tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-71748627030074072172024-03-13T19:09:21.337-05:00Instauratio CatholicaInstauratio Catholicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08282313033668833526noreply@blogger.comBlogger114125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7174862703007407217.post-78898058810035752222009-06-10T10:56:00.008-05:002009-06-10T21:18:10.541-05:00The New Chapel of Christ the Teacher<div align="justify">I thought some of you would be interested in pictures from the newly completed Chapel of Christ the Teacher at the College of St. Thomas More. At the time of the pictures the altar had not yet been installed. Please make note of the crucifix donated by a priest friend of the College. Legend has it that it belonged to the Cristeros many, many years ago.<br /></div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_M7o9XrSwYfo/Si_ZXcbzVyI/AAAAAAAAAN4/S6P35ujVP9A/s1600-h/Untitled_Panorama1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345730279505090338" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 157px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_M7o9XrSwYfo/Si_ZXcbzVyI/AAAAAAAAAN4/S6P35ujVP9A/s320/Untitled_Panorama1.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_M7o9XrSwYfo/Si_YzmvfkpI/AAAAAAAAANw/SD0K_B5YPIc/s1600-h/CRW_1153-1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345729663796744850" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 213px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_M7o9XrSwYfo/Si_YzmvfkpI/AAAAAAAAANw/SD0K_B5YPIc/s320/CRW_1153-1.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_M7o9XrSwYfo/Si_YluGo5KI/AAAAAAAAANo/HzuZqKQulJg/s1600-h/CRW_1126.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345729425254704290" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 210px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_M7o9XrSwYfo/Si_YluGo5KI/AAAAAAAAANo/HzuZqKQulJg/s320/CRW_1126.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_M7o9XrSwYfo/Si_YUmVzHCI/AAAAAAAAANg/JAtRKUTaBYc/s1600-h/CRW_1032.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345729131113028642" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 213px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_M7o9XrSwYfo/Si_YUmVzHCI/AAAAAAAAANg/JAtRKUTaBYc/s320/CRW_1032.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /></div>Instauratio Catholicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08282313033668833526noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7174862703007407217.post-34503875193876782992009-06-10T10:41:00.003-05:002009-06-10T10:55:47.816-05:00Tene geres, dilecte et nunc...<div align="justify">After many long years of study, I finally graduated from the College of St. Thomas More. It has been a bittersweet journey, one that I was not sure I would ever complete. Alas, it is finished. Below are some pictures of me and my family, minus a couple of the children who were with grandma that day.<br /></div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345727579891796050" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 181px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_M7o9XrSwYfo/Si_W6Tl1iFI/AAAAAAAAANQ/nnM-yZWNY1M/s320/100_1784.JPG" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345728022754908498" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 181px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_M7o9XrSwYfo/Si_XUFYoWVI/AAAAAAAAANY/s51ZUlUHld0/s320/100_1852.JPG" border="0" />Instauratio Catholicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08282313033668833526noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7174862703007407217.post-63496337022626190172009-04-02T08:35:00.006-05:002009-04-02T10:55:51.757-05:00What to think of Gallup Polls and other pieces of nonsense...<div align="justify">The left, in their incessant need for recognition, has again posted information intended to shock Catholics. A recent Gallop Poll found <a href="http://www.gallup.com/poll/117154/Catholics-Similar-Mainstream-Abortion-Stem-Cells.aspx">here</a> discusses, among other things, what <em>mainstream Catholics</em> think about issues such as, you guessed it, abortion, stem cell research, homosexuality, and gambling (just to mention the usual suspects). By <em>mainstream,</em> the left means those Catholics who agree with them--men who deny objective morality and who have poisoned their conscience with delusions of grandeur and hopes of a Church without walls. <em>Mainstream</em>, however, does not mean <em>right</em>--even if held by a so called majority. Certainly, perhaps fifty or sixty years ago, the term could have been rightly applied to Catholics because the mainstream <em>was</em> the Church. The term today, however, is immediately suspect. Today, <em>mainstream</em> represents those Catholics who have become drunk with the wine of iniquity and compromise. They have become the enemy of Christ and His Church. In public, they give lip service to both God and man; in private, their lives are a combination of uncertainty and contradiction, sin and debauchery. They are their own authority.<br />These "Catholics" can be counted on to get it wrong when it comes to moral issues and official Church teachings especially regarding such things as abortion, divorce, and homosexuality. Why is this the case? Certainly at the heart of the problem are priests and bishops whose training, especially regarding moral theology, was nonexistent for several decades. I could argue that priests, more than any other group of individuals, were affected more by the moral attack of the 1960's than we realize. Many of these men were just too weak too fight the good fight and adopted the mentality, <em>if you can't beat them, join them</em>. Others were rotten from the beginning, using the priesthood to push an anti-moral/anti-God agenda through the seminaries into the churches and schools. Once their agenda was complete, it was only a matter of time before objective morality was thrown out the window along with respect, manners and Catholic etiquette in general. Is it any wonder then that polls show Catholics in opposition to Church teaching regarding homosexuality, birth control, abortion and divorce? What is more shocking and nauseating, I think, is that these people continue to call themselves Catholic. How exactly can one consider himself part of a group whose positions are diametrically opposed to his own? At the root of this issue is a diabolical hatred of Christ. Why else would they seek to conform the Church to their will? These are not fun loving Catholics who pray the Rosary and go to confession. These are the Catholics telling you that the Church is outdated, that She just doesn't get it, as if they were the standard of doctrine, dogma and morality. Neither they, nor their apologists in the media, understand the Church's nature. She is not a <em>democratic <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">polis</span></em> wherein majority rules. The majority is usually at odds with Her tenants but She remains firm. The Church is based on the ideas of hierarchy, participation, and mediation. Her truths are infallible; She alone is <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">indefectible</span>. So when reading the Gallop Polls and other pieces of nonsense, don't get too upset. The issue is not with the Church, the issue is with those men both inside and outside Her fold who will not stop until She is destroyed. Our Lord, however, promised that the gates of hell would not prevail against Her. I wonder what the mainstream would say about that?</div>Instauratio Catholicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08282313033668833526noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7174862703007407217.post-79429442056490159712009-03-17T20:04:00.002-05:002009-03-17T20:11:20.630-05:00Baby Bella...Isabella Marie <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Heitzenrater</span> was born Monday March 16, 2009 at 5:45 pm. She weighed 7lbs. 13 oz. and was 20 inches long. Pictures will be forth coming. Both momma and baby are doing well. Please keep them in your good prayers. The Editor.Instauratio Catholicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08282313033668833526noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7174862703007407217.post-55038998609824735982009-03-13T09:50:00.004-05:002009-03-15T11:58:26.143-05:00YouTube does it again...<div align="justify">America Needs Fatima is an organization promoting the message of our Lady of Fatima and the Reign of Christ the King. I was alerted to this <a href="http://campaigns.anf.org/"><strong>notice</strong></a> by Mr. Robert Ritchie, Director of the America Needs Fatima organization. Please <a href="http://campaigns.anf.org/protest-jesus-juice-step-1.html?utm_source=MailingList&utm_medium=email&utm_content=E.0034"><strong>SIGN</strong></a> the petition and boycott the folks over at YouTube. </div>Instauratio Catholicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08282313033668833526noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7174862703007407217.post-29733701228136739002009-03-06T10:25:00.002-06:002009-03-06T10:36:34.370-06:00The Spiritual Combat--Dom Lorenzo Scupoli<div align="center">CHAPTER ONE: PRELIMINARY WORDS ON PERFECTION ----- THE FOUR THINGS NECESSARY FOR THIS COMBAT </div><div align="justify"><br />CHRISTIAN SOUL! If you seek to reach the loftiest peak of perfection, and to unite yourself so intimately with God that you become one with spirit with Him, you must first know the true nature and perfection of spirituality in order to succeed in the most sublime undertaking that can be experienced or imagined.