Outraged at HBO and Bill Maher

The article below is from CNS News, and reports the hate speech by Bill Maher.

I am outraged that HBO and Time-Warner aired a Bill Maher program that openly defamed Pope Benedict XVI and all people of faith.

Maher called the Pope a “Nazi” and said the Catholic Church is a “child-abusing religious cult.” By doing such, Maher is by extension attacking every person of deep religious beliefs.

HBO should not provide Maher with a platform for defamatory rhetoric that openly mocks people of faith. I am asking that HBO and Maher offer and immediate apology and retraction of Maher’s comments regarding the Holy Father.

Don Imus was FIRED for using the phrase "nappy headed", yet a person like Bill Maher can call the Holy Father a "Nazi" and refer to the Catholic Church as "Pedophile cult"

As long as we accept these type of media ramblings as "ok" in our society, nothing will change. If Bill Maher was to say these kind of insults against Muhammad, do you think that Muslim's would let it slide? Well, neither should we.

I am asking ALL of my Christian Brothers and Sisters, not just the Catholic ones to send letters of complaints to Time Warner and HBO.

I also ask that you all PRAY for Bill Maher that the Holy Spirit places a burden on his heart and touches him, that he denounces this Atheist and hate filled views and comes to have love and respect for our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Here is the contact information for Time Warner and HBO.

Time Warner
Investor Relations -- ir@timewarner.com

Headquarters Main Phone Number -- 212-484-8000

HBO Contacts
Bill Nelson -- Chairman and CEO of HBO -- bill.nelson@hbo.com

Eric Kessler -- Marketing President -- eric.kessler@hbo.com

Tobe Becker -- Media Relations VP -- tobe.becker@hbo.com

Doris Casap -- Programming Senior VP -- doris.casap@hbo.com

Quentin Schaffer -- Director of Corporate Communications -- 212-512-1329

Here, if you care to read, is the article from CNS News about Bill Maher. You can also find the video on YouTube, but I refuse to post the links here.

'Nazi' Pope Runs 'Child-Abusing Cult,' Says HBO's Maher
By Fred Lucas
CNSNews.com Staff Writer
April 15, 2008
From http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewCulture.asp?Page=/Culture/archive/200804/CUL20080415b.html

(CNSNews.com) - Comments by HBO's Bill Maher insulting the Pope and calling Catholicism a "cult" that promotes "organized pedophilia" have stirred resentment among many American Catholics upset he would say this the week before Pope Benedict XVI visits the United States.

The comments were made on HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher" on Friday, April 11. Maher went into a long monologue on his program comparing the Catholic church to a polygamous cult -- the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints -- which was raided on April 3 and whose founder, Warren Jeffs, was convicted last year for being an accessory to the rape of a teenage girl.

Bill Maher compared the Texas scandal and its latest alleged abuse with the sexual abuse scandal that rocked the Catholic Church in the United States in 2002.

"I'd like to tip off law enforcement to an even larger child-abusing religious cult," Maher told his audience. "Its leader also has a compound, and this guy not only operates outside the bounds of the law, but he used to be a Nazi and he wears funny hats. That's right, the Pope is coming to America this week and, ladies, he's single."

Catholic League President Bill Donohue responded that Maher "lied when he said the Pope 'used to be a Nazi.' Like all young men in Germany at the time, he was conscripted into a German Youth organization (from which he fled as soon as he could). Every responsible Jewish leader has acknowledged this reality and has never sought to brand the Pope a Nazi. That job falls to Maher."

Maher, a political liberal, has often been a magnet for controversy, making audacious statements targeting religion in general and ridiculing Christians especially. His mother was Jewish but he says that he "was raised Catholic."

On May 24, 2002, Maher told CNN's Larry King Live: "I never even knew I was half-Jewish until I was a teen-ager. I was just so frightened about the Catholics and everything that was going on there in the church -- and I was never, you know, molested or anything. And I'm a little insulted. I guess they never found me attractive. And that's really their loss."

Last year, Maher made news after strongly implying on his HBO show that the world would be a better place if Vice President Dick Cheney had been assassinated. "I have zero doubt that if Dick Cheney was not in power, people wouldn't be dying needlessly tomorrow," Maher said on March 5. "I'm just saying if he did die, other people, more people would live. That's a fact."

On his May 18, 2007 edition of "Real time with Bill Maher," the host compared communion to homosexual oral sodomy and called for turning homosexuality into a religion.

"Gay men, don't say you're life-partners, say you're a nunnery of two," said Maher. "We weren't having sex officer, I was performing a very private Mass, here in my car. I was letting my rod and my staff comfort him. Take this and eat of it, for this is my roommate, Barry. ...

