OSV Daily Take Blog

DIY throat blessings

2012-02-03T12:26:00.002-05:00

By Mary DeTurris Poust

It's the Feast of St. Blaise, Bishop and Martyr. That can only mean one thing here at OSV Daily Take. It's time for me to pull out the old do-it-yourself throat blessing post for those people who can't getting a blessing at their own parish.

I'm not one to let such traditions go so easily. I've been known to hold candles up to the throats of my own kids or my faith formation students to give them the blessing they won't get otherwise. In fact, I've got a new set of white candles in arm's reach right now, just waiting for the kids to arrive home from school.

Don't worry. It's allowed.

Lay people may use the following prayer from the Book of Blessings (Roman Ritual):

1634. A lay minister, touching the throat of each person with the crossed candles and, without making the sign of the cross, says the prayer of blessing.

Through the intercession of Saint Blaise, bishop and
martyr,
may God deliver you from every disease of the throat
and from every other illness:
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Each person responds:
R. Amen.

The Book of Blessings states clearly that "other laymen and laywomen, in the virtue of the universal priesthood, a dignity they possess because of their baptism and confirmation," may perform certain blessings, including this one. The book specifically cites parents acting on behalf of their children, so I'm in the clear.

So if you, like me, cannot get a blessing at your parish church today, celebrate the feast with a parent-led blessing in your domestic church.

When we lose sight of 'the very poor'

2012-02-02T10:27:00.000-05:00

Posted by Mary DeTurris Poust

Regardless of which side of the political fence you're on, you'll want to head over to Ed Mechmann's blog, Stepping Out of the Boat, to read his observations on the recent controversy over Mitt Romney's comment that he wasn't "concerned about the very poor."

Can we ever -- no matter how we think poverty should be addressed through public policy -- stop being concerned about those people who deal with hunger, homelessness, lack of medical care and more every day? In context or out of context, it's hard to hear Romney's comment and not feel a lack of compassion, a harshness that benefits no one.

Ed's post drove home that point for me. Here's what he had to say on his blog:

A candidate for the presidency, in a recent interview, remarked that he wasn’t “concerned about the very poor” because there is a sufficient “safety net” that will help them in their need.

One can debate long into the night the question of the best public policies to address the problem of poverty in the United States. There are people of good will who stress-free market solutions, such as policies that emphasize education and economic opportunity. There are others of good will who emphasize the need for private charity to address the needs of poor people. And there are others who believe that the problem requires increased spending by local, state or federal government programs. All of these competing policy proposals are open for legitimate discussion and argument, and to a great extent they define the differences between conservatives and liberals, Republicans and Democrats. Good, open political debate about these matters is a good thing.

But one thing that cannot be part of the discussion is a lack of concern about poor people, no matter how good the “safety net” may be. Note that I do not say “the poor”, as if a person’s income level was their defining characteristic or the entirety of their identity. We are not talking about an abstract concept. We are talking about human persons who are in economic need. We can never lose sight of that reality.

The proper approach here is not just to debate policies, but to develop a particular virtue — solidarity. This is a recognition that we are all linked to each other in a fundamental relationship based on being made in the image and likeness of God. It is a state of mind that impels us to be concerned deeply about the well-being not just of groups of people or nations, but with every single individual.
Here’s what Pope John Paul II said in Solicitudo Rei Socialis...Continue reading HERE.

Day Seven: Yad Vashem and saying goodbye to Israel

2012-02-01T13:30:00.002-05:00

As we have come to the final day of the Catholic Press Association's tour of Israel, I can't help but have bittersweet feelings. We've visited so many amazing sites in Tel Aviv, Haifa, Nazareth and Jerusalem, but I know we've only seen a small sampling of the country.

Vad Vashem

One of those amazing places was Yad Vashem, which we visited this morning. The Holocaust History Museum, which we toured, is just one part of a campus that includes memorials, a research center and a school. The museum is a long, triangular structure that leads visitors on a cross-crossing path through the horrors of the Holocaust using displays, personal artifacts and video testimonies of survivors. It was only after touring the museum that I realized the path slopes down toward the center of the museum, and gently rises again toward the end, symbolizing the hope of the Jewish people after the atrocities.

Church of the Holy Sepulchre

It was disappointing to see the small, but controversial display critical of Pope Pius XII's role during World War II. Knowing the efforts of people such as Sister Margherita Marchione and Ron Rychlak, author of "Hitler, the War and the Pope," to bring to light the pontiff's efforts to save Jews, I hope one day the display will tell a different story. Still, that was just one part of a very powerful visit to the museum.

Next up was a visit to the Israel Museum to see the Dead Sea Scrolls. Of course, we had visited Qumran, the site of the scrolls' discovery, so it was fascinating to see the actual scrolls and learn the rest of their history.

Thankfully, our guide, Nathan, gave us free time between the museums and dinner. I took that opportunity to reflect on all we have seen and to revisit the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (left). A cold, rainy day kept many tourists away, so I was able to have some quiet time to pray. I am grateful I was able to spend some of my final hours in Jerusalem there.

Thank you for coming along on this Holy Land journey with me. Shalom.

Have you signed the petition against the HHS mandate yet?

2012-01-31T16:45:00.001-05:00

Frank Weathers of Why I Am Catholic has created a petition over at the White House web site to rescind the HHS contraception mandate requiring Catholic employers to provide contraceptives, including abortifacients, to their employees. Click HERE to go to the petition and add your name to the thousands who have already signed. It takes only a minute to register; all you're required to provide is your name and email.

Here's what the petition says:

The present Administration, through the Health and Human Services Department, is mandating that all employer healthcare insurance plans provide coverage for procedures which violate the beliefs of the Catholic Church, and Catholic institutions.
Basically, the new rules require the Catholic Church, and the institutions operating faithfully under the aegis of the Church, to provide coverage for contraceptive drugs and procedures. This requirement violates the beliefs of the Church.
Never before has the United States Government deigned to represent "transcendental truth" on matters of conscience for any religion within these United States. That in itself is unprecedented, which is also why it is unconstitutional.

Sign to let the present Administration know that this mandate cannot stand.

Sign HERE.

When you're done there, head over to the web site of the National Committee for a Human Life Amendment. An Action Alert will allow you to email congress regarding the HHS mandate. Click HERE for that link.

Day Six: Garden of Gethsemane and City of David

2012-01-31T11:08:00.034-05:00

My fellow Catholic journalists and I did a lot of climbing in Jerusalem today. Whereas on Monday we walked the Via Dolorosa, today we traveled the route that Jesus took down the Mount of Olives during his glorious entry into the city on Palm Sunday.

Along the way, we stopped at churches associated with Christ's life and ministry -- the Church of the Ascension, the Church of the Pater Noster, where tradition holds that Jesus taught his disciples the Lord's Prayer; the teardrop-shaped Dominus Flevit, where Jesus wept over the fate of Jerusalem; and the Garden of Gethsemane (below) and its Church of All Nations. Gethsemane, with its gnarled, 2,000-year-old olive trees, was enough to inspire meditations on Christ's agony and betrayal, but the Church of All Nations (also called the Basilica of The Agony) certainly provided the proper atmosphere for such reflections as well. The dark church (the only true light comes from purple alabaster windows) holds the rock upon which Jesus was praying when he was arrested.

Next came our ascent up Mount Zion, stopping at the beautiful Church of Peter in Gallicantu, which commemorates Peter's denial of Jesus (gallicantu means cock crow). Tradition states that the site was the home of the high priest Caiaphas, and that Jesus was imprisoned in a crypt below the present church. Climbing a bit more up Mount Zion, we visited the site believed to hold King David's tomb and then the Upper Room, which commemorates The Last Supper.

After lunch in the Jewish quarter of the Old City, we traveled back 1,000 years before Christ to enter the City of David, a national park on the site where Jesus' ancestor ruled the city of Jerusalem, a little south of the walls of the Old City today. Excavations are ongoing at the site, where a large structure has been revealed that some archaeologists believe is David's palace. Our guide, Oren, then took us to Roman ruins that are currently under excavation, and we traveled through ancient sewers under a corner of the Temple Mount area to ruins from the Second Temple Period, which encompassed the life of Christ. One spot in particular piqued my curiosity. There are ruins of shops right outside the temple area, including that of a money changer. It was fun to imagine it was one of the money changers that raised Jesus' ire in the Book of Matthew.

Tomorrow is our final day in Israel. We will be visiting Yad Vashem and the Israel Museum, along with the site of the Visitation. I will post an update here at OSV Daily Take, and you can follow my Twitter updates at @shayesOSV.

Day Five: Bethlehem and the Via Dolorosa

2012-01-30T15:51:00.015-05:00

From the joy of Christ's birth to his brutal death, the emotions of the day ran the gamut for myself and my fellow Catholic journalists on tour in the Holy Land.

The day began with a journey into Bethlehem. Just seeing the rather imposing fence separating Israelis and Palestinians filled me with sadness and made me wonder when peace would come to the land in which the Prince of Peace was born.

Sadness turned to awe upon entering into the Church of the Nativity. I was unprepared for the rush of emotions I experienced as I looked around the ancient church, originally built by St. Helena in the fourth century, and went down to the cave to touch the spot where Christ was born. The facial expressions and the teary eyes of my colleagues let me know I was not the only one overwhelmed by the experience.

Once we returned the Jerusalem, we headed to the Old City to walk the Via Dolorosa, ending at the Church Holy Sepulchre (below). It was a cool, rainy day in Jerusalem, but that seemed appropriate given the events of the afternoon. After walking along the narrow, winding streets of the Old City and meditating on the events leading up to Jesus' death, I know the Stations of the Cross will have a deeper meaning for me. It was a powerful day.

Tuesday we visit several churches and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem, including the Garden of Gethsemane and Dormition Abbey. I will post an update here at OSV Daily Take, and you can follow me at @shayesOSV.

Day Four: Qumran, the Dead Sea and arrival in Jerusalem

2012-01-29T14:51:00.013-05:00

Today my fellow Catholic journalists and I had two reminders of the importance of a pilgrimage.

The first was at the start of the day, at a 7 a.m. Mass in Arabic at the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth (top photo). Even though we don't speak Arabic, we were able to follow along in the celebration with the 50 or so other Catholics who were there, a reminder that the Mass is the Mass, no matter your mother tongue. We had been to the church on Friday, but just as tourists making a quick stop. To have time to pray and receive the Body of Christ in the very place that Mary said "yes" to the angel was moving beyond words.

The second was toward the end of the day, during a brief encounter in Jerusalem with Cardinal-designate Timothy M. Dolan, who is visiting the Holy Land on a retreat-pilgrimage with a group of priests from the Archdiocese of New York. The archbishop spoke of the importance of pilgrimage, especially at this exciting time in his life as he prepares to head to Rome on Feb. 18 to receive the red hat from Pope Benedict XVI.

During such a time, it is natural to turn to the wisdom of the Church, he told us. "In a pivotal moment in your life and in a time of transition, you would turn to the Lord prayer and reflection."

This is the third retreat-pilgrimage the archbishop has been on with New York archdiocesan priests, the first two being in Ars, France, and in Rome and Assisi. He reminded us that a pilgrimage is supposed to model our journeys through life, "you've got fatigue, joy, smiles, tears, you've got restlessness, all the emotions of life."

It wasn't all serious, of course. Cardinal-designate Dolan poked fun at his efforts to shed some pounds before the consistory. "I was hoping I'd lose some weight so I wouldn't have to pay so much for the cardinal's robes," he joked. "You have to pay by the inch, you know."

In between these two events was a day filled with educational and enjoyable sightseeing. After leaving Nazareth, the group headed toward Qumran, the location where the Dead Sea scrolls were discovered, for a tour of the ruins of the Essene ascetical sect that created the scrolls. Next up was a visit to the Dead Sea, where some adventurous people in the group (myself excluded) floated on the salty water and slathered themselves with mud, followed by a short camel ride (interestingly enough, only the women in the group wanted to do this).

None of those events compared, though, to laying our eyes on Jerusalem, many of us for the first time. Monday we will walk the Via Dolorosa, including the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Some of us also plan to visit Bethlehem to witness the town of Christ's birth. I will be writing about the day's adventures here at OSV Daily Take. You can also follow my updates at @shayesOSV.

Day Three: The Sea of Galilee

2012-01-28T11:07:00.017-05:00

Wow, talk about walking in the footsteps (or should I say following in the wake?) of Jesus. We spent most of today around -- and on -- the Sea of Galilee, visiting many of the sites where Jesus performed miracles, including Cana, Tabgha (where it is believed he performed the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes) and Capernaum, where Jesus healed the man with the unclean spirit. Capernaum is also the location of St. Peter's home, seen (first picture) below the floor of a church built above it.

Of a day filled with many great experiences, two stood out. First was the Mount of the Beatitudes over looking the sea. The octagonal church built on the site is the perfect design for a structure dedicated to the eight blessings that open the Sermon on the Mount. The eight beatitudes are displayed in stained-glass above the altar (see second photo). Many people in the group of Catholic journalists found it to be a powerful place for prayer and reflection.

Second was a boat ride the group took on the Sea of Galilee (picture three shows everyone aiming to get that perfect shot from the boat). As two of my colleagues on the trip pointed out, Saturday's Gospel reading seemed tailor-made for the ride. The reading recounts a trip Jesus and the apostles took across the Sea of Galilee. During the journey, a violent squall breaks out and water starts filling the boat. Jesus calms the wind and asks of his frightened disciples, "Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?" Nothing so dramatic happened during our short journey. The worst we had to contend with was a bout of rain toward the end of the ride.

Sunday's agenda includes Mass in Arabic at the Basilica of the Assumption and a trip to the Dead Sea before our arrival in Jerusalem. I'll post an update on OSV Daily Take. You can also follow me on Twitter at @shayesOSV.

Day Two: Jaffa, Caesarea, Haifa and Nazareth

2012-01-27T15:42:00.016-05:00

The first full day of the Catholic Press Association's tour of Israel served as a valuable history lesson of the many peoples who have occupied the land and revealed the diversity among those who live there today.

First stop was Jaffa, an ancient harbor city just south of Tel Aviv. Dating back to at least the fourth century B.C., the city has been under Egyptian rule (see photo at left of the Ramses Gateway), Roman rule, Byzantine rule and Turkish rule. Statues of Napoleon Bonaparte remind visitors that he sieged the city in 1799.

For Christians, the city holds significance as the home of Simon the Tanner, and the place where St. Peter had his vision of clean and unclean animals to consume (Acts 10:5).

Next up was Caesarea, home to a Roman theater (photo at left), hippodrome, aqueduct and more. Built at the command of Herod the Great, it was the center of Roman culture during the life of Christ.

Haifa, the third-largest city in Israel, is home to one of the loveliest places we've seen on our journey thus far, the Carmelite Stella Maris church and monastery (below). Built on Mount Carmel, altar of the 19th-century church is built above what is said to be the Prophet Elijah's cave.

The city is also the spiritual center of the Baha'i religion and home to the Druze community, which has its roots in Islam.

Our final stop of the day was Nazareth, the highlight of which had to be the Basilica of the Annunciation (below), which is believed to be the home of the Virgin Mary and where the angel visited her to inform her she would bear the Son of God. The original stone structure can be seen on the lower level of the church, along with the remains of a Byzantine church. The upper level is topped by a magnificent dome.

One of our most fascinating encounters of the day was with Ronnie Farj Eid, a Ministry of Tourism official in Nazareth who is an Arab Christian (Nazareth has the largest Arab population in Israel). Eid, who lives in a small village near the Sea of Galilee, spoke of what it is like to be a Christian in the Middle East and expressed his fears that in the next 100 to 200 years, there would be no Christians to fill the churches in the region. Many of us have heard about the dwindling numbers of Christians in the Holy Land, but it can seem like such an academic topic. Hearing a fellow Catholic's story made the problem very real to me.

Saturday we will visit Mount Tabor and the Sea of Galilee, including a planned boat ride. I'll share our adventures on OSV Daily Take, and you can also follow my updates at @shayesOSV.

Day One: Arrival in Tel Aviv

2012-01-26T15:35:00.017-05:00

My fellow Catholic journalists and I have come to Israel see ancient biblical sites, but upon our arrival, we were first treated to the very contemporary, bustling city of Tel Aviv, the commercial capital and most populous city in the country.

By the time we arrived at 5:15 p.m Israel time and gathered our belongings, the sun had already gone down, but we were able to get a taste of Tel Aviv nightlife (our tour guide, Nathan, pointed out a famous Israeli singer who was dining at a table near us at the trendy Meatos Restaurant) and catch glimpses of the Bauhaus style of architecture for which the city is famous.

It should be a fascinating contrast to the city that's first on Friday's agenda. Jaffa (Joppa) sits next to Tel Aviv along the Mediterranean sea, but while Tel Aviv is just over a century old, Jaffa is an ancient Port city. It is known, among other things, as the location where St. Peter restored the disciple Tabitha to life. We will also be visiting Caesarea and Haifa before heading to Nazareth.

I will be sharing all of our adventures daily here at OSV Daily Take, and you can also follow me on Twitter: shayes@OSV.

Come along on a Holy Land journey

2012-01-25T15:30:00.007-05:00

By Sarah Hayes

In November 2010, Pope Benedict XVI had these words to say while visiting Santiago de Compostela: “To go on pilgrimage really means to step out of ourselves in order to encounter God where he has revealed himself, where his grace has shone with particular splendour and produced rich fruits of conversion and holiness among those who believe. Above all, Christians go on pilgrimage to the Holy Land, to the places associated with the Lord’s passion, death and resurrection.”

Going on a pilgrimage has long been appealing to me. But a Holy Land journey seemed out of reach. Then came an opportunity that I just couldn’t pass up — the CPA Holy Land Tour, sponsored by the Israel Ministry of Tourism for Catholic Press Association journalists.

Beginning Thursday through Feb. 2, I will be among a dozen Catholic journalists visiting biblical sites in Israel. Among the planned visits will be Mount Carmel, Mount of the Beatitudes, the Sea of Galilee, Mount Tabor and its Church of the Transfiguration, Cana, the Dead Sea and Jerusalem’s Old City, including the Via Dolorosa and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

To be able to "encounter God" by following in the very footsteps of Our Lord and Savior is almost beyond comprehension to me. Such an opportunity is exciting — and very humbling. I ask you for your prayers on this incredible journey, and I invite you to come along with me. Each day, I will be blogging at OSV Daily Take about my experiences, and I will be tweeting pictures and thoughts as well at @shayesOSV. Shalom.

Sarah Hayes is OSV presentation editor.

The March for Life photos you probably haven't seen

2012-01-24T08:50:00.000-05:00

By Mary DeTurris Poust
(Photos by Matt K Cassens)

If your local newspapers are anything like mine, you probably didn't see more than two inches of copy devoted to the annual March for Life and the thousands of people who walked in the rain to stand up for the unborn.

The secular world doesn't like to focus on that story. There were even some Catholics -- visible bloggers -- out there yesterday pontificating about why they don't support the march, about the lack of "diversity," and the self-important attitudes of the marchers, so I thought I'd share some awesome photos by Matt K Cassens of St. Blogustine that show the reality of it all, the stuff you won't see in any secular newspaper.

People don't go on the March for Life to feel good about themselves; they go because they have convictions, because they believe in the dignity of human life for even the most vulnerable, because they take their duty as Christians seriously. They walk in the rain and the cold. They ride for hours and hours on cramped buses. They get nasty things shouted at them and written about them -- even by fellow Catholics.

But those of us who did not get to the march appreciate their efforts and applaud them for their willingness to put themselves out there. Here are a few photos to give you a glimpse if you weren't there in person, but be sure to go to Matt's blog and view the rest.

Click HERE for more March for Life photos by Matt K Cassens.

Shaw: Ways to revive the struggling institution of marriage

2012-01-23T10:50:00.000-05:00

By Russell Shaw

I was chatting with a priest who is a judge with the marriage tribunal of his large Eastern diocese when he shared an interesting tidbit of information. In his diocese and the other dioceses of his state, the number of requests for marriage annulments has lately fallen by 10 percent.

Good news? Fewer marriages on the rocks? Not really, he explained. “People are getting married later, some don’t bother to marry at all, others marry outside the Church, and others don’t come to the tribunal when their marriages break down.”

“Then,” I hazarded, “this 10 percent drop is just a new phase in the same old set of problems?” The tribunal judge nodded — that was the size of it.

All of which is confirmation that the Catholic sector of the crisis of American marriage is going strong. The most telling statistic may be the sharp drop-off in the sheer number of Catholic marriages. Back in 1990, with the Catholic population at 55 million, there were 334,000 of them; in 2010, when Catholics numbered 68.5 million, marriages had fallen by nearly half to around 179,000.

If it’s any consolation, what has been happening to Catholic marriage reflects developments in American marriage. Marriages in this country dropped from 2.44 million in 1990 to 2.08 million in 2009, even as the population of the United States was rising 60 million. A Pew Research Center study says that just 51 percent of American adults are married now. (The figure in 2000 was 57 percent.)

Many factors combine to account for the decline of marriage — from economic pressures to the campaign to recognize homosexual relationships as marriages, which undermines the unique status of traditional marriage understood to be a relationship between a man and a woman — and only that.

Among Catholics, poor religious formation — or none — very often has a central role. Undoubtedly, too, divorce plays a key part, especially no-fault divorce, which Michael McManus says should be called “unilateral divorce.” There have been more than a million divorces yearly in the United States since 1975, and very many of these were of the no-fault variety.

Significant in this context is the huge increase in cohabitation — 523,000 cohabiting couples in the United States in 1970 and 7.5 million in 2010. McManus, a non-Catholic journalist who is founder of a group called Marriage Savers, says the rise is driven partly by “understandable fear of divorce” among couples who anticipate fewer hassles ahead if they don’t bother marrying at all.

The social costs of divorce are well established, and to a great extent it’s the children of divorced couples who are paying them. Kids from non-intact families are three times as likely as other kids to be expelled from school or become teenage out-of-wedlock parents, six times as likely to live in poverty, 12 times as likely to land in jail.

Various solutions have been proposed to the no-fault plague, among them legislation called the Second Chances Act. It provides a one-year waiting period before divorce along with education in reconciliation as an option. Sponsors William J. Doherty, a University of Minnesota scholar, and Leah Ward Sears, former chief justice of the Georgia Supreme Court, cite studies showing that among 40 percent of divorcing couples, at least one spouse is open to reconciliation.

McManus scoffs at the cliché “you can’t legislate morality.” He writes: “Nonsense. For 40 years public policy has been legislating immorality by favoring divorce and cohabitation over marriage, and the consequences have been devastating. ... The timeless institution of marriage can be revived.”

It’s sure worth a try.

Only one-year reprieve on birth control provision for Catholic employers UPDATED

2012-01-20T13:10:00.003-05:00

UPDATED: The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops just released a statement in response to the decision by the Obama administration to require Church-affiliated employers to provide birth control free of charge through employee health insurance plans as of Aug. 1, 2013.

Cardinal-designate Timothy Dolan of New York said the Obama administration had drawn an "unprecedented line in the sand" with the decision.

From the USCCB:

The Catholic bishops of the United States called “literally unconscionable” a decision by the Obama Administration to continue to demand that sterilization, abortifacients and contraception be included in virtually all health plans. Today's announcement means that this mandate and its very narrow exemption will not change at all; instead there will only be a delay in enforcement against some employers.

“In effect, the president is saying we have a year to figure out how to violate our consciences,” said Cardinal-designate Timothy M. Dolan, archbishop of New York and president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

The cardinal-designate continued, “To force American citizens to choose between violating their consciences and forgoing their healthcare is literally unconscionable. It is as much an attack on access to health care as on religious freedom. Historically this represents a challenge and a compromise of our religious liberty."

