Thank a Catechist!

Words of Encouragement:
Thank a Catechist Day!
by Mark Shea

Galatians 6:6
Let him who is taught the Word share all good things with him who teaches.

Some of us learned the gospel from our parents, some of us from friends, some of us from a teacher, some of us from a priest. Wherever we learned it, we owe the people who taught us the greatest debt of thanks any person can owe another. Today, if you can, share something good with the person who taught you about Jesus. If you can't, honor them by sharing what they gave you with somebody else.

More Words of Encouragement

Meat Police

A Catholic priest blogs:

So there I was, walking into my local pizzeria, ready to get myself some lunch, when I realized that people are looking over at me. Then, suddenly, it's a little quieter than it was when I first walked in. People started contorting, twisting as if they were protecting whatever it was on their tables.

That's when it hit me. It's a Friday of Lent, officially a meatless day, it's lunch time, and I've become the freakin' Meat Police!

Read the whole Post


Link via: The Curt Jester

Pope: "Prayer is not optional"

There is another detail in St. Luke's narrative which is worth underlining: It indicates the object of Jesus' conversation with Moses and Elijah, who appeared next to him when transfigured. The Evangelist narrates that they "spoke of his departure (in Greek, 'exodos'), which he was to accomplish at Jerusalem" (9:31).

Therefore, Jesus listens to the Law and the prophets that speak to him of his death and resurrection. In his intimate dialogue with his Father, he does not leave history, he does not flee from the mission for which he came into the world, though he knows that to attain glory he will have to go through the cross. What is more, Christ enters this mission more profoundly, adhering with all his being to the will of the Father, and he shows us that true prayer consists precisely in uniting our will to the Father's.

Therefore, for a Christian to pray is not to evade reality and the responsibilities it entails, but to assume them to the end, trusting in the faithful and inexhaustible love of the Lord.
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Dear Brothers and Sisters: Prayer is not something accessory, it is not "optional," but rather a question of life or death. Only one who prays, that is, who entrusts himself to God with filial love, can enter into eternal life, which is God himself. During this season of Lent, let us pray to Mary, mother of the Incarnate Word and teacher of the spiritual life, to teach us to pray as her Son did so that our life is transformed by the light of his presence.

Read the Pope's entire address before today's Angelus.

Publisher/Founder of Popular Black Lesbian Magazine Leaves Gay Lifestyle to “Give Heart and Soul to God”

You can read her conversion story and her 10 tips for leaving the Gay lifestyle here.

I don't pretend to know what those with same sex attractions have to deal with in their daily lives. I don't have that cross to bear. Cothran writes that upon speaking a a Christian minister: "I honestly figured that if I simply mentioned the 'L' [lesbian] word that she'd drop the phone, anoint it with oil and that would be the last I'd hear from her." Fortunately, that didn't happen and Cothran did come to the Faith.

The welcome is open in the Catholic Church as well. John Harvey of the Oblates of Saint Francis de Sales has founded a group called Courage which ministers to who who have to deal with same sex attractions or have loved ones who do. Our sexuality is a gift from God and needs to be sued in accordance with His Will. Given the culture we live in, temptations and failings are understandable, no matter what your sexuality. There are plenty of good counselors out there to help you overcome these issues and return to a better way of life.

And in a similar vein: In Turin, Italy, a left-leaning newspaper has published the testimony of a former homosexual who says that through prayer he was able to overcome same-sex attractions. Prayer can help us overcome anything. With God, all things are possible.

Immigration Common Sense

Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver has some common sense observations on immigration:

The U.S. immigration problem is systemic. Attacking the symptoms -- in this case, undocumented workers in a meatpacking plant -- does nothing to address the root cause, which is economic.

Some 40 million abortions and billions of contraceptives later, Americans have a work-force shortfall. Why is anyone surprised?
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San Antonio's Archbishop José Gómez and others have pointed out that today's Latino immigrants are different in some important ways from the Irish, Italian and Polish immigrants of a century ago.

Many Latino immigrants neither want nor plan to settle here. They want to work for a while and then return home, and unlike previous generations of immigrants, they could actually do that if our system let them, because they don't need to cross an ocean.

