We do indeed need to show joy as Catholics.  

My motto  “Be happily and uncomplicatedly
Catholic.”

Michael J. Sheehan, Archbishop of Santa Fe  _____________________________________________

Why Do They Hate Us?

On September 4, in Kottenkulangara within the southwestern Indian state of Kerala, twenty masked Hindu extremists destroyed the altar, confessionals and vestments in Our Lady of Vailankanni parish church. This was two days after Christians in another part of India welcomed a court decision, mandating that the National Human Rights Commission compensate victims of anti-Christian violence. (Three years ago 300 villages were attacked with 70 people killed. Later that year, because of violence, 25,000 Christians fled for their lives.)

Recently, in the Nigerian city of Jos, Muslim militants launched a series of attacks on Christians and killed 14 people.

 Beijing is tackled the country’s embattled Catholics. In China, there are an estimated eight million Catholics who have to worship secretly because they refuse to join the state controlled Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association. The US-based Cardinal Kung Foundation stated there are 25 Chinese bishops either in jail or under house arrest.
The Pew Research Center Forum lists these eight countries as having very high hostilities towards Christians: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Iraq Israel, Nigeria, Pakistan and Somalia. Thirty other countries are listed as having high hostility.

Italian sociologist Massimo Introvigne, representative of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe on Combating Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians, reported that over 100,000 Christians are killed annually. “Every five minutes,” he said, ‘a Christian is killed for his faith.”

This is puzzlement for me. We Christians don’t have suicide bombers and extremists who attack people of other faiths and destroy their places of worship. Throughout history, Christians universally have been the selfless providers of healthcare, education, food, housing and welfare for all people. We still are today.

I can’t say we weren’t forewarned because St. Luke records Christ as saying, “Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude and insult you and denounce your name as evil on account of the Son of Man.” And in the year 210, Tertullian said, “The blood of martyrs is the seed of the Church.” Four hundred years later, St. Gregory the Great added an optimistic note when he wrote “Change the wicked and they will be no more. The wicked who have been changed will be no more, not because they will altogether cease to exist in their essential being; they will cease to exist in their state of ungodliness.”

Are we hated merely because we are different? Is there jealousy because of our enjoyment and devotion of our Faith? Do they resent us because they are beneficiaries of our goodness? I don’t know. Send me your thoughts to share with other readers. (aljagoe@comcast.net)

Other recommended Catholic blogs

- Shower of Roses

- Wildflowers and Marbles

- American Papist

Recommended readings

-“Make-Up Orthodoxy” in August-September The Catholic World Report.
- “Rights of Conscience” in August 1-8 America.
- Liberal education and the priesthood” in August-September Homiletic & Pastoral Review.
– Andrew Bacevich on the Information Age” in August 12 Commonweal.

Roster of Joyful Catholic Priests

The media loves to publicize bad priests, and we should give recognition to our Joyful Catholic Priests. Send me your recommendation for ones you think merit membership in this splendid group. (aljagoe@comcast.net)

Rev. Robert Aufieri (NYC)
Fr. John M.Bauer (MN)
Rev. Edward Gorman, O.P. (DE)
Fr. Andrew Gries (DC)
Msgr. Edward Filardi (MD)
Fr. Raymond Kemp (DC)
Archbishop Jerome Listecki (MN)
Bishop Dennis Madden (MD)
Fr. Joseph Marini (CA)
Fr. John Mericantante (FL)
Msgr. Thomas Modugno (NYC
Rev. John O’Donoghue (TX)
Msg. Paul L. Rohling (AL)
Fr. Matthew Ruhl, S.J. (KS)
Fr. Michael Scanlon (OH)
Rev. Richard Trout (FL)
Rev. Hayden Vaverek (NYC)
Rev. Malcolm Sylvester Willoughby, O.P. (DC)
Canon Stuart Wilson (London, UK)

I pray that this event never happens, but, don’t kid yourself, it might and could occur.  Don’t let us Americans think we are immune from the horrid acts of militant Muslims. What happened in Alexandria, Egypt, during a Christmas Mass and at the Moscow airport in January 24 can take place tomorrow in New York or any other American city.  As Abraham Lincoln said when warned about a possible assassin, “If a man wants to give up his life in order to take mine, nothing can prevent his doing so.”

