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“Pray For More Priest!”
Fr. Z gives us a reminder that we need more priest.
We need more vocations to the PRIESTHOOD.
Let’s be careful about prayers for vocations.
At times we should pray strictly for vocations to the priesthood. PRIESTHOOD! Deacons are great, but they are not priests. Religious women are great, but they are not priests. Religious men are find, but that is its own vocation. Married people are wonderful, but with a super small number of exceptions it is morally tedious to recount, they are not priests.
Often prayers for “vocations” are all lumped together, probably so as to avoid one of the great modern mortal sins: not being inclusive.
Fine. Do that. Pray for “vocations”.
But let us pray for PRIESTS…. priestly vocations… vocations to the PRIESTHOOD.
And another thing… this is the Year for Priests. Yet I see this project and that effort for prayer for bishops, seemingly all the time. Great! Pray for bishops. Bishops are priests too. Bishops need constant prayers. I too am constantly telling people, imploring people to pray for our bishops, upon whom so much depends. I pray for a list of bishops after every Mass. But can priests have their year? Please? We pray for bishops all the time. It seems like every year is the year for bishops, right? At every Mass we pray for bishops by name, for heaven’s sake!
Okay… I must get back to work.
Thus endeth the rant.
“O My God, give us priests; My God give us holy priests; My God, give us many holy priests!”
Should Receive Awards From a Catholic Institution
If They Stand In Opposition to Church Teaching!
NEW YORK, February 26, 2010 Following a period of relative silence since his installation last year, New York  Archbishop Timothy Dolan eagerly took an opportunity to set forth Church teaching on controversial points, including the forbidding of public honors for pro-abortion politicians, in a recent interview with NY1. The bishop also asserted that his outspokenness on such issues was simply part of his job as shepherd and teacher of the faith.
When NY1 News reporter Roma Torre asked whether a pro-abortion Catholic should be invited to a “Catholic event” such as the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner, Dolan’s response was unequivocal.
“Actually, Roma, I don’t think we should invite anybody that would take a stance [in favor of] abortion, because this is not a Catholic issue,” he replied.
The archbishop later clarified that his answer pertained to giving public honors to such persons.
“In our mind, being opposed to abortion, is a civil rights issue, it’s a natural law issue, it’s not a Catholic issue,” Dolan continued. “We’d be uncomfortable in anybody that would, say, promote a stand that would be for bigotry, or against civil rights, because that’s contrary not only to the teaching of the Church but to what we would call civil rights and the natural law.”
The archbishop said that a pro-abortion Catholic such as New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo would be “welcome” to a Catholic event – but “there’s a difference between everybody being welcome, and providing somebody who is dramatically, radically, publically at odds with the Church on a particularly given issue to have a place of prominence and to receive an award.”
When the University of Notre Dame announced last year that the pro-abortion President Obama would offer the commencement address and receive an honorary law degree at the school, the New York archbishop condemned the invitation as a “big mistake.”
Dolan, who has earned a reputation for outspokenness promoting Catholic orthodoxy on life and family issues, explained that his goal is not to “look for headlines.” It was because of his office as teacher, he said, that he “won’t duck the tough issues.”
“It’s not like I sit down and say: How can I grab some headlines, how can I really cause a splash,” Dolan said. “You just try to do your work, and sometimes things get attention. …
“If people ask me, I feel obliged as a teacher, as the official teacher of the Archdiocese of New York, to try my best to give the Church’s wisdom here.”
Dolan noted that he was “grateful” that the New York legislature struck down a same-sex “marriage” bill last year. He also affirmed that the St. Patrick’s Day Parade should continue disallowing a gay pride banner, which would conflict with the parade’s “strong Christian identity.”
But, he said, it would be a mistake to understand the Church’s stance against such matters as mere naysaying.
Instead, he said: “the Church in a way is one big yes: one big yes to human life, one big yes to anything that advances, lifts up, enlightens, liberates legitimate human identity. We’re in the ‘yes’ business, not the ‘no’ business.
