Dominican Forum at BSU - April 16, 2016

BLESSED MARGARET OF CASTELLO CHAPTER

of the Lay Fraternities of St. Dominic;

Boise, Idaho

Members of the IDAHO LAY DOMINICANS present

 2016 DOMINICAN FORUM: WHAT IS TRUTH?

 with Dominican Friar,

FR. PETER HANNAH, O.P.

Where:              St. Paul’s Catholic Student Center

            Boise State University,

                                           1905 University Drive, Boise, Idaho

When:               Saturday, April 16, 2016

·         9:00 am, Liturgy of the Hours

·         9:30 am, Mass

·         10:30 am, Forum will last about an hour

Subject:             The Truth of Christ and Truth in the Modern World

 
Fr. Peter Hannah, O.P. 

The affable campus Associate Pastor at St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Newman Center, on the college campus at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, who also loves to play golf (very nearly professional), converted to the Catholic Church from the Presbyterians; where he, in his words, “quickly discerned a vocation to the Dominican Order since they (a) have very sharp-looking habits, (b) like to have fun, and (c) combine a contemplative life of prayer and study with an active life of ministry, teaching, and preaching.” http://opwest.org/ http://stcatherineslc.org/

You are welcome to attend. No R.S.V.P. necessary.

 For more information, please contact: John Keenan, O.P.L.
208.375.2532
john@keenan.org
dominicanidaho.org

 The Motto of the Order of Preachers: “To Bless, to Praise, to Preach” and “Veritas” (Truth).

St Catherine's prayer against invalid consecration

No Catholic should have to wonder if the consecration at Mass was valid. since intent is as important as form and matter, no priest should give rise to questions regarding his intent. Should a priest through his preaching put forth that he does not believe in either the priesthood or the hierarchy are of divine origin, then it follows that he also believes communion is a memorial meal in the protestant sense rather than the sacrifice of Calvary in the Catholic sense. For if Christ did not ordain those first apostles at the last supper, but rather this was the work of the primitive church... Then "this is my body..." really isn't any more than a metaphor.

Here are some of St Catherine's thoughts on the subject of invalid consecration (although in a different context) and a prayer.


CHAPTER CXXVI II.

How pride reigns among these ministers, by which they lose their knowledge; and how, having lost their knowledge, they fall into the sin of seeming to consecrate, while they do not really do so.

“I WILL now speak to thee of the third column—that of pride—which I have placed last, for it is both last and first, for all the vices are flavored with pride, as the virtues all receive life from charity. Pride is born and nourished from sensual self-love, of which I said to thee, that it was the foundation of these three columns, and of all the evils which are committed by creatures, for he who loves himself with disordinate love, is deprived of My love. and not loving Me he offends Me, because he does not observe the commandment of the law, which is to love Me above everything, and one's neighbour as one's self. This is the reason why those who love themselves with a sensual love neither serve nor love Me, but the world; for neither sensual love nor the world have conformity with Me. There being no conformity between Me and the world, it must needs be that he who loves and serves the world with sensual love, should hate Me; while he who loves Me truly hates the world. For this reason My Truth said : ‘No one can serve two masters, for if he serve the one, he will not content the other.’ See then how self-love deprives the soul of My love, and clothes it with the vice of pride, whence through the principle of self-love is borne every kind of sin. I grieve over this in all My rational creatures, but particularly in My anointed ones, who ought to be humble, not only because every one should possess the virtue of humility, which nourishes charity, but also because they have become the ministers of the humble and immaculate Lamb, My only-begotten Son. Are they not ashamed, and for that matter should not the whole human race be ashamed, when they see Me, God, humbled to man, giving you the Word, My Son, in your own flesh? They see My Word eagerly humbling Himself to the shameful an extent that they sometimes fall into a sin of which I will speak to thee. Some of them are such incarnate devils 'that they often appear to consecrate, when they do not in reality, through fear of My judgment, and to free themselves from any bridle and fear of sin. Such a man rises in the morning from impurity, having passed the preceding evening in disordinate banqueting, he is obliged to satisfy the people, and considering his own iniquities, sees that he cannot celebrate with a good conscience ; wherefore he fears My judgment, not through hatred of vice, but through self-love. See, dearest daughter, how blind he is; he does not have recourse to contrition, with hatred of sin and a firm purpose of amendment ; he takes the alternative remedy of not consecrating. And the blind man does not see that his error and sin is greater than before, for he makes the congregation commit idolatry, causing them to adore an unconsecrated host, as if it were the body and blood of Christ, My only ‘begotten Son, wholly God and wholly man. No; the Host is indeed this when it is consecrated, but otherwise it is only bread.

