tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18568184324114040162024-03-12T18:34:21.571-07:00A Catholic Mind - For What It's WorthThere's something happening here, But what it is ain't exactly clear...I think it's time we stop
Children, what's that sound?
Everybody look what's going down.
Buffalo Springfield - For What It's Worth, 1967Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08775098669477885570noreply@blogger.comBlogger37125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1856818432411404016.post-19379060012584702932018-05-18T08:02:00.001-07:002018-05-18T08:51:14.958-07:00Met Opportunities<span style="font-family: "arial";">The Met Gala has come and gone. The hoopla has begun to die down. Most of what can be said has been said, I suppose. It has been analyzed and criticized. Just goes to show what's wrong with the world. Just goes to show what's wrong with the Church. We've drawn our conclusions, we've formed our opinions we've had our say and here is where we end it. But here's the thing...hoopla tends to grab and narrow our focus. We don't realize that we might be missing something. Things can get lost somewhere along the line. Controversy can kick up a lot of dust and it is only when that dust settles that you can often see a bigger picture. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial";">More than a <span style="font-family: "arial";">week later a few articles about the Met Gala continue to trickle across my news feed. Some of them written to express anger and outrage, to justify anger and outrage, to stir up the anger and outrage of others. Articles, blog posts, memes and comments all giving voice to how the Met Gala displayed a mockery of the Catholic Church, loudly proclaiming the many insults and offenses to our Catholic sensibilities. As well as complaints against the Church for allowing it. It may very well be true that we have good reason to feel mocked and insulted. There may very well be good reason for the anger and the outrage. Then again, Satan does like it when there's a ruckus and we get stuck in our right to be right. Dust gets kicked up either way. There's nothing he likes more than an inability to see the God thing because we're too busy looking at and fighting his thing. We may want to ask if the anger and outrage is serving us, the Church and the Gospel or could it be, instead, that it is actually getting in our way? </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial";"><i>Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun set on your anger, and do not leave room for the devil. Eph 4:26-27</i></span><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: "arial";">Know this, my dear brothers: everyone should be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath, for the wrath of a man does not accomplish the righteousness of God. James 1:19-20</span></i><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial";">It may have been necessary to point out some of the problems and incongruities between what the Catholic Church represents and what was displayed at the Met Gala. Now that we have done that, however, should we move beyond the offenses because to do otherwise might leave room for the devil? By continuing in a posture of anger and offense do we inadvertently give the devil his due? Do we proclaim that the devil had the power to win the day and that he continues to do so? Should we examine if how we have gone about things has really been productive in accomplishing the righteousness of God?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Whomever you forgive anything, so do I. For indeed what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for you in the presence of Christ, so that we might not be taken advantage of by Satan, for we are not unaware of his purposes. 2 Cor 10-11</i></span><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: "arial";">Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense. Proverbs 19:11</span></i><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial";">Forgiveness, overlooking an offense, even refusing to be offended have practical applications when it comes to spiritual warfare, in order to avert the purposes of Satan. It disarms him. Better yet it often takes the very weapon the enemy intended for evil and turns it back against him for good. Satan is quite satisfied with our anger and the bitterness that comes with it. It narrows our vision until he and what has been wrought by him are all that we can see. It is all that others will see as well, because we are pointing it out to them. We then ignore opportunities that would allow the last word and the remembered images to point towards Christ rather than away from him. </span><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: "arial";">Strive for peace with everyone, and for that holiness without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one be deprived of the grace of God, that no bitter root spring up and cause trouble, through which many may become defiled. Hebrews 12:14-15</span></i><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial";">All the celebrity, all the excitement, all the controversy, all the agitation from the Met Gala has overshadowed the exhibit itself. The last time the Vatican lent pieces to the Met was 35 years ago, in 1983. That Vatican Collections exhibit was the third most visited exhibit in the 148 year history of the Met. The current exhibit<i> Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination</i> will run from May to October, six months instead of the usual three. There are items in this exhibit that have never left the Vatican before. Many will appreciate the aesthetic beauty of each and every item. <span style="font-family: "arial"; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">The Catholic Imagination, however, is much deeper than a mere aesthetic. Its aesthetics point to literal realities and those realities find their source in Jesus Christ. We have the opportunity here to deepen our own knowledge, appreciation and actualization of that. We then have the opportunity to transmit that to the rest of the world. </span><br />
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The Met Gala is in the past but the exhibit continues and we can use it to begin conversations that focus on those realities. We can let the misappropriation of Catholic imagery at the Gala be what people will remember, we can cry about it while letting them have it or we can turn our eyes away from the Gala and turn them on the Vatican exhibit itself. We can angrily point to the bondage mask with the rosaries hanging from it in the secular part off the exhibit, thereby letting that be an image that is remembered or we can point to the beauty of a Vatican item. We can leave the image of a papal miter in the hands of Rihanna or we can point people to the authentic miter of Pope Pius XI that is in the exhibit, explaining its symbolism, its function and its importance. The Vatican exhibit can give us many opportunities to talk about the Church and its history as well as the richness and function of its imagery and the literal realities that they represent. The following are but a few examples.<br />
</span><span style="font-family: "arial";"><b>How the Church transmits the word of God. </b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial";">The Church's primary function is to answer the question: "Who do you say that I am?" concerning Jesus Christ (Mt 16:15-16) and to bring the Gospel to "all nations" (Mt 28:19). They do more, however, than merely convey the story of Christ but, rather, transmit him throughout history as the living Word of God. This is not confined to the written and spoken words of scripture and doctrine. The Church makes use of the physical world and all of our senses to bring Jesus, as "God with Us" to each generation. The items in the Vatican exhibit are part of that transmission. The visual images of art, symbolism and vestments literally communicate beyond and through barriers of language and literacy.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial";">The red shoes of Pope St. John Paul II</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial";">The Met finds it interesting that the red shoes of Pope St. John Paul II are said to be by Prada. I'm not sure that's true. Catholics know, however, that those shoes are the embodiment of "feet shod in readiness for the gospel of peace." Pope St. John Paul II traveled to 129 countries and took more pastoral trips than all of his predecessors combined. He was probably seen by more people in person than any other figure in history. He was instrumental in the downfall of Communism. He not only talked the talk but walked the walk of evangelization and ecumenism. When the red shoes met the road, he was a living testimony to it. Evangelization is not merely a matter of increasing our numbers and filling the pews. It is a mandate of Jesus Christ. We are gathering in all he suffered and died for that they may have life and have it abundantly (John 10:10). The unity of Christians is not just a matter of "why can't we be friends?" but marks us as belonging to Christ (John 17:23)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial";"><b>The Liturgical and Sacramental Life of the Church</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial";">Some of the items in the Vatican exhibit are vestments used during liturgies. Many outside the Church might see the vestments worn by our priests as purely ceremonial. Something to bring gravitas to our ceremonies and they see our ceremonies as pure ritual. In part the vestments do bring a sense of dignity, seriousness and solemnity. They are sacramentals. Sacramentals are "sacred signs instituted by the Church that dispose people to receive the chief effects of the sacraments and they make holy various occasions in human life" Each piece has a meaning, and function that, as I said before, goes beyond symbolism, acting in concrete ways to transmit the Word of God to us. Our liturgies and sacraments do so as well. The sacraments are more than symbolic ceremonies, but actions that, in fact, produce a result. In the liturgical and sacramental life of the Church something real is going on and the visuals are there to indicate that.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial";">There are so many ways that we could use the Vatican exhibit at the Met as a jumping off point to foster an appreciation of the Church in those who do not understand it. We also have opportunities ourselves to become better catechized concerning our faith. We have an excellent opportunity, as well, to examine how we are presenting ourselves to those outside the Church.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial";">Suiting Up</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial";">The Vatican Exhibit will be at the Met for six months. A more influential and lasting exhibit of the Church are Catholics themselves. How do we suit up as Catholics both literally and figuratively so that others can plainly see what the Church is all about? We can't expect others to know better when we haven't shown them better. How do we wear our faith? Do we exhibit the fruits of the spirit in our interaction with others? Do we live the beatitudes? Do we follow the Golden Rule? Do we put on the armor of God? Do we show people what true charity, true mercy, true justice, true holiness and virtue looks like? Do we foster unity? Do we show respect for the things of the Church and for the pope and the bishops? Or do we merely give lip service to such things and act like everyone else? Do we literally wear things that would identify us as Catholic? Do we publically do things such as pray? When we dress for Mass to we show a proper understanding and respect for what is going on there? Do we actualize our faith by what we exhibit? Do we consciously and coherently exhibit what it is to be Catholic and why it is of value? We should be demonstrating this in such a way that not only will others respect us, but they should want to be us.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial";">The Met Gala demonstrated that people outside the Church have only a surface understanding of the "Catholic Imagination". The Met Exhibit gives us an opportunity to demonstrate that the Catholic Church is more than its aesthetics. It reminds, us as well, that we are to constantly look to the bigger picture that we might accomplish the righteousness of God. That we are the living exhibit of Jesus Christ, his Church and the way, the truth and the life he offers. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial";">Will the Met opportunity be an opportunity met or an opportunity missed?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial";">For What It's Worth.</span><span style="font-family: "arial";"><br /></span><br />
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<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08775098669477885570noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1856818432411404016.post-80073690414864966402018-05-10T12:09:00.000-07:002018-05-10T12:09:49.912-07:00Spinnin' Wheel Spinnin' True? Did Cardinal Dolan loan Rihanna a Miter?<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Most of us experience news and events second hand. We read about it, we hear about it. Often </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">ideas, impressions and opinions will be formed by what we read<i> about</i> something through what is shared on social media as well as news articles, opinion pieces and blog posts. The fact is most people will form their impressions and opinions because they heard it through the grapevine. They will view it through the lens of someone else's spin. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Spin gives a particular bias, interpretation or point of view to a story. It is intended to give a favorable or unfavorable impression when presented to the public. The way we experience news is not always a matter of "just the facts, ma'am." Many of us follow certain news sources precisely because of their spin. We tend to follow them because their point of view or interpretation agrees with ours. Birds of a feather tend to flock together. Sometimes spin is merely the by-product of the fact that people tend to have opinions, points of view and differing perspectives and we like to gather with the like minded. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms";">Sometimes, however, spin does more than reflect a point of view or perspective. Sometimes spin attempts to manipulate the reality of a story. Sometimes our bias causes us to accept a story and continue to report a story without checking out it's validity because it fits our narrative. Sometimes a story becomes fake news because we have taken something that may have happened and through insinuation, speculation, inflammatory language or misreporting we twist it until becomes a misrepresentation.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms";"><br />T</span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">he question then becomes, who's spinnin' wheel is spinnin' true?</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So what has brought me to my keyboard to pound out a blog on how spin is spun? What else? The most recent story du jour, the Met Gala, of course. Particularly a specific story about Cardinal Dolan, the Met Gala and an accusation of spin that came up in a discussion.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">You have to admit that the Met Gala has given people something to talk about. You can catch a lot of pretty ponies on that particular spinning wheel ride. There has been no shortage of opinions and points of view being shared with both favorable and unfavorable spins. People are particularly critical of Cardinal Timothy Dolan's choice to attend the Gala as well as the Catholic cosplay of its attendees. The biggest splash being Rihanna in a bishop inspired ensemble with a miter headpiece.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">The day after the Gala I read many of the stories. I checked out pictures of many of the fashions. Then I come across Cardinal Dolan interviewing about the Gala on<i> Conversations with Cardinal Dolan.</i> I think "Well, let's see what the Cardinal's spin on this is going to be". During the interview, while talking about Rihanna and her miter the Cardinal quips "And she gave it back to me this morning" along with a joke about Rihanna volunteering to perform some confirmations. Everyone laughs and I thought it was pretty clear that he was joking. Later, however, I come across an article by The Wrap reporting that Rihanna had borrowed the miter that she wore from Cardinal Dolan. "Oh please, he was joking about that". Even so the story spreads like a real rumor weed with many other online publications repeating what the Wrap had reported. I've noticed that there often isn't much fact checking anymore, just one publication parroting what another has reported. I guess they just assume that the first report did their due diligence and just go with it. Even so they are secular publications. You can't expect them to know what an outrageous claim that is. You can't expect them to know that the miter is a symbol of the bishops office, that he wears if for liturgical reasons, and that he wouldn't be letting just anybody borrow it. I was hoping that Catholics would know better and would check out the story before believing it outright. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">It seems, however, that some are so used to reacting with outrage when it comes to our prelates and automatically assume the worst not matter what. A Catholic publication on facebook repeats the story. Some of the commenters assume that it is fake news. The publication insists that they "do NOT report fake news." Well, yeah, you sort of did due to that fact that it is inaccurate. Someone posts a fact check article but they are unfazed. Since I have been following and researching that particular story I post a couple of comments and there is some back and forth. Finally the publication takes the position that they are not buying the Cardinals explanation.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">"<i>Actually, all we have to go on is that the Cardinal claims to have been 'joking' when at the event nobody thought that he was. We call 'fake' on the Cardinal -- and 'PR spin' on his office"</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Well, there you go. They opened the door by insisting that "they do NOT report fake news" and laying down a gauntlet by accusing someone else of "fake" and "spin". I hate that... especially when a bias causes one to not care about the accuracy. It disturbs my sense of fair play. So let's let the spinnin' wheel fly shall we? Let's see whose spin is spinning true?</span><br />
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I<span style="font-family: Arial;">s it true that all we have to go on is the Cardinals claims? Or can we find a directing sign on the straight and narrow highway? Can we find a reflecting sign and let it shine within our minds to show us what is real? (Lyric paraphrase, you know I can't help myself)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">If you google this story you will find lots of headlines saying that Cardinal Dolan let Rihanna borrow a miter for the Met Gala. I suppose you could take all of those articles and put them in your arsenal as proof. But there is something in following the progression of a story that allows a bigger picture to emerge. There is, indeed, more to go on than the Cardinal's claims.</span><br />
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--<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> First of all the Cardinal's comments were not made at the event itself. They were made the next day during a podcast of<i> Conversation With Cardinal Dolan.</i> Judging by the laughter they did indeed think it was a joke. So the very fact that you did not even know where the comments were made indicates a lack of accuracy in fact checking.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial";">-- Have we ever seen Cardinal Dolan wearing a jewel encrusted miter like that? Or maybe we think he gave RiRi a plain miter and when asked if he would mind if they bejeweled it he said "sure, go right ahead"? Also, the bishop's miter usually has the two tails hanging down the back and Rihanna's headpiece did not. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial";">-- Most of the reporting describe Rihanna's headpiece as being custom made.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial";">-- The Instagram of the design house responsible for the outfit wrote this on their Instagram </span><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="color: #b06400;"><span style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px rgb(0 , 0 , 0); color: black; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" title="Edited"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><span style="border-image: none; border: 0px rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Maison Margiela is proud to announce that honorary co-chair </span><a class="notranslate" href="https://www.instagram.com/badgalriri/" style="border-image: none; border: 0px rgb(0, 53, 105); color: #003569; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">@badgalriri</a><span style="border-image: none; border: 0px rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> wore a custom made ‘Artisanal’ outfit inspired by Heavenly Bodies created by </span><a class="notranslate" href="https://www.instagram.com/jgalliano/" style="border-image: none; border: 0px rgb(0, 53, 105); color: #003569; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">@jgalliano</a><span style="border-image: none; border: 0px rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">, for this year’s </span><a class="notranslate" href="https://www.instagram.com/voguemagazine/" style="border-image: none; border: 0px rgb(0, 53, 105); color: #003569; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">@voguemagazine</a><span style="border-image: none; border: 0px rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> Met Gala.</span><span style="border-image: none; border: 0px rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The outfit is a three coordinated piece, comprising of a sculptural jacket and a skirt worn over a bustier dress and a custom made hat. </span><span style="border-image: none; border: 0px rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">In total, the outfit took 250 hours to sew and 500 hours to hand embroider by Maison Margiela’s Paris Atelier. </span></i></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial";">No mention of borrowing the hat from Cardinal Dolan</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial";">-- The Daily Mail reports on a related piece of fashion history. "<i>Rihanna's headpiece was designed by John Galliano, first for Dior in 2000 and then updated last night for Margiela, where he is now the creative director".</i> </span><span style="font-family: "arial";"><i><a href="https://goo.gl/images/gWRvbz" target="_blank">As a matter of fact the Dior piece is on display at the Met.</a></i></span><br />
