One my daily internet stops is the Civil War Daily Gazette.
Since we are in the sesquicentennial year of the American Civil War, some enterprising folks have created a day by day gazette like blog, covering the unfolding of the war.
Right now, of course, the Battle of Gettysburg is raging!
Last night on TV I saw a short video clip of a reenactment many are doing.
Sometimes I wonder if when the SHTF and TEOTWAWKI come, we will have another civil war.
Just in case you were tempted to FORGET…
From The Blaze (not the only source… there are videos…:
CATHOLIC PRIEST ALLEGEDLY BEHEADED IN SYRIA BY AL-QAEDA-LINKED REBELS AS MEN AND CHILDREN TAKE PICTURES AND CHEER
Syrian Catholic priest Francois Murad killed last weekend by jihadi fighters was beheaded, according to a report by Catholic Online which is linking to video purportedly showing the brutal murder.
As TheBlaze reported last week, Murad, 49, was setting up a monastery in Gassanieh, northern Syria. Last Sunday, on the Christian leader’s Sabbath, extremist militants trying to topple President Bashar Assad breached the monastery and grabbed Murad.
While earlier reports suggested Murad may have been shot to death, Catholic Online reported Saturday: “The Vatican is confirming the death by beheading of Franciscan Father, Francois Murad, who was martyred by Syrian jihadists on June 23.”
[…]
Sts. Nunilo and Alodia….
Father Murad was murdered along with another individual, as yet unnamed, as a crowd of onlookers comprised of of men and boys cheered and took photographs with smartphones. The actual beheadings were not performed swiftly with a sword as one from the West imagines. The executioner used what appeared to be an ordinary kitchen knife, according to The Blaze.
A video of the execution is available through LiveLeak, together with warnings of the graphic nature of the video. I chose not to watch.
Religion.
Of.
Peace.
Brick by brick!
The group called the Transalpine Redemptorists, founded in 1987 and once associated with the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX), were reconciled with the Church some time ago. They had a big step forward recently with their first priestly ordinations in union with Rome. There is a CNA account HERE.
On News.va I read that there is going to be some sort of Islamic-Catholic Liaison Committee meeting (HERE).
I also read (HERE) that practitioners of the “religion of peace” murdered a Catholic priest, Fr Fran?ois Mourad, in Syria near the Turkish border. Read the AsiaNews account HERE. More details HERE.
[…]
“In past years, Fr Fran?ois Mourad repeatedly put his life on the line in Syria pushing for the construction of the monastery,” the priest said.
“Initially, he bought some land near Aleppo with the help of some local families, but was chased away by Islamic extremists. So he decided to fall back on Al-Ghassaniyah, where he built a small hermitage a few kilometres from the village with the help of some young Syrians.”
“His work had just started,” the monk explained, “when Islamist troops put the area under siege. He eventually found himself alone as his postulants fled because of the war, witnessing helplessly the destruction and looting of the monastery and nearby villages.”
“Fr Fran?ois Mourad had the opportunity to go away, to take shelter in a safer area, but decided to stay in order to serve his people, willing to help the local parish priest and the nuns of the Franciscan Monastery of St Anthony in the village of Al-Ghassaniyah, which had an infirmary; the only clinic in the area and a point of reference for many Christian and Muslim families.”
“Here Fr Fran?ois replaced the parish priest whenever he was traveling to other convents, giving comfort to families housed in the convent and the nuns too.”
On the day of Fr Francois’s death, the parish priest was out. When armed Islamists came, the Franciscan friar was alone in the convent with the nuns and some lay Christians. A few more hours and two priests would have been killed. ”
According to the monk, Fr Fran?ois did not even have time to argue with the gunmen bent on plundering the convent. As soon as he stood in front of them, they shot him dead on the spot.
[…]
Some reports say that Fr. Mourad was also beheaded. For example, HERE and HERE. (WARNING about those links. Really.)
Sts. Nunilo and Alodia, pray for us.
A priest friend sent this. I share it for your … edification.
One of the first things I thought of as I watched that is that the same crowd who like this stuff are the one’s who say that lace on a surplice suggests some kind of… you know…
LOL!
This is how they do it at Berkeley.
Please, someone, download this before it is removed.
Someone sent me a photo of a 1913 Ford. To put our changes over the last 100 or so years, some stats were included. Consider:
The year is 1910, over one hundred years ago. What a difference a century makes!
Here are some statistics for the Year 1910:
***********************************
· The average life expectancy for men was 47 years.
· Fuel for this car was sold in drug stores only.
· Only 14 percent of the homes had a bathtub.
· Only 8 percent of the homes had a telephone.
· There were only 8,000 cars and only 144 miles of paved roads.
· The maximum speed limit in most cities was 10 mph.
