JUST TOO COOL – UK: Priest buys lost Van Dyck for £400

Posted on 30 December 2013 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

You just never know what you might have in your attic or find in a shop.

From Express:

Antiques Roadshow discovery: Van Dyck masterpiece bought for just £400 is worth £400,000

A PORTRAIT bought for £400 has been revealed as a long-lost van Dyck, worth at least £400,000 after examination at the Antiques Roadshow.

Father Jamie McLeod, a Catholic priest, brought the painting to the show after it was originally purchased in a Cheshire ­antiques shop, with no mention of the 17th century painter.

It was correctly identified as a masterpiece after the show’s host, Fiona Bruce, saw it and thought it might be genuine.

She had been making a show about van Dyck with art expert Philip Mould and it seemed to her to be remarkably similar in style to the ones she had seen featured in the programme.

After the roadshow, held at Newstead ­Abbey in Nottinghamshire, Mr Mould agreed to look at it. Following a lengthy restoration process, the painting was verified as a van Dyck by Dr Christopher Brown, one of the world’s authorities on the artist. The portrait, which is the most valuable to be identified in the 34-year history of the Antiques Roadshow, will now be sold to raise funds for new church bells.

Father McLeod, who runs a retreat house in the Peak District, said: “This has been an emotional experience and is such great news. It’s wonderful that new church bells, hopefully, will be pealing out to commemorate the centenary of the First World War in 2018.” Sir Anthony van Dyck was the leading court painter for King Charles I and is regarded as one of the great masters of the 17th century.

 

Posted in Just Too Cool, Mail from priests | Tagged , ,
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Not exactly RCIA and sharing your feelings

Posted on 29 December 2013 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

With a biretta tip to St. Louis Catholic, who did a good job with this, we should review what we believe as faithful Catholics.

This is the formula that I used when I was admitted to Holy Church as a convert, though I did it in Latin.  We did this at Vespers on the 4th Sunday of Advent.

The “Professio fidei Tridentina”, also known as the “Creed of Pope Pius IV”, is one of the four authoritative Creeds of the Catholic Church. [Can you name the other 3?] It was issued on November 13, 1565 by Pope Pius IV in his bull “Iniunctum nobis” under the auspices of the Council of Trent (1545 – 1563). It was subsequently modified slightly after the First Vatican Council (1869 – 1870) to bring it inline with the dogmatic definitions of the Council. The major intent of the Creed was to clearly define the Catholic faith against Protestantism. At one time it was used by Theologians as an oath of loyalty to the Church and to reconcile converts to the Church, but it is rarely used these days.

____

I, N, with a firm faith believe and profess each and everything which is contained in the Creed which the Holy Roman Church maketh use of. To wit:

I believe in one God, The Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the Only-begotten Son of God. Born of the Father before all ages. God of God, Light of Light, true God of true God. Begotten, not made, of one substance with the Father. By whom all things were made. Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven. And became incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary: and was made man. He was also crucified for us, suffered under Pontius Pilate, and was buried. And on the third day He rose again according to the Scriptures. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead and His kingdom will have no end. And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of life, Who proceeds from the Father and the Son. Who together with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified, and who spoke through the prophets. And one holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. I confess one baptism for the forgiveness of sins and I await the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.

The Apostolic and Ecclesiastical traditions and all other observances and constitutions of that same Church I firmly admit to and embrace.

I also accept the Holy Scripture according to that sense which holy mother the Church hath held, and doth hold, and to whom it belongeth to judge the true sense and interpretations of the Scriptures. Neither will I ever take and interpret them otherwise than according to the unanimous consent of the Fathers.

I also profess that there are truly and properly Seven Sacraments of the New Law, instituted by Jesus Christ our Lord, and necessary for the salvation of mankind, though not all are necessary for everyone; to wit, Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Penance, Extreme Unction, Holy Orders, and Matrimony; and that they confer grace; and that of these, Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Orders cannot be repeated without sacrilege. I also receive and admit the accepted and approved ceremonies of the Catholic Church in the solemn administration of the aforesaid sacraments.

I embrace and accept each and everything which has been defined and declared in the holy Council of Trent concerning original sin and justification.

