Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus
St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori, ora pro nobis!
Pope backs us on Communion for the remarried
Pope backs us on Communion for the remarried, says German official
A Purgative Method of Hearing Mass During Advent
HEARING MASS DURING ADVENT
A Purgative Method of Hearing Mass During Advent
To be used as a means of preparing for the Feast of Christmas in conjunction with the practice of frequent Confession.
Before Mass
Prepare for Mass by studying and praying the Propers for the day. Use whatever prayers you are accustomed to use in order to prepare for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. However, now add to your usual preparations an examination of conscience. Examine your conscience to discover a particular sin, fault or weakness that you would like to conquer by means of hearing the Mass with devotion.
Place yourself, momentarily, on the banks of the river Jordan. St. John the Baptist looks at you and commands you: "Prepare the way of the Lord!"
When the Lord comes, do you want Him to find you wallowing in this sin, fault or weakness? Will you want this stain on your soul when your Master comes to take an accounting of your soul? It is time to rid yourself of this fault or weakness! Firmly resolve to be rid of it, for the Lord is near!
The Sign of the Cross and the prayers at the foot of the altar
Meditate on the longings of the patriarchs and prophets for the Advent of the Messiah. The world in which they lived was a constant flux toward and away from the keeping of God’s commandments. How lost would the Israelites have been if they could not look forward to the coming of the Messiah that would set aright their understanding of those holy Commandments and impart to them the power to live them in such a way as to be pleasing to God.
You, like them, must now find hope in looking forward to the Advent of Christ in your heart, so that He can heal your troubled conscience, and give you rest from your labors. Pray that Christ might reign in your heart, and thereby conquer the fault or weakness that troubles you. Beg mercy and forgiveness from God along with the priest and the other ministers at the altar.
The Priest ascends to the altar and the Kyrie
Meditate on your own weakness. Beg God to grant you a complete and honest distrust of yourself and your natural powers. By your own natural powers, have you been able to overcome this fault or weakness? Why after struggling with it do you return to it, like the dog that returns to its own vomit? How many times have you received the sacraments, but to no avail in this struggle? It is because of your secret pride. You still trust in your own powers. This will never do. You will never advance far in virtue or in this particular struggle if you stubbornly cling to your own methods and your own devises. Beg God to grant you a complete and honest distrust of yourself and your natural powers.
The Epistle, Gradual and Gospel
Meditate on the infinite power and majesty of God. He is capable of affecting anything and everything for you if you only ask. How deep and inscrutable is the wisdom of God. How unlimited is His love for His children. Jesus, Our Blessed and Adorable Lord, came as the Babe of Bethlehem to live as our Good Shepherd for thirty-three years. How He sought through all those thorn strewn ways for His lost sheep, even to the shedding the very last drop of His Precious Blood! What will this infinitely powerful and indelibly loving Lord not do for you if you at this moment cry out to Him for help? Will He not lift you up on His shoulders and carry you back to the flock? Pray that God might grant you an unquestioning trust in Him, and in Him alone.
The Offertory
So weak and small are you in your own devises, you can’t even hear this Mass without fruit or benefit if God should withhold His grace from you. But this God came to you as a mere Babe. He was a Child in His mother’s arms, a most adorable and lovely Child, mild, sweet, and kind. He who considered equality with God something not to be grasped at, now at this moment is about to stoop down again. He does so to visit you, and He does so to grant your desires. Having complete distrust in yourself, but total confidence in this all-powerful, yet loving, Lord, offer to Him the weakness or fault that troubles you. At His first coming, He came as a gentle Child, so as to draw all men of good will and humble heart to Him. Now He comes to you in the Mass as a gentle physician to make you whole.
The Sanctus and Canon
The night sky has not yet broken open with the joyous chorus of the angelic voices, nor has Gabriel visited the shepherds who keep their lonely watch in silence and sorrow. As the ringing of the sanctuary bells fades, and the last echo of the chanted Sanctus diminishes, this same silence, endured by the shepherds, now falls on your soul. How poor and destitute you are as you wait and watch. In your heart cry out for deliverance; cry out for your Messiah, just as the poor shepherds frequently did in their own hearts as they kept their silent watch.
At the Consecrations
Christ is born in the humble stable, wrapped in swaddling clothes, and laid in a manger filled with straw. The straw represents His coming sufferings on Calvary. Your Lord has come, pricked first by the straw in a manger, then later by the nails of the Cross, to deliver you! To heal you! To make you a son of God! What a gift this is! Adore Him under the appearances of bread and wine. Worship Him Who has come to you at this very moment. Is there any mercy He will hold back from you when He has given you His very own Flesh and Blood?
