Satan's March

Straight Guy with the Catholic Eye has a link to a good piece on what one individual saw at the pro-choice/pro-death march.  I find it to be an interesting account.  Here are some excerpts:

The best way I can explain what I witnessed at today's so-called March for Women's Lives is to reference the movie, The Exorcist. When the possessed child, Regan, is confronted by priests who have come to expel the evil spirit from her, she reacts in shockingly vulgar, profane ways.

That is how thousands of 'pro-choice' demonstrators reacted to the presence of a lone priest blessing and praying for them along the march route.

Father Reynolds stood for hours this afternoon on Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, in front of the Navy Memorial. Other members of the clergy and pro-life activists were spread out along the same block. Almost nonstop, he made the sign of the cross with his right arm while speaking to the marchers offering blessings and prayers.

The response was nothing short of satanic. Father Reynolds was cursed at and flipped off by hundreds of marchers, many of whom sported Kerry stickers. Many other marchers mocked the sign of the cross. Some denounced God while others denied His existence.

Marchers screamed at the top of their lungs against the priest. He was repeatedly accused of being a child molester by those who support the murder of children.

One woman walked up to the priest and stood just on the other side of the police-manned fence separating the sides. She made the sign of the cross, but finished by thrusting her hips forward at the priest while she dramatically grabbed her crotch.

The last group in the march was a bunch of homosexuals in drag who stopped and sang crude, profane songs meant to insult the clergy.

You can read the whole thing here.

Weather Man

What do you all think about my weather man?  You can find him on the right, below the donate button (by the way, feel free to donate...I need to pay for some deacon stoles and a very nice cope made by Discalced Carmelite Nuns) and the sitemeter button.  He shows the weather here in St. Louis.  His clothes, and the background changes with how the weather is.  I fear it may be too cheezy.  Let me know what you think.

Slow Blogging

Sorry that I have not been posting much.  Things have been pretty busy around here as we bring the year to a close.  Finals begin a week from today, so if yoiu can spare them, say a few prayers for me.  I will try to post something every once in a while, but until I am done with school it will be pretty slow.

A few news items...

I will be ordained to the priesthood (God and Bishop willing) on June 3rd, 2005 which wonderfully is the Feast of the Sacred Heart.  Consequently my first Mass will be celebrated on the Feast of the Immaculate Heart.  That makes me happy.

This coming summer I will be assigned to Holy Spirit Parish in Sioux Falls, SD.  It is a fine parish and I am sure that there will be much preaching to do.  Hopefully some baptisms and marriages too.

Only 43 days.

Trash

Pro-death signs right where they belong.

Anger And Hatred

Annie from After Abortion provides us with an account of how hateful and angry the pro-abortion marchers acted during the rally.

Here it is:

The March, in three words: "viciously, mercilessly abusive." The amount of verbal aggression and abuse hurled at me personally, by women and men, of all ages, for carrying the I REGRET MY ABORTION sign, well, I thought that I was ready for it.

I wasn't. Not even close.

I consider myself fairly far along on the "healing" and "public-appearances" scales. We stood, all 500 of us in the Silent No More Awareness groups, in total silence as planned, for over five hours, not replying or saying one word to anything that was said or done to us, and I do mean anything.

But nothing prepared me for literally mobs of livid people screaming the most hateful vicious snide things at me personally. We were spit on, and had an egg hurled at us from the marchers. There were two groups of Satanists. And the signs. Like the guy who held a handmade sign, "BABY KILLER" with an arrow pointed downward at himself. If not for the riot police, we would have been mobbed. There was that much viciousness. People broke through the riot police's invisible line just to come up in my face and hurl insulting words. There were not enough police to form a complete line, so they would run up to me, shout out their abuse, and run back before the policeman or woman got to stop him/her. And I said nothing to anyone, just held my sign.

I'll try to post at length as soon as I can. There's much more to tell. Including one woman who in the midst of the mass of marchers, came over to us, said, "What the hell am I doing out here?" and asked us to exchange her NARAL sign for one of ours. One conversion to the truth... that we know of...Will also do one of my regular columns and post that link too. The answer to one of Em's questions below: there were a TON of men there. Young to old, what seemed like thousands of husbands-dragged-along, even up to the ages of 85. Yes, they even had two double length busses for those elderly.