I profess, likewise, that in the Mass there is offered to God a true, proper, and propitiatory sacrifice for the living and the dead; and that in the most holy sacrament of the Eucharist there is truly, really, and substantially, the Body and Blood, together with the soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ; and that a conversion takes place of the whole substance of the bread into the Body, and of the whole substance of the wine into the Blood, which conversion the Catholic Church calls Transubstantiation. I also confess that under either species alone Christ is received whole and entire, and a true sacrament.

I steadfastly hold that there is a Purgatory, and that the souls therein detained are helped by the suffrages of the faithful. Likewise, that the saints, reigning together with Christ, are to be honored and invoked, and that they offer prayers to God for us, and that their relics are to be venerated. I most firmly assert that the images of Christ, of the Mother of God, ever virgin, and also of other Saints, ought to be kept and retained, and that due honor and veneration is to be given them.

I also affirm that the power of indulgences was left by Christ in the Church, and that the use of them is most wholesome to Christian people.

I acknowledge the Holy Catholic Apostolic Roman Church as the mother and teacher of all churches; and I promise true obedience to the Bishop of Rome, successor to St. Peter, Prince of the Apostles, and Vicar of Jesus Christ.

I likewise undoubtedly receive and profess all other things delivered, defined, and declared by the sacred Canons, and general Councils, and particularly by the holy Council of Trent, and by the ecumenical Council of the Vatican, particularly concerning the primacy of the Roman Pontiff and his infallible teaching. I condemn, reject, and anathematize all things contrary thereto, and all heresies which the Church hath condemned, rejected, and anathematized.

This true Catholic faith, outside of which no one can be saved, which I now freely profess and to which I truly adhere, I do so profess and swear to maintain inviolate and with firm constancy with the help of God until the last breath of life. And I shall strive, as far as possible, that this same faith shall be held, taught, and professed by all those over whom I have charge. I N. do so pledge, promise, and swear, so help me God and these Holy Gospels of God.

Somewhat more that most RCIA demands.

I am picturing Fishwrappers flinching at every paragraph.

Posted in Hard-Identity Catholicism, Liberals, New Evangelization, Our Catholic Identity | Tagged , , , , ,
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Your Sunday Sermon Notes

Posted on 29 December 2013 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Was there a good point in the sermon you heard at Mass this Sunday?

Let us know.

Posted in SESSIUNCULA |
29 Comments

We’ll always have Paris

Posted on 28 December 2013 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

I was sent a link to an interesting site, which shows what once happened in a certain place, then and now.  HERE

 

Posted in Just Too Cool |
10 Comments

Obama’s V.A. hospital forbids Christmas cards made by children for wounded vets

Posted on 28 December 2013 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

More BAH! HUMBUG! from Pres. Obama’s Veteran’s Administration.  First, they ban Christmas carols.  Now, they ban cards made by children.

From FNC (where there is also video):

