Discover
Analysis: Will Cardinal Gregory’s “dialogue” with Biden undermine the USCCB?
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Nov 25, 2020 / 11:30 am MT (CNA).- Archbishop Wilton Gregory announced in an interview yesterday that he will not deny Holy Communion to Joe Biden, and committed himself to working with the president-elect’s administration. But the soon-to-be cardinal’s pledge could put him in tension with the work of the U.S. bishops’ conference, as it tries to speak to the White House with a unified voice. Last week, USCCB president Archbishop Jose Gomez of Los Angeles announced the formation of a special committee, tasked with coordinating the U.S. bishops’ response to, and work with, the incoming Biden administration. Recognizing the unique “challenges” presented by a Catholic president pledged to several policies in opposition to Church teaching, the conference under G...
We faithful Catholics must shed our credulity and realize that Sunnyside has a dark side, and Lotso is nutso…
In Toy Story 3 the boy Andy is ready to go off to college. His room is being tidied and his toys are about to be boxed up and stored in the attic. Then, Mom makes a mistake and Woody, Buzz and the rest of the gang are packed off to a kiddie daycare center called ‘Sunnyside’. Remember– the toys live to be played with and loved by a child, so when they tumble out of the box at Sunnyside everything seems too good to be true. The day care center is a brightly painted wonderland of fun for children. It is crammed full of other happy toys, and best of all– every day this happy home for toys will be full of children to play with them. A toy dump truck pulls up and Andy’s toys are welcomed by a big, pink teddy bear with a Colonel Sanders voice named Lots o’ Huggin’ or Lotso for short. He bellows o...
Christmas gift ideas for every Catholic on your list…
As we approach the Advent and Christmas Seasons, I know many people have begun to think about the gifts that they will buy for family and friends this year. Although there are so many options online to choose from, I would highly encourage you to support small businesses, but particularly small Catholic businesses. Below are some of the businesses that I support and advertise on this website. SOCK RELIGIOUS – Catholic Socks for your feet. With socks like these, you will be walking like the Saints in no time. They come in both adult and kid sizes. These are a great gift for your favorite parish priest! CATHOLIC BALM CO – Beard Balms and Oils for the man in your life that grows a beard. They also have a mustache balm, lip balm, a lotion bar, perfume/cologne, and deodorant. I am a huge fan of...
Pope Francis on First Sunday of Advent: “Jesus, above all else, detests lukewarmness”…
Vatican City, Nov 29, 2020 / 05:40 am MT (CNA).- On the first Sunday of Advent, Pope Francis recommended a traditional Advent prayer to invite God to draw close during this new liturgical year. “Advent is the season for remembering the closeness of God who came down to dwell in our midst,” Pope Francis said in St. Peter’s Basilica Nov. 29. “Let us make the traditional Advent prayer our own: ‘Come, Lord Jesus.’ … We can say it at the beginning of each day and repeat it often, before our meetings, our studies and our work, before making decisions, in every important or difficult moment of our lives: ‘Come, Lord Jesus,’” the pope said in his homily. Pope Francis stressed that Advent is both a time of “God’s closeness and our watchfulness”. “It is important to remain watchful, beca...
Patriarch of Venice calls for prayers of reparation after Virgin Mary statue decapitated…
Rome Newsroom, Nov 27, 2020 / 09:00 am MT (CNA).- A statue of the Virgin Mary in a public square in a suburb of Venice, Italy, was vandalized Thursday night. “The head was decapitated and the hands of the monument lopped off” in the early hours of Nov. 26, according to a notice from the City of Venice. The statue is located in a greenspace at the center of a roundabout in the Venice municipality of Marghera. The act was caught on video surveillance cameras and the perpetrator has been identified and stopped by police. Luigi Brugnaro, the mayor of Venice, called the act of vandalism “a gesture that offends our city, our history and our values.” Brugnaro condemned the “cowardly act, which aims to hurt our sensibility” and said that workers had been instructed to quickly repair the statu...
This Sunday, don’t grow accustomed to the dark…
By Tom Hoopes, November 25, 2020 Last week the Son of Man was resplendent in glory as angels surrounded his throne and the nations assembled before him. This week, the First Sunday of Advent, Year B, he is a long way off and we are left on our own in a dark house, hoping that he will come. The Church does that on purpose: The year ends with a bright, glorious vision then we start over again at nighttime, waiting. The last thing we want to do is to become accustomed to the darkness while he is “away.” “It is like a man traveling abroad,” Jesus begins, using words that remind us of all the waiting for masters we heard recently in the Gospels — vineyard workers waiting to get hired, guests waiting for a wedding, or stewards investing the master’s talents while he is gone. The difference ...