It's amazing how peacful the pro-lifer's are and how hateful the pro-abortion folks are. Maybe it's because they know peace will win in the end.

Katherine Jean Lopez of National Review also wrote a wonderful piece on this same topic.  She says "Though the "pro-choice" caricature of a pro-lifer is of a hater — killers of abortionists, oppressors of women — that elitist conventional wisdom (which was very much part of the march on Sunday) ought to be reconsidered. One close look at what went on both on and around the Mall this weekend would be a healthy baby step in that direction."

Whoops!

Tell Planned Parenthood What You Think

Here is a little tidbit compliments of Catholic Lite:

GoldenGopher found this press release:

http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=123-04232004

It's about Planned Parenthood making its first presidential endorsement ever -- radical pro-abortion Senator John Kerry. The interesting thing about this is that it includes contact information for the guy responsible for the press release:

Steve Smith of Planned Parenthood Action Fund, 202-973-4972 or 202-360-1198 (cell)

I'm not saying you should call this guy at his office. He's probably out of his office -- because of the pro-abortion rally this weekend -- so you should call his mobile number. After all, he put it on there if you have any more questions! I'm sure St. Blogs readers have some questions for Steve Smith, don't you? Can you think of any?

Remember, that's

Steve Smith of Planned Parenthood Action Fund, 202-973-4972 or 202-360-1198 (cell)

Celibate Super Heros

Chris Suellentrop writes an interesting article on how superheros can tell us something about the Catholic Church's stand on a celibate priesthood. Here's a little bit of the article:

"This story, like any story worth telling, is about a girl," Peter Parker intones in the opening line of the summer's blockbuster hit Spider-Man. Except it's not about a girl. At the film's end, Spider-Man wins the girl, as we've come to expect of our movie heroes, but instead of embracing her, he spurns her love. Spider-Man turns out to be a coming-of-age story about a boy who decides that his moral responsibility to the world at large is too great to allow himself the selfish, singular attachment of romance.

Which sounds a lot like what Roman Catholic priests do. Or are supposed to do, anyway. Many critics have pointed out that Spider-Man unfortunately reminds viewers of the World Trade Center disaster. But the movie also speaks, quite eloquently, to the debate over celibacy in the Catholic Church. By the end of the movie, viewers learn that Spider-Man is celibate, and his superherodom is a calling, a voluntary priesthood.

Read the whole article here.

"Priest Must Refuse Communion To Pro-Abortion Politicians" Say's Cardinal Arinze

VATICAN CITY, APRIL 23, 2004 (Zenit.org).- Politicians who support abortion must not go to Communion and priests must deny them the sacrament, says Cardinal Francis Arinze, prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments.

The cardinal clarified this position of the Church today at a press conference called to present the instruction "'Redemptionis Sacramentum': On Certain Matters to Be Observed or to Be Avoided Regarding the Most Holy Eucharist."

In response to a journalist's question, Cardinal Arinze said: "If the person should not receive it, then it should not be given. Objectively, the answer is there."

The cardinal explained that a priest must not give Communion unless it is a surprise occasion and "he does not have the time to reflect."

One of the journalists asked the cardinal if he could give his judgment on the concrete application of this norm in the case of U.S. Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, who says he is a Catholic but supports abortion.

"The norm of the Church is clear," he said. "The Catholic Church exists in the U.S.A. and there are bishops there. Let them interpret."

Kerry supports abortion and has said he would nominate only U.S. Supreme Court justices who support his position. Pro-life groups in the United States say Kerry has a "perfect record" of voting for legislation that allows abortion.

I especially like the part where he makes it clear the the U.S. bishops should interpret the norms. It's time to step up to the plate.

Corpus Christi Procession

Alright, I need some help from some of my trusty readers.  At the Solemn Mass of Corpus Christi on June 13th I will preach for the first time.  We will also have an outdoor procession.  The only problem is that my parish does not have a canopy and torches.  I have checked with a couple of parishes that have these items and they are either using them on that day or are unwilling to lend them to us.  If you know of a parish that will not be using their canopy and would be willing to let us use it please let me know.  Any help would be appreciated.  If you want to buy us one, that would be cool too.  Thanks for the help.

