"I have to tell you that in light of the Gospel and Catholic principles, this logic of division makes no sence. Jesus came to break down barriers. He died to proclaim universal brotherhood; this central point of His teaching is charity - that is, the love that binds all human beings to Him as the elder brother and binds us all with Him to the Father."
Blessed Pope John XXIII
Pentecost Homily
1944

Peace

Peace is the first condition of true progress. Peace is indispensable so that indviduals and peoples may live in freedom. At the same time, peace is conditioned by the guarantee that all individuals and peoples are assured the right to liberty, truth, justice and ove.
Pope Paul VI

Let us pray for the souls of Jonathan Croom and Lt. Charles 'Chip' McCarthy of the Buffalo Fire Department who died in the line of Duty Monday as well as three Russian Fire Fighters who were killed in a blast Saturday.

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord,

And let perpetual light shine upon them

May they and all the souls of our faithfully departed through the Mercy of God, rest in peace.

Amen.

Saint Florian Pray For Us and Watch Over all FireFighters

Diversity

Recently it has come to my attention that a teen in Michigan was beaten for being gay.
Where is the compassion, respect, understanding for people different than ourselves?

If parents do not teach children diversity - Then they have failed.

Ghandi

"Great minds talk about ideas. Average minds talk about objects. Little minds talk about other people."

Off The Wall - But Should Be Shared

On her radio show recently, Dr. Laura Schlesinger said that, as an observant Orthodox Jew, homosexuality is an abomination according to Leviticus 18:22, and cannot be condoned under any circumstance.
The following response is an open letter to Dr. Laura which was posted on the Internet. It's funny, as well as informative.

Dear Dr. Laura:
Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding God's Law. I have learned a great deal from your show, and try to share that knowledge with as many people as I can. When someone tries to defend the homosexual lifestyle, for example, I simply remind them that Leviticus 18:22 clearly states it to be an abomination. End of debate.I do need some advice from you, however, regarding some other elements of God's Law and how to follow them.

1. When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odor for the Lord - Lev.1:9. The problem is my neighbors. They claim the odor is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?
2. I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her?
3. I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of menstrual uncleanliness - Lev.15: 19-24. The problem is how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offense.
4. Lev. 25:44 states that I may indeed possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can't I own Canadians?
5. I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2. The passage clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself?
6. A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an abomination - Lev. 11:10, it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don't agree. Can you settle this? Are there 'degrees' of abomination?
7. Lev. 21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear reading glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle room here?
8. Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev.19:27. How should they die?
9. I know from Lev. 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play football if I wear gloves?
10. My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev. 19:19 by planting two differentcrops in the same field, as does his wife by wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread (cotton/polyester blend). He also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot. Is it really necessary that we go to all the trouble of getting the whole town together to stone them? - Lev.24:10-16. Couldn't we just burn them to death at a private family affair like we do with people who sleep with their in-laws? (Lev. 20:14)
I know you have studied these things extensively and thus enjoy considerable expertise in such matters, so I am confident you can help. Thank you again for reminding us that God's word is eternal

Confused

"What is my state of mind? Am I Hamlet? Or Don Quixote? One on the left? On the right? I don’t feel like I have been properly understood (non misento indovonato.) I have two dominate feelings. (Superabundo gaudio.)
I am filled with comfort. With all Our affliction, I am overjoyed. (2nd Corinthians 7:4)
Pope Paul VI
1975

Violence

"Violence destroys what it claims to defend; the dignity the freedom of human beings. Violence is a crime against humanity, for it destroys the very fabric of our society. To all of you who are listening I say: do not support violence: do not believe in violence. It is not the way of the Catholic Church. Believe in peace and forgiveness and love, for they are Christ."
Pope John Paul II
Northern Ireland
1979

Criticism

"I do not despise criticism, & I shall be most careful not to think badly of critics or treat them with disrespect. On the contrary, I shall love it. I shall study new systems of thought, their continual evolution & their trends; criticism for me is light, is truth, & their is only one truth, the supreme truth of Christ can not ultimately be in conflict with other truths.
But I shall alwas try to introduce into discussions, in which too often ill-considered enthusiasms & deceptive appearances have a part to play, a great moderation, harmony, balance, and serenity of judgement, allied to a prudent & cautious brood mindedness."
Blessed Pope John XXIII

Canon 1752

The salvation of souls, which must always be the supreme law in the Church, is to be kept before one’s eyes.
1983 Code of Canon Law

Spiritual Terrorism

We need more spiritual fruits and not more religious nuts.

