Lee James Rigby, British Soldier

Because I couldn't leave the posting of the Muslim extremist standing as it was, I'm posting a picture of the poor soldier who suffered at their hands and lost his life. He has a baby son who will never know his father. It breaks my heart that these kind of vile acts are tolerated so willingly.

The Fanatics who threaten us.....

Published on May 22, 2013

MUSLIM EXTREMIST BEHEAD British SOLIDER in London.
A British soldier has been butchered on a busy London street by two Islamist terrorists, one of whom proclaimed afterwards: "An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth."

In the first terrorist murder on the British mainland since the 7/7 suicide bombings of 2005, the men attempted to behead the soldier, hacking at him like a "piece of meat" in front of dozens of witnesses, before both were shot by police who took around 20 minutes to arrive.
After reading about this at The Crescat and Abbey Roads I searched around for confirmation and what my friends knew or thought about this terrible and vicious crime. My cousin posted the following by a German survivor of the holocaust during the Nazi reign:
The author of this email is Dr.Emanuel Tanya, a well-known and
well-respected psychiatrist.
_____________________________________________________

A man, whose family was German aristocracy prior to World War II,owned a number of large industries and estates.

When he was asked how many German people were true Nazis, the answer he gave can guide our attitude toward fanaticism.

'Very few people were true Nazis,' he said, 'but many enjoyed the return of German pride, and many more were too busy to care.
I was one of those who just thought the Nazis were a bunch of fools. So, the majority just sat back and let it all happen. Then, before we knew it they owned us, and we had lost control, and the end of the world had come.

My family lost everything. I ended up in a concentration camp and the Allies destroyed my factories.'

We are told again and again by 'experts' and 'talking heads' that Islam is the religion of peace and that the vast majority of Muslims just want to live in peace.

Although this unqualified assertion may be true, it is entirely irrelevant. It is meaningless fluff, meant to make us feel better, and meant to somehow diminish the spectre of fanatics rampaging across the globe in
the name of Islam.

The fact is that the fanatics rule Islam at this moment in
history.It is the fanatics who march. It is the fanatics who wage any one of 50 shooting wars worldwide

.
It is the fanatics who systematically slaughter Christian or
tribal groups throughout Africa and are gradually taking over the entire continent in an Islamic wave.
It is the fanatics who bomb, behead, murder, or honour-kill. It is the fanatics who take over mosque after mosque.
It is the fanatics who zealously spread the stoning and hanging of rape victims and homosexuals.It is the fanatics who teach their young to kill and to become suicide bombers.

The hard, quantifiable fact is that the peaceful majority,
the 'silent majority,' is cowed and extraneous.
Communist Russia was comprised of Russians who just wanted to live in peace, yet the Russian Communists were responsible for the murder ofabout 20 million people. The peaceful majority were irrelevant.

China's huge population was peaceful as well, but Chinese Communists managed to kill a staggering 70 million people..

The average Japanese individual prior to World War II was not a warmongering sadist. Yet, Japan murdered and slaughtered its way across South East Asia in an orgy of killing that included the systematic murder of12 million Chinese civilians; most killed by sword, shovel, and bayonet.

And who can forget Rwanda, which
collapsed into butchery. Could it not be said that the majority of Rwandans were 'peace loving'?

History lessons are often incredibly simple and blunt, yet for all our powers of reason, we often miss the most basic and uncomplicated off points:

Peace-loving Muslims have been made irrelevant by their silence.
Peace-loving Muslims will become our enemy if they don't speak up,because like my friend from Germany, they will awaken one day and find that the fanatics own them, and the end of their world will have begun.

Peace-loving Germans, Japanese, Chinese, Russians, Rwandans,Serbs, Afghans, Iraqis, Palestinians, Somalis, Nigerians, Algerians, andmany others have died because the peaceful majority did not speak up until
it was too late.

Now Islamic prayers have been introduced into Toronto and other public schools in Ontario, and, yes, in Ottawa too while the Lord's Prayerwas removed (due to being so offensive?) The Islamic way may be peaceful for
the time being in our country until the fanatics move in.

In Australia, and indeed in many countries around the world, many of the most commonly consumed food items have the halal emblem on them.Just look at the back of some of the most popular chocolate bars,
and at other food items in your local supermarket.
Food on aircraft have the halal emblem, just to appease theprivileged minority who are now rapidly expanding within thenation’s shores.

