In a homily given on April 1, 2005, just before he was elected Pope, Pope Benedict said this: Above all, that which we need at this moment in history are men who, through an enlightened and lived faith, render God credible in this world. The negative testimony of Christians who speak about God but live against him, has darkened God’s image and opened the door to disbelief. We need men who have their gaze directed to God, whose intellects are... Read more
From the USCCB blog — with a cheerful h/t to Kate Monaghan — comes this inspiring story of a family’s journey into the Church: As youths baptized in Albania while the country was under Communist rule, Lule Prebibaj and her husband Ndoke’s baptisms were literally life-threatening. The Communist regime that took control of the country after World War II essentially banned religion and suppressed religious institutions and observances. Lule recalls as a child how her mother took her out in... Read more
Details: It was 1989, and Dr. Petra de Jong, a Dutch pulmonologist, was asked for help by a terminally ill patient, a man in great pain with a large cancerous tumor in his trachea. He wanted to end his life. She gave the man pentobarbital, a powerful barbiturate — but not enough. It took him nine hours to die. “I realize now that I did things wrong,” Dr. de Jong, 58, said in an interview in her office here. “Today you... Read more
From Elizabeth Scalia at First Things: My intention with this column was to share some musings on the words of Pontius Pilate as he presented the tortured Jesus—the icon of “extreme humility”—to the crowd: “Ecce homo”; behold the man. They have become my Holy Week lectio divina, those two words, prompting me again and again to see the people I observe through a broader lens, one that curves through the light-filled wounds of Christ. The tired mother impatiently tugging the hand... Read more
“And so here is a question for Holy Week. Are you and I willing to suffer with Christ, and if necessary die with him, outside the gate? The world is becoming increasingly hostile to Biblical faith. Many of the ancient truths contained right in our Catechism are called bigotry, hatred, intolerance, foolishness and superstition by the world, and those indoctrinated in and enamored of the world’s ways. Are you and I willing to be humiliated, excoriated and hated for the... Read more
Years from now, he’ll have lots of material to discuss with his therapist. Read more
I friend at work passed along to me this morning the most recent issue of imagineONE, the twice-yearly magazine published by the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph (CSJ). It’s a polished, artfully produced periodical, published in Cleveland and featuring stories about leadership, spiritual direction, women’s dignity and updates about the order and its lay associates. The CSJs seem busy in social media, too — the back cover advertises their presence on Facebook and Twitter, and offers ways to... Read more
Details: Overruling one of his parish priests, Cardinal Christoph Schönborn of Vienna has permitted a homosexual in a registered domestic partnership to serve on a parish council. Father Gerhard Swierzek, the parish priest of a small parish in the archdiocese, had refused to allow Florian Stangl, 26, to serve on the council. Stangl, who is disabled, had obtained 96 out of 142 votes in a recent parish council election. The archdiocese had initially backed Father Swierzek, releasing a statement that... Read more
The mind boggles: NBC told this blog today that it would investigate its handling of a piece on the “Today” show that ham-handedly abridged the conversation between George Zimmerman and a dispatcher in the moments before the death of Trayvon Martin. A statement from NBC: “We have launched an internal investigation into the editorial process surrounding this particular story.”Great news right there. As exposed by Fox News and media watchdog site NewsBusters, the “Today” segment took this approach to a key... Read more
Read all about it. H/T New Advent. Read more
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