Carl E. Olson's Blog, page 152

In Ireland, the political fight over abortion rages on

In Ireland, the political fight over abortion rages on | Michael Kelly | Catholic World Report

Proposed legislation would legalize
abortion when the mother’s life is at risk. But the measure is medically
unnecessary, many Irish doctors say.

Ireland’s
coalition government is pushing ahead with controversial plans to legalize
abortion despite growing opposition from within the medical community.

Pro-life
campaigners have also dismissed claims by Prime Minister Enda Kenny that the
draft law is limited in scope, saying it will lead to widespread abortion.

Ireland and
Malta are currently the only countries in Europe where abortion is still
illegal.

A draft of the
so-called Protection of Life in Pregnancy legislation was published after
protracted negotiations between the center-right Fine Gael and leftist Labor
party. It will now be debated before the parliamentary health committee.

Campaigners are
furious because Fine Gael—the senior party in Government—made a promise before
the 2011 general election not to legalize abortion. The Labor party, on the
other hand, has had a long-standing pro-abortion stance.

The draft law
provides for abortion when there is a substantial risk to the life, as opposed
to the health, of the mother. This would include situations in which a woman
says the continuation of the pregnancy leads to suicidal thoughts. The law
would also provide for jail terms of up to 14 years for those performing abortions
in circumstances other that permitted by the new law.

Prime Minister
Enda Kenny has claimed that the legislation will not change Ireland’s law on
abortion in other circumstances. He said that an abortion can only be
legally permitted where doctors have unanimously decided that it is the only
treatment that will avert a risk to the life of a mother.

However,
Caroline Simons, a spokesperson for the Pro-Life Campaign (PLC) dismissed the
claims. She says the Government has “been talking up the proposal as very
restrictive. But, in reality, these reassuring noises are empty and misleading.”

“What matters is
what’s contained in the bill and what’s in the bill is dangerous,” said Simons.
“For the first time an Irish Government is proposing to introduce a law that
provides for the direct intentional targeting of the life of the unborn child.”

Simons said that
“talk of the legislation being ‘life-saving’ is simply dishonest. There is no
evidence that abortion ever helps women’s mental health and in fact it may
damage women.”

Leading
psychiatrists have also dismissed claims that abortion can ever be a treatment
for suicidal ideation.

Continue reading on the CWR site.

New: "In Him Only is Our Hope: The Church According to the Heart of Pope Francis"

Available May 15th from Ignatius Press:

In Him Only is Our Hope: The Church According to the Heart of Pope Francis

by Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio

And suddenly a great silence envelops the crowd as the successor to Benedict XVI is announced....

Astonishment: Who is it? Where is he from? The commentators are stunned,
tongue-tied. Then,upon hearing his first words, the crowd stirs,
followed by ripples and then waves of enthusiasm-what freshness, what
inspiration, what beautiful Gospel simplicity!

"Called from the end of the world," is he the shepherd who will lead the
Church, confronted by the challenges of the postmodern world, along the
pathway to renewal? Already his humble witness has made a powerful
impact, giving us a glimpse of what is essential about him.... But deep
down, who is this man? What does he think? Toward what shores will he
steer the barque of Peter?

In this book, then-Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio answers these
questions himself as he preaches a retreat to the bishops of Spain.
Following the spiritual exercises of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, he
meditates upon the crucial issues at stake in the vocation of a bishop.
In so doing, he offers us his vision of the Church, setting forth the
outlines of what could well be the reform program of Pope Francis.

It is a rich, captivating text with a strong, uncompromising message. In
short, it's a spiritual page turner you won't want to put down!

An excerpt from In Him Only Is Our Hope by Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio: 

"The Lord sends us into spiritual combat. It is a fight to the death
that he himself has undertaken, and one that we too are invited to
identify as our own ultimate battleground, conscious that it is God's
war. For it is a war waged ‘against the enemy of human nature,' that is,
in the language of Saint Ignatius, the devil. It is also the war waged
by ‘the friend of human nature,' the Lord Jesus, who wants to win us for
God and to gather up into himself all that is good in creation in order
to offer it to the Father, to the praise of his glory.

What is at stake in this war? It is whether in my heart, as well as in
the heart of the Church and of humanity itself, the Kingdom of Heaven
will be established, with his law of love and the Lord's way of life:
poverty, humility, and service. Or whether the kingdom of this world
will triumph, with its laws and values of wealth, vanity, and pride."

The Controversy Over the Third Secret: Objections and Responses

The Controversy Over the Third Secret: Objections and
Responses | Fr. Andrew Apostoli, C.F.R. | Appendix D from Fatima For Today:
The Urgent Marian Message of Hope



The Third Secret has been dealt with in two chapters in this book.
Chapter 8 presented the content of the Third Secret as Lucia, Francisco and
Jacinta saw it revealed to them. Chapter 16 presented how Sister Lucia wrote
the Third Secret on a separate manuscript and then placed it in a sealed
envelope. The chapter also traces what popes John XXIII, Paul VI and John Paul
II did after reading it.



The Third Secret was first made public at the Beatification Mass of Francisco
and Jacinta Marto on May 13, 2000, in the Cova da Iria where the secret was
originally revealed to the three children on July 13, 1917. Unfortunately,


controversy created by certain objections surrounded the Third Secret almost
from the moment it became public. We will look at each main objection
separately, and offer a response to each.



