We Do Indeed Need to Show Joy as Catholics.

  “Be happily and uncomplicatedly
Catholic.”

Michael J. Sheehan, Archbishop of Santa Fe

News flashes

Alex Salmond, 1^st Minister of Scotland, has protested to Parliament about a law on the books since 1701 stating that no member of the royal family can marry a Catholic. He pointed out that they can yet marry a Jew, Muslim, Voodoo priest or Atheist. (Comment: Martians accepted, but no Catholics)
The Mayor of  Moscow has approved plans to build 200 Russian Orthodox churches in the Russian capital.                                  

My favorite priest, layperson, breathing saint or organization 

CNEWA (Catholic Near East Welfare Association) was established in 1926 by Pope Pius XI to assist Eastern churches, to work for church unity and to raise consciousness in the West about the churches and people of the East. The current annual report shows over $5 million spent for carrying for needy children, $3 million for constructing and maintaining religious institutions, $2 million for developing Church leadership, $2 million for heightening public awareness, over a million for urgent human needs, and $600,000 for fostering interfaith communications.

          Today is a time of greatest need for us to support this splendid Catholic organization in its valiant effort to protect and expand our church in the Middle East. Your contribution can be sent to:

CNEWA

1011 First  Avenue

New York, NY 10022-4195

And if you want more information, contact Father Hayden Vavarek at (212) 826-1480,
ext.105  frhayden@CNEWA.org

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

aljagoe@comcast.net

 

Interesting Sayings

By baptism we acquire a new title to the paternal providence of God the Father. The important point to remember is that our confidence in the continual paternal protection and solicitude is based not on our own merits, but on our membership of his Son’s Mystical Body, an his own goodness and mercy.  By baptism, God is
in us, and we are in God, and are made Godlike.

Father E. Eugene Boyland, (1964), was a monk of the Cistercian Abbey in Roscrea,Ireland.

For this is truly perfection: never to stop growing towards what is better and never placing any limit on perfection.

 Saint Gregory of Nyssa (395)
It isn’t what we don’t know that gives us trouble, it’s what we know that ain’t do.

Will Rogers

Our faith is not blind, nor is it a childish and irrational belief in something that cannot be seen.  Our faith is alive and as real as a shepherd sitting on an ancient hillside, his hand on the napes of our necks and his eyes never resting as he scans the flock in search of danger. Our faith is about this kind and ever-loving shepherd who has claimed us for his own, knows us by name and has, in fact, already sacrificed his life for our own.- Steve Givens

Communiqués 

I admire your Light Reading for Good and Wayward Catholicsfor the subtle
way you remind us that Christ is the theophany.

Madeline Crossman,Ann Arbor,MI

It is dangerous for you to want us to dive into deep theological waters to try to imagine what went on between Jesus and Mary, other than what is written in the Bible.  

Marie Stetson, Toledo, OH

 Israel was one of the first countries that sent assistance to Haiti, as well as numerous other disasters around the world.
Stephen Diaz Gavin,Washington,DC

Many thanks to the fellow who prompted you to urge us to think about the personal relationship between Jesus and his mother, the Virgin Mary. It opened a new range of thinking for me.

Elllis, Craftsman,Seattle,WA

You flippancy annoys the shit out of me. (I bet you won’t print this.)

                                      Joe Wright, New York, NY

                    (Comment: Joe, now you owe me one.) 

Chuckle Time

An Irishman goes into the confessional box after years of being away from the Church.  He is amazed to find a fully equipped bar with Guinness on tap.  On the other wall is a
dazzling array of the finest cigars and chocolates in the world.

Then the priest comes in.
Excitedly, the Irishman begins…”Father, forgive me, for it’s been a very long time since I’ve been to confession, but I must first admit that the confessional box is much more inviting than it used to be.”         The priest replies “Get out.  You’re on my side.”

 

 

        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, Jill 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, 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, Marie Lyons, John Vaughen, Andy Samworth, Carrol Otto. Bill Daniels. Wynne Ambrose 

Christian martyrs in the Middle East, those in refugee camps throughout the world, the Japanese victims of their recent calamity. 

We do indeed need to show joy as Catholics.

