Wednesday, December 31, 2003
Pray for Peace and Protection Today
Offer up a prayer for the protection of your loved ones, not only against terrorism but against all the evil in the world.
Avoid Times Square, Planes Flying from Europe to U.S.
Says U.S. Congressman.
From New York Post Online Edition: news:
"Rep. Christopher Shays (R-Conn.) offered his regrets yesterday, telling The Post that he'd avoid the Times Square crowd because it's a 'tempting target' for terrorists.
'I wouldn't go to Times Square. That is my opinion. It is one based on the reality that the government has declared a Code Orange,' said Shays.
Air safety also worries Shays - 'I wouldn't be flying from Europe to the U.S. in an airplane,' he said.
Shays, who chairs a House subcommittee that deals with terror issues, said officials shouldn't make citizens think that, despite the heightened terror alert, they need not take precautions.
'We need to be straight with people,' he said.
He especially ripped Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge's suggestion that people go on with their normal lives. "
From New York Post Online Edition: news:
"Rep. Christopher Shays (R-Conn.) offered his regrets yesterday, telling The Post that he'd avoid the Times Square crowd because it's a 'tempting target' for terrorists.
'I wouldn't go to Times Square. That is my opinion. It is one based on the reality that the government has declared a Code Orange,' said Shays.
Air safety also worries Shays - 'I wouldn't be flying from Europe to the U.S. in an airplane,' he said.
Shays, who chairs a House subcommittee that deals with terror issues, said officials shouldn't make citizens think that, despite the heightened terror alert, they need not take precautions.
'We need to be straight with people,' he said.
He especially ripped Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge's suggestion that people go on with their normal lives. "
Has Anyone Heard that Ron Zook is Going to the NFL?
Steve Spurrior resigns:
""I am announcing my resignation as head coach of the
Washington Redskins effective today, December 30, 2003.
""I thank Dan Snyder for the opportunity to coach this
team for the past two years and I apologize to Redskins fans
that we did not achieve a level of success that we had all
hoped.
""This is a very demanding job. It's a long grind and I
feel that after 20 years as a head coach, there are other
things that I need to do. I appreciate all the support,
especially from former Redskins players in the area and
again, I wish we would have come closer to the success those
players enjoyed under Coach Joe Gibbs.
""There are many outstanding players on the Redskins team
and I wish them all the best. I'll always be pulling for the
Redskins. I simply believe that this is the right time for me
to move on, because this team needs new leadership. Hiring a
new head coach will allow him to hire a new coaching staff
and hopefully point the Redskins in the right direction.
""I've enjoyed my time in Washington. Obviously, all of
the losing can wear you down, but I believe that the
franchise is headed in the right direction. Again, I'll
always be pulling for the Washington Redskins.''
""I am announcing my resignation as head coach of the
Washington Redskins effective today, December 30, 2003.
""I thank Dan Snyder for the opportunity to coach this
team for the past two years and I apologize to Redskins fans
that we did not achieve a level of success that we had all
hoped.
""This is a very demanding job. It's a long grind and I
feel that after 20 years as a head coach, there are other
things that I need to do. I appreciate all the support,
especially from former Redskins players in the area and
again, I wish we would have come closer to the success those
players enjoyed under Coach Joe Gibbs.
""There are many outstanding players on the Redskins team
and I wish them all the best. I'll always be pulling for the
Redskins. I simply believe that this is the right time for me
to move on, because this team needs new leadership. Hiring a
new head coach will allow him to hire a new coaching staff
and hopefully point the Redskins in the right direction.
""I've enjoyed my time in Washington. Obviously, all of
the losing can wear you down, but I believe that the
franchise is headed in the right direction. Again, I'll
always be pulling for the Washington Redskins.''
