Daily Prayer for Priest O my Jesus, I beg You on behalf of the whole Church ... give us holy priests. You yourself maintain them in holiness.
O Divine and Great High Priest, may the power of Your mercy accompany them everywhere and protect them from the devil's traps and snares, which are continually being set for the souls of priests.
May the power of Your Mercy, O Lord, shatter and bring the naught all that might tarnish the sanctity of priest, for You can do all things. - St. Faustina (Diary, 1052)
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Bishop Robert Vasa Cuts Ties
With Catholic Hospital When They Refused
To Follow Catholic Teaching
“Comprehensive Health Care Services” Trumps The Teachings Of Christ
KTVZ.COM news: In “a difficult decision for all those involved,” the Bend-based Catholic Diocese of Baker announced Monday its intention to dissolve the official sponsorship relationship of St. Charles Medical Center-Bend by the Catholic Church over sterilization procedures performed at the hospital.
Recently, hospital administrators and Bishop Robert Vasa of the Diocese of Baker have respectfully disagreed on the meaning of some of those directives.
 Bishop Robert Vasa Exercising Courage Defending The Teachings of the Church In particular, St. Charles-Bend offers patients the service of tubal ligations, a form of permanent female reproductive sterilization, which, according to Vasa, goes against the Church’s teachings.
“It is my responsibility to ensure the hospital is following Catholic principles both in name and in fact,” Vasa said. “It would be misleading for me to allow St. Charles Bend to be acknowledged as Catholic in name while I am certain that some important tenets of the Ethical and Religious Directives are no longer being observed.”
Vasa asked St. Charles Bend in 2007 for an audit of the hospital’s compliance with the Ethical and Religious Directives. The hospital has been transparent about its practices and openly provided the Bishop with the information he requested. Since that time, the two parties have had a number of discussions about the future of the hospital as a Catholic institution.
“We are saddened by this decision because of the 92 years of history the St. Charles Bend hospital has had with the Catholic Church,” said James A. Diegel, FACHE, president and CEO of Cascade Health-care Community, the parent company of St. Charles-Bend. “But we have an obligation to provide comprehensive health care services to our patients while remaining true to our values of compassion and caring for all.”
Vasa has encouraged the hospital to stay as close to the Directives as possible in the future.
“St. Charles has gradually moved away from adherence to the requirements of the Church without a clear knowledge that it was doing so,” Vasa said. “Unfortunately, that distance is now too great to sustain a formal sponsorship relationship, but I believe that using the Church’s Directives as a basis for their local ethical guidelines is a good idea.”
Vasa and Diegel agreed that for all practical purposes ,very little will change at St. Charles Bend as a result of this decision. However, Catholic Mass will no longer be celebrated in the hospital’s chapel, and all items considered Catholic will be removed from the hospital and returned to the church.
Full article here:
What a sad day for the Church.
My Dear People,
God speaks very powerfully through the flesh. When we look at Jesus’ suffering upon the Holy Cross, we see just how much He loves us. In His flesh, Jesus was nailed to the Cross; and to our sins. Through His Holy Wounds, we are healed. As teacher and prophet, Jesus taught through the flesh. Every time Our Lord laid hands upon the blind, deaf, and dumb, they were healed. The crippled walked. The possessed were set free from demons. The blind were given sight.
So at the beginning of Our Lord’s ministry, we find Jesus reaching out to the flesh. One by one, He called the Apostles to come forth. In Luke’s Gospel, we find Jesus reaching out to the flesh, in order to heal the spirit. When Peter is called by Christ, he deems himself unworthy. Peter declares, Peter was aware of the sins of the flesh. He thought to himself, “How can I serve to forgive sin, when I am so full of sin myself?” It was to this sinful man, Peter, that Jesus called forth to seek the lost, Jesus tells Peter. “Do not be afraid, from now on you will be seeking out other sinful men.” Sometimes, like Peter we feel unworthy to serve the Lord. Our shortcomings are not a problem for Jesus. Our lack of faith and trust in Jesus, is a problem. Without that faith, Jesus cannot work through us. Be like Peter. Confess your sins. Profess your faith in Jesus. And be ready to serve the Lord.
