In Clearwater, FL...
From Tampabay: Teen held in Virgin Mary smashing:
"Angry, bored and unable to sleep, Kyle Maskell grabbed his Marksman slingshot and headed out of his foster home to destroy something that might bring him a degree of infamy that rivaled his rage, police said.
He soon looked up into the image of the Virgin Mary, the iridescent figure that had formed on the side of a glass building on U.S. 19 eight years earlier, drawing throngs of believers to Clearwater.
Maskell reached into the pouch of his slingshot and launched three or four ball bearings, striking the image's top three panes, police said. People who showed up hours later found the virgin beheaded.
That's the story Clearwater police say Maskell, an 18-year-old Clearwater High School sophomore, told them Monday morning before they arrested him on a charge of felony criminal mischief. He was being held at the Pinellas County Jail Monday night in lieu of $10,000 bail.
Police said the teen cried for three hours while recounting his deed. The guilt had eaten at him for more than two months."
Tuesday, May 11, 2004
Monday, May 10, 2004
Martyrdom by Bad Music
One wonders who does like this music?
From Sacred Miscellany:
"Can bad hymns kill? Or can they incite near homicidal rage? This morning it was a near thing for me. Because I have a job as a church choir director/organist at an Episcopal church, I go to the 7 a.m. Mass. Once upon a time, there was no music at the early Masses. However, nowadays any parish with a full-time music director requires music even then. And it can be torture.
I entered the church to the sound of the organ being played in a style usually confined to baseball games and horse shows. It was Marty Haugen's 'Canticle of the Sun.' And no, I don't want to 'play in the forest,' thank you. Then we had Christopher Walker's 'Laudate Dominum.' During Communion, we honored 'Jesus our brother' with Bernadette Farrell's 'Bread of Life.'
This morning was the closest I've ever come to just shouting, 'Oh, be quiet!' Yes, I know that aesthetics don't have anything to do with the validity of the Mass, that Jesus doesn't mind bad music, etc., etc. And no, there isn't a tasteful Eastern Rite parish or a traditional Mass that's less than an hour and a half away.
I go. I grind my teeth. I thank God for the gift of Himself. And I heave a huge sigh of relief, like Pollyanna, that's it's seven days till the next Sunday. Any suggestions on how to avert enraged outbursts or apoplexy will be gratefully received."
From Sacred Miscellany:
"Can bad hymns kill? Or can they incite near homicidal rage? This morning it was a near thing for me. Because I have a job as a church choir director/organist at an Episcopal church, I go to the 7 a.m. Mass. Once upon a time, there was no music at the early Masses. However, nowadays any parish with a full-time music director requires music even then. And it can be torture.
I entered the church to the sound of the organ being played in a style usually confined to baseball games and horse shows. It was Marty Haugen's 'Canticle of the Sun.' And no, I don't want to 'play in the forest,' thank you. Then we had Christopher Walker's 'Laudate Dominum.' During Communion, we honored 'Jesus our brother' with Bernadette Farrell's 'Bread of Life.'
This morning was the closest I've ever come to just shouting, 'Oh, be quiet!' Yes, I know that aesthetics don't have anything to do with the validity of the Mass, that Jesus doesn't mind bad music, etc., etc. And no, there isn't a tasteful Eastern Rite parish or a traditional Mass that's less than an hour and a half away.
I go. I grind my teeth. I thank God for the gift of Himself. And I heave a huge sigh of relief, like Pollyanna, that's it's seven days till the next Sunday. Any suggestions on how to avert enraged outbursts or apoplexy will be gratefully received."
Bush to Meet with Pope John Paul II
From CNS STORY: Bush to make election-year visit to pope in June; top issue is Iraq:
"Pope John Paul II will meet with President George W. Bush in early June, and the top item on the agenda will be Iraq, sources in Rome said.
The meeting June 4 was arranged after days of quiet talks involving Vatican officials and U.S. diplomats. The White House and the Vatican were expected to officially announce the encounter in mid-May.
U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican Jim Nicholson told Catholic News Service May 9 that Bush had altered his schedule in order to make sure he didn't miss the pope, who is scheduled to travel to Switzerland June 5-6. "
"Pope John Paul II will meet with President George W. Bush in early June, and the top item on the agenda will be Iraq, sources in Rome said.
