The Pope has routed his enemies and brought joy to the faithful

From CatholicHerald.co.uk

How does one sum up the papal visit in a few words? A survey of the four days, event by event – four days which began (so far as I am concerned) in anxiety which quickly turned to relief and ended finally in euphoria – simply can’t be done in less than the length of a short book, and I have only 400 or 500 words for this post, though in the print edition of the paper which appears later this week I shall be given more than double the space for an extended version of it, in which I shall look also at the very interesting coverage of the visit by the secular media. That aspect of the visit will have to be briefly summarised here by the words of Dr George Carey in the News of the World: “he came, he saw, he conquered”. more

A Holy Father

by Kathryn Jean Lopez | Headline Bistro
It was Holy Week. It was Holy Week and everywhere I turned – or so it seemed to this news junkie -- I heard calls for the pope’s resignation. He would step down, pundits on MSNBC could have had you believing, as if it were a foregone conclusion and absolutely necessity. The veritable end of the Catholic Church – or at least the Vatican -- if you were to believe some writing for the New York Times, was both imminent and welcome....more

Obama Advisor Says Pope is Hurting People in Jesus’ Name

From Living His Life Abundantly

February 4, 2010 11:43 am  Breaking News

By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS

Staff Journalist

An advisor to President Barack Obama’s who serves on the Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships has reiterated his belief that the Pope is “hurting people in the name of Jesus” because of his stance on condoms. 

CNSNews confronted Harry Knox, who advises the president on the government’s Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships program, at a National Press Club event on Tuesday and asked if he still believed the pope was “hurting people in the name of Jesus” because of the Pope’s belief that the distribution of condoms only exacerbates the AIDS problem in Africa.

Knox answered, “I do.”

Knox, who serves as the director of the faith and religion program at the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), a homosexual activist group, first made the comment....more

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These people are absolutely insane! It is mind-boggling how they can make statements of such absolute absurdity while there are so many scientific research studies available to prove this line of thinking is completely erroneous!

Although I can quickly think of numerous studies showing the ineffectiveness of  condoms for any use, I cannot immediately locate documentation to back up this reality.  With a little research anyone interested in knowing the truth concerning the percentage of defective condoms and the permeability of the latex to the HIV virus as well as other STDs; would be able to find numerous scientific studies to show condoms are useless in the prevention of AIDS.

The inability to assure the prevention of unplanned pregnancies with the use of condoms is also well documented. On the contrary, condom failure results in an increased instance of the slaughter of millions of God's unborn children.

Anyone with a lick of sense, can determine with the use of reason alone; the only way to prevent the spread of STDs incuding AIDS and to prevent unplanned pregnancy is through abstinence...I mean, come on folks, if one does not put themselves in the position to aquire an STD or unplanned pregnancy...it isn't going to happen by osmosis!

I don't think I am being to harsh to suggest the only way these people can actually believe this nonsensical lie, could be because....they are son's and daughter's of the Father of Lies. At the very least they are spiritually deaf, dumb and blind; if not in fact deaf, dumb and blind to reality....they certainly are in denial of reality! 

Oh, wow, denial of reality...is a good working definition of insanity...do we understand we have INSANE PEOPLE running our country...you know the kind that need institutionalized??

Go to the St Michael Society blog and sign the petition to have Harry Knox removed due to his remarks that the Pope is "hurting people in the name of Jesus." 

Okay, I've got to get off my rant here, but before I do I'm going to put forth 3 more links....

The first, EWTN Live with Father Mitch Pacwa, S.J. and Dr. Del Hahn talking about the Glories of Condoms; in which they discuss how sex educators tell our children: "We would never try at home what we're about to tell you. Ever! We're what you call professionals. But, you go ahead and do it to your hearts discontent."

The second, is another EWTN Live with Father Mitch Pacwa, S.J., this time with Steve Mosher, president of the Population Research Institute talking about Population Control: Real Costs, Illusory Benefits and his conversion due to work in the pro-life movement.

Finally, go to Patrick Madrid's site and get this DVD.

 

Spiritual Gems From the Holy Father

Take Five - Meditations With Pope Benedict XVI, is written by Mike Aquilina and Father Kris D. Stubna, and is published by Our Sunday Visitor.

Mike Aquilina is executive vice president of the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology has authored or edited many books including the best selling What Catholics Believe and is co-host of EWTN's Reason to Believe. Fr. Kris Stubna has a doctorate in theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, is the diocesan secretary for education for the Diocese of Pittsburgh and is author or co-author of many books including A Pocket Catechism for Kids. True to the title, this 176 page little gem contains over 70 brief, five minute meditations taken from the writings of the Holy Father.  It is available from the Catholic Company for $9.95.

