiterated his view on this subject in an interview with LifeSiteNews on Jan. 30, in which he stated, "The person who persists publicly in grave sin is to be denied Holy Communion, and it [Canon Law] doesn't say that the bishop shall decide this. It's an absolute."
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abortion report

Margaret Cabaniss
Last week I noted Prof. Michael New's criticism of the study regarding the link between welfare spending, legislation, and abortion reduction, sponsored by Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good. The author of the original study, Prof. Joseph Wright, as well as Catholics in Alliance, have since responded to New's critique.

Today, New has a response of his own:

Fundamentally, CACG is asking their readers and supporters to take a leap of faith. Their findings about welfare spending in the 1990s are interesting and I would encourage the authors and other scholars of public policy to continue to pursue research about how various policy instruments can reduce the incidence of abortion.
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about Nancy Pelosi

Deal W. Hudson
This week, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) will meet with Pope Benedict XVI in the Vatican. With the debilitating illness of Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA), Pelosi has become the de facto leader of dissident Catholic members of Congress.

It's only appropriate that Pelosi should take Kennedy's place. When she became Speaker in January 2006, she chose Rev. Robert Drinan, S.J., as the celebrant of the Mass held in her honor. The late Father Drinan, a longtime professor of law at Georgetown University, had been the architect of the arguments now used as cover by Catholic politicians who wish to dodge the abortion issue. This effort began in 1964, when Father Drinan was among a small group of theologians who visited Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, to school the Kennedy clan on how to finesse the abortion issue in politics.

Pelosi's 100 percent voting record on abortion, according to NARAL, is commonplace among Catholic Democrats in the House, but Pelosi is, perhaps, the most vocal among them. For example, millions of dollars for contraceptives were cut from the first version of the stimulus package; 0nly Pelosi, rather incoherently, defended the funding.

In August, she made such outrageous comments about the Church on Meet the Press that she single-handedly endangered President Barack Obama's outreach to Catholic voters. When, to support her pro-abortion stance on when life begins, she asserted, "Over the centuries, the doctors of the Church have not been able to make that definition," Pelosi elicited a rebuke not only from her ordinary, Archbishop George Niederauer of San Francisco, but also from dozens of other bishops.
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PELOSI WILL MEET HER NEMESIS

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is about to pull off, at least according to some, a real coup by being given the opportunity to have a photo op and a conversation with the Vicar of Christ on Earth, Pope Benedict XVI. According to one news report, Pelosi, who describes herself as an "ardent" Catholic while advocating reproductive rights, will be the highest-ranking U.S. official to see the pope since President Barack Obama took office last month.

There are some who feel strongly that this encounter will provide Pelosi with the ability to tell the public that she, as a pro-abortion Catholic, was welcomed with open arms by the pope. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that whatever occurs, she will exploit it for what she thinks is her benefit. The public record makes one thing about Pelosi perfectly clear: She is not a woman who adheres to the teachings of the Church even though she claims “ardent” faith.

But there could be a surprise in store, though as political strategist and writer of “Inside Catholic” commentary Deal Hudson points out, “…the Holy Father is a head of state and regularly meets with political leaders from every nation, regardless of their positions on issues important to the Church.”
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Quotes on Mary

S
cripture meditation: I have taken root in an honored people, in the portion of the Lord, his heritage. Sirach 24:12

Reflection: Many will not let devotion to the Blessed Virgin even take root in their hearts. But blessed is the person who accepts this grace and keeps it. Such a devotion dwells in all who are the Lord's heritage -- in all who will praise Him eternally in heaven.

St. Alphonusus Liguori (1696-1787AD)
Mini-Bio: Italian; bishop, Doctor of the Church, founder and first superior of the Redemptorists

Prayer: O Mary, let me foster devotion to you within my heart. May one day not go by without my turning to you in prayer and meditation.

Sacrament of Penance

P ope Benedict XVI

Dear Brothers and Sisters!

