Sarah Silverman tells Pope to sell the Vatican!

These are the kind of people who wield their influence not just in Hollywood, but the rest of the world.

***

Sell the Vatican, feed the world.

That's the unsolicited advice from Sarah Silverman to the Pope to make the world a better place - or at least to further her signature brand of snark-infested and taboo-tinged humor.

"You preach to live humbly, and I totally agree," Silverman says to the head of the Catholic Church in a YouTube video.

"So now maybe it's time for you to move out of your house that is a city," she adds, as inspirational music plays in the background. "On an ego level alone, you will be the biggest hero in the history of ever."

But Silverman doesn't expect the Pontiff to forsake all his earthy goods for the sake of the hungry. She suggested that he keep some of the proceeds to build a condo, with tennis court and water slide.

The funnywoman says her altruistic brainchild came from seeing images of the world's hungriest and neediest relentlessly flashing across her TV screen.

"How do I get these people out of my apartment?" she asked herself.

The answer came like a bolt from heaven.

"All I have to do is end world hunger," she said.

Selling the Vatican would do the trick.

"Who's more primed to be a hero" than the Pope? "He's literally a caped crusader."

***

Bigots and pea brains are some of the people who MUST not be in mass media.  The influence they peddle is nothing short of Nazism, the very philosophy that nearly exterminated the Jews.  FYI Silverman is a Jew herself.

She thinks that the Catholic Church hasn't done enough to provide charity?  Well, let's ask Forbes Magazine who the top charities of the US are.

All figures in U.S. $ (mil). Click on any charity's name for more information.

NAME	TOTAL REVENUE	TOTAL EXPENSES	SURPLUS/LOSS	NET ASSETS
Mayo Foundation	5,616	5,127	489	3,033
YMCAs in the United States	4,832	4,468	363	NA
United Way	3,844	3,844	NA	NA
Cleveland Clinic Foundation	3,620	3,346	274	1,469
Catholic Charities USA	3,266	2,956	310	NA
American National Red Cross	3,208	3,173	34	2,201
Salvation Army	3,104	2,585	482	6,818
Goodwill Industries International	2,390	2,297	85	1,387
New York-Presbyterian Hospital	2,387	2,168	219	1,576
The Arc of the United States	2,211	2,149	62	714
Mount Sinai	1,750	1,839	-89	765
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center	1,686	1,464	222	2,985
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center	1,345	1,286	59	826
Henry Ford Health System	1,296	1,331	-35	226

Hey, look at that!  Catholic Charities USA has brought more help than American National Red Cross and the Salvation Army!  And this is in the USA alone!

If Silverman thought hard first before giving that parody, if that was even a parody.

***

Now here are some of the comments posted.  Take note.  They ARE NOT MINE.  I just re-posted them here.

Mickeysmeat
Now the problem with her solution is what happens after the poor people eat all the food?..They are right back where they started from...Now it is a fact that the jews are the wisest business people so why don't she and all the other jews go to these thrid world countries and teach them how to make money instead of begging for it?

BigJake
Catholic Charities support tens of millions of poor people. What charity, if any, does she contribute to? What do they do?

NewYorker AlltheWay
There's really something wrong with people who feel that threatened by Catholics that they spend this amount of time trying to insult us with such vulgarities. I just saw the video and there wasn't anything funny about it.

SwingState
Is Sara, a jewish comedienne, channeling Martin Luther, a german monk? I think so.

JohnnyBX
There is nothing wrong with a little religious/political humor - but when you target one group/person then you kind of make yourself stick out there. Why not throw in the Jews maybe selling some land in Israel back to Palestinians or maybe some Muslims giving away oil for free – hahaha…now that would be super.

jacktwo
Religions do nothing to ease suffering? Have you ever heard of the Red Cross, Salvation Army, United Way etc? What have atheists done to ease suffering? Nothing. Maybe she should urge some of her fellow Jewish bankers on Wall Street to give back some of the billions of dollars that they stole from taxpayers and retirees.

NewYorker Allth...
Oh, I happen to have a brilliant idea myself.Why don't we sell all of the synongues and use the proceeds of the sales to feed the world? Oh and while we're at it, Sarah Silverman said it was okay to transfer her royalty checks to me each month. She can pay my student loan debt and buy me a new apartment to start. I love how people always try to tell the Catholics what to do.

