There is perhaps no single theme which embodies – at least in one word – the life of St. Francis of Assisi.  But Francis was not born to a simple way of life, rather he was born into a world emerging from the feudal period of European history in a time when the merchant class was rising in power in the new era of trade and the novel notion of money.

What was it that made Giovanni Bernardone, son of wealthy cloth merchant Pietro, eventually become the one known to history as Francis of Assisi? It is a story of a movement from the trends and standards of the society around him to one in which he began to refound his life upon the Gospel – to take the values of the Word of God as the guide to life – his entire life and then be converted. Continue reading →

HHS has finalized its rules regarding the requirements for organization to participate in and provide health care insurance/coverage for its employees.  As noted in the news and from press releases by the US Catholic Conference of Bishops (USCCB), the Church has registered its strong objections to the mandate to provide elements of health care coverage that are against the moral teaching of the Church. The regulations require the church and church-affiliated organization to provide coverage in the area of artificial birth control and abortion services.

The rules are now in place and require the Church to comply. One might ask, “Surely there is a exemption clause provided in the regulation?”  And there is – any institution that does “religious work” is exempt.  The problem is the new regulations define what constitutes religious work. Under the regulations “religious work” is that done by a recognized religious organization by it members for the primary purpose of its members. The work of a Catholic hospital does not qualify for an exemption – nor would virtually any Catholic school, university, soup kitchen, local Catholic Charity service, or any other Catholic social service agency. There are serious questions whether the Diocese of St Petersburg qualifies for an exemption. Continue reading →

In the world of the current political conservatives, there is a fondness of the political philosophy of Edmund Burke the Irish-born member of the English parliament who is remembered for his support of the cause of the American Revolutionaries, and for his later opposition to the French Revolution. Burke was praised by both conservatives and liberals in the 19th century. Since the 20th century, he has generally been viewed as the philosophical founder of modern Conservatism. Continue reading →

From Gary Gutting – How to Argue Politics (from NY Times opinion section)

“In particular, there is a basic tension between the two main elements of the conservative view: Christian ethical values and the free enterprise system. Christian morality is a matter of love for others and self-sacrifice on their behalf. A market economy assumes that all agents (employers, workers, buyers, sellers) act in their own selfish interests. The problem is evident in the New Testament’s unease with the wealthy and sympathy for the poor; see, for example, Matthew 13: 22, Mark 10: 23-25 and James 5: 1-3. Continue reading →

Down in the River to Pray

Could Abe Lincoln Be Elected Today?  Watch this video and ask yourself this question.  It will make you wonder about the political ads you will watch during 2012

The Gettysburg Address

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate — we can not consecrate — we can not hallow — this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us — that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion — that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain — that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

There are classic philosophical proofs for the existence of God that one learns in seminary – Anselm, Aquinas, Descartes, and others – all of whom asserted that you can prove God exists via rational argument. Are their arguments compelling? “Yes” for some, “Perhaps” for many, “No” for others. Why such a variety of reactions? On one hand these are not “proofs” in the same manner as say, mathematics. But that is OK, God can’t be empirically proven because God doesn’t work that way. God doesn’t appear in the world as the conclusion to a mathematical equation. God appeared to us as Jesus, come into the world, born of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Continue reading →

SH Church Decorating 2011. Fr. Zack took some great photographs of our community hard at work getting the sanctuary ready for Christmas. Enjoy!