The leader of Scotland's Roman Catholics, Cardinal Keith O'Brien, has called for Muslims to apologise for 9/11

and also for the London Bombings of 7 July 2005.


I don't think his request is helpful.

Go read about it anyway.

He was Aragorn. Now he comes as Alatriste.

Viggo Mortensen spent childhood years in Venezuela and Argentina.

He speaks Spanish with the accent of a native Argentinian.

If you click HERE, you will arrive at a video clip of Mortensen in an interview in Spain about his role as Capitán Alatriste.

The interview is entirely in Spanish.

The Spanish-language movie "Alatriste" opened in Spain last month.

Apparently the movie and Mortensen are both making an impact in Europe.

Click on the following image to view a trailer for "Alatriste."



Click here to read a synopsis of the movie.

The movie is based on a wildly popular Spanish novel, Capitán Alatriste.

It is available in English as "Captain Alatriste."

The Washington Post published a review of the book last year. Click HERE to read the review.

Polamalu lives to be faithful in glorifying God

Catholic!

Polamalu notes that "success in football doesn't matter. Success in anything doesn't matter. As Mother Teresa said, God calls us not to be successful but to be faithful. My prayer is that I would glorify God no matter what, and not have success be the definition of it."

"I believe that I'm the same person on and off the field. I live my life with a passion and that includes how I play. Obviously, football calls for physical contact, but that's just part of the game," Polamalu said.

To illustrate, he offers Jesus' time on earth as an example. "Look at the passion for life that he lived as portrayed in the Stations of the Cross – that fight that he had in him, as well as the love he shared with others. There's no difference."

Indeed, what sets Polamalu apart is his knack for keeping love at the center of his sport. "Football, in general, has it backwards," he said. "They think this inner anger, this hatred, is what drives football and becomes the physical aspect of the game. But love overcomes all things. My love to glorify God through my playing will far outweigh anybody's hate for me."

Read the article.

Patron gives waitress a tip: a trip to Rome

She was not sure what to do with her life.

He tells her:
"You should go to Rome. Go to the Coliseum. Go to the Vatican. Soak in all that history and I promise, you'll figure out what you want to do with your life".

Then he pays for it.


Read the article.

Baptist Catholicity

Baptist professor, Dr. Steve Harmon, has authored a book, "Towards Baptist Catholicity: Essays on Tradition and the Baptist Vision".

I wouldn't be surprised if he eventually researches and writes himself into the Catholic Church.

Read the article about his work.

WORTHINESS TO RECEIVE HOLY COMMUNION. General Principles.

By Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger

1. Presenting oneself to receive Holy Communion should be a conscious decision, based on a reasoned judgement regarding one’s worthiness to do so, according to the Church’s objective criteria, asking such questions as: "Am I in full communion with the Catholic Church? Am I guilty of grave sin? Have I incurred a penalty (e.g. excommunication, interdict) that forbids me to receive Holy Communion? Have I prepared myself by fasting for at least an hour?" The practice of indiscriminately presenting oneself to receive Holy Communion, merely as a consequence of being present at Mass, is an abuse that must be corrected (cf. Instruction "Redemptionis Sacramentum," nos. 81, 83).

Read the entire statement.

I have received a good question.

"Have you ever posted reflections on the readings and not made a reference to the Eucharist?"

I received that question on my other blog, "One Monk of the Order of Saint Benedict" (1monk.blogspot.com), where I post daily homilies on the readings at Mass.

Towards the end of all my homilies at Mass, I always try to refer to the Eucharist. I think the homily, coming between the Gospel and the Eucharist-- or coming near the end of the Liturgy of the Word and near the beginning of the Liturgy of the Eucharist-- ought to honor both the Gospel and the Eucharist. The homily, like the entire Liturgy, ought to be an offering of worship and a seeking of salvation.

Furthermore, just before the priest is about to say "Behold the Lamb of God..." and then consume the Eucharist, he says a prayer of preparation that implicitly wraps the Gospel and the Eucharist together:

Lord Jesus Christ,
Son of the Living God,
by the will of the Father
and the work of the Holy Spirit,
your death brought life to the world.
By your holy BODY AND BLOOD
free me from my sins and from every evil,
keep me faithful to your TEACHING
and never let me be parted from you.

My homily blog has a "subtitle" that describes my approach.

The Word of God and the Body of God reveal each other-- the homily worships both.

Germany jails homeschoolers

On Thursday, Sept. 7, in Paderborn, Germany, a female plainclothes police officer rang the doorbell at the home of Katharina Plett. When Plett opened the door, other police officers who were hiding rushed into her home.

Plett was placed under arrest. The officers followed her into the bedroom where she was permitted to change her clothes. Before being taken to nearby Gelsenkirchen prison, she was permitted to contact her husband, who had fled the country the day before with their 12 children.

If you suspect Plett is guilty of a very serious crime, guess again. She was arrested and thrown in prison for homeschooling her children.

Read the whole article.

Duke University has developed an invisibility device

It would be useful to penitents whose churches have no confessional with an anonymity screen.

Pope and other heads of world religions to settle differences by a game of one-potato-two-potato during half-time of NFL Super Bowl in January

The Roman Pontiff says the other religions are "going to have to put up or shut up."

Religions that have leaders rostered for the showdown so far:

Anglicanism
Mormonism
Tibetan Buddhism
Islam
Judaism

Read all about it.

Egypt’s Muslim president holds Muslims responsible for their own bad image

President Hosni Mubarak

"Don't we Muslims share part of the responsibility for the wrong perceptions about Islam? Have we done our duty in correcting the image of Islam and Muslims?"