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-- The Wrap, who I believe originated the story, is now reporting that the Cardinal was joking.</div>
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I am not making an attempt here to defend everything the Cardinal did. I am not defending his choice to go to the Gala. You might even be able to say that the Cardinal might want to be a little more careful about how others will perceive it when making a joke. I wouldn't give you an argument. There seems to be plenty of fodder for criticism where you might actually have a point. We don't need to resort to inaccuracies. Cardinal Dolan often places himself in the public eye. He should be aware of not only the intentions of his words and actions put also how others may reasonably perceive them. </div>
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When there are controversial stories in the Church it is really easy to hop those painted ponies on the spinning wheel ride and let those spinning wheels turn. There is nothing wrong with having an opinion or a point of view that may be unfavorable. The problem is when we allow our bias to cause us to interpret a situation inaccurately and unfairly. The problem is when we knee jerk a reaction because it fits our narrative without investigating its validity. We are Catholic, we listen to the words of our Lord Jesus Christ. We follow a golden rule. We seek the good, the true and the beautiful. We repay evil with blessing. We have to be careful that we do not allow our bias to lead us into behavior that is equal to or worse than the ones we seek to correct.</div>
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For what it's worth</div>
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<b>LYRICS REFERENCE:</b> Spinning Wheel - Blood, Sweat and Tears - 1969</div>
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<b>RELATED LINKS<span style="color: #004000; font-family: "arial";"><br /></span></b>
<span style="color: #b06400; font-family: "arial";"><a href="http://cardinaldolan.org/index.php/conversation-with-cardinal-dolan-may-8-2018/" target="_blank">Conversation With Cardinal Dolan</a></span><br />
<span style="color: #006000; font-family: "arial";"><a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/music/celebrity/cardinal-dolan-says-rihanna-borrowed-one-of-his-miters-for-met-ball-‘she-was-very-gracious’/ar-AAwYDmx?ocid=spartanntp&ffid=gz" target="_blank">First Wrap Article</a></span><br />
<span style="color: #b09600; font-family: "arial";"><a href="https://www.thewrap.com/rihanna-met-ball-cardinal-timothy-dolan-borrowed-miter-pope-hat/" target="_blank">Updated Wrap Article</a></span><br />
<span style="color: #006000; font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/commentandblogs/2018/05/09/fact-check-did-cardinal-dolan-lend-rihanna-his-mitre/" target="_blank">Catholic Herald Fact Check Article</a></span><br />
<a href="http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2018/05/09/rihannas-met-gala-outfit-featured-borrowed-papal-miter-new-yorks-cardinal-dolan-jokes.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fox News</span></a><br />
<a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5709295/Cardinal-Dolan-jokes-Rihanna-borrowed-papal-tiara-Met-Gala-him.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Daily Mail</span></a><br />
<a href="https://www.vogue.com/article/rihanna-met-gala-red-carpet-dress-celebrity-style?mbid=social_facebook" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Vogue</span></a><br />
<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/03/fashion/heavenly-bodies-met-gala-vatican.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How The Met Got The Vatican Vestments</span></a><br />
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<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08775098669477885570noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1856818432411404016.post-66593299979977895042018-01-15T19:17:00.000-08:002018-01-15T20:34:16.973-08:00Raymond Arroyo and the Piano MenIt looks like I have some follow-up material to the piece I wrote the other day on <a href="http://a-catholic-mind.blogspot.com/2018/01/stephen-against-all-comers-walford-just.html" target="_blank">Stephan Walford</a>. I wrote because I saw a comment that dismissed Walford as a piano teacher and not a theologian, implying that ordinary Catholics have no place in discussions and debates concerning the Church.<br />
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I actually thought that it was mainly a combox thing but it seems that even Raymond Arroyo has resorted to this same dismissive tactic and is riding the "piano teacher and not a theologian" bandwagon. In a recent discussion with Fr. Gerald Murray on a segment of <b>The World Over,</b> Arroyo is quoted as saying.<br />
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<i>"Now I should say, I've done some research on Mr. Walford. Near as I can tell he is a piano teacher with no other credentials, theologically or otherwise, except for a papal visit with his family"</i><br />
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Either Mr. Arroyo's researching skills are severely lacking, which would then make me question his qualifications as a broadcaster and reporter, or he deliberately misrepresented Stephen Walford personally. Even a cursory, rudimentary google search would have revealed that Walford is, indeed a piano teacher but also a Catholic writer and author. It would seem to me that Arroyo made a deliberate omission in order to make Stephen Walford appear to be inconsequential.<br />
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Not only did they deliberately misrepresent Mr. Walford himself they also misrepresented his arguments. Arroyo equated Walford's position as one who sees the Church as a political institution that changes its policies with each new elected official. Father Murray said that Mr. Walford was taking the position of saying that adultery can be a good thing. Walford's writing reflects neither of those positions. In fact, Arroyo only pulled two quotes from Walford's articles, one that was critical of himself and another that was critical of Fr. Murray. In essence, Arroyo and Fr. Murray were defending themselves.<br />
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I wonder if Mr. Arroyo would find if unfair for someone to disqualify him by asking what kind of theological or ecclesiological credentials you receive from New York University Tisch School of the Arts when you study acting? I am sure he would say that he only reports the news. However as he also includes commentary and his own opinions you might wonder what qualifies him to do so. Or if they invalidated the many lay apostolates of EWTN in such a way? It would indeed be an unfair assessment and a deliberate misrepresentation to make them appear irrelevant.<br />
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Another Piano man not a theologian, Scott Eric Alt responds to Arroyo on his Facebook page:<br />
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"<i>If Raymond Arroyo wishes to attack Stephen Walford for being a piano teacher but having the audacity to depend the pope (I mean imagine--a Catholic defending the pope; what new paradigm is this?), then let him go after me too. I also teach piano, and I also defend Amoris Laetitia. When's my turn? An attack on one pianist is an attack on all"</i><br />
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Alt does list his occupation on Facebook as piano teacher. He also formally taught writing and literature. He has been writing in the area of apologetics for years. In September he wrote a <a href="https://scottericalt.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">7 part series</a> correcting the Correctors, refuting the allegations of heresy made by the signatories of the Correctio Filialis. Like Stephen Walford, Scott Eric Alt has often defended the pope against all comers. I wish Arroyo would invite them on the <b>World Over</b>. My money would be on the Piano Men.<br />
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Whenever I think about defending the Pope, I am reminded of the bible story of Moses, Aaron and Hur.<br />
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<i>Moses therefore said to Joshua, "Pick out certain men, and tomorrow go out and engage Amalek in battle. I will be standing on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand." So Joshua did as Moses told him; he engaged Amalek in battle after Moses had climbed to the top of the hill with Aaron and Hur. As long as Moses kept his hands raised up, Israel had the better of the fight, but when he left his hands rest, Amalek had the better of the fight. Moses' hands, however, grew tired; so they put a rock in place for him to sit on. Meanwhile Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side and one on the other, so that his hands remained steady till sunset. And Joshua mowed down Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword. Exodus 17:9-14</i><br />
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The staff of God represents God's authority. As God sends Moses on his mission he institutes Moses' staff as the sign of authority. The staff is used throughout in the signs and the plagues. At the Red Sea, God even asks Moses why they are crying out to him rather than using the authority that he has already given Moses to use the staff to part the Red Sea.(Exodus 14:15-16) In the same way that Moses was chosen as the one in whose hands the staff of authority was solely given, so too has the authority of Jesus Christ been placed in the hands of his Church through the pope and magisterium.<br />
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Aaron and Hur held up the arms of Moses in his human weakness but the staff remained in the hands of Moses. It is important to note what did not occur in this story. Aaron and Hur did not seize the staff, taking it into their own hands. Nor did they begin to berate Moses for his human weakness fearing that he will endanger them all. Joshua does not call up from the battlefield, "Moses, your weakness will be our destruction". Aaron and Hur came along side of Moses by necessity precisely because of human weakness. Joshua did not lose heart and stood firm.<br />
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We might want to be mindful of certain attitudes regarding the Pope. If we want to know what happens when we don't uphold the one who holds the staff we need only read Numbers chapters 16 and 17. When the people said to Moses and Aaron <i>"Enough from you! The whole community, all of them, are holy; the Lord is in their midst. Why then should you set yourselves over the Lord's congregation?"</i> God's response involved the perpetrators of this rebellion being swallowed up by the earth, consumed by fire, as well as a scourge upon the people that was stopped in mid wave by the intercession of Aaron at the direction of Moses. Suffice it to say that it is an illustration that indicates that it is the prayers of the Church, the established authority, on our behalf that can turn the tide of the wrath of God even as the blow falls. And when Moses misused the staff it was God alone who dealt with him.<br />
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Jesus said "All power in heaven and earth has been given to me" (Matt 28:18). In Matthew 16 Jesus gives the keys of the kingdom that represent his authority into the hands of Peter and his successors. The gates of the netherworld cannot prevail against that authority. We cannot expect the tide to turn, that we will have the better of the fight if we will not support the arms of the one into whose hands such authority has been given.<br />
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This is why my money is on the Piano Men and those like them. Because they understand that there is one way and one way only to have the better of this fight. They understand that you can't equivocate a distinction between upholding the Pope and upholding the teachings of the Church. For it is impossible to support the teachings of the Church without supporting the one into whose hands the guarantee of those teachings has been given. Because they chose to be as Aaron and Hur in supporting the arms of the Pope. They chose to be like Joshua who stood firm and did not lose heart, with confidence in the power of God rather than relying on his own proficiency in battle.<br />
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Not so with many of the critics of the Pope who believe that they can wrest the staff from his hands and hold it up themselves without him. Or those who berate him for being human. Or those who fear that human weakness will bring about the collapse of the Church. Or those who believe that it is the proficiency of their arguments or their qualifications and credentials that will win the day. And when they resort to misrepresenting and misapplying the teachings of the Church in order discredit the Pope? When they resort to omissions and misrepresentations in order that his defenders will appear inconsequential and irrelevant?...I gotta say...they're probably on shaky ground.<br />
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For what it's worth.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08775098669477885570noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1856818432411404016.post-35245471027233259772018-01-12T12:47:00.001-08:002018-01-12T12:47:33.743-08:00Stephen (Against All Comers) Walford - Just a Piano Man?<h2>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">I just finished listening to Mark Shea on Connecting the Dots with his guests Stephen Walford and Peter Vere. They engage in a "<a href="http://www.patheos.com/blogs/markshea/2018/01/stephen-walford-pete-vere-connecting-dots.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook" target="_blank">wide-ranging discussion of Francis, Amoris Laetitia, and the fake “crisis” that has been ginned up about him. </a>" I enjoyed the discussion but that's not why I decided to write this piece. As often happens for me, I become more interested in writing about the reaction to something, than the thing itself. The thing that brought out the blog in me was one of the comments.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">It's not the first time I've seen a comment of that nature concerning Mr. Walford. But more on that later.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">I "met" Stephen Walford over 4 years ago. Tim Haines and Wilson Orihuela had him on Vericast to interview him about his book "Heralds of the Second Coming". I was one of the call-in commenters. I very much doubt that he remembers our conversation. A few months ago I read his <a href="http://www.lastampa.it/2017/06/27/vaticaninsider/eng/documents/open-letter-to-the-four-dubia-cardinals-nIsyPMFIjp2M5wjLZ1CHJO/pagina.html" target="_blank">Open Letter to the Four Dubia Cardinals</a> and thought "hey, I know that guy" remembering his interview with Vericast. So, by "met" and "know" I mean, well, internet and not a personal relationship, unless I just be name dropping. I like his style and much of what he has to say, though. His articles are intelligent, intelligible and well researched. I have added the parenthetical "against all comers" to his name in a nod to a quote from a sermon by Blessed Cardinal John Henry Newman. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">"<i>Our duty is, - not indeed to mix up Christ's Vicar with this or that party of men, because he in his high station is above all parties, - but to look at his formal deeds, and to follow him whither he goeth, and never to desert him, however we may be tried, but to defend him at all hazards, and <b>against all comers</b>, as a son would a father, and a wife a husband, knowing that his cause is the cause of God."</i> </span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Walford has certainly taken the words of Cardinal Newman to heart as he has entered into the fray of discussion, debate and controversy with his defense of Pope Francis. He has definitely taken on all comers with the article I previously mentioned, as well as a more recent article <a href="http://www.lastampa.it/2018/01/04/vaticaninsider/eng/documents/the-amoris-laetitia-dissenters-lGWxh795fjt5DHh7Wx74WP/pagina.html" target="_blank">The Amoris Laetitia Dissenters</a>. </span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I have not read every article out there that disagrees with Stephen Walford's arguments. I'm sure some of them have been written in a true spirit of discourse. At least I hope so, anyway. What I am seeing, however, are comments that are meant to dismiss Walford, to diminish him rather than truly debate him. It makes me wonder what the value of their arguments actually are if they have to resort to throwing shade. He's got nothing to contribute, he's just a piano teacher, not a theologian. Just an amateur, a dilettante. My favorite is the headline "Wherein faithful canonist Ed Peters guts papolatrous dilettante Stephen Walford". Well, we have no need to read any further do we? Nor do we need to examine both arguments. We already know who has cred and who doesn't now don't we? </span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">F</span></span></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">or a Piano Man, Walford is no slouch. Not too long ago he was granted a private audience with the Pope. (Maybe when you publically have the Pope's back he might want to shake your hand. "Thanks for being like Aaron and Hur for me") He has published 2 books and is working on a third. He has written for various publications. Which elicited another combox gem about how he was just a journalist. So says the combox authorities of what is worthy. </span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">What is that? Elitism? Just plain bougie, pretentious idolatry of the intellect, academia or the titles of men? Who says that a regular Catholic can't know and defend the faith? Who says they can't defend the Pope? Who says they can't make a solid and well formed argument, enter a debate or speak to error or controversy? Who says that a regular Catholic can't grasp theological concepts and nuances? Quite frankly, if that is so than most of the bloggers on the internet might just as well pack up and go home. How many saints, as well, who are now called theologian, not because of credential but because of their love of Christ and his Church and their openness to and trust in the guidance of the Holy Spirit of that Church, would then be disqualified and dismissed? </span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Our Lord, himself, entrusted his Church to twelve ordinary men, not theologians. He did that, in the words of St. Paul, that "the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength" and "God chose the lowly and despised of the world, those who count for nothing, to reduce to nothing those who are something, so that no human being might boast before God". This indeed has been the way of the Church from the beginning. </span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I began blogging nearly 5 years ago. I was quite aware that I had no cred and no rep. Quite frankly, I am just a grandma. It was by reading the first encyclical of Pope Francis, Lumen Fidei, that I became inspired and encouraged to give my faith a voice. I hadn't even read the whole thing but it was this line that was the impetus for me to "go public", as it were. "<i>Those who have opened their hearts to God's love, heard his voice and received his light, cannot keep this gift to themselves. Since faith is hearing and seeing, it is also handed on as word and light."</i> So I took the small talent I had for expressing myself in the written word and stepped outside of my own little life. I began writing a blog, then added a second with a separate theme. I have written about theology, I have written about catechesis and apologetics though I am no formal theologian, catechist or apologists. I have written opinions about situations in the Church. I have researched and studied in order to share the teachings of the Church and I have seen the need to defend the Pope in the current climate. One day I stepped out of my comfort zone and called in to a show on the Vericast Network. The hand holding the phone literally shook the whole time from nervousness and I felt like I stuttered through the whole thing. Speaking in front of people is not my strong point and how am I qualified anyway? I soon became a regular contributor to the conversations on the shows, was asked to write blogs for Vericast and eventually was given my own show on their network. I was given the nickname of Miss Magisterium not because I was an expert on the magisterium but because of my stanch loyalty to, defense of and unwavering confidence in the authority of the Pope and the magisterium. </span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I guess the Piano Man and I have something in common. We both have taken to heart the words of Cardinal Newman to defend the Pope against all comers. We do it because we know that in defending his cause we defend the cause of Jesus Christ. I know that I trust Jesus and his promises to protect his Church and his Vicar. I believe in the unerring guidance of the Holy Spirit. Scripture tells us that when the rains fall and the floods come, when the wind blows and beats against the Church, the rock on which the Church is built is the one thing that will not fall. </span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">As far as qualifications go? We are Catholics baptized and confirmed in the faith. We are members of the Body of Christ. We are essential links in the chain of witnesses that makes it possible for others to see the face of Jesus in every age. </span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Pope Francis tells us in Lumen Fidei:<i> The light of Christ shines, as in a mirror, upon the face of Christians; as it spreads, it comes down to us, so that we too can share in that vision and reflect that light to others, in the same way that, in the Easter liturgy, the light of the paschal candle lights countless other candles. Faith is passed on we might say, by contact, from one person to another, just as one candle is lighted from another. Christians, in their poverty, plant a seed so rich that it becomes a great tree, capable of filling the world with its fruit. The transmission of the faith not only brings light to men and women in every place; it travels through time, passing from one generation to another. Because faith is born of an encounter which takes place in history and lights up our journey through time, it must be passed on in every age. It is through an unbroken chain of witnesses that we come to see the face of Jesus...As salvation history progresses, it becomes evident that God wants to make everyone share as brothers and sisters in that one blessing, which attains its fullness in Jesus so that all may be one. The boundless love of our Father also comes to us, in Jesus, through our brothers and sisters. Faith teaches us to see that every man an woman represents a blessing for me, that the light of God's face shines on me through the faces of my brother and sisters...Finally, faith is one because it is shared by the whole Church, which is one body and one Spirit. In the communion of the subject which is the Church, we receive a common gaze. By professing the same faith, we stand firm on the same rock, we are transformed by the same Spirit of love, we radiate one light and we have a single insight into reality.