Pope John Paul II - A Saint for Our Times

Sunday’s Beatification Will Be of a Holy Pope Who Began the Fightback Against the Smoke of Satan

It will take 100 years to recover from the 1960s and 70s: but John Paul set us back on course
 

From The Catholic Herald (UK)

By William Oddie

We have short memories; we take our recent history too easily for granted. Few people, it seems – at least among those who imply that the problems we still face as a Church were actually Pope John Paul’s fault – remember the state of the Catholic Church at the end of the reign of the unhappy Pope Paul VI, during which forces of disintegration were unleashed within the Church which brought it to the edge of losing all credibility as a defender of basic Christian orthodoxy.

This work of darkness was brought about, not by the Council itself, but by some of those, certainly, who had attended it. It was certainly not the work, as some still confidently claim, of a liberal pope: for if Pope Paul was such a convinced liberal, what about Humanae Vitae? What happened during his pontificate was clearly far from his intention. At a homily he preached in 1972, he is reported as saying, now famously, that he had “believed that after the Council would come a day of sunshine in the history of the Church. But instead there has come a day of clouds and storms, and of darkness … And how did this come about? We will confide to you the thought that … there has been a power, an adversary power. Let us call him by his name: the devil. It is as if from some mysterious crack… the smoke of Satan has entered the temple of God.”

The Wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton

For those who may have missed it, following is complete coverage of the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton without any inane media commentary.

Republican Consultant Blasts Noble and SC Democrats for Supporting “Union Boss Intimidation Tactics” Against State Convention Delegates

 New Democrat Party “reform” still denies Democratic delegates a secret ballot

On the eve of the state Democratic Party convention in Columbia, campaign consultant and former Georgetown County Republican Party Chairman Tom Swatzel Friday sent a statement to candidate for state Democratic Party chairman Phil Noble, taking Noble to task for a blog post Thursday praising a new Democratic Party rule that will still force Democratic convention delegates this weekend to identify themselves by name when voting for party officers.

“Phil, you claim – apparently with a straight face -- that a new Democrat Party ‘reform’ requiring that all convention ballots must be signed to be counted will prevent the voter intimidation and strong arm tactics you admit rank and file Democrats have had to endure at their past conventions,” Swatzel said. “The obviously misleading nonsense of such a claim shows just how out of touch current Democrat Party bosses and even alleged ‘reformers’ such as you are with the actual democratic values of South Carolinians.”

Swatzel pointed out in his statement that “consistent with the state Democratic party’s own internal intimidation tactics, party officials last year opposed a state constitutional amendment – supported by 86 percent of voters nonetheless on the November ballot -- that constitutionally guaranteed South Carolinians the right to vote by secret ballot when voting in the workplace on whether to be represented by a labor union.”   

A Preview of the Music Selected for the Royal Wedding

Prince William and Miss Catherine Middleton have announced a beautiful selection of music for their Wedding Service consisting of the greatest composers and traditional British choral music, including hymns often featured on this website. 

There will be two choirs, one orchestra, and two fanfare teams, including the Choir of Westminster Abbey, the Chapel Royal Choir, the London Chamber Orchestra, the Fanfare Team from the Central Band of the Royal Air Force, the State Trumpeters of the Household Cavalry comprised of both the Band of the Life Guards and the Band of the Blues and Royals.

Before the Service

The music before the Service will begin with a selection of organ pieces: Fantasia in G (Piece dorgue a 5) by Johann Sebastian Bach, followed by Veni Creator Spiritus by the Master of The Queens Music, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies; Prelude on St. Columba Op. 28 by Sir Charles Villiers Stanford and Sonata for Organ Op. 28 (Allegro maestoso and Allegretto) by Edward Elgar.

Following this will be seven orchestral pieces:

Serenade for Strings in E minor Op. 20 (Allegro piacevole, Larghetto and Allegretto) by Edward Elgar.

Courtly Dance V: Galliard from Gloriana (Symphonic Suite) Op. 53a no. 7 by Benjamin Britten

Fantasia on Greensleeves by Ralph Vaughan Williams

Farewell to Stromness by Sir Peter Maxwell Davies

On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring by Frederick Delius

Touch Her Soft Lips and Part from Henry V Suite by William Walton

Romance for String Orchestra Op. 11 by Gerald Finzi

Three of these pieces Farewell to Stromness, Touch Her Soft Lips and Part and Romance for String Orchestra Op. 11 were played at the Service of Prayer and Dedication for The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall in 2005.  The Couple specifically chose these pieces for that reason.  The final piece of music before the Service begins continues the broadly British theme: Canzona from Organ Sonata in C minor by Percy Whitlock. 

