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Christian Witness, PNCC

Living God

Norman Lee - Praise CD

Norman Lee, a PNCC member and Christian music artist has hit number one on Indieheaven with his song Living God. You can hear his work at Indieheaven as well.

The picture above is from a performance at St. Paul’s PNCC in Belleview, Florida.

Mr. Lee has a great sound and his music has a distinctively Catholic – Christian witness. Living God is about —“ the Eucharist. It is an amazing feat in a realm that is almost exclusively Evangelical.

Both of his albums, Praise, and God is with me are available from iTunes.

The following bio is from Mr. Lee’s website – Pray On:

As a lifelong entertainer, Norman Lee has raised the bar, bringing a faith based presentation to a population striving to find substance in their daily lives. Based out of central Florida, Norman has toured across the country for many years, performing on concert stages, charitable events and churches. He has appeared on numerous local and national television shows and his music has had national radio air play. Norman has opened up for such acts as George Jones, Temptations, Lou Rawls, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Brenda Lee, Travis Tritt, Lori Morgan, Loretta Lynn, Marty Stuart, Ray Price, Juice Newton, LeAnn Rimes. Norman Lee the singer songwriter is a charismatic performer who’s music appeals to all ages. His music combines praise and worship, contemporary Christian and gospel into one spirit filled sound.

Check out his music… it is worth a listen (free at Indieheaven).

Christian Witness, Current Events

Mmmmm meat?

In Cruelty to roaches? Fr. Martin Fox asks:

Other than being utterly revolting, will someone please explain the objection to this?

PETA upset at Six Flags roach contest

GURNEE, Ill. – People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals wants Six Flags Great America to scrap its Halloween-themed cockroach-eating promotion.

A spokeswoman for the animal rights organization says the contest at the amusement park’s FrightFest is “gratuitously cruel.”

The park in Gurnee, Ill., is joining other Six Flags parks in offering unlimited line-jumping privileges to anyone who eats a live Madagascar hissing cockroach. The bugs are up to three inches long.

The contest begins next month.

Amusement park officials are defending their menu choice. Great America spokesman Jim Taylor says the bugs are nutritious, high in protein and fat free.

Now, I am definitely not a PETA person. I like my steak, pork, chicken, veal, fois gras, lamb, and many other delicacies made from living stuff.

God gave the earth to sentient beings —“ us, i.e., human beings —“ not to animals. Animals were given to us, to serve us. At the same time, we bear the responsibility of stewardship for the resources we have been given.

I didn’t want to take up Fr. Fox’s comment boxes with a long post so I’d like to answer his question here.

I think the whole issue —“ and PETA has it right in this case —“ is that the event is gratuitous. It’s just another one of those ‘anything goes’ tears in the fabric of society. Some will laugh, others will be grossed out. Regardless, the essential question goes to purpose. What is the intent, the purpose of this exercise?

  • Is it to earn money for the contestants —“ then my question, Is money enough of a reason?
  • Is it to entertain —“ then my question, Is entertainment enough of a reason?
  • Is it to get all native (well the tribe of such-and-so exotic place eats these all the time) —“ then my question, Why not do a National Geographic about it?
  • Is it to educate —“ then see the previous question.

Fr. Joseph Huneycutt stated in Practical Tips for Orthodox Living:

2 – A blessing (grace, we called it) is said by the head of the family before a meal, and a prayer of thanks afterward.

Thus the objection (at least mine). Fine, kill all the cockroaches, mosquitoes, flies, and other annoying insects. That would be appropriate (and appreciated). Just doing something for the sake of doing it doesn’t fit with our faith nor with the proper ordering of our relationship to the world. It is right to the Pope’s most recent comments. Faith and reason cannot be separate.

As an aside: When I was in seminary I had a classmate who would have made a perfect PETA spokesman. He fully believed that animals are sentient, had souls equal to human souls, and that they will go to heaven; this from a person who considered himself to be ‘orthodox.’ He said more rosaries than I could count, probably for the repose of the ‘souls’ of animals.

As a second aside: Recent reporting notes that the amusement park industry is really hurting. Six Flags has been divesting itself of parks across the country, keeping only those that provide the best bottom line. I would assume that this reasoning has a lot to do with the event —“ get the guests in no matter what…

Christian Witness, Saints and Martyrs

The blood of martyrs

From the Associated Press via the Toronto Star: Catholic nun forgave killers as she lay dying:

NAIROBI, Kenya—”Sister Leonella, a Catholic nun who devoted her life to helping the sick in Africa, used to joke there was a bullet with her name engraved on it in Somalia. When the bullet came, she used her last breaths to forgive those responsible.