“So I get frustrated sometimes, when that’s interpreted as being ‘anti-gay,’ that’s where we kinda cringe,” he continued, “because believe it or not, we get attacked from the other extreme for defending the rights of gays and for the strong Church teaching that every single human being … is a child of God, deserving of dignity and respect.”
Dolan called the late John Cardinal O’Connor of New York, who was outspokenly pro-life, his “hero” – and acknowledged that his office calls for a “prophetic” voice, although he prefers using a persuasive tone when possible.
“There’s always a little bit of tension between those two,” said Dolan. “But occasions might call that I’ll have to be prophetic. I’m sure there’s gonna be times … that I’m gonna have to be a bit of a pitbull. In general, I like to be an Irish Setter.”
By Kathleen Gilbert LifeSiteNews
Fr. Mark Bozada
Mass Intentions… It has always been the practice of the Roman Catholic Church to pray for the dead. This tradition actually can be traced back to the Book of Maccabees in the Old Testament. Having suffered a great defeat in a battle of war, the Jewish soldiers gathered mementos from the dead, and prayed for their souls.
After the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, early Christians buried their loved ones and prayed for their on going purification. Sometimes we presume that ALL people go right to Heaven. The saints tell us otherwise. Most go to Purgatory for ongoing purification. Having Holy Masses said for the dead is a wonderful holy tradition of the Church. It shortens their time spent in Purgatory. Renew that wonderful tradition of our Faith. Have masses said for your beloved ones.
“Some souls would suffer in Purgatory
until the Day of Judgment if they were
not relieved by the prayers of the Church.”
St. Robert Bellarmine, Doctor of the Church
Examine What the CCHD
Actually Supports?
This strikes me as a very reasonable thing to do. This from the official newspaper for the Diocese of Green Bay, WI:
Sometimes, a timeout is needed to review the facts.
That’s what the Diocese of Green Bay is doing this year with the annual collection for the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD). Normally on the fourth Sunday of Lent parishes in the Diocese of Green Bay take up a collection titled The World’s Poor, which benefits three outreach ministries: Peter’s Pence (work of the Holy Father), Catholic Relief Services (U.S. bishops’ disaster relief aid) and CCHD.
This year, however, donations to The World’s Poor will be shared between Peter’s Pence and Catholic Relief Services only.
“There have been some questions about programs that have received funding from CCHD,” says Fr. John Doerfler, vicar general and chancellor for the Diocese of Green Bay. “That, along with the enormous post-earthquake needs in Haiti, we decided this is an appropriate time to give additional support to Catholic Relief Services while we analyze the situation with CCHD.”
On a typical year, 75% of this collection goes outside the diocese to the CCHD national coffers.
I’ve blogged  about my concerns over the CCHD before. I’m happy that the diocese of Green Bay can now spend the full 100% of this collection on local Catholic charities, under local supervision. I would urge other dioceses to consider doing the same.
update: I should mention that I doubt this decision was made without the explicit permission of the diocese’s bishop: Most Rev. David L. Ricken (pictured here).
Thomas Peters, American Papist
Priest Was Supported By His Bishop
REUSEL, Netherlands, February 22, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Dutch Catholic priest who withheld Communion last week from his town’s openly homosexual Carnival “prince” was faced at Mass this Sunday with a protest from homosexual activists. Saying that he feared “sins” and “sacrilege,” the priest chose not to distribute Communion at all.
“Communion is a moment of respect and reverence, not an object of protest,” stated Fr. Luc Buyens.
Protesters, led by town council member Dick Boonman and Gay Krant editor Henk Krol, distributed pink triangles with the word “Homo,” to be worn on the chest at Mass. The protest was held at the parish after Fr. Buyens chose to deny Communion to homosexual Gijs Vermeulen, 24, on February 13th.
Vermeulen was the “prince” of the town’s annual Carnival, a traditional pre-Lenten celebration. At the customary Carnival Mass, the prince addresses the congregation and then leads them forward in receiving Communion.
But, because Vermeulen had been public about his active homosexuality leading up to the festivities, Fr. Buyens contacted him the week before the Carnival Mass to advise him that he would not be able to receive Communion. The priest offered to give him a blessing, and allowed him to address the congregation. Vermeulen attended the Mass, stating that he did not want to “spoil the party,” but did not go up for a blessing.
