Archive for December, 2013

Reflections for Sunday, December 22, 2013
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Reflections for Sunday, December 22, 2013

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Fourth Sunday of Advent Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion (Isaiah 7:10-14; Psalm 24:1-6; Romans 1:1-7; Matthew 1:18-24) View NAB Reading at USCCB.org Sharing With Others the New Life We Have in Christ  She was found with child through the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 1:18) For the first two months of a woman’s pregnancy, […]

Beer at Football Game
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Alcohol, Patriotism, and the NFL: The Best Hope for Tailgaters

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Was there more underlying this unsettling culture?

John B. Tabb - Priest-Poet
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Tabb’s Poetry XLVII

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Five poems by John B. Tabb.

Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium, The Joy of the Gospel
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Pope Francis: Espousing a Peronist or Marxist Liberation Theology?

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The role of the laity will be crucial.

Malta: Europe’s ‘Last Man Standing’ Against Abortion
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Malta: Europe’s ‘Last Man Standing’ Against Abortion

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With Ireland having passed its law allowing abortion, without gestational age limits, in cases where a woman threatens suicide, the tiny island nation of Malta has become the European Union’s last man standing against abortion. Malta’s MEPs were among a small bloc at the EU who worked against the recent failed proposal by socialists and […]

Stealing Christ's Job
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Stealing Christ’s Job

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In the Old Testament, the Azazel goat, translated as scapegoat, was one of two goats chosen for a ceremony on The Day of Atonement. The first goat was sacrifice but a priest would lay hands on the second goat and symbolically transfer all the sin and guilt of the community on to this animal. The […]

Keeping Christ in Christmas - Our Family's Approach
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Keeping Christ in Christmas – Our Family’s Approach

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“Actions speak louder than words.”  “One picture is worth a thousand words.”  “Talk is cheap.”  There are lots of different sayings in the English language that generally express the same thing–words alone don’t do the necessary job of communicating, especially in the case of a personal message.  Like “I love you,” for instance. So human […]

When I Will Concern Myself with the Roman Curia
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When I Will Concern Myself with the Roman Curia

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Who’s in? Who’s out? Who’s up? Who’s down? Who’s headed up or headed down?  Whose influence is waxing or waning? Ah, Rome.  The Eternal City of intrigue. Ah, Vaticanistas. Of making many speculations there is no end. I will concern myself with the goings on of the Roman Curia when: All the dust is gone […]

Detail from Norman Rockwell's Freedom of Worship, Saturday Evening Post, February 27, 1943
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Liberty of Conscience in the Public Square: Challenges to the Affordable Care Act

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Congress and the states shall not create state-sponsored churches.

Snippets From an Exhortation:  The Anti-Modernism of Pope Francis
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Snippets From an Exhortation: The Anti-Modernism of Pope Francis

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The narrative that has been played out since the election of Jorge Bergoglio is one of a Pope ready to overturn all the doctrines of the Church , ordain women priests, change the teaching on marriage and homosexuality, and generally turn the Catholic Church into a minor caucus within the Democratic Party. This narrative was […]

Mt. Sinai, Egypt, Camel in Snow, 13 December 2013
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Remember Global Warming

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And Greens are getting rich.

Wrong-Headed Ethics and Mayhem
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Wrong-Headed Ethics and Mayhem

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Last year, the Journal of Medical Ethics published an article entitled “After-Birth Abortion: Why Should the Baby Live?” Central to the paper’s thesis is the position that “the moral status of an infant is equivalent to that of a fetus, that is, neither can be considered a ‘person’ in a morally relevant sense.” The paper further poses the preposterous […]

Mary: More Than Just a Character in a Story
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Mary: More Than Just a Character in a Story

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I regularly receive an email called “Daily Heartlight.” It features reflections by a rotating group of people, all of them Protestant and most of them preachers. Most of my spiritual reading is Catholic, but I find these often have good insight about faith and Scripture. As we’re approaching Christmas, several reflections have involved Mary and […]

Poem: "The Scent of the Run"
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Poem: “The Scent of the Run”

