Friday, May 24, 2013

Teens Teaching Porn to Adults: In Oregon at "Education" Conference

FYI - Even though the three candidates we endorsed did not win, Brad Victor, Oregon Education Department “sexuality education expert”, said that if parents will speak out at every level, sex education can be easily derailed in a school district—even one where the programs are already firmly in place. The sooner parents start their challenges, however, the better.

If you read this to the end, your head will spin, if not explode.  The evil is so prevalent in this conference for teens, it is child abuse to even let them attend.  The "adults" that want to normalize this type of sexuality want to feed on our children.

Contact Brad Victor (503) 947-5655  or brad.victor@state.or.us  See post at end for all the emails of those in the Ed. Department.


 by Rita Diller, National director of American Life League’s Stop Planned Parenthood Project.

When I walked into this year’s Oregon Adolescent Sexuality Conference in Seaside, Oregon, one of the first things I encountered was a table manned by three young teen boys. On the table was a collage that included many depictions of totally bare female genitalia—obviously pornographic and, one would think, illegal.

The collage included a drawing of a woman circa 1950 declaring, in the most base terms, what a woman’s private parts should smell like. It also included a drawing of a pigtailed little girl riding on a tricycle with the word “Vagina!” written above her, and another drawing of a young female child standing by a rose, with the word “Vagina” written below her on a chalkboard.
Saint Michael Protect Us in Reading This
“Everyone can come inside” are the words visible along the outer edge of the piece, which appeared to be a decoupaged plate.

The boys smiled nervously as hordes of teens, who had arrived for what some described as a field trip, passed the display table. Planned Parenthood was on the steering committee of this conference.
The booth belonged to Youth for Education and Prevention of Sexual Assault (YEPSA), a supposedly teen-led initiative from Eugene, Oregon.

At a booth whose stated mission was the prevention of sexual assault, I could only wonder why the teen boys would be manning a table containing graphic pictures of female genitalia, suggesting that “everyone can come inside” a pigtailed little girl on a tricycle.

With that question in mind, I checked on the Internet and found that the group puts on performances, the first of which was The Vagina Monologues. The students stated they just finished a run of a play that they wrote about the life struggles of a transgendered woman. They have a transgender education panel coming up, and they do art shows around teen sexuality and gender.

Day two of the conference found me very reluctantly attending a workshop led by YEPSA entitled “You Say Porn, I Say Porn!”

The program description did not even begin to touch the stark reality of the session. “To porn or not to porn, that is the question. YEPSA will be leading the masses through the very exciting world of pornography.” The session was held in a large room, filled with teens and adults. It started with a soft porn video commercial.

About 10 teen facilitators lined up across the front of the room and introduced themselves. They gave their names and the pronoun they prefer (“I prefer ‘she,’” “I don’t have a preference but I identify as male,” etc.). This was in keeping with a theory emphasized over and over at the conference—that gender is fluid and is determined only by the person in question and how that person feels at that particular time about his or her gender. In others words, biology has nothing to do with gender.

That was evidenced by a teen boy who attended lunch the first day dressed as a woman, complete with wig, pearls and dress. He soon put aside the outfit, and was once again looking like a teen boy the next time I saw him. Another young man was decorated with glitter on his face and a lilting voice, both of which he shed later in the day.

It was pointed out at the beginning of the conference that there were unisex bathrooms available for those who preferred to use them. There were separate male and female bathrooms available as well.
Getting back to the session, the facilitators asked everyone in the room to work on a group definition of porn. Since they said it wouldn’t be possible to come up with a real definition that everyone agreed on, we just needed to make it “pornish.”

Some of the pornish ideas were: Main purpose is to stimulate arousal. You learn different ways to have sex from porn. It has commercial purposes. It is an exaggerated depiction of fantasy. It is a beautiful thing. It objectifies people. It is whatever promotes a sexual response. It tries to get people thinking about sex.

Next, the room was divided into nine groups. The youth facilitators went from group to group, individually or occasionally in pairs, talking about different aspects of porn to the mixed groups of teens and adults.

One of the young teen female facilitators was very scantily dressed, with her entire midriff showing and wearing a very tight miniskirt. She literally bounced rather than walked. The young teens would come into these groups of mixed adults and teens and ask questions like: “How is porn different from real sex?” “How might watching porn from a young age affect you?”

A major discussion about how tragic it is that porn stars refuse to use condoms ensued in our group, with much wondering about why this is so. An adult male, who seemed to have way too much knowledge on all things pornographic, said it is because of lack of stimulation.

Most of the facilitators were teen girls. Much of the response to these young girls’ queries and the discourse about sex and pornography came from two older men in our group.

When one particularly thin girl finished questioning our group and left, I heard one of the men say to the other, “That was sexy. What do you do?” To which the man who knows too much about porn replied: “I work with teens.”

