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June 1, 2012   Memorial of Saint Justin Martyr   Reading 1 1 Pt 4:7-13 Beloved:The end of all things is at hand.Therefore be serious and sober-mindedso that you will be able to pray.Above all, let your love for one another be intense,because love covers a multitude of sins.Be hospitable to one another without complaining.As each one has received a gift, use it to serve one anotheras good stewards of God's varied grace.Whoever preaches, let it be with the words of God;whoever serves, let it be with the strength that God supplies,so that in all things God may be glorified...

Jo Ann Nardelli has been a Catholic Democrat her entire life. Her father was one before her. And she couldn't imagine a day where that wouldn't be true. But that day was Wednesday of last week. I read a story about Jo Ann leaving the Democratic Party and was interested because she cited her Catholic faith as the reason. So I gave her a call. I got her machine and as I was leaving a message she picked up. She said she'd been screening her calls because so many people have been calling to say nasty things to her or...

Guidelines date from 1978 - publication linked with Medjugorje? The newly published guidelines were already on 25 February 1978 adopted by the CDF, as William Cardinal Levada, Prefect of the Congregation points out in his introduction. At that time, they were brought to the attention of the bishops, but not made known. The reason was that they concerned "primarily the pastors of the Church" said the Prefect. Why have they now been published? Is the disclosure in connection with the decision still-awaited in 2012 on Medjugorje?

On Prayer in St. Pauls Second Letter to the Corinthians "In our prayer we are called to say yes to God and to respond with the amen of adherence" VATICAN CITY, MAY 30, 2012 (Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of the Italian-language catechesis Benedict XVI gave during the general audience held in St. Peter’s Square. Today the Holy Father continued his series of catecheses on prayer in the Letters of St. Paul. * * * Dear brothers and sisters, In these catecheses we are pondering prayer in the letters of St. Paul, and we are seeking to see Christian prayer...

Only GOD knows our hearts, and no one else. SO, only GOD knows us. Be careful who we say we know. No matter how long you are married, have children, with parents, best friends, etc.....only GOD knows them in and out. All we know is what we see, hear, and are accustomed to by what we comprehend. But, only GOD knows everything. May we work to edify one anther through looking at each others' actions and words, and trying to help one another to get to the understanding and life of JESUS CHRIST!! Especially believers ( who should treat one...

Featured Term (selected at random):SYBIL One of the prophetesses of classical mythology, of whom there were as many as ten in different places and times. Among them the most famous was the Cumaean Sibyl, described by Vergil in the Aeneid. The Sibylline writings, of unknown origin, were kept at Rome in the Capitol and consulted by the state in times of emergency. They were destroyed in the burning of the Capitol in 82 B.C., and a new collection was made, also burned, in A.D. 405. In the second century B.C., Hellenistic Jews had produced, for propaganda purposes, their own version...

WASHINGTON, May 30, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) - One of the Catholic universities joining the barrage of lawsuits against the Obama administration over its birth control mandate says that the White House has “showed no sign of taking seriously” the objections of religious employees. Lawrence Morris, general counsel for the Catholic University of America, told LifeSiteNews.com in an email that the school’s own attempts to reason with the administration, including a letter from CUA President John Garvey to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, were not met with meaningful dialogue. Morris also criticized the “accommodation” proposed by Obama earlier this year...

One of the world’s oldest Christian monasteries, commonly known as St Catherine’s Mount Sinai, is about to enter the twenty-first century by allowing scholars to read its digitalised manuscripts online. More properly known as the Sacred and Imperial Monastery of the God-Trodden Mount of Sinai, its world-famous library is home to the second largest collection of early codices and manuscripts after the Vatican Library. St Catherine’s has also been in continuous use as a monastery for seventeen centuries, making it as ancient, if not more so, as the equally famous Monastery of St Antony, founded by the father of monasticism...