Objection: The original Third Secret was written on one sheet of paper.



Many clerics who were familiar with the
original text, including bishops who worked with popes John XXIII and Paul VI,
said that the Third Secret was written on a single sheet of paper (e.g.,
Cardinal Alfredo Ottaviani, who read the Third Secret with Pope John XXIII).
[1]



The controversy came about when on June 26, 2000, the Vatican released a copy
of Sister Lucia's handwritten text in a four-page format. [2] Though there are
several possible ways a single sheet of paper can be turned into more than one page
(written on both sides, folded and written on multiple sides, etc.) or copied
onto more than one page, some critics said that the Vatican copy could not have
been made from the authentic text and that some other document exists that
contains the real Third Secret.



The Vatican copy of Sister Lucia's handwritten manuscript appears in the
document The Message of Fatima prepared by the Congregation for
the Doctrine of the Faith. In the introduction, the secretary of the
Congregation at the time, Archbishop Bertone, stated: "There is only one manuscript,
which is here reproduced photostatically." Sister Lucia herself confirmed
the validity of the Vatican text. Archbishop Bertone and Bishop Seraphim de
Sousa of Leiria met with Sister Lucia at her Carmelite convent in Coimbra, Portugal,
on April 27, 2000. The Archbishop presented two envelopes to Sister Lucia. The
first or outer envelope contained the second envelope, which held the Third
Secret. Touching it with her fingers, Sister Lucia said, "This is my
letter." Then, while reading it, she said, "This is my writing."
[3] When asked if this document was the one and only Third Secret, Sister Lucia
answered, "Yes, this is the Third Secret, and I never wrote any
other." [4]



We have additional proof from Sister Lucia that the photocopy of the Third
Secret was authentic. She met again with Archbishop Bertone on November 17,
2001. A communique about that meeting carried this most important point:

With reference to the third part of the secret of Fatima, [Sister Lucia]
affirmed that she had attentively read and meditated upon the booklet published
by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith [The Message of Fatima] and
confirmed everything that was written there. To whoever imagines that some part
of the secret has been hidden, she replied: "everything has been
published; no secret remains." To those who speak and write of new
revelations, she said: "There is no truth in this. If I had received new
revelations, I would have told no one, but I would have communicated them directly
to the Holy Father." [5]

Objection: The text of the Third Secret released by the Vatican contains no
words attributed to the Blessed Virgin Mary.



The message of the Third Secret was not conveyed in words by our Lady, but in
the various visions the children saw. Our Lady spoke simply by her actions, as
when she prevented the fire from the flaming sword of the angel from touching the
earth and consuming it. Archbishop Bertone explained:

The part of the text where the Virgin speaks in the first person wasn't
censored, for the simple reason that it never existed. The text these people
talk about just doesn't exist. I am not toeing some party line here. I'm basing
my statement on Sister Lucia's own direct confirmation that the Third Secret is
none other than the text that was published in the year 2000. [6]

Objection: The Vatican's copy of the Third Secret contains no
information about a nuclear holocaust, a great apostasy, or the satanic
infiltration of the Catholic Church.



This objection is largely the result of the disappointment that some people
felt when the Third Secret was finally revealed. Cardinal Ratzinger (now Pope
Benedict XVI) predicted this disappointment. "A careful reading of the
[Third Secret]", he wrote, "will probably prove disappointing or surprising
after all the speculation it has stirred. No great mystery is revealed; nor is
the future unveiled." [7]



The years of waiting for the revelation of the Third Secret combined with the
discretion of the Vatican built up in many people's minds the idea that the
Third Secret predicted some catastrophe, like a nuclear war, a world-wide natural
disaster or a great tribulation within the Church. Some people even developed a
"conspiracy mentality", in which they assumed the faithful were not
being told the truth about what was going to happen in the Church and in the
world. Some critics have accused Vatican officials of publishing a fraudulent
Third Secret or of withholding important information. The problem here is that
no one has ever seen any other Third Secret of Fatima than the one that has
already been released to the public. The burden of proof lies with the critics.
They must produce another document or at least reliable witnesses who have seen
and read it. At this point none have come forward.



There is one final authority who should be quoted. He is Archbishop Loris
Capovilla, who once served as private secretary to Pope John XXIII. He had read
the Third Secret along with Pope John XXIII and actually held the manuscript in
his hands. Certain people have claimed that he had said there were "two
texts" of the Third Secret. However, Archbishop Capovilla made the
following clear and definitive statement:

There are not two truths from Fatima, nor is there any fourth secret. The text
which I read in 1959 is the same that was distributed by the Vatican. . . . I
have had enough of these conspiracy theories. It just isn't true. I read it, I
presented it to the Pope and we resealed the envelope. [8]

As for the doomsday predictions, we know that a terrible world-wide natural
catastrophe or a nuclear war could happen, but that would be the result of our
sins. This is why we must heed our Lady's message for prayer and penance. We also
know that with the spread of secularism and religious indifference, many
Catholics are no longer practicing their faith. But again, the remedy for this
is prayer, penance and a fervent Christian life, as our Lady requested at
Fatima. As for any triumph of Satan over the Church, this is impossible. Jesus
himself said so when he told Saint Peter: "You are Peter, and on this rock
I will build my Church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against
it" (Mt 16: 18). It will not be Satan who will conquer, but Jesus with his
Immaculate Mother who will crush the head of the serpent.



