Happy Twenty-Fifth Annivesary to Pope John Paul II

To truly reflect on what a difference this pope has made to the world, pull out an atlas from 1978 and compare it to today. Countries under the former Soviet Union are free now and the Polish Cardinal who was elected twenty five years ago today has changed the face of the earth!

Thanks To Amy for Testing My Pope Knowledge

BBC NEWS | Europe | What do you know about the Pope?:



"You got 10 right!

Cannonisation beckons - as an inveterate creator of new saints the Pontiff may even have his sights set on you already "



I missed the language one--I picked 12...

Pope Releases Apostolic Exhortation

On The Bishop, Servant of the Gospel of Jesus Christ For the Hope of the World...



There is great stress on bishops being proclaimers of the virtue of Hope, that they be prayerful and that they exercise their office by giving of themselves fully to the task at hand. In other words, imitate Pope John Paul II.



See Post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation Pastores gregis for the whole document.

Cardinal Arinze: Priests Should Not Inflict Themselves on Congregation!

From CNS NEWS BRIEFS Oct-15-2003:



"'The truth is that genuine inculturation has nothing to do with the product of the over-fertile imagination of an enthusiastic priest who concocts something on Saturday night and inflicts it on the innocent Sunday morning congregation now being used as a guinea pig,' he said. Cardinal Arinze was a keynote speaker at the Oct. 7-11 national meeting of the Federation of Diocesan Liturgical Commissions. "<

Marlins Win! Marlins Win! Marlins Win!



Actually as Joe Angel used to say, "and the Marlins are in the win column!"





Turns out Billy the Marlin grew up a Cub's Fan!

I'll say this here before tonight's game...I told the Bishop of the Diocese of South Bend-Fort Wayne back in March that this was the year for the Boston Red Sox (he is a fellow New Englander and die hard Boston fan). He said he thought this would be a down year. I'm not even sure why I told him what I told him.



I grew up a Red Sox fan but after I moved from the New England my interest in baseball waned until the creation of the Florida Marlins in the 1990's. I was living in South Florida at the time and became a big Marlin's fan--and so I'd like to see them win no matter who they play but I have a feeling that if it is the Red Sox that their fate is already sealed. But if it is the Yankees the Marlins will win!



For those of you who are fair weather sports fans, pick up a copy of Hemmingway's "Old Man and the Sea" and learn about the origin of the name of the South Florida National League Champions.

Relic of Mother Teresa Touched to Terri

What a great miracle it would be if there was a healing in this much publicized case! Everyone should implore God for just such a healing that could turn the wave of anti-life forces!!!



From Spirit Daily - Daily spiritual news from around the world:



"Terri Schiavo received what was supposed to be her final feeding on Wednesday, but Gov. Jeb Bush told her parents that he would again try to stop her court-approved death. Meanwhile, her parents visited after her feeding tube had been removed, accompanied by the Rev. Thaddeus Malanowski, a Roman Catholic priest who visits Mrs. Schiavo weekly, reports The New York Times. Father Malanowski said he took a scrap from a robe worn by Mother Teresa into Mrs. Schiavo's room and touched her throat, forehead and cheek with it. Mother Teresa is to be beatified on Saturday, and Father Malanowski said that for the next step, canonization, Mother Teresa would need to assist in a miracle. 'She was very calm, very quiet, peaceful looking today,' Father Malanowski said of Mrs. Schiavo, who is plump with dark hair and eyes. "

Peter Vere Reports From Florida About Terri Schiavo

From :



"Today was very gut-wrenching. Sonya, the girls, our friend Marina and I frequented the prayer vigil and news conference for Terri Schiavo in Tampa. The bad news is that they pulled her feeding tube. I was with her brother Bobby, my friend Carlos from the National Catholic Register, and some reporter from the New York Times just before it happened. It was really sad. I was on the cell with Pat Madrid when we got the news, and we had to cut the call short because I couldn't stop crying for Terri. My three-year old daughter was with me and I just could not help but ask, 'What if it was her in that bed while Sonya and I were being deprived the right to fight for her life?' Fortunately, Bill Fuchs (a Past Supreme Vizier of the Alhambra) was working the back room of the Fez prayer chain for us and he managed to step in and get word out to our membership. Similarly, I was glad Pat got word out here.





Monsignor said it best when he said that Terri's parents now know how Our Blessed Mother felt on Good Friday. One thing I should note, and although it pains me to admit this, many of the people there were extremely disappointed with what they saw as a weak response from the Florida bishops. In fact, there was probably more anger expressed against Bishop Lynch than against Terri's husband and the judge who took his side. Please pray for Terri's friends and family, and please pray for the Catholic clergy as well."