In the forward Daniel Cardinal DiNardo, Archbishop of Galveston-Houston states, "It is a guide to enter into silence with God, and there to discover God's Holy Spirit beckoning us to meet the Lord Jesus. Amen!" (p. 10). In the introduction we discover the way in which the authors choose to bring this about. Using the rich teaching of Pope Benedict XVI we are shown in little snippets how to bring the supernatural to our ordinary everyday tasks. We read through select passages of the Holy Father's "books, sermons, letters and interviews...about the dignity of work; about getting along with co-workers; about the wise use of money and resources; and about the challenge of keeping your eye on the goal, which is not worldly success, but godly glory." (p. 12).

Each meditation starts with a quote or excerpt from one of Pope Benedict's writings or teachings. It is then followed by a section called "Think About It", where we are challenged to meditate upon and apply the teaching to our own lives.

Next we are greeted with a section called "Just Imagine". Here we are given a passage of scripture. Knowing the Holy Father's teaching flows from an experience of prayer steeped in the word of God we can "just imagine" these selections might have been the very words Pope Benedict pondered as he put his thoughts to paper.  We can use these scripture passages to enter into the scenes of the Bible for a personal experience with salvation history.

The final section is "Remember". This is a brief sentence or two to jot down and carry with us as we go about our daily activities. Read it periodically to become re-grounded...treat it as a memory verse.

Reading through the meditations, several well known documents figure prominently in this five-minute devotional. Spe Salve (Saved in Hope) is quoted in entries entitled; The Longing of the Human Heart, Offer It Up, Concern for Others and Loving God and Neighbor. Deus Caritas Est (God Is love) is quoted in entries entitled: Giving of Self, Prayer and Work, Friendship in Christ and Humility. Meditations are also taken from various documents and teachings directed toward young people. Some of which include; We Cannot Love If We Do Not Know - Address to Young people, Genoa Italy (May 18, 2008), Confirmed in the Spirit and Honor the Cross - Address to Young People, Paris (September 12, 2008), Only in God - World Youth Day Vigil, (July 19, 2008), The Happiness You Desire - Address, World Youth Day, Cologne, Germany (August 18, 2005) and Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament - Message to Young Catholics of the Netherlands (November 21, 2005).

This little book also contains a brief summary of the life of Benedict XVI as well as the spirit of Pope Benedict. The authors have chosen to share with us five aspects of the Holy Father's spirituality who like us is on a "personal search for the face of the Lord" (p. 23). It will come as no surprise that these five aspects are basic to the devotional lives of Catholics who wish to attain to the holiness to which we are called. The common threads found in this book are Christ-centered - our lives depend solely on our relationship with Jesus our Triune God. Biblical - to have a relationship with Jesus we must be soaked in His word. Liturgical - we meet Jesus truly present - body, blood, soul and divinity in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Traditional  -  the early Church Fathers and the Saints are our brothers and sisters in Heaven "the great cloud of witnesses" (Hebrews 12:1) urging us on in the Faith. Marian - the Blessed Mother was the instrument by which our Father in Heaven chose to give us our Lord.

This little devotional is jam packed with spiritual nuggets from Pope Benedict, with a generous depth yet brevity to bring Jesus to the central focus of our lives during those times when all we have are a few moments for brief reflection. Take Five - Meditations With Pope Benedict XVI has found its way into an integral part of my devotional life.

This review was written as part of the Catholic book Reviewer program from The Catholic Company. Visit The Catholic Company to find more information on Take Five - Meditations with Pope Benedict XVI.

A New Missionary Age: The Year that was and the Year that will be are a Prelude

By Deacon Keith Fournier
1/2/2010

Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

We need a new Christian foundation for the West. The Catholic Church is in the first stage of a new missionary age.

CHESAPEAKE, Va. (Catholic Online) – It is the weekend when much of the media offers pundits and pontificators the opportunity to review the year we just concluded and make projections concerning the year we have just begun. Like most people, I enjoy listening to these efforts. I even participate to some degree, as evidenced by my short offering to Dr. Deal Hudson’s efforts in the Inside Catholic article reprinted below. I wanted to offer a somewhat different proposal than what is the standard fare in a short article. To understand what I write requires that I sketch out a few important claims which flow from my convictions concerning the Church.

We live in an age when many, including some Catholics, have a view of the Church that falls short of what the Gospels and the ancient faith claim. They view the Church as an organization which we came up with - to study the bible, or to pray or to do good works. Though all three efforts are commendable, they do not define the nature of the Church. The Church is the Risen Body of Christ, a sacramental reality. The Church is not some – thing, but some – One. Jesus Christ is the Head of the Church and we are members of His Body. The ancient Christians would have never considered a Christianity which spoke in terms such as “I do not need the Church, I have Jesus”. Christianity is not “me and Jesus”, it is “me (and you) in Jesus”, now made, in the words of the Apostle Peter, “partakers of the Divine Nature”. We become members of His Body through Baptism. In Him we are joined in an eternal communion with all who have also been baptized into Him. We are all called to live in the Church.