"And for all those who truly believe there is a special place for you in Kevin. And speaking of Heaven, one can only hope that as Jerry Falwell now approaches the Pearly Gates, he is met there by God Himself, wearing a Fire Island muscle shirt, and nut-hugger shorts, and saying to Jerry in a mighty lisp, 'I'm not talking to you.'"

Maher frequently has well-known celebrities, politicians, and journalists on his program.

Mary Ann Kreitzer, president of the Catholic Media Coalition, an umbrella group of Catholic organizations, called the comments, "a horrifying anti-Catholic diatribe."

"Poor Bill Maher. We'll pray for him," Kreitzer told Cybercast News Service. "Talk about hate speech."

Regarding the contents of his comments, she noted that one percent of priests were pedophiles, less than the number of pedophiles in U.S. public schools and other institutions.

Maher, last Friday, further said: "If you have a few hundred followers, and you let some of them molest children, they call you a cult leader. If you have a billion, they call you 'Pope.' It's like, if you can't pay your mortgage, you're a deadbeat. But if you can't pay a million mortgages, you're Bear Stearns and we bail you out. And that is who the Catholic Church is: the Bear Stearns of organized pedophilia -- too big, too fat."

"When the current Pope was in his previous Vatican job as John Paul's Dick Cheney, he wrote a letter instructing every Catholic bishop to keep the sex abuse of minors secret until the Statute of Limitations ran out," said Maher. "And that's the Church's attitude: 'We're here, we're queer, get used to it,' which is fine, far be it from me to criticize religion. But just remember one thing: If the Pope was -- instead of a religious figure -- merely the CEO of a nationwide chain of day care centers, where thousands of employees had been caught molesting kids and then covering it up, he'd be arrested faster than you can say 'who wants to touch Mr. Wiggle?'"

Maher's comments about the Pope were vicious and false, said Donohue, as Pope Benedict XVI was never involved in the sex scandal cover-up.

"The fact is that, before he was named pope, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (Benedict XVI) had absolutely nothing to do with policing allegations of sexual abuse until 2002, after the scandal erupted that January," Donohue said in a statement. "And he certainly never counseled bishops to keep sexual abuse secret-this is a bald face lie. Indeed, a week before Pope John Paul II died, he addressed the scandal by saying, 'How much filth there is in the church, even among those who, in the priesthood, should belong entirely' to God."

Kreitzer believes that celebrity guests that appear on Maher's show should rethink appearing on the program considering Maher's comments.

"We ask everybody else to apologize and some people make one comment and they get fired," Kreitzer said. "There was nothing accidental about Maher's comments. They were deliberately inflammatory."

But what's more important than getting an apology is helping Maher understand the truth, said Hugh Owen, director of the of the Kolbe Center for the Study of Creation.

"It's hard to apologize when you think you've done nothing wrong," Owen told Cybercast News Service. "More important than forcing an apology, which usually comes down to economic pressure, is that the truth be presented to Mr. Maher."

Owen also addressed Maher's comments on the sex-abuse scandal.

"Yes, there are church leaders that acted in immoral and sometimes evil ways," Owen said. "The solution is not to follow Mr. Maher and say all religion is bunk. The solution is to remain faithful to Jesus Christ and remain in the church and work for the restoration of the church."

Rational people don't engage in such rhetoric as Maher, said Father Francis deRosa of St. Louis Catholic Church in Alexandria, Va., adding that Protestant Christians, Muslims, Jews and even atheists can have dialogue with the church and respect the Pope.

"It's very unprofessional and reveals a deep inner turmoil," deRosa told Cybercast News Service. "It was a loud insult to a billion people, really more, because the Pope is respected by many people who aren't Catholics."

The Papal visit to America

I thought I would nudge everyone today (okay, it is more like a poke) about the Holy Father's visit to America.

We should spend time this week praying for the following:

1. A safe trip for the Holy Father.
2. Our Catholic Brothers and Sisters in America and worldwide.
3. For our brothers and sisters to open their hearts to our Lord Jesus Christ, and his Vicar on Earth, the Holy Father.
4. A renewal of faith and spirituality for American Catholics.
5. A useful meeting between the Holy Father and President Bush.
6. A safe trip to NY and a moving assembly at the UN.
7. For the Bishops in American to be open to what the Holy Father has to say, and that they may lead their flock (yes, that is us) better.
8. For Catholic values and beliefs to become the "norm", not the exception for America Catholics.
9. That our brothers and sisters who are practicing some type of "Fringe Catholicism" come into full communion with the Church.

There are many more things we should be offering up for prayer this week, but these stand out in my mind.

I ask this of our Lord....Lord Hear Our Prayer

Jesus loves us so much that he gave his life for us

Jesus himself became a perfect sign of God's overwhelming mercy by taking on the punishment due to man because of sin and he became the perfect example of his own teaching of the truth about man. By embracing the wood of the cross, he emptied himself, to take us to himself and become one with us, to abandon his life for us and to hand over his life to us.