Entrusting you to the care of Our Lady,
Fr. Mark Bozada
May we eagerly respond. “Here I am, Lord.” Whenever we hear God call upon us to be His hands and feet here on earth.
Novus Ordo Translation Debate Is Heating Up!
Without a doubt, Liberal and Orthodox Catholics have discovered major theological differences, resulting in heated debates on changes to the Mass since Vatican II. What’s the heart of translation debate? This can almost be summed up in a debate over one word . . .
MANY!
In the current Novus Ordo during the words of consecration the Blood of Christ “will be poured out for you and for all,” the new translation will have the correct translation and substitute “all” for the word “many.” It’s really simple. “Many” is the direct quote from an accurate translation of scripture. “All” was inserted by liberals believing the word “many” makes Jesus seem “intolerant.”
What is the Root of the Issue?
Liberal Catholics don’t want to believe in hell. Orthodox Catholics want the full accurate teaching under obedience to the Magisterium of the One, True Catholic Church established by Jesus Christ.
MANY = Hell
ALL = All are saved, but murderers and rapists of course.
Orthodox Catholic = “serious theological problems” of the 1973 missal currently in use.
Liberal Catholic = “I respond that Jesus died even for those who reject his grace. He died for all,” says Bishop Robert Trautman. The new translation could be a “pastoral disaster.”
The following comes from a Fr. Z post who discovered Bishop Mark Coleridge, a courageous bishop, who says the “Vatican II’s reforms were not properly implemented and were taken too far.”
As usual with Fr. Z, with his emphases and comments.
John Quinn
By Anthony Barich
PERTH, Australia (CNS) — The newly translated Roman Missal to be issued in Australian parishes in 2011 will help address the serious theological problems of the 1973 missal currently in use, said one of Australia’s most senior liturgists. [Get that? "Serious" theological problems. Remember: the way we pray as a reciprocal relationship with what we believe.]
In the process, it will more faithfully implement the liturgical vision of the Second Vatican Council [Because the liturgical vision of Vatican II was never really tried.] and also fulfill the reforms of the much-maligned 1570 Council of Trent, Archbishop Mark Coleridge of Canberra-Goulburn told approximately 200 liturgists gathered in Perth in early February.
 Archbishop Coleridge is chairman of the Roman Missal Editorial Committee of the International Commission on English in the Liturgy; he is also chair of the Australian bishops’ Liturgy Commission.
While Archbishop Coleridge acknowledged that the missal used since 1973 has made gains in accessibility, participation, Scripture, adaptation and inculturation, he said it also has “serious problems theologically” and “consistently bleaches out metaphor, which does scant justice to the highly metaphoric discourse” of Scripture and early Christian writers. [It is important to remember the role that biblical positivists played in the liturgical wars. Blinkered by their approach to Scripture they effectively evacuated a great deal of the significance of the liturgical texts.]
This is the result of a misunderstanding of Vatican II’s reforms, he said. [Yes.]
Occasional claims of the Roman Missal revisions being a “merely political right-wing plot of the church” to turn the clock back miss the point of reform and of the purpose of the Mass, which is “a gift from God, not something to be manipulated,” he said.
“Nothing will happen unless we move beyond ideology and reducing the church to politics and the slogans that go with them, which are unhelpful,” he said. “Drinking from the wells of tradition passed on supremely in the liturgy is what this new moment of renewal is all about.” [Very well said.]
[Note this well:] Archbishop Coleridge’s speech to the liturgists came just two weeks after Benedictine Father Anscar Chupungco, a former consulter to the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments, said Jan. 22 that the reforms were part of an attempt to turn the clock back 50 years. [Precisely. Remember: Liberals want to control the narrative of the Council and the post-Conciliar reform. They must be set straight.]