NewYorker Allth...
David Chowes, ignorance is bliss. Do you know that Castholic Charities pays more rent for the swarthy Harlem drug addicts than NYC does and that says alot because if you knew how much money (millions) NYC gives away each year in free back rent to total losers who sit home with their cane and pretend to have a back aches so they don't have to work, you would race to the poll site on election day and be glad to push the lever for Thompson. Bloomberg has got to go! My point is that Catholic Charities does more for the world than any other group out there so they are not hypocritical, but I can think of a few other religions that come to mind.

Is the Church to be blamed for the ballooning population?

With the recent deaths caused by the horrible flooding and landslides in the Philippines, a fellow worker said that thanks to the pro-life policies of the Catholic Church, the ballooning population is eating up the world's natural resources and thus contributing to global warming (you get the point).

If that were the premise, then why do we have these?

WORLD POPULATION
( from Wikipedia, as of October 12, 2009)

1   China               1,333,480,000
2   India                1,170,100,000
3   United States      307,682,000
4   Indonesia            229,965,000
5   Brazil                  191,986,000
6   Pakistan              167,667,500
7   Bangladesh         162,221,000
8   Nigeria               154,729,000
9   Russia                141,882,000
10 Japan                 127,540,000

Am I missing something or is it just plain anti-Catholic bigotry that I get from my co-worker?  Where is the Catholic Church's influence in these like, uh... let's say... oh yes CHINA!

From the list you can see that only Brazil has the Catholic majority of its populace.  The USA has a large Catholic community but thanks to the Obamanation policy, contraception and abortion is the IT thing today.

Which leaves me wondering....Where in the blue hell did he get the notion that it is the Catholic Church to be blamed for the growing world population?

Here in the Philippines, the population growth rate is higher among those in the provinces and mostly on the lower class, C and D. I have witnessed this myself.  I get to meet a lot of people from the provinces especially those who live in the remotest villages and mountains you could ever imagine.  From Luzon to Mindanao, I've been there.  And you'll be surprised at what I discovered.  Farmers who live on an average of $1/day income still can manage to have 6 children!  Six! Can you believe that?  The kids don't go to school because the farmer is not earning enough.  His wife does not help in finding work or tending the field.  Instead, she spends the whole day sitting at home or going to the neighbors house....gossiping!  Now there's your local version of Gossip Girl!

And who do you blame?  The Catholic Church?  Because the Church, especially the Knights of Columbus, is anti-contraception and anti-abortion?

These farmers have access to these contraceptives and yet they are not using them.  Is it then the Church's fault that they sired children even though these parents cannot support even the basic needs of their children?

Isn't it a convenient excuse to point the accusing finger at the Catholic Church for all of the world's woes?

As I've said before.  It is OK to sneer and jeer at the Catholic Church.  But it is politically incorrect to say something against Jews, Muslims, Blacks, Gays and Lesbians...

Sad to say is that my co-worker is a Catholic (nominal I think.) and Jesuit educated.  You do the math.

CRAZY!!!!

No.  I'm not talking about myself or someone else.  But the day yesterday was crazy!!!

Lots of work and tons of meetings.

Now back to blogging.

Hah!

Saint Damien of Molokai and 4 new saints canonized!

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – Pope Benedict created five saints on Sunday including Belgian priest Damien who worked and died among Hawaiian lepers, earning the admiration of President Barack Obama who sent a message hailing Damien's canonization.

The U.S. president was born in Hawaii, where Damien worked in the leper colony of Molokai, caught leprosy and died in 1889. Obama said in a statement that Damien had "a special place in the hearts of Hawaiians."

"I recall many stories from my youth about his tireless work there to care for those suffering from leprosy who had been cast out," Obama said, adding that the priest had "challenged the stigmatizing effects" of the disfiguring disease.

"In our own time as millions around the world suffer from disease, especially the pandemic of HIV/AIDS, we should draw on the example of Fr. Damien's resolve in answering the urgent call to heal and care for the sick," the president said.