For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in his footsteps. "He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth." When he was insulted, he returned no insult; when he suffered, he did not threaten; instead, he handed himself over to the one who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body upon the cross, so that, free from sin, we might live for righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you had gone astray like sheep, but you have now returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls. - 1 Peter 2:21-25

In this way the love of God was revealed to us: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might have life through him. In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as expiation for our sins. -1 John 4:9-10

The promise of Christ is that if we die to ourselves, we will rise to live eternally with him: unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit (John 12:24). The sign of his veracity is his rising from the grave to a new and radically better life. The entire Christian faith hinges on this historical fact, because if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain (1 Cor 15:14). It is the assurance Jesus has overcome the world (John 16:33), that love is as strong as death (Song 8:6), that we will find the most profound peace and happiness in sacrifice, that we need not be afraid (cf. Mt 28:5,10).

Father Corapi to have surgery this week

Many of you have been concerned about Father Corapi and his health. The rumors were indeed true, but thanks to Father Corapi's Weekly Wisdom program , (fathercorapi. com), he addressed the whole issue on his health.

Father Corapi has a parathyroid tumor and will be going back to the Mayo Clinic this week for surgery. It's a very rare tumor (6 in 1 million men get it), which is 98% of the time not cancerous.

The good news is they ruled out lymphoma, which is what they thought he had. He goes through great detail explaining and extolling the Mayo Clinic, his tests, and our obligation to keep our bodies as healthy as we can. He also said for the past 7 months he was too sick to get out bed 70% of the time; intense exhaustion with flu-like symptoms (a result of the excess calcium this type of tumor causes, in addition to osteoporosis).

Surgery is the only cure.

As you might suspect, he turned his experience into a redemptive suffering lecture, reminding us that God's true power comes via our weakness. He also touched on what I've seen more and more recently especially among strong Catholics close to Mary and who offer their sufferings and that is the obvious; how much the world right now needs the help of redemption from the souls willing and able to offer it back to Christ via Mary, united to the cross. I'm sure most of us figured out it was pretty obvious that God needed Father Corapi's suffering especially during Holy Week.

He talked in fairly great detail about his week of tests; including the anxiety for his family, about maybe 'checking out,' i.e., having cancer, etc.

In his forever wit, he joked about the benefit and happiness of dying (except for the pain to his family), rather than having to endure and see the face of a certain next US President. He quite seriously said death would be better than having to endure the next likely president for four years.

Anyway, please spread the world to keep Father Corapi in your prayers. His favorite prayer is the Memorare (which is below).

He wrapped up his segment with the profound words from his thesis on redemptive suffering: To be set at the foot of the cross is to be set at the pinnacle of all human possibilities

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Memorare

Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thine intercession was left unaided.

Inspired by this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins, my mother; to thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy mercy hear and answer me.

Amen.

Daily Mass

Since being Baptized and Confirmed, I have gone to mass daily. My reason is very simple......If Christ was able to sacrifice himself for me the least I can do for him is to receive his body daily.

This was the main reason I became Catholic...because I believe in Transubstantiation (change of the substance of bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ occurring in the Eucharist).

My Baptism and my Family

This last weekend, as we celebrity the Easter Vigil I had the honor and privilege of being welcomed into the Holy Catholic Church with my family.....my new family, the people who welcomed me into their lives.This is a poster of our RCIA Group that was in placed in the gathering area (I'm the fat guy with the beard). Everyone you see in that picture will always be part of my family. Here I am being Baptized by Father Richard, our Pastor. The love and respect I have for this man and the rest of our Priest I cannot even express in words. The man you can barley see on the left is Tim, my sponsor. He is my family.....I will love this man as a brother for the rest of my life. Here is a picture of us after receiving Confirmation...from Left to Right is Vicky, Ryin, Thomas, Nick, Deacon Lou, Bri, Megan, Dawn and myself. They are my family.....I love them all as my brothers and sisters.
This is Deacon Lou and his wife Ann. What I have gained from having them in my life cannot be put into words. I love them both immensely and look up to them as foster parents in Christ.And this is the REASON for my Baptism....my love for Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus. No matter how much I may love him, I know that he loved me first, he loves me more, and he will love me for all of Eternity......Jesus was there with me during my baptism as was the Holy Spirit who filled me, and God the Father watching over me.

I will be posting more of my family in the days to come.

Sexual Abstinence during Lent

In the first letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians, Chapter 7, verse 5, he writes "Do not deprive each other, except perhaps by mutual consent for a time, to be free for prayer, but then return to one another, so that Satan may not tempt you through your lack of self-control."

During this times of Lent, we can offer many things to God as a sacrifice. The one things many Christians of today do not think about is Sexual Abstinence...I know what a concept. But it is really a beautiful thing.