In response to this week’s protest, Fr. Buyens decided not to distribute Communion at the Mass after consulting his bishop in Den Bosch.
The diocese issued a statement today noting that Mass is not an appropriate venue for protest. They pointed out, further, that homosexual tendencies do not bar a person from receiving Communion, but rather it is the active practice of homosexuality that presents the problem. The diocese asked for respect of the Catholic teaching that practicing homosexuals not receive.
Radio Netherlands Worldwide reports that Fr. Buyens stated after Mass on Sunday that he would maintain his stance against distributing Communion to open homosexuals.
DutchNews.nl reports that homosexual activists are planning to protest at St. John’s Cathedral in Den Bosch next Sunday in order to challenge the bishop.
By Patrick B. Craine, journalist for LifeSiteNews
My Dear People,
 Which Confessional Reveals The Sacredness Of Confession? The three temptations of Christ represent the trials we too will undergo during Lent; the world, the flesh and the evil one. The battle against sin can only be understood within the context of the author of sin, satan. God did not create death. He is life. God did not create vice. He is virtue. God did not create darkness. He is light.
Get Serious About Your Sin
 A Modern Confessional Jesus took on all our temptations to teach us how to reject sin, and embrace holiness. We need to learn that we are a people sacred to God. Those who do not know their sin, do not fully know their God. Jesus, the second person of the Most Holy Trinity encountered sin for us. Jesus covered us with His Most Precious Blood.
He stands in the gap as we struggle with the world, the flesh and the evil one. Without Our Lord, we would always fail. Lent is learning about surrendering our sin to the Lord. He is our only Master. If you want to get serious about Lent, you need to get serious about your sin. The Confessional is the battleground for conquering sin. When is the last time you went into battle against sin? When is the last time you made a good and holy confession? There is no better time to confess your sin, than during this Holy season of Lent.
Entrusting you to the care of Our Lady,
Fr. Mark Bozada
May we joyfully bring our first fruits to the Lord, sharing our time, talent, and treasures out of gratitude for all the blessing that God has bestowed upon us.
It Is Not A Set Of
Meaningless Rituals and Fellowship!
One of the most disturbing things about the modern age is the fact that for many Christians religion has ceased to be religion. That is to say, it has ceased to be about a transaction between this world and the next and has denied the next world altogether.
Religion, if it is religion at all, is surely about man’s commerce with the supernatural realm. In this sense Paganism is a real religion. A priest sacrificing chickens or virgins to a monstrous deity in hope of supernatural protection and power is what I call religion. An animist, high on the fermented juice of the tropical tree, dancing around the campfire and cutting himself to satisfy the spirit of the river is a real religion. So is a Buddhist monk sitting in a snowdrift in his underpants humming his mantra and transcending the cold. For that matter, even the Mormon baptizing someone for the dead or a televangelist praying down the Holy Spirit fire to heal, mightily heal is practicing real religion. It may be a false or misguided religion, but at least it is religion.
All of this is in contrast to the milk and water that much of mainstream modern Christianity has become in most Western cultures. There is no religion there because the modernists no longer believe in the supernatural. Their religion is not a transaction with the other world for they do not believe any world but this one really exists, or if they do believe in the other world, they do not believe that is is possible to interact with it. Instead what was religion has been reduced to three things:
1. a meaningless ceremony; 2. a set of mild moral principles; and 3. an inclination to make the world a better place. While these things may be laudable in their way, they are not essentially religious. They are the bland leftovers from what once was religion.
The ceremonies they practice are meaningless because they have denied their meaning.  The modernist goes through all the ritual. He uses all the words, but he doesn’t believe the ritual matters, nor does he believe the meaning that the words carry for he has learned to ‘de-mytholigize’ and ‘re-interpret’ for a modern age. Subsequently the miracles of the gospel are explained away, the gospel of grace is turned into a gospel of good ideas and the sacrifice of the Mass is turned into the ‘fellowship meal of the people of God.’
