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PETA billboard coming down The co-owner of the sign company, responding to phoned complaints and two acts of vandalism, says his firm is not in "the debate business." 07:57 AM EST on Friday, December 5, 2003 BY KAREN A. DAVIS Journal Staff Writer EAST PROVIDENCE -- The company that owns the billboard on Route 195 that a national animal-rights group rented to promote vegetarianism as "An Immaculate Conception" -- complete with the image of the Virgin Mary cradling a dead chicken -- has decided to take down the advertisement. The owners from Murray Outdoor Communications, of Shrewsbury, Mass., informed...

January 1, 2014Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God    Reading 1 Nm 6:22-27 The LORD said to Moses: “Speak to Aaron and his sons and tell them: This is how you shall bless the Israelites.Say to them:The LORD bless you and keep you!The LORD let his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you!The LORD look upon you kindly and give you peace!So shall they invoke my name upon the Israelites, and I will bless them.” Responsorial Psalm Ps 67:2-3, 5, 6, 8 R/ (2a) May God bless us in his mercy.May God have pity on...

TRANSCRIPT RUSH: As you know, every year to one degree or another, there are attempts by the left to eliminate Christmas. If they could, they would totally eliminate it. They're unable to do that, and they will never succeed, by the way, in eliminating Christmas from our minds, from our hearts, from our faith. They will never succeed. All they can do is raise a ruckus about nativity scenes or other public displays, outlawing Christmas carols or not being allowed to say "Merry Christmas" but having to say "happy holidays." They can do all of that they want. They can...

Christmas could rightly be called the holiday of the senses. It is the season of lights and tinsel, choirs and carols, the aroma of pine and roasting chestnuts. Christmas comes to us with sumptuous meals, hearty laughter, and kisses beneath the mistletoe. Christmas scenes — by the old masters and by modern advertisers — decorate the walls of museums, billboards on the roadside, and cards in the mailbox. For nearly 2,000 years, the world has marked the birth of Jesus Christ as its most festive jubilee. No other day of the year offers the world so many earthly pleasures. But...

Imagine if an activist group blanketed a major city with 55 billboards urging that illegal aliens go back to their own country. Or that homosexuality is a crime against nature. Or that Muslims are responsible for most of the world’s terrorist attacks. The mainstream media would be all over the story. Organizations – like La Raza, like GLAAD, like CAIR – would organize protests. President Obama would publicly condemn the billboards (while defending illegals, homosexuals and Islam). And the sponsors of the billboards would be branded a “hate group.” Yet, there has been little outrage over the 55 billboards that...

December 31, 2013 The Seventh Day in the Octave of Christmas    Reading 1 1 Jn 2:18-21 Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that the antichrist was coming,so now many antichrists have appeared. Thus we know this is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not really of our number;if they had been, they would have remained with us. Their desertion shows that none of them was of our number. But you have the anointing that comes from the Holy One,and you all have knowledge. I write to you not because...

The Real St. Nicholas – How Did a Cantankerous but Holy Bishop Become Jolly Ole St. Nick?By: Msgr. Charles Pope  Today is the Feast of St. Nicholas. The real St. Nicholas was nothing close to the St. Nick  (Santa Claus) of the modern age. He was a thin curmudgeonly man with a zeal for the Lord that caused flairs of anger. Compromise was unknown to him. The slow transformation of him into “Jolly ole’ Saint Nicholas is a remarkable recasting of him centuries in the making. Some years ago the Washington Post featured an article entitled Poles Apart: Nicholas...

I have published on this Hymn before but want to post on it again at the beginning of Advent in hopes that a few of you who have the influence and ability may see that this hymn in used in your parishes for Advent at some point.For my money the best Advent hymn ever written is Veni Redemptor Gentium (Come Redeemer of the Nations) written by St. Ambrose in the 4th Century.One of the beautiful things about the ancient Latin Hymns is how richly theological they are. Not content to merely describe the event in question, they give sweeping theological...

The times in which we live are often described as “secular.”  This word comes from the Latin “saecula” meaning “world.” Hence in saying our age is secular is another way of saying our times are  worldly. We may think it has always been so but such is not the case. To be sure, it IS the human condition to be a little preoccupied with the world. But previous times have featured a much more religious focus than our own. The Middle Ages were especially known for way in which faith permeated the culture and daily experience. The Rose window to...

I was asked by the Young Adult group in my parish to address some ads on our local buses and subway trains here in Washington. The members of the Young adult group found the ads offensive and troubling, especially since they were aimed at kids. The ads are posted by the American “Humanist” Association (AHA) and are indeed aimed at kids and teenagers. The focus of the message is “Kids without God: You’re not the only one.” I have altered the ad at the upper right of this post to avoid listing its website but as you can see God...