One, you can gain a greater desire for our spouse, and two, it allows you to clear your mind of any sexual thoughts so we can stay focused on Christ. It gives us time to meditate and reflect on his great sacrifice so that we all may be saved.

For some us celibacy becomes a medical necessity due to illness of our spouses, and it may become a life time choice. I would say if you find yourself in this situation, offer prayers daily to compose yourself and not to lose control, as it is easy for the mind to drift.

Too long since last post

It has been too long since my last post....I can make excuses; trade shows, classes, work, buying a new condo, etc., etc., but they are just that, excuses.

With the Lord being the MOST important thing in my life it should not be too much for me to make a least a weekly post....and especially during this time of Lent.

I ask the Lord to help and guide me and for his will to work through me on this blog.

Spiritual Growth and Submission to God

Spiritual growth is the process of becoming more and more like Jesus Christ. When we place our faith in Jesus, the Holy Spirit begins the process of making us more like Jesus, conforming us to His image.

Spiritual growth is perhaps best described in 2 Peter 1:3-8, which tells us that by “His divine power has bestowed on us everything that makes for life and devotion, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and power. Through these, he has bestowed on us the precious and very great promises, so that through them you may come to share in the divine nature, after escaping from the corruption that is in the world because of evil desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, virtue with knowledge, knowledge with self-control, self-control with endurance, endurance with devotion, devotion with mutual affection, mutual affection with love. If these are yours and increase in abundance, they will keep you from being idle or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

We are also told to submit ourselves unto God. "But he bestows a greater grace; therefore, it says: "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble, So submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

(James 4:6-7 )

One cannot submit to God without humility. Obedience requires one to humble themselves to surrender to the authority of another and we are told that God resists pride and the arrogance that fosters that pride.

Therefore, having a humble and submissive heart is a choice we make. That means as Catholics we must make a choice daily to submit ourselves unto God, “We know that all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. For those he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his

Son, so that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.” (Romans 8:28-29)

The believer then accepts His grace and provision for us to walk in the "Spirit" and not after the manner of our old nature. That work is accomplished by choosing to apply ourselves to the Word of God and to learning about the provisions that God has made for us IN Christ Jesus.

From the moment we are born in Christ, we have all the provisions we need, IN Christ, to become a mature believer but we have to make the choice to learn about those provisions - through study of the Word and to apply those provisions to our daily walk as believers.

God does not require us to submit because He is a tyrant but because as a loving Father. He knows what is best for us. The blessings and peace that we gain from humbly surrendering and submitting ourselves to Him daily are a gift of grace that nothing in this world can compare to.

Jesus, Our Redeemer and Advent

We are now in the season of Advent, the beginning of a joyous period for mankind, the birth of Jesus, who was sent to change the future of mankind for the better.

There have been periods of time since his birth when humanity has shown great reverence for Christ and his mission, and there have been other times when his mission has been cast under a cloud of darkness by misbelievers and doubters of the word of God.

Now we are living in the times that great doubt has been cast. We must recognize in our times that secular influences have taken over the control of the Advent Season, turning this wonderful time of year from a spiritual journey of growth for us into a secular materialistic pursuit of the false riches that this world has to offer.

Look around you today at your brothers and sisters. Are they honoring Christ this Advent Season by spending time in prayer and meditation, or are they rushing to the shopping malls to spend more than they can afford?

Are you thinking of Christ and his mission, or are you now part of the problem that has focused on his mission as being irrelevant in your material world?

What are you planning to do this Advent Season to recognize Jesus as the Redeemer of the world? Will you find yourself in prayer and reflect upon the miracle of his birth? Will you recognize the roles of his blessed Mother Mary and of his earthly Father Joseph and recognize the sacrifices that they have made to bring him into the world to save all of you from our own destruction? Or will we be joining the others who have lost their faith; who have turned themselves away from the doors to his Holy Catholic Church; who have chosen to give up their faith and to pursue a secular lifestyle of materialism and greed, devoid of even recognition of Jesus as the Son of God?

Do not spend this Advent Season hoping that the world will become a better place for you because of the money that you spend or because of the earthly comforts that you acquire for yourselves.

Remember that this secular world in which we live is temporary and will end for all of us in the designated time for each and every one of us. None of the earthly things that are so alluring to us now will have any benefit to us when the time comes for us to meet our Maker.

So we should spend this Advent Season not on material possessions that we will acquire, but in prayer and sacrifice, in meditation and contemplation, and in reflection upon the mysteries of the birth of the Savior of humanity, for these are the important activities that will earn us great rewards when our time has come.

So we must decide now; do I want to spend my time pursuing the fleeting and secular world of materialism and greed or do I want to please my Lord and Savior and focus my attention on the Redeemer of the world?