In the U.K, the Muslim communities refuse to integrate and thereare now dozens of “no-go” zones within major cities across the country thatthe police force dare not intrude upon.

Sharia law prevails there, because the Muslim community in those areas refuse to acknowledge British law.

As for us who watch it all unfold, we must pay attention to the only group that counts - the fanatics who threaten our way of life.

Soldier Praying Rosary

These Last Days News - May 9, 2013

Religious Groups Fear Christian Purge From Military...

"The battle, My child, will accelerate very shortly for there will not only be a great war of weapons of mankind, but it will be known soon throughout the world as a religious war." - Our Lady of the Roses August 21, 1974

Townhall reported on April 30, 2013:

Religious liberty groups have grave concerns after they learned the Pentagon is vetting its guide on religious tolerance with a group that compared Christian evangelism to “rape” and advocated that military personnel who proselytize should be court martialed.

The Military Religious Freedom Foundation is calling on the Air Force to enforce a regulation that they believe calls for the court martial of any service member caught proselytizing.

President Mikey Weinstein and others from his organization met privately with Pentagon officials on April 23. He said U.S. troops who proselytize are guilty of sedition and treason and should be punished – by the hundreds if necessary – to stave off what he called a “tidal wave of fundamentalists.”

“Someone needs to be punished for this,” Weinstein told Fox News. “Until the Air Force or Army or Navy or Marine Corps punishes a member of the military for unconstitutional religious proselytizing and oppression, we will never have the ability to stop this horrible, horrendous, dehumanizing behavior.”

Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, told Fox News he was stunned that the Pentagon would be taking counsel and advice from the Military Religious Freedom Foundation.

“Why would military leadership be meeting with one of the most rabid atheists in America to discuss religious freedom in the military,” Perkins said. “That’s like consulting with China on how to improve human rights.”

The FRC has launched a petition drive urging Defense Sec. Chuck Hagel to protect the religious freedom of troops “and not to proceed with the purge of religion within the ranks called for by anti-Christian activists.”

Pentagon officials met with Weinstein and his group to discuss a policy called “Air Force Culture, Air Force Standards,” published on Aug. 7, 2012.

Section 2.11 requires “government neutrality regarding religion.”

“Leaders at all levels must balance constitutional protections for an individual’s free exercise of religion or other personal beliefs and the constitutional prohibition against governmental establishment of religion,” the regulation states.

Military leaders were admonished not to use their position to “promote their personal religious beliefs to their subordinates or to extend preferential treatment for any religion.”

Weinstein said it’s time for the Air Force to enforce the regulation – with zeal.

“If a member of the military is proselytizing in a manner that violates the law, well then of course they can be prosecuted,” he said. “We would love to see hundreds of prosecutions to stop this outrage of fundamentalist religious persecution.”

He compared the act of proselytizing to rape.

“It is a version of being spiritually raped and you are being spiritually raped by fundamentalist Christian religious predators,” he told Fox News.

He said there is a time and a place for those in uniform to share their faith – but he took issues with fundamentalism that he says is causing widespread problems in the military.

“When those people are in uniform and they believe there is no time, place or manner in which they can be restricted from proselytizing, they are creating tyranny, oppression, degradation, humiliation and horrible, horrible pain upon members of the military,” he said.

Perkins said the military regulations have “Weinstein’s fingerprints all over it.”

“It threatens to treat service members caught witnessing as enemies of the state,” he said, referring to a Washington Post article highlighting Weinstein’s meeting with Pentagon officials. “Non-compliance, the Pentagon suggests, even from ordained chaplains could result in court-martialing on a case-by-case basis.”

The Pentagon confirmed to Fox News that Christian evangelism is against regulations.

“Religious proselytization is not permitted within the Department of Defense, LCDR Nate Christensen said in a written statement. He declined to say if any chaplains or service members had been prosecuted for such an offense.

“Court martials and non-judicial punishments are decided on a case-by-case basis and it would be inappropriate to speculate on the outcome in specific cases,” he said.

Ron Crews, the executive director of the Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty, warns that the Air Force policy would “significantly impact the religious liberties of Air Force personnel.”

