Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Benedict Backtracking: Part Two

In case you didn't hear or read Pope Benedict XVI's Homily at Yankee Stadium, I posted it below. He got two huge cheers that interrupted him, but both coming at valid times:

My dear young friends, like the seven men, “filled with the Spirit and wisdom” whom the Apostles charged with care for the young Church, may you step forward and take up the responsibility which your faith in Christ sets before you! May you find the courage to proclaim Christ, “the same, yesterday, and today and for ever” and the unchanging truths which have their foundation in him (cf. Gaudium et Spes, 10; Heb 13:8). These are the truths that set us free! They are the truths which alone can guarantee respect for the inalienable dignity and rights of each man, woman and child in our world – including the most defenseless of all human beings, the unborn child in the mother’s womb.

Young men and women of America, I urge you: open your hearts to the Lord’s call to follow him in the priesthood and the religious life. Can there be any greater mark of love than this: to follow in the footsteps of Christ, who was willing to lay down his life for his friends (cf. Jn 15:13)?


Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

In the Gospel we have just heard, Jesus tells his Apostles to put their faith in him, for he is “the way, and the truth and the life” (Jn 14:6). Christ is the way that leads to the Father, the truth which gives meaning to human existence, and the source of that life which is eternal joy with all the saints in his heavenly Kingdom. Let us take the Lord at his word! Let us renew our faith in him and put all our hope in his promises!

With this encouragement to persevere in the faith of Peter (cf. Lk 22:32; Mt 16:17), I greet all of you with great affection. I thank Cardinal Egan for his cordial words of welcome in your name. At this Mass, the Church in the United States celebrates the two hundredth anniversary of the creation of the Sees of New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Louisville from the mother See of Baltimore. The presence around this altar of the Successor of Peter, his brother bishops and priests, and deacons, men and women religious, and lay faithful from throughout the fifty states of the Union, eloquently manifests our communion in the Catholic faith which comes to us from the Apostles...CONTINUE HOMILY

Friday, April 25, 2008

Amen Soul Sista!!!

Well, someone check my pulse.
What have you found? Am I dead?
No?
Check it again.
And?
Still says I'm alive?

Wow.

Well, I thought I'd pass from this earth before a media source such as the Philadelphia Daily News printed something I'd actually read, but it's happened:

Christine Flowers' piece on Bill Maher today.

"Just the facts, ma'am."

Embryonic Ensoulment

DO EMBRYOS HAVE SOULS?
- Rev. Tad Pacholczyk, Ph.D.

People are sometimes surprised to hear that the wrongness of destroying a human embryo does not ultimately depend on when that embryo might become a person, or when he or she might receive a soul from God. They often suppose that the Catholic Church teaches that destroying human embryos is unacceptable because such embryos are persons (or are "ensouled"). While it is true that the Church teaches that the intentional and direct destruction of human embryos is always immoral, it would be incorrect to conclude that the Church teaches that zygotes(a single-cell embryo) or other early-stage embryos are persons, or that they already have immortal, rational souls. The magisterium of the Church has never definitively stated when the ensoulment of the human embryo takes place. It remains an open question. The Declaration on Procured Abortion from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 1974 phrases the matter with considerable precision:

This declaration expressly leaves aside the question of the moment when the spiritual soul is infused. There is not a unanimous tradition on this point and authors are as yet in disagreement. For some it dates from the first instant; for others it could not at least precede nidation [implantation in the uterus]. It is not within the competence of science to decide between these views, because the existence of an immortal soul is not a question in its field. It is a philosophical problem from which our moral affirmation remains independent...CONTINUE ARTICLE.

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Benedict Backtracking

Well, it's not getting too much attention, so I figured I'd post the Holy Father's message to the United Nations. It was pretty amazing and I just pray that others around the globe listened.

Building on what Archbishop Migliore continues to present to the UN, Pope Benedict XVI spoke of human rights and noted how unfortunate it is that people of faith have to hide their religious beliefs in order to make a public statement as a citizen.

