Same-sex marriage: A novel notion of justice :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

Same-sex marriage: A novel notion of justice :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)
EXCERPT -Unfortunately, this solipsistic view of reality has reached high places. In the 1992 Planned Parenthood vs. Casey ruling, the Supreme Court opined that, "At the heart of liberty is the right to define one's own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life." Well, actually not. The universe is already here. It has already been defined for us; otherwise, it would not be in existence. Our choice is not to make up the meaning of the universe, but to discern its meaning and then either conform ourselves to it, or revolt against it. The choice today is revolt. Igor Stravinsky once wrote, "The old original sin was one of knowledge, the new original sin is one of non-acknowledgment." It is the refusal to acknowledge anything outside the operation of the human will - most especially "the good" toward which the soul is ordered. "The good" is what ultimately informs human justice.

The modern premise, so evident in the campaign for same-sex marriage, is that any pre-existing rational end constitutes a limitation on human freedom. Therefore, "freedom" requires the denial that rational ends inhere in things. Things aretabula rasa, blank slates upon which we can write anything we desire. Things, being purposeless themselves, only have the ends we give them by our will and choice. They serve whatever purpose we wish. This is a very dangerous teaching, especially as it affects the issue of justice.

As mentioned earlier, it is necessary to apprehend things as they are in order to act justly. A simple example suffices. If one does not know the difference between a man and a dog, one may end up treating a man as if he were a dog. This would be acting unjustly. Justice in no way pertains to how we feel about things but rather to what they are. In our anthropomorphic enthusiasm, we may feel that our pet dog is human.

However, it would be absurd to pass legislation requiring the dog's consent to its owner's rule, because the dog is not human and is incapable of giving its consent. Dogs do not have free will. It is therefore just for men to rule over dogs.

Likewise, no feeling can justify the enslavement of another human being, because a human being has the inalienable right to consent in his or her rule. This, of course, was the problem with slavery. Only the understanding of what a human being is allows one to make this vital distinction between the human and the nonhuman. It is something one knows, or does not (or refuses to acknowledge), with huge consequences. It is precisely the loss of this distinction upon which the practice of abortion is based.

Once we know what something is, we can know what it is for. Its purpose is within it. How does this pertain to the issue of the justice of same-sex marriage? It has to do with the procreative and unitive powers of our sexual organs. What are they for? Today, we seem to know what every other part of our body is for, except our genitals. This is a case of selective epistemological amnesia.

Preying on the Mentally Disturbed-Chaz Bono

ABC and “Dancing With the Stars”: Preying on the Mentally Disturbed

Pray for Chaz Bono and the
sexual sins of society that
offend God Almighty so much.

Chaz Bono, the surgically-altered daughter of Sonny and Cher, has become America’s newest celebrity by appearing on ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars.” 

Chaz Bono is not a “he,” Chaz Bono is a “she.” She is a “she” in every single cell of her body, and will be until the day she dies.  Her DNA from the moment of conception was indisputably female, and it will always be female. 

No amount of surgical mutilation and hormone injections can change that. God designed her to be a female and a female she will be for the rest of her life. 

Chaz Bono had her breasts surgically removed by a surgeon, and has been receiving injections of male hormones, but remains unmistakably female from the waist down.

It’s bizarre, by the way, to find ourselves as a culture celebrating Chaz Bono’s sexual mutilation while at the same time we try to stop the female genital mutilation of young girls in Islamic countries. This kind of schizophrenia is certainly a sign that Chaz Bono is not the only one with mental health issues. Our entire society is suffering from a severe mental disorder on the whole subject of human sexuality. 

According to the American Psychiatric Association (APA) - not a part of the pro-family movement, you will note - Chaz Bono suffers from “gender identity disorder.” 

According to the dictionary, a “disorder” is “a state of confusion” or a “disruption of normal physical or mental functions; a disease or abnormal condition.” 

The “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition” (DSM-IV), the Bible of the APA, has a section devoted to gender identity disorder. In this section, the word “disturbance” is used no less than six times. 

DSM-IV is quite frank: “The disturbance causes clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.” You will note that the “distress” and “impairment” here is caused by the disorder itself, not by the imaginary hate from supporters of sexual normalcy. 

Opponents of the truth about sexuality admit that suicidal ideation is very high among homosexuals and transsexuals. But they argue that the fault should be assigned to the pro-family movement for making such people pariahs. 

This is absurd on its face. The pro-family movement is relentlessly demonized by those who want to normalize sexual aberrations. We are accused without ceasing of being hateful, homophobic bigots. Our organizations are tagged as hate groups. If anybody has been demonized, marginalized, and turned into social pariahs, it is the pro-family movement. 