“Saying that a service member cannot speak of his faith is like telling a service member he cannot talk about his spouse or children,” Crews said. “I do not think the Air Force wants to ban personnel from protected religious speech, and I certainly hope that it is willing to listen to the numerous individuals and groups who protect military religious liberty without demonizing service members.”

In an interview with the Washington Post, Weinstein called proselytizing a “national security threat.”

“And what the Pentagon needs to understand is that it is sedition and treason,” he told the newspaper. “It should be punished.”

Perkins said it was troubling the Obama Administration would place so much trust in someone like Weinstein.

"Unfortunately, it appears our military is on a forced march away from the very freedoms they are sworn to protect,” he said. “This language from Weinstein that Christians who share their faith or offer comfort to others from their faith in Jesus Christ is "sedition and treason" is a treasonous statement in and of itself.”

But Weinstein said they count thousands of Protestants among their ranks – and said they are simply going after fundamentalists.

“As soon as we find a fundamentalist Muslim, atheist, Jewish person or anybody else, we will be happy to fight them – but so far they have been few and far between,” he said.

Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Jerry Boykin, an executive vice president with the Family Research Council, told Fox News that he’s deeply concerned by what he call a pattern of attacks on Christianity within the military.

“Mickey Weinstein has a very visceral hated of Christianity and those who are Christians,” he said. “He’d like to see it eliminated from the military entirely.”

If the Air Force policy is implemented, Boykin said Christians who speak of their faith “could now be prosecuted as enemies of the state.”

“This has the potential to destroy military recruiting across the services as Americans realize that their faith will be suppressed by joining the military,” Boykin said.

In the meantime, Weinstein and his group said they will continue to push for the Pentagon to fully implement its ban on proselytizing.

“There is a time, place and manner in which proselytizing is not only allowed, but it’s something we support among our Christian clients,” Weinstein said. “However, you can’t scream fire in a crowded theater and you can’t scream Jesus in a crowded theater at certain times, places, and in certain manners.”

"All who continue in the battle ahead must accept martyrdom. it does not, My child, necessarily mean death of your body, but it will mean persecution. Stand fast in the faith. Keep the faith in the hearts of those you love. Extend your charity of heart to all of your brother and sisters throughout the world. Pray a constant vigilance of prayer." - Our Lady of the Roses, October 2, 1974

We urgently need your prayers and financial support to be able to continue to create these web pages. Click here...http://www.tldm.org/News20/ReligiousGroupsFearChristianPurgeFromMilitary.htm . Thank you in advance.

We strongly encourage you to print and/or email copies of this web page to all the bishops and clergy. Also, email or mail a copy of this web page to the news media and as many other people as possible. Email a copy of this page to everyone you know.

The way I wish women dressed today....

Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary

"My Immaculate Heart will be your refuge and the way that will lead you to God." - Our Lady of Fatima

Visit to Australia

We just got back from a 35 day trip to Australia. I'm so happy that I got to see Australia (in person), but even happier to be home. I'm a home person that's for sure. I'll post some of the pics. It's truly a beautiful country and worth seeing at least once in a lifetime. We had a wonderful host (our youngest son's friend), who drove us everywhere for a week and his lovely fiance made us feel at home and was very kind to us. Some of the highlights were Canberra (the capital) and the surrounding countryside. We got to visit a sheep farm and meet some very friendly people; saw a few mobs of kangaroo and learned about some of their destructive behaviors (at least on sheep farms); visited the coast including Wollongong (I love their names for places). This is a beautiful seaside town; In Kiama we stayed at a warm and friendly B&B out in the country -- lots of cattle and so green. Then we had our adventure in the blue Mountains in Katoomba -- rode on an extremely pitched rail ride up the mountain(kind of scary); took a sky bucket across the canyon-- beautiful site of the three sisters and canyons; walked all over the trails and saw lots of interesting plants and birds. I wanted to see other animals but no luck. After Katoomba and Kiama we braved the traffic in Sydney - one of the second most expensive cities in the entire world. Sydney is beautiful in its own way -- similar to any huge city like New York, or Hong Kong.
Our host finally deposited us at our ship and it was sad leaving him (now dubbed our Australian son); we spent three weeks on the ship cruising from island to island - some of them being Fiji, Samoa, American Samoa, New Caledonia, Kauai, Oahu, Vancouver, Seattle, then took a plane trip home. I think I'm home for a long time now -- not stirring from my nest!

