2-5-08
A friend forwarded me this website: http://www.holyleague.org/index.html --called the Holy League: Catholic Men on Their Knees. This movement is based out of a couple parishes in the Madison Diocese. The story of their founding can be found on the website above. In brief, one of the local bars decided to open a strip club in their small town. The priest and men of the town responded en masse with prayers and what they termed the "Miracle Mile" with the Stations of the Cross—right past the club. Within 6 months the club was shut down. Seeing the fruits of these men activated by their faith—it was deemed fruitful to continue in other efforts. (Side note—they talk as their inspiration the famous Christian Victory at Lepanto— and have a nice write up on the event
The Men of Christ Conference in Milwaukee www.menofchrist.net is expected to draw some 5000 men—our parish as a base currently has 60 men and their sons signed up to go. The Holy League and similar efforts are wonderful resources to follow-up and tap into the enthusiasm sure to be ignited by the Conference.
I was putting my 22 - month old son to bed the other night, telling him stories from the Gospels. Now this is not as easy as it sounds, for certain words are sure to distract him or cause a reaction, i.e. "mom", "food", "water", "eat", etc—and certain to delay the desired goal of sleep.
I don't think I ever realized how nearly every story from the Gospels involves at least one of those things! Needless to say, I was creative in my word choices!
I learned about this "Blessed" in an article Bishop Gomez of San Antonio. He was an auto mechanic known as the "Mago de Coches" or "magician of cars". He gave his life for the faith during the early 1900's when the Mexican government tried to eradicate Catholicism and especially the "Christeros". It's the glory of Christianity and the beauty of the Church's listing of the saints and blessed—demonstrating how holiness is possible in any job and area of life. Read his story below:
Salvador Huerta Gutiérrez was born on 18 March 1880 in Magdalena, Jalisco, Mexico. He worked as a mechanic, and in 1907 he married and had 12 children.
Daily Mass was a priority for him; he was likewise very dedicated to prayer and to his family, and famous in Guadalajara for his expertise as a mechanic.
On 2 April 1927, following the assassination of Alacleto, Salvador went to pay his respects to this beloved "leader". When he returned to his garage, police officers were waiting for him.
They ordered him to come to police headquarters, allegedly to fix the chief's car; he was thus led away and cruelly tortured, even hung by his thumbs. When interrogated about the Cristeros and the whereabouts of Eduardo and José, his two priests-brothers, he said nothing.
Salvador was thrown into jail with his brother Ezequiel, and the next day they were led to their execution. When they arrived at the cemetery, Salvador asked for a lighted candle and held it in front of his chest. He cried out: "Long live Christ the King and Our Lady of Guadalupe! Shoot me so that I will die for God, because I love him".
Yet another reminder that not all are free to practice their Faith—while being inspired by this example:
Chinese Bishop Dies at 79
Spent 20 Years Imprisoned
ROME, JAN. 30, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Bishop Mattia Chen Xilu of Kinghsien, China, died at age 79, after six years in a coma.
L'Osservatore Romano confirmed the Jan. 16 death of the prelate. He had been in a coma due to suffering a cerebral hemorrhage in 2002.
Mattia Chen Xilu was born in 1928. He worked as a doctor after his ordination in a clinic of Jingxian, also spending time to evangelize.
He was eventually condemned to seven years of prison and three years of forced labor. He returned to his birthplace in 1969, but was again condemned to 10 more years of forced labor.
In 1979, the "L'Osservatore Romano reported, Father Chen was permitted to teach English. During this time, he undertook as much as possible his priestly ministry on Saturdays and Sundays, traveling, even as a street vendor if necessary, to reach the faithful and to evangelize villages and families.
He openly resumed his pastoral activity in 1980, given greater religious tolerance. Besides this he continued work in the health care fields, offering his services at the clinic of Jingxian and playing a role in opening a large ophthalmology clinic.
In 1996 he was consecrated coadjutor bishop; he succeeded Bishop Pietro Fan Wen-xing three years later. In 2002, following a stroke, he slipped into a coma. Since then he had not recovered consciousness.
In 2004, the pastoral government of the diocese passed to his coadjutor, Bishop Pietro Feng Xinmao.
This is scary. Don't be surprised when the # of families choosing to homeschool continues to rise.
Court: No Opt-out of Homosexual Indoctrination in Class for Massachusetts Parents
Parents vow to appeal decision all the way to the US Supreme Court
By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman
BOSTON, MA, February 2, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A federal appeals court panel has upheld a Massachusetts policy of indoctrinating elementary school students with pro-homosexual attitudes without their parents consent.
The three judge panel ruled that a lower court decision was correct when it denied parents the right to remove their children from such classes, while admitting that the purpose of the literature to which their children were being exposed was to influence children to "tolerate" gay marriage.
"It is a fair inference that the reading of King and King was precisely intended to influence the listening children toward tolerance of gay marriage," the court admits. "That was the point of why that book was chosen and used."
However, in the appeals court's opinion, this doesn't mean the children were being indoctrinated with anything. "Even assuming there is a continuum along which an intent to influence could become an attempt to indoctrinate, however, this case is firmly on the influence-toward-tolerance end. There is no evidence of systemic indoctrination. There is no allegation that Joey was asked to affirm gay marriage. Requiring a student to read a particular book is generally not coercive of free exercise rights."
The book referred to by the panel, "King and King", depicts a "prince" who isn't interested in a princess, but instead is "in love" with the princess' brother. Their "love" is portrayed in a sympathetic manner, and the two "marry" each other. They are shown kissing on the lips at the end of the book, which was read to second graders in 2006 in Estabrook Elementary School in Lexington, Massachusetts.
Two families complained to the school district, which responded that the school district was not obligated to advise families about such matters, and would not allow parents to opt-out. David Parker and other parents with children in the school district responded by filing a federal civil rights lawsuit. After the suit was dismissed by Federal District Judge Mark L. Wolf in early 2007, the parents appealed. Now, the Federal appeals court has rejected their appeal.
However, the families are determined to press on all the way to the Supreme Court, which is the next step in the appeals process. "We are fully committed to go forward," Jeffrey Denner, lead attorney of the Parker legal team, told the pro-family group Mass Resistance. "We will continue to fight on all fronts that we need to."
"This ruling will surely embolden and enable the schools even more on this if it's not fought," said Parker. "There's going to be an accountability, you can count on it."
Denner told Mass Resistance that he is not discouraged, recalling the St. Patrick's Boston Parade case in the 1990s, in which parade organizers sued to vindicate their right to exclude homosexuals from the event. Although local, state, federal circuit court and appeals court judges ruled against them 17 times, they eventually won their case before the Supreme Court, successfully defending the right of Americans to organize themselves according to their convictions.
Finally—a little humor:
A certain little girl, when asked her name, would reply, "I'm Mr. Rutherford's daughter." Her mother told her this was wrong, she must say, "I'm Jane Rutherford."
The pastor spoke to her as she ran by him after Mass and said, "Aren't you Mr. Rutherford's daughter?"
She replied, "I thought I was, but mother says I'm not."
God bless you! Phil Lawson For the latest info on St. Peter's, check out the parish website: www.saintpetercatholic.com (You can also find old editions of the Areopagus here)
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