Merry Christmas

May everyone have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

       We try to remember Christmas through
 the 12 days of Christmas and beyond. At least until Epiphany. I heard someone the other day on EWTN say we should remember Christmas until the Feast of the Baptism, so I hope you haven't stopped celebrating the birth of our Lord yet but continue to enjoy the season.







Just a little note, we celebrated Christmas Eve this year at midnight mass. It was beautiful. Half hour of beautiful carols, followed by a beautiful mass with the incense, the altar servers, 3 priests and a deacon and of course Our Lord in the Eucharist.  It was awesome. At the end of mass, the parish turned out the lights, leaving only the Christmas tree lights and we all sang Silent Night. I loved it.

I love being Catholic. It is a challenge and not always easy in this culture but I know God is my help and it is His Church.

Advent Wreath

 Happy first week of Advent.

I had been wanting to do my advent wreath different for the last couple of years. Part of the reason was that the taper candles never stay standing up straight. Strange but that always bothered me, so I bought these thicker, shorter candles and used a pine wreath. Then added the burlap tie and placed it all in a vintage pie tin. For aroma, I added cinnamon berries, so not only does it look festive for Advent but smells great too. I think it turned out pretty good. There are different ways to do an Advent wreath and you can make it fun or to your own taste. I usually set up my Advent wreath along with Christmas decorations. I try to stay away from the commercialism of the season and focus on the purpose of Advent and Christmas; waiting for his coming and celebrating his coming. The tree will go up in a couple of days but I have put out a few other decorations. I put out my crèche without Jesus. He will show up Christmas Eve. I try to just take it slow enjoying the season.

Have a blessed day.

Advent

y.

It is the first week of Advent. We just got back in town and I will be putting my Advent wreath up tomorrow, so hopefully will be posting it on here for you all to see. I am trying to live a simpler and a more country life and hopefully can create something a little more simple this year. It is a long story which I may tell sometime on here but we had a fire this summer, with a lot of smoke damage and have come to realize I had a lot of stuff that needed taken out and cleaned and I did not want to put it all back in the house, so I have done a lot of decluttering and looking more to simpler ways, so we'll see what it looks like tomorrow. See you and have a blessed Jesus and Mary day.

Catholic Mom's Cafe: Seriously - who enjoys doing the laundry?

Catholic Mom's Cafe: Seriously - who enjoys doing the laundry?: In my Laundry Room As I carefully fold my sheets, Smoothing out the wrinkles,                                            ...

Pleasant Family Meal Times

I think my family would get a little laugh at this video. It is outdated and seems kind of hard to reach when first watching but I think that maybe looking at it as ideals to aim for might be a good idea. There is nothing in this that isn't said in scripture:  " Love one another, or Better is a dinner of herbs, where love is, than a stalled ox and hatred therewith, or A gentle tongue is a tree of life; but perverseness therein is a breaking of the spirit."

How many times do we hear someone say, "have at least one meal together a week as a family."?  A lot. That is what I get out of this video. Ideas that say, share the family meal, make it special, share your day and ideas and show love and compassion to one another and keep the meal from being a place of strife and rush.

Well, anyhow, I see this as  a video with guidance for meal times. This video dates back to the 1950's, which shows even then people were needed to be reminded what the family meal should be.

Planned Parenthood does not provide mammograms

Need to watch the video.

http://youtu.be/uIBHID10Ntg

Our Sunday Visitor posts in 2011, still true today.

When Catholicism was respected in U.S. culture

Believe it or not, there was a time when the media identified the faith with core American principles

By Robert P. Lockwood - OSV Newsweekly, 1/16/2011

Growing up in Yonkers, N.Y., in the 1950s, I assumed that most everyone in the world was Catholic. There were Jewish kids peppered here and there, but we just didn’t meet that many Protestants.

Read more here

It is not the 1950's. What?

Why does it seem as if when moral issues are brought up someone, somewhere makes the comment, "It is not the 1950's" or "Get out of your 1950's mindset."? What is up with this? What is it about the 1950's that bothers people of today? I mean it isn't like there wasn't sin then, or babies weren't being born out of wedlock or divorce or racism or theft or murder didn't exist, because they did.  People sinned then, also.

So, what is it about the 1950's that bothers people. Is it the way they perceive it or is it because we are looking at it with 1960's and beyond shades?

So, looking at that time and prior to the 1950's, family was valued.  Families enjoyed meals together. They would discuss life and morals during family meals. They fellowshipped with each other at that time and since they didn't go out to eat as much I would imagine they ate healthier.

