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Marjorie Campbell, marjorie@marjoriecampbell.com
Here's a bit of God speak. More often than not, it's an innocent child like this who reminds me -yet again - to trust in God completely and cheerfully. He holds control - not me. http://tinyurl.com/yxewot
Craig Richardson
To live in France!
Being required to work 35-hour work weeks is tough stuff. Plus the French only enjoy 37 days a year of vacation time, the second highest average number of vacation days in the world next to the Italians (the U.S. is ranked at the bottom with 13). Still, 56% of the French people report that a poor night's sleep impacts their job performance, according to the Associated Press.
Enter France's Health Minister, Xavier Bertrand, who is quoted in the A.P. article as saying, Why not a nap at work? It can't be a taboo subject. The government-funded health agency is now embarking on a $9 million campaign to raise public awareness about sleeping problems.
Do you think the campaign will focus on one potential cause of lack of sleep with the French...their long history of carrying on illicit extramarital affairs?
Deal Hudson
The Jesuit priest who called himself "a moral architect" is now dead. His last public act was delivering the homily at the January 3rd Mass for Nancy Pelosi at Trinity University in Washington, D.C.
Fr. Robert Drinan, S.J. served in the House of Representatives from the state of Massachusetts for ten years. He was one of the most aggressive proponents of abortion during his time in Congress and afterward. In 1980 John Paul II told the Jesuit order that Fr. Drinan had to resign from public office. Drinan resigned, but he never stopped crusading for abortion "rights." He wrote an op-ed defending Clinton's veto of the ban on partial-birth abortion.
I can't think of a single priest who did more damage to the Church in this country than Fr. Drinan.
But it appears clear from the obituaries and tributes, he had good friends and was much loved by those who knew him. And that speaks well of any man.
Posted note:
In the eight hours since I posted the above...I've received several angry e-mails accusing me of a lack of decency, etc. I plan on answering this accusation next week. But for now...Fr. Drinan was a public figure. When a a public figure dies it is appropriate and traditional to discuss his legacy.
I have read a half dozen of the obituaries and tributes for Fr. Drinan. None of them discuss the impact of his being a Catholic priest elected to the U.S. Congress who did nothing to challenge abortion on demand.
Deal Hudson
Martin Gilbert is one of the most distinguished historians of our generation. Best known for his biography of Churchill, Gilbert has also written extensively on the history of Israel.
Gilbert has just published a study of Pius XII -- "The Righteous, Unknown Heroes of the Holocaust" -- that sets the record straight after several years of Pius-bashing by John Cornwell and others.
Let's hope that an English translation of Gilbert's book, written in Italian, will be available soon.
Craig Richardson
At a recent Vatican Seminar, The Common Good and the Social Doctrine of the Church from the Second Vatican Council to Benedict XVI, Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace Secretary Bishop Giampaolo Crepaldi said that the Modern Catholic world suffers from three main weaknesses. According to Zenit, Bishop Giampaolo sees these failings: the promotion of the notion of secularism as neutrality, thus weakening its identity; an inability to understand that the issues of life and bioethics are also social and political issues; and the failure to promote the Church's social doctrine in a systematic and comprehensive manner.
The American Catholic Church has certainly experienced this since Vatican II. Just yesterday we lost an icon of Cafeteria Catholicism, Father Robert Drinan, my former Congressman from Massachusetts, who many see as one of the founding father's of a failed philosophy that promotes a false dichotomy between faith and politics. When given an opportunity during the 2004 presidential election to present a unified voice on the sanctity of human life and the centrality of the Church's teaching on this issue, the USCCB punted and allowed each bishop to develop their own approach in dealing with wayward politicians.
It's no wonder, as Bishop Crepaldi says, that Catholics haven't received an adequate education on key moral issues in a "systematic and comprehensive manner." The Church today desperately needs clergy willing to stand up and provide much needed instruction on core issues facing humanity regardless of how politically incorrect these truths are to a relativistic world.
Deal Hudson
Terry McAuliffe, former head of the Democratic National Committee, and an unrepentant Catholic pro-abort, wants to be a Knight of Malta. He says he has "applied," which means someone in the Knights has sponsored him, that's how it works.
The Federal Association of the Knights of Malta (Washington, D.C.) is already filled with Catholic Democrats of the same persuasion so there is no reason for surprise or outrage. If they don't accept him, I will be very surprised.
Knights of Malta do a great job of helping the sick, the "malades," especially on their annual pilgrimage to Lourdes. On their other mission of defending the faith, they haven't done much in a while.
Here is a comment from the American Spectator Blog:
http://www.amspec.org/blogger.asp?BlogID=5355: <http://www.amspec.org/blogger.asp?BlogID=5355>
"Hugh Hewitt is one of the best interviewers - radio or otherwise - in the
business, a hallmark of which is the ability to elicit from interview subjects
tidbits that perhaps they shouldn't be talking about.
Former Democratic National Committee chairman Terry McAuliffe, who famously helped
create the "Lincoln Bedroom" experience in the Clinton Administration, fell to
Hewitt's sway and dropped a bombshell: He has applied to the Knights of Malta,
one of the revered organizations in the Catholic Church.