Meanwhile, Chas Bono is hardly a pariah by anyone’s definition. She is the talk of Hollywood, and when the dancing starts will literally be the belle of the ball. 

If the left’s template is correct - that turning folks into social pariahs makes them kill themselves - then we should be awash in suicides here at the American Family Association. Our staff should be suffering from an epidemic of self-murder. But here we are, enjoying our lives, our families, our friends and our churches while nary a thought of suicide crosses our minds. 

The bottom line here is that, according to America’s mental health professionals, Chaz Bono is a mentally disturbed individual. 

Chaz Bono needs to be helped, not lionized. She needs restorative therapy rather than stardom. She needs to become a patient, not a celebrity. 

Anyone who cares genuinely about people will want that for her. No one who loves people would want anyone to be stuck in the swamp of pathologies that accompany such a disorder. When individuals are so mentally unsettled that they start cutting body parts off themselves, it’s time to get them some help. 

And it is possible for an individual like Chaz to reconcile her psychological identity with her biological identity. 

As Dr. Keith Ablow of the Fox News Medical A-Team wrote, “It would be wrong to think that gender dysphoria -- discomfort with one’s gender -- must always end either in misery or sexual reassignment surgery. It can end with coming to terms with deep psychological conflicts that are fueling the gender dysphoria.” Help is possible and change is possible. 

This means the issue here is ultimately about ABC, not Chaz Bono. ABC executives are unashamedly preying on her mental illness, cannibalizing her psychologically disturbed soul for ratings, and profiting handsomely in the process. This is immoral, uncaring, greedy and just plain wrong. 

If “hate” is the opposite of “love,” then the producers of “Dancing With the Stars” are the true haters here. ABC is helping to forge the chains that will imprison Chaz Bono for the rest of her life in a dark dungeon of confusion and despair. 

This is not a proud moment for ABC. And every advertiser who spends money to promote such sexual abnormality should be embarrassed even to be connected to this charade. 


http://www.rightsidenews.com/2011091214479/life-and-science/culture-wars/abc-and-dancing-with-the-stars-preying-on-the-mentally-disturbed.html


FOR FURTHER READING--'HOSTAGE TO THE DEVIL' BY MALACHI MARTIN, NY TIMES BEST SELLER, CHAPTER, 'THE VIRGIN AND THE GIRL FIXER' - TO UNDERSTAND HOW THIS IS SO FROM satan.

(Unless otherwise noted, the opinions expressed are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the views of the American Family Association or American Family Radio.)

Follow me on Twitter: @BryanJFischer, on Facebook at “Focal Point”Bryan Fischer is the Director of Issue Analysis for Government and Public Policy at the American Family Association, where he provides expertise on a range of public policy topics. He hosts the "Focal Point" radio program on AFR Talk,which airs live on weekdays from 1-3 p.m. Central on American Family Radio's nationwide talk network of 145 stations.

LINEN ON THE HEDGEROW: Left Footer's verse.....How nice!

LINEN ON THE HEDGEROW: 
Left Footer's verse.....How nice!:

How nice to be nice! 

 To tolerate vice, 

 And give honour to every perversion. 

 To love without boundaries,

 Ideological quandaries, 

And have Faith, but one's own private version.

EVEN DEMONS BELIEVE

OLD ST. MARY'S, WASHINGTON D.C.

Even Demons Believe and Tremble – A Story about the True Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist

By: Msgr. Charles PopeIt was almost 15 years ago. I was At Old St. Mary’s here in D.C. celebrating Mass in the Latin (Extraordinary Form). It was a solemn high Mass. I don’t suppose I thought it any different than most Sunday’s but something quite amazing was about to happen.

As you may know the ancient Latin Mass is celebrated “ad orientem” (towards the Liturgical East). Priest and people all face one direction. What this means practically for the celebrant is that the people are behind him. It was time for the consecration. The priest is directed to bow low, his forearms on the altar table the host between his fingers.

As directed I said the venerable words of Consecration in a low but distinct voice, Hoc est enim Corpus meum (For this is my Body). The bells rang as I genuflected.

But behind me a disturbance of some sort, a shaking or rustling in the front pews behind me to my right. And then a moaning or grumbling. What was that? It did not really sound human, more like the grumbling of a large animal such as a boar or a bear, along with a plaintive moan that did not seem human. I elevated the host and wondered, “What was that?” Then silence. I could not turn to look easily for that is awkward for the celebrant in the ancient Latin Mass. But still I thought, What was that?