Hmmmm

Someone from the House of Representatives has been reading my blog.  Greetings whoever you are...and I didn't do it.  It was someone else.

Discipinary Document On The Holy Eucharist Finally Released

Here are a few of my favorite quotes:

Only those Eucharistic Prayers are to be used which are found in the Roman Missal or are legitimately approved by the Apostolic See, and according to the manner and the terms set forth by it. “It is not to be tolerated that some Priests take upon themselves the right to compose their own Eucharistic Prayers”[129] or to change the same texts approved by the Church, or to introduce others composed by private individuals.[130]

The reprobated practice by which Priests, Deacons or the faithful here and there alter or vary at will the texts of the Sacred Liturgy that they are charged to pronounce, must cease. For in doing thus, they render the celebration of the Sacred Liturgy unstable, and not infrequently distort the authentic meaning of the Liturgy.

The prohibition of the admission of laypersons to preach within the Mass applies also to seminarians, students of theological disciplines, and those who have assumed the function of those known as “pastoral assistants”; nor is there to be any exception for any other kind of layperson, or group, or community, or association.[146]

The Communion-plate for the Communion of the faithful should be retained, so as to avoid the danger of the sacred host or some fragment of it falling.

However, the pouring of the Blood of Christ after the consecration from one vessel to another is completely to be avoided, lest anything should happen that would be to the detriment of so great a mystery. Never to be used for containing the Blood of the Lord are flagons, bowls, or other vessels that are not fully in accord with the established norms.

The proper vestment of the Deacon is the dalmatic, to be worn over an alb and stole. In order that the beautiful tradition of the Church may be preserved, it is praiseworthy to refrain from exercising the option of omitting the dalmatic

This function is to be understood strictly according to the name by which it is known, that is to say, that of extraordinary minister of Holy Communion, and not “special minister of Holy Communion” nor “extraordinary minister of the Eucharist” nor “special minister of the Eucharist”, by which names the meaning of this function is unnecessarily and improperly broadened.

Read the whole document here.

M.A. Thesis

Sorry I haven't done any blogging today. I have spent much of my time today working on my masters thesis.  I am writing on the idea of self-gift/self-donation in the Eucharist and Marriage and how that is played out in the rites themselves.  It's a topic that I really get into which makes the research and writing more enjoyable.

Tomorrow two of my classmates are being ordained in Springfield IL.  They are the first of our class, and sadly I will be the last.  Only 51 days.

Too Bad I Missed This Meeting

Archbishop Chaput On What Vatican II Did And Did Not Say About Conscience

In the Church today there are many who use freedom of conscience to justify their own immoral behavior and immoral beliefs. Archbishop Chaput does and excellent job in his latest article in explaining exactly what the Council said and did not say concerning freedom of conscience.

He say's "Vatican II can never be invoked as an alibi for Catholics ignoring grave public evil or failing to act on their faith in the political sphere. That's a distortion of the council's message. It also misreads the U.S. Constitution. America's Founding Fathers did not say, and never intended, that religious faith should be excluded from civic debate. They intended one thing only: to prevent the establishment of an official state church. A purely secular interpretation of the "separation of church and state" would actually result in the "separation of state and morality." And that would be a catastrophe for real pluralism and the democratic process.

If we're sincere about our faith, "conscience" can never be used as an excuse for dismissing what the Church teaches by pointing to her theological critics, voter surveys or public opinion polls, and then doing what we find more convenient. That's dishonest. And God made us for something better than that."

Amen. I hope some of our Catholic candidates for government offices pay attention.

I Would Love To Attend This...

Join us for the National Forum on the Theology of the Body on April 23-24, 2004 in Gettysburg, PA! Speakers will address ways of integrating and living John Paul II's life-transforming message! Dr. Phil Mango, psychotherapist and professor at the John Paul II Institute, will discuss the psychology of gender. Fr. Roger Landry, graduate of the JPII Institute in Rome, will present on the antecedents to the theology of the body. Others will integrate the theology of the body with topics such as bioethics and icons, dating and the dignity of women. The weekend will conclude with a performance of John Paul II's play The Jeweler's Shop.

I would love to attend, but I have class...maybe next time round.

