Spanish police detained a man suspected of starting a fire at the Basilica of the Holy Family in Barcelona.
The fire destroyed the sacristy and caused major damage to the basilica's crypt. Europa Press reported that the suspect was found hiding in the sacristy with a cigarette lighter. The fire began on April 19 around 10:45 a.m. local time in the crypt. It spread to the sacristy, which was completely destroyed, including a number of paintings and all the liturgical vestments.
It took firefighters 45 minutes to contain the blaze. "Seven or eight" people saw the 65-year-old man set the fire and restrained him until police arrived.
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Food of the Day
Temperance is simply a disposition of the mind that sets bounds to the passions.
-- St. Thomas Aquinas
-- St. Thomas Aquinas
Food of the Day
He who does not meditate acts as one who never looks into the mirror and so does not bother to put himself in order, since he can be dirty without knowing it. The person who meditates and turns his thoughts to God who is the mirror of the soul, seeks to know his defects and tries to correct them, moderates himself in his impulses and puts his conscience in order.
-- Saint Pio of Pietrelcina
-- Saint Pio of Pietrelcina
Food of the Day
Unless you strive after virtues and practice them, you will never grow to be more than dwarfs.
-- St. Theresa of Avila
-- St. Theresa of Avila
Last Supper
Today, Catholics everywhere will celebrate Holy Thursday by attending the Evening Mass of the Lord's Supper. At this Mass, we will read the institution of the Passover (Exod 12, OT reading), sing one of the most famous of the Hallel Psalms (Psalm 118, Responsorial Psalm), and then read the institution of the Eucharist (1 Cor 11, Epistle) and Jesus' act of washing the disciples' feet at the Last Supper (John 13, Gospel). This particular Eucharist is a momentous liturgical moment, where we both recall the institution of the very first Eucharist and enter into the beginning of the calendrical Holy of Holies--the sacred Triduum, climaxing in the feast of Easter (in Latin, Pascha).
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Food of the Day
After you have made a decision that is pleasing to God, the Devil may try to make you have second thoughts. Intensify your prayer time, meditation, and good deeds. For if Satan's temptations merely cause you to increase your efforts to grow in holiness, he'll have an incentive to leave you alone.
-- St. Ignatius of Loyola
-- St. Ignatius of Loyola
Arsonist Destroys Church
Parishioners at St. John Vianney are determined to rebuild after an April 16 arson attack destroyed their Hacienda Heights, Calif. church.
"The church is completely destroyed, I mean down to ashes and dust. The pews, organ, everything," parish pastor Msgr. Tim Nichols told the 5 p.m. Sunday Mass. He presented remnants of the altar and tabernacle and said only a few vessels and vestments were saved.
"The church that (founding pastor) Msgr. James O'Callaghan built is gone. But we're going to build another one, okay?" he said, causing fervent applause. "We will rise again."
The Mass was celebrated in a parish hall on the church property that is typically used for wedding receptions and other events. More than 1,000 people attended.
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"The church is completely destroyed, I mean down to ashes and dust. The pews, organ, everything," parish pastor Msgr. Tim Nichols told the 5 p.m. Sunday Mass. He presented remnants of the altar and tabernacle and said only a few vessels and vestments were saved.
"The church that (founding pastor) Msgr. James O'Callaghan built is gone. But we're going to build another one, okay?" he said, causing fervent applause. "We will rise again."
The Mass was celebrated in a parish hall on the church property that is typically used for wedding receptions and other events. More than 1,000 people attended.
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Utah CCHD head supported gay 'marriage
The new head of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) at the Diocese of Salt Lake City is a former political candidate who supported same-sex "marriage" and the promotion of contraception in the schools; she also opposed attempts to tighten Utah's abortion law.
Jean Welch Hill, who ran as a Democrat for state attorney general in 2008, took over last week as director of the diocesan CCHD and the Peace and Justice Commission. She will also serve as the government liaison, acting as a lobbyist for the diocese.