</i> </span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I am just a grandma and Stephen Walford is just a piano man. Abraham was just a nomad. Moses was just a guy with a stutter. Gideon's family was the lowest in the family of Manasseh and Gideon was the most insignificant in his father's house. David was just a shepherd. The apostles were just 12 ordinary men. St. Peter was just a fisherman. And our Lord himself? Many saw him as just a carpenter's son. </span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">God will furnish us with all that is good that we might do his will and will carry out what is pleasing to him through Jesus Christ. It is God, as well, who works in each one of us for his good purpose and his grace is sufficient. </span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">It's ok Piano Man. </span></span></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">You can come sit by me. If you don't mind sitting by a nobody. We will be joined by all the apologist and Pope defenders out there that are just ordinary Catholics. All the people who have entered into public discourse whose background of study was just literature, or music or art or journalism and not theology. Just moms, just dads, just brothers and sisters in Christ. Knowing that we are blessings to each other. The others, they can throw shade if they want to. Funny thing, but many of those who are so strongly against Pope Francis, who call those who defend him popalators? Who try to diminish and dismiss by throwing shade? Not long ago when they thought there was something in it for them, when they thought they had a Pope who would champion their idea of what the church should be, when they thought they had a Pope that was worthy they sang a different tune. They told us to love the Pope no ifs, ands or buts and quoted the words of Pope Pius X on loving the Pope. Funny thing that.</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: small;"><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-clip: padding-box; background-color: transparent; border-collapse: collapse; border-image: none; border-spacing: 0px 0px; border: 0px rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Times,Times New Roman,Garamond; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; list-style: none; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-clip: padding-box; border-collapse: collapse; border-image: none; border-spacing: 0px 0px; border: 0px rgb(153, 0, 0); font-family: Times,Times New Roman,Garamond; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black;">And how must the Pope be loved? <i style="background-clip: padding-box; border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 0, 0); border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; border-image-outset: 0; border-image-repeat: stretch; border-image-slice: 100%; border-image-source: none; border-image-width: 1; border-left-color: rgb(153, 0, 0); border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-color: rgb(153, 0, 0); border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 0px; border-spacing: 0px 0px; border-top-color: rgb(153, 0, 0); border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: Times,Times New Roman,Garamond; list-style-image: none; list-style-position: outside; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: invert; outline-style: none; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">Non verbo neque lingua, sed opere et veritate. </i>[Not in word, nor in tongue, but in deed, and in truth - 1 Jn iii, 18] When one loves a person, one tries to adhere in everything to his thoughts, to fulfill his will, to perform his wishes. And if Our Lord Jesus Christ said of Himself, "<i style="background-clip: padding-box; border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 0, 0); border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; border-image-outset: 0; border-image-repeat: stretch; border-image-slice: 100%; border-image-source: none; border-image-width: 1; border-left-color: rgb(153, 0, 0); border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-color: rgb(153, 0, 0); border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 0px; border-spacing: 0px 0px; border-top-color: rgb(153, 0, 0); border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: Times,Times New Roman,Garamond; list-style-image: none; list-style-position: outside; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: invert; outline-style: none; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">si quis diligit me, sermonem meum servabit,</i>" [if any one love me, he will keep my word - Jn xiv, 23] therefore, in order to demonstrate our love for the Pope, it is necessary to obey him. </span></span></div>
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<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-clip: padding-box; background-color: transparent; border-collapse: collapse; border-image: none; border-spacing: 0px 0px; border: 0px rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Times,Times New Roman,Garamond; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; list-style: none; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-clip: padding-box; border-collapse: collapse; border-image: none; border-spacing: 0px 0px; border: 0px rgb(153, 0, 0); font-family: Times,Times New Roman,Garamond; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black;">Therefore, when we love the Pope, there are no discussions regarding what he orders or demands, or up to what point obedience must go, and in what things he is to be obeyed; when we love the Pope, we do not say that he has not spoken clearly enough, almost as if he were forced to repeat to the ear of each one the will clearly expressed so many times not only in person, but with letters and other public documents; we do not place his orders in doubt, adding the facile pretext of those unwilling to obey - that it is not the Pope who commands, but those who surround him; we do not limit the field in which he might and must exercise his authority; we do not set above the authority of the Pope that of other persons, however learned, who dissent from the Pope, who, even though learned, are not holy, because whoever is holy cannot dissent from the Pope. -Pope Pius X</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">For what it's worth. </span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">By </span></span></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">the way, everybody who sits with me has to put up with that free association thing I have with music. So we're going to enjoy some Billy Joel. It's that quirky thing I got going on. Nobody says that Catholics can't be a little bit quirky.</span></span></span></span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08775098669477885570noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1856818432411404016.post-55046795287204801142018-01-03T16:12:00.000-08:002018-01-03T16:36:46.872-08:00Eerie and Ominous Seagulls at the Vatican<div class="b_paractl" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; border-bottom-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; border-image-outset: 0; border-image-repeat: stretch; border-image-slice: 100%; border-image-source: none; border-image-width: 1; border-left-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 0px; border-spacing: 0px 0px; border-top-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,Sans-Serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19.5px; list-style-image: none; list-style-position: outside; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: 2; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
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<i>There's something happening here</i></div>
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<i>What it is ain't exactly clear</i></div>
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<i>There's some birds in the air over there</i></div>
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<i>Telling me I got to beware</i></div>
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<i>I think it's time we stop, children, What's that sound</i></div>
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<i>Everybody look what's going down</i></div>
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You know, when a flock of seagulls mounts a protest of the Pope on New Year's Eve it must certainly be a sign of something going down. A sign that we got to beware.</div>
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Not the band.</div>
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Actual birds. Although there was a band called the Birds, not them either. A literal flock of birds from the Laridae family. This breaking news was brought to us courtesy of Lifesite News. Thank goodness for them because otherwise we may have never been aware. Other news sources have not even reported on the highly organized protest action. Those who defend the Pope most certainly would conspire to bury such breaking news.</div>
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The headline reads 'Eerie and ominous' sign appears as Pope Francis visits Vatican Nativity. The article reports.</div>
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<i>At exactly the same time as the Pope left St. Peter’s Basilica and walked to the crèche in St. Peter’s Square, a squabble of about 500 seagulls suddenly flew up from behind the basilica and circled around the crèche.</i></div>
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<i>They swarmed above the nativity scene, squawking and squealing for about the exact time it took for the Pope to walk from the basilica to the crèche. They then disappeared into a night sky lit up by an almost full moon.</i></div>
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Gives you chills. They posted this picture of the protesting birds.</div>
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I don't see the seagulls either. That doesn't negate the fact that we better stop, children, and listen to what's going down. Apparently the birds were protesting Pope Francis himself and this pontificate in which degradation and squalor continue in the Church, as well as the lurid nature of this year's Nativity Scene. This is truly eerie and ominous stuff. The birds at the Vatican, especially the seagulls, have been trying to tell us something for years and we just haven't been listening or maybe there has just been a deliberate attempt in the Catholic news media to keep us from knowing the truth.<br />
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Don't believe me? Well, I've done some research on bird activity at the Vatican going back several years and have connected the dots.<br />
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<b>Pope Benedict XVI and the Peace Doves</b><br />
In January, 2012 Pope Benedict released a peace dove from the a window of the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican. Begun by Pope St. John Paul II, the gesture has become a yearly custom of the Popes. The bird once released turned around and flew back in the window. Just over a year later Pope Benedict resigned and Pope Francis became our new pope. Surely, that bird was trying to tell us about the uncertain future that we would soon face under the pontificate of the new Pope and flew back into the window in abject terror. Never mind that birds are often confused when being released from windows. It is irrelevant, as well, that the same thing occurred to Pope John Paul II in 2005 and to Pope Benedict the previous year. It is only in hindsight that we can see that a bird doing what is natural for a bird to do was actually an omen. Which is why it went unnoticed at the time, merely an amusing mishap.<br />
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<b>Pope Benedict XVI and the Seagull</b><br />
The following year, January 2013 Pope Benedict again released the customary peace dove from the window at the Vatican. This time the bird flew off only to be viciously attacked by a seagull. Again the story was reported as merely a kerfuffle. Again, in hindsight, we can see it for the sign that it was. Just weeks later Pope Benedict resigned from the papacy and Pope Francis became our new pope. Surely this seagull was telling us that there would be "no peace for you" during the coming pontificate. Never mind that you can see the seagull outside the window before the Pope releases the dove and it may have been unfortunate timing to release a dove right in front of a predator. Who would have thought that a seagull just might attack another bird that it has preyed upon and eaten in the past. Again, birds acting like birds went ignored. Not unlike the lone seagull that whacked Tippi Hedren in the head in the movie "The Birds" a bird acting like a bird can portend a coming momentous and calamitous event.<br />
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<b>Conclave Seagull</b><br />
Less than 2 months later, in March of 2013, we have another bird trying to tell us something. During the conclave that gathered to elect the new pope a seagull perched atop the chimney of the Sistine Chapel as people waited to see the smoke emitting from that chimney, letting let us know if a new pope had been elected. Never mind that seagulls and other birds probably perch there on a regular basis. This bird was there to tell us something. Most likely he was there to warn us concerning the new pope. His message being that the sole purpose of the new pontificate would be to blow smoke up our butts. According to the bird himself on one of his many twitter feeds he seems more interested in his 15 minutes of fame.</div>
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White smoke means there's a pope, black smoke means no pope. A seagull means I confused the hell out of y'all. Boo-ya! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PapalSeagull?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#PapalSeagull</a></div>
— Papal Seagull (@PapalSeagull) <a href="https://twitter.com/PapalSeagull/status/311870452337373184?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 13, 2013</a></blockquote>
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<b>Angry Birds at the Vatican</b><br />
January, 2014. Pope Francis releases two peace doves from the window of the Vatican. Both doves are again attacked as happened the previous year, this time by a seagull and a crow. Many are now getting the message and see this as a omen of the pontificate of Pope Francis. There are many blogs written concerning the significance of this most recent attack. This was the last time the Pope released the peace doves. The following year he decided to release balloons instead, effectively silencing the birds and the message they have been sent to bring to us.<br />
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That is until now when the seagulls decided to rise up and speak truth to power with an eerie and ominous sign.<br />
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You can judge for yourselves. I am just reporting the facts. But don't come crying to me when we look out the window and see this<br />
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The birds are determined to be heard. </div>
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<i>There's something happening here</i></div>
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<i>What it is, is becoming more clear</i></div>
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<i>There's some birds in the air over there</i></div>
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<i>Telling me I got to beware</i></div>
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<i>I think it's time we stop, children, What's that sound</i></div>
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<i>Everybody look what's going down</i></div>
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tongue-in-cheek: with ironic or flippant intent; figure of speech used to imply that a statement or other production is humorously or otherwise not seriously intended; a statement witty in some way, particularly to the speaker. The tone or the context of the statement may make it to be taken seriously by the listener. <br />
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Sometimes when you write a tongue-in-cheek satirical piece there are those who don't recognize it as such, even though it seems to the writer that the exaggeration in order to expose the truly ridiculous is quite obvious. Anyone who has read my blogs knows that I am a defender of Pope Francis. Hopefully my readers will recognize the tone of this post and not worry that I have gone the way of those who once defended the Pope but now search for the smallest thing with which to criticize him. Some may worry however that since I haven't written in awhile I may have spent that time struggling with my loyalty to Pope Francis and decide to go over to the dark side. Although that seems to be a popular trend recently with some fairly well known apologist.<br />
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I began writing this particular blog "A Catholic Mind - For What It's Worth" so I could investigate stories that I thought were being used to manipulate. Which is why I chose the lyric from the Buffalo Springfield song "For What It's Worth"...<i> there's something happening here, what it is ain't exactly clear. Everybody look what's going down</i> as my tag line. Because I wanted to show people that we really should investigate certain stories more fully before we allow ourselves to be emotionally manipulated into making a negative judgement. Especially when that judgement concerns the Vicar of Christ. In my opinion Lifesite News took a story about birds being birds and turned it into a negative critique of the pope.<br />
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Here's what Lifesite News didn't tell you. The city of Rome (not just the Vatican) has a serious seagull problem. They really are a nuisance there. It is a common sight in the evening to see a flock of seagulls take flight. They are going after a feast of bats. They are seagulls being seagulls. When that so happens to occur when the Pope was out and about it becomes an eerie and ominous sign.<br />
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It is a serious matter to turn the minds of the people against a Pope, regardless of whether he is a good one or not. We should pray for those who do so. Especially when they are more interested in the sensational rather than the truth.When reading such stories, before you get chills from the ominous and eerie you might want to check it out. Or you could follow the advice of another Flock of Seagulls.<br />
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<i>And I ran</i></div>
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<i>I ran so far away</i></div>
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<i>I just ran</i></div>
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<i>I ran all night and day</i></div>
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<i>I couldn't get away.</i></div>
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As the last line says, sometimes we can't get away from it. But then there is always someone like me who will just write a blog about it.<br />
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For What It's Worth<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08775098669477885570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1856818432411404016.post-30008975702525559032017-08-02T13:11:00.000-07:002017-08-02T13:11:18.097-07:00"Scaramouche, Scaramouche, will you do the Fandango?" On July 21, 2017, Anthony "the Mooch" Scaramucci was named as White House Communications Director, to take office on July 25. Tweets and headlines asked the question...<br />
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Anthony Scaramucci, Will you do the Fandango?</div>
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Which is a clever word play on a line from the song Bohemian Rhapsody, "Scaramouche, Scaramouche, you will you do the fandango?" I don't think anyone quite realized at the time how truly apropos that characterization would turn out to be. </div>
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<i>I see a little silhouetto of a man,</i></div>
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<i>Scaramouche, Scaramouche, will you do the Fandango?</i></div>
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<i>Thunderbolt and lightning,</i></div>
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<i>Very, very frightening me.</i></div>
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<span class="rendered_qtext">Scaramuccia means "little skirmisher", brief fight or controversy of little importance. Scaramouche or Scaramouch, is a stock character of the Italian commedia dell'arte. He was often beaten for his boasting and cowardice. Scaramouche entertains the audience with grimaces and affected language. Scaramouche can be clever or stupid—as the actor sees fit to portray him. A fandango is a lively Spanish dance typically accompanied by guitars, castanets, hand-clapping or tambourine. A fandango is also a foolish or useless act or thing. In the Urban Dictionary a fandango is described as trying hard to be cool, in an ostentatious overly obvious way, usually with style of dress but also can include mannerisms or behavior. Yep, that about sums it up.</span></div>
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<i>Is this the real life?<br />Is this just fantasy?<br />Caught in a landslide<br />No escape from reality</i></div>
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In a true blurring of the lines between life and art we had a summer fling with "the Mooch" that was over almost as soon as it began. The summer lovin' had me a blast, summer lovin' happened so fast whirlwind of a fandango lasted only ten days and by July 31 Scaramlucci's stint as White House Communications Director had come to an end. </div>
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<i>All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances...</i></div>