Archbishop Coleridge said that one of the ironies of criticism of the new missal is that “we can fail to attend to history even though perhaps the most fundamental achievement of Vatican II was the restoration of historical consciousness to the life of the Catholic Church.”
“A claim that troubles me is that this initiative is somehow a retreat from all that Vatican II tried to promote and enact and a betrayal, therefore, of the (Second Vatican) Council and, by implication, the Holy Spirit,” Archbishop Coleridge said.
He said if that were true, he and thousands of others involved in the missal process “would not have shed the blood, sweat and tears of the last seven years.”
“We would’ve saved ourselves a lot of time and money if we’d just stuck with the Latin, but that’s not what the Spirit is saying to the church,” he said. [With due respect, I am not sure how that can be demonstrated. But let’s move on.]
However, Vatican II’s reforms were not properly implemented and were taken too far, he said, after the Latin texts were translated in 1973 with “breathtaking speed.” [And breathtaking incompetence.]
Since then, the liturgy has largely lost the sense of the liturgy as primarily Christ’s action, [YES!] as something received “not just what we do; a mystery into which we are drawn.” [Wow… does this sound like WDTPRS?]
“We can’t just tamper with it,” he said. “Celebrants sometimes act as if it’s their own personal property to do with what they like. You can’t.”
An overly cerebral approach to liturgy, loss of ritual, oversimplification of rites, loss of a sense of silence, beauty and an unwitting clericalism [No one is more "clerical" in the negative sense than a liberal.] have all led to the Mass lacking its full potential to catechize the faithful and renew the church, he said.
The Second Vatican Council’s “catechetical thrust” that encouraged priests to catechize in the process of celebration has led to the Mass “drowning under the weight of supposed catechetical verbosity,” he said.
The new translations will attempt to control “clerical verbosity and, dare I say, clerical idiosyncrasy,” he said.
“Let the texts stand as is and let catechesis draw out from the texts in a way that communicates to the community, rather than trying to build into the texts a catechesis that runs the risk of corrupting the texts or diluting their power,” he said. [Just Say The Black and Do The Red.]
The proposed English translation of the second Latin edition of the Roman Missal was never approved by the Vatican, and a translation of the third Latin edition promulgated by Pope John Paul II in 2002 is near completion, the Vatican said in late January.
What do you believe is the root of the problem? Tell us.
Do “Catholic” Politicians Deserve a Catholic Funeral?
My Dear People,
There is an accountability for every one of our sins; even sins confessed and absolved. Impossible for us to achieve, Jesus is the only one who can save us from our sins. Mark’s Gospel reminds us that giving scandal is a very serious sin, especially public scandal. Politicians who are Catholic, and support abortion, cloning, and so called “mercy killing” of the elderly, commit grave public sin and grave public scandal. Archbishop Burke recently reminded all bishops that politicians who have given such scandal, without the benefit of “public conversion and penance” should not receive a Catholic burial; so serious is the sin.
Condoning this sin through such a public display, gives the faithful grave scandal on the part of the clergy. Sin is sin. God’s forgiveness is real and needed, but we should never condone public sin directly or indirectly. It is God’s Law, not man’s. Pray for all of our politicians who daily give scandal to the Catholic Church by their direct support and funding of abortion, cloning and mercy killing of the elderly. We live in very dark times. This does not excuse us from being accountable to one another, no matter what our place and status is in this world.
Entrusting you to the care of Our Lady,
Fr. Mark Bozada
Remembering that we will be judged by what we do for the least among us. May we give generously and joyfully to support all those in need.
