"Spiritual Temples" Need Constructing Too, Says Pope

Dedicates New Church in Rome

ROME, DEC. 16, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Christians need to put as much effort into building up their faith as they do in constructing and caring for places of worship, says Benedict XVI.

The Pope affirmed this today when he visited the parish of Santa Maria del Rosario ai Martiri Portuensi in Magliana, in the western part of the Diocese of Rome.

Pope John Paul II visited the parish nine years ago. Since then, an increasing number of faithful in the area required the construction of a bigger church. Benedict XVI blessed the new structure.

Referring to today as Gaudete Sunday, the Pope said, "In truth, all of Advent is an invitation to rejoice because 'the Lord is coming,' because he is coming to save us. [...] The Advent liturgy constantly repeats that we must wake up from the slumber of habit and mediocrity, we must abandon sadness and discouragement; we must refresh our hearts for 'the Lord is near.'"

The Holy Father continued: "Today, there is another reason for us to rejoice. [...] It is the dedication of the new parish church which is built on the same site where my beloved predecessor, the Servant of God John Paul II, celebrated Holy Mass on the occasion of his pastoral visit on Nov. 8, 1998."

The Pontiff reflected on the readings from the Mass, the first "taken from the book of Nehemiah, a book that narrates the recomposition of the Hebrew community after the exile. [...] It is therefore the book about the origins of a community and it is full of hope. [...] The text describes the solemn moment when, after the dispersion, the little Hebrew community is reconstituted; it is the moment of the public re-proclamation of the law, and everything unfolds in a climate of simplicity and poverty. [...] Some begin to cry for the joy of being able again, after the tragedy of the destruction of Jerusalem, to hear the word of God in freedom."

He added: "Does not this reading move you too, dear faithful? In this moment how many memories crowd into your mind! What toil to build up the community year after year! How many dreams, how many projects, how many difficulties! Now, however, we are given the opportunity to proclaim and listen to the word of God in a beautiful church, which favors recollection and awakens joy; a church that wishes to be constantly a recall to a solid faith and a commitment to grow as a united community. Let us give thanks to God for his gifts and let us thank everyone who has worked at the construction of this church."

Benedict XVI drew from the second reading, from Revelation, to remind the faithful "that the living community is more sacred than the material temple that we consecrate. And to construct this living, spiritual temple -- that you are -- many prayers are necessary, it is necessary to value every opportunity offered by the liturgy, catechesis, the multiple pastoral, charitable, missionary and cultural activities that keep your promising community 'young.' May the care that we show for the material edifice -- sprinkling it with holy water, anointing it with oil, incensing it -- be a sign and stimulus of a more intense care in defending and promoting the temple of persons, formed by you, dear parishioners."

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Thompson Pounces

Hard to conjure up that image but it's true. Thomspon sends out an e-mail blast taking issue with Romney's statement today on MTP that "every piece of legislation which came to my desk in the coming years as a Governor, I came down on the side of preserving the sanctity of life." The "fact check" includes this:

"Romney's health care legislation provides taxpayer-funded abortions for a co-pay of just $50. Romney vetoed EIGHT provisions in his health care bill that he deemed objectionable, including the expansion of dental benefits to Medicaid recipients. He did not veto Planned Parenthoods' guaranteed position on the Advisory Board or ensure that abortions were covered only in medically necessary situations (as required by MA court ruling). All abortions are covered in the Commonwealth Care program with no medically necessary limitation. Under the program, abortions are available for a copay of $50...

Romney included in his health care legislation a guarantee that Planned Parenthood would have a representative on his MassHealth Payment Policy Advisory Board. No such provision was included for a pro-life representative. ...

Romney forced private Catholic hospitals to provide the morning-after-pill, a position applauded by Democrats and pro-abortions groups. .."

More interesting than even the substance of this is the fact that Thompson is becoming more focused in his attacks on Romney. After a long period of silence we now have two consecutive days of challenging Romney's conservative bona fides.

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Pope: Seminaries Must teach the Extraordinary Form

Holy Smoke

by Damian Thompson

Bad news for England’s ludicrously overstaffed Catholic seminaries, one of which employs 37 staff for 32 students. The Pope wants them to teach trainee priests how to say the traditional Latin Mass. They won’t like that!

