Never forgotten

On this Memorial Day, I want to thank all those who have served honorably in our military, especially those who lost their lives in defense of God and country. And while you go out today for your family get-togethers, remember those family who have lost loved ones in line of duty, especially in the recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, who are taking this day especially hard. Please say a prayer for them and the happy repose of the sould of their loved one.



"For those who have made the ultimate sacrifice, we are grateful that such men and women were among us. For those who continue to serve, we honor their commitment. For those who return to civilian life, we honor their service." - Rep. Steve Buyer (R-Indiana)

Perfection

On a night that saw the Flyers lose a CLOSE one in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals, the City of Philadelphia and the entire Delaware Valley have a reason to celebrate thanks to pitcher Roy Halladay who, despite his past few starts, pitched a PERFECT GAME, just the second in Phillies history (the last one was by Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Kentucky), the second this season (the Rockies' Ubaldo Jiminez and the A's Dallas Braeden, who did it earlier this season), and the 20th in Major League Baseball history.

Gary Coleman (1968-2010)

A few days ago, we said goodbye to Art Linkletter, and now another celeb has left us. Actor (and politician) Gary Coleman, best known for his role as Arnold Jackson on Diff'rent Strokes, and who ran as a independent in the California election that recalled former Gov. Gray Davis (D) and elected Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R), passed away today. He was 42.

Tobi hospodi

Archbishop Mechyslav Mokshytskyi, archbishop of the Diocese of Kyiv-Zhytomyr, announced to the 35th Conference of the Latin Rite bishops of the Ukraine that Pope Benedict XVI intends to visit the Ukraine in 2012.

The Holy Father will be there to commemorate the 600th anniversary of the transfer of the transfer of the Episcopal capital from Halych to Lviv. He will also participate in the closing of the Ukraine's Eucharistic Congress. The Vatican hopes to develop huminitarian and cultural relations with the Ukraine during the papal visit.

As one who frequents the Ukrainian Byzantine rite of the Catholic Church, I am thrilled to hear that "our most holy and universal Supreme Pontiff, Benedict, Pope of Rome", will be visiting the Ukraine. At the same time, I understand the implications that this visit has regarding the often rocky relationship between the Holy See and the Patriarchate of Moscow.

While relations with the Russian Orthodox Church have improved significantly under Patriarch Kirill I (after the very confrontational relationship that the late-Patriarch Alexy II had with Ven. John Paul II), Moscow still has concerns about the western patriarch celebrating liturgies in the Ukraine where attitudes between Catholics and Orthodox Christians remain tense.

Pray for the speedy reunification of East and West, and pray that the Holy Father's visit to the Ukraine will be a success.

In the meantime, here's an example of the beautiful Ukrainian chants that I have come to love (though it cannot take the place of the wonderful Gregorian chant).

Enjoy:

Two Years

Two years ago today, I joined the Knights of Columbus. Today, I serve as membership director of my Council and was just nominated to be the next Inside Guard. I was also nominated to be my Assembly's Inner Sentinel. Despite all of those honors, I think the greatest honor is that as an only child, I now have over 1.8 million men around the world I can call brothers.

May Jesus Live!

The beam in your own eye

To date, we have seen a nice wave of anti-incumbent, anti-establishment victories in the primaries. On the GOP side, we've seen Rand Paul win the Kentucky Senate Primary and Sen. Bob Bennett in getting the pink slip in Utah thanks in part to the Tea Party movements. The anti-incumbent bug even claimed a Democrat when Sen. Arlen Specter lost the Pennsylvania primary.

However, one must not ignore the fact that some of the GOP establishments are not as bad as all of them, and I've caught a lot of flack for changing my endorsement to and running with Jon Runyan in the primary in my hometown, which is in Jon's district. You want an example of good establishment politicians? Fine.

Steve King is an Iowa Republican congressman. Steve is one of the strongest pro-life voices in Washington who promotes conservative causes, is an advocate for small government, and espouses much of what the Tea Party movement holds dear. He's also an establishment Republican. Do you want to see him leave Congress? Even Mr. Conservative, Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina started out as an establishment candidate when he first ran for the United States House of Representatives.

So for the people in the 3rd NJ congressional district who are calling me a "kool aid drinker" for no longer backing Justin Murphy, let me ask you, if you want to reduce the size of government, how can you back a guy who has raised taxes as a Tabernacle councilman by 75 percent (and counting)?

Sometimes it matters to look at the candidate before you judge, huh?