Born Jozef De Veuster, Damien went to Hawaii when he was 23 and 10 years later began work among the lepers, "not without fear and repugnance" at first, the pope said. He got ill and was "a leper among the lepers" for the last four years of his life.

The life of "Damien of Molokai" is well known to young U.S. Catholics but his appeal stretches to members of the broader Christian community such as Obama, who was baptized as an adult in the Trinity United Church of Christ. There is even a statue of Damien in the U.S. Congress.

Belgium's King Albert and Queen Paola attended the ceremony in St. Peter's, as did Polish President Lech Kaczynski, French premier Francois Fillon and Spain's Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos to celebrate new saints from their countries.

The pope also canonized Zygmunt Szczesny Felinski, archbishop of Warsaw when Poland rebelled against annexation by imperial Russia in 1863. Exiled to Siberia for 20 years by the czar, he was "a shining example for all the church," the pope said.

Dominican friar Francisco Coll Guitart, one of two Spaniards created a saint, preached in Catalonia in the 19th century and "reached the hearts of others because he transmitted what he himself lived with passion, which burned in his heart," said the pontiff.

The other is Brother Rafael Arnaiz Baron who became a Trappist monk and died at the age of 27 in 1938. He "did not know how to pray" when he began monastic life but became an example "especially for young persons who are not easily satisfied," the pope said.

France's new saint is Jeanne Jugan, venerated as Marie de la Croix. She worked with the poor and elderly, shedding all her own material possessions to become "a poor person among the poor" until her death in 1879

Please pray for the people of Benguet

A lot of people died in the landslide that hit the Province of Benguet.

Some of my friends live in the affected areas.  Some of their relatives were buried alive by the landslide.

Please say a prayer for the survivors and those who perished.


For the latest on this tragedy.  click this:

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/regions/10/09/09/close-100-buried-alive-benguet-landslide 

The country is still recovering from the devastating floods that hit the capital region of Manila.  And now this...

Kyrie eleison!

THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE IS A JOKE!

RUINED MY DAY!!!!

***
OSLO – President Barack Obama won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for "his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples," the Norwegian Nobel Committee said, citing his outreach to the Muslim world and attempts to curb nuclear proliferation.

The stunning choice made Obama the third sitting U.S. president to win the Nobel Peace Prize and shocked Nobel observers because Obama took office less than two weeks before the Feb. 1 nomination deadline. Obama's name had been mentioned in speculation before the award but many Nobel watchers believed it was too early to award the president.

"Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world's attention and given its people hope for a better future," the committee said. "His diplomacy is founded in the concept that those who are to lead the world must do so on the basis of values and attitudes that are shared by the majority of the world's population."

The committee said it attached special importance to Obama's vision of, and work for, a world without nuclear weapons.

"Obama has as president created a new climate in international politics. Multilateral diplomacy has regained a central position, with emphasis on the role that the United Nations and other international institutions can play," the committee said.

Theodore Roosevelt won the award in 1906 and Woodrow Wilson won in 1919. Former President Jimmy Carter won the award in 2002, while former Vice President Al Gore shared the 2007 prize with the U.N. panel on climate change.

The Nobel committee received a record 205 nominations for this year's prize.

In his 1895 will, Alfred Nobel stipulated that the peace prize should go "to the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between the nations and the abolition or reduction of standing armies and the formation and spreading of peace congresses."

Unlike the other Nobel Prizes, which are awarded by Swedish institutions, he said the peace prize should be given out by a five-member committee elected by the Norwegian Parliament. Sweden and Norway were united under the same crown at the time of Nobel's death.

The committee has taken a wide interpretation of Nobel's guidelines, expanding the prize beyond peace mediation to include efforts to combat poverty, disease and climate change.

***

He advocated the mass murder of innocent and defenseless unborn and he gets the PEACE PRIZE!!!

If Obama can win a Nobel, then maybe...

 

He should win the Nobel Prize for Chemistry (for using mustard gas)

But naaahhh. He can't win it.  Not because of what he did but because the Nobel does not give posthumous awards.


THIS IS HOW ABSURD, DUMB AND STUPID PR CAN BE WHEN IT FALLS INTO THE HANDS OF ATTENTION DEFICIT NUT JOBS!

