The Book of Confidence – Part 3 continues

Monday, May 14, 2012

Chapter Three
Confidence in God and Our Temporal Necessities

We Must Not Trouble Ourselves about the Future

God provides for our necessities.

“Be not solicitous,” says Our Lord. What is the exact sense of this counsel? In order to obey the directions of the Master, must we completely neglect our temporal affairs?

We do not doubt that, at times, grace asks from certain souls the sacrifice required by strict poverty and total abandonment to Providence.

Nevertheless, the rarity of these vocations is notable. The others, be they religious communities or individuals, have goods; they must manage them prudently.

The Holy Ghost praises the strong woman who knows how to govern her house well. In the Book of Proverbs, He shows her to us rising very early to distribute to her servants their daily tasks and working with her own hands as well. Nothing escapes her watchfulness. The members of her household have nothing to fear. Thanks to her foresight, they shall have what is necessary, agreeable, and even, to a certain extent, moderately luxurious. Her children proclaim her blessed, and her husband exalts her virtues.2

The Truth would not have praised that woman so warmly if she had not fulfilled her obligations.

It behoves us, then, not to afflict ourselves. We must occupy ourselves reasonably with our obligations, not allowing ourselves to be dominated by anguish over the sombre prospects of the future, and counting without hesitation on the aid of Divine Providence.

Have no illusions! Such confidence demands great strength of soul. We have to avoid a double shoal: an excess and a deficiency. On the one hand, he who, from negligence, takes no interest in his obligations and affairs cannot hope for extraordinary help from God without tempting Him. On the other hand, he who gives his material concerns the first place in his thoughts, who counts more upon himself than upon God, deceives himself even more crassly; he robs the Most High of the place in his life that belongs to Him.

“In medio stat virtus”: Between these two extremes duty is found.

If we have taken prudent care of our interests, to be afflicted about the future would amount to ignoring and despising the power and the goodness of God.

During the long years Saint Paul the Hermit lived in the desert, a crow brought him a half loaf of bread every day. One day Saint Anthony came to visit the illustrious solitary. The two saints conversed for a long time, forgetting during their pious meditations the necessity for food. But Providence thought of them: The crow came, this time carrying a whole loaf.

The heavenly Father created the whole universe with one single word; can it be difficult for Him to assist His sons in their hour of need? Saint Camillus of Lellis went into debt in order to help the sick poor. Seeing this, his fellow religious became alarmed. “Why doubt Providence?” the Saint quieted them. “Can it be difficult for Our Lord to give us a little of those goods that He heaps upon the Jews and the Turks, enemies one and the other of our Faith?”3 The confidence of Camillus was not disappointed; one month later, one of his protectors, upon dying, left him a considerable sum.

To be afflicted about the future constitutes a lack of confidence that offends God and provokes His anger.

When the Hebrews became lost in the sands of the desert after their flight from Egypt, they forgot the miracles that the Lord had worked in their favour. They were afraid and murmured: “Can God furnish a table in the wilderness?… Can He also give bread, or provide a table for His people?” These words angered the Lord. He hurled down fire from heaven upon them; His wrath fell over Israel, “because they believed not in God: and trusted not in His salvation.”4

There is no need to be afflicted; the Father watches over us.

Link -

The Book of Confidence – Part 3 continues

Ottawa March for Life photos 1: On the Hill

Monday, May 14, 2012

Last Thursday’s March for life was an inspiring event with its record crowd and enthusiastic participants. Here are 48 high quality, large photos taken on Parliament Hill before and after the march.

OTTAWA, May 14, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Last Thursday’s March for life was an inspiring event with its record crowd and enthusiastic participants. Here are 48 photos taken on Parliament Hill before and after the march. These photos will be followed by other sets of photos of the March itself and other events during the two days of March for Life activities. See the website version of this story for all the photos.

Photos were taken by Steve Jalsevac, Robert and Sarah Du Broy and Patrick Craine.

See the second set of photos which are of the March through the streets of Ottawa.

