Now Cardinal Ratizinger is Also Saying the Pope Wo…

Now Cardinal Ratizinger is Also Saying the Pope Would Resign if his Health Becomes to Much for Him:

Makes one wonder if something is in the works? From CNS:

Just before the pope’s May 18 birthday, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and subdean of the College of the Cardinals, became the highest-ranking Vatican official to break the taboo and answer a German reporter’s question about papal retirement.

The reporter from the Munich archdiocesan newspaper asked if the cardinal knew what the pope thought about resigning.

“I have not yet asked him about that, but if he were to see that he absolutely could not (continue), then he certainly would resign,” Cardinal Ratzinger responded.

“As long as the cost is only suffering (for himself), he will continue,” the cardinal said. “We are always impressed by his iron will.”

A Passage that Won’t be Much Quoted by Fundamental…

A Passage that Won’t be Much Quoted by Fundamentalists:

From this morning’s Office of Readings comes this verse from the Second Letter of John,

Though I have much to write to you, I would rather not use paper and ink, but I hope to come to see you and talk with you face to face, so that our joy may be complete.

My original thought, which I still think as valid, is that you wouldn’t hear anyone knocking on your door quoting this passage.

Strangely though later this morning, I remembered the passage and it spoke to me, not as something written by John but something that God is saying to us–that God longs to talk to us–”that our joy may be complete.”

From a truly great book on spirituality, Sensing Y…

From a truly great book on spirituality, Sensing Your Hidden Presence:

As long as the battle of life continues, it is impossible to look upon the Lord face to face. It is only possible to get a glimpse of Him fro the fleeting traces, moving from the effects to the Cause, walking along the path of deductions and analogies, in shadows, indirectly; in short, “from behind.”

“Then I wll take my hand away and you will see my back; by my face will not be seen,” (Ex. 22:23).

Now for the rest of the story… Emily Stimpson…

Now for the rest of the story…

Emily Stimpson, the author of Fool’s Folly, one of my favorite blogs has devoted a fair amount of attention to the subject of celibacy over the past few weeks. Unfortunately, some of what she has bought into this discussion is a new and completely ahistorical view of celibacy, that no one has ever held or taught until very, very recently.

Celibacy has become a “issue” sort of like female altar servers were a few years ago–when the Vatican finally said female servers were okay, a lot of well meaning people felt betrayed. But for those who know Church History there was no shock and subsequently no crisis of faith. Celibacy, like it or not is akin to “no meat on Fridays” and other such church disciplines.

It is not at all on the level of real doctrines like Jesus’ Divinity, the virgin birth and the resurrection.

Now, what makes Ms. Stimpson’s fixation with defending celibacy truly strange, is her flaunting what a great priest, she is blessed to have over there in Steubenville. To quote her from her blog today under the heading “Dispatches From A Healthy Part of the Body“:

Father Ryland rocked again last night. He delivered a fifteen-minute homily on the power of papal infallibility and the beauty of true Christian unity in the Roman Catholic Church. How many priests do you know who stand in the pulpit, holding the Documents of Vatican II in their hand, and, almost jumping up and down with excitement, exclaim, “Oh I just wish we had hours together so we could keep reading this”?

Lord I’m a lucky girl.

This isn’t the first time she’s mention Father Ryland. He is a great priest. He wrote the original version of a pamphlet that we publish called “Top Ten Reasons to Come Back to the Catholic Church.”

But guess what….

He’s married, that’s right. He is not celibate.

Now I’m not saying that is what makes him such a “great” priest. I just wonder how Emily can hold him up as the model and wish we all had someone like him and at the same time argue that celibacy is the greatest thing since “sliced bread.”

Fr. Ryland is an Anglican convert who was allowed, like many others, to be join the Catholic Church be ordained again (since the Vatican doesn’t recognize Anglican orders) and remain married.

Fr. Ryland probably thinks celibacy is great too, in fact that is probably where Emily receives her drive to defend it, but he’s married and if he really believes in it, he’d dismiss his wife or live as brother and sister.