The HHS rule requires that sterilization and contraception – including controversial abortifacients – be included among “preventive services” coverage in almost every healthcare plan available to Americans. “The government should not force Americans to act as if pregnancy is a disease to be prevented at all costs,” added Cardinal-designate Dolan.

At issue, the U.S. bishops and other religious leaders insist, is the survival of a cornerstone constitutionally protected freedom that ensures respect for the conscience of Catholics and all other Americans.

“This is nothing less than a direct attack on religion and First Amendment rights,” said Franciscan Sister Jane Marie Klein, chairperson of the board at Franciscan Alliance, Inc., a system of 13 Catholic hospitals. “I have hundreds of employees who will be upset and confused by this edict. I cannot understand it at all.”

Daughter of Charity Sister Carol Keehan, president and chief executive officer of the Catholic Health Association of the United States, voiced disappointment with the decision. Catholic hospitals serve one out of six people who seek hospital care annually.

“This was a missed opportunity to be clear on appropriate conscience protection,” Sister Keehan said.

Cardinal-designate Dolan urged that the HHS mandate be overturned.

“The Obama administration has now drawn an unprecedented line in the sand,” he said. “The Catholic bishops are committed to working with our fellow Americans to reform the law and change this unjust regulation. We will continue to study all the implications of this troubling decision.”

Here's some background from the Washington Post blog Post Politics:

In an election-year decision certain to disappoint religious conservatives, the Obama administration announced Friday that church-affiliated institutions will get only one additional year to meet a new rule to cover birth control free of charge.

Friday’s announcement by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius does not apply to houses of worship. Churches, synagogues, mosques and other places of worship were already exempt from the birth control coverage rule.

But in many cases, other religious-affiliated employers such as hospitals and universities traditionally have not provided any birth control coverage for their employees. They were seeking a broader exemption that would allow them to continue that practice.

Read the full Post story HERE.

Fast and painless way to support your Catholic press!

2012-01-20T09:55:00.001-05:00

Want an easy way to support your Catholic press?

Take five seconds and go nominate OSV Newsweekly (Our Sunday Visitor) in the About.com Readers' Choice Awards.

They'll ask for the newspaper's web address. Here it is: http://www.osv.com/OSVNewsweekly/tabid/7620/Default.aspx

So don't delay; go do it! Thanks!

How many of these movies have you seen?

2012-01-19T11:24:00.003-05:00

By Mary DeTurris Poust

Christianity Today posted its list of the "most redeeming films" of 2011, and there are some great ones up top. As the article says, these are films that "ask you to put the popcorn aside, pay close attention, engage your heart, soul, and mind..."

I'm not typically much of a moviegoer, but 2011 did seem to have an abundance of good films. Every movie I saw last year is on the "most redeeming" list: The Way, Of Gods and Men, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part II, and Soul Surfer. I've even seen a couple of the honorable mentions -- Winnie the Pooh and The Muppets -- thanks to my kids. Part of my clan saw Hugo this weekend as well, but I didn't get to go on that field trip. Heard it was great, though.

I don't know about you, but I tend to forget which movies I'm meaning to see once they leave the theater. This list will come in handy when I'm looking for something to borrow from the library, although we already own three of them.

Click HERE for the complete listing.

Dolan: 'I'm going to preach about sex.'

2012-01-16T09:32:00.003-05:00

Cardinal-designate Timothy Dolan of New York got the attention of worshipers at St. Patrick's Cathedral yesterday, when he started a homily the Daily News labeled as "fire-and-brimstone" by saying, "I'm going to preach about sex." And he did.

From the Daily News story:

New York's cardinal-to-be delivered a no-holds-barred sermon on morality Sunday, telling his flock to stand firm against popular culture’s message that sex outside marriage is okay.

“The one who, with God’s grace and mercy, tries his or her best to be pure and chaste is often thought of not as a hero, not a saint, but as a freak in our culture today,” Archbishop Timothy Dolan said at St. Patrick’s.

“The biblical teaching on sexual responsibility is countercultural,” he continued, hailing those who stay true to their moral compass.

“Anyone who tries his or her best to live it can expect a lot of temptation and even ridicule and criticism.”
Dolan linked “sexual immorality” with society’s ills — violence, sex crimes, disease and broken families — and called on priests to do a better job of encouraging the sexually virtuous.
...“The church has at times in the past, sadly, come across as some naysaying, puritanical nag, always giving a big ‘No, no, no’ to one of life’s greatest joys,” he said.
But modern society often reduces sex to “animal rutting” or its “most popular contact sport,” he said.

He didn’t mention any one show or star by name, but Dolan clearly seemed to be targeting the bedhopping that’s become regular fare on TV and reality shows like “Jersey Shore.”

“Truth be told, it is chastity and purity that liberates us, while immorality enslaves us,” he said.
Read the full story HER E.

'Undercover Boss' doesn't hide her faith

2012-01-13T11:12:00.002-05:00

A fun and uplifting story to inspire you as you head into the weekend, and give you something good to watch after the football game on Sunday night. CEO Dina Dwyer-Owens goes undercover in a CBS reality show to check on her employees. In the process, viewers get a glimpse of the Catholic faith that keeps her grounded.

From CNS:

When the "Undercover Boss" production team met with Dwyer-Owens before arranging her visits, they asked her what she did in a typical day. One part of her answer was making pancakes for breakfast. Another part was going to Mass.

"My goal is to go to Mass three to four times a week. During the seasons of Advent and Lent, I try to go five days a week," Dwyer-Owens told CNS. "It just keeps me grounded in doing the right things instead of all the other stuff that creeps into your life."

She tells Mark Pattison of CNS that her Mass habit started when she took over the company from her father and began to feel the pressure of being CEO:

"I found I was getting very caught up in the activities on the to-do list," she said. "I was finding that I was letting negativity seep into my day. I was getting bogged down by the to-do's instead of the to-be's. I found that going to Mass was the best way to keep me grounded and focused on what I needed to do in life."

Read the full CNS story HERE.

Saved from a life in a mental institution

2012-01-12T13:02:00.002-05:00

video platform video management video solutions video player

I've posted things from Reece's Rainbow adoption ministry on this blog before, but this video clip was so heartbreaking and heartwarming that I just had to share it. This little girl's story has a happy ending. Not so for many others. To learn more, visit Reece's Rainbow by clicking HERE.

Supreme Court recognizes 'ministerial exception'

2012-01-11T15:55:00.002-05:00

In a 9-0 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld "ministerial exception" in hiring practices by religious employers, affirming their right to make decisions based on the tenets of their faith.

While the case involved a teacher in a Lutheran school, it will clearly have a huge impact on Catholic schools and other ministries.

From the New York Times:

In what may be its most significant religious liberty decision in two decades, the Supreme Court on Wednesday for the first time recognized a “ministerial exception” to employment discrimination laws, saying that churches and other religious groups must be free to choose and dismiss their leaders without government interference.

“The interest of society in the enforcement of employment discrimination statutes is undoubtedly important,” Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. wrote in a decision that was surprising in both its sweep and its unanimity. “But so, too, is the interest of religious groups in choosing who will preach their beliefs, teach their faith and carry out their mission.”

From the USCCB:

“It’s a great day for the First Amendment,” said Bishop William E. Lori of Bridgeport, Connecticut, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee on Religious Liberty.

Bishop Lori spoke January 11, shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court voted unanimously to uphold a church’s right to determine who its ministers are and banned government interference in the process. His statement follows.

The Supreme Court decision marks a victory for religious liberty and the U.S. Constitution. Freedom of Religion is America’s First Freedom and the Court has spoken unanimously in favor of it. The Founding Fathers would be proud. Respect for the long-standing “ministerial exception,” which is grounded in the Religion Clauses of the First Amendment and prevents the government from interfering in the employment relationship between a Church and its ministers. This decision makes resoundingly clear the historical and constitutional importance of keeping internal church affairs off limits to the government—because whoever chooses the minister chooses the message.It’s a great day for the First Amendment.

Bishop William E. Lori
Chairman
U.S. Bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty

What's in your briefcase?

2012-01-11T09:08:00.002-05:00

Actor Mark Wahlberg talks about his faith and his family (and of course his new film) on CBS This Morning. How refreshing is it to hear a Hollywood type talk about keeping a prayer book and dictionary in his briefcase and looking up the word "consubstantial" to make sure he's understanding the new translation of the Roman Missal? Yes, he mentions "consubstantial" specifically in this clip. Gotta love it.

Toward the very end of the interview, the hosts ask him about his successes at home and in Hollywood, to which he responds: "I'm pretty blessed, you know. That's why it's important for me to get on my knees every day and thank God, be reminded of what's really important in life."

Shaw: Signs the secular left is facing up to the U.S. marriage crisis

2012-01-09T12:46:00.001-05:00

By Russell Shaw

Is it possible that secular liberals, some of them anyway, are starting to realize that knocking the supports out from under traditional marriage may not be such a great idea? If so, and if their next step is to think seriously about how to halt this destructive process, it will be the dawning of a new day.

The latest indication of such stirrings on the left that I’ve come across is an op-ed piece by Washington Post columnist Ruth Marcus. “If current trends hold,” Marcus writes, “within a few years, less than half the U.S. adult population will be married.” And that, she adds solemnly, is bad news.

Bad news indeed, but not exactly new. The numbers have been piling up for a long time. The U.S. marriage rate (marriages per 1,000 population) was 8.4 in 1958, 10.9 in 1972, and 10.6 in 1981. But by 2009, the rate had fallen to 7.1 and in 2010 it declined still further, to 6.8. The birth rate has followed a similar trajectory, falling from 23.7 in 1960 to 13.5 in 2009.

One obvious reason for what’s happening is that people are marrying later. The median age of first marriage in 1960 was 22.8 for men and 20.3 for women, but by 2003 it had risen to 27.1 and 25.3 respectively.

Another large part of the explanation, however, is that more people aren’t getting married at all. Put the late-marriers and the non-marriers together and then add people who are in-between marriages, and you find that while nearly three-fourths of Americans 18 and older were married in 1960, the figure was a measly 51 percent in 2010, with the trend still headed down. (Among the college-educated, 27 percent say marriage is obsolete, while the percentage is 45 percent among those without college educations.)

Drawing her numbers from a new Pew Research Center study that Marcus calls “startling and disturbing,” the Post columnist informs us that the falling marriage rate “isn’t just a social problem. It’s also an economic problem.”

Well, yes. There’s a very visible correlation between marriage and education (nearly two-thirds with college degrees are married but fewer than half of those with high school diplomas or less) and between education and income. (The more education, the higher the income.) As marriages decline, the gap between rich and poor grows wider.

But even though the cluster of problems here has very real economic dimensions, reducing it all to economics while ignoring the links to cultural pathologies and destructive personal values is a mistake. Marcus touches on this other dimension when she speaks of “generational impact” — the impact on children of being raised by cohabiting parents or a single parent. Less education and lower income are part of it — but so are psychological and behavioral difficulties expressed in dropping out of school, law-breaking and incarceration, and other life-destroying behaviors including those that militate against stable marriage.

Unfortunately, Marcus weakens her argument by knee-jerk sneering at conservative “rhapsodizing about the benefits of marriage.” (Maybe good secular liberals don’t rhapsodize.) Remember: “Promoting marriage among welfare recipients was a big deal during the George W. Bush administration.” Which makes it wrong? Ideological blinders like that are obstacles to seeking and finding solutions.

Catholics both share in and contribute to the multiple problems of marriage in America. But that subject requires another column, where there may also be an opportunity to suggest a modest solution or two. For now, it’s enough to face up to the fact that we’ve got a marriage crisis on our hands.

Russell Shaw is an OSV contributing editor.

Dolan drops in on Today Show

2012-01-06T11:23:00.003-05:00

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Cardinal-designate Timothy Dolan stopped by the Today Show this morning to talk with Matt Lauer and Al Roker about his pending elevation to the College of Cardinals.

Cardinal-designate Dolan issues statement

2012-01-06T08:02:00.002-05:00

Cardinal-designate Timothy Dolan, the eighth Archbishop of New York to be named a cardinal, issued the following statement this morning regarding the pope's announcement that he would be elevated to cardinal at a consistory on Feb. 18:

On this “Twelfth Day of Christmas” the traditional celebration of the Epiphany, I have received a gift from Pope Benedict XVI, as he announced just a couple of hours ago at the end of Mass in Saint Peter’s Basilica that I would be among those to become a cardinal in Rome at the consistory of February 18th.

Yes, I am honored, humbled, and grateful, …but, let’s be frank: this is not about Timothy Dolan; this is an honor from the Holy Father to the Archdiocese of New York, and to all our cherished friends and neighbors who call this great community home.

It’s as if Pope Benedict is putting the red hat on top of the Empire State Building, or the Statue of Liberty, or on home plate at Yankee Stadium; or on the spires of Saint Patrick’s Cathedral or any of our other parish churches; this is the successor of Saint Peter saying to the clergy, sisters, brothers, lay faithful of this archdiocese, and to all of our friends and neighbors of New York: Thank you! Keep up the good work! You are a leader, an inspiration, to the Church and to the world.

Over the Christmas holy days I finished a biography of President Kennedy, and recalled his reply to someone who sincerely congratulated him on the honor of the presidency.

“Thanks,” John Kennedy replied, “but I don’t look at it so much as an honor as a call to higher service.”

My sentiments exactly. This is not about privilege, change of colors, hats, new clothes, places of honor, or a different title. Jesus warned us about all that stuff.

No: this is about an affirmation of love from the Pope to a celebrated archdiocese and community, and a summons to its unworthy archbishop to serve Jesus, His Church universal, His vicar on earth, and His people better.

I’ll try to do that…but I sure need your prayers.

Adding to our sense of joy, is the news that another native New Yorker, my brother bishop and good friend, Archbishop Edwin O’Brien, until recently Archbishop of Baltimore and now the Grand Master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulcher, has also been elevated to the cardinalate. The Cardinal-designate was ordained a priest for this Archdiocese in 1965, and he is still warmly remembered for his service here as a priest, secretary to Cardinals Cooke and O’Connor, Rector of Saint Joseph’s Seminary, and auxiliary bishop.

Thanks so much for your good wishes.

Archbishops Dolan, O'Brien elevated to cardinal

2012-01-06T06:31:00.007-05:00

Photo of Archbishop Dolan by Chris Sheridan/NY

Moments ago Pope Benedict XVI named 22 new cardinals, including Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York, president of the United Conference of Catholic Bishops; Archbishop Edwin O'Brien, former Archbishop of Baltimore and current pro-grand master of the Equestrian Order (Knights) of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, based in Rome; and Archbishop Thomas Collins of Toronto.

During the announcement, the pope asked people to "pray for those newly nominated."

Four of the newly elevated cardinals are over 80, making them ineligible to vote for a pope. The consistory will be held Feb. 18.

UPDATE: Here's the full list of cardinals from CNS.

Pope could name new cardinals this month

2012-01-04T14:40:00.002-05:00

According to Rome Reports, Pope Benedict XVI could name new cardinals on Jan. 18. On the list of possible candidates are two Americans: Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, and Archbishop Edwin O'Brien, former Archbishop of Baltimore and current pro-grand master of the Equestrian Order (Knights) of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, based in Rome.

Stay tuned...

LA auxiliary bishop, father of two resigns

2012-01-04T13:38:00.003-05:00

From the news-we-didn't-need department: The Vatican announced the resignation of a Los Angeles auxiliary bishop today after he admitted he has has fathered two children.

From CNS:

Los Angeles Auxiliary Bishop Gabino Zavala has resigned after disclosing to superiors that he was the father of two children.

The Vatican announced the bishop's resignation Jan. 4 in a one-line statement that cited church law on resignation for illness or other serious reasons.

Los Angeles Archbishop Jose Gomez announced the "sad and difficult" news in a letter to Catholics in the archdiocese. He said Bishop Zavala, who was auxiliary bishop for the San Gabriel Pastoral Region, had informed him in early December that he was the father of two minor teenage children who live with their mother in another state.

Bishop Zavala told Archbishop Gomez that he had submitted his resignation to Pope Benedict XVI. Since that time, Bishop Zavala has not been in ministry and "will be living privately," Archbishop Gomez said.

Read the full CNS story -- and the text of Archbishop Gomez' letter on the subject -- HERE.

Blessed JPII's Jewish friend dies in Rome

2012-01-02T15:51:00.003-05:00

From Reuters today:

Jerzy Kluger, the Polish Jewish boyhood friend of the late Pope John Paul who had a major influence on the pontiff's revolutionary relations with Jews, has died, friends said on Monday.

Kluger, who was 92, died in a Rome hospital on new year's eve of complications from bronchitis and was buried on Monday in Rome's Jewish cemetery. He had been suffering from Alzheimer's disease and had been living in a home for the elderly east of the Italian capital.
Kluger and Karol Wojtyla, the future Pope John Paul II, were classmates in the southern Polish city of Wadowice and were friends from first grade through high school.
"The young Karol Wojtyla learned a lot about Judaism from Kluger," said Italian author Gianfranco Svidercoschi, who was an aide to the late pope and wrote a book about the pontiff's friendship with Kluger.
"He had a great influence on the pope's life," Svidercoschi, who wrote about their friendship in the 1993 book "Letter to a Jewish Friend," told Reuters.
...After Wojtyla became the first non-Italian pope in 455 years in 1978 they intensified their friendship and Kluger helped organize reunions between the pope and classmates from Wadowice either in Rome or during the pontiff's trips to Poland.
Kluger was in Rome's synagogue when Pope John Paul made his historic visit there in 1986 and called Jews "our beloved elder brothers."
When the pope made his first trip to Israel as pontiff in 2000, Kluger was in attendance at the Yad Vashem memorial to the Holocaust.
Their friendship continued right up to the pope's death in 2005.
Read the full story HERE.

Is a retreat one of your resolutions?

2011-12-31T14:28:00.004-05:00

By Mary DeTurris Poust

What's on your list of things to do or accomplish in 2012? If "go on retreat" isn't on there, you really should think about adding it to the bottom of the list. Or, actually, to the very top. There's nothing like a retreat, especially a silent retreat, to get your spiritual house in order and reinvigorate your prayer life.

If you need a little inspiration, check out this "Personal Journey" article about a five-day retreat at the Jesuit Center in Wernersville, Pa., in the New York Times. It's a beautiful reflection on the power of silent prayer and a little spiritual direction to set even the most chaotic and complicated life on a better track. Click HERE to read the piece by Susan Gregory Thomas.

Over on Huffington Post today, there's another helpful article on "Reviving Your Religious Life in 2012." Among the contributors is Jesuit Father James Martin, who offers these words of wisdom:

The best way to jumpstart your spiritual life is with the examen. Popularized by St. Ignatius Loyola, this quick prayer helps you find God in your daily life. Normally done at the end of the day, it has five steps. First, remind yourself that you're in the presence of God. Second, remember things for which you are grateful today -- anything from a good breakfast to a phone call that lifted your spirits. Savor them and thank God. Third, see where you failed to be loving. Fourth, ask God for forgiveness. Fifth, ask for the grace to see God tomorrow. The examen helps you see where God was active in your day. And once you see where God has been it becomes easier to see where God is.

Read the rest of the tips (from people of various faiths) by clicking HERE.

I was lucky enough to spend a long weekend praying with the Trappist monks of the Abbey of the Genesee out near Rochester, N.Y., this fall. You can read about my experience with silence over at my own blog, Not Strictly Spiritual, by clicking HERE. You can also find yesterday's post about my avoidance of New Year's resolutions in favor of long-term, broader "goals." Click HERE to read that.

Do you have any spiritual goals on your 2012 list? Any retreat plans? If so, what are your favorite retreat centers?

2011: Best of Pope Benedict XVI

2011-12-29T09:24:00.003-05:00

What were the highlights of the papal year? Here's the Top 10 list from John Thavis of Catholic News Service:

An interfaith meeting in Assisi, a new book on Jesus of Nazareth and a website-launching tap on an iPad were among the highlights of 2011 for Pope Benedict XVI.

Although the year saw a further cutback in individual papal audiences, the 84-year-old pope still enjoyed a productive and busy 12 months, meeting privately with nearly 400 church or civil leaders, addressing more than 180 groups and presiding over about 40 public liturgies.

He traveled to Croatia, Spain, Germany and Benin, delivering 60 speeches on the road. In weekly talks at the Vatican, attended by nearly half a million people, he gave a series of reflections on the great teachers of the church and on prayer -- a continuation of the "back to basics" approach that has marked his pontificate.

The reduction of papal meetings and the introduction of a rolling platform for his entrance into St. Peter's Basilica fueled speculation about the pope's health. Close observers say that, like most octogenarians, the pontiff tires more easily today, but that he suffers no serious health problems.

The year 2011 saw two of Pope Benedict's favorite themes come into clearer focus: new evangelization and religious liberty. Increasingly, he has linked the two topics, telling bishops that both tasks require courageous truth-telling in sometimes hostile environments.

No doubt the pope has his own favorite remembrances of the closing year. From a journalist's point of view, here's a "top 10" list of moments from 2011 that seemed to capture what Pope Benedict is all about: Read the Top 10 list HERE.

Shaw: You should be paying more attention to Clinton's speech on gay rights

2011-12-28T12:01:00.000-05:00

By Russell Shaw

An address by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s on gay rights as a priority of U.S. policy deserves far more attention than it’s gotten up to now. As a statement of the views of the Obama administration, Clinton’s remarks were a remarkably candid — and remarkably chilling — exposition of official determination to make the world safe for LGBT at home as well as abroad.

Speaking last month at United Nations offices in Geneva, Clinton first sought to spin a muddled synthesis linking gay rights and religious faith. In part, this was how it came out:

Our commitments to protect the freedom of religion and to defend the dignity of LGBT people emanate from a common source. For many of us, religious belief and practice is a vital source of meaning and identity, and fundamental to who we are as people. And likewise, for most of us, the bonds of love and family that we forge are also vital sources of meaning and identity. And caring for others is an expression of what it means to be fully human. It is because the human experience is universal that human rights are universal and cut across all religions and cultures.

With all due respect — what on earth does that mean? The strikingly confused venture into reasoning in this passage would provide rich material for a logician’s intellectual scalpel. And just what is this common source from which the protection of religious freedom and the defense of LGBT people are said to proceed? One can favor both things, as I do, without succumbing to the sentimental fallacy of an unnamed “common source.”

But set that aside for now. What’s really troubling about Clinton’s text is what comes next: “While we are each free to believe whatever we choose, we cannot do whatever we choose, not in a world where we protect the human rights of all.” On the surface, that’s true to the point of banality. But what lies below the surface? The answer is: coercion on behalf of LGBT interests.

“Progress comes from changes in laws,” Clinton explains. “In many places, in including my own country, legal protections have preceded, not followed, broader recognition of rights. Laws have a teaching effect. … It is often the case that laws must change before fears about change dissipate.”

Take that out of the realm of abstraction, and the classic case to illustrate the point is abortion, where the U.S. Supreme Court rammed legalization down the nation’s throat by an act of what one dissenter called raw judicial power.

And now it’s LGBT’s turn? Acting under the aegis of anti-discrimination laws, government agencies move to enforce the newly discovered right of same-sex couples to marry and adopt children, the right of gay partners to rent the local K of C hall for their wedding reception, the right to have pro-homosexual indoctrination inserted into public school textbooks, and on and on “rights” sprout like mushrooms in the fertile soil supplied by the state.

“The Obama administration defends the human rights of LGBT people as part of our comprehensive human rights policy,” Secretary Clinton affirms. And to those who object, remember: “Laws have a teaching effect.”

Clinton and the administration she serves aren’t bad people. But they’re secularists at heart (though sometimes with a superficial religiosity) and committed to enactment and enforcement of an expansive program for the bestowal of rights upon causes they favor — abortion rights, LGBT rights, whatever. Woe betide those foolish enough to object in the face of the coercive power of the state.

Russell Shaw is an OSV contributing editor.