He had been discussing with the teens a social media outlet where one can post photos for just a few seconds, or as long as wanted, and then the pictures disappear, he said.

One teen facilitator asked whether it was okay for girls to send nude pictures to their boyfriends, and the adults generally agreed it was fine as long it was a boyfriend, but not to strangers. One woman finally pointed out that those pictures can go anywhere once they are sent and don’t disappear when the relationship dissolves.

The session was a dirty old man’s delight. These teen facilitators were probably high school age, some very young high school, with some appearing to be possibly middle school. Several of them were awkward and visibly uncomfortable with their role in this debacle, while others seemed far too seasoned and comfortable with the situation.

This is just a sampling of the plan that Planned Parenthood has for our teens. Check out our website at www.stopp.org, where I will be writing for several weeks on the unbelievably inappropriate materials and scenarios that were presented at this conference.

Oregon Education Department “sexuality education expert” Brad Victor prides himself on the fact that Oregon has the “most progressive sex education laws in the nation,” and brags about how he easily slid Oregon’s explicit Administrative Rule under the radar as a consent item at the state board level. The plan is that other states will follow suit. Many are already deeply embroiled in Planned Parenthood’s sex education. Those who are not embroiled are targeted.

Jim Sedlak’s book Parent Power!! is available free of charge on our website. It is a brilliant instructional tool that lays out the plan that parents can follow to get Planned Parenthood out of local schools. It is a plan that has been proven to work time and time again when parents follow it. Read Jim’s book today and take action!

"brad.victor@state.or.us" <brad.victor@state.or.us>
Cc: "rep.saragelser@state.or.us" <rep.saragelser@state.or.us>, "rep.jeffreardon@state.or.us" <rep.jeffreardon@state.or.us>, "rep.sherriesprenger@state.or.us" <rep.sherriesprenger@state.or.us>, "rep.shemiafagan@stateor.us" <rep.shemiafagan@stateor.us>, "rep.davidgomberg@state.or.us" <rep.davidgomberg@state.or.us>, "rep.chrisgorsek@state.or.us" <rep.chrisgorsek@state.or.us>, "rep.johnhuffman@state.or.us" <rep.johnhuffman@state.or.us>, "rep.julieparrish@state.or.us" <rep.julieparrish@state.or.us>, "rep.genewisnant@state.or.us" <rep.genewisnant@state.or.us>, "rep.shamiafagan@state.or.us" <rep.shamiafagan@state.or.us>
Subject: The Debasing of Women

Dear Mr. Victor,
If what I hear about is true about the Oregon Sexuality Conference in Seaside, Oregon is true, then you are among those who are personally responsible for the degrading of women, the animalization of men and the crumbling of culture. If the porn workshops, cross dressing and decoupaged plates of little girls with the word, "VAGINA" next to her is a lie, then please disregard my email. To appease to the lowest appetites of humanity and facilitate people, young and old, to nothing more than fodder for pleasure is repugnant.
All relationships, regardless of gender, should be based in a mutual understanding of dignity and respect.
As a woman, I need you to know that just because some woman say they are OK with being a "warm place to put it" --that is not so. By fueling the war on the women, that views us as mere receptacles for someone's DNA, you set us back to the days when at least society had the guts to say we weren't equal.

Please think about it.

Ms. CM LeMark

Monday, May 13, 2013

Fight Pornography in Marion Co. - VOTE for Gayle Strawn, write-in David Jacobson and Denise Quinn Nanke.

Vote to save Oregon by writing in David Jacobson, Denise Quinn Nanke and just fill in the box by Gayle Strawn's name for Marion County Salem/Keizer School District School Board.  When they win, with your vote (or contact someone in Marion county that needs to know this), they can lead the School Board in a way to get back to real education and get Planned Parenthood out of the schools.

You might have kids in public school, private school, homeschool them, have no kids in school....save them from the corruption of Planned Parenthood. 

The children you love, which should be all of them, will NOT be unaffected from the evil of the "classes" given by pro-abortion (Kermit Gosnell baby-killing included) and pro-homosexual Planned Parenthood.  They will be the peers of your children.   Any question of this true evil, check it out:

Take Care Down There..for kids from Planned Parenthood  please click the link.

Thanks Bill Post for this cheat sheet.



Write-in Zone 1 - David Jacobson; Zone 2 - Denise Quinn Nanke.  Vote Gayle Strawn Zone 5   








Sunday, May 12, 2013

Happy "Cosmic" Mother's Day from Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen


"Human motherhood is two-fold in essence and is a more complex thing than motherhood among the animals.  There is, first, the physical act of giving birth, which women share with all of nature. As the tree bears fruit and the hen hatches her eggs, so every mother, by the act of birth is bound up with the life of all living things, and her of her may be rightly said, "Blessed is the fruit of thy womb."

