Fr. Jim Tucker at Dappled Things has put together an amazing analysis of the recent Pat Robertson fiasco. The posting entitled Israel, the Church, and Pat Robertson is a must read.
I found an excellent article, Who owns the Church (sic) written by Thomas Szyszkiewicz at the Epiphany Blog. Mr. Szyszkiewicz is a Catholic journalist. This is a good addition and follow on to my Catholic Church Is Dealt a Blow in Asset Dispute post. One of the items in the article I found most humorous was:
In 1911, the Sacred Congregation for the Council (now the Congregation for the Clergy) told the bishops of the United States that they did not like the corporation sole model all that well and preferred the method of parish corporation, where each individual parish is separately incorporated in the state.
Among the methods which are now in use in the United States for holding and administering church property, the one known as Parish Corporation is preferable to the others, but with the conditions and safeguards which are now in use in the State of New York. The Bishops therefore should immediately take steps to introduce this method for the handling of property in their dioceses, if the civil law allows it. If the civil law does not allow it, they should exert their influence with the civil authorities that it be made legal as soon as possible. Only in those places where the civil law does not recognize Parish Corporations, and until such recognition is allowed, the method commonly called Corporation sole is allowed, but with the understanding that in the administration of ecclesiastical property the Bishop is to act with the advice, and in more important matters with the consent, of those who have an interest in the premises and of the diocesan consultors, this being a conscientious obligation for the Bishop in person. (Quoted in New Commentary on the Code of Canon Law, 2000, New York, Paulist Press, page 1457.)
The New York model the Congregation favored is one where the state has written into law recognition of Roman Catholic parishes and the authority of the bishop over them. The law there allows for two lay trustees to be named to the corporate board, but those trustees serve at the pleasure of the bishop, thus avoiding the whole trusteeism question. But that is not the case in many states.
Making the changes
Unfortunately, not many bishops listened to that directive. It’s only been in recent years that some dioceses have been making the civil changes necessary to reflect canon law.
It is funny because, if this is accurate, many U.S. Bishops have been ignoring Vatican opinion on this issue since at least 1911. This again goes to the point in my original posting, you reap what you sow.Â
The article also discusses the St. Stanislaus situation in St. Louis as it is pertinent. As my readers may know, I have commented heavily on this situation.
Wszechmogący wieczny Boże, za wstawieniem św. Edwarda użycz nam łaski swej, abyśmy obowiązki naszego stanu i powołania wiernie spełniali, zwodniczych rozkoszy światowych unikali, a ćwiczyli się w pokorze, wstrzemięźliwości i umartwieniu. Amen.
Dobrotliwy Boże, użycz nam tej łaski, abyśmy wiernie wyznawali zasady religji katolickiej, i raczej za przykładem św. Boźydara znosili cierpienie i prześladowanie, a nie zaparli się objawionej nam przez Ciebie i Kościół św. nauki. Amen
My blog was down from 11pm on January 9th through about 2pm on the 10th. It appears to have been a database issue. I feel like Mr. Spock – Captain, we have a database issue of unknown origin.
The folks at the Yahoo help center (who were very nice) directed me a special E-mail address for database issues (Yahoo uses MySql as the Word Press back end).  They have rebuilt the database. I’m happy, problem solved (I hope).
Thank you Yahoo tech folks.
Then the shepherds returned,
glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen,
just as it had been told to them.
My brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus,
The PNCC Solemnity of the Humble Shepherds is part of our rich heritage, and is another one of those unique feasts and solemnities that are not celebrated in other Catholic or Christian churches.
Who were these shepherds and why does the PNCC celebrate them?Â
First of all, they are like us and our ancestors. They were, in a particular way, like the men and women who worked to build and spread the PNCC across the United States and the world.
Remember that not many of our founders were rich, well educated, movers and shakers. They were not people of power, means, and status. They were humble working people. They knew that their bread came by the sweat of their brow. They knew what it meant to stand together, to help a neighbor and co-worker, to be strong in family and in faith. They knew that their families were where the seeds of hard work, devotion to God’s Church, and love were planted. They knew by first hand experience what the motto they left for the Church says: Truth, Work, and Struggle and through these Victory!
It is too bad that there aren’t similar solemnities and feasts worldwide.Â
You know that the struggling Church is the Church that is sustaining the rest of us. Look at the Church in Africa where strong, traditional Christianity is practiced, and where many suffer for the faith. Look at the suffering Church in the Middle East and Asia where the penalty for faith in Jesus Christ is death. Their values, their martyrs blood is what makes us strong. The blood of martyrs is indeed the seed of the Christians.Â
Like the suffering and the martyrs of today, and our humble immigrant ancestors, these shepherds were poor.Â
The shepherds were not rich men living on a ranch and raising sheep. They were rough and tough men, who lived out in the scrub and on the hillsides. They did not spend their evenings and nights in a house, rather they spent their time with the sheep —“ watching them, protecting them, and sleeping near them.  They were loners.  They were cunning, fearless, vigilant guardians whose deep and fierce love for their flocks made them a formidable force. They inherited their trade from their fathers and passed it on to their sons.