On these Sundays the Evangelist Mark offers a sequence of various miraculous healings for our reflection. Today he presents a very special one -- that of a healed leper (cf. Mark 1:40-45) -- who, coming to Jesus, gets on his knees and says: “If you wish, you can make me clean!” Jesus, moved, stretches out his hand, touches him and says: “I do wish it. Be made clean!”

The man is healed instantly and Jesus asks him not to tell anyone and present himself to the priests to offer the sacrifice prescribed by the Mosaic law. The healed leper is unable to be quiet and proclaims to everyone what happened to him so that, the evangelist reports, still more sick people ran to Jesus from every part to the point of forcing him to stay out of the cities so as not to be besieged by the crowds.
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The Letter

10 Blesseds to Be Canonized

The Church will soon have 10 more canonized saints.

The Holy See reported that a public consistory of cardinals will take place Saturday to determine dates for the canonization celebrations of the newly recognized saints. Among the group is Father Damián de Veuster, known as the apostle of the lepers of Molokai, Hawaii.
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Quotes on Mary

S
cripture meditation: He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. His mercy is from generation to generation on those who fear him. Luke 1:49-50

Reflection: While remaining the Mother of our Judge, Mary is a mother to us, full of mercy. She constitutes our protection. She keeps us close to Christ, and she faithfully takes the matter of our salvation into her charge.

St. Peter Canisius (1521-1597AD)
Mini-Bio: Dutch; Jesuit priest, scholar and educator; founder of colleges, Doctor of the Church

Prayer: O Mary, God filled you will grace and made you a Co-Redeemer with Christ your Son. Let me have constant recourse to you and attain the salvation you helped win for all.

Old Testament for Christians

What is the importance of the Old Testament for Christians?

Christians venerate the Old Testament as the true word of God. All of the books of the Old Testament are divinely inspired and retain a permanent value. They bear witness to the divine pedagogy of God's saving love. They are written, above all, to prepare for the coming of Christ the Savior of the universe.

CCC #121 - 123

Canada too many abortions

Saint Juliana

Anti-Prop 8 Resolutions

Resolutions advocating the overturn of Proposition 8 will be heard on Tuesday, February 17, in the California Senate and Assembly Judiciary Committees (SR7 and HR5).

These resolutions have been introduced by Prop 8 opponents to try to send a message to the Supreme Court that will hear the challenges to the constitutional amendment on March 5. While resolutions have no force of law, this represents an outrageous demonstration of arrogance by certain legislators who are advocating against the sovereign power of the voters.

The resolutions raise two points:

Assembly Resolution HR 5 by
Assembly Member Tom Ammiano
(San Francisco)

Senate Resolution SR 7 by
Senator Marc Leno
(San Francisco)



First, that Prop 8 was a constitutional revision (rather than an amendment), which would have required the legislature's review and approval before it went on the ballot. This is basis of the challenge by three lawsuits filed against Prop 8, an argument that was undercut by the brief Attorney General Jerry Brown submitted to the Supreme Court in December.
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Anti-Prop 8 Resolutions

Resolutions advocating the overturn of Proposition 8 will be heard on Tuesday, February 17, in the California Senate and Assembly Judiciary Committees (SR7 and HR5).

These resolutions have been introduced by Prop 8 opponents to try to send a message to the Supreme Court that will hear the challenges to the constitutional amendment on March 5. While resolutions have no force of law, this represents an outrageous demonstration of arrogance by certain legislators who are advocating against the sovereign power of the voters.

The resolutions raise two points:

Assembly Resolution HR 5 by
Assembly Member Tom Ammiano
(San Francisco)

Senate Resolution SR 7 by
Senator Marc Leno
(San Francisco)



First, that Prop 8 was a constitutional revision (rather than an amendment), which would have required the legislature's review and approval before it went on the ballot. This is basis of the challenge by three lawsuits filed against Prop 8, an argument that was undercut by the brief Attorney General Jerry Brown submitted to the Supreme Court in December.
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Quotes on Mary

S
cripture meditation: With me are riches and glory, enduring riches and justice. My fruit is better than pure gold, and my blossoms than rare silver. Proverbs 8:18-19

Reflection: Mary is the stem of the beautiful flower on which the Holy Spirit rests with the fullness of His gifts. Hence, those who want to obtain the seven gifts of the Spirit must seek the flower of the Holy Spirit on the stem [Mary].

