Annual Easter Miracle of the Holy Fire

Here is a YouTube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1I6wlobutc 

and the description is as follows: 

This is footage of the miraculous appearance of the Holy Fire, Saturday April 26, 2008, in Jerusalem at the Orthodox Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

The miraculous appearance of the Holy Fire occurs every year on Holy Saturday in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the Old City of Jerusalem. Holy Saturday is the day before Orthodox Pascha, the celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The Holy Fire appears when the Patriarch of Jerusalem enters a small marble structure built over Christ’s actual, historic tomb. He enters inside, closes the door, and two large candles are miraculously lit as he is uttering prayers. When he exits the tomb he uses his lit candles to light the candles of pilgrims, who in turn light other pilgrims’ candles.

The Holy Fire doesn’t burn, as one can witness when the pious pilgrim in the video (27 second mark) moves his flame back and forth over his face and neck. The Holy Fire is later transported on chartered flights to Athens, Russia, Bulgaria and other Orthodox countries.

For more info:  http://www.holyfire.org/eng/

Choosing between Notre Dame or Femme Fatale

Fr. Jenkins from Notre Dame University has invited a pro-abortion government official to give the commencement address and receive an honorary degree. That has caused quite a stir in the Catholic community that 30 bishops have publicly requested that he rescind the invitation. Despite that, Fr. Jenkins remains adamant. 

And there lies the tragedy because it shows the disconnect between faith and life. A tree is known by its fruit. You don't get hemlock from an apple tree.  Or agere sequitur esse  - activity proceeds from essence or being.

 There lies the root of the problem - an identity crises. Are they a university for Catholics or a Catholic university?  

 In the past, universities were only for Protestants;  so, colleges were put up for Catholics.  So, they could be a generic college with that history and are now almost Catholic in name only as written up in 'The Idea of a Catholic University' ( Land'o'Lakes Conference, 1967 )

Cf.  http://www.projectsycamore.com/pages/landolakes1.php

 The only Catholic trait there is from the statement " Distinctively, then, the Catholic university must be an institution, a community of learners or a community of scholars, in which Catholicism is perceptibly present and effectively operative."

 Or the university can be the educational arm of the Church preparing leaders to permeate the world with the spirit of God as defined the apostolic constitution on Catholic Universities (Rome, 1990) by the late Pope John Paul II.  http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_constitutions/documents/hf_jp-ii_apc_15081990_ex-corde-ecclesiae_en.html

 The essential characteristics quoted below leaves no doubt on the identity and vision of a Catholic university.

13. Since the objective of a Catholic University is to assure in an institutional manner a Christian presence in the university world confronting the great problems of society and culture(16), every Catholic University, as Catholic, must have the following essential characteristics:

"1. a Christian inspiration not only of individuals but of the university community as such;

2. a continuing reflection in the light of the Catholic faith upon the growing treasury of human knowledge, to which it seeks to contribute by its own research;

3. fidelity to the Christian message as it comes to us through the Church;

4. an institutional commitment to the service of the people of God and of the human family in their pilgrimage to the transcendent goal which gives meaning to life"(17).

There seems to be a little of both visions as shown by some of the students, teachers, staff and alumni who demonstrated last week against the invitation.  So there’s hope in reforming it’s vision and mission in the long-term and doing some damage control this May. 

We plan to join the students there as they stand for all these values as personified  by Our Lady – Notre Dame.

2.25 million red envelopes of protest against Obama's assault on the unborn.

The White House mail office has confirmed the receipt of around 2.25 million red envelopes sent by pro-lifers to show opposition to the administration's promotion of abortion. Cf. http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=94142

These did not come from a few corporations and their PAC contributions. Rather it came from working mothers, retired seniors, high school students and from every demographic across this diverse nation expressing the anguish and rage of it's soul as they oppose the cruel, mindless, vicious and rabid violence on the unborn children. Archbishop Chaput reported that a Gallup poll estimated more than 50% of the American population now oppose abortion.

If so many are standing for the sanctity of the life that the Church upholds, one may wonder why Obama won in the first place. One possible cause is the confusion coming from the bishops' misdirection about considering all the issues even if one candidate blatantly and unapologetically presented his platform as diametrically opposed to the Church's teachings. While hindsight is 20-20, the Church is now stuck with the purveyor of the culture of death in the highest office of the land.