But human motherhood has a second and far lordlier aspect - that of the spirit.  The soul of a child does not emanate from the mother's soul or body, but if freshly created by God Himself, Who infuses it into the body of the unborn child.

Physiological motherhood is glorified by this co-operation with God Himself, who fathered the baby's soul and then permitted a woman to clothe it in her flesh.  The human mother does not bear a mere animal but a man, made to the image and likeness of the God Who created him." 

"Every birth requires a submission and a disciplining.  The earth itself must undergo harrowing before it passively accepts the seed.  In woman, the submission is not passive.  It is sacrificial, consciously creative, and for this selflessness her whole nature has been formed.

It is well known that women are capable of far more sustained sacrifice than men; a man may be a hero in a crisis, which enables a woman to be heroic through the years, months, days and even seconds of her life, when the very repetitive monotony of her tasks wears down the spirit.  Not only a woman's days but her nights--must share in the Calvary of Motherhood.

This is why women have a surer understanding of the doctrine of redemption than men have; they have come to associate the risk of life and death in childbirth, and to understand the sacrifice of self to another through the many months preceding it."

"And the co-operation with grace in a mother, although it may be unconscious on her part, yet makes her a partner of Divinity: every human mother is, in as sense, "over-shadowed by the Holy Ghost."

Not a priest, and yet endowed with a kind of priestly power, she, too, brings God to man, and man to God.  She brings God to man by accepting her mother's role, and thus permitting God to infuse a new soul in her body for it to bear.

 She brings man to God in childbirth itself, when she allows herself to be used as an instrument by which another child of God is born into the world."

If motherhood is seen as a matter involving only a woman and a man, it is seen too astigmatically, and without the honor that it is due.  For to comprehend the real significance of motherhood, we must include the spiritual element that goes to make a child--we must see the human woman co-operating with her husband, the father of the human baby, and with God the Father of a soul that it eternal, indestructible and unlike any other ever formed throughout the history of the world.  Thus every human motherhood involves a partnership with the Divine"

The Way to Happiness by Fulton J. Sheen. 

Friday, May 10, 2013

Someone to Grab Onto When Things Get Tough.

Here's a list of our Doctors of the Church   We are given them as a gift to us for all areas of our lives.  If we're ever in need let's remember them.  Then Trust.

There could be some of your confirmation saints among them.  Maybe someone you know will be confirmed soon.  This might help them.
Before the Pope can proclaim a person a Doctor they have to be a saint. It is a rare honor. Usually, it happens to a person who shows eminent (sound) holiness and a type of spirituality that is exceptional.
 The Pope proclaims such a person because of overwhelming support by the entire church. This saintly person has a powerful message, example and contribution that will benefit the church members.
 
 For that reason the Holy Father wants the whole church to know about this "extra-ordinary" and extraordinary person and proclaims the individual "Doctor" of the Church.
 
Next to the office of the Pope, the highest church office is a cardinal. Cardinals are selected by the Pope and only the cardinals elect a Pope. The Pope alone proclaims a Doctor.

The Thirty-five  Doctors of the Church

 
Original Four Doctors of the Latin (Western) Church
recognized by: Pope Boniface VIII, 1295
 
1..  Pastoral Doctor
      St Ambrose (340-97)
      Opponent of Arianism in the West. Bishop of Milan.
 
2.    Doctor of Biblical Science
       St Jerome (343-420)
     
3.    Doctor of Grace
       St Augustine of Hippo (354-430)
       
4.    Doctor of Hymnology
       St Gregory the Great (540-604)
       Defended papal supremacy. Worked for clerical/monastic reform.
       
 
Original Four Doctors of the Eastern Church
recognized by St. Pius V in 1568
 

5.   Doctor of Orthodoxy
      St Athanasius (297-373)  

     Bishop of Alexandria. Dominant opponent of Arianism.

6.   Doctor of Monasticism
      Saint Basil the Great (329-379)
      Cappadocian.
 
7.    Doctor of Theologians
       St. Gregory Nazianzen (330-90)
     
8.    Doctor of Preachers

       St. John Chrysostom (347-407)
       "golden-voiced" orator
 
                      +++

 
9.   Angelic Doctor
       St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-74)
       Added by Saint Pius V in 1568
 
10.  Seraphic Doctor
       St Bonaventure (1217-74)
       Franciscan theologian.
       Added by Sixtus V in 1588
 
11.  Doctor of Scholasticism
       St Anselm of Canterbury (1033-1109)
       Archbishop of Canterbury.
       Added by Clement XI in 1720
 