Go and sin no more

Why I am a Catholic

What brought me to the Catholic Church was Jesus! Jesus in the Holy Eucharist! Never was there a happier day for me, than when I discovered that He was truly present in the bread and in the wine. My soul was filled to overflowing with the thrill of this discovery. No other protestant sect could or ever assured me of this fact. Yes, there are many other beautiful truths about the Catholic faith; but, for me, if it weren't for the transubstantiation, I would still be a drifter in a sea of many divergent beliefs.

Palm Sunday

Today the priest ushered us into the sanctuary while we waved the ribbons of palm leaves and sang a joyous hymn. I wonder how Jesus felt. Did he feel jubilant? happy? Think for a moment how you would really feel if transported back in time to the city of Jerusalem, exactly at that moment, watching Jesus the Christ riding upon a donkey, the sun beaming down, the air is hot and stifling from the crowds surrounding him; the cacophony of discordant sounds, the jostling crowds, the smells assailing your nostrils; but, all of that pales in comparison to seeing Jesus the Messiah, the Redeemer, the Son of God - for just a glimpse of Him passing by. Oh, what I wouldn't give for that moment. Next Friday we celebrate the Lord's passion and contemplate the events surrounding his final day on earth - it involves betrayal, torture, execution, and of course, the resurrection.

Pope Francis

Dressed in simple white vestments, the 76-year-old pontiff delighted pilgrims by zipping through St. Peter's Square in an open-backed jeep for about half an hour before the ceremonial events began, waving and kissing babies handed up to him. At one point, he dismounted and went over to lay hands on a disabled man while Swiss Guards tried to keep the crowd behind barriers.
For posterity and so that I can come back here and read what he said on the day of his installation as Pope, these are his words said that day:
"Let us be protectors of creation, protectors of God's plan inscribed in nature, protectors of one another and of the environment," the pope said. "Let us not allow omens of destruction and death to accompany the advance of this world!"
He called on government leaders, and himself, to "protect all of God's people and embrace with tender affection the whole of humanity, especially the poorest, the weakest, the least important."
"To protect creation, to protect every man and every woman, to look upon them with tenderness and love, is to open up a horizon of hope," he said, with majestic St. Peter's Basilica behind him. "It is to let a shaft of light break through the heavy clouds."
"Let us never forget that authentic power is service and that the pope, too, when exercising power, must enter ever more fully into that service which has its radiant culmination on the cross," Francis said. "He must be inspired by the lowly, concrete and faithful service which marked St. Joseph."
Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2013/03/19/5276497/pope-francis-focuses-on-poor-and.html#storylink=misearch#storylink=cpy

Pope of the people

I like this pope's style! Blessed are the poor in spirit and blessed are the merciful. Read these words of Pope Francis:
“Never forget this: the Lord never tires of forgiving us. Have you thought about the patience that God has with each of us?” These were the words that Pope Francis addressed to the nearly 200,000 people who had travelled from around Italy and from around the world in previous days to be able to live this first Angelus with the new Pope.

Pope Francis

Archbishop-Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio from Argentina. Our first Latin American, first Jesuit, and first Francis has been elected as our next pope. I am so happy to hear this! Give God the praise and glory.

Befriending the Stranger

Our lives are moulded and fashioned
by all the graces we have received or refused;
by all the gestures of love as well as the acts of hatred
or indifference;
by our successes as well as our failures.
Absolutely everything is engraved in our being.
So the experience of being loved by God
does not change our lives completely,
yet something is changed
when we realize that God loves us just as we are,
not as we would like to be
nor as our parents or society would have liked us to be.
God loves us today
with our gifts, our qualities, as well as our failures and our fragility.
If we have the impression people are disappointed in us
because we do not live up to their expectations;
if there seems to be a gap
between the way in which others perceive us
and who we really are,
between what we like to think we can do
and what we actually can do,
we need to discover God is never disappointed in us.
God knows us;
God knows our abilities and disabilities;
God knows we are a mixture of light and darkness.
Others may be disappointed
because they have an ideal image of Him,
but not God, who knows me today just as I am.
God does not live in the past or the future
but in the "now" of the present moment.
God sees me in my present reality
as I am in each present moment.

