Fr. Bob’s Corner

Catholic World News : Faith & reason: Pope returns to Regensburg themes: “Faith & reason: Pope returns to Regensburg themes
Vatican, Jan. 29, 2007 (CWNews.com) - Returning to the theme of the noted speech he delivered in Regensburg last October, Pope Benedict XVI (bio - news) spoke on the partnership of faith and reason during his Angelus audience on January 28.
Noting that the date marked the feast of St. Thomas Aquinas, the Holy Father said that the work of that great theologian is “a valid model for harmony between reason and faith, dimensions of the human spirit that that are fully realized in the meeting and dialogue between them.’ “

Jesuit who served in U.S. Congress on anti-Vietnam War platform dies

I have always admired those who have the courage to speak for those that they felt were oppressed and ignored. Here is a priest that fought for such people! Let us us remember him in our prayers.

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Most Saturday Mornings, with a cup of coffee in hand, I read Bishop Paul Andre’s column (Word of the Day) in the Cornwall Standard Freeholder. Each week he writes a little article on the second reading of the Sunday Liturgy which is down to earth, easy to read, relevant, hopeful, and inspiring. The Bishop has this remarkable gift to demystify big words and complex thoughts and to make them clear, insightful, and meaningful in just a few words of his own.

This week in an article on Corinthians 12:31-13:13 entitled, ‘A Celebration of Agape Love’, he writes: “This hymn to love is without doubt one of the most beautiful passages in the Bible. It brings to mind Pope Benedict XVI’s first encyclical, ‘Deus Caritas Est’, God is Love.”

I encourage all of you to read his column, especially this week, as he captures the essence of Pope Benedict’s wonderful encyclical while uniting it to the core meaning of the reading from St. Paul for this Sunday.

Note: Word of the Day is available on the Diocesan Website each week after it has appeared in the Corwall Standard Freeholder. If you have an online subscription to the Cornwall Stardard Freeholder, you will be able to read it on Saturday morning. Link for Diocesan Site: Word of the Day

Episcopal ordination of Most Rev. G?rard Pettipas

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Recently, Father Buzzeti, an Italian Biblicist made the following statement;
“Most Catholics, Father Buzzetti said, understand heaven as a vague place of eternal survival, where happiness can become monotonous and where the absence of human passions creates an ‘anemic’ atmosphere.
In other words, boring. And if heaven is seen as a dull routine of perpetual bliss, how can it possibly stimulate people to live a good and moral life in this world?

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The challenge of living in this time of history is somewhat overwhelming for the vast majority of us. On a daily basis we are confronted with a myriad of choices, from selecting a couple of apples from a huge glorious display in a fruit store with hundred of varieties, to deciding which medical procedure we should have for a serious illness. There are experts galore with all kinds of advice and opinions to help us, but who should we believe? Even in the fruit store, if we begin seeking advice, we are just as likely to find shoppers and store clerks either as confused as we are, or with differing personal opinions. Most of us manage to get by, but sometimes we just give up. On such occasions we trust neither ourselves, nor the advice of others, and just close down and refuse to choose or trust.

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“Rome, Jan. 17, 2007 (CWNews.com) - The Italian weekly Panorama has predicted that the first phase of the cause of beatification for Pope John Paul II (bio - news) will be completed by April 2: the 2nd anniversary of the late Pontiff’s death.
Panorama reports that an investigation into the life and work of the Polish Pontiff, currently being undertaken by the Rome diocese, will be completed soon, with the dossier then forwarded to the Vatican’s Congregation for the Causes of Saints. Neither the Vatican nor the Rome diocese has commented on the report. “

In a Jan. 18 statement, the Coordination of Episcopal Conferences in Support of the Church of the Holy Land said that “future of all peoples of the Holy Land depends upon securing a just and lasting peace.” They also called for the recognition and securing of rights for the region’s small minority Christian community.

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Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Immaculate Conception » Blog Archive » Archbishop Anthony Meagher- Funeral arrangements.

The gap between the rich and the poor is widening in Canada. The rich are becoming richer, and the middle class and poor are becoming poorer. This according to figures released by the Canadian Government. I’m sure that those who financially struggle to get by have noticed this phenomena. I’m not sure that those who have been benefiting are concerned or really care. If this trend continues we could easily become one of those countries where a small few own everything, and the vast majority are poor. Kind of a scarry thought, isn’t it? Read full article:
Rich-poor gap widens :: The Catholic Register :: Canada’s Catholic news source

Death of Most Reverend Anthony Meagher
15 January 2007

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Not often that an American Publication focuses on the Canadian Church, but this past December John L. Allen wrote this article on Bishop Thomas Collins - the new Archbishop of Toronto. In his artcle he states: “In tandem with his May 16 appointment of Archbishop Donald Wuerl to Washington, D.C., the Pope’s choice of Collins suggests the prototype of a Benedict XVI bishop in a major see: A leader with rock-solid credentials on Catholic identity, yet personally gracious and pastoral, for whom conflict is the court of last resport:

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Church needs to show its caring side :: The Catholic Register :: Canada’s Catholic news source

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The Ottawa Citizen of January 11, 2007 published an article on how bishops are selected. You might want to explore the process, and how it sometimes goes wrong, as it did in Poland recently. Should this process be reviewed? Updated? Changed? Read full article at link below:

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The American Bishops have created a video on the priesthood. Those of you with ‘High Speed’ should check it out. View Video

“We are called to be the guardians of our fellows. The Lord will call us to account for the responsibilities entrusted to us, for the good and bad we have done to our brothers and sisters; whether we accompanied them carefully on the daily journey, sharing the anguish and joys of their hearts; whether we stayed beside them discreetly but constantly, helping and supporting them when the path became more difficult and tiring.” Pope Benedict XVI (Jan. 12, 2007.

It’s hard to figure out why so many are drifting away from the church at such an alarming rate. Again, another survey indicates that France has lost millions of Catholics in the last 20 years. It seems, as if the west has lost interest in religion, and even God, if we believe the results of this recent survey. Is the west trying to be it’s own God? Maybe our wealth and prosperity since the Second World war has gone to our heads!

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Re the resignation of Cardinal Wielgus, a quote from a Polish Newspaper:“There is now a feeling of a new beginning,” said Tomasz Pompowski, an editor with Dziennik, an influential Polish newspaper. “I know it’s difficult for the foreign press to understand, but this is important.”
The quote was offered by John Allen in his weekly article on Vatican Events. Read full article

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In Poland, New Wave of Charges Against Clerics - New York Times

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The Secular world is beginning to recognize the need for ethical principles. Read Full Article

Vatican Welcomes New Stem Cell Advance

Religion does more harm than good - poll | Special reports | Guardian Unlimited

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Archbishop of Warsaw resigns, Weigel warns of future ‘blackmail’ National Catholic Reporter Conversation Cafe

Justice is done: Why doesn’t it feel like it? National Catholic Reporter Conversation Cafe

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“Those who pause in meditation before the Son of God lying defenseless in the manger cannot but marvel at this humanly incredible event; they cannot but share the wonder and the humble abandonment of the Virgin Mary, whom God chose as the Mother of the Redeemer precisely because of her humility.

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As atheists assault religion, Catholic experts say faith, reason tie a must - Catholic Online

Modern culture undermines foundations of family, pope says at year’s last Angelus - Catholic Online