But it was time for the consecration of the chalice. Again, bowing low and pronouncing clearly and distinctly but in a low voice: Hic est enim calix sanguinis mei, novi et æterni testamenti; mysterium fidei; qui pro vobis et pro multis effundetur in remissionem pecatorum. Haec quotiescumque feceritis in mei memoriam facietis (for this is the cup of my Blood, of the new and eternal covenant; the mystery of faith; which will for the many be shed unto the remission of sins. When so ever you do this, you do it in my memory).

Then, I heard another sound this time an undeniable moan and then a shriek as some one cried out: “Leave me alone Jesus! Why do you torture me!” Suddenly a scuffling as some one ran out with the groaning sound of having been injured. The back doors swung open, then closed. Then silence.

Realization – I could not turn to look for I was raising the Chalice high over my head. But I knew in an instant that some poor demon-tormented soul had encountered Christ in the Eucharistic, and could not endure his real presence displayed for all to see. And the words of Scripture occurred to me: Even Demons believe and tremble(James 2:19).

Repentance – But just as James used those words to rebuke the weak faith of his flock I too had to repent. Why was a demon-troubled man more aware of the true presence and astonished by it than me? He was moved in the negative sense to run. Why was I not more moved in a positive and comparable way? What of the other believers in the pews? I don’t doubt that any of us believed intellectually in the true presence. But there is something very different and far more wonderful in being moved to the depth of your soul! It is so easy for us to be sleepy in the presence of the Divine, forgetful of the miraculous and awesome Presence available to us.

But let the record show that one day, almost 15 years ago, it was made quite plain to me that I held in my hands the Lord of Glory, the King of heaven and earth, the just Judge, and Ruler of the kings of the earth. Is the Lord truly present in the Eucharist? You’d better believe it, even demons believe that!
http://blog.adw.org/2011/09/even-demons-believe-and-tremble-a-story-about-the-true-presence-of-jesus-in-the-eucharist/

In God's Company 2: Tribute to Saint Padre Pio

In God's Company 2: Tribute to Saint Padre Pio:
07/09/2011 16:16:15: Seeing is believing!..Padre Pio is sign for our times...This video shows footage of Saint Pio's incorrupt body on public display in San Giovanni Rotondo Italy...It certainly
reinforces belief in God and the existence of the after life in paradise....Padre Pio, a humble Capuchin priest from San Giovanni Rotondo, was blessed by God in many wonderful and mysterious ways. The most dramatic was the stigmata. Padre Pio bore the wounds of Christ for fifty years! Padre Pio, who died in 1968 at age 81, bore a "stigmata," or wounds like those Jesus suffered at his crucifixion, on his hands and feet. He was made a saint in 2002
Church officials exhumed the body in 2008 and they said there was no sign of the so-called stigmata on his limbs after an initial examination, and that the body was in good condition......Padre Pio pray for us!
If you have a devotion to the Divine Merc, please have a listen to this version of the Divine Mercy chaplet...

The Truth About Demons

http://desertvoice.excerptsofinri.com/

Thursday February 12, 2004 Homily by Fr. Robert Altier   Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

Reading (1 Kings 11:4-13)   Gospel (St. Mark 7:24-30)

In the first reading today, we hear again about Solomon and the folly that he had fallen into in his old age. Solomon had done, on several levels, what had been completely forbidden by God for Israel. It was forbidden by God to multiply wives – he had six hundred. It was forbidden by God to multiply gold – it is the only other place in Scripture [besides the Book of Revelation] where you will find the words “six hundred and sixty-six” because it is the number of talents of gold that he had piled up. And it was forbidden by God for the Israelites to have horses, because the only place in the ancient world where horses were raised was Egypt; and, in order to have horses, they would have to have some kind of pact with Egypt, which, of course, was their enemy. He did all of these things. And not only with Egypt did he make a pact, but he figured out (as modern politicians have done as well) that if you marry the daughter of foreign kings you can make a pretty good pact with them because they now have a vested interest. So he had all these wives from foreign lands.

Because he was already disobedient to God (what we would understand and, perhaps, they did not fully understand then), he was in the state of mortal sin – deeply in the state of mortal sin. And it is not possible for anyone who is in the state of mortal sin to think clearly. Therefore, he started giving into the whims and desires of his foreign wives, and he started building altars and high places to these foreign gods. Now what we have to realize is that there is only one God. If there is anything else, or anyone else, that is claiming to be a god, if there is anyone else to whom any form of worship is being given, it is not truly a god or a goddess but it is a demon, pure and simple. We even heard that in the psalm: “They sacrificed their sons and daughters to demons.” What Molech required was human sacrifice, and he had built a place across the hill from Jerusalem where Molech was going to be honored, as well as Astarte and all of the others that we heard about. So what happened is he himself not only built these places in honor of these demons, but he himself took part in the sacrifice and in the worship of these demons.