The Líbera nos and fraction and the commingling of the Sacred Body and Blood
The moment is quickly approaching for you to take the medicine of eternal life. Christ Our Lord has made of Himself a perfect offering for you and for your deliverance from what troubles you. Meditate on the price He paid. Think about the scourging, His crown of thorns, the nails that pierced His precious flesh, and the agony He endured for three hours on the Cross. He suffered for your salvation, and He suffered that you might live in Him and with Him.
The Agnus Dei
The divine plan was not completed in Our Blessed Lord’s first Advent. Rather the divine plan will be completed definitively at the end of time, when on that last and dreadful day Jesus Christ will return like the lightening that flashes from one end of the sky to the other. He will come in might and power, and His coming will bring joy for the elect, but dread for those who have forsaken Christ, ignored Christ, and disowned His gift of sanctifying and actual grace.
Christ comes to you now as a gentle and kind physician, and He will heal you of this weakness or fault if you but have total confidence in Him and distrust of yourself. However, man’s secret pride is always a force to be reckoned with. It insinuates itself, tricks the soul, and causes despair after it succeeds in leading you back into sin. You are about to receive the heavenly medicine for your soul, but stoke a fiery fear in your heart of returning once more to trust of self, and thereby fall again into this weakness or fault.
At Communion
Ask the Blessed Virgin Mary to lend you her Immaculate Heart, and then beg her to pray that you might be filled with the Holy Ghost. Receive the Lord actually or spiritually, and quiet your mind. It is Christ that acts in you so that you might be pleasing to God. He will shape your will and conscience. Allow Him to do so in peace. Place yourself before the manager, the manager from which you have fed on the Bread of Life, and listen to the Babe of Bethlehem.
The Prayers during the Ablutions
You now possess in your heart the Lord of the Universe who has come to you with all the power of the infinite God and all the love of the Good Shepherd. Beg Him to keep you in His graces, to open your mind and heart to the teachings of Holy Mother Church, and to order your life and circumstances to afford you a victory over this particular sin, fault or weakness.
The Dismissal, Blessing and Last Gospel
The combat is not now over. It will not be over until you breathe your last breath. However, that is not the end. There is an eternal reward for those who have fought well and eternal damnation for those who were cowards in the spiritual combat. If you have asked earnestly, God has certainly given you the graces necessary to be victorious. However, you must still cooperate with Him, and God endeavors to perfect you by trying you like gold is tried by fire.
Do not be discouraged if you should fall or give into weakness. God permits man to fall in proportion to his pride. If you commit this fault or fall into this weakness again, immediately probe your consciousness, entreat the Lord to enlighten you and encourage your distrust of self and increase your dependence on Him. God has allowed you to fall so that you might discover your hidden pride. Do not trouble yourself, but quickly and peacefully return to your former practice, seek the consolation of forgiveness in the Sacrament of Confession, and return with ardor and devotion to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
The first Advent of Christ was preceded by long wanderings in the desert, wars, dissension, and exiles. Why should you consider yourself entitled to anything else? Prepare yourself by the sustaining graces afforded to you by the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and frequent Confession. By steadily endeavoring on this path, walking it in unity with the sufferings of Christ, Who leads us by His own example, you will attain the victory.
More on that 50 Million Cardinal Timothy Dolan hid from Abuse Victims!
Milwaukee clergy abuse victims ask Vatican to make cemetery money available to settle claims
Photo: Cardinal Dolan praying with the Muslims at NY. Mosque
MILWAUKEE — Clergy sexual abuse victims and priests in Wisconsin said Tuesday that they've asked Roman Catholic officials at the Vatican to move more than $50 million from a cemetery trust fund and make it available to settle bankruptcy claims against the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.
The letter to the Congregation for the Clergy, the church office that oversees abuse cases, essentially asks it to undo an order that authorized New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan to create the trust fund in 2007, when he was archbishop in Milwaukee.
The cemetery fund had been seen as one of the archdiocese's few significant assets when it filed for bankruptcy in 2011, but a federal judge declared the money off-limits last summer, saying the trust was protected by the First Amendment's freedom of religion. That decision, coupled with the archdiocese's recent announcement of a settlement with one of its major insurers, has raised questions about how much money is available to pay the hundreds of sexual abuse victims who have filed claims in bankruptcy court.
The letter sent Friday has no bearing on U.S. court proceedings but instead is an appeal to the church to do justice according to its own teachings and legal code, said Rev. James Connell, a former vice chancellor of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee and co-founder of the Survivors and Clergy Leadership Alliance. He acknowledged the appeal was unusual and a Vatican response would be "historic."