The decision is ours to make. Will we deny Christ in these times?

Matthew 24: 37- 44 and the main messages of Medjugorje

On this first Sunday of Advent, Today's Gospel was Matthew 24: 37-44

Jesus said to his disciples: “As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. In those days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day that Noah entered the ark.

They did not know until the flood came and carried them all away. So will it be also at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be out in the field; one will be taken, and one will be left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken, and one will be left.

Therefore, stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come. Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour of night when the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and not let his house be broken into. So too, you also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”

So what can be gained from this reading?....what is the important message?

To stay awake and be prepared for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.

In everything we do, we must do for the glory of God. In today's society we put ourselves, our jobs, and our greed over God....but is this how we would act if this was our last hour?

Today, more so that any other time in our history, it is even more important that we listen to our Blessed Lady.
Prayer

Prayer is the center of Our Lady's plan and is the most frequent message in Medjugorje.

"Today also I am calling you to prayer. You know, dear children, that God grants special graces in prayer... I call you, dear children, to prayer with the heart." (April 25, 1987)

To pray with the heart is to pray with love, trust, abandonment, and concentration. Prayer heals human souls. Prayer heals the history of sin. Without prayer, we cannot have an experience of God.

"Without unceasing prayer, you cannot experience the beauty and greatness of the grace which God is offering you." (February 25, 1989)

Fasting

In the Old Testament and in the New Testament, there are many examples of fasting. Jesus fasted frequently. According to Tradition, fasting is encouraged especially in times of great temptation or severe trials. Certain devils, "can be cast out in no other way except by prayer and fasting", said Jesus. (Mark 9:29)

Fasting is essential in order to achieve spiritual freedom. Through fasting, one is better able to listen to God and man and to perceive them more clearly. If, through fasting, we achieve that freedom, we will be more aware of many things. Once we are aware that we can enjoy the necessities of life without struggle, then many fears and worries fade away. We become more open to our families and to the people with whom we live and work. Our Lady recommends fasting twice a week: "Fast strictly on Wednesdays and Fridays." (August 14, 1984)

She asks us to accept this difficult message "....with a firm will." She asks us to "Persevere in ... fasting." (June 25, 1982)

"The best fast is on bread and water. Through fasting and prayer one can stop wars, one can suspend the natural laws of nature. Works of charity cannot replace fasting... Everyone except the sick, has to fast." (July 21, 1982)

We have to realize the power of fasting. Fasting means to make a sacrifice to God, to offer not only our prayers, but also to make our whole being participate in sacrifice. We should fast with love, for a special intention, and to purify ourselves and the world. We should fast because we love God and want to be soldiers that offer our bodies in the battle against evil.

Daily Reading of the Bible

Usually Our Lady comes to the visionaries happy and joyful. On one occasion, while talking about the Bible, She was crying. Our Lady said: "You have forgotten the Bible."

The Bible is a book different from any other book on earth. Vatican II says that all the canonical books of the Bible were, "..written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, they have God as their author." (Dogmatic Constitution on Devine Revelation) This means that no other book can be compared to this book. That is why Our Lady asks us to separate THE BOOK from the other human books on the shelves. There is no writing even from a saint or inspired that can be compared to the Bible. That is why we are asked to place the Bible in a visible place in our homes.

"Dear children, today I call you to read the Bible everyday in your homes and let it be in a visible place so as always to encourage you to read it and pray." (October 18, 1984)

It is very rare to hear Our Lady say, "you must". She "desires", "calls", etc., but on one occasion, She used a very strong Croatian verb that means "must".

"Every family must pray family prayers and read the Bible." (February 14, 1985)

Confession

Our Lady asks for monthly confession. From the very first days of the apparitions, Our Lady spoke about confession:

"Make your peace with God and among yourselves. For that, it is necessary to believe, to pray, to fast, and to go to confession." (June 26, 1981)

"Pray, pray! It is necessary to believe firmly, to go to confession regularly, and, likewise, to receive Holy Communion. It is the only salvation." (February 10, 1982)

"Whoever has done very much evil during his life can go straight to Heaven if he confesses, is sorry for what he has done, and receives Communion at the end of his life." (July 24, 1982)

The Western Church (United States) has disregarded confession and its importance. Our Lady said:

"Monthly confession will be a remedy for the Church in the West. One must convey this message to the West." (August 6, 1982)

Pilgrims who come to Medjugorje are always impressed by the number of people waiting for confession and the number of priests hearing confession. Many priests have had extraordinary experiences during confessions in Medjugorje. About a particular feast day, Our Lady said:

"The priests who will hear confessions will have great joy on that day! (August, 1984)