As Biden plans swift moves to enact LGBTQ promises, religious exemptions in crosshairs…
As vice president in 2012, Joe Biden endeared himself to many LGBTQ Americans by endorsing same-sex marriage even before his boss, President Barack Obama. Now, as president-elect, Biden is making sweeping promises to LGBTQ activists, proposing to carry out virtually every major proposal on their wish lists. Among them: Lifting the Trump administration’s near-total ban on military service for transgender people, barring federal contractors from anti-LGBTQ job discrimination, and creating high-level LGBTQ-rights positions at the State Department, the National Security Council and other federal agencies. In many cases the measures would reverse executive actions by President Donald Trump, whose administration took numerous steps to weaken protections for transgender people and create more lee...
What is a cardinal? Here’s a basic review of the college of cardinals in history and today…..
Now that attention shifts on Saturday to the new Cardinals, (Including Archbishop Wilton Gregory of this Archdiocese), it might be good to spend a brief time reflecting on what a Cardinal is and how the College of Cardinals functions. Perhaps it is good to start with a little history and then describe the present realities. History [1]– Originally the term “cardinal” simply referred to any priest who was attached to a particular church or diocese. Even to this day we speak of diocesan priests as being “incardinated” (or attached) to a certain diocese or religious order, and this is required for every priest. There are not to be “free-ranging” priests. Later however, from about the 4th Century through the late Middle Ages the term “cardinal” came to be used only of certain more prominent pr...
St. Thomas More: Defender of marriage and fatherhood…
3 minutes Summary When homeschool fathers need inspiration, ask for St. Thomas More’s help, to be like him, “God’s good servant”, offering love and sacrifice for our family. Born into some of the most tumultuous times in the entire history of the Catholic Church, the brilliant Saint Thomas More has been hailed with many accolades: patriot, genius, statesman, martyr, saint. But to a group of children in the 16th Century, he was simply “father.” The legacy of Saint Thomas More is so powerful that even today, centuries later, he inspires those who may not agree with his political and religious positions; for good reasons. They respect the fortitude that he exhibited all the way to his Earthly end, but if they know only his public life, they are missing much of the character of this great man....
Pope Francis creates 13 new cardinals: ‘May the cross and resurrection always be your goal’…
Vatican City, Nov 28, 2020 / 10:30 am MT (CNA).- Pope Francis created 13 new cardinals Saturday, urging them to remain vigilant lest they lose sight of their goal of the cross and resurrection. “All of us love Jesus, all of us want to follow him, yet we must always be vigilant to remain on the road,” Pope Francis said at the consistory Nov. 28. “Jerusalem always lies ahead of us. The cross and the resurrection are … always the goal of our journey,” he said in his homily in St. Peter’s Basilica. In the seventh consistory of his pontificate, Pope Francis created cardinals from Africa, Europe, North and South America, and Asia. Among them is Cardinal Wilton Gregory, archbishop of Washington, who became the first African American cardinal in the Church’s history. He received the titular church...
Only 36 percent of people can solve this logic problem. How about you?
YouTube/Mind Your Decisions This logic test about a cat in a hat stumps most people—but will it confuse you? Watching the problem play out in this video is helpful in understanding it. Want more brainteasers? You’ve come to the right place. A survey found only 36 percent of people could find the right answer to a seemingly simple logic problem, according to economics and math pro Presh Talwalkar of the YouTube channel Mind Your Decisions. ➗ You love challenging math problems. So do we. Let’s solve them together. Here’s the problem: “There are three hats, each with an accompanying statement. Hat One: The cat is in this hat. Hat Two: The cat is not in this hat. Hat Three: The cat is not in Hat One. Exactly one of the statements is true. Exactly one hat contains...
When the time comes for civil disobedience…..
By Phil Lawler ( bio – articles – email ) | Nov 20, 2020 Here’s the question—THE question—that’s on my mind these days: As governors continue to impose tight restrictions on churches, when will Catholic bishops encourage civil disobedience? Archbishop Sample of Portland seems to have answered that question, saying it’s not going to happen.” Archbishop Cordileone of San Francisco sends a different message: “I’m taking no options off the table.” In France, Bishop Ginoux of Montauban has gone considerably further, urging the faithful to show up for Mass. “It’s easy to ask bishops to take the lead if no one stands behind them,” he reasons; “invade the churches at Mass times, ask for the Mass and bishops and priests will come to celebrate it.” That sounds quite reasonable to me. But...