Art Linkletter (1912-2010)

TV personality Art Linkletter, who entertained countless people with such shows as Kids Say the Darnest Things, People Are Funny, and House Party, died yesterday at his home in Bel Air, CA. He was 92.

In addition to his contributions to the entertainment industry, Art was also a staunch Republican, one of the few conservative stalwarts in Hollywood. The Canadian-born friend of Ronald Reagan, Linkletter served as national chaiman of USA Next, a conservative alternative to the AARP.

Art was also known for turning tradgedy into triumph. When his daughter Diane commited suicide in 1969 after an alleged LSD trip, Art went around the country to promote drug prevention among children. Art released some pre-recorded talks entitled We Love You, Call Collect, which included responses from Diane entitled Dear Mom and Dad. The record earned Art a Grammy in 1970 for Best Spoken Word.

He will be missed.

This pretty much sums it up

Thanks to Fr. Z and the Creative Minority Report for this one:



BTW-This is my 100th post, wow, didn't think I'd make it this far!

WE'RE GOING TO THE STANLEY CUP FINALS!

The Philadelphia Flyers have earned what seemed a few weeks ago a nice, wishful, but distant fantasy: a chance to win hockey's most highly coveted award: Lord Stanley's Cup. The 7th place Flyers defeat the eighth place Montreal Canadiens and will now face the Chicago Blackhawks in the finals.

GO FLYERS!

One more

The Philadelphia Flyers are ONE GAME away from going to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in 13 years. GO BULLIES!!!

Tongues of Fire

The Pantheon (the Church of St. Mary and the Martyrs) in Rome has a very beautiful custom for the feast of Pentecost. From the opening in the ceiling of the church, red rose petals come streaming down symbolic of the toungues of fire that descended and rested on the heads of Our Lady and the apostles in the Upper Room on that first Pentecost.

It's ironic, and yet quite appropriate, that this custom be done at the Pantheon). In this building, incense was burned before the graven images of the Roman gods and those who persecuted the early Christians bowed before statues of Jupiter and other pagan imagery. And yet, the persecutors now lay cold and dead as the marble of their idols. Yet, in place of the goddess Juno, now is honored the great Mother of God, Mary, Queen of the Martyrs. In place of the honor given to Augustus, now prayers for the successors of St. Peter are heard at every corner of the temple. Where once the statue of Jupiter was bowed before, now incense rises to Heaven for Him who resides in the tabernacle, God with us, who is adored at every moment throughout the world, and whom is seen a greater honor to die for rather than to kill for.

Since the earliest days of the Church, we have lost many churches such as the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople which has been desecrated by the Mohammedan heretics and the Church of St. Genevieve in Paris which was desecrated by the repugnant modernist revolutionaries who almost certainly for conceited notions renamed it the Panthéon. Their occupation of our property cannot and will not compare to the victory of our gain of the Roman Pantheon, for the Pantheon was a victory for Christ to the end of time, while the heretics' reign will one day come to a crashing end and will bend the knee at the Name of Christ with the rest of us, even if they have to be forced to.

Veni, Creator Spiritus mentes tuorum visita, imple superna gratia, quae tu creasti pectora.

Pope Paul VI and the Octave of Pentecost

Being that yesterday was the feast of Pentecost, I always like to refer back to this op-ed piece written last year and published on the New York Times (Yep, you read that right, "hell's bible" published this piece, why can't they always be this normal?):

LATIN MASS APPEAL
By KENNETH J. WOLFE
Published: November 28, 2009

WALKING into church 40 years ago on this first Sunday of Advent, many Roman Catholics might have wondered where they were. The priest not only spoke English rather than Latin, but he faced the congregation instead of the tabernacle; laymen took on duties previously reserved for priests; folk music filled the air. The great changes of Vatican II had hit home.

All this was a radical break from the traditional Latin Mass, codified in the 16th century at the Council of Trent. For centuries, that Mass served as a structured sacrifice with directives, called “rubrics,” that were not optional. This is how it is done, said the book. As recently as 1947, Pope Pius XII had issued an encyclical on liturgy that scoffed at modernization; he said that the idea of changes to the traditional Latin Mass “pained” him “grievously.”

Paradoxically, however, it was Pius himself who was largely responsible for the momentous changes of 1969. It was he who appointed the chief architect of the new Mass, Annibale Bugnini, to the Vatican’s liturgical commission in 1948.

Bugnini was born in 1912 and ordained a Vincentian priest in 1936. Though Bugnini had barely a decade of parish work, Pius XII made him secretary to the Commission for Liturgical Reform. In the 1950s, Bugnini led a major revision of the liturgies of Holy Week. As a result, on Good Friday of 1955, congregations for the first time joined the priest in reciting the Pater Noster, and the priest faced the congregation for some of the liturgy.