“I forgive, I forgive,” she whispered in her native Italian just before she died Sunday in Mogadishu, the Somali capital, Rev. Maloba Wesonga said at her memorial mass in Nairobi yesterday.

Sister Leonella’s slaying, outside the hospital where she worked, raised concerns she and other foreigners killed in Somalia recently are victims of growing Islamic radicalism in the Horn of Africa country, where a hardline Muslim militia has been expanding its reach.

…

Sister Leonella, whose birth name was Rosa Sgorbati, had lived and worked in Kenya and Somalia for 38 years.

Christian Witness, Current Events, Perspective

Reacting to extremism

Today’s Albany Times Union has an article on the security preparations taking place prior to the observance of the upcoming Jewish holy days.

In Faith, vigilance mark holy days: Seattle shooting incident makes security a concern for local Jewish congregations the writer notes the coincidental tie-in between Albany and the shootings that took place at a Jewish Center in Seattle. Based on that coincidence, and the propensity of attacks on Jews by hateful or deranged people, local Jewish leaders are stepping up precautions.

A few excerpts:

As in the past, that preparation involved the Federal Bureau of Investigation inviting regional Jewish leaders to a security briefing. About 60 of them attended the 90-minute session last month. The FBI’s Albany field office chief, John Francis Pikus, participated.

…

Agudat Achim’s second vice president, Jeffrey Handelman, attended the FBI meeting in Albany. After officials assured the Jewish leaders they knew of no local threat, he said, someone followed up with another question: Did you know of a specific threat in Seattle?

“And they said ‘no,’ ” Handelman said. “So you know, it’s the kind of thing — it’s just a random crazy person. There’s no way to really secure yourself against all of that.”

Tight security for the High Holidays is nothing new. Armed police at the door, armies of trained ushers, entry by ticket only — all of these are familiar precautions that synagogues have used in the past and will use again this year.

…

At Temple Israel, it was both the Seattle shooting and recent bloodshed in the Middle East that led the synagogue to plan on more police officers and ushers for the High Holidays this year. Roaming security volunteers will monitor the inside and outside of the building.

…

ADL National Director Abraham H. Foxman said the shooting, “while the work of an individual who acted alone, was a reminder that the Jewish community must make security a priority each and every day, and especially during the High Holidays.”

In the Capital Region, plenty of temples are heeding that message.

“Many of them mentioned it at the security briefing,” said Shapiro, of the United Jewish Federation of Northeastern New York. “They’ll have more people outside. They’ll be more vigilant.”

All of this brings up some very interesting questions.

The FBI uses staff resources to hold a 90 minute meeting for Jewish groups to advise the attendees that nothing is going on? I think a simple letter would have handled that outlay of information. Here are a few lines they could have used: Regarding the upcoming holy days, the FBI is aware of no explicit threats to the local Jewish community. We advise you to keep vigilant and to take appropriate security precautions.

As a matter of fact, the FBI could send that letter to every religious group in the country. You know, Christians are targets for extremists too (ref. the latest calls to “break up the cross, spill the liquor and impose head tax, then the only thing acceptable is a conversion to Islam or [sic] killed by the sword.”).

It is all very well and good that the law enforcement community is reminding faith communities to be careful. However, shouldn’t we be asking a question closer to the core, what is the appropriate faith response?

Deacon Dan Wright has an excellent analysis of the issues surrounding the Pope’s speech and the backlash from both Muslim and Christian extremists. He writes on what the Christian response should be. In My Very First (Official) Rant he says in part:

Christian people, what is going on? Are you so easily manipulated by the real evil at work? Can you not see the spirit of divisiveness?

Exactly! We’ve bought into divisiveness, building barricades, manning our doors with police officers, and holding FBI meetings out of fear. We are buying into, or creating a spirit of fear. That fear is inconsistent with St. Paul’s challenge to us. It is inconsistent with the voice of the martyrs who stood on very firm ground in the face of fear. It is inconsistant with a life lived in Christ.

For this reason, I remind you to stir into flame the gift of God that you have through the imposition of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but rather of power and love and self-control. So do not be ashamed of your testimony to our Lord, nor of me, a prisoner for his sake; but bear your share of hardship for the gospel with the strength that comes from God.

Hardships take many forms: outright persecution, subtle persecution, bigotry, and forgiveness. The onus is on us – how do we respond? St. Paul’s words are as good today as they were during the persecutions of Nero. Stand on the strength of your faith, live the gospel.

Christian Witness,

Calling out Hans Kueng

From Reuters: Pope tells overworked priests even he can’t do all:

Prominent dissident theologian Hans Kueng told German broadcaster NDR he had not altogether given up hope of reforms under Benedict.