St. Bonaventure (1221-1274AD)
Mini-Bio: Italian; cardinal-bishop, Franciscan minister general, philosopher, theologian, Doctor of the Church

Prayer: O Mary, You are the Spouse of the Holy Spirit. Through Jesus, help me to reach the Spirit and obtain His surpassing gifts, so that I may live forever in the grip of the Spirit.

Canon of Scripture

T
The Canon of Scripture is the complete list of the sacred writings which the Church has come to recognize through Apostolic Tradition. The Canon consists of 46 books of the Old Testament and 27 of the New.

CCC #120 and CCC #138

Wedding Is Over

FFr. John Flynn’s article on “The Family’s Essential Role” in society makes a number of excellent points. Cardinal Brady says, “The family based on marriage as the foundation of society is a truth revealed by God in the Scriptures, but it’s also one of the most precious human values.” He goes on to point out that, “the welfare of marriage and the family are of public interest, and are fundamental to the common good. They are, therefore, entitled to special consideration and care from the state.” The importance of these ideas was repeated and stressed by several speakers at the last World Meeting of Families.

However, the community and the Church must not leave the issue of broken marriages solely in the hands of government bureaucrats and the so called professional laity, such as judges, lawyers, social workers, psychiatrists and the police. When couples get married in Church, the Church must also be there when there are marriage problems. We cannot leave it for governments alone to solve the question of failing marriages. We need to take politics out of this institution, so that it can regain its integrity.
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Wedding Is Over

Fr. John Flynn’s article on “The Family’s Essential Role” in society makes a number of excellent points. Cardinal Brady says, “The family based on marriage as the foundation of society is a truth revealed by God in the Scriptures, but it’s also one of the most precious human values.” He goes on to point out that, “the welfare of marriage and the family are of public interest, and are fundamental to the common good. They are, therefore, entitled to special consideration and care from the state.” The importance of these ideas was repeated and stressed by several speakers at the last World Meeting of Families.

However, the community and the Church must not leave the issue of broken marriages solely in the hands of government bureaucrats and the so called professional laity, such as judges, lawyers, social workers, psychiatrists and the police. When couples get married in Church, the Church must also be there when there are marriage problems. We cannot leave it for governments alone to solve the question of failing marriages. We need to take politics out of this institution, so that it can regain its integrity.
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Amazon.com drops a videogame

My speech to Mr. Obama

Abortion Is Killing

Quotes on Mary,

Scripture meditation: I dwell in counsel and in learned thoughts. … Counsel and sound judgment are mine; mine are prudence and power. Proverbs 8:12-14

Reflection: When we dedicate ourselves to Mary, we become instruments in her hands just as she is an instrument in God's hands. Let us then be guided by her, for she will provide for the needs of body and soul and overcome all difficulties and anxieties.

St. Maximilian Kolbe (1894-1941AD)
Mini-Bio: Polish; Franciscan priest, founder of Knights of Mary Immaculate, martyr

Prayer: O Mary, in all my trials and difficulties let me have recourse to Jesus through your intercession. And when I call upon you, please comfort me and lead me to your Divine Son.

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Pro-Abortion Law

By Susan Yoshihara, Ph.D.

(NEW YORK – C-FAM) The Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR), a New York-based abortion advocacy group, is claiming Brazil violates an international right to maternal health when a pregnant woman dies in that country. According to CRR and its advocates at the United Nations, such a right to maternal health includes universal legalized abortion. This is the latest move in a strategy to create a new international human right to abortion.