Morals and family values then, we see, were held at a higher level. There is a definite attack on family today.  In the 1950's the divorce rate was at 15%. Was that because everything was good and great in a family. No. People still sinned and argued and even had children out of wedlock, so why was the divorce rate lower. Perhaps at that time people took the idea of a covenant much higher dthan they do today.  Vows were made. Promises to be kept, through it all and in the end they could say they made it. They fought the good fight and they grew in love of each other. Unconditional love. Today, our divorce rate is 50%, thanks to no-fault divorce.  I certainly don't want to throw any stones at anyone and I am in constant prayer over my own family because this statistic can be frightening. I love my family and want it to last. I love seeing the little old man and woman who say their marriage lasted many years and they are still together.  They are my heroes.

So, do people like to attack this time period because of the divorce rate of today and it is a reminder to them of their own divorce and a feeling of being inferior in a sense of not being able to live up to the ideal of that time period.  My grandparents divorced in the 1940's. It was a very tragical thing to happen to my father and his siblings. My grandmother ended up homeless and her kids taken away. We can look at today and be grateful that we do have help for women who find themselves in such situation, where as then they did not.

In the 1950's 75% of Catholics went to mass, today it is down to 25-30%. That is a frightening statistic.  It has been slowly on the decline. Some may say this is due to the sex abuse scandals but I believe there is more to it than that.  I  am also sure that there are some who would blame Vatican II.
I think there is more to it than that also.

Since the 1960's and actually for some people prior to the 1960's, there has been a decline in morals.    As I said, I don't believe the 1950's were all rosey and perfect because people have sinned since the snake snuck up on Eve back in the Garden of Eden.  There were definite moral issues in the 50's also. So, why the decline in mass attendance. Maybe partly the sex abuse scandals, maybe some of Vatican II but also because people are choosing to follow the culture of death and free sex that  increased at horrible rates in the 1960's.

Many question what happened in the 1960's to bring on such a sexual revolution.

Perhaps it was the birth control pill. This opened the door for free sex without worry about pregnancy. Of course Pope Paul VI warned us what would happen if contraception was made available.  Definitely seeing this come true.

1. Contraception would lead to conjugal infidelity
 More reasons for marital affairs without worry of pregnancy.

2. Contraceptive practice would lead to a “general lowering of morality.”
Sex has become free and easy and there is a definite increase in sexually oriented jokes, television shows, media and more

3. Contraception would lead men to cease respecting woman in their totality and would cause men to treat women as “mere instruments of selfish enjoyment” rather than as cherished partners.
Pornography is a multibillion dollar business today and because of the way it has caused men to view women, women are seen as objects for sexual self gratification.

4. And finally, widespread acceptance of contraception by couples would lead to a massive imposition of contraception by unscrupulous governments.
China among other countries force women to take contraception against their will.

Also, some say maybe it was penicillin. No more fear of sexual diseases.


Anti-establishment became very prevalent after the 1950's.  There was a rebellion against authority. Whereas the man of the 1940's felt a duty to his country and a loyalty to his commander, the man of the 1960's felt  no duty or loyalty and thus this has increased in prevalence ever since. True, we don't see hippies on street corners today playing guitars and smoking pot but there is a "what is in it for me?" or "I can do whatever I want and I don't want anyone telling me what to do."
If they look at the 1950's and before there was a respect for authority that bothers them.

One of the biggest issues usually brought up when one mentions the 1950's is the housewife. The homemaker. Women generally stayed at home, took care of the house, the cleaning, the meals and the husband and kids. It was very important to her. Family again was the most important thing to her. Until... Until she was told that it was not important and she needed to step out of the domestic humdrum and get a job and have a life of her own, find herself is what they used to say, so many women walked away from their families in the years following the 1950's and today if you don't have a career you are still looked down on as someone who hasn't got a brain. Women walked away from their families, so again looking back perhaps is a reminder of what women should be but don't want to be doing.


I think for me when I hear people say, you can't go back or time has moved on, I think, I know you can't go back but we can bring some of that forward. We can bring back family values, mom in the home,  lasting marriages, respect for authority, sexual purity, returning to going to Mass on Sundays. 

When the 1950's is brought up in a conversation as a point of reference for a moral compass, I remind myself it is not the time period they have a problem with but the values.  It is still a rebellion against goodness, and family and  choosing what is right. It is an attack on right from the wrong, an attack on what God calls us to do. If it was right then, it is still right now.

