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CL333 - hbratton notxt

A Pastor’s Letter for Our Times

Dear Brothers and Sisters of the Cathedral Family and friends, [O]ur Holy Father’s teaching during his visit to Germany…. [concerned] the weakening of the Faith there and the fact that only 31% of his own country considered themselves Catholic. His words tell the reason why. “God is increasingly being driven out of our society… Are […]

Traditional Family Values... from the Kids' Side

Traditional Family Values… from the Kids’ Side

Oct 18 11 • 1 comment

Last week my daughter, Moriah Mosher, who is 18 years old, traveled to Rhodes, Greece, where she addressed the Rhodes Youth Forum on the subject of “Traditional Family Values.” The Forum is an annual meeting of young people from all over the world who are devoted to the search for the common good. My daughter […]

"God Bless Them?" Congresswoman Pelosi on the Wall Street Protests

“God Bless Them?” Congresswoman Pelosi on the Wall Street Protests

Oct 18 11 • 2 comments

Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has a lengthy track record of jaw-dropping political statements. Among them, the lifelong Roman Catholic has been a huge disappointment to her Church on matters of unborn human life, which I’ve personally written about on many occasions. But it isn’t just Pelosi’s actions on the sanctity and dignity of human life. […]

Poem: "Horse to Ride"

Poem: “Horse to Ride”

Oct 18 11 • 0 comments

Horse to Ride She won a little horse in a raffle, A shapely bay to shelter in a stable, A quarter horse both spirited and agile Down what snowy trail will they canter, Where in the evenings of winter, The dusks of December growing denser? The warmth of the stable and the stall, The light […]

<em>Living the Call</em>: A Revolutionary Book

Living the Call: A Revolutionary Book

Oct 17 11 • 4 comments

A friend once said to me that all religions are by nature conservative and so are people who take religion seriously because religion exists to bring something from the more or less distant past forward into the future.  G. K. Chesterton said that “the Catholic Church is the only thing which saves a man from […]

Protestant Pumpkins

Protestant Pumpkins

The Sacramental Soldier had died. My eight-year-old nephew. He was the second of my sister Peggy’s precious four children. Peggy is the fourth child in our family and I am her older sister and the oldest of our parents’ ten children. I have eight little sisters and one little brother. I used to tease my […]

Mother Teresa and Me... and Me Too

Mother Teresa and Me… and Me Too

Some things are meant to be shared.  Friendship with Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta is one of those things.  I personally know three people who were friends with Mother Teresa and like a second-class relic, those second-class friendships leave me feeling somehow closer to her.  Donna-Marie Cooper O’Boyle is one of those friends who was […]

Muslim Persecution of Christians: September, 2011

Muslim Persecution of Christians: September, 2011

Oct 17 11 • 1 comment

An especially busy month in the persecution of Christians in the Muslim world, September also witnessed Secretary of State Hillary Clinton release the Annual Report on International Religious Freedom. Ironically, aside from Iran and Sudan, none of the countries that habitually appear in this series were designated as “countries of particular concern,” defined by the […]

Protect Life Act Debate: Pro-abort Rep. Can’t Bring Herself to Say ‘Heartbeat’

Protect Life Act Debate: Pro-abort Rep. Can’t Bring Herself to Say ‘Heartbeat’

Oct 17 11 • 1 comment

The other week I drew attention to a shocking videoin which a number of Planned Parenthood representatives repeatedly urged university students to ignore the science about when life begins. Not only did they suggest that the science has no bearing at all upon the debate about abortion, but they appeared even to cast doubt on […]

Poem: "The Boarder Baby"

Poem: “The Boarder Baby”

Oct 17 11 • 0 comments

The Boarder Baby A boarder baby comes Into this hospice world A miracle wrapped In a flesh caftan Breathing heaven’s air From the womb of time Syllables from the Talmud Trickle softly from His parted lips Into mystery. In his throat Stars sing Canticles to the sun until Silver nitrate psalms Poured the root of […]

Occupy the Republic?

Occupy the Republic?

