”We Do Indeed Need to Show Joy as Catholics.”
My motto — “Be happily and uncomplicatedly Catholic.”
Michael J. Sheehan, Archbishop of Santa Fe
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News Flashes
- Swanson Christian Products of Tennessee is selling golf balls with this saying “I once was lost but now I’m found.”
- Columnist Mollie Wilson O’Reilly blasted Archbishop Charles Chaput in 
Philadelphia for inserting politics into his statement following the Sandy disaster. “Caput went far out of his way to make a political point, turning what ought to have been an expression for compassion and prayer into an endorsement of Republican ideals and budget priorities.” (Comment: If true, shame on you, Chuck.)
- Right Reverend Justin Welby, Bishop of Durham, has been selected to succeed
Dr. Rowan Williams as the 105th Archbishop of Canterbury. This should be good news for Anglican-Roman Catholic relations as he builds on the strong commitment and ecumenical legacy of Archbishop Williams.
- Kiril Maritchkov, who was appointed by his 
government at the Vatican’s ambassador from Bulgaria, has been declared a persona non grata by the Vatican. His sin was having written a novel containing a gay sex scene. It has become a standoff because the Bulgaria will not submit another person to this important role. (Comment: Hey fellows in Rome, get with it!)
Poem
(Zellie M. Quinn)
Twisting, strangling itself
To see
The flower is mad
Ever seeking the most beautiful
Of seven different suns
Moved by every wind
Indulging every mad whim, sapped of strength
Now weak and flattened to the grasses
The flower must choose
One Sun or die.
Today’s Martyrs
(Lest we forget)
Let us purify ourselves through the martyrs, or rather, through him through whom they too were purified in blood and truth.
St. Gregory Nazianzen (died 390)
Christians renewed an appeal to the Sri Lankan government to defend religious freedom after the nation’s minority Christian community was shocked by an attack on a Protestant church. On December 9 a crowd of 1,000 people, including many Buddhist monks, stormed and destroyed the church building and injured the pastor. In 2012 there were over 50 attacks by the Buddhist Power Force (Bodu Bala Sena) who want to defend the country against “Muslims and Christians.”
My favorite priest, layperson, breathing saint or organization
(Now, tell me about your favorite Catholic priest, layperson or organization that is making a difference aljagoe@comcast.net)
Interesting sayings
You can avoid reality, but you cannot avoid the consequences of avoiding reality….
Ayn Rand
Our call as Christians is to stir up again and enkindle in the midst of their daily life and concrete situation a new awareness and familiarity with Jesus, to re-propose his Gospel in all its depth, its intensity and its transformative power… Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl
Today Christianity finds itself in a situation where pursuing historical truth freely is difficult because it has been neglected again and again in the past…Albert Schweitzer
Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be… Abraham Lincoln
The Jesus jokes reveal how tangled our religious, racial, economic and political positions have become. Laughing may be one way to talk about the problems without killing one another…Historian, Edward J. Blum and Paul Harvey
People magazine has yet to call to explain why I wasn’t named “Sexiest Man Alive.” I’m all about forgiveness… James Martin, S. J.
What threatens modern Western states as it once threatened Rome is not simply an idea that the state poses a danger to religion, but equally the opposite idea that religion poses a threat to the state because it reveals the insubsantiality of the concerns of the state and the limits of the state’s power over the individual… Paul Kahn
A woman drove me to drink, and I didn’t have the decency to thank her…W. C. Fields
It is the duty of every man to render to the Creator each homage and such only as he
believes to be acceptable to him. This duty is precedent, both in order and time and in degree of obligation, to the claims of Civil Society. Before any man can be considered as a member of Civil Society he must be considered as a subject of the Governour of the Universe. And if a member of Civil Society, do it with a saving of his allegiance to the Universal Sovereign… James Madison, in year 1825
Communiqués
In the January 27th New York Times, Frank Bruni’s article, “Catholicism’s Curse” hits on the time-worn controversy of the child abusive scandal, single priests and the limited role of women. This subject is news worthy; but why not writes about “The Blessings of Catholicism”?
We joyful Catholics have the obligation both to appreciate and spread the word about how splendid is our 2,000-year-old religion. Like the song from the past – “You got to accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative, latch on to the affirmative; don’t mess with mister in-between.”
So, let’s get going!
Slowe Lombago
You have been awarded a Grant sum of $1 Million USD from the United Nations with Qualification numbers (UNF/FBF-826-1619 G-924-94). For Claims Procedure Forward this email to the Secretary General Mr. Ban Ki-Moon on E-mail: bankimoon543@yahoo.co.uk.
Anna Young
(Reply, Anna, you are too kind, but I can’t find the time to take advantage of your generosity)
I think your bumper sticker is a lousy idea. I would feel like a religious asshole if I put one on my car. What I believe in is my own business and I want to keep it private. What are you – some kind of a holy freak?
Jeffery Townsend
I have known your friend, Brother Ed Adams, since 2009 when I met him at the
Wildwood Library in New Jersey. He is a pure and joyful and humble great guy, as well as being a great friend.
Matt Clark
You are so right. Unless you full come to terms and admit sin (we all are sinners) unless and until that happens you can not hope to be forgiven .As Archbishop Sheen once said, “”If we have never sinned, we cannot call Jesus –Savior.” Our Lord gave us Himself in the Eucharist. He gave us His bride—the Church, and He gave us His Mother to be our Mother. R. C. Thomas
I must prefer a reception after Mass in order to greet others. There is a huge difference between an Evangelical, Presbyterian, or Episcopalian church and a Catholic on—our churches contain the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. Our actions while in church are focused on Him. Michel
Hi, I want to subscribe to this great blog to obtain more up-to-dates. Be happily and uncomplicatedly Catholic! Amie
Chuckle Time
The old priest had scolded his housekeeper for referring to furniture and things in the rectory as being “his” possessions. He kept telling her, “I own nothing. Everything here is ‘our’ possessions because it belongs to the parish.”
A week later when the priest was meeting with the ladies’ guild in the rectory living room, he heard a scream from upstairs. The housekeeper cried, “There is a mouse under our bed.”
Florida, I expect to observe a sea of white hair in the congregation, and now I am beginning to experience the same in my parish up north. Thank God for the Latinos. I often attend one of their Masses and am delighted to see young families with happy kids, and they are indeed joyful Catholics. I pray they will be a rejuvenating force within our Church.