Ottawa March for Life photos: On the Hill

Monday, May 14, 2012

Last Thursday’s March for life was an inspiring event with its record crowd and enthusiastic participants. Here are 48 high quality, large photos taken on Parliament Hill before and after the march.

OTTAWA, May 14, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Last Thursday’s March for life was an inspiring event with its record crowd and enthusiastic participants. Here are 48 photos taken on Parliament Hill before and after the march. These photos will be followed by other sets of photos of the March itself and other events during the two days of March for Life activities. See the website version of this story for all the photos.

Photos were taken by Steve Jalsevac, Robert Du Broy and Patrick Craine.

More here:

Ottawa March for Life photos: On the Hill

Anglicanorum Digest

Monday, May 14, 2012

Four months since its establishment by Rome, the

Stateside Ordinariate

for Anglican groups entering Catholic communion is coming off a banner week, the first of many soon to come.

On Saturday, two top-tier American prelates each ordained a former Episcopal priest to the transitional diaconate, bringing the Chair of St Peter’s officially on-deck group of priests-in-waiting to three. The once-and-future Fathers Jason Catania and David Ousley respectively lead the freshly received communities in Baltimore and Philadelphia, the latter of which completed its journey during Holy Week.

Another onetime Anglican priest, now Deacon Jon David Chalmers became the Ordinariate’s first cleric during the Easter Octave in South Carolina, and will be ordained a Catholic priest on June 3rd. Last Tuesday, meanwhile, the circumscription that covers all entering Anglican groups in North America likewise incardinated its first priest — Fr Eric Bergman, a married father of seven ordained for the diocese of Scranton in 2007 — as well as completing the purchase of a church for his community, which had been sharing space with a local parish.

Beyond the trickle of founding clerics, some 60 candidates for orders have been cleared for the pipeline over the last several months, half of them said to be preparing for imminent ordination to diaconate and priesthood. Among them, late this month brings what’ll likely be the largest single ordination rite as — in the region long known as the cradle of American Anglo-Catholicism — Bishop Kevin Vann of Fort Worth makes Catholic deacons of six former Anglican clerics.

Including the unprecedented priesting of a father and son together, the sextet will be ordained on June 30th, and one of the men has already been named the next pastor of the Ordinariate’s “principal church” (effectively its cathedral), Houston’s Our Lady of Walsingham parish, effective July 1.

Upon their approval for orders by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, all the candidates have taken part in a rapid-formation course, mostly conducted online from Houston’s St Mary’s Seminary and University of St Thomas.

Reflecting the rise of the Southern church and Texas’ longtime status as the dominant venue of the Anglican communities which have journeyed to Rome on these shores, the Ordinariate is American Catholicism’s first national entity to be based outside the traditional centers of ecclesial influence in the Northeast and upper Midwest.

* * *

A topic of keen interest given its historic nature — and, in some quarters, the tensions it highlights between churches and over hot-button issues — the recent developments from the domestic Ordinariate have been met with even more significant news from the overseas efforts to realize

Anglicanorum coetibus

, Pope Benedict’s 2009 initiative enabling “corporate union” for Anglican groups seeking to enter the Catholic fold whilst maintaining elements of their spiritual, liturgical and juridical tradition.

Late last week, it was announced that a third Ordinariate will be launched on 15 June, this time for Australia, under the name of “Our Lady of the Southern Cross.”

No numbers on those seeking to enter Down Under were immediately available. At least for the foreseeable future, the Aussie branch is likely to be the sole remaining Ordinariate to take its start.

In Britain, meanwhile, the first of the jurisdictions — named for England’s own Madonna of Walsingham — has received two significant boosts from Rome within the last month, one directly from the pontiff.

Days after the English bishops were publicly prodded by their Nuncio, Archbishop Antonio Mennini, to “continue to be generous in your support” of the Anglican venture, word emerged earlier this month that Benedict himself would lead by example in making a personal donation of $250,000 to the UK Ordinariate.

