In light of the fact of the continuing erosion of our civil liberties and the marginalization of religion (Christianity) and religious (Christian) values, and in light of the fact that we are in the mysterious period between Ascension Thursday and Pentecost, I share here a video from the USCCB, posted in 2013. A reader sent it to me. It only has 8481 views as I post this.
About this blog…
“This blog is like a fusion of the Baroque ‘salon’ with its well-tuned harpsichord around which polite society gathered for entertainment and edification and, on the other hand, a Wild West “saloon” with its out-of-tune piano and swinging doors, where everyone has a gun and something to say. Nevertheless, we try to point our discussions back to what it is to be Catholic in this increasingly difficult age, to love God, and how to get to heaven.” – Fr. Z
Coat of Arms by D Burkart
This REALLY helps! And it’s great coffee (and tea)
Polls
Loading ...Donate using VENMO
CLICK and say your daily offerings!
A Daily Prayer for Priests
Do you have a faithful Catholic website that needs competent and reliable tech support?
Fr. Z’s VOICEMAIL
Nota bene: I do not answer these numbers or this Skype address. You won't get me "live". I check for messages regularly.
WDTPRS
020 8133 4535
651-447-6265YOUR RECENT COMMENTS
on Daily Rome Shot 230: “This is the unforgettable funeral monument by and for Giovanni Battista Gisleni, an Italian Baroque architect and stage designer who…”
on “Why, then, would Francis punish those who worship according to the Latin rite?”: “Is not the destruction of the institutional Church, at a minimum, and beyond that the Faith itself exactly what they…”
on Baseball’s Cleveland Indians change name to… guess what….: “Venerator Sti Lot: Moses J. Yellow Horse was no slouch as a ballplayer either. And typical of today’s Maoists- running…”
on “Why, then, would Francis punish those who worship according to the Latin rite?”: “Much of the critical commentary assumes that the attacks on Tradition are a series of well-intentioned mistakes. Thus, the Federalist…”
on In a picture, a thousand words. Reason #868940 for Summorum Pontificum.: “It’s better not to talk about Shea at all.”
on UPDATED – 14 August Pontifical Mass at the National Shrine: FORBIDDEN: “Mean spirited and predictable….and of course, Joe B. is the prototype of a “devout” Catholic.”
on Baseball’s Cleveland Indians change name to… guess what….: “I just encountered someone discussing, e.g., Plain Dealer attention to the fact that The Cleveland Guardians is already the name…”
on UPDATED – 14 August Pontifical Mass at the National Shrine: FORBIDDEN: “I wonder if some part of the traditionally-inclined laity’s problems stem from too much humbly begging for gracious beneficence on…”
on Another wrinkle to the meaning of your phone’s “location services”.: “Do they exorcise the Vatican with any sort of frequency?”
on UPDATED – 14 August Pontifical Mass at the National Shrine: FORBIDDEN: “I don’t understand what everyone doesn’t seem to understand about this. The intent of TC is for the traditional Mass…”
on UPDATED – 14 August Pontifical Mass at the National Shrine: FORBIDDEN: “So just how many of Christ’s closest followers were with Him at the crucifixion? Who was the one who denied…”
on UPDATED – 14 August Pontifical Mass at the National Shrine: FORBIDDEN: “On a scale of 1 to surprised, this is a 0.”
I use this when I travel both in these USA and abroad. Very useful. Fast enough for Zoom. I connect my DMR (ham radio) through it. If you use my link, they give me more data. A GREAT back up.
This blog has to earn its keep!
PLEASE subscribe via PayPal if it is useful.
That way I have steady income I can plan on, and you wind up regularly on my list of benefactors for whom I pray and for whom I periodically say Holy Mass.
In view of the rapidly changing challenges I now face, I would like to add more $10/month subscribers. Will you please help?
For a one time donation...
Yes, Fr. Z is taking ads…
Be a “Zed-Head”!
CHALLENGE COINS!
My "challenge coin" for my 25th anniversary of ordination in 2016.
Want one? I do exchanges with military and LEOs, etc.
PLEASE RESPOND. Pretty pleeeease?
Loading ...This is really useful when travelling… and also when you aren’t and you need backup internet NOW! I use this for my DMR “Zednet” hotspot when I’m mobile. It’s a ham radio thing.