True Masculinity

Dr. Philip Mango has a great article on the true meaning of masculinity.  In the article he ask's "What’s a real man? He's not a bully or a wimp. He transcends his own ego, his own fears, his own selfishness, and sacrifices himself as a gift to those he's called to protect.

Masculinity: What is it for? What does it look like? Why is it important? In every walk of life, in war and in peace, men are called by God to be heroes. They want to be activated, to use their natural and supernatural gifts. What is a hero? A man who transcends his own ego, his own fears, and his own selfishness, and makes a sacrifice of himself as a gift to those he's called to protect.

Men in their physical identity must embrace heroic self-sacrifice, because it is masculinity's job to protect life and be expendable. Jesus says: "Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit" (John 12:24). A man's identity in the natural order is to defend and protect, to be a leader, a warrior, a lover, a counselor — it's in his nature."

I think he has really hit the nail on the head.  It seems to me that self-sacrifice and a gift of self is integral to masculinity, and sadly enough, this is greatly lacking in todays society where narcissism has taken hold of many.  You can read hte whole article here.

Self Described "Queer Milita" Raises Hell In Calgary

"Half way through the event a dozen or more self-proclaiming "gay activists", calling themselves the "gay militia", stormed into our meeting room at the Coast Plaza Hotel and surrounded the podium in the middle of an amazing presentation by Rev. Tristan Emmanuel. Rev. Emmanuel's informative and passionate presentation just happened to be about "Christophobia" and the persecution of Christians in today's society.

While banging on the walls and pounding drumsticks together, these protestors cursed and yelled things like, "haters and gay power" etc etc. Many were even dressed in camouflaged military apparel with masks over their faces. On and on they went and marched around the room, swearing and yelling, making complete fools out of themselves. One of them approached a lady that attended our dinner and got right in her face. I stood there ready to defend my sister in Christ concerned that the protestor would become physically violent. Hotel management had to bring in additional staff and ask them to leave and when they would not, the police had to attend and remove them. From what I hear the hotel has pursued charges against this group. Praise God!!!"

If that description isn't enough click here for a link to a one minute video.

Also, here is a little quiz compliments of Ezra Lavant of Western Standard:

1. What is the likelihood that these masked, verbally abusive, vaguely threatening trespassers will be held to account by the police?
2. By the media?
3. By gay political leaders?
4. If it was a "Christian Militia" that stormed a gay dinner with a similar chant, how would you answer those questions?
5. Do you think more or less of this will happen if C-250 becomes law?
6. What is the likelihood that the "Queer Militia" has received some sort of indirect government funding?

The Ceremonial Burning Of The Ties

There is a tradition among seminarians who study at Kenrick-Glennon Seminary that after we all recieve our call to orders and make our profession of faith, oath of fidelity, and promise of celibacy we gather in the courtyard and burn out ties because from now on we will be wearing clerical garb.  Below are some pictures with commentary.

The above picture was taken during the swearing of the oaths.  In case you are wondering I am the seventh person from the right if you include the deacon who is sitting.

After sundown we gathered in the courtyard with our ties.  Here you can see me looking pretty dapper with my snazzy tie.

Up in smoke! 

53 days until ordination!!!

Cardinal Mahoney Gets A Verbal Spanking

The National Review Board, a group a prominent laymen investigating reports of sexual misconduct by priests, in a February 27 report castigated the American bishops in general for their handling of the sexual abuse crisis, but singled out four bishops by name. One of these was Cardinal Roger Mahony. "The inaction of those bishops who failed to protect their people from predators was. grievously sinful," said the report. "Somehow, the 'smoke of Satan' was allowed to enter the church, and as a result the church itself has been deeply wounded."

Read the whole thing here.

Children: An Endangers Species

The innocent unborn children have a real friend in President Bush. He is fighting diligently to protect their little bodies from the abortionist’s knives and puncture devices. With our pro-life president he has proven he cares for all Americans, but especially the little babies. This is not the case for presidential hopeful Senator John Kerry. Let’s look at Kerry's voting record on abortion. Time and time again, Kerry has voted for pro-abortion rights, including voting against the ban on partial birth abortion, an atrocity in itself. President Bush recently signed into law, the ban on partial birth abortions, only to have a federal judge step in and claim the law was unconstitutional. No wonder there is a movement on to stop interference from liberal judges by a constitutional amendment. They are clearly overstepping their judicial boundaries, by legislating from the bench.