Merry Christmas from OSV

2011-12-25T10:14:00.004-05:00

"Do not be afraid. For, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." -- Luke 2:10-11

Best wishes for a happy and holy Christmas from all of us at OSV Daily Take.

Nun who kissed Elvis praying for Christmas miracle to help monastery

2011-12-23T11:20:00.004-05:00

A former Hollywood starlet who shared an on-screen kiss with Elvis Presley before leaving her acting career behind in favor of the cloister is in the limelight once again, this time in an effort to bring some attention -- and much-needed funds -- to the aging Connecticut monastery she has called home since 1963.

From an AP story:

Dolores Hart, who walked away from Hollywood stardom in 1963 to become a nun in rural Bethlehem, Conn., now finds herself back in the spotlight. But this time it's all about serving the King of Kings, not smooching the King of Rock and Roll.

The former brass factory that houses Mother Dolores and about 40 other nuns cloistered at the Abbey of Regina Laudis needs millions of dollars in renovations to meet fire and safety codes, add an elevator and make handicap accessibility upgrades.

Like 73-year-old Mother Dolores, the order's nuns have taken a vow of stability with the intent to live, work and die at the complex. The order was established in 1947 in Bethlehem, a small burg in Connecticut's rolling western hills.

Now, the historically self-supporting nuns have launched a fundraiser for the $4 million renovation project dubbed "New Horizons." They don't have much money, but they have Mother Dolores: a starlet-turned-supplicant whose unique story might lure the attention and donations of generations of movie fans, particularly those who adore all things Elvis.

"This work may not be in my lifetime that it's finished, but we're sure trying," Mother Dolores said of the upgrades, which are budgeted to run about $2 million for the fire code and accessibility compliance work and another $2 million for improvements to the housing and other facilities.

Read the full story of her Hollywood years and movie credits HERE.

Researchers: Shroud of Turin not a forgery

2011-12-23T07:56:00.005-05:00

Italian researchers who tried and failed to replicate the Shroud of Turin say it's not likely the controversial piece of linen could have been forged by someone in the Middle Ages or before.

From a Daily News story:

“We have shown that the most advanced technology available today is unable to replicate all the characteristics of the Shroud image,” lead researcher Paolo Di Lazzaro told msnbc.com in an email.

“As a consequence, we may argue it appears unlikely a forger may have done this image with technologies available in the Middle Ages or earlier.

But that doesn’t necessarily solve the intensely debated mystery, he added, noting that the findings have attracted media attention in recent days due to articles in the British press.

“The probability the Shroud is a Medieval fake is really low,” Di Lazzaro said. “In this sense, the Shroud image is still a scientific challenge.”

Read the full story HERE.

Lessons in faith from Luke and Linus

2011-12-22T12:40:00.000-05:00

Posted by Mary DeTurris Poust

Ever since I was a little kid waiting with unbridled excitement for the annual airing of "A Charlie Brown Christmas" on TV, the above scene of Linus reciting the Gospel story of Jesus' birth has been a favorite (even before I knew what a Gospel was). So, today, to suddenly get some new and profound insight into this old scene was like a Christmas bonus.

Over on Facebook, Jesuit Father James Martin wrote this:

Yesterday on The Washington Post chat a reader mentioned something beautiful that I had never noticed: When Linus recites the story of the Nativity in "A Charlie Brown Christmas," he unexpectedly drops his security blanket. With the Word of God he has no need for any other security.

It's true. Watch for yourself. As if I needed any more reasons to love this Christmas special. Thanks, Father Martin. And Charles M. Schulz

Sainthood path cleared for two New York women

2011-12-19T12:40:00.002-05:00

From CNS:

Pope Benedict XVI advanced the sainthood causes of Blessed Marianne Cope of Molokai and Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha.

He also formally recognized the martyrdom of 64 victims of the Spanish Civil War and advanced the causes of 18 other men and women.

During a meeting Dec. 19 with Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for Saints' Causes, the pope signed the decrees recognizing the miracles needed for the canonizations of Blesseds Marianne and Kateri.

Before a date is set for the canonization ceremonies, there must be an "ordinary public consistory," a formal ceremony opened and closed with prayer, during which cardinals present in Rome express their support for the pope's decision to create new saints.

Blessed Marianne, who worked as a teacher and hospital administrator in New York, spent the last 30 years of her life ministering on the Hawaiian island of Molokai to those with leprosy. She died on the island in 1918 at age 80 and was beatified in St. Peter's Basilica in 2005.

Blessed Kateri, known as the Lily of the Mohawks, was born to a Christian Algonquin mother and a Mohawk father in 1656 in upstate New York along the Hudson River. She was baptized by a Jesuit missionary in 1676 when she was 20, and she died in Canada four years later. In June 1980, she became the first Native American to be beatified.

Read the full CNS story HERE. The official decree is HERE.

The afterlife of an atheist

2011-12-16T11:35:00.002-05:00

Posted by Mary DeTurris Poust

This morning at breakfast my husband mentioned that Christopher Hitchens, well-known atheist, had died at age 62 after a prolonged battle with cancer. Our teenage son happened to be there, and the topic turned to the afterlife, at which point my son asked if Catholics didn't believe Hitchens would go to hell for his beliefs, or lack of them. Ah, a complex subject for so early in the morning, and about something we cannot answer definitively this side of heaven. So we talked about our hope in the love of a merciful God and the smile-inducing possibility that maybe Hitchens would be surprised at what came next in the life he believed would end when it ended here.

Jesuit Father James Martin, writing on In All Things, offers some hopeful and helpful thoughts on this uncertain subject. From his post:

Someone asked me this morning what I hoped for Christopher Hitchens, the fierce atheist who died after an agonizing bout with esophogeal cancer, and my first response was to say that I hope he’s pleasantly surprised. And I do. I certainly didn't agree with him on many things (on almost anything, frankly; and I was particularly annoyed at his treatment of Mother Teresa), but I always hoped that somehow he would experience an invitation from God in his earthly life; and I hope that he may now come to know God. (I could never quite shake the feeling that Mr. Hitchens' lifelong struggle with God betokened a deep hunger for the divine, or at least for answers.) Of course the famous atheist would surely dislike hearing that, as he objected to people praying for him in his final illness.

...Henri Nouwen, the Dutch priest and spiritual master, wrote in his book The Prodigal Son that most of us are like the older brother, despising any forgiving actions. We feel that we are the ones who have worked hard, who have led good lives, who have tried to act morally; so why should others be forgiven for their failings? We often resent forgiveness and reconciliation, because it doesn’t seem “fair.”

But as Jesus points out, God’s love is far different than our own; it is prodigal, generous, even wasteful.

I hope that Christopher Hitchens enjoys some of this prodigal love. Of course committed atheists may not be ready to receive it. So for them, and for many others, there will probably be a time of conversion, what Catholics call Purgatory: a time of preparation to meet God, a time of reviewing one’s life, and asking for forgiveness. And of course it will be up to each individual to decide if he or she wants to accept that Father’s love or turn away. For me, hell is the ultimate turning away of that forgiving love.

So I hope that Christopher Hitchens, famous atheist, fearless polemicist and, in his own unique way, brave seeker, will now be pleasantly surprised by God. And if he finally makes it to heaven, I hope he gets a chance to get to know the prodigal love of God, which eluded him on earth. After that, I hope he gets to know Mother Teresa a little better than he did on earth.

Read Father Martin's full post HERE.

Occupy Christmas: Taking Jesus to the people

2011-12-15T10:07:00.003-05:00

Due to the general insanity at our local mall, I recently swore off going there again for the rest of the Christmas season, but something like this would definitely make me reconsider. Just awesome. Thank you to all the Facebook friends who shared this one.

Testifying to the light: Third week of Advent

2011-12-12T16:45:00.002-05:00

By Mary DeTurris Poust

A reflection from my own blog, Not Strictly Spiritual:

It's always right around this time each Advent season that I move into high holiday spirit. I take that pink candle very seriously. Gaudete! Rejoice! And with that I break out Christmas boxes and begin to decorate the house. My kids, having been not-so-patiently waiting for a couple of weeks by now, finally get to light the lights and string the ornaments and push the buttons that play Christmas carols on endless loops.

I like the waiting time of Advent. I'm not a patient person, but in this season I tend to find my stride, enjoying the slowness of preparing for the feast, stepping out of character and trying not to rush things, knowing it will all be here and gone soon enough. But it won't be gone, will it? Only the external trappings will be gone. If this season does what this season is meant to do, we will be left with the internal light that shines long after the ornaments and singing Santas are put away for another year.

This weekend at Mass, one line from the Gospel kept ringing in my ears:

"He came for testimony, to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but he came to testify to the light."

That role isn't reserved for John the Baptist. We are all called to testify to the light so that others might believe. But how do we do that? It's not always easy in this frantic world, where people steal our parking spots at the mall and smash into our cars without leaving a note (both of which happened to me this week).

I recently had an experience of light that jumped out and grabbed me. I was at Kripalu yoga center, attending a workshop called "Pray All Ways" by Paulist Father Thomas Ryan (which I posted about briefly last week). At the end of the weekend, Father Tom asked us to do a lectio divina exercise, using the weekend itself as the point of reflection. We were to find the thing that stood out to us, pray on it and share with the group. Although there were many, many gifts received that weekend, one thing kept coming to the front of my mind, from the very first session of our workshop. Here's what I shared with my group (more or less):

As I sat in this circle, sharing faith stories and prayer with a group of strangers, my mind kept returning to the famous Thomas Merton story, where he's standing on a street corner in Kentucky and looks around at the people surrounding him and feels complete love for and unity with them. I never really "got" that story because most of the time I'm standing on the street corner feeling frustration and wondering when all those people are just going to cross the street, for goodness sake. But here, at Kripalu, from almost the first instant, I knew exactly what Merton meant. I looked around and felt complete love for complete strangers, people from all different walks of life who are searching for the same thing -- a deeper connection to God. Being in this place gives me hope. And Merton's words keep echoing in my heart: There's no way to tell people they are walking around shining like the sun.

When I returned to "real" life later that same day, I tried to bring that light back home with me. The truth is, I often withdraw to my sacred space to pray or do yoga or both and then emerge only to jump right back into the chaos without letting my prayer reverberate in my words and actions. But the point of the weekend workshop and the focus of my prayer life these days is to take what happens in that sacred space and let it influence everything else, because my children and husband and friends will never understand the power of God's love in my life if I don't let that love come out through me, if I don't walk around shining like the sun, or Son.

It's hard to keep that light shining through all the difficulties and frustrations and annoyances of life. It's much easier to slip back into dissatisfaction, to take up my poor-pitiful-me position and wonder why everyone can't make it easier for me to be prayerful. Sigh. It's not supposed to be easy. What merit is there in being prayerful if it only sticks when times are good?

And then I went to Mass on Saturday evening, and my pastor hit the nail on the head with a homily focused on that same theme. He reminded us that to rejoice isn't to be "up" all the time, outwardly bouncing around happily from one thing to the next. To truly rejoice is to remain inwardly joyful even when times are hard because our joy isn't in things of this world; our joy is in God and what God has done for us. Amen.

When I was at Kripalu, Father Tom led us in many Taize chants at the start of each session. One of my favorites was this one:

"Our darkness is never darkness
in your sight.
The deepest night is clear
as the daylight."

The play of light against darkness is so apparent during this season when the ever-increasing glow of the Advent wreath stands in stark contrast to the darkness outside. I am often all too aware of the darkness, sometimes even seeking it out when there's light all around me. But once we realize there is no darkness with God, everything becomes clear, and we shine like the sun, even at midnight.

So rejoice! Testify to the Light that can never be extinguished.

A priest's remembrance of Cardinal Foley

2011-12-12T15:39:00.000-05:00

By Msgr. Owen F. Campion

What day was it? A month ago? Cardinal John Foley telephoned me. We have spoken with each other at least weekly for many years. We have been in each other’s presence often. The call in itself was not unusual. The message made it unusual, being as it was literally about life and death.

“Pray for me,” he said, “The doctors have just told me that I have only a few months or maybe weeks. Pray that I will be worthy to meet the Lord." What do you say in reply? Long ago, as a priest, I learned that such are times for honesty.

“If you are not ready,” I answered, “I wonder who is.”

I was utterly honest. No one met the cardinal without seeing in him his profound faith. His Christian faith formed everything about him. He was a disciple, unquestioning and forever eager. It enriched his priestly and episcopal vocations. It was a gift to him in grace, and it was a gift to the Church.

Over the last year, I have made the point to visit him in Philadelphia every month. The sequence of these visits enabled me to see the deadly progress of his illness.

My last visit was just over three weeks ago. A mutual friend, Matt Gambino, the very capable editor of Philadelphia’s archdiocesan newspaper, The Catholic Standard and Times, accompanied me.

Ever the gentleman, the cardinal could not stand as we entered his presence, a sign of his decline. Anxious about tiring him, I suggested several times to Matt that we should be going. The cardinal each time insisted that we stay longer. He knew that it likely would be our last meeting. I knew as well. At last, time came to part. Long ago, we formed the habit of saying farewell by conferring our blessings on each other.

I gave him my blessing. He took my hand and kissed it. “I love you, Owen.” I said, “And I love you. Promise me that you always will pray for me.”

I shall, he promised. In that promise I find consolation. In thanksgiving I pray that I knew him and loved him. I give thanks that the Lord gave him, disciple, priest and bishop, to the Church. May he rest in peace.

Msgr. Owen F. Campion is OSV associate publisher.

Shaw: Why do you expect so little from Christmas?

2011-12-12T10:38:00.001-05:00

By Russell Shaw

The problem many of us have with Christmas isn’t that we expect too much of it but that we expect much too little. My Christmas wish for all of us, myself included, is that we raise our sights and ask for all that God really wants to give us. If we can open ourselves to receive that, we may be astonished at what we get.

There’s a hint of it in something written by Jesuit Father Alfred Delp, a German priest executed by the Nazis near the end of World War II. Speaking of Christ’s coming, he said:

All these are not merely one-time historical events upon which our salvation rests. They are simultaneously the model figures and events that announce to us the new order of things, of life, of our existence. …

The world is more than its burden, and life more than the sum of its gray days. The golden threads of the genuine reality are already shining through everywhere. … Hope grows through the one who is himself a person of the hope and the promise.

Jesus commonly is said to save us from our sins. That’s surely the heart of it. But besides simply saving from sin, redemption is empowerment. In the Son of Man, the world, including ourselves, are restored, renewed (see Eph 1:9-10). In Jesus, we are co-redeemers, participants in building the kingdom of God.

The Second Vatican Council expands on that in an extraordinary passage in Gaudium et Spes (the Constitution on the Church in the Modern World). Speaking of God’s entry into history as a man, and recalling the scriptural promise of a “new earth” to come, the council teaches:

Far from diminishing our concern to develop this earth, the expectancy of a new earth should spur us on, for it is here that the body of a new human family grows, foreshadowing in some way the age which is to come. ...

When we have spread on earth the fruits of our nature and our enterprise — human dignity, brotherly communion, and freedom — according to the command of the Lord and in his Spirit, we will find them once again, cleansed this time from the stain of sin, illuminated and transfigured, when Christ presents to his Father an eternal and universal kingdom. ...

Here on earth the kingdom is mysteriously present (Nos. 38-39).

Co-redeemers with Christ, Jesus’ collaborators in building God’s kingdom — the kingdom that will last forever — these are the roles Christ’s coming opens up to us. If that sounds grandiose, so be it. In fact, it’s very grand. But for most of us, it’s realized in quite ordinary ways, much as Jesus’ coming took place in the ordinariness of a stable.

St. Josemaria Escriva underlined that in a Christmas homily in 1963:

Can it be said also of you who have been called to be another Christ, that you have come to do and to teach, to do things as a son of God would? Are you attentive to the Father’s will, so as to be able to encourage everyone else to share the good, noble, divine and human values of the redemption? Are you living the life of Christ in your everyday life in the middle of the world?

That is the triumph of Jesus Christ. He has raised us to his level, the level of children of God, by coming down to our level, the level of children of men.

And that is why we ought to put aside the mistake of expecting too little of Christmas.

Russell Shaw is an OSV contributing editor.

Making change

2011-12-09T14:44:00.003-05:00

What moves you to change? Where do you need to be healed and where can you offer some healing? Take ten minutes to watch this powerful clip and see what feelings and thoughts it stirs up. We often don't think about the chain reaction of love we can set in motion through even the smallest kindness.

Thanks to Deacon Greg and Mike Hayes for bringing this clip to my attention today.

Surprise decision will keep restrictions on Plan B emergency contraception

2011-12-07T16:16:00.004-05:00

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius overruled FDA experts and stopped a decision to offer Plan B morning-after emergency contraception on drugstore shelves to girls of any age without a prescription. The ruling surprised people on both sides of the controversial plan.

From an AP story:

The Food and Drug Administration was preparing to lift a controversial age limit and make Plan B One-Step the nation's first over-the-counter emergency contraceptive, available for purchase by people of any age without a prescription.
But Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius intervened at the eleventh hour and overruled her own experts.
Plan B instead will remain behind the pharmacy counter, as it is sold today — available without a prescription only for those 17 and older who show an ID proving their age.
Sebelius' reason: Some girls as young as 11 are physically capable of bearing children, and Plan B's maker didn't prove that younger girls could properly understand how to use this product without guidance from an adult.
"It is common knowledge that there are significant cognitive and behavioral differences between older adolescent girls and the youngest girls of reproductive age," Sebelius said in a statement. "I do not believe enough data were presented to support the application to make Plan B One-Step available over-the-counter for all girls of reproductive age."

Read the full story HERE.

Which Christmas Mass are you attending?

2011-12-06T15:29:00.001-05:00

A little more than a year ago, we moved across town and joined a new parish, much larger than our last one. It has been a great community to get plugged into and get to know.

I'm always interested to see how things are done there. One interesting change this year for the parish has been some modifications to the Christmas liturgy schedule.

The Christmas Vigil Mass is a children's Mass held at 5 p.m. By all accounts, this is by far the best-attended liturgy.
Midnight Mass has been moved up to 10 p.m. (hoping to draw more families frightened by the late hour)
Only one Mass on Christmas Day, at 10 a.m.

From our days in Rome as a young family, we've always attended Midnight Mass. Our four kids (the oldest is now 13) probably couldn't imagine Christmas otherwise -- the anticipation, setting out Christmas clothes before being made to lie down for a few hours of sleep (yeah, right) before getting up in the middle of the night to go to church.

But I want to ask about the Christmas Day experience in your parish. Are you, like us, seeing fewer and fewer Catholics forgo Christmas Day Mass in favor of Christmas Eve?

Interestingly, that seems to be a trend in some Protestant communities, too — even in a year like this in which Christmas falls on a Sunday. The Baptist Press reported a few weeks ago that a full 6 percent of Protestant churches plan to have a Christmas Eve service but NO service on Christmas Day. A few years ago, The New York Times ran a story titled, "When Christmas falls on Sunday, megachurches take the day off," and detailed the controversy over the practice.

What are things like where you live? And what Mass will you be attending?

Celebrate the real Santa today

2011-12-06T08:03:00.007-05:00

By Mary DeTurris Poust

Happy Feast of St. Nicholas! This day has become a favorite at our house, ever since I began the tradition years ago of leaving little gifts in the kids' shoes the night before. This morning when they came downstairs, they didn't even remember it was St. Nicholas Day until they saw the chocolates and little items lined up in shoes by the front door. I loved seeing the smiles on their faces as they came down for school one by one. And, let me tell you, getting a smile out of the almost-15-year-old is not an easy feat.

It's not too late to celebrate this feast day, which has come to mark a deepening of the Advent season for me. I'm not one of those early shoppers or early decorators. I like to wait -- longer than my family likes to wait. But I have to admit that this feast usually puts me in the mood to start making the physical preparations for Christmas.

If you want to know more about St. Nicholas or would like some activities to share with children of all ages, check out the St. Nicholas Center, an awesome website chock full of resources, stories, coloring pages, games, history, and more.

So how did the real story of St. Nicholas and the story of Santa Claus become so intertwined and confused? For the answer, click HERE to read the OSV story "The Real St. Nicholas."

And if you didn't get to put a little something in the kids' shoes this morning, leave a little chocolate, an orange or some small gift item for them to find when they come home this afternoon. If your house is anything like my house, there's no shortage of shoes lying around just waiting to be filled.

President Obama on the meaning of Christmas

2011-12-05T10:35:00.004-05:00

In case you missed it, here's President Obama's beautiful message offered during the National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony on Dec. 1. (He starts speaking about two minutes into the video clip.) Here's just one small piece of what he had to say:

"...We all know that this tradition is much larger than any single tree. And tonight, once again, we gather here not simply to light some decorations, but to honor a story that lights the world.

"More than 2,000 years ago, a child was born to two faithful travelers who could find rest only in a stable, among the cattle and the sheep. But this was not just any child. Christ’s birth made the angels rejoice and attracted shepherds and kings from afar. He was a manifestation of God’s love for us. And He grew up to become a leader with a servant’s heart who taught us a message as simple as it is powerful: that we should love God, and love our neighbor as ourselves.

"That teaching has come to encircle the globe. It has endured for generations. And today, it lies at the heart of my Christian faith and that of millions of Americans. No matter who we are, or where we come from, or how we worship, it’s a message that can unite all of us on this holiday season. "

Read the full text of his message HERE.

Where else will you find The Muppets and The Anchoress in one post?

2011-12-02T12:54:00.008-05:00

Two short items to get your weekend off to a great start:

If you're looking for some family fun this weekend, go see The Muppets. I took my 6-year-old yesterday and she loved it, although I think what she really loved was seeing me grin from ear to ear and occasionally giggle out loud. It really took me back and made me a little nostalgic for those days when television programming like The Muppet Show was out there for families to enjoy together. A really fun movie for kids of all ages and kids at heart.

If you're too busy Christmas shopping to go out to the movies, here's just what you need. The Anchoress has posted a list of Christmas book and gift suggestions for just about every type of person on your list. (And I'm not just saying that because one of my books made the list.) You can check it out by clicking HERE.

So what are you waiting for? Hop online, order your gifts, and then grab the kids and head to the movies.

Pope speaks on prayer, death penalty

2011-11-30T12:02:00.002-05:00

"Prayer is an art learned through constant practice," Pope Benedict XVI said during Wednesday's general audience, adding that prayer must begin in the home, as it did for Jesus, who learned to pray from his mother and the Jewish tradition.

The pope also used the general audience to speak against the death penalty, thanking the Sant'Egidio community for their efforts to end the practice worldwide.

For more extensive comments on both topics, watch the short clip above.

Dorothy Day in her own words, on Christopher Closeup

2011-11-29T11:45:00.000-05:00

Today is the feast of Servant of God Dorothy Day, founder of the Catholic Worker movement with Peter Maurin. A journalist, social activist, Catholic convert and self-described anarchist, Dorothy died on this day in 1980.

This is Part I of a rare video interview. Take a few minutes to check it out. For Part II, click HERE.