John Paul II was nominated but never won.  Why?  Because Lutheran Sweden hates him.


And here are the LOSERS because they did not do much for world peace...

Pres. Cory Aquino, because her inspiration for the peaceful and bloodless People Power Revolt that inspired other peaceful revolts around the world like the Fall of the Berlin Wall.

John XXIII because his encyclical Pacem in Terris is rubbish to the Nobel Peace Prize

and the BIGGEST LOSER, nominated five times but LOST.

Nobody knows this man.  The Nobel Peace Prize does not know him.  He did not do anything significant to the modern world, right?

***
Is the Nobel Prize just hungry for world attention?

Now they got it!

If gay marriage was once taboo and now is accepted...

If mass murder of babies was once unthinkable but is now a Human Right...

Then why would we at all be surprised if one day, in the pursuit of your Human Right, you can kill someone else in the middle of the street because you don't like what he wears....

Hey, it's unthinkable!  But it may happen....

Pope lays the smack down on Filipino politicians

courtesy of abs-cbnnews.com

MANILA -- Pope Benedict XVI has appealed to politicians and public officials in the Philippines to act with honesty, integrity and justice.

In a report published online by the Union of Catholic Asian News (UCAN), Pope Benedict said: "The struggle against poverty in the Philippines calls for honesty, integrity and an unwavering fidelity to the principles of justice, especially on the part of those entrusted with positions of governance and public administration”.

The Pope conveyed his message to the new Philippine Ambassador to the Holy See, Mercedes Arrastia Tuason. [The Holy Father is well informed of the political situation in the country.  Usually, the ambassador will report to the Head of State, who is the president, of what the Head of State of the country he is assigned to said during the formal reception.  Well, thanks to modern communications media, those will just be a matter of formality.]

In response, Malacañang said the Pope’s message to Filipinos comes at an opportune time since the Philippine national elections is just a few months away. [Huh?!]

"The Pope's advice is timely especially now that elections are forthcoming,” Undersecretary Anthony Golez, the deputy presidential spokesperson said. [This guy is a classic whacked job spin doctor!  The pope's advise are based on a sloppy job his boss is doing.  Worst public service...Institutionalized corruption...Name it, Philippine politics did it!]

Golez said Malacañang is one with the Pope in encouraging the Filipino people to look for the nation’s leader who will abide by the Christian ideals. [Which we and probably the Vatican did not and will never see in this present adminstration!]

“People should vote for people who have unwavering honesty and integrity," Golez said. [Is this an admission that your boss does not possess any of these virtues?]

The Pope, likewise, took the opportunity to call for peace in southern Philippines, especially in regions “that have been sadly scarred by conflicts”. [fueled by Muslim extremists who want a separate Islamic state even though a lot of Christians, mostly Catholic, live in the island.]

"In an age when the name of God is abused by certain groups, the work of charity is particularly urgent," said the Pope.

Pope Benedict also lauded “initiatives that aim at facilitating dialogue and cultural exchange” as well as those who “are taking courageous steps to bring people together in order to foster reconciliation and mutual understanding.”

He also praised the work of the Bishops Ulama Conference (BUC), the Mindanao People's Caucus, and that of many grassroots organizations, the report stated.

ONLINE PARISH?

QUEZON CITY, Philippines (UCAN) -- One “parish” here is not listed in the country’s Catholic directory. It has no church or other buildings but still claims thousands of members.

Father Roberto Reyes listens to his guests at a gathering of bloggers in a Quezon City bar. The screen presents Parokya sa Web (parish on the web).

Parokya sa Web (parish on the web) is a “virtual parish” where devotions and spiritual matters are discussed online, and which its organizer says demonstrates the potential and power of new technologies that have revolutionized the world. [I'm all for this!]

Parokya sa Web (parish on the web), http://www.thepoc.net/poc-presents/parokya-sa-web.html, is hosted by the Philippine Online Chronicles (POC), and is the name of Father Roberto Reyes’ blog. [Uh-huh.....]

In it the priest of Cubao diocese, well-known as the “Running Priest” for his social activism, shares daily reflections on the Gospel, his online homilies, news reports, photos and multimedia commentaries, and images on spiritual matters and social issues.

