Words of Inspiration: May 10, 2006

"The most terrible poverty is loneliness and the feeling of being unloved."

"The hunger for love is much more difficult to remove than the hunger for bread."

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Evening Prayer / Vespers

Jesus Christ my God, I adore you and thank you for all the graces you have given me this day. I offer you my sleep and all the moments of this night, and I ask you to keep me from sin. I put myself within your sacred side and under the mantle of our Lady. Let your holy angels stand about me and keep me in peace. And let your blessing be upon me. Amen.

~By St. Alphonsus Liguori (1696-1787)

Video: Fr. Lang and Dr. Laurence Hemming assist in the Incensation of the Altar at the Magnificat in the Solemn Vespers of the Exultation of the Cross. Merton College Chapel, Oxford University. CIEL 2006 Conference. Note: Vespers is the Church's official Evening Prayer for each day in the Year. For a listing of each day's Vespers, consult a Breviary.

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Andrea Clark has Died

I'm sure you remember my several posts on Andrea Clark, the woman whose ventilator was scheduled to be removed because of the hospital's ethics committee. Thankfully, the hospital reversed its decision. However, Andrea Clark has just died following a long series of complications from an open heart surgery. I'm just thankful that her final days were peaceful and that she was able to receive the care she need up to the very end.

Please pray for her soul.

Requiem æternam dona ei, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat ei. Requiescat in pace

Image Source: All Souls Day by William Bouguereau

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Pope Benedict XVI on Contemplation

Communion and contemplation belong together: a person cannot communicate with another person without knowing him. Love or friendship always carries within it an impulse of reverence, of adoration. Communicating with Christ therefore demands that we gaze on him, allow him to gaze on us, listen to him, get to know him. Adoration is simply the personal aspect of Communion.

(Pope Benedict XVI)

Image Source: Wikipedia

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Pope Benedict XVI Ordains 15 Men

Today is the 43rd World Day of Prayer for Vocations, and it is also the day when Pope Benedict XVI ordained 15 men at St. Peter's Basilica to the holy priesthood. Please pray for the these men, who answered the call of Christ.

Here is part of Pope Benedict XVI's midday address:

Dear Brothers and Sisters:

On this Fourth Sunday of Easter, Good Shepherd Sunday, in which the World Day of Prayer for Vocations is observed, I have had the joy of ordaining in St. Peter's Basilica 15 new priests of the Diocese of Rome.

Together with them, I think of all those that, in all parts of the world receive priestly ordination at the same time. In thanking the Lord for the gift of these new priests at the service of the Church, we put them in Mary's hands, while invoking her intercession so that the number will grow of those who accept Christ's invitation to follow him on the path of the priesthood and consecrated life.

This year, the theme of the World Day of Prayer for Vocations is "Vocation in the Mystery of the Church." In the message I have addressed to the entire ecclesial community for this occasion, I recalled the experience of Jesus' first disciples that, after meeting him on the lake and in the villages of Galilee, were captivated by his attractiveness and love.

The Christian vocation always implies renewing this personal friendship with Jesus Christ, which gives meaning to one's life and makes it available for the Kingdom of God.

The Church lives from this friendship, nourished by the word and the sacraments, holy realities entrusted in a particular way to the ministry of bishops, priests and deacons, consecrated by the sacrament of holy orders. For this reason, as I underlined in the same message, the mission of the priest is irreplaceable and, although in some regions there is a lack of clergy, there is no doubt that God continues to call adolescents, youths and adults to leave all to dedicate themselves to the preaching of the Gospel and the pastoral ministry.

© Copyright 2006 -- Libreria Editrice Vaticana [adapted]

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Support LifeNews

If you don't use LifeNews.com, I highly suggest you start. It's a wonderful news site that is devoted just to pro-life news, and each day users receive an email with the latest stories from the pro-life community. This is one of my daily stops.

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Video of Holy Week

Here is a link to a video from the Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish in Mass. It is a short video of the Holy Week celebrations from this parish, which celebrates the Tridentine Mass. I found the pictures stunning and the music angelic.

Check it out!

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Catholics and the Theory of Evolution

“Evolution is the creation myth of our age. By telling us our origins it shapes our view of what we are.  It influences not just our thoughts but also our actions in a way which goes far beyond its official function as a biological theory” (Dangers to the Faith: Recognizing Catholicism 21st Century Opponents by Al Kresta)

I posted the other day how a person I know attacked Catholics for what he believed was our position against evolution. A reader asked me what is the exact beliefs of Catholic concerning evolution, so I thought it would be wise to examine how Catholicism and the theory of Charles Darwin fit together.