<br />Some, who judge by appearances, make it consist in penances, in hair shirts, austerities of the flesh, vigils, fasting, and similar bodily mortifications. Others fancy themselves extremely virtuous when they indulge in long periods of vocal prayers, hear several Masses, spend many hours in church . . . Others, and this does not exclude some of the religious who have consecrated themselves to God, think that perfection consist in perfect attendance in choir, in observing silence and in a strict observance of their rule. Consequently, different people place perfection in different practices. It is certain that they all equally deceive themselves.<br />Since exterior works are nothing more than dispositions for achieving true piety, or the effects of real piety, it cannot be said that Christian perfection and true piety consist in them. They are, without doubt, powerful means for becoming truly perfect and truly holy. When used with discretion they are of unique value in supporting our nature which is always indifferent to good and inclined to evil; in repelling the attacks and escaping the snares of our common enemy; in obtaining from the Father of Mercies those helps that are so necessary for the faithful, and especially for beginners. They are, moreover, precious fruits of the consummate virtue achieved in truly holy persons. Such men chastise their bodies either in punishment for past offenses or for greater humiliation and subjection to their Creator. They seek solitude and observe silence that, withdrawn from the world, they may preserve themselves free from the least stain of sin, and speak only with Heaven and Angels. Their time is spent in works of piety and in the service of God. They pray and meditate on the life and Passion of our Redeemer, not through curiosity, nor for the sake of some sensible pleasure arising from this, but from a desire of knowing better, on one hand, the grandeur of the Divine Goodness, and on the other hand, the depth of their own ingratitude. They do this in order to increase their love of God and detestation of self, to follow their Lord in shouldering His Cross, and in renouncing their own will. They receive the Sacraments for no other reason than the honor of God, a closer union with Him and greater security from the power of the devil.<br />The situation is much different with those who ignorantly place their devotion in external acts, which frequently are the cause of their own downfall, and are of far deeper consequence than open crime. In themselves they are not evil, but only when wrongly applied. They are so attached to these acts that they utterly neglect to watch the inner movements of their hearts; but giving them free rein, they leave them prey to their own corruption and to the tricks of the devil. It is then that this destroyer, seeing them go astray, not only encourages them to go on their way, but fills their imagination with empty ideas, making them believe that they already taste the joys of Paradise, the delights of Angels, that they see God face to face . . .<br />A very little reflection on their conduct discloses their error and the great distance between them and that perfection of which we are now in search. In every circumstance they love to be shown preference to others. They know no guide but their own private judgment, no rule but their own will. They are blind in their own affairs, ferret-eyed in regard to those of the neighbors, always ready to find fault. Touch the empty reputation they think they possess, and of which they are extremely jealous. order them to stop some of the devotions to which they are accustomed. Their amazement and vexation can hardly be expressed.<br />If God Himself, in order to open their eyes and to show them the true path of perfection, should send them crosses, sickness, or severe persecutions, the surest trials of His servant's fidelity, which never happen unless by his plan and permission, then the degenerate condition of their hearts is laid bare through their own extravagant pride. In all the events of this life, whether happy or not, they know nothing of a proper conformity to the Will of God. They do not know how to yield to His almighty power, to submit to His judgments which are as just as they are secret and impenetrable. They do not know how to imitate Christ Crucified, as He humbled Himself before all men; nor do they know how to love their enemies as the instruments used by God's goodness to train them to self-denial and to help not only in their future salvation, but in greater sanctification of their daily life.<br />This is the very reason why they are in imminent danger of being lost. With eyes blinded by self-love, they examine themselves and their actions which are not otherwise blameworthy, and they are inflated with vanity. They conclude that they are far advanced towards God and they readily look down on their neighbor: in fact, their pride often will so increase their blindness, that their conversion cannot be effected without a miracle of grace.<br />Experience proves that acknowledged sinners are reformed with less difficulty than those who wilfully hide themselves under the cloak of a false virtue. From this you can easily understand that the spiritual life does not consist in the practice enumerated above, if they are considered only in their outward appearance.<br />It actually consists in knowing the infinite greatness and goodness of God, together with a true sense of our weakness and tendency to evil, in loving God and hating ourselves, in humbling ourselves not only before Him, but for His sake, before all men, in renouncing entirely our own will in order to follow His. It consist, finally, in doing all of this solely for the glory of His Holy Name, for only one purpose-----to please Him, for only one motive-----that He should be loved and served by all His creatures.<br />These are the dictates of that law of love which the Holy Ghost has written on the hearts of the faithful. This is why we must practice that self-denial so earnestly recommended by our Savior in the Gospel. This it is that renders His yoke so sweet, His burden so light . . .<br />Since, therefore, you seek the highest degree of perfection, you must wage continual warfare against yourself and employ your entire strength in demolishing each vicious inclination, however trivial. Consequently, in preparing for the combat you must summon up all your resolution and courage. No one shall be rewarded with a crown who has not fought courageously.<br />But remember that as no war can be carried on with greater fierceness, the forces, no other than ourselves, being equal on both sides, so the victory when gained is most pleasing to God and most glorious to the conqueror. For whoever has the courage to conquer his passions, to subdue his appetites, and repulse even the least motions of his own will, performs an action more meritorious in the sight of God than if, without this, he should tear his flesh with the sharpest disciplines, fast with greater austerity than the ancient Fathers of the Desert, or convert multitudes of sinners.<br />It is true, considering things in themselves, that the conversion of a soul is, without doubt, infinitely more acceptable to the Divine Majesty than the mortification of a disorderly affection. Yet, every person, in his own particular sphere, should begin with what is immediately required of him. Now what God expects of us, above all else, is a serious application to conquering our passions; and this is more properly the accomplishment of our duty than if, with uncontrolled appetite, we should do Him a greater service.<br />Now that you know what Christian perfection is and that, in order to attain it, you must resolve on a perpetual warfare with yourself, begin by providing yourself with four weapons without which it is impossible to gain the victory in this spiritual combat: DISTRUST OF ONE'S SELF, CONFIDENCE IN GOD, PROPER USE OF THE FACULTIES OF BODY AND MIND, AND THE DUTY OF PRAYER. With the help of God's grace, these will be treated concisely in the following chapters. (Tan Books and Publishers--Rockford, Illinois)</div>Instauratio Catholicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08282313033668833526noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7174862703007407217.post-91196648459652115062009-03-05T09:06:00.004-06:002009-03-05T09:12:57.673-06:00New CSTM Website!<div><div>My Alma Mater has a new webpage. Click <a href="http://www.cstm.edu/">here</a>.</div></div>Instauratio Catholicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08282313033668833526noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7174862703007407217.post-26410062584594644492009-03-03T10:02:00.004-06:002009-03-03T10:18:57.887-06:00Raised from the Dead...