Some 13,000-15,000 visitors a month discuss or comment on Parokya material that deals mostly with spiritual reflections on life in a troubled world.

While some of these people from around the world seek advice, others put in prayer requests, reflections on the Bible and comments.

For example, one Parokya blog visitor identified as “Maribel of Hong Kong” wrote that the blog has been her companion in her journey through life. [A better alternative against the rubbish out there in the web.]

Another blogger, Noemi Lardizabal-Dado, 52, who has 10 blog sites of her own, [WHAT?!  How in the world can she manage that?!  I hope she's not a married mother because she MUST spend more time with her kids, relatives and friends rather than be online most of the time!] said the virtual parish gives much-needed “food for the soul.” [Food for the Soul?   Uh.... Let's try the Bread of Life?  aka Holy Eucharist...aka Jesus Christ in Holy Communion during the Holy Sacrifice?  Remember what He said "I am the Bread of Life that came down from heaven.  Whoever eats this bread will never go hungry..."]

She spoke with UCA News at a recent gathering of 40 bloggers in a Quezon City bar a year after Parokya was launched. At last these bloggers were able to meet in person the priest they had been talking with online for so long.

Most of them are “mom bloggers” -- mothers who blog about motherhood and issues they face. One is an Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW). [This is always two sides to a story.  It's good that they can share their thoughts and feelings BUT they must NEVER sacrifice quality time with their kids and relatives for blogging!  NEVER!]

Father Reyes’ reflections are relevant to current conditions especially for OFWs who have no access to the Church, Dado noted.

She described the priest as a good blogger, noting his writings are “brief, but relevant” to the situation of OFW and other people who “hunger for spirituality online.”

POC publisher Gaspar Vibal was among guests at the anniversary gathering. He told UCA News he supports Parokya because “we love this kind of advocacy.” It is fruitful to “gather as a virtual community, as part of social networking,” he said.

In his view, Father Reyes’ blog, like a real parish, “connects thousands of people” even though they are not part of a physical church.”

“It’s a very powerful tool for OFWs because they can share things happening in places like Saudi Arabia, where they are not allowed to go to Mass,” Vibal said. [That is so true!  I almost got a job as a communication manager for Toyota in Jeddah but my wife and brother feared for my safety since the country is Christo-phobic!  Muslims cry out for religious tolerance in other countries but they continue to deny people of other faiths to practice their religion openly!]

Another guest, Edicio de la Torre, 66, and a former Society of the Divine World (SVD) priest, [Hmmm...] has his own blog dealing with socio-political and spiritual issues. “Father Reyes is very good because he touches many people” who want to discuss various issues but cannot meet physically, he told UCA News.

After the anniversary celebration, Father Reyes said that through the Internet and email, he is able to share what he thinks, feels, and plans, with a very wide spectrum of people. “I think this is what evangelization is all about,” the priest told UCA News. [Do you need ordination to do this?  Just a thought.]

He said when he was a parish priest he did not spend a lot of time in a church [At least he is honest! That is why he is not assigned to any parish right now.] but in the parokya sa kalye (parish in the street). He was referring to his prayer rallies, hunger strikes and other movements with farmers, urban poor and other sectors, to call attention to corruption, environmental degradation and various “social evils.” [DO YOU STILL NEED ORDINATION TO CALL THE ATTENTION OF THE PUBLIC TO THESE ISSUES?  Is it really a top qualification before you can begin to engage the public to discuss these issues? ]

“The Church was defined by Vatican II as the ‘people of God,’ [Wow , there's the Mega Council again as if the Church did not exist or did not sya anything relevant before Vatican II.  REMINDER!  Vatican II is a pastoral council and NOT a dogmatic council!]  and where you find people then that is where the Church is, so I now use the Internet,” Father Reyes said.

He believes Jesus is finding a way to talk to people today. “The Holy Spirit is working through cyberspace so we cannot say, ‘No, that is not for me.” [Which I definitely agree.  No violent objections here.]

In his view, a cyber parish is no longer an option but an evolving reality. [But it is still an alternative.]

He expressed hope that face-to-face meetings of Parokya sa Web bloggers would help in some way to improve the nation’s moral values. [Huh?!  Why not tell this bloggers to meet their own parish priests?]

