Support Massachusetts National Guard 1/182nd Infantry Unit

Ranger Rosary

My friend, Ken is currently deployed in Afghanistan.  There aren't any PXs there, so he and the other troops need to rely on care packages.  If you would like to help out here is a list.  If you're wondering what the Silly String is for, it's to help to detect trip wires.

DRINKS:  Sweetened instant Kool-Aid, Lemonade, Tang, Tea, Coffee, Powdered Gatorade, Hot Chocolate, and Powdered Crystal Light.

SNACKS:  Anything Little Debbie, Applesauce Cups, Bean Dips, Beef Jerky, Beef Sausage Logs, Bowl Appetite Dinners, Breakfast Bars, Bubble Gum, Jello-O and Pudding Cups, Licorice, Lifesavers, Microwave Popcorn, Mints, Oreos, Pasta Anytime Dinners, Peanut Butter,  Pop Tarts, Powdered Milk, Pretzels, Pumpkin Seeds, Raisin, Ready to Eat Soups, Saltines, Sardines, Slim Jims, Canned Salmon, Cereal, Cheese Dips, Chips, Salsa, Pre-packaged Cookies, Crackers, Cup O'Noodles, Dinty Moore Meals, Mac n' Cheese packages, Tuna pouches, Dried Fruit, Sun Flower Seeds, Fruit Cups, Velveeta, hard candy like sweet tarts, spree, lollipops, canned cheese, packaged or canned nuts of all kinds.

TOILETRIES:  Bar soap (regular size), Body Wash, Bounce Sheets, Carmex, Chap Stick, Deodorant, Q-Tips, and disposable razors, room fresheners, Shampoo, Sun Block, Toilet Paper, individually wrapped, Toothbrushes, Toothpaste, Handy Wipes, Moisturizers, wet-naps, band-aids, shaving cream, mouthwash, baby wipes, tooth picks, dental floss, nail files, odor eaters, hand sanitizers, insect repellent.

MEDICINES AND VITAMINS:  Daily Vitamins, Tylenol, eye drops, foot powder, aspirin, Rolaids, Popto Bismol, Tums, Imodium AD, Cortisone cream, Motrin, Vitamin C, Neosporin.

MISCELLANEOUS: Paper, writing pads, peel'n seal envelopes (as gummed flaps stick together in the heat), Greeting Cards, Qt./Gal. Ziploc Bags, Chilly Willy Neck Coolers, AA and AAA batteries, pens (black ink), Mini Kleenex packs.

FUN STUFF: Disposable Cameras, Note Pads, Greeting Cards, Dice, Poker Chips, Puzzle Books, Nurf Footballs, Yo-yos, Crossword puzzles, Sudoku, Word Finds, Pocket Electronic games, balls, holiday fun items, (Santa hats, Christmas stockings, Halloween, etc.)

PERSONAL ITEMS:  Small hand towels, white tube socks cotton, bandanas (washed and softened) to shield their faces from sand.  Silly String to help detect trip wires.  Small medical kits to carry on missions.  Sturdy Combat Rosary Beads.  Bibles.

Please send them to:

SSG Kenneth Gormley
PRT Farah
FOB Farah
APO AE 09382
                                              Thanks everyone!

Vote Them Out

Image via Wikipedia

I've been reading about New York passing the same sex marriage bill.   What really bothers me is the process.  I'm not against gay people.  All people have dignity.  I don't agree with same sex marriage, but that's not what disturbs me about the states that are passing same sex marriage.

What disturbs me is that it's not the will of the people.

That's one big, fat reason, to oppose the same sex marriage bill.  Others could be Genesis 2: 24, and the Catechism Article 7, 1604.  But I don't have to quote anything religious.  It's just not right for state legislatures to oppose the will of their constituents and vote on redefining traditional  marriage.  Marriage!  The backbone of civilization!  The state is changing society.  It is trying to redefine traditional families.  How do you define social engineering?

Why don't politicians put the question of same-sex marriage on the ballot?  It's not put to the people because same-sex marriage would never pass.  So why do the state legislatures vote it in?

Money.

The Huffington Post states that well-funded gay-rights supporters helped pass the same sex bill.

 "The passage of historic legislation legalizing same sex marriage in the state of New York last Friday was owed in large part to a compelling political motivator: money."

Remember this, everyone.  Your representatives are not representing you.  They vote where the money is.
VOTE THEM OUT.

Map:
Laws regarding same-sex partnerships in the United States

  Same-sex marriage¹

  Unions granting rights similar to marriage^1,2

  Legislation granting limited/enumerated rights¹

  Same-sex marriages performed elsewhere recognized¹

  No specific prohibition or recognition of same-sex marriages or unions

  Statute bans same-sex marriage

  Constitution bans same-sex marriage

  Constitution bans same-sex marriage and some or all other kinds of same-sex unions

¹May include recent laws or court decisions which have created legal recognition of same-sex relationships, but which have not entered into effect yet.
²Same-sex marriage laws in California are complicated;

It's Official

It's announced in Zenit.  My hero, my favorite friar, priest, spiritual guru...Pere Marie Jean-Joseph Lataste, O.P. will be proclaimed "Blessed."

15 Advance Toward Beatification or Canonization

VATICAN CITY, JUNE 28, 2011 (Zenit.org).- A Mexican nun who died just 30 years ago is among the newest group of canonization and beatification causes to advance with the approval of Benedict XVI.

At a meeting Monday with Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for Saints' Causes, the Pope approved the following decrees: ;

Miracles attributed to the intercession of:

-- Mariano Arciero, Italian diocesan priest (1707-1788).

