Friday, March 28, 2014

How Fortitude Helps Us Do What Is Right – Even When Unpopular

by Dom Prosper Gueranger

A Commentary on Fortitude
There are times, when the Holy Spirit requires from a Christian something beyond interior resistance of the enemies of his soul: he must make an outward protestation against error and evil, as often as position or duty demands it.

On such occasions, he must bear to become unpopular, and console himself with the words of the apostle: “If I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.” (Gal. 1:10) But the Holy Ghost will be on his side; and finding him resolute in using His gift of fortitude, not only will He give him a final triumph, but He generally blesses that soul with a sweet and courageous peace, which is the result and recompense of a duty fulfilled.

Thus does the Holy Ghost apply the gift of fortitude, when there is a question of a Christian’s making resistance. But, as we have already said, He imparts also the energy necessary for bearing up against the trials, which all must go through who would save their souls. There are certain fears, which damp our courage, and expose us to defeat. The gift of fortitude dispels them, and braces us with such a peaceful confidence, that we ourselves are surprised at the change.

Look at the martyrs: not merely at such an one as Saint Mauritius, the leader of the Theban legion, who was accustomed to face danger on the battlefield; but at Felicitas, a mother of seven children; at Perpetua, a high-born lady with everything this world could give her; at Agnes, a girl of thirteen; and at thousands of others like them; and say, if the gift of fortitude is not a prompter of heroism.

Where is the fear of death — that death the very thought of which is sometimes more than we can bear? And what are we to say of all those lives spent in self-abnegation and privation with a view to make Jesus their only treasure and to be more closely united with Him?

What are we to say of those hundreds and thousands of our fellow-creatures who shun the sight of a distracted and vain world, and make sacrifice their rule?

Whose peacefulness is proof against every trial, and whose acceptance of the cross is as untiring as the cross itself is in its visit? What trophies are these of the Spirit of fortitude! and how magnificent is the devotedness He creates for every possible duty! Oh! truly man of himself is of little worth/ but how grand when under influence of the Holy Ghost! …

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Outcry against Cardinal Kasper’s ‘two-tier marriage’ proposal continues

by Hilary White, Rome Correspondent

ROME, March 24, 2014 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The backlash continues among Catholic thinkers against a Vatican cardinal’s proposal to allow divorced and civilly remarried Catholics to receive Holy Communion after a “period of penance” without altering their lifestyles.

A columnist, a philosophy professor and a cardinal archbishop add more fuel to the fight against the recommendation by Cardinal Walter Kasper, president emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.

Author and columnist Francesco Agnoli, in a lengthy editorial in the Catholic newspaper Il Foglio, calls Kasper’s proposal, given to the consistory of cardinals on February 20, “incomprehensible” and a clear attack on the precepts of scripture.

“Do you really believe, Cardinal, that a proposal to undermine marriage, in the West where everything is already falling apart, may serve to make anyone happy?” Agnoli asked Kasper.

“Do you really think that those who have broken communion with the man or woman in their life (and the children who are born), can regain full communion with God if only a priest gives him the Eucharist?”

“Can you really think that we can save the sick of this large ‘field hospital’ that is the sick West … only by saying that the patient is comfortable? That loyalty is no longer an absolute value?”

Critics have said that the proposal would create a kind of ecclesiastical equivalent to “civil unions” in which a second marriage could be “tolerated” but not sacramentally validated.

The Church bases its teaching on the words of Christ in the Gospels who said in Matthew, 19:8, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses permitted you to divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way. And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for fornication, and marries another woman commits adultery.”

But Kasper, who many consider the leader of the “liberal” wing of the Church’s episcopate, said, “The question is therefore how the Church can reflect this indivisible pairing of the fidelity and mercy of God in its pastoral action.” It is this “mercy,” Cardinal Kasper said, that compels the creation of a “new paradigm” for “pastoral practice.”

“After the shipwreck of sin, the shipwrecked person should not have a second boat at his or her disposal, but rather a life raft,” he said.

Agnoli has become the latest in a string of outraged responses to this proposal from those Catholics who say that this would make instead a shipwreck of the Church and force priests to act against their conscience and Catholic teaching by knowingly desecrating the Eucharist. Agnoli said Kasper’s proposal comes not from Catholic sources but from Protestant theology.