O Holy night! Yes, a silent night! and, it came upon a midnight clear. Christmas, it would seem, is a festival of the mid night. Jesus is born when it is dark, dark midnight. We are sure of it. And why not?Even though we are not told the exact hour of his birth we are sure it must have been night. Scripture does say that the Shepherds who heard the glad tidings were keeping watch over their flock “by night” (cf Luke 2:9). Further the Magi sought him by the light of a star, and stars are seen at night,...

The coming of Christ at Christmas was as an infant. And thus we don’t usually think of wedding imagery related to the First coming of Jesus.  Yet, since the first coming of Christ is certainly fulfilled, we now focus more on his Second coming, of which the first coming is a sacramental reminder.Thus, in Advent our longing and thrill are also and essentially  directed to his glorious second coming. And now Mother Church, the New Jerusalem, our Mother looks for her groom Jesus to come again all his glory:I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of...

December 30, 2013 The Sixth Day in the Octave of Christmas    Reading 1 1 Jn 2:12-17 I am writing to you, children,because your sins have been forgiven for his name’s sake. I am writing to you, fathers,because you know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men,because you have conquered the Evil One. I write to you, children,because you know the Father. I write to you, fathers,because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men,because you are strong and the word of God remains in you,and you have...

The Christmas season comes each year with the expected flurry of media attention to the biblical accounts of Christ’s conception and birth. The general thrust of the secular media is often incredulity toward the fact that so many people still believe the Bible’s accounts to be true. This year, the Pew Research Center released a report on Christmas Day indicating that almost 75% of the American people affirm belief in the virgin birth of Christ. Meanwhile, the Public Religion Research Institute found markedly lower levels of belief, with just under half affirming the historical accuracy of the biblical accounts. The...

Was Jesus Born on Christmas Day? My wife and I took the kids Christmas light watching last night, December 26. We are always saddened to see so many folks already taking down their lights or leaving them off only one day into the Christmas Season! For the world—and unfortunately many Christians—Christmas is over because Christmas Day has passed. For Catholics, Christmas has just begun because the Christmas season stretches from the vigil of Christmas, on the evening of December 24, until the Saturday after the Feast of the Epiphany. This year that will be January 11th.It is so fun to...

December 29, 2013 Solemnity of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph    Reading 1 Sir 3:2-6, 12-14 God sets a father in honor over his children;a mother’s authority he confirms over her sons.Whoever honors his father atones for sins,and preserves himself from them.When he prays, he is heard;he stores up riches who reveres his mother.Whoever honors his father is gladdened by children,and, when he prays, is heard.Whoever reveres his father will live a long life;he who obeys his father brings comfort to his mother. My son, take care of your father when he is old;grieve him not as...

The best part of this jaw-dropping display of ignorance from MSNBC’s Joy Reid on Christianity? It comes in a segment called — wait for it — “Pretenders”! Reid argues that Sarah Palin, whose latest book celebrates Christmas, was a hypocrite and a bad Christian because … she put up a Christmas tree! Why, the noted Biblical scholar Reid smirked, that’s a violation of Scripture:(VIDEO-AT-LINK)JOY REID, SUBSTITUTE HOST: In “Pretenders” tonight, a merry Palin Christmas. Sarah Palin dropped by Fox & Friends to promote her manifesto on Christmas purity. She brought a treat better than Christmas cookies – family photos. (BEGIN...

“Rachel Weeping, and a Son Called out of Egypt” (Matthew 2:13-23) “To us a child is born, to us a son is given.” And his name is Jesus, of course. This child born in Bethlehem at Christmas. This son--Son of God, son of Mary--this son given to us to be our Savior. But what happens when Jesus is born? What happens when God gives his Son to the world? A whole bunch of bad stuff, apparently. A king goes crazy. A family has to flee to Egypt. Babies are killed. Mothers are weeping. And this is a gift?? Some kind...

Christmas Terror Bombings In Middle East Highlight Israel As Safe Haven For ChristiansBy Joel M. Leyden Israel News AgencyJerusalem, Israel — December 27, 2013 … Islamic Jihad, the holy war against Jews and Christians, continues throughout the Middle East. All of the Middle East except for one small democracy named Israel. On December 25, Christmas Day, Islamic terrorists murdered at least 37 people in three separate Christmas Day bombings. A car bomb parked next to the Chaldean Catholic Church in Baghdad exploded after Christmas Mass, targeting Christians at prayer. Christians are being targeted and massacred from Iran, Pakistan and South...