These rough, tough, hard men were used to hard work. The shepherd didn’t have much: He had an animal skin bag in which he carried his food —“ bread, dried fruit, some olives and cheese. He had his sling which he used as a weapon. He had a staff, a sort of short wooden club often studded with nails, which hung on his belt. And he had his rod —“ the shepherd’s crook.
The first visitors to the Christ child were these men, whom we honor today. The heavenly host came to them in all its majesty. These rough cut men did not disbelieve. They did what they were trained to do. They went to see. On seeing they believed.
We honor them not just because they trusted, saw, and believed, but because they gave glory to God for all of it. For what God had done.
Do we glorify God for what we have heard and seen?Â
Is your first thought as you leave the church, thank you God for bringing Your light into my life? Is your first thought one of praise for God forgiving your sins, giving you His Word, and for His Son’s coming into your body, heart, and soul? Is your first thought, thank you God for allowing me to be here today?
God I praise You. Repeat it with me. God I praise You. Repeat this constantly. Repeat it every morning and each night. Repeat it at meals, at work, and at rest.
My friends,
Creation is marvelous. Like the shepherds we are very much in touch with creation; the things around us. Like the shepherds we are tasked with hard work. And, like the shepherds, more than the created has been revealed to us.Â
We know God. We know Him because of His Son, Jesus Christ. We know Jesus Christ because of the Church. We know God by God’s mercy only, because God wants us. We can do nothing to make God love us or save us.Â
Today’s second reading bears repeating:
When the kindness and generous love of God our savior appeared, not because of any righteous deeds we had done but because of his mercy, He saved us through the bath of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he richly poured out on us through Jesus Christ our savior, so that we might be justified by his grace and become heirs in hope of eternal life.
Like the shepherds we must be thankful for being allowed to hear and see. We must come here more and more and do so with the sole intent of glorifying and praising God. We do so by our worship of him, by our sorrow for our sins, and by constantly taking him into ourselves.
Miłościwy Boże, racz nam odpuścić przewinienia nasze za wstawieniem się i przyczyną św. Wilhelma, biskupa, i dopomóż nam, abyśmy cnoty jego naśladując, mogli dostąpić błogosławieństwa wiecznego. Amen.
I’m probably one of the few Christian bloggers who are not coming out hot and heavy for the Alito nomination. Let’s go Alito, he’s our man, etc., etc.  Well I’m not coming out for him, nor for anyone else.
I like the voting booth. It’s private —“ and that’s a protection. My vote is between me, the machine, and God, and you know Deus ex machina. It’s why we as the faithful must work to stop evil, must pray diligently, but must not yoke ourselves to anyone, most especially to someone in the government realm.
The problem as I see it comes down to this:
He’s a Politician: Anyone in the judiciary or any other public office is subject to the old give and take. Whether it be to financial supporters or interest groups what wield power, no one is true to who they are. They can be, but alas are not. Our system is too corrupt to allow it. Can you imagine if he were to be honest about abortion or a thousand other things? Rather, he will say what he has to. If he were honest, the old ‘borked’ adage would be gone. It would now be ‘roasted ala Alito.’ Even Peter capitulated under pressure in the outer court of the High Priest. Can we expect more from Alito?
Where does he stand? Caveat emptor —“ how many Supreme Court nominees, once appointed were not who people thought they would be? Plenty, and the Presidents’ that offered up the nominations were as surprised as the interest groups. I don’t want to try to foretell the future of another person. I don’t believe in fortunetelling in the first place and secondly I can’t even predict my own future. Even if he had a slew of published decisions and writings expounding on the evils of abortion, euthanasia, or other pertinent subjects (he’s be dead already), it is already in the past. The past can give us a clue, but only a clue.
Outward signs: OK he is Catholic, ethnic, has two children (good family planning I think), belongs to the right societies. He has some good decisions and was nominated by an allegedly conservative president. But remember the oft quoted Henri IV, ‘Paris is well worth a mass’.  It has been said that this quote shows the depth to which people would go for power. While some scholarship reports it as being apocryphal, it is in any event a statement that makes the case very clearly —“ we do not truly understand another man’s motivations.
What’s the right thing to do:Â Instead of pretending to read the political tea leaves, instead of pretending to know who gave whom private assurances and what secret litmus tests were administered, maybe, just maybe, we should pray twice as hard.
Pray that whomever is confirmed is a person of integrity. Pray that the other Justices will be enlightened by the Holy Spirit. Pray that those who are blind to government sanctioned murder will have their eyes opened. Pray that their decisions on cases move to affirmatively end abortion, euthanasia, and thousands of other evils. Pray that the states do not allow abortion and euthanasia to continue.
For me and my house we will pray.
O święty Makary, wzorze pustelników, któryś porzucił rozkosze świata, ukochał samotność i umartwienie, uproś mi u Boga tę łaskę, abym zwyciężał próżność, chełpliwość i wszelkie pokusy światowe, a poznawszy marność rzeczy ziemskich, przez pokutę starał się o wieczną szczęśliwość. Amen
O św. Sewerynie, nieustraszony głosicielu Ewangelji świętej i szczególniejszy opiekunie sług i niewolników, uproś nam u Boga tę łaskę, abyśmy względem bliźnich naszych kierowali się prawdziwą miłością bliźniego, i w ten sposób zasłużyli sobie na miłosierdzie w dzień strasznego sądu. Amen