Professor Danilo Castellano, a political philosopher at the University of Udine, told Il Foglio that Kasper’s suggestion is simply contrary to the Church’s understanding of God’s forgiveness. For “the so-called divorced and ‘remarried’ to invoke and obtain mercy,” Castellano wrote, “they must acknowledge their guilt (as David did) and ask for forgiveness. The sine qua non of this is the abandonment of the state of sin. In fact, God gives not only ‘a second chance,’ but an infinite number of possibilities of forgiveness. He could not forgive, however, those who intend to remain stubbornly in sin.”

While most are warning that Kasper’s suggestion will result in a “watering down” of Catholic teaching on the indissolubility of marriage, Castellano goes further, saying it is rather an “abandonment” of it, that would render it unnecessary to the magisterium and, ultimately, unnecessary to a synodal discussion on the same issue.
Castellano also identifies Kasper’s theology with Protestantism, particularly with the doctrine of Martin Luther who did not believe that God eradicates a person’s sin, but only ignores it when He forgives. Kasper’s version of “mercy,” he said, is really “Lutheran mercy: a mercy that does not imply the preliminary and necessary abandonment of sin, but only the confidence that God does not take it into account.”

But “if mercy was to be understood as indifference to God for sin, the incarnation, passion and death of Christ on the cross it would be absurd really incomprehensible,” he said.

Also published by Il Foglio is a lengthy analysis of the proposal by Cardinal Carlo Caffarra, the archbishop of Bologna, who said that it is not only in direct contradiction to scripture and the unchangeable teachings of the Church, but of the explanation and development of these by Blessed – and soon to be Saint – John Paul II. The late pope’s 1980 Apostolic Exhortation, Familiaris Consortio, is “directly in the crossfire” said Caffarra, who was one of the consultors of the Synod on the Family in 1980.

Caffarra said that at that time, the issue of divorced and civilly remarried Catholics was discussed at length and that Kasper’s claim, and those of his supporters, that the “cultural context” of Familiaris Consortio was “completely different” is not true. On the contrary, he said, the document offers an insight into how to approach the problem that is timeless and not affected by changing historical trends and currents.

When Christ was asked about divorce, Caffarra said His response was to offer an unchanging principle: “You have to get out of this logical casuistry and look in another direction. … That is, you have to look at where man and woman come into existence, who, in the full truth of their being man and woman are called to become one flesh.”

As to Kasper’s reference to supposed changes to the “sensus fidelium” or general sense and understanding of all the faithful, this is also a misdirection. Caffarra said, “Familiaris Consortio states that the Church has a supernatural sense of the faith, which does not consist solely or necessarily in the consensus of the faithful.”

“The Church, following Christ, seeks the truth, which does not always coincide with the opinion of the majority. She listens to conscience and not power. And in this way she defends the poor and the downtrodden.”
Kasper’s reference was likely to the results of a global survey issued by the Vatican department in charge of preparing for October’s Extraordinary Synod on the Family, which found that the vast majority of those calling themselves Catholic do not either know or adhere to the Church’s teaching on sexuality. But Caffarra said that surveys and statistical analysis, while “valued by the Church” are not “to be considered an expression of the sense of faith.”

The Church, Caffarra said, does not propose a kind of “ideal” of marriage to “strive for,” but a definition, a description of an objective reality which it is powerless to change. This is the context given by Familiaris Consortio, which “identifies the deepest sense of the indissolubility of marriage.”
“Familiaris Consortio, then, has been a great doctrinal development, made ​​possible by the cycle of catechesis of Pope John Paul II on human love.”

That document, he added, “did not ignore the real problems. It also spoke of divorce, of free cohabitation, of the admission of divorced-and-remarried to the Eucharist.” To characterize it as belonging to the past, he said, with no longer anything to say to us “is a caricature. Or is it a consideration made ​​by people who have not read it.”
Something similar, Caffarra added, could be said about the attempt to sideline Pope Paul VI’s encyclical, Humanae Vitae, which was described by the German bishops’ conference as creating only “confusion.”

“After almost forty-six years,” he said, “we see briefly what happened to the institution of marriage and we realize how prophetic that document was. By denying the inseparable connection between conjugal sexuality and procreation, that is denying the teaching of Humanae Vitae, it has opened the way for mutual disconnect between procreation and the conjugal sexuality: from sex without babies to babies without sex.”

The denial, in and out of the Church, of Humanae Vitae’s doctrine, he said, has “progressively darkened the foundation of human procreation … and has gradually built the ideology that anyone can have a child. The single man or woman and gays maybe by surrogate motherhood.”