Objection: The text released by the Vatican is not written in the
form of a letter.



Some of the clerics who lived at the time the Third Secret was written
mentioned it in terms of a letter, but this was not an emphatic point they were
making. The photocopy of the original manuscript released by the Holy See does
not have a formal address to the Bishop, however it does have a certain
likeness to a letter. The document begins with a title like those in Lucia's
memoirs and has a kind of introduction that makes reference to the Bishop:

[title] The third part of the secret revealed at the Cova da Iria-Fatima, on 13
July 1917.
[introduction] I write in obedience to you, my God, who command me
to do so through his Excellency the Bishop of Leiria and through your Most Holy
Mother and mine. [9]<

Archbishop Bertone said that the point about the document being written in the
form of a signed letter is not very important. He said of some of his critics
that "they look at everything through the magnifying glass of their own
biases. As a result they latch on to the most unbelievable things." [10]



As a final plea, let us set aside our doubts and support our Holy Father in the
present struggle with our prayers, our fidelity, our service and our love! This
would be very pleasing to the Immaculate Heart of Mary! I am absolutely confident
that the Holy Father has fully conveyed Our Lady of Fatima's message to us!



ENDNOTES:



[1] The Last Secret, p. 63.

[2] A copy of the 4-page format of the text of the Third Secret can be found in
From the Beginning, pp. 251-54, as well
as on the Vatican website.

[3] Message of Fatima.

[4] The Last Secret, p. 64.

[5] "Sister Lucy: Secret of Fatima Contains No More Mysteries",
Vatican Information Service, Dec. 20, 2001.

[6] The Last Secret, p. 66.

[7] " Theological Commentary" .

[8] "Last Surviving Witness Says Third Fatima Is Fully Revealed",
Catholic News Agency, September 12, 2007.

[9] Message of Fatima.

[10] The Last Secret, p. 66.







Fatima For Today: The Urgent Marian Message of Hope







Related Products:





• Fatima For Today -- Electronic Book Download

• Fatima For Today -- Downloadable Audio File




Though the apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima took place almost a hundred years ago, Our Lady's call to prayer and
penance for the salvation of souls and peace in the world is as relevant now as when first delivered to three Portuguese
peasant children in 1917.




At the peak of the First World War, our Lady warned of another worldwide conflict, the rise and spread of Communism, and
a terrible persecution of the Church unless people repented of their sins and returned to God. She also requested
devotion to her Immaculate Heart and a special consecration of Russia.




Much of what Our Lady of Fatima said was revealed soon after her appearances, but the third and final "secret", which
was not a message but a prophetic vision seen by the children, was not unveiled by the Vatican until 2000. Pope John
Paul II, who read the third secret while recovering from the attempt upon his life in 1981, believed the vision
signified the sufferings the Church had endured in the twentieth century.




Because of the prophetic nature of her messages, Our Lady of Fatima has been the subject of much controversy and
speculation. In this book, Father Andrew Apostoli carefully analyzes the events that took place in Fatima and clears up
lingering questions and doubts about their meaning. He also challenges the reader to hear anew the call of Our Lady to
prayer and sacrifice, for the world is ever in need of generous hearts willing to make reparation for those in danger of
losing their way to God.




"In a manner that is most accessible and, at the same time, complete and accurate, Father Apostoli helps us to know the
maternal instruction of Our Lady of Fatima and, following it, to know and 'savor', in the words of Pope Benedict XVI,
the mystery of divine love in our lives." -- Cardinal Raymond Burke




"As was so dramatically obvious during the visit of Pope Benedict XVI to Fatima in May, 2010, Our Lady's apparitions in
1917 remain powerfully compelling for us today. There she was an evangelist, calling us to prayer, conversion of heart,
and penance, pointing to Jesus and repeating her words at Cana, 'Do whatever He tells you.' This book brings it all
home." -- Most Reverend Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York



"For us, Fatima is a sign of the presence of faith, of the fact that it is precisely from the little ones that faith
gains new strength, one which is not limited to the little ones but has a message for the entire world and touches
history here and now, and sheds light on this history . . . Even now there is tribulation, in every conceivable form,
and power threatens to trample down faith. Even now, then, there is a need for the answer about which the Mother of God
spoke to the children at Fatima." -- Pope Benedict XVI



"Learn, live, and spread the message of Fatima! This is the express desire of Pope Benedict XVI. And Pope John Paul II
once stated that the message of Fatima was more important now than in 1917! That is why this wonderful book on Fatima
is so important. Fr. Apostoli has recaptured this heavenly message of urgency and hope for a new generation. Our world
needs the message of Fatima more than ever, and I pray that many people are brought back to Jesus, Mary, and the Church
through these pages." -- Fr. Donald Calloway, MIC, Author, No Turning Back: A Witness to Mercy




