The following is the pro-life prayer Timothy Cardinal Dolan prayed at the Republican convention last night, following the speech presidential nominee Mitt Romney gave. The prayer hit pro-life themes that are dear to the heart of the head of the Catholic bishops’ conference:
With firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, let us pray:
by Doug Lawrence
It’s been happening more and more, lately! I look up to the altar as the priest recites the words of consecration, and instead of seeing Father Al up there doing the work, I see Jesus Christ, instead.
I look at him. He looks at me. Our eyes meet. Then, I’m instantly transported in spirit, to the Lord’s Day … at the end of time … just as St. John describes it, in the Book of Revelation (See Revelation 1:10).
The church building and the sanctuary within it has literally become Heaven.
The congregation has expanded a bit … now consisting of every angel and saint who ever lived … or ever will live. Surveying its massive length and breadth, I can identify the Blessed Virgin, all of the patriarchs and apostles, the evangelists, the martyrs, the doctors, the mystics, choirs and choirs of angels, even some long-passed family, friends and neighbors. And of course … Jesus.
The Mass has become the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, where Jesus, the spotless victim, is both the divine host and the primary object of worship, receiving glory, praise and honor for his great, finished work of salvation, and where Jesus subsequently presents the Church … fully perfected by his grace … as his beautiful bride … to God the Father. (See Revelation 19:1)
The congregation … which had consisted of the usual assortment of sinful humanity … has now been completely and utterly transformed. Clothed in abject finery, now perfect in every respect … thanks to Jesus … our perfect, holy and spotless bride groom … whose saving grace has made all the difference … just as God always intended.
Then, I’m back!
The bottom line: Every time we attend Mass, we experience a little “slice” of Heaven, right here on Earth … a miraculous preview of wondrous and amazing things to come … thanks solely to the real presence of Jesus Christ … who cherishes us with a holy and inestimable love.
Don’t miss it, for the world!
After the end of the Latin Roman Empire, the Mediterranean remained a Christian lake, open to commercial and cultural exchange between the new kingdoms in the West and the Greek Roman Christian Empire. It was Islam, not the “barbarian invaders,” which broke the unity of the Christian world, thereby interrupting commercial and cultural exchange between the Christian East and the Christian West, propitiating the rise of the Carolingian “Roman” Empire, turning the Mediterranean into a Muslim lake, and therefore moving the cultural axis of the Christian West from the Mediterranean to the North: “the cause of the break with the tradition of antiquity was the rapid and unexpected advance of Islam.”
President Obama dodged a lawsuit against the Health and Human Services’ (HHS) contraception mandate, authorized by Obamacare, by telling Wheaton College that it has a year to comply with the rule after previously saying that it must comply immediately.
A federal judge dismissed Wheaton’s lawsuit after it received that one-year “safe harbor,” concluding that “Wheaton has not alleged a concrete and imminent injury and that its claims are not fit for judicial review.”
(CNN)–-Cardinal Timothy Dolan has accepted an invitation to give the closing prayer at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, next week, which will also feature a nun in a speaking role.
Dolan, the archbishop of New York and president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, also will give the closing benediction at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida, on Thursday.
When he accepted that invitation, Dolan said his appearance would be prayerful, not political, a sentiment reiterated by his spokesman in announcing his appearance at the DNC.
Editor’s note: Now, all we need is a good speech at the RNC by a faithful, traditional Catholic nun or sister.
by Doug Lawrence
The Federal Air Regulations, published by the U.S. Department of Transportation/FAA currently fill 1399 pages, and those regulations typically demand painstaking and detailed attention to virtually every part of the aviation experience.
Except perhaps for the regulations restricting the use of cell phones and electronic devices, which are essentially misunderstood and ridiculed by the general public, and some of the current TSA security procedures, which are often simply offensive … most people who fly on airliners actually welcome this very strict form of government regulation.
Why? Because widespread government regulation of aviation has resulted in a 99.999% safe commercial airline transportation environment … and that level of safety is a very good thing for government, industry, the airlines, and the flying public. After all … who, except for the very, very highly motivated … the desperate … or the suicidal … would buy an airline ticket if they had even a 5% chance of ending up dead?
Do some people still break the rules? Of course! Do some people still lobby for variations, and exemptions from those rules? Of course! Do some people still decry any form of government regulation, in spite of the aviation industry’s extraordinary safety record? Of course!
But one simple fact remains: The laws of gravity and inertia are consistent and inviolable, and no one can attempt to get around them, by any means, without eventually paying a terrible, and usually fatal price … especially if that particular “rebel” happens to be an airline pilot, responsible for the care and safety of hundreds of “souls”. (Curiously, FAA flight plans typically inquire about not how many “people” are on board the aircraft … but how many “souls”.)
