Other

Bittany from the blog Casting out into the deep, in a JPII sort of way…asks for some assistance.

I have $3,600 in student loans to pay off before I enter in August. I come from a poor family and have had to work my way through college. Would you be willing to help me? Please? Pretty please?

I have letters of reference from the vocation director of the Salesian Sisters and my spiritual director which I would be more than happy to furnish. Donations can be sent directly to the loan center.

Everyone who donates (every penny helps!) will be assured of my grateful prayers and will be able to receive email updates from me so that they can follow my progress in religious life.

My Vocation Story -Part One

My Vocation Story -Part Two

This is an opportunity to assist Divine Providence in the life of a future nun! If you would like more information please leave a comment with your email address or email me at brittany.marie524 (at) gmail (dot) com Thank you and God reward you!

Understanding the Scriptures is a really wonderful podcast. It is put together by Carson Weber the director of adult formation for Saint Mary, Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Brenham, Texas and follows the text book by Scott Hahn called Understanding The Scriptures: A Complete Course On Bible Study (The Didache Series).

Currently there are 23 lessons ranging from seventy to eighty minutes long. The course is truly packed with information and Carson Weber presents it in a very engaging way. He certainly has the enthusiasm for the subject that Scott Hahn does himself.

Oh and since this is a course based on Scott Hahn’s works I would suggest you not play along with the Scott Hahn Drinking game. The Scott Hahn drinking game is of course taking a drink every time he says Covenant.

You can get information for subscribing to the podcast here or simply add http://feeds.feedburner.com/utspodcast to your podcasting tool such as iTunes.

Agnus Day which continues to be laugh-out -loud daily has has couple of funny posts on Catholic guilt.

The Pervasive Plague of Catholic Guilt

Catholic Guilt Rocks No Doubt’s Gwen Stefani

It is funny how many times you see Catholic guilt referenced in news articles you do wonder if Catholic guilt is listed in the APA’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

I also wonder what would happen if people treated everything the way they treat Catholic guilt if they were to be consistent. After all this so-called guilt is the prompting is a warning of at least a partially formed conscience. Here is a list of other things they should complain about.

• Nerve endings reporting pain information. I mean just because you put your hand on the stove why should you have the pesky nerve endings notify you of this. This is just burn guilt.
• In fact all of the senses since they can warn you about dangers.
• The Check Engine or Oil light on your car should be disabled. Just because parts of your engine are grinding together and causing severe damage why should you be warned about that?
• Bridge out signs since this only invokes 90 degree fall into oblivion guilt.
• Poison labels and all real warning labels.
• Tsunami, Tornado, and Hurricane warnings because of weather guilt.

The list can of course go on and on but I don’t want to give you list guilt.

I have been tagged with the Lenten Meme by Catholic Fire.

What is your favorite Sorrowful Mystery?
The crucifixion and death of Our Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross. This is where the rubber meets the road. Sin collides with redemption. Though from my viewpoint of a sinner I often think of this as one of the joyful mysteries. As the Easter liturgy says "Oh happy fault, O necessary sin of Adam, which gained for us so great a Redeemer!" And I certainly know I need a redeemer.

What is your favorite Station of the Cross?
The Twelfth Station and this relates back to the first question.

Do you fast during Lent?
Yes.

What is your Lenten Resolution(s)?
The Imitation of Christ says " If each year should see one fault rooted out from us, we should go quickly on to perfection." I started taking this advice when I first became a Catholic and now of course I am so close to perfection it is harder to find any faults at all. Seriously though working on humility and patience is a full time job and without grace an impossible one.

Do you use Holy Water during Lent?
Yes, all year round.

How many times do you go to Mass during Lent?
Sundays of course and daily Mass when possible.

I will be on Lino Rulli "The Catholic Guy" show on Sirius Channel 159 today around 5 PM EST. This is my fourth appearance on Lino’s show and I always do enjoy talking to him since he is a pretty funny guy.

VATICAN CITY, JAN. 29, 2007 (Zenit.org).- L’Osservatore Romano criticized a report published by an Italian weekly in which a journalist pretended he was a penitent in order to test priestly advice in the confessional.

The Vatican’s semiofficial newspaper analyzed the article published in L’Expresso, calling the latter’s report an "ignoble ‘scoop.’"