12.   Doctor of Education
        St Isidore of Seville (560-636)
        Added by Innocent XIII in 1722
       
13.   Doctor of Homilies
        St. Peter Chrysologus (400-50)
        Added by Benedict XIII in 1729
 
14.   Doctor of Doctrine
        Saint Leo the Great (400-61)
       Added by Benedict XIV in 1754
 
15.  Doctor of Reform and Renewal
       St. Peter Damian (1007-72)
       Added by Leo XII in 1828
 
16.  Devotional and Eloquent Doctor
       St. Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153)
       "Mellifluous" Doctor because of his eloquenceCictercian
       Added by Pius VIII in 1830

17.  Doctor of Christ's Divinity
       St. Hilary of Poitiers (315-68)
       Added by Blessed Pius IX in 1851
 
18.  Morality and Marian Doctor
       St. Alphonsus Liguori (1696-1787)
       Founder of Redemptorist Order
       Added by Blessed Pius IX in 1871
 
19.  Doctor of Authors and the Press
       St. Francis de Sales (1567-1622)
       Bishop, leader in Counter- Reformation.
       Added by Blessed Pius IX in 1877
 
20.  Doctor of Faith and against Heresy
         St Cyril of Jerusalem (315-87)
         Bishop and opponent of Arianism in the East.
         Added by Leo XIII in 1883
 
21.   Doctor of the Incarnation
         St Cyril of Alexandria (376-444)
         Patriarch. Opponent of Nestorianism. Made key contributions to Christology.
       Added by Leo XIII in 1883

   22.  The Icon or Image Doctor
        St. John Damascene (675-749)
        Added by Leo XIII in 1883

 23.  Doctor of English History
       The Venerable Bede (673-735)
       Added by  Leo XIII in 1899
 
24Doctor of Deacons and Poets
       St Ephrem the Syrian (306-73)
       Biblical exegete and ecclesiastical writer. Called "Harp of the Holy Spirit."
       Added by Benedict XV in 1920
 
25.  Doctor of Catechetical Studies
        St. Peter Canisius (1521-97)
       Added by Pius XI in 1925

26.  Mystical Doctor
         St John of the Cross (1542-91)
         Added by Pius XI in 1926
 
27.  Doctor of Science
         St. Albert the Great (1200-80)
        Dominican.
        Added by Pius XI in 1931
 
28.  Doctor of Church State Relations
         St. Robert Bellarmine (1542-1621)
         Added by Pope Pius XI in 1931
 
29.  Evangelical Doctor
         St Anthony of Padua (1195-1231)
         Franciscan.
         Added by Pius XII in 1946
 
30.  Doctor of Science
         St Lawrence of Brindisi (1559-1619)
         Added by Blessed John XXIII in 1959
 
31.   Doctor of Prayer
         St Teresa of Avila (1515-82)
         Spanish  nun/mystic. First woman Doctor. Co-founder of the Discalced Carmelites
       Added by Paul VI in 1970
 
32.  Doctor of Unity
         St Catherine of Siena (1347-80)
        Mystic.  Dominican
         Added by Paul VI in 1970
 
33.  Doctor of Confidence and Missionaries
        St Therese of Lisieux (1873-97)
        French Carmelite nun. Known as The Little Flower, "Story of a Soul" has become classic    inspiring millions to follow her "Little Way" of  holiness.
       Added by John Paul II in 1997
 
These two Doctors of the Church were added by Pope Benedict XVI  to help us through the Year of Faith and bring us closer to who Christ meant us to be.  Let's remember that they are ready and able to help.

34.   St. John of Avila
         Added by Benedict XVI in 2012
 
35.  Hildegard of Bingen
       Benedictine nun during the height of the German Middle Ages, a true master of
 theology and a great scholar of the natural sciences and of music.
        Added by Benedict XVI in 2012

Thank you to Our Lady's Warriors from Catholic Media Coalition for your site.

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Archbishop Alexander Sample: Will He Wear This Uniform with Pride or Angst?


We have to point out things in this world that are against our Church's Teachings to our children.  Confusion isn't a way to raise a child on their way to Eternal Life with Christ. 

There seems to be a sense of  "we'll take care of things Archbishop, don't worry".  We'll have to find a way to get this information to our dear Archbishop.  The gatekeepers are still in place I fear.

(This just in:  The U of P just had the Dalai Lama give a talk.  He is the totality of everything NOT Catholic.  A "reincarnation", not "of a soul that it eternal, indestructible and unlike any other ever formed throughout the history of the world", he believes in anything goes if there's a good reason. More money spent by those hell bent on destroying the Church at a Catholic university.)

The University of Portland gave this athletic gear to Archbishop Sample recently.  It shows very clearly that Nike is pro-homosexual actions and pro-abortion.  In face they are hoping to be the first sportswear company to sponsor a homosexual athlete. 

Sports are wonderful, but when it comes with this high of a price to live by the label, it's sad.
Catholic Sentinel Ed Langlois
Universities Whose Theology Professors Have a Mandatum.  
 
