Tuesday, April 23, 2019

National Catholic Prayer Breakfast hears call for 'Catholic great awakening'


.- The National Catholic Prayer Breakfast heard an uncompromising call to holiness and the defense of every human life Tuesday, with speakers calling for a “Catholic great awakening.”
A total of 1,400 gathered in Washington, DC for the 15th-annual prayer breakfast, where keynotes were delivered by Bishop Thomas Olmsted of Phoenix and Curtis Martin, founder and director of the Fellowship of Catholic University Students."

...

"In his keynote address, FOCUS president Curtis Martin noted that human history was punctuated by periods of renewal, sparked by a return to God in a spirit of atonement. But instead of doom and gloom, he said, the coming generation of young Catholics has the potential to do great things.
The current generation, he said, are “survivors by God’s design” having been born after abortion was legalized and are poised to “wake up” and “vanquish the devil in this generation.”
The United States has experienced ebbs and flows in religious devotion before, and has seen two “great awakenings” among Protestants that resulted in renewed faith for believers. Perhaps, said Martin, this is what the Church in America needs.
"Wouldn't it be a great time for a Catholic great awakening?"
Knights of Columbus pledge support to Sri Lanka after church bombings

I am very glad I belong to this group.


"In response to Easter bombings in Sri Lanka that left over 320 dead, the Knights of Columbus have pledged support to the diocese of Colombo to help rebuild the local Christian community.


“The Knights of Columbus stands in solidarity with our Christian brothers and sisters in Sri Lanka during this time of trial. Terrorist attacks like those on Easter Sunday are the acts of those who reject the sanctity of life, human rights and religious freedom,” said CEO Carl Anderson in a statement."
...

"Every country should protect its religious minorities, and freedom-loving countries must demand nothing less of their neighbors. Talk of human rights and religious freedom rings hollow when people are killed for nothing more than worshipping the one who taught us to love one another,” he continued.

The financial support of $100,000 from the Knights has been sent to Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, archbishop of Colombo, who has criticized the Sri Lankan government for failing to heed warnings of the attack."
In Praise of James V. Schall S.J.

Over at The Catholic Thing, some authors remember Fr. Schall.  I learned he was a fellow fan of Peanuts and Charles M. Schulz.  I only knew him from his writings so it is great to read of his considerable personal charms, which some intellectuals lack.


"Now much as Fr. Schall loved beautiful cathedrals and “the burning fire of thought,” we must immediately add that he endorses Blake’s next thought, which descends to a more homely level: “He who would see the Divinity must see him in his Children.”

This Schall manifestly did every step of his life. I saw him once befriending a camera crew who had come to film an interview with him and then doing the same with the cab driver who arrived to take the crew away.

Even more I think of an incident as he and I descended a large stone stairway at White Gravenor Hall after class, deep in conversation over Plato. Just ahead of us, a lass began sobbing on the landing, no doubt after some treacherous youth had dumped her there. Schall instantly dropped Plato and was at her side, consoling her and taking her away for a private talk."

Monday, April 22, 2019

Sri Lanka attacks: 'International network' linked to bombings

 
From the BBC:
 
"A wave of bombings that killed 290 people in Sri Lanka on Sunday was carried out with the support of an international network, officials said.
The government has blamed a little-known local jihadist group, National Thowheed Jamath, although no-one has yet admitted carrying out the bombings.
Another 500 people were injured in the suicide attacks on churches and hotels.
Police arrested 24 people in a series of raids and the president's office declared a state of national emergency."


Hundreds more Catholic martyred on Easter Sunday by the followers of that horrible and violent ideology of islam.