"Through the United Nations, States have established universal objectives which, even if they do not coincide with the total common good of the human family, undoubtedly represent a fundamental part of that good. The founding principles of the Organisation - the desire for peace, the quest for justice, respect for the dignity of the person, humanitarian co-operation and assistance - express the just aspirations of the human spirit, and constitute the ideals which should underpin international relations. ... The United Nations embodies the aspiration for a 'greater degree of international ordering', inspired and governed by the principle of subsidiarity, and therefore capable of responding to the demands of the human family through binding international rules and through structures capable of harmonising the day-to-day unfolding of the lives of peoples. This is all the more necessary at a time when we experience the obvious paradox of a multilateral consensus that continues to be in crisis because it is still subordinated to the decisions of a few, whereas the world's problems call for interventions in the form of collective action by the international community...CONTINUE ADDRESS.

Monday, April 21, 2008

There is Hope!

Hope came to America this past week.
The Successor of Peter brought the Gospel of Life along with him on his Apostolic Visit to the United States. Hope is real. Hope is attainable. Hope has a name.

Jesus Christ was in the public eye and how often does that happen? At the White House. At the United Nations. At "Ground Zero." And at two baseball stadiums.
How many of our brothers and sisters realize that there is an end to the despair? That there is hope?

You may have read a lot of the headlines about "Pope Benedict XVI." Well, take the name away and replace it with who TRULY was at all of these places, because Jesus Christ took center stage in America since Tuesday. I have never seen the amount of coverage Our Lord has gotten and all with the absence of separation of Church and State remarks. Like St. Paul before us, Jesus Christ was proclaimed to the Gentiles.

"It is God who saves us; he saves the world and all of history. ... I am coming, sent by Jesus Christ, to bring you his word of life."


And I got this message in persona.


The entrance of the "Pope Mobile!"



His blessing on us all.







Thursday, April 17, 2008

Take Action!!!

Two very interesting topics came to my attention the past 24 hours; both of which need our attention AND action.

One deals with Defamation and the other with Embryonic Testing.

The first piece that flooded my inbox was some recent comments made by Bill Maher (big surprise) directed at the Pope. He has a history of anti-religion and anit-Catholicism comments...to name a few.
HERE is a link to his recent comments and HERE is a list of past comments (scroll down), and HERE is what you can do about it (site goes live at 2pm EST today).


The other piece of mail I got pertained to halting U.S. Scientists (and Legislators) from following the UK in allowing human-animal hybrids. Scary stuff. Is nothing sacred?
Go HERE to do something about it.

Pax,
PETRVS

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

He's here!!!

So Benedict's arrival at Andrews AFB yesterday was a little anti-climatic. The two cameras on the base were focused on "Shepherd One's" doors for 10 minutes and then they decided to pan. Well, during that panning one could hear the crowd screaming. Yep, they missed it. Nonetheless, it was pretty powerful even on television. The crowd wound up singing Happy Birthday to him. This is what we should've seen...



Today's EWTN schedule has him meeting W at the White House and then onto talking with the U.S. Bishops.



"Being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction."
- Deus Caritas Est


"What did Jesus actually bring, if not world peace, universal prosperity, and a better world? What has he brought? The answer is very simple: God. He has brought God. He has brought God who formerly unveiled his countenance gradually, first to Abraham, then to Moses and the Prophets, and then in the Wisdom Literature - the God who revealed his face only in Israel, even though he was also honored among the pagans in various shadowy guises. It is this God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the true God, whom he has brought to the nations of the earth. He has brought God, and we know his face, now we can call upon him. Now we know the path that we human beings have to take in this world. Jesus has brought God and with God the truth about our origin and destiny: faith hope and love."
- Jesus of Nazareth

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

He's coming...


At 4:00p.m. EST today, the Holy Father will be touching down in the United States. Bells will be sounding all over the Fruited Plain and I cannot begin to describe the excitement building inside of me. I'll be checking out EWTN's coverage via streaming video. I believe they're running coverage during his entire visit. Sunday cannot come soon enough. Bus leaves at 7am for Yankee Stadium. WOO HOO!

Saw a great interview last night on The World Over with Raymond Arroyo. W is rolling out the red carpet for His Holiness, who Bush refered to as His Holy Father instead of either His Holiness or Holy Father (typical W combining words and phrases). Arroyo did a heck of a job with Bush. Asked him point blank why the red carpet treatment, why is he attending the Olympics, etc. Great interview. Last night at 11 was the final re-airing of it, but you can view it here.

He also had Laura Ingraham on the show - a recent convert. She's pretty funny.


A PETRVS prediction: Bush converts.

You heard it here first.