“So we moved in line with the idea of the expected child as a gift to the son planned as a right: it is said that there is a right to have a child.” He cited a recent court decision in Milan that asserted the “right to be a parent.”
“How can one say there is a right to have a person. This is amazing. I have the right to have things, not people,” Caffarra said.

Saturday, March 22, 2014

Book Review: Return to Order

A review by Philip Beattie 
Read the full review here  
 
Return to Order: From a Frenzied Economy to an Organic Christian Society--Where We've Been, How We Got Here, and Where We Need to Go
Author: John Horvat II  Publisher: York Press. 2013. 400 pp. York Press, $21.95
 
“Order is the first need of the soul” Russell Kirk.
 
Given that the current crisis is principally economic in nature, an economic theme constitutes the main focus of this aptly named book.  Without descending to the level of a technical treatise, John Horvat (see website here) offers an analysis of a philosophical, sociological and economic nature based on observations of economic developments in American and European history.  Return to Order is the culmination of almost twenty years of extensive research by the American author, and its publication is certainly timely.
 
 
 
Horvat’s main thesis centres on a great imbalance that has gradually entered the economy of the United States – and by extension the Western world generally to a greater or lesser degree – for which he has coined the phrase “frenetic intemperance”.   This he defines as a reckless and restless spirit inside any modern economy fomenting a drive to throw of legitimate restraints and gratify disordered passions.  Typical examples of how such intemperance has manifested itself are provided by widespread dishonest and predatory bank lending, as well as by the regulatory-avoidance activities of banks and financial institutions generally in America, Ireland and across the rest of Europe prior to the onset of the resulting global financial crisis.
 
Read the full review and visit the Spero News website at the link below:
Book Review: Return to Order

Friday, March 21, 2014

Cardinal Dolan and Toppling the ‘Barriers of Horror’

by Luiz Sérgio Solimeo

“Good for him. … So I would say, ‘Bravo!’”  That was Timothy Cardinal Dolan’s reaction when asked about NFL hopeful Michael Sam’s recent decision to come out publicly as a homosexual.


Cardinal Dolan’s words were the success of a very well studied and carefully prepared maneuver intended to generate impact on public opinion. This was yet another move by the homosexual  movement in the ongoing Culture War against the family and traditional morality. Indeed, the liberal Daily Beast published a revealing article titled “How Howard Bragman Orchestrated Michael Sam’s Coming Out,” which narrates how a public relations specialist carefully prepared this maneuver to have a great impact in the media.

Read the full article here:
http://www.tfp.org/tfp-home/catholic-perspective/cardinal-dolan-and-toppling-the-barriers-of-horror.html

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Missouri lawmaker wants to make evolution teaching optional

By Betsy Webster, News Reporter  and DeAnn Smith, Digital Content Manager


CASS COUNTY, MO (KCTV) -
A lawmaker from Cass County believes the Missouri General Assembly should allow parents to opt out of evolution teaching to their children.
Second-term Rep. Rick Brattin, R-Harrisonville, said his bill is an attempt to address his concern about teaching evolution in a way that is more palatable to lawmakers than his last three unsuccessful efforts. The previous efforts would have mandated *how* schools teach evolution, requiring that it be taught alongside a biblical perspective referred to as intelligent design or creationism. This year's effort keeps the curriculum as-is and uses the language of "choice."  Read more:
http://www.kctv5.com/story/24664815/missouri-lawmaker-wants-to-make-evolution-teaching-optional

Ukrainian Catholics experiencing 'total persecution' in Crimea :: EWTN News



As the Russian president signed a bill to annex Crimea Tuesday, the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in the peninsula has been experiencing what a Church official calls “total persecution.”


“At this moment all Ukrainian Greek Catholic life in Crimea is paralyzed,” Fr. Volodymyr Zhdan, chancellor of the Stryi eparchy in western Ukraine, told EWTN News March 18.


From 2006 to 2010, Fr. Zhdan served as chancellor of the Odesa-Krym exarchate, which encompassed both the mainland port city of Odesa and the Crimean peninsula.


Since late February the peninsula has seen the emergence of pro-Russian troops, who have taken control of its airports, parliament, and telecommunication centers.


Referring to the kidnapping of three Ukrainian Greek Catholic priests in Crimea by pro-Russian forces over the weekend, Fr. Zhdan stressed that one such case could be called a mistake, but that “multiple kidnappings are not an accident.” 


For more details, see link below:


Ukrainian Catholics experiencing 'total persecution' in Crimea :: EWTN News

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

NEW Video: Maryland March for Life 201

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On March 10, hundreds of pro-lifers gathered in downtown Annapolis for the annual Maryland March for Life. 