But, he said, "We have to try."
The archdiocese created the cemetery trust fund in 2007 after agreeing the year before to a $16 million settlement with nine people abused by Wisconsin priests while the priests were living in California. In a letter to the Vatican, Dolan said the trust would provide "an improved protection of these funds from any legal claim and liability."
Dolan's prediction appeared accurate in July, when U.S. District Judge Rudolph T. Randa determined the money could be used only to care for and operate Catholic cemeteries. The creditors committee, which represents sexual abuse victims as well as others with bankruptcy claims against the archdiocese, appealed that decision after learning that Randa's parents were buried in one of those cemeteries.
The appeal is pending before the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Tim Nixon, a lawyer for the cemetery trust fund, said that while he respects victims' right to appeal to the Vatican, he believes the matter should be settled in court.
A Vatican spokesman in the U.S. did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Jerry Topczewski, chief of staff for current Archbishop Jerome Listecki, said the trust merely formalized the archdiocese's longstanding practice of setting aside income from the sale of graves to maintain the cemetery.
Meanwhile, the archdiocese announced earlier this month that it had reached a deal with Lloyd's, of London, to buy back insurance policies issued in the 1960s and 1970s, when much of the abuse occurred. The deal, which needs judicial approval, relieves Lloyd's of liability in return for an undisclosed sum; the archdiocese has said details will be included in its yet-to-be-filed bankruptcy reorganization plan. Negotiations with other insurers continue.
These events have raised questions about how the archdiocese might settle with sexual abuse victims. Individual payments comparable to those in other U.S. church bankruptcy cases would require the archdiocese to come up with at least $158 million, according to the Survivors and Clergy Leadership Alliance. Peter Isely, another co-founder, said victims in Milwaukee shouldn't expect less, and the reorganization plan will be a sign of the archdiocese's priorities.
"Money doesn't lie," Isely said. "Money says this is what I care about."
The cemetery fund had been seen as one of the archdiocese's few significant assets when it filed for bankruptcy in 2011, but a federal judge declared the money off-limits last summer, saying the trust was protected by the First Amendment's freedom of religion. That decision, coupled with the archdiocese's recent announcement of a settlement with one of its major insurers, has raised questions about how much money is available to pay the hundreds of sexual abuse victims who have filed claims in bankruptcy court.
The letter sent Friday has no bearing on U.S. court proceedings but instead is an appeal to the church to do justice according to its own teachings and legal code, said Rev. James Connell, a former vice chancellor of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee and co-founder of the Survivors and Clergy Leadership Alliance. He acknowledged the appeal was unusual and a Vatican response would be "historic."
But, he said, "We have to try."
The archdiocese created the cemetery trust fund in 2007 after agreeing the year before to a $16 million settlement with nine people abused by Wisconsin priests while the priests were living in California. In a letter to the Vatican, Dolan said the trust would provide "an improved protection of these funds from any legal claim and liability."
Dolan's prediction appeared accurate in July, when U.S. District Judge Rudolph T. Randa determined the money could be used only to care for and operate Catholic cemeteries. The creditors committee, which represents sexual abuse victims as well as others with bankruptcy claims against the archdiocese, appealed that decision after learning that Randa's parents were buried in one of those cemeteries.
The appeal is pending before the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Tim Nixon, a lawyer for the cemetery trust fund, said that while he respects victims' right to appeal to the Vatican, he believes the matter should be settled in court.
A Vatican spokesman in the U.S. did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Jerry Topczewski, chief of staff for current Archbishop Jerome Listecki, said the trust merely formalized the archdiocese's longstanding practice of setting aside income from the sale of graves to maintain the cemetery.
Meanwhile, the archdiocese announced earlier this month that it had reached a deal with Lloyd's, of London, to buy back insurance policies issued in the 1960s and 1970s, when much of the abuse occurred. The deal, which needs judicial approval, relieves Lloyd's of liability in return for an undisclosed sum; the archdiocese has said details will be included in its yet-to-be-filed bankruptcy reorganization plan. Negotiations with other insurers continue.
These events have raised questions about how the archdiocese might settle with sexual abuse victims. Individual payments comparable to those in other U.S. church bankruptcy cases would require the archdiocese to come up with at least $158 million, according to the Survivors and Clergy Leadership Alliance. Peter Isely, another co-founder, said victims in Milwaukee shouldn't expect less, and the reorganization plan will be a sign of the archdiocese's priorities.