Prayer for Our New Pope

O God, the Shepherd and Ruler of all Your faithful people, mercifully look upon Your servant Pope Francis whom You have chosen as the chief Shepherd to preside over Your Church. We beg You to help him edify, both by word and example, those over whom he has charge, that he may reach everlasting life together with the flock entrusted to him. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

http://www.ourcatholicprayers.com/prayers-for-the-pope.html

Habemus Papam - We Have a Pope

I haven't posted through all this going on with the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI. We of course pray very much for him and are ever so grateful for the awesome job he did. The most important job in the whole world. We were all sad to see him retire but most certainly understood his need to.

Through all the days of our church being without a pope, we prayed and trusted our Lord to bring us who we needed.

Praise our Lord He did. Pope Francis. 

We can all be very grateful to our Lord for sending us such a humble man. .

I thought I would post a few quotes from our new Pope:

Give no place, he said, to pessimism, which the devil offers us every day

if we are not praying to the Lord, we are praying to the devil.

“Courage, dear brothers!” Francis told them. (cardinals) “Probably half of us are in our old age. Old age, they say, is the seat of wisdom. The old ones have the wisdom that they have earned from walking through life, like old Simeon and Anna at the Temple, whose wisdom allowed them to recognize Jesus. Let us give wisdom to the youth: Like good wine that improves with age, let us give the youth the wisdom of our lives.”

“We can build so many things, but if we don’t confess Jesus Christ, then something is wrong. We will become a pitiful NGO [non-governmental organization], but not the Church, spouse of Christ,” Pope Francis said

“I would like all of us, after these days of grace, to have the courage, precisely the courage, to walk in the presence of the Lord, with the cross of the Lord, to edify the Church in the blood of the Lord poured out on the cross and to confess the only glory, that of Christ crucified. And, in this way, the Church will move forward,” he said as he finished his homily.

Lenten Prayer of Saint Ephreim

 

O Lord and Master of my life, take from me the spirit of sloth, despondency, lust of power and idle chatter.
Instead, give to me, Your servant, the spirit of wholeness of being, humility, patience and love.
O Lord and King, grant that I may be aware of my sins, and not judge my brother, for You are blessed to the ages of ages. Amen.

Cardinal Francis Arinze Responds to Questions on Liturgy

In July Cardinal Francis Arinze answer questions regarding the liturgy while at a conference sponsored by Apostolate for Family Consecration.