-Jean Vanier, Befriending the Stranger
(reposted from Abbey Roads blog)

'The Eucharist is my highway to Heaven!'

Repost from Abbey Roads: A fifteen-year-old Milanese youth, deeply devoted to Our Lady of the Rosary of Pompeii.

Carlo died at the age of fifteen due to leukemia, although it was only diagnosed days before he died. In this he reminds me of Blessed Pier Giorgio, who died of polio, although no one knew he was so seriously ill. Like Pier Giorgio, Carlo had overflowing crowds of mourners at his funeral. I think his story is very important for youth and young men especially - who need solid examples of authentic Catholic spirituality. I believe Carlo's witness demonstrates that holiness is indeed attainable in our anti-Christian, hedonistic culture. A maxim from Carlo states: "You must want it (holiness) with all your heart, and if this desire has not arisen in your heart, you must ask for it with insistence from the Lord." His example affirms for me that fidelity to the duties of one's state in life is the ordinary means to sanctity.


'The Eucharist is my highway to Heaven!'

"He is remembered by those who knew him for the enthusiasm with which he conveyed to others his love for God and the neighbor. At seven he did his First Communion and since then, every day, he has never missed the daily appointment with the Holy Mass, the Eucharistic Adoration and the Holy Rosary. The focus of Carlo’s spirituality was the daily encounter with the Lord in the Eucharist: he said It 'was Jesus truly present in the world, as at the time of the Apostles the disciples could see him in flesh and bones walking on the streets of Jerusalem'. Carlo often repeated: 'The Eucharist is my highway to Heaven!' This is the summary of his spirituality and the core of his whole existence spent in friendship with God.

"Carlo was very fond of the Virgin of Pompeii, where he came dozens of times, accompanied by his parents, and where each time he renewed his act of consecration to Mary. He used to say: 'The Madonna is the only woman of my life!', and he never missed 'the most loving appointment of the day', which was for him the prayer of the Holy Rosary.

"Some days before Carlo was led to the hospital, when no one suspected that he had leukemia which in a few days brought him to the grave, he told his parents: 'I offer all the suffering I will have to suffer to the Lord, for the Pope and the Church, for not to do Purgatory and go straight into Heaven'. The heroism with which he dealt with his illness and death convinced many people that really there was something special in him. When the doctor who followed him asked him if he suffered a lot, Carlo replied: 'There are people who suffer much more than me'.

"A continuous pilgrimage held a wake for his body. His funeral was attended by a crowd so immense that many were forced to remain outside the Church. The continuing testimonies, letters, stories, which still today arrive at the postulator of the Cause of Beatification, Dr. Francesca Consolini, appointed by the Curia of Milan, tell of an extraordinary young boy, blessed by grace, so much that the Archdiocese of Milan thought to propose him as a model for the young and to start the process in view of the introduction of the Cause of Beatification which, as you know, may begin 5 years after death. It results, in fact, that so many are those who ask the intercession and the aid of Carlo.

"From the testimonies collected a few days after his death, one discovers that Carlo was completely dedicated to the welfare of the people he met. He helped everyone: non-Community immigrants, beggars, disabled persons, elderly people, children. He was worried about his friends whose parents were divorcing and invited them to his house to support them; in the classroom he always took the defences of those who had more difficulty to integrate. On more than one occasion he defended the disabled that were taken around by frivolous boys.

"With great courage he defended the Christian values, even if this sometimes caused him misunderstandings. His professor of religion at the high school recalls that in a discussion in the classroom Carlo was the only one to oppose abortion.

"He had a great view of all persons and was concerned about how many wasted the talents that God had given them. On more than one occasion he affirmed: 'All are born with their own originality, but many die as photocopies'.

"This intense spirituality did not prevent him from having a normal life, common to that of his peers." - source: http://miraculousrosary.blogspot.com/2011/11/carlo-acutis-teenage-candidate-for.html and http://abbey-roads.blogspot.com/

Should we spank our children?

This article is from canterbury tales blog -- I thought it was worth reposting:
Summa theologiae, Supplementum Supplementi q. 54

Article. 1 Whether spanking children is lawful.

Objection 1. It seems that spanking children is not lawful because the Apostle states, “Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged” (Col 3:21) and again, “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Eph 6:4). Now physical injury is a provocation. Hence spanking children is not lawful.