***

There is nothing wrong with online communities gathering for a common purpose.  Thanks to Fr. John Zuhlsdorf's "What does the Prayer Really Say? Blog", it got me hooked into blogging and met a lot of wonderful Catholics.

But my... for priests who have an identity crisis of what they REALLY want to be as a priest...

I know something about Fr. Reyes and how he 'lost' his last parish.  I'll just stop.  Lest I sin.

A vindication for Mother Angelica?

 

(the obverse and reverse sides of the medal)

Mother Angelica Awarded Top Honor by Pope Benedict XVI

Irondale, Ala., Oct 5, 2009 (CNA).- Pope Benedict XVI has awarded the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice Medal to Mother Angelica, founder of the Eternal Word Television Network and also EWTN executive Deacon Bill Steltemeier. The medal is the highest honor the Pope can bestow upon laity and religious.

Bishop of Birmingham Robert J. Baker conferred the awards in a brief ceremony following Sunday benediction at the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Hanceville, Alabama.

Noting that yesterday was the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, Bishop Baker recalled the lasting impact that the Italian saint made on the renewal of the Church. He then remarked that “We also have the privilege of acknowledging the contributions to our Church of another person in the great Franciscan tradition, whose link to St. Francis is through St. Clare … Mother Angelica.”

Mother Mary Angelica, 86, is a Poor Clare Nun of Perpetual Adoration who founded Our Lady of the Angels Monastery in Irondale, Alabama in 1961. She began EWTN in a garage on the monastery property in 1981. In 1999 she relocated the monastery to the grounds of the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Hanceville.

Deacon R. William Steltemeier, 80, is a former Nashville, Tenn. attorney who left his law practice to join Mother Angelica’s fledgling television network. He served as EWTN’s president and now serves as chairman of the network’s Board of Governors.

Commenting in his homily at Our Lady of the Angels Monastery on Sunday, Bishop Baker said that the medal is “a significant acknowledgement by our Holy Father, of Mother's labors of love in support of our Church.”

“By giving awards the Church is not saying people or institutions are perfect, but we are saying that Mother Angelica, through this network, has made a significant contribution to the new evangelization heralded and promoted by recent Popes,” the Bishop of Birmingham said.

“The Holy Father’s recognition of Mother Angelica and Deacon Bill Steltemeier is a much-deserved honor,” Michael P. Warsaw, EWTN President and CEO said in a statement. “It acknowledges the tremendous faith, hard work and incredible sacrifices that each of them have made throughout the years in founding and building up the Network.”

“Their recognition is also a great honor for EWTN and is a clear sign of the importance of the Network’s mission for the Church and the Pope. We are grateful to His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI and to Bishop Baker for this honor,” Warsaw continued.

EWTN is available in over 150 million television households in more than 140 countries and territories. In its mission it uses direct broadcast satellite television and radio services, AM & FM radio networks, worldwide short-wave radio, an internet website and a publishing arm. EWTN says it is the largest religious media network in the world.

***

Here's an interesting quote from the LifeSite News article about the awarding

As Catholic League President Bill Donohue wrote in a 2005 review of Raymond Arroyo’s nationally best-selling book on Mother Angelica, some bishops actively fought EWTN at its inception. “Indeed, the bishops tried to outdo her by launching their own effort, the Catholic Telecommunications Network of America (CTNA). It was clear from the beginning that Mother Angelica was seen as a threat: EWTN had a traditional orientation and CTNA took a modernist stance. EWTN won. CTNA collapsed.”

Donohue added: “Mother Angelica did not take kindly to those clerics who questioned her authority to showcase some bishops, but not others. ‘I happen to own the network,’ she instructed. When told that this would not be forever, she let loose: ‘I'll blow the damn thing up before you get your hands on it.’”

 ***

Now let's hear some comments from Fr. Richard McBrien................................(cricket. cricket. cricket....)

Ok, now let's see if the NCR covered this............(cricket. cricket. cricket....)

Ok, how about you Cardinal Mahoney?.............(cricket. cricket. cricket....)