If you travel internationally, this is a super useful gizmo for your mobile internet data. I use one. If you get one through my link, I get data rewards.
WDTPRS POLL
Loading ...Fr. Z’s stuff is everywhere
Help support Fr. Z’s Gospel of Life work at no cost to you. Do you need a Real Estate Agent? Calling these people is the FIRST thing you should do!
They find you a pro-life agent in your area who commits to giving a portion of the fee to a pro-life group!
GREAT causes to support
Help Monks in Wyoming (coffee – UPDATED LINK) and Norcia (beer) and the wonderful "Soap Sisters" of Summit, NJ!
Please follow me on Twitter!
I used this video as a intro and “please come take your seat” video for a Saturday morning mens’ group I helped run at my parish. (Rosary at 5:30am, everybody out by 8am.)
No one commented on the clip, but I always enjoyed it and marveled that it came out of the USCCB. As hard-identity as they get, I think.
Funny how I watched it, but the counter is still 8481
The number did not change when I watched it either, Netmilsmom.
8,617.
Sad to say, I too marvel that the group that spent a century effectively pleading the preferential option for the State is now imploring its flock to fast and pray that we may be freed of that same State’s shackles. Whether their corporate heart will belatedly embrace holiness over expediency remains, I fear, to be seen.
Prayers, petitions at Mass, Rosaries & Holy Hours are wonderful…along with the forgotten weapon of fasting…but we must have these issues preached upon from the pulpit! Please, Fathers, preach!
I am shocked, thoroughly shocked, that the USCCB is calling us to prayer, fasting, Mass, The Rosary and Holy Hours. There is hope for their conversion yet.
Maybe they’ve come to realize that dialogue with God is more important than dialogue with men.
I second the motion, ReginaMarie. Many will not see the USCCB message. It is up to our pastors to shake us up. Now THERE is a reason for the Pope’s call to: “Hacer Lio”
I’m pretty sure I saw a Dominican of St. Joseph’s Province in that video. Definitely a thumbs up from me, then!
Nice sentiment, but if the USCCB really believes in the efficacy of fasting and abstinence, then do as the Bishops of England and Wales did and bring back the year round practice of abstaining from meat on Fridays. Actions speak louder than words.
They have called.
Notwithstanding anything else they may have done or not done, they have called.
Who will answer?
The version I viewed missed a couple of slides — those that explain why/how prayer and fasting, undertaken in a spirit of obedience, are a participation in the afflictions of Jesus Christ. Col.1:24
Too “doctrinal” I guess.
This is very timely. I am on deployment. My last of many. Every month the military joins the fed gov with celebrating “cultural diversity” i.e. Black History month, Asian and Pacific American Month, Hispanic American month etc. This month is LGBT..lmnop month. At the military installation where I am deployed there are many activities planned for celebrating this “culture.” A 5K run, bingo, trivia night, and something else. I believe it to be a conscience effort to push this agenda which in my 19yr military career I have never seen. This is particularly important because the military is one of the last places where men are men. If the gov succeeds in indoctrinating the nation’s young military members of this agenda, … I don’t know. It is depressing and prayer and fasting for reparation is entirely appropriate for the promotion of this disordered lifestyle.
Heavenly Father please help us.
Seems we all have it wrong according to Matthew Vines book God and the Gay Christian.
I won’t summarize I’ll just provide the link for you to read which is good but here’s a snippet and don’t comment on that without reading the link.
‘Should this change the way we look at this?’- The church has done this before on issues ranging from slavery to the solar system.
Vines writes, “Christians did not change their minds about (the sun revolving around the Earth) because they lost respect for … the authority of Scripture. They changed their minds because they were confronted with evidence their predecessors had never considered.”
http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2014/06/03/christianity-catholic-church-gay-homosexuals-column/9926489/
And now? I don’t know what to think on the subject after reading a cogent argument. Maybe Father Z can help out?
Kay……Read the link but fail to see this as a “cogent” argument.
What Lin said.
Of course nothing is to be said in principle against a same-sex friendship among people feeling homosexually, except perhaps danger and what we call “occasion”: They just have to not commit sodomy.