"Money doesn't lie," Isely said. "Money says this is what I care about."
http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/233495201.html
Pope hinted that he wants to see an end to the so-called 'wafer wars,'
(CNN) - Pope Francis on Tuesday called for big changes in the Roman Catholic Church – including at the very top – saying the church needs to rethink rules and customs that are no longer widely understood or effective for evangelizing.
"I prefer a Church which is bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been out on the streets, rather than a Church which is unhealthy from being confined and from clinging to its own security," the Pope said in a major new statement.
"I do not want a Church concerned with being at the center and then ends by being caught up in a web of obsessions and procedures," Francis added.
The Pope's address, called an "apostolic exhortation," is part mission statement, part pep talk for the world's 1.5 billion Catholics. Francis' bold language and sweeping call for change are likely to surprise even those who've grown accustomed to his unconventional papacy.
"Not everyone will like this document," said the Rev. James Martin, a Jesuit priest and author in New York. "For it poses a fierce challenge to the status quo."
And it's not just a verbal challenge, the Pope said on Tuesday.
"I want to emphasize that what I am trying to express here has a programmatic significance and important consequences."
Since his election in March, Pope Francis, the first pontiff to hail from Latin America, has made headlines by decrying the iniquities of modern capitalism, embracing the poor and people with disabilities and reaching out to gays and lesbians.
At the same time, the 77-year-old pontiff has sought to to awaken a spirit of joy and compassion in the church, scolding Catholic "sourpusses" who hunt down rule-breakers and calling out a "tomb psychology" that "slowly transforms Christians into mummies in a museum."
"An evangelizer must never look like someone who has just come back from a funeral!" the Pope said.
Officially known in Latin as "Evangelii Gaudium" (The Joy of the Gospel), the 85-page statement released on Tuesday is the first official document written entirely by Pope Francis. (An earlier document was co-written by Francis and Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI.)
Although Francis sprinkles the statement with citations of previous popes and Catholic luminaries like St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Augustine, the new pontiff makes a bold call for the church to rethink even long-held traditions.
"In her ongoing discernment, the Church can also come to see that certain customs not directly connected to the heart of the Gospel, even some which have deep historical roots, are no longer properly understood and appreciated," the Pope said.
"Some of these customs may be beautiful, but they no longer serve as means of communicating the Gospel. We should not be afraid to re-examine them. At the same time, the Church has rules or precepts which may have been quite effective in their time, but no longer have the same usefulness for directing and shaping people’s lives."
Such statements mark a sharp break from Benedict XVI, a more tradition-bound pope who focused on cleaning up cobwebs of unorthodoxy in the church.
By contrast, in "Evangelii" Francis repeats his calls for Catholics to stop "obsessing" about culture war issues and to focus more on spreading the Gospel, especially to the poor and marginalized.
The outside world, particularly its economic inequalities, didn't escape Francis' notice either.
In a section of "Evangelii" entitled "some challenges to today's world," he sharply criticized what he called an "idolatry of money" and "the inequality that spawns violence."
The Pope also blasted "trickle-down economics," saying the theory "expresses a crude and naïve trust in the goodness of those wielding economic power."
“Meanwhile,” Francis said, “the excluded are still waiting.”
But the bulk of Francis' statement addresses the church, which, he said, should not be afraid to "get its shoes soiled by the mud of the street."
The Pope also hinted that he wants to see an end to the so-called "wafer wars," in which Catholic politicians who support abortion rights are denied Holy Communion. His comments could also be taken as another sign that he plans to reform church rules that prevent divorced Catholics from receiving the Eucharist.
"Everyone can share in some way in the life of the Church; everyone can be part of the community, nor should the doors of the sacraments be closed for simply any reason," Francis said.
"The Eucharist, although it is the fullness of sacramental life, is not a prize for the perfect but a powerful medicine and nourishment for the weak."
Even so, Francis reiterated the church's stand against abortion, defending it against critics who call such arguments "ideological, obscurantist and conservative."
"Precisely because this involves the internal consistency of our message about the value of the human person, the Church cannot be expected to change her position on this question," Francis said.
The Pope also reiterated previous rejections on ordaining women, saying the topic is "not open for discussion."
But that doesn't mean the church values men more than women, he said.
"We need to create still broader opportunities for a more incisive female presence in the Church," the Pope said.
Francis also said he expects other parts of the church to change, and called on Catholics to be unafraid of trying new things.
"More than by fear of going astray, my hope is that we will be moved by the fear of remaining shut up within structures which give us a false sense of security, within rules which make us harsh judges, within habits which make us feel safe, while at our door people are starving."
Francis didn't mention specific reforms, but he suggested that it could include changes at the very top of the church.
"Since I am called to put into practice what I ask of others, I too must think about a conversion of the papacy," he said.