Now we do not like to think in our day about demons. We like to suggest that somehow this is a medieval myth that was made up and that we do not need to deal with this anymore because now we have modern psychology so we know that no such things as demons exist. Well, I would recommend, once again, looking at the Gospels. First, in today’s Gospel, we see Jesus casting out a demon from this little girl. We heard many times about Jesus casting out demons from a variety of people. In our modern rationalistic society, people try to say, “Well, there really weren’t demons. They had mental illness problems and they just didn’t know what mental illness was back then. Or perhaps they had somebody suffering from epilepsy and that is why they were thrown to the ground. They just thought it was something demonic,” – except that there is in the Gospels someone whom we are told explicitly had epilepsy, and it does not say that Jesus cast a demon out of him; it says that Jesus healed him. So it is very clear in the inspired Word of God that the Son of God came into this world and He cast out demons, and He gave to His apostles the authority to cast out demons.

These vile creatures are as real as you and me. The devil and all of his minions are real beings. The problem is that if we want to play with them, they are going to be more than happy to play. But always remember the rule, as one priest put it: The devil always double-crosses his dupes. If you want to play with the devil, he will give you what you want and then he will double-cross you. The devil has only one desire and that is that you go to hell for eternity. That is the only thing he wants. God has only one desire, ultimately, and that is that you go to heaven for eternity. In order to be able to do that, we need to be obedient to God. And so we need to be very careful.

Somebody like Solomon would start out with just mortal sin. Pretty soon, he was heaping sin upon sin. After a while, he was falling into the worship of false gods; not immediately, he just started building altars and shrines to these false gods on behalf of his foreign wives. Then, after a while, he joined them in offering incense and sacrifice. That is the way mortal sin operates. The devil is shrewd. He is not so impatient that he wants to get it all in one shot. If he can get you to fall into sin, then he knows he can get you to fall into something a little more and a little more and a little more. That is what he does. It is what happened to Solomon. It is what can happen to any of us.

So we need to be exceedingly careful, first of all, to be humble like this woman in the Gospel was, and secondly, to be obedient. We are told explicitly in the first reading that Solomon was disobedient to the commandments of God, and it was for this reason that he got himself in trouble. There is also a very important statement in the first reading by God Himself. He says to Solomon: “Since this is the way you want things to be….” You see how God operates. He gave you a free will and He is not going to interfere in your exercise of that free will, even if you choose to use it against Him. He will look at us as we commit sin, and in our foolishness in giving into the devil’s little ploys we will say, “Well, if God didn’t want me to sin, He can stop me!” He is not going to do that because you have a free will and He is not going to interfere with it. So He will look at each one of us and say, “Well, since this is the way you want it to be, go right ahead. But this is what is going to happen to you…” And all of us know what the punishment is going to be. We cannot claim ignorance because we know what is going to happen if we choose mortal sin. So we need to be extremely clear about these matters.

There is only one God; anything else is from the devil. The devil is real, and if we want to play with the devil we are going to get burned. You do not play with fire and walk away unscathed. So we need to make a clear choice. We cannot do what Solomon did and say, “As long as I worship the one true God then I can play around with all these other ones.” No, we cannot. We need to get rid of sin, we need to get rid of everything that is not of God, and we need to worship the one true God and Him alone.

*  This text was transcribed from the audio recording of a homily by Father Robert Altier with minimal editing.

Pope: Beauty Can Cause a Conversion

Montauk, NY

Pope: Beauty Can Cause a Conversion

Speaks of Art as Path to God, Aid to Prayer

CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy, AUG. 31, 2011 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI is inviting people to visit art museums not only for cultural enrichment but also for the opportunity to strengthen a bond with the Lord, to be invited by beauty to "ascend to God."

The Pope made this invitation today at the general audience held in Castel Gandolfo, in which he continued his teaching on prayer. Today he turned to the subject of beauty as a way to God.

The Holy Father suggested to his listeners that perhaps they've had the experience of contemplating art, poetry or music, and perceiving that they were before "something far greater, something that 'speaks,' something capable of touching the heart, of communicating a message, of elevating the soul."