Does everybody have to stand until the last person has received Holy Communion?
There is no rule from Rome that everybody must stand during Holy Communion. There is no such rule from Rome. So, after people have received Communion, they can stand, they can kneel, they can sit. But a bishop in his diocese or bishops in a country could say that they recommend standing or kneeling. They could. It is not a law from Rome. They could -- but not impose it. Perhaps they could propose. But those who want to sit or kneel or stand should be left reasonable freedom.
Is that the same thing with the consecration? Can they kneel during the consecration?
A bit different there. The rule from Rome would sanction where the bishops said, "in our country we want people to kneel throughout the consecration". From our office in Rome we will support that. So it is a bit different. But sometimes during the consecration -- suppose it is open-air or it rained and it is muddy -- you could not kneel there. But in the normal church it is possible to kneel.
And that's the normal thing: to kneel during the consecration -- and even, as in this country, to kneel from the beginning -- just before consecration -- right down to just before the Our Father. And that is okay.
Where a particular person cannot kneel -- you have arthritis or you are a mother holding a baby -- that is understood.
Why do so many churches not place the tabernacle in the center of the altar or in a prominent place?
The directives from Rome -- including the new Missal issued two years ago -- say that the tabernacle in which the Blessed Sacrament is reserved is to be located in a very prominent place either at the center or at such a side altar that it is really prominent and that around it there are kneelers and chairs so that people can pray -- kneel down or sit down. And it is to be so prominent that nobody should need to look for it when you enter the church.
Therefore, whenever you enter a church and you look for the tabernacle where the Blessed Sacrament is reserved and you do not easily see it, then those who arrange it are already wrong. Because it should be prominent -- it should stand out -- to show our faith.
However, it is not a law that it must be at the center. But it is a law that where it is should be prominent. And that it should be easy for people to see it and to go there and pray. But unfortunately in some churches, sometimes those who did it did not know. But they did not know that they did not know.
So you enter the church and you ask where is the tabernacle? "They have taken the Lord away and we do not know where they have put Him". That's what Mary Magdalene said on Easter day.
Has liturgical dance been approved for Masses by your office?
There has never been a document from our Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments saying that dance is approved in the Mass.
The question of dance is difficult and delicate. However, it is good to know that the tradition of the Latin Church has not known the dance. It is something that people are introducing in the last ten years -- or twenty years. It was not always so. Now it is spreading like wildfire, one can say, in all the continents -- some more than others. In my own continent, Africa, it is spreading. In Asia, it is spreading.
Now, some priests and lay people think that Mass is never complete without dance. The difficulty is this: we come to Mass primarily to adore God -- what we call the vertical dimension. We do not come to Mass to entertain one another. That's not the purpose of Mass. The parish hall is for that.
So all those that want to entertain us -- after Mass, let us go to the parish hall and then you can dance. And then we clap. But when we come to Mass we don't come to clap. We don't come to watch people, to admire people. We want to adore God, to thank Him, to ask Him pardon for our sins, and to ask Him for what we need.
Don't misunderstand me, because when I said this at one place somebody said to me: "you are an African bishop. You Africans are always dancing. Why do you say we don't dance?"
A moment -- we Africans are not always dancing! [laughter]
Moreover, there is a difference between those who come in procession at Offertory; they bring their gifts, with joy. There is a movement of the body right and left. They bring their gifts to God. That is good, really. And some of the choir, they sing. They have a little bit of movement. Nobody is going to condemn that. And when you are going out again, a little movement, it's all right.
But when you introduce wholesale, say, a ballerina, then I want to ask you what is it all about. What exactly are you arranging? When the people finish dancing in the Mass and then when the dance group finishes and people clap -- don't you see what it means? It means we have enjoyed it. We come for enjoyment. Repeat. So, there is something wrong. Whenever the people clap -- there is something wrong -- immediately. When they clap -- a dance is done and they clap.
It is possible that there could be a dance that is so exquisite that it raises people's minds to God, and they are praying and adoring God and when the dance is finished they are still wrapped up in prayer. But is that the type of dance you have seen? You see. It is not easy.
Most dances that are staged during Mass should have been done in the parish hall. And some of them are not even suitable for the parish hall.
I saw in one place -- I will not tell you where -- where they staged a dance during Mass, and that dance was offensive. It broke the rules of moral theology and modesty. Those who arranged it -- they should have had their heads washed with a bucket of holy water! [laughter]
Why make the people of God suffer so much? Haven't we enough problems already? Only Sunday, one hour, they come to adore God. And you bring a dance! Are you so poor you have nothing else to bring us? Shame on you! That's how I feel about it.
Somebody can say, "but the pope visited this county and the people danced". A moment: Did the pope arrange it? Poor Holy Father -- he comes, the people arranged. He does not know what they arranged. And somebody introduces something funny -- is the pope responsible for that? Does that mean it is now approved? Did they put in on the table of the Congregation for Divine Worship? We would throw it out! If people want to dance, they know where to go.
The American Church has problems. How do we support our bishops and what is the best way to communicate our concerns?
I have not come here with pocketed answers to the questions in this country. So, you have enough leaders -- and among bishops, religious, lay men, lay women, young people in your country -- and you have enough dynamism to examine the problems in the best tradition of the Church and also in solidarity with the universal Church. There is nothing seen [here] that was never seen before.

