Thanks to a commentator here, I just learned about
You can, apparently, send “Collar Hollers” graphics to priests, to give them a boost. You can print them, send them by email, or use other social networking tools.
It looks as if this is an initiative of Catholics Come Home. As such, it gets my support, since it seeks to reinvigorate our Catholic identity.
A week or so ago I posted about Archbishop John Nienstedt’s (St. Paul and Minneapolis) initiative to promote a defense of true and natural marriage in an amendment to the State Constitution of Minnesota. His Excellency indicated to the priests of the Archdiocese that if they had an objection to his intiatives, they should not make those objections a matter of public scandal (my description… because that is what objections would cause). In the past some priests of the Archdicoese have publicly attacked their Archbishop, even in the local newspaper.
Now I read in the Strib that there may be a showdown building between some few priests and Archbishop Nienstedt. One particularly obtuse liberal, Fr. Mike Tegeder, who has in the past openly attacked and defied both Archbishops Flynn (emeritus) and Nienstedt, is dissenting in a manner which must be interpreted as support of homosexual marriage.
Archbishop Nienstedt and all the bishops of the Minnesota Catholic Conference deserve our support and our prayers.
As I have written before, Archbishop John Nienstedt of St. Paul and Minneapolis and the Minnesota Catholic Conference have nailed their colors to the mast. WDTPRS will go to the wall to help his efforts. They are spearheading promotion of an amendment to the Constitution of the State of Minnesota in defense of true, natural, real marriage.
There will be all manner of bullying and intimidation applied to Minnesota dioceses, bishops, priests. They need your prayers and support. People who hate the Church and her message about the dignity of human life in all aspects will try to silence bishops and priests. They are bullies and their threats and attacks must be resisted.
Unfortunately there are some quisling priests who think they know better than God our Creator and they are willing to scandalize the faithful.
For the Just Too Cool file, this from FBN:
Nissan has announced the world’s first self-healing iPhone case, which the car manufacturer claims can quickly repair itself when scratched.
Developed by the car manufacturer in collaboration with University of Tokyo and Advanced Softmaterials Inc, the self-healing paint – dubbed Scratch Shield – was initially developed for Nissan and Infiniti cars but is now being used in the smartphone industry too.
Bob Laishley of Nissan said: “We like to think laterally by taking the great innovations we’ve got from an automotive point of view and looking at how they could be applied to improve everyday issues. The Scratch Shield iPhone case is a great example of us taking a Nissan automotive technology that has had a huge impact for our customers, and then shifting the boundaries to apply it to another everyday product.”
The paint is made from polyrotaxane, which means that when damage occurs to the coating the chemical structure reacts to change back to its original shape and fill the gap. Nissan does not say to what extent the reaction will work, but small scratches and blemishes could well be a thing of the past.[…]
Read the rest there.
Today I read in The Examiner that the SOPA bill was killed in the House of Representatives. I understand that the Senate version, PIPA, is still alive. It is interesting to see the list of sponsors (by far mostly Democrats) and how much money they received from various companies.
[…]
PIPA is less well known than SOPA, but the provisions are basicly the same. It still includes the same DNS blocking and censoring system that the original SOPA did, just without the SOPA name. There are around 40 co-sponsors of the bill in the Senate so far, with no word on how many senators support the bill in addition to that. There will most likely need to be 60 votes in the Senate in order to invoke cloture and end an almost guaranteed filibuster.
I read on the site of the Chicago Tribune that upon turning 75 Card. George has submitted his letter of resignation to the Holy Father. He does not expect the letter to be accepted for at least two years.
Can. 401 §1 of the Code of Canon Law states that diocesan bishops must submit their resignation to the Holy Father on reaching the age of 75.
The Pope can choose not to accept the resignation as it pleaseth.
If I were to choose to do a regular (for example weekly) video, or audio, podcast, what sort of thing could it be?
Email if you have ideas. I probably won’t respond, but I will read them. You can use the CONTACT button on the top bar. Put PODCAZT IDEA (and not something else) in the subject line of your email or I may miss it. Really.
UPDATE:
I would also probably have to have some help sorting out the RSS feed problem, which has plagued me for a long time.
I hope other bloggers will pick this up and share it with their own readers.
Perhaps after reading this you could stop for a moment and say a Memorare for the missing priests and bishops as well as for the softening of the hearts of the authorities who have them (hopefully alive) in custody.
From AsiaNews:
Appeal: Bishops and priests disappeared or in prison, home for the Chinese New Year
by Bernardo CervelleraDuring the Year of the Dragon, AsiaNews asks President Hu Jintao and ambassador Ding Wei for the release of three bishops and six Chinese priests who have disappeared in police custody or are in forced labour camps.
Rome (AsiaNews) – In a letter to President Hu Jintao and the Chinese ambassador in Italy, AsiaNews has decided to ask for the release of three bishops and of six priests who have disappeared in police custody or are detained in prison without trial. Their release could be a gesture of friendship and hope for Catholics and human rights activists, as well as a sign of true hope for the upcoming Chinese New Year.