The meeting June 4 was arranged after days of quiet talks involving Vatican officials and U.S. diplomats. The White House and the Vatican were expected to officially announce the encounter in mid-May.
U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican Jim Nicholson told Catholic News Service May 9 that Bush had altered his schedule in order to make sure he didn't miss the pope, who is scheduled to travel to Switzerland June 5-6. "
Two Gay Men Denied Communion
From "IN-FORUM":
"A gay couple in northern Minnesota is angry and upset over being told they no longer should take communion or sing in the choir at their church because of their lifestyle.
Dale Sand and Tom Pepera, who have been together for five years, say their priest has asked them to restrict their participation in church activities after a letter Sand wrote was printed in the Grand Forks Herald on Easter Sunday.
In the letter, Sand responded to previous letters warning against gay marriage and homosexuality in general. He wrote that being gay wasn't a choice and said God had made him that way.
In response, the Rev. Larry Wieseler, who serves at St. Mary's parishes in Baudette, Williams and Falun, telephoned Sand and told him he and Pepera should no longer come up to receive Eucharist during Mass nor serve communion to others or sing in the choir. That led the couple to quit the church in Baudette."
"A gay couple in northern Minnesota is angry and upset over being told they no longer should take communion or sing in the choir at their church because of their lifestyle.
Dale Sand and Tom Pepera, who have been together for five years, say their priest has asked them to restrict their participation in church activities after a letter Sand wrote was printed in the Grand Forks Herald on Easter Sunday.
In the letter, Sand responded to previous letters warning against gay marriage and homosexuality in general. He wrote that being gay wasn't a choice and said God had made him that way.
In response, the Rev. Larry Wieseler, who serves at St. Mary's parishes in Baudette, Williams and Falun, telephoned Sand and told him he and Pepera should no longer come up to receive Eucharist during Mass nor serve communion to others or sing in the choir. That led the couple to quit the church in Baudette."
Sunday, May 9, 2004
Happy Mother's Day!
It wasn't started by Hallmark, you know...
From Mothers Day History :
"The earliest tributes to Mother's Day date back to the annual spring festival the Greeks dedicated to Rhea, the mother of many deities, and to the offerings ancient Romans made to their Great Mother of Gods, Cybele.
Christians celebrated a Mother's Day of sorts during a festival on the fourth Sunday in Lent in honor of Mary, mother of Christ. In England the holiday was expanded to include all mothers. It was then called Mothering Sunday.
In the United States it started with one woman named Anna Jarvis. Jarvis was an Appalachian homemaker and she organized a day to raise awareness of poor health conditions of her community. She thought the day would be best advocated by mothers and called the day 'Mother's Work Day'.
When Anna Jarvis died in 1905 her daughter, also named Anna, began a campaign to memorialize the life work of her mother. Anna remembered that her mother said there were many days dedicated to men but not for mothers. Anna then began to lobby the politicians of the time to support a day dedicated to mothers. Anna Jarvis talked to many politicians including Presidents Taft and Roosevelt hoping they would support her campaign.
Jarvis organized a church service to celebrate her mother in 1908 and Anna handed out white carnations to those in attendance because the white carnation was her mother's favorite flower. Anna Jarvis' hard work began to pay off five years after that service in 1913. The House of Representatives adopted a resolution calling for officials of the federal government to wear white carnations on the day many began calling Mother's Day, the second Sunday in May.
Finally on May 8, 1914 President Woodrow Wilson signed a Joint Resolution designating the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day.
From Mothers Day History :
"The earliest tributes to Mother's Day date back to the annual spring festival the Greeks dedicated to Rhea, the mother of many deities, and to the offerings ancient Romans made to their Great Mother of Gods, Cybele.
Christians celebrated a Mother's Day of sorts during a festival on the fourth Sunday in Lent in honor of Mary, mother of Christ. In England the holiday was expanded to include all mothers. It was then called Mothering Sunday.
In the United States it started with one woman named Anna Jarvis. Jarvis was an Appalachian homemaker and she organized a day to raise awareness of poor health conditions of her community. She thought the day would be best advocated by mothers and called the day 'Mother's Work Day'.