<div align="justify"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_M7o9XrSwYfo/Sa1VeqeZ6eI/AAAAAAAAAM4/TVB-NYbi-vo/s1600-h/rembrandt-lazarus.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5308993521025935842" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 231px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_M7o9XrSwYfo/Sa1VeqeZ6eI/AAAAAAAAAM4/TVB-NYbi-vo/s320/rembrandt-lazarus.jpg" border="0" /></a> After almost a year of inactivity, <em>Instauratio Catholica</em> is being raised from the dead. In addition to articles about the Faith, I will be expanding the blog's scope to include discussions on art, music and Catholic culture. I look forward to your responses and comments.--The Editor<br /><br /><br /></div>Instauratio Catholicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08282313033668833526noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7174862703007407217.post-73711291563899735852009-03-02T19:47:00.002-06:002009-03-15T11:57:32.334-05:00Some Palestrina Perhaps?This link has been disabled by the Editor.Instauratio Catholicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08282313033668833526noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7174862703007407217.post-57155067902940362612009-03-01T16:33:00.003-06:002009-03-15T11:59:09.027-05:00The Glories of the Organ<span style="text-decoration: underline;">This link has been disabled by the editor.<br /></span>Instauratio Catholicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08282313033668833526noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7174862703007407217.post-50305900151189889862008-07-22T20:09:00.003-05:002008-07-22T20:18:14.330-05:00Final Post... Adieu, adieu, parting is such sweet sorrow.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp2.blogger.com/_M7o9XrSwYfo/SIaGnMQ-UCI/AAAAAAAAAJk/fA7ElqsWyuo/s1600-h/95759__genewilder_l.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_M7o9XrSwYfo/SIaGnMQ-UCI/AAAAAAAAAJk/fA7ElqsWyuo/s320/95759__genewilder_l.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5226012425475477538" border="0" /></a><br />I have decided to stop blogging. There are not enough hours in the day to make it worth anyone's time let alone my own. I must start preparing for my law school entrance examination and my dear wife and I are expecting number five, so there really is no extra time. There are other more capable and more efficient bloggers in the cyber world than me. I will keep the site running for a few more days... Until then, happy blogging. God bless you and yours. John W. Heitzenrater IIInstauratio Catholicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08282313033668833526noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7174862703007407217.post-15308697379996314272008-07-18T08:48:00.003-05:002008-07-18T08:57:08.764-05:00The Restoration in Progress- Ordination Pictures from Gricigliano<a href="http://bp2.blogger.com/_M7o9XrSwYfo/SICg6ymBx6I/AAAAAAAAAJc/O_U1EpJnzEM/s1600-h/ModInd01_01.gif"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5224352499623905186" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_M7o9XrSwYfo/SICg6ymBx6I/AAAAAAAAAJc/O_U1EpJnzEM/s320/ModInd01_01.gif" border="0" /></a><br /><div align="justify">I have an unusual idea about "fun" and what constitutes something as "fun". Fun to me is occasionally surfing the net to see what is going on in the traditionalist world. One of my favorite spots, as readers to this post are aware, is the Institute of Christ the King's international web page. Click <a href="http://www.institute-christ-king.org/images/gallery/Ordinations2008.htm">here</a> for the the latest ordination pictures from Gricigliano. As always, please pray for these young men, as they are our hope for the future!</div>Instauratio Catholicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08282313033668833526noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7174862703007407217.post-63549394949674001192008-07-18T08:39:00.003-05:002008-07-18T08:48:24.459-05:00Happy Birthday Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter!<a href="http://bp0.blogger.com/_M7o9XrSwYfo/SICeqhKUuqI/AAAAAAAAAJU/Q15WaB5IBnQ/s1600-h/FSSPcoa.png"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5224350021043141282" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_M7o9XrSwYfo/SICeqhKUuqI/AAAAAAAAAJU/Q15WaB5IBnQ/s320/FSSPcoa.png" border="0" /></a><br /><div align="justify"><span style="color:#ff6666;">Sharing a birthday with someone is always special. My birthday just happens to fall on the same day as the foundation of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter. So, without further delay, join me in remembering this special day and all of the wonderful gifts the Fraternity's existence has brought the Church.- Editor</span></div><br /><div align="center"> </div><div align="center">Foundation Document of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter<br /></div><div align="justify">By this act the undersigned clerics found the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter as a clerical Society of Apostolic Life, in conformity with the dispositions of CIC (can. 731-46), taking into consideration the exemption foreseen in the <a href="http://www.fssp.org/en/protoc5mai.htm">Protocol of 5 May 1988</a> and the <a href="http://www.fssp.org/en/eccldei.htm">Motu proprio Ecclesia Dei adflicta of 2 July 1988</a>. This society can associate lay brothers to its work.<br />The Constitutions, which will specify the goals and the spirituality of this society, are inspired by the approved statutes of the Priestly Society of Saint Pius X, the society reserving to itself the right to make any changes which it judges necessary by reason of present circumstances.<br />The undersigned respectfully request the Holy See to approve the said society in the shortest delay possible in order that they may act effectively for the unity and the good of the Church.<br />Made at Hauterive on 18 July 1988.<br />[Signatures]<br />P. Josef Bisig<br />Abbé Ph. Tournyol du Clos<br />P. Gabriel Baumann<br />Abbé Christian Lafargue<br />Abbé Patrick du Fay de Choisinet<br />Abbé Albert Jacquemin<br />P. J-M. Gervais (1)<br />P. Klaus Gorges<br />P. Engelbert Recktenvald<br />Abbé Christian Gouyaud<br />P. Franz Prosinger<br />Walthard Zimmer (deacon)<br />[Abbé denis Coiffet] (2)<br /><br />______________<br />(1) Fr. Gervais left the proposed foundation before the decree of erection was issued on 18 October 1988.<br />(2) Fr. Coiffet, unable to be present on 18 July 1988 to sign the document, is nevertheless considered a founding member.</div>Instauratio Catholicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08282313033668833526noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7174862703007407217.post-61868796177431794602008-07-16T09:30:00.003-05:002008-07-16T09:36:33.279-05:00Never Trust A Clown...<div align="justify">OAK BROOK, Ill. — A Christian group that opposes same-sex marriage launched a boycott of McDonald's because of the fast-food chain's support for the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce.<br />American Family Association president Tim Wildmon says almost 200,000 people have signed an online pledge to boycott McDonald's for promoting homosexuality instead of remaining neutral.<br />McDonald's spokesman Bill Whitman says the company has made a financial contribution to the National Gay and Lesbian <a class="iAs" style="FONT-WEIGHT: normal! important; FONT-SIZE: 100%! important; PADDING-BOTTOM: 1px! important; COLOR: darkgreen! important; BORDER-BOTTOM: darkgreen 0.07em solid; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent! important; TEXT-DECORATION: underline! important" href="http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,383561,00.html#" target="_blank" itxtdid="5912544">Chamber of Commerce</a>, and a McDonald's executive serves on the chamber's board. He insists that doesn't mean that McDonald's supports "a particular lifestyle or same-sex marriage."</div><div align="justify">From <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,383561,00.html">FOXNews.com</a></div><div align="justify"> </div>Instauratio Catholicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08282313033668833526noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7174862703007407217.post-71833654330058960212008-07-04T12:04:00.002-05:002008-07-04T12:11:41.431-05:00Happy Independence Day<a href="http://bp1.blogger.com/_M7o9XrSwYfo/SG5ZmESBb6I/AAAAAAAAAJA/5sM0egeSerg/s1600-h/HistoryoftheFlag.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5219207528688218018" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_M7o9XrSwYfo/SG5ZmESBb6I/AAAAAAAAAJA/5sM0egeSerg/s320/HistoryoftheFlag.