Here are the Holy Father's prayer intentions for November:
General prayer intention: That, everywhere in the world, an end be put to all forms of terrorism.
Mission intention: That through the effort of believers, together with the living forces of society, the new and old chains which prevent the development of the African continent may be broken.
The new association consists of 10 women Religious who until recently belonged to the Congregation of the Daughters of St. Francis of Assisi, American Province, which is based at St. Joseph Convent in Lacon...
The Sisters will adopt white habits in place of the black and white habits they wear now. They presently wear medals that signify their membership in the association.
According to Sister Salezia, in July 2005 a group of Daughters of St. Francis of Assisi nuns moved to the Motherhouse of the Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis in East Peoria, and in September 2005 the group began working at OSF Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria.
"Working in a hospital opens one to different kinds of people and a wider field of service," said Sister Salezia.
That was one factor that led to the Sisters’ renewal of their vows as members of a new community separate from their previous one, she said.
Full story from my diocese's paper here.
Charles Krauthammer must read Papa-Lu.
In one of the posts that I linked to here, Daniel Larison says:
What Larison is forgetting is that Edwards - even more than Obama is all rhetoric and no substance. His senate term was up in 2000 and there was much doubt as to whether Edwards could have held his senate seat had he tried (he was the fourth straight challenger to defeat an incumbent for that seat). In other words, Edwards was quite possibly at his political zenith when he tossed his hat in. Obama, on the other hand, is a rising-star Democrat from a state that's trending more and more leftward. Even if he loses the 2008 primaries and fails to gain the vice-presidential spot on the Dem ticket, he will still be a sitting U.S. Senator who will likely retain his seat in 2010, meaning he well still be a senator in 2012 when McCain is facing re-election or in 2016 when Hillary finishes her 8 years in office.
Obama may then likely perceive that he has nothing to lose and the vice-presidency to gain by running in 2008.
The problem with this analysis is that it presumes that Obama is cynical enough to vie for a spot on the Dem ticket with Hilary Clinton, or that he's dumb enought to run thinking he'll be president. Much as I dislike Obama, he's neither of those things. He's a very sincere man I happen to disagree with on many, many things. I think he's smart enough to know that with such a scanty record, he'll have to run on his ideas, which are either generically meaningless (we need to "come together" and "work for the common good") or are too far in left field.
I was just listening to a piece from NPR's On the Media about the Google purchase of YouTube. The analyst pointed out that three years ago. if you were predicting the future of the Internet, YouTube, MySpace and iTunes would not have been on your radar.
Furthermore, in the past month:
BOB GARFIELD: Of Viacom.
RISHAD TOBACCOWALA: Right. You've got Jobs talking about iTV. You've got Amazon basically talking about Unbox. And so forget about three years. In a month, you've got a new world, and this whole idea of planning is becoming very, very difficult. In fact, what we basically say is we now have classical structures in a jazz age.
I was going to write a post on the elections here in Illinois, but I just checked my registration (here for any other Champaign folk that move around a lot) and saw that I can't vote this year. I haven't registered since my last move, and for some reason I'm no longer registered in my last location. Oh well. I can't say I'm too upset, as the main race in my state is the gubernatorial one, where the challenger loves abortion only a little bit less than the incumbent. I am saddened, however, by the realization that I will not be able to pull the lever against Lisa Madigan, our preening, petty attorney general who last time around campaigned on shutting down crisis pregnancy centers.
So rather than get into the nitty-gritty, I'll simply link the Illinois Citizens for Life voting guide. I don't mean to imply that abortion is the be-all, end-all, but it's the best starting point, and most of the races are pretty black and white. I hasten to point out that Madigan's opponent has ICL's second best rating.
I'll also note that there is a write-in candidate from the Constitution Party. Check out his website here. Note to any future potential write-in candidates: if your last name is "Stufflebeam" you might consider shortening it before you ask people to hand-write it on a ballot. [UPDATE]: Prompted by a snarky comment I deleted for rudeness (not that I expect its author to return), I'll mention that I do support Stufflebeam as the superior candidate and would vote for him were I registered. Write in S T U F F L E B E A M ! [/UPDATE]
So instead of the big election post, I'll dump on my state's darling, Barack Obama.
