We do indeed need to show joy as Catholics.
My motto — “Be happily and uncomplicatedly Catholic.”
Michael J. Sheehan, Archbishop of Santa Fe
Quiz
Last week, the winner of the autographed copy of Light Reading for Good and Wayward Catholic is Kathleen Riley in Bangor, ME. Here are the answers:
1. Including Sundays, there are 46 days in Lent.
2. The two people who appeared to Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration were Moses and Elijah.
3. The biblical saint who died and was buried twice was Lazarus.
News flashes
Pat Archbold in National Catholic Register wrote: Of the many things that have been lost during the last forty years in the name of the council, I miss one the most. Silence.
A few years ago my Bishop, Bishop Murphy of
Rockville Centre, visited my parish for a confirmation and was appalled at the noise level and the total irreverence he witnessed. He wrote a letter to my former pastor and said this: “I am very concerned about the comportment of the faithful in your parish church prior to the celebration of the Eucharist. This component interferes with the ability of the people to enter into the liturgy. Conscious awareness of’ the presence of the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament is lacking to those who enter the main body of your parish church.
This is further hampered by the fact that the music ministry is set up in front of the doors into that chapel where the Blessed Sacrament is reserved. That means that anyone who wishes to go and pray needs to go through the paraphernalia of those who provide music.”
Real active participation can be fostered by silence, glorious and heavenly silence. So to those who still think that cacophony equals community, I say one thing. For the love of God, shut up. (Comment: I say Amen! as expressed in “The New Mass, a-la-Show Biz” in my Light Reading for Good and Wayward Catholics)
Bad news! The Vatican stated that you can’t get forgiveness of sins by using the new iPhone device that is supposed to prepare one for going to confession. (Comment: Damn!)
In 2009 the worldwide the number of baptized Catholic increased to 1.18 billion, with over 49% in the Americas and
24% in Europe. (Comment: That gives us half of the total, so what about the next Pope being an American?)
Today’s Martyrs
In the Indian city of , 13 Catholic bishops 
and 500 Church leaders staged a protest about the local court whitewashing the 57 incidents of attacks on Christian churches and 150 cases lodged against injured Christians.
The Chaldean Catholic archbishop in Mosul stated that Christians in Iraq’s second-largest city live in a state of constant fear. “Most families that fled the city last august following anti-Christian violence have used up their saving and had to return. There is always fear and they know they are targets.”
My favorite priest, layperson, breathing saint or organization
I want to honor posthumously retirees Scott and Jean Adam, who were wonderful workers in their California St. Monica Catholic parish. In 2004, deciding to make a difference in the world by bringing Bibles to the far-flung corners of the earth, they began sailing expeditions in their 58-foot sloop, the Quest. This year their visits included Thailand, Sri Lanka and India.
Last month, they were en route to Salalah, Oman, when they were captured by bastard Somali pirates who killed them.
Their pastor, Monsignor Lloyd Torgerson, said, “They were great people of our community. Jean, who was a retired dentist and mother of two, sang in the church choir. Regarding St. Paul’s reference about receiving a crown of glory, I believe with all my heart they are with God today. Catholics can take inspiration from the Adams.”
As St. Clement of Alexandria wrote in the third century, “Martyrdom means bearing witness to God. Every soul that seeks in pureness of heart to know God and obey his commandments is a martyr, bearing witness by life or by words.”
I agree with Monsignor Torgerson’s comment.
(Now, tell me about your favorite Catholic priest, layperson or organization that is making a difference
Interesting sayings
A Jewish wife will forgive and forget, but she’ll never forget what she forgave.
Old Jewish proverb
As to the church, where else shall we go, except to the Bride of Christ, one flesh with Christ? Though she is a harlot at times, she is our Mother.
Dorothy Day
Happy the people who walk, O Lord, in the light of you face, who find their joy every day in your name, who make your justice the source of their bliss.
Psalm 89
That lowdown scoundrel opponent of mine deserves to be kicked to death by a jackass, and I’m just the one to do it.
A Texas congressional candidate.
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Communiqués
In your self-assigned role as a Catholic doyen, what business it is yours if Christ wanted to be baptized by John?
Oliver Whifield
I could not agree with you more with regard to your having selected Msgr. Filardi as a favorite priest. He is a very special, joyful Catholic and a marvelous example for young people who may be considering a vocation.
Dennis Harper
You’ve got your nerve suggesting targets (like St. Patrick’s Cathedral) to those Muslin terrorists. Shame on you!
Julia Ellis
(Regarding Salman Taseer, governor of Punjab providence, who was assassinated for opposing the Islamic blasphemy law.) Tarseer simply did what he believed would be offensive and unjust not only to Christians, but to all other beliefs in that country.
A Christian nation with 5% Muslim population even counts the very rights of this small percentage seeing to it that their human freedom is well respected. They do not mixed Politics with religion. I only see such unfair establishment of Governments when Islam plays a role to dictate over it.
Definitely, Islam sets unfair standards that deplete the rights of any other just because they think there religion is the “truth”. In general, there really is no peace in the “Religion of Peace.”
God bless Tarseer, and may his acts to protect Christ’s body hurry Him unto the gates of heaven.
Reggie Crimshaw
Chuckle time
Recently, at a First Communion practice at Blessed Sacrament Church in Washington, DC, Msgr. Jon Enzler asked who wrote the four books of the New Testament. A young girl said, “Matthew, Mark, Luke…..” – then she drew a blank.
The boy sitting next to her shouted out, “Kindle.”
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.
And several of those on the list who recently have received miraculous healings; they thank you.
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 SommerRep. Gabrielle Giffords, Laura Marsh,
the cholera victims in Haiti, Christian martyrs in the Middle East, those in refugee camps throughout the world.