"Fr. Apostoli's book tells you all you need to know about Our Lady's apparitions to the three children in Portugal in
1917. His brief and objective presentation of the facts surrounding the divine revelation not only informs the mind, but
also moves the will to embrace and carry out the message of Fatima-prayer and penance-for the salvation of souls and
world peace. The message is clear-pray the Rosary every day and offer up some sacrifices for the salvation of sinners
and in reparation for sins against God and the Immaculate Heart of Mary." -- Fr. Kenneth Baker, S.J., Author, Inside the Bible









Fr. Andrew Apostoli, C.F.R., a founding member of the
Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, has been teaching and preaching
retreats and parish missions for several decades. He is
considered one of the world's foremost experts on the apparitions
at Fatima. He is the author of numerous books, including Following Mary to Jesus and Walk Humbly With Your God.
Fr.
Apostoli is the vice-postulator for the cause for the canonization
of Archbishop Fulton Sheen. A frequent host on EWTN television, he
hosted the TV special "Our Lady of Fatima and
the First Saturday Devotion".

Carl's Cuts for May 11, 2013

by Carl E. Olson | CWR blog

For every lengthy and (hopefully) in-depth blog post I write from time to time, there are countless posts I never get around to writing. In fact, I estimate that for every post I do end up writing, I read or skim through five or six dozen articles, essays, reviews, and such. The biggest challenge is simply time, but I also try to avoid simply posting something just to have "something up there". And then there are little stories or miscellaneous items that don't really warrant a full post, but might be of interest to some readers.

In years past, when blogging exclusively on Insight Scoop, I'd occasionally produce a round-up post, with several links, some with little or no commentary and a few with a bit more. That helped clear out the "in box", so to speak, and so I'm going to use the same approach once a week or so here on the CWR blog, under the title, "Carl's Cuts". The word "cuts" is used in a multi-facted way; I'll let you figure out the specific intentions as we move along here.

Some of these links have been around a few weeks. Perhaps you've already seen some of these stories. Whatever the case, they have made the cut for "Carl's Cuts". 

• Educatiional Quote: "If you happen to be Catholic, you can expect to be treated as a curious and repellent heretic, unenlightened about the latest word in sexual politics." It works well as a general summary of the state of things in the West, but it is from a recent New Criterion article, "The case of Bowdoin College", about a $60,000-a-year liberal arts college in Maine that is the poster-college, if you will, for the legacy of the Sixties. Not for the faint of heart, but certainly important reading for the sturdy of mind and soul.

• Signs of the Apocalypse: Prospect Magazine recently conducted a most thoughtful poll: "After more than 10,000 votes from over 100 countries, the results of Prospect’s world thinkers 2013 poll are in. Online polls often throw up curious results, but this top 10 offers a snapshot of the intellectual trends that dominate our age." And the winner is: Richard Dawkins. That does not bode well for the theory of evolution. Among Dawkins' brilliant achievements, the article proffers, is the coining of the term "meme", as well as being "prolific on Twitter." If making up words and using social media are the main criteria for intellectual greatness, we can rejoice in knowing that millions of geniuses are currently in their teens and early adulthood all around the world. Really, what does it say that over half of the top 65 picks are economists, sociologists, political scientists, activists, statisticians, and investment strategists? Nothing very good—and let me statistically analyze the ways and whys.

• Russell Shaw argues that "Leo XIII’s critique [of Americanism] is more substantial than apologists for Americanism care to admit. Much of it, in fact, is pertinent to conditions in American Catholicism today." Indeed, most pertinent.

• Believe it or not, blogger and author Brandon Vogt recently launched a website, StrangeNotions.com, focused on addressing atheism and skepticism. One of my articles, "Did Paul Invent Christianity?" (originally published in This Rock magazine) is on the site. Here is a list of contributors to the site.

• Rev. Robert A. Gahl, Jr., an associate professor of ethics at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, has written an essay for The Washington Post that asks the question, "Can Pope Francis finish the job that Benedict began?" He writes that in the 1990s, "Ratzinger was leading the curial push to decisively deal with perpetrators who were still a threat because of some weak-minded administrators and their policy to move criminals first to treatment and then back into ministry." He also writes:

Ratzinger did not aim for a middle place between the competing interests of the victims and of the accused, but to ascertain the truth, reach a verdict, and impose a just penalty, all while doing everything possible to heal the victims and repair the damage done to the church and society. After noting my concern for judicial due process, he indicated his unshakeable commitment to do everything possible to root out abusive clergy, fully cognizant that he could be criticized by canon lawyers for eliminating traditional steps in ecclesiastical trials designed to protect the rights of the accused.

He concludes, "All signs point to a Pope Francis ready to keep cleaning the house of God." So far, it appears, so good. 

• Do you live in the one of the "20 Most Well-Read Cities" in the United States? ...

Continue reading on the CWR blog.

New: "Pius XII: Under the Roman Sky"

Now avaiable from Ignatius Press:

Pius XII: Under the Roman Sky

DVD. 200 minutes.