The next pope, John XXIII, named Bugnini secretary to the Preparatory Commission for the Liturgy of Vatican II, in which position he worked with Catholic clergymen and, surprisingly, some Protestant ministers on liturgical reforms. In 1962 he wrote what would eventually become the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, the document that gave the form of the new Mass.

Many of Bugnini’s reforms were aimed at appeasing non-Catholics, and changes emulating Protestant services were made, including placing altars to face the people instead of a sacrifice toward the liturgical east. As he put it, “We must strip from our ... Catholic liturgy everything which can be the shadow of a stumbling block for our separated brethren, that is, for the Protestants.” (Paradoxically, the Anglicans who will join the Catholic Church as a result of the current pope’s outreach will use a liturgy that often features the priest facing in the same direction as the congregation.)

How was Bugnini able to make such sweeping changes? In part because none of the popes he served were liturgists. Bugnini changed so many things that John’s successor, Paul VI, sometimes did not know the latest directives. The pope once questioned the vestments set out for him by his staff, saying they were the wrong color, only to be told he had eliminated the week-long celebration of Pentecost and could not wear the corresponding red garments for Mass. The pope’s master of ceremonies then witnessed Paul VI break down in tears.

Bugnini fell from grace in the 1970s. Rumors spread in the Italian press that he was a Freemason, which if true would have merited excommunication. The Vatican never denied the claims, and in 1976 Bugnini, by then an archbishop, was exiled to a ceremonial post in Iran. He died, largely forgotten, in 1982.

But his legacy lived on. Pope John Paul II continued the liberalizations of Mass, allowing females to serve in place of altar boys and to permit unordained men and women to distribute communion in the hands of standing recipients. Even conservative organizations like Opus Dei adopted the liberal liturgical reforms.

But Bugnini may have finally met his match in Benedict XVI, a noted liturgist himself who is no fan of the past 40 years of change. Chanting Latin, wearing antique vestments and distributing communion only on the tongues (rather than into the hands) of kneeling Catholics, Benedict has slowly reversed the innovations of his predecessors. And the Latin Mass is back, at least on a limited basis, in places like Arlington, Va., where one in five parishes offer the old liturgy.

Benedict understands that his younger priests and seminarians — most born after Vatican II — are helping lead a counterrevolution. They value the beauty of the solemn high Mass and its accompanying chant, incense and ceremony. Priests in cassocks and sisters in habits are again common; traditionalist societies like the Institute of Christ the King are expanding.

At the beginning of this decade, Benedict (then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger) wrote: “The turning of the priest toward the people has turned the community into a self-enclosed circle. In its outward form, it no longer opens out on what lies ahead and above, but is closed in on itself.” He was right: 40 years of the new Mass have brought chaos and banality into the most visible and outward sign of the church. Benedict XVI wants a return to order and meaning. So, it seems, does the next generation of Catholics.

Kenneth J. Wolfe writes frequently for traditionalist Roman Catholic publications.

Happy birthday, Mother Church!

Have a Happy Pentecost!

When the system goes after minors' liberties

Today on Studio B with Shepherd Smith on Fox News, Shep discussed with Judge Andrew Napolitano a case in Pennsylvania of a 17-year old girl who was charged with child pornography. Now, here's the whole gist of the story: the 17-year old girl had her cell phone confiscated after she was caught using it at school. Ok, fine, she was violating school policy.

Here's where it gets interesting:

The principal then proceeded to search the phone for its contents and in the process, discovered pictures of a scantily clad teenager on the phone. The teenager? The 17-year old girl whose phone it was. After the pictures were brought to the local authorities, the girl was told that she would be charged with child pornography (pictures of herself) if she and her parents didn't complete a five-week course on violence and victimization. She refused and was charged with the crime. She sued the principal, the police, and everybody else that was involved in the whole fiasco.

Let me just say, I don't condone pornography or so-called "sexting", and I believe that the best way to solve the problem of pornography is a strong traditional family background centered upon God. That being said, if anyone should be on trial, it should be the principal whose actions were a clear violation of the teenage girl's Fourth Amendment rights. While the principal had every right to confiscate the phone because it violated school policy, the content of said phone is personal and had nothing to do with school policy. As Judge Napolitano pointed out, there is no evidence that she showed anyone the pictures or that she sent them to anyone. It was stictly her private property to be guarded by her own initiative. The story wasn't out in the general public until Principal Nosey decided to take it to the police and thus made it public knowledge.

