Wednesday, March 31, 2010

I learned a Lesson from this I sure miss this bishop

TORONTO • Roman Catholics should not try to minimize the current crisis facing the Church by making reference to the small percentage of abusive priests in their midst or dismissing reports about scandal as media exaggeration, Thomas Collins, the Archbishop of Toronto, said yesterday.

“We cannot escape the horror of this by pointing out that almost all priests serve faithfully — though that fact is a grace that gives joy to the Catholic people,” Archbishop Collins said in a homily. “But even one priest gone wrong causes immense harm, and throughout the world priests have done unspeakable evil.”

Archbishop Collins, who oversees the largest diocese in Canada, was speaking at a mass at St. Michael’s Cathedral at which 400 priests renewed their vows as part of the Easter season. While most of his 15-minute sermon addressed the “life of faithful service” that most priests live, he made a point of reminding those in attendance of the higher moral standard to which they have been called.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Holy Father-Pope Benedict VXI


Finally one more topic for tonight -the Holy Father.

Pedophile priests -are scum of the earth but let’s put perspective on this. The percentage of sexual abuse from clergy is 2-4 % overall while sexual abuse from other profession such as teachers is much higher- I have seen figures up to 10 %. Yet one would conclude after reading the papers that all priests, and sometimes-only priests, are pedophiles.

To her everlasting shame the church was slow to respond to this problem-but the vicious attacks this week in the NYT against Pope Benedict VXI are not based in fact. The reporting of the last week about what the Holy Father did or did not know or did or did not do seems like a concerted attack on a man who has responded to this crisis with a decisive and clear response-to both abuser-enablers-and victims.

Therefore I ask my catholic brethren-please in Christ's name pray for our Church -She needs to clean house and account for these hideous priests- please please pray for the victims whose suffering we cannot imagine.

We are all one body as such when one part of the body suffers all of the body suffers. So let’s pray together and do penance for those who cannot not or will not for the hideous sins that have harmed so many people-first and foremost the victims of abuse- the innocent priests marred by the scandal- the church as a whole.

Please let us unite in prayer for our Holy Father who is obviously under a willful and planned attack, in my humble estimation.

Mothers- I am not sure how you all are handling the issue with children who are of age. I personally try to be as honest as possible. I put the picture in perspective- as I mentioned previously- the church is not the only institution dealing with this hideous crime but by media accounts one would think she is- having said this -without vivid detail- I do not minimize the horrendous consequences of the crime when discussing this with age appropriate children.

I have included some links from articles I found enlightening. Disclosure- they are bias in favor of the Pope but they are also quite objective.

Some of these links you may have to copy and paste but they are worth the read in my opinion.

DiMarzio: "Enough is enough!"

Reports blaming Pope for mishandled sex abuse case are inaccurate, Church judge reveals

To Whom Shall We Go? « The Gospel in the Digital Age

THANK YOU, CARDINAL RATZINGER

"Culture Changes in the Church"

http://www.nationalpost.com/opinion/columnists/story.html?id=a9a4cd05-0934-4b32-a3f8-2ba97da935b3&p=2

PASTORAL LETTER
OF THE HOLY FATHER
POPE BENEDICT XVI
TO THE CATHOLICS OF IRELAND

http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/letters/2010/documents/hf_ben-xvi_let_20100319_church-ireland_en.html

If anyone has read my musings tonight- I say Adios- Bon Nuit and God Bless You

if I am writing to myself, in that case I will bless myself and off to bed. :-)




Holy Week

Daddy's girls after making daddy's homemade noodle recipe
Daddy's girl-learning how to make Daddy's homemade noodle recipe

I would like to comment on Holy Week. In our Family we had toast each Friday as a family fast for lent. The toast was not limited and the children could put whatever they wanted on their toast but our supper consisted of toast. For holy Week we are trying to eat simply and eat until we are satisfied but not full or stuffed.

This has meaning considering that my husband is a great cook. He does the cooking in our house. Since his early retirement we eat quite well thank you. (He also hunts for our food-another topic for another time) Mealtime always consists of meat, vegetables, potatoes, and appetizers. Plus he is quite creative so the food is tasty. Not only does he cook he also serves the children who receive full plates of food- in short they eat very well but not gluttons. Back to the toast- the idea is not new in our family but it had been forgotten and put aside for many years. When our older children were younger we had toast Fridays during lent-this was in the days when mom cooked supper-so I loved lent Fridays. Lol

This year we reinstated toast Friday for lent with the younger children. It has been such a great family fast for lent. The exception was The Feast of St. Joseph. (Very important Saint in our home- another story for another time) I went to Safeway and purchased a big beautiful $25.00 cake marked down to $5:00- they kindly wrote with St. Joseph with icing . I purchased special food-strawberries- chicken wings-luncheon meats ,special buns-and so forth-which the children loved and profusely thanked dad for , with their mouths full of food.( It did not occur to them that mom had anything to do with the supper, considering I don’t cook.) This was truly a feast because it was Friday- a solemnity -considering we had been eating toast on Fridays for three weeks. Interesting side note- the initial reaction from the children that we could break our fast was disappointment. There is something about occasionally denying ourselves that brings satisfaction even for children.

If anyone happens to read this please shares your family devotions for lent-I would love to hear them.


Whatever shall I blog about ?

I have been pondering the idea of blogging for many months but I ask myself "what on earth will you blog about? "

I answer myself "I really have no idea" - Next thought-"surely you have something to blog about your oldest child is 23 the youngest is 16 months and 12 in between. You are finishing a theology Degree-you have worked with inner city prostitutes and worn numerous hats as a professional. I have been a UN observer"

Still no real concrete ideas. My greatest accomplishment by far is being a mother...so that is where I hope this all leads. I hope I can share the joys-the insecurities- the unending LOVE -the fun the worries-everything that affects a mother.

Oh not to forget opinions-I can be quite opinionated...and love a great debate.

This is the beginning. Maybe it will grow into a small community of like minded people or maybe I will talk to myself-or in this case write- I have plenty of practice talking to myself.

For now this is the beginning--- WELCOME!

Followers