“ See, now, how great is this abomination, and how great the patience with which I endure it. But if they do not correct themselves, every grace of their state will turn to their perdition. What should the congregation do in order not to fall into such a snare? They should pray under condition in this wise:

‘If this minister has said that which he ought to say, I truly believe that Thou art Christ the Son of the living God, given to me as food by the fire of Thine inestimable charity; and in memory of Thy most sweet passion, and the great benefit of the blood which Thou didst shed with such fire of love to wash away our iniquities.’

By this means the blindness of the priest will not bring them into darkness, causing them to adore one thing for another, the guilt will attach to the miserable minister alone, the congregation will only commit a material mistake.


**By the way, this is from the 1896 edition of Algar Thorold's translation of The Dialogue. The TAN book reprint is from a highly abridged version, so get the whole thing from Google Books!

Feast of the Nativity of Mary - taking the cloak off the prayer?

In a few days we will observe the Feast of the Nativity of Mary. In searching the internet for a prayer for the occasion, we found a nice one:

Vouchsafe that I may praise thee, O sacred Virgin; 
give me strength against thine enemies, 
and against the enemy of the whole human race. 
Give me strength humbly to pray to thee. 
Give me strength to praise thee in prayer with all my powers, 
through the merits of thy most sacred nativity, 
which for the entire Christian world was a birth of joy, 
the hope and solace of its life. 

When thou wast born, 
O most holy Virgin, 
then was the world made light. 

Happy is thy stock, holy thy root, 
and blessed thy fruit, 
for thou alone as a virgin, 
filled with the Holy Spirit, 
didst merit to conceive thy God, 
as a virgin to bear Thy God, 
as a virgin to bring Him forth, 
and after His birth to remain a virgin. 

Have mercy therefore upon me a sinner, 
and give me aid, O Lady, 
so that just as thy nativity, 
glorious from the seed of Abraham, 
sprung from the tribe of Juda, 
illustrious from the stock of David, 
didst announce joy to the entire world, 
so may it fill me with true joy 
and cleanse me from every sin. 

Pray for me, O Virgin most prudent, 
that the gladsome joys of thy most helpful nativity 
may put a cloak over all my sins. 

O holy Mother of God, 
flowering as the lily, 
pray to thy sweet Son for me, 
a wretched sinner.

Amen. 

This prayer is on a number of sites, Catholic and non-Catholic, either unattributed or attributed to either St Anselm of Canterbury or St Ambrose. Catholic sites range from Fisheaters to Communion and Liberation.

The opening line, "Vouchsafe that I may praise thee, O Sacred Virgin" is the first line from the Ave Regina Caelorum but not the rest of it. A cursory internet search does not find this prayer (or any portion of it) in the works of Anselm or Ambrose.

In point of fact, I don't find this prayer prior to 2010.

So why was I looking? Well, it is because this prayer contains a phrase which caused my proddy-sense to tingle; that phrase is "put a cloak over all my sins." - say what? does that not seem more appropriate for Martin Luther? This prayer also shows up primarily off the mainstream Catholic path.

Given that I failed to find any connection of this prayer with the purported source(s) or even anything of antiquity, I began to wonder if this prayer is akin to the so-called "Prayer of St Francis" - you know, the Make me a channel of your peace one that is so popular and usually attributed to St Frances even though it was first written during World War I. St Francis; not only the stigmata, but time travel! He's so cool.