Based on Vatican documents and personal testimonies used for the
beatification of Pope Pius XII, this epic film stars acclaimed actor James Cromwell
in a powerful movie about the great, often hidden struggle waged by the
Pope and many others with him to save the Jews from the Nazis during
WWII. After the Nazi's take over Rome in 1943, Hitler's plan to kidnap
the Pope is revealed as the Nazis make an all-out attempt to silence the
one authority figure in Italy standing strong against them. Everything
comes together with great intensity in this dramatic story that retraces
history from the documents and the testimonies of witnesses that was
not fully known til now.

Hitler and the Pope - on one side the man who catapulted the whole world
into war and, on the other, the man who, more than any other, fought
for peace. Despite all his efforts, Pius XII is not able to prevent some
of the horrors that take place in Rome when over a thousand victims are
deported to Auschwitz. But history testifies that over 10,000 Jews were
saved, hidden in churches and convents in Rome - more saved than in
any other occupied city.

Even among the Nazi officers were those who opposed such savagery and,
thus, under the Roman sky, both the saved and the lost, the victims and
the executioners, shout the Pope's cry with their lives: Nothing is lost
with peace. Everything may be lost by war. Starring James Cromwell, Alessandra Mastronardi, Marco Froschi, Ettore Bassi, and directed by Christian Duguay (Restless Heart, Joan of Arc).
DVD includes a deluxe 16 page companion Collector's booklet.

This Film is Not Rated

This DVD contains the following language options: English with English and Spanish subtitles.

This is a Region 1 DVD (playable ONLY in Bermuda, Canada, the Cayman Islands, United States and U.S. territories).

Samples images from the film:

The Rise, Fall and Future of Catholicism in the U.S.

The Rise, Fall and Future of Catholicism in the U.S. | CWR Staff



An interview with Russell Shaw, author of American Church.

Author and journalist Russell Shaw has written over twenty books,
including To Hunt, To Shoot, To Entertain: Clericalism and the Catholic
Laity and Nothing
to Hide: Secrecy, Communication, and Communion in the Catholic Church. For 18 years, Shaw directed media relations for the
National Conference of Catholic Bishops and the United States Catholic
Conference. From 1987 to 1997 he oversaw media relations for the Knights of
Columbus. Since resigning from that position, he has worked full time as a
freelance writer. His most recent book, American
Church: The Remarkable Rise, Meteoric Fall, and Uncertain Future of Catholicism
in America (Ignatius Press, 2013), has
been widely praised as an incisive examination of the recent history of the
Catholic Church in the United States. “If you want to understand the Church in
the United States and the challenges she now faces,” states Abp. Charles J.
Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., Archbishop of Philadelphia, “American Church should be on the short list of books you need to
read.” Shaw recently answered some questions from CWR about his book and the
past, present, and future of Catholicism in the United States.

CWR: How and why was
James Cardinal Gibbons of Baltimore such a key figure in the story of the
Catholic Church in the U.S.?

Shaw: Cardinal
Gibbons was Archbishop of Baltimore from 1877 until his death in 1921. That's
44 crucial years in American Catholic history during which he was the leader of
the American hierarchy, recognized as such by Rome and by his episcopal
colleagues. He also was leader of the Americanizing bishops—the members of the
hierarchy who advocated rapid and total integration of immigrant Catholics into
American culture.

The group included some who were more flamboyant, like
Archbishop John Ireland of Saint Paul, and others who were more intellectual,
like Bishop John Lancaster Spalding of Peoria, but the patient, prudent,
diplomatic Gibbons was the most effective of them all, trusted by the Holy See
and widely respected at home. By the time of his death, he was one of the most
admired public figures in the country, and his policy of Americanization was
the policy of the Church in the United States. I have no hesitation saying his
impact on American Catholicism was greater than that of any bishop before or
since..

CWR: You describe
Orestes Brownson as "the most distinguished (and very nearly only)
American Catholic public intellectual of his day." How did Brownson's view
of the relationship between Catholicism and the American experiment change or
develop? How accurate were his mostly negative assessment of that relationship?

Continue reading on the CWR site.

Looking for the perfect Mother's Day gift?

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Books


 

Extreme Makeover: Women Transformed by Christ, Not Conformed to the Culture

Teresa Tomeo

Popular radio host Teresa Tomeo knows from experience that the
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powerful personal testimonies, Extreme Makeover shows that it
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The Eternal Woman: The Timeless Meaning of the Feminine

Gertrud von le Fort

Taking Mary, Virgin and Mother, as her model, von le Fort
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Confessions of An Ex-Feminist

Teresa Tomeo

Confessions is the honest and heart-rending account of
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Maria: Pope Benedict XVI on the Mother of God

Pope Benedict XVI

This glorious volume is a lavishly illustrated coffee-table
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Splendors of the Rosary: A Celebration of the Mysteries of The Rosary through Art and Meditation

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Hallowed Be This House Finding Signs of Heaven in Your Home

Thomas Howard

Thomas Howard shows us that every room of your house-the living
room, the kitchen, the bedroom, and even the bathroom-is a holy place
where God's grace awaits you, if only you know how to recognize His
presence there. With a rich awareness of  God's all-encompassing love,
Howard takes you on a spiritual tour through your own home and shows
you how everything in it can lead you closer to God. So take up this
book to find out how cooking and cleaning, having family dinners
together, and all the other commonplace actions that make up the
fabric of your daily life can actually disclose God's presence to you.
Your daily life as well as your devotional life will be forever
transformed by this unusual look at how lovingly God awaits us even in
the smallest things. Also available as an e-book.