The U.S. immigration machinery has no effective way of welcoming, licensing and tracking guest workers, and yet we need enormous numbers of them. I'd call that a failure.
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[U]ntil Latin American nations seriously reform their own legal and economic systems, they are co-responsible for the current crisis. Just pointing fingers at the United States isn't going to work. One of the implications of a hemispheric economy is that both sides of the border need to cooperate. Both sides of the border have duties.

One quibble I'd make with the Archbishop is his claim that we need immigrants to do the jobs Americans won't. I don't believe that fits the reality of all areas. Some parts of this country don't have a large amount of illegal immigration. Who does those jobs there? They aren't left undone, so there must be Americans doing them.

Employing those here illegally is often cheaper since employers don't have to pay minimum or provide benefits that they would to those with legal permission to be here. That's why we need systemic reform: those who come here in our violation of our laws have no leverage and so can easily be exploited by those with a mind to do so. (I'm not talking about your typical businesses either. Sexual exploitation is a large problem with those here illegally.) I do favor greater enforcement, though, just to keep the problem from growing larger while we come up with a grander solution.

The Da Vinci Tomb

The Curt Jester has a great tounge in cheek post about others who are upset about about the claims of finding Christ's tomb:

New York, NY (Roto Reuters) Director James Cameron new documentary on the Discovery Channel called "The Lost Tomb of Christ" is causing quite a stir in certain quarters. New York City resident Joe Templer is quite up in arms about this blatant attack on his faith and the faith of millions. "This claim that Mary Magdalene is buried in a tomb in Jerusalem is crazy. Everybody knows that she is really buried in the Louvre Museum in Paris." Joe Templer is not alone in his anger, many fans of the Da Vinci Code are up in arms about this claim of finding Mary Magdalene's bones. Another city resident Jean Priory is also upset about this new documentary that is getting so much attention on shows like Larry King Live and the morning news shows. "The idea that Jesus and Mary Magdalene had a child named Joshua is quite laughable. They certainly never had a son, but a daughter named Sarah. This is a direct attack on the Sacred Feminine. Why is he trying to eliminate our faith in the mystical power of the earth and mother goddess? Shame on you James Cameron."

Fans of The Da Vinci Code nationwide are quite disappointed by the media. After all the favorable attention given to Dan Brown and The Da Vinci Code in the media they feel betrayed by the media then jumping on the bandwagon with this anti-Da Vinci Code propaganda. Bill Donny Hue of the Da Vinci Code League issued a statement declaring "How dare James Cameron promote this un-historical travesty. Mr. Cameron admits “I’m not a theologist. I’m not an archaeologist. I’m a documentary film maker,” are we to believe him or a symbologist. Obviously making one of the most popular books trumps directing one of the most popular movies. What's next for Mr. Cameron is he going to do a documentary on Priory of Sion claiming it is a hoax? How dare he play fast and loose with the facts. He should instead imitate the critical research efforts of Dan Brown."

The complaint about the documentary have not been limited to just the United States. Tour operators in Paris and England are quite distraught about the economic impact on the Da Vinci Code tourism industry if this myth of Mary Magdalene being buried in Jerusalem becomes accepted.

A Saint for the Church Militant

Two incidents in St. Gabriel Possenti's life are particularly notable for their evidence of manly virtue. The first took place when the saint was still young. He had been traveling through the woods to visit his uncle when a man approached him along the path.

The man proposed that the two travel together for companionship. St. Gabriel Possenti agreed. As they passed an abandoned shack, the stranger accosted the saint, suggesting actions for which God obliterated Sodom and Gomorrah.

"You fiend," St. Gabriel cried as he brandished his hunting knife. "If you touch me I'll stick you through."

The assailant fled without further prompting.

There are times when a Catholic must turn the other cheek. Yet St. Gabriel shows us there are other times when a Catholic must stand and fight. How many of our young people could be saved from sexual predators by being armed with the example of Saint Gabriel?

Which brings up the second incident in which St. Gabriel Possenti demonstrated the virtues of Catholic manhood. Again it involved a potential rape, but this time the victims were a couple of young virgins. The perpetrators were two soldiers-turned-brigands who were part of a larger gang pillaging the village.