As a veteran pilot and a survivor of more than one crash, I can personally testify to all of the above. There’s also little doubt that people demand these regulations … and the government duly responds … out of fear.
Fear of death and injury. Fear of financial loss. Fear of political repercussions. Fear of the unknown.
So … why is it that people seem to have so much trouble accepting the authority and guidance of the Catholic Church … which receives its’ authority and wisdom from God, himself … and which routinely preaches and teaches divine precepts, for the common good of all … many of which are every bit as inviolable and absolute as the laws of physics?
For the record: The Catechism of the Catholic Church has only 823 pages, compared to FAA’s 1399.
by Doug Lawrence
The Mass is the liturgical re-presentation of Jesus Christ’s one-time, once for many, propitiatory sacrifice for the sins of the world, at Calvary.
The Last Supper was the anticipation of that blessed event, the eternal fulfillment of the Jewish Passover, and the Christ-instituted model for our timeless Catholic liturgy.
What makes the Mass eternally unique and infinitely efficacious is the real presence on the altar, under the auspices of bread and wine, of Jesus Christ, the sinless God-man who was crucified, died, and was buried, who rose again from the dead, and who remains the only perfect and acceptable sacrifice for the sins of the world.
Since Jesus Christ personally embodies the one time, once for many, eternal sacrifice for the sins of the world, when Jesus becomes present on the altar at Mass, his eternal sacrifice for sin is also renewed and re-presented.
From a practical standpoint, this is necessary so that we might have a pure and perfect offering that will be acceptable to God the Father. Without Jesus’ real presence on the altar, such a thing would not be possible.
Most people look forward to receiving Jesus in the Holy Eucharist, and typically consider that as their primary reason for attending Mass, but there’s much more to it … since it typically remains necessary for the People of God, with the assistance of the priest, to faithfully and regularly “line up” behind Jesus, offering him up to our Father in Heaven … so that “mountains” might move, all things might be reconciled and renewed, and divine grace might continue to flow, in supernatural abundance.
This happens shortly after the consecration and just before the “Great Amen”. Watch and listen carefully the next time you attend:
The priest takes the chalice, containing the blood of Christ,
and the paten, on which his body, in the form of the host, rests.
Raising both, he says:
Through him, and with him, and in him,
O God, almighty Father,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
all glory and honor is yours,
for ever and ever.
The people acclaim:
Amen.
Having just offered Jesus Christ, our sinless brother, savior, perfect victim, Heavenly High Priest, mediator, and God, to our Father in Heaven, we rightfully expect this ultimate, totally spotless and perfect sacrifice to be accepted, affording us (and the whole Church) divine favor of all kinds.
Only then do we continue … rightly claiming Jesus’ Father as our own … and receiving Jesus Christ … body, blood, soul and divinity … for our divine sustenance … as we go forth.
by Doug Lawrence
What Missouri Congressman Akin should have said about women, rape, and abortion is that every life, no matter how or why it begins, is sacred, because God is the author of life. Consequently, every living thing belongs first to God, not man. And that’s something every God fearing person should always keep in mind.
In the case of human beings, special circumstances apply. Made in the image and likeness of God, and called to be in a very special type of covenant with him, every individual is conceived according to God’s very own eternal plan, a plan that is without doubt, mysterious and hard for us to understand … yet unquestionably ordered to the ultimate good of all.
One of the unique aspects of that divine plan is the awesome, transforming power of God’s grace, which is more than powerful enough to bring about good from evil, hope from despair, life from lust, and even selfless charity from moral bankruptcy.
In short, it’s totally unjust and criminal to rape a woman, but it’s even more unjust and criminal to take the life of a totally innocent and helpless babe in the womb.
The proper role of government in the case of rape should be securing justice for all. And there’s plenty of ways to achieve that … without killing anyone!
Is the Second Vatican Council some kind of sacred cow that can’t be reformed? I ask this in all seriousness. The reason why I ask this is that we all have been taught since the Second Vatican Council that the Church is always in need of reform. Since a council, specifically the Second Vatican Council is but a small part of the Church, should not that old adage also apply to the Second Vatican Council?
There are FIVE areas where the Second Vatican Council could use some reform…
by Doug Lawrence
I took a week off to move, and it took the better part of that week to get my Internet service back up and running.
Something about software issues … and components that didn’t work well together.
It will be at least a few days before regular postings are resumed.
There’s simply too much moving yet to be done, and too many details that still require attention!
Look for “Moving As A Type of Purgatory … The Biblical Basis for Suffering On-The-Go” coming up soon.
Doug Lawrence's Catholic Site 