Canon 812 reads: "It is necessary that those who teach theological disciplines in any institute of higher studies have a mandatum from the competent ecclesiastical authority."
 
                                          +++

The Conference at the University of Portland's Chiles Center in June picked Thomas "let there be women priests" Groome to be the keynote speaker.  He works for Sadlier Publishing and is a friend of Mary Jo Tully who is also connected with Sadlier. 

This could point out some flaws in thinking on the Chancellor's part, since she is the one allowing this ex-priest from coming into the Archdiocese. 

The is very sad: even with the Installation Mass of our Archbishop at the Chiles Center and the standards of the University have continued slipping.

Thomas Groome

Every part of this earth is sacred . . .
Every clearing and humming insect is holy . . .
All belong to the same family.
Teach your children that the earth is our mother . . .
The wind gave our children the spirit of life.
This we know, the earth does not belong to us; we belong to the earth . . .
(Coming to God's Word, William H. Sadlier Inc.)

 
 

Friday, May 3, 2013

Monsignor Gaenswein: Pope Peeking


Benedict’s trusted secretary, Monsignor Georg Gänswein, will be serving both pontiffs — living with Benedict at the monastery inside the Vatican and keeping his day job as prefect of the new pope’s household. Asked about the potential conflicts, Vatican spokesman Fr. Lombardi was defensive, saying the decisions had been clearly reasoned and were likely chosen for the sake of simplicity. “I believe it was well thought out,” he said.  Do you see the Monsignor ? Look up to the left.



Wednesday, April 24, 2013

What Some of Us Saw at Archbishop Sample's Installation Mass.

Reflecting on the Installation mass of Archbishop Alexander Sample, many people had the same impression:  it was the "last hurrah" to display pro-abortion/pro-homosexual Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon (EMO) .  They were front and a little left of center of our new Archbishop, in more ways than one. 

Installation masses usually present people from different beliefs and also community leaders to a new Archbishop.  But this was truly a EMO parade that was embarrassing to those of us who know the history of this Archdiocese.  At the beginning at the procession it looked like Venice Beach in the sixties to me.  Lots of bright colors and various nationalities displayed.  This was all well and good, even to be expected.  However, it was capped off with women in priest collars and a man/woman looking like Pope John Paul II, all in white and gold complete with zucchetto, sitting directly in front of the cathedra.  No Baptists in sight.

Archbishop Emeritus Vlazny's first words were a joke that, to me and others, went over like a lead balloon with Archbishop Sample, although some penned, "he beamed". Even as this event was at the Chiles Center and not the Cathedral, the spirit of an Installation is more solemn.  His Eminence, Cardinal Levada, watched as the woman he hired as Chancellor, Mary Jo Tully, displayed the Papal Bull,  for all to see.  She was holding it as if she were showing what round it was in a boxing match.  The "Ecumenist of the Year" did her solo performance for her beloved Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon.  Sorry that this seems uncharitable. It is what we saw at the Installation mass.

The EMO parade was then introduced to Archbishop Sample, who took it all in stride.  His homily and holy boldness hopefully pricked their consciences for those garbed in Roman clerical dress.


AB Sample during Tridentine Mass
The Lord seemed to give us a "sign" that things would be okay when the acolyte raised the Archbishop's sleeve as he incensed the altar.  The bastion of allowing barely any Tridentine Masses and letting there be opportunities for a solemn mass seemed to be breaking through...a new evangelization. No "muto proprio" here.

In the procession the Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon folks well honored.  This was "ecumenical" but were there any pro-life, pro-family churches seen?  Were there any Baptists or Evangelicals.  They don't agree with Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon's anti-life, anti-family stance and distance themselves because of this. But, were they there? 

It must be hard to have a changing of the guard after fifteen years.  I felt compassion for  Archbishop Emeritus Vlazny who did a great job, even with the little joke.  We all agreed on this and also that Bishop Steiner wasn't  his jolly self at all.  As with men and their "jobs", a younger "boss" is sometimes hard to take.  Even with women, just to be, well, even.

Our observations may seem unacceptable to many, but for decades the unacceptable alliance with Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon has infiltrated most aspects of our Oregon Catholic lives. 

The Archdiocese of Portland is going to go through a transformation, we pray.  The world is going through lots of changes and the church is championing many of these changes.  We need a strong man of God at the helm to help Oregon Catholics see the Way, the Truth and the Life. 

Welcome Archbishop Sample.  You transcended all the old ways presented at your Installation.  This is the main thing that we saw at your Installation. 


Monday, April 15, 2013

Archdiocese of Portland. Trying to Undermine Archbishop Sample Already?

Archbishop Alexander King Sample III has just arrived in Portland and already the Archdiocese of Portland is bringing in two men of questionable motives: Jack Jezrell of JustFaith Ministries in May and Thomas "let there be women priests" Groome in June. Groome will be at the Chiles Center just before the Archbishop is in Rome to receive his Pallium from Pope Francis.