The church's centralization, where all roads lead to Rome, and the "we've always done it this way" type of thinking have hindered Catholics' ability to minister to local people in far-flung places, Francis suggested.
"I invite everyone to be bold and creative in this task of rethinking the goals, structures, style and methods of evangelization in their respective communities," the Pope said.
Martin, the Jesuit priest and author, said he could not recall ever "reading a papal document that was so thought-provoking, surprising and invigorating."
"The document’s main message is that Catholics should be unafraid of new ways of proclaiming the Gospel and new ways of thinking about the church."
Pope Francis calls for power to be taken away from Vatican
Pope Francis calls for power to be taken away from Vatican - Bishops should have 'genuine doctrinal authority'
Pope Francis has outlined a mission statement for his papacy, arguing the power of the Roman Catholic Church is too concentrated in the Vatican.
The Pontiff also called on Catholics to be more engaged in helping the needy and to welcome those of other faiths.
Continuing his markedly different path, Pope Francis says excessive centralisation within the church is complicating life and the papacy does not have all the answers to issues facing the world.
The Catholic leader said he was "open to suggestions" on how his role should change, using an informal style in his first "apostolic exhortation".
"Nor do I believe that the papal magisterium should be expected to offer a definitive or complete word on every question which affects the Church and the world," he said.
Bishops should have "genuine doctrinal authority", he said in the document - a type of long open letter used by popes to communicate with their faithful.
Pope Francis has instituted a council of cardinals to advise him on reforms including a shake-up of the Vatican bureaucracy after a series of high-profile scandals in recent years and disgruntlement in many local churches.
He added the church had to embrace change rather than stick to old habits.
Pope Francis said he would rather a church that was bruised, hurting and dirty because it had been on the streets rather than one unhealthy clinging to its own security.
The pontiff said ordination of women priests was not open to question, but said the church needs to do more to support pregnant women who are victims of rape or in extreme poverty.
The Vatican this month also launched a worldwide consultation of Catholic dioceses including questions about pastoral care for same-sex couples and re-married divorcees, but there was no mention of any changes foreseen on these hot-button issues.
Emphasis on helping the poor, reaching out to other faiths
In the document Pope Francis stressed the importance of the Church's social message, which he has made a priority.
"The poor and the poorer peoples are accused of violence, yet without equal opportunities the different forms of aggression and conflict will find a fertile terrain for growth and eventually explode," he said.
Turning to other faiths, the pope said ties with Islam had taken on "great importance" for the Catholic Church because of the growing number of Muslim immigrants in many traditionally Christian countries.
"We Christians should embrace with affection and respect Muslim immigrants to our countries in the same way that we hope and ask to be received and respected in countries of Islamic tradition," he said.
"I ask and I humbly entreat those countries to grant Christians freedom to worship and to practice their faith, in light of the freedom which followers of Islam enjoy in Western countries."
Much of the exhortation was devoted to spiritual issues, particularly the need for a more joyful approach to faith reflected in the document's Latin title "Evangelii Gaudium" (The Joy of the Gospel).
"There are Christians whose lives seem like Lent without Easter," he said, adding that the Christian message should not be "a catalogue of sins and faults" and should be about striving for "the good of others".
The document included practical tips from Francis for priests on how to give better homilies as well as a call for them to be closer to their parishioners.
"Our church doors should always be open, so that if someone, moved by the Spirit, comes there looking for God, he or she will not find a closed door," he said.
"I do not want a Church concerned with being at the centre and then ends by being caught up in a web of obsessions and procedures," he said, condemning "structures which give us a false sense of security... while at our door people are starving".
A crucifix is now just a fashion statement
'A crucifix is now just a fashion statement and has lost religious meaning': Justin Welby says the purpose of wearing a cross has been lost
- Archbishop of Canterbury says the sign has been trivialised
- He said it was once a 'badge of shame' which is now popular
- Christian leader made claims in a foreword of a new book
By EMILY DAVIES
|
The Most Rev Justin Welby claimed the cross has been trivialised and is now a sign of beauty as well as faithWearing the Crucifix is now a fashion statement with no religious meaning, according to the Archbishop of Canterbury.
The Most Rev Justin Welby said the Cross has been trivialised and ceases to shock or challenge people.
Archbishop Welby wrote that the symbol should represent the ‘deepest encounter and radical change’ for Christians.
He added: ‘For those early Christians it was a badge of shame.
‘Today it is more commonly seen as a symbol of beauty to hang around your neck.
‘As a friend of mine used to say, you might as well hang a tiny golden gallows or an electric chair around your neck.’