Anyway, I did think of another search; instead of starting with this prayer and looking back, why not look back and see what was the prayer for the Nativity of Mary.

Bingo!

The Raccolta, replaced in 1968 by the Enchridion Indulgentiarum, contained the prayers that carry indulgences - remember indulgences? The remission of the temporal punishment for sin that has been already forgiven? uh-huh, of course.

Well, it turns out there is (oops) were a number of indulgenced prayers for Marian feasts (including her Nativity). This one is just a little different than what appears above.

Has a cloak over tradition been surreptitiously introduced? If anyone can point to a source in Anselm or Ambrose or otherwise in tradition for the first prayer, I'll put my suspicions to rest.

For now, here's a sweet one, formerly indulgenced, for not only the Marian feasts, but for all days:

Heart of Mary, Mother of God, our Mother, Heart most amiable, on which the Adorable Trinity ever looks with complacency, worthy of all the veneration and tenderness of angels and of men; Heart most like the Heart of Jesus, whose most perfect image thou art; heart full of goodness, ever compassionate towards our miseries, - vouchsafe to thaw our icy hearts, that they may be changed entirely to the likeness of the heart of Jesus. Infuse into them the love of thy virtues, inflame them with that blessed fire with which thou dost ever burn. In thee let the Holy Church find safe shelter; protect it, and be its sweet asylum, its tower of strength, impregnable against every inroad of its enemies. Be thou the road leading to Jesus; be thou the channel whereby we receive all graces needful for our salvation. Be thou our help in need, our comfort in trouble, our strength in temptation, our refuge in persecution, our aid in all dangers; but especially in the last struggle of our life, at the moment of our death, when all hell will be unchained against us to snatch away our souls, -  in that dread moment, that hour so terrible, whereon our eternity depends, and, yes, most tender Virgin, do thou then make us feel how great is the sweetness of thy motherly Heart, and the strength of thy power with the Heart of Jesus, by opening for us a safe refuge in the very fount of mercy itself, whereby we too may one day join with thee in Paradise in praising that same Heart of Jesus for ever and for ever. Amen.

#1) Absolution for Abortion; #2) SSPX valid confession; #3) got overlooked...

Recently the Holy Father announced that during the year of mercy all priests would be granted the faculty of absolving the sin of abortion, and priests of the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) would be granted the faculty to hear confession, rendering confession to these priests valid. (Link)

These two items have grabbed the spotlight, and there is some interesting commentary out there on the subject; I found Ed Peter’s (In the Light of the Law) article most informative on the abortion faculty, and I certainly learned from that. The second concession seems sad in that most bishops haven’t already done this, and I applaud the Holy Father for doing the obvious.

But the Holy Father did something else which seems to have fallen through the media cracks, but which is actually rather huge and represents an opening of rather grand proportions. He spoke of the Jubilee indulgence; remember those? The remission of the punishment due for sins already forgiven? Yes, move over Martin Luther’s children, we still have Indulgences.

Well, speaking of how those who are sick, infirm, or otherwise homebound could participate in the spiritual benefits of the Year of Mercy, he said by ...

...attending Holy Mass and community prayer, even through the various means of communication, will be for them the means of obtaining the Jubilee Indulgence.

The Church has answered in the negative to the question of the sacrament of reconciliation over the telephone or other electronic means. This is different, it appears that now it will be possible to use electronic media to obtain an indulgence, in this case, the Jubilee Indulgence.

So in both the cases which have received the media attention, something irregular is regularized for the good of those involved. For this I give thanks. But in the case of using electronic media to obtain an indulgence, something truly new and broadening has been proposed, and that wide opening of the treasury of the Graces of the Church is a mark of generous mercy that puts me on my knees in gratitude.