Processional Music

The Service will begin with a Fanfare by The State Trumpeters of the Household Cavalry to mark the arrival of The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh.  The Fanfare will be followed by three Processionals.  For the Procession of The Queen, Prince William and Miss Middleton have chosen March from The Birds by Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry.  Prelude on Rhosymedre by Ralph Vaughan Williams will accompany the Procession of the Clergy, and was chosen for its Welsh echoes.  The Couple have selected I was Glad, also by Parry, for the Procession of the Bride.        

  

Hymns

Prince William and Miss Middleton have chosen three hymns for the Service: Guide Me, O Thou Great Redeemer, words by William Williams, translated by Peter Williams and others, and music by John Hughes.  The second will be Love Divine All Love Excelling, words by Charles Wesley and music by William Penfro Rowlands.  The third will be Jerusalem, by Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, words by William Blake.  All three hymns have been chosen because they are favorites of the Couple.

The Anthem and Motet

The Anthem, This is the day which the Lord hath made, has been composed specially for the occasion by John Rutter.  It was commissioned by Westminster Abbey as a wedding present for Prince William and Miss Middleton and will be performed by both the Choir of Westminster Abbey and the Chapel Royal Choir.  Mr. Rutter is a British composer, conductor, editor and arranger who specializes in choral music.  

The Anthem will be followed by the Motet Ubi caritas by Paul Mealor, a Welsh composer, who is currently Reader in Composition at The University of Aberdeen.

Mr. Mealors composing studio is on the Isle of Anglesey, where Prince William and Miss Middleton live. This version of Ubi caritas was written on Anglesey and premiered at the University of St. Andrews in November 2010. 

The National Anthem will be sung immediately before the Signing of the Registers.

The Signing of the Registers and the Recessional

During the Signing of the Registers, the choirs will sing Blest pair of Sirens, words by John Milton from At a Solemn Musick, music by Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry. 

Following the Signing, there will be a Fanfare by the Fanfare Team from the Central Band of the Royal Air Force.  The Fanfare, called Valiant and Brave, after the motto of No. 22 Squadron (Search and Rescue Force) was specially composed for this Service by Wing Commander Duncan Stubbs, Principal Director of Music in the Royal Air Force.

The Recessional, for the Procession of the Bride and Bridegroom, will be Crown Imperial by William Walton:  

Toccata from Symphonie V  by Charles-Marie Widor and Pomp and Circumstance March no. 5 by Edward Elgar will follow the Service:

These and many other beautiful hymns can be found at the Sunlit Uplands YouTube Channel.

  

Cardinal George Suspends Obamunist Priest, Father Pfleger

We have to wonder why the Cardinal Archbishop of Chicago would want this seriously disturbed attention hound involved in the formation of young Catholics.  Better to contain the damage done.  Pfleger should never have been ordained, and if this suspension leads to his permanent laicization, so much the better.

Father Michael Pfleger with Jesse Jackson

From Catholic World News

Cardinal Francis George has suspended the faculties of Father Michael Pfleger, the controversial pastor of St. Sabina Parish in Chicago, after the priest said that he would rather leave the Church than accept a position as a high school principal.

Obama Administration Has Not Designated a Single Violator Under Int’l Religious Freedom Act

Despite the strong urging of Washington’s religious rights watchdog, the Obama administration has not designated a single “country of particular concern” (CPC) for religious freedom violations since taking office 27 months ago.

Read More >>

Gingrich Describes 'Faith Journey' at National Catholic Prayer Breakfast

Former Speaker Newt Gingrich who recently shared his faith journey with the National Catholic Register, today delivered the following address to the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C. 

Former Speaker Newt Gingrich sings during Easter Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception Roman Catholic Church Sunday, April 24, 2011 in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

I’d like to thank Leonard Leo, President of the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast for the opportunity to be here today.

I must confess that while I have given many speeches the prospect of a convert addressing an audience with this many years experience in Catholicism is among the most daunting I have faced. Callista likes to point out that unlike her father I have not participated in enough Knights of Columbus pancake breakfasts to justify giving a speech like this.

I hope you will welcome me home and permit this relatively new convert to share a few thoughts about John Paul the Great.

Trump Accomplishes What Others Could Not

Whether the birth certificate finally presented by the Obama administration is genuine or not, Donald Trump deserves great credit in forcing Obama to do something that the Clintons, retired federal judges and attorneys could not.