Cross quilt

"Art is capable of expressing, and of making visible, man's need to go beyond what he sees; it reveals his thirst and his search for the infinite," the Pontiff explained. "Indeed, it is like a door opened to the infinite, [opened] to a beauty and a truth beyond the every day. And a work of art can open the eyes of the mind and heart, urging us upward."

Then, there are artistic expressions that are "true roads to God, the supreme Beauty," he continued, art that is born of faith and expresses the faith, and are "a help [to us] in growing in our relationship with him in prayer."

Benedict XVI recounted a personal experience of this kind: "I remember a concert performance of the music of Johann Sebastian Bach -- in Munich in Bavaria -- conducted by Leonard Bernstein. At the conclusion of the final selection, one of the Cantate, I felt -- not through reasoning, but in the depths of my heart -- that what I had just heard had spoken truth to me, truth about the supreme composer, and it moved me to give thanks to God. Seated next to me was the Lutheran bishop of Munich. I spontaneously said to him: 'Whoever has listened to this understands that faith is true.'" 

"How many times, then, can artistic expression be for us an occasion that reminds us of God, that assists us in our prayer or even in the conversion of our heart," the Pope reflected.

Hence, he made the invitation to "rediscover the importance of this way for prayer, for our living relationship with God."

Surfing Madonna, Ca.

"Cities and countries throughout the world house treasures of art that express the faith and call us to a relationship with God," the Pope observed. "Therefore, may our visits to places of art be not only an occasion for cultural enrichment -- also this -- but may they become, above all, a moment of grace that moves us to strengthen our bond and our conversation with the Lord, [that moves us] to stop and contemplate -- in passing from the simple external reality to the deeper reality expressed -- the ray of beauty that strikes us, that 'wounds' us in the intimate recesses of our heart and invites us to ascend to God."

--- --- ---

On ZENIT's Web page:

Full text: www.zenit.org/article-33326?l=english

A Reluctant Sinner: St Raymond Nonnatus - a courageous son of Our Lady...

A Reluctant Sinner: St Raymond Nonnatus - a courageous son of Our Lady...: Many Catholics are aware of the fact that one of the titles bestowed upon the Blessed Virgin Mary is that of Our Lady of Ransom (also known ...

St Raymond Nonnatus - a courageous son of Our Lady of Ransom whose intercession can be a powerful aid in the work of converting England

Many Catholics are aware of the fact that one of the titles bestowed upon the Blessed Virgin Mary is that of Our Lady of Ransom (also known as Our Lady of Mercy and the Mother of Mercy). This title can be traced back to 1218, when the Virgin appeared to St Peter Nolasco and and asked him, together with St Raymond of Penafort and King James I of Aragon, to form a religious order specifically for the ransoming of Christian slaves - namely those captured by Muslim pirates who often raided European coastlines. As a result, the Order of Our Lady of Ransom (otherwise known as the Royal, Celestial and Military Order of Our Lady of Mercy and the Redemption of the Captives, or more simply as the Mercedarians) was founded, and countless Christian captives were subsequently saved from savage bondage.

The Order is still active today (here is its US website), and numbers over 700 friars, who are allowed to bear the coat of arms of James of Aragon and who have also taken a fourth vow "to give one’s life for someone in danger of losing their Christian faith."

One of the great glories of the Order of Our Lady of Ransom is St Raymond Nonnatus, whose feast is traditionally celebrated today. He was born (or "not born" as his name suggests - he was delivered by Caesarian section) at Portello, Catalonia, in 1204. His mother died during the birth, hence his patronage of pregnant women, childbirth and midwives. As a child, though, Raymond Nonnatus implored the Virgin Mary to adopt him as her own son - something that she was more than willing to do.

As a young man, St Raymond took over the running of his father's farm - the family was noble, yet relatively "distressed". It seems, though, that his heavenly mother had other ideas, as Our Lady asked him in a vision to ransom himself for captives. Although his father relied on Raymond's help, he willingly gave his consent for his son to renounce the world and take the habit of the Mercedarians. St Raymond Nonnatus was subsequently ordained to the sacred priesthood in 1222, and, due of his obvious piety, soon rose to become the Order's Master General.

Raymond was eventually sent to Algiers, where he liberated numerous captives - many of whom were being used in the most degrading of ways, or who had even come close to apostatising at the hands of the Saracens.  When his money eventually ran out, Raymond feared for the souls of those men that he could no longer ransom, especially those close to renouncing their faith. So, in order to save them, the holy man decided to offer himself as a ransom hostage (or slave) for their sake.