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Ok, so I'm mixing my Will Shakespeare with my Freddie Mercury. Even so, Anthony Scaramucci exits stage right having played a fandangoing Scaramouche to the hilt as he saw fit to portray him and holding the record for the shortest stint as White House Communications Director. If indeed he actually was, having never been sworn in as White House staff. After a profanity laced rant, that he thought was off the record, Scaramucci was beaten for his arrogance and boasting.<br />
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I am not usually interested in political commentary and analysis. It's not really my forte. What I am interested in is the moral of the story. As a Catholic blogger I am also interested in applying that moral in my life as a Christian. The moral of this story, as I see it, is that you are always representing. There is no such thing as off the record. So the question is not WILL you do a fandango. There is going to be a dance not matter what. The real question is what kind of fandango do you want it to be? Will it be a little skirmish, a brief fight over a controversy of little importance? Or will it have substance and be of lasting value? Will it be a lively dance or a foolish, useless thing? Will it be obvious, ostentatious, self-serving, boasting and arrogant? Or will it humbly serve God and others?<br />
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<i><span class="bcv">23</span>Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. Lk 11:23</i></div>
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As we go about our daily lives, I don' t think we are always aware of the fact that no matter what, as Catholics, we are representing. We are representing the Church, we are representing other Catholics but most of all we are representing Jesus Christ. We don't always realize that in everything we do and say, whether publically or in private, we are either gathering with him or scattering against him. There really is no neutral ground, nothing that is off the record. It isn't a question of whether or not we will give a face to the Gospel but only a matter of what that face will be.</div>
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Many of us communicate, as Catholics, on the internet with blogs, in comments sections and on Facebook. We can sometimes hide behind a certain anonymity. We forget that because others can't see our face that we are still representing something, giving a face to something with our words. We forget to ask ourselves whether our affect is that of Jesus Christ. We don't stop to consider if the language we are using is what he would use. We don't stop to realize that an encounter with us is someone else's encounter with Christ. Often we are representing our own bitterness, anger or fear. We are sometimes getting a kick out off our own cleverness. We belittle those who disagree with us. Our pride and a sense of superiority won't let us see someone else's side. We can often go to the mat to vindicate and justify ourselves. We don't think that we have to answer for our behavior to others.We forget to be cognizant of the fact that because we say we are Catholic there are only two options as to what others will see in that encounter. Either they will see a true representation of Christ or a misrepresentation of him and his gospel. There are really only two outcomes. Either we will gather for Christ or we will scatter against him.</div>
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No matter what we are always representing.</div>
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There really isn't any question that there will be a fandango. The only question before each of us today is what kind of a fandango will it be?</div>
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For what it's worth.</div>
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<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08775098669477885570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1856818432411404016.post-44586952646572003032016-11-15T16:27:00.000-08:002016-11-15T16:27:01.540-08:00My Guest Blog Over At Patheos<span style="font-size: large;">I have written a guest blog for Steel </span><span style="font-size: large;">Magnificat</span><span style="font-size: large;"> on Patheos</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<a href="http://www.patheos.com/blogs/steelmagnificat/2016/11/my-pro-life-paradigm-shift/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">My Pro-Life Paradigm Shift</span></a><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Talking a little about Fr. Pavone and talking about being pro-life</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">"My idea of the dignity of the person has become much broader because of this."</span><br />
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08775098669477885570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1856818432411404016.post-34754045859216337352016-11-09T21:23:00.001-08:002016-11-10T04:46:20.665-08:00May Baby Choice Finally Be Laid to Rest<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I am often a Johnny-come-lately when it comes to stories like this. I like to see them unfold first. More often than not, there are details that emerge over time. The reactions to the story, as well, become part of a bigger picture. So, I wait, I watch, I read most of what has been written and I research related articles. Sometimes I end up writing about it. Sometimes I don’t because I think that others have pretty much said all that can be said. Often far better than I ever could have. In this case, there have been many blogs and articles written. I will be linking to a good many of them at the end of this post. However, I am thinking there is one point of view that may have gotten lost in the shuffle. One voice that still needs to be heard, a voice that cannot speak up for itself. After reading all the articles and connecting all the dots it has occurred to me that there is still one thing that is left to be done.
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Many by now are probably aware of the controversy created by Father Frank Pavone of Priests for Life. On Sunday, Father Pavone posted a video on Facebook of the remains of an aborted baby laying naked on an altar. In the video Father Pavone stands behind the altar voicing an appeal that we vote for Donald Trump for president. Which was almost immediately followed by an overwhelming reaction from Catholics denouncing the video as wrong on many levels.
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.patheos.com/blogs/scottericalt/after-sick-political-stunt-fr-pavones-faculties-should-be-suspended/" target="_blank">Scott Eric Alt wrote a piece</a> detailing how the action was a desecration of the altar. His article was picked by many outside news sources. Along with Alt, many writers from Patheos such as Mark Shea, Matthew Tyson and Keith Michael Estrada, to name but a few, denounced the video because of the desecration of the altar and the total lack of reverence for the dignity of the human person that should have been shown towards the remains of the baby. Some of them writing several articles each.
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">One writer, Mary Pezzulo also wrote more than one article on Patheos. A particular post, Has <a href="http://www.patheos.com/blogs/steelmagnificat/2016/11/has-father-pavone-kept-mummified-human-remains-for-more-than-a-decade/" target="_blank">Father Pavone Kept Mummified Human Remains For More Than A Decade?,</a> caught my attention. </span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In her article Mary writes:
<i>Alert reader and commentator Patricia Larson Guilfoyle recently posted the following, on my post about Father Pavone’s desecration of an infant and an altar earlier today:</i> </span><br />
<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"></span><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></i>
<i><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">A dead baby VERY SIMILAR to this one was put on public display in Charlotte before the 2012 Democratic National Convention. When asked what happened to the baby’s remains after the “event,” which featured the baby in an open casket on the sidewalk outside a Catholic church (which was closed at the time), Father Pavone would not say anything other than that he has a memorial to the unborn in New York that his ministry manages. The reason I note the similarity between the two sets of remains is that the bruising and discoloration are due to the effects of a saline abortion, a late-term abortion procedure no longer performed in the U.S. (Dilation & Curettage has been the preferred method since the mid-1990s). More than one person involved with the Charlotte “event” told me the baby’s remains are kept in a container with formaldehyde, and that Father Pavone had custody of the container.</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Mary then adds "<i>This is a very good point. When I looked at that photo of the deceased infant, and I don’t recommend you do, I was convinced I’d seen it before too."</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"></span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It astounded me that there were Catholics that thought that keeping the remains of an aborted baby in formaldehyde, so that</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">it could be trotted out for various events would by any stretch of the imagination, in any dimension of reality, be deemed acceptable. It astounded me even more to think that Catholics did know this and ignored it for the sake of a cause. Regardless of how good that cause may be. </span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">One comment to a blog post does not, however, a reliable source make. Although it can pique one's interest to investigate further. </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In my investigation I came across a couple of references from 2006 and 2007 </span><br />
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<i><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Pavone in July 2006 traveled to Jackson, Mississippi, to brandish a fetus in a jar of formaldehyde, and ultimately bury it, in conjunction with Operation Save America protests of Mississippi’s only abortion clinic. Jackson police commander Lee Vance described Pavone’s possession of the fetus as “a legal issue.” Pavone in the end opted not to bury the fetus, which he said he had shown in protests in several other locations around the country, but vowed to bury it later in the year in Alabama.</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">And from 2007 </span><br />
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<i><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Father Frank Pavone, director of Priests for Life, said the fetus, which is being preserved in a formaldehyde-like solution, will be buried in Alabama in a few months.
Pavone said the fetus was aborted at about 18 weeks. It has been used in demonstrations in New York and Columbus, Ohio, he said, and will be in several more before being buried.</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Eventually I discovered an archived article from the Catholic News Herald that details the event in 2012. The following are portions of that article. Emphasis in bold are mine.</span><br />
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<i><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; letter-spacing: 0.1pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"></span><span style="color: black;"></span><br /></span></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; letter-spacing: 0.1pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Protestors said “Baby Choice” was a victim of a
second-trimester saline abortion…The</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"> body of the intact Caucasian fetus, at
20-22 weeks</span></span></i><i><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; letter-spacing: 0.1pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">’</span></span></i><i><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; letter-spacing: 0.1pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"> gestation, was covered with black
spots where the salt solution burned off the top layer of her skin.</span></span></i></div>
<i><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; letter-spacing: 0.1pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">The only information that Father Pavone disclosed about
the baby, dubbed “Baby Choice,” was that he had acquired her from outside North
Carolina and brought her to town so that her funeral could coincide with the
demonstration.</span></span></i><br />
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<i><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; letter-spacing: 0.1pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">“The baby whom we honored last week was entrusted to a
colleague of mine, who came to me to ask if we could arrange for burial. When I
told this colleague that there would be a memorial service held by Operation
Save America, and that I would be speaking at it, she arranged to entrust the
body to us for this service,” Father Pavone said in an email Tuesday, adding, “Many
of the public events like Operation Save America holds involve memorial
services. There may or may not be a baby to bury. Different babies, at
different times, have been made available, and we have subsequently had burials
for them.”</span></span></i></div>
<i><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; letter-spacing: 0.1pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">“Baby Choice” has been the name given to various fetal
remains obtained and displayed by anti-abortion groups including Americans
Against Abortion, Operation Rescue/Operation Save America and Priest for Life
over the past three decades.</span></span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; letter-spacing: 0.1pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"></span><span style="font-size: small;"></span><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></i>
<i><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; letter-spacing: 0.1pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">The first “Baby Choice” appeared in 1985, and is similar
to the baby memorialized in Charlotte last week: a girl at the same gestational
age, who died from the same abortion procedure, featuring similar black burn
marks on the skin.</span></span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; letter-spacing: 0.1pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"></span><span style="font-size: small;"></span><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></i>
<i><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; letter-spacing: 0.1pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Father Pavone said the baby in Charlotte was not the
original 1985 “Baby Choice.”</span></span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; letter-spacing: 0.1pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"></span><span style="font-size: small;"></span><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></i>
<i><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; letter-spacing: 0.1pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">In a July 26 release from Priests for Life, he noted, </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">“It is not often that we have the bodies of
aborted babies.</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"> Unfortunately, the act by which their lives are dishonored
and their bodies dismembered takes those bodies and discards the with the
medical waste.</span></span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"></span><span style="color: black;"></span><br /></span>
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<i><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; letter-spacing: 0.1pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">“But once in a while, we are able to retrieve these
bodies. When we do so, we give them the honor that others have denied them. The
act of violence that killed them is done in secret; we believe that the act of
reparation that honors them should be done in public. The cold-hearted killing
was done in darkness; the broken-hearted mourning should be done in the bright
light of day.” </span></span></i></div>
<i><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; letter-spacing: 0.1pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">However, two Operation Rescue/Operation Save America
members described the baby as not being recently deceased, saying they have
used her in similar demonstrations elsewhere.</span></span></i><br />
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<i><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; letter-spacing: 0.1pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Organizers insisted that they treat the baby’s remains
with dignity and respect as part of their fight to end abortion.</span></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; letter-spacing: 0.1pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Dr. Patricia McEwen – whom the Priests for Life office
referred inquiries to about “Baby Choice” and now serves with Operation Save
America, Life Coalition International and Doctors for Life International – said
she first met “Baby Choice” in 1991, and that the baby regularly travels around
the country in anti-abortion demonstrations. The baby is the victim of “a very
old saline abortion,” McEwen said, and is </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">kept
in formaldehyde when not being used in demonstrations</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">.</span></span></i></div>
<i><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; letter-spacing: 0.1pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">“We’ve gotten attached to this little one. She’s the
evidence of our sins, of our crimes against the little ones,” said evangelist
Rusty Lee Thomas of Operation Rescue/Operation Save America, who said he once
carried “Baby Choice” on a six-month walk across America in 2004. “It’s not like
we want to exploit her or anything like that…”</span></span></i><br />
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<i><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; letter-spacing: 0.1pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">The article goes on to say: Father Pavone said he buried “Baby
Choice” on July 29 in Staten Island, N.Y., where Priests for Life is
headquartered, in a plot that the organization has reserved…One of the
Operation Rescue/Operation Save America protest organizers said he did not know
beforehand of plans to lay the baby to rest and said that a symbol such as “Baby
Choice” remains important to their cause,</span></span></i></div>
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; letter-spacing: 0.1pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Not all pro-life advocates felt this was
appropriate. Later in the article it was noted that</span><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">:</span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; letter-spacing: 0.1pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></i></span>
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; letter-spacing: 0.1pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Maggi Nadol, director
of the Diocese of Charlotte’s Respect Life Office, did not attend the demonstration,
and there were no other local pro-life leaders visibly present. On Tuesday,
Nadal said, “Respect for Life calls us to treat the human body with dignity.”
Nadol said she could understand a situation where an open casket was used in a
service for an unborn child once. But she expressed concern about it. “If the
body is being used as a tool to bring people together, it is deceit.”</span></i></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana";"><br /></span>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana";">It seems that Patricia Larson Guilfoyle's comment on Mary Paluzzo's blog was correct in the fact that the remains of the baby from 2012 were preserved in formaldehyde and used for multiple demonstrations over a period of years. Is it, however, the same remains used in the most recent video?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana";">Father Pavone has presided over many funerals for aborted babies. Often they are open casket public events that coincide with demonstrations. In 2006 or 2007 the baby was named Rebecca; in 2010 there was Abel; 2011 the baby was Esther; we read about baby Choice in 2012; in early 2013 there was Daniel and then Daniel Pavone later that year; Amos was the name of the baby in 2014. In all of these cases the baby is described as intact and from the second trimester. They are also described as heavily bruised and discolored due to a prostaglandin abortion. Were they all the same baby? In the long run it really doesn't matter if there was one baby or several. Either way, the remains of aborted babies, rather then actually being buried, find their final resting place by being preserved in a solution at a memorial and then are "disinterred" when deemed necessary to make a point. It seems this has been a common and ongoing practice. It also seems that it hasn't really been that big of a secret. The rest of us just haven't been paying attention or didn't connect the dots. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana";">Many have speculated that the baby in Father Pavon's video was not actual remains but rather just an image. There are, in fact, two videos. One that was posted on Facebook and another much shorter video that was posted to YouTube. The baby is in a different position in each video so when comparing the two you can see that it is actual remains and not merely an image. Father Pavone says in each of the videos that it is a baby. That was the point after all. However, if there are still doubts, Snopes.com investigated the story and here is part of what they reported.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i>A spokeswoman for the
Catholic clergy activist group, Priests for Life, confirmed that the fetus was
real and was given to the organization by a pathologist under a strict
agreement on confidentiality, although she was able to tell us that it was
aborted in the second trimester of pregnancy. The group has dubbed the fetus
"Baby Choice."</i></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i>In the video, Fr. Pavone
has the fetus on an altar, which the spokeswoman said is located in a room that
is sometimes used for Mass at the organization's headquarters in Staten Island,
New York. The Priests for Life group originally performed a funeral service for
the body, which is preserved in formalin and normally kept in a memorial chapel.
On the Sunday before the contentious 8 November 2016 presidential election, Fr.
