Sunday Review

This post is about some things that caught my eye this week. The good, the bad, the ugly and the ironic. 

Before I get to that, I've come to the conclusion that the Holy Father has an extremely narrow view of the world. All his constant talk of helping the poor (a given for any decent human being) and pushing for a larger role of women in the Church (deaconesses etc) and of course more "dialogue" is because Pope Francis, for all his globalist talk doesn't actually look at the global Catholic Church. I think he sees only the environment he was in and applies that to the entire world. 

What the Church and status of people are/look like in Argentina is not what the Church looks like in the United States, the United Kingdom or any where else. This article by Rome Reports reflects my thoughts on the influence Argentina has on Pope Francis and the Bishops of Argentina. 

On Friday, Pope Francis (again) talked of expanding the role of women in the Church...

quote Catholic Online: If women are able to freely put their gifts at the service of the entire community, "the way in which society understands and is organized is positively transformed, reflecting better the substantial unity of the human family," he said.
Because of this, a beneficial model for society is one that amplifies the presence of women in social, economic and political life at the local, national and international levels, "as well as in the ecclesial," he said.
"Women have the right to be actively involved in all areas, and their right must be asserted and protected even by legal means wherever they prove necessary."
This, Francis said, involves "expanding the spaces of a more incisive feminine presence." 

And: 

quote: However, "women can also become fully involved in exchanges at the religious level, as well as those at the theological level," the Pope said, noting that many women "are well prepared to face encounters of interreligious dialogue at the highest levels and not just from the Catholic side.""This means that the contribution of women is not limited to 'feminine' arguments or to encounters of only women," he said, adding that dialogue "is a path that man and woman must accomplish together."

...has he seen the Church in the United States? Women run nearly everything! I'd like to hear the pope speak to the problems in the United States...abortion, euthanasia, birth control, fornication- specifically the number of Catholics who live together before marriage, immodest clothing- when was the last time anyone ever heard about dressing modestly so you don't cause someone else to lust? There are dozens upon dozens of topics that Catholics in the United States (and other countries) need to hear our pope discuss, but all we get is more social agenda speeches about women's roles and the environment. It's disheartening. 

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Now for the Good, the Bad, the Ugly and the Ironic stuff...

The Good... 

This story is from last month but I apparently missed it. A friend sent it to me this week. The fantastic story of Father Maniyangat, who died and was taken by his guardian angel to Hell, then Purgatory and finally to Heaven where Jesus spoke to him telling him “I want you to go back to the world. In your second life, you will be an instrument of peace and healing to My people. You will walk in a foreign land and you will speak in a foreign tongue. Everything is possible for you with My grace.." ! 

Quote: "First the angel escorted me to hell. It was an awful sight! I saw Satan and the devils, an unquenchable fire of about 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit, worms crawling, people screaming and fighting, others being tortured by demons. The angel told me that all these sufferings were due to unrepented mortal sins. Then, I understood that there are seven degrees of suffering or levels according to the number and kinds of mortal sins committed in their earthly lives. The souls looked very ugly, cruel and horrific. It was a fearful experience. I saw people whom I knew, but I am not allowed to reveal their identities. The sins that convicted them were mainly abortion, homosexuality, euthanasia, hatefulness, unforgiveness and sacrilege. The angel told me that if they had repented, they would have avoided hell and gone instead to purgatory. I also understood that some people who repent from these sins might be purified on earth through their sufferings. This way they can avoid purgatory and go straight to heaven. I was surprised when I saw in hell even priests and Bishops, some of whom I never expected to see. Many of them were there because they had misled the people with false teaching and bad example."

Source: Priest Testifies to His Experience of Heaven, Hell and Purgatory After Death and His Return to His Body

I highly recommend reading this story if you haven't already! Good stuff! 

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The Bad... 

Whenever we see Catholic clergy leading people into mortal sin it is bad, there is nothing, zero, nada good to be found in this story for Catholics in the United States. 

Quote: "CHICAGO, June 9, 2017 (LifeSiteNews) — American Cardinal Blase Cupich has written a glowing introduction to the English translation of a high-ranking Vatican prelate’s new book that calls for Holy Communion to be given to civilly-divorced-and-remarried Catholics living in adultery as well as to cohabiting Catholics." 

and...