Confession should not be a habit that would "make sinning easy". Vicka says to every group of pilgrims, "Confession is something that has to make a new human being out of you. Our Lady does not want you to think that confession will free you from sin and allow you to continue the same life after that. No, confession is a call to transformation. You must become a new person!" Our Lady explained the same idea to Jelena:

"Do not go to confession through habit, to remain the same after that. No, it is not good. Confession should give an impulse to your faith. It should stimulate you and bring you closer to Jesus. If confession does not mean anything for you, really, you will be converted with great difficulty." (November 7, 1983)

The Eucharist

Our Lady recommends Sunday Mass, and when possible, daily Mass. It has been reported by the visionaries that Our Lady has cried when speaking of the Eucharist and the Mass. She said:

"You do not celebrate the Eucharist as you should. If you would know what grace and what gifts you receive, you would prepare yourselves for it each day for an hour at least." (1985)

The evening Mass in Medjugorje is the most important moment of the day because Our Lady is present and She gives us Her Son in a special way. The Mass is more important than any of Our Lady's apparitions. Marija said that if she had to choose between the Eucharist and the apparition, she would choose the Eucharist. Our Lady said:

"The evening Mass must be kept permanently." (October 6, 1981)

She also asked that the prayer to the Holy Spirit always be said before Mass. Our Lady wants to see the Holy Mass as "the highest form of prayer" and "the center of our lives" (according to Marija). Vicka also says that the Blessed Mother sees the Mass as "the most important and the most holy moment in our lives. We have to be prepared and pure to receive Jesus with a great respect. The Mass should be the center of our lives" Our Lady is crying because people do not have enough respect toward the Eucharist. The Mother of God wants us to realize the extreme beauty of the mystery of the Mass. She has said:

"There are many of you who have sensed the beauty of the Holy Mass... Jesus gives you His graces in the Mass." (April 3, 1986)

"Let the Holy Mass be your life." (April 25, 1988)

This means that the sacrifice and resurrection of Christ must become our life, together with the hope of His second coming. During Mass, we receive the Living Christ and in Him we receive the whole mystery of our salvation that must transform and transfigure us. The Holy Mass is the perfect expression of the mystery of Christ in which we can fully participate in His life. Our Lady has said:

"Mass is the greatest prayer of God. You will never be able to understand its greatness. That is why you must be perfect and humble at Mass, and you should prepare yoursleves for it." (1983)

Our Lady wants us to be full of joy and hope during Mass and to make an effort so that this moment will "be an experience of God". Surrender to Jesus and the Holy Spirit is a very important part of the messages because it is the only path to holiness. To be open to the Holy Spirit in the Sacraments is the way we are going to be sanctified. In this way, Our Lady will obtain for us, the grace to become Her witnesses in the world to fulfill the plan of God and Her plan. Our Lady has said:

"Open your hearts to the Holy Spirit. Especially during these days the Holy Spirit is working through you. Open your hearts and surrender your life to Jesus so that He works through your hearts." (May 23, 1985)

It is not enough to discover Christ, you must bring him to others!

Christ loves us, we must love Him back! How? How do we respond to the love of Christ? Well, first of all by doing His will. That's what He said: "If you love Me, keep My commandments."

Come and pray with Christ. Come and pray to Him. He Himself is God and deserves the worship of adoration, and thanksgiving, and reparation, and petition.

Pray as you like. Recite your favorite prayers. Contemplate acts of faith, hope, charity, adoration, thanksgiving, reparation, petition: obedience, humility, resignation... or whatever virtue appeals to you.

Allow Christ to work on you: enlightening your mind, strengthening your will, calming your fears, clearing your doubts, purifying your motives, giving you perspective.

Allow Christ to work on you, allow Christ to work through you. By your presence, and your prayers, and your sacrifices, make Christ reach through you with His grace, into your family, into your parish, your community, the country, the world. My dear friends, we have here, Divine power. Release it! Release it over a world that is in a mess. Abortion, pornography, perversion, AIDS, drugs, teenage suicide, terrorism, satanism... You name it, we've got it!

Who's going to save the world? The Savior of the world, Our Lord Jesus Christ!

Allow Christ to Preach through you. By being in the presence of the Real Presence, you are telling the world that the Blessed Sacrament is not a thing but a person, the Person of the Word of God made Man, made Sacrament. Preach Him! The Real Presence is being doubted, is being questioned, is being denied. Come and reaffirm it by your presence.

Finally, pray on, pray perseveringly. Never give up on prayer, no matter what the difficulties. Distractions in prayer? Who doesn't have distractions in prayer? But they are not displeasing to Christ, unless they are willful. In fact, they are occasions of love. Because we love Him, we bring ourselves back from our distractions and prove our love. As for dryness in prayer, -- you know, the lack of emotional glow in prayer -- well, if you have this emotional glow, thank God, its a gift. If you don't -- don't be worried, because love is primarily in the will. The Love Lord deserves all the love you can give Him, and that love is primarily in the will, not in the emotions. There again, there may be the question of frustration. You pray and pray, and nothing seems to happen. God seems to be deaf. Christ seems to be deaf. Don't worry, God is listening intently, lovingly. No prayer goes to waste, somehow there's an answer. Never give up on prayer.