Archbishop Dolan on building a 'culture of vocations'

2011-11-29T11:02:00.003-05:00

OSV's Matthew Bunson, editor of The Catholic Answer magazine, has a great interview with Archbishop Timothy Dolan on the "culture of vocations" in the newest issue, in anticipation of National Vocation Awareness Week, Jan. 9-14. I'll start you off here, and link you to The Catholic Answer:

By Matthew E. Bunson
Catholics hear all the time about a “crisis in vocations.” This is usually discussed concerning vocations to the priesthood. But the challenge of discerning a vocation is not limited to the priesthood.
Everyone is called to discern what God wants them to do with their lives — be it a young man considering the priesthood, young men and women entering the religious life, a man feeling called to the permanent diaconate, a couple deciding on marriage, or someone recognizing a dedicated single life. Today, however, there are many challenges to hearing God’s call, and the task of the Church is to assist men and women to discern the path that will lead them to true happiness and eternal life.
As part of the celebration of National Vocation Awareness Week, Jan. 9-14, The Catholic Answer magazine interviewed Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan of New York on how to build a “culture of vocations.”
Archbishop Dolan served as rector of the North American College, the seminary for Americans in Rome, from 1994 to 2001; was archbishop of Milwaukee from 2002 to 2009; and was named archbishop of New York in 2009. In 2010, he was elected president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. His blog can be read at http://blog.archny.org/.
The Catholic Answer: Your Excellency, perhaps the best place to start is with a very basic question: What is the Church’s understanding of vocation?
Archbishop Timothy Dolan: There is the generic sense of vocation. There is a precise sense of vocation. And I don’t think we can talk about the precise sense until we understand the generic sense. We have to believe — it is part of the Catholic worldview — that God has a plan for each of us. He is inviting us to live a life that will bring us back to Him. He is calling us to do that. The Latin word for call is vocation. So, in a way, in a broad way, the whole sense of discipleship, the whole sense of divine Providence, the whole sense that God has a plan for us, stems from what you might call this generic sense of vocation.
And in some ways that is the most pivotal question that you must answer: How does God want me to spend my life? Generically, we know that God wants us on a path that will get us back to Him.
A precise sense of vocation is the very particular way that He wants us to do that. And that is where the priesthood, consecrated life, religious life, married life and consecrated single life come up.
I always think that we miss the boat when we don’t speak about marriage as a vocation. I mean, that is the biggest vocations crisis in the Church today, if you ask me. When only half of our Catholic people are getting married, no wonder we have a crisis in the numbers of vocations to the priesthood and the religious life.
I just had a young couple say to me that they had asked their pastor — and he said that they had to ask their archbishop — if it was OK while they were getting married for them to lie prostrate on the floor while they were singing the Litany of Saints. I thought, “Wow, why not?”
Now, that young couple: You talk about having a sense of vocation; they were sealing their vocation...Continue reading HERE.

Shaw: How long can U.S. wait to adopt realistic, morally sound Middle-East policy?

2011-11-28T11:47:00.001-05:00

By Russell Shaw

As active U.S. military involvement in Iraq draws to a close, what does the moral scorecard on this adventure look like from an American point of view? Granted that a comprehensive weighing of results will only be possible some years from now, at the moment the picture is something like this.

In a perverse way, American policy in Iraq has been a model of consistency from start to finish. The original decision to invade back in 2003, based as it was on faulty intelligence and mistaken expectations about Iraqi receptivity to democracy, can now be seen to have been grossly in error. As for the here and now, it’s less obviously, but very likely, a parallel error for America to pull out prematurely, as in fact we now seem to be doing.

Yes, the Iraqi government refused to give the Obama administration what it wanted by way of a status of forces agreement that would allow American troops to remain. But it’s difficult to believe the administration truly pushed all that hard for a deal or was all that disappointed at not getting one.

So who won this war? For the moment at least, the answer to that also seems clear: The big winner was the deeply anti-American regime in Iran whose influence in Iraq appears likely to increase enormously after the Americans are gone. And who lost? That also is an easy one. The losers were Saddam Hussein, the United States, and the Iraqi Christian community. And, oh yes — probably Iraq itself.

Naturally there are people who dispute all this, especially apologists for the Obama administration. There also are people, I suppose, who still believe Saddam’s weapons of mass destruction are out there somewhere in a cave in the Iraqi desert, just waiting to be discovered. As far as I can see, neither group makes an especially persuasive case.

Thus the paradox stands. Someone trying to form a moral judgment of U.S. actions in Iraq can reasonably hold (as I do) that it was wrong for America to go to war in the first place and it’s wrong to quit now. The first conclusion is based on the fact that Saddam was not attacking or threatening to attack any American vital interests when we attacked him. As for the second, having barged into Iraq and, with much bloodshed, turned it into a shambles of doubtful governability, America should have the decency to stick around and help clean up the mess.

But it’s probably too late to do much for the Christian community of Iraq. Face to face with hostile Islamic fundamentalism after the fall of Saddam Hussein, most Iraqi Christians have fled the country. The need now is to help them find new homes and new lives.

A similar process of analysis should now be applied to Afghanistan as well as to other places in the Arab world where the United States has one or more fingers in the pie. Increasingly it appears that the merry talk of the self-deluded American media, suggesting that democracy was on the verge of breaking out on the heels of the Arab Spring, was so much wishful thinking. It’s good to see the tyrants go, but what happens next in places like Egypt, Libya, and Syria is anybody’s guess.

American security interests will be in play in the Arab world for years to come. If the U.S. has a long-range policy there that’s both realistic and morally sound, I haven’t noticed it. How long can we afford to wait?

Russell Shaw is an OSV contributing editor.

And with your spirit...

2011-11-27T08:35:00.004-05:00

By Mary DeTurris Poust

So how did we do? What do we think? The new translation is finally here, after much fanfare and more than enough controversy. Personally, I found my first full Mass experience with the new Roman Missal exciting and beautiful. (Except for the word "consubstantial." Still can't get past that one.)

Most people at our church seemed totally on board, with some saying the new responses extra loud to help guide those who were still on autopilot. Overall, I thought it was a really positive experience. And I've heard the same on Facebook, where some friends said they liked the changes or felt more involved in the Mass because they had to pay closer attention. Which is exactly what the Church was hoping for, that these changes would renew our interest in and excitement for the Mass since it's so easy to let the words roll off our tongue without giving them a whole lot of thought.

Of course, not everyone I'm hearing from is happy. Some people I know say they simply won't use the new language. As I told a group of confirmation candidates at a local parish recently, we can either enter into this new experience with our spiritual arms crossed in anger or we can open ourselves up to what these new words might do to deepen our faith. As with most things on this spiritual journey, the choice is ours: Seek to go deeper or stay stuck right where we are. Change -- even when it takes us back -- can be a good thing for our prayer lives because it wakes us up to what we're professing to believe and forces us to explore how we feel about those beliefs.

So how was your first experience with the new translation? Did you like it? Hate it? Not care? Did the rest of the congregation seem on board? Share with us in the comment section.

HERE is a short article on this topic from my local daily, the Albany Times Union. I'm quoted in a couple of places since my most recent book, The Essential Guide to Catholic Prayer and the Mass, covers all of the changes and the reasons behind them.

Buck the Black Friday trend. Join the Advent Conspiracy.

2011-11-25T14:56:00.003-05:00

[AC] Promo 2011 from Advent Conspiracy on Vimeo.

By Mary DeTurris Poust

As I sat at home today, not shopping on Black Friday because I despise everything it stands for, I remembered the above video about Advent and what this season is really supposed to be about. (I posted it here last year, but it's worth watching again.)

For too many people, Thanksgiving was reduced to one more shopping opportunity, as folks left family and friends to line up at Walmart and Target and countless other stores to get more stuff. Do we really need more stuff? Of course, Advent promises to offer more of the same -- sales flyers, must-haves, in-aisle fights over that last coveted toy -- unless we consciously make it different.

Watch the video and then follow the easy instructions: Worship fully. Spend less. Give more. Love all.

It sounds so easy, so why do we make it so difficult? Visit Advent Conspiracy HERE for more suggestions and information.

Watching our future Church in action

2011-11-21T11:47:00.001-05:00

By Mary DeTurris Poust

This weekend I saw the future of the Catholic Church up close and personal, and I'm here to tell you that there is reason to hope -- at least 23,000 reasons. As I sat on the 50-yard line of Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, I watched teenagers from all over this country dance and sing and scream till their voices gave out in an effort to express their faith and celebrate their love of Jesus and the Church. It really was a sight to behold, and a goosebump-inducing sound.

The kids attending the National Catholic Youth Conference weren't hung up on changes to the liturgy or surveys that say Mass attendance is down or any of the negative stuff we hear about our faith in the news. These kids were on fire for the Lord, clapping their hands and stomping their feet, wearing crazy hats and bright T-shirts emblazoned with everything from parish names and towns to the words, "And with your spirit."

I couldn't help but look out at so many young faces and feel a deep sense of hope. Many of these teens have spent two years fundraising to get to NCYC (I know our parish kids did), so coming to the biennial event isn't all fun and games. It's hard work, followed by exhausting schedules, and spiritually challenging sessions and workshops. You know you're witnessing something powerful, when 23,000 teenagers can disconnect from the Internet and from everything else and sit in total silence in a stadium and pray lectio divina. I found it hard to enter into silent prayer myself because I was so awed by the fact that a packed stadium could be so silent and feel so sacred.

And my awe didn't end with the kids. Thirty bishops attended the conference, coming out in baseball caps for the opening session, sitting in Victory Park (the exhibitors' hall) signing autographs on bishop trading cards for hours, going to pizza parties with their respective dioceses at 11:30 at night, and holding roundtable discussions during the day with the kids.

I have such deep respect for those bishops who attended NCYC because it shows their commitment to the future of our Church. These kids don't have money to donate, they don't have the power to change laws or do anything else to benefit the bishops or dioceses directly. All they have is their enthusiasm and their willingness to walk this faith journey. I was so grateful to the bishops and to the nearly 300 priests and deacons and 175 seminarians who thought these kids and this event were important enough to take time out of their own busy schedules.

The kids were clearly dumbfounded as they watched the procession into the closing Mass, an endless river of white vestments stretching on for so long it took two or three songs to get everyone inside. I saw the gratitude and excitement among the group of 20 kids we brought from our parish. They just kept watching wide-eyed, saying they'd never seen so many priests in one place. Trust me, it made an impression.

If you work with youth in your parish and have never been to NCYC, get them to the next event, scheduled for 2013 in Indianapolis. It will be worth all the effort, all the lost sleep, all the long hours it takes to get there.

So often we adults scratch our heads and wonder how to get kids excited about their faith, how to get kids to want to go to Mass or confession or adoration. When you stand on line for more than 45 minutes to get to confession because there are 50 kids in front of you and hundreds more behind, you can't help but feel hopeful for the future. How do we get kids excited about the faith? We have to get excited about the faith, which is exactly what the bishops and priests and presenters and youth ministers did at NCYC.

We adults could learn a lot from our Catholic teens. They're not squabbling over words and other details; they're celebrating the big picture, that we are all "called to glory," which was the theme of this year's event.

During the closing Mass, Bishop Christopher Coyne, apostolic administrator of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, told everyone in the packed stadium to take out their cells phones, power them up, and text the words "Called to Glory" to everyone on their contact list, Twitter accounts and Facebook. The kids jumped at the chance to spread the Word in a way that's second nature to them. They happily tweeted and texted their messages, unfraid of what their friends back home might think.

As the kids chanted throughout the weekend in a seemingly endless call and response -- on street corners, in restaurants, at the stadium, even in the airport when other groups of NCYC teens passed by -- "God is good all the time. All the time God is good."

20,000 Catholic teens in one place

2011-11-17T08:00:00.001-05:00

By Mary DeTurris Poust

My teenage son and I are winging our way from upstate New York to Indianapolis today to join 20,000+ teens at the biennial National Catholic Youth Conference. I won't be able to blog while I'm away since I'll have limited computer access -- and kids to chaperone. My parish is sending 22 teens, which is pretty amazing. And a dozen parents signed on as well.

The numbers are impressive all around. Our diocese, the Diocese of Albany, has close to 300 people attending, including Bishop Howard Hubbard, who will celebrate Mass for us today and spend the day with us on Friday in between a bishops' meeting in Washington, D.C., and an ad limina visit in Rome.

If you want to know more about this amazing event, click HERE. There will be live streaming of some portions of the conference, so check it out. I'll be back on Monday with reflections and observations.

New Yorkers may get to 'Choose Life'

2011-11-14T07:54:00.004-05:00

By Mary DeTurris Poust

After a 10-year battle to add the "Choose Life" license plate to the list of specialty options in the Empire State, New Yorkers may finally get the chance to wear their pro-adoption, pro-life message on their cars. (The plates will raise money for adoption groups.)

A federal court has ruled that New York State must permit the plates. It remains to be seen if the state will implement the judge's decision, however. The Department of Motor Vehicles has objected to the plates as "patently offensive" to a large portion of the population and said they could lead to road rage. Similar plates are available in many states across the country.

Kathleen M. Gallagher, director of pro-life activities of the New York State Catholic Conference, issued the following statement:

“The decision of the federal court in the Choose Life license plates case is a victory for the free speech rights of all New Yorkers. With its custom license plate program, the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles created a public forum where it allows the display of messages, slogans, logos, web sites and toll-free telephone numbers for advocacy groups. The state cannot permit free speech for some but not for all. Equal protection under the law means all persons and groups must be treated equally.

“We urge New York State to implement the judge’s decision, lift the current moratorium on custom plates, and allow the Choose Life license plates on the road. These plates will provide much-needed revenue to the state, as proven by the millions of dollars which have been raised for other states as well as for adoption agencies, safe havens and pregnancy centers that receive partial proceeds from annual custom plate fees.”

Click HERE to watch an in-depth TV interview that gives the background and next steps of the New York license plate controversy.

Bil Keane, Catholic cartoonist, dead at 89

2011-11-10T13:12:00.001-05:00

You probably saw that Bil Keane, beloved creator of the "Family Circus" cartoon that was (and is) a staple of many newspaper comics pages, passed away two days ago.

In a July 4, 1982 interview with OSV Newsweekly, he said the point of his cartoons was "elevating" families and give "a normality to the pandemonium that exists in some homes."

"It makes people realize that their kids are normal; their homes are normal. The message to the parents is enjoy it, enjoy it while they're young. Smile with the kids, laugh with them, love with them. That's the real philosophy behind Family Circus," he said.

And check out this cover from that issue:

Shaw: Want to be a better communicator? Try silence

2011-11-10T11:39:00.001-05:00

By Russell Shaw

I have to admit that it really didn’t impress me very favorably the first time I read it: “Silence and Word: Path of Evangelization” — that will be the theme of next May’s World Day for Social Communications, the Vatican announcement said.

That’s really strange, I thought. After all, even as it stands, World Communications Day isn’t exactly a red-letter event in most people’s calendars, and giving it an obscure theme like that one is hardly calculated to help.

For those who may not know — and that’s probably quite a few people — World Communications Day is one of several annual “world days” sponsored by the Vatican to focus attention on particular issues and the apostolates of the Church: World Day of Peace, Mission Sunday, World Day of the Sick, and so on.

They generally don’t get a great deal of attention from the media or the public, but they do provide a measure of recognition from the Church for important causes. The World Communications Day has been on the list ever since Vatican Council II called for it almost a half-century ago.

But the theme chosen for 2012, with its emphasis on silence, struck me at first as passing strange. As I thought about it, though, it began to grow on me.

Spiritual writers have always stressed the importance of silence as a necessary setting for contemplative prayer. It’s virtually impossible after all to speak deeply to God and hear his reply in the midst of a constant racket. And that message may be more needed than ever today, when, as Pope Benedict remarked recently on a visit to a Carthusian monastery in Calabria, “some people are no longer able to bear silence and solitude for very long.”

This is true, but it’s also a familiar thought. Where the Communications Day theme adds a new twist is precisely in linking silence and communication. At first that may seem like an uncomfortable fit. But is it really? The brief Vatican statement announcing the theme puts it like this:

In the thought of Benedict XVI, silence is not simply an antidote to the constant an unstoppable flow of information that characterizes society today, but rather a factor that is necessary for its integration. Silence, precisely because it favors discernment and reflection, can in fact be seen primarily as a means of welcoming the word.

Now here is an interesting and important insight. In today’s media-saturated world, where all of us are at constant risk of inundation by the sheer quantity of communication, making sense of media requires regular cultivation of reflective silence to sort out all those incoming messages.

Which of the multitude of factoids constantly demanding my attention on the grounds of being “news” do I really need to notice? Which of the pundits night and day clamoring for my ear deserve to be taken seriously — and which do not? And — most important perhaps — have I taken trouble to weigh conflicting points of view or gone the easy route of hearing only those messages that reinforce my prejudices?

To judge from blog postings and letters to the editor, some people have mastered the art of being discerning, informed media consumers. But many haven’t, instead preferring slogans lifted from ideological sources to the hard work of silent study and analysis.

“Silence and the Word” — that theme for World Communications Day is onto something important.

Put the media aside at some point during the day, settle down a bit, and just think. You might even find that you enjoy it.

Russell Shaw is an OSV contributing editor.

What will they tax next? Your Christmas tree. UPDATED

2011-11-09T10:16:00.002-05:00

UPDATE: President Obama saves Christmas. Well, not exactly. In response to ridicule and criticism of the proposed "Christmas Tree Tax," the administration has decided not to go ahead with the 15-cent-per-tree tax. (See the rest of the original post below.) I think I can hear the Whos down in Whoville singing now.

By Mary DeTurris Poust

Maybe you weren't aware of this, but your Christmas tree has an image problem. Thank goodness the federal government is stepping in to fix that, but it's going to cost you. That's right. The U.S. Agriculture Department announced yesterday that it is imposing a "Christmas Tree Tax" -- 15 cents per live-cut tree -- to fund a federal program designed to improve the image and marketing of Christmas trees.

From Fox Nation:

In the Federal Register of November 8, 2011, Acting Administrator of Agricultural Marketing David R. Shipman announced that the Secretary of Agriculture will appoint a Christmas Tree Promotion Board. The purpose of the Board is to run a “program of promotion, research, evaluation, and information designed to strengthen the Christmas tree industry’s position in the marketplace; maintain and expend existing markets for Christmas trees; and to carry out programs, plans, and projects designed to provide maximum benefits to the Christmas tree industry” (7 CFR 1214.46(n)). And the program of “information” is to include efforts to “enhance the image of Christmas trees and the Christmas tree industry in the United States” (7 CFR 1214.10).

To pay for the new Federal Christmas tree image improvement and marketing program, the Department of Agriculture imposed a 15-cent fee on all sales of fresh Christmas trees by sellers of more than 500 trees per year (7 CFR 1214.52). And, of course, the Christmas tree sellers are free to pass along the 15-cent Federal fee to consumers who buy their Christmas trees.

But why? Why? Do Christmas trees really need a spin doctor? Apparently, yes. Sales of live trees are suffering, what with all those pre-lit, need-no-water, won't-lose-their-needles trees available in every big box store across the nation. This campaign promises to do for trees what similar marketing efforts have done for the dairy and beef industries:

Got Christmas trees?

Here's more from a Chicago Tribun e story:

By taxing themselves, growers will raise $2 million a year for ads promoting the merits of real, live trees. Or, at least, trees that once were living, as opposed to the artificial kind that have seized an increasing share of the holiday market.

"As demographics and buying habits have changed, we have watched the market for real trees shrink drastically, requiring us to spend much more time and money on promotion," said Don Cameron, past president of the California Christmas Tree Association.

So today I pose two questions to you: Is your Christmas tree live or artificial? Do you think the tax will make a difference? I will admit that after years of swearing I would never, ever, ever have a fake tree in my house, we have opted for the pre-lit variety, mostly due to animals and children who had a penchant for knocking into the tree repeatedly until all the needles were on the ground. We may go back to the live version one day, but it won't be because of an ad campaign.

A great Mass resource for kids UPDATED

2011-11-07T10:04:00.005-05:00

If you're wondering how to help your children understand the coming changes to the Mass, here's a great printable resource from MagnifiKid, the children's version of the wildly popular Magnificat liturgical prayer book.

The resource, with colorful graphics to draw kids in, explains why the changes are happening, and tries to get kids excited about what's coming.

Here's the intro:

Dear Kids,

Something exciting is about
to happen… On the First
Sunday of Advent this year,
we will begin to use
new words for the Mass!

Hundreds of bishops and
thousands of experts have been
working for many years to
make the words just right.

At last, the new books have
been printed and we’re ready
to begin!

There are examples and more explanations to help kids (and their parents) make the adjustment to the new language, which is just a few weeks away. Check it out by clicking HERE.

OSV has tons of resources available for order through its website -- family posters (in English and Spanish), parent guides, catechist companions, and more. And, if you'd like general information covering many different aspects of the coming changes, visit OSV's Roman Missal Changes Resources by clicking HERE. There are lots of links to other sites as well as videos, reflections, and laminated "pew cards" to help worshipers adapt and learn.

Call it what you want. It's still "new."

2011-11-07T09:02:00.001-05:00

By Mary DeTurris Poust

Despite the great divide between those who support the coming changes to the language of the Mass and those who don't, there seems to be one thing on which everyone can agree: It's not a "new Mass" but a "new translation of the Roman Missal." In posts, comments, articles and more, people from both extremes have been harping on this point, and I keep having the same thought every time I see a new version of this getting-old-fast theme: Is any of that really helping everyday Catholics in the pews -- or, all to often, not in the pews?

Sure, using the term "new Mass" to promote a story or post is technically inaccurate. So why are some publications and blogs using it, even if they should know better? Because for most readers -- especially those in the secular world -- the words "new translation of the Roman Missal" would make their eyes glaze over. They'd roll right past the story, thinking anything "Roman" has everything to do with the Vatican and nothing to do with them. Aside from all that, "new translation of the Roman Missal" does not make for a very snappy headline.

So editors and headline writers will often use the term "new Mass" to describe what's coming, and, quite frankly, they're more likely to draw in those Catholics who have yet to hear the news, the ones who would never stop for a story on a Roman Missal but who will absolutely stop and take notice of a "new Mass."

I was able to do a case study of sorts this weekend, when I spent the day at a parish craft fair signing copies of my book The Essential Guide to Catholic Prayer and the Mass, which covers the new translation, in addition to many other aspects of Catholic prayer life. Here's how it went: Two people came over and voiced an opinion about the changes. One was outraged by the changes; one was grateful for them. But the rest of the people -- and there were dozens of regular parish folks throughout the day -- had very little information on what it all meant, other than reading a snippet in their parish bulletin, or they didn't know the changes were coming at all. No clue. Changes? What changes? You mean some of the prayers are going to change? (And this is in a parish where the pastor is offering twice-weekly classes on the coming changes.)

This is why, when I read comments belaboring the new vs. new point, I can't help but think of all the "regular" Catholics out there who are really still in the dark on this. They're not reading Catholic blogs. Many don't read their diocesan newspapers. Some don't even make it to Mass on a weekly basis. I hear from these Catholics -- after faith formation classes, on the sidelines of soccer games, at craft fairs, and pot lucks. These folks are not wrangling over semantics or theology; they just want to know, in the clearest terms, what's coming and how it will affect them.

For them, if the words they say at Mass are changing, if the words the priest says at Mass are changing, if some of the gestures they use at church are changing, it's new, no matter how you slice it or label it. Sure, we all know it's the new translation of the Roman Missal. Unfortunately, for many, many Catholics out there, that means nothing. New Mass? Ah, now they're listening. And then we can give them what they need to hear, Roman Missal and all.

Prime time for Catholics Come Home

2011-11-02T08:33:00.003-04:00

EPIC-National from Catholics Come Home on Vimeo.

For the first time, TV ads promoting the Catholic faith will be running on national, prime-time, network television, thanks to a new campaign from Catholics Come Home. The bilingual ads are scheduled to run from Dec. 16 through Jan. 8 on CBS, NBC, Univision, TBS, USA, TNT, CNN, Fox News, and other networks.

According to Catholics Come Home, the ads will highlight the "history, beauty, spirituality and accomplishments of the Catholic Church." The initiative will reach 250 million television viewers in more than 10,000 U.S. cities and every diocese throughout the United States, airing more than 400 times during the three-week period.

“These inspiring messages are sponsored by 30,000 Catholic families who want to invite neighbors, relatives, and co-workers to the largest family reunion in modern history” said Tom Peterson, founder of Catholics Come Home.

To view the ads, visit Catholics Come Home by clicking HERE.