Ryan Bomberger was the keynote speaker and everyone in attendance was highly motivated to continue opposing the sin of abortion in our beloved land.  TFP Student Action volunteers participated with a large banner, drums and bagpipes.



This Catholic family was creative with their signs: "Only God plans parenthood."

Saturday, March 15, 2014

France: the Crown of Thorns exposed at Notre-Dame in Paris


The cathedral Notre-Dame de Paris is exposing relics of the Passion of Christ for the veneration of the faithful: the Crown of Thorns, a piece of the True Cross and one of the nails of the Passion will be exposed each Friday of the month at 3 pm, each Friday of Lent at the same time, and on Good Friday from 10 am to 5 pm.

http://www.dici.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/9_couronne_d_epines.jpgThe veneration of the instruments of the Passion of Christ has been mentioned since the 4th century in the accounts of pilgrims who travelled to Jerusalem, in particular the True Cross discovered by St. Helena, mother of the emperor Constantine, shortly after the Council of Nicea in 325. Between the 7th and 10th centuries, the relics were progressively transferred to Constantinople and the chapel of the Byzantine emperors to protect them from looting such as that carried out at the Holy Sepulchre during the Persian invasions.

In 1238, Baudoin II of Courtenay, the Latin emperor of Byzantium, found himself in dire financial straits and offered to let the Crown of Thorns in pawn to Louis IX, king of France. St. Louis accepted.

On August 19, 1239, the procession arrived in Paris. St. Louis cast off his royal finery and barefoot, wearing a simple tunic, with the assistance of his brother Robert d’Artois, carried the Crown of Thorns to Notre-Dame de Paris. He then had a reliquary built for these relics: the Sainte-Chapelle. During the French Revolution, these relics were deposited at the Abbey of Saint-Denis, and then when their reliquaries were gone, at the National Library. After the Concordat of 1801, the Crown of Thorns, along with some other relics, was handed over to the archbishop of Paris in 1804, and they were put into the cathedral treasury on August 10, 1806. They have been kept there since, under the care of the Chapter canons, who are responsible for their veneration, and the statutory care of the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem.

St. Louis gave the canons of St. Maurice a reliquary of crystal containing one of the Holy Thorns. Indeed, the king had an equal devotion for the relics of the Theban martyrs at the abbey St. Maurice d’Agaune, in Switzerland. He received, as a particular honour, the relics that he had requested of the Abbot, Giraud d’Augane who gave him twenty-four martyrs’ bodies, “as much for the glory of God as for the edification of the people of France.” Fourteen of them were given to the priory of St. Maurice de Senlis where St. Louis founded a college of fourteen Canons Regular of the order of St. Augustine, wearing the habit of the canons of St. Maurice d’Augane. The gift of the reliquary with the Holy Thorn was made to Abbot Giraud in gratitude.

The Treasure of the Abbey St. Maurice d’Augane is on loan to the Louvre from March 14 to June 16 2014, during renovations to increase the size of the display room at St. Maurice in honour of the 1500th anniversary of the abbey’s foundation. (See DICI no. 281, 28/02/14)

(Sources: Notre Dame de Paris – St. Maurice – the Louvre – DICI no. 292, 14/03/14)

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Why Games at the St. Louis de Montfort Academy are so Different



See the academy's latest video! Sorry. The link at the end does not work. Here is the full Academy video: http://en.gloria.tv/?media=455814. Die

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Can a Scientist Believe in Miracles? Yes...


The incredible story of an atheist scientist who believes in Catholic miracles.

Peering down the microscope, I saw a deadly leukaemia cell and decided that the patient whose blood I was examining must be dead. It was 1986, and I was reading a large stack of bone marrow samples "blind" without being told why. 

Given the nasty diagnosis, I imagined that it must be for a lawsuit. Perhaps a grieving family was suing the doctor for a death that really could not have been helped.

The bone marrows told a story: the patient took chemotherapy, went into remission, then relapsed, had more treatment, and went into remission for a second time. Then the slides stopped.
Later I learned that she was still alive some seven years after her ordeal. The case was not a lawsuit. Instead it was being considered by the Vatican as a miracle in the dossier for canonization of Marie-Marguerite d'Youville. No saint had yet been born in Canada.

But the Vatican had already rejected the case as a miracle. Its experts argued that she had not had a first remission and a relapse; instead, they contended that the second round of treatment produced a first remission.