A memorable moment in the Occupy Wall Street movement this month took place in Atlanta, when Congressman John Lewis (D, GA) showed up and expressed a desire to address the assembly.  Rep. Lewis has a busy schedule, and when asked to wait his turn he walked out.  Elitist types on both ends of the political […]

Render to Caesar

Render to Caesar

Despite their flattering words, they were trying to trap him, to force him into a no win situation. Consider the circumstances.  They are living under the iron boot of a brutal empire which filled the earth with its idolatry.  Patriotic Jews longed to throw off the tyrants’ yoke.  They prayed for an anointed king who […]

Poem: "Wager"

Poem: “Wager”

Oct 16 11 • 0 comments

Wager On that day as dusk became He gambled in a deadly game, Indemnity for them or no: Here, see the flesh and blood I throw If I lose, their death has won, Forever yielding dust to dust, See the crown that I throw down: Pride and malice, greed and lust I am the gamble […]

Blessed Pope John Paul II and St. Don Bosco’s Dream of The Two Columns

Blessed Pope John Paul II and St. Don Bosco’s Dream of The Two Columns

Most Catholics have heard about Saint Don Bosco and the order he founded based on the spirituality and charism of Saint Francis de Sales, today called the Salesians, which are divided up into Fathers, Brothers and Sisters. The idea of founding such a religious community within the Catholic Church was primarily to help young boys, […]

Poem: "Shifting Sands"

Poem: “Shifting Sands”

Shifting Sands I have seen the trees grow tall And wondered how they got so big. I have watched them blush in fall Then strip to bony branch and twig. I have counted every wave That crept across the open sea. I have seen them swell so brave Then clap the shore of eternity. I […]

Anointing in The Pastoral Letter of James of Jerusalem

Anointing in The Pastoral Letter of James of Jerusalem

Oct 14 11 • 1 comment

As a priest I am called upon to administer the sacraments of healing: anointing and confession.  Often these sacraments are dispensed together, when I visit people in their homes, at the hospital, or at nursing homes.  Most people are familiar with confession but frequently I am met with a look of bewilderment from the patients […]

Franciscan Sci-Fi: An Interview with Author John (Coleman) McNichol – Class of ‘92

Franciscan Sci-Fi: An Interview with Author John (Coleman) McNichol – Class of ‘92

Oct 14 11 • 0 comments

In the midst of living your vocation did you ever wonder what became of some of your college classmates?  Since graduating in 1992 I have been continually surprised at how fellow Franciscan University alums have popped up on the radar — locally and nationally.  Seeing Regina Doman’s books on the shelf of a local Catholic […]

Obama is Alienating Catholic Voters

Obama is Alienating Catholic Voters

Catholics make up about a quarter of the American electorate and have backed the popular-vote winner in every presidential election since 1972. That track record continued through 2008: While weekly churchgoing Catholics slightly favored Sen. John McCain, Catholics as a whole backed President Barack Obama by a margin of 54 to 45 percent. Given the […]

The Rosary: A Weapon of Mass Instruction, Part 2

The Rosary: A Weapon of Mass Instruction, Part 2

Oct 14 11 • 0 comments

The Joyful Mysteries continued… 3. The Nativity of the Lord And it came to pass that when they were there, Mary’s days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her first born son and wrapped him up in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger: because there was no room […]

Poem: "Incantations would not Work"

Poem: “Incantations would not Work”

Oct 14 11 • 0 comments

Incantations would not Work You are a ripple in a cup And call that little wave: Myself, But ocean runs and ocean rolls Immense and savage, ill-consoled, It comes from nowhere you can see Fingers skyward breaking free Do not betray the sea or else It will revenge its moving self, How many rippled cups […]

General Boykin’s Comments Reflect Pro-life, Pro-family Experiences

General Boykin’s Comments Reflect Pro-life, Pro-family Experiences

Oct 14 11 • 0 comments

The comments of Lieutenant General Jerry Boykin at the Value Voters Summit accurately reflect what very many pro-family leaders have experienced for years as they have valiantly struggled to defend traditional family life and sexual morality. This has especially been the case regarding abortion, but even more so on the issue of homosexuality. Religious leaders […]

Army General: ‘Where Were the Churches’ in DADT Fight?

Army General: ‘Where Were the Churches’ in DADT Fight?

Oct 14 11 • 3 comments

One of America’s most seasoned war generals expressed frustration at the silence of Christian churches as the U.S. military’s ban on open homosexuality fell to a repeal effort earlier this year. At the Values Voter Summit on Saturday, Lieutenant General Jerry Boykin described the exasperation of pro-family leaders in Washington who found themselves abandoned by church […]

Why Should Lay People Fast for Priests?

Why Should Lay People Fast for Priests?

Oct 13 11 • 0 comments

Jesus said “Behold, I will be with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28-20).  In all the centuries since His resurrection, with the rising and the setting of the daily sun, Christ has descended to be with us, always. Every time a priest has proclaimed “This is my body…. This is […]

Free Market Sweden, Social Democratic America

Free Market Sweden, Social Democratic America

Oct 13 11 • 0 comments

Two historic countries, moving in opposite — and unexpected — directions. “Sweden” isn’t the first word that normally crosses our minds when we hear the expression “free market.” But if President Obama, Paul Krugman, Warren Buffett, and other progressives want to find ways out of America’s seemingly-intractable economic crisis, they might consider looking to the […]