The Pope wants trainee priests to be able to read the Latin Missal

England’s seminaries are all pretty much in the same mould: Left-leaning, liturgically trendy, politically correct, therapy-obsessed and terrified of a younger generation of conservative Catholics. Most of them would rather teach Unitarian circle-dancing than the Tridentine Mass. But they may not have much choice.

The pontifical commission Ecclesia Dei, unimpressed by certain bishops’ sour response to the liberation of the Latin Mass, realises that there is a shortage of priests who know how to celebrate the complicated ancient liturgy. Since demand for it is rising, seminaries will need to address this problem.

In America, some bishops have anticipated this situation. Two seminaries in Pennsylvania – St Vincent, Latrobe, and St Charles Borromeo, Philadelphia – have just announced that they will be teaching the “extraordinary form”, as it is now known.

There are four seminaries in England and to say that they are not bursting at the seams is putting it mildly. I reckon there are not many more than 100 English seminarians in all of them combined. Yet the bishops cannot reach agreement on which, if any, to close.

The seminaries, you see, employ a whole army of hand-wringing, Tablet-reading types whose job it is to mould trainee priests in their own image. The really good boys will be sent to plum parishes, then shuffled around the diocesan curia a bit until they return to the seminaries as lecturers; then, if they are really, really good, they are made an auxiliary bishop.

(None of which, of course, is supposed to cast aspersions on the academic standards at these institutions. Why, at one seminary, there are no fewer than three – three! – people with doctorates on the teaching staff of around 30.)

Anyway, teaching seminarians to follow the rubrics of the Missal of Blessed Pope John XXIII doesn’t fit into this picture at all. Just think of the shrieks of horror if the Holy Father puts his foot down. I can’t wait.

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How Many Heisman Winners Has Abortion Killed?

The sports world recently greeted the news that this year’s Heisman Trophy Winner, Tim Tebow from the University of Florida, was almost a casualty of abortion. Twenty-some years ago he was not the strapping 6’3”, 235 lb. beloved sports hero that he is today. At that time he was a one-inch-long unborn child whose existence, because of an amoebic infection, was defined as threat to his mother’s health. Pam Tebow, his mother, was told by a doctor that it would be in her best interests to abort this baby, and she refused. Her husband backed her up on that generous decision, and seven months later they gave birth to a perfectly healthy boy. Little did they know that twenty years later they would be standing on a national stage with a Heisman Trophy winner giving that magnificent witness to life. The world thanks you, Mr. and Mrs. Tebow! There cannot be a more touching Advent story than this. I wonder if anyone has ever asked how many potential Heisman Trophy winners abortion has actually killed. The answer is, twelve. Reflect on that a bit as you read further because there is a larger lesson in the Tebows’ witness. Dr. Brian Clowes, HLI researcher, has examined the data from the 2007 Statistical Abstract of the United States (most recent census data) and extrapolated the numbers of the various professions and categories of Americans who have been eliminated in the wake of nearly 49 million legalized abortions, one third of all Americans conceived since 1973. The following numbers are based on the actual government estimates of the professions represented in America. So then, who have we lost to abortion? 2 US Presidents 7 Supreme Court Justices 102 US Senators and 589 Congressmen 8,123 Federal, district and local court judges 31 Nobel Prize laureates 328 Olympic medalists including 123 Gold medalists 6,092 professional athletes 134,841 physicians and surgeons 392,500 registered nurses 70,669 priests, ministers, rabbis and imams including 6,852 priests and 11,010 nuns (vocations “shortage”?) 1,102,443 teachers (K-12) 553,821 truck drivers 224,518 maids and housekeepers 336,939 janitors 134,028 farmers and ranchers 109,984 police officers and sheriff’s deputies 39,477 firefighters 17,221 barbers, and 24,450,000…women (the gender of roughly half of all children aborted). These numbers of course are only the tip of the iceberg. Keep in mind that we get our statistics about abortion from the abortion industry itself which has a vested interest in under-reporting the numbers. Likewise, these categories are only a few of the professions that Americans actually work in and are by no means a full portrayal of the total American workforce. What they represent, however, is the immense human toll that abortion takes on a society. Abortion-promoters present abortion as an exclusively private choice, but thirty-five years of abortion exposes the perniciousness of that lie. There is a social toll that comes from abortion which cannot easily be corrected. For three and a half decades the feminists have reveled in a misleading “freedom to choose,” and on the basis of that false “right” have eliminated their children and done immense damage to the family as the basic unit of society. Those who respect these sacred realities, on the other hand, have their wives and husbands to grow old with, their children to enjoy and their grandkids to play with and spoil. The love of life, marriage and family never leaves its adherents penniless, lonely or abandoned, and every now and then God throws in a Heisman Trophy just to show the rest of us that it’s all worth it.
Sincerely Yours in Christ, Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer, President, Human Life International Link