In a foreword to a book which will be published in the run-up to Lent next year, Archbishop Welby continued: ‘Are we now living with a symbol emptied of power by time and fashion?
‘Christianity with a powerless cross is Christianity without a throne for Christ or an aspiration for Christians.
‘A cross that has no weight is not worth carrying. To look through the cross is to seek its weight.’
Archbishop Welby wrote in his foreword that the fact that the early church stuck to the story of the crucifixion – despite attacks on it – proves that it is true.
He added: ‘For God to be fully human, and then to die an ignominious death reserved for a criminal, seems so extraordinary and pointless as to be inexplicable.
‘Indeed in the early centuries of Christianity many of the accusations against the church started with the assumption that you could not seriously believe in a God who undertook such a terrible and dishonourable death.’
He made the comments in his first Lent book. Archbishops have published such books for decades.
They look at theological or devotional Christian themes relevant to Lent, in preparation for the celebration of the Passion and Resurrection of Jesus Christ in Holy Week and Easter.
The book, Looking Through The Cross, was written by Dr Graham Tomlin, the Dean of St Mellitus, a theological college in London.
The Archbishop made the statement in the foreword to a book, written by Dr Graham Tomlin, the Dean of St Mellitus
It will be published just before Lent next year, which begins on March 5. Dr Tomlin said of his book: ‘First, it looks at the Cross, trying to make sense of this strange idea, that God the Father allowed his son to die a gruesome and painful death.
‘The rest of the book is an exercise, not so much of looking at, but looking through.
‘It proceeds to view the Cross not only as an object to be studied or examined, but also as a lens through which we might look at the world.’
Crucifixion was used by the Romans to execute robbers and other common criminals.
Constantine, the first Christian Emperor, abolished the practice in the Roman Empire in the 4th century AD.
The Cross became the symbol of Christianity early in the history of the Church, but it had also been used also as a symbol by other religions and cultures.
Despite Archbishop Welby’s concerns, the Crucifix remains a powerful symbol for many Christians.
After a legal battle, the European Court of Human Rights issued a landmark ruling earlier this year saying that Christians may wear a cross at work.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2515389/Archbishop-Canterbury-Justin-Welby-says-crucifix-lost-religious-meaning.html#ixzz2m5iO9f00
Bp. Ricken: "Bishops of the United States happily receive this exhortation with faith and look forward to sharing it in our dioceses."
Pope Francis is leading the world to deeper faith, and the U.S. bishops look forward to sharing his words in their dioceses, said the chairman of the Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Bishop David L. Ricken of Green Bay, Wisconsin, welcomed the release of Evangelii Gaudium (The Joy of the Gospel), the pope’s post-synodal apostolic exhortation to 2012’s Synod of Bishops on the New Evangelization.
“I invite all Christians, everywhere, at this very moment, to a renewed personal encounter with Jesus Christ, or at least an openness to letting him encounter them; I ask all of you to do this unfailingly each day,” Pope Francis wrote in the opening of the document. The pope presented the exhortation over the weekend in Rome, at events commemorating the end of the Year of Faith, which began October 11, 2012.
It is the pope’s official response to the discussions held as part of the Synod of Bishops on the New Evangelization, which occurred October 7-28, 2012, in the Vatican. Bishops from around the world gathered to discuss how the Catholic Church can renew the energy of Catholics, strengthen their faith and better share the Gospel with the rest of the world.
“Pope Francis is a living model of the New Evangelization,” said Bishop Ricken. “He is showing us how to live the Gospels and reach out to the world with what every person needs, a relationship with God. He is leading the world to deeper faith, and the bishops of the United States happily receive this exhortation with faith and look forward to sharing it in our dioceses.”
The Vatican has posted the exhortation online:www.vatican.va/holy_father/francesco/apost_exhortations/documents/papa-francesco_esortazione-ap_20131124_evangelii-gaudium_en.html. . .
USCCB has also made the exhortation available for order online:www.usccbpublishing.org/
The Synod of Bishops is an international gathering of Catholic bishops, convened every few years for discussion and to advise the pope on specific concerns related to the Church and the world. It was first convened by Pope Paul VI in 1967 and has subsequently met to discuss Scripture, the Eucharist, priesthood, the laity, pastoral circumstances in different regions of the world and other topics. Pope Francis has announced an Extraordinary Synod on Pastoral Challenges to the Family in the Context of Evangelization, to be held in October 2014, followed by an Ordinary Synod on the same topic in 2015.
Islam and the Quran are opposed to every form of violence
Pope Francis: Islam and the Quran are opposed to every form of violence
In his first apostolic exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium ("The Joy of the Gospel"), Pope Francis pontificates about Islam.