One question among others remaining is why did Obama go to such great lengths and expense to withhold the document for so long?  Was it just another of his Alinsky tactics to create chaos and destabilize America and her political process?  And why does the media refuse to ask such questions and ridicule those that do? 

In the wake of 9/11, Americans are required to present birth certificates, social security cards, and other documents to obtain a drivers license.  Why should we not require such documentation from those who aspire to lead the nation?  We hope that Donald Trump will continue to ask questions about the mysterious background of this president -  a president who has a social security number issued to a state in which he has never lived, and who claims to have studied at Columbia, yet not a single faculty member or student has ever been found who remembers seeing the young Obama.

Tending the New Catholic Subculture

From Inside Catholic

By Russell Shaw

Good news. Amid statistics of continuing Catholic decline, a new Catholic subculture is visibly emerging in the United States. Unless shaped by commitment to the new evangelization, however, this emergent subculture could become a caricature of Catholicism -- a rigid throwback to the days of the immigrant Church.

All that obviously needs explaining, so let me explain.

Like Pope John Paul II before him, Pope Benedict XVI has made "new evangelization" a high priority of his pontificate. Last year he created an office in the Roman Curia to promote the effort; next year new evangelization will be the theme of a general assembly of the world Synod of Bishops. The new evangelization, he explains, is needed to deal with the situation present where "nations once rich in faith and in vocations are losing their identity under the influence of a secularized culture" (Verbum Domini, 96).

Problems with the Blogger Comment System

We have become aware recently that some comments submitted to this blog have never been received.  We are delighted to receive comments that are positive, neutral or critical, provided they are civil and not obscene or profane.

If you have left comments that have not appeared, it is likely that we have not received them.  We certainly do not want to ignore or offend faithful readers, and if it appears your comments are not being received, please drop us an E-mail at: DnCassidy[at]sunlituplands[dot]org.

We have notified Blogger of the problem and hope it will be fixed as soon as possible.

The Real Reason Glenn Beck Has a Problem with Mike Huckabee?

Let the drugs do the talking:

Tom Swatzel Schools Dem Leader in Political Basics

Tom Swatzel

As readers of this website know, one of the brightest, most effective political leaders in South Carolina is the former Georgetown County GOP Chairman and now President of his own political consulting firm, Tom Swatzel. We have highlighted Tom's extraordinary ability to use the media to his advantage and win races against the most daunting odds.

He has shown Republicans throughout South Carolina how to take on entrenched Democrats and win. One would think that after suffering so many humiliating losses at the hands of Tom Swatzel, Georgetown Democrats might have learned a thing or two along the way, or at least would know enough not to tangle with him. But like the symbol of their party, Democrats can be stubborn critters.

When Tom Swatzel launched his new political consulting firm, Swatzel Strategies, he included comments from friends and foes attesting to his political savvy and effectiveness. As former Chairman of the Georgetown County Democratic Party, Jamie Sanderson was one of those foes who has publicly acknowledged what a political master he was up against. Sanderson is quoted as saying:  

"He (Swatzel) had a playbook, he ran it and he won repeatedly.” 

Sanderson also complained about the media coverage Swatzel earned when he asked:

“Isn’t it a fair question to ask why every single press release Swatzel manifests makes breaking news or front page headlines?… What makes Swatzel’s press releases so dire, so important, so needful that it has to make the front page?”

 Apparently though, the frustrated Sanderson hasn't learned some basic political lessons -- what you say can come back and bite you, and the importance of picking your battles.

Sanderson fired off a demand to Swatzel:

Tom,

Remove my quotes. They are not intended to be a testimonial in support of your endeavors. You neverasked for my permission to use as such nor do you have my consent. Thank you.

Jamie Sanderson

Swatzel responded:

Hope you are doing well.

Your quotes are part of the public record and thus available for citation by me or anyone else without your consent or permission.

Perhaps you should seek legal counsel, which no doubt would be a newsworthy item.

Sanderson took the bait and threatened legal action:

In other words, you are saying it's ok to take snippets from a person's writing to benefit you. I got it. You may want to review Section 43(a) of the Lanham Act.

Under Section 43(a) of the Lanham Act, false endorsement occurs when a person's identity is connected with a product or service in such a way that consumers are likely to be misled about that person's sponsorship or approval of the product or service. While most of these cases arise in the context of a popular celebrity, some courts have held that celebrity status is not a necessary prerequisite for a successful false endorsement claim under the Lanham Act. See, e.g. Hauf v. Life Extension Found., 547 F.Supp.2d 771, 777 (W.D. Mich. 2008) and Ji v. Bose Corp., 538 F.Supp.2d 349, 351 (D. Mass. 2008); 540 F.Supp.2d 288, 306 (D.N.H. 2008)

And in response, Swatzel sent a copy of that Sanderson e-mail to all the media in the Grand Strand.  When Sanderson began getting media calls, he realized Swatzel had already beaten him in the media and he backed off his threats.  Swatzel underscored his point to Sanderson:

On my website your quotes from the public record are cited under the banner "What People are Saying about Tom Swatzel."

