Why?

This week, All Saints Parish welcomed Wayne Gwilliam as a guest speaker/healer. Dr. Gwilliam and his wife, Angela, are pastors of Destined to Win Ministries, based in Winnsboro, South Carolina.
Dr. Gwilliam is not a Catholic.

This was not mentioned in the bulletin. In fact, he was simply described as someone whom "God tookf rom a wayward life of organized crime in Australia, to be a minister of the Gospel for over thirty years in countries all over the world."

Great. But Dr. Gwilliam is not a Catholic.

Are there not Catholic speakers who can present a series of "spiritual refreshment and renewal"? Do you really think an Evangelical church (or frankly, any non-Catholic group) would invite a Catholic to speak?   --   Susan M

Living and Dying in the Faith

Martin of Boston: Christian Martyr

He is not the first. He will not be the last.

Defeat Cuomo's Abortion Expansion Bill

Here's the info at Cleansing Fire: Abortion Expansion Bill

Furthermore, in case you thought the Gosnell case is an anomaly, and that voting for and supporting pro-abortion politicians is generally okay, here's something more to ponder:

Before the Gosnell Blackout, There was Tiller's

From the article:

Like Gosnell, Tiller routinely took the lives of healthy, viable babies eager to be born, in flagrant violation of state law.  But given the expectations of his clients, Tiller kept a neater shop and, to ease the conscience of his supporters, almost always performed his mayhem out of sight, within the womb.

Had Gosnell been in Wichita, he likely would have done the same.  As clinic worker Tina Baldwin testified to the grand jury, Gosnell kept one room in the facility clean for the odd "white girl from the suburbs."  He would personally escort those patients to that room and even turn the TV on for them. More importantly, he, not his uncredentialed assistants, would administer the anesthesia.  "That's the way of the world," he told Baldwin.

You really need to read the whole thing. Kathleen Sebelius figures in the Tiller story in a big way. And then, of course, there is this from the President of the United States way back in 2003 when he was a state senator: Obama on infanticide

UPDATE: Now, of course, the pro-abortion crowd is blaming pro-life (what they call "anti-choice") laws for Gosnell. Can anyone, anyone logically make such a connection? From the article: 

Stringent anti-choice laws have been passed in Arkansas and North Dakota. And in Philly, where Gosnell operated, there are no abortion clinics between Pittsburgh and Harrisburg, according toJezebel. And even if a woman has the resources, there are other deterrents and obstacles thrown in their path: One patient of Gosnell's told the AP that she first approached Planned Parenthood for her procedure, but was deterred by anti-abortion protestors outside. A friend told her about Gosnell's operation. Metaphorically, they chased her right into his office. Good job. 

This type of thinking is, quite simply, a form of moral insanity.

UPDATE 2: American Thinker adds more to this horror story: Kermit Gosnell: Secret Hero of the Left

From the article:

Yet even the most ardent pro-choice advocate would be hard-pressed to argue that flipping over a wriggling newborn and taking scissors to its spinal cord is not horrendous, but how much less painful is it for a 14-week-old fetus to writhe within its mother's womb for 24 hours while being scorched to death by saline?  Or how different is it for a fragile infant to be torn apart by a suction device at 22 weeks in utero, or dismembered in the first trimester by a stainless steel scalpel?...

...Ultimately, Kermit Gosnell may end up being the abortion industry's sacrificial lamb and find himself living out his remaining years on death row.  Meanwhile, what's certain is that the always-predictable left will likely argue that henceforth, legalized killing must be carried out in cheery, hygienic, government-regulated facilities.  Then stricter mandates can be put in place to ensure that properly trained abortionists have mastered the fine art of ensuring that the mothers live and the babies destined for the biohazard bag emerge dead from the womb as intended.

Doing what works

Fr. Z shares the renewal story of St. Peter's in Omaha. It's a 15-minute trailer of a documentary to be shown on ETWN at the end of the month. It's all in Fr. Z's post along with pertinent links.

You can't help but contrast what has been done to revitalize and renew St. Peter's parish with the agenda that has been at work in the Diocese of Rochester and our own parish.

Priests in charge. Adhering to what works, as opposed to modernist fancies. The Sacred kept sacred.

For the glory of God and the salvation of souls, says one of the comments.

By gum, it works. ;-)

Abortion in the 21st Century

Apparently this is what "safe," "rare," and "legal" abortion looks like:

The Gosnell Grand Jury Report

UPDATE: And this is what it looks like when the press covers Gosnell's trial (link here). Whatever happened to the old adage, "If it bleeds, it leads?"