Yet McAuliffe - who claimed on the show to be a practicing Roman Catholic - is
not in good standing with the Catholic Church due to the fact that he supports
the slaughter of the pre-born. Any Knights of Malta out there want to take a
shot at blocking this heathen from membership? Any buffoon who would brag about
receiving blessings from the Holy Father while in a state of grave sin due to
his support of the murder of innocents deserves to be taken down a notch or two."
Craig Richardson
I guess these stories shouldn't horrify me anymore, but they do.
A 12-year-old German boy was allowed by his parents to undergo a sex change operation, the World's youngest sex change patient, according to Fox News. Kim, who was previously Tim, is now 14, and while "she" has no boyfriends at present, her parents say "she's" interested. Oh, and who footed the $40,000 cost of the operation? The German taxpayers.
I'm starting to feel like Redd Foxx in Sanford and Son. Every time his son Lamont would do something troubling, Redd would clutch his heart, feign a heartache, and call out to his deceased wife: Oh, this is the big one! You hear that, Elizabeth? I'm comin' to join ya, honey!
Deal Hudson
Here is a clarification of what happened at St. Thomas Aquinas Parish regarding Cong. Brian Higgins. Evidently Cong. Higgins, NOT Deacon McConnell, walked out of Mass. Sorry about the confusion. Below is a letter from a Catholic pro-life activist on the subject. I share his reservations about naming individuals from the pulpit -- that's a homiletic habit that could get way out of hand. There would have been an artful way to do it, without naming anyone. In fact, if the Bishop had written something in the diocesan newspaper about the importance of rejecting federal funding on embryonic stem cell research then nothing would have needed to be said.
So, yes, the Deacon went overboard. BUT, the incident underlines a growing frustration in the Church toward the hand-holding of Catholic legislators who show disdain for innocent life.
Years ago in 1963, Cardinal Bernadin in his now famous "Seamless Garment" speech stated that pro-lifers must become "visibly" involved in the movement for social justice, or he would not consider them truly pro-life.
Ok, but what if bishops and priests are not "visibly" pro-life about, say, abortion and protecting human embryos from being torn apart for research. That's the source of frustration that leads to moments of rudeness such as that of the good deacon in Buffalo.
Dear Fellow Catholic:
"BUFFALO, January 25, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A Catholic deacon has been reprimanded for taking a pro-abortion Congressman to task on his voting record during a homily on “Respect Life Sunday.”
Deacon Tom McDonnell pointed out that Democrat Rep. Brian Higgins, in attendance with his family, had voted in favour of legislation allowing federal funding for embryonic stem cell research and suggested that parishioners should talk to him about his vote. The Congressman and his family walked out of the church."
Here is the full text of the article:
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/printerfriendly.html
I do not have an extensive email list of Catholics so please forward this to all Catholics you know, as well as anybody you think should see it.
My thought on this homily is that normally the homilist should not mention any sinner by name. I am not sure what the rubrics of the Mass would say on the subject, but he may deserve a reprimand for that.
However, things are not normal when a sinner is not only publicly open in his contempt f or essential Church teachings, those on which all Catholics must agree in full in order to preserve their communion with the Church, but also enacts laws which over-turn Church teachings.
The pastor of St. Thomas Aquinas, Rev. Art Smith, and Buffalo, Edward U. Kmiec couldn't wait to apologize to Democrat Rep. Brian Higgins for the deacon's telling the pew warmers that Higgins voted against Church teachings. We are told that Higgins and his family walked out of the church. Good.
If the the Diocese of Buffalo had a real man for a bishop he would have publicly excommunicated Higgins a long time ago for promoting abortion and embryonic stem cell research. Whose side is he on?
As president I am considering giving a Thomas More Award to the deacon for standing up for the truth at the expense of a whole lot of grief, quite possibly his removal as deacon. I will await more news. I would also appreciate your comments.
The only such award Thomas More Institute has given so far was to Judge Roy Moore, late of the Alabama Supreme Court who publicly stood up for the Ten Commandments at the expense of his career. I'd really like to give it to a Catholic this time.
Please let me know what you think. Please expand this list.
Michael H. Smith
President
Thomas More Institute (dot org)
P. O. Box 709
Stanardsville, Virginia 22973
434-960-5151
Deal Hudson
It's nice to see in the recent Fox poll that a candidate being a Mormon does not have much effect on most voters one way or the other. About 54 % of voters say it "doesn't matter."
What's surprising is how that number climbs to 67% of voters saying it "doesn't matter" when asked specifically about Romney as a Mormon candidate.
It's also indicative of how early we are in the campaign when only 14% of those polled knew Romney was a Mormon.
Craig Richardson
We're way passed the time for "private counseling" for political leaders who blatantly disregard the Church's teachings with their voting record and statements while continuing to participate in the fullness of the Church.
The Catechism in paragraph 2285 says: Scandal is grave when given by those who by nature or office are obliged to teach and educate others. Jesus reproaches the scribes and Pharisees on this account: he likens them to wolves in sheep's clothing.
Scandal abounds in this situation. The elected officials, by virtue of their position, can easily lead people astray by their words, deeds, and actions. When those responsible for shepherding the flock do not take action, they are in effect endorsing the actions of these politicians through omission. This leads the faithful to the false impression that in the end, following the Church's doctine is really up to the individual. It's time to make a stand.