Hill's 2008 campaign was backed by Planned Parenthood and the homosexual lobby group Equality Utah, with contributions from each.
"I just think this shows incredibly poor judgment," a concerned Catholic member of the diocese close to the situation, who asked not to be identified, told LifeSiteNews about Hill's appointment. "It's very troubling that someone who is for all intents and purposes pro-Planned Parenthood, and who is against school vouchers, and who is a partisan Democrat, is representing our diocese to the government of the state of Utah."
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Jean Welch Hill, who ran as a Democrat for state attorney general in 2008, took over last week as director of the diocesan CCHD and the Peace and Justice Commission. She will also serve as the government liaison, acting as a lobbyist for the diocese.
Hill's 2008 campaign was backed by Planned Parenthood and the homosexual lobby group Equality Utah, with contributions from each.
"I just think this shows incredibly poor judgment," a concerned Catholic member of the diocese close to the situation, who asked not to be identified, told LifeSiteNews about Hill's appointment. "It's very troubling that someone who is for all intents and purposes pro-Planned Parenthood, and who is against school vouchers, and who is a partisan Democrat, is representing our diocese to the government of the state of Utah."
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Tabernacle Destroyed
Several intruders broke into a Spanish church, destroying the tabernacle and crown on a statue of the Virgin Mary.
The break-in occurred at the parish of St. Mary Magdalen in the Spanish city of Ciempozuelos during the early morning hours of April 13. Europa Press reported that the church's pastor told police that $26 was stolen out of a donations box and that the crown on a statue of Mary was destroyed.
The intruders also broke the door of the tabernacle and ransacked the sacristy, leaving vestments and liturgical vessels all over the floor. Investigators searched the entire church and parish grounds to collect evidence.
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The break-in occurred at the parish of St. Mary Magdalen in the Spanish city of Ciempozuelos during the early morning hours of April 13. Europa Press reported that the church's pastor told police that $26 was stolen out of a donations box and that the crown on a statue of Mary was destroyed.
The intruders also broke the door of the tabernacle and ransacked the sacristy, leaving vestments and liturgical vessels all over the floor. Investigators searched the entire church and parish grounds to collect evidence.
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Food of the Day
O Truth, you are present to those who seek your help, and at one and the same time you answer all, though they seek your counsel on different matters. You respond clearly. but not everyone hears clearly. All ask what they wish, but do not always hear the answer they wish. Your best servant is he who is intent not so much on hearing his petition answered, as rather on willing whatever he hears from you.
-- St. Augustine
-- St. Augustine
Food of the Fay
True charity consists in doing good to those who do us evil, and in thus winning them over.
-- St. Alphonsus Liguori
-- St. Alphonsus Liguori
Food of the Day
The everlasting God has in His wisdom, foreseen from eternity the cross that He now presents to you as a gift from His inmost heart. This cross He now sends you, He has considered with His all-knowing eyes, understood with His Divine mind, tested with His wise justice, warmed with His loving arms and weighed with His own hands, to see that it be not one inch too large and not one ounce too heavy for you. He has blessed it with His holy Name, anointed it with His grace, perfumed it with His consolation, taken one last glance at you and your courage, and then sent it to you from heaven, a special greeting from God to you, an alms of the all-merciful love of God. Our business is to love what would have done. He wills our vocation as it is. Let us love that and not trifle away our time hankering after other people's vocations.
-- St. Francis de Sales
-- St. Francis de Sales
MUSLIM TROOPS SLAUGHTER 1,000 CHRISTIANS
At least 1,000 Christians were slaughtered this week in at the Salesian Saint Teresa of the Child Jesus mission in Duekoue, Ivory Coast by Muslim troops loyal to Alassane Ouattara. The state-run media has been slow to report the story.
More below...
The conflict in Ivory Coast began in 2002. The country is divided between the Muslim north and Christian south. This is a conflict that has been brewing for years.
