The Continuing Scandal--Lifestyles of the Rich and Pious

"Foxes have their lairs, birds have their nests, but the Son of Man doesn't have a place he can call his home." Jesus Christ...



His represenatives today...fromORANGE COUNTY WEEKLY OC Weekly: Cover: Lifestyles of the Rich and Pious:



"Would you like to work for a company that, when facing millions of dollars in lawsuits, buys you a multimillion-dollar house? How about an employer who adds a second story to your already-massive abode even while the government forces it to pay $5.2 million to settle a lawsuit?



Think it can only happen at Halliburton? Well, think again: you can enjoy all of this if you're a priest for the Catholic Diocese of Orange!



Yes, when Bishop Tod D. Brown became the spiritual head of Orange County's 1.2 million Catholics in 1998, he abandoned the Church's millennia-old practice of housing priests in humble rectories on parish grounds and began shacking up clergy in fancy digs few of the faithful could afford: quaint Balboa Island bungalows, beachside manses and other high-class abodes featuring three-car garages, walk-in closets and in-ground spas. In a confidential Sept. 3 memo written by Father Michael Heher to diocesan priests, Heher defended this practice by citing Brown's policy of allowing priests 'to live off-site, affording them more privacy and a place away from their work environment.' And just last month, Brown admitted to purchasing a gated-community lot on which he plans to have built a multimillion-dollar mansion for himself near the proposed site of the $100 million Christ Our Savior Cathedral in Santa Ana (see accompanying story 'Rooms at the Inn')."



Check out the story for pictures of some of the "rectories" in the diocese.

Earthquake in Eastern Kentucky

35 miles ESE of Somerset, KY.



USGS Earthquake Hazards Program: Earthquake Report: EASTERN KENTUCKY

Your Babies Are Beautiful!

Heinz Kerry Visits Hurricane Aid Center Advises "Let them eat cake..."

From Yahoo! News - Heinz Kerry Visits Hurricane Aid Center:



"'Clothing is wonderful, but let them go naked for a while, at least the kids,' said Heinz Kerry, the wife of Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry. 'Water is necessary, and then generators, and then food, and then clothes.' "

Tropical Storm Jeanne

Could hit Florida next week...Sun-Sentinel: South Florida weather

Expert Cited by CBS Says He Didn't Authenticate Papers

People should be fired, including Dan Rather for continuing to insist that these documents are real. It'll be "rather" ironic if Rather is brought down for trying to effect the outcome of a Presidential election when his rise can almost directly be related to his confronting of Richard Nixon for doing the same thing.



From Expert Cited by CBS Says He Didn't Authenticate Papers (washingtonpost.com):



"The lead expert retained by CBS News to examine disputed memos from President Bush's former squadron commander in the National Guard said yesterday that he examined only the late officer's signature and made no attempt to authenticate the documents themselves.



'There's no way that I, as a document expert, can authenticate them,' Marcel Matley said in a telephone interview from San Francisco. The main reason, he said, is that they are 'copies' that are 'far removed' from the originals. "

A Great Read!

While we were waiting for a plane to finally fly to Florida, (four days after the scheduled departure), I read this fascinating book:









I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in Medjugorje or apparitions in general. The book ends with Father Benedict Groeschel's critique of Medjugorje.