The Servant Song by Richard Gillard

For anyone in Parish Ministry, this is the hymn to make you step back and think.

1. Brother, let me be your servant.
Let me be as Christ to you.
Pray that I might have the grace
To let you be my servant, too.

2. We are pilgrims on a journey.
We are brothers on the road.
We are here to help each other
Walk the mile and bear the load.

3. I will hold the Christ-light for you
In the night time of your fear.
I will hold my hand out to you;
Speak the peace you long to hear.

4. I will weep when you are weeping.
When you laugh, I'll laugh with you.
I will share your joy and sorrow
Till we've seen this journey through.

5. When we sing to God in heaven,
We shall find such harmony
Born of all we've known together
Of Christ's love and agony.

"Today more than ever we are called to serve mankind as such, and not merely Catholics; to defend above all & everywhere the rights of the human person, & not merely those of the Catholic Church. Today's world, the needs made plain in the last fifty years, & a deeper understanding of doctrine, have brought us a new situation.

It is not the Gospel that has changed, it is that we have begun to understand it better. Those who have lived as long as I have, were enabled to compare different cultures & traditions & know that the moment has come to discern the signs of the times, to seize the opportunity & to look far ahead."

May 28, 1963

The Prophets of Doom

In the daily exercise of our pastoral office, we sometimes have to listen, much to our regret, to voices of persons who, though burning with zeal, are not endowed with too much sense of discretion or measure. In these modern times they can see nothing but prevarication and ruin. They say that our era, in comparison with past eras, is getting worse, and they behave as though they had learned nothing from history, which is, none the less, the teacher of life. They behave as though at the time of former Councils everything was a full triumph for the Christian idea and life and for proper religious liberty.
We feel we must disagree with those prophets of gloom, who are always forecasting disaster, as though the end of the world were at hand.
In the present order of things, Divine Providence is leading us to a new order of human relations which, by men's own efforts and even beyond their very expectations, are directed toward the fulfilment of God's superior and inscrutable designs. And everything, even human differences, leads to the greater good of the Church.

OCTOBER 11, 1962

Opening Speech of the

Second Vatican Council

Pope John Paul I

People sometimes say, “We are living in a completely corrupt, completely dishonest society.” This is not true. There are still so many good people, so many honest people. Rather, what should we do to improve society? I would say, each one of us must try himself to be good and to infect others with goodness that is permeated through and though by the gentleness and love taught by Christ. Christ’s Golden Rule was, “Do not do to others what you do not want done to you. Do to others what you want done to you.” (Mt 7:12, Lk 6:31). “Learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart.” (Mt 11:29). And He was always giving. When He was placed on the cross, not only did He pardon those who crucified Him, but He made excuses for them. He said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” (Lk 23:34). This is Christianity, these are the sentiments that, if put into practice, would so greatly help society.

September 24th, 1978

Unity

"Let us look for what unites and not what divides."

Working Together

"We must always try to speak of the goodness that is in people. Nothing is lost in the attempt. Everything maybe lost if we do not find a way to work together to save peace."

December, 1962

On Arriving In Venice

"I have an inclination to love people, which keeps me faithful to the law of the Gospel and respectful of my own rights and the rights of others. It stops me from doing harm to anyone; it encourages me to do good for all."
March 15th, 1953

Bl. Pope John's Little Prayer to Mary

Hail Mary,

Hope of the world,

Hail, Holy & Meek Virgin,

Filled with God's love,

Gentle & serene.

The Church Today

“We have to realize what the Church is. It is not simply a human institution that has one policy in one administration and a different policy in another. It is more than a human institution. It is something that comes to us through Christ, and the action of the Spirit, accomplishing His will in His time and His way.
We must be conscious of the action of the Spirit, not here and there, but at all times. I speak as one who was present for what I would call dramatic moments in the manifestation of the Spirit, particularly in the (Second Vatican) Council. You could almost feel the Spirit moving us in a particular direction.
When you are conscious of that, then the Church isn’t something you judge by human standards or procedures. It is something of God, in spite of its human imperfections. I know and you know that it is never going to achieve the fullness of its perfections on earth.
We have to accept the imperfections. We are, after all, pilgrims on a journey, and pilgrims get dirty. The road is a dusty one. But we should not let this cause us to lose sight of the more profound reality of what the Church is – the instrument of God that He has given us to bring all people closer to Him.
It is this that gives me hope, and confidence, a love for the Church. A love of the Church ought to be a basic part of our lives. But you can love it only if you understand it, and you can understand it only though faith. The first chapter of Lumen Gentuum, on the mystery of the Church – the one that is so often passed over – is profound. It presents to us God’s design for His creatures, and it talks of how this design is to be realized – imperfectly, but realized nonetheless.
This is the underlying reality of the Church. And in God’s own way, and in God’s own time, it will come.”