11th annual Mary Magdalene Retreat in July

The Blessed Margaret of Castello Chapter of the Third Order of St Dominic is pleased to announce that Fr Vincent Kelber OP will be retreat master for the 11th annual Mary Magdalene Retreat at Chapter House in Homedale. The retreat will start Friday evening and conclude on Sunday mid-day. Mass in the Dominican Rite will be offered each day. Further details will be posted as the schedule firms up.


Guests are invited to attend the retreat, or just the Masses. The Mass (tentative) schedule is:

7PM Friday, low Mass (followed by dinner)
5PM Saturday, low Mass (followed by dinner)
11AM Sunday, Missa Cantata (followed by lunch)

for directions, click  Map to Chapter House on the sidebar.


**NOTE: If you are interested in the Traditional Latin Mass, and would like to help, participate, or to stay informed on activities, please visit the Dominican Rite Council page, and sign up. Support Liturgical Diversity!

 



***Breaking! Fr Gabriel Mosher OP will be here for the retreat!! Fr Gabriel was ordained this year and this is a wonderful blessing for us. We will miss Fr Kelber, but warmly welcome Fr Mosher!

Idaho Dominicans form group to promote the Traditional Mass in the Dominican Rite

The Blessed Margaret of Castello Chapter has established the Dominican Rite Council, the mission of which is:

To promote traditional Catholic worship, with an emphasis on the Dominican Rite of the Mass.

Participation is open to anyone interested in promoting the Traditional Mass. Please visit the Dominican Rite Council page and sign up.

Is the Church seen as "unbearably preachy, merciless and pettily puritanical"?

The extract that follows is a rather interesting observation; it is from:

The Liturgy as a Window to another World
Martin Mosebach
(Address Given at Holy Innocents Parish, New York, May 12, 2015)

The rejection of the traditional liturgy has certainly unexpectedly resulted in one particular problem for the contemporary Church. To outsiders, including many Catholics, the Catholic Church today is mainly embodied in the morality it teaches and demands of its faithful, which, manifest in prohibitions and commandments, are contrary to the beliefs of the secular world. In a church centered mainly on the immediate liturgical encounter with God, these moral demands were related not only to life choices, but were specifically conceived as preparation for full participation in the liturgy.

It was the liturgy that specified the goal of morality. The question was: what must I do to attain full communion with the Eucharistic Christ in the liturgy? What makes me only able to observe this Christ from a distance? That which is morally forbidden appeared not simply as the incarnation of evil, but as something to be avoided for the sake of a specific objective. And when the commandment that excludes us from communion was transgressed, the sacrament of confession stood ready to heal the damage and prepare us for communion. Surprisingly, it turned out that the Catholic Church of the past, which focused on the liturgy, seemed scandalously morally lax to outsiders, while to contemporaries and not only the unchurched, the present Church seems unbearably preachy, merciless and pettily puritanical.

The rest of the article can be found here.
The article is long, but well worth reading.

The Colloquium is coming!

Change of venue

After due consideration and a vote by the chapter, we have moved the location of our meetings to St Mark Catholic Church in Boise.  The time and format remain the same.


The Chapter wishes to extend all thanks and gratitude for the welcome and support from Our Lady of the Valley. In particular, Fr  Flores for his tireless support and encouragement, and for the list of wonderful parochial vicars who have also given us such wonderful support; Fr Arnold Miller, Fr Adrian Vasquez, Fr Eladio Vieyra.Fr Carlos Camargo.


To Fr Ben Uhlenkott and Fr Bruno Mgaya at St Mark we offer our thanks for being welcomed, and to our new Bishop Peter Christensen and all the faithful priest of our diocese, we also extend our thanks!

The Whimsical President.

The safeguard of human liberty requires a constitutional process grounded on the Rule of Law.  It is a fundamental process engaged against those who would grasp at power by imposing their will by fiat--ignoring the Constitution and its processes as set up by the Founding Fathers.  

This due process protects the rights of all citizens, including the Church, against the whims of government and the tyranny of one or a few.  It is called the rule of law.