Sixteen months since its founding, the English Ordinariate has yet to secure a principal church of its own, and has been fraught with enough other difficulties for the effort’s head — the former Anglican “flying bishop,” Msgr Keith Newton — to remind his members in a recent article “to not think that the journey will be easy or necessarily straightforward nor will practical matters always work out in the way one might expect.” (Though the Ordinariates are equivalent to dioceses in canon law — and their heads enjoy de iure membership and voting rights in their respective conferences of bishops — Newton and his American counterpart, Msgr Jeffrey Steenson, are precluded from becoming bishops due to their marriages.)

By contrast, however, the launch of the Stateside entity — an undertaking far more sprawling in scope and complex in its dynamics than its UK sibling — has been perceived as such a success that persistent reports have floated the project’s Rome-picked overseer, Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington, as a potentially strong contender to succeed California’s own Cardinal William Levada as prefect of the CDF. (Wuerl is shown below presenting Steenson with his bull of appointment at the latter’s February installation in Houston’s Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart.)

Oversight of the global Anglicanorum project has lately become a top-tier task at the former “Holy Office,” conspicuously alongside several other matters with intense relevance to the Stateside church, among them the ultimate handling of clergy sex-abuse cases and, now, the recently-launched reform of the LCWR — the umbrella group representing the leadership of most of the nation’s women religious.

(On a related side-note, the most prominent evidence of the DC cardinal’s still-rising stock in Rome came last October, when the Pope tapped Wuerl — a theologian by training — for the key role of Relator-General, or lead spokesman, at this fall’s Synod of Bishops on what’s become Benedict’s signature pastoral priority, the New Evangelization. Of the three cardinals previously given the top post by B16 at his Synods, two subsequently became heads of Vatican dicasteries, and the third — Angelo Scola — was transferred from Venice to the archbishopric of Milan, Europe’s largest diocese.)

Soon to turn 76 — a year past the retirement age — Benedict made Levada, then the archbishop of San Francisco, his pontificate’s first major personnel-pick as his successor at CDF seven years ago this week. In a late April homily at the 50th anniversary of the ordination of his closest friend and San Fran successor, Archbishop George Niederauer, the usually guarded cardinal-prefect pointedly noted that both he and the jubilarian “are soon to finish the official ministries in which we are now.”

On the bright side for the English Ordinariate, the UK group will ordain over 20 priests this year, 18 of whom are set to become deacons at a Pentecost Eve Mass in London’s Westminster Cathedral. The men will be ordained by Bishop Alan Hopes, an auxiliary of the capital who had been a Church of England priest.

Numbering some 40 groups across Britain, the Walsingham community ordained 60 clerics in its first year of existence.

Back to the States, meanwhile, an extensive briefing on the concept behind the Ordinariate project and the first steps of its American branch was given by Steenson last weekend at a Massachusetts church….

Currently spending a good chunk of time on the road to visit his communities atop finals duties as a professor at St Thomas, River City readers might be interested to know that Steenson will be in town Sunday to celebrate the 9am Anglican Use Mass for the local Ordinariate group, which is temporarily based at Holy Cross, Mount Airy.

Sure, it’s already a busy day ’round these parts with the traditional slate of First Masses starting at 3 o’clock. If the Pope’s emphases have suddenly become less than paramount among this crowd, though, well, the place just wouldn’t be Philadelphia anymore.

PHOTOS: Principal Church of Our Lady of Walsingham(1); Donna Ryckaert /North Texas Catholic(2)

-30-

Link:

Anglicanorum Digest

Arguments and Choices

Monday, May 14, 2012

Having a

great discussion

with a guy who calls himself CD Host. It is long but I like it because he makes me think. If you don’t get any quality opponents then you can get lazy in your arguments. He is not only smart but also polite. No insults. No cheap shots. So I am happy to have him.

It does make me wonder about the relationship between argument and religion. I have talked about the mutual admiration society where people just reinforce each other other and make each other more and more certain they are right and everyone else is just a bit off. There is a bunch of that happening. But then there is the argument between two people of opposing views. What is the point there? I am wondering if the goal should be to convince and win converts. There are some people who are argued into religion or argued out of it but that is rare. I am not sure that is a good thing when it does happen. I don’t think God intended anyone to be coerced into Christianity. He didn’t give us the evidence to be able to do it in general. We can if have a weak opponent but should we?