Here's what he said in paragraph 253.
It is, of course, obvious to anyone who has read the Quran or today's newspaper that the pope's generalization is false. Islam is not opposed to every form of violence, and neither is the Quran.
Here are some verses from the Quran that the pope assures us are completely nonviolent.
Here's what he said in paragraph 253.
Faced with disconcerting episodes of violent fundamentalism, our respect for true followers of Islam should lead us to avoid hateful generalizations, for authentic Islam and the proper reading of the Koran are opposed to every form of violence.So according to Pope Francis, we should replace "hateful generalizations" about Islam and the Quran with the hopeful (and obviously false) generalizations that Islam and the Quran "are opposed to every form of violence."
It is, of course, obvious to anyone who has read the Quran or today's newspaper that the pope's generalization is false. Islam is not opposed to every form of violence, and neither is the Quran.
Here are some verses from the Quran that the pope assures us are completely nonviolent.
- Slay them wherever ye find them, and drive them out of the places whence they drove you out ... If they attack you (there) then slay them. Such is the reward of disbelievers. Quran 2:191
- Fight them until persecution is no more, and religion is for Allah. 2:193
- We shall cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve. 3:151
- Men are in charge of women, because Allah hath made the one of them to excel the other. ... So good women are the obedient. ... As for those from whom ye fear rebellion, admonish them and banish them to beds apart, and scourge them. 4:34
- Those who disbelieve Our revelations, We shall expose them to the Fire. As often as their skins are consumed We shall exchange them for fresh skins that they may taste the torment. 4:56
- Those who believe do battle for the cause of Allah; and those who disbelieve do battle for the cause of idols. So fight the minions of the devil. 4:76
- Choose not friends from them [unbelievers]. ... Take them and kill them wherever ye find them. 4:89
- Take them [unbelievers] and kill them wherever ye find them. Against such We have given you clear warrant. 4:91
- The disbelievers are an open enemy to you. 4:101
- Choose not disbelievers for (your) friends in place of believers. Would ye give Allah a clear warrant against you? 4:144
- The only reward of those who make war upon Allah and His messenger ... will be that they will be killed or crucified, or have their hands and feet on alternate sides cut off, or will be expelled out of the land. Such will be their degradation in the world, and in the Hereafter theirs will be an awful doom.5:33
- As for the thief, both male and female, cut off their hands. ... An exemplary punishment from Allah. 5:38
- Take not the Jews and the Christians for friends. ... He among you who taketh them for friends is (one) of them. 5:51
- The Jews ... We have cast among them enmity and hatred till the Day of Resurrection. 5:64
- I will throw fear into the hearts of those who disbelieve. Then smite the necks and smite of them each finger. 8:12
- Fight them until persecution is no more, and religion is all for Allah. 8:39
- It is not for any prophet to have captives until he hath made slaughter in the land. 8:67
- Slay the idolaters wherever ye find them, and take them (captive), and besiege them, and prepare for them each ambush. 9:5
- Choose not your fathers nor your brethren for friends if they take pleasure in disbelief rather than faith. Whoso of you taketh them for friends, such are wrong-doers. 9:23
- The Jews ... and the Christians ... Allah (Himself) fighteth against them. How perverse are they! 9:30
- O Prophet! Strive against the disbelievers and the hypocrites! Be harsh with them. Their ultimate abode is hell, a hapless journey's end. 9:73
- O ye who believe! Fight those of the disbelievers who are near to you, and let them find harshness in you. 9:123
- But as for those who disbelieve, garments of fire will be cut out for them; boiling fluid will be poured down on their heads, Whereby that which is in their bellies, and their skins too, will be melted; And for them are hooked rods of iron. 22:19-21
- Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. And those with him are hard against the disbelievers and merciful among themselves. 48:29
- Those who take for friends a folk with whom Allah is wroth ... Allah hath prepared for them a dreadful doom. 58:14
- Tell their brethren who disbelieve among the People of the Scripture ... that they verily are liars. 59:11
- O ye who believe! Choose not My enemy and your enemy for allies. Do ye give them friendship when they disbelieve? 60:1
- O Prophet! Strive against the disbelievers and the hypocrites, and be stern with them. Hell will be their home, a hapless journey's end. 66:9
What Traditional Catholics are Thankful For
What Traditional Catholics are Thankful For
The greatest thing that we are thankful for is Salvation and the Hope of Eternal Life given to us free by Our Savior Jesus Christ the King. We have great hope that we, after living through this “valley of tears”, will spend eternity in the presence of God the Father, God the Son and the Holy Spirit. We will be with Mary and all the angels and saints rejoicing in God’s extreme love for ever.
