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Will you readers join me, please? Nothing to celebrate but many things for which to pray and mourn.

Walking as an Image of Faith Msgr. Charles Pope • July 2, 2015 • Most people, if asked, would say that they like everything in their life to be in perfect equilibrium, perfect balance. Losing balance physically is the prelude to a fall. Balance tends to be valued, not only in the physical sense, but also in the emotional, spiritual, and mental sense. To become mentally or emotionally “unbalanced” is a euphemism for mental illness or distress. Believing is leaning – Perfect equilibrium or balance is seldom to be found in the human person, but perhaps that is good, especially in the spiritual life. The...

As the Girl Scouts USA continues to hemorrhage members and money because of its continued support of what many see as extreme ideological ideas, Girl Scout leaders from around the world converged on the Vatican to meet with Pope Francis, only to receive a gentle but firm scolding on gender ideology. The optics were clear. The group, which has staked out positions in opposition to Christian teaching on abortion and human sexuality, met with Francis hoping the thousands of daughters and moms exiting Scouting would have a second thought. Pictures of Girl Scouts USA CEO Anna Marie Chavez shaking hands...

Somehow, I missed this little item in last Sunday’s New York Times. A reader sent it my way: Patrick Anthony Bergquist and J. Patrick Hornbeck II were married Saturday in Manhattan. The Rev. Matthew J. Moretz performed the ceremony at St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church, where he is an associate rector.Mr. Bergquist, 35, is the director of children, youth and family ministries at St. Bartholomew’s. He graduated from Anderson University in Indiana and received a master’s degree in theology from Northern Seminary in Lombard, Ill……Dr. Hornbeck, 33, is the chairman of the theology department and an associate professor of medieval and...

Joel Osteen, the popular 52-year-old leader of America's largest protestant church, Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas, bluntly revealed that the reason why he avoids speaking out on hot button social and political issues, such as same-sex marriage, is because he believes that's not what he's called to do as a pastor. In a recent interview on WBUR's "Here & Now" radio program Osteen, who was asked if he felt these hot button social and political issues are important, said: "I think they are important but I think everybody has their own calling." He further explained that "It's not what I'm...

Donnie McClurkin, the pastor and gospel music singer who said God delivered him from "the curse" of homosexuality, is now under fire from critics after speaking out against last Friday's U.S. Supreme Court ruling which made same-sex marriage legal nationwide. McClurkin, 55, received some harsh criticism after he shared his interpretation of the Bible's position on homosexuality on Facebook last Friday. We've just received the answer from man's Supreme Court ... we already received the answer from GOD," the pastor of Perfecting Faith Church in New York wrote. "With NO REGARD to what the Supreme Court of MAN decrees ......

Julius CaesarAfter my most recent visit to Rome I’ve been reading more about the history of Rome, and the parallels with twenty first America are fascinating.Many people know about the fall of the Roman Empire and follow the usual narrative that Rome collapsed from within because of moral decadence.Of course, the story is more complicated than that, and it begins not with the fall of the empire, but with the beginning of the Empire.The Roman Republic stood for about 500 years. The Senate was made up of patricians and plebeians. The patricians were the historic, aristocratic landed families. The plebeians...

From Ed Peters, distinguished canonist, on Catholic SCOTUS Justices (Kennedy, Sotomayor) who ruled for Obergefell v. Hodges: Obergefell and canonical criminal lawDcn Greg Kandra calls attention to a question floating around out there, namely, [QUAERITUR…]should Catholic justices who voted to impose “same-sex marriage” on America be excommunicated? We can deal with most of that question pretty quickly.Excommunication can impact any Catholic (there are no exemptions for those in high civil office), but it can be incurred only for twelve specifically delineated crimes (CLSA Comm. 932, not counting a couple of excommunicable crimes listed outside the Code). Now, voting to impose...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Character Studies From The Bible Solomon 1 Solomon’s Song of Songs. She[a] 2 Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth—     for your love is more delightful than wine. 3 Pleasing is the fragrance of your perfumes;     your name is like perfume poured out.     No wonder the young women love you! 4 Take me away with you—let us hurry!     Let the king bring me into his chambers. Friends We rejoice and delight in you[b];     we will praise your love more than wine. She How right they are to adore you! 5 Dark am I, yet lovely,...

July 3, 2015   Feast of Saint Thomas, Apostle Reading 1 Eph 2:19-22 Brothers and sisters: You are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the holy ones and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the Apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the capstone. Through him the whole structure is held together and grows into a temple sacred in the Lord; in him you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. Responsorial Psalm PS 117:1bc, 2 R. (Mark 16:15) Go out to...