Pavone put it on wider display and urged the religious to vote against legal
abortion by ousting Democratic lawmakers…</i></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; margin: 0px;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; margin: 0px;">Is this "Baby Choice" the same "Baby Choice" from 2012? It doesn't really matter. It is the treatment of the babies regardless of if there has been one or several.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; margin: 0px;">Father Pavone has said that it is not about his treatment of babies but rather how the abortionists have treated the babies. Respectfully, I beg to differ. It is ALL about the treatment of these babies be it the abortionist's or ours. Their wrong does not make ours right. The very point of pro-life advocacy is predicated on the dignity of every human life. Their dignity in life and their dignity in death. They are persons not symbols. They are not opportunities to advance a cause or to force people to recognize the horrors of abortion. When we receive their bodies we don't own them. We cannot arrogantly determine that they be used for a greater good. How dare we? When we receive their bodies we give them reverence and respect by performing the final work of mercy of burying the dead. Not a temporary burial so that we can take them out and use them for our own purposes. A permanent burial. We then allow them to rest in peace praying that the Lord grant them eternal rest and allow his perpetual light to shine upon them. Anything else is an assault on their person hood and dignity that mirrors in attitude those who assaulted them physically and took their lives.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; margin: 0px;">We will never convince others of the dignity of children in the womb if we treat them as possessions whose bodies we may use according to our own determinations. We can show all of the images and videos we want to try to shock people into the reality of the desecration through abortion. But that is not what people will see. Instead they will see the hypocrisy of our own disregard of those little bodies and our lack of recognition of that child as a unique, individual person and a child of God. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "verdana";">My purpose in writing this post is to shine a light on this situation in order to advocate for Baby Choice and his/her immediate, final and permanent burial. Cardinal Dolan of the archdiocese of New York does not have a connection to Priests for Life but he may have jurisdiction of the proper interment of this child's remains. Bishop Patrick Zurek of Amarillo Texas is the bishop over Father Pavone. These two bishops may be able to jointly insist that Baby Choice be permanently laid to rest as well as future remains that Father Pavone may receive. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "verdana";">Church regulations state that fetal remains "must be respected just as the remains of other human beings." This would include a timely burial and treating the remains with reverence for the sake of the dignity of the child and that the risk of scandal may be avoided.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "verdana";">I am praying for Father Pavone that the Lord will give him a new understanding regarding this. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "verdana";">The one thing left to be done is for Baby Choice to finally be laid to rest.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "verdana";">For what it's worth</span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "verdana";">The following are links to some of the blog posts and writers that have written their opinions on this controversy</span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; margin: 0px;">Scott Eric Alt - To Give a Defense </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><span style="color: #1a1a1a;"></span><a href="http://www.patheos.com/blogs/scottericalt/after-sick-political-stunt-fr-pavones-faculties-should-be-suspended/" target="_blank">http://www.patheos.com/blogs/scottericalt/after-sick-political-stunt-fr-pavones-faculties-should-be-suspended/</a></span><br />
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; margin: 0px;"><a href="http://www.patheos.com/blogs/scottericalt/the-evil-of-abortion-does-not-justify-fr-frank-pavone/">http://www.patheos.com/blogs/scottericalt/the-evil-of-abortion-does-not-justify-fr-frank-pavone/</a></span><br />
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; margin: 0px;">Mary Peluzzo - Steel Magnificat</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><span style="color: black;"><a href="http://www.patheos.com/blogs/steelmagnificat/2016/11/father-pavone-treats-naked-human-remains-as-photo-prop/">http://www.patheos.com/blogs/steelmagnificat/2016/11/father-pavone-treats-naked-human-remains-as-photo-prop/</a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><a href="http://www.patheos.com/blogs/steelmagnificat/2016/11/the-implications-of-fr-pavones-mad-act/">http://www.patheos.com/blogs/steelmagnificat/2016/11/the-implications-of-fr-pavones-mad-act/</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><a href="http://www.patheos.com/blogs/steelmagnificat/2016/11/an-open-letter-on-the-ecclesiastical-treatment-of-human-remains/">http://www.patheos.com/blogs/steelmagnificat/2016/11/an-open-letter-on-the-ecclesiastical-treatment-of-human-remains/</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><a href="http://www.patheos.com/blogs/steelmagnificat/2016/11/has-father-pavone-kept-mummified-human-remains-for-more-than-a-decade/">http://www.patheos.com/blogs/steelmagnificat/2016/11/has-father-pavone-kept-mummified-human-remains-for-more-than-a-decade/</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana";">Mark Shea - Catholic and Enjoying It</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><a href="http://www.patheos.com/blogs/markshea/2016/11/using-the-unborn-dead-body-as-a-human-shield.html">http://www.patheos.com/blogs/markshea/2016/11/using-the-unborn-dead-body-as-a-human-shield.html</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><a href="http://www.patheos.com/blogs/markshea/2016/11/the-archdiocese-of-new-york-responds-to-fr-pavones-trump-inspired-sacrilege.html">http://www.patheos.com/blogs/markshea/2016/11/the-archdiocese-of-new-york-responds-to-fr-pavones-trump-inspired-sacrilege.html</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana";">Keith Michael Estrada - Proper Nomenclature</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><a href="http://www.patheos.com/blogs/propernomenclature/father-frank-live-on-facebook-using-the-dead-to-elect-trump-going-too-far/">http://www.patheos.com/blogs/propernomenclature/father-frank-live-on-facebook-using-the-dead-to-elect-trump-going-too-far/</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><a href="http://www.patheos.com/blogs/propernomenclature/did-father-frank-use-a-dead-body-or-a-crafty-image-of-one-priests-for-life-responds/">http://www.patheos.com/blogs/propernomenclature/did-father-frank-use-a-dead-body-or-a-crafty-image-of-one-priests-for-life-responds/</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><a href="http://www.patheos.com/blogs/propernomenclature/adoring-trump-fr-frank-pavone-uploads-second-video-with-body-used-as-prop/">http://www.patheos.com/blogs/propernomenclature/adoring-trump-fr-frank-pavone-uploads-second-video-with-body-used-as-prop/</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><a href="http://www.patheos.com/blogs/propernomenclature/breaking-fr-frank-pavone-defends-sacrilege-the-issue-is-not-how-im-treating-a-baby/">http://www.patheos.com/blogs/propernomenclature/breaking-fr-frank-pavone-defends-sacrilege-the-issue-is-not-how-im-treating-a-baby/</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><a href="http://www.patheos.com/blogs/propernomenclature/breaking-fr-frank-pavone-defends-sacrilege-the-issue-is-not-how-im-treating-a-baby/">http://www.patheos.com/blogs/propernomenclature/breaking-fr-frank-pavone-defends-sacrilege-the-issue-is-not-how-im-treating-a-baby/</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana";">Matthew Tyson - Mackerel Snapper</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><a href="http://www.patheos.com/blogs/themackerelsnapper/2016/11/07/frank-pavone-is-a-sick-man/">http://www.patheos.com/blogs/themackerelsnapper/2016/11/07/frank-pavone-is-a-sick-man/</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana";">Rebecca Bratten Weis - Suspended in Her Jar</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><a href="http://www.patheos.com/blogs/suspendedinherjar/2016/11/893/">http://www.patheos.com/blogs/suspendedinherjar/2016/11/893/</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana";">Sam Rocha</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><a href="http://www.patheos.com/blogs/samrocha/2016/11/fr-pavone-places-human-corpse-on-altar-an-offering-to-the-idol-of-trump/">http://www.patheos.com/blogs/samrocha/2016/11/fr-pavone-places-human-corpse-on-altar-an-offering-to-the-idol-of-trump/</a></span><span style="font-family: "verdana";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; margin: 0px;">Anthony Lane - The Impractical Catholic <a href="http://impracticalcatholic.blogspot.com/2016/11/fighting-sin-with-sacrilege-dumb.html#.WCPvZYWcH4h">http://impracticalcatholic.blogspot.com/2016/11/fighting-sin-with-sacrilege-dumb.html#.WCPvZYWcH4h</a></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Elizabeth Scalia</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://aleteia.org/2016/11/08/fr-pavone-tries-to-right-a-wrong-with-another-wrong/?ru=47d0756eb45e889ab5ed62566f95d010">http://aleteia.org/2016/11/08/fr-pavone-tries-to-right-a-wrong-with-another-wrong/?ru=47d0756eb45e889ab5ed62566f95d010</a></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08775098669477885570noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1856818432411404016.post-79947221174745934882016-07-15T10:27:00.001-07:002016-07-15T10:27:22.769-07:00Scripture Alone?- Showing Up Catholic Episose 17Here is a link to my latest episode of Showing Up Catholic for the Vericast Network<br />
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Showing Up Catholic Ep. 17</h5>
<span class="title1"><b><span style="color: #3f3f3f; font-size: x-large;">“Scripture Alone?”</span></b></span><br /><span class="date1">July 14, 2016</span><br />
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Is scripture alone sufficient as a rule of faith? Protestants think so. Debates often pit scripture against tradition. The Catholic Church teaches the unity of scripture and tradition. In this episode we discuss how we can remain confident in the Churches teachings. Oral tradition, written tradition, and the authority of the Church assures us of the authenticity and correctness of a teaching far more precisely and reliably than an individual interpretation of scripture alone</h4>
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http://www.vericast.net/blog/2016/07/14/22598/</h4>
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If you want to catch up on any past episodes of Showing Up Catholic that you may have missed.</h4>
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http://www.vericast.net/blog/category/podcasts/showing-up-catholic/</h4>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08775098669477885570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1856818432411404016.post-54006676543562886112016-05-21T08:45:00.000-07:002016-05-21T08:50:55.684-07:00Respecting Bishops...Even When They Play The UkuleleEarlier this week Church Militant reported on a Confirmation Mass at Assumption Grotto in Detroit. According to the report, Auxiliary Bishop Donald Hanchon played the ukulele and sang during his homily. The parish organist, apparently feeling that the ukulele was inappropriate for the liturgy, began to play the organ at full volume in order to drown out the Bishop and continued to play even after the Bishop had stopped. Well, I guess they showed that Bishop what's what now didn't they? And Church Militant was on the scene.<br />
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Am I the only one wondering how serendipitous it was that Church Militant was on the scene, at the ready, to record and report on the public comeuppance of this Bishop? I have got to be honest here. What I am seeing is an adolescent prank with adolescent justifications. Another opportunity to publicly demonstrate and reinforce the narrative that our bishops are failing us. For how can we maintain a campaign of resistance to bishops without exposing the evidence of their failings? Failings that would appear to abdicate authority and therefore justify the taking of that authority into our own hands?<br />
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The Bishop's actions were described as a stunt and antics, as banal and irreverent. In the com-boxes descriptions included shenanigans and sacrilege. The parish of Assumption Grotto is described as reverent and the organist as playing more appropriate themed music. Many commenters applauded the organist for having the temerity to show the Bishop the error of his ways. Although some commenters expressed that this may have been somewhat of a disrespectful way to treat a Bishop, the consensus seemed to be that it was justified because the Bishop had committed a far greater error. <br />
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You might feel that ukuleles are inappropriate at Mass. That's ok. You might feel that someone should correct the Bishop regarding what might be perceived as irreverence during the liturgy. That's ok, too. You might even think that the Bishop should have at least been able to recognize that the ukulele might not go over so well at some parishes as it would in others thus adjusting his homily accordingly. That's ok as well. The issue isn't that we sometimes don't agree with the way a bishop is doing things. It isn't that we might at times criticize the behavior of a bishop. The faithful have a canonical right and duty to the let the bishop know when they think something might not be right. The issue is not that at times there may be the necessity to publicly criticize or correct a bishop. The problem is all in the manner in which we do so. Criticism should not demean the authority of the bishop, his office or create harmful divisions in the Body of Christ. We are to show bishops reverence and be attentive to the dignity of their person. (Code of Canon Law 212). In matters of opinion we are to avoid setting forth our own opinions as doctrines of the Church. (Code of Canon Law 227) We are also not supposed to incite animosity or hatred against a bishop or provoke others to disobey them. (Code of Canon Law 1373)<br />
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I can't help thinking how we could even consider it possible and reasonable to uphold the reverence of a Mass with something that was irreverent as well. Wouldn't it be irreverent to interrupt a homily and disrupt a Mass as a protest? Wouldn't it be disrespectful to mock a bishop as he stood liturgically and sacramentally in the person of Christ? Doesn't it demean the authority of a bishop not to acknowledge that his judgment, authority and discretion regarding the liturgical use of a homily out ranks that of an organist? Shouldn't we consider that the manner in which a story is reported might incite animosity or provoke disobedience? Or possibly that might be what is going on in the comment discussions?<br />
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Church Militant reports that Bishop Hanchon is well known for playing his ukulele during his homilies. It would not be unreasonable to assume that the Archbishop is aware of it, as well, and allows it. It isn't reported, however, that any parishioners of Assumption Grotto made any attempts to address this with the Bishop through proper channels before the Mass. It was also not reported that such requests had been to no avail, therefore forcing a protest as a last resort. As a matter of fact, one commenter related the following<br />
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"Bishop Hanchon celebrated Confirmations in the Extraordinary Form for the Oakland County Latin Mass Association at the Academy of the Sacred Heart Chapel a few months ago. We knew of his inclination to play his ukulele and politely but clearly requested that he not do so at our Mass. He gladly agreed."<br />
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It would appear that no attempt was made regarding a similar request to the Bishop before this particular Mass. He was not given the fair chance to gladly agree to their request or ignore it. It seems that knowing full well that the ukulele is a possibility, all you have to do is merely wait for that to occur. With media on standby you can then just pull a stunt of your own. When asked by Church Militant if he had made a deliberate attempt to silence the bishop's performance, the organist remarked with a smile, "I'm not going to confirm or deny anything." <br />
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So how did Bishop Hanchon react to the interruption of his homily? Graciously and with aplomb, he said, "Only at Grotto do you get that sort of accompaniment. Thank you very much."<br />
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Sticking it to the man is an expression that essentially means resistance to authority either passively, openly or via sabotage. We talk about reverence, we talk about admonishing the sinner and instructing the ignorant, we talk about orthodoxy but sometimes we are just sticking it to the man. We abandon reasonable attempts to solve a problem. Like recalcitrant children, we resort to public displays to humiliate, to mock and ridicule, to call attention to ourselves, to force others to do things our way. We forget about the Golden Rule, justifying our behavior with the fact that the other guy was worse. Now, my momma done told me that two wrongs don't make a right but that doesn't seem to matter much when what we want is to stick it to the man. This was the public sabotage of a bishop and a mass as a first resort rather than allowing the bishop the benefit of favorably responding to a respectful appeal. Of course, a bishop responding to a reasonable request makes for a far less sensational news item. This was sticking it to the man just for the sake of sticking it to the man because it was unnecessary. Or even worse, judging from some com-box responses and the coy response of the organist, sticking it to the man for kicks and giggles. I have to wonder about the Catholic mind that would think of such a thing as being appropriate and reverent during a mass merely because it employed an organ.<br />
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<i>"</i><i>But inasmuch as love suffers me not to be silent in regard to you, I have therefore taken upon me first to exhort you that you would all run together in accordance with the will of God. For even Jesus Christ, our inseparable life, is the manifested will of the Father; as also bishops, settled everywhere to the utmost bounds of the earth, are so by the will of Jesus Christ… Let us be careful, then, not to set ourselves in opposition to the bishop, in order that we may be subject to God."</i><br />
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<i>"It is therefore fitting that you should, after no hypocritical fashion, obey in honour of Him who has willed us, since he that does not so deceives not the bishop that is visible, but seeks to mock Him that is invisible. And all such conduct has reference not to man, but to God, who knows all secrets.”</i><br />
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<i>“It is fitting, then, not only to be called Christians, but to be so in reality: as some indeed give one the title of bishop, but do all things without him. Now such persons seem to me to be not possessed of a good conscience, seeing they are not steadfastly gathered together according to the commandment.”</i><br />
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-<i>St. Ignatius of </i><i>Antioch</i><br />
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The Church has taught from it's earliest days that we should demonstrate the highest of respect for and harmony with our bishops whether they are deserving of it or not. The Church teaches reverence for the Mass. The Church also teaches the highest regard and respect for our bishops. We do not abandon one teaching in order to uphold another. <br />
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Bishop Hanchon, for the sake of his office, deserved better treatment than this. He deserved to be approached beforehand with a respectful request. Past behavior indicates that he would have been open and accommodating had such a request been made. He deserved better than to be hijacked during a Mass for the sake of attention seeking and a media presence. He deserved better than a bias that attempted to diminish his position. He deserved better than scathing com-box excoriation and mockery. He deserved better than to be ridiculed in follow-up blogs. He deserved to be treated fairly because he is a bishop. We all deserved better because we are supposed to be better. Better than a giggling prank aimed at demeaning a bishop at the expense of the mass. Better than such a lowering of the bar of expectation regarding how Catholics live out exemplifying the Gospel and the teachings of the Church.<br />
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<i>"...for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of faith and knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the extent of the full stature of Christ, so that we may no longer be infants, tossed by waves and swept along by every wind of teaching arising from human trickery, from their cunning in the interests of deceitful scheming. Rather, living the truth in love, we should grow in every way into him who is the head, Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, with the proper functioning of each part, brings about the body's growth and builds itself up in love" Ephesians 4:12-16</i><br />
