Cardinal Withdraws

UK
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Cardinal Burke's, the head of the Apostolic Signatura, cancellation gives the public appearance of cowardice.

The Vatican message to besieged British Catholics is, "You are on your own at the mercy of those liberal bishops we appointed over you." The Cardinal has notably spoken out in favor of Catholic restoration. For whatever reason, he is manifestly unable to walk the walk and tragically we have had enough of leaders who will not lead.

I have no faith in any current member of the Church hierarchy. NONE!
I have faith in God alone, and I pray that He will send us men who are willing to spill their very blood for the true Catholic faith, without the least regard for human respect.

No matter how many trips Benedict takes, no matter how much WYD ( a waste of time in my humble opinion) is promoted, the problems within the Catholic Church will remain. I am beginning to think that this pope does not intend to seriously address the apostasy (see the above article) or the homosexual problem within the clergy.

These are overwhelmingly not pedophiles, but predatory homosexuals in the Catholic Clergy! With that correction made, there is a great deal of truth to this, as even those homosexual clergy who do not rape and seduce minors are harmful to the Church. Even those who manage to stay in the closet are unlikely to preach against this disorder and the sinfulness of acting upon it, while those who are open about it (and their superiors who knowingly allow them to stay in the clergy) set a horrible example and bring scandal upon the Church. I am at a complete loss as to why any non-homo bishop would fail to immediately remove a known sodomite from public ministry and enact whatever other disciplinary measures are needed.

And all this mushy "hate the sin but love the sinner" nonsense (not that the concept is inherently wrong, but in its most common usage) generally ends up forgetting the first part to the point that it actually becomes the opposite -- by accepting the sin and refusing to tell them to cut it out, they are actually hating these sinners. The coddlers forget (or intentionally omit) what Jesus said to the woman caught in adultery after saying that he didn't condemn her: "Now go, and sin no more." He didn't tell her merely to be more discreet about it, or that she really wasn't wrong to have done it, or to go organize an "Adultery Pride" parade; while there was no condemnation of her, there most definitely was judgment of what she did, and a warning not to do it again.
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Your Holiness,
If you really meant what you said to the youth in Croatia, why then did you cancel Cardinal Burke's extremely important mission to correct the bishops of England and Wales?

The Lord Jesus -- the Holy Father said - is not a teacher who deceives his followers : he tells us clearly that walking by his side calls for commitment and personal sacrifice, but it is worth the effort! Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI: follow Christ, without fear
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Good morning, Doina.

Rogation Monday
for fruitful seasons
www.liturgies.net/Rogation/monday.htm
First Reading: Deuteronomy 11:10-15 or Ezekiel 47:6-12 or Jeremiah 14:1-9
Psalm 147 or 147:1-13
Epistle: Romans 8:18-25
Gospel: Mark 4:26-32

Collect:

Almighty God, Lord of heaven and earth: We humbly pray that your gracious providence may give and preserve to our use the harvests of the land and of the seas, and may prosper all who labor to gather them, that we, who are constantly receiving good things from your hand, may always give you thanks; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. First Reading
Deuteronomy 11:10-15 or Ezekiel 47:6-12 or Jeremiah 14:1-9

Deuteronomy 11:10-15
For the land that you are about to enter to occupy is not like the land of Egypt, from which you have come, where you sow your seed and irrigate by foot like a vegetable garden. But the land that you are crossing over to occupy is a land of hills and valleys, watered by rain from the sky, a land that the Lord your God looks after. The eyes of the Lord yorour God are always on it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.
If you will only heed his every commandment that I am commanding you today—loving the Lord your God, and serving him with all your heart and with all your soul— then he will give the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the later rain, and you will gather in your grain, your wine, and your oil; and he will give grass in your fields for your livestock, and you will eat your fill.
or
Ezekiel 47:6-12
Then he led me back along the bank of the river. As I came back, I saw on the bank of the river a great many trees on one side and on the other. He said to me, ‘This water flows towards the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah; and when it enters the sea, the sea of stagnant waters, the water will become fresh. Wherever the river goes, every living creature that swarms will live, and there will be very many fish, once these waters reach there. It will become fresh; and everything will live where the river goes. People will stand fishing beside the sea from En-gedi to En-eglaim; it will be a place for the spreading of nets; its fish will be of a great many kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea. But its swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they are to be left for salt. On the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing.’
or
Jeremiah 14:1-9
The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah concerning the drought:
Judah mourns
and her gates languish;
they lie in gloom on the ground,
and the cry of Jerusalem goes up.
Her nobles send their servants for water;
they come to the cisterns,
they find no water,
they return with their vessels empty.
They are ashamed and dismayed
and cover their heads,
because the ground is cracked.
Because there has been no rain on the land
the farmers are dismayed;
they cover their heads.
Even the doe in the field forsakes her newborn fawn
because there is no grass.
The wild asses stand on the bare heights,
they pant for air like jackals;
their eyes fail
because there is no herbage.
Although our iniquities testify against us,
act, O Lord, for your name’s sake;
our apostasies indeed are many,
and we have sinned against you.
O hope of Israel,
its saviour in time of trouble,
why should you be like a stranger in the land,
like a traveller turning aside for the night?
Why should you be like someone confused,
like a mighty warrior who cannot give help?
Yet you, O Lord, are in the midst of us,
and we are called by your name;
do not forsake us!

