Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Rome's La Sapienza University's Professor Ana Foa is a leading Jewish Italian intellectual.

Opines on Pope Benedict's coming visit to the Synagogue of Rome.

"There Is A Very Difficult Journey Ahead"



A loose, free - wheeling adaptation of snippets from her original article in the December 2009 edition of Inside The Vatican magazine.


"Before John Paul II visited the Synagogue of Rome, solemnly received by the whole rabbinate on April 13, 1986, Popes did not visit Jews in the synagogue.

"It is true that the Church has never accepted the transformation of synagogues into churches by violent means, yet Vincent Ferrer -- who entered the synagogue in Toledo brandishing the cross and turned it into the Church of Santa Maria La Blanca -- was canonized."


But nowadays, since Pope John Paul II's historic visit...


"If we are able to continue this journey down to the theological origins of the separation between the two worlds [of Jews and Christians], Benedict XVI's visit to the Synagogue of Rome will not only confirm what has been achieved so far, but also start a radical change in Christian - Jewish relations."


Amen to that, sister!

A good read, in a fine magazine -- INSIDE THE VATICAN -- subscribe today! :)

St. Mary Magdalene's last Tuesday evening Mass for 2009 was well - served.



Tuesday, December 29, 2009. 5:30 p.m. Mass. Fr. Pius Ezeigbo & the Rev. Mr. Joe Goebel, Deacon w/ TEAM Mr. Johnny López + un cuatito desempeñoso -- as Altar Servers.

Special to UTEP's hardworking Student Publications professionals!

And in particular The UTEP Prospector's contingent:

Kathy.

Veronica.

Maricela.

Isabel.

Happy New Year Everyone!!

¡Ora, UTEP!

¡Ora, MEChA!

¡Adelante, DESTINO!



Tuesday, December 29, 2009

"Will Benedict XVI Visit Vietnam in January 2011?"

And after Vietnam, China?



Brief adaptation from Gerard O'Connell's article published by Inside The Vatican magazine, December 2009.


"The Vietnamese bishops, who met with the Pope in June, hope to see him in their country during a Jubilee Year proclaimed by the Church in Vietnam, And after Vietnam, China?

"When I put this question to Cardinal Jean - Baptiste Pham Minh Man, the archbishop of Than - Pho Ho Chi Minh (formerly Saigon) in mid - November, he smiled and responded, It is our hope, it is our wish.

"He recalled how before the Vietnamese bishops came to Rome last June for their ad limina visit, a senior official of the government's Bureau for Religious Affairs contacted the archbishop of Ha Noi, Msgr. Joseph Ngo Quang Kiet, who is also secretary general of the bishops' conference, and told him, Remember to invite the Pope to Vietnam! "

Sounds like a fine 'ole suggestion to me, hope both sides can work together to pull it off! :)


Show - up Altar Server Honor Roll for Christmas Mass!


Friday, December 25, 2009. Christmas Day 2009. 10:30 a.m. Mass. TEAM Mr. Johnny López más un cuatito.


Plus end of year Triple Header for Saturday & Sunday!


Saturday, December 26, 2009. 5:30 p.m. Mass. Team Mr. Justin Gallegos.

Sunday, December 27, 2009. 8:00 a.m. Mass. Team Ms. Brittney Castilla.

Sunday, December 27, 2009. 10:30 a.m. Mass. Team Mr. Jerry Lee DeHoyos + Ms. Danielle Gerardo más un cuatito.

Members of Saint Mary Magdalene's Palace Guard now scheduled to take on next year's evil doers, too! :)


Last 2009 Saturday - Sunday Parish Bulletin says it all:


"The Collection Counters for January 3, 2010


"Mike and Twilley Young, Shirley Donaldson, Patti Hidalgo"


Way to go good people! :)


Let our parishes Nimble - Fingered Brother & Sister Hoods Beware! :)

December 29. Feast Day of Saint Thomas Becket.

Monday, December 28, 2009

December 28. Feast Day of the Holy Innocents.

Before we had mass Abortion on Demand, we had mass Infanticide on Command...



Tough African Cardinal talks straight!