Bishop John Wester of Salt Lake City has criticized a recent Maureen Dowd column on the bishops’ reaction to the HHS mandate. “In an effort to make a case against the Church’s objection to the Health and Human Services mandate requiring most religious institutions to offer contraception within their health insurance policies, Dowd ignores complicated First Amendment issues and Church teaching to try to paint the Catholic Church as anti-women and abusive,” writes Bishop Wester. “Unfortunately, a column that was ostensibly about a relevant issue ended up as nothing more than a rambling attack on the Catholic Church.” Rev. Wester...

Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Today is the feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which recalls Mary's visit with her cousin Elizabeth. This event is also the second joyful mystery of the rosary -- the first being the Annunciation. Elizabeth had been barren all her life, but in the Annunciation, Mary learned that her kinswoman was miraculously expecting a child in her old age. Upon hearing this good news, Mary fervently desired to share in Elizabeth's joy and serve her during the last part of her pregnancy. So she went "with haste" to...

May 31, 2012 Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary   Reading 1 Zep 3:14-18a Shout for joy, O daughter Zion!Sing joyfully, O Israel!Be glad and exult with all your heart,O daughter Jerusalem!The LORD has removed the judgment against you,he has turned away your enemies;The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst,you have no further misfortune to fear.On that day, it shall be said to Jerusalem:Fear not, O Zion, be not discouraged!The LORD, your God, is in your midst,a mighty savior;He will rejoice over you with gladness,and renew you in his love,He will sing joyfully because...

WASHINGTON—Dominican Sister John Mary Fleming, a member of St. Cecilia Congregation in Nashville, Tennessee, has been named executive director of the Secretariat of Catholic Education of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). Sister Fleming currently is principal of St. Dominic School, Bolingbrook, Illinois. She succeeds Marie Powell, who announced her retirement earlier this year. Msgr. Ronny Jenkins, USCCB general secretary, announced the appointment May 29. “I am delighted that Sister John Mary will soon join the USCCB and am grateful to her religious community for allowing her to accept this appointment,” Msgr. Jenkins said. “Both she and her religious...

May 29, 2012 http://www.holylove.org/ NOVENA FOR THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA St. Michael says: "Praise be to Jesus." "You recognize me, don't you? I am Michael, the Archangel. Jesus sends me to you once again as the need arises. As I am the Defender of the Truth, I must point out the paradox of what has become law in your country. On one hand, you are told you have the right to choose between life in the womb or abortion. On the other hand, you are told you do NOT have the right to deny anyone birth control or abortion...

Cardinal Thomas Collins of Toronto, Canada. Toronto, Canada, May 30, 2012 / 04:03 am (CNA).- The provincial government of Ontario is considering a proposal that would force Catholic schools to recognize Gay-Straight Alliances, causing Catholic leaders to say it risks threatening religious freedom and could allow clubs that undermine Church teaching.Marino Gazzola, president of the Ontario Catholic School Trustees Association, said that the Catholic schools are concerned that the government has proposed an amendment "aimed directly" at Catholic school boards  and the trustees' association "as we have been vocal opponents to the imposition of  Gay-Straight Alliances on Catholic schools...

Washington D.C., May 30, 2012 / 02:11 am (CNA/EWTN News).- A legal group that aims to defend religious freedom has launched a new website offering a wealth of resources on the contraception mandate, and the various lawsuits that have been filed against it. “There was a lot of misinformation out there on the mandate,” said Emily Hardman, attorney and communications director for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a D.C.-based organization.Hardman told CNA on May 29 that the Becket Fund “wanted to provide an accurate, concise and useful resource for reporters and the general public.”She explained that when the information...

The New York Times has been unsympathetic to Catholic protests against the HHS mandate, so it was not surprising that the Times editorial board had nothing but nasty things to say about the lawsuits that recently were filed against HHS by 43 Catholic plaintiffs in a Sunday editorial. Thirteen Roman Catholic dioceses and some Catholic-related groups scattered lawsuits across a dozen federal courts last week claiming that President Obama was violating their religious freedom by including contraceptives in basic health care coverage for female employees. It was a dramatic stunt, full of indignation but built on air. Building on mixed...