A reporter for L’Expresso went to confessionals in 24 churches in Turin, Milan, Rome, Naples and Palermo, to confess invented sins and to compare the priests’ answers on ethical questions such as euthanasia, drugs, prostitution, embezzlement and pederasty.

L’Osservatore Romano lamented: "To offend the religious sentiment of believers, to deceive the good faith of priests, gravely injuring the inviolable character of pastoral ministry, profaning a sacrament: All this was achieved by the ‘courageous’ investigation of a journalist of the well-known weekly."

The newspaper added that it is an offense for "all those who believe in the sacrament of reconciliation."
[Via Alive and Young]

The newspaper of the Archdiocese of Kansas City The Leaven often has excellent columns especially the ones written by Archbishop Naumann. This month is no exception with his Forty years later, ‘Humanae Vitae’ proves prophetic.

Another excellent article called Abortion in our own backyard starts off with:

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Following a monthly pro-life Mass, Benedictine Father Matthew Habiger of St. Benedict ’s Abbey in Atchison led a rosary in front of an abortion clinic here.

Afterwards he said something that really surprised Ron Kelsey, the archdiocesan pro-life consultant.

“
He made the observation that, as he looked around from the vantage point of the clinic, you could see church steeples all around, ” said Kelsey.
The clinic was surrounded by faith communities that claimed Christ, but were willing to quietly tolerate the killing of unborn children short distances from their sanctuaries.

It made Kelsey marvel: Where was the outrage?

Tagged by Jean at Catholic Fire.

Name a Catholic book that you want to share so much that you keep giving away copies:
Adventures in Orthodoxy by Dwight Longenecker

Name a work of religious art you’d like to live with:
Michelangelo’s Pieta plus living in St. Peter’s would be so cool.

Name your favorite Catholic artist:
Michelangelo or Caravaggio

Name a work of Catholic fiction which has penetrated your real life:
Graham Greene’s The Power and the Glory and Flannery O’Connor’s The Violent Bear It Away

Name your favorite Catholic Musicians – male & female:
Nick Alexander/Marie Bellet (to name some modern ones)

Name your favorite musical:
Fiddler on the Roof

Name a punch line that always makes you laugh:
Vee have vays to make you tok.

In related Catholic culture news Barbara Nicolosi prints the texts of an interview she did with the Spokane Spokesman-Review. The original interview is much better than the cut up version that made it into print.

Q: How would you describe your religious beliefs? Liberal or conservative?
A: I am a Catholic. A happy one. Which means I cleave to the teachings of the Church that have carried us through two thousand years of basically being mercy, light and consolation in the world of men. There have been evil hypocritical Christians, of course, but I’m talking less about the good projects vs. the bad projects that Christians have done in history, and more about the resonance and power that the Person of Jesus has been for hundreds of millions of people down through the ages. It seems to me that no story just made up by people could have proved so compelling for so many for so long.

Does that make me a liberal or a conservative?

Religion is a response to a call that echoes in your heart. If you don’t hear it anymore it is because you have perverted your nature. Plato – hardly a puppet of the Christian Right! – noted that human beings have an instinct for immortality and eternity. That people feel the tug of life after death isn’t a plot by the Pope to get us to put money in the collection basket. It is who we are. Self-destruction is running from that nagging echo.

Via Cosmos-Liturgy-Sex

Archbishop Fulton Sheen’s Cause for Canonization has been moving forward quite well lately. I hear that it appears that the miracle needed for his beatification will be found among those which have been pouring in recently (one of them, which I believe may already have been verified, was from a woman from my parish). A concern is that since he was such a prolific writer, the review of his voluminous writings may not be completed for some time and could, therefore, delay the process.For the review process, each document must be reviewed by two qualified persons. Qualified means: a Catholic with an advance ecclesiastical degree in theology (STL or STD). The Diocese of Peoria is responsible for the review and could use more help.

If you have an STL or STD and would be willing to help out in the review, Fr. Christopher Layden, the Moderator for the Fulton J. Sheen Theological Commission, would love to hear from you. If you know of someone who meets the requirements, please pass this on to him.

Fr. Layden can be reached at fatherlayden@sjcnc.org

On a less serious note I think it is funny that this is probably one of the only cases where they might say "If you have an STD" come work for us.