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For what it's worth.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08775098669477885570noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1856818432411404016.post-9507816248726910482016-04-29T13:23:00.001-07:002016-04-29T13:23:25.812-07:00Heart's on Fire - Showing Up Catholic Episode 14Here is the latest episode of Showing Up Catholic for the Vericast Network.<br />
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Showing Up Catholic Ep. 14</h5>
<span class="title1"><b><span style="color: #3f3f3f; font-size: x-large;">“Hearts On Fire”</span></b></span><br /><span class="date1">April 28, 2016</span><br />
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This episode is all about heart. Do we have hearts that are on fire with the love of Christ? With some help from St. Ignatius and Pope Pius XII we talk about uniting our hearts to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. With hearts on fire we then go forth to set the world on fire for the greater glory of God and the salvation of humanity.</div>
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http://www.vericast.net/blog/2016/04/28/hearts-fire-showing-catholic-ep-14/<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08775098669477885570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1856818432411404016.post-19298448090511092772016-04-29T10:21:00.002-07:002016-04-30T06:55:03.828-07:00Holding Out for a Hero<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Where have all the good men gone<br /> And where are all the gods?<br /> Where's the street-wise Hercules<br /> To fight the rising odds?<br /> Isn't there a white knight upon a fiery steed?<br /> Late at night I toss and I turn and I dream of what I need</i></div>
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<i><br /></i>Such has been the persona of Michael Voris. The Catholic media man and white knight who's mission it is to right the wrongs in the Church by trapping and exposing all the lies and falsehood. If you follow the more sensational aspects of Catholic media you will have heard of him. I have the feeling, however, that the majority of Catholics in the world might not really know who Michael Voris is. They are merely living their faith the best they can and trying to share it with the world around them. They are holding out, not for a hero, but for one who loved them so greatly that he died to give them life. They serve the God who so loved the world that he gave his only son to save it. They haven't been holding out for a hero, probably don't see the need for one. If they see heroes at all it is in the example of those who have gone before. Those of proven mettle through heroic virtue. Those who lived and died dedicated to passing on what was given to them. It was through those lives lived for the sake of others, far more than their ability to expose and right wrongs, that we are given the precious gift of our faith.</div>
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<i>I need a hero<br /> I'm holding out for a hero 'til the end of the night<br /> He's gotta be strong<br /> And he's gotta be fast<br /> And he's gotta be fresh from the fight<br /> I need a hero<br /> I'm holding out for a hero 'til the morning light<br /> He's gotta be sure<br /> And it's gotta be soon<br /> And he's gotta be larger than life</i></div>
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The trouble with heroes is that they gotta be larger than life. None of us really are. There are times, however, when we bestow upon someone that level of import and relevance. In the last week or so, whether you regard Michael Voris as a hero or an anti-hero, he has become larger than life. Countless articles, blogs and even odes have been written about him. He has been lauded and applauded for his courage, integrity and honesty. Com boxes have been buzzing hot and heavy about him. People have argued and divided over him. The outpouring of support for him was a proud day for the Catholic Church. He has been called the poster boy for mercy and by some, I would say, deemed the future St. Michael of the Vortex.</div>
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So what did Micheal Voris do that was so extraordinary and larger than life that we would be willing to extend to him such charity and mercy? A charity and mercy that we are almost obstinately unwilling to give to others? That, quite honestly, even he himself was often unwilling or incapable of giving to those he sought to expose? What did he do that was so worthy of praise, honor, glory and accolades? </div>
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He publicly admitted to the sins of his past and that those sins had included a homosexual lifestyle. That's it? Why, yes, yes it is. He owned up because he thought he was under the gun of a public disclosure if he didn't. </div>
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Let's just let that sink in for a minute. I've got time...</div>
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Don't all of us have to own up to and be accountable for our past? He is not the first under threat of exposure to choose to make public a sordid past nor will he be the last. What makes this so special and worthy of all the attention that has been given to it? Isn't Michael Voris, then, no better than the rest of us? Bingo.</div>
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Then why?</div>
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Because there were many who believed that his muck rucking constituted the fighting of the good fight. They need a hero and he was it. And if he isn't, if he is just like everybody else, sinners that we are, they are not sure what they can believe in anymore. And because we are afraid. We are afraid of the evil that lurks in the hearts of men. We are afraid that since men are in the Church that evil lurks there too. We are afraid of the evil that lurks in our own hearts and in the hearts of the person next to us. That mercy or forgiveness may not be available to us because of it. Essentially, we are afraid that evil might be winning. So we have set ourselves against each other and sometimes against the Church, exposing and pointing out the sins of others. We squabble amongst ourselves. We defend those who we consider our own and recriminate those who are not. We construct saviors and villains that oppose them. Michael Voris led that charge for many and without him where do they go? </div>
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Most of all, it is because we are "oh ye of little faith".</div>
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Jesus Christ, though he certainly is larger than life, did not come to be larger than life. He came to be life itself and to give it to us abundantly. He told us not to be afraid. He told us that evil has already been defeated. It doesn't win, it isn't winning and it won't win. To believe otherwise gives it a power that it does not possess. Only a lack of faith makes it appear larger than the life of Christ. It makes us afraid and holding out for heroes.</div>
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As for Michael Voris? He only faced what is common to all of us. The consequences in this life of our choices both past and present. Did he do it well? Only God knows the sincerity of a man's heart. In charity we pray for him as we should always pray for each other. We might want to stop holding out for him to be our hero, though. We might want to stop making him larger than life. He doesn't have what it takes. None of us do.</div>
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<span class="bcv"><i>4</i></span><i>You belong to God, children, and you have conquered them, for the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. 1 Jn 4:4</i></div>
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For what it's worth.</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Holding Out for a Hero - written by Jim Steinman and Dean Pitchford </span></div>
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<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08775098669477885570noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1856818432411404016.post-71850986747066723732016-03-21T22:32:00.003-07:002016-03-21T22:32:54.814-07:00Showing Up CatholicHere are some episodes of "Showing Up Catholic" on the Vericast Network that you may have missed.<br />
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Showing Up Catholic Ep. 11<br />
<span class="title1"><b><span style="color: #3f3f3f; font-size: x-large;">“I’ve Been Through The Desert”</span></b></span><br />
<span class="date1">March 9, 2016</span><br />
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Spiritual dryness, times of testing, suffering and hardship. These are often described as desert experiences. Lent is a time in the desert as well. In this episode Vickie talks about spiritual benefits that can come from our times in the desert if we are willing to lift our heads and look beyond hardship.</h4>
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http://www.vericast.net/blog/2016/03/09/ive-desert-showing-catholic-ep-11/</h4>
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Showing Up Catholic Ep. 10</h5>
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<span class="title1"><span style="color: #3f3f3f; font-size: x-large;">“Sharing in Christ’s Suffering”</span></span><br /><span class="date1">February 26, 2016</span></h4>
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Do Catholics have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ? Most definitely. We encounter him in many ways. During Lent we demonstrate that relationship by compassionately and gratefully contemplating his suffering for our sake. We join him in his suffering to share in the redemptive work of the Cross. In this episode Vickie gives a perspective on sharing in Christ’s suffering. She also shares a few prayer devotions that may help us deepen our relationship with Christ and enrich our pious practices for Lent.</h4>
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<i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>http://www.vericast.net/blog/2016/02/26/sharing-in-christs-suffering-sc-ep10/</h4>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: x-large;">“Confessions of a Pope Defender”</span><span style="color: black;"> — Showing Up Catholic Ep. 8</span></h4>
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In this Episode Vickie talks about what it means to be a Pope defender. She investigates some Church documents that might give us some food for thought regarding our relationship to the Pope in the Mystical Body of Christ. She talks about some ways that we can express questions, concerns and difficulties we might have with the Pope while maintaining unity and integrity to Church teaching.</h4>
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http://www.vericast.net/blog/2016/01/23/confessions-of-a-pope-defender-showing-up-catholic-ep-8/<i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike></h4>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08775098669477885570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1856818432411404016.post-39781743757322600432016-02-14T17:43:00.000-08:002016-02-14T17:43:00.116-08:00Showing Up Catholic Episode 9 - Mercy and ReconciliationMy latest episode of "Showing Up Catholic" for the Vericast Network<br />
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<span class="title1"><b><span style="color: #3f3f3f; font-size: x-large;">"Mercy and Reconciliation"</span></b></span><br />
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During Lent we contemplate the mystery of the Cross and the Resurrection. Mercy is an essential component of that mystery. Mercy is at the core and center of the Gospel message. In this episode, Vickie examines what our most recent Popes have said about mercy. She discusses as well the Sacrament of Reconciliation as a means to experiencing God's mercy.</h4>
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<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><span style="font-size: large;">Watch it <a href="http://www.vericast.net/blog/2016/02/10/mercy-and-forgiveness-showing-up-catholic-ep-9/" target="_blank">here</a></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08775098669477885570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1856818432411404016.post-72036187126213352532016-01-09T17:24:00.000-08:002017-05-09T09:07:13.335-07:00Oh Lord, Please Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>I'm just a soul whose intentions are good</i></div>
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<i>Oh Lord please don't let me be misunderstood</i></div>
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<i>The Animals 1965</i></div>
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From the very first day that he stepped out on the balcony of St Peter's, there have been those who have been horrified at Pope Francis. As a matter of fact, a blog headline on that first day of his pontificate read "The Horror". Even though the only actions the Pope had taken, as the Pope, at that time was that he wanted to dress and live simply, he waved and he asked for prayer. Even so, from that day to this, for nearly three years many have done whatever they can to prove that Pope Francis is not the man for the job. Every breath he takes, every move he makes, every single day and every word he says, they've been watching him. Watching for every misstep, watching for every misspoken word or mistranslation, watching for every analogy that might not hold up. Scrutinizing every homily for the most minuscule perception of inconsistency. Then using those perceived inconsistencies to prove that Pope Francis is not worthy to be pope. Not only is he not worthy through an impression of ineptitude but rather they contend that he is an intentional heretic and a danger to the Church. They are then completely justified in turning others against him.<br />
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I have begun to get the reputation of a pope defender of none renown. I don't have enough people reading my blogs to claim any renown. Even so there are a couple of people who have Googled me and have seen that I have defended the Pope on more than one occasion. Those who wish to challenge my position often resort to a question like "Oh, so you just (blindly) think everything the Pope does is just swell?" Not necessarily. But I do give him the benefit of the doubt when something controversial is reported and I investigate. More times than not I find that while it may be said that the Pope is possibly unorthodox in style he is not heterodox in what he has said or done. I try to discover what the Pope may have been intending to teach me. I also know, if he makes a mistake, that "all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose"(Rom 8:28). So when the Pope makes a mistake, even if he is out and out wrong, I am not afraid the Church will come crashing to the ground. I believe that the Holy Father loves God and has been called according to his purpose, that Jesus sanctifies his Bride the Church and that the Holy Spirit is active in guiding it. I do not expect perfection from the Pope, I know that he is human. The Church does not teach that everything that the Pope says and does will be perfect, that it will not be subject to human flaws. The Pope's intentions are good. I believe, however, that he is often deliberately misunderstood. Some may say the road to hell is paved with good intentions. That may be so. But right back at ya. It could also be said that to justify turning others against the Vicar of Christ, through intentions that we might consider good, a grave matter as well.<br />
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The words of the Holy Father are often challenging. They require us to dig a little deeper and think a little harder. Knowledge and understanding are more easily retained when we have to seek it for ourselves rather than having it spoon feed to us. I think that we don't always want to put that much effort into it. We prefer to be spoon fed a pablum of Vatican clarifications of the Pope's words and intent. I wonder sometimes, is the Pope really that confusing? Because I am not confused by him. I wonder if it is truly a matter of ambiguity and lack of clarity or if many are confused by him plain and simply because they are being told that they are supposed to be? I do know that the Pope is often misunderstood. I also know with certainty that there are times that this is intentionally and deliberately so.<br />
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Recently such misunderstanding has surrounded the homily that Pope Francis gave on <a href="http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2015/12/27/pope_francis_homily_for_feast_of_holy_family/1197111" target="_blank">the Feast of the Holy Family</a>. There are some that have determined that the Pope said that Jesus sinned or that he required forgiveness and mercy due to sin. I have read that homily and can say that even on the face of it, Pope Francis said no such thing. A couple of bloggers that I know have written some very good articles explaining things, both men far more astute and erudite than I in the areas of theology and apologetics. The first being Scott Eric Alt's article <a href="http://notthemagisterium.com/does-the-pope-really-think-jesus-sinned/" target="_blank">"Does the Pope Really Think Jesus Sinned"</a> and a second piece by Dave Armstrong <a href="http://www.patheos.com/blogs/davearmstrong/2016/01/pope-francis-espoused-a-sinning-jesus-think-again.html" target="_blank">"Pope Francis Espoused a Sinning Jesus? Think Again"</a>. <br />
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My perspective comes from that of your common every day pew sitter. Speaking as an average Catholic I think you can give most of us a little credit as to having a certain amount of intelligence and at least an elementary knowledge of Church teaching. We also can handle a bad analogy from the Pope or something that might be misspoken without getting all shocked, shaken or jeopardizing our faith. Most of us do have the ability to interpret something that might be unclear through something that has been previously made clear. The Church teaches that Jesus was fully human in everything except sin. That has been made clear. The Pope has said it, as well, more than once as referenced in the two articles I have mentioned. The Pope does not then have to clarify that in every homily. He might be able to assume that would be the default understanding. Unless, of course, you are looking to find fault with something that he said.<br />
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Our Holy Father, in his homily, spoke of the family as being on pilgrimage together specifically in worshipping and praying together. He spoke as well of the importance of mercy in the family and that family is "a privileged place" of giving and receiving forgiveness and "experiencing <i>the joy of forgiveness." </i>He then used the gospel of that day, the finding of Jesus in the temple, and related it to the human experience within this context. Although I would recommend reading the entire homily in order to clearly understand the context of Pope Francis' words, the following is the portion that seems to have been the source of misunderstandings.<br />
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<i>At the end of that pilgrimage, Jesus returned to Nazareth and was obedient to his parents (cf. Lk 2:51). This image also contains a beautiful teaching about our families. A pilgrimage does not end when we arrive at our destination, but when we return home and resume our everyday lives, putting into practice the spiritual fruits of our experience. We know what Jesus did on that occasion. Instead of returning home with his family, he stayed in Jerusalem, in the Temple, causing great distress to Mary and Joseph who were unable to find him. For this little “escapade”, Jesus probably had to beg forgiveness of his parents. The Gospel doesn’t say this, but I believe that we can presume it. Mary’s question, moreover, contains a certain reproach, revealing the concern and anguish which she and Joseph felt. Returning home, Jesus surely remained close to them, as a sign of his complete affection and obedience. Moments like these become part of the pilgrimage of each family; the Lord transforms the moments into opportunities to grow, to ask for and to receive forgiveness, to show love and obedience.</i><br />
<i>In the Year of Mercy, every Christian family can become a privileged place on this pilgrimage for experiencing the joy of forgiveness. Forgiveness is the essence of the love which can understand mistakes and mend them. How miserable we would be if God did not forgive us! Within the family we learn how to forgive, because we are certain that we are understood and supported, whatever the mistakes we make.</i><br />
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The word "sin" is not actually used within the homily, not once. The Holy Father does use the word "mistake". Within context, however, it seems that he is speaking about our experiences in families and not speaking of Jesus. Most of the objections seemed to arise from the use of the word "escapade" and the idea that Jesus may have asked for the forgiveness of his parents.<br />