My recent news release about the launching of Swatzel Strategies said this about your quotes:

"He said the website will include a description of the new firm’s services and also testimonials to Swatzel’s past effectiveness, including from political opponents as well as allies.
              

Former Georgetown County Democratic Party chairman Jamie Sanderson is quoted as saying of Swatzel, “He had a playbook, he ran it, and he won repeatedly.”
              

Sanderson’s unintended tribute to Swatzel’s effectiveness even took the form of a complaint: “Isn’t it a fair question to ask why every single press release Swatzel manifests makes breaking news or front page headlines?… What makes Swatzel’s press releases so dire, so important, so needful that it has to make the front page?”

“Often times the best testimony to effectiveness comes from those who aren’t happy about it,” Swatzel said."

You disseminated those quotes concerning my "past effectiveness" far and wide via various blogs and in some instances, as opinion pieces in newspapers.

Are you now arguing that your words should be stricken from the public record just because I've started a campaign consulting business?

Sanderson had  been shown, once again, the very media savvy for which he had praised Swatzel in the first place.  

The moral of this story:  just because the great ones make it look easy, that doesn't mean that it is. 

Pope Benedict's Urbi et Orbi Message for Easter

“In resurrectione tua, Christe, coeli et terra laetentur!
In your resurrection, O Christ, let heaven and earth rejoice!” (Liturgy of the Hours).

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Rome and across the world, 

Easter morning brings us news that is ancient yet ever new: Christ is risen! The echo of this event, which issued forth from Jerusalem twenty centuries ago, continues to resound in the Church, deep in whose heart lives the vibrant faith of Mary, Mother of Jesus, the faith of Mary Magdalene and the other women who first discovered the empty tomb, and the faith of Peter and the other Apostles.

Right down to our own time – even in these days of advanced communications technology – the faith of Christians is based on that same news, on the testimony of those sisters and brothers who saw firstly the stone that had been rolled away from the empty tomb and then the mysterious messengers who testified that Jesus, the Crucified, was risen. And then Jesus himself, the Lord and Master, living and tangible, appeared to Mary Magdalene, to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, and finally to all eleven, gathered in the Upper Room (cf. Mk 16:9-14).

The resurrection of Christ is not the fruit of speculation or mystical experience: it is an event which, while it surpasses history, nevertheless happens at a precise moment in history and leaves an indelible mark upon it. The light which dazzled the guards keeping watch over Jesus’ tomb has traversed time and space. It is a different kind of light, a divine light, that has rent asunder the darkness of death and has brought to the world the splendour of God, the splendour of Truth and Goodness.

A Blessed and Happy Easter to All Our Readers!

He is risen! He is risen indeed!

Sermon of Reverend Franklyn M. McAfee, D.D.

Pastor Emeritus

St. John the Beloved Catholic Church

McLean, Virginia

March 23, 2008

 

Hallelujah Chorus, From Handel's "Messiah," Robert Shaw conducting the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chamber Chorus in 1987.

Homily of His Holiness Benedict XVI for the Easter Vigil

Saint Peter's Basilica

Holy Saturday, 23 April 2010

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

The liturgical celebration of the Easter Vigil makes use of two eloquent signs. First there is the fire that becomes light. As the procession makes its way through the church, shrouded in the darkness of the night, the light of the Paschal Candle becomes a wave of lights, and it speaks to us of Christ as the true morning star that never sets – the Risen Lord in whom light has conquered darkness. The second sign is water. On the one hand, it recalls the waters of the Red Sea, decline and death, the mystery of the Cross. But now it is presented to us as spring water, a life-giving element amid the dryness. Thus it becomes the image of the sacrament of baptism, through which we become sharers in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Yet these great signs of creation, light and water, are not the only constituent elements of the liturgy of the Easter Vigil. Another essential feature is the ample encounter with the words of sacred Scripture that it provides. Before the liturgical reform there were twelve Old Testament readings and two from the New Testament. The New Testament readings have been retained. The number of Old Testament readings has been fixed at seven, but depending upon the local situation, they may be reduced to three. The Church wishes to offer us a panoramic view of whole trajectory of salvation history, starting with creation, passing through the election and the liberation of Israel to the testimony of the prophets by which this entire history is directed ever more clearly towards Jesus Christ. In the liturgical tradition all these readings were called prophecies. Even when they are not directly foretelling future events, they have a prophetic character, they show us the inner foundation and orientation of history. They cause creation and history to become transparent to what is essential. In this way they take us by the hand and lead us towards Christ, they show us the true Light.