Shaw: Vatican's financial proposals deserve more from its friends and foes

2011-10-31T12:11:00.000-04:00

By Russell Shaw

There’s a widespread impression that the international financial system which the United States and its friends put in place after World War II is breaking down. The old system may of course be patched up and limp along for some time to come, but sooner or later something else will take its place. What that will be no one now knows.

Against this background, it’s a pity that the Vatican's friends and foes hastened to all but torpedo its new statement on international financial reform right at the start. Issued by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace with an eye on an economic summit of world leaders, the Holy See’s proposals deserve a lot better than that.

For my money, the best one-paragraph explanation of the Vatican’s initiative was provided by The New York Times: “The document grows out of the Roman Catholic Church’s concerns about economic instability and widening inequality of income and wealth around the world, issues that transcend the power of national governments to address on their own.” With the possible exception of people nostalgic for the protectionism of the 1930s Smoot-Hawley Act, it would be difficult to find any sane person who takes exception to that.

The friends and foes of the document nevertheless seemed to go out of their way to undermine it by likening it in some way to the Occupy Wall Street movement. On the face of it, this was more than slightly absurd.

Occupy Wall Street is after all an amorphous, leftwing gaggle whose most notable feature up to now has been its lack of any clear program. By contrast, the Catholic Church has been developing a body of social teaching since the days of Pope Leo XIII in the late 19th century and continuing through Benedict XVI. The result by now is a well articulated and sophisticated set of principles addressing social and economic issues.

Still, what really produced “hyperventilation” (Bill Donohue’s word) among critics of the Vatican statement was undoubtedly its advocacy of a “global public authority” as a key component of a new international system committed to the common good.

It is not a new idea. Popes including Benedict XVI have been suggesting the same thing for several decades. And although it appears to conjure up images of the proverbial black helicopters among some, it should be borne in mind that the statement says the supranational authority it has in mind should be “set up gradually,” should be friendly to “free and stable markets,” “cannot be imposed by force,” and must arise from a “maturation of consciences” after extensive consultation. There is no suggestion in the document that the Pontifical Council imagines this will happen either soon or easily.

Perhaps the strongest argument for something of the sort is the process of globalization that is already such a marked feature of the contemporary world. Years ago, globalization fans like Thomas Friedman were touting its advent as something very like a panacea. In a day and age when the threat of a possible Greek default can rattle markets around the globe, however, it should be abundantly clear that globalization has minuses as well pluses. Here is a truism sufficient in itself to underline the need for some kind of global monitor — a “supranational public authority” in fact — with scope and outreach comparable to globalization itself.

The Holy See’s document is an invitation to a conversation, not a final word. The foes and friends have done their worst. Now let the conversation begin.

Russell Shaw is an OSV contributing editor.

Four tips for adapting to the 'new' Mass UPDATED

2011-10-29T08:25:00.004-04:00

UPDATE: The broken link to my recent piece on the new Roman Missal translation, over at the Huffington Post, has been fixed. Please try it again. It starts here and links there.

By Mary DeTurris Poust

Having come of age in the years after Vatican II, I never knew the Catholic Mass in Latin. In fact, the only version I know is the one that's been celebrated for the past 40 years. So I didn't take too kindly to the idea that the words and responses of the Mass would be changing, and I'd have to look at a written guide to get me through the prayers that have rolled off my tongue since childhood.

The impending changes to the English translation of the universal Roman Missal have sparked controversy among Catholics, to be sure. Some wonder why we need a new translation when the old one seemed to be working just fine. They see the new language--which brings the English more closely in line with the original Latin--as a return to a harsher time, a past that no longer fits our modern way of thinking. Others see the changes as a long time coming, a correction of a translation that was always slightly "off." Whatever side of the fence you're on, the changes are less than one month away. It's time to adapt and move forward. The new translation of the Roman Missal will go into effect on the first Sunday of Advent, November 27, which is the beginning of the Church year for Catholics.

So what will these changes mean for you? They will probably feel somewhat strange at first, and no doubt there will be some things that may never feel right. I'm not going to try to convince anyone that referring to Jesus as "consubstantial with the Father" in the Nicene Creed where we once had the almost-lilting "one in being with the Father" is ever going to feel normal, let alone be an improvement. But, if we approach the changes with an open mind and, more importantly, an open heart, we just might find our connection to the Mass reinvigorated for the first time in years, something Catholics in this country could sorely use.

Here are four basic guidelines for making the new Mass your own:

Get to know the Scriptural references behind some of the changes. When I first heard that the short prayer said before Communion was changing, I balked. Continue reading HERE.

We are all meant to walk "The Way"

2011-10-27T11:03:00.003-04:00

From my blog post at Not Strictly Spiritual today:

By Mary DeTurris Poust

I rarely go to the movies and almost never with my husband, Dennis, but last weekend I decided we were going to find the time -- make the time -- to see The Way with Martin Sheen. In recent years, pilgrimage has become an important part of my spiritual journey. And not just because I finally got the chance to go to Rome last year. Nope. In fact, my focus on pilgrimage began long before I'd ever renewed my passport, and that, as it turns out, is as it should be. We are all on a pilgrimage, whether we walk the 800 kilometers of the famed Camino de Santiago de Compostela, or never get past our neighborhood church.

Here's how I put it in the pilgrimage section of my latest book, The Essential Guide to Catholic Prayer and the Mass:

"When we think of pilgrimage, it's likely we imagine a journey to some far-off land. It's true that a pilgrimage in the traditional sense is a long journey, but our entire lives are meant to be a pilgrimage -- both physical and spiritual -- leading us ever closer to God.

"...The goal of pilgrimage is not to reach a physical destination but rather a spiritual one. Without leaving home, we can make a pilgrimage of the heart, an interior journey where we hope to meet God. Through our various methods of prayer -- vocal and silent, communal and private -- we make this pilgrimage with countless others around the world. We simply have to look at our very lives as pilgrim journeys, guided by the Spirit, our destination being the heart of God. It's a pilgrimage that often takes the better part of a lifetime."

Where are you now on your pilgrim journey? Perhaps an actual, physical pilgrimage might jump start things. You don't have to travel to France and Spain a la Martin Sheen's character to begin. A pilgrimage can be as simple as a visit to a new or historic church in your area, a shrine you've always wanted to see, the birthplace of a saint, or any other sacred place that leads you deeper into prayer. For me, I felt the first strong stirrings of pilgrimage when I went to the Shrine of the North American Martyrs (which you can read about HERE and HERE) a few years ago. As I camped in a tent on the beautiful grounds with my son's Boy Scout troop, I began to realize the significance of walking in sacred footsteps, of joining other believers in a literal journey toward holiness.

In the movie The Way, we get a wonderful up-close view of what the Camino is like. I certainly came away from it with a new appreciation for the courage and determination of those who undertake this level of pilgrimage. It is not for the feint of heart. And yet I know two people who have made this journey, and, in the back of my mind, I wonder if, perhaps, some day I will walk the Camino, either on my own or with Dennis or one of our children. Even seeing the rigorous terrain, the often-crowded sleeping conditions, and the many difficulties of the Way was not enough to make me cross the possibility off my list of potential pilgrim journeys. Quite the contrary. Seeing the film reminded me that pilgrimage is about leaving our comfort zones. Yes, physical comfort zones but also spiritual comfort zones. Pilgrimage -- as we see through the central characters of The Way -- is about looking at things we want to ignore, seeing in others what we've never seen before, exploring uncharted territory in our own hearts, healing our brokenness, finding our Truth...Continue reading HERE.

Some in pro-life movement say 'personhood' amendment could backfire

2011-10-26T10:16:00.001-04:00

Voters in Mississipi will decide via constitutional amendment Nov. 8 whether a fertilized human egg is a legal person, a controversial pro-life move that could set in motion a series of dramatic changes and challenges to abortion rights and regulations.

From a story in the New York Times:

With this far-reaching anti-abortion strategy, the proponents of what they call personhood amendments hope to reshape the national debate.

“I view it as transformative,” said Brad Prewitt, a lawyer and executive director of the Yes on 26 campaign, which is named for the Mississippi proposition. “Personhood is bigger than just shutting abortion clinics; it’s an opportunity for people to say that we’re made in the image of God.”

The amendment faces some unlikely opposition, however. In Mississippi, and in other states where similar amendments are pending, local bishops and National Right to Life have expressed reservations about the strategy, even if they are sympathetic to the overall goal. They say the "personhood" amendment could backfire on the pro-life movement by forcing the U.S. Supreme Court to take dramatic action, thereby undoing the slow but steady chipping away of abortion rights over recent years.

Bishops address threats to religious liberty

2011-10-25T13:33:00.002-04:00

Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles spells out the increasing threats to religious liberty in this First Things piece:

We are slowly losing our sense of religious liberty in America.

There is much evidence to suggest that our society no longer values the public role of religion or recognizes the importance of religious freedom as a basic right. As scholars like Harvard’s Mary Ann Glendon and Michael Sandel have observed, our courts and government agencies increasingly treat the right to hold and express religious beliefs as only one of many private lifestyle options. And, they observe, this right is often “trumped” in the face of challenges from competing rights or interests deemed to be more important.

These are among the reasons the U.S. Catholic bishops recently established a new Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty. My brother bishops and I are deeply concerned that believers’ liberties—and the Church’s freedom to carry out her mission—are threatened today, as they never have been before in our country’s history.

Catholics have always believed that we serve our country best as citizens when we are trying to be totally faithful to the teachings of Jesus Christ and his Church. And since before the founding of the American Republic, Catholics—individually and institutionally—have worked with government agencies at all levels to provide vital social services, education, and health care.

But lately, this is becoming harder and harder for us to do....Continue reading HERE.

Archbishop Dolan on Sarandon's 'Nazi' comment

2011-10-20T10:44:00.002-04:00

I hate to give Susan Sarandon any more publicity than she's already getting, but her reference to Pope Benedict XVI as a"Nazi" not once but twice really can't be ignored.

On his blog, Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York gets to the heart of the matter. Here's the archbishop's blog post in its entirety:

Cheap Shots

"I am grateful to the New York Daily News for their editorial in today’s paper that chastises Susan Sarandon, because she “defamed” our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, with her “grotesque characterization” that he is a Nazi. The Daily News also correctly notes that she did this because, “it is clear, she despises the church’s moral teachings.”

"Here is the editorial from the Daily News:

Fresh from rallying the troops at Occupy Wall Street, actress Susan Sarandon defamed Pope Benedict, spiritual leader of the world’s 1 billion Catholics, as a “Nazi.”

She did it twice, in fact, persisting in the grotesque characterization even after an interviewer chided her for making such a remark. Sarandon meant what she said because, it is clear, she despises the church’s moral teachings.

And that, for her, justifies placing the Pope in the category of a mass-murdering perpetrator of evil beyond description.

His short-lived membership as a teen in the Hitler Youth, recognized by Jewish leaders as a mandate of German society at the time, is but a pretext for Sarandon’s slander.

The Catholic League and the Anti-Defamation League united in condemnation. The world now awaits the sort of outcry that greeted Hank Williams after he mentioned the name of Adolf Hitler inartfully close to that of President Obama.

Williams was fired from his gig belting out the “Monday Night Football” song. Doubtless Sarandon faces no such opprobrium because so very often the Catholic Church is considered fair game for anything.

"I am grateful as well for the comments made by the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights and the Anti-Defamation League, the world’s leading organization fighting anti-Semitism, for their comments condemning Sarandon’s hateful remarks.

"Sadly, the Daily News is also probably right that Sarandon will face no public fall-out for her remarks, “because so very often the Catholic Church is considered fair game for anything.”

"However, with support from the Daily News, the Catholic League and the ADL, we might one day be able to turn that tide."

Less is not more, especially when it comes to Mass

2011-10-19T09:33:00.002-04:00

By Mary DeTurris Poust

A couple of weeks ago, I experienced something at Mass that I'd never seen or heard before in my almost half-century of life as a Catholic. My family was sitting up in the second or third row, our usual spot in our very large suburban parish. Starting at the Eucharistic prayer and lasting through the Sign of Peace, a baby somewhere toward the back half of the church was screaming. I'm not talking fussing and cooing or even an occasional bout of serious crying. I'm talking full-out, top-of-his-lungs, screaming bloody murder. I'm not sure how the priest was even able to concentrate on the words he was saying. Well, actually, he obviously wasn't able to concentrate, and that's where things get interesting.

About halfway through the Eucharistic prayer, the priest simply stopped and stared in the direction of the screaming for what felt like an hour but was probably about 15 seconds. It was pretty clear to those of us in the front that he was being pushed to his limit. This priest (who is not the pastor) is a peaceful, kind, loving, compassionate guy, a really good priest. Anyway, the parents of this baby did not take the hint, so the screaming continued right along with the rest of the Eucharistic prayer and into the Our Father. At that point the priest grimaced and stood by silently as the rest of us continued to pray.

I leaned over to my husband and said, "I think father is going to lose it." And that was just about when he did. As we approached the Sign of Peace, he stopped again and pleaded with them amid the screaming: "Will you please take the baby out of the church? Please?" Talk about an awkward moment. I couldn't see what was going on behind me but I felt myself holding my breath as I waited to see what happened next. I guess the family finally got the message and headed out to the Gathering Space, or, more likely, out of the church. Perhaps for good.

I heard reports that there were many phone calls and emails to the parish in the days to come, but I also heard the same comment repeated to me by several people regarding the offending parents: "At least they were there."

Well, okay, let's start with that. I remember those days of crying babies. I've been there three different times, armed with board books about the saints and the occasional bag of Cheerios. We've stood in the back with a fussy infant. We've listened to the homily over the sound system while chasing a rambunctious toddler around the Gathering Space. We've questioned whether there was a point to our attending at all when we seemed to hear so little of the Mass. But we always, always stepped outside when the fussing became a distraction to the people around us.

Why, then, in recent years, have we taken this "at least they were there" attitude for everything from screaming babies, to inappropriate dress, to kids playing video games in the pews, to people walking up to Communion chewing gum? Do we honestly think that by expecting the bare minimum from people in terms of respect for the Mass and for others we'll hold onto them for a little while longer? Is this the way to bring people to Jesus, by asking nothing of them, not even common courtesy?

Think about it: If you were in a nice restaurant with your family, enjoying an expensive dinner, chances are you'd be a bit miffed by a couple with a screaming baby at the next table. At least if they didn't get up and try to rectify the situation. Or, if you were at a movie theater catching the latest animated feature with your kids and the folks behind you let their toddler scream through the showing, you probably wouldn't think: Well, at least they were there. More likely, you'd wonder how anyone could be so self-absorbed that they would think it was acceptable to ruin an experience for everyone else simply because they didn't feel like inconveniencing themselves.

I'm not saying it was necessarily the right thing to do, to call people out from the altar and ask them leave, but excusing people for all their bad behaviors at church has gotten us nowhere. All that does is breed even more disrespect for the Mass, for the Eucharist, for the parish community. If anything goes, soon nobody goes -- because who wants to belong to something that doesn't stand for anything or that doesn't respect itself enough to demand things of its members. Sometimes things worth our time and effort come with rules and expectations. Mass should be one of them.

Guess who is prime target of religious persecution in the United States?

2011-10-17T09:38:00.001-04:00

By Russell Shaw

“What theCatholic Church in the United States really needs to stiffen its backbone is agood persecution.” How often, I wonder, have I heard somebody say somethinglike that? How often have I said something like it myself?

Be carefulwhat you ask for — you may get it. The persecution of religion in America hasbegun, with the Catholic Church a prime target.

Don’t thinkI’m making the wild-eyed claim that this new persecution either is or ever islikely to become a bloody one resembling the purges of the French and Mexicanrevolutions or the communist war on religion—eruptions of violence in whichthousands of clergy, religious, and lay faithful were killed. It won’t be arepetition of the Spanish Civil War, just 75 years ago, when death squads ofthe anticlerical left executed the incredible total of 12 bishops, 283religious women, 4,184 priests, 2,365 religious men, and an unknown number oflaity whose only crime was to be faithful Catholics.

No, the persecution of religion inthe United States won’t be like that. It will be a tight-lipped campaign of secularistinspiration in which the coercive power of the state is brought to bear on church-relatedinstitutions to act against conscience or go out of business.

As a case in point, consider what’sbeen happening lately in Illinois. Catholic Charities in the Dioceses ofRockford and Peoria has abandoned the foster care field rather than fall inline with a new state law requiring placements with unmarried couples living incivil unions. (Three other dioceses are continuing to fight the law in court.)

Currently, too, the Supreme Court,having heard oral arguments, is mulling a case involving a teacher in aMissouri Synod Lutheran school who claims her rights were violated because shelost her job after getting sick. At the heart of the dispute is whether thegovernment or the church gets to decide who is and isn’t a “minister” ofreligion.

During oral argument, the attorneyrepresenting the Obama administration said in effect that government could compelthe Catholic Church to ordain women priests if it reached the point of wantingto do that in the name of enforcing anti-discrimination laws. Never mind theFirst Amendment.

These and other such controversies revolvearound efforts to invoke government power against religious bodies on behalf ofrights claimed by groups that range from homosexuals seeking same-sex marriageto federal bureaucrats pushing coverage for contraception and sterilization inreligious employers’ health plans. Church-related schools, hospitals, andsocial services are targets now, but who can say tell where it might end?

Yes, there’s a silver lining. PopeBenedict XVI pointed it out during his September pastoral visit to Germany (assecularized a Western country as now exists). The lesson of history, he said,is that secularization aimed at reducing the worldly power of the Church oftenhas the unintended consequence (unintended by the secularists anyway) ofpurifying the Church for its spiritualmission.

That’s a comforting thought. Buteven so religion has a duty to fight back against the secularist impulse — notleast, in the United States, in defense of a church-state arrangement that’sserved the nation well but now is at risk of falling victim to power-hungrysecularism.

In a letter to President Obamaprotesting administration moves against the Church, Archbishop Timothy Dolan ofNew York, president of the Catholic bishops’ conference, warned of aconfrontation threatening “a national conflict between church and state ofenormous proportions.” The persecution has started.

Russell Shaw is an OSV contributing editor.

Breaking news: Kansas City bishop indicted

2011-10-14T15:40:00.002-04:00

From a breaking New York Times story:

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Roman Catholic bishop of Kansas City, Robert Finn, and the diocese he leads have been indicted by a county grand jury on a charge of failure to report suspected child abuse in the case of a priest who had been accused of taking lewd photographs of young girls.

The indictment is the first ever of a Catholic bishop in the 25 years since the scandal over sexual abuse by priests first became public in the United States.
Bishop Finn is accused of covering up abuse that occurred as recently as last year — almost 10 years since the nation’s Catholic bishops passed a charter pledging to report suspected abusers to law enforcement authorities.
The bishop has acknowledged that he knew of the existence of the photos last December but did not turn them over to the police until May.
The indictment was announced on Friday by the Jackson County prosecutor, Jean Peters Baker. It had been under seal since Oct. 6 because the bishop was out of the country. He returned on Thursday.
“This is about protecting children,” Ms. Baker said.

The bishop and the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph were charged with one count each, a misdemeanor.

Bishop Finn appeared in court at 1 p.m. and pleaded not guilty, as did lawyers for the diocese.
Bishop Finn said in a statement, “We will meet these announcements with a steady resolve and a vigorous defense.”
He said that he and the diocese had given “complete cooperation” to law enforcement. He also pointed to steps he had taken since the scandal first became public, which included commissioning a report to look into the case, and reinforcing procedures for handling allegations of abuse.
The priest accused of taking the lewd photos, the Rev. Shawn Ratigan, was arrested in May and has been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of taking indecent photographs of young girls, most recently during an Easter egg hunt last spring.
His case prompted a civil lawsuit filed in August that asserts that between December 2010 and May 2011, Father Ratigan attended children’s birthday parties, spent weekends in the homes of parish families, hosted the Easter egg hunt and presided, with the bishop’s permission, at a girl’s First Communion.

Read the full story HERE.

'Anybody But Catholics' at Dept. of HHS

2011-10-14T13:51:00.004-04:00

Sister Mary Ann Walsh, RSM, over at the USCCB Media Blog has a great post on a frightening reality, what she calls an "unwritten reg" at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Sister Mary Ann has labeled this unofficial regulation the "ABC Rule, Anybody But Catholics," which was evident most recently in an HHS decision to deny the USCCB's Office of Migration and Refugee Services a grant to continue its highly successful program for victims of human trafficking.

From Sister Mary Ann's post:

The USCCB program excelled because of its anytime-anywhere approach. It had extraordinary reach, something valued by people who work to free men, women and children from slavery. Because of USCCB’s organizational capacity, MRS could respond immediately. Should an Immigration Enforcement official find a vulnerable child, for example, a call to the MRS program got safe housing immediately. There was not the delay of weeks that one associates with programs that lack such a network.

The program worked well on the ground. but not so well for distant administrators promoting the abortion and contraceptive agenda, who bristle at the fact that in accord with church teaching, USCCB won’t facilitate taking innocent life, sterilization and artificial contraception. MRS anti-trafficking programs ran successfully for six years in harmony with these moral convictions until the American Civil Liberties Union brought suit against the government for not forcing the USCCB program to provide these services as a part of the program. The suit’s outcome is pending, but ORR apparently has made its own decision apart from any judgment of the court. So much for the Administration’s guarantee of conscience protection.

...Trafficking of human beings is one of the great modern-day scandals, but at least until now, the U.S. government sought to sincerely address the issue. It asked USCCB for help when regional programs weren’t reaching victims outside the usual hotspots for trafficking. USCCB created an extraordinary program in conjunction with several partners, Christian and secular, including Lutheran Family Services, Jewish Family Services, Salvation Army, YMCA affiliates, domestic violence shelters, World Relief and others. Only one-third of its subcontractors were Catholic-affiliated, but with the USCCB infrastructure they reached virtually everywhere in the USA.

Now ORR seems to have yielded to abortion politics. It has undercut a worthy program, limiting the numbers served, while increasing the time and money it will take to serve them.

Apparently HHS rules about the benefits of experience and cost effectiveness can be waived. So can rules about being fully operational by a certain date. What can’t be waived is the new, albeit unwritten rule of HHS, the ABC rule – Anybody But Catholics.

Read the full post HERE.

OSV goes to the movies

2011-10-14T09:06:00.002-04:00

By Sarah Hayes
It's not too often that a journalist working for a Catholic newsweekly gets the chance to attend a glamorous event such as a movie premiere (what to wear??), but that's the position I find myself in today. And as a longtime movie buff, I'm very excited.
I'm in Philadelphia to represent OSV at the premiere of "The Mighty Macs," the story of the amazing Immaculata College (now University) women's basketball team, which won a few national titles in the early 1970s under the coaching of Hall of Famer Cathy Rush. The movie, written and directed by Catholic filmmaker Tim Chambers, stars Carla Gugino, David Boreanaz and Oscar winner Ellen Burstyn.
Philadelphia has been the scene of many great movies, including, of course, "Rocky." And like that scrappy underdog Rocky Balboa, the Immaculata players had to overcome seemingly insurmountable odds to succeed. A key part of that success was the support of the sisters who run Immaculata.
Later today, I'll be attending a press conference with Rush, Chambers and a few original Mighty Mac players. Then it's red-carpet time with the movie's stars and Philadelphia VIPs, including Archbishop Charles Chaput. I just hope I'm not too starstruck to interview them!
Check out updates from the premiere on OSV's Twitter feed. Follow the #mightymacs hashtag.
Sarah Hayes is OSV's presentation editor.

Would you pass this Catholic quiz?

2011-10-14T07:55:00.002-04:00

Can you define these "Words Every Catholic Should Know," as featured in the Oct. 23 issue of Our Sunday Visitor? (The headline says there are 19 words, but I'm counting only 17. I wonder what it says about me if I can't even see the words I'm supposed to know.)