This seemingly subtle distinction was crucial. We speak of the medical possibility of cure in first remission, but not following a relapse. The experts in Rome agreed to reconsider their decision if a "blind" witness would examine the slides again and find what I had just seen.

My report was sent to Rome.

Read the rest of this fascinating story by clicking here 

Sunday, March 9, 2014

Boston St. Patrick Parade Disinvites Homosexual Group

by Thaddeus Baklinski

(LifeSiteNews.com) – The organizers of Boston’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade have rescinded their controversial invitation to a homosexual advocacy group, saying they believe the group’s application was a “ploy” made under “false pretenses.”

The news comes days after a Catholic school said it would withdraw its iconic float and school band from the March 16 celebration because of the decision.

"In the footsteps of St. Patrick, [Immaculate Heart of Mary School] does not condone and will not appear to condone the homosexual lifestyle,” Brother Thomas Dalton, the school’s principal, said in a statement reported by the Telegram.

 "This float has become the Icon of the Saint Patrick’s Day Parade in South Boston appearing in all types of media whenever the parade is mentioned," said Dalton. "The familiar scene of St. Patrick joyfully giving his blessing to the crowds has, sad to say, come to an end."

 “We must stand firm with the Church which states in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, promulgated by Pope John Paul II, that 'homosexual acts are acts of grave depravity' and 'are intrinsically disordered,' ” Brother Dalton said.

The parade has historically upheld a “no sexual orientation” policy, meaning they bar participants from promoting homosexuality. News reports on Saturday indicated that the South Boston Allied War Veterans Council, which organizes the parade, had reached a deal with the homosexual lobby group MassEquality to allow its affiliate, LGBT Veterans for Equality, to march in the event “openly and honestly” in order to identify themselves as homosexuals.

However, on Monday the veterans council issued a statement saying they intend “to keep this parade a family friendly event.” “It is our belief that the application submitted to us by LGBT Veterans for Equality was a ploy by them to enter this parade under false pretenses and is hereby denied,” they stated. According to the statement, the homosexual group’s application had said they would have 20 veterans in the delegation. Click "like" if you want to defend true marriage.

“After some consideration, the Council agreed that Any Veteran should be allowed to march, regardless of sexual orientation,” the statement reads. “This application was conditionally approved as submitted with the understanding that These 20 Veterans can march but no sexual orientation would be displayed.” But at a meeting Sunday night, the organizers said, “it was made clear to us that the LGBT Veterans for Equality do not have 20 United States Veterans who wish to march.

Rather, they presented only one supposed Veteran and a group of others carrying rainbow flags. When asked about a Color Guard, their loan Veteran replied that he wasn’t sure he could supply any more Veterans willing to march.”

 “It is our intention to keep this an Irish Celebration, dedicated to our Men and Women serving in our Armed Forces. We will fight to keep our parade and its traditions,” they said. “We will not allow any group to damage the Integrity of the historic event or our reputation as a safe and fun filled day for all. We strive to hold the largest and most entertaining St. Patrick’s Day Parade in the Country.”

 As a result of the organizers’ decision, Immaculate Heart of Mary School says it will join the parade. Brother Dalton explained that homosexuals flagrantly trying to push their way into the faith-based, family-oriented parade is not new.

As far back as 1991 homosexual marchers wanted to participate in the South Boston event. After being notified of this at the time, Brother Dalton recalled telling parade organizer John Hurley, "If they're in, we're out." In 1992, Massachusetts courts ruled that parade organizers must allow homosexual groups to march in the parade.

The organizers responded in 1995 by making participation in the parade "by invitation only," and said the event would focus on commemorating the role of traditional families in Irish history. The US Supreme Court overturned the Massachusetts court decision when it ruled later that year that state courts had violated the parade sponsors’ First Amendment rights when they forced organizers to allow the homosexual groups to participate.

A parent with eight children who attended Immaculate Heart of Mary School and who himself had portrayed St. Patrick a number of times on the school's float, told the Telegram, “This parade is meant to honor [St. Patrick] and should not be used as political leverage for any special interest group.”

According to the South Boston St. Patrick's Parade website, the event is the second-largest parade in the country and is viewed by nearly 600,000 to 1 million people every year.

Contact: Philip J. Wuschke Jr,
 Parade Organizer
 P.O. Box 351,
 South Boston, MA 02127

Phone: 781-436-3377 Fax: 781-341-1191 Email: via website

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

How a Good Lent Can Help Fix a Bad Economy

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Written by John Horvat II

To those who see no link between Lent and our failing economy, it might be the case to look again.

