Sisters of St Joseph Carondelet

Wow. What is it about St. Paul and Minneapolis that is driving their spirit? Something in the dirt?

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We have the St. Francis Cabrini parish who proudly will "bless" homosexual partners... link

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And then these sisters of which at least one is a clown "Rosey Red".

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Who's running things up there I wonder.

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These women like something called Cosmos..

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A view of the whole world as God's good creation is an inclusive turn to the heavens and the earth, a return to cosmology, in order to restore fullness of vision and get theology back on the track from which it diverged a few hundred years ago.

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To these poor women, it's theology that's left the tracks, not themselves. Very inclusive I'm sure including Mars and Venus. link

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Then there's this piece re "CLOWNS ARE RESURRECTION BEINGS" link

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Long ago and far away, a clown gave the homily one Sunday. She had enlisted the aid of a fellow theology student who informed us that she followed a clowning tradition that holds that a whiteface clown never speaks.

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A ministering clown is a truth-revealer. She ought never to be a being of fright or unease, and if she finds that she is, she tries to take that fear and transform it. Our clown homilist did just that with several people who were uneasy about her presence, by gently mirroring their defensive postures until they recognized themselves in her movements and were able to laugh and let go of their fear.

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In preparing to write this, I spent some time surveying the development of feminist and womanist theologies of suffering, solidarity and atonement. What I found reminded me of that ministering clown.

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Theologies that suggest that certain people are to put up with abusive or inhumane treatment lend themselves dangerously to patriarchal ends, not Christian ones. Again and again Jesus took fear upon himself and transformed it. He confronted those who would have stoned the adulterous woman. He spoke to the woman at the well and changed her life, and the life of her whole community.

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Like the clown, the task of women in the church is to take the fear and transform it by naming it, by refusing to live by it, and by actively dismantling it. We must take the thing that has been made sacred --the patriarchal values -- and render them profane, so that what is truly sacred -- the plan of creation announced by Jesus -- can take its place.

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Let's see here.. a she-clown gave a homily... There is a woman theology of suffering... patriarchal ends are not Christian, but rather abusive and inhumane.

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I am guessing that the trail of Bishops up there has for many years left their parishes without leadership. Religious houses are self supervised, and can get wacky. But the parishes such as St. Francis are under the Bishop's control should he choose to have any.

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Very sad huh? If it's between the cold winters, the dirt, or the devil, I suggest it's the latter.

Idiots! Well that explains it.

Ever since the Vatican brought up the subject, it has been running through my mind while driving that I ought to be more charitable. It has probably made some slight bit of difference.

Well this study confirms it.. I live in a good driving State.

The following state rankings were released for the 2007 GMAC Insurance National Drivers Test:
1. Idaho.
2. Alaska
3. Minnesota
4. Wisconsin

If you're in an idiot driver state, maybe there aren't enough Catholics there.

link

Oh, and what about New Zealand and their immigration "problem". Here in the U.S., it's smokers who are the current lepers. But just wait all the self-rightous out there, there's more to come to a place near you.

Got a little too much BMI? That makes you expensive and unwanted. Slim down or go stand 100 feet from the entrance door with the other leper smokers. It's only logical so shut-up and be the sheep we all know deep down under we are.

link

The New Zealand immigration service said it had no idea how many people were denied entry because of their weight. The BMI test is not mentioned on its website, however, and the health requirements for prospective residents stipulate only that they should not require dialysis or have tuberculosis, haemophilia or a disability requiring full-time care.

Robyn Toomath, an endocrinologist, of the New Zealand campaign group Fight the Obesity Epidemic, said the country could not afford to admit migrants who would be a drain on health services. "You can see the logic in assessing if there is a significant health cost associated with this individual, and that would be a reason for them not coming," she said.

Mr Trezise's wife, who is also classified as overweight, is still at home trying to shed pounds so that she meets the BMI requirements and can join her husband in New Zealand.

Mr Trezise has promised her that if she is unable to lose enough weight and pass the immigration test by Christmas, he will return to Britain for good. But he pointed out that has private health care and his employer has a gym membership scheme. "The idea was that we were going to change our lifestyle totally and get outdoors and on mountain bikes and all sorts," he said.

Huge baby steps

I saw some show somewhere sometime on PBS discussing how impassioned arguments within the same religious denominations can be over things an outsider would consider insignificant.

A space traveler arriving on earth would have a tough time recognizing the differences between the Orthodox and Roman Catholics. They believe the same things, yet they stand apart from each other.