On Sunday, Obama outed himself as a potential 2008 Democratic presidential candidate. The man personifies the phrase "wolf in sheep's clothing". Policy-wise, he is indistinguishable from any of the worst liberal boogeyman, yet he somehow wins praise as a "moderate."
Here's an example: Obama opposed an Illinois intiative to protect children who are born alive during the course of abortion. In other words: the doctor screws up the abortion, the baby is born, alive. America's Next President says, "Yes, you can kill that baby." He opposed bills to end partial-birth abortion and to require parental notification. It doesn't get any more extreme than that on abortion.
Then he gives a speech where he expresses shame for the language his website used to describe his abortion stance. He should not have called pro-lifers "ideologues," he says. This speech is widely hailed as an olive-branch to the religious. Obama is a "bridge-builder."
There's an old saw about the definition of an ambassador as someone who tells you to go to hell in such a way that you look forward to the trip. That's what this amounts to. Obama (and Hillary Clinton and John Kerry and various other pro-abortion politicians in their own ways) say "we respect the view point, but we disagree." This is empty-headed cant. They're still telling those of us who abhor abortion to go to hell. When I hear somebody say they respect a preposterous belief, it leads me to suspect they respect neither the belief nor the person who holds it.
Back to Obama. What, exactly has he accomplished? He lost his first race for Congress in 2000, then in 2004 he beat up on.... Alan Keyes, a good man (who won every debate with Obama handily), but a horrible candidate. Since becoming senator, Obama's greatest achievement has been the Call to Renewal speech and writing a book.
He's a hard-core liberal with few achievements. So, could it be his life story that has inspired so many of his supporters?. Go here to see why that's a silly notion. Obama is a Harvard law school graduate and the son of a Harvard economist who was a Kenya native. Obama was born in Hawaii and raised there (except for a 4-year stint in Indonesia) by his white Kansan anthropologist mother. He's a life-long private school kid, whose only adventures in life seem to involve cocaine. That sounds more like our current executive's life story than an "up from the streets" or even "from a little town called Hope" narrative we might expect.
So what is it? Is it simply his skin color? Daniel Larison notes : "Yes, he’s charismatic. But so is Harold Ford [Papa Lu's note: Ford is the African-American candidate for the open Tennessee Senate seat], and you don’t see legions of adoring fans beating a path to his door to touch the Once and Future King." See Larison for Obama-bashing gone wild here, here, here and here.
So here we have this hard-core leftist who manages to wrap his leftism in a rational-sounding articulate black shell. Are people really buying it?
What are his prospects if he does run? Grim, I think. Yes, he's got charisma, I guess, and sure he's probably got the entire black vote. But he really got his rear end handed to him by Keyes in the 2004 debates, and he really has not been tested (except in losing to Bobby Rush just six short years ago). I can't imagine he would run thinking he's going to win.
The only angle I can imagine is Obama running, getting flailed in the primaries, and then usig the publicity of the run and the funds in his war chest to secure a spot as Veep. His name will be whispered and touted openly regardless of what happens, but a little self-promotion on the primary stage can only help. Thus we could very well end up with a Clinton-Obama ticket, which (nightmarish as it sounds), I quite frankly can't see winning less that 45% of the vote So perhaps there's some wisdom in Obama floating his name out there after all.
Parenthetically, sort of, following the trouncing of Congressional Republicans we'll be seeing in two weeks, I think we're looking at a rough decade for the GOP. Now, given the events of the past three years or so, I can't say I'll be sad for Republicans, except that it will be an absolute tragedy for the issue of abortion. For all the just criticism of Bush, simply having a Republican in the White House has stemmed a tidal wave of public funding (and aggressive governmental promotion) of abortions and embryo-destroying stem cell research. I don't see 2009 being a very good year for the fetus.
Stradivariuses to visit Chamapaign-Urbana.
They'll be played at concerts on November 12 and 14.
Thanks to Father Z for reminding me that today is St. Crispin's Day. Stop by Father Z's place if you wish to take in the Agincourt speech in text format.
And here, thanks to some blessed copyright-infringing YouTuber is video of the speech:
And here, reposted from last year, is the Non Nobis, which closes out the Battle of Agincourt.