Troops loyal to Alassane Ouattara, the Muslim opposition leader, moved south this past week. They slaughtered 1,000 civilians in Duekoue last week. The victims were mostly men who were shot as they fled the city.
Business Week reported:
Charity workers who reached Duekoue said it appeared the killings had taken place in a single day, shortly after the town fell to troops loyal to Alassane Ouattara, the man internationally-recognised as having won last year's presidential election.
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More below...
The conflict in Ivory Coast began in 2002. The country is divided between the Muslim north and Christian south. This is a conflict that has been brewing for years.
Troops loyal to Alassane Ouattara, the Muslim opposition leader, moved south this past week. They slaughtered 1,000 civilians in Duekoue last week. The victims were mostly men who were shot as they fled the city.
Business Week reported:
Charity workers who reached Duekoue said it appeared the killings had taken place in a single day, shortly after the town fell to troops loyal to Alassane Ouattara, the man internationally-recognised as having won last year's presidential election.
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Modern Church Music
A Grammy winning music director has delivered a stinging attack upon modern Church music. Joseph Cullen, choral director at the London Symphony Orchestra, says that since the 1960s there has been a "glaring lack of sympathy" for "worthy sacred music."
Writing in the April 9 edition of the English weekly The Tablet, he praised the music used during last year's papal visit to the United Kingdom. But he added: "Sadly such excellence is untypical of the vast majority of our Catholic churches. There is a glaring lack of sympathy for the heritage which should be the bedrock of worthy sacred music in today's Church."
In recent years Joseph Cullen has risen to prominence due to his close collaboration with some of the world's leading conductors including Sir Simon Rattle, Valery Gergiev and Sir Colin Davies, with whom he won a Grammy Award in 2006 for their recording of Verdi's "Falstaff."
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Writing in the April 9 edition of the English weekly The Tablet, he praised the music used during last year's papal visit to the United Kingdom. But he added: "Sadly such excellence is untypical of the vast majority of our Catholic churches. There is a glaring lack of sympathy for the heritage which should be the bedrock of worthy sacred music in today's Church."
In recent years Joseph Cullen has risen to prominence due to his close collaboration with some of the world's leading conductors including Sir Simon Rattle, Valery Gergiev and Sir Colin Davies, with whom he won a Grammy Award in 2006 for their recording of Verdi's "Falstaff."
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Food of the Day
True devotion hinders no one, but rather it perfects everything, and whenever it is out of keeping with any person's legitimate vocation, it must be spurious.
-- St. Francis de Sales
-- St. Francis de Sales
Food of the Day
Every virtue in your soul is a precious ornament which makes you dear to God and to man. But holy purity, the queen of virtues, the angelic virtue, is a jewel so precious that those who possess it become like the angels of God in Heaven, even though clothed in mortal flesh.
-- St. John Bosco
-- St. John Bosco
Catholic schools have links to Planned Parenthood
At least 150 Catholic colleges and universities in the US have provided some support for Planned Parenthood, the Cardinal Newman Society has disclosed.
In a detailed new report, the Cardinal Newman Society shows how Catholic schools have given Planned Parenthood opportunities to provide counseling and referrals, to recruit interns and offer fellows, to participate in campus events, and to make presentations to student audiences.
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In a detailed new report, the Cardinal Newman Society shows how Catholic schools have given Planned Parenthood opportunities to provide counseling and referrals, to recruit interns and offer fellows, to participate in campus events, and to make presentations to student audiences.
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At Lazarus’ Tomb
As we draw near to the end of Lent, today’s Gospel clearly has Jesus’ passion and death in view.
That’s why John gives us the detail about Lazarus’ sister, Mary - that she is the one who anointed the Lord for burial (see John 12:3,7). His disciples warn against returning to Judea; Thomas even predicts they will “die with Him” if they go back.
