The Bread Stored Up

The bread you store up belongs to the hungry; the cloak that lies in your chest belongs to the naked; the gold you have hidden in the ground belongs to the poor.

-St. Basil the Great

Pope Calls for 'God-Centered' Economy

Disarmament, food security and peace. What's not to like? Oh wait, a global centralized authority. Since all the local and regional and national authorities running on the old paradigm are doing such a bang-up job, selecting some of them to have power over everybody is sure to be a fabbo idea.

I like this Pope but this is not his best idea.

Holy Father, how on earth can you ensure that your "new global authority" has a transformed and transfigured Catholic worldview? There is no way to make an earthly authority a saintly man or woman, one would think you had found it hard enough to make sure the ecclesiastical authorities were saintly.

I counsel prudence and caution here.

From USA Today
Be sure and click on over and read it all.

QUOTE In his third encyclical, a major teaching, released as the G-8 summit begins in Italy, the pope says such an authority is urgently needed to end the current worldwide financial crisis. It should "revive" damaged economies, reach toward "disarmament, food security and peace," protect the environment and "regulate migration."
Benedict writes, "The market is not, and must not become, the place where the strong subdue the weak."
The encyclical, Caritas in Veritate (Charity in Truth) is a theologically dense explication of Catholic social teaching that draws heavily from earlier popes, particularly PaulVI's critique of capitalism 42 years ago. And echoing his predecessor John Paul II, Benedict says, "every economic decision has a moral consequence." UNQUOTE
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Kansas Abortion Provider Killed In Church

From Yahoo News
QUOTE WICHITA, Kan. – Dr. George Tiller, one of the nation's few providers of late-term abortions despite decades of protests and attacks, was shot and killed Sunday in a church where he was serving as an usher. UNQUOTE

Now, I am no friend of the "abortion for any reason, any time" mentality. I consider myself to be the most pro-choice of pro-lifers, and the most pro-life of the pro-choicers. I can get into a verbal sparring match with both sides with equal enthusiasm. It isn't a black-and-white issue, it is an issue with many many shades of grey in between, with nuance and condition and situation all weighing in.

But it really isn't anyone's business but mine and my spiritual director's, now is it? It has always been patently evident to me, intuitively obvious to the most casual observer, as Father Paul Brown used to say "back in the day", that a person of ethics and morals, whether Christian or something else, is basically to be anti-war, anti-death penalty, pro-life and basically oriented towards an approach which values kindness and respect of others above all.

I simply cannot imagine a mindset which can justify murder. I also cannot fathom a mindset which would pronounce, as has Randall Terry, that he is more concerned with Obama's reaction than with Tiller's murder. In his comments, Terry does not grieve for Tiller or denounce the murder but seems more concerned about President Obama's reaction and what it bodes for the pro-life movement.

A dark day for America, and a very black day for the pro-life movement.

As far as use of force goes, say I was a psycho criminal, as I see it you'd have to wait until I was about to commit the act, and you have to believe there is no other recourse. Just because you believe someone is going to kill doesn't mean you can use lethal force. Plus the force used at the very moment of intercession to prevent whatever crime, should be as minmal as possible. Legal injunctions, lawsuits, even a sit-in or a occupation of the offices. Nonviolent civil protest.

Further, this will not go to any greater good. Another doctor will graduate from medical school and take his place. Twenty will take his place. The way to end abortion is through love, prayers, conversion of hearts, and gently changing people's worldview.


"In a Catholic worldview, every person is a child of God, and has an inherent value before Christ, and that includes ourselves. We should strive to see that - as well as Christ - in everyone. And animal and plant life, while we have dominion over it, are to be treated with respect and not used and thrown away. If people had this worldview, at least partially even if they were not Catholic, they would value life as sacred and abortion as evil would necessarily follow. St. Francis of Assisi is a great example of what type of worldview will change all of this."
- Quis Ut Deus, May 31,2009

Whoever murdered Dr. Tiller, and whatever the reason they had for murdering him might be, they are NOT pro-life. His killer is pro-death. They took into their own hands who would live and who would die. Catholics are not to do this.

I offer my heartfelt condolences to Dr. Tiller's family and friends, and I pray for his immortal soul as well as the soul of his slayer. May God have mercy on us all.
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Pope Urges Respect for Women

The Church is definately playing catch-up here. But the statement by the Pontiff is welcome, nonetheless.