I'll admit to having no particular affinity for the British, but a strong devotion to Henry V as scribed by Shakespeare. So guess what I'll be watching while Mama-Lu and the kids are away this evening?
I know one already exists, but I think we can agree that St. Teresa of Avila speaks for us all:
May You be blessed, Lord, who put up with me so long! Amen.
Amen.
Yet again rumors about the universal indult for priests to offer the Tridentine Mass are swirling about. The credibility of the rumors again has increased, but it's hard to get excited until something happens.
The best commentary I've seen comes from Father Z. (found via Amy Welborn), who, after listing several reasons that have been thrown aorund for why the Holy Father might grant the indult, does not reject any of them, but suggests a more plausible reason:
I won’t say this is long overdue, though I am really tempted. The time is simply ripe. When and if the document comes, those who are motivated by common sense and charity will make the proper use of it and refrain from whining that it should have been done years ago or that it is not enough or that it is too late, blah blah blah.
Establishing the older form of Mass as an "extraordinary" rite, with a solid footing alongside the Novus Ordo, is the right thing to do.
And he has a new album. Here he is on NPR playing some some of his oldies.
John Allen's new it's-not-a-blog-style "column" (note the "blog" int the URL) at the NCReporter is up and running, and in one of his first daily updates (but it's not a blog, remember), Allen mentions that "A miracle attributed to Blessed Damian of Molokai, the famed Belgian priest who worked with lepers in the Hawaiian Islands in the late 19th century, is under examination. If approved, it would clear the way for canonization. Damien was beatified by John Paul II in 1995."
Via my diocese's paper, The Catholic Post, here is a statement from the bishops of Illinois on voting and partisipation in public life.
Elections, Conscience, and the Responsibility to Vote
Elections can be difficult for Catholics as we consider our choice of leaders and policies that will guide our nation and our state. In our effort to make elections more about fundamental moral choices than partisan bickering, we offer this brief statement urging Catholics to become more aware of Catholic moral and social teaching and to become more involved in the political process.
As Christian believers we are called to love our fellow citizens (and non-citizens and, even, our enemies). We ought to desire that every person flourish by participating fully in all the goods that perfect us as persons (religion, knowledge, play, work, friendship, etc.). The sum total of social conditions which allow people access to full participation in these goods is called by the Second Vatican Council the common good.
As citizens, we ought to desire the best possible political leaders to help us achieve the common good, and we have a responsibility to participate in the political process by voting. We must cast our vote through prayerful consideration and in accordance with our conscience formed by the Catholic faith. For Catholics, it is a matter of faith that the authentic moral teaching of the church is true. Because God loves us, he has given us access to the truth about how we ought to live and love. The Scriptures tell us we ought "to put on the mind of Christ" (cf. Phil. 2:5), and our faith teaches that the teaching of the church is the mind of Jesus Christ.
Thus as Catholic citizens, we inform and form our consciences as citizens in accordance with the principles of Catholic social teaching. The first and most essential principle of our social teaching is the dignity of every human person and each one’s basic right to life from conception to natural death. Respect for human dignity is the basis for the fundamental right to life. This is a non-negotiable principle that is supported by our beliefs but is logically independent of our faith. Many non-Catholics think a society dedicated to the common good should protect its weakest members. Other principles include the call to community and participation, the centrality of the family, the dignity of work and rights of workers, the principles of solidarity and subsidiarity, and the commitment to stewardship of the environment.
Catholics should always vote for that person most committed to being a public servant dedicated to the common good. This being said, it should be noted that any candidate who supports a public policy where part of humanity (such as the pre-born, the elderly, the handicapped, or the sick) is excluded from the protection of law and treated as if they were non-persons is gravely deficient in his or her view of the requirements of a just society.
Too often, the choice of candidates for elected office falls short of a vision of the common good as rich and full as Catholic social teaching. This may be discouraging, so we call on Catholics who understand and accept the church’s teaching to become more engaged in political life. We urge Catholics to run for office, work within the political parties, contribute time to campaigns and join diocesan legislative networks, community organizations and other efforts to apply Catholic principles in the public square.