The second part of this religion that is not a religion is the replacement of clear moral teaching with mild mannered morals. There is no longer a congruent and consistent set of beliefs which are divinely inspired, but there is one over-riding moral principle: “We must all be nice to one another.” There is not reason why this should be so, but we insist that it is so because without it we would have no religion at all. What they have done is replace religion with a set of table manners.
Finally, this religion which is no religion has eliminated dogma. That is to say, it has eliminated all but one dogma and that is, ”We can make a difference. Yes we can!” The followers of this false religion, having thrown out any idea of a transaction with the supernatural have replaced the idea of getting ready for the next world with the concept of making this world a happier place. This is simply the religion of good works.
What is paradoxical is that this ‘religion’ of meaningless ceremony, social courtesy and good works is practiced by the descendents of the Protestant reformers who inveighed against a religion that was no more than empty ceremonial, social standing and good works. They who were so opposed to a religion of works have turned their religion into nothing but good works. The only difference is, they don’t believe their good works will get them into heaven because they don’t believe there is such a place as heaven.
Unfortunately, this religion which is no religion, has influenced, invaded and infected much of modern Catholicism as well. Too many Catholics have also swallowed the idea that religion is essentially about being nice to one another and helping others. While this is certainly the fruit of true religion, it should not be confused with real religion itself.
Instead, full blooded Catholic religion engages in an interaction with the other world. Through the celebration of Word and Sacrament we believe that the once for all sacrifice of Christ on the cross is brought into the present moment and applied to the needs of human souls for their eternal salvation. This essentially religious act is the ladder between earth and sky. It is the linkage point between heaven and earth. God comes down as he always does, and transforms the human soul. Through this miracle in the heart of ordinary life the soul is opened to something called ‘grace’ which is God’s own power poured forth. This action of faith and love defeats the powers of darkness, brings Christ’s forgiveness and healing into the here and now and plants the seeds of hope that will transform the soul, transform the family, transform the church and transform and redeem the world.
This is real religion. Everything else that is great and good springs from this, and nothing–not even that which is great and good can ever replace it.
Father Dwight Longenecker
Bishop Robert Vasa Is Troubled With
Reports Where USCCB Money Is Supporting Homosexual and Abortion Rights
Bishop Vasa is on a roll. His ability to faithfully and charitably fulfill the spiritual work of mercy where one is called to admonish a sinner is making the news. How you would hope and pray he didn’t need to admonish his fellow bishops or a Catholic hospital.
WASHINGTON, D.C., February 10, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Bishop Robert Vasa of Baker, Oregon has cautiously expressed concern after reports this week that the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is listed as a member of a coalition that promotes homosexual “rights” and access to abortion.
In a Monday article, Deal Hudson of Inside Catholic pointed out the USCCB’s membership in the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR), focuses on issues like “LGBT rights.” Hudson reveals, their website provides evidence of the organization’s deliberate thwarting of pro-life efforts and their support for organizations and legislation that facilitate abortion.
Bishop Vasa told LifeSiteNews: “I am not well enough versed in the ‘politics’ of such associations to make any criticism of the motives or justifications which might be provided but, on the face of it, I would have to agree that support of this organization and an active endorsement of its principles and purposes would appear to be problematic.”
As Hudson reported, Lisa Haywood, LCCR’s membership services director, confirmed that members “must share LCCR’s principles and purposes.” These include recognizing “equal rights, equal opportunities and equal justice” based on a number of grounds, including “sexual orientation.”
In fact, LCCR does actively promote homosexual “rights” and “marriage equality,” which includes opposing bans on same-sex “marriage.”
“Why did the bishops’ conference join this organization?” Hudson asks. “When LCCHR staff sit in front of a member of Congress, they can legitimately say they are representing the Catholic bishops.”
 USCCB Struggling To Get It Right Michael Hichborn of the American Life League (ALL), which is a member of the Reform CCHD Now (RCN) Coalition, told LSN, “I applaud Bishop Vasa for his courage in speaking out on this dangerous alliance, but also for his humility in proceeding cautiously.”
“His reaction is in stark contrast to that from bishops rushing to dismiss our well documented charges as ‘calumny’,” he added.
By Patrick B. Craine, with editing by John Quinn.
Are Participating In
Gross Moral Evil!