"If God wishes to see a black man also as Pope, thanks be to God!"


Cardinal Peter Turkson of Ghana.



Adapted from Micaela Biferali's article, African Cardinal Comes to Rome.

It was published by Inside the Vatican magazine, December 2009.

"One of the leading African cardinals, Peter Turkson of Ghana, will succeed Cardinal Renato Martino as head of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.

"A background report on this rising prelate...

"In an early October press conference, Cardinal Peter Turkson whether he thought the next pope could be black, and the cardinal responded by saying, Why not? If God would wish to see a black man also as Pope, thanks be to God!


"When a journalist asked Turkson what was one change he would make in the Church, he said: More attention to priestly formation.

"He said he has ordained about 35 priests in recent years from his diocese, and that he allows each priest to take a sabbatical year after finishing his studies, but before ordination.

"[H]e told us, We don't follow them everywhere. But we do observe their lives from a distance. If a man says he wishes to be a priest and then during that year he stops attending Sunday Mass, then we have a question about the depth of his vocation....

"Cardinal Turkson is able to speak English, Fante, French, Italian, German and Hebrew, in addition to understanding Latin and Greek.

"He is the fourth of 10 children and his African name, Kodwo, means Monday in his native language; the local tradition is to name each child by the day of the week on which he or she is born.

"During the October 4 - 25 second special Synod of Bishops for Africa [in Rome], Turkson served as the synod's recording secretary, a key role many had already seen as a clear sign of papal favor.

"In 2009, he defended the controversial comments by Pope Benedict XVI that condoms were not a solution to Africa's AIDS crisis and were taken out of context by the media.

"During the [October 2009] synod, speaking about condoms, he told journalists that condoms are unreliable in preventing the transmission of the HIV virus and said they may even facilitate the spread of the disease by giving people a false sense of security and thereby fostering promiscuity..."

Good article! :)







Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Merry Christmas Everyone!!

Even Tuesday's 5:30 p.m. Mass this week fully supported.

By Brackettville, Texas' Saint Mary Magdalene's Altar Servers' Group!


Tuesday, December 22, 2009. 5:30 p.m. Mass. TEAM Ms. Brittney Castilla.

December 23. Feast Day of Saint John of Kanty.

Father Sunil De Silva, Archdiocese of Colombo -- Sri Lanka website:

"Prepare A Way Of The Lord"



Elephants attack in Orissa exactly after one year of persecutions...


"[T]hey rampaged through non - Christian homes, singling out the homes of persecutors, leaving Christian homes untouched...."

The elephants are not ordinary elephants; they appear to be on a mission...



[Originally posted by Father De Silva -- 09.12.2009. email:

sunilde@sitnet.lk .]




So, in India anyway even the wild elephants seemed to have "got the word."

Albeit some months in advance....

A free - form adaptation from this official website:


www.archdioceseofcolombo.com/news.php?id=851


"In July 2008 a severe persecution of Christians broke out in the Indian state of Orissa.

"A 22 year old nun was burnt to death when angry mobs burnt down an orphanage in Khuntpali village in Barhgarh district, another nun was gang raped in Kandhamal, mobs attacked churches, torched vehicles, houses of Christians [were] destroyed, and Fr. Thomas Chellen, director of the pastoral center that was destroyed with a bomb, had a narrow escape after a Hindu mob nearly set him on fire.

"The end result saw more than 500 Christians murdered, and thousands of others injured and homeless after their houses were reduced to ashes.

"Recently a strange and dramatic event took place in Orissa, which has many people talking and wondering.

"In recent months, herds of wild elephants have began to storm villages that are home to some of the worst persecutors of Christians during the troubles.

"In one village, where in August a year ago the Christians had to run for their lives while their homes were being destroyed by rioters, a herd of elephants emerged from the surrounding jungle exactly one year later, in July 2009, at the same time of the day of the attack.

"These elephants first attacked a rock crusher machine owned by a key leader of the persecution movement.

"They then went on to destroy his house and farms."

And by now, or at least by 09.12.09:

"Over 2,500 people living in 45 villages have been affected by the attacks, district chief Krishen Kumar said.

