Communion in the hand and so-called Eucharist lay-ministers make a mockery of the Divine Truth that Our Lord is truly present in every particle of the Eucharist, and make a mockery of the holy rubrics used by the Church for centuries as a safeguard against desecration.
“Two hundred years before any of the Founding Fathers were born, this land’s people were being baptized in the name of Christ,” he continues. “The people of this land were called Christians before they were called Americans. And they were first called this name in the Spanish tongue. Every American today, in some way, owes a spiritual debt to these great Hispanic Catholic missionaries of the 16th and 17th centuries.”
Archbishop Gomez adds:
So why don’t we know their stories? Because history is always told by the “winners.” In America’s case, the winners were the men who fought the American Revolution and established our national government. They handed down an American story, a national narrative that began with them and ignored earlier periods of American history.
February 13, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Experts working for the UNESCO Chair in Bioethics at the University of Barcelona, Spain, are calling for a national registry of doctors who will not perform abortions, in order to “improve” women’s access to “pregnancy termination.”
Editor’s note: It should be remembered that, just prior to WWII, during the Spanish Civil War, the lefties in Spain rounded up and executed thousands, many of them Catholic clergy, for simply disagreeing with their godless, Marxist political ideology. This new registry would make things very easy for them.
A constant feature of last week’s World Youth Day was that events were oversubscribed and completely chaotic. I don’t want to be critical of World Youth Day as I wholeheartedly support this Pope and the principle behind the event. But our capacity for joy was continuously stifled by the shambolic organisation.
Introducing the word “queue” into the World Youth Day vernacular and then directing the volunteers to enforce this principle would, for instance, have avoided the carnage at the portaloos on the morning of the papal Mass. Furthermore, if enough loos had been provided the chaos that emerged would have been less likely and pilgrims would have been more inclined to drink water in the baking heat, as opposed to sitting crossed-legged, opting for dehydration and paralysis rather than rugby-tackling their way through the hopping crowds.
What was most appalling was the fiasco surrounding the papal Mass at Cuatro Vientos airfield on Sunday morning. I was one among an estimated 200,000 Catholics who were turned away. Although many young people carried pilgrim passes and were allocated an area in advance, they found there was no way of making the event they had so looked forward to, despite arriving at the crack of dawn that morning or camping outside overnight.
Editor’s note: Kind of makes you wonder what Judgment Day will be like, with an assemblage of 20 billion or more.
FINAL MASS
WORDS OF THE HOLY FATHER
AT THE BEGINNING OF THE EUCHARISTIC CELEBRATION
Cuatro Vientos Air Base, Madrid
Sunday, 21 August 2011
Dear Young Friends:
I have been thinking a lot about you during this time in which we have been separated. I hope you have been able to get some sleep in spite of the weather. I am sure that since dawn you have raised up your eyes more than once, and not only your eyes but above all your hearts, turning this occasion into prayer. God turns all things into good. With this confidence and trusting in the Lord who never abandons us, let us begin our Eucharistic celebration, full of enthusiasm and strong in our faith.
***
HOMILY
Dear Young People,
In this celebration of the Eucharist we have reached the high point of this World Youth Day. Seeing you here, gathered in such great numbers from all parts of the world, fills my heart with joy. I think of the special love with which Jesus is looking upon you. Yes, the Lord loves you and calls you his friends (cf. Jn 15:15). He goes out to meet you and he wants to accompany you on your journey, to open the door to a life of fulfilment and to give you a share in his own closeness to the Father. For our part, we have come to know the immensity of his love and we want to respond generously to his love by sharing with others the joy we have received. Certainly, there are many people today who feel attracted by the figure of Christ and want to know him better. They realize that he is the answer to so many of our deepest concerns. But who is he really? How can someone who lived on this earth so long ago have anything in common with me today?
The Gospel we have just heard (cf. Mt 16:13-20) suggests two different ways of knowing Christ. The first is an impersonal knowledge, one based on current opinion. When Jesus asks: “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”, the disciples answer: “Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets”. In other words, Christ is seen as yet another religious figure, like those who came before him. Then Jesus turns to the disciples and asks them: “But who do you say that I am?” Peter responds with what is the first confession of faith: “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God”. Faith is more than just empirical or historical facts; it is an ability to grasp the mystery of Christ’s person in all its depth.
Yet faith is not the result of human effort, of human reasoning, but rather a gift of God: “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven”. Faith starts with God, who opens his heart to us and invites us to share in his own divine life. Faith does not simply provide information about who Christ is; rather, it entails a personal relationship with Christ, a surrender of our whole person, with all our understanding, will and feelings, to God’s self-revelation. So Jesus’ question: “But who do you say that I am?”, is ultimately a challenge to the disciples to make a personal decision in his regard. Faith in Christ and discipleship are strictly interconnected.
And, since faith involves following the Master, it must become constantly stronger, deeper and more mature, to the extent that it leads to a closer and more intense relationship with Jesus. Peter and the other disciples also had to grow in this way, until their encounter with the Risen Lord opened their eyes to the fullness of faith.
