After clerical abuses, Pope urges laity to evangelize

Here is a letter to Pope Clement VII dated July 13, 1530 that asks for the annulment of Henry’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon and includes the seals of dozens of bishops of England who concurred with the request. These bishops later supported the separation of the Church of England from Rome.

Last month, more than a hundred US bishops gave their tacit consent as they refrained from criticizing the honor given by Notre Dame to the Obama, a prominent supporter of abortion laws However, there were seventy or more who publicly protested this scandal.

Last week, the report of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse, published in Dublin last week, reported some 8,000 religious people were involved in the maltreatment of 35,000 children.

Yesterday, during the opening speech of the Diocesan Ecclesial Conference in the Basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome, the Pope pointed out that the laity must progress beyond simply collaborating with the clergy to a greater share in the responsibility of the Church's activity which includes evangelization. Cf. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPSNbu9lRg4

If you read the older posts, this is already being done in various ways e.g. influencing Abp. Wuerl to enforce canon 915 etc... Now, we have the Pope's blessings and mandate to continue to build the church with the good clerics and without the pedophiles and politicians.

Working for God or doing God's work

( pic from http://www.lolsaints.com/)

With all the wrongs and lies going around, someone who cares about God and the world might pop a gasket or have a hissy fit everyday. And with more bad news coming from all over e.g. Ireland and the recent events at Notre Dame, one can just sink into depression and despair.

While I do not advocate a passive approach of watching things fix themselves, I do suggest a little perspective. It's not like God has left us although that is what many thought after the Holocaust. Have we forgotten the miracle of the dancing sun at Fatima? And how about Mother Teresa who simply picked up and washed dying outcasts but in the process touched the world?

This is God's war and we just have to do our part and keep that big picture in mind. So, there's no cause to feel defeat. There's a huge difference between doing God's work and working for God. A person who works for God will not be perturbed.

And a time will come when our bodies will feel sluggish, weak, tired and ready for that eternal rest. ( My diabetes is getting worse; I might need insulin shots soon. ) As we degenerate to that condition, we end up doing even less. So, while we do not have to be flippant about our contribution, we do not have to take ourselves too seriously either. As St. Teresa of Avila counsels,

Let nothing disturb you, Let nothing frighten you, All things pass away;
God never changes.
Patience obtains all things.
He who has God lacks nothing; God alone suffices.

The holy family is still human

(pic from http://www.lolsaints.com/ )

Just hanging loose tonight. With all that's going on, it helps to think that "He's got the whole world in His hands." and "I don't know what tomorrow holds, but I know Who holds tomorrow."

Beat the blues - what works for me

Here are some things that I do to beat the blues.

Take St. John's Wort, an over the counter herbal happy pill.

Walk to get some sun and fresh air. Feeling follows action. And action we can control easily.
So, when we act happy, we start feeling the same way.

Help others. When I was between jobs, I was able to spend time with my Dad. We bought his car together and I accompanied him for cataract surgery. He's gone now but I kept the car to remind me of those special days.

Talk things out with my wife to get another view - a cognitive reappraisal. "Most people
are as happy as they make their minds up to be."

Count my blessings - faith, health, love, and kids.

Pray. Check out the link below. Something happens to our brains during prayer. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=104310443&ft=1&f=1007

Go to confession and receive Communion often. Grace amazes.

To ND grads:

Congratulations on your witness to the sanctity of life. 

Thanks to those who supported the students.

The Catholic Identity: divine, regal, sacerdotal and prophetic

There’s a lot of talk about identity these days because, ND is giving Obama an honorary degree in Law.  Go figure.  And that’s what 70 bishops and 350,000 church-going Catholics are doing as they contacted ND and asked, “What the ?”

 Long story short, that’s just the tip of the iceberg.  Some graduates including professors are mad because this is messing up their party – their prestigious commencement.  They don’t have a clue how the award goes against everything Catholic.  And what is Catholic you might ask. 

 Catholic does what Catholic is.  And Catholic is who we chose to be when we got baptized.  Our ID or passport declares who we are and our homeland.  We are God’s adopted children.  We’re more than blue-blooded aristocrats for we have divine life in our veins.

And we're citizens of heaven and just resident aliens here.  We are kings, because we’re responsible for others including the unborn.  We are prophets, because we speak for God.  We are priests, because we relate to the living God by offering ourselves as a living sacrifice – sacrum facere  means making holy.  We are other Christs as we follow, imitate and are united with the Incarnate Son of God. 

 That is who we are.  Can you imagine what can happen when we live that out?

A new approach to pro-life

http://ncronline.org/news/accountability/bishops-urged-restore-civility-pro-life-efforts

In the article above, Fr. Langan tells the bishops to back off because they’re just being played and that they’re not considering the big picture with all the good that’s happening. And he proposes that we go along and tolerate abortion because it is impractical to criminalize the supply. But the demand can be reduced. It may not be the perfect solution, but it is good. And the best is the enemy of the good. So, why not shift the paradigm along those lines?

If we don't live as we believe, we'll believe the way we live. If we tolerate abortion, we accept that abortion is tolerable. And that starts to desensitize us. It poisons our minds and hearts that we've come to a point to allow a baby to be killed.

They cite the parable of the weeds and the wheat and argue that God lets the weeds thrive and so should we. There is a difference between God's patience with sinners and our resignation to whatever evil happens around us. Aren't we our brother's keeper? If we let women just go and murder their child by making things safe and legal, then what kind of keepers are we? Didn't the Lord identify with the least and said, "Whatever you do to them, you do to me?" So, should we just let the Lord get siphoned into bit and pieces or burned with chemicals?

So, there's the poison in the Kool-Aid.