When Anna Jarvis died in 1905 her daughter, also named Anna, began a campaign to memorialize the life work of her mother. Anna remembered that her mother said there were many days dedicated to men but not for mothers. Anna then began to lobby the politicians of the time to support a day dedicated to mothers. Anna Jarvis talked to many politicians including Presidents Taft and Roosevelt hoping they would support her campaign.
Jarvis organized a church service to celebrate her mother in 1908 and Anna handed out white carnations to those in attendance because the white carnation was her mother's favorite flower. Anna Jarvis' hard work began to pay off five years after that service in 1913. The House of Representatives adopted a resolution calling for officials of the federal government to wear white carnations on the day many began calling Mother's Day, the second Sunday in May.
Finally on May 8, 1914 President Woodrow Wilson signed a Joint Resolution designating the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day.
Bishop Aquila Speaks Out
"In the light of the last few days and all of the media coverage regarding John Kerry's unambiguous support of abortion rights, his personal opposition to abortion, and his insistence on the separation of his Catholic faith from his professional life, I, as a successor of the apostles, cannot remain silent. I, as an apostle, must speak with the apostles and obey God rather than man and present to you the teaching of the Church on the proper relationship between our faith and professional life."
Addressing all Catholics and especially "'pro-choice' Catholics," and "'Catholics for a free choice,'" the bishop said, "Jesus Christ has warned clearly within the Gospel that hell is a reality and that we are free to choose it.
Catholics who separate their faith life from their professional and social activities are putting the salvation of their souls in jeopardy. They risk the
possibility of hell"
"The grave error that has come about, the grave error that the Father of Lies
has planted in the hearts of many is the lie of thinking that we can have one
foot with God and one foot with the world. . . . We must always put the law
of God above the law of man, especially as it concerns the dignity of the human
person and the life of the unborn," said the Bishop. On the point of reception of Communion, Bishop Aquila said: "In regard to the question of sanctions for Catholics who are 'pro-choice', who say that they are personally opposed to abortion but whose words and actions speak otherwise in their support of abortion rights, I would share with them the words from St. Justin Martyr in today's Office of Readings. This was in 165 A.D. They shared the same problems we do today. 'No one may share the Eucharist with us unless he believes that what we teach is true, unless he is washed in the regenerating waters of baptism for the remission of his sins, and unless he lives in accordance with the principles given us by Christ.'"
Addressing all Catholics and especially "'pro-choice' Catholics," and "'Catholics for a free choice,'" the bishop said, "Jesus Christ has warned clearly within the Gospel that hell is a reality and that we are free to choose it.
Catholics who separate their faith life from their professional and social activities are putting the salvation of their souls in jeopardy. They risk the
possibility of hell"
"The grave error that has come about, the grave error that the Father of Lies
has planted in the hearts of many is the lie of thinking that we can have one
foot with God and one foot with the world. . . . We must always put the law
of God above the law of man, especially as it concerns the dignity of the human
person and the life of the unborn," said the Bishop. On the point of reception of Communion, Bishop Aquila said: "In regard to the question of sanctions for Catholics who are 'pro-choice', who say that they are personally opposed to abortion but whose words and actions speak otherwise in their support of abortion rights, I would share with them the words from St. Justin Martyr in today's Office of Readings. This was in 165 A.D. They shared the same problems we do today. 'No one may share the Eucharist with us unless he believes that what we teach is true, unless he is washed in the regenerating waters of baptism for the remission of his sins, and unless he lives in accordance with the principles given us by Christ.'"
Saturday, May 8, 2004
Schiavo May Pull Feeding Tube
Now that the Pope has spoken out about the immorality of doing this I would think that the Florida bishops would speak out, very loudly, against this being allowed.
From Schiavo May Not Wait For Final Say - from TBO.com:
"Michael Schiavo will not necessarily wait for the state Supreme Court to rule in the battle over his wife's fate before again trying to remove her feeding tube, his attorney said Friday.
Schiavo could ask a court to lift an automatic stay in the case that prevents him from removing the feeding tube so his wife can die, attorney George Felos said. "
From Schiavo May Not Wait For Final Say - from TBO.com:
"Michael Schiavo will not necessarily wait for the state Supreme Court to rule in the battle over his wife's fate before again trying to remove her feeding tube, his attorney said Friday.
Schiavo could ask a court to lift an automatic stay in the case that prevents him from removing the feeding tube so his wife can die, attorney George Felos said. "
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