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You probably saw my post Sister explains the situation. Spittle-flecked nutty, bullying, intimidation ensue. Sr. Jane Laurel, OP, gave a talk at a Catholic High School. Hell broke loose. If you want to sample her talks, go HERE. Her talk at the High School was “Masculinity & Femininity: Difference & Gift”. Presentations with that title are on that website. Listen to a few. At the High School, Sister included comments about homosexuality, divorce and single parents. Some people lost their minds. Read more here. I suspect that what happened, to build this up into such a thing, is that parents...

Easter and the Holy Eucharistby Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J.We do not usually associate Easter and the Holy Eucharist. But we should. Our faith tells us that God became man in order that, by His death on the Cross, He might redeem the world. But this same faith tells us that, when Christ died on Calvary, the Church came into existence. We may therefore say that we were delivered from sin by the Savior’s death, and receive the blessings of His grace through the Mystical Body which came into being the moment Jesus expired on Good Friday.But our Catholic...

The state Health Department is failing to inspect many of New York’s abortion clinics — with some facilities escaping scrutiny for more than a decade, bombshell documents obtained by The Post reveal. Health inspectors regulate 25 diagnostic and treatment clinics and surgery centers that provide abortion services — though pro-choice advocates say there are 225 abortion service providers in New York state. Eight of the 25 clinics were never inspected over the 2000-12 span, five were inspected just once, and eight were inspected only twice or three times — meaning once every four or six years. A total of just...

Featured Term (selected at random:GIFT OF COUNSEL One of the special gifts of the Holy Spirit; it perfects the virtue of prudence. Its function is to enable a person to judge promptly and rightly, as by a sort of supernatural intuition, what should be done, especially in difficult situations. With the gift of counsel, the Holy Spirit speaks, as it were, to the heart and in an instant enlightens a person what to do. It corresponds to the promise made by Christ to his followers, "When they hand you over, do not worry about how to speak or what to...

April 7, 2014Monday of the Fifth Week of Lent    Reading 1 Dn 13:1-19, 15-17, 19-30, 33-62 In Babylon there lived a man named Joakim,who married a very beautiful and God-fearing woman, Susanna,the daughter of Hilkiah;her pious parents had trained their daughteraccording to the law of Moses.Joakim was very rich;he had a garden near his house,and the Jews had recourse to him oftenbecause he was the most respected of them all. That year, two elders of the people were appointed judges,of whom the Lord said, “Wickedness has come out of Babylon:from the elders who were to govern the people...

PREFACE 2013 ANNUAL REPORT ON ANTI-CATHOLICISM We had another roller-coaster ride in 2013, witnessing many impressive victories, and enduring some recalcitrant anti-Catholic offenders. As usual, we were forced to move quickly, jumping from one fire to another. But that’s the fun part of working here: we never have a dull moment; we must constantly keep on our toes. Many of the veteran staff... [Read more...] EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 2013 ANNUAL REPORT ON ANTI-CATHOLICISM The biggest Catholic story of 2013 was seeing Pope Benedict XVI pass the baton to Pope Francis. Our new pontiff wasted no time becoming a media superstar, and by...

Women Texting During Her WeddingThis is typically not what you would expect to see at a wedding. Do you think this could b a warning sign of the things to come?

The Real Presence and SanctityFr. John A. Hardon, S.J.In speaking about Holiness it is remarkable how we can overlook the obvious.  For example it is obvious that we cannot become holy unless we obtain the extraordinary graces needed to reach sanctity.  Hearing about holiness;  reading about it;  even seeing holiness, does not make one holy.  We need grace.   It is equally obvious that the graces we need must come to us from Christ since as He told us, "Without Me you can do nothing".  If that nothing refers even to salvation, it most certainly refers to sanctification. Photo...

April 6, 2014Fifth Sunday of Lent   Reading 1 Ez 37:12-14 Thus says the Lord GOD: O my people, I will open your graves and have you rise from them, and bring you back to the land of Israel.Then you shall know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves and have you rise from them, O my people!I will put my spirit in you that you may live, and I will settle you upon your land; thus you shall know that I am the LORD.I have promised, and I will do it, says the LORD. Responsorial...

http://walkinginthedesert.com/2014/02/18/beyond-religious-liberty/ In recent times you frequently hear people, including Christians, and even amongst Catholics talk about religious liberty and the radical and secular idea of the separation of church and state. What many people fail to realize is that religious liberty and the separation of church and state as in the modern liberal sense has never been taught by the Church, but actually condemned by many Popes. It is true that Vatican II mentions religious liberty to some extent, including the Catechism of the Catholic Church, however the traditional Catholic teaching has always put a strong emphasize on the Social...