Gosnell and your vote

If you are a Catholic and you vote for pro-abortion candidates, see what your vote has wrought. Safe and rare--that was the mantra we've heard from the pro-abortion movement. The image below is from an article from The Conservative Treehouse on the abortion doctor's trial (you can see it better there). What he did was nothing less than diabolical. Read all about it. The babies born alive, and screaming after being aborted, the women who died, those who are permanently harmed and more.

Voting is important. It is life and death important.

Extraordinary Form Mass this Sunday at SV

The Latin Mass Society of Corning announces Mass in the Extraordinary Form this Sunday (the 14th) at St. Vincent's. Slated for 1 p.m., Mass will be celebrated by Father Johannes Mary of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate.

Deconstructing Marriage

Well meaning but ignorant folks have been awash on Facebook supporting homosexual marriage. Indeed, many well meaning but ignorant Catholics have participated, changing their Facebook profile picture to a big red equal sign. The brainchild of the Human Rights Campaign, this sign has gone viral and is a testament to the power of cultural Marxism and, unfortunately, a lack of thinking through the issue of redefining marriage. Writer Daniel Greenfield explains what is really behind the push for homosexual marriage.

It is nothing less than the deconstruction of marriage. FTA:

The deconstruction of marriage is not a mere matter of front page photos of men kissing. It began with the deconstruction of the family. Gay marriage is only one small stop on a tour that includes rising divorce rates, falling childbirth rates and the abandonment of responsibility by twenty and even thirty-somethings.

Each step on the tour takes apart the definition and structure of marriage until there is nothing left. Gay marriage is not inclusive, it is yet another attempt at eliminating marriage as a social institution by deconstructing it until it no longer exists.

There are two ways to destroy a thing. You can either run it at while swinging a hammer with both hands or you can attack its structure until it no longer means anything.

The left hasn't gone all out by outlawing marriage, instead it has deconstructed it, taking apart each of its assumptions, from the economic to the cooperative to the emotional to the social, until it no longer means anything at all. Until there is no way to distinguish marriage from a temporary liaison between members of uncertain sexes for reasons that due to their vagueness cannot be held to have any solemn and meaningful purpose.

There is more. It deserves a thoughtful read.

When Love Penetrated Hell

It is a blessed Easter morning. He is risen.

Pope Benedict XVI wrote a beautiful reflection on the Shroud of Turin. He says, "Dear brothers and sisters, in our time, especially after having lived through the past century, humanity has become particularly sensitive to the mystery of Holy Saturday. The concealment of God is part of contemporary man's spirituality, in an existential almost subconscious manner, like a void in the heart that has continued to grow larger and larger."

But today, it is the first day of the week, and the tomb is empty. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Between the lines

Here's an article that speaks to a problem I bet you haven't noticed much: children being too religious.

Yeah. It's a thinly veiled attack on Christianity in general and Catholicism in particular (note that most of the symptoms and terms used involve Catholic imagery). It is how the media works to subtly undermine faith. Imagine what they would've thought of the Fatima children!

These types of attacks will continue to grow in the coming months and years. Children will need their faith to persevere.

FTA:

Children with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), for example, may rigidly repeat holy verses, say Hail Mary’s or focus on other rituals less out of a deeper sense of faith but more as an expression of their disorder. “It looks positive but could be negative,” says Stephanie Mihalas, a UCLA professor and licensed clinical psychologist.

 

Such ritualistic behavior, she says, may also reflect a child’s way of coping with anxiety, and in reality could be no more spiritual than fanatical hand washing or dreading to walk on cracks. “These kids fear that if they don’t obey their religious rules perfectly,” explains Carole Lierberman, MD, a psychiatrist in Beverly Hills, “God will punish them.”

 

The article states that religion's role is one of "comfort and joy." That is, perhaps, one aspect. There is no mention of eternal salvation or of the deeper issues of life.

A lesson "in new things and old"

The Parable of the Net from the Book of Matthew, chapter 13:

"Again the kingdom of heaven is like to a net cast into the sea, and gathering together of all kind of fishes. Which, when it was filled, they drew out, and sitting by the shore, they chose out the good into vessels, but the bad they cast forth. So shall it be at the end of the world. The angels shall go out, and shall separate the wicked from among the just. And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Have ye understood all these things? They say to him: Yes. He said unto them: Therefore every scribe instructed in the kingdom of heaven, is like to a man that is a householder, who bringeth forth out of his treasure new things and old." (Emphasis added)

When one thinks of the Extraordinary Form of the Mass and the Novus Ordo Form of the Mass, they could be likened to treasures in a storehouse (the Roman Catholic Church). One does not forsake a treasure because it has long been a treasure, correct?