Regular price: $14.95, sale price: $11.96

 

Saint Gianna Molla Wife, Mother, Doctor

Pietro Molla

This is the inspiring story of a canonized
contemporary woman. Gianna Molla (1923-1962) an Italian woman who
loved skiing, playing piano, attending concerts at the Milan
Conservatory, was a dedicated physician and devoted wife and mother
who lived life to the fullest, yet generously risked death by cancer
for the sake of her child. A unique story, co-authored by her own
husband, with his deeply moving personal insights of the heroic
witness, love, sacrifice and joy of his saintly wife. A woman for all
times and walks of life, this moving account of the multi-faceted,
selfless St. Gianna Molla, who made the ultimate sacrifice to save her
unborn child, will be an inspiration to all readers.

Regular price: $11.95, sale price: $9.56

 

Mother Teresa of Calcutta A Personal Portrait: 50 Inspiring Stories Never Before Told

Leo Maasburg

Fr. Leo Maasburg was Mother Teresa's close companion for many
years, traveling with her throughout the world and was witness to
countless miracles and incredible little-known occurrences. In this
personal portrait of the beloved nun, he presents fifty amazing
stories about her that most people have never heard, wonderful and
delightful stories about miracles, small and great, that he was
privileged to experience at Mother Teresa's side. They all tell of her
limitless trust in God's love, of the way the power of faith can move
mountains, and of hope that can never die. These stories reveal a
humorous, gifted, wise and arresting woman who has a message of real
hope for our time. It's the life story of one of the most important
women of the 20th century as it's never been told before. Also available as an e-book and audio download.

Regular price: $22.95, sale price: $18.36

Fatima for Today The Urgent Marian Message of Hope

Fr. Andrew Apostoli, C.F.R.

Because of the prophetic nature of her messages, Our Lady of
Fatima has been the subject of much controversy and speculation. In Fatima for Today ,
Father Andrew Apostoli carefully analyzes the events that took place
in Fatima and clears up lingering questions and doubts about their
meaning. He also challenges the reader to hear anew the call of Our
Lady to prayer and sacrifice, for the world is ever in need of
generous hearts willing to make reparation for those in danger of
losing their way to God. Also available as an e-book and audio download.

Regular price: $16.95, sale price: $13.56
The Jeweler's Shop

Karol Wojtyla

Love is "one of the greatest dramas of human existence," writes
Pope John Paul II. In this illuminating three-act play--here in the
only English translation authorized by the Vatican--he explores
relationships between men and women, the joys--and the pain--of love
and marriage. This is a play full of wisdom on a subject of great
relevance to all, and it provides a special insight into the thoughts
of the man who, like no other, has captured the imagination of people
of all faiths throughout the world. The Jeweler's Shop has been made into a full-length movie now available on video.

Regular price: $14.95, sale price: $11.96

 

Films

The Jeweller's Shop

Based on Pope John Paul II’s best-selling book, it tells of the
struggles and triumphs in the marriage of three couples. A mysterious
Jeweller (Burt Lancaster) acts as a mystical advisor
to the couples, encouraging them to keep love at the center of their
lives. Beautifully filmed with an outstanding cast that includes Olivia Hussey and Ben Cross. John Paul II called it "the best possible film based on my play."

Regular price: $19.95, sale price: $15.96

The 13th Day

In a world torn apart by persecution, war and oppression, 3
children in Fatima, Portugal were chosen by God to offer an urgent
message of hope to the world. Based on the memoirs of the oldest seer,
Lucia Santos, and many thousands of independent eye-witness accounts,
The 13th Day dramatizes the true story of three young
shepherds who experienced six apparitions of Our Lady between May and
October 1917, which culminated in the final prophesied Miracle of the
Sun on October 13th. Abducted from their homes, thrown into prison and
interrogated under the threat of death in the government’s attempt to
silence them, the children remained true to their story about the
crucial messages from Mary of prayer, repentance and conversion for
the world.

Regular price: $24.95, sale price: $19.96

Saint Rita

Famous as the patron of hopeless situations, St. Rita of Cascia
is immortalized in this wonderful, deeply moving film about this
beautiful woman who lived in Italy in the 14th century. Starring
Vittoria Belvedere and Martin Crewes, this powerful story combines
high drama, great love, deep betrayal, senseless tragedy, profound
forgiveness and strong faith as it tells the story of this brave and
loyal woman who married her knight, helped him overcome his dark past
and convert to faith, happily bore him two childern, and later endures
immense pain as she loses everything in her life. She finds peace and
new hope through generosity of a nearby convent of sisters, and with
their help she develops a deep union with Christ that greatly inspires
all who near her. Also includes a special 16 page Collector's
booklet.

Regular price: $24.95, sale price: $19.96

Love is a Choice: Life of St. Gianna Molla

This video documents the heroic life of St. Gianna Molla
through interviews with her husband, children, friends, letters, and
family mementos. St. Gianna, who sacrificed her life to save her
unborn baby, was a mother, a medical doctor, a lover of opera, art,
and culture; one who can speak much to our present day especially when
family life is threatened on so many fronts.

