Tag: Catholic Church

Franciscan Friars and the Year of Faith (YouTube)

Franciscan Monastery Washington, DC
Franciscan Monastery
Washington, DC

Peanut Gallery: We visited the Franciscan Monastery in Washington, DC on our 2013 March for Life pilgrimmage. They were most welcoming and delight in showing visitors who they are and what they are about, especially as “Custodians of the Holy Land.”

What are they up to here in America during the “Year of Faith?” Here’s a video – they’re taking it to the streets:

What is your Christian community doing to bring the light Christ to the world?

Special thanks to Rebecca Hamilton for bringing this to our attention.

French Morality Rally – La Manif Pour Tous – reblog from Public Catholic

Peanut Gallery: Who’d have thunk we’d be getting moral guidance from the French? And yet, some folks in France recognize that “gay marriage” is an oxymoron… a contrivance designed to gain the “blessing” of Church and State on sin-filled relationships.

Well good for them. Vive la France! And thanks to Public Catholic for bringing it our attention. BTW: I wonder if the French Muslim community will join this rally? Just a thought.
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Hundreds of Thousands Expected at Paris Rally for Marriage

January 9, 2013 By  4 Comments

Paris, France, Jan 9, 2013 / 04:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Supporters of traditional marriage expect hundreds of thousands of marchers to turn out for an upcoming national rally in opposition to President Francois Hollande’s “marriage for all” proposal.

Set to go before France’s parliament Jan. 29, the draft law proposes to redefine marriage as a union “contracted between two persons of different sex or of the same sex.”

The law would also allow “married” same-sex couples to adopt children while also replacing gender definitive titles such as “Mother” or “Father” with “Parent 1” and “Parent 2.”

Some opponents of the proposal say doing so would strip society of sexual differences and would create framework for a “new anthropological order” based on sexual preference rather than unique “sexual otherness.” Opponents also say the move would deny children the biological right of having a mother and father, and that the proposal should have been presented as a referendum to the people.

“La Manif Pour Tous” or “March For All,” a demonstration organized by French satirist Frigide Barjot – whose real name is Virginie Télenne – drew tens of thousands of supporters in the regional demonstrations held throughout France in November and December.

A modest estimate for the first national rally to be held Jan. 13 is projected to draw some 350,000 supporters, one of the organizers, Lionel Lumbroso, told CNA Jan. 4.

“The bigger we are, the more difficult it will be for the government to ignore us,” he said.

Although the “vast majority of the base is Catholic” and founder Frigide Barjot is a Catholic re-convert, Lumbroso said that the movement represents a much greater diversity of the French people because people of different faiths and political beliefs are coming together for a common goal. (Read more here.)

Reformation Day | First Things

Reformation Day – October 31, 2012
Timothy George

“We confess together: By grace alone, in faith in Christ’s saving work and not because of any merit on our part, we are accepted by God and receive the Holy Spirit, who renews our hearts while equipping and calling us to good works.”

It was around two o’clock in the afternoon on the eve of the Day of All Saints, October 31, 1517, when Martin Luther, hammer in hand, approached the main north door of the Schlosskirche (Castle Church) in Wittenberg and nailed up his Ninety-Five Theses protesting the abuse of indulgences in the teaching and practice of the church of his day. In remembrance of this event, millions of Christians still celebrate this day as the symbolic beginning of the Protestant Reformation. At Beeson Divinity School, for example, we do not celebrate Halloween on October 31. Instead we have a Reformation party.

But did this event really happen? Erwin Iserloh, a Catholic Reformation scholar, attributed the story of the theses-posting to later myth-making. He pointed to the fact that the story was first told by Philip Melanchthon long after Luther’s death. Other Luther scholars rushed to defend the historicity of the hammer blows of Wittenberg. In fact, the door of the Castle Church did serve as the official university bulletin board and was regularly used for exactly the kind of announcement Luther made when he called for a public disputation on indulgences.

But whether the event happened at two o’clock in the afternoon, or at all, is not the point. Copies of Luther’s theses were soon distributed by humanist scholars all over Europe. Within just a few weeks, an obscure Augustinian monk in a backwater university town had become a household name and was the subject of chatter from Lisbon to Lithuania.

It was not Luther’s intention to divide the Church, much less to start a brand new church. To the end of his life, he considered himself to be a faithful and obedient servant of the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church. Though Luther renounced his monastic vows and married a former nun, Katarina von Bora, he never forgot that he had received a doctorate in Holy Scripture. His vocation was to teach the written Word of God and to point men and women to the Lord of Scripture, Jesus Christ.

On this Reformation Day, it is good to remember that Martin Luther belongs to the entire Church, not only to Lutherans and Protestants, just as Thomas Aquinas Continue reading “Reformation Day | First Things” →

Please pray for Christian refugees from Syria in Lebanon

Peanut Gallery: Please continue to pray for displaced Syrian Christians… now finding refuge in Lebanon. The article below tells their story.

“Keep on loving each other as brothers and sisters. Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it! Remember those in prison, as if you were there yourself. Remember also those being mistreated, as if you felt their pain in your own bodies.” Hebrews 13.1-3 NLT


Prayer: Lord Jesus, give me the same compassion that you feel for strangers and refugees close to me… or far away. I remember especially today refugees from Syria. Use your people to feed them, clothe them, shelter them… and above all to love them. I ask it in your name.

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Bishop Expects Massive Influx Of Christian Refugees From Syria, Lebanon

Thursday, October 25, 2012 – By BosNewsLife Middle East Service
with additional reporting by BosNewsLife’s Stefan J. Bos

BEIRUT, LEBANON (BosNewsLife)– The Bishop responsible for Maronite Christians in Europe warned the Western world Thursday, October 25, that recent deadly attacks in Christian districts of Beirut and Damascus could “unleash” a massive “new wave” of Christian refugees.

Bishop Maroun Nasser GemayelIn remarks published by the ‘Aid to the Church in Need’ (ACN) group, Bishop Maroun Nasser Gemayel said Christians in the Middle East were longing for freedom and security and could therefore “be tempted to emigrate” to Europe or the United States, “despite their great love of their homeland.”

Bishop Gemayel said the situation in Syria’s capital Damascus already was dramatic, and “now many, including those in [Lebanon’s capital] Beirut, will believe that they can no longer live in safety even in the Christian quarters” despite their “great love of their homeland.”

Anti-Christian attacks last Friday, October 19 in Beirut and on Sunday, October 21, in Syria’s capital Damascus killed Continue reading “Please pray for Christian refugees from Syria in Lebanon” →

Morning Reading: Hebrews 4.14-16 NLT

“So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe. This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin.

So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.” Hebrews 4.14-16 NLT