Let us take our eyes away from the news for a moment, in order to look at the news. That is to say, let us ignore for a moment how it is being reported, and look instead at what is happening.
A very large public Mass is taking place, today, in Madrid, the capital of a once very great, and once very Catholic country. It is held outdoors, because there is no building in the world that can accommodate (way) more than a million people.
This Mass is to be sung by a gentleman who is in his 85th year. There are few progressive intellectuals (including nominal Catholics) who will not assure us that he is totally out of touch with our times.
According to official estimates, some 1,500,000 young persons – most, I should think, of the Roman persuasion – had checked into the Madrid area at the outset of “World Youth Day.” If you have ever been to a hockey game in Ottawa, you may know what roughly 20,000 people looks like. Assuming, of course, a full house. Now multiply that by 75 to get some idea. Then add those who did not need to find a bed, in the Madrid area.
Visit the Rome Reports You Tube Site
Submitted by Doria2
Related reader comment:
The Popemobile stopped at least 40 times for babies to be kissed and blessed, at a totally packed air base in Madrid, Spain. Over one million young people came to hear the 84 year-old Pope in a rain and wind storm [that was mitigated by prayer]. And pray they did … all night long. If these young people are like those at the other world youth days, they will be on fire with the faith and like seed corn, will grow the faith. I hope to see some news media in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 2013, for the next World Youth Day.
GOD BLESS,
Ed S
Madrid, Spain, Aug 16, 2011 / 08:18 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The Catholic Church in Spain will benefit greatly from this week’s World Youth Day – and in ways that can’t be imagined yet, say Australian Catholics who hosted the 2008 gathering in Sydney.
“God works in many and mysterious ways – but God is at work,” said Cardinal George Pell of Syndey, after attending a rally of over 4,000 Australian pilgrims in Madrid on August 16.
“One of things we’ve learned in Sydney is that so many spontaneous growths and activities have sprung up themselves since World Youth Day. We haven’t really organized them, but when you plant seeds in the hearts of people they germinate and flower in very different ways,” he told CNA.
The Diocese of Joliet Vocation Office is sponsoring a raffle to help send our seminarians to World Youth Day in Spain.
Tickets are $10 each.
Winning prizes ($3000, $1500 and $500)
will be drawn at the Seminarian Sendoff Dinner
on August 7, 2011.
Winners do not need to be present.
This trip is a great opportunity for our seminarians to celebrate Mass with Pope Benedict XVI, and to meet their fellow Catholic youth, from all over the world.
Please consider supporting the trip by buying a raffle ticket and praying for their safety, as they travel.
Make checks payable to:
Diocese of Joliet Vocation Office
c/o Fr. Burke Masters
101 West Airport Road
Romeoville, IL 60446
Yo qualify for the raffle, your payment must arrive no later than August 1, 2011.
Thank you for your support!
When center-right Catalan nationalists replaced the Socialist government in that region, incoming officials discovered the local budget deficit was twice the amount than had been previously reported.
These so-called hidden debt concerns may be more widespread than is currently known. “[The election winners are] going to arrive and realize there’s no money,” said Ismael Crespo, political scientist at the Ortega-Maranon Foundation in Madrid. “Many of the regions have problems not only to meet the deficit target but to meet basic services, which until now have been hidden because of the elections,” he added. One of those regions is Castilla-La Mancha, a region where the PP and local business leaders claim invoices of $1.43 billion remain unpaid, and where Maria Dolores de Cospedal, the conservative party’s newly elected-regional president, has pledged to “audit” the region, which she characterized as “practically bankrupt.”
Entire seminaries and convents of women religious were “slaughtered,” Royal said, adding that in Madrid alone, there were over 1,100 priests killed.
“That was almost one third of the number of priests in Madrid,” he noted. Six hundred more priests were killed in the cities of Barcelona and Valencia combined.
“You’re not talking about people who’ve done anything wrong – these people were just ordinary Catholics pursuing their vocation.”
“It’s an astonishing thing,” he said. “Catholics don’t know about this. When you tell them they’re shocked and they can’t believe it.”
During an interview on Madrid’s ELA Radio Atheists in Combat, a group representing a coalition of Spanish atheist groups made a public declaration of their intention to “punish” the Catholic belief, and to “damage” the views of Catholics.
Atheists in Combat went on to praise the burning of churches in 1936, and expressed their intention to “welcome” the Pope “as he deserves”, during the announced visit to World Youth Day which is to be held in Madrid this summer.
Several militant groups in Spain are planning sacrilegious actions against Catholics during Holy Week with the intention of perpetrating ‘hurtful action against the innermost feelings of Christians, around the passion and crucifixion of Christ.
The most persecuted religion is Christianity, with at least 200 million people suffering from discrimination. This was revealed by the report on religious freedom in the world that is published every two years by the Catholic organization “Aid to the Church in Need.”