"Typically, smaller elephants enter a village first, appearing to survey the community.

"They then rejoin the larger herd, and larger elephant[s] soon follow and get the job done.

"The ministry partner in India stated: We think that it might have something to do with the avenging [of] the blood of martyrs. In fact the fear of God has fallen on the local people, who have labeled these elephants Christian elephants..."

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

"What is the emptying of Christ that I read about in Paul's letter to the Philippians?"


Adapted from this same issue of This Rock magazine.


Question:


"What is the emptying of Christ that I read about in Paul's letter to the Philippians?

"Some say that Jesus got rid of his divinity* to become fully human and so he was no longer God..."


Mr. Jim Blackburn's rock'em, sock'em answer.


"Philippians 2:6 - 7 states: [Christ Jesus], though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.

"Jesus had both divine nature and human nature but he emptied himself of the glory of his divine nature.

"The Navarre Bible commentary explains..."


And, so: here it is explained!


"Christ did not shed his divine nature; he simply shed his glory, its aura; if he had not done so it would have shown through his human nature.

"... Christ could not cease to be God, but he could temporarily renounce the exercise of rights that belonged to him as God -- which is what he did."

-- Jim Blackburn --

______________________________________________

Updated: Wednesday, December 23, 2009.



*As does Archbishop Gomez's Dean of the OMI Theological Academy of Applied Clownology, for example?!

At least in this same Father Rolheiser's account - - or fantasy -- of Holy Thursday, when Jesus washed the feet of His disciples, that was published in Today's Catholic.

Now, in all fairness to their excellencies, San Antonio's Archbishop Gomez & Cardinal Dinardo of Houston, well, who knows?

Personally, yours truly suspects they may well have become so used to letting their respective newspapers run amok portraying the likes of the Rev. Father Rolheiser, OMI, as the reincarnation of The Fifth Wise Man, that they have actually come to believe it themselves! :)


My, my! Oh! my!

"I stole $20 from a family member because I was short on money..."


From the January / February 2010 edition of This Rock magazine.


Question:


"I stole $20 from a family member because I was short on money.

"I am going to pay it back once I get paid.

"I know this is a sin, but I am wondering if it is venial or mortal sin -- I will confess it either way..."


Now, Father Vincent Serpa closes in for a quick kill:


"You are asking the wrong questions.

"Try these:

"It it was stolen from you, how would you consider it?

"Would you consider it venial?

"Would you feel betrayed that a family member didn't just ask you for the money?"


-- Fr. Vincent Serpa --

Monday, December 21, 2009

"La senadora del PRI, María de los Angeles Moreno...

"Critica priísta anuncio de boda de Peña Nieto"

¡El gobernador del Estado de México!

"Enrique Peña Nieto realizó una visita al Vaticano, donde externó sus planes de boda"


¡Ya, nos dice la senadora!

Nadie tiene razon
ni necesidad de anunciar en Roma, ante El Vaticano y el Papa que se va a casar


El Zócalo de Ciudad Acuña.
Viernes 18 de Diciembre de 2009.

"Bendice Papa a la Trevi en su boda

"El enlace religioso estuvo a cargo del cardenal Francisco Robles Ortega..."




EL UNIVERSAL / Zócalo / México. Viernes 18 de Diciembre de 2009.


"La cantante Gloria Trevi contrajo nupcias con Armando Gómez, la noche de este jueves, en la Catedral Metropolitana de Monterrey ... este santuario que tiene más de 400 años de antigüedad.

"La ceremonia religiosa de la cantante y su novio Armando Gómez concluye con la lectura de un mensaje de bendición enviado por Benedicto XVI.

"El enlace religioso estuvo a cargo del cardenal Francisco Robles Ortega..."

Members of next week's scheduled anti - $$$ theft patrol of our Pastor's Palace Guard.


According to our Saint Mary Magdalene's Parish Bulletin for:


"The Weekend of Saturday December 19th & Sunday December 20th, 2009

"The Collection Counters for December 27, 2009

"Tina Meek, Wylie & Charlene Simmons, Mary Meek"


And so...

The good fight goes on.


