Posted by Daily Blog
Monday, March 30, 2009 9:35 AM
Father Benedict Groeschel, whose whole life has been spent preaching the Gospel, suffered a minor stroke in mid-March, leaving him with some speech difficulties.
Father Benedict made the news public on his regular Sunday evening talk show March 29 on the Eternal Word Television Network, “Sunday Night Life with Father Benedict Groeschel.”
Weigel – “The Catholic defense of the right to life is not a matter of arcane or esoteric Catholic doctrine: You don’t have to believe in the primacy of the pope, in seven sacraments, in Mary’s assumption into heaven, in the divine and human natures of Christ—you don’t even have to believe in God—to take seriously the Catholic claim that innocent human life has an inalienable dignity and value that demands the protection of the laws.”
The image of Our Lady of Guadalupe was miraculously imprinted by Mary on the tilma, or cloak, of St. Juan Diego in 1531. The image has numerous unexplainable phenomena, such as the appearance on Mary’s eyes of those present in the room when the tilma was opened and the image’s lack of decay.
Mrs. Clinton was received on Thursday at 8:15 a.m. by the rector of the Basilica, Msgr. Diego Monroy.
Msgr. Monroy took Mrs. Clinton to the famous image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, which had been previously lowered from its usual altar for the occasion.
After observing it for a while, Mrs. Clinton asked “who painted it?” to which Msgr. Monroy responded “God!”
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Submitted by Doria2
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
America, particularly Catholic America, is outraged that the University of Notre Dame has invited Barack Obama to speak at its commencement May 17.
Thus, the most notoriously pro-abortion President in history will be honored by the Catholic institution of Notre Dame.
Here is the response of Notre Dame President Fr. John Jenkins C.S.C.: “The invitation of President Obama to be our commencement speaker should in no way be taken as condoning or endorsing his positions on specific issues regarding the protection of life, such as abortion and embryonic stem cell research.”
Wisconsin Right to Life Executive Barbara Lyons said, “Given that millions of unborn children face death under Obama Administration policies, I am sending an email to Fr. Jenkins asking if Notre Dame would welcome an avowed racist who favors slavery to give the commencement address.”
“If Jenkins had invited such a speaker, would his response be “Our invitation to Speaker X should in no way be taken as condoning slavery or racism, even though the speaker ardently supports them,” continued Lyons.
Wisconsin Right to Life is urging people to contact Fr. Jenkins by phone at 574-631-5000 or via email at president@nd.edu and call upon him to recind the invitation.
To learn more about Barack Obama – the most pro-abortion President in U.S. history – vist the website of Wisconsin Right to life at http://www.wrtl.org/
The extended family members who died in the fiery Monana plane crash were kin to Irving ‘Bud’ Feldkamp, owner of the largest for-profit abortion chain in the nation. The crash site is a Catholic Cemetery, not far from ‘the ‘ Tomb of the Unborn’ … a memorial to millions of abortion victims.
Click here to read the whole story, courtesy of Gingi Edmonds and Christian News Wire
Nobody but God can judge these things, but there’s little doubt that actions have consequences, and it would be foolish for anyone to ignore God and his righteousness.
May God have mercy on their souls.
If President Obama thinks he has a mere financial crisis on his hands, he too is in serious danger of “crashing and burning”. Moral bankruptcy preceeded the financial kind by some 35 years … and Roe v. Wade is the proof.
God will not not be marginalized, and his innocents will not go unrevenged, forever.
Consider this passage from the Book of Revelation:
Rev 14:6-7
And I saw another angel flying through the midst of heaven,
having the eternal gospel, to preach unto them that sit upon the earth
and over every nation and tribe and tongue and people,
Saying with a loud voice: Fear the Lord and give him honour,
because the hour of his judgment is come …
Thanks to Bob Stanley for bringing this article to our attention
Pro-lifer singlehandedly stops Avon Breast Cancer Walk drive
Q: What is the purpose and meaning of holy water?