Boys and girls at Grace Academy in Prosper, Tex., spent most of last Friday making homemade Christmas cards for bedridden veterans at the VA hospital in Dallas.
Fourth-grader Gracie Brown was especially proud of her card, hoping it would “make their day because their family might live far away, and they might not have somebody to celebrate Christmas with.”
“I’d like them to know they’ve not been forgotten and somebody wanted to say thank you,” Gracie told
Gracie’s card read, “Merry Christmas. Thank you for your service.” It also included an American flag.
But the bedridden veterans at the VA hospital will never get to see Gracie’s card. Nor will they see the cards made by 51 other students. [Get this…] That’s because the Christmas cards violated VA policy.
“It really didn’t occur to me there would be a problem with distributing Christmas cards,” said Susan Chapman, a math teacher at the academy. [Nor would most normal people think that children’s cards for Christmas were double-plus-ungood in the eyes of the Obama Administration.] She’s married to a veteran and volunteers with the American Legion and other veterans’ organizations.
On Monday morning the boys and girls were planning on hand delivering the cards to the wounded veterans. [I’ll be the vets would have liked that.] Chapman called the hospital to make final arrangements and that’s when she learned there was a problem.
“I told him my students made cards, we’d like to bring them down for the veterans,” Chapman told the television station. “And he said, ‘That’s great. We’re thrilled to have them, except the only thing is, we can’t accept anything that says ‘Merry Christmas’ or ‘God bless you’ or any scriptural references because of all the red tape.’” [VA: GOD NOT ALLOWED.]
A VA official quoted the policy which is in the Veterans Health Administration handbook:
“In order to be respectful of our veterans’ religious beliefs, all donated holiday cards are reviewed by a multi-disciplinary team of staff led by chaplaincy services and determined if they are appropriate (non-religious) to freely distribute to patients. We regret this process was not fully explained to this group and apologize for any misunderstanding.”
Hiram Sasser, director of litigation for Liberty Institute, said it was a new low “even for the Scrooges and Grinches at the VA.”
“Targeting the benevolent work of little children for censorship is disgusting,” Sasser told me. “Do the Grinches in the administration of the VA really believe our bravest warriors need protection from the heartfelt well wishes of small children saying Merry Christmas?” [No, its the Obama mandarins who cannot bear that any views smacking of religion be permitted in the public square.  This is all of a piece.]
Andrea Brown, Gracie’s mom, was dumbfounded by the news.
“This wasn’t the country I grew up in, when you couldn’t say ‘Merry Christmas,’ you couldn’t say ‘God bless you’ or reference any scripture,” she told MyFoxDFW.com.
She told the television station the boys and girls were heartbroken that the military personnel would not be able to receive their cards.
“They couldn’t believe the people that these people they wanted to honor weren’t going to get the chance to see what they had done,” she said.
The cards will not be thrown away — they are being shipped to Brook Army Medical Center in San Antonio and to a private facility for veterans in Louisiana.
Sasser said at some point, “does the VA have no shame?”
“Mr. Potter from ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ wouldn’t even ban little children from wishing our veterans Merry Christmas,” Sasser said.  [But this is Mr. Obama’s VA.]

Disgusting.

Posted in Liberals, Our Catholic Identity, Pò sì jiù, Religious Liberty, You must be joking! | Tagged , ,
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WDTPRS: Holy Family – children first learn who God is by knowing their parents

Posted on 28 December 2013 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

The place God Incarnate chose to begin manifesting His sacrificial love, which reached its culmination on the Cross, was the family home.

Together with Mary and His earthly father Joseph, Christ began to reveal something of the unity of love within the most perfect of communions, the Holy Trinity.

It is fitting to celebrate the Holy Family as part of the Christmas cycle. We contemplate the coming of the Lord in imitation of that final, perfect communion with God to be enjoyed only by the blessed in heaven.

The family is a paradigm of all other human relationships. Food for thought during the presidential campaign process and also as we scrabble for solutions to so many growing social ills.

The Holy Family teaches us, still in this world but moving inexorably toward our judgment and final goal, how to live together in this present state of “already, but not yet”.

COLLECT (2002MR):
Deus, qui praeclara nobis sanctae Familiae
dignatus es exempla praebere,
concede propitius,
ut domesticis virtutibus caritatisque vinculis illam sectantes,
in laetitia domus tuae praemiis fruamur aeternis.

This is a new composition for the Novus Ordo.  It could have a precedent in the Ambrosian Rite.

OBSOLETE ICEL (1973):
Father, help us to live as the holy family,
united in respect and love.
Bring us to the joy and peace of your eternal home.

According to the fine Lewis & Short Dictionary the noun exemplum, which we have seen before, means, “a sample for imitation, instruction, proof, a pattern, model, original, example….” For the ancient Fathers of the Church, exemplum – a technical tern from rhetoric – could mean many things: man as God’s image, Christ as a Teacher, and the content of prophecy, etc. In Greek and Roman rhetoric and philosophy, which so deeply influenced the Fathers, exemplum had auctoritas, “authority”, which means among other things the persuasive force of an argument. When we hear this prayer with Patristic ears, exemplum is not merely an “example” to be followed: it indicates a past event as a reason for hope and an incitement to the spiritual life that leads to being raised up after the perfect exemplum, the Risen Christ.

The deponent verb sector (you know the word “sect”) is, “to follow continuously or eagerly… to strive after.” The playwright Publius Terentius Afer (Terence + 158 BC) uses it for followers of a philosopher (Eunuchus 2.2.31). These disciples would take their name from their philosophical master just as we “Christians” have taken ours.