One thing I've seen before [is] where they have the ciborium out, and people come up and take our Precious Lord out of there and dip our Lord into the Precious Blood and place it on their own tongue themselves.
Forbidden. Not correct. Because the nature of the Holy Eucharist is such that the person who is not a priest celebrating the Mass must be given the Body of Christ. You say "amen". And you receive, on the tongue or in the hand. If you are not the priests celebrating Mass -- if you are the deacon assisting -- you must be given [Communion]. You may not take.
Even if you are bishop or cardinal, and you are not celebrating that Mass, you must be given. You must not take.
For example, if you watch us in Rome in St. Peter's basilica or square, when the pope is saying a major Mass, there may be 40 cardinals, 100 bishops. When we are not concelebrating -- we are wearing red vestments but we are not concelebrating -- we are just assisting at Mass as all of you who are baptized. When it is time for Communion, we receive, exactly as everybody else. A deacon comes to us and says "the Body of Christ". I say "amen". He gives to me, and the same for all.
None of us is allowed to take. We must be given. This is the Church law. It is not to lower anybody, it is just the nature of the sacrament. Even when Christ multiplied bread and fish, He told the apostles to distribute it. It was a sign.
So the Church that regulates Eucharistic practice says that the holy Body and Blood of Christ will be given us. We will not take. Only the celebrating priests or the concelebrating communicate themselves. Everybody else must be given it, even if that person is a bishop or a priest.
Will Catholic universities here in the United States ultimately be given the ultimatum that they must start sound Catholic teaching?
[laughing] There is no need for a new law because that law is already there. So there is no need for a new law that they should teach Catholic teaching. It's normal. So there is no need for a fresh law. It would be good, however, that parents, if you think that those -- some university is not teaching Catholic doctrine, the parents should not be silent. Because you send your children and you pay.
In the history of the Church, were there ever women priests? Women can't be made priests, at any time; even the pope can't do that, can he?
No, the pope issued a document about seven years ago* saying that the Church has no power to ordain women priests. There were never women priests in the Church. If Christ would have wanted women to be priests, His Blessed Mother surely should have been number one.
* Ordinatio Sacerdotalis
What is the Vatican doing to reform seminaries with a better spiritual formation, and also to increase vocations to the priesthood?
Well, the offices of the Holy Father are doing what they can, but of course, the major action is in bishops' dioceses and the bishops' conferences and the seminaries around the world. Most of them are regional -- that means several dioceses together run a seminary. The offices of the Holy Father give instructions, indications, help. The bishops come to Rome together every five years and they visit the various offices and they also visit the pope and this type of thing is discussed. But we must not expect that from the Vatican that there will be an instant solution to problems all around the world, because the Church is universal but also local.
Could you address the Church's teaching on abstaining from meat on Fridays outside of Lent?
The law is that we don't -- well, Good Friday and Ash Wednesday are the major days for fasting in general for those who have reached the age 21 and are not yet 60. Abstinence, that means no meat on those days for those who are age 14 [or over]. General canon law says that Fridays are days of abstinence -- no meat -- but if you want to eat meat, you should substitute some other form of penance. That's the Church law.



I chose just a few of the questions and answers for this post. You can read more at:
http://www.adoremus.org/1003Arinze.html

Praying for your family throughout the day.

I send them out every morning. I send my husband to work. I send my son to school. I feel very privileged to stay home and continually keep my home set up and warm for my family. I am blessed to be able to prepare meals for them,  keep their clothes washed, do the cleaning and yes all the many other things I do through out the day but sometimes I feel like, because I am not out in the crazy world but home, that I maybe sometimes don't understand the craziness out there. I do work occasionally part time but not on a daily basis. So when I am home I have come to realize that there is more to keeping the home fires burning than just keeping the house warm and clean, meals ready and clothes washed, though those are all important things.

I know I need to cover my family in prayer.  We can learn from our Blessed Mother how she intercedes for us that we should always be in  prayer for our family. also.  It could be from daily mass, to the rosary, to the divine mercy at 3:00pm. There are novenas of course that could be kept going on a daily basis. And we don't always have to stop what we are doing to pray. We can pray right along while we do our chores.  I set my alarm on my phone for the 3:00 divine mercy hour and lift my family up in prayer during that time.  According to Divine Mercy Apostolate Worldwide Our Lord spoke to St. Faustina:

 Jesus asked, that as often as we “hear the clock strike the third hour” that we deeply contemplate His Passion, “if only for a brief moment”. But after we observe the moment of the death of the Messiah at 3 O’Clock with this special prayer, we then have before us “the hour of great mercy for the whole world”. (Diary 1320) Jesus has let us know that in Heaven, the 3 O’Clock hour is a special holy hour, as He said, "it was the hour of grace for the whole world — mercy triumphed over justice...In this hour, you can obtain everything for yourself and for others for the asking...In this hour, I will refuse nothing to the soul that makes a request of Me in virtue of My Passion". (Diary 1320, 1572) He asked St. Faustina, that if she had time she should make the Stations of the Cross during this special hour. He acknowledged that her duties might prevent her from being able to do this, but He asked that on these occasions, she step into a church and adore His Mercy, if only for a brief moment. He also said that if she did not have the opportunity to enter a church, she could pause, wherever she was, and “immerse yourself in prayer there where you happen to be, if only for a very brief instant”. (Diary 1572)


 It is also very important to call upon the saints for help for your family during the day. Having a patron saint for your family or each member of your family is very important also. There are many women saints such as St. Monica and St. Rita that we can ask assistance from as they were awesome in praying for their families and then for the men or teenage sons going out into the world there is definitely St. John Bosco, St. Thomas Becket and there are just so many more saints to call on. St. Padre Pio is always one of my favorites to lift my family up to.

