A "Q AND A" THAT I FOUND AT CATHOLIC ANSWERS TODAY...NEVER HEARD OF IT BEFORE...

QUESTION:Why do some catholics kiss their fist after they do the sign of the cross?

ANSWER:Hi.Even though they seem to be just kissing their fist, they are actually kissing a cross they make by placing their thumb perpendicularly across their index finger.
Fr. Vincent Serpa, O.P.

HERE WE BE...AT THE PARK...NEAR THE NEWFOUNDLAND FERRY...

FRIDAY FUNNIES...DON'T ARGUE WITH AN IBEX...

The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.....For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength. (1Cor 1:18, 25)

Full communion between the Orthodox and Catholic Churches is being prompted by the Holy Spirit. It is the most important development of the Third Christian Millennium and has implications for the whole world at this critical time in history. This coming communion between the Orthodox and Catholic Church will mark the beginning of the re- Christianizing of the West and a new missionary age.

Harvard Valedictorian Joins Convent

Harvard Valedictorian Joins Convent...GIVES VALEDICTORY IN LATIN...DEO GRATIAS

LAST EVENING,I WATCHED AN EWTN PRESENTATION CALLED GOD IN TIBET..ACTUALLY I DIDN'T REALIZE THERE WERE SO MANY CATHOLICS IN TIBET.THEY PROFILED 2 VILLAGES WITH 80% AND 90% CATHOLIC POPULATION.SUCH A PIOUS PEOPLE...ALWAYS ATTENDING CHURCH,EVEN THOUGH THEY HAVE NO PRIEST...THE CARETAKER TEACHES CATECHISM AND THEIR PRAYER BOOKS ARE USED AND TATTERED BEYOND RECOGNITION.A PRIEST CAME FROM CHINA ONCE A YEAR TO SAY MASS ON THE FEAST OF THE ASSUMPTION.

ON CHRISTMAS EVE...THEY HAVE A BONFIRE IN FRONT OF THE CHURCH AND DANCE AND PRAY.THEN AT 11:30,THEY ALL ENTER THE CHURCH FOR MORE PRAYERS.I FOUND MYSELF HOPING FOR THIS MIRACLE...THAT ON THIS CHRISTMAS EVE,THEY WILL BE ABLE TO HEAR MASS.

Abortion Ban Gains Support
23 August 2010
In RUSSIA...The number of Russians who support introducing a nationwide ban on abortions has doubled in a decade, reaching 41 percent, the independent polling agency Levada Center said.

The number of those in favor of a complete ban on abortions has grown from 8 percent in 1998 to 16 percent in 2010, the report said. Another 25 percent only approve of therapeutic, not elective, abortions, up from 13 percent earlier.

Forty-eight percent disapprove of a ban, down from 59 percent, while 11 percent are undecided, compared with 20 percent earlier.

The survey of 1,600 people had a margin of error of 3.4 percentage points.

He was wounded for our transgressions;he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,and with his stripes we are healed.ISAIAH 53:5

ONE OF MY FAVOURITE QUOTES...AS A COUNTRY BECOMES DE-CHRISTIANIZED...IT BECOMES DE-HUMANIZED.FATHER JOHN CORAPI

PETROMONT... ENJOYING HIS VACATION FROM THE RACING CIRCUIT...IN 11 STARTS THUS FAR THIS YEAR,HE HAS HAD 5 FIRST-PLACES,3 SECOND-PLACES AND A THIRD.HE IS SUCH A POWER HORSE...YET SO GENTEEL...HIS PET NAME IS "BIG DOG".THE TRAINER'S 10 YEAR OLD SON ACTUALLY NAPS CURLED UP ON TOP OF HIM IN THE STALL.

Father Euteneuer: Gay Marriage Is An Intrinsically Disordered Lifestyle!
And It Will Bring About the Destruction Of Western Civilization!
Father Thomas Euteneuer - So why, you ask, is gay marriage wrong? Let me count the ways.

First and foremost is because it violates the revealed Will of God as seen in Scripture. There are few things as clear in God’s revelation as the sacred institution of marriage between a man and a woman. From Genesis 1 (the marria ge of Adam and Eve) to Revelation 21 (the marriage of Christ the Lamb with His Bride the Church) God has had only one model of marriage, and it is not gay marriage. Even polygamy and divorce was done away with in the Christian Church, as Our Lord reminded all of the essence of marriage as it was “in the beginning.” This Christian view of marriage became the norm of Western society and its most basic societal unit, undoubtedly allowing the West to flourish.

A close second to this is that gay marriage distorts the very concept of parenting as well as marriage. Even if you overlook the fact that gay marriage is by definition sterile, every child of a gay marriage has to be adopted or artificially inseminated, and that in itself is a violation of the whole concept of family. In the 80s the Vatican actually said that the adoption of children by homosexuals “does violence” to the child. Pretty strong language, but true nonetheless. In its simplest terms, kids need a mom and a dad, and are forever stigmatized by being the child of a gay marriage. Kids model their lives, their concept of family, their morals and oftentimes their whole worldview on their parents’ attitudes and values. These kids get a totally distorted view of all these basics.

