“Be happily and uncomplicatedly Catholic.”
Archbishop Michael J. Sheehan of Santa Fe
News Flashes
A Christian village in the Philippines province of Mindanao has been torched by a small Islamic rebel group. Although there were no reported casualties, dozens of families were routed from their homes.
Milwaukee became the eighth U.S. diocese to declare bankruptcy because of lawsuits and expenses related to sexually molesting of children. Archbishop Dolan did an excellent job in proving false the stupid statement of tort lawyer Jeff Anderson who claimed the Archbishop had hidden $130 million of archdiocesan funds.
A bishop in England has challenged the idea that the Virgin Mary intercedes for the faithful, and suggested that two Marian dogmas were influenced by political considerations.
(Comment: Doesn’t he realize that 99 and 9/10% of our devotion to Mary is from revelations, apparitions and visions?)
Pope Benedict XVI socked it to the Middle Eastern governments with this message: “I would like to state once again that the right to religious freedom is not fully respected when only freedom of worship is guaranteed, and that with restrictions. Abstract proclamation of religious freedom is insufficient: this fundamental rule of social life must find application and respect at every level and in all areas; otherwise despite correct affirmations of principle, there is a risk that deep injustice will be done to the citizens wishing to profess and freely practice their faith.”
My favorite priest, layperson, breathing saint or organization
I admire Father Matthew Ruhl, S.J., who is the pastor of St. Francis Xavier Church in Kansas City. As an avid biker, he formed a group who rode 5,052 miles from Cape Flattery, Wash., to Key West, Florida, to promote Catholic Charities USA’s Campaign to Reduce Poverty. I met him when he and his bikers stopped en route in Denver, and the man exudes the joyful faith of our religion. What a splendid example he is for all of us!
Madeline Evans, Denver
(Now, tell me about your favorite Catholic priest, layperson or organization that is making a difference
Interesting Sayings
- Evil does not exist or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of God. God did not create evil. Evil is the result of
what happens when man does not have God’s love present in his heart. It’s like the cold that comes when there is no heat or the darkness that comes when there is no light.
Albert Einstein
- Sir Anthony Hopkins, the actor who was knighted in 1993, told the UK Catholic Herald this week that he couldn’t live with the certainty of being an 
atheist. He said: “Being an atheist must be like living in a closed cell with no windows. I’d hate to live like that, wouldn’t you? We see them, mind you, on television today.”
Don’t worry about your heart. It will last as long as you live.-W.C. Fields
Communiqué
- The author Barbara Elrenreich got a kick out of describing Jesus as a wine-guzzling vagrant. I wonder is she has the guts to call Moses a
foundling who betrayed his loving foster parents, became a murderer and then was a poor guide who led his people for 40 years before reaching his destination. If she did, Jewish organizations would have her hide.
Roger Zowinski, Miami, FL
- Regarding your writing about St. Joseph, as a father I find Joseph’s faith amazing. I may go into uncertain situations with a faltering faith but Joseph, not him. He went into a situation with Mary that would have shaken a man like me. I pray that God makes me a father and husband like Joseph.
(not signed)
- Those who relish schadenfreude should enlist in the militant Muslin forces.
Dr. Roger Duckworth
Chuckle Time
The usher tries to discourage an elderly woman from sitting in the front of
the church by saying, “The pastor really gives a lousy sermon.”
She says, “Do you know who I am?
“No,” he replies.
“I’ll have you know I am the pastor’s mother.”
The usher then asks, “Do you know who I am?
“No” is her answer.
Then he breathes deeply and says. “Good.”
Special Intentions List
As you pray with a broad brush, please include these loved ones, who have been submitted by our readers. You, too, are invited to send me names of your special persons who are in need of prayer. My address is aljagoe@comcast.net. They will be on the list for 60 days. At the end of that time, if prayers are still needed, you merely have to renew the name.
Juanita Caldwell, Isola Todd, David Abbey, Linwood “Skip” Williams, Roseanne Somlock, Nicholas Gallagher, Tom Lewis, Donald Whitcomb, Violeta Zepeda, John Aylor, Rev. Joseph Marini, Enrique Portillo,
Sharon McPike, Tom Ryan, Joseph Normile, Jim Quimby, Russell Edwards,
Rev. Stephen Huffstetter, Hugh Cannon, Eric Moore, Joan Barrett, 8-year-old Michael Fotta and his parents, Lolita Alvarez, Camilus Musselman,
Ed Block, Isobel Milligan, Peter Bartkiewiez and his family,
Joe Toles, Bob Earll, Camilus Musselman, Ed Cole, Bishop Thomas Olmsted, Jay Parker, William Stephenson, Roger Stoven, Bob Abbott, Denny Kline, Lois Pinkin, Larry Mannino, Cheryl DeSantis, Lenore Sommers
Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, Laura Marsh, the cholera victims in Haiti, those in refugee camps throughout the world.