"For Greater Glory" offers a compelling depiction of a dark period of Mexican history. After decades of seeing their Church maligned in cinema, Catholic moviegoers have enjoyed a smattering of pro-Catholic movies in recent years. The latest of these, For Greater Glory starring Andy Garcia, will be released in the United States on June 1. The movie tells the story of the Cristero War in Mexico (1926-29), a peasant uprising against the stridently anti-Catholic policies of the Mexican government under President Plutarco Elias Calles. Garcia portrays General Enrique Gorostieta, a retired federal general hired by the Cristeros to be their...

Clever work by Msgr Gänswein

Featured Term (selected at random): SACRAMENT OF GOD Jesus Christ as the visible incarnation of the Son of God through whose Passion, Death, and Resurrection the human race receives the grace of salvation and sanctification. All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

Fortnight for Freedom   On April 12, the Ad Hoc Committee on Religious Liberty of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) issued a document, "Our First, Most Cherished Liberty,” outlining the bishops’ concerns over threats to religious freedom, both at home and abroad. The bishops called for a “Fortnight for Freedom,” a 14-day period of prayer, education and action in support of religious freedom, from June 21-July 4.Bishops in their own dioceses are encouraged to arrange special events to highlight the importance of defending religious freedom. Catholic institutions are encouraged to do the same, especially in cooperation with...

GOD is great! GOD is good! GOD is in our neighborhood! Be like a child to get into the kingdom of heaven!! :)

Just back from a Washington gathering of like-minded Christians from various denominations concerned about potential losses of religious liberty, the Southern Baptist Convention's Richard Land termed an emerging coalition of conservative Catholics and evangelicals "the liberal's nightmare."Southern Baptists’ top spokesman for religious-liberty concerns voiced support May 26 for Catholics across the country gearing up for a “Fortnight for Freedom,” a two-week national campaign of special liturgies, prayer services and other events leading up to the Fourth of July. During his weekly “Richard Land Live” radio broadcast, the head of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission said opposition...

Ah, those nasty Catholics, trying to force their beliefs on others by refusing to let the government make them violate their principles and consciences! Here is the first slice of moldy editorial bread: Thirteen Roman Catholic dioceses and some Catholic-related groups scattered lawsuits across a dozen federal courts last week claiming that President Obama was violating their religious freedom, by including contraceptives in basic health care coverage for female employees. It was a dramatic stunt, full of indignation but built on air.And the other thin slice, in conclusion: This is a clear partisan play. The real threat to religious liberty...

A new emphasis The following comes from a May 24 story on the "Daily Caller" website.Amid polls showing that his efforts to regulate religious institutions have hurt his image among Catholics, President Barack Obama has begun touting his early ties to the church. “My first job as a community organizer was with Catholic churches who taught me the power of kindness and commitment to others in neighborhoods,” he declared at a Hollywood fundraiser May 23. “When I was a young community organizer, I was working with Catholic churches and they taught me that no government program can make as much...

Father Leonard Dubi, a priest of 44 years, was one of two dozen men in Roman collars at St. Barbara’s Catholic Church on Sunday night. They were there to honor and support the embattled nuns of this country. Even though it was Memorial Day weekend, even though plenty of people had been to church once already, and even though it was hot and steamy inside that old, beautiful, non-air conditioned church, about 150 came that night. Nuns. Priests. Lay people. “We ran out of programs,” said Fr. Dubi by phone on Tuesday. These gatherings are happening all over the country...

Lasota's book "Karol Wojtyla spiato" (Spying on Karol Wojtyla) is available in Italian and can be purchased exclusively onlineThe extent to which the communist secret police controlled Karol Wojtyla’s actions was incredible…” Marek Lasota who was born in 1960 and has a degree in Polish philosophy, with a specialism in history, lives among mounds of letters accumulated by the communist regime and kept in the Institute of National Remembrance (IPN), where he is head of the Krakow section. After years of patient research, he has gathered a number of reports and dossiers on Wojtyla. Lasota’s “Karol Wojtyla spiato” (Spying on...