Great stuff to add to your iGoogle

For those whom set Google as there homepage, you can add some great stuff to personalize Google to make it your own. If you click on the screen shots below you will see what comes up on my homepage.....you will notice that I have Daily Mass Readings, both written and spoken. New Advent Search, EWTN News and more. Some really great stuff for Catholics everywhere.

Anti-Catholic Story Publish by Reuters

The story below was published by Reuters and was sent over the news wires, including, Yahoo News and papers. The Church is taking a moral stand. People should not be having sex prior to or outside traditional marriage. So if a person is going to have premarital sex or commit adultery, that is not the fault of the Church.

The problem today is that people expect for their liberal views to be shared by their liberal churches, and some of the churches do.

I would urge Catholics and other Christians to write Reuters, Yahoo and the UN and demand an apology for this blatant attack on Catholicism.
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Catholic condom ban helping AIDS spread in Latam: U.N.

TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) - The rapid spread in Latin America of the virus that causes AIDS is made worse by the Roman Catholic Church's stand against using condoms, a U.N. official said on Monday.

Some 1.7 million people across Latin America are infected with the HIV virus or full-blown AIDS, and the epidemic is spreading swiftly with up to 410,000 new cases in 2006, up from as many as 320,000 new cases in 2004, according the UN AIDS program, UNAIDS.

"In Latin America the use of condoms has been demonized, but if they were used in every relation I guarantee the epidemic would be resolved in the region," said Alberto Stella, the UNAIDS Coordinator for Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica.

The Catholic Church, which holds sway in Latin America despite the rise in evangelical churches, opposes all forms of contraception and instead promotes abstinence as a way to avoid spreading AIDS.

"The fact young people start to be sexually active between 15 and 19 without sex education contributes to the spreading of the virus, as well as the fact that the evidence shows abstinence is not working," Stella told Reuters.

Latin America is home to nearly half the world's 1.1 billion Catholics, but the Church's position on premarital sex and contraception often clashes with modern values. Brazil, the region's largest Catholic nation, regularly distributes free condoms to try and bring down HIV infection rates.

Rabbi Reveals Name of the Messiah

from Israel Today

Shortly before he died, one of Israel's most prominent rabbis wrote the name of the Messiah on a small note which he requested would remain sealed until now. When the note was opened, it revealed what many have known for centuries: Yehoshua, or Yeshua (Jesus), is the Messiah.

A few months before he died, one of the nation’s most prominent rabbis, Yitzhak Kaduri, supposedly wrote the name of the Messiah on a small note which he requested would remain sealed until now. When the note was unsealed, it revealed what many have known for centuries: Yehoshua, or Yeshua (Jesus), is the Messiah.

With the biblical name of Jesus, the Rabbi and kabbalist described the Messiah using six words and hinting that the initial letters form the name of the Messiah. The secret note said:

Concerning the letter abbreviation of the Messiah’s name, He will lift the people and prove that his word and law are valid.

Thisis I have signed in the month of mercy,
Yitzhak Kaduri

The Hebrew sentence (translated above in bold) with the hidden name of the Messiah reads: Yarim Ha’Am Veyokhiakh Shedvaro Vetorato Omdim

The initials spell the Hebrew name of Jesus, Yehoshua. Yehoshua and Yeshua are eectively the same name, derived from the same Hebrew root of the word “salvation” as documented in Zechariah 6:11 and Ezra 3:2. The same priest writes in Ezra, “Yeshua son of Yozadak” while writing in Zechariah “Yehoshua son of Yohozadak.” The priest adds the holy abbreviation of God’s name, ho, in the father’s name Yozadak and in the name Yeshua.

With one of Israel’s most prominent rabbis indicating the name of the Messiah is Yeshua, it is understandable why his last wish was to wait one year after his death before revealing what he wrote.

When the name of Yehoshua appeared in Kaduri’s message, ultra-Orthodox Jews from his Nahalat Yitzhak Yeshiva (seminary) in Jerusalem argued that their master did not leave the exact solution for decoding the Messiah’s name.

The revelation received scant coverage in the Israeli media. Only the Hebrew websites News First Class (Nfc) and Kaduri.net mentioned the Messiah note, insisting it was authentic. The Hebrew daily Ma'ariv ran a story on the note but described it as a forgery.

Jewish readers responded on the websites' forums with mixed feelings: “So this means Rabbi Kaduri was a Christian?” and “The Christians are dancing and celebrating,” were among the comments.