Check it out, and see how you measure up:

Holy Trinity: The mystery of one God in Three Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Incarnation: When the Son of God assumed human nature and became man.

Transubstantiation: When, in the consecration of the bread and wine, there occurs the change of the entire substance of the bread into the Body of Christ, and the entire substance of the wine into the Blood of Christ.

Angel: A spiritual, personal and immortal creature, with intelligence and free will, who glorifies God without ceasing and who serves God as a messenger of his saving plan. Not a person who has died and gone to heaven.

Sanctifying grace: Grace that heals our wounded human nature by giving us a share in the divine life of the Trinity. A habitual and supernatural gift that perfects and makes us holy.

Actual grace: Temporary supernatural intervention by God to enlighten the mind or strengthen the will to perform supernatural actions that lead to heaven.

Sin: Any intentional thought, word, deed or omission that violates God’s law.

Original sin: The sin by which the first humans disobeyed God, resulting in the loss of original holiness. Also, the fallen state of human nature that affects every person.

Concupiscence: An inclination to sin, due to original sin, which remains even after baptism.

Mortal sin: Grave infraction of the law of God that destroys divine life (sanctifying grace) in the soul of the sinner. For sin to be mortal, it must involve grave matter, full knowledge of the evil of the act, and deliberate consent of the will.

Venial sin: Sin that diminishes and wounds but does not destroy the divine life (sanctifying grace) in the soul of the sinner.

Heaven: Complete and eternal happiness with God and all the blessed.

Purgatory: Temporary state after death whereby souls who die in a state of sanctifying grace are purified from sin and its effects and are made ready for eternal life with God.

Hell: State of definitive self-exclusion from communion with God and the blessed; unending misery reserved for those who freely choose not to repent of mortal sin before death.

Doctrine: A revealed teaching of Christ that is irreversible.

Discipline: A man-made ordinance subject to change.

Immaculate Conception: The conception of the Virgin Mary, who through the anticipated merits won by Jesus Christ through his death and resurrection, was preserved immune from original sin.

Adapted, with permission, from the Diocese of Harrisburg’s “Basic Catholic Vocabulary” list for new catechists.

Silence speaks volumes, if we're willing to listen

2011-10-13T13:47:00.002-04:00

Silence has been a recurring theme for me lately, including my recent post here about Pope Benedict XVI's challenge to communicators to embrace real silence in their lives. So I thought I'd share my latest Life Lines column, which also happens to focus on silence and spiritual life:

By Mary DeTurris Poust

If your house is anything like our house (and I’m kind of selfishly hoping it is), the noise hovers just below earsplitting. I’m not just referring to the usual kid noises—talking, singing, whistling, whining. I’m talking about noise that rises to a whole new level, driven higher and higher by a culture totally ill at ease with silence.

Think about what you hear during a typical one-hour period. Phone, TV, computer, doorbell, even washers and dryers that “sing” when the cycle is complete. If you take it a step further, you can find noise of an entirely different—but no less distracting—kind. Facebook, instant messaging, Twitter and other online communication may be silent on the surface but it is noise just the same.

Not long ago, when our family was uncharacteristically silent as we puttered around the kitchen making dinner and completing homework, my teenager blurted out: “Somebody say something. It’s too quiet.” Can it ever be too quiet? Our society would like us to think so. Like frantic symphony conductors, we are challenged to make the many different parts of our lives play all at once and in harmony, but mostly all we get from that is a lot of mental and spiritual dissonance.

I find I crave slowness and silence more with each passing year. I work at home, so I actually do get a heavy dose of silence on a regular basis. Other than the occasional phone call and my sporadic “conversations” with our two cats, I’m silent for about six hours a day, but it’s not the kind of silence that heals the soul and leaves me refreshed for whatever life throws my way. It helps, for sure, but healing silence comes only through extended periods of quiet and solitude.

Enter the silent retreat, something few of us get to experience nowadays but so worth the time it takes to drive to the monastery or retreat center. Because no matter how silent we may try to be at home now and then, nothing can prepare you for the deep but difficult work of real silence.

This is where we confront ourselves and many of the things we try to hide amid the noise of our daily lives. With no iPods or social networking, no televisions or telephones, we come face to face with our true selves, and, if we really make good use of our silent time through prayer, face to face with God.

From what I’ve experienced on silent retreat, I think of it as a kind of spiritual detox. First there’s denial, as in, why am I even here? I should go home and do the laundry and clean the bathrooms. Then the anger phase: What’s the point? I don’t hear God. I don’t think my prayers are working.

With each passing hour, however, things begin to shift. Walls go down and emotions surface. I begin to recognize how much I fear real silence and how easy it is to drown out the Spirit. It is not unusual, on silent retreat, to see people crying, apparently for no reason at all. Except when you’re on silent retreat, you know very well that there is a reason, or many reasons. By the time I leave, I am clinging to every last second of silence, already looking forward to the next time I can come back to a place that is so elusive no matter how hard I try to recreate it at home.

When I returned from my last retreat, my teenager—the same one who couldn’t bear a moment of silence—asked if he could come with me the next time I head to the Trappist abbey. Silence speaks volumes, it seems. It echoes in our words and actions, long after we’ve left it behind. Its scent lingers on us, giving others a taste of what’s possible when we listen, as St. Benedict taught, with the “ear of our heart.”

UPDATE 3: Former ZENIT publisher defends Legion actions

2011-10-11T14:13:00.000-04:00

[Updated below with Jesus Colina's responses, and then with Father William's response.]

The Catholic media world was rocked yesterday by the resignation en masse of the editors of Zenit, the international Church news agency based in Rome which publishes in seven languages to an email list of some 450,000 people. It followed the recent resignation of Zenit cofounder and chief editor Jesus Colina, citing differences with the agency's sponsor, the scandal-tarnished Legion of Christ.

Many reports — with the exception of Catholic News Service — did not include any comments from the Legion itself to the Zenit resignations.

Here's an interview I did today by email with Legion of Christ Father Thomas Williams, an American who served as Zenit's publisher since the year of its founding until recently.

OSV Newsweekly: The ZENIT editors, echoing Jesus Colina, say ZENIT was never intended to be identified with one congregation, but that the Legion recently has been insisting on closer institutional identification. Is that true, and to what extent, and if so, why?

Father Thomas Williams: The Legion has been closely involved with Zenit from the outset (1997), investing seed money, hiring the needed personnel, and participating in weekly editorial meetings. It was in 1997 that I began working as publisher of Zenit, a role I played until recently, when that post was assumed by Father Oscar Nader. Earlier on, we thought it appropriate to downplay the Legion’s involvement, so that people would see that Zenit was a truly ecclesial news agency, at the service of the universal Church and not of particular interests. Perhaps in hindsight this wasn’t the best way to do things, but it seemed so at the time. In our efforts toward greater transparency, however, we have recently made the Legion’s involvement plain for everyone to see.

It’s important to note that Zenit’s policy has always been to draw from and represent as much as possible the universality of the Church. We have had team members, including in positions of great responsibility, from a broad variety of backgrounds and spiritualities, such as the Teresian movement, Rinnovamento nello Spirito, the Emmanuel Community, Opus Dei, the Charismatic Renewal, Communion and Liberation, and Regnum Christi. The new CEO of Zenit, Alberto Ramírez, who began working this past February, is a supernumerary of Opus Dei.

Zenit journalists have always enjoyed great flexibility and freedom in their reporting, with the only stipulation that they must reflect communion with the Pope and the Church, since this is Zenit’s identity as “The World Seen From Rome.”

Zenit has never been and never will be an instrument of propaganda for any institution within the Church. Its stated mission is to serve the Church by spreading Church teaching and reporting objectively and as impartially as possible on the life of the Church and issues that are important to Catholics.

OSV: Colina says he was promised a financial system in which ZENIT funds would be kept transparently and separately from congregation funds, but that that never came to pass. Is that true, and if so, why?

Father Williams: I’m not sure why he said that. Zenit’s accounts have always been separate from the Legion’s since the beginning. The Legion has never drawn money from Zenit and would never do so. Legion members such as myself who have worked with Zenit for years do not even draw a salary. Initially the Legion lent money to Zenit to get it started, but Zenit paid the Legion back as soon as it was able—without interest, of course. [Editor's note: I have emailed Colina a request for comment on this discrepancy, and will update with his response.]

[UPDATE 10/12/11 6:35 p.m.: Here is Jesus Colina's reply:
Jesus Colina: Here is a short note to explain why I said that when ZENIT’s editorial team asked for transparency from the Legion, nothing was done.

Exactly two years ago during a general meeting of ZENIT, the entire editorial team asked the Legionaries of Christ for practical administrative independence from the Legion. In reality, this petition asked the Legion to respect the identity that ZENIT sought from the very beginning: an independent news service that operated administratively, economically and editorially separate from the Legion.

In fact, the “seed money” referred to by Father Thomas Williams came from a donation made by Aid to the Church in Need, and not from the Legion. Father Williams might not be aware of this fact, as he was not involved with ZENIT at its earliest stages. Father Williams does know, however, and he himself has stated, that the Legion does not donate or help ZENIT raise money for its operating expenses.

The administration of ZENIT’s funds, and ZENIT’s infrastructure, however, has slowly become more and more intertwined with that of the Legion. In 2009, however, Father Thomas Williams, then publisher of ZENIT, agreed to the team’s request for a separate administration, and he passed the request to Father Luis Garza, then vicar general of the Legion and president of ZENIT’s board. Father Garza also recognized the need to create an administrative system that was independent and that published detailed, annual reports of ZENIT’s finances.

What happened after this meeting?

— ZENIT’s bank accounts -- which are indeed separate accounts -- continued to be controlled by the Legion. This is to say, for ZENIT to access its separate accounts, we needed the signature of the Legion.
— Everything possible was done to unite the administration of ZENIT with that of Integer, which has since been dismantled by Cardinal Velasio de Paolis, and two of Integer’s representatives were put on the Board of ZENIT.
— A detailed report of ZENIT’s accounts was never published or made available to ZENIT’s employees, benefactors and subscribers.

As I have already said, I am morally convinced that all of the money ZENIT received from readers has been used only by and for ZENIT, but I cannot prove or verify that belief due to a lack of information. When one lives by donations, this is a duty, a duty that the Legionaries committed themselves to before the entire team.

I take advantage of this opportunity to thank Father Thomas for his priestly witness, which he has given me during many years.]

OSV: In announcing his resignation, Colina described a "gradual mutual loss of trust." Did the Legion lose trust in Colina, and why?

Father Williams: Things are always more complicated than they seem.

In recent years, as Jesús Colina became more and more involved in pursuits outside of Zenit, such as the H2O project, it became harder and harder to separate the different institutions, and many people assumed that they were one and the same. At one point Jesús suggested that Zenit consider taking over H2O, but after carefully analyzing its business plan, it seemed inadvisable to do so. H2O had considerable debts and no apparent way of generating the revenue necessary to sustain itself. At the same time, H2O began hiring members of Zenit’s staff and so many people were working simultaneously for both companies, without clear guidelines of separation in their work. Since they reported to Jesús in both capacities, confusion was inevitable. Something needed to be done to remove this confusion.

Zenit would never have existed without Jesús as cofounder, since he spearheaded its efforts from the beginning as editorial director and was essential to its growth. I believe that Zenit, and certainly I personally, have nothing but gratitude and appreciation for his talents and dedication.

OSV: One of the reasons Colina cites for his loss of trust is "the manner in which the Legion of Christ hid the information about Father Marcial Maciel," and he cites particularly the homily at a Legion Mass a month after Father Maciel's death in which the homilist (whom he doesn't name) continued to hold out the Legion founder as a role model, despite the fact that at that point, Legion leadership surely knew about his double-life and moral depravity. Any comment?

Father Williams: Unfortunately, the homilist Jesús is referring to was not a Legionary at all, but a member of the Roman Curia. I think it inappropriate for me to mention his name. A month after Fr Maciel’s death, no Legionary that I know of was holding him up as a role model.

This has been a difficult time for all of us, and initially, all of us struggled with the news of Fr Maciel, including Jesús, since it seemed so incredible. Little by little, we have all had to deal with it. I’m sure mistakes were made, but I have never seen evidence of malice.

[UPDATE 2: Jesus Colina added this comment to his email to me:
Regarding Fr. Thomas’ statement “A month after Fr Maciel’s death, no Legionary that I know of was holding him up as a role model”, I ask that you consider this letter written after the homily you mentioned, by Father Alvaro Corcuera, general-director of the Legionaries of Christ.

Thy Kingdom Come! ALVARO CORCUERA, L.C Mexico City, March 24, 2008 
To all Regnum Christi Team Leaders  
My dear Friends in Christ,  I send you my Easter greetings along with my heartfelt good wishes and a special remembrance in my prayers. God grant that this special season the Church offers us will be one of deep prayer and closer contact with Christ. How grateful we ought to be that God wished to come and redeem us, and that he wished to rely on us to carry his message of salvation to others.
On the one hand, this year’s Easter is tinged with special sorrow, being our first one without Nuestro Padre’s physical presence—but it also is one of deep joy and hope knowing that he accompanies us much more closely from heaven. As one, large family we have wished to celebrate and to proclaim to the world that God has triumphed; and using a phrase from the rite of incorporation into the Movement, we say once again, “It is our responsibility, Lord, and it depends on us…”. Now more than ever it is our responsibility to maintain the spirit God has given us through Nuestro Padre.
Daily, we can experience the fruits of holiness that God continually generates in Regnum Christi, and you as team leaders play a particularly important role in this work. I want to invite you to join me in reflecting together on the vital mission that is yours as key elements in our sections. In this respect, Nuestro Padre taught us that the hallmark of team leaders must be their deep, affective and effective integration with the Movement, their leadership, their sense of initiative, and their humility. The service they give their team members and hence the entire section must be directed toward the fidelity, dynamism and the constant growth of all the members of their teams and their apostolic endeavors.
On September 7, 1994, Nuestro Padre wrote a letter to ECYD team leaders, on which I would like to base myself to offer you some reflections that will help you grow daily in your awareness of your vocation as formators, to which God has called you.
The first image we can turn to is that of being light for your brothers and sisters. Christ tells us to be “light for the world” and he asks us let our light “shine before others” (Mt. 5:14. 16). Furthermore, he spoke of himself as “the true light that enlightens everyone who comes into this world” (Jn. 1:9). Therefore, if we want to be light for others, we must belong to Christ. Belonging to Christ means having him as my life’s ideal, the model of my existence, loving him with all my heart, following him wherever he goes. It would be empty and a mirage to try to be good cofounders, formators in Regnum Christi, if Christ’s love didn’t burn in our heart, if he weren’t the highest ideal and the truest meaning of our existence.
It is not enough merely to be light, Christ is asking more of us. He wants our light to shine, to be a true beacon to guide the souls he has placed in our care. Thus the team leader becomes the leader that guides and leads the other team members, who shines before them, not with the radiance of his personal qualities but with the splendor of the Truth which is Christ.
Another image Nuestro Padre refers to in the aforementioned letter is that of the Good Shepherd. Using this picture of Christ we can more easily understand that through their personal witness and leadership, their personal dialog and other adequate means, team leaders are called to work thoroughly and maturely so that their team members fulfill their commitments faithfully, grow in their Christian life, learn, love and defend the Movement, and become active and enthusiastic in their action. After the example of the Good Shepherd, you are in a certain sense guides, and responsible for the souls of your team members. You already know the value he gives an individual soul, for whose salvation he suffered and poured out his blood on Calvary. Ask him in prayer to help you understand the infinite value of every single soul he redeemed. As a Good Shepherd, he gave his life in order to rescue and save each and every human being without pausing to think how much he might like or dislike them. Learn to look at each team member placed in your care through the eyes of faith. Look beyond any type of qualities they may have and discover in them the human being for whom Christ died on the Cross, a son or daughter of God, with all of the dignity this implies. This outlook of faith regarding the value of each person will help you to see in them a potential apostle of Christ’s Kingdom, for whom it is worth suffering and sacrificing yourself since Christ didn’t hesitate to do so first, on the cross.
Against the backdrop of these considerations, I invite you to work on the following aspects proper to your role as formators and team leaders in your sections:
1. Know your faith and know Regnum Christi. We know that no one gives what he doesn’t have and less still if he doesn't even know it. If we want to be light, to be true guides for the souls given us, we have to prepare ourselves for this mission. Go to the bottom the Gospel, Christian spirituality and Regnum Christi’s spirituality. Set aside time to read the Pope’s encyclicals and discourses. The Catechism of the Catholic Church. Take an active part in the study circles the Movement offers its members, its summer courses for formators and team leaders. Learn to master the art of the written and spoken word, and the art of debate. Develop whatever will help you to communicate ideas, and strengthen the very content of your Christian faith. Christ and Regnum Christi need you to be formed, to be leaders so that you can form leaders. There is no substitute for personal formation: Enthusiasm, fervor and wanting to be generous aren’t enough. How effective you will be in your mission depends partially on the degree of personal formation you have acquired. If we have team leaders possessed with love for Christ, generous and well formed, then we can be sure that the Movement will bear the fruits we all hope for. Now more than ever, God calls us to be a Movement of saints!
2. Personal attention through dialog with your team members. Personal dialog is a golden opportunity God gives you to know your sheep and for them to know you (cfr Jn. 10:14). It is also a means to foster a sincere and unselfish friendship with each one of the members, trying to bring out the best in each one. What is typical of the dialog, as a complement to spiritual direction or spiritual guidance, is the examination of various elements of the life of a Regnum Christi member such as growth, the apostolate, presence at the specifically RC activities, personal contribution to the Movement’s works, integration with the other teammates, initiatives and suggestions for the team or section, and anything else you might freely want to mention to them. As you can see, through this activity you can do the work of forging your team members’ apostolic zeal, you can engage them in the common mission, encourage them to invite other members to the Church, in short, you can make them feel that the Movement is also in their hands. Obviously,in order to meet this goal we must go beyond the strict time allotted to the dialog; apply personal attention in the full breadth of its meaning. This will mean showing authentic and sincere concern for the other person, for their human, family and spiritual welfare; being there for them in their difficulties; sharing in their happiness and successes; offering comfort in times of sadness and failure.
3. Motivate each member and support them in their apostolate. In his latest encyclical, Spe Salvi, the Holy Father states that, “Being in communion with Jesus Christ draws us into his “being for all”; it makes it our own way of being. He commits us to live for others, but only through communion with him does it become possible truly to be there for others. [...] Love of God leads to participation in the justice and generosity of God towards others. Loving God requires an interior freedom from all possessions and all material goods: the love of God is revealed in responsibility for others.” (Benedict XVI, Spe Salvi, n. 28). May Christ’s call to live for others lead you always to seek what is best for each member of your section and to be very close to them as they form themselves into true men and women of the Kingdom. In this regard, I want to ask you for your special help in continuing to make ECYD grow. Right there is the future of the Movement. How often Nuestro Padre told us so, again and again! If we want robust, apostolically active sections we need a strong and solid ECYD that is constantly feeding new life into the youth sections.   I am certain that you understand your mission of being light, formators andcofounders, and that being team leaders is not something sporadic or circumstantial in your lives, even more so after the example Nuestro Padre left us. Being a team leader is for each one of you a true, apostolic mission. I sincerely thank you for all your availability and generosity to further the mission of extending Christ’s Kingdom in the hearts of men and of societies. Christ himself is the first one to rejoice and he will be the one to give you the reward you deserve. Let us daily ask Mary to grant us a Regnum Christi and ECYD that are robust, vigorous and dynamic realities, where we forge the apostles Christ needs at this time in history.
I assure you and the members of your teams of a constant remembrance in my prayers before the Blessed Sacrament. Yours affectionately in Christ,   Fr. Alvaro Corcuera, LC]

[UPDATE 3: Father Williams responds: “Thank you for this clarification. I stand corrected.”

OSV: What do you make of the fact that the other Zenit editors resigned en masse, and some at least are following Colina to a new Catholic media venture?

Father Williams: I wish Jesús well in all his endeavors, and I am sure he means to continue to serve the Church through the media. Sure, it hurts to see several editors invited by Jesús to leave Zenit to work for him, but I sincerely hope that all of them continue to flourish both professionally and spiritually. Our job now is to see that Zenit continues to accomplish the work it was founded to do. There is room for many evangelizers in the Church, and a little more fraternal “competition” is good for all of us.

OSV: What are Zenit’s plans for the immediate future?

Father Williams: This is a critical time for us. The most important thing is to assure continuity with Zenit’s news services, which, with daily editions in seven languages, is no small feat! We have many exceptional journalists, and we will need to hire more to fill the gaps that have been left. I believe that God has blessed us from the beginning of Zenit’s existence, and trust Him to keep strengthening and sustaining us. We have received abundant mail recently from friends all over the world who appreciate the work Zenit does and want to show their support. There will be some tough times ahead, but with God’s help, we will continue to serve the Church throughout the world with an even better news service.

OSV: How will Zenit look different in the future from what it did yesterday? And what does "plainer" Legion involvement mean?

Father Williams: The media have evolved considerably in recent years, but people will always have a need for content. The forms of presentation may change, as well as interactivity, but the ideas behind the presentation, the message behind the form, will always be essential. Zenit will always focus, as it has since its inception, on getting out the Pope’s words to all who wish to hear them. We have also, seen, however, that there is a great thirst among Catholics for culture, for spirituality, for “soft” news as well as “hard” news. Zenit will try to tailor its production to the needs of the new evangelization, which are the needs of Catholics and people of good will everywhere.

Regarding the Legion’s involvement, it will continue to be what it has always been: behind the scenes support and counsel. It will be “plainer” in the sense that people will be more aware of the Legion’s involvement, but the extent of that involvement won’t change. The strength of Zenit is its lay apostles, its committed journalists. There has never been editorial review by Legionaries prior to publication. There must be trust between priests and lay Catholics, each doing their own respective tasks for the sake of the Gospel. This is a formula for evangelizing success. It has worked well until now, and I am confident it is the recipe for the future as well.

-end-

A little perspective on Steve Jobs

2011-10-11T07:58:00.002-04:00

By Mary DeTurris Poust

You may have noticed that this blog was conspicuous in its lack of postings on the passing of Steve Jobs. It seemed everyone, even in the Catholic blog world, was intent on making the genius behind Apple into a mascot, a spiritual guru, a motivational force, a pro-life symbol.

As much as I love Apple products -- and I'm writing this on a MacBook, with an iPhone in sight and iTunes on my dashboard and an iPod in my purse -- I just couldn't force myself to jump on the Jobs bandwagon.

Then this morning I read this post by Carl Olson and finally had reason to join the posting. Commenting on the 2005 commencement address that has been the subject of countless tweets and Facebook status updates in the past week, Olson says with brutal honesty what many have ignored. Or perhaps weren't willing to see.

First here's a piece from that commencement address by Jobs:

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

Here is Olson's take on it:

This is both revealing and, dare I say, a bit stunning. Why? Because Jobs, staring death in the face, sought comfort in a flood of clichés and Hallmark card-like platitudes that are as surprisingly vapid as they are relentlessly secular (I know, that's redundant):

• "Don't lose faith" (in what? in whom?)
• "Find what you love" (like your high school career counseler always said!)
• "Love what you do! Don't settle!" (does that also apply to empty clichés?)
• "Follow your heart..." (perfect for Hallmark)
• "Live your own life" (as if I have a choice!)
• "Listen to your inner voice" (because you told me to?)
• "Follow your heart and intuition" (even if it tells me to do bad things?)

And that doesn't even get us to Jobs' concluding bit of advice (taken from The Whole Earth Catalog): "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish." Presumably, it seems, until one dies, at which point hunger and foolishness cease? Many people find this amazing and inspiring; I think it is ultimately empty and quite depressing.