When you see the scribes of today attempting to suppress an 'old' treasure, you can be sure they are not acting from instruction in the kingdom of heaven, but from some other type of instruction.

For more context, Chapter 13 of Matthew is chock full of the parables of our Lord Jesus.

Here is an example of this venerable treasure, which is being celebrated every Sunday: Mass in Extraordinary From begins.

FTA:  "The New Order of the Mass is great but doesn’t fill the needs of everyone as we sometimes imagine," he said. "There is room in God’s house for different forms of worship, even in the Mass."

He noted the people celebrating the Mass "tend to be all ages and walks of life, not just older people like might be expected. Actually they tend to be younger and professional.

"Anything that builds up the church and brings people to Mass is, I think, very fruitful for the kingdom of God," Father Mahoney said.

Verrrryyy interesting. According to Father Mahoney the EF Mass brings people from all walks of life, particularly those who "tend to be younger and professional."

Just the type of folks that would help keep a parish healthy and growing.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Pope Francis!

Our new Holy Father is Pope Francis I. Wow! Argentina. Wow!

Here and here and here for info on the former Jorge Cardinal Bergoglio. He has a  Facebook page, too. A special mass will be said for the new Pope at 7 p.m. EST on EWTN.

He is known for humility. A quote: Cardinal Bergoglio said there is a temptation to speak about "the spirituality of the lay person, of the catechist, of the priest, etc., with the serious danger of losing the Gospel's originality and simplicity. And once we lose sight of the common Christian horizon, we face the temptation of being snobs ... of being attracted to that which entertains and fattens, but not that which nourishes nor helps us to grow." 

UPDATE: And here are his first words to the world:


"Brothers and sisters, good evening.
"You know that the duty of the conclave was to give a bishop to Rome. It seems that my brother cardinals went almost to the end of the world to get him. But here we are.
"I thank you for this welcome by the diocesan community of Rome to its bishop. Thank you.
"First of all, I would like to say a prayer for our bishop emeritus, Benedict XVI. Let us all pray together for him, let us all pray together for him so that the Lord may bless him and that the Madonna may protect him."
(The new pope then prayed the "Lord's Prayer", the "Hail Mary" and the "Glory Be" with the crowd in Italian).
He then continued:
"And now, let us start this journey, bishop and people, bishop and people, this journey of the Church of Rome, which leads all the Churches in charity, a journey of fraternity, of love, of trust among us.
"Let us always pray for us, one for the other, let us pray for the whole world, so that there may be a great fraternity. I hope that this journey of the Church that we begin today and which my cardinal vicar, who is here with me, will help me with, may be fruitful for the evangelization of this beautiful city.
"Now, I would like to give you a blessing, but first I want to ask you for a favor. Before the bishop blesses the people, I ask that you pray to the Lord so that he blesses me. This is the prayer of the people who are asking for the blessing of their bishop.
"In silence, let us say this prayer of you for me."
(After a few seconds of silent prayer, he then delivered his blessing).
He then concluded:
"Now, I will give you and the whole world a blessing, to all men and women of good will. Tomorrow I want to go to pray to the Madonna so that she protects all of Rome. Good night and have a good rest."

Alicia Colon on the next Pope

Catholic journalist Alicia Colon writes about the Church and the next Pope. From the article:

The next Pope will have to be vigorous and healthy because the church is at war. It has always been at war against the forces of evil and totalitarianism and has been instrumental in the failures of socialism. But John Paul II had Ronald Reagan in his corner and this Pope has instead a man who is determined to neutralize the Catholic Church - Barack Obama

All one has to do is look at his record to realize that Obama is steering America in a straight course to Socialism. President Obama has surrounded himself, for appearance-sake, with nominal Catholics [those who have betrayed their Faith] like Joe Biden as his vice president, and Kathleen Sebelius [HHS Secretary]. The Democrat Party is overloaded with these faux Catholics in high powered positions like Nancy Pelosi and John Kerry. Obama has appointed pro-abortion Ambassadors to predominantly Catholic countries and the Vatican. Obama called on phony Catholic organizations like "Catholics United for the Common Good" and "Catholics United" [financed by George Soros] to push the enactment of ObamaCare. The Saul Alinsky method is to splinter, divide, and so isolate the Catholic Church as to render it ineffective. It's working.

BXVI's retirement home