In the ancient Church there was a gossamer thin distinction between religion and philosophy. Christ, the teacher offers His disciples perfect exempla. He is the verus philosophus. He is Wisdom and Truth. Our Faith is vera philosophia.

That illam goes back, necessarily to familia (singular feminine), not to exempla (neuter plural).

Praeclarus, a, um, the adjective (paired with exempla) signifies basically, “very bright, very clear” and then by extension, “very beautiful (physically or morally), magnificent, honorable, splendid, noble, remarkable, distinguished, excellent, famous, celebrated.” Praeclara …exempla is so packed with information that it is really impossible to render it into English completely without a long excursus, like, “authoritative models for imitation very beautiful in instructive clarity”. Also, the combination of praebere exempla is very common in the writings of the Fathers often for “offering examples for imitation” of virtues or good works.

This prayer is laden with philosophical vocabulary revolving around instruction of and conformity of life to wisdom through virtues.

The term domestica virtus, is used by ancient authors of philosophical works (e.g., Cicero (+43 BC) and Seneca (+AD 65)) and thereafter by the doctor of the Church St. Ambrose of Milan (+397) in his own works on virginity and on virtues and duties.

This word pairing brings to mind the Second Vatican Council’s description of the family as the “domestic Church”, presented again in the Catechism of the Catholic Church 1656 citing Lumen gentium 11:

In our own time, in a world often alien and even hostile to faith, believing families are of primary importance as centers of living radiant faith. For this reason the Second Vatican Council, using an ancient expression, calls the family the domestic Church (Ecclesia domestica). It is in the bosom of the family that parents are “by word and example…the first heralds of the faith with regard to their children. They should encourage them in the vocation which is proper to each child, fostering with special care any religious vocation.”

LITERAL VERSION:
O God, who deigned to provide us
with the very beautiful models of the Holy Family,
grant propitiously
that we who are eagerly imitating them in domestic virtues and the bonds of charity,
may enjoy eternal rewards in the joy of Your house.

CURRENT ICEL (2011):
O God, who were pleased to give us
the shining example of the Holy Family,
graciously grant that we may imitate them
in practicing the virtues of family life and in the bonds of charity,
and so, in the joy of your house,
delight one day in eternal rewards.

Father asks God to enable us through grace, building in us the supernatural virtues of faith, hope and especially charity, to imitate the clear examples (praeclara exempla) of Jesus, Mary and Joseph in the communion of their earthly household. We are to build communion among ourselves, on their authoritative model, which in turn exemplifies the communion of the Church and of the Persons of the Trinity.

Thereafter, our examples, our own families, serve as the building block of a society oriented to God, the “city of God”, not the “city of man”.

The reward for doing this faithfully is participation in the heavenly household of God the Father in the new family of the Church triumphant.

Holy FamilyWhat the Holy Family offers us is a real exemplum, authoritative model, of freedom.

This is not the false freedom of self-interested satisfaction of appetites, or the freedom to “choose” divorced from consideration of objective truths.

This is freedom within, not from the bonds of charity.

The more we are implicated or “bound up” in the love of God, giving Him our freedom, the freer we truly are.

Vinculum literally means “that with which any thing is bound”, a “fetter”, like a chain. Here it describes effect of real charity, vincula caritatis, the kind of sacrificial love based on obedience to God’s will that the Holy Family had for one another and Christ showed forth perfectly while fixed and bound to the Cross.

The “bonds of charity” require sacrifices and the abandoning, or better, transformation of selfish desires.

The bonds of the family, and any authentic relationship based on something other than mutual use of each other, seem to modern eyes often to restrict personal freedom. But this is not the case. God’s love and God-like love, charity, makes us freer than we could ever hope to be without it.

The bonds of love and virtues of the Holy Family are foreshadows of the harmony of heaven which we are eagerly striving after.

The family, nourished in the faith and sacraments of the Church, is an image of the Holy Family, itself an image of the communion of persons of the Church in heaven and of the Persons of the Trinity.

This Collect points to the importance of the “domestic Church.” The family is the first “church” children know.

Parents are the first examples of God children experience. Your children first learn who God is by experiencing you.