My thoughts exactly. I found myself listening to that speech, watching it get incredible airplay, and wondering why this Gospel According to the Secular Age was having such an impact on the spiritual blog world. I'm all for following your heart, but sometimes we have to sacrifice and sometimes we have to put other people first, even if it means we don't always like what we have to do when we wake up in the morning.

Jobs said in the same address that whenever he wasn't happy with his life for too many days in a row, he knew it was time to make a change. I've been there. Sometimes I've been able to make that change; other times I've had to stick it out until I could see my way clear to a new path, or until I reached that place where I finally realized that the difficult things we have to deal with often are precisely the things that help us become who we're meant to be.

Read Carl Olson's full post HERE.

Living the pro-life message

2011-10-06T13:01:00.003-04:00

It's Respect Life Month, a time when we should not only remind people about the tragedy of abortion but celebrate those who live the pro-life message every day of their lives.

Andrea Roberts is one of those people. Statistics show that almost 90 percent of unborn babies diagnosed with Down syndrome are aborted, but Andrea and her husband opted for life -- and love. Their son, Reece, has not only brought joy to their lives but has inspired an organization, Reece's Rainbow, which aims to help other parents of Down syndrome children let go of the fear that grips them and embrace the future with hope and happiness.

As if that's not enough, Reece's Rainbow, through Andrea's efforts, has helped find adoptive families for more than 500 Down syndrome and special-needs children.

Here's an interview with Andrea Roberts by Tony Rossi of The Christophers:

When Atlanta resident Andrea Roberts gave birth to her son Reece in 2002, she and her husband experienced a great deal of fear and anxiety. Reece, they discovered, had Down syndrome. The hospital sent Andrea home with a packet of papers to educate her about Down syndrome, but she was too emotionally distraught to see anything but a bleak future for her son and family.
Eventually, Reece started to smile. A lot. Andrea recalled to me on Christopher Closeup, "That personality and that glow that is so much a part of Down syndrome started to come out and grow . . . It was easy to get to the other side emotionally and to recognize that this wasn't a horrible burden." Andrea's life would soon change in even more dramatic ways, leading to her being a force for good for children and families worldwide.

In 2004, a nurse from the hospital who remembered Andrea called her to say she was starting a social service program for families with Down syndrome children. The nurse wanted to call the program Reece's Rainbow. Andrea was happy to let her use Reece's name, and agreed to personally visit with the families while they were still in the hospital. She would tell them, "I've been in that hospital bed and I know how you're feeling. It's going to be different sooner than you think."
Continue reading HERE.

Will the real St. Francis please stand up?

2011-10-04T10:18:00.000-04:00

By Mary DeTurris Poust

Out in my perennial garden, nestled among the stonecrop and candytuft, stands a well-worn clay statue of St. Francis of Assisi made by an artisan in Mexico. The unusual characteristics of the statue make it a conversation piece as well as a spiritual touchstone that helps keep me centered as I dig and weed and plant.

Of course, I’m not alone. Drive down any street and you’re likely to find St. Francis peeking out from both well-manicured lawns and wildflower gardens run amuck. He is just as likely to share a garden with a statue of Buddha as he is to share one with a statue of the Blessed Mother. He is a saint of the people – all people, Catholics and non-Catholics alike. His broad appeal is fascinating, but at the same time it begs the question: Do those of us who plant St. Francis in our gardens really know what the medieval saint was all about?

Today Francis’ concerns are often compartmentalized by well-meaning folks who want to claim him for their own. And who can blame them? He is certainly a challenging but endearing saint for the ages.

Environmentalists jump on Francis’ love for creation, his “Canticle of Brother Sun,” his diligence in protecting trees and even “brother” fire, and find in him a kindred spirit. Animal lovers hear stories of him preaching to birds and taming a wolf and see in Francis the kind of saint who has rightly earned his status as patron of animals. His popularity comes into full view every year at this time, when adults and children alike line up outside churches with everything from goldfish swimming in glass bowls to German shepherds straining at leather leashes just for a chance to get their pets a blessing on Francis’ feast day.

Peace activists, interreligious leaders, social justice organizers -- the St. Francis fan club goes on and on. It seems everyone can find a piece of Francis to suit their cause. But, if you put all of those individual causes into the Gospel context that was at the heart of Francis’ rule and spirituality, you come away with a very different picture of our lovable saint, one that is not so easily shaped and molded by the latest trends in activism.

Would those St. Francis lawn statues be as popular if we really stopped to reflect on what they stand for? Francis’ life was one centered on his love of Christ, his commitment to a radical living out of the Gospel, and his “marriage” to the bride he dubbed “Lady Poverty.” The path that St. Francis chose was not an easy one. He was ridiculed and mocked as a madman during his own lifetime for what appeared to be an extreme response to his conversion experience.

He renounced his family’s fortune, fasted for days on end, heard the Lord speak to him from a cross in San Damiano, bore the stigmata. He lived and died for Christ. It would be a disservice to him and all he stood for to try to slip a politically correct mask over the spiritually devout saint who did not do anything halfway.

Sometimes I wonder how I can possibly weave Francis’ difficult and often uncomfortable lessons into my exceedingly comfortable existence. How do those of us with warm homes and busy jobs and nice clothes make St. Francis into something more than a decoration or a mascot? It’s not easy, but maybe, just maybe, seeing St. Francis from the kitchen window as we wash dishes or raking leaves from around his feet as we clean the yard will call us back to our spiritual center and remind us that what we do here on this earth cannot be separated from what we long for in heaven.

Shaw: Just a dream that more Catholics will make the effort?

2011-10-03T12:31:00.001-04:00

By Russell Shaw

Draw yourself an organization chart that represents the Catholic Church. What you’ll get is a sketch of an ecclesiastical institution that on paper looks like a genuine world class internal communication machine.

Those boxes and lines you’ve drawn could lead the beholder to suppose that if the pope says something on Monday morning, then by the following Sunday evening a billion or so Catholics around the world will have a pretty clear notion of what he’s said. The Church’s network of dioceses, parishes, organizations, institutions, and media all but guarantees that happy result.

The same is true, more or less, of other communications by other communicators all up and down the line in the Church. Messages constantly flowing, messages constantly being received. Correct?

Sorry, my friend, but if you think it really works like that, all I can say is: Dream on. People who’ve actually spent some time in communication in and around the Catholic Church can tell you that the reality is vastly different.

I was reminded of this by news of a study showing only 16 percent of American Catholics recall even hearing about the most recent of the “political responsibility” statement published quadrennially by the American bishops. And three-quarters of those who’d heard of it said it had “no influence at all” how they voted in 2008.

Yes, a small number of professional Church watchers have been arguing about these documents ever since the bishops’ conference began publishing them in 1976. They have been, and to some extent still are, a big bone of contention between liberal and conservative Catholic activists. Whether that will be true of the version forthcoming for next year’s election remains to be seen.

But hold that argument for another day. The point I’m making now is that, except for the activists, very few Catholics have read or heeded these much-discussed documents.

It’s no surprise. As somebody who drafted many bishops’statements some years ago and did media relations on behalf of many others, I have no hesitation about saying it’s been this way a long time. Not just with bishops’ documents either. The same is true of documents from the pope and Roman Curia. Catholics by and large don’t read them or know what they say.

There are several reasons. Church documents tend to be long and difficult for people without much practice reading them. These days they’re readily available on the internet, but people still must make a small effort to access them — and they don’t. Priests rarely preach on them, and while Catholic papers faithfully report on them, many Catholics can’t be bothered to read the Catholic press to find out what’s going on.

Thus, what many Catholics know about the Church and the teaching of the magisterium comes to them largely (if it comes at all) from the reporting of the secular media. And secular media generally do a better job covering high school field hockey than reporting important statements by the bishops and the pope.

As suggested, though, the largest part of the problem lies elsewhere — with the lethargy and indifference of the numerous Catholics who know little about their Church and won’t make the effort it would take to know more.

Maybe it doesn’t matter. No one has to read an encyclical or a bishops’ statement to go to heaven. But at a time when the faith is commonly either ignored or misrepresented by secular purveyors of information and opinion, you’d think more Catholics would make that effort. Or am I the one who’s dreaming?

Russell Shaw is an OSV contributing editor.

Angels among us, messengers from heaven

2011-10-02T10:49:00.003-04:00

On this Feast of the Holy Guardian Angels, I thought I'd share my recent OSV story on angels:

By Mary DeTurris Poust

Human beings over the centuries and across cultures have long been fascinated with and captivated by angels. We seek their protection and pray for their guidance. We both fear and crave their presence. We put them on necklaces, coffee mugs, mouse pads and more. When it comes to angels, our expressions of love run from the ridiculous to the sublime, inspiring everything from the wildly inappropriate Victoria’s Secret ad campaign to the strikingly beautiful film Wings of Desire.

Although Catholics often begin their prayer connection to angels in childhood, with the sing-song words of the Angel of God prayer --- “Ever this night, be at my side to light and guard, to rule and guide” – angels are by no means child’s play. They are complex spiritual beings, often misunderstood by us humans who try to give them features and attributes that are more akin to existence on earth than heaven. Chubby little baby-like cherubs sporting wings and harps cannot begin to do justice to the reality of angels in our midst.

So what exactly are we dealing with here, and what role do angels play in our personal prayer lives?....Continue reading HERE.

Pope asks communicators to consider silence

2011-09-30T13:40:00.000-04:00

By Mary DeTurris Poust

On the surface it may seem a little odd that Pope Benedict XVI has chosen silence as the theme of the next World Communications Day, but to me it makes perfect sense. Having recently returned from a silent retreat, I cannot recommend the practice highly enough.

Silence, of course, does not simply mean refraining from talking. Real silence has to include a shut down of all those social communication gadgets that make a deafening noise of their own. If we're always spinning our wheels, it can become more and more difficult to communicate effectively. Or to do anything effectively, for that matter.

So as a writer and "communicator," I'd like to say, "thank you," to the pope for reminding us that we can't always just be talking and typing and blogging and tweeting. We have to take time to turn everything off, step away from our normal routine, and listen for that still, small voice.

Here's a little more on the pope's announcement from a CNS story:

Announcing that the pope had chosen "Silence and Word: Path of Evangelization" as the theme for World Communications Day 2012, the Vatican acknowledged it initially might appear strange to ask professional wordsmiths to focus on silence, but it said silence is essential for really processing the words people hear or read.

The Catholic celebration of World Communications Day is marked in most dioceses on the Sunday before Pentecost, which in 2012 will be May 20. A papal message for the occasion usually is released on the feast of St. Francis de Sales, patron of writers, Jan. 24.

The Pontifical Council for Social Communications, which coordinates the observance, said that in the pope's thinking, "silence is not presented simply as an antidote to the constant and unstoppable flow of information that characterizes society today, but rather as a factor that is necessary for its integration."

Silence, the council said, favors discernment and reflection.

Particularly when talking about the word of God, silence is an indispensable part of welcoming the message the word is communicating, it said.

I have written about the importance of short but intense periods of silence in my own life HERE and HERE. I find as I get older I crave those silent times more and more. I'm lucky because I get some daily doses of silence (at least when school is in session) due to the fact that I work at home all alone. But, even there, I have to be careful not to fill the empty space with Facebook and Twitter and other "noise."

Are you able to make time for silence in your busy life? Has it changed your life in positive ways?

Tribute to Archbishop Hannan — one of a kind

2011-09-29T08:01:00.017-04:00

OSV is mourning the loss of retired New Orleans Archbishop Philip M. Hannan, 98, who served on the Our Sunday Visitor board for 19 years and was elected a Director Emeritus in July 2006. The archbishop died in his sleep early this morning in New Orleans.

Peter Finney Jr., executive editor of The New Orleans Clarion Herald and one of Archbishop Hannan's collaborators on the book "The Archbishop Wore Combat Boots," wrote this reflection:

I walked into Archbishop Philip Hannan's Covington home late last year – it was 7 p.m. – and the then-97-year-old archbishop, in crisp black trousers and white clerical shirt, was seated with his back to me at the glass-topped table in his small dining room.

About an hour earlier, he had put away a dinner of steak and potatoes and vanilla ice cream. In front of him now was a blue binder with a large-print version of the Daily Office, the daily readings from the Old and New Testaments, including the psalms, which each priest commits to reading and reflecting upon every day.

He did not know I was there.

Archbishop Hannan, 71 years a priest, was not simply reading the Scripture passages – he was proclaiming them, in a voice so powerful and with diction so crisp that if you were to close your eyes, it was 1965 again, and he was this dashing, intelligent, daring, engaging, confident, whimsical, self-deprecating, street-wise 52-year-old bishop from Washington, D.C., striding off the Eastern Airlines jet at Moisant International Airport into an unknown, exotic and partially submerged city.

Yes, he had the family genes to live a long life – both his mother and father lived until they were 93 – but at his core was the absolute desire to do God's will daily and to inspire others to see what he saw and commit to that vision.

He feared nothing.

Crisis – in his, case WWII – doesn't really form character as much as it identifies it. As a paratroop chaplain for the 82nd Airborne, Father Hannan, then 32, held dying American and German boys in his arms, and the last rites he administered provided spiritual graces and consolation to all, whether they wore an American dog tag around their necks or had a Soldat buch (soldier book) tucked away inside the pocket of their uniforms.

He liberated a German POW camp and lifted up with one hand emaciated men who were little more than skeletons. The horrors of war confirmed his belief that without God, anything is possible. Because of God and the goodness of God's creation, life is precious. That's why he was such an American patriot and such a defender of human life and dignity.

He dreamed – big and often. His teachers, including a Brother Luke at St. John's High School in Washington, caught on to that very quickly. “Hannan," Brother Luke told him one day, "you get too many ideas. Skip every third idea.”

But that's the trouble with dreamers. They keep dreaming, and if they have enough conviction, it becomes a reality.

Archbishop Hannan had the rare ability to size up a person within 30 seconds. While many bishops tended to shy away from politicians to avoid potential entanglements, Archbishop Hannan reveled in working with elected officials to collaborate on projects, such as elderly housing or supplemental food initiatives or educational programs for children, which would help the entire community.

The first question he always asked any politician was: "What are the biggest challenges you face in doing your job?" How that person answered the question gave him an insight into the politician's personality and motivation.

Shortly after coming to New Orleans in 1965, he paid a formal visit to Mayor Vic Schiro. Inside Schiro's office were framed, honorary proclamations from all manner of civic organizations and photographs of him receiving special honors. The citations were everywhere – almost as though it was Vic Schiro wallpaper.

"When I saw that, I knew that all I had to do was flatter him, and he'd be very agreeable to working with us," Archbishop Hannan said, smiling. Schiro, did, in fact, help with zoning issues when the archdiocese wanted to build the first of its Christopher Homes senior residences.

The archbishop built 2,900 apartment units for seniors and the poor, with a lot of the funds coming through the government. He even tried to share his ideas with fellow bishops to show them how easy it was.

"That's OK, Phil," said Archbishop John Cody, who had moved from New Orleans to Chicago. "I've got my own plans."

You win some, you lose some.

Archbishop Hannan was never afraid to ask the question, which is why he spoke up to Pope John Paul II during a planning meeting in Rome for the 1987 papal trip when he urged the pope to use the occasion of his visit to speak directly about the historical struggles of black Catholics.

"The worst he could say was 'no,'" Archbishop Hannan said.

The pope said yes.

Perhaps the reason he has been known since 1965 as the Archbishop of New Orleans has been his conscious decision to take action – to witness to the Gospel. He put on his Army combat boots to slosh through flooded streets on the West Bank after Hurricane Juan in 1987, and he helped fill and stack sandbags.

Preach the Gospel always, and, if necessary, use words.

"I always thought that if people saw you doing something to help them, even if the idea didn't work out, they would give you credit for trying," Archbishop Hannan said.

He was a terrible driver, with a lead foot and white-line fever, because he was always in a hurry to do the next "thing." That's why his drive across the closed Causeway after Katrina at age 92 was so easy – there was no one else on the bridge, thank God. After riding out Katrina by himself in his TV studios with peanut butter, crackers and water, he had to get to the northshore, because that's where his people needed him.

When he showed up and gave a pep talk to first responders, grown men cried.

A few days later, the papal representative from Cor Unum, several other bishops and reporters took a helicopter tour out of Baton Rouge and flew over submerged New Orleans and landed in a grass field in Biloxi. As we emerged from the helicopter, rotor blades still whirring, there was Archbishop Hannan – along with his cameraman – to greet us with a microphone, his white hair flapping in the breeze.

At 92, he somehow had beaten the helicopter to the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

The tiny man seated at his dining room table late last year and powerfully proclaiming his fidelity to God and neighbor taught by offering his life as an oblation.

One of the great blessings of my life was to sit with him over the course of two years, beginning in 2007 when he was 94, and let him tell his stories. Those stories and the ones he told his first cousin Nancy Collins formed the basis of his autobiography, "The Archbishop Wore Combat Boots."

The title fit the man.

In Latin, the language in which he studied during his four years in Rome, he would be known as sui generis (one of a kind). And now we pray, requiescat in pace.

Peter Finney Jr. can be reached at pfinney@clarionherald.org.

Read Archbishop Gregory Aymond's statement on Archbishop Hannan's death and Archbishop Hannan's obituary.

Remembering a colleague, praying for his family

2011-09-28T14:54:00.002-04:00

By Mary DeTurris Poust

The Catholic press mourns the loss of a talented writer this week. Christopher Ringwald, 55, former editor of The Evangelist, the weekly paper of the Diocese of Albany, and the author of three books on spiritual subjects, died Sept. 26 in an apparent suicide. He leaves behind his wife, Amy, and their three children.

Although I'd met Chris only once, we had talked on the phone now and then regarding columns and stories. When I heard the news of his death, I was stunned and saddened that he had found himself in such a dark place, a place he apparently couldn't escape. I ached for his family but I also ached for him, knowing that so many people would have been happy to help if they'd only known help was needed.

Chris had a long list of Catholic credentials to his name. His obituary in today's Times Union bears witness to the depth of his devotion to his Catholic faith and his commitment to helping others through his writing:

Chris's life revolved around his family and his Catholic faith. He cherished his wife, Amy Biancolli Ringwald, and their three children: Madeleine, Jeanne and Mitchell. Chris filled his days deliberately, packing in work, exercise, reading, lunches with friends, dinner with family, school and sports events and civic engagements. But on Sundays, he rested. Chris had a deep intellectual understanding of Catholicism, and lived his faith.

He was a devoted parishioner at St. George's Black Catholic Apostolate, St. Teresa of Avila, and then St. Vincent de Paul. Through the years, he taught carpentry in Peru, visited Albany homeless shelters, dropped in on friends in nursing homes, counseled alcoholics, delivered Christmas gifts and Thanksgiving food to needy families, and supported Emmaus House, an Albany Catholic Worker residence.

Chris was born in the Bronx and was educated at Georgetown University, the Columbia School of Journalism and St. Bernard's Institute. He worked as a carpenter, building contractor and a human rights lobbyist. As a journalist, he concerned himself with faith and justice. He was the author of three books: "A Day Apart," about the importance of the Sabbath in the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim faiths; "The Soul of Recovery," which explored the role of spirituality in addiction recovery (both published by Oxford University Press); and "Faith in Words," a series of interviews with writers about their spirituality.

His writing had been published in Newsday, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Commonweal and National Catholic Reporter.

Please pray for Chris' family as they face the incredibly difficult road ahead -- a life without a husband, without a father.

Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and may perpetual light shine upon him.

Be a hummingbird

2011-09-27T08:11:00.002-04:00

A little inspiration for your Tuesday morning from Wangari Maathai, Kenyan environmentalist and Africa's first female Nobel Peace Prize winner, who died this week at the age of 71. May she rest in peace.

Archbishop Dolan: Threats to marriage will cause 'national conflict'

2011-09-22T08:47:00.001-04:00

In a letter to President Obama this week, Archbishop Timothy Dolan, writing on behalf of the U.S. bishops, said the Obama administration's fight against the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which defines marriage as between one man and one woman, would "precipitate a national conflict between Church and State of enormous proportions and to the detriment of both institutions.”

From the archbishop's letter:

I write with a growing sense of urgency about recent actions taken by your Administration that both escalate the threat to marriage and imperil the religious freedom of those who promote and defend marriage...

The Catholic Bishops stand ready to affirm every positive measure taken by you and your Administration to strengthen marriage and the family. We cannot be silent, however, when federal steps harmful to marriage, the laws defending it, and religious freedom continue apace...

I know that you treasure the importance that you and the First Lady, separately and as a couple, share in the lives of your children. The Mother‟s Day and Father‟s Day proclamations display a welcome conviction on your part that neither a mom nor a dad is expendable. I believe therefore that you would agree that every child has the right to be loved by both a mother and a father.

The institution of marriage is built on this truth, which goes to the core of what the Catholic Bishops of the United States, and the millions of citizens who stand with us on this issue, want for all children and for the common good of society. That is why it is particularly upsetting, Mr. President, when your Administration, through the various court documents, pronouncements and policies identified in the attached analysis, attributes to those who support DOMA a motivation rooted in prejudice and bias. It is especially wrong and unfair to equate opposition to redefining marriage with either intentional or willfully ignorant racial discrimination, as your Administration insists on doing.

We as Bishops of the Catholic Church recognize the immeasurable personal dignity and equal worth of all individuals, including those with same-sex attraction, and we reject all hatred and unjust treatment against any person. Our profound regard for marriage as the complementary and fruitful union of a man and a woman does not negate our concern for the well-being of all people but reinforces it. While all persons merit our full respect, no other relationships provide for the common good what marriage between husband and wife provides. The law should reflect this reality.

For more information and the full text of the letter, visit the USCCB website.

Are we standing still or making 'progress'?

2011-09-21T09:35:00.001-04:00

I thought I'd share my latest Life Lines column. Life Lines has appeared monthly in Catholic New York for the past 10 years.

By Mary DeTurris Poust

When I began this column 10 years ago, the world was a very different place. My plan to write about the intersection of faith and everyday life was propelled into high gear by 9/11 and all that played out in the days that followed, both in our country and in our home. Suddenly my young children had questions that had no real answers. I had questions that had no real answers. I think we all did.

There was nothing we could do but move forward, slowly, shakily at first, but with more strength and confidence as the days went by. Now, looking back, I realize that as much as the outside world has changed in the past decade, so has my internal world, the landscape of my soul. Much of it has been explored and expressed in the 650-word jolts I put on paper each month; more has been poured out on the pages of my books and the posts of my blog.

It has been a challenging journey, filled with desperate lows – like the one we all experienced on that clear September morning – and joyous highs – like the birth of my third child, the publication of my four books, and the ongoing interior pilgrimage that is my spiritual journey. Someone recently asked me if I had any breakthroughs to share. At first I laughed at the prospect, but the comment caused me to pause and reflect on the changes that have taken place without my even realizing it.

I think most of us imagine we’re standing still, whether it’s in our professional lives or personal lives or spiritual lives. We look at the big picture and can feel as though we’re simply not making progress. I know I often look at my cluttered desk, cluttered kitchen counters, and equally cluttered prayer life and think: “Nothing’s happening here.” But, when I go back to September 2001 and mentally walk the path from there to here in my mind, I realize I’ve come a lot farther than it appears on the surface.

You’ve heard me talk (whine?) in this space about my struggles with prayer, struggles with motherhood, struggles with multi-tasking, struggles with everything from laundry to oatmeal. I tend to be more open about my struggles than about my strides because I never want to get too comfortable, never want to sit back and think, “I’ve arrived.” Perhaps because we never really arrive. We may have breakthroughs, we may find ourselves stepping out into the unknown with total faith, but the truth is, there’s always more work to be done, always another step to be taken.

Today my prayer life is far different than it was 10 years ago, as is my spiritual focus. Where before I was simply happy to get something out of Sunday Mass while a fussy baby clawed at my hair, today my spiritual routine includes praying parts of the Divine Office daily, slices of silence sprinkled throughout my days, regular spiritual reading and sporadic spiritual blogging, an annual retreat, and the desire for ongoing pilgrimage – whether to Rome or Auriesville or simply to the farthest reaches of my heart.