May 30, 2012   Wednesday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time   Reading 1 1 Pt 1:18-25 Beloved:Realize that you were ransomed from your futile conduct,handed on by your ancestors,not with perishable things like silver or goldbut with the precious Blood of Christas of a spotless unblemished Lamb.He was known before the foundation of the worldbut revealed in the final time for you,who through him believe in Godwho raised him from the dead and gave him glory,so that your faith and hope are in God. Since you have purified yourselvesby obedience to the truth for sincere brotherly love,love one...

Includes video of the 2012 annual celebrations of the fall of Constantinople which take place in Turkey

Includes video of the 2012 annual celebrations of the fall of Constantinople which take place in Turkey

Also other articles relating to Vatileaks

The Pope calls for harmony as his butler begins to talk following his arrest The Commander of the Vatican Gendarmerie was hard at work Sunday. The Vatican leak inquiry did not end with the arrest of the Pope’s butler, Paolo Gabriele so the papal police offices are busy sifting through the “investigative material” that will help find the potential accomplices and individuals behind the leaks. There are no immediate plans for arrests but not one of the Curia’s members believed the Pope’s butler is the only one responsible. “The affair is not over yet. This is just the beginning,” they...

For the record this is an AIDS Benefit Ball promoted by among others UNAIDS- see their full press release below.   Cathcon has every sympathy with combating AIDS and know of the magnificent work done by the Knights of Malta, especially in South Africa, but how do they think their cause is served by insulting the faith of every right believing Catholic in the entire world that just beggars belief.   Will the Cardinal Archbishop of Vienna speak up in protest?  - I doubt it.  UNAIDS joins 20th Anniversary Life Ball in Vienna 21 May 2012  UNAIDS Deputy Executive Director,...

Featured Term (selected at random):MINISTERIORUM DISCIPLINA Decree of the Sacred Congregation for Divine Worship, issued in 1972, giving the norms and ritual for the ministries of reader and acolyte, the admission of men to the diaconate, and the dedication to a life of celibacy (December 3, 1972). All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

A suspicious device— possibly a pipe bomb— has been found inside a Roman Catholic Church in Brampton this morning and Peel bomb squad officers are in the process of removing it. "We don't know if it's real, if it's live, or if it has already been detonated," said Peel Const. Erin Cooper at the scene on Chinguacousy Road north of Steeles Avenue West. The device was located inside St. Jerome's church just after 9 a.m. Tuesday by police using a special robot. Soon after, word came that there may be another device inside the church. Expolsives Disposal Unit officers prepared...

Among the most momentous events of twentieth-century history is the defeat of the Communist Red Army in the Battle of Warsaw in the summer of 1920, “the miracle on the Vistula,” the subject of Adam Zamoyski’s excellent recent book Warsaw 1920: Lenin’s Failed Conquest of Europe. In the aftermath of the catastrophic First World War, with its 13 million deaths, the old order in much of Europe collapsed, and though the armistice was concluded in the West on 11 November 1918, eastern Europe, Italy, and the Middle East remained on fire for another five years. This is the background to...

Ho Chi Minh City (Agenzia Fides) - Vietnam is fertile ground for the Society of Jesus: as Fides learns from the Jesuits in Vietnam, in recent years the vocations of the congregation founded by St. Ignatius have multiplied and predict a bright future for the Society of Jesus in the country. The core of the Jesuit education is the "Scholasticate San Giuseppe" in Ho Chi Minh City, an institute that now houses 54 students, but can already count on over 100 new candidates. In years of study and spiritual discernment, many continue and conclude the path of theological, liturgical and...

The sheep of this fold and some not of this fold will hear HIS voice and they will follow.

Ann Nardelli has been a Catholic Democrat her entire life. Her father was one before her. And she couldn't imagine a day where that wouldn't be true. But that day was Wednesday of last week. I read a story about Jo Ann leaving the Democratic Party and was interested because she cited her Catholic faith as the reason. So I gave her a call. I got her machine and as I was leaving a message she picked up. She said she'd been screening her calls because so many people have been calling to say nasty things to her or just...

