Original post by spirituality - Google News and software by Elliott Back

Jesus Christ offers every believer His life. It is like the life of a vine whereby the branches draw their life from the trailing plant. The believer shares in the life of the Vine.

The soul of the believer is in Christ and through our vital union with Him we receive spiritual nourishment. The Christian life is like the entwined vine with every fiber “like the ivy in an ancient wall.”

The Christian is permitted to enjoy “such ravishing tastes of heavenly joys” in Christ.

Original post by mattpruett@beulahbaptistonline.org (Beulah Baptist Church) and software by Elliott Back

Original post by spirituality - Google News and software by Elliott Back

Wed Feb 28, 2007 7:47 pm (GMT -5)


Retreatants Hear of Guises of the Antichrist

Preacher Draws On Work of V.S. Solovyov

Code: ZE07022806

Date: 2007-02-28

VATICAN CITY, FEB. 28, 2007 (Zenit.org).- The Antichrist is the reduction of Christianity to an ideology, instead of a personal encounter with the Savior, says the cardinal directing the retreat which Benedict XVI is attending.

Cardinal Giacomo Biffi, retired archbishop of Bologna, delivered that message during a meditation Tuesday, drawing on the work of Russian philosopher Vladimir Sergeyevich Solovyov.

The cardinal’s meditation came during the weeklong Spiritual Exercises being attended by the Pope and members of the Roman Curia. The retreat ends this Saturday. The Holy Father suspended his usual meetings, including the general audience, in these days.

According to Vatican Radio’s summary of his preaching, the cardinal explained that "the teaching that the great Russian philosopher left us is that Christianity cannot be reduced to a set of values. At the center of being a Christian is, in fact, the personal encounter with Jesus Christ."

Quoting the work "Three Dialogues on War, Progress and the End of History," Cardinal Biffi told his listeners that "the Antichrist presents himself as pacifist, ecologist and ecumenist."

"He will convoke an ecumenical council and will seek the consensus of all the Christian confessions, granting something to each one. The masses will follow him, with the exception of small groups of Catholics, Orthodox and Protestants," he said.

The cardinal added that Solovyov says in that work: "Days will come in Christianity in which they will try to reduce the salvific event to a mere series of values."

No cross

In his "Tale of the Antichrist" Solovyov foresees that a small group of Catholics, Orthodox and Protestants will resist and will say to the Antichrist: "You give us everything, except what interests us, Jesus Christ."

For Cardinal Biffi, this narrative is a warning: "Today, in fact, we run the risk of having a Christianity which puts aside Jesus with his cross and resurrection."

The 78-year-old cardinal said that if Christians "limited themselves to speaking of shared values they would be more accepted on television programs and in social groups. But in this way, they will have renounced Jesus, the overwhelming reality of the resurrection."

The cardinal said he believes that this is "the danger that Christians face in our days Â… the Son of God cannot be reduced to a series of good projects sanctioned by the prevailing worldly mentality."

However, "this does not mean a condemnation of values, but their careful discernment. There are absolute values, such as goodness, truth, beauty," Cardinal Biffi said. "Those who perceive and love them, also love Christ, even if they don’t know it, because he is Truth, Beauty and Justice."

The preacher of the Spiritual Exercises added that "there are relative values, such as solidarity, love of peace and respect for nature. If these become absolute, uprooting or even opposing the proclamation of the event of salvation, then these values become an instigation to idolatry and obstacles on the way of salvation."

Cardinal Biffi affirmed that "if Christianity — on opening itself to the world and dialoguing with all — dilutes the salvific event, it closes itself to a personal relationship with Jesus and places itself on the side of the Antichrist."

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Original post by mattpruett@beulahbaptistonline.org (Beulah Baptist Church) and software by Elliott Back

Original post by spirituality - Google News and software by Elliott Back

Wed Feb 28, 2007 4:12 pm (GMT -5)


http://zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=103692

Code: ZE07022703

Date: 2007-02-27

On Relativism, Morality and Communication

Interview With Director of a Pontifical Academy

ROME, FEB. 27, 2007 (Zenit.org).- A positive understanding of morality needs to be restored, says Father Sabatino Majorano.

The Redemptorist priest, director of Rome’s Pontifical Academy Alphonsianum, discusses morality, relativism and media in this interview with ZENIT.

