News, Entertainment, Enlightenment
Orders are being taken for Saint Peter and Paul’s Catholic Church’s “Super 4th of July/Summer Barbeque Kielbasa Ring Sale.
The sausage will come from one of the area’s well-known kielbasa makers. Kielbasa is great for grilling.
The price is $11 per ring. To place your kielbasa orders, please email us at SSPeterandPaul@verizon.net or call Kathy at (610) 328-4731 by Monday, June 24th. Pickup will be at noon on Sunday, June 30, at the Church, 100 S. Penn St. in Clifton Heights, Pa., 19018.
Toomey Vice Chair On Steel Caucus — Sen. Pat Toomey has been named vice-chair of the bipartisan Senate Steel Caucus, a coalition of senators dedicated to promoting American manufacturing and the steel industry. It will serve as a forum for policy discussions regarding issues that affect America’s steel industry.
By William W. Lawrence Sr
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Answer to yesterday’s puzzle: The Lord your God is in your midst, a warrior who gives victory; he will rejoice over you with gladness, he will renew you in his love; he will exult over you with loud singing
Zephaniah
Tonight’s meal by Chef Bill Sr. was a mini-Easter feast to celebrate Pentecost and featured savory grilled lamb, kielbasa, pierogies and hrudka also known as Easter cheese.
Dessert was homemade chocolate chip cookies by Mrs. Chef Bill.
The wine was a homemade Merlot.
Blessed Virgin Mary Born May 1, 22 BC — Reader Tom C writes that a friend who was a Biblical scholar once told him that the Blessed Virgin Mary was born on May 1, 22 BC and died on May 13, 42 AD at the age of 64 most likely in Ephesus which is now part of Turkey.
He says she would have been 16 years old at the birth of Jesus.
Anything without heart, anything without love — and I mean politics, music, law, art, even religion — anything without love, no matter how brilliant, is finally inadequate and weak.
At the end of the day, the human soul yearns to be loved, and to love in
return. And it won’t settle for anything less.
God loves us so deeply that he sent his only son to live, suffer, die and rise again for our salvation. That’s the message of Easter. The message of Pentecost – the “birthday of the Church” that we celebrate this Sunday –
builds on Easter. In sending his Holy Spirit to the Apostles in the
upper room, God invites each of us to join him in a passion for
evangelizing the world. We are Christ’s witnesses. Our mission is to
respond to the fire of God’s love. But desire alone won’t remake the
world. So how do we accomplish the work God sets before us?
First,
we need to wake up, shake off the cocoon of the world’s narcotic noise,
and recover our clarity about right and wrong. We do this by praying,
and we need to pray every day. Praying, no matter how unfocused we might
be at first, clears the head and the heart. It also clears the ears, so
we can hear God’s quiet voice. Setting aside some silent time with God
each day plants the first seed of sanity. It sends down deep roots, and
the soul grows a little stronger every day. If we listen well enough and
long enough, God will tell us what he wants uniquely from each of us.
Second,
we need to seek out confession regularly and stay close to the
Eucharist. We can’t lose hope when we know we’re forgiven. We can’t
starve to death when we’re being fed with the Bread of Life. And the
stronger we get in the Lord, the more we have to give to others. The
sacraments are literally rivers of grace. They bring us new life. They
have real power.
Third, we need to share Jesus Christ
consciously with someone every day. We need to make a deliberate point
of it. And we don’t have to hit people over the head with the Bible to
do it. Life naturally presents us with opportunities to talk about our
faith with friends or colleagues. Nothing is more attractive than a
sincere, personal witness to the truth. And remember that what we give
away in faith, we get back a hundredfold.
Fourth, we need
to show a little courage. In the same Scripture passage where Jesus
tells us to go and make disciples of all nations, he also tells us that
he’ll be with us always, even to the end of the age. If that’s so — and
of course, it is so – then what can we really worry about? What
better friend can we have in the struggle for soul of the world, than
the God who created it and us?
Fifth and finally, we need
to be faithful to those who love us, and to those whom God calls us to
love. So often we overlook the simple fabric of daily life and the
persons who inhabit it. But that’s where real love begins. That’s where
all discipleship starts. It’s why Augustine wrote that “to be faithful
in little things is a big thing.”
God made each of us to make a
difference. Whether we seem to succeed or fail is not the point. We may
never see how God uses us to achieve his will. But it’s enough that we
try — and then profound things can happen.
Readers my age may remember that Dag Hammarskjold was secretary
general of the United Nations many years ago, during the Congo crisis in
the early 1960s. He was also a Christian serious about his faith.
Hammarskjold died when his plane crashed on a peace mission in Africa in
September 1961. After his death, his diary was found and published
under the title, Markings. This is a prayer he wrote in his diary shortly before his death:
[Oh God,]
Have mercy
Upon us.
Have mercy
Upon our efforts,
That we
Before Thee
In love and in faith
Righteousness and humility,
May follow Thee,
With self-denial, steadfastness and courage,
And meet Thee
In the silence.
Give us
A pure heart
That we may see Thee,
A humble heart
That we may hear Thee,
A heart of love
That we may serve Thee,
A heart of faith
That we may live Thee,
Thou
Whom I do not know
But Whose I am.