When Lazarus is raised, John notices the tombstone being taken away, as well as Lazarus’ burial cloths and head covering - all details he later notices with Jesus’ empty tomb (see John 20:1,6,7).
Like the blind man in last week’s readings, Lazarus represents all humanity. He stands for “dead man” - for all those Jesus loves and wants to liberate from the bands of sin and death.
Readings:
Ezekiel 37:12-14
Psalm 130:1-8
Romans 8:8-11
John 11:1-45
John even recalls the blind man in his account today (see John 11:37). Like the man’s birth in blindness, Lazarus’ death is used by Jesus to reveal “the glory of God” (see John 9:3). And again like last week, Jesus’ words and deeds give sight to those who believe (see John 11:40).
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That’s why John gives us the detail about Lazarus’ sister, Mary - that she is the one who anointed the Lord for burial (see John 12:3,7). His disciples warn against returning to Judea; Thomas even predicts they will “die with Him” if they go back.
When Lazarus is raised, John notices the tombstone being taken away, as well as Lazarus’ burial cloths and head covering - all details he later notices with Jesus’ empty tomb (see John 20:1,6,7).
Like the blind man in last week’s readings, Lazarus represents all humanity. He stands for “dead man” - for all those Jesus loves and wants to liberate from the bands of sin and death.
Readings:
Ezekiel 37:12-14
Psalm 130:1-8
Romans 8:8-11
John 11:1-45
John even recalls the blind man in his account today (see John 11:37). Like the man’s birth in blindness, Lazarus’ death is used by Jesus to reveal “the glory of God” (see John 9:3). And again like last week, Jesus’ words and deeds give sight to those who believe (see John 11:40).
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Carrying The Rosary Is A Crime
Camille Eid, a professor at the University of Milan, describes the persecution Christians endure in Saudi Arabia. Eid, who has lived in Jeddah-- the nation’s second-largest city-- told the television program “Where God Weeps” that
it is hard to be a lay Catholic in Saudi Arabia because you have to have a very deep background in your faith. You cannot have copies of the Gospel in your home. You cannot have a rosary. You cannot have contact with your Christian friends as a community; you can have Christian friends, you can frequent the foreign communities but you are prohibited from talking about your faith … In other Islamic countries Friday is a holiday so Mass as a community [is allowed], but not on Sunday because Sunday is considered a working day; but even this is not the case in Saudi Arabia.
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it is hard to be a lay Catholic in Saudi Arabia because you have to have a very deep background in your faith. You cannot have copies of the Gospel in your home. You cannot have a rosary. You cannot have contact with your Christian friends as a community; you can have Christian friends, you can frequent the foreign communities but you are prohibited from talking about your faith … In other Islamic countries Friday is a holiday so Mass as a community [is allowed], but not on Sunday because Sunday is considered a working day; but even this is not the case in Saudi Arabia.
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Ban a Nun's Book
A committee of American Roman Catholic bishops announced Wednesday that a popular book about God by Sister Elizabeth A. Johnson, a theologian at Fordham University in New York, should not be used in Catholic schools and universities because it does not uphold church doctrine.
The book, "Quest for the Living God: Mapping Frontiers in the Theology of God," examines different understandings of God through experiences of the poor and oppressed, Holocaust victims, Hispanics, women and people of religions other than Catholicism. Among the chapter titles are "God Acting Womanish" and "Accompanying God of Fiesta."
The bishops' committee on doctrine said in a statement: "The book does not take the faith of the Church as its starting point. Instead, the author employs standards from outside the faith to criticize and to revise in a radical fashion the conception of God revealed in Scripture and taught by the Magisterium," the church's teaching authority according to the popes and bishops.
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The book, "Quest for the Living God: Mapping Frontiers in the Theology of God," examines different understandings of God through experiences of the poor and oppressed, Holocaust victims, Hispanics, women and people of religions other than Catholicism. Among the chapter titles are "God Acting Womanish" and "Accompanying God of Fiesta."