During his captivity, St Raymond Nonnatus preached the Gospel so effectively that many Muslims converted to faith in Jesus Christ. Needless to say, this displeased the Muslim authorities, who forced the young Catalonian to undergo tortures and indignities, such as running the gauntlet. Undeterred, his his zeal for the truth led to even more converts, and he continued to proclaim the Gospel. Eventually, Raymond's guards decided to bore a hole through his lips with a hot iron in order to padlock his mouth, which would prevent him from preaching. He continued, though, to give witness to Christ through his patience and loving deeds.

By 1239, and after having had his sentence of impalement commuted to lifelong slavery, Raymond Nonnatus was ransomed by his own Order. He returned to Spain in the same year, where, according to some disputed sources, he was created a cardinal by Pope Gregory IX. On 31 August 1240, Raymond set out to Rome to receive his red hat, but sadly died only six miles outside Barcelona. His body was taken to the church of St Nicholas, which lay near the farm he had once worked. A cult quickly developed and many miracles through his intercession were reported soon after his death.

St Raymond Nonnatus was canonised by Pope Alexander VII in 1657. He has since become the patron of the city of Baitoa in the Dominican Republic as well as the patron of childbirth, children, expectant mothers, falsely accused people, infants, midwives, newborn babies, obstetricians and pregnant women. He is also the protector of priests who refuse to break the Seal of the Confessional, especially those who are threatened with punishment if they refuse to speak. In that sense, then, it might be a good idea to invoke St Raymond's intercession at this time of crisis for the Irish Church, when the government of that nation is threatening to compel priests to reveal the secrets of the Confessional.

Our Lady of Ransom is the patron of the city of Barcelona, as well as the millions of Christians currently being persecuted in Muslim or Communist countries. She also intercedes on behalf of Christian slaves and those who are in danger of losing their faith. Her feast day is 24 September, which, of course, is kept in England and Wales as the feast of Our Lady of Walsingham. This is no coincidence, as the title "Our Lady of Ransom" was revived in England during the 19th century with the intention of imploring the Blessed Virgin to "ransom" the nation (known in the Middle Ages as "Our Lady's Dowry") back to the true Faith.The Guild of Our Lady of Ransom still exists, and was founded in 1887 with the aims of (re)converting England and Wales to the Catholic faith, rescuing apostates and those in danger of apostasy and offering prayers for the "forgotten dead" (i.e. isolated converts and those holy souls who, owing to the Reformation, have no one to pray for them). As the Virgin Mary's principal shrine in England is at Walsingham, it was recently decided that Our Lady of Ransom's feast day would be celebrated in England and Wales as the feast of Our Lady of Walsingham.

Our Lady of Ransom, pray for us

Our Lady of Walsingham, pray for us

St Raymond Nonnatus, pray for us

St Peter Nolasco, pray for us

St Raymond of Penafort, pray for us

[Images: 1 St Raymond Nonnatus ransoming Christian slaves; source: St Mary's Catholic Church. 2 St Raymond Nonnatus with his cardinal's galero on a table (as he did not get to wear it); source:St Mary's Catholic Church. 3 Our Lady of Ransom with some Mercedarians; source: (which contains several beautiful images of Our Lady of Ransom / Mercy) Catholic Harbor of Faith and Morals]

St. Raymond Nonnatus

Feastday: August 31


Raymond was born at Portella, Catalonia, Spain. He was delivered by caesarean operation when his mother died in childbirth. Hence his name non natus (not born). He joined the Mercedarians under St. PeterNolasco at Barcelona. He succeeded Peter as chief ransomer and went to Algeria to ransom slaves. He remained as hostage for several slaves when his money ran out and was sentenced to be impaled when the governor learned that he had converted several Mohammedans. He escaped the death sentence because of the ransom he would bring, but was forced to run the gauntlet. He was then tortured for continuing his evangelizing activities but was ransomed eight months later by Peter Nolasco. On his return to Barcelona in 1239, he was appointed Cardinal by Pope Gregory IX, but died at Cardona a short distance from Barcelona the next year while on the way to Rome. He was canonized in 1657. He is the patron saint of expectant mothers andmidwives because of the nature of his own birth. Although his mother died in labor, Raymond miraculously survived the ordeal. His feast day is August 31.


I would also say that he is the patron saint for Muslim converts and for mothers not to abort their babies.

Here's another old news report I found about Medjugorje back in 1987 (pa...

Medjugorje 1983

Here's another old news report I found about Medjugorje back in 1987 (pa...