But!

When will even Auxiliary Bishop Cantu feel strong enough to demand an audit of St. Mary Magdalene's $$Parish $$Council?


Why have no changes been made yet in their membership? :)

Altar Server TEAM shines in Saturday Mass.

At Saint Mary Magdalene's Catholic Parish, Brackettville, Texas.



Saturday, December 19, 2009. 5:30 p.m. Mass. TEAM Mr. Justin Hidalgo & Ms. Brittney Castilla
.







December 21. Feast Day of Saint Peter Canisius.

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Giovanni Guareschi:

Don Camillo e don Chichì / Don Camillo e i giovani d'oggi

"...le turbolenze e i travagli provocati dal Concilio Vaticano II, in particulare dalla riforma liturgica..."




Rizzoli. Prima edicione: novembre 1996.


"QUEGLI INSOLITI DUE


"Sono invecchiati, quel due.

"Don Camillo, addirittura, pare non rendersi conto di vivere nel 1966, ma si riferisce a un calendario fermo al 1666.

"Glielo rinfaccia un pretino saccente, spedito dalla Curia per insegnargli a fare il parroco tenendo ocnto dei tempi nuovi cui deve adequarsi anche la Chiesa, pure abituata a viaggiare sui ritmi dell'eterno.

"Voce del verbo aggiornarsi...

"Significativamente il romanzo ha recuperato il titolo originario Don Camillo e don Chichì, accantonando l'abusivo Don Camillo e i giovanni de'oggi.

"I giovani restano come pietra di paragone, sfida, test di verifica tra i due reverendi che più diversi non si potrebbe.

"Siamo nelle immediate vicinanze del '68 e Guareschi, come al solito, tiene lo sguardo puntato lontano e gioca, profeticamente, d'anticipo.

"In campo ecclesiale ci sono di mezzo le turbolenze e i travagli provocati dal Concilio Vaticano II, in particulare dalla riforma liturgica...."

Friday, December 18, 2009

"Nine local teens pay price for partying"

However!

Not all...

'Cause, we read:

... but some managed to abscond into the woods and avoided being caught...


From The Brackett News. Thursday, December 17, 2009.


"Nine local teenagers were recently caught drinking at the campground located at Fort Clark Springs on October 3.

"The young people, three females and six males, were cited by Kinney County Sheriff's Department -- KCSO -- deputies for underage drinking.

"The teens ranged in age from 16 to 18.

"KCSO reported more than nine children were at the campground party that night, but some managed to abscond into the woods and avoided being caught.

"All the cases have been adjudicated and punishments are currently being served.

"Eight plead [?!] guilty and received as required by law 8 - 10 hours of community service, they must complete an alcohol awareness course and each pay a fine.

"One youth was found not guilty..."

Fort Clark Spring's author now ready to challenge Rudolfo Anaya's compelling UTEP Southwest Lit classic.

That premier example of
Hispanic religious gnostic fantasies:

Bless Me Ultima.


With his very own Anglo / African American - themed religious gnostic fantasy!


Beyond These Walls: A Future and A Hope.


By Donald Smith
.


Book signing @ the KCL Tues Dec 22, 2009.

10 a.m. -- 4 p.m
.

"4H officers selected"

Saint Mary Magdalene's Mrs. Yolanda Rueda among project leaders honored.


From The Brackett News. Thursday, December 17, 2009.

"Honored project leaders included: ... Clothing and Foods, Yolanda Rueda..."


Congratulations from all of us, Yolanda!




At least two (2) visible Saint Mary Magdalen's young men make it:

"Tiger Football 2009 District 30A All District"


From The Brakcett News. Thursday, December 17, 2009.


Mr. Raul Rivas.


Saint Mary Magdalene's Altar Server / Youth Group Personality.

He's also:

Ist. Team Defensive Lineman.
2nd. Team Offensive Lineman.


Mr. Victor Robledo.


A valued Saint Mary Magdalene's Catholic Parish member.

He's also:

2nd Team Outside Linebacker

Ist Team Running Back.

Congratulations, gentlemen!

