This week: Cardinal Burke’s views on the Extraordinary Form Mass. A young person’s views on the same. Father Barron reviews For Greater Glory. Using the ADA to “club” an abortion clinic. The IRS is staffing-up to enforce ObamaCare on the public. We are still very “under water” on bailing-out GM, so how is our “investment” working out? A EE’s business card.

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Cardinal Raymond Burke was interviewed last week by CNS on his views of the Extraordinary Form of the Mass. Yes, this is the Latin Mass but those who focus on Latin vs. English completely miss the point. Many people are drawn to the traditional, EF Mass by its beauty, timelessness and – most importantly – its sacredness.

Last Saturday was the 7th anniversary of Summorum Pontificum (07-07-07), Pope Benedict’s motu proprio Apostolic Letter supporting the EF Mass.

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So, does the Extraordinary Form of the Mass only appeal to “old” people?

(This video is no longer available.)

This young person was known as “She is Catholic” and had more videos on her YouTube channel. Thanks to Father Z for spotting her!

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Father Barron reviews For Greater Glory:

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The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a great idea gone bad. It is often used as a club for unreasonable demands against certain targets. Turning this lemon into lemonade, Allen County Right to Life (IN) is suing an abortion center because they do not provide adequate wheelchair access! On the one hand, this is a typical abuse of the law. On the other, anything that makes it more difficult for abortuaries to stay in business has at least some merit. Thanks to Matthew Archbold at CMR for spotting this.

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The IRS is adding scores of new agents to enforce ObamaCare and collect penalties from anyone who refuses it. Note too that the penalties are huge. This is a terrible law and will do great harm to the country and its citizens.

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We American taxpayers took a big risk ($50 billion) bailing-out General Motors. As a result, we own 26.5% of them. Those shares, if sold at market value today would net us a loss of $16.6 billion (not counting around $45 billion in write-offs – at book value making our net loss around $35 billion).

In addition to their debt to us, how are they going to repay us?

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You want your business card to stand out. Here is one electrical engineers solution:

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: 43 archbishops receive their pallium from the Holy Father. A young priest is ambushed by LCWR protesters. A newly ordained priest talks about the vocation. A father and son are ordained together. Father Barron speaks on opposing heresy. Moral decisions of the commander-in-chief and their consequences. A quote of the week.

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At the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, the Holy Father placed the pallium upon the 43 Archbishops he appointed over the last year. This year therefore included Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore and Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia. Rome Reports has the story.

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Young Father Ted Martin was greeting parishioners after Mass at the Cathedral of Kalamazoo. A protester supporting the deeply troubled Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) approached him to make points. A reporter and a gaggle of other protesters are also present. It is basically an ambush.

(This video is no longer available.)

Fr. Martin was excellent! After listening carefully, he responds to the vague assertions on Vatican II with document names, paragraphs and quotes. He has an impressive grasp of scripture and Latin too. The persistent protester, despite obviously coming armed with talking points, seems to ramble and change the subject. She promises to call him later but so far has not.

It’s basic stuff, but obviously some people need it. Especially the protester, who turns out to be a former Mercy sister of 11 years with 2 theology degrees. Fr. Zuhlsdorf covers the story here and here. Pray for these lost sheep. Pray also for more priests like Fr. Martin.

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Father Pablo Santa Maria is a recently ordained priest in the Archdiocese of Vancouver. In this video from their vocations office, Fr. Santa maria speaks on the priestly vocation, calling, seminary and importance of liturgy:

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A father and son have been ordained as priests…   at the same Mass.

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Is being anti-heresy being uncharitable? Of course not. Father Barron:

I wrote about the new atheists last August. Spirit Juice Studios has put together a new video for the teen / young adult audience that might find appeal in such shallow nonsense:

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We must choose our presidents very carefully. This is a true story, demonstrating how NOT to be a faithful commander in chief:

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Quote of the week:

Members of this Court are vested with the authority to interpret the law; we possess neither the expertise nor the prerogative to make policy judgments. Those decisions are entrusted to our Nation’s elected leaders, who can be thrown out of office if the people disagree with them. It is not our job to protect the people from the consequences of their political choices.

Chief Justice John Roberts
Supreme Court of the United States

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: Planned Parenthood “condemns sex selection motivated by gender bias” – except (wink, wink) that is completely false. For the first time, the US State Department no longer tracks religious freedom as a human rights issue. Two examples of the gay agenda’s use of the courts. Finding-out what is in ObamaCare (it’s worse than you think). The European Union – is that our future too? It’s official, the private sector is *doing fine*! Kids + technology = a solution for unmade beds.

