22,000 Catholic Students in Kansas City

22,000 young people from all over the country gathered for a three day celebration of their faith in Kansas City. Imagine all these young Catholics then going back to their schools, youth groups and families with a fire in their hearts that has been fanned brighter!

Happy Thanksgiving

Today, I direct you to Prodigal Daughter's blog The Journey of a Soul.
God bless you.

Pics from Haiti

A group of men waiting to be seen in the clinic

2 young ladies "mugging" for the camera

A severe case of otitis externa (swimmer's ear)

Dispensing de-worming medication (this scene always spooks me a bit)

A young man just released from prison with congestive heart failure

THE BEAUTY OF HAITI IS FOUND IN THE PEOPLE

Way To Emmaus on ITUNES

Check it out here.
(Now there's no excuse to not download a few tunes :)

Four Brave Bishops

Just four bishops across the US did not allow their diocese to take up the annual Catholic Campaign for Human Development collection this past Sunday due to the discovery that the Catholic Campaign for Human Development was donating money to organizations directly opposing Church teaching.
Our newly ordained Bishop John Barres of the Allentown Diocese was one of the brave four. It tells me he is not worried about his popularity and/or upward mobility within the USCCB . Instead he is standing up for Truth. Thank God for men like these. Keep them in your prayers.
Full story here.

A Drive Through Port-Au-Prince

Back From Haiti

Patients lining up to be seen outside the Church

We returned late Saturday night from our one week medical mission to the parish of St. Simon and Jude of Port-Au-Prince. Many prayers were answered and God's favor was upon us. In JFK at our departure, several of our bags were over the 50 lb limit. We were prepared to pay for the extra fee but the ticketing agent declined to charge us. She said she knew we were doing this as a mission and it was her way of supporting us. (The hundreds of dollars this saved was then given to Fr. Andrew at the end of our trip to help pay for ongoing medical issues in his parish.) After a 4 hour flight we landed in Port-Au-Prince and got all of the medicines and supplies through customs without a hitch. (or a bribe)

We brought 28 duffle bags and suitcases to the Church and set up our 'pharmacy' in the sacristy of the Church. Four medical doctors and one pediatric nurse-practitioner saw over 900 patients in 4 days. The patients suffered from many bacterial and parasitic infections, poor nutrition, anemia, diseases of the skin due to poor sanitation and severe uncontrolled hypertension and diabetes. A young girl in line to see us suffered one of several gran-mal seizures she has had since birth. We did not have any seizure medicines and left some money with Fr. Andrew in the hopes that he can connect with this family later to provide them with the funds to get further medical care at a local hospital. The local government-run hospitals in PAP are poorly equipped and usually turn away the poor non-paying patients.

One of the saddest cases of the week was a 19 year old boy who had just been released from prison after being held for three years with no charges against him and no trial ever conducted. He was randomly pulled out of a soccer game one day by the police for unclear reasons. He was the son of a baptist minister. He had been beaten daily in prison and was now critically ill. When I saw him he had a high fever and was filling up with fluid and appeared to be in severe congestive heart failure. If he was in the States, he would have been in an ICU. Father Andrew decided to pay for him to get treatment at a local hospital and gave his father money. We were later told that the hospital refused to admit him saying they were full.

The saddest but perhaps most gratifying part of the week was taking a trip down the road from our compound (less than a mile) to Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity orphanage and hospital. We had the opportunity to tour the hospital and spend time with the children. It has been a dream of ours ever since we became Catholic to visit this orphanage. As we walked through the very same halls that Mother Teresa once walked, the orphan children held up their arms to be picked up by us strangers.

We went to the hospital portion of the orphanage and were encouraged to lift the crying babies up from their cribs and hold them. When it was time for lunch, metal bowls of a nutritious rice and meat gruel were brought out and we helped the staff feed the children. Some children were able to take the spoon and feed themselves, others had to be coaxed and some refused to eat at all. I cannot describe the simultaneous feelings of pain and joy and grace that I experienced as these tiny sick children clung to us and buried their febrile heads in our chest. Deborah and I could not look at each other for fear of breaking down and sobbing. All I could do was whisper a few Haitian phrases to the babies I held and pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet- "For the sake of His sorrowful passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world."

I thank you all for your prayers and support. The Lord heard your prayers and allowed us the privilege of being His hands to reach out to the body of Christ while we were in Haiti. Could you remember to offer a prayer for Fr. Andrew and our brothers and sisters of St. Simon and Jude parish from time to time? Thanks so much .

A Bishop's Concern for His Flock

In the following letter, Congressman Kennedy (son of the late Ted Kennedy) receives a public admonishment from his bishop. God bless this bishop and pray for all the Catholic politicians who, like Kennedy, don't truly understand what it means to be a Catholic.


Dear Congressman Kennedy

Since our recent correspondence has been rather public, I hope you don’t mind if I share a few reflections about your practice of the faith in this public forum. I usually wouldn’t do that – that is speak about someone’s faith in a public setting – but in our well-documented exchange of letters about health care and abortion, it has emerged as an issue. I also share these words publicly with the thought that they might be instructive to other Catholics, including those in prominent positions of leadership.