“With time, he must see that if he constantly disappoints people he will land himself in difficulty,” Kueng said. “His predecessor made parishes desolate and just asked and prayed for more priests for 27 years with no success.”

In a later interview

Prominent God, God told the world that he had not altogether given up hope for reform and conversion in Hans Kueng’s heart.

“With time, he must see that if he constantly disappoints Me he will land himself in difficulty,” God said. “He’s made parishes desolate by a lack of faith and prayer and just asked for his personal wishes to be fulfilled, with no success.”

In a related note, Marketplace had a report this morning on the lack of people in the engineering field in Germany. They noted that engineering is only the 7th most sought after profession and is behind pastors and teachers as an ideal profession.

Pastors, in Germany!?! Let’s see: not much work, a cool gothic building, and a government stipend. Mmmmm, ok.

Christian Witness, Current Events, Political

Thou shalt not tithe

Today’s Albany Times Union carries an article about a couple who have been forbidden to tithe because they declared bankruptcy.

It appears that the Republican Congress has rewritten the bankruptcy statute in such a way that previous exemptions for religious giving have been removed for most people. The Congress has effectively told their evangelical Christian supporters that their biblical tithing principals mean nothing (ref. Malachi 3:10):

Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, That there may be food in my house, and try me in this, says the LORD of hosts: Shall I not open for you the floodgates of heaven, to pour down blessing upon you without measure?

All Christians should be cautious of what the world offers (especially when politicians offer it). Our witness is to be to all, and we must witness a faith that supersedes the laws of men.

The excerpts from the story below conclude by noting who was served by your representatives in Congress. They served those who paid them enough to be served —“ the creditor industry. To whom did they pay their tithe? For the full story see: No place for church in state of bankruptcy.

Judge orders debtors to pay bills in rejecting $100 a month for parish

ALBANY — Bankruptcy lawyers around the nation are blasting a revised federal tax statute that pits civil law against the spiritual commitments of the financially strapped faithful.

A federal bankruptcy judge in Albany ruled in late August that the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act forbids debtors from deducting charitable contributions when calculating disposable income.

Judge Robert E. Littlefield Jr. said he had little choice but to reluctantly rule against an Adirondacks couple who sought to fight the new ban in bankruptcy court.

When Frank and Patricia Diagostino filed a Chapter 13 bankruptcy petition, they asked to be allowed to continue making their $100 monthly donation to the Sacred Heart Parish of Massena while they paid off their unsecured debts.

But Littlefield noted in his decision that the reform legislation clearly says such a contribution is not considered a reasonable expense when a family’s income is above the median level.

That means credit card companies and others owed money get first crack at available funds from someone filing for bankruptcy, even if that person has been regularly donating money to a church.

It’s a religious dilemma for those who believe, like the Diagostinos, that tithing a regular percentage of their annual income is a necessary expense.

“Thou shalt have no gods before me … except for MasterCard, Visa and American Express,” said Henry J. Sommer, president of the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys.

“For religious Americans who find themselves deeply in debt … the reform legislation didn’t just reword the federal bankruptcy code, it also effectively rewrote Exodus and Deuteronomy,” Sommer said.

…

In his opinion, Littlefield said the change in bankruptcy law “effectively closes the door” to debtors who are above the median income from deducting charitable contributions as an expense, unless they can establish that the contributions fall under the IRS guidelines.

“The court does not agree with this awkward, bifurcated congressional framework which makes charitable giving easier for some debtors and not others,” he said. “Whether tithing is, or is not, reasonable for a debtor in bankruptcy is for Washington to decide. However, consistency and logic would demand the same treatment of all debtors.”

Until Congress amends tax law, “the court’s hands are tied and the tithing principles that this court once applied … have been effectively mooted.”

The whole bankruptcy concept is unusual, Albany Law School Professor Timothy Lytton said. Because it is a privilege that the government extends, “it has the right to define exclusions as it wants.”

What the reform legislation says is, “while the government can’t interfere with your right to practice your religion, you can’t use your religion to get out of your legal obligations,” he said.

The law seems to have pitted the Republican-led Congress into conflict with itself, Lytton added. While the majority of the GOP leans toward the religious right, he said, the statute it enacted now hurts some of the very people those lawmakers seek to protect.

For Jonathan C. Lipson, an associate professor of commercial, corporate and bankruptcy law at Temple University, the current religious exemption conundrum isn’t the only troubling aspect of the contentious statute.