At the end of last year, CRR prepared a “communication” on behalf of the family of Alyne da Silva Pimentel, a 28-year old Afro-Brazilian woman who died while pregnant after da Silva was misdiagnosed and not given timely emergency care. The communication was sent to the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). Under the Optional Protocol of the Convention, which 90 states have ratified, individuals may communicate directly with the committee if they feel their country has violated their rights under a treaty. The committee is allowed to investigate the story and offer its “views” on the matter. Read More

Quotes on Mary

Scripture meditation: The angel Gabriel was sent from God … to a virgin … a descendant of David, and the virgin's name was Mary. And when the angel had come to her, he said, "Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you." Luke 1:26-28

Reflection: The salvation of the whole world began with the "Hail Mary." Hence, the salvation of each person is also attached to this prayer.

St. Louis Grignion de Montfort (1673-1716AD)
Mini-Bio: French; priest, missionary, spiritual writer founder of the Daughters of Divine Wisdom and the Missionaries of the Company of Mary
Prayer: O Mary, let the great prayer to you be on my lips morning, noon, and night. Enable me to say it especially at the hour of my death -- for you will ensure my salvation.

Sacred Scripture teach the truth

Why does Sacred Scripture teach the truth?

Because God himself is the author of Sacred Scripture. For this reason it is said to be inspired and to teach without error those truths which are necessary for our salvation. The Holy Spirit inspired the human authors who wrote what he wanted to teach us. The Christian faith, however, is not a “religion of the Book”, but of the Word of God – “not a written and mute word, but incarnate and living” (Saint Bernard of Clairvaux).

crime is intolerable

VATICAN CITY, 12 FEB 2009 (VIS) -- At midday today, the Holy Father received members of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.

Speaking English, the Pope began his remarks by recalling his first visit to a synagogue, in the German city of Cologne in August 2005. He then mentioned his trip in May of the following year to the extermination camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau.

"As I walked through the entrance to that place of horror, the scene of such untold suffering," he said, "I meditated on the countless number of prisoners, so many of them Jews, who had trodden that same path into captivity at Auschwitz and in all the other prison camps.”

"How can we begin to grasp the enormity of what took place in those infamous prisons?” he asked. “The entire human race feels deep shame at the savage brutality shown to your people at that time."

The Pope then noted how today's visit "occurs in the context of your visit to Italy in conjunction with your annual Leadership Mission to Israel. I too am preparing to visit Israel, a land which is holy for Christians as well as Jews, since the roots of our faith are to be found there."
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Church Politics

Hans Kung says Obama would make a better Pope than Benedict

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Quotes on Mary

Scripture meditation: Horrible is the death [an evil tongue] inflicts; the netherworld is preferable to it. It has no power over the just; they will not be burned in its flames. Sirach 28:21-22

Reflection: Mary's words were discreet, and her voice was measured. She did not shout and she was careful not to say anything bad about another person -- nor even to listen willingly to wrong that was spoken.

St. Athanasius of Alexandria (297-373AD)
Mini-Bio: Egyptian; bishop, theologian, Doctor of the Church

Prayer: O Mary, you are the Model of Right Speech. Help me to avoid idle gossip as well as intemperate words. Let me make use of right speech to communicate with and help others rather than confuse and hurt them.
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Scripture, Tradition and the Magisterium

What is the relationship between Scripture, Tradition and the Magisterium?

Scripture, Tradition, and the Magisterium are so closely united with each other that one of them cannot stand without the others. Working together, each in its own way, under the action of the one Holy Spirit, they all contribute effectively to the salvation of souls.

Divine Revelation

To whom is given the task of authentically interpreting the deposit of faith?

The task of giving an authentic interpretation of the deposit of faith has been entrusted to the living teaching office of the Church alone, that is, to the successor of Peter, the Bishop of Rome, and to the bishops in communion with him. To this Magisterium, which in the service of the Word of God enjoys the certain charism of truth, belongs also the task of defining dogmas which are formulations of the truths contained in divine Revelation. This authority of the Magisterium also extends to those truths necessarily connected with Revelation.
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traditional Catholics

In the storm following the Pope's decision to lift the excommunication of four bishops -- triggered by the revelation that Richard Williamson, one of the bishops from the Society of St. Pius X, was a Holocaust denier and 9/11 conspiracy theorist -- a profound message about the future of Catholicism was obscured.