For those of us who love the Truth of the Catholic Church, putting these conferences and talks on isn't fair to  Archbishop Sample who probably wouldn't approve.  People are confused enough and about the True teachings of Holy Mother Church.

+++++++
 

May: Jack Jezrell.  The USCCB approves of JustFaith but we disagree with this as authentically Catholic teaching.

Wednesday May 15: 24th Annual Tobin Lecture "St. Francis, Pope Francis, and a Vision for the 21st Century Parish".  Keynote Speaker Jack Jezreel, Executive Director of JustFaith Ministries.
 
7:00 p.m. at All Saints Catholic Church, 3847 NE Glisan, Portland 97232. (Light refreshments and gathering begin at 6:30 p.m.) Click here for flyer
From the Office of Life, Justice and Peace

"JustFaith claims it will “energiz[e] social ministry.” Along with scores of other dioceses, the Archdiocese of Santa Fe has been inviting interested Catholics to participate in this expensive program – the registration fee $250 each year for each participant, who must each buy a set of 11-13 books each year, costing $115-$125.
 
The 30-week program also requires showing 14-16 videos every year at a cost of $300-$350 and recommends additional speakers, who are available, of course, for a stipend… not to mention the costs accrued from mandatory weekend retreats.
 
Expense isn’t the issue, however – the product is. JustFaith is a liberationist propaganda vehicle, a “conversion-based process”, to train participants to “become advocates for justice.”1
 
Eddie Roth, an editorial writer for the Post-Dispatch, writes in his blog that the program (which he likes, by the way) draws from Fred Kammer’s Doing FaithJustice.
 
What Roth describes is a classic liberationist (Marxist) perspective in which the religious tradition is distorted to “reveal” class antagonisms and a “need” to restructure society along Marxist lines." 
 
Stephanie Block Catholic Media Coalition.  "Justice in Pieces': JustFaith Part 1-18
 
+++++++
 
June:          Thomas "let there be women priests" Groome.

Mary Jo Tully and Thomas Groome are both connected with the Sadlier Publishing company. 
 
The conference will begin on Thursday, June 20, 2013 with an opening Mass, a welcome reception, and a keynote address by Dr. Thomas Groome from the Department of Religious Education and Pastoral Ministry at Boston College


We know that Archbishop Sample can't stop every threat we face.  We know that "the weeds grow with the wheat" and life cannot be perfect.

We are so thankful for a new Shepherd that will show our souls the way to heaven and be with Christ eternally. 

Archdiocese of Portland
Office of Justice and Peace. Matt Cato
2838 E Burnside St  Portland, OR 97214
(503) 234-5334

Rev. William Beauchamp, C.S.C., President
University of Portland
5000 N Willamette Blvd  Portland, OR 97203
(503) 943-8000





 
 
 
 
 

Saturday, April 6, 2013

Archbishop Sample's Installation Homily, April 2, 2013

As one of the first in line with so many other pilgrims at the Chiles Center, I could have gone home early, my joy was complete, because around an hour into waiting in that line, out of the doors flowed a most beautiful image.  A tall, thin, beautiful inside and out, Archbishop Sample with the biggest smile on his face. 
 
Stunned for a moment at this most wonderful gift, he was then lovingly "attacked" by a kiss of his ring and a most wonderful grasp on his left arm that was hard to let go.  He was gracious, appreciative and we were truly in the presence of a Christ-like man. 
 



INSTALLATION HOMILY
Most Reverend Alexander K. Sample
Archbishop of Portland in Oregon


Praised be Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, who lives and reigns forever.
Amen!


It is in the true spirit of Easter joy that I greet all of you here as the newly installed
shepherd of God’s flock in western Oregon.


I wish to express my gratitude to His Eminence, Cardinal Levada, a former
Archbishop of Portland and Prefect Emeritus of the Congregation for the Doctrine
of the Faith, for gracing us with his presence today.


I am most appreciative for the presence of His Excellency, Archbishop Viganò,
Apostolic Nuncio to the United States, who has presented the papal bull
appointing me Archbishop of this local Church and who has formally installed me
as its chief shepherd. Your Excellency, your presence with us today brings a
special closeness of our Holy Father, Pope Francis, and reminds us all that we
are part of the universal Church of Jesus Christ.

I want to thank and acknowledge a very special person to all of us, Archbishop
Vlazny. I want to thank you, Your Excellency, for the very kind and gracious
welcome you extended to me to this Archdiocese from the moment of our first
telephone conversation after my appointment here. But most of all, on behalf of
the entire Church of the Archdiocese, I want to thank you for your faithful and
beautiful ministry as its shepherd for all of these past 15 years.