From The Catholic Herald: The Dominican sister who gave a presentation on sexuality to students at Charlotte Catholic High School that sparked controversy among students and parents last month is taking a sabbatical from teaching and canceling her other speaking engagements.The presentation March 21 by Dominican Sister Jane Dominic Laurel of Nashville, Tenn., entitled “Masculinity and Femininity: Difference and Gift,” drew the ire of hundreds of students and parents over the past two weeks, and their emotions boiled over during a parents meeting with school and diocesan leaders Wednesday night.Sister Jane has a doctorate in sacred theology from the Pontifical...

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Don’t hold back when praying to God — tell him exactly what’s wrong and insist on holding him to his promises, Pope Francis said. Prayer should be like speaking face-to-face with a friend: “without fear, freely and also with insistence,” the pope said in his homily April 3 during an early morning Mass in the chapel of the Domus Sanctae Marthae. Pope Francis’ homily focused on the day’s reading from the Book of Exodus (32:7-14), in which Moses begs God to spare his people, even though they have created a golden calf to worship as their...

Featured Term (selected at random:DEDICATION Setting aside for sacred use. This may be a person, place, or object that in whole or in part is withdrawn from its natural and secular purpose to be more or less reserved for the worship or service of God. All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

April 5, 2014Saturday of the Fourth Week of Lent    Reading 1 Jer 11:18-20 I knew their plot because the LORD informed me;at that time you, O LORD, showed me their doings. Yet I, like a trusting lamb led to slaughter,had not realized that they were hatching plots against me:“Let us destroy the tree in its vigor;let us cut him off from the land of the living,so that his name will be spoken no more.” But, you, O LORD of hosts, O just Judge,searcher of mind and heart,Let me witness the vengeance you take on them,for to you I...

Shepherds & Kings: A Look at the Papacy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnNo2LgnnyI(Music used available for purchase here: http://www.amazon.com/Cantiones-sacrae-II-Exsurge-Domine/dp/B00B9E18Y8) There is to be one Shepherd here. It was first King David (Ezekiel 34:23), then Jesus (John 10:11), and now is the Pope (John 21:17). This role is tied to the role of King. As David was King (2 Samuel 5:12) and Christ is King (Matthew 27:11), so the Pope is (as the Vicar of Christ) "father of princes and kings". Historically, the Pope has been the unifier of everyone: emperors, artists, the religious, and so on. Whenever emperors would abandon the Faith, they would...

Imitating Christ in the EucharistFr. John A. Hardon, S.J.The most popular book in the world, after the Bible, is The Imitation of Christ. Since it was published in the early fifteenth century, it has deeply influenced the spirituality of millions of believing Christians. Its basic theme is that, since Jesus Christ is true God and true man, by imitating Christ as man, we become more and more like Christ, who is God. We commonly associate the imitation of Christ by following the example He gave us during His mortal and visible stay in Palestine two thousand years ago. However,...

There can be little doubt how far the Church in the United States has fallen. As this article explains, "A North Carolina Roman Catholic school is holding a meeting today to address the concerns of parents and students who say they are outraged about remarks a visiting nun made criticizing homosexuality, divorce, and sex outside of marriage during a recent speech. Dominican Sister Jane Dominic Laurel, who often speaks to high school and college-age students on matters of sexuality, gave an hour-long presentation to students at Charlotte Catholic High School on March 21 called “Masculinity and Femininity: Difference and Gift.”...

Featured Term (selected at random:TRUTH Conformity of mind and reality. Three kinds of conformity give rise to three kinds of truth. In logical truth, the mind is conformed or in agreement with things outside the mind, either in assenting to what is or in denying what is not. Its opposite is error. In metaphysical or ontological truth, things conform with the mind. This is primary conformity, when something corresponds to the idea of its maker, and it is secondary conformity when something is intelligible and therefore true to anyone who knows it. In moral truth, what is said conforms with...

Q: Recently, a Catholic priest in our area left to become “pastor” of an Episcopal church. If we assume for a moment that the Episcopal liturgy contains the valid words of Institution, and if we assume that valid matter was used, does he confect the Eucharist? –Patrick A: Sad to say, the case cited by Patrick is far from unique. In certain countries with a sizeable Episcopal community, one far too frequently encounters priests who have left the Catholic Church to join the Church of England—often in order to get married while still remaining in some sort of ministry—and who...

April 4, 2014Friday of the Fourth Week of Lent    Reading 1 Wis 2:1a, 12-22 The wicked said among themselves, thinking not aright:“Let us beset the just one, because he is obnoxious to us;he sets himself against our doings,Reproaches us for transgressions of the lawand charges us with violations of our training.He professes to have knowledge of Godand styles himself a child of the LORD.To us he is the censure of our thoughts; merely to see him is a hardship for us,Because his life is not like that of others,and different are his ways.He judges us debased;he holds aloof...