"This does have broader significance for Benedict's vision of the 21st-century Roman Catholicism as a 'creative minority,' " said John Allen, Vatican correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter and author of numerous books on the papacy.

"[He wants] a distinct presence on the landscape that can infuse badly needed values into the broader cultural bloodstream. To do that, Benedict believes that Catholics must be clear about their own identity, so fostering a strong sense of Catholic identity is job number one of his pontificate.

"His authorization f or wider celebration of the Latin Mass is one expression of this effort, because that rite has been such a classic carrier of traditional Catholic identity over the centuries."
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Vatican-Jewish

VATICAN CITY, FEB. 10, 2009 (Zenit.org).- The rift in Vatican-Jewish relations that followed the Vatican's move to lift the excommunication of a Holocaust-denying bishop may be coming to an end, according to the World Jewish Congress.

The international organization, which represents 100 Jewish communities throughout the world, held talks in Rome on Monday with Cardinal Walter Kasper, the president of the Vatican's Commission for Religious Relations With the Jews.

The delegation visited Rome to discuss the lifting of excommunication of four bishops of the Society of St. Pius X, including Bishop Richard Williamson, who was seen in an interview for Swedish television denying the gassing of 6 million Jews at about the same time that his excommunication was lifted.

The bishops, including the current superior-general of the Society of St. Pius X, were excommunicated in 1988 when they received episcopal ordination illicitly at the hands of Marcel Lefebvre, who ordained them without papal permission.

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Spoiled for Choice

Holocaust Bishop slams leftists

Abortion

Msgr. Kevin McMahon

The Synod on the Eucharist, held in Rome October 3-23, 2005, was aimed at fostering greater reverence for the Eucharist. In addressing the worthy reception of the Eucharist, the bishops examined the pastoral questions raised because some people receive Communion while denying the teachings of the Church or publicly supporting immoral choices in life, such as abortion, without thinking that they are committing an act of grave personal dishonesty and causing scandal. Some Catholics do not understand why it might be a sin to support a political candidate who is openly in favor of abortion or other serious acts against life, justice and peace. Such attitudes lead to, among other things, a crisis in the meaning of belonging to the Church and in a clouding of the distinction between venial and mortal sin.1
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Scientism

Bishop Michael J. Sheridan

Several decades ago, a Russian cosmonaut returned from his first venture into space and proudly announced that he had been into the heavens and could now verify that God was nowhere to be seen. This finding, of course, fit nicely into the atheistic picture of reality that prevailed in the Soviet Union of those days.

More than simply a glib pronouncement on the non-existence of God, however, the remark was expressive of what has come to be known as "scientism." Michael Shermer, founder of the Skeptics Society, provides a good definition of scientism: "Scientism is the scientific worldview that encompasses natural explanations for all phenomena, eschews supernatural and paranormal speculations, and embraces empiricism and reason as the twin pillars of a philosophy of life appropriate for an Age of Science."
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Gingrich on God

Saint Apollonia

Apostolic Tradition

Apostolic Tradition is the transmission of the message of Christ, brought about from the very beginnings of Christianity by means of preaching, bearing witness, institutions, worship, and inspired writings. The apostles transmitted all they received from Christ and learned from the Holy Spirit to their successors, the bishops, and through them to all generations until the end of the world.

Archdiocese of Miami

Sen. Casey

Taxes-for-Abortions

WASHINGTON, D.C., FEB. 6, 2009 (Zenit.org).- The United States has some "modest, common-sense" policies supported by pro-lifers and abortion advocates, and a U.S. bishops' official is urging Congress to protect them.

This appeal came in a Feb. 5 letter written by Cardinal Justin Rigali, chairman of the bishops' Committee for Pro-life Activities.

He noted that one of Congress' first orders of business this session is examining appropriations bills to keep federal programs funded, and in this process, the bishop warned against removing anti-abortion clauses.