A: Holy water is a sacramental … an aid to holiness.
Ordinary water has always played a central role in the purification (washing) of worldly things.
Holy water … water that has been blessed by a Catholic priest or bishop … works the same way for people and things that have been set apart for service to God.
Blessing one’s self with holy water while making the sign of the cross recalls our baptism, obtains forgiveness for venial sins, and rededicates our life to God.
The Bible shows us a world recreated and covered with water. A world subsequently destroyed by water (Noah’s flood). And the Egyptian army drowned by water (Moses and the Red Sea) … saving God’s people. John the Baptist baptized with water, in a universal call to repentance. Jesus spoke about “living water”. On the cross, blood and water poured from his pierced side, while water baptism … an essential sacrament of the Church … now serves as the entryway to all that the Kingdom of God has to offer.
Not surprisingly, devils and demons seem to find water … the ordinary kind … and especially the holy kind … totally repugnant.
All the more reason to use it frequently.
Q: Do we need to follow the teachings of Moses including the Sabbath, or only the law of Christ ?
A: Christians are obligated to follow the authentic teachings and to observe the precepts of the Catholic Church … which include a readopted and readapted, authoritative, New Covenant version of the Ten Commandments.
Under the old Judaic system, non-Jews were never required (or expected) to keep any of the old law.
Thanks to the Holy Spirit, the apostles, and the Church … neither are Christians.
In fact, since we have Christ and the Church, Christians are actually prohibited from doing so.
It’s interesting to note that keeping the old law has no salvific value for the Jews, either … which is why the Church has always been charged with the job of leading Jews … and all men … to Christ.
This is a short summary what the Catholic Church actually teaches on the matter. (And it constitutes a real mental “stretch” for most people, the first time they see it.)
Pius XII: Mystici Corporis, 29: “And first of all, by the death of our Redeemer, the New Testament took the place of the Old Law which had been abolished; then the Law of Christ together with its mysteries, enactments, institutions, and sacred rites was ratified for the whole world in the blood of Jesus Christ…but on the Gibbet of His death Jesus made void the Law with its decrees fastened the handwriting of the Old Testament to the Cross, establishing the New Testament in His blood shed for the whole human race. “To such an extent, then,” says St. Leo the Great, speaking of the Cross of our Lord, “was there effected a transfer from the Law to the Gospel, from the Synagogue to the Church, from the many sacrifices to one Victim, that, as Our Lord expired, that mystical veil which shut off the innermost part of the temple and its sacred secret was rent violently from top to bottom.”30: “On the Cross then the Old Law died, soon to be buried and to be a bearer of death, in order to give way to the New Testament of which Christ had chosen the Apostles as qualified ministers”
Council of Trent, ch 1, 793: “but not even the Jews by the very letter of the law of Moses were able to be liberated or to rise therefrom”
Council of Trent, Session 6, ch 2: “that He might both redeem the Jews, who were under the Law”
Council of Trent, Canon 1: “If anyone shall say that man can be justified before God by his own works which are done through his own natural powers, or through the teaching of the Law…let him be anathema.”
Council of Florence, DS 695: “There are seven sacraments of the new Law: namely, baptism, confirmation, Eucharist, penance, extreme unction, orders, and matrimony, which differ a great deal from the sacraments of the Old Law. For those of the Old Law did not effect grace, but only pronounced that it should be given through the passion of Christ; these sacraments of ours contain grace, and confer it upon those who receive them worthily.”
Council of Florence, DS 712: “It firmly believes, professes, and teaches that the matter pertaining to the law of the Old Testament, of the Mosiac law, which are divided into ceremonies, sacred rites, sacrifices, and sacraments, because they were established to signify something in the future, although they were suited to the divine worship at that time, after our Lord’s coming had been signified by them, ceased, and the sacraments of the New Testament began; and that whoever, even after the passion, placed hope in these matters of the law and submitted himself to them as necessary for salvation, as if faith in Christ could not save without them, sinned mortally.”“All, therefore, who after that time observe circumcision and the Sabbath and the other requirements of the law, it declares alien to the Christian faith and not in the least fit to participate in eternal salvation, unless someday they recover from these errors. Therefore, it commands all who glory in the name of Christian, at whatever time, before or after baptism’ to cease entirely from circumcision, since, whether or not one places hope in it, it cannot be observed at all without the loss of eternal salvation.”