The executive order contemplated by the President today, Thursday, November 20, 2014, is far-reaching and it is meant to impact an entire population of illegal immigrants by the sweep of the President's pen.   This executive order is not meant to clarify an existing law or otherwise administer existing law according to the President's executive philosophy.  The breadth and width of this executive order and its impact is staggering: meant to impact as many as five million illegal immigrants.

The President's whim to impose his will to the point of legislating public policy and law of the United States by executive order is constitutionally, politically, and morally wrong. 

Further, his uncompromising attitude, not to give the new majority in the U.S. Senate and House the opportunity to work with him reveals a terrifying arrogance and frightening chasm between what is right and good and what is disordered and wrong.   I am praying for our President and for wisdom.

Novus africanus

I've been thinking about Cardinal Kasper's recent comments about the African bishops at the Synod.

How modern we have become, when we can exclude a continent, no longer for the race of the bishops, but rather for their strong and vibrant Catholic faith in word and practice! So the dominant culture once said that we should marginalize a group of people based on race...

...and now marginalization has a new face; the back of the bus is reserved for those whose faith is that of the ages with all the saints, rather than that of the moment with the culture.

So it seems a good time to embrace the back of the bus, and like those freedom marchers of the 60s, in a statement of solidarity with the new marginalization, declare myself to be novus africanus!

To those who support traditional marriage, today's novus africanus, well, some things don't seem to change.


Only one sin is nowadays severely punished: the attentive observance of the traditions of our Fathers. For that reason the good ones are thrown out of their places and brought to the desert.
- Saint Basil the Great

Dr Feser at DSPT!

God indeed is my savior, I am confident and unafraid. (Is 12:2)

On December 7, 1942, in a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor which resulted in the death of over 3000 Americans, the nation of Japan opened a war with the United States which ended on August 15^th, 1945. On September 11, 2001, the Islamic group al-Qaeda attacked New York City and Washington DC, resulting in nearly 3000 deaths. The attack on Pearl occurred the day before the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, and that war ended definitively on the Solemnity of the Assumption.  The 911 attack occurred on the day before the feast of the Most Holy Name of Mary.

In the first instance, our nation was attacked by another nation; in the second instance, by a terrorist group. In both cases, the core principles of our nation were attacked by ideologies which are diametrically opposed.  In both cases, Providence provided a reminder that we have access to Divine assistance. Pray the Rosary for peace!

Remember Oh Most Gracious, Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to Thy protection, implored thy help or sought Thy intercession was left unaided. Inspired by this confidence I fly unto Thee, Oh Virgin of Virgins, my Mother! To the do I come, before you I cry, sinful and sorrowful. Oh Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions but in Thy Mercy hear and answer me. Amen

Statue of Bl Margaret - making progress!

Last week some of the chapter council members went to see the final version of the life size statue model before the mold is made for casting.
 

The artist, Michael Dente, has really gotten into his work!

Here's a bit of a close-up...

Br Peter's invitation: Ordination is coming!!

Dear Friends and Family,   I would be delighted for you to join me in my ordination to the priesthood in San Francisco this May 31. If you are coming from a long distance, we have limited accommodations at St. Albert's Priory. Please contact me (pjohannahop at gmail dot com) and I can inform you of possible space. There will be a light reception following the ceremony at St. Dominic's, and then a luncheon on the back lawn of St. Albert's Priory beginning at 2pm. In addition to the mass attendance RSVP (on the main invite), please let me know by e-mail or phone if you intend to join us for the 2pm reception. I am truly indebted to all of you for your support and prayers through the years. In this vein, it is a tradition for newly ordained Catholic priests to offer "masses of thanksgiving" at places that have spiritually formed them. Below is my current list of such masses/celebrations. You are invited to attend, according to desire (and geography!), any of them:  St. Albert's Priory, Oakland, CA June 1st, 9:30a 7th Sunday Easter  Carmel Mission Basilica, Carmel, CA June 7th, 5:30p Vigil of Pentecost  1st Presbyterian Church, Monterey, CA June 8th, 9a & 10:30a Pentecost                                 ("Thanksgiving Sermon")  Santa Catalina Chapel, Monterey, CA June 10th, 10a (Weekday Mass)  Holy Family Cathedral, Anchorage, AK June 15th, Holy Trinity Sunday                9:30a (English)                4:00p (Dominican Rite Missa Cantata)  St. Mary's Parish, Annapolis, MD June 19th, 8a (Weekday Mass)  Corpus Christi Monastery, Menlo Park, CA June 29th, 8a Solemnity of Sts. Peter & Paul