It became clear to me when I tried arguing from history or from sociology that evidence can quite easily be viewed multiple ways. I can look and see the hand of God plain as day. An atheist can look and see nothing remarkable. It ends up being a choice. That is how God wants it. He wants us to freely choose for Him or against Him. He does not want to force Himself on anyone.

So what is the role of argument? Argument, if it is done right, won’t really produce converts by the force of logic. What it will do is clarify things. It will clear away all the grand claims and dig down to the most basic assumptions. What is the foundation of the Catholic world and life view and what is the foundation of the atheist world and life view? At that point we won’t be able to say one is logical and one is illogical. They will both be valid choices. In the final analysis it won’t be logic but beauty that makes Catholicism more attractive.

In the end the materialist world is possible but it is something the human heart will have trouble embracing. A world where love is mere brain chemistry. A world where nobility and greatness are illusions that gave us survival advantages at some point in our development. A world where Hitler can’t be considered better or worse than Gandhi in any absolute sense. They just are. If you can strip away everything from atheism that has no foundation within the atheist worldview and make clear exactly what is being proposed then you can expose it’s ugliness. You won’t be able to disprove it. Some will still hold fast to it based on that alone.

Conversely the Catholic world view is not provable. Not in the absolute sense that someone who denies it will feel they are being irrational. But you can clarify it. You can clear away a lot of the mud that is thrown at it. You can correct the distortions. You can explain the alleged problems. If you do it right you will expose the true faith. People will be able to see the real beauty of the church if they are willing to look. For many, one good look and they are hooked. But that is precisely why many won’t look. They feel themselves being sucked in. It is always a choice.

So what changes when you are arguing with a protestant rather than an atheist? Not much. The ugly bits of protestantism are different then the ugly bits of atheism. But they hide the ugliness in similar ways. They both borrow from Catholicism without admitting they are doing it. Atheist love to bring in morals and meaning. Protestants love to bring in the bible and Christian tradition. Things that seem obvious but they can’t get them from their own belief system. They need to import them. Once you strip away the imports and you deal with naked atheism or naked protestantism then you have done all you can with logic. Then it is a matter of the Holy Spirit leading their heart to choose beauty.

There were moments like that with CD Host. Where after a few questions he was saying some things that were downright scary. An example:

in real life goods compete with one another and wrongs compete with one
another. We often have to do wrongs to avoid greater wrongs. Even if I
were convinced the fetus were human and the mother wanted to have the
child you could still potentially justify abortion based on the energy
argument. If a society needed to use infanticide to avoid massive
famine and plague they would be doing the right thing, even though I
have no problem considering infanticide a wrong.
This is why
frankly I find Christian morality not “too hard” as you keep accusing me
of but quite often destructive and evil. It starts with the
assumption that moral goods are coordinated rather than understanding
that in real situations moral goods are often in conflict and the moral
thing to do is weigh between them and decide what is the best outcome.
Achieving the greatest good for the greatest number often means doing a
thing that in isolation would be wrong.

Could this be right? Logically there is nothing impossible about it. But it means absolutely everything and anything is justifiable in pursuit of the “greatest good.” How is that defined? It really isn’t. The closest I got was:

Stevenson , “Emotive Meaning of Ethical Terms” is a classic
philosophical book that defines morality as purely a class of emotional
reactions.

So you have emotions (or something similar to them) being used to define the greater good. Then the greater good is used to justify anything that would in isolation be wrong. Anything … to anyone … on any scale … without limit. At some point a person might see that this if this is the real world it is a pretty ugly. It is a choice.

Taken from:

Arguments and Choices

Police cordon off 1/3 of Parliament Hill for tiny group of pro-aborts at March for Life

Monday, May 14, 2012

Police told one MP they were “making space for people with another opinion on the issue.”