· The tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower !
· The average US wage in 1910 was 22 cents per hour.
· The average US worker made between $200 and $400 per year.
· A competent accountant could expect to earn $2000 per year,
· a dentist $2,500 per year, a veterinarian between $1,500 and $4,000 per year,
· and a mechanical engineer about $5,000 per year.
· More than 95 percent of all births took place at HOME.
· Ninety percent of all Doctors had NO COLLEGE EDUCATION!
· Instead, they attended so-called medical schools,
· many of which were condemned in the press AND the government as ‘substandard.’
· Sugar cost four cents a pound.
· Eggs were fourteen cents a dozen.
· Coffee was fifteen cents a pound.
· Most women only washed their hair once a month, and used Borax or egg yolks for shampoo.
· There was no such thing as under arm deodorant or tooth paste.
· Canada passed a law that prohibited poor people from entering into their country for any reason.
· The five leading causes of death were:
1. Pneumonia and influenza
2. Tuberculosis
3. Diarrhea
4. Heart disease
5. Stroke
· The American flag had 45 stars.
· The population of Las Vegas Nevada was only 30!
· Crossword puzzles, canned beer, and iced tea hadn’t been invented yet
· There was no Mother’s Day or Father’s Day.
· Two out of every 10 adults couldn’t read or write and only 6 percent of all Americans had graduated from high school. [We are quickly returning to this. And if to this, then … perhaps to the other points mentioned in this list?]
· Eighteen percent of households had at least one full-time servant or domestic help.
· There were about 230 reported murders in the ENTIRE U.S.A!
· I am now going to forward this to someone else without typing it myself.
· From there, it will be sent to others all over the WORLD…all in a matter of seconds!
· Try to imagine what it may be like in another 100 years.
We also had not had two great World Wars and the other horrors of the 20th century.
And, because the person’s email tag interested me…
Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn’t mean politics won’t take an interest in you!
Pericles (430 B.C.)
From a reader:
When I was in grade school (1990’s), I was taught by a very devout teacher that one should genuflect (kneel?) on both knees with a slight bow of the head when entering/leaving the pew during adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. I have never really seen this any place else, or even heard it discussed. I don’t recall my grandfather ever doing this, and he spent at least an hour or more before the Blessed Sacrament each week and went to grade school in the 1930’s when all but one of his teachers were nuns. What is the proper way to genuflect before the exposed Blessed Sacrament? Thanks!
It is possible, even probable, that there were some variations of practice when the Blessed Sacrament was exposed. Also, conferences of bishops can, by and large, determine proper practices for Catholics in their regions. If memory serves, some bishops conferences have eliminated the distinction of the “double-genuflection” when the Blessed Sacrament is exposed. FAIL.
The way I learned, and the parish where I learned was an exemplar of traditional liturgical custom and practice, was as you described. This is what I do, both knees permitting. No bishops’ conference will convince me that it is better not to do so.
That said, I have seen people genuflect on one knee when coming and going and haven’t had the impulse to jump on them. They seemed genuinely reverent, which is what matters most. I will continue to use both knees, again, both knees permitting. When they at last don’t permit, I’ll find another way to express reverence.
It is good that we have distinct gestures for different situations. Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament is special. The special time in a church, the privilege of a view of the very Eucharist we otherwise know is the tabernacle, deserves recognition. Gestures help to reinforce our Faith and to give witness of Faith to others. Children learn a great deal from subtle differences in our gestures. They learn from sloppiness, as well. They learn from minimalism, too.
It seems to me that a double-genuflection is an appropriate gesture, given that total prostration and then crawling backwards out of church isn’t always possible.
The First Gay President didn’t have his way with the President of Senegal:
Sanctimonious Obama rebuffed by African president on gay rights
President Obama got off to an awkward start in Africa where he urged tolerance and equal rights for gays and lesbians in a country where homosexuality is a crime, in some places, punishable by death.
Shortly after arriving in Senegal, Obama praised the Supreme Court’s new rulings on same-sex marriage and asked African leaders to treat people fairly and equally. [Obama went to Ireland and shot off his mouth about how there shouldn’t be Catholic schools in N. Ireland. Of course, he wasn’t talking to the Irish. He was obviously talking to his base. Now he goes to Africa and lectures a nation about what they ought to do concerning homosexual marriage. Obama is welding sodomitic-marriage into civil rights… human rights. That’s his agenda.]
But, Senegal President Macky Sall quickly rebuffed the suggestion, saying his country does not share the same views as Obama and America and that Senegal is “still not ready to decriminalize homosexuality,” the Washington Post reported.