The Foundation of Physical
And Spiritual Death
I have often said that contraception is the foundation of all the attacks on life that we currently see happening all around us. Contraception is the true foundation of the culture of death, and to tear down the culture of death’s infrastructure Catholics must wake up to the fact that contraception is INTRINSICALY EVIL (never permissible). Our prayer should be that God will grant us courageous priest who will speak out about the foundation of the culture of death because the priest’s immortal soul and the souls of Catholics under his care depend on it. From contraception, to abortion, to partial-birth abortion, to infanticide, to Embryonic Stem Cell Research, to euthanasia we continue to march towards oblivion while a lot of the time there is little or no warning from the pulpit. The proceeding article is taken from the National Catholic Register, and it underlies the fact that contraception is the foundation of the culture of death. Jeff Gares
In 2009, in response to the Pope’s comments about condoms and AIDS in Africa, Knox said that the Pope is “hurting people in the name of Jesus.” This past week, Knox was asked if he stood by this statement and he answered with an emphatic “I do.”
Knox’s statement is as ignorant as it is lacking in integrity. Why, last year even the leftist Washington Post conceded “The pope may be right.”
In 2003, Norman Hearst and Sanny Chen of the University of California conducted a condom effectiveness study for the United Nations’ AIDS program and found no evidence of condoms working as a primary HIV-prevention measure in Africa.
So why would an adviser to President Obama’s on faith-based issues stand by such an offensive and unscientific remark? Why accuse the Pope, and by extension the entire Church—an organization that unarguably helps more people than any other—of hurting people in the name of Jesus?
Believe it or not, this is really about abortion. Knox and others recognize, wittingly or unwittingly, that the foundation of modern sexual liberation relies upon denying or removing any of the consequences of that sinful behavior, even to the point of killing. They also know that the contraceptive mentality underpins the entire culture of death. The contraceptive and utilitarian view of life and of procreation is the “mitochondrial Eve” from which all the horrors of the culture of death are descended. Abortion, ESCR, and euthanasia all call contraception “mother.”
That is why any acknowledgment, no matter how trivial, obvious, or scientific, that calls into question the magic consequence-erasing power of contraception must be attacked with all vigor.
The Catholic Church’s consistent and unbending opposition to the contraceptive culture makes it the perennial target of promoters of the culture of death. This can also be seen in previous anti-Catholic comments by Knox on homosexuality and the Church in reference to a lesbian couple being denied communion.
“In this holy Lenten season, it is immoral and insulting to Jesus to use the body and blood of Christ the reconciler as a weapon to silence free speech and demean the love of a committed, legally married couple. The Human Rights Campaign grieves with the couple, Leah Vader and Lynne Huskinson, over this act of spiritual and emotional violence perpetrated against them.”
While Knox ostensibly and offensively comments on a different topic, lesbianism and communion, the reason remains the same . What this quote shows is that Knox’s anti-Catholicism is as strategic as it is deep-seated. Unfortunately, President Obama hired Knox for a reason and continues to stand behind him no matter how many anti-Catholic statements he makes. President Obama supports Knox because he understands the same thing that Knox does, that the entire culture of death is built on the foundation of contraception and One doesn’t undermine the foundation when One lives in the penthouse.
Are Our Catholic Bishops Catholic?
You Wouldn’t Know It
From The People They Hire!
Thanks to PewSitter for an excellent article revealing the outright disgusting and scandalous actions of the USCCB’s Social Justice Committee.
God grant us courageous Bishops willing to stand up to the USCCB liberal undercurrent.
Washington, DC – February 4, 2010 – Already embroiled in an abortion scandal, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops will host a line-up of progressive leaders – including prominent pro-abortion activists – to their “Catholic Social Gathering” in Washington, D.C., Feb. 7-10.
The announced USCCB “gathering” conference comes on the heels of revelations the USCCB has long standing ties to the radically pro-abortion, pro-gay marriage group Center for Community Change. New evidence continues to emerge that the CCC is only a small part of a larger collaboration with organizations that promote abortion and homosexual rights agendas.