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div align="justify">PRAYER FOR GOVERNMENT- Archbishop John Carroll</div><br /><div align="justify">We pray, Thee O Almighty and Eternal God! Who through Jesus Christ hast revealed Thy glory to all nations, to preserve the works of Thy mercy, that Thy Church, being spread through the whole world, may continue with unchanging faith in the confession of Thy Name. We pray Thee, who alone art good and holy, to endow with heavenly knowledge, sincere zeal, and sanctity of life, our chief bishop, Pope Benedict XVI., the Vicar of Our Lord Jesus Christ, in the government of his Church; our own bishop, N., all other bishops, prelates, and pastors of the Church; and especially those who are appointed to exercise amongst us the functions of the holy ministry, and conduct Thy people into the ways of salvation. We pray Thee O God of might, wisdom, and justice! Through whom authority is rightly administered, laws are enacted, and judgment decreed, assist with Thy Holy Spirit of counsel and fortitude the President of these United States, that his administration may be conducted in righteousness, and be eminently useful to Thy people over whom he presides; by encouraging due respect for virtue and religion; by a faithful execution of the laws in justice and mercy; and by restraining vice and immorality. Let the light of Thy divine wisdom direct the deliberations of Congress, and shine forth in all the proceedings and laws framed for our rule and government, so that they may tend to the preservation of peace, the promotion of national happiness, the increase of industry, sobriety, and useful knowledge; and may perpetuate to us the blessing of equal liberty. We pray for his excellency, the governor of this state , for the members of the assembly, for all judges, magistrates, and other officers who are appointed to guard our political welfare, that they may be enabled, by Thy powerful protection, to discharge the duties of their respective stations with honesty and ability. We recommend likewise, to Thy unbounded mercy, all our brethren and fellow citizens throughout the United States, that they may be blessed in the knowledge and sanctified in the observance of Thy most holy law; that they may be preserved in union, and in that peace which the world cannot give; and after enjoying the blessings of this life, be admitted to those which are eternal. Finally, we pray to Thee, O Lord of mercy, to remember the souls of Thy servants departed who are gone before us with the sign of faith and repose in the sleep of peace; the souls of our parents, relatives, and friends; of those who, when living, were members of this congregation, and particularly of such as are lately deceased; of all benefactors who, by their donations or legacies to this Church, witnessed their zeal for the decency of divine worship and proved their claim to our grateful and charitable remembrance. To these, O Lord, and to all that rest in Christ, grant, we beseech Thee, a place of refreshment, light, and everlasting peace, through the same Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Savior. Amen.</div>Instauratio Catholicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08282313033668833526noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7174862703007407217.post-17731359278852164832008-07-01T16:33:00.002-05:002008-07-01T16:38:24.767-05:00Welcome Home Sons of St. Alphonsus!<div align="justify">Great News from <a href="http://www.papastronsay.com/index.htm">Papa Stronsay</a> and the Redemptorist Fathers of Golgotha Monastery. </div><div align="justify">Tuesday, July 01, 2008<br /><a href="http://papastronsay.blogspot.com/2008/07/canonical-good-standing.html">Canonical Good Standing</a><br />1 July, 2008 Feast of the Precious Blood </div><div align="justify">My dear friends,I am happy to inform you that last June 18th, before Cardinal Castrillon and the members of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei in Rome, I humbly petitioned the Holy See on my own behalf and on behalf of the monastery council for our priestly suspensions to be lifted.On June 26th I received word that the Holy See had granted our petition. All canonical censures have been lifted.Our community now truly rejoices in undisputed and peaceful posession of Communion with the Holy See because our priests are now in canonical good standing.We are very grateful to our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI for issuing, last July, the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum which called us to come into undisputed and peaceful Communion with him.Now we have that undisputed communion! It is a pearl of great price; a treasure hidden in the field; a sweetness that cannot be imagined by those who have not tasted it or who have not known it, now for many years. Its value cannot be fully expressed in earthly language and therefore we hope that all traditional priests who have not yet done so, will answer Pope Benedict's call to enjoy the grace of peaceful and undisputed communion with him. Believe us, the price to pay is nothing; even all the angry voices that have shouted against us and calumniated us are as nothing when weighed in the scales against undisputed communion with the Vicar of Christ; others have died for it; what are raucous voices?We publicly thank all those souls who have prayed for us over the last months; some of you have truly stormed heaven for us. You have kept us afloat. We are deeply grateful. Especially we thank that priest who was unknown to us, until June 16th when he wrote in fraternal support. Where did he come from? Why us? But he told us of the number of Masses, Offices, prayers and sacrifices he had personally said for us; he had also enlisted the prayers of contemplatives and Third Order societies and had a great number of people fervently praying for us with an abundance of prayers. We were amazed! Thank you Father! Thank you also to that brave person who, so kindly wrote to us to say that if he said any more prayers for us he would be floating! What wonderful people! Thank you! Looking to the future, the next stage will be to have our community canonically erected. So please, dear friends, keep praying for us, there will be many crosses to bear; but they will be yokes sweetened by the grace of these last days.We assure you all of our very best wishes.</div><div align="justify">Your devoted servant,</div><div align="justify">Fr. Michael Mary, C.SS.R.</div><div align="justify">Vicar General </div>Instauratio Catholicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08282313033668833526noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7174862703007407217.post-64184763515269797382008-07-01T16:21:00.005-05:002008-07-04T12:14:16.215-05:00New Fraternity of St. Peter Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary Website<a href="http://bp3.blogger.com/_M7o9XrSwYfo/SG5aYdCaAfI/AAAAAAAAAJI/T27RwjQpl-c/s1600-h/sketch_chapel.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5219208394327065074" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_M7o9XrSwYfo/SG5aYdCaAfI/AAAAAAAAAJI/T27RwjQpl-c/s400/sketch_chapel.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://bp0.blogger.com/_M7o9XrSwYfo/SGqgk131tII/AAAAAAAAAI4/79yP5W0LVrw/s1600-h/sketch_chapel.jpg"></a><br /><br /><div align="justify">Please click <a href="http://www.fsspolgs.org/index.html">here</a> to view the new website of Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary. Perhaps you could spare a donation to help the Fraternity finish their Chapel. Click <a href="http://www.fsspolgs.org/donate.html">here</a> to donate online. God reward your generosity!</div></div>Instauratio Catholicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08282313033668833526noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7174862703007407217.post-92049282613867020522008-06-26T14:44:00.002-05:002008-06-26T14:47:23.849-05:00The Restoration in Progress- Holy Communion and the Papal Mass<div align="justify">Vatican: Receiving Eucharist kneeling will be norm at papal liturgies</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify">By Carol Glatz <a href="http://www.catholicnews.com/index.html" target="new">Catholic News Service</a> VATICAN CITY (CNS) --</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify">Receiving the Eucharist on the tongue while kneeling before the pope will become the norm at papal liturgies, said the Vatican's liturgist. While current norms allow the faithful to receive the Eucharist in the hand while standing, Pope Benedict XVI has indicated a preference for the more traditional practice, said Msgr. Guido Marini, master of papal liturgical ceremonies.Kneeling and receiving Communion on the tongue highlights "the truth of the real presence (of Christ) in the Eucharist, helps the devotion of the faithful and introduces the sense of mystery more easily," he said in a June 26 interview with the Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano.Pastorally speaking, he said "it is urgent to highlight and recover" these aspects of the sacredness and mystery of the Eucharist in modern times.Generally at papal Masses, those receiving Communion from the pope stand and the majority choose to receive on the tongue.But starting with a May 22 Mass outside the Basilica of St. John Lateran, two ushers placed a kneeler in front of the altar and the chosen communicants all knelt and received on the tongue.At a June 15 Mass in the southern Italian port city of Brindisi, the pope again distributed Communion to the faithful on the tongue while they were kneeling.In the Vatican newspaper interview, Msgr. Marini was asked if this practice was destined to become the norm in all papal celebrations, and