From CNN

QUOTE "Sadly, this God-given role of the dignity of women has not always been understood and esteemed," the pontiff said on his first visit to Jordan as pope.
"By its public witness of respect for women ... the Church in the Holy Land can make an important contribution to the advancement of a culture of true humanity and the building of the civilization of love," the pontiff said. UNQUOTE

Intuitively Obvious To the Most Casual Observer

Is what I think of this. About time somebody articulated it so well.
From antiwar.com comes
You Can't Be a Christian and Tolerate Torture
by Thomas R. Eddlem

Excerpt: QUOTE Our Founding Fathers and laws state otherwise. Moreover, the principles of Christianity the faithful claim to uphold also say the opposite. Do they really think it's okay to occasionally torture an innocent detainee in order to save thousands? Occasionally, I do get a virtual "yes" to that question; it goes something like this: "I think it's unfortunate if an innocent person is detained, but that's the price we have to pay in the modern world for our safety.

Yes, torturing one to save thousands is the tough choice we have to make."
Ironically, Pontius Pilate might also have reasoned that he would save thousands who would have otherwise died in a violent rebellion by crucifying one innocent. Whenever I mention this, I always hear the following response:

"You are really stretching things if you are comparing these scum-bag terrorists to Jesus Christ."
And finally we've cut to the quick of why a Christian can't possibly support torture. A Christian is required to believe that Christ is in our fellow man, especially including the prisoner. Recall the words of Matthew 25:34-46:
"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.'
"Then the righteous will answer him and say, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?'
"And the king will say to them in reply, 'Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.'
"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, a stranger and you gave me no welcome, naked and you gave me no clothing, ill and in prison, and you did not care for me.'
"Then they will answer and say, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and not minister to your needs?'
"He will answer them, 'Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.'
"And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

If they really believe Christ is not in the prisoner, then they don't believe the words of Christ himself. If self-professed Christians really believe it's "suicide" to honor the Christ in the prisoner, can they really be believers? If they think that the Christian worldview is impractical, isn't that a clear example of lack of faith? UNQUOTE

Recovering Evangelicals Welcome Here :D

I have recently stumbled across the website Recovering Evangelical. I congratulate you on your growth and healing, and I remind my Protestant brethren that the Catholic Church has apostolic succession, going all the way back to the twelve Apostles, and has kept the torch of biblical truth lit through the centuries. I mean, who sends missionaries to Copenhagen, Denmark? Nobody except the evangelicals have the chutzpah to write every single person they ever met four times a year and beg for money, not for schools or clinics or even missions in third and fourth world countries, but for themselves. So they can "go on mission" to a rich, white, Christian nation. Holy mackinolee.

Here's a great challenge quiz for all Christians not in union with the Catholic Church to take ~ from FishEater's.com.

"Where the Bishop is, there let the multitude of believers be; even as where Jesus is, there is the Catholic Church''
- Ignatius of Antioch, 1st c. A.D

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Dante's Prayer

Loreena McKennitt's haunting music combines an Orthodox hymn with her own music and lyrics. It is a prayer Dante might have uttered after he and Virgil had left Hell's icy center and were journeying close to the threshold between Hell and Purgatory.
The question of life eternal or life mortal is as pertinent today as ever.

Daily Spiritual Warfare

Here is a good reminder that the only warfare a true Christian is called to is the daily spiritual battle against the Enemy, sins and evil. Exterior battles only please the deceiver of humanity, and wreak havoc in the soul and in God's creation.

From the Catholic Exchange.

Excerpt ~

QUOTE Sin is present in human history; any attempt to ignore it or give this dark reality other names would be futile. To try to understand what sin is, one must first recognize the profound relation of man to God, for only in this relationship is the evil of sin unmasked in its true identity as humanity’s rejection of God and opposition to him, even as it continues to weigh heavy on human life and history – CCC #386 - Then, on the other hand, not actively living for God also makes us vulnerable to behaviors that build up evil in the world. When we live as abject Catholics, embracing the truths of the world over the Truths of the Church, we are ripe for spiritual warfare. To remedy this, when our eyes first open each morning, we ought to be making a conscious affirmation of our lives belonging to Christ and covered in His blood. When we live consciously, we are able to see God’s graces more clearly and find the protection and strength we need in them. We aren’t fodder for evil.
Whether or not you believe in the reality of spiritual warfare, it is time to take to heart the truth found in 1 John 4:4: You belong to God, children, and you have conquered them, for the one who is in you in greater than the one who is in the world. UNQUOTE

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