Objection 2. Besides, the Psalmist sings, “thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me” (Ps 23:4). Now striking a child with the rod is not comforting. Hence, it is not lawful to spank a child.

Objection 3. Furthermore, God prevented Moses from entering the Promised Land because he angrily struck the rock of salvation with a rod (cf. Num 20:11). By this signification we learn that the rod denotes the species of anger that forfeits the divine promises on account of malice. Hence, it is not lawful to use the rod on children about which Christ spoke: “For to such belongs the kingdom of Heaven” (Mt 19:14) for in these words Christ speaks of a promise.

On the contrary, It is written: “He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him” (Prov 12:24) and again, “Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline drives it far from him” (Prov 22:15). Now the dutiful parent disciplines his child and drives away folly. Therefore, it is lawful to spank a child with the rod.

I answer that, striking a child may be accomplished in two ways. A parent may spank a child in wrath so as to injure the child, or a parent may spank a child in a spirit of charity and patience so as to fulfill the words: “he who loves him is diligent to discipline him.” Consequently, spankings administered in charity are virtuous and meritorious.

Reply to the First Objection. Here the Apostle speaks of wrathful provocation whereby the child is wounded. Now the correction of vice in a child is not a wound, but a cure. Hence, the Apostle does not denounce corporeal punishments.

Reply to the Second Objection. The rod comforts the Psalmist spiritually. As stated above, the removal of vice is comforting. Hence, corporeal punishment that seeks to mitigate vice is licit since it leads to spiritual comfort.

Reply to the Third Objection. Moses forfeited his right to the Promise Land by angrily bearing the rod of the Lord. Previously, the Lord also said to Moses: “And you shall take in your hand this rod, with which you shall do the signs” (Ex 4:17). Now rods can be used in two ways. Relatively speaking, rods are neutral in that they can be used for a good or a bad purpose. The rod of discipline, simply speaking, drives away folly, as stated above, and for this reason the Lord says, “with which you shall do the signs.” Hence the term “rod” need not denote wrathful indignation on the part of the one who bears the rod.

My Guardian Angel

oy vey iz mir; This is what I imagine my guardian angel saying when I do/say/think dumb things!

Be kind....

St. Catherine of Siena

25 March 1347 at Siena, Tuscany, Italy
Youngest child in a large family. At the age of seven she had a vision in which Jesus appeared with Peter, Paul, and John; Jesus blessed her, and she consecrated herself to Him. Her parents wanted her to marry, but she became a Dominican tertiary. Mystic. Stigmatist. Received a vision in which she was in a mystical marriage with Christ, and the Infant Christ presented her with a wedding ring. Counselor to Pope Gregory XI and Pope Urban VI. Canonized July 1461 by Pope Pius II.
She died 29 April 1380 of a mysterious and painful illness that came on without notice, and was never properly diagnosed.
Proclaimed Doctor of the Church on 4 October 1970.
From Abbey Roads: "Perhaps if any one of us aspires to be like Catherine, we should first pray for the grace to imitate her penance, her solitude in the cell of self-knowledge, imitating her prayer, which lifted her soul in heroic charity - intense love of God and neighbor.. - then those of us who dare, may try to reform the Church. Remember, perfection lies in union with God through charity... In a way, all I'm saying is that if we think ourselves to be so perfect, the measure we should use is Catherine's charity - love of God and neighbor, as well as her forgetfulness of self - rather than her militancy."

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's ice cream habit

Really??? Is this really news? It seems incredible to me that my morning newspaper included a half page write up on the excessive ice cream consumption of the Prime Minister's household. Oh, and he loves pistachio! They really ripped him up over it. While reading this article, I kept thinking -- is this for real? Why are they writing in such a vitriolic manner over this issue? Then I started wondering how much our own president spends on ice cream and how much does he eat?? Oh, never mind - I have better things to think about.

Wardrobe mishap

I saw this posted on facebook and thought it was funny -- not that I was laughing at the Pope; far from it. I love the Pope and deeply respect his office, but don't you think God has a sense of humor? I really think Pope Benedict thought it was funny too.

