Looking back over the posts I’ve done this year, I think I made some hits and misses in reporting on the biggest stories of the 2009 in regard to events in the Catholic Church. But I think I got the top six. In order:
5. Pope Benedict’s new social encyclicalCaritas in Veritate creates discussion about world events to secure social justice — and more ludicrous misunderstanding than you can imagine.
Other stories I covered: Pope Benedict’s trip to the Holy Land and the controversy over the film of Dan Brown’sAngels and Demons. And this may be “hometown” news for me, but it does have a great impact on the Church in the U.S. as a whole: New York got a New Archbishop, Timothy Dolan.
Others - controversy over the death of Ted Kennedy and this pro-abortion Catholic’s highly public funeral Mass, the new priestly sex abuse crisis in Ireland — I sort of missed. I certainly followed them while they were happening, but didn’t have time to blog about them.
Prolife leaders are urging everyone to make this year’s March for Life on January 22 in Washington D.C. the largest ever. Our presence is greatly needed as Congress gears up to pass a so-called “health” care bill that is really an enemy to the unborn, the elderly and the terminally ill. The date that commemorates the 37th anniversary of Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton will be a great day to make our opposition to this bill heard.
I will be there and video blogging again. I’ll be attending the Vigil Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, the Blogs4Life Conference, and of course the rally on the Mall and the March to the Capitol and the Supreme Court. I’m sure I’ll have interesting footage, so be sure to check back here. I’ll have more updates and links at January 22 approaches.
Today is the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the pregnant Madonna of the Americas. She appeared 478 years ago to Juan Diego, a poor Aztec Indian on Tepeyac hill in Mexico. She told him that she was the “Mother of God, for whom we live,” and left a miraculous picture of herself on his tilma or cloak.
Rocco has more videos from across the country and videos. He notes that because of the increasing Hispanic population, this devotion is the future of the Church in the U.S.
The entire history of the apparitions and this devotion can be found here.
Here is some extraordinary video from the midnight celebrations in her shrine in Mexico.
On a visit to this sanctuary in 1999, Pope John Paul II entrusted the cause of life and unborn children to her care. In 1995 he composed this prayer.
Prayer of John Paul II for Life
O Mary,
bright dawn of the new world,
Mother of the living,
to you do we entrust the cause of life:
Look down, O Mother,
upon the vast numbers
of babies to be born,
of the poor whose lives are made difficult,
of men and women
who are victims of brutal violence,
of the elderly and the sick killed
by indifference or out of misguided mercy.
Grant that all who believe in your Son
may proclaim the Gospel of life
with honesty and love
to the people of our time.
Obtain for them the grace
to accept that Gospel
as a gift ever new,
the joy of celebrating it with gratitude
throughout their lives
and the courage to bear witness to it
resolutely, in order to build,
together with all people of good will,
the civilization of truth and love,
to the praise and glory of God,
the Creator and lover of life.
John Paul II
Pope John Paul II
Encyclical Letter “The Gospel of Life”
Given in Rome, on March 25, the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord, in the year 1995.
Today her intercession is needed more than ever.
Our Lady of Guadalupe, Queen of the Americas, pray for us!
Well, the Senate has shot down the Hyde Amendment language. The prospects for banning public funding of abortion in health care don’t look good. I’m going to try to post something about this later on.
But there is still good news out there. Live Action and Lila Rose strike again! There is some background on this video at Jill Stanek’s blog here and here.
The truth about Planned Parenthood is finally getting out there.
Sometimes it’s just so good to be alive! When Obama was elected president, I was almost in despair for the pro-life cause. Then came the nightmare of Notre Dame. Now things are looking up.
Pausing to look at all the sights on our way to Jerusalem. . . Mainly about faith, the Church, film, writing, famous Christian authors, and anything else I'm interested in at the moment.
The photo above was taken at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome in March 2007.
Quote of the Month
"The conviction that there is a Creator God is what gave rise to the idea of human rights, the idea of the equality of all people before the law, the recognition of the inviolability of human dignity in every single person and the awareness of people’s responsibility for their actions. Our cultural memory is shaped by these rational insights. To ignore it or dismiss it as a thing of the past would be to dismember our culture totally and to rob it of its completeness. The culture of Europe arose from the encounter between Jerusalem, Athens and Rome – from the encounter between Israel’s monotheism, the philosophical reason of the Greeks and Roman law. This three-way encounter has shaped the inner identity of Europe. In the awareness of man’s responsibility before God and in the acknowledgment of the inviolable dignity of every single human person, it has established criteria of law: it is these criteria that we are called to defend at this moment in our history."
Pope Benedict XVI to the German Parliament, Sept 22, 2011.