"Coccopalmerio, president of the Pontifical Council for the Interpretation of Legal Texts, argues in his book that Amoris Laetitia “could allow access to Penance and the Eucharist for the faithful who find themselves in an irregular union.” He explains “irregular union” applies to “all those who are married only civilly or living with a de facto union or tied to a previous canonical marriage.”
He argues that Amoris Laetitia allows for Catholic couples regularly committing acts of adultery to only have a “desire to change and the inability to do so” in order to receive Holy Communion."

The seeds of Pope Francis' Amoris Laetitia are being reaped and the crop is deadly weeds spawned from Hell. 

Source: U.S. cardinal writes forward to new book approving Communion for adulterers 

While that is bad, there is hope coming from the Bishops in Poland (God bless them!)

For more hope read: Polish bishops’ conference calls civilly-divorced-and-remarried Catholics to ‘true conversion,’ not communion

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The Ugly...

This is ugly and evil. Yesterday in New York City a large group of people decided to protest something (I really don't understand what exactly) by getting completely naked covering themselves only in body paint and walking down the streets of New York in front of families, children and tourists who had no idea what they were in for. 

It was disgusting. As Wayne Dupree puts it..."These Americans decided to walk down the streets of New York City with nothing but just body paint in protest of freedom I guess. Most will call it repulsive and childish. I call it a spirit of evil." 

I agree with Mr. Dupree. 

Source: Liberals Go Super Extreme! Body Paint Protests Through NY City

*warning: don't click the video of the "protest" its full of nudity


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The Ironic... 

Pope Francis is speaking out about "the people being scandalized" by priests and he's putting his foot down! The irony is he's not worried about the scandalized folks still reeling from the things he's said ('who am I to judge?', 'don't breed like rabbits' etc) or by liberal priests leading people toward Hell with heretical teachings. Nope. Rather the pope is putting his foot down (rightly so) to prevent people from being scandalized because priests in Nigeria are protesting the pope's pick for Bishop. 

Imagine for a moment, that the following statement by Pope Francis were about the people scandalized by priests supporting the LBGTQxyz agenda, or "Catholic" politicians supporting abortion, birth control, euthanasia etc., or priests giving Holy Communion to people in mortal sin, or Catholic clergy and parishes marching in gay pride parades! All we can do is imagine, because our Holy Father is silent on these scandalous situations and the damage it is doing to the laity. 

Quote: According to the pope's remarks posted by Kaigama, Francis said, "I think that, in this case, we are not dealing with tribalism, but with an attempted taking of the vineyard of the Lord." The pope also referred to "the parable of the murderous tenants" in Matthew 21:33-44.
"Whoever was opposed to Bishop Okpaleke taking possession of the diocese wants to destroy the church. This is forbidden," the pope said.
Francis said he even had considered "suppressing the diocese, but then I thought that the church is a mother and cannot abandon her many children."
Instead, he said, every priest of the diocese, whether residing in Nigeria or abroad, is to write a letter to him asking for forgiveness because "we all must share this common sorrow."
Each priest's letter, he said, "must clearly manifest total obedience to the pope" and indicate a willingness "to accept the bishop whom the pope sends and has appointed."
"The letter must be sent within 30 days, from today to July 9th, 2017. Whoever does not do this will be ipso facto suspended 'a divinis' and will lose his current office," the pope said, according to the posts.
"This seems very hard, but why must the pope do this?" Francis asked. "Because the people of God are scandalized. Jesus reminds us that whoever causes scandal must suffer the consequences."

If only our Holy Father would put his foot down over the things that actually scandalize Catholic laity on a daily basis around the world! We'd have a whole new Church! Guess the people who are scandalized by these things just don't bother the Pope much.

Source: Pope tells Nigerian priests accept bishop or be suspended



In Christ, 

Julie @ Connecticut Catholic Corner 




Sources:

http://www.catholic.org/news/hf/faith/story.php?id=75145

http://www.romereports.com/2017/06/10/the-homeland-that-shaped-pope-francis

http://catholicsay.com/priest-testifies-to-his-experience-of-heaven-hell-and-purgatory-after-death-and-his-return-to-his-body/

https://www.ncronline.org/news/vatican/pope-tells-nigerian-priests-accept-bishop-or-be-suspended

https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/u.s.-cardinal-writes-forward-to-new-book-approving-communion-for-adulterers

https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/polish-bishops-conference-calls-civilly-divorced-and-remarried-catholics-to 

Gregorian Chant in Pastoral Ministry and Religious Education

If you haven’t heard about it or signed up already, I wanted to make sure you knew about the conference coming up in March at the Dunwoodie Seminary (Yonkers) - “Gregorian Chant in Pastoral Ministry and Religious Education.” 