My brother bishops, priests and deacons, dear consecrated religious, my dear
brothers and sisters in Christ, and all people of good will, to you I repeat the
words of the psalm: “This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and
be glad in it!”

I say this not because of the installation of a new Archbishop, but because Jesus
Christ has risen from the dead. He is alive, he loves us, he calls us to faithful
discipleship, and he asks us to be witnesses of his resurrection before the world.
You see, there is the danger on such an occasion to think that this is somehow
all about your new Archbishop or this local Church. We must always keep our
eyes fixed on Jesus. It is not about me. It is always about him, and we must
never lose sight of that.

In these readings from the Acts of the Apostles which the Church gives us during
these first days of the Easter octave we have St. Peter, in the power of the Holy
Spirit on the day of Pentecost, standing before the people and proclaiming Jesus
Christ, as risen from the dead.

His is truly a bold and fearless proclamation of the Good News meant for all
those whom God calls. He is fulfilling the mission that Jesus Christ entrusted to
him and the other Apostles.

This is what is needed in the Church today. We need a new Pentecost, a new
outpouring of the Holy Spirit to set our hearts on fire for proclaiming Jesus Christ.
With hearts filled with joy, love and mercy, we must proclaim the Good News.

I come to you as your new Archbishop to announce afresh to you, the disciples of
Jesus Christ, that he is alive! This is good news, not just for the disciples of 2000
years ago, but for us today. It is good news for all people. Jesus is alive and has
become for us the source of eternal life. By his death he has destroyed death,
freed us from the corruption of sin and opened up for us the way to the Kingdom
of Heaven. This is the basic message of salvation and we must never cease to
believe it and proclaim it.

I would like to draw your attention to my episcopal motto: Vultum Christi
contemplari, “to contemplate the face of Christ.” You must know that, for me, this
is more than just a nice phrase. It speaks clearly and directly of my vision for our
work together here in western Oregon.

The inspiration for this motto is taken from the writings of Blessed John Paul II,
specifically from his apostolic letter at the beginning of the new millennium, Novo
Millennio Ineunte and his last encyclical, Ecclesia de Eucharistia.

In Novo Millennio Ineunte, he writes: "’We wish to see Jesus’" (quoting the
Gospel of St. John). This request, addressed to the Apostle Philip by some
Greeks who had made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem for the Passover, echoes
spiritually in our ears too during this Jubilee Year. Like those pilgrims of two
thousand years ago, the men and women of our own day — often perhaps
unconsciously — ask believers not only to ‘speak’ of Christ, but in a certain
sense to ‘show’ him to them. And is it not the Church's task to reflect the light of
Christ in every historical period, to make his face shine also before the
generations of the new millennium?  Our witness, however, would be hopelessly
inadequate if we ourselves had not first contemplated his face.”
 

Nemo dat quod non habet! No one can give what one does not have! We
cannot give Jesus Christ to others until we have first come to know him intimately
and profoundly.

In the Gospel today we see Mary Magdalene as the first one to announce the
risen Lord. Jesus tells her to go and tell the other disciples this good news, that
he is alive. And so she does.

But notice that she did not recognize him at first, and that it is only after she has
gazed at him, recognized him, that she is able to proclaim him to the others as
risen from the dead. He called her name and she responded.

But why did she not recognize him at first. This is a question long pondered by
scripture scholars and those who have reflected on the Gospel. Perhaps she
was distracted by her own grief and worry. Maybe she was anxious and preoccupied.

In any case she failed to gaze at him, to really look at him. Is this the case for us
today? Are we so distracted, anxious, fearful and pre-occupied with the business
of daily living that we too have failed to look intently at Jesus, to recognize him, to
contemplate his face?

Before we can proclaim him to others, we too must first recognize him. We must
really see him. We must contemplate his risen face before we can announce him
to others.

We must hear the Lord Jesus call our name, as he called Mary, and as she
recognized him, so must we. But then we must proclaim him!

This Year of Faith, in which this installation of your new Archbishop takes place,
is meant to help us do just that. This year is meant to strengthen our faith by
contemplating Christ’s face and the mystery of our faith in order to prepare us for
the supremely important work of the New Evangelization, the great mission that
is before us. To really set about the work of the New Evangelization in earnest,
however, our faith must first be strengthened.

In his letter to the Church proclaiming this Year of Faith, Pope Benedict XVI
quoted some powerful words of the great St. Augustine: “Believers strengthen
themselves by believing.” This is a time for strengthening our own faith, so that
we can better witness to the love, the mercy and the truth found in the Lord
Jesus Christ. But we strengthen that faith by believing more firmly and devoutly
that which has been revealed to us by Almighty God in the Sacred Scriptures and
in the living Tradition of the Church.

This will require holiness. We need saints for our own day to be the salt of the
earth, the light of the world, and a leaven in society. We are above all called to
holiness, and our times demand that we answer that call with renewed zeal and
vigor.