Noting the widespread lack of support for the Freedom of Choice Act, he cautioned: "While an extreme proposal like FOCA would overturn hundreds of pro-life laws at once, we are equally concerned that such laws may be overturned one at a time during Congress' appropriations process."

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Assisted Suicide

SAN FRANCISCO, FEB. 6, 2009 -- Since 2005 the California Legislature has consistently rejected controversial efforts to legalize assisted suicide, but Compassion and Choices (the former Hemlock Society) is persistant in continuing to raise the issue in California. It is important that newly elected legislators become aware of the history and consequences of this issue so that they are not talked into supporting such a bill if it is introduced. You can help by sending a letter to your state senator or assembly member, particularly if they are newly elected.
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Marriage Annulments

Why does it take so long for people who request marriage annulments to get them? I know a couple of different people who have been waiting for an answer for over a year! They’re not all from the same diocese, either. One of them is really anxious for an answer soon because he wants to get married to somebody else in the Church, and he can’t do that without the annulment. -Christopher

A: Unfortunately, the people whom Christopher mentions are not unique. There is no question that when a Catholic petitions the Church for a declaration that his marriage was null, he ordinarily should not expect a quick response. This is not a problem that is particular to the United States, nor is it a brand-new phenomenon. In his very first annual address to the Roman Rota-which is the Church’s highest court that deals with marriage cases, as we’ll see later in this column-Pope Benedict XVI urged marriage tribunals to provide decisions with “speed and efficacy.” Pope John Paul II had likewise made similar comments to those who handle marriage nullity cases in the past.
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promote abortion

WASHINGTON -- A USA Today/Gallup poll on actions taken by President Obama showed the least support for his January 23 decision to reverse the Mexico City Policy and restore U.S. funding to organizations that perform and promote abortion in developing nations.

Deirdre McQuade, assistant director for policy and communications for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities, commented on the January 31-February 1 survey:
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Quotes on Mary

Scripture meditation: My sister, my spouse, is a garden enclosed, an enclosed garden, a fountain sealed up. Song of Solomon 4:12

Reflection: Happy are those to whom the Holy Spirit reveals the Secret of Mary in order that they may come to know her. Happy are those to whom He opens the "Enclosed Garden" that they may enter and to whom He gives access to the "Sealed Fountain" that they may drink of the living waters of grace.

St. Louis Grignion de Montfort (1673-1716AD)
Mini-Bio: French; priest, missionary, spiritual writer founder of the Daughters of Divine Wisdom and the Missionaries of the Company of Mary

Prayer: O Mary, help me to know you and be devoted to you more each day, so that I may obtain the graces God wants to bestow on me.
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Divine Relevation

Why and in what way is divine revelation transmitted?

God “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4), that is, of Jesus Christ. For this reason, Christ must be proclaimed to all according to his own command, “Go forth and teach all nations” (Matthew 28:19). And this is brought about by Apostolic Tradition.

Quotes on Mary

Scripture meditation: Adam call his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living. Genesis 3:20

Reflection: We are all children of Eve according to the flesh and children of the Blessed Virgin according to the spirit. For all of us, Mary has the love of a mother and the courage of a defender. All find room in her. Sinners find pardon through her prayers, and the righteous are preserved in grace.

St. John of Avila (1499-1569AD)
Mini-Bio: Spanish; priest, preacher, missionary, spiritual director

Prayer: O Mary, you are always a mother to me. Let me be always your child. Help me to come to you in all my joys as well as sorrows.
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private revelations

What is the value of private revelations?

While not belonging to the deposit of faith, private revelations may help a person to live the faith as long as they lead us to Christ. The Magisterium of the Church, which has the duty of evaluating such private revelations, cannot accept those which claim to surpass or correct that definitive Revelation which is Christ.
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Quotes on Mary

Scripture meditation: God sent his Son born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, so that we might receive the full rights of adoption. Galatians 4:4-5

Reflection: God has decreed that the whole of the Redemption should be accomplished through Mary, with Mary and in Mary. Just as nothing was created without Christ, so nothing has been re-created without the Blessed Virgin.