Thou
Whom I do not comprehend
But Who hast dedicated me
To my fate.
Thou —
We live in an era wounded by sadness and cynicism, but also ennobled by
men and women of grace; people not so very different from you and me.
This year, on this Pentecost, we get to choose which path to follow,
because while God’s Holy Spirit calls each of us by name to his service,
we have the freedom to say yes or no.
If we really want to
preach the Gospel, renew the Church and give glory to God in the years
ahead, the only means that will work is to speak the truth in love
through the witness of our lives. And it’s always been so.
Lord, make us instruments of your peace — now and always.
By William W. Lawrence Sr
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Answer to yesterday’s puzzle: Truth is in things, and not in words.
Herman Melville
Myles, a 7-year-old from Milwaukee, wrote Vice President Biden a letter to suggest that if guns shot chocolate bullets, no one would get hurt.
The Vice President wrote back. Take a look at his response, then share it with your friends:
Dear Myles —
I am sorry it took me so very long to respond to your letter.
I really like your idea. If we had guns that shot chocolate, not only would our country be safer, it would be happier. People love chocolate.
You are a good boy.
— Joe Biden
Awwwwwww.
Hey Joe, how about you give your Secret Service bodyguards guns that shoot chocolate?
How about we give IRS raiders guns that shoot chocolate?
That would be sweet wouldn’t it?
Reader Carol K reports that CatholicVote.org is also one of the Obama opponents that was subjected to harassment and intimidation by our government, which occurred in July 2009.
From a letter from the organization:
The recent revelations concerning the illegal actions by the IRS targeting conservative groups compel me to speak out.
In July 2009, the Chicago IRS office threatened the CatholicVote.org Education Fund.
The CV Education Fund is our 501(c)3 tax-exempt entity, created to educate, inspire and mobilize Catholic voters. As you may know, 501(c)3 charities, unlike our sister org (CatholicVote.org, a 501c4 organization) are not permitted to intervene in any political campaign or to oppose or support any political candidate.
We never did.
But according to the IRS, an unnamed source provided them information, including an email that we distributed prior to the 2008 election, which prompted their ‘examination.’
The email in question was titled “Barack Obama on the Issues of Importance to Catholics” and it specifically disclaimed any endorsement or approval of any political candidate.
In fact, our email did not even offer our position! Instead, we used actual Obama press releases and news stories to provide voters information on his positions on the issues of “abortion, stem cell research, contraceptives, and gay marriage.”
We urged voters to gather the facts, and ended our email with this line: “Let’s have an informed electorate on Tuesday.”
For this, we received a lengthy letter with over 50 questions asking for everything from how many people are on our email list, bank account names, and our checking account numbers.
Yes, even our checking account numbers!
To properly respond to the IRS, we were forced to divert staff time and precious resources to pay for legal counsel. Over a period of weeks, we provided the IRS everything they asked for.
But we didn’t stop there.
As a part of our response, we cited the IRS code, which explicitly states that charities like ours are permitted to reach the public with a ‘pure issue message.’ Nothing in the law prohibits organizations like ours from informing voters about the positions taken by candidates for public office. Our 501(c)3 entity has never endorsed, supported or expressly advocated the election or defeat of ANY political candidate.
We argued that the IRS code is vague and standardless, and that no objective standard exists to regulate what might or might not constitute political intervention – thus opening the door to abuse. We told the IRS that groups like ours should not be subjected to arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement.
If they chose to fine us, we were prepared to sue.
The IRS ultimately chose to do nothing – they backed down.
Why is this important? Because the IRS scandal brewing in Washington D.C. suggests that their examination of the CatholicVote.org Education Fund could have been politically motivated.
Were we targeted for our political views? Who and what prompted the IRS to investigate us?
Did their investigation have anything to do with our “Imagine the Potential” viral video celebrating the gift of life, including the choice for life made by Barack Obama’s mother that was watched by millions of people? This video was released 5 months before we were investigated and received national attention including coverage on the front page of the Washington Post website.
Was the IRS investigation intended to intimidate us, or have a chilling effect on our future plans?
We may never know. But we are going to do our best to find out. Reluctantly, we have decided to retain counsel to evaluate the IRS’ conduct and determine whether we can take action to fight back against this abuse of power. We want to know who induced the IRS to come after us, or whether that was a pretext, and whether the IRS or any government agency was attempting to thwart our lawful issue advocacy.
This is America. Something must be done to fight back. What we are witnessing in Washington is disgusting and shameful. We are better than this. Those responsible should be punished to the fullest extent of the law.
Thankfully we have thick skin, and some top-notch attorneys.
You can chip in to support our effort here.
But at least now you know.
And you deserve to know that we will always defend our right to speak the truth, and to provide you and every Catholic in America the resources they need to vote with an informed conscience.
Thank you, as always, for your ongoing support and prayers.
Sincerely,
Brian Burch, Director
CatholicVote.org Education Fund
Tonight’s meal by Chef Bill Sr. was salmon grilled with orange slices and rice pilaf. The dessert was chocolate pudding by Mrs. Chef Bill Sr. made with half and half.
The wine was an Argentinian torrontes.
Delicious.