Pope Benedict XIV, Ex Quo Primum, #59: “However they are not attempting to observe the precepts of the old Law, which as everyone knows have been revoked by the coming of Christ.”
Pope Benedict XIV, Ex Quo Primum, #61: “The first consideration is that the ceremonies of the Mosaic law were abrogated by the coming of Christ and they can no longer be observed without sin after the promulgation of the Gospel.”
Pius VI, DS 1519-1520 (condemned the following): “Likewise, the doctrine which adds that under the Law man ‘became a prevaricator, since he was powerless to observe it, not indeed by the fault of the Law, which was most sacred, but by the guilt of man, who, under the Law, without grace, became more and more a prevaricator’; and it further adds, ‘that the Law, if it did not heal the heart of man, brought it about that he would recognize his evil, and, being convinced of his weakness, would desire the grace of a mediator’; in this part it generally intimates that man became a prevaricator through the nonobservance of the Law which he was powerless to observe, as if ‘He who is just could command something impossible, or He who is pious would be likely to condemn man for that which he could not avoid’ (from St. Caesarius Serm. 73, in append., St. Augustine, Serm. 273, edit. Maurin; from St. August., De nat, et “rat., e. 43; De “rat. et lib. arb., e. 16, Enarr. in psalm. 56, n. I),– false scandalous, impious, condemned in Baius (see n. 1504).1520 20. “In that part in which it is to be understood that man, while under the Law and without grace, could conceive a desire for the grace of a Mediator related to the salvation promised through Christ, as if ‘grace itself does not effect that He be invoked by us’ (from Conc. Araus. II, can. 3 [v.n. 176]),– the proposition as it stands, deceitful, suspect, favorable to the Semipelagian heresy.
*****
The matter of old law vs. new law and the Church, continues to be one of contention among Catholics and non-Catholics alike, but it really shouldn’t be, since the new covenant really is all new … not just a rehash or restatement of the old … and it is a much, much better deal … based on the love and grace of Jesus Christ.
Besides … the totality of old testament experience definitively proved that the old law never saved a soul … never could … and never would.
We needed a holy redeemer to make salvation possible. That’s the all new and better covenant … based on salvation in Jesus Christ and his Church … and not by the keeping of any law.
The sacraments (particularly the sacrament of reconciliation) perfectly reinforce and underscore this most fundamental principle of the Catholic faith.
Grace … not law … in the end, prevails.
POPE INGITES CONDOM DEBATE
On his flight to Cameroon yesterday, Pope Benedict XVI was asked about the Catholic Church’s position on fighting AIDS. He said, in part, “One cannot overcome the problem with the distribution of condoms. On the contrary, they increase the problem.”
Catholic League president Bill Donohue had this to say:
“Last year, Edward C. Green, director of the AIDS Prevention Research Project at the Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies, wrote that ‘In every African country in which HIV infections declined, this decline has been associated with a decrease in the proportion of men and women reporting more than one sex partner over the course of a year-which is exactly what fidelity programs promote.’ As for condom use, Green said, ‘Many countries that have not seen declines in HIV have seen increases in condom use, but in every country worldwide in which HIV has declined there have been increases in levels of faithfulness and usually abstinence as well.’ The Catholic Church, it is well known, has been at the forefront of such programs. It also operates more hospitals and related medical centers for AIDS patients than any other private institution in the world.