 We do indeed need to show joy as Catholics.   My motto — “Be happily and uncomplicatedly Catholic.”

Michael J. Sheehan, Archbishop ofSanta Fe

 

-         The Joyful Catholic has been added to the select list of Catholic Blogs.

-         The British government is planning to end the current ban on religious ceremonies for same-sex marriages, but churches would not be required to perform such ceremonies.

-         Regarding where your charity dollars go, Catholic Charities and Salvation Army have the smallest administrative expenses. Those who eat up most of your charitable dollars before they reach recipients are: UNICEF ($1,200,000 for CEO Careel Stern); American Red Cross ($652,000 salary for President Marsha Evans), The United Way ($375,000 for President Brian Gallagher).

-         The World Bank reported that surging food prices have pushed 44million people worldwide into extreme poverty. This increases the number of undernourished people to 1 billion.

-         In his Easter message, Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, endorsed (though not specifically) us Joyful Catholics when he said, “We are officially told it is good to be happy. Politicians have started talking about happiness rather than prosperity and there is even a research programme on the subject… Let a thousand street parties blossom!”

 

                                                      Today’s Martyrs

Qamar David, a Catholic businessman inPakistan, who was imprisoned for life for blasphemy against the Koran, was tortured and murdered in jail on March 15.

                                 

My favorite priest, layperson, breathing saint or organization

 Tom Crowe recommends Father Michael Scanlan at the Franciscan University of Steubenville. “In 1974 when he took charge of the failing college, Father Scanlon re-invigorated it with the person of Jesus Christ, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, trying in every way to make the person of Christ the center of College activities. In getting to know the students, to solve the major problem of loneliness he launched the faith household system in which, today, 60 % of the student body participate. Under his guidance, the school grew from a few hundred students to over 2,400.

          “He initiated summer youth conferences which last year had 35,000 teens participating in 18 locations across the U. S.and Canada. On the local level, he was a champion of civil rights and personally integrated the local public swimming pool.

          “Father Mike, though his devotion to the Holy Spirit and his dedication to education has done as much as any single person in this country over the past 50 years to rebuild this Church. He is moving on to the next phase of his life. We are all better, much better, for his work at the tiny college in this post-industrial rust belt town, because from it emanates a spirit, an energy that can set the world on fire.

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

aljagoe@comcast.net

 Interesting sayings

 As I sit here, the beating of my heart, the ebb and flow of my breathing, the movements of my mind are all signs of God’s ongoing creation of me. I pause for a moment and become aware of the presence of God within me.

Sacred Space: The Prayer Book 2009

 

Ilia Delio on the cover of America, the Catholic

If the secular, scientific culture behaves like a rabbit, leaping across vast areas of discovery and invention, the Catholic Church too often behaves like a turtle, crawling up from behind, hesitant to accept new scientific discoveries.

Ilia Delio, O.S.F.

 

In Eugene O’Neill’s play, Lazarus Laughed, a witness standing by the tomb, half dead with fright, tells how Jesus and Lazarus looked at each other for a long time. Then Jesus smiles and Lazarus begins to laugh and cries out, “There is no death! There’s only life!”

Patricia Livingston

 

                                   Communiqués 

-         I congratulate your for your blog which fecundates our Catholicism.

Roger Wentworth,Cambridge,MA 

-         Your continuing to report on today’s Christians martyrs puts a dampener on the concept of respect for other religions.

Rezar Johnson, New York, NY 

-         How can I suggest a topic for one of your future blogs?

Helen Ellis, Miami, FL

(Please be my guest and send your suggestions to me at aljagoe@comcast.net)

 

Chuckle time

The bishop went into the church office and handed several pieces of paper to a young volunteer standing next to the shredder, “Please help me,” he said. “I don’t know how to work these different machines.”

          After the volunteer inserted the papers and pressed the button, the bishop said, “This is tomorrow’s homily I have been working on for two weeks. I only want one copy.”

 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, Jill 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, 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, Marie Lyons, John Vaughey,

Christian martyrs in the Middle East, those in refugee camps throughout the world, the Japanese victims of their recent calamity.

We do indeed need to show joy as Catholics.

 “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

aljagoe@comcast.net)

 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.