This case alarms me greatly about the general liberties which are protected by our Constitution. If the liberties of minors are violated, who's to say that our's aren't in any more danger than theirs?

A change of heart

A few weeks ago, I wrote a post endorsing former Justin Murphy for Congress. My view of Murphy at the time was that he was a small government, anti-tax Republican who would defend the true American cause.

I'm writing this to say this, and you can quote me "I WAS DEAD WRONG".

In his time as councilman of Tabernacle, NJ, Justin Murphy has voted to increase property taxes by 70 percent. Property taxes skyrocketed so bad that his fellow Republicans on the Tabernacle council declined to support his re-election. Also on my key issue, Murphy's actual position on the issue is similar to that of his opponent (wow, what an option). And now it has come to light that in 2008, when Murphy ran as an anti-establisment Republican, Murphy failed to go out and vote for himself. If he doesn't have the time to vote for himself, what makes me think that he has the time to vote for me.

That is why I'm taking this opportunity to rescind my endorsement of Justin Murphy and officially announce my endorsement of Jon Runyan, the former offensive tackle for the Philadelphia Eagles. Jon's commitment to the people of the third congressional district is inspiring and talking to Jon, he has proven to me that while Justin Murphy can talk a good talk, Jon's blue-collar background and how he relates to the rest of hard-working America, that he is our best chance to beat John Adler in November.

On June 8, VOTE FOR JON RUNYAN AND THE REST OF THE COLUMN ONE GOP TICKET! (And yes, that includes myself Cherry Hill, haha!)

Taking Back Washington

Yesterday, the continued feeling of anti-incumbency was certainly being felt in Pennsylvania, Arkansas, and in a sense, Kentucky.

The first big piece of news came from the Bluegrass State where Rand Paul trounced Trey Grayson, carrying just under 60% of the vote. An outsider, Paul's name certainly helped him defeat Grayson, the highly-favored of the GOP establishment both in Washington and Frankfort. Paul will face Jack Conway, who pulled off a win against Lt. Gov. Don Mongiardo for the Democrat nomination. Paul is carrying the early lead he enjoyed against Grayson going into the general race.

In the Keystone State, the big anticipated upset has happened. Five-term incumbent Arlen Specter lost the Democrat nomination to two-term Rep. Joe Sestak. Specter, who switched from Republican to Spectercrat early last year, played a role while he was with the GOP by voting for President Obama's stimulus package. He also enjoyed the support of the President and DSCC (you can add Specter to list of Deeds, Corzine, and Coakley which are on the list of the the fallen thanks to Obama's support).

And despite Blanche Lincoln's upbeat (and somewhat arrogant) speech this morning, she is certainly feeling the heat of anti-incumbency as she now goes to a run-off against Lt. Gov. Bill Halter. The winner of that race will face Rep. John Boozman, who won the Republican nomination handily, in November.

SUPER TUESDAY(ish) 2010

Today is a huge day for all of us who follow American politics. But this year's midterm Super Tuesday is going to be something of a preview of what to expect in anticipation of November. There are two particular Senate race that should be thrillers to watch. Let's look at them:

KENTUCKY-This race may just have started the anti-incumbent revolution with tea party champion Dr. Rand Paul (R) of Bowling Green poised to pull off an upset of Secretary of State Trey Grayson.

Grayson, who has been endorsed by such names as former Vice President Dick Cheney, Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, and former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum, has been trailing for the better part of the campaign to Paul, son of Texas congressman and 2008 GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul, who has been endorsed by former VP candidate Sarah Palin, Focus on the Family founder Dr. James Dobson, businessman Steve Forbes, conservative champion Sen. Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina), and the man whose seat Paul and Grayson are seeking, retiring Sen. Jim Buuning. Paul has also been endorsed by a number of pro-life and pro-second amendment organizations in Kentucky.

PENNSYLVANIA- Incumbent Sen. Arlen Specter, a Democrat-turned RINO-turned Spectercrat, is running a very tight race with Rep. Joe Sestak for the Democrat nomination. According to some polls, Sestak holds onto a tiny one-point lead over Specter. Whoever wins the nomination gets the chance to run against (or be the sacrificial lamb) to Club for Growth president and former Rep. Pat Toomey, who is poised to win the Republican nomination handily, in November. If he doesn't get the nomination, it should be interesting to see if Specter switches back to the Republican Party.

At a loss for words

As I was getting the scoop this morning from the news outlet and the blogosphere, I ran into this story on Fr. Z's blog which he got from the Shanghai Times:

Aborted baby cries before cremation
By Wang Xiang | 2010-5-14

AN aborted baby declared dead by doctors in south China's Guangdong Province cried before he was due to be cremated, but died hours later as doctors refused to treat him.