Can anyone wonder why the forces of hell are bending relentless attacks upon the family and the virtues which must be practiced in the home?

Through the media, especially cinema, TV, and the internet, there pour into our homes a constant assault on virtue.  And it is precisely virtue (not diversity, not tolerance, not inclusivity, not politically correct sensitivity, not freedom of choice unfettered from charity) that makes possible a family and therefore a society.

This prayer is a contradiction of worldly ways and an affirmation of the God’s true image in us.

Posted in SESSIUNCULA |
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Bp. Jarrett: Didn’t implement Vatican’s child abuse reporting norms because they were in Latin

Posted on 28 December 2013 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

I want everyone to know this.

From The Advocate:

Bishop didn’t get message because it was written in Latin

BISHOP Geoffrey Jarrett [of Lismore, Australia] told the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse he didn’t report an allegation against Lismore’s Father Paul Rex Brown to the Vatican because he wasn’t aware there had been a directive from the Pope to do so.

Bishop Jarrett was recall- ed to the Commission in relation to the case of Jennifer Ingham, who was sexually abused by Father Brown between 1978 and 1982.

A complaint against Father Brown was made in 2002, a year after the Pope ordered bishops around the world to report any allegations of child sexual abuse to the Vatican if there was a “semblance of truth” in the case.

However, Bishop Jarrett told the Royal Commission he had failed to do so because some directives “may not be remembered or acted upon”.

When questioned further by the Chair of the Commission, Justice Peter McClellan, Bishop Jarrett said the Pope’s original directive had been received in Latin and his Latin was “not perfect”. [Picture this.  “Hey!  Here’s a letter from the Holy See.  Hmmm.  It’s in Latin.  Okay, I guess I don’t have to know what’s in this one.”]

When Justice McClellan asked if he regularly received directives from the Vatican that he did not understand, Bishop Jarrett replied: “Usually they provide an English translation as well. Not all the bishops are fluent in Latin, not these days. Once we were.” [How do you simulate in writing the sound of a face-palm?]

Once it was established that Bishop Jarrett had also received the directive in English, there were numerous questions about why he had not followed it.

[…]

Posted in Clerical Sexual Abuse, Puir Slow-Witted Gowk, You must be joking! | Tagged ,
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What kind of dumb is this?

Posted on 28 December 2013 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

This is so weird that, at first, I thought it was a joke.

We find this at Protect The Pope.

Dissenting on homosexuality Fr Timothy Radcliffe OP is a keynote speaker at Dublin’s 2014 Divine Mercy Conference

Fr Timothy Radcliffe OP, well-known liberal and dissenter, has bizarrely been chosen to be one of the keynote speakers at Dublin’s [Ireland] 2014 International Conference on Divine Mercy. Fr Radcliffe openly dissents on the Church’s teaching on homosexuality and Holy Communion for the divorced and re-married. Fr Timothy Radcliffe OP frequently celebrated Mass for the gay dissent group the Soho Masses Pastoral Council. During the reign of Pope Benedict XVI Fr Timothy Radcliffe was stopped from speaking at the General Assembly of the Catholic development agencies. Fr Radcliffe is well known for his liberal positions on morality, including his public opposition to the Church’s teaching on homosexuality.

The Divine Mercy Conference website states:

Divine Mercy Conference 2014

The first International Conference of Divine Mercy was held in the R.D.S. over 23 years ago. We celebrate our 23rd conference 2014 in the knowledge that Sister Faustina is now Saint Faustina. The theme of the first conference was “Mercy Our Mission”. The theme and the speakers were the product of much prayer and discernment by a committee of men and women gathered together in Eucharistic adoration under the spiritual direction of Fr. Cathal Price.’

Fr Timothy Radcliffe OP will be speaking on both Saturday and Sunday.

A selection of Fr Radcliffe’s writings expressing dissent from the Church’s teaching:

Fr Radcliffe gave the following contribution to the Church of England ‘s review of homosexuality and gay marriage:

Fr Radcliffe OP expands the meaning of fertility to include gay sex

[…]

What were they thinking?

Read the rest there… and marvel.

Posted in One Man & One Woman, Pò sì jiù, You must be joking! | Tagged ,
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A&E CAVED! Duck Dynasty back with Phil

Posted on 27 December 2013 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!