Thursday, December 17, 2009

"UTEP marks its 123rd winter commencement ceremonies Dec. 12 at the Don Haskins Center."


Y, así lo fue.....

"I wanna bibabee!"

Devoutly religious Jewish parents cope with Junior's new discovery!


I sensed the warmth, the love, the joy of Christmas...


Adapted from Roy Schoeman's personal contribution to the book he compiled, Honey From the Rock: Sixteen Jews Find the Sweetness of Christ.

He calls his personal account, Surprised by Grace.

Pages 273 - 274:

"I had a naturally devout nature -- I was always aware of God, desired to please Him, and I took great joy in being on (or so I thought) the inside track as a Jew, one of His own people.

"It was in Hebrew school and in the activities that revolved around the synagogue that I felt most in my own skin, in my Jewish identity.

"This is not to say that I had no experience of, or even yearning for Christianity or, to be more precise, Jesus.

"For instance, the first full sentence that anyone remembers me saying -- it later became a sort of family joke -- was I want a Christmas tree! -- although in my inability to speak clearly yet it came out I wanna bibabee!

"This I would ceaselessly repeat to the great annoyance of my parents and older sister.

"I remember clearly the motivation behind my monotonous insistence: I sensed the warmth, the love, the joy of Christmas, and the very real presence of the Baby Jesus at the center of it all and had a great yearning for all that, but most of all for the Christ Child..."

Folks, this whole book is great holiday read! :)

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

"Like lobbyists on Capitol Hill, advocates representing Catholic hospitals are also paid well."


"[E]ven Fred Caesar, Sr. Keenan's special assistant, made $198,212 in 2006."



From the The Catholic World Report. December 2009. Anne Hendershott's troubling essay, Mixed Signals.

NOTE: The letters CHA stand for the Catholic Health Association. This, in turn, is defined as "an advocacy organization that represents the interests of Catholic hospitals and large Catholic health organizations throughout the country."

Their current president is one Sr. Carol Keehan.

And so we read:

"Like lobbyists on Capitol Hill, advocates representing Catholic hospitals in the health care reform debate are also paid well.

"Although Sr. Keenan's $856,093 salary in 2006 (up from $654, 415 in 2005) was paid directly to her religious order, according to the CHA's 2007 IRS 990 report, several key employees at her organization received salaries of more than $300,000.

"Michael Rodgers, senior VP of Advocacy, was paid $316,806 in 2006.

"Lisa Gilden, general counsel was paid $325,206.

"Rhonda Mueller, VP of finance, was paid $268,873, and even Fred Caesar, Sr. Keenan's special assistant, made $198,212 in 2006."

2 Corinthians 5:21



'For our sake he made him to be sin who did not know sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him."

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

"God could have remitted humanity's sins, forgiven and redeemed us, without the Incarnation and death of his Son."


A few random snippets loosely adapted from theologian Bruce D. Marshall's take on Gary Anderson's Sin: A History, in the magazine First Things, January 2010.

"
To think about this, recall the medieval commonplace, in discussions of Christ's Passion and its saving power, that God could have remitted humanity's sins, forgiven and redeemed us, without the Incarnation and death of his Son.

"Like many commonplaces of medieval theology, this one stems from Augustine, in this case from his De Trinitate.

"God certainly had the ability to deliver us from evil in some other way than he has, although he chose, Augustine suggests, the most beautifully suitable way of all: God, to whose power all things are equally subject, did not lack another possible way of healing our misery, but there was no more appropriate way, nor did there need to be.

"Picking up this line of thought , Thomas Aquinas argues that God would not have acted against justice if he had simply remitted our sins by fiat, without any satisfaction -- any offering or payment -- on our part.

"In fact, though, God has decided to save us through the satisfaction offered in Christ's Passion.

"Why does God save by payment of a debt, when he doesn't need to act this way and doesn't get anything out of the exchange?

"Thomas Aquinas and others answer that God redeems us this way precisely for our benefit, for the good of those he generously treats as debtors owing him satisfaction.

"By treating us as debtors even though he has no need of our payment, the good God gives us a share in the salvation he brings about for us: a human, creaturely part in God's own victory over human sin..."