If one is not part of a solution, they are part of the problem. Should there be a problem with over 46 million babies being aborted since the Roe v. Wade catastrophe? If snuffing out the lives of so many babies is not a problem with our country, pray tell what is? I doubt very seriously, if most veterinarians would terminate animals inside the womb, without regard for life, and yet, real live babies are subjected to such a brutal form of death daily. The gruesome statistics of abortions level out to 44,000 per day, 30 per minute and 1 every 2 seconds. Certainly a national disgrace. We talk about wars being unjust, and yet many people try to justify abortion. I read recently where one abortionist said he was going to perform abortions until they put him in jail. Maybe he can keep Dr. Kevorkian company.

Amen!  It's horrible but true.

Read the whole article here.

Holy Crap, This Is An Excellent Article

Mr. Doug Giles has written an excellent article entitled Where Are God's Warriors and Wild Men?   He starts off asking a question that I have often times said to myself as I sit in the sanctuary, looking out at the congregation during the Holy Sacrifice.  He say's "Have you ever asked yourself, “Self … why do churches today look more like the lingerie department at Wal-Mart, than a battalion of men poised to plunder the powers of darkness?”  Why do men avoid going to church, and what can be done about it?"

He goes on to explain why men have dissapeared from the pews and blames it mostly on the fact that the Church has, for the most part, become quite effeminate.  Because men have backed down from their role of leadership within the family, society and the church the church has become girly.

What's the answer?  Giles gives us his answer when he gives us these suggestions, or should I say demands?

· Put an end to preaching by cheesy, whiny, quiche eating, preening Nancy Boys ... right now!  It freaks us meat eaters out.  Get it?  Hire a pastor who throws off a good John Wayne vibe instead of that Boy George feeling.  Know what I mean?  And cheer on “Pastor Wayne” to serve up the solid meat of the scripture … the stuff that prods the congregation to biblical maturity rather than prolonging their infancy.

· Ditto regarding the worship/music leader.  And make sure your new testosterone laden songmeister is outfitted with weighty worship music instead of the saccharine-laced slush we have had to sing ad nauseam et infinitum for the last, oh, 100 years.  That’s a pretty simple can-do … don’t you think?

· Enough with the Precious Moments prints and figurines -- okay?  How about decking out the sanctuary with serious transcendent art work that stops us in our tracks, rather than ubiquitous prints of fat baby angels who look like they’ve got a good buzz going from too much Mountain Dew and children’s aspirin?

· Lose the Church’s “I’m in therapy for ever” feel.  Yes, yes, we’re all a work in progress but the co-dependant, extended womb the Church has wrongfully created has allowed congregants to not get a life because of some difficult doo-doo in their lives.  Sure life’s hard, little Sally, and the sooner, we celebrate the struggle the quicker we will draw men back to our houses of worship.

Amen!  Even though he is protestant, I agree with him.  The Church needs to do all she can to draw men back to the Church, and the starting point is manly priests.  We have seen enough effeminate and girly priests in recent times,  it's time to move on.  It's also time to stop the crappy, disney-like, broadway musical-like liturgical music.  It's time to belt out the old classics that speak of beating down the forces of evil - that's what we are about, so why not sing about it?

Alright, enough ranting and raving for now.

Fr. Matthew Has A New Blog

Check it out.  Fr. Matthew is a great priest from Blue Cloud Abbey in Marvin South Dakota.  When I was a young lad I worked at Blue Cloud during the summer months, and I still hang out there frequently.

How Well Do You Know Me?

Click here to take the quiz and find out.

Hmmm...Have Chicken Your Way

This is pretty strange.  He actually does what you type in.  I wonder how much they pay this guy?

Click here.

And The Survey Says...

That the majority of evangelical christians look more favorably on Pope John Paul than they do on Jerry Faldwell and Pat Roberson.  Very interesting...maybe they do recognize the authority of the Pope.

Read more about it here.

Happy Birthday To Cardinal Ratzinger, The King of POD

If my calculations are correct he is 77 years old today.  Check out his fan club here.

Catholic Democrats Are Beginning To Feel The Heat...