A mortuary worker at Nanhai Funeral Home in Foshan City said the baby cried and scared him as he was about to throw the coffin into a furnace, Information Times reported today.

He opened the box and found the seven-month fetus moving, but apparently choking on some cotton wool in his mouth, the report said.

After the worker cleared his mouth, the baby yawned and breathed peacefully. Workers rushed him back to Guanyao Hospital which delivered the baby as medical waste earlier that day.

But doctors left him in the lobby, and confirmed after an hour that the baby died.

The vice head of the funeral house said Guanyao Hospital sent many aborted fetuses or still-born babies for cremation. This baby apparently survived an abortion at seven months, and he had videos to prove the baby was still alive before the cremation.

Hospital official Liu Sanhong said its staff checked the baby for an hour and made sure it was dead. Liu did not say whether the doctors tried to save the baby or not.

The body was later sent back to the funeral house. The report said all workers were ordered not to talk about the incident.

On March 31, at least 21 fetuses and dead babies were found dumped in a river in east China's Jining City.

Eight had tabs with clinic code numbers attached to their feet. The Affiliated Hospital of Jining Medical University responsible for the corpses said they were "medical waste."

Two hospital staffers have been detained while the director and deputy director of the hospital's logistics department were sacked. A vice president of the hospital was suspended.

Stories like this always strike a chord with me. My grandmother was half-Chinese who immersed me in the various aspects of the Chinese culture, full in its richness and wonder. However, it was also my grandmother who helped immerse me in the even richer aspects of the Catholic religion. It devastates me when I think of how Catholics are made to suffer by the Chinese government. And it also disgusts me when I see that the most fundemental teachings of Christ is violated, especially by a temporal, yet tyranical, organization of men. It sickens me.

Please pray for the conversion of the Chinese government and the Chinese people to Christ and His Church and the consecration of China to Our Lady of China, for it is through Mary that we come to Christ which lies the ultimate victory.

Hail, Holy Mary, Mother of Our Lord Jesus Christ,
Mother of all nations and all people.
You are the special heavenly Mother of the Chinese people.

Teach us your way of total obedience to God's will.
Help us to live our lives true to our faith.
Fill our hearts with burning love for God and each other.
Stir up in our youth an unconditional giving of self to the service of God.

We call on your powerful intercession for peace, reconciliation and unity among believers and the conversion of the unbelievers in China and throughout the world,
for God's mercy is our only hope.

Our Lady of China, Mother of Jesus, hear our petitions and pray for us.
Amen.
(IMPRIMATUR: Bishop William E. Lori, S.T.D.; Diocese of Bridgeport. 2001)

It happened!!!

MORE TO COME, GO FLYERS!!!!!

A reflection on St. Peter and St. John

This morning, I attended Mass at my parish for the feast of St. Matthias, the disciple whom the apostles elected to replace the traitor Judas. The election of Matthias, as my pastor pointed out in his sermon, is intrinsic in the proof that even in those days before Our Lord sent the Holy Spirit that the Holy Father held primacy over the apostles.

Throughout the entire Gospel, Our Lord always singled out one among the twelve. No, he wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, but it was his Faith in his Master that was reflective of that mustard seed that Our Divine Lord spoke of. When it was time for Our Lord to be transfigured, He chose him along with the sons of thunder to witness the event. When He asked the twelve who they thought He was, it was him who answered "Tu es Christus - You are the Christ". He was also the one who in a moment of weakness said three times "I do not know Him". It was a denial that caused him such agony, that grooves were formed in his face by the aggresiveness of the tears flowing from his face. However, in the Lord's infinite mercy, he was redeemed by his Master's love and was given the greatest responsibility of any of the Lord's disciples, to tend Christ's flock.


It was this commission that it became apparent that the other apostles showed their respect for St. Peter as the Prince of the Apostles. In the Gospel, we recall that after the women returned to the apostles and told them that the tomb was empty, Peter and John ran to the tomb to see for themselves. And while the younger apostle, undoubtedly because of youthful vigor, arrived at the tomb first, he waited for Peter to enter the tomb before proceeding in himself.

So was the election of Matthias to the ranks of the eleven set out through the directives of Peter as described in Acts 1:15-22. And it was after the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost that the first words spoken to the world came from the Supreme Pontiff himself as told to us in the second chapter of the Acts of the Apostles.

