Amazon's Catholic Bestseller's (5/7/2006)

Always interesting, not sure how some get labeled "Catholic", anyway here it is the snapshot at 8:28 a.m on Sunday morning:

1. Peter, Paul, and Mary Magdalene : The Followers of Jesus in History and Legend
by Bart D. Ehrman Not Catholic

2. Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church
by Libreria Editrice Vaticana

3. Truth and Fiction in The Da Vinci Code : A Historian Reveals What We Really Know about Jesus, Mary Magdalene, and Constantine
by Bart D. Ehrman Not Catholic

4. The How-To Book of the Mass: Everything You Need to Know but No One Ever Taught You
by Michael Dubruiel

5. My Life With the Saints
by James Martin

6. Breaking the Da Vinci Code : Answers to the Questions Everyone's Asking
by Darrell L. Bock Not Catholic

7. Catholic Matters: Confusion, Controversy, And the Splendor of Truth
by Richard John Neuhaus

8. Return of the Prodigal Son
by Henri Nouwen

9. The Da Vinci Hoax: Exposing the Errors in The Da Vinci Code
by Carl E. Olson, Sandra Miesel

10. Catechism of the Catholic Church : Second Edition
by U. S. Catholic Church, Catholic Church

Pope Ordains Priests for Rome and the Carmelites

From the homily via Asia News Italy:

In the homily, the pope highlighted some fundamental aspects of the priesthood in the image of the “Good Shepherd”.

1) The priest does not want “to personally become someone, but rather to be so for another, for Christ, and thus through Him and with Him, to be there for the men He seeks, who He wants to lead to the path of life. One enters the priesthood through the Sacrament – and this means precisely: through the total giving of self to Christ, so that He may use me, so that I may serve Him and follow his call, even if this should be in contrast with my desires of self-realisation and esteem. Entering the door, that is Christ, means knowing and loving him ever more, because our will becomes one with his and our behaviour becomes one thing with his.”

2) Celebrated each day, the Eucharist “should become for us a school of life, in which we learn to give our life. Life is not given only in the moment of death and not only in the moment of martyrdom. We must give it day after day. We must learn, day after day, that I do not possess my life for myself. Day after day, I must learn to abandon myself, to put myself at the disposal of that which He, the Lord, wants of me at that moment, even if other things appear more beautiful or important to me. Giving life, not taking it. And it is thus that we experience freedom. Freedom from ourselves, the enormity of being. It is in being useful that our life becomes important and beautiful. Only those who give their life, find it.

3) The priest must live in his intimate “relationship with Christ and through the Father, only then can we truly understand men, and then they will realise they have found a true shepherd”.

4) “The mission of Jesus regards all humanity, and so the Church is entrusted with a responsibility for all humanity, so that they may recognize God, that God who, for all of us, became man in Jesus Christ, suffered, died and rose. The Church should never be content with the line-up of those who have joined it at a certain point. It cannot withdraw comfortably within the borders of its own environment. It is entrusted with universal concern; it should concern itself about everyone. This great task must be “translated” in our respective missions. Obviously, a priest, a pastor of souls, should worry above all about those who believe and live with the Church, who seek there the path to life and who, for their part, are living stones, building the Church and thus together edifying and supporting the priest too. All the same, we must always once again – as the Lord days – go “into the roads and lanes” (Lk 14:23) to bear the invitation of God to his banquet to those men who so far have not yet heard anything, and who have not been touched inside.”

Regina Caeli Message of Pope

World Day of Prayer for Vocations...

From Asia News Italy:

The Pope told pilgrims gathered in St Peter’s Square: “In the message, I recalled the experience of the first apostles of Jesus who, after getting to know him at the lakeside and in the villages of Galilee, were conquered by his appeal and his love. The Christian vocation is always the renewal of this personal friendship with Jesus Christ, which gives full sense to one’s existence and makes it available for the Kingdom of God. The Church lives off such friendship, fed by the Word and the Sacraments, a sacred reality entrusted in a particular way to the ministry of Bishops, Presbyterians and Deacons, consecrated by sacrament of ordination. This is why – as I reiterated in the same message – the mission of priesthood is irreplaceable, and although in some places there is a shortage of clergy, there should be no doubt that God continues to call young people and adults to leave everything to dedicate themselves to preaching the Gospel and to pastoral ministry”.

The Pontiff also recalled “another special form of following Christ” that is “vocation to consecrated life, expressed in a poor, chaste and obedient existence completely dedicated to God, in contemplation and prayer, and at the service of one’s brothers, especially the meek and the poor”. He also emphasized that Christian marriage is a vocation in the full sense of the word, and that “the example of holy parents is the first condition that favours the flourishing of priestly and religious vocations.”

Before reciting the Easter prayer to Our Lady, the Pope called on all the faithful to invoke the “intercession of Mary, Mother of the Church, for all priests and religious; let us pray so that the seeds of vocation that God sows in the hearts of the faithful may reach maturity and bear fruits of holiness in the Church and the world.”

Co-Founder of Life Teen Resigns

From East Valley Tribune:

Baniewicz, father of four, was praised Friday in a statement from the Catholic Diocese of Phoenix.

“Words cannot truly express the gratitude the diocese, as well as thousands of young people around the world, has for Phil Baniewicz,” diocese spokeswoman Mary Jo West said. ”For 21 years, this dynamic leader has devoted his life to Life Teen, bringing God’s message of love and hope to those young people who are the future of our Catholic Church.”

Free Comic Book Day!

I remembered this from an article I'd read in the Indianapolis Star the other day, but didn't want to mention it to Joseph in case it wasn't being observed locally--but no fear it is...about ten free comic books later, he is very happy.

Plus he got to ride on the new carousel at the mall and won free food, tickets to a Wizard's game (Single A Minor league baseball) and other bling.

Catholics and Immigration

Reminds me of something I read and I believe wrote about in Praying in the Presence of Our Lord with Fulton Sheen that led Dorothy Day to take an active passivist stance when it came to war (active in that we should pray like their is no tomorrow)...when it comes to being a Christian the Body of Christ doesn't know of borders.

Nations can defend their borders, but Christians welcome the stranger as Christ Himself (Matthew 25).

From the Voice of America:

Father Richard Mullins represents many priests who say protecting immigrant
rights is part of their religious mandate to minister to the poor and
oppressed. "No one is illegal especially in the eyes of the church. We are
all the sons and daughters of God."

The Catholic Church has a long history of helping immigrants -- no
matter what their legal status -- to learn English, find employment and
provide legal services. But if a new law supported by many in Congress is
passed, aiding and abetting an illegal immigrant could be a criminal
offense.

Life Conceived in the Lab: Doctor, 63 Pregnant

From the ITV:

A doctor in her sixties is about to become Britain's oldest mum following IVF treatment abroad. Patricia Rashbrook, a 63-year-old child psychiatrist
from Sussex, is thought to be seven months' pregnant.
She has conceived after IVF treatment with the controversial Italian fertility doctor Severino Antinori, it is believed. He specialises in treatment for women who have gone through the menopause and do not have their own eggs. It is not clear
if Dr Rashbrook has used donor eggs or not.