In just a few days, on January 23, the world of the Far East celebrates the Lunar New Year: we will enter the Year of the Dragon, a very positive year that promises many fruits. In China, hundreds of millions of people will travel to join their families: the dawn of the New Year is always celebrated by strengthening the bonds of family and friendships which help to face the future with an even more positive outlook.
For this reason, we ask that for these three bishops and six priests to be restored to their families and their communities.
They were never charged with any crime; given the opportunity of a trial or convicted by a court. And yet they have been interred in forced labour camps or were seized by the police of a country that is a member of the UN Security Council and that has signed the Charter of Human Rights.
[…]
Read the rest there.
From a reader:
If Father takes the altar servers out paintballing, [That’s a verb?] would it be sacrilege to shoot him during the contests?
On the contrary!
Shoot him as often as you can.
Head shots are preferable.
I didn’t expect this.
From the Irish Times:
Public decries closure of embassy to the Vatican
By Paul O’Brien, Political Editor
Monday, January 16, 2012
TÁNAISTE Eamon Gilmore’s decision to close the Irish embassy to the Vatican was met with overwhelming opposition from the public with over 93% criticising the move.
It was in stark contrast to the hugely supportive response to Taoiseach Enda Kenny’s blistering speech on the Cloyne Report. It suggests, while the public thought Mr Kenny’s denunciation of the Vatican in that speech was merited, the decision to close the embassy was not.
Writing on the embassy closure, one member of the public claimed Mr Gilmore had a “raw hatred” of the Catholic Church and compared him to Oliver Cromwell. [Ouch.]
Another claimed the Government was using the clerical child sexual abuse scandals as “cover” to wage a “vendetta” against the Church.
Several citizens questioned the economic rationale that Mr Gilmore put forward for closing the embassy, and said Ireland’s foreign policy efforts would ultimately suffer.
Mr Gilmore, in his role as foreign affairs minister, announced the decision to close the embassy on November 3 last, citing the need to save money. [You might remember my proposal.]
He denied the move had anything to do with the fallout from the Cloyne Report in July, during which Mr Kenny had accused the Vatican of downplaying the rape and torture of children to protect its own primacy.
But whereas Mr Kenny received widespread public support following that speech, Mr Gilmore received mostly criticism following the decision to close the embassy.
The Irish Examiner sought to view, under the Freedom of Information Act, all letters and emails received by Mr Gilmore on the subject in the 12 days after the announcement of the decision.
A total of 102 records were released, 95 of which criticised the decision to close the embassy and just seven of which were supportive. In percentage terms, that meant 93.1% of the responses were critical and 6.9% supportive.
That was in contrast to the reaction Mr Kenny received after his July 20 speech, when 94.3% were supportive and just 5.7% were critical.
Please review Pope Benedict’s Letter to the Irish Catholics.
Please pray for Archbp. Brown, the Nuncio to Ireland.
In a couple weeks I will be cooking for my literary group. In the past we have read all of Dante’s Divina Comedia, Milton’s Paradise Lost, a large percentage of the works of T.S. Eliot, a great share of G. M. Hopkins and we are set to move on to some of the Metaphysical Poets.
We read aloud and then comment. At the end of our work, we eat.
I will make lasagna from the group and so I am getting it back under my fingers now, in a smaller version.
Start by making a simple tomato sauce. I used a couple cloves of garlic, an onion, some celery and carrot. Into a dutch oven it goes with olive oil on a medium heat.
Be sure to grind in some pepper and salt. The pepper of flavor changes with heat in oil.
Cook until translucent about 10 minutes.
I added a couple large cans of good tomatoes and a couple bay leaves.
This now has to reduce for a while.
Meanwhile, I browned ground beef and extracted most of the fat.
I will let this cool.
Meanwhile, I am thawing a couple packages of frozen spinach.
When the tomato sauce is reduced, I will make a mess of bechamel and then blend them together.
More later.
UPDATE: 2246 GMT:
Time to make my roux.
Melt butter, about a half stick, and add your flour, about a half cup.
Blend it together and let it cook for a few minutes.
You couldn’t see there, but the whisk is whisking!
When all the milk is added, I put in some nutmeg.
After removing most of the reduced tomato sauce to small containers for the freezer, I put the bechamel into the tomato sauce pan. Why? It is a little larger and with a larger surface exposed, it will cool faster.
To heck with waiting! Out it goes into the big freezer for a while.
Now I wait for a while and post this.
More later.
UPDATE: 2320 GMT:
Drink a glass of wine and watch football.
More later.
UPDATE 16 Jan 0029 GMT:
I am building it up. Today I chose a purchased pan. Having measured the sheets of pasta, I choose the 13×9 incher.
Just build it up, criss cross if you wish.
Build it up.
Layers of bechamel, ricotta with egg, beef, spinach.
Shredded “provolone” and “mozzarella” on top with grated “parmiggiano”.
I put a sheet of foil beneath, upon the baking sheet.
I covered it with another sheet of foil.
I will bake it at 375F for 30 and then uncover it and bake it until it looks right.
More later.
UPDATE: 15 Jan 01:45:
Coat of Arms by D Burkart
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