Q: In light of widespread relativism, what is understood today by morality?

Father Majorano: Morality indicates the fully human quality of our living and our deciding: a quality that does not favor one or another dimension of our lives, neglecting the others, but which tends to put into play the totality of the person in solidarity with others.

If we succeed in giving back to morality this positive and global meaning, I think that we can again rediscover its important significance.

Q: Has there been an evolution of Catholic morality or should one say that values have not changed with time and only their form has been modified?

Father Majorano: In the encyclical "Veritatis Splendor," John Paul II himself stresses that there is a permanency, a continuity in the understanding of morality on the part of the Church, but also a deepening and an attempt to re-express values in the realm of situations, of contexts and of new data.

This novelty and continuity is present at the same time in several areas of moral teaching. If we look at the development of social morality, it appears immediately with much clarity.

Q: Taking into account the controversies that, especially in Italy, have touched the Church because it is accused of meddling, such as in assisted fertilization or in de facto unions, do you think there is a religious authority other than the Pope’s moral authority?

Father Majorano: When the Pope speaks of moral problems to believers, he speaks as a religious authority and therefore uses the principles of faith. When he addresses men of good will, his argumentation is always founded on the dignity of the person and the possibility of the future of humanity and of the person himself.

I think these are the two pillars of the moral reasoning that the Church uses, including with nonbelievers. In this effort, of course, she always allows herself to be enriched by the light of the faith.

Q: In his message for the 41st World Communications Day, Benedict XVI called for the correct use of media for the moral and spiritual development of children. How can this appeal be answered and implemented?

Father Majorano: There are several elements to take into account.

The first should be a greater deontology for those involved in social communication, keeping in mind that it is an attempt to promote human growth through correct and true information inscribed in an effort of human promotion.

The second element should be a strong formation of individuals to work in the specific context of social communication.

In this way, the feedback between those who communicate and those who receive the communication can develop in a positive way.

Finally, I believe that formative agencies have an important role. Therefore, the family, school and Church must support personal maturity so as to be able to live constructively in a context in which social communication plays an increasingly important role.

Q: In November, the Pope sent a message to the Istanbul Conference on "Peace and Tolerance," with the theme "Dialogue and Understanding in the Southeast of Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia." On that occasion, he condemned "moral relativism which weakens the effects of democracy." How can the moral base be built and reinforced, which the Holy Father indicates as necessary for maintaining a stable peace?

Father Majorano: In Benedict XVI’s vision itself, it seems that the right way is that of dialogue, confrontation, not giving in to the verification of diversity.

Through more profound reading, it is possible to see what is behind diversities: a common and permanent human background which is capable of being a valuable point of reference for all.

The labored history of human rights charters is in this regard a valuable page to continue developing.

Original post by mattpruett@beulahbaptistonline.org (Beulah Baptist Church) and software by Elliott Back

Wed Feb 28, 2007 3:10 pm (GMT -5)
The January 2007 Inside the Vatican has an interesting interview with Msgr. R. Michael Schmitz of the ICRSP. He talks of the growth of the Institute, the attractiveness of the traditional Mass to the young, and speaks to the "concerns" of the French Bishops to the hoped-for motu proprio.

http://stlouiscatholic.blogspot.com/2007/02/young-people-flock-to-old-mass.html

_________________
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Original post by mattpruett@beulahbaptistonline.org (Beulah Baptist Church) and software by Elliott Back

Wed Feb 28, 2007 3:25 pm (GMT -5)
http://catholic-caveman.blogspot.com/2007/02/i-really-dont-mean-to-beat-dead-horse.html

I Really Don’t Mean To Beat A Dead Horse…

But Catholics need to know what the hell’s going on

And "hell" being the operative word. But anyhow, imagine if you will, the following;

But first, I ask you to clear your mind of any preconceived notions as to who and what this is all about. Try to look on this from the outside looking in (even though anyone with an iota of common sense has this sham already figured out).

~ There’s a conference in Los Angeles that will draw literally thousands and thousands of participants.