he replied, "I really think so."He said "it is necessary not to forget that the distribution of Communion in the hand, from a juridical standpoint, remains up to now an indult," which is an exemption from a general requirement that is granted by the Vatican to the bishops' conferences which have requested it. He said the pope's adoption of the traditional practice of distributing Communion "aims to highlight the force of the valid norm for the whole church."However, the pope's preference for the traditional practice is not meant to "take anything away from the other" permissible form of standing or receiving the Eucharist in the hand, he said.Msgr. Marini told the Vatican newspaper that Pope Benedict also would be introducing another change to future papal liturgies during his June 29 Mass marking the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, the patron saints of Rome.He said the pope would begin wearing a shorter pallium -- a circular woolen band worn over the shoulders with a shorter strip hanging down the front and back -- similar to the kind worn by Pope John Paul II.Pope Benedict had been wearing a pallium similar to ones worn by popes in the first millennium, when the woolen band was wrapped around the pope's shoulders and hung down his left side to just below his knees.Msgr. Marini said the new pallium was chosen for two reasons: "to more heavily underline the continued development this liturgical vestment has had over the span of more than 12 centuries" and to be more practical.The longer pallium the pope had been using created "different and troublesome problems," he said.The newer, shorter pallium is decorated with six red crosses instead of black ones. Like other palliums, the end piece is made of black silk, a symbol of the black sheep which the shepherd rescues and carries over his shoulder back to the flock.The white woolen pallium is a sign of the pope's and an archbishop's authority over the Christian community and the Gospel authority of a shepherd called to carry his sheep, to lead them and to feed them. END</div>Instauratio Catholicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08282313033668833526noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7174862703007407217.post-41769031454088594392008-06-25T08:47:00.004-05:002008-06-25T08:54:46.353-05:00Sovereign Military Order of Malta Audience with Holy Father<a href="http://bp3.blogger.com/_M7o9XrSwYfo/SGJM15sM5xI/AAAAAAAAAIw/KACFyb8trzM/s1600-h/Malta.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5215815807351449362" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_M7o9XrSwYfo/SGJM15sM5xI/AAAAAAAAAIw/KACFyb8trzM/s320/Malta.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div align="justify"><a href="http://bp1.blogger.com/_M7o9XrSwYfo/SGJMti3Xx2I/AAAAAAAAAIo/PVL7a2RxpYo/s1600-h/Malta.jpg"></a>Fra’ Matthew Festing, Grand Master of the Order of Malta, was received this morning by His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI in the Vatican. The Order of Malta’s commitment in the Middle East, the effects of its medical and humanitarian operations in some of the most tormented areas in the planet, including Myanmar, Mexico and Peru, and its fight against the great pandemics of AIDS, tuberculosis, leprosy and malaria on the African, Asian and American continents were discussed during the long private meeting between His Holiness and the Head of the Sovereign Order. Benedict XVI encouraged the Order to continue its initiatives in favour of the younger generations. The Grand Master was accompanied by members of the Sovereign Council, the Order’s Government. This traditional meeting took place on the feast-day of the Order of Malta’s patron, St. John the Baptist, which falls on 24 June. </div><div align="justify">From <a href="http://www.orderofmalta.org/">http://www.orderofmalta.org</a>.<br /><br /></div><div></div>Instauratio Catholicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08282313033668833526noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7174862703007407217.post-91462728794664762172008-06-20T10:54:00.003-05:002008-06-20T10:57:18.874-05:00June 2008 Letter from the Seminarians of the Institute of Christ the King<div align="justify">The latest <em>Letter from the Seminarians of the Institute of Christ the King</em> can be found <a href="http://www.icrsp.org/Publications/Lettres-Seminaristes/LS19.pdf">here</a>.</div>Instauratio Catholicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08282313033668833526noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7174862703007407217.post-29414940323167570332008-06-17T10:06:00.002-05:002008-06-17T10:09:13.573-05:00The Restoration in Progress- Holy Father Wants Traditional Mass in Every Parish<div align="justify">Pope would like Tridentine Mass in each parish, Vatican official says</div><div align="justify">By Simon Caldwell <a href="http://www.catholicnews.com/index.html" target="new">Catholic News Service</a> LONDON (CNS) </div><div align="justify">Pope Benedict XVI would like every Catholic parish in the world to celebrate a regular Tridentine-rite Mass, a Vatican cardinal has said.Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos also told a June 14 press conference in London that the Vatican was writing to all seminaries to ask that candidates to the priesthood are trained to celebrate Mass according to the extraordinary form of the Latin rite, also known as the Tridentine Mass, restricted from the 1970s until July 2007 when Pope Benedict lifted some of those limits.The cardinal, who was visiting London at the invitation of the Latin Mass Society, a British Catholic group committed to promoting Mass in the Tridentine rite of the 1962 Roman Missal, said it was "absolute ignorance" to think that the pope was trying to reverse the reforms of the Second Vatican Council by encouraging use of the rite."The Holy Father, who is a theologian and who was (involved) in the preparation for the council, is acting exactly in the way of the council, offering with freedom the different kinds of celebration," he said."The Holy Father is not returning to the past; he is taking a treasure from the past to offer it alongside the rich celebration of the new rite," the cardinal added.When asked by a journalist if the pope wanted to see "many ordinary parishes" making provision for the Tridentine Mass, Cardinal Castrillon, a Colombian, said: "All the parishes. Not many, all the parishes, because this is a gift of God."He (Pope Benedict) offers these riches, and it is very important for new generations to know the past of the church," said Cardinal Castrillon, president of the Pontifical Commission "Ecclesia Dei," which works to help separated traditionalist Catholics return to the church."This kind of worship is so noble, so beautiful," he said. "The worship, the music, the architecture, the painting, makes a whole that is a treasure. The Holy Father is willing to offer to all the people this possibility, not only for the few groups who demand it but so that everybody knows this way of celebrating the Eucharist in the Catholic Church."He also said his commission, which also is responsible for overseeing the application of "Summorum Pontificum," the 2007 papal decree authorizing the universal use of the Tridentine rite, was in the process of writing to seminaries not only to equip seminarians to celebrate Mass in Latin but to understand the theology, the philosophy and the language of such Masses.The cardinal said parishes could use catechism classes to prepare Catholics to celebrate such Masses every Sunday so they could "appreciate the power of the silence, the power of the sacred way in front of God, the deep theology, to discover how and why the priest represents the person of Christ and to pray with the priest."In "Summorum Pontificum," Pope Benedict indicated that Tridentine Masses should be made available in every parish where groups of the faithful desire it and where a priest has been trained to celebrate it. He also said the Mass from the Roman Missal in use since 1970 remains the ordinary form of the Mass, while the celebration of the Tridentine Mass is the extraordinary form.The document did not require all parishes to automatically establish a Tridentine Mass schedule, but it said that where "a group of faithful attached to the previous liturgical tradition exists stably," the pastor should "willingly accede" to their request to make the Mass available.Cardinal Castrillon told the press conference, however, that a stable group could mean just three or four people who were not necessarily drawn from the same parish.Later in the day, Cardinal Castrillon celebrated the first pontifical high Mass in the Tridentine rite in London's Westminster Cathedral in 39 years. The event drew a congregation of more than 1,500 people, including young families. None of the English or Welsh bishops attended.</div>Instauratio Catholicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08282313033668833526noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7174862703007407217.post-55669604585666749662008-06-14T15:15:00.003-05:002008-06-14T16:15:07.394-05:00On Father's Day- A Tribute to My Best Friends...