Father Z.'s Dream

"I had a very strange dream last night.

I am not sure, but I think the Legionarires of Christ might actually be…. Cylons!"

Caption Contest

Makin' their way
The only way they know how
That's just a little bit more
Than the USSCB will allow...

The Crescat

• Song

Christmas Is About Christ, Benedict XVI Affirms

VATICAN CITY, DEC. 14, 2007 (Zenit.org).- In reflecting on the meaning of the Christmas tree, Benedict XVI affirmed that Christmas is a Christian holiday, and that its symbols make important references to the incarnation and birth of Christ.

The Pope said this today upon receiving in audience a delegation from the autonomous Italian region of Trentino-Alto Adige/South Tyrol, led by the regional president and the mayor of the village of San Martino in Badia/St. Martin in Thurn.

The fir, which will stand next to the Nativity scene through Christmas, "is an important symbol of Christ's nativity because with its evergreen leaves it recalls the life that does not die," said the Holy Father. "The fir is also a symbol of the popular religiosity in your valleys, which finds particular expression in processions."

The Pontiff continued: "The tree and the Nativity scene are elements of that typical Christmas atmosphere which is part of the spiritual heritage of our communities; an atmosphere suffused with religiosity and family intimacy which we must conserve even in our modern societies where the race to consumerism and the search for material goods sometimes seem to prevail."

"Christmas is a Christian feast," added Benedict XVI, "and its symbols, especially the nativity scene and the tree hung with gifts, are important references to the great mystery of the incarnation and the birth of Jesus, which are constantly evoked by the liturgy of Advent and Christmas."

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"Aneurysms?"

"I have on the EWTN broadcast of the solemn Mass with the 1962 Missale Romanum in Hanceville. I wonder how many aneurysms are taking place among progressivist liturgists right now. You know they won’t be able to help themselves. They’ll have to tune in." - Father Z

Reminder: Solemn High "Rorate" Mass on EWTN This Morning at 8:00AM ET

Celebration of the Advent Solemn Mass of Our Lady by Candlelight (The “Rorate” Mass) from the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Hanceville, Alabama.

Sat, 12/15/07 8:00 AM LIVE
Sat, 12/15/07 6:00 PM ENCORE
Sun, 12/16/07 12:00 AM ENCORE

1. Mass Text - booklet format (PDF)

2. Mass Text - scrollable format (PDF)

Watch Live

Astronomy Picture of the Day

2007, December 15

Mountains of Creation
Credit: Lori Allen (Harvard-Smithsonian CfA) et al., JPL-Caltech, NASA

Explanation: This fantastic skyscape lies at the eastern edge of giant stellar nursery W5, about 7,000 light-years away in the constellation Cassiopeia. An infrared view from the Spitzer Space Telescope, it features interstellar clouds of cold gas and dust sculpted by winds and radiation from a hot, massive star outside the picture (just above and to the right). Still swaddled within the cosmic clouds, newborn stars are revealed by Spitzer's penetrating gaze, their formation also triggered by the massive star. Fittingly dubbed "Mountains of Creation", these interstellar clouds are about 10 times the size of the analogous Pillars of Creation in M16, made famous in a 1995 Hubble Space Telescope view. W5 is also known as IC 1848 and together with IC 1805 it is part of a complex region popularly dubbed the Heart and Soul Nebulae. The Spitzer image spans about 70 light-years at the distance of W5.