Israel Today spoke to two of Kaduri’s followers in Jerusalem who admitted that the note was authentic, but confusing for his followers as well. “We have no idea how the Rabbi got to this name of the Messiah,” one of them said.

Yet others completely deny any possibility that the note is authentic. Kaduri’s son, Rabbi David Kaduri, said that at the time the note was written (September 2005), his father’s physical condition made it impossible for him to write.

KADURI'S PORTRAYAL OF THE MESSIAH

A few months before Kaduri died at the age of 108, he surprised his followers when he told them that he met the Messiah. Kaduri gave a message in his synagogue on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, teaching how to recognize the Messiah. He also mentioned that the Messiah would appear to Israel after Ariel Sharon’s death. (The former prime minister is still in a coma after suffering a massive stroke more than a year ago.)

Other rabbis predict the same, including Rabbi Haim Cohen, kabbalist Nir Ben Artzi and the wife of Rabbi Haim Kneiveskzy.

Kaduri’s grandson, Rabbi Yosef Kaduri, said his grandfather spoke many times during his last days about the coming of the Messiah and redemption through the Messiah.

His spiritual portrayals of the Messiah—reminiscent of New Testament accounts—were published on the websites Kaduri.net and Nfc:

“It is hard for many good people in society to understand the person of the Messiah. The leadership and order of a Messiah of flesh and blood is hard to accept for many in the nation. As leader, the Messiah will not hold any office, but will be among the people and use the media to communicate. His reign will be pure and without personal or political desire. During his dominion, only righteousness and truth will reign.

“Will all believe in the Messiah right away? No, in the beginning some of us will believe in him and some not. It will be easier for non-religious people to follow the Messiah than for Orthodox people.

“The revelation of the Messiah will be fullled in two stages: First, he will actively confirm his position as Messiah without knowing himself that he is the Messiah. Then he will reveal himself to some Jews, not necessarily to wise Torah scholars. It can be even simple people. Only then he will reveal himself to the whole nation. The people will wonder and say: ‘What, that’s the Messiah?’ Many have known his name but have not believed that he is the Messiah.”

FAREWELL TO A 'TSADIK'

Rabbi Yitzhak Kaduri was known for his photographic memory and his memorization of the Bible, the Talmud, Rashi and other Jewish writings. He knew Jewish sages and celebrities of the last century and rabbis who lived in the Holy Land and kept the faith alive before the State of Israel was born.

Kaduri was not only highly esteemed because of his age of 108. He was charismatic and wise, and chief rabbis looked up to him as a Tsadik, a righteous man or saint. He would give advice and blessings to everyone who asked. Thousands visited him to ask for counsel or healing. His followers speak of many miracles and his students say that he predicted many disasters.

When he died, more than 200,000 people joined the funeral procession on the streets of Jerusalem to pay their respects as he was taken to hisfinal resting place.

“When he comes, the Messiah will rescue Jerusalem from foreign religions that want to rule the city,” Kaduri once said. “They will not succeed for they will fight against one another.”

THE RABBI'S FOLLOWERS REACT

In an interview with Israel Today, Rabbi David Kaduri, the 80-year-old son of the late Rabbi Yitzhak Kaduri, denied that his father left a note with the name Yeshua just before he died.

“It’s not his writing,” he said when we showed him a copy of the note.

During a nighttime meeting in the Nahalat Yitzhak Yeshiva in Jerusalem, books with the elder Kaduri’s handwriting from 80 years ago were presented to us in an attempt to prove that the Messiah note was not authentic.

When we told Rabbi Kaduri that his father’s official website (www.kaduri.net) had mentioned the Messiah note, he was shocked. “Oh no! That’s blasphemy. The people could understand that my father pointed to him [the Messiah of the Christians].”

David Kaduri confirmed, however, that in his last year, his father had talked and dreamed almost exclusively about the Messiah and his coming. “My father has met the Messiah in a vision,” he said, “and told us that he would come soon.”

Israel Today was given access to many of the rabbi's manuscripts, written in his own hand for the exclusive use of his students. Most striking were the cross-like symbols painted by Kaduri all over the pages. In the Jewish tradition, one does not use crosses. In fact, even the use of a plus sign is discouraged because it might be mistaken for a cross.

But there they were, scribbled in the rabbi's own hand. When we asked what those symbols meant, Rabbi David Kaduri said they were “signs of the angel." Pressed further about the meaning of the “signs of the angel," he said he had no idea. Rabbi David Kaduri went on to explain that only his father had had a spiritual relationship with God and had met the Messiah in his dreams.

Orthodox Jews around the Nahalat Yitzhak Yeshiva told Israel Today a few weeks later that the story about the secret note of Rabbi Kaduri should never have come out, and that it had damaged the name the revered old sage.