<div style="text-align: justify;">I have a good friend. Actually, I have a lot of good friends. Some are school friends, drinking friends, Church friends, or friends who buy me coffee. Others are friends that I see just once and a while; others are just acquaintances. There are two men, however, that I would call my best friends. No one knows them outside of the world they live in day after day. Yet the impact they have left on that world does not go unnoticed. So since tomorrow is Father's Day, I thought it only fitting to tell you about my two best friends.<br />The first is my dad, a decorated veteran of the Vietnam War and the single most important human influence in my life next to my mother and wife. Although life has often been unkind to him, he has never conceited defeat. In fact, the trials and struggles our good Lord has given him would have crushed other men; but not him. We have not always seen eye to eye on everything. There have been times in fact where I was down right disrespectful to him. Yet through all of my youthful angst, he always dealt with me justly and fairly. I am sorry that I was ever disrespectful to you. I am sorry that I treated you unkindly. Throughout it all, you have been a rock, a true dad, my best friend. I cannot think of a better man to honor on Father's Day, so to you dad, if you are reading this, I love you... Happy Father's Day.<br />The second man I would call my best friend is Tim Lyons. I met Tim and his family at Holy Family Catholic Church (see my post "God's Parish" <a href="http://instauratiocatholica.blogspot.com/2008/06/gods-parish.html">here</a>.) He is somewhat of a celebrity, a veritable Good Samaritan as the following <a href="http://catholicfamilyvignettes.wordpress.com/2008/06/14/its-a-birdits-a-planeits-super-tim/">article</a> will demonstrate. Tim has a love for his faith that is recognizable the first time one meets him. He is also very self-conscious about his intelligence. Yet despite the fact that he does not have any formal education beyond high school, his understanding of otherwise abstruse concepts is outstanding. I am always amazed how quickly he understands things that take me days and sometimes months to figure out. His intellect and his faith allow him to stay one step ahead of a host of health problems that until recently went unnoticed. Yet, as with everything, he has carried and is carrying his cross joyfully. Thank you, buddy, for being an example to the rest of us Catholic men in the world! <br />While many people would be hard pressed to find one person they could call a best friend, I have two. To you my best friends, I say God bless you and Happy Father's Day.<br /></div>Instauratio Catholicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08282313033668833526noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7174862703007407217.post-41260759057979789482008-06-13T14:13:00.001-05:002008-06-13T14:14:36.712-05:00Finally, Someone in the Media With a Brain!<div align="justify">From <a href="http://www.kusi.com/weather/colemanscorner/19842304.html">KUSI.com<br /></a>Global Warming and the Price of a Gallon of Gasby John Coleman<br />You may want to give credit where credit is due to Al Gore and his global warming campaign the next time you fill your car with gasoline, because there is a direct connection between Global Warming and four dollar a gallon gas. It is shocking, but true, to learn that the entire Global Warming frenzy is based on the environmentalist’s attack on fossil fuels, particularly gasoline. All this big time science, international meetings, thick research papers, dire threats for the future; all of it, comes down to their claim that the carbon dioxide in the exhaust from your car and in the smoke stacks from our power plants is destroying the climate of planet Earth. What an amazing fraud; what a scam.<br />The future of our civilization lies in the balance. <br />That’s the battle cry of the High Priest of Global Warming Al Gore and his fellow, agenda driven disciples as they predict a calamitous outcome from anthropogenic global warming. According to Mr. Gore the polar ice caps will collapse and melt and sea levels will rise 20 feet inundating the coastal cities making 100 million of us refugees. Vice President Gore tells us numerous Pacific islands will be totally submerged and uninhabitable. He tells us global warming will disrupt the circulation of the ocean waters, dramatically changing climates, throwing the world food supply into chaos. He tells us global warming will turn hurricanes into super storms, produce droughts, wipe out the polar bears and result in bleaching of coral reefs. He tells us tropical diseases will spread to mid latitudes and heat waves will kill tens of thousands. He preaches to us that we must change our lives and eliminate fossil fuels or face the dire consequences. The future of our civilization is in the balance.<br />With a preacher’s zeal, Mr. Gore sets out to strike terror into us and our children and make us feel we are all complicit in the potential demise of the planet.<br />Here is my rebuttal.<br />There is no significant man made global warming. There has not been any in the past, there is none now and there is no reason to fear any in the future. The climate of Earth is changing. It has always changed. But mankind’s activities have not overwhelmed or significantly modified the natural forces.<br />Through all history, Earth has shifted between two basic climate regimes: ice ages and what paleoclimatologists call “Interglacial periods”. For the past 10 thousand years the Earth has been in an interglacial period. That might well be called nature’s global warming because what happens during an interglacial period is the Earth warms up, the glaciers melt and life flourishes. Clearly from our point of view, an interglacial period is greatly preferred to the deadly rigors of an ice age. Mr. Gore and his crowd would have us believe that the activities of man have overwhelmed nature during this interglacial period and are producing an unprecedented, out of control warming. <br />Well, it is simply not happening. Worldwide there was a significant natural warming trend in the 1980’s and 1990’s as a Solar cycle peaked with lots of sunspots and solar flares. That ended in 1998 and now the Sun has gone quiet with fewer and fewer Sun spots, and the global temperatures have gone into decline. Earth has cooled for almost ten straight years. So, I ask Al Gore, where’s the global warming?<br />The cooling trend is so strong that recently the head of the United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change had to acknowledge it. He speculated that nature has temporarily overwhelmed mankind’s warming and it may be ten years or so before the warming returns. Oh, really. We are supposed to be in a panic about man-made global warming and the whole thing takes a ten year break because of the lack of Sun spots. If this weren’t so serious, it would be laughable.<br />Now allow me to talk a little about the science behind the global warming frenzy. I have dug through thousands of pages of research papers, including the voluminous documents published by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. I have worked my way through complicated math and complex theories. Here’s the bottom line: the entire global warming scientific case is based on the increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere from the use of fossil fuels. They don’t have any other issue. Carbon Dioxide, that’s it.<br />Hello Al Gore; Hello UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Your science is flawed; your hypothesis is wrong; your data is manipulated. And, may I add, your scare tactics are deplorable. The Earth does not have a fever. Carbon dioxide does not cause significant global warming.<br />The focus on atmospheric carbon dioxide grew out a study by Roger Revelle who was an esteemed scientist at the Scripps Oceanographic Institute. He took his research with him when he moved to Harvard and allowed his students to help him process the data for his paper. One of those students was Al Gore. That is where Gore got caught up in this global warming frenzy. Revelle’s paper linked the increases in carbon dioxide, CO2, in the atmosphere with warming. It labeled CO2 as a greenhouse gas.<br />Charles Keeling, another researcher at the Scripps Oceanographic Institute, set up a system to make continuous CO2 measurements. His graph of these increases has now become known as the Keeling Curve. When Charles Keeling died in 2005, his son David, also at Scripps, took over the measurements. Here is what the Keeling curve shows: an increase in CO2 from 315 parts per million in 1958 to 385 parts per million today, an increase of 70 parts per million or about 20 percent.<br />All the computer models, all of the other findings, all of the other angles of study, all come back to and are based on CO2 as a significant greenhouse gas. It is not.