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Showing posts from September, 2010
Bullying is being blamed for the death of Asher Brown, a Texas thirteen year old, who committed suicide on September 23. I am not sure that bullying is strong enough a word. I am dumbfounded as to how people can relentlessly ridicule and harass another person. Day after day, showing up at school just to make another person's life miserable. Terrible enough to push this young man to take his own life. Satan was at work on both sides of this issue. Even more startling was a comment left by an apparent adult about this tragedy. Instead of mourning the loss and focusing on lifting the grieving family up in prayer, this person identified only as ModerateChuck said, "Another point that stands out is: how could a 13 year old get access to a pistol without his parents noticing? In my house, weapons are strictly controlled and locked." If you have read my blog before, you know of my passion for the Epistle of James. In this instance, St. James words have unfortunately come true. J...
A Christian event on Saturday for Fort Bragg soldiers and members of the surrounding area is unconstitutional and should be canceled, according to Americans United for the Separation of Church and State. The anti-Christian group said in a statement Thursday that the planned event — a concert and other activities called "Rock the Fort" — improperly enlists the military in a bid by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association to win Christian converts. The Charlotte-based ministry has sponsored similar events on military bases around the country. According to the BGEA's website, Saturday's event in Fayetteville is different because civilians as well as military personnel will be able to attend. "Chaplains at the fort identified 20 churches in the area where most soldiers are involved," the site says. "The churches are now walking alongside chaplains from Fort Bragg, hosting training and praying for this event." The site describes "Rock the Fort...
Pope Benedict XVI beatified Cardinal John Henry Newman and said his vision of religion's vital role in society should serve as a model today. the pope read aloud the decree proclaiming Cardinal Newman "blessed," a major step on the way toward official recognition of sainthood. Blessed Newman, a 19th-century theologian and a prolific writer on spiritual topics, left the Anglican Church and embraced Catholicism at the age of 44. The pope announced that his feast day would be October 9, the day of his entry into the Catholic Church. In his homily, the pope drew a portrait of Blessed Newman as a man who had profound insight into the Christian call to holiness and the importance of prayer and whose eloquent prose was able to inspire many of his time and subsequent generations. In particular, he said, Blessed Newman examined the relationship between faith and reason and "the vital place of revealed religion in civilized society." The pope paid special tribute to Bless...
Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. I am sure, like me, you have said those words thousands of times. Perhaps you were just repeating them along with everyone else. I encourage you to take a close look at what this really means. Pope Benedict XVI covers it very nicely in his book Jesus of Nazareth if you want an "expert" opinion. I am increasingly concerned that we are not paying attention to things that Jesus has specifically asked us to do and this is one of them. We know about this beautiful prayer because the apostles asked Jesus to teach them how to pray. The Lord's prayer is a definitive instruction and we are urged to listen carefully. Luke 11:4 says, "and forgive us our sins for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us." It is difficult to forgive people. We usually want to retaliate. To make them feel like we felt when they hurt us. But let's go deeper. When we "trespass" against someone we are creati...
The anniversary of the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001 has certainly caused many people to stop and reflect on the implications of that event nine years removed. The topic has been raging in the national media for a while especially over the plan to place an Islamic cultural center and mosque a couple of blocks away from ground zero in New York. Georgetown University theology professor Chester Gillis says that at its core, the mosque furor is not unlike what Catholics experienced in the United States for more than 100 years. He also is dean of Georgetown College and the founding director of the program on the Church and Interreligious Dialogue within the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs. While there are a wide range of political, philosophical and even zoning arguments about the Islamic center plans, Gillis sees anti-Muslim sentiment -- based in misconceptions and xenophobia -- at the core of the debate. "The neophytes in society are always on the outsi...
Did you watch the various programs about the terrorist attacks of 9/11 this weekend? I caught a few on the National Geographic Channel. The amount of detail was astonishing. I heard for the first time, many of the personal phone calls made by people trapped in the Twin Towers and on the various airplanes used as weapons by the Al-Qaeda. I am still shocked when I see the the planes flying into the Twin Towers. The Catholic News Service also recently ran an interesting story about Fr. Tom Iwanowski, who is pastor at St. Joseph Parish in Oradell, NJ. For Jersey City residents living near Our Lady of Czestochowa (where Fr. Tom previously served), the absence of the twin towers of the World Trade Center -- which had been a dominant point of reference on the horizon -- is a constant, sad reminder of the brutal murder of 3,000 innocent people, including more than 670 from New Jersey. "As the afternoon progressed, people came to seek consolation in church and comfort in the rest area we h...

Be a Vigilant Pro-Lifer

I was listening to Catholic Radio this morning and heard an interesting conversation about abortion. Perhaps I haven't been paying close enough attention but apparently many of the Pink organizations (namely Susan Komen Breast Cancer) have created numerous alliances with Planned Parenthood. As you are well aware, PP is extremely pro-abortion and promotes the culture of death with the use of our tax dollars. Karen Malec, who runs the Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer, maintains a very informative website that explains this connection much better than I could. The program also talked about a useful source of information on the after-effects of abortion and post-abortion healing. The website was an eye opener for me and I consider myself a very informed pro-lifer. Just goes to show how life can distract you from what is truly important. I would urge you to pray for an end to abortion in America. It is truly the most egregious human-rights violation that our great nation allows.