According to the Post, which reported a transcript of the president’s remarks on the same-sex rulings, Obama said in part:
The issue of gays and lesbians, and how they’re treated, has come up and has been controversial in many parts of Africa. So I want the African people just to hear what I believe, [B as in B. S as in S. He is playing to his US base.] and that is that every country, every group of people, every religion have different customs, different traditions. And when it comes to people’s personal views and their religious faith, et cetera, I think we have to respect the diversity of views that are there. [But don’t respect them when their religious view differ on, say, funding contraceptives, sterilizations, abortions, etc. To hell with Catholics and African cultures … sodomitic marriage is a human right!]
Every world religion has this basic notion that is embodied in the Golden Rule — treat people the way you want to be treated. And I think that applies here as well. [Gosh, I’ll bet the UNBORN would like to BE BORN, just like you were. No?]
The Daily Caller reported some interesting statistics on Senegal: “97 percent of Senegalese citizens consider homosexuality taboo,” and it is a “95 percent Muslim country and a sexually conservative and patriarchal nation.” [Hmmm. I wonder. He said in Ireland that Catholic and Protestant schools shouldn’t exist because they divide people. In Senegal did he go on to suggest that there should be no Islamic education because that keeps people from accepting homosexuality?]
To that end, Sall defended Senegal’s values and laws.
“These issues are all societal issues basically, and we cannot have a standard model which is applicable to all nations, all countries — you said it, we all have different cultures,” The Daily Caller reported Sall answered. “We have different religions. We have different traditions. And even in countries where this has been decriminalized and homosexual marriage is allowed, people don’t share the same views.” [For now.]
Question… rather.. quaeritur: If a Catholic chooses to work in politics and help with a campaign for a candidate, should the aforementioned Catholic try to ascertain beforehand the candidates positions?
Just asking.
From LifeSite:
WASHINGTON, D.C., June 28, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A Texas state senator has emerged as a “national hero” and “rising Democratic star,” in the words of mainstream media outlets, after she carried out an eleven-hour filibuster this week that paved the way for the failure of a sweeping pro-life bill. Pundits are musing about Sen. Wendy Davis’ chances at taking on Gov. Rick Perry in the state’s 2014 gubernatorial contest, and some zealous media supporters are even charting her path to the presidency.
But amidst the abortion lobby’s love fest with Davis, some Catholic bloggers and pro-life activists are pointing out that a senior official at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) played an official role in getting her elected to the Texas State Senate in the first place. [One of these days, by the way, the USCCB might start paying attention to bloggers.]
Ralph McCloud, director of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, an arm of the USCCB dedicated to combatting domestic poverty, served as the treasurer on Davis’ campaign team in her bid for the State Senate in 2008, in which she unseated a pro-life incumbent, Republican Kim Brimer.
McCloud’s role on the campaign was first revealed two years ago by the blog Creative Minority Report amidst revelations, still ongoing, that the Catholic agency was involved in funding dozens of groups that advocate for abortion, same-sex “marriage”, contraception, prostitution, and other evils condemned by the Church.
McCloud responded at the time that he was not aware of Davis’ position on abortion and that his role on the campaign was minimal.
But critics pointed out that Davis’ stance on abortion was clear even then. Her campaign was strongly backed by Planned Parenthood and the pro-abortion PAC Annie’s List raised hundreds of thousands of dollars on her behalf while McCloud was serving as treasurer.
[…]
Am I missing something?
Is this one of these, “She’s really great on immigration (or pro-contraception for children, or against all handguns or….) and, therefore, she’s pro-life!” deals?
I saw this juxtaposition of quotes about the Supreme Court’s DOMA decision at Pundit and Pundette:
Pres. Barack Obama:
On an issue as sensitive as this, knowing that Americans hold a wide range of views based on deeply held beliefs, maintaining our nation’s commitment to religious freedom is also vital. How religious institutions define and consecrate marriage has always been up to those institutions. Nothing about this decision – which applies only to civil marriages – changes that.
Justice Antonin Scalia:
I promise you this: The only thing that will “confine” the Court’s holding is its sense of what it can get away with.
Fr. Fessio:
“People, myself included, lament the moral decline of America,” reflected Fr. Fessio, “Without this stunning intellectual decline—where one can claim that an unborn baby is not a human person and that man-to-man copulation is equivalent to marital union—we could not have sunk so low. With this decision we are about to sink even lower. God help us.” He said that he thinks it is clear that the rulings are “going to make it far more difficult for those who defend marriage.”
Asked how the rulings will affect the Catholic Church in the United States, Fr. Fessio remarked that they “will call forth saints and scholars who will ‘shine like the stars in the midst of a wicked and perverse generation’. They will also be humiliated and very likely, in time, persecuted. Welcome to the Brave New World.”
Coat of Arms by D Burkart
A Daily Prayer for Priests
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