Psalm 147 or 147:1-13 Laudate Domine
1

Hallelujah!
How good it is to sing praises to our God! *
how pleasant it is to honor him with praise!

2

The LORD rebuilds Jerusalem; *
he gathers the exiles of Israel.

3

He heals the brokenhearted *
and binds up their wounds.

4

He counts the number of the stars *
and calls them all by their names.

5

Great is our LORD and mighty in power; *
there is no limit to his wisdom.

6

The LORD lifts up the lowly, *
but casts the wicked to the ground.

7

Sing to the LORD with thanksgiving; *
make music to our God upon the harp.

8

He covers the heavens with clouds *
and prepares rain for the earth;

9

He makes grass to grow upon the mountains *
and green plants to serve mankind.

10

He provides food for flocks and herds *
and for the young ravens when they cry.

11

He is not impressed by the might of a horse; *
he has no pleasure in the strength of a man;

12

But the LORD has pleasure in those who fear him, *
in those who await his gracious favor.

[13

Worship the LORD, O Jerusalem; *
praise your God, O Zion;

14

For he has strengthened the bars of your gates; *
he has blessed your children within you.

15

He has established peace on your borders; *
he satisfies you with the finest wheat.

16

He sends out his command to the earth, *
and his word runs very swiftly.

17

He gives snow like wool; *
he scatters hoarfrost like ashes.

18

He scatters his hail like bread crumbs; *
who can stand against his cold?

19

He sends forth his word and melts them; *
he blows with his wind, and the waters flow.

20

He declares his word to Jacob, *
his statutes and his judgments to Israel.

21

He has not done so to any other nation; *
to them he has not revealed his judgments.
Hallelujah!]

Epistle
Romans 8:18-25
I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labour pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
Gospel
Mark 4:26-32
Jesus said, ‘The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come.’
He also said, ‘With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.’

The Rogations Are Back

France

The Rogations have been abolished by the French Bishops shortly after the Second Vatican Council. They used to ask God for a favorable climate, protection against calamities and good harvest. In many places in France they have, however, been revived due to the extreme drought, that France is experiencing currently. A similar calamity was registered in the country only in 1900. The Rogations were first celebrated in France in the year 511. They were adopted in Rome in 816.

Might Makes Right

USA

Jill Abramson is the newly appointed editor of the New York Times. She has declared that, while growing up, the Times substituted in her family for religion: “If the Times said it, it was the absolute truth” – Abramson was quoted. James Taranto of the Wall Street Journal takes that quotation as the basis for his argument that the Times is now acting like a corrupt religious institution, unwilling to admit error and zealous of protecting its own institutional prerogatives. Taranto draws a further lesson from the editor’s attitude. If there is no true authority by which the truth can be judged—indeed, if there is no recognition of absolute truth—then a society’s most powerful institutions can act without restraint. Might makes right. Propaganda substitutes for objective standards of judgment.

Scola in Pole-Position

Vatican

According to Vatican-watcher Andrea Tornielli of La Stampa, Cardinal Angelo Scola of Venice is the leading candidate to become the next Archbishop of Milan. Cardinal Scola’s name is one of three on the terna, or list of candidates, that will be discussed this week by the Congregation for Bishops. The other two prelates on the list are Bishop Francesco Lambiasi of Rimini and Msgr. Aldo Giordano, the permanent observer for the Holy See at the Council of Europe.

Cardinal Withdraws

UK

Cardinal Burke had been scheduled to speak on June 18 at a conference organized by Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice. But at the end of May he cancelled the speech because, according to him, his appearance would have been interpreted as “a direct criticism of the Bishops of England and Wales.” He pointed to a statement of Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice that “our bishops are obdurate in their refusal to allow our glorious Catholic faith to be taught in our schools.” In a reply, the group’s chairman, Daphne McLeod, voiced her regret at the cardinal’s decision. She declared that Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice has acted as a “whistleblower” to expose problems in the Church. She also candidly said that the organization has discouraged enrollment in Catholic schools because of heavy catechetical problems. McLeod quoted a young English priest: “If I had gone to a Catholic school I would not be a Catholic now, let alone a priest.”