Third but by no means the last reason, all of society suffers because of the public endorsement of an intrinsically disordered lifestyle and practice. Yes, “disordered” is what our Church calls both the homosexual orientation and lifestyle, and gay marriage simply ratifies that disorder on a social level. In recent debates, the term “human right” to describe gay marriage and the charge that anyone who stands against it is guilty of “discrimination” are examples of these fundamental distortions. Fr. Marx was right: a society cannot long survive this kind of violence done to its basic values, and history surely shows many societies like Ancient Greece, whose rapid decline was preceded by the proliferation of the gay lifestyle and its public acceptance.

While we respect all people as they are, we don’t have to respect such a wholesale assault on everything that is sacred to us and good for our society; no, in fact, we must fight against it with our very lives. The question is not whether or not we can win the battle; the question is whether we will join it. Will we accept the challenge to defend the sacred or not? We are called to be faithful and obedient to the Plan of God for our world, and within that, God will bring forth the victory. There is no doubt that, if it is not already there, gay marriage will be coming to your state soon. If we don’t fight it, our souls, our families and basically, our very civilization, will find themselves at “the end” of the line in very short order.

PETROMONT CAME HOME TO KNIGHTSWOOD TODAY FOR A MUCH DESERVED 1 WEEK VACATION FROM THE TRACK AT TARTAN DOWNS...

THIS IS WAY TOO FUNNY...JUST WATCH AND LAUGH...

St. Lawrence

FEAST DAY OF St. Lawrence

A Conversation with Scott Hahn, Author of 'Signs of Life: 40 Catholic Customs and Their Biblical Roots' :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

A Conversation with Scott Hahn, Author of 'Signs of Life: 40 Catholic Customs and Their Biblical Roots' :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

News For Growing Christians - Putin, Medvedev celebrate new public holiday marking the adoption of Christianity in Russia

News For Growing Christians - Putin, Medvedev celebrate new public holiday marking the adoption of Christianity in Russia

‎"Prayer before the Blessed Sacrament is more powerful than in any other place because here is the Real Presence of God, just as He is in heaven." (St. Mary Magdalene of Pazzi)
‎"If we really understood the Mass, we would die of joy." - Saint Jean Vianney

St. Francis of Assisi - When Moses asked who You were, Lord God, You replied, "Tell them, 'I Am' sent you, if they ask you My name." Lord Jesus, when questioned by Your enemies who challenged Your identity as the Son of God You replied, "Before Abraham was, I Am'. They wanted to stone You for asserting that You Yourself were the One and Only God. Besides being the great 'I Am', You are so much more, especially to us who believe. And we do Believe - do trust not only in who You are but all the many many good promises of blessings You have made us, because You love us little ones of Yours. We are happy to be Yours! We trust You Jesus - Savior of the world, our Savior. Thank You Lord! Amen.

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Tradition as it was for 2000 years and still going strong. May the beauty of Tradition continue to bring in souls to the Church. Amen.

A Deeper Look at the Many Evangelicals Turning Catholic


Is there a growing trend of Evangelicals converting to Catholicism? Many think so, including this recent article:

There is a large community of young believers whose frustration with the lack of authority, structure, and intellectualism in many evangelical churches is leading them in great numbers to the Roman Catholic Church. This trend of “Crossing the Tiber” (a phrase that also served as the title of Stephen K. Ray’s 1997 book on the phenomenon), has been growing steadily for decades, but with the help of a solid foundation of literature, exemplar converts from previous generations, burgeoning traditional and new media outlets, and the coming of age of Millennial evangelicals, it is seeing its pace quicken dramatically.

The article gives the example of many such notable Evangelical converts from our generation, such as Scott Hahn, Marcus Grodi, Thomas Howard, Francis Beckwith and others. (It also mentions Patrick Madrid, but he is actually not a convert, from what I understand.)

The common threads that seem to be drawing many of these Evangelicals into the Catholic Church are its history, the Liturgy and its tradition of intellectualism.

So is this trend significant? Or is it dwarfed by what seems to be many more Catholics who seem to lose their faith or become complacent with it?

According to a 2009 Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, four people leave the Catholic Church for every one person that joins it. Keep in mind that this stat doesn’t count those born into Catholicism as “joining” it. However, it’s still a sad statistic. But we shouldn’t be misled by it.

There are also studies that show Catholicism has a higher rate of retention than all other religious groups. In other words, when people convert to Catholicism, they don’t do so because they didn’t like where they were and just wanted to try something new. Their conversion is deliberate and intentional and they generally stick with it. On the other hand, when people leave the Church, they generally drift around a bit from one denomination to another. This says a lot. The Catholic convert is actually experiencing real, lasting conversion. Those leaving the Church seem to be lost and searching souls that most likely had no idea what they were leaving in the first place.