We’d love to have you join us for what promises to be an excellent conference, with nearly forty excellent presentations, beautiful liturgies, and plenty of time for discussion and meeting colleagues. 

There are various tracks that focus on sacred music in Spanish-speaking communities, vernacular-language chant, sacred music programs for children, and Church teaching on sacred music. Especially if you’re looking for ideas on how to improve the music program in your current situation, this is the conference for you. 

See more information below. 
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http://dunwoodiemusic.org/conference
National Conference: “Gregorian Chant in Pastoral Ministry and Religious Education”
Friday, March 10 – Saturday, March 11, 2017
St. Joseph’s Seminary (Dunwoodie), Yonkers, New York

What role does the Church’s treasury of sacred music play in contemporary pastoral ministry and religious education? How does one build a sacred music program of excellence which serves as an integral part of the sacred liturgy and is also effective both in drawing souls to Christ and forming people in the Catholic faith? This national conference will bring together clergy, seminarians, scholars, musicians, teachers, and Catholic school administrators to consider the place of Gregorian chant and excellent choral music in the life of the Catholic Church in America today. The conference seeks to inspire attendees with ideas for starting or continuing to develop sacred music programs of excellence in Catholic parishes and schools. The conference organizers also hope to encourage discussion about the vitality and necessity of beauty and sacred music in the catechesis and formation of Catholics, as well as in the evangelization of non-Catholics and non-practicing Catholics.

This two-day conference will feature plenary addresses by Msgr. Robert Skeris on “The Theology of Worship and Its Music.” Msgr. Skeris has for years directed the Centre for Ward Method Studies at the Catholic University of America. Developed in the 1920s by Catholic convert Justine Ward, the method has as its goal the cultivation of active participation of children in the sacred liturgy through the singing of the Church’s sacred music.

Another keynote by Fr. Christopher Smith will address liturgical formation in Catholic schools; Fr. Smith is the pastor of a booming parish with parochial school that has liturgical and musical formation at its center.

The final keynote is by Mark Langley, founding headmaster of the Lyceum, a classical Catholic school in Ohio; he will discuss the central role that a choir has in the intellectual and spiritual formation of students in a Catholic school.

In addition to the plenary addresses, nearly forty presenters will give workshops, papers, and recitals featuring topics such as:

Sacred Music in Spanish-Speaking Communities
Sacred Music in the Secular Sphere
Chant Camp for Parishes
Pastoral Care of Musicians
Pastoral Implications of Vernacular Chant
Parish Youth Orchestra and Conservatory for a Diverse Neighborhood
Mystagogical Catechesis and Sacred Music
The Schola Cantorum as an Integral Part of the Catholic School
A Practical Perspective in Starting an After-school Children’s Choir Program
Gregorian Chant as a Unifying Force in Multiethnic Parishes
Liturgical Formation in Catholic Schools
Forthcoming English Translations of Hymnody of the Liturgy of the Hours
Musical Literacy and Liturgy
The Role of Beauty and Chant in Spiritual Formation
The Dollars and “Sense” of Catholic Education
Training Choristers according to the English Cathedral Tradition and Royal School of Church Music
Liturgical Formation in Catholic Schools
Gregorian Chant in a Small Rural Parish
The Ward Method of Music Instruction

Presenters include: Dr. Mary Jane Ballou, Dr. Francis Brancaleone, Mary Ann Carr Wilson, Heitor Caballero, Colleen Crafton, Fr. Richard Cipolla, Dr. Jennifer Donelson, Fr. David M. Friel, Raymond Henderson, Dr. Aaron James, Fr. Robert Johansen, Lisa Knutson, Nathan Knutson, Alexis Kutarna, Frs. Robin Kwan and Kevin Mann, SJC, Dr. Ann Labounsky, Nicholas Lemme, Mary Catherine Levri, Dr. Crista Miller, Joel Morehouse, James Monti, Dr. Jared Ostermann, Kurt Poterack, Dr. Ronald Prowse, Laurence Rosania, Jonathan Ryan, Dr. Samuel A. Schmitt, Fr. Innocent Smith, OP, Students of the Atonement Academy, Dr. Jay Swain, Fr. Jon Tveit, Msgr. Andrew Wadsworth, The Ward Centre of Richmond, Virginia, Nicholas Will, and Amy Zuberbuler.