Archbishop Fulton Sheen Interviews Pastor Richard Wurmbrand

This is a an extraordinary meeting of two of the twentieth century's great spiritual figures -- one a Protestant, the other Catholic -- who were close friends and dynamic collaborators for Christ and His gospel for much of their lives.  Each drew their worldwide influence from holiness forged in the furnace of suffering.  Each brought countless souls to Christ, and continues to do so.  Their friendship is witness that true followers of Christ cannot help but be close to one another.

Archbishop Fulton Sheen, the first of the televangelists, continues to be the most influential Catholic evangelist of the past 100 years.  His books, videos and recordings remain best sellers more than 30 years after his death, and his cause for canonization is underway.

Pastor Richard Wurmbrand suffered intensely in Communist prisons for his Christian beliefs.  In the depths of brutal torture and years of solitary confinement he had a vision like that of the Apostle Stephen.  Wurmbrand wrote:

We didn't see that we were in prison. We were surrounded by angels; we were with God. We no longer believed about God and Christ and angels because Bible verses said it. We didn't remember Bible verses anymore. We remembered about God because we experienced it. With great humility we can say with the apostles, "What we have seen with our eyes, what we have heard with our ears, what we have touched with our own fingers, this we tell to you."

Pastor Wurmbrand dedicated his life to the cause of martyrs throughout the world and founded the international organization, Voice of the Martyrs. One of his many books, Tortured for Christ is a Christian classic.  We frequently post stories about Voice of the Martyrs, and our post this past week about 50,000 imprisoned Christians in North Korea makes clear that Christian persecution continues on a massive scale in our own day.

On this Good Friday, these saintly men remind us that a Christian must take up one's cross and ascend Calvary; but where the cross is, there also is the resurrection.

Good Friday and the Story of a Father's Love

Holy Thursday

Written by St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) for the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, this hymn is considered the most beautiful of Aquinas' hymns and one of the great seven hymns of the Church. The rhythm of the Pange Lingua is said to have come down from a marching song of Caesar's Legions: "Ecce, Caesar nunc triumphat qui subegit Gallias." Besides the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, this hymn is also used on Holy Thursday. The last two stanzas make up the Tantum Ergo (Down in Adoration Falling) that is used at Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.

SING, my tongue, the Savior's glory,
of His flesh the mystery sing;
of the Blood, all price exceeding,
shed by our immortal King,
destined, for the world's redemption,
from a noble womb to spring. 

Obama Declares 'There's Something About the Resurrection'

Imam Obama, who recites the Islamic Call to Prayer in perfect Arabic and has referred to it as "one of the prettiest sounds on Earth at sunset," told 130 guests from various Christian churches that "there's something about the Resurrection" of that other messiah.

Hmm.  Wonder what that could be.  Maybe his prophet, Oprah, will explain.

Kmiec’s Gospel Falls Flat in Foggy Bottom

In this predictable outcome of Douglas Kmiec's relationship with the Obama Administration, we can sympathize with how one comes to hope that the obvious is not real and how one  yields to the vain belief that if given the chance to serve, one can make a difference.  We have been there -- different time, different administration -- but the same spirit of the age, politics and human nature.  Saint Thomas More, pray for us!

From Religion News Service

By Daniel Burke

The State Department has a “rigidly narrow” view of diplomacy that neglects religion’s role in foreign affairs, a prominent Catholic ambassador charged on Sunday as he announced his resignation.

Other foreign policy experts have another name for it: Religion Avoidance Syndrome. And the departure of Douglas Kmiec as ambassador to Malta, they say, is symptomatic of a longstanding God gap in American foreign policy.

Pope Benedict was Elected Six Years Ago Today

Six years ago today a quiet, gentlemanly scholar was elected to fill the enormous shoes of his predecessor as the 265th successor of Saint Peter, Vicar of Christ and "servant of the servants of God."  