Regular price: $19.95, sale price: $15.96

Proclaiming Christ Through Catholic Radio

Proclaiming Christ Through
Catholic Radio | Jim Graves | Catholic World Report

An interview with Steve Gajdosik,
president of the Catholic Radio Association

Archbishop Joseph Naumann of
Kansas City calls it “a bishop’s best friend.”  Bishop of Birmingham
Robert Baker says it is an “indispensable tool.”  Archbishop of Denver
Samuel Aquila refers to it as “a blessing which helps us to learn our faith and
transform our hearts.”

Catholic radio is currently
available on AM-FM radio to about 170 million Americans, or a little over half
the nation, through about 250 Catholic radio stations. This may sound
impressive, but it is dwarfed by the presence of non-Catholic Christian radio
programming, which is delivered by 1,700 non-Catholic Christian stations.
Additionally, there are still many major media markets—Los Angeles, New York
City, Atlanta, and Memphis, to name a few—that do not have Catholic radio.

As compared to Protestants,
Catholics have been slow to discover the importance of radio in evangelization.
Nonetheless, Catholic presence on the airwaves has been steadily increasing in
recent years, and, according to Steve Gajdosik, president of the Catholic Radio Association,
a unique opportunity to grow that presence has arisen. The CRA is a support
organization of Catholic radio network owner-operators, and has the end-goal of
helping to “push the growth of Catholic radio” in the United States.

Gajdosik recently spoke with CWR about Catholic radio, its success
as an evangelization tool and opportunities to expand its reach in the future.

CWR: Although 170 million Americans
have access to Catholic programming via AM-FM radio stations, is there any way
to know exactly how many are listening?

Gajdosik: No, we don’t have a direct way
to measure the size of our audiences.  Most Catholic stations don’t
subscribe to Arbitron [a consumer research company that collects listener data
on radio audiences], so we don’t have a lot of data available to us.  One
exception, however, is Relevant Radio,
a Catholic network that operates in the Midwest.  They subscribe to
Arbitron.  The most recent numbers they had for the Chicago market were
out of this world.  People were tuning in to the station and staying with
it.

CWR: How is Catholic radio programming
produced?

Continue reading on the CWR site.

Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger on what "the feast of the Ascension wants to teach us"

From
Images of Hope: Meditations on Major Feasts, in a chapter titled, "The Beginning of a New Nearness":

You
are surely familiar with all those precious, naïve images in which only
the feet of Jesus are visible, sticking out of the cloud, at the heads
of the apostles. The cloud, for its part, is a dark circle on the
perimeter; on the inside, however, blazing light. It occurs to me that
precisely in the apparent naïveté of this representation something very
deep comes into view. All we see of Christ in the time of history are
his feet and the cloud. His feet—what are they? We are reminded, first
of all, of a peculiar sentence from the Resurrection account in
Matthew's Gospel, where it is said that the women held onto the feet of
the Risen Lord and worshipped him. As the Risen One, he towers over
earthly proportions. We can still only touch his feet; and we touch them
in adoration. Here we could reflect that we come as worshippers,
following his trail, close to his footsteps. Praying, we go to him;
praying, we touch him, even if in this world, so to speak, always only
from below, only from afar, always only on the trail of his earthly
steps. At the same time it becomes clear that we do not find the
footprints of Christ when we look only below, when we measure only
footprints and want to subsume faith in the obvious. The Lord is
movement toward above, and only in moving ourselves, in looking up and
ascending, do we recognize him. When we read the Church Fathers
something important is added. The correct ascent of man occurs precisely
where he learns, in humbly turning toward his neighbor, to bow very
deeply, down to his feet, down to the gesture of the washing of feet. It
is precisely humility, which can bow low, that carries man upward. This
is the dynamic of ascent that the feast of the Ascension wants to teach
us. 

Read another excerpt from the same book, "Primacy in Love."

The Image of Man Has Been Raised Up: On the Feast of the Ascension of the Lord

The Image of Man Has Been Raised Up: On the Feast of the Ascension of the Lord | Carl E. Olson 

"You
ascended into glory, O Christ our God, and You delighted the disciples
with the promise of the Holy Spirit. Through this blessing, they were
assured that You are the Son of God, the Redeemer of the World."
—Troparion for the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, Feast of the Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ


"Christ's Ascension is therefore not a spectacle for the disciples but
an event into which they themselves are included. It is a sursum corda,
a movement toward the above into which we are all called. It tells us
that man can live toward the above, that he is capable of attaining
heights. More: the altitude that alone is suited to the dimensions of
being human is the altitude of God himself. Man can live at this height,
and only from this height do we properly understand him. The image of
man has been raised up, but we have the freedom to tear it down or to
let ourselves be raised."
— Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, from Images of Hope: Meditations On Major Feasts (Ignatius Press, 2006)

Readings:

• Acts 1:1-11
• Psa. 47:2-3, 6-7, 8-9
• Eph. 1:17-23 or Heb. 9:24-28; 10:19-23
• Lk 24:46-53

"As he blessed them he parted from them and was taken up to heaven." (Lk 24:51)


With these simple, matter-of-fact words, Luke describes the Ascension
of Jesus, expressed even more concisely in the Creed: "He ascended into
heaven." This event is so important for Luke that the Acts of the
Apostles opens with a description of the same event. As the disciples
looked on, Luke records, Jesus "was lifted up, and a cloud took him
from their sight" (Acts 1:9). Mark's account, heard today, is equally
direct and succinct: "So then the Lord Jesus, after he spoke to them,
was taken up into heaven and took his seat at the right hand of God"
(Mk. 16:19).