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2007, December 14

Click above pic to enlarge

Apollo 17: Shorty Crater Panorama
Credit: Apollo 17 Crew, NASA; Panorama Assembly: Mike Constantine

Explanation: In December of 1972, Apollo 17 astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt spent about 75 hours on the Moon in the Taurus-Littrow valley, while colleague Ronald Evans orbited overhead. This sharp panorama is digitally stitched together from pictures taken by Cernan as he and Schmitt roamed the valley floor. Starting with a view of the imposing South Massif, scrolling the panorama to the right will reveal Schmitt and the lunar rover at the edge of Shorty Crater, near the spot where geologist Schmitt discovered orange lunar soil. The Apollo 17 crew returned with 110 kilograms of rock and soil samples, more than was returned from any of the other lunar landing sites. Now thirty five years later, Cernan and Schmitt are still the last to walk on the Moon.

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Vento Steaks His Claim: Sign Isn't Discriminatory

By WILLIAM BENDER
Philadelphia Daily News

IT DOESN'T take a six-hour public hearing like yesterday's to know that Geno's Steaks owner Joey Vento and the Philadelphia Human Relations Commission have different approaches to dealing with the city's immigrants.

The commission, which enforces civil-rights laws and mediates inter-group disputes, distributes pamphlets that ask, "Are you a victim of discrimination?" - in seven languages.

Vento earns most of his cash selling one thing - cheesesteaks - and he wants you to order in one language.

"This is America. When ordering, please speak English."

That's what the sign says at Vento's South Philly sandwich shop on 9th Street and Passyunk Avenue.

But is there anything wrong with "The Sign"? Specifically, does it violate the city's Fair Practices Ordinance by discriminating against immigrants and non-English speakers who frequent Vento's business?

That question wasn't answered yesterday at the Arch Street Meeting House, where a three-person panel heard more than six hours of testimony from witnesses for the HRC, which wants the sign removed, and Vento, who refuses to comply.

A ruling won't come for at least a couple of months, said Joseph Centeno, who chaired yesterday's hearing panel. The panel will make a recommendation to the full commission, but the parties have about 60 days to file post-hearing briefs.

Vento, sporting a black leather jacket and lots of bling, showed up yesterday ready for battle, with his Atlanta-based legal team and dozens of supporters at his side. The sign, he said, posted more than two years ago, is designed to make a political statement and keep the line moving at the world-famous Geno's Steaks.

When Vento was called to testify, the 68-year-old grandson of Italian immigrants started paraphrasing Theodore Roosevelt so quickly that the court reporter had to ask him to slow down.

"To be an American, you have to be American and nothing else. For if you say you're something else, then you're not a true American," Vento said, drawing on the words of the 26th president.

"I'm an American of Italian descent," he said. "I'm not an Italian-American."

More than 100 people attended the hearing, which had a trial-like atmosphere and ran so late that the staff of the historic meeting house wanted to close the place down.

There were pro-immigration groups, Vento loyalists and even some tears from one of his attorneys during the closing arguments - all over a 4-inch-by-9-inch bumper sticker that asks customers to order their food in English.

Paul Hummer, the attorney prosecuting the complaint against Vento on behalf of the HRC, said the sign "discriminates on the basis of national origin because national origin and language are linked."

Hummer drew parallels between Vento's English-only policy and the Jim Crow era in the segregated South. He argued that it violates the section of the city's Fair Practices Ordinance that prohibits places of public accommodation from withholding services based on race, color, ancestry and other classifications.

"Philadelphia is better than this," said Regan Cooper of the Pennsylvania Immigration and Citizenship Coalition. "We can and should live up to our ideals as the City of Brotherly Love."

Another sign at Geno's that says employees have the right to refuse service to any customer, but Vento said it has been there for about 20 years and is not related to the speak-English sign. He testified that he has never turned anyone away because he couldn't order in English.

"Nobody goes away without a sandwich," Vento said.

"Do you think I'm stupid? I built the business from six dollars into a multimillion-dollar business . . . And you're gonna tell me I'm refusing service to people and I'm that successful?" he asked. "Well, if I am, I'm a very lucky guy and I should be on a plane to Las Vegas 'cause I'll probably break Las Vegas with this kinda luck."