“If condoms were the answer, then why is it that New York City, which under Mayor Michael Bloomberg has given away tens of millions of free condoms, has an HIV rate three times the national average? Furthermore, the promiscuous distribution of condoms in New York has coincided with a spike in sexually transmitted diseases of all sorts. Isn’t it time we learned that condom worship is irrational?
“Anyone who thinks that condom distribution, education and/or research is going to solve a problem which is mostly a function of behavioral recklessness is positively clueless. Not only that, such persons unwittingly contribute to the problem by distracting attention and resources away from that which works.”
Take a close look at this (circa 1957) Mike Wallace TV interview with Margaret Sanger, founder of Planned Parenthood, who evidently never met a baby she actually liked.
“The most merciful thing that a large family does to one of its infant members is to kill it.” (Margaret Sanger, Women and the New Race (Eugenics Publ. Co., 1920, 1923)
A complete Catholic guide to medical ethics, courtesy of Ascension Health Care System.
As a Roman Catholic, Gov. Sebelius’ appointment is “the source of the greatest embarrassment because she has publicly and repeatedly betrayed her Catholic faith, in the most fundamental tenet of the moral law, that is, the law to safeguard and foster human life from the moment of its inception to the moment of natural death,” said Archbishop Burke.
“Her position on the question of procured abortion is the source of the greatest scandal to Catholics and to all who uphold the natural moral law,” he continued.
Q: Why do Evangelicals have such a problem with the Blessed Virgin Mary?
A: For a bunch of guys who claim to believe only what they can read in scripture, they sure do come up with a lot of “facts” that can’t be found ANYWHERE in the Bible!
They also seem to be totally unable to make any accurate, logical conslusions, based on what the Bible actually says.
For example, in 1st Kings 2:19 we get to see the court of King Solomon at work.
In the Royal House of David, we see that the queen is the MOTHER of the king, and the official job of the queen is to intercede with the king, on behalf of the people.
The late King David’s mom, Bathsheba approaches King Solomon’s throne. Seeing her, Solomon rises, bows, and has a throne set at his right hand for his mom, the queen.
With great respect, he shows the queen to her throne. Then Solomon gives her his undivided attention, listening attentively to all her requests, since both the 4th commandment and the traditions of the royal house require it.
In Luke 1:30 we see Mary and Gabriel:
Luk 1:30 And the angel said to her: Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found grace with God.
Luk 1:31 Behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb and shalt bring forth a son: and thou shalt call his name Jesus.
Luk 1:32 He shall be great and shall be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of David his father: and he shall reign in the house of Jacob for ever.
Luk 1:33 And of his kingdom there shall be no end.
From this we know that Jesus is both the son of God and the son of David. King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And since Mary is Jesus’ mother, and under God’s rules the mother of the king is the queen, Mary is the authentic queen of the royal house of David, and also the AUTHENTIC queen of heaven.
As such, her official job as queen is to intercede with her son for the needs of people, while Jesus remains the one intercessor with God the Father.
There’s absolutely no conlict with authentic scripture (or authentic Christianity and even, Judaism) here!
The Catholic Church has always clearly understood and taught all of this, while protestants (of late) conveniently ignore it, or even flat out, lie about it.
The Bible does little good if it is not fully understood and properly applied.
Our protestant brethren suffer from a level of confusion that rivals the old Tower of Babel. And it’s their own fault, since even a protestant can see from both scripture and genuine world history that Jesus founded only one Church for the purpose of our salvation … the Catholic Church … and Jesuse promised that his Church would last until the end of time, and that the gates of hell would NEVER prevail against it.
Go figure!
Q: Why was Joseph’s ancestry included in Jesus’ genealogy in the Bible unless it was Jesus’ actual bloodline?
A: From a legal standpoint, in terms of Mosaic Law, Joseph’s relationship to Jesus was significant.
Joseph’s genealogy is that of an in-law or “as supposed” as the scriptures typically say. And it’s included to provide a complete picture.
Tracing Mary’s line, we find her father (Joachim) was a descendant of King David, and her mother (Anna) was descended from Aaron, the line of priests.
