The End of the World in the Catholic Church's Teaching

Is today "Black Sunday"?

A homily.

Santa Sede . . .

. . . not "Claus"


That's Italian for "Holy See."

The term refers to the Pope’s jurisdiction as the Bishop of Rome.

Like the picture?

Siding with the bishop, the Rhode Island governor says Kennedy’s remarks "outrageous"

Today's homily and that of the day before yesterday...

... on my homily blog.

Non-Catholic political expert defends Bishop Tobin

Excerpted from Catholic News Agency, Washington, D.C., November 25, 2009.

Though not a Catholic, Peter Roff, a senior fellow at the Institute for Liberty and a former senior political writer for United Press International, says:
Bishop Thomas Tobin’s request that U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy refrain from receiving Holy Communion is “eminently reasonable” and an “appropriate” encouragement of the Congressman to examine his commitment to his faith.

Rep. Kennedy, a Rhode Island Democrat and son of the late U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy, was criticized by Bishop Tobin of Providence for his attacks on the Catholic bishops’ opposition to abortion funding in health care legislation. Recently, Kennedy revealed that Bishop Tobin had asked him to refrain from receiving communion because of his public contradiction of Catholic teaching.

Peter Roff wrote at FoxNews.com:
that Americans look to “our institutions of faith” to define moral issues like abortion. Though not a Catholic, he said he understands the hierarchical nature of the Church and the role doctrine plays within it.

Writing with “the greatest respect,” he said:
the Catholic Church is not a place where “free thinking” about doctrinal issues is encouraged.

“There is such thing as absolute truth and not all things are relative or left to the discretion of the believer,” Roff continued. If Rep. Kennedy wishes to consider himself Catholic, he should “show appropriate deference to church teachings” about life beginning at conception and about abortion being a sin.

“By asking Kennedy to act of his own volition, rather than threaten to deny him the sacraments or ordering those subservient to him in the church to refuse to offer them, Bishop Tobin is encouraging the Congressman to consider his commitment to his faith— something one should argue is the appropriate role for a member of the clergy”....

Roff wrote that:
the issue is being “spun” as a case of a church trying to impose its will on politicians who represent a “cross-section of the world’s religions.”

While some critics of Bishop Tobin invoke Thomas Jefferson’s phrase about the “wall of separation between Church and State,” Roff said this line appears nowhere in the U.S. Constitution. Jefferson was out of the country when the Constitution was written and the phrase is his own opinion as president in an 1802 letter to the Danbury Baptists in Connecticut.

Nowhere does Jefferson suggest that the church should be “prohibited from enforcing its own disciplines within its own walls among its own members, even where matters of public policy are concerned.”

The purpose of the First Amendment, in Roff’s view, was to “protect the faithful from coercion by the state,” not to protect the state from “interference from the church.”

However, he said, it is hard to see how Bishop Tobin’s request is interference.

Roff concluded in his FoxNews.com essay that:
“If Congressman Kennedy wishes his church to consider him a Catholic in good standing, then he best pay attention to its concerns and act accordingly.”

Send a CHRISTMAS card to the A.C.L.U.

They are working so hard to get rid of public mention and symbols of CHRISTMAS. A nice Christmas card would brighten up their dark, sad, little world.

Make sure it has the word CHRISTMAS!

Whatever you write on the card, don't be rude or crude.

ACLU
125 Broad Street
18th Floor
New York, NY 10004

Their operations would freeze if they received tons of Christmas mail. They’d have to go through all of it piece by piece, in case any of it contained donations from their sympathizers.

Why don’t you spend a little on a card and a stamp, and tell the ACLU to have a merry CHRISTMAS and let us have one too?

BENEDICTINES OF MARY, QUEEN OF APOSTLES

My Monastery's Artwork

We are again offering artwork by Fr. Gabriel Chavez de la Mora, O.S.B., of Tepeyac Abbey, Mexico, who designed our church and its artwork. Here are images of some of the pieces we are offering in the giftshop at our monastery. [Clicking on the images will allow you to see larger versions of them. However, these versions do not have the full quality of the images that are available for purchase.]


The Last Supper



The Prince of Peace



Detail from The Prince of Peace



Our Lady of Fatima



Our Crucified Lord



Our Lady of Guadalupe



The Lord Jesus and St. Joseph



The images are available as prints on canvas stretched and mounted in the same manner as fine oil paintings.

The shop at our monastery makes them available for purchase.

They are also available for purchase online in various sizes and formats: unmounted and unframed canvas prints, framed canvas prints, stretched canvas prints, prints on various types of fine art paper, greetings cards. Click "princeofpeaceabbey.imagekind.com" to see our online sales gallery.

The Kingdom of God is like Donald Trump.

A homily.

NATIONWIDE BULLETIN

From the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
November 13, 2009

U.S. House Keeps Abortion Funding Out of Health Care Reform

Tell Senators:

+ Follow the House’s Lead on Removing Abortion Funding
+ Protect Conscience Rights
+ Ensure Affordable Health Coverage
+ Allow Immigrants to Purchase Private Health Insurance

As long-time advocates of health care reform, the U.S. Catholic bishops continue to make the moral case for genuine health care reform that will protect the life, dignity, consciences and health of all, especially the poor and vulnerable.

+ On November 7, the U.S. House of Representatives passed major health care reform that reaffirms the essential, longstanding and widely supported policy against using federal funds for elective abortion coverage.
+ It is critical that the Senate adopt the House-approved Stupak Amendment language on this issue. This Amendment ensures that Americans are not forced to pay for the destruction of unborn children as part of needed health care reform.
+ The Senate must address other essential moral priorities: protecting conscience rights; making health coverage more affordable and accessible for those in need; and ensuring that immigrants do not lose or will not be denied health care coverage needed for the good of their families and the health of society.

ACTION: Contact Senate and House Members through e-mail, phone calls or FAX letters.

+ To send a pre-written, instant e-mail to Congress go to www.usccb.org/action.
+ Call the U.S. Capitol switchboard at: 202-224-3121, or call your Members’ local offices. Full contact info can be found on Members’ web sites at www.house.gov & www.senate.gov.

MESSAGE— SENATE:
“Please adopt the House-approved Stupak Amendment that upholds longstanding policies against abortion funding, and please protect conscience rights in health care reform. Health care must be made more affordable and accessible to those in need, and immigrants must not lose or be denied health care coverage.”

MESSAGE— HOUSE:
“I am pleased that the House-passed health care reform bill maintains the longstanding policy against federal funding of abortion. Please work to ensure that this essential provision is included in any final bill sent to the President.”

WHEN: The Senate schedule is uncertain. Act today! Thank you!

For more information on proposed legislation and the bishops’ position on authentic health care reform, visit: www.usccb.org/healthcare.

The movie Blood Money is an exposé of Planned Parenthood’s corruption.

In order to get the movie into theaters,
the producers need to show that millions of interested people have visited the website.

You need only visit the site.
there is no need to sign-up as a supporter
unless you feel compelled to do so.

The website contains a trailer for the movie.

Please visit the website,
and forward this information to others.

A Hindu's dream of the Blessed Virgin Mary