Hummer countered that the sign "implies" that you can't get a cheesesteak there if you can't speak English, and is therefore discriminatory.

Meanwhile, Vento's business has been "phenomenal" since the controversy erupted last year, he said.

Vento, who still works the early-morning shift at his shop, has become an unlikely authority in the national immigration debate and probably the only cheesesteak vendor in the country whose presidential endorsement carries any weight. (He's backing Republican Rudy Giuliani, who visited Geno's in October.)

But, Vento said, he still doesn't understand all the fuss.

"The people that are protesting, I don't know where they're coming from," he said. "I'm not asking anybody to recite the Declaration of Independence." *

• Link to Original
• Geno's Steaks

Pope Urges Students to Engage Culture

Pope Benedict XVI walks past an image of the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus at the end of a mass celebrated with the students of Roman Catholic Universities in St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican, Thursday, Dec. 13, 2007

Vatican, Dec. 14, 2007 (CWNews.com) - Pope Benedict XVI (bio - news) has urged university students to uphold the faith in a European culture whose thoughts have been "disengaged from God."

The Holy Father spoke to Rome's university students on Thursday evening in the Vatican basilica, after a Mass celebrated by Cardinal Camillo Ruini. He encouraged them to approach the future with confidence, recognizing that the faith is always alive. As evidence of the attractive power of Catholic truth, he pointed out that 150 students from Rome's universities have accepted the faith this year, and are planning to be confirmed at Pentecost 2008.

Tracing some of the thoughts that he presented in his encyclical Spe Salvi, the Pope said that Europe today is influenced by ideological trends formed in the 17th century, "according to which human progress is the work of science and technology, while faith concerns only the salvation of the soul." These trends, he said, led to a belief that economic and political measures can be enough to bring about "a just society in which peace, freedom and equality reign."

In practice, the Pope continued, those ideological trends have had a damaging impact, because the human soul is not shaped simply by economic and political factors, and "technological progress does not correspond to the moral development of mankind." Early in the 21st century, he argued, society has recognized that ideologies can be destructive, and the blind pursuit of technological conquest can be dangerous to society. Thus the time is ripe for a new assertion of Christian claims, he told his young audience.

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Inter Milan Sued Over 'Crusaders' Jerseys

Richard Owen in Rome

A Turkish lawyer is taking legal action against Inter Milan, the Italian football team, for wearing a strip with “Crusader-style” red crosses that he alleges is ”offensive to Muslim sensibilities”.

Baris Kaska, a lawyer in Izmir who specialises in European law, said that he had lodged a complaint in a local court against Inter Milan, which last month played the Istanbul team Fenerbahce in a Champions League match at the San Siro stadium in Milan. The Inter players wore a new strip - a white shirt with a giant red cross on it - marking the club's centenary.

Mr Kaska said he was not only seeking damages but was also appealing to Uefa to annul the match, which Inter won 3-0. “That cross only brings one thing to mind - the symbol of the Templar Knights,” he said. “It made me think immediately of the bloody days of the past. While I was watching the game I felt profound grief in my soul.” Mr Kaska told the Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia that the cross symbolised “Western racist superiority over Islam”.

He said that Inter had “manifested in the most explicit manner the superiority of one religion over another”. He said the court had contacted both Uefa and Fifa to convey his demand that Inter should be “heavily fined for displaying an offensive symbol”. “How could Uefa allow this?“demanded the Turkish paper Radikal.

Inter Milan officials said that they were “astounded”. They said that in the first match between the two teams in September at Istanbul - which Fenerbahce won 1-0 - Inter had deliberately refrained from wearing the strip with the red cross but had felt entitled to use it on its home ground.

Inter officials also pointed out that a red cross on a white background is the symbol of the city of Milan. Many Italian football clubs incorporated the cross on their shirts, including Inter, founded in Milan in 1908. “The red cross has become an international political football,” Corriere della Sera commented...

