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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.
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.
Do Not Waste the Graces!
This Wednesday is Ash Wednesday – hard to believe that Lent is here already! Join with me, friends, in making a firm intention not to waste the phenomenally-rich season of grace that is Lent. How will we derive maximum benefit out of this season of preparation? Let me count the ways:
First, begin with the end in mind; that is, remember for what it is that we prepare! The historical events of the Passion, Death and Resurrection of our blessed Lord Jesus were anticipated by the People of Israel wandering forty years in the desert and by Jesus’ own forty days of prayer and fasting in the desert. We can surely spend a little time in a “desert” of self-renunciation, fasting and prayer to prepare our souls to enter into the Paschal Mystery, the greatest of all gifts that touch our lives. Acts of self-abnegation are not ends in themselves; they are means to the end of becoming more pure in our relationship with God and man.
Second, stay simple; that is, don’t load yourself down with too many spiritual exercises or intentions that may discourage you if you run too fast out into the desert. While I am all for heroism in religious practices, I am also realistic about the power of the world, the flesh and the devil to undermine our best efforts. This is why the Church gives us very minimal and, quite frankly, rather easy “penitential” practices in Lent: required fasting is only on two days (Ash Wednesday and Good Friday; guaranteed, these won’t kill anyone!), abstinence from meat is only on Ash Wednesday and the Fridays of Lent (a modest inconvenience for any active person) and our “Easter duty” (Communion at Eastertime and sacramental confession as needed before that). Despite its minimal rigor, though, the Church makes sure that the penitential dimension of this season remains intact. Each person can invest himself in penitential practices beyond this, but make sure you are diligent about the very basics that the Church requires, for obedience is the first of the virtues in religion.
Finally, go for high spiritual impact. That is, identify and practice faithfully just one really magnificent goal for your personal conversion this Lent. I say conversion and not “personal improvement” lest anyone interpret the call to spiritual discipline as a chance to lose weight or quit smoking! What Lent demands of us is to look into our vicious, slothful and petty nature and challenge it with the full prophetic force of the Gospel. A well-intentioned person who stacks up a dozen goals for personal change but accomplishes few or none of them is not a better person at the end of Lent. He is more scattered, less disciplined and under a the illusion of false piety thinking that he is doing something holy by multiplying activities without transforming his heart. In contrast, the one who targets his habit of petty backbiting with a shock-and-awe campaign of generosity toward those he finds disagreeable is the one who receives a blessing from the Lord because he acts like John the Baptist who Jesus said “took the Kingdom by storm.” Any mature person will know that a single, firm and effective intention to convert one’s heart is worth more than a thousand acts of superficial piety.
Focus on the goal, remain simple and obedient, go for true conversion of heart – those who resolve to walk through Lent with these intentions will reap the benefit of conformity to Christ when we finally arrive at the High Holy Days of our blessed Faith.
Blessings for the journey and be assured of my prayers!
Sincerely,
Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer,
President, Human Life International
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