There are many challenges facing us in these times. We are witnessing an
almost unprecedented and increasing radical secularism that seeks to push God
out of the picture, and not just to the margins of society, but even right off the
page of human experience in society today.

We are also facing what Pope Benedict XVI, and now Pope Francis, have called
a dictatorship or tyranny of relativism. There is no longer in our society a
recognition that there are some eternal and unchangeable truths, especially
about the very nature and dignity of the human person. This is a serious
challenge when we can no longer dialogue with our contemporaries from a
common understanding of the innate and essential nature of the human person.
And then there are the challenges of our own making. We cannot hide from the
fact that the scandals that have plagued the Church in recent years have
seriously damaged our standing and credibility in the wider society in which we
seek to proclaim the Gospel of Life. This great Archdiocese has certainly not
been spared this tragedy.

When I refer to these "challenges of our own making," I mean that some of your
leaders, your pastors, your shepherds have seriously let you down and done
grave harm to individuals. We can never express too much sorrow and regret for
the harm that has been done and we must never relax our efforts and our pledge
to help heal victim survivors of sexual abuse and to protect children and young
people.

So it is with humility but with a firm purpose that we go about our renewed efforts
to proclaim the Good News. But we must be strong in our own faith, convinced
of the light and truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

As those called to be witnesses to Jesus Christ in the world, we must move
beyond the days of doubting and questioning our Catholic Faith, wringing our
hands in the face of so many difficulties and challenges. In the face of so many
challenges today, how will we ever convince the world of Jesus Christ if we
ourselves are not convinced?

We must witness and speak of our faith before others with confidence and clarity
and with the greatest charity. But speak of Jesus Christ and our faith, we must.
And we must not forget that which will our greatest witness to Jesus Christ, and
that is the love, the mercy and the compassion that we show toward those who
suffer; the poor, the marginalized, the abandoned, the lonely and forgotten. The
modern day “widows and orphans” that Sacred Scripture admonishes us to care
for. How beautifully our new Holy Father, Pope Francis, is showing us the way
by example.

In the midst of our challenges we must continue to bear witness to the dignity of
human life and every human person from the womb until natural death, the
dignity of marriage and the good of children, a special love for the poor and
marginalized, and religious liberty.

I am so very happy that so many of our ecumenical and interreligious brothers
and sisters have joined us today in this celebration. I will truly value and respect
our friendships and relationships and will work hand in hand with our brothers
and sisters in promoting the true common good and the dignity of every human
person.

And so, my dear brothers and sisters, it is time, in the words of Blessed John
Paul II to “duc in altum” – to put out into the deep sea of history and to let down
the nets for a catch, leading others to the love of God in Jesus Christ.

“Duc in altum! (Put out into the deep!) These words ring out for us today, and
they invite us to remember the past with gratitude, to live the present with
enthusiasm and to look forward to the future with confidence: ‘Jesus Christ is the
same yesterday and today and forever’ Duc in altum! – no matter how difficult or even hopeless the challenges may seem, Jesus Christ has risen from the dead. He is alive and is with us and will make it happen. What he needs is our faith and trust. We repeat the words that Jesus taught to St. Faustina: Jesus, I trust in you!

Now we turn towards the Holy Eucharist, the source and summit of the Christian
life. We must not merely celebrate so wonderful a mystery. We must be
transformed by and imitate the mystery we celebrate. We must lay down our
lives for God and in service to others, in imitation of Jesus who came not to be
served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for the many.

This is my Body, which is given up for you. This is my Blood which is poured out
for you. As he has done for us, so we must do for one another. Such a heroic
virtue and self-giving is what is needed in our times.

I have been deeply inspired by the holiness, the zeal and missionary fervor of the
first bishop of my former diocese, Venerable Frederic Baraga, whose own heroic
virtue has been recognized for the whole universal Church by Pope Benedict
XVI. He came to the upper Great Lakes region as a missionary and a stranger
from another land. I feel a strong bond with him as I come to you also as a
stranger from another place.
 
I ask his prayers for me as I take up my new pastoral responsibility among you. They say, “Home is where the heart is.” I know my home will be here, because you will have my heart.

Blessed John Paul wrote in Ecclesia de Eucharistia: “To contemplate the face of
Christ, and to contemplate it with Mary, is the “programme” which I have set
before the Church at the dawn of the third millennium, summoning her to put out
into the deep on the sea of history with the enthusiasm of the new
evangelization.

It is to my Mother and your Mother, Mary Immaculate, the patroness of this great
Archdiocese that I entrust my ministry as your shepherd. May she form in me the
likeness of her Son, Jesus, who is the Good Shepherd.

God bless you, and please pray for me.

 


I couldn't resist putting this on the blog. Obviously I'm thrilled. Just found this in the Catholic Sentinel...interesting.