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Planned Parenthood “condemns sex selection motivated by gender bias”. Except, wink, wink, it is not true. Live Action has caught them happily assisting in gendercide time (Texas), after time (NYC), after time (Arizona), after time (Maui), after time (Honolulu). In truth, they are all too happy to assist. Colleen Carroll Campbell covers the story well in her piece A Bad Week for Planned Parenthood.

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The U.S. State Department, by law, must produce an annual report on the state of human rights around the world. Scoring another first, President Obama’s administration has removed the section covering freedom of religion. It is simply not a priority for him. CNS has the story.

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Are you one of those bigots who want to discriminate against 2 people, in a loving, committed, life-long relationship simply because they are of the same sex?

I covered this topic recently in but how does “gay marriage” hurt you?. Short answer: there are very real, very serious consequences.

Last week the Danish government gave us exhibit #1: churches *MUST* “marry” homosexuals in the same manner that they marry heterosexuals. Forget about religious freedom, the government has spoken. In Obama’s post-religious freedom era, this is a glimpse to our own future. In Denmark, for now, their law applies only to Lutheran churches (their official state religion). LifeSiteNews has more on the story.

Exhibit #2 comes to you from New Mexico. Their “Human Rights Commission”, backed up by a district judge, came down hard on Christian photographer Elaine Huguenin for not accepting a request to photograph a lesbian “commitment” ceremony. Through an incredible stretch, in a state where “gay marriages” are illegal and same-sex “civil unions” are not recognized – “discrimination” based on sexual orientation was found.

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ObamaCare, a gift to the abortion industry that keeps on giving:

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Paying off one credit card with another is not a plan to get out of debt. This is the shell game played last week to save Spain (Greece is already written-off). Looking from the outside, one wonders if anyone in the European Union realizes how dire the situation is for them. Apparently at least one Member of the European Parliament does:

Let us pray that we do something soon to reign-in our own big government, crushing debt ways before it is too late (if it isn’t already). According to the Washington Post, the personal wealth of individual Americans has DROPPED 40% in the last few years.

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Break open the champagne! Send out the invitations! The private sector is “doing fine,” President Obama declared last week. What a relief for all of us that his focus can rest, undistracted, on continued growth in the public sector.

This happens when he goes off-script – he reveals his honest thoughts. Whoops, it’s time for damage control. Clarifying he said the *economy* (private + public sectors together) is not doing fine. He still could not bring himself to acknowledge the private sector is far from “fine.”

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You have told your kids to make their beds a thousand times without lasting success. Finally, technology will solve your problem (and bring you a brighter tomorrow):

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: For Greater Glory opened to rave reviews. One pastor’s good catechetical work in his parish. Recruiting young women to the consecrated life. Do evangelicals need to confess their sins to a priest? Father Andrew Kemberling speaks from the heart on the threat of socialism. The Wisconsin victory for sanity, fairness and justice. Another happy puppy.

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For Greater Glory opened in theaters last Friday to rave reviews. Not by the professional mainstream media reviewers, but by every person I know who has seen it. The movie tells the story of massive persecution of the Church in Mexico in the 1920s. Despite all of the atrocities and numerous martyrs, this attack on religious freedom is not well known. Many have commented on the parallels in the Cristiada’s early period to what we are seeing right now in America.

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Father Greg Markey, pastor at St. Mary Catholic Church in Norwalk, CT, has been working to reverse the so-called “spirit” of Vatican II changes in his parish. As I have noted many times (particularly here and here), these are not changes called for or even mentioned in Vatican II but undertaken in its name none-the-less. They are not changes without cost in catechesis, sacredness, reverence, vocations and more. IMHO, correcting this a critical part of the new evangelization. Check-out their parish FAQ page on the liturgy:

• Why is the liturgy a top priority for St. Mary Church?
• Why does St. Mary Church have the Traditional Latin Mass?
• Why does St. Mary Church offer the Mass facing east?
• Why does St. Mary’s reserve altar serving to boys alone?
• Why should I consider receiving Communion on the tongue?
• Why do we use Incense in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass?
• How can St. Padre Pio help us better understand the Mass?
• How should you dress for Mass in the summer?
• Cardinal George and Liturgical Reform
• Why don’t we use extraordinary (Eucharistic) ministers very often here at St. Mary’s?

St. Mary offers Holy Mass in both the ordinary and extraordinary forms.

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Why would a woman become a consecrated sister? Imagine Sisters is “a web and campus-based movement that aims to inspire the imaginations of young women to consider the beautiful call to consecrated life as a sister.”