The hate-filled characterizations of this humble and holy man have melted away as the world has come to know this brilliant and gentle teacher.  His accomplishments in only six years have been extraordinary: ending forty years of liturgical turmoil with clear teaching about the hermeneutic of continuity and his motu proprio Summorum Pontificum; his clarity about the dictatorship of moral relativism which he has called the "central problem of our faith today;" the extraordinarily close and collaborative relationship he has cultivated with the Orthodox, the ongoing and historic reconciliation with disaffected Anglicans, and through them mainstream Protestantism; his stream of powerful, clear and evangelical teachings through homilies, encyclicals and best-selling books about Jesus Christ and the meaning of our lives; his curial reforms;  the quality of his appointments to the Episcopacy; and the personal example and insistence on a Church cleansed of corruption and scandal that is ever more holy and worthy of its founder, make this unassuming man a giant historic figure and  a powerful, universal shepherd.

We pray that God will grant His Church many more years under the wise and loving service of Pope Benedict XVI.  Habemus Papam!

Homily of His Holiness Benedict XVI for Palm Sunday

Palm Sunday of The Lord's Passion 

St Peter's Square

26th World Youth Day

Sunday, 17 April 2011

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Dear young people!

It is a moving experience each year on Palm Sunday as we go up the mountain with Jesus, towards the Temple, accompanying him on his ascent. On this day, throughout the world and across the centuries, young people and people of every age acclaim him, crying out: “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

But what are we really doing when we join this procession as part of the throng which went up with Jesus to Jerusalem and hailed him as King of Israel? Is this anything more than a ritual, a quaint custom? Does it have anything to do with the reality of our life and our world? To answer this, we must first be clear about what Jesus himself wished to do and actually did. After Peter’s confession of faith in Caesarea Philippi, in the northernmost part of the Holy Land, Jesus set out as a pilgrim towards Jerusalem for the feast of Passover. He was journeying towards the Temple in the Holy City, towards that place which for Israel ensured in a particular way God’s closeness to his people. He was making his way towards the common feast of Passover, the memorial of Israel’s liberation from Egypt and the sign of its hope of definitive liberation. He knew that what awaited him was a new Passover and that he himself would take the place of the sacrificial lambs by offering himself on the cross. He knew that in the mysterious gifts of bread and wine he would give himself for ever to his own, and that he would open to them the door to a new path of liberation, to fellowship with the living God. He was making his way to the heights of the Cross, to the moment of self-giving love. The ultimate goal of his pilgrimage was the heights of God himself; to those heights he wanted to lift every human being.

Our procession today is meant, then, to be an image of something deeper, to reflect the fact that, together with Jesus, we are setting out on pilgrimage along the high road that leads to the living God. This is the ascent that matters. This is the journey which Jesus invites us to make. But how can we keep pace with this ascent? Isn’t it beyond our ability? Certainly, it is beyond our own possibilities. From the beginning men and women have been filled – and this is as true today as ever – with a desire to “be like God”, to attain the heights of God by their own powers. All the inventions of the human spirit are ultimately an effort to gain wings so as to rise to the heights of Being and to become independent, completely free, as God is free. Mankind has managed to accomplish so many things: we can fly! We can see, hear and speak to one another from the farthest ends of the earth. And yet the force of gravity which draws us down is powerful. With the increase of our abilities there has been an increase not only of good. Our possibilities for evil have increased and appear like menacing storms above history. Our limitations have also remained: we need but think of the disasters which have caused so much suffering for humanity in recent months.

The Fathers of the Church maintained that human beings stand at the point of intersection between two gravitational fields. First, there is the force of gravity which pulls us down – towards selfishness, falsehood and evil; the gravity which diminishes us and distances us from the heights of God. On the other hand there is the gravitational force of God’s love: the fact that we are loved by God and respond in love attracts us upwards. Man finds himself betwixt this twofold gravitational force; everything depends on our escaping the gravitational field of evil and becoming free to be attracted completely by the gravitational force of God, which makes us authentic, elevates us and grants us true freedom.

Following the Liturgy of the Word, at the beginning of the Eucharistic Prayer where the Lord comes into our midst, the Church invites us to lift up our hearts: “Sursum corda!” In the language of the Bible and the thinking of the Fathers, the heart is the centre of man, where understanding, will and feeling, body and soul, all come together. The centre where spirit becomes body and body becomes spirit, where will, feeling and understanding become one in the knowledge and love of God. This is the “heart” which must be lifted up. But to repeat: of ourselves, we are too weak to lift up our hearts to the heights of God. We cannot do it. The very pride of thinking that we are able to do it on our own drags us down and estranges us from God. God himself must draw us up, and this is what Christ began to do on the cross. He descended to the depths of our human existence in order to draw us up to himself, to the living God. He humbled himself, as today’s second reading says. Only in this way could our pride be vanquished: God’s humility is the extreme form of his love, and this humble love draws us upwards.