Well, there is that little thing about Peter’s primacy still. Plus 1,000 years of isolated doctrinal development. Yet miracle of miracles, the developed doctrines and scriptural understandings do not clash, but enrich. We are all still Catholics.

Now about that Peter thing, finally we are putting our talk on paper and agreeing on something! Admittedly, without the Russians at the table, but still, something good and forward moving.
All it will take is time, of which we seem to have lots of. Jesus’ glorious return is still delayed for many excellent mysterious reasons only the Father knows. Perhaps uniting the Roman and Orthodox will remove one of those reasons.

link

Rome, Nov. 14, 2007 (CWNews.com) - Talks between Catholic and Orthodox theologians held in Ravenna, Italy, in October produced a framework for agreement about the primacy of the Pope, according to a report in the Italian daily La Repubblica.

The top Vatican representative at the Ravenna talks has cautioned that a 46-paragraph final document approved by the participants should not be seen as a dramatic step toward Orthodox acceptance of the Pope's authority, since it does not resolve questions about the nature of papal authority.

"While the fact of primacy at the universal level is accepted by both East and West," the Ravenna statement continued, "there are differences of understanding with regard to the manner in which it is to be exercised, and also with regard to its scriptural and theological foundations."

Cardinal Kasper told Vatican Radio that the Ravenna document will for the basis for further talks. In future meetings, he said, "we have have to go on to clarify the details."

... The Ravenna meeting was conducted under a cloud because the Russian Orthodox delegation-- representing by far the largest Orthodox Church in the world-- walked out of the meeting at the beginning of the discussions, in a dispute over the seating of a delegation from the Estonian Orthodox Church, which Moscow does not recognize.

Conception

At a press conference in Rome on November 6, Vatican officials announced plans for a conference on the beginnings of human life, to be held at the Regina Apostolorum university on November 15-17.

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That's good I think. Church teaching on the beginnings of the soul at conception need to be clarified. Currently it's that the human soul is created at the moment of conception which of course is true. But some allowance perhaps should be made for the majority of conceptions that do not result in birth, but are instead naturally aborted by the woman's body.

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It doesn't seem reasonable that all these little souls are destined for the old limbo.

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Perhaps there is something intrinsic in the to-be-aborted fetus that precludes the soul's creation.

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Perhaps the soul is created at some stage later than conception.

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Perhaps there's some regeneration going on where the little soul wanders around for a bit waiting for a better conception circumstance.

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Or perhaps it's as it now stands, that all these little created souls are eternal, yet never live much of a lived life on earth.

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Anyway, the pro-abortionists make great debate headway when they bring up the fact that most conceptions end in abortions by the body. Some more clarity from the church would be welcome.

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link

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Archbishop Gianfranco Ravasi, the president of the Pontifical Council, explained that the purpose of the STOQ project is to "contribute to dialogue between the various areas of research and study which have, in the modern age, gradually become separated from one another." In this case, the conference is designed to shed light on the discussions of artificial fertilization, embryonic stem-cell research, genetic manipulation, and other issues currently in the forefront of bioethical debates.

In 2009, Archbishop Ravasi told reporters, the Vatican's effort to promote discussion of scientific topics will take another step, with a conference on evolution, marking the 150th anniversary of the publication of Darwin's Origin of Species. That conference will be hosted by the Gregorian University.

Adoption love

Some nice information on adoption that I was not aware of. Mainly that it does not have to be prohibitively expensive.

The article also makes an interesting statement...

Bradley referred to one of the biblical imperatives for true religion: “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans.” (James 1:27).

In "Orphans vs. American Dream," an article on theresurgence.com, Anthony Bradley asked, "Why does America have orphans if it has Christian churches?"

link

It is sad that Catholic adoption agencies are being shut down because of the liberal government's mistaken notion that homosexuals should be allowed to adopt. Still, adopting foster children looks like a inexpensive way to do some real good.

According to Voice of the Orphan, an outreach of FamilyLife Today, 143 million children worldwide have lost one or both parents, and at least 16.2 million children worldwide have lost both parents. Closer to home, more than 800,000 children pass through America’s foster care system each year. On average, children waiting for adoption have been in foster care for 43.8 months, almost four years. More than one-third of Americans have seriously considered adopting, but no more than 2 percent have followed through.

“When you adopt from foster care,” Noll said, “parents’ rights are terminated. And it doesn’t cost thousands of dollars; it only costs a simple fee. Plus you get a monthly stipend as Aid to Adoptive Parents until the child is 19 or finishes high school—and that’s not taxable—and the children get Medi-Cal.”

Some prospective adoptive parents might be concerned about “problem” children in the foster care system, but Noll said most of the children they have placed from their office are under age 5.