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Archive for the ‘Religion’ Category

3-year-old play ‘celebrating’ Mass — awesome and adorable!

Posted in Catholic, Catholicism, Christian, faith, God, Jesus, Mass, prayer, Religion, religious vocations, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 13, 2013 | Leave a Comment »

This video has become an online hit – 300,000 hits in about a week. Samuel wears priestly garments as he ‘celebrates Mass.  He is adorable!! It is totally awesome to see the tremendous faith of this little one. Samuel lives in Colombia. He is an orphan who lives with his grandmother and an aunt.

From CNA:

His relatives told reporters that last Christmas, Jaramillo did not ask for toys like most kids his age. Instead, he wanted “priest’s clothes” and the objects necessary to “celebrate” Mass.

He has learned to recite the Mass from memory with the corresponding pauses, intonations and gestures of an experienced priest.

In a reflection published by El Colombiano, Father Daniel Monsalve noted Jaramillo’s “passion for what he says and the tenderness that inspires him” in the videos.

“Amid a changing world that is at times indifferent to religious matters, this child appears as a testimony of love for God and fascination for sacred celebrations, most certainly fostered by those who care for him and by the priest of his parish,” Fr. Monsalve wrote.

Cases like that of Jaramillo “should not only awaken religious fervor but also serve as an example for the promotion of priestly and religious vocations, supported always by the encouragement of parishes, seminaries and houses of formation,” he added.

Jaramillo’s aunt, Elizabeth Rojas Arango, said, “This isn’t something we taught him, and we don’t even attend church,” but Jaramillo goes to Mass every Sunday and on Tuesdays with his grandmother, Rosa Eva Arango. CONTINUED

H/T Jean’s Bistro2010′s Blog 

Matthew 18:3 

And said: Amen I say to you, unless you be converted, and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

 

 

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Holy Readings and Thoughts

Posted in Bible, faith, God, Jesus, Religion, scripture, tagged , , , , , , , , , on May 8, 2013 | 2 Comments »

I read a meditation from the book Song of the Sparrow on fear and not letting fear paralyze us to the point where we won’t do something simply because we are afraid.   There is prudence in not doing dangerous things, or things each of perceives as dangerous.  Prudence can turn into fear and a lack of courage when we let fear take over our lives and we let fear decide for us what we will and won’t do.  Do we avoid evangelizing in public for fear of offending someone or being called names or possibly having something thrown at us?  If we have a special story to give witness to such as either a conversion story, an eye-opening experience of our Lord or a reversion story that brought us back to God and/or a religion are each of us letting our fears paralyze us so we avoid giving witness to others?

Then I read this scripture passage:

Matthew 17: 1-8

And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves.  And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. And Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.”  When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and have no fear.”  And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.

God is calling each one of us to preach the Gospel even if it may be a bit uncomfortable for us.  We need to trust our Lord, that He will watch over us and take care of us. We need to listen and follow what Jesus said to Peter, James, and John.  We need to rise up and have no fear.  We need to conquer our fears with the help of our Lord. We need to repeatedly say Jesus I trust in You.

 

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Many Muslims Attacked Christians In Egypt After Funeral Mass

Posted in Christianity, Christians, Islam, Persecution, Religion, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 3, 2013 | 2 Comments »

It wasn’t reported until recently, but about a month ago Muslims attacked Christians at St. Mark Cathedral in Egypt after a funeral Mass.  How dare Muslims show such utter disrespect during a most Holy occasion as a funeral Mass. The persecution and slaying of Christians breaks my heart.  The worldwide Islamization and the intolerance, persecution, and killing of people who believe in other faiths by Muslims has got to stop.  And Western governments thought Mubarek was bad?  Now there is a president in Egypt, Morsi, who is apart of the Muslim Brotherhood.  The attacks have progressively gotten worse. The U.S. government needs to stop giving Egypt aid of any kind, especially money.  The West should not have messed in the internal affairs of Egypt’s government because now we have a much bigger mess on our hands.  My prayers go out to all the Christians’ safety as they struggle while living in a hostile environment.

ChristianPost:

Coptic Christians attending a funeral service Sunday for four Copts killed two days earlier in an anti-Christian rampage were in turn attacked themselves by at least 200 Muslim rioters.

The incident, which started with a few dozen men pelting the mourners with stones, quickly escalated into a massive attack against Christians at St. Mark’s Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in the Abbassia area of Cairo involving firearms, flash-bang grenades, tear gas, fire bombs and other improvised weapons, besides cars set ablaze.

A Morning Star News reporter observed that police took more than an hour to respond, and when they arrived, they did nothing to stop the attack. Instead, most stood and watched men throw rocks at the Christians gathered at the gates of the cathedral compound or hurl stones over walls at the Christians trapped inside.

 

From the Catholic Herald:

Hundreds of Egyptian Christians were besieged inside Cairo’s Coptic cathedral last night after a mob, reportedly with the help of security forces, launched an attack on worshippers.

One person died and 84 were injured during the attack, which began after a funeral mass for five Copts who were killed in sectarian violence on Saturday, in which a Muslim man also died.