Federal Judge in New Hampshire Upholds "Under God" in Pledge of Allegiance

Concord, N.H., Oct 4, 2009 (CNA).- A federal judge in New Hampshire has thrown out an atheist activist’s lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance in Hanover, New Hampshire public schools. He reasoned that the Pledge is voluntary and is not a prayer. [SMACK!]

Activist Michael Newdow’s suit was dismissed by Judge Steven McAuliffe in response to a motion of Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. The motion was filed on behalf of three Hanover families and the Knights of Columbus, the Becket Fund reports.

The Knights of Columbus, a Catholic fraternal organization, led the effort to add the phrase “under God” to the Pledge 55 years ago.  [This is one of the greatest legacies of the Knights!]

The Becket Fund argued that the phrase conveys a foundational idea in American law and political philosophy: that human rights are inalienable and that the power of the state is limited because those rights exist prior to the state and come from a source beyond it.

The same argument was made to the San Francisco-based Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in a similar lawsuit also brought by Newdow. The decision in that case is still pending.

“Judge McAuliffe couldn’t have gotten it more right when he said that the Pledge is not a prayer – it is an ‘affirmation of adherence to the principles for which the Nation stands.’ And one of those principles is that our inalienable rights are not created by the State but endowed by a Creator,” said Becket Fund president Kevin “Seamus” Hasson.

***
These atheist activists are really...

America still believes in God!  Look at your dollar, bro!

G.U.L.P. Exam answers

In my September 25 post, I posted an exam on how to spot the liturgical not. And here is the answer.

If you notice the priest in the photo who looks like administering the Sacrament of the Anointing is shown wearing a white chasuble and over it a green stole!  First of all, the chasuble is only proper for the Mass and not for other liturgical celebration.  Second, the proper color for the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick is Purple and not Green!

It seems this liturgical "ignorance" is pervading in Asia.  I call it ignorance because in fairness to these priests, they may not be liturgically adept on the do's and don'ts of what to wear.  Since they are used to wear a chasuble and stole most of the time because of the celebration of the Mass, they think that one size fits all and these is what they wear for ALL litugical celebrations!

Notice the priest below, Fr. Robert Reyes, who is wearing a white chasuble under a white overlay stole while blessing the houses damaged by Tropical Storm Ondoy (aka Ketsana).

 

Notice also that he is wearing ordinary street clothes and is not wearing an alb and surplice which is the proper vestment for blessing.  You might call me an obsessive-compulsive for this one or too strict for liturgical norms.  I could let it go for this priest, if this is the first time it happened and if the occassion does not permit him access to an alb and/or a surplice and the proper colored stole.  But look at this!

The General Instruction of the Roman Missal is clear on this:

336. The sacred garment common to ordained and instituted ministers of any rank is the alb, to be tied at the waist with a cincture unless it is made so as to fit even without such. Before the alb is put on, should this not completely cover the ordinary clothing at the neck, an amice should be put on. The alb may not be replaced by a surplice, not even over a cassock, on occasions when a chasuble or dalmatic is to be worn or when, according to the norms, only a stole is worn without a chasuble or dalmatic.

337. The vestment proper to the priest celebrant at Mass and other sacred actions directly connected with Mass is, unless otherwise indicated, the chasuble, worn over the alb and stole.

Not the stole over the chasuble.  My brother once told me that their is an indult regarding the use of an decoration-less white chasuble so that a colored overlay stole MAY be worn over it.  But as with all indults, it becomes the norm rather than the exception.  As far as I can remember, the only indult that did not enjoy this much enthusiasm was the Traditional Latin Mass after John Paul II's Motu Propio "Ecclesia Dei".  Well, thanks to Pope Benedict's Summorum Pontificum, the TLM is not anymore an indult.

My wife once told me that I am being too passionate with liturgical laws.  I told her that my reason is simple. What are the rules for when the ones who are implementing it are the ones making a mockery out of it.

The New Supreme Head of the Church of England?

Whoa! Don't blame me. It was a comment from Fr. Longenecker's blog!

Here's the comment.

Irenaeus of New York said...

"She [Elizabeth II] could repudiate her role as the head of the Church of England, and the Anglicans could elect Elton John to take her place."

That visual gave me a good laugh....thanks!