The ancient coptic text of the "gospel of Judas" sat for years in a safe-deposit box in Hicksville, Long Island. You can read about the various gospels not found in your Catholic Bible by clicking here.

Behold! The New and Improved Catholic Blog Directory

I had always done the directory manually and recently found I didn't have the time needed to update it. Andrea was someone who emailed me with some more blogs and also notices that blogs had been defunct or moved. I asked her if she wanted to take over maintaining the directory and thankfully she agreed. She has already managed to highlight new blogs which is something I had always wanted to do. Enjoy!

Tradition in Action posts this picture, which they say is then Cardinal Wojtyla in shorts and T- shirt (they call it fishnet) in 1975. Apparently this is horrific to them, but I think it is a nice picture.

Congressman Peter King Vs. The Catholic Church

Peter King is actually a fellow parishioner of mine. I met him once at Dunkin Donuts and shook his hand. He is one of the very few politicians I like and respect. This time, King is wrong. Bashing the Church over pedophile priests because many of its leaders are opposed to harsh measures against illegal aliens? Then bring up nasty nuns from the 50's? I still like the guy, but he should stick to trying to find a solution to the very real problem of border security vs. our need for labor. My neighbor: if you can work with Bill Clinton to bring about peace in Ireland, surely you can work to make this nation secure and still open to all who sincerely want to work. Slapping the Church for whatever reason is bad politics, and is beneath you.

"You are young, and the Pope is old, 82 or 83 years of life is not the same as 22 or 23. But the Pope still fully identifies with your hopes and aspirations. Although I have lived through much darkness, under harsh totalitarian regimes, I have seen enough evidence to be unshakably convinced that no difficulty, no fear is so great that it can completely suffocate the hope that springs eternal in the hearts of the young. You are our hope, the young are our hope."

Pope John Paul II
2002 World Youth Day, Toronto

Today was the first anniversary of Pope JPII's death. His influence is still quite strong in the Church. Just this weekend, I attended a "Created and Redeemed Seminar" by Christopher West in which there were 8 one hour sessions discussing the Theology of the Body. This is just one of the many huge contributions of JPII to the Church. West is a great speaker, although the seminar was a bit too much for one day. I found out West is my age (36) and he makes many references to movies and music of our time. He is funny and interesting, and well worth listening to.

"Johannes Paulus Magnus Oro Pro Nobis"