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July 22, 2020

Note from the Assistant Managing Editor:

This week we have a lot of great pieces, but our feature is an excerpt from The Wit and Wisdom of Father George Rutler.

Within the first few lines, there was a lump in my throat — not just because Father Rutler was describing the self-sacrificially heroic rescue workers of 9/11, but because his words pointed out the grandeur and beauty of what it means to believe in a creator who loves us.

Father Rutler describes the priests giving the policemen and firemen general absolution.  "Those rescue workers were not going through a formality.  They knew what they were getting into, and they knew how to get out of it — not how to get out of earthly death, but how to get out of eternal death."

And eternal death is the only thing we need fear.  Matthew 10:28: "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna."  This leads to our second must-read: "Coronavirus Stalks in the Darkness, But Do Not Be Afraid."

Msgr.  Charles Pope begins: "I write this from my perspective as a priest responsible for the care of souls; I do not claim to be a medical expert.  My pastoral concern is that we as a nation and as a Church have succumbed to excessive fear, which bespeaks a spiritual problem.  The medical concerns arising from the pandemic are not without merit, but they are not unprecedented.  What is unique today is the collective paralysis brought on by this fear.  I write to express my concern and to reiterate the constant biblical cry, 'Do not be afraid!'"

God bless you all this week! - Meaghen Gonzalez



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"I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought; and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder." - G.K. Chesterton



New Resources


 
The Final Confrontation - Saint Pope John Paul II - from an address in Philadelphia

We are now standing in the face of the greatest historical confrontation humanity has gone through.


 
An excerpt - Father George W. Rutler - The Wit and Wisdom of Father George Rutler

An excerpt (the first three pages) from "The Wit and Wisdom of Father George Rutler".


 
From the Introduction - Edward Short - to The Wit and Wisdom of Father George Rutler

Father Rutler is a teacher, not an entertainer, though he often entertains to teach.


 
R&R, Etc. - Michael Pakaluk - The Catholic Thing

Is there a Catholic approach to summer vacation?


 
Coronavirus Stalks in the Darkness, But Do Not Be Afraid - Monsignor Charles Pope - National Catholic Register

My take is that fear is a far more serious ailment than COVID-19.


 
Cancel Culture is Coward Culture - Randall B. Smith - The Catholic Thing

The disgruntled, like the poor, we will always have with us.


 
Ladies and Gentlemen - Father George W. Rutler - From the Pastor

It may not be long before "Ladies and Gentlemen" ceases to start a speech, as the result of blurring the distinction between man and gentleman, and woman and lady.

Editorials of Interest:

Father Rothrock Is Right - Crisis Magazine

Editorials of Interest


6 things to keep in mind when (not if) the Church's human element lets you down - NC Register

"Look to the light shining out of the darkness. For Christ crushes evil under his heel and makes all things new."


The "Mosquing" of Hagia Sophia: What is at stake? - CWR

The conversion of Hagia Sophia from museum to mosque is part of the platform to change Turkey and renew the Old Ottoman Empire influence.


The "Mosquing" of Hagia Sophia: Why should Catholics care? - CWR

Catholics should have a greater awareness of Eastern Orthodoxy for at least three reasons.


Roman Catholics: The Original Abolitionists - Crisis

Now is a good time for Catholics to step up with a teachable moment regarding how their Church has long condemned human enslavement.



Take a virtual pilgrimage to California's historic Catholic missions - Aleteia

The pilgrimage with author Christian Clifford takes viewers across 585 miles of California landscape to visit 21 mission churches.


Back to School? 'No Thanks' Say Millions of New Homeschooling Parents - The Stream

With dehusmanizing COVID-19 restrictions awaiting students at schools, many parents are opting to keep on homeschooling.


Wokeness: the new Western morality - Douglas Murray (YouTube)

Douglas Murray talks about the glaring problems with the new forms of 'morality' that are being held with increasing fervour around the Western world.


Religious Liberty Is Important, But It's Not Enough - Public Discourse

Privacy and safety at a shelter, equality on an athletic field, and good medicine are at stake for everyone — religious or not.


Above the Law: The Data Are In on Police, Killing, and Race - Public Discourse

Police killing is not the work of vigilant warriors defending society at great personal cost, and sometimes going too far. It is the day-in, day-out petty tyranny of a taxpayer-funded bureaucratic lobby group.


Church in Germany receives highest ever church tax income despite record exodus - CNA

The Church in Germany received more money in church tax than ever before in 2019 despite losing a record number of members.


Father Rothrock Is Right - Crisis Magazine

On July 2, 2020, Father Ted Rothrock, published his weekly pastor's message in which he described Black Lives Matter and Antifa militants as having a hidden agenda, and explained how "despots and tyrants have always employed accusation and distortion to achieve all manner of mischief... and mold public opinion."


The United States is Not Institutionally Racist - YouTube

David Webb argues at the Oxford Union Society that the United States is not institutionally racist.


We Need More Patriarchy, Not Less - Crisis Magazine

"The use of Fashions in thought," says Uncle Screwtape the astute, "is to distract the attention of men from their real dangers."


Ask Auntie Leila: I feel guilty not working! - LMLD

What to do when you feel guilty to be spending money you no longer contribute to.


NFP & Engaged: Megan and Avery - Total W(h)ine

Over long distance, graduating college, and a few short months away from marriage, Megan and Avery share all of the excitement and goodness NFP has brought to their relationship already.


NFP & Marriage: Logan and Jen - Total W(h)ine

Jen and Logan initially thought they wouldn't have a reason to use NFP. But after experiencing infertility and high-risk pregnancies, they've come to see that NFP is kind of like faith — the more you put into it, the more you get out of it.


Flannery O'Connor and the Terrors of American Sentimentality - Law & Liberty

In a recent issue of the New Yorker, Paul Elie accuses novelist and short-story writer Flannery O'Connor of possessing "a habit of bigotry."


St. John Henry Cardinal Newman and
St. Justin Martyr, pray for us

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