Tuesday, December 30, 2003
Papal Envoy Killled
From CBS News | Papal Envoy Killing 'No Accident' | December 30, 2003 00:49:06:
"Gunmen killed the pope's ambassador in Burundi on Monday, firing on his car as he was returning from a funeral, and the country's president said the envoy was deliberately targeted.
Archbishop Michael Courtney was shot in the head, shoulder and a limb and died during surgery at Prince Louis Rwagasore Hospital, a hospital official said.
President Domitien Ndayizeye said the 58-year-old Courtney was deliberately targeted. 'It was not an accident; he was killed,' Ndayizeye told reporters. He and other officials, however, did not say what the motive for the killing might be. "
"Gunmen killed the pope's ambassador in Burundi on Monday, firing on his car as he was returning from a funeral, and the country's president said the envoy was deliberately targeted.
Archbishop Michael Courtney was shot in the head, shoulder and a limb and died during surgery at Prince Louis Rwagasore Hospital, a hospital official said.
President Domitien Ndayizeye said the 58-year-old Courtney was deliberately targeted. 'It was not an accident; he was killed,' Ndayizeye told reporters. He and other officials, however, did not say what the motive for the killing might be. "
Monday, December 29, 2003
More Terror Plots Uncovered
From The Mercury: Al-Qaeda blueprint exposed [29dec03]:
"British MP Patrick Mercer has revealed Saudi authorities arrested two Islamic suicide pilots. He said the pilots were preparing to crash two light aircraft into a packed British Airways passenger jet while it was still on the tarmac at the airport in the Saudi capital of Riyadh.
Both light planes had been crammed with explosives. And Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said he had received reliable intelligence of a Christmas Day plan to assassinate the Pope and destroy the Vatican by flying a hijacked plane into it. "
"British MP Patrick Mercer has revealed Saudi authorities arrested two Islamic suicide pilots. He said the pilots were preparing to crash two light aircraft into a packed British Airways passenger jet while it was still on the tarmac at the airport in the Saudi capital of Riyadh.
Both light planes had been crammed with explosives. And Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said he had received reliable intelligence of a Christmas Day plan to assassinate the Pope and destroy the Vatican by flying a hijacked plane into it. "
Former Head of Domicans Claims Priestly Celibacy Largely Ignored by Priests
From the Guardian Unlimited:
Priestly celibacy in the Roman Catholic church has largely broken down in many parts of the world, Father Timothy Radcliffe, former master general of the Dominican Order, which has 200,000 members worldwide, said last night.
Fr Radcliffe, now a monk in Oxford but tipped by some as a future leader of the Roman church in England, said the church might have to consider ordaining married priests.
On the BBC Radio Four programme Analysis, broadcast last night, he said: "It is clearly the case that in many parts of the world celibacy has actually largely broken down - in many countries in Latin America, parts of Africa, to some extent in the United States...
"If it turns out to be the case that it is being largely ignored or bypassed, then... a very negative witness is being given; and so we have to ask is it possible now - either we have to provide celibate priests with considerably more support or we have to explore the possibility of them being married."
The Vatican and the Pope have rejected any question of altering the 1,200 year-old rule, but there is growing alarm in the church that the number of men coming forward to train for the priesthood in Europe and the US is declining, and that a high proportion of those in training are thought to be gay.
The Pope blames the decline in new priests and the steady exodus of others to marry on moral decadence and indiscipline in the western world.
The church in England has already relaxed the rule to some extent by letting some married Anglican priests who left the Church of England remain in holy orders.
Priestly celibacy in the Roman Catholic church has largely broken down in many parts of the world, Father Timothy Radcliffe, former master general of the Dominican Order, which has 200,000 members worldwide, said last night.
Fr Radcliffe, now a monk in Oxford but tipped by some as a future leader of the Roman church in England, said the church might have to consider ordaining married priests.
On the BBC Radio Four programme Analysis, broadcast last night, he said: "It is clearly the case that in many parts of the world celibacy has actually largely broken down - in many countries in Latin America, parts of Africa, to some extent in the United States...