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The Scent of the Run A silent afternoon, but for my pounding feet And the beat inside my headset which Inspires me down the road. Horses nod their heads, and whinny, As I run by the field Where they graze in a freedom, That I attempt to mimic. I leap across a log, fallen long […]

LGBTs Push Agenda at UN on Human Rights Day
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LGBTs Push Agenda at UN on Human Rights Day

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On Human Rights Day, famous athletes and UN officials met at UN headquarters to condemn what they consider to be discrimination against homosexuals. Russia took the brunt of the criticism ahead of the Winter Olympics to be held in Sochi next February. It is the first of several countries that have enacted a law to […]

CL9d - hbratton notxt
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Treating People Like Objects

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Be careful who you leave behind.  You just might have turned your back on love and happiness. I figured I would start with the bottom line.  Dating should be about beginning your commitment to marriage when a suitable partner comes along.  But sadly, dating today seems to be about perpetually waiting for “the right one,” […]

Constitutional Convention?  Planning Meeting Held at Mt. Vernon
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Constitutional Convention? Planning Meeting Held at Mt. Vernon

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“The train that is the Mount Vernon Assembly has left the station, with no turning back.” So writes Jeffrey Lord of The American Spectator.  At the first session of the Assembly, held earlier this month at George Washington’s home in Virginia, nearly 100 state legislators met to begin the planning process on behalf of an […]

St. Eusibius, Bishop
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St. Eusibius, Bishop

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ST. EUSEBIUS was born of a noble family, in the island of Sardinia, where his father is said to have died in prison for the Faith. The Saint’s mother carried him and his sister, both infants, to Rome. Eusebius having been ordained, served the Church of Vercelli with such zeal that on the episcopal chair […]

The Advent of Virtue: Week Three
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The Advent of Virtue: Week Three

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Rejoice! (Gaudete!) We’re already halfway through the season of Advent. If you missed Weeks One and Two, or if you would like to reread them, they can be found here and here. This week, we match the cardinal virtue of temperance to our Advent journey. THIRD WEEK OF ADVENT (December 15-21): TEMPERANCE The Apostle James exhorts us in […]

 Christmas Classics from a Father-Daughter Duo
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Christmas Classics from a Father-Daughter Duo

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Just down the Texas highways from me live Kevin McCormick and his daughter Rachel. A mutual friend introduced us, and I learned that Kevin and Rachel has just completed a Christmas album full of classic hymns and songs. The result is an endlessly listenable arrangement of beautiful Christmas favorites: “The First Noel” to “Silent Night” […]

Gaudete Sunday:  Joyfully Waiting
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Gaudete Sunday: Joyfully Waiting

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Saint James the Just, one of Christianity’s early leaders, counsels readers across the ages to be patient but productive while waiting for the fulfillment of God’s promises.  The canonical epistle composed by James (or by his community of disciples) urges his audience—“The Twelve Tribes of the Dispersion”—to be patient and to continue to live holy […]

My Son’s Discernment and His Call for Confession
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My Son’s Discernment and His Call for Confession

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The art of daily discernment is a practice and a virtue that many of us tend to forget and at times ignore. By definition the act of discernment from the Latin meaning discernere means one’s ability to distinguish what is happening around them whether positive or negative and to move toward a sound resolution of […]

Belgian Senate Passes Bill Permitting Doctors to Euthanize Children
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Belgian Senate Passes Bill Permitting Doctors to Euthanize Children

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In 50-17 vote yesterday, the Belgian Senate approved a bill that would allow euthanasia for children.  The bill now goes to the House of Representatives for final approval before being sent to the King to be signed into law. Most political observers are predicting the passage of the bill. Currently the law in Belgium allows […]

Poem: "Climb the High Mountain Peaks"
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Poem: “Climb the High Mountain Peaks”

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Climb the High Mountain Peaks For the glory of God, all things are to be done, For the glory of God is the servants’ cry, For the Glory of God is all that should be sought, For man is but an instant. God is eternal. Seek not the pleasures of this life For your own […]