CALL7 Investigator John Ferrugia has learned the naming of a Catholic archbishop for the Denver area is imminent and could come as early as Tuesday. Bishop Sam Aquila, who is currently in Fargo, N.D., is expected to be named, according to Ferrugia. Aquila used to be a priest here. If named, he'll replace Charles Chaput who left to become the archbishop of Philadelphia.

I picked this up from the blog Etheldreda’s Place of frequent commentator here, Supertradmom.You know, these days there just aren’t enough girls being named “Etheldreda”.In any event, take a look at this, which I lifted from the aforementioned.  Go visit there, too: Pay attention Christians in France–you voted for this…[...] France: Muslims stone Christians in church during massNo one will take much note of this. It is just one story among the thousands that together tell the tale of France’s decline and Islamization. Eurabia Update: [Eurabia was not coined by the provocative Oriana Fallaci, but she popularized the term...] Here is...

The priest who is the Secretary to the Cardinal's Commission.

May 29, 2012 Tuesday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time   Reading 1 1 Pt 1:10-16 Beloved:Concerning the salvation of your soulsthe prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yourssearched and investigated itinvestigating the time and circumstancesthat the Spirit of Christ within them indicatedwhen it testified in advanceto the sufferings destined for Christand the glories to follow them.It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but youwith regard to the things that have now been announced to youby those who preached the Good News to youthrough the Holy Spirit sent from heaven,things into...

Your parents spill a few secrets as they get older. One night at dinner with my mom, I ventured that the rhythm method had worked well for her, given that there were six years between my sister Peggy and my brother Kevin, and six more between Kevin and me. She arched an eyebrow. "Well, sometimes your father used something," she said. My parents were the most devout Catholics I've ever known. But my dad came from a family of 16 in County Clare in Ireland, and my mom's mother came from a family of 13 in County Mayo. So they...

The Vatileaks story, an informer speaks out: "There's a group of us: the real brains behind it are cardinals, then there are monsignors, secretaries, small fry." The valet is just a delivery boy that somebody wants to set up." "Vatican intelligence has security systems more advanced than anything the CIA has... but cardinals are still in the habit of writing their messages by hand and dictating them." "It's open warfare, with everyone against everyone else."ROME - Who are the Vatican whistleblowers? "There isn't just one brain behind the operation, there are several. There are cardinals, private secretaries, monsignors and the...

Report and pictures of the Dalai Lama robed and in choir.

Video and report

Featured Term (selected at random):AMENDE HONORABLE Public form of satisfaction formerly inflicted on condemned criminals. With candle in hand, stripped to the waist and barefoot, they appeared before the ecclesiastical judge, begging pardon of God, the king and justice. It was used as late as the seventeenth century. All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

Thank the LORD for Jesus Christ. The only one that shows us how to walk, talk, eat, pray, and treat one another in this life. Follow HIM and all will start to make sense in life. And all that doesn't make sense you can cast on HIM, and HE will slowly take them away and bring you to a place in your mind, body, soul, and spirit that will focus on better things for you. Let's help one another to be clean in spirit and in truth!! Believers fellowship in love, as HE loves us.

On a June evening in 1979 I was having a drink on a small balcony outside a sixth-floor apartment in downtown Warsaw with a very civilized, elderly Polish intellectual, a retired mathematics professor who had taken a degree at Cambridge between the two world wars and spoke a refined, witty, patrician English. Inside the apartment about a dozen much younger Poles, twenty-five to forty-five years old, were having a secret meeting, their voices inaudible due to the classical music being played so as to hide or muffle their discourse in case the apartment was bugged. They had each arrived separately,...

“The Pope and the Vatican should say to Georgetown, ‘You guys get your act together and straighten up and fly right or you can’t hold yourself out as a Catholic institution anymore,’” Francis T. Coleman, Georgetown ’61, told The Cardinal Newman Society. A basketball legend at Georgetown, Coleman, who goes by the name of Tom, has undergraduate and law degrees from Georgetown. He coached freshman basketball and served as the first chairman of Georgetown’s Law Alumni Board. Now, the loyal alumnus finds himself advising the campaign led by Exorcist author William Peter Blatty, Georgetown ’50, to get his alma mater...