I’ve long noticed, as have many others, a kind of trend as well. It’s not so much from “Evangelicals” converting to Catholicism necessarily. It’s that of intellectuals converting to Catholicism. And that’s not to say these intellectuals were strictly intellectual. But I mean it to say that they took their reasons for believing very seriously. We only have to look back a few generations to find Chesterton, Merton, Newman, etc. as part of the same trend.

In my own experience, I’ve seen that more people who convert to Catholicism do so on account of their reason. Whereas those that leave the Church do so based on some emotion or negative experience associated with the Church.

When I ask an evangelical why they left the Church. The answer is almost always an emotion. Something made them feel a certain way. Or they just didn’t like the way something was done in Catholicism. Or it didn’t suit their lifestyle. Or some other experience made them feel nice.

There is a long list of protestant (and other) leaders and scholars who have converted to Catholicism. The list for those going the other direction is devastatingly short.

This is why I think we are seeing, and will continue to see even more, protestant thinkers converting to Catholicism. Protestantism is running its course. All the protest is getting tired. And they are running out of places to find answers that don’t lead them deep into Church history, back to the ancient liturgy, and into the intellectual tradition that ultimately leads to one place: Rome.

Protestantism has drifted far enough away from orthodox Christianity that it can now look back at the trees and recognize the forest. And if you’re not entirely in the Catholic Church, that just might be the next best place to be…

“There are two ways of getting home; and one of them is to stay there. The other is to walk round the whole world till we come back to the same place; and I tried to trace such a journey in a story I once wrote. It is, however, a relief to turn from that topic to another story that I never wrote. Like every book I never wrote, it is by far the best book I have ever written. It is only too probable that I shall never write it, so I will use it symbolically here; for it was a symbol of the same truth. I conceived it as a romance of those vast valleys with sloping sides, like those along which the ancient White Horses of Wessex are scrawled along the flanks of the hills. It concerned some boy whose farm or cottage stood on such a slope, and who went on his travels to find something, such as the effigy and grave of some giant; and when he was far enough from home he looked back and saw that his own farm and kitchen-garden, shining flat on the hill-side like the colours and quarterings of a shield, were but parts of some such gigantic figure, on which he had always lived, but which was too large and too close to be seen. That, I think, is a true picture of the progress of any really independent intelligence today; and that is the point of this book.

The point of this book, in other words, is that the next best thing to being really inside Christendom is to be really outside it. ” - G. K. Chesterton (Everlasting Man)

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And he was transfigured before them. And his face did shine as the sun: and his garments became white as snow.Matthew 17:2

Pope Benedict hoped to be a librarian on Independent Catholic News

Pope Benedict hoped to be a librarian on Independent Catholic News

Prayer To Our Lady Of Surprises

O, Mary my mother and Our Lady of surprises,
what a happy joy you caused the wedding guests, when you asked your Divine Son
to work the miracle of water into Wine
What a happy surprise for them, since they
thought the wine had run dry, I too Mary,
love surprises, and as your child,
may I ask you to favour me with one today.
I ask this only because you are
my ever caring Mother, Amen.

St. Francis' Prayer Before the Crucifix

Most High
glorious God,
enlighten the darkness
of my heart.
Give me right faith,
sure hope
and perfect charity.

Fill me with understanding
and knowledge
that I may fulfill
your command.

DOWN A COUNTRY (KNIGHTSWOOD) LANE

POPPY PETE, MATTMAN AND SABETH...THOSE KIDLETS...EVEN THOUGH THEY ARE CITY SLICKERS,THEY ARE COUNTRY BUMPKINS AT HEART.THEY LOVE TO FEED AND WATER THE HORSES...MUCKING OUT STALLS...NOT SO MUCH!

"Give me an army saying the Rosary and I will conquer the world."
-Pope Pius IX

Hear Mass daily; it will prosper the whole day. All your duties will be performed the better for it, and your soul will be stronger to bear its daily cross. The Mass is the most holy act of religion; you can do nothing that can give greater glory to God or be more profitable for your soul than to hear Mass both frequently and devoutly. It is the favorite devotion of the saints. -- St. Peter Julian Eymard
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An Obituary printed in the London Times - Interesting and sadly rather true.



Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape.

He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as:

- Knowing when to come in out of the rain;
- Why the early bird gets the worm;
- Life isn't always fair;
- and maybe it was my fault.

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge).

His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.

Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children. It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an aspirin to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.

Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims. Common Sense took a
beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.

Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement. Common Sense was preceded in death, by his parents, Truth and Trust, by his wife, Discretion, by his daughter, Responsibility, and by his son, Reason.

He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers; I Know My Rights, I Want It Now, Someone Else Is To Blame, and I'm A Victim

Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone. If you still remember him, pass this on. If not, join the majority and do nothing.