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Paul A. Zalonski
Catholic Connecticut
255 Foxon Hill Road
East Haven, CT 06513-1216 USA
Email Paul: CatholicCT@gmail.com
Follow Paul on Twitter @CatholicCT
Connect with Paul on Facebook "Catholic Connecticut CatholicCT"

***Paul Zalonski is the Catholic Events contributor for Connecticut Catholic Corner***

Gay Pride Parades are Child Abuse

I have voiced my disgust at children attending gay pride parades a few times on this blog (HERE & HERE - warning graphic images) and I am going to do it again.

Look at this child's face...

...dressed like a drag queen and parading down the street at New York's 2015 Pride parade in the middle of OBSCENE people - some naked and some in graphic sexual costumes (click the links below to see a small portion of what these children were forced to witness).  

It is DESPICABLE to me that the United States of America not only allows this abuse, but supports it!

The Girl Scouts were there too openly and happily posing for photographs while supporting abominations according to the Word of God and our Holy Catholic Church. #shameful #evil #disgusting 

Photo Credit: The Cut

I can't begin to image the rage of God over what is being done to children in the name of "love". If the parents of these children had any idea what awaited them in eternal Hell they would spend every day on their knees praying for forgiveness for the evil they have done to their children.  

This is disgusting..and evil.

Our Catholic faith... 
Catholic catechism: #2396 "Among the sins gravely contrary to chastity are masturbation, fornication, pornography, and homosexual practices."

That is what decent parents should be teaching their innocent children. Instead these parents participate in debauchery and leading their innocent children toward eternal damnation. Horrible. I pray for these children...that they should have such parents is heartbreaking. 

And what would any gay pride event be without the local heretical "catholics" marching along side them...(note the Catholic parish on the t-shirt).

The images are truly disturbing...nudity and absurd perverted costumes fill the NYMag.com pages covering the "event".  

Remember if you view these images...little children were there witnessing this and much more first hand:

http://nymag.com/thecut/2015/06/body-glitter-and-rainbow-eye-shadow-at-ny-pride/slideshow/2015/06/29/new_york_pride_2015/

May God have mercy on these vile people...they're going to need it.

In Christ,

Julie @ Connecticut Catholic Corner 

Source: http://nymag.com/thecut/2015/06/body-glitter-and-rainbow-eye-shadow-at-ny-pride/slideshow/2015/06/29/new_york_pride_2015/pride2015-013/

Source: http://www.amny.com/lifestyle/nyc-pride-parade-photos-2015-the-march-the-celebrations-1.10587980

Two very different mothers

By Connecticut Catholic Corner

Today I read two stories of motherhood.  The first story was about a mother octopus.  This mother octopus has stunned the science world with her dedication to the survival of her unborn babies.  

You see, the deep sea Graneledone boreopacifica species of octopus will starve themselves for more than four years (they have a incredibly long brooding period) rather than leave her precious eggs for a moment.  

She spends years, attached to the location she has chosen as the perfect place to lay her eggs.  Once the eggs are laid, she waits with them. Protecting them from predators twenty four hours a day for more than four years. 

Quote: During the brooding period, the mother octopus seemed to focus exclusively on the welfare of the eggs.

"She was protecting her eggs from predators, and they are abundant. There are fish and crabs and all sorts of critters that would love to get in there and eat those eggs. So she was pushing them away when they approached her," Robison said.

"She was also keeping the eggs free from sediment and was ventilating them by pushing water across them for oxygen exchange. She was taking care of them," Robison added.-end quote-

Now I contrast that story with the story of Jenny Kutner, one of the assistant editors over at Salon who wrote this week “I am having an abortion this weekend”.  

Kutner, who for a year had been using an IUD to prevent her from having (not conceiving) a child found out she was pregnant.  Without batting an eye, she scheduled her abortion for today.

Saturday at 10 am.

Kutner felt no motherly instincts at all for the human being in her womb.  She felt no sense to protect that life within her own body.  She felt only for herself.  She didn’t want a child so she would find someone to kill and remove the child from her womb.

Kutner writes: “If I still lived in Texas, I would still have access to all those same means. So I’d face fewer impediments to an abortion than most, but that doesn’t mean I’d face zero. I would still have to have a sonogram, and I would have to hear about the development of the zygote inside me.

As I waited to speak with a counselor at a New York Planned Parenthood last weekend, I felt a wave of relief at the thought of being so far from home. Really, it was relief at the thought of being trusted to make my own decision, at being able to avoid having a probe shoved inside me in an effort to make me question, regret or alter that choice. There are no mandated ultrasounds in New York; no condescending scripts for the doctors to read; no increasing shortage of clinics because of legal entrapments that endanger women’s health. I thanked my lucky stars, for maybe the first time in my life, that I was not in Texas.