~ Among the speakers, there will be one individual who is a promoter of the occult “Enneagram” practice and “eco-spirituality”. He is also the founder and former director of the Center for Action and Contemplation in Albuquerque, New Mexico which holds “wild man initiation rituals” for men. At the all-male retreats, he says, men remove clothing and touch each other in “wounded areas.” This individual was a featured speaker at the March, 1997, New Ways Ministry Symposium, a pro-homosexual activist group specifically banned by the Vatican.

~ Another of the speakers is an associate professor of moral theology at Marquette University, who opposed a 2006 Marriage Protection Act that proposed to ban homosexual unions. He said, "voting ‘no’ on the marriage amendment, in my judgment, is the best way to respect all of our Catholic beliefs and values." In 2004, this individual told fellow priests the "new Church" will be “more sensuous and feminine.”

~ And yet another featured speaker is an author and a prominent supporter of women’s ordination. At the 1993 conference of the radical and excommunicated group Call to Action, this individual donned clerical vestments and staged a mock celebration of the Mass.

And as The Caveman asks rhetorically, can anyone guess what this conference is all about, and who exactly is sponsoring it?

Is it the anti-Catholic organization known as The Rainbow Sash Movement? Nahhh….

Is it the anti-Catholic organization known as Catholics For A Free Choice? Nahhh….

Is it the anti-Catholic organization known as WomenPriests? Nahhh….

Is it the anti-Catholic organization known as Call To Action? Nahhh….

Hold on to your hats… (drum roll, please) it’s the Los Angeles Catholic archdiocese hosting its annual Religious Education Congress. Big shocker, huh? But like I asked, try to look at this from the outside looking in. If you were a non-Catholic reading this, what conclusion would you draw?

I know what I think… Satan is alive and well, and definitely running the show at the largest Catholic Archdiocese in the United States of America.

But if any of you in the LA area are considering protesting this abomination, keep in mind the track record of Mahony’s Gestapo –

LOS ANGELES, July 5, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Faithful Catholics were outraged last week, when a group of young pro-life Catholics were removed and threatened with arrest at the Los Angeles Cathedral where notoriously liberal Roger Cardinal Mahony was “celebrating” a pro-abortion politician.

Original post by mattpruett@beulahbaptistonline.org (Beulah Baptist Church) and software by Elliott Back

Wed Feb 28, 2007 4:07 pm (GMT -5)
http://catholic-caveman.blogspot.com/2007/02/this-is-what-catholic-education-will.html

This Is What A "Catholic" Education Will Help Produce

…and Cardinal Maida does absolutely nothing (don’t tell me you’re surprised)

What a wonderful headline… "Catholic University of Detroit Proposing Abortion Agencies as Career Opportunities for Students"

Should I get into the gory details on how UDM (University of Detroit Mercy) aggressively places graduates in "dozens of clinical and non-clinical positions at Planned Parenthood clinics and similar organizations". Nahhh…. you can read that for yourself.

Maybe I should state how the UDM Women’s Studies web page lists under "Professional Associations" Planned Parenthood, which UDM describes as the "Best known pro-choice organization in the U.S.". The web page also links to the pro-abortion group National Organization for Women (NOW). Nahhh…. you can read that for yourself.

Should I state how UDM has not only Planned Parenthood, but also the National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL) on the university’s website links? Nahhh…. you can read that for yourself.

And in what should be a shocker to no one… how about the news flash that the UDM President - a Jesuit priest - Rev. Gerard L. Stockhausen, does not seem overly concerned by the Catholic University’s ties to the largest abortion provider in the US. Nearly a year ago LifeSiteNews.com and Catholic World News reported that a Catholic society dedicated to ensuring fidelity at Catholic colleges pointed out that UDM was linking to Planned Parenthood on the UDM website. And nothing has changed. Should I point that out? Nahhh… you can read that for yourself.

And in the most egregious move yet, for at least an entire year, both Adam Cardinal Maida and Bishop John Quinn haven’t done a damn thing. Both of these moral cowards have made the conscience decision to simply look the other way while thousands and thousands of babies were offered up as a sacrifice to Satan… BY GRADUATES OF A CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY THEY ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR!

And the faithful look to Rome, but are answered by a thunderous silence.

Original post by mattpruett@beulahbaptistonline.org (Beulah Baptist Church) and software by Elliott Back

Original post by spirituality - Google News and software by Elliott Back