But as we traditional Catholics believe, and know so well, it will take deep faith, prayer and a life in total conformity with God’s revealed truth. That is what we are so thankful for too, for the Church which passed on the truth and the Holy liturgy of all ages.
And thanks go to God for those Catholics who came before us and who, in their time, have been tortured and died to pass it on to us today. God is thanking them also forever in Heaven. Don’t forget God is grateful too, for every small action we offer to Him, the sick, the poor and strangers.
We are thankful to God for giving us Mary as our mother to give us Jesus graces and to intercede for us. She is always there when we need help and love.
We are thankful for the great sacrifice of Jesus on the cross that allows us to be forgiven of our sins in Holy Confession. We do not deserve it. But Jesus in His mercy, gives us the new life of Grace every time we really are sorry and humbly confess our sins.
We are also thankful to our parents and friends who passed on to us the Catholic faith by taking us to the baptismal font of new life as infants. Our family who shared the Bible and catechism with us. 
We are thankful for LIFE. God gave us life through our parents. Thank God for keeping us in existence and for giving us the sun, the moon, the earth, the universe, food, water, family, children, joy, animals, plants, flowers and all that is contained int the universe.
Pope Francis shouldn't bite the hand that feeds
Pope Francis shouldn't bite the hand that feeds the Catholic Church
Pope Francis doesn’t celebrate Thanksgiving. So there is no need for him today to thank capitalism, a system that has done far more to alleviate poverty, his pet crusade, than the institution he leads. But he should take a pause from railing against it — not least because it enables the very activity that he cherishes most: charity.
For about the sixth time since assuming office eight months ago, the pope this week offered a sweeping condemnation of “unfettered” capitalism, blaming its alleged obsession with the “golden calf” for perpetuating poverty, oppression, tyranny and much else.
The pope claims that the “opinion” that “economic growth, encouraged by the free market, will inevitably succeed in bringing about greater justice and inclusiveness” has “never been confirmed by the facts.” (He obviously hasn't been listening to Bono, which speaks well of his taste.)
No doubt such purple prose about “exclusion” will gain him adoring fans among the left — notwithstanding the irony that he is speaking for an institution that excludes half of humanity — women — from the ranks of priesthood. But is capitalism the cause of poverty and is redistribution the cure?Therefore, governments “charged with the vigilance of the common good” must take strong steps to “exercise any form of control,” including redistributive taxes, to stop the march toward a society where “those excluded are no longer its underside or its fringes or its disenfranchised — they are no longer even part of it.”
No and nyet.
Poverty is the default condition of humanity. It is the given. What needs explaining is wealth. And the greatest engine of wealth-creation is the market. By raising productivity and lowering the price of goods, markets certainly help the rich, but they help the poor more. Capitalism’s most impressive achievement, Joseph Schumpeter noted, was not providing more silk stockings for the Queen, “but in bringing them within reach of factory girls.”
In 1900, it took an average worker in the West about an hour to earn a half a gallon of milk. In 1930, half an hour. And today? Scarcely a few minutes.
If all the profits of the rich in America were handed over to workers, notes economic historianDeirdre McCloskey, the workers would only be 30 percent better off. “But in the last two centuries we're 3,000 percent better off,” she wrote.
But capitalism hasn’t only produced gains in the West. Between 1990 and 2010, the number of people in extreme poverty as a share of the total population in developing countries has been cut in half, from 43 percent to 21 percent — a reduction of one billion people. Why? Because China and India jettisoned big government socialism, the very thing the pope advocates, and liberalized their economies.
It is no exaggeration to say that charity is a balm for poverty but capitalism is the cure -- or in Bono's evocative mixed metaphor, capitalism's “job creators and innovators are the key, and aid is just a bridge."
Indeed, without capitalism, even this balm would be in short supply, or this bridge too short.
Capitalism puts more discretionary income in the pockets of people to devote to charitable pursuits. It is hardly a coincidence that America donates over $300 billion annually toward charitable causes at home and abroad, the highest of any country on a per capita basis.
The church itself is a big beneficiary of this capitalist largesse, with its U.S. wing alone contributing 60 percent to its overall global wealth. Some of this money comes from donations, but a big chunk comes, actually, from directly partaking in capitalism: The church is reportedly the largest landowner in Manhattan, the financial center of the global capitalism system, whose income puts undisclosed sums into its coffers.
So the new pope needs to be careful not to bite the hand that feeds his institution and its work. Otherwise, neither he nor the poor in whose name he is speaking will have much to be thankful for.
Happy Thanksgiving.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)