The Pope resigns

repost from Abbey Roads:
"When someone we know and love dies, we wish we had him near, that we might listen more attentively to his every word. We are fortunate to be able to savor this time with Benedict while he is still our Holy Father, to take to heart his every word as Vicar of Christ. I think it is a special grace for us. More important than discussions of legal procedures and candidates to replace him. Truth be told, with Benedict XVI still alive, I cannot imagine a suitable successor - I can't even desire one."

Be the Light of the World

and Jesus said, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not; for of such is the kingdom of God. Mark 10:14

St. Terese of Lisieux

"If you are willing to bear serenely the trial of being displeasing to yourself, then you will be for Jesus a pleasant place of shelter."

Suicides in Military

I am so troubled when I read about people committing suicide. A recent article caught my attention, "Military suicides increasing. More soldiers committed suicide in 2012 than were killed in battle for entire year". How infinitely sad; how tragic; why did these people think that destroying themselves was their only option? Did anyone in their lives notice that they needed help? What does this say about our culture - the society we live in that a human being can walk among us so filled with despair and anxiety that no one notices? Perhaps they do notice but choose not to intervene or "interfere" with the one who is lost? It makes me want to cry, to sob out loud, to rend my clothing, and pour ashes on my head when I hear of these poor lost ones who choose to end it all.
Maybe we let them go because we have lost the capacity to care; we have lots of excuses to turn our eyes away from the despairing one -- "I'm too busy", "Let someone else deal with it", I have too much going on right now"....
This morning before the dawn arrived, I lay in bed thinking of these poor lost souls and wondering what God would want me to do, and then something that Mother Teresa of Calcutta said came to my mind, "Serve Jesus in the distressing disguise of the poor". If only there were someone in each of their lives who told them how precious they are in God's eyes and that giving in to despair was something that they should not do and that God will give them the strength and the graces they need to carry on each day...perhaps then they would have been willing to pick up their cross and carry it.
"Just allow people to see Jesus in you
to see how you pray
to see how you lead a pure life
to see how you deal with your family
to see how much peace there is in your family
Then you can look straight into their eyes and say
"This is the way". You speak from life, you speak from experience."
Mother Teresa

The Altar Server

St. Theresa Catholic Church, Sugarland, Texas

This is my happy dance!

New Clairvaux Monks in Vineyard

We visited this monastery, the Abbey of New Clairvaux, in Vina, California - just north of Chico.

When did Christ first shed His blood for us?

I read this very interesting article by Father Steve Grunow regarding the circumcision of Christ, part of which is below. I never thought about this very important event in Christ's life and so found this teaching fascinating. Imagine a jeweled reliquary holding the foreskin of Christ! Unfortunately, it was stolen by a priest in 1983 -- why would he steal it and what did he do with it? Anyway, read the following for more enlightenment:
"Pius Parsch notes that the Circumcision of the Lord is remembered by the Church as the first sacrifice of blood that flows in redemption. There is scandal in this statement as well. We live in a culture that feigns that it can have love without sacrifice, and narrows its vision of love to accommodate this prejudice. It is in the cramped confines of this narrow vision that the risk of true love is diminished, as well as its power to redeem. The Incarnation is essentially an act of love, and though we try to convince ourselves otherwise, there is no real love in this world without a sacrifice of some sort. The Circumcision of Christ is the foreshadowing of the greater sacrifice that will inevitably come. The greater the love, the greater the potential for suffering — and the love of God in Christ is the greatest love of all."

Father Steve Grunow is the Assistant Director of Word on Fire Catholic Ministries.

Oh, Holy Mary, dwelling place of God

Refrain

O holy dwelling place of God.

O holy temple of the Word.

O Holy Mary, holy mother of God.

Verse 1

O radiant star of heaven , illuminating the night;

Reflection of the Son, our source of life and light.

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Verse 2

O blest beyond all others, of ev’ry land and race,

Possessing in your soul the fullness of God’s grace.

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Verse 3

From heav’n the angel Gabriel annouced the ancient plan

And humbly you accepted to bear the God made man.

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Verse 4

With joy beyond all measure you cared for God’s own Son

And pondered in your heart the new age now begun.

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Verse 5

Exquisite was your sorrow, unequaled was the loss

You suffered when your son was raised upon the cross.

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Verse 6

All praise and adoration we sing now to your Son

Who reigns in highest heaven and has the vic’try won.

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Joshua after his nap