Rather than hide in the monastery like the rest of the clergy, St. Gabriel Possenti approached the rapists and grabbed their revolvers. With a pistol in each hand, he ordered the brutes to unhand the crying maidens.

The bandits laughed. The rest of their gang came over and mocked St. Gabriel's cassock bearing our Lord's Sacred Heart. They pointed out that a single seminarian was no match for over a dozen battle-hardened soldiers.

Just then a small lizard dashed between the saint and the brigands. With a pinch of the trigger, the seminarian shot the lizard dead. "The next one will be through your heart," he told the gang's leader.

The soldiers let go of the young ladies, returned the stolen loot and extinguished the fires they had lit, then fled the village. They knew better than to test the manly virtue of this man of God. For St. Gabriel Possenti did not abuse his strength, but rather he used it to defend the weak against unjust threats of violence.

Whole article

That second story is likely the source of the movement to have St Gabriel Possenti declared the patron saint of handgunners. But as the article linked to denotes, he provides an excellent example of Christian manhood: caring, protective of the less fortunate and seeking to do right. He's a fine example for all Christian men.

Priests are People, Too

One of the things people sometimes forget about our priests is that they are normal people just like we are. There's a tendency to hold them in awe and put them on a pedestal which puts them at an unnecessary distance from us.


As an example, on Sunday morning, I bumped into our pastor before Mass. I asked him if he had the Mass. When he said "Yes," I told him I'd try to enjoy it anyway. He laughed and later took advantage of an opportunity to return the favor later.

Priests are people too. Their vocation separates them from us by its nature; we don't need to add to it further. Take time to get to know them as people.

The KGB Campaign Against Pius XII

Why, then, the campaign of defamation, which has reached the point where one overhears tourists in St. Peter's Basilica, spotting the bronze statue of Pius XII erected by his cardinals, whispering, "That's 'Hitler's Pope'"?

Serious scholars have long suspected that the origins of that campaign lie in the anti-Catholic machinations of the KGB, the Soviet intelligence service. Confirmation of that thesis now comes from General Ion Mihai Pacepa, a former Romanian intelligence officer and the highest-ranking Soviet bloc spymaster ever to defect, in an article posted on National Review Online on January 26.

According to General Pacepa, the Soviets, stung by the public relations bludgeoning they had taken because of the persecution of Catholics in Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and elsewhere decided to accelerate the anti-Catholic propaganda offensive they had launched toward the end of World War II by depicting the Church as a bulwark of Nazism. Pius XII was the primary target - because, as the KGB liked to say, "Dead men cannot defend themselves."

George Weigel fills us in how the lie of Pope Pius XII being anti-Semitic was really based in a KGB disinformation campaign designed to undermine support for the Catholic Church.

The finding of "Jesus' Tomb"

You may have seen the claim the Hollywood Director James Cameron has found the tomb that Jesus and his family (including Mary Magdalene and their son) are buried in. Catholic blogger Amy Welborn has some common sense arguments why this can't be the case.

Be sure to read this withering account of why historical and geological evidence further undermines this claim.

FAQs

Why create this blog?

The Catholic Church does a lot of really great things for its members and for the community as a whole that often go ignored or unreported. I'm hoping to bring some of those to light and portray the positive of the Church since only the negative side is frequently brought to light in the community at large.

Why be anonymous?

I want this blog to be about the Catholic Church and keep the focus there. If you know who I am, that can move the focus off the Church and on to me making the blog more personality driven than I would like it to be.

How can I contact you with an event/story suggestion, etc?

Via email: WilmingtonCatholic@gmail.com

More FAQs will added to this post as they occur to me.

Welcome to Wilmington Catholic!

My goals for this blog are relatively simple: to shine the spotlight on what's good about Catholicism in the Diocese of Wilmington, Delaware and around the world. I hope to strengthen the faith of Catholics and make non-Catholics recognize that we're not as crazy might seem, that our beliefs are Biblically sound and passed down from the Apostles.

This may seem like a tall order and it is. I may fail at times and I may unintentionally push people away from the faith. (I pray to God that won't be the case, but I know my failings.) But this is definitely a task worth doing, and as G.K. Chesterton once said: "If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly."


So, please join me, as I defend Catholicism badly.