This week: Fr. Barron comments on Lumen Fidei. Catholic youth events beyond WYD. Jimmy Akin explains the “last judgment.” What it is to hold the human heart. Information on Tom Peters and his recovery. Some amazing talent comes out of nowhere. Jumpy the dog does his stuff.

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Father Barron speaks on the new Lumen Fidei encyclical (spoiler: he likes it).

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World Youth Day is great, but insufficient. We need more local events for youth like the UK’s Youth 2000 (August 22-26 this year):

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Jimmy Akin answers “what is the last judgment?…”

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God does not see as a mortal, who sees the appearance. The LORD looks into the heart.

1 Samuel 16:7b

The wise heart turns to the right; the foolish heart to the left.

Ecclesiastes 10:2

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Almost 2 weeks ago blogger Thomas Peters was seriously injured in a swimming accident. You may know this young man as the American Papist or from his excellent work with the National Organization for Marriage or CatholicVote.org. More information on Tom’s status is on this special blog. Please pray for him.

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So, a Puerto Rican, a Korean and a New Yorker meet on stage…   but this is no joke! These three guys barely knew each other when they appeared on America’s Got Talent. This is there very first performance, ever, anywhere:

This is the beautiful 1985 hymn Pie Jesu (Merciful Jesus) from the requiem Mass written by Andrew Lloyd Webber in memory of his father. I wonder if the judges had any idea what they were listening to. Spotted by Lawrencinium.

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Jumpy the dog does his stuff…

Some random thoughts or bits of information are worthy of sharing but don’t warrant their own full post. This idea was started by Jennifer Fulwiler at Conversion Diary to address this blogging need. So, some Fridays I too participate when I have accumulated 7 worthy items. Thank you Jen for hosting this project!

This week: Bishop Michael Bransfield speaks about God. Restoring the splendor of our Cathedrals and Basilicas for the Glory of God. The Lord’s Prayer beautifully sung in Swahili. The fruits of the Anglican Ordinariate. The concept of reverence. Fr. Barron looks at tolerance gone wild. The man on the street, boldly taking a stand — against the Bill of Rights!

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Bishop Michael Bransfield (Wheeling-Charleston, WV) speaks about God, His pursuit of you and knowing what it is like to be a true Christian.

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Undoing the post-conciliar attempts to “protestantize” our beautiful Cathedrals and Basilicas is a specialty of Conrad Schmitt Studios. Here is some of their restoration work:

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The Lord’s Prayer (Baba Yetu), set to music and sung in Swahili by the Soweto Gospel Choir:

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The Anglican Ordinariate has provided a means for Anglicans to retain elements of their patrimony AND be in full communion with Rome. They (those who have accepted then Pope Benedict’s offer) are now fully Catholic. They benefit being in full communion with the one Church instituted by Christ — and the Church benefits from them. This is true ecumenicalism.

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Reverence, treating God as if…   as if He is…   God. The point is made relative to excellent conferences held at Franciscan University of Steubenville, but is much more broadly applicable.

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Fr. Barron can not stop chuckling as he recounts the antics of Jefferts Schori, the current Episcopalian presiding bishop. He comments on the “loopy ideology of inclusively,” interpreting scripture and what true love is.

Jefferts Schori was featured aspect in my piece in May entitled “the Episcopal experiment” where she preaches that diversity, not Jesus, saves (really, you can not make this stuff up). Her “Christian teaching” is so outrageous as to be funny, like something you might see in a satirical skit — except she is serious. People listen to and believe this crap and endanger their immortal souls. Is it any wonder why Jesus gave His Church an infallible Magisterium to preserve the truth?

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Our citizens are far too busy these days delivering death in the womb and to those of old age, deciding what gender to marry and even deciding what gender to be. The last thing they need to slow them down is antiquated, legalistic mumbo-jumbo like the Bill of Rights!

Some random thoughts or bits of information are worthy of sharing but don’t warrant their own full post. This idea was started by Jennifer Fulwiler at Conversion Diary to address this blogging need. So, some Fridays I too participate when I have accumulated 7 worthy items. Thank you Jen for hosting this project!

This week:The latest issue of New Evangelists Monthly is complete and ready for you. Father Finigan’s A Day With Mary sermon. Pro-aborts chanting “Hail Satan.” A baby, not a choice. Abortion hurts the fathers too. Mainstream media doing all it can to block the truth. An odd Molson’s commercial.