An Italian Cardinal and member of the Roman Curia has issued a statement maintaining that politicians who support same-sex “marriage” are not Catholic, reports Catholic News Service.
“It’s impossible to consider oneself a Catholic if that person in one way or another recognizes same-sex marriage as a right,” said Cardinal Carlo Caffarra, Archbishop of Bologna.
Cardinal Caffarra made the comments in a statement on “Marriage and Homosexual Unions,” which he released on his Archdiocesan website on Sunday. Part of that statement has been printed in L’Osservatore Romano, the Vatican’s newspaper.
Marriage, which he described as “one of the most valuable assets of mankind,” “is going through perhaps its most serious crisis,” he wrote. According to the Cardinal, the “most obvious sign” of this crisis is the fact that some states have granted, and others are intending to grant, legal recognition to homosexual unions that would equate them with the union of man and woman.
Recognition of such unions, or granting homosexuals such rights as adoption, would constitute a “serious wound to the common good,” he wrote.
The Cardinal explains that the purpose of his doctrinal note is to “enlighten” Catholic public officials so that “they would not make choices that would publicly contradict their affiliation with the church.”
“Catholic politicians have a serious duty to make sure their beliefs, thoughts and proposals concerning the common good are consistent,” he wrote. “It’s impossible for the Catholic faith and support for putting homosexual unions on equal footing with marriage to coexist in one’s conscience — the two contradict each other.”
He added that it would be even worse should a Catholic politician propose or vote in favor of a law that supports same-sex “marriage.” “This is a publicly and gravely immoral act,” he wrote. If it were to happen, he said, “God forbid, we will, at the proper moment, give the necessary directives.”
Further, the Cardinal wrote that the legalization of same-sex “marriage” would be “devastating.” “One of the pillars of our legal order — marriage as a public good — would crumble,” he wrote. “The state’s legal order must not be neutral on marriage and homosexual unions just as it can’t be (neutral) on the common good: society owes its survival to families founded on marriage, not homosexual unions.”
Cardinal Caffarra, a moral theologian and canon lawyer, has been a strong defender of life and family on behalf of the Holy See since the Pontificate of Pope Paul VI. In 1981, Pope John Paul II appointed him to found and lead the John Paul II Pontifical Institute for Studies on Marriage and the Family in Rome, and he later went on to found the sister institutions in Washington, Mexico, and Spain.
Pope Benedict XVI made Caffarra a Cardinal in the consistory of March 2006. He currently sits as a member of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, the Pontifical Council for the Family, and the Pontifical Academy for Life.
Life Site News
My Dear People,
Forty days and forty nights make up he bulk of Lent. A famous comedian once said, “I do not know why they call it a fast, when it goes so darn slow.” Fasting is an essential key to the Lenten experience. What is the purpose of fasting? It teaches us patience. It teaches us discipline. It teaches us the value of mortification. All three are so badly needed in our Church today. Jesus chose to fast from all food for 40 days. At the end of the fast, Satan manifested himself in order to tempt Our Lord. He offered him; control, praise and power. Everyone of these are eagerly sought by contemporary man.
Satan Hates Fasting
 Who wouldn’t want complete control of your own life and that of others? Who doesn’t like to seek the praise and attention of others? Who wouldn’t want an endless supply of money? These Satan has to offer, because he has temporal authority right now, over the things of the Earth. Fasting is an essential defense against Satan. He hates our fasting, especially for the sake of our growth in the Holy Spirit. Church law requires those between the ages of 18 and 59 to fast in between meals, and abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. All Fridays during Lent require us to abstain from meat. And the Catechism indicates that we abstain from meat on all of the other Fridays of the year, unless you perform and act of charity of mercy in its place. These acts include working at the soup kitchen, working in a place taking care of the poor and other acts of mercy. Hardly ever, do I hear of Catholics keeping the latter discipline. Seek the Lord while He may be found. Call to Him while He is still near. Run to Him in times of trial and tribulation. And know that He waits for all of us to return fully to HIM.
Entrusting you to the care of Our Lady,
Fr. Mark Bozada
May we open our hearts to the poor and lovingly share our blessing with all of God’s needy children.
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