<br />Here is the deal about CO2, carbon dioxide. It is a natural component of our atmosphere. It has been there since time began. It is absorbed and emitted by the oceans. It is used by every living plant to trigger photosynthesis. Nothing would be green without it. And we humans; we create it. Every time we breathe out, we emit carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. It is not a pollutant. It is not smog. It is a naturally occurring invisible gas. <br />Let me illustrate. I estimate that this square in front of my face contains 100,000 molecules of atmosphere. Of those 100,000 only 38 are CO2; 38 out of a hundred thousand. That makes it a trace component. Let me ask a key question: how can this tiny trace upset the entire balance of the climate of Earth? It can’t. That’s all there is to it; it can’t.<br />The UN IPCC has attracted billions of dollars for the research to try to make the case that CO2 is the culprit of run-away, man-made global warming. The scientists have come up with very complex creative theories and done elaborate calculations and run computer models they say prove those theories. They present us with a concept they call radiative forcing. The research organizations and scientists who are making a career out of this theory, keep cranking out the research papers. Then the IPCC puts on big conferences at exotic places, such as the recent conference in Bali. The scientists endorse each other’s papers, they are summarized and voted on, and viola, we are told global warming is going to kill us all unless we stop burning fossil fuels.<br />May I stop here for a few historical notes? First, the internal combustion engine and gasoline were awful polluters when they were first invented. And, both gasoline and automobile engines continued to leave a layer of smog behind right up through the 1960’s. Then science and engineering came to the environmental rescue. Better exhaust and ignition systems, catalytic converters, fuel injectors, better engineering throughout the engine and reformulated gasoline have all contributed to a huge reduction in the exhaust emissions from today’s cars. Their goal then was to only exhaust carbon dioxide and water vapor, two gases widely accepted as natural and totally harmless. Anyone old enough to remember the pall of smog that used to hang over all our cities knows how much improvement there has been. So the environmentalists, in their battle against fossil fuels and automobiles had a very good point forty years ago, but now they have to focus almost entirely on the once harmless carbon dioxide. And, that is the rub. Carbon dioxide is not an environmental problem; they just want you now to think it is. <br />Numerous independent research projects have been done about the greenhouse impact from increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide. These studies have proven to my total satisfaction that CO2 is not creating a major greenhouse effect and is not causing an increase in temperatures. By the way, before his death, Roger Revelle coauthored a paper cautioning that CO2 and its greenhouse effect did not warrant extreme countermeasures.<br />So now it has come down to an intense campaign, orchestrated by environmentalists claiming that the burning of fossil fuels dooms the planet to run-away global warming. Ladies and Gentlemen, that is a myth.<br />So how has the entire global warming frenzy with all its predictions of dire consequences, become so widely believed, accepted and regarded as a real threat to planet Earth? That is the most amazing part of the story. <br />To start with global warming has the backing of the United Nations, a major world force. Second, it has the backing of a former Vice President and very popular political figure. Third it has the endorsement of Hollywood, and that’s enough for millions. And, fourth, the environmentalists love global warming. It is their tool to combat fossil fuels. So with the environmentalists, the UN, Gore and Hollywood touting Global Warming and predictions of doom and gloom, the media has scrambled with excitement to climb aboard. After all the media loves a crisis. From YK2 to killer bees the media just loves to tell us our lives are threatened. And the media is biased toward liberal, so it’s pre-programmed to support Al Gore and UN. CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN, MSNBC, The New York Times, The LA Times, The Washington Post, the Associated Press and here in San Diego The Union Tribune are all constantly promoting the global warming crisis. <br />So who is going to go against all of that power? Not the politicians. So now the President of the United States, just about every Governor, most Senators and most Congress people, both of the major current candidates for President, most other elected officials on all levels of government are all riding the Al Gore Global Warming express. That is one crowded bus. <br />I suspect you haven’t heard it because the mass media did not report it, but I am not alone on the no man-made warming side of this issue. On May 20th, a list of the names of over thirty-one thousand scientists who refute global warming was released. Thirty-one thousand of which 9,000 are Ph.ds. Think about that. Thirty-one thousand. That dwarfs the supposed 2,500 scientists on the UN panel. In the past year, five hundred of scientists have issued public statements challenging global warming. A few more join the chorus every week. There are about 100 defectors from the UN IPCC. There was an International Conference of Climate Change Skeptics in New York in March of this year. One hundred of us gave presentations. Attendance was limited to six hundred people. Every seat was taken. There are a half dozen excellent internet sites that debunk global warming. And, thank goodness for KUSI and Michael McKinnon, its owner. He allows me to post my comments on global warming on the website KUSI.com. Following the publicity of my position form Fox News, Glen Beck on CNN, Rush Limbaugh and a host of other interviews, thousands of people come to the website and read my comments. I get hundreds of supportive emails from them. No I am not alone and the debate is not over. <br />In my remarks in New York I speculated that perhaps we should sue Al Gore for fraud because of his carbon credits trading scheme. That remark has caused a stir in the fringe media and on the internet. The concept is that if the media won’t give us a hearing and the other side will not debate us, perhaps we could use a Court of law to present our papers and our research and if the Judge is unbiased and understands science, we win. The media couldn’t ignore that. That idea has become the basis for legal research by notable attorneys and discussion among global warming debunkers, but it’s a long way from the Court room.<br />I am very serious about this issue. I think stamping out the global warming scam is vital to saving our wonderful way of life.<br />The battle against fossil fuels has controlled policy in this country for decades. It was the environmentalist’s prime force in blocking any drilling for oil in this country and the blocking the building of any new refineries, as well. So now the shortage they created has sent gasoline prices soaring. And, it has lead to the folly of ethanol, which is also partly behind the fuel price increases; that and our restricted oil policy. The ethanol folly is also creating a food crisis throughput the world – it is behind the food price rises for all the grains, for cereals, bread, everything that relies on corn or soy or wheat, including animals that are fed corn, most processed foods that use corn oil or soybean oil or corn syrup. Food shortages or high costs have led to food riots in some third world countries and made the cost of eating out or at home budget busting for many.<br />So now the global warming myth actually has lead to the chaos we are now enduring with energy and food prices. We pay for it every time we fill our gas tanks. Not only is it running up gasoline prices, it has changed government policy impacting our taxes, our utility bills and the entire focus of government funding. And, now the Congress is considering a cap and trade carbon credits policy. We the citizens will pay for that, too. It all ends up in our taxes and the price of goods and services.<br />So the Global warming frenzy is, indeed, threatening our civilization. Not because global warming is real; it is not. But because of the all the horrible side effects of the global warming scam. <br />I love this civilization. I want to do my part to protect it.<br />If Al Gore and his global warming scare dictates the future policy of our governments, the current economic downturn could indeed become a recession, drift into a depression and our modern civilization could fall into an abyss. And it would largely be a direct result of the global warming frenzy.<br />My mission, in what is left of a long and exciting lifetime, is to stamp out this Global Warming silliness and let all of us get on with enjoying our lives and loving our planet, Earth.</div>Instauratio Catholicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08282313033668833526noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7174862703007407217.post-56307250598954131292008-06-13T08:59:00.005-05:002008-06-13T09:19:44.375-05:00They're Starting to Take Notice...<div style="text-align: justify;">Editor's Note:<br />When the mainstream Catholic media starts writing articles like this, it is a sign that people are starting to take notice. Let us pray for the success of the Benedictines here and abroad.