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Issue #7, July 2013, of New Evangelists Monthly is complete! Dozens of faithful Catholic bloggers have contributed their very best pieces from June. This month brought these great topics: Fr. Tim RIP, matrimony, purposefully joyful, intercession, historical evidence, Oz moments, online dating, “liberation theology,” Carmelite Saints eBook, new age Catholics, feast days, gay scouts, Marian devotion, Come O Creator, unfairness, Consuming the Word, one-car family, illustrating Genesis, Pope Francis, liberal rage, God first, Eleazar’s model, Eparch Samra, John’s birthday, strong-willed Judith, a picture book, biblical Hail Mary, children and vocation, shaking faith, restless hearts, wolves and charity, conversion, St. Banabas, laity’s mission, monastic intercession, point of Emmaus, scandalous politicians, yoke of evil, East/West Communion, Mary, monogamy, Eucharist, last lecture, hope, Don Jon, comments, a conversation, vacare in Deo, ad hominem, abuse in BSA, discernment, Bishop Folda, intentional, courage, time, evangelism, Hollywood, tongues, wingless chickens, Body and Blood, practice, God’s ways, burning ones, balance, Jesus music, redemptive suffering, all things, rosary dating, remnant, traditional Catholics, the harvest, twin evils, our vs. mine and suffering Church.

This monthly “meta-magazine” showcases faithful Catholicism from theology to family life and “everything in between.” Enjoy it now at NewEvangelists.org.

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Father Timothy Finigan (a friend of Fr. Z) spoke recently at St. Anselm’s (Dartford, UK) A Day With Mary. His sermon on Our Lady touches upon modern threats to life and the family – and our Blessed Mother’s role – in a very gentle, loving way.

Father blogs at The hermeneutic of continuity.

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Texas endeavored to (1) protect innocent lives, at least once they can actually feel pain and (2) protect their mothers from butcher shop abortions. Outside the congressional chambers, pro-life people tried to drown-out the raucous pro-aborts by singing Amazing Grace.

Guess what the pro-aborts were chanting over and over? Hail Satan. They known not what they do.

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A baby, not a choice.

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Men, when you are younger and dumber, abortion may seem like a good solution to a “problem.” You may think regrets, if any, would only be with the person you “knocked-up.” Other than maybe costing a few bucks, no big deal – right?

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I often write about the extreme, liberal bias in the mainstream media. Blocking this ad is just another illustration of it:

No gore, no inflammatory language, nada. This merely shows what a human baby looks like at 20 weeks. That is, it looks like a baby because it is a baby. Obviously too “controversial.”

Of course, this goes against the culture of death’s script. They see how the picture might confuse someone to believe this is other than a clump of cells / product of conception. It might even build support for ultrasound legislation which would only confuse mothers when they see who is inside them. The newspapers who shamefully rejected this ad (USA Today, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune and others) are desperate for advertisers but their radical liberal ideology must always come first. See more on this here.

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This is just…   odd. It’s a commercial for Molson’s (beer brewed in Canada):

Some random thoughts or bits of information are worthy of sharing but don’t warrant their own full post. This idea was started by Jennifer Fulwiler at Conversion Diary to address this blogging need. So, some Fridays I too participate when I have accumulated 7 worthy items. Thank you Jen for hosting this project!

This week: The 2013 Fortnight for Freedom is in full swing. Kathleen Sibelius says abortion laws get between a woman and her priest. The lasting impact of abortion on the mother. We are now getting into the Syrian war. 100,000 killed because of who they are (Christians, not gays so it is OK). Episcopalian cousins across the pond and the Sacrament of Matrimony. The IRS “refunds” over $46 million to a single Atlanta address.

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We are in the midst of the 2013 Fortnight for Freedom. Begun on June 21st, it ends on July 4th. It is an excellent opportunity for us to study the issues and learn how new federal policies suppress Catholicism and the serious future dangers we face. See the special USCCB web page at Fortnight4Freedom.org.

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Among the “also-rans” for most non-Catholic Catholics is Kathleen Sibelius (ex-governor of Kansas and Obama’s head honcho for devising and forcing the HHS mandate upon us). It is hard to top Nancy Pelosi calling abortion sacred ground, so Sibelius has another angle in her bid to sow confusion and scandal: abortion laws get between a woman and her priest. You can’t make this stuff up:

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Pelosi may think abortion is sacred and Sibelius may suggest it gets between a woman and her priest, but abortion obviously does real harm. Not just to the baby it kills, but to their mothers. Women talk honestly and openly about their abortion experience in this video from Life After Abortion. It is not graphic, but it may raise painful memories if you have had an abortion.

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The administration is apparently not so much against regime change after all. We are now getting entangled into a new war — the civil war within Syria. This is not defensive nor a strategic battle we must fight. Our initial (public) involvement will be weapons to the Muslim rebels, already heavily supported by radical elements. This will force more support from Russia and China for the legitimate government, thus insuring the conflict lasts longer and the death toll rises higher than it would have been. Moreover, should the US backed rebels win, it will spell disaster for the minority Christians (reference: the Copts in Egypt). Pat Buchanan looks at this here.

Update: the rebels have attacked a Catholic monastery, killing Fr. Francois Mourad.

Update: apparently I am not alone in my read of this deadly administration blunder: Catholic Leaders Decry U.S. Arms to Syrian Rebels.