The latest statistics indicate that 25 percent of American citizens are Catholic. In Illinois, we make up almost one-third of the population (31.5 percent). For Catholics, voting ought not to be seen as just an option or a privilege but a duty. By voting with an informed conscience, a renewed "Catholic vote" could become a political force for justice in Illinois and the nation.
For additional information, please go to www.catholicconferenceofillinois.org or call (312) 368-1066. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Web site on faithful citizenship can be located at www.usccb.org/faithfulcitizenship/index.htm.
Cardinal Francis George, O.M.I., Archbishop of Chicago
Most Reverend Thomas G. Doran, Bishop of Rockford
Most Reverend George J. Lucas, Bishop of Springfield-in-Illinois
Most Reverend Daniel R. Jenky, C.S.C., Bishop of Peoria
Most Reverend Edward K. Braxton, Bishop of Belleville
Most Reverend J. Peter Sartain, Bishop of Joliet
Auxiliary Bishops of Chicago:
Most Reverend George J. Rassas, Episcopal Vicar
Most Reverend Francis J. Kane, Episcopal Vicar
Most Reverend John R. Manz, Episcopal Vicar
Most Reverend Thomas J. Paprocki, Episcopal Vicar
Most Reverend Gustavo Garcia-Siller, Episcopal Vicar
Most Reverend Joseph N. Perry, Episcopal Vicar
The Tribune has the best Dusty Baker quotes from every season he was with the Cubs.
Some highlights:
- On Antonio Alfonseca as his closer:
That closer is the guy with the black hood on that's pulling the rope on the guillotine to take the last breath out of the opposition for a loss, and to take the last breath out of anything is tough. I'm a hunter, and I'll shoot a dove or a quail, and right before I'm about to wring his neck, it'll peck me one more time. He can't do anything to me, but he's fighting for his last breath.
- On seeing a billy goat before Game 6 of the National League Championship Series against Florida (middle right):
I was on Madison Street in front of the Billy Goat Tavern, and there was that dude out there with a billy goat and a camera crew. I just said, `Oh, Lord.' I waved to 'em, but they didn't know it was me. He was a pretty handsome old goat though. He's not your normal, can-eating, tied-up-in-the-back goat. He was a handsome goat. This goat looked like he came right off a goat contest.
- On not showing emotion during a losing streak:
I remember (former Braves manager) Eddie Mathews turned over a food spread once. What good does that do? What's that? To get your blood pressure up and you can die of a heart attack? After Eddie turned it over one time, it was hot dogs, and we thought it was ridiculous. We even went and washed the hot dogs and ate 'em.
This has already been all over the place, but here it is again: Wonkette interviews Kos for a liberal blogger love-fest on Wired.
The revelations:
- The tidbit that has drawn the most attention:
An activist who has succeeded in mobilizing so many passionate users might next head for a career inside the political machine. Run for office. Start a PAC. Become a consultant. But no. At what's arguably the top of his game, Moulitsas says he's "going offline" next year, taking his obvious knack for building online communities and applying it to that other great American pastime: sports. And once he gets his network of sports blogs ramped up, he'll turn to building communities in the real world, a chain of giant meeting places "replicating megachurches for the left" – complete with cafés and child care. Moulitsas has shown he can harness people's enthusiasm, but he says he doesn't want a leadership role in these "democracy centers."...While working on the mechanics of the sports blogs, he plans to embark next year on building real-world destinations for progressives and liberals throughout the Midwest, "cultural outposts" designed to attract thousands of like-minded liberals. "Each one of these would have a vast left-wing conspiracy component," he says, like leadership training or discussions on progressive issues.
Over at The Corner, Byron York has been having fun with this: see here, here and here. If Kos is looking for a name, he might try the Temple of Reason.
- Kos is a Cubs fan. Figures. Like we can collectively be any more disgraced. Daniel Larison says that this explains his whining, but I disagree. Kos is the neighborhood bully, he whips his minions into a frenzy and then sends them after the enemy du jour. Cubs fans serenely accept their fate, stubbornly supporting our team, win or lose (mostly lose), regardless of management's demonstrated indifference to our long suffering. We are much more like Republican voters than the Kossacks.
From Peggy Noonan's otherwise - brace yourself - appreciative piece on Woodward's new book.
This looks like it could be a handy resource.
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