For the moment I’d like to set aside the discussion of health care reform, as important and relevant as it is, and focus on one statement contained in your letter of October 29, 2009, in which you write, “The fact that I disagree with the hierarchy on some issues does not make me any less of a Catholic.” That sentence certainly caught my attention and deserves a public response, lest it go unchallenged and lead others to believe it’s true. And it raises an important question: What does it mean to be a Catholic?

"The fact that I disagree with the hierarchy on some issues does not make me any less of a Catholic.”

Well, in fact, Congressman, in a way it does. Although I wouldn’t choose those particular words, when someone rejects the teachings of the Church, especially on a grave matter, a life-and-death issue like abortion, it certainly does diminish their ecclesial communion, their unity with the Church. This principle is based on the Sacred Scripture and Tradition of the Church and is made more explicit in recent documents.

For example, the “Code of Canon Law” says, “Lay persons are bound by an obligation and possess the right to acquire a knowledge of Christian doctrine adapted to their capacity and condition so that they can live in accord with that doctrine.” (Canon 229, #1)

The “Catechism of the Catholic Church” says this: “Mindful of Christ’s words to his apostles, ‘He who hears you, hears me,’ the faithful receive with docility the teaching and directives that their pastors give them in different forms.” (#87)

Or consider this statement of the Church: “It would be a mistake to confuse the proper autonomy exercised by Catholics in political life with the claim of a principle that prescinds from the moral and social teaching of the Church.” (Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, 2002)

There’s lots of canonical and theological verbiage there, Congressman, but what it means is that if you don’t accept the teachings of the Church your communion with the Church is flawed, or in your own words, makes you “less of a Catholic.”

But let’s get down to a more practical question; let’s approach it this way: What does it mean, really, to be a Catholic? After all, being a Catholic has to mean something, right?

Well, in simple terms – and here I refer only to those more visible, structural elements of Church membership – being a Catholic means that you’re part of a faith community that possesses a clearly defined authority and doctrine, obligations and expectations. It means that you believe and accept the teachings of the Church, especially on essential matters of faith and morals; that you belong to a local Catholic community, a parish; that you attend Mass on Sundays and receive the sacraments regularly; that you support the Church, personally, publicly, spiritually and financially.

Congressman, I’m not sure whether or not you fulfill the basic requirements of being a Catholic, so let me ask: Do you accept the teachings of the Church on essential matters of faith and morals, including our stance on abortion? Do you belong to a local Catholic community, a parish? Do you attend Mass on Sundays and receive the sacraments regularly? Do you support the Church, personally, publicly, spiritually and financially?

In your letter you say that you “embrace your faith.” Terrific. But if you don’t fulfill the basic requirements of membership, what is it exactly that makes you a Catholic? Your baptism as an infant? Your family ties? Your cultural heritage?

Your letter also says that your faith “acknowledges the existence of an imperfect humanity.” Absolutely true. But in confronting your rejection of the Church’s teaching, we’re not dealing just with “an imperfect humanity” – as we do when we wrestle with sins such as anger, pride, greed, impurity or dishonesty. We all struggle with those things, and often fail.

Your rejection of the Church’s teaching on abortion falls into a different category – it’s a deliberate and obstinate act of the will; a conscious decision that you’ve re-affirmed on many occasions. Sorry, you can’t chalk it up to an “imperfect humanity.” Your position is unacceptable to the Church and scandalous to many of our members. It absolutely diminishes your communion with the Church.

Congressman Kennedy, I write these words not to embarrass you or to judge the state of your conscience or soul. That’s ultimately between you and God. But your description of your relationship with the Church is now a matter of public record, and it needs to be challenged. I invite you, as your bishop and brother in Christ, to enter into a sincere process of discernment, conversion and repentance.

It’s not too late for you to repair your relationship with the Church, redeem your public image, and emerge as an authentic “profile in courage,” especially by defending the sanctity of human life for all people, including unborn children. And if I can ever be of assistance as you travel the road of faith, I would be honored and happy to do so.

Sincerely yours,

Thomas J. Tobin, Bishop of Providence

Pope St Leo the Great

Yesterday the Church celebrated the feast for St. Leo the Great(400-461), the first in the history of the Church to be called "the great". He was first a deacon and later became pope in the fifth century and later declared "doctor of the Church." Upon hearing that Atilla the Hun was coming to sack Rome, he went out to meet him and convinced him to turn his armies away.
He called the Council of Chalcedon which denounced many heresies of the time including Pelagianism, which maintained that man has no original sin and does not need God's grace to merit heaven, but can attain heaven through his own goodness and good works. St. Augustine went after this heresy as well. Interestingly, the very heresy they fought is what Catholics are accused of believing. Catholics have never believed we can attain heaven by works alone, but not by faith alone either (James 2)!

"what [is] more iniquitous than to hold blasphemous opinions, and not to give way to those who are wiser and more learned than ourself. Now into this unwisdom fall they who, finding themselves hindered from knowing the truth by some obscurity, have recourse not to the prophets' utterances, not to the Apostles' letters, nor to the injunctions of the Gospel but to their own selves: and thus they stand out as masters of error because they were never disciples of truth."

Ordained Minister Abortionist

He prays for those he aborts. God have mercy!