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You may find the use of the word "escapade" to be a little cheeky. Then again, the word is enclosed in quotation marks indicating the Pope was probably being a little tongue in cheek and not literal. Lord help us, however, if our faith can be shaken on a cheeky reference from the Pope. Then again, have any of us been in a situation like that, where we couldn't find one of our children? Not through sin or fault but because of a miscommunication or misunderstanding? Then, after they are found safe and sound the story is told at family events as an "escapade"? I can relate a story from my own family. My sister and her son became separated at the mall. Often we tell our children to stay where they are when they become separated and wait for us to find them. My nephew, thinking the one place his mother would have to return to would be the car, went out to the parking lot, got in the car and waited patiently for his mother to find him. He was completely unaware of the furor going on inside of the mall as my sister searched frantically for him with the help of mall security. Did my nephew sin? Of course not. He did what he thought would be the right thing. Eventually he was found safe and sound. This "escapade" is now part of the lore related at family events. <br />
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In a similar way, Jesus thought that he was in a place where his parents could find him. He answered a call to be in his father's house. When Mary and Joseph found him they expressed that anxiety, without sin. Any parent who has lost a child for more than a minute understands the profound depth of that kind of distress, as well as the depth of relief when they are found. In answering his parents some have said that Jesus was challenging them with a higher calling to be in his father's house. I think, however, that it was possible that there was merely some surprise there. "I had no idea. I honestly believed that if you couldn't find me you would know that I would be in my father's house and would be safe there." Honoring your father and mother is a commandment. The Lord holds that commandment in high enough regard that the keeping of it will bring you long life and the answers to your prayers. So could Jesus have asked forgiveness because of his parents distress? To honor his father and mother? Jesus often did what was right because it was right. He did many things to demonstrate humility, obedience and because they were required by the commandments. So I find it completely credible that Jesus may have said "I'm sorry you were so worried." and his parents may have responded "We are sorry that we did not understand,"<br />
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Have you ever said you were sorry not because you were at fault due to sin, but because of a misunderstanding or miscommunication? Have you said your were sorry because it was the right thing to do? Have you said you were sorry because, even though you were not at fault, not to do so would have been a matter or pride? Have you ever said you were sorry because the other person might need to hear it? I have. Jesus who was perfect, and his parents who were of far greater virtue than me may have as well. Sometimes asking for forgiveness is an act of humility. And sometimes when we ask for forgiveness we are actually extending mercy rather than requiring it.<br />
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<i>"Let us not lose confidence in the family! It is beautiful when we can always open our hearts to one another, and hide nothing. Where there is love, there is also understanding and forgiveness. To all of you, dear families, I entrust this most important mission - the domestic pilgrimage of daily family life - which the world and the Church need, now more than ever."</i><br />
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These are the final words of the Holy Father's homily. I believe we should take them to heart and extend them to the Pope as well. We should, through charity, first seek understanding regarding what the Pope says and does. Sometimes he may very well be wrong. In this case, I do not believe that he was, nor do I believe that his message was as confusing that some would have lead us to believe. His words did not put into question the teaching that Jesus was without sin. Nor did they cause me to doubt his divinity. The default position in reading this passage of scripture is that Jesus was without sin and that Marty did not sin as well. The default position with the Pope should be to seek orthodoxy first. Unless of course one chooses to be obstinate in misunderstanding him.<br />
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He's just a soul whose intentions are good.<br />
Oh, Lord please don't let him be misunderstood.<br />
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For what it's worth.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08775098669477885570noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1856818432411404016.post-16188166969968225532016-01-05T21:28:00.000-08:002016-01-06T08:40:23.443-08:00Headlines, G-Spots, Hoax and Hype <span style="color: black;">Put the words "female sexual" anything with the word Vatican and you've got yourselves a headline that will certainly pique the interest of many. That's the function of a headline, to intrigue and interest the reader enough that they will then read the article. However, often in today's world of scrolling and trolling on the internet many readers don't go beyond the headline. So it is that headline that tells the story for them and what might actually be in the article or what actually might be the truth really doesn't matter much. The damage has been done with a provocative headline. Often sensationalism is used in either subject matter, language or style. Designed to startle, to deliberately create controversy or to excite and please vulgar taste, sensationalism overly hypes or exaggerates events. They can contain biased impressions which may or may not cause a manipulation of what the truth is but definitely persuades the reader to view an event in a particular way. It is quite possible to whip people into an emotional frenzy through sensationalistic headlines. Sometimes creating tempests in teapots and mountains out of mole hills. When it comes to the Vatican and sex these headlines can cause many Catholics to clutch their pearls, fetch Miss Pitty her smelling salts and start breathing into paper bags as their confidence in the Church ebbs away. Looking to the storm they are overcome and begin to sink below waves of fear and anxiety. Because if the Church is as scandalous as the headline suggests then what confidence can one have in it? Often the damage in stories that are approached in this manner, to the confidence of the faithful, the reputation of the Church, and collaterally done to others outweighs any benefit that might be found under the auspices of truth or the exposure of wrong doing. </span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">Secrets of the G-Spot Unravelled by the Vatican</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Plastic Surgery Conference at Catholic University in Rome to Explore Female Sexual Pleasure</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Theology of the Lady Parts (this article has been removed)</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Learn Secrets of the G-Spot at College Linked to Vatican</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Catholic University to reveal nuns secret of the female body</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Theology of the Clitoris ( This article been removed)</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Vatican FacePalm: Make Plans To Attend Genitalia Enhancement Class</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Get a Better Sex Life Via The Vatican's Catholic University</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">The story seems to have been broken by The Daily Mail. Subsequent early reports seemed to piggy-back on this article as their only source and then began to link and reference each other. Then it was a hoax. Then it wasn't a hoax. Blogs were written, blogs were retracted, there were mea culpas given and mea culpas taken away. There was hype, there was bias, there was immature prurience. Much of what was printed was the product of the playground of suspicious minds in its exaggerated and sensationalized over-sexualization. I get that coming from the secular sources. That's sort of how they are. Some of them are not going to pass up the chance to give the impression that the Catholic Church has an element of celibate old men who are obsessed with sex because they aren't having any. Or because they think all Catholics are obsessed with sex due to the fact that the oppressive nature of Church doctrines severely limits our sexual freedoms. Catholics of course know better. Right?</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">So let's get to the story. Before we do, I would like to say a couple of things up front. The Pope was not really involved. Nor any involvement with nuns. The Vatican is not giving classes on finding G-Spots and enhancing female sexual pleasure. What happened was that a group of doctors are holding their First World Congress in the city of Rome this coming April. They reportedly would be using the conference center at the Augustinian Patristic Institute as their venue. Is that it? Why the hoopla? You said there was sex. What were they, gynecologist or something? Well, as a matter of fact...</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">The medical group holding the congress is the ESAG, European Society of Aesthetic Gynecologist. They specialize in cosmetic gynecology. Some of what they do is to reconstruct, to restore and to repair. Some of their procedures, however, are purely cosmetic for the purposes of appearance or sensation. The president and founder is Dr. Alexandros Bader. In October they announced that they would be holding the1st International Congress of the European Society of Aesthetic Gynecology in Rome in April and that the venue would be the Patristic Institute Augustinianum. There would, of course, be lectures and videos of procedures along with booths set up by various companies involved with medical supplies and equipment. Most of it standard conference stuff. The cost for participants would include fees for the event ranging from €150.00 to €690.00, €95.00 for a dinner, a stay at a 4 star hotel and air fare. Most conferences and congresses also include social events and this one is no different. They begin to advertise a Vatican link and imply an inside tract to some Vatican events. These include a papal audience, a papal blessing, a tour of the Vatican gardens and St. Peter's Chapel. Their brochures and website contain Vatican imagery and it was implied that the conference itself would be in Vatican City. The Patristic Institute is linked to the Vatican. They also advertise that there will be many events in Rome as the city will be celebrating Rome's birthday. Some of their claims may have been exaggerated advertising. Since making headlines they have removed the Patristic Institute as their venue from a bluevents site and their website, merely saying that the event would take place in Rome. They have removed any reference to anything besides social events occurring in Vatican City. A spokeswoman for the event said the conference venue was not within the walls of the Vatican City. “There are plenty of foreigners coming from all over the world and they want to be close to the centre of Rome, that’s all,” she said. Hence the Vatican references to draw attendance.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">The Patristic Institute is linked to the Vatican, especially in proximity. It is right next door just outside the walls of Vatican City. It is an institution of higher education of the Catholic Church in Rome. It is responsible for the study of patristic theology - the history and theology of Church Fathers. It is associated with the Pontifical (under the direct authority of the Holy See) Lateran University. The Congregation of Education, a part of the Roman Curia, has overview of the Institute. The Congregation of Catholic Education of the Vatican City State is an organization overviewing Catholic seminaries, schools and educational institutes as well as all universities, faculties, institutes and schools of higher education. Although the Vatican has direct authority of the Patristic Institute, I doubt that Vatican or Curia officials have much to do with the day to day arrangements for the conference center. The Patristic Institute would have been the one allowing the ESAG to use its facilities. They offer their <a href="http://www.patristicum.org/en/conference-center" target="_blank">conference center</a> </span><span style="color: black;">for conferences and congresses regularly.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">The <a href="http://www.papalaudience.org/" target="_blank">Papal audience</a></span><span style="color: black;">, tour of the <a href="http://mv.vatican.va/3_EN/pages/z-Info/MV_Info_Servizi_Visite.html" target="_blank">Vatican Gardens</a>, etc, upon further investigation, were apparently part of a tourist package. It was to be the weekly general audience not a private audience. The general audience is public and is attended by thousands. You do need a ticket to attend but the tickets are free. My brother and his wife took our mother to Rome recently. They managed to tour many parts of the Vatican without any inside connections to or special consideration from any Vatican officials. They attended a general audience. You might get close enough to get a really good picture of the Pope like my brother did.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">But that is far from a personal or private encounter with the Pope.</span> <br />
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<span style="color: black;">At the end of the audience the Pope imparts his Apostolic Blessing upon the crowd which also extends to loved ones that are sick and suffering and blesses any religious articles. This Apostolic Blessing in no way endorses any person or group who may be in the crowd. </span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">The social events or tourist package were the only things that would be going on inside of Vatican City. There is no evidence that the Pope and/or the Vatican had invited, sponsored or endorsed the group or that the Pope himself would be greeting them nor giving them a special or personal blessing. The conference itself was reportedly being held at the conference center of the Patristic Institute outside of Vatican City. A hands on course with live cases, that apparently was the main fodder for the salacious headlines, is actually a 3 day course to be held after the Congress itself, at yet another separate location according to a statement by the ESAG and its website. </span></div>
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Some may feel that a just-the-facts-ma'am rendition of this story possibly downplays a certain incongruity in the fact that a Catholic Institution would allow its facility to be used by this particular group of doctors. Some may feel that it would have been wise or prudent of the Patristic Institute to take a pass on this particular event to avoid even a hint of impropriety. Some types of cosmetic surgery most certainly are seen as encouraging sexual promiscuity and as objectifying women, which does not coincide with the Church's teaching on sexual purity as well as those on human dignity. These would be valid opinions and valid concerns. And I would agree with them. That would, of course, be assuming that the Patristic Institute realized it. It is completely possible that they merely booked an event with what they thought were medical professionals. It is also assuming that the event was actually booked at all. </div>
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I will say that some Catholic bloggers did not go over the top and tried to stick to facts. Although few were able to avoid the somewhat sophomoric nudge, nudge, wink, wink entendre of the term hands on expressed in scare quotes. Even when quotation marks or italics weren't used there was still an air quoted quality about the way it was written. Some, however, went so far as to elicit images of women being thrown akimbo on conference tables. Again, any hands on procedure with live cases would have been inappropriate in connection with the Patristic Institute. But further investigation has revealed that the 3-day hands on course would not be connected with the Institute at all, but instead would occur after on the days following the Congress.</div>
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Writing about this as a controversy would have been appropriate. Expressing the concerns I have previously mentioned would have been appropriate. This story could have been told with maturity and without sensationalizing and over-sexualizing. That is a far cry from many of the headlines and blogs that were actually written. I wonder if a dissatisfaction with the current papacy caused some to jump the gun on this story without thoroughly investigating it. Especially in early reports. I wonder if that dissatisfaction caused some to prematurely jump on a bandwagon to criticize the Vatican and then exacerbate the tone set by the Daily Mail. It took a cursory investigation to find out that the Papal Audience that was reported was a general audience and not a private one. Most Catholics know what the general audience is and that there are guided tours of the Vatican gardens. Why not clear up that discrepancy, as well as any others, rather than allow hand wringing over the Pope personally greeting sex experts and having tea with them in the Vatican gardens? Why was the exaggeration and the inflammatory sexual language necessary at all if not to encourage outrage, hand wringing and a dissatisfaction with the Vatican? Although many of the headlines were not technically deceitful, I would say that they misled in their provocative and colorful language in order to evoke an emotional response. Shouldn't Catholic writers set a higher standard of integrity, fairness, charity and self-discipline? </div>
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Maureen Mullarkey wrote a piece for the Federalist. The Patristic Institute contacted the Federalist to correct the story saying that there would be no ESAG conference. The Federalist then removed the story and Mullarkey wrote an apology on her blog stating that the whole thing had been a hoax and that she had "allowed my distaste for this grotesque pontificate to get the better of me." Whether or not the Patristic Institute referred to it as a hoax is unclear and as yet unsubstantiated. Did they actually say "hoax" or was that just assumed because of their denial. So far only bloggers have used the term hoax. Father Federico Lombardi, of the Holy See Press Office, is reported as having issued a disclaimer as well. Although the source of the quote appears to be an interview in an Italian blog and I have yet to find an official Vatican source or press release for it. A couple of blogs then removed their articles and others issued an oops as well.</div>
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If it was a hoax it would have been an elaborate one. It is possible that Dr. Bader and the ESAG indulged in some hype that they then had to back track on and remove from their websites. A couple of bloggers began to question the credibility of the denial issued by the Patristic Institute based partially on the fact that the Daily Mail was letting their article stand. It also seemed unbelievable to them that a reputable and reportedly world renowned doctor would risk his reputation on a hoax. The blogger that pens the blog St. Cobinian's Bear, decided to dig deeper and contacted Dr. Bader. Based on this contact and Dr. Bader's assurance that he had documentation that there had been an agreement with the Patristic Institute, people began to believe that between the Vatican and Dr. Bader, Dr. Bader was the most credible. It is now being reported that the Patristic Institute, embarrassed by the bad press, reneged an agreement with the ESAG and then lied about it. Apologies were withdrawn , oopsies were retracted and blogs began anew. </div>
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Dr. Bader and the ESAG have issued a <a href="http://esag.org/news_detail.php?id=27" target="_blank">press release</a> announcing the change in venue for the 1st World Congress. Siting "a series of recent misleading articles, which reported defamatory inaccuracies, resulted in an unfavorable response and finally cancellation of the venue rental." According to the statement, the ESAG continues to claim that they indeed had an agreement with the Patristic Institute and had been completely upfront about their topics before hand and that the Institute were the ones who backed out. They claim to have the documentation to back that up. However, they have not been willing to make that documentation public.</div>
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It seems that both the Patristic Institute and the ESAG are sticking to their story, yet neither has ponied up and proved it. According to the St. Corbinian's Bear blog who was in contact with Dr. Bader, the ESAG has lawyered up and the Patristic Institute is not responding to his inquiries. Of course, if there had been no agreement in the first place, there would be no way for the Patristic Institute to prove it, besides a denial. You cannot usually produce documentation for something that never happened. It may just be that the burden of proof would be with the ESAG.</div>