Economics is about people. It cannot be reduced to numbers, formulae and analyses. “The subject matter of economics,” observes economic historian Odd Langholm, “is properly the habits, customs, and ways of thinking of producers, consumers, buyers, sellers, borrowers, lenders, and all who engage in economic transactions.”

That means our moral habits can have a definite effect on determining if our economy grows—or fails.

In my new book, Return to Order: From a Frenzied Economy to an Organic Christian Society—Where We’ve Been, How We Got Here, and Where We Need to Go, I show how our present economic crisis is being caused by what I call “frenetic intemperance.”

Frenetic intemperance can be defined as a restless spirit inside certain sectors of modern economy that foments a drive inside men to throw off legitimate restraints and gratify disordered passions. It is not a specifically economic problem but a moral and psychological vice that throws everything out of balance. When frenetic intemperance dominates, it often sends the whole system into convulsions—as we saw during the 2008 subprime mortgage crisis. And, unless addressed, it is virulent enough to crash the entire financial system.

In our daily lives, we see frenetic intemperance in the tendency to desire everything, right away, regardless of the consequences. Everyone must have the latest gadget even though they do not need it and really cannot afford it. The mad lack of restraint leads to an unstable economy laden with boom and bust, debt and stress. It creates a cold mechanistic economy where money rules. It gives rise to a materialistic culture which values quantity and utility over quality and beauty. The long and short of it is that a frenzied economy comes from frenzied lifestyles.

And that brings us to Lent. Fighting bad moral habits and practicing restraint is what Lent is all about. More than giving up a box of chocolates, how about giving up habits that foster frenetic intemperance, which is the real root cause of our economic decline?

Besides the personal benefits of interior peace, detachment, and greater spiritual freedom, a good Lent can also help save our economy.

Here are some suggestions on how this might be done.

1. Avoid speculative investments that promise huge returns on investment in little time. Such offers usually do not deliver what they promise and always feed frenetic desires that create anxiety and
stress.

2. Stay away from business relationships that are cold and mechanical. Treat workers like family. Respect those for whom you work.

3. Avoid trendy business gurus and books that call for radical changes that will “revolutionize” a company or keep people in a constant state of change.

4. Eschew work schedules that are inhuman and stressful. Learn to appreciate leisure.

5. Avoid compulsive buying especially during those sales frenzies around the holidays.

6. Shun the abuse of credit cards and especially the temptation to pay only the minimal monthly amount. Avoid consumer debt as you would the plague (i.e. borrowing to buy things for your immediate consumption, e.g. that new laptop, games, cars, fashion clothing, etc. that you
cannot afford, as opposed to investment debt , e.g. your home mortgage).

7. Learn not to have everything right now. The culture of instant gratification creates a frenzied  lifestyle—and economy.

8. Do not take as role models those who have money as the central axis of their lives. Admire character not a person’s bottom line.

9. Resist the temptation of seeing only quantity and cheapness. Learn to appreciate the beauty of quality and good taste.

10. Avoid lavish display, especially of fancy gadgetry that leads to a desire to keep up with the e-Joneses with the latest version.

As Lent progresses, we would do well to do something that has an impact beyond our own spiritual lives. It would be good to practice charity toward our neighbor by looking at the big picture. Giving up frenetic intemperance is a good start.

Return to Order - Buy your copy today
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John Horvat II is a scholar, researcher, educator, international speaker, and author. His book Return to Order: From a Frenzied Economy to an Organic Christian Society—Where We’ve Been, How We Got Here, and Where We Need to Go.

How a Good Lent Can Help Fix a Bad Economy | Return to Order

Monday, March 3, 2014

Syrian Christians Sign Treaty of Submission to Islamists


Christian leaders in the northern Syrian city of Raqqa, captured by an organization formerly affiliated with al-Qaeda, have signed a submission document this week banning them from practicing Christianity in public in return for protection by their Islamist rulers.

The document, dated Sunday and disseminated through Islamist Twitter accounts, states that the Christian community in the province of Raqqa, captured last March by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), was recently given three options: to convert to Islam; to remain Christian but pledge submission to Islam; or to “face the sword.” They opted for the second of those choices, known as dhimmitude.

Read more: Syrian Christians sign treaty of submission to Islamists | The Times of Israel http://www.timesofisrael.com/syrian-christians-sign-treaty-of-submission-to-islamists/#ixzz2uvuiA2sH



Syrian Christians sign treaty of submission to Islamists | The Times of Israel