"If it turns out to be the case that it is being largely ignored or bypassed, then... a very negative witness is being given; and so we have to ask is it possible now - either we have to provide celibate priests with considerably more support or we have to explore the possibility of them being married."
The Vatican and the Pope have rejected any question of altering the 1,200 year-old rule, but there is growing alarm in the church that the number of men coming forward to train for the priesthood in Europe and the US is declining, and that a high proportion of those in training are thought to be gay.
The Pope blames the decline in new priests and the steady exodus of others to marry on moral decadence and indiscipline in the western world.
The church in England has already relaxed the rule to some extent by letting some married Anglican priests who left the Church of England remain in holy orders.
Sunday, December 28, 2003
Feast of the Holy Family
Consider the Holy Family. At first the whole marriage is called into question when Joseph finds out the Mary is pregnant. He decides to divorce her. But then when he receives inspiration in a dream he relents. So Jesus being born into a single parent family is averted (although as Mother Teresa once pointed out to Father Benedict Groeschel all children have God as their father--so there really is no such thing as a "single parent" family for the believer).
Next we have the family setting out for the census taking. They haven't made reservations though, and so they end up living a nightmare that I have had the chance to experience myself a few times--no vacancy at any of the hotels. So Our Lord is born in a cave.
Then when Herod seeks the life of the child the family flees into Egypt as political refugees.
Really, the holy card image of the Holy Family, lacks any of the struggles and hardships that in reality were the lot of the Holy Family. Evidently Joseph died before Jesus was thirty since he is never mentioned later in the Gospels. Of course Mary will endure the death of her son three years later at thirty-three. The joy of the resurrection will be tempered by His absence forty days later at the Ascension. The Holy Family experienced almost any tragedy that we can place in our experience of family life. When we call on Jesus, Mary and Joseph we should be mindful of that...the struggles of life are not ours alone to bear. Heaven lowered itself not into a plush life but into the very sorrowful existence that is ours.
It is important to focus on the reality of the Holy Family so that we can capture the meaning of the prophecy that is made by Simeon. It is one that sees God's promise fulfilled in the infant Jesus but at the same time predicts hard times. God's blessing is not always what we might expect. It is not the Gospel of wealth and prosperity that is sometime proclaimed by the televangelist--it is one of being misunderstood, contradictions and the piercing of the mother's heart as she witnesses the death of her Son--the Son of God.
May the Holy Family bless us with the sense to find meaning in the events of our daily lives, no matter what they may bring.
Next we have the family setting out for the census taking. They haven't made reservations though, and so they end up living a nightmare that I have had the chance to experience myself a few times--no vacancy at any of the hotels. So Our Lord is born in a cave.
Then when Herod seeks the life of the child the family flees into Egypt as political refugees.
Really, the holy card image of the Holy Family, lacks any of the struggles and hardships that in reality were the lot of the Holy Family. Evidently Joseph died before Jesus was thirty since he is never mentioned later in the Gospels. Of course Mary will endure the death of her son three years later at thirty-three. The joy of the resurrection will be tempered by His absence forty days later at the Ascension. The Holy Family experienced almost any tragedy that we can place in our experience of family life. When we call on Jesus, Mary and Joseph we should be mindful of that...the struggles of life are not ours alone to bear. Heaven lowered itself not into a plush life but into the very sorrowful existence that is ours.
It is important to focus on the reality of the Holy Family so that we can capture the meaning of the prophecy that is made by Simeon. It is one that sees God's promise fulfilled in the infant Jesus but at the same time predicts hard times. God's blessing is not always what we might expect. It is not the Gospel of wealth and prosperity that is sometime proclaimed by the televangelist--it is one of being misunderstood, contradictions and the piercing of the mother's heart as she witnesses the death of her Son--the Son of God.
May the Holy Family bless us with the sense to find meaning in the events of our daily lives, no matter what they may bring.
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