          If you were a booker placing bets, what would you say are the odds that we “secure” Americans will be the next target? And why not?   These savage barbarian Muslims hate us because we uphold our Judo-Christian religions, we are closely allied with Israel, and we believe in freedom of thought and behavior. 

          So far, we have been extremely lucky in that past attempts to kill us have failed because of flukes (the bomb in NY’s Time Square that failed to explode, etc.).  But our good luck won’t last forever.

          On February 17, although he said he regretted the many attacks on Christians in his country, Habeeb Mohmmed Hadi ali Al-Sadr, Iraq’s ambassador to the Holy See, said the importance of these event has been magnified by “the media and international organizations.” He also said that in the total essence of the Islamic faith “to kill a soul for no reason is to kill the whole of humanity.” This sounds good except for the phrase “for no reason.” The Muslin terrorists’ reason for killing us Christians is to rid the world of the infidels and to assure a place in paradise for those involved in these murderous attacks.  By contrast, Father Maurice Zundel, the famed Swiss mystic who died in 1975, wrote: “Jesus is Catholic because he embraces all of humanity, and it we become his disciples we also must embrace all of humanity.”

          From an editorial in America magazine: “The plight of Christians abroad demands a vigorous response from church communities in the United States. Catholics and mainline Protestants must tackle these problems with as much organized effort as do evangelicals and Jews. The old tools of denunciation of abuses and of cooperation with moderate religious leaders, though necessary, have proved too weak to hold back the advancing tide of intolerance. They should be supplemented by new strategies for mobilizing both elite and popular opinion.”

I want the above fictitious news story (1) to make us more aware of and concerned about the Christophobia that exists in other parts of the world, especially in the Middle East where we Christians are now only 2% of the population. (2) We must have empathy for and pray for those who are enduring hardships and death in order to be Christians. (3) Lastly, as Joyful Catholics, let us appreciate our great fortune of being able openly to practice and demonstrate our religion.

God, please forgive America for its sins and protect us from our enemies.

(And let me have your thoughts about this: aljagoe@comcast.net)

Other recommended Catholic blogs 

The American Catholic

The Deacon’s Bench

Quantum Theology

 

Recommended readings

Some Thoughts on God and his creatures” in the February

                                                 Homiletic & Pastoral Review

“The Value of Nonprofits” in America, February 7.

“Cruel & Unusual” in Commonweal, January 28

Quiz

 The first to send the right answers to aljagoe@comcast.net will receive a gift copy of Light Reading for Good and Wayward Catholics.

1.     Including Sundays, how many days are there in Lent? 

2.     What two people appeared to Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration?

3.  What biblical saint died and was buried twice? 

Those Frigging Militant Muslims

In Afghanistan, Mr. Musa, a 45 year old Red Cross worker and physiotherapist who lost a leg from a land mine accident in the 1990s, is to be hung because he converted to Christianity. By reason of his Catholic faith, he has been imprisoned for eight months, where he was tortured and sexually raped by inmates and guards. Because of death threats, no lawyer will defend him.

“Be happily and uncomplicatedly Catholic.”

We do indeed need to show joy as Catholics.  

My motto — “Be happily and uncomplicatedly Catholic.” 

Michael J. Sheehan Archbishop of Santa Fe

 News flashes

       Egypt recalled the Vatican ambassador in protest to the Pope saying the truth about Egypt not doing enough to protect Christians from mob violence. (comment: Guilt does have a voice.)

The International House of Prayer in Kansas City is being sued for using its abbreviated name of IHOP. (Solution might be to serve pancakes for the religious meetings)

 The nun, who is in charge of the Apostolic Visitation of U. S. women religious, acknowledged that there are more U. S. nuns over 90 than under 60. 

The Chinese State Administration for Religious Affairs has blasted the Vatican for its “attack on religious freedom in China.” (comment: the Vatican is right but as we in America owe so much money to China, we had better lay low on this one.) 

 

Today’s Martyrs

In the latest of a series of targeted attacks on Iraqi Christians, Dr. Nuyia Youssif Nuyiz, a prominent Christian cardiologist, father of 4 children and faithful Chaldean Catholic, was shot by gunmen in his medical clinic. Miraculously, he survived his serious injury.

(Since our “rescue” of Iraq, over a million Christians in that devastated country have had to evacuate.) 

 

 

My favorite priest, layperson, breathing saint or organization

 No recommendations today – shame on you!

 

(Now, tell me about your favorite Catholic priest, layperson or organization that is making a difference – aljagoe@comcast.net)

 Interesting sayings

 

Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.