Wael Eskandar, an Egyptian blogger at the funeral, said he saw people being showered with broken bottles from the roof of a block of flats. After being attacked, he said, the people “started racing out of the side street and destroying the nearby cars”.

 

Here is another video which shows Christians being attacked as police stand by.

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Pius XII and the Holocaust

Posted in Catholic Church, history, Popes, Religion, War, tagged , , , , , , , , , on April 19, 2013 | 5 Comments »

Rabbi David Rosen Speaks on Pius XII and the Holocaust

After hearing this video on Catholic-Jewish relations I looked up Pius XII. I never bought the meme that Pope Pius XII was silent and didn’t do much to save the Jews during the Holocaust.  That is revisionist history. Could he have done more? Maybe. Could each of us do more in certain areas of our lives? Yes.  Fr. William Saunders answers Did Pope Pius XII Remain Silent? in this article:

To begin to understand Pius XII’s actions during the World War II, we must remember the world in which he lived. Hitler had assumed control of Germany in 1933. In July of that same year, he began not only persecuting Jews but also Christians. He infiltrated the German Evangelical Federation (the Lutheran Church), removing leaders who were opposed to his agenda. Many of these ministers died in concentration camps or prisons, like the famous Deitrich Bonhoffer.

The persecution was even more intense for the Catholic Church. Gestapo agents attended Mass and listened to every homily preached, prepared to arrest any priest attacking or criticizing the regime. Chanceries were searched for any “incriminating” documents. Communication with Rome was limited. Nazi propaganda represented the Church as unpatriotic and hoarding wealth with clerics portrayed as idle and avaricious. By 1940, all Catholic schools had been closed, and religious instruction confined to the Church itself or at home. Meanwhile, anti-Christian teaching was imparted in the public schools.

Please note that the first concentration camp was established in 1933 at Dachau, outside of Munich; this camp was not .so much an “extermination camp” as one for the political prisoners, including priests. At Dachau alone, 2,700 priests were imprisoned (of which 1,000 died), and were subject to the most awful tortures, including the medical experiments of Dr. Rascher.

Such persecution was not confined to Germany. The Church in Poland also suffered severely. During the first four months of occupation following the September 1939 invasion, 700 priests were shot and 3,000 were sent to concentration camps (of which 2,600 died). By the end of the war, 3 million Polish Catholics had been killed in concentration camps. How many other Catholics–priests, religious, and laity—in other countries died for the faith during the Nazi era?  CONTINUED 

I was really surprised how well Fr. Saunders outlined what Pope Pius XII did to save the Jews.  I am really impressed with how much Pope Pius XII did to save the Jewish people during the Holocaust.

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Judgment and Purgatory

Posted in Catholic, Christian, faith, God, Religion, Saints, tagged , , , , , , on April 10, 2013 | 7 Comments »

purgatoryThis is from Saint Faustina’s Diary.  St. Faustina stood before God’s judgment and He said to her “you are guilty of one day of fire in purgatory.”

This had me thinking . . .  What could have St. Faustina have done for God to send her to the fire of purgatory for one day?  Is this for sins not confessed?  Or if this time in purgatory is for our life in totem: all of our failings, inaction, actions, thoughts but not necessarily sins?  I wish I had either a rear view mirror or a time machine to be able to look back into my life to be able to change mistakes and right wrongs that I committed.

We need to pray often and rely on God’s grace to guide us in our decision-making as we go through each day.

God ended up sending Faustina back to earth to endure great suffering for a short period of time, to go through her purgatory here on earth instead of in the afterlife.  This had me wondering, how many of our sufferings here on earth is Jesus looking out for us and having us endure the pain in the present in our lives on earth, living out our purgatories here on earth,  instead of experiencing a harsher penalty, a harsher pain, in the afterlife?  Our Father knows best for us so if we are going through sufferings and tough times here on earth there must be a very good reason, whether it be God has a special mission for us in this life or in the next life.

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Cardinals and Sistine Chapel: Preparing for the Conclave

Posted in Catholic, Catholic Church, Pope, prayer, Religion, tagged , , , , , , , on March 7, 2013 | 1 Comment »

Cardinals gather at Vatican, begin election process

Cardinals pray for Conclave

Preparing for the papal election

Preparing Sistine Chapel for Conclave

preparing the Sistine Chapel for the vote

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A Hero-Pope

Posted in Catholic, Catholic Church, Catholics, Christian, Culture War, Pope, Religion, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on February 20, 2013 | 8 Comments »

I have been sick so I’m posting this video. I will try to make it around to your blogs later today or tomorrow. God Bless.