John Cardinal Dearden
His response to a question asked by Bishop Ken Untener, on how to advise young people who might get discouraged now and then because of certain things that they see happening today.

Archbishop Oscar Romero

"Peace is a product of justice, but justice is not enough. Love is also necessary. The love that makes us feel that we are brothers and sisters is properly what makes for true peace. Peace is a product of justice and love."

Meditation On Ministry

On March 24th, 1980, Archbishop Oscar Romero of San Salvador was shot and killed while saying Mass.A prayer frequently used at conferences and prayer services is refered to as the “Romero Prayer.”

It helps, now and then, to step back and take a long view.The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts,it is even beyond our vision.
We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fractionof the magnificent enterprise that is God's work.Nothing we do is complete,which is a way of saying that the Kingdom always lies beyond us.
No statement says all that could be said.No prayer fully expresses our faith.No confession brings perfection.No pastoral visit brings wholeness.No program accomplishes the Church's mission.No set of goals and objectives includes everything.
This is what we are about.We plant the seeds that one day will grow.We water seeds already planted,knowing that they hold future promise.We lay foundations that will need further development.We provide yeast that produces effects far beyond our capabilities.
We cannot do everything,and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.This enables us to do something,and to do it very well.It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way, an opportunity for the Lord's grace to enter and do the rest.
We may never see the end results,but that is the difference between the master builder and the worker.
We are workers, not master builders;ministers, not messiahs.We are prophets of a future not our own.
Amen.

Romero experts have been unable to find this in any of his writings. That’s because they are actually the words of John Cardinal Dearden of Detroit, written by then Fr. (bishop) Kenneth Untener – it is part of a homily that he gave in 1979 at the annual Mass for deceased priests of the Archdiocese of Detroit.

The Daily Decalogue of Bl. Pope John XXIII

1) Only for today, I will seek to live the livelong day positivelywithout wishing to solve the problems of my life all at once.

2) Only for today, I will take the greatest care of my appearance: Iwill dress modestly; I will not raise my voice; I will be courteous inmy behaviour; I will not criticize anyone; I will not claim to improveor to discipline anyone except myself.

3) Only for today, I will be happy in the certainty that I was createdto be happy, not only in the other world but also in this one.

4) Only for today, I will adapt to circumstances, without requiringall circumstances to be adapted to my own wishes.

5) Only for today, I will devote 10 minutes of my time to some goodreading, remembering that just as food is necessary to the life of thebody, so good reading is necessary to the life of the soul.

6) Only for today, I will do one good deed and not tell anyone about it.

7) Only for today, I will do at least one thing I do not like doing;and if my feelings are hurt, I will make sure that no one notices.

8) Only for today, I will make a plan for myself: I may not follow itto the letter, but I will make it. And I will be on guard against twoevils: hastiness and indecision.

9) Only for today, I will firmly believe, despite appearances, thatthe good Providence of God cares for me as no one else who exists inthis world.

10) Only for today, I will have no fears. In particular, I will not beafraid to enjoy what is beautiful and to believe in goodness. Indeed,for 12 hours I can certainly do what might cause me consternation were I to believe I had to do it all my life.

Goodness

"Pope John had a long and quite varied life before he was pope. One of his lengthy assignments as a younger man was in Serbia where there were many Orthodox and few Roman Catholics. He so endeared himself to the Serbs by his disarming warmth and friendliness, that when he left for a new assignment after many years there, people came in great numbers to say good-bye. On that occasion he told them, "Anywhere I go in the world, if someone in need passes by my house at night, he will find a lighted lamp in the window. Knock I will not ask if you a Catholic…. Two brotherly arms will embrace you and the warm heart of a friend will make a feast for you." I have always thought of that story as an embodiment of what goodness is."

Archbishop John Quinn
April 1st, 2004
Funeral Homily for Bishop Ken Untener