Just as I did, a counselor called my name and asked me to follow her down a hall to a small, carpeted room with a desk and no windows. On the desk sat a plastic-encased model of a ParaGard IUD, the little copper “T” with which I had entrusted my reproductive health for exactly a year. I stared at it while the counselor confirmed that I was, indeed, pregnant — about five weeks, judging by the start of my last period.

She then presented me with several options. I told her I wanted to have an abortion. She did not tell me that I would have to come back for another appointment before the abortion and she did not try to talk me into another course of action. Instead, she asked when I could come in for the procedure and put it on the calendar. Then she sent me on my way.

I wasn’t sure what to feel after I made the appointment, so I just stood still on the sidewalk for a few minutes and cried. I cried because I was overwhelmed and confused, although I wasn’t at all confused about my decision. What I felt most strongly when I left the clinic, aside from the need to pull it together and go take a nap, were two feelings that have stuck with me all week. The first was acute anxiety that seven days was too long to let two incompatible objects (an IUD and a zygote) occupy my uterus at the same time. The second was complete certainty that I was making the right decision. I don’t want a child yet, and I’m not at all ready to have one.

That’s why an abortion is the right choice for me, and I don’t think much else matters. I keep repeating that and it’s not because I’m insecure, but rather because I doubt I could be more firmly convinced. Thankfully, in addition to feeling so strongly about my choice, I have received all the support I could possibly ask for — from my boyfriend, who is in complete agreement about my decision, but also from my sister and my parents, my aunts, uncles, friends, co-workers and even two relative strangers I met at a picnic on Sunday.”-end quote-

Kutner delights in the fact that she no longer lives in Texas because she won’t have to “submit to invasive transvaginal sonograms and patronizing explanations of fetal development 24 hours before getting an abortion”.

The mother octopus on the other hand is the exact opposite of Kutner and her ilk.

“This mother octopus never left the oblong-shaped eggs - which during the brooding period grew from about the size of a blueberry to the size of a grape - and was never seen eating anything. The octopus progressively lost weight and its skin became pale and loose. The researchers monitored the octopus during 18 dives over 53 months from May 2007 to September 2011.”

I was struck by the sharp contrast between the two mothers. One willing to do anything to protect her offspring, the other willing to pay someone to kill her offspring.

Reading the two stories today literally back to back, my mind was just boggled and incredibly saddened that a woman could be so callous and not for a moment, not one split second think of the child in her womb.  She only thought of herself.  By contrast the octopus mother never thought of herself, her complete focus was on her offspring and nothing else to the extent of starving herself for years.

Bruce Robison, a deep sea ecologist at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute in Moss Landing, California, said this species exhibits an extremely powerful maternal instinct."It's extraordinary. It's amazing. We're still astonished ourselves by what we saw," Robison said.

From the time Kutner found out the child was growing in her womb to the scheduled murder of her child was less than one week.  Zero maternal instincts in Kutner.

The mother octopus spent four and half years starving herself for the well being and protection of her offspring. 

It is now Saturday night…Kutner’s child is dead.

I wonder how she feels now.  I hope for her sake she feels remorse and sorrow for killing her child.  I hope she begs God to forgive her for the heinous crime she has committed.

May God have mercy on her as Heaven takes in her aborted child.

In Christ,

Julie @ Connecticut Catholic Corner

PLEASE read both articles:

Octopus source: http://news.yahoo.com/octopus-mom-protects-her-eggs-astonishing-4-1-222744198.html

Jenny Kutner’s abortion story: http://www.salon.com/2014/08/01/im_having_an_abortion_this_weekend/

Upcoming events in CT and NY

The Fall Festival Open House for the Clelian Adult Day Center, Wednesday, October 16, 1:30p to 6pm.

Location: 261 Benham Street (rear), Hamden, CT 06514 (5 min. off exit 60 of the Wilbur Cross)

Web: www.cleliancenter.org

Phone: 203-288-4151

The Clelian Adult Day Center is a work of CT based Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

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Come and See Retreat
Join the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne on October 25 -27 at their Motherhouse in Hawthorne, New York, to learn more about their consecrated life.

Participants will share daily prayer with the Sisters, experience their apostolate of caring for the incurably ill, and share times of recreation. 

For more information, contact Sr. Alma Marie, OP, at 914-769-4794 or sralmamarie@aol.com. 

 The Sisters’ website is: www.hawthorne-dominicans.org