6-12-07
Greetings!
This Sunday is Father's Day. It has rightly been said that one of the greatest crisis in the modern world, is the crisis of fatherhood. We've come a long way from the 1950's when fatherhood was exalted and respected----see "Father Knows Best" "My Three Sons" even Ward Cleaver of "Leave it to Beaver."
I don't remember the last time I saw a TV dad who wasn't portrayed as a bumbling idiot today. Having grown up in the City of Milwaukee---studies would frequently point to fatherless homes as one of the root causes of violence among youth.
Reclaiming that role of fathers both within their families and in the wider world is of utter importance. And not just biological fathers…all men are called to play that role in whatever situation God places you. There are many, many, many young people, especially boys, desperate for a male role model.
Here is a beautiful prayer for fathers via Pope John XXIII.
A Prayer for Fathers
St. Joseph, guardian of Jesus and chaste husband of Mary, you passed your life in loving fulfillment of duty.
You supported the holy family of Nazareth with the work of your hands.
Kindly protect those who trustingly come to you.
You know their aspirations, their hardships, their hopes.
They look to you because they know you will understand and protect them.
You too knew trial, labor and weariness.
But amid the worries of material life your soul was full of deep peace and sang out in true joy through intimacy with God's Son entrusted to you and with Mary, His tender Mother.
Assure those you protect that they do not labor alone.
Teach them to find Jesus near them and to watch over Him faithfully as you have done.
-Pope John XXIII
Phil's Tidbits:
As members of the Church, the Body of Christ, we all are called to mourn, whenever a part of the body suffers. May they rest in Peace—and may Peace come to Iraq.
Priest and 3 Deacons Slain in Mosul
MOSUL, Iraq, JUNE 3, 2007 (
Zenit.org).- A Chaldean priest and three deacons were shot and killed after Sunday Mass in front of the Church of the Holy Spirit in Mosul.
AsiaNews.it identified the priest as Father Ragheed Ganni, 34, the pastor of Holy Spirit, located in the Nur district of the northern Iraqi city.
The news agency reported that attempts on Father Ragheed's life have been made before, and that the Church of the Holy Spirit had been attacked and bombed in previous years, and again a few months ago.
ZE07060314
There is still so much we don't know about coma's and what is commonly called a "persistent vegetative state." If this man had been Terri Schiavo, he would've been dead by now. Thank God for his wife's efforts in his care!
Polish Man Wakes from 19-Year "Coma", Talks and Expected to Walk Soon
Wife "would fly into a rage every time someone would say that people like him should be euthanized"
By Hilary White
DZIALDOWO, Poland, June 4, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A Polish railway worker has astonished his doctors by waking spontaneously after 19 years and talking about memories of his time in a "coma", the Associated Press (AP) reported yesterday. Jan Grzewski was injured at work and while he was hospitalized, his doctors found cancer in his brain and predicted he would not recover.
After his doctors concluded nothing more could be done for him, Mr. Grzewski's wife, Gertruda, cared for him at home, moving his body and feeding him by hand. "I would fly into a rage every time someone would say that people like him should be euthanized, so they don't suffer," she told Gazeta. "I believed Janek (an affectionate nickname) would recover, AP reported."
After regaining his ability to speak, Mr. Grzewski told his relatives that he has memories of family gatherings while he was supposedly 'comatose,' at which they spoke to him, trying to elicit a response. Mrs. Grzewska, her husband's doctor said, did the work of an entire intensive care team, turning him every hour to prevent bed sore infections.
"I cried a lot, and prayed a lot," she said. "Those who came to see us kept asking, 'When is he going to die?' But he's not dead."
Grzewski's prognosis is positive and his doctors expect him to be able to walk soon. "At the start, his speech was very unclear, now it is improving daily," Pstragowski said.
I love this article. A couple, not married, wanted to legally adopt a child—presumable their own. The law says you have to be married. (Nevermind that a married set of parents is always in the best interest of the child). The couple sued---saying their rights were denied. The judge had a simple suggestion to solve their problem…"get married."
No Right to Adopt for Co-Habiting Northern Irish Couple
Judge suggests marriage as solution to the couple's problem
by Hilary White
BELFAST, June 4, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – An unmarried couple has been denied an appeal to allow the woman's live-in male partner to adopt her child. The child, a ten-year old girl who has been identified in the press only as "P", was born after the woman's partner, called "Y", had lived with her for some months.
The BBC reports that Lord Chief Justice Brian Kerr ruled this relationship did not constitute grounds for the man to adopt the child as his own daughter. Under Northern Irish law unmarried couples may not adopt children and the court rejected the couple's claim that the ban "discriminated" against them.
Kerr suggested marriage as a solution to the couple's problem.