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Cardinal Mahony Has Been Relieved of Duties in Los Angeles

Posted in Catholic Church, Catholics, Controversy, Current Events, Dissent, Religion, Unfaithful, tagged , , , , , , , , , on February 1, 2013 | 1 Comment »

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Since 2011 Archbishop Gomez has been sifting through documents related to the sexual abuse cover up in the L.A. Archdiocese and these documents have brought to light Cardinal Mahony’s efforts to hide the abuse.  Archbishop Gomez has relieved Cardinal Mahony of his duties. He was already retired so I’m not sure what other punishments can be administered beyond his being denied the authority to do confirmations since Cardinal Mahony is retired.  The L.A. Times has reactions from parishioners here.  Steve Lopez is correct. Mahony’s actions to hide the perpetrators who committed sexual abuse is deplorable and evil.  Here is a bit more of the scoop on this from Father Z: 

The Archbishop of Los Angeles, Most Rev. José H. Gomez, has said “Effective immediately, I have informed Cardinal Mahony that he will no longer have any administrative or public duties.”  See the pdf of the letter HERE.

What this means is that His Eminence cannot be any sort of representative for the sitting Archbishop or for the Archdiocese.  Canon law itself gives Cardinal some faculties.  According to can. 357§2, “in those matters which pertain to their own person, cardinals living outside of Rome and outside their own diocese are exempt from the power of governance of the bishop of the diocese in which they are residing.”  So, there is little that Archbp. Gomez can do, except cancel every public event in which Card. Mahony was going to play a principle part, such as confirmations.

 

Mahony made sure that he kept the truth hidden for years so it is good and just that Archbishop Gomez has gotten to the bottom of things and is taking the appropriate action.

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“The church’s teachings are timeless”

Posted in Catholic Church, faith, Morality, Religion, tagged , , , , , , on January 26, 2013 | 1 Comment »

Here is a piece called Acting On Faith by Cardinal Donald Wuerl:

The Catholic Church is no stranger to criticism from those who disagree with its teachings, but the petition posted recently on the White House Web site to label the church a “hate group” is beyond the pale, even in an age when an aggressive secularism seeks to marginalize the influence of religious belief.

The church has long been criticized as “too dogmatic.” Demands are constantly made that it change its 2,000-year-old teachings on marriage, family, sexuality, morality and other matters related to the truth about human beings. But even if others do not agree, the church understands that what it proclaims is revealed truth — the Word of God. The church’s teachings are timeless. They cannot be changed, even though adherence may be upsetting to some. That the church is built on a rock with fixed beliefs is a positive feature, both because it can withstand the shifting winds of public opinion and because of the cherished content of our faith itself, which fosters love among Catholics and non-Catholics alike.

Although these precepts may be misunderstood by many today, the fundamental vocation of the Catholic Church is to provide the witness of love and truth to the world, including offering the voice of an informed conscience. Catholics are taught to respect the fundamental, inherent dignity of every person, each made in the image of God, and to work to establish a just society. The church teaches that it is our obligation to manifest love of neighbor, to provide charitable service to others, and to promote truth, genuine freedom and authentic humanism. We work for the poor, the oppressed and the suffering, because that is what our faith teaches we must do. There is thus a positive side to being dogmatic: The teachings and works of the church advance the common good throughout civil society. Just as our dogma is constant, so is the work it commands. CONTINUED 

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One Good Reason For Dignitatis Humanae

Posted in Catholic Church, encyclical, faith, Popes, Religion, Vatican II, tagged , , , , , , , , on December 29, 2012 | 2 Comments »

I recently became aware of a situation in the Church’s past where a Pope used a type of coercion to make sure a young child would be raised Catholic.  The circumstances ultimately led to the dissolution of the Papal States.  The whole scenario is bizarre.  A maid working for a Jewish family supposedly secretly had the child baptized because he was ill and close to death.  When the child recovered, the maid reported the baptism.  There was a law in effect that a Catholic child could not be raised by non-Catholics.    The Pope was so concerned for the child’s eternal soul that he chose to do a deplorable temporal act, what others believed to be a criminal act (what I would consider to be criminal), because the Pope believed that the young child’s soul would be in danger if after having been baptized he wasn’t raised to be a Catholic Christian.  Let’s just say I was totally shocked when I read about this event and to find out it was true was scandalous and even more appalling to me.

It is because of this type of coercive behavior that I believe that the installation of Dignitatis Humanae during Vatican II was not only a good thing but a necessity for the Catholic Church.

Here is the first paragraph of Dignitatis Humanae:

1. A sense of the dignity of the human person has been impressing itself more and more deeply on the consciousness of contemporary man,(1) and the demand is increasingly made that men should act on their own judgment, enjoying and making use of a responsible freedom, not driven by coercion but motivated by a sense of duty. The demand is likewise made that constitutional limits should be set to the powers of government, in order that there may be no encroachment on the rightful freedom of the person and of associations. This demand for freedom in human society chiefly regards the quest for the values proper to the human spirit. It regards, in the first place, the free exercise of religion in society. This Vatican Council takes careful note of these desires in the minds of men. It proposes to declare them to be greatly in accord with truth and justice. To this end, it searches into the sacred tradition and doctrine of the Church-the treasury out of which the Church continually brings forth new things that are in harmony with the things that are old.

This text emphasizes freedom, a responsible freedom that the human spirit must choose without coercion.

 

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