<br /><br />From Zenit-<br />Traditional Benedictines Flourish in Eastern Oklahoma<br /><br />By Jason Adkins<br /><br />HULBERT, Oklahoma, JUNE 12, 2008 (Zenit.org).- It’s been said that when the revolution comes, you won’t read about it in the newspapers.<br />Indeed, when the history of this part of the world is written, it may point to the recent establishment of a monastery amid the rolling hills and lakes of eastern Oklahoma as an event of momentous consequence for fostering a renaissance of Christian culture.<br />On my return drive to Minnesota after living for a year in Texas, I chose to spend some time at Our Lady of the Annunciation of Clear Creek monastery where an order of Benedictine monks, known as the “Clear Creek monks,” is attempting to rebuild monastic life and Christian culture in America from the ground up -- literally.<br />There, along with sharing in the common life of the monks, I spoke to the monastery’s prior, Father Philip Anderson, about the history and mission of this new monastic community.<br /><br />Foundation<br />Father Anderson told me the Clear Creek monks’ story begins at the University of Kansas. There, a Great Books program, funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities, gave students the opportunity to encounter the culture and ideas of Western Civilization.<br />This program run by John Senior was not a relativistic one -- allowing students to pick and choose among various philosophical viewpoints -- as is common among programs of that type.<br />Rather, the success of the program resulted from Senior’s willingness to propose answers to the deepest questions, and point to Catholicism as the source of the many fruits the West has produced. Senior also stressed the importance of the Latin language as the medium through which this common civilization and its achievements were bound together.<br />According to Father Anderson, the program became wildly popular and produced not a few converts to the faith; then some prominent university donors protested and the program was shut down. But Senior spawned a small movement among students that did not end with the closure of the great books program.<br />When some students, one of whom was Father Anderson, approached Senior about how to rebuild a civilization being lost to modern technocratic society, Senior suggested the students go find some monks in Europe -- for there were few, if any, left in America -- who were living a traditional monastic life.<br />The journey eventually led Father Anderson and his companions to the medieval French Benedictine Abbey of Fontgombault, where they were welcomed and received formation in the religious life according to the Rule of St. Benedict. All along, these monks intended to return to America to establish a new monastery on their native soil.<br />The wait would last almost 25 years, concluding in 1998 when Bishop Edward Slattery of Tulsa invited the monks from Fontgombault to form a foundation community of that abbey in his diocese.<br />According to Father Anderson, building the monastery in eastern Oklahoma was the result of a fortuitous combination of an enthusiastic bishop, a Midwestern location -- close to many of Senior’s original students who could contribute to the foundation -- and the right piece of property. Father Anderson described the rocky property as “perfect for the monastic life.”<br />Since 1999, the original American monks, along with some Canadian and French brethren, have lived at the Clear Creek site near Hulbert, Oklahoma, where they have slowly -- but quickly, in monastic terms -- been building a monastery.<br /><br />Marking the Hours<br />The Clear Creek monastic life centers on liturgical prayer, particularly the Liturgy of the Hours, which the monks chant in Latin eight times a day. The monk’s life, says Father Anderson, is a life of prayer: “God exists, and we have been created for him.” Praying the hours as a community allows the monks to give constant praise and thanks to the living, creator God.<br />The monks use the traditional -- or extraordinary -- form of the Roman liturgy. Father Anderson told me that the monks believe the traditional liturgy is more suited to the type of traditional, contemplative monastic life they wish to live. It is a symbol and embodiment, he said, of the type of cultural and religious life the monks desire to preserve.<br />I asked Father Anderson how the monks financially support their quiet life of prayer and praise. He said that unlike some monastic orders that make only one product and often have to build an adjoining factory to mass produce their goods, the Clear Creek monks engage in a variety of tasks and trades. The monks earn their living by raising sheep, running an orchard and vegetable farm, and making cheese, clothes and furniture.<br />Because the monks can perform many of the tasks needed to run the monastery, operational costs are pretty low. But building a Romanesque church for their monastery, which will be able to last a thousand years, is another matter.<br /><br />"Per omnia saecula saeculorum"<br />The Clear Creek monks are raising money to build their church -- one they hope remains a landmark on the Oklahoma landscape for ages to come.<br />The monks believe their new church will be a sign of contradiction in a consumerist culture where everything is transient or can be thrown away when no longer useful. Change seems to be the only constant. The destabilizing elements in our culture are “poison for the soul” Father Anderson said.<br />The monks believe that people will always need faith and a culture that derives from that faith. According to the monks’ informational pamphlet, people “need a place in which they can reconnect with creation and with the silent center of their own being where God awaits them. The monastery is such a place.”<br />“The church will represent something permanent,” Father Anderson continued. “Architecture can have a spiritual effect on people. We hope to build something beautiful that will give value to this region and the people can be proud of.”<br />Father Anderson hopes construction on the church can begin sometime in 2009.<br />I asked Father Anderson whether the Clear Creek monks desired to rebuild civilization in America. He laughed and said that the Benedictines had “built Europe without even trying.”<br />“We focus on prayer,” he said. “We can only see the effects of our life indirectly like we see the ripples from a drop in a pond.”<br />According to Father Anderson, the work of the monks operates like concentric circles. Everything is centered on the interior life. But that has an effect on everything else, particularly the work of the monks. And the monastic way of life fosters a more contemplative way of being -- a life that explores the important questions and expresses itself through art, music festivals and literature -- that is, true culture.<br />Already, people have moved close to the monastery to share in the life of the monks, just like in the Middle Ages. Many laity and families show up at all times of day for Mass and to pray the hours with the monks.<br />Father Anderson said the diocese hopes to erect a parish nearby to assist in serving the spiritual needs of these many newcomers.<br />The Clear Creek monks already number 30, with three or four more expected to enter this year. The new residence they built is already filled to capacity and new monks will have to be housed in sheds adjacent to the monastery.<br />Father Anderson believes that the Clear Creek monks’ focus on the traditional monastic activities of prayer and manual labor, rather than following the path that many monasteries took by limiting their liturgical life in order to focus on running schools, is the secret of the monks’ vocational success.<br />As he said, “the life of a monk, hands folded in prayer, is a sermon without words.”<br />Hopefully, the story of the Clear Creek monks will inspire not only a renaissance in monastic life in the United States, but inspire teachers to be like John Senior and educate their students in truth, beauty, and goodness -- even at great professional cost.<br />With more teachers like Senior, and monks like those at Clear Creek, the possibility of the renewal of authentic monastic and Christian cultural life in America looks brighter.<br />--- --- ---<br />On the Net:<br />You can go to Our Lady of the Annunciation of Clear Creek Monastery <a href="http://www.clearcreekmonks.org/">here</a>.<br /><br />"The Restoration of Christian Culture" by John Senior (IHS Press): http://www.ihspress.com/index1.htm</div>Instauratio Catholicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08282313033668833526noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7174862703007407217.post-87668435148127871572008-06-06T14:51:00.001-05:002008-06-06T14:53:11.326-05:00Come on Down to the Farm...<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Xzp0S3yO1QA&hl=en"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Xzp0S3yO1QA&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Instauratio Catholicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08282313033668833526noreply@blogger.com0