I find it amusing that these Protestants, the Eastern Orthodox, and especially these so-called "bible-thumping" Christians claim to follow Sacred Scripture, but fail to see the Primacy of the Pope in the actions of Christ Himself throughout the Gospel. Any wonder why the Protestants try to avoid reading or quoting the two epistles of St. Peter (the first two Papal encyclicals) that often?

We must also point out the true comradery of the apostles. While I'm sure there were times when the twelve got a little frustrated with each other, they were all friends and understood each others' individual importance and uniqueness in the spreading of the Word of Christ.

One of the apostles that we turn to for uniqueness is St. John. In the Gospels, he is one of the three apostles chosen by Christ to follow Him in His most intimate moments, along with Peter and John's brother St. James. One of the titles that John is decribed as is "the beloved disciple. Let us foucus on why.

St. John wrote the fourth and final Gospel, and it is certainly the most theological and the deepest of the four Gospels, very intimate and divine in its tone. That being said, I'm almost positive no one ever wondered why that is. The answer is quite simple: Mary.

It was on the cross that Our Lord entrusted John with His Own Mother, the Queen of Heaven and the Ark of the Covenant. She undoubtedly helped John to prepare his Gospel since she was under his care. And to understand St. John, we must put in consideration his unique realtionship with Our Lady. Consider that of the twelve apostles, it was St. John who offered the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass every single day for the Blessed Mother. It was his hands that God used to make Himself mystically present in the Holy Eucharist before the one who bore Him and made Him physically present for the sake of our salvation. It was John who spent countless hours with Mary in adoration of her Son before the Blessed Sacrament. How could he not write a beautiful Gospel after being inspired and guided by the Holy Spirit and assisted with the loving, motherly care of Mary, mother of the Word made Flesh?

Please say a prayer for the Holy Father today and all the bishops united with him, the successors to the apostles. And pray that through the intercession of Mary, Queen of the Apostles, of St. Peter, St. John, St. Matthias, and all the apostles, that they may grow ever closer to Christ and guide the flock entrusted to them closer to Him.

"Lord, thine abiding presence
Directs the wondrous choice;
For one in place of Judas
The faithful now rejoice.
The Church from false apostles
Forvermore defend,
And by thy parting promise
Be with her to the end."

Archbishop Fulton Sheen and Fatima

Since the Feast of the Ascension took precedence over the feast of Our Lady of Fatima (and yes, that of St. Robert Bellarmine traditionally), the only focus that Fatima got today was from the Holy Father's pilgrimage, which is a great deal for Mother Church. This being the month of Our Lady, I wanted to focus a little on Our Lady of Fatima. Here's the great Servant of God Fulton J. Sheen reflecting on a film by Warner Bros. called The Miracle of Fatima (1952) and Our Lady's relevance in our world today (it's much more than you think).

Please pray for the conversion of all people to Christ and His Church, and especially the Muslims, communists, blasphemers, and those who profane Our Lord and His Sabbath. And please pray for the canonization of the Servant of God Fulton J. Sheen. You can find more information on his cause by clicking here.

Go out to all Nations

I know I'm over an hour late, but yesterday, we celebrated the Feast of the Ascension of Our Lord into His rightful place at the Right Hand of the Father. Now, for most of those who are not followers of Christ, this concept about Jesus leaving His followers may be an almost confusing concept. For Christ to walk with His apostles for three years, to appear to them after He rose from the dead, and then just to leave them after forty days since Easter may seem to some as a betrayal. However, if we look at the end of Gospel of St. Mark and the first chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, we see that this was a happy time for Christ's disciples. And while it was joyous, it also brought forth a new challenge.

The apostles understood that Christ had to ascend back into Heaven to send the Holy Spirit into world. Not only was that fact a cause of joy to the eleven, but also the realization that God the Son would be with them and would guide them at His proper place.

Also, it challenged the apostles to live for Christ as He lived for them, leading to eleven of the twelve apostles to spill their blood for their Master as He did for them. While we may not be called to die for Christ, we must still die a little for Him in our daily lives. Our lives must reflect Christ to others, in the way we treat others, in the way we show God honor, praying our rosary, saying grace before and after meals at the restaurant, etc. We must decrease in our personal selves so that the reign of Jesus Christ, Sovereign King may reflect through us.

"Greece" is the word

A year ago, Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) predicted that people in Greece would riot in the streets because of the Euro, which is fiat money. He predicted that a government bailout would lead to economic turmoil. People thought that he was crazy.

What happened?