Psalm 24, which the Church proposes as the “song of ascent” to accompany our procession in today’s liturgy, indicates some concrete elements which are part of our ascent and without which we cannot be lifted upwards: clean hands, a pure heart, the rejection of falsehood, the quest for God’s face. The great achievements of technology are liberating and contribute to the progress of mankind only if they are joined to these attitudes – if our hands become clean and our hearts pure, if we seek truth, if we seek God and let ourselves be touched and challenged by his love. All these means of “ascent” are effective only if we humbly acknowledge that we need to be lifted up; if we abandon the pride of wanting to become God. We need God: he draws us upwards; letting ourselves be upheld by his hands – by faith, in other words – sets us aright and gives us the inner strength that raises us on high. We need the humility of a faith which seeks the face of God and trusts in the truth of his love.

The question of how man can attain the heights, becoming completely himself and completely like God, has always engaged mankind. It was passionately disputed by the Platonic philosophers of the third and fourth centuries. For them, the central issue was finding the means of purification which could free man from the heavy load weighing him down and thus enable him to ascend to the heights of his true being, to the heights of divinity. Saint Augustine, in his search for the right path, long sought guidance from those philosophies. But in the end he had to acknowledge that their answers were insufficient, their methods would not truly lead him to God. To those philosophers he said: recognize that human power and all these purifications are not enough to bring man in truth to the heights of the divine, to his own heights. And he added that he should have despaired of himself and human existence had he not found the One who accomplishes what we of ourselves cannot accomplish; the One who raises us up to the heights of God in spite of our wretchedness: Jesus Christ who from God came down to us and, in his crucified love, takes us by the hand and lifts us on high.

We are on pilgrimage with the Lord to the heights. We are striving for pure hearts and clean hands, we are seeking truth, we are seeking the face of God. Let us show the Lord that we desire to be righteous, and let us ask him: Draw us upwards! Make us pure! Grant that the words which we sang in the processional psalm may also hold true for us; grant that we may be part of the generation which seeks God, “which seeks your face, O God of Jacob” (cf. Ps 24:6).   Amen.

Christ's Continuing Passion: 50,000 Christians Imprisoned in North Korea

As Christians relive the passion and death of our Lord during this Holy Week, it is good to remember that those who walk with Christ also walk the road to Calvary, and that the sufferings of Christ continue through time for His Mystical Body, the Church.  

In addition to torture and martyrdom occurring in most Islamic countries, the FIDES news agency reported this week that more than 50,000 of North Korea's 400,000 Christians are being held in prison camps.  During these solemn, holy days, let us remember all of our Korean Christian brothers and sisters in prayer, and thank God that the enemy can never extinguish from their hearts "the burning flame of faith."

Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion

Choir of King's College, Cambridge - 'Ride On, Ride On In Majesty!'

J. S. Bach - St. John's Passion: Chorus 'Herr, unser Herrscher'

From the Pastor - 'Christ Enters the City'

A weekly column by Father George Rutler.

This Lent has seen in play the adage – almost a law – that the amount of time required to complete a task is equal to the amount of time available. Last year, Easter was almost as early as it can ever be, and all was accomplished on time; this year Easter is almost as late as it can ever be, and there still is a bit of a rush to get ready. But every year the Lord is in charge, while He entrusts His creation to human creatures as His cooperators in making the world anew. By the Incarnation, Christ, who is the “Word made Flesh,” led mankind, as true man, to divine glory, as true God. “God did not appoint angels to be rulers of the world to come, and that world is what we are talking about. . . . As it was His purpose to bring a great many of His sons into glory, it was appropriate that God, for whom everything exists and through whom everything exists, should make perfect, through suffering, the leader who would take them to their salvation” (Hebrews 2:5, 10).

When the Saviour announced that He would go to Jerusalem to “awaken” His friend Lazarus, Thomas volunteered himself and his fellow apostles to accompany Jesus on what they thought was a suicide mission: “Let us also go, that we may die with Him” (John 11:16). When Jesus came to the outskirts of Bethany, He was met by St. Martha, who on an earlier occasion had kept to herself in the kitchen: “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died” (John 11:21). In each instance is seen the transforming power of Christ’s love, a potency over human hearts that would come into full play in the Passion.