St. Peter Damian (1001-1072AD)
Mini-Bio: Italian; cardinal-bishop, Benedictine prior, spiritual writer, Doctor of the Church

Prayer: O Mary, through you the world has been re-created by Jesus. Help me to contribute to this re-creation by performing all activities in union with you and your Divine Son.


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Revelation of God

The full and definitive stage of God’s revelation is accomplished in his Word made flesh, Jesus Christ, the mediator and fullness of Revelation. He, being the only-begotten Son of God made man, is the perfect and definitive Word of the Father. .

In the sending of the Son and the gift of the Spirit, Revelation is now fully complete, although the faith of the Church must gradually grasp its full significance over the course of centuries.

“In giving us his Son, his only and definitive Word, God spoke everything to us at once in this sole Word, and he has no more to say.” (Saint John of the Cross)
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Nurse suspended

FASTING AND PRAYER

The Vatican Tuesday released the text of Pope Benedict’s Lenten message for 2009, entitled "He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards He was hungry. " As the title suggests, the Message focuses on fasting, which the Pope hopes can be viewed in a positive, not negative, sense, that is, as an act which can lead to God.

“In the very first pages of Sacred Scripture,” he says, “the Lord commands man to abstain from partaking of the prohibited fruit: 'You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat.”
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Jews

What Is Not True About the Good Friday Prayer for Jews
Do Father Remaud's words really clarify the issue or do they rather confuse it even ore?
It seems to me that the words of the prayer, "That God our Lord should illuminate their hearts, so that they will recognize Jesus Christ, the Savior of all men" mean precisely that: That Jews would recognize Jesus as the Messiah of Israel.
Does the Church not teach that "Church and Judaism cannot be seen as two parallel ways of salvation and the Church must witness to Christ as the Redeemer for all" (1985 Notes on the Correct Way to Present the Jews and Judaism in Preaching and Catechesis in the Roman Catholic Church I. 7)?

As founder and director of the organization Catholics for Israel, I share Father Remaud's great respect and appreciation of Judaism, and I wish that Catholics were more informed about the Jewish roots of Catholicism. I also believe that Jews who come to faith in Christ and enter the Church should be encouraged to remain faithful to their Jewish heritage and traditions as Catholic Jews.

It goes without saying that the issue at hand is not about "pressuring people to try to convince them." But it is not clear to me how obscuring the faith of the Church by playing semantic word games or stifling her missionary witness on grounds of political correctness will be helpful. Is the Gospel not "the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first" (Rom 1:16)?

Ariel Ben Ami
Catholics for Israel
www.israelcatholic.com
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Quotes on Mary

Scripture meditation: Behold, the virgin will be with child and will bring forth a son, and they will call his name Emmanuel, which means "God with us." Matthew 1:23

Reflection: The Virgin Mother gave birth from her fruitful womb and inviolate body to Him Who became visible for us, to Him by Whom she had been created. While conceiving, she was a virgin; a virgin in her pregnancy; a virgin while carrying her son; a virgin forever!

St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430AD)
Mini-Bio: North African; bishop, theologian, Doctor of the Church

Prayer: O Mary, grant me the grace to prize the virtue of purity highly and practice it sedulously. Help me always to put my trust in you and find refuge in your motherly intercession.

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speak about God

How can we speak about God?

By taking as our starting point the perfection of man and of the other creatures which are a reflection, albeit a limited one, of the infinite perfection of God, we are able to speak about God with all people. We must however, continually purify our language insofar as it is image-bound and imperfect, realizing that we can never fully express the infinite mystery of God.
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light of reason

Is the light of reason alone sufficient to know the mystery of God? In coming to a knowledge of God by the light of reason alone man experiences many difficulties. Indeed, on his own he is unable to enter into the intimacy of the divine mystery. This is why he stands in need of being enlightened by God's revelation, not only about those things that exceed his understanding, but also about those religious and moral truths which of themselves are not beyond the grasp of human reason, so that even in the present condition of the human race, they can be known by all with ease, with firm certainty and with no admixture of error.
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