It is comforting to your family to know you are thinking enough about then throughout the day to lift them up to our Lord for protection, guidance and care. We all need each other's prayers.
 sen

Pope's Final Blessing. We thank you for your service.

 

 

Dear brothers and sisters, I feel that this Word of God is particularly directed at me, at this point in my life. The Lord is calling me to "climb the mountain", to devote myself even more to prayer and meditation. But this does not mean abandoning the Church, indeed, if God is asking me to do this it is so that I can continue to serve the Church with the same dedication and the same love with which I have done thus far, but in a way that is better suited to my age and my strength. Let us invoke the intercession of the Virgin Mary: may she always help us all to follow the Lord Jesus in prayer and works of charity. Pope Benedict XVI February 24, 2013.

 

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/02/24/pope-final-sunday-blessing-from-window-drawing-crowd/?test=latestnews

The Scarlet and the Black

My son and I just watched this movie. It was so good. I highly recommend it. 

Gregory Peck plays the role of Monsignor O'Flaherty during WWII, 1943.  He was a high ranking official in the Vatican who worked tirelessly to save the lives of many Jews and prisoners of war that came looking for refuge at the Vatican as they had heard it was a neutral place and could be safe there, though the Germans do not like this idea of Vatican neutrality and want control and the Jews and Prisoners of War turned over to them. Of course Vatican officials, including the Pope refuse to concede to their request. According to Wikepidia O'Flaherty saved the lives of 6,500 Jews and allied prisoners. As German officials continue to move in to Rome they come to realize what is going on, what he is doing and stay close on his trail trying to stop him. The Germans do have some success and find some of those he is helping to hide and unfortunately some lose their lives.

The movie stars, as I said Gregory Peck. He plays Monsignor O'Flaherty who uses many means and disguises to come and go from the Vatican because his life is in danger if he is found to leave the Vatican but he goes and he helps all the people he can. There are many others who help Monsignor O'Flaherty in this endeavor by risking their lives to hide and tunnel as many Jews and POW's as they can. 

The German leader, Herbert Kappler, is played by Christopher Plummer. An evil man who feels he is only obeying orders. He has a wife and two children who seem to be uninformed or choosing to be blind of what exactly is going on in Rome after they move there with him. They appear very wealthy and are enjoying their wealth despite what is happening around them.

What is very interesting about this movie is the importance that is placed on saving lives and our need for mercy even in the most trying circumstances because as you see toward the end when Kappler realizes Germany is losing and the British and the Americans will be coming to fight for Rome's freedom he needs to get his family out. He realizes he has lost control of Rome and where else does he go for help but Monsignor O"Flaherty.  O'Flaherty is very angry over the death of many of his friends and has to decide whether or not he is going to now help his enemy and save the lives of Kappler's wife and children.

Through an interesting turn of events, that only our Lord could have arranged Kappler is arrested and sentenced to life in prison for war crimes. For many years month after month he is visited by his old enemy and now friend, Monsignor O'Flaherty and after a time converts to Catholicism. 

What an amazing story. It is true that we are all made in the image of God and all are in the need of God's forgiveness. We are all sinners and the love and care shown by Father O'Flaherty to all, the Jews, the POWs and even the soldiers is truly how we should all be. 

In today's world our enemies are different. Germany is no longer the enemy. Nor any other country. Today there are others. There is terrorism. There are school shootings. There are attacks on the Catholic church, mandates and hateful speech toward our Holy Church but we too must walk in love for all and pray for the conversion of souls, remembering that our battle is not with flesh and blood but with principalities and powers. Prayer and love is what we need, just as Monsignor O'Flaherty used.

As a side note: according to wikepedia, Kappler is smuggled out of prison by his wife after a time. He apparently reached a weight of 105# and she sneaks him out in a suitcase and he dies at the age of 70.

Happy New Year.

A new day. A new year.

The other day I was watching a news commentator speak on what he would be focusing on when remembering 2012. He stated he would not be remembering the bad times he and his family had, the loss of the election in America to a very liberal man, the attacks focused on Christians by evil in the world but instead he would remember the blessings given to him by God, the promises of God and the time he had spent with his family, the love among them. I intend to do that also, as I look back. There were many political disappointments, very frightening social happenings and terrible attacks on the Catholic church, which of course need our prayers and our attention but looking back let us look at the blessings and love God gives us and His promised assistance in the future. We know he will always be with us to guide us and to love us. As we look to the future let us lean ever more strongly on our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and the intercession of our most Blessed Mother Mary, knowing that he has promised us His Church and that the gates of hell will not prevail against it.

Happy New Year.