The Philadelphia city council must have a lot of free time on its hands. Just yesterday they passed a resolution on a 9-8 vote to declare Philadelphia as a "Pro-Choice" city—meaning supportive of abortion. Sad.
The Boy Scouts are universally recognized for helping form boys into solid and productive citizens. Yet, having run afoul of politically correct orthodoxy are now being pushed out. In an era when so many boys lack good male role models, Philadelphia is working against a wonderful source of them.
Philly City Council Ends 79-Year Boy Scout Lease Over Refusal to Accept Homosexual Leaders
By Gudrun Schultz
PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania, June 1, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Philadelphia City Council voted yesterday to end a nearly 80-year-old lease held by the Boy Scouts local branch over the group's adherence to a national policy banning actively homosexual leaders.
The ongoing dispute pitted the Scouts' Cradle of Liberty Council against homosexual activists over the organization's refusal to adopt an official policy welcoming homosexuals into leadership. The City, under pressure by activist groups, wants the Scouts to either alter the organization's policy or start paying market rent for the use of the historical Beaux Arts building, where the Scout headquarters has been housed since 1928 for a nominal rent.
The resolution permitting the city to end the lease was introduced unexpectedly, according to coverage by the Philadelphia Inquirer, and passed 16-1 with no debate. City councilors stated their hope that the resolution would generate leverage for the city by and open the door to talks resolving the dispute.
Homosexual activist organization Equality Advocates Pennsylvania pushed the city to act on the scout's lease, the Inquirer reported. Executive director Stacey Sobel said yesterday that the Boy Scouts should not be able to use taxpayers' dollars to discriminate against homosexuals.
Scouts take an oath of duty to God as part of their membership, and actively homosexual individuals are not permitted as leaders. Although the Supreme Court ruled in 2000 that as a private organization, scouts could restrict homosexuals from leadership, scout groups have faced opposition from local officials revoking privileges where they have refused to alter policy based on the demands of homosexual activists.
The American Family Association of Pennsylvania said the city was caving to the pressure of homosexual activists, in a press release earlier today.
"With an alarming number of children facing violent deaths on the streets of
Philadelphia, the city's answer is to target one of the few organizations that offer purpose and meaning to these children. Of the 64,000 members the Cradle of Liberty Scout Council serves, 40,000 are in Philadelphia alone," said Diane Gramley, president of the AFA.
"The Scouts' policy banning open homosexual leaders is the right policy. Would the parents of Girl Scouts want a man to be their daughter's Scout leader? No and neither do parents want a man who is sexually attracted to other males to be Boy Scout leaders. Common sense should prevail here, but it's not."
"Efforts to appease never work. Homosexual activists want a pro-gay policy expressly stating that the Cradle of Liberty Scout Council will accept open homosexuals. They are not concerned with the well-being of the children of
Philadelphia and surrounding counties, but instead choose to use them in an effort to make an example out of the Boy Scouts," Gramley said.
Magdalen College is one of the few beacons among Catholic institutions of higher education. It's exciting to see them opening a second location in Central Wisconsin. For many years they have been running a successful summer camp in New Hampshire for high school students. With the second location, they are offering the program in Wisconsin this summer. Highly recommended! In addition, the potential of having a good Catholic college in the area is a very happy development!
NEW! SUMMER YOUTH PROGRAM AT DURWARD'S GLEN in BARABOO, WI
July 29-August 11
If you have any questions, or would like a new SYP brochure, please contact us by phone at 1-877-498-1723 (toll-free), or by email at admissions@magdalen.edu . We also invite you to refer interested youth to our website, www.magdalen.edu/admissions/summeryouth.asp
You might be a hardcore Catholic if….
-your mom always makes sure to celebrate your feast day
-altar serving was the cool thing to do
-You associate the smell of incense with major feast days
-You attend multiple retreats per year
-you point at your friends in line for confession calling them sinners and everyone laughs as you get to the end of line
-Your teachers grade you down when you write papers about moral issues and papers involving God
-you've ever referred to yourself and your significant other as "a couple discerning a vocation to marriage"
-You and your many siblings went trick-or-treating dressed as popes and martyrs
-you feel compelled to make the sign of the cross after reciting ANYTHING... (happens to me after the pledge of allegiance almost every morning!) and then you catch yourself and have to remind yourself that it wasn't a prayer
-If you have a priest come bless your house with holy water before you move in.
-You never eat before church, and brunch afterwards is always the best!
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)
The Areopagus is a regular email for adults that includes various reflections, tidbits, news and events. Hope you find it fruitful!
If you would like to be added to this list, send an email to lawsphil@gmail.com
On the other hand, if you would like to be removed, send an email to the same address indicating that.