That would make Jesus not only Messiah and God, but also a King and a Priest.
Doesn’t that make you feel better now?
I have chosen not to include my name in this autobiography, though everything this story contains is true.
I have written this memoir twice before, but to my dismay the evil one has repeatedly destroyed my work.
Praying to the Holy Spirit I decided that I would write this paper once more, and if God allowed it to be destroyed again, than I would give up and accept our Lord’s Will.
Well, as you can see, the third time was a charm. I pray that you, the reader, will see my life as an example of what not to do, and to steer your children from the dangers that I lived through.
May God, through the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, bless you all.
Warning: Some of the things contained in this true story may be too intense for young or very sensitive readers.
Q: If Mary is so important to the Catholic Church, how come there’s not much about her in the Bible?
The apostle Peter makes no mention of her at all in his writings, while the apostle Paul did not mention her by name but only spoke of her as “a woman”.
A: Ask Jesus, since Mary was absolutely critical and essential to his plan of salvation for mankind.
Mary is the “woman” of prophecy. The woman whose Son would crush the head of that old serpent, the devil.
Paul didn’t throw the term “woman” around lightly, and neither did Jesus.
Ask yourself: If God simply uses and then discards his own mom, then what might YOU actually have to look forward to in Heaven?
Then read the Magnificat (Mary’s Song) and you’ll see that God appreciates quality … not necessarily quantity.
Luk 1:46 And Mary said: My soul doth magnify the Lord.
Luk 1:47 And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.
Luk 1:48 Because he hath regarded the humility of his handmaid:
for behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
Luk 1:49 Because he that is mighty hath done great things to me: and holy is his name.
Luk 1:50 And his mercy is from generation unto generations, to them that fear him.
Luk 1:51 He hath shewed might in his arm:
he hath scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart.
Luk 1:52 He hath put down the mighty from their seat and hath exalted the humble.
Luk 1:53 He hath filled the hungry with good things:
and the rich he hath sent empty away.
Luk 1:54 He hath received Israel his servant, being mindful of his mercy.
Luk 1:55 As he spoke to our fathers: to Abraham and to his seed for ever.
And then there’s Mary’s last recorded words in scripture:
“Whatsoever Jesus shall say to you, do it.” (John 2:5)
Can’t beat that. Don’t even try.
Q: Is belief in the Holy Trinity essential for Christians?
A: The existence of the triune God as three divine and distinct persons in one, true God was revealed to the apostles by Jesus Christ and confirmed by the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost.
The Trinity doctrine of the Catholic Church predates the Bible by some 350 years, and is not dependent on scripture at all, although knowing the doctrine, it is quite simple to find biblical support for it.
Only the descriptive term “Trinity” took some time to be agreed upon by the Church. Otherwise, personal knowledge of the triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit … has always been essential to the authentic Christian faith.
“The Church’s teaching authority cannot be frozen in the year 1962 — this must be quite clear to the Society. But some of those who put themselves forward as great defenders of the Council also need to be reminded that Vatican II embraces the entire doctrinal history of the Church. Anyone who wishes to be obedient to the Council has to accept the faith professed over the centuries, and cannot sever the roots from which the tree draws its life.”
While Jesus remains the one mediator between God and man, anyone who is in God’s favor (particularly, faithful Church members) especially those who are already perfected in Heaven (Mary, the Saints, the Angels) has the right (and yes, even the duty) to intercede for anyone on earth (or in Purgatory) who might need or request it.
This would typically be accomplished by humbly approaching the throne of Jesus Christ with one’s request, which is certainly permitted, since Jesus remains not only the one mediator, but also (among many other wonderful things) our High Priest, our brother, our King, and our God. Catholics do this when they participate at Mass, but also in other ways.
The Book of Revelation describes the Heavenly version of the sacred liturgy, where the intercessory prayers of the saints are never disregarded, since Heaven poses no barrier at all to God’s great and continuing work of redemption.
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