Thank you, Pfizer

Heard about this statement from Pfizer after watching The World Over.



Released June 13, 2008, the USCCB clarified the Church teaching on stem cell research.

(Also, a nice Q&A from the Bishops.)

Reflection on Matthew 8:5-11

Jesus expresses amazement at the faith of the centurion - a faith that came from his understanding of the relationship between authority and obedience. His soldiers obeyed him because he was obedient to Caesar and therefore he had the entire weight of the Roman Empire behind his commands. The centurion saw that Jesus had supernatural authority. It came from his obedience to God the Father. For the centurion, the link between obedience and authority was obvious.

We live in confusing times when many are losing their faith. They listen to the world and ask, "Why doesn't the Church change this or that teaching?" Some seem to think that the Church's teachings should be decided by a poll. But the Church is the Body of Christ and it is under authority. It must be obedient to God. It can't make up new teachings or change old ones. If it did, it would lose its authority and become one opinion among many.

Before we receive communion we remember the words of the centurion: "Lord, I am not worthy." We can receive this marvelous gift because the priest has the authority to change ordinary bread into the Blessed Sacrament. He has the authority because the Church has the authority to ordain priests. This authority comes from obedience.

Dale O'Leary

"The One Up Above"

What does that mean when we refer to the "one up above?" Conventional wisdom would say the person is talking about their God. Well, how can we know this God is up above and not below, behind, or in front? Why do we say this? I say it. When thanking God, I look up. When in doubt, I look up. I don't look down. I don't turn around and talk to the back of my chair - that's for certain. Rightfully, I could look at anything and thank God - for God is through, with, and in everything we see (all that is good and has come to be).

So, how did this come about?

I wondered about this during Adoration this afternoon. People say God is above them and the evil one below them. Is this absolutely true? I assume we say this because we look at the hierarchy of creation and so we think of the King of Creation as being above us. Are peasants ever above the King? Certainly not. So with God above us, satan must be beneath us, right? I beg to differ.

Satan can never be beneath us unless we make a concerted effort to keep him there. Walk around the city, notice him among our brothers and sisters - in false prophets, "adult" book stores, "planned" parenthoods, etc. Is he ever below us? Never. He is among us and in fact sometimes (and maybe a lot of times, and sadly) above us, replacing our Creator. When we put ourselves, money, fame, debauchery before God, satan takes His place above us - where he wants to reign forever.

So my brothers and sisters, be mindful of He who should be above you and he who should be beneath you. Our God only wants happiness for us. He has sent many a prophet to speak to us about getting closer to him and letting us know how much he loves us. The Bible is a Book of Love - intimate love. This God who created everything - even us - asks for our love so we can join him in paradise for eternity. We're far from him, but He gave us the Way back. There is absolute Truth and it came in the form of a man. God so loved the world...

He gives us the path and sheds his grace upon us to get closer to him to enthrone him on our heart's mantle. In our Exodus from Egypt, he gave us manna for the journey. Our new Exodus is from eternal damnation and our new manna is his only Son in the Most Holy Eucharist. We eat this new Bread and we're filled with so much grace. Why does God continually give us his love? How do we deserve any of it?

That is true love.

He wants us to return home. We're not destined for earthly residence, but the Heavenly Jerusalem. We know no better, but our Father continues to give us grace so we make it home. We are all Prodigal Sons, but we won't find true happiness and our heart's delight until we allow His love to penetrate our darkened souls.

We must never lose sight of the fact that we are either Saints or outcasts, that we must love for Heaven or for Hell; there is no middle path in this.

- St. John Vianney

Thirty Three

"The meaning of Christ's Ascension expresses our belief that in Christ the humanity that we all share has entered into the inner life of God in a new and hitherto unheard of way. It means that man has found an everlasting place in God." The Ascension is not "the temporary absence of Christ from the world", but "we go to heaven to the extent that we go to Jesus Christ and enter into him. Jesus himself is what we call 'heaven.'"

Pope Benedict XVI

Not only have I entered such an important age of my life today, but I got to share my day with a couple of great events in the Church. May 1st is the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker. St. Joseph has been my model for some time now and means even more now that I have my own infant Jesus to care for. What a model Joseph has set before us men: the Protector of the Holy Family; of the Mother of God; of the Word Incarnate.
Today's Feast Day reflects on Joseph the Worker. Instituted as a combatant to the traditional May Day events around the globe sponsored by the Communists, we remember Joseph as the humble Carpenter, who as a righteous Jewish man (Mark 1:19), undoubtedly taught the Scriptures to the Christ Child.

But today St. Joseph the Worker took a backseat to an even greater event in the Church: the Ascension.
Today we are reminded, as the Holy Father mentions, that he has not abandoned us; no, he has taken us to the Father in heaven for all eternity. What a glorious event.

There is hope!

"Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven." (Acts 1:11)

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

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.

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.

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.

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