Pope Benedict's letter to the Bishops

As some of you know, the pope lifted the excommunications of the bishops of the Society of St. Pius X (they were illicitly ordained by Abp. Marcel Lefebvre) and then there was this huge kerfluffle because one of those bishops, Bishop Williamson, is a holocaust denier.

So anyways, Pope Benedict XVI has written a letter to all of the bishops of the Catholic Church about all of this stuff and it is just wonderful. You can read it over at Fr. Z's website, translated into English. Here are some of my favorite parts:

The actual problem of our point in history is that God is disappearing out of humankind’s horizon and with the extinguishing of the from God-coming-light the lack/inability to of direction breaks into humanity, the destructive effects of which we are seeing ever more of.

Sometimes one has the impression that our society needs at least one group to which it needs to show no tolerance, which one is allowed to attack with hatred, unquestioned. And whoever dares to touch them—in this case the Pope— has also himself lost the right to tolerance and was allowed to be thought of with hatred, without shyness or restraint.

Dear brothers, in the days in which I bethought myself to write this letter, it so happened that I had to explain and comment on a section from Gal 5,13-15 in the seminary in Rome. I was surprised who directly the sections spoke of the present of that hour : “Do not take freedom as an excuse for the flesh, but serve one another in love. The whole law is summarized in the one world: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. And when you bite and rip each other apart, then take care that you do not kill each other.” I was always inclined to see this sentence as one of those rhetorical hyperbole that occasionally appear in St Paul. In some ways it may well be. But unfortunately that “biting and ripping” is also present in the Church today as an expression of a badly understood notion of freedom.

Is it any wonder that we are not better than the Galatians? That we are at least threatened by the same temptations? That we need to learn the right uses of freedom anew? And that we always have to newly learn that highest priority: Love?

Go read the whole thing. It's just wonderful.

Ladies, Gentlemen, we're being persecuted

Update: As of yesterday afternoon, this committee hearing was cnacelled because the sponsors of the bill came to see that it was possibly unconsitutional. Be on your guard, ladies and gentlemen. It is said by some that anti-Catholicism is that last acceptable prejudice. I am inclined to agree. Stand up for yourself. Stand up for your faith. Stand up for your Lord.

I would like to ask you to read this bill which up for a vote in a legislative committee in the state of Connecticut. This bill would remove all CATHOLIC pastors and bishops from any decisions regarding money and Church property in the state. Notice that this bill applies only to the Catholic Church.

You can read a rallying cry by Patrick Archbold of the Creative Minority Report here. You can read from Matthew Archbold of CMR here. You can read the call to action by Family Institute of Connecticut here. You can see the response by Bishop Lori of Bridgeport and what the Diocese of Bridgeport is doing here. Good stuff from the American Papist here.

This is an unacceptable violation of not only the US Constituion but the Constitution of the state of Connecticut (See Matthew's post above.).

What can you do? Email, call, PRAY!!!!!!
Following are the names and contact info for the sponsors of this terrible piece of legislation:

Senator Andrew McDonald: Capitol phone: (800) 842-1420; Home phone: (203) 348-7439 E-mail: McDonald@senatedems.ct.gov

Representative Michael Lawlor:Capitol phone: (800) 842-8267; Home phone: (203) 469-9725E-mail: MLawlor99@juno.com

Stand up for your faith. Stand up for your preists and bishops. Don't sit back and do nothing. This vote is tomorrow. Be heard!

Oh my Jesus, I trust in you!

heard from the backseat

Curly Sue (singing): "Happy birthday, Snowy Day. Happy birthday ,Snowy Day. Happy birthday, Snowy Day. (stops singing) Now you sing Happy Birthday, Snowy Day."

Maybe you read my post about my bad Friday two weeks ago. Since it's my anniversary I just want to share some things with my three readers.

1. I am just so grateful he's HERE. He might not put his clean, folded clothes away for upwards of two weeks. He might watch too much baseball. He might get on my nerves. But he's HERE for me to get mad at him. And I have to say that it's so much better than not having him here.
2. My friend said to me afterwards, "You always think of bad things happening to the kids, never to your husband." When I think of bad things happening, I always think of bad things happening to Scott. I can handle the kids getting hurt or getting sick because he will be with me to handle it and we'll get through it together. I know I could be strong if I needed to for the kids. I just don't want to think about life without him.
3. You have to let the ones you love know that you love them. You can't part ways angry. Make up before you go on your way. Always make time to hug each other, even if the kids are screaming for their dinner or you're trying to get the lunches ready and the kids out the door. You will never regret spending time showing affection to each other. You will regret pushing him away when you were "too busy."
4. You just don't ever know. Kiss them goodbye. Be excited when they come home. Always kiss goodnight. Pray together. Pray for each other.

Varia

1. Yesterday we had a snow day. Boy, I love snow days. Scott works at a college that was closed and since I work at the parish and all of the public schools were closed, too, no CCD! It's nice to work for places where you have snow days. I don't know what I'd do if I had to get a job in a place that didn't shut down for 6 inches of snow. I worked for a bank once and they NEVER closed. That stunk.


2. I'm pretty tired tonight.


3. Just thought I'd share.


4. Scott is doing very well. His little boo-boos on his head are nearly all gone. I am just so grateful that he is still with us and not only with us but totally fine.


5. Scott and I are going with some kids from the college to New Orleans to help build houses in 2 weeks. This will make up (a little) for not going to the UK this summer. The hooligans will be staying with Grandma and Pop-pop for the 4 days we're gone. And we're taking them out of school. I am a little uneasy with this taking them out of school thing, but they're in Kindergarten and 2nd grade. If we're going to do it, now is the time.


6. My favorite radio station has been having U2's-day all day today to celebrate U2's new album being released today. It has been great to hear all U2 all day. They are one of my favorite rock bands. Hard to believe that they have been playing for 31 years!


7. Adam Clayton is yummy.


8. Tomorrow is our wedding anniversary. 9 years. I was saying to Scott the other night that being married to him is easy. I expected marriage to be more work than it has been. Maybe that will change over the years. Who knows? But I think that if you agree on the big things (use of money, religion, kids and how to raise them) then there is less room for fighting. We have fought, and recently too, but I don't think I could even recall an argument that we've had. It's usually over something stupid. I think it's also good to forget about your arguments soon after finishing them.
9. I gave up Facebook for Lent. I was spending probably 1-2 hours a day on it. It's been hard, but I don't miss it as much as I did last week. I may have to fast from something else, too.
10. Good night, hooligans.