I guess they want their profits more than they want to pander to the… other thing.

From Hollywood Reporter:

Less than two weeks after his anti-gay remarks prompted an “indefinite hiatus” for the reality patriarch — and a strong fan backlash — the network says he will remain on the series.

Phil Robertson, the patriarch of A&E’s Duck Dynasty clan who was suspended from his hit reality series on Dec. 18 following some incendiary comments about gay people, won’t be put on hiatus after all.

The network and the Robertson family announced Friday that Phil will still be part of the series — and since he didn’t miss any filming, his temporary suspension will have no effect on the upcoming fifth season.
An A&E statement to The Hollywood Reporter read: [A slippery weasel wrote this…]

As a global media content company, A+E Networks’ core values are centered around creativity, inclusion and mutual respect. We believe it is a privilege for our brands to be invited into people’s home and we operate with a strong sense of integrity and deep commitment to these principals.
That is why we reacted so quickly and strongly to a recent interview with Phil Robertson. While Phil’s comments made in the interview reflect his personal views based on his own beliefs, and his own personal journey, he and his family have publicly stated they regret the “coarse language” he used and the mis-interpretation of his core beliefs based only on the article. He also made it clear he would “never incite or encourage hate.” We at A+E Networks expressed our disappointment with his statements in the article, and reiterate that they are not views we hold.
But Duck Dynasty is not a show about one man’s views. It resonates with a large audience because it is a show about family… a family that America has come to love. As you might have seen in many episodes, they come together to reflect and pray for unity, tolerance and forgiveness. These are three values that we at A+E Networks also feel strongly about.
So after discussions with the Robertson family, as well as consulting with numerous advocacy groups, A&E has decided to resume filming Duck Dynasty later this spring with the entire Robertson family.
We will also use this moment to launch a national public service campaign (PSA) promoting unity, tolerance and acceptance among all people, a message that supports our core values as a company, and the values found in Duck Dynasty. These PSAs will air across our entire portfolio.

In addition, an A&E source says the family and the network are going to work together to promote tolerance moving forward.

[…]

I love the free market.

Posted in Just Too Cool, One Man & One Woman, The Drill | Tagged , ,
40 Comments

VA Hospital bans religious Christmas carols

Posted on 27 December 2013 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

I think this is despicable. It also shows what is happening under the godless Obama Administration… who did not go to Church on Christmas, even though last week he (hypocritically?) said we should remember the religious dimension of Christmas.  BAH!

I digress.

I think this is despicable.

From CBS Atlanta:

Hospital Bans Christmas Carolers From Singing Religious Songs

AUGUSTA, Ga. (CBS Atlanta) – An Augusta hospital has adopted a new policy banning Christmas carolers from singing religious songs in public patient areas.
The Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center [The Obama Administrations VA.] announced the new policy Monday according to the Athens-Banner Herald.
“Military service veterans, male and female, represent people of all faiths,” hospital spokesman Brian Rothwell said in a statement according to Athens-Banner Herald. “It is out of respect for every faith [B as in B.  S as in S.] that The Veterans Administration gives clear guidance on what ‘spiritual care’ is to be given and who is to give it.”

A group of high school students from Augusta’s Alleluia Community School were prevented from singing traditional holiday songs that honor and celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ to veterans by the medical center last week.
The school principal, Dan Funsch, told the newspaper that he was disappointed that the Veterans Affairs hospital’s “spiritual care” grants holiday exemption only to secular characters that make up the 12 Days of Christmas.
“This is not a religious proselytizing, evangelistic issue,” Funsch explained, arguing that Christmas songs are broadcast during the holidays on area radio stations and in local retail outlets. “The song Joy to the World is as much a part of the holiday spirit as the Christmas tree.”
The principal noted that the peculiar part of the policy is its recent enforcement.

[…]

If Pres. Obama and his ilk have their way, any expression of religious values and tenets will be banned.  Given time, they will pass laws to punish people who express religious views in the public square.  Off to the reeducation camps for you.  And their liberal catholic will be right there supporting the enlightened and no-doubt-necessary policy.

Posted in Liberals, Our Catholic Identity, Religious Liberty | Tagged , , ,
18 Comments