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Incredible Talent

She's amazing:

Click to see Swissmiss dance

Doctrinal Note on Some Aspects of Evangelization: Summary Points

Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith

DOCTRINAL NOTE ON SOME ASPECTS OF EVANGELIZATION

SUMMARY POINTS

I. Introduction

1. The Doctrinal Note is devoted principally to an exposition of the Catholic Church’s understanding of the Christian mission of evangelization, which is to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ; the word "Gospel" translates "evangelion" in the Greek New Testament. "Jesus Christ was sent by the Father to proclaim the Gospel, calling all people to conversion and faith. ‘Go out into the whole world and preach the Gospel to every creature’ (Mk 16,15)." [n. 1]

2. The Doctrinal Note cites Pope John Paul II’s Encyclical Letter "The Mission of the Redeemer" in recalling that "‘Every person has the right to hear the Good News [Gospel] of the God who reveals and gives himself in Christ, so that each one can live out in its fullness his or her proper calling.’ This right implies the corresponding duty to evangelize." [n. 2]

3. Today there is "a growing confusion" about the Church’s missionary mandate. Some think "that any attempt to convince others on religious matters is a limitation of their freedom," suggesting that it is enough to invite people "to act according to their consciences", or to "become more human or more faithful to their own religion", or "to build communities which strive for justice, freedom, peace and solidarity", without aiming at their conversion to Christ and to the Catholic faith.

Others have argued that conversion to Christ should not be promoted because it is possible for people to be saved without explicit faith in Christ or formal incorporation in the Church. Because "of these problems, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has judged it necessary to public the present Note." [n. 3]

II. Some Anthropological Implications

4. While some forms of agnosticism and relativism deny the human capacity for truth, in fact human freedom cannot be separated from its reference to truth. Human beings are given intellect and will by God that they might come to know and love what is true and good. The ultimate fulfillment of the vocation of the human person is found in accepting the revelation of God in Christ as proclaimed by the Church.

5. This search for truth cannot be accomplished entirely on one’s own, but inevitably involves help from others and trust in knowledge that one receives from others. Thus, teaching and entering into dialogue to lead someone in freedom to know and to love Christ is not inappropriate encroachment on human freedom, "but rather a legitimate endeavor and a service capable of making human relationships more fruitful." [n. 5]

6. The communication of truths so that they might be accepted by others is also in harmony with the natural human desire to have others share in one’s own goods, which for Catholics includes the gift of faith in Jesus Christ. Members of the Church naturally desire to share with others the faith that has been freely given to them.

7. Through evangelization, cultures are positively affected by the truth of the Gospel. Likewise, through evangelization, members of the Catholic Church open themselves to receiving the gifts of other traditions and cultures, for "Every encounter with another person or culture is capable of revealing potentialities of the Gospel which hitherto may not have been fully explicit and which will enrich the life of Christians and the Church." [n. 6]

8. Any approach to dialogue such as coercion or improper enticement that fails to respect the dignity and religious freedom of the partners in that dialogue has no place in Christian evangelization.

III. Some Ecclesiological Implications

9. "Since the day of Pentecost … the Gospel, in the power of the Holy Spirit, is proclaimed to all people so that they might believe and become disciples of Christ and members of his Church." "Conversion" is a "change in thinking and of acting," expressing our new life in Christ; it is an ongoing dimension of Christian life.

10. For Christian evangelization, "the incorporation of new members into the Church is not the expansion of a power-group, but rather entrance into the network of friendship with Christ which connects heaven and earth, different continents and ages." In this sense, then, "the Church is the bearer of the presence of God and thus the instrument of the true humanization of man and the world." (n. 9)

11. The Doctrinal Note cites the Second Vatican Council’s "Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World" (Gaudium et Spes) to say that respect for religious freedom and its promotion "must not in any way make us indifferent towards truth and goodness. Indeed, love impels the followers of Christ to proclaim to all the truth which saves." [n.10] This mission of love must be accomplished by both proclamation of the word and witness of life. "Above all, the witness of holiness is necessary, if the light of truth is to reach all human beings. If the word is contradicted by behavior, its acceptance will be difficult." On the other hand, citing Pope Paul VI’s Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii nuntiandi, the Note says that "even the finest witness will prove ineffective in the long run, if it is not explained, justified… and made explicit by a clear und unequivocal proclamation of the Lord Jesus." [n. 11]

IV. Some Ecumenical Implications

12. The CDF document points out the important role of ecumenism in the Church’s mission of evangelization. Christian divisions can seriously compromise the credibility of the Church’s evangelizing mission. The more ecumenism brings about greater unity among Christians, the more effective evangelization will be.