After the bailout failed, the Greek government asked the European Union to help them out. The response from the EU was to increase taxes. Shocker? Not really. Unfortunately, this may have caused serious damage to the European economy which is now on the path to a currency crisis, which is worse than a financial crisis, which will affect the economies of Europe. Time will only tell what will happen, but keep one country in mind: Spain. If they fail, Europe fails, and the conswequences will be dire internationally.

The question now is, will America finally learn that bailouts and deficit spending is not the answer and will only prolong and worsen the crisis?

Perhaps today's near disaster on Wall Street (where the DOW Jones fell down 1,000 points in a single day before recovering a few points) will put the final nail in the Keynesian coffin.

Only time will tell...

Robin Roberts (1926-2010)

After I left class this morning, I tuned into The Inside Pitch on WPHT (I had forgotten that the Phillies played an afternoon game) when I heard Ricky Bottalico announce that Hall of Famer and fellow Phillies pitching alum Robin Roberts had passed away at his Florida home this morning. He was 83.


Roberts was the star pitcher during the Whiz Kids era. He had consecutive 20-win seasons between 1950-1955 and helped lead the Phillies to an NL pennant in 1950. He compiled a 286-245 career record between the Phillies, Baltimore Orioles, Houston Astros, and Chicago Cubs with 305 complete games and 45 shutouts.

Probably one of Roberts' best known games was in 1954 when he gave up a home run to the Cincinnati Reds' Bobby Adams. Roberts then proceeded to retire 27 batters to one-hit the Reds and give the Phillies an 8-1 victory.

He will be missed.

No Joke

Just because you go to an Ivy League school, doesn't mean the standards are any better.



If it only were a joke...

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Notice how this song is in English

Schooling the teachers

Lately, Gov. Chris Christie (R-New Jersey) has been under harsh attacks from the teachers unions. However, Gov. Christie is just doing what he promised he would do to benefit our state. The liberals are seeing that he's REALLY cleaning New Jersey up, and they are scared that they are losing the people who are now seeing the conservative sunshine amidst the dreary liberal clouds that have hovered over the state since the Byrne administration. This is especially true since the people voted down many of their school budgets last month.

First of all, with all the smack talk that the teachers unions, especially the New Jersey Education Association (NJEA), are throwing at our governor which include namecalling, and yes, even death threats, the teachers unions are missing the overall picture that goes beyond their little utopia. We hear about how the governor should be removed because he doesn't want to give the teachers what they demand, that he wants pay freezes for teachers, that he's going to make teachers pay for their own benefits (God forbid! Just about EVERYONE ELSE has to do it, but not us!)

Look at these problems that the teachers unions have. Riddle me this, New Jersey: how many of these questions are about the students? (Don't worry I'll wait)

Exactly.

None of the questions are about the students. Why don't the unions explain why the schools are failing? Why there are students from our inner-city schools who have been given high school diplomas falling behind in scores compared to other students from say private and parochial schools? And what are the only thing these students learing? To defend their teachers tooth and nail, regardless of the fact that they don't know anything (they're already ignorant) and the fact that the debt that has been accumulating for over 30 years will be on their heads.

Next time you criticize our Governor for wanting to lower taxes and make judgements on him that he doesn't care about the students, think about the empire that the Teachers Unions have created with YOUR tax dollars since Gov. Byrne's administration and the how the standards of our children have dropped since then. If you knew the truth about the teachers unions, you wouldn't have to think twice about them because you would flip them off the minute they spoke.

Don't taze me, bro

I'm sure by now that everyone knows about 17-year old Steve Consalvi, the dope who got stung by a Philadelphia police officer's taser gun after he charged the field at Monday night's game between my beloved Phillies and the St. Louis Cardinals. Now there's talk about whether or not the kid should have gotten tased and talks between the Phillies and the PPD on whether or not taser guns should be used at Citizens Bank Park in the future.

Now I honestly believe that Steve Consalvi didn't mean any harm when he made that bonehead decision to run on the field (especially since he called his father before he did it whether or not it was a good idea). That being said, we also have to put the safety of the players and coaches on the field (Monica Seles and Tom Gamboa come to mind). Today, the taser gun has proven to be the key between fast maniacs and slow security. Should we try not to use them? Of course! Should we not use them? No, that's why we have them. And hopefully it keeps other idiots off the field (unlike last night, when another fan ran onto the field).

That being said, the tasing was pretty hysterical in my opinion:

Dropping like flies

It's only been a year and a half since President Obama has taken office, and already Democrats are trying their best to distance themselves from him since he has proven to be anything but helpful to anyone he goes out to campaign for (just ask Creigh Deeds, Jon Corzine, or Martha Coakley). And since then, key Congressional Democrats like Chris Dodd, Evan Bayh, and Byron Dorgan in the Senate, Bart Stupak and Patrick Kennedy in the House, and even governors like Colorado's Bill Ritter are falling out of the political picture. Not a good sign for the President.