Besides failing to protect those who tithe, nothing was put in place to assist financially struggling soldiers in Iraq or survivors of Hurricane Katrina. Instead, he said, bankruptcy reforms go easier on big business, something he said is indicative of “what you would expect from the agendas of this Congress.”

“There is no end of scorn for how poorly drafted the statute is,” said Lipson, who also is co-chairman of the American Bar Association’s Committee on Business Law Education. “And the credit card companies had the best help available. They spent an enormous amount of money.”

…

Yep.

Christian Witness, Current Events

Benedict XVI —“ violence is against reason

Reuters in: Pope invites Muslims to dialogue, slams “holy wars” reports on Benedict’s lecture at the University of Regensburg. Some excerpts follow:

In his lecture, the Pope quoted, among others, the 14th century Byzantine emperor Manuel II Paleologos [sic] who wrote that Mohammad had brought things “only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached.”

The Pope, who used the terms “jihad” and “holy war” in his lecture, added in his own words: “Violence is incompatible with the nature of God and the nature of the soul”.

Benedict several times quoted Emperor Manuel’s argument that spreading the faith through violence is unreasonable and that acting without reason — “logos” in the original Greek — was against God’s nature.

…

At an open-air mass earlier in the day, Benedict told about 260,000 faithful that Christians believed in a loving God whose name could not be used to justify hatred and fanaticism…

It’s interesting because Manuel II had real first hand knowledge of the destruction brought about by the Ottomans.

Here’s hoping that Benedict’s lecture and message hit home with the Bush Administration. The god Bush and his friends worship is not God revealed to us through Scripture and Tradition, it is rather the god of war. Hear their constant drumbeat, ‘us against THEM!!!’ Stealing Christian symbols and transforming them into something evil only makes them iconoclasts.

Wikipedia states [emphasis mine]:

Iconoclasm is the destruction of religious icons and other symbols or monuments, usually for religious or political motives.

That about captures it.

Christian Witness, Current Events, Media

Ralph ‘Bucky’ Philips and family values

Donn Esmonde of the Buffalo News comments about the Ralph ‘Bucky’ Phillips tragedy unfolding in Western New York in Fugitive’s family values perverse.

As you may know, Mr. Phillips escaped from jail several months ago. He is suspected of shooting three NY State Troopers and of killing one, trooper Joseph Longobardo.

In the article Mr. Esmonde highlights the Christian witness of a local R.C. pastor, Fr. Patrick Elis. Beyond that, Mr. Esmonde makes an excellent case in regard to the responsibilities of fathers to their families and to all families. Excerpts follow:

Family? This guy doesn’t know anything about family.

In the stomach-churning saga of fugitive Ralph “Bucky” Phillips, perhaps the most nauseating notion is of this man standing up for family.

That is what a friend of Phillips’ told The Buffalo News last week, after two state troopers on stakeout near Phillips’ ex-girlfriend’s house were shot. Dan Suitor said State Police brought the ambush upon themselves by – days earlier – arresting Phillips’ daughter, her mother and boyfriend for helping Phillips avoid authorities.

“That was like a declaration of war,” said Suitor, who believes Phillips was the shooter. “You do not mess with [Phillips’] family or his friends.”

Pardon me while I gag.

If Ralph Phillips did what police believe, not since Charles Manson led his self-styled “family” astray has one man done so much harm to so many families – including his own. Phillips’ daughter, her mother and his grandchildren all have been put in harm’s way by his actions.

“Nothing he has done [since escaping prison five months ago] has helped his family,” said the Rev. Patrick Elis, who offered his Cassadaga church as a safe surrender site. “Not at all.”

Monday we endured TV images of the widow of slain state trooper Joseph Longobardo as her husband’s body was returned to his Albany-area home. Teri Longobardo, a kindergarten teacher, planned Thursday to celebrate her fourth wedding anniversary. Instead she will mourn her dead husband. In her arms was their 13-month-old son. Little Louis Longobardo will never know his father.

…

Now tell me how much Ralph Phillips cares about family.

The guy spent most of his 44 years in jail. A real family man would have stayed out of stir, found a job and lived up to his responsibilities as a father.

No real family man would ever purposely destroy another man’s family. No one who values the web of a family’s interconnections, no one who realizes how every part – mom, dad, guardian, aunt, child, whoever – is a vital piece of a larger puzzle, would purposely destroy a family. Not for any reason.

…

If Phillips truly cared about his family, he would take up Elis’ offer to turn himself in. Elis says he will put the $225,000 reward into a trust fund for Phillips’ grandchildren. The money gives them a chance at a better life than Phillips made for himself.