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Did the Patristic Institute lie and then Father Lombardi doubled down on that lie? Did Dr. Bader and the ESAG advertise a venue that they had not yet procured? We may never know for sure. Many believe that it had to be one or the other. Either one is lying or the other has to be. Would that life were always so black and white, so cut and dried. There are many possible scenarios here. If there had been an agreement, maybe both the Institute and Dr. Bader should have been smart enough to understand the PR nightmare their association would have presented. It certainly would have saved the besmirching of either's reputation. It would have saved a lot of virtual ink as well. It is possible that there was something scheduled at the Patristic Institute, either signed and sealed, tentative and penciled in, or merely being discussed. Then both were embarrassed by the bad press. So the ESAG let the Institute withdraw, both parties actually relieved to put an end to it. When the Institute issued its disclaimer, if they said "there is no event scheduled", they may technically have been telling the truth. Because at that time no event was scheduled. It would have been a fudging of the truth. We would, of course, and should expect better from the Institute. They should have been better than that. Rather than try to get off on a technicality, admitting a mistake would have been a far better choice. Assuming that is, indeed, what they did. It is possible that the ESAG fudged a little on their advertising as well. Which is why, according to their statement, the ESAG "understands the situation and has made the decision to organize the Congress at a different venue in Rome on the same dates as scheduled." It may have been a way for everyone to save face. They seem far more interested in the defamation of the articles written than in any breach of contract with the Patristic Institute. Then further embarrassment ensued with the renewed blogging with allegations of hoaxes and accusation of lies. Those may have been directed more at the Vatican, yet fell on the ESAG as well. It is possible that Dr. Bader and the ESAG feel that far greater damage was done to their reputation by articles and blogs than in anything the Patristic Institute may or may not have done. Their statement seems to indicate as much and that any legal action, if taken, "against everyone for any direct and indirect damages suffered due to malicious, defamatory and generally tortious conduct." would be directed toward the defamation of the articles. That, of course, are my own personal thoughts. I will let the reader decide for themselves.</div>
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Which leads me to my final thoughts and commentary. As Catholics we should be able to write about an event without manipulation. To tell it straight and let others decide for themselves. If you can't tell by my comments so far, I was as much dismayed by how this was written about as I was by the events themselves. There seemed to be a lack of integrity, definitely a lack of restraint, and a lack of fairness in the narrative presented. It did not, in my opinion, properly reflect a true Catholic character. I think we could have done better. I think we should have done better. It might be said that Catholics were not any worse or more inaccurate than everybody else. But that is exactly my point. We are not everybody else. We are not the other kids. We, in fact, belong to our Lord Jesus Christ and everything we do reflects on him and his Gospel. Everything we do should be for the honor and glory of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And we should act as if God were our editor and every word we write would be presented directly to him. Because, in fact, it is presented before him. We aspire to a more excellent way, follow the golden rule, check the wooden beam in our own eye before the splinter in another and know that the measure which we measure will be measured out to us. We measure ourselves not by whether or not we were technically accurate but by the impact we know and intended in our hearts to have on another. If the Patristic Institute and the Vatican lied then shame on them. But we need to set the same standard across the board. There is enough shame to go around. In a zeal to find fault with the Vatican many wrote with absolutely no regard to the collateral damage of their words. </div>
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I commend those who tried to investigate, who tried to stay ahead of the pack in digging deeper. I commend those who may have joined in at first but later realized that things were getting out of hand and toned down their rhetoric. None of us is perfect. But rather we should learn from this and next time just do better. Because we are supposed to be better. Many may have been too quick to follow what was misleading. Many may have been too quick to resort to the salacious and the sensational. Many may have been too quick to misrepresent. Many may have been too quick to disregard the reputation of another. Many might have been a too quick to yell liar. I have the feeling, however, that sure as I'm sitting here, that show most likely will go on again. Let's hope that when it does self-discipline, virtue, integrity to truth, fairness, charity and a regard for others does not allude us.</div>
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For what it's worth.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08775098669477885570noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1856818432411404016.post-61248959667450294242015-12-16T19:44:00.000-08:002015-12-16T19:44:16.558-08:00Showing Up Catholic - AdventThe newest episode of "Showing Up Catholic" has been posted to the Vericast Network.<br />
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In this episode of "Showing Up Catholic", Vickie talks about the importance of the Advent Season. She also talks about the simile of salt and relates it to how we might conduct ourselves during Advent. She describes how seasoning our season may be one way of winning the culture war to put Christ back into Christmas.<br />
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You can see the episode <a href="http://www.vericast.net/blog/2015/12/16/advent-showing-up-catholic-ep-6/" target="_blank">here</a><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08775098669477885570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1856818432411404016.post-70340867792444639522015-11-28T17:45:00.002-08:002015-11-28T17:45:45.338-08:00Showing Up Catholic - The Sword and Shield<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"></span></span>Episode 5 of Showing Up Catholic is now available on the Vericast Network<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">The Sword and Shield</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Vickie presents a perspective on intercessory prayer. Petitioning for assistance is only one aspect of this type of prayer. Seeking a deeper relationship with God brings a greater dimension and more confidence to intercessory prayer. Using scripture Vickie talks about battling in prayer, the armor of God and using our sword and shield for the benefit of others.</span></div>
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Watch it <a href="http://www.vericast.net/blog/2015/11/26/the-sword-and-shield-showing-up-catholic-ep-5/" target="_blank">here</a></div>
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</span><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08775098669477885570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1856818432411404016.post-28149291395432598332015-11-28T17:33:00.002-08:002015-11-28T17:35:35.946-08:00Showing Up Catholic - Good, Bad, UglyEpisode 4 of "Showing Up Catholic" is up on the Vericast Network. <br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Good, Bad, Ugly</span></b><br />
This episode of "Showing Up Catholic" takes a look at what might be good, bad or ugly in Catholic and social media on the internet. Vickie asks the question of when we might be crossing a line in expressing our opinions, through articles, blogs and discussions, into what potentially could be causing damage in the Church and to others. Where do we draw the line between what is productive and what might be participating in what St. Francis De Sales termed "spiritual suicide"? Vickie examines some ways of discerning where that line might be.<br />
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Watch it <a href="http://www.vericast.net/blog/2015/11/11/good-bad-ugly-showing-up-catholic-ep-4/" target="_blank">here</a><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08775098669477885570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1856818432411404016.post-48692947958164998832015-11-03T09:06:00.000-08:002015-11-03T09:06:24.996-08:00Showing Up Catholic - Chasing ProphecyAnother episode of "Showing Up Catholic" has been posted on Vericast.net. <br />
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When we Catholics chase prophecy we sometimes find ourselves heading off of the road. In this episode Vickie talks about using discernment when it comes to private revelation. When we come across messages "directly from heaven" can we trust them? Vickie talks about some red flags that we can look for in dealing with private revelations that have not been (or not YET been) approved by the Church. Grounded in our faith we can test the spirit of messages and prophecies to determine if they will bring us to truth or to error.</div>
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http://www.vericast.net/blog/2015/10/28/chasing-prophecy-showing-up-catholice-ep-3/<br />
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If you want to catch past episodes of "Showing Up Catholic" check out the profile page with a link to all of the episodes.<br />
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http://www.vericast.net/shows/showing-up-catholic/<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08775098669477885570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1856818432411404016.post-50852135773784138762015-10-05T15:42:00.002-07:002015-10-05T15:44:51.808-07:00Showing Up Catholic - Catholic CharacterThe second episode of my show for the Vericast Network. It is called "Catholic Character"<br />
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To "show up Catholic" requires an understanding of what that word "Catholic" means. In this episode Vickie takes a look at the word Catholic and gives a perspective on Catholicity and how our Catholic character relates to evangelization and our relationship with each other as the Mystical Body of Christ.<br />
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Watch it <a href="http://www.vericast.net/blog/2015/10/05/catholic-character-showing-up-catholic-ep-2/" target="_blank">here</a><br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08775098669477885570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1856818432411404016.post-86092613404514963252015-08-19T16:52:00.000-07:002015-08-19T16:52:03.021-07:00Showing Up Catholic - Built on the RockI will be presenting a new show for the Vericast Network (Vericast.net) called "Showing Up Catholic". This first episode is called "Built on the Rock".<br /><br /> In this first episode of Showing Up Catholic, Vickie gives a perspective on the scripture of Mt 16:13 - 20, in which Peter answers the question "Who do you say I am?". She gives some interesting background regarding where this event occurred as well as discussing the Rock on which Jesus builds his Church and what it means to say the Gates of Hell will not prevail against it.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08775098669477885570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1856818432411404016.post-51434365584639602062015-05-11T15:19:00.000-07:002015-05-11T15:19:29.411-07:00Interpreting The Catholic ChurchDid another podcast for Vericast.<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #262626; font-family: source-sans-pro, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px;">Vickie is talking about the authority of the Catholic Church in this episode. She talks about relying on the Catholic Church’s ability to interpret herself “in keeping with the whole”. It’s all about the continuity of the Magisterium of the Church, and of the authority of the Pope. She also talks about understanding Vatican II within this context and having confidence in the Church’s understanding of it rather than our own.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #262626; font-family: source-sans-pro, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px;"><a href="http://www.vericast.net/blog/2015/05/09/interpreting-catholic-church-vickie-armstrong/" target="_blank">http://www.vericast.net/blog/2015/05/09/interpreting-catholic-church-vickie-armstrong/</a></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08775098669477885570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1856818432411404016.post-18761860344306579702015-04-28T06:47:00.001-07:002015-04-28T07:24:22.834-07:00The Conquering Power of the ChurchMy first podcast over at Vericast.<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #262626; font-family: source-sans-pro, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px;"> In this episode Vickie Armstrong gives a perspective on the Conquering Power of the Church. She talks about the Obelisk at St. Peter’s square as a symbol and witness of that conquering power and discusses a model from the early Church. Christ conquered through the Gospel and through the Church that he established. In today’s world true cooperation with him and true witness to him must include an increased confidence in his Church as well.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #262626; font-family: source-sans-pro, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px;">You can watch that episode <a href="http://www.vericast.net/blog/2015/04/25/conquering-power-church-vickie-armstrong/" target="_blank">here</a></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08775098669477885570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1856818432411404016.post-90633272801596187902015-03-31T07:56:00.000-07:002015-03-31T08:37:19.236-07:00You Yell Shark<div class="MsoNormal">
I can't help it. Guess I had another blog in me concerning the religious freedom anti-gay discrimination debate. I kind of get fired up about deliberate misrepresentations. It isn't just the lack of honesty, it's the total lack of justice. It's a lack of fair play, it's cheating. I just can't stand cheating. Winners never cheat and cheaters never win. Not to mention the bully tactics that are being employed. </div>
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<i>"I don't think you appreciate the gut reaction people have to these things, Martin, It's all psychological. You yell 'Barracuda,' everybody says 'Huh? What?" You yell 'Shark' we've got a panic on our hands on the Fourth of July." Jaws 1975</i></div>
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You yell "stop religious freedom" nobody is going to listen to you. You yell "anti-gay discrimination" and you've got yourself a panic on the Fourth of July...or at least a bandwagon that everybody is going to jump onto without question. It's the gut reaction that you're looking for and a psychological head game. Only this time it isn't a shark, it isn't a barracuda, it's just a cardboard fin. And because we are so busy chasing down the cardboard fin, we totally are not paying attention to the real shark chewing off legs over in the pond. The use of anti-gay discrimination in this context is a cardboard fin. A sham shark. </div>
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The sham argument in logic is called a Straw Man. The Straw Man fallacy is committed when a person simply ignores the actual position and substitutes a distorted, exaggerated or misrepresented version of that position. It goes exactly like this: </div>
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"We want to make a law to protect religious freedom."</div>
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"Why would you want to discriminate against gays like that." </div>
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What they do is attempt to rebuild a misrepresentation of your position out of straw so that it will be easier to knock down.They then attack that version rather than the actual position. In this case people have simply ignored the actual law and its purpose and have substituted a distorted. exaggerated misrepresentation of that law. You aren't going to be able to dispute religious freedom unless you want to take on the Bill of Rights and what this country was founded on. Instead you distort, exaggerate and misrepresent a connection and association with discrimination. Then you yell shark and watch the panic ensue. Except that it's a man made of straw. A fin made of cardboard. The problem with this is that for a straw man to be successful, for a cardboard fin to cause hysteria it requires, in fact it is betting on, that the audience is ignorant and uninformed. Further investigation eventually exposes that man of straw, that cardboard fin for what it is, </div>
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The hysteria is not confined to discrimination alone. In one of the discussions I had recently the possibility of "religious groups" forming to circumvent the law was presented. As well as ISIS being able to get a foothold in Indiana under religious exemptions. This law according to their argument would result in absolute anarchy in the state of Indiana. There's more than corn in Indiana, I guess, but those arguments are nothing but corn. It does go to show how far people are willing to go to convince us that cardboard fin is really a shark. Have false "religious groups" formed in other RFRA states to circumvent the law? Does ISIS have a foothold in all of the other RFRA states? Anarchy, however, is what we are seeing right now in which mob rule and bully tactics are attempting to regulate society.<br />
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This law upholds and protects not one but two of our essential rights. The right to religious freedom and the right to petition for the redress of grievances. Religious freedom is one of the basic rights that our country upholds. It is in fact a pillar that supports all of society. Each and every freedom in the Bill of Rights is in fact endangered by this mob rule. Freedom of speech has been curtailed often labeled as aggression and hateful. When freedom of speech falls freedom of the press falls with it. We cannot always peaceably assemble, ask those who have been arrested for peaceably assembling outside of an abortion clinic. And with the protests of this law the right to petition the government for the redress of grievances is also in question. When these pillars fall other rights and freedoms will domino as well. Soon the very protections against discrimination that the LGBT community seeks will fall. For there will be no conscience to desire it, no voice to insist on it, no petition to ask for it and no assemblies to stand for it. In point of fact the very methods that are being used to force a protection from discrimination are instead the very things that will guarantee that such protections no longer exist. It is called biting off your nose to spite your face. Or letting the real shark in the pond devour you limb from limb as you call attention to the cardboard fin.<br />
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The fact is this is going to blow over. People are going to do business with Indiana for the same bottom line reasons they did business with them before. All the twitter conversations will move on to the next cause celebre. The dust will settle. At that time the truth will emerge as people see that the RFRA did not bring about all of the dire things they predicted. The thing is, like the boy who cried wolf you lose credibility and sooner or later people no longer listen. Same thing when you yell shark and it's only a cardboard fin. And each time you create a public hysteria and the public finds out there really was nothing to be hysterical about you lose their trust. When you cheat after awhile nobody roots for you. In the end, when the dust settles, people will see the reality of the bullies and the cheats who were willing to risk the rights of everyone else in their state, who were ready and willing to encourage the financial ruin of their state to accomplish their ends. Who were willing to allow the shark to devour us all. They may have, in fact, "jumped the shark" with this one revealing a desperate attempt to gain support for what is not viable. The thing about jumping the shark is that it usually signals the beginning of the end.<br />
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The LGBT community wants to become a protected class. It can't be done this way. It can't come through a cheat that endangers the very protections that they seek. It can't be done by becoming a bully and forcing their protection by the loss of other protections. Sowing anarchy will not reap a protected society.<br />
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<i>Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. Gal 6:7</i><br />
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<i>When they sow the wind, they shall reap the whirlwind, Hosea 8:7 </i><br />
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<i>He who upsets his household inherits the wind Pr. 22:29</i><br />
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The use of these methods can bring nothing but destruction and an empty inheritance. When you deliberately yell shark to gain attention, to get the gut reaction and the psychological advantage you will, indeed, create a panic on the Fourth of July. But when that shark is only a cardboard fin sooner or later that is going to reveal itself. And sooner or later everyone will realize that by doing so you left us all totally unprotected from the real shark in the pond.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08775098669477885570noreply@blogger.com0