13. When Catholic evangelization takes place in a country where other Christians live, Catholics must take care to carry out their mission with "both true respect for the tradition and spiritual riches of such countries as well as a sincere spirit of cooperation." Evangelization proceeds by dialogue, not proselytism. With non-Catholic Christians, Catholics must enter into a respectful dialogue of charity and truth, a dialogue which is not only an exchange of ideals, but also of gifts, in order that the fullness of the means of salvation can be offered to one’s partners in dialogue. In this way, they are led to an ever deeper conversion to Christ.

"In this connection, it needs also to be recalled that if a non-Catholic Christian, for reasons of conscience and having been convinced of Catholic truth, asks to enter into the full communion of the Catholic Church, this is to be respected as the work of the Holy Spirit and as an expression of freedom of conscience and of religion. In such a case, it would not be question of proselytism in the negative sense that has been attributed to this term." [n. 12]

V. Conclusion

14. The Doctrinal Note recalls that the missionary mandate belongs to the very nature of the Church. In this regard it cites Pope Benedict XVI: "The proclamation of and witness to the Gospel are the first service that Christians can render to every person and the entire human race, called as they are to communicate to all God’s love, which was fully manifested in Jesus Christ, the one Redeemer of the world." Its concluding sentence contains a quotation from Pope Benedict’s first Encyclical Letter "Deus caritas est": "The love which comes from God unites us to him and ‘makes us a we which transcends our divisions and makes us one, until in the end God is all in all (1 Cor 15:28)’."

Link

Update: Father Z.'s comments (click)

Gifts

"Shhhhhhhh..."

Angela and Ray quietly delivered their gifts while Terry was distracted by the camera. (Cathy can be seen setting up her porch-tree in the background.)

Pope Backs Attacked Venezuelan Cardinal: Government Sympathizers Hit and Kicked Car

VATICAN CITY, DEC. 13, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI sent a message to Cardinal Jorge Urosa Savino, after the Caracas archbishop was attacked by a group of Hugo Chávez supporters called "The Hot Corner."

The cardinal was attacked verbally and physically Friday by the Venezuelan president's supporters in the capital's central Bolivar Plaza, as local police stood by.

The Pope said in a note sent Sunday: "Having known with concern the news of the attack suffered by Your Eminence by a violent group on the 7th, I hasten to show you my sincere closeness and solidarity in this unfortunate circumstance, and at the same time to assure you of a special remembrance in prayer, that you may be sustained and encouraged in the faithful fulfillment of your pastoral mission.

"As a sign of consolation and esteem, I cordially send you my apostolic blessing, which extends to all the pastors and faithful of that beloved nation."

Cardinal Urosa released a statement Saturday that said at 3:20 on Friday, when he left his residence in car with his driver, "I was violently attacked verbally and physically; even though I wasn't personally hit, they hit and kicked my car."

"There were 15 people, from the violent group 'The Hot Corner,'" he said, referring to a group of mostly unemployed individuals that congregate in the Bolivar Plaza.

"There was no protection by the Caracas police," lamented the cardinal.

"I have sent two messages about this issue to [Interior] Minister Pedro Carreño, who did not return my calls," added Cardinal Urosa. "Thanks be to God that this time I left unhurt."

Cardinal Urosa received several verbal attacks from Chávez during the campaign for the referendum on the socialist constitutional reform, which was defeated in the ballot boxes Dec. 2.

Link

Good Ole St. Nick: Celebrating the Real Santa in the Eternal City

By Elizabeth Lev

ROME, DEC. 13, 2007 (Zenit.org).- It may be overcast and rainy in Rome these days, but this Advent just keeps getting brighter. From the glorious opening of the season with Benedict XVI's new encyclical "Spe Salvi" (Saved in Hope), the wait for Christmas has taken on a greater meaning than the number of shopping days left.