In 21 of the 194 countries studied, there is hardly any religious freedom. The report notes that there are two types of religious persecution: one by policy and one by members of other religions.
What do we mean by the Catholic discovery of America?
As Mexico limps into the bicentennial of its 1810 independence uprising, it is battered and full of self-questioning, but with more openness and debate than perhaps at any other time in its history.
The bicentennial marks the 1810 uprising led by Catholic priest Miguel Hidalgo, who gathered a band of Indians and farmers under the banner of the dark-skinned Virgin of Guadalupe. He was caught and executed soon afterward, but by 1821 the movement he started ousted the Spanish, a feat Mexicans celebrate Sept. 15-16.
“Deeper” background, part three
Ultimately, said Harth, a woman has a right to abort because she “has a right to have a good life” and she does not have “the right to ruin it.” “And if a pregnancy is going to ruin her life in any way, she has a right to get the abortion. She has the right. She has an obligation to protect her life from being ruined. … Because you owe this respect to yourself because you’re a child of God. You should feel guilty if you don’t,” she said.
Asked about the unborn child’s rights, she answered that the issue was “important” to the choice to abort. “If you have an abortion, there is a fetus that will be killed. No way. This is true. But … for us, death is not the end of the story,” said Harth. “And this unborn child or fetus or whatever you want to call it is … well, we do not know what God is going to do with this creature. God has a lot of mercy, maybe…we don’t know.”
Carefully situated about three-quarters of the way through
the 4 X 60 minute PBS (aPostate Broadcasting System)
series was one, very simple sentence:
“THE INQUISITION WAS APPLICABLE ONLY TO CATHOLICS.”
Jews were NEVER the subject of the Inquisition.
There! I’ve just saved you three hours and fifty-nine minutes.
On December 8, 1965, the top leadership of the Catholic Church
set off on an AUDACIOUS quest for CHANGE, in the professed HOPE
of re-making the Catholic Church, in a new image
that was purely their own.
It appears now that their diabolical work
has almost completely succeeded.
Strangely enough, it was the rise of Barack Obama and his ilk
that provided the key to understanding
the Church’s present troubles, since from the events of this past year,
it has become increasingly clear that during the 1960’s and ’70’s,
the liberals, communists, homosexuals, and progressives had taken over
virtually every key leadership position in the Catholic Church,
where they then proceeded, in a systematic manner,
to AUDACIOUSLY uproot and discard,
for their own nefarious purposes,
some nineteen centuries of sacred Catholic Tradition.
“CHANGE” has been the Catholic Church’s
new and overriding tradition, ever since.
It began with the desacralization of the liturgy,
followed by the destruction of the religious orders and seminaries,
and the wholesale demolition of the churches,
beginning at the altar rails.
Next to go was the Catholic school system …
first the universities, then the primary and secondary schools …
and presently, we have the priesthood and the papacy
being regularly, systematically, and publicly scandalized.
Most of these “wounds” have been self-inflicted!
What the Spanish “Red Terror” revolutionaries had begun,
the radicals in the Catholic Church,
along with their willing, secular accomplices,
successfully completed by stealth,
a mere twenty years later.
One must inquire of today’s Catholics,
“How’s that CHANGE working out for you?”
Looking back, in light of the rise of the Obama regime,
it’s clear that the changes made
in the post-Vatican II era church
were ill-considered, radical, and destructive …
directed and instigated by the SAME TYPES
of liberal, socialist, progressive ideologues who now intend
to do the same thing to these United States.
The Catholic Church as we once knew it, is no more …
and if the liberals are permitted to take full control
of the other churches, of the political parties,
the education establishment, the courts, the labor unions,
the media, the U.S. government bureaucracy,
and coming soon … the health care establishment …
there soon won’t be much remaining to fight over!
Ladies and gentlemen, this is a “wake up call”
for every faithful Catholic
and every true American patriot!
It’s high time we fixed this mess!
Your comments and suggestions are welcome.
Doug Lawrence's Catholic Site 
Agnostic Nobel laureate who is no friend of the Catholic Church is impressed by WYD 2011, in Madrid
According to Vargas Llosa, who was born in Peru but is now a Spanish citizen, World Youth Day was “a gigantic festival of teens, students and young professionals who came from every corner of the world to sing, dance, pray and proclaim their adherence to the Catholic Church and their ‘addiction’ to the Pope.”
“The small protests by secularists, anarchists, atheists and Catholics who dissent from the Pope caused some minor incidents, albeit some grotesque, such as the group of lunatics who were seen throwing condoms at a group of girls who … prayed the rosary with their eyes closed,” he recalled.
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August 30, 2011
Categories: Books & Publications, Events, Human Rights, Inspirational, Politics, Videos, Photos, Audio . Tags: Catholic-Church, comments, Madrid, pope, rosary, spain, Vargas Llosa, World Youth Day 2011 . Author: Hosted by Doug Lawrence . Comments: Leave a comment