Benjamin Franklin

 

 

 

O Lord Jesus Christ, teach all men that the see of Saint Peter, the Holy Church of Rome, is the foundation, center, and instrument of unity. Open their hearts to the long-forgotten truth that our Holy Father, the pope, is your vicar and representative, and that in obeying him in matters of religion, they are obeying you.

Blessed John Henry Newman

 

The great crime against life is not to feel.

The American poet, Archibald MacLeish

 

Life’s journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a swell preserved body, but rather to slide in sideways, totally worn out, shouting, “Hot damn—what a ride!”

Anonymous

 

Communiqués

 -         I especially like your “Chuckle time”, which always tickles my pylorus.

Archibald Whitfield

 

-         The relationship problem between clergy and lay-folks is that we tend to treat our priests as if they belong to a special species with no belly buttons.     

Margaret Kendall

 

-         Your “The Catholic Church is Finished” deserves my applause and gratitude for the wonderful job you have done today and the days beforehand. Keep up the good work!

jukilopoll3gmail.com

 

Chuckle time

Teacher: I will give $10 to the student who can name the most famous man who ever lived.

Irish kid: St. Patrick.

Teacher: Sorry, but that’s not right.

Scottish kid: St. Andrew.

Teacher: No, not right.

Jewish kid: It was Jesus Christ.

Teacher: Congratulation! You win.

Jewish kid (after pocketing the $10): I know it’s Moses, but business is business.

 

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, Gertrude Goldstein,

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, the cholera victims in Haiti, those in refugee camps throughout the world.

 

 

News flashes

  Paddy Power, the popular Irish bookmaker gives 2 to 1 odds that the next Pope will be Cardinal Arinze of Nigeria.

-         Music Monk Coffee advertises its produce as being “Faithfully Catholic.” (comment: strong? keeps you awake? healthy?)

-         Keith Nelson, also known as Kinko the Clown, said, “Before you call anyone in Washington a clown, consider how hard a clown works, and that clowns make people happy, and at the very least, do no harm.”

-         The University of Kentucky removed The Holocaust from the school curriculum “because it offended the Muslim population.”

 Today’s Martyrs

-         In Alexandria, Egypt, al-Qaida militants exploded a powerful bomb in a Coptic Church during a New Year Mass, killing 21 and wounding 80 parishioners. One of the survivors said, “All I could see were body parts scattered all over—legs and bits of flesh.” Angry Christians chanted, “With our blood and soul, we redeem the cross.”

-         On Christmas Day, Muslim extremists exploded a bomb at the Evangelical Chapel in Manila, Philippines, wounding a 9-year-old girl and 11 parishioners.

 My favorite priest, layperson, breathing saint or organization

Joyful Catholics deserves a Joyful Pastor.  And at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Bethesda, MD, that is what we have with Msgr. Edward Filardi.  In addition to his executive ability in managing a large religious institution, with ease he demonstrates his love and concern for all parishioners. He radiates the joyfulness of Catholicism.

Now, tell me about your favorite priest, layperson or organization that is making a difference

aljagoe@comcast.net

 Interesting sayings

Intelligence is the ability to take in information from the world and to find patterns in that information that allows you to organize your perception and understand the eternal world.

Brian Greene, author of “The Hidden  Reality”

 

Sarah Palen is an effective cheer leader, but don’t throw her the ball.

Regimra

 

 

Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world’s going to hell. Funny how you can send ‘jokes’ through e-mail and they spread like wildfire, but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing.  Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace.

Ben Stein

Communiqués

To give controversy (which sells books) to her sorry Nickel and Dimed, Barbara Elrenreich calls Jesus “a wine-guzzling vagrant and precocious socialist.” If she had said this about Mohammad, she would have put her life in danger and the publishing house would be fire-bombed. What wimps we Christians are!

Patrick Donovan

Your “The hell with trivia” is right on the target.  We Catholics get too fixated by the shadows to see the light.

Regina Lichbach

 Chuckle time

The Santa Claus in a department store was surprised to see a young woman in line.

   “And, my dear,” he said, “what do you want for Christmas?”
   “It’s something for my mother,” she said quickly.

   “That’s very thoughtful. And what is it you want for her?”

    She replied, “A son-in-law.”

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, Gertrude Goldstein, 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 

The cholera victims in Haiti, those in refugee camps throughout the world.