Last Thursday, Dec. 6, was the feast of St. Nicholas, bishop of Myrna, whose fame resonates in every corner of the world. The fourth-century bishop was known for his generosity and his love for children; many stories of his miracles involve gifts or the protection of youth.

One of the most famous stories of the bishop recounts how a poor man had no money to dower his three daughters. Without dowries, the girls would be unable to marry and would be destined for slavery. Three balls of gold were tossed through his window where they landed in socks hanging by the fireplace. Herein lies the origin of St. Nick, bearer of presents for children.

Although he lived and died in Turkey, St. Nicholas' body was brought to Bari by Italian merchants in the 11th century. A dubious tradition places St. Nicholas in prison in Rome near the Forum in the little Church of San Nicola in Carcere, but the universal character of the devotion to Nicholas makes him worthy of a prominent place in the "Caput Mundi."

Hundreds crowded into Nicholas' tiny, but fascinating church by the Tiber, which is formed from the remains of three ancient temples. Tourists often come to San Nicola, one of the very few churches to be open through the lunch hour, to admire the remains of the temple of Jupiter Sospes, god of hospitality, and Juno, goddess of marriage and childbirth.

The third temple was dedicated to Spes, or hope, which in the ancient world meant the expectation of a safe journey home for sailors, but in the Christian tradition took on greater meaning.

But on the afternoon of Dec. 6, Polish Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski, prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education, and titular cardinal of the Church, celebrated Mass there in honor of St. Nicholas.

Two huge golden reliquaries rose two feet from the altar, containing the largest amount of relics of the saint outside of Bari. The Mass in honor of St. Nicholas was celebrated in Latin, a tribute to his universal appeal as people from all over the world gathered in the church.

An impressive delegation from the Knights of Malta descended from their headquarters on the Aventine to participate in the ceremony.

Another regular attendee was a young American, John Sonnen, a third-year theology student at the Angelicum. During his three years of study in Rome, he has never missed this feast at San Nicola.

"My devotion to St. Nicholas started when I was living in Russia," Sonnen explained. "Together with St. George, he is the co-patron saint."

But for Sonnen, coming to Rome and discovering the relics at the church was the crowning joy of his dedication to the saint. "Here at this Mass I can do what every kid always dreams of: seeing Santa Claus."

Amid frenetic shopping surrounded by the now secularized symbols of Santa's bag laden with toys or brightly wrapped packages piled high under a tree, St. Nicholas' feast reminds us what the Christian idea of giving is all about.

Link

Solemn High "Rorate" Mass on EWTN - December 15, 2007

The Rorate Mass is named from the words of Isaiah 45:8 in the Latin Vulgate, “Rorate, caeli, desuper, et nubes pluant iustum…” (Drop down dew, O heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain down the Just One…). It is offered during Advent in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary and celebrated by candlelight, traditionally before dawn. The Very Rev. Fr. John Berg, FSSP, the Superior General of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, will be celebrant and homilist, assisted by clergy and seminarians from the Fraternity's international seminary in Lincoln, Nebraska.

1. Mass Text - booklet format (PDF)

2. Mass Text - scrollable format (PDF)

Multimedia

New multimedia will be posted after the airing of the Rorate Mass.

Archive for EWTN Televised Extraordinary Form Masses

Link

Churches in Brussels - Credo lll

Snowball Fight!

"Just Flew in From Atlanta and Had to Share..."

"I was on a 5:45 PM flight from Atlanta to Newark, NJ on Delta tonight. As I went to my seat in row 44, I passed by a young man in fatigues (he was in row 42) and, as any Freeper would do, thanked him for his service and asked him if he was going to be home for the holidays. He said "yes I will be" and I wished him a merry Christmas and took my seat.

As we were landing, the flight attendant said that we had a young army man just back from Iraq who was coming home to his wife and two kids for the holidays and could we all remain seated so he could get off the plane first.

The entire plane erupted in applause (he was a bit embarrassed in his humility), but when the plane got to the gate NO ONE MOVED and he got off first to ANOTHER round of applause." - Pharmboy

Shameless...

Update: Speaking of beer...

Fr. Erik Richtsteig in Rome

Fr. Richsteig sharing his thoughts on modern art with parishioners.

Ugliest Vestment Contest

At The Crescat.