Today Jesus enters Manhattan as once He entered Jerusalem, and the characters in the city are the same, for cities may change but human nature does not. Whether He enters by the Royal Gates or the Brooklyn Bridge, the avenues have their cheering crowds, sullen bystanders, cynics, traitors and worshipers. The mass media may try to make sense of it, or ignore it, but the procession goes on, with its innocent children, anxious apostles and curious onlookers: “[I]f these were silent, the very stones would cry out” (Luke 19:40). There, too, with an air of condescension and irritation are the governors and judges and savants who resent this intrusion into their establishment. As Christ enters the city, He judges every personality, and this He does simply by a glance of His eye and the look on His face: His merciful presence is more wonderfully salvific and frightfully damning than any word.

Rise up, Lord, let men not be complacent:
let the nations come before you to be judged.
Put fear into them, Lord:
let them know that they are only men.
(Psalm 9:19-20) 

Father George W. Rutler is the pastor of the Church of our Saviour in New York City. His latest book, Cloud of Witnesses: Dead People I Knew When They Were Alive, is available from Crossroads Publishing.

Royal Scots Dragoon Guards - "Highland Cathedral"

Land of my fathers, we will always be

Faithful and loyal to our own country.

In times of danger we will set you free,

Lead you to glory and to victory.

Lonely the exile, o'er distant seas,

The home of their birth, gone from their eyes.

Bring back their souls o'er the ocean breeze

To the land where their fathers lie.

Reasserting Federalism in Defense of Liberty

Ken Cuccinelli was elected the Attorney General of Virginia in November 2009. From 2002-2009 he was a member of the Virginia State Senate. Prior to that he was a partner in the law firm of Cuccinelli and Day, where he specialized in business law. A graduate of the University of Virginia, he has an M.A. in international relations from George Mason University and a J.D. from the George Mason University School of Law and Economics.

The following is adapted from a speech delivered on April 1, 2011, in the “First Principles on First Fridays” lecture series sponsored by Hillsdale College’s Kirby Center for Constitutional Studies and Citizenship in Washington, D.C.

SOME FAVORITE VIRGINIANS OF MINE who inspired and crafted our federal Constitution—Mason, Madison, Jefferson, and Henry—also drafted the Constitution of Virginia. And in the latter, they included a critical statement that said, “No free government, nor the blessings of liberty, can be preserved . . . but by frequent recurrence to fundamental principles.”

Our founders well understood that our liberty could not be preserved without frequently referring back to first principles. But while they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor to defend those principles, we have often taken them for granted, as we have become complacent in thinking that government will take care of every problem.

Nebraska Bishop: Don’t Make ‘Prudence’ an Excuse to Avoid Preaching Boldly on Homosexuality

We have been debating whether we should post an article entitled "America's Worst Bishop."  We suspect our choice would surprise some readers.  As far as "America's Best Bishop," there is no debate; it has long been the Bishop of Lincoln, Nebraska, His Excellency Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz.  We thank God for his bold, clear, orthodox, and fully Catholic leadership.

From LifeSiteNews

By Patrick B. Craine

Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz

Priests should not use concerns over “prudence” as an excuse to avoid speaking boldly on the immorality of homosexual acts, says Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz of Lincoln, Nebraska.

“Caution and prudence are important, but I don’t think they should be excuses for not properly speaking when speaking is necessary or extremely important pastorally,” the bishop told LifeSiteNews this week.

He said priests may be reluctant to address homosexuality because “there’s a lot of intimidation in various places,” but he stressed that the wide promotion of openness to homosexuality in our culture demands that they present the Catholic Church’s teachings clearly. “In a culture in which this kind of activity is broadcast all over, I think it’s important that the teaching of the Church be clear and precise,” he said.

Pakistan: Hundreds of Christian Girls Forced to Convert to Islam

From Catholic World News

Citing several examples, the Fides news agency reports that hundreds of Christian girls in Pakistan have been abducted, forced to convert to Islam, and raped or forced into marriages.

“The Christian girls are the weakest and most vulnerable, because their communities are poor, defenseless and marginalized, therefore easily exposed to harassment and threats,” said a nun who hides girls who have escaped their captors. Often they do not even have the courage to denounce the violence.”

“The trend is worrying,” she added. “There are hundreds of cases a year registered, and those that come to light are only a fraction.” 

Source(s): these links will take you to other sites, in a new window.

• Christian girls, victims of forced conversions to Islam, rapes and forced marriages (Fides)

Pentagon to Senators: ‘All Your Constituencies Are Confronted by This Threat’ from Mexican Drug Cartels

A top Pentagon official told a Senate subcommittee on Tuesday that the tentacles of Mexico’s criminal organizations have reached well-beyond the southwest border into the interior of the U.S. homeland.

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