But as long as America remains to be the land of the people, for the people and by the people, then decency will prevail because people are intrinsically good being made in the image and likeness of God. And the forces of evil, the legions of the devil who promote promiscuity, fornication, infidelity and ultimately murder through contraception and abortion will have the fight of their lives as people make a stand for God and His children.

Obama admin in shame as Vatican rejects godless ambassadors for 3rd time

It is the third time that the Vatican has rejected the US candidate to serve as ambassador there according to the Washington Times. Cf. http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/apr/07/embassy-row-7410554/ The Pope has done this because all the candidates were pro-abortion.

It seems that the US administration is trying to force in these unsavory characters to make a point that the Vatican will condone the reality of abortion i.e. that there is some tolerance allowable in this matter. Little did they know that the Church is guided by God's Holy Spirit and will not be suckered into supporting godless policies and compromises with evil.

Then again, there is also a possibility that Washington is misled by the Catholic pols who present an obscene interpretation of the Church's position as allowing some form of lesser-evil. This may have been further corroborated by the refusal of Archbishops Wuerl and Bishop Loverde to enforce the Church law that will exclude pro-abortion pols from Holy Communion.

Regardless, what matters is the direction from the top and there is no confusion there, no room for doubt as the Holy See demonstrates the unity and integrity of belief and life not only at a personal level but also at the state level.

On Conscience Protection: it's not over.

Click icon to be redirected to Bishops' website.

Summoned by Our Lady to Rally for Life ?

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times; it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness; it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity; it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness; it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair; we had everything before us, we had nothing before us; we were all going directly to Heaven, we were all going the other way." Charles Dickens wrote this in the Tale of Two Cities back in 1859.

He might as well describe Notre Dame, Indiana this summer as people from all walks life will unite in solidarity with the poorest in American society - the children who do not even have their mother’s love and have been deprived of their chance and right to live. They are being executed in cruel and barbaric ways - vacuumed to pieces, chemically burned, et. al. And that has been audaciously promoted by the president by removing the right of conscience for Christian health care workers, reversing the Hyde amendment and thus using Medicaid dollars to pay for abortion and
covering abortion in the new health care plan.

What started as an imprudent invitation for a commencement speech in the Catholic university of Notre Dame is turning into an unprecedented expression of rage and anguish for the murdered babies and the healers who are being forced to murder. More than another march for life, this will become the historic stance to define the vigorous and unyielding opposition to the culture of death in America and the world.

Notre Dame, Our Lady, will become the rallying figure for all who defend life. Then again, who is to say that she has not been the one summoning her children.

When it comes to the right to live versus the choice to murder, there is no middle ground. The inalienable right to live cannot be summarily dismissed. It is absolute regardless of the belief system. If one sincerely seeks the truth, then the right to life is self evident because, it is granted by the Creator to His creature. And no other creature can deprive another of it. That is why, abortion is an affront and offense to the Creator first and foremost. This makes the battle lines clearer as between those who submit to God and those who refuse to serve Him.

Contact HHS to not force doctors/nurses to abort. 4/9 deadline.

The US Bishops Conference is asking us to protect the right of doctors & nurses to follow their consciences in not performing abortions. The government is going to rescind these if no one stops them. So, please go to the Health & Human Services website and register your objection.

The Obama administration is testing just how far it can go. It backed off before when opposed, so it can back down again if the outrage cannot be ignored. Otherwise, it will proceed and our bishops will close our hospitals instead of forcing our healers to murder and turning our facilities into slaughter houses. Please click on this link & fill up the form. http://actions.nchla.org/Core.aspx?Screen=compose2&SessionID=$AID=970:SITEID=-1:VV_CULTURE=en-us:APP=GAC:ISSUEID=16808$

About the campaign: The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is inviting public comment on a proposal to rescind an important federal regulation issued in December. The regulation implements and enforces three federal laws protecting the conscience rights of health care providers, especially those at risk of being discriminated against because of their moral or religious objection to abortion. ( Source: http://www.usccb.org/conscienceprotection/ )