JESUS IS THE HEALER...FAITH IS THE PREREQUISITE

A beggar in Lisbon, Portugal  

EXCERPT: FROM FR. FARFAGLIA


 - prerequisitesplural of pre·req·ui·site

Noun: A thing required as a prior condition for something else to happen. 

http://donotbediscouraged.com/the-sunday-homily-man-is-a-beggar-before-god/

A woman had a daughter who was very ill.  She had heard about all of the wonderful things that Jesus was doing in Palestine and she was convinced that he was her only hope.

Let us contemplate five beautiful qualities of the Canaanite woman.

First of all, the woman was humble.  “Have pity on me.”  Humility is the most basic virtue of the Christian way of life.  Humility allows us to believe and humility allows us to love.  Humility is the fundamental characteristic which marks our relationship with God.  Saint Augustine once wrote: “Man is a beggar before God.”  Like the centurion who was also a Gentile, the Canaanite woman approached Jesus with profound humility.

Secondly, the woman of this Sunday’s gospel passage was a woman of deep faith.  As we carefully read the gospel passage, we note that she first addressed Jesus as Son of David.  This title meant that she looked upon Jesus respectfully in terms of earthly power and glory.

Her profound humility and faith allowed her to experience Jesus for whom he really is.  Her encounter brought her to understand with her heart that Jesus is the Lord.  Her experience allowed her to worship as she knelt before him in supplication and adoration.  She came to experience the whole Christ: Jesus, true God and true Man.

Thirdly, the woman was persistent.  She would not be discouraged.  Jesus tested her faith and she passed the test with an A+.  She came to Jesus as her only hope.  She came to Jesus with a passionate hope and a refusal to be discouraged.  Her prayer of supplication was not ritualistic in form.  Her prayer was an expression of her personal relationship with Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.  Her need was great and she trusted him whom she believed would give her what she needed.

Finally, as she retorted that “True, Lord, but even the dogs eat of the pieces which fall from their master’s table,” we can see that the woman was joyful.  Within the circumstances of her need, she had a sense of humor.  Jesus could see in her eyes the light of hope and a smile which can dispel the gloom.

The Canaanite woman teaches us how our prayers can always be answered.  She brings to Jesus a profound love and a growing faith which allowed her to worship at the feet of the divine; an unconquerable persistence flowing from an invincible hope and a joyfulness which would not give in to discouragement.

Before we conclude our thoughts for this Sunday, let us consider some practical applications of this Sunday’s passage from the Gospel of Saint Matthew.

Faith is a gift from God.  “For the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable” (Romans 11: 29).   Faith is a priceless gift which can be lost through our own personal negligence.  Faith must be nourished with a well developed spiritual life and with the continual study of our Catholic Faith.  Spiritual laziness, culpable ignorance and indifference can weaken our faith and even cause the loss of faith.

Parents have a solemn duty to pass on the gift of faith to their children. 

PHOTO ABOVE FROM  - http://heikkialanen.net/?page=photos&cat=europe

Beheading of, St. John the Baptizer

Monday, August 29, 2011, Beheading of, St. John the Baptizer

Jeremiah 1:17-19, Psalm 71:1-6, 15, 17, Mark 6:17-29

Link to Readings --> http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/082911.cfm

HEAD-LINES

"Stand up and tell them all that I command you." -Jeremiah 1:17

John the Baptizer called the religious leaders of his time a "brood of vipers" (Mt 3:7). He said they would "burn in unquenchable fire" if they did not repent (Mt 3:12). John was the greatest prophet who had ever lived (Mt 11:11). He uncompromisingly preached a baptism in repentance (Lk 3:3). Nevertheless, John was tolerated until he "told Herod, 'It is not right for you to live with your brother's wife' " (Mk 6:18). When John condemned sexual sin, it was: "Off with his head."

Likewise, when Pope Paul VI repeated the Church's traditional condemnation of artificial birth control, he was virtually beheaded. The Vatican said that those involved in homosexual activity have the right to be loved and respected, but not the right to pervert society by their sin. When that memo was publicized, it triggered widespread Catholic-bashing and Pope-bashing. The Herods and Herodiases of the world also feel compelled to behead any Christian who opposes condoms and/or abortions. The world refuses to tolerate the truth about sex. Nevertheless, speak the truth in love (Eph 4:15), even if you may be beheaded.

"Do not deceive yourselves: no fornicators, idolaters, or adulterers, no sodomites, thieves, misers, or drunkards, no slanderers or robbers will inherit God's kingdom. And such were some of you; but you have been washed, consecrated, justified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God" (1 Cor 6:9-11).

Prayer: Father, may I love people enough to let them behead me.