Presenting at the Social Gathering will be:
-Fr. Thomas Reese, who was forced to resign as editor of America Magazine by the Vatican for his refusal to stop publishing articles which question church orthodoxy on issues like contraception, human embryonic stem-cell research, same-sex marriage, homosexual priests, mandatory clerical celibacy, and whether Catholic politicians who support abortion rights should be given communion
-Diana Hayes, professor of systematic theology at Georgetown University and noted speaker for Call to Action, the “Catholic” dissident group. Hayes is a homosexuality activist who wrote a book espousing liberation theology, calls for women’s ordination and promotes same-sex “marriage.”
- Page six of the official “Catholic Social Gathering” program gives a schedule for the Catholic Labor Network Gathering. USCCB exec John Carr is scheduled to join Paul Booth on a panel discussion. Paul Booth and his wife Heather Booth (another prominent pro-abortion activist with ties to the National Organization for Women, who helped organize a group called “JANE” in 1965 which helped young women obtain illegal abortions) founded the Midwest Academy a training institute for progressive activists.
-Paul Booth and his wife have served as host committee members for the National Organization for Women‘s Intrepid Awards Gala.
-Currently Paul Booth is executive assistant to the president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. The AFSCME endorsed the pro-abortion March for Freedom of Choice, held in Washington, D.C. in 2004.
These speakers were invited by the USCCB.
“Looking at this speaker lineup, one wonders if USCCB staff is thinking clearly about Catholic Social Teaching. Why are those who represent openly anti-life and pro-homosexualist organizations treated as experts in the field of peace and justice by Catholics who should know better?” asked Michael Hichborn, American Life League’s lead researcher into the USCCB.
What Are We To Do About Dissenting Catholic Publications?
Fr. Ray Blake has had his share dealing with the Tabloid, a “Catholic” newspaper, supported by most Priest in Britain. He even goes over his thoughts on the topic below.
If the bishops are going to give a sign that they take the Pope seriously then we should expect a certain pruning in the newspapers and periodicals at the back of our churches, we should also expect complaints about dissent to be taken seriously and investigated.
If the full saving message of Christ is to be presented effectively and convincingly to the world, the Catholic community in your country needs to speak with a united voice. This requires not only you, the Bishops, but also priests, teachers, catechists, writers – in short all who are engaged in the task of communicating the Gospel – to be attentive to the promptings of the Spirit, who guides the whole Church into the truth, gathers her into unity and inspires her with missionary zeal.
 Fr. Blake Is Shocked At Tabloid's Content If The Tablet or any other newspaper or magazine doesn’t do this, then it should not be made available for sale at the back of our churches, nor be given privileged interviews and information and certainly not be the medium through which bishops or even the Nuncio expresses his views.
Being Balanced Doesn’t Permit Dissent
In a social milieu that encourages the expression of a variety of opinions on every question that arises, it is important to recognize dissent for what it is, and not to mistake it for a mature contribution to a balanced and wide-ranging debate. It is the truth revealed through Scripture and Tradition and articulated by the Church’s Magisterium that sets us free.
Fr. Blake’s full article here.
My Dear People,
You Are the Greatest Impediment
to Miraculous Healings
 Do miracles still happen today? Were miracles in the past just events that took place in the Sacred Scriptures? What constitutes a real miracle? Yes, miracles still do occur today. This is most evident in the life of the Church when “saints” are canonized. Certified miracles are necessary in the process of verifying our accepted list of men and women saints.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus our Divine Physician, was teaching in the synagogue. Jesus, the Divine Messiah, desired to work miracles among His people. He always healed after He instructed His Disciples. But because the Israelites hearts were hardened and closed, He could work no miracles for them. The greatest impediment to miracles and healings, is ourselves. WE are the main obstacle to God healing us, to God working miracles among us. Our minds cannot be closed. Our hearts need to be softened and opened. Otherwise, like in Jesus’ day, NO miracles can take place. Just as Jesus left their presence and went on to another place, so too will Jesus move forth from us to work miracles in other places. Expect miracles… Pray for discernment, and watch the power of God move among us TODAY!