Chapter puts up new cross on Good Friday

On Good Friday, Mr Paul O'Leary OP brought out a team of volunteers to erect the steel cross which had been built for us.  The cross stands 12' above ground and is constructed from square box steel. It should stand much longer than our previous wooden crosses, which seemed to last about 2-3 years each.  This one was anchored with about a half ton of cement.

 

The day was gorgeous, the very earth bursting forth with new life in anticipation of our Lord's resurrection!

The cross against the skyline... a view we should see for many years to come!

 

 

Many thanks to Stephanie DeNinno for arranging for the cross to be built, and to Paul O'Leary who arranged for its delivery and installation!

Next item: The Bl. Margaret of Castello life-size statue is taking shape under the careful hands of sculptor Michael Dente.  Michael has a long history of sculpting for the Western Dominican Province; notably the statue of St Dominic which is at the Dominican Cemetery in Benicia, California.  It is fitting that Little Margaret will be here in our little Dominican cemetery in Idaho!

David Adler's Idaho Statesman Piece on the Hobby Lobby case.

Check here for David Adler's questionable piece on the Hobby Lobby case:

David Adler: Women's rights at stake in Hobby Lobby case. 

Here is my response:

JOHN C. KEENAN, J.D., O.P.L.

Thursday, March 27, 2014

Mr. David Adler

Director

Andrus Center for Public Policy

Boise State University

1910 University Drive, MS1140

Boise, Idaho 83725-11140 

            Re:  Your Editorial, 03.27,2014, Idaho Statesman. 

 

Dear Mr. Adler: 

            Rarely do I find your opinion articles objectionable.  I may not agree with you in every case, but I do not find them objectionable. The referenced editorial flies in the face of good sense.

            The Hobby Lobby case was not an affront to the rights of women.  Your editorial politicizes the issue and read like a music sheet for the proverbial Planned Parenthood choir.  It falls short.

            Prior to March 23, 2010, the issue of contraception was a personal choice of men and women and a personal choice of employers to provide contraception insurance benefits.  Then, in accord with the President’s philosophy, the legislation was signed into law and used the force of government to convert these traditional choices upon the American people.  The law itself hid the agenda under the title of “preventive” medicine and turned it over to the Institute of Medicine to expand the definition of “preventive” medicine beyond its historical meaning and its application to pregnancy.  Returned to the U.S. HHS, the Secretary dutifully promulgated rules forcing employers to provide the contraception benefits.  The bait got magically switched. 

            Two points: (1) you are wrong: not all, but some of the contraception used are abortifacients and, by definition, rid the womb of an embryo; and (2) you are wrong about “religious liberty.”  The rights of conscience are at the heart of the case, a liberty so well grounded in natural rights that the American history and jurisprudence universally testifies to it—compared to what you call women’s rights granted by government and forced on employers barely four years ago.

            This issue is more about people than the corporations they inhabit and more about human dignity than forcing employers to pay for morally-objectionable benefits. 

Sincerely, 

John C. Keenan

From a dusty corner of the old noodle...

To be just, judge the Catholic religion on its effects on the man who has followed it, not the man who is impervious to it.

Day of Reflection with Fr Vincent Serpa OP

THE BLESSED MARGARET OF CASTELLO CHAPTER

OF THE IDAHO LAY DOMINICANS

BOISE, IDAHO

 

WELCOMES

FR. VINCENT SERPA, O.P.