The bishops' committee on doctrine said in a statement: "The book does not take the faith of the Church as its starting point. Instead, the author employs standards from outside the faith to criticize and to revise in a radical fashion the conception of God revealed in Scripture and taught by the Magisterium," the church's teaching authority according to the popes and bishops.
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Abortion rights supporter
Banners were placed over two controversial anti-abortion billboards in Englewood by a group described as "social workers and community members," who did not want their names used, claimed responsibility for the act in a statement emailed to the Tribune. The group said the ads were disrespectful and did not represent the views of the community and that "it wanted to replace the negative, condemning message with a positive one." (Heather Charles, Chicago Tribune / April 4, 2011)
Controversial billboard ads recently unveiled in Chicago's Englewood neighborhood that target the disproportionately high rate of abortion in the black community have been covered by opponents less than a week after they went up.
Two of the three identical ads - which feature an image of President Barack Obama and the words "Every 21 minutes our next possible leader is aborted" - were covered with fabric banners with messages scrawled in red paint.
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Controversial billboard ads recently unveiled in Chicago's Englewood neighborhood that target the disproportionately high rate of abortion in the black community have been covered by opponents less than a week after they went up.
Two of the three identical ads - which feature an image of President Barack Obama and the words "Every 21 minutes our next possible leader is aborted" - were covered with fabric banners with messages scrawled in red paint.
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Ban Race-based Abortions
Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer has signed legislation to ban abortions based on the race or sex of the unborn child or based on the race of a parent.
"Governor Brewer believes society has the responsibility to protect its most vulnerable, the unborn," the governor's spokesman Matthew Benson told The Arizona Republic. He described the bill as consistent with the governor's "pro-life track record."
The law makes it a Class 3 felony knowingly to perform or finance an abortion sought on the grounds of sex or race, with a maximum punishment of 3 1/2 years in prison.
Illinois, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania already have laws barring sex-selective abortion, but the Arizona law is the first to ban race-based abortion, the New York-based Guttmacher Institute says.
Supporters of the legislation said discrimination-based abortions should be prohibited.
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"Governor Brewer believes society has the responsibility to protect its most vulnerable, the unborn," the governor's spokesman Matthew Benson told The Arizona Republic. He described the bill as consistent with the governor's "pro-life track record."
The law makes it a Class 3 felony knowingly to perform or finance an abortion sought on the grounds of sex or race, with a maximum punishment of 3 1/2 years in prison.
Illinois, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania already have laws barring sex-selective abortion, but the Arizona law is the first to ban race-based abortion, the New York-based Guttmacher Institute says.
Supporters of the legislation said discrimination-based abortions should be prohibited.
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Our Lady Of Lourdes Healing
Bishop Emmanuel Delmas of Angers, France confirmed the healing of a man at the Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes.
"This healing can be considered as a personal gift of God for this man, as a fact of grace, as a sign of Christ the Savior," the bishop said March 27.
Serge Francois, 56, had lost almost all mobility in his left leg after complications from two operations left him with a herniated disc. He made a pilgrimage to the shrine on April 13, 2002 to pray for healing.
Bishop Delmas noted that the healing took place after Francois "had finished praying at the grotto and went to the miraculous spring to drink the water and wash his face. A unique gesture of the Virgin Mary can be seen in the healing of this man," he said.
rm
"This healing can be considered as a personal gift of God for this man, as a fact of grace, as a sign of Christ the Savior," the bishop said March 27.
Serge Francois, 56, had lost almost all mobility in his left leg after complications from two operations left him with a herniated disc. He made a pilgrimage to the shrine on April 13, 2002 to pray for healing.
Bishop Delmas noted that the healing took place after Francois "had finished praying at the grotto and went to the miraculous spring to drink the water and wash his face. A unique gesture of the Virgin Mary can be seen in the healing of this man," he said.
rm
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