Entrusting you to the care of Our Lady,
Fr. Mark Bozada
May we put our love for God and for one another into action through our stewardship gifts of time, talent and treasure.
Fidelity to the Gospel
Frees You With The Truth
London, England (CNN) — A furor has erupted in Britain over comments by the pope seen as critical of a new law the Roman Catholic church fears will force it to accept homosexuals into its ranks.
 In remarks to 35 British and Welsh Catholic bishops during a visit to the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI urged them to challenge what he said were attempts to restrict religious freedoms.
“Your country is well known for its firm commitment to equality of opportunity for all members of society,” the pope said, according to the Vatican Information Service.
“Yet, the effect of some of the legislation designed to achieve this goal has been to impose unjust limitations on the freedom of religious communities to act in accordance with their beliefs.”
The Catholic News Service said pope’s comments were a direct assault on a new Equality Bill under debate in the British Parliament that the Catholic clergy say will expose them to prosecution if they reject priesthood candidates on the basis of sexual orientation.
The upper House of Lords has amended the legislation to exempt priests or ministers, but both the Roman Catholic Church and Church of England say it still affects other clerical staff and have called for a return to the status quo.
Pope Benedict, who is due to visit the UK this year, urged the bishops to uphold religious principles and press their case with “national debate through respectful dialogue with other elements in society,” CNS reported.
“When so many of the population claim to be Christian, how could anyone dispute the Gospel’s right to be heard?” he said.
“Fidelity to the Gospel in no way restricts the freedom of others — on the contrary, it serves their freedom by offering them the truth,” he said.
Britain’s conservative Daily Telegraph newspaper described the comments, which come ahead of a general election that could unseat the ruling Labour Party, as a “strongly worded intervention in British politics.”
Gavin D’Costa, a professor in Catholic Theology at the UK’s University of Bristol said the pope was more likely to be airing the concerns of his bishops than wading in with direct criticism of British political policy.
“He is speaking about a theme, about how the state and religion relate and whether the state has a right to interfere with the running of religious groups,” he told CNN.
Who Decides
Who Burdens Society?
The report from the Daily Telegraph tells us that three out of four British people don’t think you should be prosecuted for killing your loved ones. The euphemism they use is ‘Assisted Suicide”…and they make fun of Americans for calling “the toilet” the ‘bathroom’???
Anyhow, why should we be surprised that secularists, either in Britain or the USA, (for we have proponents of euthanasia here too) should be in favor of mercy killing? It’s not too difficult to figure out: if you don’t believe in God or life after death; if you believe that when you die there is nothing at all, no heaven, no hell, just zilch, nada, zip, then mercy killing makes perfect sense. Put the sick person out of their misery. Oh, and by the way, you’ll save a pile of dough too because it’s expensive to treat all those sick people.
For that matter, if you don’t believe in God, heaven, hell and all that stuff, and mercy killing is okay, then what’s wrong with screening fetuses in order to abort the unfit? (whoops, I forgot we already do that) If there is only the zero after death, then why not eliminate the mentally unfit, the disabled and the elderly?
While we’re at it, isn’t our society loaded with other people who are also a terrible burden? They may not be physically disabled or mentally ill, but what about all the underclass who refuse to get a job, soak up welfare payments which they spend on booze and ciggies and drugs. They do nothing but breed more dimwit freeloaders. The eugenicists and social engineers would herd them off to a nice quiet place in the country and put them to sleep too.
Let’s not forget all those people who are deviant in their thoughts. What about those who engage in hate crimes and thought crimes? Aren’t they even more dangerous than the indigent and mentally unfit? They are a kind of terrorist. Shouldn’t they be eliminated too for the health and safety of us all?
Start with mercy killing and you’ll end with Auschwitz.
Father Dwight Longenecker
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