DOMINICAN FRIAR, from

CATHOLIC ANSWERS

AS HEARD ON 1140 KGEM, CATHOLIC RADIO AND EWTN, ON

“OBEDIENT FAITH”

Romans 1: 5 & Romans 16:26

DATE:   Saturday, March 29, 2014
TIME:     9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.--With morning and afternoon sessions.
PLACE:  St. Mark’s Catholic Church
                7960 West Northview Street, Boise, Idaho.
LUNCH:  Lunch on your own; however, a no host lunch, will be served at

                12:00 noon at St. Mark’s, ($8.50 per person), if you want lunch

                 please R.S.V.P. in advance at the sign-up sheet at St. Mark’s or

                 call 375.2532 (RSVP message), or email chapter@dominicanidaho.org. 

                 Please give your name and the number of people who will attend the lunch. 
INFO:      John C. Keenan, O.P.L.
                208.375.2532 or 208.867.6327
                chapter@dominicanidaho.org or john@keenan.org

No, I've seen them praying to Idols!

No matter how many times a Catholic explains special devotions to those not familiar with nor friendly to the fullness of the faith, there comes back, again and again, a denial of truth vouchsafed by "I've seen them, on their knees, praying to their idol of Mary!"

Yes, my darkened brother, you have seen people on their knees; Is it not amazing how you know the secrets of their heart? Well, "Stop judging by appearances, but judge justly" (Jn 7-24).

For if the charge of idol worship could be so lightly laid and be true, what am I to think when I see you praying on your knees before your bed at night?

Should I assume, since you are kneeling before your bed, that you are worshiping and praying to your bed, and in spite of your protestations, reply "No, you worship idols; I have seen you on your knees praying to your bed!"

It would be nice if we'd have a little more smarts and charity than the glorified monkeys that the fans of Darwin would have us be...

 



Upcoming regional rertreat - Northwest Lay Dominican Chapters

The flyer for the retreat may be downloaded here

Fun in the Son

41st March for Life, Boise...

(Photo from Rick Hogaboam)



Fr Philip Neri Powell OP's photo of the folks from the Archdiocese of New Orleans who went to Washington DC for the national March for Life (Link)

Petition to defend the status of the Holy See at the UN

Forwarded email from Fr Speekman in Australia...


Subject: Petition to defend Vatican at United Nations

Good morning everyone,

I encourage you to read this petition and then sign it.
Check out this site http://defendtheholysee.org. Help defend the Holy
See at the UN!

Yours faithfully,

Michael Palma


A few months ago the group “Catholics for Choice” launched a global
campaign to have the Holy See thrown out of the General Assembly.

The Holy See is the conscience of the UN as it is the only delegation
that does not have political considerations in how they negotiate. The
Holy See is a constant defender of life, faith and family at the UN.
Governments look to the Holy See for leadership on these issues. If for
any reason the Holy See is silent on an issue, others governments may
not speak.

From time to time it becomes necessary for everyday people to show
their support for the Holy See at the United Nations. That is why C-FAM
is calling all individuals and organizations of good will to sign the
Declaration in Support of the Holy See. Drafted by Professor Robert
George of Princeton and William Saunders of Americans United For Life,
the Declaration first gathered more than 4,000 group signatures more
than a decade ago when these campaigns first began.

The signers of the Declaration included the largest Protestant and even
the largest Muslim groups in the world. The document is for all men and
women of goodwill who understand the vital role the Holy See plays at
the UN. For the very first time, it has been opened for individuals to
sign.

C-FAM will present the signatories to the Holy See in New York, Geneva
and Rome sometime at the end of this year. The signatories will also be
presented to the UN. It is important to let “Catholics for Choice” know
that we are far stronger than they are, and all those who want to
impose child-killing on the world.

We are urged to read the Declaration in Support of the Holy See at
www.defendtheholysee.org and sign it. We are also requested to campaign
to get people and groups in our city and country to sign.