Where have you been this past decade and where do you want to go next? Chances are, if you take some quiet time to reflect on your life, you, too, will realize you’ve moved much farther toward your goal – whatever that might be.

“God is in the details,” but sometimes we don’t take the time to notice the details. We want progress to come with a thunderclap, an “aha moment” that will change us all at once. But sometimes, most times, progress comes in the still small voice, in the tiny but brilliant flashes of light that change us bit by bit and forever.

Ablaze: A book to inspire the young people in your life

2011-09-19T08:06:00.000-04:00

Are you looking for something to inspire your teens? Check out Brandon Vogt's review of Ablaze: Stories of Daring Teen Saints by Colleen Swaim, which features eight saints: Saint Dominic Savio, Saint Teresa of the Andes, Saint Kizito, Blessed Chiara Luce Badano, Saint Stanislaus Kostka, Saint Alphonsa of the Immaculate Conception, Blessed Pedro Calungsod, and Saint Maria Goretti.

From Brandon's review:

...Swaim's masterful storytelling really brings them back to life. Saint biographies can sometimes be dry or stilted but this book is vibrant and breezy. In addition to the biographies, Swaim also includes helpful sidebars defining obscure terms and she's added 'extras' like recipes, prayers, and reflection questions.

Ultimately, these eight heroes show that holiness isn't some dusty old ideal but something that can be pursued and lived out in the present, by any young person. Ablaze is perfect for young people, particularly those in high school, but it would be just as good for anyone looking to discover some new heroes.

Read the full review at The Thin Veil.

Shaw: Is America condemned to endless war?

2011-09-16T11:26:00.000-04:00

By Russell Shaw

Is America condemned to endless war? And if so, what implications does that have for the American psyche — the American soul?

A friend of mine who is a practicing poet writing under the pen name Pavel Chichikov shares a poem composed after hearing the roar of F-16s — presumably engaged in protecting the citizenry — over the section of Washington where he lives. A meditation on “security” as Americans have come to know it, it has a simple point: Security comes at a price. “There is a gate that must be closed,/ Documents that must be seen,/ Private life to be disclosed.” And then we are — safe?

I was thinking of these things as I skimmed the outpouring of commentary on the 9/11 anniversary. One piece in particular caught my attention, a page-one article by Greg Jaffe in the Sept. 5 Washington Post describing the evolution of U.S. military policy and the military itself in these last ten years. Jaffe quoted from a Pentagon assessment that called the present “a period of persistent conflict,” adding: “No one should harbor the illusion that the developed world can win this conflict in the near future.”

Jaffe himself spoke of “endless war.” It has numerous consequences. One is the creation of a tight-knit, highly professional military isolated in significant ways from the people on whose behalf it fights. Another is growing skepticism about peace.

Earlier this year, Jaffe noted, the House of Representatives voted to eliminate funds for the U.S. Institute of Peace (the money was later restored). “’Peace’ … has become something of a dirty word in Washington foreign-policy circles,” he wrote. President Obama doesn’t promise it. His approach is to look for ways of fighting — drone strikes and special forces operations — that are more “cost-effective” than putting thousands of troops into places like Iraq and Afghanistan.

You could argue that America has been fighting a war or getting ready to fight one for most of the last 70 years — ever since Pearl Harbor, that is: Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf War, Iraq, Afghanistan, and always background accompaniment courtesy of the Cold War or the war on terror. The difference now is that no serious person promises an end.

What state of mind does a permanent national security regime produce? Here’s Chichikov again:

So that at last the guards deform
The shape of life they should defend,
And no one knows of what they warn
Or if the siege will ever end.

Columns like this one generally conclude by offering solutions, but this tunnel has no easy way out. Neo-isolationism would be suicidal. Continuing America’s dual role as world policeman and anti-terror crusader will eventually drain our material and moral resources.

If there’s any escape from the bind, surely it lies in some form of innovative internationalism — the creation of a genuine, working community of nations. But that appears to exceed the political will of America’s leadership class, to say nothing of the leaders of other nations.

Pope Benedict XVI sometimes speaks of it, as in his 2009 encyclical Caritas in Veritate with its advocacy of “a true world political authority.” Listed as its purposes were “to manage the global economy” in the face of the current crisis, “to bring about integral and timely disarmament, food security and peace,” and to deal with urgent issues of environmental protection and migration.

Most people, including most Catholics, shrugged that off. The pope is unrealistic, they said.

Perhaps. But this may be a case where idealism is the real realism. It looks a lot better than endless war.

Russell Shaw is an OSV contributing editor.

If you've ever doubted the slippery slope...

2011-09-14T12:41:00.004-04:00

A truly horrifying report from LifeNews.com:

A woman who strangled and killed her newborn baby has been released and will face no jail time thanks to a judge who cited support for legalized abortion in Canada, where abortions are legal and paid for at taxpayer expense.

Katrina Effert of Wetaskiwin, Alberta gave birth secretly in the downstairs level of her parents’ home and then killed her baby son by throwing his body over the fence of their yard. Effert, 19 at the time of the infanticide, told the court she worried about what her parents would think of having to listen to the cries of a newborn baby in the house. Effert’s parents were not aware of the pregnancy and she initially told police she had not had sexual intercourse.
...But part of the ruling that also has pro-life advocates troubled is Judge Veit’s decision that Canada’s acceptance of legalized abortion entitled Effert to kill her child. Judge Veit ruled, according to multiple media reports, that because Canada allows abortions it reflects how “while many Canadians undoubtedly view abortion as a less than ideal solution to unprotected sex and unwanted pregnancy, they generally understand, accept and sympathize with the onerous demands pregnancy and childbirth exact from mothers, especially mothers without support.”

“Naturally, Canadians are grieved by an infant’s death, especially at the hands of the infant’s mother, but Canadians also grieve for the mother,” said Veit, who said that, while what Effert did was “very grave,” there were no aggravating factors. Prosecutors said the aggravating factors included how Effert initially lied to police about whether she was a virgin and how she initially tried to blame the father of the child for her actions.

“I am of the view that those actions, along with the action of throwing her baby’s body over her back fence, are painful evidence of Ms. Effert’s irrational behavior as a result of her disturbed mind,”the judge said, according to the Sun News Network. “In summary, this is a classic infanticide case – the killing of a newborn or a justborn after a hidden pregnancy by a mother who was alone and unsupported.”

Ultimately, the judge rejected prosecutors’ call for a four-year prison term, saying the suspended sentence is “just” in the case.

Read the full story HERE.

Pope tells engaged couples to embrace 'forever' with conviction and faith

2011-09-14T10:01:00.000-04:00

Pope Benedict XVI offered words of encouragement to engaged couples Sunday at the close of the 25th Italian National Eucharistic Congress in Ancona, Italy, urging them to have courage and embrace the "great mystery" of the marriage bond.

From a report on Zenit:

After one couple addressed some words to him, the Holy Father responded with an encouraging address on the beauty of human love and awareness of the challenges it faces.

He promised that both God and the Church are close to couples as they prepare for marriage, and acknowledged that problems with finding a stable job make it difficult to take on the commitment of marriage.

"Do not lose courage in face of the needs that seem to extinguish joy at the table of life," he said. "At the Wedding of Cana, when wine was lacking, Mary invited the servants to go to Jesus and she gave them a precise indication: 'Do whatever he tells you.' Treasure these words, the last of Mary's taken up in the Gospels -- virtually a spiritual testament -- and you will always have the joy of the celebration: Jesus is the wine of the celebration!"

The Holy Father exhorted the young couples: "Do not give up on pursuing the lofty ideal of love, which is a reflection and testimony of the love of God!"

The pope also told couples not to withdraw into their relationship but to "become leaven" in their communities.

More from the story:

"Beginning from the initial attraction and 'feeling well' with the other, educate yourselves to 'love well,' to 'want the good' of the other," he said. "Love lives from gratuitousness, self-sacrifice, forgiveness and respect for the other."

The Bishop of Rome told the couples to "educate yourselves henceforth in the liberty of fidelity, which leads to protecting one another, to the point of the one living for the other."

He invited them to prepare themselves to choose "forever" with conviction.

"Indissolubility, more than a condition, is a gift that must be desired, requested and lived, beyond any changing human situation," the Pope reflected.

He also offered an evaluation on popular culture's recommendation to live together before marriage.

"Do not think," he said, that "living together is a guarantee for the future. If you skip the steps of intimacy, which require respect for time and a gradual progression of expressions, you will ‘get burned’ in love; love needs room for Christ, who is capable of making a human love faithful, happy and indissoluble."

Read the full story HERE.

Father Frank Pavone placed on leave UPDATED

2011-09-13T11:37:00.005-04:00

CNS is reporting that Father Frank Pavone, national director of Priests for Life, has been placed on leave from that organization due to questions surrounding his handling of finances.

From CNS:

Father Frank Pavone, one of the country's most visible and vocal opponents of abortion, has been suspended from active ministry outside the Diocese of Amarillo, Texas, over financial questions about the priest's operation of Priests for Life.

The suspension was made public in a Sept. 13 letter from Amarillo Bishop Patrick J. Zurek to his fellow bishops across the country, but Father Pavone told Catholic News Service that he was returning to Amarillo and planned to continue functioning as a priest there.

"My decision is the result of deep concerns regarding his stewardship of the finances of the Priests for Life (PFL) organization," Bishop Zurek wrote. "The PFL has become a business that is quite lucrative which provides Father Pavone with financial independence from all legitimate ecclesiastical oversight."

Bishop Zurek said "persistent questions and concerns" from clergy and laity about how the millions of dollars in donations the organization has received are being spent led to the action.

UPDATE: Father Pavone releases a statement denying the allegations, implying that the bishop is overstepping his authority, and announcing he's appealed the bishop's decision to Rome.

“For the past several years, my Ordinary, the Most Reverend Patrick Zurek, Bishop of Amarillo, has given me permission to do the full-time pro-life work that I have done since 1993. In 2005, I made a public promise in a Church ceremony in Amarillo, presided over by a Vatican Cardinal, that this full-time pro-life work would be a lifetime commitment. That’s a commitment I promise to fulfill without wavering.

“This past week, however, I received a letter from the Bishop insisting that I report to the Diocese this Tuesday, September 13 and, for the time being, remain only there.

“I am very perplexed by this demand. Despite that, because I am a priest of the diocese of Amarillo, I will be obedient and report there on the appointed date, putting the other commitments that are on my calendar on hold until I get more clarity as to what the bishop wants and for how long. Meanwhile, I continue to retain all my priestly faculties and continue to be a priest in “good standing” in the Church. The bishop does not dispute this fact. Rather, he has said that he thinks I am giving too much priority to my pro-life work, and that this makes me disobedient to him. He also has claimed that I haven’t given him enough financial information.

“Now, although Bishop Zurek is my Ordinary, he is not the bishop of Priests for Life. Each of our staff priests has his own Ordinary, and the organization has an entire Board of Bishops. We keep them all informed of our activities, and of our financial audits.

“I want to say very clearly that Priests for Life is above reproach in its financial management and the stewardship of the monies it receives from dedicated pro-lifers, raised primarily through direct mail at the grassroots level. To this end, Priests for Life has consistently provided every financial document requested by Bishop Zurek, including annual financial audits, quarterly reports, management documents—even entire check registers! Priests for Life has been completely transparent with Bishop Zurek and any other bishops who have requested information regarding our management and finances. Indeed, we have 21 bishops and cardinals who sit on our Advisory Board, and they are kept fully informed about our finances.

“Therefore, in the interest of preserving my good reputation as well as protecting the valuable work done by the Priests for Life organization, I have begun a process of appeal to the Vatican. This process aims to correct any mistaken decisions of the bishop in my regard and to protect my commitment to full-time pro-life activity for my whole life. We are very confident that the Vatican will resolve this matter in a just and equitable fashion. Because of this confidence, we are not currently making any changes in any positions at Priests for Life, or in any of our projects and plans.

“I also want to point out that, according to the canon law of the Catholic Church, because I have begun this process of appeal to Rome, the Bishop’s order that I return to Amarillo has been effectively suspended. Nevertheless, because of my great respect for this Bishop and my commitment to be fully obedient at all times, I am reporting to Amarillo this Tuesday, in hopes that I can sort this problem out with the Bishop in a mutually agreeable and amicable way.

“I would like to note that, unlike other organizations, which have sometimes been critical of the Church hierarchy or other institutions within the Church, Priests for Life has always remained 100 percent supportive of the Bishops, never criticizing any Church official, and always acting as a megaphone for the Bishops’ pro-life statements. Moreover, we serve dioceses and their priests and laity without asking for any speakers’ fees, and distribute millions of pieces of pro-life literature to dioceses completely free of charge. We do not seek parish collections, and we work to reinforce in each diocese the local pastoral plan which the bishop wants to implement for pro-life activities.

“We are committed to going forward with that same spirit, regardless of the recent action taken by Bishop Zurek.

“In the interest of full transparency, I would like to make it known that I do not receive any salary or financial remuneration from either the Diocese of Amarillo or from Priests for Life. Priests for Life, as a Private Association of the Christian Faithful, does provide for my residence and the expenses associated with the ministry, but these expenses are very small. Though, as a diocesan priest, I have never taken a vow of poverty, I have basically chosen to live in that fashion in solidarity with the pre-born children we are trying to protect—who are the poorest of the poor.

“I want to be clear that I do not harbor any ill will towards the Bishop of Amarillo, nor do I foster suspicions about his motives. I am merely confused by his actions. It is impossible for me to believe that there is no place in the Church for priests to exercise full-time ministry in the service of the unborn. We do it for the sick, the poor, the hungry, and the imprisoned. But where in the Church is the place where a priest can exercise the same kind of full-time ministry for the children in the womb? That is the question that is at the heart of my own calling.

“I am confident that we will be able to resolve this difficulty soon, without any harm to either my own reputation and without any slowdown of the valuable pro-life work we do at Priests for Life.”

Cardinal Egan: 'evil begot a lesson in goodness'

2011-09-12T14:30:00.001-04:00

Cardinal Edward M. Egan, archbishop emeritus of New York, offered a beautiful homily yesterday at St. Peter's on Barclay Street in lower Manhattan, less than a block from the World Trade Center site. Here's an excerpt:

Ten years have passed since the terrorists attacked us. We were taken by surprise. We were shocked. We were wounded. We were grievously wounded. Evil had had its moment of triumph in Lower Manhattan.

This is, therefore, an anniversary that stings and sears the soul. It thrusts us back into an experience of infamy such as none of us would ever have imagined. Thousands of good and decent citizens of Greater New York were brutally murdered. An ugly chasm was dug into the heart of our City; and in the hearts of countless mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, wives and husbands, children and grandchildren, friends and co-workers, there even now aches the nagging pain of loss for persons dearly loved and sorely needed...

All the same, from the crime of September 11th, 2001, we have learned a powerful lesson that we must never let slip from our memories. It is simply this. When truly challenged, the best of us forget ourselves and become men and women for others, men and women who march into harm’s way for others, men and women who are even willing to give up their lives for others.

In a bustling, competitive metropolis like ours, the citizenry can become quite self-absorbed. “If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere,” we sing; and “making it” is understood to require focus --focus largely on ourselves.

Thus, in our strivings and struggles, we can seem to be a people insensitive to the needs of others, a people who take little note of the weak, the frightened, and the hurting. And this is what many thought of us, until that dreadful morning when the terrorists came to do us harm.

Then we learned –-perhaps even to our own surprise –- that within the hearts of the best of us there resides a goodness that is incredibly selfless. We learned that, when summoned by great events, we become in great numbers remarkably committed to the well-being of others, even total strangers. We become a strong people, a courageous people, a noble people – a people for others.

Cardinal Egan went on to tell the stories of real heroes who gave so selflessly of themselves on that day, and in the days that followed:

The terrorists accomplished their heinous purpose. We cannot deny the immense and long-lasting harm they have done. Nonetheless, their evil begot a lesson in goodness that can never be repeated enough or meditated enough. Here in this City, when challenged by the most horrendous of events, men and women just like ourselves exhibited a love of neighbor beyond anything any of us might have expected. They proved how strong and noble we can be and gave us a measure against which to judge ourselves and our way of life throughout the years that lie ahead.

Read the homily in its entirety HERE.

9/11: A message from the pope

2011-09-11T08:12:00.002-04:00

Here is the text of a letter from Pope Benedict XVI on the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks:

To my Venerable Brother The Most Reverend Timothy M. Dolan
President
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!

On this day my thoughts turn to the somber events. of September 11, 2001, when so many innocent lives were lost in the brutal assault on the twin towers of the World Trade Center and the further attacks in Washington D.C. and Pennsylvania. I join you in commending the thousands of victims to the infinite mercy of Almighty God and in asking our heavenly Father to continue to console those who mown the loss of loved ones.

The tragedy of that day is compounded by the perpetrators' claim to be acting in God's name. Once again, it must be unequivocally stated that no circumstances can ever justify acts of terrorism. Every human life is precious in God's sight and no effort should be spared in the attempt to promote throughout the world a genuine respect for the inalienable rights and dignity of individuals and peoples everywhere.

The American people are to be commended for the courage and generosity that they
showed in the rescue operations and for their resilience in moving forward with hope and confidence. It is my fervent prayer that a firm commitment to justice and a global culture of solidarity will help rid the world of the grievances that so often give rise to acts of violence and will create the conditions for greater peace and prosperity, offering a brighter and more secure future.

With these sentiments, I extend my most affectionate greetings to you, your brother Bishops and all those entrusted to your pastoral care, and I gladly impart my Apostolic Blessing as a pledge of peace and serenity in the Lord.

From the Vatican, September 11,2011

From Philly: A new voice from the cathedra

2011-09-09T10:50:00.000-04:00

By Greg Erlandson

It was an audio malfunction that perhaps best illustrated the transition that took place in Philadelphia yesterday.

At the start of the Installation Mass in the beautiful downtown Cathedral of Ss. Peter and Paul, retiring Cardinal Justin Rigali sought to greet and welcome the hundreds of attendees. His microphone failed him, however, and in that crowded cathedral, only those closest to him were able to hear his words.

His successor, Archbishop Charles Chaput, had no such technical problem when it was his turn to speak. He delivered a clear and impassioned homily leavened by humor and typical of his self-confident style.

And so the crozier of episcopal leadership in this historic, populous, but troubled Church was handed on. A new voice was heard, and it was neither boastful nor apologetic, but direct:

This Church in Philadelphia faces very serious challenges these days. There’s no quick fix to problems that are so difficult, and none of us here today, except the Lord Himself, is a miracle worker. But the Church is not defined by her failures. And you and I are not defined by critics or by those who dislike us. What we do in the coming months and years to respond to these challenges – that will define who we really are. And in engaging that work, we need to be Catholics first. Jesus Christ is the center of our lives, and the Church is our mother and teacher. Everything we do should flow from that.

Here are the marching orders Archbishop Chaput has given himself, and given his auxiliary bishops and priests.

He also laid down a gentle but pointed challenge to the numerous bishops, archbishops and cardinals in attendance and in the sanctuary. Turning toward them, with his back to the priests and laity in the pews, he said:

It’s crucial for those of us who are bishops not simply to look like bishops but to truly be bishops. Otherwise, we’re just empty husks — the kind of men Augustine meant when he said, “You say, ‘He must be a bishop for he sits upon the cathedra.’ True – and a scarecrow might also be called a watchman in the vineyard.”

Archbishop Chaput is taking over the helm of a dispirited Church hurt by late revelations of scandals, yet worried that some innocent priests are being accused as well. It is an archdiocese where striking Catholic school teachers showed up outside the cathedral under threatening skies in a rather inept effort to garner attention. It is an archdiocese with a serious clergy morale problem, in a city whose major newspaper is relentlessly hostile to the Church.

Yet it was apparent to most everyone in that cathedral that their new archbishop did not seem to be intimidated by these challenges, and this seemed most heartening of all.

Greg Erlandson is OSV president and publisher, and was one of the invited guests at Archbishop Chaput's installation in Philadelphia.

When 'empty' leads to a new kind of fullness

2011-09-09T10:20:00.001-04:00

By Mary DeTurris Poust

So often we hear the negatives of the empty nest syndrome -- quiet houses where parents long for the familiar sounds of now-grown-up children, even the video games that once made them crazy. We hear of spouses not sure how to communicate with each other now that the kids have moved out. Even the very name, "empty nest," echoes with a sense of sadness, something lost.

Perhaps that's why I loved this thoughtful column on the up-side of the empty nest over at Fathers For Good. In her column, "An Empty Nest to Build On," Kathleen Gallagher, Catholic Advocacy Network Director and Director of Pro-Life Activities for the New York State Catholic Conference, talks about how the departure of her two sons for college has changed her househould, for sure, but in positive and inspiring ways.

From the column:

Well, it’s a whole new adventure, and we’re diving right in. Joe has registered for a non-credit college course in archeology, something he’s always wanted to study. I have signed up for a watercolor painting class. Joe’s reading the history and military books he enjoys so much; I’ve got my mystery novels to take me away from all that reality.

Together, we’ve joined a health club where we run the treadmill and ride the bikes side-by-side at least two nights a week. We’re looking into the possibility of traveling, maybe even a cruise. We eat together, pray together and walk the dog together every day.

The walks are long; we talk a lot. Sure, we talk about the boys, how much we miss them, hope for them, fear for them. We trust that the values we have tried to instill early on have taken root and will kick in when they need them. We know they must make their own choices and learn from their mistakes. We believe their faith will sustain them.

But more than the boys, we talk about each other, possible career changes, downsizing, health habits. Sometimes it’s just surface talk about politics or the weather, sprinkled with jokes and laughter. Oftentimes it’s reflective, deep, substantive conversation. I find I am listening more, hearing more, learning more about my husband than I ever knew before. There is less distraction, less busy-ness, less noise between us. The pace of life has decelerated, leaving more time to focus, appreciate, apologize, forgive, enjoy.

As someone who will not have an empty nest for many more years, I read Kathy's column and wondered if there's a way to build some of that emptiness into our very full lives so that my husband and I can strengthen and sustain our marriage right now, in the midst of the chaos of life with three kids at home, rather than waiting for our 6-year-old to go away to college one day. Emptiness can be a good thing in the right circumstances and the right doses. Thank you, Kathy, for reminding us of that.

Read the full column HERE.

Mary's Meals: Feeding children around the globe

2011-09-09T08:41:00.014-04:00

A charity with the noble aim of providing nourishment to hungry children throughout the world has been garnering some much-deserved attention lately. Mary's Meals, which grew out of two Scottish brothers' efforts to aid Bosnian refugees in the 1990s, provides one healthy daily meal for children in a place of education.

Writer and blogger Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle profiled Mary's Meals in the Sept. 18 issue of OSV. Here is an excerpt of her piece:

In his 45-second acceptance speech, Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow told millions who watched him receive the CNN “Top Ten Hero” award last November that he thanked “God and Mary, the Mother of Jesus.”

Could it have been the dying mother in the mud hut in southern Africa surrounded by her starving children, the boy who wanted “enough food to eat and be able to go to school one day,” the suffering Bosnian war refugees, or the prodding of the Blessed Mother that ultimately ignited the fire in his heart to found Mary’s Meals, for which he received the award? More than likely, it was all of the above.

Read the rest of OSV's Mary's Meals profile.

And Rome Reports also recently highlighted the work of Mary's Meals, particularly the charity's efforts to bring relief to people facing famine in the Horn of Africa:

Mother hears daughter's heartbeat once more

2011-09-08T09:01:00.003-04:00

No words necessary. Just watch the video. (H/t Kris McGregor. FYI: clip is close to one year old, but that doesn't take away from the message.)

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