Blogposts

There is a bill floating in Congress with this title, which frankly is dishonest. This bill is NOT about respect for marriage. Quite the contrary. With the return of the issue of abortion to the states, there was worry by some that the same fate would befall so-called “homosexual marriage” by overturning the Obergefell vs Hodges decision of the Supreme Court, which ruled for same-sex marriage. Thus the issue would be returned to the individual states. Whether overturned or not, the Obergefell-decision is a nullity and any law codifying this decision would be a nullity because courts and legislatures have no power to change the nature of marriage.

We remember the atrocity of the genocide and persecution of Armenian Christians in 1915 by Turkey. It had antecedents in 1895 with the martyrdom of Father Salvatore Lilli and many Armenian Christians, Catholic and Orthodox We continue to remember Cardinal Zen and faithful bishops, clergy, and people,being persecuted by the communist government of China who are seeking to turn the Church into a puppet of the regime. Click this link to find out more about the persecution of the faithful and the meaning of Red Week.

As far as I can see, the souls in purgatory can have no choice but to be there; this God has most justly ordained by his divine decree. ...They retain no memory of either good or evil respecting themselves or others which would increase their pain. They are so contented with the divine dispositions in their regard; and with doing all that is pleasing to God in that way which he chooses, that they cannot think of themselves, though they may strive to do so.

O Teacher, Priest, and Lawgiver, You display this title on your garment marked with blood: Lord of lords, and most high King of kings.

O Christ peace-bringing Prince, subdue rebellious wills, by Your love gather into one fold those who have gone astray.

We confess, O Christ, that You are the King of the ages, You are the nations’ King, You are the sole ruler of minds and hearts.

Blaise Pascal (1623–1662), in addition to being among the widely acknowledged geniuses of the human race, was one of the most eminent modern apologists for the Christian faith. In an era such as ours that denigrates both rationality, man’s distinctive trait, and belief in God, man’s highest dignity in this life, we have much to learn from him.

Despite his poor health, Pascal was a prodigy in mathematics and science from his earliest youth. He performed groundbreaking experiments with water and air pressure, invented a calculating machine, and made striking advances in theoretical mathematics, especially probability theory.

After the legalization of Christianity in A.D. 313, a common commemoration of the saints, especially the martyrs, appeared in various areas throughout the Church. For instance, in the East, the city of Edessa celebrated this feast on May 13; the Syrians, on the Friday after Easter; and the city of Antioch, on the first Sunday after Pentecost. Both St. Ephrem (d. 373) and St. John Chrysostom (d. 407) attest to this feast day in their preaching. In the West, a commemoration for all the saints also was celebrated on the first Sunday after Pentecost. The primary reason for establishing a common feast day was the desire to honor the great number of martyrs, especially during the persecution of Emperor Diocletian (284-305), the worst and most extensive of the persecutions. Quite simply, there were not enough days of the year for a feast day for each martyr, and many of them died in groups. A common feast day for all saints, therefore, seemed most appropriate.

Without a doubt parental rights in the rearing and education of their children have become a political issue in the country and in the upcoming election. They are under attack. Laws are being proposed in various jurisdictions to usurp parental rights, in schools especially, to promote gender ideology and puberty blockers in service of this agenda. Along with this is the attempt to sexualize children at a young age in favor of this same ideology in schools and libraries with so called “drag-queen reading sessions” and other perversities. It’s important to deal with a sometime objection from people that they don’t come to church to hear politics. They want to forget about politics.

Another priest has been kidnapped in Nigeria. Go here for more information: churchinneed.org.

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) continues to commit genocide and engage in the systemic rape and torture of Muslim Ugyhurs.In addition, the CCP has been tramping the rights of faithful Catholics. Leaders like Cardinal Zen, the 90-year-old retired Bishop of Hong Kong, and seven other Catholic Bishops are imprisoned in China right now. Cardinal Zen will soon be on trial for being a Christian and standing in solidarity with the vulnerable and human rights protestors in Hong Kong.

Our Lady of Lourdes is one of the most famous appearances of the Blessed Virgin.  She told St. Bernadette when asked her name: I am the Immaculate Conception.  Millions of pilgrims visit Lourdes  and many have been cured in the waters provided for by the Blessed Virgin.  Go to the link below to send your intentions or light a candle or both.  Our Lady of Lourdes pray for us. St. Bernadette pray for us. 

www.lourdes-france.org/en

One of the thinkers who had great influence on Pope Benedict XVI was Fr. Romano Guardini. Below is an excerpt about the challenges we face as Christians in this post-modern world.

From Fr. Romano Guardini’s The End of the Modern World, “The Dissolution of the Modern World”:

The Faith of Christian men will need to take on a new decisiveness. It must strip itself of all secularism, all analogies with the secular world, all flabbiness and eclectic mixtures. Here, it seems to me, we have solid reasons for confidence. The Christian has always found it difficult to come to an understanding of modern attitudes, but we touch an issue here which needs more exact consideration.

*Note: This editorial is for general information and instruction and NOT because these abuses occur in our parish.

A Letter from Our Cathedral Rector

Dear Parishioners,

I want to thank all of you who have recently started receiving Holy Communion on the tongue, not to mention those of you who already had been. This subject has generated a lot of buzz over the past few weeks, the vast majority of which has been overwhelmingly positive. While my main objective in encouraging reception on the tongue is to deepen appreciation for the Eucharist, I also have a pastoral responsibility to eliminate abuses common to receiving in the hand. Such abuses are no doubt unintentional. Nevertheless, what I witness troubles me. And I’m not alone. In 2004, responding to the problem of Eucharistic profanation, the Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacrament released an official instruction entitled REDEMPTIONIS SACRAMENTUM: On certain matters to be observed or to be avoided regarding the Most Holy Eucharist.

Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring—those who keep God’s commands and hold fast their testimony of Jesus. (emphasis added) Revelation 12:17 The real opposition to things Christian comes not from dogma, but from revolt against the majesty of the revealing God… Fr Romano Guardini, The Faith and Modern Man p.113 1952

St. Maximillian Kolbe was shocked when he saw that “In the years preceding the war, in Rome, the capital of Christianity, the massonic mafia, repeatedly disapproved of by the Pontiffs, was dominating in an ever more brazen manner. (Writings 1328) The brothers with the apron "were celebrating in honor of Giordano Bruno, sporting a black banner with the image of St. Michael the Archangel under the feet of Lucifer and waving their banner in front of the windows of the Vatican”.…which is the center of Christianity. The young cleric immediately began to study their methods and purposes. (Note: Giordano Bruno was a former Dominican friar in the 16th century, who became a heretic and rejected the Catholic Faith.)

A Jesus who agrees with everything and everyone, a Jesus without his holy wrath, without the harshness of truth and true love is not the real Jesus as the Scripture shows but a miserable caricature. A conception of “gospel” in which the seriousness of God’s wrath is absent has nothing to do with the biblical Gospel.
— Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, Look Upon Christ

Only a blind man can deny that there's now in the Church great confusion.
— Cardinal Carlo Caffarra