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Speaking of bad outcomes for Christians, are you aware that over 100,000 are killed every year for their faith. ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND. EVERY YEAR. One person is killed every 4 minutes simply because they are Christian. Who cares? That is the question Pat Archbold asks in: Where Is My Awareness Concert?. If only we could convince the government / Hollywood / media that they were gay Christians, then there would be outrage.

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Episcopalianism (and their Church of England cousins) demonstrates how separation from the successor of Peter and the Magisterium leads to all manner of evolution away from timeless truth. I previously wrote about this and their diminishing flock. Here is one example in a celebration of the Sacrament of Matrimony:

You might presume that the misguided couple talked the good reverend into this, but the text accompanying the video notes: “when our incredibly accommodating and inspiring Vicar, Reverend Kate Bottley of St. Mary and St. Martin’s, Blyth, suggested a ‘flash mob’, we were sold!”

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With so many Obama administration scandals, the public simply loses track. For that matter, with so many IRS scandals alone, the public loses track. Did you know that the IRS sent $46,378,040 to a single Atlanta address in 2011. No red flags. Don’t you wish you got a refund like that! Unfortunately, that is your money they are throwing away. On the plus side, it didn’t go to just 1 person but to 23,994 people living at that address. That is one big house! No red flags. Oh, the beneficiaries were “unauthorized” alien workers. Still, no red flags. CNSNews.com has the story.

Some random thoughts or bits of information are worthy of sharing but don’t warrant their own full post. This idea was started by Jennifer Fulwiler at Conversion Diary to address this blogging need. So, some Fridays I too participate when I have accumulated 7 worthy items. Thank you Jen for hosting this project!

This week: The latest issue of New Evangelists Monthly is complete and ready for you. The latest Live Action undercover video. The story of a mother choosing life. Anna tells her conversion story. John Pridmore on forgiveness. IRS knowingly paying over $4 billion in fraudulent claims. The state of this scandal plagued union.

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Issue #6, June 2013, of New Evangelists Monthly is complete! Dozens of faithful Catholic bloggers have contributed their very best pieces from May. Exactly what topics did our contributing authors write about this month? Lots of great things: Alexander VI, visitations, surviving F4, biblical nuns, attachments, emotional chastity, Catholic love, contraception, an ordination, forgiveness, ex-prisoner scandal, sacramental pilgrimage, Holy Spirit, BRCA-1, hurtful words, joyful noise, pope is Catholic, guardian angels, worthy released, Jesus’ miracles, worship Mary?, Pentecost, dear Jacob, grace, Texas Rangerettes, teaching the Trinity, chivalry, finding God, 4 conversions, grandeur, spiritual mothers, family prayer, marital complacency, attachment to sin, vulnerability, old/new Mass, soldier snapshot, family rosary, virginity mistake, St. Therese, Bonhoeffer, OMG, beauty, luminous mysteries, Sacred and immaculate, eisegesis, Lumen Gentium, denominations, 3-year-olds, Leah’s hope, Sacred Heart, what is old age, impostor Francis?, wiping bottoms, a poem, lawn chair catechism, beautiful you, branding, strengths, new Jerusalem, confidence, unbrided, chastity, made whole, confirmation, ordination, through Mary, He cares, Grant the Great, book review, grandma’s girl, contemplation, loving Catholicism, chilled, being open, St. Stylianos, kissing and women.

This monthly “meta-magazine” showcases Catholicism from theology to family life and “everything in between.” Enjoy it now at NewEvangelists.org.

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in·hu·man (adj.)

1. lacking human qualities of compassion and mercy; cruel and barbaric
2. not human in nature or character

These are real, under-cover videos in abortion “clinics” across the country. Video, after video, after video exposes the “norm” in this brutal business. Here is the latest from Live Action:

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Seeing with the eyes of the world would have meant death to baby Christian in utero (see above). Thank God for his Christian parents.

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Catholics – a statue worshiping cult – or perhaps not…   Anna tells her story:

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Anyone, absolutely anyone, can be forgiven if they accept God’s mercy.

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While the federal government runs up record debt, the IRS is pumping-out huge fraudulent “refunds” to 2,000,000 illegal immigrants. This illegal payout totals over $4,000,000,000 per year. Your children and their children will pay for this.

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The actual state of this scandal plagued union…   taking stock of where we are:

Update: I know many good people still believe this stuff is just “partisan” attacks. It isn’t. While there will always be corruption in the government, what is happening now is at an extremely dangerous, unprecedented level. Worse, most of the media works to spin, hide and fluff-up what they used to dig-out and expose. Elizabeth Scalia (a/k/a The Anchoress) has a good related article today here.

Some random thoughts or bits of information are worthy of sharing but don’t warrant their own full post. This idea was started by Jennifer Fulwiler at Conversion Diary to address this blogging need. So, some Fridays I too participate when I have accumulated 7 worthy items. Thank you Jen for hosting this project!