Meanwhile, the aged don’t want to age. In Florida …

Meanwhile, the aged don’t want to age. In Florida they are now having “Botox Parties.” The thought of a bunch of old people gathering on a Friday afternoon to have poison injected into their face so that they have a few less wrinkles is sickening to me–not to mention that people who have face lifts etc. generally look like freaks. Read about it in the Tampa Tribune today:

“Botox Party! May 20” reads the marquee of Guggino Family Eye Center on south Tampa’s Swann Avenue.

The group Botox experience – in which friends gather for company, refreshment and little Botox shots around the eyes to erase brow furrows – has swept from California to Florida.

A New Blog on the Block,Oremus: Adventures in Orth…

A New Blog on the Block,Oremus: Adventures in Orthodoxy, check out the May 15th entry–a poem by Joyce Kilmer.

The Non-Story of the Year Within over 15,000 pa…

The Non-Story of the Year

Within over 15,000 pages of security briefings, CBS’s David Martin located one reference to a “possible hijacking,” that as one FBI agent said was more of a CYA statement than any real intelligence lead. Now we have to listen to the Tom Daschle express outrage as though he thinks this is significant and not a good time to attack the Republican President who is enjoying tons of popularity in a Congressional election year.

“Yawn”

How stupid are Americans? Plenty or maybe its just that most of us find it unbelievable that 9/11 could have happened to us. If that’s the case than we are in for some rough days ahead–not just in dealing with tragedies that are sure to occur but also in dealing with our wounded pride–that we don’t know it all and we’re not all powerful.

This is a continuation of the 73 Steps to Spiritua…

This is a continuation of the 73 Steps to Spiritual Communion with God. The previous posts are below and in the archives to the right. This is the 29th step:

(29) Not to return evil for evil (cf 1 Thes 5:15; 1 Pt 3:9).

St. Benedict references two Scripture passages with this counsel. The first is from Paul’s First Letter to the Thessalonians, “See that none of you repays evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to all,” (1 Thess. 5:15). The next is from the First Letter of Peter, “Do not return evil for evil or reviling for reviling; but on the contrary bless, for to this you have been called, that you may obtain a blessing,” (1 Pet. 3:9).

The motivation for this is clearly stated in Peter’s letter when he says that the Lord is against those who do evil. Get it?

If we return evil for evil, then we are evildoers.

If we are in God, then we will only have love and peace to give. Like Christ we will forgive our enemies, we will return their hatred with God’s love.

Doesn’t it sound humanly impossible to do this? It is, but for God all things are possible.

These steps continually make us aware, like a mega examination of conscience that we need to pray continuously. Prayer is essential because in order to live out the Gospel message, God must be in our every breath.

Our prayer should always be for the other’s good.

Is there anyone that could make heaven hell for you? Then you’d better pray for that person. Pray that good will happen to them, that their heart will be touched, and that in the process your heart may also be changed to accept them.

Often love and hate are flip sides of the same coin.

Our Lord’s cross is for a sign of victory, for the world it is a sign of defeat. Jesus told his disciples that he has overcome the world, how we respond to evil in our lives shows who we belong to—Jesus or the world.

Day # 8 of 9 to pray Cardinal Law’s Novena durin…

Day # 8 of 9 to pray Cardinal Law’s Novena during this period between Ascension Thursday and Pentecost, I will post the prayer for the next nine days, to make it easier for you to join in:

”Almighty and merciful God, by the power of the Holy Spirit you raised Jesus Christ, your Son, from death and filled him with new and abundant life.

”Then, in accordance with your loving plan, you sent the Holy Spirit upon the disciples at Pentecost, that by his mighty gifts they might be joined to the Risen Lord in his Body, the Church.

”By a fresh outpouring of the Spirit’s gifts give new life to the Church in the United States this Pentecost.

”We beg that the Spirit will bring healing to the victims of clergy sexual abuse and their families.

”We pray that the Spirit will warm the hearts of those whose faith has been weakened by this scandal.

”We ask that the Spirit will bestow mercy and repentance on the abusers.

”We earnestly desire that the Spirit will renew and reform the whole Church in the likeness of Christ.

”Fill every member of the Church with holiness so that, working together as the Body of Christ, we might be built up in faith, hope and love in order to proclaim the Gospel with joy.

”We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.”