First, we as Catholics know that the universe was created out of nothingness (cf. Dei Filius, can. 2-4; Lateran Council IV). Some scientists claim that the universe was randomly created in what they call the Big Bang. Most people don't realize that the theory of the Big Bang was first conceived by a Belgian priest named Father Georges-Henri Lemaître although he did not give it the name "Big Bang".  Yet this is one theory of the origin of the universe that has its own drawbacks in light of scientific discoveries (or lack thereof)

At Vatican I, the Church infallibly stated that everyone must "confess the world and all things which are contained in it, both spiritual and material, as regards their whole substance, have been produced by God from nothing" (Canons on God the Creator of All Things, canon 5). So, we do not believe the world was created in a random order without God's role.

The Church does not have a position on whether or not the stars and planets were created at the same time as the universe. However, when they were created they were also done so under the guidance of God. "By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and all their host [stars, nebulae, planets] by the breath of his mouth" (Ps. 33:6). The Church has also infallibly stated that the universe is finite - it did not always exist. God alone is the only one that has always existed.

With biological evolution, the Church does not have a firm position on the matter, but again, the creation of all creatures is again attributed to God. No animal or plant life form developed without God's active guidance. He is the Creator.

Concerning human evolution, the Church is much more clear on its position. We must believe as an absolute truth that the human soul has never evolved and is never passed on from our parents. Our soul is unique to us, and the soul has never evolved. Also, it is an absolute truth that we have descended from one person - Adam, from whom Original Sin has been passed down to us. This must be believed.

Pope Pius XII wrote, "The Church does not forbid that...research and discussions, on the part of men experienced in both fields, take place with regard to the doctrine of evolution, in as far as it inquires into the origin of the human body as coming from pre-existent and living matter." (Encyclical Humani Generis)

Whatever is true regarding the origins of man is true only because God has willed it to be so. God is our Master and Our Creator. The world has come into being through Him, and that is the firm truth. We can learn about God from the created world.

In Encyclical Pascendi, Pope St. Pius X in 1907 condemned Modernism, which is based on Evolution. He called it the "synthesis of all heresies". St. Pius X also condemned the idea that the Faith must be subject to current views of Science and History.

Ludwig Ott in Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma stated the following points concerning science. These are all infallibly defined and consequently are true and must be believed by Catholics.

• All that exists outside God was, in its whole substance, produced out of nothing by God.
• God was moved by His Goodness to create the world.
• The world was created for the Glorification of God.
• The Three Divine Persons are one single, common Principle of the Creation.
• God created the world free from exterior compulsion and inner necessity.
• God has created a good world.
• The world had a beginning in time.
• God alone created the world.
• God keeps all created things in existence.
• God, through His Providence, protects and guides all that He has created.

"The question about the origins of the world and of man has been the object of many scientific studies which have splendidly enriched our knowledge of the age and dimensions of the cosmos, the development of life-forms and the appearance of man. These discoveries invite us to even greater admiration for the greatness of the Creator, prompting us to give him thanks for all his works and for the understanding and wisdom he gives to scholars and researchers" (CCC 283).

Overall, the Church permits belief in special creation (the literal belief from the Book of Genesis) or in developmental creation, where God created us but we did evolve with the exceptions already mentioned above. The Church condemns belief in atheistic evolution, which claims God had no role in our creation. Atheistic evolution is a lie.

We above all can learn of God through the created world (Romans 1:20-23). If evolution is true, it is only true because God has willed it to be the method He used in the creation of the world.

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Words of Inspiration: May 7, 2006

Blessed Mother Teresa:

"Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier."

Padre Pio:

"Oh Mary, sweet Mother of priests, mediatrix and administratrix of all graces, from the bottom of my heart I beg and implore you to thank Jesus, the fruit of thy womb, today, tomorrow and forever. "

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Prayers Are Needed for Fr. McKenna

I've posted about Fr. McKenna [See this post for updates] before and his medical situation. I've asked for your prayers, and while he remains in high hopes, his condition has not improved. I received this email:

Thank you so much for your continued prayers for Father Mc Kenna. His attitude is great but he has not improved. He is allowed no visitors save the clergy and his immediate family. He has lost vision in his eye due to the radiation and the doctors are not encouraged at this point. He continues to send messages to all who pray for him that he appreciates their prayers and wishes for us to keep it up.

Bernadette

I am asking us to form a prayer group for Fr. McKenna. Please, if you can, say one Hail Mary each day for him. The Hail Mary is powerful as it is through Mary that we can reach the Heart of Jesus. Please just pray one Hail Mary a day for his health, and I know God will hear our prayers.

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