BY Patrick B. Craine

OTTAWA, Ontario, May 14, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) – As pro-lifers arrived for the National March for Life on Thursday many were surprised to find that for the first time ever the RCMP had blocked off nearly a third of Parliament Hill for the “other side” of the issue, even though the area stood empty most of the day. When the noisy, chanting pro-abortion group showed up they only occupied a tiny portion of the space set aside for them as they spread along a small section of the barrier set up by the RCMP to separate the groups.

But, though it made for a cramped rally with nearly 20,000 pro-lifers squished into only two thirds of the Hill, many remarked that the arrangements highlighted the stark contrast between the growing March for Life and the sparse crowd of pro-abortion advocates.

“This injustice must end. And it will end,” declared Steven Mosher, president of the Population Research Institute and the keynote speaker at Thursday’s Rose Dinner. “Look at the multitude around you. Look at the young, look at the strong, look at your numbers. Now look at the thin, greying ranks of our opposition, which seems to have disappeared entirely.”

Former Liberal MP Pat O’Brien, who now serves as advisor to Campaign Life Coalition and introduced the 18 sitting MPs who spoke on the Hill Thursday, said he had asked one of the RCMP about the fence, who told him, “Well, you know, we’re making space for people with another opinion on the issue.”

O’Brien, pointing behind himself at Parliament, then declared, “Fine. Prime Minister Harper, it’s time to make space in there for people with another opinion!”

Click ‘like’ if you are PRO-LIFE!

Among the politicians to speak was Tory MP Stella Ambler (Mississauga South), who applauded her colleague Stephen Woodworth (Kitchener Centre) for opening the issue in Parliament with Motion 312, which seeks to establish a special committee to re-examine section 223 of the Criminal Code. That section stipulates a child only becomes a “human being” once he or she has fully proceeded from the womb.

“Stephen has started a conversation on when life begins and you may have noticed, the sky is not falling,” she remarked.

Tory MP Mark Warawa (Langley) said Canada’s current abortion policy – with no legal protections for the unborn – is “the same as North Korea.” “I have a dream that we respect in Canada life from conception to natural death,” he said. “I believe we need a law and I hope you do too.”

Woodworth thanked pro-lifers for coming to the march. “You need to know how important your presence here is. You need to how important your efforts are,” he said. “Not just to those of us who are encourage by your presence, but also it’s important for those who are discouraged by your presence.”

“Human rights are inherent, they’re inalienable, they are not some gift that government can cancel with a decree like section 223,” he added.

In his remarks, Mosher called abortion “the social justice issue of our time.”

“Think about it. Rocks and trees are protected in national forests and in provincial parks. Lakes and rivers are protected by environmental laws. Even the whales have international covenants to protect them,” he said. “Who is protecting unborn children? It is open season on babies in Canada and many countries around the world.”

Rev. Pat Mahoney, director of the Washington-based Christian Defense Coalition and the keynote speaker at Thursday’s youth banquet, said the pro-lifers gathered are a “prophetic witness” to Canada’s legislators.

“We call upon the Prime Minister of this wonderful country, respectfully. Listen to your people! Let the conversation begin!” he urged.

“We will not go silently into the night. We will not be quiet, we will not be apathetic, we will not be indifferent,” he continued. “We will continue to pray, march, make phone calls, write letters until the horror and violence of abortion ends and there’s human justice for everyone!”

Also addressing the rally were five Catholic bishops: Archbishop Terrence Prendergast of Ottawa, Cardinal Thomas Collins of Toronto, Archbishop Gerald Lacroix of Quebec City, Auxiliary Bishop William McGratten of Toronto, and Bishop Nicola De Angelis of Peterborough.

At the beginning of the rally, organizer Margie Mountain announced that this year’s March for Life was dedicated to the late Fr. Bob Bedard, founder of the Companions of the Cross community of priests, whom she described as “a giant among men” and a “fearless” defender of life.

Read this article:

Police cordon off 1/3 of Parliament Hill for tiny group of pro-aborts at March for Life

Police cordon off 1/3 of Parliament Hill for tiny crowd of pro-aborts at March for Life