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Do evangelicals need to confess their sins to a priest? If you are evangelical and the words “of course not” have just popped into your head…   not so fast! Brantly Millegan, an evangelical convert, answers that question very well in a thought provoking blog post. The question is not evangelical specific at all but Brantly knows his audience. Check-out Why evangelicals need to confess their sins to a priest, too.

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Father Andrew Kemberling, pastor of St. Thomas More Catholic Church in Centennial, CO was invited recently to give the invocation at their state Republican convention. He spoke of religious liberty and the danger socialism represents to our democracy. Blunt, powerful and to the point:

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Very blue Wisconsin had been sinking fast under years of mismanagement and political pandering. In 2010, Scott Walker was elected and dramatically turned it around, in part by reigning in wild excesses granted to public sector unions. Since then, hysteria in the left has been growing – fed by the media and funded by tens of millions from out-of-state unions. A recall election was held on Tuesday. Every dirty trick, every conceivable allegation, and every possible distortion tried. Time tested liberal tactics that have usually worked.

Not this time. The money was more than matched and both sides of the story were heard. Walker handily beat the same opponent he beat before, now by a larger margin. A sizable (38%) of union members themselves voted for him. It is a victory for sanity, fairness and justice. If he survives…   there have been numerous death threats, violent union rallies and talk of riots.

UPDATE: Two informative pieces on this topic appeared in Catholic Exchange – Linda Chavez’ Big Lesson for Labor in Wisconsin Election and Pat Buchanan’s The Bell Tolls for the Government Unions.

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Another happy puppy:

This beagle was only a puppy when his soldier left 6 months ago. This video was spotted by Deacon Greg. Elizabeth Scalia noted of it:

There is nothing like the unconditional love of a dog, and nothing like its fierceness when you need it’s protection. It will lay down its life to keep you safe, and when you come home after being away, it does not harass you; it does not shake a finger at you; it does not hold you at arms length until you prove yourself; it simply loves you with all the love it has within, and weeps with joy for your return. It’s the Prodigal Son story, only with an intensity the parable can only hint at.

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: An excellent video on religious freedom. An update on the unjust imprisonment of Father Gordon MacRae. The story of an autistic kid, a kind gesture and how it worked out. The official biographies of American presidents from Calvin Coolidge on get an update. Will proposes to Jennifer. Andrew Klavan on “talking crap.” A quote of the week.

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This Sunday, the 8th summary in my War on Religion series will be posted. It’s focus is the unprecedented 43 federal lawsuits against the Obama administration filed last week by Catholic dioceses and institutions. One of the many included videos is this excellent one from the Archdiocese of Washington explaining religious freedom:

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In February, I wrote about the sad story of Father Gordon MacRae – an unjustly imprisoned, innocent priest. His case may be an extreme example of a falsely accused priest but is far from unique. David Pierre’s recent book Catholic Priests Falsely Accused: The Facts, The Fraud, The Stories details many more.

Michael Novak has also explored this recently on his blog in A Different Priestly Scandal. Father Zulhsdorf covers and expands on Michael’s work.

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Jason McElway is a bit different and does not always “fit in” with everyone else. He has autism. Jason liked basketball and his high school allowed him assist their team. This video from a couple years ago tells the story of his last game:

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Placing Obama in the context of American history has just become easier, thanks to Obama himself. He has modified the official biography of every president since Calvin Coolidge (except Gerald Ford) to include himself. You just don’t see narcissism like that every day.

You can’t make stuff up like this. Go look yourself. For a quick sampling, see Commentary Magazine‘s piece: Obama Drops His Name Into the Other Presidential Biographies

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Will proposes to Jennifer…

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It is election season again and our sitting president asks us to give him another chance. Andrew Klavan gave a reasonably good overview last year of how Obama has done so far in his 3-part video series called President Obama, Talking Crap:

That last video mentions Catholic Paul Ryan’s budget proposals. I mentioned Ryan’s most recent budget proposal in a previous 7 Quick Takes. Pope biographer George Weigel has also commented.

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The quote of the week:

When Barack Obama made his unsurprising announcement today that he has finally evolved far enough to endorse homosexual marriage, ironically an evolutionary dead end, he made two other interesting statements.

First, he attributes his evolution to his Christian faith. This is sort of odd, speaking as a Trinitarian Christian, because it puts Christ in the position of disavowing himself. This is not surprising. Anyone who learned Christian theology from Jeremiah Wright is bound to have imbibed a substantial number of heresies.

The most surprising statement was this:

[W]hen I think about those soldiers or airmen or marines or sailors who are out there fighting on my behalf…

Really. Our troops are fighting on his behalf? I had always imagined they were fighting on behalf of the nation.

Obama: Troops Are Fighting On My Behalf

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!