-- Jean-Joseph (born Alcide Lataste), French priest of the Order of Friars Preachers and founder of the Sisters of the Third Order of St. Dominic of Betania (1832-1869).

-- María Inés Teresa del Santísimo Sacramento (born Manuela de Jesús Arias Espinosa), Mexican founder of the Poor Clare Missionary Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament and the Missionaries of Christ for the Universal Church (1904-1981).

-- Hildegard Burjan, German laywoman and founder of the Sisters of Social Charity (1883-1933).

The Pope recognized the martyrdom of:

-- Salvio Huix Miralpeix, bishop of Lleida, Spain, killed in hatred of the faith in 1936.

-- Karl Lampert, Austrian diocesan priest and pro-vicar of the apostolic administration of Innsbruck Feldkirch, killed in hatred of the faith in 1944.

-- Josefa Martínez Pérez of the Congregation of the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul, and 12 companions, killed in hatred of the faith in 1936.

The Holy Father recognized the heroic virtue of:

-- Giovanni Marinoni (born Francesco), Italian professed priest of the Order of Theatine Clerics Regular (1490-1562).

-- José María García Lahiguera, archbishop of Valencia, Spain, and founder of the Congregation of Oblate Sisters of Christ the Priest (1903-1989).

-- Matthew Kadalikattil, Indian diocesan priest and founder of the Congregation of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (1872-1935).

-- Raffaele Dimiccoli, Italian diocesan priest (1887-1956).

-- Sofia Czeska-Maciejowska, Polish founder of the Congregation of the Virgins of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (1584-1650).

-- Maria Giuseppina Benvenuti (born Zeinab Alif), Sudanese professed religious of the Order of St. Clare (1845/46-1926).

-- Laura Meozzi, Italian professed religious of the Institute of Daughters of Our Lady of Help (1873-1951).

-- Luigia (Gina) Tincani, Italian founder of the Union of St. Catherine of Siena of the Missionary Sisters of Schools (1889-1976).

For more information of Fr. Lataste, go to this site, with a biographical timeline.   

Pope Sends First Tweet

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Talk about the media!

Using The Power of the Media

I'm sick of the media.  As I've blogged before on July 30, and September 23, 25, 30, of this year, the media will say anything to sell its product.  My first inclination is to throw my apron off and retreat to the Cape and vegetate.  But on second thought, as attractive as that may be, I feel called to do battle.  I may still head down to the Cape, but not to retreat.  I'm fighting the modern, cultural spin, to what is the Truth.  I'll do my part to expose the misconstruction and throw light on what is true.  

Cardinal Christoph Schonborn

I wrote this last Nov, upon hearing that the Pope was condoning condoms...NOT!  Anyway, I just read Fr. Tim's blog, The Hermeneutic of Continuity, where the media turned the minds of the powers that be.


What am I talking about?


In the past, Vienna had these sacrilegious Masses.  Writing to Cardinal Schonborn had no appreciable affect.  Neither did writing to the Vatican.  Petitions didn't work, either.  It was Gloria TV blasting video clips on the internet that got everyone's attention.  That worked.  As Father Tim said, " If a picture is worth a thousand words, a YouTube (or Gloria TV) is worth a lot more. You could write several thousand words to Bishops and Vatican dicasteries and get nowhere, but a short video clip buzzing around the Catholic blogosphere can be an economic way for the laity to exercise their right under canon law to manifest their concerns to their pastors."fb


uzzinga picture is worth a thousand words, a YouTube (or Gloria TV) video is worth quite a lot more. You could write several thousand words to Bishops and Vatican dicasteries and get nowhere, but a short video clip buzzing round the Catholic blogosphere can be an economic way for the laity to exercise their right under canon law to manifest their concerns to their pastors.

Related articles

• "Western Mass" stopped Deo Gratias (the-hermeneutic-of-continuity.blogspot.com)

Dominican Province of St. Joseph | Miracle approved for Père Lataste Blog | op-stjoseph.org

Dominican Province of St. Joseph | Miracle approved for Père Lataste Blog | op-stjoseph.org

Yes, finally what we Dominicans have been praying for --  B16 has approved a miracle for Pere M. Jean-Joseph Lataste, O.P.  Pere Lataste is known for founding the Dominican Sisters of Bethany.  We who follow his spirituality are excited.

 It is a spirituality that is understood in the context of redemption, particularly through Jesus Christ, in the death He suffered after being taken prisoner from the Garden of Gethsemane. It is a spirituality that directs preaching to challenging situations of despair, into offering hope through redemption. Here is where the Word of God is to be announced, especially to the prisons, where our Messiah was sent "to proclaim liberty to prisoners." (Luke 3:18)

Something I wrote for Facebook.

Kindness

Kindness is something I continually work on.  I really don't think that I'm an unkind person; it's just that I'm not focused on others.  I don't notice the name tag on the cashier.  I don't see that you're having difficulty doing something. I don't hear what your want.

I'm thinking of something else.

And that's not necessarily thinking of myself.  I may be trying to think of ways to help someone.

Maybe I'm rationalizing.  Anyway, I struggle with this.

This morning I witnessed kindness personified.  I observed a cashier say something nice to every single person he encountered.  At first, I thought that the person he was "chit chatting" with was a friend.  But he carried on a constant patter with everyone.  Also, I observed his customers' reactions.  Everyone he met came away smiling.

Even me.

Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.  Matt. 25:34-6,40