A good read! :)



"In Indonesia, Catholics, Muslims, Protestants, Buddhists and Hindus joined together..."

Adapted from First Things magazine, January 2010.

"In Indonesia, Catholics, Muslims, Protestants, Buddhists and Hindus joined together to protest the liberalization joined together to protest the liberalizing of Indonesia's abortion laws, according to the Catholic News Agency .

"It seems extraordinary that, in an overwhelmingly religious country dominated by Muslims, an attempt to legalize abortion would have gotten even this far.

"But the interreligious coalition opposing it serves as one more counterexample to the ecanard that pro - life advocacy is necessarily sectarian -- or even monotheistic..."

Monday, December 14, 2009

First Baptist Church December Birthdays.

Brackettville, Texas 78832.



Happy Birthday to You


Augusta Pines
Pete Cardenas
Joe Williams
Tyler Schuster
Mary Pevehouse
Serenity Gammill
Diane Wilson
Summer Allen
Tony Jamil
Star Smith
Ashley Smith

Crackdown on Parish Collection Shortfalls continues.


At St. Mary Magdalene's Catholic Parish.

Brackettville, Texas.

The bulletin for "The Weekend of Saturday December 12th & Sunday December 13th, 2009," has it all!


"The Collection Counters for December 20, 2009."


"Allen Kreiger, Jaime Ballew, Lydia Tipps."

Thanks everyone! :)

Dynamite Team of Mr. Jerry Lee DeHoyos & Priscilla Aguirre's legendary prima do well in Youth Group's Big Annual Can Drive!


These Saint Mary Magdalene's Youth Group Personalities scored high as a team in the Big Annual Canned Food drive on Sunday afternoon -- at least from around 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

That's when they reached the Aguirre Subdivision.

Thanks to the expert guidance of prima they were lucky to find at least one fine person who even had to use a two - wheeler to bring out her contributions to the cause!


A good weekend for Altar Servers at St. Mary Magdalene's in Brackettville, Texas.

Show - up Honor Roll:



Saturday, December 12, 2009. 5:30 p.m. TEAM Mr. Justin Hidalgo.

Sunday, December 13, 2009. 8:00 a.m. TEAM Un cuatito muy desempeñoso, a pesar de estar sin nombre.

Sunday, December 13, 2009. 10:30 a.m. TEAM Mr. Raul Rivas más tres huerfanitos, también sin nombres.

December 14. Feast Day of Saint John of the Cross.

Saturday, December 12, 2009

¡Hey, Familia!

¡Hey, UTEP!

Graduation Day is Today!

Saturday, December 12, 2009.

To All UTEP Fall 2009 Grads:

Good Luck! / ¡Buena Suerte!

¡Ora, MEChA!

¡Adelante, DESTINO!

December 12. Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe.


Maybe as many as 150 were at the 7:00 a.m. Mass at St. Mary Magdalene's Catholic Parish Church in Brackettville, Texas 78832. USA!

And most likely another 100 + made it for breakfast afterwards at the Old Church Building.

Man!

Las Guadalupanas really put together a most impressive arrangement!

The hardworking La Comadre, La Sra. Lourdes Zamora, was a great example for us all.

She was so involved that she never even returned to our table to eat her meal.

Nor was she alone!

Because Betty Guajardo -- along with her sisters and Nora Rivas, too --was among those ladies so involved that they stayed on their feet the whole time, seeing to everything and to everybody.

Paul Fernandez came around and was promised more $$$ assistance for next year's Womens' ACTS Retreat.

And so -- yawn! -- we commented to all and sundry -- including a long - suffering Father Pius -- once again:

"That Acts 2:16 always seems most vividly real and 3 - dimensional during gatherings like these!"

Humm .. you don't say?!

And now maybe the light bulb flickers, albeit perhaps only dimly:

"Wow! So maybe that's why La Comadre felt an urge to run away, thus making good her escape, having heard it all before at least 300 times, and all that in just two years . .. ! " :)

Seriously folks:

Today was one of those magical, mystical moments, all but predestined to be frozen forever in time...

¡Gracias, Hermanitas Guadalupanas!