This is more than an allegory, this is a reality. The Church makes the Risen Christ present on the earth by carrying forward in time His redemptive mission until he comes. Through her proclamation and demonstration of his Word - and by providing through her Sacraments the grace that we need - she enables us to grow more fully into His Image and Likeness for the sake of the world. The Church is God’s plan for the whole human race. All men and women are called to find their home in the One Church of Christ. The early Father’s were fond of referring to the Church with phrases such as the world reconciled or the world in the course of transfiguration. She is a communion wherein we participate, even now, in the Trinitarian communion. She is the seed of the Kingdom to come and makes that Kingdom present in the here and now. She is the soul of the world and animates that world by her very presence.

Similarly, the teaching office (magisterium) of the Church is the fulfillment of the promise of the Lord to guide us in all truth by His Holy Spirit. It is not - as some seem to think, including sadly some poorly catechized Catholic politicians - old men in Rome with pointy hats somehow imposing rules. Rather, the promise of Christ is proven true; He has not left us orphans, he continues to guide us into all truth. The Bishops are the successors of the Apostles. The Pope really is the successor of Peter and the principle of unity. The Holy Spirit works through the Church because Jesus Christ is alive and continues His Incarnational and saving mission through His Body.

Because of this understanding of the Church I believe that what is most important in 2009 is what happened in the Church. The collapse of the West will not be remedied by any political party or philosophy. In the United States, gripped by the lies of a culture of death and use, we do not need a “conservative revolution” as some pundits maintain. We need a Christian revolution. It was the Christian Church which gave us the understanding of the dignity of every human person because we are created in the Image of God. From that came the understanding that we all possess fundamental human rights. Yes, the American founders carried such a notion into a bold experiment in ordered liberty but they did not come up with it on their own. They derived it from Western civilization and the influence of Christendom. That is the the influence of the Church. That is also why the seemingly inevitable collapse of the West can be averted, but only through the resurgence of the Church in the Third Millennium. It is the Church which is the vehicle for true progress. Christianity is the antidote to the descent into a new barbarism arising out of the neo-paganism currently masquerading as liberation.

The Lord who founded His Church did not intend for it to be divided. We are responsible for that. We have been created in His Image. That includes our capacity to exercise our human freedom. Unfortunately, we are still affected by the first wrong choice, it is called sin, and we repeat it over and over. That is also why we continually need the Lord - and why the Church is so important because she is His Body. The Church must manifest her four marks, One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic, in our own day. The world must be awakened from her sleep. I make a bold claim, one which I will build upon in future articles; the Church will do so in a profound way in this Third Millennium. The Lord has not given up on His plan. The prayer of Jesus, “May They Be One”, is being answered. That is why Pope Benedict, in his very first homily, referred to Christian unity as his impelling duty. Playing off of the title of Dr. Thomas Woods’s book, “How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization”, I make another claim. The Catholic Church will rebuild Western Civilization as she comes back together again in the fullness of Christian communion.

The Pope’s travels are not only good will trips; they are the modern missionary journeys of the Vicar of Christ. They are chosen strategically, led by the Holy Spirit and have a prophetic purpose as part of a plan for that full communion. Review his trips with that possibility in mind. Similarly, his “Encyclical” (circulating) letters are not merely academic exercises; they are written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. They contain wisdom from heaven which can help to heal and rebuild the Church - and through her the world. Reread, or read for the first time Charity in Truth with that in mind. His work to restore the Catholic unity of the Church - including the bold overture toward Anglican Christians, pastoral overture toward the SSPX, humble rapprochement to our Orthodox brethren, and his continual encouragement to the ecclesial movements - are a part of a blueprint, written by the Holy Spirit, to resuscitate the Church as one New Man, breathing with both lungs, East and West, ushering in this new Christian missionary age.

Similarly, his speech in Regensburg is the first step in engaging an ascendant Islam with the Truth claims of Christianity. He will do so with respect, but he will do so and we must do so as well, as part of the Church. The hungry secularism which has fueled what he so aptly called the “dictatorship of relativism” opened up the void into which Islam has rushed. However, that void resulted from the decline of a truly Christian vision for the human person, marriage and the family and civil society built upon it and a true understanding of authentic human freedom and solidarity. The future will not be secular. Secularism does not have any content to sustain a future. The challenge of Islam is an invitation to the Church to offer the true humanism which is Christianity as the path to the future.

Pope Benedict’s summons to Europe to return to her Christian roots in order to rebuild herself - and his commendation of some of the philosophical underpinnings of the American experiment ( as evident in his visit and his locutions while on our shores) - are oriented toward the same end. He is encouraging the building of a truly just civil and social order by proposing the Christian vision of the person, the family and the common good as the foundation. In short, we need a new Christian foundation for the West. The Catholic Church is in the first stage of a new missionary age. The Dictionary tells us that a prelude is “an introductory performance, action, or event preceding and preparing for the principal or a more important matter.” The Year that was and the Year that will be are a just that, a prelude, there is much more to come.