Nathan Collier and his wives Victoria and Christine applied at the Yellowstone County Courthouse in Billings on Tuesday in an attempt to legitimize their polygamous marriage. Montana, like all 50 states, outlaws bigamy — holding multiple marriage licenses — but Collier said he plans to sue if the application is denied.

... Findings from PRRI's American Values Atlas, which draws on 40,000 interviews among a random sample of Americans, provides the most in-depth portrait to date of attitudes on same-sex marriage by religious affiliation. ... All Americans [percentages]... Strongly Favor 25 Favor 29 Oppose 18 Strongly Oppose 20 White Evangelical Protestant [Baptist, Methodist, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Church of Christ]... Strongly Favor 10 Favor 18 Oppose 27 Strongly Oppose 39 White Mainline Protestant [Baptist, Methodist, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Church of Christ]... Strongly Favor 28 Favor 34 Oppose 16 Strongly Oppose 14 ...

“Everyone is welcome, nobody is excluded”. With these words Monsignor Vincenzo Paglia, President of the Pontifical Council for the Family, replied to the questions from journalists at a press conference for the presentation of the eighth World Meeting of Families, planned for the 22nd to the 27th of September in Philadelphia. Asked about the presence or non-presence of homosexual couples in Philadelphia, Monsignor responded: “We are following Instrumentum Laboris on the Synod to the letter. Everyone can come, nobody is excluded. And if anyone feels excluded, I’ll leave the 99 little sheep and go and get him”, he added with...

The impiety, corruption, senselessness and lack of conscience of people, both lay people and clergy, men and women, rich and poor, generals and soldiers, rulers and the ruled over has reached a high point and is speedily progressing in leaps and bounds til it reaches the greatest precipice. What is countering this pitiful progression of spiritual impiety? It is: the infinite compassion of God; His immeasurable mercy and unimaginable long suffering; the intercessions of His all immaculate Mother and all the Saints; the little virtue faith, hope and love of the few people; their prayers and petitions to the Lord...

"The general political direction of the [Western political] elite bears, without doubt, an anti-Christian and anti-religious character. We have been through an epoch of atheism, and we know what it is to live without God. We want to shout to the whole world, ‘Stop!'" -Kyril Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia

Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson with a friend The AP reports here from the Episcopal Church’s General Convention  that the Episcopal Church of the USA is now formally permitting same sex weddings.  Episcopalians voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to allow religious weddings for same-sex couples, solidifying the church’s embrace of gay rights that began more than a decade ago with the pioneering election of the first openly gay bishop.the House of Bishops prayed and debated the issue for five hours earlier this week before passing it on to the House of Deputies.The Rev. Bonnie Perry of Chicago, a lesbian married to a...

What does this show us? Three things, I think. It shows us that tolerance is over. I’m not breaking new ground here–but this must be said. Tolerance is dead. Oppenheimer’s piece ran all of two days after the SCOTUS decision on same-sex marriage. He wants to crush those who dare to stand against the fullest possible acceptance of what Harvard professor Harvey Mansfield has called “samesexuality.” Sexuality liberated from any constraints is now a full-blown worldview. This is paganism, 21st-century version. The body is all; sex is all. The hippies now wear steel-toed boots. The earlier “free love” movement was...

The Ministry of Health in Russia has signed an agreement with the Russian Orthodox Church that includes prevention of abortion and provision of palliative care . The agreement signed by Health Minister Veronika Skvortsova and Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Churchwas published on the website of the Synodal Department for ROC [Russian Orthodox Church] Church Charity and Social Service. Article 9 of the 21 article agreement establishes cooperation “on the protection of maternal and child health, including reproductive health, promotion of family values and prevention of abortion.”

Thursday, July 02, 2015 The Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States of America strongly disagrees with the United States Supreme Court decision of June 26, Obergefell v. Hodges, in which the Court invents a constitutional right for two members of the same sex to marry, and imposes upon all States the responsibility to license and recognize such “marriages.” The Supreme Court, in the narrowest majority possible, has overstepped its purview by essentially re-defining marriage itself. It has attempted to settle a polarizing social and moral question through legislative fiat. It is immoral and unjust for our government...

By Jeff Gardner -Last August, Joseph received the news he had feared for weeks: The armies of the so-called Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, had invaded the region of Sinjar in western Iraq, the place where he and tens of thousands of Yezidis had lived for centuries. When Joseph got word that ISIS fighters were headed towards his home village of Tillqasab, he panicked — although he had left years ago, his elderly father still lived in the village. Arriving at the outskirts of town, Joseph realized that he was too late — Tillqasab had already fallen...