Holy Smoke The Playing Field Is Being Leveled

A few nights ago I (Damian Thompson) joined a group of Catholic bloggers in a pub in Victoria. They included the world-famous Fr Z from America, Fr Tim Finigan and Mac McLernon ("Mulier Fortis"). We felt like a group of East European dissidents swapping samizdat literature in the 1970s.

There are liberal Catholic bloggers out there, but it is persecuted traditionalists who have seized control of cyberspace in the English-speaking world, with disastrous results for the secretive Futurechurch project.

Link (here) to Damian Thompson's great piece

Link (here) to Fr. Z's post on the same subject

Mother Theresa And Pope John Paul II "The Great"

Saint Theresa's Prayer

May today there be peace within..

May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be.

May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith.

May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you.

May you be content knowing you are a child of God. Let this presence settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love.

It is there for each and every one of us.

Hat Tip to Karen Hall at Some Have Hats (here) and Some Wear Clerics (here)

Archbishop Gregory Of Atlanta Praises Legionaries

Mission Network Receives Honored Guest
By Trish Bailey

September 5, 2008. Atlanta, Georgia. On Thursday, September 4, the Mission Network headquarters in Atlanta opened its doors to receive Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory, who came to dedicate the altar of the chapel, leave the Blessed Sacrament to the tabernacle, and visit the team in our new offices. His visit brought inspiration and encouragement to the staff, and confirmed our sense of unity with the archdiocese.

The visit began with Mass at 10:00 a.m. Archbishop Gregory presided, with four Legionary priests and one diocesan priest concelebrating: Fr Scott Reilly, Fr Emilio Diaz-Torre, Fr Eamonn Shelly, Fr David Daly, and Fr John Howren of St Brendan’s parish in Cumming, Georgia. Legionary deacon Jacob DuMont also served during the Mass

During his homily, Archbishop Gregory commented on the first reading from Corinthians 3:18-23, saying that for all of us in the Church, the principle of unity and the focal point of our mission is always Christ.

“Christ is the center. Everything else is peripheral,” he said.

The dedication of the altar took place after the homily. Archbishop Gregory poured sacred chrism on the bare altar in the shape of three crosses, and then took a towel and carefully rubbed the oil into the surface of the wood. After the altar was dressed and prepared, the Mass continued in an atmosphere of fervent prayer.

Just before communion, Deacon Jacob DuMont carefully placed the consecrated host in the tabernacle to stay.

After Mass, Archbishop Gregory stopped for a photo with the entire staff outside and then took a tour of the offices. With his characteristic good humor and warmth, he teased the staff about their “new digs in the corporate world” and thanked them sincerely for their work.

The tour was followed by a 15-minute presentation about Mission Network, which coordinates a wide range of national apostolate programs serving children, youth, families, and vocations. The presentation also touched on the Regnum Christi Movement’s work in the field of education and mass media, and showed how our various programs and initiatives respond to the archdiocese’s mission objectives. After the presentation, Archbishop Gregory addressed the team with words of fatherly kindness, saying that the Legionaries and Regnum Christi members are a blessing in the archdiocese.

After saying with smile, “I wish you wild success,” he concluded: “I want you to know that your archbishop is pleased with you.”

For the team, these words were an encouragement to keep building up programs that serve the local church in the Atlanta and New York territories. The entire staff is extremely grateful to Archbishop Gregory for the inspiring visit, for his fatherly support, and for the lasting gift that he left us in the Blessed Sacrament.

Link (here).

The Politics And Emotion Of Abortion

Sarah Palin – the Post-Abortion Trig-ger?

Sept 5, 2008

Staten Island, NY – Kevin Burke, co-founder of the post-abortion healing ministry Rachel’s Vineyard, said today that anger directed at Sarah Palin and her family may stem from the repressed grief and pain of those who have had or been involved in an abortion.

“When someone publicly opposes abortion, this rejection can strike at a deeply repressed wound in the woman who has had an abortion or the man who has encouraged a woman to abort,” said Mr. Burke. “We at Rachel’s Vineyard know from our work with thousands of women and men that profound feelings of guilt and shame accompany abortion. The words or even just the presence of someone who believes abortion to be wrong can cause that repressed guilt and shame to erupt in anger.”

“The venomous response to Governor Palin’s family is probably heightened by the Palins’ dual rejection of abortion – first, in the case of their Down syndrome son, Trig, and then in the case of their daughter Bristol’s pregnancy,” added Mr. Burke. “Rather than lash out, though, I would encourage those burdened by the guilt of abortion to travel the road of reconciliation and healing. Anger toward others will not bring peace; compassion and forgiveness will.”

Link (here)

Like Judith Beheading Holofernes

Palin delivers star-turning performance at RNC

By TOM RAUM and LIZ SIDOT

An excerpt.

Largely unknown outside her home state, Palin told the convention: "I had the privilege of living most of my life in a small town. I was just your average hockey mom, and signed up for the PTA because I wanted to make my kids' public education better," she said, speaking of her home town of Wasilla, Alaska, with a population of about 6,500.

"When I ran for city council, I didn't need focus groups and voter profiles because I knew those voters, and knew their families, too," she said.

Judith Beheading Holofernes

Read a Catholic lady's insight on Sarah Palin from Karen Hall (here)

Communist

Thank you Some Have Hats' Karen Hall for this "hat tip", Obama the Marxist

The Other Side of Change: Obama and Saul Alinsky
by Mary Jo Anderson
At Inside Catholic

An excerpt.

Much has been written about Obama's career as a "community organizer," a benign term that was actually the brainchild of Marxist agitator Saul Alinsky, whose writings Obama studied and who founded an organization in Chicago for which Obama worked. Alinsky earned his doctorate from the University of Chicago in 1930 and went to work in the state penitentiary. He came to believe that the "social milieu," not personal behavior, was responsible for the plight of the inmates -- and therefore, a changed society would eliminate aberrant behavior. In

1939, Alinsky created his Industrial Areas Foundation, a grassroots agitation organization that found its power in collectivizing working-class poor and idealistic radicals.

Alinsky is well-known for his second book, Rules for Radicals, which begins with praise for Lucifer, a rebel who achieved his own kingdom. The book stressed that activists must be "people committed to change." (Sound familiar?) He taught his agitators to avoid the "useless self-indulgence" of despising their own middle-class roots, instead exploiting the contempt they feel: "If we are to build power for change, the power and the people are in the big middle class majority."