Friday, December 11, 2009

Dominican Sister Donna Quinn!

Nun - abortion clinic escort blazes a new trail in the so - called
American Catholic church.

"Outspokenly in favor of legalized abortion..."


Random fragment adapted from the New Oxford Review, December 2009.

"Sr. Donna Quinn
, a Dominican nun from Chicago, has a unique apostolate.

"She volunteers as an escort at an abortion facility in Hinsdale, Illinois.

"Outspokenly in favor of legalized abortion, Sr. Donna has worked as an escort for six years at least, local prolife abortion witness Amy Keane told LifeSiteNews.com (Oct. 23)."

Good reporting!



December 11. Feast Day of Pope Damasus I.

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Fragments of the Rite of Exorcism used by Fr. Euteneuer:

"God the Father commands thee, God the Son commands thee, God the Holy Spirit commands thee!"

"Get thee gone, Satan, founder and master of all falsity, enemy of mankind!"



As even Father Anton Quang Dinh Van must have intuitively known, even as he openly opted for Satan's side against that of Jesus Christ the day he forbid us face - to - face from putting a real - deal crucifix permanently in the Old Church building!


More random fragments from Father Thomas J. Euteneuer's excellent article in the New Oxford Review, December 2009 edition: Subscribe now!!

CHRISTMAS GIFT RATES

$19 for the first one - year subscription.

New Oxford Review
Gift Department
1069 Kains Ave.
Berkley, CA 94706 - 2260.

Payment must accompany order.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Meanwhile:

"Our society is rife with soft occult forces that are unleashing a Pandora's Box of demonic trickery on us in the form of healing and New Age - style deceptions."

You mean, Father, like our clergy do here at Saint Mary Magdalene's in Brackettville, Texas? :)

"[A]nti - Christian practices come dressed up as wholesome band aids to our problems and deceive many with promises of health, wealth, and entertainment.

"The callous disregard of the demonic threat to our souls is a great victory for the master deceiver and his troops..."


Good points, Reverend Father!

Semper Fi! :)

Nigerian Bishop Joseph Ekuwem weighs in on St. Mary Magdalene's Big Mitote Controversy! :)

Didn't even care
!

If Pope Benedict XVI might have been left be wondering:

"Just Who or What is Brackettville?" :)

"Bishop Joseph Ekuwem of Nigeria called for renewed catechesis on the reality of demons...."

Meanwhile:

Fellow Nigerian Bishop Augustine Akubeze rushed in to defend his own Brackettville - style Big Mitote clergy from the implied criticism:

"Bishop Augustine Akubeze said that belief in witchcraft lacks any justification in reason...

But!

"Archbishop Norbert Mtega of Tanzania countered this in turn by saying that:

[M]any Catholics are tortured, harassed, and assassinated simply due to unfounded malicious suspicions fomented by sorcery and witchdoctors.


Here's more rock'em - sock'em fragments adapted from Jeff Ziegler's article No to Neocolonialism, featured as a Special Report in the December 2009 edition of The Catholic Report.

"DAYS 7 - 8: The Rosary

"Bishop Joseph Ekuwem of Nigeria called for renewed catechesis on the reality of demons and the appointment of an exorcist in every diocese to save Catholics from the claws of false belief and terrible occult practices like witchcraft.


"Referring to the discontinuity between the 1614 and 1999 rites of exorcism, Bishop Ekuwem pleaded for a new rite based on the old rite of exorcism..."

LATER...

"Apparently responding to Bishop Ekuwem's earlier discussion of witchcraft, another Nigerian prelate -- Bishop Augustine Akubeze -- said that Africans are made to believe that witches are real and that witchcraft is effective. Yet belief in witchcraft lacks any justification in reason, science, and common sense.

"He rued the murder of suspected witches, as well as their torture by Pentecostals and others."


AND THEN ALONG COMES A TANZANIAN ARCHBISHOP!


"Archbishop Norbert Mtega of Tanzania, on the other hand said that many Catholics are tortured, harassed, and assassinated simply due to unfounded malicious fomented by sorcery and witchdoctors..."