"Isn't it the time for a new religious discourse, that teaches people the correct things in their religion … and promotes the values of tolerance against those of extremism and radicalism?"

Online news article

Mel Gibson does it again

". . . a riveting and relentless chase film that provides a unique context for telling a story about personal and societal survival.
The analogy to our present culture is discreet, but powerful.
A society that allows itself to fall apart from within will be unable to withstand threats from without."

Read Fr. Jonathan's blog about the upcoming movie "Apocalypto"

Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia Congregation

The Catholic bishops of California have united to send a sharp letter to the editor-in-chief of the Jesuit magazine "America"...

... claiming that attorney Marci Hamilton’s recent article on clergy abuse in the United States is skewed and not based on evidence.


Click on HERE to read the Catholic News Agency's article about the letter of the bishops.


Attorney Hamilton's article has been reproduced online at BishopAccountability.org, and you can read it by clicking on HERE.

Feast of Saint Luke, October 18

I have posted a homily for the occasion.

Pope Benedict XVI says of Pope John Paul II, "I can continue his work under his protective gaze from the house of the Father."

The icon can be purchased from www.bridgebuilding.com.

Marking the 28th anniversary of the election of Pope John Paul II today, Pope Benedict XVI told Polish Catholics that he, like many of them, continues to trust in the guidance of the late pope.

From an article on catholicnews.com.

October 17, the Memorial of Saint Ignatius of Antioch

Ignatius was a disciple of Polycarp.
Polycarp was a disciple of John.
John was a disciple of Jesus.


I have posted a homily for the occasion.

As far as I have been able to document, only seven passages of Scripture have had their senses partially (not fully) defined ...

. . . by the extraordinary magisterium. These definitions were made by the Council of Trent:

(1) The reference being "born of water and the Spirit" in John 3:5 does include the idea of baptism.

(2–3) In telling the apostles "Do this [the Eucharist] in memory of me" in Luke 22:19 and 1 Corinthians 11:24, Jesus appointed the apostles priests.

(4–5) In Matthew 18:18 and John 20:22–23, Jesus did confer a power on the apostles to forgive sins, and not everyone shares this power.

(6) Romans 5:12 refers to the reality of original sin.

(7) The presbyters referred to in James 5:14 are ordained and not simply elder members of the Christian community.

Jimmy Akin published that statement in his article, "The Limits of Scripture Interpretation". The article appeared in the January 2001 edition of "This Rock" magazine.

The fourteen saints and five blesseds of the U.S.A.

Saint Rene Goupil (1607-1642)
Saint Isaac Jogues (1607-1646)
Saint Jean Lalande (died 1646)
Saint Antoine Daniel (1601-1648)
Saint Jean de Brebeuf (1593-1649)
Saint Charles Garnier (circa 1606-1649)
Saint Gabriel Lalemant (1610-1649)
Saint Noel Chabanel (1613-1649)
Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha (1656-1680)
Blessed Junipero Serra (1713-1784)
Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton (1774-1821)
Saint Rose Philippine Duchesne (1769-1852)
Saint Theodore Guerin (1798-1856)
Saint John Nepomucene Neumann (1811-1860)
Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos (1819-1867)
Blessed Damien DeVeuster (1840-1889)
Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini (1850-1917)
Blessed Marianne Cope (1838-1918)
Saint Katharine Drexel (1858-1955)

St. Teresa FROM Avila … and St. Paul TO Ephesus

[For Mac McLernon from Mulier-Fortis.Blogspot.Com]

The Letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians says that:

before the world began,
God chose us in Christ,
chose us to be holy and blameless in his sight,
to be full of love;
he likewise predestined us through Christ Jesus
to be his adopted children—
this was his will and pleasure—
that all might praise the divine favor he has bestowed on us in his beloved.

October 15, is the memorial of St. Teresa of Avila.

St. Teresa of Avila, a great teacher of Christian life and prayer, shared St. Paul’s warm appreciation for the destiny we have through the mystery of the Human Incarnation of the Divine Son of God.
She is also close to St. Paul in her clear perception of the singular importance of the Incarnation “for us men and for our salvation.”
St. Teresa’s own words in this matter echo and reverberate with the glowing rhythms of St. Paul’s words.
She says all God’s favor comes to us from the hands of Christ, through his most sacred humanity, in which God takes delight.
That is the gate, she reminds us, by which we must enter into the great mystery of God’s plan for our salvation.
In the Book of Her Life, chapter 22, St. Teresa says:

Whenever we think of Christ
we should recall the love that led him to bestow on us so many graces and favors,
and also the great love God showed in giving us in Christ a pledge of his love.

We receive the same pledge of love in the Eucharist.
In that Blessed Sacrament we receive our own flesh and blood, our own humanity, now made sacred and immortal by Christ’s divine ownership.
It is his sacred humanity, his sacred flesh and blood.
It is ours as well.
In this is our communion with God— our oneness with God under the headship of Christ.

- - -
The images are from MonasteryIcons.com where they are available for purchase.

"Into the West"

That is the title of the song in the following video that is less than five minutes long. The video plays a song and several scenes from "The Lord of the Rings" movie trilogy.

About one minute and thirty seconds into the video, the scene that plays gives me the impression of a Marian apparition.



Beauty. Truth. Goodness. Wisdom. Duty. Courage.

When I hear this music and remember the movie trilogy, my heart opens up. I want to go pray.

Another American in the canon of saints

Today Pope Benedict XVI has enrolled Saint Théodore Guérin of Indiana among those the Church acknowledges to be saints.

She was a member of the Sisters of Providence religious order.

Although born in France, she served and died in Indiana.

Read more about her by clicking on HERE.

Did you know that five states of the U.S.A. have members of Catholic religious orders as their national "representatives"?