This dramatic moment has been celebrated in the
Church on the fortieth day after Easter since the earliest centuries.
Some of the Church Fathers, including Augustine, said that the feast had
been observed since the time of the apostles, although the earliest
evidence of its celebration dates to the fifth century. In the Latin
Rite in the United States the Feast of the Ascension is one of six
solemnities, the others being the solemnities of Mary, Mother of God
(January 1); the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (August 15); All
Saints (November 1), the Immaculate Conception (December 8), and the
Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ (December 25).

Despite being
a solemnity and a holy day of obligation, the Feast of the Ascension is
sometimes completely overlooked or not given much attention. Ask
Catholics what is the significance of the Feast and answers aren't
always immediate. The rather mysterious nature of the Feast is
heightened in some ecclesiastical provinces by its transference from the
sixth Thursday of Easter to the following Sunday. In a way, the
Solemnity bears a resemblance to the sacrament of Confirmation, the
exact meaning of which is not always understood well and suffers for not
being more clearly explained and comprehended.

This
occasional murkiness is unfortunate because the Ascension is such a
joyful event in the work and life of Jesus Christ, as well as being a
vital reality in the ongoing life and mission of the Church. To
appreciate this joy and vitality we should keep in mind what the Catechism of the Catholic Church
states about the liturgical calendar: The Church, "in the course of the
year, . . . unfolds the whole mystery of Christ from his Incarnation
and Nativity through his Ascension, to Pentecost and the expectation of
the blessed hope of the coming of the Lord" (CCC, 1194).

Hinted
at here are revealing parallels between the Incarnation and the
Ascension and between the Nativity and Pentecost. In the Incarnation the
eternal Son of God took on human nature in order to save mankind. By
the power of the Holy Spirit, divinity and humanity were united in one
Person; the Word became flesh (Jn 1:14) and lowered Himself to the level
of dust and death. The Nativity is the physical, outward revelation of
this reality: the Christ Child is born and history and the world are
never the same.

At the Ascension the crucified, risen Son of God returns to His
Father. Having descended to dusty earth, He now returns to heavenly
glory. Having conquered death, He ascends to eternal life. But He
returns to the right hand of the Father not just as the Word, but as the
Incarnate Word. The doors of heaven are now open and humanity can now
approach the throne room of God, the way having been paved by the life,
death, and resurrection of the God-man. Pentecost, finally, is the
manifestation of the God-man's Church, which is both human and divine.
The Church was revealed to the world on that day—fifty days after
Easter—by the power of the Holy Spirit.

All of this theology is nice enough, but what does it mean for us? It
means the Feast of the Ascension is a celebration of salvation won. The Catholic Encyclopedia notes that "in the Eastern Church this feast was known as analepsis, the taking up, and also as the episozomene,
the salvation, denoting that by ascending into His glory Christ
completed the work of our redemption." The tendency is often to think of
the Resurrection as the culmination of Jesus' salvific work, but it is
the Ascension that places the final stamp of approval on the sacrificial
and victorious work of our Savior. This is beautifully expressed in the
first chapter of Paul's epistle to the Ephesians:

May the eyes of your hearts be enlightened, that you may
know what is the hope that belongs to his call, what are the riches of
glory in his inheritance among the holy ones, and what is the surpassing
greatness of his power for us who believe, in accord with the exercise
of his great might: which he worked in Christ, raising him from the dead
and seating him at his right hand in the heavens ... (Eph. 1:17-20).

Now that the Incarnate Son of God has ascended into heaven and sits
in the throne room of God, mankind can follow. United to the Son through
baptism and deepening communion with Him through reception of the Holy
Eucharist and the other sacraments, the hope of heaven is ours.


"The ascension of Christ is our elevation," declared Leo the Great in a
sermon on the Ascension, "Hope for the body is also invited where the
glory of the Head preceded us. Let us exult, dearly beloved, with worthy
joy and be glad with a holy thanksgiving. Today we not only are
established as possessors of paradise, but we have even penetrated the
heights of the heavens in Christ." Where the sin of the first Adam
closed the gates of Paradise, the righteousness of the new Adam has
opened them wide.

Jesus promised His disciples that He would
prepare a place for them (Jn. 14). Because of the Ascension, we know He
has prepared a place for those who are His. Because of the Ascension, we
have the hope of His return and of our future passage into glory. "The
Ascension, then," Pope John Paul II explained in May 2000, "is a
Trinitarian epiphany which indicates the goal to which personal and
universal history is hastening. Even if our mortal body dissolves into
the dust of the earth, our whole redeemed self is directed on high to
God, following Christ as our guide."

Our Guide has come, died, rose from the dead, and ascended into heaven. Let us celebrate the Feast!

(This article was originally published in 2004 in Our Sunday Visitor in a slightly different form.)