…

Christian Witness, Political

On the right to work

Father Martin Fox writes on Lifting up the Right to Work lightning rod…

He beings with:

Another Labor Day; another opportunity to offer some clarity about what the rights of working people and the dignity of work entail, but which our laws don’t provide for:

And ends with:

* The logic of the “coercion is for their own good” mentality is, ultimately, hostile to self-government. If workers need to be coerced, why stop there? Why shouldn’t people be coerced into religion, for their own good? Why shouldn’t they be subject to a fascist political system, “for their own good?” Where does it end.

These are some of the reasons I am for Right to Work.

I highly recommend that you check out his posting and the comments attached to it. Fr. Fox is not just blowing smoke; he has the facts to back up his assertions.

As a past victim of union coercion I am in total agreement.

Christian Witness, Current Events, Perspective

To whom are we bound —“ Part 3

Today’s Albany Times Union features an article on the Albany Roman Catholic Diocese’s attempts to overturn a New York State law requiring that they provide contraceptive coverage as part of their health care package. They object of course based on the R.C. Church’s stand against artificial birth control.

Some pertinent excerpts from Voices of faith argue against Wellness Act follow with my perspective at the end.

Albany Diocese charity goes to court to fight state’s birth control coverage mandate

ALBANY — Lawyers for the charitable arm of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany are set to argue next week before the state’s highest court that a mandate to provide birth control coverage in its health plan violates freedom of religion, speech and association.

Catholic Charities and two Baptist churches are challenging the constitutionality of the Women’s Health and Wellness Act of 2003, which requires employers that provide group insurance coverage for prescription drugs to include coverage for prescription contraceptives.

…

Legal experts say the range of state and federal constitutional issues at hand — particularly the freedom to express religion — makes the case fascinating to watch. The Court of Appeals will be looking at which, if any, protections have been violated. While Catholic Charities argues the religious exemption is drawn too narrowly to be constitutional, court watchers point to the length of time it took the Legislature to approve and enact the WHWA, intimating it was thoughtfully and carefully created.

…

In court papers, lawyer for Catholic Charities stated: “The WHWA coerces church entities to subsidize private conduct that the churches teach is morally wrong. Government in this country has historically respected the right of organized religions to ‘practice what they preach’ and to refrain from financing private conduct that they condemn.”

By departing from that historical practice, the WHWA has placed New York in opposition to the most fundamental values that underlie both state and federal constitutional guarantees of freedom of religion, freedom of speech and freedom of association, documents said.

…

Now here’s the key fact:

More than $28 million of Catholic Charities’ $32 million annual operating budget comes from the government.

Jared Leland, a spokesman and lawyer with the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, supports Catholic Charities’ position.

The group’s credo is “that freedom of religion is a basic human right that no government may lawfully deny; it is not a gift of the state, but instead is rooted in the inherent dignity of the human person.”

With contraception and abortion, Leland said, “There is no ambiguity there. Contraceptive care runs afoul of the very tenets of that faith.”

An organization shouldn’t be forced to choose between its identity and its mission, he said: “There should be an exception to the rule.”

The WHWA does contain an exemption clause for religious employers, like seminaries, but state Assistant Solicitor General Shaifali Puri is expected to argue on Wednesday it doesn’t apply to Catholic Charities.

Two courts, including the local appellate panel, ruled that Catholic Charities does not qualify as a religious employer since it provides health care, food and clothing, domestic violence shelters, drug counseling and other services to people in need, regardless of their religious beliefs.

…

The New York State Catholic Conference has said that the legislation is really intended to mandate coverage for abortion, in an attempt to destroy the church’s network of social services, hospitals, nursing homes and schools.

Albany Attorney Michael Costello will argue the Catholic organization’s case that religious beliefs prevent Catholic Charities from paying for something they believe is sinful.

More than 1,100 Catholic Charities staff members in the 14-county diocese — along with 2,100 volunteers — work at more than 100 sites, serving nearly 100,000 families and individuals annually from all faiths and walks of life.

Statewide, the Roman Catholic Church operates more than 700 schools serving some 300,000 students, 36 hospitals with more than 380,000 inpatient admissions, 57 nursing homes with 11,615 beds, and hundreds of social services agencies that serve more than 1.3 million people every year.

It is the largest nonpublic provider of education, health care and human services in the state. Services are not limited to Catholics.

Nearly 88% of their money comes from the government. Now they do many positive things with that money as the article explains. But, if an organization receives about 88% of its funding from the government, and provides services to all (without proselytizing them), can it still call itself a religious organization?

It appears that the lower courts don’t think so. So the question remains, Who do you serve and to whom are you bound?

The outcome will be interesting. Will the Church eek by or will they have to start acting like the Church in all their endeavors.

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