Monthly Archives: October 2010

Our Cherished Right – Our Solemn Duty

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N.Y. bishops urge voters to vote and to vote “through the lens of faith.”

Primacy of life issues outweigh other voter concerns on moral grounds, life being the foundation of our very existence.  First life, then it’s supports.

As religious leaders, we urge you to exercise your right and solemn duty to vote on Election Day.
+ Timothy M. Dolan
Archbishop of New York
+Howard J. Hubbard
Bishop of Albany
+Nicholas DiMarzio
Bishop of Brooklyn
+Edward U. Kmiec
Bishop of Buffalo
+ Terry R. LaValley
Bishop of Ogdensburg
+Robert J. Cunningham
Bishop of Syracuse
+Matthew H. Clark
Bishop of Rochester
+William F. Murphy
Bishop of Rockville Centre

Our Cherished Right, Our Solemn Duty

By the Catholic Bishops of New York State


We Catholics are called to look at politics as we are called to look at everything – through the lens of our faith. While we are free to join any political party that we choose or none at all, we must be cautious when we vote not to be guided solely by party loyalty or by self interest. Rather, we should be guided in evaluating the important issues facing our state and nation by the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the teachings of His Church.
Our national and state elected officials have profound influence on countless matters of great importance, such as the right to life, issues of war and peace, the education of children and how we treat the poor and vulnerable. We must look at all of these issues as we form our consciences in preparation for Election Day. Continue reading →

Expanding Our Desire In Prayer

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Stained glass at St John the Baptist's Anglica...

Image via Wikipedia

St. Augustine’s Instruction:

Let us exercise our desire in prayer

Why in our fear of not praying as we should, do we turn to so many things, to find what we should pray for? Why do we not say instead, in the words of the psalm: I have asked one thing from the Lord, this is what I will seek: to dwell in the Lord’s house all the days of my life, to see the graciousness of the Lord, and to visit his temple? There, the days do not come and go in succession, and the beginning of one day does not mean the end of another; all days are one, simultaneously and without end, and the life lived out in these days has itself no end.
So that we might obtain this life of happiness, he who is true life itself taught us to pray, not in many words as though speaking longer could gain us a hearing. After all, we pray to one who, as the Lord himself tells us, knows what we need before we ask for it. Continue reading →

Holy Card Heaven

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Assumption of the Virgin Mary (Rubens)

Image via Wikipedia

 

When I was little, holy cards were a lovely touch stone to Jesus, Mother Mary, the saints and all things holy; I guess I haven’t changed in that regard.  I just love this site: Holy Card Heaven

Remembering Fr. Thomas Dubay S.M. – RIP September 26, 2010

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Our beloved Fr. Thomas Dubay died Sept.26,2010; reported here by Insight Scoop/ the Ignatius Press Blog

Imitation is the greatest form of compliment. Won’t it warm his heavenly heart to know we were are trying harder to be like his Master?

Why Do We Need the Rosary

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Beyond a ‘Tea and Cookies’ Dialogue With Islam by National Catholic Reporter

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Beyond a ‘tea and cookies’ dialogue with Islam | National Catholic Reporter.

by John L Allen Jr

ROME — Given the setting of the Middle East, Christians are compelled to pursue dialogue with the vast Muslim majority; in fact, it would be virtually impossible to avoid.

Several participants at the Oct. 10-24 Synod of Bishops for the Middle East, however, seem eager to push that dialogue beyond a “tea and cookies” stage, where the point is merely being polite to one another, into blunt talk about religious freedom, democracy, and what one speaker described as “satanic plans by fundamental extremist groups” to extinguish Christianity in the region.

While it’s not clear what real impact either the local churches of the Middle East or Catholicism generally can have on those fronts, there appears to be a strong feeling in the synod that it’s time to lay things on the line.

One such call came from Archbishop Cyrille Salim Bustros, a Greek-Melkite prelate in the United States.

“On one hand and in principle, the assertion of tolerance is clear in the Koran,” Bustros said. “On the other hand, and in fact, the laws of all the Arab countries, except for Lebanon where one is allowed to change religion, threaten death to all Muslims who convert to another religion.”

Mincing no words, Bustros added, “We ask here: where can tolerance be found?”

“The first principle of all societies is the equality of all citizens before the law,” Bustros said. “The respect for the conscience of each individual is the sign of the recognition of the dignity of the human being.”

Chaldean Archbishop Thomas Meram of Iran was equally candid.

“The Christian hears every day from loudspeakers, television, newspapers and magazines that he is an infidel, and he is treated as a second-class citizen,” Meram said. Continue reading →