Promise: "They will fight against you, but not prevail over you, for I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord." -Jer 1:19

Praise: St. John prophesied: "All mankind shall see the salvation of God" (Lk 3:6).

Cathedral of St. Jon the Baptist, Russia

(For a related teaching, order our leaflet "The Truth Will Set You Free".)

He Taught Us Who We Are

He Taught Us Who We Are
He Taught Us Who We Are

JANET E. SMITH

In his letter marking the close of the Jubilee year, Pope John Paul II wrote, “I have often stopped to look at the long queues of pilgrims waiting patiently to go through the Holy Door. In each of them I tried to imagine the story of a life, made up of joys, worries, sufferings; the story of someone whom Christ had met and who in dialogue with Him, was setting out again on a journey of hope.”

He went on to relate: “As I observed the continuous flow of pilgrims, I saw them as a kind of concrete image of the pilgrim Church, the Church placed, as Saint Augustine says, ‘amid the persecutions of the world and the consolations of God.’” In part, this passage shows where Pope John Paul II got his energy to write speeches, encyclicals, letters, exhortations, greetings, etc., that fill volumes; to visit more places on earth than perhaps any other public figure ever; to be with his flock in endless long and often tedious ceremonies. For him all of this was an extended love feast; he loved each and every one of us and loved the fact that we are loved by Christ. Pope John Paul II was a true alter Christus; he wanted to touch us, to be with us, to rejoice with us, to console us, to guide us and to be inspired by us.

Pope John Paul II quite simply loved life and loved every human person, because he understood the true meaning of the human drama. When he looked over a crowd of people, he did not see a “sea of humanity,” or consumers, or polluters, or voters, but he saw souls, souls that God had willed into existence and souls that God wants with Him for eternity, souls that are filled with a longing that only God can satisfy. Each life is infinitely fascinating and infinitely interesting and infinitely important because it is the story of a soul’s journey to God.

I sometimes wondered if, when he looked out over the huge crowds, that amidst all his joy, Pope John Paul II experienced great sorrow at the thought that few people realize how precious they are to God, how loved they are. In his Letter to Families, I found some confirmation of this suspicion in the line: “Man must reconcile himself to his natural greatness.” 

It is profoundly sad that we don’t realize how great we are. The greatness of the human person comes from our ability to understand that we are made in the image and likeness of God and from our freedom to embrace that reality as a gift and to love the fact God that made us. The greatest responsibility of the human person, the greatest actualization of his innate dignity, is to live in accord with the truth, the truth about himself, about the world around him, about God. Pope John Paul II understood that all crimes against life are based on falsehoods, are a misuse of our freedom, are crimes against God, against the love that God has for each one of us; he also understood them to be signs of despair, to be instances of the failure to hope. 

Those who love life, who love the reality of the human person, wish to live their lives in service of life and to extend Christ’s love to all. They will know that “Love is...the fundamental and innate vocation of every human being” (FC 1). The natural place to learn these truths and these responsibilities is in the family, and Pope John Paul II never tired of extolling and explaining the importance of the family. What pained him greatly about the Culture of Death in which we live is that the crimes against life in our times are crimes of mothers and fathers against their unborn children, of sons and daughters against their ailing parents, of health-care professionals against their patients. It pained him that we have become so skeptical, so doubtful about the ability to know the truth, that we are comfortable calling evil good and good evil; we have developed the habit of calling crimes rights and considering efforts to protect life and to promote human decency acts of arrogance and intolerance.

When Pope John Paul II lay dying, a friend asked me how I was handling his death. A few years ago, when I thought of his dying, I froze with grief; I thought the day he died would be one of the darkest of my life since I so admired him and his pontificate. But I responded to my friend that I was really more joyous than sad, that I thought Pope John Paul II and God Himself seemed to have scripted a most beautiful ending to his life. The Holy Father had faced death several times; he survived an assassination attempt and forgave the assassin; he survived cancer; he went into public with his debilitating Parkinson’s and made us realize that even when all he could be was present to us, that presence, sometimes drooling, sometimes silent, was of great consolation to us. When Terri Schiavo was being starved to death, the Holy Father accepted a feeding tube. And then in his last days, he choose not to go back to the hospital, not to go on a respirator or kidney dialysis machine or powerful medication; he allowed the dying process to take over. 

Pope John Paul II was a man with a fierce love of life and will to live; he certainly did not “give up,” but he was certainly not afraid of death and he would have been right to have been confident that a legion of angels and saints and his beloved Jesus Christ were awaiting him with open arms. He showed us how to live, he showed us how to suffer, he showed us how to die, and most importantly he showed us how to love.