Now, as if the scene couldn't get any worse for the Democrats, another key House member has opted to retire from Congress.

Rep. David Obey (D-Wisconsin), chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, has served in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1969, at the heels of the Vietnam War. Raised a Republican, Obey became a Democrat around the age of 18 when one of his teachers was called a "Communist" by a supporter of Sen. Joseph McCarthy (who represented Obey's home state).

Years later, looking back at the McCarthy era, it's probably safe to say that the guy was right in calling the teacher a commie. But I digress.

Although Obey has compiled a strong liberal voting record in his time in the House (he requested that Rep. John Hostettler's (R-Indiana) words be taken down when he spoke on the modern war against Christianity in America), he has also had run-ins with more extreme libs in his party which he should be recommended for.

The most recent was last June when Rep. Maxine Waters (D-California) accused Obey of improperly touching her after he told her that he would not add a $1 million earmark that Waters wanted which would have named a public school training center in Los Angeles after her, a violation of the House's "monuments to me" policy.


Obey's Dodd/Crist-like departure from Congress, follows the heels of a strong challenge from Ashland County district attorney Sean Duffy (R) who is a former ESPN commentator and The Real World: Boston cast member. The challenge has proven to be Obey's most difficult challenge since 1968. His key roles in the passage of Obama's stimulus and health care bill may have effectively cost him the race.

Obey is the latest piece of evidence that Democrats are feeling the heat of being puppets of Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, and Harry Reid. And because of their blind obedience to party leadership, now feel like rats on a sinking ship and have to drop out than to face their constituents like real men and women owning up to the consequences. But I think the dishonor is eating away at them now, and we'll just have to settle for that I guess.

May: The Month of Our Lady

St. Joseph the Worker: a true celebration of the worker

In 1904, at a meeting in Amsterdam, the International Socialist Conference called on "all Social Democratic Party organizations and trade unions of all countries to demonstrate energetically on May First for the legal establishment of the 8-hour day, for the class demands of the proletariat, and for universal peace." Since then, socialists, communists, and anarchists have used May 1 as a day of protest and civil disorder. Also, due to the Haymarket Fires in Chicago in 1886, it has also been used as a day to create bonfires and start riots. It has also become an important holiday for Communist countries such as the former Soviet Union, China, and Cuba.

It was perhaps due to this fact that Ven. Pius XII, in 1955, instituted the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker. And indeed, the fact that St. Joseph was indeed a worker certainly is more of an inspiration for men than the other Joseph, known as Stalin.


As the ultimate breadwinner of the Holy Family, Joseph had many responsibilities. From carving a table or a chair out of wood, to paying the taxes to Herod as was his duty as a subject, to providing food and shelter to Our Lord and Our Lady, St. Joseph is a model for all men for their families and an example to families of how important the fruits of the labors of the breadwinner is. In the end, the ultimate joy for St. Joseph was not necessarily the fruits of a good work day, but the love and affection that was given to him by Our Lord and Our Lady when he finished up work. The hugs that he received from both of them certainly made the labors all worth while. One can only imagine the joy St. Joseph must have felt when he saw Our Lord run to him, put His arms around him, asking him to carry Him on his broad shoulders, maybe even wanting a piggyback ride, all the while knowing that the Child he held in his arms was God Incarnate. It tells men today that the ultimate rewards of their work are the smiles and sense of satisfaction and security from their family and the sanctification of their works by God, as well as the paycheck.

In these tough economic times, please pray to St. Joseph the Worker for all our workers, for those unemployed, and for those who are struggling to make things work out.

"O glorious Joseph! Who concealed your incomparable and regal dignity of custodian of Jesus and of the Virgin Mary under the humble appearance of a craftsman and provided for them with your work, protect with loving power your sons, especially entrusted to you.

You know their anxieties and sufferings, because you yourself experienced them at the side of Jesus and of His Mother. Do not allow them, oppressed by so many worries, to forget the purpose for which they were created by God. Do not allow the seeds of distrust to take hold of their immortal souls. Remind all the workers that in the fields, in factories, in mines, and in scientific laboratories, they are not working, rejoicing, or suffering alone, but at their side is Jesus, with Mary, His Mother and ours, to sustain them, to dry the sweat of their brow, giving value to their toil. Teach them to turn work into a very high instrument of sanctification as you did. Amen."